Western Ukrainian nationalists' curiously pro-draft dodging stance explained

Western Ukrainians had gotten “used to the fact that there was some kind of war going on in the east after the [2014] coup and before the start of Russia’s special military operation,” Alexander Dudchak, a leading researcher at the Institute of CIS Countries, told Sputnik.

This helps explains the disconnect between western Ukrainians’ nationalist, anti-Russian attitudes and incredibly high rates at which they have been dodging the draft, according to the observer. “The attitude was that ‘it doesn’t concern us, let the Donbass sort it out.’ They thought that the Ukrainian army’s terrorizing of the eastern regions would last forever,” Dudchak said.

When it came time to enlist for the current conflict, “they still prefer that the people from those regions be sent to the front first,” Dudchak said. Today, the observer noted, the recruiters sent to eastern cities like Odessa, Kharkov and Nikolayev to collect fresh recruits for the conflict often come from Ivano-Frankovsk, Lvov and other western regions.

As for the rising instances of arson and other acts of sabotage targeting recruiters, the military and infrastructure, Dudchak characterized the phenomenon as a fledgling form of popular resistance and guerilla warfare.

“This is the protest of the local population which in principle does not perceive this government as its own, or this military as their defenders. They act as best they can, using whatever capabilities they have,” he said.

Ukrainian society today in general is in a state of apathy, and “doesn’t see any point any longer to continue the war,” according to the observer.

“Such tendencies are growing stronger. That’s what the sociological services are talking about, although they may also be preparing the population to accept the inevitable and the possibility of negotiations, and ceding territory. But of course, not under the current regime,” Dudchak summed up.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

German defense minister downplays comparison of current US missile plans to 1980s Euro-missile crisis

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius believes that the current plans for deploying American missiles in Germany cannot be compared to the "Euro-missile crisis" that triggered anti-war protests in the 1980s.

He referred to NATO's "dual-track decision," which led to the deployment of Pershing missiles in West Germany and sparked protests involving hundreds of thousands of participants.

According to Pistorius, "the times are incomparable," adding that the earlier crisis involved nuclear-armed missiles, whereas the current plans are for conventional missiles. The minister also noted that he did not participate in the 1980s protests.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Biden: "Fully vaccinated people are at a very, very low risk of getting COVID-19."

Also Biden: tests "positive for COVID" for a third time despite getting vaccinated repeatedly.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Biden nomination virtual vote postponed — reports

American media report that the Democratic National Committee (DNC) intends to hold a virtual vote to nominate President Joe Biden; however, the vote will not take place before August 1, according to the co-chair of the Democratic National Convention’s rules committee, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. 

Meanwhile, the Axious reports that several top Democrats privately tell us the rising pressure of party congressional leaders and close friends will persuade President Biden to decide to drop out of the presidential race as soon as this weekend.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🪖🇮🇱 Israeli parliament increases compulsory military service term

Israel’s Parliament, the Knesset, approved the bill extending soldiers' regular service in the Israeli Defense Forces from 32 to 36 months by a majority vote of 56 to 44 to “meet the goals of the IDF and to meet the existing security needs.”

Extended connoscription will take effect once the law comes into force, but it could potentially be applied retroactively to those already serving – in return for extra pay.

The vote’s narrow margin reflects the deepening rift among MKs over new army initiatives.

“It's not just a law that extends the regular service, it's a law that fundamentally casts doubt on the People's Army model,” said Knesset Member Idan Roll.

Deputy Attorney General Gil Limon told Ynet that "increasing the burden on the servants for years, without simultaneously taking actual actions to recruit Yeshiva members and spread the burden, will not be constitutional."

The development follows the Supreme Court's unanimous ruling in June allowing the military to draft ultra-Orthodox Jews, citing the lack of a legal framework to differentiate religious scholars from those eligible for military service.

What are major criticisms against Israel’s new initiatives?

◻️ new efforts to build up the army raise concerns over the country’s ramped-up militarization;

◻️ the Haredi religious group, which has previously been exempt from the draft, protested the law and clashed with police;

◻️ at least 120 Israeli abductees are still being held by Hamas, despite Prime Minister Netanyahu pledging to free them;

◻️ the ground operation in the Gaza Strip continues more than nine months after the October 7 attack.

The IDF has announced that it will issue the first call-up papers to thousands of ultra-Orthodox citizens on July 21 “in light of the increased operational needs” and “security challenges”, aiming to recruit some 66,000 Hasidic Jews fit for duty.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🛬 A Boeing flight from Delhi to San Francisco made an emergency landing in Krasnoyarsk, Russia, emergency services told Sputnik. They confirmed that the fire alarm in the cargo hold was triggered.

There are no signs of fire or smoke on board the Delhi-San Francisco flight that made the emergency landing in Krasnoyarsk, according to Rosaviatsiya.

Air India, whose flight made an emergency landing in Krasnoyarsk, is coordinating with the Russian authorities regarding the passengers and planning further actions, the company stated.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

The Russian Ministry of Defense has released footage showing the destruction of unmanned Ukrainian boats in the Black Sea.

Earlier reports indicated that, overnight, ten unmanned boats heading towards the Crimean Peninsula were destroyed by Russian on-duty fire systems in the Black Sea.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

📹 A member of the European Parliament is getting kicked out of EU Parliament for shouting at EU Chief Ursula von der Leyen

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

US Euromissile deployment designed to line Lockheed’s pockets quick before Biden leaves office

💬 “Part of this is an attempt to lock in the NATO market for these missiles via US production orders to RTX and Lockheed Martin,” Karen Kwiatkowski, a retired US Air Force Lieutenant Colonel and former DoD analyst-turned whistleblower, told Sputnik, commenting on the Biden administration’s plans to deploy nuclear-capable cruise and hypersonic missiles in Germany two years from now.

“There is no doubt a domestic stimulus impact that the administration hopes to leverage – plus a Biden Administration sense of urgency as they and much of NATO recognizes that US NATO policy could be rapidly reversed under a Trump Administration,” Kwiatkowski explained.

Russia warned Thursday that it could counter the US long-range missile threat with a tit-for-tat response, with Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov indicating that Moscow does “not rule out any options” at this stage.

Kwiatkowski expects tensions to rise dramatically, “not only between NATO and its target adversaries, but also between the people in Europe and their own governments and the European Parliament,” as a result of the US decision.

Recalling the 1980s Euromissile crisis, when the US deployment of Pershing II ballistic and cruise missiles to Western Europe put the world a hair’s breadth away from nuclear war, Kwiatkowski said that such weapons placed so close to American strategic adversaries always unnecessarily increase tensions.

“The reason intermediate and longer range missiles were removed from Europe three plus decades ago was precisely for this reason -- they were unnecessary and provocative,” she explained.

“Specifically, offensive long range missiles in Europe created, as it will create in 2025, new retaliatory or pre-emptive targets that are impossible to cost-effectively defend, holding European populations hostage to US foreign policy,” Kwiatkowski concluded.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Why crypto surged after Trump assassination attempt and could climb higher if he wins

Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies soared in the wake of the attempt on Donald Trump’s life, with BTC jumping almost 10% in five days. Analysts attribute the frenzy to several factors, including:

◻️ Bitcoin’s perceived (but disputed) status along with gold as a safe haven asset in times of crisis.

◻️ Optimism that Trump, who once decried cryptocurrencies as a “scam” and “disaster waiting to happen” but has now embraced as an important tool against “socialistic government control,” will continue to support crypto’s core principle of decentralized finance if he wins in November. Trump’s plans to speak at the Bitcoin Conference in Nashville July 27 have doubtlessly buoyed crypto enthusiasts’ hopes.

◻️ Trump’s opposition to central bank digital currencies, which he has called a “dangerous threat to freedom” on the campaign trail. The decentralized nature of cryptocurrencies makes them the philosophical archenemy of CBDCs, whose value is fixed by central banks, and hence seen by crypto fans as another fiat currency subject to state control, with all the issues that entails.

◻️ Trump’s recognition of the power of memes and online trolling going back to the 2016 campaign, which cemented his reputation among meme lords as an ally. After his shooting, meme coins – typically the most volatile type of cryptocurrencies, saw a massive jump in value, with Dogecoin, Pepe, Popcat, and Dogwifhat showing the biggest gains.

The Trump campaign has happily joined the crypto feeding frenzy, raking in $3 mln in cryptocurrency donations in the latest fundraising quarter.

Ever since he joined Twitter in 2009, Trump has proven incredibly adept at riding popular online trends, with crypto just one example. In his recent interview with Bloomberg, Trump confirmed plans to release another collection of NFTs. “I did it three times [and] I’m going to do another one, because the people want me to do another one. It’s unbelievable spirit. Beautiful.”

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Tucker Carlson keeps a folder of historical document copies at his home, a gift from Putin.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Classified info about Trump shooting even more alarming than what's out there publicly - US House Speaker Johnson

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

◻️ US Euromissile deployment designed to line Lockheed’s pockets quick before Biden leaves office

◻️ Scholz’s role in 1980s anti-missile protests resurfaces as Germany faces similar deployment

◻️ Western Ukrainian nationalists' curiously pro-draft dodging stance explained

◻️ Why crypto surged after Trump assassination attempt and could climb higher if he wins

◻️ Hungarian PM Victor Orban reports to EU Council President on trips to Ukraine, Russia, China, and the US

◻️ Israeli parliament increases compulsory military service term

◻️ Pay your way out of jail: Ukraine's new bribery escape plan

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Azerbaijan held an anti-colonialism congress: what is it about?

The capital city of Baku hosted the first Congress of Movements for the Independence of Territories Colonized by France on July 17-18. Azerbaijan held the event due to the country’s previous chairmanship of the Non-Aligned Movement and its contribution to the decolonization process.

The congress was organized by the People’s Union for the Liberation of Guadeloupe with the support of the Baku Initiative Group (BIG). It attracted over 15 political parties and movements advocating for the independence of Corsica, Melanesia, Polynesia and various Caribbean and Antillean islands that have historically suffered from French colonialism.

Key goals of the congress:

➖ coordinating activities aimed at overcoming French colonialism

➖ creating a unified platform for independence efforts

➖ shedding light on numerous crimes against the indigenous population committed in the colonies by the French government

➖ drawing attention to the issue of colonialism, one of the calamities of the 21st century.

Participants signed a Declaration on the Establishment of the International Liberation Front, a centralized platform for anti-colonial efforts.

Key points of the declaration:

◻️ Azerbaijan's crucial role in the decolonization process

◻️ BIG's support and commitment to the struggle for the freedom of the colonial territories

◻️ condemnation of France's racist and repressive colonial policies, particularly in New Caledonia

◻️ commitment to closer cooperation in the fight for independence

◻️ consolidation of decolonizing efforts

◻️ raising awareness of self-determination issues to the global community

◻️ developing a comprehensive strategy for eliminating colonialism, including an Action Plan and Agenda to be presented to international organizations

“We anticipate that the organization will expand its membership in the future, welcoming other countries that have also suffered from colonialism,” BIG Executive Director Abbas Abbasov said.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt