Higgins was laid off from his job as an administrator at a nonprofit providing housing for asylum seekers. (NGO connections to recent asylum seekers)

Although Higgins has never been to Syria, and until recently had no connection to the country (he became the go to guy)

It’s very incongruous, this high-intensity conflict being monitored by a guy in Leicester,” Stuart Hughes, a BBC News producer in London, told me. “He’s probably broken more stories than most journalists do in a career.”

Yes, it’s very incongruous (out of place) – some alleged random guy breaking stories and feeding them to main stream outlets. Brown Moses morphed into Bellingcat- Anyway spook then, spook now. Let’s bring this up to speed as Bellingcat continues to carry out it’s duties

Ukrainian British Plot to Hijack Fighter Jet- Bellingcat Involvement

Moscow alleged on Tuesday that it had uncovered an operation by Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate (HUR) and its “British handlers” to hijack a Russian MiG-31 fighter jet.

According to a statement from the Public Relations Center of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), Ukrainian military intelligence officers attempted to recruit Russian pilots for the purported scheme, “offering them a payment of three million U.S. dollars” in exchange for stealing the jet.

“The intelligence service then planned to send the aircraft, armed with a Kinzhal missile, toward the largest NATO air base in southeastern Europe, located in Constanta, Romania, where it could have been shot down by air defenses,” the FSB claimed.

The agency also released a video featuring a person wearing a flight helmet that conceals his face. The man appears against a backdrop of military aircraft, his voice digitally distorted. In the clip, he claims that in the fall of 2024, he was contacted on Telegram by someone using the name “Sergey Lugovsky,” who said he was a journalist from Bellingcat and offered to pay him for “consulting on military issues.” To confirm his identity, the man says, Lugovsky sent him a press card. “I believe Sergey’s real goal in contacting me was to compromise me and later use that to the advantage of intelligence services,” he says.

An FSB operative told Russian state news agency TASS that “the intelligence service used the so-called journalistic organization Bellingcat, which is controlled by the U.K.’s CIS.” The source added that in 2022, the FSB had already accused journalist Christo Grozev, who worked for Bellingcat at the time, of involvement in a “failed HUR operation to hijack a Su-34 fighter jet.”

The man goes on to say that shortly afterward, he received an anonymous email offering him one million dollars to hijack an aircraft. If the plane carried a Kinzhal missile, the payment would rise to three million. A man named Alexander allegedly kept in touch with him through “various foreign messaging apps,” at one point sending him a video showing a large amount of cash.

According to the man, when he said he “did not have sufficient skills to land a MiG-31 on his own,” Alexander arranged a phone call with a Ukrainian Air Force pilot who attempted to train him remotely, assuring him that “there was nothing difficult or complicated about it.”

You can, of course, read the rest for yourself- I don’t doubt Bellingcat was involved in some sort an attempt at afalse flag operation. I don’t doubt if for a second.

Still in Ukraine.. who here remembers the Oligarch Kolomoisky? Yes, he is a dual citizen with Israel. He is Jewish. And yes, he funded the Ukrnazi brigades as his private militia until they were integrated into the Ukraine military.

Bloomberg calls him and his criminal consort “tycoons”. It’s a nice way of whitewashing their criminality. Via archive.ph

Two former Ukrainian billionaires (they left Ukraine for Israel and they are both still extremely wealthy!) were ordered to pay more than $3 billion by a London judge after they were found liable for a fraud that cost the state-owned lender Privatbank PJSC billions of dollars.

Igor Kolomoisky and Gennady Bogolyubov must pay about $1.8 billion in damages and a further $1.2 billion in interest along with the £76 million ($100 million) that the bank spent on the long running litigation, the judge said in a judgment on Monday.

The decision follows a July ruling that found the two businessmen ran “a highly complex loan recycling scheme.

The bank was forced to take a bailout and nationalized in 2016. Kolomoisky and Bogolyubov’s global assets were frozen in 2017.

“To the extent that these sums are not paid voluntarily, PrivatBank will immediately commence the recovery stage of the process and seek to enforce the judgment against the former owners’ assets to obtain compensation for the Bank and, by extension, its shareholder, the Ukrainian Government,” a bank’s spokesperson said.

Kolomoisky is currently being held in a detention center, standing trial on various charges ranging from fraud to contract murder, while Bogolyubov fled Ukraine last year in anticipation of criminal charges against him.

Just a couple of nice fellas.

And lastly, in case you thought it impossible a Jewish billionaire would fund a Nazi brigade in nazified Ukraine.. Read this

Batallion Backed by Jewish Billionaire Sent to Fight Pro-Russian Militias

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/aug/09/radioactive-water-bomb-base-scotland-leak-sea-files

The radioactive material was released into Loch Long, a sea loch near Glasgow in western Scotland, because the Royal Navy failed to properly maintain a network of 1,500 water pipes on the base, a regulator found.

The armaments depot at Coulport on Loch Long is one of the most secure and secretive military sites in the UK. It holds the Royal Navy’s supply of nuclear warheads for its fleet of four Trident submarines, which are based nearby.

Files compiled by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa), a government pollution watchdog, suggest that up to half the components at the base were beyond their design life when the leaks occurred.

Sepa said the flooding at Coulport was caused by “shortfalls in maintenance”, resulting in the release of “unnecessary radioactive waste” in the form of low levels of tritium, which is used in nuclear warheads.

The leaks (multiple) are revealed in a cache of confidential inspection reports and emails given to the investigative website the Ferret and shared with the Guardian, which Sepa and the Ministry of Defence fought to keep secret.

They were released on the orders of David Hamilton, the Scottish information commissioner, who polices Scotland’s freedom of information laws, after a six-year long battle by reporters for access to the files.

The UK government insisted the files had to be kept secret for national security reasons, but in June Hamilton ruled that most had to be released. He said their disclosure threatened “reputations” not national security.

They were released in August following a further delay after the MoD asked for more time to review them, citing “additional national security considerations”.

Nuclear warheads are fitted on to the UK’s supply of Trident missiles at Coulport where the missiles are loaded on to Vanguard class submarines before they head to sea for secret patrols as part of the UK’s nuclear deterrent.

The Sepa files show there had been a pipe burst at Coulport in 2010 and a further two in 2019. One leak in August 2019 released “significant amounts of water” that flooded a nuclear weapons processing area, where it became contaminated with low levels of tritium and passed through an open drain that fed into Loch Long.

After an internal investigation and a Sepa inspection, the MoD promised 23 actions to prevent more bursts and floods in March 2020. It accepted that its lack of preparedness had caused “confusion”, “a breakdown in access control” and a “lack of communication of the hazards”.

However, there were two further pipe bursts in 2021, including one in another area that also held radioactive substances, prompting another inspection by Sepa in 2022. Progress on completing the 23 remedial actions “had been slow and delayed in many cases”, Sepa said. “The events have highlighted shortcomings in asset management across the naval base.”

David Cullen, a nuclear weapons expert with the defence thinktank Basic in London, said the repeated pollution incidents were shocking and the attempts to keep them secret were “outrageous”.

Donald Trump’s ambassador to Nato has demanded that the UK and other allies increase their spending on defence to 5 per cent of GDP in order to deter the threat of a Russian attack.

Current UK and European targets are “not good enough” and the White House expects Nato countries to dramatically increase spending, US ambassador Matthew Whitaker said.

The senior official said that the current threat “demands nothing less” than 5 per cent and it “demands it equally from all allies”.

“This is not going to be just a pledge. This is going to be a commitment. Every ally must commit to investing at least 5 per cent of GDP in defence and security, starting now. This is not a suggestion. It’s a baseline.”

The death toll in a blast at a key Iranian port rose to at least 28 with over 1,000 wounded, authorities said Sunday, as an individual tied to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps reportedly confirmed the explosion occurred in a shipment from China of a chemical used to produce missile fuel.

An individual? What individual? Name? Not mentioned. “Tied to” the IRGC How? What tie binds this individual to the IRGC? Unmentioned. You’re supposed to take a giant leap of faith that this report is true and accurate

The New York Times quoted an individual with ties to Iran’s IRGC, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss security matters, who said that sodium perchlorate had exploded. The compound is a major ingredient in solid fuel for missiles.

The port had taken in a shipment of the chemical in March, the private security firm Ambrey said a day earlier. The fuel was part of a shipment from China by two vessels to Iran, first reported in January by the Financial Times.

Ambrey is a private British Maritime Security Force-

All former military, as required

• Clean CRB / DBS or Police Criminal Check (Must have no previous criminal convictions)
• Continuous Regular Military Service
• Proven Military discharge with good/exemplary service within 10 years

It was unclear why Iran wouldn’t have moved the chemicals from the port, particularly after the Beirut port blast in 2020. That explosion, caused by the ignition of hundreds of tons of highly explosive ammonium nitrate, killed more than 200 people and injured more than 6,000 others.

Perhaps Iran was unaware these specific chemicals were present? Perhaps they were brought into the Port by an interested nations or nations who had them in the ready?

Who might have known these specific chemicals were present? Read the paragraph below as quoted from the Israeli time

However, Israel has targeted Iranian missile sites where Tehran uses industrial mixers to create solid fuel, including during its response to a massive Iranian missile barrage launched at Israel last October.

My conclusion based on the publicly accessible information, is this was a terror attack. Most likely perped by UK, US and Israel. The precedent for attacks by Israel on this type of material is openly acknowledged. The delivery of this material by a private British security firm manned by former military says covert op.

For those who may not know- The 5 Eyes

Fox News

France and the United Kingdom have said they would step in to fill the gaps where U.S. intelligence has ceased, but the U.K. said it would not share data that originated with the U.S. but is shared through the Five Eyes alliance.

While it is claimed the US has ceased providing intelligence to Ukraine, the UK is providing intelligence that is shared through the 5 Eyes. Which means, quite obviously, as the US is a Five Eyes ally,that Britain can and is sharing US intelligence with Ukraine.

Obfuscation!

This is why I see the US desired mineral deal with Ukraine in a much different light than others-

It seemed to me the deal was intended to potentially place the US into direct conflict/confrontation with Russia. And the US wanted to be there. The deal would have brought US led NATO right up to the Russian border. Protecting and expanding US interests. At a huge cost to Ukraine, Ukrainians and they’re future survival.

The deal had it been signed between Ukraine and the US would have seen American companies accompanied by mercenaries/proxies and the US military embedded in Ukraine.

We have already seen this playing out in Syria most recently- Where the US military assists in stealing resources and protects it’s proxies in their theft of Syrian oil. This involvement also puts the US directly in contact and conflict with Syria, Iraq, Iran and Turkey, as has been discussed repeatedly.

Britain and France were both in the US to see what advantages would accrue to them should the deal be signed and also, more than likely, to provide “peace keeping” troops aka militants to apply pressure to Russia. Britain and France did exactly this in Syria. And Libya

The race is on for Libya’s oil, with Britain and France both staking a claim

For some reason people want to believe Trump is all about peace- That’s nice spin. But it’s simply not true. Trump is all about profits. Profiteering. Via war making or resource exploitation. No different than Biden. Obama. Clinton. George Bush

Trump has already made clear he wanted Zelensky gone- Perhaps a coup is imminent? Perhaps an assassination?

Or, perhaps Zelensky can pick up the phone and talk to Putin. Admittedly he’s in a poor position, but, in my opinion, his chances of getting a better deal lie with Russia.

Lastly,

If Trump really wants peace than he should follow through on not arming Ukraine, as he threatened, and then the war will end. Because the EU can’t pick up the slack without US help & Trump will have gotten peace! It’s perfect!

Just my opinion.

U.S. contractors reap the windfalls of post-war reconstruction

More than 70 American companies and individuals – donors to the presidential campaigns of George W. Bush – have won up to $8 billion in contracts for work in postwar Iraq and Afghanistan over the last two years.

Those companies donated more money to the presidential campaigns of George W. Bush—a little over $500,000—than to any other politician over the last dozen years, the Center found.

Kellogg, Brown & Root, the subsidiary of Halliburton—which Vice President Dick Cheney led prior to being chosen as Bush’s running mate in August 2000—was the top recipient of federal contracts for the two countries, with more than $2.3 billion awarded to the company. Bechtel Group, a major government contractor with similarly high-ranking ties, was second at around $1.03 billion.

However, dozens of lower-profile, but well-connected, companies shared in the reconstruction bounty.

From the limited descriptions of the “fund” being set up by the US/Ukraine for the mineral deal profits. I’m getting a sense of the same type of profiteering opportunities being created as Ukraine’s future looks to be that of a failed state, similar to Iraq, still to this day.

Ukraine– link

President Donald Trump last week engaged in verbal diatribes against Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy while pursuing peace talks with Russia

But some of Trump’s aides, including Keith Kellogg, the special envoy for Russia and Ukraine, and Rubio, have been more critical of Russia, even if cautiously or in private.

Aid to Ukraine exempted from freeze;

Plans for the exemptions date to at least late January, days after the Trump administration imposed the broad foreign aid freeze, according to the document. The exemptions proposed in it covered programs ranging from general economic support to landmine removal to narcotics control and health programs.

The exact chain of command involved was unclear. The State Department official said the process is bypassing the department’s foreign assistance office. That unit is led by Pete Marocco, a Trump ally and skeptic of foreign aid who has taken a lead role in dismantling USAID. But the document said the foreign assistance office would be consulted.

US Security Cooperation with Ukraine- State.gov

January 20, 2025

The United States reaffirms its unwavering support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders, extending to its territorial waters.

Ukraine is a key regional strategic partner that has undertaken significant efforts to modernize its military and increase its interoperability with NATO. It remains an urgent security assistance priority to provide Ukraine the equipment it needs to defend itself against Russia’s war against Ukraine.

Seems doubtful anything has changed in 1 months time

Bloomberg-France expects US to Provide Back-up after Ceasefire

https://archive.ph/65kOV

French Finance Minister Eric Lombard said he expects the US to provide backup for European troops to help maintain peace once a ceasefire is agreed between Ukraine and Russia.
The UK, Germany, France and other European countries are willing to send troops to guarantee a truce, he told Bloomberg Television in an interview in Cape Town, where he’s attending a meeting of Group of 20 finance chiefs.

I believe the American’s have agreed to security back up- The minerals deal virtually guarantees this. This explains the Whitehouse visits of both Macron and Keir Starmer

Russia understands this reality

Russia accuses UK and France of ‘heating up’ Ukraine war amid defence push

The UK and France are “heating up the conflict” in Ukraine rather than seeking peace, Russia has suggested as Sir Keir Starmer travels to the US for crunch talks with Donald Trump.

Speaking during a visit to Qatar, Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov claimed European nations, including the UK, were now seeking to prolong the war in Ukraine.

“The approach that is being imposed by the Europeans, first of all France and the British, is aimed… at heating up the conflict further and stopping any attempts to calm it down,” he said, according to a translation from Russia’s state news agency, Tass.

French President Emmanuel Macron pushed for security guarantees to enforce peace in Ukraine as he preceded Sir Keir in meeting US President Mr Trump this week.

Finally, Financial Times via archive.ph

Kyiv has agreed terms with Washington on a minerals deal that Ukrainian officials hope will improve relations with the Trump administration and pave the way for a long-term US security commitment.

“The minerals agreement is only part of the picture. We have heard multiple times from the US administration that it’s part of a bigger picture,” Olha Stefanishyna, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister and justice minister who has led the negotiations, told the Financial Times on Tuesday.

The final version of the agreement, dated February 25 and seen by the FT, would establish a fund into which Ukraine would contribute 50 per cent of proceeds from the “future monetisation” of state-owned mineral resources, including oil and gas, and associated logistics. The fund would also be able to invest in projects in Ukraine.

What companies would be awarded the projects? This is why I referenced the Iraqi reconstruction fiasco. Of course, we won’t know for years how this fund is used.. but shades of Iraq.

Ukraine has large underground deposits of critical minerals, including lithium, graphite, cobalt, titanium and rare earths such as scandium, that are essential for an array of industries from defence to electric vehicles.

The agreement excludes mineral resources that already contribute to Ukrainian government coffers, meaning it would not cover the existing activities of Naftogaz or Ukrnafta, Ukraine’s largest gas and oil producers.

A Ukrainian official with knowledge of the matter said president Volodymyr Zelenskyy was planning to travel to Washington on Friday to see Donald Trump and formalise the deal.

On Tuesday, the US president appeared to confirm his Ukrainian counterpart’s visit, saying: “I hear that [Zelenskyy is] coming on Friday. Certainly it’s OK with me if he’d like to.”

Rather longish report, yes, but, the situation with Ukraine, EU, Russia looks to be evolving quite quickly. Still waiting on Zelensky’s departure.

The 100 year partnership has barely garnered attention what with all the pomp and circumstance over Trump

As was mentioned when I published the report on the “100 year Partnership” Agreement signed between the UK and Ukraine.

https://pennyforyourthoughts2.ca/2025/01/16/ukraine-uk-sign-100-year-partnership-agreement-us-3-6-billion-annual-military-aid/

This is absolutely a continuation of the imperial policy of the UK.

penny2says:

January 16, 2025 at 12:37 pm•Edit

This 100 year partnership? It’s just a continuation of what has always been the British Empire’s agenda when it comes to suppressing/subordinating Russia to bankers and big oil for exploitation– It’s difficult to find information on the internet- it’s been so heavily cleansed-

At my old site I recall when Putin came into power and he reined in the Oligarchs- one oligarch in particular transferred his interests back to the Rothschild banking family. I found that strange at the time, but, wondered if the shares had really been Rothschild’s all along and Khodorkovsky was just a front man for other, shall we say, interested parties

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2003/nov/2/20031102-111400-3720r

“Control of Mikhail Khodorkovsky’s shares in the Russian oil giant Yukos have passed to renowned banker Jacob Rothschild, under a deal they concluded prior to Mr. Khodorkovsky’s arrest, the Sunday Times reported.

Voting rights to the shares passed to Mr. Rothschild, 67, under a “previously unknown arrangement” designed to take effect in the event that Mr. Khodorkovsky could no longer “act as a beneficiary” of the shares, it said. ”

https://www.historytoday.com/archive/history-matters/english-plan-colonise-russia

https://academic.oup.com/book/33007ReplyBy Post Author

AND

penny2says:

January 16, 2025 at 12:43 pm•Edit

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yukos

We can look also to Magnitsky and the now infamous Magnistsky Act- Bill Browder a UK Citizen
Many years ago (2011) a few intrepid bloggers, myself included, wrote up a big piece on Bill Browder, Magnitsky etc

http://suspiciousdeaths.blogspot.com/2011/08/magnitsky-report.html

The more things change, the more they stay the same…

AA

Ukraine and the UK on Thursday signed a “100 Year Partnership” agreement to deepen defense cooperation and address long-term threats and challenges to maritime security after British Prime Minister Keir Starmer arrived in the capital Kyiv for his first visit since taking office last year.

“Today is a truly historic day. Relations between Ukraine and the UK are closer than ever,” state news agency Ukrinform quoted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as saying.

Zelenskyy said the relationship between his country and the UK has reached a new level, describing the agreement as “more than a strategic relationship.”

The agreement was signed during Starmer’s unannounced visit to Kyiv.

The agreement, published by Ukraine’s Presidential Office, will deepen defense cooperation between the two countries while also addressing long-term threats and challenges to maritime security.

It will strengthen cooperation in areas such as economics and trade, energy, climate change, and clean energy transitions.

Ukraine and UK agree on US$3.6bn in annual military aid for Kyiv

Background:

• Notably, on 16 January, Ukraine and the UK signed a historic agreement, establishing a 100-year partnership aimed at deepening security ties and strengthening the relationship for future generations.
• Starmer also said the UK would soon provide Ukraine with 150 artillery barrels and a new mobile air defence system.

Declassified UK

The UK secretly developed a defence plan with Israel, Declassified can reveal.

According to leaked documents, the British project was codenamed HEZUK and designed to counter the “destabilising regional activity of Iran and Hizballah”.

This would be done by strengthening UK-Israel intelligence collaboration and increasing military cooperation, with the effect of deepening bilateral security integration.

Joint work on hypersonic missiles and autonomous warfare were also apparently considered during Boris Johnson’s time as prime minister.

The information comes from a presentation prepared by Britain’s defence attaché to Tel Aviv in 2020 for a visiting delegation from the UK’s Higher Command and Staff Course.

The slides indicate that Project HEZUK was inaugurated in 2019-20, while the Israeli military was gunning down peaceful protesters in Gaza during the Great March of Return.

Over 200 Palestinians – including 46 children – were killed as they tried to return to their ancestral homes, and over 36,000 were injured.

The UK government referenced HEZUK once again in March 2020 when two officers from the British army’s 77th brigade were planning to visit Israel for “capability development” on “information operations”.

A visitor request issued by the British embassy in Tel Aviv noted how the visit was “pertinent to… a programme or agreement” named “MOD project HEZUK”.

The defence plan was apparently still active as recently as last year, when British major general James Roddis visited Tel Aviv under “HEZUK” auspices

‘Deeply entangled’

The documents originate from a hack of the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) by a group called “Anonymous for Justice”. They were published this week by Distributed Denial of Secrets.

There is strong public interest in reporting on the material. Israel is being investigated by international courts for atrocities in Gaza, has just invaded Lebanon, and conflict looms with Iran.

The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) refuses to publish a military pact it signed with Israel in December 2020 which could relate to the HEZUK project.

Former British soldier Joe Glenton, who works for campaign group ForcesWatch, told Declassified: “These leaks show once again how deeply entangled the UK is with Israel. 

“It has to raise a number of ethical questions given the ongoing genocide in Gaza – and now the assault on Lebanon, itself a UK ally whose army is being trained by British troops”.

He added: “the public urgently need to know if the military and intelligence engagements detailed in these documents, which appear to date back a few years now, are still live programs. Because if they are, British military and intelligence personnel are being put to work supporting a genocidal state”.

The MoD refused to clarify whether HEZUK was ongoing.

A UK government spokesperson said: “We regularly work with partners and allies across the Middle East to contribute to regional security. This includes intelligence sharing, where it benefits our national security, as well as defence industrial collaboration, which supports UK economic growth”.

HEZUK

The defence plan focussed on five key areas, the leaked presentation shows.

Those included strengthening the intelligence relationship, improving military capabilities, liaising with the Israeli security establishment, seeking defence prosperity opportunities, and accessing overflight permissions.

The “HEZUK Planning Directive” specifically refers to Israel’s Defence Intelligence Special Operations Directorate, although further details appear to be redacted.

Declassified reported yesterday that IDF information operations specialists visited the British army’s psychological warfare unit, the 77th brigade, in 2019. A follow-up visit of British military officers to Tel Aviv was listed as part of the HEZUK project.

With regards to military liaison, the HEZUK Planning Directive refers to such issues as “force development and exercise”, “information exploitation”, and “land precision strike”.

Additional slides on defence “capability” list a number of “MoD programmes with potential Israeli solutions”.

That included “hypersonic air-surface weapon (Rampage)” and “Next Generation Operational Training”.

Britain and Israel were already working together on drones, air defence and loitering munitions, with plans to jointly investigate space, maritime and autonomous (AI) warfare domains.

Proscribing Hezbollah

Britain’s defence plan with Israel appears to have been drawn up in 2019, months after the UK proscribed all of Hezbollah as a terrorist organisation.

The political wing of the Lebanese movement had long remained legal in Britain, partly due to its members holding cabinet posts in Lebanon’s democratically elected government.

Declassified reported last week on how the total proscription of Hezbollah “came after intense lobbying by pro-Israel groups within Westminster”.

Another key development in the Middle East at this time was the Trump administration’s withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal, which ripped up the main avenue for Western rapprochement with Iran.

Ex-British soldier Joe Glenton added: “If this latest material hadn’t been uncovered we’d never have known about it”.

Read the entire piece at the Declassified UK link