Ukraine war: Russia withdraws troops from Lyman, strategic town in region Putin annexed - Caitlin McFall

 

by Caitlin McFall

Ukrainian forces push forward in Donetsk as Putin makes a land grab

 

Russia suffered another setback during Ukraine's counteroffensive, confirming it withdrew troops from the eastern town of Lyman, within the newly annexed Donetsk region.

Ukraine’s armed forces on Saturday said they had "liberated" five settlements in the Donetsk region and encircled thousands of Russian soldiers.

"Due to the risk to be encircled, the allied forces were withdrawn from Krasny Liman to more advantageous frontiers," Russia's Ministry of Defense said Saturday.

"The Russian troops in the area of Lyman are encircled. Yampil, Novoselivka, Shandryholove, Drobysheve, and Stavky settlements are liberated. Stabilization measures are being conducted there," Serhii Cherevatyi, Speaker of the Eastern group of troops, told a Ukrainian news outlet reported Pravda.

The advancement comes one day after Russian President Vladimir Putin declared a land grab for not only Donetsk but the Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions as well. 

FILE PHOTO: An Ukrainian soldier looks out from a tank, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in the frontline city of Lyman, Donetsk region, Ukraine, April 28, 2022.  (REUTERS/Jorge Silva/File Photo)

MASS GRAVE SITE WITH 1,100 BODIES FOUND IN BURN PITS OUTSIDE LIBERATED IZYUM

Putin warned that Russia will now treat any attack on the four regions as an attack on mainland Russia, calling the Ukrainians still residing in the war-torn regions "forever" Russians.

But Ukrainian forces have been making advances in western Luhansk and northern Donetsk as they inch toward the strategically important city of Sievierodonetsk, which Russia has occupied since June.

Cherevatyi said that some 5,000 to 5,500 occupiers were in Lyman, but noted it was difficult to estimate the number of troops in the areas surrounding the town due to the fluid movement of troops in combat zones. 

Ukrainian soldiers sit on infantry fighting vehicles as they drive near Izyum, eastern Ukraine on September 16, 2022, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine.  (JUAN BARRETO/AFP via Getty Images)

UKRAINE'S SOLDIERS INCH TOWARD SIEVIERODONETSK IN MAJOR COUNTEROFFENSIVE

The spokesman said that some Russian troops tried to unsuccessfully break through Ukraine’s barricade near the city while others had begun to surrender. 

Taking Lyman is a significant strategic win for Ukraine but Cherevatyi said the fight to fully liberate the city was not over. 

A serviceman of Donetsk People's Republic militia stands guard not far from the besieged Mariupol's Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, in territory under the government of the Donetsk People's Republic, eastern Ukraine, Wednesday, May 18, 2022.  (AP Photo)

Lyman has served as a major logistics and transport hub for Russian forces and its operations in northern Donetsk, reported Reuters.

Securing the city is the biggest battlefield win for Ukraine since it forced Russian troops to withdraw from roughly the entire Kharkiv region in a major counter-offensive last month.

Caitlin McFall is a Fox News Digital reporter. You can reach her at caitlin.mcfall@fox.com or @ctlnmcfall on Twitter.

Source: https://www.foxnews.com/world/ukraine-war-russia-withdraws-troops-lyman-strategic-town-region-putin-annexed

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Biden Administration's Gift to Russia: Iran Nuke Deal - Majid Rafizadeh

 

by Majid Rafizadeh

The Biden administration is still hoping to revive the nuclear deal with the ruling mullahs of Iran and to keep the US Congress out of it

• US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has stunningly made it clear to US lawmakers that the Biden administration will not stand in the way of Russia cashing in on the $10 billion contract as well as Russia-Iran nuclear cooperation. And the State Department spokesman Ned Price reiterated the Biden administration's stance by pointing out: "We, of course, would not sanction Russian participation in nuclear projects that are part of resuming full implementation of the JCPOA".

• "The Biden administration is so desperate for a deal with Iran they'll broker a $10 billion payoff to Russia and waive their own sanctions to make it happen." — US Representative Darrell Issa, Washington Free Beacon, May 2, 2022.

• In addition, the Biden administration is trusting Russia to conduct the nuclear negotiations on behalf of the US; to be the sole country to oversee compliance of the nuclear deal, and to keep Iran's highly enriched uranium -- able to return it to Iran if the mullahs request it, or possibly even use it themselves.

• Fifty bipartisan US lawmakers urgeed the Biden administration "not to permit Russia to be the recipient of Iran's enriched uranium nor to have the right to conduct nuclear work with the Islamic Republic, including a $10 billion contract to expand Iran's nuclear infrastructure. We should not let war criminal Vladimir Putin be the guarantor of the deal or the keeper of massive amounts of Iran's enriched uranium. Iran supports the illegal war in Ukraine and has been supplying Russia with drones used to kill Ukrainians."

• "This Iran Deal if and when it is announced will be a massive win for Vladimir Putin." — US Senator Ted Cruz, Fox News, March 9, 2022.

• "Mr President, you're the only one in America doing business with the Russians, stop doing business with the Russians. Don't have them negotiating for us, walk on this deal." — US Senator Jim Risch, Fox News, March 9, 2022.

• The Biden administration nevertheless appears determined to give Russia the biggest gift ever: an Iran nuclear deal, complete with enriched uranium for nuclear bombs to be used whenever Russia or Iran decide.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has stunningly made it clear to US lawmakers that the Biden administration will not stand in the way of Russia cashing in on a $10 billion contract to expand Iran's nuclear infrastructure. Pictured: The reactor building of the Russian-built Bushehr nuclear power plant in southern Iran. (Photo by Atta Kenare/AFP via Getty Images)

The Biden administration is still hoping to revive the nuclear deal with the ruling mullahs of Iran and to keep the US Congress out of it, perhaps during the Christmas break when Congress is not in session. The Biden administration's nuclear deal will not only be a win for the ruling mullahs of Iran, but also for Iran's staunch ally, Russia.

First of all, Biden's new deal will gift Russia by allowing it to cash in on a $10 billion contract to expand Iran's nuclear infrastructure. Russian President Vladimir Putin will most likely have a stake in the $10 billion contract. In fact, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has stunningly made it clear to US lawmakers that the Biden administration will not stand in the way of Russia cashing in on the $10 billion contract as well as Russia-Iran nuclear cooperation. And the State Department spokesman Ned Price reiterated the Biden administration's stance by pointing out:

"We, of course, would not sanction Russian participation in nuclear projects that are part of resuming full implementation of the JCPOA".

That is a total capitulation to two tyrants and authoritarian regimes: the Ayatollahs' and Putin's. As US Rep. Darrell Issa (R., Calif.) accurately pointed out:

"The Biden administration is so desperate for a deal with Iran they'll broker a $10 billion payoff to Russia and waive their own sanctions to make it happen."

In addition, the Biden administration is trusting Russia to conduct the nuclear negotiations on behalf of the US; to be the sole country to oversee compliance with the nuclear deal, and to keep Iran's highly enriched uranium -- able to return it to Iran if the mullahs request it. This provision triggered 50 bipartisan US lawmakers to write to Biden:

"[W]e strongly urge your Administration not to permit Russia to be the recipient of Iran's enriched uranium nor to have the right to conduct nuclear work with the Islamic Republic, including a $10 billion contract to expand Iran's nuclear infrastructure. We should not let war criminal Vladimir Putin be the guarantor of the deal or the keeper of massive amounts of Iran's enriched uranium. Iran supports the illegal war in Ukraine and has been supplying Russia with drones used to kill Ukrainians."

Biden's new nuclear deal will lift sanctions on the Iranian regime and open the flow of billions of dollars to the ruling mullahs who are providing weapons to Russia in the Ukraine, to prolong the war and cause even more damage to Ukrainians. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) supplied Russia with hundreds of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), including advanced models capable of firing missiles. A Russian delegation recently visited an airfield in central Iran on several occasions to examine Iran's weapons-capable drones.

Many US Senators have slammed the Biden administration for working with Russia on the new Iran nuclear deal while Putin continues his slaughter in Ukraine. "This Iran Deal if and when it is announced will be a massive win for Vladimir Putin," Senator Ted Cruz said during the press conference.

"Because the Biden administration has been eager to tell Putin and tell the Ayatollah of course we will have a carveout for the Iran deal on Russia sanctions which means Putin will make billions in oil and gas transactions, in nuclear transactions, and in weapons transactions."

Senator Jim Risch added:

"Mr President, you're the only one in America doing business with the Russians, stop doing business with the Russians. Don't have them negotiating for us, walk on this deal."

Working with Russia to get a deal on Iran nuclear program is "insane," Senator Joni Ernst rightly put it.

"Russia, this is the country with tanks running over Ukraine right now killing innocent civilians... Children, women, people that we care about and yet they're using those Russians to negotiate a deal with yet another one of our near-peer adversaries, Iran."

Senator John Barrasso also echoed other Senators' message by stating:

"It's the Russians who are doing the negotiations on behalf of the United States. You turn on the TV and radio and see what the Russians are doing in Ukraine. How in the world can we allow them to negotiate on our behalf?"

The Biden administration nevertheless appears determined to give Russia the biggest gift ever: an Iran nuclear deal, complete with enriched uranium for nuclear bombs to be used whenever Russia or Iran decide.

• Follow Majid Rafizadeh on Twitter

 

Dr. Majid Rafizadeh is a business strategist and advisor, Harvard-educated scholar, political scientist, board member of Harvard International Review, and president of the International American Council on the Middle East. He has authored several books on Islam and US Foreign Policy. He can be reached at Dr.Rafizadeh@Post.Harvard.Edu

Source: https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/18945/biden-russia-iran-nuke-deal

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Enemies list? Fed-backed censorship machine targeted 20 news sites - Greg Piper

 

by Greg Piper

Just the News, New York Post, Fox News, Epoch Times and Breitbart were identified among the "most prominent domains" whose election coverage was cited in tweets flagged by the Election Integrity Partnership and its collaborators.

The private consortium that reported election "misinformation" to tech platforms during the 2020 election season, in "consultation" with federal agencies, targeted several news organizations in its dragnet.

Websites for Just the News, New York Post, Fox News, Washington Examiner, Washington Times, Epoch Times and Breitbart were identified among the 20 "most prominent domains across election integrity incidents" that were cited in tweets flagged by the Election Integrity Partnership and its collaborators.

The Washington Post, New York Times and CNN also appeared on the list, though the consortium's after-action report emphasizes most of the mainstream media reports "were referenced as fact-checks" that played a "corrective role" against "misleading narratives."

The report also identified the 21 "most prominent repeat spreaders [of misinformation] on Twitter," all of them politically classified as "right." Actor James Woods led that group, followed by The Gateway Pundit blog, Donald Trump Jr. and President Trump himself. The report emphasized 15 were verified by Twitter.

 

"Repeat spreaders" of election "misinformation" on Twitter

Election Integrity Partnership

The Stanford Internet Observatory, University of Washington's Center for an Informed Public, think tank Atlantic Council, and social media analytics firm Graphika claimed their consortium had a 35% success rate getting flagged content removed, throttled or labeled. 

The Department of Homeland Security's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, the State Department, and liberal groups such as the Democratic National Committee, also flagged purported misinformation through the consortium.

"No news organization should be subjected to an enemies/censorship list for reporting newsworthy facts" Just the News Editor in Chief John Solomon said in a statement. "It's even more egregious that this censorship machinery was prodded, aided and sanctioned by the federal government."

Individuals and organizations named on the lists told Just the News they put no stock in the designations.

"Gateway Pundit is reviewing its legal options," General Counsel John Burns wrote in an email, calling the "fascist, public-private partnership ... a very simple nexus or entwinement case, with deep Supreme Court precedent."

"How is this any different from what happens in Communist Party-controlled China?" publisher Jim Hoft said. "The scary thing is, the EIP is only a single office within the greater government-wide Ministry of Truth." 

File

Gateway Pundit response to Election Integrity Partnership.pdf

"We noticed a massive drop off on and around the 2020 elections. It got really bad after [Jan. 6, 2021]," paired with apparent "increased leftwing bot activity," Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk wrote in a text message.

"Compared to my engagement on every other platform, there's no question that this new revelation fits with our lived experience on Twitter," he said. "That tax payer dollars are being spent to censor half the country is a travesty and whoever is behind this must be held accountable."

"The definition of 'disinformation' is now any reported facts that go against the world view of the political establishment," Breitbart News Editor in Chief Alexander Marlow wrote in an email.

The consortium "relies on innuendo and insinuation to imply we are not trustworthy and thus should be censored" rather than accusing Breitbart "of publishing inaccurate stories," he said. The company is being targeted for "having a massively powerful platform that leads the political conversation every single day."

"We're in the middle of what I would call the 'Great Suppression,'" Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton told Just the News. He was suspended by Twitter for several months for comments on hydroxychloroquine.

"Censorship is a civil rights issue," he wrote in a text message. "Not only do we have the right to speak, but we have the right to petition the government and be free from retaliation."

"This is the destruction of American liberty right before our eyes," conservative activist Pamela Geller wrote in an email. She called it "more than just campaign rhetoric ... This is a fascist regime aiming to criminalize political dissent."

Human Events senior editor Jack Posobiec said "the crooked scumbags that run the regime target me so often" because they are "terrified" of him.

"We are not going to stop fighting for freedom until their entire edifice [is] torn down," he vowed.

The consortium report said it identified domains that were "linked to by more than 500 tweets or retweets" in multiple incidents, and further explained the role some of them allegedly played in an appendix on "additional partisan news outlets."

Our team has been working on a "threat framework" for anticipating the spread of election-related rumors. Check out the table, thread, & blog. https://t.co/0rlQuhVtLb https://t.co/d2Dq67Vk3K pic.twitter.com/UY9v7j9RBn

— Kate Starbird (@katestarbird) September 24, 2022

 

By the number of incidents (46) and combined tweets and retweets (870,000), The Gateway Pundit led the pack. It had an "estimated right/left spread" of 0.08% left and 99.92% right, meaning "the proportion of original tweets made by influential users classified on the ideological spectrum based on our network analysis."

Breitbart was next with 26 incidents and more than 400,000 tweets and retweets, with 99.06% right spread. Further down the list with fewer than 100,000 tweets and retweets, Epoch Times (12 incidents) and Just the News (9) were both given a 100% right spread.

The appendix says Just the News "produced stories that applied political commentary to narratives asserting election fraud and was involved in spreading the Nevada Whistleblower narrative," referring to an affidavit alleging that county supervisors ignored mismatches between names and signatures on mail-in ballots.

"The documents indicate we were flagged for reporting on a sworn declaration that prompted litigation in Nevada," noted Solomon. "The allegations were widely reported, including in the Washington Post and local news sites. One voter admitted she was registered four times because of faulty signature detection. The allegations even prompted a judge to let the Trump campaign review one of the signature verification machines."

The allegations "also were bolstered by a local reporter's claim he was able to fool the election system and register multiple times under different names with the same signature," Solomon continued. "In the end, the lawsuit was dismissed. Just the News covered this saga. Coverage of a public court case cannot and should not be censored, flagged or labeled as disinformation. We are exploring our legal options."

The report is particularly harsh on the Epoch Times, accusing it of "spreading mis- and disinformation in the Chinese-language media sphere" such as "Hunter Biden's alleged ties to the Chinese government." 

Memos from the partnership that the presidential son operated with a prominent Chinese business executive, however, show that the Biden family pursued more than 20 major deals during the Trump administration for Chinese interests seeking U.S. energy assets. 

House Oversight Committee Ranking Member James Comer (R-Ky.) recently told Just the News he has secured cooperation from two former business associates of Hunter Biden.

 

Domains shared by "repeat spreaders" of election "misinformation"

Election Integrity Partnership

The New York Post — with 11 incidents, more than 180,000 tweets and retweets and a right spread of 97.73% — was guilty of "reporting on unfounded allegations that deceased voters in New York had ballots cast on their behalf," the appendix says.

With 14 incidents that were only tweeted or retweeted about 35,000 times, Fox News (99.09% right spread) was cited for articles that "often presented factual evidence of a real-world event with an underlying subtext of election insecurity or widespread voter fraud that was picked up and made more explicit in the social media sphere."

Mainstream media largely got a pass on their inclusion in the top-20 domains list, with only "a couple" incidents of spreading "false or misleading information." They were dominated by left spreads, led by CNN (89.28%), Washington Post (84.76%) and The New York Times (63.88%). 

Without further explanation, the Associated Press is listed with a right spread of 66.14%. It was among mainstream outlets that "falsely framed the motive and exaggerated the impact" of Republicans setting up "unauthorized voting boxes."

The report notes the two-way collaboration between the consortium and mainstream media organizations that went beyond briefings.

A New York Times reporter "spent Election Day co-located with EIP researchers" and "published an early piece about the emerging 'Stop the Steal' narrative," according to the report, while The Washington Post and CNN were used by consortium researchers for fact-checks.

 

Greg Piper

Source: https://justthenews.com/accountability/watchdogs/news-organizations-targeted-fascist-public-private-partnership-stamp-out

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Stacey Abrams built national wave arguing Georgia elections racist. A judge just crashed her party - John Solomon

 

by John Solomon

Obama-appointed judge rules Georgia's election integrity practices requiring voter ID and citizenship checks are legal and constitutional.

 

Democrat Stacey Abrams built a national movement on the premise that her native Georgia was the epicenter of a 21st century minority voter suppression machine. In the process, she acquired nationwide fame, personal wealth and a multimillion dollar fundraising juggernaut while convincing Joe Biden that he needed to bust Jim Crow 2.0.

But on the eve of Abrams' second attempt to win her state's governorship, a federal judge appointed by former President Barack Obama obliterated her core argument.

U.S. District Judge Steve C. Jones ruled Friday that Georgia's election integrity practices requiring voter ID and citizenship checks were constitutional and in compliance with the Voting Rights Act (VRA), roundly rejecting the arguments of Abrams' Fair Fight Inc. voter advocacy group just weeks before Election Day.

"Although Georgia's election system is not perfect, the challenged practices violate neither the Constitution nor the VRA," Jones ruled in a 288-page decision. "As the Eleventh Circuit notes, federal courts are not 'the arbiter[s] of disputes' which arise in elections; it [is] not the federal court's role to 'oversee the administrative details of a local election.'"

"Having held a non-jury trial and considered the evidence and arguments of the parties, for the foregoing reasons, the Court finds IN FAVOR of Defendants and against Plaintiffs on all remaining Counts of Plaintiffs' Second Amended Complaint," the court concluded.

You can read the ruling here:

FILE_9603.pdf

The decision was a major win for Gov. Brian Kemp, Abrams' opponent in the November general election for the second time in four years, as well as Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. The two Republicans cheered the decision while mockingly reminding voters of Abrams' prior claims of racial suppression and a stolen election back in 2018, when she initially refused to concede she lost.

"This is a win for all Georgia election officials who dedicate their lives to safe, secure and accessible elections," Raffensperger declared. "Stolen election and voter suppression claims by Stacey Abrams were nothing but poll-tested rhetoric not supported by facts and evidence."

Added Kemp: "Judge Jones' ruling exposes this legal effort for what it really is: a tool wielded by a politician hoping to wrongfully weaponize the legal system to further her own political goals."

Though she lost on every count in the decision, Abrams on Friday night doubled down on her claims. "There's no denying voter suppression under Brian Kemp and Brad Raffensperger," she wrote on Twitter. 

Actually, Jones did deny it. The judge appointed by Obama a decade ago borrowed heavily from the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark ruling last year that upheld Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich and his state's law outlawing ballot harvesting or trafficking. The Brnovich decision, as it is known, was cited several times as Jones concluded the Georgia laws and regulations requiring voters to pass a citizenship check and voter ID did not violate either the Constitution or the Voting Rights Act.

"With respect to citizenship matching, the Court finds that after weighing the Brnovich guideposts, citizenship matching also does not violate Section 2 of the VRA. ... The Court finds that Georgia's system of voting is equally open," Jones wrote.

On the MIDR (missing identification required match legal requirement for voter ID), the judge said he had concluded that the "disparate impact" of photo ID on voters was "de minimis," or legally insignificant, noting that "97.97% of Black voters were not impacted."

"The Court finds that the impact of MIDR is like the impact of the Arizona law and does not render the election system unequally open," Jones wrote.

The decision was a stinging loss for Abrams as she makes her second bid against Kemp for governor. She was widely panned for suggesting her 2018 election was stolen and initially refusing to concede, but she nonetheless gained steam among liberal voting activists in the years that followed.

Now trailing Kemp in the polls, Abrams built a fundraising juggernaut and a national voter rights movement on the argument that states like Georgia disenfranchise minority voters and engage in voter suppression. She raised millions for her voter rights groups, amassed a $3 million personal net worth and raised a stunning $50 million for her governor's campaign in just a few short months, much of it from outside Georgia.

Her message never wavered.

"Voter suppression in the 21st century is the province of Republicans," she argued in an interview shortly before the 2020 election. Long after she conceded the election she lost by 1.5%, she continued to insist she actually prevailed, including in a New York Times article a year later. "I feel comfortable now saying I won," she said.

Over the last couple of years, her arguments made a believer of Biden, who predicted Abrams could one day be president and adopted the Georgia Democrat's favorite sayings. "Jim Crow 2.0 is about two insidious things: voter suppression and election subversion," the president tweeted earlier this year.

Abrams' group carried the arguments of an unfair system and racial suppression in Georgia into the courtroom in 2019 in what became one of the longest voting rights cases in state history. 

The court found Friday there wasn't unlawful suppression in Georgia, sometimes in detailed fashion. While acknowledging there was some racism in the electoral politics of the state, Jones declared Georgia's election integrity measures were not racially unfair or designed to suppress minority voters.

The judge in a footnote went out of his way to note even one of the Abrams group's experts "affirmed that he was not opining that any portion of Georgia's voter registration practices and systems were adopted with a discriminatory intent."

John Solomon

Source: https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/elections/stacey-abrams-built-national-wave-arguing-georgia-elections-racist-judge

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Jerusalem’s Temple Mount is Israel’s ground zero - Douglas Altabef

 

by Douglas Altabef

It is time to assert our sovereignty over our holiest site, to send a clear message to the world that the Temple Mount will indeed be a place for free worship.

 

RELIGIOUS JEWS visit the Temple Mount, in 2020.

(photo credit: SLIMAN KHADER/FLASH90)

The expression “ground zero” connotes the place of essence, of origin, of fundamental significance. In Israel, Har Habayit, The Temple Mount, has come to be seen as that essential, irreplaceable, and defining place of the Jewish people and of the State of Israel.

This clarity of understanding, is, like many realities here, perceived more clearly by our citizenry than by our leadership. It is our citizens who increasingly understand and embody the wisdom that “he who controls Jerusalem controls Israel, and he who controls the Temple Mount controls Jerusalem.”

“He who controls Jerusalem controls Israel, and he who controls the Temple Mount controls Jerusalem.”

In this sense the Temple Mount represents an important geopolitical reality for Israel to recognize and to address. The all too predictable dog-whistle-like cries that “al-Aqsa Mosque is under attack” are a manipulative effort to prevent Israeli control over the mount.

So too is the posture of King Abdullah of Jordan, whose foreign policy approach is by and large to put a gun to his own head, threatening to pull the trigger if he doesn’t get his way. However, with the Temple Mount, he acts, and Israeli leadership react, as if Abdullah has compromising pictures of our leaders in his drawer, which he threatens to reveal if Israel gets too “proprietary” and overly “Judaizing” with the Temple Mount.

The result has been a long-term absurdity, where Israeli leaders tolerate a true desecration of Judaism’s holiest site, and the nauseating humiliation of Jewish visitors, all in the name of some mythical “status quo.”

The Temple Mount in Jerusalem. (credit: OLIVIER FITOUSSI/FLASH90)

The status quo is just Israel denying its own connection to the Temple Mount

The “status quo” is merely the self-abasing willingness of Israel to deny its connection to the Temple Mount, all in the ever important, but always elusive dream of keeping a lid on things.

Thankfully, in the past couple of years, the embarrassing situation is starting to change. Change has been driven by us, the citizens of Israel, in classic grassroots manner. Brave individuals, and committed organizations such as B’yadenu (“In our Hands,” a reference to General Motta Gur’s famous pronouncement after the Temple Mount was liberated during the Six Day War) have consistently challenged absurd, humiliating and completely arbitrary protocols that, whatever the thinking behind them was, only serve to enrage and inspire Jewish visitors to contemplate acts of civil disobedience.

The Temple Mount has become its own human rights issue, its own civil rights campaign. Here the strivers, the excluded, yes, the oppressed, are us, Jews, denied a natural and ennobling connection with our holiest site.

There are 10 entry points to the Temple Mount, but only one accessible for Jews. It happens to be on a ramp that has all the structural integrity of what collapsed on Mt. Meron. Hours are limited, days are restricted, and the slightest inclination of possible unrest results in Jews, never Muslims, from being barred.

WHILE MUSLIMS play soccer and desecrate antiquities, Jews have been prosecuted for reciting the Shema.

As I said, the winds of change are beginning to blow, and the only reason they are is because there have been consistent challenges to protocols that have been upheld in court.

Increasingly, prayer is being heard, both individually and even in minyans. Israeli flags have been known to appear, and even the “Hatikvah” has been sung. Most recently, intrepid members of B’yadenu, including our CEO and a Board Member, along with former MK Yehuda Glick, blew shofarot outside the Eastern wall of the Mount, prompting their knee-jerk detention, but ultimately – after legal intervention – their release.

Just as the Abraham Accords succeeded in bursting the bubble of received wisdom as to how peace could be advanced in the Middle East, so too, it is high time for Israel’s leaders to recognize that they must break out of the failed assumptions and approach that have characterized Israel’s control, or lack thereof, of the Temple Mount.

It is time to assert our sovereignty over our holiest site, to send a clear, unambiguous message to the world, friends and adversaries alike, that the Temple Mount will indeed be a place for free worship and association by respectful people of all faiths, including Jews.

At a time when Hamas chooses to project itself as the “Guardians of Jerusalem” and when segments of the Arab community see the opportunity to exploit Israeli reasonableness and compromise for the weakness that is ultimately perceived, it is absolutely critical that we assert ourselves on the Temple Mount.

Al-Aqsa has never been nor will ever be under attack, except if the mere presence of Jews on the Temple Mount is perceived as a threat in the ethnically cleansed mentality of some Muslim visitors. To that perception, we need to invoke timeless kindergarten wisdom: “well, we’re sorry you feel that way, but you are going to have to learn to share.”

I am very proud of the individuals and the organizations who, with great clarity, and even greater determination, have made the reclamation of the Temple Mount into a new Jewish imperative. The proof of that determination is the dramatic rise in Jewish ascendance to the Temple Mount. More than 50,000 Jews ascended this past year, a number greater than any time since the destruction of the Second Temple.

In this new year, may we redouble our efforts to extend our rights, presence and our connection with the Temple Mount. It is not a zero-sum game. Asserting our rights comes with no derogation to anyone else.

When King Solomon inaugurated the First Temple, he invited the nations of the world to come to pray there. We are similarly welcoming. It’s just that it is long overdue for the Temple Mount to be beckoning and welcoming to Jews.

Next year on the Temple Mount!

Douglas Altabef is a director of B’yadenu. He is also the chairman of the board of Im Tirtzu and a director of the Israel Independence Fund. He can be reached at dougaltabef@gmail.com.

Source: https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-718533

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California Becomes Sanctuary State for Child Sexual Mutilation - Daniel Greenfield

 

by Daniel Greenfield

Not even being warned that the bill was unconstitutional was going to stop Newsom.

 

Gov. Newsom signed into law a bill in which his state effectively decides to defy the Constitution and ignore the laws of other states to make sure that the mutilation machine continues to destroy the lives of vulnerable children to expand the ranks of an artificially manufactured minority group.

The law will block out-of-state subpoenas, stop health providers from sharing information with out-of-state entities related to gender-affirming care. And it would give California courts authority to make an initial child custody determination if the child is in California for the propose of obtaining gender-affirming care.

Newsom signed the law on Thursday, but it won’t take effect until January. It is designed to stop Texas and other conservative states from removing children from parents who allow them to receive “gender affirming” health care, defined as “medically necessary health care that respects the gender identity of the patient, as experienced and defined by the patient.”

Which is to say that it’s going to legalize medical kidnapping by an individual parent, or some sort of ‘guardian institution’ like a shelter or activists.

Predictably the bill comes from State Senator Scott Wiener who helped decriminalize pedophilia in certain circumstances, whose bill Newsom also signed into law.

The legislation applies in cases where the victim is aged between 14 and 17 years old. It also tries to remove existing the registration requirement for having oral and anal sex.

“If signed into law, a 24-year-old could have sexual relations with a 15-year-old child without being required to register as a sex offender,” Senate Republican Leader Shannon Grove tweeted Tuesday.

The media jumped into action with “fact checks” and screams about QAnon. If you Google it, the search monopoly will make sure that the spin is all you’ll see.

So Wiener could be pretty confident that Newsom would go along. If he’s gonna run for president, he’s going to need those donations.

Not even being warned that the bill was unconstitutional was going to stop Newsom.

The U.S. Constitution in general requires states to give “full faith and credit” to other state’s laws. But it also guarantees people the right to travel to other states.

“At this time, the interplay between these two constitutional provisions and the constitutionality of the other states’ laws have yet to be determined, so it is unclear whether this bill will run afoul of the constitution,” legislative staffers wrote in an analysis of the bill before Newsom signed it into law.

But it’s more important to mutilate children than to follow some old document created by dead white male slave owners.

The law continues California Democrats’ plan to push back against laws they don’t like in other conservative states. Earlier this week, Newsom signed laws to make California a sanctuary for women in other states seeking abortions now that the U.S. Supreme Court has overturned Roe v. Wade.

California. If we’re not mutilating children, we’re killing them.

The state is currently boycotting most of the country, has signed illegal climate treaties with foreign countries and is now going into a full unconstitutional mode.

How far does California have to go before it counts as an insurrection?

Daniel Greenfield, a Shillman Journalism Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center, is an investigative journalist and writer focusing on the radical Left and Islamic terrorism.

Source: https://www.frontpagemag.com/california-becomes-sanctuary-state-for-child-sexual-mutilation/

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Tehran Attacks Kurds in Response to Mass Protests in Iran - Seth J. Frantzman

 

by Seth J. Frantzman

Teheran can't fight all the opposition at once.

 

Published originally under the title "IRGC's Attack on Kurds Is Revenge for Mass Protests in Iran."

 

The Iranian regime, knowing it can't attack Western powers who have expressed support for recent protests across the Islamic Republic, has decided to attack Iran's Kurdish minority in response.

Iran's decision to target Kurds is not a surprise. It is trying to distract from the murder of Mahsa Amini, the woman whose death at the hands of Iran's police led to the protests. Amini was a Kurd from western Iran.

Iran's regime knows that murdering a woman, particularly a woman from a minority group, will lead to anger. This is why Iran's regime initially tried to downplay the killing, excuse it and even pretend to investigate it. This is because Iran is aware that when a regime targets a woman and murders her that this is a red line for many people in Iran, especially in the Kurdistan region.

Protests began in the Kurdish region. The slogan "woman, life, freedom" has become a rallying cry of the protests in Iran and many have pointed out that this slogan comes from the Kurdish region and has now been taken up more broadly.

The slogan "woman, life, freedom" is one that many media outlets have not noticed. Iran has now decided to target Kurdish groups across the border in Iraq as the protests spread in Iran.

Why is Iran doing this?

The regime has tried to blame the West for stoking the protests, but the regime can't attack the West. In addition, the regime is pushing talk of a new Iran deal, and thus can't attack the West when it wants sanctions relief.

The Iranian regime is cracking down on the Kurdistan region in Iran. However, it fears that if it cracks down too harshly that it could provoke a more widespread rebellion.

Iran's regime knows it is hated by groups across Iran, from minority Kurdish, Azeri, Baloch and other groups, to Farsi speakers in Tehran. It can't fight all the opposition at once. The regime survives by fighting one group at a time. That is how the center survives while keeping the periphery on edge. This is why Iran has been bombarding the Kurdistan autonomous region in Iraq.

Iran's regime knows it is hated by groups across Iran, from minority Kurdish, Azeri, Baloch and other groups, to Farsi speakers in Tehran. It can't fight all the opposition at once.

Rudaw in northern Iraq notes that IRGC-affiliated media Fars News "defined the attacks on the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI) and Komala, both Kurdish-Iranian opposition groups with bases in the Kurdistan region, as a response to the evil support of the anti-revolutionary elements for the disturbances and actions of thugs and with the aim of punishing and extorting these groups."

The mayor of an area called Sidakan said that the shelling has now taken place for three days. This is illegal shelling by Iran attacking what it claims are Kurdish groups across the border. The New York Times termed these groups "separatists" in an article, but the groups are opposition groups that have long struggled for Kurdish rights in Iran.

Iran's Tasnim upped the rhetoric against Kurdish dissident and opposition groups this week, claiming that "the ground forces of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps have started their new round of operations against the positions of terrorist groups in the Kurdistan region of Iraq this [Monday] morning."

Iran claims that it has used artillery and drones to carry out the attacks. It claims to have struck the "assembly headquarters and training and operational centers of the terrorist groups based in the Kurdistan region of Iraq, using smart and pinpoint weapons." Iran admitting it used drones is interesting. Iran is increasingly using drones in its operations and exporting drones to Russia.

Iran's media also says it has struck Komala and the KDPI group.

This is the shadow war that has taken place in Iran's Kurdistan region and across the border. Iran's decision to target the Kurdish groups is clearly linked to the protests.

Seth J. Frantzman

Source: https://www.meforum.org/63630/tehran-attacks-kurds-in-response-to-mass-protests

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Major government unions lose over 200,000 members after Supreme Court's workers' rights ruling - The Center Square Staff

 

by The Center Square Staff

Supreme Court ruled in 2018 that government employees could not be forced to pay a union to keep their job.

 

The top four public labor unions in the U.S. lost more than 200,000 members since the Supreme Court ruled in 2018 that government employees could not be forced to pay a union to keep their job, a new report shows that.

The Commonwealth Foundation released the report, which found that the top four public labor unions – AFT, AFSCME, NEA, and SEIU – lost nearly 219,000 members altogether since the Janus v. AFSCME ruling.

“The Janus decision to end forced unionism for government workers accelerated a long-term decline in membership,” the report said. “In response, government unions are conducting aggressive campaigns to unionize new workers with recent successes in Virginia and Colorado.”

The loss of members, though, has not been as drastic as was predicted by some when the Supreme Court first issued the ruling in 2018.

“I think there were some groups on both sides who expected more,” said Nathan Benefield, senior vice president at the Commonwealth Foundation. “I think our predictions were more cautious. We did this in Michigan … but it took several years to educate people before we saw big changes in membership…”

Those successes for unions have come in part because of unions’ lobbying efforts at the state level in response to the court decision. For example, unions got a ban on collective bargaining lifted in Virginia, which has led to local governments around the state unionizing. In Colorado, unions formalized collective bargaining for some workers. In other states, unions have suffered policy losses.

“You can see some significant shifts happening in individual states,” said Elizabeth Stelle, director of policy analysis for the Commonwealth Foundation.

Other groups say unions have doubled down recruitment but some of their tactics have backfired. Max Nelsen, director of labor policy at the Freedom Foundation, said unions “have pulled out all the stops to institute other coercive and deceptive dues collection practices, even going so far as to forge employees’ signatures on union membership forms.

“Unions and their political allies in government have responded furiously to the Supreme Court’s landmark workers’ rights ruling in Janus v. AFSCME,” Nelsen said. “Unfortunately for them, we know from our daily interactions with public employees that people are consistently infuriated by unions’ heavy-handed and unethical practices and, as the data shows, it's costing them members. It would be better for everyone if government unions moderated and sought to persuade employees to join voluntarily on the merits, but they’ve shown that they’re just too ideologically leftist and too wedded to power politics to change willingly.”

Another key criticism of unions has been their habit of favoring Democratic policies and politicians. Critics say that makes their collection of dues and efforts to grow their membership inherently political.

“Union dues are implicitly political because they can fund ideologically partisan issues and independent expenditure committees, or SuperPACs,” the Commonwealth Foundation said. “Four states prohibit unions from using taxpayer-funded government payroll systems to collect political contributions or funds for use on political purposes.”

The report also graded states based on their union policies, with right-leaning policies receiving higher grades. Multiple states saw significant changes in recent years.

“Three states experienced major grade changes since our 2019 report. Virginia dropped from ‘A+’ to ‘C’ for instituting collective bargaining, while Arkansas jumped from ‘C’ to ‘A+’ for banning it,” the report said. “Missouri’s comprehensive labor reforms were officially struck down, moving the state back down from “B” to ‘C.’”

The Center Square Staff

Source: https://justthenews.com/nation/states/center-square/major-government-unions-lose-over-200k-members

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Hezbollah's Nasrallah: US border demarcation offer 'very important step' - Seth J. Frantzman

 

by Seth J. Frantzman

The US mediator to Lebanon on Saturday sent a maritime border demarcation proposal to President Michel Aoun and the caretaker government.

 

A LARGE poster depicting Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah is on display in the town of Yaroun, southern Lebanon, this past week. After the just-completed Israeli operation in Gaza, Nasrallah may think twice before starting hostilities, says the writer.

(photo credit: AZIZ TAHER/REUTERS)

Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah gave a speech on Saturday in which he responded to the Lebanese government negotiating a maritime demarcation line with Israel.

He refrained from making threats toward Israel in his speech, a departure from previous addresses the Hezbollah leader has made. This means that Hezbollah appears to be toning down the rhetoric. Hezbollah’s allies in Iran are currently facing an unprecedented wave of protest.

Nasrallah said that the “maritime border demarcation file has reached a decisive stage in light of the mediator’s letter.” He said that "Hezbollah supports the Lebanese state regarding the talks with the US mediator….Maritime victory is the fruit of the national solidarity and will help Lebanon cope with an economic crisis.”

"Hezbollah supports the Lebanese state regarding the talks with the US mediator….Maritime victory is the fruit of the national solidarity and will help Lebanon cope with an economic crisis.”

Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah

The US mediator to Lebanon on Saturday sent a maritime border demarcation proposal to President Michel Aoun and the caretaker government. The US has been trying to help with a maritime demarcation deal for more than a year. 

Amos Hochstein, a senior adviser for energy security at the US State Department has been working on this issue and has made trips to Lebanon and met with Lebanese officials.

However, Hezbollah has accused Hochstein of being biased and Hezbollah has threatened gas rigs and energy fields off the coast of Israel.  

During his speech, Nasrallah took a more judicious view of the maritime border talks than he had in the past, saying that they appear to be reaching a “positive outcome thanks to dialogue” between the US and Lebanon, although he did not make any mention of Israel's role in the negotiations.

Nasrallah indicates that the full picture will become clear in the coming days. He also mentioned Lebanon’s continued failure to form a government.

Pro-Iranian elements

Lebanon, like Iraq, has a strong pro-Iranian element and neither country now has a functioning government. Iran is also facing protests; meaning that several states where Iran has a role are all on the verge of chaos.  

Nasrallah said that "the last parliament session proved that whoever wants to elect a president of the republic must move away from the logic of defiance in favor of consultation," adding that "time is running out with regard to forming a government."

Nasrallah also condemned people migrating from Lebanon to Cyprus, referring to a recent case where migrants died. “Migrating in death boats is like a crime," he said, calling for "a serious judicial investigation into death boats." 

He then went on to accuse the US of creating ISIS. "ISIS was made by America, and the one who is still protecting it and facilitating its financing and the transfer of additional numbers to it is the American intelligence services.”

He weaved together a conspiracy in which he mentioned ISIS and other elements that have sought to undermine Iran’s regime.

He also referenced recent “rumors” about Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. It was not clear if he was referring to rumors that the leader is in ill health or that some clergy in Iran are displeased with the leadership. Hezbollah needs support from Iran and he is concerned about the protests.

He claims that people in the region are “inciting” against Iran, blaming the US and Gulf states for stirring up protests in Iran. 

Nasrallah explained that "the Islamic Republic does not want anything from the countries of the region and does not have any ambitions in Iraq's oil," wondering "how can the Iraqis forget Iran's stance and open its weapons and money stores to defend Iraq against ISIS?"

This was an apparent reference to current tensions in Baghdad where people are angry at pro-Iran parties stealing Iraq’s wealth. "If there was no Islamic Republic, where would Iraq and Lebanon be today; and what dark and bleak era would we have entered in our region,” he said.

He also mentioned the Russian invasion of Ukraine and increased tensions between Russia and the US. He predicted the US did not want to fight Russia.  

Seth J. Frantzman

Source: https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-718679

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California to ban natural gas appliances - Eric Utter

 

by Eric Utter

But that's not all. If certain leftists get their way, and they often do, entire kitchens may be outlawed in the future.

 

The hits just keep on coming for residents of the formerly Golden State.  Already besieged by high inflation and severe energy shortages, citizens of the erstwhile Land of Milk and Honey will soon face a ban on natural gas (except for Eric Swalwell's).  The California Air Resources Board, or CARB, is planning to rid the state of natural gas heaters, stoves, and furnaces.  The Hill recently reported that the CARB passed a proposal that will lay the groundwork for phasing out gas-powered space and water heaters, and other such appliances, by 2030.  (I guess CARBs really are bad for you.)

But that's not all.  If certain leftists get their way, and they often do, entire kitchens may be outlawed in the future.  If this is the case, the first state in the Union to ban them will undoubtedly be California.

Families may be abolished as well.  Erin Maglaque recently penned a positively glowing review of Sophie Lewis's new communist manifesto screed, Abolish the Family, in which she pleaded, "Let us begin by abolishing our kitchens."  She added, "If we begin by abolishing our kitchens, what else might we get a taste for destroying, and for creating?"  Let's not find out.

Lewis, a "feminist thinker," has stated that "[f]amily is a terrible way to satisfy our desire for love and care."  Yes, it's much better to be "loved" and cared for by the government.  Lewis doesn't much care for heterosexual culture.  She believes that there can be no feminist future until the family — particularly the nuclear family — is abolished.  And she says, "It is a wonder we let fetuses inside us."  (Memo to "feminists" like Lewis: If you don't want a fetus inside you, you shouldn't let a phallus inside you.)

Maglaque, a lecturer in history at the University of Sheffield, is likewise a proponent of "the revolutionary politics of family abolition."  Yes, all fealty should be reserved for the State.

So California has now essentially banned the widespread production or use of natural gas, coal, hydropower, and nuclear energy going forward.  The state has also effectively banned the internal combustion engine post-2035.  Apparently, it will henceforward just rely on capturing butterfly farts and turning them into usable energy.  So what if the empty virtue-signaling of the state's far-left rulers needlessly destroys its economy — and the prospects, dreams, and lives of its residents?  Gov. Gavin Newsom, the state's other elite Democrat politicians, and their besties in Hollywood, media, and academia know they will be okay.  

Leftists may not like natural gas.  They may not like gas lighting.  But they sure love gaslighting...the rest of us.

Image: Gage Skidmore via Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0.

Eric Utter

Source: https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2022/09/california_to_ban_natural_gas_appliances.html

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Six states sue Biden to block student loan forgiveness as illegal, hurtful to working class - John Solomon

 

by John Solomon

Missouri, Nebraska, Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas and South Carolina argue Congress did not authorize such debt cancellation, meaning Biden lacked legal authority to take the action he announced last month.

Six Republican states on Thursday sued President Joe Biden to block his planned cancellation of hundreds of billion of dollars of student loan debt, arguing it was unlawful and harmful to working-class Americans.

Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and South Carolina said in the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Missouri that Congress did not authorize such debt cancellation, meaning Biden lacked legal authority to take the action he announced last month.

They cited the recent Supreme Court ruling in West Virginia vs. Environmental Protection Agency that concluded the executive branch cannot make law where Congress hasn't legislated.

"No statute permits President Biden to unilaterally relieve millions of individuals from their obligation to pay loans they voluntarily assumed," the states argued. "Just months ago, the Supreme Court warned federal agencies against “asserting highly consequential power beyond what Congress could reasonably be understood to have granted” by statute."

File

1. Complaint - Neb. v. Biden.pdf

The states also argued the U.S. "economy is not well" and the cancellation of the debt, estimated to cost at least $400 billion, will add to inflationary pressures, adding more harm to the country's middle- and working-classes and poor Americans.

"The burden of the economic loss and price increases will hit those who can least afford it – the working class and the poor," the lawsuit argued, adding that those who benefit from Biden's plan are in the top 60% of income earners. 

Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge explained why the states banded together to file the lawsuit.

“It’s patently unfair to saddle hard-working Americans with the loan debt of those who chose to go to college,” she said. “The Department of Education is required, under the law, to collect the balance due on loans. And President Biden does not have the authority to override that.”

John Solomon

Source: https://justthenews.com/government/courts-law/six-states-sue-biden-block-student-loan-forgiveness-illegal-and-hurtful

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Russian mobilized troops poorly trained, lack proper gear for war - western intel - Michael Starr

 

by Michael Starr

Russia has been grappling with supply and logistical issues since the beginning of the war, and the situation is no better for mobilized troops.

 

Reservists drafted during the partial mobilisation smoke next to buses as they depart for military bases, in Sevastopol, Crimea September 27, 2022.

(photo credit: REUTERS/ALEXEY PAVLISHAK)

The military reservists drafted as part of Russian President Vladimir Putin's partial mobilization are poorly prepared and lack proper military gear for combat in Ukraine, according to Western and Ukrainian intelligence agencies.

CIA Director Williams Burns told  CBS Evening News on Tuesday that even if Putin succeeded in mobilizing 300,000 soldiers, "many of whom are not going to be well trained, many of whom are not going to have the kind of equipment that they need or the logistical support that they need as well." 

The UK Defense Ministry said on Monday in an intelligence update that "Unlike most Western armies, the Russian military provides low-level, initial training to soldiers within their designated operational units, rather than in dedicated training establishments."

Normally Russian brigades would help in the training process, but these units were already deployed, said the ministry.

"Many of the drafted troops will not have had any military experience for some years," warned the UK Defense Ministry. "The lack of military trainers, and the haste with which Russia has started the mobilization, suggests that many of the drafted troops will deploy to the front line with minimal relevant preparation. They are likely to suffer a high attrition rate."

A Russian serviceman addresses reservists at a gathering point in the course of partial mobilization of troops, aimed to support the country's military campaign in Ukraine, in the town of Volzhsky in the Volgograd region, Russia September 28, 2022. (credit: STRINGER/ REUTERS)

Mykhailo Podolyak, adviser to the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, described to Pravda how Ukraine had pursued a policy of quality, and Russia quality. 

"Unlike the Russians, who will once again send a mass of untrained reserves to the battlefield to show their numbers, it is much more important for us to have well-trained specialists," said Podolyak. 

However, as Burns told CBS, manpower was just one of the issue facing the Russian military.

"Russia will now face an administrative and logistical challenge to provide training for the troops," the UK Defense Ministry said on Monday.

Russian troops sorely underequipped

The Insider reported on Tuesday that despite assurances that troops would be given the equipment they need, lists of recommender gear to be brought by reservists included armor plate carriers, helmets, hydrogen peroxide, tourniquets, tampons to act as bandages.

Newly mobilized soldiers have been given rusty AK-47 and AKM Kalashnikov rifles, according to September 24 viral videos translated by The Insider. The soldiers were in an armored unit, and told that they would not need rifles if they have tanks. 

On Thursday, Interfax report that the production of Kalashnikov small arms had increased by 40% in 2022. Part of this came from civilian and foreign demands

"Our priority task is the timely and high-quality fulfillment of obligations for the supply of military products to the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation. Ensuring the country's defense capability, especially in the current conditions, is a task that all divisions of the enterprise, without exception, are aimed at," said Kalashnikov head Alan Lushnikov.

A Russian government chatbot provided a list of items mobilized soldiers would be provided with small arms and could not bring there own. They could however, wrote Explain.RF, that one could bring night vision, rifle scopes, thermal gear and quadcopters. While it is not uncommon for soldiers in other militaries to bring some of these items on deployment, it is unusual to allow the use of civilian drones.

On Tuesday, Russian state media outlet TASS reported that Russian soldiers deployed in Ukraine were in need of reconnaissance drones and loitering munitions. Civilian quadcopters have been used in asymmetric conflict for reconnaissance, and more recently have even been modified by Ukrainians to drop munitions. 

Russia has been grappling with supply and logistical issues since the beginning of the war. In the first phase, Russian movements sent deep into Ukrainian territory were stymied by overextended supply units, which were targeted by Ukrainian forces. 

Even in the initial invasion, soldiers were sent with spoiled rations and limited ammunition. The counter losses of vehicles and munitions, the military has been removing old gear from storage and refurbishing it. Soviet military gear as old as from the 1960s has been returned to service.

They had also opened refurbishing and repair sites for damaged and captured Ukrainian vehicles in the occupied territories. Some of these efforts have been hindered by corruption, with some formerly stored vehicles missing vital parts.

Production of new equipment has been limited by the reliance by Russia's defense ministry on foreign materials and electronics.

Russia has turned to foreign supplies such as Iran for drones and North Korea for munitions to keep up with the demands of the war.

Michael Starr

Source: https://www.jpost.com/international/article-718458

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