Free press is dangerous!

Russia has opened criminal cases against 14 foreign journalists for crossing Kursk border, FSB says​

One has to suppose that Russia doesn't ask for permission from Ukraine to have journalists in (eg) Marioupol, so I don't see the calculation behind this. I suppose it implies that those bits in Kursk will clearly be back in Russian control in the future, while it is not at all certain anything in occupied Ukraine will revert to being in Ukraine. Still, for the time being the cases are analogous, so this was a ridiculous move by Russia.
 
They violated Russian laws, what's the problem with opening case against them? No need to have any calculations behind this.
To be clear: you support or do not see an issue with legal proceedings against individuals charged with breaking a country's laws?

Because you tend to object when the laws are based in other countries, and / or the victims are pro-Russia.
 
They violated Russian laws, what's the problem with opening case against them?
Russian laws are unjust, and Russian courts political tools of the executive branch of government, which is dictatorial.
 
They violated Russian laws, what's the problem with opening case against them? No need to have any calculations behind this.
I am ok with it IF Ukraine did the same against journalists in areas Russia controls (and which before official peace is signed, are still technically in Ukraine).
 
I am ok with it IF Ukraine did the same against journalists in areas Russia controls (and which before official peace is signed, are still technically in Ukraine).
As far as I remember, Ukraine still considers visiting Crimea without their permission as illegal border crossing.
 
Putin turned 72 today.
 
Vovchansk was.

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Beautifully liberated by Russians! Behold and wonder at all the marvellous progress it's citizens will enjoy from the Pax Russica!
 
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Putin turned 72 today.
Pro-Ukraine hackers said Happy Birthday

Ukrainian hackers shut down Russian state news agency VGTRK's online broadcasting and streaming services on Monday – president Vladimir Putin's 72nd birthday – as Kremlin officials vowed to bring those responsible for the "unprecedented" cyber attack to justice.

Putin's press secretary Dmitry Peskov confirmed the breach to Russian media and called it "an unprecedented hacker attack on [VGTRK's] digital infrastructure."

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova told state news org, Interfax, that the cyber attack was part of hybrid war effort, blamed the "collective West," and pledged to raise the issue with the United Nations and UNESCO.

Russian news outlet Gazeta.ru reported that the pro-Ukraine hacktivist crew "sudo rm -RF" was responsible for the attack. The name is also a Unix/Linux command that will recursively remove all root-owned files and directories – which seems like an appropriate moniker for the hacking crew that also claimed credit for taking down RuTube, Russia's equivalent of YouTube, for three days in 2022.

An anonymous Ukrainian law enforcement official told Politico that the intrusion was a birthday present for Putin.
"Ukrainian hackers congratulated Putin on his birthday by carrying out a large-scale attack on the all-Russian state television and radio broadcasting company," the official declared.

"Employees complained that all information on the servers has been destroyed, even backup copies. Online broadcasting and internal services do not work. There is no internet and telephone connection," he added.
 
N. Korea likely to send troops to Ukraine in support of Russia: S. Korea's defense chief

North Korea is likely to deploy members of its regular armed forces to Ukraine in support of Russia, South Korea's defense chief said Tuesday, in the latest sign of deepening military cooperation between Pyongyang and Moscow.

The assessment came as North Korea has been seeking to bolster ties with Russia, highlighted by a bilateral agreement that includes a mutual defense clause, signed by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Russian President Vladimir Putin at summit talks in June.

"As Russia and North Korea have signed a mutual treaty akin to a military alliance, the possibility of such a deployment is highly likely," Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun told lawmakers during a parliamentary audit session.

Against this backdrop, Kim said a recent report on North Korean troop casualties in a Russian-occupied territory near the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk is also likely to be true.

 

Ukraine’s shifting war aims​

Kyiv is not being given the support it needs to regain the upper hand over Russia

Ukraine is going into its third winter of war with the mood darker than ever. In the east, its troops are losing ground to the grinding advance of their Russian adversaries — albeit at vast cost to Moscow’s forces. With half its power generation shattered, Ukrainians face spending hours a day without light or heat in the coldest months. In Washington and some western capitals, meanwhile — and in the corridors of Kyiv — the mood is shifting: from a determination that the war can end only with Russia’s army driven from Ukraine, to the reluctant recognition that a negotiated settlement that leaves the bulk of the country intact may be the best hope. Yet Kyiv is not being given the support it needs even to achieve that scaled-back goal.

Ukraine’s prospects are clouded above all by the danger that Donald Trump wins next month’s US election and seeks a swift end to the war, as he has pledged. Some US and European officials hope Trump could at least be dissuaded from forcing Kyiv into an adverse deal with Moscow that would pose grave risks for future European and American security.
Yet grappling simultaneously with an escalating Middle East war, even some western capitals that previously insisted on the need to defeat Russia’s Vladimir Putin militarily are recalibrating their goals. Some Kyiv officials, too, fret in private that they lack the personnel, firepower and western support to recover all territory seized by Russia. There is talk behind closed doors of a deal in which Moscow retains de facto control over the roughly one-fifth of Ukraine it has occupied — though Russia’s sovereignty is not recognised — while the rest of the country is allowed to join Nato or given equivalent security guarantees. Under that umbrella, it could rebuild and integrate with the EU, akin to West Germany in the cold war.

This scenario relies, however, on ambitious assumptions. One is that the US and its allies must be prepared to offer Nato membership or the necessary guarantees, when they have so far been reluctant to grant Kyiv a binding path into the alliance. It would require a huge and costly deployment of forces by the US and its partners — and leave them on a cold war-style tripwire.

A second assumption is that Russia’s president can be induced to negotiate and accept such a scenario. But preventing Ukraine from joining Nato was one of his ostensible war aims. It is doubtful, too, that Putin has an incentive to agree to land-for-peace talks while he believes his forces can still expand their gains.

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, presented a “victory plan” in Washington last month that sought to persuade Kyiv’s allies to bolster his position, militarily and diplomatically, and force Moscow to the table. He left empty-handed on two key requests: progress towards Nato, and US permission for Kyiv to use western missiles for long-range strikes on Russian territory.

https://www.ft.com/content/fceeb798-8fe0-4094-b928-65ebef2b8e1b
 
"A second assumption is that Russia’s president can be induced to negotiate and accept such a scenario. But preventing Ukraine from joining Nato was one of his ostensible war aims. It is doubtful, too, that Putin has an incentive to agree to land-for-peace talks while he believes his forces can still expand their gains."

Which means there is nothing that Russia is willing to negotiate.
 
Despite what the article claims, election of Trump may be not the best outcome for Russia.
In his last term, he was giving aid to Ukraine just as Democrats did. Harris is far more predictable, there will be less risk of escalation.
Which means there is nothing that Russia is willing to negotiate.
Russia is willing to continue negotiations basing on tentative agreement reached in March 2022, as it was said multiple times.
NATO membership was not a part of it, neither US seems to be willing to grant it anyway.
It's obviously part of Ukrainian "plan" though.
 
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