BLACKWATER USA | DAILY BRIEF

Posted by BW Actual on Oct 20th 2022

BLACKWATER USA | DAILY BRIEF

Ukraine / Russia

  • Pres. Putin declared martial law in the four Ukrainian regions he illegally sought to annex and only partially controls. The declaration allows Russian and pro-Russian authorities in those regions to impose curfews, seize property, and generally stifle dissent in the four regions.
  • A Russian defense analyst accidentally acknowledged on live TV that the drones wreaking havoc on Ukrainian cities and infrastructure are Iranian: “we all know they are Iranian but the authorities will not admit it.” He then erased his memory of making that comment, blaming his forgetfulness on COVID.
  • Most Russian officials maintain that those drones in Ukraine are not, in fact, Iranian, and Russia’s ambassador to the UN loudly denounced the UN investigation into the question as “illegitimate.”
  • Norway has arrested seven Russians over the past few days for illegally flying (non-Iranian, non-armed) drones or capturing photos in restricted parts of the Svalbard archipelago in the far north. Norway’s alerts are up because the apparent sabotage of the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines recently has it worried about attacks on the offshore energy projects in the archipelago.
  • A Russian Su-27 fighter jet released a missile in frightening proximity to a British RC-135W Rivet Joint reconnaissance plane. Moscow blamed the incident on a technical failure.

Iran

  • A 16-year-old Iranian girl died after security forces allegedly beat her for refusing to sing a cheerleading tune for Ayatollah Khamenei. As in the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody – which sparked the ongoing protests – authorities denied responsibility for the girl’s death.

Mozambique

  • Suspected Islamist militants attacked a Gemfields ruby mine in northern Mozambique, driving the company to evacuate the site and pause operations. Attacks like this on foreign-owned businesses have become less frequent as security has modestly improved in the region, but clearly haven’t stopped altogether.

DRC

  • Pres. Tshisekedi named a new head of military operations in North Equateur Province, and his choice was dead on arrival: Maj. Gen. Floribert Kisembo was killed in a 2011 operation.
  • Human Rights Watch says the Congolese army backed groups that were implicated in serious human rights abuses during operations against M23 rebels in North Kivu between May and August 2022. The army and several armed militias recently joined forces to fight the M23, which DRC says enjoys Rwandan backing.

Other News

  • Liz Truss resigned as UK Prime Minister after just 44 days in office – which is the exact same number of days David Blaine spent suspended in a glass box over the Thames in a 2003 stunt. Truss’s nascent government bungled economic policy with a failed tax package it quickly reversed.
  • New EU data showed a 11% rise in consumer prices year-over-year, driven in part by 16% inflation in food prices. The war in Ukraine was a significant factor driving energy and grain prices upwards, and EU countries closest to Ukraine had especially high inflation.
  • Palestinians are striking in anger over the death of a 22-year-old terrorist who Israeli forces shot dead after he shot at them first. He was the same man who killed an Israeli soldier and wounded another at the Shuafat refugee camp in East Jerusalem on Oct. 8.