Yesterday, Russian President Vladimir Putin gave what can only be described as a momentous televised speech. There were three primary takeaways from his words. First, Russia is instituting a “partial military draft” drawn from the nation’s estimated 25 million reservists, a group that includes anyone who has ever served in the military. The reason given is so that Russia can help their compatriots in disputed Ukrainian territories determine their own future.
The second takeaway is Putin’s apparent plan to annex four Ukrainian regions – Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson. His strategy is similar to what he did in Crimea. The governments of these regions will hold a referendum. If the votes say that the majority of the people want to split off from Ukraine and become part of Russia – which Russia will ensure they do – then Moscow will officially annex the territories. If all four of these regions do become part of Russia, then Ukraine will lose 20% of its landmass. Should Ukraine seek to take these territories back, Moscow will view it as an attack on Russian territory and will consider it an act of war. If that happens, the other nations of the Collective Security Treaty (CST) – Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan – will be obligated to join Russia in a war against Ukraine.
Finally, President Putin reminded the world that all weapons are on the table in the Ukrainian conflict, including nuclear. “When the territorial integrity of our country is threatened, we will certainly use all the means at our disposal to protect Russia and our people. It’s not a bluff,” he told his audience. Former commander of the US Army’s European Command, Retired Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges, said that if Putin uses nukes in Ukraine, then, while the US may not respond with nuclear weapons of their own, they are prepared to destroy Russia’s Black Sea Fleet or wipe out the Russian bases in Crimea. As a result of Putin’s televised speech, the Russian stock market crashed losing up to 10% of its value on Wednesday.
Iranian cyberattacks against Israel have increased 70% in recent years. Most all the attacks were thwarted, however, by the Cyber Defense Division in the C4I Directorate, the IDF’s elite technological unit.
While Iran is using the internet for their attacks, Israel is doing their talking with airstrikes. On Friday, Israel hit the Damascus International Airport, killing five Syrian soldiers and damaging the cargo terminal used by Hezbollah and the Quds Force of Iran’s IRGC for illegal smuggling. The strike also damaged the ops rooms and headquarters of the Quds Force south of Damascus in El Kiswah.
Israel’s extremely unpopular interim prime minister Yair Lapid [told] the UN today that the nation is committed to trying to make work a two-state solution with the Palestinians. He is not the first to suggest this, and he will soon find out how poorly it went for the others who recommended this ridiculous solution. On the positive side, UK Prime Minister Liz Truss is considering moving the UK embassy to Jerusalem.
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