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#lawlessness — Public Fediverse posts

Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #lawlessness, aggregated by home.social.

  1. "Justice Department Sues to Block Ethics Punishments* of Administration Lawyers. The move escalates the administration’s feud with legal disciplinary bodies over the ethical conduct of government lawyers":
    nytimes.com/2026/05/13/us/doj-
    *disbarment #justice #ethics #Trump #lawlessness #politics copy: @renewedresistance

  2. A quotation from Twain

    A strange thing, when one considers it: to wit, the world applies to Czar and System the same moral axioms that have vogue and acceptance in civilized countries! Because, in civilized countries, it is wrong to remove oppressors otherwise than by process of law, it is held that the same rule applies in Russia, where there is no such thing as law — except for our Family. Laws are merely restraints — they have no other function. In civilized countries they restrain all persons, and restrain them all alike, which is fair and righteous; but in Russia such laws as exist make an exception — our Family. We do as we please; we have done as we pleased for centuries. Our common trade has been crime, our common pastime murder, our common beverage blood — the blood of the nation. Upon our heads lie millions of murders. Yet the pious moralist says it is a crime to assassinate us. We and our uncles are a family of cobras set over a hundred and forty million rabbits, whom we torture and murder and feed upon all our days; yet the moralist urges that to kill us is a crime, not a duty.

    Mark Twain (1835-1910) American writer [pseud. of Samuel Clemens]
    Story (1905-02-02), “The Czar’s Soliloquy,” North American Review, Vol. 180, No. 580 (1905-03)

    More about this quote: wist.info/twain-mark/83904/


    #quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #marktwain #twain #absolutepower #abovethelaw #assassination #civilization #despotism #greatergood #killing #lawlessness #morality #ruleoflaw #tyranny #violence

  3. A quotation from Twain

    A strange thing, when one considers it: to wit, the world applies to Czar and System the same moral axioms that have vogue and acceptance in civilized countries! Because, in civilized countries, it is wrong to remove oppressors otherwise than by process of law, it is held that the same rule applies in Russia, where there is no such thing as law — except for our Family. Laws are merely restraints — they have no other function. In civilized countries they restrain all persons, and restrain them all alike, which is fair and righteous; but in Russia such laws as exist make an exception — our Family. We do as we please; we have done as we pleased for centuries. Our common trade has been crime, our common pastime murder, our common beverage blood — the blood of the nation. Upon our heads lie millions of murders. Yet the pious moralist says it is a crime to assassinate us. We and our uncles are a family of cobras set over a hundred and forty million rabbits, whom we torture and murder and feed upon all our days; yet the moralist urges that to kill us is a crime, not a duty.

    Mark Twain (1835-1910) American writer [pseud. of Samuel Clemens]
    Story (1905-02-02), “The Czar’s Soliloquy,” North American Review, Vol. 180, No. 580 (1905-03)

    More about this quote: wist.info/twain-mark/83904/


    #quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #marktwain #twain #absolutepower #abovethelaw #assassination #civilization #despotism #greatergood #killing #lawlessness #morality #ruleoflaw #tyranny #violence

  4. A quotation from Twain

    A strange thing, when one considers it: to wit, the world applies to Czar and System the same moral axioms that have vogue and acceptance in civilized countries! Because, in civilized countries, it is wrong to remove oppressors otherwise than by process of law, it is held that the same rule applies in Russia, where there is no such thing as law — except for our Family. Laws are merely restraints — they have no other function. In civilized countries they restrain all persons, and restrain them all alike, which is fair and righteous; but in Russia such laws as exist make an exception — our Family. We do as we please; we have done as we pleased for centuries. Our common trade has been crime, our common pastime murder, our common beverage blood — the blood of the nation. Upon our heads lie millions of murders. Yet the pious moralist says it is a crime to assassinate us. We and our uncles are a family of cobras set over a hundred and forty million rabbits, whom we torture and murder and feed upon all our days; yet the moralist urges that to kill us is a crime, not a duty.

    Mark Twain (1835-1910) American writer [pseud. of Samuel Clemens]
    Story (1905-02-02), “The Czar’s Soliloquy,” North American Review, Vol. 180, No. 580 (1905-03)

    More about this quote: wist.info/twain-mark/83904/


    #quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #marktwain #twain #absolutepower #abovethelaw #assassination #civilization #despotism #greatergood #killing #lawlessness #morality #ruleoflaw #tyranny #violence

  5. A quotation from Twain

    A strange thing, when one considers it: to wit, the world applies to Czar and System the same moral axioms that have vogue and acceptance in civilized countries! Because, in civilized countries, it is wrong to remove oppressors otherwise than by process of law, it is held that the same rule applies in Russia, where there is no such thing as law — except for our Family. Laws are merely restraints — they have no other function. In civilized countries they restrain all persons, and restrain them all alike, which is fair and righteous; but in Russia such laws as exist make an exception — our Family. We do as we please; we have done as we pleased for centuries. Our common trade has been crime, our common pastime murder, our common beverage blood — the blood of the nation. Upon our heads lie millions of murders. Yet the pious moralist says it is a crime to assassinate us. We and our uncles are a family of cobras set over a hundred and forty million rabbits, whom we torture and murder and feed upon all our days; yet the moralist urges that to kill us is a crime, not a duty.

    Mark Twain (1835-1910) American writer [pseud. of Samuel Clemens]
    Story (1905-02-02), “The Czar’s Soliloquy,” North American Review, Vol. 180, No. 580 (1905-03)

    More about this quote: wist.info/twain-mark/83904/


    #quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #marktwain #twain #absolutepower #abovethelaw #assassination #civilization #despotism #greatergood #killing #lawlessness #morality #ruleoflaw #tyranny #violence

  6. Official misconduct and abuse by goons towards people detained in the immigration detention system is more likely than ever to go unpunished by the Trump Administration:

    "Trump Administration Closes Watchdog Office For Immigration Detention Abuses. The Office of the Immigration Detention Ombudsman is in the process of removing all its public signage and ending its inspections":
    huffpost.com/entry/immigration
    #ICE #lawlessness #brutality #injustice #politics

  7. At least six Australian activists illegally detained by Israel navy in International Waters after Gaza flotilla boats intercepted

    And I'm sure Penny Wong & Anthony Albanese are 'hard at it' doing everything they can, from inviting Herzog over for another wining and dining session, to hiring yet another far-right "envoy" to dictate what our government *should* be doing (for Israel)... 🙄 🤦‍♂️ #AustraliaIsAShambles #CorruptionCentral

    theguardian.com/australia-news

    #CrimesAgainstHumanity #BoycottIsrael #HumanRights #News #AUSPol #Activism #Piracy #Flotilla #Kidnapping #Lawlessness

  8. Suspicious wagers on the US-Israel war in Iran are creating huge windfalls and raising concerns among lawmakers

    "Sixteen bets made $100,000 accurately predicting the timing of the US airstrikes against Iran on 27 February. Later, a single user would make over $550,000 after betting that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei would topple, just moments before his assassination by Israeli forces. On 7 April, right before DT announced a temporary ceasefire with Iran, traders bet $950m that oil prices would come down. They did."

    Two Words: 'Insider Trading'. The DT Regime is using anonymous accounts betting on wars they then start, the fall of leaders they then assassinate..

    theguardian.com/world/2026/apr

    #InsiderTrading #Corruption #Lawlessness #News #USPol #NoKings #NoIce #Activism #HumanRights #Law

  9. Suspicious wagers on the US-Israel war in Iran are creating huge windfalls and raising concerns among lawmakers

    "Sixteen bets made $100,000 accurately predicting the timing of the US airstrikes against Iran on 27 February. Later, a single user would make over $550,000 after betting that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei would topple, just moments before his assassination by Israeli forces. On 7 April, right before DT announced a temporary ceasefire with Iran, traders bet $950m that oil prices would come down. They did."

    Two Words: 'Insider Trading'. The DT Regime is using anonymous accounts betting on wars they then start, the fall of leaders they then assassinate..

    theguardian.com/world/2026/apr

    #InsiderTrading #Corruption #Lawlessness #News #USPol #NoKings #NoIce #Activism #HumanRights #Law

  10. Suspicious wagers on the US-Israel war in Iran are creating huge windfalls and raising concerns among lawmakers

    "Sixteen bets made $100,000 accurately predicting the timing of the US airstrikes against Iran on 27 February. Later, a single user would make over $550,000 after betting that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei would topple, just moments before his assassination by Israeli forces. On 7 April, right before DT announced a temporary ceasefire with Iran, traders bet $950m that oil prices would come down. They did."

    Two Words: 'Insider Trading'. The DT Regime is using anonymous accounts betting on wars they then start, the fall of leaders they then assassinate..

    theguardian.com/world/2026/apr

    #InsiderTrading #Corruption #Lawlessness #News #USPol #NoKings #NoIce #Activism #HumanRights #Law

  11. Suspicious wagers on the US-Israel war in Iran are creating huge windfalls and raising concerns among lawmakers

    "Sixteen bets made $100,000 accurately predicting the timing of the US airstrikes against Iran on 27 February. Later, a single user would make over $550,000 after betting that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei would topple, just moments before his assassination by Israeli forces. On 7 April, right before DT announced a temporary ceasefire with Iran, traders bet $950m that oil prices would come down. They did."

    Two Words: 'Insider Trading'. The DT Regime is using anonymous accounts betting on wars they then start, the fall of leaders they then assassinate..

    theguardian.com/world/2026/apr

    #InsiderTrading #Corruption #Lawlessness #News #USPol #NoKings #NoIce #Activism #HumanRights #Law

  12. Meet 21-year-old playing #bagpipes at #US #protests

    He played in both #LA & #Portland (once following the death of Alex #Pretti) Duffy is playing in the face of #violent tactics to #suppress #demonstrations against #trump – especially when #TearGas is deployed

    When asked how #police react, Duffy laughs, and says: “They’ve reacted pretty negatively”.

    thenational.scot/news/25873187

    #PoliceState #dictatorship #authoritarianism #trump #USAggression #lawlessness #fascism #oppression #Orwellian

  13. Meet 21-year-old playing #bagpipes at #US #protests

    He played in both #LA & #Portland (once following the death of Alex #Pretti) Duffy is playing in the face of #violent tactics to #suppress #demonstrations against #trump – especially when #TearGas is deployed

    When asked how #police react, Duffy laughs, and says: “They’ve reacted pretty negatively”.

    thenational.scot/news/25873187

    #PoliceState #dictatorship #authoritarianism #trump #USAggression #lawlessness #fascism #oppression #Orwellian

  14. Meet 21-year-old playing #bagpipes at #US #protests

    He played in both #LA & #Portland (once following the death of Alex #Pretti) Duffy is playing in the face of #violent tactics to #suppress #demonstrations against #trump – especially when #TearGas is deployed

    When asked how #police react, Duffy laughs, and says: “They’ve reacted pretty negatively”.

    thenational.scot/news/25873187

    #PoliceState #dictatorship #authoritarianism #trump #USAggression #lawlessness #fascism #oppression #Orwellian

  15. A quotation from Shakespeare

    Grant them removed, and grant that this your noise
    Hath chid down all the majesty of England;
    Imagine that you see the wretched strangers,
    Their babies at their backs and their poor luggage,
    Plodding tooth ports and costs for transportation,
    And that you sit as kings in your desires,
    Authority quite silent by your brawl,
    And you in ruff of your opinions clothed;
    What had you got? I’ll tell you. You had taught
    How insolence and strong hand should prevail,
    How order should be quelled; and by this pattern
    Not one of you should live an aged man,
    For other ruffians, as their fancies wrought,
    With self same hand, self reasons, and self right,
    Would shark on you, and men like ravenous fishes
    Would feed on one another.

    William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
    Sir Thomas More, Act 2, sc. 4, l. 55ff (c. 1592)

    More about this quote: wist.info/shakespeare-william/…

    #quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #shakespeare #williamshakespeare #anarchy #breakingthelaw #conflict #foreigners #immigration #insecurity #lawbreaking #lawlessness #mob #mobrule #mobviolence #riot #socialcontract #violence #xenophobia

  16. Antofagasta’s Lobbyists Deliver “An Outrageous Abuse” of the Congressional Review Act

    It’s a little hard to sit through the video of yesterday’s Rules Committee hearing on House Joint Resolution 140, but it’s worth it just to see Representative Teresa Leger Fernandez coax Pete Stauber to acknowledge that any copper Antofagasta pulls out of the ground in northern Minnesota is going to end up “on a boat, in China.” So I excerpted that moment, above. Stauber can keep smiling along with Leger Fernandez, because he has already built a “strong coalition,” as one Republican member says, and his testimony here is mostly kabuki theater (and not very good theater at that). Among Republicans, at least, the backroom deal is done. That doesn’t mean the resolution will gain majorities in both houses of Congress within the next sixty days, but it is going to take popular outcry, firm resolve, and coordination to defeat it – which is hard to muster, given everything else that’s going on right now.

    The most compelling arguments against Stauber’s resolution have less to do with mining or protecting the Boundary Waters specifically than with legislative process and the role of science in setting policy and guiding agency actions generally. The 20-year mineral withdrawal was grounded in science (despite Stauber’s bad faith complaints about something Deb Haaland once said), and more importantly the withdrawal allows for further scientific study of the effects of mining on the Rainy River watershed. Stauber relies on a sole, quasi-scientific opinion from the 1970s and pushes a resolution that would block any future withdrawal, no matter what current and future scientific study might show. “We don’t accept any new science” is how Representative Emily Randall rightly characterizes this position. 

    Never again can we learn from…new science. Never again will we learn how we might preserve and protect this place further. Never can we say, it turns out…the pollution was terrible, let’s do something different. The way this resolution is written doesn’t allow us.

    But “science is not static,” as Representative Mary Scanlon puts it; “if we were to approve this resolution…it blocks any future administration from taking action with respect to this property” or “address the harm” that mining in the watershed is going to cause. 

    If the resolution passes in both houses, the Congressional Review Act bars any future administration from reinstating the withdrawal without new legislation. The big question hanging over all this is whether the Congressional Review Act even covers this Public Land Order. Lately, Republicans have been relying on opinions issued by the General Accounting Office that say Public Land Orders count as “rules” (usually because of their economic impact) and can therefore be undone by congressional review. As Randall puts it, “this congress, the Trump administration, and Republican members of Congress have been using the CRA to overturn public land protections that have never before been considered rules by any administration.”

    This is exactly what Stauber is trying to do: convert the mineral withdrawal to a rule, or at least treat it as a rule. Reading from his prepared script, Stauber argues that the mineral withdrawal “is exactly the kind of action Congress intended to review [with] the CRA” because “the withdrawal substantially affects private companies and local economies by foreclosing leasing opportunities qualifying as substantive rule under the Administrative Procedure Act and the CRA.” This is a stretch, or, as Randall says, an abuse – an “outrageous abuse” – of legislative process and of the Congressional Review Act. The GAO has never declared this Public Land Order a rule, and, what’s more, Congress was notified of the withdrawal three years ago, as the Federal Land Policy and Management Act requires. Randall even waves around the letter Stauber was sent in 2023.

    It’s also curious, she continues, that Stauber and others were not making noise about the Congressional Review Act back then, and they haven’t until now. What changed? Randall points out that the Chilean owners of Twin Metals “have spent half a million dollars in lobbying this past year”; and with the latest lobbying disclosure by The Bernhardt Group showing revenues of $110,000 for Q4 2025, it’s pretty clear that “this backdoor, after-the-fact attempt to undo a public land order cannot withstand any scrutiny,” as she says.

    House Joint Resolution 140 is a plan cooked up on K Street, for a foreign mining company, and by a lobbying firm led by Trump’s former Secretary of the Interior.  Stauber is their errand boy.

    *Postscript: Today, just after I published this, the House voted to provide for consideration of the joint resolution. The vote was 213-210, with 5 Republicans and 3 Democrats not voting. Later in the day, the House passed the resolution, 214-208, with one Republican (Don Bacon of Nebraska) voting against and one Democrat (Jared Golden of Maine) voting for the resolution. Four Republicans and five Democrats did not vote.

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    #antiScience #BoundaryWaters #CongressionalReviewAct #corruption #ethics #lawlessness #lobbying #lobbyingDisclosures #mining #unlawful #Water
  17. On the Great Ukrainian Сorruption

    Ukraine's real power broker
    Dec 18, 2023

    But the graft that has long contaminated the country's political system unsettles Ukrainians far from the circles of power. "Huge corruption" is Ukraine's biggest problem, an 18-year-old at a Kyiv café told me bluntly. "I love Ukraine," she said — but she hesitates to give money to the military for fear a dishonest official will steal her donation. Earlier this year, investigative journalists revealed that the prices at which suppliers promised to deliver basics like potatoes and cabbage to Ukrainian troops were inflated two to three times beyond the purchase price reported to government tax officials.

    ...

    Before the war, Yermak came under fire for the air of corruption that seemed to surround him. In 2020, the Kyiv Post — in a scandal it dubbed "Yermakgate" (#^https://archive.kyivpost.com/article/opinion/op-ed/bohdan-nahaylo-yermakgate-scandal-rocks-zelensky-administration.html) — reported on videos of Yermak's younger brother, Denys, appearing to discuss bribes in return for landing people jobs with the government and state-controlled companies. "Andriy Yermak insists he was not involved,"

    ...

    Oligarchs have been deeply intertwined in Ukrainian politics ever since the fall of the Soviet Union three decades ago. The basic formula is simple. "A question of power is a question of money," Arestovych explained, "and a question of money is a question of power." The fancy term for this sleazy method of rule is "patronalism" — a feudal-like system in which rival clans, individually tied together by personal loyalties, predominate over the rule of law.
    Before Zelensky's rise to power, the business oligarchy in Ukraine, as in other post-Soviet countries, operated on a spoils system that amounted to might makes right. There was little incentive for an honest entrepreneur to launch a company with the knowledge that, with the company's success, one of the clans might muscle in on the venture and seize control, no matter what legal protections were on the books. As clan leaders became billionaires, through their capture of industrial and financial assets, Ukraine remained desperately poor, its wealth routinely pumped out of the country into offshore accounts. In 2018, the year before Zelensky's election, Ukraine ranked as the poorest country in Europe, with a GDP per capita income of just below $3,000 — 8% lower than that of Moldova, the second poorest.

    ...

    A decade later, on a second reporting trip to Odesa, I asked my Ukrainian companion for the name of the biggest owner of assets in the sprawling industrial city. The answer, he told me, was Ihor #Kolomoisky.
    Kolomoisky enjoyed a reputation as one of the most ruthless of the oligarchs in post-Soviet Ukraine. He had amassed substantial holdings in metals, banks, airlines, energy, and media. He was also connected to Zelensky: His 1+1 Media Group included a Ukrainian television channel that broadcast Zelensky's scripted shows and championed his run for the presidency. More than a few insiders in Kyiv's political, business, and media circles regarded Kolomoisky as the real victor of Zelensky's improbable triumph, the modern-day robber baron who would now run Ukraine behind his likable front man.

    ...

    Roman Ilto, another cosmopolitan type, works for the Swedish Embassy in Kyiv on energy and environmental issues. Unlike many critics of the oligarchs, he witnessed their rise firsthand. In the early 2000s, after studying at Harvard, he returned to Ukraine to work for a steel and mining company. That was his first exposure to "clan culture," he told me over breakfast at my hotel in central Kyiv. In those days, listening to the incessant talk about the rivalry between Kolomoisky and #Akhmetov, he began to understand oligarchs as the organizing principle of Ukrainian political and economic life. In 2016, he joined Ukrnafta, the state-controlled oil and natural-gas giant, and spent nearly seven years there, including stints as head of government relations and investor relations.
    Since the war began, Ilto said, control of the energy sector has been seized by a "nascent" oligarchic clan led by Yermak. Under a national security decree issued by Zelensky, the state had assumed full ownership of Ukrnafta and other strategically important companies.

    ...

    Ilto flagged another top Yermak deputy, Rostyslav #Shurma, who served the Akhmetov clan for years before assuming oversight of energy and other sectors of the economy for the Office for the President. Like Oleh #Tatarov, Shurma is cited in Kyiv circles as another cog in the Yermak machine. "He kind of acts as a cashier for Yermak and the Office of President," said an ex-Zelensky government official who declined to go on the record for fear, he said, of becoming a target of the Yermak team. In a lengthy September piece, Ukrainska Pravda portrayed Shurma as a mini-empire builder. The paper, which is owned by a private-equity firm headed by a Czech-born businessman who served on the board of Transparency International Ukraine, cited a "scandal" in which the state bought electricity from solar plants co-owned by Shurma's brother, even though the plants were no longer connected to the Ukraine energy grid. Asked by Time about the matter, Shurma called it a "piece of shit" thrown at him by Zelensky's political enemies.

    ...

    For #Biden, the issue of political corruption in Ukraine is both deeply familiar and especially thorny. As vice president, Biden handled the Ukraine portfolio for the Obama administration from 2009 to 2017. In 2015, a career State Department official raised concerns with a Biden aide that Hunter Biden's service on the board of the energy firm #Burisma could complicate President Barack Obama's efforts to prod Kyiv into battling corruption. But the official, who later related the story in closed-door testimony to Congress, said the aide told him Joe Biden did not have the "bandwidth" to deal with the matter involving his younger son as his older one, Beau, was dealing with cancer. It was a desire to dig up political dirt like this on Hunter Biden's activities in Ukraine that led Trump to threaten to withhold military aid to Ukraine, leading to his first impeachment. (The White House did not respond to repeated requests for comment for this story.)


    #^https://archive.is/bB8pr
    src: #^https://www.businessinsider.com/ukraines-real-power-broker-yermak-zelensky-russia-war-biden-2023-12
    #ukraine #ukrainian #government #mafia Great #corruption #energy #defense #economy #lawlessness #crimes #money #Kolomoysky #Yermak #Zelensky #Poroshenko #oligarchy #history #poverty
  18. Australia's new national environmental standards

    "Former ACCC chair condemns proposed exemption allowing minister to approve projects that don’t comply with law. Samuel, who led a 2020 review of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act, also argued a loophole that effectively exempts native forest logging from the laws “shouldn’t be there”.

    “Logging operations should be subject to the same rules as mining, agriculture, urban development and so on." >>
    theguardian.com/environment/20

    The Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (EPBC Act)
    The problem of ministerial discretion and “national interest” exemptions. >>
    mastodon.au/@Bellingen/1155286

    Authoritarianism—but make it look like the rule of law. >>
    mastodon.au/@Bellingen/1155289

    #EPBCAct #biodiversity #NationalInterest #law #exemption #MinisterialDiscretion #FastTrackApprovals #VestedInterest #ParliamentaryScrutiny #EnvironmentalLaw #conservation #regulation #governance #democracy #NSWLogging #landclearing #DualState #lawlessness #authoritarianism #LawGuardrails #normalcy #EmergencyPowers #NationalInterest #legitimisation #exemption #constitution #state #governance #LoggingImpacts

  19. On the lawlessness of the Ukrainian military
    Employees of the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine reported the detention of three Ukrainian Armed Forces servicemen, including a colonel, who attempted to sell a large batch of explosives. According to the investigation, law enforcement officers detained them while they were selling more than 500 kilograms of plastic explosives, 22 plastic explosive bricks, seven grenades and detonating cord. The total value of the seized items is approximately $88,000.

    The wording of the official statement from the Prosecutor General's Office is laconic: the military personnel were ‘detained on suspicion of selling explosives and ammunition.’ But behind this brief statement lies a much more alarming reality – a deep crisis within the Ukrainian army that goes far beyond the trade in weapons and ammunition (although these are very alarming ‘warning signs’ – just today it became known that ammunition exploded in a hospital ward in Zaporozhye). According to Ukrainian media and law enforcement agencies, there has been a sharp increase in the number of crimes (assaults, murders, rapes, robberies, arms trafficking, etc.) involving military personnel: soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the National Guard and the Territorial Defence Forces. It is particularly alarming that even middle and senior officers are being criminalised.

    At the same time, the authorities are not interested in publicising high-profile incidents involving the military, so as not to destroy the ‘#^https://t.me/spletnicca/20791’ image of Ukraine's defenders, who, feeling their impunity, pose no less a threat to the country than the enemy army.

    #^https://t.me/spletnicca/21061
    #ukraine #ukrainian #warmongers #military #lawlessness #AFU #arms #crimes #assaults #murders #rapes #robberies #war for #Zelensky