Later yesterday German media sources said the findings of the NYT also are confirmed by investigations by a network of German brodcasting stations and newspaper that either ran their investigation parrallel to those of the NYT, or the NYT was part of that network. That was not clear for me.



Means: whatever it is what they say now, its not just the Times saying it.



I rule out nothing and see nothing as confirmed. I am that open that I even do not rule out that Scholz' latest Blitz visit in the White House only served the purpose to coordinate with Biden a scenario like claiming that the Ukraine is behind this pipeline assault - all just to construct a case that allows to withdraw support from them without loosing too much face. I dont say it has been like this, its just that I do not trust politicians, that I consider every government to be capable of anything and being one of the coldest of all monsters, and that I am indeed not ruling out anything or take anything for granted. So far my most probable scenario was: the Russians, and this all could be a false flag operation by them to lay foul traces to blame Kyiv, or that it is internal Russian opposition to Putin, or Ukrainian "private" action without knowledge by Kyiv.



If in the forseeable future we see sudden disruptions in supplying Ukraine - then it gets dubious and very suspicous. It could mean that the US laid wrong traces to have an option to pull out - or that the ukraine indeed was behind the attack on the pipeline. In which case it would be perfectly understandable and legitimate if Germany slams both feet onto the breaks and pulls out in full. Thats why I gave the ukrainian responsibility the most unlikely probability after the attacks: they have too much to loose.



Finally, who can tell for sure what kind of published information these days really is unmanipulated and authentic anymore...?


So many "ifs", so many possibilities...

As for who did it. I’m still going with the idea it was any one of those who didn’t want to see Nord Stream built to begin with or see strengthening ties between Germans and Russians again. Which pretty much accounts for almost everyone in Europe and the United States. From there it can be narrowed down to who was capable of pulling it off. The U.S., Brits, Danes, Swedes, Norway, Poland. Maybe France but they have more than enough domestic problems to contend with.

Ukraine denies involvement in Nord Stream pipeline blasts

Ukraine has denied any involvement in September's attack on the Nord Stream pipelines, which were built to carry Russian natural gas to Germany.

The denial follows a report from the New York Times, which cites anonymous US intelligence officials who suggest a pro-Ukrainian group was to blame.

Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to the Ukrainian president, said Ukraine "was absolutely not involved".

Moscow questioned how the US could make assumptions without an investigation.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called the report a "co-ordinated fake news media campaign" and told the state news agency Ria-Novosti those who attacked the pipeline "clearly... want to divert attention."

Russia has blamed the West for the explosions and called on the UN Security Council to independently investigate them.

German media say investigators believe they have identified the boat used to plant the explosives.

Russian gas deliveries had been suspended before the blasts. Russia shut down the Nord Stream 1 pipeline in August last year, saying it needed maintenance. Nord Stream 2 had never been put into service.

The exact cause of the 26 September blasts that hit the natural gas pipelines is unknown, but it is widely believed they were attacked.

Nato and Western leaders have stopped short of directly accusing Russia of attacking its own pipelines, although the EU has previously said Russia uses its gas pipelines as a weapon against the West.

On Tuesday, the New York Times reported that new intelligence reviewed by US officials suggested that a pro-Ukrainian group had carried out the attack on the Nord Stream pipelines.

Citing anonymous US officials, the report said there was no evidence that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky or his top lieutenants were involved in the operation.

The US newspaper reported that the officials declined to disclose the nature of the intelligence, how it was obtained or "any details of the strength of the evidence it contains".

It added: "Officials who have reviewed the intelligence said they believed the saboteurs were most likely Ukrainian or Russian nationals, or some combination of the two."

Responding to the New York Times report, Mr Podolyak added that Kyiv had no information about what had happened.

Also on Tuesday, German newspaper Die Zeit reported that German authorities had made a breakthrough in their investigation into the cause of the attacks.

According to joint research published by the paper and other German media organisations, the boat used to plant the explosives was a yacht hired from a firm based in Poland, which reportedly belonged to two Ukrainians. The nationalities of those who carried out the attack were unclear.

Germany's public prosecutor declined to comment on the report but Defence Minister Boris Pistorius warned against jumping to conclusions. It could be a false-flag operation aimed at pinning the blame on pro-Ukrainian groups, he told German radio: "The likelihood of one [theory] or the other is just as high."

At least 50m (164ft) of the underwater Nord Stream 1 pipeline bringing Russian gas to Germany is thought to have been destroyed by September's blast.

Danish police believe "powerful explosions" blew four holes in the pipe and its newer twin, Nord Stream 2.

German, Danish and Swedish authorities have all been investigating the incident.

Mr Peskov said Nord Stream shareholder countries should insist on an urgent, transparent investigation.

"We are still not allowed in the investigation," he said. "Only a few days ago we received notes to that effect from the Danes and Swedes. This whole thing is not just weird. It reeks of a heinous crime."

For decades, Russia supplied huge amounts of natural gas to Western Europe. But after the war in Ukraine began in February of last year, most EU countries drastically reduced their reliance on Russian energy.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-64877979

Biden and Macron discussed support for Ukraine

US President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron discussed support for Ukraine and challenges posed by China during a telephone conversation.

This was reported in the White House, Censor.NET informs

"Both leaders discussed their support for Ukraine, including their commitment to continue providing security assistance to Ukraine and to exact reparations from Russia for aggression," the report said.

Biden and Macron also talked about cooperation between the US and France in the Indo-Pacific region and joint efforts to respond to challenges posed by China to the rules-based world order. Source: https://censor.net/en/n3404345

Switzerland opposes the export of weapons to Ukraine, - President Berset

On the sidelines of meetings at the United Nations, Swiss President Alain Berse said that his country, as before, opposes arms exports to war-torn Ukraine.

This is reported by Censor.NET with reference to European Pravda.

"Discussion about the export of arms, armaments... as long as we have (our) legislative framework in Switzerland, this is impossible," said Berset, who currently serves as the country's president on a rotating basis for one year.

Switzerland prohibits the re-export of Swiss weapons to countries at war, but the country's long tradition of neutrality has been debated since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

"For the government and for the Federal Council, we must, and we want, to support this legal framework and work within this legal framework," he said.

His comments came after Berlin asked Switzerland in late February to allow German arms manufacturer Rheinmetall to buy old Swiss Leopard tanks, with guarantees that they would not be transferred to Ukraine.

Despite pressure from Kyiv and its allies, Switzerland has so far refused to allow countries that own Swiss-made weapons to re-export them to Ukraine and has so far rejected direct requests from Germany, Spain, and Denmark.

Several initiatives to loosen re-export rules are under consideration in parliament, but any decision is likely to be months away.

Berse, who met in New York with the head of the UN Antonio Guterres just before the Secretary General's trip to Ukraine, noted that the Swiss parliament "has many opportunities to change laws."

"If the parliament agrees to change this legal framework, then we will work in the context of this new legal framework, but we will also need time," he said.

But, he emphasized, "exceptions cannot be made from the legal framework." Source: https://censor.net/en/n3404349

Russian army faced dilemma: where to try to advance - British intelligence

The occupying troops of the Russian Federation have been advancing unsuccessfully in the Vuhledar direction for 3 months, and now the command is solving a dilemma: whether to make another attempt.

This was announced on Twitter by the Ministry of Defense of Great Britain with reference to intelligence data, Censor.NET reports.

It is noted, that on March 4, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation published a video of the "rare visit to Ukraine by the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation Serhii Shoigu."

"There is a real possibility that this was partly a response to the recent footage of the owner of the PMC "Wagner" Evgeny Prigozhin visiting his fighters on the front lines," the intelligence said.

At the same time, it is noted that the only Russian field commander shown in the video was Colonel General Rustam Muradov.

"Muradov is responsible for the Vuhledar direction of the Donetsk region, where several assaults have failed over the past three months. Until recently, the Russian command probably viewed the breakthrough in Vuhledar as a key way to achieve an operationally significant breakthrough in Ukraine.

Russian planners likely faced a dilemma: whether to attempt another assault on Vuhledar or maintain intense fighting further north from Bakhmut and Kreminna," British intelligence concluded. Source: https://censor.net/en/n3404350

Ukraine is building up forces for offensive, - Economist

Almost a third of the Ukrainian army will soon have weapons according to NATO standards.

As reported by Censor.NET, this is stated in The Economist's article "Ukraine Builds Up Forces for Offensive".

"In December, America and Great Britain realized that a protracted war was not in the interests of the West. In addition, Russia turned out to be even weaker than previously thought," the authors noted.

The turning point occurred on January 20 at the eighth meeting of the Contact Group on Defense of Ukraine, the publication writes. There, the allies agreed to arm Ukraine.

Journalists note that the pace of arms arrival to Ukraine has turned "from a trickle into a stream."

"Of all the military aid promised by the Pentagon since the beginning of the war, 40% - more than 8 billion dollars - arrived in the three months after December 9. A European defense official says the arms shipments agreed to in Germany in January alone account for two-thirds of the total sent to Ukraine in all of 2022. ... The American package includes, for example, armored bridge-laying equipment, which will be vital for any offensive in the south or east," the article says.

As a result, the publication notes, "the Ukrainian army is being transformed" and almost a third of the Ukrainian army will soon have weapons according to NATO standards.

If at the end of last year, the ratio of Ukrainian and Western weapons was five to one, then as aid arrives, it is expected to drop to five to two, the authors say. Source: https://censor.net/en/n3404379

Western intelligence has known name of Ukrainian sponsor of Nord Stream bombing for several months - Times

The name of a Ukrainian - a private sponsor who allegedly financed the sabotage of Russian gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea - was known to Western intelligence circles for months. But they deliberately decided not to disclose it to protect Ukraine.

The British publication The Times writes about this, Censor.NET reports with reference to European Pravda.

According to the publication, already a week after the explosions on the Nord Streams, the employees of the unnamed Scandinavian delegation in Brussels received intelligence information that the Americans, Russians, or Poles were not behind the explosions, but a private initiative from Ukraine. Diplomats were told that this information would not be made public.

північний
The name of a Ukrainian - a private sponsor who allegedly financed the sabotage of Russian gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea - was known to Western intelligence circles for months. But they deliberately decided not to disclose it to protect Ukraine.

The British publication The Times writes about this, Censor.NET reports with reference to European Pravda.

According to the publication, already a week after the explosions on the Nord Streams, the employees of the unnamed Scandinavian delegation in Brussels received intelligence information that the Americans, Russians, or Poles were not behind the explosions, but a private initiative from Ukraine. Diplomats were told that this information would not be made public.
Read more: Germany has no evidence that Russia is behind explosions on "Nord Streams", - Prosecutor General Frank

As the publication writes, the name of the private sponsor of the sabotage - an unnamed Ukrainian - is not connected with the government of President Zelensky.

This is how the publication explains why they decided to hide the name of the Ukrainian sponsor:

"Nato officials apparently wanted to save Ukraine from a public spat with Germany, which was delaying the delivery of vital military aid, including Leopard 2 tanks and IRIS-T air defense systems. This is quite fair - they probably knew who was responsible before the presidential administration or the Ministry of Defense in Kyiv, who were stunned by the report and stubbornly deny their involvement," the publication said.

The newspaper notes that the "influential figure" who financed the operation had no intention of strengthening the position of critics of the German arms supply, who are putting pressure on Olaf Scholz's government.

The newspaper notes that the complex operation involved the involvement of a yacht, elite divers, forged passports, and the purchase of charges of cumulative explosives, available only to the gas and oil industry under a special license and for a lot of money.

"His name will definitely come out, especially if you consider that he left a kind of business card," the publication summarizes.

It will be recalled that on Tuesday, the authoritative American liberal publication The New York Times published an article with reference to sources and intelligence data, which tend to believe that non-governmental groups, which could include Russians and Ukrainians, are behind the explosion of the Nord Stream gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea.

And according to German media, the investigation in Germany has identified a vessel that was used to sabotage the Russian Nord Stream gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea in the fall of 2022 and believes that it is somehow connected to Ukraine.

Mykhailo Podolyak, the adviser to the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, said that Ukraine was not involved in the explosions on the Russian gas pipelines "Nord Stream" and had no information about any pro-Ukrainian agents who could have done it. Source: https://censor.net/en/n3404392

Leopard 2 from Germany and Portugal will arrive in Ukraine already this month, - Pistorius

Leopard 2A6 main battle tanks promised by Germany and Portugal will be delivered to Ukraine by the end of March.

This was stated by the Minister of Defense of Germany, Boris Pistorius, Censor.NET reports with reference to the EP.

"I can tell you that I have just learned that 18 German Leopard 2A6 tanks and three Portuguese tanks may arrive in Ukraine this month," he said on the sidelines of a meeting of EU defense ministers in Sweden.

The tanks will arrive in the country with trained crews, and then they can go to the front.

It was previously reported that Portugal will repair and send three Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine in March. Source: https://censor.net/en/n3404400

Zaluzhny did not fall into Russia’s trap in Bakhmut and did not begin to spend reserves of AFU, - The Economist

The Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Valery Zaluzhny, did not fall into the trap of the Russians in Bakhmut and did not burn reserves for the offensive.

The Economist writes about this with reference to sources, Censor.NET reports with reference to Liga.net.

The publication writes that Russia's offensive, which began at the end of January, was partly intended to force Ukraine to use reserves, which would greatly complicate a future counteroffensive.

It is noted that the battle for Bakhmut resulted in significantly greater losses for the Russians than for the Ukrainians.

"And what is even more important: General Zaluzhny avoided an obvious trap," the article says.

Instead of throwing significant reserves into Bakhmut, the general sent troops abroad for training in Western technology. Source: https://censor.net/en/n3404407

Iran secretly handed Russia hundreds of thousands of shells, - Sky News

Iran secretly supplied Russia with hundreds of thousands of bullets, rockets and mortar shells for the war against Ukraine.

As reported by Censor.NET with reference to Sky News.

According to the publication's source, two Russian-flagged cargo ships left an Iranian port in January, heading to Russia via the Caspian Sea. They carried approximately 100 million bullets and about 300 thousand shells. It is reported that the ships also had ammunition for MLRS, mortars, and machine guns. It is noted that the Russian Federation paid for the ammunition in cash.

The publication's source also reported that the two cargo ships, which probably took part in the transportation of ammunition from Iran to Russia, are named Musa Jalil and Begey. Both sail under the Russian flag.

One of the ships reportedly left Iran on or about January 10, and the other on or about January 12. According to the source, both ships were transporting about 200 transport containers filled with weapons. Investigations by Sky News' data and forensics department confirmed the general claim of the ships moving, although the dates varied slightly. Journalists were unable to independently check what exactly the ships were transporting.

The marine tracker MarineTraffic recorded two ships in the Iranian port of Amirabad in the Caspian Sea on January 9. Satellite images from the next day showed at least one of the vessels still in port. According to marine tracking data, the Musa Jalil left the port around 10:00 a.m. local time on January 10 and the Begey on the same day. On January 12, both ships stopped off the coast of Turkmenistan for several days. The reason for the stop is unknown. The ships then crossed the Caspian Sea and arrived in the Russian port of Astrakhan on January 27. According to tracking data, they remained in port for several days before leaving on February 3.

The security source did not confirm the name of the port in Iran from which the two ships left, nor the port in Russia where they arrived. However, it confirmed that the ships were heading to Russia via the Caspian Sea.

"Iran sent two cargo ships to the war zone in Ukraine, carrying approximately 200 new transport containers containing ammunition for Russian military operations in Ukraine," the source said.

According to sources, on board the ships were:

approximately 100 million bullets of various sizes used by the occupiers in pistols, assault rifles, and machine guns;

grenades for grenade launchers;

anti-tank missiles and mortar shells of various sizes;

artillery rockets;
approximately 10,000 body armour and helmets.

Also remind, that earlier it was reported that Russia is afraid to buy Iranian ballistic missiles because in this case, the USA threatens to provide Ukraine with ATACMS. Source: https://censor.net/en/n3404406

Is the Geneva Convention being adhered to at all? :hmmm:

With regard to Ukraine I'd like to think so but who can say for certain and with regard to Russia I would say definitely not.

Pentagon doesn’t want to share evidence of Russian atrocities amid fears international court may target US

The Pentagon is standing in the way of the Biden administration sharing evidence of Russian war crimes in Ukraine with the International Criminal Court in The Hague, fearing that an investigation would risk setting a precedent that could be used to target US officials in the future.

According to reporting from The New York Times, the Department of Defense is the only part of the administration that does not want to share the evidence. The State Department, Justice Department, and intelligence agencies all favour handing evidence over to the court.

The decision about what to do will ultimatley fall to President Joe Biden, who the Times reported has not yet signalled what he plans to do.

The International Criminal Court has been investigating Russia since close to the beginning of its invasion of Ukraine, and the US reportedly has evidence that Russian officials have deliberately targeted civilian infrastructure and planned to abduct thousands of Ukrainian children.

That evidence could prove critical to the court’s investigation. But the US has long been sceptical of cooperating with the court, which was established in the 1998 to investigate genocides and crimes against humanity, out of fears that it could target Americans for their own crimes. Unlike allies like Great Britain, the US has never joined the Court.

Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, however, seems to have changed the calculation for some. In December, Congress voted to amend restrictions on how the US can help the court to allow it to provide assistance regarding potential crimes in Ukraine.

Sen Lindsey Graham of South Carolina told the Times that he’d like to see the administration turn over the evidence and criticised the Department of Defense’s position.

“DOD opposed the legislative change — it passed overwhelmingly — and they are now trying to undermine the letter and spirit of the law,” Mr Graham said. “It seems to me that DOD is the problem child here, and the sooner we can get the information into the hands of the ICC, the better off the world will be.”

There are also those who believe that the US should turn over its evidence and that US officials should be investigated and prosecuted by the Court if they are suspected of having perpetrated war crimes or crimes against humanity.

For the moment, the US is in a tricky position. Previous presidential administrations have argued that the Court should not have the authority to investigate citizens from countries that have not joined it, a stance that would protect US violators of international law, and, in this case, would protect Russian citizens too given that Russia has also declined to join the Court.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world...253f6556&ei=37