‘It is not normal’: Adviser to Kyiv mayor reacts to dead civilians in Bucha

Zelensky Delivers Powerful Message At The Grammys

“The war. What is more opposite of music? The silence of ruined cities and killed people. Our children draw swooping rockets, not shooting stars. Over 400 children have been injured and 153 children died, and we will never see them drawing.

“Our parents are happy to wake up in the morning in bomb shelters, but alive. Our loved ones don’t know if we will be together again. The war doesn’t let us choose who survives and who stays in eternal silence.

“Our musicians wear body armor instead of tuxedos. They sing to the wounded in hospitals. Even to those who can’t hear them. But the music will break through anyway.

“We defend our freedom. To live. To love. To sound. On our land, we are fighting Russia which brings horrible silence with its bombs.

“Fill the silence with your music. Fill it today. Tell our story. Tell the truth about the war on your social networks and TV. But not silence.” – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, addressing last night’s Grammy Awards.

Russian oligarch blasts sanctions

Devastating images out of Ukrainian town of Bucha draw global outrage

Zelenskyy calls Russian assault on Ukraine a “genocide” on “Face the Nation”

GOP Rep. McClain falsely claimed that Trump caught Osama bin Laden. The Al Qaeda leader was killed during the first Obama administration, when Trump was still hosting a game show.

https://www.businessinsider.com/gop-congresswoman-wrongly-claims-trump-caught-bin-laden-obama-did-2022-4

U.S. Rep. Lisa McClain (R-MI) speaks at a rally hosted by former President Donald Trump on April 02, 2022 near Washington, Michigan. Trump is in Michigan to promote his America First agenda and is expected to voice his support of Matthew DePerno, who is running for the Michigan Republican party's nomination for state attorney general, and Kristina Karamo, who is running for the party's nomination for secretary of state.

U.S. Rep. Lisa McClain (R-MI) speaks at a rally hosted by former President Donald Trump on April 02, 2022 near Washington, Michigan. Scott Olson/Getty Images

  • Rep. Lisa McClain wrongly claimed Osama bin Laden was caught during the Trump administration.
  • Bin Laden was killed during a 2011 raid under the Obama administration. 
  • McClain also falsely claimed unemployment is at a 40 year high, calling the Biden administration “weak.”

Michigan Congresswoman Lisa McClain falsely claimed during a Saturday campaign rally that Osama bin Laden had been caught by the Trump administration.

“Well, President Trump was in office. We didn’t have a war and I think he made three peace treaties,” McClain said during her speech. “Caught Osama – Osama bin Laden and Soleimani, Al Baghdadi. And this President is weak. And I’ll tell you weakness breeds aggression. We need strength.”

Qasem Soleimani, an Iranian general, and Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, a leader of ISIS, were both killed during military operations completed during the Trump administration.

The 2011 raid that killed bin Laden, however, was conducted during President Barack Obama’s first term in office. Joe Biden was serving as vice president at the time. Trump was hosting “The Apprentice” – a reality/game show on NBC.

During her remarks, McClain also said unemployment is at a “40-year high” while there is “a labor shortage.” 

The current unemployment rate is 3.8%, down from a record of 14.7% during the height of the pandemic and lower than it has been for most of the last 20 years.

McClain’s office did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.

I don’t have the words right now

Russian Troops Suffer ‘Acute Radiation Sickness’ After Digging Chernobyl Trenches

https://www.thedailybeast.com/russian-troops-suffer-acute-radiation-sickness-after-digging-chernobyl-trenches?ref=home

Several hundred Russian troops reportedly rushed to a special medical facility in Belarus after digging in radioactive soil in a forest near the infamous nuclear plant.

SeanGallup

 

Several hundred Russian soldiers were forced to hastily withdraw from the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine after suffering “acute radiation sickness” from contaminated soil, according to Ukrainian officials.

The troops, who dug trenches in a contaminated Red Forest near the site of the worst nuclear disaster in history, are now reportedly being treated in a special medical facility in Gomel, Belarus. The forest is so named because thousands of pine trees turned red during the 1986 nuclear disaster. The area is considered so highly toxic that not even highly specialized Chernobyl workers are allowed to enter the zone.

Energoatom, the Ukrainian agency in charge of the country’s nuclear power stations, said the Russian soldiers had panicked and fled.

“It has been confirmed that the occupiers who seized the Chernobyl nuclear power plant and other facilities in the Exclusion Zone set off in two columns towards Ukraine’s border with Belarus. The occupiers announced their intentions to leave the Chernobyl nuclear power plant this morning to the Ukrainian personnel of the station,” the agency said in a statement on Telegram, adding that a small number of Russians still remained at the facility.

 

The agency said it had also confirmed reports of Russian forces digging trenches in the Red Forest, “the most polluted in the entire exclusion zone.”

“Not surprisingly, the occupiers received significant doses of radiation and panicked at the first sign of illness. And it showed up very quickly.”

Local reports suggest that seven buses with the zapped troops arrived in Gomel early Thursday. Journalists on the ground have also reported “ghost buses” of dead soldiers being transported from Belarus to Russia under the cover of dark.

U.S. intelligence reported Wednesday that Russian forces began withdrawing from the defunct site. Russia said the withdrawal from Chernobyl was part of a pledge to scale back the invasion. But Ukrainian media says it is actually because the troops were “irradiated” from the contaminated soil.

“Another batch of Russian irradiated terrorists who seized the Chernobyl zone was brought to the Belarusian Radiation Medicine Center in Gomel today,” Yaroslav Yemelianenko, who works for the Public Council at the State Agency of Ukraine for Exclusion Zone Management, posted on Facebook. “There are rules for dealing with this territory.”

The Chernobyl facility fell to Russian control on Feb. 24, the first day of the invasion. Workers were on duty for more than 600 hours before being allowed a shift change. International concern grew immediately when Russian troops moved heavy military hardware through the area, kicking up radioactive dust without any protective equipment. Forest fires in the area also raised concern about environmental contamination.

Digging trenches in the forest—considered the most contaminated area of the site—drew widespread ridicule from Ukrainians who work at the site.

The debacle is the latest in a series of missteps by the Russian troops struggling to keep their footing in their increasingly failed war.

Ukraine accuses Russia of using white phosphorus against civilians

Let’s talk about if it would be better in Ukraine without the west….