Jun 22 Buonasera Mag
Day 119 of War: Severodonetsk still raging, Kherson annexation, Russian telecoms, Kaliningrad, gold, Google, Airbus, M5S split, South Ossetia, dealing with Putin
Catching up…
EA Worldview’s Ukraine Up-date- hop over to Scott’s amazing Ukraine up-date page, where you’ll also find news from around the globe.
Stories we’re following…
Ukraine confirms that Germany's Panzerhaubitze 2000 artillery systems have arrived. This announcement should ease tensions between Ukraine and Germany.
Radical reshuffling’ of Russian military command structure may indicate ‘ongoing dysfunction.’ The U.S. think tank reported on June 21 that potential “drastic rotations” in the Russian military may constitute a purge of senior officers blamed for failures in Ukraine.
Dramatic footage has emerged from Russia of what appears to be a drone crashing into an oil refinery and setting off a fiery explosion in what could be an attack inside Russia’s borders.
The Russian military has reconfigured the last of seven towers in the Kherson region to broadcast Russian television channels, allowing the Kremlin to broadcast 24 Russian TV channels throughout its territory.
Russian authorities are consistently moving toward annexing the Kherson region. On Jun 21, the Deputy Head of the region’s interim administration, Kirill Stremousov, once again said that a referendum on annexation to Russia in the region could take place in the fall but did not give any details.
Moscow’s response to Lithuania’s ban on the transit of goods sanctioned by the EU to the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad will not be exclusively diplomatic but practical in nature, Maria Zakharova has said.
Estonia summons Russia's ambassador over an airspace violation via helicopter. These provocations will likely persist as Finland edges closer to NATO membership. Russia's militarization of the Baltic Sea poses a threat to the security of the Baltic States.
Finland’s armed forces chief, Gen Timo Kivinen, said his country was prepared for a Russian attack and would put up stiff resistance in the event that one should occur.
Ukrainian parliament approves bill to bring customs law in line with EU standards. The bill, which will help Ukraine join the Convention on a Common Transit Procedure, was approved in the first reading.
Vsevolod Chentsov, Ukrainian envoy to the EU, says Ukrainian candidate status approval would show Moscow it can no longer claim sphere of influence over neighbour.
Speaking at the UN Security Council on June 21, a Google executive warned that cyberattacks, disinformation, and other forms of information warfare being waged in Ukraine are a “crystal ball” for future problems elsewhere.
Ahead of the European Council Summit on June 23-24, gold is a possible new target of EU sanctions against Russia. The European Council is currently split between Member States wanting to push for a 7th package of sanctions and those wanting to focus on implementation of current measures.
A major European aerospace manufacturer Airbus urged the international community to avoid imposing sanctions on Russian titanium, as the company is heavily reliant on the product in its operations and approving new suppliers is difficult.
What’s happening in Italy besides the heat?
Shock waves rippled through Italy’s political echosphere yesterday as the radical populist party, the Movimento 5 Stelle, split or rather, Minister of Foreign Affairs Luigi Di Maio left, taking a little over 70 members of parliament with him to form a new political entity- Insieme per il Futuro (Together for the Future).
The divorce had been brewing for some time between MFA Di Maio and the party’s leader, former Italian prime minister Giuseppe Conte, who Trump called ‘Giuseppi’ and who had allowed Russian military and medical personnel into Italy during the Covid pandemic under the guise of a humanitarian mission. Without getting into too much detail here, Di Maio has moved closer to prime minister Draghi’s positions over the past 18 months.
Decode39, Di Maio’s Atlantic trench
Italy is due to hold elections next year and the split between Mr Di Maio and Mr Conte not only will rock PM Draghi’s ruling coalition, but will play a key role, as the country is still ambivalent about supporting Ukraine’s defense against Russian invasion, according to recent polls.
Putin-Simonyan exchange and why it’s important
In a previous post, we included the video about the Putin-Simonyan exchange during the Economic Forum in St Petersburg. I’m upping it once again because it’s indicative of how the Kremlin operates- like the mafia. It’s important to read it, and let it sink in.
Simonyan: “To build on the idea that ‘people want to eat’, I’ve heard it several time from different people, and it goes like this: ‘all our hope is in the famine.’ Here’s what it means. This means that once hunger sets in, this will bring them to their senses: this is when they will lift sanctions and will be friends with us because they will understand there is no way around it.” Then she asked Putin: “In your opinion, how realistic is this forecast? Of course, achieving this through hunger is not something we want, but …”
Putin: after blaming the West for the diminishing global wheat supply, he said that “having people in these countries [Africa and the Middle East] suffer from hunger is something we would very much like to avoid”.
I can almost see Don Corleon sitting behind his oak desk in the semi-darkness.
What can we do?
The short-term solution: Ukraine’s grain could be shipped via Romanian and Bulgarian territorial waters — if the West was ready to grant those container ships a military escort. But EU leaders, especially in France and Germany, are still calling for a diplomatic solution.
This is the case with German politician Jens Plötner, foreign policy advisor on Russia, or several Italian politicians (Salvini, Conte, Todd) who are pushing Ukraine to concede territory and lift sanctions ‘imposed’ on Russia. They’re saying the faster Ukraine gets to the negotiating table, the faster we can solve the grain crisis, and the energy crisis and whatever Russia can weaponise to hold us hostage.
It’s not surprising. Over 30 Italian businesses are still operating in Russia. The Danieli Group, to name one, is still providing machine tools and other industrial products to businesses, like Vekselberg’s in Donbas that manufactures parts for Russian nuclear submaries. Those that have put their business dealings on hold seem to be playing the waiting game. They’ll be ready to step in once again, and get back to business as usual. Will it be, though?
The waiting game being played by some leaders of the free world is morally bankrupt, reputationally damaging, and will not bring Ukraine any closer to victory or end the genocide of its people. We’re going about this in the wrong way. On DW, Jessica Berlin explains why and how we should be dealing with Putin:
Every. Single. Word.
Referendum in South Ossetia…not really.
In mid-May, Anatoly Bibilov, who had lost the presidential election in South Ossetia, announced he was holding a referendum on South Ossetia’s incorporation into Russia.
The referendum was suspended because it hadn’t been coordinated with Russia: Bibilov just went with it to damage the incoming president. The newly elected president Gagloev and Russia don’t want Georgia to levy sanctions against South Ossetia- South Ossetia has been trying to repair with Georgia. How to get out of the referendum?
On May 30, Gagloev suspended the referendum decree and flew to Moscow two weeks later to coordinate further steps. On June 21, the head of his administration said that during consultations in Moscow, it was “established that the referendum announced by the decree of President of South Ossetia Bibilov of 13.05.2022 was appointed without prior study and coordination of this issue with the Russian side.”
Apparently, Dimitry Peskov, Putin’s press secretary, said that in order to ‘unite’ South Ossetia and Russia, changes had to be made to the Russian constitution. A brand new state would emerge. So, they decided to can the referendum: that’s their story and they’re sticking to it.
Hugo Bachega, 'The Russians said beatings were my re-education'
Andriy watched anxiously as Russian soldiers connected his mobile to their computer, trying to restore some files. Andriy, a 28-year-old marketing officer, was attempting to leave Mariupol. He had deleted everything he thought a Russian soldier could use against him, such as text messages discussing Russia's invasion of Ukraine or photos of the devastation in his city caused by weeks of relentless shelling.
US announces War Crimes Accountability team to prosecute those committing war crimes in Ukraine. According to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, who announced the initiative during his trip to Ukraine on June 21, the team will be made up of experts in investigations involving human rights abuses and war crimes.
Sheepz, goatz and shephardz.
Remembering the heroes
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