Russia launches new ground assault in Ukraine's Kharkiv region

AP  |  May 10, 2024 10:48 AM EDT | Last Updated: 34 minutes ago

Ukraine rushed reinforcements to its northeastern Kharkiv region on Friday to hold off a Russian attempt to breach local defences, authorities said, signalling a tactical switch in the war, by Moscow, that Ukrainian officials had been expecting for weeks.

Kharkiv's regional governor, Oleh Syniehubov, said intense overnight shelling targeted Vovchansk, a city with a pre-war population of about 20,000 that is less than five kilometres from the Russian border. The barrage, which used powerful guided aerial bombs, artillery, rockets, tanks and mortars, killed at least one civilian and wounded five others, prompting authorities to begin evacuating about 3,000 people.

Then, around dawn, Russian infantry tried to penetrate Ukrainian defences near Vovchansk, the Ukrainian Defence Ministry said, adding that it had deployed reserve units to fend off the attack.

Russian military bloggers said the assault could mark the start of a Russian attempt to carve out a "buffer zone" that Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed to create earlier this year to halt frequent Ukrainian attacks on Belgorod and other Russian border regions.

By mid-afternoon, Ukrainian troops were still holding firm against the assault, Syniehubov said.  .  .  .

https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/russia-ukraine-war-kharkiv-assault-1.7200096

Out of curiosity @Gefn, why do you want to learn to speak French as opposed to Spanish??

Why Spanish? French would do me more good. I am far more likely to run into a French speaking Canuck than a Mexican...

I don't like most of Trump's family that much, that one daughter comes off to me as a spoiled princess. But the only Barron annoys me is the first name. He's just going to be an at-large delegate, it's not like he was running for office or anything. Mountain out of a molehill.

Fact Check: NYT Claims Reagan Withheld Arms from Israel, Like Biden

Joel B. Pollak 10 May 2024

CLAIM: President Ronald Reagan, like President Joe Biden, withheld arms from Israel to influence its military policy.

VERDICT: MISLEADING. Reagan acted within the law, and in very different circumstances, in withholding arms.

The New York Times‘ Peter Baker — winner of the Pulitzer Prize for his newspaper’s bogus reporting on “Russia collusion” — wrote Friday that President Reagan, too, withheld weapons from Israel over concerns about their use.

Baker’s aim in the article appears to be to rescue Biden from some of the criticism he has faced since he confirmed earlier this week that the administration was withholding bombs and artillery from Israel over its Rafah operation.

Baker notes that the Reagan administration delayed the sale of jet fighters and the shipment of cluster munitions to Israel on several occasions.

In 1981, Reagan delayed the shipment of four F-16s to Israel over Israel’s successful attack on Iraq’s nuclear program (which the U.S. would later admit was a useful operation).

In 1982, Reagan delayed arms shipments over concerns that Israeli actions during the Lebanon War against Palestinian guerillas endangered locals. Like Hamas in Gaza, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) had hidden in civilian areas, from which shelled civilian towns in northern Israel.

Baker noted: “In fact, Mr. Reagan used the power of American arms several times to influence Israeli war policy, at different points ordering warplanes and cluster munitions to be delayed or withheld.”

But there are several key differences between what Reagan did in the early 1980s and what Biden is doing today.

First, Reagan operated within the law, which requires the president to notify Congress of sales or pauses in weapons delivery. Biden did not follow the procedures of the Impoundment Control Act (ICA), keeping Congress in the dark.

Second, both the Iraq nuclear strike and the Lebanon War were wars of choice, to some extent, in that Israel made the decision to attack. The current war in Gaza is a response to an unprovoked — and brutal — terror attack October 7.

It is one thing to delay or deny weapons to an ally that has made a calculated decision to attack an enemy. It is quite another to delay or deny weapons to an ally that has been invaded by terrorists who targeted and kidnapped civilians.

more
https://www.breitbart.com/the-media/2024/05/10/fact-check-nyt-claims-reagan-withheld-arms-from-israel-like-biden/

Don't hold your breath for Trump draining anything.  In his 1st term, he kept 1,400 Obama appointees in place, and his FAILURE to purge these commies (yes, literally many were avowed commies) undermined him every damn day.

No one has the ability or the will to drain the swamp.  NO ONE!!!!  It is here to stay.