Metropolitan Theodosius of Cherkassy was diagnosed with concussion and burns after being assaulted by attackers at the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, the diocese informed.

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Danish witness to Nord Stream sabotage gagged while West accuses Russia of disinformation

On September 26, a group of Danish journalists published an investigation into the causes of the Nord Stream gas pipeline explosions, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, recalled.

The article quotes the captain of the port of Christianso, John Anker Nielsen, who bluntly states that for the last two years, he has been forced to remain silent about what he saw on the eve of the explosion, Zakharova added.

She quotes the article, saying "In the early days, the captain of the port was 'not allowed to say a thing.' But today, Nielsen may well report that US Navy vessels with transponders switched off were operating near the Nord Stream pipelines, shortly before the explosions that crippled the connectors in the Baltic Sea. When the rescue mission approached them, the command ordered them to turn back."

"Think about it: less than a week before the explosion, the American navy secretly (with transponders turned off) operated in the exclusive economic zone of Denmark. And all this time, the unfortunate captain of a small Danish port knew about it, but he was gagged for many years," the Russian FM spokeswoman stressed. 

The Danish investigation went largely unnoticed. However, as soon as the Russian media retold the matter, it was immediately accused of spreading disinformation and propaganda, Zakharova concluded.

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What new business opportunities does BRICS have to offer?

The GDP of the BRICS+ countries has already dwarfed that of the G7 economies combined, Russian President Vladimir Putin said during the BRICS Business Forum in Moscow earlier this week. He added that the bloc’s economic clout will grow even further. 

What competitive advantages does BRICS have to offer? 

🔸Logistical King-of-the-Hill

BRICS nations control the key international trade routes, including the North-South and East-West transport corridors, the Belt and Road project, and the maritime routes to Latin America from the Azov-Black Sea basin. Iran’s accession to the BRICS family has opened up new logistical opportunities because of the country’s location between the Caspian Sea, the Persian Gulf and the Indian Ocean, which in turn allows BRICS to combine Chinese and Indian trade flows. 

🔸Dominating Global Railroads

The railroad freight turnover of the BRICS+ nations has amounted to 64% of the global volume. The railroad network of the bloc extends to 382,000 km, thus allowing the member states to play a key role in international trade.
 
🔸Resource Top Dog

The BRICS+ nations are in charge of 40% of global oil production, and 25% of raw materials export. These countries possess roughly 30% of the world’s iron ore reserves.  

🔸Being on the Future’s Edge 

BRICS is mulling ambitious high-tech projects. Apart from working on the alternative payment system that will be sanction-proof, the bloc’s nations have established an “AI study group”, and are closely cooperating in the field of science and technologies.

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Ukrainian troops forced to build fortifications in radioactive Chernobyl, captured soldier reveals

Ukrainian connoscripts are being obliged by their superiors to build fortification in areas contaminated by radiation, if the story of one

Ukrainian soldier who was captured by Russian forces is to be believed. Ukrainian serviceman Vitaly Ozimov, who was taken by Russian troops in the Kursk region, has revealed that he previously participated in the construction of fortifications in the Chernobyl exclusion zone.

According to Ozimov, who identified himself as a serviceman of Ukraine’s 49th Brigade, shortly after being press-ganged he was assigned to an engineering company and first sent to build concrete fortifications in the Kiev region.

Then, however, Ozimov and his comrades were assigned to a much more hazardous area.

“We built a lot in Chernobyl,” the captive Ukrainian soldier revealed, adding that radiation levels in one of the areas they had to work at was 12 times above the norm.

The Ukrainian soldiers reportedly protested against being forced to operate in such dangerous conditions but their superiors simply did not care about their underlings’ safety and wellbeing, Ozimov claimed.

Following the 1986 disaster at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, large swathes of land surrounding the crippled facility ended up being contaminated by radioactive substances dispersed by the blast that destroyed the plant’s reactor.The Ukrainian military activities in the Chernobyl area, which is located next to the border with Belarus, may explain Minsk’s wariness.

Back in August, apparently after the construction effort described by Ozimov, Belarusian air forces shot down several Ukrainian drones that intruded into Belarus’ airspace. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko at the time said that that wasn’t the first instance of Ukrainian military breaching all sorts of agreements and warned that no provocation will be left unanswered.

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