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mercredi 1 juin 2022
Europol Warns Weapons Shipped To Ukraine Could Be Used By "Criminal Groups" For Years
In a weekend German media interview the head of the European police agency Europol has issued a dire warning about the huge amount of weapons being pumped from the West into Ukraine.
Europol Director Catherine De Bolle told the German newspaper Welt am Sonntag that the flood of weapons on the Ukraine-Russia battlefield could end up in the hands of criminal groups for years to come. "At some point the war will be over. We want to avoid a situation like the one that followed the war in the Balkans 30 years ago," she said to the publication in reference to conflicts in the wake of Yugoslavia's collapse.
"The weapons from this war are still being used by criminal groups today," De Bolle emphasized in speaking of Balkan conflicts, and what's looking to be a similar situation emerging in Ukraine.
"The situation is highly dynamic and fragmented and we're receiving different figures from our European partners," De Bolle said. She stressed that in response her agency is seeking to "find a way in which we will deal with the situation after a possible end to the war." She described that this will involve Europol "assembling an international task force that will address this issue."
The Ukraine conflict has attracted a reported tens of thousands of foreign volunteers after the government in Kiev established a foreign legion. This has also included American and British military veterans and mercenaries. On this, she explained as cited in Deutsche Welle:
People traveling to Ukraine have different experiences and ideologies. But she said that even those who become disillusioned by the violence they witness there will be under observation.
Russia, for its part, has long highlighted far-right and neo-Nazi groups and the danger of arming them. Azov Battalion in particular had been on the front lines in what is now Russian-controlled Mariupol, and is believed to be a main Ukrainian fighting force in Donbass.
The Kremlin has especially complained about Stinger missiles from the US flooding the Ukrainian battlefield. Stingers don't only pose a severe threat to military aircraft, but to civilian aviation as well.
The type of scenario that Europol's De Bolle is now alarmed about has already played out in Syria, as has long been documented, given that twin CIA and Pentagon programs to arm so-called "moderate rebels" resulted in an array of weapons, including TOW anti-tank missiles, going straight to Syrian al-Qaeda, ISIS, and all terror groups in between.
Ukraine Fires Own Human Rights Chief For Perpetuating Russian Troop 'Systematic Rape' Stories
For over the past two months, an avalanche of stories have hit Western mainstream press which purported to document instances of mass rape carried out by Russian troops against Ukrainian civilians. One particular story in Timetook off, driving outrage and condemnation by Western officials and receiving repeat coverage on CNN and other major US networks.
It alleged "a systemic, coordinated campaign of sexual violence" - relying chiefly on testimony gathered by Ukraine's appointed top human rights representative. It included a particularly shocking story of 25 teenage girls being gang-raped by Russian troops - nine of which became pregnant. According to the report:
Ukraine’s human rights ombudsman, Lyudmyla Denisova said that 25 teenage girls were kept in a basement in Bucha and gang-raped; nine of them are now pregnant. Elderly women spoke on camera about being raped by Russian soldiers. The bodies of children were found naked with their hands tied behind their backs, their genitals mutilated. Those victims included both girls and boys...
As has been the pattern in prior wars, whether in Syria or Libya, the media claims got more and more sensational and over-the-top as the conflict intensified, and as Western powers became more deeply involved, yet with no concrete or definitive proof.
But one consistent detail in the majority of the stories is that the aforementioned Ukraine human rights ombudsman, Lyudmyla Denisova, is often the central figure feeding Western correspondents the shocking rape stories.
For example, she's featured in this April Newsweek piece:
Lyudmila Denisova, the Ukrainian Parliament's Commissioner for Human Rights, alleged on Friday that Russian soldiers have raped children during the ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
In a Facebook post, Denisova alleged that an 11-year-old boy was raped by Russians in front of his mother who was tied to a chair and forced to watch as it happened in the Ukrainian city of Bucha.
Many such stories which presented ever-more horrifying details as the war progressed quickly went viral, particularly among pro-Ukraine activists on Twitter and other social media, to the point where prominent pundits would begin casually agreeing amongst themself that Russians simply are "animals".
And below is another example among many, which tended to be based on "reports say" for many of the most central, damning claims...
But recently, within the last couple of weeks, as investigators began to dig deeper into the allegations, it seems the media stories started to dry up. The geopolitical analysis blog Moon of Alabama details what happened in the following:
However, a bunch of eager NGOs in Ukraine, hoping for fresh 'western' money for new 'rape consultation and recovery' projects, tried to find real rape cases. They were disappointed when they found that there was no evidence that any rape had taken place
(machine translation):
On May 25, a number of media outlets and NGOs published an open appeal to Lyudmila Denisova calling for improved communication on sexual crimes during the war.
The signatories insist that Denisova should disclose only information about which there is sufficient evidence, avoid sensationalism and excessive detail in their reports, use correct terminology and take care of the confidentiality and safety of victims.
"Sexual crimes during the war are family tragedies, a difficult traumatic topic, not a topic for publications in the spirit of the 'scandalous chronicle.' We need to keep in mind the goal: to draw attention to the facts of crimes," the appeal reads.
An entire global activist movement even sprang up which focused on highlighting Russian sexual crimes in Ukraine, based on the premise that Russia's military is using "rape as a tool" as part of its arsenal to spread a campaign of terror...
And now on Tuesday, Interfax, Politico, The Wall Street Journal, and others are reporting that Lyudmyla Denisova has been fired - precisely forfloating and perpetuating fantastical claims of mass rape but without providing evidence...
"Ukrainian lawmakers dismissed the country’s ombudsman for human rights, Lyudmyla Denisova, in a no-confidence vote on Tuesday, concluding that she had failed to fulfill obligations including the facilitation of humanitarian corridors and countering the deportation of Ukrainians from occupied territory," The Wall Street Journal reported late in the day.
"Lawmaker Pavlo Frolov said Ms. Denisova was also accused of making insensitive and unverifiable statements about alleged Russian sex crimes and spending too much time in Western Europe during the invasion," the report added.
"The unclear focus of the Ombudsman's media work on the numerous details of ‘sexual crimes committed in an unnatural way’ and ‘rape of children’ in the occupied territories that could not be confirmed by evidence, only harmed Ukraine."
Needless to say this is an absolutely devastating blow to Ukraine's 'information war' which has been in full force since the Russian invasion (as naturally in war each side will enter into propaganda campaigns against the other simultaneous to the actual ground war, and while seeking to sway world opinion).
Angry pushback has started already within hours after the news of Denisova's removal was confirmed, including from UN accounts and US media pundits...
That Ukraine's parliament took the drastic step of dismissing her in such a public manner also speaks volumes - strongly suggesting that Ukrainian officials themselves don't believe the bulk of the 'systematic rape' claims.
note sur la conséquence principale de la guerre en Ukraine
Ce qui nous pend aux nez et cela n'est qu'une question de temps (deux ou trois ans) sont des conflits multiples de situations de guerre civile dans les principaux pays de l'union européenne à l'ouest, France, Espagne, Italie, Suède, Danemark, Belgique, Allemagne, Suède, Hollande. L'union européenne a fait venir elle même les futurs soldats de ces conflits et les laisse dans une situation où ils n'ont rien à perdre. Et comme elle ne s'y prépare pas, cela va faire des dégâts. Mais peut-être que nos dirigeant l'ont prévu pour nous mettre définitivement à genoux.
"Pendant ce temps, il devient rapidement évident que l’aide militaire occidentale à l’Ukraine est volée et redirigée pour être vendue en Serbie sur le marché noir. Plus des deux tiers des armes anti-aériennes portables ManPad seraient en vente à l’étranger, d’ores et déjà. Toutes sortes d’autres armes de guerre sont également proposées sur le marché noir,” y compris des mortiers, des grenades propulsées par fusée, des mines terrestres et des munitions perforantes en si grandes quantités que les contrebandiers ne peuvent même pas trouver de place pour stocker leurs biens mal acquis”. Des Ukrainiens volent littéralement les armes fournies par l’Occident pour les revendre au marché noir et s’en mettre plein les poches."
source : Guerre d'Ukraine-jours 91-94-l'armée ukrainienne s'effondre rapidement, L'échelle de Jacob
