Victory Chronicles
-DAY 127

MARIUPOL DEFENDERS: GLORY TO UKRAINIAN HEROES

Above: Prisoners lined up ahead of exchange, reportedly in Zaporizhzhya Oblast.  Photo via Defense Intelligence of Ukraine

• People around the world are rejoicing with the news that Ukraine received one hundred and forty-four POWs in the largest Ukraine-invader prisoner exchange to date.  The Ukrainian military announced that forty-three were members of the Azov Battalion that bravely defended Mariupol until the bitter end.

RUSSIAN TERRORISM

Above: Residential shelling overnight in Kharkiv. Ukraine’s volunteer territorial defense forces are on the front line of defense against Putin’s terror campaign.  Photo via VOA

• When a “great” nation’s military is too corrupt and incompetant to wage war against combatants, by all means, wage war on defenseless citizens.  In addition to targeted shelling of civilians, the Ukrainian government with other international sponsors circulate warnings to peaceful citizens to be aware of enemy booby traps and mines left to specifically kill civilians.

NATO SUMMIT: BAD NEWS FOR KREMLIN

Above: “NATO-ization of Europe”.  Photo via Aljazeera

• NATO members approved a new Strategic Concept for the Alliance platform, naming Russia as the biggest threat to European security. NATO will undertake a “massive military buildup” including an  increase in the number of troops on high alert to more than 300,000, a sevenfold surge.
• In more bad news for the tiny despot, Finland and Sweden have a green light to membership and the US will deploy more land, sea and air capacity across Europe including a permanent army headquarters in Poland.
• Of course, Russian propaganda mouthpieces were quick to vow retribution and make vague references to Russia’s toolbox of retaliatory measures. US President Joe Biden remarked, “Putin was looking for the Finlandization of Europe…He’s going to get the NATO-ization of Europe.”

NATO SUMMIT: APPEASEMENT ON THE TABLE

Above: Rail line between Moscow and Kaliningrad runs through Belarus and Lithuania.  Map via RFERL

• Some NATO allies, notably Germany, are hand-wringing over Lithuania’s embargo on rail transit of sanctioned goods to Kaliningrad.  Behind closed doors, discussions ensue on exemption of Kaliningrad from sanctions and resumption of Lithuanian transit of all that the Kremlin desires to the Baltic Sea military enclave.
• Sanctions on products, which are being rolled out over a number of weeks, include metal, cement, alcohol and oil products including fuels.  Humanitarian goods are exempt.
• Königsberg was part of Germany prior to the end of the second world war.  After occupation by the Red Army, Soviet anarchy took over, “featuring looting, rape and random violence by Soviet soldiers.” Soviet-cum-Russian occupiers turned Kaliningrad into a military base on the Baltic Sea.
• In addition to a reluctance to defend Lithuanian from potential Russian aggression, Germany is constricted by its long-term commitment to Russian fossil fuels, which allows the Kremlin to manipulate Berlin with ease.  Putin recently cut back the flow of gas to Germany, propelling Berlin to announce an energy state of emergency.