MEPs demand a just transition to climate-neutral economy to tackle ongoing social crises.

Are they dumb? What a morons in union. Compromising the fundamentals of the European Union in the 21st century, surrendering to demands of the capitalist center of the New World Order, permitting Biden's Blitzkrieg across Europe demanding war with Russia in lieu of exertion in diplomacy after Angela Merkel was gone, leaving Macron standing alone.

Will never happen in this decade. we are all from Mars now.

'Sapere aude'

if observers are right, Conservative leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis, 55, is set to win a second term as prime minister with his New Democracy party, especially as under a new electoral system he will benefit from a bonus of 25-50 seats given to the winning party, depending on its performance.

The agreement paves the way for introducing new rules to collectively manage the reception and relocation of asylum seekers. Last year [2022], the EU received more than 962,000 asylum applications, the highest figure since 2016.
[...]
At the end of the meeting, Malmer Stenergard confirmed the one-off payment for each rejected applicant will be provisionally set at €20,000, which will then be channelled into a yet-to-defined common EU fund. The number of relocation will be 30,000 asylum seekers per year. Additional provisions have been included in case the pledges fall short of the target.

concilium.europa.eu | Migration policy: Council reaches agreement on key asylum and migration laws (08.06.23)
"To balance the current system whereby a few member states are responsible for the vast majority of asylum applications, a new solidarity mechanism is being proposed that is simple, predictable and workable. The new rules combine mandatory solidarity with flexibility for member states as regards the choice of the individual contributions. These contributions include relocation, financial contributions or alternative solidarity measures such as deployment of personnel or measures focusing on capacity building. Member states have full discretion as to the type of solidarity they contribute. No member state will ever be obliged to carry out relocations.

The political agreement allows the EU Council to start negotiations with the European Parliament, which has a somewhat diverging position on the matter. The goal is to wrap up the legislation before next year's EU elections.
[...]

On 17 May a revised compromise text (pdf) was circulated...This followed a previous version circulated on 15 May dealing with border procedures (pdf); on the same day, a document containing member states' comments (pdf) on a previous version of the text was also distributed within the Council.
[...]

German open arms policy for migration from Latin America ...

We Want You!

Your carers for our elderly and your electricians and technicians to maintain our high standards of heavy (war) industry

Latin America has long since found its way to our labour market. Brazilian carers [?] and Colombian electricians are already being met with open arms in Germany. We want to develop this partnership further.

Almost echoes the words of CDU Chancellor Angela Merkel from 2015 when all hell broke lose with war refugees from Afghanistan. Iraq, Libya and Syria. Traces of US-UK-NATO aggression.

• Angela Merkel's Leadership in the Refugee Crisis
• Can the state turn away refugees at the German border? Chancellor Merkel is against it
• How Angela Merkel's great migrant gamble paid off

The target looks achievable, however, given that the number of people arriving in Germany fell to about 280,000 last year from 890,000 in 2015. A further drop is expected this year.

In addition, the two parties agreed to push for an immigration law that would give priority to migrants with skills to plug gaps in the labor market. There is broad support for that from the FDP and Greens.

For history's sake, the chancellor doing the talking ...

Mind you ... opening the gateways of hell to the gardens of Eden according to Borrell.

'Sapere aude'

German Foreign Policy Her Style

'Sapere aude'

NEVER forget that in 2021 Baerbock bragged at the atlantic council about her German NZI granpa fighting in 1945.
"And my own grandfather fought like in the winter of [1945] at this river, at this border. [Oder-Neisse Line] And I was there standing in 2004 on this bridge."

Annalena Baerbock on a 'transatlantic green deal' and German strategies in facing Russia and China | Atlantic Council - May 6, 2021 |

FAREED ZAKARIA: Would it be fair to say what you're describing is a kind of a Green Party and your leadership that would, I think, be reassuring to most Americans, in the sense that it seems to affirm the Atlantic alliance, affirm NATO. You know, affirm the importance of thinking about human rights. And so I'm wondering, this is--this moment happened before when Joschka Fischer became foreign minister. And people who had worried that--in that case, I think he was a little older than you--so had in the 1980s thrown a couple of Molotov cocktails in anti-American demonstrations. That he turned out to be actually a very pro-NATO, pro--even pro-US foreign minister. Would you say that this is a model you look at favorably, that of Joschka Fischer in government?

ANNALENA BAERBOCK: Well, he's part of my party. And actually, when he was foreign minister, just at this moment I joined the party. This was in 2004, actually, like a really emotional moment for me because it was the first of May in 2004 when Europe did its enlargement to the east. So European countries joined the EU, especially from the east, and I come from a region around Berlin. It's called Brandenburg. It was eastern Germany. And it has a direct border over the Oder River to Poland. And my own grandfather fought like in the winter of [1945] at this river, at this border.

• The Red Army invades Berlin and overruns the last German defences | D-day 1945 |

And I was there standing in 2004 on this bridge, which obviously was rebuilt between Poland and Germany, when Joschka Fischer as foreign minister, together with his colleague from the Polish side, was celebrating again the reunification of Europe.

And this was really the moment when I thought, wow, we are standing of the shoulders not only on Joschka Fischer, but also of our grandparents, who made it possible that countries who were enemies are again not only in peace but in friendship together. And this is what the ground where I'm standing on, fighting for a Europe which lives in friendship, in a common integrated market. And for this, we need institutions like the EU, like a strong transatlantic relation, because this wouldn't have been possible, our reunification, without support from the US. So it's, yeah, building on our history. But this is really important for me. Otherwise, it won't make sense to become a chancellor.

History is nothing which just flows like a river. It's always a moment where people have to take the courage to build the future actively. So it doesn't make sense to say I just follow up what Joschka Fischer did fifteen years ago. I take the best from the past to bring it in the future.

And coming back to your question also with the NATO, for example, I think the most important thing is to put out a new strategic agenda. What is the role of the NATO in the year of 2021 and not in 2004? And we have, unluckily, faced Ukraine situation. We have seen that what we believed back in 2004, that there is never again war in Europe, is not true. And therefore, we have to redefine our strategic goals within NATO, within the EU, and coming up with the new challenges ahead, also fulfill it with resources, for example with military expenditures.

But--this is also important for 2021--the threats are not only cyber, it's the climate crisis. It's COVID. It's pandemics worldwide. So for me it's so important that it's not building a new wall around Europe or transatlantic region, but really seeing that we work together in a world of institution of strong human rights, but being aware that we have other countries like China, like Russia who are also in a new strategic fight with us.

Related reading ...

From a European Neighborhood Policy toward a New Ostpolitik - The Potential Impact of German Policy

'Sapere aude'

French President Emmanuel Macron has asked South African President Cyril Ramaphosa for an invitation to the upcoming BRICS summit in Pretoria, French newspaper L'Opinion reported on Monday. Macron's recent attempts to win over his African counterparts have fallen flat.
[...]
According to one "well-informed" source, Ramaphosa was non-committal. "Presence at this summit was mentioned during the conversation between the two leaders, but Pretoria gave no indication of whether or not to extend this meeting to other international leaders," the source said.

French President Emmanuel Macron has asked South African President Cyril Ramaphosa for an invitation to the upcoming BRICS summit in Pretoria, French newspaper L'Opinion reported on Monday. Macron's recent attempts to win over his African counterparts have fallen flat.

Macron raised the possibility of attending the summit during a phone call with Ramaphosa earlier this month, L'Opinion stated, citing sources in the Elysee palace.

If Macron were to attend the summit, he would be the first leader of a G7 nation to do so. BRICS leaders and Macron apparently share a desire < wipes tears > to overhaul the [PRICE CAP COALITION] financial and geopolitical order, with Macron hosting a conference in Paris next week aimed at overhauling the [G7] financial system to better benefit the developing world
[...]

[...]
South Africa is also facing a challenge [?] related to organizing the participation of Russian President Vladimir Putin in the summit, to avoid possible arrest at the request of the International Criminal Court [ICC]. Various options have been considered, including holding a video conference, granting diplomatic immunity, or relocating [?] the summit to China.

[...]
ANN GARRISON: David, I think the ICC would be a laughingstock for its racist hypocrisy if there weren't so many lives lost in the crimes that it considers and fails to consider, but this indictment has the world's attention and it's awkward for South Africa. Can you explain South Africa's legal position as a state party that still accepts the jurisdiction of the court? What does the Rome Statute or any related documents say?
DAVID PAUL JACOBS: The Rome Statute gives the ICC the "authority to make requests to States Parties for cooperation."  South Africa is a state party to the Rome Statute, although in 2016, South Africa indicated its intention to withdraw from the Statute, and later reversed itself.

The obligation to cooperate with the ICC is tempered by Article 98 of the statute [ p 55] which provides that:
[...]

In the years to come, the European Union will likely face difficult [PLANNED] decisions: whether to back the United States in its geopolitical ["]competition["] with China; whether to punish CHINA for its support of Russia; whether to rebuild relations with RUSSIA after the war.

These decisions will affect European citizens - whose support European leaders will need for their foreign policy choices. Two years ago, the European Council on Foreign Relations conducted a study of public opinion about how Europeans see their place in the world. The results pointed to a cooperative European mindset whereby, in a world of competing great powers, Europeans preferred to cultivate [DELIBERATE] partnerships with various countries and advocated a largely values-based foreign policy.
[...]
The [PLANNED] direction of European foreign policy will have a massive impact on the lives of every European citizen - be it through their exposure to security threats, supply chain disruptions, or the volatility of the financial market. Their opinions will enable or constrain European leaders' ability to negotiate a common European foreign policy. As these leaders re-adjust their relationships with the US, CHINA, and RUSSIA, they not only need to reach agreement among themselves - they also need to build a public consensus around European foreign policy. Otherwise, there is likely to be growing mistrust of the elites < wipes tears > and the EU, and a populist backlash in the European parliamentary election in 2024 and in national elections.

In April 2023, ECFR conducted an opinion poll across 11[/27] EU member states - Austria, Bulgaria, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, and Sweden - to understand how European citizens see their place in the world today. The results of the poll show that their cooperative foreign policy instincts are adapting slowly to the new geopolitical reality that is characterised by growing polarisation.
[...]
[EC Pres. Ursula] Von der Leyen dispensed with the EU's established triad [?] to describe China as a "partner, competitor, and [PERVASIVE] rival" and emphasised the need for active, [DELIBERATE], multidimensional risk minimisation in Europe's dealings with Beijing. With this strategy [sic] of "de-risking", she pushed for a new consensus in Europe on the importance of revisiting its relationship with China.
[...]
The findings of ECFR's latest poll show that, in many ways, European citizens are more on Team Macron than Team von der Leyen.
[...]

Very disappointing position of @EUCouncil on the anti-#SLAPP directive. This will not protect journalists against abusive lawsuits filed to silent them! [_link]

— Julie Majerczak 🇺🇦 (@JulieMajerczak) June 13, 2023

Pandora's box

Unsurprisingly, journalists and privacy advocates are not happy with the Council's suggested tweaks.

"National security is a classic exception. It opens the door to all kinds of abuse," Julie Majerczak, head of the Brussels bureau of Reporters Without Borders (RSF), told POLITICO, calling it a "Pandora's box."

Together with 59 other civil society organizations, RSF wrote an open letter to EU deputy ambassadors, urging them to reconsider their position. The current compromise "is not only weakening safeguards against the deployment of spyware but also strongly incentivizes their use based solely on member states' discretion," the signatories said.

Majerczak is calling for strong legal safeguards -- failing the withdrawal of the national security clause -- like involving judicial authorities, should a government decide to spy on a reporter.

Nothing is set in stone. Once the Council has agreed on its mandate, it will have to negotiate with the Parliament -- which has yet to reach its position -- and the Commission before the new rules can enter into force.

We need Australia in the tank coalition of free nations.

Dear Australians, this message is for you:

Each and every tank we receive from Australia will help us break through the enemy's defenses - and as a result, regain our land and save the lives of our people. pic.twitter.com/AgHKurHdYz

— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) June 1, 2023

The United Nations Environment Program said in a report last year that the metal's "chemical toxicity" presents the greatest potential danger, and "it can cause skin irritation, kidney failure, and increase the risks of cancer."

John Kirby, the National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications, said in March that the Russian argument was disingenuous and that Moscow's principal concern was the heightened threat to its tanks. "This kind of ammunition is fairly commonplace," he said, adding that studies indicate it isn't a radioactive threat. But at the time the U.S. wasn't providing Ukraine with any depleted-uranium rounds.
[...]

Some Pentagon officials favor providing cluster munitions--known as ["]dual-purpose improved conventional munitions["]--to Ukraine's forces to help them counter Russian forces. NATO's top commander, Gen.
Christopher Cavoli, has told Congress that that such weapons could be "very effective" against concentrations of Russian troops and equipment.
Officials at the NSC and State Department have resisted providing cluster munitions. Human-rights activists and some allied nations have raised concerns that unexploded ordnance in the ground could lead to civilian casualties long after the conflict is over.

On June 21, Ukraine will present another "Marshall Plan" in London. Forbes learned the details of the energy part of the reconstruction program

By 2050, Ukraine will become the energy hub of Europe, electricity production will increase 7 times, gas production - 4 times, oil - more than 6 times. More than $400 billion [!] will be invested in the energy sector. The government will present this future of Ukrainian energy to international partners and donors in London at the international conference on the recovery of Ukraine (URC 2023). What else does the plan for rebuilding the Ukrainian energy industry include and how realistic it is.

Almost a year ago, at the beginning of July 2022, the Ukrainian government in the Swiss city of Lugano presented to its partners a 10-year post-war reconstruction plan for Ukraine worth $750 billion. At that time, the government received many assurances of willingness to help, but no financial results followed. One of the reasons for the failure was that the plan covered too many directions and projects.
[...]

archived icog.es | The Mineral resources of Ukraine

How realistic are the plans

"These numbers have nothing to do with reality," says Oleksandr Kharchenko, director of the Energy Research Center. The plans significantly exceed Ukraine's already ambitious energy strategy, he adds. The energy strategy envisages the construction of 20.5 GW of nuclear generation, 29.1 GW of wind energy and 12.8 GW of solar generation by 2050.

[...]
The key role in the preparation of the presentation, which will be presented in London, is played by Rostislav Shurma, the deputy head of the President's Office, interlocutors in the government, the Ministry of Energy, state and private energy companies, who were involved in the preparation of the presentation to varying degrees, told Forbes. Forbes reached out to Shurma, but he declined to comment.

The preparation of the presentation took place virtually behind closed doors, says Forbes interlocutor in the government. "It is wrong. Materials for such a forum should be discussed in an expert environment," he adds.

Experts of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) need access to a location near Ukraine's Zaporizh* Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) to clarify the reason for a significant discrepancy between different measurements of the height of the reservoir that is supplying water to cool the facility's six reactors and spent fuel storage, Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said today.

The level of the Kakhovka reservoir has been dropping rapidly since the downstream dam was severely damaged five days ago, but the ZNPP reported over the weekend that it had been stable for about a day as measured at the inlet of the Zaporizh* Thermal Power Plant (ZTPP) where water is pumped into a channel for use at the nearby nuclear power plant.

By 9am local time today, the water level by the ZTPP was estimated at 11.27 metres [!], down from nearly 17 metres before the dam was breached, according to data received by the IAEA experts at the ZNPP site.
[...]
At the current height of the reservoir by the ZTPP, the water pumps continue to be operable. At the moment, however, they are not continuously being operated as both the ZTPP channel and the large cooling pond near the ZNPP are full, holding sufficient water reserves for several months of cooling requirements.

The ZNPP cooling pond and the ZTPP discharge channel are both integral to continuing to supply cooling water and the Director General stressed again that maintaining their integrity is vital for the safety of the plant.

"The thermal power plant plays a key role for the safety and security of the nuclear power plant a few kilometres away. I fully expect that our experts will be able to go there very soon to independently assess the situation. I will also personally raise this important matter with the Zaporizh* Nuclear Power Plant," [Grassi] added.

A new water pumping unit was sent to the Zaporozh* facility, a senior Russian official has said.
[...]
"We can say with high confidence that the nuclear safety of the Zaporozh* Nuclear Power Plant will be maintained in full," [Rosenergoatom adviser Renat Karchaa] told the Rossiya-24 TV channel. He added that a mobile pumping station was being delivered from a nuclear plant in Smolensk to help cool the reactors if necessary.

Grossi had been expected to visit the facility on Wednesday following talks with President Volodymyr Zelensk* in Kyiv on Tuesday, but a diplomatic source said the visit would be delayed by "some hours"...Russian news agency Interfax quoted a Russian-installed local official as saying Grossi would visit on Thursday.

Details: "He is waiting to be able to travel safely," said a senior Ukrainian government official who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity. The official did not say when Grossi would arrive at the plant. At the same time, TASS writes that the visit has been postponed to [Thursday] 15 June.

"The mission is being postponed for a day," Renat Karchaa, advisor to the Director General of the Rosenergoatom concern, told the agency, without specifying the reason.

vOLdEmRT | Deaths confirmed in frontline dam rupture (08.06.23)
At least 5 people were killed and 41 were injured in the wake of the breach of the Kakhovka [HPP] dam, the mayor of the city hosting the damaged structure has said.
"Reports came today that out of the seven people, who were grazing cattle, five died. We are in the process of evacuating the other two," Novaya Kakhovka Mayor Vladimir Leontyev reported during an interview on Thursday.

jwld.pl | Large and smal reservoirs of Ukraine (2022)

Novaya Kakhovka is located on the ["]left shore["] of the river and is controlled by Russia, while Ukraine controls the opposite side of the Kherson region. Ukrainian officials said there were some fatalities after the flooding on the ["]right shore["] as well. Water levels in the city rose by 12 meters [!] after the dam was breached, before starting to slowly recede by Tuesday [06.06.23] evening. Russian authorities estimated that 14 settlements were in the impact area. In addition to the direct damage to buildings, infrastructure, and fields, the incident caused the draining of a water reservoir, which was used to feed a canal transporting fresh water to Russia's Crimea.

Kiev claimed that Russian troops blew up the dam to prevent a possible [UAF] amphibious operation across the Dnieper in Kherson Region. Ukrainian officials say that charges were planted inside the dam, which the Russian Defense Ministry has denied. Moscow in turn blamed the Ukrainians, citing their [UAF] record of shelling the strategically important facility.
[...]

strana.ua | Zelensk* arrived in Kherson today and visited the crossing through which residents are being evacuated (08.06.23)
"Our task is to protect life as much as possible and help people," Zelensky said.

Dnieper River topographic map

On the eve of the Kherson region, they reported the evacuation of residents  from areas near the Kakhovka reservoir, in Kherson, water began to arrive in some areas. About 16 thousand [16K] people live in the flood zone.

Today, the governor of the [right bank] Kherson region, Alexander Prokudin, said that as of the morning, 1,999 people had been evacuated from the right bank of the Kherson region, of which almost one and a half thousand [1,500]  were from the Korabel district in Kherson. Earlier we wrote that residents are being evacuated from the Ostrov microdistrict in Kherson by boat. This is done by both employees of the State Emergency Service and volunteers. And in the flood zone on the day of the explosion of the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power station, 52 people were rescued .

The shelling came just after Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensk* visited a ["]crossing point["] where people were being evacuated from flooded areas and called for "a clear and quick global response" to Tuesday's bombing of the ["left bank" of the] Nova Kakhovka [HPP] dam, which Kyiv and its allies say the Kremlin orchestrated [a/k/a mined].

"Orcs have just fired at School No. 2 where people from flooded homes were gathering," said Yevhen Rischuk, the Ukrainian mayor-in-exile of the occupied town of ["left bank"] Oleshky, which has been hit hard by the floodwaters. "Orcs" is the nickname Ukrainians use for Russian forces. Ukraine's Prosecutor General's Office subsequently reported that nine civilians have been wounded in the city of Kherson.
[...]
On Wednesday, Zelensk* told Axel Springer [!], POLITICO's parent company, that Russian forces were shooting at Ukrainian rescuers attempting to reach those trapped in flood-struck areas of occupied Kherson. "As soon as our helpers try to rescue them, they are shot at," Zelensk* said.

"Russians are shelling the shores and the central district" of Kherson, the [Kherson] region's governor, Oleksandr Prokudin, said in a statement. ... Prokudin said that as of Thursday morning, the water level in Kherson had risen [?]  by 5.61 meters [from 11m - 12m?]. He said 600 square kilometers of the Kherson region is under water, of which 32 percent is on the Ukrainian-held ["right"] bank of the Dnipro River and 68 percent is on the Russian-occupied ["left"] bank.

Source: Yevhen Ryshchuk, the mayor of Oleshky, on Facebook; Suspilne news outlet; Radio Liberty, referring to Tetiana Hasanenko, Head of the Oleshky Military Administration

Kremlin-backed local authorities claim they are rescuing residents from the left bank of the Dnipro River, with some 1,300 out of 40,000 evacuated. Painting a rosy picture, Vladimir Saldo, the Russian-installed acting governor of Kherson, said in a statement that children have been removed from the flood zone and sent "to the sea to good holiday camps in the Kherson region, or Crimea." He continued: "As for the adult residents, few show a desire to evacuate. People want to wait until the water comes down and continue to work on their land."

But those on the ground report a different reality.

Ten natives of the town of Oleshky and the village of Kardashynka, located some 20 kilometers and 36 kilometers southeast of the city of Kherson respectively, told POLITICO that locals tried to flee immediately after the dam blasts—but Russian troops blocked them and forced them to return home to wait for an official list of evacuees who would be bussed out of the area. And Russian forces are actively preventing Kyiv's authorities from rescuing those who are trapped by floodwaters in occupied areas, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensk* said in an exclusive interview.

"From the roofs of the flooded houses, people see drowned people floating by," Zelensk* said. "It's very hard to get people out of the occupied ["left bank"] part of Kherson region. When our ["volunteer"] forces try to get them out, they are shot at by occupiers from a distance."
[...]"On the territory of the left bank that is not under Ukrainian control, evacuation is required for 20 settlements [!], with an estimated population of 25,000 [!] people," [Ukraine's Environment Minister Ruslan] Strilets said, adding: "The Russian occupying authorities are not providing evacuation assistance to the people."

Russian troops seemed disoriented by the scale of the disaster after the dam burst, eyewitnesses indicated.

"They left their own soldiers and weapons there," said Oleksandra, a resident of Oleshky who has also been helping coordinate local rescue efforts. Oleksandra asked for her surname to be withheld due to safety concerns.
[...]
Some Russian soldiers have attempted to help those in some parts of the disaster zone, Oleksandra said, but the efforts are sporadic and complicated by a lack of trust in the occupying forces. Told that Russian authorities had arranged for busses to shuttle them to safety, locals were terrified at the thought of boarding them: "They did not know where Russians would take them. They were afraid to be deported to Russia," said Oleksandra.

[...]
Ukraine has cut four bridges close to [Kherson] city and has also targeted Russian military infrastructure in the province, using artillery supplied by the West. Mr. [Vladimir] Saldo [RU gov] said that the evacuation, which was organized initially by the local authorities, applied to people living on both banks of the river.
[...]

[...]
Since the start of October, Ukrainian forces have burst through Russia's front lines there [Kherson] in their biggest advance in the south since the war began. They have since moved rapidly along the river's western bank, aiming to cut off thousands of Russian troops from supply lines and potential routes of retreat. Kyiv says it has recaptured more than 400 square kilometres (155 miles) in the Kherson region in less than a week, with its forces bearing down towards the three-kilometre-long (two-mile-long) Nova Kakhovka dam that provides one of the last river crossings.
[...]

Russian-installed governor Vladimir Saldo said authorities were moving civilians to the left (east) bank of the Dnipro River in order to "keep people safe" and allow the military to "act resolutely".

Lars Wilderäng (22.10.22)
Modeled by Dämmningsverket AB using the US Army Corps of Engineers (SACE) software HEC-RAS 6.3. The terrain data comes from Nasa.'s Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) and are available from the United States Geographical Survey (USGS). The model is not based on actual measurements of the current state of the Dnipro flow, waterline, temperature, humidity, air pressure, wind speed and anytning else which would affect the model, but on assumptions for a worst case. Assumptions include that the water-level in the dam is 13 meters above the Dnipro downstream, and that the dam break over an hour expands to a width of approximately 200 meters break in the dam. The destruction of the dam by Russia woudl be a war crime according to the Geneva Convention.

The American aerospace company Maxar Technologies on its Twitter page released satellite images showing that the Russian occupiers damaged the dam of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant [HPP] in the Kherson Region. The images show that individual sections of the dam and locks have been destroyed. In general, the damage looks like significant. At the same time, according to CNN, referring to the analysis of satellite images of Maxar Technologies, water flows from three lock gates on the dam.

🇺🇦 Ukraine has demanded a billion dollars after the explosion of the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power station.

The head of Ukrhydroenergo said that the hydroelectric power station cannot be restored and it needs to be built anew.

"To build a new station, you need at least 5... pic.twitter.com/ys7yNWfd3o

— Zlatti71 (@djuric_zlatko) June 8, 2023

Ukraine's domestic security agency, SBU, posted a one-and-a-half-minute audio recording on its Telegram channel in which two men are heard discussing in Russian the aftermath of the dam collapse.

"The invaders wanted to blackmail Ukraine by blowing up the dam and staged a man-made disaster in the south of our country."

Meanwhile, seismic data picked up by the NORSAR observatory in Norway showed activity at 2:54 a.m. local time on June 6 indicating an explosion -- with the timing of the explosion coinciding with media reports of the dam collapse.

"The signal that we are analyzing, the way the energy is recorded on the sensors at distance, clearly shows us that this is an explosive-type character compared to many other explosions that we monitored in the past," Volker Oye, head of research at NORSAR told Reuters on Friday.

Kakhovskaya HPP Dam is the sixth, lower stage of the Dnieper Cascade. The North Crimean Canal feeds from the Kakhovka Reservoir. Earlier, the scientific director of the Institute of Water Problems, Viktor Danilov-Danilyan, explained to RG that Crimea could do without a canal at all and live more or less normally. The only thing that will have to be abandoned is RICE SOWING. "Crimeans don't have to worry this year: the reservoirs of the North Crimean Canal are about 80 percent full, and that's enough for the season," he stressed.

In the Kherson Region, the water level in the Dnieper has returned to its natural riverbad after the Russians [?] blew up the Kakhovka HEPP. Now the level fluctuations correspond to the natural fluctuations of this time of year. This is reported by the State Emergency Service of Ukraine (SESU).
[...]
Two settlements (two houses) on the ["]right bank["] of the Dnieper and 17 settlements in the temporarily occupied territory ["left bank"] of the Kherson Region remain flooded.

Work on pumping out water is ongoing. Over the past day, 72,000 tons of water were pumped out of 56 basements. Since the beginning of the works, more than 373,008 tons of water have been pumped out of 923 houses and basements.

As Ukrainian News Agency [ukranews] earlier reported [translator disabled], two weeks after the incident, the water level in the Kakhovka Reservoir Dnieper River dropped below the level at which water can be taken from it. Later, specialists of Ukrhydroenergo [19.06.23] assumed that the ["natural"] water level in the reservoir Dnieper could drop to 7 meters.

After the destruction of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant's dam by the Russian occupiers...

We previously reported that it may take at least 6 years to dismantle the destroyed dam of the Kakhovka HEPP and build a new structure.

He said this during a speech in the Verkhovna Rada, RBC-Ukraine reports. According to Zelensk*, all the world's best physical and mental rehabilitation practices should be applied in Ukraine.

"All the best world practices, all the most effective practices, all decisions, no matter how difficult or unusual they may seem for us, must be applied in Ukraine so that Ukrainians, all our citizens, do not have to endure the pain, stress, and trauma of war," the President said. Zelensk* supported not only the legalization of medical cannabis, but its controlled production in Ukraine.

"In particular, we must finally honestly legalize cannabis-based medicines, relevant scientific research and controlled Ukrainian production for all who need it," Zelensk* said.

President Volodymyr Zelensky stated this during a speech in the Verkhovna Rada on Constitution Day, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

"The specific goal for Ukraine's GDP is a trillion [US?] dollars [UAH 36,834,420,427,700]. Yes, a trillion dollars is a very, very high bar, and it seems to be unrealistic. But Ukraine's potential can provide it," the head of state said.

"Ukraine will abandon the idea that Ukrainian labor should be cheap. The cheap labor of our people was supposed to be a competitive advantage of Ukraine. We aim to achieve a level of wages that could be determined by the formula: neighbors in the European Union plus 30 percent. After the victory, Ukraine will rely primarily on skilled labor and therefore on education," Zelensk* said.
[...]
As reported, First Deputy Prime Minister - Minister of Economy Yulia Svyrydenko said at Ukraine Recovery Conference in London that Ukraine aims to increase its gross domestic product (GDP) to USD 1 trillion in ten years.

"Ukraine needs a new economic model. Without this, it will be impossible to achieve the set and very ambitious goal - Ukraine's GDP should total $1 trillion in 10 years," [PM Denys] Shmyhal said at the Cabinet's meeting, Ukrinform reports.

According to him, the Ministry of Economy will play the main role in the fulfillment of this goal and therefore will present a clear and comprehensive strategy for the new economy of Ukraine. Private capital and entrepreneurs will take the lead in this economic model.

In turn, the Head of Government added, the role of the state in the economy will be drastically reduced. Privatization will continue and corporate governance reform will be completed, radical deregulation will be carried out, and all business services will be digitized.

Pre-war taxes will return from August. Rada voted to abolish the single tax of 2% for businesses (30.06.23)
... The adoption of the bill is one of the conditions of the program with the IMF. wrote about it in detail earlier. ["Business is waiting for a double increase in the single tax - they paid 2% of turnover, it will be 5%."] ...

"As we said, the focus should not be just on the GDP figure. New jobs and new businesses are the indicators by which the work will be evaluated. One of the key elements of the economic philosophy is the principle that Ukraine bets on recycling. Not the export of raw materials, but the export of finished products. Inclusion of Ukraine in European and global production chains," Shmyhal noted.
[...]

Major-General Kyrylo Budanov, 37, was last seen in early June in a flashy promotional video from the Ukrainian military about their counter-offensive, titled Plans Love Silence.

Fate Kyrylo Budanov @MofA

'Sapere aude'

Not Budanov, but too UA commander likely being treated in a German hospital with brain trauma and in coma.

Russian President Vladimir Putin does not rule out that Ukrainian Army Commander-in-Chief Valery Zaluzhny could be abroad

DARPA and Ukroboronprom

'Sapere aude'

The criminal case against Wagner Private Military Company (PMC) founder Evgeny Prigozhin will be dropped and he will leave Russia, the Kremlin announced on Saturday evening. Spokesman Dmitry Peskov revealed that Prigozhin, a Saint Petersburg tycoon who made his initial fortune in catering, "will go to Belarus." He added that Wagner's fighters will not be persecuted, taking into account their efforts on the frontlines of the Ukraine conflict. Peskov explained that President Vladimir Putin's team "have always respected their exploits." PMC contractors who refused to take part in the mutiny—and whole units did not—will be allowed to sign contracts with the Russian Defense Ministry, Peskov stated.

Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya* has called on Belarusians to not let an opportunity to save Belarus go to waste. The Kastuś Kalinoŭski Regiment, a group of Belarusian opposition volunteers defending Ukraine since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion, has said the military and civilians in Belarus should "wait for a signal".

Source: Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya on Telegram; the Kastuś Kalinoŭski Regiment on Telegram (both made their appeals in Belarusian)

Quote from Tsikhanouskaya: "Putin might try to drag the Belarusian military into his own internal conflict, and make us part of this conflict. I want to call on Belarusian diplomats, the military, and law enforcement agencies to remember that we have our own national interests. Putin and Prigozhin are no friends to Belarus. You do not have to choose their side. The people of Belarus have to defend their own country.

The Situation In Russia Has Been Stabilized. Military Summary And Analysis For 2023.06.25

People are joking that Belarus currently has nuclear weapons, and Belarus has Prigozhin, and basically Belarus has the most powerful weapons in the world.

It is not clear who can feast on berries at such prices, except to buy by the piece, Kiev residents are outraged in social networks.
[...]
According to Oleg Pendzin, head of the Economic Discussion Club, the record price tags for cherries, blueberries and raspberries can be explained by the fact that imported products are now presented. And since logistics has risen in price, so have the price tags. When the season of domestic berries begins, prices will decrease, but will still be higher than last year. For example, Ukrainian cherries will not be enough, because Melitopol and some other settlements of the Zapor*zh* region, where the main supplies came from earlier, remain captured by the Russians and there will be no supplies from there this season.

According to him, nuclear reactors without cooling can melt down in a period of 10 hours to 14 days. He believes that Russia will be able to increase the voltage in the plant's power lines, which will lead to a nuclear accident in a shorter time.

"The plan of the terrorist attack at the ZNPP has been fully developed and approved. They can use technical means to accelerate the catastrophe," Budanov added.

"...The Israeli leadership hides behind verbal demagoguery about its neutrality (which it no longer hides) and forms ties with the Russian Federation. In reality, the alleged 'neutrality' of the Israeli government is clearly a pro-Russian stance.

"We call on the Israeli government to change its position, support Ukraine with protective measures, support elections and the world democratic order. We expect Israel to be on the right side of history," the Ukrainian embassy said in a statement.

"On Friday evening, June 23, in Uzhgorod in the restaurant "Three Aces", the head of the counterintelligence department of the SBU, Panarin Andrei, together with his subordinates, were loud during the rest. At the same time, General Mikulin was in the restaurant, who was meeting with an assistant to the people's deputy from the ruling Servant of the People party Lyudmila Marchenko - Ruman Vayel and representatives of an international European organization. Mikulin made a remark to representatives of the counterintelligence of the SBU that they were behaving loudly. They, without understanding, began to beat Mikulin, "says the source.

According to him, the counterintelligence officers did not stop there.

"Having beaten Mikulin right in the establishment, a group of counterintelligence officers took Mikulin to the forest, where they beat him again, knocked out his teeth and took away his iPhone 14 mobile phone," the source says.

Today, the British general and member of the House of Lords, Richard Dannat, suggested that the forces of "Wagner" and Prigozhin could still be useful to the Kremlin and could launch an attack on the Armed Forces of Ukraine from the territory of Belarus to Kiev.

"The fact that he left for Belarus raises some concerns," he told Sky News.

According to Dannat, if Prigozhin "has retained combat-ready combat forces around him, then he again poses a threat to the Ukrainian flank closest to Kyiv." He considers it "quite possible" that Russia could use the Wagner PMC to go to Kyiv again.

The Ukrainian command commented on this forecast and stated that the situation on the border with Belarus is stable and controlled.

"I want to assure everyone that the situation in the northern operational zone remains stable and controlled. Our troops continue to build up defense assets. All services, from intelligence to engineering troops, are working in an enhanced mode.

"So far, neither the build-up of equipment nor the manpower of the enemy has been observed. The border of the state is under reliable protection 24/7," said the commander of the Joint Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Sergey Naev.

... The online Reuters/Ipsos poll was conducted across the country and polled [n=] 1,004 adults, including 400 Democrats and 383 Republicans. Error of representativeness [sic] 4%....

Simple ... keep your side of the bargain ...WIN the war and reconquer all territory.

Peace can only be reached through military might. 🤥

By its conception, how it should have moved forward ...

• NATO Address by Lithuanian President - 16 Oct. 1996

But no, the Empire decided to call the Russian Federation a pariah state that needed to be taken out. Stop the bloodshed you moron.

'Sapere aude'

8 Jan 2023: "Korean scenario", "Korean-style armistice"

360° thread music

Allies Pressure Biden to Hasten NATO Membership for Ukraine, 14 June NSA "equities"

[...]
The issue of how to define Ukraine's future in the alliance has overtaken a second question, how to come up long-term security assurances for Ukraine. Mr. Biden's aides are telling members of Congress they want to move to something akin to what they call "the Israel model," which has a 10-year-long < wipes tears > security commitment with the United States.

While Ukraine's would almost certainly be shorter, the idea, administration officials say, would be to convince Mr. Putin that the flow of arms and training to Kyiv will not flag -- and to bleed some of the politics out of episodic debates about how much aid to commit to Ukraine in the next six months or a year.
[...]

SYDORENKO: Firstly, Russia is responsible for this. Secondly, it was Russia itself that blew up the dam. Do you agree with any of these statements?
NATO: Again, Secretary General was very clear in what he said. The dam would not have been destroyed if it were not Russia's war. It's very clear. Indeed it was in Russian hands already for a year. The Russians were running it. There are all types of evidence. NATO is not in the business of gathering evidence and neither running investigations. So let me stop with that.
[...]
SYDORENKO: Mrs. Ambassador, I agree that practical assistance is much needed. However, for a country aspiring to become a NATO member and having strong support for membership within its society, it is also important to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
NATO: The decision to grant membership future for Ukraine was made in 2008 in Bucharest. So the leaders at that summit in 2008 made that decision. It was also a clear sense that Ukraine will need a membership action plan [MAP, 23.05.23] to implement that which is not yet. It did not happen.

This issue brief evaluates membership and other security options for the alliance and its members to consider. The options range from formal actions by NATO as a whole to collective or individualized efforts by member nations. The brief recommends that for geopolitical and values-based reasons, the alliance should, at a minimum, offer Ukraine a Membership Action Plan (MAP) or its equivalent supported by security guarantees that will help ensure success in its fight against Russia and strengthen security in Europe for the long term.

SYDORENKO: I apologise, but I have to interrupt you here. Ukraine is clearly stating, at the official level, that it does not accept the option of receiving MAP (presidential decree of constitutional jurisdiction). President Zelensk* has made this clear. I understand that it is not up to you or me to make this decision and that it is a matter for the leaders of the Allies to consider.
NATO: That was in 2008 what the leaders decided. The cooperation, the integration of Ukraine, the practical work is very, very comprehensive. It really includes all the areas from civil to military to everything. That is what makes Ukraine special. It's not only the words; it's not a sort of paper but real work. That's what NATO is about - real work.

An essential part of all this is obviously, Ukraine has to leave victorious in the war. There has to be an independent democratic Ukraine that can join NATO after the war. During the war, the perspective is important. That's why Secretary General went to Kyiv, and we affirmed the decision of the Allies that Ukraine would be a member of NATO.
[...]

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensk* warned in a television interview on Thursday that the United States could face the "collapse of NATO" or a direct conflict with Russia if Ukraine does not win the war.

Zelensk*'s comments come less than four weeks before a NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, where support for Ukraine will be a central topic on the agenda for the military alliance. President Joe Biden is also expected to announce increased security guarantees for Ukraine ahead of the summit in July.

Speaking through an interpreter, Zelensk* issued a stark warning to any American politician or 2024 presidential candidate who is skeptical about providing more aid to equip K**v in its war against Russia. "Is he ready to go to war? To fight, to send his kids? Are they ready to die?" Zelensk* asked. "Because anyway, they will have to do this if NATO gets involved."

The financial institution which performed the worst in the DNB analysis was not identified by name. One of the problems is that they do not always search for every spelling of a name on the sanctions list.

"These are really kindergarten mistakes. In the sanction regulations, the name of the sanctioned person is often spelled in five ways, so in English, Dutch, Russian, Ukrainian, and then possibly an extra spelling, because this has been handled poorly before," Heleen over de Linden, an expert on economic sanctions, told the NL Times.

Eva Kaili is back with a new story: There's a conspiracy | Politico |

The Qatargate suspect is pushing to reframe her case as an anti-spying morality tale, prompting some incredulity.

'Sapere aude'