South Front

1. NATO Troops Start Pouring Into Ukraine

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Written by Eric Zuesse

According to Stephen Bryen, whose extensive experience has been as a U.S. armaments-manufacturing high executive as well as in both the Executive and Legislative ends of the U.S. Government, headlined on April 25th, "NATO is starting to deploy Troops in Ukraine and Russia is Racing to Win", and he reported:

NATO is starting to deploy combat troops to Ukraine.  They are in uniform and mostly are concentrated in the western part of the country, although in some cases they are close to the actual fighting in the east.  Soldiers from Poland, France, the UK, Finland and other NATO members are arriving in larger numbers.  These troops are not mercenaries.  They wear the flag of their country on their shirts. …

The Biden administration, at least for public consumption, says it opposes sending NATO soldiers to Ukraine. But the truth is, Biden may be waiting for his reelection before he gives the order for US soldiers to fight in Ukraine.  After Biden is reelected, he will have a free hand.  The recent passage of the $60 billion air bill for Ukraine signals that Congress will go along with whatever the Biden administration wants to do "fighting the Russians." …

Meanwhile NATO is far behind Russia, both in weapons, manpower and industrial might. Furthermore, stockpiles of weapons are very low and equipment supposedly for national defense has been sent to Ukraine, leaving defenses wanting.

The consensus opinion in the US National Security establishment is that Ukraine is losing its war with the Russians and could potentially face the collapse of its army. …

NATO's plan seems to be to try and ward off disaster by filling in gaps in Ukraine's forces by importing "advisers," waiting for the US to commit its army to the battle after the election in November.  The Russians know this and are in a race to try and collapse Ukraine's army before Biden returns to office, if in fact he does.  If the Russians are successful, a bigger war in Europe will be avoided.  If not, with the introduction of US forces, Europe will be plunged into World War III.

And so too would the U.S.

In short: Ukraine's war against Russia will soon be a war between Russia and all of these NATO member-nations, not merely against Ukraine.

This will force the issue, because any negotiated end to this war has thereby become impossible: the end of this conflict will be either a U.S.-and-'allied' victory and a Russian defeat (so unlikely as to be virtually impossible), or else a Russian victory and a crushing defeat of the entire U.S. empire (leading ultimately to a collapse in the value of the dollar and the bankruptcy of the U.S. Government).

Investigative historian Eric Zuesse's latest book, AMERICA'S EMPIRE OF EVIL: Hitler's Posthumous Victory, and Why the Social Sciences Need to Change, is about how America took over the world after World War II in order to enslave it to U.S.-and-allied billionaires. Their cartels extract the world's wealth by control of not only their 'news' media but the social 'sciences' — duping the public.

MORE ON THE TOPIC:

• NATO Pays To Prolong Ukraine's Agony
• NATO Failed To Hide Evacuation Of Killed And Wounded Foreigners From Ukraine
• NATO Sends More 'Military Advisers' Amid Heavy Losses On Ukrainian Frontlines

The post NATO Troops Start Pouring Into Ukraine appeared first on South Front.

2. Military Situation On Ukrainian Frontlines On April 25, 2024 (Map Update)

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• Russian strikes were reported in the Cherkassy region;
• Russian strikes were reported at the Mirgorod airfield in the Poltava region;
• Russian strikes were reported in the Kharkiv region;
• Russian strikes were reported in the Dnepropetrovsk region;
• Two civilians were wounded in the DPR on April 24;
• Civilians were killed and wounded as a result of Ukrainian shelling in Tokmak;
• Two civilians were killed as a result of Ukrainian drone strike on their car in Abrikosovka;
• At least four civilians were wounded as a result of Ukrainian drone strike on a civilian bus in the Bryansk region;
• Russian forces entered the village of Arkhangelskoe north of Avdeevka;
• Russian forces repelled AFU attacks near Stelmakhovka;
• Russian forces repelled AFU attacks near Torskoye;
• Clashes continue west of Krasnoe;
• Russian forces advanced in the center of Krasnogorivka;
• Russian forces slightly expanded the zone of their control near Rabotino;
• Russian forces eliminated 30 servicemen, two pickup trucks, three M777 howitzers, three Vampire, Grad, HIMARS systems in the Kupyansk area;
• Russian forces eliminated 500 servicemen, two motor vehicles, one Paladin artillery system, two M777 howitzers in the Donetsk area;
• Russian forces eliminated 350 servicemen, three armoured fighting vehicles, and one motor vehicle in the Avdeevka area;
• Russian forces eliminated 90 servicemen, one armoured personnel carrier, four motor vehicles, one FH-70 howitzer in Kherson region;
• Russian air defense forces intercepted 200 Ukrainian drones over the past day.

 

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• Russian forces took control of the refractory plant and advanced in the center of Krasnogorovka;
• Clashes continued in Georgievka;
• Up to 500 servicemen, two motor vehicles, one Paladin artillery system, two M777 howitzers were destroyed in the area.

 

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• Russian forces continue the mop up operation near Ocheretino;
• Russian forces raised their flag in Novobakhmutovka;
• Russian forces entered Arhangelskoe;
• Russian forces entered Solovyovo;
• Russian forces expanded the zone of their control in the eastern part of Navokalinovo;
• Clashes continue near Berdychi;
• Up to 350 servicemen, three armoured fighting vehicles, and one motor vehicle were destroyed in the Avdeevka area.

 

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• Russian forces entered Solovyovo village;
• Russian forces continue assault in Netailovo;
• Clashes continueed near Berdychi;
• Clashes continue on the southeasternern outskirts of Umanskoe;
• Up to 500 servicemen, two motor vehicles, one Paladin artillery system, two M777 howitzers were destroyed in the area.

The post Military Situation On Ukrainian Frontlines On April 25, 2024 (Map Update) appeared first on South Front.

3. Ukrainian Strongholds Fall Like Dominos Around Avdeevka (Video, Map Update)

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The pace of Russian advance in the Adveevka direction in the Donetsk People's Republic leaves the Ukrainian military no chance to resist. Despite attempts by the Ukrainian military command to urgently transfer reinforcements to the area, Ukrainian servicemen are losing control of one settlement after another.

On April 25, the Russian flag was raised in the center of the village of Solovyovo located to the south of the recently captured Ocheretino. The footage from the front confirmed Russian advance. The assault on the village reportedly began on the morning of April 25.

 

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The Armed Forces of Ukraine retreated from the village to the west and southwest in an attempt to prevent the encirclement of the remnants of Ukrainian garrison near Berdychi.

The Russian Ministry of Defense is yet to officially confirm control of Ocheretino, Novobakhmutovka and Solovyovo. The mop up operations continue on their outskirts but the Ukrainian military has no more chance to counterattack and gain back the initiative.

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Russian flag raised in Novobakhmutovka on April 24:

 

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American armored vehicles escape from Ocheretino under fire from Russian artillery:

 

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Russian heavy bombs destroy Ukrainian positions in the area:

 

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At the same time, Russian forces broke through Ukrainian defense north of Ocheretino, According to preliminary reports, clashes reached the outskirts of Arkhangelskoe. Meanwhile, Russian troops continue assault in Novokalinovo, about half of the village is reportedly under their control.

The situation of Ukrainian forces both in the areas of Berdychi and Novokalinovo is getting worse every hour, but the Ukrainian military command is in no hurry to save the lives of soldiers who may soon be surrounded, and they are not withdrawing the remnants of the troops, sacrificing manpower in an attempt to slow down Russian advance.

MORE ON THE TOPIC:

• NATO Pays To Prolong Ukraine's Agony
• Get Ready For New Russian Offensive

The post Ukrainian Strongholds Fall Like Dominos Around Avdeevka (Video, Map Update) appeared first on South Front.

4. Julian Macfarlane: Everybody Lies

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Written by Julian Macfarlane, Tokyo based investigative journalist, writer, author, geopolitical and military analyst

Everybody lies. That was really the point of my recent special article for coffee buyers which by the way you can still get if you buy me a coffee!

Which means that people who tell the truth—like Julian Assange—are in trouble!

No, don't bother with that book by Google Critter, Seth Stephens‑Davidowitz, who wants to say that only Google tells the Truth. Anyway, if academic fake Stephen Pinker likes it — it can't be good.

The Japanese Way of Truth

Here in Japan, there are two kinds of truth – social truth which is determined by the "mawari "—literally those around you —and personal or actual truth. In other words, you lie for others, not just for yourself– to maintain the "wa" —harmony. Personal truth can be quite different. Which is really the same everywhere— in Japan, it is just codified as part of relativistic public morality taught to little kids. That said, it's context that matters — everywhere — and this is a "high context" culture.

The Japanese are just truthful about being untruthful.

In the West, the context is different—more abstract. We tell little kids they must tell the truth while teaching them to lie and accept lies.

The problem is that authority figures like parents and teachers and textbooks determine what is true and what is not framing the world to the benefit of the existing System. Children are not allowed to learn — they are taught to be taught.

Life as an SAT

Choose the correct answer – A, B, C, or D. Life is structured as a multiple-choice test. Cogito ergo sum. Sorry, you do not really think. Nor are you truly "you". You are lucky to have even one choice —much less four!

High school history is mythology. College political science is indoctrination. Economics is religion.

Do a Google search. Search order will provide you with the "correct" answers. Lies first. Yes, the truth may be there— but it is hidden, and you need skill and perseverance to find it.

As I wrote in my special article, people accept "Media" lies because they crave correctness. Which means "name value" is the currency of trust.

The New York Times. The Wall Street Journal. Washington Post. Politico. The Financial Times. The Economist. All arbiters of correctness. Churches with different architecture. But the same creed.

But Sputnik News, RT, Tasnmin Press…and yours truly? Name Valuelessness.

Of course, there are contrarian writers such as Seymour Hersh and Pepe Escobar who have been consistently correct over many years. They have "name value". What to do with them?

The answer is simply to feed their sources misleading information which will later prove incorrect and undermine their position.

Larry Johnson is friends with both Hersh and Escobar and has devoted considerable space to their recent stories about the US is and Israel's activities against Iran in the Middle East . Check it out.

As I pointed out in my special article, both stories – and their various versions—have too many contradictions—which unfortunately undermine confidence in more accurate accounts of what actually happened.

I see therefore I think therefore I am.

Before / After photos lie

To see you have to really look. The Before /After photo below purports to show Israeli destruction of an S300 site!

Jack Kennedy writes…

That blackness and burn that you see is actually a net that has been stretched on the radar from here to there, it is a cover that casts a shadow and it is completely clear!

The shape of this so-called "burn" is rectangular and the left and right are completely free of any burns and explosion effects. They should be distributed almost spherically! In the zoomed image, you can clearly see the healthy radar under the net!

Ballistic missile hitting this place is definitely ruled out! There was no encounter with small birds and the radar is healthy! With these new images, in my view, they have repelled the attack of small birds

If you actually look you see a rectangle. A blast would be circular and in the case of a missile strike with a 500 to 750 kg warhead much larger!

Smoke, mirrors, and fake interceptions

This is the fuselage of one of the 130 ballistic missiles supposedly fired at Israel.

Some of the media say it was shot down with Israel's David's Sling system, which is Patriot knock-off with vertical launch capability and short-range capabilities.

Others attribute the "interception" to the longer range, Arrow System designed to hit ballistic missiles as they reach altitude.

Interceptors for both systems are expensive— between $1.5 million and $3.5 million. Advertising for foreign buyers claims 90% effectiveness, with military tech guys saying much less. The Americans also claim 90% for the Patriot system but in practice it is only 50%.

Israel is trying to sell both systems abroad!

OK…kiddies. What's wrong here?

First, consider, as I detailed in my special article, that the Iranians' salvo of 130 missiles included a lot of decoys – a tactic which the Russians have used very successfully.

The warheads of the missiles detached, jettisoning their fuselages. Some of the warheads showered micro munitions which looked like regular warheads on radar and to thermal detectors.

The remarkably intact fuselage in the picture above shows no blast damage – it was just jettisoned over the Dead Sea.

If hit with an interceptor while the fuselage was still at attached to the warhead, there would have been a massive explosion destroying the entire missile.

Cost Plus

An additional consideration is that the Israelis would have had to fire a lot more than just 130 Arrow or David sling missiles, even with the advertised interception rate of 90% under perfect conditions.

That is because the decoys fired simulated MIRV warheads—which if you read the accounts – were first assumed to be used—but were not. The decoys showered micro munitions which looked like regular warheads on radar and to thermal detectors.

If the Arrow interceptors got even half of the incoming missiles before the warheads entered the atmosphere, that would still require as many as 200 David Sling interceptors!

A lot of money.

And those interceptors would explode over Israeli territory.

"Raindrops are falling on my head." Nope, honey, that is debris. And you're dead. You cannot escape the Masters of War.

I see, therefore I think, therefore I am.

That's the article.

To read more articles please click here to go to Substack page.

MORE ON THE TOPIC:

• Israel Increases Redness Of Troops, Jams GPS As It Awaits Iranian Strike
• Terrorists Attack IRGC Bases In Southeast Iran Amid Tensions With Israel (Videos)
• Hezbollah Shells Four Israeli Sites, Troop Gatherings (Video)

The post Julian Macfarlane: Everybody Lies appeared first on South Front.

5. Military Situation In Syria On April 25, 2024 (Map Update)

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• Hezbollah attacked the Mergaliot area with a suicide drone;
• Hezbollah artillery shelled Israeli outposts in the occupied Shebaa Farms;
• Hezbollah carried out 1650 attacks against the Israeli army positions in southern Lebanon in the last 200 days, according to Hezbollah;
• Sirens sounded in the Kiryat Shemona area;
• Israeli warplanes attacked the Naqoura area;
• Israeli warplanes attacked the Houla area;
• Israeli warplanes attacked the Marun al-Ras area area;
• Hezbollah attacked a Merkava tank in the Metula area.

The post Military Situation In Syria On April 25, 2024 (Map Update) appeared first on South Front.

6. Latvia Advances Russophobic Policies

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Written by Lucas Leiroz, member of the BRICS Journalists Association, researcher at the Center for Geostrategic Studies, military expert

The Baltic states continue to promote racist policies against the Russian people, creating a serious atmosphere of hostility in Europe. Latvia is planning to completely eradicate the Russian language from the school curriculum, which will certainly have catastrophic consequences for the country's social stability, as a substantial portion of the Latvian population is ethnic Russian. In addition to unnecessarily affecting innocent people, the measure makes it clear that Russophobia will continue to be a priority for the Latvian government.

According to a recent government decision, from September 2025 on, no Latvian students will be able to learn Russian in schools. The only languages allowed to be taught in schools, in addition to the native one, will be the languages of Western European countries. The measure affects both ethnic Russian citizens and ethnic Latvians who want to study Russian as a second foreign language – English is the first mandatory foreign language in all Latvian schools.

25% of the Latvian population is ethnic Russian, while at least 36% of citizens are Russian speakers. Russian is the most spoken language in the country after Latvian and has always been an important communication mechanism for a substantial portion of Latvians. In practice, there has never been a distinction between knowing Russian or Latvian, with any citizen being able to use either of these languages in their public activities, but recent policies of cultural genocide are generating a true apartheid, excluding ethnic Russian citizens from social life.

Like all ex-Soviet countries, Latvia is home to many Russians. During the communist period, all socialist republics belonged to the same country. When the USSR collapsed, millions of Russians became "foreigners" in the newly created post-Soviet countries, generating one of the greatest social tragedies in recent history. In countries such as the Baltic states, the end of the USSR coincided with the rise of a chauvinistic nationalism strongly encouraged by Western powers. These Russophobic sentiments have become increasingly common and dangerous in recent years.

Since the beginning of the special military operation, the Russophobic wave in the Baltics has reached increasingly worrying levels. Russian citizens have been subjected to mandatory Latvian language proficiency tests. Unsatisfactory results in these tests legitimize the Latvian government to expel these citizens and cancel their Latvian citizenship. This has been a serious problem especially for elderly people from the Soviet era, who have lived on Latvian soil for decades and have never learned the local language, as Russian has always been widely spoken in the country. These elderly people are being the biggest victims of the Latvian linguistic apartheid, with thousands of them fearing that they will be expelled from the country at any moment.

In addition to the anti-Russian cultural genocide implemented through the language ban, other coercive measures against ethnic Russian citizens have been practiced. For example, Russian citizens were threatened with expulsion from the country for voting in the Russian Federation's presidential elections in March. Latvian police officers simply stated that they were monitoring the areas around the Russian diplomatic facilities, making it clear that any Russian who voted would have their personal data discovered by the authorities and would lose the right to live in the country.

According to the Latvian government, the mere act of participating in Russian political life is a gesture of support for the special military operation – called an "unjustified invasion of Ukraine" in the West. In this sense, Russian citizens who wanted to vote were seen by Latvia as true criminals, having to be punished and being "unworthy" of continuing to live in the country. Clearly, by implementing such draconian racist policies, Latvia is striving to make life impossible for Russian citizens, forcing them to leave the country as quickly as possible.

Latvia basically wants 25% of its population to leave the country – or to deny their own Russian ethnicity and accept to be culturally assimilated, forcing themselves to speak Latvian and give up their original identity. These measures are obviously reprehensible from the point of view of European values. There is nothing humanitarian or democratic about promoting ethnic apartheid and cultural genocide. However, apparently, the Collective West gives carte blanche to its allies to implement any measure against Russians.

In the Latvian case, instead of an absolute eradication of Russian culture, there is more likely to be a serious social instability and crisis of legitimacy, with the local Russian people taking to the streets to protest against the government's Nazi-like measures.

You can follow Lucas on X (former Twitter) and Telegram.

MORE ON THE TOPIC:

• Latvia Urging UK To 'Prepare For War' With Russia
• Latvia Threatening Russian Citizens For Participating In Voting
• Russophobic Policies Increasing In Latvia

The post Latvia Advances Russophobic Policies appeared first on South Front.

7. Military Situation On Israeli-Lebanese Border On April 25, 2024 (Map Update)

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• Hezbollah attacked the Mergaliot area with a suicide drone;
• Hezbollah artillery shelled Israeli outposts in the occupied Shebaa Farms;
• Hezbollah carried out 1650 attacks against the Israeli army positions in southern Lebanon in the last 200 days, according to Hezbollah;
• Sirens sounded in the Kiryat Shemona area;
• Israeli warplanes attacked the Naqoura area;
• Israeli warplanes attacked the Houla area;
• Israeli warplanes attacked the Marun al-Ras area area;
• Hezbollah attacked a Merkava tank in the Metula area.

The post Military Situation On Israeli-Lebanese Border On April 25, 2024 (Map Update) appeared first on South Front.

8. NATO Pays To Prolong Ukraine’s Agony

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NATO countries are appending more and more money to the Kiev regime which can't stop losing its territories and vital strategic infrastructure on a daily basis.

New series of Russian precision strikes inflicted more damage to Ukrainian military and infrastructure facilities throughout the country. On the evening of April 24, the city of Mykolaiv came under the second attack during the day. After Russian drones and missiles destroyed several personnel accommodation facilities and port infrastructure, in the evening, at least two strikes hit one of the large local industrial facilities.

Ukrainian military officials also confirmed damage to the warehouses with military equipment as a result of the Russian strikes in the southern Odessa region.

During the night, massive Russian strikes continued. The Ukrainian military confirmed strikes in the Cherkassy and Poltava regions in the central part of Ukraine. The military airport in the town of Mirgorod, which is one of the largest acting airfields of the Air Force of Ukraine, was struck.

About 25 explosions were reported in the Cherkassy region. The targets of the attack are yet to be revealed. One them reportedly were the facilities of Ukrainian air defense forces deployed near the town of Smela.

More Russian strikes were reported in the constantly pounded regions of Kahrkiv, Dnepropetrovsk and Kherson.

At the same time, the Armed Forces of Ukraine are retreating unable to stop Russian advance on the frontlines. Over the past days, Russian forces have achieved large victories in the Avdeevka region. After Ukrainian servicemen fled from their military positions, Russian servicemen rapidly took control of almost the entire town of Ocheretino, which is an important stronghold located on the dominant heights. While they are completing the mop up operation there, Russian forces have launched an assault on the neighboring village of Novobakhmutovka. After short battles, Russian servicemen raised their flag in the center of the village. The Ukrainian military command sent reinforcement in an attempt to save control of the village of Solovyovo nearby but this decision is unlikely to have any significant impact on the situation on the battlefield.

Amid the defeats of the Ukrainian military, the West, leaded by the US, is forced to spend more money to pay for the war-torn country. Washington finally approved simultaneous allocation of new aid packages to continue its wars in Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan.

Ukraine should get 61 billion dollars from the American wallet, more than a third of which will be allocated to replenish U.S. reserves.

Washington finally acknowledged the supply of long-range ATACMS missiles to Kiev. Supported by Zelensky's lies, the US staged a bad play, retroactively confirming the transfer of dangerous weapons, which are already in service with the Ukrainian military.

The Russian military has already shot down ATACMS missiles that mainly threaten its rear regions.

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9. Is China Supposed To Fear Feeble Threats Of Top-Ranking US Officials Visiting Beijing?

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Written by Drago Bosnic, independent geopolitical and military analyst

On April 24, US State Secretary Antony Blinken landed in China and officially started his (hopefully) diplomatic visit. The relationship between the two countries has worsened significantly. Beijing's peaceful overtures have been met with nothing but hostility in Washington DC. The United States is simply terrified of the prospect that China will overtake it. However, this has already happened in many ways. When not murdering millions around the world, America is still trying to figure out whether public toilets should be "mixed-gender", while China is busy building not just itself, but the world, too. Most of the planet is perfectly aware of this disparity and is making it clear that cooperation with Beijing is a matter of choice, while having anything to do with Washington DC mostly boils down to coercion, as the political elites there are simply incapable of conducting "diplomacy" without resorting to arm-twisting.

Blinken is going to China precisely with such bearing, pompously announcing that he "arrives with a warning that the US and its European allies are no longer prepared to tolerate China's sale of weapon components and dual-use products to Russia". The political West insists that this is "helping Vladimir Putin rebuild and modernize his arms factories, enabling him to intensify his onslaught on Ukraine". Caught in the web of its own endless stream of lies, the belligerent power pole is trying to blame anyone but itself. However, this is all futile, particularly when it comes to superpowers such as China. Beijing will certainly decide whether or not to do business with someone and the political West has no say in it whatsoever. Blinken will have three days to relay the US position and if that time will be used to make toothless threats and attempt blackmail, he should've certainly picked another country.

The mainstream propaganda machine thinks that the relations between the US and China are improving, citing Blinken's planned attendance at a basketball game as the indicator of this. However, the simple fact that none of the top-ranking officials greeted him when he flew in indicates something completely different. Blinken is supposed to meet Beijing's veteran Foreign Minister Wang Yi tomorrow. The encounter is expected to last at least six hours and might even include President Xi Jinping. This will certainly depend on Blinken's command of actual diplomacy, as the aforementioned threats he pompously announced are only for domestic consumption and are entirely void in China. The US might threaten with sanctions, but this is a two-way street and any reciprocal measures would certainly hurt America's economic and maybe even national security interests. It's entirely up to the US whether things will take such an unpleasant turn.

The troubled Biden administration reportedly raised the issue of the supposed "support" for Russia directly with President Xi Jinping, while US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen did the same during her recent visit to China. However, Beijing seems completely unconcerned, as it has repeatedly stated that Washington DC's threats regarding its close ties with Moscow mean nothing, particularly as the US and its vassals and satellite states keep escalating their aggression in the Asia-Pacific. It seems that simply maintaining normal economic and financial relations with Russia now boils down to "helping" its efforts to push back against NATO aggression in Europe. After all, even if countries like China, Iran and North Korea are building closer ties with their northern neighbor, it can only be expected that everyone the political West keeps threatening will find ways to unite their forces and push back together.

"Let me stress again that China's right to conduct normal trade and economic exchanges with Russia and other countries in the world on the basis of equality and mutual benefit should not be interfered with or disrupted," Wang Wenbin, China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson, stated just before Blinken's arrival, adding: "China's legitimate and lawful rights and interests should not be infringed on."

US officials insist that Beijing supposedly "gave up on the idea of sending weapons directly to Moscow thanks to their threats". However, the entire claim is essentially a multilayered lie, as there's no evidence whatsoever that China ever planned on arming Russia, let alone that it stopped doing so because of the political West's pressure. On top of that, Washington DC is trying to disrupt the rapidly growing trade between the two (Eur)Asian giants, particularly through claims that Beijing is supplying so-called "dual-use" industrial goods. This is where the endless hypocrisy and mental gymnastics of the political West become most evident. While the US just decided to send dozens of billions worth of weapons to directly undermine Russia's and China's basic national security interests, it's accusing the latter of "helping" the former by simply trading with it, as the so-called "dual-use" industrial goods can be pretty much anything.

Worse yet, the US and its vassals and satellite states are surrounding both Beijing and Moscow with long-range missiles and deploying troops not only in their vicinity, but directly on their borders. Still, according to their own admission, "the Blinken team is worried that China's response to pressure over Russia could be to slow down progress in other areas of the bilateral relationship". This also includes the (Eur)Asian giant's close ties with North Korea, as the US wants it to put pressure on Pyongyang. Washington DC is particularly terrified of the prospect that Russia, China and North Korea are forming a more monolithic alliance that the political West will be simply hopeless to match. However, they have nobody else to blame but themselves. Constant threats and attempts to undermine all three of these countries left them with no other choice but to work together. After all, that's one of the reasons why BRICS itself exists.

MORE ON THE TOPIC:

• US Moves Previously Banned Missiles Closer To China And Russia
• Former US Officials Calling For Regime Change In China And "Greater Friction" Thus Risking World Peace
• China Provides Pakistan With Its First Spy Ship In Show Of Bolstered Strategic Alliance

The post Is China Supposed To Fear Feeble Threats Of Top-Ranking US Officials Visiting Beijing? appeared first on South Front.

10. IDF Withdraws Elite Brigade From Central Gaza To Prepare For Rafah Operation

Illustrative image. (The Israeli Defense Forces)

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) had withdrawn the elite The 933rd "Nahal" Brigade from the Gaza Strip for it to prepare with the rest of the 162nd Division "Ha-Plada" for future operations, including an attack on the city of Rafah, Hebrew media said on April 25.

For the past three months, Nahal had operated in a 6.8 kilometers-long corridor that stretches from the Be'eri area in southern Israel to Gaza's coast, splitting the Strip in half.

The brigade will be replaced by the 679th "Yiftach" Armor Brigade and the 2nd "Carmeli" Infantry Brigade, Israeli Army Radio reported.

The elite brigade will be given time for rest, recuperation and training before a planned ground operation in Rafah in southern Gaza, where more than a million Palestinians have taken refuge from Israel's ongoing war against the Hamas Movement and other armed factions in the Strip.

On April 23, the Israeli public broadcaster Israel's Kan 11 said that the IDF was planning to invade Rafah very soon, in an operation that includes evacuating thousands of people from the city.

And on April 24, a senior Israeli defense official told Reuters that the IDF has completed all necessary preparations to attack Rafah.

The IDF could capture Rafah. However, it will take heavy losses. Since the outbreak of the war in Gaza after the October 7 Hamas-led surprise attack on Israel, the IDF has lost 606 troops. At least 3,305 others have been wounded. 261 were killed and 1,584 others were wounded during ground operations inside Gaza.

And while an Israeli attack on the city will be catastrophic for Palestinian civilians, it will not mean the end of Hamas in any way.

So far, the Israeli war has claimed the lives of 34,305 Palestinians and left more than 77,293 others wounded, according to the latest update by the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza.

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