July 2, 2019
By Tom O'Connor
The fire that killed 14 sailors onboard (click here) one of Moscow's research submersible vehicle Monday may not have had major geopolitical implications, but Russian President Vladimir Putin's decision the following day to cancel his appearance at a scheduled event coinciding with a separate schedule change by Vice President Mike Pence initially sparked concerns that an international incident was underway.
Putin was set to appear Tuesday at the Rivers of Russia forum, but Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told the state-run Tass Russian News Agency that the Russian leader had "canceled his participation" and would be represented by Deputy Prime Minister Olga Golodets. Instead, Putin was "scheduled to meet with Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu in the near future."
No initial reasoning was provided, though the official outlet speculated it may have something to do with the Russian Defense Ministry's recent statement on the deadly incident involving the submersible craft that has since been brought to the northern Severomorsk naval base.
Around this same time, early reports emerged that Pence had rerouted his plane back to Washington after suddenly canceling his appearance at a discussion on the national opioid crisis in Manchester, New Hampshire. Twitter users especially began to express anxieties that the move was related to Putin's own schedule shift and some accounts even began reporting on an "emergency meeting" of the European Union Security Council, a body that does not exist....
Did they blow up the bridge? That would be so cool if they blew up the bridge. The bridge is illegal and impinges on Ukraine sovereignty.
July 2, 2019
By AP
Moscow - About 3,000 troops (click here) from 19 countries are taking part in military drills in the Black Sea, an exercise that has raised concerns in Russia.
The 12-day Sea Breeze 2019 exercise, involving Ukraine, the U.S., a dozen other NATO allies and a few other nations, began Monday in the northwestern part of the Black Sea. It will involve 32 warships and 24 aircraft.
The Russian military says it is monitoring the exercise.
Relations between Russia and the West have plummeted to post-Cold War lows in the wake of Moscow's 2014 annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula and support for pro-Russian insurgents in eastern Ukraine....
July 2, 2019
By RFE/RL
The U.S. charge d’affaires in Kyiv (click here) has condemned Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine after reports of deadly attacks on medical personnel and called on Moscow and the “forces it backs” to end the fighting “immediately.”
“Attacks by Russia-led forces on medical personnel show a complete lack of respect for human life, international standards, and the Minsk agreements," William B. Taylor said on July 2 in a statement on the embassy's Facebook page.
“We call on Russia and the forces it backs to end the fighting immediately, protect civilians and humanitarian personnel, and withdraw armed forces and weapons,” he wrote....
Russia is huffing and puffing about Syria, too. The attacks were unprovoked, but, unprovoked has a different meaning in Israel. Israel believes the interceptor missiles by Russia in Syria is an act of aggression. It could be looked at in that manner because Israel believes it is compromised by Iranian shipments to Hezbollah. Israel is used to being able to destroy those shipments.
Russia put those interceptors in Syria to protect whatever military assets it has there after one of their jets was shot down by Syrian anti-aircraft weapons. There are reports that Syria had fired those anti-aircraft missiles and one hit the eastern mountains in Cyprus. If those reports are accurate, that changes a lot of the dynamics of Syrian's civil war. Those weapons, whether misfired and mistargeted or not, poses a huge risk for the Mediterranean.
By Judah Ari Gross
Russia on Tuesday (click here) said Israel was behind a series of airstrikes on targets in Syria on Monday morning, adding that those attacks threatened to destabilize the region.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said six Israeli fighter jets operating inside Lebanese airspace conducted the predawn raid, which reportedly targeted Iranian and pro-Iranian positions in the country, specifically those tied to the transfer of weapons to Hezbollah and other Shiite terror groups in the region....
There is an issue with empty tankers going dark when they enter Iranian waters, too. The next time they are seen, they are full of Iranian oil against the sanctions. That is so silly. Evidently, Iran hasn't heard of infrared.
There is also news out of the UK. Russians have been linked to the poisonings. It is just not possible to trust Russians. They are not independent business persons. They can be called up by their government whenever Putin finds it convenient.
By Doug Stanglin
A meticulous, minute-by-minute examination (click here) of cellphone data points to a high-ranking Russian military intelligence officer, who spent barely 48 hours in London, as commander of a two-man Russian team that carried out the Novichok poisoning attack on a former Russian double agent.
The information was compiled and examined by the investigative website Bellingcat and BBC Newsnight.
Bellingcat, founded in 2014 by a British journalist, specializes in fact-checking and open-source intelligence in its investigative work, including groundbreaking pieces on human rights abuses and the criminal underworld.
While Bellingcat had previously named Denis Sergeev, using the alias Sergei Fedotov, as a GRU officer who arrived in Britain on the same day as the suspected attackers, the new information suggests he was allegedly involved in a "supervising, coordinating role" in the attack.Russia has denied any involvement in the attack....
There is the issue of the F-35s again. They are in Middle East and Russia is jamming their GPS. The jet is completely computerized. I told you so.
