Heading towards World War III?

On July 2, 22 years ago, I [Victoria Spartz] immigrated to the United States after spending almost 22 years in Ukraine (13 of them under control of the Soviet Union). I was young, idealistic and inspired by the ideas of freedom. These ideas of freedom or more like erosion of freedoms has led me to become involved with politics.

When I became a Congresswoman, I intentionally decided not to get involved with any international issues, including Ukraine, since I believed we had too many domestic issues shaking up our country from within. We still do, but when a major war in Ukraine broke out, I understood that I could be of significant value to my colleagues and our country.

As someone who learns everything from the ground, I spent some time around Europe including a number of visits to Ukraine. Therefore, my understanding of the situation in Ukraine is not from books and theories or surveillance reports and analytics, but from seeing and hearing what’s actually happening with my own eyes. I will not go into many problems at this time and there are a plenty of them, but will just list three urgent action items needed to get the situation under control:

1) President Biden has to stop playing politics, have a clear strategy and align security assistance with our strategy;

2) President Zelensky has to stop playing politics and theater, and start governing to better support his military and local governments; and

3) Congress has to establish proper oversight of critical infrastructure and delivery of weapons and aid.

spartz.house.gov/media/press-releases/spartz-presidents-biden-and-zelensky-need-stop-playing-politics-peoples-lives

Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko on Saturday accused US Congresswoman Victoria Spartz of attempting to bring “Russian propaganda” into American politics.

Spartz had earlier called on the US administration to develop a mechanism for tracking military assistance provided to Kiev, and expressed doubts about the reliability of President Volodymyr Zelensy’s chief of staff in an open letter to Joe Biden.

“We advise Ms. Spartz to stop trying to earn extra political capital on baseless speculation around the topic of war in our country and the grief of Ukrainians. Especially cynical are manipulations about Ukraine and its leadership from a congresswoman of Ukrainian origin,” Nikolenko wrote on Facebook.

He also called on Spartz to “stop undermining the existing mechanisms of providing US military assistance to Ukraine,” claiming that Kiev’s interaction with its American partners is completely transparent. Any “further bureaucratization and delaying the process” will only help the Kremlin, the Foreign Ministry spokesman claimed.

Russia warns West about fate of weapons sent to UkraineREAD MORE: Russia warns West about fate of weapons sent to Ukraine
On July 8, in an interview with Fox News, Spartz called on Congress to establish “proper oversight” of billions of dollars in assistance provided to Ukraine. Just a few days prior to that, the Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said that “some of the foreign weapons supplied by the West to Ukraine are spreading throughout the Middle East region, and also end up on the black market.”

The head of Interpol, Jurgen Stock, also expressed concern that the conflict in Ukraine would result in numerous weapons being sold illegally.

In her open letter to the president, a redacted version of which was published on the same day, Spartz said the Ukrainian president’s chief of staff, Andrey Yermak, “raises many concerns with a variety of people” in the US and around the world. However, the congresswoman noted, he is believed to be “highly regarded” by Biden’s National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan.

“Based on a variety of intelligence, actions taken by Mr. Yermak in Ukraine and his alleged dealings in connection with Russia, Congress needs to obtain this information urgently to confirm or deny various serious allegations,” Spartz’s office explained.

The congresswoman brought Biden’s attention to the appointment of Oleg Tatarov as Yermak’s deputy responsible for the fight against corruption. She claimed that Tatarov “has been delaying the appointment of an independent anti-corruption prosecutor for over a year.” Spartz also noted that, prior to his appointment, Tatarov was investigated by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau but later his case “was allegedly inappropriately transferred to a regular prosecutor and closed.”

“Mr. Tatarov was also a top police official under former president Yanukovych prosecuting Euromaidan protesters,” the congresswoman said.

Western arms supplied to Ukraine offered on darknet – RT investigationREAD MORE: Western arms supplied to Ukraine offered on darknet – RT investigation
Tatarov became deputy chief of staff in August 2020. His appointment caused outrage for several reasons, including his alleged ties with Russia. The public organization ‘Family of the Heavenly Hundred’, which represented relatives of those killed during the Western-backed Euromaidan protests of 2013-2014, accused the former deputy head of the Interior Ministry’s investigation department of justifying and covering up “mass crimes and violations of human rights.”

Since 2017, Tatarov has been under investigation over alleged misuse of money set aside for the construction of housing for the National Guard. He has kept his position despite the fact that both his immediate supervisor, Andrey Yermak, and President Zelensky were forced to publicly defend him.

In late 2021, Yermak explained the appointment of Tatarov by saying the HR department had found Tatarov’s “professional level” to be suited to the position for which he was considered.

He also said that four-year-old accusations against Tatarov “have nothing to do” with his work in the presidential office.

In July 2021, responding to a petition demanding Tatarov’s dismissal, Zelensky stated that “no one shall be compelled to do what is not prescribed by law.” In 2020, he stated that Oleg Tatarov had not been involved in the dispersal of activists during the Maidan.

www.rt.com/news/558737-congresswoman-ukraine-allegations-response

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Ukraine plans a "million-strong army" equipped with Nato weapons to retake the south of the country from occupying Russians, the defence minister says.

Retaking the areas around the Black Sea coast was vital to the country's economy, Oleksii Reznikov said.

However, the comments are more of a rallying cry than a concrete plan, says the BBC's Joe Inwood in Kyiv.

The defence minister's remarks come as Russia makes progress in taking territory in the eastern Donbas region.

www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-62118953

Five people have been killed and at least 80 injured in shelling in the city of Novaya Kakhovka by Ukrainian forces, a local Russian-appointed official said. The city is in Ukraine’s southern Kherson Region and is controlled by Russian forces.

Kirill Stremousov, deputy head of the region, also told RIA Novosti that seven people are missing.

Vladimir Leontyev, Novaya Kakhovka administration chief, said that a fertilizer storage depot detonated from shelling on Monday, and multiple houses were damaged, as well as other civilian sites, including a market and a hospital.

Natalya Zarya, who coordinates the delivery of humanitarian aid to the city, said that a storage facility with 35 tons of aid, including food, has also been destroyed.

Local officials claimed that Ukrainian troops used US-provided HIMARS multiple rocket launchers to attack the city.

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“Such strikes on civilian sites can only draw resolute condemnation. It is a direct consequence of the delivery of weapons by the [United] States to Kiev,” Dmitry Polyansky, the deputy head of Russia’s mission to the UN, told RIA Novosti on Tuesday.

The Ukrainian military said on Tuesday that it destroyed an ammunition depot in Novaya Kakhovka.

www.rt.com/russia/558805-russia-novaya-kakhovka-shelling

A video shows the destruction in the city of Novaya Kakhovka in southern Ukraine, which local officials say was shelled by Ukrainian troops on Monday evening.

The city is controlled by Russian forces.

Vladimir Leontyev, the city’s top Russian-appointed official, shared a video showing several destroyed buildings, including a supermarket.

“This is the city center. This is how everything looks [now],” Leontyev said.

Local officials said five people were killed and at least 80 injured in the city on Monday evening, while seven are missing. They claimed that Ukrainian troops used US-delivered HIMARS multiple rocket launchers to attack Novaya Kakhovka. According to their reports, a fertilizer storage depot detonated due to the shelling.

www.rt.com/russia/558818-southern-ukraine-shelling-aftermath

The Ukrainian military has been accused, by the Russian Defence Ministry, of throwing mothers and their newborn babies out of maternity hospitals in the southern Odessa Region. Wednesday's statement added that medical staff who tried to stop them were allegedly assaulted.

“In the settlements of Dobroslav and Krasnoselka of the Limansky district in Odessa Region, Ukrainian militants use hospitals and ambulance stations as command posts and barracks. At the same time, all the patients, regardless of their health condition, as well as maternity ward patients and their newborn children, were ruthlessly kicked out of medical institutions, while medical staff who tried to prevent the neo-Nazis’ cruelty suffered from physical violence,” Mikhail Mizintsev, the head of Russia’s National Defense Control Center, outlined.

He added that the Ukrainian forces set up barracks, firing positions, and ammunition depots in a clinic in Ugledar (a city in the Donetsk People’s Republic), with heavy weaponry, artillery, and mortars stationed nearby.

Mizintsev urged international organizations, including the World Health Organization, to influence Kiev to put an end to the use of medical facilities for military purposes.

“Such actions of the criminal Ukrainian authorities show their complete indifference to the fate of their own citizens and absolute disregard for all moral norms and principles of international humanitarian law,” he said.

Mizintsev’s comments come in the wake of Ukrainian shelling in the Russian-controlled city of Novaya Kakhovka in Kherson Region, which reportedly killed two people and injured at least 90, with seven still missing after a fertilizer storage depot was hit. The explosion also damaged several civilian sites, including a market and a hospital.

www.rt.com/russia/558949-ukraine-hospital-odessa-newborn