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Pentagon Shares Easter Sunday Update on Classified Docs Leak

The Department of Defense (DoD) issued on Easter Sunday its most detailed public statement to date regarding the apparent leak of classified information.

“An agency effort has been stood up, focused on assessing the impact these photographed documents could have on U.S. national security and on our Allies and partners,” Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh said in a statement. “Over the weekend, U.S. officials have engaged with Allies and partners and have informed relevant congressional committees of jurisdiction about the disclosure.”

Up until Sunday, the Pentagon had only commented publicly on the matter to say it was aware of the images and that a criminal referral had been made to the Department of Justice (DOJ).

Singh confirmed on Sunday the DOJ had opened a criminal investigation. “The Department of Defense’s highest priority is the defense of our nation and our national security,” she added. (Read more from “Pentagon Shares Easter Sunday Update on Classified Docs Leak” HERE)

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Russian Fighter Jet Nearly Shot Down British Spy Plane, According to Leaked U.S. Military Documents

A Russian fighter jet nearly shot down an unarmed British reconnaissance plane over the Black Sea in September — a confrontation described in leaked US military documents as more significant than previously known, according to a report Sunday.

UK Defense Minister Ben Wallace told the British House of Commons in October that one of the two Russian Su-27 fighters that intercepted the RC-135 surveillance plane off the coast of Crimea “released a missile” at a distance, according to the Washington Post.

He attributed it to a “technical malfunction,” and said he’d spoken to his Russian counterparts about the incident.

But the mid-air scuffle appears to have been more serious than that, according to one of the leaked documents circulating online, the Washington Post reported.

That document referred to the incident as a “near-shoot down of UK RJ,” which is a reference to a commonly-used nickname for the British spy plane, the report said. (Read more from “Russian Fighter Jet Nearly Shot Down British Spy Plane, According to Leaked U.S. Military Documents” HERE)

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Arms Dealer Viktor Bout Urges Trump to Seek Refuge in Russia as His Life Is ‘in Peril’

Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, freed from a U.S. jail last year, on Friday urged U.S. ex-president Donald Trump to seek refuge in Russia as his life was “in peril.”

Bout, also known as the “Merchant of Death,” was swapped for U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner in a high-profile prisoner exchange between Moscow and Washington in December.

“I believe your life is in peril,” Bout wrote in a telegram sent to Trump and shown to the press in Moscow.

“The Biden administration will not stop just by dragging you through the court/prison industrial complex,” he said, referring to Trump’s successor Joe Biden.

“They would sooner end your life than let you stand in their way.”

Bout told Trump, whom he has long admired, that he would find a “safe haven and from here you can lead the fight for the American people.” (Read more from “Arms Dealer Viktor Bout Urges Trump to Seek Refuge in Russia as His Life Is ‘in Peril'” HERE)

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Pentagon Probing Release of Alleged Secret U.S./NATO Plans to Arm Ukraine

The Pentagon is investigating how alleged secret U.S. and NATO plans for building up Ukraine’s military ahead of a planned offensive against Russia leaked online.

Versions of documents dating back to March 1 on assessments of Ukraine’s military strength and what Ukraine is expected to need before the offensive have surfaced on Twitter and Telegram, a messaging app with wide reach in Russia. The documents do not include battle plans or a date for when the push against Russia is expected to begin, but they contain a wealth of other information that had not been made public, according to The New York Times. . .

Since the war between Russia and Ukraine broke out last year, intelligence sharing between the United States and Ukraine has increased substantially. The documents that have appeared online, if authentic, represent a serious intelligence breach that could harm that intelligence sharing relationship.

Some of the documents appear altered to show the number of Ukrainian casualties much higher and Russian casualties much lower, according to the Times. The documents also include some information that has never been made public before, such as the Ukrainian military’s burn rate of HIMARS munitions, supplied to Ukraine by the U.S. military. . .

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov did not comment on the authenticity of the documents that have appeared online, but told CNN: “We don’t have the slightest doubt about direct or indirect involvement of the United States and NATO in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.” (Read more from “Pentagon Probing Release of Alleged Secret U.S./NATO Plans to Arm Ukraine” HERE)

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Wall Street Journal Reporter Officially Denies Russia Espionage Charges

Jailed Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich has been charged with espionage in Russia and has entered his official denial, Russian state news agency Tass reported Friday.

Tass said a law enforcement source informed the news agency that Russia’s Federal Security Service officially charged the American journalist with espionage. Tass did not specify if the action was taken during a court hearing.

In the Russian legal system, the filing of charges means the formal start of a criminal probe.

Tass quoted its source as saying: “The FSB investigation charged Gershkovich with espionage in the interests of his country. He categorically denied all accusations and stated that he was engaged in journalistic activities in Russia.” (Read more from “Wall Street Journal Reporter Officially Denies Russia Espionage Charges” HERE)

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Russia Threatens to Blow up Ukraine Grain Deal Over Western Sanctions

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Friday threatened to abandon a landmark grain deal with Ukraine if obstacles to Moscow’s exports remained.

Negotiated in July by Turkey and the United Nations, the agreement allows Ukraine — one of the world’s top grain producers — to export grain through a safe corridor in the Black Sea.

“If there is no further progress in removing barriers to the export of Russian fertilisers and grain, we will think about whether this deal is necessary,” Lavrov told a news conference in the Turkish capital Ankara, alongside his counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu. (Read more from “Russia Threatens to Blow up Ukraine Grain Deal Over Western Sanctions” HERE)

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UN: Risk of Nuclear War at Record High. Please Engage in Peace Talks, Russia and Ukraine.

Well, folks, don’t look now, but the “risk of a nuclear weapon being used is currently higher than at any time since the depths of the cold war,” according to the United Nations High Representative for Disarmament Affairs Izumi Nakamitsu.

The war in Ukraine — obviously — is what is driving that risk. Based on reports made during the UN’s security council on Friday, that war isn’t ending any time soon — as if there were any doubt of that. Americans should know it is not going to end any time soon, our commander-in-chief has said that our tax dollars and equipment will be supporting Ukraine in its battle against Russia for “as long as it takes” — whatever that means. The Swamp wants this war to continue — and so it will.

While Biden has been banging the war drums, Putin has been chatting with its neighbors and new BFF Belarus. Now, reports indicate that Russia will be stationing non-strategic nuclear weapons within Belarus territory. According to the UN, those will be in place for aerial use by July. . .

“We are pursuing cooperation with Belarus without violating obligations,” Russian ambassador and Permanent Representative Vassily Nebenzia said on Friday. “We are not transferring nuclear weapons. We are talking about the retrofitting of airplanes and training teams in the construction of a storage facility on the territory of Belarus.”

Yet he did make sure to note that Russia would respond to any “provocative measures” as it saw fit, while adding, “A nuclear war cannot be won.” (Read more from “UN: Risk of Nuclear War at Record High. Please Engage in Peace Talks, Russia and Ukraine.” HERE)

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Zelenksy Says May Be Forced to Negotiate Peace Deal if Ukraine Loses Bakhmut

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Ukraine may be forced to start peace talks if it loses control of Bakhmut, in a two-day conversation with AP journalists on March 28-29.

In Moscow, presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov warned colleagues that they should get ready for a possible “forever war” according to a report in The Guardian.

The battle for Bakhmut has been going on for seven months with neither side gaining much advantage, leading some analysts to ask why Kyiv is expending so many resources to maintain control of the relatively strategically insignificant town. Zelenskiy told the AP journalists that if Ukraine gives up the town it may be forced to sue for peace.

He predicted that if Russia defeats Ukraine in Bakhmut, Putin would set out to “sell” a victory to the international community.

“If he will feel some blood, smell that we are weak, he will push, push, push,” Zelenskiy said during a two-day train trip with the journalists (video here), adding that the pressure would come not only from the international community but also from within his own country. (Read more from “Zelenksy Says May Be Forced to Negotiate Peace Deal if Ukraine Loses Bakhmut” HERE)

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General Admits U.S. Oversight of Weapons Going to Ukraine Is ‘Not as Rigorous as You Might Think’

The United States has a limited ability to ensure the billions in weapons sent to Ukraine stays out of the wrong hands, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley told Congress on Tuesday.

The Pentagon has previously acknowledged the difficulty of guaranteeing the final destination of more than $30 billion in weapons aid delivered so far to Ukraine. An ability to maintain only a small contingent of non-combat personnel dedicated to oversight at the embassy in Kyiv means it relies mostly on Ukrainian soldiers to inspect aid at destinations closer to the front lines and upload photos of weapons to a secure software for confirmation.

“There are some means and mechanisms of doing some accountability. It is not as rigorous as you might think,” Milley told Congress, adding he could elaborate on the reporting mechanism in a classified setting.

Milley pointed to the effectiveness of Ukraine’s forces as a proxy for the integrity of U.S. assistance in Ukraine.

“You can see the accountability on the battlefield,” he said. (Read more from “General Admits U.S. Oversight of Weapons Going to Ukraine Is ‘Not as Rigorous as You Might Think’” HERE)

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China Creates a New World Order as Biden Ignores the Threats

. . .Once the repository of American and European hopes, Beijing has shown no interest in restraining Russia and restoring the pre-war European order.

Instead, it has leveraged the Ukraine war to begin building an alternative, Sino-centric system.

Its efforts are bearing fruit: As Chinese President Xi Jinping told Russian President Vladimir Putin at the end of their three-day summit in Moscow last week, “Right now we’re seeing a change we haven’t seen for 100 years, and we’re driving this change together.”

The change Xi references is most evident in the Middle East, where Russia’s war on Ukraine is driving America’s Gulf ally Saudi Arabia into the embrace of China. . .

Iran has seized on the Ukraine war to qualitatively upgrade its military. In return for supplying Russia with drones, munitions and — possibly — ballistic missiles, Iran will receive fourth-generation fighter jets and other advanced systems from Russia, potentially including sophisticated air defenses that could safeguard its nuclear sites. (Read more from “China Creates a New World Order as Biden Ignores the Threats” HERE)

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