Wednesday, June 1, 2022

Israeli Air Force Exercise Simulates Massive Strike On Iran Nuclear Facilities

Israeli F-35 fighter jets fly in formation during the military's Blue Flag exercise in October 2021. (Israel Defense Forces)  

Times of Israel: Israeli Air Force simulates widescale strike on Iran nuclear facilities 

Military says dozens of fighter jets conduct ‘long-range flight, aerial refueling, and striking distant targets’ maneuvers over Mediterranean Dozens of Israeli Air Force fighter jets conducted air maneuvers over the Mediterranean Sea on Tuesday night, simulating striking Iranian nuclear facilities. 

According to a statement by the Israel Defense Forces on Wednesday, the drill included “long-range flight, aerial refueling and striking distant targets.” 

According to Channel 13 news, more than 100 aircraft — as well as navy submarines — participated in the drill that spanned some 10,000 kilometers.  

Read more .... 

Israeli Air Force Exercise Simulates Massive Strike On Iran Nuclear Facilities  

Israel simulates massive strike against Iran with hundreds of IDF aircraft -- Jerusalem Post 

Israel simulates long-range airstrikes over Mediterranean -- YNet News

Israel Simulates Long-Range Air Strikes over Mediterranean -- Asharq Al-awsat  

Israel Simulates Strikes Against Iran in Largest Drills in Its History -- Sputnik

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President Zelensky Says 60-100 Ukrainian Soldiers Are Being Killed Per Day And Around 500 Wounded

 

Ukrinform: President Zelensky: 60-100 Ukrainian soldiers killed per day and around 500 wounded 

Ukraine is losing 60-100 soldiers per day as killed in action and around 500 soldiers as wounded in action. 

The relevant statement was made by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in an interview with the American TV channel Newsmax, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

“The situation is very difficult. We’re losing 60-100 soldiers per day as killed in action and something around 500 people as wounded in action. 

So we are holding our defensive perimeters. The most difficult situation is in the east of Ukraine and southern Donetsk and Luhansk,” Zelensky told.  

Read more .... 

President Zelensky Says 60-100 Ukrainian Soldiers Are Being Killed Per Day And Around 500 Wounded  

Zelenskyy says Ukraine is losing 60 to 100 soldiers a day, a rare glimpse of Ukraine's losses during Russia's invasion -- Insider 

Zelenskyy says Ukraine losing 60-100 service members daily in intense eastern fighting -- FOX News  

Zelensky: Ukraine losing ‘60 to 100 soldiers per day’ as Russia advances in Donbas -- NYPost

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Moscow Warns Washington On Its Move To Send Ukraine Advanced Weapons

 

Daily Mail: Kremlin says Biden is 'diligently adding fuel to the fire' by sending advanced rocket systems and munitions to Ukraine and is increasing the risk of a confrontation between U.S. and Russia 

* Russia is accusing President Joe Biden of 'purposefully and diligently adding fuel to the fire' of conflict in Ukraine by sending advanced rocket systems to Kyiv 

* 'The U.S. is obviously holding the line that it will fight Russia to the last Ukrainian,' Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters Wednesday 

* White House officials said the weapons are only being sent after receiving 'assurances' from Ukraine that it will not use the missiles to strike inside Russia 

* Biden said in an op-ed Tuesday night that he would be arming Ukraine with 'more advanced rocket systems and munitions' 

* Comes on the eve of the announcement of the 11th package of security assistance for the war in Ukraine 

* The use of the medium-range rocket systems will be restricted to be used only in Ukraine 

The Kremlin on Wednesday accused President Joe Biden of adding fuel to the fire in the war between Russia and Ukraine by pledging to send advanced rockets to Kyiv. 

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said he doesn't trust Ukraine not to fire the weapons into Russia even though Biden promised that the systems would not be used to shoot targets at Ukraine's hostile eastern and northern neighbor.  

Read more ....  

WNU editor: The Kremlin believes these shipments will only increase the risk of a conflict between the U.S. and Russia .... Russia sounds alarm on risk of direct conflict with US (RT). 

Moscow Warns Washington On Its Move To Send Ukraine Advanced Weapons 

Kremlin responds to Ukraine’s pledge on US arms -- RT 

U.S. ‘Adding Fuel to the Fire’ With New Arms Supplies – Kremlin -- Moscow Times/AFP  

Kremlin rips Biden administration decision to send rockets to Ukraine --- The Hill Russia: US rocket shipments to Ukraine are 'adding fuel to the fire' -- FOX News  

Kremlin accuses U.S. of "deliberately" heating up Ukraine war -- Axios

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President Biden Says The U.S. Will Be Shipping More Advanced Rocket Systems To Ukraine

 

Business Insider: Biden says the US will give Ukraine more advanced rocket systems but won't enable the country to 'strike beyond its borders' 

* President Joe Biden says the US will provide more advanced rocket systems to Ukraine. 

* Ukraine has been asking the US for long-range artillery, which it says is needed for its defense. 

* These systems have double the range of the M777 howitzers that the US previously sent to Ukraine. 

The US will be providing Ukraine with more advanced rocket systems and munitions to allow Ukrainian forces to "more precisely strike key targets on the battlefield," President Joe Biden wrote in a Tuesday op-ed for The New York Times. 

However, these weapons are only meant for Kyiv's forces to inflict casualties within Ukraine, and the US isn't "encouraging or enabling Ukraine to strike beyond its borders," Biden added. 

"We do not want to prolong the war just to inflict pain on Russia," he wrote, per The Times.  

Read more .... 

WNU Editor: Ukrainian officials have made this promise .... Ukraine Has Promised U.S. Not to Fire New 50-Mile Range Rockets Into Russia (Newsweek). The Kremlin has a different point of view .... LIVE UPDATES: Kremlin Has 'No Confidence' in Kiev's Pledges Not to Use US Weapons Against Russia (Sputnik). 

  

President Biden Says The U.S. Will Be Shipping More Advanced Rocket Systems To Ukraine

Biden says US sending medium-range rocket systems to Ukraine -- AP  

Biden announces new rockets and munitions to Ukraine in op-ed -- CNN  

Biden: U.S. will provide precision rockets to Ukraine -- Politico  

Biden agrees to provide Ukraine with longer range missiles -- Reuters  

Biden Says US Will Provide Ukraine Advanced Rocket Systems -- Bloomberg  

US to Send ‘Advanced Rocket Systems’ to Ukraine -- VOA  

U.S. providing new longer-range missile systems to Ukraine -- Axios 

HIMARS: The U.S. Rocket System Being Sent To Ukraine -- RFE

Biden Unveils Longer Range Rockets For Ukraine, Stresses 'We Don't Seek NATO-Russia War' -- Zero Hedge
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Russian And Saudi Foreign Ministers Meet To Discuss Oil Policy

Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov meets with Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia May 31, 2022. Russian Foreign Ministry/Handout via REUTERS  

Reuters: Russia and Saudi Foreign Ministers Praise OPEC+, Says Moscow 

(Reuters) -Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met Saudi counterpart Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud in Riyadh on Tuesday and both men praised the level of cooperation inside OPEC+, the Russian foreign ministry said. 

The comments were issued amid Western media reports that some members of OPEC+, an alliance of OPEC members and their allies, were considering removing Russia from the group. 

"They noted the stabilising effect that the tight cooperation between Russia and Saudi Arabia has on world markets for hydrocarbons in this strategically important sector," the ministry said in a statement on its website. There was no immediate comment from Saudi Arabia outside of business hours.  

Read more .... 

Update: Russia's Lavrov Hails OPEC+ Cooperation on Visit to Saudi Arabia (Bloomberg)  

WNU Editor: It looks like it was a successful meeting .... Russia, Saudi Arabia Signal OPEC+ Is Going Strong (OilPrice.com).

Update #2: No, OPEC+ Isn't About To Break Up And No, Saudis Aren't About To Pump More Crude (Zero Hedge).
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Russian Cuts-Off Natural Gas Supplies To Denmark After Refusal To Pay In Rubles

Pictured: A map showing gas pipe lines across Europe, and the five countries that have so-far seen Russian gas supplies cut off in retaliation to Western sanctions on Moscow (Finland, Poland, Bulgaria, Denmark and The Netherlands)  

Daily Mail: Russia cuts off Denmark's gas – the 5th European country Moscow has refused to supply- amid fears heating prices will soar even FURTHER 

* Danish firm Orsted said Gazprom would cut supplies to Denmark on June 1 

* Poland, Bulgaria, Finland and The Netherlands have also seen supplies cut 

* Russia is turning off the taps in response to Western sanctions over Ukraine war 

* Orsted had anticipated Moscow's move by filling up its storage facilities 

* The announcements follow Monday's agreement by European Union leaders to cut the European Union's imports of Russian oil by 90 percent by year-end 

Danish energy company Orsted said Tuesday that Russian gas company Gazprom Export would cut gas supplies to Denmark on June 1 after the Danish company refused to pay in rubles. 

Orsted, formerly DONG Energy, said Gazprom Export had informed it that its gas supply would be halted at 6:00 am (0400 GMT). Russia has said it will only accept payment for natural gas deliveries in its national currency, with buyers required to set up ruble accounts or have their taps turned off.  

Read more ....  

Update #1: Russia cuts off natural gas supply to Denmark, company says (ABC News/AP)  

Update #2: Russia is cutting off Denmark's supplies of natural gas as its invasion of Ukraine causes huge changes in global energy flows (Business Insider)  

WNU Editor: The Netherlands has also been cut-off for the same reason. Refusal to pay in rubles .... Russia's Gazprom cuts supplies to Netherlands (DW).

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Are Cracks Appearing In The West Against The Russian Invasion Of Ukraine?

Wall Street Journal: Cracks Appear in Western Front Against Russia's War in Ukraine 

Cracks are appearing in the Western front against Moscow, with America’s European allies increasingly split over whether to keep shipping more powerful weapons to Ukraine, which some of them fear could prolong the conflict and increase its economic fallout. 

At the center of the disagreement—which is splitting a group of Western European powers from the U.S., U.K. and a group of mostly central and northern European nations—are diverging perceptions of the long-term threat posed by Russia and whether Ukraine can actually prevail on the battlefield. 

The first bloc, led by France and Germany, is growing reluctant to provide Ukraine the kinds of offensive, long-range weapons it would need to reclaim ground lost to Russia’s armies in the country’s south and east. They doubt Russia would directly threaten the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. 

On the other side, Washington, London and a group of mainly central and northern European nations, some of them former Soviet bloc members, see the Russian offensive as a harbinger of further expansion by Moscow, making Ukraine the front line in a broader war pitching Russia against the West.  

Read more ....  

WNU Editor: The costs of the Russia - Ukraine war are only now being felt by Europeans .... Euro zone inflation hits yet another record high as food and energy prices soar (CNBC). The expected natural gas shortages this winter is only going to exacerbate this economic crisis. 

The French and the Germans are also signaling that Ukraine will not be able to stop Russian military advances even if more arms and assistance is provided. With this intelligence assessment, I can easily see Berlin and Paris pushing for a diplomatic solution to end the war later this summer. 

As for the U.S./UK/Poland/Baltic states .... they are on a different agenda. US officials have publicly said more than once that this is an opportunity to bleed Russia, and this policy will be the one pursued in the coming months even if some EU states may disagree.

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Mapping The Russian Invasion Of Ukraine -- June 1, 2022

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Tweets On The Russia - Ukraine War

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Tweets Of The Day

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