Sept 7 Buonasera Mag
Day 196: Kharkiv, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Arts-Posts: Vetrov, VDL, Putin, Decode39, Kasparov, Shekhotsov, Stradner, Soldatov, Yale, The Queen, Sweeney, Gazprom, Baerbock
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…
The Ukrainian Army General said: “Our military successfully repelled enemy attacks in the areas of Dolyna, Soledar, Novobakhmutivka, Kodema, Zaitseve, Avdiivka, Mariinka, and Lyubomirivka settlements of Donetsk region.”
Ukraine hits Russian pontoon bridges in Kherson Oblast. According to the Southern Operational Command, Ukrainian forces attack two floating bridges near Darivka and Hola Prystan. All Russian pontoon bridges in the region are in firing range, the military says.
General Staff: Ukraine repels Russian attacks in Donbas, strikes key targets. The Ukrainian General Staff reported unsuccessful Russian advances near Dolyna, Soledar, Novobakhmutivka, Kodema, Zaitseve, Avdiivka, Maryinka, and Lyubomyrivka in Donetsk Oblast. Eight Russian ammunition depots, as well as command centers and pontoon bridges, were destroyed by Ukrainian troops, according to the General Staff.
IAEA says Russian military equipment present inside Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, calls for safe zone. The International Atomic Energy Agency observed the presence of Russian military personnel, vehicles, and equipment at various places inside the plant's territory. "There is an urgent need for interim measures to prevent a nuclear accident arising from physical damage caused by military means,” the IAEA said in a statement.
Ukraine is considering shutting down its Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia NPP for safety reasons, according to Kyiv’s top nuclear safety expert. Oleh Korikov also expressed concerns about the reserves of diesel fuel used for backup generators.
The UN nuclear watchdog has said its experts found extensive damage at Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in a report presented to the UN security council on Tuesday. The report also found Ukrainian staff were operating under constant high stress and pressure where there was an increased possibility of human error.
A day after the UN called for a demilitarized zone around the plant, Russia resumes shelling near Zaporizhzhia NPP. "There are fires, blackouts and other things at the [plant] that force us to prepare the local population for the consequences of the nuclear danger" — Valentyn Reznichenko, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast Governor.
Ukraine’s deputy prime minister, Iryna Vereshchuk, has urged residents of Russian-occupied areas around the Zaporizhzhia NPP to evacuate for their own safety.
The resumption of grain exports from Ukraine and maintaining food and fertiliser supplies contributed to a drop in global wheat prices in August, the UN has said.
Breaking: Russia ruling party proposes November 4 annexation vote for occupied Ukraine territories.
At the Economic Forum- RosCongress in Vladivoskok- Putin stated that he wanted to limit the export of grain from Ukraine, which according to him, is supplied to the European Union and not the poorest countries. He also threatened to ‘freeze’ west by cutting gas and oil supplies if price caps are imposed on oil and gas exports.
European Commission president Von der Leyen says Norway is now delivering more gas to the EU than Russia.
Putin’s statements on a possible gas and oil price cap:
Will there be any political decisions that contradict the contracts? Yes, we won’t fulfill them. We will not supply anything at all if it contradicts our interests. We will not supply gas, oil, coal, heating oil – we will not supply anything. As in the famous Russian fairytale, we would sentence the wolf’s tail to be frozen.
Zelensky: 'Europe is no place for murderers and those who support them.' President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his video address on Sept. 6 that Russian tourism in Europe is unacceptable and called on the EU to implement visa restrictions for Russian citizens. “Russia has [also] repeatedly sent killers to Europe under the guise of ordinary tourists,” he added.
EU Commissioner: 'Russian citizens should not have easy access to EU.' EU Commission has proposed a full suspension of the Visa Facilitation Agreement with Russia, following the agreement reached by the EU foreign affairs ministers on Aug. 31. Ylva Johansson, EU Commissioner for Home Affairs, supported the proposal. "To be a tourist in the EU is not a fundamental right," she added.
Stoltenberg’s FT statements: “There are tough times ahead,” he wrote in the Financial Times. “For Ukraine’s future and for ours, we must prepare for the winter war and stay the course... We do pay a price for our support to Ukraine. But the price we pay is counted in dollars, euros and pounds, while Ukrainians are paying with their lives.”
Hungary threatens to block the continuation of EU sanctions if three high-ranking members of the Putin-Kremlin crime syndicate are not removed from the list. The Orbán regime is demanding to protect Alisher Usmanov, Petro Aven and Viktor Rashnikov.
Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia have reached an agreement in principle to restrict the entry of Russian citizens travelling from Russia and Belarus, the Latvian foreign minister said. Edgars Rinkēvičs said the increase of border crossings by Russian citizens was “a public security issue […] also an issue of a moral and political nature”.
Putin will meet Xi Jinping in Uzbekistan, Russian state news agencies reported.
Russia is burning excess gas because it has no capacity to store it after cutting deliveries to Europe, the EU’s energy commissioner Kadri Simson said. “Our satellites are registering the leak of natural gas or them flaring the natural gas and this is very polluting.”
Ukraine to ship 28,600 tons of grain to famine-stricken Somalia. The grain shipment will arrive in the next few weeks, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Twitter. "Ukraine continues to save the world with its grain," he said.
Decode39, Zakharova, Gazprom, Medvedev: Russian trio attempts to influence Italian vote
“American businessmen are now paying seven times less for electricity than Italian ones. And this is despite the fact that the initiators of the sanctions are sitting there across the ocean,” wrote Ms Zakharova, proceeding to explain the US’ supposed ominous scheme to undercut its allies.
The Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs hit back shortly after. “Clearly, Russia has decided to enter directly into the electoral campaign of a sovereign State,” declared Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio, calling on all parties to “reject this interference.”
Gary Kasparov- Helping Ukraine fight isn’t a favor
Bingo. Ukraine fighting for its survival isn’t the problem. Helping Ukraine fight isn’t a favor. Russia’s unprovoked invasion is the problem, and Ukrainians are fighting for the entire free world, as well as those who would be free. They must win.
Don’t complain about gas prices when you are only spending the money you saved for 20 years by funding Putin’s dictatorship. You didn’t care when we begged you to stop as he crushed our democracy, and warned you not become dependent on a mafia dictatorship.
Putin is responsible.
Russians are responsible, even those who fought the regime almost from the start. We failed. But Europe and the free world gave Putin every advantage. Open markets, political capital. They fed this monster, empowered him. Now they talk about gas?
Putin used *your* money to build a global propaganda empire, to create a massive Russian police state, to corrupt your politicians & institutions, and to make the weapons that have been slaughtering Ukrainians since 2014. You knew. You owe Ukraine more than you can ever pay.
Of course Putin uses energy blackmail. He’s a mafia thug who has never separated business and politics and personal power. It was either corrupt or idiotic to act otherwise, and now it is time to atone. Ukraine must be given everything it needs to win and rebuild. Now.
Sullman & Hudson, Russia buying weapons from North Korea for Ukraine war, U.S. intelligence says
The move by Russia’s Defense Ministry indicates that “the Russian military continues to suffer from severe supply shortages in Ukraine, due in part to export controls and sanctions,” the official said. “We expect Russia could try to purchase additional North Korean military equipment going forward.”
Anders Aslund, Europe can win Putin’s gas war but must learn Nord Stream lessons- Atlantic Council
The European Union clearly needs to form an entirely new energy security strategy. It is now obvious that the Russian state and Russian state-owned companies must no longer be allowed to own energy infrastructure or energy companies within the EU. Instead, Brussels must force Gazprom to sell all its pipelines in the EU, as the insightful Baltic states have already done. Likewise, Gazprom must sell its gas storage facilities in the EU or have them nationalized. Similarly, Rosneft should be forced to sell its oil refineries in the EU. The EU should prohibit Gazprom and Rosneft from doing business with European banks to escape their money laundering.
Byline Times and John Sweeney: a new documentary- KOMPROMAT
It’s official- meet Prime Minister Liz Truss
Anton Shekhovtsov- Putin’s ‘concept’ of politics abroad
Putin has just signed a new “concept of Russia’s humanitarian politics abroad”. The “concept” suggests that Russia should internationally position itself as a “guardian and defender of traditional spiritual-moral values and spiritual heritage of the world civilisation”.
Expectedly, all “neoliberal views” are not real values, but “pseudo-values”! Ah, I forgot to mention that Russia hails diversity of opinions and tolerance, rejects censorship (risible).
And of course Russia should strive to “keep and increase the number of objects of cultural heritage of foreign countries located in Russia”. Such a “cultural” euphemism for looting and marauding.
Borogan, Soldatov et al, Russian Cyberwarfare- CEPA
Long before Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, the Kremlin, Russian security agencies, and their criminal networks had been successfully using complex cyber operations to exploit systemic vulnerabilities both in the West and closer to home for their own gain. However, the absence of significant cyberattacks in Ukraine has raised questions about how well we really understand how Russia’s cyber forces are organized. How do we unpack the complex web of Russian actors? What steps can the West take to mitigate future cyberattacks?
Gazprom’s response to EU oil caps
Yale School of Management, Business Retreats and Sanctions Are Crippling the Russian Economy- Aug 22
Our team of experts, using private Russian language and direct data sourcesincluding high frequency consumer data, cross-channel checks, releases from Russia’s international trade partners, and data mining of complex shipping data,have released one of the first comprehensive economic analyses measuring Russian current economic activity five months into the invasion. From our analysis it becomes clear: business retreats and sanctions are catastrophically crippling the Russian economy.
This is an incredible powerpoint report on Russia’s current economic situation. Please take time to read through it. Is Germany waking up?
Back in the US…
