If the woman and the daughter show up at the southern border, let them in. Probably their case for amnesty is fairly strong.
Is Kremlin inner circle turning on Vladimir? Fears grow in Moscow that daughter of 'Putin's Rasputin' was killed by RUSSIAN car bomb as even president's former commander says Ukraine have made him look like a 'clown' Putin aide Alexander Dugin was filmed at the site of a car bomb meant for him that killed his daughter instead Darya Dugina was driving back from a festival when her car suddenly exploded on the outskirts of Moscow Dugin, 60, was meant to be travelling with her but went in separate car instead on Saturday night There are growing fears that the attack on Dugin's daughter was conducted by Putin's own FSB agents https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...-Putins-Rasputin-killed-RUSSIAN-car-bomb.html
Reports from the locals do not sound good for the bridge. The bridge here probably looks good compared to when we see a photo of when they were done, and truthfully, it does not look all that good here. Local residents claim Antonivskyi Bridge at Kherson is ‘no more’ – audio https://www.yahoo.com/news/local-residents-claim-antonivskyi-bridge-152100353.html
A good summary... A grim winter will test Europe’s support for Ukraine like never before https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/22/europe/six-months-of-ukraine-russia-war-intl-cmd/index.html
No hope for diplomacy, top Russian diplomat warns Henry Foy Aug 22, 2022 https://www.afr.com/policy/foreign-...lomacy-russian-diplomat-warns-20220822-p5bbot Geneva | Moscow sees no possibility of a diplomatic solution to end the war in Ukraine and expects a long conflict, a senior Russian diplomat has warned, as President Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion reaches the six-month mark this week. Gennady Gatilov, Russia’s permanent representative to the UN in Geneva, told the Financial Times that the UN should be playing a bigger role in attempts to end the conflict and accused the US and other NATO countries of pressing Ukraine to walk away from negotiations. There would be no direct talks between Mr Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, he said. Crowds visit captured Russian military vehicles displayed in Kyiv, as Ukraine prepares to celebrate is 1991 independence from the USSR. Getty “Now, I do not see any possibility for diplomatic contacts,” Mr Gatilov said. “And the more the conflict goes on, the more difficult it will be to have a diplomatic solution.” His remarks, which come despite a flurry of shuttle diplomacy in recent weeks, are a blow to negotiators who had hoped that a recent agreement on grain exports from Ukraine’s Black Sea ports could form the basis for a broader deal. The UN has become mired in “politicisation” because of the war and that has “damaged the authority of the UN and its organisations”, Mr Gatilov said. As a result, it is unable to act effectively as a mediator, he complained. “We do not have any contacts with the Western delegations,” he said of his day-to-day work in Geneva. “On the protocol side we do not see each other ... Privately we do not have any contacts, unfortunately ... we simply do not talk to each other.” Global diplomacy was in the worst state he had experienced in his 50-year career, Mr Gatilov added. “The world has changed, and the UN will never be the same as it was before,” he said. Russia invaded on February 24, in what Putin called a “special military operation” to “denazify” Ukraine. It was condemned by Western countries which imposed crippling sanctions on Moscow and severed ties. An initial attempt to seize Kyiv in a lightning assault was thwarted, forcing Moscow’s army to regroup and focus on an artillery-led campaign in the east. Bilateral ceasefire negotiations broke down after evidence was discovered of war crimes committed by occupying Russian troops in April. Moscow has denied the allegations. The failure to restart peace talks, combined with continued Western military support for Ukraine, meant it was impossible to forecast how long the conflict could last, Mr Gatilov said: “And so they [Kyiv and its Western supporters] will fight until the last Ukrainian.” Mr Gatilov, who served as deputy foreign minister before being posted to Geneva in 2018, claimed that Moscow and Kyiv had been “very close” to an agreement that could have paused the conflict in negotiations hosted by Turkey in April. People involved in the talks have refuted this. The UN and Turkey have sought to act as intermediaries between Kyiv and Moscow, and had recent success in brokering the deal on Ukraine’s grain exports. But Mr Gatilov said it was “unfortunate” that the UN was not playing a larger role. “I think [the grain deal] is the only example that they played a practical role in trying to mediate,” he said. “It should be more than that.” Mr Gatilov accused Western countries of using the situation “as a matter of pressure on Russia, as a tool of isolation of Russia ... damaging our position, economically, politically”. “They do not care about the Ukrainian people, the Ukrainian soldiers,” he said. A Ukrainian soldier takes a break in the eastern Donetsk region. Russia sees no chance of a diplomatic solution to the war. AP Ukraine’s defence has been boosted by more than $US30 billion ($43.6 billion) worth of weapons supplies pledged by the US, UK and other NATO allies. Mr Zelensky has previously said that he saw direct talks with Mr Putin as the only way to negotiate an end to the conflict, and only after a Russian withdrawal from all Ukrainian territory captured since February. Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser in Mr Zelensky’s administration who participated in the failed peace talks, said on Friday that “negotiating with the Russian Federation means . . . a fatal ending for everyone”. Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has maintained relations with both Kyiv and Moscow since the invasion, visited Mr Putin in Sochi earlier this month and met Mr Zelensky in Lviv last week alongside UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in an effort to act as a mediator. Mr Erdogan said during his visit to Ukraine: “I continue to have faith that the war will end at the negotiating table. Mr Zelenskyy and Mr Putin are of the same opinion.” But that statement did not refer to any new developments that could lead to negotiations, according to a person familiar with the discussions. Mr Gatilov praised Mr Erdogan for “trying his best” to facilitate dialogue but dismissed speculation of direct talks between Mr Putin and Mr Zelensky, saying there “was not any practical platform for having this meeting”. He also accused Ukraine of “a clear provocation” at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant which is occupied by Russian forces. Ukraine has blamed Russia for shelling the plant, while NATO has said Russia is using the nuclear site as a base from which to launch attacks. “Russian troops are just guarding it. Just securing it. Why should we shell it?” Mr Gatilov said. Russia has agreed to an urgent safety visit by the International Atomic Energy Agency to the plant. Additional reporting by Roman Olearchyk and Mehul Srivastava in Kyiv Financial Times
Now for some important sports news... Ukraine soccer league defies Russian war to begin season https://apnews.com/article/russia-u...nternational-5156e011f628f37f848136e7a62f30e6
The title of this article reminds me of something that a retired general said that was ultra-simple but has a crisp logic behind it. He said that Putin and others keep talking about invoking a general mobilization and calling up another hundred troops or whatever BUT the reality is that they don't have any way to feed or clothe them or give them any rifles or equipment. None whatsoever. Yeh, simple. But it is true isn't it? The current soldiers are only getting clothes and rifles by taking them from their dead comrades. That works for a while. Until it doesn't. Sure the Europeans are going to have a cold winter, but try having a winter on the front in Donbass wearing flip flops and let me know how that goes. Putin desperation: Army sends men in 'plaster casts' with 'flip flops and shorts' to front https://www.express.co.uk/news/worl...recruitment-luhansk-russia-ukraine-war-latest