First, links to reports from the Associated Press, Agence France-Press, Reuters, and Tass; others are available by clicking on their names or initials below. Next, links to two pieces of commentary by a British writer and former diplomat. Then, a link to a Washington Post report from last week, followed by comments on it by an Australian commentator. — MCM

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Russia pushes advance on Bakhmut, bolsters defenses in south, by Samya Kullab and Yuras Karmanau | AP  KYIV — Fierce battles raged outside Bakhmut as Russian forces pushed their advance on the eastern city with heavy shelling and infantry attacks, Ukraine’s presidential office said today, with at least five civilians killed and as many wounded in action across the war-torn country in the last 24 hours. The presidential office said . . . READ MORE . . .

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Moldova’s president outlines Russian ‘plan’ to topple gov’t, by Stephen McGrath and Cristian Jardan | AP  CHISINAU, Moldova — Moldova’s president today outlined what she described as a plot by Moscow to use external saboteurs to overthrow her country’s government, put the nation “at the disposal of Russia” and derail its aspirations to one day join the European Union. President Maia Sandu’s briefing comes a week . . . READ MORE . . .

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Ukraine using more munitions than NATO producing: Stoltenberg. From AFP. NATO needs “to ramp up production” of ammunition as Ukraine’s rate of usage is far outstripping current capacities and draining stockpiles, the defence alliance’s chief Jens Stoltenberg said today. “The current rate of Ukraine’s ammunition expenditure is many times higher than our current rate of production,” he said. “This . . . READ MORE . . . [A brief video of part of his remarks is HERE.]

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NATO’s Stoltenberg will not seek another extension of his term, spokesperson says. From Reuters. BERLIN — NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg will end his term as planned in October, a spokesperson for the alliance said. “The mandate of Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has been extended three times, and he has served for a total of almost nine years,” NATO spokesperson . . . READ MORE . . .

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Kremlin reveals why Kiev halted ceasefire talks in spring 2022. From Tass. MOSCOW — Ukrainian authorities stopped peace talks last spring suddenly, “on orders from above,” Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters today. “We are talking about the very document that was agreed upon as a result of very difficult negotiations and that was even ratified,” he said. “Suddenly, as if ordered from above, from the very top, the Ukrainian side left the negotiating table . . . READ MORE . . .

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Sy Hersh and the way we live now, by Craig Murray | Consortium News It is a clear indicator of the disappearance of freedom from our so-called Western democracies that Sy Hersh cannot get this monumental revelation on the front of The Washington Post or The New York Times, but has to self-publish on the net. Hersh tells the story of the U.S. destruction of the Nordstream pipelines in forensic detail, giving dates, times, method and military units involved. He also outlines . . . READ MORE . . .

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Profiteering from death, by Craig Murray | Consortium News How much of Shell’s record $40 billion profit was due to the Ukraine war and freezing Russia out of the market? If you apply the “excess deaths” methodology we became familiar with during Covid, . . . READ MORE . . .

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Pentagon looks to restart top-secret programs in Ukraine, by Wesley Morgan | The Washington Post The Pentagon is urging Congress to resume funding a pair of top-secret programs in Ukraine suspended ahead of Russia’s invasion last year, according to current and former U.S. officials. If approved, the move would allow American Special Operations troops to employ Ukrainian operatives to observe Russian . . . READ MORE . . .

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Pentagon wants to return special ops propagandists to Ukraine, by Caitlin Johnstone | caitlinjohnstone.com An article in The Washington Post titled “Pentagon looks to restart top-secret programs in Ukraine” contains some interesting information about what U.S. special ops forces were doing in Ukraine in the lead-up to the Russian invasion last year, and what they are slated to be doing there in the future. “The Pentagon . . . READ MORE . . .

For now, links to reports from the Associated Press, Agence France-Presse, and Tass; others are accessible by clicking on their names or initials below. — MCM

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Russia continues to shell Ukraine amid grinding push in east, by Susie Blann | AP  KYIV — Russian forces over the weekend continued to shell Ukrainian cities amid a grinding push to seize more land in the east of the country. One person was killed and one more was wounded this morning by the shelling of . . . READ MORE . . .

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Russia’s Wagner leader claims to have captured area near Bakhmut. From AFP. The leader of the Russian paramilitary group Wagner said today that his troops had taken an eastern Ukrainian village a few kilometres from the key city of Bakhmut which Moscow has been trying to capture for months. Experts have debated . . . READ MORE . . .

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Russian forces hit shops for assembling armored vehicles for Ukrainian army – top brass. From Tass. MOSCOW — Shops for assembling tanks and armored vehicles for the Ukrainian army at the Malyshev machine-building plant in Kharkov were hit by Russia’s high-precision weapons, Russian Defense Ministry Spokesman Igor Konashenkov said today. “A high-precision missile . . . READ MORE . . .

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Russia likely lost half its heavy tanks in Ukraine: U.S. From AFP. Half of Russia’s main battle tanks have likely been destroyed or captured by Ukraine, a senior United States defense official said Friday. Russia “has probably . . . READ MORE . . .

The commentary beginning below was made available on Feb. 7 and has been republished at several sites since. It originated at jonathan-cook.net. Scroll down or click HERE for recent items related to the war. — MCM

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Russia-Ukraine war 2.0: First tanks, then F16s…where does this end?

By Jonathan Cook

Almost as soon as major Nato countries, led by the US, promised to supply Ukraine with battle tanks, the cry went up warning that tanks alone would be unlikely to turn the war’s tide against Russia. 

The subtext – the one western leaders hope their publics will not notice – is that Ukraine is struggling to hold the line as Russia builds up its troop numbers and pounds Ukrainian defences.

A permanent partition of Ukraine into two opposed blocs – one more pro-Russian, the other more pro-Nato – is looking ever more likely.

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, has not been shy in telling the West what he expects next: fighter jets, especially US-made F16s.

Kyiv is keen to break what western media have termed a “taboo” by getting Nato aircraft directly involved in the Ukraine war. There is a good reason for that taboo: the use of such jets would let Ukraine expand the battlefield into Russian skies, and implicate Europe and the US in its offensive.

But why assume the West’s taboo on supplying combat jets is really any stronger than its former taboo on sending Nato battle tanks to Ukraine? As one European official observed in a Politico article: “Fighters are completely unconceivable today, but we might have this discussion in two, three weeks.”

And sure enough, within days, Zelensky’s office said there had been “positive signals” from Poland about supplying Ukraine with F16s. French President Emmanuel Macron also refused to rule out the possibility of contributing combat jets.

Upping the stakes

There is a logic to how Nato is operating. Step by step, it gets more deeply immersed in the war. It started with sanctions, followed by the supply of defensive arms. Nato then moved to issuing more offensive weapons, in aid so far totalling some $100bn from the US alone. Nato is now supplying the main weapons for a land war. Why should it not join the battle for air supremacy next?

Or as Nato’s head, Jens Stoltenberg, recently observed, echoing George Orwell’s dystopian novel 1984: “Weapons are the way to peace.”

But the reverse is more likely to be true. With each additional step they take, the more the parties involved risk losing if they back down. The longer they refuse to sit and talk, the greater the pressure to keep fighting.

That no longer applies just to Russia and Ukraine. Now, Europe and Washington also have plenty of skin directly in the game.

Late last month, in what sounded like a Freudian slip, . . . READ MORE . . .

First; links to reports from the Associated Press, Reuters, Tass, Agence France-Presse, and National Public Radio; others are accessible by clicking on their names or initials below. See also Cook, 2-11-23. — MCM

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Wagner owner says war in Ukraine could drag on for years, by Susie Blann | AP  KYIV — The owner of the Russian Wagner Group private military contractor actively involved in the fighting in Ukraine has predicted that the war could drag on for years. Yevgeny Prigozhin said in a video interview released late Friday that it could take 18 months to two years for Russia to fully secure control of Ukraine’s eastern . . . READ MORE . . .

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Russia hits Ukraine power grid and gains ground in east; Biden to visit Poland, by Olena Harmash | Reuters  * Bombardments leave Ukrainians in blackout * Ukraine says new Russian ground offensive has begun * Russian advances reported in Bakhmut and Vuhledar | KYIV — Russian missiles hit power facilities on Friday across Ukraine, where President Volodymyr Zelenskiy returned from a tour of Western capitals and Ukrainian officials said a long-awaited Russian offensive was underway in the east. Ukraine’s armed forces said . . . READ MORE . . .

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Strike by Russian troops affects Ukrainian defense companies, top brass says. From Tass. MOSCOW — The Russian Armed Forces on Friday delivered a massive strike on critical facilities generating power for Ukraine’s defense sector and transportation networks, Russian Defense Ministry Spokesman Lieutenant-General Igor Konashenkov said today. Also, foreign weapons and ammunition supplies as well as the deployment of reserves by railway to the combat zones . . . READ MORE . . .

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Biden to mark Ukraine invasion anniversary with Poland trip. From AFP.  WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden will mark the anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine with a visit to Nato ally Poland, the White House said on Friday. He will travel on Feb 20 to 22, meeting with Polish President Andrzej Duda and also members of the Bucharest Nine, a group of members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation in Eastern Europe, said . . . READ MORE . . . 

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Ukraine alleges that Putin was involved in 2014 Malaysia passenger jet downing. Reported by Tim Mak | NPR  Investigators into the 2014 downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 over eastern Ukraine alleged this week that Russian President Vladimir Putin [ was he president in 2014? ] was directly involved. The incident led to 298 civilian deaths from 16 countries. Click HERE to listen and read.

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First, links to reports from National Public Radio, the Associated Press, Agence France-Presse, Reuters, Tass, and Agenzia Nazionale Stampa Associata; for others, click on their initials below. Then, a link to an Australian political analyst’s commentary on Seymour Hersh’s comprehensive and widely disseminated report on the Nordstrom pipeline explosions last fall. — MCM

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Russia is draining a massive Ukrainian reservoir, endangering a nuclear plant. Reported by Geoff Brumfiel, Connie Hanzhang Jin, Jacob Fenton, Meredith Rizzo and Julian Hayda | NPR  Russia appears to be draining an enormous reservoir in Ukraine, imperiling drinking water, agricultural production and safety at Europe’s largest nuclear plant, according to satellite data obtained by NPR. Since early last November, water has been gushing out of the Kakhovka Reservoir, in . . . Click HERE to listen and read.

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Russia hits targets across Ukraine with missiles, drones, by Susie Blann | AP  KYIV — Russia unleashed strategic bombers, killer drones and rockets in a barrage of attacks across Ukraine early today, as a military push by Moscow that Kyiv says has been brewing for days appeared to pick up pace. The Kremlin’s forces focused their bombardments on Ukraine’s industrial east. But the barrage went further, also taking aim at the capital, Kyiv, and Lviv, and also struck critical infrastructure in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city. Seven people . . . READ MORE . . .

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Ukraine says 61 of 71 Russian missiles destroyed. From AFP. The Ukrainian air force said today its defence systems shot down 61 out of 71 Russian missiles launched in a fresh wave of attacks. “The enemy launched a massive . . . READ MORE . . .

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Russia to cut oil output by 500,000 bpd in March, by Vladimir Soldatkin and and Olesya Astakhova | Reuters  * Russia to cut oil output by around 5% in March * Brent up 2.5% after news * Russia held no consultations on cuts – Novak * West has introduced price caps on Russian oil over Ukraine * Russia ran budget deficit of $25 billion in January | MOSCOW — Russia will cut oil production by 500,000 barrels per day, or around 5% of output, in March, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said today, after the West slapped price caps on Russian oil and oil products. The G7, the European Union and Australia agreed to ban the use of . . . READ MORE . . .

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Russian forces thwart Ukrainian saboteurs’ attempt to land on left bank of Dnieper. From Tass. MOSCOW — Russian forces thwarted an attempt by a Ukrainian subversive group to land on the left bank of the Dnieper River in the Kherson Region, Russia’s Defense Ministry said today. “Reconnaissance squads using . . . READ MORE . . .

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Kyiv says two Russian missiles crossed Romania on way to Ukraine. From ANSA / AFP. KYIV — Ukraine’s army chief said today two Russian missiles crossed the airspaces of Moldova and NATO-member Romania on their way to Ukraine. “At 10:18 am (0818 GMT), two Russian Kalibr cruise missiles crossed . . . READ MORE . . .

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Romania denies Russian missiles crossed country. From AFP. NATO member Romania today denied Russian missiles crossed its airspace on their way to Ukraine after Kyiv said . . . READ MORE . . .

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My sources corroborate Sy Hersh’s Nord Stream report, by Caitlin Johnstone | caitlinjohnstone.com  My sources corroborate Seymour Hersh’s report that the U.S. was behind the Nord Stream pipeline sabotage. (My sources are logic, common sense, and public statements by U.S. government officials.) If Putin and senior Russian officials had said . . . READ MORE . . .

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Beginning below, a long investigative report that may answer questions posed by an incident of sabotage in the Baltic Sea last fall. Thanks to GlobalResearch for passing along the link. — MCM

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How America took out NS1 and NS2

By Seymour Hersh

The U.S. Navy’s Diving and Salvage Center can be found in a location as obscure as its name—down what was once a country lane in rural Panama City, a now-booming resort city in the southwestern panhandle of Florida, 70 miles south of the Alabama border. The center’s complex is as nondescript as its location—a drab concrete post-World War II structure that has the look of a vocational high school on the west side of Chicago. A coin-operated laundromat and a dance school are across what is now a four-lane road.

The center has been training highly skilled deep-water divers for decades who, once assigned to American military units worldwide, are capable of technical diving to do the good—using C4 explosives to clear harbors and beaches of debris and unexploded ordinance—as well as the bad, like blowing up foreign oil rigs, fouling intake valves for undersea power plants, destroying locks on crucial shipping canals. The Panama City center, which boasts the second largest indoor pool in America, was the perfect place to recruit the best, and most taciturn, graduates of the diving school who successfully did last summer what they had been authorized to do 260 feet under the surface of the Baltic Sea.

Last June, the Navy divers, operating under the cover of a widely publicized mid-summer NATO exercise known as BALTOPS 22, planted the remotely triggered explosives that, three months later, destroyed three of the four Nord Stream pipelines, according to a source with direct knowledge of the operational planning.

Two of the pipelines, which were known collectively as Nord Stream 1, had been providing Germany and much of Western Europe with cheap Russian natural gas for more than a decade. A second pair of pipelines, called Nord Stream 2, had been built but were not yet operational. Now, with Russian troops massing on the Ukrainian border and the bloodiest war in Europe since 1945 looming, President Joseph Biden saw the pipelines as a vehicle for Vladimir Putin to weaponize natural gas for his political and territorial ambitions.

Asked for comment, Adrienne Watson, a White House spokesperson, said in an email, “This is false and complete fiction.” Tammy Thorp, a spokesperson for the Central Intelligence Agency, similarly wrote: “This claim is completely and utterly false.”

Biden’s decision to sabotage the pipelines came after more than nine months of highly secret back and forth debate inside Washington’s national security community about how to best achieve that goal. For much of that time, the issue was not whether to do the mission, but how to get it done with no overt clue as to who was responsible.

There was a vital bureaucratic reason for relying on the graduates of the center’s hardcore diving school in Panama City. The divers were Navy only, and not members of America’s Special Operations Command, whose covert operations must be reported to Congress and briefed in advance to the Senate and House leadership—the so-called Gang of Eight. The Biden Administration was doing everything possible to avoid leaks as the planning took place late in 2021 and into the first months of 2022.

President Biden and his foreign policy team—National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, Secretary of State Tony Blinken, and Victoria Nuland, the Undersecretary of State for Policy—had been vocal and consistent in their hostility to the two pipelines, which ran side by side for 750 miles under the Baltic Sea from two different ports in northeastern Russia near the Estonian border, passing close to the Danish island of Bornholm before ending in northern Germany.

The direct route, which bypassed any need to transit Ukraine, had been a boon for the German economy, which enjoyed an abundance of cheap Russian natural gas—enough to run its factories and heat its homes while enabling German distributors to sell excess gas, at a profit, throughout Western Europe. Action that could be traced to the administration would violate US promises to minimize direct conflict with Russia. Secrecy was essential.

From its earliest days, Nord Stream 1 was seen by Washington and its anti-Russian NATO partners as a threat to western dominance. The holding company behind it, Nord Stream AG, was incorporated in Switzerland in 2005 in partnership with Gazprom, a publicly traded Russian company producing enormous profits for shareholders which is dominated by oligarchs known to be in the thrall of Putin. Gazprom controlled 51 percent of the company, with four European energy firms—one in France, one in the Netherlands and two in Germany—sharing the remaining 49 percent of stock, and having the right to control downstream sales of the inexpensive natural gas to local distributors in Germany and Western Europe. Gazprom’s profits were shared with the Russian government, and state gas and oil revenues were estimated in some years to amount to as much as 45 percent of Russia’s annual budget.

America’s political fears were real: Putin would now have . . . READ MORE . . .

First, links to reports from the Associated Press, Agence France-Presse, Tass, the Moscow Times, Reuters, and National Public Radio; others are accessible by clicking on their names or initials below. — MCM

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Zelenskyy, in Brussels, urges EU to grant Ukraine membership, by Raf Casert and Samuel Petreqin | AP  BRUSSELS (AP) — President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said today that “a Ukraine that is winning” should become a European Union member, arguing the bloc wouldn’t be whole without his country being an integral part of the EU. His Brussels visit came as Russia intensified its attacks in eastern Ukraine amid signs . . . READ MORE . . .

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Zelensky thanks EU leaders for ‘unwavering support.’ From AFP. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky today thanked EU leaders at a summit in Brussels for their backing for Kyiv in its nearly year-long fight against Russia’s invasion. “I have to thank you personally for  . . . READ MORE . . .

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Ukraine’s ‘tribunal’ initiative is part of anti-Russian propaganda – Diplomat. From Tass. MOSCOW — The European Parliament’s decision to set up a “tribunal” on Ukraine is part of a big political game and anti-Russian propaganda, Russian Permanent Representative to the Vienna-based international organizations Mikhail Ulyanov said in an interview with the Rossiya-24 TV channel. “The European Parliament . . . READ MORE . . .

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Wagner boss says ended prisoner recruitment for Ukraine fight. From The Moscow Times. Russia’s Wagner mercenary group has halted its recruitment of prisoners to join the fight in Ukraine, the head of the notorious paramilitary outfit said today. Yevgeny Prigozhin’s claims follow . . . READ MORE . . .

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How a band of Ukraine civilians helped seal Russia’s biggest defeat, by Jonathan Landay and Tom Balmforth | Reuters KHERSON, Ukraine, Feb 9 (Reuters) – Ukrainian intelligence wanted confirmation last autumn that officers of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) overseeing the occupation of Kherson were staying in a small hotel on a back street of the southern port city. The task was assigned to . . . READ MORE . . .

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In 2022, Ukraine was a rallying cry in the State of the Union. In 2023, not so much. Reported by Franco Ordoñez | NPR  In his State of the Union speech a year ago, President Biden launched almost immediately into a scathing. Click HERE to listen and read.

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Why Zelenskyy visited the UK nearly 1 year into Russia’s war on Ukraine. Reported by Willem Marx | NPR  LONDON — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and delivered a speech to the British Parliament, thanking the UK for its support and weaponry, then promptly requested even more — especially fighter jets. He also met with King Charles III. The trip . . . Click HERE to listen and read.

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As Ukraine uses up ammunition quickly, allies scramble to restock warehouses. Reported by Frank Langfitt | NPR  As the war in Ukraine approaches the end of its first year, NATO allies face a challenge to keep the Ukrainian army supplied with weapons and ammunition — as their own stocks dwindle. Click HERE to listen and, later, read.

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First, links to reports from Reuters, the New York Post, Tass, and the Associated Press; others are accessible by clicking on their names or initials below. Then, a link to geopolitical analysis from Covert Action Magazine by an Irish writer. NOTE: Clicking on the first and second items in yesterday’s war summary, HERE, yields reports other than the ones originally posted, possibly an indication of tampering by another party. — MCM

Zelenskiy, in London, wins pledge to train pilots on NATO jets, by Pavel Polityuk and Muvija M | Reuters  * Zelenskiy to address British parliament, visit troops * Second trip abroad for Ukrainian leader since invasion * Britain promises to train Ukrainian pilots on NATO jets | KYIV/LONDON — President Volodymyr Zelenskiy visited Britain on Wednesday to drum up aid, winning a pledge to train Ukrainian pilots on advanced NATO fighter jets, a big symbolic step up in Western military support. An EU diplomat said Zelenskiy would travel on to Brussels on Thursday, where the . . . READ MORE . . .

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Russian forces strike over 80 Ukrainian artillery units in past day, top brass reports. From Tass.  MOSCOW — Russian forces struck 86 Ukrainian artillery units at firing positions eliminating more than 50 enemy troops in the past day during the special military operation in Ukraine, Defense Ministry Spokesman Lieutenant-General Igor Konashenkov said today. “Missile troops and artillery . . . READ MORE . . .

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Russia asks Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters to speak on Ukraine arms at UN. From Reuters. UNITED NATIONS — Russia has asked Pink Floyd co-founder Roger Waters to speak to the UN Security Council today at a meeting that Moscow requested to discuss the delivery of weapons to Ukraine. Russian diplomacy used to be serious. “What next? Mr. Bean?” said . . . READ MORE . . .

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Ukraine — The inevitable war, by Chay Bowes | CovertAction Magazine During a recent interview with German magazine Der Spiegel, former Chancellor and European political heavyweight Angela Merkel revealed that the Minsk accords, a comprehensive 2015 diplomatic treaty, agreed by the EU, United States, Russia, and Kyiv to end the civil war in eastern Ukraine, was essentially subverted by the Ukrainians in an attempt to buy time to expand its military capabilities.The fact that . . . READ MORE . . .

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Explanation separates us from astonishment. — Eugène Ionesco (1909 – 1994)

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The world fears a new experience more than it fears anything. Because a new experience displaces so many old experiences. — D.H. Lawrence (1885 – 1930)

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The importance of experience

By Richard Rohr | CAC

The two wheels of Scripture and Tradition can be seen as sources of outer authority, while our personal experience leads to our inner authority. I am convinced we need and can have both. Only when inner and outer authority come together do we have true spiritual wisdom. Christianity in most of its history has largely relied upon outer authority. But we must now be honest about the value of inner experience, which of course was at work all the time but was not given credence.

Information from outer authority is not necessarily transformation, and we need genuinely transformed people today, not just people with answers. I do not want my words to separate anyone from their own astonishment or to provide them with a substitute for their own inner experience. Theology (and authority figures) have done that for too many. Rather, I hope my words—written or spoken—simply invite readers on their own inner journey rather than become a replacement for it.

I am increasingly convinced that the word “prayer,” which has become a functional and pious thing for believers to do, was meant to be a descriptor and an invitation to inner experience. When spiritual teachers invite us . . . READ MORE . . .

First, links to reports from Reuters, the Associated Press, Tass, Agence France-Presse, and National Public Radio; others are accesssible by clicking on their names or initials below. See also a one-year perspective on the war from Consortium News, linked HERE or just below this entry. — MCM

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Ukraine says Russia endures deadliest day as fighting intensifies in east, by Olena Harmash | Reuters KYIV — Ukraine said today the last 24 hours were the deadliest of the war so far for Russian troops, as Moscow pressed on with an intensifying winter assault in the east bringing tens of thousands of freshly mobilised troops to the battlefield. The Ukrainian claim could not be independently verified. Tallies of enemy casualties from either side have typically been seen as . . . READ MORE . . .

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Russian shells spark hospital fire before expected assault, by Susie Blann | AP  KYIV — Russian shelling hit more civilian targets in Ukraine, starting a fire at a town’s hospital and damaging five apartment buildings, local officials said today, as Ukrainian authorities reported a Moscow troop buildup in eastern areas before what Kyiv suspected was . . . READ MORE . . .

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Shoigu talks about success near Artyomovsk, escalation risk over NATO moves. From Tass. MOSCOW — The deliveries of Western offensive armaments to the Kiev regime are drawing NATO countries into the conflict in Ukraine and can eventually lead to “an unpredictable escalation,” Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said today. Meanwhile, Russian forces “continue grinding down” the West-supplied weapons both at the front line and along . . . READ MORE . . .

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Russia advancing ‘with success’ in east Ukraine: Minister. From AFP. “Military operations are at the moment progressing with success in the areas around Vugledar and Artemovsk,” Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said today using the previous name for Bakhmut. He listed seven settlements that Russia has recently “liberated,” including . . . READ MORE . . .

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Ukrainian soldiers benefit from U.S. prosthetics expertise but their war is different. Reported by Quil Lawrence | NPR  Since Russia invaded a year ago, it’s believed that thousands of Ukrainians have lost limbs in the war, though the government in Kiev hasn’t publicly confirmed the number killed or wounded. Click HERE to listen, read and see photos by NPR’s Eric Lee.

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