Just Like Last Time

 

Stealth Bombers Reportedly Deploying To America's "Unsinkable Carrier"

The U.S. is reportedly deploying stealth bombers to a tiny island—often referred to as Washington's "unsinkable aircraft carrier"—located between Africa and Indonesia, about 1,000 miles south of India. The island offers stealth bombers strategic access to the Middle East, Central and South Asia, and the Indian Ocean. The move comes as President Trump launches a new campaign against Iran-backed Houthi rebels, who have attacked more than 100 merchant vessels with missiles and drones in the critical maritime chokepoint known as the Bab al-Mandab Strait. 

Via Maritime expert Noam Raydan

Several open-source intelligence X accounts, including TheIntelFrog, Open Source Intel, and OSINTdefender, report that Northrop B-2 Spirit stealth bombers, large transport jets, and refueling planes have arrived or are currently en route to the military base on Diego Garcia. 

"A significant buildup is happening in Diego Garcia At least 5 USAF B-2 Spirits and 7 C-17A Globemaster IIIs have arrived over the last 3 days, or are currently en route to the island. For reference: Diego Garcia is the red pin on the map," TheIntelFrog wrote on X. 

More from TheIntelFrog:

 

HHS Releases Tool To Search For Chemical Contaminants In Foods

Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and one of its offices have released a new tool that lets people see the levels of contaminants in various foods, such as fruits and vegetables.

Then-Secretary of Health and Human Services nominee Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. testifies before the Senate Committee on Finance on Capitol Hill in Washington on Jan. 29, 2025. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

The tool is an online searchable database that lists contaminant levels. Unveiled on March 20, it lets users filter by contaminant type as well as food category, with examples including milk, pistachios, and bananas.

“HHS is committed to radical transparency to give Americans authentic, informed consent about what they are eating,” Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said in a statement. “This new Chemical Contaminants Transparency Tool is a critical step for industry to Make America Healthy Again.”

Since being tapped by President Donald Trump to lead HHS, Kennedy has vowed to remove toxic chemicals from the U.S. food supply as part of an agenda dubbed Make America Healthy Again, also known as MAHA.

Trump in February, after Kennedy was sworn in, established the Make America Health Again Commission. He directed the commission to, among other tasks, “assess the threat that potential over-utilization of medication, certain food ingredients, certain chemicals, and certain other exposures pose to children with respect to chronic inflammation or other established mechanisms of disease, using rigorous and transparent data, including international comparisons.”

Language Barrier?

 

Russia Says Ukraine Continually Striking Energy Sites In Violation Of Trump Agreement

Russia has charged that Ukraine has continued deliberate strikes on Russian energy facilities, in violation of the 30-day agreement both warring sides made with President Trump last week, to temporarily halt such attacks.

"Ukraine continues to attack Russian civilian infrastructure, proving that Kiev does not actually want peace," Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has charged.

Via TASS

Both Russian and Ukrainian leaders agreed in separate phone calls with Trump days ago to halt such assaults on energy infrastructure. But the Russian Defense Ministry has since said multiple waves of drones strikes have targeted oil and gas facilities.

Russian sources have identified that among the locations hit was the Kropotkinskaya oil pumping station in Russia’s Krasnodar Region. It was struck in the early hours of Monday.

"The station is operated by the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC), which works with US energy giants such as Mobil and Chevron," Russian media details. "Russian air defense systems intercepted a Ukrainian attack UAV some 7km from the facility, with fragments falling in the area of a railway station, according to the Defense Ministry."

In its latest Tuesday update, the defense ministry said, "Against the backdrop of Russian-US expert-level talks on the topic of settling the conflict in Ukraine that took place in Riyadh on March 24, the Kiev regime continued to deliberately strike Russian peaceful energy infrastructure facilities using UAVs."

The military issued a list of the latest sites impacted as follows:

• On March 24, the Kiev regime carried out a drone strike against Rosseti Kuban energy facilities in Krasnodar region, disrupting the "Rostov NPP - Tikhoretsk" power line.
• In the Lugansk People's Republic, Ukrainian forces attacked the "Svatovo" gas distribution station with drones.
• In Crimea, air defenses intercepted a UAV targeting equipment at Glebovskoye underground gas storage facility.

Going To Learn Today

 

Rand Paul: Trump Is Right To End Education Department; I Want "NFL Of Teachers"

Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news,

Appearing on Face The Nation Sunday, Senator Rand Paul told viewers that the Education Department hasn’t done enough to justify its existence and President Trumps is right to end it.

When asked by activist anchor Margaret Brennan whether low-income schools would continue to receive federal subsidies if the Department is closed, Paul responded “I think the bigger question is, if we’re sending all this money to Kentucky and all the other states, why are our scores abysmal?” 

“Why do two-thirds of the kids not read at proficiency? Why do two-thirds of the kids or more not have math proficiency?” Paul further urged.

“It’s been an utter failure,” Paul continued, adding “I’d leave it back to the states. It has always been a position, a very mainstream Republican position, to have control of the schools by the states, send the money back to the states, or, better yet, never take it from the states.”

“When I talk to teachers, they chafe at the national mandates on testing, they think are not appropriate for their kids,” the Senator explained, adding “They think they waste too much time teaching to national testing. The teachers would like more autonomy, and I think the teachers deserve more autonomy.”

Get To Work

 

The Golden Dome: We Have The Tools To Build It Right Now

Authored by Tory Bruno via RealClearWire,

Recently during President Trump’s State of the Union, he declared: “As commander in chief, my focus is on building the most powerful military of the future. As a first step, I’m asking Congress to fund a state-of-the-art Golden Dome missile defense shield to protect our homeland, all made in the USA.”

Also referred to as an “Iron Dome,” a Golden Dome is a pretty awesome rebranding of the current Israeli missile defense system and a new initiative to protect the US from missile and hypersonic attack. President Trump is right—we absolutely want one, and it is finally possible.

Ballistic missiles are the weapons of choice for our adversaries to strike the U.S. homeland from far away. Our most sophisticated adversaries are also developing the dreaded maneuvering hypersonic weapon which is capable of defeating today’s missile defenses.

A ballistic missile would arrive in minutes, be hard to see, and come in blisteringly fast. That’s because they are launched with rockets, the fasted delivery systems on earth, making this threat really tough to counter. Enter the missile defense interceptor.

If you want to stop a rocket, you use another rocket. An interceptor flies out at high velocity into the path of the incoming warhead, destroying it in midair. Its radar detects an incoming warhead and alerts your Battle Management System that aims and fires. All this only takes a few minutes. It’s like shooting clay pigeons. The interceptor is wicked fast, but so is the warhead, so we aim at a point in front of the target, so they arrive at that spot together.

Red Tape Factory

 

Nationwide Injunctions Pit Executive Versus Judicial Authority

Authored by Sam Dorman via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

President Donald Trump’s agenda has been slowed by a long list of orders issued by federal judges against his policies. Those orders include many that are nationwide in scope.

Illustration by The Epoch Times, Shutterstock, Getty Images

Dubbed nationwide or universal injunctions, they are considered extraordinary because they allow a single judge to block national policies. Nationwide orders have increasingly been used by judges in recent years, prompting pushback from presidential administrations.

Trump recently denounced their use and asked the Supreme Court to intervene.

“Unlawful Nationwide Injunctions by Radical Left Judges could very well lead to the destruction of our Country!” the president said in a March 20 post on Truth Social. “These people are Lunatics, who do not care, even a little bit, about the repercussions from their very dangerous and incorrect Decisions and Rulings.”

Judges have defended the broad scope of the injunctions, saying they’re necessary to avoid purported harms resulting from executive action.

Critics, meanwhile, argue that courts are exceeding their authority, even as lawyers “shop” for favorable judges who are likely to agree with their policy preferences.

While the Supreme Court has yet to address this issue, it could have the final say, as challenges to Trump’s actions make their way up the appeals process.

Rise in Nationwide Injunctions

According to a study by the Harvard Law Review, the number of universal orders has increased in recent years.

Most come from judges appointed by a president from the opposing party to the one in the White House.

The trend, the study said, has been fueled by “judge shopping,” where plaintiffs strategically file lawsuits before judges they view as more favorable to their case.

Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama saw six and 12 universal injunctions, respectively, during their terms.

That number increased to 64 during Trump’s first term—59 of which came from a judge appointed by a president of the opposing party.

President Joe Biden, meanwhile, saw a slightly higher number than Obama with 14—all of them coming from judges appointed by a president of the opposing party.

Children’s Hospital Los Angeles on Feb. 6, 2025. Following President Donald Trump’s executive order restricting gender-related procedures for minors, the hospital announced on Feb. 4 that it would pause the initiation of hormone therapy for patients under 19 while it reviews the order “to fully understand its implications.” Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images

Judges have defended the nationwide scope of their rulings.

“The reason the Executive Orders are unconstitutional—namely that, at minimum, they violate the separation of powers—are applicable to jurisdictions throughout the country,” U.S. District Judge Brendan Hurson said in February while blocking Trump’s order on so-called gender-affirming care. 

It Worked

 

British Chat Forums Shutter To Avoid New Internet Policing Law

Authored by Owen Evans via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

British chat forums are shutting themselves down rather than face regulatory burdens recently applied to internet policing laws.

On March 17, the United Kingdom’s Online Safety Act, a law that regulates internet spaces, officially kicked into force.

Illustration by The Epoch Times, LFGSS, Lemmy.zip, The Hamster Forum, Dads with Kids/Screenshot via The Epoch Times

The law means that online platforms must immediately start putting in place measures to protect people in the UK from criminal activity with far-reaching implications for the internet.

However, for some forums—from cyclists, hobbyists, and hamster owners, to divorced father support and more—the regulatory pressure is proving too much, and its myriad of rules are causing chat forums that have been operating for decades, in some cases, to call it a day.

Conservative Peer Lord Daniel Moylan told The Epoch Times by email that “common sense suggests the sites least likely to survive will be hobby sites, community sites, and the like.”

‘Small But Risky Services’

The Act—which was celebrated as the world-first online safety law—was designed to ensure that tech companies take more responsibility for the safety of their users.

For example, social media platforms, including user-to-user service providers, have the duty to proactively police harmful illegal content such as revenge and extreme pornography, sex trafficking, harassment, coercive or controlling behavior, and cyberstalking.

But what the government calls “small but risky services” which are often forums, have to submit illegal harms risk assessments to the Online Safety Act’s regulator, Ofcom, by March 31.

Ofcom first published its illegal harm codes of practice and guidance in December 2024 and had given providers three months to carry out the assignment.

Riverside House is seen along the waterfront on Bankside in London on July 27, 2010. It houses the United Kingdom’s Office of Communications. Jim Linwood/Flickr, CC BY 2.0

It was given powers under the law and warned that those who fail to do so may face enforcement action.

“We have strong enforcement powers at our disposal, including being able to issue fines of up to 10 percent of turnover or £18 million ($23 million)—whichever is greater—or to apply to a court to block a site in the UK in the most serious cases,” said Ofcom.

Take Them Back

 

Maduro Bends The Knee: Venezuela Agrees To Resume US Deportation Flights Of Illegal Immigrants

Authored by Melanie Sun via The Epoch Times,

Venezuela has said it will once again accept U.S. repatriation flights carrying its nationals deported for illegally entering the United States.

Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro announced that a deal had been reached in a televised address on Saturday.

“Tomorrow, thanks to the government’s perseverance, we'll resume flights to continue rescuing and freeing migrants from prisons in the United States,” Maduro said.

Venezuela’s Parliament President and chief negotiator with the United States, Jorge Rodriguez, said in a statement on social media, “We have agreed with the U.S. government to resume the repatriation of Venezuelan migrants with an initial flight tomorrow, Sunday.”

This will prevent illegal immigrants who are Venezuelan nationals from being deported to detention centers in El Salvador, as well as guarantee “the return of our compatriots to their nation with the safeguard of their Human Rights,” he said, referring to Venezuelan gang members currently detained in El Salvador.

“Migrating isn’t a crime, and we won’t rest until everyone who wants to return is back and we rescue our kidnapped brothers in El Salvador,” Rodriguez added.

The Epoch Times has contacted the White House for comment.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio threatened on March 18 further harsh sanctions after Maduro on March 8 suspended taking in repatriation flights in response to the U.S. Treasury Department’s withdrawal of Chevron’s license to participate in Venezuela’s oil

A diplomatic spat erupted, with the United States threatening to send criminal illegal immigrants from Venezuela to El Salvador for detention if Caracas would not accept them.

Some 350 Venezuelan nationals had already been deported back home as part of Trump’s rapid deportation program that prioritizes removing illegal immigrants who are violent criminals or terrorists. Among them were some 180 alleged to be Tren de Aragua members who spent up to 16 days at the U.S. naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Old Europe Is Breaking

 

Europe's Reported Plan To Replace The US In NATO Ignores The Interests Of Five Key Countries

Authored by Andrew Korybko via substack,

It’s strongly implied that Poland, the Baltic States, and Romania prefer to remain under the US’ security umbrella...

The Financial Times (FT) cited four unnamed European officials to report that “European military powers work on 5-10 year plan to replace US in Nato”. The UK, France, Germany, and the Nordic nations are named as those that want to present this proposal to the US during the next NATO Summit in June. They also reported that some countries have refused to participate in these talks either out of fear that this could encourage the US to move faster in this regard or due to their belief that it won’t abandon Europe.

FT is likely referring to Poland, the Baltic States, and Romania, the most important countries on NATO’s eastern flank, all of whom prefer to remain under the US’ security umbrella. Poland’s recent flirtation with France could herald a full-blown pivot if the ruling liberal-globalists win May’s presidential election, but for now it functions as an attempt to rebalance ties with the US amidst uncertainty over its future plans. It can also be seen as a misguided negotiation tactic to keep and expand the US’ military presence.

As for the Baltic States, they have a diehard pro-American elite, and they’ll only realign towards the EU in the event that they’re forced to do so by Trump unilaterally curtailing or even totally removing US troops from their territories as part of a grand deal with Russia. Meanwhile, Romania notably rebuffed France’s proposal to extend its nuclear umbrella over the rest of the continent, which can be interpreted as placing more faith in the US than in Europe in the scenario of a crisis with Russia over Moldova.

If these five countries continue perceiving their national interests in these ways, which would require Poland’s ruling liberal-globalists not to pivot to France if they win the presidency (their opponents are comparatively more pro-US), then an intra-NATO European rift would emerge. France and Germany, which are competing amongst themselves and with Poland for leadership of post-conflict Europe, could then find their envisaged influence over Central & Eastern Europe (CEE) challenged by the US.

From Estonia down to Romania and possibly as far as Bulgaria and even Greece, the penultimate of which pivoted to the US long ago against the will of its Russophilic population while the last needs the US to keep Turkiye’s maritime claims as bay, NATO’s eastern flank would fall under US influence. This so-called “cordon sanitaire” could then serve the dual purpose of retaining US influence in this geostrategic part of Europe as it “Pivots (back) to Asia” while also keeping Western Europe and Russia divided.

Deepstate In Denial

 

DOJ Probes Classified Intel Leak To New York Times Challenging Deportation Of Venezuelan Gang Members

Authored by Tom Ozimek via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

The Justice Department announced Friday that it has opened a criminal investigation into a leak of classified intelligence regarding the Tren de Aragua gang—information that was reported by The New York Times and appears to challenge the legal foundation for President Donald Trump’s recent deportation efforts targeting the violent transnational gang.

In this image from video, Todd Blanche testifies during his confirmation hearing in Washington on Feb. 12, 2025. He was later confirmed as deputy attorney general. The Epoch Times via Senate Judiciary Committee

In a statement issued March 21, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche confirmed that the Department of Justice (DOJ) is investigating what he called the “selective leak of inaccurate, but nevertheless classified” intelligence about Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan gang that the State Department has designated a foreign terrorist organization.

The gang has become a key focus of Trump’s immigration and national security agenda. On March 15, Trump invoked the 1798 Alien Enemies Act—a rarely used wartime law—to declare members of Tren de Aragua “alien enemies” invading the United States in coordination with the Venezuelan regime.

The proclamation allows for their immediate arrest and deportation without standard due process protections. However, this move has faced legal challenges and public scrutiny.

The New York Times reported Thursday that a leaked intelligence document dated Feb. 26 challenges the legal basis for Trump’s designation of the criminal group as “alien enemies.”

According to the document, analysts assessed with “moderate confidence” that the gang is not acting under the direction or in coordination with the Venezuelan government—a key assertion in Trump’s proclamation. The Epoch Times has not independently verified the leaked report.

Trump’s proclamation described the group as part of a “hybrid criminal state” conducting a “predatory incursion” into the United States.

Blanche strongly condemned the leak, calling it a politically motivated effort by elements of the “Deep State” to derail Trump’s crackdown on Tren de Aragua’s criminal activities in the United States and his efforts to quickly deport dangerous terrorists.

Burgers For Bullets

 

Ukraine's Military Issues Bizarre Recruitment Ad Featuring McDonald's Cheeseburgers

Immense controversy and backlash has been unleashed in Ukraine after the country's defense ministry decided to make a fresh recruitment video on TikTok, bizarrely using the 'lure' of McDonald's. The clip appeared this week on the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense's official channel.

Desperately seeking to gain more young recruits into the army's depleting ranks, also at a moment that disturbing videos showing conscription officers yanking Ukrainian men off the streets and shoving them into vans are going viral, the new video clip informs Ukrainians how many cheeseburgers they can afford at McDonald's by joining the fight against Russia.

A man in civilian clothes walks out of a local McDonald's and poses, "How many cheeseburgers can be bought for 1 million hryvnas ($24,000)?" The man then says that 15,625 burgers can be bought for that amount, and that any person between the ages of 18-24 who signs up for military service can get it. Currently the military is offering "special contracts" for new volunteers, promising the equivalent of $24,000 for a year’s service, with $5,400 paid up front. One commenter on X has quipped, "Imagine getting yourself shot in the trenches for a happy meal." Watch the controversial and strange video below, with translation and captions:

Natural

 

Is Europe Going To Break Apart?

 

Outrage After German Intel Chief Says Ukraine War Should Keep Going For Another 5 Years

Via Remix News,

The Ukraine war has already cost hundreds of thousands of lives, but Germany’s top intelligence chief is predicting far more carnage, and Ukraine’s opposition is reacting with outrage.

Bruno Kahl, the head of the Federal Intelligence Service (BND) made the comments in an interview, saying:

“If a war in Ukraine comes to a standstill earlier than (2029 or 2030), then all the means (of Russia) – both the technical and the material – are able much earlier to provide a threat against Europe.”

In Ukraine, this portion of the interview has been met with sharp backlash.

German newspaper Berliner Zeitung now asks: 

“Will the war be waged on the backs of the Ukraine?” 

Perhaps a ridiculous question concerning it has already been waged on their backs for the last three years.

The paper further writes:

“In Ukraine, that passage is causing excitement. The reading in Kyiv: The German intelligence chief publicly declares that the Ukraine war should not end before 2029. Otherwise, Russia could use its resources faster to pose a threat to Europe.”

In other words, a peace deal would not benefit Europe if it happens before the next five years. Instead, the German chief hints that it is in Europe’s interest to continue sending waves of Ukrainian men to die at the front.

The former prime minister of Ukraine, who still remains one of the most powerful voices in the country, Yulia Tymoshenko, reacted to Kahl’s statements. On her Facebook page, she wrote that “something slipped” out of Kahl’s mouth that Ukrainians “did not want to admit” to themselves.

Land-Mines For Poland

 

Poland To Lay Up To 1 Million Anti-Personnel Mines On Its Eastern Border, Says Deputy Defense Minister

Authored by Thomas Brooke via Remix News,

Poland is preparing to lay up to one million anti-personnel mines along its eastern border as part of its newly announced East Shield defense initiative, according to Paweł Bejda, secretary of state at the Ministry of National Defense.

The decision comes as Poland, alongside Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia, withdraws from the Ottawa Convention, which bans the use, production, and transfer of such mines.

“We have no choice. The situation at the border is very serious. Mines will be one of the elements of the East Shield,” Bejda stated in an interview with RMF FM, highlighting Poland’s increasing focus on fortifying its defenses against potential threats from Russia and Belarus.

Poland, along with its Baltic allies, recently announced its withdrawal from the Ottawa Convention, citing the need for stronger border security.

“We do not have anti-personnel mines. They have to be produced — we have such capabilities. We want these mines to be manufactured in Poland,” Bejda said, revealing that the state-owned PGZ Group will oversee their production. 

He estimated that Poland may need between several hundred thousand and one million mines, with the withdrawal process from the Ottawa Treaty potentially taking up to nine

Good times

 

US, Japan & South Korea Conduct Military Drills Aimed At Kim Jong Un

Via The Libertarian Institute 

For the first time under President Donald Trump, the US military engaged in trilateral exercises with Japan and South Korea. The move will be viewed as a provocation by the DPRK, which views US-led war games in the region as preparation for regime change in Pyongyang.

On Thursday, US Indo-Pacific Command announced that it had wrapped up four days of military drills in the East China Sea with the two allies. This week’s war games "build upon the regular, increasingly complex trilateral cooperation of the three nations, including the January 2025 trilateral bomber escort flights, as the three nations continue integration across the Joint Force," INDOPACOM explained in a press release.

It added, "This current activity builds on previous exercises like Freedom Edge and our continuing operations together, advancing doctrine as well as tactics, techniques and procedures among our combined forces."

The games were led by the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier strike group. The South Korean Defense Ministry said the latest drills were also meant to prepare for conflict with North Korea.

"The exercise focused on enhancing trilateral cooperation for South Korea, the US and Japan’s deterrence and response capabilities against North Korea’s nuclear, missile and underwater threats and… bolstering their maritime security capacity," the ministry said in a statement.

Historically, US war games alongside South Korea often provoke a military response from the North, including retaliatory drills and weapon tests.

In response to the Vinson’s arrival in South Korea last month, Kim Yo-jong, the sister of Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un, said that Washington "is repeatedly committing provocative acts that ignore North Korea’s security concerns and worsen the situation."

M.I.C. Check

 

Boeing Will Build US Air Force's Next-Gen Stealth Fighter Jet, Trump Announces

President Trump on Friday announced that the U.S. Air Force had awarded Boeing a contract to develop the U.S. Air Force’s next-generation fighter jet.

Trump said this new fighter jet will be designated the F-47.

“After a rigorous and thorough competition between some of America’s top aerospace companies, the Air Force is going to be awarding the contract for the next generation air dominance platform to Boeing,” Trump said in an announcement from the White House on March 21.

The president said an experimental version of Boeing’s F-47 airframe has been flying in secret for nearly five years.

“And we’re confident that it massively overpowers the capabilities of any other nation,” he said.

The Air Force’s effort to build a new fighter jet, known as the Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) program, calls for an aircraft that has advanced new propulsion and stealth capabilities. The Air Force has envisioned an advanced manned aircraft that could be paired with stealthy fighter drones being developed in a parallel effort known as the Collaborative Combat Aircraft program.

The War Must Go On

 

What Ceasefire: European Gas Prices Jump After Ukraine Blows Up Key Gas Pumping Station In Russia In "Act Of Terrorism"

So much for that ceasefire.

European natural gas prices jumped after an attack on a pumping station in Russia’s Kursk region (formerly held by Ukraine mercenaries until their recent hasty retreat), which formed part of a link that sent fuel to the continent until recently, and which Moscow accused Ukraine of attacking in an "act of terrorism".

Footage of an alleged fire at the Sudzha gas metering station in Russia’s Kursk Oblast, published on March 20, 2025. (Screenshot / ASTRA)

Russia on Friday accused Ukraine of deliberately blowing up the key gas pumping and measuring station in the Kursk region near the Ukrainian border which was under the control of Ukrainian Armed Forces since last August before the area was reclaimed by Russian forces this month, in what it called "an act of terrorism."

Meanwhile, Ukraine as always played the idiot card, and accused Russia of attacking its own energy facility: the country's General Staff of the Armed Forces confirmed the Sudzha gas metering station was shelled, but said it was Russians who struck their own facility (just like Ukraine previously accused Russia of blowing up the Nord Stream), pointing to previous instances in which Russia appeared to send soldiers through a disused natural gas pipeline.

In a post on Facebook, the General Staff said the accusations were "baseless," and part of a "discrediting campaign against Ukraine...The mentioned station was repeatedly shelled by the Russians themselves."

The transit point is part of a Gazprom pipeline link that, until the start of this year, brought Russian gas to Europe. Some countries that previously depended on those flows had hoped they would eventually resume. NASA satellite imagery indicated wide-scale fires covered the gas-station area and the surrounding territory.