🇺🇸🇺🇦 🚨

UNITED STATES SENDS LONG-RANGE ATACMS MISSILES TO UKRAINE

A report published by Reuters on Wednesday says the Biden administration has quietly sent long-range ATACMS missiles to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

The report claims the missiles are for use to fend off "Russian invaders," however, the Ukrainian military over the last year has used its HIMARS missile systems to bombard civilian areas of Russian and Ukrainian cities under the control of the Russian government, including attacks on Russian oil fields.

The long-range missiles were included in the latest $300 million military aid package for Kiev, approved by the Biden administration on March 12th, and were used for the first time in a strike on a Russian airfield in Crimea on April 12th, according to a U.S. official who spoke with Reuters under condition of anonymity.

The long-range ATACMS missiles have a range of up to 300km (187mi), which the Pentagon previously opposed sending to Ukraine out of concerns over U.S. military readiness and worries that the Armed Forces of Ukraine would use the missiles to strike deep into Russian territory.

@WorkerSolidarityNews

🇺🇸 🚨

UNITED STATES CONGRESS PASSES SERIES OF ANTI-DEMOCRATIC AND PRO-WAR BILLS DESPITE PUBLIC OPPOSITION

The United States Congress and Senate passed a series of bills, including three controversial anti-democratic and pro-war bills, two of which were tied together, on Saturday, bypassing public opinion and popular opposition to the profligate, pro-war, globalist, Neolib/Neocon agenda currently driving United States domestic and foreign policy.

Included in the bills passed was a bill to force TikTok to divest from its connections with China at risk of being banned immediately, which naturally was tied to a Foreign aid bill.

However, as even Republican Senator Rand Paul mentioned in an opinion piece in Reason Magazine, the Bill is almost certain to lead to more power for American political elites and their administrations to pressure companies like Apple and Google to further ban apps and sites that offer contradictory opinions to that of the invented narratives of the American Political class.

Before long, Americans, many of whom are already poorly informed, and heavily misinformed by their mainstream media, could lose access to critical information that contradicts the narratives of the United States government and corporate elites.

Horrifically, this only the start. The US Congress also extended the newly revised FISA spy laws, which gives the United States government the power to spy on the electronic communications of foreigners, while also conveniently sweeping up the conversations of millions of Americans, as we learned years ago thanks to the sacrifices of whistle blowers and journalists like Edward Snowden, Chelsea Manning and Julian Assange.

The new FISA Law goes further than this, however, granting US Intelligence agencies the power to spy on the wireless communications of Americans in completely new ways.

A recent Jacobin article describes these new powers as a, "radical expansion of government surveillance that would be ripe for abuse by a future authoritarian leader", or it could just be used by the authoritarian leadership we have right now, and have had for decades.

In fact, when one commentator described the new powers as "Stasi-like," Edward Snowden himself replied with a long post in which he remarked, "invocation of "Stasi-like" is not only a fair characterization of Himes' amendment, it's probably generous. The Stasi dared not even dream of what the Himes amendment provides."

The amendment in question just "tweaks" the current law's definition of an "electronic communication provider," which is being changed to "any service provider," something extremely likely to be abused by the government to force anyone with a business, a modem and people using their broadband to collect the electronic communications of those people, while also forcing their victims into silence.

The government could essentially force Americans to spy on other people and remain silent about it. Cafe's, restaurants, hotels, business landlords, shared workspaces all could get swept up into the investigations of the Intelligence agencies.

Worse still, because picking out the communications of a single user would be next to impossible, all of their victim's data would end up being surrendered to the authorities.

Sadly, the assault on Americans by their own political elites didn't end there, to top this historic day in Congress, at time when the United States public debt is growing at an astounding rate of $1 trillion every 100 days, US lawmakers also passed a series of pro-war aid packages to American allies (vassals) totalling some $95 billion.

Included in the foreign aid bill are aid packages totalling $61 billion for the Ukraine scam, $26 billion for Israel's special genocide operation in the Gaza Strip, and $8 billion to the Indo-Pacific to provoke WWIII with China, at the same time we're also provoking a nuclear holocaust with the Russian Federation.

Also buried in these aid packages is the authorization for the United States government to outright steal the oversees investments of the Russian Federation, and thereby the Russian taxpayers.

Astonishingly, and in direct opposition to the wishes of their own voters, Republican support was won without the possibility of conditioning the aid to any kind of border security, this despite the issue being among the top biggest concerns of Republican voters.

Although much of the money is to be used replenishing the heavily depleted stocks of America's weapons and munitions, it remains unclear where the munitions are expected to come from, as US defense production has remained sluggish and slow to expand despite heavy investments and demand in recent years, despite the rapid urgency with which the policy elite describe the situation.

It bodes poorly for working Americans that only a relatively small handful of lawmakers opposed the bills, producing unlikely bedfellows like Senator Bernie Sanders and Senator Mike Lee in the Senate, opposing the FISA bill.

While in the House, the loudest opposition to the foreign aid bill mostly came from populist Republicans such as Marjorie Taylor Greene, Thomas Massie and Paul Goser. Only 58 Congresmembers voted against the Foreign Aid Bill in which the TikTok ban was tucked.

Not one word from American politicians about the need to raise the minimum wage, which hasn't been increased since 2009 despite considerable inflation, nor a word about America's endlessly growing homelessness crises, property crime increases, or the 40-year stagnation of American wages, the deterioration of infrastructure, and precious little was said besides complaints about border security over the immigration crises sparked by American Imperialist adventures and US sanctions.

What we've learned today is that we are highly unlikely to see any changes to the insane behavior of the US and its allies any time soon, neither with regards to the absolutely bonkers Neocon foreign policy leading us to the edge of abyss, nor the spending-for-the-rich/austerity-for-the-poor Neoliberal domestic policy of the last 45 years.

@WorkerSolidarityNews

Blue: titles are opinion pieces or analysis, and may or may not contain sources.

🇷🇺⚔️🇺🇦🇺🇲 🚨

RUSSIAN FORCES HUNT DOWN ANOTHER U.S.-MADE ABRAMS TANK IN UKRAINE

📹 Footage from a Russian FPV drone as it hunts down and targets yet another American-made Abrams main battle tank (MBT) belonging to the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU).

It is unclear from the video whether the tank was just damaged or destroyed by the drone strike, however, several Abrams MBT's have already been destroyed by the Russian military.

@WorkerSolidarityNews

🇺🇦⚔️🇷🇺 🚀🏢💥 🚨

UKRAINIAN FORCES TARGET RESIDENTIAL BUILDING IN ATTACK ON BOLGOROD REGION OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION

📹 Footage from a drone strike targeting a residential building in Bolgorod, in the south of the Russian Federation, killing one civilian and wounding two others.

As Russian Forces continue to make major advances in the Donbas, and the Americans fail to pass additional military aid to Kiev, Ukrainian leadership becomes more desperate, regularly attacking civilian targets in southern Russia, along the four new regions, including regular strikes targeting residential buildings in the Donetsk area.

@WorkerSolidarityNews

🇺🇲⚔️🇷🇺 🚨

ON U.S. INVOLVEMENT IN OR KNOWLEDGE OF THE CROCUS CITY HALL TERRORIST ATTACK

The United States still says it can't figure out who blew up the Nordstream pipelines but insists that ISIS-K committed the terrorist attack in Crocus City Hall just hours after the attacks occured.

The U.S. claims the group's ownership of the attacks through an affiliated news outlet on Telegram is all the evidence it needs to prove the terrorist group committed the attack at Crocus.

But since when does a state power take the word of a terrorist group on the claims of an affiliated social media account as evidence of anything???

The attack on Crocus City Hall casts a new light on the warnings given by one Neocon, Victoria Nuland, on her way out the door from her number 3 position at the State Department, that some "nasty surprises" were in-store for the Russian people.

It seems clear to us that there was at least some knowledge of, or involvement in, the terrorist attack on Crocus by the CIA/State Dept. along with associated, affiliated and allied Western Intelligence agencies.

While it is too early to say for sure what kind of involvement or knowledge there was, warnings given by the United States State Department to American citizens in the Russian Federation to avoid malls and concert halls, along with the supposed opening made at the Ukrainian border for the White Renault sedan to escape through, makes it clear the United States and its allies know far more than they are revealing at this time.

Don't just accept what the United States government tells you, read what the Russians have to say themselves, make judgements based on, not just the evidence, but the context and history.

ISIS fighters traditionally, and almost always choose to die in a big showdown after a terrorist attack, there reward is martyrdom, not cash.

Yet, these four gunmen say they were paid the equivalent of $5'000, half up front, for committing the slaughter at Crocus.

None of this adds up, none of it makes sense.

Consider all angles.

@WorkerSolidarityNews

🇷🇺 🚨

AS THE U.S. BLAMES ISIS FOR TERRORIST ATTACK AT CROCUS CITY HALL, RUSSIAN AUTHORITIES ARREST MERCENARIES TRYING TO ESCAPE TO UKRAINE

As the United States tries to pin the blame for the terrorist attack on the Crocus City Hall on the ISIS extremist group, Russian authorities arrested 11 men in relation to the event, including the four gunmen responsible for the carnage at the concert hall as they attempted to cross into Ukrainian territory.

Recently, the ISIS extremist group, which has a history of working on and off with the Intelligence agencies of the United States, and have been accused of acting as proxy for the U.S., claimed responsibility for the attack through its associated news agency Amaq on its Telegram channel.

However, in a recent address to the Russian people, newly reelected Russian President, Vladimir Putin, told the country's population that the attackers made arrangements with Ukrainian authorities to open a window for which the attackers would escape over the border into Ukraine.

According to Russian media, on the morning of March 23rd, a white Renault sedan, the same vehicle the suspects were seen escaping from the Crocus City Hall in, was seen heading towards Ukraine, about 100km (62mi) from the border.

The suspects refused to stop for local police, after which, police forces opened fire on the vehicle, overturning the sedan and wounding one of the suspects.

After pulling one of the suspects out of the vehicle, police tied the man up and attempted to interrogate him on camera.

The video, published online by local authorities, shows the suspect being interrogated on his knees, shaking and barely able to answer the authorities questions.

During the short interrogation, the suspect tells Russian authorities that he received the task of the terrorist attack after following a "preacher" on Telegram. At some point, the "preacher's assistant" assigned him the attack on Crocus, offering him half a million rubles to shoot up the concert hall, even paying half the sum before hand.

“I listened to the preacher... His assistant wrote to me... about a month ago,” the detainee said.

He goes on say to Russian authorities that after a conversation with the "preacher's assistant," he received the task of "killing people."

Russian news outlet Ria Novosti described the information extracted from the suspect as follows:

"After some time, he admits that through an Internet resource where he listened to sermons, recruiters contacted him and offered to commit mass murder for 500 thousand rubles. Half was transferred in advance to the card, the rest was promised after completing the task. They also provided weapons. Who exactly it was is still unknown. According to the terrorist, he flew to Russia from Turkey on March 4."

Meanwhile, another suspect said that he met a man named "Abdullah" on Telegram, after which he was offered a job.

"We went to Dmitrovskoe Highway and bought a car from the relatives of a new friend. We are probably talking about the same Renault vehicle," the suspect is quoted as saying.

The suspects have since been taken for questioning by the Investigative Committee.

According to the Russian intelligence services, known as the FSB, the suspects have contacts in Ukraine and intended to cross the border where the Ukrainian authorities had opened a window for the attackers to escape into the warring country.

The FSB says the attack was carefully planned, with a cache of weapons that were hidden for the attackers to use.

Russian authorities have since detained a total of 11 suspects, four of whom have been shot by Russian forces.

According to some Russian reports, at least some of the attackers were natives of Tajikistan, however the authorities have not confirmed this information and asked that journalists "refrain from disseminating unverified and unreliable information."

The death toll in the Crocus City Hall terrorist attack rose today to 137 people killed, while another 180 were injured in the attack.

@WorkerSolidarityNews

🇷🇺 🚨

RUSSIAN AUTHORITIES ARREST 11 INVOLVED IN CROCUS TERRORIST ATTACK IN KRASNOGORSKY DISTRICT, DEATH TOLL RISES TO 115

The Russian Federation authorities have detained 11 people, four of whom were directly involved in the terrorist attack on the Crocus City Hall, a large theater concert hall in the Krasnogorsky District of the Moscow Oblast where armed gunmen opened automatic gunfire on crowds of people as a musical show was about to start. After firing on dozens of people, the gunmen at some point tossed incendiary bombs into the Hall, starting a fire which destroyed much of the building.

According to local Russian media, the death toll in the terrorist attack has risen to 115 overnight, including three children, while another 121 were hospitalized as a result of injuries sustained during the attack.

“FSB director Bortnikov reported to Putin about the detention of 11 people, [including] all four terrorists who were directly involved in the terrorist attack,” the presidential press service said.

The terrorist group escaped from the concert hall as people rushed out from the Crocus City Hall as it began to burn, jumping into a small, white Renault sedan and managing to escape before the local police forces could arrive. The Russian authorities said they'd captured the terrorists in the Bryansk region after they tried to cross the Russian-Ukrainian border. A search for any potential accomplices is still underway.

* corrected to reflect musical show instead of "symphony orchestra" as originally published due to an uncertainty in the musical show.

@WorkerSolidarityNews

🇷🇺⚔️🇺🇦 🚨

REPORT ON SPECIAL MILITARY OPERATION IN UKRAINE FROM THE MINISTRY OF DEFENSE OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION

⚡️ Russian Defence Ministry report on the progress of the special military operation

(28 February 2024)

The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation continue the special military operation.

▫️In Kupyansk direction, units of the Zapad Group of Forces improved the tactical situation and delivered strikes at enemy manpower and hardware near Sinkovka (Kharkov region).

In addition, seven attacks launched by assault detachments of the AFU 32nd Mechanised Brigade, 77th Air Mobile Brigade, 95th Air Assault Brigade, and 57th Motorised Rifle Brigade were repelled near Sinkovka (Kharkov region) and Terni (Donetsk People's Republic).

The AFU losses amounted to up to 145 Ukrainian troops, two infantry fighting vehicles, and two pickup trucks.

In the course of counterbattery warfare, one U.S.-made M777 artillery system, one D-20 howitzer, one Gvozdika self-propelled artillery system, and one D-30 howitzer were neutralised.

▫️In Donetsk direction, units of the Yug Group of Forces improved the tactical situation along the front lines and inflicted losses on manpower and hardware of the AFU 5th, 92nd assault brigades, 28th, 93rd mechanised brigades, 107th and 241st territorial defence brigades near Krasnoye, Bogdanovka, Kleschcheyevka, and Kurdyumovka (Donetsk People's Republic).

Moreover, three counterattacks of the AFU 46th Air Mobile Brigade were repelled near Georgiyevka (Donetsk People's Republic).

The AFU losses amounted to up to 230 Ukrainian troops, two tanks, two infantry fighting vehicles, and six motor vehicles.

In the course of counterbattery warfare, one Polish-made Krab self-propelled artillery system, two D-20 howitzers, one Rapira anti-tank gun, one U.S.-made M119 towed howitzer, and one AFU ammunition depot were destroyed.

▫️In Avdeyevka direction, units of the Tsentr Group of Forces liberated Petrovskoye, took more advantageous lines, and repelled 11 counterattacks launched by assault detachments of the AFU near Leninskoye, Novgorodskoye, Novobakhmutovka, Tonenkoye, Orlovka, and Pervomayskoye (Donetsk People's Republic).

The AFU losses amounted to up to 165 Ukrainian troops, four tanks, two Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, one U.S.-made M113 armoured personnel carriers, and five motor vehicles.

In the course of counterbattery warfare, three D-20 howitzers, one Msta-B howitzer, one Gvozdika self-propelled howitzer, and five D-30 howitzers were wiped out.

▫️In South Donetsk direction, units of the Vostok Group of Forces supported by aviation inflicted losses on manpower and hardware of the AFU 128th Territorial Defence Brigade near Urozhaynoye and Staromayorskoye (Donetsk People's Republic).

The AFU losses amounted to up to 115 Ukrainian troops, one tank, three motor vehicles, one Gvozdika self-propelled artillery system, one Rapira anti-tank gun, and one ammunition depot.

▫️In Kherson direction, as a result of active actions, Russian units took more advantageous positions, inflicted losses on manpower and hardware clusters of the AFU 128th Mountain Assault Brigade and 121st Territorial Defence Brigade near Primorskoye, Novopokrovka (Zaporozhye region), and Dudchany (Kherson region).

One counterattack launched by an assault detachment of the AFU 117th Mechanised Brigade was repelled near Rabotino (Zaporozhye region).

The AFU losses amounted to up to 40 Ukrainian troops and two motor vehicles.

In the course of counterbattery warfare, one French-made CAESAR self-propelled artillery system, three D-20 howitzers, one Akatsiya self-propelled artillery system, and one D-30 howitzer were neutralised.

▫️Operational-Tactical aviation, unmanned aerial vehicles, and Missile Troops and Artillery of the Russian Groups of Forces wiped out one S-300 anti-aircraft missile system radar, one ammunition depot, one AFU POL depot, one unmanned aerial vehicles storage and manufacture facility, as well as engaged manpower and hardware in 131 areas during the day.

▫️Air defence units shot down 99 unmanned aerial vehicles close to Zovtnevoye (Kharkov region), Arapovka, Troitskoye, Novonikolskoye (Lugansk People's Republic), Yelenovka, Shevchenko (Donetsk People's Republic), as well as intercepted three HIMARS MLRS shells.

📊 In total, 575 airplanes and 267 helicopters, 13,622 unmanned aerial vehicles, 474 air defence missile systems, 15,266 tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles, 1,226 combat vehicles equipped with MLRS, 8,203 field artillery guns and mortars, as well as 19,179 units of special military equipment have been destroyed during the special military operation.

🔹 Russian Defence Ministry

@WorkerSolidarityNews

🇷🇺⚔️🇺🇦 🚨

INTENSE BATTLES AS RUSSIAN FORCES BREAK THROUGH UKRAINIAN DEFENSES NEAR ROBOTINO IN ZAPOROZHYE

📹 Ukrainian footage showing the breakthrough of Russian Forces of Ukraine's defensive belt near the village of Robotino in the Zaporozhye sector.

Russian Forces from the Southern Military District and Airborne Forces launch a powerful attack on the Ukrainian defensive belt, pushing more than 2km into Ukrainian-held territory, won through great sacrifice during last year's Ukrainian offensive in the Zaporozhye direction.

In the footage, Ukrainian forces destroy several pieces of Russian equipment and systems, though it does little to slow the Russian advance, with one tank being hit directly, only to storm forward mostly undamaged.

Russian landing forces then disembark from armored vehicles under BMP suppressive fire and secure several enemy positions.

Russian Forces manage to breakthrough into the village of Robotino, capturing positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and capturing or killing many Ukrainian militants.

In another operation, Russian Forces also announced the capture of the village of Pobeda, south of the recently captured city of Marinka in the South Donetsk direction.

“In the Donetsk direction, units of the Southern Group of Forces liberated the village of Pobeda,” the Russian Ministry of Defense said.

According to the Ministry of Defense, Ukrainian forces in the South Donetsk direction lost over 410 servicemembers, one tank, three armored vehicles, five military vehicles, one Polish-made Krab and one Bogdan self-propelled artillery systems, one D-20 howitzer, and a self-propelled Gvozdika artillery system.

@WorkerSolidarityNews

🇺🇸 🎙️ 🚨

BRIAN BERLECTIC COVERS NAZIS IN UKRAINE, WESTERN MEDIA SLANDER AND THE FALL OF THE CITY OF AVDIIVKA

🔗 Brian Berletic over at the New Atlas covers the fall of Avdiivka, a northwestern suburb of Donetsk City.

Brian then uses Western mainstream media sources to rebuff accusations that he's part of a cabal of "Russian propagandists" as asserted by Vox News is their latest article and graphic slandering anti-Ukraine War academics and journalists including Larry Johnson, Jimmy Dore, John Meirshiemer, Ray McGovern, Jeffery Sachs, Max Blumenthal, Colonel Douglas MacGregor, UN Weapons Inspector Scott Ritter, as well journalists Pepe Escobar, Tucker Carlson, Glenn Greenwald and Wyatt Reed, and many others, of being Pro-Putin propagandists and insisting that there really isn''t actually a Nazi problem in Ukraine.

@WorkerSolidarityNews

🇷🇺⚔️🇺🇦 🚀🪖💥 🚨

DISORDERLY UKRAINIAN WITHDRAWAL FROM AVDIIVKA HAMMERED BY RUSSIAN BOMBS AS ESCAPE BECOMES IMPOSSIBLE

📹 Scenes from the "orderly withdrawal" of the Armed Forces of Ukraine shortly before Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, General Alexsandr Syrsky, gives the order to begin withdrawal from Avdiivka, in the south Donetsk direction, yesterday.

The video details the flight of Ukrainian soldiers from Avdiivka, a northwestern suburb of Donetsk City, in the eastern Donbas region of Ukraine, as Russian artillery fire in precision strikes against the retreating forces and their equipment.

Even as Ukrainian troops fled from fortified positions in the city, moving along roads under Russian fire control, it took another full day before General Syrsky gave his approval for an official withdrawal.

Yesterday, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation announced the liberation of Avdiivka from the control of Ukrainian nationalists.

@WorkerSolidarityNews

🇷🇺⚔️🇺🇦 🚨

RUSSIAN FORCES SIEZE THE CITY OF AVDIIVKA IN DPR AFTER UKRAINIAN WITHDRAWAL

Russian Forces have seized the city of Avdiivka, in the South Donetsk direction, in the eastern Donbas region of Ukraine, after Ukrainian troops fled their positions in a messy withdrawal from the city.

The city of Avdiivka is located just northwest of the Russian held city of Donetsk, Capital of the Donetsk People's Republic, one of four new regions that voted to join the Russian Federation in September 2022 in a widely criticized referendum that, nonetheless, was recognized by the Russian legislature and ensconced into Russian law.

After months of fierce battles which saw a long period of slow, grinding and halting gains by Russian forces, followed by sudden rapid advances after a recent collapse in Ukrainian manpower following two years of steep losses and a failed summer offensive. And with the United States failing to provide artillery shells and ammunition at the same rate it has for the last two years, the defensive lines of the Armed Forces of Ukraine finally collapsed in Avdiivka.

A day prior to the final order of withdrawal coming down from Ukraine's newly minted Commander of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, General Alexsandr Syrsky, Ukrainian troops began fleeing their positions "uncontrollably" as Russian forces made lightning gains and Russian artillery pummeled the retreating units, which were said to be withdrawing in small groups of 10-20 soldiers in a haphazard fashion.

Speaking about the situation in a statement, Ministry of Defense spokesperson, Igor Konashenkov, said, “The order of the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Syrsky, to abandon the city was issued only a day after the uncontrolled flight of Ukrainian troops from Avdiivka began."

Soon after General Syrsky gave the order for a full withdrawal, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told reporters the withdrawal had become necessary because of a lack of sufficient assistance from the West, causing the AFU to suffer from, what he called an "artificial" critical shortage of ammunition.

Speaking at the Munich Security Conference yesterday, Zelensky said in his speech that "Keeping Ukraine in the artificial deficits of weapons, particularly in a deficit of artillery and long-range capabilities, allows (Russian President Vladimir) Putin to adapt to the current intensity of the war," and claimed the sudden collapse of defenses in Avdiivka was actually a withdrawal who's aim it was to "save our soldiers lives."

Meanwhile, according to Konashenkov, "measures are being taken to finally clear the city of militants and block the Ukrainian units that have left the city and settled at the Avdeevka coking plant."

Konashenkov also added that the liberation of Avdiivka made it possible to move the frontline away from the city of Donetsk, where Ukrainian forces regularly fire HIMARS, artillery shells, and cluster munitions into the commercial and residential center of the city, targeting civilians with a punishing regularity that can now, possibly and thankfully, come to an end.

Avdiivka, as a northern suburb of Donetsk City, has been involved in the fighting since it began in 2014, and has been held by Ukrainian forces for the entirety of that time, with the AFU using the city as a staging ground the for strikes on Donetsk and other parts of the southern Donbas region.

On Saturday, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu reported to the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Armed Forces, President Vladimir Putin, "the complete seizure" of the city of Avdiivka in the DPR.

According to Shoigu, Avdiivka represented "a powerful defensive stronghold of the Ukrainian Armed Forces" which has now been taken control over by the Tsentr Group of Forces under the command of General Andrey Mordvichev.

The Russian Defense Minister said Russian forces had taken control over "an area of 31.75 square kilometers" which has been "liberated from Ukrainian nationalists."

In his statement, Shoigu said the losses for the AFU over the previous 24-hours in the Avdiivka direction amounted to more than 1'500 soldiers, and that under continuous Russian fire damage, AFU soldiers mostly managed to leave Avdiivka rapidly, however they did so leaving Western weapons and hardware behind.

Shoigu reiterated that cleanup operations continue near the Avdiivsky coke plant, with Russian forces now attempting to block them in, while units with the Tsentr Group of Forces continue offensive operations to "further liberate the Donetsk People's Republic from Ukrainian nationalists."

@WorkerSolidarityNews

🇷🇺⚔️🇺🇦 🪖💥 🚨

AFU DEFENSES COLLAPSING IN AVDIIVKA, CITY ON THE VERGE OF LOSING LAST SUPPLY LINE

Various reports coming in from across Ukrainian and Russian media, from independent and mainstream sources both, reporting the collapse of Ukrainian defenses and key fortified positions in the city of Avdiivka, in the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), in the East of Ukraine.

According to early reports in mainstream Ukrainian media, the Armed Forces of Ukraine abandoned a key defensive position in the south of Avdiivka, from a fortified position known as "Zenit".

Commander of the Tavriia Operational Strategic Group of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Oleksandr Tarnavskyi, is quoted as saying, "After months of fighting, the Tavriia Operational Strategic Group leadership has taken the decision to withdraw from the Zenit position to the southeastern outskirts of Avdiivka. We held this position for as long as it enabled us to effectively deter and destroy the enemy."

Tarnavskyi claims the withdrawal was made to "protect personnel and improve operational conditions," adding that the supply of troops in new positions is currently underway and that there are plans for the reinforcement of units.

Another report in the Ukrainian new agency Strana says some units of the AFU are under immediate threat of encirclement by advancing Russian forces in the southern part of Avdiivka, while in the north, one unit from the third assault brigade posted a video showing themselves hold out in the basement of the Coke plant.

However, Russian forces on the ground are reporting that the soldiers of the AFU are actually fleeing through the south of Avdiivka, in groups of 10 and 20 soldiers to provide less value to the use of artillery shells, but reports of intense bombing and shelling continue unabated. Instead, Russian artillery and FAB bombs are pulverizing fleeing Ukrainian Units who do not surrender, with disturbing reports that the corpses of Ukrainian soldiers are strewn across their southern positions.

Russian independent media is also reporting upwards of 100 large FAB bombs being dropped every day on the positions of Ukrainian forces in Avdiivka, with about 30 FAB bombs falling on the Avdiivka Koksokhim, in the area of the largest coke plant in Europe, just today.

Video also shows Russian forces taking the Avdiivka City Park and clinic, raising the flags for the Russian Republic of Tuva alongside the flag for the Russian Ministry of Defense.

Earlier, video posted by independent Russian media, with ties to military units, showing Russian forces belonging to the 1st Slavic Brigade taking the Ukrainian fortified defensive position known to Russian forces as the "Chaburashka" position, named after its resemblance on a map to the Russian cartoon character.

At the same time, Russian forces continue to press into the east and south of Novomykhailivka, just south of Avdiivka, in the south of Donetsk, and pushing towards the center of the village, with rumors spreading that the AFU is on the verge of pulling back from the village.

According to a TASS report, Yan Gagin, advisor to the head of the DPR, speaking in an interview with Russian television Channel One, said that Russian forces were pressing all along the Frontline in the South Donetsk direction.

"The frontline area from Ugledar to Artyomovsk can be considered as the Donetsk direction. We now have quite a serious success along this frontline. This success has been for a long time and we are now capitalizing on it," Gagin said.

Speaking about the newly appointed commander of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, General Alexsandr Syrsky, Gagin said of Syrsky that he "absolutely has no regard for casualties, as if he pursues the task of destroying as many Ukrainians as possible."

"Syrsky [in this regard] cannot surprise anyone as he acts in his usual manner: he throws people, like splinters, into a fire, as was the case in the Debaltsevo encirclement and in the Artyomovsk trap," Gagin added.

@WorkerSolidarityNews

🇩🇪🇺🇦⚔️🇷🇺 🪖 🚨

GERMANY SIGNS BILATERAL AGREEMENT TO PROVIDE SECURITY GUARANTEES FOR UKRAINE

Ukrainian media is reporting the signing of a bilateral agreement with Germany providing the embattled eastern European country with security guarantees during a visit to Berlin this week by the Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky.

The new agreement codifies a previous joint declaration by the G7 Western countries on July 12th, 2023 and comes on the heels of another security agreement signed with the United Kingdom.

In a statement issued by the Deputy head of the office of the President of Ukraine, Ihor Zhovkva, and reported in Ukrainian Pravda, Zhovkva said, "Ukrainian and German leaders have signed an unprecedented agreement on security cooperation and long-term support in Berlin. This is the second agreement, following the agreement with the United Kingdom, that we have signed in accordance with the G7 Joint Declaration of 12 July 2023."

The new agreement provides a 10-years-long period of security guarantees to provide Ukraine with weapons and other military aid in its war with the Russian Federation.

According to the terms of the new agreement, Germany is to provide Ukraine with a record €7.1 billion in "financial and military assistance for 2024."

Germany will also support Ukraine's "reform efforts" in light of "its ambitions to join the EU and NATO." The agreement will not impede Ukraine's path to NATO membership and will maintain long-term military support from the German government.

The agreement also covers the "work envisaged to ensure sustainable forces capable of defending Ukraine now and deterring aggression in the future" with Germany continuing to provide Ukraine with modern military equipment and other security assistance.

It will also include non-military cooperation including financial, economic and technical support, as well as support for energy and critical infrastructure, information security and to "combat organized crime" in Ukraine, with a focus on the defense industry and to build for Ukraine a "high-tech military industrial complex."

The new agreement also calls for increased cooperation on "compensation for losses" incurred by Armed Forces of Ukraine in its war with Russia, as well as "bringing Russia to justice for the crime of aggression" against Ukraine through the " establishment of an appropriate tribunal."

The new security agreement is valid for a period of no less than 10-years from the time of signing and "Germany will continue to support Ukraine during its term."

@WorkerSolidarityNews

🇺🇦🇬🇧 🤡 🚨

DAVYD ARAKHAMIA CONFIRMS RUSSIAN PRESIDENT'S CLAIM THAT BORIS JOHNSON ENDED DEAL BETWEEN RUSSIA AND UKRAINE

Davyd Arakhamia, a leader in Zelensky's Servant of the People's Party in Ukraine, confirmed in an interview with Ukrainian media that the narrative that Russian President Vladimir Putin has been consistently pushing is in fact correct.

Arakhamia said in the interview that a deal had been worked out between the Ukrainian leadership and the Russian authorities in April of 2022, shortly after the start of Russia's Special Military Operation.

That deal, which called for a neutral Ukraine, had been accepted by Kiev, and the Ukrainian leadership had begun reviewing the details of the agreement when U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson rushed to Kiev to order the Ukrainians not to sign onto the deal with the Russians, but instead to fight them in a war, confident that the West could provide enough training and weapons to defeat the Russian Federation on a modern battlefield.

That story has been repeatedly told by the Russian President to the media, as have other Russian officials, but until now, Western leaders like Joe Biden, Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak denied the claim, calling it "Russian propaganda".

Now, Davyd Arakhamia has accepted this version of events, confirming for the media the arrival of Boris Johnson to Ukraine, telling the reporter, "they [the Russians] were ready to end the war."

"If we accepted neutrality, like Finland once did, and we would make a commitment that we will not join NATO," Arakhamia said, adding that "when we returned from Instanbul, Boris Johnson came to Kiev and said that we will not sign anything with them at all and let's just go to war. As soon as we call them to sit down and negotiate, they [the Russians] will form a delegation the next day waiting for us."

This not only confirms the Russian President's version of events, it also confirms the West's commitment to war, and its commitment to damaging the Russian military and economy through any of the most destructive means possible.

@WorkerSolidarityNews

🇺🇦⚔️🇷🇺 🚀🛩️💥 🚨

UKRAINIAN MISSILE SHOOTS DOWN RUSSIAN MILITARY TRANSPORT PLANE FILLED WITH ITS OWN POWs

74 are dead, including 65 Ukrainian POWs, after a Russian military transport plane being used to facilitate a prisoner exchange scheduled for Wednesday was downed somewhere over the Bolgorod region of the Russian Federation, near the border with Ukraine. The prisoner exchange has since been called off by Russian authorities.

In an article published by Ukrainian Pravda, a Ukrainian news periodical, a source is cited as saying that the aircraft was downed by Ukrainian forces near the border with Russia's Bolgorod region, however they have since retracted the source, and are now claiming they cannot confirm the news. The Russian authorities have since confirmed that the plane was in fact downed by a Ukrainian missile, likely using either an American Patriot air defense missile or a German-made Iris-T.

In a statement released by the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, the Russian authorities say that the crash took place at approximately 11:15am (local time), when a Russian Il-76 military transport plane filled with Ukrainian POWs was downed near the Bolgorod region.

“At about 11:00 Moscow time, an Il-76 plane crashed during a scheduled flight in the Belgorod region. On board there were 65 captured Ukrainian Armed Forces servicemen, <including> six crew members and three accompanying persons,” the statement says.

In its statement, the Russian Defense Ministry slammed the missile strike, declaring the "Kiev regime committed a terrorist act" in downing the military transport.

According to Russian sources, the aircraft had been en route from the Chkalovsky military airbase in Moscow, and was shot down by air defenses stationed somewhere in the Kharkov oblast in the northeast of Ukraine, killing everyone on board.

The Russian and Ukrainian authorities had agreed to conduct a prisoner exchange later on Wednesday, with the exchange set to take place near the Russian village of Kolotilovka, also in the Bolgorod oblast, close to the border with Ukraine.

A second military transport aircraft carrying some 80 Ukrainian POWs was turned around before reaching the danger area, and was successfully diverted to another airbase after news of the downing reached Russian authorities.

The Ukrainian officials have so far refused to comment on the crash, remaining mum as news of the event spreads, although Andrey Yusov, a spokesperson for the Main Directorate of Intelligence (GUR) confirmed a prisoner exchange had been scheduled for Wednesday, adding that the exchange has since been cancelled.

@WorkerSolidarityNews

🇵🇱🇺🇦 🚀💥☠️ 🚨

POLAND ENDS INVESTIGATION INTO ERRENT MISSILE MISFIRE THAT KILLED TWO AFTER UKRAINIAN OBSTRUCTION

Authorities in Poland have ended the investigation into an errent missile misfire that crossed into Polish territory and killed two people on the night of November 15th, 2022 after Ukrainian authorities repeatedly obstructed Polish investigators.

Polish investigators say the Ukrainian authorities refused repeated requests for legal assistance, adding that “due to the long-term obstruction of the investigation, which makes it impossible to further conduct the trial, which consists of awaiting the fulfillment of requests for international legal assistance."

In September of last year, Polish authorities admitted their belief that the missile belonged to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, while the country's Prosecutor General, Justice Zbigniew Zebro pointed to Kiev's refusal to cooperate with the investigation, saying that the obstruction was likely authorized at the "highest level of the Ukrainian state."

The Russian Federation, for its part, insisted that no strikes were carried out that day near the border between Ukraine and Poland, pointing to photos from the incident that clearly indicated the missile was fired from a Ukrainian S-300 air defense system.

@WorkerSolidarityNews