Mediaboss Marketing

The heads of the State Department and Pentagon on Tuesday warned senators that should lawmakers approve funding for Israel but not Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin will win. 

Speaking during a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin urged senators to keep intact the Biden administrations$106 billion supplemental request for Israel, Ukraine and the Indo-Pacific.

Though many lawmakers in both parties support a joint package, House Republicans skeptical of additional Ukraine aid have threatened to sink the plan.And Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) is pushing an Israel-only package that would also cut billions in funding for the Internal Revenue Service.

Austin and Blinken warned that without continued U.S. funding for Ukraine, Russian forces would be sure to defeat Kyiv, with wider consequences for the globe.

Its hard to put an exact timeline on how long it would take, Austin said when asked how long until Russia wins should the U.S. fail to provide more aid to Kyiv. I can guarantee that without our support, Putin will be successful … If we pull the rug out from under [Ukraine] now, Putin will only get stronger.

Blinken, meanwhile, said it would do both terrible harm to our values, but also to our core interests to leave Ukraine out in the cold.

There is no doubt in my mind that if Putin is allowed to continue to act with impunity, that not only would he not stop at Ukraine and potentially go to a NATO country next …it would send a message to would-be aggressors everywhere in the world, that, If he can get away with it, so can we, and then we’re likely to have a world full of conflict, Blinken said.

We are much better sustaining our effort now, seeing this to success, than having to pay a much higher price later when we have to deal with a world full of aggression. 

The hearing comes as the Senate and House are headed for a clash over Ukraine aid, with House Republicans looking tovote on a separate $14.3 billion military aid package for Israel.

The amount matches Bidens request for the country, but it cuts outmore than $60 billionfor Ukraine under the presidents supplemental. TheWhite House has warned it has less than $5.5 billion left to pull weapons from U.S. stockpiles to send to Ukrainian troops.

The GOP’s proposal to slash dollars for the IRS is also a nonstarter in the Senate.

Johnson has said he expects his chambers Israel aid package to go to the floor Thursday. His opposition to pairing Israel and Ukraine aid puts the new Speaker at odds with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).

At the Tuesday hearing, multiple lawmakers stressed the importance of passing aid for Israel and Ukraine in a single package, including Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Vice Chair Susan Collins (R-Maine).

Make no mistake, we need to address all of these priorities as part of one package because the reality is these issues are all connected and they are all urgent, Murray said in her opening remarks, noting that huge supermajorities in both chambers support continued Ukraine aid.  

Getting this funding across the finish line should not be controversial,” she said. 

Murray added that both China and Russia were watching closely how the U.S. would respond to the two conflicts.

Collins, meanwhile, stressed that there would be dire consequences that will jeopardize our national security should the two spending efforts not be passed together.

Sen.John Hoeven(R-N.D.) also pressed to support both countries, arguing thatif you look at history, you understand that tyrants, like Putin, dont stop. They have to be stopped.

In his testimony, Blinken sought to link the Ukraine-Russia war and the Hamas-Israel conflict in arguing for the full supplemental. Russia is reportedly seeking more military assistance from Iran, including drones, and in return giving Tehran advanced military technology.

If we start to peel off pieces of this package, [adversaries will ] see that; they’ll understand that we are playing whack-a-mole while they cooperate increasingly and pose an ever greater threat to our security as well as that of allies and partners, Blinken said.

He also made the case for Taiwan aid to be included in the package, arguing that what happens in Ukraine, what happens in the Middle East, also matters to the Indo-Pacific. 

Austin offered a starker assessment for failing to link the funding. 

If Putin is successful, he will not stop at Ukraine, Austin said. Theres no question in my mind that sooner or later, he will challenge NATO and well find ourselves in a shooting war. 

Read the original:
Putin will win if Israel funding split from Ukraine, Blinken and Austin tell senators - The Hill

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) is expected to address Senate Republicans on Wednesday for the first time since he took over the top spot in the House.

Two Senate GOP sources confirmed the planned meeting to The Hill. It will take place during the conference’s usual Wednesday luncheon. 

Most Senate Republicans were unfamiliar with Johnson when he took over as Speaker, and members are using the session as both a meet-and-greet and to discuss policy items. 

“I think it’s going to be a little of both,” Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) said.

“I would like to know more about him, what his positions are,” Ernst said, adding that the plan to fund the government past the Nov. 17 deadline will also likely come up. “With a number of issues that we have right now, how we’re going to overcome those.” 

Johnson last week held meetings with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).

The meeting also comes at a critical time as lawmakers attempt to navigate the Biden administration’s supplemental request that ties funding for Israel, Ukraine, the border, Indo-Pacific and humanitarian aid into a single package. 

Johnson on Sunday announced plans for the House to vote on an $14 billion aid bill for Israel that the other funding but includes a pay-for by cutting funding for the IRS that was OK’d last year by the Inflation Reduction Act in an attempt to force a tough decision by the Senate. 

However, Senate Democrats have shown no sign that they will bring the bill up, calling the IRS cut a poison pill and a “non-starter.” Schumer and McConnell have been united that any package will include roughly $60 billion for Ukraine as many members view the items included in the administration’s request as intertwined. 

“It’s almost as if the real goal of this House GOP package is not to help Israel, but to get tax relief for the super-wealthy, while leaving out Ukraine aid, leaving out humanitarian aid for Gaza, leaving out funding for the Indo-Pacific,” Schumer said on the floor earlier on Tuesday.  

“Instead of advancing a serious proposal to defend Israel, defend Ukraine, and provide humanitarian aid, this House GOP proposal is clearly designed to divide Congress on a partisan basis, not unite it,” he continued. “I hope the new Speaker realizes that this is a grave mistake and quickly changes course.”

View original post here:
Speaker Johnson set to meet with Senate GOP as Ukraine funding battle looms - The Hill

The Armed Forces of Ukraine have confirmed that they successfully attacked the strategic target of Russian air defence in the west of occupied Crimea at night.

Source: Directorate of Strategic Communications of the Office of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (StratCom) on Telegram

Quote: "The Armed Forces of Ukraine successfully hit a strategic target of the air defence system on the west coast of temporarily occupied Crimea on the night of 29-30 October."

Background:

The Russian occupying authorities in Crimea claimed that the Russian Black Sea Fleet repelled a drone attack overnight. There were explosions in the city of Sevastopol. The Russians blocked the Crimean Bridge for an hour in the morning.

Russian opposition media reported that 17 Russian Defence Ministry servicemen were wounded in an attack on an air defence missile regiment in occupied Crimea overnight. It was claimed that the attack was on a base near the village of Olenivka in western Crimea.

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian Navy urged people to wait for official announcements on this matter.

In August, the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine reported that a Triumph system had been destroyed near the village of Olenivka.

lenivka

Screenshot: google maps

Support UP or become our patron!

See the article here:
Ukraine's Armed Forces confirm strike on Russian air defence in Crimea at night - Yahoo News

At a meeting focused on the antisemitic rally in Dagestan, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin said that Ukraine and the "agents of Western special services" influenced the unrest in Makhachkala on 29 October.

Source: Russian state-owned news agency TASS

Quote: "The events in Makhachkala last night were tampered with, including through social media. Not least from the territory of Ukraine with the hands of agents of Western special services."

Details: In addition, Putin accused the United States of "trying to weaken Russia from within due to lack of achievement on the battlefield."

Background:

On Sunday, 29 October, anti-Semitic protesters broke into the airport in Makhachkala (Dagestan, Russia) and tried to board a jet that had arrived from Tel Aviv, looking specifically for Jewish people.

The Prime Minister's Office and the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed hope that Russian law enforcement agencies would ensure the safety of all Israeli citizens and Jews.

After the video of the storming of the Makhachkala airport in search of Jews appeared online, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Russian antisemitism and hatred of other nations were systemic and deep-rooted.

NATO said that the riots at Makhachkala airport in Russias Dagestan were not beneficial to the Kremlin, even though they were the result of Russian propaganda inciting hatred.

Sergei Melikov, Head of Dagestan, condemned the unrest involving the search for Jews at the Makhachkala airport, adding that the incitement to it originated in Ukraine. Gulagu.net, a Russian anti-corruption, anti-torture human rights organisation and website, reported that Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) will point to a "Ukrainian trail" in antisemitic pogroms in Dagestan.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine pointed out that the antisemitic rally in Dagestan is the result of the methodical work of Russian state propaganda aimed at cultivating hatred of other peoples in their citizens.

Support UP or become our patron!

See the original post here:
Putin blames pogroms in Dagestan on influence of Ukraine and "Western special services" - Yahoo News

Law enforcement agents in Russia have detained two Americans in separate incidents in recent weeks one a Russian-born English teacher who was a vocal supporter of the jailed opposition leader Aleksei A. Navalny, and a second man who Russian authorities said was caught trying to smuggle his young son out of the country.

Details of the two cases emerged earlier this week in Russian news media reports as well as in a statement from Russias Investigative Committee, the countrys main investigation agency. A State Department spokesman on Friday confirmed both arrests but declined to provide further details.

Ilya A. Startsev, 37, the English teacher, was among several people arrested in various cities in Russia on Wednesday and accused of donating money to Navalnys Anti-Corruption Foundation, which has been banned, according to OVD-Info, a rights group that reports on repression in Russia, as well as other Russian media outlets.

The foundation, known by its Russian initials F.B.K., has regularly embarrassed senior Russian officials, including President Vladimir V. Putin, by exposing vast holdings they have accumulated while in office, far beyond what their government paychecks would allow.

The other American was arrested after arriving in Russia on July 27 and accused of trying to kidnap his 4-year-old son, a Russian citizen, and to spirit him across the border into Poland, according to a statement released on Thursday by the Investigative Committee, which did not name the man.

Regarding the teacher, the Russian government disbanded the Anti-Corruption Foundation in Russia in 2021 by declaring it an extremist organization, sending the groups main investigators fleeing into exile, where they continue to work. Various Navalny supporters have faced criminal charges in Russia as the Kremlin has ratcheted up repressive measures, especially those trying to silence critics of its war in Ukraine.

A conviction for financing an extremist organization carries an eight-year jail sentence.

Mr. Startsev was born in Russia but moved to the United States as a child after his mother married an American, according to an interview he gave a few years ago as well as accounts in the Russian press. After moving to the Chicago area, he attended high school and Northern Illinois University, according to his online biography.

He moved back to Russia to pursue a teaching career. At the time of his arrest, he was teaching English for a Moscow company called the American Club of Education, which offers both online and in-person courses. He had also taught at a private school in Oryol, a provincial city more than 220 miles southwest of Moscow. He was jailed there on Thursday, a day after being detained in Moscow, Russian news media reports said.

There have been several recent cases of Americans being arrested on unlikely spying charges in Russia. Evan Gershkovich, a reporter for The Wall Street Journal, is incarcerated in Moscow facing trial, and Paul Whelan, 53, a former Marine, is serving a 16-year sentence. Last December, Brittney Griner, an American basketball star imprisoned in Russia on drug charges, was released after nearly 10 months of captivity in a prisoner swap for Viktor Bout, a convicted Russian arms dealer known as the Merchant of Death, who is now running for office.

On social media, Mr. Startsev made no secret of his staunch support for Mr. Navalny, who survived what is widely considered an attempt by government agents to kill him with poison, and has since been jailed in a Russian penal colony on various charges that have extended his sentence to at least 19 years.

In his last writing on VKontakte, the Russian equivalent of Facebook, Mr. Startsev lauded Mr. Navalnys aims, and supported his vision of a free, happy and uncorrupt future for Russia, he wrote, with virtuous politicians being a key to this.

He had also posted a picture of himself on VKontakte, holding up a poster of what appears to be an opposition rally in May 2018. The dense, hand-lettered poster called for fighting corruption, poverty and inequality; restoring free elections; giving the opposition access to the media; releasing political prisoners; ending government control of the internet; and allowing the freedom of assembly.

In his 2019 interview, Mr. Startsev said he had used his time in the United States to improve his credentials in order to get a better job back in Russia. Asked about life in the United States, he said, The food there has a different taste; the air is cleaner; the roads are better.

He had learned a lot, Mr. Startsev said, but he wanted to apply it in Russia: I want to help Russia become a great and beautiful country.

In the other case, the Russian authorities are accusing the man of trying to take his son to live outside Russia without obtaining consent from the childs mother, the office of the Investigative Committee in Kaliningrad said in the statement released on its Telegram channel. A criminal investigation has been started but no charges filed yet pending the man being questioned further, the statement said.

After arriving in Russia on July 27, the American met his son, who is a Russian citizen, the committee said. The boy lived in Kaliningrad, which borders the Baltic Sea and is Russias farthest point west. Under the pretext of spending time together, the man drove the boy in a car to a town near the Polish border and was detained while trying to cross it by walking through a swampy, wooded area, the statement said.

At the time of the incident, a court in Kaliningrad had been weighing where the boy should live, the statement said.

Milana Mazaeva contributed reporting.

Read the original:
Zelensky Says Future of War in Ukraine Hinges on U.S. Presidential Election - The New York Times