#Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout

[thejewishlink]

US swaps ‘Merchant of Death’ for WNBA player Griner

US swaps ‘Merchant of Death’ for WNBA player Griner

Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout is released from a federal penitentiary in a prisoner exchange for basketball star Brittney Griner. (December 8, 2022 / JNS) American basketball player Brittney Griner was released from Russian captivity on Thursday, in a one-on-one prisoner exchange for arms dealer Viktor Bout. “She’s safe. She’s on a plane,” President Joe Biden said in brief remarks at the White…

[mariacallous]

How do you solve a problem like the Houthis?

The U.S. Navy has certainly tried. It’s fired missiles at the militia’s facilities in Yemen. Together with the British Royal Navy, it has intercepted Houthi missiles being fired at ships in the Red Sea. All sorts of Western navies are conducting patrols in the troubled waters. But the Houthis are not relenting. On the contrary, they have asked the world’s most notorious arms dealer for more weapons. And the arrival of Russia’s Viktor Bout in the Red Sea is bad news for global shipping.

The Houthis are unlike any other adversary that Western militaries have faced in the past few decades. They’re not traditional armed forces. They’re not a Taliban-like insurgency outfit whose only objective is to seize territorial power. And they’re definitely not a mere criminal gang, like Somalia’s pirates.

Instead, the group is a powerful militia that has discovered that it can attack ships to get global attention, and it uses weapons ordinarily reserved for official armed forces.

Not even Hezbollah has such capabilities—or at least, it doesn’t use them, perhaps because Lebanon depends on shipping for its survival. Since the Houthis launched their campaign against Western-linked vessels, they’ve certainly been getting the attention they crave, and they’ve been demonstrating that they have access to highly sophisticated weaponry.

On Oct. 10, for example, the Yemeni outfit struck a Liberian-flagged ship with drones and missiles, and less than a month before that, they fired a missile that reached central Israel before being disabled by an Israeli interceptor.

The Houthis claimed the missile they directed at Israel was hypersonic, which has not been confirmed and is unlikely, but they like to brag. Their attacks seem designed to keep the global public in a state of fear over what might come next. And now, the Wall Street Journal reports, the group is in talks with Viktor Bout over the delivery of additional weapons.

Bout, you may remember, is the world’s most notorious arms dealer. The Russian merchant—who is known as the “merchant of death” and has also worked for Russia’s GRU intelligence service—spent nearly two decades selling weapons to armed groups around the world. Death and destruction followed wherever his weapons went.

But in 2008, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) managed to get him arrested in a sting operation in Thailand. He was subsequently extradited to the United States and sentenced to 25 years in prison on several counts, including conspiracy to kill Americans.

“He’s one of the most dangerous men on the face of the earth,” Michael Braun—the DEA’s chief of operations until 2008—told CBS’s 60 Minutes in 2010.

But two years ago, the United States decided to trade Bout for an American citizen imprisoned in Russia, basketballer Brittney Griner. Former DEA officials were aghast. So were U.S. military personnel, who had seen the immense harm that Bout’s weapons were doing.

Writing in Foreign Policy, Braun strongly advised against the exchange, noting that Bout remained close to the Kremlin: “Even after formally leaving the GRU, Bout enjoyed the backing of—and at times took assignments from—his former employer.” But the Biden administration believed, or wanted to believe, that the Bout of 2022 was much less dangerous than the Bout of 2008.

And now the Houthis have turned to the wily arms dealer. Before his arrest one-and-a-half decades ago, he specialized AK-47s and grenade launchers, but he seems to be able to deliver whatever his clients need.

In 2008, he offered two FARC guerrillas who’d arranged to meet him in Thailand 30,000 AK-47s, “10 million rounds of ammunition, or more, five tons of C-4 plastic explosives, ultralight airplanes outfitted with grenade launchers, mortars, unmanned aerial vehicles, Dragunov sniper rifles with night vision, vehicle-mounted anti-aircraft cannons that could take down an airliner,” not to mention some 700 to 800 MANPADs (man-portable air-defense systems), as Politico subsequently reported. (Alas for Bout, the guerillas had been turned by the DEA, and Bout was arrested.)

That means that Western navies and shipping companies have to prepare for the potential arrival of new weaponry in the Red Sea. The first two deliveries facilitated by Bout, expected as early as this month, “will be mostly AK-74s, an upgraded version of the AK-47 assault rifle,” the Wall Street Journal reported in early October. Bout and the Houthis have also discussed Kornet anti-tank missiles and anti-aircraft weapons.

The Houthis may well need automatic assault rifles in their armed conflict against Yemen’s official government, but it’s the larger weapons that Western countries should worry most about. If Bout’s relationship with the Houthis takes off, anti-ship weapons could well follow. Thanks to Iran, the Houthis already have access to drones and missiles, but Iran is weakened and may not be able to focus much on the Houthis. That’s where Bout could be useful.

And the arms dealer’s talks with the Houthis are hardly a freelance venture. Since his return from a U.S. prison, Bout—hailed as a hero by Russian state media—has entered the warm embrace of the Russian state, and in last year’s regional elections, he was elected a member of the Ulyanovsk state parliament. If he procures weapons for the Houthis, it will be with the knowledge or even assistance of the Kremlin.

The Kremlin has already shown a desire to help the Houthis. Iran is brokering talks between Russia and the militia that would see Russian P-800 Oniks anti-ship missiles delivered to the Houthis, Reuters reported in September.

The powerful missiles, which have a range of 300 kilometers (186 miles) and carry a 200-kilogram (440 pound) high-explosive warhead, would significantly increase the risk for merchant vessels in the Red Sea—and even for the Western naval vessels there to protect them. Indeed, the arrival of the nasty P-800 Oniks would trigger the departure of the remaining few shipping companies still sending their vessels through the Red Sea.

“The very notion of the high seas is now challenged, and once state and/or nonstate actors, especially proxies, discover a new approach that has strategic, operational, and tactical impact, it will only be mimicked by others,” retired Vice Adm. Duncan Potts, who commanded the European Union’s counter-piracy operation in the Indian Ocean at the height of the piracy resurgence there in the early 2010s, told Foreign Policy. “I fear this is a game-changer,” he added. “Defending against complex weapons needs complex weapons, and there are relatively few navies who have the capability, number of platforms, and will to do anything about it.”

It’s also about the dividing world. Ever since launching its campaign against shipping last November, the Yemeni militia has spared Russian and Chinese vessels. The two powers have shown their appreciation by not pressuring the Houthis to end their campaign and—unlike earlier operations against Red Sea pirates, where China participated—by not taking part in escort plans. (Western countries are conducting the escorts and fighting of Houthi attacks regardless of what flag ships fly and in which country they’re owned.)

The fact that Moscow appears so willing to fund an assault on Western vessels shows that global shipping is splitting in two—and a divided ocean will be a far riskier and more costly place.

[beardedmrbean]

Infamous arms dealer Viktor Bout is reportedly back to his old ways less than two years after his release from U.S. custody in a prisoner swap for WNBA star Brittney Griner.

The Wall Street Journal reported that, when emissaries from Yemen’s militant Houthi movement visited Moscow in August to negotiate a $10 million arms purchase, they encountered the man known as Vladimir Putin’s “Merchant of Death.”

The polyglot former Soviet intelligence officer turned to arms dealing after the Cold War, buying up enough surplus Soviet-era military equipment to seed his gun-running into a global enterprise that brought in hundreds of millions in revenue by selling to militant groups in Africa, Asia, and the Americas.

His alleged former clients include terrorist group al Qaeda and the guerrilla Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), as well as Western governments. He won the moniker “Sanctions Buster” for his ability to get around restrictive trade measures and his story even inspired a middling 2005 Nicolas Cage movie, for which a sequel is in the works (mercifully, Cage did not try to put on a Russian accent).

One of the world’s most wanted men, Bout was arrested in 2008 in Thailand in a sting by the Royal Thai Police and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. In 2012, he was convicted in a Manhattan federal court of trafficking arms to terrorists and sentenced to 25 years in prison.

Citing a European security official and others familiar with the August meeting in Moscow, the Journal reported that the Houthis’ arms purchase is a relatively small one, consisting of automatic weapons including AK-74s that could begin delivery as early as this month under the guise of food shipments.

However, the Houthi members who visited Moscow also inquired about other weapons Russia would be willing to sell, including anti-tank missiles and anti-aircraft weapons, the Journal’s sources said, noting that there’s no evidence Bout would be involved in those deals.

Nevertheless, even the smallest shipment will raise ire in Washington, as the Iran-backed Houthis were put back on a U.S. list of “global terrorist” groups in January.

That followed dozens of attacks by the group on merchant and commercial ships in the Red Sea, which the Houthis say is in protest of the Israel-Hamas war, in which the U.S. government has sent billions in arms to the Israeli Defense Forces.

The Houthis also recently claimed responsibility for attempted drone attacks on Israeli cities that were thwarted by Israel’s air defenses.

Russia, the Journal noted, has limited its involvement in the Middle East conflict, and arming one of the belligerent parties would constitute a notable escalation.

Bout, who said he kept a picture of Putin in his prison cell and is a fervent supporter of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, was elected to a seat in a local legislature last year.

After his release from U.S. custody, he expressed sympathy for Griner, who was sentenced to nine years in a labor camp by Russian authorities for cannabis oil cartridges found in her luggage, in what was seen as a deliberately harsh punishment.

“Of course, I feel, you know, bad or sorry for any person who’s going to be used as a pawn, despite whether they committed something or not,” Bout told ESPN, following his 2022 release in the prisoner swap for Griner.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Ramon Antonio Vargas at The Guardian (10.19.2024):

The former US marine Paul Whelan says basketball champion Brittney Griner provided “great help” to him by advocating for his freedom from Russian captivity after she was released. “Within days of her getting home, she was talking to people about how they could support me, and she had people making monetary donations, sending cards, sending letters, offering all sorts of support,” Whelan said in an interview being aired on CBS’s Face the Nation at 10.30am ET on Sunday. Whelan told the news program’s host, Margaret Brennan, that he became emotional when he saw Griner on television participating in the Paris Olympics upon his arrival at Maryland’s Joint Base Andrews after a complex prison exchange between Russia and the US resulted in his release. “It was one of those incredible moments when you’re … finally connecting things,” Whelan remarked in a clip previewing his conversation with Brennan, which was billed as his first news media interview since Russia released him.

Russia accused Whelan of being a spy and jailed him in December 2018 while he was traveling for a friend’s wedding. Though the US dismissed the allegations as bogus, Russia convicted Whelan and – in June 2020 – sentenced him to 16 years in prison. The fates of Whelan and Griner became tied to each other in February 2022, when the collegiate, WNBA and Olympic champion basketballer was arrested in Russia after agents allegedly found vape canisters with cannabis oil in her luggage as she traveled there to play during the American off-season. She later pleaded guilty to drug charges and received a nine-year prison sentence. However, in late 2022, the American government exchanged Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout as well as drug trafficker Konstantin Yaroshenko to get Griner and marine veteran Trevor Reed back to the US. The US said Russia refused to include Whelan in either deal.

Whelan later said that the US had “basically signed a death warrant” for him by twice agreeing to prisoner swaps that omitted him. Griner subsequently shouldered an active role in rallying support for other Americans detained in foreign countries. She has collaborated with Bring Our Families Home, a campaign launched in 2022 by the families of American hostages and detained persons wrongfully held overseas. And she has spoken multiple times with Joe Biden to ensure the president and others in important positions keep detainees in mind. In August, a deal among the US, Russia and five other countries resulted in Whelan being freed from Russian custody alongside Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who had also been held on espionage charges that the American government deemed meritless. Griner hailed the releases of Whelan, Gershkovich and the others as “a great day”. When Whelan saw her on television after returning to the US, Griner had helped the American women’s basketball team defeat Belgium en route to what was her third consecutive Olympic gold medal with the group.

On CBS’s Face The Nation Sunday, Paul Whelan credited Brittney Griner for his help in returning to America.

From the 10.20.2024 edition of CBS's Face The Nation:

[bighermie]

Russian Arms Dealer and "Merchant of Death" Viktor Bout Who Joe Biden Exchanged for Pot-Smoking Brittney Griner Is Back in Business Selling $10 Million in Arms to Houthi Rebels | The Gateway Pundit | by Jim Hoft

[the-eternal-quest-for-balance]

Nothing ever seems to go right for this ridiculous, tyrannical administration.

The infamous “Merchant of Death” Viktor Bout, who Joe Biden traded for WNBA pot-smoking star Brittney Griner, is allegedly back in business. Bout reportedly was caught selling $10 million in arms to Houthi rebels in Yemen, according to The Wall Street Journal.

WNBA star Brittney Griner was found guilty of drug smuggling with criminal intent in a Russian court in August 2022.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

One of the major players responsible for the death and destruction to Red Sea Shipping, Israel, a direct danger to Americans in the area.

Thanks Communist Democrat Party. If there's a way to trash, destroy, harm, kill, whatever you set your sights on, YOU make it happen.

[female-buckets]

From the nine-time women’s basketball icon and two-time Olympic gold medalist—a raw, revelatory account of her unfathomable detainment in Russia and her journey home. On February 17, 2022, Brittney Griner arrived in Moscow ready to spend the WNBA offseason playing for the Russian women’s basketball team where she had been the centerpiece of previous championship seasons. Instead, a security checkpoint became her gateway to hell when she was arrested for mistakenly carrying under one gram of medically prescribed hash oil. Brittney’s world was violently upended in a crisis she has never spoken in detail about publicly—until now. In Coming Home, Brittney finally shares the harrowing details of her sudden arrest days before Russia invaded Ukraine; her bewilderment and isolation while navigating a foreign legal system amid her trial and sentencing; her emotional and physical anguish as the first American woman ever to endure a Russian penal colony while the #WeAreBG movement rallied for her release; the chilling prisoner swap with Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout; and her remarkable rise from hostage to global spokesperson on behalf of America’s forgotten. In haunting and vivid detail, Brittney takes readers inside the horrors of a geopolitical nightmare spanning ten months.   And yet Coming Home is more than Brittney’s journey from captivity to freedom. In an account as gripping as it is poignant, she shares how her deep love for Cherelle, her college sweetheart and wife of six years, anchored her during their greatest storm; how her family’s support pulled her back from the brink; and how hundreds of letters from friends and neighbors lent her resolve to keep fighting. Coming Home is both a story of survival and a testament to love—the bonds that brought Brittney home to her family, and at last, to herself.

[odinsblog]

Some takeaways

Brittney Griner is a distinguished American citizen who was wrongly imprisoned by a hostile foreign government that hates Black people and Lgbtq people. We should simply be happy she is home.

Until yesterday, most concern trolls had no idea who Paul Whelan was, or that he even existed.

Why should we take the Russian government’s word for anything? About Griner’s alleged Vape cartridges, or about Paul Whelan allegedly spying?

Viktor Bout had already served 15yrs, the majority of his sentence, and he was going to be released in 7yrs. He was not going to stay in prison forever.

The Russian government refuses to make any trade involving Paul Whelan.

Whelan’s own family has expressed gratitude for Griner’s release.

Donald Trump freed literally hundreds thousands of Taliban fighters, but somehow that failed to get Republicans anywhere near as upset as they are about Viktor Bout.

Donald Trump himself likely sold our government’s secrets to Russia and Saudi Arabia. Republicans aren’t upset about that either.

The Republican & Libertarian gun nuts who believe that every man, woman and 2yr old child should be armed to the teeth because of the 2nd Amendment are now upset that an arms dealer is going free??

The tankies who believe that Russia can do no wrong are now mad that Russia is getting an anti-American comrade back?

If you’re Black, gay, and/or a woman, I strongly recommend staying tf out of Russia.

Twitter is full of bots now - and Elon Musk has made it infinitely easier for them to spread mis/disinformation, so please verify the hot takes coming from certain accounts, especially if they are new or have been long inactive. Due diligence & fact check; be a discerning consumer of media.

No one in any country should face imprisonment or hard labor for possessing cannabis. That includes the United States too - our government doesn’t get a pass on its history of mass incarceration of disproportionately Black and Brown people.

I’m glad BG is home now. 🏳️‍🌈

Obviously I hope Paul Whelan and every American, and unjustly jailed political prisoners everywhere are released from prisons.

[lifewithchronicpain]

FINALLY!!!!!

I'm so relieved for her. Her wife gets her back just in time for the holidays 😢

I needed some good fucking news.

[viktorviolettaenterprises]

15 QUESTIONS FOR 15 MUTUALS

Thanks @empiredesimparte for tagging me!, Such A Great Honor

Are you named after anyone?  Yes, In Fact I was Based From Infamous Russian Arms Dealer, Viktor Bout. Looking At Bout's News Just Reminds Me With Myself Especially After that Idiot Biden Was Exchanged My Face Model With some Basketball Monkey :D

When was the last time you cried? I'm Never Cry, Mans Hate themselves silently

Do you have kids? Not Yet, Soon I Will Have

Do you use sarcasm a lot? Not necessarily, but I love and applaud well executed sarcasm! 

 What sports do you play/have you played? Boxing, Wrestling Especially My Homegrown Sport, Sambo

What’s the first thing you notice about other people?  Their Faces

Eye colour? Brown, nothing extraordinary

Scary movies or happy endings?  I don't really understand the choice, I like both!  But It Just Straight dumb Question

Any special talents? I Sell Weapons, I Got Better Fighting Skills Of Course Especially With Barehands

Where were you born? Proud to Be Russian..

What are your hobbies?  I Dunno.. Travelling Maybe Finding good Customer who Loves All My Stuffs

Do you have any pets? 1 I Got One Russian Blue Cat, Sergei

How tall are you? 190 cm

Favourite subject in school? History. I reassure you that I was the only one who liked this subject in all my classes. but Who Cares I'd Dropped out from School to Joint Soviet Army..

Dream job? I never really had a dream job. Or if you count not having one to devote yourself entirely to leisure! I take things as they come. I get attached to history and its trades as it's something I love, but I wouldn't say it's a dream

I'll Tag My Comrades: @simswhitehouse @historysims4 @thebleedingwoodland @anachrosims @nv-games @simsdelsworld @taanoir @szanne7000 @mimoto-sims @ivka-sims @evgenyesipov1999

@bdangkingfish @stereo-91 @eggysimblr

[beardedmrbean]

The family of Paul Whelan, a businessman and former Marine imprisoned in Russia on suspicion of spying, said they were told by the Biden administration in advance that he would not be part of the prisoner swap Thursday that allowed the release of American basketball star Brittney Griner.

Whelan’s brother, David Whelan, said in a statement that while he can “literally only imagine the joy she will have, being reunited with her loved ones, and in time for the holidays,” the inability to also bring Whelan home remains difficult for the family to process.

“That early warning meant that our family has been able to mentally prepare for what is now a public disappointment for us. And a catastrophe for Paul,” David Whelan said. “I do not know if he is aware yet, although he will surely learn from Russian media.”

Whelan has been jailed in Russia since December 2018 on charges of espionage, which he and the U.S. government has denied. He was sentenced in 2020 to 16 years in jail. During his arrest, he was working as the head of global security for an auto parts supplier in Michigan.

David Whelan said gaining the release of Griner, who was detained in February at a Moscow airport after Russian authorities said they found vape canisters with cannabis oil in her luggage, was the “right decision” rather than “waiting for one that wasn’t going to happen.”

“It is so important to me that it is clear that we do not begrudge Ms. Griner her freedom,” David Whelan said. “As I have often remarked, Brittney’s and Paul’s cases were never really intertwined. It has always been a strong possibility that one might be freed without the other.”

A senior U.S. official told NBC News that the U.S. government had sought to have both Griner and Whelan released as part of a swap with the Kremlin, which wanted the return of Viktor Bout, a Russian arms dealer who has served 11 years of a 25-year sentence in the U.S. But the official said Russia has treated Whelan differently because he is an accused spy, and that the Kremlin gave the White House the choice of either Griner or Whelan — or none.

Whelan’s Russian lawyer, Vladimir Zherebenkov, also said Thursday that the deal was an exchange of “one to one,” and that choosing Griner appeared “more humane” because she is a woman and an Olympic champion, while Whelan was in the military and it is “easier for him to be in custody.”

Zherebenkov said negotiations remain underway for Whelan, and that he could be freed in an exchange with Russia in the next couple of months. It’s unclear what he is basing that on, and the White House did not immediately comment on whether that would happen.

Amid questions as to why both Whelan and Griner could not be released together, President Joe Biden said at the White House on Thursday that “we have not forgotten about Paul Whelan” and that negotiations would continue to set him free.

“I don’t want any American to sit wrongfully detained for one extra day if we can bring that person home,” Biden said.

Griner’s wife, Cherelle Griner, also said from the White House that they would keep fighting for other detainees, “including Paul, whose family is in our hearts today.”

The Whelan family was similarly frustrated in April, when another former Marine held in Russia, Trevor Reed, was released in a prisoner exchange. David Whelan said that at the time, they were not warned that his brother was not included in the swap.

While the release of Reed, who was sentenced to nine years in prison after Russian authorities said he assaulted an officer amid a night of heavy drinking, was seen as a diplomatic victory for the U.S., the Biden administration maintained that Whelan was a high priority. (Reed’s family maintained his innocence.)

The Bring Our Families Home Campaign, an organization that advocates on behalf of Americans who are being wrongfully detained overseas, said while Griner’s homecoming is warranted, Whelan’s case remains urgent.

“Paul Whelan has been let down and left behind at least three times by 2 Presidents,” the group said in a statement. “He deserves better from his government, and our Campaign implores President Biden to urgently secure Paul’s immediate return using all tools available.”

David Whelan on Thursday called on the U.S. government to “be more assertive” by ensuring a “swifter, more direct response” when an innocent American is arrested by Russia.

“How do you continue to survive, day after day, when you know that your government has failed twice to free you from a foreign prison?” David Whelan said.

David Whelan added that his parents are in their 80s, and it will be another Christmas without their son since he was detained four years ago.

“Time is Paul’s, and our, enemy,” said David Whelan.

“I worry that Paul himself won’t survive 12 more years in a Russian labor colony,” he added. “He has tried to stay healthy but one wonders how long that determination to keep going can endure.”

[destinyc1020]

Supposedly, Brittney Griner is free! (Z posted to her stories)

Whew.... if Brittney EVER makes it back alive on US soil again, I know she's gonna be kissing the ground she walks on rofl 🤣 😂

I can't even imagine the craziness she's been through all these months 🥺😔

[ukrainenews]

Daily Wrap Up December 8-9, 2022

Under the cut:

WNBA star Brittney Griner was free Thursday after the Biden administration negotiated her release from a Russian penal colony in exchange for an arms dealer, according to a senior administration official.

Russian shelling of a town in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine has left one person dead and two injured, according to the region’s governor, Pavlo Kyrylenko. At least 12 houses were destroyed by the shelling in the town of Toretsk.

Vladimir Putin mentioned a potential settlement to end his war in Ukraine on Friday while still claiming that his “special military operation” was going to plan.

Belarus told the United Nations on Friday that it would allow, without preconditions, the transit of grain from Ukraine through its territory for export from Lithuanian ports, a U.N. spokesman said.

Russian troops are still focused on conducting an offensive in Bakhmut, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine's General Staff said in its evening briefing

“WNBA star Brittney Griner was free Thursday after the Biden administration negotiated her release from a Russian penal colony in exchange for an arms dealer, according to a senior administration official.

President Joe Biden signed off on the trade, which took place in the United Arab Emirates, even though it meant leaving behind Paul Whelan, a U.S. corporate security executive who remains jailed in Russia.

"She is safe, she is on a plane, she is on her way home," Biden said Thursday morning at the White House. "She will soon be back in the arms of her loved ones, and she should have been there all along."

"I'm proud that today we have made one more family whole," Biden said, adding that he will continue to work to free Whelan. "We’ll keep negotiating for Paul’s relief. I guarantee it."

Griner’s wife, Cherelle Griner, was in the Oval Office with Biden, and the two were able to speak with her by phone, a senior administration official said.

Cherelle Griner, speaking after Biden, expressed her "sincere gratitude" to Biden and several other officials whom she mentioned by name for their work.

Griner will be flown to a medical facility in San Antonio where she will receive care, a senior administration official said. Cherelle Griner will meet her there, a senior administration official said.

The move is one of the highest-profile prisoner swaps between Moscow and Washington since the Cold War, with the Kremlin recovering Viktor Bout, whom Russian President Vladimir Putin has been wanting to get back — and who had served 11 years of a 25-year sentence in the U.S.”-via MSNBC

~

“Russian shelling of a town in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine has left one person dead and two injured, according to the region’s governor, Pavlo Kyrylenko.

At least 12 houses were destroyed by the shelling in the town of Toretsk, he said in a Telegram post.

Kyrylenko wrote:

1 person was killed, 2 more were wounded in artillery shelling of Toretsk. Shells hit a private sector, destroying and damaging at least 12 houses. The Russians are again cynically shelling civilians — they are continuing their terror tactics.”-via The Guardian

~

“Vladimir Putin mentioned a potential settlement to end his war in Ukraine on Friday while still claiming that his “special military operation” was going to plan.

“The settlement process as a whole, yes, it will probably be difficult and will take some time. But one way or another, all participants in this process will have to agree with the realities that are taking shape on the ground,” the Russia president said during remarks at a press-conference in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.

The remarks came just days after Putin appeared to be girding Russians for a protracted war in Ukraine, saying that his military operation could be a “long-term process”. Initially, Russian commanders expected the war would last just a matter of weeks before a Russian victory, according to plans captured at the beginning of the war. It is now in its 10th month and Russia has been forced to retreat for several months.

Despite all evidence to the contrary, Putin claimed that his military operation was going to plan. “Everything is stable. There are no questions or problems there,” he said, adding that information was being given to the public transparently.

Those remarks came a day after Putin appeared to revel in recent Russian attacks on Ukrainian civilian infrastructure.

Drinking what appeared to be sparkling wine, Putin vowed to keep battering Ukraine’s energy grid despite an outcry against the systematic attacks that have plunged millions into cold and darkness as winter sets in.

Speaking after an awards ceremony for “Heroes of Russia” at the Kremlin on Thursday, the president addressed a group of soldiers. Acknowledging the targeted attacks by Russia, Putin blamed Ukraine for initiating a trend of attacking civilian infrastructure, pointing to a blast on a key bridge between the Russian mainland and the annexed Crimean peninsula.

“Yes, we do that,” Putin said, of the strikes on the Ukraine grid. “But who started it? There’s a lot of noise about our strikes on the energy infrastructure of a neighbouring country. This will not interfere with our combat missions.”

The video, taken by the Russian state-owned TV channel Zvezda, shows Putin holding a glass while speaking about the fates of tens of millions of Ukrainians.

Ukraine has previously rejected Moscow’s claims that the strikes on its energy facilities were a retaliation for the Kerch bridge attack.

Ukraine’s defence intelligence agency has claimed Russian military units had received instructions from the Kremlin to prepare massive missile strikes a week before the Crimean Bridge attack.

Throughout the war, journalists, independent organisations and Ukrainian officials have also documented Russian attacks on civilian buildings and infrastructure.”-via The Guardian

~

“Belarus told the United Nations on Friday that it would allow, without preconditions, the transit of grain from Ukraine through its territory for export from Lithuanian ports, a U.N. spokesman said.

Belarus, used by its ally Russia as a staging ground for Moscow's Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine, said in June that it would let Ukrainian grain go via the country to Baltic Sea ports, if Belarus was allowed to ship its goods from the ports as well. Ukraine did not agree to the proposal.

Belarus Deputy Foreign Minister Yury Ambrazevich met with U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in New York on Friday to tell him that there are no preconditions to the transit of Ukraine grain, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.

Ambrazevich also "reiterated the requests from his government to be able export its own fertilizer products, which are currently subject to sanctions," Dujarric said in a statement after the meeting.

Belarus, a major global potash producer, has been hit by harsh Western sanctions in 2021-2022 which disrupted its exports of the fertiliser via the Baltic Sea ports.

In July the United Nations and Turkey brokered a deal with Russia and Ukraine to resume Ukraine's Black Sea shipments of grain - stalled since the start of the war - and to facilitate Russia's food and fertilizer shipments.

The United Nations is still working to resume Russian ammonia exports, a key fertilizer ingredient, via a pipeline to a Black Sea port in Ukraine.”-via Reuters

~

“On the battlefield, Russian troops are still focused on conducting an offensive in Bakhmut, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine's General Staff said in its evening briefing.

Zelensky said in an evening address that Russian troops "effectively destroyed" Bakhmut, now another city in Ukraine's east "turned into scorched ruins."

The Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a U.S. defense think-tank, said on Nov. 30 that "the costs associated with six months of brutal, grinding, and attrition-based combat around Bakhmut far outweigh any operational advantage that the Russians can obtain from taking Bakhmut."”-via Kyiv Independent