Geopolitical situation
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke with Pope Francis at the Vatican on Saturday and later said he sought the pontiff's support for Ukraine's peace plan. The Ukrainians announced the 10-point plan to the world a year ago in the hope that it would help end the large-scale war launched by Russia more than a year ago.
V. Zelensky held his hand over his heart and said he was "honoured" to meet the Pope. Francis, who uses a walking stick because of a knee problem, walked over to greet the Ukrainian President before receiving him in his office near the Vatican's Audience Hall.
After a 40-minute audience, Mr Zelensky tweeted his thanks to Francis for his "personal attention to the tragedy of millions of Ukrainians". He said he had spoken to the Pontiff about "tens of thousands of deported (Ukrainian) children. We must make every effort to bring them back home".
However, the Vatican statement on Saturday made no mention of this request. Instead, the Vatican said the two men spoke about Ukraine's "humanitarian and political situation provoked by the ongoing war".
"The Pope assured that he has been praying continuously since February last year, as evidenced by his many public exhortations and his constant invocations to the Lord for peace," the Vatican statement said, referring to the Russian invasion that began on 24 February 2022.
Let us be realistic. Prayers and tears, communion with God, kissing the cross and kneeling on our knees are only deceiving ourselves and others. The time for holding on to hope is over, now it is the tanks, the artillery and the long-range missiles that speak. We understand that the Pontiff is concerned for the well-being of all people, for peace in all corners of the world, and that all human lives are as important to him as they are to us. We must realise that the future of humanity depends on the extent to which we can find the strength within ourselves to close the darkness in our hearts. However, the 'humanitarian and political situation' has not been provoked by some abstract war, but by the fascist imperialists in the Kremlin, and they are solely responsible for the crimes against humanity in Ukraine. By the way, as far as the people are concerned, many of them, who rape, kill children, cause endless suffering, grab toilets, sadistically torture the elderly and chop off the paws of dogs, have lost everything that makes a person human. A chicken is more like a human being than a non-human being of the Russo-Fascist horde cutting off the head of a living prisoner of war.
Today, Mr Zelensky arrived in Berlin in the early hours of the morning for talks with German leaders on further arms supplies. These are needed for Ukraine to repel the Russian invasion and to continue the liberation of occupied territories. On the eve of his arrival, which took place under tight security conditions, the German government announced a new package of military aid to Ukraine worth more than €2.7 billion, including tanks, anti-aircraft systems and ammunition.
"Already in Berlin. Weapons. A powerful package. Air defence. Reconstruction. THE EU. NATO. Security", Zelensky tweeted on Sunday, clearly indicating the main priorities of his trip.
Germany, initially hesitant to provide Ukraine with lethal weapons, has become one of the largest suppliers of arms to Ukraine, including Leopard 1 and Leopard 2 battle tanks and the sophisticated IRIS-T SLM air defence system. Modern Western equipment is seen as crucial if Ukraine is to succeed in its counter-offensive against the Russian Driski army.
After a meeting with Chancellor Olaf Scholz and other senior officials at the Chancellery, the two leaders are due to fly to the western city of Aachen, where Mr Zelensky will be presented with the International Charlemagne Medal, awarded to him and to the Ukrainian people.
The organisers say the award recognises that their resistance to the Russian invasion is "not only in defence of their country's sovereignty and the lives of its citizens, but also in defence of Europe and European values".
Significant advances
Yesterday in the Briansk region, it was not a Eurovision show, but a real show. The Ukrainian air defence forces shot down two Russian fighter jets, one of them an "unkillable" Su-35, as well as two specially trained Mi-8 (24) helicopters for electronic warfare and combat search and rescue. The crews of all aircraft were killed. This news is important in two respects. Firstly, in Ukrainian hands, Western equipment is reaching Russian gunships (in the air!) even on Russian territory, close to military airfields where anti-missile systems and other Soviet junk are supposed to operate. Secondly, this is at least the second such Su-35 shot down in Ukraine. This is not just a 50 million euro missile attack. It is a clear warning that the Russians are completely losing their freedom of manoeuvre in the air. Congratulations to the Ukrainians!
Judging by the lexicon of the apartment thief and recidivist Prigozhin, the situation of the "Vagner" maroders and the regular Russian occupiers at Bachmut and Soledar becomes critical. By threatening the Kremlin leadership to "stick fascist signs up its arse", Putin's chef seems to have realised that the counter-offensive of the defenders in the east of Ukraine is gaining momentum, and that the Russo-fascists have nothing to stop it. As we have said before, the occupiers have one real option, which they can and probably will use, and that is to retreat, leaving part of the occupied territories in well-fortified positions a few tens of kilometres east of Bakhmut, and to try to maintain the force of the coming Ukrainian military hurricane there.
Briefly
In retaliation for their losses, Russian terrorists have launched a total of 4 rocket attacks over the past day, with reports of hits on civilian infrastructure in the cities of Ternopil and Mykolaiv. The Horde also carried out 79 air strikes and fired 99 rounds of volley rocket fire.
Iranian Shahed-136/131 strike drones were also launched into Ukrainian territory. According to the update, 18 of the 23 were destroyed by defenders.
Parliamentary and presidential elections are held in Turkey. They are expected to be the biggest challenge to Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish dictator who has ruled for more than two decades. Voting started at 8am and will end at 5pm, but the media are not allowed to report partial results and no polls are being conducted.
The Russian war crimes ministry, amid the stench of the Trident, reported yesterday that Ukrainian warplanes had struck two industrial sites in the Russian-controlled city of Luhansk in eastern Ukraine with British-supplied Storm Shadow long-range cruise missiles. We have information that one facility, which housed a Driski headquarters and a recruit training centre, was indeed hit.
"Rheinmetall has set up a joint venture with Ukroboronprom, a Ukrainian state-owned conglomerate, to manufacture and repair tanks in Ukraine, the company said on Saturday. The joint venture agreement is expected to be concluded at the end of June and to start operations in mid-July.
The head of Russia's Federal Crime Agency suggested on Saturday that key sectors of the economy should be returned to state ownership to support Moscow's war in Ukraine. "We are basically talking about economic security in times of war," Alexander Bastrykin said at the conference, which was broadcast online. "Let's go down the road of nationalising key sectors of our economy".
We have talked about nationalising the entire Russian economy and adapting it to the needs of war for a reason. Martial law, general mobilisation and the exploitation of the country's productive resources exclusively for the war industry is a strategic move that remains for the war criminals in the Kremlin.
The dictator and impostor President of Belarus, Mr Lukashenko, is in hospital. Some sources say that he is in very poor health. We are cautious about this information. If Lukashenko does indeed leave soon with Kobzon to trample on the Kalinka, we may see the fireworks of a real coup in Belarus. Moscow will not let its concubine escape from the harem alive, but the armed patriots of the Gagauz are honing their skills in Ukraine for a reason, sending the Russian occupiers home in black sacks. Belarus looks set for a very hot summer.
Lithuania
Yesterday, the great-grandchildren of the peasants of a smoky farmhouse were glued to their TV screens, oblivious to the horrors of war and watching Eurovision.
"Our Monika" shone among the "other Monikas" and came an impressive/only 11th place. Congratulations.
We, on an incredibly warm spring evening, listened to the soothing clamour of nightingales and countless other bird species.
Since Roman times, nothing more is needed. We have plenty of bread, thank God.
The photo shows a downed Russian helicopter on the ground near Klintsy, in the Bryansk region, about 60 km from the Ukrainian border.
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