First, links to reports from the Associated Press, teleSUR, Reuters, and Tass; others are accessible by clicking on their names or initials below. Then, via Popular Resistance, links to two articles on Ukraine’s Azov Battalion and news media treatment of it. — MCM

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Crimea bridge blast damages key Russian supply route; 3 dead, by Adam Schreck and Vasila Stepanenko | AP  KHARKIV — An  explosion caused the partial collapse of a bridge linking the Crimean Peninsula with Russia today, damaging a key supply artery for the Kremlin’s faltering war effort in southern Ukraine. Russian authorities said a truck bomb caused the blast and that three people were killed. . . . Moscow didn’t apportion blame. . . . Kyiv stopped short of claiming responsibility. The bombing . . . READ MORE . . .

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Russia opens criminal iInvestigation of Crimea bridge explosion. From teleSUR. The Russian government today opened a criminal investigation into the explosion of a cargo truck that caused a fire and the collapse of two sections of the bridge road linking the Crimean peninsula with the rest of Russian territory. In the Kremlin it was noted that an Investigative Committee is establishing all the circumstances of the incident and the persons involved . . . READ MORE . . .

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Russia names air force general to lead its forces in Ukraine. From Reuters. * This content was produced in Russia, where the law restricts coverage of Russian military operations in Ukraine. | MOSCOW — Russia’s Defence Ministry today named Air Force General Sergei Surovikin as the overall commander of Russian forces fighting in Ukraine, Moscow’s third senior military appointment in the space of a week. The change follows the reported sacking earlier this week of the commanders of two of Russia’s five military regions, as . . . READ MORE . . .

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Russia is firm about its measures in regard to Donbass, Zaporozhye and Kherson Regions. From Tass. MOSCOW — Russia is firm about its righteousness and feasibility of steps taken in regard to the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR respectively) as well the Zaporozhye and Kherson Regions, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said today. “We are absolutely sure in the rightful cause and the steps that we take,” Lavrov said. . . . “Our evaluations and arguments, which we will continue sharing with international partners, are quite obvious and many of our partners share them. . . . People residing in the Zaporozhye and Kherson Regions were deprived of any prospects for their self-identification within Ukraine as a result of the Kiev’s launched military . . .READ MORE . . .

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‘Now, all of you are Azov’: ‘Openly Neo-Nazi’ Ukrainian Delegation Meets Congress, Tours U.S.,* by Moss Robeson | The Grayzone / Educate!  This September, a delegation of the Ukrainian neo-Nazi-led Azov movement arrived in the United States, at a time when myth making about the far-right network’s “depoliticization” had reached a fever pitch. By this time, the New York Times had ceased referring to Azov as “openly neo-Nazi,” and was . . . READ MORE . . .

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Media hide fascist ideology of Ukrainian militia who visit Congress, by Moon of Alabama | Educate!  “Western” media continue to denazify Ukraine by pretending that the Nazi formations in that country, which they had long decried, are now a harmless collection of celebrities. One could follow those changes along various pieces in the New York Times: Mar 15 2019: “On his flak jacket was a symbol commonly used by the Azov Battalion, a Ukrainian neo-Nazi paramilitary organization.” Feb 11 2020: . . . READ MORE . . .

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MAY BE CONTINUED

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* This article was originally published by Moss Robeson’s Ukes, Kooks and Spooks blog and lightly edited by The Grayzone. Read part one of Robeson’s series on Azov’s U.S. tour here.

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

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The differences between what Russia and Ukraine say is happening on the  ground. Reported  by Tom Bowman and Jason Beaubien | NPR Russia says it is claiming parts of Ukraine, but facts on the ground say otherwise. Ukrainian troops continue a counteroffensive in the country’s south and east that is upending the Kremlin’s plans. Click HERE to listen and read.

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Ukraine city takes more hits as apartment attack deaths rise, by Adam Schreck | AP  KYIV — The death toll from a missile attack on apartment buildings in a southern Ukrainian city rose to 11 as more Russian missiles and — for the first time — explosive packed drones targeted Ukrainian-held Zaporizhzhia today. As the war sparked by Russia’s February invasion of its neighbor ground on, the Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded the Nobel Peace Prize . . . READ MORE . . .

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France creates 100-mn-euro fund for Ukraine to buy arms. From AFP. France has created a fund, initially worth 100 million euros ($98 million), for Ukraine to directly buy weapons and other materiel it needs in its war against invading Russia, President Emmanuel Macron said today. “We are setting up this . . . READ MORE . . .

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Erdogan and Putin discuss improving ties, ending Ukraine war. From Reuters. ISTANBUL — Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan spoke by phone with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin about improving bilateral ties and he repeated Ankara’s willingness to do its part to peacefully resolve the war in Ukraine, Erdogan’s office said today. . . . Ankara’s relations with Russia are complex, with . . . READ MORE . . .

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Russia’s response to EU price cap, reorientation of oil exports. From teleSUR. A European Union package of sanctions adopted this week is aimed at “strengthening pressure on the Russian government and economy, and weakening Russia’s military capabilities,” and Russia “will respond by redirecting oil exports to countries that are ready to cooperate with us under normal conditions,” a Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said Thursday. READ MORE . . .

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Brain-dead NATO’ has gone too far, Lavrov says. From Tass. YUZHNO-SAKHALINSK, Russia — NATO, whom French President Emmanuel Macron at one time called ‘brain dead’, has gone too far, judging from the US-led Western bloc’s recent policies on Ukraine, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said today. . . . “Macron at one time diagnosed the North Atlantic alliance as being `brain dead’, he commented. “Judging from how the bloc has been grooming Kiev’s neo-Nazi regime, the disease has deteriorated far too much already. . . . As you know . . . READ MORE . . .

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Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian rights defenders awarded Nobel Peace Prize. From the Moscow Times. The Norwegian Nobel Committee today awarded the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize to Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian human rights champions. Russia’s Memorial group, Ukraine’s Center for Civil Liberties and jailed Belarusian rights activist Ales Bialiatski share this year’s prestigious award. “They . . . READ MORE . . .

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MAY BE CONTINUED

First, links to reports from the Associated Press, National Public Radio, Reuters, Agence France-Presse, Tass, and the Moscow Times; others are accessible by clicking on their names or initials. Then, via Consortium News, a link to a report from Declassified UK. — MCM  

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Russia’s military woes mount amid Ukraine attacks. From AP. Even as the Kremlin moved to absorb parts of Ukraine in a sharp escalation of the conflict, the Russian military suffered new defeats that highlighted its deep problems on the battlefield and opened rifts at the top of the Russian government. The setbacks have badly dented the image . . . READ MORE . . .

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Ukrainian troops keep up their counteroffensives in the country’s south and east. Reported by Leila Fadel and Kat Lonsdorf | NPR  As Russia completed its controversial annexation of four occupied regions of Ukraine, the Ukrainian army is taking back some of that territory village by village. Click HERE to listen and, tomorrow, read.

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Nord Stream investigation finds evidence of detonations, Swedish police say, by Essi Lehto and Anna Ringstrom | Reuters * Swedish Security Service says ‘gross sabotage’ indicated * Investigation shows detonations at Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines * Russia says not asked to participate in investigation | HELSINKI/STOCKHOLM — A crime scene investigation of the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines from Russia to Europe has strengthened suspicions of “gross sabotage” involving detonations, Sweden’s Security Service said on Thursday. . . . Europe, which is a facing an energy crisis in the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, is . . . READ MORE . . .

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European Union adopts eighth package of sanctions against Russia, including oil price cap. From Tass. BRUSSELS — The European Union has adopted the eighth package of economic and individual sanctions against Moscow over the accession of four constituent entities to the Russian Federation, including the price cap on Russian oil and import bans worth 7 bln euro, the EU Council said in a statement today. “The agreed package includes . . . READ MORE . . .

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Zelensky Says Ukraine Must Win To Protect Europe. From AFP. Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky said today that his country must fend off Moscow’s invasion “so that Russian tanks do not advance on Warsaw or again on Prague”. Addressing a meeting in Prague of European heads of state convened by French President Emmanuel Macron, Zelensky also . . . READ MORE . . .

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Kremlin-Installed Official in Ukraine Slams Russian Military Leaders Over Mounting Losses. From the Moscow Times. A senior Kremlin-installed official in Ukraine’s partially occupied Kherson region lashed out at Russian military officials today, a rare example of full-throated criticism from an official as Moscow faces mounting military losses to Kyiv. “Many are saying . . . READ MORE . . .

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British intelligence predicted Ukraine war 30 years ago, by Phil Miller | Declassified UK / Consortium News When British intelligence warned that Russian President Vladimir Putin was about to attack Ukraine earlier this year, the spooks’ foresight won many plaudits. Yet their prediction mirrored a scenario Whitehall had long known might unfold. In May 1992, just six months after the Soviet Union broke up, Britain’s then Prime Minister John Major . . . READ MORE . . .

Readers of this blog who have never heard of Katie Halper or even of The Hill, where she worked, should nonetheless find the piece that begins below worthwhile. It includes a video of the career-altering segment Halper put together and an interview between her and its author. Click on TK NEWS below for more about that Substack newsletter. — MCM

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Meet the Censored: Katie Halper

By Matt Taibbi | TK News

The longtime co-host of Useful Idiots, Katie Halper, made headlines last week, and not for any reasons she would have asked for. Katie was fired from a part-time hosting arrangement at The Hill’s Rising, whose editor told her an editorial critical of Israeli policies in Palestine was “not in our sweet spot of coverage.”

Rising grew a significant audience as an independent media vehicle between 2019 and 2021, when it was hosted by the left-right team of Krystal Ball and Saagar Enjeti. It has since undergone changes, piloted for a time by Intercept reporter Ryan Grim and Emily Jashinsky of The Federalist, and ultimately moving to a new incarnation featuring Briahna Joy Gray and Robby Soave. Part of the hosting job involves monologues called “radars.” Katie, who had a fill-in arrangement at the outlet for years, was let go over just such a radar. You can see it [in this video].

The controversy began when Michigan Democrat Rashida Tliab spoke at an online seminar on September 20th and said, “It has become clear that you cannot claim to hold progressive values, yet back Israel’s apartheid government.” Tliab gave her talk in the wake of the shooting of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, who was killed in the West Bank City of Jenin in May. Abu Akleh’s family met with Secretary of State Anthony Blinken in July, and asked the International Criminal Court to open a case two weeks ago, simultaneous to Tlaib’s seminar.

Tliab’s comments inspired an immediate reaction from the Anti-Defamation League, which deemed them anti-Semitic. CEO Jonathan Greenblatt ripped Tliab for ostensibly telling “American Jews they must pass an anti-Zionist litmus test to participate in progressive spaces.” The ADL reaction got wide play on stations like CNN.

Katie’s “Radar” argues Tliab’s comments laid bare what has long been a source of tension among self-described progressives, who often tiptoe around the subject of occupied Palestine. As you’ll see [in the video], she approached her subject with great care, leaning on statements from groups like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. Agree with her or not, her editorial certainly wasn’t fake news, or flippant, or gratuitous. It’s what the media business normally wants: a decisive, well-argued opinion.

However, the Hill thought otherwise, and what makes the situation unusual is a media company saying the proverbial quiet part out loud. When editors refused to run the “Radar,” Katie asked flat-out if the problem was the subject of Israel. Though there was some hemming and hawing (at one point she was told the problem was that the show’s focus was on domestic and not foreign policy, despite running content about Brazilian elections, Italy’s new prime minister, and multiple Ukraine pieces that week), eventually they just told her that was, in fact, the case. The next day, she was let go via a curt email ending, “We wish you all the best.”

Gary Weitman, the chief communications officer for Nexstar Media Group, which owns the Hill, declined to respond to queries from Grim, for a story in The Intercept. My own queries have so far not elicited a response.

Israel’s Palestine policies, which Human Rights Watch and others have long described as apartheid, obviously arouse very strong feelings. Still, a lot of media figures avoid the topic, as it can be a career-defining or at minimum a career-complicating decision to go there. The fact that Palestinian journalists and Palestinian news sites are often canaries in the content moderation coal mine, deleted or suppressed in creative ways by platforms like Facebook and Google, has added another layer of trepidation for editorialists. Episodes like this don’t help:

Matt Taibbi: What happened?

Katie Halper: I’ve been appearing [on Rising] for three years as a weekly guest. There are some weeks I took off when things were in disarray, but then the new iteration of the show came, and they asked me if I wanted to appear. So I started doing a weekly segment once again with them.

When you’re a host, you do these things called “Radars,” which are monologues. I came up with three ideas of radars I wanted to do. One was on Ukraine, one was on immigration, and one was on Israel. It’s funny, because had I done the other ones first, I’d still be working at the Hill. At least, until I did the Israel one.

Anyway, I did my Israel radar. I put a lot of work into it because I thought it was really important. You have to be thorough, because you get attacked, and . . . READ MORE . . .

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

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Putin signs annexation of Ukrainian regions as losses mount, by Adam Schreck | AP  KYIV — Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the final papers today to annex four regions of Ukraine while his military struggled to control the new territory that was added in violation of international laws. . . . In a defiant move, the Kremlin held the door open for further land grabs in Ukraine. Speaking in a conference . . . READ MORE . . .

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Kremlin says annexation and retreat are not a contradiction amid Ukrainian successes, by Guy Faulconbridge and Felix Light | Reuters  * Putin signs annexation documents * Russian forces battle counter-offensive * Putin appoints officials to run regions * Kremlin: the territories will be returned | LONDON — As President Vladimir Putin completed paperwork for the annexation of four regions of Ukraine today, the Kremlin said there was no contradiction between Russian retreats and Putin’s vow that they would always be part of Russia. . . . The conclusion of the legalities of the annexation of up to 18% of Ukrainian territory came as Russian forces battled to halt Ukrainian counter-offensives . . . READ MORE . . .

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Russia claims front ‘stabilized’ as Ukraine pushes on with counteroffensive, by Leyla Latypova | The Moscow Times  Russian officials sought today  to allay concerns that Ukraine could achieve a major breakthrough in its ongoing counteroffensive amid reports that Kyiv’s forces were advancing in both the south and east of the country. Russian pro-war blogger Semyon Pegov confirmed today that Ukraine had recaptured a number of locations in the southern Kherson region . . . . At the same time, Kyiv’s forces appeared to be moving forward in the eastern Luhansk region . . . READ MORE . . .

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Russia has great respect for everything Ukrainian, including language, culture — Putin. From Tass. MOSCOW — Russia has always had tremendous respect for the Ukrainian people, culture and language, Russian President Vladimir Putin said today. . . . “Despite the current tragedy we have always had great respect for the Ukrainian people, Ukrainian culture, Ukrainian language and literature, and so on. And we have never permitted anything that is allowed in Ukraine in relation to Russian culture and the Russian language,” Putin said. He stressed . . . READ MORE . . .

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Russia says ready to supply gas via undamaged pipeline. From AFP. MOSC OW — Moscow said today it was ready to quickly supply gas to Europe through an undamaged section of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline between Russia and Germany, after recent leaks heightened geopolitical tensions. “If the necessary legal decisions are made by European colleagues regarding [Nord Stream 2’s] certification . . .  I think Russia in a short period of time could . . . READ MORE . . .

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Kremlin on Ukraine’s decree banning negotiations with Putin. From teleSUR. In the face of Ukraine’s decree “to recognize the impossibility of holding negotiations with the president of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin,” Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov said Tuesday that Russia will await a new position by Ukraine or its new leader to resume peace talks. “It takes two sides to negotiate,” Peskov said, calling Russia an “advocate of the idea of achieving the terms proposed by the Russian side by diplomatic means” even before the country’s special military . . . READ MORE . . .

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In other news . . .

SpaceX spaceship blasts off to ISS carrying 4 including cosmonaut. AFP / india.com SpaceX spaceship Dragon carrying four astronauts blasted off today. Aboard were NASA astronauts Josh Cassada and Nicole Mann, Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata, and Russian cosmonaut Anna Kikina. While on the orbiting laboratory, they will conduct over 200 science experiments and technology demonstrations in areas such as human health and lunar fuel systems. Click HERE and HERE for a photo and a video.

First, links to reports from the Associated Press, Reuters, Agence France-Presse, and National Public Radio; others are accessible by clicking on their names or initials below. Then, links to two pieces of commentary, the first from Behind the Curtin, the second from the Washington Post; the latter, like the five news reports that begin today’s entry, is full of examples of what the former talks about. — MCM

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Russian losses evident in key liberated Ukrainian city, by Adam Schreck and Vasilisa Stepanenko | AP  LYMAN, Ukraine — The bodies of Russian soldiers were lying in the streets of a key eastern Ukrainian city today, evidence of a hasty retreat that marked a new military defeat for Moscow as it struggles to hang on to areas it illegally annexed last week. Russia’s upper house of parliament rubber-stamped the annexation . . . READ MORE . . .

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Russia forges ahead with annexation plan despite military retreats, by Jonathan Landay and Tom Balmforth | Reuters * Putin expected to sign annexation plan * Zelenskiy rules out peace talks with Putin * Ukraine retakes land in southern thrust * Is pressuring Russia in the east too | KRAMATORSK/KYIV — Russian President Vladimir Putin may finalise his plan to annex four Ukrainian regions later on Tuesday, even as his forces are being pushed back by Ukraine on two separate battlefield fronts shrinking the amount of seized territory he controls. Russia, which has escalated its seven-month war with its annexation drive, a mobilisation and warnings of nuclear weapons use . . . READ MORE . . .

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Over 200,000 people mobilised to Russian army in two weeks: Defence minister. From AFP. MOSCOW: More than 200,000 people have been conscripted into the Russian army since President Vladimir Putin announced a mobilization drive on September 21, Moscow’s Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said today. . . . The Kremlin has called the mobilization “partial” and said it aims to recruit 300,000 men. Shoigu said those mobilized are being trained at “80 training grounds and six training centers.” READ MORE . . .

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Putin raises the specter of using nuclear weapons in his war with Ukraine. Reported by A Martínez and Greg Myre | NPR  As Russian President Vladimir Putin threatens to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine, U.S. officials are assessing the threat level and planning how the U.S. could respond. Click HERE to listen and, tomorrow, read.

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Russia is losing the edge in Ukraine, but Putin still seems ready to double down. Reported by Mary Louise Kelly, Michael Levitt and Sarah Handel | NPR  Mary Louise Kelly speaks with Michael McFaul, a former U.S. Ambassador to Russia, about Putin’s mindset as the war in Ukraine shifts out of Russia’s favor. Click HERE to listen and read.

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Only adult children still believe U.S. propaganda, by Edward Curtin | Behind the Curtain It should now be quite clear to any reasonable person that the Biden administration is hell-bent on destroying Russia and will risk nuclear war in doing so. It has already started World War III with its use of Ukraine to light the final match. The problem is that reasonable people are in very short supply, and, as Ray McGovern recently wrote in “Brainwashed for War with Russia,” the Biden administration and their media lackeys “will have no trouble rallying Americans for the widest war in 77 years, starting in Ukraine . . . READ MORE . . .

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Negotiated peace with Putin is safest way out, by David Von Drehle | The Washington Post I can’t fault anyone who objects to the idea of a negotiated settlement of the Ukraine war. Russia started with an unprovoked invasion and moved quickly to war crimes. So why . . . READ MORE . . .

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TO BE CONTINUED

Beginning below is a look at Russian president Vladimir Putin’s public speeches since last December, which the essay’s author says suggest a forward-looking “new perspective” on Putin’s part and potentially on the part of other nations’ leaders. Consortium News published it today. — MCM

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The Strong, and the Merely Powerful

By Patrick Lawrence

Vladimir Putin’s speech from the Kremlin last Friday, delivered to the nation and the world as four regions of Ukraine were reintegrated into Russia, was another stunner, in line with numerous others he’s made this year, demonstrating a fundamental turn in the Russian president’s thinking over the past eight months.

The implications of this new perspective warrant careful consideration. Putin has taken to looking forward and seeing something new, and in this he is hardly alone.

“The world has entered a period of a fundamental, revolutionary transformation,” Putin said while standing beside the leaders of the Luhansk and Donetsk republics and the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions. Phrases such as this bear the weight of history. By way of magnitude, presidential speeches do not get any larger. Here is how the Russian leader expanded on the thought:

“New centers of power are emerging. They represent the majority — the majority! — of the international community. They are ready not only to declare their interests but also to protect them. They see in multipolarity an opportunity to strengthen their sovereignty, which means gaining genuine freedom, historical prospects, and the right to their own independent, creative, and distinctive forms of development, to a harmonious process.”

Putin has been speaking in this register since Feb. 4, 20 days before Russia launched its intervention in Ukraine and on the eve of the Winter Olympics in Beijing. In the Joint Declaration on International Relations Entering a New Era and Global Sustainable Development, issued with Xi Jinping, Putin and the Chinese president declared, “Today the world is going through momentous changes . . . and humanity is entering a new era of rapid development and profound transformation. There is increasing interrelation and interdependence between the States; a trend has emerged toward redistribution of power in the world.”

Putin’s rhetoric has grown markedly sharper from February to last Friday. He has attacked the European Union for its “selfishness” and cowardice, the U.S. for its hegemonic aggression, including the genocide of Native Americans, and the West altogether for the “neocolonial” character of its relations with the non–West. Putin and his foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, used to refer to Western nations as “our partners.” As of last Friday, yesterday’s partners are Russia’s “enemies.”

‘Irreversible Changes’

All very grim. Putin has made this turn toward confrontation reluctantly and out of frustration with the West’s obstinate refusal to negotiate the new security order that Europe so obviously needs. He is angry at the spectacle of wasteful violence and prolonged disorder. This is my read. But there is a certain brightness to his outlook that we must not miss amid the bleak, evident animosity.

“Global politics and economy are about to undergo fundamental and irreversible changes,” Putin asserted again, this time at the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Council, held in Samarkand last month, “not based on some rules forced on [us] by external forces and which nobody has seen, but on universally recognized principles of the rule of international law and the U.N. Charter, namely, equal and indivisible security and respect for each other’s sovereignty, national values, and interests.”

In his Moscow address, he said: “They do not wish us freedom, but they want to see us as a colony. They want not equal cooperation, but robbery. They want to see us not as a free society, but as a crowd of soulless slaves.”

“Western countries have been repeating for centuries that they bring freedom and democracy to other peoples. Everything is exactly the opposite: instead of democracy – suppression and exploitation; instead of freedom – enslavement and violence. The entire unipolar world order is inherently anti-democratic and not free, it is deceitful and hypocritical through and through.

“Let me also remind you that the United States, together with the British, turned Dresden, Hamburg, Cologne and many other German cities into ruins without any military necessity during World War II. And this was done defiantly, without any, I repeat, military necessity. There was only one goal: just like in the case of the nuclear bombings in Japan, to intimidate both our country and the whole world. …

“The US dictate is based on brute force, on fist law. Sometimes beautifully wrapped, sometimes without any wrapper, but the essence is the same – fist law. The collapse of Western hegemony that has begun is irreversible. And I repeat again: it will not be the same as before.”

This kind of talk is daring. It is a million miles from anything . . . READ MORE . . .

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

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Ukrainian forces burst through Russian lines in major advance in south, by Tom Balmforth | Reuters  * Russian-installed official confirms Ukraine advance in south * Says Kyiv’s forces near Dudchany, 30km from former frontline * No official Ukrainian confirmation of advance in south * Russian military bloggers say troops fall back dozens of km * Ukraine buoyed by weekend capture of Lyman in east | KYIV —  Ukrainian forces today achieved their biggest breakthrough in the south of the country since the war began, bursting through the front and advancing rapidly along the Dnipro River, threatening supply lines for thousands of Russian troops. . . . Russian sources acknowledged that a Ukrainian tank offensive had advanced dozens of kilometers along the river’s west bank, recapturing . . . READ MORE . . .

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Russia smuggling Ukrainian grain to help pay for Putin’s war, by Michael Biesecker, Sarah el Deeb and Beatrice Dupuy | AP   BEIRUT — When the bulk cargo ship Laodicea docked in Lebanon last summer, Ukrainian diplomats said the vessel was carrying grain stolen by Russia and urged Lebanese officials to impound the ship. . . . An investigation by The Associated Press and the PBS series “Frontline” has found the Laodicea, owned by Syria, is part of a sophisticated Russian-run smuggling operation that has used falsified manifests and seaborne subterfuge to . . . READ MORE . . .

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State Duma passes laws on accepting DPR, LPR, Kherson and Zaporozhye regions into Russia. From Tass. MOSCOW — The State Duma unanimously passed draft constitutional laws on accepting the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics (DPR, LPR), as well as the Kherson and Zaporozhye Regions, into Russia in the first reading and in their entirety today. According to the laws, the residents of the new constituent entities are recognized as Russian citizens starting on September 30 . . . but have a month to reject Russian citizenship. The documents . . . READ MORE . . .

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Russia’s war machine faces ridicule from two Putin allies, by Guy Faulconbridge and Felix Light | Reuters LONDON — The withdrawal of Russian forces from a strategically important town in eastern Ukraine has prompted two powerful allies of President Vladimir Putin to do something rare in modern Russia: publicly ridicule the war machine’s top brass. Russia’s loss of the bastion . . . READ MORE . . .

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Head of Russian-held Ukrainian nuclear plant freed: UN watchdog. From AFP. The detained chief of Ukraine’s Russian-held nuclear power plant has been released, the head of the UN nuclear watchdog said today. “I welcome the release of Ihor Murashov, director general of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant; I have received confirmation that Mr Murashov has returned to his family safely,” Rafael Grossi, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said . . . READ MORE . . .

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Russia says woman killed after cross-border Ukrainian shelling. From AFP. A Russian official said today that Ukrainian shelling had killed a woman in the southern Russian region of Belgorod which neighbours Ukraine, in a rare cross-border attack. “The Armed Forces of Ukraine fired at the village of . . . READ MORE . . .

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How Russian forces lost control of the Ukrainian railway hub of Lyman. Reported by Steve Inskeep and Jason Beaubien | NPR  Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says the key railway hub is under his country’s control. Russian forces had been using the rail lines to resupply their troops farther south in Ukraine. Click HERE to listen and, tomorrow, read.

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TO BE CONTINUED

Presented below is the beginning of an informed analysis that predicts terminal consequences for humanity if the leaders of the United States and Russia fail to successfully exercise what the author describes as “the kind of political maturity leaders rarely demonstrate.” Consortium News published it on Sept. 30. — MCM

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The Onus Is on Biden & Putin

By Scott Ritter

Wars should be avoided at all costs. Nuclear conflict should never be contemplated.

These two truisms are often spoken, but rarely adhered to. Wars occur all too frequently, and so long as nations possess nuclear weapons, their use  is contemplated on a continuous basis.

The ongoing Ukrainian-Russian conflict has put the world’s two largest nuclear powers on opposing sides, with the U.S. supporting a Ukrainian military that has become a de facto proxy of NATO, and Russia viewing its struggle with Ukraine as including the “collective West.”

Since the initiation of Russia’s “special military operation” in Ukraine, both the U.S. and Russia have played their respective nuclear cards.

Russia has made it clear that any intervention by NATO would be considered an existential threat to the Russian nation, thereby invoking one of the two clauses in the Russian nuclear posture in which nuclear weapons could be used. (The other would be in response to a nuclear attack against Russia.)

The U.S. has made it clear that any attack by Russia against a NATO member would invoke Article 5 of the NATO charter (the “collective defense” clause), resulting in the totality of the alliance’s military capabilities, including nuclear weapons, being made available in response.

So far, neither side has directly challenged the red line of the other, although the United States has edged right up to it with the provision of tens of billions of dollars of advanced weaponry, financial assistance and intelligence and communication support for Ukraine.

This material support isn’t provided for Ukraine’s defense, but rather to enable Ukraine to retake territory lost to Russia and to inflict losses among the Russian forces of such a magnitude as to weaken Russia  for an extended period.

From the Western perspective, the massive infusion of military aid appears to be succeeding. Ukraine is perceived as having pushed back an initial Russian effort to capture Kiev in the opening weeks of the conflict. It is also seen as having held back a concerted Russian offensive in the Donbass long enough to deploy a reconstituted army — trained and equipped by NATO — which succeeded in recapturing the totality of the Kharkov region.

The fact that the Kiev “victory” has been described by Russia as a strategic feint, and not a defeat, and that the Kharkov offensive, together with a parallel failed offensive in Kherson, cost Ukraine so many casualties that it was more Pyrrhic than political in nature, is secondary.

From the perspective of both Ukraine and NATO, the Russian army is no longer viewed as invincible, but actually vulnerable. Both NATO and Ukraine appear ready to continue an aggressive military posture designed to attrite Russian forces while recapturing Ukrainian territory.

For its part, Russia believes . . . 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. — MCM

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Ukraine presses on with counteroffensive; Russia uses drones, by Jon Gambrell | AP  KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia attacked the Ukrainian president’s hometown and other targets Sunday with suicide drones, and Ukraine took back full control of a strategic eastern city in a counteroffensive that has reshaped the war. Russia’s loss of the eastern city of Lyman . . . READ MORE . . .

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Russian parliament to consider legal steps to absorb Ukrainian regions. From Reuters. * This content was produced in Russia where the law restricts coverage of Russian military operations in Ukraine | MOSCOW — Russia’s parliament will consider on Monday bills and ratification treaties to absorb four Ukrainian regions, RIA Novosti news agency cited the speaker of Russia’s lower house of parliament, Vyacheslav Volodin, as saying today. . . . Separately the Russian Constitutional Court ruled today that the “international treaties” on the incorporation of the four regions to be in compliance with the Russian constitution. READ MORE . . .

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Germany, Denmark, Sweden to jointly investigate Nord Stream emergency — German top brass. From Tass. BERLIN — Germany, Denmark and Sweden want to create a joint investigation team to probe into the circumstances of the incident at Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 pipelines, German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said in an interview with the Bild am Sonntag newspaper published on Saturday. “All evidence points . . . READ MORE . . .

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Pope Francis deplores Ukraine annexations, calls on Russia to end conflict. From AFP. Pope Francis today deplored Russia’s annexation of Ukrainian territory and called on the Russian leader to stop the war and on Ukraine’s president to be open to talks. “I deeply deplore the grave . . . READ MORE . . .

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Jewish Ukrainian father and son soldiers mark holy days under cloud of Russia’s war. Reported by Eleanor Beardsley | NPR  For Ukrainian Orthodox Jews Asher and David Cherkaskyi, a father and son both fighting on the front lines in the eastern Donbas region, beating Russia has become especially important to them because of their faith. While Russian President Vladimir Putin falsely claims . . . Click HERE to listen and read.

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How Ukraine ended up with one of the world’s largest nuclear power plants. Reported by Julian Hayda | NPR  As part of the former Soviet Union, Ukraine was the site of nuclear power plants and nuclear weapons – and the story of those helps tell the story of the country. Click HERE to listen and, tomorrow, read.

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TO BE CONTINUED