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Sunday, March 27

Another virtual victory in Ukraine

From Intel Slav Z
Yesterday Ukrainian media and politicians talked about some battles in Kherson and promised to “liberate” the city by this morning.

The best answer to these claims is a video by the News Front agency, recorded this night on the streets of the village and its environs. There are no sounds of collisions or even artillery shelling on the footage.

As we have written more than once, due to the lack of real significant success in Kyiv, they are busy inventing virtual victories.

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Americans better not accuse Britain's Daily Mail of being a Russian stooge

Hunter Biden helped secure millions in funding for military biotech research program in Ukraine | Daily Mail Online - March 25

I linked to the above investigative report in an earlier post, but I think a shot heard round the world deserves more than a link. So, below is the entire report. 

Yes indeed, when the British press decides to publish truth instead of twaddle, they are more than capable.  

EXCLUSIVE: Hunter Biden DID help secure millions in funding for US contractor in Ukraine specializing in deadly pathogen research, laptop emails reveal, raising more questions about the disgraced son of then vice president

  • The Russian government held a press conference Thursday claiming that Hunter Biden helped finance a US military 'bioweapons' research program in Ukraine
  • However the allegations were branded a brazen propaganda ploy to justify president Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine and sow discord in the US
  • But emails and correspondence obtained by DailyMail.com from Hunter's abandoned laptop show the claims may well be true
  • The emails show Hunter helped secure millions of dollars of funding for Metabiota, a Department of Defense contractor specializing in research on pandemic-causing diseases
  • He also introduced Metabiota to an allegedly corrupt Ukrainian gas firm, Burisma, for a 'science project' involving high biosecurity level labs in Ukraine 
  • The president's son and his colleagues invested $500,000 in Metabiota through their firm Rosemont Seneca Technology Partners 
  • They raised several million dollars of funding for the company from investment giants including Goldman Sachs 

Moscow’s claim that Hunter Biden helped finance a US military 'bioweapons' research program in Ukraine is at least partially true, according to new emails obtained exclusively by DailyMail.com.

The commander of the Russian Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Protection Forces, claimed there was a 'scheme of interaction between US government agencies and Ukrainian biological objects' and pointed to the 'financing of such activities by structures close to the current US leadership, in particular the investment fund Rosemont Seneca, which is headed by Hunter Biden.'

Intelligence experts say the Russian military leader's allegations were a brazen propaganda ploy to justify president Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine and sow discord in the US.

But emails from Hunter's abandoned laptop show he helped secure millions of dollars of funding for Metabiota, a Department of Defense contractor specializing in research on pandemic-causing diseases that could be used as bioweapons.

He also introduced Metabiota to an allegedly corrupt Ukrainian gas firm, Burisma, for a 'science project' involving high biosecurity level labs in Ukraine.

And although Metabiota is ostensibly a medical data company, its vice president emailed Hunter in 2014 describing how they could 'assert Ukraine's cultural and economic independence from Russia' – an unusual goal for a biotech firm.


The Russian government held a press conference Thursday claiming that Hunter Biden helped finance a US military bioweapons research program in Ukraine. But emails and correspondence obtained by DailyMail.com from Hunter's abandoned laptop show the claims may well be true

The Russian government held a press conference Thursday claiming that Hunter Biden helped finance a US military bioweapons research program in Ukraine. But emails and correspondence obtained by DailyMail.com from Hunter's abandoned laptop show the claims may well be true

Metabiota is a Department of Defense contractor specializing in research on pandemic-causing diseases that could be used as bioweapons

Metabiota is a Department of Defense contractor specializing in research on pandemic-causing diseases that could be used as bioweapons

In April 2014, Metabiota vice president Mary Guttieri wrote a memo to Hunter outlining how they could 'assert Ukraine's cultural and economic independence from Russia'. 'Thanks so much for taking time out of your intense schedule to meet with Kathy [Dimeo, Metabiota executive] and I on Tuesday. We very much enjoyed our discussion,' Guttieri wrote

In April 2014, Metabiota vice president Mary Guttieri wrote a memo to Hunter outlining how they could 'assert Ukraine's cultural and economic independence from Russia'. 'Thanks so much for taking time out of your intense schedule to meet with Kathy [Dimeo, Metabiota executive] and I on Tuesday. We very much enjoyed our discussion,' Guttieri wrote

Four days after Guttieri's April 2014 email, Burisma executive Vadym Pozharskyi wrote to Hunter revealing that the then-Vice President's son had pitched a 'science project' involving Burisma and Metabiota in Ukraine. 'Please find few initial points to be discussed for the purposes of analyzing the potential of this as you called, 'Science Ukraine' project,' Pozharskyi wrote

Four days after Guttieri's April 2014 email, Burisma executive Vadym Pozharskyi wrote to Hunter revealing that the then-Vice President's son had pitched a 'science project' involving Burisma and Metabiota in Ukraine. 'Please find few initial points to be discussed for the purposes of analyzing the potential of this as you called, 'Science Ukraine' project,' Pozharskyi wrote

Government spending records show the Department of Defense awarded an $18.4million contract to Metabiota between February 2014 and November 2016, with $307,091 earmarked for 'Ukraine research projects'

Government spending records show the Department of Defense awarded an $18.4million contract to Metabiota between February 2014 and November 2016, with $307,091 earmarked for 'Ukraine research projects'

Emails and defense contract data reviewed by DailyMail.com suggest that Hunter had a prominent role in making sure Metabiota was able to conduct its pathogen research just a few hundred miles from the border with Russia.

Burisma adviser Vadym Pozharskyi (pictured). 'As I understand the Metabiota was a subcontract to principal contactor of the DoD B&V [Black & Veatch],' he wrote in an email in 2014

Burisma adviser Vadym Pozharskyi (pictured). 'As I understand the Metabiota was a subcontract to principal contactor of the DoD B&V [Black & Veatch],' he wrote in an email in 2014

The project turned into a national security liability for Ukraine when Russian forces invaded the country last month.

Metabiota has worked in Ukraine for Black & Veatch, a US defense contractor with deep ties to military intelligence agencies, which built secure labs in Ukraine that analyzed killer diseases and bioweapons.

Earlier this month US officials warned congress that 'Russian forces may be seeking to gain control' of these 'biological research facilities', prompting fears that deadly and even engineered pathogens could fall into Russian hands.

Hunter and his colleagues at his investment firm Rosemont Seneca Technology Partners (RSTP) routinely raised millions of dollars for technology companies, hoping the firms would take off and make them all fortunes.

Metabiota was one of those firms. Emails between Hunter and his colleagues excitedly discuss how the company's monitoring of medical data could become an essential tool for governments and companies looking to spot outbreaks of infectious diseases.

The president's son and his colleagues invested $500,000 in Metabiota through their firm Rosemont Seneca Technology Partners.

They raised several million dollars of funding for the company from investment giants including Goldman Sachs.

But emails show Hunter was also particularly involved in Metabiota's operations in Ukraine.

Hunter's pitches to investors claimed that they not only organized funding for the firm, they also helped it 'get new customers' including 'government agencies in case of Metabiota'.

He and his business partner Eric Schwerin even discussed subletting their office space to the firm in April 2014, their emails reveal.

That month, Metabiota vice president Mary Guttieri wrote a memo to Hunter outlining how they could 'assert Ukraine's cultural and economic independence from Russia'.

'Thanks so much for taking time out of your intense schedule to meet with Kathy [Dimeo, Metabiota executive] and I on Tuesday. We very much enjoyed our discussion,' Guttieri wrote.

'As promised, I've prepared the attached memo, which provides an overview of Metabiota, our engagement in Ukraine, and how we can potentially leverage our team, networks, and concepts to assert Ukraine's cultural and economic independence from Russia and continued integration into Western society.'

Former senior CIA officer Sam Faddis, who has reviewed emails on Hunter's laptop, told DailyMail.com that the offer to help assert Ukraine's independence was odd for a biotech executive.

'It raises the question, what is the real purpose of this venture? It's very odd,' he said.

Mary Guttieri, Metabiota vice president, is seen at a meeting with U.S. and Ukrainian military

Mary Guttieri, Metabiota vice president, is seen at a meeting with U.S. and Ukrainian military

Russia's Defense Ministry on Thursday put out a diagram with arrows connecting Biden, Soros and the Democratic Party to Ukrainian biolabs

Russia's Defense Ministry on Thursday put out a diagram with arrows connecting Biden, Soros and the Democratic Party to Ukrainian biolabs

The president's son and his colleagues invested $500,000 in Metabiota through their firm Rosemont Seneca Technology Partners. They raised several million dollars of funding for the company from investment giants including Goldman Sachs

The president's son and his colleagues invested $500,000 in Metabiota through their firm Rosemont Seneca Technology Partners. They raised several million dollars of funding for the company from investment giants including Goldman Sachs

Emails between Hunter and his colleagues at Rosemont Seneca excitedly discuss how the company's monitoring of medical data could become an essential tool for governments and companies looking to spot outbreaks of infectious diseases

Emails between Hunter and his colleagues at Rosemont Seneca excitedly discuss how the company's monitoring of medical data could become an essential tool for governments and companies looking to spot outbreaks of infectious diseases

Guttieri had a leading role in Metabiota's Ukraine operations, meeting with other company executives and US and Ukrainian military officials in October 2016 to discuss 'cooperation in surveillance and prevention of especially dangerous infectious diseases, including zoonotic diseases in Ukraine and neighboring countries' according to a 2016 report by the Science and Technology Center in Ukraine.

At the time, Hunter was serving as a board member of Ukrainian gas firm Burisma, owned by former top government official and allegedly corrupt billionaire Mikolay Zlochevsky.

Four days after Guttieri's April 2014 email, Burisma executive Vadym Pozharskyi wrote to Hunter revealing that the then-Vice President's son had pitched a 'science project' involving Burisma and Metabiota in Ukraine.

'Please find few initial points to be discussed for the purposes of analyzing the potential of this as you called, 'Science Ukraine' project,' Pozharskyi wrote.

'As I understand the Metabiota was a subcontract to principal contactor of the DoD B&V [Black & Veatch].

'What kind of partnership Metabiota is looking for in Ukraine? From potential non-governmental player in Kiev? Rebuilt the ties with respective ministries in Ukraine, and on the basis of that reinstate the financing from the B&V? Or they look for partnership in managing projects in Ukraine, PR with Government institutions here, financing of the projects?'

Faddis told DailyMail.com that the attempt to get Metabiota to form a partnership with Burisma was a perplexing and worrying revelation.

'His father was the Vice President of the United States and in charge of relations with Ukraine. So why was Hunter not only on the board of a suspect Ukrainian gas firm, but also hooked them up with a company working on bioweapons research?' Faddis said.

'It's an obvious Russian propaganda attempt to take advantage of this. But it doesn't change the fact that there does seem to be something that needs to be explored here.

'The DoD position is that there's nothing nefarious here, this is pandemic early warning research. We don't know for sure that's all that was going on.

'But the question still remains: why is Hunter Biden in the middle of all this? Why is the disgraced son of the vice president at the heart of this – the guy with no discernible skills and a cocaine habit.'

Pozharsky said in his email to Hunter that he had encountered such biological research projects before in his former job as a Ukrainian government official, and claimed that B&V worked on 'similar or the same projects' as the proposed contract for Metabiota.

Government spending records show the Department of Defense awarded an $18.4million contract to Metabiota between February 2014 and November 2016, with $307,091 earmarked for 'Ukraine research projects'.

The US Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) also commissioned B&V to build a Biological Safety Level 3 laboratory in Odessa, Ukraine in 2010, which 'provided enhanced equipment and training to effectively, safely and securely identify especially dangerous pathogens' according to a company press release.

Such labs are used to 'study infectious agents or toxins that may be transmitted through the air and cause potentially lethal infections,' the US Department of Health and Human Services says.

B&V was awarded a further five-year $85million contract in 2012.

In a May 2014 email, RSTP partner Schwerin suggested: ‘there are obviously some real potential synergies between Xiaoying’s husband’s work at the CDC and what Metabiota does. Something else to think about’

In a May 2014 email, RSTP partner Schwerin suggested: 'there are obviously some real potential synergies between Xiaoying's husband's work at the CDC and what Metabiota does. Something else to think about'

In another sign of the deep ties between Metabiota and the Department of Defense, Hunter's RSTP business partner Rob Walker said he would 'have a friend reach out to DoD on the down low', in order to prove the company's bona fides to top prospective investors Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley in October 2014

In another sign of the deep ties between Metabiota and the Department of Defense, Hunter's RSTP business partner Rob Walker said he would 'have a friend reach out to DoD on the down low', in order to prove the company's bona fides to top prospective investors Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley in October 2014

In another sign of the deep ties between Metabiota and the Department of Defense, Hunter's RSTP business partner Rob Walker said he would 'have a friend reach out to DoD on the down low', in order to prove the company's bona fides to top prospective investors Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley in October 2014.

RSTP was a subsidiary of Rosemont Capital, an investment company founded by Hunter and former Secretary of State John Kerry's stepson Chris Heinz in 2009.

Metabiota also has close ties to the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), suspected to be the source of the COVID-19 outbreak.

WIV was a hotspot for controversial 'gain of function' research that can create super-strength viruses.

Chinese scientists performed gain of function research on coronaviruses at the WIV, working alongside a US-backed organization EcoHealth Alliance that has since drawn intense scrutiny over its coronavirus research since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Researchers from the Wuhan institute, Metabiota and EcoHealth Alliance published a study together in 2014 on infectious diseases from bats in China, which notes that tests were performed at the WIV.

Shi Zhengli, the WIV Director of the Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases who became dubbed the 'bat lady' for her central role in bat coronavirus research at the lab, was a contributor to the paper.

Metabiota has been an official partner of EcoHealth Alliance since 2014, according to its website.

Hunter Biden helped secure millions in funding for military biotech research program in Ukraine


 [END REPORT]


Nazi enemy of your enemy should not be your friend

NATO’s Nazi Beginnings: How the West implemented Hitler's goals, by Robert S. Rodvik (voltairenet.org) June 21, 2012

Note the article was published years before the Russians made war on Ukraine's Nazis. Granted, the article is lengthy, and while well-written makes for hard reading on a topic many today don't want to face.

The excuse back then was that Nazism was a lesser evil than Soviet communism. On close inspection the arguments supporting the excuse do not square. In any case by using Nazis against the Soviets, NATO opened Pandora's Box. 

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"Qatar says replacing Russian gas is impossible"



Qatar says replacing Russian gas is impossible — RT Business News - March 25

REPORT:

According to the minister, Qatar will not take sides in the Ukraine crisis.

Replacing Russian natural gas on the European market is “not practically possible,” Qatari Energy Minister Saad al-Kaabi said in an interview with CNN on Thursday.

The official, who is also the president and CEO of state-owned QatarEnergy, noted that “from 30 to 40% of the total volume of gas supplied to the world market comes from Russia.”

The EU imposed economic sanctions on Moscow over the conflict in Ukraine, and announced it would move towards gradually slashing consumption of Russian natural gas this year. Over 40% of the EU’s gas imports come from Russia.

However, Al-Kaabi said Qatar would not impose sanctions on the Russian oil and gas sector, stressing that “energy should stay out of politics.” According to the minister, Qatar will not take sides in the Ukraine crisis.

[END REPORT]

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Lviv governor rubbishes claim that Russians bombed residential buildings there

"The governor of the Lviv region himself refuted the lies of Ukrainian propaganda, saying that during the double strike on Lviv, residential buildings were not damaged."
-- Intel Slav Z on Telegram

The truth is getting out -- slowly, and with great difficulty. But I hope there will be a snowball effect, as publics in the USA and Europe start to realize they were greatly lied to by their governments about Russian actions in Ukraine. 

As to the Ukrainians, the longer the Russians are in Ukraine, the more the population there is learning that the Americans simply used Ukraine as a forward operating base against Russia.  

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Saturday, March 26

RUSSIA CUTS OFF UKRAINE ARMY IN DONBASS, PROCEEDING TO DESTROY IT

Russian General Staff Claims Ukraine Army in Donbass Cut off and Being Destroyed - YouTube - March 26

In addition to reading aloud the Russian report on operations in Ukraine up to yesterday and providing background, The Duran's Alexander Mercouris does a snap analysis of the outcome of European meetings in Brussels, etc. last week about Russia and Ukraine. From what he said, there is now hope that the western European leaders are actively reconsidering their uncritical support of the Biden administration's actions against Russia. One sign: they did not issue new sanctions against Russia.    

The link to the full Russian report on their 30-day operation, which SouthFront featured on the 25th in their lengthy summary of the report, is not working now. So, Alexander's reading aloud is a big help. 

See also: NATO Divided Over Support For Ukraine While Russia Creates New Economic Reality - South Front March 25

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The cost of boiling potatoes has gotten too high for poorest Britons

Things are escalating faster than anyone expected.  The pressure on grocery chains in the U.K. to sharply raise prices is "relentless and coming from all angles."

UK food bank users declining potatoes over cooking costs – reports — RT World News - March 26

The head of a British supermarket chain has warned some Britons can’t afford to boil potatoes

Rising energy prices in Britain have seen some poorer citizens turn down potatoes offered at food banks as they cannot afford to boil them, the head of Iceland Foods Ltd supermarket chain has claimed.

In an interview with the BBC Radio 4 Today program on Wednesday, Richard Walker said the “cost of living crisis is the single most important domestic issue we are facing as a country.” He cited reports from some food banks that users are “declining products such as potatoes and other root veg because they can’t afford to boil them.”

Walker said food price inflation was “pushing 10%” – an estimate remarkably higher than the 5.1% annual figure provided by the Office for National Statistics. The supermarket chain boss pointed out that price hikes have been particularly evident when it comes to items such as milk, whose production involves several stages, with the cost of every part of the process rising.

He concluded that high food prices were here to stay and that it could be argued that, systematically, “Food has been too cheap for too long.” He said the pressure on chains was “relentless and coming at us from all angles” as they tried to keep prices down. [emphasis mine]

Explaining the ballooning costs, he blamed rising oil prices, worker shortages, and the falling supply of Russian fertilizers and Ukrainian sunflower oil over the past month.

Walker suggested that the UK government could implement measures to take the heat off retailers. He urged that the energy price cap on households could be extended to businesses, which he said would translate into some £100m in savings on consumers. He also called on authorities to postpone the introduction of the planned increase in national insurance, as well as some new environmental taxes.

Following Russia’s military offensive against Ukraine, which began on February 24, gas and oil prices – a large proportion of which is being supplied to Europe from Russia – have shot up dramatically, resulting in higher energy bills both for individuals and businesses across Europe.

[END REPORT]

Ukrainian biolab staff provide more documents to Russians

Here's the last paragraph in the report headlined Hunter Biden Funnelled Tons of Money to Metabiota For Bioweapon Research Near Russian Border - Media - Sputnik International, 26.03.2022 (sputniknews.com):
The Russian defense ministry continues to study documents received from employees of Ukrainian biolabs about the secret military biological activities of the United States in Ukraine. According to Konashenkov, the US had planned to test unregistered drugs on Ukrainian military personnel.

(Igor) Konashenkov is the Russian MoD spokesperson. The Sputnik report starts with these observations:

The Russian Defense Ministry said on Thursday that Hunter Biden’s investment fund was supporting the Pentagon’s military-biological program in Ukraine. The fund has significant financial resources in the amount of at least $2.4 billion, according to the military.
Hunter Biden’s correspondence with Pentagon defense contractor Metabiota revealed how the son of then vice president leveraged his influence as a board member of Ukrainian gas firm Burisma to funnel money into pandemic-causing pathogen research just a few hundred miles from the Russian border.
The emails were found on Hunter Biden’s laptop that he abandoned at a Delaware repair shop as his father was running for president in 2019, the New York Post said. The UK’s Daily Mail was first to report on his role in bankrolling pathogen research.

[...]

 Sputnik is also reporting, GOP Wants to Subpoena Hunter Biden Over Leaked Emails If They Regain Majority in Congress - 26.03.2022.  But that's only if they regain a majority in the Senate, and the election isn't until November. That will give the Biden administration time to sweep as much under the rug as they can about the revelations on Hunter Biden's laptop.  However, the Daily Mail report has gone viral, and it will now be more difficult for the U.S. to argue that the Russians were lying about the situation.

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YouTube blocks India's English-language WION site

Indian broadcaster rips YouTube for bias in blocking its channel — RT World News - March 2'

WION accused the video-sharing website of only “telling half the story” of the Ukrainian conflict

New Delhi-based English-language news channel WION said it had been barred from posting videos on YouTube for several days, blaming the platform for seeking to thwart objective coverage of the conflict in Ukraine.

A “total block” had been imposed on Tuesday, and no new clips had appeared on its usually busy channel – which has more than five million subscribers – for the next three days.

The broadcaster said on Friday that it had been sanctioned by YouTube over a video it had posted on March 10 that featured the speeches of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba.

[...] 

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Likely a British operative prepping false-flag chemical attack in Ukraine

British intelligence operative’s involvement in Ukraine crisis signals false flag attacks ahead - The Grayzone March 24.

"Shadowy UK intel figure Hamish de Bretton-Gordon was at the forefront of chemical weapons deceptions in Syria. Now in Ukraine, he’s up to his old tricks again."

Not so shadowy once Grayzone finished discussing him, but this character is already well-known in the spy trade, it seems, and for grandstanding.

Protecting the British way of life from, er, Restless Natives. Photo for a September 05, 2020 Times of London profile of Hamish.

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Pentagon stands up to Congress, State Dept. to stave off outright war on Russia

The Duran's Alexander Mercouris mentioned at least a week ago he'd been hearing [if I recall from his sources in the U.S. military] that the Pentagon was struggling against the U.S. Department of State in an effort to stave off outright U.S. war on Russia. Now his observation is expanded on by a report at Consortium News:   

Pentagon Drops Truth Bombs to Stave Off War With Russia – Consortium News - March 25

"UPDATED: Leaked stories from the Pentagon have exposed how mainstream media reports Russia’s conduct in the Ukraine war, in a bid to counter propaganda intended to get NATO into the conflict, writes Joe Lauria.[*]"

With all due respect to the Pentagon's efforts, stopping a  runaway train will take more than leaked documents. In any case, the documents are bombshells, as Lauria's report shows.

* "Joe Lauria is editor-in-chief of Consortium News and a former U.N. correspondent for The Wall Street Journal, Boston Globe, and numerous other newspapers, including The Montreal Gazette and The Star of Johannesburg. He was an investigative reporter for the Sunday Times of London, a financial reporter for Bloomberg News and began his professional work as a 19-year old stringer for The New York Times.

He can be reached at joelauria@consortiumnews.com and followed on Twitter @unjoe  "

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