Germany is repeating historic mistakes by becoming involved in the Ukraine conflict, a trajectory that could lead to its collapse, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has warned. 

Lavrov made the remarks on Wednesday in an interview with journalist Pavel Zarubin, responding to recent comments by Berlin. Earlier in the day, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz pledged to help Ukraine produce long-range weapons that Kiev could use to strike targets beyond the territory it claims. 

Berlin’s “direct involvement in the war is now obvious,” Lavrov said. “Germany is sliding down the same slippery slope it already followed a couple of times in the last century – down toward its own collapse,” he added. 

The Russian diplomat expressed hope that “responsible politicians” in Germany would “ultimately draw the right conclusions and put a stop to this madness.” 

Speaking alongside Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky in Berlin, Merz announced what he described as “a new form of military-industrial cooperation” with Kiev, saying the two sides “want to ensure joint production” of long-range weapons, though he declined to share details. 

Earlier this week, Merz said there are “no longer any range restrictions” on weapons supplied to Ukraine by the UK, France, Germany, and the US, noting later that the limits were lifted “several months ago.” 

Moscow has repeatedly warned that supplying long-range arms would make Germany a direct party to the conflict.

German Vice Chancellor and Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil claimed no new decisions had been made on the permissible range of Ukrainian strikes using German weapons beyond what was set by the previous government. 

Ralf Stegner, a member of the the SPD, Merz’s coalition partner, called the comments “unhelpful” and called for a stronger focus on diplomacy. 

Moscow has consistently condemned Western arms deliveries to Ukraine, arguing they fuel more bloodshed and obstruct peace efforts. The Kremlin warned that the latest “provocative actions” by EU states could further hinder diplomacy.

https://www.rt.com/news/618279-germany-collapse-ukraine-conflict-lavrov/

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YOURDEMOCRACY.NET RECORDS HISTORY AS IT SHOULD BE — NOT AS THE WESTERN MEDIA WRONGLY REPORTS IT.

         Gus Leonisky

         POLITICAL CARTOONIST SINCE 1951.

The terrifying new weapon changing the war in Ukraine

Yogita Limaye
BBC News

We drive to Bilytske, further away from the frontline. We see a row of houses destroyed by a missile strike overnight. One of them was Svitlana's home.

"It's getting worse and worse. Earlier, we could hear distant explosions, they were far away. But now our town is getting targeted – we're experiencing it ourselves," says the 61-year-old, as she picks up a few belongings from the wreckage of her home. Luckily Svitlana wasn't at home when the attack occurred.

"Go into the centre of the town, you'll see so much that is destroyed there. And the bakery and zoo have been destroyed too," she says.

At a safehouse just out of reach of drones, we meet soldiers of the artillery unit of the 5th Assault Brigade.

"You can feel the intensity of Russian assaults increasing. Rockets, mortars, drones, they're using everything they have to cut off supply ro

In an ever-evolving conflict, soldiers have had to rapidly adapt to new threats posed by changing technology. And the latest threat comes from fibre optic drones. A spool of tens of kilometres of cable is fitted to the bottom of a drone and the physical fibre optic cord is attached to the controller held by the pilot.

"The video and control signal is transmitted to and from the drone through the cable, not through radio frequencies. This means it can't be jammed by electronic interceptors," says a soldier with the call sign Moderator, a drone engineer with the 68th Jaeger Brigade.

When drones began to be used in this war in a big way, both militaries fitted their vehicles with electronic warfare systems, which could neutralise drones. That protection has evaporated with the arrival of fibre optic drones, and in the deployment of these devices, Russia currently has the edge. Ukraine is trying to ramp up production.

"Russia started using fibre optic drones much before us, while we were still testing them. These drones can be used in places where we have to go lower than usual drones. We can even enter houses and look for targets inside," says Venia, a drone pilot with the 68th Jaeger Brigade.

"We've started joking that maybe we should carry scissors to cut the cord," says Serhii, the artillery man.

Fibre optic drones do have drawbacks – they are slower and the cable could get entangled in trees. But at the moment, their widespread use by Russia means that transporting soldiers to and from their positions can often be deadlier than the battlefield itself.

"When you enter a position, you don't know whether you've been spotted or not. And if you have been spotted, then you may already be living the last hours of your life," says Oles, Chief Sergeant of the reconnaissance unit of the 5th Assault Brigade.

This threat means that soldiers are spending longer and longer in their positions. 

Oles and his men are in the infantry, serving in the trenches right at the very front of Ukraine's defence. It's rare for journalists these days to speak to infantrymen, as it's become too risky to go to these trenches. We meet Oles and Maksym in a rural home converted into a makeshift base, where the soldiers come to rest when they're not on deployment.

"The longest I spent at the position was 31 days, but I do know guys who have spent 90 and even 120 days there. Back before the drones arrived, the rotations could have been between 3 or 7 days at the position," says Maksym.

"War is blood, death, wet mud and a chill that spreads from head to toe. And this is how you spend every day. I remember one instance when we didn't sleep for three days, alert every minute. The Russians kept coming at us wave after wave. Even a minor lapse would have meant we were dead."

Oles says Russia's infantry has changed its tactics. "Earlier they attacked in groups. Now they only send one or two people at times. They also use motorcycles and in a few instances, quad bikes. Sometimes they slip through."

What this means is that the front lines in some parts are no longer conventional lines with the Ukrainians on one side and the Russians on the other, but more like pieces on a chessboard during play, where positions can be intertwined.

This also makes it harder to see advances made by either sid

Despite Russia's recent gains, it will not be quick or easy for it to take the whole of the Donetsk region, where Pokrovsk lies.

Ukraine has pushed back hard, but it needs a steady supply of weapons and ammunition to sustain the fight.

And as the war enters a fourth summer, Ukraine's manpower issues against a much bigger Russian army are also evident. Most of the soldiers we meet joined the military after the war began. They've had a few months of training, but have had to learn a lot on the job in the middle of a raging war.

Maksym worked for a drinks company before he joined the military. I asked how his family copes with his job.

"It's hard, it's really hard. My family really supports me. But I have a two-year-old son, and I don't get to see him much. I do video call him though, so everything is as fine as it could be under the circumstances," he trails off, eyes welling up with tears.

Maksym is a soldier fighting for his country, but he's also just a father missing his two-year-old boy.

Additional reporting by Imogen Anderson, Sanjay Ganguly, Volodymyr Lozhko and Anastasiia Levchenko

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckgn47e5qyno

======================

UNFORTUNATELY, THE WEST HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO AVOID THIS CONFICT WHICH RUSSIA WILL WIN NO MATTER WHAT...

FIRST IN 2021, RUSSIA DEMANDED THAT THE MINSK AGREEMENT BE RESPECTED BY ZELENSKYIYYYYYYYY, THE LITTLE "NAZI GREEN SHIRT", WHICH HE REFUSED — UNDER INSTRUCTION FROM HIS MASTERS IN MI6 AND WASHINGTON...

SECOND, BY APRIL 2022, THE KIEV MILITARY WAS FACING A MAJOR DEFEAT AND KIEV AGREED TO A PEACE DEAL THAT WAS VERY GENEROUS TO UKRAINE, IN ISTAMBUL... THIS PEACE DEAL WAS ALSO SCUTTLED BY THE WEST, VIA A DELEGATION OF BORIS JOHNSON IN KIEV...

THE MAIN STICKING POINTS ARE THE EXPANSION OF NATO AND THE VICTIMISATION OF THE RUSSIAN SPEAKING PEOPLE IN UKRAINE. THE WEST DID NOT WANT TO ALLOW ANY COMPROMISE...

SO, THE RUSSIAN MILITARY INTERVENTION IN UKRAINE IS A HARD WAR FOR ALL, ESPECIALLY THE LOSING SIDE — THE GALICIAN UKRAINIANS.... 

IT'S TIME FOR PEACE....

MAKE A DEAL PRONTO BEFORE THE SHIT HITS THE FAN:

NO NATO IN "UKRAINE" (WHAT'S LEFT OF IT)

THE DONBASS REPUBLICS ARE NOW BACK IN THE RUSSIAN FOLD — AS THEY USED TO BE PRIOR 1922. THE RUSSIANS WON'T ABANDON THESE AGAIN.

THESE WILL ALSO INCLUDE ODESSA, KHERSON AND KHARKIV.....

CRIMEA IS RUSSIAN — AS IT USED TO BE PRIOR 1954

TRANSNISTRIA WILL BE PART OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION.

A MEMORANDUM OF NON-AGGRESSION BETWEEN RUSSIA ANDTHE USA.

EASY.

THE WEST KNOWS IT.

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YOURDEMOCRACY.NET RECORDS HISTORY AS IT SHOULD BE — NOT AS THE WESTERN MEDIA WRONGLY REPORTS IT.

         Gus Leonisky

         POLITICAL CARTOONIST SINCE 1951.