Tag: Ukraine

‘Not a bluff’: Putin threatens nuclear war, calls up thousands of reserve troops

Russian President, Vladimir Putin, holds a microphone

Micaela Burrow – September 21, 2022

Russian President Vladimir Putin doubled down on the credibility of his threats to use nuclear weapons for Russia’s self-defense in a speech Wednesday morning, in addition to calling up hundreds of thousands of additional troops for battle.

In the largest escalation since Russia’s initial invasion of Ukraine in February, Putin made good on a partial mobilization for 300,000 reserve and special operations personnel in an executive order signed Wednesday. He issued veiled threats of nuclear strikes in response to the “aggressive policy of Western elites” to continue provoking Russia on the 1000-km line of contact in Ukraine and providing the Ukrainian army with weapons and supplies.

“In the event of a threat to the territorial integrity of our country and to defend Russia and our people, we will certainly make use of all weapon systems available to us. This is not a bluff,” he said.

Putin’s speech aired less than 24 hours after the Russian-installed leaders in the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions in Ukraine’s south, as well as the two sympathetic presidents in the eastern Donbas region, announced plans to hold referendums on acceding to the Russian Federation later in September.

Russia at present does not exercise full control over the territories. Russia’s deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council, Dmitri Medvedev, said Tuesday that annexation of the regions would expand the list of possible military options amid Ukraine’s burgeoning counteroffensive in the east and south, Reuters reported.

Putin added that North Atlantic Treaty Organization forces were conducting reconnaissance operations over Russian territory and had openly discussed launching nuclear weapons against the federation, despite lack of evidence for the latter, according to The Wall Street Journal.

In the speech, Putin also accused the West of committing “nuclear blackmail” over the Zaporizhzhia power plant, after Zelenskyy said Putin was engaged in “nuclear terrorism” for its dangerous shelling in the area.

https://www.wnd.com

Russia Says Security Guarantees For Ukraine Are A “Prologue To Third World War”

– September 14, 2022

There has been a lot of chatter about a third world war. In fact, Pope Francis has said twice now that the world is already in WW3 and Russia is now saying that security guarantees from NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) are a “prologue to a third world war.”

The Kremlin made the comments in response to requests from Ukraine to supply it with a “NATO-esque” bloc that can be called upon to immediately defend borders with Russia. This was proposed by a working group established by President Volodymyr Zelensky.

The Kremlin’s reaction to Ukraine’s demand has been swift and fierce, with Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of Russia Dmitry Medvedev warning that it is “really a prologue to the Third World War” if it gets enacted. He described a nuclear holocaust that would be the end result, according to the Odessa Journal. 

“Everything will flare up around them. Their people will seize grief to the fullest. Their earth will literally burn, and concrete will melt. We will also get a lot. It will be very bad for everyone,” Medvedev added.

Medvedev also warned the West against continuing to supply Ukraine with weapons. “If the pumping of the Kyiv regime with the most dangerous types of weapons continues, the military campaign will move to another level sooner or later. Visible boundaries and potential predictability of the parties’ actions to the conflict will disappear. It will follow its own military scenario, attracting new participants to it,” writes Medvedev.

Russia continues to punish the West, more specifically the European Union for the sanctions placed on it over the Ukraine “invasion.” Almost everything right now can be seen as instigation and ramping up of rhetoric. If it continues, it will explode in the third world war the ruling classes seem intent upon igniting.

https://www.shtfplan.com

German Chancellor Demands Bigger EU, Less National Sovereignty for Members

Breitbart London – August 29, 2022

PRAGUE (AP) – German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called Monday for a growing European Union to agree on a series of changes that would help it overcome internal divisions and stand up to external rivals such as Russia and China.

In a wide-ranging speech at Charles University in Prague, Scholz said the EU must make itself “fit” for future enlargement from 27 to 30 — or even 36 — nations by taking more decisions by majority vote, rather than requiring unanimity on all issues that has in the past allowed individual member states to veto key decisions.

“We have to remember that swearing allegiance to the principle of unanimity only works for as long as the pressure to act is low,” Scholz said, arguing that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was a wake-up call for the EU to change the way it takes decisions.

Scholz suggested allowing majority decisions on pressing issues such as sanctions or human rights policy, with those unwilling to explicitly back a vote having the option to abstain without blocking unanimity.

The German leader also backed calls to reconsider the composition of the European Parliament, which currently has 751 deputies, to prevent it becoming “bloated” through future expansion. A similar reform of the way each member state is represented in the bloc’s executive Commission could see commissioners share responsibility in certain areas, he said.

With Europe lagging behind global rivals when it comes to digitalization and space exploration, Scholz said the EU could become a global leader in the transition to a greener economy that would also help it become less dependent on foreign energy suppliers.

In his address, Scholz repeatedly cited the threat posed to the EU by Russia under its authoritarian president, warning that “any disunity among us, any weakness, is grist to (Vladimir) Putin´s mill.”

“We must close ranks, resolve old conflicts and find new solutions,” he said, noting that the bloc needs to overcome long-running tensions among its members on the issues of migration and fiscal policy.

https://www.breitbart.com

NUKE ALERT Europe’s biggest nuclear power plant ‘DISCONNECTED from power grid’ as Russian troops mass amid Ukraine disaster fears

 / – August 25, 2022

EUROPE’S biggest nuclear power plant was disconnected from the power grid for the first time ever amid fears of a Chernobyl-style disaster, Ukraine’s state energy firm said.

Nuclear agency Energoatom said fire damage to overhead power lines caused the last two reactors at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) to be cut off.

An energy official who declined to be identified told Reuters that the two reactors that had been disconnected were being powered by diesel generators.

Each power unit that includes a reactor, a cooling system and other equipment has three Soviet-era diesel generators that “are not able to work for weeks”, the source said.

It comes amid looming fears the site could be the scene of a devastating nuclear disaster as both Ukraine and Russia accuse each other of putting the plant at risk.

Satellite images show Putin’s forces massing at the site amid growing calls for Zaporizhzhia to become a demilitarised zone.

Ukraine has accused Russia of torturing Ukrainian nuclear workers at the plant, further compromising safety at the plant.

Energoatom said the plant has now been disconnected from the network for the “first time in its history” after a fire at ash pits close to the facility damaged incoming power lines.

It is also reported communication channels around the plant have gone dark – with NetBlocks reporting a massive dip in the region.

Bringing the plant totally offline could potentially compromise safety systems and lead to disaster – with the two reactors currently being powered by backup diesel generators, officials told Reuters.

https://www.the-sun.com

Russia-Ukraine updates: Moscow rejects demand to hand over Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant

DW – August 12, 2022

Leading Russian politicians are rejecting the G7’s demand that Moscow hand control of the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant, which has been occupied by Russian troops since March, back to Ukraine.

“No and no again,” Konstantin Kosachev, deputy speaker of Russia’s upper house of parliament, the Federation Council, answered when asked about the possible handover, according to the Russian Interfax news agency. To ensure the safety of the nuclear power plant, he said, complete control over the facility is necessary.

Kosachev’s sentiment was echoed by the head of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the State Duma, Leonid Slutsky, who accused Ukraine of “nuclear terrorism.”

“And all the statements of support by the G7 foreign ministers are nothing but sponsorship of nuclear terrorism,” he wrote on his Telegram channel.

Ukraine has accused Russia of firing at Ukrainian towns from the site in the knowledge that Ukrainian forces could not risk returning fire. It says Moscow has shelled the area itself while blaming Ukraine. Russia says it is Ukraine that has shelled the plant. The security situation around the facility, which has been occupied by Russian troops since March, has deteriorated in recent days, with fresh shelling reported at the site on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the German government has expressed concern about the ongoing fighting in the area around Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant.

Government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit said Berlin had “no findings of its own” that could confirm any of the conflicting accounts coming from Kyiv or Moscow, but Berlin was calling “on all sides to stop this highly dangerous shelling.”

The European Union’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, also supported call for demilitarisation of the area starting with full withdrawal of Russian forces, and urged IAEA to visit. “Zaporizhzhia facility must not be used as part of any military operation,” he wrote on Twitter.

https://www.dw.com

Horrifying drought causing widespread crop failures throughout the United States and Europe

ETH – Aug 11, 2022

(OPINION) We really are reaching a major crisis point. Thanks to soaring fertilizer prices, insane weather patterns, and the war in Ukraine, global food supplies have been getting tighter and tighter. So we really needed a banner year for agricultural production in both the United States and Europe in 2022, and that is not going to happen.

In fact, unprecedented drought is absolutely devastating crops all over the northern hemisphere. A lot of people are complaining about how high food prices are right now but just wait. If some sort of a miracle doesn’t happen, agricultural production is going to be way below expectations in both the United States and Europe, and that is going to have very serious implications for 2023.

Let me start by talking about the nightmare that is starting to unfold in Europe. According to CNN, it is now being projected that farmers in Italy have lost “up to 80% of their harvest” because the drought has become so severe… In Italy, farmers in some parts of the country have lost up to 80% of their harvest this year due to severe weather anomalies, the Coldretti farming association said Thursday.

How are those farmers going to survive? Many farmers in France are facing similar losses because they have only been receiving a fraction of the rainfall that they normally get… In France, where an intense drought has hammered farmers and prompted widespread limits on freshwater use, there were just 9.7 millimeters (0.38 inches) of rain last month, Meteo France said.

That was 84 percent down on the average levels seen for July between 1991 and 2022, making it the driest month since March 1961, the agency added. Crop failures in France would be a really, really big deal because France is normally “the fourth-largest exporter of wheat” in the entire world…

France is the fourth-largest exporter of wheat and among the top five exporters of maize globally. Poor harvests due to drought may heap further pressure on grain supplies after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine caused global shockwaves. The situation in Germany is also extremely dire.

https://endtimeheadlines.org

NYC Mayor Warns Residents To Be Ready For A Nuclear Attack

– July 15, 2022

Do the rulers know something we don’t, or is this just another distraction and attempt to panic the masses? “There are no imminent threats to the city that we know about, but we always have to be prepared as New Yorkers,” he said.

What is also strange is the language used to discourage any questions:

In the new clip released Monday, the city’s Office of Emergency Management tells New Yorkers: “So there’s been a nuclear attack. Don’t ask me how or why. Just know that the big one has hit. OK. So what do we do?” –The Daily Mail

“I’m a big believer in better safe than sorry,” he stated before the press. Because Putin invaded Ukraine, Adams went on to say, preparing for nuclear war in NYC is just “taking necessary steps.” These nuclear preparedness PSAs put out by the rulers in New York seem to be following a Russian warning from May of 2022. Russian state media issued a chilling new nuclear threat to the US, boasting that Putin could wipe out the entire East and West Coasts with just four missiles.

In response, US state media has resorted to ratcheting up the fear or using predictive programming because they know it’ll happen. Either way, it is best to use discernment, and critical thinking, and be prepared, especially if you live in areas being warned of nuclear attacks.

The Russian warning stated: “Four missiles, and there will be nothing left. They think the mushroom cloud will be taller than a high rise. That mushroom cloud will be visible from Mexico. Don’t delude yourselves. What should be said is that there’ll be nothing left, no one harbors any illusions about it, that everyone will be fine in case of nuclear war. No one will be fine, but calculate it correctly,” Alexei Zhuravlev, a member of Putin’s parliament said.

https://www.shtfplan.com

Global Food Crisis ‘Will Kill Millions’ By Disease, Health Executive Warns

AFP –   June 23, 2022

The global food crisis sparked by the war in Ukraine will kill millions by leaving the hungriest more vulnerable to infectious diseases, potentially triggering the world’s next health catastrophe, the head of a major aid organisation has warned.

A Russian naval blockade of Ukraine’s Black Sea ports has stopped grain shipments from the world’s fourth-largest exporter of wheat and corn, raising the spectre of shortages and hunger in low-income countries.

The knock-on effects of the food shortages mean many will die not only of starvation but from having weaker defenses against infectious diseases due to bad nutrition, Peter Sands, executive director of the Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria told AFP this week.

“I think we’ve probably already begun our next health crisis. It’s not a new pathogen but it means people who are poorly nourished will be more vulnerable to the existing diseases,” he said in an interview on the sidelines of a G20 health minister meeting in the Indonesian city of Yogyakarta.

“I think the combined impact of infectious diseases and the food shortages and the energy crisis… we can be talking about millions of extra deaths because of this,” he said.

World governments should minimize the impact of the food crisis by providing frontline healthcare to their poorest communities, who will be the most vulnerable, said the British former banker who now heads the $4 billion fund.

“That means focusing on primary healthcare so the healthcare that is delivered in the villages, in the communities. Hospitals are important but when you are faced with this kind of challenge, the most important thing is primary healthcare.”

“It’s been a disaster for TB,” said Sands.

https://www.barrons.com

The risk of a nuclear conflict is now at the highest point since the height of Cold War

Ricky Scaparo – June 15, 2022

The risk of a nuclear conflict is the highest it has been since the times of the Cold War, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

The “SIPRI Yearbook 2022,” a report published Monday assessing the current state of armaments, disarmament, and international security around the world, stated that nuclear arsenals are expected to grow over the coming decade.

Despite the fact that the total number of nuclear weapons in the world has slightly declined between January 2021 and January 2022 (just before the beginning of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine), the number is likely to increase in the near future, according to SIPRI.

Some 90 percent of the world’s nuclear arsenal is owned by Russia and the United States, with a total inventory of respectively 5,977 and 5,428 nuclear weapons as of 2022. The nine nuclear-armed states—the U.S., Russia, Britain, France, China, India, Pakistan, Israel, and North Korea—continue to modernize their nuclear arsenals.

The weapons that have been dismantled in the U.S. and Russia last year were already “retired” from military services, leaving the arsenal of useable nuclear weapons of the two countries virtually unchanged.

“Although there were some significant gains in both nuclear arms control and nuclear disarmament in the past year, the risk of nuclear weapons being used seems higher now than at any time since the height of the Cold War,” said SIPRI Director Dan Smith.

https://endtimeheadlines.org

Russian Pundit: ‘Next Comes World War III; Nuclear War Is Coming’

Eric Mack – June 5, 2022

A Russian political science pundit says the West boasting about the continued shipping of lethal aid to Ukraine is going to ultimately lead to World War III and nuclear war.

“[The West] talks about how many more weapons are being sent and how frightening these weapons are, they don’t understand what happens next,” political scientist Sergey Mikheyev told Russia’s Channel 1, according to an Express translation. “They all say ‘terrible weapons are arriving over there, they keep coming and coming.'”

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told Newsmax in an exclusive sitdown interview in Kyiv this week that he has promised the medium-range HIMARS (High Mobility Artillery Rocket System) will only be used in Ukraine to defend their territory – and not to launch attacks in Russia.

“I know some of the people in the United States are saying, or people in the White House are saying we might be using them to attack Russia: Look, we’re not planning to attack Russia,” he said. “We’re not interested in the Russian Federation. We’re not fighting on their territory.

“We have the war on our territory. They came to our country. We want to de-block our cities.”

But the Russian pundit is skeptical.

“They promised not to use them a certain way, but most likely they will do it anyway, and that will lead to World War III,” Mikheyev continued. “Then we’re being told ‘calm down, comrades, everything will be alright.’

https://www.newsmax.com