US provided intelligence that helped Ukraine target Russian warship

When Ukraine successfully targeted Russia's prized warship last month with anti-ship cruise missiles, it had some help from the United States.
Ukrainian forces, having spotted the Russian warship in the Black Sea, called their American contacts for confirmation that it was in fact the Moskva.
The US responded that it was, and provided intelligence about its location. It is not clear whether the US knew Ukraine would move to strike the ship.

The US has for months provided Ukrainian forces with intelligence about Russian troop movements inside Ukraine, including intercepted communications about Russian military planning. It also provides Ukraine with maritime awareness information to allow the country to better understand the threat posed by Russian ships in the Black Sea, many of which are firing missiles onto Ukrainian territory.

Ukraine combines information that their partners provide with the intelligence that they themselves are gathering on the battlefield, and then they make their own decisions, and they take their own actions.

 

wish to prevent future wars, Ukraine must win this war

Russia’s progress in eastern and southern Ukraine is being closely monitored as its forces appear to have escalated assaults on those regions. Attacks on Mariupol steelworks intensify as Russia looks to end standoff. Fate of Ukraine’s Donbas is in the balance.
The U.S. and its allies are rushing to send additional security assistance amid an intensified Russian assault in eastern and southern Ukraine.

EU should impose total ban on Russian oil.  Putin has to pay a 'high price for his brutal aggression' in Ukraine. The supply of crude oil and refined products from Russia sould be prohibited. The sanctions should also targeted military figures involved in the massacre of civilians in the town of Bucha and the siege of the port city of Mariupol and blocking Russian state television. 

 

North Korea launches ballistic missile

Launched missile was from Sunan, an area of the North Korean capital of Pyongyang, and was estimated to have flown at a maximum altitude of about 800 kilometers  (500 miles) over a distance of about 500 kilometers (290 miles) before falling into the sea outside of Japan's Exclusive Economic Zone.

The launch is North Korea's first since a military parade late on April 25, at which leader Kim Jong Un vowed to ramp up his development of nuclear arms. From that time, launch becomes 13th of the year, including one presumed to have failed.
By comparison, it conducted only four tests in 2020, and eight in 2021.

Among this year's tests was the launch of an ICBM on March 24, North Korea's first test of that weapon in more than four years. North Korea has previously unleased harsh rhetoric threatening to attack its rivals with its nuclear weapons. These unusually fast pace in weapons testing this year underscores its dual goal of advancing its missile programs and applying pressure on international community.

North Korea’s series of actions that threatens the peace, safety and stability of the international community are impermissible. This is a developing story, and the crisis is just around the corner.

Fight Song

2004年の大統領選挙で、ロシアとの関係を重要視する首相のヴィクトル・ヤヌコーヴィチと、ヨーロッパへの帰属を唱える野党代表のヴィクトル・ユシチェンコの激しい一騎討ちとなった。開票の結果、首相のヤヌコーヴィチの当選が発表されると、野党基盤の西部勢力が選挙の不正を主張した。
野党勢力を支持するヨーロッパ連合及びアメリカ合衆国などの後押しで、再投票の結果、ヴィクトル・ユシチェンコ大統領が誕生。

西部勢力が不正の解明と再選挙を求めて、首都キエフを中心に行ったゼネラル・ストライキや大規模な政治集会を「オレンジ革命」という。東欧に足を踏み入れたことがある人は誰でも知っている民主主義革命だ。親ロシア派大統領ヤヌコーヴィッチは、2014年2月にロシアに亡命。
ヤヌコーヴィッチ政権を崩壊へと導いた武力衝突は、「ユーロ・マイダン革命」とも呼ばれ、首都キエフの独立広場には多くの学生や市民の遺体が散乱する事態となった。

93日間に渡る武力衝突で125人の人々が亡くなり、65人が行方不明、1890人が負傷した（Winter on Fire Ukraines Fight for Freedom 2015より）。まさに血で勝ち取った民主主義だ。その根底には、スターリン主導の集団農業化が失敗、「ホロドモール」という数百万人規模の大飢饉をウクライナにもたらした共産主義に対するトラウマがある。

日本で、合法的に武力を持った人々が政府の転覆を図ったとしたら、あるいは、中国やロシアから武器援助を受けた人々が政府転覆を図ったとしたら、国民はどうするのだろう。コミュニストたちが言う「ジェノサイド」の主張に乗って抵抗の一つもできないのだろうか。武力に対する市民の抵抗をファシズムと呼ぶのだろうか。

ウクライナの人々もまた「パトリオティズム」の言葉の意味を身に焼き付けている。誰も自由な人をひざまずかせることはできない。

Rachel Platten - Fight Song (Official Video)

Present Danger

The risk of a global nuclear war is getting very real. This ominous warning came from  the top diplomat of the Russian Federation.

Russian vaunted offensive in Donbas is stalling, the war is lost, and Russia has nothing to counter Western weapons pouring in Ukraine. Politically and militarily, Russia is backed into a corner.

Since Putin can’t accept defeat, the Kremlin is indicating that nuclear weapons are on the table as its last resort in this war. This is nothing less than a threat to unleash an atomic war on the world. The international community should respond to these threats in a way that runs contrary to Putin’s expectations.

The continued existence of human civilization is at stake. It’s not just some European cities those are at stake, it’s all of humanity.