Puppet MastersS


Rocket

Russia's Defense Ministry: Kiev forces fired missiles, including ballistic Tochka-U rockets, at the city of Kherson in southern Ukraine

missile system
© SputnikOTR-21 Tochka U missile systems during a military parade in Kiev Sputnik
Russia's Defense Ministry claimed on Thursday that Ukrainian forces fired more than a dozen missiles overnight at the city of Kherson in southern Ukraine, which was seized by Russian troops in early March. The ministry said in a statement that Russian air defenses intercepted the rockets.

According to Moscow, late on Wednesday the Ukrainian military launched at least two 'Tochka-U' ballistic missiles as well as 12 missiles from a high-powered multiple rocket launcher, apparently targeting residential areas of Kherson. The incoming rockets were, however, shot down by the Russian forces deployed in the city. A video released by the Russian Defense Ministry appears to show the aftermath of the shelling, with what looks like missile debris seen in the footage.

The ministry branded the attack a war crime, saying the
"criminal, indiscriminate strike by the nationalists targeted residential areas along Ushakov Avenue, as well as nurseries, schools and other social infrastructure." The attack represented a "direct violation of international humanitarian law."

Target

Poland has secret plan for Ukraine, Moscow claims

troop exercise
© AFP/Janek SkarzynskPolish troops in exercise with soldiers from Britain, America and Romania in Bemowo Piskie
Intelligence obtained by Russia suggests that Poland and the US are working on a plan for Warsaw to regain control of Ukrainian areas that Warsaw considers as "historically belonging" to it, Moscow's Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) chief Sergey Naryshkin has said.

According to the alleged plan, the first stage of this "reunification" will see Polish "peacekeepers" deployed in western Ukraine under the pretext of "protection from Russian aggression," Naryshkin outlined in a statement on Thursday.

The details of the operation are now being discussed between Warsaw and the US government, he claimed, adding that the operation is designed to be executed without a NATO mandate, and only volunteer states taking part.

Warsaw has so far been unable to find any other nations to join its cause, he added. But the Polish authorities are unconcerned by this, as they want to minimize the number of "unnecessary witnesses" to their actions. Despite their publicly declared goal of countering Moscow, the Polish troops would be deployed in parts of Ukraine where they'll have almost no chance of engaging Russian forces, Naryshkin explained.

Footprints

New Pentagon report: US left billions worth of military equipment behind in Afghanistan

2 guys vehicle
© Waki Kohsar/AFP/GettyImagesSpoils of War
The value of U.S. military equipment abandoned in Afghanistan is reportedly more than $7 billion, according to a new Pentagon report.

The U.S. gave $18.6 billion of equipment to the Afghan security forces over the course of 16 years beginning in 2005 and ending in August 2021, according to the report, which was first viewed by CNN. Out of that equipment, $7.12 billion-worth was left behind when the Biden administration completed the U.S. military withdrawal from the country last year.

Comment: US will again abandon its 'gifts' in Ukraine, where long and continued use is the plan.


Gear

Rep. Cawthorn says 'establishment' targeting him with 'coordinated drip campaign'

madison cawthorn
© Courtesy of the Committee on Arrangements for the 2020 Republican National Committee via Getty ImagesIn this screenshot from the Republican National Convention’s livestream of the 2020 Republican National Convention, North Carolina congressional nominee Madison Cawthorn addresses the virtual convention on Aug. 26, 2020.
Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-N.C.) is accusing certain people of targeting him with a "coordinated drip campaign" in an effort to undermine his bid to seek reelection this year.

"They're going to drop an attack article every one or two days just to try and kill us with a death by 1,000 cuts, and that is really their main strategy," Cawthorn said in an April 26 statement on Instagram.

Cawthorn, 26, has been facing backlash over several controversies, including being detained by police in North Carolina over possessing a loaded gun at the Charlotte Douglas International Airport earlier on April 26.

Comment:

See also:


War Whore

British FM Liz Truss says a 'Global NATO' needs to arm Taiwan, like Ukraine

liz truss british foreign secretary
© Olivier Matthys / Pool via APBritish Foreign Secretary Liz Truss at NATO headquarters in Brussels, January 24, 2022.
The world order created after the Second World War and the Cold War isn't working anymore, so the West needs "a global NATO" to pursue geopolitics anew, UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss argued, in a major foreign policy speech on Wednesday. Truss also urged the US-led bloc to send more "heavy weapons, tanks" and airplanes to Ukraine, and said China would face the same treatment as Russia if it doesn't "play by the rules."

"My vision is a world where free nations are assertive and in the ascendant. Where freedom and democracy are strengthened through a network of economic and security partnerships," Truss said in a speech at a Mansion House banquet in London.

Dubbing this arrangement "the Network of Liberty," Truss argued it was necessary because the economic and security structures developed after 1945 - such as the UN Security Council - "have been bent out of shape so far, they have enabled rather than contained aggression."

Comment: See also:


Eye 1

The Madeleine Albright I Knew

The Consortium News editor-in-chief covered Madeleine Albright, who died on March 23, on a daily basis between 1993 and 1997 when she was the U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Here are some of his recollections.

Madeleine Albright
Security Council President Madeleine Albright, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Nov.15, 1994. (UN Photo/Evan Schneider)
Every ambassador who represents the United States at the United Nations is arguably regarded by default as the most powerful person at the U.N. It has nothing to do with the individual qualities of the American diplomat, but of the pre-eminent position the U.S. plays in the world and at the U.N.

As a correspondent based at U.N. Headquarters in New York for a quarter century from 1990 to 2015, I covered every U.S. ambassador, from the career civil servant Thomas Pickering, to the right-wing ideologue John Bolton, to the liberal interventionist Samatha Power to Madeleine Albright, who died last month and was memorialized on Wednesday.

All of them to one degree or another used U.S. clout at the U.N. to push America's aggressive foreign policy in the world. Albright was among the most aggressive. She was in the forefront of America's push for war in the Balkans and continued aggression on Iraq.

Comment:




Question

Who's aiming to eventually own everything, including you?

blackrock

The 45-minute video above, "Monopoly — Follow the Money," provides a comprehensive overview of who really owns the world. As it turns out, the vast majority of the world's assets are owned by just two investment firms — BlackRock and the Vanguard Group.

Combined, they have ownership in nearly 90% of all S&P 500 firms,1 and through their investment holdings they secretly wield monopoly control over all industries. In short, the idea that there is competition in the marketplace is a clever illusion.

BlackRock Is Buying Up Homes


Magnify

Moldova rejects Kiev's offer to help 'capture' Transnistria, President of Transnistria blames recent terror attacks on Ukraine

Tiraspol,  Transnistria
© Getty Images / Leisa Tyler / FileThe city council with a statue of Lenin in Tiraspol, the capital city of Transnistria
Moldova has turned down the "offer" to capture its breakaway region of Transnistria by force floated by Kiev, stating that it seeks to reintegrate the self-proclaimed republic only through political means.

"The settlement of the Transnistrian issue can be achieved by political means and only on the basis of a peaceful solution, excluding military and other forcible actions, as well as on the basis of the principles of democratization and demilitarization of the region, [and] respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Moldova," the country's office for reintegration told RIA Novosti on Wednesday.

The statement came in response to remarks made by Alexey Arestovich, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The official suggested the country was capable of "capturing" Transnistria should Chisinau formally request Kiev's help in conquering the breakaway region.

Fish

US claims Russia has deployed trained dolphins at Black Sea naval base

dolphin
© Raymond Roig/AFP/Getty ImagesRussia has a history of training dolphins for military purposes.
Russia has deployed trained military dolphins at its naval base in the Black Sea - possibly to protect its fleet from an underwater attack - according to new analysis of satellite images.

The US Naval Institute (USNI) reviewed satellite imagery of the naval base at Sevastopol harbor, and concluded that two dolphin pens were moved to the base in February at the start of Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.

Russia has a history of training dolphins for military purposes, using the aquatic mammal to retrieve objects or deter enemy divers.

Comment: Regarding the 'spy whale', Caitlin Johnstone reported at the time:
Why is the Russian military writing "Equipment of St. Petersburg" in English on the garments of its aquatic special ops forces, you may ask? If there were indeed a secret beluga espionage squad assembled by Russian intelligence services, would they not perhaps avoid writing the home address of the whales on their harnesses altogether, and maybe, you know, not let them run free in the wild?



Arrow Up

Poland's PM admits Russia sanctions don't work, despite this EU working 'intensively' on sixth round of sanctions

Ruble currency
© The Cradle
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki on Wednesday noted Russia's success in resisting Western sanctions, expressing his regrets about the fact.

"So far, we see that Russia, unfortunately, is coping well with the sanctions," he told reporters, adding that in order to "correct" the situation, Warsaw would work on developing new penalties.

Moscow has confirmed the failure of the plans by 'unfriendly' nations to "strangle Russia economically."

Comment: It's not exactly clear what they intend to do, particularly because experts from around the world have already admitted that Europe has no alternative to Russia's gas and oil, although one can expect that the establishment are getting desperate and will resort to even dirtier tactics than simply arming neo-Nazi's.