Arsip Foto - Sejumlah kendaraan terjebak kemacetan di kawasan Jalan TB Simatupang, Jakarta, Selasa (7/2/2023). Hujan yang mengguyur serta adanya genangan banjir di sejumlah ruas jalan mengakibatkan terjadinya kemacetan di beberapa ruas jalan Ibu Kota. ANTARA FOTO/Galih Pradipta/aww.
Badan Penanggulangan Bencana Daerah (BPBD) DKI mengungkapkan empat Rukun Tetangga (RT) di Jakarta Selatan terdampak banjir pada Sabtu pukul 10.00 WIB.
Banjir di empat RT itu dengan ketinggian bervariasi mulai 10 sentimeter (cm) hingga 60 cm. Petugas terkait terus menangani banjir tersebut.
"Hujan dengan intensitas sedang hingga lebat yang melanda sebagian besar wilayah DKI Jakarta pada Sabtu (11/02) menyebabkan genangan di beberapa titik di wilayah DKI Jakarta." menurut keterangan yang diterima dari Kepala Pusat Data dan Informasi BPBD DKI Jakarta M Insyaf.
BPBD mencatat genangan yang sebelumnya terjadi di satu ruas jalan, saat ini menjadi 10 ruas jalan tergenang dan empat RT atau 0,003 persen dari 30.470 RT yang ada di wilayah DKI Jakarta.
Empat RT masih terdampak banjir berada, yakni satu RT di Kelurahan Ulujami dengan ketinggian air 30 cm.
Di Kelurahan Gunung ada satu RT dengan ketinggian air 60 cm dan di Kelurahan Grogol Selatan ada dua RT dengan ketinggian air 10 cm.
Insyaf juga menyampaikan ada 10 jalan sempat tergenang. "Pertama, Jalan Bangun Nusa Raya RW 03, Kelurahan Cengkareng Timur, Kecamatan Cengkareng, Jakarta Barat dengan ketinggian air 10-20 cm," katanya.
Kedua, Jalan Raya Kebayoran lama (Permata Hijau Suite) RT 01 RW 01, Kelurahan Sukabumi Utara, Kecamatan Kebon Jeruk, Jakarta Barat, dengan ketinggian air 20 cm.
Ketiga, Jalan Bintaro Utama (Depan Masjid Jami Bintaro Jaya), Kelurahan Bintaro, Kecamatan Pesanggrahan, Jakarta Selatan, dengan ketinggian air 10 cm.
"Kemudian keempat Jalan Bank RT.06/RW.07, Kelurahan Pela Mampang, Kecamatan Mampang Prapatan, Jakarta Selatan," kata Insyaf.
SDA Jaksel bangun embung di SD Petukangan Selatan untuk tangani banjir
Suku Dinas Sumber Daya Air (Sudin SDA) Jakarta Selatan membangun embung di lahan milik SD Negeri 01 dan 02 Petukangan Selatan tepatnya berada di tepi Jalan Sangrila RT 06/01, Pesanggrahan untuk menangani banjir yang kerap terjadi akibat luapan Kali Uangan dan buangan dari jalan Swadarma.
"Di lokasi sekolahan ini kerap banjir akibat luapan Kali Uangan dan jatuhan air dari jalan tol M Saidi, sementara turap akan segera dikerjakan Sudin SDA pada tahun ini juga," kata Kepala Satuan Pelaksana Sudin Sumber Daya Air Kecamatan Pesanggarahan Siti dalam keterangan tertulis, di Jakarta, Jumat.
Pekerja tengah menggali tanah menggunakan alat berat dalam rangka pembangunan embung di lahan milik SD Negeri 01 dan 02 Petukangan Selatan, Pesanggrahan, Jakarta, Jumat (10/2/2023). ANTARA/HO-Kominfotik Jakarta Selatan
Siti menuturkan embung yang tengah dalam pengerjaan tersebut sudah mulai dikerjakan sejak 10 November 2022 lalu hingga kini.
"Saat ini pengerjaan embung dengan panjang 61 meter, dengan lebar 36 meter dan dalam 2,5 meter itu baru mencapai 50 persen," terangnya.
Ditambahkan pula, pembuatan embung juga merupakan usulan yang telah disepakati oleh Wali Kota, Kepala Suku Dinas SDA, Dewan Kota serta pihak sekolah.
Siti berharap kehadiran embung ini dapat mengatasi banjir di lokasi tersebut.
"Semoga dengan adanya embung dan pembangunan turap ini akan mengurangi genangan dan banjir di lokasi SDN 01 dan SDN 02," tandasnya.
Sebelumnya, Pemerintah Kota Administrasi Jakarta Selatan menyiapkan sejumlah pompa air yakni stasioner, portabel (mobile), dan terowongan (underpass) sebagai antisipasi banjir pada 2023.
Wali Kota Jakarta Selatan Munjirin menuturkan telah menyiapkan sebanyak 41 rumah pompa stasioner dengan jumlah pompa sebanyak 87 unit dalam keadaan baik dan siap beroperasi.
Kemudian, ada juga pompa portabel sebanyak 75 unit dengan empat tipe yakni sembilan unit truk, 27 unit trailer, 14 unit portabel dan 25 unit portabel apung.
Selain itu, pompa terowongan (underpass) sejumlah 30 unit tersebar di tujuh lokasi Jakarta Selatan yang semuanya sudah siap beroperasi.
Selain pompa air, 85 unit pintu air sudah disiapkan yang terdiri dari 50 unit pintu air di rumah pompa stasioner dan 35 unit pintu air di luar lokasi pompa stasioner Sudin SDA Kota Administrasi Jakarta Selatan.
Bos mesin pencari Google memperingatkan jebakan kecerdasan buatan di chatbots dalam sebuah wawancara surat kabar yang diterbitkan pada hari Sabtu, ketika perusahaan induk Google Alphabet berjuang untuk bersaing dengan aplikasi blockbuster ChatGPT.
Eksekutif terkemuka di Google mengatakan kepada sebuah surat kabar Jerman bahwa bentuk AI generatif saat ini, seperti ChatGPT, bisa jadi tidak dapat diandalkan dan memasuki keadaan yang seperti mimpi dan zonasi.
"Jenis kecerdasan buatan yang sedang kita bicarakan saat ini terkadang dapat menyebabkan sesuatu yang kita sebut halusinasi," kata Prabhakar Raghavan, wakil presiden senior di Google dan kepala Google Search, kepada Welt am Sonntag.
"Jenis kecerdasan buatan yang sedang kita bicarakan saat ini terkadang dapat menyebabkan sesuatu yang kita sebut halusinasi," kata Prabhakar Raghavan, wakil presiden senior di Google dan kepala Google Search, kepada surat kabar Jerman Welt am Sonntag.
"Ini kemudian mengekspresikan dirinya sedemikian rupa sehingga sebuah mesin memberikan jawaban yang meyakinkan tetapi sepenuhnya dibuat-buat," kata Raghavan dalam komentar yang diterbitkan dalam bahasa Jerman. Salah satu tugas mendasar, tambahnya, adalah menjaga ini seminimal mungkin.
Google berada di belakang setelah OpenAI, sebuah startup yang didukung Microsoft dengan sekitar $ 10 miliar, pada bulan November memperkenalkan ChatGPT, yang sejak saat itu memukau pengguna dengan tanggapannya yang sangat mirip manusia terhadap permintaan pengguna.
Alphabet Inc memperkenalkan Bard, chatbotnya sendiri, awal pekan ini, tetapi perangkat lunak tersebut membagikan informasi yang tidak akurat dalam video promosi dalam kesalahan yang merugikan nilai pasar perusahaan $100 miliar pada hari Rabu.
Alphabet, yang masih melakukan pengujian pengguna di Bard, belum mengindikasikan kapan aplikasi tersebut bisa go public.
"Kami jelas merasakan urgensinya, tapi kami juga merasakan tanggung jawab yang besar," kata Raghavan. "Kami tentu tidak ingin menyesatkan publik."
Memang, banyak pengguna ChatGPT, termasuk salah satu pendiri Apple Steve Wozniak, mengeluh bahwa AI sering salah.
Kesalahan dalam encoding dan decoding antara teks dan representasi dapat menyebabkan halusinasi kecerdasan buatan.
Ted Chiang on the “hallucinations” of ChatGPT: “if a compression algorithm is designed to reconstruct text after 99% of the original has been discarded, we should expect that significant portions of what it generates will be entirely fabricated...” https://t.co/7QP6zBgrd3
Tidak jelas apakah Raghavan mereferensikan langkah Google sendiri ke AI generatif.
Pekan lalu, perusahaan mengumumkan sedang menguji chatbot bernama Bard Apprentice. Teknologi ini dibangun di atas teknologi LaMDA, sama dengan model bahasa besar OpenAI untuk ChatGPT.
Demonstrasi di Paris dianggap sebagai bencana PR, karena sebagian besar investor tidak berdaya.
Pengembang Google berada di bawah tekanan kuat sejak peluncuran ChatGPT OpenAI, yang telah menggemparkan dunia dan mengancam bisnis inti Google.
"Kami jelas merasakan urgensinya, tetapi kami juga merasakan tanggung jawab yang besar," kata Raghavan kepada surat kabar tersebut. "Kami tentu tidak ingin menyesatkan publik."
Kehebohan ChatGPT menyapu China saat perusahaan berebut opsi buatan sendiri
OpenAI yang didukung Microsoft ( MSFT ) telah membuat aplikasi ChatGPT populernya terlarang bagi pengguna di China, tetapi aplikasi tersebut menarik minat besar di negara tersebut, dengan perusahaan bergegas untuk mengintegrasikan teknologi ke dalam produk mereka dan meluncurkan solusi saingan.
Sementara penduduk di negara tersebut tidak dapat membuat akun OpenAI untuk mengakses chatbot bertenaga kecerdasan buatan (AI), jaringan pribadi virtual dan nomor telepon asing membantu beberapa orang untuk melewati pembatasan tersebut.
Pada saat yang sama, model OpenAI di balik program ChatGPT, yang dapat menulis esai, resep, dan kode komputer yang kompleks, relatif mudah diakses di China dan semakin banyak dimasukkan ke dalam aplikasi teknologi konsumen China dari jejaring sosial hingga belanja online.
Popularitas alat yang melonjak dengan cepat meningkatkan kesadaran di China tentang seberapa canggih AI AS dan, menurut analis, seberapa jauh di belakang perusahaan teknologi di ekonomi terbesar kedua dunia saat mereka berjuang untuk mengejar ketinggalan.
Popularitas alat yang melonjak dengan cepat meningkatkan kesadaran di China tentang seberapa canggih AI AS dan, menurut analis, seberapa jauh di belakang perusahaan teknologi di ekonomi terbesar kedua dunia saat mereka berjuang untuk mengejar ketinggalan.
"Ada kegembiraan besar seputar ChatGPT. Tidak seperti metaverse yang menghadapi kesulitan besar dalam menemukan aplikasi kehidupan nyata, ChatGPT tiba-tiba membantu kami mencapai interaksi manusia-komputer," kata Ding Daoshi, direktur konsultan internet Sootoo yang berbasis di Beijing. "Perubahan yang akan terjadi lebih cepat, lebih langsung, dan jauh lebih cepat."
OpenAI atau ChatGPT sendiri tidak diblokir oleh otoritas Cina tetapi OpenAI tidak mengizinkan pengguna di Cina daratan, Hong Kong, Iran, Rusia, dan sebagian Afrika untuk mendaftar.
OpenAI mengatakan kepada Reuters bahwa pihaknya sedang berupaya membuat layanannya tersedia lebih luas.
"Sementara kami ingin membuat teknologi kami tersedia di mana-mana, kondisi di negara tertentu membuat kami sulit atau tidak mungkin melakukannya dengan cara yang konsisten dengan misi kami," kata perusahaan yang berbasis di San Francisco itu dalam pernyataan email. "Saat ini kami sedang berupaya meningkatkan jumlah lokasi tempat kami dapat menyediakan akses yang aman dan bermanfaat ke alat kami."
Pada bulan Desember, Tencent Holdings ( TCTZF ) WeChat, aplikasi perpesanan terbesar di China, menutup beberapa program terkait ChatGPT yang telah muncul di jaringan, menurut laporan media lokal, tetapi program tersebut terus bermunculan.
Lusinan bot yang dipasangi teknologi ChatGPT telah muncul di WeChat, dengan para penghobi menggunakannya untuk membuat program atau akun otomatis yang dapat berinteraksi dengan pengguna. Setidaknya satu akun membebankan biaya kepada pengguna sebesar 9,99 yuan ($1,47) untuk mengajukan 20 pertanyaan.
Tencent ( TCTZF ) tidak menanggapi permintaan komentar dari Reuters.
ChatGPT mendukung interaksi bahasa Cina dan sangat mampu berbicara dalam bahasa Cina, yang telah membantu mendorong adopsi tidak resminya di negara tersebut.
Perusahaan China juga menggunakan alat proxy atau kemitraan yang ada dengan Microsoft ( MSFT ), yang menginvestasikan miliaran dolar dalam OpenAI-nya, untuk mengakses alat yang memungkinkan mereka menyematkan teknologi AI ke dalam produk mereka.
Proximai yang berbasis di Shenzhen pada bulan Desember memperkenalkan karakter virtual ke dalam aplikasi sosialnya yang mirip game 3D yang menggunakan teknologi dasar ChatGPT untuk berkomunikasi. Perusahaan perangkat lunak hiburan yang berbasis di Beijing Kunlun Tech berencana untuk menggabungkan ChatGPT di browser web Opera.
SleekFlow, startup yang didukung oleh Tiger Global di Hong Kong, mengatakan sedang mengintegrasikan AI ke dalam alat perpesanan hubungan pelanggannya. "Kami memiliki klien di seluruh dunia," kata Henson Tsai, pendiri SleekFlow. "Di antaranya, ChatGPT melakukan terjemahan yang sangat baik, terkadang lebih baik daripada solusi lain yang tersedia di pasar."
CENSORSHIP
Tes ChatGPT Reuters menunjukkan bahwa chatbot tidak menolak pertanyaan yang sensitif di China daratan. Diminta pendapatnya tentang Presiden China Xi Jinping, misalnya, ia menjawab tidak memiliki pendapat pribadi dan menyampaikan berbagai pandangan.
Tetapi beberapa bot proxy-nya di WeChat telah memasukkan istilah-istilah tersebut ke dalam daftar hitam, menurut pemeriksaan Reuters lainnya, sesuai dengan penyensoran berat China di dunia maya. Ketika ditanya pertanyaan yang sama tentang Xi di salah satu bot proxy ChatGPT, ia menjawab dengan mengatakan bahwa percakapan tersebut melanggar aturan.
Untuk mematuhi aturan China, pendiri Proximai, Will Duan, mengatakan platformnya akan memfilter informasi yang diberikan kepada pengguna selama interaksi mereka dengan ChatGPT.
Regulator China, yang tahun lalu memperkenalkan aturan untuk memperkuat tata kelola teknologi "deepfake", belum mengomentari ChatGPT, namun, media pemerintah minggu ini memperingatkan tentang risiko pasar saham di tengah hiruk pikuk saham konsep ChatGPT lokal.
Cyberspace Administration of China, regulator internet, tidak menanggapi permintaan komentar dari Reuters.
"Dengan peraturan yang dirilis tahun lalu, pemerintah China mengatakan: kami sudah melihat teknologi ini datang dan kami ingin menjadi yang terdepan," kata Rogier Creemers, asisten profesor di Universitas Leiden.
"Saya sepenuhnya berharap sebagian besar konten yang dihasilkan AI bersifat non-politis."
RIVAL CINA
Bergabung dengan buzz adalah beberapa raksasa teknologi terbesar di negara itu seperti Baidu ( BIDU ) dan Alibaba ( BABA ) yang memberikan pembaruan minggu ini tentang model AI yang sedang mereka kerjakan, mendorong bagian mereka untuk memperbesar.
Baidu ( BIDU ) mengatakan minggu ini akan menyelesaikan pengujian internal "Ernie Bot" pada bulan Maret, model AI besar yang telah dikerjakan oleh perusahaan pencari sejak 2019.
Pada hari Rabu, Alibaba ( BABA ) mengatakan bahwa lembaga penelitiannya Damo Academy juga sedang menguji alat bergaya ChatGPT.
Duan, yang perusahaannya telah menggunakan AI chatbot Baidu bernama Plato untuk pemrosesan bahasa alami, mengatakan bahwa ChatGPT setidaknya satu generasi lebih kuat daripada solusi NLP China saat ini, meskipun lebih lemah di beberapa area, seperti memahami konteks percakapan.
Baidu ( BIDU ) tidak membalas permintaan komentar dari Reuters.
Akses ke GPT-3 OpenAI, atau Transformer Pra-terlatih Generatif, pertama kali diluncurkan pada tahun 2020, pembaruan yang merupakan tulang punggung ChatGPT.
Duan mengatakan potensi risiko kepatuhan jangka panjang berarti perusahaan China kemungkinan besar akan mengganti ChatGPT dengan alternatif lokal, jika mereka dapat menyamai fungsionalitas produk yang dikembangkan AS.
“Jadi kami sebenarnya berharap ada solusi alternatif di China yang bisa langsung kita pakai…mungkin bisa lebih baik lagi penanganannya di China, dan juga bisa lebih patuh pada regulasi,” ujarnya.
Menteri Koordinator Bidang Perekonomian RI, Airlangga Hartarto/Ist
Sejumlah akademisi dan ahli ekonomi dilibatkan dalam konsultasi publik mengenai Perppu 2/2022 tentang Cipta Kerja dan RUU tentang Penetapan Perppu Cipta Kerja menjadi UU.
Menteri Koordinator Bidang Perekonomian Airlangga Hartarto menyelenggarakan konsultasi publik terkait Perppu Nomor 2 Tahun 2022 tentang Cipta Kerja, sebagai salah satu upaya memenuhi aspek meaningful participation.
"Pemerintah terus mendorong dalam bentuk Perppu Nomor 2 dan kemarin sudah dibacakan di paripurna DPR sehingga kita tinggal menunggu, selanjutnya tentu beberapa hal yang kami mohon terus dukungan Bapak Ibu untuk mengawal proses Perppu ini agar bisa terus berjalan,” kata Airlangga sebagaimana dikutip dalam keterangan resmi, Rabu.
Konsultasi tersebut digelar Kementerian Koordinator Bidang Perekonomian belum lama ini dengan mengundang sejumlah ahli, di antaranya Dr Sofyan Djalil, Prof Ahmad M Ramli dari Padjadjaran, Prof Satya Arinanto dari Universitas Indonesia, Prof Nindyo Pramono dan Prof Nurhasan Ismail dari UGM, Prof Basuki Rekso Wibowo dari Unas, Prof Aidul Fitriciada Azhari dari Universitas Muhammadiyah Kalimantan Timur (UMKT) serta beberapa lainnya.
Sejumlah akademisi dan ahli mengapresiasi langkah positif Airlangga yang melibatkan pakar dalam konsultasi publik mengenai Perppu Cipta Kerja.
Turut diundang Prof. Basuki Rekso Wibowo dari Unas, Prof. Aidul Fitriciada Azhari dari UMKT, Prof. Faisal Santiago dan Dr Ahmad Redi dari Universitas Borobudur, Dr. Ibnu Sina Chandranegara dari UMT, Dzulfian Syafrian, S.E., M.Sc., Ph.D. dari Indef, dan Asep Ridwan, S.H., M.H. dari AHP Lawfirm.
Dari konteks hukum tata negara, Prof Aidul Fitriciada Azhari mengemukakan pandangan bahwa Perppu bukanlah bentuk otoriter presiden karena harus diuji objektivitasnya di DPR dan di MK. Hal itu merupakan bentuk pembatasan kewenangan.
Selain itu, Prof. Faisal Santiago dari Universitas Borobudur juga berpandangan perlu dilakukan sosialisasi yang luas kepada masyarakat.
Dr. Sofyan Djalil menyebutkan substansi Perppu yang juga telah dilaksanakan oleh UU Cipta Kerja sudah memberikan manfaat kepada masyarakat, antara lain melalui proses perizinan yang lebih mudah dan cepat, sebagaimana tampak dari kemudahan melakukan ekspor.
Sementara itu, Gurubesar Unpad, Prof Ahmad M Ramli menyebut Perppu Cipta Kerja merupakan upaya pemerintah untuk mengisi kekosongan hukum.
“Fungsi hukum selain untuk memberikan kepastian dan kemanfaatan juga berfungsi sebagai infrastruktur transformasi dan Perppu Cipta Kerja menjawab ketidakpastian dari UU Cipta Kerja pascaputusan MK pada Tahun 2021 lalu,” ungkap Prof. Ahmad M Ramli.
“Selain untuk memberikan kepastian dan kemanfaatan, juga berfungsi sebagai infrastruktur transformasi. Perppu Cipta Kerja menjawab ketidakpastian dari UU Cipta Kerja pasca putusan MK pada Tahun 2021 lalu,” kata Prof Ahmad M Ramli dalam keterangannya, pada hari Jumat, 10/02/2023.
Akademisi lainnya Prof. Nurhasan Ismail menyatakan kegentingan memaksa dalam penetapan Perppu tidak harus dimaknai telah terjadi kondisi kegentingan memaksa tetapi dimaknai sebagai sikap antisipatif dan Perppu Cipta Kerja merupakan upaya antisipatif atas kondisi perekonomian dan kepastian hukum yang diperlukan dalam penciptaan lapangan kerja terutama dari sektor Usaha Mikro dan Kecil (UMK).
Akademisi dan para ahli mendorong DPR untuk dapat menyetujui Perppu Cipta Kerja dan menetapkannya dengan UU Penetapan Perppu Cipta Kerja Menjadi UU sebagaimana diatur dalam UUD 1945.
Hal tersebut akan menguatkan aspek kepastian hukum atas Perppu Cipta Kerja yang antara lain mengatur kebijakan afirmatif untuk UMKM, kemudahan perizinan berusaha, pelaksanaan investasi melalui Lembaga Pengelola Investasi (LPI), keberlanjutan Proyek Strategis Nasional (PSN), dan terkait aspek ketenagakerjaan.
Di samping itu, konsultasi publik atas RUU Penetapan Perppu Cipta Kerja menjadi UU ke berbagai pihak dengan penerapan partisipasi yang bermakna atau meaningful participation perlu terus dilaksanakan.
Airlangga menyampaikan terima kasih atas masukan dan dukungan dari akademisi dan ahli, serta mencatat seluruh masukan dan menjadi perhatian dalam pelaksanaan Perppu Cipta Kerja dan proses pembahasan RUU Penetapan Perppu Cipta Kerja Menjadi UU di DPR.
"Pemerintah optimis DPR dapat menyetujui Perppu Cipta Kerja dalam rangka upaya untuk meningkatkan investasi dan perluasan lapangan kerja yang dibutuhkan dan untuk mengantisipasi dinamika dan ketidakpastian perekonomian global,” tegas Airlangga.
Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov says it is now obvious that plans of the Western countries to defeat Russia fell through.
"The entire Western world has turned against us. However, it is already clear today that plans to inflict a strategic defeat on our country have been thwarted," Antonov said on Friday, at an embassy meeting on the occasion of Diplomatic Worker's Day.
He pointed out that, over the past year, Russia has rebuilt its economy, strengthened its military power and stepped up cooperation with most countries.
"Yes, it’s hard for us. Yes, we live under economic sanctions. They even want to erase the name of our Motherland from the political map of the world," Antonov said.
"Day by day, Russian diplomats feel the desire of the enemies to undermine our centuries-old friendship with the countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States [CIS], as well as Asia, Africa, Latin America."
The ambassador emphasized that Russia is determined to work toward the creation of a democratic world order based on equality and respect for international law, where conditions will exist for the fair development of all countries and where national interests will be respected.
Antonov said the Russian embassy in the US is part of Russian society and that each diplomatic worker strives to accomplish the maximum possible to strengthen the authority and prestige of Russia.
NATO Planes Regularly Circled Sites of Nord Stream Blasts During Baltops Exercise, Analysis Finds
During the NATO Baltops 22 exercise last summer, US and German navy aircraft regularly circled over the sites of future explosions on the Nord Stream pipelines, according to Sputnik’s analysis of Flightradar24 data.
On Wednesday, investigative journalist and Pulitzer Prize winner Seymour Hersh published a report saying US Navy divers during NATO Baltops exercises in the summer of 2022 planted explosives to destroy the Nord Stream pipelines, which Norway activated three months later.
According to the report, US President Joe Biden decided to sabotage the Nord Streams after more than nine months of secret discussions with the national security team.
Flightradar24 data analyzed by Sputnik shows that, between June 8 and June 16 of last year, German and US maritime surveillance aircraft P-3 Orion and P-8 Poseidon carried out regular flights over the sites of future Nord Stream explosions.
The military aircraft descended to low altitudes and turned off transponders in almost every flight, so some of their trajectories remained unrecorded.
On June 8, the American Poseidon aircraft circled over the sites of three future explosions on the Nord Stream pipelines northeast of Bornholm Island. The German P-3 Orion aircraft then flew over a future blast site east of the island. On June 9, the Poseidon aircraft flew over the sites northeast and east of Bornholm.
From June 11 to June 15, the US Poseidon aircraft circled precisely over the sites of future Nord Stream sabotage acts every day, often making many turns and loops at low altitude. On June 16, the German P-3 Orion flew over the area.
The minimum flight altitude of US and German military aircraft over the Baltic Sea around the location of the gas pipelines was less than 600 meters (0.4 miles). However, it could have been even lower in those parts of the flights that were not recorded by the open monitoring system.
On September 26, 2022, three of the four strings of the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines were damaged after an underwater blast. The pipeline's operator Nord Stream AG reported that the damage was unprecedented and it was impossible to estimate the timeframe for repairs.
Germany, Denmark, and Sweden launched separate investigations into the suspected sabotage, with German media reporting trust issues among the three EU nations. The Russian chief prosecutor's office said it had opened an inquiry into possible international terrorism.
Germans Opposing Arms Supplies to Kiev Need to Start Peace Movement, Lawmaker Says
Germans that advocate peace talks and oppose arms supplies to Kiev must organize into a movement for peace, otherwise the situation will deteriorate further and Germany will get dragged deeper into the Ukraine-Russia conflict, lawmaker Sahra Wagenknecht told die Welt newspaper on Friday.
Earlier in the day, Wagenknecht, a member of the German Parliament for The Left Party, and prominent German feminist journalist Alice Schwarzer launched a petition on the change.org portal titled "Manifest for Peace."
In their petition, the pair called on German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to stop sending arms to Ukraine and initiate peace talks. As of yet, over 75,000 people have signed the petition.
"We urgently need peace movement in Germany, otherwise we will be drawn deeper and deeper into this war, which must be ended. It is necessary to negotiate for this, and not to supply more and more weapons," she told the newspaper.
"If there is no 'Stop' sign and if the half of Germans that, according to surveys, does not want [arms] supplies does not manifest itself more explicitly, then fighters will also be delivered (to Kiev) in the near future."
A couple of weeks ago, it was considered impossible for Germany to be among the first countries to supply tanks, Wagenknecht said. Now, fighter jets and long-range missiles are being discussed, which, according to the lawmaker, will not end the war, but will only lead to the escalation of the conflict.
The lawmaker also said that only the Vatican has so far expressed its desire for peace, while Germany, France, the US and the EU have only been making unrealistic demands. A realistic proposal, according to Wagenknecht, will be a neutral status for Ukraine and the creation of a de-militarized zone in contested regions, followed by referendums on their territorial affiliation.
"If such a proposal had been made, and [Russian President Vladimir] Putin would have refused to even discuss it, then it would be possible to talk about a different path. But how can you say that Russians do not want negotiations, if such an offer is not even on the table?" she said.
The lawmaker also announced that a demonstration in support of the petition would take place in central Berlin on February 25.
The number of reports from different areas of the Donbass front about the use of chemical weapons by the Ukrainian side has increased, Acting Head of the DPR Denis Pushilin said.
"There has been an increase in the number of reports from commanders in the Ugledar, Artyomovsk and Mayorsk directions about the use of chemical weapons by the enemy," the acting head said in an interview with the Rossiya-24 TV channel. "The facts of the use of this type of ammunition, dropped from drones on our positions, have been recorded. This is a systemic phenomenon, not isolated cases," Pushilin added.
According to him, as a result of the chemical substances used by the Ukrainian military, people suffered from mucous membrane irritation, coughing and general malaise.
The acting DPR head noted that there were no cases of deaths from these substances. "There are no fatal cases so far, but there is certain discomfort," Pushilin said.
According to him, experts have not yet established what kind of chemical substance the Ukrainian servicemen are using, but experts are working to give an answer to this question.
Earlier, Yan Gagin, military-political expert and adviser to the Acting Head of the DPR, told TASS that Ukrainian troops used chemical weapons in the Soledarsk and Artyomovsk directions on February 5. He stressed that this was not the first time that chemical weapons had been used by the Ukrainian side. Gagin added that the Ukrainian units themselves did not hide the presence of prohibited types of weapons, regularly showing on video foreign-made gas shells and copters (helicopter-type drones) for dropping them.
West discouraging Zelensky from talks with Russia — Russian diplomat
The conflict in Ukraine could be settled quite soon but Kiev’s Western handlers are dissuading Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky from negotiating with Moscow, Russian Deputy Permanent Representatives to the OSCE Maxim Buyakevich said on Friday.
"Western countries don’t need a diplomatic settlement of the situation in Ukraine. Indeed, the conflict can be settled quite soon but external sponsors continue to forestall Zelensky from talks carried out from realistic positions," he said at a meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council.
"Peace in and around Ukraine will be established when NATO countries drop the idea of defeating Russia on the battlefield, no matter whose hands they are trying to do it with," he said.
"Russia is ready for substantive diplomatic contacts to achieve peace and security on the European continent. Escalation is not our choice but we are ready for any scenarios as far as the defense of our country is concerned," Buyakevich stressed.
He warned that "there is a certain threshold for the use of military technical means and when it is surpassed, politicians will lose control over the level of escalation"/ "The West is steadily approaching this threshold," he said. "Not to mention the concentration of American combat contingents in Europe, especially near our border, which is unprecedented since the end of the Cold War".
Russian MoD’s latest statements on the Ukraine crisis:
▪️ The offensive operations conducted by the Russian Armed Forces, have resulted in the complete liberation of Dvurechnoye in Kharkov region.
Liberation of a settlement by the Marine Corps assault group (video by Russian MoD)
The soldiers of the assault detachment, acting under the cover of a forest belt, secretly entered the village and began to gradually take control of residential buildings and streets.
▪️ Army Aviation and artillery have neutralized Armed Forces of Ukraine troops and hardware in the LPR and in Kharkov region. Ukraine has lost over 70 personnel, 2 infantry fighting vehicles, 2 motor vehicles, 1 U.S.-manufactured M-777 artillery system, and 1 D-30 howitzer.
▪️ Operational-Tactical and Army aviation, as well as the artillery of the Russian Armed Forces, have neutralized the enemy in the LPR. Up to 100 Ukrainian personnel, 4 armored fighting vehicles, one D-20 howitzer, 1 fighting vehicle equipped with Grad multiple-launch rocket system (MLRS), as well as 1 US-manufactured AN/TPQ-50 counterbattery warfare radar have been eliminated.
▪️ The offensive operations, conducted by the Russian Armed Forces, aviation, and artillery have resulted in the elimination of up to 125 Ukrainian troops, 2 tanks, 3 armored fighting vehicles, 5 motor vehicles, 1 D-30 howitzer, and 1 fighting vehicle equipped with Grad MLRS.
Russia's MoD has revealed footage showing a Russian Su-35S destroying a Ukrainian Su-25 warplane
▪️ Operational-Tactical Aviation and the artillery of the Russian Armed Forces have neutralized Ukrainian troops and hardware in the DPR. Ukraine has lost over 60 troops, 1 tank, 2 infantry fighting vehicles, 4 pickups, 3 U.S.-manufactured M-777 artillery systems, 1 Gvozdika self-propelled howitzer, as well as 1 D-20 howitzer.
▪️ Firepower operations against the Ukrainian troops and equipment have resulted in the elimination of up to 60 Ukrainian personnel, 1 Msta-B howitzer, and 2 D-30 howitzers.
▪️ The Operational-Tactical and Army aviation, Missile Troops and Artillery of Russia have neutralized 89 AFU artillery units at their firing positions, as well as manpower and military hardware in 122 areas.
▪️ A Russian Aerospace Forces fighter shot down 1 Ukrainian Air Force Mi-8 helicopter in Zaporozhye region.
▪️ Air defense units have shot down 14 rocket-propelled projectiles, launched by HIMARS MLRS, and 12 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles over the past 24 hours.
▪️ Some 384 airplanes, 207 helicopters, 3,069 unmanned aerial vehicles, 403 air defense missile systems, 7,812 tanks and other armored fighting vehicles, 1,014 fighting vehicles equipped with MLRS, 4,046 field artillery cannons and mortars, as well as 8,313 units of special military motor vehicles have been destroyed since the beginning of the special military operation.
Operator Pasukan Khusus Angkatan Darat A.S. bersiap untuk melakukan infiltrasi dan eksfiltrasi cepat CV-22 Osprey Angkatan Udara A.S. selama latihan Fiction Urchin dekat Vinnytsia, Ukraina, 21 September 2020. (Foto Angkatan Udara A.S.)
Washington Post exclusive comes in wake of report that the US has been giving Kyiv coordinates for every single strike against Russia
Laporan - Pentagon wants to revive top secret commando program in Ukraine
According to a report in the Washington Post this morning, Pentagon officials want to revive pre-Ukraine war orders that would allow them to insert commandos in the form of 'control teams' to direct Ukrainian operatives to counter Russian disinformation and monitor troops movements on the ground.
This follows a Washington Post report last night that quoted numerous Ukrainian officials with one U.S. source saying that the U.S. provides targeting coordinates for the 'vast majority' of its HIMAR and other advanced weapon strikes against Russia, if not all of them.
The exclusive report called the targeting assistance "a previously undisclosed practice that reveals a deeper and more operationally active role for the Pentagon in the war."
If the military gets its way on the commandos, it will be crossing another red line, but we'd likely never know if it actually happens, because the activities would be 'top secret.'
According to today's report by reporter Wesley Morgan, the U.S. had been operating such teams in Ukraine under Section 1202 of the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act until the invasion last year, when the orders were yanked.
Military officials are eager to restart these activities in Ukraine to ensure that hard-gained relationships are not lost as the war wears on, said Mark Schwartz, a retired three-star general who led U.S. Special Operations in Europe when the programs began in 2018. “When you suspend these things because the scale of the conflict changes, you lose access,” he said, “and it means you lose information and intelligence about what’s actually going on in the conflict.”
Sometimes these 'control teams' of American commandos (which operate all over the world in conflict zones) can do their thing from a neighboring country, but they are also known to be inserted into the same territory as their operatives, according to Morgan. According to reporter Nick Turse, who writes extensively about the top secret orders authorizing U.S. forces to operate in places we don't know about, Section 1202 orders require less oversight and are "used to provide support to foreign forces, irregular forces, groups, or individuals" taking part in irregular warfare.
The Washington Post report indicates that this request likely won't be resolved until the fall, but it is yet another reflection of forces inside the U.S. government that are angling to get closer to the conflict in order to assist the Ukrainians. For that reason, they may not get their way with skeptical members of Congress. "What started as a reconnaissance mission can quickly turn into combat when the surrogates start getting shot at,” said one official. “I think that’s a real possibility in Ukraine, and I’m not sure how the department is going to change people in Congress’s minds about that.”
Meanwhile, last night's story on the targeting aid is a confirmation of what many had guessed all along — that Ukrainians are unable to operate the sophisticated weaponry the U.S. is giving them without assistance, and shows, too, that we are closer to direct combat with Russia than acknowledged.
One senior Ukrainian official said Ukrainian forces almost never launch the advanced weapons without specific coordinates provided by U.S. military personnel from a base elsewhere in Europe. Ukrainian officials say this process should give Washington confidence about providing Kyiv with longer-range weapons.
A senior U.S. official — who, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue — acknowledged the key American role in the campaign and said the targeting assistance served to ensure accuracy and conserve limited stores of ammunition for maximum effectiveness. The official said Ukraine does not seek approval from the United States on what to strike and routinely targets Russian forces on their own with other weapons. The United States provides coordinates and precise targeting information solely in an advisory role, the official said.
The Pentagon issued a statement confirming the assistance, but emphasizing that “Ukrainians are responsible for finding targets, prioritizing them and then ultimately deciding which ones to engage. The U.S. does not approve targets, nor are we involved in the selection or engagement of targets.”
It did not comment on the suggestion that Ukrainians are completely dependent on the U.S. to fire these weapons. As one Ukrainian suggested to the paper, even if they were to get the more sophisticated ATACM missile systems they are asking for, the U.S. shouldn't be afraid of their misuse (firing into Russia). “You’re controlling every shot anyway, so when you say, ‘We’re afraid that you’re going to use it for some other purposes,’ well, we can’t do it even if we want to.”
My colleague Anatol Lieven, director of the Quincy Institute's Eurasia Program, had this to say:
"It is very difficult to see how if U.S.-employed Ukrainian operatives are sent on reconnaissance missions into Russian-held territory, they will not identify targets for attack by Ukrainian artillery and aircraft. Members of Congress need to ask themselves how America would react if these positions were reversed, and how long it will be before Russia retaliates against the United States for U.S. intelligence help to Ukraine that has killed so many Russian soldiers."
The Pentagon is urging Congress to resume funding a pair of top-secret programs in Ukraine suspended ahead of Russia’s invasion last year, according to current and former U.S. officials. If approved, the move would allow American Special Operations troops to employ Ukrainian operatives to observe Russian military movements and counter disinformation.
A determination is unlikely before the fall. Defense officials are preparing a proposal for lawmakers’ consideration in the coming months, when work begins on next year’s Pentagon policy and funding bill. If successful, these programs could resume as soon as 2024, though it remains unclear if the Biden administration would allow U.S. commandos back into Ukraine to oversee them or if the military would seek to do that from a neighboring country. No American military personnel are known to have operated there since the war began, beyond a small number tasked to the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv.
Congressional officials said it is difficult to predict the outcome, particularly with Republicans split over the vast sums being spent on Ukraine. Others argue that the programs’ relatively small expense — $15 million annually for such activities worldwide — is a bargain compared with the tens of billions of dollars being committed to train and arm Ukrainian forces, and replenish U.S. stockpiles.
Military officials are eager to restart these activities in Ukraine to ensure that hard-gained relationships are not lost as the war wears on, said Mark Schwartz, a retired three-star general who led U.S. Special Operations in Europe when the programs began in 2018. “When you suspend these things because the scale of the conflict changes, you lose access,” he said, “and it means you lose information and intelligence about what’s actually going on in the conflict.”
American commandos, using a similar funding authority, have for many years paid select foreign military and paramilitary units across the Middle East, Asia and Africa, employing them as “surrogates” in counterterrorism operations against al-Qaeda, the Islamic State and their affiliates. Newer surrogate programs, such as those used in Ukraine, are considered a form of “irregular warfare.” They are intended for use against adversaries, such as Russia and China, with whom the United States is in competition, not open conflict.
Critics, including some on Capitol Hill, say such activities risk drawing the United States into a more direct role in the Ukraine war. Defense officials maintain, though, that unlike the Pentagon’s larger and more overt effort to arm the Ukrainian military, the secretive surrogate programs would not contribute directly to Ukraine’s combat capability because the operatives involved and their U.S. handlers would be restricted to performing only the nonviolent tasks they had undertaken until their suspension last year.
