VLADIMIR PUTIN decided to work on his birthday last month, hosting the ceremonial launch of Russia’s new gas pipeline to central Asia.
He was all smiles as he welcomed the presidents of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan at his palatial residence on the outskirts of Moscow.
Putin is loving the Hamas-Israel conflict[/caption]
Putin has quietly courted the terrorist butchers of Hamas for years[/caption]
And the blood-soaked tyrant had good reason to be cheerful that morning — because he turned 71 on the day his evil Hamas allies handed him the birthday present of his dreams.
Putin has quietly courted the terrorist butchers of Hamas for years and ramped up military cooperation with the Iranian fanatics who bankroll them in recent months.
And questions are now being asked about Russia’s shadowy role as it became clear Putin had more to gain than anyone from the horror on October 7.
The slaughter of 1,400 and the global furore over Israel’s inevitably brutal revenge have turned the world’s eyes away from Mad Vlad’s “special operation” in Ukraine.
His invasion forces — responsible for killing tens of thousands of innocents — have quietly ramped up their killing spree as scrutiny switched to the Middle East. His cash-strapped enemies in the West have been wrong-footed as they wrestle with the demands of two powder-keg conflicts.
Illicit funds
And oil prices have jumped, boosting the petrochemical economies of both Russia and Iran as they strengthen ties while plotting more mayhem.
No concrete links have emerged placing Russian fingerprints on the Hamas plan but Ukrainian sources, as well as online analysis — and Hamas chiefs — have unveiled a string of pointers.
Within 24 hours of the kibbutz massacres Hamas’s head of foreign affairs, Ali Baraka, told Russia’s RT Arabic channel: “Our allies are those who support us with weapons and money. The Russians sent us messages yesterday morning, they sympathise with us.
“Russia is happy that America is getting embroiled in Palestine, it alleviates the pressure on the Russians in Ukraine. So we are not alone on the battlefield.”
More tellingly, Baraka claimed publicly that Hamas held a Russian licence to manufacture Kalashnikov AK-47 assault rifles and ammunition inside Gaza.
Palestinian terrorist groups have also been accused of laundering illicit funds through a Moscow-based crypto currency exchange.
And Ukrainian, Russian and Belarusian sources have all claimed Russia’s Wagner Group mercenary army trained Hamas fighters for at least a year before the attacks.
Ukraine’s National Resistance Centre, citing sources from Belarusian resistance groups, claimed Wagner had trained Hamas killers at its bases in Africa earlier this year.
The NRC said: “Wagner PMC trained militants of the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas to attack Israel.
“They were involved in training and transferring combat experience to Hamas militants. Key training areas for Hamas militants were assault training and the use of small drones to drop explosive materials.
“Only the Russians, among allies of Hamas, have exper- ience in using drones with mechanisms for dropping explosives on enemy equip- ment. This is exactly what the Wagner mercenaries trained Hamas militants to do during exercises in Africa.”
Wagner — created with Russian GRU military intelligence by assassinated Putin rebel Yevgeny Prigozhin — is claimed to have worked alongside a Syrian-based sister group called Redut.
Redut is linked to the 45th Special Forces Brigade of Putin’s Airborne Forces and Russia’s SVR foreign intelligence.
Iran and Russia have become the most dangerous — and sanctioned — nations on earth as the West struggles to keep a stranglehold on their ability to finance state-funded terror.
But the pariah states are cooperating like never before as they build weaponry such as Iran’s sophisticated kamikaze drones used to attack Ukraine.
And Hamas is now using similar drone technology against Israeli targets thanks to hardware and knowhow sup- plied by the same source.
Putin has also been known to have allowed Hamas delegations to regularly visit Moscow since 2006 for talks and fostered a pro-Palestinian stance diplomatically.
Russian and Belarusian sources have all claimed Wagner Group mercenaries trained Hamas fighters[/caption]
During that time, the Kremlin refused to declare the group a terrorist organisation, even after the October 7 outrages.
America has also warned that the growing bond between Russia and Hamas’s Iranian paymasters poses a threat to the Middle East and the wider world.
A stark warning setting out the scale of the threat was laid out by US officials.
White House spokesman Michael Kirby warned: “Iran announced that it had finalised a deal to buy SU-35 fighter jets from Russia.
“Iran is seeking to purchase additional military equipment from Russia, including attack helicopters, radars and Yak-130 combat trainer aircraft.
“Iran is seeking billions of dollars’ worth of military equipment from Russia.
“This is a full-scale defence partnership, one that is harmful to Ukraine, to the region in the Middle East and to the international community.”
As war rages in the Middle East and Eastern Europe, analysts still fear the greatest threat of all lies even further to the East.
Dominate with China
China’s President Xi Jinping is watching and waiting, having built up a terrifying military leviathan which dwarfs every other cog in the anti-West war machine.
And the slightest show of weakness could trigger his long-avowed attack on the US-backed tech-titan state of Taiwan — detonating World War Three.
Cormac Smith, a former UK Cabinet Office official and long-time adviser to Ukraine, said he was convinced dark forces guided by Putin were in play in Gaza.
And he believes only the defeat of Putin in Ukraine and the dismantling of his regime will curb the growing threat to the established world order.
Mr Smith said: “Even if you don’t care about what’s happening in Ukraine and you just want your old life and the cost of living fuel prices to come back down . . .
“Even if you don’t care about the genocide in Ukraine, this wolf will come to your door.
“Because Russia is intent with her allies — including China, Iran, North Korea and Hamas — to bring about the destruction of our rules-based international order.
“These rules are not perfect but they are still responsible for the greatest period of peace and prosperity the world has ever known since World War Two. But Russia is leading us towards what Russian leaders are already calling a ‘post-West’ era in which they dominate the world alongside China.
“October 7 might have given Putin the perfect birthday present and turned the world’s eyes away from his genocide — but only total victory in Ukraine will stop this night- mare.
“We must not forget our friends in Ukraine.”
It is claimed Hamas held a Russian licence to manufacture Kalashnikov AK-47 assault rifles and ammunition inside Gaza[/caption]
