Sept 27 Buonasera Mag
Day 217: Lyman, gas leak, Kharkiv, RU sham refs/mobilisation, Iran, US aid, Sandu, NATO, Tatsunori, FB, Italy-A&Ps- Kallas, CEPA, O'Grady, Karaganov, Vogel, Schindler
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.
Stories we’re following…
A suspected mass grave in an industrial chicken farm in Kharkiv is being investigated by Ukrainian forces, local officials have said. It is feared up to 100 bodies were buried in the site which was once used by Russian troops to shelter their tanks.
Russian TG channel CHP Crimea reports that explosions have been heard in Yalta, temporarily occupied Crimea.
A number of Nato member states have begun to conduct air force drills in the Baltic Sea. Over the next two days, air forces from the UK, Germany, Italy and others will take part in military training both over water and on land in an effort to boost eastern defences.
UK intelligence: Putin may announce annexation of occupied Ukrainian territories on Sept. 30. Russia's leaders hope this announcement will be seen "as a vindication of the 'special military operation' and will consolidate patriotic support for the conflict."
Russia’s sham referendums in Ukraine, which could lead to Moscow annexing 15% of the country’s territory, are due to end on today. Voting in the eastern provinces of Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia began on Friday, Putin, said today that Russia wants to “save people” in the four Moscow-controlled territories.
Russian media have announced early results, claiming that with approaching a quarter of the “votes” counted in each of the four referendums, all the regions have voted by at least 97% to be annexed by Russia. The Russian imposed governor of Kherson Oblast has declared that the region has 'voted' to leave Ukraine and become a part of Russia.
Unlike Donetsk and Luhansk, Kherson does not plan to declare itself independent There will be a transition period followed by Kherson's annexation by Russia.
Ukraine’s authorities have said citizens helping to organise Russia’s so-called “referendums”, which concluded on Tuesday in the occupied territories, will face up to five years in prison for their role in orchestrating them.
In Totkino village of the Kursk region in Russia, intelligence services permanently organize searches in civilians' dwellings, the HUR of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine informs. Intelligence officials force people to inform on each other, attempting to find those who have connections with Ukraine and Ukrainians. Roads are closed there, and the departure of civilians is prohibited.
M Podolyak says gas leak in the Baltic Sea was caused by a Russian attack, which aims to destabilize Europe. “‘Gas leak’ from NS-1 is nothing more that a terrorist attack planned by Russia and an act of aggression towards EU. Russia wants to destabilize economic situation in Europe and cause pre-winter panic. The best response and security investment — tanks for Ukraine, especially German ones.” Poland’s prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, has also stated that the leaks are an act of sabotage.
Seismologists in Sweden say on Monday they detected what they described as two explosions in the regions of the Baltic sea where the leaks have occurred.
Lukashenko on Russians fleeing the mobilisation: "'It’s fine if 30,000 leave, it’s fine if even 50,000 leave,' Lukashenko cheerfully trying to console Putin, who sat listening glumly." Meanwhile, FSB sources tell media maybe 261K Russian men have fled Putin's dictatorship.
Frontex statement: “Over the past week, nearly 66,000 Russian citizens entered the EU, more than 30% compared to the preceding week. Most of them arrived to Finland and Estonia.” Over the last four days alone, 30,000 Russian citizens arrived in Finland, according to the statement published by Reuters.
Mikhail Khodorkovsky on Putin's historical achievement: "Russia is most likely the first and only country in the world where people flee not because someone invaded their country, but because they invaded another country".
Russian media report that a mobile drafting office will open at Russian-Georgian border.
Deputy Mufti of the Crimean Muftiat makes an appeal to Crimean Muslims and to all Muslims in russia, who are facing mobilization - "Find various ways to surrender, [...] [b]ut if you cannot do this, then I know where you ought to shoot. And I think you also understand."
Iran: At least 76 protesters are confirmed to have been killed by security forces. Most families have been forced to quietly bury their loved ones at night. Instagram, WhatsApp, Signal, Google Play and the App Store are all down. (Source @IHRights @iranhr)
US Congress has reached an agreement to provide an additional $12 Billion to Ukraine.
In her press briefing following the Supreme Security Council meeting, Moldovan president Maia Sandu said any Moldovan citizens choosing to fight on the side of the Russian aggressor will have their Moldovan citizenship removed. Many people in Transnistria have both passports.
NATO chief, Jens Stoltenberg: “Just spoke with President Zelensky and made clear that NATO Allies are unwavering in our support for Ukraine’s sovereignty & right to self-defence. The sham referenda held by Russia have no legitimacy & are a blatant violation of international law. These lands are Ukraine.”
Russian FSB says it has detained Japanese Consul Motoki Tatsunori in Vladivostok for espionage, as reported by RIA. Yesterday, Japan expanded sanctions against Russia, banning the export of goods related to chemical weapons.
Putin grants former NSA contractor Edward Snowden Russian citizenship by presidential decree.
Facebook says it has identified and stopped a sprawling network of fake accounts that spread Russian propaganda about the invasion of Ukraine throughout Western Europe, AP reports. The operation began in May 2022 and centred around a sprawling network of over 60 websites carefully impersonating legitimate websites of news organizations in Europe, including Spiegel, The Guardian and Bild.
More than 1,600 fake Facebook accounts were used to spread the propaganda to audiences in Germany, Italy, France, the United Kingdom and Ukraine. Meta says it was the largest and most complex network linked to Russia that the California-based company has identified since the Ukraine invasion began.
Galeazzo Bignami was elected to the Italian parliament as a member of Meloni’s FDI party. He’s notorious for wearing his heart on his Nazi uniform. He congratulated Giorgia Meloni, glorifying their common Neo-Fascist roots.
Decode39: Mr Draghi’s team is updating the budget’s financial snapshot, and Ms Meloni, too, is “delving into it” – according to what Brothers of Italy stated on Monday. The party is also hoping that the outgoing government will provide “a framework” on which to base the Finance Bill. No issues on Italy’s fifth arms package for Ukraine: Brothers of Italy’s team already signalled it would continue to support Kyiv and even discussed the aid package directly with the Ukrainians ahead of the vote.
Eurovision 2023 is to be hosted in Liverpool or Glasgow after UK replaced Ukraine to host event after Russia’s invasion.
Karagonov, the “godfather” of hawkish Russian foreign policy
Karaganov declares the war in Ukraine - Russia's "New Great Patriotic War".
He claims that for Russia it is a question of survival, for the West, only survival of the elites.
He says it all started in 1999 with the first NATO eastward expansion.
Claims it was always a plan of the West to get Ukraine in and that the West for the last decade was preparing its citizens for war with Russia because it failed to resolve domestic issues.
Russia, he says, now understands that democracy and capitalism were a myth.
For him - mobilization was inevitable, otherwise nuclear war.
Says China knows if Russia will fail, it will be bad for them, so they will support Russia.
On the issue of Russian nuclear strike on Ukraine, he says that it is 99% that US will not intervene with a proportional response. He believes there might be a need to actually use it.
Answering the question on who's going to win - he says we're all losing but the world system is changing so Russia may actually win after all.
Siobhan O’Grady, Propaganda newspapers show how Russia promoted annexation in Kharkiv- WaPo
The publications include two newspapers, the Izyum Telegraph and the Kharkiv Z, the first of which pushed narratives that Russian soldiers were helping to rebuild areas destroyed by Kyiv’s forces as the community worked toward a brighter future. The Kharkiv Z used more colloquial — and at times aggressive — language, similar to other current Russian propaganda outlets.
Nathalie Vogel, Allowing Russian and Belarusian participation in international competitions helps their propaganda- Res Publica
This is indeed an urgent necessity for neither Russian nor Belarusian fencers have been vocal about the war against Ukraine. More than anything else, sports events have been used by the Soviet Union and its successor state the Russian Federation for disinformation and propaganda purpose. Accepting the participation of Russian or Belarusian nationals would help the propaganda apparatus convey the message of ‘business as usual’. It is also noteworthy that Russian and Belarusian competitors are often tied to clubs with links to the security apparatus (Police, intelligence and army).
It comes as no surprise in this context that the Ukrainian Fencing Federation has officially appealed to the FIE to bar Russia and Belarus from participating in international events.
Dmitry Medvedev, former president of the Russian Federation and hawkish deputy chairman of the security council of Russia, on nuclear threats:
“Imagine that Russia is forced to use the most formidable weapon against the Ukrainian regime, which has committed a large-scale act of aggression, which is dangerous for the very existence of our state. I believe that Nato will not directly intervene in the conflict even in this situation. After all, the security of Washington, London, and Brussels is much more important for the North Atlantic Alliance than the fate of Ukraine, which no one needs, even if it is abundantly supplied with various weapons.”
