#which carry Russian gas to Europe

[ripstefano]

The German Army in World War I

During World War I, the German Army—formally known as the Deutsches Heer—entered the conflict as one of the most modern and disciplined forces in Europe. Germany’s military strategy at the war’s outset was built around the Schlieffen Plan, crafted by General Alfred von Schlieffen in 1905. The plan aimed to prevent a two-front war by quickly defeating France in the west through a massive flanking movement that would sweep through neutral Belgium and encircle Paris, before turning to face Russia in the east, whose mobilization was expected to be slower. However, the execution of the plan was flawed. Belgium's resistance, British involvement after the violation of Belgian neutrality, and unexpectedly rapid Russian mobilization forced Germany to divert troops eastward, contributing to the failure of the plan and the start of prolonged trench warfare on both fronts.

German soldiers, referred to as Landser, began the war wearing traditional uniforms that reflected 19th-century styles. Their standard issue included the feldgrau (field-grey) wool tunic and trousers, which were initially intended to offer some degree of camouflage. A distinctive feature of the early war uniform was the Pickelhaube, a leather spiked helmet with brass fittings, designed more for parade than protection. As the war dragged on and conditions in the trenches grew more brutal, the impractical Pickelhaube was gradually replaced by the Stahlhelm—a steel helmet introduced in 1916 that provided much better protection against shrapnel and bullets. Uniforms also evolved, with simplified designs, sturdier fabrics, and better-suited gear for mud, cold, and constant shellfire. Soldiers carried basic equipment including a rifle (often the Mauser Gewehr 98), ammunition pouches, an entrenching tool, and a gas mask as chemical warfare became more common. The German Army's early confidence gave way to a grinding war of attrition, where adaptability, endurance, and industrial support became just as crucial as initial planning.

From "The German Army in World War I"

[maximumwobblerbanditdonut]

International Holocaust Remembrance Day 2025

Monday, January 27th, is the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, the largest Nazi concentration and death camp located in Poland. On this day in 1945, Soviet troops from the 60th Army of the First Ukrainian Front opened the gates of Auschwitz and witnessed the horrors that had occurred there.

Memorial Day commemorates the victims of the Holocaust, during which one-third of the Jewish population—six million Jews—along with millions of others, were murdered by the Nazis, and victims of other genocides. This is a significant commemorative event held at the former concentration camp on International Holocaust Remembrance Day. This site was established by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland during World War II.

The music of Schindler’s List, composed by John Williams, is made unforgettable by Itzhak Perlman’s violin. Born in Tel Aviv in 1945, Perlman was already a renowned musician when, at the age of 48, he performed the iconic violin solos for the 1993 soundtrack. The theme music from Schindler's List by John Williams is often played on Holocaust Memorial Day and Remembrance Day.

This memory must be passed on to future generations. For the dead and the living, we must bear witness. We remember and we must never forget.

Never again! 🕯️

#InternationalHolocaust #RemembranceDay #80thanniversary #liberationAuschwitzBirkenau #schindlerslisttheme #johnwilliamsmusic #storybehindthemusic #HolocaustMemorialDay #Filmsguild #Schindler'sList #ItzhakPerlman #LiamNeeson #NeverForget #NeverAgain#WWII

🎥 Schindler’s List

Posted 27th January 2025

@ aria-diary This is not forgotten because was part of the Generalplan Ost - GPO (General Plan East), a plan devised by Nazi leaders in 1941--1942 to resettle Eastern Europe with Germans, and move "inferior" groups within the Nazis' domain.

Nazi Germany's plan for extermination and large-scale ethnic cleansing of Eastern European Jews, Slavs, and other peoples of Eastern Europe categorised as "Untermenschen" (refer non-Aryan people they deemed as inferior) Nazi ideology - was mainly used against "the masses from the East", that is Jews, Roma, and Slavs (mainly ethnic Poles, Belarusians, Czechs, Ukrainians, Russians and Serbs). The territories involved included the occupied Poland, the Baltic states (Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia), Belorussia, and parts of Russia and Ukraine.

During the war, many of the Nazis' activities were carried out with General Plan Ost in mind. They massacred millions of Jews in Eastern Europe,in addition to millions of Soviet prisoners of war. Millions more were sent to Germany to do forced labour.

The United Nations General Assembly Resolution 60/7, passed in 2005, designated January 27th as the International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust.

This date marks the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, where more than 7,000 prisoners were freed. It is estimated that approximately 1.1 million people perished at Auschwitz during its five years of operation.

The notorious “arbeit macht frei” "work makes you free" sign at Auschwitz

@ aria-diary, I understand your concern. The Holocaust is referred to as the Shoah in Hebrew. (Shoah “calamity” is the term that is preferred by the Jewish community, because ”Holocaust” means “sacrifice by fire”) the systematic murder of millions of Jews by the Nazi regime and their allies during World War II. This plan was known to the Nazis as "The Final Solution to the Jewish Problem" and took place between 1941 and 1945. The Final Solution marked the tragic culmination of the Holocaust.

Auschwitz's liberation is significant because it was the centre of the Nazi campaign to eradicate Europe's Jewish population through extermination camps, whose primary purpose was the mass murder of Jews. Nearly one million of those who perished there were killed by poison gas and their bodies were incinerated in crematoria. The Jewish people were the largest group persecuted by the Nazis, targeted based on racial and political grounds.

There were prisoners in Auschwitz from almost every country in Europe They included Albanians, Belgians, Danes, Dutch, Greeks, Hungarians, Italians, Latvians, Lithuanians, Luxembourgers, Norwegians, Romanians, Slovaks, Spaniards, and Swiss, also died there and were targeted for different reasons.

80 years after the liberation of Auschwitz, the full impact of these events is still not completely understood. The post-war public often seeks to move on from the trauma of war, and the media tends to favour stories that can be celebrated. However, it is essential to remember the Holocaust context "Not forgiving Not forgetting." This serves as a way to honour and remember the victims of the Holocaust.

[mariacallous]

Despite plenty of threats and ominous social media posts, the Trump administration has not taken an aggressive stance on sanctioning Russia yet. It has been more than three years into Russia’s war with Ukraine and more than three months since U.S. President Donald Trump first promised to end the war.

In contrast, Europe is stepping up, with its latest proposed sanctions targeting the financial sinews of Russia’s war machine, which complements its efforts to backstop Ukraine’s attempts to target the physical sinews.

On June 10, the European Union unveiled its 18th package of proposed sanctions that take aim at Moscow’s ability to fund the war through energy exports. There are plans to cut dozens of Russian banks completely out of the financial system; go after scores of tankers that ship illicit Russian crude; and to end, for good, Russia’s ability to hold Europe hostage through energy pipelines in Germany, as Trump seeks. There are also plans to limit the amount of money Russia can make by selling oil.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said, the sanctions “robust” and “hard-biting,” while her vice president, Kaja Kallas, said, “Russia is cruel, aggressive, and a danger to us all.”

Not all of Europe’s action comes from Brussels. Baltic states such as Denmark and Sweden, which have been tormented for years by illicit Russian tanker flows through the narrows, are now doing what was unthinkable a year ago and are working to impound decrepit, undocumented ships that pose an immediate environmental threat, as well as the larger existential one. And last week, Germany Chancellor Friedrich Merz urged Trump to continue supporting Ukraine and NATO against Russia.

Merz left Washington triumphant in a way that many other world leaders who tangled with Trump in the Oval Office have not, but he failed to overcome the stasis that prevails in Washington on punishing Russia.

The U.S. Senate continues to deliberate over a “bone-crushing” sanctions bill sponsored by Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham and Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal that, among other provisions, would impose tariffs of at least 500 percent on any country that imports Russian oil, uranium, natural gas, petroleum products, or petrochemical products. As Stephen Sestanovich, a senior fellow for Russian and Eurasian studies at the Council on Foreign Relations noted, “Such duties would amount to a near-total embargo on U.S. trade with China and India, among many other countries.”

If the bill were to pass—it has a veto-proof majority in the Senate and a seemingly similar stampede in the House—it would take millions of Russian oil barrels off the market, which would lead to a global spike in oil prices and an even bigger recession than the one that’s inbound.

That might be why the White House has not only withheld support but quietly urged the kinds of changes that are typical in sanctions legislation, to give the executive more discretion. It is now likely pushed back to the end of the month, if then.

“Winning a Nobel Prize for peace in Ukraine is a prize worth pursuing, but losing domestic support because of higher gasoline prices hurts more,” said Kevin Book, the founder of ClearView Energy Partners.

The latest EU measures are not a done deal. As always in a bloc that relies on consensus, the lowest common denominator comes into play, and now there are two of them: Hungary and Slovakia. In the past, Europe has been able to pass its sanctions packages despite Hungary’s misgivings by massaging energy restrictions or pardoning particular oligarchs, but Europe’s rightward tilt makes walking a straight line an uphill task. Appeasing Hungary has been as easy as ensuring carve-outs for Russian gas or oil flows to Eastern Europe; but as the rope tightens, Europe’s wiggle room shrinks, as does its options to strong-arm recalcitrant EU members. There is chatter that this 18th package, unlike the one before it, might be met with serious resistance, but experts say odds are that part will go through.

The bigger push will come this weekend, at the G-7 meeting in Canada. The centerpiece of the latest EU package is an effort to hurt Russia’s bottom line by lowering the cap for legal Russian oil sales from $60 a barrel to $45 a barrel. The oil price cap was set in late 2022 at a high level because nobody wanted to really tank oil markets.

But since then, Trump’s trade wars have weakened the global economy and driven down benchmark prices for crude oil to nearly $60 a barrel. At a time when oil prices were in the mid-80s, the price cap was meant to be a cap, not a floor. And yet, today, Russian Urals crude oil—a lesser, sulfur-heavy grade of crude oil—can be sold on the global market with its habitual discount without falling afoul of Western sanctions. In order to put teeth back into the price cap, Europe and the West figure they need to tighten the zipper.

The question mark is the United States. There are plenty of experts who expect Washington to push back against the EU’s proposed package, and the EU cannot tighten the garrote without U.S. connivance, because the price cap is a G-7 construct outside the EU that relies on the United Kingdom’s dominance of the maritime oil insurance market and the United States’ ability to police sanctions transgressors. The really big question is whether the Trump administration wants to strangle Russian oil revenues and force an end to the war or court it as a postwar investment paradise.

The EU’s latest proposed measures have one big, positive step: further tightening restrictions on “shadow fleet tankers” that traffic Russian oil and products with no papers, rules, or insurance. The new measures would go after another 77 ships, out of the 350-odd shadow fleet tankers still afloat and flouting rules. The Biden administration hit this hard on its way out the door, and the bruises are only now showing.

When it comes to bringing down the shadow fleet, wrote Robin Brooks, Ben Harris, and Liam Marshall at the Brookings Institution, gang tackles are better. Only a handful of the illegal Russian ships are covered by U.S., EU, and U.K. sanctions. Quite a few are covered by two of the three. A bunch are unsanctioned altogether. The EU and the U.K. do a lot on sanctions enforcement, but there is no instrument like the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).

“In particular, when the EU and the U.K. sanction ships together, they shut down about 50 percent of sanctioned ships,” Brooks said. “That’s not as effective as OFAC, which is near 100 percent, but definitely nothing to sneeze at.”

More than three years into Europe’s bloodiest war since World War II, one that Russia continues to prosecute with a targeting as indiscriminate as it is deliberate, there are still ways to bring Moscow to heel beyond flashy drone strikes. The tools, whether in the EU’s 18 sanctions packages, the U.K.’s companion efforts, or a modified U.S. Senate sanctions bill, are out there.

The Trump administration’s handling of European allies and Ukraine is empowering Europe—not unlike the way its handling of Asian allies is empowering China, despite some regional blowback. But the response so far, resounding as it is, remains uneven.

[ukrainenews]

A Ukrainian security official has claimed Kyiv’s responsibility for an attack on the bridge linking the annexed Crimean peninsula to the Russian mainland – a vital supply line for Russia’s war effort in Ukraine and a personal project for President Vladimir Putin.

The nearly 12-mile crossing, also known as the Kerch Bridge, is the longest in Europe and holds huge strategic and symbolic importance for Moscow. Monday’s attack on the bridge was the second since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, after a fuel tanker exploded while crossing it in October.

A source in Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) told CNN this attack was a joint operation of the SBU and Ukraine’s naval forces. The source spoke on condition of anonymity because they had not received authorization to speak on the record.

Two people were killed and their daughter wounded in the attack, according to Russian-appointed officials.

Two strikes were reportedly carried out around 3 a.m. local time Monday (8 p.m. ET Sunday), damaging part of the bridge, according to Telegram channel Grey Zone, which supports the Wagner mercenary group led by Yevgeny Prigozhin.

Explosions were heard around 3:04 a.m. and 3:20 a.m. local time, Grey Zone and popular Crimean blogger ‘TalipoV Online Z’ said on Telegram.

CNN is unable to verify those reports.

The governor of Russia’s Belgorod region, Vyacheslav Gladkov, confirmed that two people were killed and a third person was injured in the incident.

Gladkov said a girl was injured and her parents were killed while traveling in the car that was damaged in the incident.

“There is damage to the roadway on spans of the Crimean Bridge,” Russia’s Transport Ministry said on Telegram. The spans on a bridge are the lengths between the support piers. Images showed a partial collapse of a section of the roadway portion of the bridge, which also carries railroad tracks.

On his Telegram channel, Vladimir Konstantinov, head of the State Council of the Republic of Crimea, blamed the damage to the bridge on a Ukrainian attack.

“Tonight the terrorist regime in Kyiv committed a new crime – it attacked the Crimean bridge,” Konstantinov said.

“The railroad track was not damaged by the strike,” Konstantinov added.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters Monday that Putin has been briefed on the incident, and that Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin will today travel to Crimea to further assess the situation.

“We know the reasons and those behind this terrorist act,” Peskov said. “This will require further composure and additional measures and work from all of us. No other measures have been discussed at the moment.”

Videos posted on Telegram by Baza, Grey Zone and other Crimean news outlets appeared to show part of the bridge collapsed and a vehicle damaged in the incident.

Emergency responders and law enforcement have been dispatched to the scene, said Sergey Aksenov, the Russia-appointed head of Crimea.

Aksenov urged residents and those traveling to and from Crimea to choose an alternative land route.

The bridge is a critical artery for supplying Crimea with both its daily needs and supplies for the military, in addition to fuel and goods for civilians.

A Russian-backed official of the peninsula, Elena Elekchyan, said Crimea is well supplied with fuel, food and industrial goods.

Denis Pushilin, the Russia-backed head of the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic, said on Telegram that he had spoken with his Crimean counterpart to introduce measures “to ensure the faster passage of checkpoints on the administrative border.” Pushilin said the nightly curfew was being suspended to allow “round-the-clock” travel to Crimea, and that he was working to ensure the availability of fuel at gas stations along the route.

Last year, another huge blast partially damaged the crossing, causing parts of it to collapse.

The bridge was severely damaged on October 8 when a fuel tanker exploded and destroyed a large section of the road. Responding to the attack – which took place the day after Putin turned 70 – Ukrainian officials posted a video of the bridge in flames alongside a video of Marilyn Monroe singing “Happy Birthday, Mister President.”

Russia built the 19-kilometer bridge at a cost of around $3.7 billion after Moscow illegally annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula in 2014. It was the physical expression of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s objective to take over Ukraine and bind it to Russia forever.

After the October blast, Russia quickly set about repairs to the span. It was fully reopened to traffic in February.

Earlier this month, Ukraine’s Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar made what appeared to be the clearest admission yet that Ukrainian forces were responsible for the October attack.

A Ukraine official on Monday said damage to the bridge could hamper Russian logistics.

“Any logistical problems are additional complications for the occupiers, which create potential advantages for the Ukrainian defense forces,” Representative of the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine Andrii Yusov said to Ukraine’s public broadcaster, Suspilne.

Hours after the explosions on the bridge, Russia announced that it is allowing a deal struck to enable the export of Ukrainian grain to expire, sparking fears of global food insecurity.

Peskov also told reporters that the decision to allow the deal to lapse was not related to Ukraine’s claimed strike on the bridge.

“These are absolutely unrelated events,” he said. “Even before this terrorist attack, the position was declared by President Putin. And I repeat again, as soon as the part of the Black Sea agreements concerning Russia is fulfilled, Russia will immediately return to the implementation of the deal.”

[bestnewsallworld]

U.S. imposes further sanctions in connection with Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline

The United States on Monday imposed further sanctions in connection with the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement, targeting Russia-linked Transadria Ltd. and its vessel.

The State Department submitted a report to the U.S. Congress listing two vessels and an entity, Transadria Ltd., involved in the pipeline, Blinken said, but did not give details on the second vessel.

Washington opposes the $11 billion pipeline, which runs under the Baltic Sea to bypass Ukraine and carry gas from Russia's Arctic region to Germany.

Nord Stream 2 has faced stiff opposition from the United States and some European states, which say it will make Europe too reliant on Russian gas. But other European governments say the link is vital to secure energy supplies, with gas prices surging in recent weeks and the threat of power outages looming this winter.

The Biden administration has waived sanctions on the pipeline's operator and reached an agreement with Germany in July over the pipeline. Germany agreed to take action if Russia uses energy as a weapon in its relations with Ukraine, but the pact did not provide a specific criteria for how that would be judged.

Last week, Germany's energy regulator temporarily halted the certification process for the new pipeline that will carry Russian gas into Europe, throwing up a new roadblock to the contentious project and driving up regional gas prices.

"Even as the administration continues to oppose the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, including via our sanctions, we continue to work with Germany and other allies and partners to reduce the risks posed by the pipeline to Ukraine and frontline NATO and EU countries and to push back against harmful Russian activities, including in the energy sphere," Blinken said.

Ukraine will lose revenues if gas from Russia bypasses it and it accuses Moscow of using energy as a weapon to threaten Europe's security.

[newsnewsno1]

Are We Near a Nuclear Radiation Incident After Israel's Strikes on Iran?

Israel's recent strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities have sparked global fears of nuclear or chemical contamination, raising alarm amid existing nuclear tensions in other parts of the world — from the India-Pakistan border to Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia plant.

What Happened?

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu authorized unprecedented military strikes on Iran’s nuclear infrastructure, including the Natanz and Isfahan facilities, amid ongoing diplomatic negotiations between Tehran and Washington.

While Israel has long viewed Iran’s nuclear program as a threat, critics — including the EU — warn that military action increases regional instability and the risk of nuclear escalation. The EU's foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas called for diplomacy over confrontation.

Iran insists its nuclear program is for civilian use. The United States, which under President Donald Trump has distanced itself from the strikes, continues to oppose Iran acquiring nuclear weapons.

What Did the IAEA Say?

Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), confirmed on Monday that radiation levels outside the targeted facilities remain normal. However, he warned that military action increases the risk of a "radiological release."

Although Natanz’s underground centrifuge facility wasn’t directly hit, it lost power — potentially damaging uranium enrichment centrifuges. The greatest current threat, Grossi said, comes from uranium hexafluoride gas, used in the enrichment process. This toxic, corrosive gas could cause serious chemical contamination if released.

Grossi stressed that without up-to-date technical data from Iran, the IAEA cannot fully assess the situation or provide necessary assistance.

Has This Happened Before?

Direct strikes on operational nuclear facilities are extremely rare. However, nuclear installations under construction have been targeted in the past:

In 1980 and 1981, Iran and then Israel attacked Iraq’s Osirak reactor.

In 2007, Israel bombed a Syrian reactor believed to be part of a weapons program.

Other politically motivated attacks include bombings of nuclear plants under construction in Spain, France, and apartheid-era South Africa — none caused radioactive leaks.

How Close Have We Come to Nuclear Disasters?

Historically, nuclear dangers have stemmed more from miscalculation than direct conflict.

One notable close call was the Petrov incident in 1983. Soviet early-warning systems falsely reported incoming U.S. missiles, but officer Stanislav Petrov refused to escalate the alert — possibly preventing a nuclear war.

More recently, an Indian missile accidentally fired into Pakistan in 2022 caused alarm, especially since similar delivery systems could carry nuclear warheads.

Dan Smith, director of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, warns that amid rising global tensions and violent rhetoric, the risk of a mistaken nuclear response is growing. Misinterpretation in high-pressure military environments could trigger disaster, he says.

What About the Russia-Ukraine Conflict?

The war in Ukraine also heightened fears of a nuclear incident, especially around the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) — Europe’s largest.

In March 2022, Russian forces captured the ZNPP, turning it into a military base. Ukraine accused Russia of using the facility as a shield, knowing Ukrainian forces wouldn’t risk striking a nuclear site.

Artillery fire damaged parts of the plant, including a nitrogen-oxygen station, raising the risk of radioactive leaks. The IAEA later stepped in, helping ensure all six reactors were shut down. Yet the plant still depends on a stable supply of water and electricity to cool spent fuel — meaning risks remain.

Conclusion

While current radiation levels in Iran remain stable, Israel’s strikes have escalated regional tensions and underscored the fragile state of nuclear safety worldwide. With simultaneous flashpoints — from the Middle East to Eastern Europe and South Asia — experts warn the world is navigating a dangerous moment, where even a misstep could lead to catastrophe.

[cyberbenb]

EU coordinating next Russia sanctions with US, Germany says

The German government supports newly proposed European Union sanctions, which are being coordinated with the U.S. government, spokesperson Stefan Cornelius said on May 19, Tagesshau reported.

The proposed sanctions would involve measures targeting the Nord Stream gas pipelines, the spokesperson added.

“The federal government supports the elements that affect Nord Stream,” Cornelius said in response to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s announcement of new punitive measures. He added that Washington’s participation in a potential sanctions package would be “very central."

“Chancellor (Friedrich) Merz is working with U.S. and European partners on new sanctions against Russia,” Cornelius reportedly said, adding that “the intention of these sanctions is to achieve agreement from Russia to an unconditional truce."

Von der Leyen called for new sanctions against Russia after President Vladimir Putin failed to attend Ukraine-Russia peace talks in Istanbul. The new package would include sanctions on the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines, additional listings of vessels from Russia’s shadow fleet, a lower oil price cap, and sanctions on Russia’s financial sector.

The absence of Russia’s top leadership from the Istanbul negotiations — proposed by the Kremlin but attended only by lower-ranking aides — was widely viewed as a signal that Moscow remains unwilling to engage in meaningful talks.

Previously, President Volodymyr Zelensky and the leaders of the U.K., France, Germany, and Poland have pledged to impose additional sanctions against Russia if the Kremlin does not accept their proposal for an unconditional 30-day ceasefire.

Last week, EU members agreed on the bloc’s 17th sanctions package, which primarily targeted Russia’s “shadow fleet” and came under criticism for not being “as strong as it should be."

Although Nord Stream 2 was never activated, and Nord Stream 1 ceased operation after suspected sabotage in 2022, sanctions on the pipelines would carry a symbolic value. They would also close loopholes and prevent future attempts to revive Russian energy exports to Europe.

The media previously reported that pro-Moscow figures have contacted the Trump administration to resume the operation of the Nord Stream pipelines, a step that would require European nations to agree.

In Washington, the U.S. Senate is preparing its own response to Russia’s delays. U.S. lawmakers have advanced the “Russian Sanctions Act of 2025,” which includes sweeping measures such as 500% tariffs on countries that continue to buy Russian energy products. At least 72 senators reportedly support the bill.

European leaders are also expected to call U.S. President Donald Trump ahead of his planned phone conversation with Putin on May 19. The U.S. president has repeatedly floated the idea of imposing additional sanctions on Russia to pressure it toward a peace deal, but has yet to take the step.

Trump announced that he plans to speak with Putin on May 19, after which he will hold a call with Zelensky. Trump said he hopes the discussions will result in a ceasefire — a step the Kremlin has doggedly resisted since the U.S. first proposed a 30-day truce in March.

Aestheticized aggression — why Gosha Rubchinskiy’s ‘Victory Day’ photo book is Russian propaganda

Russia’s war against Ukraine is waged not only with missiles and tanks, but with distorted myths — powerful narratives that romanticize empire, rewrite history, and embolden Russian soldiers to reduce once prosperous cities to rubble. Those very same myths surfaced at the Photo London Festival from May 15 to 18, where

The Kyiv IndependentKate Tsurkan

[notwiselybuttoowell]

The US has demanded control of a crucial pipeline in Ukraine used to send Russian gas to Europe, according to reports, in a move described as a colonial shakedown.

US and Ukrainian officials met on Friday to discuss White House proposals for a minerals deal. Donald Trump wants Kyiv to hand over its natural resources as “payback” in return for weapons delivered by the previous Biden administration.

Talks have become increasingly acrimonious, Reuters said. The latest US draft is more “maximalist” than the original version from February, which proposed giving Washington $500bn worth of rare metals, as well as oil and gas.

Citing a source close to the talks, the news agency said the most recent document includes a demand that the US government’s International Development Finance Corporation take control of the natural gas pipeline.

On 1 January, Ukraine cut off the supply of gas when its five-year contract with the Russian state energy company Gazprom expired. Both countries had previously earned hundreds of millions of euros in transit fees, including during the first three years of full-scale war.

Volodymyr Landa, a senior economist with the Centre for Economic Strategy, a Kyiv thinktank, said the Americans were out for “all they can get”. Their bullying “colonial-type” demands had little chance of being accepted by Kyiv, he predicted.

Last autumn, Volodymyr Zelenskyy proposed giving the US access to Ukraine’s underdeveloped mineral sector. He envisaged a deal that would see the incoming Trump administration supply Ukraine with weapons, in return for future profits from joint investments.

Instead, Trump has refused to give security commitments or military support but wants the minerals anyway. Last week he complained Zelenskyy was trying to “back out of an agreement” and said Ukraine’s president would have “big problems” if he failed to sign.

Speaking to journalists on Thursday, Zelenskyy said he was ready to do a deal to modernise his country but that Ukraine could only agree if there was “parity” between the two sides, with revenues split “50-50”.

Meanwhile, the US special envoy to Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, said his remarks over a possible partition of Ukraine had been misinterpreted. In an interview with the Times, Kellogg said the country could be divided “almost like the Berlin after world war two” as part of a peace deal.

Writing on x/twitter, Kellogg said he was referring to “a post-cease fire resiliency force in support of Ukraine’s sovereignty”. Under this plan, Russian troops would remain in territory already seized by Moscow, with British and French forces stationed in Kyiv and in other parts of the country.

On Friday, Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff held talks with Vladimir Putin in St Petersburg. Witkoff’s reported solution to the conflict was to give Russia the four Ukrainian provinces it is demanding – including territory that Ukraine controls, and which is home to 1 million people.

[beardedmrbean]

While pointing out that there have been cases elsewhere in Europe of sabotage verified, or are at least likely to be linked to Russia, the Uutissuomalainen (USU) news group reports that Finland's intelligence service has yet to confirm any such incidents in this country.

It notes that Helsingin Sanomat carried a report a couple weeks ago, saying that the Finnish Security and Intelligence Service (Supo) believes Russia was not involved in damage to an underwater cable in the Gulf of Finland on Christmas Day. Supo has not, however, commented officially on the matter.

"Damage to cables is under investigation by the National Bureau of Investigation, and they are responsible for providing information in this regard," Supo special investigator Lotta Hakala told USU.

However, Supo chief Juha Martelius did comment on the matter in an interview with Finnish commercial network MTV a week ago.

"In these cases in the Baltic Sea, it is undoubtedly entirely possible that there is a state actor behind it, but it may be impossible to get definitive clarity on it legally," Martelius said.

According to Hakala, Supo and the National Bureau of Investigation have a common view of the cable incidents.

Incidents involving unauthorised access and damage at water towers in Finland received received a lot of publicity last summer. According to Hakala, it is now quite certain that Russia was not behind these.

"Some of them are under preliminary investigation by the police, but our view is clear that there were no sabotage attempts by Russian proxies," Hakala says.

It is likely that the water tower incidents were cases of ordinary vandalism, says USU. That may also have been the case with the collapse of a mobile phone tower in Janakkala over the summer, but that incident is also still under investigation.

Condolences to Sweden

Tuesday's school shooting at an adult education centre in Örebro, Sweden continued to be front page news throughout Finland on Wednesday. According to reports, 11 people were killed, including the perpetrator, and 15 injured.

Helsingin Sanomat is among the papers reporting that Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo (NCP) presented his, and the nation's, condolences late on Tuesday evening.

Writing in Swedish on X, Orpo stated,

"I and the whole of Finland mourn the shocking act of violence in Örebro. We join our neighbour Sweden in its sorrow. School must always be a safe place. My thoughts are with the victims and their loved ones, as well as with others who have been affected by the incident."

Street smarts

The economic and business daily Kauppalehti writes that Europe is still at a loose end about how to deal with Donald Trump.

The EU began the week with discussions on how to strengthen defence, and also possible US tariffs and how to respond to them.

In a morning editorial, Kauppalehti notes that Prime Minister Petteri Orpo argued that instead of starting a trade war, Europe should negotiate with Trump. Not all EU leaders were as conciliatory in their statements.

For Finland, taking a line that respects the US is raw realism, but the EU also has a lot to lose if it starts escalating the situation unnecessarily. Emotions should be kept in check, advises KL.

The paper says that doing business with Trump also requires street smarts, and there are lessons to be learned from Mexico and Canada.

Trump is a deal-maker who uses tough language and makes big demands up front. But the situation can be calmed down by surprisingly small, even paltry concessions that Trump can frame as a victory for himself, writes Kauppalehti.

The paper says that Europe could, for example, promise to buy more of liquid natural gas and arms from the US, which it would have to acquire from there anyway.

In Kauppalehti's view, even in the face of unfair competition from China, the EU and the US could easily find mutually beneficial joint solutions.

Purra on perversion

Ilta-Sanomat organised a panel Tuesday for political party leaders as a part of its coverage of the run-up to municipal and regional elections.

During that event, Finns Party Chair and Minister of Finance Riikka Purra was asked to elaborate on a section of her party's election platform that states, "The basics must be respected in primary school - education, not perversion, a growing child needs more than tofu".

Asked what the party means by "perversion", Purra replied, "Don't you know what perversion is? It is, for example, giving minors tasks where they have to write a sexual fantasy about a classmate. It is, for example, giving instructions to primary school children on how to engage in sexual acts of any kind with very graphic imagery, for example, or with detailed instructions."

In addition to Purra, the newspaper's election debate was attended by Petteri Orpo of the National Coalition Party, Antti Lindtman of the Social Democratic Party and Antti Kaikkonen of the Centre Party.

The SDP's Lindtman said teachers should be trusted to know how best to organise teaching. He pointed out that the president of the teachers' union OAJ had expressed surprise at the Finns Party's "perversion" rhetoric.

Centre Party chair Kaikkonen dismissed the "perversion debate" by saying that, in his view, teachers in Finnish schools act responsibly, apart from some possible individual excesses.

"I just cannot believe that these kinds of perversions are part of any curriculum," Kaikkonen said.

Flags fly for a poet

Flags are flying on Wednesday in honour of Finland's national poet Johan Ludvig Runeberg.

Most papers carry a nod to J.L. Runeberg Day, which is celebrated each year on 5 February, the day on which Runeberg was born in Pietarsaari in 1804.

A journalist, teacher and poet, Runeberg is best remembered for his heroic poem Fänrik Ståls Sägner (The Tales of Ensign Stål). He also composed the lyrics to Finland's national anthem. He wrote his works in his mother tongue, Swedish.

Johan Ludvig Runeberg's works played an important role in the development of Finland's national identity, and the celebration of his works and life began during his lifetime.

Runeberg died in Porvoo in 1877.

In addition to flags flying and the awarding of a national poetry prize, the day is marked by bakeries producing special seasonal Runeberg tortes flavoured with almonds and arrack or rum.

[darkmaga-returns]

Businesses in NATO countries must prepare themselves for a “wartime scenario” according to Admiral Rob Bauer.

He warned that businesses need to adjust their production lines and supply chains to be less vulnerable to blackmail by Russia and China in the event of war.

The outgoing chief of the US-led bloc’s military committee issued his warning on Moday claiming that Western economies have grown too dependent on Russia and China.

RT reports: Speaking at a European Policy Center think-tank event in Brussels, he urged Western industries and businesses to implement deterrence measures.

“If we can make sure that all crucial services and goods can be delivered no matter what, then that is a key part of our deterrence,” Bauer argued.

“Businesses need to be prepared for a wartime scenario and adjust their production and distribution lines accordingly. Because while it may be the military who wins battles, it’s the economies that win wars,” the NATO official said. He mentioned China and Russia in the context of how he believes wars are waged in the economic sphere.

“We thought we had a deal with Gazprom, but we actually had a deal with [Russian President Vladimir] Putin,” he stated, apparently referring to the drop in Russian gas supplies to the EU, which took place after the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022. 

At the time, the EU declared that ending its reliance on Russian energy was a key priority, and many members voluntarily halted their imports, while supplies also plunged due to the sabotage of Russia’s Nord Stream pipelines. 

American Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Seymour Hersh blamed the sabotage on the CIA, alleging that the agency had carried out the attack under the direct orders of the White House – an allegation it has denied.

Bauer then extended his warning to China, claiming that Beijing could use its exports to NATO states and the infrastructure that it owns in Europe as leverage in the event of a conflict.

“We are naive if we think the [Chinese] Communist Party will never use that power. Business leaders in Europe and America need to realize that the commercial decisions they make have strategic consequences for the security of their nation,” the official claimed.

[genlosscharliie]

more of a personal piece this time around. same fic under cut

The beginnings of winter freezes over the remains of concrete and the strikes are still overhead, just like they’d been yesterday, just like they’d been a week and a month ago.

Perhaps it was the Turks this time, or the Americans, or the Russians, or your very own Syrians. Did it matter in the end? The homes were still destroyed. Your people were still dead and dying.

This used to be someone’s house, left only rubble and a wall and exposed foundation. You clasp your hands over your ears, perch yourself in the furthermost corner of what was left here, and try to imagine what the streets here looked like before this.

You remember your own—did these ones hold protest, too? Did they once house vendors selling fruits and inviting peoples into their shops, the rudest of them kinder than the gentlest soldier you’ve ever met? Did the children run up and down them with their parents yelling to come back home, dinner is ready and grandpa is waiting to eat with them?

What do they hold now, other than the bodies of those unable, unwilling, to leave these cities? Will you be one of them one of these days, be discovered and labelled a fighter for your only crime of existing? Will anyone mourn you? Can one mourn for a hundred, a thousand dead?

You list every martyr you know of, everyone you had met and that you had not, men and women and children, and you give a prayer to each you name. You do not know the name of every dead. Who will mourn them if you can’t? Who exists to?

You close your eyes and picture every face when the noise does not yet cease, when it only gets closer; circles like a fox to an injured rabbit, shark to fish.

At least it was not gas this time.

It could have been worse, you tell yourself when the planes finally retreat and you lift your hands off your ears tentatively and the ringing does not disappear so easily.

(It could have been much, much better, you know. You cannot live like this forever, cannot bear to or cannot survive like this—dying piece by piece, day by day. Maybe you will just hand yourself over someday, stand in the middle of the street and declare “I am a martyr!” as everything crumbles and for once you do not hide.)

(Maybe you should have accepted that invitation, so long ago now, to flee to the shores and try to escape this. Drowning on the way to Greece or Italy or Cyprus, or making it to the mainland and only lending yourself to more strife, only now of a different flavour.)

(You think of it more, and you realise there is no world in which you can just abandon all of this. You had only torn yourself from the ground a handful of years before the revolts came, yet you have always had the underlying knowledge of this country, its heroes and innocents and corrupts and civilians. Your purpose is here, what could the outside offer but the better of a jail cell? Besides, what could a not-quite boy, who knew only Syria and only Arabic and had only to his name this, do for Europe that a hundred others that could not make it, could not?)

(You try to not acknowledge the tears that fall, the hand you have to hold over your mouth to muffle sobs. This will not be how you are found. It can’t be.)

(You recall once, not so long after the guns had been turned to the army’s own people, seeing on a wall as you hid from shelling of a crowd of students, Assad or we burn the country, and the irony nearly makes you laugh even now. Here is your Assad, here is your burnt country. What is the point of carrying on? What is hope for the hopeless?)

(You cannot bring yourself to condemn those who join the fight. What else to do, how else to escape the futility of all of this? Maybe…)

(Maybe you can join it, too. You have little to offer, but you can come back when struck. You learnt this the hard way. A hundred maybes and I clouds and what ifs. You could. Will you?)

(Perhaps you will regret it.)

(You will regret this.)

(You will hate this.)

(But you can help.)

(You can help. You do not have to sit idly by and hope, hope so fruitlessly just as everyone else is, hope that diminishes your spirit, that everything will end soon enough, that this season would be the last with the war raging on.)

(You are scared, scared of death and futility and oppression and maybe all of this being for nothing, but you are scared of being the reason all of this is for nothing, of having no dignity, more than that.)

(Maybe you will look back on this in ten years time, or in five, or three, or next month, and think how stupid I was, how naïve, what was I thinking?)

(But the morning after, when you don’t hear droning in the three o’clock skies, you will set off and you will find rebels and you will join.)

(You will be strip-searched, because everything has turned all on each other, and you cannot trust anyone who will not give their lives up to keep both of you alive or die alongside you, and maybe sneered at by whichever man is assigned the job for not being the right kind of guy for this. But they need all the hands on deck that they can get, so they will not be turned away for it.)

(You will be asked for a name and in the seconds you have to decide on one, you will decide on Jihad, because Free Syria is such a pretentious thing to be introduced as.)

(You will meet other fighters there. Boys who look younger even than you, who cling to their comrades because they have none else and none else to lose but. Men who have deflected, who do not wish to be the ones putting the people down anymore. Women who cannot bear to be put aside anymore, who carry their rifles with steadier hands than the boys and men. Those who only know aid, who cook, who shout commands and train.)

(You will hold each near, those you know and those you don’t, in your units and in others, you will say a prayer for all of them and you will mourn the combatants as you did the civilians. Who else will, if not you?)

(You will hate it. You will wish that you could not be brought back. You will want to have never joined when you are captured by enemy forces for a period that does not exceed two months.)

(But,)

(and there are so many buts, here.)

(But you will cheer and sing and smile as you raise the banners of green-white-black and yellow-red-green over cities captured, strongholds broken through, capitals of terror finally gone.)

(You will hold the hands of your friend—Maiah, she calls herself; Rojava, you know her as—and you will see the joy in her usual stoicism.)

(You will not be handed your dignity, but you can take it with force, can rip it out of the hands of your rulers and nurture it into something worthwhile.)

(Revolution is such a delicate thing.)

[mariacallous]

Last spring, customs officers in the tiny nation of Moldova struck gold. Acting on a national intelligence tip-off from, they intercepted more than 100 passengers arriving from Russia via Armenia, each carrying bundles of cash just shy of €10,000 – the threshold for mandatory declaration. In a single night authorities at Chișinău airport seized more than €900,000.

Moldovan officials swiftly announced that the cash couriers were part of a scheme allegedly led by a Kremlin-linked fugitive oligarch and aimed at financing protesters and buying votes in this month’s presidential election and pivotal EU referendum.

The operation offered an early indication of what Moldovan and western officials have described in interviews with the Observer as an unprecedented effort by Russia to undermine the country’s bid for EU membership and weaken the authority of its pro-western president through a series of destabilising campaigns.

“Russia is pouring millions in dirty money to hijack our democratic processes. This isn’t just meddling – it’s full-blown interference aimed at destabilising our future. And it is alarming,” said Olga Roşca, a foreign policy adviser to the pro-western president, Maia Sandu.

The election, set for 20 October, in which Sandu faces re-election, is to be held on the same day as a referendum asking Moldovans whether they support constitutional changes that could eventually enable the country – one of the poorest in Europe – to join the EU.

Roşca said the government estimated that at least €100m was being funneled into Moldova from Russia to manipulate the elections and EU referendum. It is not the first warning about Russian interference: in June, the US, UK and Canada said Moscow was trying to meddle in Moldovan politics and would seek to provoke mass protests if its campaign fails.

Since the breakup of the Soviet Union, Moldova has gravitated between pro-western and pro-Russian courses, though the shadow of the Kremlin has always loomed large. Moscow also has 1,500 troops stationed in Transnistria, a region run by pro-Russian separatists who broke away from the control of Moldova’s government in a brief war in the 1990s.

Sandu, a former World Bank official, was elected president in November 2020, riding a wave of popularity as an anti-corruption reformer with a pro-European agenda. She has advocated a humble lifestyle – a sharp contrast to the bombastic, predominantly male politicians who have long dominated Moldovan politics.

In a recent interview, the president said she was sharing a two-bedroom apartment with her mother, while in her asset declaration from 2023 her bank balance was recorded as $600.

In 2021, Sandu’s pro-western party, PAS, won a majority in the country’s parliamentary elections, giving her unprecedented power to implement reforms and push the country toward the west. But, three years later, Moldova remains mired in economic and political instability.

First, the country was plunged into an energy crisis when Kremlin-controlled Gazprom slashed gas supplies to the country by one-third and demanded more than double the previous rates to maintain the flow, in what was widely seen as political payback from Moscow for Sandu’s pro-western stance. Then, Russia’s war on Ukraine pushed Moldova into a broader financial crisis.

Located just a few hoursdrive from Odesa, Moldova took in the highest number of Ukrainian refugees per capita, placing immense strain on its healthcare system, public services, and infrastructure. Inflation surged by as much as 40% as trade with both Moscow and Kyiv sharply declined.

Stray Russian missiles from the conflict added to the growing sense of danger, while the Russian troops stationed in Transnistria further amplified anxieties.

“Sandu promised a lot, but the geopolitical situation has been very tough on her. They have not been able to deliver on all promises,” said a western official in Moldova, reflecting on the growing frustration among some Moldovans with Sandu and her party.

“There is growing apathy and disappointment, which provides a fertile ground for Russia,” the official added.

Sandu remains the favourite to win the first-round presidential vote against 10 challengers, but she is facing a tricky second-round runoff.

She is also leading the “Yes” campaign for the EU referendum, with polls showing 55-65% of voters in favour of joining the bloc. In a major boost for Sandu, Moldova officially began EU accession negotiations in June. However, scepticism remains high about the country’s ability to implement the necessary democratic and judicial reforms in the near future.

Critics from the opposition have accused Sandu of politicising the referendum by holding it on the same day as the presidential election, suggesting that the move is designed to boost her own political chances. “The referendum is a very cynical move,” said Alexandr Stoianoglo in Chișinău, one of Sandu’s main rivals from the Russian-friendly socialist party, who is polling at 12%.

“EU integration should not be used for personal gain,” he added.

But those close to Sandu said Russia’s growing influence means the country cannot afford to wait. “We have a unique opportunity: Moldova has a pro-European president, parliament, and government. The EU is open to our membership, with all countries backing accession talks last June,” said Rosa. “Moldova’s survival as a democracy is on the line, and the geopolitical stakes are higher than ever,” said Roşca.

The biggest threat for Sandu comes from abroad, say her supporters. In particular, the fugitive pro-Russian businessman Ilan Shor, a vocal – and wealthy – opponent of EU membership who has been sanctioned by the west.

Shor was sentenced to 15 years in prison last year in absentia in connection with his role in the disappearance of $1bn from Moldova’s banking system. He fled to Israel and then Moscow where he set up a political movement aimed at destabilising the current government in Chișinău.

At a press conference last Thursday, national police chief Viorel Cernăuțanu accused Shor and Moscow of establishing a complex “mafia-style” voter-buying scheme and bribing 130,000 Moldovans to vote against the referendum and in favour of Russia-friendly candidates in what he called an “unprecedented, direct attack”.

Officials in Chișinău also believe Shor is behind a wave of pre-election vandalism attacks on government buildings, accusing him of recruiting young people who were allegedly trained in Moscow to cause unrest in the country. “We are prepared for anything in the coming weeks,” said a security official in the city. “It will be a variety of misinformation campaign, violent street protests and crude vote buying,” they added.

Shor did not reply to questions from the Observer. But he has done little to distance himself from the accusations of trying to interfere in Moldovan politics from abroad. Through the social network Telegram, he has offered to pay voters the equivalent of $29 if they registered for his campaign, promising money to people who would “convince as many people as possible at their polling station” to vote “no or abstain” in the referendum.

He has publicly pledged to pay Moldovans for publishing anti-EU posts on Facebook and Telegram.

The central “fear-mongering” narrative that Shor has been promoting centres around the claim that Chișinău’s pro-European policies are pushing the country towards war with Russia, said Vadim Pistrinciuc, the director at the Institute for Strategic Initiatives of Moldova, a thinktank.

“We have never faced this level of foreign interference,” he added.

Worryingly for officials in Chisinau, Shor’s tactics have proven effective elsewhere the country.

Last year, Yevgenia Gutsul, a previously unknown Shor-backed candidate, caused a political earthquake by winning the elections of governor in Gagauzia, another small, Russian-speaking semi-autonomous region in the south of the country.

Pro-Russian sentiments have always been high in Gagauzia, a region populated by a Turkic ethnic minority, which has had an uneasy relationship with the capital Chisinau since the 1991 breakup of the Soviet Union.

But Gutsul’s rise from obscurity and her ties to the Kremlin has stunned even seasoned observers and have prompted questions over Moscow’s role in her elections.

“She was polling at zero two weeks before the elections and then suddenly she appears and wins,” said Mihail Sirkeli, founder of Nokta, an independent media outlet based in Gagauzia.

Gutsul, who has openly declared running “a pro-Russian party” and travelled to Moscow to meet with Vladimir Putin after her election, is currently under investigation for allegedly funnelling Russian funds to a party associated with Shor.

“Shor is looking to repeat the Gagauzia playbook across the country,” said a western diplomat in Chisinau.

For now, officials in Moldova believe Moscow is concentrating its efforts on influencing the EU referendum, rather than the presidential elections where Sandu remains by far the most popular politician.

“If the referendum passes, it will lead to constitutional changes, which are harder to reverse in the long term compared to election outcomes,” said a senior Moldovan official.

But even if Sandu survives this month’s vote and referendum, her team expects renewed Kremlin efforts next year when her party faces re-election in the country’s parliamentary elections.

“Russia’s goal is clear: to keep Moldova stuck in a grey zone,” said Roşca. “If they lose Moldova, they lose a strategic foothold in the region.”

[nsfwmiamiart]

Fun Fact about Oil & Gas pipelines:

Oil barrels carried by boat are typically referred to as "oil tanker cargo" or simply "tanker cargo." The vessels used to transport large quantities of crude oil or refined petroleum products are known as oil tankers. These ships carry the oil in large tanks, and the term "barrels" refers to the standard unit of measurement for oil, not the actual containers used on the ship. Each barrel equals 42 U.S. gallons (about 159 liters) of oil.

Question #1:

How much does an oil tanker carry at once?

ChatGPT Answer #1:

Oil tankers come in various sizes, and their carrying capacities can range from tens of thousands to millions of barrels of oil. Here are the main classifications of oil tankers and their approximate capacities:

Aframax Tankers:

Capacity: 500,000 to 800,000 barrels of oil

Deadweight Tonnage (DWT): 80,000 to 120,000 tons

Suezmax Tankers:

Capacity: 800,000 to 1,000,000 barrels of oil

DWT: 120,000 to 200,000 tons

Named for their ability to transit the Suez Canal.

Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCC):

Capacity: 1,800,000 to 2,100,000 barrels of oil

DWT: 200,000 to 320,000 tons

Ultra Large Crude Carriers (ULCC):

Capacity: 2,100,000 to 3,700,000 barrels of oil

DWT: 320,000 to 550,000 tons

These are the largest tankers and can transport vast amounts of crude oil across oceans.

Larger tankers like VLCCs and ULCCs are typically used for long-distance journeys, such as transporting oil from the Middle East to Asia or Europe.

Question #2:

"I’ve heard a lot about the Russian gas pipelines supplying gas to European nations, but do similar pipelines exist for transporting oil, or are the pipelines only for gas? Additionally, which is more cost-effective: transporting oil by sea using oil tankers, or using oil pipelines? Are pipelines a faster and quicker alternative compared to oil tankers?"

ChatGPT Answer #2:

Yes, there are oil pipelines between Russia and European nations in addition to the more well-known gas pipelines. Russia has an extensive network of oil pipelines that transport crude oil and petroleum products to various European countries. While natural gas pipelines like Nord Stream often get more attention in the media, oil pipelines have played a crucial role in energy supply for decades.

Here are a few key Russian oil pipelines that supply Europe:

Druzhba (Friendship) Pipeline:

This is the largest oil pipeline system in the world and one of the most important oil supply routes from Russia to Europe.

The Druzhba pipeline branches out into two main lines:

The northern route supplies Poland, Germany, and other Central and Western European countries.

The southern route passes through Ukraine to supply Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and further south to Croatia and other regions.

Capacity: Around 1.2 to 1.4 million barrels per day.

Baltic Pipeline System (BPS):

This system delivers Russian crude oil to the Baltic Sea coast, where it is shipped out by tankers to European and global markets. It includes the BPS-1 and BPS-2 pipelines, transporting oil to ports like Primorsk and Ust-Luga.

Capacity: 1 million barrels per day from BPS-1, with BPS-2 adding significant capacity.

Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC):

Though primarily focused on oil from Kazakhstan, this pipeline also carries Russian crude from the Tengiz field in western Kazakhstan through southern Russia to the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk.

This oil is shipped out to global markets, including Europe.

Bukhara-Tashkent-Bishkek-Almaty Pipeline:

Another oil pipeline running through Russia's neighboring regions, connected to broader distribution networks.

So, to answer your question, Russia not only has natural gas pipelines to Europe but also an extensive network of oil pipelines that have been supplying crude oil and petroleum products to European markets for many years. These pipelines are a key part of Russia's energy exports.

Continued....

The cost-effectiveness and efficiency of transporting oil depend on several factors, including distance, volume, infrastructure, and geopolitical considerations. Here's a comparison between oil tankers and oil pipelines in terms of cost and speed:

1. Cost Comparison:

Oil Pipelines:

Lower operational costs: Once built, pipelines tend to be the cheaper option per barrel of oil transported over long distances. This is because there are no recurring shipping fees or port handling costs, and the continuous flow of oil ensures efficient large-scale transport.

High initial capital cost: However, building pipelines is very capital-intensive. The construction, maintenance, and security of pipelines involve huge upfront investments, especially if the pipeline crosses difficult terrain or international borders.

Stable costs: After the pipeline is in place, transportation costs are generally stable and predictable over time, as they aren't subject to fuel prices or shipping demand fluctuations.

Oil Tankers:

Higher variable costs: While tankers have lower initial costs (since no pipeline infrastructure needs to be built), they involve higher operational costs. This includes fuel for the tanker, crew salaries, insurance, port fees, and maintenance. Additionally, costs can fluctuate with fuel prices and market conditions.

No fixed infrastructure costs: Tankers offer flexibility since they don’t require permanent infrastructure like pipelines, but the shipping industry can be affected by global disruptions like weather, piracy, and congestion at major ports.

Verdict: Over long distances, pipelines are cheaper once operational, but tankers are more flexible and avoid the high initial investment.

2. Speed and Efficiency:

Oil Pipelines:

Faster over shorter distances: Pipelines provide a constant and uninterrupted flow of oil, typically moving crude oil at about 3-5 miles per hour (5-8 km/h). Pipelines are often faster and more direct for land-based routes, especially when connecting neighboring countries.

Minimal delays: Pipelines are generally more reliable in terms of avoiding delays, as they aren't affected by external factors like weather or port traffic.

Fixed routes: One downside is that pipelines are rigid once built, meaning the oil can only be transported along that fixed route, limiting flexibility.

Oil Tankers:

Slower and variable travel time: Tankers travel long distances across oceans, and the speed depends on several factors, such as weather, sea conditions, and port access. On average, tankers move at 14-16 knots (16-18 mph or 26-30 km/h), but sea routes are much longer than pipeline routes.

Flexible but vulnerable to delays: Tankers have the flexibility to reach many ports around the world, but they are more susceptible to delays due to congestion at ports, geopolitical issues, or shipping lane disruptions.

Verdict: Pipelines are faster and more reliable for continuous and uninterrupted delivery, while tankers are slower and prone to delays but offer flexibility for long-distance and overseas transport.

3. Other Factors:

Geopolitical risks: Both methods can face geopolitical risks. Pipelines can be disrupted by political tensions, wars, or terrorism, especially if they cross multiple countries. Tankers, on the other hand, can be affected by piracy or conflicts around key maritime chokepoints (e.g., the Strait of Hormuz or the Suez Canal).

Environmental impact: Pipelines generally have a lower carbon footprint compared to tankers, which consume large amounts of fuel. However, pipelines can pose environmental risks if they leak or spill.

Conclusion:

For shorter, land-based routes (e.g., from Russia to European countries), oil pipelines are often the more cost-effective and faster option.

For long-distance or overseas transport (e.g., from Russia to Asian markets or North America), oil tankers are more practical but come with higher costs and longer travel times.

Ultimately, the choice between pipelines and tankers depends on specific circumstances like distance, terrain, political stability, and existing infrastructure.

[xtruss]

Blast From The Past: Why The Nord Stream Sabotage May Yet Have Its Day of Reckoning

Economic Hardship In Europe And Military Humiliation In Ukraine Mean This Pivotal Event Won’t Stay On The Figurative Sea Floor Forever

— By Henry Johnston. 28 August 2024

As We Approach the Second Anniversary of the Nord Stream Pipeline Bombing, nothing seems certain about one of the most significant acts of industrial sabotage in history.

For nearly two years, a stream of constantly shifting narratives never fully fleshed out or reconciled with each other has given the whole affair the feel of a magiclantern show illuminated by flickering torchlight.

However, earlier this month, the Wall Street Journal ventured forth with a long article purporting to, for the first time, tell the “outlines of the real story” of what happened to the one-time conduit for 35% of the Russian gas consumed by Europe.

What was clearly an attempt at a definitive semi-official version of the unsolved mystery will hardly need more than a new file name before being sent off to Hollywood as a script. We meet a quixotic group of Ukrainian military officers and businessmen who, “buoyed by alcohol and patriotic fervor,” concoct a scheme to destroy the pipeline on a shoestring budget. A small yacht is rented and a six-member crew assembled, one of whom was a woman, whose presence was intended to create the impression that the group was just a gathering of friends.

Vladimir Zelensky allegedly approved the operation initially before trying to nix it on the advice of the the CIA, which had gotten wind of it. But, alas, the team had already gone incommunicado and the daring scheme was not to be stopped.

The mix of cinematic detail, quotable lines, and careful narrative crafting gives the article the feel of what is called a ‘limited hangout’ – a view that I am not the first to suggest. This piece of spy jargon refers to a strategy of volunteering a self-contained and sensational, but relatively harmless, story, elements of which may be true, in order to conceal something more damaging. Such a technique is typically employed when it is no longer possible to sustain an entirely phony story.

Nevertheless, the piece has mostly landed with a dead thud. Swedish engineer Erik Andersson, who led the first and only independent forensic investigation at the sites of the blasts, recently gave an interview to Italian journalist Roberto Vivaldelli in which he said: “This WSJ article, as well as all previous similar story-telling pieces from major American newspapers on the subject, has a clear mission to whitewash the US and other Western nations.”

He goes on to say: “The more I look into this, the more I feel that the Nord Stream attack is just a part of a bigger scheme to cut off Russia from Europe,” adding that “the large number of institutions which participated in this scheme makes the ‘drunken Ukrainians’ story look embarrassing.”

It seems clear enough that when the truth does eventually come out, it will likely be as sordid as it is mundane, entirely unfit for Hollywood, deeply embarrassing to the West, and devoid of alcohol. And it’s extremely hard to imagine that the road to ultimate culpability doesn’t end in Washington. We may well end up not far from where veteran journalist Seymour Hersch pointed with his report claiming that the sabotage was a CIA operation carried out by US Navy divers.

The Gas Leak at the Nord Stream 2 Gas Pipeline. © Handout/Danish Defense/AFP

But there’s another angle here that can be pursued. More interesting than ‘who did it’ is to ask ‘how did they know they could’? In other words, when a brazen crime is committed and the perpetrator gets off scot-free, the question isn’t necessary ‘how did he get away with it?’, but ‘how did he know he would get away with it?’ A crime is one thing, but the apparent confidence in advance that it will entail no consequences is a matter of a much larger magnitude. The latter points to deeper forces operating within a society or even a civilization.

To underscore just how brazen this act was, consider this. The pipeline was part-European-owned and terminates in Germany, and the attack occurred in Danish territorial waters. Therefore, what we have effectively amounts to aggression against two NATO countries and, as per Article 5 of the bloc’s treaty, an act of war against NATO as a whole. A German official even admitted as much, telling the WSJ that “an attack of this scale is a sufficient reason to trigger the collective defense clause of NATO.”

And consider this in light of how touchy we know NATO to be about the least aggression on its territory – real or imagined. When an errant Ukrainian air defense missile landed in a Polish village in November of 2022, the incident was treated with the utmost seriousness. Poland requested a NATO meeting the following day on the basis of Article 4 – the bloc’s consultation clause that precedes the vaunted Article 5. So anyone carrying out what is unambiguously classified under international law as an act of war against NATO certainly does so at his own very substantial risk.

But in this case, there doesn’t seem to have been any risk, and the perpetrators seem to have known that. It is this sense of impunity that is more telling than the act itself. It means that it was well understood in the corridors of true Western power – not the beer-drenched bar stools of Ukraine – that a high level of discipline within the trans-Atlantic bloc could be maintained, and that the European countries affected would do exactly what they have done – go to any length not to implicate their powerful ally.

As a corollary to that, the ability to manage narratives in the media must have been seen as nearly absolute, not only in the US but across Europe. The perpetrators must have been confident that no major mainstream outlet would cut loose with a non-state-approved investigation. And indeed none have. This is as good evidence as any that the Western mainstream media, all pretentious claims to the contrary notwithstanding, has come to perform a role akin to a public-relations department for their various governments.

All of this may seem self-evident, and the perpetrators of the sabotage certainly calculated correctly that they could count on the type of discipline described above. But this begs a deeper question – what exactly is at the root of this capitulation to the American-supplied narrative across the myriad of European governments, institutions, think tanks, and media? Washington can perhaps count on a certain amount of domestic loyalty, but why Europe? This is a phenomenon that cannot be sufficiently explained by the standard appeals to American military power or economic might – or whatever threats or blackmail Washington can muster. This is particularly the case given that Europe has largely gone against its economic interests in confronting Russia.

In contemplating Europe’s inability to think critically about its own policies or carve out its own path separate from the US, the excellent Swedish analyst Malcom Kyeyune has identified a phenomenon that he calls “Europe’s mental deindustrialization.”

Abuse Only Gets Worse With Time: How the US Increasingly Mistreats Its Closest Allies! A mainstay of Washington’s policy since even before the end of World War II has been to make economic dependencies of its friends

While physical deindustrialization – the shutting down of factories, laying off of workers, and decay of productive capacities – is still underway, Kyeyune sees this mental deindustrialization as a fait accompli. The result is “a growing intellectual and cultural dependence on a superpower that is itself in a state of decadence.”

He goes on to discuss how the American and European political cultures have become all but interchangeable. He gives examples of how in 2016, many in the Swedish media were talking about the threat of Donald Trump as if Sweden were the 51st state; when George Floyd was killed and riots spread across the US, Germans and Brits started protesting as well. The European left, he notes, has begun parroting American progressive rhetoric about “settler colonialism” and “dismantling internalized whiteness,” whereas the right has likewise begun sounding the alarm about cultural Marxism and wokeness on campuses.

It wasn’t always this way, Kyeyune explains. He argues that despite the existence of a Western geopolitical bloc, the political culture of Europe was fundamentally independent until the fall of the Soviet Union. But in recent decades, he says, “the institutions that once existed to incubate domestic thinking have all atrophied and been left to rot.” Accordingly, this has rendered Europe “intellectually, culturally, and politically subordinate to a superpower increasingly incapable of performing the role it took on in the post-Cold War geopolitical order.”

Europe, he concludes, is therefore “stuck rehashing old narratives about freedom, civilization, and the West, clinging to assumptions that have been proved obsolete by events in Ukraine and the Middle East.” I would add that these notions themselves have largely been emptied of their original meaning and are now mostly employed by the Western political class to justify their own rule and bludgeon their adversaries. If Kyeyune is correct, sickly Europe simply doesn't have the antibodies anymore to resist the loudly amplified political culture from across the Atlantic.

Almost exactly a century ago, William Butler Yeats wondered “what discords will drive Europe to that artificial unity – only dry or drying sticks can be tied into a bundle – which is the decadence of every civilization?” Far downstream from this is the mental deindustrialization about which Kyeyune speaks. And of course only in such a desiccated state would a nation or group of nations allow an act such as the Nord Stream sabotage to go almost unremarked upon.

And yet the story may not be fully told. It is not uncommon for events to take on a more potent meaning long after their occurrence, and one senses that such a fate may await the Nord Stream sabotage, especially in light of what is shaping up to be a hard reckoning in the West in the coming years.

The economic reverberations of the loss of Russian gas have not stopped. Several months ago, the CEO of German renewables group RWE predicted that Germany would probably never fully recover from the 2022 energy crisis and that it would see “significant structural demand destruction in the energy-intensive industries.“ A report published by the German Chamber of Industry and Commerce based on surveys taken this past June showed a distinct trend toward entities leaving Germany as a business location, particularly in the industrial sector.

Henry Johnston, A Moscow-Based RT Editor Who Worked in Finance for Over a Decade

One industrial manager said, “the deindustrialization of Germany has begun, and it feels like no one is doing anything about it.” Germany’s economic model may be beyond repair.

Meanwhile, the singular aim of inflicting defeat upon Russia via Ukraine seems to be headed for an embarrassing and shattering denouement, all while the West has shown itself entirely not up to the task of handling the industrial demands of a real conflict.

Such foreboding developments may well sober minds. Economic hardship and military humiliation do not tend to sit well. Maybe then the Europeans can ‘reshore’ their mental faculties and see the Nord Stream sabotage for what it really was – a desperate ploy to bind by force the last completely loyal bastion of the American empire.

Carl Jung once said that there are certain events “that remain… below the threshold of consciousness. They have happened, but they have been absorbed subliminally.”

Perhaps the Nord Stream sabotage is just that sort of event. There has been no public reckoning, no true assessment of its meaning – only a constantly shifting narrative and endless deception and prevarication. It has been dismissed, downplayed, and hushed up. Its patrons told to “apologize and be quiet.“

The true contours of the Nord Stream blasts likely won't be traced publicly anytime soon, but deep down, below the threshold of our collective consciousness, we have a good sense of what this whole sordid affair is really all about. It will not stay on the figurative sea floor forever.

[trendingreportz]

Unmanned Aircraft Systems Market - Forecast(2024 - 2030)

Unmanned Aircraft Systems Market Overview

Unmanned Aircraft Systems Market is growing at a CAGR of 14.6% during the forecast period 2022-2027 to reach $54.2 Billion by 2027. The growing adoption of new technologies such as artificial intelligence, sense and avoid systems, cloud computing in UAS, created significant demand in the forecast period. The incorporation of artificial intelligence in remotely piloted aircraft systems has not only enhanced their capabilities but has also enabled them to carry out several activities such as take-off, navigation, data capture, data transmission, security surveillance and data analysis without human intervention. Furthermore increasing use of UAS in various military applications such as monitoring, surveying and mapping, and combat operations is also contributing to the growth of the market across the globe. The rise in need for surveying of vast land mass, which contains uneven ground and rocky obstacles, has created demand for UAS, especially micro air vehicles in the construction sector. Furthermore, the growing popularity of aerial photography has led consumers to purchase efficient drones and use them for photography purposes using radio data link technology, thus driving the market growth in the forecast period 2022-2027. One driving factor has been the Russia-Ukraine war which has seen significant spending on UAS solutions. The Russian military has spent approximately $9 billion to domestically produce an armada of some 500 Unmanned Aircraft Systems. Ukraine, Poland and Belarus have also invested significantly on UAS solutions thereby driving the market in the short term.

Report Coverage

The report: “Unmanned Aircraft Systems Market Forecast (2022-2027)”, by IndustryARC covers an in-depth analysis of the following segments of the Unmanned Aircraft Systems Market report.

By Type – Fixed Wing, Multi Rotor, Single Rotor, Fixed Wing Hybrid VTOL and Others By Size - Very Small UAS, Small UAS, Mini UAS, Large UAS By Range - Very Close Range, Close Range, Short Range, Mid Range and Long Range By Endurance - Low Endurance-Low Altitude, Average Endurance-Low Altitude, Average Endurance-Average Altitude, High Endurance-High Altitude and Others By Energy Source - Traditional Airplane Fuel, Battery Cell, Fuel Cell, Solar Cells/PVs, Others By Application – Recreation, Education/Academic Research, Real Estate, Industrial, Filmmaking/ Photography/ Videography, First Responder Services, Government Agencies, Survey/Mapping/GIS, Data Aggregation or Analytic services, Oil and Gas, Agriculture and Others By Geography - North America (U.S, Canada, Mexico), Europe (Germany, UK, France, Italy, Spain, Belgium, Russia and Others), APAC(China, Japan India, SK, Australia and Others), South America(Brazil, Argentina, and others), and RoW (Middle East and Africa)

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Key Takeaways

Unmanned Aircraft Systems Market is witnessing a significant growth owing to the global Unmanned Aircraft System Market, with estimation of $52,368.4 million by 2027, growing at CAGR of 14.6% during 2022-2027. Increasing applications of UAS for First Responder services, Government agencies, increasing application of IR/EO cameras in the defense sector and security premises, rising adoption of UAS for Recreation and Filmmaking for best visual experience and for Surveying and Mapping applications are driving the growth of the market.

The extensive deployment of UAS for defense and military applications majorly for Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) operations is likely to be the major driving factor for the growth of global Unmanned Aircraft Systems Market.

Night vision cameras, IR/EO sensors, Electronic Warfare, SIGINT and other payloads installed in UAS for ISR Operations has been providing major boost in the market growth of UAS in global level.

Unmanned Aircraft Systems Market Segment Analysis- By Size

Very Small Unmanned Aircraft System is projected to reach US$ 12,787 million by 2027 and is estimated to grow at a CAGR 16.3% during 2022-2027. Very small Unmanned Aircraft System consists of nano and macro UAS. Nano Unmanned Aircraft Systems are upto 250 gm and macro UAS are generally from 250 gm to 2 kg. These small size Unmanned Aircraft System are hugely adopted for recreational purpose. There has been a high adoption of very small UAS owing to the rising demand for nano and macro-UAVs in precision agriculture offering strong potential to improve the efficiency of water, nutrient, and disease management. Such wide range of applications of nano and macro UAS in the agriculture sector is augmenting the market. Technological advancements in Unmanned Aircraft System such as sensor miniaturization, flight precision, autonomy and cloud-based image processing are boosting the adoption of very small UAS in agriculture sector. Increasing penetration of nano and macro UAS in construction site for measuring real-time work progress or in mining sector to provide volumetric data on excavations has contributed to the growth of the market. Burgeoning demand of nano and macro drones among rescue organization for delivering medical supplies or food products during emergency is driving the market.

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Unmanned Aircraft Systems Market Segment Analysis - By Application

Among all the applications, the UAS market is dominated by the Recreational applications as they have the largest market share of $2.1 billion in 2021, growing at a CAGR of 17.4% during the period 2022-2027. The market is growing due to its wide adoption of monitoring and surveying of remote locations in the region. Moreover, commercial or recreational drones are also being used for monitoring disaster-affected areas, providing aid to the victims, and for search & rescue missions. The commercial Unmanned Aircraft System market continues to grow globally and was accelerated in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic response. Autonomy and artificial intelligence (AI) are, and will remain, the main drivers promoting commercial UAS adoption and associated market growth because autonomous flight reduces the need for expensive manpower whereas AI-driven data collection and processing reduces the time it takes to produce results that directly impact decision-making.

Unmanned Aircraft Systems Market Segment Analysis – By Geography 

The market for Unmanned Aircraft System is estimated to be $52.3 billion in 2027 and is analyzed to grow at a CAGR of 14.6% during the forecast period 2022-2027. South America is growing at a highest CAGR of 16.7% in the forecast period owing to the procurement of small UAS for ISR applications especially in countries like Brazil due to increasing defense budgets. Further in South America, small UAS are increasingly being adopted for industrial purposes, like surveying, mapping, mining, agriculture, and construction in the region. APAC is analyzed to grow at a significant CAGR of 16.65% in the forecast period, owing to the rapid rise in investment for the defense, commercial and law enforcement bodies in the Asia Pacific region, which are mostly dominated by the countries such as China, India, South Korea. These countries are allotting a considerable budget for their defense & law enforcement grooming purposes. Besides, growing incidences of interpersonal stand-offs, asymmetric warfare, terrorist activities, preparation for the forthcoming combats, along with higher economic development and enhancement in the manufacturing industries, construction sector and others are enhancing the market growth in the forecast period. North America has dominated the market growth with 33% in 2021, owing to rising investment in the defense & homeland security budgets, especially in the United States, and higher development in the information technology & microelectronics industry is expected to fuel regional market growth substantially.

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Unmanned Aircraft Systems Market Drivers 

Rise in application of UAS by Armed forces and Other government agencies

The market for Unmanned Aircraft Systems is likely to benefit enormously from the rising safety concerns of Armed forces and different agencies around various parts of the globe. In many leading economies such as U.S, China, India, Japan and Others, the Defense Department of these countries have shown massive investments to provide their troops with all necessary military equipment which comprises mainly of UAVs and different drones. Rise in the application of UAVs by different Government agencies has been promoting the growth of Unmanned Aircraft Systems in global market. For instance, due to rise in safety concerns of armed forces and government agencies, the U.S. Department of Defence classified its unmanned aerial vehicles, which include various models of military and government surveillance drone, according to a group system that groups by factors such as maximum altitude. This system ranges from Group 1 (<1200 ft AGL) to Group 5 (> 18,000 ft). These initiatives tend to drive the market growth of UAS in forecast period. IdeaForge had signed a $20 million contract with the Indian Army in January 2021 to supply drones. This is a continued effort by the Indian Government to procure locally manufactured UAS solutions.

Growing application of UAS in air Strikes

In recent years, there has been a huge increase in the global war conflicts and severe terrorist attacks in different parts of the globe. For instance, According to SIPRI (Stockholm International Peace Research Institute) statistics, there were at least 15 countries with active armed conflicts in Sub-Saharan Africa in 2019. Nigeria, Kenya, Mali, Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo among others. These active armed conflicts tend to enhance the demand of various surveillance UAVs further driving the market growth of Unmanned Aircraft Systems. Moreover, increasing ISR missions by Military & Defence sector for peace processes in highly-tensed war locations has further uplifted the demand of UAS for air strikes which tend to drive the demand of UAS in global level. Unmanned Aircraft Systems delivers airborne ISR services to intelligence, defence and homeland security officials with collection, processing, analysis and dissemination of information across the full spectrum of the Department of Defence and Intelligence Community’s mission. These applications has brought major growth in the demand of UAS, further driving its market growth. According to data obtained by VOA, U.S. airstrikes in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Yemen and Somalia totaled 852 in 2021, which despite being a 42% fewer than in 2020 despite the proportion of drone strikes rising. This will drive market growth.

Unmanned Aircraft Systems Market Challenges 

Lack of skilled pilots and vulnerable to hackers

Various UAVs are used by different end-users for their respective applications. The pilots for UAVs in Military & Defense sector are well trained for their purpose. On the other hand, various commercial drones which are used for mapping, surveying and other applications in Real-Estate or Recreation sector lack skilled pilots. This tend to restrain the market growth of UAS in these sectors. Moreover, UAVs are controlled at remote area thus they require a data link with the base control. Hackers can intercept the data link network and access users control system. This can lead to disruption of privacy and can be very handy to people with wrong intentions. For instance, US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)’s RQ-170 Sentinel stealth UAS, a key weapon in the intelligence gathering arsenal got hacked during operation in Afghanistan. They first jammed its communications links, which disconnected it from ground controllers and made it switch to autopilot. The drone was forced to search for unencrypted GPS frequencies as they sent the UAS with wrong GPS coordinates, tricking it into believing that it was near its home base in Afghanistan.

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Unmanned Aircraft Systems Market Landscape

Technology launches, acquisitions and R&D activities are key strategies adopted by players in the Semiconductors Market. The Unmanned Aircraft Systems top 10 companies include:

Parrot

Lockheed Martin

DJI

Northrop Grumman

Thales

IAI

Airbus

Boeing

BAE

Textron

Acquisitions/Technology Launches

In April 2021, DJI launched their new benchmark for high-grade flight performance and incredible imagery with the new DJI Air 2S. This portable camera drone is an all-in-one solution which is designed to offer robust flight performance, state-of-the-art camera upgrades and high-grade preprogrammed content creation tools.

In April 2021, Ehang entered into a partnership with Aeroports de Catalunya, a public company of the Generalitat de Catalunya. The partnership aimed to provide passenger transportation, aerial logistics, take-off and landing infrastructure, airspace management and regulatory certification, etc. The partnership will further promote safe, intelligent and eco-friendly autonomous aerial mobility solutions, which will promote the applications of UAS in Europe.

In May 2021, Northrop Grumman’s MQ-4C Triton autonomous system has been contracted by the U.S. Navy to make major changes such as reducing the risk of integrating sense and avoid SAA capabilities into the high-altitude and to offer long-endurance operations. This capability will allow the Triton to safely operate in shared airspace with manned aircraft.

[cyberbenb]

Ukraine war latest: Russia intensifies assault in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, military says

Key developments on March 28:

Russia intensifies assault in Zaporizhzhia, increasing pressure on Ukraine’s southern positions, military says

Russia makes excuses to break ceasefire on energy infrastructure strikes

EU preparing 17th package of Russia sanctions, EUobserver reports

UK, French military officials to meet in Ukraine to discuss troop deployment

Russia has intensified assault operations in the Zaporizhzhia sector, increasing pressure on Ukraine’s southern positions, Ukraine’s Southern Defense Forces spokesperson Vladyslav Voloshyn said on March 28 during Ukraine’s state-run telethon.

The Ukrainian military reported escalating hostilities and a rise in attacks on key areas. Zaporizhzhia Oblast holds strategic importance for Russia, underscoring its efforts to advance in the region.

Voloshyn said Russia seeks to strengthen its position ahead of potential truce or ceasefire negotiations. “The Russians want to get as much of a head start or advance as much as possible in Zaporizhzhia Oblast,” he said.

According to the spokesperson, Russian forces have massed troops for assault operations using small infantry groups. This tactic, deployed in other sectors, has yielded some results in Zaporizhzhia, particularly near Orikhiv and Hulyaypole.

The number of such attacks has risen significantly since the beginning of spring, Voloshyn said.

Zaporizhzhia Oblast, in southeastern Ukraine, borders Dnipropetrovsk Oblast to the north, Donetsk Oblast to the east, and Kherson Oblast to the south. It is also home to the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, one of Europe’s largest.

‘Trump looks at Putin as a friend’ — Expert negotiator dissects Ukraine-Russia ceasefire talks

U.S. President Donald Trump’s stated goal of bringing a swift end to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine is looking evermore distant, with only two tentative partial ceasefires to show after several rounds of talks. Ukraine has already agreed to a U.S.-proposed full 30-day ceasefire, saying on…

The Kyiv IndependentChris York

Russia makes excuses to break ceasefire on energy infrastructure strikes

Moscow on March 28 insisted it was adhering to a ceasefire on striking energy infrastructure, whilst simultaneously laying the groundwork for breaking it.

Ukraine and Russia had announced a halt on energy strikes after consultations with the U.S. in Riyadh earlier this week.

There have been no reported Ukrainian strikes on Russian energy infrastructure since but Russia has accused Kyiv of targeting the Sudzha gas metering station, which used to be critical transit point for Russian gas exports to Europe.

Ukraine’s General Staff denied the allegations, saying: “Ukraine’s Defense Forces strictly adhere to the agreements reached with partners to stop attacks on energy facilities.

“Fire is carried out exclusively on military targets."

Ukraine had previously accused Russia of deliberately striking the Sudzha gas station in Kursk Oblast on March 21 to frame Kyiv.

Speaking on March 28, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Russia “reserves the right, in case the Kyiv regime does not comply with this moratorium, of course, not to comply with it either."

“It would be illogical for us to comply and face attempts to strike our energy infrastructure facilities every night,” he added.

White House dismisses Putin’s proposal for temporary government in Ukraine

Putin suggested a transitional administration, overseen by the U.N. and several countries, could be formed in Ukraine to organize elections.

The Kyiv IndependentTim Zadorozhnyy

EU preparing 17th package of Russia sanctions, EUobserver reports

The European Union is preparing its 17th package of sanctions against Russia amid Moscow’s demands for lifting some Western restrictions as part of its ceasefire terms, EUobserver reported on March 27, citing four unnamed EU diplomats.

Work on a new round of EU sanctions against Russia has started and is “at a very early stage,” one of the sources told EUobserver. The European Commission is expected to present its proposals in early summer, another diplomat told the media outlet.

Commenting on the timeline, one of the diplomats told the outlet that “it’s too speculative at this point,” adding that the bloc will be watching how the ceasefire talks between the U.S., Ukraine and Russia will unfold.

“Keep up the pressure on Russia. It was very clear that the sanctions stay in place. What we want is a just and lasting peace agreement. That is the goal,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on March 27 following a “Coalition of the Willing” summit in Paris.

Russia’s allies including North Korea could join Ukraine ceasefire talks, Putin says

Russian President Vladimir Putin also listed China, India, Brazil, and South Africa among those he sees as potential participants.

The Kyiv IndependentTim Zadorozhnyy

UK, French military officials to meet in Ukraine to discuss troop deployment

Ukrainian, British and French general staff representatives will hold a meeting in Ukraine within a week to discuss the potential deployment of foreign troops to the country, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on March 28.

He said that other countries would also participate but did not specify them.

The news came a day after a Paris summit where a number of European countries moved forward with plans to send soldiers to Ukraine as part of a “reassurance force” in case of a ceasefire with Russia.

The initiative is co-led by France and the U.K., which will both send military delegations to Ukraine to discuss the so-called “reassurance force,” as well as the future shape of Ukraine’s army, French President Emmanuel Macron said.

According to Zelensky, the meeting will be attended by countries that “will be 100% in favor of (a peacekeeping) contingent on the territory of Ukraine."

“Not all of them will come, there will be a narrow circle. France, the U.K., and Ukraine will definitely be there,” the president told reporters.

The next meeting will be held at the level of national security advisors soon after, Zelensky said.

Note from the author:

Ukraine War Latest is put together by the Kyiv Independent news desk team, who keep you informed 24 hours a day, seven days a week. If you value our work and want to ensure we have the resources to continue, join the Kyiv Independent community.

As Ukraine’s fate hangs in the balance, ‘Soviet’ command culture damages war effort

Last February, a Ukrainian company commander going by his callsign Veter was ordered to send his people to reinforce another unit’s position over the next few hours. He was told that four National Guardsmen were holding the position on the other side of the village they were defending in

The Kyiv IndependentNatalia Yermak