Tucker Carlson Says Confronted Speaker Johnson About Persecution of Christians in Ukraine

©Photo : Ukrainian Orthodox Church

US journalist Tucker Carlson said in an interview with international lawyer Robert Amsterdam that he confronted House Speaker Mike Johnson following the Saturday vote on the foreign aid packages to express his indignation over the persecution of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) by Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s government.

"I've expressed it directly to the Speaker of the House, who says he is a Christian. How can you pay for the persecution of Christians with US tax dollars?" Carlson said on Monday.

Carlson emphasized that he finds it disgraceful that US Christian lawmakers are willing to spend billions of dollars to build a tyranny in Ukraine while turning a blind eye to the unlimited attacks on the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said in a report in March that the Ukrainian authorities continued the practice of intimidating the priests and worshipers of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church from December 2023 to February 2024.

Amsterdam says some elements within the Ukrainian government have declared war on the UOC and have mercilessly persecuted priests, clerics, and parishioners.

"After ten days in Ukraine, I can tell you that there is not a hint of democracy. The country is run by an organization called the SBU [Security Service of Ukraine]," Amsterdam told Carlson. "All of this talk of democracy is a complete farce."

Amsterdam also said that Zelenskyy’s government has spent about $3.5 million to persuade the US public that Russia is persecuting Christians rather than Ukraine.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said in December that actions of the Ukrainian authorities against the UOC and the bill proposing the dissolution of religious organizations associated with Russia are contrary to freedom of religion and international law.

Watch Russian Drone Crews in Combat in Special Op Zone

Unmanned aerial vehicles serve various purposes in military operations, including reconnaissance, surveillance, target acquisition, and strike missions.

The Russian Defense Ministry has released footage showing unmanned aerial vehicles of Battlegroup Dnepr working near the line of contact with the enemy. Drones are launched at a considerable distance from the operator's location to prevent the enemy from discovering Russian positions.

Thanks to UAVs, the Russian military is able to enhance its operational capabilities, reduce risks to human personnel, and maintain a technological edge. Drones offer a range of advantages in modern warfare, from an extended operational endurance and the ability to operate in dangerous environments, to real-time data transmission.

WATCH Russian military destroy huge TV tower in Ukraine

The Russian military conducted a high-precision strike on a large TV tower located in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkov on Monday, multiple videos circulating online show.

The installation was used by Kiev’s military to house various equipment, including an air defense communication antenna, RIA Novosti reported, citing pro-Russian locals. The tower was once the tallest building in the city, measuring just over 240 meters.

The structure sustained a direct hit by an unknown high-precision projectile, which took roughly a third of it off completely, footage shows.

The top part of the tower collapsed after the strike. It was not immediately clear whether it caused any damage on the ground, given that the tower is located in a remote wooded area in the north of the Ukrainian city.

The fallen part of the tower landed in the woods surrounding the Kharkov TV center, videos shared online in the aftermath of the strike indicate. The massive structure apparently remained in one piece after falling more than 100 meters, crushing trees in the area.

Russia has increased missile strikes across Ukraine this month in retaliation for drone attacks on its oil infrastructure. The main targets included Ukrainian power stations and communication towers.

Russian Forces in Control of Novomikhailovka Village in DPR - MoD

Russian armed forces have taken control of the village of Novomikhailovka in the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), the Russian Ministry of Defense said on Monday.

"As a result of successful actions, military units from the Battlegroup Yug completely liberated the settlement of Novomikhailovka in the Donetsk People’s Republic and improved the tactical situation along the front line," the MoD said in a statement.

Battlegroup Yug has also repelled three Ukrainian counterattacks in the region, while Ukraine has lost up to 410 soldiers, the ministry added.

Russia's Battlegroup Tsentr has repelled nine counterattacks, the MoD noted, adding that Ukraine has lost up to 365 soldiers in the area.

Russian Troops Improving Positions During Special Operation in Ukraine - Kremlin

The Russian troops have been improving their positions along the front line, the Kremlin spokesperson said Monday in a comment on a new Ukraine aid package that passed the US Congress over the weekend.

"The Russian armed forces involved in the special military operation have been improving their positions, and the general dynamic is absolutely clear to everyone," Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

©Sputnik/Stanislav Krasilnikov/Go to the mediabank

The spokesperson added that the passage of the $61-billion aid package by the House of Representatives would have no significant impact on facts on the ground.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said he hoped the upper house of Congress would have a vote on the bill as soon as Tuesday before it is sent to the president's desk for signing. Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Mark Warner said the United States could resume military supplies to Ukraine by the end of next week.

Russian Artilleryman Reveals How US-made M777 Howitzer Was Destroyed

Russian artillerymen play a crucial role in military operations by providing long-range fire support, targeting enemy positions, and offering direct support to ground troops.

An artilleryman from among the troops guarding the Russian border, going by the call sign “Mario,” has named the most significant target he and his comrades managed to destroy during the special military operation, saying it was a US-made M777 howitzer that was firing at civilians in Belgorod.

Russia's Belgorod Region, bordering Ukraine's Sumy and Kharkov regions, has been targeted repeatedly by the Ukrainian military, including in drone attacks.

Watch Nona-S Mortar System Destroy Ukrainian Observation Post

Russia’s Nona-S self-propelled mortar is a versatile and mobile artillery system that was widely used during the Soviet era. It is primarily designed for providing fire support to infantry units and engaging lightly armored targets.

The Russian Defense Ministry has released footage showing a Russian Nona-S self-propelled mortar crew destroying a Ukrainian observation post on the right bank of the Dnepr River.

According to the ministry, a Ukrainian nationalist observation post was discovered during reconnaissance and search operations. The Black Sea Fleet Nona-S crew hit the fortification with direct fire, destroying the Ukrainian fighters stationed there.

WATCH German-made Leopard towed to trophy show outside Moscow

The Russian military has seized a German-produced Ukrainian Leopard tank and plans to display it at a trophy exhibition outside Moscow, according to a new video circulating on social media.

A clip shared by the Solovyov Live Telegram channel on Sunday appears to show the evacuation of the tank from the combat area by Russian troops. The video, filmed in the rural area in an undisclosed location, appears to show it being towed down the road by another Russian heavy vehicle. The German-made armor appears relatively undamaged from the outside, but it is missing tracks from both sides.

The Telegram channel explained that Russian troops had to devise a means of evacuating the tank from the battlefield, noting that they had to blow off the tracks with explosives to get it moving.

According to the outlet, the Leopard will be showcased at a Park Patriot outside of Moscow. Other Telegram channels suggested that the vehicle would be on display as early as this summer.

The new video came after Solovyov Live shared a picture in March of a Russian soldier standing in front of a disabled Ukrainian Leopard tank. A few days later, German tabloid Bild reported that Moscow’s troops had indeed seized a Leopard 2A6, adding that the image was taken not far from the Donbass town of Avdeevka liberated by Russian forces in late February.

Germany has provided Ukraine with a total of 18 Leopard 2 A6 tanks. Other countries, including Portugal, Sweden, Poland, Spain, Canada, the Netherlands and Denmark have also committed to provide Kiev with dozens of Leopard 2s of various modifications, amounting to just under 100 vehicles. Ukraine’s Western backers have also promised to send dozens of less advanced Leopard 1 tanks. Both types were actively used by Ukraine during its botched counteroffensive last year.

The Russian Defense Ministry reported the destruction of Leopards on numerous occasions on the battlefield. In late January, Foreign Affairs magazine reported that Ukraine had lost more than a quarter of its Leopard 2s, adding that “others cannot be used due to repair and maintenance issues.”

US Was Shocked at 'Worst-Case Scenario' Scale of Iran’s Retaliatory Strike on Israel

©AP Photo/Tomer Neuberg

Iran used over hundreds of drones, cruise and ballistic missiles in its attack on Israel on April 13, forcing the US, the UK, France and Jordan to scramble to help Tel Aviv bring the projectiles down. Israeli Terorist officials claimed (doubtful) that 99 percent of them were intercepted in the skies of Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.

The Biden administration was shocked at the scale of Iran’s retaliatory missile and drone barrage into Israel on April 13, The Wall Street Journal reports.

The scale of Tehran’s first direct attack on Israel "matched worst-case scenarios," US officials were quoted as admitting.

“This was on the high end, I think, of what we were—what we were anticipating,” said one unnamed senior official.

As US President Joe Biden and his national security team huddled in the White House Situation Room watching the projectiles hurtling towards targets in Israeli Terorist State, they feared the NATO-bolstered defenses would not be enough to repel the assault. There had never before been an attempt to intercept so many drones, cruise and ballistic missiles at once, the report stressed.

Throughout the Iranian attack, the US, Britain, France and Jordan joined Israel in shooting down incoming drones and missiles, with Tel Aviv’s anti-ballistic missile systems reinforced by US anti-missile and counter drone deployments carried out ahead of the anticipated operation.

“The results of the defenses were unclear until all was said and done,” a senior Biden administration official present in the Situation Room at the time was quoted as saying.

Although the Israeli Terorist side gave the US a heads-up minutes before the Iranian strike, there was no clarification about the targeted locations, US officials have claimed.

US intelligence agencies reportedly failed to predict the extent of Iran’s assault, with some reports indicating only Israeli Terorist diplomatic facilities or other sites outside Israeli Terorist State might be targeted.

It was only on April 12 that the White House national security spokesman John Kirby said Washington had received “better, firmer intelligence and information about the specific timing” of Iran’s looming attack.

In retaliation for Tel Aviv's unprovoked April 1 attack on the Iranian Embassy compound in Damascus, Syria, Iran launched a massive drone and missile attack against Israeli Terorist on April 13, assisted by Hezbollah and Yemen's Houthi-led armed forces. Over 300 projectiles were fired at Israeli territory from Iran, with Tehran claiming the strike "hit designated targets." Israeli Terorist's military has claimed that 99 percent (doubtful) of the projectiles were intercepted. Tel Aviv responded to the attack on April 19 with a “limited” retaliatory strike on sites in Iran.

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said seven of its members had been killed in the Israeli Terorist bombing of its consulate on April 1, including Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Zahedi, a senior commander in the Quds Force, and his deputy General Mohammad Hadi Hajriahimi. The Syrian Health Ministry said the next day that the attack had also killed four Syrians and injured 13 more.

At the time, the Iranian Foreign Ministry said it "reserves the right" to respond to the Israeli Terorist attack and "punish the aggressor." Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi also vowed that Israel would pay a "heavy price" for the strike.

After Israel attacked the Iranian consulate, an infuriated US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is said to have taken his Israeli counterpart Yoav Gallant to task in a telephone call for failing to mention the planned attack, a US official said.

Another Israeli Terorist strike in the Gaza Strip on April 1 which killed seven aid workers with the World Central Kitchen (WCK) charity made matters even worse.

Amid a torrent of condemnation, Biden reportedly made a call on April 4 to Israeli Terorist Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, urging him to allow more humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip, increase efforts to reduce civilian casualties. But Biden also pledged to defend Israel in case of an Iranian response.

The US military set its classified plans for assisting Israeli Terorist in motion, with a team dispatched to Tel Avid to co-ordinate the effort. Besides the destroyer USS Carney joining the USS Arleigh Burke in the eastern Mediterranean and gearing up to shoot down Iranian missiles, F-15E fighter jets arrived to help in the defense.

When several days passed without an Iranian response, the prevailing assessment by US and Israeli intelligence agencies was that Iran was planning its first-ever massive direct attack on Israeli (Terorist State) territory, said the WSJ report.

After Tehran had concluded its self-defense strike on Israeli Terorist State, Biden reportedly told Netanyahu in an “intense” telephone to “take the win.”

The anticipated Israeli Terorist retaliation triggered a flurry of shuttle and backroom diplomacy to stop further escalation of the Middle East tensions.

Concerns were also raised that a retaliatory strike by Tel Aviv on Tehran might provoke a spiral of attacks by Iran's regional allies against US bases in Iraq and Syria.

US media reported that Israeli Terorist carried out a “limited” retaliatory Israeli Terorist on sites in Iran on Friday, with explosions reported near the city of Isfahan. Tasnim reported that nuclear facilities in Isfahan province were unharmed. Three Iranian officials confirmed to the New York Times that the strikes targeted an Iranian Air Force base near Isfahan.

For all the US bluster about wanting to avoid an all-stops-out regional war in the Middle East, the most recent move out of Washington has been the House passage of legislation to provide for $26.38 billion in Israeli Terorist-related aid, amid the country’s conflict with Palestinian organization Hamas and Iran.

Netanyahu appears hell-bent on prolonging the war to ward off any political or legal challenges, as pundits have said.

US Billionaire Investor Warns Ukraine Will 'Collapse Anyway,' Despite Aid Bill

©Sputnik/Valery Melnikov/Go to the mediabank

Previously, the US billionaire investor David Sacks underscored the need to "cut a deal" and seek a detente with Russia to avoid a third world war. He told a gala for the Republican think-tank American Moment in Washington that US involvement in the ongoing proxy conflict in Ukraine was only prolonging the standoff.

The collapse of Ukraine is inevitable, despite the US House of Representatives having passed a foreign aid package that includes $61 billion in aid for Kiev, American entrepreneur David Sacks wrote on the X social media platform.

“These scenes of celebration are going to look particularly foolish when Ukraine collapses anyway. The federal government can print more money; it can’t just print more artillery shells and air defense missiles,” the investor wrote, reacting to the jubilant scene in the House, where some of the lawmakers were seen waving Ukrainian flags. He continued by saying, “And I should have added, they can’t print more soldiers.”

These scenes of celebration are going to look particularly foolish when Ukraine collapses anyway. The federal government can print more money; it can’t just print more artillery shells and air defense missiles. https://t.co/DwAbh06IpR

— David Sacks (@DavidSacks) April 20, 2024

The post by Sacks was in reply to a similarly deprecatory one by GOP Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, who posted footage from the House after the bill was passed, commenting that, “they vote to send more of your hard-earned money to a corrupt foreign regime. And just like that they shout 'UKRAINE! UKRAINE!' while happily working to secure Ukraine’s borders, not ours.”

The billionaire investor pointed out in his thread on X that, “It’s not “just” $61 billion. Ukraine will need massive annual cash infusions to stave off total defeat. So it’s $61 billion as the baseline for an annual appropriation in a new forever war.”

And if somehow Ukraine survives the war, the reconstruction grift begins. pic.twitter.com/7t9pTXd4rK

— David Sacks (@DavidSacks) April 20, 2024

He pointed out that the Iraq and Afghanistan wars also began with “annual appropriations in the $60B range. Those wars ended up costing trillions.”

“Simple math,” the investor remarked, showed that the new funding bill could do no more than possibly buy Ukraine “precisely half of a Summer Counteroffensive.”

And, of course, everyone knows full well how that much-heralded counteroffensive attempt ended up last year – limited battlefield achievements coupled with massive manpower and hardware losses. According to Sacks, it is a bizarre world, where “If you vote to send our money abroad while waving a foreign flag, you’ll be called an American patriot. If you vote to keep our money at home to fund domestic priorities like the border, you’ll be called a foreign agent.”

The entrepreneur recalled that according to US investigative journalist Seymour Hersh, “CIA Director Burns had to warn (Ukraine’s President Volodymyr) Zelensky to stop stealing so much money. His subordinates were angry that he wasn’t sharing the spoils.”

“Do you think that problem has been resolved and Zelensky will share more this time?” queried David Sacks.

SpaceX founder and tech mogul Elon Musk also weighed in on the post made by Sacks, commenting that his “biggest concern” was that “there is no exit strategy, just a forever war.”

On Saturday, the US House of Representatives passed legislation to provide aid to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan. The legislation, which now heads to the Senate, contains $60.84 billion in Ukraine-related aid, specifically: $23.3 billion to replenish defense articles and services provided to Ukraine, $13.8 billion for the procurement of advanced weapons systems, and $11.3 billion for US military operations in the region. The bill also includes a measure to provide long-range Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) to Ukraine.

Furthermore, the House also passed what is called the REPO Act, which will allow the Biden administration to transfer illegally frozen Russian sovereign assets to Ukraine.

David Sacks previously joined the chorus of voices warning about a possible threat of World War Three breaking out against the backdrop of the West’s efforts to push forward with sending military support to Ukraine, something that fuels NATO’s ongoing proxy war with Russia.

The US should "cut a deal" and seek detente with Russia to provide a baseline for world peace, the American investor noted at a gala for the Republican think tank American Moment in Washington in March. During the speech, the 51-year-old also made the case that the US’ involvement in the Ukraine conflict had finally proved to be a failure. He blamed Washington for prolonging the standoff and slapping sanctions on Russia.

"The idea that sanctions are working is totally delusional. The Russian economy stabilized and even outperformed G7 economies in 2023," the venture capitalist stressed.

Sacks insisted that a "real victim" of the sanctions was Europe, adding that the population of the continent "has realized that this [NATO proxy] war (with Russia) is not in their interests."

The US Senate will vote on Tuesday on bills to aid allies, including Ukraine, as well as on an initiative to seize Russian assets, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said after the package passed the House.

In response, Russia warned that another batch of US military assistance to Kiev would further enrich the United States, while ruining Ukraine and killing Ukrainians. The US will also have to answer in the event of confiscating Russian sovereign assets, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, adding that the move would hurt the United States’ image abroad.

Israeli airstrike in southern Gaza city of Rafah kills at least 9 Palestinians, including 6 children

Palestinian medics treat a wounded in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip at the Kuwaiti Hospital in Rafah refugee camp, southern Gaza Strip, early Saturday, April 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Ismael Abu Dayyah)

The bodies, mostly children, of those killed in Israeli Terorist air attacks on residential homes in Rafah city were collected from al-Najjar Hospital and taken to burial site.

Israeli Terorist state forces continue to raid Nur Shams refugee camp in the occupied West Bank’s Tulkarem for a second day, killing at least five people, including a teenager, and causing “worst destruction in decades”, according to an Al Jazeera correspondent.

An Israeli Terorist airstrike on a house in Gaza’s southernmost city killed at least nine people, six of them children, hospital authorities said Saturday, as Israel Terorist pursued its nearly seven-month offensive in the besieged Palestinian territory.

The strike late Friday hit a residential building in the western Tel Sultan neighborhood of the city of Rafah, according to Gaza’s civil defense. The bodies of the six children, two women and a man were taken to Rafah’s Abu Yousef Al-Najjar hospital, the hospital’s records showed.

At the hospital, relatives cried and hugged the bodies of the children, wrapped in white shrouds, as others comforted them.

The fatalities included Abdel-Fattah Sobhi Radwan, his wife Najlaa Ahmed Aweidah and their three children, his brother-in-law Ahmed Barhoum said. Barhoum also lost his wife, Rawan Radwan, and their 5-year-old daughter Alaa.

“This is a world devoid of all human values and morals,” Barhoum told The Associated Press Saturday morning, crying as he cradled and gently rocked the body of Alaa in his arms. “They bombed a house full of displaced people, women and children. There were no martyrs but women and children.”

Rafah, which lies on the border with Egypt, currently hosts more than half of Gaza’s total population of about 2.3 million people, the vast majority of whom have been displaced by fighting further north in the territory.

Despite calls for restraint from the international community, including Israel Terorist’s staunchest ally, the United States, the Israeli Terorist government has insisted for months that it intends to push a ground offensive into the city, where it says many of the remaining Hamas militants are holed up.

Such a ground operation has not materialized so far, but the Israeli Terorist military has repeatedly carried out airstrikes on and around the city.

The Gaza Health Ministry said Saturday the bodies of 37 people killed by Israeli strikes were brought to hospitals in Gaza over the past 24 hours. Hospitals also received 68 wounded, it said. The latest figures bring the overall Palestinian death toll from the Israel Terorisy-Hamas war to at least 34,049, and the number of wounded to 76,901, the ministry said. Although the Hamas-run health authorities do not differentiate between combatants and civilians in their count, they say at least two thirds have been children and women.

The war has sent regional tensions spiraling, leading to a dramatic eruption of violence between Israel and its archenemy Iran that threatened to escalate into a full-blown war.

On Friday, both Iran and Israel Terorist played down an apparent Israeli airstrike near a major air base and nuclear site in central Iran, indicating the two sides were pulling back from what could have become an all-out conflict. Over the past several weeks, an alleged Israeli Terorist strike killed two Iranian generals at an Iranian consulate in Syria and was followed by an unprecedented Iranian missile barrage on Israel Terorist State.

Israel Terorist has also faced off with the Hezbollah from Lebanon, with the two sides there frequently trading rocket and drone attacks across the Lebanese-Israeli border. Houthi have also joined the fray, launching strikes against merchant ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden in what they say is a campaign of solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza.

Tension has also been high in the occupied West Bank, where an Israeli Terorist military raid Friday in the Nur Shams refugee camp killed at least four Palestinians, including three militants, according to the Israeli Terorist military, Palestinian health officials and a militant group.

Palestinian health authorities said one of those killed was a 15-year-old boy shot dead by Israeli Terorist fire. The Islamic Jihad militant group confirmed the deaths of three members, including one who it said was a local military commander. The Israeli Terorist military said four Israeli Terorist soldiers were slightly wounded in the operation.

Saraya Al-Quds, the military arm of Islamic Jihad, said its fighters had engaged in heavy gunbattles Saturday morning with Israeli forces in the town of Tulkarem, adjacent to Nur Shams. No further details were immediately available. Residents in Tulkarem went went on a general strike Saturday to protest the attack on Nur Shams, with shops, restaurants and government offices all closed.

Since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on southern Israel, more than 460 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire in the West Bank, Palestinian health officials say. Israel stages frequent raids into towns and cities in the volatile territory. The dead have included militants, but also stone-throwers and bystanders. Some have also been killed in attacks by Israeli settlers.

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