Forward movement to World War 3

[Atticus Pizzaballa]

Russia cuts natural gas to 2 NATO nations in escalation


POKROVSK, Ukraine (AP) — Russia cut off natural gas to NATO members Poland and Bulgaria on Wednesday and threatened to do the same to other countries, dramatically escalating its standoff with the West over the war in Ukraine. European leaders decried the move as “blackmail.”



A day after the U.S. and other Western allies vowed to speed more and heavier weapons to Ukraine, the Kremlin used its most most essential export as leverage against two of Kyiv’s staunch backers. Gas prices in Europe shot up on the news.



The tactic could eventually force targeted nations to ration gas and deal another blow to economies suffering from rising prices. At the same time, it could deprive Russia of badly needed income to fund its war effort.



Poland has been a major gateway for the delivery of weapons to Ukraine and confirmed this week that it is sending the country tanks. Bulgaria, under a new liberal government that took office last fall, has cut many of its old ties to Moscow and supported sanctions against Russia over its invasion. It has also hosted Western fighter jets at a new NATO outpost on Bulgaria’s Black Sea coast.
apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-kyiv-business-bulgaria-moldova-2505307f5dcc882d38bab642ffce649f


Hopefully this will get us into WW3 since now an attack on a NATO Nation is in progress. This madman must be stopped. Sanctions are nothing to him.

[Atticus Pizzaballa]

Attacks Begin in New Country as Russia Warns Nuclear Threat Is ‘Real’

Russia’s foreign minister has warned Western powers not to underestimate the “real” risk of nuclear conflict if they continue to funnel weapons to Ukraine in what he says is an undeclared proxy war.

Within hours of his remarks, explosions were heard inside the sovereign borders of Moldova. Ukrainian officials believe Russia is launching “false flag” operations in the pro-Russian rebel-controlled enclave of Transnistria in order to justify widening its imperial assault into a second nation.

The warning from Sergei Lavrov, in a state TV interview late on Monday night, represents a dramatic rhetorical escalation from the Kremlin in the face of an increasingly assertive international response to the Ukraine crisis.

His comments drew a sharp reply from Lavrov’s counterpart in Kyiv, Dmytro Kuleba, who said Russia had lost its “last hope to to scare the world off supporting Ukraine… This only means Moscow senses defeat in Ukraine.”

Lavrov, the stony-faced veteran of Russian diplomacy, was asked in the interview about the risks of the Ukraine crisis spiraling into nuclear conflict, as so nearly happened with the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962.

“The risks now are considerable,” he said. “I would not want to elevate those risks artificially. Many would like that. The danger is serious, real. And we must not underestimate it,” Lavrov said.

“NATO, in essence, is engaged in a war with Russia through a proxy and is arming that proxy. War means war.”

Lavrov was speaking the day after U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken met face to face in Kyiv with President Volodymyr Zelensky, promising yet more military aid.

After initial hesitation from the Biden administration, reluctant to send weapons onto the battlefields of Ukraine only for them to end up in Russia’s hands, America is now all-in on its support for Kyiv, hopeful that victory for Ukraine could neutralize the Russian conventional military threat for a generation.

On Tuesday, Austin was scheduled to host a meeting of 40 allied defence ministers at the Ramstein air base in Germany to coordinate the international response to the Russian aggression and guarantee a steady supply of heavy weaponry, air defense systems, and ammunition to the Ukrainian army. In a significant move, Germany, which has so far refused to supply heavy weaponry to Kyiv, is expected to confirm that it will send 50 anti-aircraft tanks.

The Russian invasion was launched two months ago, on Feb. 24, after President Vladimir Putin ordered a “special operation” to “denazify” Ukraine and liberate Russian-speaking towns and cities.

The original plan, as formulated by Putin and his generals, was for the Ukrainian capital Kyiv to be in Russian hands within three or four days, with Zelensky either killed or run out of town.

Five weeks later, with thousands of Russians killed and its forces devastated by the tactically superior Ukrainian defenders, Russia was forced to admit defeat in the battle for Kyiv and refocus its offensive more clearly in southern and eastern Ukraine to take control of the Donbas and create a land bridge from southern Russia along the Black Sea coast to Odesa.

Another element in the Russian war plans became clearer last week when a Russian general, Rustam Minnekaev, let slip that the proposed “land corridor” would stretch all the way to Moldova, entirely cutting Ukraine off from access to the sea.

Under those plans, Russia’s military control would stretch all the way into the breakaway Moldovan region of Transnistria, where Russian-backed separatists declared independence 30 years ago and where Russia still has a military base.

Moldova, which is constitutionally neutral, has done its best not to be drawn into the conflict—but Russia seems determined to drag in the former Soviet republic, which lies just to the West of Ukraine.

On Monday, assailants fired rocket-propelled grenades at an empty security service building in Tiraspol, the Transnistrian capital. Officials in Moldova and Ukraine dismissed it as a Russian “false flag” operation. An RPG launcher discarded at the scene, of a type used by Russia and not Ukraine, clearly bore a “Z” symbol.

Early on Tuesday, explosions destroyed two nearby communications towers used to rebroadcast Russian radio and TV stations around the region—not targets the Russians would choose for a provocation.

The breakaway region, which has been funded by Russia for decades, has a population of almost half a million, a third of whom identify as Russian, but with large Moldovan and Ukrainian minorities. Long queues quickly built up at the main border crossing into Moldova after Tuesday's attacks, fueled by fears that the Russians could try to mobilize the local population to help fight in Ukraine.

Later on Tuesday, Putin was due to meet in Moscow with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres—much to the anger of the Ukrainian government, which says he has no mandate to negotiate on their behalf.

news.google.com/articles/CAIiEFiDmyT4ReUi_08o44sBATIqFggEKg0IACoGCAow7s8BMNBIMP-3lgc?hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US%3Aen

[Clipper]

They are cutting off their Russian noses to spite their own face. With sanctions in place they are only reducing one of the remaining sources of cash flow from exporting their natural gas.

[Atticus Pizzaballa]

Europe braces for gas crisis as Russia halts some supplies

Analysis by Anna Cooban, CNN Business



Updated 12:50 PM ET, Wed April 27, 2022


www.cnn.com/2022/04/27/energy/russia-europe-gas-supply/index.htm

[Atticus Pizzaballa]

Putin issues new threat to countries intervening in Ukraine

Inside Politics



Vladimir Putin issued a vague threat to countries intervening in Ukraine. Ret. Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges discusses what to make of it and how the US and allies should respond.Source: CNN

Very interesting serious threat to USA and Allies


www.cnn.com/videos/world/2022/04/27/putin-threat-ukraine-ip-vpx.cnn

[Atticus Pizzaballa]

You’re next: Kremlin warns anyone not paying in rubles also faces gas shutoff

The European Commission insists that paying for gas in rubles ‘is a breach of our sanctions.’


Any country refusing to bow to the Kremlin's demands to pay for natural gas in rubles will face the same fate as Poland and Bulgaria, Moscow warned after those two countries saw their deliveries drop to zero on Wednesday.



"Payment in proper form will be the basis for the continuation of supply," said Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, referring to a March 31 decree signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin demanding that all gas payments be made in rubles.



The European Commission insisted on Wednesday that payment to Russia in rubles is forbidden as it undermines sanctions imposed after it invaded Ukraine.



"Our guidance here is very clear," said Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. "If this is not foreseen in the contract, to pay in rubles is a breach of our sanctions."



She added a warning for companies with contracts denominated in euros or dollars — accounting for 97 percent of EU gas deals with Russia. They "should not accede to the Russian demands, this would be a breach of the sanctions, so a high risk for the companies.”



That sets up a major clash between the EU, which gets 40 percent of its natural gas from Russia, and Moscow, which depends on those sales and which can't easily shift gas deliveries from European to Asian markets.



But six EU diplomats countered that Brussels' instructions have been anything but clear — and instead potentially undermine EU unity on the issue.



In guidance issued earlier this month, the Commission said companies could open an account with Gazprombank (as requested by Moscow) to make payments for gas in euros or dollars (as specified in their contracts) and then issue a declaration that their payment obligation ends with the deposit of funds. That leaves any later conversion into rubles in Russian hands.



But the Russian decree only considers payment obligations met once the currency conversion is complete.



For the Commission's payment fudge to work, Russia has to agree to play along. Putin's decree allows for exemptions at Russia's discretion but does not detail the process for requesting or granting such privileges — handing Putin the chance to play favorites in issuing waivers, or to announce that companies engaging in the workaround really are paying in rubles in defiance of EU sanctions.



One EU diplomat described the Commission’s guidance as a “trap.”



"We expected the Commission to deliver a clear message" that Russia's instructions breached sanctions, said a second diplomat. "Instead we got instructions on how companies are supposed to deal with Gazprom on their own."



"This is the key issue: will all European countries follow the EU indication to pay only in Euros/Dollars as indicated in the contracts? Or will some decide to go their own way, complying with the Russian request," said Simone Tagliapietra, an energy expert with Bruegel, a Brussels think tank.



At a meeting on Wednesday, "several ambassadors made critical comments about that ambiguity and asked for more clarity,” a third EU diplomat said. "The goal was to all have the same understanding of what’s possible and what’s not, but there have been clear differences in interpretation.”



Four diplomats said the Commission promised at Wednesday's meeting to provide more clarity.



When asked by POLITICO whether the Commission still condoned EU companies opening Russian payment accounts in the wake of the gas shutoff to Poland and Bulgaria, a Commission spokesperson on Wednesday said: "There has been no change to the guidance."



Fuming Kremlin

For now, an angry Moscow is showing no sign of budging.



Peskov said that the ruble measure was retaliation for Western sanctions, which froze more than $300 billion in the Russian central bank's currency reserves. “This need was dictated by the fact that, as you know, they blocked from us — or, to put it plainly, stole — a fairly significant amount of our reserves."



Both Poland and Bulgaria said they had made payments on time for their gas — but not in Russian currency — but were still cut off.



However, both countries are fairly resilient to an immediate shutdown of Russian gas, especially now that home heating demand has fallen with the end of winter. Neither one uses much Russian gas for generating electricity, and both said they have enough in storage and supplies from other sources to ride out an immediate crunch.



Countries further down the line, like Germany, Italy and Austria, could be more vulnerable.



A shutoff due to nonpayment in rubles "would have dire consequences for the German and European economies," said Jonathan Hackenbroich with the European Council on Foreign Relations. "Factories would have to curb production, or even close. Some key industries could be lost forever, and it is in fact hard to assess the full range of consequences."



Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer reiterated on Wednesday that gas company OMV "will continue to pay for gas deliveries from Russia in euros. Austria is sticking to the jointly agreed EU sanctions."



The German economy and climate ministry said it will follow the Commission's guidance, telling its companies to make payments in euros or dollars to a Gazprombank account, and declare their payment fulfilled.



A spokesperson for the Dutch economy and climate ministry said the Netherlands is also hewing to the EU recommendation stating that payments can still take place in some cases.



German company Uniper also said that "we continue to believe that compliant future payment processing is feasible. "



Italy's Eni declined to comment on the matter, and France's Engie did not respond to a request for comment.



The problem is set to grow as more bills come due: Payments for April gas deliveries usually must be paid in May under standard industry invoicing, according to a report by the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies.



Ruined relationship

Moscow insists that ending gas deliveries to Poland and Bulgaria and threatening other customers won't ruin its commercial reputation.



"This is not blackmail. Russia has been and remains a reliable supplier, committed to its obligations," Peskov said. "The conditions that have been fixed in the presidential decree, the need for them has been caused by unprecedented unfriendly steps against us."



But even at the height of the Cold War, Moscow kept energy sales divorced from politics.



Russia briefly cut off gas to Ukraine in 2006 and 2009 over payment disputes, but what's happening now is permanently undermining Russia's relationship with its largest gas buyers, EU leaders said.



Russia's "suspension of the gas flow is a gross violation of contract and it is blackmail to implement a plan for payment in rubles through third parties, which wasn’t agreed," Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov said Wednesday. "We will not succumb to such a racket."



Gazprom's contracts with Poland and Bulgaria expire at the end of this year, and neither country planned to renew. Gazprom's move ends those links even sooner.



"Today Poland has become gas independent from Russia. We are not threatened by any blackmail," Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Wednesday.



Petkov added that Sofia was examining all of its contracts with Gazprom, including transit deals allowing gas to be pumped across Bulgaria to other countries. Polish utility PGNiG said it would sue to force Gazprom to resume supplies and seek damages.



For the European Commission, those threats and counter-threats are strengthening the view that the bloc can no longer rely on Russia.



"The era of Russian fossil fuels in Europe will come to an end," said von der Leyen. "We are determined to make this happen as soon as possible ... for good and forever."



Barbara Moens, Leonie Kijewski, Jacopo Barigazzi, Antonia Zimmerman and Victor Jack contributed reporting.





www.politico.eu/article/youre-next-kremlin-warns-anyone-not-paying-in-rubles-also-faces-gas-shutoff/

[BHU]

Putin has been a murderous thug since the day he took office but as long as the big bucks were rolling in they didn't give a damn what he did. He's responsible for the deaths of countless thousands of people including Ukranians but the greed merchants still played footsie with him including U.S. corporations who did business with him & set up shop over there.

When are Wall St. & other U.S. major financial institutions going to be investigated for laundering money for Putin & his Mafia Oligarchs? They all have blood on their hands because they knew damn well that Putin & his crew were robbing the citizens of Russia blind but they didn't care as long as they were getting a piece of the action.

When Putin supplied the gas to kill women & children in Syria not a peep out of any of them. Crickets.

[Atticus Pizzaballa]

What Russia cutting off energy to Poland and Bulgaria means for the world



April 28, 20225:00 AM ET

Here's what the decision, which one European leader called "blackmail," could mean for the continent and the world:



It could accelerate the European Union's transition away from Russian energy


About 40% of the EU's gas comes from Russia, but the bloc had been trying to wean itself off of Russian energy even before the invasion of Ukraine.



"We will remain united and support each other while phasing out Russian energy imports," European Council President Charles Michel said in a tweet.



Analysts say the decision demonstrates that Russia would be prepared to penalize other, larger European countries for failing to pay in rubles — even if it means Gazprom takes a financial hit.



"It does show that Russia is willing to halt supplies if people don't subscribe to the new payment system," said James Waddell, head of European gas at the London-based Energy Aspects. "It's a warning shot for other bigger buyers in Western Europe that they are willing to carry out that threat."



Russia halts gas exports to Poland and Bulgaria, hitting back at Europe over sanctions




Some European energy companies appear willing to meet Russia's demand, however. At least four European gas buyers have made payments to Gazprom in rubles, Bloomberg reported. Hungary announced earlier this month that it would pay for Russian natural gas in rubles, too.



Energy prices could rise across the world as the EU seeks fuel elsewhere



EU countries that don't buy natural gas from Russia will have to buy it somewhere else. That could lead to a shake-up in global energy markets, which have already seen their prices spike.



European buyers will likely seek out liquefied natural gas, or LNG, and bid up the prices as they have in the past, according to Henning Gloystein, energy director at the Eurasia Group.



"This, of course, means that gas buyers across the world as far away as Japan and China and South Korea will have to pay more for gas because these Europeans are entering the market and driving up the price," Gloystein told NPR's Morning Edition.








In addition to buying new energy, some countries say they'll rely on their energy reserves. Officials say both Poland and Bulgaria have fuel reserves they could draw from.



The European energy crunch may lead to a larger financial crisis


Rising energy prices could also worsen a global economy that's already stifled by inflation, says Jason Bordoff, director of Columbia University's Center on Global Energy Policy.



"If Russia were to really cut gas supplies to much of Europe, particularly Germany, it would cause severe economic pain," he said. "You're talking about potential recession."



Bordoff said it would be too difficult to find enough alternative energy supplies to fill the gap in the short-term, which could lead to energy rationing and record high natural gas and energy prices.



Relations between Russia and the West remain tense



European leaders angered by Russia's decision to cut off gas supply to EU members Poland and Bulgaria called it "blackmail" and said they would seek alternative sources of fuel.



"This is unjustified and unacceptable," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a statement. "And it shows once again the unreliability of Russia as a gas supplier."



The Kremlin said the move was a "necessary" response to what it called "unprecedented unfriendly steps" — including a decision to freeze the Russian Central Bank's foreign currency reserves.






Some Russia-based analysts said taking payment in rubles was simply a way for Gazprom to protect its revenues from Western sanctions.



Peskov also pushed back on criticism that Russia was "weaponizing" its energy resources. "Russia was and remains a trusted source for gas deliveries and remains committed to all its contractual obligations," he said.



But Bordoff, of Columbia University, says he thinks Russia made a misjudgment when it cut off supply to Poland and Bulgaria.



"I think using gas as a weapon, using energy as a weapon is shortsighted, self-defeating and shooting yourself in the foot from Russia's standpoint," he said.



"It's why Russia, for the most part, has not used energy that way before, even at the height of the Cold War or the height of conflict between Europe and Russia."



russia

natural gas







news.google.com/articles/CAIiEF-6AXQfyyXFum90Otvld54qFwgEKg4IACoGCAow9vBNMK3UCDCnvJYH?hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US%3Aen

[Atticus Pizzaballa]

Russia

Russia deploys trained dolphins at Black Sea naval base, satellite images show


Russia has deployed trained military dolphins at its naval base in the Black Sea – possibly to protect its fleet from an underwater attack – according to new analysis of satellite images.


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



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



The Sevastopol naval base is crucial for the Russian military, as it sits in the southern tip of Crimea which Moscow seized in 2014. According to the USNI’s analysis, many of the Russian ships anchored there, while out of range from missiles, are potentially vulnerable to undersea attacks.



Ukraine had also trained dolphins at an aquarium near Sevastopol, in a program born out of a Soviet-era scheme that fell into neglect in the 1990s.



During the cold war, both the US and the Soviet Union developed the use of dolphins whose echolocation capabilities can allow them to detect underwater objects such as mines.



The US has spent at least $28m maintaining its own troops of dolphins and sea lions – which are also trainable – to potentially help with conflicts.



The Sevastopol program was resurrected in 2012 by the Ukrainian navy, but the mammals fell into Russian hands after the 2014 invasion of Crimea. Ukraine unsuccessfully demanded the return of the animals, and RIA Novosti reported that Moscow planned to expand the scheme.



“Our specialists developed new devices that convert dolphins’ underwater sonar detection of targets into a signal to the operator’s monitor. The Ukrainian navy lacked funds for such know-how, and some projects had to be mothballed,” one source told the Russian news agency.



Two years later, the Russian navy announced plans to buy five more dolphins, launching a bidding process for a 1.75m ruble – about $21,000 – contract to deliver dolphins to the Sevastopol base by the end of the summer. It is unclear whether the dolphins believed to be in Sevastopol today are the same ones that came out of this contract.



Satellite imagery from 2018 revealed Russia also used dolphins at its naval base in Tartus, Syria during the Syrian war.



Dolphins are not the only ocean creatures that Russian military may have trained. A beluga whale spotted off the coast of Norway in 2019 was believed to be trained by the Russian navy. Fishermen reported a beluga whale wearing strange harnesses, which may have held cameras, harassing their boats, pulling on straps and ropes from the side of boats.


www.theguardian.com/world/2022/apr/27/russia-black-sea-military-dolphins-crimea?utm_term=626a7aba8498a4d214e05dc6fe7316d2&utm_campaign=GuardianTodayUS&utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&CMP=GTUS_email

[Atticus Pizzaballa]

ENERGY

Russia’s halt of European gas could see ‘catastrophic’ winter pricing, veteran trader warns

KEY POINTS

Russia’s Gazprom on Tuesday informed Poland and Bulgaria’s state gas companies, PGNiG and Bulgargaz, that it will halt gas supplies.


This came after the two countries refused President Vladimir Putin’s demands to pay for supplies in the Russian ruble.


The escalation sent the Dutch wholesale gas contract for the day-ahead, a benchmark for Europe, up more than 20% Wednesday.


Dutch TTF Natural Gas futures are up almost 60% year-to-d


Veteran natural gas trader Bill Perkins warned Thursday of potentially “catastrophic pricing” this winter if Russia’s move to cut gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria ends in a full-blown energy blockade.



“It’s a dicey market right now,” Perkins, CEO and head trader at Skylar Capital Management, told CNBC.



“We’re in a hot-box button-panic mode,” Perkins added. “If Russia shuts off the gas and oil, Europe is going to be scrambling this winter to maintain heating, and just maintain their economies,” he said.



Russia’s Gazprom on Tuesday informed Poland and Bulgaria’s state gas companies, PGNiG and Bulgargaz, that it will halt gas supplies after the two countries refused President Vladimir Putin’s demands to pay for supplies in the Russian ruble.



The escalation sent the Dutch wholesale gas contract for the day-ahead, a benchmark for Europe, up more than 20% Wednesday. Dutch TTF Natural Gas futures are up almost 60% year-to-date.



“Expect an elevated price and lots of volatility for the next few years,” Perkins warned, describing his forward market outlook as “slightly bearish in the front” but “constructive and bullish long term.”



“Given where prices are right now, and the flows of LNG [liquefied natural gas] to northwest Europe, it’s actually a bearish situation barring the complete removal of Russian gas,” he said. “Given that they’ve fired the first missile … everybody else is on notice, so those bearish bets are trimmed back,” he added.



“In the winter, all bets are off,” Perkins said. “Without Russian gas, which is about 40% of their gas supply or their demand for gas, it’s really difficult to see how the market balances without running out of gas.


Last year, the European Union imported 155 billion cubic meters of natural gas from Russia, accounting for around 45% of EU gas imports and close to 40% of its total gas consumption, according to a recent report from the International Energy Agency.



European policymakers have pushed back on Putin’s demand, saying it violates existing contracts already agreed in dollars or euros. Europe is still weighing a full ban on Russian imports, despite its broad reliance on Russia for energy. European energy ministers are expected to discuss next steps at a meeting in France as soon as Monday next week, according to a recent Reuters report.



The U.S. and U.K. have moved to ban Russian energy imports, but European countries with a high dependency on Russian supply, like Germany, have been reluctant to follow. Germany has indicated it could wean itself off of Russian oil by the end of the year.



“This is a clear escalation of risks in gas markets,” analysts at MUFG said in a research note Thursday, describing the Russian ban as a “major turning point for European gas markets.”



“We believe it is in the interest of both the EU and Russia to work out a solution that brings gas payments in compliance with the EU’s legal requirements … given the unprecedented burden a halt in gas flows would have across the continent,” MUFG analysts said, warning that an “immediate interruption” of Russian flows to northwest Europe could raise TTF prices north of 200 euros per megawatt-hour “for an extended duration.”
www.cnbc.com/2022/04/28/russia-halt-of-european-gas-could-see-catastrophic-winter-pricing-trader.html

[Atticus Pizzaballa]

[BHU]

If this war ever ends & Putin remains in power AT&T, McD's, Apple & the rest of them will be back doing business in Russia, kissing Putin's butt. Gotta sell those cell phones etc. Next they'll be looking for a handout from U.S. taxpayers because the big bucks ain't rolling in from Moscow.

Gee, one would think that European nations who did business with a murderous ex KBG killer would take steps to have energy reserve stores in case the thug decided to start another war somewhere, but what do I know.

[Atticus Pizzaballa]

Putin to Send 'Doomsday' Warning to West at Russia's WW2 Victory Parade



By Reuters

|

May 6, 2022, at 9:23 a.m.


y Guy Faulconbridge



LONDON (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin will send a "doomsday" warning to the West when he leads celebrations on Monday marking the 77th anniversary of the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany, brandishing Russia's vast firepower while its forces fight on in Ukraine.



Defiant in the face of deep Western isolation since he ordered the invasion of Russia's neighbour, Putin will speak on Red Square before a parade of troops, tanks, rockets and intercontinental ballistic missiles.



A fly-past over St Basil's Cathedral will include supersonic fighters, Tu-160 strategic bombers and, for the first time since 2010, the Il-80 "doomsday" command plane, which would carry Russia's top brass in the event of a nuclear war, the Defence Ministry said.



In that scenario, the Il-80 is designed to become the roaming command centre for the Russian president. It is packed with technology but specific details are Russian state secrets.


The 69-year-old Kremlin leader has repeatedly likened the war in Ukraine to the challenge the Soviet Union faced when Adolf Hitler's Nazis invaded in 1941.



"The attempt to appease the aggressor on the eve of the Great Patriotic War turned out to be a mistake that cost our people dearly," Putin said on Feb. 24 when he announced what he called a special military operation in Ukraine.



"We will not make such a mistake a second time, we have no right."



Putin casts the war in Ukraine as a battle to protect Russian speakers there from persecution by Nazis and to guard against what he terms the U.S. threat to Russia posed by NATO enlargement. Ukraine and the West dismiss the fascism claim as nonsense and say Putin is waging an unprovoked war of aggression.



The Soviet Union lost 27 million people in World War Two, more than any other country, and Putin has railed in recent years at what Moscow sees as attempts in the West to revise the history of the war to belittle the Soviet victory.



Beside the 1812 defeat of French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, the defeat of Nazi Germany is the Russians' most revered military triumph, though both catastrophic invasions from the west left Russia deeply sensitive about its borders.



SHADOW OF UKRAINE



The war in Ukraine will cast a long shadow over this Victory Day.



Russia's invasion has killed thousands of people and displaced nearly 10 million. It has also left Russia in the grip of tough Western sanctions, and has raised fears of a wider confrontation between Russia and the United States - by far the world's biggest nuclear powers.



Although 11,000 troops marching across Red Square along with what the Defence Ministry has said will be 131 pieces of military hardware will present a grand spectacle, the Ukraine conflict has exposed weaknesses in Russia's armed forces despite Putin's attempt in his two decades in power to halt the post-Soviet decline.



The Kremlin has been denied a quick victory and the Russian economy - squeezed hard by sanctions - is facing the worst contraction since the years following the fall of the Soviet Union.



Less than two decades ago, U.S. President George W. Bush joined Putin for the May 9 celebrations in Moscow. This year no Western leader was invited, the Kremlin said.



The United States and its allies have ramped up supplies of weapons to Ukraine and Putin has faced calls from some in the Russian military to unleash greater firepower on Ukraine, two sources close to the armed forces told Reuters. Moscow has told the West that its arms supplies are legitimate targets.



Ahead of May 9, speculation swirled across Moscow and Western capitals that Putin was preparing some sort of special announcement on Ukraine, perhaps an outright declaration of war or even a national mobilisation.



Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed those suggestions on Wednesday, describing them as "nonsense".



The Kremlin did not respond to requests for comment on what Putin might say in his speech, to be delivered from the Red Square tribune in front of Vladimir Lenin's Mausoleum.



Last year, Putin jabbed at Western exceptionalism and what he said was the rise of neo-Nazism and Russophobia - trends he has returned to again and again when addressing the issue of Ukraine.



(Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge; Editing by Frances Kerry)



Copyright 2022 Thomson Reuters.


www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2022-05-06/putin-to-send-doomsday-warning-to-west-at-russias-ww2-victory-parade

I read somewhere that Putin was to have cancer surgery that is had to be done now. Wonder if he did!

[clarencebunsen]

There have been numerous rumors about Putin's health including cancer, but nothing has ever been confirmed.

[BHU]

If Putin thinks that he's going to pull another Stalin of WW2 when preteen boys were sent to the front lines to fight the Nazis, some with nothing but clubs in their hands or leftover rusted out junk from WW1 & sent to slaughter he's got another guess coming.