The president has signed a decree to set the strength of the country’s armed forces at nearly 2.4 million people | President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree that officially increases the number of personnel in Russia’s armed forces to almost 2.4 million people, including 1.5 million servicemen. ● The latest increase comes after a similar decree in December 2023, when the president boosted the number of employees in the Russian military to just over 2.2 million, including 1.3 million troops. ● In his order on Monday, Putin also instructed the Russian government to allocate the necessary funds for the Defense Ministry to carry out the increase, which formally takes the number of personnel in the armed forces to 2,389,130.

■ Путин постановил увеличить штатную численность Вооруженных сил (Известия)
■ Russia warns NATO of ‘direct war’ over Ukraine (09/14/24)

A children’s facility could be targeted in an “inhumane provocation,” the SVR has claimed | Kiev is preparing a false flag operation, in which a children’s hospital or kindergarten could be hit by a supposed Russian missile strike, the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) has claimed. ● The “inhumane provocation” is being masterminded by the leaders of Ukrainian intelligence and the military at the advice of “US handlers,” the statement said on Monday. The goal is to cause a large number of casualties and publicize the event through the international media, the agency added. ● Kiev hopes that its plot will help justify long-range strikes using Western weapons deep inside Russia, the SVR believes. The US would then use the incident to ramp up pressure on Iran and North Korea for supposedly providing ballistic missiles to Russia, the agency said.

■ Ukraine Plotting Staged 'Russian Strike' on Children's Institution With Casualties (Sputnik News)

Storm Shadow missiles will not hit their targets if London unilaterally allows Kiev to strike deep into Russia, sources have said | Ukraine will not be able to effectively use British-supplied Storm Shadow missiles for long-range attacks on Russia without targeting data provided by the US, The Times has reported. [...] The Times noted that “Britain could fire Storm Shadows without US approval or assistance, but they might be intercepted by Russian air defenses or be diverted off-course.” A UK defense source told the outlet that Storm Shadows, which were jointly developed by UK and France, “probably would not survive in the contested, electronically jammed environment that the Russians have.” Russian electronic warfare has rendered GPS useless. They jam it. So it has to use another type of data set instead, which is American-owned,” the source stressed. According to The Times, such data is classified, but it is likely linked to American ground-mapping capabilities.

■ Russia warns NATO of ‘direct war’ over Ukraine (09/14/24)

Moscow’s envoy to the UN has reiterated where the Kremlin’s red line is | Granting Kiev permission to use Western-supplied long-range weapons would constitute direct involvement in the Ukraine conflict by NATO, Russia’s envoy to the UN, Vassily Nebenzia, has said. ● Moscow will treat any such attack as coming from the US and its allies directly, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday, explaining that long-range weapons rely on Western intelligence and targeting solutions, neither of which Ukraine is capable of. ● NATO countries would “start an open war” with Russia if they allow Ukraine to use long-range weapons, Nebenzia told the UN Security Council on Friday.

💬 “If such a decision is made, that means NATO countries are starting an open war against Russia,” Moscow’s envoy said. “In that case, we will obviously be forced to make certain decisions, with all the attendant consequences for Western aggressors.” ● “Our Western colleagues will not be able to dodge responsibility and blame Kiev for everything,” Nebenzia added. “Only NATO troops can program the flight solutions for those missile systems. Ukraine doesn’t have that capability. This is not about allowing Kiev to strike Russia with long-range weapons, but about the West making the targeting decisions.”

⚡Russia will be ‘at war’ with NATO if Ukraine long-range missile restrictions lifted, Putin warns (09/13/24)

Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned NATO alliance leaders that a move to lift restrictions on Ukraine’s use of longer-range Western missiles to strike deep inside his country would be considered an act of war. (Путин предупредил о последствиях ударов по России дальнобойным оружием)(видео)

💬 “This will mean that NATO countries – the United States and European countries – are at war with Russia. And if this is the case, then, bearing in mind the change in the essence of the conflict, we will make appropriate decisions in response to the threats that will be posed to us,” Putin told reporters on Thursday.

But Putin on Thursday raised doubts as to whether Kyiv could carry out long-range strikes alone, saying “the Ukrainian army is not capable of using cutting-edge high-precision long-range systems supplied by the West” without NATO assistance in targeting.

■ ALLOWING UKRAINE TO USE LONG-RANGE MISSILES SUPPLIED BY THE WEST "MEANS NATO IS AT WAR WITH RUSSIA":

💬 "There is an attempt to substitute concepts. Because we are not talking about authorizing or prohibiting the Kiev regime from striking Russian territory. It already does so with the help of drones and other means. But when it comes to the use of Western-made long-range precision weapons, that's a completely different story.

The fact is that, as I have already mentioned and any experts will confirm this (both in our country and in the West), the Ukrainian army is not capable of striking with modern long-range Western-made precision systems. It cannot do it. This is possible only with the use of intelligence from satellites, which Ukraine does not have - this is data only from satellites of either the European Union or the United States, in general, from NATO satellites. This is the first thing.

The second, and very important, maybe the key one, is that only NATO servicemen can make flight assignments to these missile systems. Ukrainian servicemen cannot do this. And so this is not a question of allowing the Ukrainian regime to strike Russia with these weapons or not; it's about deciding that NATO countries are directly involved in a military conflict or not.

If this decision is made, it will mean nothing but direct participation of NATO countries, the United States, European countries in the war in Ukraine. This is their direct participation. And this, of course, significantly changes the very essence, the very nature of the conflict.

It will mean that NATO countries, the United States and European countries are at war with Russia. And if that is the case, then, bearing in mind the change in the very essence of this conflict, we will make appropriate decisions based on the threats that will be posed to us." (Source)

■ The island called Britain is likely to sink in the next few years (Dmitry Medvedev)
■ Vladimir Putin Does Not Make Empty Threats (Moon of Alabama)
■ Putin issues new warning to NATO (09/12/24)
■ Russia has now issued a DIRECT warning to the United States and to NATO (09/04/24)
■ UK approves Ukrainian missile strikes deep inside Russia – Guardian (09/12/24)
✅ U.S. and UK to Officially Approve Long-range Attacks Into Pre-war Russia (Harold Turner)

Is this behind Ukraine-Russia war? pic.twitter.com/4UW8Sqslz7

— Henry Makow (@HenryMakow) March 25, 2024

The famous Jewish banking family has been deeply involved in Ukraine's affairs since the 2014 coup d'etat, despite Ukraine embracing neo-Nazi collaborators as its national heroes. | Multinational asset firm Rothschild & Co was instrumental in the restructuring of Ukraine's $20+ billion debt in July 2024, according to Western press. ● It had reportedly been involved in arranging face-to-face meetings between Ukrainians and asset management firms, including Black Rock and Amundi, less than two months before the two-year payment moratorium expired on August 1. ● The Rothschilds reportedly engaged IMF's experts in the talks while the plan of grabbing Russia's frozen sovereign assets was also on the table. The clan is believed to be cashing in on the Eastern European state through various schemes, including the future "restoration of Ukraine."

■ Rothschild helped Ukraine clinch debt restructuring – Reuters (09/04/24)
■ Uncovering ancient Ashkenaz – the birthplace of Yiddish speakers (02/03/24)
■ Ukraine as 'Big Israel' and the Heavenly Jerusalem Project (08/12/22)
■ The Birth Pangs of "New Khazaria" (04/08/22)
■ Ukraine will be a 'big Israel' – Zelensky (04/06/22)
■ Ukraine: Zionist America’s New Jewish Colony (06/05/14)

Medieval Kingdom of Khazaria, 650-1016 ■ Over a thousand years ago, the far east of Europe was ruled by Jewish kings who presided over numerous tribes, including their own tribe: the Khazars. After their conversion, the Khazar people used Jewish personal names, spoke and wrote in Hebrew, were circumcised, had synagogues and rabbis, studied the Torah and Talmud, and observed Hanukkah, Pesach, and the Sabbath.

Khazaria: Ancestral home of the Ashkenazi, Non-Semite Jews ■ A thousand years before the establishment of the Zionist State of Israel, there also existed a nominally Jewish kingdom on the eastern fringes of Europe. This was the Kingdom of the Khazars astride the Don and Volga rivers. The kingdom of Khazaria was ruled over by two monarchs and inhabited by a mixed population that included people who professed to be descendants of Judah.

Russia has accused the UK embassy in Moscow of carrying out intelligence activities designed to harm the country and its people, leading to the expulsion of six British diplomats. | Russia's FSB security service has said it had revoked the accreditation of six British diplomats in Moscow whose actions it said showed signs of spying and sabotage work. Britain's embassy in Moscow did not immediately respond to a request for comment. ● The FSB, the main successor agency to the Soviet KGB, said on Friday it had documents showing that a British foreign office department in London responsible for Eastern Europe and Central Asia was coordinating what it called "the escalation of the political and military situation" and was tasked with ensuring Russia's strategic defeat in its war against Ukraine.

■ Moscow names expelled British diplomats (RT.com)

The lawmakers also voted to pursue funding of alternative aid groups | On Monday, the Swiss National Council, similar to the House of Representatives in the U.S. Congress, voted to immediately stop payments to the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). The motion was proposed by the conservative Swiss People’s Party member David Zuberbühler based on evidence of several UNRWA members also being members of Hamas and incitement to hatred and violence in UNRWA school curricula.

Long-range strikes against Russia would mean direct involvement in the Ukraine conflict | Removing restrictions on Ukraine’s use of Western weapons would directly involve the US and its allies in the conflict with Russia and would be met with an appropriate response, Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned. ● The West has sent Ukraine long-range missiles such as Storm Shadows and ATACMS, which Kiev has so far used against Crimea and Donbass. In the past several days, however, the US and UK have suggested they might allow these weapons to be used to strike targets deeper into internationally recognized Russian territory. ● Ukraine lacks the capability to use Western long-range systems, Putin added, noting that targeting for such strikes requires intelligence from NATO satellites, while firing solutions can “only be entered by NATO military personnel.”

💬 “We are not talking about allowing or prohibiting the Kiev regime from striking Russian territory,” Putin said on Thursday. “It is doing so already, with unmanned aerial vehicles and other means.” ● “If this decision is made, it will mean nothing less than the direct participation of NATO countries, the US and European countries, in the conflict in Ukraine,” the Russian president said. “Their direct participation, of course, significantly changes the very essence, the very nature of the conflict.” With that in mind, Putin added, Russia will “make the appropriate decisions based on the threats facing us.”

■ UK approves Ukrainian missile strikes deep inside Russia – Guardian (09/12/24)[item below]

The Western media is manufacturing public consent for the move, according to a Russian senator | Washington and London may have already decided to let Kiev use long-range missiles for strikes deep inside Russia and are now seeding the narrative through the media, Russian Senator Aleksey Pushkov has said. ● Britain has already given the green light for the use of Storm Shadow missiles, The Guardian reported on Wednesday, citing anonymous government sources. London, however, is not expected to announce the move publicly, the sources claimed.

💬 “The decision to strike Russian territory is clearly being prepared,” Pushkov wrote on Telegram on Wednesday. “There are too many conversations and hints about it for it to be reversed. Even if it has not been made yet, it looks like it will be a matter of days. The leak via The Guardian is not accidental. Public opinion is being prepared.”

Limitations on the use of Western-supplied weapons were originally put in place to allow the US and its allies to claim they were not directly involved in the conflict with Russia, while arming Ukraine to the tune of $200 billion. Kiev has been clamoring for the restrictions to be lifted since May, however.

■ Enemies must be sure Russia is ready to use nuclear weapons – former Kremlin adviser (RT.com)
Russia has ardently warned over the past ten days, that if the West allows Ukraine to begin attacking deep inside Russia with Western-supplied weapons, "it will affect both sides of the Atlantic." (Hal Turner Show)
■ Russia Says It Could ‘Combine’ With China If Both Face Threat From the US (Antiwar.com)
■ Korybko To Karaganov: Russia’s Nuclear Doctrine Shouldn’t Apply To Any Territorial Encroachment (Andrew Korybko)
■ США не станут защищать Европу от удара России – эксперт развеял давний миф - Язабыл Падписацца Асёл

■ US to allow Ukraine to attack Russia with long-range missiles – Axios (RT.com)
■ Swiss Government Announces it is in a "Pre-War" Phase; All Departments Planning Accordingly (Hal Turner Show)
■ Britain Brain of Western Hydra That Helps Zelensky Regime (09/07/24)

Harold Turner | The issue of long-range weapons for use in attacking interior, pre-war Russia, is developing into a very big - and dangerous - situation. Threats are being hurled back and forth, very publicly. | It all began when word came out early last week, that the U.S. was "considering" allowing Ukraine to use US-supplied weapons, to attack deep interior, pre-war, Russia. The Russians sent explicit, written warnings to the US which said "If Ukraine uses long-range weapons to attack interior Russia, it will affect both sides of the Atlantic." ■ A few days later, at a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group at Ramstein Air Force Base in Germany, word leaked that the question of Ukraine using NATO (West) Supplied weapons to strike deep inside Russia was being discussed! Russia's Ambassador to The United States, Anatoly Antonov, then repeated publicly, his government's written warning: "If Ukraine uses long-range weapons to attack inside Russia, it will affect both sides of the Atlantic." ■ Late this past week, word leaked from US and UK Intelligence Agencies claiming Russia had taken delivery of "hundreds" of IRANIAN-MADE FATH-360, short-range ballistic missiles, for Russia to use against Ukraine. This revelation set off a firestorm of threats. ■ Saturday, The Defense Ministry of Ukraine (which can't even adequately defend their own land) said that "If Russia uses Iranian Missiles to target Ukrainian Civilians, then their Response against Iran will be Severe." Yes, you read that correctly, Ukraine just threatened Iran! ■ But the really big development took place today, from Israel. Israel announced that If Iran supplies missiles for Russia to use in attacking Ukraine, then Israel will supply "long range precision missiles to Ukraine, to strike Russia." Yes, you read that correctly; Israel just threatened the Russians.

Andrew Korybko | This is nothing but a false pretext for justifying the open deployment of Western troops in Ukraine. | Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski told the BBC late last week that “It’s my personal view that legally we would have the right to self-defense” in helping Ukraine shoot down Russian missiles that allegedly threaten the three nuclear power plants (NPPs) that are still under Kiev’s control. This comes after he told the Financial Times earlier in the week that Poland has the right to intercept Russian missiles in Ukraine if they appear to be approaching the Polish border. [...] The objective is to cross another of Russia’s “red lines” by openly deploying Western troops to Ukraine on the pretext of this being about “nuclear security”, after which any attacks against them could be spun as “nuclear terrorism” and exploited to justify deploying more troops and systems to “defend them”. The geography in which the initial deployment would take place only concerns the Western Ukrainian hinterland, but it could expand to approach the Dnieper and then cross it as part of “mission creep”.

Kiev is sitting on a “trillion dollars’ worth of minerals” that are “good” for the US economy, US Senator Lindsey Graham says | US Senator Lindsey Graham has openly said Washington needs Ukraine’s natural resources and that, therefore, military aid to the country must continue until Kiev is able to “win” its conflict with Russia. ● The South Carolina Republican, one of the top backers of Kiev within the US establishment, made the remarks on Friday in Kiev, speaking alongside leader Vladimir Zelensky. He praised the Ukrainians and their purported resolve to fight Moscow no matter what, noting that this means that Americans themselves don’t have to do this, only to provide the weaponry.

💬 “They [the Ukrainians] are sitting on a trillion dollars’ worth of minerals that could be good to our economy. So, I w nt to keep helping our friends in Ukraine. We can win this. They need our help,” Graham stated.

[...] Graham’s new admission matches the assessment of the US motives recently outlined by Russia’s ex-president and the incumbent deputy chair of the National Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev. Last week, Medvedev claimed both Kiev and its Western backers have been focused on holding their grip on Donbass solely over its natural-resource riches.

💬 “According to open-source data, the total value of Ukraine’s former mineral resource base is estimated at almost $14.8 trillion, but $7.3 trillion of this is now in the Luhansk and Donetsk People’s Republics. That means almost half of the former Ukraine’s national wealth is in Donbass!” Medvedev explained in a lengthy Telegram post. “To get access to the coveted minerals, the Western parasites shamelessly demand that their wards wage war to the last Ukrainian. They are already directly voicing such intent without hesitation,” Russia’s former leader added.

■ Graham urges more aid to 'trillion dollars’ worth of minerals' Ukraine (Al Mayadeen)
■ Assets worth 12 trillion: US Senator Graham named the reason for supporting Ukraine (06/10/24)
■ The Increase in Ukrainian Casualties (Glenn Diesen)

CIA and U.S. State Departments Anti-Russia Internet Troll Boiler Rooms - HACKED | For a long time, K Street firms in Washington, DC, operating “Internet Opinion Management” houses/boiler rooms, have been run by the State Department and the CIA. Today, two of those . . . anti-Russian operations . . . have been HACKED and their info, leaked. Databases from the anti-Russian funds The U.S. Russia Foundation (USRF) and Free Russia Foundation (FRF) have now been leaked online. Among the leaked documents are the organizations' payrolls, information about correspondences and their participants, and other data. [...] The documents reveal that the foundation's employees were destabilizing the situation in Russia using a bot farm, for which a special guide was written as part of an anti-Russian campaign overseen by intelligence services. It turned out that the employees of this "elf factory" posted calls for protests, criticized the authorities, and even pretended to be wives of mobilized men. The documents show that "elves" were essentially given ready-made messages where they only needed to insert, for example, the name of a city or square where demonstrations were planned. Bots were also encouraged to spread complaints about "local administration," though exactly which administration was left for the employees to decide. This is hardly surprising since they had to meet a daily quota of 100 "dumps" over an eight-hour workday. [...] The revelations in these hacked documents proves the United States has been waging an information war against Russia for years; even before the Russia-Ukraine conflict. The clear intent of these operations was to sew social discord, create upheaval, and destabilize the Russian government at all levels: local, state, and national.

Russia has repeatedly said that Western countries’ military aid to the Kiev regime would only add to the prolongation of the Ukraine conflict. | It’s safe to say that London is directly involved in hostilities against Moscow, military journalist, Alexey Borzenko, told Sputnik. He was commenting on Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova’s recent statement that the preliminary adjustment of the flight controllers (of the Ukrainian drones that attacked an oil storage facility in Russia’s Rostov region) was carried out in Salisbury and Newport, UK.

💬 "For Moscow, Britain is the most hostile NATO country because the UK is involved in all major projects to damage Russian infrastructure, and the civilian population and troops to the maximum," Borzenko, who is also deputy chief editor of the Literary Russia newspaper, said.

He stressed that it is in the UK where Ukrainian specialists in electronic warfare, missile technology, and strike systems using long-range artillery are trained. The UK can be called "the thinking head of the entire Western hydra", which helps the Kiev regime by providing it with military hardware, the journalist pointed out, recalling that Britain was the first to supply grenade launchers to Ukraine, followed by deliveries of tanks, missiles, unmanned aerial vehicles and even poison in ampoules. Borzenko expressed hope that "on a certain stage", Britain will bear responsibility for its actions.

Russian missile strike against poltava wipes-out SAAB corporate division execs | In yesterday's Russian missile strike against the Communication Training Center in Poltava, Ukraine there are many Swedish and Danish instructors among the dead. They are from the AWACS and drones company Globaleye of SAAB. Word in Intelligence Circles is that Sweden lost the ENTIRE top management of SAAB Airborne Early Warning & Control (AEW&C) systems. So ferocious was the Russian attack that 15 trucks evacuated dead foreign NATO troops + officers: 600+ dead/wounded. Swedish Foreign Minister Billstrom has now resigned after Russian Iskander missiles hit Poltava, and Sweden suffered war dead just months after joining NATO, at the behest of the now-former, Foreign Minister.

■ Η Ρωσία κτύπησε δυτικούς εκπαιδευτές και στόχους σε 148 περιοχές της Ουκρανίας (War News 24/7)

Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov cited the Maidan coup as the reason, saying that Vladimir Zelensky has no legal right to power | Ukraine has not had a legitimate government or president since the 2014 Maidan coup, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has said. He also reiterated earlier statements that Moscow does not consider Vladimir Zelensky, Ukraine’s current leader, a legitimate head of state. While Zelensky’s five-year term as Ukraine’s president ended on May 20, he opted not to hold a presidential election, citing martial law imposed due to the conflict with Russia. ■ In an interview with Izvestia on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok on Thursday, Peskov said that...

💬 “...de jure President Zelensky now is not the legitimate president” of Ukraine. “Let us not forget that it is a country where the legitimacy of power was interrupted in 2014 when a coup was staged there,” the Kremlin spokesperson argued. He added that Ukrainians would likely have a hard time dealing with what he described as the “snowball of illegitimacy” down the road.

At the same time, Peskov stressed that Russia has always been open to settling the Ukraine conflict via the political-diplomatic route. He said that the Ukrainian leadership and its Western backers, however, do not seem willing to engage in such dialogue at present. During a Q&A session with the media on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) in early June, Russian President Vladimir Putin also stated that those who believe that “Russia started the war in Ukraine” are wrong. He argued that “it began with a coup in Ukraine – an unconstitutional coup d’etat.” Speaking to the issue of Zelensky’s legitimacy as Ukraine’s leader, Putin suggested at the time that his powers should have been transferred to the country’s parliament following the expiration of his term in office.

The U.S. is close to an agreement to give Ukraine long-range cruise missiles that could reach deep into Russia, but Kyiv would need to wait several months as the U.S. works through technical issues ahead of any shipment, U.S. officials said. | The inclusion of Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missiles (JASSM) in a weapons package is expected to be announced this autumn, three sources said, though a final decision has not been made. The sources declined to be named because they are not authorized to discuss the topic. ■ Sending JASSMs to Ukraine could significantly alter the strategic landscape of the conflict by putting more of Russia in range of powerful, precision-guided munitions, an important concern of the Biden administration, the officials said. ■ Military analysts have suggested the introduction of JASSMs - which are stealthy and can strike further than most other missiles in Ukraine's current inventory - could push Russian staging areas and supply depots back by hundreds of miles. This would severely complicate Russia's ability to sustain its offensive operations and potentially provide Ukraine with a strategic advantage.

■ Biden Escalates Again, Threatening Russia with Long-Range Cruise Missiles (John Miles)

US officials tell Reuters the US could start delivering JASSM missiles this fall | The US is close to reaching an agreement on giving Ukraine cruise missiles that could hit targets deep inside Russia, Reuters reported on Tuesday, citing US officials. ■ The officials said the US is expected to include Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missiles (JASSM) in a weapons package that will be announced for Ukraine this fall. But first, there are technical issues to work through to ensure they can be fired by Ukraine’s Soviet-made fighter jets. ■ An older version of the JASSM can hit targets over 230 miles, and there are newer versions that can fly over 500 miles. Reuters said it was unable to establish which kind the US is considering sending to Ukraine. Providing the older, shorter-range version would put less strain on US military stockpiles.

■ Russia has now issued a DIRECT warning to the United States and to NATO (09/04/24)

A prisoner was tied to a desk and apparently electrocuted, footage shows | Ukrainian troops can be seen filming the brutal torture of a defiant Russian prisoner of war (POW) who refused to disparage his country and hail Kiev’s military, in a highly disturbing video circulating on social media. ● The 90-second undated clip depicting the mistreatment of a POW was filmed by an unidentified Ukrainian soldier stationed in occupied Russian territory, apparently in Kursk Region, and shared by several Russian Telegram channels on Tuesday. ● The video shows the interior of an apartment where three handcuffed and blindfolded Russian prisoners are lying or sitting on the floor, while a fourth has been placed in a humiliating position. A fifth soldier, blindfolded, gagged, and stripped of his shirt, boots, and socks, is tied to an upside-down desk in the other room. ● Mockingly referring to the prisoners as “Ivans,” one Ukrainian captor asks them why they are silent, before approaching the one tied to the desk. He then removes the gag and asks what unit he belongs to. When he gets no answer, the Ukrainian hits him in the face.

Irish schoolteacher Enoch Burke has been sent to prison for the third time following his arrest outside the school that sacked him for refusing to ‘call a boy a girl’. | On 2nd September 2024, Mr Burke was placed inside a Garda vehicle outside Wilson’s Hospital School in Ireland’s Co Westmeath and driven to the Four Courts in Dublin, according to the Irish Independent. ■ The judge made the decision after Mr. Burke repeatedly refused to give a direct answer when asked if he would continue to ignore an order from Mr. Justice Alexander Owens, which prohibits him from attending the school. ■ Mr. Justice Quinn stated that he was ‘satisfied’ Mr. Burke was in contempt of court and noted that his presence at the school was ‘disruptive to the staff’s ability to provide orderly education to pupils’. He ordered that Mr. Burke be detained at Mountjoy Prison until he ‘purges his contempt’ [sic].

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, responding to a question about the potential delivery of long-range U.S. missiles to Ukraine, warned the United States on Wednesday not to joke about Russia's "red lines". | Lavrov said the U.S. was losing sight of the sense of mutual deterrence that had underpinned the balance of security between Moscow and Washington since the Cold War, and that this was dangerous. ■ He was commenting on a Reuters report that the U.S. is close to an agreement to supply Ukraine with long-range JASSM cruise missiles that could reach deep inside Russia - for which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has been lobbying.

💬 "I won't be surprised by anything - the Americans have already crossed the threshold they set for themselves. They are being egged on, and Zelenskiy of course sees this and takes advantage of it," Lavrov told a Russian TV interviewer. "But they should understand - they are joking about our red lines here. They shouldn't joke about our red lines."

President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly warned the West since launching what he called his "special military operation" in Ukraine in 2022 not to try to thwart Russia, which has the world's biggest arsenal of nuclear weapons. But Washington and its allies have increased military aid to Ukraine, including by providing tanks, advanced missiles and F-16 fighter jets.

■ RUSSIA ISSUES DIRECT WARNING TO U.S. (Hal Turner)
■ Russia Says It Will Change Nuclear Doctrine Because of Western Role in Ukraine (U.S. News)

Kiev’s financial adviser arranged face-to-face meetings with bondholders in July 2022 after initial talks failed, according to a report | Ukraine reached its recent agreement with bondholders on a debt restructuring as a result of efforts by Rothschild & Co, Reuters reported on Tuesday, citing sources involved in the talks. Kiev appointed Rothschild as an advisor to its Finance Ministry in 2017. ■ Kiev announced last week that it had reached an agreement with a group of foreign investors to restructure its $20 billion debt. Bondholders – including US financial giants BlackRock and Pimco, as well as French asset manager Amundi – granted Ukraine a two-year debt freeze in February 2022 when the conflict with Russia broke out. ■ The bondholders’ committee, which represents the holders of 25% of the bonds, has agreed to accept losses of 37%, or $8.7 billion, on the nominal value of their debt. [...] The restructuring of the massive debt will help Kiev save $11.4 billion over the next three years. This is crucial for both its war effort and its IMF program, Reuters wrote, describing the debt restructuring as one of the fastest and largest in history, eclipsed in scale only by those undertaken by Argentina and Greece.

WATCH RFK exposes the TRUTH about Ukraine in 3 minutes pic.twitter.com/H8kyOPUd8u

— DUOPOLY DISRESPECTER (@KennedyForTheW) August 31, 2024

The International Criminal Court should consider the consequences if someone dared to enforce the order, the ex-Russian president has said | The International Criminal Court’s (ICC) arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin turned out to be a meaningless scrap of paper, his predecessor Dmitry Medvedev has said. Medvedev’s comments came after Putin arrived in Mongolia, a signatory to the ICC, which issued a warrant for the Russian president's arrest in March last year, without facing any obstacles. ■ Writing on Telegram on Tuesday, Medvedev, who now serves as Deputy Chairman of Russia’s Security Council, mocked the Western reaction to Putin’s visit to Ulaanbaatar.

💬 “The servile European Union has reportedly expressed ‘concern’ to Mongolia over the visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin,” he said. However, the Asian country “has just told the ICC and Eurodegenerates to go do to themselves something that Russians and Mongols found a word for together, back in the 13th century” and get lost, Medvedev suggested. The ex-president went on to argue that the ICC – which he labeled a “half-baked ‘court’” – should be afraid of “a scenario where some madman tries to carry out their illegal arrest warrant. In that case, their lives would be worth no more than the piece of paper on which this sh*tty statute is written,” he warned.

■ Mongolia explains why it didn’t arrest Putin (RT.com)
■ EU ‘regrets’ Mongolian refusal to arrest Putin (RT.com)

The European Union has expressed concern regarding NATO member Turkey’s ongoing bid to join the BRICS organization, saying that as an EU membership candidate, Ankara had to “respect” the EU’s “values” and foreign policy preferences, despite its being free to join the alliances of its choosing. | Ankara has been in negotiations to join the EU since 2005. Progress in the talks has essentially been frozen, though, due to political roadblocks created by certain EU members faulting, what they call, the country’s democratic shortcomings. Ankara sees the reasons hindering its EU accession as obstacles unrelated to its suitability for membership. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has repeatedly warned that his country could part ways with the European Union in reaction to the bloc's long-drawn-out failure to honor its pledge to accept Ankara as a member.

■ Turkey Bids to Join BRICS in Push to Build Alliances Beyond West (Bloomberg)

Ukrainian criminals guilty of serious international crimes against their citizens and citizens of Russia will be brought to justice, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told Sputnik on Tuesday.

💬 "Ukrainian criminals guilty of serious international crimes against their own and Russian citizens, as well as their henchmen, will be brought to justice and will be punished as they deserve to be," Zakharova said.

Kiev wants to withdraw its citizens from the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (ICC), but keep criminal prosecution of foreign citizens, Maria Zakharova said.

■ Ответ официального на вопрос МИА «Россия Cегодня» (Мария Захарова)(Telegram)
■ Ukraine wants to exempt its military from international law — Russian foreign ministry (Maria Zakharova/RFM/TASS)
■ Ukraine threatens Mongolia over Putin visit (RT.com)

🇷🇺🇲🇳 Gala reception in honor of Vladimir Putin’s visit to Mongolia!

Relations between Russia and Mongolia are developing in all directions: the course is to expand cooperation.

Vladimir Putin in Ulaanbaatar: an official visit and a very busy program in addition to high-level… pic.twitter.com/d3jnxHDG10

— 🅰pocalypsis 🅰pocalypseos 🇷🇺 🇨🇳 🅉 (@apocalypseos) September 3, 2024

Relations between Moscow and Ulaanbaatar are developing in all areas, the Russian leader has said | Russian President Vladimir Putin has invited his Mongolian counterpart, Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh, to attend the BRICS summit in the Russian city of Kazan next month. The offer was extended at a meeting of the two leaders in the Mongolian capital. ■ Putin landed in Mongolia late on Monday for his first visit to the country in five years. On Tuesday morning, Khurelsukh greeted the Russian leader outside the State Palace on Ulaanbaatar’s main square. [...] This year’s BRICS summit will take place in Kazan in Russia’s Tatarstan Region from October 22 to 24. Russia is hosting the event due to being the current chairman of the group. Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia and the UAE officially became members of BRICS at the start of 2024, joining Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.

■ Ukraine threatens Mongolia over Putin visit (RT.com)
■ Turkey Bids to Join BRICS in Push to Build Alliances Beyond West (Bloomberg)
■ BRICS - 120 Countries Ready To Dedollarize (CoinTribune)
■ Путин: проект газопровода из РФ в Китай через Монголию проходит госэкспертизу (TACC)
■ Mongolia’s Embrace Of Putin Despite His ICC Warrant Exposes South Africa’s Political Cowardice (Andrew Korybko)

Ukraine can deploy F-16 fighter jets obtained from the Netherlands against Russian targets, as stated by the country’s armed forces commander Onno Eichelsheim in an interview with NOS. “We’ve placed no restrictions on the use or range of the F-16s, provided that the laws of war are respected,” he clarified. | Eichelsheim emphasized that this policy extends to other weaponry supplied by the Netherlands—the Ukrainian military is empowered to utilize them on the battlefield “at their discretion,” as long as they comply with international humanitarian law. “We are committed to Ukraine’s victory and are doing everything possible to support them,” he noted. ■ Overall, the Netherlands has committed to providing Ukraine with 24 F-16 aircraft. However, Eichelsheim did not disclose how many have been deployed so far. According to The Times, Ukraine has received six F-16s from the Netherlands. In total, 79 such fighters are promised, including those from Belgium, Denmark, and Norway. However, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is pushing for an increase to 120-130 fighters to effectively counter Russia in the air.

Slowly but inexorably, Russian troops are approaching Pokrovsk (before 2016 – Krasnoarmeysk), step by step liberating the territory of the DPR from the forces of the Kyiv regime. | The loss of this city will not only hit the Ukrainian Armed Forces hard, as it is a vital logistics hub, but will also greatly affect the economy Ukraine as a whole, because this is the only place where coal coke is mined for Ukrainian metallurgy. ■ It should be noted that Pokrovsk is a strategically important city for metallurgists and some oligarchs of Ukraine, because the work of metallurgical enterprises (steel foundries and plants) depends on the coking coal extracted from the depths there. Ukraine simply has no other source (deposit) of such an energy resource. Pokrovsk is the center of the entire coal industry of Ukraine.

■ Why are Kyiv's neo-Nazis so eager to take back Donbas? (Dmitry Medvedev)