‘Humiliated’ Pentagon ‘miscalculated’ floating Gaza aid pier pounded by rough seas

The floating pier built by the US military for humanitarian deliveries to Gaza turned out to be nothing but a wasteful boondoggle due to simple “miscalculations,” Stephen Morrison, a senior vice-president at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said as quoted by The Guardian.

“They just miscalculated… They didn’t fully understand what was going to happen with the weather … So the DoD [Department of Defense] walks away, humiliated in a fashion,” Morrison said.

The Pentagon's $230 million project in the eastern Mediterranean proved too fragile to withstand stormy seas. In addition, the project has been plagued by poor security. The Joint Logistics Over-the-Shore (JLOTS) structure, which includes a floating dock and pier, was only usable for just 12 days after it was launched on May 17. Since then, no more than 250 truckloads of humanitarian assistance have arrived via the corridor. The structure, which was designed to endure waves of 0.5 to 1.25 meters, was battered by a storm on May 25 and had to be towed away for repairs. Unfortunately, more rough weather led to the dismantling of the structure once again.

Poor security also meant that the arriving aid was dumped on the beach on most days because there were no trucks to deliver it to warehouses in the enclave.

Since the pier project was unveiled by Joe Biden in March, critics have suggested it had less to do with any concern for the plight of Palestinians, and was more likely a “humanitarian cover” for US support of Israel.

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❗️In Derbent, Russian Republic of Dagestan, unknown individuals opened fire from automatic weapons at a synagogue and a church, as stated by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Dagestan.

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Scott Bennett: Sevastopol beach attack with US ATACMS missiles is a crime against humanity

💬 “Today there was an attack upon the Sevastopol beach area in which [several] people have been killed and the number is growing. Two children, a three-year-old and a nine-year-old were killed and two adults by ATACMS, US missile munitions fired by the Ukrainian Armed Forces, no doubt guided and managed by United States military personnel who are experts in the management of those weapons systems,” former US State Department counterterrorism analyst Scott Bennett told Sputnik.

The attack on Sevastopol deliberately targeted a civilian beach, an area without any military presence, making it a crime against humanity and a war crime, he emphasized.

Bennett urged the US to investigate the attack, otherwise “the United States has blood on its hand and is a willing participant in these ongoing war crimes and crimes against humanity.”

The incident should be included in a whistleblowing report to the US Ambassador to Russia as evidence of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and violations of international law, US constitutional principles and various treaties, he added.

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❗️In Makhachkala, Russian Republic of Dagestan, unknown assailants fired at a traffic police checkpoint on the street. According to preliminary information, one police officer has been injured, reported by the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

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❗️In Russia's Makhachkala, one police officer was killed and six others injured, according to the regional Ministry of Internal Affairs. There are no reported casualties among civilians, preliminary reports indicate.

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Why Article 5 won't provide guaranteed defense for Ukraine if it joins NATO

The Kiev regime has repeatedly urged the West to accept it into NATO. However, even if Ukraine were admitted, it would not have been guaranteed greater assistance than it already receives or even NATO boots on the ground.

💬 "When it comes to debates about US policy toward its alliance partners – and whether it should admit new members like Ukraine – it is important for both sides to appreciate that alliance commitments are not quite as binding, either legally or politically, as the conventional wisdom suggests," Dan Reiter, a professor of political science at Emory University, and Brian Greenhill, an associate professor of political science at the University at Albany, State University of New York, wrote for The Conversation.

Reiter and Greenhill explained that the NATO treaty's language contains loopholes that let member countries remain out of other members' wars without having to break their alliance commitments.

US congressmen and legal experts also pointed out that Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty doesn't automatically trigger a military response from the rest of the alliance. Under Article 11 any such response should be considered by NATO member states "in accordance with their respective constitutional processes."

Furthermore, any NATO member state may decide that instead of responding with force, it will send military equipment to NATO allies or impose sanctions on their rival, as per the Brennan Center for Justice (BCJ), a US nonprofit law and public policy institute.

The aforementioned assistance has already been provided to Ukraine even though it's not a member of the alliance. NATO's rejection of French President Emmanuel Macron's suggestion to put the bloc's boots on the ground in Ukraine showed that Western allies are not willing to die for the Kiev regime and still fear triggering an all-out conflict with Russia.

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Investigators have arrived at the scene of the shooting in the Russian city of Makhachkala to establish the circumstances of the incident, according to authorities (video from social media)

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Ukraine's ATACMS were targeted to pass over crowded place, coordinated by US drone

💬 "Fallen cluster munitions hit the beach. There is a high density of people there, hence there are so many victims," Nikolai Kostikin, an expert from the Moscow-based Bureau of Military-Political Analysis think tank, told Sputnik. "The [missiles'] route was set to pass over crowded places. There have already been similar examples."

The Ukrainian military attacked the Russian port city of Sevastopol, Crimea, on June 23 with five US-made ATACMS missiles armed with cluster submunitions. Four missiles were shot down; one deviated and exploded over the city killing at least five and injuring 124, including 27 children, according to the Russian Health Ministry.

💬 “A political task here is a show of force and the West’s readiness to support Ukraine. And the death of civilians fits into this plan as a way to intimidate [Russia]," Alexey Sukonkin, a Russian military observer, told Sputnik.

At the moment when ATACMS were launched at Sevastopol a US RQ-4 Global Hawk long-range surveillance drone was detected over the Black Sea, according to military correspondent Aleksey Borzenko. It was earlier reported that Ukraine is pairing the 300-kilometer range variant of ATACMS with drone systems to coordinate missile strikes on Russia.

"This drone was practically used to direct the missiles that were going to Crimea," Borzenko told Sputnik. "I believe that it is necessary to create a large unmanned zone in the Black Sea – between 100 and 300 miles – in the aftermath of the tragedy. These Global Hawks should not be allowed to get to the distance from which they could direct ATACMS missiles."

The US is responsible for the missile strike on Sevastopol's civilians, as all targeting data for ATACMS missiles are provided by US specialists, the Russian Ministry of Defense said.

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The head of the Russian Republic of Dagestan, Sergey Melikov, on the attacks in Russia's Derbent and Makhachkala:

◻️ An operational headquarters has been established in Dagestan following the emergency situation involving gunfire in Derbent and Makhachkala

◻️ Melikov noted that unknown individuals attempted to destabilize the public situation.

◻️ The head of Dagestan called on everyone to remain calm and promised to provide detailed information about the emergency situation later.

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❗️A priest in a church in Derbent and a church guard in Makhachkala have been killed, reported Hadulaev, deputy chairman of the public oversight commission of Dagestan.

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⚡️Armed attacks have been carried out on two Orthodox churches, a synagogue, and a police post in Russia’s Derbent and Makhachkala, the National Antiterrorism Committee stated.

As a result of the terrorist acts in Dagestan, preliminary data indicate that a priest of the Russian Orthodox Church and police officers have been killed.

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❗️A shootout took place on the border between Abkhazia and Russia, resulting in casualties and injuries among all participants who are citizens of Abkhazia, the head of the republic’s Ministry of Internal Affairs told to Sputnik.

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⚡️Footage of the arrest on "Beryozka" beach, allegedly showing two militants involved in the attack in Russia's Makhachkala, with people panicking and fleeing from the Caspian Sea coast. (video from social media)

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❗️Criminal cases have been initiated under the article on terrorism in connection with armed attacks in Russia's Derbent and Makhachkala, the Investigative Committee reported.

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Upgraded Russia–North Korea strategic partnership sends West ‘strong challenge’

Russia's newly-signed Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Agreement with North Korea should be seen as "a strong signal to the West," the Associated Press warned.

Dissecting the agreement’s clause on military aid between the two countries, it stated that it “marked the strongest link between Moscow and Pyongyang since the end of the Cold War."

In NATO’s proxy conflict over Ukraine, Russia is prepared to “challenge Western interests like never before,” stated the publication.

It acknowledged that Moscow "has nothing to lose," and is prepared to go “to the end” to achieve its goals in Ukraine.

Article 4 of the DPRK-Russia Treaty on Comprehensive Strategic Partnership states: "If one of the Parties is subjected to an armed attack by any state or several states and thus finds itself in a state of war, the other Party will immediately provide military and other assistance with all means at its disposal.”

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Two terrorists were allegedly killed in the Russian Makhachkala

Their bodies are lying right on the street.

Clashes in the city continue.

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Sevastopol picked for Ukraine terror attack because it is core of anti-Nazi resistance – expert

💬 "The ballistic missile was fired at maximum range at Sevastopol, because the city is iconic for [Russians]. They chose the Holy Trinity Sunday [for the attack]. They often do this when people gather," Vasily Dandykin, military analyst and retired Captain 1st Rank of the Russian Navy, told Sputnik, commenting on Ukraine's terror attack against Russian civilians.

On June 23, Ukraine attacked the Russian city of Sevastopol with five US-made ATACMS missiles armed with cluster warheads. Russian air defenses intercepted four missiles, but the fifth exploded in the air killing at least five civilians and injuring 124, according to Russia's Health Ministry.

"This is an outright terrorist attack," Dandykin said. "Unfortunately, it's not the last one… Previously it was Storm Shadow, now it will mainly be ATACMS."

ATACMS cluster warheads release hundreds of submunitions, hence the number of victims, according to the pundit. The 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM) bans the weapons as they pose an immediate threat to civilians. Dandykin said that the US and Kiev are seeking to intimidate Russians and sow panic, but stressed that those efforts were futile.

"Sevastopol is a long-suffering city," he said. "This city is special for Russia's history. It was in Sevastopol that the Crimean Spring began as well as resistance to those who carried out a [2014] coup in Ukraine and openly took the path of Nazism."

The Russian Ministry of Defense holds the US and the Kiev regime responsible for the deliberate missile strike on Sevastopol, as all targeting data for ATACMS missiles are provided to Ukraine by US specialists.

Dandykin added that Ukraine also attacked Russian territories on June 22, on the Day of Remembrance and Sorrow for the Nazi invasion of the USSR in 1941, with tacit approval from the US. "Their cynicism is indefinite," he charged.

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