Footnotes from the Ukrainian "Crisis"; New High-Points in Cynicism Part IV

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Re: Footnotes from the Ukrainian "Crisis"; New High-Points in Cynicism Part IV

Post by blindpig » Tue Mar 07, 2023 3:53 pm

A turning point that determines the development of the war
POSTED BY @NSANZO ⋅ 03/07/2023

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Pending the announced Ukrainian spring offensive and without news of that supposed Russian attack that, according to Ukraine and the United States, would seek to rival the one that opened the invasion of February 2022, the Ukrainian political and military agenda continues to be focused on achieving the as many weapons as possible. The speech continues to warn of the benefit that a war extended over time would bring to Russia. That seems to be the Russian strategy: to manage to keep the territory under its control by fortifying the front line and advancing, albeit slowly, on the Donbass front. Ukraine, for its part, continues to link the receipt of large quantities of Western ammunition and weapons with the idea of ​​certain victory. The goal, according to this version,

A few days ago, like his Defense Minister, who has presented his wish list to Ded Moroz , Zelensky announced to representatives of the Republican Party the weapons that he will request from the United States, among which are the desired F-16 fighters. The possible Republican tendency to block arms shipments, something that has not happened and does not seem likely to happen in the short or medium term, is becoming one of the arguments most used by the most belligerent and warmongering voices of the Western establishment to further accelerate those deliveries.

Since early autumn, this idea has been accompanied by warnings of the danger of a Russian victory. Condoleezza Rice and Robert Gates started that trend with an article published in The Washington Post in which they not only defended the need to provide Ukraine with the weapons necessary for a quick victory - something in which, within the military, even the die-hards Kiev defenders see feasible - but they boasted of having a proxywilling to die to prevent the United States from having to. This week, Zelensky has joined that idea. In one of his many interviews commemorating the start of the Russian invasion, the Ukrainian president, showing his most rueful face, once again pleaded for increased supplies. With a phrase that has been widely manipulated, Zelensky insisted on the consequences that, in his particular vision of reality, he would have a Ukrainian defeat.

A part of the American right, fundamentally that linked to Trumpism, has highlighted only a part of Zelensky's words and a fragment of just a few seconds has circulated widely on social networks in which the Ukrainian president effectively stated that "the United States will have to send its sons and daughters, in exactly the same way that we are sending our sons and daughters to war. And they will have to fight, because what we are talking about is NATO. And they will die, God forbid, because that is something horrible”. The manipulation of Zelensky's speech by removing the first part of his sentence, in which he states that "if it happens that Ukraine, due to various reasons and the weakening - exhaustion - of assistance, loses, Russia will enter the Baltic countries, They are members of NATO." has turned the fallacious argument of the Ukrainian president into a demand for US troops. Actually, the idea that Zelensky wanted to convey is the same as the Rice and Gates argument and can be summed up in that, according to this vision, any risk of escalation - even nuclear - is comparatively less dangerous than a hypothetical Russian victory in Ukraine.

Hence the need to manage to gather the necessary weapons for the long-awaited offensive on the Zarporozhie-Azov-Crimean front. It is to be expected that this was one of the main issues on the agenda of Olaf Scholz's visit to the United States, who had been pressured for weeks to allow the shipment of Leopard tanks and now to get the necessary troops together. To the surprise of Boris Pistorius, Germany's defense minister, the same countries that initially lobbied Scholz for export approval have suddenly lost interest in sending their available tanks to Ukraine. Faced with the 300-500 NATO tanks requested by Ukraine, the Alliance has promised to send around 200, a figure that would have to be made up with Soviet or post-Soviet-made tanks, easier to incorporate into battle and with fewer logistical challenges of use and maintenance. At the moment, as reportedThe New York Times , Germany and their partners are still working to find enough Leopard 2s to assemble two tank battalions, 62 pieces in all. And even Berlin's main partner in this effort, Poland, appears to have hardened its stance: Warsaw, one of the countries that lobbied hardest for German permission to send its tanks to Ukraine, now claims that it is Germany that should take the lead. responsibility.

The logistical dilemma of the delivery of NATO tanks goes beyond the willingness of the different countries to supply them, the training of tankers and the delivery itself. "Once the promised tanks arrive in battle and take a hit or break down, it's unclear which Leopards - or which country - will replace them," The New York Times posed . The possibility raised last week of installing a factory of the Rheinmetall company, manufacturer of the Leopard, in the Ukraine does not seem a viable option, since it would be an easy target for Russian missiles. For the moment, Germany seems to have begun to think about replacing the Leopards, although not those damaged or destroyed in the Ukraine but those delivered to the war. As stated last week by the Associated Press, Berlin tries to acquire Leopard 2 tanks from the Swiss arsenal to replace the ones that different countries are going to send to Ukraine, actually an incentive to encourage supply without those countries being exposed or tempted to replace their Leopards with Abrams americans.

Despite a difficult start, Ukraine is likely to expect supplies to become smoother once the effectiveness of the material is proven at the front. However, everything points to a decided commitment to a decisive blow that achieves the objectives quickly, a way of making war more similar to the American doctrine of mass fire to later introduce armored units against the current practice of systematic use. of artillery to wear down the enemy.

The idea of ​​the need for rapid success is repeated with increasing insistence in different media and forums. This is also the approach of more moderate leaders such as Emmanuel Macron, who, despite openly stating that he seeks Russia's defeat, also adds that humiliation should not be sought from him. Macron's stance can only be considered moderate compared to the maximalist proposals from Kiev, Poland, the Baltics or the UK, which seek the complete defeat of Russia, war reparations and a military tribunal. Although the French president has not specified the real objectives, his words imply a plan that seeks to advance on Crimea and threaten its control, thus forcing Russia to give in to the demands that Kiev and its Western partners, mainly the United States,

But the fear of a long war in which the support of the different countries involved is not guaranteed even shakes the United States, a country for which the war is not causing an economic problem. Quite the contrary, the US military-industrial complex continues to grow and the benefits of the economic break between the European Union and Russia, for example in the energy sector, provide an incentive for Washington to continue along the current path. However, the United States is not willing to sustain the war - and Ukraine's economy - on its own and the European Union's ability to maintain the current level of subsidies to Kiev is questionable in the long term. Hence, the suggestion that William Burns made to Volodymyr Zelensky last January cannot be surprising. according to politician, a well-positioned outlet in the Democratic establishment , the CIA director encouraged the Ukrainian president to "make maximum progress on the front as quickly as possible because the scale of military assistance may begin to decline."

As various media have recently published, the war in Ukraine consumes a daily amount of artillery ammunition equivalent to the monthly production of the European Union's military industry, a figure that makes clear the intensity of the conflict and the demand for supplies for both Kiev as for Moscow. The uncertainty of an even longer war seems to lead Ukraine and its Western partners to seek a turning point that will determine the course of the war.

https://slavyangrad.es/2023/03/07/un-pu ... more-26785

Google Translator

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Ukrainian terrorist caught in Belarus
March 7, 13:38

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Ukrainian terrorist caught in Belarus

Lukashenka announced that the Belarusian Bloody Gabnya had detained a terrorist who launched drones at the airfield in Machulishchi. The character was hiding for some time, but he could not get away from the Chekists. Predictably, she was recruited by the Ukrainian special services.

The object of the attack was AWACS A-50, which was located at the airfield. At the time of the rally, opposition resources announced that the plane was damaged, and it would take almost a year to restore it. Then a video appeared on the network where the drone lands on the A-50 AWACS and the recording ends.

Today Alexander Lukashenko announced ( https://t.me/pul_1 ) about the arrest of the perpetrator of the terrorist act, a native of Krivoy Rog, a resident of Crimea. There he received Russian citizenship, and a Ukrainian passport remained in parallel. A typical situation for the Ukrainian SBU agents.

In 2014, the performer was recruited by the SBU, he was trained near Kiev, where he learned how to produce explosive devices.

Regarding the method of committing the terrorist act, the President has already partially voiced information about the "small drone". As I wrote earlier, everything is produced using DJI FPV controlled using VR glasses. The aircraft received almost no damage, except for minor damage to the hull.

Unfortunately, it would be very disrespectful for current colleagues to tell more, so very soon you will receive information from official sources. I can only say that during the arrest, all the heroism of the terrorist disappeared somewhere, and his first phrase was the words: “Just don’t kill, I’ll tell you everything.” Of course, you will have plenty of time.

Huge respect to the Belarusian security forces!

@belarusian_silovik - zinc

We are waiting for operational videos.

https://colonelcassad.livejournal.com/8207679.html

Google Translator

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What they are talking about on the Russian talk shows today: full war mobilization!

A month ago I was asked by a retired U.S. lieutenant colonel in a private email correspondence whether Vladimir Putin would be announcing general mobilization in his State of the Union address on 21 February. I answered with full confidence that this was unfounded speculation, that the Russian war effort was going well in the estimation of the Kremlin, that they expect the imminent capture of Artyomovsk (Bakhmut), opening the way for Russia to assume full possession of the Donbas.

Indeed, the fighting in and around Artyomovsk today continues to favor the Russians, notwithstanding the latest dispatch of 10,000 or more Ukrainian army forces to keep open supply lines to their comrades in the nearly surrounded city, who number perhaps 20,000.

Meanwhile, the United States and its NATO allies have come to agreement on what further heavy equipment they can ship to Ukraine in support of Kiev’s planned counteroffensive later this spring. Several Leopard tanks have already been delivered by Poland; more are on their way from other countries. And, as Russian television has been showing for the past 24 hours, there is an enormous stock of American armored personnel carriers, self-propelled artillery, HIMARS launchers and other equipment now stored on the quays of the Polish port of Gdansk awaiting delivery to Ukraine.

In this context, the discussion in Washington and European capitals over how far they can go without crossing Russia’s red lines and triggering a hot war between Russia and NATO is being bypassed by events. As the latest editions of prime news and discussion programs Sixty Minutes and Evening with Vladimir Solovyov indicate, Russia’s political elites consider that these lines have been crossed, with or without delivery of the F-16 fighter jets requested by Zelensky; with or without the latest version of the Leopards or the Abrams tanks promised by the USA. The Russians also speak openly on television about the Polish, French and Italian ‘mercenaries’ whom their troops in Donbas are overhearing daily on the front lines, and there is no question but that these are in effect NATO officers, not volunteers from the street.

The ‘fog of war’ distortions and blatant propaganda over the status of the Ukraine war that we see daily in mainstream electronic and print media in the West are being cleared away by very realistic assessments of the intentions and capabilities of the sides that I now see on the aforementioned talk shows. The information being broadcast is coming from war correspondents in the field, from front line commanders themselves and from expert analysts-Duma members of various parties, as well as from among academics and think tank directors.

The Financial Times may be just a sounding board for the Zelensky regime. Sixty Minutes and the Solovyov show are far more nuanced, self-critical and helpful for the broad Russian public to understand the challenge their country is facing as it goes up against the entire U.S.-led West in economic and military warfare.

These programs are unquestionably preparing the Russian public for mobilization of the economy to a full war footing and for further call-ups of reservists and recruits to join the fight. At the same time, I see demands that the government adopt a much more repressive policy at home to purge the country of fence-sitters, implementing a policy well-known to Americans from the time of President George W. Bush: ‘you are either with us or you are against us.’

The recent cases of sabotage and attempted political assassinations within Russia perpetrated by treasonous Russian nationals or by teams of Ukrainians who passed through the porous border have given rise to demands to ‘get tough’ and follow the practices put in place by Stalin, namely summary execution of saboteurs and ‘enemies of the people.’

It must be stressed that until now the Russian government has been lenient towards its domestic critics and enemies. Western talk of an ‘authoritarian’ or ‘autocratic’ Kremlin has just been libelous propaganda. However, by encouraging the Kiev regime to deploy every kind of despicable attack on Russia up to and including use of chemical and biological weapons on the field of battle, as the Russians now report is the case, Washington is making a mockery of international law and inviting Russia to wage all-out war.

In this regard, I point to the remarks of Belarus president Alexander Lukashenko before and during his visit to Beijing a week ago: he remarked that the present moment should not be lost, that all sides should be pressuring the warring parties to declare a cease-fire and enter into peace negotiations. Lukashenko argued that Russia had not yet unleashed its military potential, had not yet mobilized its economy and its society for total war, but that was sure to come if the conflict is allowed to proceed and thus to escalate further.

©Gilbert Doctorow, 2023

https://gilbertdoctorow.com/2023/03/07/ ... ilization/

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WHICH COUNTRIES ARE BUYING RUSSIAN FOSSIL FUELS?
6 Mar 2023 , 4:35 p.m.

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Despite US and European "sanctions", Russian oil continues to reach many countries around the world (Photo: Stock)

A little over a year has passed since the imposition of "sanctions" on Russia following the Special Military Operation (OME) in Ukraine and fossil fuels continue to flow to various nations around the world, even as the blockade focused on the country's energy eurasian.

Zero Hedge collects that, according to estimates from the Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), since the start of the war Russia has obtained more than 315 billion dollars in income from exports of fossil fuels worldwide, of which of which almost half—149 billion dollars—comes from European Union (EU) countries, which together with the United States carried out the largest "sanctioning" package.

Who are the biggest buyers? As expected, China leads the list of importers of Russian energy. Germany, the EU's largest economy, is the second largest buyer of Russian fossil fuels, largely due to its imports of natural gas, worth more than $12 billion.

In third place and very close to Germany is Türkiye, a member of NATO but not of the EU, which is projected to be the second buyer because it is not part of the bloc and, therefore, is not subject to its rules.

Other data:

*EU bans and price caps have resulted in a decline in daily fossil fuel revenues of almost 85%, falling from its March 2022 peak of $774 million per day to $119 million as of 22 September. February 2023.
*Although India has increased its imports of fossil fuels, from 3 million dollars a day on the first day of the OME to 81 million dollars a day from *February 22 of this year, this increase does not go as far as to compensate the hole of 655 billion dollars left by reduced imports from EU nations.
*African nations have doubled their imports of Russian fuel since December last year.

A long with reductions in EU purchases, a key contributing factor has been the fall in the price of Russian crude. From 99 dollars a barrel it went to 50 today.

https://misionverdad.com/cuales-paises- ... iles-rusos

Google Translator

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Experts Question Unusual Silence Over Nord Stream Blasts

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A segment of the Nord Stream pipelines connecting Russia and Germany | Photo: Twitter/ @billrobs

Published 7 March 2023

The German government has refrained from talking about the explosions. At the same time, German media have widely moved to discredit Hersh's article.

Despite their own heavy losses, European countries -- especially Germany -- have unanimously kept silent over the blasts that destroyed the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines last September and subsequent investigations.

Since veteran investigative journalist Seymour Hersh exposed the U.S. involvement in the explosions on the portal Substack last month, more and more experts have questioned Europe's atypical, collective silence.

According to Hersh, a U.S. Pulitzer Prize winner, the U.S. Navy divers last June planted the remotely triggered explosives that destroyed three of the four Nord Stream pipelines months later.

Germany, has been particularly affected by the energy crisis due to the end of gas supplies from Russia. However, the German government has refrained from talking about the explosions. At the same time, German media have widely moved to discredit Hersh's article.

Once proven that the pipelines were indeed blasted by the United States, it would overturn the European public's recognition of the current narratives by the West, which claimed that European infrastructure was "under the threat of Russia," said Li Xing, professor of development and international relations at Denmark's Aalborg University.


That the U.S. Navy was involved in the Nord Stream pipelines explosions last year, as discovered by Hersh, was an "economic war" against its submissive allies in Europe, Jan Oberg, the director of the Transnational Foundation for Peace and Future Research.

"One must wonder when the Europeans will wake up and finally understand that they no longer share interests with the U.S.," he stressed.

Croatian security expert Mirko Vukobratovic said that the alleged involvement of the U.S. Navy in the September 2022 Nord Stream explosions was "not impossible."

The U.S. has the most to gain from the destruction of the pipelines, said Josep Puigsech, a political expert at the Barcelon Autonomous University. "I increasingly believe that the incident that led to the breaking of the gas pipeline was the result of a U.S. action," he pointed out.

https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Exp ... -0004.html

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Russia rules out peaceful solution to conflict in Ukraine

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In early March, China laid out its 12-point plan for a Ukrainian deal. | Photo: Novosti estuary
Published 7 March 2023

The declarations by volcero Peskov occur when the Russian forces advance in the capture of the town of Bakhmut (Artiomovsk for Russia), in eastern Ukraine.

Russia does not see, for now, a way to switch to peace talks on Ukraine in the proposal made a couple of weeks ago by China, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

However, the presidential spokesman stressed that the Kremlin "pays great attention to Beijing's opinion on the Ukraine crisis", although he insisted that at present there are no prerequisites for the situation to move in a peaceful direction.

Peskov's statements come as Russian forces advance in the capture of the town of Bakhmut (Artiomovsk for Russia), in eastern Ukraine, which is considered a key piece to continue advancing towards other areas currently under the control of Ukrainian troops. .


Artiomovsk is a key city of the Donetsk People's Republic in the Donbas that has been the scene of heavy fighting in recent months.

The commander of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, General Valeri Zaluzhny, and the commander of the country's Land Forces, Alexander Syrski, advocated on Monday for keeping their troops in the city.

Russian troops have advanced north and south of the town in recent weeks, cutting off three of the four Ukrainian supply routes.

On the other hand, spokesman Peskov pointed out that Moscow "seeks to fulfill its tasks and achieve its objectives through the further implementation of a New World Order."


He was asked how much, in the Kremlin's view, the proposed action plan on Ukraine proposed by Beijing could affect the Russo-Ukrainian conflict.

In early March, China laid out its 12-point plan for a Ukrainian deal. On March 7, Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang told a press conference that a solution to the Ukraine crisis is possible only on the basis of peaceful negotiations and taking into account the concerns of all stakeholders. .

However, both the Russians, the Ukrainians and the Western powers have considered the proposal insufficient and hostilities have continued.

https://www.telesurtv.net/news/rusia-de ... -0006.html

Google translator

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Stoltenberg visits Obama at the White House 21/10/2011. Gadaffi was liquidated the day before 20/10/2011 in Libya.

Why is Norway the glove that fits the USA’s hand?
Originally published: steigan.no on February 28, 2023 by Pål Steigan (more by steigan.no) | (Posted Mar 06, 2023)

In the sequel to his revelation of Norway’s and USA’s role in blowing up the Nord Stream pipelines, Seymour Hersh addresses the long standing tradition of Norway’s secret and illegal collaboration with USA. He shows that Norway played a key role in carrying out the provocation which gave USA the pretext to bring about the Vietnam War, a war which ended with more than three million dead and an outrageous number of maimed and injured in Vietnam and its neighbouring countries.

This undeniably raises the question of what role Norway has played for USA’s imperialism in the period following the Second World War. As is well known, Norway also supported the USA and the western powers in the Korean War and contributed, among other things, through Norwegian ships transporting American soldiers to Korea. The Korean War resulted in at least 2.5 million people dead.

Norway’s role as the world’s largest shipping nation probably played an important role here, but this will form the subject of another article. What we can establish is that there has been very close cooperation between Norway and the USA since the Second World War, which has included secret military operations and surveillance of its own citizens for the benefit of the United States, Operation Gladio and so on.

The oil wealth ushered in a new era

As Norway became an oil nation, our country moved up into the imperialist first division. Oil is the number one strategic commodity, and as is well known, the control over international oil trade has been the mainstay for maintaining the dollar as the world’s reserve currency since 1971 in the form of the petrodollar.

Norway’s role in the western U.S. led system was further elevated when oil revenues took off seriously. Today, the «Norwegian Government Pension Fund Global», as it is so misleadingly called, is the world’s largest sovereign investment fund and the world’s largest single shareholder. The fund owns 1.5 percent of the world’s listed shares. We are the Qatar of Europe.

And like Qatar, we have been central in financing a whole series of imperialist wars. Norwegian governments have developed a very special preference for generosity when it comes to imperialist projects, a generosity that Norwegian citizens do not share. More often than not, billions are poured out without foundation in any political process or democratic debate here at home—also often without concrete support in Parliament.

The prime minister, either it being Solberg or Støre, simply shows up at international forums obliging Norway to deliver x number of billion kroner for this or for that. And then primarily towards projects supporting U.S. imperialism.

Norway financed the civil war in The Sudan

Norway spent NOK 13 billion in aid creating the state of South Sudan , as the author Bibiana Dahle Piene describes in her book “Norge i Sudan—På bunnen av sola” (Norway in the Sudan—At the bottom of the sun), as a pure Klondike for the NGOs. They went so far that the Sudanese authorities themselves did not care to build their own systems and institutions. The money—and the workers—always came from outside, usually from Norway.

In the book The International Breakthrough, Professor Terje Tvedt showed us how the transition from a solidarity mindset, to an aid mindset, has cleared the way for an aid industry counting in the billions.

The same thoughts have formed the basis when Norway has given billions of NOK to «save the rainforest», without it being possible to demonstrate any significant effect—disregarding corrupt politicians and scheming speculators, in countries such as Indonesia and Brazil, becoming filthy rich.

The total Norwegian aid budget is approaching an annual NOK 40 billion (4 Billion USD). Also here, «climate» is emerging as the most important investment area. The Solberg government planned to spend approximately NOK 4.8 billion on climate, environment and oceans in 2019. But there is hardly an adequate administration to handle the use of these enormous sums, or for that matter, to ensure any quality of the results.

What is known, however, is that Norway has contributed to creating some gigantic fortunes in the recipient countries, such as, for instance in Angola. In the period from 1999 to 2017, Norway granted NOK 208 million in state-to-state aid to Angola, i.e. money which was managed by the public sector, more precisely by President José Eduardo dos Santos. In total, Norway has given NOK 3.2 billion in aid to Angola. Isabel dos Santos, the president’s daughter, is now accused of greedily helping herself from the country’s treasury to build her own business empire. Her estimated fortune is now 2.2 billion USD, and she stands accused of having built it through corruption and fraud according to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists .

And so we could continue. We don’t know whether the aid works as it is said it should, but we do know that many people have become very rich from it. This applies to corrupt leaders in the «third world», but it also applies to involved financial institutions and the aid organisations own consulting industry.

Without democratic process, Stoltenberg and Støre decided to bomb Libya

On 19 March 2011, the Prime Minister’s Office (SMK) issued a short press release. It read like this:

Norway is ready to send up to 6 F-16 fighter jets to participate in the enforcement of Security Resolution 1973, says Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg.

With that, Norway entered a war against Africa’s best functioning and most prosperous country. And more than that, Norway was the leading country in NATO’s bombing campaign. Norway, the red-green government and the Labour Party leaders Jens Stoltenberg and Jonas Gahr Støre bear a significant responsibility for the destruction of Libya leaving it in the hands of jihadist terrorists. They committed war crimes and crimes against humanity, and should be brought before an international war crimes tribunal.

The decision to wage war against Libya was not made by the government. The decision was made in an informal meeting at the prime minister’s residence. In addition to Prime Minister Stoltenberg, Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, the Minister of Defence, the Chief of Defence and a representative from the intelligence services attended. Stoltenberg then called his government coalition partners in SV and the Center Party on his mobile phone pressuring them to accept the bombing and obtain an OK from the opposition.

There is good reason to assume that this was done at the request of Hillary Clinton, then Secretary of State in the United States and the prime protagonist for war against Libya.

When accounts are settled, we know that Norway was the leading bombing nation and that «we» are responsible for the killing of unknown tens of thousands of people and the destruction of Africa’s best functioning and most prosperous country. Jens Stoltenberg was awarded for his efforts by being given the position of Secretary General of NATO.

And of course we have not forgotten that Norway, through the «Oslo Agreement», has contributed greatly to crushing the Palestinian liberation struggle and turning the Palestinian authorities into obedient bound dogs of imperialism through the «donor group’s» control.

17 billion NOK for the war against Syria—without audit or control

Together with Qatar, Norway became one of the biggest investors in the war to destroy Syria. This has cost Norway a total of more than NOK 15 billion as of today.

Norway spent 15 billion on Syria aid—the National Audit Office will check the use of money

We don’t have any figures showing how much Norway’s destruction of Libya cost, but it is quite obvious that Norway was at the forefront destroying the country with its bombs.

Billions to Gates, Clinton and the pharmaceutical industry
Norway and Saudi Arabia were the biggest donors to the Clinton Foundation. The Clinton Foundation: Part 3: Norway’s contribution to the fund

Norway’s largest donor to Bill Gates and Gavi. Erna Solberg gives 13 billion tax kroner to the Gates alliance

The EU and Norway will allocate 85 billion for a vaccine against covid-19

Shortly following the coup d’état in Ukraine in 2014, Norway poured hundreds of millions of NOK over the Kiev regime without the possibility of, for example the National Audit Office, having any oversight where the money has gone. And in 2022 we could read that Støre would beat Solberg’s record gifts by a good margin: the Ukraine bill has increased to almost NOK 14 billion—where will we make the cuts?

And now he has topped this again. With the support of all parties in the Parliament (Storting), Støre has decided to inject another 75 billion Norwegian tax kroner into the war against Russia in Ukraine.

Tamed and disciplined left—Political operators and agents of influence

Few public documents have played, and play, such an important role as Stortingsmelding 15 (2008—2009). It is entitled Interests, responsibilities and opportunities Main lines in Norwegian foreign policy , and is probably the most important program document left behind by the red-green government of Jens Stoltenberg.

The NGOs are incorporated into the power apparatus of the imperialist state

Professor Terje Tvedt has made a thorough study of the ideological change in Norway and the Norwegian public in its relationship with the outside world. Here we have previously shown how the «voluntary organisations» have been co-opted by the state and transformed into tools enforcing Norwegian politics, and especially Norwegian foreign policy.

In 2003, Terje Tvedt wrote:

The very close collaboration between the state, voluntary organizations and research institutes is described as «The Norwegian model». In 2003, several thousand employees in the state administration, in around 150 voluntary organisations, at research institutes and universities were linked in to Norwegian politics in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

In parliamentary notice (Stortingsmelding) 15, the Stoltenberg government writes:

While in the past a distinction was made between voluntary aid organizations and political organizations such as Amnesty International, and No to Nuclear Weapons, now the vast majority of voluntary organizations are political operators and influence agents in addition to being operational aid actors. Collected funds are used in close collaboration with the media and international media personalities to maximize visibility and political influence. At the same time, they collaborate ever closer and more often with government actors and the business world. Globalisation, with the associated media and communication revolution, has led to a considerable increase in these actors’ ability to network and influence politics across borders and actors. (Our edition, ed.)

This is a very precise description of how the so-called aid organizations have functioned as an external agency for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in order to realize Norway’s imperialist interests. This applies not least to the Norwegian Red Cross, Norwegian People’s Aid, Norwegian Refugee Council, Church Aid, Save the Children and CARE Norway, as well as NORWAC and other similar organisations.

These organizations also present employment and career opportunities for large parts of the petty-bourgeois left in Norway, and it has also been shown that they to a very large extent have absorbed the ideology and mindset of imperialism. The same applies to the largely state-supported media in Norway.

Therefore, it is no coincidence that Norway today has the most militaristic leftists in Europe, and possibly the world.

In short, Norway is ideally equipped to be the glove that perfectly fits the USA’s hand, and therefore it may come as no surprise, if finally it is documented that Norway has been involved in a serious act of war against Germany and Russia, which blowing up the Nord Stream is. Unfortunately, this is what Norway has become.

Translated from the original: Hvorfor er Norge hansken som passer på USAs hånd? Translation by Erik Skjold.

https://mronline.org/2023/03/06/why-is- ... usas-hand/

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From Cassad's telegram account:

forwarded from
Readovka
1:07
“Hurry up the world” - the inhabitants of Lisichansk are trying to cope with the difficulties of life in the front-line city of

Lysichansk - a front-line city closed to entry, the press and other outside civilians were no longer allowed here. Just 11 km from it is Belogorovka, where fierce battles are now taking place. Artillery and HIMARS are very often shelled here, and enemy DRGs are operating in the nearby forests.

For security reasons, the Internet is turned off here, cellular communication does not work well, and at night there is no lighting on the streets. Electricity, gas and water supply has not been fully restored. However, people are returning to their hometown. New shops are opening, the market is open.

Vitaly is a security guard in a small shopping center in Lisichansk. Despite all the difficulties, he is happy that there is an opportunity to work, and is grateful for the humanitarian aid that is often brought to the city.

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Colonelcassad
Lukashenko about Zelensky:

“I somehow thought that Ukraine needs peace, that Zelensky is rooting for his people. President Zelensky is just a nit. Just nit! Such operations are not carried out without the consent of the head of the country and the commander in chief. <...>

Nits because he runs around Belarus, sends people to us and asks, as I said: "Let's conclude a non-aggression pact, let's agree, we don't have any problems."

To which I said: "We are not going to attack." - "No, let's sign a treaty under the auspices of the United Nations that you will not attack us." You have heard my all these statements. And at this time… Well, the challenge has been thrown” (c) Alexander Lukashenko


However, this was obvious even without the terrorist attacks in Belarus.

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Colonelcassad

On the eve of the spring holiday, International Women's Day, which no matter how hard they tried, but could not be canceled in Ukraine, we decided to support the Ukrainian anti-war movement! We, the beautiful half of humanity, have been given a gift by God - to give life! And no one has the right to take it away. Especially to please the politicians and oligarchs who led our country to war back in 2014.

Today grief has knocked on every Ukrainian family. A father, brother, son, or husband is dead. A free cross, a coffin, a veil and a name plate, that's what we get instead of our relatives. Almost every day, unit commanders order dominoes and plastic bags for fighters that their loved ones will never see again.

Men are prohibited from leaving the country, in violation of all international laws. They are forcibly sent to war, which ordinary Ukrainians absolutely do not need! Defense Minister Reznikov says the mobilization will continue, which means families will continue to experience grief.

Our loved ones are being turned into cannon fodder and this must end. Therefore, we support the petition asking the UN, OSCE and Amnesty International to protect the rights of Ukrainian male refugees and open the borders of Ukraine!

We are starting a campaign: #Stop the war ! Don't let yourself get killed!

If you have information about the employees of the TCC and the joint venture, who forcibly send our loved ones to death, send it to us in the bot. Let's make their names public. We guarantee your privacy!

We know that we have many people in Ukraine against the war. And that is why our action #Stop the war will continue indefinitely.


We are Beregini ! We know everything!

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🇬🇧🇺🇦About the first possible use of the Ukrainian OTRK "Grom-2" in the Crimea - analysis of Rybar and the Military Chronicle

On March 4, around 16.00, Ukrainian formations tried to strike at the Crimean airfield of the Russian Aerospace Forces in Gvardeisky . Air defense units repelled the raid: there were no casualties, debris fell outside military facilities.

According to various sources, the Armed Forces of Ukraine used a Tu-141 Strizh jet drone equipped with a “homemade” explosive device with striking elements. It is believed that the Soviet-type UAV was shot down on approach to the airfield. But we have reason to believe that it was not the Swift.

🔻For what reason?

Judging by the footage, a funnel up to five meters deep formed at the crash site: a UAV with a small warhead could hardly have caused such a strong detonation.

Swifts are mainly intended for pinpoint strikes against aviation bases or ammunition depots, as was the case during the attacks on Engels . For such purposes, a high power charge is not required. Yes, a funnel could appear when falling into soil with loose soil, but in this particular case the situation may be different.

🔻What is "Thunder"?

The Armed Forces of Ukraine could use the Grom-2 operational-tactical missile system of their own production to shell Crimea. On the eve of the strike, the Ukrainian media dispersed the news about the successful development of the OTRK, exceeding the capabilities of the American HIMARS MLRS.

According to our information, the crew of the Grom-2 OTRK could launch a ballistic missile from the area of ​​the village of Tuzla in the Odessa region. The distance to Gvardeisky was about 320 km, and the warhead from a ballistic missile weighing 480 kg could easily leave a funnel of such depth. At the same time, the maximum launch range of this complex can be 500 kilometers.

🔻Is it possible?

At the enterprises of the Ukrainian military-industrial complex, they actively developed products of their own production even before the start of the SVO. However, industrialists constantly had problems both when working on the Alder MLRS and the Grom OTRK - most of the tests were not successful .

Against the backdrop of the ongoing SVO, the West intensified its own Ukrainian developments: specialists joined the case, began to import spare parts, components and circuits. A similar "modernization" affected the Kharkov factories "Khartron" and "Kommunar" , where missile weapons were being developed.

Alder is also supplied to combat units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine: an improved multiple launch rocket system based on the Soviet Smerch MLRS. Two launchers are on the balance sheet of the 15th Regiment in Blagodatnoye , and two more are in service with the 107th Reabr in Seversk in the DPR. The same thing is happening with Grom: at the moment, the OTRK is being tested.

🔻What's next?

The longer the operation in Ukraine drags on, the more new weapons appear in the ranks of the Ukrainian army. This is a completely logical turn in the development of the conflict, therefore, so far, trial strikes by the OTRK are not surprising. The presence of Ukrainian-

made short or medium-range systems and strikes against Russian territories will make it much easier to justify further deliveries of American long-range ATACMS missiles to HIMARS and cruise missiles. High resolution map English version @rybar with @milchronicles

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https://t.me/s/boris_rozhin

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"There is great chaos under heaven; the situation is excellent."

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Re: Footnotes from the Ukrainian "Crisis"; New High-Points in Cynicism Part IV

Post by blindpig » Wed Mar 08, 2023 12:28 pm

a new theory
POSTED BY @NSANZO ⋅ 03/08/2023

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On September 26, several explosions left the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines unusable, which directly linked the Russian Federation with its most important client, Germany. The attack blew up one of the last economic connections between two of the most important countries on the European continent. That economic relationship had been forged through political relations both with the SPD government under Gerhard Schröder and with the CDU government under Angela Merkel. During this period, access to cheap and accessible energy had been one of the bases of the competitiveness of German industry, an export economy that was one of the great engines of the European Union and of Europe in general. The construction of the Nord Stream,

In 2018, the start of the construction of a second branch of the gas pipeline, the Nord Stream-2, which would never come into operation, provoked complaints from countries like Ukraine, which risked enormous economic losses derived from the presumed reduction in volumes. of gas transited through its gas pipeline system. With infrastructures that due to their age could not be compared to the gas pipelines under construction and in the context of an already difficult economic and political relationship between the two countries, Kiev feared losing its strategic position as a key country in the transit of gas between Russia and the European Union.

With the agreement, Germany also sought to appease criticism from its partners, especially from the United States, but also from countries like Poland, which saw the project as a "political weapon" for the Kremlin to control the European Union's energy market. That political story actually hid clear economic interests: Poland, like Ukraine, risked losing revenue due to reduced traffic through the Druzhva, “Amistad” gas pipeline, while for Washington, the Nord Stream was a competitor who It was in a position of strength in a lucrative market in which it was trying to break through with its more expensive and, due to the logistics involved, less reliable and, above all, less ecological, liquefied natural gas.

Germany's commitment to the continuation of transit through Ukraine and the diversification of the energy market - a euphemism to really reflect the reduction in the purchase of Russian gas in favor of others that are more ideologically correct (American, Norwegian, Qatari or even Azeri). although more expensive - appeased the spirits of the United States, which withdrew from the fight in the months prior to the completion of the works. However, the start of the Russian intervention closed any possibility of the gas transiting through the most modern gas pipeline existing at that time. Weeks earlier, both Joe Biden and Victoria Nuland had publicly stated that Nord Stream-2 would never become operational in the event of a Russian invasion of Ukraine. From the moment the military intervention took place,

The explosions on September 26 provoked a moderate initial reaction from Russia, which in the early hours simply called for an impartial fact-finding investigation. From the other side of this propaganda war, however, the accusations against Moscow were practically imminent once the version of an attack with the use of explosives became clear. Just a few hours after the first explosions, Blooombergpublished an article that assumed Russian culpability based on Russia's interest in directly involving NATO in the war in Ukraine, an argument that could hardly ever be considered credible. The apparent surprise of the European leaders was followed by the oft-mentioned tweet from the former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland Radek Sikorski, who thanked the United States for the destruction of the gas pipeline and the emotional words of Antony Blinken, who described the effective disappearance of the two Nord Stream as "a great opportunity". Then came a silence that has lasted for months. All the countries in the area -Sweden, Denmark and Germany- began investigations that have produced no results other than the obvious confirmation that the sabotage was really an attack with explosives. Surprisingly,

Everything changed with the publication of an extensive article by the American journalist Seymour Hersh, who received a Pulitzer Prize for his reporting revealing the American massacre of Vietnamese civilians in Mi Lai and who, among his many journalistic achievements, also publicized the torture at Abu Ghraib. In early February, the legendary journalist directly accused the United States of having carried out the attack precisely to ensure that the pipeline could never be put back into operation. Hersh, citing anonymous US military sources, claimed that the explosives had been planted by US Navy operatives in June 2022 as part of the Baltops 22 military exercises. With the connivance or collaboration of Norway,

Hersh's reporting has been accused of all sorts of sins, most notably violating journalistic standards by citing only one source and pandering to Russian propaganda .. Since the sabotage was confirmed, Russia had accused the West of having committed the attack. For months, the official Western line was firm: Russia had sabotaged its own critical infrastructure as an element of economic warfare against the European Union. Moscow would thus have complied with what all kinds of experts and journalists expressed throughout the summer of 2022: the certainty that Russia would try to put pressure on the European Union by completely cutting off the gas supply during the winter. That argument collided, and continues to collide, with stubborn reality. Despite the economic war and the obvious break in political relations, Russia continues to send gas, albeit in smaller quantities due to European sanctions, and it does so precisely through Ukraine. The argument that Russia blew up gas pipelines of which it is co-owner never made sense. However, the complete absence of evidence and the Western closing ranks in favor of this theory have made it possible for months to have been the main hypothesis to explain the facts. But even before the publication of Hersh's report, various media as important asThe New York Times admitted that there was no evidence whatsoever to prove Russian guilt in the attack. The fact that Russia had begun to study ways to repair the damage is yet another proof that it was not in Moscow's interest to seek the disappearance of an infrastructure in which it invested billions of euros. However, from the political authorities, any hypothesis that did not imply Russian guilt continued to be considered a conspiracy theory despite growing doubts, not only due to the lack of evidence, but also due to the suspicious silence of the actors involved, especially the main victim : Germany.

Seymour Hersh's story presents the performance of an actor who had the motives, means and opportunity to commit the attack. The United States' fight against the Nord Stream goes back to the origins of the project. The United States has what it takes to explode infrastructures prepared to withstand pressure situations and, thanks to NATO military exercises, had the opportunity to place the explosives that would later have exploded. However, the main beneficiary of an act is not always its cause and, indeed, Seymour Hersh's sources are unknown to the public, so they cannot be considered definitive even if it is evident that the journalist counts, as demonstrated by his decades of experience. , with reliable sources within theAmerican political and military establishment . Curiously, anonymous and official government sources who request to keep their identities hidden have been the basis for much of the information about negotiations, arms deliveries, and plans for this war in the mainstream US media.

Although demonized or ignored by the media and a large part of international governments, Hersh's reporting has led to a certain need to seek alternative explanations. In Germany, both the left and the right have raised requests in the Bundestag to clarify the facts and also the position of the government itself. In the recent visit of Olaf Scholz to the United States, in which the Nord Stream issue has been conspicuously absent, there has also been no joint press conference in which the press had the option of questioning the narrative or the absence of progress. on the research. And neither in the interview that Fareed Zakaria conducted with the German chancellor was there any question about the facts.

The absence of the Nord Stream issue in Scholz's visit to the United States in recent days contrasts with what was published yesterday by The New York Times.The leading US newspaper, curiously citing anonymous US officials, pointed out yesterday that "a pro-Ukrainian group" had committed the attack. It is not the first time that Ukraine appears in the hypotheses about the facts: a few weeks ago, Fionna Hill, an expert on Russia and former adviser for Russia-related policy of the Trump administration, referred to the hypothesis that Kiev had been the cause. of the explosions. Hill cited "the intelligence community" as a source, although this hypothesis that a country without access to the Baltic and without the necessary means to commit the act could have carried out it seemed at the time a simple attempt to divert the attention of the United States to other actors.

Something similar is happening now, with a story based on an interested leak from the party that in recent weeks has been accused of the attack. At the most propitious moment -Hersh claims to have more information about what happened and to be preparing a new publication-, this new theory points to a new actor, an unknown proxy force that opens new avenues of speculation. “US officials claimed that there is much they do not know about the perpetrators and their affiliation. The review of the newly collected intelligence suggests that they were opponents of President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, but does not specify who the members of the group are and who directed or paid for the operation, ”says The New York Times, which admits not knowing "the nature of the intelligence, how it was obtained or any details of the strength of the evidence it contains", but adds that "they state that there are no firm conclusions, leaving open the possibility that the operation could have been carried out unofficially by a proxy force with connections to the Ukrainian government or its security services.” This new hypothesis, which also reinforces the idea that there is no evidence to blame Moscow for the events, seeks only to exonerate the United States, something that the article openly does, even at the cost of being able to implicate an ally, in this case to Ukraine. Of course, insisting that the members of the group could be "Ukrainian, Russian or a combination of both", The New York Timesinsists that neither Volodymyr Zelensky nor his government participated in the attack.

The German press refers to a group of six Ukrainians who, using professionally forged passports, would have rented a yacht to commit the act. However, the false flag hypothesis is not ruled out either . Here, too, the sources are anonymous and the account has been considered more credible than the revelations of Seymour Hersh, who presented a much more plausible theory. But, if the involvement of Ukraine -and possibly Poland- is true, new questions should be added to the current one: why hasn't Germany actively fought to find out who blew up its critical infrastructures? Could Ukraine or a Ukrainian non-state group have acted without the knowledge of its allies?

Without there currently seeming to be a serious investigation to determine what happened and only with the word of intelligence officers who only seek to exonerate their government, The New York Times thus contributes to further complicate an act that no one in the West seems to want to clarify. . Possibly because their culprits are not in the vicinity of the Kremlin.

https://slavyangrad.es/2023/03/08/26790/#more-26790

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Nord Stream Attack - White House Counters Hersh's Reputation With Weak 'Intelligence'
On September 28 2022, a day after the Nord Stream pipelines were blown up, I published the available open source evidence which strongly suggested that the U.S. had done it:

Whodunnit? - Facts Related to The Sabotage Attack On The Nord Stream Pipelines

On February 8 the legendary investigative reporter Seymour Hersh published a remarkable similar tale of the story based on insider witnesses.

Hersh: "How America Took Out The Nord Stream Pipeline"

I then suggested some minor corrections to Hersh's version of the story.

While Hersh's story found an echo in Europe's newspapers, U.S. mainstream media did all they could to avoid it:

Scores of hits from publications across the globe pop up from an internet search for veteran investigative reporter Seymour Hersh’s claim that the US destroyed Russia’s Nord Stream gas pipeline.

But what is most striking about the page after page of results from Google, Bing and DuckDuckGo in the weeks following the February 8 posting of Hersh’s story isn’t what is there, but what is not to be found:

The Times of London (2/8/23) reported Hersh’s story hours after he posted it on his Substack account, but nothing in the New York Times.
Britain’s Reuters News Agency moved at least ten stories (2/8/23, 2/9/23, 2/12/2, 2/15/23, among others), the Associated Press not one.
Not a word broadcast by the major US broadcast networks—NBC, ABC, CBS—or the publicly funded broadcasters PBS and NPR.
No news stories on the nation’s major cable outlets, CNN, MSNBC and Fox News.
Is there justification for such self-censorship? True, Hersh’s story is based on a single anonymous source. But anonymous sources are a staple of mainstream reporting on the US government, used by all major outlets. Further, countless stories of lesser national and international import have been published with the caveat that the facts reported have not been independently verified.

Doubts about Hersh’s story aside, by every journalistic standard, the extensive international coverage given the story, as well as the adamant White House and Pentagon denials, should have made it big news in the United States.

More important, if Hersh got it wrong, his story needs to be knocked down. Silence is not acceptable journalism.


Some papers later mentioned the Hersh story but only in other context. Still the pressure on the U.S. government and media to react to the story continued to build.

The results came today, a full month after the Hersh story, with New York Times publishing another of the usual 'intelligence' fairytales:

Intelligence Suggests Pro-Ukrainian Group Sabotaged Pipelines, U.S. Officials Say
New intelligence reporting amounts to the first significant known lead about who was responsible for the attack on the Nord Stream pipelines that carried natural gas from Russia to Europe.


All fine - except that there is no 'intelligence'. There are only claims by anonymous 'officials' to NYT reporters that some vague 'intelligence' may exist.

WASHINGTON — New intelligence reviewed by U.S. officials suggests that a pro-Ukrainian group carried out the attack on the Nord Stream pipelines last year, a step toward determining responsibility for an act of sabotage that has confounded investigators on both sides of the Atlantic for months.
U.S. officials said that they had no evidence President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine or his top lieutenants were involved in the operation, or that the perpetrators were acting at the direction of any Ukrainian government officials.

That is, so far, believable. Any combination of Joe Biden, Victoria Nuland, Anthony Blinken and various White House and NATO minions can certainly be called a 'pro-Ukrainian group'.

U.S. officials declined to disclose the nature of the intelligence, how it was obtained or any details of the strength of the evidence it contains. They have said that there are no firm conclusions about it, leaving open the possibility that the operation might have been conducted off the books by a proxy force with connections to the Ukrainian government or its security services.

Can you get any more vague?

Officials who have reviewed the intelligence said they believed the saboteurs were most likely Ukrainian or Russian nationals, or some combination of the two. U.S. officials said no American or British nationals were involved.
...
The explosives were most likely planted with the help of experienced divers who did not appear to be working for military or intelligence services, U.S. officials who have reviewed the new intelligence said. But it is possible that the perpetrators received specialized government training in the past.


I call bullshit on this one. Hersh has in the meantime confirmed that at the pipelines were mined at eight places and that six of the eight planned explosions went off. This was a way too big task and too difficult for anyone to do but for an experienced national military.

U.S. officials who have been briefed on the intelligence are divided about how much weight to put on the new information. All of them spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss classified intelligence and matters of sensitive diplomacy.
U.S. officials said the new intelligence reporting has increased their optimism that American spy agencies and their partners in Europe can find more information, which could allow them to reach a firm conclusion about the perpetrators. It is unclear how long that process will take. American officials recently discussed the intelligence with their European counterparts, who have taken the lead in investigating the attack.

I am pretty sure that all European intelligence services know exactly who the perpetrators were. They have all read Hersh's piece and they do have their ways to confirm it.

By the way- we are now down to paragraph 22 of the Times story and the name Hersh or a summary of his story have not yet been mentioned.

They only come in the next paragraph and only to be immediately dismissed.

Last month, the investigative journalist Seymour Hersh published an article on the newsletter platform Substack concluding that the United States carried out the operation at the direction of Mr. Biden. In making his case, Mr. Hersh cited the president’s preinvasion threat to “bring an end” to Nord Stream 2, and similar statements by other senior U.S. officials.
U.S. officials say Mr. Biden and his top aides did not authorize a mission to destroy the Nord Stream pipelines, and they say there was no U.S. involvement.


Not a word about the insider source who told Hersh the whole story, nor about the other unmentioned source who confirmed the story to Hersh. (In his autobiography Reporter Hersh writes that he always has had more than one source even when he at times could not say so.)

The purported claims of the 'intelligence' as published by the Times are no believable. That such 'intelligence' exists is dubious. This just chaff thrown up to divert the views of the public from the real perpetrators of the Nord Stream terror attack - those who sit in the White House.

You may wonder who the New York Times was chosen for the 'leak' of this smoke grenade.

In 1977 the Rolling Stone published a story by Carl Bernstein:

THE CIA AND THE MEDIA
How Americas Most Powerful News Media Worked Hand in Glove with the Central Intelligence Agency and Why the Church Committee Covered It Up

MURKY DETAILS OF CIA RELATIONSHIPS WITH INDIVIDUALS and news organizations began trickling out in 1973 when it was first disclosed that the CIA had, on occasion, employed journalists. Those reports, combined with new information, serve as casebook studies of the Agency’s use of journalists for intelligence purposes. They include:
■ The New York Times. The Agency’s relationship with the Times was by far its most valuable among newspapers, according to CIA officials. From 1950 to 1966, about ten CIA employees were provided Times cover under arrangements approved by the newspaper’s late publisher, Arthur Hays Sulzberger. The cover arrangements were part of a general Times policy—set by Sulzberger—to provide assistance to the CIA whenever possible.

Sulzberger was especially close to Allen Dulles. “At that level of contact it was the mighty talking to the mighty,” said a high‑level CIA official who was present at some of the discussions. “There was an agreement in principle that, yes indeed, we would help each other. The question of cover came up on several occasions. It was agreed that the actual arrangements would be handled by subordinates.... The mighty didn’t want to know the specifics; they wanted plausible deniability.

...

Nothing has changed since.

Posted by b on March 7, 2023 at 17:53 UTC | Permalink

https://www.moonofalabama.org/2023/03/n ... .html#more

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German MPs Want Answers About Nord Stream
Posted by INTERNATIONALIST 360° on MARCH 7, 2023
Jeffery Brodsky

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Gas emanates from the Nord Stream 2 pipeline in the Baltic Sea on Sept. 28, 2022, after explosions released as many as 500,000 tons of methane into the air. Investigators point to sabotage but have released little information.SWEDISH COAST GUARD VIA GETTY IMAGES

A bombshell report lands amid existing frustration and calls to release investigative findings.

On Sept. 26, 2022, aerial images showing gas welling up to the surface of the Baltic Sea above the Nord Stream pipelines — the two 1,200-kilometer offshore pipelines connecting Russian natural gas reserves to the European Union — were circulated around the globe. Initial investigations revealed the leaks were likely caused by explosions.

Sweden, Denmark and Germany all launched investigations, but with the exception of an early Swedish assessment that the explosions were probably caused by ​“gross sabotage,” none of their findings have been released to date. On February 21, as the U.N. Security Council met to discuss the attack, the three countries submitted a joint letter to the United Nations saying their separate investigations ​“have not yet been concluded” and ​“it is not possible to say when they will be concluded.”

“Do you think that a terrorist attack like this, in international waters, in a sea that is observed by many different surveillance systems, that this could happen without anybody taking notice?”—German MP Ralf Stegner
The identity of the perpetrator has high stakes in the context of Russia’s war in Ukraine. Immediately after the attack, some Western media outlets argued that Russia had carried out the attack to undermine the West’s willingness to aid Ukraine at a time when Russian forces were experiencing setbacks on the battlefield. Russia instead pointed at the United States and the U.K., claiming it had no interest in destroying infrastructure important to its own economy and hinting that the West sabotaged the pipelines because they gave Russia geopolitical leverage.

As investigations and recriminations dragged on, an initial mainstream media narrative that Russia was the likely culprit gave way to doubt and head scratching in Europe. In December, the Washington Post and New York Times followed suit, publishing stories acknowledging there is no conclusive evidence of who is to blame, either way.

Then came a series of bombshell allegations on February 8 in a self-published report from veteran investigative journalist Seymour Hersh. Based on an anonymous source ​“with direct knowledge of the operational planning,” Hersh alleged that the sabotage was a covert operation by the United States’ CIA, working in partnership with Norway. According to Hersh’s source, Navy divers planted remotely-triggered explosives on or near the pipelines last June, under the cover of a NATO training exercise, and those explosives were subsequently triggered by a sonar buoy in late September.

The response to Hersh’s 5,000-word report was mixed and inevitably politicized. The Biden administration dismissed it as ​“utterly false and complete fiction,” while a Kremlin spokesperson called it ​“remarkable” and suggested America has ​“questions to answer.” Mainstream U.S. press has largely ignored the story, but it received widespread attention in independent media and European mainstream media, including in Germany, where German MPs across the political spectrum have been calling on the executive branch to release findings from its official investigation.

German MPs call for answers

In January and early February, a number of German politicians from across the political spectrum, including from parties in Germany’s current coalition government, spoke with In These Times.

“Do you think that a terrorist attack like this, in international waters, in a sea that is observed by many different surveillance systems, that this could happen without anybody taking notice?” asked Dr. Ralf Stegner, a member of the governing center-left Social Democrats (SPD) party and chair of the Committee of Inquiry and the Subcommittee on Disarmament, Arms Control and Nonproliferation in the Bundestag, Germany’s parliament. ​“That’s hard to believe. It wasn’t an attack on Mars, it was in the Baltic Sea.”

Stegner, who also serves on the Bundestag’s Foreign Committee, said he has twice asked the government for information and was told they ​“don’t know anything.”

“The argument that national security is in danger is used more often than I would like,” Stegner said. ​“Most of the time, it’s only used not to have to make things public, although there is no good reason.”

But no matter what German investigators uncovered, the government appeared to have preemptively decided by mid-October to keep some of its findings secret. After a German MP asked the executive branch in October about reported Russian concerns that Ukraine might attack Russian infrastructure, an executive branch representative responded, ​“After careful consideration, the federal government came to the conclusion that a disclosure of information regarding this question cannot be issued — not even in classified form — due to considerations regarding the welfare of the state.”

The executive branch wrote that “the right of members of the Bundestag to ask questions was necessarily second to the confidentiality interests of the federal government.”

So far, three German political parties have submitted formal inquiries regarding the pipeline attacks to the executive branch: the center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU), which received the second-most votes in the last national elections and is the party of former Chancellor Angela Merkel; the small, left-wing Die Linke (“The Left”); and the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD). These ​“Small Requests” — a German parliamentary process by which parties can submit limited inquiries to the executive branch — asked detailed questions about the movements of U.S. and NATO aircraft and sea vessels in the days surrounding the explosions, what intelligence Germany has or that its allies have shared, and pressed the government to release its investigative findings.

The AfD Small Request asked why the government had cited state interests in declaring it would not publicize the results of the investigation. In its formal response in November, the executive branch answered in a similar vein to its October statement, stating the results ​“touched upon necessarily protected confidentiality interests in such a way that” normal parliamentary access to information and ​“the right of members of the Bundestag to ask questions was necessarily second to the confidentiality interests of the federal government.”

That response was greeted with skepticism. In an internal AfD document shared with In These Times, Eugen Schmidt, the lead MP on the AfD request, noted that the German government ​“obviously knows more than it wants to say.”

“The question of who destroyed Nord Stream 1 and 2 is a fundamental question in this ever-developing war between Russia and NATO and Ukraine,” says Die Linke MP Andrej Hunko, one of the signatories to his party’s Small Request. ​“I think answering the question is absolutely essential and necessary for the public to know: It was an attack on the vital infrastructure of Germany and Western Europe.”

Within Germany, both AfD and Die Linke are perceived by some as overly sympathetic to Russian interests. Members of AfD, which has also drawn widespread criticism for its overtly anti-immigrant and nationalist policies, have opposed sanctioning Russia and last September, five of the party’s MPs were criticized for visiting Russia and making plans to visit Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine, in what opponents called a ​“propaganda trip.” (National AfD officials distanced themselves from the trip and one regional AfD group voted to expel a member who had participated in it.) Similarly, last fall, Die Linke nearly splintered over internal debates on Russian sanctions.

Both AfD and Die Linke deny characterizations that they are ​“pro-Putin” or ​“pro-Kremlin.”

“There are no links between Die Linke and the Kremlin, and I was one of the few pointing out Russian repression of left-leaning politicians in Parliament,” says Hunko. ​“Die Linke has no sympathy for the current political and economic system of Russia.”

Hunko has been personally criticized for opposing sanctions on Russia after the country’s alleged 2015 cyberattack on the Bundestag and for a pair of trips he made the same year to contested regions of Ukraine, in the months after Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea. On one of those trips, Hunko and a fellow Die Linke MP were photographed alongside a pro-Kremlin separatist leader. Hunko emphasizes that the trips were to deliver funds he’d raised in a campaign for medical aid to the region and that his encounter with the separatist leader was unplanned. He also tells In These Times that he and Die Linke object to ​“double standards in politics,” noting that Germany did not impose sanctions on the United States in 2013 after the Obama administration was caught having tapped Angela Merkel’s phone.

“The public has a right to know in a democracy and the parliament has a right to know.” —German MP Ralf Stegner
But it’s not just outlying parties asking questions. The CDU also submitted a Small Request regarding Nord Stream, asking about the government’s ​“investigatory results, findings and information … regarding the alleged acts of sabotage” on the Nord Stream pipelines. (In These Times contacted more than a dozen CDU MPs for comment, but none responded.)

And SPD’s Ralf Stegner was troubled by the rationalizations for secrecy. ​“There might be very limited cases where national security is in danger that you could argue that it’s okay not to reveal some things, but I can only imagine very, very few cases when that is a valid argument,” said Stegner. ​“Otherwise, the public has a right to know in a democracy and the parliament has a right to know.”

Speculation in the absence of information

Not all parliamentarians think information is being withheld. Dr. Nils Schmid, chair of the Foreign Committee and another SPD MP, sees the Hersh report as unconfirmed speculation, but says, ​“It would be helpful to come to a swift conclusion of the investigation in order to avoid this kind of speculation.” He adds, ​“If an ally carried out this kind of operation, I would rather expect the ally to tell the relevant authorities in Germany and then for a new investigation to conclude this.”

Sandra Bubendorfer-Licht of the neoliberal Free Democratic Party (FDP) tells In These Times she believes that ​“no investigative progress has been made so far, which is not surprising considering the fact that the investigation is being conducted on the 70-meter-deep bottom of the Baltic Sea, that is subject to the tides.” But, she continued, if evidence was found, ​“I would expect a notification of the parliamentarians and the public, but at least of the members of the parliamentary committees concerned with the subject. It would be dangerous to withhold information from the public and thus encourage conspiracy theorists.”

In the absence of information, however, speculation has flourished, drawing on circumstantial evidence to make the case for U.S. or Russian culpability.

The United States’ longstanding opposition to Nord Stream, and to Europe’s dependence on Russian energy, has repeatedly been cited as a rationale for suspecting U.S. involvement. In 2019, President Donald Trump warned that the construction of Nord Stream 2 would make Germany ​“a hostage of Russia,” and placed sanctions on any company assisting Russia to complete the pipeline. In 2021, then-White House press secretary Jen Psaki said that Biden ​“continues to believe that Nord Stream 2 is a bad deal for Europe,” reiterating the president’s 2016 statement that the pipeline was a ​“fundamentally bad deal for Europe,” even though Russian gas is cheaper than American LNG.

Biden’s Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, said during his confirmation hearings in 2021 that he was ​“determined to do whatever I can to prevent” the completion of Nord Stream 2, assuring Sen. Ted Cruz (another vehement opponent of the pipeline project) that Biden ​“would have us use every persuasive tool that we have to convince our friends and partners, including Germany, not to move forward with it.”

When Russia began preparations to invade Ukraine in early 2022, U.S. leaders doubled down on implicit threats against Nord Stream 2. In January 2022, Under Secretary of State Victoria Nuland, former CEO of the hawkish national security think tank Center for a New American Security, said, ​“If Russia invades Ukraine, one way or another, Nord Stream 2 will not move forward.” The following month, Biden echoed the seeming threat, saying in a press conference with German Chancellor Scholz, ​“If Russia invades…there will be no longer a Nord Stream 2. … We will bring an end to it.” After being pressed on how the U.S. would ensure that, the president smirked, adding, ​“I promise you: We will be able to do it.”

After the leaks in the pipelines were discovered last September, Secretary Blinken initially said the sabotage was ​“in no one’s interest,” but then called it a ​“tremendous opportunity,” noting the United States was ​“now the leading supplier of LNG to Europe.” In a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing, Under Secretary Nuland said that she and the Biden administration were ​“very gratified to know that Nord Stream 2 is now … a hunk of metal at the bottom of the sea.”

The United States seems to have done little to investigate the attack, despite the fact that, several days after the attack, President Biden said that, at ​“the appropriate moment,” the U.S. would ​“be sending divers down to find out exactly what happened.” In late February, Hersh pointed to this discrepancy, arguing in a podcast appearance, ​“If he [Biden] wanted to know who did it, he can task the intelligence community.” The fact that the Biden administration had not issued such an order, Hersh continued, was due to one reason: ​“They knew who did it.”

On the other hand, some of Russia’s actions have raised suspicions as well. In late December, Nord Stream 2 AG, which is owned by Russia’s energy giant Gazprom, was granted a six-month ​“stay of bankruptcy.” But despite these evident financial troubles, Nord Stream AG — a separate international consortium in which Gazprom holds a controlling 51% stake, alongside four European energy companies — has evinced little urgency to release findings from its own October investigation into the pipeline sabotage. While the company initially claimed that its attempts at investigation were stymied by other countries’ operations or the weather, it appears that Russia could have accessed the pipelines as early as it wished. (It doesn’t appear that Russia has yet launched an independent governmental investigation but it and China have recently called for an impartial United Nations investigation — a request the U.S. has opposed.)

These omissions have led some to suspect that Russia sabotaged its own infrastructure, in order to ​“send a signal that Russia has the capability and will” to destroy its own pipelines — and potentially those of other nations — and thus ​“instill fear in the population in Europe,” as Tobias Liebetrau, a researcher at the University of Copenhagen’s Center for Military Studies, put it.

University of Copenhagen international relations Prof. Christian Bueger agreed Russia was the most likely perpetrator, saying, ​“If the intent was to create uncertainty and a feeling of vulnerability, then this was a spot-on attack,” because ​“it caused literally the fear across NATO countries that they cannot protect their infrastructure.”

However, if unsettling Europe was the intended effect, says Germany MP Bubendorfer-Licht, it backfired. ​“Building up pressure through decreasing the energy supply to stop the war support for Ukraine didn’t work before, either,” she said, referring to Russia’s unsuccessful effort to use its gas exports to blackmail Europe. ​“Germany can now support Ukraine without always considering the Russian leverage of energy supplies.”

Others have pointed out that the list of entities with the technological capacity to carry out the sabotage is long. ​“You see what drug traffickers have nowadays, what kind of submarines — those are almost nation-state capabilities,” observes Bart Groothuis, a Member of the European Parliament who previously worked at the Dutch Ministry of Defence. ​“So if you ask me, ​‘Is anyone capable of doing something below sea?’ Yes, probably.”

“I wouldn’t bet a good bottle of wine either way,” Groothuis continues, refusing to speculate on who was to blame. ​“I haven’t seen or heard any conclusive evidence yet.”

“The debate in the German parliament about the article by Seymour Hersh was very disappointing.”—German MP Andrej Hunko
On February 10, two days after the publication of Hersh’s story, the Bundestag held its first debate on the Nord Stream sabotage, at the request of AfD. German Chancellor Scholz was absent and the debate — taking place on a Friday afternoon, when most MPs have returned to their home districts — was poorly attended. MPs from CDU and the governing coalition (SPD, the Greens, and the FDP) cautioned against ​“speculation” based on Hersh’s report, while their peers from Die Linke and AfD accused the German government of contributing ​“zero” to clarifying who is behind the sabotage and having ​“no interest in investigating the matter.”

While a 25% vote threshold could create a parliamentary Committee of Inquiry empowered to independently investigate facts that are now the responsibility of the executive branch, it doesn’t appear there is enough awareness of or interest in Hersh’s report to set up such a body.

“The debate in the German parliament about the article by Seymour Hersh was very disappointing,” says Hunko. ​“There was no real dealing with the substance of the article by the vast majority of parliamentarians; instead, they only tried to discredit the author or those of us who called for a serious debate.”

SDP parliamentarian Ralf Stegner came back to the anomaly of government silence on so significant an attack.

“It’s very unusual that for an attack like this — a spectacular attack like this — that after months, you have no piece of information that is public,” said Stegner. ​“I cannot remember any comparable event where we have seen something similar.”

https://libya360.wordpress.com/2023/03/ ... rd-stream/

Pilgrims Group: The British Intelligence-Linked Firm that Warped MH17 News Coverage
Posted by INTERNATIONALIST 360° on MARCH 7, 2023
Kit Klarenberg

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Staffed by British special forces veterans, Pilgrims’ Group quietly shaped international coverage of the MH17 disaster as it shepherded journalists to and from the crash site.

In November of 2022, a final judgment arrived in the trial of alleged perpetrators of the attack on Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 (MH17). Russian nationals Igor Girkin and Sergey Dubinskiy, and Donbas separatist Leonid Kharchenko, were convicted in absentia for the murder of MH17’s 283 passengers and 15 crew members. They were ruled to have arranged the transfer of the Buk surface-to-air missile system that reportedly struck the plane.

Oleg Pulatov, the only defendant to seek legal representation during the trial, was conversely acquitted on all charges, which prosecutors will not appeal.

The Malaysian airliner had been purportedly shot down by a missile on July 17th 2014, killing all 283 passengers and 15 crew aboard.

Heavily dependent on information supplied by the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) and the Western government-funded “open source” investigations organization known as Bellingcat, the guilty verdicts appeared to vindicate an established narrative in which Russia and its Donbas allies were solely culpable.

But as this investigation will reveal, much of the news coverage of MH17 was heavily influenced by a shadowy entity called Pilgrims Group, which is closely tied to British intelligence.

Staffed and led by British Special Forces veterans, Pilgrims Group is a private security company offering elite security services to London’s embassies, diplomats, spies, and business interests abroad, particularly in high-risk environments. It also trains foreign militaries and paramilitary groups, and provides protection to reporters and their employers.

It was in the latter context that Pilgrims Group shaped media coverage – and by extension, official investigations – of MH17. The company had maintained a presence in Kiev since the early days of the US-orchestrated Maidan “revolution” in late 2013, shepherding journalists to and from the scenes of major events in Ukraine. In the process, it maintained control over what the reporters under its watch saw and how they understood the situations they encountered.

As such, Pilgrims Group played a pivotal role in the effort by the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) and British intelligence to convict Russia and the Donbas separatists for MH17’s downing. The operation began while the plane’s wreckage remained smoldering on the ground of rebel-controlled territory, and ultimately prevented the initiation of any genuinely independent investigations.

DAILY MAIL FRONT PAGE: Putin’s killed my son. #skypapers pic.twitter.com/ayzyL0YF3D

— Sky News (@SkyNews) July 18, 2014


Suspiciously quick off the mark

Before Malaysia Airlines publicly announced it had lost contact with MH17, Ukraine’s then-Minister of Internal Affairs Anton Gerashenko had published its flight number, destination, passenger numbers, the manner in which it crashed, the weapon used, and blamed Russia and Donbas separatists for the catastrophe.

From that point on, the SBU began flooding the information space with materials including intercepted audio of the separatists discussing a downed plane, as well as images its agents allegedly found on social media pointing to where the allegedly Russian-sourced Buk missile had been fired. Bellingcat, which serendipitously launched just days before, immediately seized on the deluge of carefully curated information.

With impressive speed, the US and British government-funded media outfit claimed to have precisely mapped out what happened and how. Bellingcat’s findings were accepted without a shred of critical scrutiny by the Western media, lawmakers, pundits, and the MH17 tribunal, which was launched on August 7th 2014.

In the process, any explanations for MH17’s downing that did not reinforce the official narrative either vanished into the ether, or were maligned as conspiracy theory or Russian “disinformation.” One compelling counter-theory for the aerial disaster was that the plane had been used as a shield by Ukrainian fighter jets to deter ground-to-air attacks by the separatists.

There are clear precedents for such provocative tactics. In 2018, for example, the Israeli air force tricked Syrian air defenses into accidentally shooting down a Russian spy plane by using it as cover for its own fighter jets. A leaked JIT document noted Donbas separatists were convinced that authorities in Kiev were keeping eastern Ukraine’s airspace open for precisely this purpose, having conversely closed Crimea’s at the time.

Furthermore, in a video published on June 18th 2014, separatists expressed concern that Kiev was attempting to provoke an in-air incident. Three days before MH17 went down, a Ukrainian military aircraft ferrying military equipment and soldiers to the frontline was shot down over Lugansk. Multiple witnesses have testified to the presence of Ukrainian jets in the sky near MH17, while contemporary local TV reports show a Ukrainian-operated Buk missile in the vicinity.

Yet, the JIT was simply unwilling to consider evidence diverging from the established Western narrative of MH17. And as the trial proceeded, Pulatov’s defense team, independent journalists and researchers attempting to challenge the long-established narrative of Russian culpability were subjected to vicious attacks from Bellingcat’s army of online trolls.

The SBU-directed propaganda blitzkrieg that immediately followed MH17’s downing ensured that the separatists accused of the attack, and the government accused of sponsoring them, were quickly convicted in the court of international opinion. This may explain why media reaction to the November 2022 verdict was so muted. Despite the enormous, enduring global outcry provoked by the MH17 disaster, the verdict hardly registered with mainstream journalists.

Yet many of the journalists that had covered the MH17 from Ukraine had been kept under the careful watch of an organization intimately involved with the same Western governments with a stake in convicting the separatists for the disaster.

British military veterans direct Maidan news coverage

Because Pilgrims Group operates largely in the shadows, references to the company by Western news outlets are extremely rare. However, the firm is well-known to all major media outlets, boasting on its website of “significant experience of helping to facilitate safe and secure news-gathering and film-making.” Pilgrims Group also claims expertise in ensuring that “journalists and production staff can operate safely and securely” in hostile circumstances, such as “underdeveloped countries, failing states and post-disaster environments.”

The British company made headlines for its work in late 2012, after armed militants abducted a six-strong NBC News team led by the network’s chief foreign correspondent Richard Engel, whom the company was guarding. Engel and his team were freed after five days in captivity, when a vehicle in which they were being escorted was stopped at a checkpoint run by violent extremist group Ahrar al-Sham.

This resulted in a shootout, in which two fighters who kidnapped the team were killed by Ahrar al-Sham. Initially, Engel claimed his captors were affiliated with the government of Bashar Assad, while NBC implied Ahrar al-Sham’s rescue was completely serendipitous. Subsequent investigations revealed the abductors were, in fact, affiliated with the CIA-backed Free Syrian Army, and the checkpoints had been deliberately arranged by Pilgrims Group, which praised the terrorist militia’s “brilliant job.”

Decisive interventions by Pilgrims Group elsewhere have received much less attention. On June 3rd 2014, the firm issued a little-noticed press release boasting of its reputation as “the security company of choice” for media organizations operating in Ukraine at every stage of the Maidan “political unrest,” working with “journalist teams throughout the country” during key “disturbances.”

Oddly, despite their coverage of these events presumably being very publicly disseminated across the globe, Pilgrims Group’s clients in Ukraine apparently “preferred not to be named” due to “the sensitive nature of their role.” Nonetheless, the company bragged that its teams were operational in many of the country’s “major population centres,” including Donetsk, Kharkiv, Kiev, Lviv, Odessa, “and throughout Crimea.”

“Pilgrims has been able to respond rapidly to broadcasters’ demands by drawing on its extensive networks to mobilise former special services personnel, who were on duty within 12 hours of the clients’ initial requests (and frequently considerably quicker). In addition, the company continues to maintain the highest level of awareness of the unfolding political situation in the Ukraine by maintaining its local contact network [emphasis added], with regular updates of information on the ground.”

Further detail on Pilgrims Group’s activities in Ukraine appears in a leaked June 2016 Foreign Office proposal to train Syrian rebel fighters in Jordan as part of the plan to overthrow the Syrian government. The company was central to the project, running “simultaneous training programmes around the world,” and therefore maintaining a “large and flexible pool” of staff who could be assigned to the mission. MH17 was cited as an example of the speed with which Pilgrims Group could mobilize its operatives.

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“As a global risk management company Pilgrims are routinely required to expand their operational footprint and support tasks at short notice,” the proposal bragged. “Pilgrims supported a large number of media organisations operating in Ukraine, which peaked at 27 active security teams on the ground. When the Malaysian Airlines aircraft was shot down over Ukraine…Pilgrims generated seven additional teams within six hours [emphasis added].”

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This proposal was submitted to the Foreign Office by Adam Smith International, a British intelligence cutout with an extensive history of scandal, corruption and collaboration with jihadist groups. As The Grayzone has revealed, the company also funded Bellingcat to the tune of tens of thousands of dollars in the 2019-20 financial year. Both organizations have refused to reveal the purpose of this sum.

Pilgrims Group has also offered protection to Western journalists in other conflict zones. The LinkedIn profile of senior company staffer and British Army veteran Chris Bradley lists his work providing “security risk management to two award winning news teams in Ukraine (2014) and Syria (2015), including coverage of MH17,” as one of his biggest “achievements” at the firm.

Given the insidious role played by London and its assorted intelligence cutouts in shaping worldwide media coverage of the Syrian civil war, such professional history raises troubling questions about Pilgrims Group’s involvement in influencing news coverage of MH17.

A frontline player in Britain’s global information war

Following the MH17 disaster, Western journalists flocked to the crash site while Ukraine’s State Emergency Service rushed to collect corpses. The collection work was halted after it came under fire from the Ukrainian army, however, and emergency workers left outright after Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) representatives arrived at the crime scene. But reporters under the watchful eye of Pilgrims Group stayed and continued their reporting.

Over subsequent months, as the remaining bodies rotted in the sun, OSCE monitors and pro-Russian rebels frequently left MH17’s wreckage unguarded for extended periods. It was not until November 2014 that the ground was comprehensively cleared. During that time, little would have prevented malicious actors from manipulating, removing or planting incriminating evidence at the site.

In order to operate in Ukraine, Pilgrims Group required the approval of the country’s government, as well as local security and intelligence services. Given the intense fervor with which these same actors sought to cement Kremlin culpability for MH17, Pilgrims Group’s work in managing the protection and travel of Western reporters provided a logical tool to assist this effort, as its operatives were literally able peer over the shoulders of journalists while they worked.

British spies consider MH17 key ‘disinformation’ battleground

Another extremely curious and thus far undisclosed component of the MH17 controversy is the clandestine role played by London’s information warriors in shaping public perceptions of the event. These operations began almost at the precise moment of the crash.

Leaked files related to the activities of Integrity Initiative, a Foreign Office black propaganda unit staffed by British military and intelligence veterans, contain countless references to battling Kremlin “narratives” around MH17. For example, one of its operatives was listed in the documents as a “continuous commentator” in the studio of LBC, one of Britain’s largest radio stations which reaches millions of listeners weekly, on the night of the incident.

In Foreign Office funding submissions in 2018, Integrity Initiative proposed organizing focus groups with select Russian and Russian-speaking audiences, who would be invited to “rebut Western analyses of key media stories (e.g. MH17, Litvinenko, Skripal, doping)” and explain why they supported “counter narratives” about these issues, which pointed away from Moscow.

The results of this effort would be shared with British intelligence agencies and members of the Initiative’s overseas “clusters” – secret networks of spooks, academics, journalists, pundits and politicians – to assist in battling these “narratives” via news outlets and social media. Notably, all Integrity Initiative’s cluster members are formally trained in the art of online trolling.

Integrity Initiative was one of several propaganda enterprises launched by a shadowy Foreign Office unit known as the Counter Disinformation and Media Development (CDMD). The unit is overseen by senior intelligence officer Andy Pryce, who personally “handles” British journalist Paul Mason and likely many other media personalities. Its stated remit is to “weaken the Russian state’s influence” in countries comprising the former Soviet Union, Warsaw Pact and Yugoslavia.

The flagship component of this multi-million pound effort is Open Information Partnership (OIP). Though OIP has posed as a grassroots endeavor to battle Kremlin “disinformation,” leaked files related to the project make abundantly clear it is, in fact, a British-sponsored “troll factory.” Through a covertly funded nexus of ‘independent’ NGOs, fact-checkers, news outlets and citizen journalists across Central and Eastern Europe, the initiative deluges the media environment with a ceaseless stream of anti-Russian propaganda.

Among OIP’s founding “partners” was Bellingcat. For the first three years of its existence, Bellingcat trained participating organizations “in open source research and social media investigation,” while “developing a cadre of organizations with a digital forensic skillset.” In the process, it raked in vast sums from the Foreign Office. Its MH17 investigation was explicitly cited as a reference point for this activity in the Partnership’s founding documents.

OIP’s network was also originally intended to include the Berlin-based “non-profit independent newsroom” Correctiv, which published multiple investigations blaming Russia for MH17. While some of this work won awards, a secret Foreign Office-funded appraisal of the outfit acknowledged its reporting on the crash “[lacked] in-depth background research and due diligence.” However, the outlet’s “excellent” public reputation made it “perhaps the most impressive” of all prospective OIP members.

To advance its anti-Russian machinations, CDMD commissioned extensive target audience analyses of the populations of Belarus, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Ukraine and the West Balkans throughout 2017. British intelligence indicated that it sought insights into citizens of these countries’ “current perception and attitude towards Russia,” especially with respect to the Kremlin’s “handling” of events such as Brexit, the Syrian crisis, and MH17.

At the same time, British cutouts like the Integrity Initiative and Pilgrims’ Group helped manage the Western public’s view of MH17 as part of a wider agenda to cultivate popular resentment of Russia.

Pilgrims’ Group manages media covering Ukraine proxy war

These same entities continue to shape Western perceptions of events in Ukraine to this day. A May 2022 “capability statement” outlining Pilgrims Group’s Eastern European footprint refers to the Russian invasion “[triggering] a rapid scaling up” of its operations in Kiev.

Pilgrims Group has provided “support networks, including logistics and equipment, to media crews covering the conflict,” and embedded “dozens” of “security consultants” in the ranks of “almost all major international news organisations” active in the country.” Strikingly, the statement adds that all Pilgrims Group security teams in Kiev boast Ukrainian “special police or MoD [Ministry of Defence] backgrounds.”

Once again, Pilgrims Group has been effectively placed in charge of where journalists can travel, what they see, and who they interview in a conflict. Yet even as it helps shape public perceptions of a Western proxy war, the company has managed to remain conveniently in the shadows.

https://libya360.wordpress.com/2023/03/ ... -coverage/
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Re: Footnotes from the Ukrainian "Crisis"; New High-Points in Cynicism Part IV

Post by blindpig » Wed Mar 08, 2023 11:55 pm

With Us or Against Us’ Fails in Munich and Bengaluru as U.S. Tries ‘Offer They Can’t Refuse’
By Dee Knight - March 6, 2023 1

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[Source: popularresistence.org]

“You can’t be neutral” in NATO’s proxy war with Russia, foreign ministers of the U.S., Germany and Ukraine told leaders of Global South countries at the Munich Security Conference on February 18. “Neutrality is not an option,” said Germany’s Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, “because then you are standing on the side of the aggressor.” In January Baerbock told the Council of Europe “We are fighting a war against Russia.”

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Annalena Baerbock [Source: annalena.baerbock.de]

U.S. Secretary of State Blinken echoed his German counterpart, stressing “You really can’t be neutral.”

Why not? What motivates this Mafia style pressure?

“Nearly 90 percent of the World Isn’t Following Us on Ukraine,” blared a Newsweek opinion piece last September 15. “While the United States and its closest allies in Europe and Asia have imposed tough economic sanctions on Moscow, 87 percent of the world’s population has declined to follow us. Economic sanctions have united our adversaries in shared resistance. Less predictably, the outbreak of Cold War II has also led countries that were once partners or non-aligned to become increasingly multi-aligned.”

In 2002, before the U.S. invasion of Iraq, George Bush Junior told western European leaders “You are either with us, or against us,” even if they didn’t believe Iraq had “weapons of mass destruction.”

“My Way or No Highway” is the title of a section of the Munich Security Report. Some Non-Aligned members felt this was a warning not to participate in China’s Belt and Road Initiative—their preferred “highway.” The section cites Chinese President Xi Jinping that “Mechanisms for countering foreign sanctions, interference, and long-arm jurisdiction will be strengthened.”

Immediately after the Munich conference, at a summit in Bengaluru, India (aka Bangalore), U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said G20 countries must condemn Russia for its invasion of Ukraine and they must adhere to U.S. sanctions against Russia. But India, the chair of the G20, demurred. Indian officials said “India is not keen to discuss or back any additional sanctions on Russia during the G20… The existing sanctions on Russia have had a negative impact on the world.”

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U.S. Treasury Sceretary Janet Yellen shakes hands with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on her trip to Ukraine. [Source: newsinfo.inquirer.net]

Instead of isolating Russia, the U.S./NATO sanctions are isolating the west against the rest of the world.

‘Losing the trust of the Global South’

French President Macron said at Munich “I am struck by how much we are losing the trust of the Global South.” Macron’s “we” refers to the NATO countries, especially the G7. He added that “The west has been losing the Global South and hasn’t done enough to respond to the charge of double standards, including by not helping poor countries fast enough with Covid vaccines.” U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris observed glumly that “many countries sit on the fence.”

Colombia’s new Vice President Francia Márquez, speaking at a Munich panel on “defending the UN Charter and the Rules-Based International Order,” said “We don’t want to go on discussing who will be the winner or the loser of a war. We are all losers, and, in the end, it is humankind that loses everything.”

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Namibian Prime Minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila. [Source: twitter.com]

“Our focus is on resolving the problem… not on shifting blame,” said Namibia’s Prime Minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila. “We are promoting a peaceful resolution of that conflict” in Ukraine. “The money used to buy weapons could be better utilized to promote development in Ukraine, in Africa, in Asia, in other places, in Europe itself, where many people are experiencing hardships.”

China’s Top Diplomat Weighs In

China’s top diplomat, State Counselor Wang Yi, stole the show at Munich. He told the delegates “it is imperative to return to the Minsk II agreement… as quickly as possible.” That means a ceasefire and autonomy for the Donbas, and getting NATO out of Ukraine. Wang said Minsk II “is a binding instrument negotiated by the parties concerned and endorsed by the UN Security Council.” He said “Russia and the EU both support Minsk II,” and claimed U.S. Secretary of State Blinken had expressed U.S. support “in a recent phone call.” He called for “the relevant parties [to] sit down together” to work out a roadmap and timetable for implementation of the agreement.

Wang announced China’s 12-point plan for peace in Ukraine. It calls for “abandoning the Cold War mentality, saying “All parties should… prevent bloc confrontation, and work together for peace and stability” by promoting talks for peace, and “help parties to the conflict open the door to a political settlement as soon as possible.” It says “Nuclear proliferation must be prevented and nuclear crisis avoided” and concludes that “China opposes unilateral sanctions unauthorized by the UN Security Council.”

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Wang Yi [Source: scmp.com]

Blinken responded by changing the subject, saying China “is considering providing lethal support” to Russia, “and we’ve made very clear to them that that would cause a serious problem for us and in our relationship.” Joe Biden dismissed China’s plan: “I’ve seen nothing in the plan that would indicate there is something that would be beneficial to anyone other than Russia if the Chinese plan were followed.”

Ukraine’s President Zelenskiy indicated he was willing to consider aspects of the Chinese proposal, according to a February 24 Guardian report. He said he planned to meet President Xi Jinping and said it would be “useful” to both countries and global security.

Following the Munich conference Wang Yi flew to Moscow. He told Russian President Putin “our relations are always not directed at third countries and, of course, they are not subject to pressure from third parties, since we have a very strong foundation – from the economy, politics, and culture.”

On February 21, China issued its “Global Security Initiative” Concept Paper—a broad statement of principles “calling on countries to adapt to the profoundly changing international landscape in the spirit of solidarity, and address the complex and intertwined security challenges with a win-win mindset.” At its center the document says “War and sanctions are no fundamental solution to disputes; only dialogue and consultation are effective in resolving differences… Major countries must uphold justice, fulfill their due responsibilities, support consultation on an equal footing, and facilitate talks for peace.”

China’s former ambassador to the US, Qin Gang, who is now Foreign Minister, introduced the Concept Paper saying “we urge relevant countries to immediately stop adding fuel to the fire, stop blaming China and stop provoking the situation by using references like ‘Ukraine today, Taiwan tomorrow’.” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning, said “China issued its position paper on the political settlement of the crisis, whereas the U.S. imposed sanctions on Chinese and other foreign companies. Who is promoting peace and de-escalation, and who is fueling the tension and making the world more unstable? The answer is fairly obvious.”

‘US Hegemony and Its Perils’—China takes the gloves off

As if to clarify it doesn’t always have to be polite and diplomatic, China’s foreign ministry issued a frank and forceful document which is a detailed indictment that “the United States has acted… to interfere in the internal affairs of other countries, pursue, maintain and abuse hegemony, advance subversion and infiltration, and willfully wage wars, bringing harm to the international community.”

The document traces U.S. interference in other countries from the Monroe Doctrine of 1823, including the 61-year blockade of Cuba, and a succession of “color revolutions” over the past two decades, the plot to intervene in Venezuela, attacks on UN agencies for their support of Palestine, forcing an “Indo-Pacific Strategy” with “exclusive clubs like the Five Eyes, the Quad and AUKUS, and forcing regional countries to take sides.”

“The U.S. arbitrarily passes judgment on democracy in other countries, and fabricates a false narrative of ‘democracy versus authoritarianism,’ the document says. It mentions the failed 2021 “Summit for Democracy” in Washington which “drew criticism and opposition from many countries for making a mockery of the spirit of democracy and dividing the world.” Another such summit planned for this March, “remains unwelcome and will again find no support.”

The document quotes former U.S. President Jimmy Carter that “the United States is undoubtedly the most warlike nation in the history of the world.” It cites a Tufts University report, “The Military Intervention Project: A new Dataset on U.S. Military Interventions, 1776-2019,” which says the United States undertook nearly 400 military interventions globally in those years.

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[Source: lewrockwell.com]

“Since 2001, the wars and military operations launched by the United States in the name of fighting terrorism have claimed over 900,000 lives with some 335,000 of them civilians, injured millions, and displaced tens of millions… So far, the United States… has imposed economic sanctions on nearly 40 countries across the world, including Cuba, China, Russia, the DPRK, Iran and Venezuela, affecting nearly half of the world’s population. See partial list and map of countries and/or officials [in specific countries] sanctioned.

Afghanistan
Belarus
Bosnia & Herzegovina
Central African Republic
China
Democratic Republic of Congo
Cuba
Cyprus
Eritrea
Ethiopia
Guinea
Guinea-Bissau
Haiti

Iran
Iraq
Democratic Republic of Korea
Laos
Lebanon
Liberia
Libya
Mali
Moldova
Montenegro
Myanmar
Nicaragua
Palestine

Paraguay
Russia
Serbia
Somalia
South Sudan
Sudan
Tunisia
Turkey
Uganda
Venezuela
Yemen
Zimbabwe

[Source: sanctionkill.org]

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[Source: wikipedia.org]

‘The United States of America’ has turned itself into ‘the United States of Sanctions.’ And ‘long-arm jurisdiction’ has been reduced to nothing but a tool for the United States to use its means of state power to suppress economic competitors.”

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[Source: unitelive.org]

The document concludes that “The United States must… critically examine what it has done, let go of its arrogance and prejudice, and quit its hegemonic, domineering and bullying practices.”

Anniversary Speeches: Brave Talk & Grim Realities
After a dramatic February 20 visit to Kiev, U.S. President Biden flew to Warsaw for his February 21 speech on the first anniversary of the Ukraine Conflict. He warned of “hard and bitter days ahead” as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine nears the one-year mark, but vowed that no matter what, the United States and allies “will not waver” in supporting Ukraine. “NATO will not be divided, and we will not tire,” Biden declared bravely.

However, the Washington Post’s “Today’s WorldView” reporter Ishaan Tharoor says “An Awkward tension lies beneath the West’s support for Ukraine.” He writes that “for all of the bravura on show last week, with Biden journeying to Kyiv and Warsaw, it’s still uncertain that a united West won’t blink first.”

French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz privately told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky earlier… that Ukraine cannot win the war against Russia and it should begin peace talks with Moscow this year, the Wall Street Journal reported. “The public rhetoric masks deepening private doubts among politicians in the U.K., France and Germany that Ukraine will be able to expel the Russians from eastern Ukraine and Crimea…, and a belief that the West can only help sustain the war effort for so long.”

Former senior British diplomat Alastair Crooke asks ominously: “Can we imagine the U.S. throwing up its hands and conceding Russian victory? ‘No’. NATO might disintegrate in the face of such spectacular failure. Will Biden become desperate? And, as many suspect, gamble by doubling-down into a worsening situation?” Crooke asks “Can Biden be trusted (again) to not be reckless in the wake of his erratic decision to blow up the gas lifeline of close NATO ally, Germany? No, it’s not just one instance of recklessness (Nord Stream) at issue, but that of multiple misjudgments, giving rise to mounting Deep State anger directed at Biden, and more particularly at his close team of neocons with their immature political judgments.”

Speaking to a February 21 UN Security Council special session on Seymour Hersh’s exposé of the U.S. destruction of the Nord Stream pipelines last September, former CIA analyst Ray McGovern said “no one wants to go back 20 years to [former U.S. Secretary of State] Colin Powell’s speech before this Security Council. We all know about that.” [Powell embarrassed himself by officially lying to the UN.] McGovern commented that those U.S. government spokespeople who are smearing Hersh, “don’t have a good record for credibility.”

Image
[Source: youtube.com]

Columbia University Professor Jeffrey Sachs also spoke at the Security Council session: “As the destruction of the Nord Stream pipelines on 26 September 2022 constitutes an act of international terrorism and represents a threat to peace, it is the Council’s responsibility to take up the question of who might have carried out the act, help bring the perpetrator to justice, pursue compensation for the damaged parties and prevent such actions from recurring in the future.”

Image
[Source: un.org]

China’s UN Ambassador Zhang Jun testified that “Recently, we have come across a lot of… relevant information concerning the Nord Stream incident, which is alarming… Faced with such detailed materials and comprehensive evidence, a simple statement of ‘utterly false and complete fiction’ is obviously not enough to answer the many questions and concerns raised around the world. Finding a way to dodge today’s meeting does not mean that truth can be concealed. We expect convincing explanations from relevant parties. Such a request is entirely legitimate and reasonable.”

Image
Zhang Yun [Source: nypost.com]

Putin: NATO’s Goal is Strategic Defeat of Russia

In Moscow, Russian President Putin delivered a remarkably philosophical—and upbeat—February 22 speech. He said “This is a time of radical, irreversible change in the entire world, of crucial historical events that will determine the future…”

Analyst Pepe Escobar, writing in The Cradle, paraphrases Putin that “Ukraine, part of Russian civilization, now happens to be occupied by western civilization, which Putin said ‘became hostile to us.’ So the acute phase of what is essentially a war by proxy of the west against Russia takes place over the body of Russian civilization.”

Image
[Source: princip.info]
Escobar says Putin emphasized that “Ukraine is being used as a tool and testing ground by the west against Russia… The more long-range weapons are sent to Ukraine, the longer we have to push the threat away from our borders.”

So this war will be long—and painful, Escobar concludes. “Putin remarked on how ‘our relations with the west have degraded, and this is entirely the fault of the United States;’ how NATO’s goal is to inflict a ‘strategic defeat’ on Russia.”

Escobar reports that the U.S. ambassador was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs right after Putin’s address. Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov demanded a detailed explanation of the destruction of the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines, a halt to U.S. interference, and an independent inquiry to identify the responsible parties. He added that Washington must remove all U.S. and NATO military forces and equipment from Ukraine.

Antiwar Forces Mobilize

On February 19, thousands of people crowded the Lincoln Memorial to protest the war in Ukraine.

Image
[Source: Photo Courtesy of Jeremy Kuzmarov]

Another major anti-war mobilization is planned in Washington, DC, and other cities for March 18, on the 20th anniversary weekend of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, demanding “Peace in Ukraine—Say NO to Endless U.S. Wars” and “Fund People’s Needs, Not the War Machine.”

The call says “since 2003, the U.S. has engaged in sanctions (economic war) on more than 40 countries. These targets of U.S. economic warfare include the people of Cuba, Zimbabwe, Venezuela, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Iran and many other nations. “Even in the wake of the worst disasters, like the recent deadly earthquake, Washington keeps its cruel sanctions in place against Syria.”

The call says the Biden administration is “determined to escalate the Ukraine war. The real goal of the massive arming and training of Ukrainian forces has nothing to do with the interests of Ukrainian, Russian or American people. The aim instead is to ‘weaken Russia’ as stated by the U.S. Secretary of Defense himself, even at the risk of a catastrophic nuclear war that could end life on Earth. It adds that “A U.S. General commanding 50,000 troops in the Pacific also issued a letter to his sub-commanders in recent days informing them that he believes that the United States will be at war with China within two years.”

Key demands include:

Peace in Ukraine – No weapons, no money for the Ukraine War
Abolish NATO – End U.S. militarism & sanctions!
Fund people’s needs, not the war machine!
No war with China!
End U.S. aid to racist apartheid Israel!
Fight racism & bigotry not war!
U.S. hands off Haiti!
End AFRICOM!

In Europe, massive protests were held during February in Berlin, Germany, over providing weapons to Ukraine in its war against Russia. Thousands took to the streets holding banners and posters saying ‘negotiate and not escalate’ and ‘not our war.’ Demonstrations also took place in London, Warsaw, Paris and other French cities such as Bordeaux, Rennes and Montpellier, and in Brussels, Belgium.

Image
Anti-NATO protesters in Warsaw. [Source: sputniknews.com]

This is a sign of growing antiwar sentiment and disdain for U.S. policy and NATO that may soon have a significant political ripple effect.

https://covertactionmagazine.com/2023/0 ... nt-refuse/

******

From Cassad's Telegram account:

Colonelcassad
Special operation, March 7th. The main thing from RIA Novosti :

◎ The liberation of Artemovsk continues, the capture of the city will allow an offensive deep into the defense of Ukrainian troops, Shoigu said;

◎ NATO's increased arms supplies to Kyiv do not lead to success for the Ukrainian troops, their losses are growing, exceeding 11,000 people in February, the Russian Defense Minister added;

◎ There are no prerequisites for the transition of the situation in Ukraine to a peaceful course, Peskov said;

◎ Guterres will meet with Zelensky on Wednesday to discuss the extension of the grain deal, the UN press service said;

◎ 90 Russian servicemen returned from Ukrainian captivity, the Russian Defense Ministry said;

◎ The attacks on Nord Stream were carried out by a "pro-Ukrainian group", new intelligence confirms this, writes the New York Times;

◎ US officials found no evidence of Russia's involvement in attacks on Nord Stream, the newspaper also writes;

◎ The Ukrainian crisis has reached a critical moment, it is necessary to start a dialogue as soon as possible, said the head of the Chinese Foreign Ministry;

◎ Sooner or later, the European Union will have to return the frozen assets to Russia, and possible losses will be compensated from the pocket of taxpayers, RIA Novosti said. Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the EU Logvinov;

◎ Almost half of Artemovsk in the DPR is under Russian control, adviser to the acting head of the republic Gagin said;

◎ Germany has no specific plans for further deliveries of Leopard 2 tanks to Kyiv,

***

forwarded from
Voenkor Kitten Z
Military expert Boris Rozhin on the situation in the Artemovsky direction on the evening of March 07, 2023, especially for the Voenkor Kotenok Z @voenkorKotenok channel :

1. The situation for the enemy in the city worsened over the day. There are results of fire control over the roads.

2. Despite reports of the withdrawal of some units, the enemy does not leave attempts to hold the defense in the western and part of the central areas of the city. There is a political task - to keep Bakhmut at any cost, which is solved by tough defense in the city and attempts to keep the settlement. Krasnoe, Khromovo and Bogdanov, despite the pressure of the Wagner assault groups at Bogdanov and Krasnoy.
There is pressure from the West to leave Bakhmut, but Kyiv has become a hostage to its propaganda campaign to keep the city.

3. There is a transfer of reserves to hold the city, which were intended for the Kupyansky, Krasnolimansky and Zaporozhye directions. They are insurance in case the Wagner breaks through the defenses of the Armed Forces in the Khromovo area and closes the boiler. Then the reserves will be used for counterattacks in the area of ​​Berkhovka, Yagodnoe and Khromovo.

4. Some of the reserves have already been sent for counterattacks in the direction of Kleshcheevka and Krasnoe. Their task is to push our troops back from the road to Bakhmut through Krasnoye and formally continue to supply the defenders in the city, to deliver at least something at night, despite the shelling. Now the road is virtually inaccessible. Attempts to counterattack the Armed Forces of Ukraine to unblock it did not bring results due to the good work of Wagner attack aircraft, spotters and artillery, which extinguish the enemy’s efforts.

5. Prigozhin stressed that the projectile conflict with the Ministry of Defense has not yet been resolved. Hardware friction should affect the pace of the operation in Artemovsk.
Defense Minister Shoigu said today that the enemy lost 11,000 men in Artemovsk in February. Prigogine noted that the enemy has 12-20 thousand people in Artemovsk (city, Krasnoye, Khromovo, Chasov Yar).
Part of the enemy's reserves are concentrated in the area of ​​Chasov Yar. They intend to use operational reserves in the area of ​​Konstantinovka and Kramatorsk in case the crisis acquires operational proportions.

6. In the middle and third week of March, they will face the question of a final withdrawal from the city or the deblockade of roads. The Armed Forces of Ukraine in Artemivsk have a certain stock of second hand, incl. for heavy weapons, but with cut off roads and such an intensity of fighting, the b / c will be used up very quickly. The situation in Severodonetsk and Mariupol will be repeated, when the enemy defended city blocks with heavy weapons, but after the ammunition for the tanks, the Grads, ran out, it became much harder for them and much easier for us. Therefore, supply issues play a decisive role in predicting the pace of the city's liberation.

7. By the evening of March 7, 2023, 45-52% of the territory of Bakhmut is under the control of the assault units of the Wagner PMC.

***

Colonelcassad

Image

About the destroyed column of the Armed Forces of Ukraine near Krasnoy The enemy, after destroying the main bridge at Chasov Yar , is forced to use country roads, which have become almost impassable in the conditions of spring thaw. Trying to hide personnel and armored vehicles in a forested area, the column got stuck to the west of the settlement of Krasnoe . Coordinates : After that, she was almost completely destroyed by howitzer and rocket artillery fire. Thanks to the thermal imager on the UAV camera, pinpoint damage was ensured.

48.572335, 37.874557

The next morning, an APC operator passing by captured the result of the work.

***

Colonelcassad

Ukrainian publications, following the Western ones, are increasingly screaming about the huge losses of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Artyomovsk direction.

More and more forces and means are thrown into the "pseudo defense" of the city, without taking into account the facts, such as the unpreparedness of the fighters, the lack of ammunition and equipment, which is removed from other sectors of the front. The Ukrainian military estimates the survival rate as 30/70.

This information is already published by ukroSMI, from the stories of Ukrainian warriors.

Today we see all the prerequisites that Artyomovsk will be abandoned.
There is only one question for
Ukraine's misrule: "How many human resources are you willing to lay down for your personal gain and a beautiful picture for your Western masters?"


***

Colonelcassad

Image

The battle for Bakhmut
situation as of 11.00 March 8, 2023

🔻The founder of Wagner PMC Yevgeny Prigozhin announced the liberation of the entire eastern part of Bakhmut . Everything to the east of the Bakhmutka River is under the control of the Wagnerites.

▪️Fighting also continues on the southern outskirts of the city near Independence Street , as well as in the southwest near the Lesnoye cooperative and the MiG-17 stella.

🔻At the same time, the Ukrainian command continues to partially withdraw troops from the city along dirt roads under constant artillery shelling and air strikes.

▪️From the vicinity of Bogdanovka , Krasnoe , Khromovo , Ukrainian assault detachments continue to attempt a counteroffensive to maintain a land corridor from Bakhmut to Chasov Yar and Konstantinovka .

▪️In two settlements, advanced ammunition depots are being equipped and personnel are being deployed, and reinforcements have been deployed to the cities themselves.

▪️In the vicinity of Nikiforovka and Minkovka , additional fortifications were created, as well as ditches and trenches were dug. Building materials are brought to the area of ​​Slavyansk and Kramatorsk daily.

***

Colonelcassad

Image

Avdeevsky section
situation as of 14.00 March 8, 2023

🔻North of Avdeevka, Russian troops resumed their offensive in the direction of Krasnogorovka . During fierce battles near the pond and the dam, the RF Armed Forces liberated the village of Vesyoloye and advanced further. Now the fighting is going on in the area of ​​​​the forest belt and near the Krasnogorovsky pond.

▪️Ukrainian formations are equipping firing positions for heavy machine guns in the Krasnogorovka area. To the north, near Novokalinovo, the Armed Forces of Ukraine are preparing a counterattack against Novobakhmutovka with a group of ten armored combat vehicles.

🔻South of Avdiivka, clashes resumed at the dominant heights north of Vodyany . Soldiers of the RF Armed Forces, supported by artillery, are advancing towards the village of Severnoye .

🔻At the moment, Russian troops are conducting a positional attack on the Ukrainian lines around the Avdiivka fortified area . The assault on Avdiivka in a frontal attack is fraught with huge losses, so the RF Armed Forces use the tactics of "creeping" advance in order to cover Avdiivka from two sides with a promising cutting of supply lines.

https://t.me/s/boris_rozhin

Google Translator

********

Ukraine: A war to end all wars in Europe

What complicates matters is an emerging divide in Europe over how to end the war. While Old Europeans, including Scholz, are urging peace talks now, the Russophobic East European and Baltic leaderships are clamoring for Russia’s defeat and a regime change in Moscow

March 06, 2023 by M.K. Bhadrakumar

Image
US President Joe Biden and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Photo: POTUS/Twitter

The dash for the White House in Washington on Friday by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz remains a riddle wrapped in a mystery. Scholz landed in DC, drove to the White House and was received by President Biden in Oval Office for a conversation that lasted over an hour. No aides were present. And he flew back to Berlin.

Associated Press reported cryptically, “If any agreements were reached or plans made, the White House wasn’t saying.” Scholz had insisted while leaving Berlin that he and Biden “want to talk directly with each other.” Scholz mentioned “a global situation where things have become very difficult”. He said, “It is important that such close friends can talk about all of these questions together, continually.”

The official readout of the meeting mentioned that the two leaders discussed the war in Ukraine and “exchanged perspectives on other global issues.”

In remarks before the meeting, Biden effusively welcomed Scholz and paid tribute to the latter’s “strong and steady leadership.” Scholz briefly responded that “this is a very, very important year because of the very dangerous threat to peace that comes from Russia invading Ukraine.” The optics of the White House readout is that the two leaders “reiterated their commitment to impose costs on Russia for its aggression for as long as necessary”.

Scholz’s dash to the Oval Office came at a defining moment in the Ukraine conflict. Russia has seized the initiative in the Donbass campaign and its spring offensive may start in the coming weeks. Ukraine’s military took a heavy battering and the country depends almost entirely on western financial handouts and military aid for survival.

Most important, Kiev’s western backers are no longer sure of its ability to reclaim all the territory under Russian control — roughly, one-fifth of erstwhile Ukraine. An inchoate belief is also gaining ground in the western mind, behind all rhetoric, that the burden of the war effort is not going to be sustainable for long if the conflict extends into an indeterminate future.

Support for Ukraine is waning in the Western public opinion. A new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Centre for Public Affairs Research shows that while 19% of Americans repose confidence in Biden’s ability to handle the situation in Ukraine, 37% say they have only some confidence and 43% have hardly any.

A vast majority of adults, including most Democrats, do not want Biden to run for president in 2024. Many also express little confidence in his abilities.

Scholz’s one-on-one with Biden took place only a week after the latter’s triumphant secret trip to Kiev to mark the first anniversary of the war. In reality, the display of Western unity with Ukraine that Biden claims is wearing thin against a backdrop of strains within the trans-Atlantic alliance and a growing sense of despondency that the war has no end in sight.

The heart of the matter is that the Ukraine conflict has shattered the existing security architecture of Europe. Germany, Europe’s powerhouse, is hit badly. The German electorate is increasingly skeptical about the West’s approach to the war. There has been animated discussion in Germany over the findings of the renowned American journalist Seymour Hersh regarding the sabotage of the Nord Stream.

After Scholz’s return to Berlin, on Saturday, Sevim Dagdelen, leader of the Left Party — a four-term MP since 2005 — labelled the sabotage of the Nord Stream as a terrorist attack, adding that the German government is obligated to look into the case and find the culprit.

If Scholz was privy to Biden’s plan to destroy Nord Stream, it signifies an act of collusion. A major German national strategic asset owned in a joint venture with Russia was destroyed, seriously damaging the country’s economy and impacting tens of millions of jobs, putting many lives at risk.

Germany has had to pay 10 times the market price for gas to bolster its reserves. Europe has fallen into the trap of becoming highly dependent on US energy imports. The US is the main beneficiary of Europe’s energy crisis and its ensuing “deindustrialization” and “industrial hollowing-out.” A deep recession appears inevitable in Germany. This climate forebodes dire consequences for the German government, as the election to the Bundestag in 2025 draws closer.

Two days after Russia’s special operation in Ukraine began, Scholz had vowed in his famous “Zeitenwende” speech in the Bundestag that Germany, long wary of militarization, would take steps to boost defense spending. But Wolfgang Schmidt, Scholz’s chief of staff and longtime friend, acknowledged this week that a budget crunch was likely to prevent Berlin from fulfilling the promise of increased defense spending. “We must be honest about this,” he told Wall Street Journal. “Ambition and reality are diverging.”

What complicates matters further is an emerging divide in Europe over how to end the war. While Old Europeans, including Scholz, are urging peace talks now, the Russophobic East European and Baltic leaderships are clamoring for Russia’s defeat and a regime change in Moscow. According to Politico, Biden had to deliver a reminder to the Bucharest Nine with whom he had a meeting in Warsaw after his trip to Kiev that the goal of the war is not to remove the regime under Putin.

Meanwhile, there is frustration building up in Europe that the continent finds itself in a cul-de-sac. So far, the lack of European cohesion provided policy space for the US to divide and rule. However, if Europe finds itself today in a subordinate position, it must also own part of the blame for it. Europe’s inability to define its own core interests so far weakened its internal cohesion, while the lack of internal cohesion condemned it to a subaltern role.

Thus, European strategic autonomy has become meaningless talk. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said last week that the most important realization of the war is that “Europe has retired from the debate.”

“In the decisions adopted in Brussels, I recognize American interests more frequently than European ones,” he added, also pointing out that today in a war that is taking place in Europe, “the Americans have the final word”.

Belling the cat
Enter Rishi Sunak. In the prevailing complex situation, there is no one better than the UK Prime Minister Sunak to bell the cat, as it were. Britain has impeccable credentials as a trusted friend of Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky and Sunak inherits the legacy left behind by his discredited predecessors Boris Johnson and Lis Truss.

More importantly, Sunak is raring to go. Sunak was never an ardent believer in Brexit — nor is he a mindless Russophobe. He has set his compass navigating Britain toward calmer waters, which requires making up with the EU that helps the UK’s economic recovery, and he hopes to lead the Conservatives in next year’s general election with a solid record in office. An overreach in Ukraine he cannot risk. Period.

Thus, it is that Sunak floated the tantalizing idea last month to put Ukraine on the NATO summit’s agenda in June in Madrid with an offer to Zelensky to discuss a package of incentives that would give Kiev much broader access to advanced military equipment and convince the Ukrainian leader to pursue peace talks with Moscow realistically, given the deepening private doubts among politicians in London, Paris and Berlin about the trajectory of the war and the gut-wrenching belief that the West can only help sustain the war effort for so long.

The French President Emmanuel Macron and Chancellor Scholz are on the same page as Sunak. The Biden Administration is in the loop but Zelensky is not a pushover and a NATO security pact may be needed, apart from bringing on board the fiery “New Europeans” of Eastern Europe and the Baltic.

The good part is that the UK, France and Germany are in this together. Yet, the road ahead is long and winding. For Putin, the bottomline will be that no NATO membership for Ukraine and the ground realities must be heeded. But, fundamentally, peace talks would vindicate the raison d’être of Russia’s special military operation, which aimed to force the West to negotiate regarding NATO expansion.

AP reported that when the one-on-one meeting in Oval Office ended, Biden and Scholz walked across the hall to the Roosevelt Room, where the American and German officials had been mingling. Biden apparently joked that the two leaders had solved all the world’s problems by themselves. That gives a positive spin.

https://peoplesdispatch.org/2023/03/06/ ... in-europe/

*****

USA. IS IT PREPARED TO CONFRONT CHINA AND RUSSIA MILITARILY?
7 Mar 2023 , 10:57 a.m.

Image
F-35 fighter jets, which have advanced stealth capabilities, in a training exercise at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, in 2019 (Photo: The Wall Street Journal)

A report in The Wall Street Journal notes that the United States is militarily unprepared to take on "the new great power era" conflicts, even though its annual defense budget exceeds $800 billion. Because?

The US military spent nearly two decades fighting insurgency and militarily weak governments in West Asia. Those conflicts were very costly, did not produce favorable results, and delayed the production of weapons that are adapted to the new ways of waging war.

It was not until 2018 that he focused on the arms race (already lost beforehand) against Russia and China, but the continuation of the war in Iraq, his sights set on Iran under Zionist aegis, and the current conflict in Ukraine continue to absorb attention and fear. resources. To this is added that corporate consolidation in the defense industry has left the Pentagon with fewer arms manufacturers, according to the New York media.

Other details of the inferiority of the US Army:

Shipyards are struggling to produce the submarines needed to counter China's largest naval fleet.
Weapons designers are rushing to catch up with China and Russia in hypersonics.
It does not have the air capacity for a conflict with China.
If a conflict with China gave Russia the confidence to take further action in Eastern Europe, the United States and its allies would have to fight a war on two fronts. China and Russia are nuclear powers.
China is developing weapons and other capabilities to destroy an opponent's satellites.
If China ends geopolitical control of the South China Sea and Taiwan, it would dominate the waters through which trillions of dollars in trade pass each year.
Many of the cutting-edge weapons systems that the Pentagon believes will tip the battlefield in its favor won't be ready until the 2030s. What will they do in the meantime?

https://misionverdad.com/eeuu-esta-prep ... na-y-rusia

Google Translator

****

UN Chief To Meet Ukrainian President in Kiev

Image
Combo photo of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres (L) and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. | Photo: Xinhua

Published 7 March 2023 (13 hours 4 minutes ago)

Guterres and Zelensky will discuss the continuation of the Black Sea Grain Initiative in all its aspects, said the statement.


UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kiev on Wednesday, a UN spokesman said.

"The secretary-general has just arrived in Poland on his way to Ukraine," said Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for Guterres, in a statement issued on Tuesday.

Guterres and Zelensky will discuss the continuation of the Black Sea Grain Initiative in all its aspects, said the statement.

On July 22, 2022, Russia and Ukraine separately signed a document in Istanbul with Türkiye and the United Nations on grain and fertilizer exports from Ukraine and Russia to ensure supplies to global markets amid the Russia-Ukraine armed conflict.

The deal, due to expire on Nov. 19, 2022, was extended for another 120 days. Guterres has repeatedly called for the deal's further extension.

While in Kiev, Guterres will also talk with Zelensky about "other pertinent issues," Dujarric said in the statement, noting that it is the UN chief's third visit to Ukraine in the last year.

Guterres will be back to the United Nations headquarters in New York Thursday, according to the statement.

https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/UN- ... -0014.html

****

Nord Stream Attack - 'Officials' Throw More Chaff To Hide The Real Perpetrators

Right at the same moment the New York Times publishes a shoddy 'officials say' story about alleged intelligence about the Nord Stream terror attack the Germany weekly Die Zeit, which has strong U.S. secret services ties, comes up with an equally unbelievable tale of a 'Ukrainian owned' sailing boat playing the major role in the attack:

Nord-Stream-Ermittlungen: Spuren führen in die Ukraine
Ermittler haben das Boot identifiziert, von dem aus die Anschläge auf Nord Stream ausgeführt wurden. Offenbar wurde es von einer Firma gemietet, die Ukrainern gehört.


My translations:

Nord Stream investigation: Traces lead to Ukraine
Investigators have identified the boat from which the attacks on Nord Stream were carried out. Apparently, it was rented by a company owned by Ukrainians.


No, it is not the USS Kearsarge, the U.S. amphibious assault ship which 'trained' 'mine removals' near Bornholm island next to the pipelines just days before they blew up, which the 'investigators' identified.

AZ @AZmilitary1 - 13:52 UTC · Sep 27, 2022
An expeditionary detachment of US Navy ships led by the universal amphibious assault ship USS Kearsarge days ago was in the Baltic Sea
It was 30 km from the site of the alleged sabotage on the Nord Stream-1 gas pipeline and 50 km from the threads of Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline


Image

The new claim is that some rather small yacht, which would not even be able to carry the necessary equipment to perform such a deed, was the main instrument in this:

Following joint research by [German main public TV news unit] (ARD's capital city studio), the ARD political magazine Kontraste, [German public TV] SWR and DIE ZEIT, it was possible to reconstruct to a large extent in the course of the investigation how and when the explosive attack was prepared. According to this, traces lead in the direction of Ukraine. However, investigators have so far found no evidence of who ordered the destruction.
...
Specifically, according to information from [these news sources], investigators have managed to identify the boat that was presumably used for the secret operation. It is said to be a yacht rented from a company based in Poland, apparently owned by two Ukrainians. The clandestine operation at sea is said to have been carried out by a team of six people, according to the investigation. It is said to have involved five men and one woman. According to the report, the group consisted of a captain, two divers, two diving assistants and a female doctor, who are said to have transported the explosives to the crime scenes and placed them there. The nationality of the perpetrators is apparently unclear. The assassins used professionally forged passports, which are said to have been used, among other things, to rent the boat.
According to the investigation, the commando set off from Rostock on September 6, 2022. The equipment for the clandestine operation was previously transported to the port in a van, it is said. In the further course, the investigators succeeded in locating the boat the following day again in Wieck (Darß) and later at the Danish island Christiansø, northeast of Bornholm, according to the research. The yacht was subsequently returned to the owner in uncleaned condition. On the table in the cabin, the investigators were able to detect traces of explosives, according to the research. According to information from [the mentioned news sources], a Western intelligence service is said to have sent a tip to European partner services as early as in the fall, i.e. shortly after the destruction, according to which a Ukrainian commando was responsible for the destruction. Thereafter, there have allegedly been further intelligence indications suggesting that a pro-Ukrainian group could be responsible.


No. You do not dive down to 80+ meter for an industrial size job, involving the placement of hundreds of pounds of explosives in eight individual charges on very sturdy pipelines, from a sparsely manned boat. Such deep dives require special gases, special breathing equipment, special training, a decompression chamber for emergencies and lots of well trained people to maintain all that stuff.

This is just more chaff thrown up to divert the attention from Seymour Hersh's revelations that the U.S. military, under order from the White House, carried out the sabotage act.

Gonzalo Lira @GonzaloLira1968 - 18:54 UTC · Mar 7, 2023
Just now, the German news site Zeitung is ALSO blaming the Ukraine for the Nord Stream pipeline bombing!
Coupled with The NY Times piece earlier today, this is clearly a coordinated misinformation campaign.
Was this why Olaf Schultz and Biden met?
Nord-Stream-Ermittlungen: Spuren führen in die Ukraine

---
Gonzalo Lira @GonzaloLira1968 - 5:21 UTC · Mar 8, 2023
Zelensky’s regime can deny its involvement in the Nord Stream pipeline terrorist attack all it wants—but it won’t matter.

Clearly, a very strong faction of the Deep State wants to blame UA so the West can pull out of the Ukraine disaster.

ft.com - Ukraine denies any involvement in Nordstream pipeline explosions


What we are seeing here is a disinformation campaign comparable to the Skripal 'poisoning' affair in Britain. Following that tens of 'officials say' news items were released that were each more illogical and unbelievable than the previous ones. The campaign was designed to flood the information space with so much nonsense that no one would be drawn back to the roots of the story (i.e. a UK turncoat asset getting violently silenced after he attempted to go back to Russia).

I am pretty sure that soon more will be released about the real perpetrators of the Nord Stream attack. This sudden throwing of 'officials say' chaff, a month after the Hersh story, is just an attempt to preemptively divert from it.

Posted by b on March 8, 2023 at 6:20 UTC | Permalink

https://www.moonofalabama.org/2023/03/n ... l#comments

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US Points to Pro-Ukrainian Group in Nord Stream Blasts
Published 7 March 2023 (14 hours 13 minutes ago)

(bubbling water)

The operation "may have been carried out unofficially by a 'proxy' force with connections to the Ukrainian government," anonymous U.S. officials said.

According to the New York Times, in a report citing unnamed U.S. officials, the Nord Stream pipeline attack last September may have been perpetrated by "a pro-Ukrainian group."

The officials said they had no evidence that Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky or top lieutenants were involved in the attack. They also ruled out that "the perpetrators acted under the direction of any Ukrainian government official."

The operation "could have been carried out unofficially by a 'proxy' force with connections to the Ukrainian government or its security services," the Times said, noting that there is also no evidence that Russian authorities were involved in the explosions.

The anonymous officials said that "more likely that the explosives were placed with the help of experienced divers who do not appear to work for the military or intelligence services." They added that the perpetrators may have received "specialized training from the government in the past."


The Times said U.S. President Joe Biden and his top aides "did not authorize" the attack, ruling out U.S. involvement.

Investigative journalist Seymour Hersh released an article last month accusing the U.S. of ordering the bombing and planting the explosives under cover of NATO's BALTOPS 22 exercises.

According to Hersh, Norway helped U.S. divers place the explosives under the pipelines in June 2022.

https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/US- ... -0012.html

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Russia Announces a New Strategy for Deterring NATO Aggression
Posted by INTERNATIONALIST 360° on MARCH 8, 2023
Drago Bosnic

Russia Just Announced New Strategy On Deterring NATO Aggression

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Amid incessant NATO aggression and escalation of hostilities within Russia, now also including US-backed Kiev regime terrorists targeting schoolchildren, Moscow has started revamping the doctrinal approach to the use of its strategic arsenal. Rather curiously, the new document, published by the “Military Thought” magazine run by the Russian Ministry of Defense, attracted little attention in Western media. It should be noted that such changes are made only once in several decades or even longer. The strategic posturing of countries, particularly superpowers, is usually “set in stone”, meaning that changes are prompted only by major events of historical proportions.

It was only a week ago that Russian President Vladimir Putin announced Russia is suspending its participation in the New START arms control treaty. Putin cited continuous, blatant US and NATO violations of the agreement as the primary reason for the decision. With the treaty becoming a mere formality, Russia is not bound to honor it anymore, as this would undermine its own strategic security. With that in mind, the Russian Strategic Missile Forces (RVSN) started implementing new ways to deter any possible direct US/NATO attacks on Russia, particularly as the belligerent thalassocracy has repeatedly floated the idea of “decapitation strikes” on Moscow in the last several months.

The authors of the document are Deputy Commander of the RVSN Igor Fazletdinov and retired Colonel Vladimir Lumpov. They argue that the US is on a collision course with Russia, as Washington DC and its vassals are becoming increasingly aggressive due to their political elites’ frustration with the loss of the “sole superpower” status. With America seeing Moscow as the main culprit for this, it plans on defeating Russia in a “single blow”, thus eliminating the main obstacle to total US global dominance. Fazletdinov and Lumpov argue that Washington DC plans to defeat Russia in a “strategic (global) multi-sphere operation”, the primary goal of which will be the elimination of its strategic arsenal.

“[The US believes] this goal is only achievable in the event of an instantaneous nuclear strike against the RVSN or at least with the deployment of ABM [anti-ballistic missile] systems around Russia. The US plan is to destroy at least 65-70% of Russian strategic nuclear forces as part of its Prompt Global Strike concept, with the rest eliminated by American ABM systems. The US would then launch an all-out nuclear attack on the Russian Federation in order to destroy it,” authors warn, further adding: “We aim to repel a potential [US] nuclear strike, preserve our own nuclear capabilities, suppress the deployed US missile defense systems and cause unacceptable damage in case of [US/NATO] aggression.”

Russia certainly has the capability to almost instantly change its strategic doctrine. Unlike its NATO rivals (including the US itself), Moscow leads the world in several key military technologies, which also include at least a dozen operational hypersonic weapons deployed over the last 5-10 years. And indeed, in early December President Putin stated Russia could adopt a US-style concept of preemptive strikes. The program mentioned by Russian military experts, called PGS (Prompt Global Strike), is a US attempt to develop a capability that enables it to attack enemy strategic targets with precision-guided weapons anywhere in the world within just one hour. Still, the US is yet to deploy a weapon that can achieve that.

On the other hand, with the Mach 12-capable “Kinzhal” air-launched hypersonic missile carried by modified MiG-31K/I interceptors and Tu-22M3 long-range bombers, the Mach 28-capable “Avangard” HGV (hypersonic glide vehicle) deployed on various ICBMs and the Mach 9-capable scramjet-powered “Zircon” hypersonic cruise missile deployed on naval (both submarines and surface ships) and (soon) on land platforms, Russia is the only country on the planet with the capability to immediately implement such a program. And yet, Moscow still refrains from going ahead with such plans, although its justification for this would hold much better than that of the US.

The authors further emphasize “the need to make sure the US was perfectly aware of the impossibility of the complete destruction of our strategic capabilities and the inevitability of a crushing retaliatory nuclear strike”. However, the problem with this is that the establishment in Washington DC has become so detached from reality that they believe the Kiev regime has the capacity to not only “push Russia back from Donbass”, but also “retake Crimea”, despite relevant reports on the Neo-Nazi junta’s staggering losses. It can hardly be expected from them to be aware of Russia’s wholly undeniable capability to obliterate the continental US in minutes.

American policymakers take advice from former high-ranking generals and officers who somehow managed to lose a war against outnumbered and outgunned AK-wielding insurgents in sandals while wasting trillions of dollars and deploying hundreds of thousands of troops during the two decades of continuous NATO aggression in Afghanistan. This is without taking into account the technological disparity which was so overwhelmingly on the side of the aggressors that it can quite literally be measured in centuries rather than decades. Still, delusions and living in parallel reality seem to be a given for the warmongers at the Pentagon.

In addition, considering the fact that Afghanistan became more peaceful and safer after the US and NATO have been soundly defeated and driven out of the country devastated by decades of incessant conflict, this clearly implies that being able to militarily beat the political West is of utmost importance for the safety of any given country. Russia’s new strategic doctrine will certainly ensure this, not just for itself but also for the entire world, as the Eurasian giant will surely remain the only global power with such a capability in the foreseeable future.

https://libya360.wordpress.com/2023/03/ ... ggression/
"There is great chaos under heaven; the situation is excellent."

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Re: Footnotes from the Ukrainian "Crisis"; New High-Points in Cynicism Part IV

Post by blindpig » Thu Mar 09, 2023 1:46 pm

keep up appearances
POSTED BY @NSANZO ⋅ 03/09/2023

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24 hours after the publication of two exclusivesof the American and German media with leaks about the investigations into what happened on September 26 in the explosions of the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines, the reactions of the different actors make it clear that it is not just a new theory with which to eliminate at a stroke the speculation about the possible participation of the United States in the attack. It is evident that the article published by Seymour Hersh, which directly and providing a perfectly plausible and credible account accuses the United States of having planted the explosives that it would later proceed to use to possibly permanently disable the gas pipelines, has forced the American and European authorities to provide an alternative account to remove any shadow of doubt about his possible guilt. These recent revelations, which come a few weeks after the article by the legendary journalist and only a few days after the Biden-Scholz meeting, seek to go one step further. It is not just a matter of providing a hypothesis, but this leak of intelligence from the different countries involved in the investigation and from the United States, carried out through related media in an interested and controlled manner, seeks to install in the collective consciousness a certain idea of ​​the facts.

The passage of time and the growing silence that has occurred in recent months around the terrorist act that destroyed critical infrastructure owned by several countries, including the most important country in the European Union, Germany, has been illustrative when analyzing the interest to determine what happened and also to point to the possible culprits. Western countries quickly and squarely pointed to Russia as a prime candidate for destroying these facilities that it co-owned and helped build. However, the months of absence of any evidence against Moscow can be added to the fact that, along with Germany, Russia bears the brunt of the facts as evidence, although circumstantial, makes Russian culpability highly unlikely.

The sanctions of the European Union, also promoted by the United States, which for years has pressured Brussels and Berlin in search of minimizing the weight of Russia in the European energy market, have meant for Moscow the practical loss of the direct commercial relationship with its European customers. The destruction of the Nord Stream represents a further step in breaking these economic ties, but, unlike the sanctions, the damage to the gas pipelines is difficult to reversible in the short or even long term. Even so, in a context of war, open political confrontation and a lack of arguments, it is necessary both to install a minimally credible hypothesis in the media and political spheres and to keep up appearances, something that is not limited to the versions of what happened in the North Stream, but can extend to warfare in general.

The speed with which the Western press as a whole has published and given credibility to what was leaked by the intelligence services of the United States, Germany or Sweden, which contrasts with the way in which the version of Seymour Hersh, also based on anonymous leaks, makes it clear that the idea that an unidentified "pro-Ukrainian group" committed the act is going to be treated as a starting hypothesis in the short and medium term. Political reactions, and especially those in the media, have given credibility to the version that a group of six people from Ukraine, including two divers, aboard a yacht were able to commit sabotage of infrastructures located under a sea highly monitored by NATO.

What's more, German publications state that the yacht, which according to some media left the port of the German city of Rostock, was detected almost immediately and a search was carried out in which important evidence was extracted. As The Times published yesterday , the Scandinavian representatives in Brussels learned of this version a week after the events. “It had not been the Americans, the Russians or the Poles, their intelligence apparently told them, but a private adventure originating in the Ukraine. They were told that it was not going to be made public to avoid any questions as to why the official investigation into the destruction of the Russian-German pipeline was proceeding so slowly," the outlet added.

According to this version, the vehicle used to commit the crime would have always been in the hands of the authorities, who would have kept hidden the hypothesis of the participation of a "pro-Ukrainian group" precisely as an element of protection for Ukraine at a time when its dependency of western support was maximum. "The West fell silent to protect Ukraine," sentenced The Times .

The fear that war fatigue will mean a decrease in popular acceptance of the high costs that the commitment to the military as a way of resolving the conflict is having for the countries of the European Union has increased over time and with it the need to protect Kiev from any shadow of a doubt. Hence, the emphasis of all the texts published so far has been precisely to make clear the non-participation of Zelensky and his immediate circle. As published yesterday by The Daily Mail, the identity of the businessman who rented the yacht is also known, but his identity will not be revealed for the same reason. In a twist typical of a B-movie, said businessman would have left a business card on the yacht in question. Stalwart pro-Ukrainian propagandists like Michael Weiss commented yesterday that "if he is the person I am hearing, Zelensky's ability to deny knowledge of him is guaranteed." It seems clear that the next step will be speculation about this businessman, who is likely to be tagged “pro-Russian” soon.

That "pro-Ukrainian group" would have been made up of people of Ukrainian, Russian or a combination of both origins, perhaps an attempt to maintain the shadow of doubt about the involvement of the Kremlin. At the moment, none of the exclusivesIt points to the support of the Government, security service or army, nor has it tried to explain the change in position. In the months between the attack and the current revelations, the main argument from both Germany and Sweden has been precisely that the complexity of the events pointed to a state actor. That has been one of the reasoning used to accuse the Russian Federation. "We know that this amount of explosives has to be a state-level actor," said, for example, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Finland, one of the countries that has treated Russia the hardest in the last thirteen months.

Of course, European representatives such as Boris Pistorious continue to hope that what was found on the supposedly used yacht is nothing more than a false flag to try to implicate Ukraine. Calling for caution, and no doubt trying to hold on to the possibility of Russian involvement, Germany's defense minister insisted yesterday that the revelations cannot affect the supply of assistance to Kiev. The war continues to be the absolute priority beyond what happened in the Baltic Sea last September.

Ukraine, for its part, also clings to its story. In a humorous tone, the Minister of Defense of Ukraine, Oleksiy Reznikov, yesterday denied any involvement, although he understood it as a compliment that it was understood that the Ukrainian special forces have the capacity to carry out such an operation. And in his usual style of using nonsensical arguments, Mikhailo Podoliak insisted on accusing Russia, claiming that it was interested in cutting off gas supplies to the European Union - something it has not done, since gas continues to flow precisely through Ukraine -, the Russian Federation was the main beneficiary of the events.

Despite the absence of certainties, it can already be said that intelligence leaks have contributed to creating more doubts instead of resolving them. However, it also seems clear that, given the insistence on exonerating both Kiev and Washington, none of the intelligence services involved have any evidence pointing to Moscow. The European Union and NATO affirmed from the moment the sabotage was confirmed that the attack had been committed by an enemy. However, the need to keep up appearances and the desire to continue blaming Moscow for the events makes it questionable whether this enemy will be exposed.

https://slavyangrad.es/2023/03/09/mante ... more-26800

Google Translator

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SBU tried to kill the President of Transnistria
March 9, 12:36

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The authorities of Transnistria reported that they had prevented an attempt to assassinate the President of the PMR Krasnoselsky, which was organized by the SBU. Participants in the assassination attempt were detained by the security service. Operational materials will be presented tonight at 19-00.

The SBU planned to kill the President of Transnistria Krasnoselsky in the center of Tiraspol by blowing up his armored Land Rover using 8 kg of explosives (RDX) with damaging elements. In the event of an explosion on the streets of the city, this is guaranteed to lead to accidental civilian casualties.

The Transnistrian Prosecutor's Office also promised more details by evening. Investigations are now underway, the detained terrorists are testifying.

Once again, I note that in our country the SBU has not yet been recognized as a terrorist organization.

https://colonelcassad.livejournal.com/8211328.html

Dubovo-Vasilievka liberated
March 9, 11:32

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The situation in Artemovsk after the liberation of Dubovo-Vasilyevka.
The assault on the western districts of the city continues, as well as fighting on the near approaches to Bogdanovka and Krasnoy. The enemy spends his reserves and tries to counterattack, but has no serious results.

Roads from Artemovsk are under fire control. The number of destroyed Ukrainian wheeled and tracked vehicles continues to increase on the roads and in the fields. At night, it is even more or less possible to slip into the city through Khromovo. During the day, the risks increase significantly.

https://colonelcassad.livejournal.com/8211109.html

Google Translator

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Environmental Сatastrophe at Nord Stream
Posted by INTERNATIONALIST 360° on MARCH 8, 2023
Orienrtal Review

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Baltic harbour porpoise

According to European scientists, the undermining of the Nord Stream gas pipeline led to an ecological disaster in the Baltic Sea. The consequences of this sabotage vary, but the cumulative damage to nature is enormous.

An immediate consequence of the pipelines’ explosion was the death of marine animals. According to Research Square study, the explosions caused a “chain reaction” in the marine environment that could lead to the extinction of certain species of fish and marine animals, including cod and porpoises.

The harbour porpoise is a small cetacean that is quite widespread in Northern Hemisphere waters, numbering about 700,000 individuals. But their population in the Baltic Sea genetically and externally differs from other representatives of the species. The number of these animals is a little over 500, and they are actually in danger of extinction.

The harbour porpoises usually congregate in May and October around the Goburgs and Midsjöbanken in Swedish territorial waters, which are situated about 40 km east of the blast sites. The explosions may have killed animals within a radius of up to 4 km, or rendered deaf those up to 50 km away. Scientists emphasize that the death or injury of even one of the animals of the Baltic subspecies can significantly affect their entire small population.

Maria Gjerding, the president of the Danish Society for Nature Conservation, noted that the situation causes serious concern for the fate of the Baltic Sea. The report shows: the explosion has worsened the condition of the sea water, which is already in a very serious, critical state.

Bo Øksnebjerg, the Secretary General of WWF Denmark, shares this view. He also believes that the damage was caused by toxic substances that got into the water. The explosions and ensuing water jets stirred up more than 250,000 tonnes of contaminated seabed containing toxic substances. Cod has probably suffered considerable damage due to the effects of toxic substances on the endocrine system of fish in the area of Bornholm Hollow.

Among the toxic substances is tributyl tin (TBT), which is used as a component of paints to prevent fouling of ship hulls and technical structures (piles, poles, etc.). It too has been long accumulated on the seabed, which has been stirred up by explosions. According to Hans Sanderson, a senior researcher at the Department of Environmental Sciences at Aarhus University, who also led the team working on the report, TBT destroys the reproductive capacity of marine animals.

This means that right now the marine environment of the Baltic Sea is already struggling to survive.

Danish Environment Minister Magnus Heunicke of the Social Democrats said, “At first glance, the effects seem to be local, but the Baltic Sea is already under severe pressure, which is why we are, of course very aware of the consequences”. He said that the Danish government will be continuously monitoring and sharing the information with their neighbouring countries around the Baltic Sea, so that they have an overall picture of the consequences and can follow up as appropriate. But Germany, Denmark and Sweden have not yet finished investigating the explosions and are not giving any information to the general public and other states. Therefore, the issue of preservation of biodiversity in the Baltic Sea remains open.

It should be noted that previously, in the context of the environmental consequences of gas pipeline explosions, the media wrote mainly about the emissions of natural gas into the water and the atmosphere. Assessment of their level is not an easy task, especially under the water.

Denmark, Sweden, in whose exclusive economic zones sabotage took place, and Germany published different data on the scale of the leak. But all emphasized emissions to the atmosphere.

To determine the impact of methane on the climate, it is customary to convert it into the equivalent of carbon dioxide (CO2). The global warming potential is calculated either in the perspective of 100 years or 20 years. In the first case, the “warming” effect of methane is 28 times greater than that of CO2, while in the second case, it is 84 times greater.

The German Federal Environment Agency (UBA) estimates that explosions at the pipelines laid on the bottom of the Baltic Sea released 300,000 metric tons of methane, the equivalent of 7.5 million tons of CO2 over a century. This corresponds to roughly one percent of Germany’s annual emissions, according to the agency’s report.

The figures from the Danish Energy Agency are slightly different. Two of the four leaks were near the Danish island of Bornholm. The Danes counted 778 million cubic meters of natural gas, equivalent to 14.6 million tons of CO2, or 32 percent of all greenhouse gases produced by the country in 2020.

Sweden considers the 20-year forecast horizon more accurate because methane decays faster than carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. “The leaks correspond to 40 million tons of carbon dioxide over a 20-year horizon. This compares to all of Sweden’s total climate emissions last year, which amounted to 48 million tons”, Svt Nyheter wrote, citing an environmental economist at the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency.

There is another alarming fact associated with the undermining of Nord Stream. After World War II, according to the decision of the Potsdam Conference on the demilitarization of Germany, German chemical weapons were buried on the bottom of the Baltic Sea. A considerable part of them is just in the region of the Bornholm Island, near where the explosions took place. Thirty-two thousand tons of munitions with 11 thousand tons of chemical agents were dumped there. Up to 70 percent was mustard gas, 20 percent was arsenic-containing substances. So far nothing critical has happened to these dangerous burial sites, but according to scientists, any destabilization of the seabed can lead to serious consequences.

https://libya360.wordpress.com/2023/03/ ... rd-stream/

War Returns to the Heart of Europe: Talk of Conscription is Back on the Agenda
Posted by INTERNATIONALIST 360° on MARCH 8, 2023

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Europe is continuing its suicidal mad dash towards the militarisation of society. After a year of war in Ukraine, almost everywhere there is talk of reintroducing compulsory military service, reopening a debate that was thought to be definitively closed and that had led almost all European countries to abandon compulsory military service.

In Italy, rumors of a possible reinstatement of compulsory military service have been around for a long time. Matteo Salvini has spoken about compulsory military service on several occasions. … “I believe that a year of teaching the rules, good manners and duties would make good citizens”. And as its interior minister, he said he was “studying the costs, ways and times to evaluate if, how and when to reintroduce military service for a few months for our boys and girls so that they at least learn some education that mum and dad are not able to teach them”.

Ignazio La Russa, President of the Senate, will be proposing a kind of voluntary military mini-service. “I have prepared a bill that will be presented by a group of senators (not by me, because as president I can’t) to increase the voluntary service to 40 days. He added: “If we were able to ensure that young people between 16 and 25 could if they wanted to, spend forty days of their summer learning what is not only love of Italy, love of country, but the civic duty that each of us has to help others in difficulty, we would be doing Italy an enormous service”. In short, compulsory military service as a great “formative moment”.

Minister Crosetto claims that restoring compulsory military service is not on the government’s agenda because “it requires a law and financial coverage” to rebuild and modernize barracks and provide weapons and equipment for the formation of conscripts. Will our young people be able to sleep easy and avoid spending months in the barracks, or will the money suddenly be found at the cost, as always, of primary rights such as health and education?

Compulsory military service is also being debated in Germany. Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said. “Abolishing it was a mistake and could demonstrate the importance of these institutions for the functioning of our society”, stressing that “the advantages of military service must now be the subject of collective reflection”. The head of the German navy, Jan Christian Kaack, also proposed a return to compulsory military service: “I believe this will ensure a higher level of consciousness for a nation that needs to be more resilient in times like these”.

In France, Macron is seriously considering reinstating compulsory military service, which will last between three and six months and will also be extended to women. Military service, Macron says, will be “national, compulsory, and universal”. “Military experience not only leads you to develop experiences but also behavioral qualities,” the French president said, recalling that companies are “delighted” to hire ex-military personnel. According to some estimates, at least 700,000 young people could be recruited each year.

In January, Latvia reintroduced compulsory military service after 15 years.

The Netherlands is now considering adopting the Swedish model, which selects four to five thousand eighteen-year-olds each year for an eleven-month compulsory military service; Denmark, which still maintains compulsory service, is considering extending it to women; and Greece has recently extended it to one year.

In Spain, where compulsory military service has been abolished, young people are still considered reservists and could be forced to enlist in case of emergency and without any legal possibility of objection, since objection is no longer provided for by law.

Poland, which suspended compulsory military service in 2008, is calling up citizens under the age of 63 as reservists. Call-up letters have also been sent to Poles abroad who have dual citizenship. If they refuse, they will lose their Polish citizenship.

It is clear that the very talk of reintroducing conscription contributes to feeding the culture of war and that our governments, instead of listening to the voice of their citizens, choose the suicidal path of a third world war, submissive as they are to Washington’s orders.

That is why, on April 2nd, we, the invisible, the majority of the population, want to reiterate with strength throughout Europe and the world that the only way out of the madness of the war we are living through is peace, non-violence, dialogue, cooperation and a diplomatic solution that will put an immediate end to the suffering of the Ukrainian people and to a war that could lead to a clash of nuclear powers.

Europe for Peace

https://libya360.wordpress.com/2023/03/ ... he-agenda/

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FRom Cassad's telegram account:

Colonelcassad
Massive missile strike of the Russian Armed Forces on infrastructure facilities in Ukraine on March 9 - which is known by 14.00

Russian troops launched massive strikes on critical infrastructure facilities in Ukraine at night .

The list of means involved in the attack has significantly expanded: the RF Armed Forces used kamikaze drones, cruise missiles, and even the Kinzhal hypersonic complex.

🔻What is known so far?

▪️Kiev : the engine room and boiler room of CHPP-5 , a large generating station in the capital, were hit. Together with other hits, the city experienced significant problems with electricity and communications.

Previously, the facility has repeatedly become the target of attacks by Russian troops, but the station still continues to work. At the same time, if the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation managed to disable at least a few turbines and boilers, energy generation will significantly decrease.

▪️Kharkiv : At least fifteen explosions sounded in the city. According to some reports, the operation of CHPP-3 and CHPP-5 was stopped . Local residents reported power and water outages, communication and heating problems.

▪️Dnipropetrovsk Oblast : A series of explosions sounded in Pavlograd , Krivoy Rog and Dnepropetrovsk regions. According to preliminary data, in the Kryvyi Rih region, the targets of the attacks could be the Krivorozhskaya TPP and the Substation Yuzhnaya 330 .

▪️Zhytomyr region : presumably, the substation of the substation Zhitomirskaya 330 was hit : the regional center is partially de-energized, about 150 thousand subscribers were left without electricity.

▪️Volyn region : citizens heard powerful explosions in Lutsk and Kivertsy. The blow was so powerful that some residents of Kivertsy reported that their houses were shaking.

In the Lutsk region there is an oil depot, an airfield and a substation Lutsk - Severnaya 330 , as well as military installations.

▪️Vinnitsa region : powerful explosions sounded in the region. Probably, objects at the Ladyzhinskaya TPP could again be hit .

▪️Kirovograd Oblast : Local residents reported sounds of explosions in the Kropyvnytskyi region and an emergency power outage. The target of the attack in the area could be the PS Ukrainka 330 .

▪️Odessa region : local authorities announced the defeat of an energy facility in the region. Among the possible targets of strikes are the PS Adzhalyk 330 , the PS Novoodesskaya 330 , the PS Usatovo 330 and the PS Tsentrolit 220 .

▪️Sumy Oblast : One of the buildings of the Research Institute of Chemical Products in Shostka was probably hit .

▪️Zaporizhzhia Oblast : Local authorities have announced that an infrastructure facility has been hit, but there is no exact information about it.

▪️Ivano-Frankivsk region : hitting an unknown energy infrastructure facility.

▪️Local residents also reported sounds of explosions in Lviv , Kherson , Khmelnitsky , Mykolaiv , Ternopil , Rivne , Cherkasy and Chernihiv regions.

▪️Following the strikes, Ukrainian Railways reported a delay of up to an hour for trains due to power supply problems. Several trains are delayed by almost four hours.

🔻Today's wave of strikes has become the most massive this year. Known targets include critical power plant operation rooms .

As a result of accurate hits in several regions of the country, there were significant problems with electricity , which, however, was restored within a few hours.

The largest contact network power outage was in central Ukraine . Large breaks were recorded in the region of Podolsk (Odessa region) and Odessa, as well as small breaks near Lviv and on the Carpathian passes.

In addition, the local authorities once again preventively turned off the power before the raid , but this also causes significant damage.energy system, undermining its stability.

Despite the lack of immediate results, such attacks are increasingly destabilizing the Ukrainian energy infrastructure, leaving hope for its collapse and disruption of the railways with industry.

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***

Forwarded from
Special for RT
VGTRK reporter Alexander Sladkov @Sladkov_plus

"RUSSIAN VOLUNTEERS" IN UKRAINE

Ukraine has consistently moved towards the status of the world center of the ultra-right. One can argue whether this was the original plan of the big players or a mutation of the “Maidan” and the beginning of the war, but the fact is just that. And Ukraine has become attractive, including for a certain number of Russian ultra-right.

Supporters of white supremacy were offered the idea of ​​fighting together with the Slav brothers for the cleansing of Russia from the Horde. In addition, Ukraine skillfully played on the internal Russian problems of national politics, pointing out (absolutely false) that it is better for Russians in Ukraine than in Russia, and creating movements like pro-Ukrainian Russian nationalists and other perversions. It worked, first of all for the internal pro-Russian audience, but also for the Russian one.

Another part of the characters of such detachments (partially overlapping with the first) are professional fighters against the Russian authorities or Russia as a whole. They are attracted by the presence of a “base”, which is categorically inaccessible on the territory of Russia. The logic is clear: in order to effectively fight the regime from within, it is necessary to have support and a shoulder of supply. Someone could broadcast from Ukraine to the Russian Federation without fear of punishment, and someone could fight. Moreover, it is not difficult to change one status to another.

All these people, of course, immediately fell into the circle of interests of the SBU and the CIA. And the latter usually rely on political emigrants for subsequent actions, including their transfer to their homeland betrayed by them for espionage and sabotage.

Therefore, the hit of "Russian detachments" with certain attacks on the territory of Russia was only a matter of time. CBO in this case is not even the cause of this process. Here, once again, the enemy's ability to plan his actions in advance and prepare for them was manifested.

Separately, it is worth recalling that many people who are simply familiar with Ukrainian information policy have long said that Ukraine will definitely make a demonstrative raid on Russian territory. You don't have to be an expert on DRGs and terrorism - it just followed directly from all their previous actions.

Here is an example - the identified participants in the terrorist attacks in the Belgorod region. The far-right who have received punishments in Russia are not tough enough to stop them, but simply relegating them to the category of professional fighters against the regime. Accordingly, they calmly left for Ukraine during the period of the Minsk agreements, not crossing the border by secret paths, but simply getting on the bus and driving. There they fell into the circulation of the "Right Sector" (banned in the Russian Federation) and "Azov" (banned in the Russian Federation) - and this is the logical result.

The point of view of the author may not coincide with the position of the editors.

***

Colonelcassad
0:45
Over and over again, the Armed Forces of Ukraine are trying to attack objects on the territory of Russia with drones. One of them - stuffed with British-made PE8 explosives - was suppressed by electronic warfare equipment 75 km from Moscow on March 1 and fell near Kolomna. In an attempt to test the strength of the air defense of the Russian Armed Forces far from the front line, Ukrainians use new drones almost every time.

The first drone used by the Armed Forces of Ukraine to attack targets in Russia was the Chinese commercial device Mugin-5 Pro, converted for combat missions. It was used to attack the Novoshakhtinsky Oil Refinery. It costs about $10,000 and can carry a charge weighing up to 50 kg at a distance of up to 1,500 km. This drone flies to a given target using GPS coordinates, which makes it more resistant to electronic interference.

UAV "Kulon" - an exact copy of the drone "Geran-2" with a warhead of 50-60 kg. According to some reports, this drone flies at a distance of up to 1,000 km. Its main disadvantages are engine noise and low speed, within 180 km / h.

Among the Ukrainian UAVs there are also their own developments. The Antonov State Enterprise has been working on the Gorlitsa apparatus since 2017, but they have not been able to put it into production. There is information that engineers from Japan, Canada, Germany, France and Switzerland are actively helping Ukrainians to bring Gorlitsa to perfection, including the supply of entire units.

To compensate for the lack of loitering ammunition in speed, Ukraine is trying to use the Soviet Tu-141 Strizh and Tu-143 Reis jet drones. UAVs of the 70s of the last century can accelerate to 1.1 thousand km / h and fly faster than small drones. In the Soviet Union, they were used mainly for aerial reconnaissance. The Ukrainian military replaced photographic equipment and some electronics with explosives. The result was a makeshift cruise missile. According to some reports, after the collapse of the USSR, about 250 such drones remained in Ukraine.

It is obvious that the Armed Forces of Ukraine - so far unsuccessfully - are looking for a cheap and mass solution that will allow them to create a constant threat from the air to civilian objects on the territory of Russia.

https://t.me/s/boris_rozhin

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Re: Footnotes from the Ukrainian "Crisis"; New High-Points in Cynicism Part IV

Post by blindpig » Thu Mar 09, 2023 11:35 pm

EUMAM To Train Over 11 000 Ukrainian Soldiers This Month

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EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell. Mar. 8, 2023. | Photo: Twitter/@JosepBorrellF

Published 8 March 2023

By the end of this month, our [EU] Military Assistance Mission [EUMAM Ukraine] will have trained more than 11 000 Ukrainian soldiers," Josep Borrell said.


European Union (EU) High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell said on Wednesday that by the end of March, more than 11 000 Ukrainian soldiers will have been trained by the EU military mission.

"By the end of this month, our [EU] Military Assistance Mission [EUMAM Ukraine] will have trained more than 11 000 Ukrainian soldiers, and by the end of the year we expect to have trained 30 000 soldiers," Borell told a press conference in Stockholm.

In addition, EUMAM will train crews of battle tanks to be supplied to Ukraine through NATO, said the representative, whose comments came after an informal meeting of EU member states' defense ministers.

On this occasion, Borrell also proposed a three-point plan to supply Ukraine with artillery shells worth 2 billion euros.


"We are talking about supplies from existing stocks, for which I propose to ministers to allocate 1 billion euros from the European Peace Fund," Borrell said.

The second step is the joint procurement of 155 millimeter ammunition, for which another 1 billion euros would have to be allocated.

The EU High Representative said he expects this initiative to be approved at the joint meeting of EU defense and foreign ministers scheduled for March 20 in Brussels.

https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/EUM ... -0016.html

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The US will fight Russia until the last Ukrainian
By Zhang Zhouxiang | chinadaily.com.cn | Updated: 2022-04-19 16:14

In a recent article, The American Conservative magazine said that the US will fight Russia until the last Ukrainian.

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A good and sharp comment, but Ukraine is not the only cannon fodder of the US. Many European countries are also suffering as natural gas shortage because they have joined the US in sanctioning Russia.

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The US pushed NATO's expansion eastward and tied the EU to its chariot, without considering the latter's interests a bit.

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For its selfish interests, the US is starting a Cold War 2.0 for the world.

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Ironically, while doing the evil deeds, the US claims it defends peace.

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It even pretends to help Ukraine by imposing economic sanctions.

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Actually US arms dealers and energy suppliers are happy counting money behind the warfare.

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Time to stop being cheated and for the two sides to come back to the negotiation table.

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https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202204/ ... e27_1.html

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THE NEW YORK TIMES CONFIRMS PART OF SY HERSH'S VERSION
ALL EVIDENCE OF THE SABOTAGE OF THE NORD STREAM POINTS TO THE WHITE HOUSE
Mar 7, 2023 , 7:38 p.m.

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Except for the "small detail" that a "pro-Ukrainian group" is blamed for the damage, and US responsibility is shifted to an unidentifiable third party, NYT confirms Hersh's version (Photo: Fabrizio Bensch / Reuters )

With the aim of delegitimizing the investigation by journalist Seymour Hersh into the direct responsibility of the Joe Biden government in the sabotage of the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines, The New York Times (NYT) published a report citing a US intelligence study —he does not say which agency— which "suggests that a pro-Ukrainian group" was the material author of the event.

It adds that "the new intelligence reports amount to the first known significant clue as to who was responsible for the attack on the Nord Stream pipelines that transported natural gas from Russia to Europe", which clearly seems an attempt to disprove the version that blames to the highest officials of the White House.

The report says that:

"US officials said they had no evidence that Ukraine's President Vladimir Zelensky, or his top lieutenants, were involved in the operation, or that the perpetrators were acting at the direction of Ukrainian government officials."

It further states that "some officials have seen Ukraine and its allies as having the most logical potential motive to attack the pipelines. They have opposed the project for years, calling it a national security threat because it would allow Russia to more easily sell gas to Europe." Ukrainian government and military intelligence officials say they had no role in the attack and do not know who carried it out."

It does not contextualize that it was US officials —among them Antony Blinken, Victoria Nuland and Joe Biden himself— who made threats to the operation of the Nord Stream 1 and 2 complexes before the sabotage, and celebrated the cessation of activities of the gas pipelines after the event .

The New York outlet states that "the review of the recently compiled intelligence suggests that they were opponents of President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, but does not specify the members of the group, nor who directed or paid for the operation", although it suggests that they were people of Russian and/or Ukrainian nationality, and launches an a priori hypothesis: "They have said that there are no firm conclusions in this regard, which exposes the possibility that the operation was carried out off the books by a power force with connections with the Ukrainian government or its security services".

"US officials have not publicly stated that they believe the operation was sponsored by a State (...) [although] the perpetrators may have received specialized government training in the past," publishes NYT.
To wash their hands of any weighty involvement, the cited report states that "US officials said no British or British nationals were involved."

According to the report, it seems that the intelligence of the North American country tries to shift the responsibility to Ukraine: "Spokesmen said that it could constitute the first significant clue that emerges from several carefully guarded investigations, the conclusions of which could have profound implications for the coalition that supports to Ukraine".

He continues: "Any hint of Ukrainian involvement, whether direct or indirect, could upset the delicate relationship between Ukraine and Germany, thus souring support among a German public that has swallowed high energy prices in the name of solidarity." .

This contrasts with what was published by Hersh, and tries to erase any perceptive trace in world public opinion about US involvement that would endanger the reputation of the United States before the European Union, also in a context in which there is pressure in the corridors of Washington, DC for directing conflicting efforts toward China and stopping the delivery of aid to Kiev against Russia.

It would be a case of plausible deniability through the NYT, or a limited hangout , a tactic used in media, public relations and perception management operations at the political and informational levels. Former CIA agent Victor Marchetti, in a book co-authored with former State Department official John Marks, defined the limited hangout as follows:

"When their veil of secrecy is breached and they can no longer rely on a false cover story to misinform the public, [intelligence operatives] resort to admitting, sometimes even willingly, part of the truth while managing to retain the key and the damaging facts in the case. The public, however, is often so intrigued by new information that it never thinks of pursuing the matter further."

Not surprisingly, the report argues that "any finding that blames Kiev or Ukrainian proxies could provoke a violent reaction in Europe and make it difficult for the West to maintain a united front in support of Ukraine."

"Despite Ukraine's deep dependence on the United States for military, intelligence, and diplomatic support, Ukrainian officials are not always transparent with their American counterparts about their military operations, especially those against Russian targets behind enemy lines. Those operations have frustrated US officials, who believe they have not measurably improved Ukraine's position on the battlefield, but have risked aligning European allies and widening the war."
But the report also increases the degree of intrigue to directly implicate Ukraine in the event: "After the Nord Stream operation there were quiet speculations and concerns in Washington that parts of the Ukrainian government could also have been involved in that operation."


However, he then proposes an ambivalence in US-Ukrainian relations, typical of journalistic reports in which nothing is affirmed or denied to install an alternative narrative to the facts: "The new intelligence did not provide evidence until the moment of the complicity of the Ukrainian government in the attack on the pipelines, and US officials say the Biden administration's level of trust in Zelensky and his high-level national security team has steadily increased."

The German newspaper Die Zeit published a few hours after the NYT report, reinforcing this narrative line, that "the German investigative authorities […] managed to identify the ship that was allegedly used for the secret operation. It is said to be a yacht rented from a company based in Poland, allegedly owned by two Ukrainians. According to the investigation, the secret operation at sea was carried out by a team of six people. […] Apparently, the nationality of the perpetrators is unclear. The killers used passports professionally forged, said to have been used, among other things, to charter the boat."
In turn, the New York media alleges that Hersh only "cited the threat prior to the president's invasion to 'end' Nord Stream 2, and similar statements by other senior US officials", but omitted the source cited by the US journalist. related to the secret operation ordered by Biden.

Regarding the operational facts of the sabotage, NYT states that investigations have been carried out in Europe, although without giving any concrete data, except for details such as "that the perpetrators used more than 1,000 pounds of 'military grade' explosives." This directly contradicts what was previously stated about the non-involvement of any state in the operation, since it is about weapons and technology that can only be possessed by regular state armies. Hersh says that they were charges of C4 explosives activated by a sonar at a remote distance.

Although private mercenary armies are capable of carrying out a sabotage operation, the logistics necessary to carry out what happened on the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines, with the level of surveillance based on the high technology currently existing by States, would have required force majeure maneuvers such as those reported in the Hersh investigation through operational details.

Finally, he quotes Mats Ljungqvist, a Swedish senior prosecutor who is leading the investigation into the case in his country, to conclude the report openly: "Do I think it was Russia that blew up Nord Stream? I never thought about it. It's not logical But like in the case of a murder, you have to be open to all possibilities."

NYT is a medium through which information from the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is often leaked for political purposes, such as the story that Donald Trump had won the presidential election in the United States with the help of the Russian government — Russiagate—, which was recently officially denied by the same intelligence agencies. Due to its role in this plot, NYT was highly criticized by different ideological and political sectors in the United States.

From this and other episodes of political overtones, this media platform is associated with a propaganda wing of the leadership of the Democratic Party.

Also, said newspaper was involved in Operation Mockingbird (Operation Mockingbird) and many of its journalists were on the CIA payroll for decades, according to the anthological investigation by journalist Carl Bernstein.

The fact that the NYT, due to links and history, confirms almost all of Hersh's version, even in a "plausible deniability" way, but shifting responsibility for the facts to a third party and leaving the loophole open for the accumulation of doubts and some little certainty about the Nord Stream case, suggests that it is a public relations operation with some bumps that reveal its inconsistency.

The sum of interests around the inoperability of the Nord Stream is verifiable and notorious in relation to the geopolitical and economic benefits for the United States as the main gas supplier to Europe , as well as for Norway in terms of record revenues : Both are the countries NATO whose military authorities participated directly in the sabotage operation against the Russian-European complex —always according to Sy Hersh's investigation— and had strategic interests in the energy field.

Except for the "small detail" that a "pro-Ukrainian group" is blamed for the damage, and US responsibility is shifted to an unidentifiable third party, NYT confirms Hersh's version and gives reasons for the White House suspicions surrounding to sinister grow. Even when the information is issued as an intrigue, which must be put together like a puzzle.

https://misionverdad.com/globalistan/to ... asa-blanca

SUPPORT IN THE US TO PROVIDE ASSISTANCE TO UKRAINE IS WANING
8 Mar 2023 , 2:18 pm .

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Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelenski in the United States Congress (Photo: EFE)

According to a YouGov sociological survey cited by The Economist , in the United States and Europe the level of support for providing assistance to Ukraine is declining, which is in contrast to that received at the start of the Russian Military Operation (OME).

In the Republican Party, which controls the US House of Representatives, the rate fell from 67% in April 2022 to 39% in December. Meanwhile, Democrats over the same period went from 82% to 75%.

As for the supply of food and medicine, support remains high in the United States - 86% Democrats and 78% Republicans. The tank shipment is supported by about 70% of Democrats and about 50% of Republicans.

Likewise, support for the imposition of "sanctions" in the countries of the European Union has diminished. In February 2022, 45% of UK respondents were in favour; in December, 35%. The same occurred in France —around 25% to 20%—, Germany —almost 40% to less than 30%—, while Italy and Spain follow a similar trend.

Since February 2022, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has been clamoring for more weapons and defense systems to be sent to his country, but few have heeded the call. The United States and the United Kingdom appear as those that have sent the most military and financial aid.

https://misionverdad.com/el-apoyo-en-ee ... sminuyendo

HOW RUSSIA MANAGES TO CIRCUMVENT THE EUROPEAN UNION'S TECHNOLOGICAL "SANCTIONS"
8 Mar 2023 , 11:11 a.m.

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The European Union's technological "sanctions" on Russia have deepened since the start of the Special Military Operation in Ukraine (Photo: File)

According to Bloomberg, Russia has found a way to circumvent the technological blockade of the European Union (EU). After the start of the Special Military Operation (OME) in Ukraine, the bloc has imposed 10 rounds of "sanctions" on the Eurasian country in order to cut off the supply of vital technological inputs for various areas, especially in the military industry.

However, Moscow seems to be finding ways to secure crucial semiconductors and other technologies. According to the outlet, Russian imports in general have largely returned to pre-war levels.

Analysis of trade data suggests that advanced chips and integrated circuits made in the EU and other allied nations are shipped to Russia via third countries such as Türkiye, the United Arab Emirates and Kazakhstan. He also points out that shipments from China to Russia have also increased.

Technological inputs have been important for the Russian military industry, which continues to develop state-of-the-art technology in the weapons area —drones, weapons directed by Artificial Intelligence, etc.— and has been key on the battlefield to favor the balance towards the Russian side. in the ground.

This means that the technological "sanctions" have not had the expected impact, which contradicts the projection that existed from the beginning of the conflict for Russia: a country blocked and cornered by the United States and its European allies.

https://misionverdad.com/como-rusia-log ... on-europea

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Went down in history with the name Artem

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March 9, 23:47


Went down in history with the name Artem

Recently, the city, named almost a hundred years ago Artyomovsk, is constantly mentioned in the news of the day. After the occupation of this city by units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in 2015, it became known as Bakhmut, as it was called in tsarist times. At the same time, by order of the invaders, the monument to F.A. Artyom, after whom the city got its name. So Ukrainian nationalists tried to cross out the history of the revolutionary struggle of the working people of Donbass, which is inextricably linked with the name of the outstanding leader of the Bolshevik Party F.A. Artyom (Sergeev).

From Donbass to the Green Continent

Fedor Andreevich Sergeev was born on March 7, 1883 in the village of Glebovo, Fatezhsky district, Kursk province. In 1901, at the age of 18, as a student at the Imperial Moscow Technical School (now Bauman Moscow State Technical University), he joined the RSDLP. However, Sergeev was soon arrested for participating in revolutionary activities. After his release in 1902, he emigrated to France, but a little later he returned to Russia, becoming a distributor of Iskra in the Donbass and taking the underground nickname Artyom.

IN AND. Lenin and his supporters in Iskra, who later rallied into the Bolshevik Party, attached particular importance to spreading the ideas of revolutionary Marxism in cities and regions where industry was rapidly developing and the proletariat was growing. Therefore, Iskra distributors were sent to the Urals, to the industrial cities of the Volga region, to Baku, to the Donbass.

Since the end of the 19th century, the natural resources of Donbass have attracted Russian and foreign capital. Mines and metallurgical enterprises were quickly built here. About how their owners squeezed all the juice out of the workers and robbed them, the writer Kuprin vividly told in his essays about this region and in the novel "Moloch". It is not surprising that when the first Marxist agitators began their activities in the Donbass in 1898, their conversations and the leaflets they distributed were supported by the workers of the region. The workers of Donbass responded vividly to the calls of Iskra, whose numbers were distributed by Comrade Artyom.

In 1903, under his leadership, social democratic groups were created at the Berezovsky and Bogodukhovsky mines, in Yuzovka, Lugansk, Yenakievo, Grishino. At the same time, Comrade Artem headed the Kharkov underground group, closely associated with the Bolsheviks of Donbass.

Shortly after Soviets began to form in Russia in 1905, Soviets of Workers' Deputies were formed in Lugansk, Yuzovka, Yenakiyevo, and in a number of mines in the Donbass, and became the leaders of the revolutionary struggle. Although no city council was created in Kharkov, the leadership of the working speeches was taken over by the Federative Council of Committees of the RSDLP, headed by Artyom-Sergeev. On December 12, an armed uprising began in Kharkov under the leadership of the Bolsheviks. Having led the workers of the Kharkov Locomotive Plant, Artyom-Sergeev personally participated in street battles.

By this time, revolutionary uprisings swept the cities and towns located on the Catherine's railway, which connected the Donbass with Yekaterinoslav. Workers' squads were created there, which disarmed government troops.

However, new detachments of well-armed soldiers and Cossacks were thrown against the workers, who crushed the uprising. The court sentenced 32 participants in the uprising to death and about 200 to hard labor. The Kharkov Bolsheviks, led by Sergeyev, were forced to go underground.

In April 1906, Artyom-Sergeev took part in the IV (unifying) Congress of the RSDLP. Together with the other 45 Bolshevik delegates, he defended the Leninist course of continuing the revolution in Russia, despite the temporary predominance of the Mensheviks at the congress. Returning to Russia, Sergeev continued his underground work in Kharkov. Although he was soon arrested, he managed to escape from the Kharkov prison. After escaping, Artyom-Sergeev conducted underground work in the Urals and headed the Perm Committee of the RSDLP there. However, in March 1907 he was arrested again and in 1909 sent to Eastern Siberia "for eternal exile." However, in 1910, Comrade Artyom escaped from the place of settlement.

While the vast majority of those who fled from exile left for the west, for the European part of the country, Sergeev headed east. First he got to Primorye, from there he moved to Korea, then to China. Finally, in 1911, Artyom-Sergeev reached Australia. To survive, Sergeev took on the hardest work. He worked as a laborer on farms, worked as a loader in ports. His experience of the revolutionary struggle in the Donbass and Kharkov region F.A. Artyom-Sergeev also applied it in the Australian state of Queensland. There he organized the "Union of Russian Emigrant Workers", which launched a struggle for the rights of workers. Artyom-Sergeev became the founder of the Russian Social Democratic newspaper "Australian Echo".

For the victory of the Soviets

Soon after the start of the February Revolution, Comrade Artyom returned to Russia and headed the Bolshevik faction of the Kharkov Soviet, and then the bureau of the Donetsk Regional Committee of the RSDLP (b). In the summer of 1917, he represented the workers of Donbass at the VI Congress of the Bolshevik Party. During this congress, Comrade Artyom was elected one of the 21 members of the Central Committee of the Party (Yu.E.).

By that time, in the Soviets of Ukraine, created in the first half of 1917, the influence of bourgeois national-separatist forces had increased. At the All-Ukrainian Congress of Soviets, held in Kiev in June 1917, the so-called “Universal” was adopted, which proclaimed: “Without separating from all of Russia, the Ukrainian people must manage their own lives.” Although the Central Council elected by the congress did not hold any referendums on the lands on which it was going to “manage” on behalf of the “Ukrainian people”, it included the following provinces in the future Ukrainian state: Kiev, Podolsk, Chernihiv, Poltava, Kharkov, Kherson, Tauride (without Crimea), Yekaterinoslav. The latter then included cities and towns of Donbass. (The allegations that are constantly spreading now that the borders of Ukraine were drawn by Lenin, have nothing to do with historical truth. - Yu. E.)

As Lenin noted, Ukraine was among the “least Bolshevik regions” of the country. Only in the industrial Donbass were the positions of the Bolsheviks much stronger (there were 30,000 Bolsheviks in the Donbass, while in the rest of Ukraine there were 15,000). Before the start of the October Revolution, the regional committee of the Donetsk-Krivoy Rog basin was created, headed by F.A. Artem-Sergeev. The committee also included G.I. Petrovsky, M.L. Rukhimovich, K.E. Voroshilov and others.

After receiving news of the beginning of the revolution in Petrograd in late October - early November 1917, the Bolsheviks established Soviet power in Lugansk, Makeevka, Gorlovka, Kramatorsk and other cities of the Donbass. With the help of Bolshevik soldiers, Soviet power was established in the front-line cities (Lutsk, Vinnitsa, Rovno, Proskurov, Zhmerynka, Kamenets-Podolsky, etc.). However, the Bolshevik uprising at the end of October in Kyiv was suppressed by the newly created nationalist formations.

On November 7 (20), the Central Rada proclaimed in the third "Universal" the independent Ukrainian People's Republic (UNR). In addition to the provinces listed in the first Universal, the Rada announced its claims to the Kholmsk province, as well as to parts of the Voronezh and Kursk provinces.

The “Manifesto to the Ukrainian People” of the Soviet government, written by Lenin on December 3 (16), 1917, said: “We, the Council of People’s Commissars, recognize the Ukrainian People’s Republic, its right to completely secede from Russia or enter into an agreement with the Russian Republic on federal and similar relationships between them. Everything that concerns the national rights and national independence of the Ukrainian people is recognized by us, the Council of People's Commissars, immediately, without restrictions and unconditionally.

However, by the time the Manifesto was published, relations between the Soviet government of Lenin and the Central Rada had escalated to the limit after the Secretary General of the Rada, S. Petliura, ordered the withdrawal of all Ukrainian-dominated military units from the front. At this time, a truce was declared before the start of peace negotiations in Brest. In pursuance of Petlyura's order, a number of military units with Ukrainian soldiers began to leave the front, which jeopardized the position of the Soviet country in the face of the German and Austro-Hungarian troops opposing it. At the same time, Petliura gave the order to disarm

Russian troops stationed on the territory of Ukraine. The conflict escalated when, on the orders of Petliura, the path was blocked for Soviet troops heading to Rostov to defeat the Kaledin rebellion. At the same time, the Central Rada allowed rebel formations to pass freely through its territory in order to penetrate the lands of Soviet Russia.

The "Manifesto", in which the Soviet government recognized the independence of Ukraine, ended with a list of demands on the Central Rada. The Council of People's Commissars demanded to stop attempts to disorganize the front and disarm the Soviet troops, let them through to fight the rebels and prohibit the movement of anti-Soviet armed forces through the territory of Ukraine. In the article “Response to Ukrainian comrades in the rear and at the front”, published in Pravda on December 12 (25), 1917, People's Commissar for Nationalities I.V. Stalin raised the question: “Is it possible that the blood of the fraternal peoples will be shed?” Stalin suggested to the Ukrainian workers "to call to order their general secretariat or re-elect it in the interests of a peaceful resolution of the dangerous conflict." He wrote: "The cause of the peaceful resolution of the conflict is in the hands of the Ukrainian people."

On the same days, the All-Ukrainian Congress of Soviets was convened in Kharkov, at which on December 12 (25) Ukraine was proclaimed the Republic of Soviets. The congress elected the Central Executive Committee. The CEC formed the People's Commissariat, which included F.A. Artyom-Sergeev, V.N. Zatonsky, N.A. Skrypnik and others.

Soon Soviet power was established in other cities of Ukraine: December 29, 1917 (January 11, 1918) in Yekaterinoslav, January 17 (30), 1918 in Odessa, in January - in Poltava, Kremenchug, Elizavetgrad, Nikolaev, Kherson, Vinnitsa ... 26 January (February 8), 1918, Soviet troops entered Kiev. On January 30, the Soviet government, which included Artyom-Sergeev, moved from Kharkov to Kyiv.

Although the Central Rada lost control over the lands it declared to be the territory of the UNR, its delegation arrived in Brest and entered into negotiations with the countries of the Central Bloc on behalf of Ukraine. On January 31 (February 13), 1918, this delegation signed an agreement with Germany and Austria-Hungary, according to which the troops of these countries were given the opportunity to enter Ukrainian lands. In an effort to get the 1 million tons of grain promised to them under the treaty, Germany and Austria-Hungary sent an army of almost half a million to Ukraine.

On February 21, Stalin, on behalf of the Council of People's Commissars, telegraphed the People's Secretariat of the Ukrainian Soviet Republic: “You, the people of Kiev, are obliged, without losing a single minute, to organize ... a rebuff from Kiev from the west, mobilize all viable population, put up artillery, dig trenches, ... declare a state of siege and act according to all the rules of severity.

However, realizing the impossibility of the Soviet forces in Kyiv and the Right-Bank Ukraine to repel the invasion of powerful and well-armed interventionists, the authorities of Soviet Ukraine attempted to create a barrier to the advance of the invaders. On February 12, the creation of the Soviet Donetsk-Krivoy Rog Republic, which seceded from Ukraine, was proclaimed in Kharkov. It included the territories of the Donetsk and Krivoy Rog basins, as well as the Kharkov and Yekaterinoslav provinces. The new republic was headed by the Council of People's Commissars. F.A. became its chairman. Artem-Sergeev.

The republic announced its entry into the RSFSR. So Soviet Russia could provide armed assistance to Soviet Ukraine, ignoring the truce with the Central Bloc countries. As soon as the interventionists invaded the territory of the new republic, the government of Artyom-Sergeev sent a note of protest, stating that the Donetsk-Krivoy Rog Republic was not part of the UNR, with which Germany and Austria-Hungary had concluded an agreement. However, both powers ignored the protest. Despite a noticeable predominance in forces, the interventionists moved forward with considerable difficulty, since the troops of the DKR offered them stubborn resistance.

On March 14, 1918, Stalin wrote in Izvestia: “Is it necessary to prove that the Patriotic War started in Ukraine has every chance of counting on the full support of all of Soviet Russia?” Stalin stated: "The main knot of all international modernity is being tied in Ukraine, the knot of the workers' revolution begun in Russia and the imperialist counter-revolution coming from the West."

For several months, five hastily assembled and poorly armed divisions of the Donetsk-Kryvyi Rih Republic waged stubborn battles against the numerically superior armies of Germany and Austria, as well as the Petliura formations. However, the advantage was on the side of the invaders. By May 1918, the territory of the Donetsk-Krivoy Rog Republic was captured by the troops of Germany and Austria-Hungary. The Republic has ceased to exist. (Contrary to these facts, it is now often claimed that the Donetsk-Kryvyi Rih Republic was annexed to Ukraine by order of Lenin. - Yu.E.)

By that time, after the military coup organized by the interventionists, the Ukrainian People's Republic was also finished. On April 28, 1918, the Central Rada was dispersed, and the puppet hetman Skoropadsky was placed at the head of the "Ukrainian State".

For the restoration of Soviet power in Ukraine,

the Bolsheviks of Ukraine continued a stubborn struggle against the invaders and their proteges. Artyom-Sergeev took part in the 1st Congress of the Communist Party (Bolsheviks) of Ukraine, which met in Moscow on July 5, 1918. In the same summer, at the call of the Ukrainian Bolsheviks, uprisings broke out in the Kiev region, Poltava region, Chernihiv region and other regions of Ukraine. The tasks of the further development of the national liberation movement in Ukraine were discussed in October 1918 at the 2nd Congress of the Communist Party of Ukraine, which was held again in Moscow.

After the outbreak of revolutions in Austria-Hungary and Germany in October-November 1918, and then the surrender of the countries of the Central Bloc on November 13, 1918, the Soviet government annulled the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. At the end of November 1918, the Provisional Workers' and Peasants' Government of Ukraine was formed, which included Artyom-Sergeev. The liberation of Ukrainian lands from the invaders began.

However, taking advantage of the flight of Hetman Skoropadsky with the German interventionists, on December 14, Petliurists seized power in Kyiv. Their power did not last long. In January-February 1919, Soviet troops liberated Kharkov, Poltava, Yekaterinoslav, and on February 5 entered Kiev.

On March 10, at the 3rd All-Ukrainian Congress of Soviets, the first Constitution of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic was adopted.

After the start of the offensive of Denikin's white armies in Ukraine, Soviet power was again overthrown. However, at the end of 1919, a new liberation of Ukraine began, in which Artyom-Sergeev took an active part. On December 12, 1919, the Red Army liberated Kharkov, on December 16, Kyiv, and on February 7, 1920, Odessa.

After the liberation of Donbass, Artyom-Sergeev headed the Donetsk province, the center of which was the city of Bakhmut. By that time, Donbass enterprises were in ruins. Referring to his personal impressions, a participant in the meetings of experts who arrived in the Donbass to assess the possibility of restoring the enterprises of the region, the writer Boris Pilnyak wrote in his book “The Naked Year”: , no tools, no workers, no fuel - and the factories cannot be started up. However, as Pilnyak admitted, the incredible happened: the Bolsheviks restored the devastated and devastated industrial region. Comrade Artyom became the head of the work to restore the destroyed Donbass.

The last months of Comrade Artyom's life and his death

The vast political experience of Comrade Artyom, especially in organizing the labor movement, was highly appreciated by the party leadership, and from the end of 1920 he was transferred to Moscow, where he became secretary of the Moscow City Party Committee. At the same time, he headed the All-Russian Union of Miners. At this time, the splitting forces in the party launched the so-called trade union discussion, during which L.D. Trotsky, N.I. Bukharin, as well as various groups that acted under the slogans of "workers' democracy". At first, only a minority of the members of the Central Committee spoke out for Lenin's position. Artyom-Sergeev was among the ten members of the Central Committee who signed a letter outlining the program of struggle against the schismatics. At the Tenth Party Congress held in March 1921, Artyom-Sergeev fully supported the Leninist course.

At the congress, he was again re-elected to the Central Committee of the RCP (b).

As the head of the miners' trade union, Artyom-Sergeev often visited the mines and other mining developments of the Soviet country. Being an enthusiast of technical progress, F.A. Sergeev decided to go to a meeting with the miners of Tula in the so-called aero wagon, which was a railcar with an aircraft two-bladed motor and developed a speed of up to 140 kilometers per hour. The inventor of the "aero wagon" engineer V.I. Abakovsky was absolutely confident in his creation, which had already traveled 3 thousand kilometers during technical tests, and therefore he, together with Comrade Artyom and two members of the Communist Party of Germany, went on a trip. With amazing speed for that time, the “aero wagon” rushed from Moscow to Tula. After completing the meeting with the Tula miners, the crew set off on the return journey.

In the Serpukhov area, the “aero wagon” derailed and crashed down a slope at a speed of 85 kilometers per hour. Of the 22 people who were in the "aero wagon", six, including Comrade Artyom, Abakovsky and the German Communists, died on the spot. One passenger died in the hospital. F. Artyom-Sergeev, along with the rest of the victims of the disaster, was buried in a grave near the Kremlin wall.

Soon a meeting of the Politburo was held with the participation of V.I. Lenin, where the question "On providing for the family of Comrade Artyom" was discussed. I.V. reported on this issue. Stalin. By decision of the government, the son of F.A. Sergeev (Artyom Fedorovich) was taken under personal guardianship by Stalin. The four-month-old son of the deceased, whose name was Artyom, was called Tomik in the Stalin family, because his father was called "Big Tom" by local workers during his time in exile in Australia. Artyom Sergeev grew up in Stalin's family and subsequently left detailed memories of this.

Continuing the work of Comrade Artyom

Comrade Artyom's son Artyom Fedorovich Sergeev worthily carried the glorious name of his father through his whole life. Like Stalin's own sons, after graduating from high school, he entered a military school. After completing his studies at the Leningrad Artillery School in 1940, A.F. Sergeyev from the very first days of the war went to the front, as Stalin's children Yakov and Vasily did.

Like Yakov Dzhugashvili, Artyom Sergeev was captured in the summer of 1941. However, unlike Jacob, he managed to escape. During the war years, A.F. Sergeev fought in Stalingrad, on the Dnieper, participated in battles in East Prussia, Hungary, Germany and was wounded more than once.

After graduating from the Voroshilov Military Academy, A.F. Sergeev held a number of command posts. At the end of his service, he was Deputy Inspector General of Air Defense of the Warsaw Pact countries. Sergeev retired in 1981 with the rank of major general. But even in retirement, he did not stop active work, working on memoirs.

The memory of Comrade Artyom was kept not only by the relatives and friends of the revolutionary, but also by millions of Soviet people. By decision of the Soviet government of September 12, 1924, the city of Bakhmut was renamed Artyomovsk.

As it was during the years of Russian revolutions and the Civil War, Donbass continued to stand in the forefront of the struggle of the working people of the Soviet country for the triumph of a new social order. During the years of the pre-war five-year plans, Donbass became the birthplace of the Stakhanovist movement. The whole country became aware of the feat of the Komsomol members of Krasnodon, who demonstrated their selflessness in the fight against the Nazi invaders. On September 8, 1943, the Soviet people were happy to hear the order of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief to liberate the cities of Donbass, including Artyomovsk, from the Nazis, read on the radio.

The traditions of resistance to bourgeois nationalists were preserved in the Donbass even after the collapse of Soviet power and the collapse of the USSR. In 2014, the most advanced part of the working people of Donbass, like more than a hundred years ago, rose up to fight against bourgeois nationalism and its foreign patrons. The Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics, created in the Donbass, continued the cause for which the Donetsk-Krivoy Rog Republic, headed by Comrade Artyom, fought. An inspirational example in this struggle is the memory of Artyom-Sergeev and other fighters for the Soviet Donbass.

(c) Yuri Emelyanov

https://gazeta-pravda.ru/issue/21-31370 ... em-artyem/ - zinc

https://colonelcassad.livejournal.com/8212521.html

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Lukashenko: We Do Not Want War
Posted by INTERNATIONALIST 360° on MARCH 9, 2023
Friends of Socialist China

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Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko paid a state visit to China from February 28 to March 2. Just prior to the visit, he gave an exclusive interview to Li Tongtong of CGTN in his capital Minsk as part of the Chinese channel’s impressive Leaders Talk series.

Their extensive discussion began with the conflict between Russia and Ukraine and its impact on Belarus. President Lukashenko said that he fully agreed with President Putin that the root cause of the problem is not to be found in Russia. He recalls the 2014-15 diplomatic process in the Belarus capital, which had culminated in the signing of the Minsk Protocol. However, former German Chancellor Angela Merkel and former French President François Hollande had both now admitted that they had engaged in this process in order to give Ukraine more time to prepare for war. It is therefore clear who wanted conflict.

Belarus, Lukashenko insisted, is a peace-loving country. Its people know what war means. Belarus lost one third of its population in World War II. Belarusians do not want war with anyone, but especially not with Ukraine, whose people are their kin. President Lukashenko noted that his own forebears hailed from Ukraine. Despite all this, the western powers are trying to drag Belarus into the conflict. As Belarus has long frontiers with both Poland and Lithuania, this would mean that the country would be directly facing NATO, which would force it to disperse its forces and therefore become more vulnerable to attack. The President insisted that whilst his country did not want war, it was ready to defend its sovereignty and independence.

In the ongoing conflict, it is the United States and the western powers that are obstructing peace talks. Russia proposed negotiations from the very beginning and they were held in Gomel, the second largest city of Belarus, right back in February 2022.

Lukashenko praised President Xi Jinping’s Global Security Initiative (GSI), noting that only peace can lead to prosperity for humanity whilst war leads to catastrophe. Extolling his personal and political friendship with the Chinese leader, he said that he and his family were very excited by Xi’s re-election at last October’s 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China. He praised Xi’s ability to draw on the experience of his predecessors while injecting new meaning into it.

The program also highlighted the development of the Great Stone Industrial Park, the key focus for Belarus-China cooperation, which President Xi had visited when he travelled to Belarus in 2015. The park has developed rapidly is now one third of the size of Minsk. Lukashenko stressed the importance of synergizing the work of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) with that of the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU), whose full members currently comprise Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Russia. He further stressed that the friendship between Belarus and China would last not just for his tenure in office but for ever. He described this belief as having become deeply ingrained in the hearts of the people of Belarus. Especially during the period of sanctions imposed by the West, the people of Belarus had become very clear as to who were their enemies and who were their friends.

Towards the end of the interview, he highlighted education, culture and sports as among the areas where he would like to see even more cooperation and exchange with China and noted that his youngest son is currently studying at university in Beijing.

President Lukashenko also touched on a number of other issues, including the US shooting down of an unmanned Chinese airship, its instigation of ‘color revolutions’ not only in Belarus but in the Arab countries, and the relations between the European countries, the United States and China.

The full interview is embedded below.



As the Russia-Ukraine conflict shows no sign of a ceasefire and the Western media conjectures #Belarus could be joining the war, Belarusian President AlexanderLukashenko gives Belarus’s perspective in this Leaders Talk exclusive. He tells CMG anchor Li Tongtong that Belarus was devastated by several wars and does not want another one, especially with Ukraine, with whom it shares fraternal ties. The root cause of the conflict is not in Russia. It is the U.S.-led West that provoked the war and is now blocking peace talks. Belarus supports China’s peace initiative; in today’s world, no global issue can be resolved without China’s involvement. Cooperation with China is a boost to Belarus’s development and no threat to any neighboring nation, and the bilateral ties will abide even when he is no longer the president. He also shares a thought-provoking anecdote over the Chinese balloon furor, which exposes Washington’s double standard.

https://libya360.wordpress.com/2023/03/ ... -want-war/
"There is great chaos under heaven; the situation is excellent."

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Re: Footnotes from the Ukrainian "Crisis"; New High-Points in Cynicism Part IV

Post by blindpig » Fri Mar 10, 2023 1:37 pm

Division of labour
POSTED BY @NSANZO ⋅ 03/10/2023

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After the bodies were returned to Ukraine, on March 7, Bratstvo fired the four members of the Battalion who fell on December 25, 2022 in the territory of the Russian Federation, in the Bryansk region. According to the content of a video of the group, published by The Guardian , the probable objective of the incursion was to attack a train in said Russian region.

After some moments of confusion, which made it necessary to change the venue, the funeral took place in the Monastery of Saint Michael in Kiev, with a subsequent public tribute in Maidan, at the foot of the monument to the independence of Ukraine, as as surely the four nationalist militants would have wanted.

The coffins were carried to the symbolic square with honours, carried on the shoulders of members of the Ukrainian army, although draped only by the flag of the Orthodox nationalist and fundamentalist group. Following some kind of protocol that seemed to want to make clear what corresponded to each party, the only Ukrainian flag present in the procession, the one that presided over it, was also carried by soldiers from outside Bratstvo. The combatants of the unit were limited to carrying the portraits of their dead comrades. The flag of the Armed Forces of Ukraine that had been part of the entrance ceremony to the funeral in San Miguel did not appear at the Maidan ceremony.

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The flag of the Armed Forces of Ukraine at the entrance to the St. Michael Monastery.

In statements collected by AFP after leaving the church and published in various media, the leader of Bratstvo, Dmytro Korchinsky, pointed out that the four militants killed in Russia were part of " one of the Bratstvo reconnaissance and sabotage groups that participate in missions behind enemy lines, both in the occupied territories (…) and on Russian soil ." Those groups carry out various types of operations, including " blowing things up ." In well-calculated terms, Korchinsky tried to specify the division of labor to which the group is subjected, stating that the battalion acts " under its own responsibility " when it operates in Russia and does not coordinate, then, with the Ukrainian armed forces. Thus, accordingThe Straits Times the leader of Bratstvo would have stated that " when we are on Russian territory, we act autonomously ." Something that those who know the history of the Battalion will hardly believe, despite all the explanations. The purpose of the statements is for kyiv to deny, as Mikhailo Podoliak systematically does, that Ukraine is attacking Russian territory. They do so, supposedly on their own, battalions that, however, are attached to the Ministry of Defense.

According to Korchinsky, the command fell into the development of one of the entrusted special operations. " The Russians claim that they were surrounded and that they were offered the opportunity to surrender ," but the refusal to surrender is " normal for us ." In relation to these special missions, some media outlets recalled the greeting sent by this unit specialized in " exploding things " in front of a sign that indicated: Energodar, the town where the Zaporozhie nuclear power plant is located and in which Russia has denounced in several times amphibious operations that the press has denied, describing the accusations as “Russian propaganda”.

In addition to Korchinsky, other well-known representatives of Bratstvo attended the funeral, including Vitaly Chorny. Perhaps among the many attendees, civilian or military, who hid his face as he left the church , there was, along with Korchinsky, the battalion commander, Oleksiy Serediuk.

In a striking way, Reuters collected in its chronicle the internal contradiction of Korchinsky when he saw the coffins enter the monastery, a mixed feeling of " pain and pride ". Pride because the four militants were " among the most willing to die in battle " and faithful followers of a leader who wants, like others, to expand the war towards Russia. “ Our goal is to bring the war to Russian territory. It is bad that the war is currently only on our territory, it also has to spread to the territory of the enemy”. And pain for the loss of some of the closest militants. Although also, perhaps, because of the awareness of his role in venturing his, almost always, young followers down the path of provocation, violence, war and death.

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Apparently provocative, but firmly tied to some of the most relevant power structures in Ukraine, Korchinsky is aware that the objectives must be met, including continuing to recruit. And so, in his remarks to the Strait Times , he can't miss the opportunity to point out that Bratstvo's membership is “ constantly growing ”. “ The battalion has several hundred fighters . We cannot disclose precise numbers, as the battalion is involved in research and reconnaissance activities”. The Bratstvo leader is a professional on these issues. And, beyond the pain, his job, after all, is to continue leading more young people to the national battlefield to which he has dedicated his entire life. In the name of Ukraine, of anti-system quackery (in the anarchist-revolutionary style, as the EFE agency would say ) or of Christian fundamentalism. Does not matter.

Although in this last feature lies precisely the particularity of Bratsvo in Ukraine. Speaking to the Kiev Telegraf , Vitaly Chorny stated that the members of the group " were not afraid because they are sincerely believing people, they understand that this is a sacred matter, that the war we are waging is a Holy War ."

Slava Ukraina and Kingdom of Heaven; nation and faith in the fight against the Russian world. That is, in a nutshell, what the Bratstvo Brotherhood offers its young followers.

https://slavyangrad.es/2023/03/10/division-del-trabajo/

Google Translator

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ONE YEAR AFTER THE WAR IN UKRAINE: A GEOPOLITICAL BALANCE (II)
Diego Sequera / Ernesto Cazal

9 Mar 2023 , 11:24 pm .

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The history of ultranationalism or parafascism is as integral to Europe as the leadership aspirations to establish a union (Photo: Sputnik)

In the first part of this special work on the anniversary of the deployment of Russia's Special Military Operation (OME) in Ukraine and Donbass, we cover the military as a starting point for analysis and balance. In this second installment we briefly develop the evolution and role of the fascist and openly Nazi factors in the 2014 Euromaidan coup, associated with the United States and the European Union (the "Ukrainian" origin of the conflict), which becomes a confrontational factor, to then analyze and provide an assessment of the strategic turn of the Russian Federation towards the Eurasian zone and Asia in general, product of the Western response to the OME.

THE INCUBATION OF THE SERPENT
The history of ultranationalism or parafascism is as integral to Europe as the leadership aspirations to establish a union. Only that it used to be a hidden story, badly kept, a white elephant relegated to the geopolitical interests of the United States and England, motorized and surviving under its shadow for so many years.

Different covert operations (Paperclip, Sunrise, Bloodstone, etc.), it is known, were in charge of selectively rescuing and reactivating individuals from the scientific community or highly competent Nazi military or intelligence cadres to later use them in covert actions against the Union Soviet Union, as well as clandestine groups in Western European countries, as a shock and disruptive force against the threat of a communist or nationally oriented victory over Atlanticism in those countries.

Just as, later in the 20th century, many of these individuals and groups trained and indoctrinated the new breeds of doctrinaire thugs in other regions seething with national liberation, such as Africa and Latin America. Ukrainians, Croats, Balts, etc., with a clear and explicit Nazi stamp, survived and prospered in anti-communist circles as reserve armies of the CIA and MI6, since politically, the governments of Washington and Ottawa allowed the ideas and their "culture" survived over time .

Ukrainian nationalist power groups and circles found their opportunity in the process of "independence" from Russia and the last remnants of the Soviet Union, pressing and shaping, with Western support, the most complete break possible and the reinforcement of their identity. "European". This, of course, also translated into political and economic commitments and "security guarantees" with the "collective West". The aspiration for a Ukraine within NATO goes back to those days, since it was incorporated, in 1994, into the "peace community" of the organization.

The former political warlords of the Soviet nomenklatura became fully fledged nationalists, and with the process of "privatization by kleptocracy," in the words of historian Tony Judt, the "new" Ukraine was taking shape. A political class, the rise of its own caste of oligarchs, and the accentuation of a European Ukraine and a Russian one.

Along with the formalities in geopolitical matters and international relations, in cultural and educational matters, work gradually began to be done internally in the construction of the Russian enemy, a psycho-cultural action, would say the historian and publicist Andrei Fursov, to further force Ukraine's break with the Slavic world.

With the "Orange Revolution" of 2004, very careful aesthetically and symbolically, he still flaunted the flirtations and maneuvers in front of the cameras that gave a colorful and festive aspect to a geopolitical maneuver that he put into practice on the street, once again , the “non-violent” postulates of Gene Sharp. Ukraine, it was supposed, entered the Euroliberal orbit in style.

Shortly before handing over the post, in 2010, Yushenko decided to posthumously award the "Heroes of Ukraine" order to Stepan Bandera , the leader of the Union of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) and the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), directly responsible for giving the order of different massacres, it has already been said, against Jews, Poles and communists and later file of the CIA, the MI6 and the German services.

But this not only had a purely symbolic or aesthetic reflection, it also has a political one. Already from the "independence" on the margins emerged parties that doctrinaire assumed heirs of the OUN de Bandera. For example, the National Social Party of Ukraine was public and active, which later, in 2004, led by the Lvov urologist, Oleh Tyahnybok, would reform its packaging and rename itself "Svoboda" (Freedom), suspending the use of the symbol runic and Nazi of the Wolfangel to become more palatable in the liberal "orange" phase of the country's recent history, replacing it with the trident.

In the same way, groups more in the order of "social movements" or formations of a more parapolitical nature such as the Right Sector (Pravy Sektor), a kind of "coordinator" formed during the days of the Euromaidan made up of fascist and neo-Nazi formations such as the Patriots of Ukraine (from which the Azov Battalion would come), the National Assembly of Ukraine or the National-Social Assembly, all preachers of the unreconstructed creed of anti-Slavic, anti-Jewish, anti-Polish Nazism, etc.

Most of the paramilitary squadrons and battalions would emerge from all these groups, and others, that would be the vanguard of the Donbass war at the beginning, many of them later assimilated into the chain of command of the armed forces.

THE (GRADUAL) SEIZURE OF POWER
Ukraine reaches the political crossroads of 2013-2014 after the failure of its liberal experiment facilitated the return to power of Viktor Yanukovych and the Party of Regions, once the pseudo-European cycle translated into more corruption, a continuation of the dismantling of what was solid from the Soviet era at the hands of the oligarchs and the frustration in the street.

Due to the political pressure for the definition of the country's course, with the Association Agreement with the European Union (EU) in the middle and the Russian Federation doing the same is that the recognized mobilizing device is activated that with its showiness, aestheticism and discourse "Peaceful" was successful in 2004, ten years earlier. However, as time progressed, the appearance of the demonstrations became even more violent and militarized.

"An essential task for that moment was to attract even the Russians from the Kiev area, who comprised the majority of those who strolled around the square. It was important not to tear off the mask too early. Not to reveal the bestial little flag face before that people were prepared, and conditioned to see it," says war correspondent Dimitri Steshin, who was there all those days.

In January 2014, the gradual acceptance of the Kiev population of the ultra presence gave the overturn that had been foreshadowing, and direct actions intensified from the "non-violent" colorful festivity. The real background device was launched, and despite the narrative support of the mainstream media that, actively collaborating, continued to frame the Euromaidan as a "civic" movement of "civil society" as a whole, Svoboda and Pravy Sektor went to the new phase of actions.

The blessing to proceed with the coup was received directly from the United States, after the carousel of EU commissions in the official corridors and on the other hand from third-class deputies from neighboring countries, together with American officiants, was given by Victoria Nuland herself when he declared that "the West" was with them.

"The Ukrainian far-right had a decisive influence on the strategy and timing of the protest at Euromaidan. Svoboda, in a first phase, radicalizing and militarizing the revolt, and Pravy Sektor in a second, marking the times and opportunities to force a violent outcome that would break the current political game, together they prevented an agreed and gradual exit from the crisis that could have avoided, or at least deferred, the march towards civil war" (p.119), says the historian Francisco Veiga, who was also in those days over there.

In that, came the outcome. The unidentified snipers who, as in April 2002 in the center of Caracas, shot indiscriminately and randomly at demonstrators and riot police, but for whom the narrative of the moment blamed Yanukovich. Steshin even talks, prior to that, of an explosion where helmets and shields of public order forces were blown up and events were precipitated. "This was the signal," he said. The Russian correspondent also points out that even the trees that received a sniper bullet were cut down and disappeared, to hide any evidence, suggesting internal complicity.

The role of the ultra formations on the days from February 20 to 23 of that year was defining, planned and programmed. Scholarly papers from two hardly pro-Russian sources ( this one by Volodymir Ischenko and this one by Ivan Katchanovski) demonstrate unambiguously how the ultra was arranged and organized to achieve political objectives in the interest of Europe and the United States.

In this process, the extreme right, in its different variations, but the same matrix, further consolidated its political place in post-Maidan Ukraine, its paramilitary forces gained momentum when the armed phase began and, as Veiga would also remember, after the events February they managed to "secure the implicit and shameful support of Western democracies, both the European Union and the United States and NATO members."

With that public legitimacy, which never stopped trying to cover up or diminish the ideological character of these formations, and after the events around Crimea returning to Russian sovereignty, with the countermaidans expressing themselves in the southeast and south of the country, especially and with greater forcefulness in Dombás, the newly installed coup government set out to conquer the areas that were beginning to rebel.

Just as in the west and center of the country the ultra-right groups essentially took power in a coordinated and martial manner, occupying public institutions and government offices, the same thing happened in the south and southeast but politically in the opposite direction. Another factor had contributed to sending the message of the coup (far from the Euronarrative) when on February 25 the new "government" seeks to rescind the law that granted official second language status to Russian in the eastern and southern regions of the country. The de facto message was clear, despite the fact that a few days later the new president vetoed the abolition of the law.

The brief period of anti-coup riots that broke out in the east and southeast (Kharkov, Donbass) and the south of the country (Odesa, Zaporozhe, Kherson, Dnipropetrovsk) did not have the impact on the ground or the degree of coordination and security that it had. in Kiev and in the west of the country. In fact, in some regions, such as the city of Kharkov itself, they were even repressed by the mayor himself, affiliated with the Party of Regions.

But to the question sometimes asked as to why a more robust level of resistance was not reflected, as in Donetsk and Lugansk, in addition to what has been said so far it is obligatory to comment that neo-Nazi units with the connivance of local authorities and security were in charge of intimidating and/or assassinate Russian-speaking activists opposed to the coup.

In that came Odessa . On May 2, 2014 (we were one of the few Spanish-language media outlets, probably the only Latin American one, that covered it ), anti-maidan, pro-Russian, left-wing protesters, with moderate demands on the status of their mother tongue, federalization and the Internationally oriented, who had held a sit-in on May 1, are attacked by a neo-Nazi mobilization made up of numbers from Pravy Sektor, brave bars from the city's and Kharkov soccer clubs (the seed of all these ultra groups) and the mayor's complicity .

With a balance of 41 dead and 217 wounded , bodies finished off by jumping the building on fire besieged by the mob or desecrated after dying, who did not miss the opportunity to take selfies while the House of Unions was besieged, making it impossible, even, the work of the firefighters, a weak and trout investigation, without conclusion or clarification, together with the overwhelming complicit silence, until today, of those other brave bars of human rights and liberal democracy. This was, in the conflict, the point of no return.

The armed and open phase of the conflict precipitated in Donbass, where the seizure of power and the declaration of the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics delimited the positions regarding the government emanating from the coup. The armed anti-maidan insurgency had managed not only to seize the respective capitals but, in the Donetsk Oblast, they had also managed to take the cities of Slaviansk and Kramatorsk.

The latter was what led the government in kyiv to launch what it called the Anti-Terrorist Operation. It is impossible to focus on the military details beyond leaving in writing that as a result of the Ukrainian military defeat it was that the conflict "redirected" towards the political in what would be reflected in the Minsk I and Minsk II agreements, in 2015.

The Maidan government resorted to the same ultra sectors whenever new battalions were formed from these groups, generally with oligarchic capital, whether from the portfolio of Kolomoisky or Akhmetov, among others. This gave rise to the neo-Nazi strengthening of the State structure as well as causing a much more widespread phenomenon with the internationalization of the conflict and an injection of steroids with the arrival of numerous volunteers from different countries in Europe, the United States and from Russia and Russia themselves. Belarus.

If the situation was already largely mediated, let's say, "from above", white collar, politically with the Western powers and the EU proactively supporting the Maidan coup, now it was also being done directly on the battlefield, dirty neck .

It is in this phase that Battalions such as Azov, Aidar, Donbass, Karpatia Sich, and others, began to gain notoriety, mainly for their criminal brutality as well as for the beginning of their international projection and their own dissemination strategies in the media and social networks.

Through the Misanthropic Division , an international umbrella of neo-Nazi or neo-fascist circles and groups, coordination and logistical networks began to be established to intensify the arrival of militants to be trained or with military experience. Along this stormy and diffuse path, intelligence operators, military "advisors", mercenaries of various kinds would also do so.


After the signing of Minsk II, the conflict per se did not end but rather went into a phase of low intensity. In that meantime, with Poroshenko still in government, many of these formations, the most "talented" and renowned, began to project themselves not only on the battlefield but in many aspects of civilian life, attracting militants without interruptions or obstacles. , volunteers and supporters.

Of all, the most internationally renowned is the Azov Battalion, now an organic part of the State structure, as part of the National Guard, since new companies have been restructured assimilating cadres of the organization in recent times.

However, to a large extent its so-called "epic" died where it was born , even if they tried to shock it with publicity after that: despite attempts to revive its prestige, which began with the conquest of Mariupol in the second battle in 2014, it was in Mariupol itself, where all their attempts at a neopagan army willing to die fighting until they reached Valhalla ended when, besieged by Russian forces and Chechen units, they came out, dazzled, ragged and with their hands up, like prisoners of war after retreating for almost a month at the huge Azovstal metallurgical plant, the first quarter of the war.

Before that, Azov not only preserved its aura of military veterancy but also became a political, social and cultural organization. In the first, its creator, Andrei Biletsky, adviser to the Ministry of the Interior, founded the National Corps to join, without success, the electoral arena.

But in the same way, the movement began founding cultural centers (" making these ideas mainstream "), centers for combined martial arts, a publishing house, youth camps, and a branch of political representation that establishes formal links with the other ultra movements in Europe and across the Atlantic.

Olena Semenyanka, Azov's international relations representative, told Radio Free Europe/Radio Libertad "we think globally" and to that extent, she says in another report, that hers is "to build bridges to overcome the gap between nationalism and the rest of the society". In 2018, Semenyanka herself bragged in a Facebook post that "in just four years the Azov Movement has become a small state within a state."

This phrase conclusively encapsulates the trajectory of these and to some extent extends to other organizations, a parameter. Although the Azov "movement" has resorted to postmodern discursive tactics and promotional strategies in the guise of soft power, its sense and logic emanates from brutal and brute force against minorities and other weak expressions of society the further they move away from the camp of battle, where their excesses, murders, torture and other brutalities against the civilians of Donbass were picked up by United Nations reports, to mention a "neutral" source.

Both Azov (or the "municipal guard" or the "national militias") as well as other ultra- C14- type organizations and the Karpatia Sich had taken on vigilante tasks, attacking minorities, in particular gypsies, since during times of pandemic they violently reinforced the quarantines.

"Our best warriors," said then-president Petro Poroshenko in 2014. His best warriors, financed by oligarchs like Kolomoisky and Serhy Taruta, reproduce the same patterns of action to a greater extent.

The nuances, perhaps, are more of composition and form. Because while on the one hand the (devalued) Azov inserted itself globally every time it captured the public and ideas that in turn combined the new neo-Nazi thought, the accelerationist doctrines and the " reconquest " of Europe, on the other it flaunted the imaginary inherited from the Ukrainian collaborationism of Bandera and the OUN.

At the other extreme, less concerned with political formalities, are the Dnipro, Donbass and Tornado Battalions, whose leaders and members came from the criminal world, to the point that the Ukrainian government itself had to arrest them, releasing them at the start of the OME .

Income control may be the most important thing (drug trafficking, arms sales, lumber, ferrous material), but enrichment through lumpen capitalism and terrorizing the population at unprecedented levels also resonates with Nazi Germany, with the Brigade Dirlewanger . Another historical "rhyme".

In 2019, after a resounding electoral victory ( 73.19% ), Vladimir Zelenski became president, an absolute laboratory creation since he became famous in the previous two years through a comedy series where a school teacher almost accidentally arrives. to the presidency of the country.

From the production house of the program, to the Servant of the People party (the same name as the television series that screened it), plus the entire support system, the company that was in charge of the campaign strategy to its government team after the victory, Everything was financed by Kolomoisky, the same financier (Jew with Israeli, Cypriot and Ukrainian passports) of the ultras battalions mentioned above, and until recently, perhaps the most powerful man in the country.

Zelensky's electoral promises revolved around the end of the war, recognition of the Russian language and culture (he himself is of Russian-speaking origin) and an implacable fight against corruption. But already from the beginning of his mandate, he encountered the first blocking stone: the movements of the extreme right.

In the country itself, in the political and cultural circles of the diaspora (the true historical refuge, center of promotion and financing) they launched a crusade under the name of "movement to resist capitulation ". The situation put the government in check, which would eventually lose its grip: the war would continue, and, as we already knew, it aspired to go from low to high intensity with an alleged lightning offensive that should overwhelm Donbass. Precisely, what gave reason, origin and justification to the OME of the Russian Federation.

But this does not finish closing the picture in its entirety, regardless of the direct weight it has on that molding: a consensus is needed that even goes beyond the dictatorial logic of these groups.

A NOTE ON ENGINEERING

Sergei Naryshkin, head of Russia's foreign intelligence service, the SVR, declared in October last year that the once-prosperous Ukraine had become "a useful tool in the hands of a group of liberal-totalitarian regimes in the West," stating, also, that the country was transformed in just one generation .

Evgeny Krutikov, based on Naryshkin's statements, traces the route by which an explanation could be found that it is rather now and not three decades ago when this phenomenon went more or less undetected by its own intelligence agencies. And, in the background, that alliance and solidarity operated that even with the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the almost gaseous role of Ukraine in the Commonwealth of Independent States, between the intelligence services and the army of both countries (in addition to Belarus and Kazakhstan) there was an implicit pact that they were all brothers by training and therefore the need to spy on each other was out of the question.

That is also why, above all, the time taken advantage of by Ukraine after Minsk II was used to reform the army according to NATO parameters while providing it with new technology, tactics and weapons systems according to the Atlantic doctrine. Within the armed forces and intelligence, this translated into the purge, precisely, of the senior cadres that were still marked by that logic of the first post-Soviet years, which also explains the urgency that, especially in During the first stage of the Anti-Terrorist Operation, paramilitary militias, together with certain military units, have been in charge of executing the war against Donbass.

Dmitry Steshin, in the already commented chronicle , recounts how in those early days of the post-coup he had to flee to Donetsk due to having compromised security in Lugansk itself, he came across that on those same days, in the city, Parubyi, Oleg Lyashko and Yulia Tymoshenko would attend a pro-Maidan event and how those who made up the attendance were that generation:

"A few thousand residents gathered for the pro-Ukrainian rally, most of them being young people who had grown up and were educated in the ways of the 'new Ukraine'. It was precisely these young people, the 'political Ukrainians', who would become in support of the Antiterrorist Operation (ATO), that punitive war directed against the Donbass that received that Jesuitical name".

The "new Ukraine" is also reflected in the type of custody it now has over its memory. The task of rehabilitating heroes and violent groups that were part of the Holocaust is not only a matter for neo-Nazi circles but also part of the country's institutional circuit.

From the burning and prohibition of books (we are talking about pre-war times), attacks and lynchings against gypsies, the re-establishment of the classic anti-Jewish discourse (despite Israel supporting neo-Nazi military units for years), to the selective aggrandizement of their In the past, "in a few years, an entire generation will be indoctrinated to worship Holocaust perpetrators as national heroes," wrote Lev Grinkin in 2019, reflecting another symptom of liberal myopia: after collecting in detail in his article all the elements that denote the deep fascistization of a large part of Ukrainian society, particularly the youth, "predicts" something that is already happening.

Something that is already happening and that now has even more support and glorification from political sponsors at the highest institutional and even multilateral level , who , by celebrating neo - Nazism in someone else 's yard , blind themselves to the one who returns hardened from combat to their homes . their own territories, after the school of a fascist international, assuming that they managed to flee in time from the battlefields in the Ukrainian southeast.

Logically, given the respective internal crises, countries like the United States need to create a new internal enemy. Since the external is clearly elucidated towards the cartographic, geopolitical and cultural east.

RUSSIA'S STRATEGIC TURN

Russian diplomacy, under the governments of Vladimir Putin and Dmitri Medvedev, insisted for decades on creating the conditions for a stable and flexible relationship with the United States and Europe, even during the most tense moments. The schism that generated the response of the Atlanticist axis to the OME put to rest a dynamic violated beforehand, but which generated only a few brief earthquakes in the international arena, especially in the political and diplomatic area.

With the US and European sanction offensive, a scenario of geopolitical and economic decoupling emerged between the NATO countries and Russia that extended to political, social and cultural ties in a kind of anti-Russian Kristallnacht . The spaces for negotiation between one side and the other turned into pogroms, a constant persecution of everything Russian at all levels. And the governance model in economic, financial and commercial affairs, but also security and energy, ceased to be a management guide for the Kremlin and became yesterday's newspaper.

In a press conference this Monday, February 27, in Moscow, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sergei Lavrov, asserted that " the very external conditions that we need for development were not determined by us, but by the Western minority " , but now Russia will determine " the external conditions of development that we need " . In this sense, the government of President Vladimir Putin has made efforts to reaffirm this separation through a policy of industrial and monetary recovery within the Russian Federation together with a strategy of integration into the geopolitical and geoeconomic map of its neighborhood. eurasian.

But the fact must be reaffirmed that Russia's turn towards its Asian proximity was provoked by the sanctioning aggressions of the United States and the European Union. Until February 19, 2023, the Russian Federation was subject to an unusual battery of 14,081 coercive measures, of which 11,327 were issued since February 22, 2022, the date on which the Kremlin officially recognized the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics, hours before the start of the OME.

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Through the mouth of Ursula von der Leyen , President of the European Commission, we know that in December 2021 the US Department of the Treasury and the institution that she directs began to prepare the punitive packages against Russia two months before the deployment of the OME began. . The date coincides with the lack of public response to the Russian proposal for a new nine-point security agreement in which it was contemplated to create a " direct line " between Moscow and Brussels (NATO headquarters) " to maintain emergency contacts ", at the same time that he asked for guarantees so that the Atlantic alliance did not expand its membership or its military support to Ukraine or other countries.

The confessions that Russia was going to be displaced from the zone of American influence have been more than enough for the Kremlin to confirm its position of progressively becoming independent from the model structure of Western capitalist development. With the erection of the retaining wall in the multiple areas of global dynamics dominated by the United States, the Kremlin advanced in its strategic turn and began to deploy a series of energy, geopolitical, and geoeconomic measures that up to now have given it a margin of maneuver to his own ends.

Since, basically, the Russian economic and geostrategic praxis has been based on the domestic industrial development directed by the State, on the circumvention of the dollar system and on the creation, on the one hand, and strengthening, on the other, of structures and infrastructures that open the cracks for financial and commercial interconnectivity with important allies and partners for the Russian economy (and politics).

One year after the OME, the macroeconomic numbers demonstrate the resilience with which a country whose economy is based mainly on the export of raw materials, with a vigorous energy industry and with great incidence in international markets, manages to twist the forecasts and designs of collapse.

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In the Russian case, the combination of high hydrocarbon prices and the decline in imports produced a trade surplus at record levels. Russia's trade surplus in 2022 reached 370 billion dollars ( almost 30% of its GDP) compared to 190 billion dollars in 2021.

That did not prevent the Russian economy from escaping a contraction last year. It was expected to collapse to 8.5% , however, it only contracted 2.1%, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) , data that President Putin himself used before the Duma to demonstrate the level of resilience taken. That same institution forecasts that the Russian economy will grow by 0.3% in 2023.

Overall, the slowdown in 2022 turned out to be milder than in the pandemic year of 2020, when the economy contracted by 2.7%.
What explains this relationship between cash flow and economic contraction is that Russia still has a relatively small manufacturing industry with low productivity. This is a sector dependent on imported high-tech goods and inputs, a matter that has been constrained by "sanctions", thus limiting the availability of technology and financing. The difficulties in creating an import substitution table for technological products have become even more limited. British economist Michael Roberts explainsthat "while Russian imports from China and Turkey have exceeded pre-war levels in recent months, the share of technology products has remained unchanged."

Said analyst considers that Russia at the moment has a war economy: " By that I mean that the State now controls the direction of the economy, that is, where production and investment are used. The 'free market' is replaced by state control of the military effort . " In productive terms , during a war, services lose their importance in relation to agriculture, industry and construction: investment is channeled towards these sectors; to this is added the "high adaptability of companies" from various industrial sectors, according to the Central Bank of Russia. Russian GDP did not fall precipitously because the state direction ("the visible hand") of the economy prioritized national food and industrial production.

Among the series of measures that Moscow applied so that Russian society could continue its daily life without much fuss, despite the huge amount of resources necessary for the deployment and maintenance of the OME, it can be highlighted how Russia has managed to sell millions of barrels to European countries without going through the sanctioning obstacles of the EU.

Oil and oil products are transferred from one tanker to another in neutral waters, for example, off the coast of Greece and North Africa.
The Greek authorities have already declared that they cannot do anything about it, Bloomberg reports , because the trade takes place outside the territorial waters under the jurisdiction of Brussels.
Since the beginning of 2023, at least 23 million barrels of Russian oil and refined fuel have been transferred from tanker to tanker in the Gulf of Laconia.
Many of these shipments are then transported to Asian countries, not just European ones. The latter continue to import fossil fuels from Russia in the amount of half a billion barrels every week, less than it was before, but far from the "independence" of Russian energy that Brussels carries as its banner.
Some Russian oil also continues to reach Europe via the Druzhba pipeline to Hungary and Bulgaria, both countries exempt from the EU embargo.
The cost of transporting crude increased by 405% after the imposition of European "sanctions" against Russian oil.

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But Europe is no longer Russia's business priority for its energy exports. For a year now, the world has experienced a rearrangement of the energy market , with oil being a determining factor in the correlation of forces on the geopolitical tableau, in the new panorama of international relations. The producing States have expanded in the markets, generating a presence on the global map, and the States that import hydrocarbons are increasingly dependent. Under this umbrella, the Russian industry benefits to the point that its oil exports increased to a record high in January despite the gringo-European embargo on crude oil transported by sea last December, according to a report published by the International Agency for Energy (IEA).

While Russian oil exports to the EU fell by two-thirds from pre-conflict levels, the IEA estimates, flows to China increased by 300,000 bpd to 2.1 million bpd in January, the highest level on record in the two sided frame. The Asian power and India have become the main buyers of Russian hydrocarbons. Türkiye also increased its purchases from the Eurasian country.

In a transparent way, it is being seen that the measure of turning energy flows towards " friendly " countries is paying off at the cash level, especially after the EU established a price cap of 100 dollars per barrel. for diesel, jet fuel and gasoline from Russia, plus a cap of $45 per barrel for other petroleum products that trade below the price of crude oil, such as fuel oil . The Kremlin decided to ban contracts that comply with the Brussels decision.

Behind the struggle that breaks the dynamics of energy supply chains is - as proposed by the Austrian diplomat and journalist Karin Kneissl - a confrontation led by "the United States and its European allies, who represent and support the global financial sector, essentially committed to in a battle against the world energy sector", embodied by OPEC+ where Russia is a key player as a supplier. Moscow will continue to develop its ties in the Asia-Pacific region with the cooperation of the energy organization, where most countries do not accept the "destructive logic of sanctions" (Putin dixit ) .

However, the most important tectonic change in this essential field of global economic dynamics was the terrorist sabotage of the Nord Stream 1 and 2 transnational gas pipelines. An event that shines as the destructive phase of the Russian-European relationship and that has the White House as intellectual victimizer and the US Navy and the CIA as direct operators, according to the investigation of the journalist Seymour Hesh . An entire continent was decoupled from Russian gas and at the mercy of US energy capital, signifying a geopolitical point of no return due to its implications already analyzed in this forum .

Moreover: in the development of the war in Ukraine, due to advances in military science, as a result of advances in the weapons area (with applications of Artificial Intelligence, augmented virtual reality, among other electronic elements and state-of-the-art technology). , "Russia has as many pressure points on the US semiconductor industry as vice versa - writes analyst Simplicius The Thinker - and both are investing heavily to try to change that situation: the United States to expand and diversify their supply chains (much harder than it seems, for reasons that go beyond this article), and Russia to develop its chipmaking capabilities." In the meantime, as he referred to itthe CEO of the technology company Intel at the last Davos Forum: "Chip supply chains will shape geopolitics more than oil in the next 50 years."

The integration circuits between Western Europe and Eurasia (the "continental heart" or Harold Mackinder's heartland ) have been practically destroyed, at least in the short and medium term, at a historical moment marked by the construction of a new geoeconomic logic on the flank. East of the world map with the impulse of the Kremlin (and Zhongnanhai). His plans for the construction, development and consolidation of economic corridors that cross Western Asia to the South Asian region are outlined in the ink of a new -if you will- "civilizational contract", according to President Putin himself, who considers to Russia an "open country and at the same time an independent civilization":

"First of all, we will expand promising foreign economic ties and build new logistics corridors. The decision has already been made to extend the Moscow-Kazan highway to Yekaterinburg, Chelyabinsk and Tyumen, and eventually to Irkutsk and Vladivostok, with branches to Kazakhstan. , Mongolia and China This will, in part, allow us to considerably expand our links with the markets of South-East Asia.

"We will develop the ports on the Black Sea and the Azov Sea. We will pay special attention to the International North-South Corridor, as those who work on it every day know. This year ships up to 4.5 meters will be able to pass through the Volga-Caspian Sea canal of draft.This will open new routes for business cooperation with India, Iran, Pakistan and the Middle East countries.We will further develop this corridor.

"Our plans include the accelerated modernization of the eastern railways - the Trans-Siberian Railway and the Baikal-Amur Railway (BAM) - and the development of the potential of the Northern Sea Route. This will create not only additional freight traffic, but also a base to achieve our national development goals for Siberia, the Arctic and the Far East.

"The infrastructure of the regions and the development of infrastructures, including communications, telecommunications and railways, will receive a strong boost. Next year, 2024, we will put at least 85% of all roads in the regions in suitable condition. major metropolises in the country, as well as more than half of all regional and municipal roads. I am sure that we will achieve it."


All these plans, especially the North-South International Transport Corridor , are subject to a context in which the countries that potentially integrate them do not adhere to the sanctioning schemes of the United States and the EU. The proposal to create a new currency, backed by gold and a set of raw materials , would be a fundamental factor in these projects, since without an established and reliable alternative financial architecture there can be no bypassing of the eurodollar as a transaction mechanism.

This last point has been studied and analyzed by the Hungarian Zoltan Poszar, who was a distinguished operator of the New York Federal Reserve and the United States Treasury Department, and now a financial strategist for Credit Suisse bank. He proposes calling it Bretton Woods III , a financial pact in which the monetary element would be based on raw materials, creating a separate market for it, in line with what was proposed by the Russian Sergei Glazyev, economist Minister in charge of Integration and Macroeconomics of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU). But it is more accurate to speak of a post-Bretton Woods contract because the geolocation of the financial proposal would be far from the Western power centers, based in Asia.

Poszar warns that the conditions for the creation of the aforementioned financial mechanism are being developed, in a recent article for the Financial Times , a portal that serves as a review of the ideas, perspective and purposes of the western capitalist elite (bold fonts are ours):

"Change is already underway. Current account surpluses in China, Russia and Saudi Arabia are at record highs. However, these surpluses are largely not recycled into traditional reserve assets like Treasuries, which offer yields negative reals at current inflation rates Instead, we have seen increased demand for gold (see recent purchases by China), commodities (see Saudi Arabia's planned investments in mining interests), and geopolitical investments such as funding the the Belt and Road and help allies and neighbors in need, such as Türkiye, Egypt or Pakistan Leftover surpluses are increasingly held in bank deposits in liquid formto retain much-needed options in a changing world ."

The changes in the capitalist world system imply the imposition of a break pivoted by the United States between Russia and the rest of Europe, via "sanctions" and development of projects within NATO -such as the Polish initiative Intermarum and the Visegrad Group- , who seek an extension of Washington's influence in Eastern Europe with narrative steed "Russian aggression" in what could be called the Great Game of the 21st century. But all this suffers from a historical fragility since Russia, although "it is not Europe", is considered civilizing as part of European history due to its Christian roots , stamp of origin. Embedded in a larger picture known as Eurasia.

https://misionverdad.com/globalistan/un ... olitico-ii

THE US FACES DIFFICULTIES IN PRODUCING WEAPONS
9 Mar 2023 , 4:01 pm .

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Ukrainian servicemen unload a shipment of Javelin missiles (Photo: Reuters)

The war in Ukraine, as well as the interest of the United States to provide artillery weapons to Kiev, suggests the inability to quickly increase the production necessary to supply the European country and for self-defense, notes the Washington Post .

The Scranton Army Ammunition Plant, one of a network of facilities involved in the production of 155mm artillery cartridges for the US Army, is ground zero for the Biden administration's fight to speed up arms supplies.

Despite having the world's largest military budget and its most sophisticated defense industry, the United States has long struggled to efficiently develop and produce the weapons that have allowed US forces to technologically outperform their peers. Those challenges take on a new dimension when he sets out to take on arms powers like China and Russia.

The war in Ukraine also opens the debate on the delivery of weapons from its reserves and the concern for their replacement. Research by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) shows that the current output of US factories may be insufficient to prevent depletion of reserves of key items that the United States provides. Even at accelerated production rates, it is likely to take at least several years to recover inventory of Javelin anti-tank missiles, Stinger surface-to-air missiles, and other in-demand items.

The big problem is the slow pace of US production. Some estimate that replenishing inventories would take up to 15 years at peacetime production levels, and more than eight years in wartime, to replace stocks of major weapon systems such as guided missiles, piloted aircraft, and armed drones if they were destroyed in battle or donated to allies.

To be sure, this is not just a reflection of America's backwardness in weapons production, they are signs that the country is no longer the industrial powerhouse it used to be.

According to the media, Europe is going through the same crisis. It notes that NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg warned in February that the lead time for large-calibre weapons has more than tripled, meaning items ordered now won't be delivered for another two years.

https://misionverdad.com/eeuu-enfrenta- ... ucir-armas

Google Translator

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Additional nationalization in Crimea
March 10, 9:22 am

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The head of Crimea, Aksyonov, said that additional nationalization of the property of Ukrainian oligarchs would take place in Crimea.
As part of the current nationalization in Crimea, more than 700 different objects and assets (including Zelensky’s property) owned by Ukrainian oligarchs and politicians associated with the Nazi regime are being nationalized.
An additional list of various objects and assets will be prepared at the end of March.
All nationalized property will be sold at auction, and the money will be used to provide the Crimeans participating in the NWO. Zelensky's apartment is going to be handed over to a low-income or large family.

This should have been done in 2014. In Sevastopol, the first nationalization took place under Menyailo, when the Sevmorzavod was confiscated from Poroshenko. But better late than never.

https://colonelcassad.livejournal.com/8212974.html

Google Translator

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Lavrov Slams West’s Reaction to Nord Stream Explosions

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Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Mar. 9, 2023. | Photo: Twitter/@JailletAlain

Published 9 March 2023 (11 hours 47 minutes ago)

Western media have pointed to a pro-Ukrainian group as the perpetrator of the sabotage.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov called Western media claims about the Nord Stream pipeline explosions shameful.

"Attempts to explain, with reference to some Western intelligence services, that a certain Ukrainian oligarch was behind these explosions, I think, are shameful," Lavrov told a press conference Thursday.

The Western media's reaction to last September's explosions is disgraceful," the Russian foreign minister said, referring to a New York Times report on Tuesday claiming that the pipeline sabotage may have been carried out by a pro-Ukrainian group, according to intelligence data.

Lavrov also said that "the [UN] secretary-general and his staff" have been shying away from reacting on the matter despite Russia's request to conduct an impartial investigation into the incident.


In addition to the information published Tuesday by the New York Times, the German newspaper Zeit published a report claiming that the ship used by the saboteurs was rented by a company allegedly owned by Ukrainian nationals and registered in Poland.

The sabotage against three strings of the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 offshore gas pipelines was reported on September 27, 2022.

This incident triggered a criminal case opened by the Russian Prosecutor General's Office on charges of international terrorism.

https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Lav ... -0016.html

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Why a special party conference on the peace issue should ensure a new beginning for the German Left Party
Originally published: Why a special party conference on the peace issue should ensure a new beginning for the German Left Party on February 24, 2023 (more by Why a special party conference on the peace issue should ensure a new beginning for the German Left Party) (Posted Mar 10, 2023)

The executive committee of the Left Party is trying hard to make it clear to citizens that this party is not needed. At a moment when 575,000 people had signed a “Manifesto for Peace” and the first real large-scale demonstration against the course of supporting the war in Ukraine with ever new deliveries of weapons is being prepared, the board was incapable of clear mobilization for this demonstration. The party’s federal executive director explained the refusal to clearly support this demonstration as follows: “Specifically, we lack the clear demarcation to the right in the call, which namely currently leads to the fact that well-known Nazis and right-wing organizations support this call and massively mobilize for the demonstration on 25 February at Berlin”. Instead of contributing to the fact that the broad social and political left dominates this demonstration–with many red flags and with forces of order, which according to the guidelines of the initiators Alice Schwarzer and Sahra Wagenknecht prevent the display of right-wing extremist symbols–abstinence is proclaimed and dispersion into many small, largely ineffective actions is recommended.

While the mood in society is finally tilting, more and more people are realizing that the killing must come to an end through immediate ceasefire, negotiations, compromises based on recognition of the opposing interests that led to this terrible war in the center of Eastern Europe–exactly at this moment, the Left Executive Committee shifts the focus to a side issue: how to prevent even a single right-wing extremist from coming near the Brandenburg Gate on this day. That is simply impossible. In this way, one works into the hands of those who want to destroy the movement against the course of war and rearmament. Up to now, every voice calling for negotiations to take center stage has been branded as “Putin-understanding”; now it is being moved close to the extreme right, and the leadership of the left is going along with it.

The Left Party itself was not able to mobilize effectively for demonstrations in a hot autumn. It remained with a few approaches. Its rallies with reference to the policies of the federal government on the war issue remained marginal. The initiators of a real large-scale demonstration, on the other hand, keep demanding new demarcations to the right, while Sahra Wagenknecht had explained from the beginning that it is the right that wants to defame the peace demonstration through its own mobilization: “With the selection of our initial signatories, we have made it clear with whom we are co-operating and from whom we hope for support–and from whom we do not.” With last weekend’s decision, the Left Party executive committee is allowing the agenda to be dictated by the governing parties and the right, instead of resolutely fighting for the emergence of a broad democratic peace movement in which the Left Party is needed.

The latest board decision is the latest point of failure of this party as a political force. It is time for Die Linke to openly discuss whether its majority is still prepared to carry this course. It is time for a special party congress. Twice, in 1989 and 2003, this has made a new beginning possible. It takes only 25 percent of the delegates to the party congress convened in June 2022 to force the convening of such a party congress. Regional (Länder) and local district party branches that together represent a quarter of the membership, or around 15,000, are also sufficient. The struggle for the soul of the Left Party belongs on the open stage, and a decision must be made as to whether it will continue on the road to the sidelines or whether the party will face up to its historical responsibility. There are days of decision. If they are missed, any chance of a new beginning is lost.

https://mronline.org/2023/03/10/why-a-s ... eft-party/
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Re: Footnotes from the Ukrainian "Crisis"; New High-Points in Cynicism Part IV

Post by blindpig » Sat Mar 11, 2023 1:44 pm

Ukrainian preparations for the spring offensive
POSTED BY @NSANZO ⋅ 03/11/2023
Original Article: Colonel Cassad

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The closer the announced spring offensive of the Ukrainian Armed Forces approaches, the more questions arise about what kind of means Zaluzhny and his team are going to use to achieve the ambitious goal of inflicting a strategic defeat on the Russian troops. Of course, the grouping is being reformed and combat coordination in the rear of Ukraine and the territory of Western countries will be important. This is at least a third of the available Ukrainian troop pool: a mountain brigade, about 30 infantry, amphibious and assault units. At least six tank brigades. At least six artillery brigades. And also parts of the “special forces” of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the National Guard. the total number of the raid group can reach 140,000-160. 000 people. They consist of at least 400 tanks, 350 guns, up to 100 multiple launch rocket systems and about 30 HIMARS, MARS and other Western analogues. It is clear that the Ukrainian Armed Forces will have received sufficient amounts of ammunition, spare parts and fuel for this offensive.

By the standards of military science, these forces are likely to split into two strike groups, each with its own specific tasks. One of the blows will be the main one and the other, auxiliary or a distraction. At the same time, the command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine will be prepared to move forces from any direction to where the chances of success seem most obvious, as was already the case in September with the Kharkiv offensive, which began as a secondary one, but became the main one as it developed.

What will the command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine bet on in the future offensive?

Obviously, he will try to achieve a tactical surprise with the choice of the places of attack and decisive superiority: no less than 7:1 in those zones.

The second task in the first hours of the offensive will be to destroy Russian command points, combat control systems, communications, ammunition and fuel depots at the greatest possible distance using available weapons -up to 80km- to cause the paralysis of the combat control and chaos in the rear. For this, precision weapons and kamikaze drones will be used, the supplies of which are now in full swing.

The success of this task directly depends on how much intelligence the Ukrainian troops have available according to the intelligence capabilities of the United States and other NATO countries on the military infrastructures of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation in the area of ​​operations. Currently, the United States and NATO are concentrating their efforts on identifying those targets. NATO intelligence activities on the Russian borders have reached their peak and it would be correct to assume that the entire military infrastructure of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation at the front has been analyzed and located on the maps of Ukrainian personnel. Experts believe that Ukrainian precision strikes against Russian bases and control centers have not decreased because Ukraine cannot identify them,

The third task that the Armed Forces of Ukraine will try to solve in order to guarantee the success of their offensive is to isolate the areas in which their troops will attack. The objective is to prevent the transfer of reserves, fuel supplies and ammunition to those areas, but also the withdrawal of troops. In recent weeks, the Ukrainian artillery has worked on this task in different areas of the Russian defenses with varying degrees of success.

At the same time, it is clear that Ukrainian troops will try to use Russian capabilities against Russia - an artillery offensive, in which the maximum concentration of artillery will be in the direction of the blow. Although inferior in terms of artillery, the Ukrainian Armed Forces relies on the high precision of Western systems and the most modern means of artillery fire control.

One of the main Ukrainian bets in the next offensive is the hope of the “digitization” of new groups and the conduct of a network-centric war, which should give Ukraine its main superiority over the enemy. With an advantage in recognition, detection of the enemy, speed when hitting him and precision in his defeat. In recent months, brigades assigned to the rear to replenish or form strike groups have been receiving the latest US control systems and learning how to use them.

The Ukrainian command considers that its priority task is to break through as quickly as possible the first line of defense where, according to the Ukrainian generals and their NATO advisers, the most experienced and combat-ready Russian units will be located. Inflict maximum damage there, as well as prevent an organized withdrawal to the second line of defense, where there will be regiments that are less well trained and do not have enough experience in handling heavy weapons, units made up of conscripts that, in the event of a Ukrainian breakout, will hardly they will be able to put up serious resistance if they cannot withdraw from the front line. So most likely the offense will not be carried out according to the usual tendencies of this war, with a slow punishment to the line of defense,

American advisers are pressing the Ukrainian command for an offensive as soon as possible, when there is still an imbalance in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation between well-equipped, armed and trained units and a huge number of "fortress" regiments, many of which they lack their own tanks and artillery and even vehicles for a proper supply. Its command staff have no combat experience and in some cases are made up of reservists, many of whom have not served in the military and are graduates of military departments at universities. The combat value of those units is conditional, and in terms of defense against a well-trained and well-equipped enemy, they hardly stand a chance.

Surely, the Ukrainian command that is preparing this offensive has an ace up its sleeve. There are experts who believe that it may be the massive use of attack drones, especially kamikaze drones, with which the Ukrainian troops will try to inflict maximum damage on the Russian artillery and their military equipment in the defense positions, they will try to hunt down the troops and moving columns on the roads. The possibility of massive drone attacks on the Russian rear, even at a distance of 800-1000 kilometers, cannot be ruled out. Attempts to test Russian defenses have been observed in recent weeks.

The strengths of the Armed Forces of Ukraine before the upcoming offensive:

An experienced operational and tactical command. Brigade and combat commanders are experienced leaders who have been through all the years of war. Many have been fighting since 2014-2015.
A well organized vertical combat control system based on closed communications, digital information exchange system and combat management.
Well-trained artillery personnel with good combat experience who have been issued high-precision NATO materiel.
An intelligence integrated with NATO and the United States, which allows receiving information from the enemy as quickly as possible and in digital format.
Of course, in addition to strengths, the Armed Forces of Ukraine also have weaknesses that will be difficult to compensate for:

Low quality of infantry. The motivation of a large part of the recruits mobilized in recent months is very low. The number of people with combat experience among them tends to zero. A large part of them have received only a month and a half or two months of training that does not go beyond basic instruction.
Shortage of officers, especially at the secondary level, even company. There are practically no career officers at that level. Basically, they are recruits graduated from military departments or appointed to those positions.
The Ukrainian command does not have much experience in offensive battles beyond the September offensive, which can really only be called the pursuit of a retreating army. There is also not enough experience in assault in the face of an organized defense, not to mention urban battle and counterattacks.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces are still inferior to the Russian ones in terms of the number of tanks and artillery. In the case of tanks - at least four times less and five in artillery.
The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation surpass the Ukrainian ones in combat aviation and high-precision weaponry and maintain superiority in drones and kamikaze drones.
The overall superiority of the Ukrainian troops against the Russians has dropped from 3:1 in September to 1.3:1 in February.
The Russian command has large reserves at its disposal, at least 80,000 people who can be used in the event of a threat.
So, despite the huge propaganda of "victory" in the upcoming offensive, the Ukrainian military leadership cannot count on complete confidence in its success. A whole series of factors of success or defeat depend on the lack of certainty. For now, the combat grouping has not managed to achieve the necessary parameters. Some equipment and weapons continue to arrive, the ammunition supply is in full swing, but still not enough to meet all the needs for a full-scale offensive. Deliveries of Leopard tanks, on which high hopes of offensive success have been pinned, are being delayed. Ukraine has not received medium-range tactical missiles (up to 500 kilometers). The level of instruction of the personnel of the newly formed brigades is estimated to be low.

An added problem is the answer to the question of whether the Ukrainian troops will achieve tactical surprise with the start of the offensive. The course of action depends on it. Russian intelligence also constantly monitors the enemy, underestimating its capabilities can be a serious mistake. The Russian military command has gained great combat experience and will try not to repeat the mistakes of the past. Ukraine's spring military campaign will be the most important phase of this current hot phase , after which it will become clear whether the US and its allies are able to stop the Russian advance and inflict a military defeat on Russia or whether they will have to go to plan. B, find a way to save the current Ukrainian regime and start peace negotiations. The risk for both sides is maximum.

https://slavyangrad.es/2023/03/11/prepa ... more-26817

Google Translator

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The United States is Fueling World War III
Posted by INTERNATIONALIST 360° on MARCH 9, 2023

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Valery Kulikov
The current events in Ukraine and around Taiwan, as well as the US’s incessant pumping of new significant quantities of weapons into these regions, make it increasingly clear that the White House is on track to unleash World War III. The militarization of the national and global economies by the United States, combined with the strengthening of Russophobic and Sinophobic sentiments in American society as well as in countries under Washington’s control in Asia and Europe, is further confirmation of this, following the example of similar actions by Nazi Germany in 1934.

Such actions by the US confirm the eternal desire of the world’s financial elites to enrich themselves using big wars, and to further unleash them away from their own borders and to draw in, through the same financial levers, “cannon fodder” from disadvantaged and poorer countries. This is how it happened in World Wars I and II, and it is the same way it is happening now.

And using the nationalist radical sentiments in Taiwan and Ukraine, which the White House turned into a reincarnation of Nazism, is nothing new. After all, it was not in vain that the same financial circles of the USA, together with the victors of the First World War – France and Great Britain, first humiliated the then losing Germany and its people and then promoted the revival of the spirit of revenge, militarism, and Nazism in the German nation with the active support of the financial and industrial circles of the Anglo-Saxons. By the way, it is not superfluous to remind in this connection, under whose “umbrella” after the Second World War many escaped Nazis found a refuge …

And now, “thanks to the efforts of Washington” Nazism has once again taken root in Europe. Therefore, it is not surprising that it was the family of the current US president, whose secret ties with the openly neo-fascist regime in Kyiv were exposed. Since 2014, that regime has been pursuing with impunity and with the obvious support of the United States a policy of genocide of the Russian-speaking population in eastern Ukraine, killing more than a thousand civilians there, with no proper response from international institutions regarding Kyiv’s violations of fundamental international human rights norms.

And if on the eve of the Second World War Hitler’s regime was considered in Washington and London as a “savior from communism,” now instead of the bogeyman of “communism,” the Anglo-Saxons through the actions of the Kyiv authorities promote Russophobic policy and the thirst for the destruction of Russia and its people, not even disguised anymore in the statements and actions of the current so-called “elite” of the West. To this end, in particular, through multinational military-industrial enterprises in Europe, the militarization of industry is promoted with increased production and supplies of weapons and shells to Ukraine. With the training of not only fighters of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, but also subversive groups to carry out terrorist actions in Russia, to undermine the Russian gas pipelines Nord Stream, to prepare new terrorist sabotage on other Russian energy facilities. Including the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, southern oil and gas pipelines, and peaceful Russian cities.

In order to destroy the unity of the public anti-Nazi position in Europe and to cause discord among Russia’s allies, the United States is carrying out multiple anti-Russian information operations. One example of this is the recent dissemination through the US-controlled media (New York Times, a number of British newspapers) of information about the alleged supply of arms and ammunition to the Kyiv regime by one of Russia’s allies at the present stage – Serbia. And this latest United States political fake news has been fully exposed by the Serbian authorities and their company Krušik Holding Corporation, who have provided documentary evidence that not a single Serbian-made mine or missile has been provided to any party to the Ukrainian conflict since the beginning of the conflict in Ukraine, and the latest “documents” published by the US propagandists are falsified.

At the same time, the USA itself, with its intrigues and political pressure, is forcing the European countries and military-industrial circles of the EU to increase, for the sake of even greater profits of the USA, military loans and arms production for Ukraine, increasingly dragging these countries into a global armed conflict with Russia and the outbreak of World War III.

While using other countries to further its interests in the Ukrainian conflict, the US itself has incomparably less to spend on the criminal Kyiv regime, and ranks only 12th, forcing countries like Slovakia, Bulgaria, Malta, Norway, Estonia, Latvia, Czech Republic, Lithuania, Romania, and Cyprus, among others, to spend more and more at the cost of the welfare of their own citizens. The fact that the American lobbyists are getting millions of corrupt dollars for “helping Ukraine” is not hidden even by the western mainstream media. According to The Guardian, US defense spending has continued to rise since the conflict began, with arms and defense contractors receiving nearly half of the $858 billion defense budget for 2023.

At the same time, despite the thesis promoted by the White House propagandists about alleged “selfless assistance of the West to Ukraine,” the US, unlike Europe, does not hesitate to “specify,” in particular through the mouth of Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs Celeste Ann Wallander, that Kyiv must pay for the supplied weapons itself. And this is not surprising, as public criticism of the exorbitant billions of dollars of Western “aid to Ukraine” is growing in the US and in Europe, demanding an audit and naming those responsible for this criminal policy that is impoverishing the population of Western countries.

However, despite public discontent, Washington’s harmful actions continue, not only aggravating the Ukrainian conflict, but also increasing the threat of World War III. Therefore, the growing protests in the US and many EU countries in response to the recent announcement by the Coordinator for Strategic Communications at the National Security Council, John Kirby, about the allocation of a new $400 million military aid package to Ukraine are understandable. According to The Hill, since the beginning of Russia’s special operation to denazify the Kyiv regime, the US has already allocated $75.5 billion to Ukraine, of which $29.3 billion has gone for military aid.

Realizing that even with the current great chaos in the world, it will not be possible to write off the gigantic debts amassed by the US as well as the incredible spending on “aid to Ukraine,” and Ukraine itself will never be able to compensate the US and NATO countries for their latest “armed subsidies,” Washington began to think about possible options for returning their funds, developing plans for the final subjugation of the inhabitants of Ukraine. There are active preparations for the absorption of resources and Washington-controlled territory of Ukraine by the American capital. This work did not start today but a while back, through the machinations of Hunter Biden, already known to the whole world, aimed at selling the country by the Ukrainian government according to the “Argentine” scenario, and at building up the external and state-guaranteed debt. With the active participation of emissaries from the US of different ranks, who regularly come to Ukraine, the appropriate laws are being adopted to ensure “legal” transfer of ownership of strategic infrastructure facilities and territory of Ukraine to foreign corporations so that after the announcement of bankruptcy it would be possible to easily and legally sell state blocks of shares in state corporations for the created public debts.

However, such steps by Washington, as well as its arms pressure, will not pass painlessly, including for the US and the West as a whole. The protest wave against such aggressive policy of Washington is already growing everywhere and demonstrations of dissatisfied people, who do not want the outbreak of World War III, can be seen today in many European cities. Even many American media outlets are saying that the days of the criminal Kyiv regime are numbered. Moreover, the so-called “Kyiv leader” Zelensky is aware of this, who, afraid of popular anger in his country and following Hitler’s footsteps, has already surrounded himself with doubles, hoping to hide from retribution.

https://libya360.wordpress.com/2023/03/ ... d-war-iii/

Germany Prosecutes Citizen for Condemning Aid to Ukrainian Nazis
Posted by INTERNATIONALIST 360° on MARCH 9, 2023



The Grayzone’s Max Blumenthal interviews Heinrich Bücker, founder of Berlin’s COOP Antiwar Cafe, about his prosecution at the hands of the German state for publicly denouncing Germany’s military aid to a Ukrainian government that reveres World War II-era Nazi collaborators and incorporates neo-Nazi battalions into its military.

Bücker also discusses that state of the German antiwar movement as it gathers momentum following mass protests after the February 24 first anniversary of the Ukraine proxy war.

https://libya360.wordpress.com/2023/03/ ... ian-nazis/

The Foreseeable End of Ukraine
Posted by INTERNATIONALIST 360° on MARCH 10, 2023
Karl Richter

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Karl Richter asserts that Ukraine is facing an imminent end due to Russia’s dominance in the ongoing conflict, weak Western military and economic support, and Ukraine’s own nationalism, citing predictions by several Western military experts and predicting Western governments will soon have to justify the utter failure of their Ukraine policy.

The faces of Ukraine supporters are now visibly getting longer. In fact, things are getting interesting now. In the next few months, the central lie of Western politics will burst: Ukraine is coming to an end. No more billions of dollars sinking into the Kiev quagmire, and certainly no handful of Western battle tanks, should they ever come, will make much difference to events. Russia is in the driver’s seat and has all the means of escalation at its disposal, while the West is on its last legs economically, militarily and not least morally.

At least four Western military experts who know something of their trade have contradicted mainstream reporting in recent weeks and are now predicting the decisive weeks of Ukraine’s survival. Among them is Austrian Colonel Markus Reisner, a convinced Ukraine sympathiser. In one of his latest analyses, Reisner points to the considerable Russian resources and has to concede: ‘Ukraine could win several rounds, but there has been no knockout yet.’ The Russian side, he says, still has stocks of at least ten million artillery shells at its disposal, plus 3.4 million new shells produced each year. ‘So they are in a position to fight this war even longer’, while things are now getting tight for Kiev.

Erich Vad, ex-brigadier general and former military policy advisor to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, is more explicit. He sees Russia ‘clearly on the advance’ and agrees with US Chief of Staff (!) Mark Milley ‘that a military victory for Ukraine is not to be expected’. He is surprised, however, at the extensive ‘synchronisation of the media, the likes of which I have never experienced in the Federal Republic of Germany. This is pure opinion mongering.’ One wonders, however, in which world the honourable ex-general has been living in the last decades.

The fourth member of the group is the former Pentagon adviser and former US colonel Douglas Macgregor. In several recent interviews (including those of the independent US portal Redacted), he not only addresses the immense losses of the Ukrainians – in some cases up to 70 per cent of the original battalion strength – but also the rampant repression of the Ukrainian domestic intelligence service SBU against its own population – a sure sign that the end is near. If the Kiev leadership does not agree to negotiations soon, there will be little more left of Ukraine than a rump state west of the Dnieper, says Macgregor. He does not want to rule out the possibility of a coup movement against the Kiev junta in view of the horrendous losses at the front – if not, Moscow itself would be forced to finish the ‘job’ and mop up the Selenskyj regime. A new Ukrainian government would probably be sensible enough to enter into peace negotiations. In the best case, Russia would thus also have achieved its wartime goal of ‘denazifying’ Ukraine.

Even a mainstream newspaper like the German daily Die Welt had to admit recently (31 January) that in the foreseeable future Russia will emerge from the conflict as the victor not only militarily but also politically: while Ukraine will not achieve any of its goals, certainly not the reconquest of Crimea, Russia will, in the course of an inevitable negotiated settlement, enforce that Ukraine’s NATO membership ‘will be excluded for the foreseeable future’ – nothing else was demanded by Moscow before the war began almost a year ago. And: ‘The result will be an amputated Ukraine.’

One can look forward to how the Western regimes will soon explain the complete failure of their Ukraine policy to their populations. Neither will Ukraine have won nor will Russia be ‘ruined’, which the German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has erroneously claimed is the goal of German government policy. When it comes to the end of Ukraine, the Western regimes will not only have sunk gigantic sums of billions into Kiev, but will also have permanently poisoned relations with Russia, destroyed their own energy supply and successfully disarmed their own armed forces. This is truly an unprecedented achievement that can only be described as open treason. It will cost the Europeans dearly. In ‘normal’ times, those responsible would be held accountable. This bill remains open. The current leadership – not only in Germany – will have to be replaced without residue anyway if we want to get back into talks with Russia even halfway sensibly.

The days of Ukraine as we know it are now numbered. Sooner rather than later, it will probably sink into insignificance as a greatly diminished rump state. Its tragedy is that it has allowed itself to be instrumentalised by the West, above all by Washington, in an almost suicidal manner for goals that are not its own. The phrase that the US administration is fighting ‘to the last Ukrainian’ has become a common expression.

Last but not least, Ukraine has become a victim of its own nationalism. In Soviet times, this was only kept under the surface in a makeshift manner, only to be vigorously fanned by American foundations soon after 1991, with an anti-Russian bias from the start. Today, Ukraine is a pseudo-state consumed by national hatred, which is no longer viable in its current form. If one wants to apply historical perspective, similarities with Czechoslovakia and Poland before the Second World War come to mind. Both countries proved incapable of getting along with their ethnic minorities in a sensible way as a result of their nationalism and the Western powers’ agitation. Kiev is currently reaping the consequences of this policy, comparable to Czechoslovakia in 1938 and Poland in 1939.

As far as Poland is concerned, it would be a particularly bitter irony of history if Poland were to take back its former eastern territories in Galicia in the course of the settlement of Ukraine. The preparations for this have been in full swing for months – interestingly enough, in full agreement with the Kiev cokehead regime. One can research this without much effort. It cannot be ruled out that Moscow has long been on board behind the scenes. The Kremlin could be the one laughing, watching Polish and Ukrainian nationalists butting heads in the future. The Volhynia massacres of 1943/44, when the Ukrainians slaughtered up to 300,000 Polish peasants behind the German lines, have not been forgotten. In no time at all, the EU would have another trouble spot on its hands where it could sink its billions in the future. A mature achievement all around.

https://libya360.wordpress.com/2023/03/ ... f-ukraine/

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From Cassad's telegram account:

Colonelcassad
Trial and error: how the West is preparing the Armed Forces of Ukraine for the wrong war - analysis of the Military Chronicle and Rybar In October, the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell , said that by the end of March, more than 11,000 Ukrainian soldiers were planned to be trained at the training grounds of NATO countries. For the whole of 2023, their number may exceed 30 thousand people: the British have already trained 10 thousand people since June 2022, another 15 are planned to be trained in other European countries. The editors of the Military Chronicle and Rybar's team figured out the topic and explain what is wrong with the preparation of the Armed Forces of Ukraine according to NATO standards.





🔻The main problem

Applying the acquired skills on the battlefield is difficult: numerous prisoners (including from the elite 45 or 95 airborne brigade) who were trained in NATO countries have repeatedly questioned the effectiveness of training according to Western methods. According to them, at best , the training was superficial and did not guarantee an advantage on the battlefield.

🔻What's wrong with learning?

Western countries have not been involved in high-intensity conflicts since the Vietnam War , and in some cases since World War II .

Instructors of various specialties participated only in local operations. The result is logical: people are trained according to the patterns of wars in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan.

The experience of fighting against gangs in the Middle East and Africa is hardly applicable in the realities of the Ukrainian conflict. Infantry units, for the most part, are trained not in the specifics of combat operations in forest plantations and fields, but in clearing houses and residential areas.

🔻Trial and error method

The other side of the problem is the lack of real experience in combat firing from various complexes. For example, the NLAW, Panzerfaust 3 anti-aircraft systems or Gepard anti-aircraft installations before the SVO were used to a limited extent only during the exercises .

NATO instructors do not have the necessary experience and knowledge to properly use these weapons in intense combat. Now NATO is actively adopting the experience of the NWO for a new training program, but it will take years to implement it.

Yes, Ukrainian formations are fully mastering the entire range of weapons in combat conditions - moreover, in a much shorter time than at Western training grounds. But training is conducted, often, almost by trial and error .

🔻What about the training base?

For the effective training of Ukrainian formations in the West, there is not enough equipment, weapons and material resources. From the same NLAW or Javelin, they are taught to shoot on special simulators that imitate a shot: there is no talk of real ammunition. Prior to the start of the SVO in the West, such simulators were ordered exactly as much as was needed to train the regular number of cadets. At the moment, there are not enough such complexes for everyone.

Shot from machine guns during training abroad often does not exceed two magazines (50-60 rounds) , and weapons for this are brought from nearby units.

🔻What follows from this?

Despite loud statements about the huge number of Ukrainian units trained according to NATO standards, there are problems in the effectiveness of training. Moreover, they accumulate like a snowball, because in the West they rely on training the maximum number of people in a short time. There is no need to talk about the quality of training in such conditions.

From the initial 5-7 weeks, the training program for the infantry formations of the Armed Forces of Ukraine has already been cut to three , and in the case of combined arms units to two .

It is likely that by October-November the number of Ukrainian formations trained according to NATO standards will indeed reach 30,000 people.. That's just to declare training according to NATO standards and to put into operation fully combat-ready units that can turn the tide of the war are two different things.

After returning to the battlefield, soldiers and officers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine face real conditions that are very different from theoretical ones.

The scheme of application does not change - the "human resource", packed in a Western wrapper and costing much more, in the future, they also plug the gaps and try to buy time.

***

Prigozhin said that after the capture of Bakhmut, he intends to "reboot" the Wagner PMC in order to turn it into an army with an ideology.

(This fella is getting too big for his britches...)

***

Colonelcassad
Special operation of the Russian Federation, March 10. The main thing from RIA Novosti :

◎ Losses of Ukrainian troops per day in several directions amounted to about 350 soldiers;

◎ Washington has not deactivated its biolaboratories on the territory of Ukraine, despite the relevant statements by US NSS representative John Kirby, Kyiv continues to cooperate with the Pentagon on almost 50 types of bacteria and viruses, the Russian Defense Ministry said;

◎ The West has decided that a hybrid war against Russia should go not for life, but for death, Lavrov said;

◎ Western countries are very close to seriously discussing the prospect of sending allied troops to the territory of Ukraine, Orban said;

◎ Macron and Sunak announced their intention to help Kyiv launch a “counteroffensive”;

◎ Ukrainian media for the first time reported on the use of the American "smart bomb" JDAM by the Kyiv troops near Artemivsk;

◎ A number of Western officials believe that the recent measures of the Russian Federation to build reliable defensive lines have made "less likely" the prospect of a "breakthrough" of Kyiv, writes the Wall Street Journal;

◎ Despite the propaganda flows of hatred and the brainwashing of the Ukrainian population, there remain streams of sober approaches to future relations with Russia, Peskov said, commenting on calls in Kyiv for dialogue with the Russian Federation.

***

Colonelcassad
Sometimes they come back. Aiden Aslin, an English mercenary sentenced to capital punishment and exchanged through Abramovich for Medvedchuk, returned to Ukraine and is now fighting in Bakhmut, military correspondent Rudenko said .

“I interviewed this bastard first. He said that he was just a lamb, but from his tattoos I immediately realized that this piece of shit also fought in Syria, and he was a sniper. He also admitted that he raped a young Ukrainian marine, to the question “why did he do this,” he answered “it was for fun,” writes the military commander.

And perhaps it is in this plane that one should look for the answer to the question why there are no captured mercenaries now, although in some Ukrainian formations their number exceeds half of the personnel. No one wants to give Abramovich again opportunities to gamble on the blood of our people.

(Violation of 'parole' is and should be an automatic death sentence.)

https://t.me/s/boris_rozhin

Google Translator

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From the War Gonzo Telegram account:

⚡️Front-line summary for the morning of 03/11/2023⚡️

On the Donetsk front, Russian troops, after shelling, conducted assault operations near Pobeda. In Marinka, they are trying to advance within the city limits. The Ukrainian garrison puts up fierce resistance. Also, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation carried out a ground attack on the southern outskirts of Krasnogorovka. Artillery was hitting the fortified area itself. Also, with fire support, Russian units are advancing on Pervomaiskoye. Like the day before, they continued their attacks on Severnoye and Kamenka. This is from the southwest and north of Avdiivka, respectively. Artillery worked closely around the city itself. The Armed Forces of Ukraine attacked Donetsk, Makeevka, Verkhnetoretsky, Gorlovka and Mayorsk. (Fig. 1)

South of Bakhmut, Ukrainian artillery shelled Ozaryanovka and Kurdyumivka. The Russians hit the city itself, as well as Konstantinovka and Bogdanovka. From the south, PMC "Wagner" conducts assault operations in Bakhmut from the side of Experienced and Ivangrad, and from the north from Yagodnoye. "Orchestra" went to Orekhovo-Vasilyevka. Moreover, they managed to establish control over the heights near this settlement. Russian artillery shelled Minkovka, Zheleznyansky, Vasyukovka and Rozdolovka. (Fig. 2)

In the Luhansk direction, Russian troops tried to advance towards Terny. APU counterattacked in the Krasnopopovka area. (Fig. 3)

https://t.me/s/wargonzo

Google Translator

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KIEV THREATENS CRIMEANS: ‘UKRAINE SHOULD BE TREATED NOT WITH RESPECT, BUT WITH GREAT FEAR’
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Amid the wave of loud claims on the upcoming Ukrainian offensive on Crimea, the Kiev officials do not hide the Nazi nature of their goals. Adviser to the head of the office of the President of Ukraine turned to direct threats to the citizens of the Russian peninsula.

The tourist season in Crimea this year will be “hot,” said Mikhail Podolyak, adviser to the head of the office of the President of Ukraine, in his recent interview.
“Ukraine will explain that it needs to be treated not with respect, but with great fear,” he claimed.
Podolyak believes that the population od Crimea has always been “oriented incorrectly” and did not understand that there is a state of Ukraine. Today, Kiev is publicly declaring its wet dreams of changing the people’s mind and force them to treat the terrorist Kiev correctly, i.e. with great fear.

The Kiev regime does not stop claiming its rights on the strategically important peninsula. However, it openly admits that the population of Crimea did not even acknowledge such a state as Ukraine and has always identified itself as Russian.

Podolyak’s claims once again confirm that:

*Nazis are in power in Ukraine;
*they are still ready to force the Russian people to “love Ukraine” by military and terrorist means, as they have been trying to do for a decade in Crimea as well as in the republics of Donbass;
*that the Crimeans made the right choice during the referendum in 2014, which indeed showed the true will of the population of the peninsula.

The Kiev regime has completely lost the country’s statehood. It has no means to rebuild an economy that has been in decline for decades and has been badly damaged by years of hostilities. Kiev has no means to restore its own regions, not to mention Russia’s Donbass and Crimea, which it dreams of returning by force, realizing that the population of these regions will never voluntarily become part of the Nazi Ukraine.

Ukraine has been sold to the West, and Kiev will have to pay for all the “support” from NATO. For Kiev, control of Crimea is just a populist narrative disseminated by officials to assure the population that they lose no hope of wining the Russians. For Washington, control of Crimea, which it would gain if the Russian army failed, is control of a strategically important peninsula from which it could threaten the European part of Russia and prevent Moscow from its power in the Black Sea.

Control of Crimea is vital to Moscow, which it is likely to fight for by all means, including nuclear weapons.

https://southfront.org/kiev-threatens-c ... reat-fear/
"There is great chaos under heaven; the situation is excellent."

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Re: Footnotes from the Ukrainian "Crisis"; New High-Points in Cynicism Part IV

Post by blindpig » Sun Mar 12, 2023 2:22 pm

A city divided by the front line
POSTED BY @NSANZO ⋅ 03/12/2023

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Months after it began, the battle for Artyomovsk has already become a story in itself, with the warring parties trying not only to achieve their military objectives, but also to impose their narrative on what is happening and has happened in the fight for the city and, above all, its meaning. And in that context is currently taking place the Russian attempt to advance on parts of the city and besiege or make the Ukrainian supply lines as difficult as possible and the information fight with which Ukraine and Russia seek to present their performance as a strategic success or, when less, tactical. The lack of media interest in the battle in other areas of the front, where a similar trench warfare is being waged, although more intense than that observed in Donbass during the Minsk years, it makes the images and the meaning of the battle for Artyomovsk have been exaggerated until turning the city into a symbol of this war. Forgotten is the fight for Mariupol, which destroyed a city of greater size and population, there is no interest in following the battles for the Kremennaya forests on the Lugansk front, nor has attention been paid to the complete destruction of cities like Marinka , front line south of the city of Donetsk since 2014.

"Russia and Ukraine have chosen Bakhmut to kill each other", said the newspaper La Vanguardia yesterday, giving the battle an epic aura of consummated destinies that does not correspond to reality. The advance on Artyomovsk was the inevitable step for Russia last summer after the capture of Popasnaya, Lisichansk or Severodonetsk. However, with its exhausted offensive and too wide a front to support further advances, the battle has stalemate for months and Wagner's troops, whose casualties are unknown, and amidst the complaints of their master, Evgeny Prigozhin, have found themselves lawyers. to a hand-to-hand fight for minimal gains for months. In recent weeks, and especially in recent days, these advances have accelerated and are already taking place over a significant part of the city in its eastern part and towards the key settlement of Chasov Yar, where it can definitely prevent Ukrainian supply through the main routes, further complicating the situation for Ukrainian troops in the city. According to Russian sources, the troops are 1,200 meters from the center of Artyomovsk.

The seriousness of the state of the soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine has been revealed, not only by the Russian allegations, but by the admission even of the Ukrainian side. This week, The Kyiv Independent published an article that began by stating, in the general Western line of Russia's low value on the lives of its troops, that “the relentless Russian assault on Bakhmuth is slaughtering waves upon waves of untrained men who are being sent to death." However, the outlet added that "multiple defenders of the besieged city in the oblastfrom Donetsk feel they are in a similar situation.” Drawing on interviews with more than a dozen soldiers fighting in or around the city, the Ukrainian outlet claimed that “unprepared, poorly trained battalions are being thrown into the carnage on the front lines to survive as best they can with scant vehicle cover.” armored vehicles, mortar, artillery and tactical information”. The account is consistent with complaints raised the previous week by Maksym Zhoryn of the Azov regiment, who also noted the huge casualties Ukrainian troops were suffering and is yet another admission that Ukraine routinely accuses Russia of using poorly trained and equipped recruits, is, at least in part, a projection exercise.

In recent weeks, experts, think-tankers, journalists and politicians have extensively discussed the tactical and strategic importance of Artyomovsk. Faced with the value that was given to him at the beginning of the battle, and especially in the months in which Wagner failed to destroy the Ukrainian defenses in the city and its surroundings, the majority opinion is now directed to reduce its importance. This phenomenon has been especially pronounced in the US press, which on several occasions has pointed to the possibility of a strategic Ukrainian withdrawal, which has already achieved significant attrition of the Russian troops and the risk of continuing to suffer high casualties in the defense of a difficult strategic objective. considering its destruction. However, in the face of the withdrawal rumors that spread last week,

The most recent argument to justify that option has been to claim that the capture of the city would leave Russia the open field to capture the rest of Donbass. As on previous occasions, the argument used by Zelensky does not correspond to reality. The importance of Artyomovsk for Russia lies in the need to break down this first line of Ukrainian defense in its advance towards Slavyansk-Kramatorsk. However, the open field that the President of Ukraine is now referring to is a second defensive wall along that line. With no other option than the frontal assault to approach that urban agglomeration, a victory in Artyomovsk can hardly be considered an automatic strategic or even tactical success, but rather a small step in a battle, that of Donbass, which is not only decided in Artyomovsk,

By insisting on maintaining a presence in Arytomovsk, Ukraine has made the city a strategic target where it hopes to achieve similar success. In an interview with the Italian newspaper La Stampa, the adviser to the Office of the President Mikhailo Podoliak stated that Ukraine has already achieved "strategic success" by prolonging the battle. The idea put forward by the Ukrainian political leadership, which these days has insisted that the military leadership also shares the decision to continue fighting for the city, is based on arguing that the high cost it entails for Russia will be, in the medium term, an advantage for Ukraine. Taking advantage of the words of Evgeny Prigozhin, who has repeatedly stated that it is Wagner and only Wagner who is carrying out the assault, the Western media have begun to assume - prematurely and without having any data to justify it - that Artyomovsk will be the end of these units. But beyond Wagner, the Ukrainian argument is simply to keep the front as static as possible while preparing the announced offensive. “It is necessary to buy time for the accumulation of reserves and the start of the spring offensive, which is just around the corner,” General Oleksandr Syrskyi, commander of the Ukrainian ground forces, said on his recent visit to Artyomovsk.

In its report yesterday on the fight for the city, La Vanguardiahe wrote that “the battle for this place in Donbass without a strategic advantage only seeks to weaken the opposing side as much as possible”. In this way, both Prigozhin and Zelensky have expressed themselves, who have also accused each other of sending crowds of soldiers who were not properly prepared to their deaths and of "not counting the dead." At this time in the battle, it is not possible to really assess the casualties suffered by the parties to the conflict. But there is enough information to deny the shared accusations, which are also shared by Russia and Ukraine, that Artyomovsk is destroying the most prepared units of the enemy. The intensity of the battle, in which both sides complain of "thirst for ammunition", and its prolongation in time have caused enormous destruction in the city and a number of casualties that it will not be possible to assess in the short term. However, and despite Ukraine's latest claims to send reserves, neither party has its strategic reserves or its best units there. Ukraine is preparing these reserves for its spring counteroffensive, which Podoliak has announced for May, while Russia is keeping its best units for those priority areas of the front, where it will have to withstand the thrust of Kiev's troops, now much better armed and possibly more prepared than in their previous offensives.

Giving truth to the reports - not only Russian, but also Ukrainian and Western ones - of the high Ukrainian casualties, the cost of the battle is also being high for Ukraine, deeply dependent on its partners in terms of weapons and especially ammunition. That is currently one of the great concerns of Ukraine, which unlike Russia, where there are also complaints of ammunition shortages, does not have a military industry capable of fueling the war.

Yesterday, in its daily report, British intelligence -little given to announcing good news for Russia- estimated that the river is already a temporary border between the troops in conflict, with the city divided practically equally and turned into a "death zone". ”. In previous days, Russian troops had announced control of the western part of the city. And compared to what British intelligence speculated two weeks ago, that Russia would announce the capture of Artyomovsk without that being the reality on the ground, each advance has been accompanied by corroborating images. Now, since it has been decided that the fate of Artyomovsk is for the fight to take place according to the Mariupol scenario, Ukrainian sources announce a counterattack to avoid the encirclement, a last attempt that Wagner's owner has also warned about,

https://slavyangrad.es/2023/03/12/una-c ... more-26822

Google Translator

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Ukraine Is Lying About Casualty Ratios To Justify Holding Of Bakhmut

I follow and like Adam Tooze. His Chartbooks have always good materials. This recent one on the Silicon Valley Bank crash is also fine.

But I was somewhat disturbed by a recent tweet of his:

Adam Tooze @adam_tooze - 20:11 UTC · Mar 9, 2023
"Some experts worry Ukraine may be expending high-quality troops and equipment to kill mere Russian prison recruits as “cannon fodder”." Wow the language around the attritional battle at Bakhmut is getting grotesque! 7:1 ratio not good enough for you?

Link: ft.com Military briefing: Ukraine’s battle of diminishing returns for Bakhmut


Was that satire?

Moon of Alabama @MoonofA - 20:14 UTC Mar 9, 2023
Replying to @adam_tooze
7:1 to whose advantage?


He did not respond. But no, it was not satire. The linked Financial Times piece, reprinted in the Irish Times, actually quotes the Ukrainian national security chief Oleksiy Danilov as saying that the kill ratio was one to seven in Ukraine's favor.

The whole passage is nuts:

US and European officials estimate 200,000 Russian troops have been killed or seriously injured since February last year, and Ukraine about half that.
One western official said Russia had suffered “between 20,000 and 30,000 casualties over the past six months”, adding that most of them were mercenaries fighting for the Wagner private military company. Wagner’s operations have been largely focused on Bakhmut.

Nato officials estimate one Ukrainian had been killed or injured for every five Russians. Ukrainian national security chief Oleksiy Danilov last week estimated the ratio was “one to seven in our favour”.


This makes no sense. Had 200,000 Russian's be killed or seriously wounded in the war while 20,000 to 30,000 of those were killed or wounded in the past six month then the first six month of the war would have cost the Russian side 175,000 losses. That's more than the total numbers that were, until the recent mobilization, involved in the whole campaign. Those numbers must have been pulled from hot air.

Danilov casualty ratio is likewise obvious nonsense.

The Medical Department of the U.S. Army has a book about CAUSATIVE AGENTS OF BATTLE CASUALTIES IN WORLD WAR II. It is quoted here:

A report on the causative agents of battle casualties in World War II showed the comparative incidence of casualties from different types of weapons for several theaters. Compilers of the report believed that, while the more detailed subdivisions within their three major classes were open to question, their findings on the percent of total casualties due to small arms, artillery and mortars, and “miscellaneous” were reasonably accurate. From these they drew the following conclusions:
1. Small arms fire accounted for between 14 and 31 percent of the total casualties, depending upon the theater of action: The Mediterranean theater, 14.0 percent; the European theater, 23.4 percent; and the Pacific theaters, 30.7 percent.

2. Artillery and mortar fire together accounted for 65 percent of the total casualties in the European and Mediterranean theaters, 64.0 and 69.1, respectively. In the Pacific, they accounted for 47.0 percent.


The Encyclopedia Britannica likewise notes for World War I:

The greatest number of casualties and wounds were inflicted by artillery, followed by small arms, and then by poison gas.
When I was in officer school the number estimated for a big war in Europe was 75% of casualties due to artillery and aerial bombing.

Data from the European Commission, quoted by El Pais, says that Russia has a 10:1 advantage in artillery:

According to data from the European Commission to which EL PAÍS has had access, Russia fires between 40,000 and 50,000 artillery shells per day, compared to 5,000-6,000 Ukrainian forces expend. The Estonian government, which has been one of largest contributors to Kyiv’s war effort, puts the average use of artillery at between 20,000 and 60,000 Russian shells per day, and 2,000 to 7,000 Ukrainian rounds, according to a document sent to EU Member States by Tallinn, to which this newspaper has had access.

The Russian forces fire ten times the number of shells the Ukrainians can fire. In a modern war artillery fire causes 65+% of all casualties. It is thus impossible that Ukraine is losing less soldiers than the Russians.

The total ratio may well be 7 to 1 but it will certainly be to the advantage of the Russian forces side.

But minimizing the losses Ukraine has in Bakhmut seems to be a current propaganda scheme. A recent Newsweek piece quotes similar nonsense.

This propaganda seems to be designed to justify the Ukrainian decision to hang on to the city as long as possible:

Moscow's troops are on the cusp of taking the city in the eastern Donetsk region fought over for months, of which they reportedly control half. Amid rumors of a Ukrainian retreat Western officials suggested would do Kyiv no harm, President Volodymyr Zelensky insisted his troops would stay to prevent Russian forces from moving on "to other towns."

Already in January the U.S. was pressing the Ukraine to forget about Bakhmut and to move to a more mobile campaign:

In a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, deputy national security adviser Jon Finer, Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, and Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Colin Kahl, said the US wants to help Ukraine shift away from the sort of pitched battle of attrition playing out in Bakhmut and focus instead on a style of mechanized maneuver warfare that uses rapid, unanticipated movements against Russia, sources familiar with their discussion said.

The hundreds of armored vehicles the US and European countries have provided to Ukraine in recent weeks, including 14 British tanks, are meant to help Ukraine make that shift, officials said.

In his latest summary Dima of the Military Summary Channel reported that the Ukrainian side will soon try a counterattack to cut the Russian ring around Bakhmut and to draw the Russian side into a decisive general battle.


I see, like Dima, little chance that such an attempt could be successful. The force ratio to achieve something like that is simply not there.

But if the Ukraine wants to do that, against 'western' advice, it needs some justifications. The lies about casualty ratios in favor of Ukraine seem designed to give those.

Posted by b on March 11, 2023 at 18:11 UTC | Permalink

https://www.moonofalabama.org/2023/03/u ... .html#more

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From Cassad's Telegram account:

Colonelcassad

Image

Avdeevsky section
situation as of 14.00 March 12, 2023

🔻To the north of Avdiivka, Russian units attacked the fortified area of ​​the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Krasnohorivka . As a result of intense fighting, the RF Armed Forces entered the village and entrenched themselves on the eastern outskirts. Now clashes continue in the central and western regions.

▪️Despite the existing information about the complete control over Krasnohorivka, the settlement has not yet been liberated, a cleansing is underway. At the same time, the Ukrainian command deployed units of the 1st presidential brigade of the National Guard of Ukraine to the area of ​​the village to assist the defending forces.

▪️In addition, after establishing control over Vesely, the fighters of the RF Armed Forces moved south along the dam and came close to the village of Kamenka south of Novoselovka II .

🔻Tactical success in this area and potential control over Krasnohorivka and Kamenka would allow the Avdeevsky fortified area to be physically encircled and advanced further towards the railway at Petrovsky .

A group of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the suburbs of Donetsk passes through the railway line. Cutting this logistic hub will significantly reduce the capabilities of Ukrainian formations in Avdiivka and create the prospect of squeezing the Armed Forces of Ukraine out of the settlement.

https://t.me/s/boris_rozhin

Google Translator

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From the War Gonzo Telegram account:

WarGonzo
⚡️Front-line summary for the morning of 03/12/2023⚡️

On the Donetsk front, Russian troops were conducting offensive operations in the main sectors. Another attack on Novomikhailovka, where the Armed Forces of Ukraine are holding a defensive ledge. In Marinka, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation conducted assault operations in the city. They also attacked the fortified area of ​​the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Krasnogorovka on the ground. Another attempt to establish control over Nevelskoye. To Pervomaisky, Russian troops sought to break through from the direction of Sand and Vodyany. They also conducted assault operations in the direction of the North. On the part of Experienced - an attack on the fortified area of ​​the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Avdiivka. This is from the south. And from the north - an attack on Kamenka. (Fig. 1)

To the southwest of Bakhmut, PMC Wagner advanced in the direction of Stupochek. The attack on the Ivanovskoye Armed Forces was repulsed. On the southern outskirts of Bakhmut, with the support of artillery, the “musicians” are advancing from the side of Experienced and Ivangrad. The Ukrainian garrison holds the line. To the north-west of the city, the "orchestras" advanced in the Khromovoye area and near Bogdanovka. And to the west of Soledar - towards Privolye along the M-03 highway to Slavyansk. With the support of artillery, Wagner PMC also conducted assault operations near Zheleznyansky. And to the north of Soledar - attacked towards Fedorovka. The "musicians" attacked Veseloye from the side of Donetsk Belogorovka. The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation tried to advance towards the Disputed. Russian artillery hit Aleksandro-Shultin, Konstantinovka, Orekhovo-Vasilyevka, Minkovka and Vasyukovka. The Armed Forces of Ukraine attacked Ozaryanovka and Kurdyumovka. (Fig. 2)

In the Lugansk direction, units of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation from Shipilovka conducted offensive operations in the Serebryansky forest area. There is a promotion. But the attacks in the direction of Terny, Nevsky and Makeevka did not bring success. (Fig. 3)

https://t.me/s/wargonzo
"There is great chaos under heaven; the situation is excellent."

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Re: Footnotes from the Ukrainian "Crisis"; New High-Points in Cynicism Part IV

Post by blindpig » Mon Mar 13, 2023 5:47 pm

Avdeevka trenches
POSTED BY @NSANZO
Original Article: Denis Grigoriuk

Image

Our trip to the Avdeevka industrial zone was delayed several times. It is a fact that soldiers on the front line have much more important tasks than escorting the press through the trenches. As a rule, an unarmed person at the front is always a burden. Instead of worrying about carrying out combat tasks, about their own safety and that of their comrades, they have to deal with other people who do not even contribute to the fulfillment of combat operations plans. Still, Frantsuz found the time to take me to the positions where he worked on reconnaissance tasks with the help of a drone and did hands-on exercises with soldiers for drone control in a real war.

We were on the outskirts of Yasinovataya. This is where the Comanche territory that Pérez Reverte talks about begins, with its deserted roads, the terrain full of shrapnel, remains of bricks, metal from projectiles and broken glass that crunches under your feet, but, what is more important, where there is always a feeling of being watched. In modern warfare, it is not necessary to get out of the trenches to do reconnaissance work and know what the enemy's actions are. You just have to launch a bird into the sky, a drone. Often they are civilian devices that, in times of peace, make beautiful pictures, but that perform military tasks in combat conditions.

Frantsuz radioed the soldiers to their positions. It was important to know if there was an enemy bird in the sky. At the front, not hearing the sound of drones can cost you your life. The drone can drop an explosive device on you or direct enemy fire. In addition, it will record the last seconds of your life and then it will be made public on a Telegram channel. According to the soldiers, the availability of means to kill enemy drones significantly reduces casualties among personnel, which shows the importance of these devices in this war.

The vehicle moved. We advanced among the leafless bushes, those that will turn green in spring, hiding the movement of equipment and personnel, but which still made us visible. The car is covered in rust, and if you're not so lucky, you could increase the number of damaged vehicles near the combat positions. It is not just that the roads in this area are bombed, but in the many years of active hostilities in the Avdeevka area, firing positions have been set up by both sides. We grabbed our things, a bottle of water and ran inside. A smiling military man appeared from somewhere. He ran past us to the shed. "Good morning, we are from Ukraine," joked Kurzia. Cynical humor is inherent in professions that are related to death. These types of jokes allow you not to take what is happening completely seriously or you will end up going crazy. So the soldiers at the front usually make these jokes to ease the tension and in this area, the situation is stable tense.

Kurzia looked about 25 years old, it turned out that I hit that number. She says that she has been fighting since Ukrainian militants destroyed her house in Mospino in 2014. She has been fighting ever since. She has spent her entire adult life in war and even now she cannot think about what will happen to her after the hostilities. At this stage, he is more concerned with surviving than making grand plans for a future he may not see.

Kurzia turned out to be very talkative, something that is not very common in these positions. Soldiers usually have to be convinced before they can speak on camera. Kurzia went the other way, he himself started the conversation and at all times offered to go to the positions to record the Ukrainian positions. “Don't raise your head too high. They don't like you, I don't know why. They are on the hunt for reporters," Kurzia warned., this time without any joke, while he loaded the machine gun and inhaled the smoke of the cigar. There's nothing special about the sentence, especially considering where we were. I remember when Ukrainian troops opened fire with grenade launchers on us in neighboring positions a few years ago despite the fact that we clearly had no weapons in hand.

Explosions, shots from grenade launchers and machine guns were heard, and even the work of Russian aviation in the distance. Several combat helicopters were returning from a sortie and heading for the rear. But among all the military sounds, the sound of aviation engines could be distinguished. Airships flew in the sky. “Now the earth will rumble. They work here several times a day. They launch projectiles on the weapons depots and accumulation of equipment, "explained Kuzia .

It was important for me to know what is happening on the Avdeevka front, since, on the one hand, there seems to be a lot of information, but, on the other, more and more attention is being paid to other areas of the front. Kuzia confirmed the latest Ukrainian statements, which say that the Russian army is trying to encircle Avdeevka and is trying to advance on the industrial zone by taking small steps , biting into the positions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, occupying fortified cellars and inching to the next Ukrainian position. Scooping corn out of a can with a knife, Kuzia explained that his house in Karlovka was a stone's throw away. When finished, he got up and disappeared. Some time later, Kuziahe reappeared from the underground darkness with a cup of coffee and gave it to another soldier, Surgut . The soldier shared the aromatic drink with us. At that moment, it was like going back to 6 years ago, when in 2017 we were also in some position in the industrial zone, where the Ukrainian positions were about 60 meters away and we were having coffee with the soldiers of the 11th regiment. Unfortunately, there are no significant changes to the front in this area.

“Our people have taken positions. Enemy points have been detected, possible sniper positions and machine gunners working in pairs exactly according to our positions. So we have to do reconnaissance: fly around our positions, see if the enemy is approaching us, see if they have left remains or if they have mined the area. You also have to fly to enemy positions,” explained Frantsuz , who added that if movement is detected in the Ukrainian positions, a second bird with a load, with a mine or grenade , would take to the sky . Frantsuz explained that the drones are also used to detect the bodies of fallen soldiers, for which a group is then dispatched.

I know Sergey, that's the name of Frantsuz , since the distant 2015, when he served in the Pyatnashka international brigade and after the hard battle near Marinka he came to our editorial office in Donetsk. He showed us images with his uniform covered in blood, he had participated in the evacuation of wounded soldiers during a confrontation.

In the time we haven't met, his combat experience has gained new skills and he is now a drone operator. In addition to reconnaissing enemy positions by himself or with the help of a drone, he also teaches recruits how to control modern artifacts. Classes are held not on training grounds, where combat activity could only be simulated, but in conditions of direct contact with the enemy. Soldiers learn to operate drones and work on Ukrainian electronic warfare in combat conditions.

Frantsuz made another start, his third. He warned us in advance that we had to be prepared, because something could fly at any moment. And he flew, but over close positions. Afterwards, several more explosions rumbled a few hundred meters from where we were. One of the soldiers suggested that the enemy may have detected the arriving bird . The sound of Ukrainian drones was heard in the sky. the birdsthey returned to their place in the darkness of the tunnels. The cold of the underground front ran through my body. Not even the bulletproof vest was hot anymore. The soldiers shook our hands, wished us good luck, and advised us to leave as soon as possible, before more shells arrived from the other side of the front. The car slowly approached the bunker exit. We ran, climbed and left. Five minutes later, over the radio, the soldiers reported that their positions were covered with Ukrainian mortar. We really had been detected.

Google Translator

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Ukraine: The Growing Backlash against the Methods of Conscription
Posted by INTERNATIONALIST 360° on MARCH 12, 2023
Petr Lavrenin

Image
A Ukrainian serviceman places flowers on the grave of a recently killed fellow soldier in a cemetery, during Ukraine Defenders Day in Kharkiv, Ukraine. © AP Photo/Francisco Seco

Ukraine’s general mobilization process has become shrouded in scandal as the authorities become increasingly desperate in their hunt for new recruits


Last year, military conscription became an issue in both Russia and Ukraine. However, the extent has been completely different in the two countries. While in Russia the mobilization was partial, lasting barely more than a month and affecting around 300,000 people, according to official figures – a significant part of whom already had military experience – a completely different picture has developed in Ukraine.

Kiev instituted a general conscription drive which has been in force for more than a year. The exact number of those taken to the armed forces during this time is not known for certain and the process has been accompanied by numerous scandals.

Cases where law enforcement officers have applied force when handing out conscription notices and illegally delivered men to enlistment offices have given rise to public discontent. However, the Ukrainian authorities clearly have no intention of pausing enlistment because the situation remains critical at some sections of the front.

The Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) are losing their grip on fortified areas around Artyomovsk (Bakhmut), and taking huge numbers of casualties, according to the Guardian and other media outlets. Meanwhile, Kiev continues to issue mobilization summonses and is sending people without proper training.

Acceptable limits

According to the country’s legislation, a summons for military duty can only be issued on the street if it specifies the personal data of the person to whom it is given. It is also illegal for military commissars to detain citizens, as they are not the police, and conscripts are not criminals. Yet, that’s exactly how conscription is currently being conducted in Ukraine.

Men of military age are being hunted down, and videos showing military commissars going to extreme lengths to hand out summonses, including by force, constantly circulate on social media.

Odessa, in particular, stands out in this respect. For example, military commissars were caught driving around the city in ambulances. When they came across men of the appropriate age, they stopped, handed over summonses and drove on. After videos emerged on social networks, local military commissars had to explain themselves and claimed that they were given the ambulance to use for their work.



There were also cases when men in Odessa were detained on the street and forcibly taken to military enlistment offices, even without being handed a mobilization summons.

For quite a long time, the AFU’s Operational Command South tried to ignore the illegal, forceful methods used by its military commissars. However, on February 14, a video was released showing military enlistment office staff detaining a man by force. In order to avoid a scandal, the military quickly assured the public that the staff responsible would be disciplined for “incorrect” behavior and the incident investigated.

The incidents in Odessa illustrate the wider issues with conscription in Ukraine and call into question the methods used by the authorities. Physical force and deception have become commonplace. For example, summonses are often handed out by public service employees, and city residents find the documents in their mailboxes, which is also not allowed by law. Military commissars, however, consider the methods legitimate.

The current situation is understandable — the AFU is running critically short of reserves and military enlistment offices throughout the country and seems to be trying to replenish units by any means at its disposal. However, public discontent with the situation is growing which not only threatens the mobilization process, but also undermines confidence in the authorities.

The case of Bogdan Pokito received particularly wide attention. The 33-year-old resident of Ternopol was handed a summons at a bus stop at the end of January and, without any military training, sent to the front near Artyomovsk, where he died just a few days later.

Fast-paced changes

Following this, public disapproval continued to intensify, so much so that the political authorities and the Ministry of Defense were forced to quickly adapt their messaging. The notorious military commissars of Odessa were obliged to record videos of how they work. Natalia Gumenyuk, head of the Joint Coordinating Press Center of the Operational Command South was forced to clarify that “Each group is being equipped [with cameras]. We are working on it. This is not mandatory procedure, but realizing that things can go like that, we used it as a warning measure.”



At the same time, deputies summoned AFU representatives responsible for the mobilization process to examine incidents that received significant public attention. It is worth noting that the MPs only took notice of the situation only after a fellow parliamentarian was handed a summons in the middle of the street. Following the incident, Fyodor Venislavsky, a member of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on National Security, Defense, and Intelligence, said that parliament is “not satisfied” with certain mobilization methods.

He promised that after the hearing, which is yet to be held, recommendations will be developed for “defining clear boundaries within which representatives of military enlistment offices can and cannot act”. Deputy Defense Minister Anna Malyar wrote on her Telegram-channel that the ministry also intends to improve the work of military enlistment offices, given the levels of public dissatisfaction.

In the meantime, a deputy from the Servant of the People party, Georgy Mazurashu, has registered a bill offering to establish a minimum 3-month training period for new conscripts with no prior military experience.

However, it is still unclear whether the draft process and most importantly, how it is perceived by ordinary Ukrainians, will see any positive changes.

Mobilization gains momentum

Despite official statements, conscription in Ukraine is gaining momentum, and more citizens can be promptly mobilized if such a need arises, an dvisor to the Minister of Defense of Ukraine, Yuriy Sak, told Bloomberg. “We have enough reserves. And of course, if needed, we will mobilize more people,” the official said in response to whether Ukraine has enough soldiers to continue fighting.

At the same time, there are very few ways for men of military age to avoid the front. Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense recently listed legitimate reasons for conscription exemptions: an illness that does not allow a candidate to move independently, the need to care for a sick relative, open criminal proceedings, or the death of a close relative. To confirm an exemption, the person must provide relevant documents. Conscripts who fail to appear at a military enlistment office are subject to administrative and even criminal liability.

[youtube]https//youtu.be/26sbDIgFPRo[/youtube]

Another legal way to avoid the draft is to get a deferral from conscription. However, in recent months many entrepreneurs have complained that this mechanism is faulty. It has become increasingly difficult to postpone military service for specialists – not everyone who’s on the list gets a deferral, and other workers risk receiving a summons. Many enterprises fear providing personal data about their employees. Moreover, many organizations do not fit the “strategic” criteria which means they cannot get deferment for their staff at all.

In order to have enough workers in the spring, agricultural entrepreneurs are already attempting to postpone military service for their specialists. After all, if the majority of able-bodied men are mobilized, the sector will not have enough workers. Therefore, managers are trying to arrange contingencies in advance. Especially given that, for many rural residents, the term of preliminary deferment is expiring. Given the bureaucracy and official caution around the sensitive issue, the approved list may only reach the head of the agricultural enterprise by fall, when it’s time to harvest crops. In the meantime, it remains unclear who will sow the fields in the spring.

All this is a major challenge for Ukraine’s farmers. According to Viktor Goncharenko, president of the Association of Farmers and Private Landowners of Ukraine, agrarians are concerned about who is going to operate tractors and combine harvesters, since small farms employ many workers of military service age. “We don’t request deferrals for anyone. We had only one driver called up to the front and so far, didn’t have a problem with the summonses. We don’t want to create problems for ourselves,” said gas station owner Dmitry Leushkin. Filling stations are part of the fuel and energy sector and considered a privileged enterprise, and can request deferral from military service for over 50% of fit-for-service employees. However, the owners prefer to stay quiet.

An increasing number of businesses are choosing to take a similar path and avoid official deferment lists.One of the leaders of an enterprise in the Cherkasy region told the Strana outlet on condition of anonymity that “We’ve seen numerous cases at neighboring enterprises where half of the employees received deferrals from conscription and the rest received mobilization summonses — either before the deferment decision arrived or right after. Those who were not granted deferment promptly received summonses. Therefore, we decided to keep quiet and not submit any lists.”



The problem with deferral from conscription is one of the few common denominators between the draft in Ukraine and Russia. When Russia instituted partial mobilization, the media repeatedly reporting on scandals involving the conscription of people who were not supposed to be there.

However, efforts were made to correct mistakes. For example, the story of the mobilization of a single father from St. Petersburg, the only legal guardian of two sons, resonated widely in the country. Also, Russian citizens were often mobilized despite the fact that they had a deferral. But in the vast majority of such cases, governors got involved in solving the problems, resulting in illegal mobilizations being canceled.

Psychological support

Ukraine badly needs conscripts, but the enthusiasm of military-age men is declining and the authorities know it. Gumenyuk blames “propaganda sources” spreading word that receiving a summons equals being sent to the front. “This is absolutely not true,” she claims.

It will take a lot more than her reassurances to calm the Ukrainian population and hush the current wave of negativity. Against the background of hostilities and mobilization scandals, society is becoming more anxious. In mid-February, the European Bureau of the World Health Organization (WHO) published an estimate that 9.6 million Ukrainians may suffer from moderate to severe mental disorders.

The report shows that according to the organization’s global estimates, 22% of those who have lived in a combat zone over the past 10 years have some form of mental illness, ranging from mild depression or anxiety to psychosis. Moreover, almost one in ten people (9%) suffer from a moderate to severe mental disorder.

“Applying these estimates to the Ukrainian population means that 9.6 million people may have mental disorders, of which 3.9 million may be moderate or severe,” the WHO reported. In light of this information, the organization supported the development of a psychological support plan for Ukraine’s population during and after the war.

These statistics make us question the toll the war is having on Ukrainian society and what will become of it after the end of hostilities, when social solidarity weakens, and the consequences of months or even years of emotional stress emerge.

In August 2022, the Ministry of Health calculated the approximate number of Ukrainians who will suffer from mental disorders in the aftermath of the war. At the time, Minister Viktor Lyashko predicted that 15 million people would be affected. “We are already predicting in absolute terms the number of people who will suffer from mental disorders as a result of this war — that’s over 15 million people. These are the people who will at least need psychological support,” the official said.



While mild depression does not pose any threat to others and causes suffering only for the patient, some types of disorders are more serious. However post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which, according to international organizations affects from 50% to 80% of war veterans, can cause thoughts of inflicting self-harm or harm to others, as well as cause problems at work or in relationships, and often results in aggression.

Considering the widespread cases of PTSD among soldiers who know how to handle weapons, and the wide availability of arms on Ukraine’s “black market”, the war and its aftermath pose a serious risk to society. Considering the minimum 50% spread of PTSD among participants in the hostilities, at least 250,000 Ukrainians are likely be affected by the end of the war. And this number is most likely underestimated.

Of course, this topic is also relevant for Russia. Back in December, President Vladimir Putin pointed out that 15% of the population in the country needed psychological help, and that this figure was 35% among young people. In March, he instructed the government to improve provision of psychological assistance to the population, primarily refugees and the military.

It is still unclear how many people the Armed Forces of Ukraine plan to draft in the near future. But over the past two months, about 30,000 servicemen have been sent to Western Europe for training. These are mostly people without prior military experience who need to be trained on Western equipment. Add to this the number of conscripts required to urgently replace losses at the front and those needed for auxiliary work outside the active war zone, and the figures may drastically grow.

As of now, there’s no indication that public pressure may somehow alter the course of general mobilization in Ukraine. In a country that has so far conscripted about one million men, public unwillingness to take up arms has not gone beyond highlighting the illegal behavior of military commissars on social media and criticizing the authorities. However, with the onset of warmer weather, hostilities will inevitably intensify, which means that casualties will grow, and more fighters will be needed. It is only a matter of time before Ukraine will be forced to expand conscription categories to include those exempted due to poor health, workplace deferment, or difficult family circumstances. Of course, the same could eventually also apply to Russia.

https://libya360.wordpress.com/2023/03/ ... scription/

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The Washington scenario in phase two is to fight Russia to the last European

My latest essay on the wrongheadedness of Belgian and French labor leaders fiddling while Rome burns elicited a number of Contact messages that are too important to keep to myself. What is at issue is how we read the scenario for the further course of the ongoing war in and over Ukraine: will it go on for years at the present level of intensity or is some devastating escalation to be feared in the coming months when the long-promised Ukrainian counter-offensive gets under way.

Allow me to say up front that no one knows for sure. But some observers point to schisms within the Washington establishment, in particular within the State Department, over how determined Russia is to react to violation of its red lines.

One can blame Vladimir Putin all one wishes for the restraint in prosecuting this war that is misinterpreted as cowardice or indecisiveness in the halls of power in Washington. Assigning blame for the misreading of Russia’s intentions changes nothing. The result is that the more hawkish side of the Washington establishment is urging upon the President measures that risk the onset of a full-blown war between Russia and the European powers in the immediate future.

I say “European powers” rather than NATO, because nearly all commentators agree that the U.S. has no intention of putting its own soldiers and homeland at risk when it can play with self-sacrificing proxies. The incredible acceptance of such rules by European leaders has been demonstrated manifestly by German Chancellor Schulz’s silence over the U.S. planned and executed destruction of the Nord Stream II pipelines.

Stage one of the Ukraine war as scripted by the USA was to fight against Russia to the last Ukrainian. Stage two is to fight against Russia to the last European.

In the past few weeks, the USA has delivered to Bremerhaven in Germany and to Gdansk in Poland vast quantities of military hardware that is not going to Kiev but is being prepared for a war with Russia to be fought by either of those states with or without NATO backing. A week ago, one of the US “Doomsday Planes” that coordinate action in a nuclear war came to Europe via Iceland. Smart observers noted this could be an exercise to prepare nuclear attacks on Russia using warheads and delivery systems already on European soil.

Let us remember that Victoria Nuland remains the most important personality in the State Department, head and shoulders above her nominal boss, Blinken. This is the lady who famously, while planning the coup d’etat of February 2014 that overthrew Ukrainian President Yanukovich, was recorded as telling the then U.S. ambassador to Kiev “fuck the EU.” Well, according to information in the public domain that is exactly what she is cooking up today and we, Europeans, are in the soup.

Nuland is said to be the loudest mouth calling for provision to Kiev of long range precision missiles for a summer attack on Crimea which will surely elicit a game-changing level of violence in the response from Russia, possibly entailing strikes against the logistical centers in Poland, Romania and Germany which are delivering the new weapons systems to Ukraine. There are ways this can happen which will make invocation of NATO’s ‘one for all and all for one’ Article 5 problematic.

This is not to say that the United States is not at the same time preparing a back-up scenario in case the Russians go for the principal villain and not for the European implementers. In the past week, a nuclear capable B-52 bomber of the U.S. Air Force is said to have been rehearsing an attack on St Petersburg.

In conclusion, I ask those of my European readers who are leaders in financial institutions, in wealth management, in manufacturing industry, in global shipping, in universities and in widely respected think tanks (from my LinkedIn account I know that some of you are daily followers of these essays), I ask you to use your voices, in public and in private to save Europe from the disaster that may befall us in a matter of months. Salvation will come only when several more European heads of state join Viktor Orban in voting against further arms to Kiev and for an immediate cease-fire. What we need now is definitive peace negotiations between Moscow and Kiev based on the principle of a neutral Ukraine.

©Gilbert Doctorow, 2023

https://gilbertdoctorow.com/2023/03/12/ ... -european/

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Artemovsk. 03/13/2023
March 13, 3:20 p.m

Image

Across Artemovsk, mid-afternoon, March 13

Over the past day, our assault groups have made some progress in the industrial sector and in the area of ​​the AZOM plant. The enemy confirms the gradual advance of our assault groups in the city blocks, despite attempts to organize a tough defense and stop the advance of the Wagner.

Fierce fighting continues in the Krasnoye area. The enemy confidently controls the settlement and tries to push the Wagner off the Chasov-Yar-Krasnoye-Artemovsk road by means of counterattacks in order to use it in the future if the situation with Khromovo worsens.

Khromovo is also under the enemy - the battles are going to the north. Since the loss of Khromovo means the automatic formation of a cauldron, they will hold on to it to the last.

Bogdanovka is also under the Armed Forces of Ukraine. There are battles at Orekhovo-Vasilyevka and at Zaliznyansky.
Meanwhile, due to the shelling of roads from Artemovsk, on the roads and fields to the west of the city, the number of destroyed wheeled and tracked vehicles continues to increase. This is a good process.

The enemy is concentrating additional forces in Chasov Yar (as well as in the Rai-Aleksandrovka area) and is expected to try this week to push the Wagner back at least in one of the directions from Artemovsk. There is a transfer of reserves taken from the border with Belarus and from the Chernihiv region.

The strikes of the RF Armed Forces in the area of ​​Chasov Yar and Konstantinovka are primarily aimed at the enemy's redeployed reserves, which are deployed in industrial zones and the private sector. In general, the battle for Artyomovsk continues to put serious pressure on the operational plans of the Ukrainian command, which affects the situation in other areas as well.

https://t.me/boris_rozhin/80330 - zinc

https://colonelcassad.livejournal.com/8220859.html

Google Translator

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‘Rigorous’ Maidan Massacre Exposé Suppressed by Leading Academic Journal
Posted by INTERNATIONALIST 360° on MARCH 12, 2023
Kit Klarenberg

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A peer-reviewed paper initially approved and praised by a prestigious academic journal was suddenly rescinded without explanation. Its author, one of the world’s top scholars on Ukraine-related issues, had marshaled overwhelming evidence to conclude Maidan protesters were killed by pro-coup snipers.

The massacre by snipers of anti-government activists and police officers in Kiev’s Maidan Square in late February 2014 was a defining moment in the US-orchestrated overthrow of Ukraine’s elected government. The death of 70 protesters triggered an avalanche of international outrage that made President Viktor Yanukovych’s downfall a fait accompli. Yet today these killings remain unsolved.

Enter Ivan Katchanovski, a Ukrainian-Canadian political scientist at the University of Ottawa. For years, he marshaled overwhelming evidence demonstrating that the snipers were not affiliated with Yanukovych’s government, but pro-Maidan operatives firing from protester-occupied buildings.

Though Katchanovski’s groundbreaking has been studiously ignored by the mainstream media, a scrupulous study he presented on the slaughter in September 2015 and August 2021 and published in 2016 and in 2020 has been cited on over 100 occasions by scholars and experts. As a result of this paper and other pieces of research, he has among the world’s most-referenced political scientists specializing in Ukrainian matters.

In the final months of 2022, Katchanovski submitted a new investigation on the Maidan massacre to a prominent social sciences journal. Initially accepted with minor revisions after extensive peer review, the publication’s editor effusively praised the work in a lengthy private note. They said the paper was “exceptional in many ways,” and offered “solid” evidence in support of its conclusions. The reviewers concurred with this judgment.

Orwellian: My new Maidan massacre in #Ukraine article was accepted after minor revisions by journal editor but then rejected by journal without any further peer-review or revisions in what editor acknowledged was "political decision." World-renowned scholar supported my appeal 1/ pic.twitter.com/LRTFL3i5x9

— Ivan Katchanovski (@I_Katchanovski) January 6, 2023

However, the paper was not published, a decision Katchanovski firmly believes to have been “political.” He filed an appeal, but to no avail.

My appeal to journal has been rejected even after letter of support from world-renowned social scientist who contacted me because of my research concerning Maidan massacre & #UkraineRussiaWar. 4/ pic.twitter.com/DCE4uYmp9g

— Ivan Katchanovski (@I_Katchanovski) January 6, 2023

Among those fervently supporting Katchanovski’s appeal was renowned US academic Jeffrey Sachs. “You have written a very important, rigorous, and substantial article. It is thoroughly documented. It is on a topic of great significance,” Sachs wrote to the scholar. “Your paper should be published for reasons of its excellence…The journal will only benefit from publishing such a work of importance and excellence, which will further the scholarly understanding and debate regarding a very important moment of modern history.”

Academic conspiracy of silence

Katchanovski declined to name the journal in question, but described it as “top-tier” in the field of social sciences. He believes its refusal to publish his study is “extraordinary,” but nonetheless emblematic of a “far bigger problem in academic publishing and academia.”

“The editor who accepted my article only learned it would not be published from my tweets on the subject. This reversal was highly irregular and political. There is growing political censorship concerning Ukraine in academia, and also self-censorship,” Katchanovski told The Grayzone. “Many scholars are afraid to conduct evidence-based research that runs contrary to established Western narratives on Maidan, the Russia-Ukraine war, and other issues related to the conflicts in Ukraine Kiev following the 2014 coup.”

By contrast, the scholar said, those willing to “blatantly and uncritically parrot Western narratives,” even when their fables run “contrary to evidence,” are rewarded, and encounter no resistance to publishing their work. Katchanovski is well-positioned to comment on academic censorship related to Ukraine: three other journals that accepted his papers after successful “expert” peer-review processes also ultimately refused to publish.

In January 2023, for example, another academic publication rejected a paper authored by Katchanovski “for similar political reasons.” The work examined far-right involvement in the Donbas civil war, and the May 2014 Odessa massacre in which ultra-nationalists forced pro-federalist, Russophone activists into the city’s Trade Unions House and set the building on fire, killing dozens and wounding many more. As with the Maidan sniper killings, no one has ever been brought to justice for these heinous acts.

Katchanovski claims the journal’s editor offered an assortment of excuses for not moving forward post-peer review. As publication approached, he said the editor falsely claimed the study was identical to his previous Maidan massacre oeuvre. Yet an Ouriginal software check confirms the paper Katchanovski submitted bore no similarity to his Maidan study. The editor also complained that he classified the eight-year-long conflict in Donbas as a “civil war” which was initially provoked by Ukraine’s far-right.

That same paper had been rejected by yet another journal months earlier, similarly because Katchanovski dared to describe the war in Donbas as “civil, with Russian military interventions.” This characterization is common in the “majority of scholarly studies” on the conflict, he told The Grayzone.

That violent far-right elements were centrally involved in the Odesa massacre is confirmed by copious video footage and hardly controversial. Why recognition of this indisputable fact was considered overly contentious by an academic journal remains unclear, but the rationale behind the suppression of Katchanovski’s Maidan massacre investigations is self-evident.

“This is done for political reasons. The mainstream media follows their governments, not the facts. Western journalists grossly misrepresented the Maidan massacre,” the scholar said. “With a few exceptions, journalists did not report videos of Maidan-supporting snipers and their confessions, and testimonies of the wounded Maidan protesters and several hundred witnesses concerning such snipers.”

Far-right elements discuss victim tally with US officials

The open source evidence collected by Katchanovski persuasively supports his conclusion that the Maidan massacre “was a successful false flag operation organized and conducted by elements of the Maidan leadership and concealed groups of snipers in order to overthrow the government and seize power in Ukraine.”

Among the trove are 14 videos depicting snipers nesting in Maidan protester-controlled buildings, 10 of which unambiguously show shooters tied to far-right groups ensconced in Hotel Ukraina, aiming at crowds of demonstrators below, and shooting at government-aligned law enforcement officials.

Meanwhile, synchronized videos demonstrate shots fired by the government security forces initially charged with the massacre do not coincide with the killing of protesters. Instead, the police officers fired warning shots at inanimate objects such as lampposts, trees, and the ground in order to settle violent crowds. They also fired into walls and windows where snipers in the Maidan-controlled Hotel Ukraina were located, targeting the snipers nested there.

The Maidan massacre trial is expected to issue its final verdict this autumn. Hundreds of witnesses, including 51 protesters injured during the shooting, have testified that they were shot at from Maidan-controlled buildings or areas. Some said they witnessed snipers inside the building. This narrative is supported by the investigations of government ballistics experts. In all, 14 self-admitted members of the Maidan sniper groups have have implicated specific Maidan snipers and leaders in the massacre.

Despite the groundswell of evidence pointing toward a false-flag operation, Katchanovski has no faith the trial will get to the truth, or that its verdict will be based on the highly incriminating evidence amassed over proceedings:

“The prosecution simply denied there were such snipers and did not investigate them. Ukrainian courts lack independence and often base their decisions, especially in such high-profile and highly politicized cases, on directives from the Presidential administration. It’s a difficult situation for the judges and jury. There are threats from the far-rightconvict thenot to acquit police members,.”

There are other reasons to suspect the verdict will be a whitewash. For one, the risk that the truth behind the events could implicate US officials directly in the killings, and more generally the Maidan coup, is considerable. It is an axiomatic article of faith in the Western mainstream that Washington was in no way involved in the upheaval, despite mountains of hard proof to the contrary.

High-ranking members of the far-right Svoboda party, including its longtime leader Oleg Tyagnibok, and his deputy Ruslan Koshulinskyi, have alleged that the Maidan sniper slaughter was closely coordinated with the US. Tyagnibok has sworn that after the first four protesters were killed, he was shocked by the lack of international outcry.

“Why is there no reaction? This is not enough,” he claims to have lamented at the time.

In turn, Koshulinskyi discussed what death toll would be sufficient for Washington and its international lackeys to begin loudly demanding Yanukovych’s removal from office:

“They talked about the first deaths – well, five, 20…100? When will the government be to blame? In the end, they reached the figure of 100. There was no pressure. There were no sanctions. They waited until a mass murder. And if there is a mass murder in the country, the government is to blame, because they crossed the line, the authorities cannot allow mass murders.”

https://libya360.wordpress.com/2023/03/ ... c-journal/

****

From Cassads's Telegram account:

Colonelcassad

Image

Starobelsk direction
situation as of 19.00 March 13, 2023

🔻In the Kupyansky sector, the parties are fighting in the area of ​​​​the village of Yagodnoye . Fire support for Russian troops is provided by Su-25 tactical aircraft , as well as four Mi-8 helicopters .

▪️Mortar crews of the 40th OSB of the Armed Forces of Ukraine conduct regular shelling of Russian positions in Gryanikovka . Target designation to the enemy is provided by drones.

▪️In Kislovka, UAV crews use Mavik-3 copters to track the activities of Russian troops, and sabotage and reconnaissance groups of the Armed Forces of Ukraine operate at the Kislovka-Krakhmalnoye line.

▪️The enemy is equipping the advanced positions of 28 OSB at the line of Krasnoe Pervoe - Dvurechnaya and 109 obr in the Sinkovka area . To maintain combat readiness, ammunition was transported to the strongholds of 36 OSB in Kamenka .

🔻In the Limansky sector, six assault groups of the 25th Airborne Infantry Brigade of Ukraine, with the support of several armored vehicles, tried to counterattack the positions of the 144th Motor Rifle Division of the RF Armed Forces in order to return the previously lost strongholds in the Zhuravka Balka area . Russian troops repulsed the attack, the enemy retreated with losses.

▪️To slow down the advance of the RF Armed Forces, the Ukrainian command transferred operational reserve units to the front line, which made another unsuccessful attempt at a counterattack.

❗️Over the past two days, the paratroopers of the 25th brigade lost 20 people killed and 32 wounded .

▪️The enemy is carrying out a planned rotation of the personnel of 13 odshb 95 odshbr in the vicinity of Torsky , and is also transferring reserves to reinforce advanced positions west of the village of Dibrova .

https://t.me/s/boris_rozhin

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"There is great chaos under heaven; the situation is excellent."

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Re: Footnotes from the Ukrainian "Crisis"; New High-Points in Cynicism Part IV

Post by blindpig » Tue Mar 14, 2023 12:28 pm

small cracks
POSTED BY @NSANZO ⋅ 03/14/2023

Image

Yesterday, in a regular communication with the press, the Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, stated that, under the current conditions, the goals set by the Russian Federation in Ukraine can only be achieved through military means. Although they cannot be considered an official announcement from the Kremlin, Peskov's comments show the change that has taken place in the Russian leadership in the last year. In March and April 2022, Russia aspired to an agreement with which to achieve its objectives: the Ukrainian acceptance of the loss of Crimea and Donbass and the commitment of neutrality in exchange for security guarantees from different countries. The reality of the war and the will of Ukraine to continue fighting not only to return to the borders of February 23, 2022 but to those of 1991,

As the economic and prisoner exchange agreements show, communication between the two countries has never been completely interrupted. However, since the breakdown of negotiations at the Istanbul summit, there have been no political negotiations. Nor have Ukraine's Western partners ever promoted a ceasefire negotiation and, like their proxy in Kiev, have openly and declaredly opted for war to achieve their political objective of weakening Russia as much as possible. And neither should a sudden change in the political aspects of the war be expected because of the announced Chinese intervention. As published yesterday by The Wall Street Journal, Xi Jinping intends to talk in the coming days with both Volodymyr Zelensky and Vladimir Putin, an announcement that has been understood as a way of testing the possibility of acting as a mediator between the two countries. This initiative comes just a few days after Chinese mediation achieved the resumption of diplomatic relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia, with the consequent relaxation of tensions in the Middle East. However, the difficulty of achieving even a temporary ceasefire in a war in which Ukraine publicly rejects any proposal that contradicts the maxim of war to the end, makes a significant change in the coming months unforeseen.

In a context of preparation for the resumption of large-scale hostilities after the brief respite that the mud season has given in parts of the front, any proposal to stop, even momentarily, the war, is seen by Kiev as an unacceptable concession to Russia. The main argument is that it would save Moscow time in its preparation of those reserves created on the basis of the partial mobilization that began in September. However, that time would also guarantee Kiev the possibility of receiving the material promised by its partners -mainly Western tanks, although perhaps even the aviation that they so desperately demand- and would allow the training of those troops that are in instruction process in Ukraine or in different allied countries.

Ukraine's calculation goes beyond its military needs to prepare for this offensive that both kyiv and NATO hope will be a turning point in the conflict. Despite the public declarations by both parties, which continue to affirm that Western support will be maintained until the end, it is clear that maintaining the current flows of financing, weapons and ammunition in the long term is unfeasible for, for example, the countries of the Union Union, which are already struggling to meet Ukrainian ammunition needs. Hence the need to shorten the conflict or reduce its intensity.

As practically every month, in recent days a relevant American media outlet, in this case Político , has published an article highlighting the fissures that could be beginning to appear in the coalition that finances and supplies the war in Ukraine, both in its financial aspect as purely arms. The importance of this medium lies in its closeness to the Democratic Party and the constant allusions to the internal division that would exist, according to their sources, within the Biden administration itself. This is not the supposed Republican opposition to spending on the supply of weapons and which, for now, has not materialized beyond the media discourse, but discrepancies in the Democratic executive itself.

The US media mentions three aspects in which the interests or points of view of Washington and Kiev are beginning to diverge: the issue of the Nord Stream, the defense of Artyomovsk and the idea of ​​fighting Russia for control of Crimea.

However, there is no consensus on this either. “Since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, many analysts have worried about the durability of Western support for kyiv. Not a week goes by without reports of weakening will, war fatigue, or cracks in the coalition. And yet, after a year of conflict, Western commitment to Ukraine has not diminished and, judging by the assistance delivered, it is stronger than ever,” the influential Foreign Affairs wrote last week .

In reality, the two visions are not contradictory and the facts deny that these frictions can have consequences in the short or even medium term. In the case of the question of who blew up the Nord Stream, the American and German press have recently targeted a pro-Ukrainian groupled by an oligarch (the latest information published by Scandinavian intelligence leaks points directly to Petro Poroshenko) and the time that has elapsed without any evidence to implicate Moscow reinforces the idea that the enemy who blew up the European gas pipelines is not in the Kremlin. However, the same media that have launched the accusations towards Kiev have also taken it upon themselves to exonerate President Zelensky and his entourage, for which reason work has already been done so that this is not the reason for a possible loss of mutual trust. The announcement of the creation of a joint NATO-EU commission to guarantee the security of critical infrastructure announced last week, after the publication of the press accusations, also points to the fact that, for the moment,

The other two issues mentioned by Politico to explain the friction between Ukraine and the United States are military aspects related to the defense of Artyomovsk and the fight for Crimea. Assuming that it is not a strategic square, a part of the Biden administration, fundamentally linked to the Pentagon, does not understand the Ukrainian impetus to use immense amounts of ammunition to defend at all costs the continuation of this symbolic battle. Ukraine is now trying to fight back, basically to keep supply routes open, but according to The Wall Street Journal published yesterday, "Ukrainian troops are suffering heavy casualties in Bakhmut, especially now that paved roads are no longer available for the supply of ammunition and evacuation of civilians and dirt roads are impassable for many vehicles."

The third argument, that of the fight for Crimea, is the only one truly capable of creating serious friction between Ukraine and its partners. For months now, the US press has been leaking statements from that part of the Pentagon that does not believe in Kiev's ability to defeat Russia in a territory where it "has entrenched itself for almost a decade." This argument prefers to forget that Russia has a population loyal to Moscow in that territory and that it has suffered in these nine years, for example, the cut off of Ukraine's water supply and the attempts by Ukrainian and Tatar nationalists to also cut off the electricity supply. .

Statements by different politicians, mainly Europeans such as Emmanuel Macron or Rishi Sunak, suggest that the current increase in military assistance to Ukraine seeks precisely to use Crimea to place Kiev in a position of strength. However, it would be a question of threatening the peninsula, not of capturing it, so that, at risk of a territory and a population that it cannot give up, Russia would be forced to accept the Ukrainian conditions. For the moment, Ukraine fully and insistently rejects this possibility of letting Crimea go and demands from its partners weapons that not everyone within the Biden administration is willing to hand over. Only then can real friction between the partners take place. kyiv's political communication is preparing its population for the fight to the end, not for compromise,

In any case, the financing, weapons and ammunition already committed by kyiv's allies is not in danger in the short or medium term. The idea of ​​a future battle for the Azov Sea is the starting point for both Ukraine and its Western partners. Preparations for the spring-summer campaign are underway, no nuance in the interpretation of the battles is going to prevent the arms, ammunition and financing delivery machinery from continuing to function in the coming months.

https://slavyangrad.es/2023/03/14/26834/#more-26834

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Ukraine’s Possible Bakhmut Counteroffensive & What Poland’s Military Build-Up Means
Posted by INTERNATIONALIST 360° on MARCH 13, 2023



Update on conflict in Ukraine for March 13, 2023:

– Bakhmut continues to be encircled by Russian forces;

– The Western media is reporting conflicting claims by Ukraine and Russia regarding steep losses inflicted on opposing sides;

– The West claims Ukraine is inflicting huge losses on Russian forces and that Bakhmut has little strategic value;

– The Western media, however, also admits Ukraine is outgunned between 3:1 to 4:1 in terms of artillery and despite claims that Russia has lost 20,000-30,000 troops around Bakhmut alone, the BBC’s own project verifying Russian losses says as of March 2023 Russia’s 1 year total losses stand at 16,000;

– A counteroffensive by Ukraine may lead to temporary gains, just as in Aleppo, Syria in 2016, however the fundamentals leading to Bakhmut’s encirclement have not been addressed, therefore any gains risk being reversed;

– A Ukrainian counteroffensive on any major scale will divert troops meant for Kiev’s spring offensive, diminishing the combat potential of other upcoming offensives;

– Poland’s military build-up is being hyped by the Western media, however Polish ambitions would see the creation of a military force roughly the size of Ukraine’s military at the beginning of 2022;

– Poland’s build-up will take years to complete;

References:

Live UA Map: https://liveuamap.com/

BBC – Ukraine war: Heavy losses reported as battle for Bakhmut rages (March 13, 2023): https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe

Kyiv Independent – Media: Public data suggests over 16,000 Russian soldiers have been killed during first year of all-out war (March 4, 2023): https://kyivindependent.com/news-feed

Washington Post – Opinion Biden must follow Roosevelt’s ‘arsenal of democracy’ example (March 6, 2023): https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinio

Financial Times – Ukraine asks EU for 250,000 artillery shells a month (March 2023): https://www.ft.com/content/75ee9701-a

The Economist – Rebels break the siege of Aleppo, but at a cost (2016): https://www.economist.com/middle-east

The Telegraph – Poland builds Europe’s largest land force to counter Russian threat (March 11, 2023): https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-new

The Telegraph – A Russian victory in Bakhmut would be a costly strategic defeat for Putin (March 7, 2023): https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023

https://libya360.wordpress.com/2023/03/ ... -up-means/

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Ukraine - Media Start To Acknowledge Reality

Finally some truth about the real state of the Ukrainian military is sneaking into main stream media. It is as bad, still not fully disclosed, as we have described it again and again.

As the Washington Post provides:

Ukraine short of skilled troops and munitions as losses, pessimism grow

I'll leave out the propaganda bits and go for the factual beef. The quotes are long but needed to grasp the depth of horrible situation.

The opening paragraph:

The quality of Ukraine’s military force, once considered a substantial advantage over Russia, has been degraded by a year of casualties that have taken many of the most experienced fighters off the battlefield, leading some Ukrainian officials to question Kyiv’s readiness to mount a much-anticipated spring offensive.

That spring offensive is as likely to happen as the announced relief campaign to unblock Bakhmut. The later is bugged down in mud which will only become worse over the next few weeks.

The spring campaign will be made up of green recruits which will use a wild mix of weapons they are not familiar with. Unless there are some 'western' surprises I see no way how it can overwhelm the well prepared Russian defense lines.

Back to the piece:

[Á]n influx of inexperienced draftees, brought in to plug the losses, has changed the profile of the Ukrainian force, which is also suffering from basic shortages of ammunition, including artillery shells and mortar bombs, according to military personnel in the field.
“The most valuable thing in war is combat experience,” said a battalion commander in the 46th Air Assault Brigade, who is being identified only by his call sign, Kupol, in keeping with Ukrainian military protocol. “A soldier who has survived six months of combat and a soldier who came from a firing range are two different soldiers. It’s heaven and earth.”

“And there are only a few soldiers with combat experience,” Kupol added. “Unfortunately, they are all already dead or wounded.”

Such grim assessments have spread a palpable, if mostly unspoken, pessimism from the front lines to the corridors of power in Kyiv, the capital.


Ukrainian losses, estimated to be nearer to 200,000 than to 100,000 dead with even more wounded, are especially felt at the lower command level. One can not just take a salesman or teacher from the street and put them into a junior command role.

Kupol said he was speaking out in hopes of securing better training for Ukrainian forces from Washington and that he hopes Ukrainian troops being held back for a coming counteroffensive will have more success than the inexperienced soldiers now manning the front under his command.
“There’s always belief in a miracle,” he said. “Either it will be a massacre and corpses or it’s going to be a professional counteroffensive. There are two options. There will be a counteroffensive either way.”

It indeed will need a miracle for the counteroffensive to become anything but a massacre.

One senior Ukrainian government official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to be candid, called the number of tanks promised by the West a “symbolic” amount. Others privately voiced pessimism that promised supplies would even reach the battlefield in time.
“If you have more resources, you more actively attack,” the senior official said. “If you have fewer resources, you defend more. We’re going to defend. That’s why if you ask me personally, I don’t believe in a big counteroffensive for us. I’d like to believe in it, but I’m looking at the resources and asking, ‘With what?’ Maybe we’ll have some localized breakthroughs.”

“We don’t have the people or weapons,” the senior official added. “And you know the ratio: When you’re on the offensive, you lose twice or three times as many people. We can’t afford to lose that many people.”

The U.S. is not going to ask if the "Ukraine can afford the losses". It will push for a large attack which will have little chance to even get out of its preparation phase.

Kupol, who consented to having his photograph taken and said he understood he could face personal blowback for giving a frank assessment, described going to battle with newly drafted soldiers who had never thrown a grenade, who readily abandoned their positions under fire and who lacked confidence in handling firearms.
His unit withdrew from Soledar in eastern Ukraine in the winter after being surrounded by Russian forces who later captured the city. Kupol recalled how hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers in units fighting alongside his battalion simply abandoned their positions, even as fighters for Russia’s Wagner mercenary group pressed ahead.

After a year of war, Kupol, a lieutenant colonel, said his battalion is unrecognizable. Of about 500 soldiers, roughly 100 were killed in action and another 400 wounded, leading to complete turnover. Kupol said he was the sole military professional in the battalion, and he described the struggle of leading a unit composed entirely of inexperienced troops.

“I get 100 new soldiers,” Kupol said. “They don’t give me any time to prepare them. They say, ‘Take them into the battle.’ They just drop everything and run. That’s it. Do you understand why? Because the soldier doesn’t shoot. I ask him why, and he says, ‘I’m afraid of the sound of the shot.’ And for some reason, he has never thrown a grenade. … We need NATO instructors in all our training centers, and our instructors need to be sent over there into the trenches. Because they failed in their task.”

He described severe ammunition shortages, including a lack of simple mortar bombs and grenades for U.S.-made MK 19s.
...
“You’re on the front line,” Kupol said. “They’re coming toward you, and there’s nothing to shoot with.”

Kupol said Kyiv needed to focus on better preparing new troops in a systematic way. “It’s like all we do is give interviews and tell people that we’ve already won, just a little bit further away, two weeks, and we’ll win,” he said.[/i]

Yes, Kiev, helped by 'western' media, is speaking of a victory that is unlikely to ever come. The view from the field is way different:

Dmytro, a Ukrainian soldier whom The Post is identifying only by first name for security reasons, described many of the same conditions. Some of the less-experienced troops serving at his position with the 36th Marine Brigade in the Donetsk region “are afraid to leave the trenches,” he said. Shelling is so intense at times, he said, that one soldier will have a panic attack, then “others catch it.”

The first time he saw fellow soldiers very shaken, Dmytro said, he tried to talk them through the reality of the risks. The next time, he said, they “just ran from the position.”

“I don’t blame them,” he said. “They were so confused.”


Yes, shell shock is real. Being under artillery fire is terrifying. Especially when you are a newbie, sit in a ditch without armor and with no way to respond to it.

Russian artillery supremacy is why Ukrainian losses are a multiple of those on the Russian side. But even if foot soldiers are available and well trained there is nothing that can make up for the loss of an army's backbone:

Ukraine has lost many of its junior officers who received U.S. training over the past nine years, eroding a corps of leaders who helped distinguish the Ukrainians from their Russian enemies at the start of the invasion, the Ukrainian official said. Now, the official said, those forces must be replaced. “A lot of them are killed,” the official said.

Replaced with what? It takes years to train a master sergeant or captain. These positions require experience in the field. No civilian training can replace that. Three week courses, run by 'western' officers with no real war experience, will not be able to make up for this:

Even with new equipment and training, U.S. military officials consider Ukraine’s force insufficient to attack all along the giant front, where Russia has erected substantive defenses, so troops are being trained to probe for weak points that allow them to break through with tanks and armored vehicles.

There will be no weak points. Or maybe there will be some, intentionally left open by the Russians, to draw the Ukrainian 'counterattack' in to then entrap it in one big cauldron.

It is over for the Ukraine. The Russian forces are enveloping Ukrainian units in several small cauldrons. Bakhmut is only one of them. South of it is the New York agglomeration which will become another one. Anviivka, further south, is also in big trouble and may even become the first of the three to fall.

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Even the New York Times has started to notice it:

From Kupiansk in the north to Avdiivka in the south, through Bakhmut, Lyman and dozens of towns in between, Russian forces are attacking along a 160-mile arc in eastern Ukraine in an intensifying struggle for tactical advantage before possible spring offensives. Heavy fighting was reported on Monday in and around Avdiivka, a town that has been on the front lines for much of the past year and in recent days has once again become a focal point of combat.
...
In Bakhmut, where the Wagner private military company has seized control of the eastern side of the city, brutal combat is taking place in the streets, the blasted remains of buildings and deep underground in the warrens of mines, according to Russian military bloggers.
...
In Kupiansk and surrounding villages, Russia has stepped up shelling and probing ground assaults, and Ukraine has ordered civilians to leave. Russian shelling intensified in Lyman and other towns, as well. According to the Ukrainian military, Russian forces make more than 100 attempts each day to break through their lines.
With few people or intact buildings, the most hotly contested places have little left to offer beyond control of roads and railways that the Kremlin sees as important to its goal of seizing the entire eastern region known as the Donbas. The assaults may also yield better positioning for the next attack, intelligence about the other side’s positions and propaganda value.


Not mention by the NYT, but most important is that the Russian forces in all these attacks are destroying the Ukrainian army.

In a few weeks, after those three cauldrons have collapsed, the Ukrainian army will be on the run. It will be summer by then and the mud will have dried up. The Russian forces will then become more mobile which may even allow for wider 'big arrow' moves.

The only way for the Ukrainian army to counter those moves will be the use of the forces it currently prepares for a 'counteroffensive' as defense formations.

But even that will only give it another three month or so before the inevitable collapse arrives.

Posted by b on March 14, 2023 at 10:19 UTC | Permalink

https://www.moonofalabama.org/2023/03/u ... .html#more

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The Vostokmash plant in Artemovsk was liberated
March 14, 12:43

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Stormtroopers of PMC "Wagner" on the territory of the liberated enterprise "Vostokmash", which is located on the territory of AZOM.

https://ic.pics.livejournal.com/colonel ... 73_900.jpg[/img]
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The photo was taken at the same place where in December there was a staged award with the participation of Zelensky.

https://colonelcassad.livejournal.com/8223202.html

(While technically accurate the term 'stormtroopers' has very bad historical connotations of which the Russians must surely be aware and one wonders whether this is an English language problem or if the translator(Google) is malicious.)

Anniversary of the strike on the Yavorovsky test site
March 14, 9:40 am

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Anniversary of the attack on the Yavoriv range, where foreign mercenaries were based

Today is the anniversary of the attack on the Yavoriv test site, which resulted in the simultaneous elimination of a large number of foreign fighters. After this rocket attack, many foreigners then left Ukrainian territory, and those who remained remembered it as a nightmare. Until now, Ukraine and Western governments have hushed up the real losses of mercenaries. Not a single name of the dead militant was published. Ukraine recognized ( https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2022/06/28/7355135/ ) the death of first 35, and then 61 soldiers and the wounding of another 160, while not confirming the death or injury of a single foreigner. @anna_news and colleagues from the @TrackAMerc channel decided to recall these events and provide some evidence of the consequences of this strike.

Video ( https://youtu.be/0Puv-qkJ-Js) of a crying French mercenary. The gunman directly says: "My friends died."

Note ( https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-new ... l-26464683 ) in the Daily Mirror 3 British ex-special forces died, the total number of those killed could exceed one hundred. They and other publications turned to the authorities, they said that an investigation had been launched. His results were never published, the publications never asked about it again. Everyone seems to have forgotten this story.

Dutch coordinator Gert Snitzelaar stated ( https://nltimes.nl/2022/03/13/dutch-for ... rn-ukraine) that among his compatriots there are dead and wounded, but refused to give the exact number. Since then, he has stopped posting on social media, but he has been quoted by many users and many media outlets.

American journalist Christopher Miller reported ( https://twitter.com/ChristopherJM/statu ... 1315451904 ) that several of his contacts went silent this morning.

An American of Vietnamese origin Hye Lee later gave an interview ( https://taskandpurpose.com/news/america ... n-ukraine/ ) about the war, where he stated that out of 23 people who lived with him, 7 remained in the tent after the impact.

Curtiss Parr and Ben Atkin subsequently gave interviews (https://www.scotsman.com/news/world/ukr ... on-fodder- 3714680 ) where Atkin said that many died, and Curtis that 20 Britons died.

French coordinator Hugo Pellegrini stated ( https://t.me/rybar/28540 ) that at least one Frenchman was killed and several wounded.

An Austrian mercenary in an interview ( https://www.heute.at/s/soeldner-packt-u ... -100196109 ) questioned the number of 35 dead. He believed that these were only Ukrainians, and more foreigners died and, perhaps, reaches hundreds.

Angel Martinez, who later died, wrote (https://www.ultimahora.es/noticias/loca ... rania.html ) mothers who died 138 and were injured 48.

Only those The testimonies that seemed the most interesting were also written about the dead by the Forward Observations Group, the Colombian Martin Rios, the Frenchwoman Martin Faljon, the Brazilians Linderson Paulino and Jefferson Kleydian, the Peruvian Cesario Eduardo Perez Fartan and many others. A large number of foreign mercenaries were destroyed, but the fact of their mass death is hidden to this day.

We express our gratitude for the information to colleagues from @TrackAMerc

@anna_news - zinc

As far as I remember, the total number of those killed was 229 people (mercenaries + some number of Ukrainian military). Before the strike on the barracks of the 79th brigade in Nikolaev, these were the largest one-time losses from one missile arrival.

https://colonelcassad.livejournal.com/8222499.html

Mascot
March 14, 8:25 am

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https://colonelcassad.livejournal.com/8222369.html

(If ya don't get it then back to 'Russia 101' with ya...)

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From Cassad's Telegram account:

forwarded from
Diplomatic source
A diplomatic source in New York reports that as part of efforts to promote the draft UN Security Council resolution on the creation under the auspices of the UN of an international commission to investigate the sabotage at the Nord Stream, the Russian side distributed as an official document of the Security Council and the UN General Assembly a copy of the correspondence with Denmark, Sweden and Germany on national investigations into the terrorist attack on the Nord Stream.

Requests from the Russian competent authorities on whether parts or fragments of pipelines were removed from the site of damage to the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines, whetherstudies to determine the causes of their damage (the presence of explosive residues on fragments of pipelines) and what conclusions were made based on the results of the studies, received a formal answer containing, in fact, a refusal to provide any documents.

In particular, the response of the Swedish side reads:According to the first paragraph of §14 ch.2 of the Law (2000:562) on international legal assistance in criminal matters, an application for legal assistance must be rejected if its satisfaction entails a threat to the security of the state. This provision is supported by Article 2 b of the 1959 Council of Europe Convention on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters, which allows that an application for legal assistance may be refused if it would prejudice the security of the requested State.

Satisfaction of the petitions of the Russian Federation may jeopardize the security
of our state. On this basis, these petitions are rejected.


It is thus clear, and now documented, that the declarations of Denmark, Sweden and Germanyabout allegedly informing the Russian side about the progress of the investigations do not correspond to reality.

***

forwarded from
💀REVERSE SIDE OF THE MEDAL💀
What is happening at the front really cannot but suggest that, by accumulating forces along the entire line of contact of the parties - in the Nikolaev, Kherson, Krivoy Rog, Zaporozhye, Kharkov directions and in the Donbass, the enemy is preparing something like a revenge. From the beginning of February to the present day, the transfer of new brigades to the Armed Forces of Ukraine continues.
New units are arriving in Nikolaev, humanitarian aid is actively rushing, because everything is fine with the supply of the enemy in terms of volunteers and regular supplies. Troops are also being transferred to the right-bank part of the Kherson region, which is still controlled by Kiev, the SBU is rampant in the front-line areas - local residents are forcibly relocated from the front line - apparently they want to completely exclude even the hypothetical possibility of assistance to the Russian army from the population.
In many publics and, of course, on the sidelines it is said that by about mid-April the Ukrainian General Staff is planning a large-scale offensive along the entire front line. Kyiv needs at all costs to report to the West for lend-lease, which is why, in fact, the topic of a strike in the Kherson region is being accelerated. If we evaluate these assumptions purely from the point of view of scenario analysis, then, by analogy with the failure of the Kharkiv bridgehead in August, the loss of control over the Kherson region will mean the enemy’s entry into the borders of Crimea, as a result, the peninsula may be cut off from land communications. In no case are we trying to cause panic, we are simply analyzing the facts that are available and that must be taken into account in combat planning.
And the facts are as follows... More and more details of the regrouping of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Zaporizhia sector and the transfer of new brigades, assembled from former Teroboronists and trained according to new NATO standards for the Ukrainian army, are becoming known. The enemy is also accumulating sabotage forces on the border with the Bryansk and Kursk regions, where not so long ago, "recovery-SOF" and all kinds of mercenaries from "enlightened" Europe were lit up. This suggests a direct parallel with the entry into the border region of the Bryansk region of the DRG of the "Russian Volunteer Corps", which happened on March 2.
There is also an active movement in the Kharkiv direction. If we recall the events of August last year, after which the Russian Armed Forces withdrew from Izyum, Balakleya and Kupyansk, which put Svatovo under attack, then clearly strengthening the Kharkov grouping, including foreign equipment, the enemy does not leave plans to force Oskol to reach the Svatovo-Torskoe line in order to block the supply of the Severodonetsk grouping of the RF Armed Forces.
The Armed Forces of Ukraine, of course, are suffocating in terms of the depletion of the human resource. It is becoming increasingly difficult to ensure the influx of fresh forces into the troops. Therefore, in addition to lend-lease, Kyiv relies on the direct participation in the hostilities of the military countries of NATO, not to mention mercenaries from various American-Polish-British PMCs. The facts speak for themselves. It explains a lot in terms of the plans of the Ukrainian General Staff and the fact that German military and engineering personnel appeared in the same Izyum. Somehow simultaneously with the expected supply of Leopard tanks. British artillery has already been spotted at the training grounds in Krivoy Rog. And the use of Hymars by the enemy in the Donbass has already ceased to surprise anyone.
The maneuvers carried out by the command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, with a high degree of probability, are evidence of Kyiv's preparations for a large-scale offensive. And if the situation in the Donbass is permanently tense, then the activation in the relatively “stable” Kherson and Zaporozhye areas suggests that a strike should be expected here. And not just wait, but with an understanding of the threat, prepare to prevent a repetition of the Kharkov retreat in August 2022.

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forwarded from
Voenkor Kitten Z
Military expert Boris Rozhin on the situation in the Artemovsky direction on the evening of March 13, 2023, especially for the Voenkor Kotenok channel Z @voenkorKotenok :

North.

PMC "Wagner" continues to fight in the direction of Khromovo and Bogdanovka. Both settlements are held by the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
There are also battles near Zaliznyansky and Orekhovo-Vasilyevka. There is currently no confirmation of the capture of these villages, but there will be progress in the coming days. The enemy strengthens the direction to Ray-Aleksandrovka.
Fire control over the road through Khromovo is also maintained. The costs of its use are increasing. The same applies to the fields between Khromovo and Red.

South.

Fighting continues near Krasny, which is held by the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Our troops maintain fire control over the road through Krasnoe. The enemy's attempts to push the Wagner PMC off the road have not yet brought him success.
We can expect attempts to counterattack the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the direction of Kleshcheevka, including with the use of reserves from Chasy Yar and Konstantinovka.

City.

The assault on the industrial zone of the AZOM plant continues. The enemy confirms the advance of Wagner attack aircraft.
There is an advance towards the city center from the Zabakhmutki district, where the cleansing activities are still ongoing.
The fighting is gradually shifting to the western part of the city, where the enemy expects to continue the defense.
At the moment, there are no signs of the collapse of organized resistance, although the number of refuseniks and deserters continues to increase in some brigades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

https://t.me/s/boris_rozhin

Google Translator
"There is great chaos under heaven; the situation is excellent."

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