As Russian attacks in eastern Ukraine escalated on Thursday, a top Ukrainian defense official said the fighting had reached "maximum intensity."
In Moscow, Russian lawmakers agreed to scrap the age limit of 40 for those signing their first voluntary military contracts – a move that could bolster its overstretched forces.
And in Washington, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Thursday the Biden administration wants to rally the international coalition opposing Russia's invasion of Ukraine to also help counter China, which the U.S. sees as a more serious, long term threat to the global order.
While the U.S. sees Russia and Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine as the most acute and immediate threat to international stability, Blinken said the administration believes China poses a greater danger.
Belarus will send troops to the Ukraine border, president says
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said Thursday he was forming a southern military command and sending battalion tactical groups to the area that borders Ukraine.
Lukashenko did not give details, but battalion tactical groups typically consist of mechanized infantry including tanks. Russia used Belarusian territory for rocket attacks on Ukraine at the start of the war, but the country's military has not joined the Russian ground operation.
Ukrainian authorities have expressed concern that Belarus may agree to a wider participation in the war.
BELARUS PRESIDENTIAL ORDER -- UKRAINE
H Turner
Something very unusual, big, and serious, is happening . . .
President Viktor Lukashenko of Belarus has ordered the armed forces of Belarus to immediately create an operational command to handle "the Ukrainian direction."
Appearing on national television in his full military uniform, Lukashenko told the nation trouble is coming.
The fact that he put on his uniform for this says it all.
UPDATE 3:11 PM EDT --
Lukashenko also saying that Belarus expects "pressure" from Poland, Lithuania, and Latvia, in particular, with the help of NATO troops stationed there.
As readers of this site will recall, it was just Tuesday into Wednesday of this week that the country of Hungary, enacted a "WARTIME EMERGENCY" declaration despite no hostilities in or near Hungary. (Story Here)
Now, we have Belarus ordering its military to stand-up a new Ukrainian Command . . . .
Something wicked this way comes . . .
World War III warning? Hungary declares a wartime state of emergency
As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine nears the end of its third month, war clouds appear to be darkening more of Europe.
Just a few hours after Prime Minister Viktor Orban took total control of Hungary after pushing through a constitutional amendment allowing his government to rule by decree when there is war in a neighboring country, he declared a wartime state of emergency.
According to a report by Bloomberg News, the Hungarian parliament approved a state of emergency earlier in the day on Tuesday, which is scheduled to take effect at midnight. That gives Orban’s government “maneuvering room and the ability to react immediately to the ongoing conflict in neighboring Ukraine, according to the prime minister, who spoke in a video posted to Facebook.
Corporate media outlet Bloomberg, naturally, approved of the actions as a victory for “the banner carrier for nationalists worldwide.”
The outlet reports:
The move comes after Orban told US right-wing celebrities last week at an event in Budapest, which included a video message from former President Donald Trump, that the recipe for wielding full power over a nation requires building your own media and institutions. And, above all, ditching established political norms to “play by our own rules.”
“We need maneuvering and the ability to take action immediately,” Orban said after his ministers took the oath of office. The state of emergency, which he said he called because of Russia’s attack against neighboring Ukraine, will allow him to use “all tools” of the state, he said.
Now he’s the banner carrier for nationalists worldwide, with Trump praising him as a “great leader” in a video stream at the conference.
On Wednesday, Orban’s government is expected to announce the first measures it will take under the new state of emergency. He had been making the case for the action even before his Cabinet was sworn in on Tuesday.
In addition to amending the constitution to provide for the new powers, Orban, 58, also gave his chief of staff new responsibilities to oversee Hungary’s intelligence services.
Orban is the European Union’s longest-serving head of government and is currently in his fourth consecutive term after he cruised to victory last month in a landslide. Notably, he has had differences with other EU member nations over a host of issues including his opposition to an EU ban on Russian oil.
The reason is simple: While Russia certainly did invade Ukraine, Organ knows how dependent the continent is on Russian energy. He also knows that Ukraine is not exactly a model country, being the most corrupt on the continent, or close to it.
Meanwhile, in the Asian theater, South Korea and Japan scrambled fighter jets in response to a rare joint air operation by Russia and China.
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2 Samuel 11:1
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