May 6 Buonsera up-date
Ukraine, Hungary & Slovakia, more fires, the USSR, May 9th preps
Catching up…
EA Worldview’s Ukraine Up-date- hop over to Scott’s amazing hourly Ukraine up-date page. I’ll fill in with some bits and bobs.
Here are some other stories we’re following…
Russian troops have killed a soldier and wounded six others who were on their way to pick up civilians from the besieged Azovstal plant. The attack was committed during a pre-agreed ceasefire.
Zelensky says
This inhumanity and cruelty is how the Russian military treats people.
Death is not caused by war. This is not a military event. This is torturing to death. This is terrorism and hatred. The entire city has been destroyed.
Russia's Defence Ministry says its missiles have destroyed a large ammunition depot in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and US President Joe Biden agreed in a call on May 5 that they wouldn’t acknowledge any Russian territorial gains in Ukraine, a German government spokesperson said.
U.S. Defense Department officials said on May 5 that, as fighting continued in Mariupol and specifically surrounding the city’s Azovstal steel plant, most of the Russian troops stationed in the city left.
Responding to New York Times report published on May 4, Pentagon Spokesman John Kirby confirmed on May 5 that the U.S. supplies Ukraine with military intelligence “to help Ukrainians defend their country.” However, “we do not provide intelligence on the location of senior military leaders on the battlefield or participate in the targeting decisions of the Ukrainian military,” Kirby said.
Zaporizhzhia Thermal Power Plant near the city of Enerhodar ceased operations due to Russian occupation, as well as infrastructure damage and ongoing hostilities in Ukraine’s southern regions causing coal supply disruptions, Enerhodar Mayor Dmytro Orlov said on May 5.
The EU has proposed sanctioning Alina Kabaeva, a former gymnast, who is “reportedly closely associated” with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Bloomberg reported citing the EU statement.
EU Commission President von der Leyen has said the oil embargo on Russia announced earlier this week would not be easy, but that the EU could not "over the long term transfer money to Russia, given its values".
The EU Commission has amended a proposal for an embargo on Russian oil to extend the period before it takes effect for Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic.
Dmitry Medvedev published a short love letter to Viktor Orban on his telegram channel in response to the Hungarian PM's refusal to join the EU's Russia oil sanctions.
Peskov- "The fact that there is very, very hostile rhetoric coming out of Poland in recent months … that the territorial integrity of Ukraine can be threatened from Poland - these are also obvious facts."
U.S. First Lady Jill Biden will depart on the evening of May 5 for a four-day visit to Romania and Slovakia, which will include Mother’s Day activities with Ukrainian refugees in Kosice, Slovakia.
More fires….
Eurobarometer: Europeans approve EU's response to the war in Ukraine
A Flash Eurobarometer survey in all EU Member States published today shows large consensus among EU citizens in favour of the EU's response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Only 7% of Italians actually side with Russia. Of those polled, they had the perception that 17% of the population was with Russia. This is why our talk shows are pushing the Russian narrative forcefully. They’re desparately trying to change opinion.
SIX Russian businessmen die 'by suicide' within three months:
Four oligarchs and two directors at oil giant Gazprom 'have taken their own lives' in spate of deaths among Russia's elite since Putin invaded Ukraine. Six oligarchs with Kremlin ties have died in mysterious circumstances this year. They include Mikhail Watford, a Ukraine-born gas and property tycoon who told friends he feared Putin's hit list 'for years'.
Back to the USSR…
In our EuroFile@6 Spaces, Vadym had told us about the ‘filtration’ camps and then that Ukrainians were being sent to economically depressed areas in Russia. This certainly brings back the practice of sending ‘colonial dissidents’ to gulags in Siberia other far off locations and used as forced labour.
In yesterday’s post, I included bits from an interview with General Budanov, the head of intelligence for the Ministry of Defence. He explains why Russia has begun to confiscate (steal) tractors and grain. This recalls the confiscation of grain and other crops between 1932-33, which resulted in the death of over 5 million Ukrainians- the Holodomor.
During Solovyev’s show yesterday, Russian state propagandists proposed sterilizing and sending anyone who opposes the letter ‘Z’ to concentration camps. The letter ‘Z’ has now become a symbol of Russian nazism (ruscism).
May 9th is around the corner…in Italy as well.
I’ll be dedicating a post on the significance of May 9th for the Russian Federation. I had to do a double-take when I saw this poster. Zagarolo is a small village on the outskirts of Rome with a population of roughly 18,000 souls. The event was organised by the Italian Communist Party of the Monti Prenestini-Casilina section.
In an interview to Repubblica, the ‘comrades’ of the party stated that they have always celebrated May 9th. However, on a FB post, they stated that they were standing against American and NATO imperialism and hoped for a united Europe that spanned from Lisbon to the Urals a la Alexandr Dugin.
On a more positive note, Italian Unicredit bank has reduced its exposure to Russian bonds and debts by 2 billion euro. This is significant.
So, on the one hand, Italy is being bombarded by Russian narratives on talk shows and in certain news programmes and on the other, Draghi and the business and energy establishment is seeking to reduce the Russian presence in Italy.
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We’re signing off…thanks for reading…
Mo & Scott