Victory Chronicles
-DAY 134

Health and well-being of Ukrainians in occupied territories is unimportant to the enemy. Photo via Donetskie Novosti

• Clearly, Russian strategy includes reducing the Ukrainian population of Ukraine through any means, whether forcing them out as war refugees, deporting them to Russian territory or murdering them on their own land.

• People living under occupation are no exceptions.  Ukrainian Health Minister Viktor Lyashko reported that Russians are systematically denying life-saving medicines to the Ukrainian population in occupied territories.  All attempts by the Ukrainian government and multilateral donors to ship medicines to hospitals and pharmacies have been denied, while citizens report that occupiers are pillaging medical equipment, supplies and medicines for sale back in their corrupt homeland.

• In the words of Mr Lyashko, “The Russian occupying forces once again show that it is a terrorist country, and they do not fulfill the conventions adopted by the UN, they do not fulfill the requirement to provide medicines in the territories where they are trying to establish an occupation regime.”

• According to the watchdog organization CrimeaSOS, only one in ten pharmacies in occupied Kherson Oblast are open.  “Medicines are currently transported from occupied Crimea and the Russian Federation – and sold from the trunks of cars in local markets. They are not certified and may be counterfeit. There is a huge problem with drugs for the heart and blood pressure,” stated CrimeaSOS Board Chairman Denys Savchenko.

Above: Orc’s arrival in Donetsk city, April 2014.  Photo via Business Insider 

• In an online interview, war and politics blogger Oleksandr Kovalenko discussed two kinds of bombing in Donetsk Oblast. The first is Russian occupiers bombing their own occupied territory.  For eight years they have repeated the lie again and again that Ukraine bombs civilians in the occupied territories, despite absolute proof, for example satellite imagery, that its Moscow mauraders bombing their own population. It hasn’t fooled anyone, not even Kremlin zombies.

• However, for the first time, this Russian lie is true.  “The Ukrainian Armed Forces really are shelling Donetsk, it’s true. At the same time, they use high-precision weapons, in particular, the Excalibur ammunition. Their targets are exclusively ammunition depots, fuel and lubricants depots, maintenance vehicles, bases with equipment and military bases,” explained Mr Kovalenko.  This is more evidence that Ukraine is in the early days of accelerating weapons capacity.

Above: Opening ceremony of G20 foreign minister meeting that runs from Thursday to Friday. German Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Christian Wagner said it would not be a “normal summit” nor “business as usual” concerning Russia. Photo via Reuters

• The Kremlin propaganda mouthpiece and Russian foreign minister flew to this week’s G20 meeting of foreign ministers in Bali, Indonesia.  Democratic countries like the UK, Canada, Germany and the US won’t meet with the war criminal, nor allow him to take the floor at the meeting.

• US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said the US will call on members of the G20 to condemn Russian aggression and to pressure Russia to support UN efforts to open sea lanes blocked by Russia’s war against Ukraine.

• The G20 is composed of 19 countries and the EU who work together to address issues of global importance such as economics, climate change and sustainable development. Represented countries are the world’s largest economies, accounting for 90% of global economic output.  Although not a member, Ukraine is invited to take part this year.

Above: Turkish authorities released the Russian ship Zhibek Zholy that transported 7000 tons of stolen Ukrainian grain to Turkey.  Photo via The Times Hub

• Ukraine summoned the Turkish ambassador, citing an “unacceptable situation” after authorities in Turkey released a Russian vessel that Kyiv said was shipping grain seized from the Ukrainian port of Berdyansk.  The ship was detained over the weekend at Ukraine’s request, but sailed away from Turkiye on Wednesday, switching off its transponder and disappearing from radar.

• Turkiye is threading the needle between Ukraine and Russia.  It supplies the lauded Bayraktar drones to Ukraine while playing economic ball with Russia.