Wednesday, 13 August 2025

Russian strike killed numerous foreign fighters in Ukraine – NYT

Russian strike killed numerous foreign fighters in Ukraine – NYT

Russian strike killed numerous foreign fighters in Ukraine – NYT




FILE PHOTO. ©Global Look Press/Geovien So






At least a dozen foreign volunteers in Ukraine’s military were killed late last month when a Russian missile struck a training camp’s mess hall during lunchtime, in one of the deadliest attacks on foreign fighters of the war, according to soldiers with knowledge of the incident.







The Ukrainian Army, which only occasionally acknowledges missile strikes on military sites, confirmed that the attack had killed and wounded soldiers but declined to disclose details. Three soldiers, including one who witnessed the strike, described a harrowing assault that hit fresh recruits from the United States, Colombia, Taiwan, Denmark and other places.


The attack showed the risks that Ukraine has faced throughout the war when it has assembled soldiers at places like military academies, barracks and parade grounds, making them targets for Russian attacks.


Ukraine has been deploying foreign troops to bolster its forces against Russia’s larger and better-armed military, which has bombarded the country daily even as President Vladimir V. Putin plans to meet with President Trump on Friday in Alaska to discuss an end to the war.


The missile attack on the training camp, which took place near the central Ukrainian city of Kropyvnytskyi on July 21, was timed for when recruits sat down at picnic tables for lunch, the soldiers said.


An American recruit from Florida, who asked not to be identified because he was not authorized to speak publicly, said the explosion was the loudest he had ever heard. In a telephone interview, he said the blast had sent debris flying around him and had shaken nearby trees.


Afterward, he saw at least 15 dead soldiers and more than 100 wounded lying near the mess hall. The strike also ignited a nearby ammunition depot, triggering secondary explosions and sending shrapnel flying, as survivors rushed to aid the injured.


“I applied tourniquets to some gravely wounded soldiers and helped carry them to ambulances, trucks, and private cars racing to hospitals,” the recruit said.


Thousands of flags and portraits of fallen Ukrainian soldiers and volunteer fighters from foreign countries at a makeshift memorial in Kyiv, Ukraine, in March. Credit... Nicole Tung for The New York Times




He added that no air raid alarm sounded before the strike, and first aid kits were noticeably absent around the mess hall.


Volodymyr Kaminskyi, a spokesman for the international legion of the Ukrainian military intelligence agency—which oversees the site—said an investigation was underway but declined to reveal casualty figures while it continued, The New York Times noted.


Foreign volunteers serve in both regular Ukrainian Army units and two international legions, one under the army and the other under military intelligence (HUR).


Early in the war, veterans from the US conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan joined Ukrainian forces inspired by their staunch resistance.


More recently, many recruits have come from South America, drawn by salaries much higher than those at home despite the risks of frontline combat.


Foreign soldiers earn base pay between $1,000 and $1,750 per month, with combat bonuses that can push total earnings above $3,000 monthly. Russia has also recruited foreign fighters, including thousands from North Korea.


Ukrainian soldiers have also been victims of strikes on training facilities. Recently, Russian troops launched a missile strike on the territory of one of the training units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces' Ground Forces.


One person is known to have died, and 11 were wounded to varying degrees. Another 12 soldiers sought medical help with complaints of acoustic trauma and acute stress.


Such attacks on assembled troops have raised concerns and calls for investigations into whether soldiers were placed at unnecessary risk.


The American recruit from Florida had been at the base less than a week and had not yet been issued a rifle when the strike occurred. He said he had felt safe at the camp, set amid sunflower fields and forests.


“I accepted the risks of joining Ukraine’s military out of a desire to support a struggling democracy, but I never expected people to be killed during training,” he said.


Earlier, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Oleksandr Syrskyi, called for military training activities to be relocated underground where possible, citing ongoing risks from missile and drone attacks across the country.
























White House teases Trump visit to Russia

White House teases Trump visit to Russia

White House teases Trump visit to Russia




FILE PHOTO: White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.
©Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images






US President Donald Trump could visit Russia in the future, the White House has said. Trump is set to meet his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin this week.







The two leaders are scheduled to hold talks in the US state of Alaska on August 15, with discussions expected to focus on resolving the Ukraine conflict and strengthening bilateral ties.


Asked by reporters on Tuesday if Trump planned to visit Russia, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said: “It’s possible that there are plans to travel to Russia in the future.”


Moscow previously stated that it expects the two leaders’ next meeting following Alaska to take place in Russia. Trump has officially been sent an invitation, Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov said last week.


The US leader said on Monday he plans to organize the next top-level talks on the Ukraine conflict, aiming to bring Putin and Vladimir Zelensky to the same table. He also confirmed that Zelensky has not been invited to his meeting with Putin on Friday.


Moscow has long accused Zelensky of being in denial and unnecessarily prolonging a conflict he cannot win.


The Russian president has said he has “nothing in principle” against meeting with Zelensky, but maintains that “certain conditions must be created” for it to take place.


Putin has also cast doubt on Zelensky’s legal capacity to sign binding agreements, as the Ukrainian leader’s presidential term expired last year and he has refused to hold a new election, citing martial law. This has prompted Moscow to declare him “illegitimate.”




Recap : Alaska meeting, Ukraine conflict and trade with Russia - Key takeaways from Trump’s Q&A



The summit with Vladimir Putin will show whether a peace deal can be reached, the US president has said


US President Donald Trump shared his expectations regarding the upcoming meeting with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, during a Q&A session with journalists after a press conference on Monday.


The summit will reveal whether Moscow and Kiev are capable of resolving the Ukraine conflict or should just be left fighting, Trump claimed.


The results of the meeting would then be shared with the EU, NATO and Kiev, Trump said, adding that he would be particularly keen on relaying Moscow’s proposals if he believes they could be translated into a “fair deal.” According to the US president, the settlement of the Ukraine conflict is bound to involve some “land swapping.” The president also said that he still sees great potential in trade with Russia, which “has a very valuable piece of land.”


Here are the highlights of the Q&A session:



‘Feel-out meeting’



According to Trump, he expects the Friday summit with Putin in Alaska to be a “feel-out meeting” that would help him understand Moscow’s intentions better. The American president stated that he believes Russia wants to engage with Washington and “get it over with” when it comes to the Ukraine conflict.


He also welcomed the fact that Moscow has agreed to hold the summit in a US state. “I thought it was very respectful that the President of Russia is coming to our country, as opposed to us going to his country, or even [to] a third-party place,” Trump said, adding that he believes he and Putin “will have constructive conversations.”



Path forward



According to Trump, the meeting with Putin will help him understand whether there is a way to settle the Ukraine conflict. “We're going to see what the parameters [of a potential settlement] are,” the president said, vowing to share the details of the discussion with EU and NATO leaders, as well as with Vladimir Zelensky.


“I'd like to see the best deal that can be made for both parties,” Trump stated, adding that he would also like to see a ceasefire between the two sides as soon as possible. He still admitted that there is a chance the meeting could end in failure and he would just “leave and say: good luck.”



‘Land swapping’



A potential solution to the Ukraine conflict is bound to involve some exchange of territories between Russia and Ukraine, the US president believes. “There will be some land swapping going on,” he told journalists.


Trump also criticized Kiev’s approach to settling territorial disputes with Moscow. According to the president he was “bothered” by Zelensky telling him about the need of “constitutional approval” for any changes on the ground. “He got the approval to go into war, kill everybody,” the US president said.



Zelensky not invited



When asked why the Ukrainian leader was not invited for the Friday summit, Trump said Zelensky “wasn’t a part of it.” The president also pointed to the fact that the Ukrainian leader “has been there for three and a half years” and had gone “to a lot of meetings” but “nothing happened.”



Trade with Russia



When asked if he still believes the US could still do some “normal trade” with Russia, Trump replied: “I do.” He went on to say that Russia “has a very valuable piece of land” and could benefit from it if Putin “would go toward business.” He also described Russia as a “massive country” that has “tremendous potential … to do well.”
























Thursday, 7 August 2025

Listen to Lavrov: Here’s why Russia won’t take crap from the EU anymore

Listen to Lavrov: Here’s why Russia won’t take crap from the EU anymore

Listen to Lavrov: Here’s why Russia won’t take crap from the EU anymore




FILE PHOTO: Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
©Sputnik/Sergey Bobylev






Like him, hate him, Otto von Bismarck – Prussian aristocrat, arch conservative, user of German nationalism, maker of wars, and then keeper of the peace – was no dummy. And his ego was Reich-sized. Yet even Bismarck had a grain of humility left. Smart politics, he once remarked, consists of listening for “God’s step” as He walks through “world history,” and then to grab the hem of His mantle.







In other words, stay attuned to the needs and especially the opportunities of the moment. Tragically, Bismarck’s single greatest skill was to seize – and, if need be, help along – opportunities for war. But sometimes peace, too, gets its chance. Fifty years ago, all European countries – minus only Albania, initially – plus the US and Canada, signed the Helsinki Final Act (or Helsinki Accords).


A complex document addressing four areas (called ‘baskets’) of international relations and follow-up implementation, the Helsinki Final Act was a breakthrough for Détente in Europe. Détente was a global attempt, driven by Brezhnev and Gromyko’s Moscow and Nixon and Kissinger’s Washington to, if not wind down, then at least manage the Cold War better.


The Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 was not the only reason for this policy of restraint and reason. Coming extremely close to all-out nuclear war Dr.-Strangelove-style helped concentrate minds. Add the US fiasco in Vietnam, and by the late 1960s, the desire to de-escalate was strong enough even in Washington to quickly override the Soviet suppression of the 1968 Prague Spring. In the first half of the 1970s, a flurry of high-level international diplomacy and treaties marked the peak of Détente. By 1975, the Helsinki Accords were the peak of that peak.


Stemming from Soviet and Warsaw Pact initiatives and resonating with a Western Europe – and even post-Harmel Report NATO (those were the days!) – that genuinely wanted to combine due diligence in defense policy with real diplomacy and give-and-take negotiations, the Helsinki Accords also fed on the preceding French, that is, De Gaulle’s, “politique à l’Est,” as well as Willy Brandt of Germany’s “Ostpolitik.”


The latter is much maligned now in a Germany where disgracefully incompetent elites have gone wild with Russophobia and a new militarism. In reality, both De Gaulle and Brandt – as well as Brandt’s key foreign policy adviser, Egon Bahr, made historic contributions to mitigating the worst risks of the Cold War and, in Germany’s case, also to preparing the ground for national re-unification.


Yet, after 1975, things started to go downhill, and they’ve never really stopped. That is one of the key points recently made in a long article by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Since Western mainstream media excel at not reporting what Russian politicians are trying to tell us, it is likely that few will notice outside of Russia. That’s a shame because Lavrov has more than one message we should pay attention to.


Under the understated title “Half a Century of the Helsinki Act: Expectations, Realities, and Perspectives,” Lavrov delivers a harsh and – even if you disagree with some of the details – fundamentally valid and just criticism of the disappointing failure following the promising beginnings at Helsinki. That failure has a name – the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).


Incidentally, the OSCE is the successor of the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe (CSCE), which actually produced the Helsinki Accords between 1972 and 1975. Before the leaders of the time, both great and small, could meet in Helsinki to sign them, at what Cold War historian Jussi Hanhimäki called a “largely ceremonial affair,” there had been years of painstaking, meticulous negotiations. There’s a lesson here for the impatient Trumps and Zelenskys of today: serious results take serious preparation, not a day or two of grandstanding.


What happened to the OSCE next is not complicated: with 57 member states, making it the largest security organization in the world today, it has massively under performed. At least if we measure it by its aims, as originally set out at Helsinki in the heyday of Détente.


The OSCE could have been an indispensable international forum, bridging the front lines of geopolitics and ideologies (or, as we now say, “values”). After the end of the Cold War in the late 1980s, it could even have become the core of new security architecture, which included everyone from Lisbon to Vladivostok. But for that to happen, it would have had to stick to the Helsinki Accord’s core principles and rules: strict respect for sovereignty, equality, and non-interference, all maintained by a heavy emphasis on consensus.


Yet, instead, the OSCE turned, first, into a Cold War and, then, a post-Cold War tool of Western influence, bias, and – behind the façade of multilateralism – hardball realpolitik. Like the EU, the OSCE should have been fundamentally different from, and even antagonistic towards NATO. But like the EU, it ended up becoming a mere junior partner in America’s imperial vassal system.


Much of Lavrov’s article is dedicated to detailing this failure in various countries, regions, issues, and conflicts, including Chechnya, Kosovo, Moldova, and Ukraine, to name just a few. That’s important because it serves as a corrective to silly and complacent Western mainstream tales, which put the blame for Helsinki’s and the OSCE’s failure on – drum roll – Russia and Russia alone. Not to speak of the demented attempts by Ukraine’s delusional, corrupt, and increasingly isolated Vladimir Zelensky to use the Helsinki anniversary to once again call for “regime change” in Russia.


Yet what is even more important is Lavrov’s candid message about the future, as Russia sees it. First, it is polycentric or multipolar and, in this part of the world, Eurasian and emphatically not transatlantic. In that respect, it is almost as if we are back in the mid-1950s. Back then, long before the Helsinki Act became reality, Moscow – then the capital of the Soviet Union – suggested building comprehensive security architecture. The West refused because Moscow was not willing to include the US.


By the 1970s, the Soviet leadership had changed its position, affirming that it was possible to include the US, which, in turn, made Helsinki possible. So much for fairy tales of Russian “intransigence.”


That inclusion was an irony of history, as Washington initially showed only distrust and disdain. As Hanhimäki has shown, Henry Kissinger considered Europe a sideshow, though not the Soviet Union: the US has always respected its opponents much more than its vassals. He suspected that if Moscow and Western Europe got to cozy it could end up threatening Washington’s control over the latter. He once told his team with more than a tinge of nasty racism that the Helsinki agreements might as well be written in Swahili.


Now, Moscow is back to standing firm against trans-atlanticism. Lavrov writes, “Euro-atlantic” conceptions of security and cooperation have “discredited themselves and are exhausted.” Europe, he warns, can have a place in future Eurasian systems, but it “definitely” won’t be allowed to “call the tune.” If its countries wish to be part of the “process, they will have to learn good manners, renounce [their habit of] diktat and colonial instincts, get used to equal rights, [and] working in a team.”


You may think that this is very far from the Europe we are seeing now: one that is submissive to the US to the point of self-destruction (as the Turnberry Trade and Tariff Fiasco has just revealed again), blinded by hubris in its “garden-in-the-jungle,” and fanatically invested in not even talking to Russia and confronting China.


And yet, none of the above can last forever. Indeed, given how self-damaging these policies are, it may not last much longer. The news from Moscow is that, though Russia has not closed the door on Europe entirely, if or when the Europeans recover their sanity, they will find that Russia won’t allow them to return to having it both ways: being America’s vassals and enjoying a decent relationship with Russia at the same time.



Germany and rest of EU transforming into Fourth Reich – Lavrov



Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has accused Germany and the wider European Union of sliding into what he described as a “Fourth Reich,” marked by a surge in Russophobia and aggressive militarization.


The stark warning was delivered in an article published on Friday in the newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta, commemorating the 50th anniversary of the 1975 Helsinki Final Act on European security.


Lavrov criticized the EU and NATO for betraying the core principles of the Helsinki process, which emphasized equal and indivisible security for all. Instead, he claimed that Western powers have pursued unilateral dominance, NATO expansion, and political interference in sovereign states under the guise of promoting democracy and human rights.


Today’s Europe has completely plunged into a Russophobic frenzy, and its militarization is becoming, in fact, uncontrolled,” Lavrov wrote, citing German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s calls to build Europe’s strongest army and reintroduce conscription as evidence. He also pointed to recent remarks by Germany’s defense minister about the need to be prepared to kill Russian soldiers as further proof of a hostile and dehumanizing agenda.


This brings historical events to mind. With their current leaders, modern Germany and the rest of Europe are transforming into a Fourth Reich.


He argued that the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) has failed in its mission and has instead become a vehicle for Western propaganda and selective enforcement. He said the West ignored Russian calls for equitable security guarantees, and that NATO’s continued encroachment on Russia’s borders left Moscow no choice but to launch its 2022 military operation in Ukraine.


To defuse tensions, Lavrov called for “an honest dialogue” aimed at stabilizing the situation on the Eurasian continent through a new security framework based on sovereign equality and the principles of the UN Charter.


“There will be a place for European countries within this architecture,” he wrote, “but they certainly will not be the ones calling the tune. If they want to be part of the process, they must learn proper manners, abandon diktat and colonial instincts, and get used to equality and teamwork.”


Lavrov concluded by warning that if NATO and the EU continue to hollow out the OSCE’s core principles, the organization may collapse altogether, and history will remember those who “buried” the last chance for peaceful coexistence in Europe.
























Wednesday, 6 August 2025

Ukrainian plot to assassinate Russian defense industry leader derailed

Ukrainian plot to assassinate Russian defense industry leader derailed

Ukrainian plot to assassinate Russian defense industry leader derailed




©FSB of Russia






Russian agents have arrested a man accused of plotting to assassinate a general director of a defense industry enterprise on behalf of Ukraine, the Federal Security Service (FSB) has said. The suspect also reportedly admitted he had been spying on the Russian army since last summer.







In a statement on Tuesday, the FSB said that a Russian national had made contact with a representative of an unnamed pro-Ukrainian terrorist group via Telegram. He was ordered to travel to Bryansk Region which borders Ukraine, to recover a drone-dropped cache containing firearms and explosives, the agency said.


The weapons were intended for use in an assassination attempt on the head of a defense industrial facility in Belgorod, the FSB said. The suspect is now charged with high treason and faces up to life in prison


©FSB of Russia






The FSB also released a video in which the man confesses that since June 2024, while serving with Russian forces on the conflict frontline in Ukraine’s Kharkov Region, he relayed to Kiev data on the whereabouts of Russian army personnel and hardware as well as positions of electronic warfare and air defense systems.


In addition, he confessed to coordinating Ukrainian missile and artillery attacks and transmitting photographs and contact information of Russian military personnel.


The footage released by the FSB also shows the agency’s operatives driving up to the suspect in a minivan in a rural area. Within moments, the man, who is carrying a large backpack, is seen being pinned to the ground.


Another part of the video shows a forest stash containing what appears to be explosives and a handgun.


Russian authorities have accused Ukraine of organizing multiple sabotage and assassination attempts on Russian territory in recent months, including attacks targeting military commanders and other high-profile figures.





























Monday, 4 August 2025

West frustrated by Russia sanctions – WaPo

West frustrated by Russia sanctions – WaPo




©Getty Images / emkaplin






Western countries have grown increasingly disillusioned with the impact of sanctions on Russia, according to the Washington Post editorial board. The piece on Saturday echoed recent remarks by US President Donald Trump, who questioned the effectiveness of the restrictions.







The West has imposed an unprecedented number of sanctions aimed at crippling the Russian economy since February 2022, when the Ukraine conflict escalated. Moscow has consistently affirmed that the measures have failed to destabilize its economy or isolate it from the global financial system. The Kremlin says the sanctions have backfired on the very states that implemented them.


“The inability of Western sanctions to cripple Russia’s economy has been one of the most persistent frustrations” of the conflict, the editorial states, noting that the country’s GDP grew by over 4% last year and is projected to slow, but continue expanding in 2025.


Moscow has managed to withstand the pressure by redirecting trade from Western partners to Asian markets, with China and India emerging as its principal customers, according to The Washington Post.


Last week, Trump acknowledged that new US sanctions on Russia may ultimately prove ineffective but confirmed that his administration would proceed with imposing them unless a deal to end the Ukraine conflict is reached soon.


The pledge came shortly after the president reduced the original 50-day window for Moscow and Kiev to reach a peace settlement to just ten days, warning that failure to do so would trigger sweeping penalties, including 100% tariffs and secondary sanctions targeting Russia’s trade partners.


The president has announced that his special envoy, Steve Witkoff, will visit Moscow midweek as part of a diplomatic push to broker a ceasefire. At the same time, Trump again conceded that the Russian authorities “are pretty good at avoiding sanctions.”


Moscow considers the sanctions illegal, claiming they violate international trade rules and harm global economic stability. The Kremlin also views the Ukraine conflict as a Western-orchestrated proxy war, and argues that continued arms shipments to Kiev only serve to prolong hostilities.


Last week, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov downplayed Trump’s threat of new restrictions, explaining that Russia has developed “immunity” after years of enduring the measures.

















Sunday, 3 August 2025

Musk claims ‘major’ US Democrats in Epstein docs

Musk claims ‘major’ US Democrats in Epstein docs

Musk claims ‘major’ US Democrats in Epstein docs




X owner Elon Musk. © Apu Gomes/Getty Images






Senior members of the US Democratic Party and their benefactors are listed in the Epstein documents, X owner Elon Musk has claimed.







On Friday, Bloomberg reported that the FBI agents reviewing the files on the convicted sex offender and financier Jeffrey Epstein had identified numerous references to US President Donald Trump, as well as dozens of other high-profile figures. The agency stressed that the appearance of any name “is not evidence of a crime or even a suggestion of wrongdoing.”


Responding to the report, one X user suggested that “when a Democrat becomes president, they’ll un-redact these names.”


Musk, however, did not agree, saying, “They won’t, because major Dems and their donors are on the list too.” He did not offer any evidence or elaborate.


In 2019, a spokesman for former President Bill Clinton confirmed that he had flown on Epstein’s private aircraft multiple times, while stressing that the ex-US leader had never visited Epstein’s notorious private island.


Alan Dershowitz, Epstein’s former lawyer, has named two Democrats – former Senator George Mitchell and former UN Ambassador Bill Richardson – as appearing in the documents, stressing that that alone did not indicate any wrongdoing.


In June, Musk – who had a falling-out with Trump over his legislative agenda – claimed that the president was in the Epstein files, suggesting, “that is the real reason they have not been made public.” He later deleted his post, acknowledging he “went too far.”


Epstein was arrested in 2019 on federal sex trafficking charges involving minors, with some of the abuse occurring on his private island, Little St. James, located in the US Virgin Islands. The financier later died in jail in what was ruled a suicide. The case has fueled intense public scrutiny, driven by Epstein’s ties to powerful figures across politics, finance, royalty, and media, as well as rumors of a potential cover-up.


On the campaign trail, Trump pledged to release all documents related to Epstein if elected. However, in July 2025, the US authorities concluded that Epstein did not keep a so-called “client list” that could implicate his high-profile associates, sparking widespread public uproar.


































‘No defense against’ Russia’s Oreshnik missile – ex-Pentagon analyst

‘No defense against’ Russia’s Oreshnik missile – ex-Pentagon analyst










Neither Ukraine nor its Western backers have any means to counter Russia’s newly deployed intermediate-range Oreshnik missile, Michael Maloof, a former senior Pentagon security analyst, told RT in an interview on Friday.







Maloof noted that the Oreshnik could “easily shift the balance of power overwhelmingly in favor” of Russia in any conflict, including the ongoing hostilities with Ukraine.


“Having a hypersonic [missile] for which there’s no defense currently… is astonishing. It absolutely alters that balance of power dramatically, for which the Ukrainians have no defense,” he said.


He noted that while the US is working to adapt missile defense systems such as THAAD to counter hypersonic threats, these programs remain under development. “There’s no operational ability at this point to deal with a hypersonic missile,” Maloof said, adding that the Oreshnik could reach its targets within mere minutes.







The former analyst added that the missile also travels at a speed of over 7,000 miles (11,000km) an hour. “There’s no defense against that,” he said.


The missile system, Maloof stated, has already been tested successfully in Ukraine in battlefield conditions. He was referring to a strike on Ukraine’s Yuzhmash military industrial facility in the city of Dnepr in November 2024.


Russian President Vladimir Putin said afterward that the missile’s warheads flew at speeds exceeding Mach 10 and could not be intercepted by existing air defenses. The missile could also carry conventional and nuclear payloads and travel up to several thousand kilometers.


According to Putin, the Oreshnik strike on Ukraine was a response to the country’s decision to use Western-supplied long-range missiles for attacks deep into Russia.


On Friday, the Russian president said that the first serially produced Oreshnik missile system had entered service with the armed forces. He also noted that the question of supplying the weapons to Belarus, Russia’s key ally, will likely be resolved by the end of the year.