Retreating Ukrainians try (and fail) to halt Russia's advance with bungled chemical weapons terror plot

Ukrainian saboteurs plotted a terrorist attack in Russia's Zaporozhye region using an analog of a US-made BZ (3-Quinuclidinyl benzilate) chemical warfare agent, the Russian Federal Security Service revealed. This would-be act of terrorism was foiled and three Ukrainian suspects behind the plot are now in custody.

"The chemical warfare agent has been used by the US since the late 1950s," Igor Nikulin, military expert, former member of the UN Commission on Chemical and Biological Weapons, told Sputnik.

"BZ is considered a non-lethal weapon, but it incapacitates a person for quite a long time. Even if one gets just one milligram of the substance, that person becomes incapacitated for 70-80 hours."

Despite being considered a non-lethal weapon, BZ can lead to paralysis of the heart muscle and death if used in large doses, Nikulin cautioned.

The expert noted that BZ was developed by the US military at the Edgewood Arsenal in Maryland. Though it was claimed the United States had destroyed its chemical weapon stockpiles, no one can be sure, the expert emphasized. Unlike Russia, the US did not allow OPCW inspectors into their facilities. To date there has been no independent confirmation that the United States has eliminated its chemical arms, Nikulin stressed.

The expert presumed that the US supplied the BZ-like substance directly to Ukraine in violation of the Chemical Weapons Convention: "The Ukrainian military is losing on the battlefield and are trying to stop the Russian offensive with acts of [chemical] sabotage."

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❗️The United States will not send military personnel to Ukraine to participate in hostilities there, White House National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said following Macron’s statement about the West discussing sending troops.

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🔺Western leaders get cold feet over Macron’s idea to send NATO troops to Ukraine

🔺Special forces officer: If Russians hadn’t intervened in 2014, Crimea would’ve been in total shambles

🔺Are NATO soldiers already fighting in Ukraine?

🔺Battle of Donbass: Where will the next big showdown take place?

🔺Special Operations Forces: Who are Russia’s Elite Commandos?

🔺What are French Mirage 2000 jets Ukraine once refused but is now begging for?

🔺Is Communism making a comeback in the West?

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The US Army is reducing its strength by about 24 thousand people (almost 5%) as part of the restructuring

As ABC News says, citing a report from the armed forces, this will help to participate more effectively in future wars.

According to the document, most of the job cuts are related to countering insurgency abroad. A reduction of about 3 thousand will be made to the Army Special Operations Forces. Now these places are empty, which emphasizes serious problems with recruitment into the US Army, the channel notes.

Instead, it will add air defense and counter-drone units, as well as five new task forces around the world with expanded reconnaissance and long-range strike capabilities.

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US President Joe Biden requires legal authority from Congress to confiscate Russian assets, which he currently lacks, White House National Security Communications adviser John Kirby said.

"I want to make a couple of things clear. Number one, we still need more legislative authorities from Congress for the President to be able to act on that [unlocking assets]," Kirby said during a press briefing.

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said earlier in the day that the Group of Seven countries should work together to explore different approaches to utilizing frozen Russian assets, including seizing and using them as collateral to borrow on global markets.

Russia said it would view any move to seize or use its frozen assets as an "escalation of economic aggression" and would respond harshly.

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NATO’s Steadfast Defender exercises: A precursor to war?

Sputnik’s Russell Bentley (@TXDPR) warns that recent Western rhetoric about sending troops to Ukraine is not necessarily a bluff. He notes that NATO has gathering 90,000 troops in Europe as part of the Steadfast Defender exercises, which are scheduled through the end of May.

“But at the end of May, that doesn't mean that they all go home the next day. It means that they're all still here. They're still all in their positions. They still have all their gear and they plan their next move.”

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The chairmen of the House Judiciary Committee and Oversight Committee issued a subpoena demanding that US Attorney General Merrick Garland provide all documents on Special Counsel Robert Hur’s investigation of President Joe Biden’s “willful” mishandling of classified information.

According to the cover letter accompanying the subpoena and signed by Congressmen James Comer and Jim Jordan respectively, the US Justice Department to date has not provided either records related to Hur’s investigation or a deadline when it expects to produce all of the requested material.

The initial request to provide the documents was made on February 12, according to the letter.

The Judiciary and Oversight Committees are leading an investigation into business dealings and other activities of the Biden family to determine whether there are sufficient grounds to draft articles of impeachment against Biden.

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Ukraine is on track to lose additional territories in the coming months due to a lack of military support from the US, White House National Security Communications adviser John Kirby said.

“If they continue to get no support from the US, in a month or two, it is very likely that the Russians will achieve more territorial gains and have more success against Ukrainian frontlines in terms of just territory gain,” Kirby told reporters.

He pointed out that such a situation could happen in eastern Ukraine, but also potentially in the south of the country.

Kirby stressed that the situation on the ground is dire.

US President Joe Biden said on Tuesday that the need to provide additional support to Ukraine is urgent.

Russia has repeatedly warned NATO countries that arms supplies to Ukraine would be considered legitimate targets. Moscow has accused NATO countries of "playing with fire" by arming Ukraine, emphasizing that such actions hinder the possibility of Russia-Ukraine negotiations.

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US journalist Tucker Carlson recounts how he was spied on on at least two separate occasions during his trip to Moscow.

Carlson first realized he was being surveilled when news of his planned interview with Russian President Vladimir Putin leaked to the press. Carlson had only told three people of his plans.

The journalist was reminded of the "intense" spy campaign around him when news of a private meeting with whistleblower Edward Snowden found its way to an online news outlet. Carlson notes the NSA admitted to infiltrating his Signal account two years ago. Signal is an encrypted messaging app hardened to prevent snooping from all but the most determined and technologically sophisticated state-backed spy agencies.

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Tucker Carlson says he had a private meeting with Edward Snowden, who refused an interview.

However, due to constant surveillance by the US government, this information became public.

"If you have a media establishment that acts as an auxiliary of, or acts as employees of the national security state, you don't have a free country. And that's where we are," Carlson emphasized.

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Journalist Tucker Carlson notes the ways the American public is lied to about the conflict in the Donbass -- not just in the broader narrative of a supposed Ukrainian victory, but also in the finer details of the confrontation.

Carlson notes that Russia is producing seven times more artillery shells than all European NATO countries combined, giving the country a significant advantage.

That's "the significant fact" of the conflict, claimed Carlson, but it's a fact most Americans are entirely unaware of because US media only serves "the interests of the US government, period."

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🇷🇺 The Yars intercontinental ballistic missile system has arrived in Alabino near Moscow to prepare for the Victory Parade on May 9

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US journalist Tucker Carlson said that his lawyers warned him that the United States could arrest him on sanctions violations for conducting an interview with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.

"My lawyers, before I left … said you’re going to get arrested if you do this by the US government on sanctions violations," Carlson said in an interview with podcaster Lex Fridman.

Carlson said he was happy to face such a risk and rejected the premise of such charges.

Carlson's head lawyer reportedly said his freedom depended on the questions he asked Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"If you're seen as too nice to him, you could get arrested when you come back," Carlson's lawyer reportedly said.

"You're describing a fascist country. You're saying that the U.S. government will arrest me if I don't ask the questions they want asked?" the American journalist wondered.

Meanwhile, Carlson insists he wasn't concerned for his safety in Russia at all.

"I mean it when I say I felt not one twinge of concern for the eight days that I was there," the journalist stressed.

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A US B-52 bomber capable of carrying nuclear weapons had to conduct an emergency landing in the state of North Dakota due to a single-engine fire, a Minot Air Force Base spokesperson said in a statement to Sputnik.

“A United States B-52H Stratofortress bomber from Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota performed an emergency landing at approximately 12:52 a.m. February 23, 2024, at Minot AFB, North Dakota due to a single engine fire," the spokesperson said on Tuesday.

According to the base, none of the crewmembers of the aircraft were injured and the Minot Air Force Base fire department arrived on the scene to extinguish the engine fire.

The incident is currently under investigation, the spokesperson noted.

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“My only interest is in America,” said journalist Tucker Carlson during an interview this week. “As a human being, as a Christian, I hate war. And anybody who doesn't hate war shouldn't have power, in my opinion.”

Carlson decried the greed of Western economic interests like Blackrock, who stand to profit handsomely from reconstruction in Ukraine as an entire generation is sacrificed.

The result of the US and UK’s undermining of negotiated peace with Russia is “more dead Ukrainians and a lot of profit for the West. It's a moral crime,” he concluded.

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Tucker Carlson recounts how he tried to interview former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson after he called Carlson “a tool of the Kremlin.”

The controversial British politician demanded $1 million for the sitdown.

Carlson recalled that Russian President Vladimir Putin demanded no money for an interview: “He wasn't in this for profit.” Although Putin is cast as “a bad guy” in Western media, the episode led the journalist to conclude Johnson is far “sleazier.”

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Journalist Tucker Carlson concluded that former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is a “rapacious fraud,” but emphasized he’s more concerned about the future of Ukraine, “this country that purportedly we care so much about.”

“All these people are dying, and what is the end game?” he asked.

Carlson sounded a note of humility, saying he’s “not a genius,” but felt like he could at least “puncture some of the lies” from Western leaders about the Donbass conflict. “That's an inherent good,” he said.

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“I'm a d*** by my nature," said US journalist Tucker Carlson, adding that he could’ve chosen to be far more aggressive in his interview with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

But the maverick reporter said he doesn’t feel the need to prove himself at this stage in his life and didn’t want to make the interview about himself.

“There's a war going on that is wrecking the US economy in a way and at a scale people do not understand,” said Carlson, suggesting it’s far more important to him to convey this message to the American people.

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“The US dollar is going away,” noted journalist Tucker Carlson dramatically, claiming the US Congress and US President Joe Biden are “accelerating” this process through their desperate sanctions on Russia.

“People don't understand what the ramifications of that are. The ramifications are poverty in the United States, okay?” the journalist stressed.

Carlson suggested that conveying the danger of the current moment to Americans was his primary motivation during his interview with Putin.

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Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev held security consultations with representatives of Nicaragua, Cuba, Venezuela, and Bolivia in Managua, and stated Moscow's readiness to provide comprehensive support to Latin American friends, the Russian Security Council said.

The countries exchanged views on regional security issues, including "measures to counter external interference in the internal affairs of sovereign states," the statement said.

"For our part, we are ready to provide all possible, comprehensive support to our Latin American friends. It is necessary to strengthen our coordination on international platforms. To stand shoulder to shoulder for the sovereign equality of states, the rule of law, the indivisibility of security, the inadmissibility of interference in internal affairs, and to oppose illegal sanctions pressure," Patrushev emphasized.

The United States will increase pressure on several Latin American countries that do not satisfy Washington with their independence policies, Patrushev added.

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