The joint Russian military-Donetsk People's Militia operation to free the Azov Sea-adjacent city of Mariupol has turned into one of the toughest slogs of the campaign in Ukraine, with Ukrainian military and neo-Nazi Azov units setting up defences inside the city, taking civilians hostage, and turning the battle into a brutal house-by-house fight.

Significant numbers of foreign mercenaries are active in those areas of Mariupol which remain under Ukrainian control, Russian Ministry of Defence spokesman Igor Konashenkov has reported.

WASHINGTON — The top U.S. military officer is warning that the war in Ukraine will likely last years, raising concerns that the world "is becoming more unstable and the potential for significant international conflict between great powers is increasing, not decreasing." 

During testimony in front of the House Armed Services Committee on Tuesday, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley called Russia's invasion of Ukraine "the greatest threat to peace and security of Europe, and perhaps the world, in (his) 42 years of service in uniform." 

ScoMo shoots down ‘awkward’ tweet from Liberal candidate

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has torpedoed a tweet from a local Liberal candidate that has come back to bite him on the campaign trail.

A resurfaced tweet from a local Liberal candidate has come back to haunt the Prime Minister on the hustings. 

The August 2015 post from Corangamite candidate Stephanie Asher criticised Scott Morrison – who was the social services minister at the time – for describing women as a “minority”. 

“Just heard Scott Morrison describe women as a minority group. Lol,” she wrote. 

Lastly, she pictured to herself how this same little sister of hers would, in the after‑time, be herself a grown woman; and how she would keep, through all her riper years, the simple and loving heart of her childhood; and how she would gather about her other little children, and make their eyes bright and eager with many a strange tale, perhaps even with the dream of Wonderland of long ago; and how she would feel with all their simple sorrows, and find a pleasure in all their simple joys, remembering her own child‑life, and the happy summer days.

From the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine Israel has refused to join the West’s economic war against Moscow, maintaining a neutral stance that as positioned it as a possible broker to end the conflict. 

But all that appears to have changed with remarks by Israel’s foreign minister in a Twitter post on Sunday, the day the massacre at Bucha was revealed and before any investigation could be conducted. 

UN farce

US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield called Russia's membership in the Human Rights Council a "farce," but a study by the Costs of War Project found the US War on Terror was responsible for the deaths of 364,000 civilians, and the US still sits on the same council.

Following demands by the United States and the Group of Seven, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) voted on Thursday to remove Russia from the 47-member UN Human Rights Council. The G7 previously removed Russia from its ranks as the G8 in March 2014, after Russia annexed Crimea following that territory's declaration of independence from Ukraine and passing of a referendum to join the Russian Federation.

Moscow has outlined the conditions for ending its military operation in Ukraine, including guarantees of Kiev's non-bloc, non-nuclear status, plus recognition of Crimea as part of Russia and of the Donbass as independent states. On Thursday, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused Kiev of rolling back on agreed upon commitments at America's behest.

The entire “architecture of the world order” to come depends on the success of the Russian military operation in Ukraine, Director of Foreign Intelligence Sergei Naryshkin has said.

EU citizens are being asked to make great sacrifices to support a sanctions regime against Moscow over its military offensive in Ukraine. But how long will Western consumers be willing to live without creature comforts?

What a difference a month can make. Not long ago, Moscow and Berlin had the champagne on ice for an expected ribbon-cutting ceremony on Nord Stream 2, a planned 1,234-km (766 mile) pipeline extending from Russia to Germany that would have kept Europe warm and toasty for decades. Now, EU officials are advising their citizens to dial back their time in the shower and invest in wool sweaters as calls for decoupling from Russian energy supplies ratchet up. 

In recent days, a wave of false accusations against Russia emegerged in the West, alleging that its military committed war crimes in Bucha, Ukraine, during its special operation to denazify Ukraine. This is despite the fact that, in addition to official statements by the Russian authorities about the fake nature of these allegations, a senior Pentagon official has already stated that the US has no independent confirmation of the information spread by Kiev about civilian casualties in this Ukrainian town. Moreover, a former UN inspector for monitoring of the elimination of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction Scott Ritter explicitly pointed out that the Ukrainian authorities are known for loud propaganda statements and should present medical evidence before making any allegations about the events in Bucha.

On Tuesday, the House passed a non-binding resolution expressing “unequivocal support” for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). While the bill easily passed, 63 Republicans voted against the measure, earning them the ire of the foreign policy establishment. 

The legislation was introduced by Congressman Gerald E. Connolly (D-VA) at the beginning of December. The resolution calls on President Joe Biden to “adopt a new Strategic Concept for NATO that is clear about its support for shared democratic values and committed to enhancing NATO’s capacity to strengthen democratic institutions” and “establish a Center for Democratic Resilience within NATO headquarters.”

CIA

US intelligence officials leaked information about the Ukraine conflict that wasn’t “rock solid” and outright made up some claims, all to win an “info war”against the Kremlin, according to an NBC News report on Wednesday. The officials admitted to, and boasted about, releasing this misinformation.

The man who has accused Scott Morrison of “racial vilification” in a Liberal Party ballot more than a decade ago, Michael Towke, has gone further in new claims about the reaction from a cabinet minister to his explosive claims in recent days.

Mr Towke claims a federal cabinet minister has texted him to say “I believe you” in response to his statement on the weekend about the Prime Minister’s conduct in 2007 when the two men sought the party’s endorsement for the federal seat of Cook, a contest Mr Morrison won.

saucisson

London (AFP) – The United States, Britain and Australia said Tuesday they would begin collaborating on hypersonic missile strike and defence capacity, as rivals Russia and China advance rapidly in the cutting-edge technology.

The trio said they would work on hypersonics in an expansion of their recent AUKUS defence alliance, which is to equip Australia with nuclear-powered submarines to counter China's growing military clout.

They pledged "new trilateral cooperation on hypersonics and counter-hypersonics, and electronic warfare capabilities" in a statement by US President Joe Biden, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

President Volodymyr Zelensky has warned that Ukraine will look to Israel for inspiration concerning its future security arrangements, arguing that an “absolutely liberal” Kiev is now “impossible” after Moscow’s attack in late February.

Speaking to journalists on Tuesday, the president said security would be the “number one” issue for Ukrainians for the next decade, even going so far as to forecast a lasting armed military presence in the streets.