If you are wondering how Putin could hate so much, he'd willingly slaughter babies and children in Ukraine, he didn't care about then in his own country.
The siege began on the morning of September 1, 2004, when at least 32 armed individuals stormed the school and took more than 1,000 hostages, including pupils in both primary and secondary grades and their teachers, as well as parents and relatives who had gathered to celebrate the opening day of the new school year. Some people died in the initial attack, but most were herded into a gymnasium, which the attackers rigged with explosives. The hostages were refused water or food; after two days passed, some of them resorted to drinking urine. The siege ended on the morning of September 3, when explosions inside the school prompted Russian special forces to enter the building. Many hostages were killed by explosions or in a subsequent fire in the gym.
Watch this on PBS and understand how a demon took control of Russia.
“It’s the last social media bridge from the Western world into the Russian world…where you can kind of see what’s going and how the battle is playing out,” says Clint Watts, a former FBI agent and fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute who focuses on foreign disinformation. “Whoever can sustain their information campaigns on Telegram has the best chance of shaping world views around what’s going on inside Ukraine.”
There is no algorithm that decides what to show users or what to restrict, and its architecture allows limitless groups. Comments are easily turned off, turning channels into a megaphone blasting information to a captive audience of millions of followers. With just one click, a built-in button can translate messages from Russian to English or other languages, turning it into a tool of mass communication.
This has turned Telegram into the heart of the propaganda battle, allowing tales of Ukrainian resistance or heroism to go viral side-by-side with Russian disinformation. Now, amid increasingly brutal attacks on Ukrainian civilians and a desperate crackdown on “false information” in Russia, both sides are racing to dominate the Telegram war.
But even without the apps on phones, they managed to connect millions of people from different countries, hand in hand.
Thirty years ago, 2 million people in the Baltic states made a human chain to demand independence from the Soviet Union. Estonians, Latvians and Lithuanians remembered the chain Friday.
Thousands of pro-democracy demonstrators in Hong Kong formed human chains yesterday, saying they were inspired by a similar protest against the Soviet Union exactly 30 years earlier. That human chain was called the Baltic Way. It involved some 2 million people who joined hands across Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia to demand independence from the Kremlin. Here's NPR's Lucian Kim from Moscow.
LUCIAN KIM, BYLINE: August 23 is a double anniversary for the three Baltic nations, a day of mourning and a day of pride - mourning because, on that day 80 years ago, the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany signed a treaty that put much of Eastern Europe under the Kremlin's control. But it's also a day of pride because on August 23, 1989, ordinary Lithuanians, Latvians and Estonians formed a human chain and demonstrated their yearning for freedom.
Ukrainian women are volunteering to fight — and history shows they always have
NPR
Lauren Frayer
Iryna Matviyishyn
March 19, 2022
Kobzar's late grandmother was an army medic in World War II. It's become part of the family lore — how brave she was, treating soldiers on the front lines. So when Ukraine went to war again last month, Kobzar — a 49-year-old mother of two — decided to follow in her grandmother's footsteps. She left her office job in health care supply chains and enlisted in the army.
Tanya Kobzar's late grandmother was an army medic in World War II. It's become part of the family lore how brave she was, treating soldiers on the front lines.
Tanya Kobzar
LVIV, Ukraine — In the lead-up to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Tanya Kobzar was having nightmares.
"I was waking up in the middle of the night, terrified. I would look at a black-and-white photo of my grandmother, which I have framed on a table," she recalls. "She reminds me of how brave a person can be."
Kobzar's late grandmother was an army medic in World War II. It's become part of the family lore — how brave she was, treating soldiers on the front lines. So when Ukraine went to war again last month, Kobzar — a 49-year-old mother of two — decided to follow in her grandmother's footsteps. She left her office job in health care supply chains and enlisted in the army.
"I did this for my children and for my country," says Kobzar, who's using her military nickname in this NPR interview, rather than her full surname, because she doesn't have permission from her commander to speak to the media. read more here on NPR
Mariupol theatre: 'We knew something terrible would happen'
BBC News, Lviv, Ukraine
By Hugo Bachega, Orysia Khimiak
March 17, 2022
After leaving Mariupol, Kate was headed to the city of Lviv, in western Ukraine, a region that has been largely spared of attacks. "The first day after we managed to get out, I couldn't talk. We all just cried", she said. "But now it feels like there are no tears left. I don't think this pain will ever disappear."
Civilians are said to be emerging alive from the ruins of a theatre that, according to Ukrainian authorities, was bombed by Russia in the city of Mariupol. Despite pictures of devastation at the scene, many who were sheltering there are thought to have survived in a basement that withstood Wednesday's attack.
For 10 days, that basement was a refuge for Kate, a 38-year-old Mariupol native, and her son, who is 17. Their own home, like many others in the besieged city, had been destroyed by Russian attacks, and they thought the Donetsk Regional Theatre of Drama was a place where they would be relatively safe.
Mother and son squeezed in the building's dark rooms, corridors and halls with dozens of other families. Some women, Kate said, carried babies that were just four or five months old.
"In the beginning, it was really tough, because we didn't have a well-organised food supply. So on the first two days, adults didn't have any food," Kate, who used to work at the city's zoo shop and did not want to give her full name, said. "We gave food only to the children."
They slept on improvised beds made with soft parts of auditorium seats which had been put together on the floor. The seats made of wood, she said, were cut in parts and used as firewood for them to cook. "Around the theatre there wasn't enough trees we could use, and it was too dangerous to go outside". read more here
There had been a video plea for food so that the people taking shelter there could survive. The Russians used that to target them. There were signs on the grounds on both sides of the theater with so that the Russians would know there were children there. They didn't care. They used it to murder the people inside.
When you look at what they are doing to Ukraine, it is easy to focus on all the evil they are committing. What is harder is to try to focus on the miracles that come out of it.
We cannot do much to help the people suffering such evil acts. We cannot do much to open the eyes of the Russian people so they will see they are being lied to. All we can do is pray they see the truth for themselves.
All the reports, what little there is, are about the Russians supporting what Putin is doing. That's only part of the realty going on there because we've seen the massive protests happening and brave Russians being arrested while trying to stop the slaughter of the Ukrainian people.
And then there are other things like this going on.
PBS NewsHour
As some Russians protest the conflict in Ukraine a former senior Kremlin official has criticized the operations there. This comes after an employee of Russian state television on Monday interrupted a live newscast to demonstrate against the fighting and amid reports that Russia asked China for military assistance. Special correspondent Ryan Chilcote joins Judy Woodruff from Moscow to discuss.
For now, know your limitations and do what you can for the people of Ukraine. Watch the news to a point and then do something else for your own sanity. In closing, also notice the first miracle. Putin thought the would take Ukraine in a few days. It's been a month!
If you just watched President Zelensky deliver his speech to Congress, you saw the video of what Putin is doing to the Ukrainian people. If you have a heart, it just broke.
PBS NewsHour
Warning: Some of the video shown during this speech contains graphic imagery.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will deliver a virtual address Wednesday to Congress, the latest in a series of appeals the leader has made to world leaders for more assistance as Russia's invasion continues.
Aa friend of mine has finally woken up to the fact that Congress tried to hold Trump accountable for what he did to Ukraine in defense of what Putin was doing for him. Now we know that the Republican senators are just as responsible for what Putin did to Ukraine, as Putin is. They had the chance to convict him after the House impeached him. They decided to defend Trump no matter what price would come to Ukraine and the rest of the world, including this country.
Trump must think Russia's invasion of Ukraine is a joke
According to a recording of the speech obtained by The Washington Post, Trump told the audience of GOP donors that the United States should "put the Chinese flag" on F-22 fighter jets and "bomb the s**t" out of Russia. He quipped, "And then we say, China did it. Then they start fighting with each other, and we sit back and watch."
President Trump acquitted on both impeachment charges, avoids removal
USA TODAY
Bart Jansen
Christal Hayes
Savannah Behrmann
Nicholas Wu
February 5, 2020
WASHINGTON - The Senate acquitted President Donald Trump for his dealings with Ukraine on Wednesday, culminating months of bitter partisan clashes over accusations he tried to cheat in the 2020 election by pressuring the U.S. ally to investigate political rival, former Vice President Joe Biden.
The Republican-led Senate voted to acquit Trump on two articles of impeachment - abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, was the only senator to cross party lines by voting to convict for abuse of power.
McConnell said impeachment is net win for GOP
“Having been dragged into something she instinctively felt was a mistake, then the second impulse was to get it over with as quickly as possible,” McConnell said of what he called an “abbreviated, truncated, rush job over in the House.”
McConnell then guessed that House Democrats would make the case a fight over witnesses in the Senate. But his staff counted 60 times when House managers had declared during the trial that they had already proved their case.
“I’m proud of my colleagues for seeing through that,” McConnell said of the nearly party-line votes to reject additional witnesses in the trial.
He also said it was right to avoid having Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts resolve a tie over witnesses, if a vote had come to that.
“It’s pretty clear that would have dragged the Supreme Court into the maelstrom,” McConnell said.
He concluded that impeachment was a political loser for Democrats because Trump enjoyed the highest approval ratings of his presidency. read more here
Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL)
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK)
Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK)
Sen. Martha McSally (R-AZ)
Sen. John Boozman (R-AK)
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AK)
Sen. Cory Gardner (R-CO)
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL)
Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL)
Sen. David Perdue (R-GA)
Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-GA)
Sen. Mike Crapo (R-ID)
Sen. Jim Risch (R-ID)
Sen. Todd Young (R-IN)
Sen. Mike Braun (R-IN)
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA)
Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA)
Sen. Pat Roberts (R-KS)
Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS)
Majority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY)
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA)
Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA)
Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME)
Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS)
Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS)
Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO)
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO)
Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT)
Sen. Deb Fischer (R-NE)
Sen. Ben Sasse (R-NE)
Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC)
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC)
Sen. John Hoeven (R-ND)
Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-ND)
Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH)
Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-OK)
Sen. James Lankford (R-OK)
Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA)
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC)
Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC)
Sen. John Thune (R-SD)
Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD)
Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN)
Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN)
Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX)
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX)
Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT)
Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV)
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI)
Sen. Mike Enzi (R-WY)
Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY)
The people of Ukraine are fighting many battles right now. Some have decided to stay and fight the Russian invaders. Some decided to leave Ukraine to get away from the bombs, tanks and bullets. No one should judge any of them or assume that what you think you would do, is what they should do. No one knows but them. What you think you may do is something you will ever know until you too have to decide what choice to make. All we can do is pray for the best for all of them.
People are all different.
One Body but Many Parts
There is one body, but it has many parts. But all its many parts make up one body. It is the same with Christ. We were all baptized by one Holy Spirit. And so we are formed into one body. It didn’t matter whether we were Jews or Gentiles, slaves or free people. We were all given the same Spirit to drink. 14 So the body is not made up of just one part. It has many parts.
1 Corinthians 12:12-14
Most of us do not know what to do to help them. If the NATO nations joined in defending Ukraine, with our military forces there, it would unleash another world war, but this one would not end until the death and destruction of the entire planet. So please get that idea out of your head if you are thinking it would be an easy thing to do. Putin has shown no interest in doing the right thing at all.
So what can we do? What can the people of Ukraine do?
All of us are given different gifts.
There are different kinds of gifts. But they are all given to believers by the same Spirit. There are different ways to serve. But they all come from the same Lord. There are different ways the Spirit works. But the same God is working in all these ways and in all people.
The Holy Spirit is given to each of us in a special way. That is for the good of all. To some people the Spirit gives a message of wisdom. To others the same Spirit gives a message of knowledge. To others the same Spirit gives faith. To others that one Spirit gives gifts of healing. To others he gives the power to do miracles. To others he gives the ability to prophesy. To others he gives the ability to tell the spirits apart. To others he gives the ability to speak in different kinds of languages they had not known before. And to still others he gives the ability to explain what was said in those languages. All the gifts are produced by one and the same Spirit. He gives gifts to each person, just as he decides.
1 Corinthians 12:4-11
What gift were you given to help them with? While some are fighting the Russian invaders, all of them are fighting the trauma inflicted on that nation. We can help them fight that one by letting them know they should not judge the actions of others. If they have chosen to leave, some will be regretting that decision but they should not. Not everyone has the ability to put their lives on the line. If they decided to stay and fight, they should not judge the actions of others who decided to leave. Again, not everyone has the same ability. Each of them are making hard choices based on their own capabilities.
If they choose to not fight, they can help those who do by offering to help their families and get their children out of the war zones. They can organize help to get them the supplies, weapons and support they need to defend Ukraine. They can always pray for God to show those who stay the way to defeat the invaders.
We have seen the actions of people who have found compassion for Russian soldiers who did not know what they are being ordered to do and have refused to do it. We have seen citizens form large groups to stop the tanks and do what they can to defend what they can. We have also seen miracles when tanks have gotten stuck in long lines giving people more time to evacuate and prepare for the battles that were forced on them.
If they are among those who left, they can open their eyes to see all the good people in other nations opening their arms to take care of them. They can help one another speak about what they are trying to recover from so they can begin to heal together.
They can all fight the enemy they are carrying inside of themselves so that they begin to heal even as the Russian invaders are still trying to destroy all they had. They can recover their own power by taking away the power of the evil invaders by using the power they do have to help others in whatever way they can with the gifts they have been given by the Holy Spirit inside of them.
As for the rest of us, remember, the Ukrainian people were just like the rest of us. Living their lives, doing their jobs, taking care of them families and living in peace at the same time Putin surrendered his soul to Satan.
Dozens of diplomats walk out during Russian foreign minister's UN speech – video
Dozens of diplomats walked out of a speech by the Russian foreign minister to the UN human rights forum on Tuesday.
Sergei Lavrov was addressing the UN human rights council remotely, after cancelling his attendance previously because of what the Russian mission in Geneva said on Monday were EU states blocking his flight path, when delegates from the UK, US and EU started to walk out in protest.
Yevheniia Filipenko, Ukraine's ambassador to the UN, said the organisation was taking a 'very strong stance in defence of its own principles'
Russia-Ukraine war latest updates
At a glance: what we know so far on day six of Russian invasion
Doctor unable to save Ukrainian girl wounded in Russian shelling says: "Show this to Putin"
CBS News
FEBRUARY 28, 2022
Ukraine's Ministry of Internal Affairs said that as of Sunday evening, 352 civilians had been killed, including 14 children. The agency said 116 children were among 1,684 wounded civilians.
In the port city of Mariupol, where Ukrainians are trying to fend off a Russian advance, an ambulance raced into a city hospital Sunday carrying a 6-year-old girl mortally injured in Russian shelling.
She was pale. Her brown hair was pulled back with a rubber band. Her bloody pyjama pants were decorated with cartoon unicorns. She was brought in with her wounded father, his head bloodied and bandaged.
A medical team pumped her chest, fighting desperately to revive her. Her mother stood outside the ambulance, weeping. read more here
Kyiv Theological Seminary (KTS) had earlier issued a general warning.
“Generating panic through the spread of manipulative false information is exactly what the enemy seeks,” a communications professor wrote on Tuesday. “This war is not as much for our territories, as it is for our soul and our mind.”
That was on Christianity Today. As Russia Invades Ukraine, Pastors Stay to Serve, Pray … and Resist
Prayer requests from Donetsk: “First, to stop the aggressor. But then for peace of mind, to respond with Christian character and not from human hate.”
When you think about what Putin has done, remember this. Matthew 25
41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
This is not just about democracy and the right of the Ukrainian people to control their own futures, it is about Putin trying to force them to believe the way he wants them to, when he does not even know what a true Christian is supposed to be!
Putin is ‘making it a religious war’
Salt Lake Tribune
By Lew Nescott Jr.
Religion News Service
Feb. 25, 2022
Head of U.S. Ukrainian Orthodox Church slams Russian leader, Moscow Patriarch Kirill
“The responsibility is on him and his soul,” Archbishop Daniel says of the Russian president.
(Alexander Zemlianichenko | The Associated Press) Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill, left, talks to President Vladimir Putin, right, during the Easter service in the Christ the Savior Cathedral in Moscow, Russia, Sunday, April 28, 2019.
As Archbishop Daniel, head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA, watched his home country endure an invasion at the hands of Russia this week, he found himself waffling between two emotions: shock and devastation.
It’s not that he was surprised by tension between the two countries, which is long-standing. The rifts between Russia and Ukraine even extend to the religious realm: In late 2018 and early 2019, Orthodox Christians in Ukraine declared independence, or autocephaly, from the Orthodox Patriarchate in Russia. The Orthodox Church in Constantinople promptly set about recognizing the independence of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, while Russian Orthodox leaders refused. The result: two opposing Orthodox factions in the country.
But seeing such tensions escalate to the level of armed conflict — with deadly consequences for Ukraine and its people — tore at Archbishop Daniel’s heart.
“I came to the United States of America in 1995, right after the collapse of the Soviet Union,” he said Thursday in an interview for Religion News Service with Lew Nescott Jr., an independent producer covering religion and politics. “I lived through the images of tanks going through Moscow and when the Soviet Union fell.
“Now, 30 years later,” the archbishop said, “I am living through the images of Russian tanks going through the streets, through the sovereign borders of Ukraine.”
I’m asking people of Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Catholic Church and people of goodwill regardless of background to use the weapon of prayer, to soften the heart of the aggressor against Ukrainian people, and to stop the crimes against humanity that we’re experiencing."
Ukraine Orthodox Church granted independence from Russian Church
BBC
Published 5 January 2019
Ceremonies are taking place in Istanbul to recognise the independence of Ukraine's Orthodox Church from Russia
The Patriarch has signed what is known as a "tomos", a decree officially recognising an independent Ukrainian Orthodox Church, in the presence of Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, who travelled to Istanbul for the occasion.
Istanbul remained the centre of the Orthodox Church after the Muslim Ottoman Turks occupied the city, then known as Constantinople, in the 15th Century.
The event at St George's cathedral was broadcast live on Ukrainian television.
The tomos will be handed over on Sunday, and brought back to Ukraine on what is the Orthodox Christmas Eve. On Monday - Christmas Day - a celebration and rally will take place in central Kiev.
Upset at losing its Ukrainian parishes, the Russian Orthodox Church - which is the world's largest - has already cut ties with the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, the spiritual authority of the world's Orthodox church after it recognised the Ukrainian Church's independence. read more here
Greek Orthodox Church becomes first to recognize Orthodox Church of Ukraine
Ukrainian Weekly
By Alya Shandra/Euromaidan Press
Metropolitan Epifaniy (right) of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine with Archbishop of Athens and All Greece Ieronymos II, president of the Holy Synod of the Church of Greece.
The Greek Orthodox Church has essentially recognized the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU), which in January was granted autocephaly, or independence, from Moscow by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew in a move that angered Russia and caused what some termed the greatest Christian schism since 1054. read more here
UPDATE
Why does this matter?
By using the Russian Orthodox Church as an instrument of state power in its conflict with Ukraine, the Kremlin galvanized a Ukrainian campaign for independence, or “autocephaly,” for the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. It also provided justification for the titular head of global orthodoxy, the ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople, to approve that request.....
Because Constantinople is the ancient seat of the Eastern Orthodox faith, the more than 200 million Orthodox Christians traditionally regard its patriarch as the “first among equals,” and thus the formal leader among the 14 major Orthodox churches. But since the 15th century, the Russian church, as the largest and wealthiest single congregation, has pressed a rival claim to leadership.....
The Kremlin and the Moscow Patriarchate have mounted a diplomatic and disinformation campaign to press the Orthodox patriarchs to question Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew’s decision and his authority. More aggressive actions are likely to follow. Even if Russia cannot annul Bartholomew’s decision, it will seek to undermine its implementation by swaying opinion, sowing dissension, and instigating conflict. The Associated Press recently documented the invasion of the Ecumenical Patriarchate’s computers by Russian hackers. Meanwhile, an iconic Kyiv church, St. Andrew’s, was attacked with a Molotov cocktail after the government transferred it to the Ecumenical Patriarchate. And Ukrainian authorities are investigating priests for allegedly inciting hatred and violence.....
UPDATE
Local churches shun Vatican's moderate stance on Russia
The head of the Polish bishops’ conference has done what Pope Francis has avoided doing by publicly condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine ABC News
By NICOLE WINFIELD Associated Press
March 5, 2022
ROME -- The head of the Polish bishops’ conference has done what Pope Francis has so far avoided doing: He publicly condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and urged the head of the Russian Orthodox Church to use his influence with Vladimir Putin to demand an end to the war and for Russian soldiers to stand down.
“The time will come to settle these crimes, including before the international courts," Archbishop Stanislaw Gądecki warned in his March 2 letter to Patriarch Kirill. “However, even if someone manages to avoid this human justice, there is a tribunal that cannot be avoided.”
Hundreds arrested as shocked Russians protest Ukraine attack
Associated Press
By DASHA LITVINOVA
One petition, started by a prominent human rights advocate, Lev Ponomavyov, garnered over 150,000 signatures within several hours and more than 330,000 by the end of the day. More than 250 journalists put their names on an open letter decrying the aggression. Another one was signed by some 250 scientists, while 194 municipal council members in Moscow and other cities signed a third.
MOSCOW (AP) — Shocked Russians turned out by the thousands Thursday to decry their country’s invasion of Ukraine as emotional calls for protests grew on social media. Some 1,745 people in 54 Russian cities were detained, at least 957 of them in Moscow.
Hundreds of posts came pouring in condemning Moscow’s most aggressive actions since the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Vladimir Putin called the attack a “special military operation” to protect civilians in eastern Ukraine from “genocide” — a false claim the U.S. had predicted would be a pretext for invasion, and which many Russians roundly rejected.
Tatyana Usmanova, an opposition activist in Moscow, wrote on Facebook that she thought she was dreaming when she awoke at 5:30 a.m. to the news, which she called “a disgrace that will be forever with us now.”
“I want to ask Ukrainians for forgiveness. We didn’t vote for those who unleashed the war,” she said. read more here
Readers of Wounded Times are around the world, including Russia and Ukraine. The people of Ukraine are in my prayers and so are the people of Russia that they open their eyes and see evil for what it is. This is an evil act committed against people who only wanted to determine their own futures peacefully. Most of the world are not blaming you for what your leader decided to do because we know you live in fear of his wrath. The question is, what will stop him when he wants more?
DOD, VA asked to address allegations saying base made soldiers sick
KCTV News
By Angie Ricono, Zoe Brown
Mar 6, 2020
“The response from the Department of Defense (DOD) has been inadequate. Veterans who deployed to K2 in Operation Enduring Freedom served bravely in defense of the United States, yet many of them have not received answers to their legitimate questions about the potential hazards they may have been exposed to while deployed there.”
The United States House Oversight Committee wants the Department of Defense and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to respond to allegations that a military base made U.S. soldiers sick.
FAIRWAY, KS (KCTV) -- The United States House Oversight Committee wants the Department of Defense and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to respond to allegations that a military base made U.S. soldiers sick.
This concerns Karshi-Khanabad or “K2” in what is now Uzbekistan. Veterans say that base was a toxic waste dump for the Russians.
They said they immediately noticed bad smells and black goo around the base. There were glowing green ponds of water they called “Skittles ponds” because the color was so intense.
K2 has been the focus of previous investigative reports at KCTV5 because a local veteran is collecting information on sickness and death.
The letters point out soldiers from K2 are filling out questionnaires and are already aware of 30 deaths among the 7,000 soldiers who served there. Those deaths are mostly cancer related. read it here
Removing the Stigma: Ukraine Launches Suicide Prevention Hotline for Veterans
Atlantic Council BY PETER DICKINSON SEPTEMBER 9, 2019
According to the World Health Organization, Ukraine currently ranks eighth internationally in terms of suicide rates among the population. It is one of a staggering six post-Soviet countries to feature in the global top ten (Lithuania is in first position followed by Russia in second place, Belarus in fifth, Kazakhstan in seventh, and Latvia in ninth). This hints at a vast mental health crisis across the whole of the former USSR, making initiatives like Lifeline Ukraine even more urgent.
Ukrainian veterans take part in the March of Defenders of Ukraine as part of Ukraine's Independence Day celebrations, in Kyiv, Ukraine August 24, 2019. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenk
Autumn 2019 will see the official launch of Lifeline Ukraine, the country’s first professional suicide prevention and mental health support hotline. Recruitment of counselors has focused on Ukraine’s pool of approximately 400,000 combat veterans from the country’s undeclared but ongoing war with Russia. After completing training with international specialists in veteran mental health issues, they will begin working around the clock at the Lifeline Ukraine offices in Kyiv’s Podil district.
The launch of Lifeline Ukraine cannot come too soon. Mental health problems among former military personnel are a major social issue, and one that the country remains ill equipped to address. Prior to the Russian invasion of 2014, post-Soviet Ukraine had no experience of dealing with the trauma of military conflict, or of providing support for those left damaged by war. This was just one of the many ways in which Ukraine was completely unprepared for the onset of Russian aggression. Understandably, the country initially focused attention on defending itself against the immediate military threat, but the accompanying mental health challenges created by the conflict have since made themselves abundantly apparent.
There are no exact figures available for the number of suicides among Ukrainian military personnel and veterans, but experts believe at least 900 have taken their own lives since the start of hostilities five-and-a-half years ago. read it here
Rocket carrying space station crew fails in mid air, crew safe Thomson Reuters BY SHAMIL ZHUMATOV Oct 11th 2018
BAIKONUR COSMODROME, Kazakhstan, Oct 11 (Reuters) - A booster rocket carrying a Soyuz spacecraft with a Russian and U.S. astronaut on board headed for the International Space Station failed mid-air on Thursday, forcing the crew to make an emergency landing.
The rocket was carrying U.S. astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Alexei Ovchinin. Footage from inside the Soyuz showed the two men being shaken around at the moment the failure occurred, with their arms and legs flailing.
The rocket was launched from the Soviet-era cosmodrome in Baikonur, Kazakhstan. A Reuters reporter who observed the launch from around 1 km away said it had gone smoothly in its initial stages and that the failure of the booster rockets must have occurred at higher altitude. read more here
The Fake Facebook Pages Targeting Vietnam Veterans The Atlantic NATASHA BERTRAND April 12, 2018
The pages are operated out of Eastern Europe and the social network took almost two months to shut one of them down.
Visitors' shadows are seen cast on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial wall
Yuri Gripas / Reuters
Earlier this week, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg promised lawmakers that his platform would crack down on fake accounts and foreign influence. But at least two Facebook pages linked to websites operating out of Bulgaria are still targeting U.S. veterans of the Vietnam War, according to a letter obtained by The Atlantic that was sent to lawmakers by a nonprofit veteran’s organization.
The U.S. military community is not a new or unusual target for foreign influence operations. A study published in October by the University of Oxford found that three websites linked to Russia—Veteranstoday.com, Veteransnewsnow.com and Southfront.org—engaged in “significant and persistent interactions” with veterans during the election, concluding in part that veterans are targeted because they tend to be “community leaders” trusted by the public. read more here
Why are Republicans going after another Vietnam War hero? Why are they attacking a man they praised for his integrity?
Looks like they'd simply rather ignore the facts and attack whomever goes against this POTUS, when they should be screaming to get to the bottom of what happened to the integrity of this nation.
This is the guy they are attacking.
A 'Magnificent Bastard' Is Investigating Russian Meddling in the US
Mueller would earn the Bronze Star, the Purple Heart and the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry in his time in Vietnam. The citation for his Bronze Star said that during an attack on his rifle platoon, "2nd Lt. Mueller fearlessly moved from one position to another, directing the accurate counterfire of his men and shouting words of encouragement to them."
During the firefight on Dec. 11, 1968, Mueller "personally led a fire team across the fire-swept terrain to recover a mortally wounded Marine who had fallen in a position forward of the friendly lines," the citation said.
*******
One has it that there was a tough fight on a Pacific Island but word got back to the ships that 2/4 had broken through enemy lines. Somebody on the ships said "Oh, you magnificent bastards" and the name stuck.
Another has it that there was a change of command ceremony for 2/4 and a couple of Marines bumped into each other during the pass in review, precipitating a mass brawl on the parade field.
The new commander was delighted and called them a bunch of "Magnificent Bastards." In 1964, Lt. Col. J.R. "Bull" Fisher added "Magnificent Bastards" to 2/4's insignia.
Had this President been a Democrat, they would have been screaming for this investigation with this man taking the lead. Oh, wait, they already wanted him for the job!
No apparent survivors in deadly Russian plane crash CNN By Max Blau Updated 6:02 AM ET, Sun December 25, 2016
(CNN)A Russian military plane reported missing Sunday with 92 people aboard has crashed, leaving no apparent survivors and a trail of plane wreckage in the Black Sea near Sochi, according to the Russian Defense Ministry.
A Tupolev Tu-154 plane that was carrying 84 passengers and eight crew members disappeared from radar Sunday morning local time after taking off from the Adler airport near the Black Sea city, state-run RIA Novosti news agency reported. The plane, which first took off from Moscow, was headed to the Russian Hmeymim airbase in Latakia, Syria, where the country has a large military presence, for a concert ahead of New Year's Eve, a source told Russia's state news agency Tass. read more here
Looks like intern he blamed will hear "You're fired" after this but he approved the ad.
Trump video mistakes Soviet veterans for Americans
CNN
By Chris Moody, Senior Digital Correspondent
January 22, 2016
"In the Veterans Administration, the incompetence is beyond. We will stop that," Trump says in the video before showing images of Soviet veterans that was taken in Russia in May last year, according to the stock video site that hosts the footage. "We are going to take care of our veterans."
(CNN)In a single morning, Donald Trump promoted a photo that originated from a neo-Nazi Twitter account and posted a campaign video that mistook Soviets for U.S. military veterans.
Trump's campaign on Friday shared a Facebook video vowing to reform the Veterans Administration that included stock footage of Russian -- not American -- former servicemen with medals that bore the communist sickle and hammer symbol.
read more here
Untold story of US Forces on Russia Aircraft in Afghanistan
Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
March 26, 2014
Reading news reports from around the world brings puzzling information. I read about US Forces on Russian and Ukraine aircraft for their missions in Afghanistan. The article said that the Pentagon is searching for alternative transportation because of the rift between the US and Russia. It didn't seem possible, so I did some searches and found that the Antonov AN-124 is in fact being used by the US Military.
BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan - Soldiers from 101st Combat Aviation Brigade, Task Force Destiny, pose in the mouth of an Antonov AN-124 cargo plane after loading OH-58D Kiowa Warrior helicopters at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, Feb. 8, 2013. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Duncan Brennan, 101st CAB public affairs)
BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan - Soldiers from 101st Combat Aviation Brigade, Task Force Destiny maneuver an OH-58D Kiowa Warrior helicopter into the space between two other Kiowas already loaded onto an Antonov AN-124 cargo plane at Bagram Airield, Afghanistan, Feb. 7, 2013. Loading cargo onto an aircraft is a team effort ensuring the safety of the Soldiers loading the cargo. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Duncan Brennan, 101st CAB public affairs)
As you can see, the story is true. The pictures show the 101st Airborne working in these massive planes. What will happen to them if things come to a head with sanctions? The troops are still in harms way in Afghanistan. What will all of this mean to them and their safety?
