Ukraine war thread

[Dr Strangelove]

[Dr Strangelove]

[Dr Strangelove]

President Zelenskyy addressed Orbán regarding the Druzhba pipeline, and he didn’t hold back on the absurdity of it all.
Basically, Ukraine is being put in this insane position where they are expected to repair a Russian pipeline—the same Russia that's currently trying to wipe them off the map—just so Viktor Orbán can keep his cheap energy fix and stay in power.

It’s peak irony: Ukraine has to facilitate putin’s profits to satisfy a guy who’s spent the last four years trying to tank EU support for Kyiv.

Zelenskyy is essentially saying, 'Look, we can fix it in a month, but why should we?' Especially when the EU is dangling €90 billion in aid over their heads like a ransom note. It’s a masterclass in the kind of dirty backroom politics Ukraine is forced to deal with while fighting a literal invasion.

President Zelenskyy on the Druzhba Pipeline:

"Regarding the pipeline, let me be very honest with you. To be honest, I would not restore it. It is Russian oil. That is my personal position. But I am the President of a country that is at war, and we have many factors and many partners.
Technically, we can restore it. Our specialists say that within a month, or a month and a half, we can technically bring it back to work. Not all the damage can be repaired immediately, but it can work.

But there is a political side to this issue. There are things and principles that are simply priceless. They are killing us, and we have to give oil to Orbán because he cannot win elections without it? This is a very difficult question for our society.

We are discussing this with our European partners. We are told that if we do not restore it, up to 90 billion euros of EU funding for Ukraine could be blocked. This is a very high price.

We are waiting for an official request from the European Union. I discussed this with the President of the European Council, António Costa. We must understand what the official position of the EU is.

Also, we are looking at other options. Perhaps this pipeline can be used for other purposes, not for Russian oil. We are ready for dialogue, but we will always defend the interests of Ukraine and our people."

[Dr Strangelove]

[Dr Strangelove]

Today in Budapest, Hungarian authorities took seven Ukrainian citizens hostage. The reasons are still unknown, as well as their current well-being, or the possibility of contacting them.

These seven Ukrainians are employees of state-owned Oschadbank, who were operating two bank cars transiting between Austria and Ukraine and carrying cash as part of regular services between state banks.

In fact, we are talking about Hungary taking hostages and stealing money. If this is the “force” announced earlier today by Mr Orban, then this is a force of a criminal gang. This is state terrorism and racketeering.

We have already sent an official note demanding an immediate release of our citizens.

We will also address the European Union with the request to provide a clear qualification of Hungary’s unlawful actions, hostage-taking, and robbery.

Statement by Oschadbank:

[Dr Strangelove]

[Dr Strangelove]

[Dr Strangelove]

In a major development in Russian-occupied Ukraine this past week, Russia's nuclear energy operator Rosenergoatom officially seized control over IT and info security functions at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant.

I've been warning about indicators that Russia is planning to restart power generation at the ZNPP and connect it to the Russian power grid for a while now.

These developments may seem small/bureaucratic, but they are affording Russia more and more technical access to the operations at the ZNPP.

[Dr Strangelove]

[Dr Strangelove]