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[martinuzz]

Prime minister Magdalena Andersson of Sweden wants to apply for NATO membership at the coming NATO summit in Madrid, in june.

Meanwhile in Finland, the parliament will debate this week whether they want to apply for NATO membership as well.

[brewer bob]

Meanwhile in Finland, the parliament will debate this week whether they want to apply for NATO membership as well.

I'm quite certain Finland will join NATO. The public discussions have overwhelmingly been in support, and the downsides haven't really been on the table. It's been an extremely one-sided discussion so far.

[brewer bob]

BBC reports that the Finnish PM says it's a matter of weeks, not months, when Finland decides to join NATO or not.

Spoiler: from BBC live updates (click to show/hide)

Nato decision within weeks, not months - Finnish PM

Finland will make a decision within weeks on whether to join Nato, its prime minister has confirmed.

Sanna Marin was speaking at a joint news conference in Stockholm with her Swedish counterpart, Magdalena Andersson.

Previously, most Finns had not wanted to join Nato, but latest polls have suggested a change in opinion.

Sweden is also considering signing up to the 30-member Western military alliance.

Russia has warned both countries against the idea, arguing that it would not bring stability to Europe.

Moscow said it launched its invasion in part to try and deter Ukraine from joining the alliance.

[Loud Whispers]

How tf is Putin going to argue for stabiliy at this point lmao

It's like a bank robber urging everyone to keep depositing their money mid robbery

[Starver]

How tf is Putin going to argue for stabiliy at this point lmao

It's like a bank robber urging everyone to keep depositing their money mid robbery

(Well, better for them than losing their valuables directly...  It perpendicularly reminds me of the old joke: Jock and Angus are walking through a rough part of town. A figure jumps out on them with a knife and demands all their money. Jock calmly reaches into his pocket and gives all his loose change to Angus, saying "Here's what I owed you from last week...")



Ukraine already couldn't realistically join NATO, until it fully gave up its ongoing claims upon Crimea and (depending upon how much Russian finger could provably be shown to be in the Donbas pie) the other long-term 'debatable' bits. Invading (effectively) the rest of Ukraine was not really a viable enhancement of that scenario. Not worth the net costs, it turns out, and I'm not sure even the 'planned' scenario (e.g. quickly changing the regime to a Kremlin-aligned leadership with help from their 'peacekeeper' forces, fait accomplis, leaving very little of the old nation to rally behind in response, except sour tastes in various mouths) was properly and objectively assessed.

[martinuzz]

Biden and Zelenski spoke with each other today.
Biden agreed to supply another 800 million dollars worth of military equipment, including helicopters, artillery, armoured vehicles and munitions.

[Strongpoint]

A Russian cruiser which was famously defied by Ukrainian troops on a small island at the start of the war has been hit by Ukrainian rockets in the Black Sea, according to Ukrainian officials.

The Moskva, the flagship of the Black Sea Fleet, received "very serious damage", Odesa regional governor Maksym Marchenko said.

"It has been confirmed that the missile cruiser Moskva today went exactly where it was sent by our border guards on Snake Island!" he said.

___________________

Heh. I do hope it is true. (It will be rather embarrassing if Russians will show it undamaged tomorrow)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

 

[martinuzz]

Very possible, with the latest arms deliveries including long range anti-ship weaponry

[Strongpoint]

Very possible, with the latest arms deliveries including long range anti-ship weaponry

Actually, it is claimed that it was a Ukrainian anti-ship missile - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neptune_(cruise_missile)

[KittyTac]

Spoiler: A step in the right direction, we need more events like this, whoever did this is a hero and I say this as a Russian (click to show/hide)

[EuchreJack]

Good job Junior Reporters, keep it up!

[martinuzz]

Russian artist Alexandra Skochilenko has been arrested for a protest action.
She went into a supermarket, and replaced the price tags on products with her own pricetags, which were exactly the same, with added criticism of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The St. Petersburg court ordained that she is to be held in police custody until her case goes to court, May 31.
She faces up to 10 years in prison for 'spreading fake news about the military'.


These prison sentences might seem harsh, and deter people from protesting. But realize this: When your government falls, you will be released.

[MaxTheFox]

No interest in getting beaten and raped by police, especially given that my city is thousands of kilometers away from Moscow and thus nobody else is protesting because there's even less chance of it escalating into a bloody revolution.

[martinuzz]

Russia warns NATO that if Sweden and Finland join, Russia will take action in the Baltics, and place nuclear weapons there.
According to Russia, the Baltics were a nuclear free zone to reduce the chance of nuclear escalation.

Lithuania calls their bullshit, saying Russia already has plenty of nuclear weapons in the Baltic Sea area.

[brewer bob]

BBC reports that Ukraine fears children taken to Russia might be subjected to child trafficking.

Spoiler: from BBC live updates (click to show/hide)

Ukraine voices fears over child trafficking

Ukraine's foreign ministry says it is concerned that children taken to Russia, including those orphaned during the conflict, could be given up for adoption by Russian families, the Interfax Ukraine news agency reports.

It says the ministry claims there are reports that authorities in the self-proclaimed republics of Donetsk and Luhansk are planning to sign deals with Russia's education ministry to traffic children from those regions.

In a letter to the UNHCR, UNICEF, the Red Cross and other agencies, the foreign ministry describes such actions as kidnapping.