WAR trouble brewing again in ukraine

danielboon

danielboon

TB Fanatic
US, Russia hold parallel military drills in the Balkans
The Associated Press
22 minutes ago
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Netherlands soldiers secure their gear as CH-47 Chinook helicopters fly to the pickup zone during Swift Response 21 at Babadag Training Area, Romania, May 16, 2021. (Sgt. Randis Monroe/U.S. Army)
BELGRADE, Serbia — Serbia and Russia launched joint military exercises near Serbia’s capital Thursday as U.S.-led forces held massive drills in neighboring Balkan states in what appeared to be Moscow’s resolve to maintain influence in the European region torn by wars during the 1990s.

The Serbian and Russian defense ministries said the joint training of some 200 special troops will include “the destruction of an illegal military formation,” live ammunition shooting and “anti-terrorist” action. The drills will last through May 25, the ministries said.
The exercises at a training ground near Belgrade comes as large-scale U.S. Army-led drills dubbed Defender Europe 2021 are held across Europe, including in most of the nations that neighbor Serbia.
A U.S. Army Multiple Launch Rocket System fires a rocket during a live fire exercise with Estonian defense forces in Tapa, Estonia, Sept. 5, 2020. (Spc. Ryan Barnes/Army)

Army fires are at the center of a major NATO exercise — as Russia watches
Army rockets will be an essential element of Defender Europe 2021, a months-long series of NATO military exercises across Europe and Africa.
Todd South
The U.S. Army has said that the joint exercises which include approximately 28,000 multinational troops are “designed to build readiness and interoperability between U.S., NATO and partner militaries.’'
The exercises, which include air and missile defense assets, “demonstrates our ability to serve as a strategic security partner in the western Balkans and Black Sea regions while sustaining our abilities in northern Europe, the Caucasus, Ukraine and Africa,” the U.S. military has said.

U.S. Army Sgt. Kevin Lanehart grounds the Guided Missile Transporter in case of an electrical surge, May 18, 2021, at a Croatian air force base in Zadar. (Sgt. Joshua Oh/U.S. Army)
U.S. Army Sgt. Kevin Lanehart grounds the Guided Missile Transporter in case of an electrical surge, May 18, 2021, at a Croatian air force base in Zadar. (Sgt. Joshua Oh/U.S. Army)
Serbia, which is a member of NATO’s Partnership for Peace outreach program and is formally seeking European Union membership, has been forging close military, economic and political ties with both Russia and China.


Serbia remains the only Russian ally in the region that was torn by bloody civil wars in the 1990s. Most of Serbia’s neighbors belong to NATO and Moscow has openly opposed their membership in the Western military alliance, claiming the eastern European region is its traditional sphere of influence.
Russian and Serbian soldiers perform during exercise in Deliblatska Pescara, a large sand area, 70 kilometers northwest of Belgrade, Serbia. (Serbian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)
Russian and Serbian soldiers perform during exercise in Deliblatska Pescara, a large sand area, 70 kilometers northwest of Belgrade, Serbia. (Serbian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)
Serbian Interior Minister Aleksandar Vulin said Thursday that Russia is “a great security partner.”
“We are jointly thinking of how to preserve our countries because Serbia and Russia can be broken only from within, not from the outside,” Vulin said.
www.militarytimes.com

US, Russia hold parallel military drills in the Balkans

The Serbia-Russia exercises at a training ground near Belgrade comes as large-scale U.S. Army-led drills dubbed Defender Europe 2021 are held across Europe.
www.militarytimes.com www.militarytimes.com
 
jward

jward

passin' thru
Ukraine's MFA: Russian militarization behind lack of water in occupied Crimea
Translation: Akulenko Olena

3 minutes


The supply of water from mainland Ukraine could resume only after the end of the occupation of the peninsula.
REUTERS

REUTERS
Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs says the Russian armed forces' activities to develop military infrastructure in occupied Crimea are behind the lack of drinking water for the local population.
Spokesperson for the ministry Oleh Nikolenko explained this in a comment for UNIAN.
Read alsoBlockade of Azov Sea: Will Russia pay for military, economic intervention Blockade of Azov Sea: Will Russia pay for military, economic intervention
"There are enough water resources for domestic use in Crimea. It has become a problem over its massive militarization, i.e. the development of military bases and military and industrial enterprises of the Russian Federation," Nikolenko said.
Click to expand...
"In fact, the Russian military has jeopardized the fulfillment of the basic needs of the Crimean civilian population. This once again proves the destructive nature of the Russian Federation's policy in the Ukrainian territories occupied by it," he added.
Yet, he continued, the Russian side does not abandon attempts to shift the responsibility onto others. "Let me remind you that under international law, Russia, as an occupying state, bears responsibility for the situation on the peninsula," Nikolenko said.
"Our position is clear: the supply of Dnieper water to Crimea is possible to resume only after its demilitarization and the end of [Russian] occupation," he said.
Fresh water shortage in Crimea: Background
  • Prior to the occupation of Crimea by Russia, Ukraine used to cover up to 85% of the peninsula's needs for freshwater through the North Crimean Canal.
  • After the occupation of Crimea by Russia in 2014, Ukraine severed water supplies to the occupied peninsula.
  • In 2020, the situation with the availability of water in Crimea reached a critical level over droughts and shallowing of reservoirs. The occupying authorities limited the use of water in many towns and villages.
  • The Ukrainian authorities say the resumption of water supplies to Crimea, via the North Crimean Canal, would be possible only in the context of the end of the Russian occupation.
  • At the same time, experts say it is technically impossible to restore water delivery to Crimea through the North Crimean Canal since it has become completely unusable over the past years.
  • Posted for fair use
www.unian.info

Ukraine's MFA: Russian militarization behind lack of water in occupied Crimea

The supply of water from mainland Ukraine could resume only after the end of the occupation of the peninsula.
www.unian.info www.unian.info
 
S

seraphima

Veteran Member
Thanks, jpiggot, for staying on top of this for us. This situation is going to go along relatively quietly until it doesn't, and then blow up big time. All i can say is that if his handlers are going to have Biden meet with Putin, they better have their man in a shark cage. What a mismatch! Most likely scenario to me is that 'something' will come up so Biden doesn't have to go.
 
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