RT News - February 1st 2023

Monastery bombed in Donbass: Local authorities say artillery shelling by Ukrainian forces, with US-supplied HIMARS rockets, has killed a priest and injured a nun in a monastery shelling. (QS: It's important to know that HIMARS are very precise weapons and this attack, like the others, are deliberate acts of terror and are war crimes costing $100,000 a shell. A block/cartridge of 12 are normally released at a time to hit civilian-only regions). Murad Gazdiev reports from the ground in Lugansk and talks about forced-by-violence conscription - disturbing imagery.
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Palestine: "Anti-Blinken protests". Palestinians express outrage over a visit by the US Secretary of State, as they accuse Washington of unjustifiably siding with Israeli forces in the region's long-running conflict. RT talks to Mustafa Barghouti head of PNIP. Maria Finoshova reports. January 2023 has been the most violent month in the region for years.
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Africa: South Africa considers declaring a national state of disaster over its debilitating electricity shortages, as Western powers push for the region to transition to greener energy supplies. Report on a situation which has become intolerable - from Karabo Letlhatlha.
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Pakistan's national currency plummets to a historic low against the US dollar after the IMF demands the removal of exchange-rate controls. Inflation is running at 24.5%. 30% of Pakistanis live below the poverty line and rely on .gov subsidies. RT heard from locals who say the IMF is only worsening the economic crisis. In depth reporting and analysis from Chris Emms. Multipolar world. (QS exactly 1 year ago the Pak. Rupee was 173 to the US Dollar https://www.investing.com/currencies/usd-pkr)
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Also in Pakistan, M-16 and M-4 rifles (used extensively in Afghanistan) are being used by rebels and militants in Kashmir. Mourad explains some background.
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British Psy-ops, Kosovo/Balkans: The Grayzone reports that leaked UK intelligence documents about Russian intelligence, dismissed as "disinformation" are in fact true. (QS living in Britain with so much propaganda and spin/lies coming from the press is a nightmare. Reuters reported last year that only 4 in 10 people believe anything in MSM and even then, that 40% would prefer to check reports themselves. The press are briefed by UK .gov, in turn MPs "read/use/quote the press" and reinforce the narratives). Kit Klarenberg talks with Eunan O'Neill.
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Dominic Cummings talked about the vested interest British "deep state" which runs without regard to the welfare or benefit of British citizens. (We British citizens are forced to pay for their very existence - why should this be? It's my belief that political parties need to be abolished and independent regional MPs who work for and with the citizens should be the way forward. We must NEVER confuse good government with bank/corporate controlled political parties which is what we are forced into, in Britain and the other "liberal democracies" which are anything but democratic) Rachel Marsden reports.
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Germany: Sebald Daum, a retired German Major General has warned "Germany is entering a new phase of participation in the war against Russia. Germany not only prolongs the death of people in Ukraine - but also becomes a party to the conflict". Another German Major General says Germany is just acting as a vassal of USA with the pre-history of Ukraine being entirely hushed up.
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Below, via RT website: 1) --- US to arm Ukraine with ‘longer-range’ missiles – Reuters
2) --- Food prices in Britain hit record highs – data
2a) --- Spanish inflation accelerates on higher fuel prices
3) --- NATO state wants to fast-track training of Ukrainian tank crews
4) --- US spending too much on Ukraine, quarter of Americans say
5) --- Iconic director blasts Western proposal on Kosovo "Blackmail"
6) --- Man with both legs amputated shot dead by police
7) --- Presidents swap stuffed lion for tractor
8) --- Another tech giant announces layoffs
OP-ED) --- American manufacturing is back… to making weapons - Bradley Blankenship
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1 Feb, 2023 01:18

1) --- US to arm Ukraine with ‘longer-range’ missiles – Reuters

Washington is reportedly preparing a new $2 billion aid package, including munitions that can strike deep in Russian territory

President Joe Biden’s administration has reportedly decided to send longer-range rockets to Ukraine, giving Kiev’s forces the capability to hit targets farther behind the frontlines, just as a top Ukrainian intelligence official threatened more strikes deeper inside Russia.

The gift of Ground Launched Small Diameter Bomb (GLSDB) rocket artillery munitions with a range of 150 kilometers (94 miles) will be part of an upcoming military aid package for Ukraine valued at more than $2 billion, Reuters reported on Tuesday, citing two unidentified US officials familiar with the plans. The package will also include additional Javelin anti-tank weapons, mine-resistant vehicles, multiple-launch rocket systems (MLRS), and support equipment for Patriot air defense systems.

The GLSDB rockets will give Ukrainian forces further reach, nearly doubling the range of the MLRS and HIMARS munitions that Washington and its NATO allies have previously been provided. Biden had been reluctant to send weaponry that could strike Russian soil, risking escalation into a wider conflict with Moscow, but he has authorized increasingly provocative aid in recent weeks.

Washington approved plans to send M1 Abrams tanks to Kiev last week, even after Biden initially claimed back in March that the US wouldn’t provide tanks or planes saying, “That’s called World War III.” While the US-made tanks are expected to be delivered to Ukraine by the end of this year or even in 2024, the first batch of previously approved 60 Bradley Fighting Vehicles is already en route, US Transportation Command confirmed on Monday.

The GLSDB is being developed by US defense contractor Boeing Co. under plans to quickly get new weapons into production for Kiev. It combines the GBU-39 small diameter bomb with the M26 rocket motor, both of which can be drawn from existing US weapons stocks. Washington will reportedly stop short of fulfilling Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky’s oft-repeated requests for the MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS), which has a range of some 300 kilometers, double the GLSDB’s reach.

While US officials have claimed that they don’t intend for weapons given to Ukraine to be used for strikes into Russian territory, Kiev’s forces appear to have no compunction about such attacks. US State Department spokesman Ned Price reiterated Washington’s stance earlier this month that Kiev is free to select its own targets, including in Crimea, which he claimed is still Ukrainian territory.

Ukrainian intelligence chief Kirill Budanov vowed on Tuesday that “until the territorial integrity of Ukraine is restored, there will be problems inside Russia.” He also said Kiev aims to retake Crimea by this summer.

The Kremlin has insisted that any threats to Russian territory, including Crimea and the territories that voted to join Russia in September, will result in the use of “more powerful weapons” by Moscow. Duma chairman Vyacheslav Volodin warned earlier this month of possible “global tragedy” for humanity if Western nations continue to provide weapons that Kiev could use to strike civilian cities and attempt to seize Russian territories.
https://www.rt.com/news/570784-us-glsdb-rockets-ukraine/
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1 Feb, 2023 05:11

2) --- Food prices in Britain hit record highs – data

Consumers will pay an extra $1,000 for groceries this year, a survey shows

Food inflation in the UK soared to a new record of 16.7% in the four weeks of January; even basics such as milk, butter, cheese, eggs, and dog food became much more expensive, according to new figures released by market researcher Kantar on Tuesday.

The report says that grocery price growth is at its highest since the firm started tracking the figures in 2008, adding nearly £800 ($1,000) to the typical annual shopping bill and forcing households to change their shopping habits to save costs.

“Late last year, we saw the rate of grocery price inflation dip slightly, but that small sign of relief for consumers has been short-lived,” Kantar’s head of retail and consumer insight, Fraser McKevitt, said, noting that the current reading jumped a “staggering” 2.3 percentage points from December’s 14.4%.

The latest increase will take the average annual food shopping bill to £5,504 ($6,781), up £788 ($974), according to Kantar.

The data comes as British consumers face an even tighter squeeze on their finances this year amid the worsening cost-of-living crisis. Although overall inflation has started to ease in the UK from its highest levels in more than four decades, food prices continue to rise, the economists said.
https://www.rt.com/business/570768-uk-food-costs-rising/
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31 Jan, 2023 05:40

2a) --- Spanish inflation accelerates on higher fuel prices

Price growth jumped to 5.8% in January, due to a further rise in core inflation

Inflation in Spain jumped in January after six months of slowing price growth, data released by the National Statistics Institute (INE) on Monday showed. Rising fuel prices were the culprit behind the higher reading.

Consumer prices soared by 5.8% from the same month a year ago, up from the previous month’s 5.5% increase, and well above the market consensus forecast of 4.9%.

The INE said the price increases came after the government ended its blanket subsidy on all fuels, while the prices of clothes and shoes did not fall as fast as during January 2022, the month when retailers typically begin offering discounts in Spain.

Core inflation, which strips out volatile fresh food and energy prices, continued to rise strongly, climbing to 7.5% in January, up from 7.0% the prior month, the INE data showed. This is seen as an indication that underlying price pressures in the economy are still very high.

“It is bad data,” Raymon Torres, the chief economist at the think tank Funcas, said, while also stating his view that the sharp rise in core inflation is also due to higher processed food prices.

The country’s EU harmonized 12-month inflation stood at 5.8%, up from 5.5% in December and above the 4.7% expectation from analysts.

The stubborn inflation in Spain has squeezed households and businesses, thus dampening economic growth.
https://www.rt.com/business/570698-spain-inflation-accelerates/
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1 Feb, 2023 03:00

3) --- NATO state wants to fast-track training of Ukrainian tank crews

Polish instructors believe five weeks is enough to master German Leopards

While the basic training course to operate German-made Leopard 2 main battle tanks takes around ten weeks, Polish instructors claim it is possible to cut that timeframe by half to get Ukrainian crews ready for battle in just over a month.

After leading the charge on sending Western-made tanks to Kiev, Warsaw is now “likely” to provide the necessary training as the country hosts one of Europe’s three Leopard training centers, military experts told Reuters on Tuesday. The facility in the village of Swietoszow in western Poland, near the German border, is equipped with simulators to train 14 crews simultaneously.

“If we intensify training (by maximising the number of) instructors, our time and our weekends, we can train an entire crew in five weeks,” the commander of the facility, Major Maciej Banaszynski, told Reuters. In addition to crew training, Polish instructors now offer “courses for mechanics for the arms, chassis and equipment accompanying Leopards,” he added.

Warsaw has yet to officially confirm whether Ukrainian personnel would be trained at that facility, but Ukrainian Defense Minister Aleksey Reznikov previously said his troops would undergo training in Poland.

Last week, Germany caved in to pressure from the US, Poland and several other fellow NATO member states, with Chancellor Olaf Scholz announcing his decision to ship 14 Leopard 2A6 tanks from Germany’s own stock to Kiev, no later than by the end of March.

Warsaw immediately pledged another 14 Leopards, after Berlin said it would authorize other countries in possession of the German-made hardware to re-export it to Kiev. The UK, Canada, Spain, Norway and the Netherlands have all promised their heavy armor to Kiev.

The US also agreed to supply Kiev with 31 of its M1 Abrams main battle tanks – but cautioned that the delivery could take several months. According to recent reporting by the Washington Post, the US tanks were only offered as “cover” for Germany to send the Leopards, and will not arrive until the end of the year at the earliest.

Russia has maintained that foreign weapons, including heavy tanks, will not change the course of the conflict. “As we said in the past, these tanks will burn just like the rest. They just cost a lot [to make],” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said last week, referring to the Abrams specifically.
https://www.rt.com/news/570785-poland-ukraine-leopard-training/
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31 Jan, 2023 21:00

4) --- US spending too much on Ukraine, quarter of Americans say

With Republicans souring on Washington’s blank check for Kiev, fewer respondents to a Pew poll now think it should give even more

A growing number of Americans believe that the US is sending too much aid to Ukraine, with more than a quarter now saying that the administration of President Joe Biden is being too generous, according to a new Pew Research poll. Some still believe that Washington should increase its military and economic aid, but their numbers have halved over the last year.

Published on Tuesday, the poll found that 26% of Americans now say that the US is giving too much aid, up from just 7% last March, while 20% of respondents said that the US should give more and 31% say the amount is “about right.”

The findings show a dramatic change since March of last year, when 42% told Pew that they felt the US wasn’t doing enough for Ukraine.

In the months since that first poll, the US has substantially increased its assistance to Kiev, and has now allocated more than $110 billion in military and economic aid. Doled out in successive packages, Washington’s efforts to bankroll Ukraine’s military has seen anti-air systems, armored vehicles, and more than a million artillery shells delivered to the country, with Biden pledging to keep the arms flowing “for as long as it takes.”

The bulk of this aid has been funded by two mammoth spending bills passed by Congress: a $40 billion bill passed in May and a $1.7 trillion government spending bill in December that included another $47 billion for Ukraine. While Republican leadership supported these bills, a small number of GOP lawmakers close to former President Donald Trump condemned Biden and his Democrat colleagues for spending so much on a foreign conflict, arguing that the money would be better spent shoring up the American economy and tightening border security.

Republican voters are more likely to oppose aid to Ukraine, with 40% saying that the US is giving too much, and 17% calling for more. Only 15% of Democrats think Biden should reduce US aid, while 23% think the cash flow to Ukraine should increase.
https://www.rt.com/news/570780-ukraine-us-aid-poll/
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31 Jan, 2023 22:15

5) --- Iconic director blasts Western proposal on Kosovo "Blackmail"

The EU is offering nothing but an ultimatum to Serbia, Emir Kusturica believes

The collective West is effectively blackmailing Belgrade on the Kosovo issue, and accepting its proposal would only prompt more demands, iconic Serbian filmmaker Emir Kusturica has said. The award-winning director made the remarks in an interview with Russia’s Izvestia newspaper, excerpts from which were published on Tuesday.

The pressure on Serbia comes amid the ongoing conflict between Moscow and the West, and, on a large scale, is part of a centuries-old struggle between major powers for control over access to warm seas, Kusturica stated. The timing for the EU-designed deal involving Serbia and its breakaway province, Kosovo, spearheaded by France and Germany, is directly linked to these ongoing hostilities, he believes.

“This blackmail agreement came at a time when the Ukrainian-Russian conflict is changing, when the Russians are advancing. They want to set the Balkans on fire and are bringing them to the point where the choice is either-or. This is an ultimatum, not an agreement,” Kusturica stressed, adding that accepting the deal would only lead to new ultimatums.

Still, the director expressed confidence that Belgrade would never agree to such a proposal.

The agreement, presented last year, envisions expediting Serbia’s EU membership process in exchange for de-facto recognition of Kosovo’s independence by Belgrade. This would become possible given that Serbia accepts the breakaway province’s membership in international organizations such as the UN, EU and NATO. So far, Belgrade has been resisting this scenario, but the West has continued to pressure the nation over the matter.

Last week, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said the deal “hardly contains anything we would be happy about,” lamenting the unwillingness of the West to seek any compromise. The refusal to accept the agreement would result in the EU halting all integration processes, re-imposing a visa regime, stopping all new investments, and withdrawing all the current ones, he said.

“We have the following choice: either, on the one hand, isolation, sanctions of one sort or another, but there are no worse sanctions than the withdrawal of investments, about which I was directly told three times,” Vucic stated.

Kosovo broke away from Serbia during a war in the late 1990s after the US-led NATO waged a bombing campaign against Belgrade in 1999. Washington and many of its allies recognized Kosovo as a sovereign state after its parliament voted to declare formal independence in 2008, but Belgrade itself and nations like Russia and China did not.
https://www.rt.com/pop-culture/570777-kusturica-serbia-kosovo-plan/
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31 Jan, 2023 22:08

6) --- Man with both legs amputated shot dead by police

Officers in southern California have killed a stabbing suspect who was running away from them on his stumps

Law enforcement officers in a Los Angeles suburb have fatally shot a stabbing suspect who was trying to run away from them on what was left of his amputated legs. The incident stirred fresh outrage over police brutality just weeks after a Tennessee man was beaten to death during a traffic stop.

Police say they encountered Anthony Lowe Jr. when they responded to a stabbing call last Thursday afternoon in Huntington Park, California, located south of Los Angeles. The 36-year-old black man was armed with a long butcher knife and had allegedly stabbed another person unprovoked, causing serious injury.

Lowe had jumped down from his wheelchair by the time officers arrived. As they tried to detain him, twice using a Taser on the double-amputee with little effect, he began to run from them on his stumps. Video footage posted on social media appears to show two officers walking toward Lowe as he hobbles away from them. At one point, he turns back toward the police while continuing to flee and appears to wave a knife at them.

Another officer arrived at the scene, and police fired at least eight shots at the suspect, citing fears that he would throw his knife at them. Police then stood over Lowe with guns still drawn until one of the officers cuffed his hands behind his back.

Family members of Lowe decried the shooting at a press conference outside the Huntington Park Police Department on Monday. They said Lowe was distraught over the recent loss of his legs and couldn’t have been a serious threat to officers. Both legs were amputated at the knees.

“My son was murdered,” Dorothy Lowe said of the incident. Ellakenyada Gorum, a cousin of the deceased suspect, said, “You guys knew your lives wasn’t in danger. He’s running on his limbs. How cold-hearted could they be?”

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department is investigating the shooting. At least one of the three officers involved in the confrontation with Lowe appeared to be black.

The incident follows the beating death earlier this month of Tyre Nichols in Memphis. Five black police officers have been charged with murder in the death of Nichols, who also was black. That case has sparked protests against police brutality across the US.
https://www.rt.com/news/570781-california-police-shoot-double-amputee/
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31 Jan, 2023 19:01

7) --- Presidents swap stuffed lion for tractor

The Belarusian and Zimbabwean leaders have exchanged gifts during Alexander Lukashenko’s visit to the African state

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has received a stuffed lion from his Zimbabwean counterpart Emmerson Mnangagwa, in return gifting the country’s leader a tractor to farm his private lands. Lukashenko arrived in the African nation on Monday for a state visit.

On Tuesday, the two presidents held a ceremony in the nation’s capital city of Harare to mark the transfer of Belarusian agricultural machinery to Zimbabwe. Minsk has supplied the country with multiple domestically produced Belarus-92 tractors. At the event, Lukashenko extended his “gratitude” to the collective West for the opportunity.

“I want to thank the Americans and the entire Western world for imposing sanctions on us. Otherwise, not Belarusian tractors, but American and German ones would have stood today on this huge field,” Lukashenko said during the ceremony.

The Belarusian leader also gifted a Belarus-92s tractor to Mnangagwa himself, personally presenting the vehicle and handing over the keys. The Zimbabwean president is expected to use the vehicle to farm on his private property, the Belarusian presidency noted in a statement.

Mnangagwa, in turn, gifted Lukashenko a stuffed lion. The lion is expected to end up on display at the presidential palace in Minsk, according to Belarusian media.
https://www.rt.com/news/570771-presidents-tractor-stuffed-lion/
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1 Feb, 2023 04:46

8) --- Another tech giant announces layoffs

Online payments processor PayPal will cut 7% of its workforce

American multinational financial technology company PayPal has announced a wave of layoffs that will impact some 2,000 employees, joining a slew of tech firms announcing job cuts aimed at reducing costs.

The decision to cut around 7% of its global workforce will help address the “challenging macroeconomic environment,” President and CEO Dan Schulman wrote in his message to employees published on Tuesday. https://newsroom.paypal-corp.com/2023-01-31-Update-on-Our-Transformation

“Change can be difficult – particularly when it includes valued colleagues and friends departing,” the statement reads. “These reductions will occur over the coming weeks, with some organizations impacted more than others.”

Schulman promised the company “will treat our departing colleagues with the utmost respect and empathy, provide them with generous packages, engage in consultation where required, and support them with their transitions.”
https://www.rt.com/business/570786-paypal-big-tech-layoffs/
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31 Jan, 2023 14:42

OP-ED) --- American manufacturing is back… to making weapons - Bradley Blankenship

Joe Biden’s announcement of tank supplies to Ukraine came with boasts about boosting American jobs

Amid soaring inflation and other economic woes, the administration of US President Joe Biden has been obsessed with emphasizing any shred of positivity they can find. That’s especially true with that typically American buzzword: jobs.

Last Thursday, the president tweeted a graph showing the the latest four-week average number of joblessness claims vs what it was when he took office. Apparently the number has shrunk more than four-fold. The previous day, Biden quote-tweeted a post by Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, showing job creation for blue collar workers is supposedly attributable to his clean-energy agenda, that “climate action” equals “jobs.”

These two examples are fairly innocuous, but then on that same day as the latter tweet, another series of posts followed. One of them said simply, “American manufacturing is back.” Another was official confirmation of news that the US is now sending 31 Abrams tanks to Ukraine, which he described as “evidence of our enduring and unflagging commitment to Ukraine and our confidence in the skill of Ukrainian forces.”

The latter was important because it represents a major escalation of US involvement in the conflict in the Eastern European country. Only a handful of countries have been graced with this weapons system, and the US is sending an entire battalion's worth of them to Ukraine. It's an indication that there are potentially no limits to what Washington is willing to give Kiev.

It leads naturally to questions of whether high-end American warplanes or surface-to-surface missiles will end up in Ukraine. It also leaves us to ponder what these systems would be used for. For example, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said he would defend Russian territory, including Crimea, “by any means necessary”. Meanwhile, Ukrainian officials have vowed to retake the peninsula.

So Biden’s tank announcement – which follows a string of others by Western capitals – shows the potential for a war that could span well outside of Eastern Europe and go global. It could even mean outright nuclear annihilation. That is a truly terrifying prospect, especially for those of us in close proximity to the action right now.

It doesn’t seem like Biden is all that afraid, given his tweet that “American manufacturing is back.” Not only are Abrams tanks manufactured in the US in Lima, Ohio, but they’re also made by union workers. Check, check for the Biden’s administration’s made-in-America and union-made priorities.

To note, we have seen a similar line before from some other prominent folk. For one, Jack Matlock Jr., the former US ambassador to the Soviet Union, once told Putin to his face that the Washington-installed missile defense system in Romania – on Russia’s doorstep – was not designed to attack, but to create American jobs. Putin laughed and replied, “Why would you “create jobs” in an industry that has the potential to put the entire human race in danger?”

Just days ago, speaking to the National Association of State Chambers (NASC) in Boca Raton, Florida, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky said that there are “big business” opportunities in his country for any American company interested in working there. That also naturally includes the defense industry, which Zelensky was sure to give a special shoutout to.

Perhaps I am misreading Biden’s tweet and it was actually tied to the clean energy business. But the fact that a new Green New Deal hasn’t been established and the only major climate legislation undertaken during his presidency is just now being implemented, raises doubts about this position. If he was referring to something else, I think it is evidence is clear that most manufacturing is certainly not in the United States and nor will it return to the country.

The US – or at least its politicians – don’t have the general political will for initiatives in economic spheres outside the so-called defense industry. And that is what’s so ironic about Biden’s tweet, that he’s cheering about how good the latest jobs report is or how a tank factory in Ohio might hire more union workers despite inching the world closer to nuclear armageddon.

I am reminded of another American nation, Cuba, that counts medical services among its greatest exports and routinely receives Nobel Peace Prize nominations for its heroism. Now-deceased leader Fidel Castro once said that Havana would send “doctors” and “not bombs” around the world. That is quite a foil for Washington, which is content with producing nothing but bombs while anything of practical use is made literally anywhere else.

" ....The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT....."

Bradley Blankenship is an American journalist, columnist and political commentator. He has a syndicated column at CGTN and is a freelance reporter for international news agencies including Xinhua News Agency.
https://www.rt.com/news/570695-biden-tank-supplies-ukraine/
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