Omnibus Russia Ukraine crisis

55Mercury

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Dwarf posed as child, 'tried to poison and kill' adoptive mom: Documentary

Author of the article:Brad Hunter
Published May 14, 2023 • Last updated May 14, 2023 • 2 minute read

The bizarre tale of a dwarf masquerading as a child was a tabloid natural.

But for one adoptive family, it was a horror movie worthy of a Hollywood screenplay. A yarn that would likely be deemed too unbelievable to produce.

hey zeus, people! If you didn't spend 3 years of nondemic lockdown watching every movie ever made, what the heck were you doing?

This movie theme has already been done.

Orphan
 

pgs

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Has Zelenski moved to Florida yet , or is he still stuffing mattresses ?
 

Jinentonix

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Man, it just gets sadder and sadder. Turns out that Russia's "hypersonic, non-shoot downable" Kinzhal missile is just a modified Iskander launched from the air.
Here's the thing. EVERY single ballistic missile is "hypersonic". Hell even the nazi's V2 was a hypersonic rocket.
A typical ballistic missile travels Mach 7 - Mach 8. The Kinzhal is no different. Anything over Mach 5 is basically hypersonic.
In order to break that barrier you need a scramjet. Something that NO country has perfected yet.
But what makes a weapon truly hypersonic isn't just speed, you need evasive maneuverability in transit. Pretty much every ballistic missile has some level of limited maneuverability but not to the extent that hypersonic missiles are claimed to potentially have.

One again a Russian "super weapon" proves to be little more than somewhat dated technology.
 

spaminator

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Ukraine claims Russia is plotting 'a provocation' at nuclear plant, offers no evidence
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Susie Blann
Published May 27, 2023 • Last updated 1 day ago • 3 minute read

KYIV, Ukraine — Ukraine’s military intelligence has claimed, without offering evidence, that Russia is plotting a “large-scale provocation” at a nuclear power plant it occupies in the southeast of the country with the aim of disrupting a looming Ukrainian counteroffensive.


A statement released Friday by the intelligence directorate of Ukraine’s Defence Ministry claimed that Russian forces would strike the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the biggest in Europe, and then report a radioactive leak in order to trigger an international probe that would pause the hostilities and give the Russian forces the respite they need to regroup ahead of the counteroffensive.


In order to make that happen, Russia “disrupted the rotation of personnel of the permanent monitoring mission” of the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency that was scheduled for Saturday, the statement said. It didn’t offer evidence to back up any of the claims.

The IAEA said in an emailed response to the AP that it did not have any immediate comment on the allegations, and Russian officials did not immediately comment on the Ukrainian claims.


The White House said it is watching the situation closely and has seen no indication that radioactive material has been leaked.

The claim mirrors similar statements Moscow regularly makes, alleging without evidence that Kyiv is plotting provocations involving various dangerous weapons or substances in order to then accuse Russia of war crimes.

It comes as Moscow’s military in Ukraine braces for a looming counteroffensive by Kyiv’s forces, which hasn’t started yet but could begin “tomorrow, the day after tomorrow or in a week, the secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defence Council, Oleksiy Danilov, told the BBC in an interview Saturday.

The Zaporizhzhia power plant is one of the 10 biggest nuclear plants in the world. It is located in the partially occupied Zaporizhzhia region in southeastern Ukraine. The plant’s six reactors have been shut down for months, but it still needs power and qualified staff to operate crucial cooling systems and other safety features.


Fighting near it repeatedly disrupted power supplies and has fueled fears of a potential catastrophe like the one at Chornobyl, in northern Ukraine, where a reactor exploded in 1986 and spewed deadly radiation, contaminating a vast area in the world’s worst nuclear disaster.

In other developments:
— Ukraine’s national police said a 60-year-old man was killed Saturday evening by Russian shelling in the city of Kupyansk in the Kharkiv region, about 30 kilometres from the Russian border.

— Russia on Saturday reported more attacks on its territory, with drones crashing in its western regions and areas on the border with Ukraine coming under shelling.

Two drones attacked an administrative building of an oil company in Russia’s western Pskov region that borders Belarus, Latvia and Estonia, Pskov Gov. Mikhail Vedernikov reported Saturday. The building was damaged as the result of an explosion, Vedernikov said.


Another drone went down in the Tver region about 150 kilometres north of Moscow, local authorities said.

Russia’s Belgorod region on the border with Ukraine on Saturday came under multiple rounds of shelling, killing one person, according to its governor, Vyacheslav Gladkov. In the neighboring Kursk region, which also borders Ukraine, one person was killed by cross-border mortar fire, its Gov. Roman Starovoit said.

— The British military said Saturday that Russia’s private military force, Wagner, is withdrawing from areas around the eastern city of Bakhmut that Moscow claims to have captured earlier this month.

Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin earlier this week announced the pullout, saying Wagner would hand control over the ruined city over to the Russian military. Some were skeptical, however: Prigozhin is known for making unverifiable, headline-grabbing statements on which he later backtracks.

But the British Defence Ministry said in a series of tweets Saturday that Wagner fighters “have likely started to withdraw from some of their positions” around Bakhmut. “The Ukrainian Deputy Defence Minister also corroborated the rotation out of Wagner forces in the outskirts of the town,” the ministry said.

— Darlene Superville in Washington D.C. contributed to this story.
 

petros

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More jabber. Putin already knows that if one gamma ray gets loose from a reactor or tactical ordinance that the Rusdian air force, navy and industry will be on the receiving end of the largest coordinated air strike ever.
 

Jinentonix

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Putin tried to drag Kazakhstan back into the fold with the promise of some nuclear weapons. The president (or PM) of the country said it was a pretty funny joke and then in the most pleasantly diplomatic language I've ever heard, told Putin to go fuck himself.

Putin has lost the initiative in Ukraine and is losing control inside of Russia as well,
Well, actually he started losing control the moment he turned Russia into a kleptocratic oligarchy.

The sad thing is, Russia could be a true economic powerhouse but it seems that corruption is its default position. I mean pretty much every govt is corrupt to some extent or another but it seems that the Russians almost glorify it.
Maybe it's because if everyone is corrupt, it's easier to "remove" someone when they displease dear leader by accusing them of corruption. And since corruption is the default position of Russia's govt, the accusations are likely more credible.
 
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Ron in Regina

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Russia is on the brink of a 1917-style revolution and the “Tsar” should stand down to spare his life, an opposition leader has claimed.

“This regime is not solid. It is shaking. There are lots of cracks. Moscow is the heart of the regime and our ultimate plan is to go there,” Ilya Ponomarev, a former MP in the Russian Duma, now living in exile in Ukraine, told The Times as kamikaze drones exploded in the skies above the capital.
“The Tsar will have to go. If he goes now, he has a chance of going to the Hague and surviving,” Ponomarev said.
 

petros

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Russia is on the brink of a 1917-style revolution and the “Tsar” should stand down to spare his life, an opposition leader has claimed.

“This regime is not solid. It is shaking. There are lots of cracks. Moscow is the heart of the regime and our ultimate plan is to go there,” Ilya Ponomarev, a former MP in the Russian Duma, now living in exile in Ukraine, told The Times as kamikaze drones exploded in the skies above the capital.
“The Tsar will have to go. If he goes now, he has a chance of going to the Hague and surviving,” Ponomarev said.
It has begun....Russian politicians have been on the phone to Ukraine, EU and US seeking security deals.
 

Jinentonix

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From "Kyiv in three days" to shelling and bombing their own cities and towns. That's one helluva special military operation Bedpan has going there. The paper tiger has got a lion by the tail.
 

pgs

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From "Kyiv in three days" to shelling and bombing their own cities and towns. That's one helluva special military operation Bedpan has going there. The paper tiger has got a lion by the tail.
So who is winning ? And why haven’t they ?
 

Jinentonix

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So who is winning ?
Nobody at the moment BUT, Ukraine has more equipment and better trained men than they did when they were invaded. Russia has less equipment and more poorly trained men than when they started and they're not going to be replacing those losses in any significant way anytime soon.
And why haven’t they ?
Because based on how I'm reading things, Ukraine probably has one shot with their counteroffensive. If they suffer serious materiel losses and don't make significant enough gains to have made all that materiel investment worthwhile, then the Western materiel support may dry up.
As well, it takes time to properly plan and launch a major counteroffensive. You want to spend some time softening up the enemy's positions and supplies. Hitting targets like refineries, logistical centers, supply depots, barracks, HQs, artillery and AA, airfields etc. And if you're doing it right, you're striking in more than just the direction of your counteroffensive. You wanna keep the fuckers guessing where it's going to come from.
And all the fun shit going on in Belgorod region has the Russians shitting their pants and plays into Ukraine's hands. Will the counteroffensive strike into Crimea? Or will it strike into Russia proper through Belgorod? Or will they push back through the Backhmut-Soledar-Vulhedar region on a broader front and hope to use their armour and mechanized forces to punch through and exploit the rear of the Russians?
Plus, they may have to do some mine clearing, even of their own mines, depending on where they make their main strike.

And almost as important as having good logistics, you wanna have an attacking force sizable enough to get the job done while making sure you keep a reserve that's large enough to properly reinforce or exploit an opening if necessary. Or just in case things go south or the enemy exploits a weakness in your lines, you've left yourself enough to defend against it.

Ukraine needs to get it right, the first time.

Now, if Russia had tried pulling this shit with a NATO country the whole thing would have been over in about 12 hours. Or less if Wagner was leading the charge.
Seriously, go to YouTube and search "Wagner fights US forces". It's hilarious.
 

spaminator

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Dwarf posed as child, 'tried to poison and kill' adoptive mom: Documentary

Author of the article:Brad Hunter
Published May 14, 2023 • Last updated May 14, 2023 • 2 minute read

The bizarre tale of a dwarf masquerading as a child was a tabloid natural.

But for one adoptive family, it was a horror movie worthy of a Hollywood screenplay. A yarn that would likely be deemed too unbelievable to produce.


Now, the Barnett family has finally broken their silence in a new upcoming documentary, The Curious Case Of Natalia Grace, on Investigation Discovery.

“We were all abused,” family patriarch Michael Barnett said in the trailer. “I hate this.”



In 2010, the Barnett family of Indiana adopted a young girl from Ukraine. The family believed the girl — named Natalia — was six years old.

They soon changed their mind and accused Natalia of being an “adult masquerading as a child with intent to harm their family.”

Natalia suffers from a rare form of dwarfism called spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia congenita. But the child was violent and manipulative. Something wasn’t quite right.


“She tried to poison and kill my wife,” Michael Barnett said. “One night, I opened my eyes and Natalia is standing at the foot of the bed with a knife in her hand.”

In 2012, the Barnetts made headlines when they petitioned an Indiana court to change girl’s birth year from 2003 to 1989 — a jump from eight-years-old to 22. In the wake of the brouhaha, the family moved to Canada with their biological children.


A year later, it was discovered that Natalia was living alone in an apartment. Her adoptive parents were investigated and arrested and, in 2019, charged with neglect of a dependent.


“The media is painting me to be a child abuser, but there is no child here,” Kristine Barnett told the Daily Mail in 2019. “Natalia was a woman. She had periods. She had adult teeth.”

Kristine added: “She never grew a single inch, which would happen even with a child with dwarfism. The doctors all confirmed she was suffering a severe psychological illness only diagnosed in adults.”

But the truth finally emerged and in 2022, Michael was found not guilty, and his now ex-wife had all of her charges dismissed this past March.


In an interview with Good Morning America, Michael Barnett recalled that a psychologist said of Natalia: “This person is a sociopath. This person is a con artist. You are all in danger.”


In 2019, Natalia appeared on the Dr. Phil gabfest and denied everything.

“It’s not true. It’s not true at all. I just want people to hear my side,” she told the TV shrink, adding that things went down hill after the Barnetts claimed bone scans proved she was born in 1989.

“Everything started happening after that one moment,” Natalia said. “I actually thought I had found the right family after bouncing around from a lot of families. I thought I had found the right family for me.”

The three-part docu-series kicks off May 29 on Investigation Discovery which promos promise will feature “bombshell interviews with members of Natalia’s adoptive family” along with legal experts, friends and neighbours.

bhunter@postmedia.com

@HunterTOSun
another reason to euthanize dwarfs. ;)
 

pgs

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Nobody at the moment BUT, Ukraine has more equipment and better trained men than they did when they were invaded. Russia has less equipment and more poorly trained men than when they started and they're not going to be replacing those losses in any significant way anytime soon.

Because based on how I'm reading things, Ukraine probably has one shot with their counteroffensive. If they suffer serious materiel losses and don't make significant enough gains to have made all that materiel investment worthwhile, then the Western materiel support may dry up.
As well, it takes time to properly plan and launch a major counteroffensive. You want to spend some time softening up the enemy's positions and supplies. Hitting targets like refineries, logistical centers, supply depots, barracks, HQs, artillery and AA, airfields etc. And if you're doing it right, you're striking in more than just the direction of your counteroffensive. You wanna keep the fuckers guessing where it's going to come from.
And all the fun shit going on in Belgorod region has the Russians shitting their pants and plays into Ukraine's hands. Will the counteroffensive strike into Crimea? Or will it strike into Russia proper through Belgorod? Or will they push back through the Backhmut-Soledar-Vulhedar region on a broader front and hope to use their armour and mechanized forces to punch through and exploit the rear of the Russians?
Plus, they may have to do some mine clearing, even of their own mines, depending on where they make their main strike.

And almost as important as having good logistics, you wanna have an attacking force sizable enough to get the job done while making sure you keep a reserve that's large enough to properly reinforce or exploit an opening if necessary. Or just in case things go south or the enemy exploits a weakness in your lines, you've left yourself enough to defend against it.

Ukraine needs to get it right, the first time.

Now, if Russia had tried pulling this shit with a NATO country the whole thing would have been over in about 12 hours. Or less if Wagner was leading the charge.
Seriously, go to YouTube and search "Wagner fights US forces". It's hilarious.
What will happen when the west slows their contributions to Ukraines defence as appears to be the case lately ?
 

petros

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What will happen when the west slows their contributions to Ukraines defence as appears to be the case lately ?
They are building weapons factories in UA, Poland and stepping up production in the EU and Nordic countries. It won't be long until Putin crosses the line and NATO s officially involved which means all of the above water navy is gone and airforce gone in 24hrs of bombing.
 

Ron in Regina

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It won't be long until Putin crosses the line and NATO s officially involved which means all of the above water navy is gone and airforce gone in 24hrs of bombing.
From the outside looking in, that prediction sounds strangely like Putins prediction, as to what would happen with Ukraine.

Who are Russia’s friends at this point? China? North Korea? Iran?