Tag: Czech Republic

Pipeline goad of Ukraine’s Kursk incursion?

Urengoy-UzhhorodOne day into their unprecedented cross-border incursion into Russia's Kursk oblast, Ukrainian forces captured the Sudzha gas metering station—a key node of the last remaining Russian pipeline still sending gas to Europe through Ukraine. The Urengoy-Pomary-Uzhgorod pipeline, built by the Soviets in the 1980s, sends natural gas from Siberian fields through Ukraine to Slovakia, the Czech Repubic, Hungary and Austria. Despite the capture of the Sudzha station, Gazprom hasn't halted the flow of gas through the station—nor has Ukraine shut the pipeline over the past two and a half years of war, apparently due to pressure from Europe. EU sanctions have only gradually started to affect Russia's massive hydrocarbons sector. (Image: Soviet postage stamp celebrating the Urengoy-Uzhgorod pipeline. Via Wikipedia)

Antifa march against Budapest Nazi-nostalgia fest

antifaAnti-fascist protestors marched in Budapest in response to a previously banned right-wing gathering to commemorate the so-called "Day of Honor"—when German and Hungarian soldiers made a last stand against the Soviet forces besieging the city in 1945. Activists travelled from across Europe to take part in the protest against the event, which similarly drew far-right adherents from across the continent. The dueling rallies came amid diplomatic tensions between Budapest and Rome, as an Italian anti-fascist arrested at last year's protest against the "Day of Honor" remains imprisoned in Hungary, potentially facing a lengthy term. (Banner reads: "Stop the idolization of fascism! Whether in Budapest, Dresden, Pliberk, Riga or Sofia." Photo via Twitter)

Propaganda game in fight over Ukraine military aid

arm ukraineWith Republicans holding up new military aid for Ukraine on Capitol Hill, Russia launched one of the most massive aerial assaults of the war, killing 40 in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Odesa, Dnipro and Lviv. Ukraine retaliated the next day with a missile strike on the Russian city of Belgorod, killing at least 22. Russia counter-retaliated with a wave of drone strikes, damaging schools, hospitals and homes across Ukraine, kiling at least 24. Russia accused Ukraine of using internationally prohibited cluster munitions in the strike on Belgorod, and called for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council. Of course, Russia has itself used cluster munitions since the start of the war in February 2022, despite international criticism from bodies including the UN Human Rights Council (Photo from Little Ukraine, NYC: CounterVortex)

Sikh separatist arrested in India after manhunt

KhalistanIndian police arrested Sikh separatist leader Amritpal Singh after a month-long manhunt. Singh gained notoriety for supporting the Khalistan movement, which calls for an independent Sikh homeland in the northwest state of Punjab. He was taken into custody in the gurdwara (Sikh temple) of a Punjab village. He is charged with attempted murder, obstructing law enforcement, and disturbing the peace under terms of the harsh National Security Act. The charges concern a February incident in which hundreds of followers of Singh's organization Waris Punjab De (Heirs of Punjab) stormed a police station in Amritsar with sticks, swords and firearms, demanding the release of a detained member of the group. During the manhunt for Singh, authorities cut off internet access to all Punjab, a state of nearly 30 million. (Images of Amritpal Singh, Khalistan flag: Wikimedia Commons. Collage: Jurist)

Europe
Munich

Podcast: Donbas = Sudetenland

In Episode 143 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg notes the all too telling irony that Putin’s annexation of Ukraine’s Donbas region came on exactly the same day as the 1938 Munich Agreement, which approved Hitler’s annexation of Czechoslovakia’s Sudetenland region. Russian… Read morePodcast: Donbas = Sudetenland

Palestine

Palestinians reject Warsaw Conference

Warsaw conferenceThe secretary general of the Palestinian Liberation Organization executive committee, Saeb Erekat, issued a statement rejecting the US-led conference in Warsaw, ostensibly aimed at brokering Middle East peace. Said Erekat: "Today we face a reality whereby the US Trump administration, in cooperation with the Polish government, is pushing yet a new initiative to annihilate the Palestinian national project." Poland has been making some efforts to resist turning the conference into a propagandistic anti-Iran meeting dominated by the US, Israel and Saudi Arabia. The notable absentees from the summit are meanwhile convening their own meeting in the Russian resort of Sochi. The rival summit is bringing together Vladimir Putin, Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Iran's Hassan Rouhani.  (Photo: Ma'an)