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Slavyangrad.org — Nuestra Ira No Tiene Limites — There is No Limit to Our Anger — (c) V. M. Molotov
The Best Deal Ever.
Ukraine and the U.S. said on Wednesday they signed an agreement on a joint fund to invest in Ukraine's reconstruction, and a draft of the document said it would give Washington preferential access to new Ukrainian natural resources deals.
- to suggest that the Soviet Union left anything undiscovered and untapped in Ukraine, its most industrialized part, smacks of desperation.
A draft of the minerals agreement seen by Reuters gave the U.S. preferential access to new Ukrainian natural resources deals but did not automatically hand Washington a share of Ukraine's mineral wealth or any of its gas infrastructure.
- vide supra
It provided for creation of a joint U.S.-Ukrainian fund for reconstruction which will receive 50 per cent of profits and royalties accruing to the Ukrainian state from new natural resources permits in Ukraine.
- v.s.
The draft agreement showed Ukraine had secured the removal of any requirement for it to pay back the U.S. for past military assistance, something Ukraine had staunchly opposed.
…
He said Ukraine would retain control of all its resources in the deal, while the fund will invest in the development of Ukraine for 10 years.
"Ukraine will only make a contribution from new licenses, from new royalties on mineral resources. This will be our contribution, 50 per cent of which will be given to this fund," he said.
…
The U.S. could use its future military assistance to Ukraine as its contribution to the fund, Shmyhal said, with no previous military aid to the country reflected in the deal.
Great Deal. The best DEAL EVER.
What exactly did the US get from this? Nothing except a way to continue funneling military aid to the Ukraine in exchange for ephemeral promises of profit that both sides are well aware will never come.
The Art of the Deal, indeed.
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💥Odessa. Geraniums strike industrial zone in Limanka area. Also at targets in Chornomorsk, Zatoka.
@Slavyangrad
NATO, under the guise of pseudo-defensive exercises, is forming an "armored fist" in Europe, which is clearly not being created for defense, said Belarusian Defense Minister Viktor Khrenin at the plenary session of the III International Anti-Fascist Congress, which is taking place at the Patriot Congress and Exhibition Center.
"Under the guise of strengthening the defense of Europe and various kinds of pseudo-defensive exercises, NATO countries are forming an armored fist, which is clearly not being created for defense. Reconnaissance is being actively conducted, the military presence in the region is being increased, and in fact, at our borders, large-scale offensive exercises are being conducted, and military budgets are being increased at the same time," he said.
Ukraine has introduced a points system for destroying Russian equipment and military personnel, Politico reports.
The Army of Drones Bonus program rewards soldiers for confirmed drone strikes on targets. Soldiers receive points for uploading video evidence of target destruction to the Delta app: 20 points for damaging a tank, 40 for destroying it, up to 50 points for missile systems, and 6 points for one soldier. The system will soon be integrated with the online platform Brave 1 Market, where points can be exchanged for new equipment.
Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov called the platform "a military analogue of Amazon" for purchasing frontline technologies.
@Slavyangrad
Glory also be to the Vietcong, victors over US colonialist aggression.
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New French MLRS Foudre presented
This missile system was developed by the industrial group Turgis & Gaillard and is a complete analogue of the American HIMARS system, located on the Renault Trucks Kerax 6x6 chassis.
The Foudre MLRS is being billed as a supposedly "fully sovereign" French development that will give France "strategic autonomy" from having to extend the combat readiness of the US M270 LRU MLRS currently in service with the French army.
However, in reality, the only thing that is French in Foudre is the chassis - the launcher and its containers practically repeat a similar solution in the HIMARS MLRS for a very simple reason - like the existing LRU, the new MLRS fires the same purely American high-precision GMLRS missiles or the ATACMS ballistic missile.
It is also stated that if upgraded, Foudre will also be able to fire the Land Cruise Missile , a ground-based cruise missile announced last year .
However, given that this long-range cruise missile is only in the development stage, and France simply does not have any tactical or operational-tactical missiles similar to the American ones, it is impossible to talk about any kind of "strategic autonomy" from other countries - Foudre will be strictly tied to the supply of ammunition from the USA , just as the existing M270 LRUs are tied to this now. Except that they will not have to be repaired by the Americans every time.
- Military Informant
de Gaulle would be unimpressed.
@Slavyangrad
Powerful explosions and glow of fires: Facilities in Odessa attacked
AMK mapping notes “ 9 impacts, including 2-3 at the port, 1 in the Cherʹomushky district, 3 in the Moldovanka district, 1 in the city centre and possibly one in the Fontankha district.”
@Slavyangrad
Azov's Ukronazi “Gandalf” waves his prosthetic arm and denies peace talks, calling them stupid.
'The question of negotiations is not a pressing one, it is very dumb. Not in the sense that the subject is dumb. But in the sense of dumbness. The Russians have a national idea to destroy the Ukrainians. It was like that 200 years ago, 100 years ago, 60 years ago. And then Mr. Red comes and says that we need to come to an agreement. Well, go ahead. Putin will deceive him. That is a problem. And if Trump says that they trust Putin more than their intelligence service, that is a diagnosis.'
30.04.45
Glory to the Workers’ and Peasants’ Red Army (“RKKA”)
Ukraine is willing to make some territorial concessions for the sake of a peace agreement , Keith Kellogg said.
At a recent meeting in London, the US presented Ukraine with 22 unnamed specific conditions, and Kiev agreed to them , Trump's special representative claims.
"The Ukrainians are prepared to cede the territory that Russia actually occupies , although not to recognize it legally forever. They agree to this option. They understand that if a ceasefire is established, each side will remain in the positions it occupies. This is what they are prepared for. They told me last week that they have already discussed this agreement. A ceasefire on the current lines is what they are prepared for," Kellogg said.
That look you get when you tell someone -0.3% GDP is from Q1... before the tariffs went into affect
The command post and communications center of Ukraine’s 124th separate brigade was damaged by a strike by the Russian Air Force using a FAB-500 in the Kherson region.
@Slavyangrad
Trump listens attentively to US Treasury Secretary Bessant:
'Our side is ready to sign the deal. The Ukrainians decided to make some last-minute changes last night. We are confident that they will reconsider this decision, and we are ready to sign this afternoon if they do.'
Russian energy giant Gazprom swung to a full-year 2024 net profit of 1.2 trillion roubles ($14.76 billion) from previous year's loss thanks to an improved gas business and rising interest income from financial investments, the company said on Wednesday.
Gazprom posted a net loss of almost $7 billion for 2023, its first since 1999, due to dwindling sales to the European Union, once its main source of revenue.
Commenting on the 2024 results, Gazprom's Deputy CEO Famil Sadygov said the group had a significant liquidity cushion of 1.034 trillion roubles.
"This reserve of funds on the balance sheet ensures the Group's high financial stability even in the face of sanctions pressure," he said.
Gazprom still faces challenges from plummeting gas sales in Europe as gas supplies to the region via Ukraine were halted on January 1 after the previous transit deal with Kyiv was not extended.
According to Gazprom's report, its gas business earned 756 billion roubles last year, outstripping the oil segment, whose profit totalled 649 billion roubles.
Revenue of Gazprom's group, which consists of gas, oil and electric power businesses, rose last year by a quarter to 10.7 trillion roubles, second-highest ever result for the company, it said.
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization jumped by 76% to 3.1 trillion roubles in 2024. The company said it earned more only in 2021 and 2022, when European gas prices were at their record-highs.
“Russian economy is collapsing, see Gazprom took a loss in 2023.” - NAFO loser talking point.
@Slavyangrad
Israel to resume direct flights to Moscow. Likely based on the assumption Trump will reach a peace deal.
Israeli national carrier El Al will resume flights to Russia on May 1 after a four-month break. Flights on the Tel Aviv-Moscow route will be operated seven times a week, the company reported. One flight is scheduled from Monday to Wednesday, and two on Thursday and Sunday. Boeing 737-900 aircraft, designed for 175 passengers, will depart from Domodedovo at 14:50 and 20:50, and from Ben Gurion Airport at 8:00 and 13:55. A round-trip ticket without baggage will cost at least 72 thousand rubles per person.
El Al stopped flying to Moscow in late December after an Azerbaijani plane crashed in Aktau, Kazakhstan, after being shot down by air defenses during a drone attack over Chechnya. Thirty-eight people died in the crash. The Israeli carrier said it had decided to resume flights “after assessing the current situation” and discussing with authorities.
During the past night , eight Ukrainian aircraft-type unmanned aerial vehicles were destroyed by air defense systems on duty:
▪️ two UAVs – over the territory of the Kursk region,
▪️ two UAVs – over the territory of the Voronezh region,
▪️ two UAVs – over the territory of the Vladimir region,
▪️ two UAVs – over the territory of the Belgorod region.
🔹 Ministry of Defense of Russia
@Slavyangrad
Another prisoner trade could be upcoming with the CIA’s RFE reporting:
Yuras Zyankovich, a US citizen who was born and raised in Belarus, has been released from prison in Belarus after more than 3 1/2 behind bars, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced.
On September 5, 2022, the Minsk regional court found lawyer Zenkovich, political scientist Alexander Feduta and leader of the Belarusian Popular Front opposition party Grigory Kostusev guilty in the case of conspiracy to seize power and sentenced them to 11, 10, and 10 years in prison, respectively. In early July, it was announced that Kostusev had been pardoned and released by the Belarusian president.
I understand Trump’s frustration with Russia’s actions. He is being tricked like a baby (or a donkey) goaded with a piece of candy (a carrot). And I wholeheartedly support Russia’s actions.
The bigger problem for Trump is that Ukraine is strumming him like a loose fiddle as well—though, perhaps, not as effectively—and this is the kind of shame that is hard to live down.
Being at the mercy of the machinations of another great power is one thing. Not pleasant, but at least bearable.
Being made a fool of by a crumbling homunculus is something that a hegemony is unlikely to overcome.
Ukraine. The straw that broke the torso off from two vast and trunkless legs of stone. Who knew?
“…Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!" No thing beside remains.”
Susanna Reid:
"We've suddenly found all of this money to defend the eastern flank of Europe. Where was that money when the government came into power saying there's a £22 billion black hole and we need to take money away from pensioners to fill it.”
🇺🇸🇷🇺🇺🇦
“NATO is weak, cause it did not attack the Russian convoy” and “we’re working on the Georgian Maidan”
Those three drones that hit the Moldovanka district impacted the former Poligrafmash plant. A large fire has broken out there.
- AMK Mapping
@Slavyangrad
❗️US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent confirmed the signing of the resource deal and announced the creation of the US-Ukraine Reconstruction Investment Fund.
We reported on the details of the so-called resource deal, which was eventually formalized into an equal investment agreement with Ukraine retaining control, in our previous publication.
- Military informant
Note: We will post a follow-up with what it entails in detail.
@Slavyangrad
Russia considers the deployment of Western military units in Ukraine unacceptable; they will be considered legitimate targets for the Russian Armed Forces — Secretary of the Security Council
▪️Plans to introduce some pseudo-peacekeepers into Ukrainian territory have signs of an impending occupation of the western regions of Ukraine by Europeans, Shoigu added.
▪️European states are seeking to prolong the conflict in Ukraine as much as possible and prevent the normalization of Russian-American relations.
There are no safe spaces in Ukraine.
@Slavyangrad
🇷🇺🤝🇰🇵 "Victory of justice over pure evil" — head of the DPRK military delegation on the liberation of the Kursk region
Lieutenant General Pak Yong Il noted that these events opened a new page in history, which demonstrated the strong military partnership between the DPRK and Russia.
@Slavyangrad
Peskov switched to English so that the foreign journalist would clearly understand that: 'A peace agreement should be concluded with Ukraine, not with America'
How close is Russia to concluding a peace agreement with America and Ukraine?
America is trying to act as a mediator, and we are grateful to the United States for these truly outstanding efforts. I would like to remind you that several days ago, President Putin confirmed his readiness for direct negotiations with the Ukrainians without any preconditions. This readiness is still in effect, it remains in force. Unfortunately, we have not heard any statements on this matter from Kiev, so we do not know whether Kiev is ready or not.
We understand that Washington is eager to achieve rapid success in this process. But at the same time, we hope for understanding that the settlement of the Ukrainian crisis is too complex to be achieved overnight. There are many details and nuances that need to be worked out before an agreement can be concluded.
'Stupid and Stubborn' - Arestovich on Zelensky's Threats
'He comes out and says: "The Russians are worried that the parade is in question. And they are right to be worried." What is he hinting at? That we will attack. He is pushing the war back for another six months. When a person is stupid, it is sad. When he is stubborn, it is sad. But when he is stupid and stubborn, it is simply...'
Professor Michael Clarke has given out information about Kiev’s plans.
Who needs a ceasefire more?
Ukraine. Yes, they need a ceasefire for a break. They just need to catch their breath a little. Whether this ceasefire will be stable – I doubt it. It will last for a while, and then probably fall apart.
🇪🇪🤡"Michal: Estonia is ready to send a company of soldiers to Ukraine as part of a deterrent force": The Estonian Prime Minister announced his readiness to send peacekeepers to Ukraine "for the sake of Europe's security."
"Estonia is ready to send a company-sized unit as part of the "coalition of the willing" to provide security guarantees to Ukraine. "Ukraine's security is Europe's security. An independent, sovereign Ukraine is the best strategic guarantee against Moscow's imperialism for all of us. We must show that we can back up good thoughts with deeds," Michal said.
Planning for the “coalition of the willing” has not yet been completed, but Estonia is ready to provide Ukraine with a company-sized ground combat unit, military instructors and staff officers.”
@Slavyangrad
Pakistan and India agree to resolve differences through a dance-off.
Pwhhh was getting tense there for a bit.
@Slavyangrad