Heading towards World War III?

Ukrainian governor ‘suspects everybody’ of helping Russia

The southwestern Ukrainian city of Nikolayev is set to be put into a full lockdown in the coming days, governor Vitaliy Kim has revealed. The extreme measure is needed to catch alleged spies and saboteurs believed to be colluding with Russia, he told The Telegraph in an interview.

So far, the city’s authorities and the military have detained twelve individuals believed to be working for Russia amid the ongoing conflict, Kim revealed. Asked about the numbers of alleged “spies,” the governor admitted he suspects literally everybody in the city of being a traitor.

“I suspect everybody,” Kim stated, adding that he has a “hidden strategy” to uncover and catch the purported spies.

In order to remain strong in the face of Russian forces one needs to keep “a clear head as well as a heated heart,” the official asserted. The remark came as an apparent nod to a saying, commonly attributed to Bolshevik revolutionary and the head of early Soviet state security bodies, Felix Dzerzhinsky, that a true security agent should have “clear head, heated heart and clean hands.” The latter, apparently, does not apply to Ukrainian spy-hunters.

Earlier this week, Kim announced a $100 bounty for tips about alleged saboteurs and spies. The compensation will come in exchange for information on “those who reveal to the occupiers the places of deployment of Ukrainian troops,” he said, adding that the $100 tip will be paid only for credible reports.

Multiple Ukrainian officials have repeatedly sounded alarm over allegedly rampant “collaboration” and “treason” among the country’s citizens and employees of security agencies. The issue led to the downfall of Prosecutor General Irina Venediktova and the head of the country’s top security agency, Ivan Bakanov. The two officials were fired during the week by Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, who said that “some 651 criminal cases have been registered on high treason and collaboration activities of employees of the prosecutor’s office, pre-trial investigation bodies, and other law enforcement agencies.”

www.rt.com/russia/559573-ukrainian-governor-spy-hunt

Spies tried to force me to take anti-Russia stance

A major foreign intelligence service has been pressing Serbian Interior Minister Aleksandar Vulin over his attitude towards Russia and China, the official revealed on Saturday. The minister expects a large media campaign against him to kick off next week.

“One of the largest intelligence services in the world, if not the largest, told me that my stance was unacceptable and that if I do not change [it] and do not abandon the policy that I am pursuing ... then I will not be a member of the government and they will do absolutely everything to smear me,” Vulin told media outlet Pink.

A media campaign against him is expected to begin next week, Vulin claimed. Despite the pressure, the minister said he refused to cooperate in any way with the foreign spies. “I haven’t worked and won’t work for anyone except for the Serbian people, the Serbian state, and I won’t be completely loyal to anyone, except for the president of all Serbs, Aleksandar Vucic,” the minister said.

www.rt.com/news/559571-serbia-foreign-spy-campaign

US officials voice DNA biowarfare fears

Biosamples gathered by various DNA testing services could be sold and used to develop bioweapons specifically tailored to target certain groups or even individuals, US lawmakers have claimed at the Aspen Security Forum – echoing concerns long voiced by Russian officials.

“There are now weapons under development, and developed, that are designed to target specific people,” US Representative Jason Crow (D-Colorado), a member of the House Intelligence Committee, said in Colorado on Friday. “That’s what this is, where you can actually take someone’s DNA, take their medical profile, and you can target a biological weapon that will kill that person or take them off the battlefield or make them inoperable.”

Given that threat, Crow added, it’s troubling that expectations of privacy for personal data have diminished over the past 20 years, to the point that young people have “very little expectation of privacy” and readily give their data to private companies, such as DNA testing services.

“People will very rapidly spit into a cup and send it to 23andMe and get really interesting data about their background,” Crow said. “And guess what? Their DNA is now owned by a private company. It can be sold off with very little intellectual property protection or privacy protection.”

Russia accuses US of concealing data on biolabsREAD MORE: Russia accuses US of concealing data on biolabs
He added that the US will need to create new guidelines for protection of personal health data, including DNA, “because that data is actually going to be procured and collected by our adversaries for the development of these systems.”

Moscow has been warning about the dangers of uncontrolled gathering of DNA samples for years, with President Vladimir Putin stating back in 2017 that according to Russian intelligence services, biological samples were being harvested “purposefully and professionally” all over Russia by various NGOs and other organizations for unclear purposes.

Over the past years, the Pentagon has “significantly expanded its research potential not only in the field of creating biological weapons, but also obtaining information about antibiotic resistance and the presence of antibodies to certain diseases in populations of specific regions,” Lieutenant-General Igor Kirillov, the head of the Russian Radiation, Chemical and Biological Protection Force, claimed in May.

Russia presents new evidence on Ukraine biolabs, comments on links to Biden and USREAD MORE: Russia presents new evidence on Ukraine biolabs, comments on links to Biden and US
In a series of briefings starting in March, the Russian military has been presenting evidence of the Pentagon’s alleged involvement in funding biolaboratories in Ukraine. According to Russia’s Investigative Committee, the US poured more than $224 million into biological research in Ukraine between 2005 and early 2022.

While Washington admitted its support of 46 biological research facilities in Ukraine over the past 20 years, it insists it was all part of a peaceful public health project. The US military accused Russia and China of “spreading disinformation and sowing mistrust” about its efforts to rid the world of weapons of mass destruction – while Western media dismissed the claims as a conspiracy theories and science fiction.

Concerns over customized bioweapons extend beyond human DNA data, according to Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), a member of the Senate's Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities and Armed Services Committee, who spoke on a panel with Crow. America's adversaries can also direct bioweapons specifically at US livestock and crops to create a food security crisis, she claimed.

“There’s a number of ways we can look at biological weapons and the need to make sure not only are we securing human beings, but then also the food that will sustain us,” Ernst added.

A report issued earlier this year by the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission suggested that China could someday attempt to wage biological warfare against genetically modified American crops, given its increased “interest in US agriculture” and GMO-related intellectual property.

“While China’s main interest in obtaining GM seeds from the United States is in improving its crop yields, the potential weaponization of agricultural IP is possible,” it said. “Similar to hacking a computer code, Beijing could easily hack the code or DNA of US GM seeds and conduct biowarfare by creating some type of blight that could destroy US crops.”

www.rt.com/news/559580-dna-samples-targeted-bioweapons

Ukrainian special op to hijack Russian warplanes revealed by Moscow

Russian intelligence has said it foiled a sophisticated plot by Kiev spies to hijack several military jets. An intelligence official and a pilot, who is said to have been targeted by the Ukrainians, shared details of the operation with RT.

Early in the ongoing conflict, Kiev compiled a publicly available list of military hardware, promising monetary rewards for potential defectors who managed to bring the equipment with them. The more elaborate the weapons were, the better the rewards that were promised, with warplanes, helicopters and tanks fetching the top prize of up to $1 million.

When the public call for defectors fell flat, Ukraine’s security service targeted individual Russian servicemen – pilots in particular – directly. They apparently traced and identified the pilots through the digital trail they left online, an operative with the Russian Security Service (FSB) told RT’s Maria Finoshina. Kiev appeared to be specifically interested in Russian Su-34 fighter-bombers and Tu-22M3 strategic aircraft, according to the source.

A Su-34 pilot targeted in the plot told RT that he was initially reluctant to speak with the Ukrainian spies, believing the promise of $1 million for stealing warplanes and defecting to Kiev to be a prank. After realizing his interlocutors were serious about the proposal, he tipped off Russian intelligence, which then monitored subsequent conversations.

“Initially, of course, I took it as a joke, but after a period of talking it became clear that I was dealing with representatives of the Ukrainian intelligence service and their Western partners,” the pilot said. “Also, I was supposed to get passports of European states and a comfortable life abroad was promised.”

Ukrainian intelligence apparently believed the Russian pilots who they contacted were ready to commit treason and hijack their own warplanes, putting them in touch with a Ukrainian pilot to discuss technical details.

“They believed so much in the possibility of organizing the hijacking that they revealed the layout of their defense systems, altitude maps, and lots of other useful information to us,” the Russian pilot said, adding that the information obtained from the Ukrainians was used during the military operation.

To prove that the pilots were actually able to pull off the hijacking and had access to the specific warplanes, Ukrainian intelligence demanded video proof from them. The pilots were paid between $4,000 and $7,000 per video, which showed them getting into the planes while holding pieces of paper with specific numbers.

Since transactions between Russia and abroad had been heavily restricted under Western sanctions, the pilots were to be paid in cash through an elaborate network of couriers. The FSB has detained the man who had allegedly hired the couriers to deliver the money, and the suspect made a rather unexpected revelation.

The middleman claimed he had received orders directly from Christo Grozev, a Bulgarian journalist and chief ‘Russia investigator’ with Bellingcat, a controversial US-government-funded organization that was labeled “undesirable” in Russia earlier in July. Moscow has repeatedly questioned the independence of the investigative group, citing its close ties with Western intelligence agencies.

“Grozev… did not actually explain anything to me, he just told me the name of the courier who would deliver the money by train,” the suspect claimed.

The alleged involvement of Grozev is not the only suggestion of Western influence in hijacking the planes. During the negotiations with the pilots, Ukrainian intelligence was able to procure two legitimate EU passports – one Slovakian and one Romanian – for wives of the pilots, as a guarantee for the would-be ‘defectors’.

Leaving Russia with such documents would have immediately turned the pilots’ families into “hostages” of Ukrainian intelligence, the FSB operative told RT, as “methods of blackmail, threats and pressure on relatives” have long been standard practice for them.

“Obviously, the operation itself was carried out with the support of Western and, primarily, British intelligence services. We know about Grozev’s involvement and MI6 not only from these statements,” the operative claimed, adding that Ukrainian intelligence had recently “ceased hiding” its ties with foreign spies.

The plot also described an even a darker element, as the would-be-defectors were supposed to somehow deal with their fellow crew members, it was revealed. While the Su-34 has two crew members, the Tu-22M3 has four.

Ukrainian intelligence reportedly suggested that Russian pilots should drug their comrades with Clophelin (Clonidine), a medication used to treat high blood pressure and other ailments. In high doses, however, it has a strong sedative effect, which makes the drug ‘popular’ among criminals wishing to knock out their victims to rob them. Very high doses can also be lethal.

Since the drug is not easy to come by in Russia, Ukrainian intelligence is said to have arranged a dead drop involving the substance. The FSB says it later recovered a stash of the medication.

“As the pilot, I was asked to knock out my co-pilot, and what would happen to him after that is not clear – even whether he would be kept alive,” the Russian serviceman said.

According to the FSB’s information, the Ukrainian side insisted the betrayed crew members would be safe and exchanged as POWs later on. The Russian pilot, however, expressed strong doubts about that.

www.rt.com/russia/559528-fsb-ukraine-spies-hijack-warplanes

Public opinion seems to be turning against the military draft in Ukraine, how will the Zelensky regime respond?

Five months into Russia's military offensive in Ukraine many in the latter state are starting to vocalise their objection to the draft imposed by the regime in Kiev. Especially as the propaganda about victory, any day now, starts to lose its power.

Popular Ukrainian blogger and activist Yury Kasyanov recently made a post on his Facebook page, in which he complained: “Let’s stop the mobilization, open the borders, and dissolve all the military recruitment offices... Let the professionals do the fighting – after all, they get paid for it – and let the volunteers join in, because they want to fight. But I am an untrained civilian, unfit for war, I’m going to get myself killed. And I pay my taxes, too!”

With this provocative post, Kasyanov intended to spark a discussion about mandatory conscription in Ukraine. But the results of the debate came as a shock to the blogger: “Judging by the comments on the previous post, nine out of ten Ukrainians have no intention to fight; they oppose nationwide mobilization, as well as the ban on men leaving the country.”

It should be noted that Kasyanov’s followers, like himself, are fierce supporters of the idea that Ukraine must fight Russia to the bitter end. And yet, even among them, the vast majority have no desire to die for the glory of Ukraine.

Modern civilization is built on a very self-conscious attitude toward one’s health. The first thing you see when you go online are banner ads that read ‘10 Warning Signs That You Have Cancer’ or ‘How to Relieve Joint Pain’, etc. Other core values include bodily integrity, the right to privacy, and of course, everyday comfort and convenience. None of these go together well with the squalid realities of the front line. One might say that the whole ethos of war stands in opposition to the values of today's society.

Ukraine is a country largely populated by one or two-child families. How many of its citizens would voluntarily go to war to be killed or crippled? It should come as no surprise, therefore, that Ukrainians do not want to go to war. Yes, if you listen to what they say, the majority of Ukrainians are patriots. But when it comes to getting up from the couch and actually going to the front, very few are willing to ‘walk the talk’.

And I don’t imagine that, after 30,000 more Ukrainian soldiers have perished on the battlefield, anyone would feel more motivated to join the cause. In fact, it would likely produce the opposite effect: ‘I don’t want to die like all the others’. It is much safer to engage in fiery debates on social media from home, or to follow the fighting on YouTube.

What’s more, Ukraine is going through a demographic crisis with its population shrinking from 52 million in 1991 to barely more than 30 million, even before the conflict erupted in February. The situation is so bad that the state has avoided holding a census for over two decades.

I read Ukrainian mass and social media daily, which is heavily censored by the regime in Kiev. It's output is rather different from the reality on the ground.

While the internet is flooded with videos of Ukrainian soldiers refusing to fight, complaining that their fleeing commanders are throwing them at tanks as cannon fodder– without any equipment or training. There are hundreds of these videos and new ones are uploaded every day. They are shot by Ukrainians in military fatigues, not Russian state media. Also, the number of videos showing Ukrainian women refusing to let their men be taken by the police or recruiters is also growing.

Despite this, the Ukrainian media and elite bloggers avoid commenting on this. They, of course, want to silence a phenomenon which is key to understanding what is happening to the country. Over the course of numerous addresses to his people, not once has President Vladimir Zelensky mentioned the countless instances of soldiers refusing to obey orders, which is mostly the case with mobilized men and volunteers on the front line who thought they were going to serve near their home areas.

The reasoning is often that they are not willing to risk their lives so that Russian won't become a second official language, or Kiev can become a formal ally of the US. The price is too high for what is at stake.

There is little wonder why Ukrainian media pretends the issue doesn’t exist. The mere acknowledgement of the fact that so many soldiers are discontented would shatter the carefully constructed image of a nation united in selfless patriotism.

The gag order from the Ukrainian government preventing publication of any data on the army’s losses – unquestioned by Western media – is no accident either. The authorities prefer to keep their people in the dark when it comes to the number of those who have already been killed. This policy has been fruitful so far. The May and June polls by the Kiev International Institute of Sociology and NORC at the University of Chicago commissioned by the Wall Street Journal indicate that 90% of the population in Kiev-controlled territory trust the Ukrainian Army, and 85% trust Zelensky, who has banned the real opposition. Curiously enough, while 89% of the respondents voted against ceding any territory, only 66% said they believe that Ukraine can reclaim the territories already lost.

All of this provides a clear answer as to why Kiev is actively recruiting foreign mercenaries. Since they are better motivated than Ukraine’s own recruits, they can be deployed to the more dangerous zones. It’s possible that the regime's main problem is that it does not know how to deal with the fact that citizens en masse are trying to avoid being drafted and sent to the front lines. The official ban for all male citizens between 18 and 60 years old to leave the country is itself indicative of Zelensky's line of reasoning that those who are allowed to exit would hardly want to come back and fight. It doesn’t provide a solution though. Instead, it increasingly demotivates people.

Military enlistment offices are extremely disorganized. Recruitment campaigns are run in the streets, shopping malls, and even on public beaches. Recruiters have also been reported using their power to draft eligible males as leverage against them or a means of revenge or punishment. This again shows that many perceive the prospect of joining the army to protect the homeland as undesirable rather than an honor.

It’s not impossible that in the absence of civilian jobs with a decent paycheck, many will volunteer to join the forces just to feed themselves and their families. However, the budget is not big enough to fill the gaps with volunteers. A certain number of recruits will have to be drafted. It remains unclear how Kiev plans to tackle this pressing issue, when so many seem to feel the cause is not worth risking their own lives for.

www.rt.com/russia/559447-zelensky-ignoring-critical-issue

Russia says it wants to overthrow Volodymyr Zelensky's govt

wants to topple Volodymyr Zelensky's govt. Russian Finance Minister Sergey Lavrov has said that his country's goal is to bring a regime change in Ukraine.

Erdogan explains Putin to the West

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday criticized his Western colleagues for having the wrong attitude towards Russian President Vladimir Putin, contrasting that with his own ability to work with Moscow on issues ranging from the Syrian peace process to last week’s deal to export Ukrainian grain via the Black Sea ports.

“You know the attitude of Western politicians towards Putin,” he told the state broadcaster TRT during a lengthy interview on Monday evening, calling it “unbecoming of politics.”

“The attitude you show him is the attitude you will get in return,” Erdogan explained.

He credited this insight for Ankara’s ability to successfully negotiate the grain deal with both Moscow and Kiev on Friday. Turkey had also hosted the initial talks between Ukraine and Russia in the early days of the conflict, before the process broke down – reportedly at the urging of some Western leaders.

“We are determined to put this agreement into practice,” Erdogan said of the grain deal, saying it would go a long way to ease the threat of a global food crisis. He urged both Russia and Ukraine to abide by what they signed in Istanbul.

In the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, Ankara does not regard either side as an enemy, Erdogan said. Turkey has not imposed sanctions against Russia, but it has spoken in opposition to Moscow’s military operation in Ukraine and sold Kiev combat drones such as the Bayraktar TB-2.

www.rt.com/news/559630-erdogan-putin-attitude-west