Sen. Kelly: I never expected that I would have to protect the rule of law against a Secretary of Defense.
Pete Hegseth is coming after what I earned through my 25 years of military service. He doesn't like what I said. And so he is trying to censure and demote me. 1/
Kelly: Pete Hegseth unconstitutional crusade against me sends a chilling message to every retired member of the military.
If you speak out and say something that the President and Secretary of Defense doesn't like, you will be censured, threatened or even prosecuted. 2/
Kelly: If Hegseth succeeds in silencing me, then he and every other secretary of defense who comes after him will have license to punish any retired veteran of any political persuasion for the things that they say.
Denys Storozhuk refused to surrender from Azovstal in 2022, lived under occupation for a year posing as a civilian, and passed information to the Ukrainian military.
Denys: I lived in a sewer manhole for the first three weeks. I had food, water, and a chair.
1/
Denys: What stayed with me most was the constant storm of artillery and airstrikes at Azovstal.
Buildings vanished within minutes, concrete shaking like wood.
Near the end, an airstrike buried my commander and brothers — we couldn’t reach them in time. Most suffocated from dust
2/
Denys: When first arrested, Russians beat and strangled me. I lost consciousness.
In the detention center, Russians could have their own stuff, and talk with others. Ukrainians were stripped and beaten again.
Cuba rejected Trump’s demand to make a deal. He warned Havana would lose Venezuelan oil and money following Maduro’s capture.
Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel: “No one dictates what we do.” — CNN. 1/
Trump: Cuba lived for years on Venezuelan oil and money in exchange for providing security services to Caracas, but not anymore.
There will be no more oil or money going to Cuba — zero. He did not elaborate on what such a deal with Havana would involve. 2/
Trump: Venezuela will now hand over 30–50 million barrels of oil to the U.S. [This threatens Cuba’s energy lifeline].
Cuba’s FA minister Bruno Rodriguez: The US is behaving like a criminal and uncontrolled hegemon that threatens peace and security not only of Cuba and this hemisphere but of the entire world. 3/