US Official to Moscow: ‘Get the Hell out of Ukraine!’

Ukrainian President Zelenskyy with
Senators Richard Blumenthal and Lindsey Graham.

It’s been a little more than a week since the Ukrainian Armed Forces for the first time in history invaded Russia in the vicinity of Kursk and then Belgorod and for all intents and purposes the international reaction to this daring attack on Russia has been quietly supportive.

As Russia’s latest invasion of Ukraine enters its 30th month and collateral damage, civilian deaths and destruction of non-combatant infrastructure rising, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his military commanders had no other option than to take the war to Russia in hopes of slowing the bloody Russian war machine. And if anything, Russians’ bewilderment halted Russian advances.

Ukraine started its invasion of Russia’s Kursk Oblast a week ago shortly after receiving its first F-16 fighter jets, according to the Ukrainian military. The objectives of the operation are still a subject of debate among experts. However, as we stated, Ukrainian soldiers managed to capture the “faucet” and controls the flow of petroleum from Russia to Europe.

And to the surprise and delight of most of the free world, Ukraine has succeeded in capturing about 1,000 square kilometers of Russian real estate and taking hundreds of prisoners.

A week into Ukraine’s shocking invasion of Russia, it’s becoming increasingly clear that Moscow does not have the situation under control.

Tens of thousands of Russians have been forced to flee their homes as Ukrainian troops continued to capture Russian territory over the weekend and this week. Shocked Russians were dumbfounded as they stared at Ukrainian tanks and armor rumbling along their streets. They were horrified by the sight of burning bodies of Russian cutthroats.

Battlefield videos reveal Russians surrendering by dozens, falling to their knees and discarding their weapons. Surely the Kremlin leadership was perplexed, bewildered, stunned and embarrassed by the cleverness, ingenuity, skill, heroism and daring of Ukrainian soldiers.

Reportedly, Russia’s Defense Minister Andrei Belousov three times sought the United States’ intercession in telephone calls to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin but the American official did not pick up the call.

John Kirby, the US national security communications advisor, said on Monday that if Ukraine’s invasion into the western Russian region made Putin uncomfortable, “there’s an easy solution: He can just get the hell out of Ukraine and call it a day.”

Russian media reported that Putin was enraged by the Ukrainian invasion. The scale of the crisis became clear in Moscow on Monday, when Putin held a tense meeting with top security and government officials and the heads of the border regions, vowing to “kick the enemy out.”

A video of the meeting published by the Kremlin shows Putin scolding his subordinates, at one point shutting down the Kursk region’s acting governor Alexei Smirnov as he attempts to outline the scale of the invasion.

Russia also criticized Western allies of Ukraine at the United Nations on Tuesday, August 13, for not condemning Kyiv’s invasion into the Russian region of Kursk, accusing Ukrainian forces of killing civilians and questioning the goals of the cross-border assault.

Ukraine’s allies on the U.N. Security Council, including the United States, France and Britain, stood firm in their support for Kyiv during an informal council gathering convened by Russia. They did not mention the Kursk offensive.

Two US senators, Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC), completed their sixth visit to Kyiv on August 12, 2024, meeting with Zelenskyy and other government officials. The senators expressed optimism about Ukraine’s military efforts, particularly praising the country’s offensive in Kursk as “bold and brilliant,” as noted by Blumenthal.

Lawmakers stressed the need for bipartisan support for Ukraine, pledging more military aid in 2024, and urged NATO to invite Ukraine to join this year, calling it “making real what is inevitable.” Zelenskyy and the senators discussed a strategic agreement on Ukraine’s rare earth minerals, crucial for the US economy. The senators emphasized that the deal would reduce reliance on “foreign adversaries” – i.e., China – for resources like lithium and titanium.

Blumenthal and Graham announced plans to introduce the Stand With Ukraine Act when the Senate reconvenes in September. This legislation aims to codify the bilateral security agreement reached between the Biden Administration and Zelenskyy’s government in July 2024. They stated in a joint release:

“After our sixth visit to Kyiv, we are more hopeful than ever that the tide of war has turned against Putin and his cronies. Ukraine’s decision to go on the offensive in the Kursk region of Russia was bold and brilliant.

“Bipartisan support for Ukraine is critical to American interests, and we will do whatever we can in 2024 to build on these successes and secure additional future military aid necessary to maintain the momentum.

“We urge NATO to issue an invitation this year to Ukraine for membership, making real what has been described as inevitable. 

“President Zelensky was excited about and was committed to obtaining a strategic agreement with the U.S. regarding the more than a trillion dollars-worth of rare earth minerals owned by Ukraine and expressed a commitment to create a working group with the U.S. to make this happen.

“Expanding economic cooperation with Ukraine makes America stronger and accelerates Ukraine’s economic recovery. Ukraine is blessed with significant lithium, titanium, and other rare earth minerals that are needed by the American economy. An agreement with Ukraine in this area would make the U.S. less dependent on foreign adversaries for rare earth minerals.

“In addition, we will introduce the Stand With Ukraine Act, led by Senator Blumenthal, when the Senate reconvenes in September. This bipartisan piece of legislation will codify the bilateral security agreement reached by the Biden Administration and Zelensky’s government this past July. We believe this will send an important signal to the world and show that the United States continues to stand with Ukraine.

“After listening to President Zelenskyy, we urge the Biden Administration to lift restrictions on weapons provided by the United States so they can strike the Russian invaders more effectively. 

“Additionally, President Zelenskyy told us both that he would be looking to supplement his Air Force by establishing a program to enlist retired NATO F-16 fighter pilots. We support this effort. Ukraine is already fielding units of freedom fighters on the ground, and this volunteer force should be replicated in the air.

“Now is the time to form a strategic partnership with Ukraine that can have tremendous economic benefits to the United States and lead to stability in Europe. Ukraine has demonstrated it has a genuine desire to join the democratic family of nations. We must not abandon them in their hour of need. We should accelerate the gains that have been achieved through dogged determination and courage.”

219-plus Ukrainian Children Killed by Russians in July

There are acceptable military targets during war and there is collateral damage caused by accidental death and destruction of civilians and non-combatant targets.

Sadly, russian cutthroats do not know the difference between the two. For them, apartment buildings, schools, churches, theaters, restaurants, hospitals, supermarkets and food lines are primary military targets in their demented minds.

According to the latest United Nations report, at least 219 Ukrainian civilians were killed and 1,018 injured in Ukraine in July due to russian attacks, which makes it the deadliest month for civilians since October 2022. The high number of casualties in July continues a trend of increasing civilian casualties since March 2024.

The UN noted the large-scale coordinated attack launched by the russian armed forces across Ukraine on July 8 that killed at least 43 civilians, including five children, and injured 147, including seven children, in Kyiv, Dnipro, Kryvyi Rih (Dnipropetrovsk region) and Kyiv region. One missile the 8 July 8 attack also struck a hospital complex in Kyiv, completely destroying the toxicology department of the Okhmatdyt National Children’s Hospital and significantly damaging the Center for Pediatric Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery.

In June and July, the most intensive offensive military operations by the russian armed forces shifted from northern Kharkiv region to the Donetsk region. As a result, verified civilian casualties in Donetsk region increased from 125 civilians killed or injured in May to 224 in June and 269 in July 2024. 

The UN said the vast majority of civilian casualties (90 per cent) and damage to educational and health facilities (86 per cent) continued to occur in Kyiv-controlled territory.

Ukraine Occupies 130 km of Russian Territory

Ukraine Occupies 130 km of Russian Territory as US Provides Kyiv with more Weapons

WASHINGTON, DC — As Ukraine’s soldiers crossed the Russian border for the first time in history and scored humiliating victories against Russians at home, the  U.S. announced today that it is sending Ukraine an additional $125 million in weapons to assist in its military operations against Russia.

The package includes much-needed air defense capabilities, radars to detect and counter enemy artillery and anti-tank weapons, the White House announced Friday. 

National security spokesman John Kirby said Ukraine’s use of U.S.-provided weapons in the offensive was in line with administration policies. The Biden administration has approved their use in cross-border counterstrikes against Russia but not against targets deeper inside Russia, although the specific distances are not clear.

It is reported that Ukrainian forces have occupied 130 km of Russian territory.

The Ukrainian expeditionary invasion of Russia via Kursk has grown from 300 heroic soldiers to a force of thousands along with tanks and armor. 

The prize includes the “faucet” that controls the flow of petroleum from Russia to Europe. Reportedly this resulted in a 80 percent increase in the price at the pumps across Europe.

The latest package comes as Ukraine has launched its largest ground offensive on Russian soil since the war began in February 2022. The offensive in the Kursk region has prompted Moscow to declare an emergency and send reinforcements there. 

Russians at home are able to watch for the first time decimated Russian military convoys and burning bodies of Russian soldiers.

Simultaneously, the Russian cutthroats struck a Ukrainian supermarket in Kostiantynivka , killing at least 14 and wounding 44. Moscow continues to demonstrate that it regards apartment buildings, restaurants, hospitals and supermarkets as military targets.

The weapons in this latest aid package will be drawn from existing U.S. stocks and will include Stinger missiles, 155mm and 105mm artillery ammunition, High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) ammunition and vehicles. It brings the total amount of U.S. aid to Ukraine since 2022 to $55.6 billion. 

July saw the heaviest civilian casualties in Ukraine since October 2022, the U.N. Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine said Friday. Conflict-related violence killed at least 219 civilians and injured 1,018 in July, the mission said.  

White House Announced more Aid for Ukraine

White House Announces More Security Aid & Weapons for Ukraine

WASHINGTON, DC — The Department of Defense (DoD) announced on July 29 additional security assistance to meet Ukraine's critical security and defense needs at this time when Russia’s ground forces are apparently making new inroads.

The assistance includes the authorization of a Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA) package valued at up to $200 million to provide Ukraine with key capabilities, including: air defense interceptors; munitions for rocket systems and artillery; and anti-tank weapons.

In addition, DoD is announcing a significant package of support using approximately $1.5 billion in Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI) funds. This package includes capabilities to augment Ukraine's air defenses, fires, and anti-tank weapons, as well as funding to sustain equipment previously committed by the United States.

The capabilities in this announcement include:

Munitions for National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS);

Short- and medium-range air defense munitions;

RIM-7 missiles for air defense;

Electronic Warfare equipment;

Ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS);

155mm and 105mm artillery rounds;

120mm mortar rounds;

Precision aerial munitions;

Tube-Launched, Optically-Tracked, Wire-Guided (TOW) missiles;

Javelin and AT-4 anti-armor systems;

Small arms;

Explosives material and demolitions equipment and munitions;

Secure communications systems;

Commercial satellite imagery services; and

Spare parts, maintenance and sustainment support, and other ancillary equipment.

This is the Biden Administration's twentieth USAI package and sixty-second tranche of equipment to be provided from DoD inventories for Ukraine and since August 2021.

The United States will continue to work together with some 50 Allies and partners to ensure Ukraine's brave defenders receive the critical capabilities needed to fight Russian aggression.

Mother’s Day in Ukraine amid Death, Fear and Rubble

Hopefully, you had a memorable Mother’s Day with your loving children at hand and the comfort of your warm home in America.

No so in Ukraine.

In an emotional Mother’s Day message to all mothers around the world, Ukraine’s First Lady Olena Zelenska drew attention to the fate of the thousands of stolen children of her country and obligated all of us in the free world to demand their freedom and return as if they were our own.

In her essay in The Washington Post published on May 11, Zelenska described the pained existence of mothers in Ukraine who with missile fragments and bullets in their hearts shield their children and all Ukrainian children behind their backs from russian instruments of death and injury.

“That’s because, in a civilized world, there are no other people’s children,” she wrote poignantly.

Since the latest iteration of moscow’s bloody invasion of Ukraine, children have been targeted by russian cutthroats. They have been killed in premediated missile barrages, machinegun fire, and destruction of homes. Both boys and girls have been raped by russians in the presence of their mothers. They have died in drive-by shootings.

Zelenska continued: “This is the story of women of Ukraine right now. More than 19,000 of our children are being held captive in Russia. Their families are tormented by uncertainty.

“Since the beginning of Russia’s brutal full-scale invasion, the mothers of Ukraine have — as caregivers, first responders, medics, soldiers and breadwinners — fought for the survival of their families and their country. They are part of a fight for the survival of the democratic world order.”

With 60,000 women-volunteers in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Zelenska pointed out, “We need the help of the whole world to set these children free. One Ukrainian mother may be powerless, but thousands and millions of us standing together can succeed.”

As for her salient observation that in war there are no other people’s children, Zelenska wrote that mothers are expanding their family nucleus by taking in neighbors’ children in order to protect them and provide them with food, shelter and motherly love.

Among several accounts that the First Lade cited, she related: “Six-year-old Renat and 10-year-old Varvara were living in Mariupol — the city wiped from the face of the Earth by russian bombing — when they were sent to an orphanage in Russia. They were torn from their mother, who had been taken prisoner.”

The emotional pain felt by surviving mothers in Ukraine may be more acute than death or injury. Imagine, she wrote, having to reassure every day your child during an air raid than he or she will survive when they plead “Mom, are we going to die today?” What can a mother do or say when she, herself, is scared and unsure of what will happen when the alarm stops.

Her “Olena Zelenska Foundation” is addressing this issue every day.

“We are trying to fight this growing mental health crisis. The program ‘Are you okay?’ was created to enable a future where, hopefully, both parents and children can one day honestly answer that question with: ‘I'm okay.’ It’s aimed at preventing children from remaining ‘children of war’ for the rest of their lives, she elaborated.

In the midst of day-to-day air raid alarms and satisfying their children’s daily needs of food, shelter and schooling, Zelenska offers this advice: “My only recipe for being a mom during the war is to be sincere and an example of love and care. It is to teach my children the need to care for others because that is why we are all holding on to through the war. It is about hoping that the war will remain just an episode in the lives of our children. That they will enjoy normal lives after it to erase that trauma.”

“Demand our children be returned to Ukraine!”

USA Announces Extra Security Help for Ukraine

There has been a lot of confused and cynical doubt about America’s moral commitment to Ukraine as well as its military support. Some Republicans are firmly against such a policy. However, today, May 10, the Department of Defense announced additional security assistance to meet Ukraine’s critical security and defense needs. This announcement is the Biden Administration’s 57th tranche of equipment to be provided from DoD inventories for Ukraine since August 2021. This Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA) package has an estimated value of $400 million and includes capabilities to support Ukraine's most urgent battlefield requirements, including air defense, artillery rounds, armored vehicles, and anti-tank weapons.

The capabilities in this announcement include:

● Additional munitions for Patriot air defense systems;

● Additional munitions for National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS);

● Stinger anti-aircraft missiles;

● Equipment to integrate Western launchers, missiles, and radars with Ukraine's systems;

● Additional High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems(HIMARS) and ammunition;

● 155mm and 105mm artillery rounds;

● Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicles;

● M113 Armored Personnel Carriers;

● Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles;

● Trailers to transport heavy equipment;

● Tube-Launched, Optically-Tracked, Wire-Guided (TOW) missiles;

● Javelin and AT-4 anti-armor systems;

● Precision aerial munitions;

● High-speed Anti-radiation missiles (HARMs);

● Small arms and additional rounds of small arms ammunition and grenades;

● Demolitions munitions and equipment for obstacle clearing;

● Coastal and riverine patrol boats;

● Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear protective equipment; and

● Spare parts, training munitions, maintenance, and other ancillary equipment.

The Defense Department said the United States will continue to work together with some 50 allies and partners to ensure Ukraine’s brave defenders receive the critical capabilities needed to fight Russian aggression. It is worth noting again that these weapons are manufactured in American factories and support the country’s economy as well as workers.

PACE Declares that Abducting Ukrainian Children is Genocide

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) approved a strongly worded resolution regarding Ukrainian children who were abducted and subjected to russian attempts to erase their identity, as well as those who have found refuge in the EU.

Reportedly, the decision adopted by PACE members concerns all Ukrainian children, as there are no children untouched by Russian aggression. The PACE resolution is based on a project prepared by Ukrainian National Deputy Olena Khomenko, supported by 85 PACE members with no votes against it. 

The document calls on the national parliaments of all Council of Europe member states to adopt decisions “condemning the war crimes against children and recognizing deportations, forcible transfers, and unjustifiable delay in repatriation of Ukrainian children … as a crime of genocide.”

Addressing the Assembly, Ukraine’s First Lady Olena Zelenska asked national parliaments “to join in order to force Russia to comply with at least the Geneva Conventions and immediately provide comprehensive lists with the names and whereabouts of all Ukrainian children who have been illegally deported.” Every rescued child “is a special operation involving many countries and dozens of people who care. That’s how we succeed. And there are dozens of caring countries and millions of caring people in the world. At least I believe in this,” she added.

The adopted text reiterates that “all Ukrainian children have the right to enjoy the rights and freedoms enshrined in relevant international human rights instruments” and emphasized that “the best interests of the child must prevail in all decision-making processes concerning them,” reinforcing the principle that children should never be used as “a means of exerting pressure or as war trophies.”

The Assembly, therefore, called on national parliaments to adopt resolutions recognizing these crimes as genocide, and the international community to collaborate with Ukraine to trace and repatriate missing children, namely “to identify, locate and return them to Ukraine.”