Defense Ministry says Russian troops are stationed in 10 settlements in Belarus. Without naming the exact number of Russian troops, Ukraine’s Defense Ministry spokesman Oleksandr Motuzyanyk said, “the main goal is to prevent the regrouping of our forces in other directions.”

In the meanwhile, further details are emerging on Putin's Poop Patrol, possibly the least glamorous job in international diplomacy... https://twitter.com/faridaily_/statu...29560731709441

^ just of all Serbia arrested him? :hmmm:
Signs and wonders.

Yeah, the oxymoron is great in the force

^ Depends on whether he gets extradicted to Kyiv or Moscow. ;) Who says that beside his past treason he sold the Russians ALL secrets they wanted to know?

So Putin likens himself to Tsar Peter the Great.

I don't think Putin has the format of Peter the Great.

Markus

Peter also seems to be differently perceived. 20 years ago it was Western Europe who willingly compared Putin to Peter. Though for very different reasons.
Megalomania, plain and simple. Lock him away to the other loonies.

FOCUS:

France wants to participate in a possible operation to end the blockade of the Ukrainian port of Odessa. The goal is to allow ships to pass through in order to export grain stored in Ukraine, the Elysée Palace announced Friday. France is seeking a "victory for Ukraine," it added.

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Its the first time AFAIK that a Western state has explicitly talked of a victory for Ukraine.

I wonder whether that was before or after Putin made his speech to students where he compared himself to Peter the Great and revealed that he wants to take many more lands home into the empire.

Two days ago they also threatened to invade Germany. No, I am not impressed, I just mention it to remind of how lunatic and hate-filled and hostile they are.

For the Ukraine it would be a risk to remove sea mines at its ports, especially Odessa. They did not mine the sea and the beaches for no reason. I would trust neither Turkey nor France to keep the unmined areas safe from Russian attacks, if I were the Ukraine. I expect both states to abruptly end it if they see that favourable for them - and if then the Russians attack, so be it. And Turkey plays its own game with Russia anyway.

“Intense street to street fighting is ongoing” in Severodonetsk, according to the UK’s Ministry of Defence.

It says Russian forces have not made advances into the south of the city, but both sides are likely suffering high numbers of casualties.

EU chief Ursula von der Leyen is visiting Kyiv to discuss with President Zelensky his country's bid to get candidacy status to join the European Union.

Ukraine is doing everything possible to save three foreign nationals sentenced to death by a Russian proxy court, a lawmaker says.

Britons Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner, and Moroccan national Saaudun Brahim, were captured fighting with the Ukrainian army and tried as mercenaries.

Joe Inwood

Reporting from Kyiv

As we've been reporting, Russia is running short of modern weapons and is having to resort to using heavy anti-ship missiles in ground attacks against Ukraine - which are highly inaccurate and can cause significant casualties and collateral damage, the UK's defence ministry says.

We saw a few weeks ago during Russia's strikes on the southern city of Odesa they were using old soviet stock.

The analysis we're getting is that it's symptomatic of the Russians running out of weapons.

They've used up their more modern ballistic cruise missiles, they've used their more high-tech precision weaponry, so there having to dig deep into the arsenals to find out what they have lying around.

I'm sure some Russians would dispute that - they'd say there are some tactical reasons for doing this, but it's quite likely, especially given the sanctions Russia is under, that a lots of its weaponry requires modern western technology imports to make new stocks.

So once they've used them all, given the sanctions there under, maybe they have to result to old equipment.

I recall that during the Gulf war 1991 the Americans, especially their Air Force, after some time ran out of precision and smart ammunitions and had to increasingly depend on "dumb" iron bombs. That the Russians undergo a comparable fate, sounds believable to me. Ukraine is anything but a small country, the frontline is long, and the fighting intense. Ammo must be consumed at alarming rates. Which is obviously an even bigger issue for the ukrainians, plus their losses in firing platforms. The Russians at least have huge stockpiles of old and outdated stuff to come back to. The Ukrainians...? They already use all they have.

FOCUS:


The Telegram channel "General SVR" reports that Putin has been granted "urgent medical assistance". The channel says it is run by a well-informed Kremlin insider.

The Kremlin leader reportedly suffered from "severe nausea, weakness and dizziness" when he got up from his desk after a 90-minute virtual meeting. His doctors then advised Putin to stop making "lengthy" public appearances. The report does not give an exact date for the incident.

"General SVR" also writes, however, that the emergency is the reason for postponing Putin's annual "Question Time" on state TV. In fact, the traditional TV citizens' question time "The Direct Wire" will not be held this year in June, as it often was before. Preparations for the event are underway, but there is no specific date yet, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the Interfax agency last Wednesday. He ruled out the possibility of the event taking place in June.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

Ukraine is running out of artillery ammo for its Soviet weapons and is outnumbered 10-15 to 1 in artillery by the Russians.

https://www.foxnews.com/world/ukrain...gence-official

As I have said before, it looks increasingly clear that the Russians have hit on a winning strategy. How much longer can the Ukranians hold off what looks like an inevitable defeat.

Before the first Iraqi war the logistic from Europe and USA was huge. Everyday a looong cargo train left Denmark with war material. Several times per day a cargo ship arrived to Saudi-Arabia with war material and every 10 minutes or so-a Cargo plane landed with either soldiers and/or material.

I wonder if we have to upscale the delivery to Ukraine as it was when it was on it's highest before and under the first Iraqi war ?

Markus