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 Aug 23, 2022 12:17 pm

To Ugledar
POSTED BY @NSANZO ⋅ 08/23/2022 ⋅ LEAVE A COMMENT

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Original Article: Dmitry Steshin / Komsomolskaya Pravda

I marvel again at the volume, size and area of ​​the liberated territories of Donbass. The journey from Donetsk to the battle zone takes almost an hour and a half if we start counting from the Elenovka checkpoint, destroyed by artillery. Endless fields pass along the asphalt and, as if trying not to attract attention, you can see the tails of the Smerch multiple rocket launchers, burned or destroyed cars and some armor so battered that it is unrecognizable. It was getting dark quickly and the farmers were coming back from the fields almost in the dark, occupying a lane and a half.

At the Vostok headquarters I was offered a place on the floor of the house where our aerial reconnaissance - my old friends from the Khazar front , Tosha and Zhenya - are temporarily staying. A whole aerial reconnaissance unit appeared in Vostok many years before the start of the special operation. The command was far-sighted and guessed where the development of military art was heading. And what is more crucial, they were able to find and attract technical people obsessed with small aerial devices. The serial drones did not work, the aerial reconnaissance needed more capacity in the batteries, the ability to receive and transmit, etc. They were even made with a 3D printer to print the necessary parts. Of level.

Tosha waved to me from the porch and rushed over to help me. First we covered my car with a camouflage tent and then we put up a net: the car was covered like a tree, turned into a shapeless object, no matter where you looked from it. A standard security measure. In the village there were arrivals (this is how the artillery is called in Donbass) at intervals of one or two hours. Chaotic in terms of the area. Before, with the targets identified, everyone had learned to be smarter.

From there I began to smell a familiar aroma. Khazar was welding something microscopic in size. He proudly showed me his capabilities: a remote-controlled antenna. It had two objectives: now the operator will be able to work under cover or hide the antenna to one side as long as the cable, which is long, allows it. And if something comes in the direction of the radio signal, aerial reconnaissance will have a better chance of surviving.

It was night. Tosha excitedly explained to us the technology battle that was clearly visible to all: “Something weird happened to the drone today. The “exit” point, as planned, was moved 500 meters into the field, to the side. I was flying and all of a sudden the drone starts to fail, the connection drops and I realize the motor has died. It is falling, but not very far, it continues to rotate and just above the ground we see that the part that cut the control with us has fallen. I put it on manual control and as soon as it gets to the “out” point and Boom! Three mines. Normally five minutes pass and they immediately attack.”

At that moment, a bomb exploded somewhere on the edge of the village. I shivered thinking that it had been in our house. Most of the windows are broken and there is a nasty shell hole in my bedroom ceiling. You can see how he got in and the direction until he was stopped by the brick wall. It seemed that we were sitting in the street, although covered by an improvised wall of cement blocks, a more psychological than real protection that only helps against the shrapnel and the shock wave. Another shell whizzed past us. I was relieved: "It's not ours, in ours you can't hear the buzz."

At that moment, behind the black woods, our Grads began to roar, unleashing a full charge. A series of explosions ensued. A few minutes passed, and only a single Ukrainian cannon roar returned in response. And then the silence.

I asked the guys what they knew about technical innovations, what is drone production. Has anything interesting turned up? Jazar told me about the Volk Interceptor, which can throw two or three nets and catch an enemy drone. According to the inventors of it. Jazar , an intelligent man, hesitates: “I wonder if those who developed it didn't do it in peace instead of war. Have they really tried to catch drones in the air? Have they achieved it? We do not. You can't play with what you have but develop attack drones. Write, let them know that there are those who are flying them at the front.”

By midnight, the sky had disappeared and the temperature had dropped noticeably. Autumn is inexorably approaching. The boys in the woods comment that it has started to get cold at night.

In the morning, with the rotation, I went out to the front with them. “This is tougher than Mariupol”, the Vostok soldiers and commanders had unanimously told me. He still didn't get it. I did not understand how you can compare the chaos of Azovstal, the Vostochny neighborhood of Mariupol apartment buildings and these pastoral landscapes: already yellowed fields, beautiful forest plantations always ready to hide an exhausted soldier from the heat and being view of the enemy. The first thing they taught me was the forward position approach. In the city or in the factory, go a meter, turn around, jump into the basement and you're home. Here, going to the front equals a battle. And it is not easy to get out of a front position.

The soldiers explained to me how, in thirty degree heat, it took hours to remove the wounded comrades, who died in the evacuation and had to drag the bodies already swollen from the heat. How during the attacks they had come across something terrible, fortified points built exactly according to Soviet theory. In the Great Patriotic War, intelligent commanders silenced those supports with artillery and calmly walked around waiting for the Germans to abandon them on their own so as not to end up surrounded. Here they also fight against the Germans , for the first time I heard that new name that has been given to the enemy. If you think about it, there are many hidden meanings in that name.

We move forward for a long time. First in trucks, then in armored vehicles, which took us almost to the front. It remained to walk a few kilometers. I was in the group led by Rossiya , a gray-haired man dressed in an old camouflage uniform before the most modern ones. Rossiya is an example of the Donbass type, in which intelligence and industrial toughness of the worker engaged in hard and complex production are equally mixed.

We advanced along the bottom of a hill that protected us from the enemy. But that doesn't mean anything, the area is usually covered by machine gun, grenade launcher and mortar fire. Rossiya lengthened our chain so that there were at least ten or fifteen meters between us, a guarantee that not everyone would go down with a single projectile. We arrived at a nice forest and Rossiya ordered: “Drone. Quick, everyone under the trees.”

For a minute, everyone listened intently to the sky. I put on my headphones and turned on reconnaissance mode , which allows you to hear a buzz from hundreds of meters away. We listen in turns. Noises were heard in the air - this is what Ukrainian drones sound like, dropping projectiles on our positions. But the drones can also direct the 60mm artillery that is in the area. The enemy uses Polish LMP-2017 mortars. Their projectiles are light, weighing two kilos, their range is one kilometer and they are considered "silent". “These shells are rubbish,” Rossiya explained to me . “It breaks right here, in the treetops. Most of the injuries are in the neck and back.

I searched for clarification: “Are you sure they are Poles? Or Americans? One of the soldiers interrupted: "Commander, it is not good that we accumulate so many people here." An intelligent commander always listens to the good advice of his subordinates. Rossiyahe ordered us to split up in a chain and move forward. I was about to step on a mine that was right there, on the side of the road. Behind it was another explosive device with a grenade and a fishing line hanging from another branch. Suddenly, the forest stopped looking welcoming. We were in a hole in the ground facing the enemy. I watched as German machine guns cut through the treetops and bullets buzzed a little higher. The operator was trying to crush us, but he couldn't get the barrel down low enough to grab us. When you shoot you lose your fear, but you couldn't shoot there. Rossiya warned me and I understood.

In those seconds, a group returning from the positions crossed an open part. The first guys got through without a problem, but then the Germans woke up. I didn't know how we could get a wounded man out of that field, but I kept quiet and kept those doubts to myself. Rossiya calmly leaned against a natural wall, took out a foil and knew exactly where the enemy was firing from: 200-300 meters. The commander contacted the men in charge of the mortar and gave the coordinates. Rossiya showed me the map: “Look, we got it from Azov, from the captured maps they had from NATO. Look, there are no marks but there are the important points of the land, rivers, roads, forests”.

The card looked like a rolled cake in a huge box. Rossiya continued: “We have divided the forest plantations into squares of about 90 meters and we have given each one a name. You say Pinocchio, frame five. And he is already”.

“Do you speak openly on the radio?”

Rossiya shrugged. “No, there are those who invent codes: I've been walking the dog . And ten minutes later: the dog has arrived safely ”.

Everyone around us was smiling and trying not to think about the guys lying on the ground right now, especially considering that a grenade launcher had been attached to the machine gun and every once in a while a sniper would act. His position is more comfortable, he could reach us. I pressed the wall tighter and hid a little more.

Finally, the mortar began to act, which fired three projectiles. The radio came on and I heard: “Abort”. The mine had not come out of the canyon. Rossiya routinely uses mortar cover, but a few shells proved to be enough and the Germans fell silent. The soldiers began to come towards us, out of breath and sweating. But they didn't drink, they didn't ask for water, they were aware that there was plenty left. I recognized Bereza 's smile, the commander of the assault group with which he had occupied building number 35 in Azovstal. He didn't remember if he does, so I asked him if he smokes. With the ingenuity of a soldier, he replied: "There are no cigarettes." I gave him a whole pack of Russian cigarettes, which are highly prized around here. I told him it was a gift. Our little hole began to tremble with laughter. It was the laughter of those who have just escaped death. Possibly the funniest laugh.

Someone made a comment: "Well, go tomorrow, first heavy artillery, a bucket of earth in the face, then grenade launchers." They all laughed again. An older man with a mustache and a particularly friendly face made a trench joke: "Ugledar, Ugledar, he walked for a long time and then he fell." He came from the town of Ugledar, he went to the front in 2014 and in this time his “good neighbors” have dismantled his house brick by brick: “There is nothing left. If I could get to my town, I would immediately form a construction team with the neighbors. Until I get to kyiv, they will have to leave everything as it was." There was no malice in his words.

The last soldier ran to our hiding place, it was the legendary Lis . He dropped his backpack and took a deep breath. Everyone knows that Lis is a joker and a cheerful man and everyone was waiting for his performance: “How I ran, how I ran. And how I fell and died, like in a movie, Marvel style, but there wasn't enough music." The soldier sank slowly into the hole, forced by an enemy bullet. I lay down and protected myself with my backpack while the one-eyed man (the sniper) attacked us again.

They all stopped laughing. Rossiya looked at us with a pointed look: “What are you all doing sitting there? Get out quickly, two more groups are on the way.” We went out. The reconnaissance team put us in the tank, showed us how to proceed and explained that we had to go very, very fast. Falling from an armored car is a guaranteed hospital. The driver joked by placing the backpacks in such a way that they would not bother: "420 rubles round trip, with a discount for those who are afraid."

The soldiers shouted: “Boss, to Donetsk, please”. “I to Slavyansk”. Everyone started naming their cities and towns. Many of them, unfortunately, are still a long way from the front lines. And it will take a long time to walk, fall and get up to reach them. But for now, our iron box was filled with temporary happiness. They were all alive, there were no injuries. Now there would be plenty of water, food, cigarettes, and a good nap. It may be possible to call family, those who are hoping and praying.

https://slavyangrad.es/2022/08/23/hacia ... more-25339

Google Translator

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On the proposal to steal Russian gas
August 23, 12:39 p.m

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Regarding proposals in Ukraine to steal Russian gas, which goes to Europe through the Ukrainian GTS.
Such proposals can only be welcomed - the sooner they start stealing Russian times from the pipe, the sooner gas will be pumped to Europe through the Ukrainian GTS and it can either be left to rust as unnecessary, or additionally recalibrated to make ends meet. And underground gas storage along the way. And the Europeans, if they want to receive gas, can try to negotiate the pumping of gas through Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2. Or disagree. So go ahead!

https://colonelcassad.livejournal.com/7817972.html

Bulgaria's gas principle
August 23, 10:35

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After the opposition overthrew the government of the "Canadian Bulgarian" Petkov (who blamed the Russian ambassador and Russia in general for his fall), the Bulgarian opposition continues to look for ways to resume negotiations with Russia on gas supplies to Bulgaria.
Bulgaria was one of the first to refuse to buy gas for rubles through Gazprombank. And it was promptly turned off.

At the same time, most EU countries chose the path of cooperation with the administration, pretending that they pay for gas in euros, although they had to open ruble accounts at Gazprombank upon request.
Accordingly, they are now with gas, and those who refused are sitting without gas and are forced to buy it on the spot market at "democratic" prices.

Now Bulgaria wants to join this scheme, which is complicated for Bulgaria not only by the previous refusal, but also by Bulgaria's actions to supply weapons to Ukraine and the expulsion of Russian diplomats by the Petkov gang.

In the current conditions, it will no longer be possible to pretend that "this is not important, let's just buy gas for rubles, like the rest of you." Russia will certainly want to get something else for its consent. The Bulgarians understand this, which is why they are already declaring that "negotiations will not be easy." Well, what to do - winter is coming, and gas is already starting to break through the mark of 2900-3000 dollars per 1000 cubic meters.

https://colonelcassad.livejournal.com/7817475.html

Google Translator

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Ukraine - Dugina Killer Identified - War Of Attrition Continues

It seems that Russian authorities have found the killer of Darya Dugina.

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The killer, one Natalya Vovk, is associated with the Azov Nazis of Ukraine. So is her brother. Both are in Ukraine right now but will probably flee elsewhere.

Yelensis has details that point to willful murder of Darya Dugina:´

[A]n important clarification was already delivered by the experts: As to the question whether the bomb was on a timer or remote control, the answer already came in: Remote control. This fact has huge ramifications. WarGonzo blogger Semyon Pegov points out that the person who pressed the remote-control button to ignite the bomb, would have been in visual contact with the car and its occupant: “In other words, the terrorists who were supposedly out to blow Dugin up in his own car, would have observed, how Darya got into the car instead. Not the original target. And then they would have had to make a decision: To blow up, or not to blow up? And they took the decision: Go ahead and blow up the daughter. So, Darya became the new target. And this is, it goes without saying, an entirely new level of terrorism. Not even your average ISIS terrorist would take such a low step.”

Aleksandr Dugin, Darya's father, as well as his daughter had been threatened:

The Ukrainians threaten and blacklist everybody in the world who doesn’t give them full and unconditional support.
Dugin, however, is a special case, and particularly hated by the West and their proxies. Both Dugin and his daughter are on American/British “sanctions” lists. Dugin has been the recipient of non-stop hate-speech for years now. Westies hate and demonize him because of his philosophical ideas and anti-Liberal ideology. Darya herself has a degree in Political Philosophy and shared her father’s ideology. Both were strong supporters of the Russian “Special Military Operation” against the Ukraine. Which would have made them “fair game” according to the usual Ukrainian standards. However, nothing has been proved yet, so we shall just have to wait and see.

In the continuation of this story, we will discuss Dugin’s “harmful” ideas, some interesting history of his political career; and how the Westie press is inhumanely revelling in his grief.[/i]

You can catch Yelensis' writings at Awful Avalanche.

Meanwhile the fighting in Ukraine continues with recent Russian offenses launched on all fronts. In the north the slow move to Karkiv continues. The Russian forces in the south move towards Mykolaiv (Nikolaev). In the east attacks against Soledar and Bakhmut continue. All these moves are supported by intense strikes on every Ukrainian headquarter and troop concentration the Russian military intelligence can find. This hunting down and killing of complete battalions and brigades behind the immediate frontline is costing a lot of Ukrainian soldiers' lives and is preventing any Ukrainian countermoves. This is on top of the daily massive artillery use against Ukrainian frontline positions.

In a recent interview Colonel Markus Reisner of the Austrian army described the situation (in German). Some excerpts:

If you look at the battles in detail, you can see one thing from a military point of view: the western arms deliveries are having an effect, but still not in a resounding and sustainable form. The result must be measurable. Only when the Russian attacks are completely stopped or when the Russian troops retreat (similar to the situation around Kyiv in March 2022) can one actually speak of a turning point in the war from a sober, objective and military point of view. The western arms shipments that have arrived so far mean that the Ukrainian armed forces have "too much to die and too little to live". If the 16 HIMARS multiple rocket launchers delivered from the USA so far have achieved understandable success, the question arises: Why is the USA not delivering more?

May be because it does not have more to give but more likely is that the U.S. wants to prolong the conflict at a near stalemate as long as possible.

Can Ukraine win this war?

If the West does not deliver increased numbers of state-of-the-art weapons (including above all artillery and multiple rocket launchers, but also long-range anti-aircraft defense systems) to Ukraine in the coming weeks, Ukraine will not be able to win this conflict. It is therefore in the hands of the West how this war will continue. As long as Ukraine cannot protect its airspace against Russian cruise missiles and ballistic missiles, any regional military rearmament seems illusory. But this is necessary if Ukraine wants to regain possession of the lost land. Those areas that you need to be able to survive economically.


It is highly unlikely that the Ukraine will ever regain the former Russian territory that in 1922 Vladimir Ilʹich Lenin, for whatever reason, gave to Ukraine and that Russia is currently taking back. A war of attrition, which Russia with its industrial capability to sustain endlessly, can not be won by Ukraine. Even more massive support from the 'west' would be insufficient.

But the war will be won on a different front:

Modern warfare is above all a war of minds. The image we have of a conflict decisively shapes our opinion on it. It determines whether we perceive a conflict as "just" and whether we are willing to support it. At the moment, in the conflict in Ukraine, this support begins in our communications and ends in the delivery of weapons. It is therefore always the aim of the opponents to influence the respective other side. The military calls this approach "cognitive warfare." A comprehensive war of attrition is rarely decided on the battlefield, but often in the minds of the population in the hinterland.

For the Russian side, the decisive point of attack is therefore the West's willingness to continue to support Ukraine. Russia is therefore trying to weaken this willingness in all available domains (especially in the cyber and information space). Extraction of raw materials and threats of nuclear weapons are the weapons used here to achieve an effect. The West, on the other hand, is trying to hit the cohesion of Russian society. Sanction packages and economic punitive measures are intended to exert pressure. The Russian economy is already taking a serious hit. The question is, will these bring about a change in behavior or not? At the moment, decisive success cannot be measured either on the battlefield or on the home front, which makes it clear that the guns in Ukraine are far from silent.


The extremely stupid European sanctions against Russian energy have caused severe damage to European economies. This is already breaking the 'western' will for further support of Ukraine. During July none of the bigger European countries has promised and delivered more heavy weapons to Ukraine.

On August 24 Ukraine has some independence holiday. Zelensky and his team will likely want to present some 'success' for that day. A nasty incident around the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, which the Ukraine continues to shell, or elsewhere can therefore be expected to happen over the next few days.

Posted by b on August 22, 2022 at 14:46 UTC | Permalink

https://www.moonofalabama.org/2022/08/u ... .html#more

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From Cassad's Telegram Account:

Сolonelcassad
the situation in the east of Ukraine
by the end of August 22, 2022

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▪️There are no significant changes in the front line in the Kharkiv region . Russian troops launched several missile strikes on the objects of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Kharkov, artillery duels are underway near the line of contact.

▪️Fighting continues in the Bakhmut (Artemovsk) direction .
➖In Soledar , the forces of the People's Militia of the LPR were able to occupy the territory of a gypsum quarry from the Knauf-Gyps enterprise. Clashes are taking place in the area of ​​Zalevsky Street and the refractory materials plant.
➖The assault on Bakhmutsky in the suburbs of Soledar continues.
➖After the liberation of the village of Zaitsevo in the suburbs of Gorlovka, the allied forces are fighting for the Mayorskaya railway station.

▪️In the Donetsk direction, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation with the People's Militia of the DPR are advancing in the suburbs of Donetsk , trying to move the front line away from the capital of the republic:
➖The forces of the NM DPR are moving from the side of Staromikhaylovka towards Nevelskoye.
➖The 100th brigade of the People's Militia of the DPR, after a long artillery preparation, began to occupy the strongholds of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on the Donetsk Ring Road.
➖Ukrainian formations once again shelled the cities of the Donetsk agglomeration: several civilians were killed, at least 7 people were injured.

▪️In the Zaporozhye region , the parties continued to conduct artillery duels near the contact line: Russian troops attacked the positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine near Gulyaipol, Olginsky, Dorozhnyanka and Malaya Tokmachka.

▪️In the Krivoy Rog direction, the RF Armed Forces hit targets near Shirokoye and Zelenodolsk.

https://t.me/s/boris_rozhin

Google Translator

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FLY LIKE AN EAGLE, DARIA DUGINA
pepe escobar

Aug 22, 2022 , 4:29 p.m.

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Whether the Dugina tragedy will become the catalyst that pushes Putin's strategic ambiguity to a whole new level remains to be seen (Photo: File)

Daria Dugina, 30 years old, daughter of Alexander Dugin, an intelligent, solid, exuberant, enterprising young woman, whom I met in Moscow and had the honor to keep as a friend, has been brutally murdered.

As a young journalist and analyst, one could see that she would carve out a brilliant path to wide recognition and respect ( here she talks about feminism ).

Not long ago, the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) was directly engaged in disintegrating assassination attempts, organized by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), against Russian journalists, as in the case of Olga Skabaeyeva and Vladimir Soloviev. . It is amazing that Dugin and his family were not protected by the Russian intelligence and security apparatus.

The fundamental facts of the tragedy have already been defined. A Land Cruiser Prado SUV, belonging to Dugin and with Daria at the wheel, exploded on a road near the town of Bolchie Vyazemy, just over 20 kilometers from Moscow.

They were both coming from a family festival, where Dugin had given a lecture. At the last moment, Daria took the SUV and Dugin followed her in another car. According to witnesses, there was an explosion under the SUV, which was immediately engulfed in flames and collided with a building on the side of the road. Daria's body was charred beyond recognition.

The Russian Investigative Committee soon determined that the improvised explosive device - approximately 400 grams of TNT, unencapsulated - was planted under the bottom of the SUV, on the driver's side.

Investigators believe it was a premeditated car bomb attack.

What is not yet known is if the improvised explosive device had a timer or if some thug around pressed the button.

What is already known is that Alexander Dugin was a target of the Myrotvorets list . Myrotvorets is the acronym [in Ukrainian] for the Center for Investigation of Evidence of Crimes against National Security of Ukraine. It works shoulder to shoulder with NATO collecting information on "pro-Russian terrorists and separatists".

Denis Pushilin, the head of the Donetsk People's Republic, was quick to accuse "terrorists of the Ukrainian regime" for Daria's murder. The invaluable Maria Zakharova was much more diplomatic: she said that if the Ukrainian trail is confirmed, it will set up a policy of state terrorism deployed by kyiv.

AN EXISTENTIAL WAR
In several essays - this being probably the most essential - Dugin had made amply clear the enormity of what is at stake. This is a war of ideas. And an existential war: Russia against the West as a whole led by the United States.

The SBU, NATO, or most likely the combo - considering that the SBU takes orders from the CIA and MI6 - did not choose to attack Putin, Lavrov, Patrushev or Shoigu. They focused on a philosopher and ended up murdering his daughter, making it even more painful. They attacked an intellectual who formulates ideas. Proving once again that Western Cancellation Culture seamlessly metastasizes into Persona Cancellation.

It's all very well that the Russian Defense Ministry is about to start production of the hypersonic Lord Zircon while still putting out a bunch of Khinzal Lords. Or that three Mig-31 supersonic interceptors have been deployed to Kaliningrad equipped with Khinzales and put on 24/7 combat duty.

The problem is that the rules have changed, and the SBU/NATO combo, facing an unspeakable debacle in the Donbas, is raising the bar on sabotage, counterintelligence and counter-fun tactics.

They started with the bombing of Russian territory; they were deployed in the Donbas, as in the attempt to assassinate the mayor of Mariupol, Konstantin Ivachtchenko; they even launched drones at the headquarters of the Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol; and now - with the tragedy of Daria Dugina - they are at the gates of Moscow.


The point is not that everything mentioned is irrelevant in terms of changing the facts on the ground imposed by the Special Military Operation. The point is that a forthcoming series of bloody psychological operations designed for pure public relations purposes may prove to be extremely painful for Russian public opinion, which will demand crushing punishment.

It is clear that Moscow and St. Petersburg are now primary targets. Ukrainian ISIS is on the march. Of course, its handlers have vast experience in the field, throughout the Global North and South. All the red lines have disappeared.

THE COMING OF THE UKRAINIAN ISIS
The coke-addicted comedian has duly anticipated any Russian reaction, according to the NATO script that feeds him daily: Russia could try to do something "particularly disgusting" this coming week.

That is irrelevant. The real - and burning - question is to what extent the Kremlin and Russian intelligence will react when it is fully established that the SBU and NATO hatched the Dugin plot. That is kyiv terrorism at the gates of Moscow. That screams “red line” in bloody red, and a response linked to the repeated promise, made by Putin himself, to hit the “decision centers”.

It will be a fateful decision. Moscow is not at war with kyiv's stooges, essentially, but with NATO. And vice versa. All bets are on how the Daria Dugina tragedy can eventually speed up the Russian calendar, in terms of a radical overhaul of her hitherto long-term strategy.

Moscow can behead the kyiv fraud with a few hypersonic business cards. However, that is too easy; subsequently, with whom to negotiate the future of the Ukrainian haunch?

By contrast, doing essentially nothing means accepting an imminent and de facto terrorist invasion of the Russian Federation: the tragedy of Daria Dugina on steroids.

In his penultimate Telegram post, Dugin once again framed the stakes. These are the key points.

He asks the Russian rulers for "structural, ideological, personnel, institutional, strategic" transformations.

Based on the evidence - from the increase in attacks against Crimea, to attempts to provoke a nuclear catastrophe in Zaporozhie - he correctly concludes that the NATO sphere "has decided to stay on the other end until the end. You can understand: Russia actually (and this is not propaganda) impugned the West as a civilization."

The conclusion is clear: "So we have to go all the way." This connects with what Putin himself stated: "We haven't really started anything yet." Dugin: "Now we have to start."

Dugin proposes that the current status quo around Operation Z cannot last more than six months. There is no doubt that "the tectonic plates have moved". Daria Dugina will fly like an eagle in an unearthly sky. The question is whether her tragedy will become the catalyst that pushes Putin's strategic ambiguity to a whole new level.

https://misionverdad.com/traducciones/v ... ria-dugina

Google Translator

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6 months on, no clear end seen in conflict
China Daily | Updated: 2022-08-23 07:46

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People wait to fill bottles with water on Sunday in Kostiantynivka, Donetsk. A homeowner with a private well allows residents to fill up at his home for two hours each day. The neighborhood hasn't had running water for months. [Photo/Agencies]

Amid grinding battles, car bombing near Moscow brings accusations, and denial

KYIV/MOSCOW-Nearly six months after Russia launched its special military operation in Ukraine, the conflict has turned into a grinding campaign of battles with no clear endgame in sight. Amid the daily airstrikes, a car bombing, unusual for Moscow, is likely to aggravate tensions between Russia and Ukraine.

The conflict has created the largest refugee crisis in Europe since World War II. The UN refugee agency said a third of Ukrainians have fled their homes, with more than 6.6 million displaced within the country and over 6.6 million more across the continent. Both sides have sustained losses.

As Ukraine prepared to mark its Independence Day on Wednesday, officials reported more strikes on targets in the east and south of the country.

The fighting near Zaporizhzhia and a missile strike on the southern town of Voznesensk, not far from Ukraine's second-largest atomic plant, have deepened fears of a nuclear accident.

On Sunday, US President Joe Biden, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron held a phone call stressing the importance of ensuring the safety of nuclear installations.

On Friday, the French presidency said Russian President Vladimir Putin had agreed that inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency can visit the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant.

In another development, the daughter of an influential Russian political theorist was killed in the car bombing on the outskirts of Moscow, authorities said on Sunday.

The Moscow branch of the Russian Investigative Committee said preliminary information indicated that 29-year-old TV commentator Darya Dugina was killed by an explosive planted in the SUV she was driving on Saturday night.

The bloodshed gave rise to suspicions that the intended target was her father, Alexander Dugin, a Russian philosopher and writer.

The explosion took place as Dugin's daughter was returning from a cultural festival she had attended with him. Russian media reports cited witnesses as saying the SUV belonged to Dugin and that he had decided at the last minute to travel in another vehicle.

Russia's President Vladimir Putin said that Dugina's killing was a "vile crime".

Ongoing investigation

Russia's top counterintelligence agency on Monday blamed Ukrainian spy agencies for organizing the killing.

Russia's Federal Security Service, or FSB said that the killing has been "prepared and perpetrated by the Ukrainian special services".

It charged that the killing was perpetrated by a Ukrainian citizen, who left Russia for Estonia after the killing. The FSB said that the suspect, Natalya Vovk, rented an apartment in the building where Dugina lived and shadowed her.

It said that Vovk and her daughter were at the festival that Dugin and his daughter attended just before the killing.

Maria Zakharova, Russia's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, said on Sunday that if the investigation's trail led to Ukraine, then it would point to a policy of "state terrorism" being pursued by Kyiv.

Denis Pushilin, a prominent official in Donetsk, blamed the blast on "terrorists of the Ukrainian regime, trying to kill Alexander Dugin".

Ukraine has previously denied any involvement in the killing.

Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, denied Ukrainian involvement, saying: "We are not a criminal state…and definitely not a terrorist state."

Dugin is a prominent proponent of the "Russian world" concept, a spiritual and political ideology that emphasizes traditional values. His daughter expressed similar views.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry and the Chinese embassy in Ukraine on Monday reminded Chinese citizens not to go to Ukraine for now. In a statement released on the embassy's WeChat public account, it also advised Chinese already in Ukraine to strengthen security precautions and contact the Chinese embassy.

http://global.chinadaily.com.cn/a/20220 ... 73a3a.html

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Ukraine uses NATO ammunition in attacks on nuclear power station
By Prensa Latina (Posted Aug 23, 2022)

Originally published: Prensa Latina on August 21, 2022 (more by Prensa Latina) |

Representatives of the civil-military administration of the Zaporozhie region denounced today that Ukrainian troops use artillery with NATO ammunition in attacks on the Energodar nuclear power plant.
Ukraine uses NATO ammunition in attacks on nuclear power station“The latest attacks on Saturday were carried out with 155-millimeter shells of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) with American M739 fuses,” the Ukrainian oblast authorities reported on their Telegram account.

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In this regard, the member of the main council of the Zaporozhie oblast administration Vladimir Rogogov confirmed that long-range weapons were used in the aggression from the opposite side of the Dnieper River.

The Russian Defense Ministry warned last Thursday that Kiev troops would stage a provocation to generate a radiation leak, as well as to break the integrity of the nuclear waste repository and put the reactor in an abnormal operating state.

The portfolio specified that the aim of such action would be to create an exclusion zone of up to 30 kilometers and to blame Russia for nuclear terrorism, in order to justify a further escalation of the conflict. Several Western politicians stated that a radiation leak at the Zaporozhie nuclear power plant as a result of the shelling could be a pretext for the Atlantic Alliance to start participating in the fighting in Ukraine.

https://mronline.org/2022/08/23/ukraine ... r-station/

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An UAV hit the roof of the headquarters of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, Sevastopol, Crimea, August 20, 2022

U.S. taunts Russia to escalate in Ukraine
By M. K. Bhadrakumar (Posted Aug 23, 2022)

Originally published: Indian Punchline on August 21, 2022 (more by Indian Punchline) |

In military terms, the crude, locally assembled drone dropping a country-made bomb or two on unguarded sites in Crimea are at best pin pricks in the big picture of Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine. But it can be profoundly consequential in certain other ways.

For a start, this escalation has Washington’s approval. A senior Biden administration official told NatSec Daily the U.S. supports strikes on Crimea if Kiev deems them necessary. “We don’t select targets, of course, and everything we’ve provided is for self-defence purposes. Any target they choose to pursue on sovereign Ukrainian soil is by definition self defense,” this person said.

But Washington knows–and Moscow knows–that like any sophistry, this one too is a clever argument but inherently fallacious and deceptive. The New York Times has interpreted the drone attack on Crimea as a challenge to the leadership of President Vladimir Putin. The Times wrote that the Crimea attacks “put domestic political pressure on the Kremlin, with criticism and debate about the war increasingly being unleashed on social media and underscoring that even what the Russian government considers to be Russian territory is not safe.”

Times claimed that “as images of antiaircraft fire streaking through the blue Crimean sky ricocheted through social media, the visceral reality of war was becoming more and more apparent to Russians–many of whom have rallied behind the Kremlin’s line, hammered home in state media, that the “special military operation” to save Ukraine from Nazi domination is going smoothly and according to plan.”

The paper quoted a prominent establishment think tanker in Moscow acknowledging that the Crimean attack is a “serious” development insofar as “People are beginning to feel that the war is coming to them.” The Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky claimed in a nationwide address on Saturday, “One can literally feel in the air of Crimea that the occupation there is temporary, and Ukraine is returning.”

Once again, while Russia is steadily winning the ground war in Ukraine, the U.S. is determined not to lose the information war. In Washington’s reckoning, in this Internet Age, the war is to be ultimately won in the Russian people’s minds. Therefore, this studied escalation by Washington puts Moscow in a dilemma, since if it is unanswered, Zelensky may target the 19-km long Crimean Bridge connecting the Taman Peninsula of Krasnodar in mainland Russia with the Kerch Peninsula of Crimea.

In fact, it is a near certainty. The point is, the Kerch bridge is “Putin’s bridge” in the Russian people’s consciousness. While formally opening the bridge to car traffic in May 2018, Putin was quoted as telling the workers, “In different historical epochs, even under the tsar priests, people dreamed of building this bridge. Then they returned to this in the 1930s, the 40s, the 50s. And finally, thanks to your work and your talent, the miracle has happened.”

Therefore, there is no better way to puncture the halo around Putin than by despatching at least a bit of the Kerch bridge to the bottom of the Black Sea. Meanwhile, from the U.S. perspective, Kiev’s drone attacks on Crimea already serve three purposes.

First, this is meant to be a blow to the Russian morale. Indeed, Putin’s towering popularity within Russia has become an eyesore for the Biden Administration. Putin’s masterly navigation of the Russian economy out of crisis mode is an incredible feat that defied all logic of power in the American calculus–inflation is steadily falling (in contrast with the European countries and the U.S.); the GDP decline is narrowing; foreign reserves are swelling; the current account is on the plus side; and lo and behold, the Biden Administration’s so-called “nuclear option”–Russia’s removal from the SWIFT messaging system–failed to cripple foreign trade.

Second, both Washington and Kiev are desperately scrambling for “success” stories to distract attention. The Times playing up the story speaks for itself. In reality, Russia’s Donbass offensive has created a new momentum and is steadily grinding the Ukrainian forces. Within the week, Russian forces will have encircled the lynchpin of the Ukrainian defence line, Bakhmut city, which is a communication hub for troop movements and supply logistics in Donbass. Russian forces have reached the city outskirts from the north, east and south. The fall of Bakhmut will be a crushing defeat for Zelensky.

On the other hand, even after two months after Zelensky promised a “counteroffensive” on Kherson near Crimea, it is nowhere in sight. Even his most ardent votaries in the western media feel let down. To be sure, there is growing disenchantment in Europe.

The Hungarian PM Viktor Orban, undoubtedly the smartest European politician today (with an economy registering over 6% growth when the rest of the continent is mired in recession), told German magazine Tichys Einblick in an interview last week that this war marked the end of “western superiority.” Interestingly, he named Big Oil as “war profiteers” and singled out that Exxon doubled its profits, Chevron quadrupled, and ConocoPhillips’ profits have shot up manifold. (Of course, all three are American companies.) Orban’s message was clear: America has weakened the EU. This thought must be troubling many a European politician today.

Third, Washington has thrown down the gauntlet in a measured way. But there is no way the war can be brought into the drawing rooms of the average Americans the way Times says is happening in Russia. Twenty Americans were killed in Kharkiv two days ago in a high-precision Russian missile strike, but there aren’t going to be any body bags returning to Arlington Cemetery; nor does it make headline in the cooperative American media.

The U.S. plans to go further up on the escalation ladder. Escalation is the Biden Administration’s last chance to stall a Russian victory. The American strategic thinker and academic John Mearsheimer has written that the risk of a disastrous escalation is “substantially greater than the conventional wisdom holds. And given that the consequences of escalation could include a major war in Europe and possibly even nuclear annihilation, there is good reason for extra concern.”

Moscow’s preference is to avoid any escalation, since the special military operation is achieving results. Whereas, it is the U.S. that is in some visible despair, and in immediate terms, Russia’s plans to hold referendums in Kherson and Zaporozhye in September must be stalled. Herein lies the danger.

The U.S.’ current build-up over Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant points toward a hidden agenda to intervene in the war at some point directly. Kiev’s attempt to arrange a nuclear explosion in Zaporozhye can only be seen in this light. Moscow seems to anticipate such an eventuality.

Defence Minister Sergey Shoigu disclosed yesterday that Russia has begun mass production of Tsirkon hypersonic cruise missiles and is already deploying them. The U.S. lacks the capability to counter Tsirkon, which is estimated to be 11 times faster than Tomahawk with far superior target-penetration characteristics. Shoigu may have given a stark warning that Russia will not be cowed down if there’s a NATO intervention in Ukraine.

https://mronline.org/2022/08/23/u-s-tau ... n-ukraine/
"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 Aug 23, 2022 1:27 pm

To Ugledar
POSTED BY @NSANZO ⋅ 08/23/2022 ⋅ LEAVE A COMMENT

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Original Article: Dmitry Steshin / Komsomolskaya Pravda

I marvel again at the volume, size and area of ​​the liberated territories of Donbass. The journey from Donetsk to the battle zone takes almost an hour and a half if we start counting from the Elenovka checkpoint, destroyed by artillery. Endless fields pass along the asphalt and, as if trying not to attract attention, you can see the tails of the Smerch multiple rocket launchers, burned or destroyed cars and some armor so battered that it is unrecognizable. It was getting dark quickly and the farmers were coming back from the fields almost in the dark, occupying a lane and a half.

At the Vostok headquarters I was offered a place on the floor of the house where our aerial reconnaissance - my old friends from the Khazar front , Tosha and Zhenya - are temporarily staying. A whole aerial reconnaissance unit appeared in Vostok many years before the start of the special operation. The command was far-sighted and guessed where the development of military art was heading. And what is more crucial, they were able to find and attract technical people obsessed with small aerial devices. The serial drones did not work, the aerial reconnaissance needed more capacity in the batteries, the ability to receive and transmit, etc. They were even made with a 3D printer to print the necessary parts. Of level.

Tosha waved to me from the porch and rushed over to help me. First we covered my car with a camouflage tent and then we put up a net: the car was covered like a tree, turned into a shapeless object, no matter where you looked from it. A standard security measure. In the village there were arrivals (this is how the artillery is called in Donbass) at intervals of one or two hours. Chaotic in terms of the area. Before, with the targets identified, everyone had learned to be smarter.

From there I began to smell a familiar aroma. Khazar was welding something microscopic in size. He proudly showed me his capabilities: a remote-controlled antenna. It had two objectives: now the operator will be able to work under cover or hide the antenna to one side as long as the cable, which is long, allows it. And if something comes in the direction of the radio signal, aerial reconnaissance will have a better chance of surviving.

It was night. Tosha excitedly explained to us the technology battle that was clearly visible to all: “Something weird happened to the drone today. The “exit” point, as planned, was moved 500 meters into the field, to the side. I was flying and all of a sudden the drone starts to fail, the connection drops and I realize the motor has died. It is falling, but not very far, it continues to rotate and just above the ground we see that the part that cut the control with us has fallen. I put it on manual control and as soon as it gets to the “out” point and Boom! Three mines. Normally five minutes pass and they immediately attack.”

At that moment, a bomb exploded somewhere on the edge of the village. I shivered thinking that it had been in our house. Most of the windows are broken and there is a nasty shell hole in my bedroom ceiling. You can see how he got in and the direction until he was stopped by the brick wall. It seemed that we were sitting in the street, although covered by an improvised wall of cement blocks, a more psychological than real protection that only helps against the shrapnel and the shock wave. Another shell whizzed past us. I was relieved: "It's not ours, in ours you can't hear the buzz."

At that moment, behind the black woods, our Grads began to roar, unleashing a full charge. A series of explosions ensued. A few minutes passed, and only a single Ukrainian cannon roar returned in response. And then the silence.

I asked the guys what they knew about technical innovations, what is drone production. Has anything interesting turned up? Jazar told me about the Volk Interceptor, which can throw two or three nets and catch an enemy drone. According to the inventors of it. Jazar , an intelligent man, hesitates: “I wonder if those who developed it didn't do it in peace instead of war. Have they really tried to catch drones in the air? Have they achieved it? We do not. You can't play with what you have but develop attack drones. Write, let them know that there are those who are flying them at the front.”

By midnight, the sky had disappeared and the temperature had dropped noticeably. Autumn is inexorably approaching. The boys in the woods comment that it has started to get cold at night.

In the morning, with the rotation, I went out to the front with them. “This is tougher than Mariupol”, the Vostok soldiers and commanders had unanimously told me. He still didn't get it. I did not understand how you can compare the chaos of Azovstal, the Vostochny neighborhood of Mariupol apartment buildings and these pastoral landscapes: already yellowed fields, beautiful forest plantations always ready to hide an exhausted soldier from the heat and being view of the enemy. The first thing they taught me was the forward position approach. In the city or in the factory, go a meter, turn around, jump into the basement and you're home. Here, going to the front equals a battle. And it is not easy to get out of a front position.

The soldiers explained to me how, in thirty degree heat, it took hours to remove the wounded comrades, who died in the evacuation and had to drag the bodies already swollen from the heat. How during the attacks they had come across something terrible, fortified points built exactly according to Soviet theory. In the Great Patriotic War, intelligent commanders silenced those supports with artillery and calmly walked around waiting for the Germans to abandon them on their own so as not to end up surrounded. Here they also fight against the Germans , for the first time I heard that new name that has been given to the enemy. If you think about it, there are many hidden meanings in that name.

We move forward for a long time. First in trucks, then in armored vehicles, which took us almost to the front. It remained to walk a few kilometers. I was in the group led by Rossiya , a gray-haired man dressed in an old camouflage uniform before the most modern ones. Rossiya is an example of the Donbass type, in which intelligence and industrial toughness of the worker engaged in hard and complex production are equally mixed.

We advanced along the bottom of a hill that protected us from the enemy. But that doesn't mean anything, the area is usually covered by machine gun, grenade launcher and mortar fire. Rossiya lengthened our chain so that there were at least ten or fifteen meters between us, a guarantee that not everyone would go down with a single projectile. We arrived at a nice forest and Rossiya ordered: “Drone. Quick, everyone under the trees.”

For a minute, everyone listened intently to the sky. I put on my headphones and turned on reconnaissance mode , which allows you to hear a buzz from hundreds of meters away. We listen in turns. Noises were heard in the air - this is what Ukrainian drones sound like, dropping projectiles on our positions. But the drones can also direct the 60mm artillery that is in the area. The enemy uses Polish LMP-2017 mortars. Their projectiles are light, weighing two kilos, their range is one kilometer and they are considered "silent". “These shells are rubbish,” Rossiya explained to me . “It breaks right here, in the treetops. Most of the injuries are in the neck and back.

I searched for clarification: “Are you sure they are Poles? Or Americans? One of the soldiers interrupted: "Commander, it is not good that we accumulate so many people here." An intelligent commander always listens to the good advice of his subordinates. Rossiyahe ordered us to split up in a chain and move forward. I was about to step on a mine that was right there, on the side of the road. Behind it was another explosive device with a grenade and a fishing line hanging from another branch. Suddenly, the forest stopped looking welcoming. We were in a hole in the ground facing the enemy. I watched as German machine guns cut through the treetops and bullets buzzed a little higher. The operator was trying to crush us, but he couldn't get the barrel down low enough to grab us. When you shoot you lose your fear, but you couldn't shoot there. Rossiya warned me and I understood.

In those seconds, a group returning from the positions crossed an open part. The first guys got through without a problem, but then the Germans woke up. I didn't know how we could get a wounded man out of that field, but I kept quiet and kept those doubts to myself. Rossiya calmly leaned against a natural wall, took out a foil and knew exactly where the enemy was firing from: 200-300 meters. The commander contacted the men in charge of the mortar and gave the coordinates. Rossiya showed me the map: “Look, we got it from Azov, from the captured maps they had from NATO. Look, there are no marks but there are the important points of the land, rivers, roads, forests”.

The card looked like a rolled cake in a huge box. Rossiya continued: “We have divided the forest plantations into squares of about 90 meters and we have given each one a name. You say Pinocchio, frame five. And he is already”.

“Do you speak openly on the radio?”

Rossiya shrugged. “No, there are those who invent codes: I've been walking the dog . And ten minutes later: the dog has arrived safely ”.

Everyone around us was smiling and trying not to think about the guys lying on the ground right now, especially considering that a grenade launcher had been attached to the machine gun and every once in a while a sniper would act. His position is more comfortable, he could reach us. I pressed the wall tighter and hid a little more.

Finally, the mortar began to act, which fired three projectiles. The radio came on and I heard: “Abort”. The mine had not come out of the canyon. Rossiya routinely uses mortar cover, but a few shells proved to be enough and the Germans fell silent. The soldiers began to come towards us, out of breath and sweating. But they didn't drink, they didn't ask for water, they were aware that there was plenty left. I recognized Bereza 's smile, the commander of the assault group with which he had occupied building number 35 in Azovstal. He didn't remember if he does, so I asked him if he smokes. With the ingenuity of a soldier, he replied: "There are no cigarettes." I gave him a whole pack of Russian cigarettes, which are highly prized around here. I told him it was a gift. Our little hole began to tremble with laughter. It was the laughter of those who have just escaped death. Possibly the funniest laugh.

Someone made a comment: "Well, go tomorrow, first heavy artillery, a bucket of earth in the face, then grenade launchers." They all laughed again. An older man with a mustache and a particularly friendly face made a trench joke: "Ugledar, Ugledar, he walked for a long time and then he fell." He came from the town of Ugledar, he went to the front in 2014 and in this time his “good neighbors” have dismantled his house brick by brick: “There is nothing left. If I could get to my town, I would immediately form a construction team with the neighbors. Until I get to kyiv, they will have to leave everything as it was." There was no malice in his words.

The last soldier ran to our hiding place, it was the legendary Lis . He dropped his backpack and took a deep breath. Everyone knows that Lis is a joker and a cheerful man and everyone was waiting for his performance: “How I ran, how I ran. And how I fell and died, like in a movie, Marvel style, but there wasn't enough music." The soldier sank slowly into the hole, forced by an enemy bullet. I lay down and protected myself with my backpack while the one-eyed man (the sniper) attacked us again.

They all stopped laughing. Rossiya looked at us with a pointed look: “What are you all doing sitting there? Get out quickly, two more groups are on the way.” We went out. The reconnaissance team put us in the tank, showed us how to proceed and explained that we had to go very, very fast. Falling from an armored car is a guaranteed hospital. The driver joked by placing the backpacks in such a way that they would not bother: "420 rubles round trip, with a discount for those who are afraid."

The soldiers shouted: “Boss, to Donetsk, please”. “I to Slavyansk”. Everyone started naming their cities and towns. Many of them, unfortunately, are still a long way from the front lines. And it will take a long time to walk, fall and get up to reach them. But for now, our iron box was filled with temporary happiness. They were all alive, there were no injuries. Now there would be plenty of water, food, cigarettes, and a good nap. It may be possible to call family, those who are hoping and praying.

https://slavyangrad.es/2022/08/23/hacia ... more-25339

Google Translator

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On the proposal to steal Russian gas
August 23, 12:39 p.m

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Regarding proposals in Ukraine to steal Russian gas, which goes to Europe through the Ukrainian GTS.
Such proposals can only be welcomed - the sooner they start stealing Russian times from the pipe, the sooner gas will be pumped to Europe through the Ukrainian GTS and it can either be left to rust as unnecessary, or additionally recalibrated to make ends meet. And underground gas storage along the way. And the Europeans, if they want to receive gas, can try to negotiate the pumping of gas through Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2. Or disagree. So go ahead!

https://colonelcassad.livejournal.com/7817972.html

Bulgaria's gas principle
August 23, 10:35

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After the opposition overthrew the government of the "Canadian Bulgarian" Petkov (who blamed the Russian ambassador and Russia in general for his fall), the Bulgarian opposition continues to look for ways to resume negotiations with Russia on gas supplies to Bulgaria.
Bulgaria was one of the first to refuse to buy gas for rubles through Gazprombank. And it was promptly turned off.

At the same time, most EU countries chose the path of cooperation with the administration, pretending that they pay for gas in euros, although they had to open ruble accounts at Gazprombank upon request.
Accordingly, they are now with gas, and those who refused are sitting without gas and are forced to buy it on the spot market at "democratic" prices.

Now Bulgaria wants to join this scheme, which is complicated for Bulgaria not only by the previous refusal, but also by Bulgaria's actions to supply weapons to Ukraine and the expulsion of Russian diplomats by the Petkov gang.

In the current conditions, it will no longer be possible to pretend that "this is not important, let's just buy gas for rubles, like the rest of you." Russia will certainly want to get something else for its consent. The Bulgarians understand this, which is why they are already declaring that "negotiations will not be easy." Well, what to do - winter is coming, and gas is already starting to break through the mark of 2900-3000 dollars per 1000 cubic meters.

https://colonelcassad.livejournal.com/7817475.html

Google Translator

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Ukraine - Dugina Killer Identified - War Of Attrition Continues

It seems that Russian authorities have found the killer of Darya Dugina.

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The killer, one Natalya Vovk, is associated with the Azov Nazis of Ukraine. So is her brother. Both are in Ukraine right now but will probably flee elsewhere.

Yelensis has details that point to willful murder of Darya Dugina:´

[A]n important clarification was already delivered by the experts: As to the question whether the bomb was on a timer or remote control, the answer already came in: Remote control. This fact has huge ramifications. WarGonzo blogger Semyon Pegov points out that the person who pressed the remote-control button to ignite the bomb, would have been in visual contact with the car and its occupant: “In other words, the terrorists who were supposedly out to blow Dugin up in his own car, would have observed, how Darya got into the car instead. Not the original target. And then they would have had to make a decision: To blow up, or not to blow up? And they took the decision: Go ahead and blow up the daughter. So, Darya became the new target. And this is, it goes without saying, an entirely new level of terrorism. Not even your average ISIS terrorist would take such a low step.”

Aleksandr Dugin, Darya's father, as well as his daughter had been threatened:

The Ukrainians threaten and blacklist everybody in the world who doesn’t give them full and unconditional support.
Dugin, however, is a special case, and particularly hated by the West and their proxies. Both Dugin and his daughter are on American/British “sanctions” lists. Dugin has been the recipient of non-stop hate-speech for years now. Westies hate and demonize him because of his philosophical ideas and anti-Liberal ideology. Darya herself has a degree in Political Philosophy and shared her father’s ideology. Both were strong supporters of the Russian “Special Military Operation” against the Ukraine. Which would have made them “fair game” according to the usual Ukrainian standards. However, nothing has been proved yet, so we shall just have to wait and see.

In the continuation of this story, we will discuss Dugin’s “harmful” ideas, some interesting history of his political career; and how the Westie press is inhumanely revelling in his grief.[/i]

You can catch Yelensis' writings at Awful Avalanche.

Meanwhile the fighting in Ukraine continues with recent Russian offenses launched on all fronts. In the north the slow move to Karkiv continues. The Russian forces in the south move towards Mykolaiv (Nikolaev). In the east attacks against Soledar and Bakhmut continue. All these moves are supported by intense strikes on every Ukrainian headquarter and troop concentration the Russian military intelligence can find. This hunting down and killing of complete battalions and brigades behind the immediate frontline is costing a lot of Ukrainian soldiers' lives and is preventing any Ukrainian countermoves. This is on top of the daily massive artillery use against Ukrainian frontline positions.

In a recent interview Colonel Markus Reisner of the Austrian army described the situation (in German). Some excerpts:

If you look at the battles in detail, you can see one thing from a military point of view: the western arms deliveries are having an effect, but still not in a resounding and sustainable form. The result must be measurable. Only when the Russian attacks are completely stopped or when the Russian troops retreat (similar to the situation around Kyiv in March 2022) can one actually speak of a turning point in the war from a sober, objective and military point of view. The western arms shipments that have arrived so far mean that the Ukrainian armed forces have "too much to die and too little to live". If the 16 HIMARS multiple rocket launchers delivered from the USA so far have achieved understandable success, the question arises: Why is the USA not delivering more?

May be because it does not have more to give but more likely is that the U.S. wants to prolong the conflict at a near stalemate as long as possible.

Can Ukraine win this war?

If the West does not deliver increased numbers of state-of-the-art weapons (including above all artillery and multiple rocket launchers, but also long-range anti-aircraft defense systems) to Ukraine in the coming weeks, Ukraine will not be able to win this conflict. It is therefore in the hands of the West how this war will continue. As long as Ukraine cannot protect its airspace against Russian cruise missiles and ballistic missiles, any regional military rearmament seems illusory. But this is necessary if Ukraine wants to regain possession of the lost land. Those areas that you need to be able to survive economically.


It is highly unlikely that the Ukraine will ever regain the former Russian territory that in 1922 Vladimir Ilʹich Lenin, for whatever reason, gave to Ukraine and that Russia is currently taking back. A war of attrition, which Russia with its industrial capability to sustain endlessly, can not be won by Ukraine. Even more massive support from the 'west' would be insufficient.

But the war will be won on a different front:

Modern warfare is above all a war of minds. The image we have of a conflict decisively shapes our opinion on it. It determines whether we perceive a conflict as "just" and whether we are willing to support it. At the moment, in the conflict in Ukraine, this support begins in our communications and ends in the delivery of weapons. It is therefore always the aim of the opponents to influence the respective other side. The military calls this approach "cognitive warfare." A comprehensive war of attrition is rarely decided on the battlefield, but often in the minds of the population in the hinterland.

For the Russian side, the decisive point of attack is therefore the West's willingness to continue to support Ukraine. Russia is therefore trying to weaken this willingness in all available domains (especially in the cyber and information space). Extraction of raw materials and threats of nuclear weapons are the weapons used here to achieve an effect. The West, on the other hand, is trying to hit the cohesion of Russian society. Sanction packages and economic punitive measures are intended to exert pressure. The Russian economy is already taking a serious hit. The question is, will these bring about a change in behavior or not? At the moment, decisive success cannot be measured either on the battlefield or on the home front, which makes it clear that the guns in Ukraine are far from silent.


The extremely stupid European sanctions against Russian energy have caused severe damage to European economies. This is already breaking the 'western' will for further support of Ukraine. During July none of the bigger European countries has promised and delivered more heavy weapons to Ukraine.

On August 24 Ukraine has some independence holiday. Zelensky and his team will likely want to present some 'success' for that day. A nasty incident around the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, which the Ukraine continues to shell, or elsewhere can therefore be expected to happen over the next few days.

Posted by b on August 22, 2022 at 14:46 UTC | Permalink

https://www.moonofalabama.org/2022/08/u ... .html#more

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From Cassad's Telegram Account:

Сolonelcassad
the situation in the east of Ukraine
by the end of August 22, 2022

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▪️There are no significant changes in the front line in the Kharkiv region . Russian troops launched several missile strikes on the objects of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Kharkov, artillery duels are underway near the line of contact.

▪️Fighting continues in the Bakhmut (Artemovsk) direction .
➖In Soledar , the forces of the People's Militia of the LPR were able to occupy the territory of a gypsum quarry from the Knauf-Gyps enterprise. Clashes are taking place in the area of ​​Zalevsky Street and the refractory materials plant.
➖The assault on Bakhmutsky in the suburbs of Soledar continues.
➖After the liberation of the village of Zaitsevo in the suburbs of Gorlovka, the allied forces are fighting for the Mayorskaya railway station.

▪️In the Donetsk direction, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation with the People's Militia of the DPR are advancing in the suburbs of Donetsk , trying to move the front line away from the capital of the republic:
➖The forces of the NM DPR are moving from the side of Staromikhaylovka towards Nevelskoye.
➖The 100th brigade of the People's Militia of the DPR, after a long artillery preparation, began to occupy the strongholds of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on the Donetsk Ring Road.
➖Ukrainian formations once again shelled the cities of the Donetsk agglomeration: several civilians were killed, at least 7 people were injured.

▪️In the Zaporozhye region , the parties continued to conduct artillery duels near the contact line: Russian troops attacked the positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine near Gulyaipol, Olginsky, Dorozhnyanka and Malaya Tokmachka.

▪️In the Krivoy Rog direction, the RF Armed Forces hit targets near Shirokoye and Zelenodolsk.

https://t.me/s/boris_rozhin

Google Translator

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FLY LIKE AN EAGLE, DARIA DUGINA
pepe escobar

Aug 22, 2022 , 4:29 p.m.

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Whether the Dugina tragedy will become the catalyst that pushes Putin's strategic ambiguity to a whole new level remains to be seen (Photo: File)

Daria Dugina, 30 years old, daughter of Alexander Dugin, an intelligent, solid, exuberant, enterprising young woman, whom I met in Moscow and had the honor to keep as a friend, has been brutally murdered.

As a young journalist and analyst, one could see that she would carve out a brilliant path to wide recognition and respect ( here she talks about feminism ).

Not long ago, the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) was directly engaged in disintegrating assassination attempts, organized by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), against Russian journalists, as in the case of Olga Skabaeyeva and Vladimir Soloviev. . It is amazing that Dugin and his family were not protected by the Russian intelligence and security apparatus.

The fundamental facts of the tragedy have already been defined. A Land Cruiser Prado SUV, belonging to Dugin and with Daria at the wheel, exploded on a road near the town of Bolchie Vyazemy, just over 20 kilometers from Moscow.

They were both coming from a family festival, where Dugin had given a lecture. At the last moment, Daria took the SUV and Dugin followed her in another car. According to witnesses, there was an explosion under the SUV, which was immediately engulfed in flames and collided with a building on the side of the road. Daria's body was charred beyond recognition.

The Russian Investigative Committee soon determined that the improvised explosive device - approximately 400 grams of TNT, unencapsulated - was planted under the bottom of the SUV, on the driver's side.

Investigators believe it was a premeditated car bomb attack.

What is not yet known is if the improvised explosive device had a timer or if some thug around pressed the button.

What is already known is that Alexander Dugin was a target of the Myrotvorets list . Myrotvorets is the acronym [in Ukrainian] for the Center for Investigation of Evidence of Crimes against National Security of Ukraine. It works shoulder to shoulder with NATO collecting information on "pro-Russian terrorists and separatists".

Denis Pushilin, the head of the Donetsk People's Republic, was quick to accuse "terrorists of the Ukrainian regime" for Daria's murder. The invaluable Maria Zakharova was much more diplomatic: she said that if the Ukrainian trail is confirmed, it will set up a policy of state terrorism deployed by kyiv.

AN EXISTENTIAL WAR
In several essays - this being probably the most essential - Dugin had made amply clear the enormity of what is at stake. This is a war of ideas. And an existential war: Russia against the West as a whole led by the United States.

The SBU, NATO, or most likely the combo - considering that the SBU takes orders from the CIA and MI6 - did not choose to attack Putin, Lavrov, Patrushev or Shoigu. They focused on a philosopher and ended up murdering his daughter, making it even more painful. They attacked an intellectual who formulates ideas. Proving once again that Western Cancellation Culture seamlessly metastasizes into Persona Cancellation.

It's all very well that the Russian Defense Ministry is about to start production of the hypersonic Lord Zircon while still putting out a bunch of Khinzal Lords. Or that three Mig-31 supersonic interceptors have been deployed to Kaliningrad equipped with Khinzales and put on 24/7 combat duty.

The problem is that the rules have changed, and the SBU/NATO combo, facing an unspeakable debacle in the Donbas, is raising the bar on sabotage, counterintelligence and counter-fun tactics.

They started with the bombing of Russian territory; they were deployed in the Donbas, as in the attempt to assassinate the mayor of Mariupol, Konstantin Ivachtchenko; they even launched drones at the headquarters of the Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol; and now - with the tragedy of Daria Dugina - they are at the gates of Moscow.


The point is not that everything mentioned is irrelevant in terms of changing the facts on the ground imposed by the Special Military Operation. The point is that a forthcoming series of bloody psychological operations designed for pure public relations purposes may prove to be extremely painful for Russian public opinion, which will demand crushing punishment.

It is clear that Moscow and St. Petersburg are now primary targets. Ukrainian ISIS is on the march. Of course, its handlers have vast experience in the field, throughout the Global North and South. All the red lines have disappeared.

THE COMING OF THE UKRAINIAN ISIS
The coke-addicted comedian has duly anticipated any Russian reaction, according to the NATO script that feeds him daily: Russia could try to do something "particularly disgusting" this coming week.

That is irrelevant. The real - and burning - question is to what extent the Kremlin and Russian intelligence will react when it is fully established that the SBU and NATO hatched the Dugin plot. That is kyiv terrorism at the gates of Moscow. That screams “red line” in bloody red, and a response linked to the repeated promise, made by Putin himself, to hit the “decision centers”.

It will be a fateful decision. Moscow is not at war with kyiv's stooges, essentially, but with NATO. And vice versa. All bets are on how the Daria Dugina tragedy can eventually speed up the Russian calendar, in terms of a radical overhaul of her hitherto long-term strategy.

Moscow can behead the kyiv fraud with a few hypersonic business cards. However, that is too easy; subsequently, with whom to negotiate the future of the Ukrainian haunch?

By contrast, doing essentially nothing means accepting an imminent and de facto terrorist invasion of the Russian Federation: the tragedy of Daria Dugina on steroids.

In his penultimate Telegram post, Dugin once again framed the stakes. These are the key points.

He asks the Russian rulers for "structural, ideological, personnel, institutional, strategic" transformations.

Based on the evidence - from the increase in attacks against Crimea, to attempts to provoke a nuclear catastrophe in Zaporozhie - he correctly concludes that the NATO sphere "has decided to stay on the other end until the end. You can understand: Russia actually (and this is not propaganda) impugned the West as a civilization."

The conclusion is clear: "So we have to go all the way." This connects with what Putin himself stated: "We haven't really started anything yet." Dugin: "Now we have to start."

Dugin proposes that the current status quo around Operation Z cannot last more than six months. There is no doubt that "the tectonic plates have moved". Daria Dugina will fly like an eagle in an unearthly sky. The question is whether her tragedy will become the catalyst that pushes Putin's strategic ambiguity to a whole new level.

https://misionverdad.com/traducciones/v ... ria-dugina

Google Translator

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6 months on, no clear end seen in conflict
China Daily | Updated: 2022-08-23 07:46

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People wait to fill bottles with water on Sunday in Kostiantynivka, Donetsk. A homeowner with a private well allows residents to fill up at his home for two hours each day. The neighborhood hasn't had running water for months. [Photo/Agencies]

Amid grinding battles, car bombing near Moscow brings accusations, and denial

KYIV/MOSCOW-Nearly six months after Russia launched its special military operation in Ukraine, the conflict has turned into a grinding campaign of battles with no clear endgame in sight. Amid the daily airstrikes, a car bombing, unusual for Moscow, is likely to aggravate tensions between Russia and Ukraine.

The conflict has created the largest refugee crisis in Europe since World War II. The UN refugee agency said a third of Ukrainians have fled their homes, with more than 6.6 million displaced within the country and over 6.6 million more across the continent. Both sides have sustained losses.

As Ukraine prepared to mark its Independence Day on Wednesday, officials reported more strikes on targets in the east and south of the country.

The fighting near Zaporizhzhia and a missile strike on the southern town of Voznesensk, not far from Ukraine's second-largest atomic plant, have deepened fears of a nuclear accident.

On Sunday, US President Joe Biden, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron held a phone call stressing the importance of ensuring the safety of nuclear installations.

On Friday, the French presidency said Russian President Vladimir Putin had agreed that inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency can visit the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant.

In another development, the daughter of an influential Russian political theorist was killed in the car bombing on the outskirts of Moscow, authorities said on Sunday.

The Moscow branch of the Russian Investigative Committee said preliminary information indicated that 29-year-old TV commentator Darya Dugina was killed by an explosive planted in the SUV she was driving on Saturday night.

The bloodshed gave rise to suspicions that the intended target was her father, Alexander Dugin, a Russian philosopher and writer.

The explosion took place as Dugin's daughter was returning from a cultural festival she had attended with him. Russian media reports cited witnesses as saying the SUV belonged to Dugin and that he had decided at the last minute to travel in another vehicle.

Russia's President Vladimir Putin said that Dugina's killing was a "vile crime".

Ongoing investigation

Russia's top counterintelligence agency on Monday blamed Ukrainian spy agencies for organizing the killing.

Russia's Federal Security Service, or FSB said that the killing has been "prepared and perpetrated by the Ukrainian special services".

It charged that the killing was perpetrated by a Ukrainian citizen, who left Russia for Estonia after the killing. The FSB said that the suspect, Natalya Vovk, rented an apartment in the building where Dugina lived and shadowed her.

It said that Vovk and her daughter were at the festival that Dugin and his daughter attended just before the killing.

Maria Zakharova, Russia's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, said on Sunday that if the investigation's trail led to Ukraine, then it would point to a policy of "state terrorism" being pursued by Kyiv.

Denis Pushilin, a prominent official in Donetsk, blamed the blast on "terrorists of the Ukrainian regime, trying to kill Alexander Dugin".

Ukraine has previously denied any involvement in the killing.

Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, denied Ukrainian involvement, saying: "We are not a criminal state…and definitely not a terrorist state."

Dugin is a prominent proponent of the "Russian world" concept, a spiritual and political ideology that emphasizes traditional values. His daughter expressed similar views.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry and the Chinese embassy in Ukraine on Monday reminded Chinese citizens not to go to Ukraine for now. In a statement released on the embassy's WeChat public account, it also advised Chinese already in Ukraine to strengthen security precautions and contact the Chinese embassy.

http://global.chinadaily.com.cn/a/20220 ... 73a3a.html

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Ukraine uses NATO ammunition in attacks on nuclear power station
By Prensa Latina (Posted Aug 23, 2022)

Originally published: Prensa Latina on August 21, 2022 (more by Prensa Latina) |

Representatives of the civil-military administration of the Zaporozhie region denounced today that Ukrainian troops use artillery with NATO ammunition in attacks on the Energodar nuclear power plant.
Ukraine uses NATO ammunition in attacks on nuclear power station“The latest attacks on Saturday were carried out with 155-millimeter shells of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) with American M739 fuses,” the Ukrainian oblast authorities reported on their Telegram account.

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In this regard, the member of the main council of the Zaporozhie oblast administration Vladimir Rogogov confirmed that long-range weapons were used in the aggression from the opposite side of the Dnieper River.

The Russian Defense Ministry warned last Thursday that Kiev troops would stage a provocation to generate a radiation leak, as well as to break the integrity of the nuclear waste repository and put the reactor in an abnormal operating state.

The portfolio specified that the aim of such action would be to create an exclusion zone of up to 30 kilometers and to blame Russia for nuclear terrorism, in order to justify a further escalation of the conflict. Several Western politicians stated that a radiation leak at the Zaporozhie nuclear power plant as a result of the shelling could be a pretext for the Atlantic Alliance to start participating in the fighting in Ukraine.

https://mronline.org/2022/08/23/ukraine ... r-station/

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An UAV hit the roof of the headquarters of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, Sevastopol, Crimea, August 20, 2022

U.S. taunts Russia to escalate in Ukraine
By M. K. Bhadrakumar (Posted Aug 23, 2022)

Originally published: Indian Punchline on August 21, 2022 (more by Indian Punchline) |

In military terms, the crude, locally assembled drone dropping a country-made bomb or two on unguarded sites in Crimea are at best pin pricks in the big picture of Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine. But it can be profoundly consequential in certain other ways.

For a start, this escalation has Washington’s approval. A senior Biden administration official told NatSec Daily the U.S. supports strikes on Crimea if Kiev deems them necessary. “We don’t select targets, of course, and everything we’ve provided is for self-defence purposes. Any target they choose to pursue on sovereign Ukrainian soil is by definition self defense,” this person said.

But Washington knows–and Moscow knows–that like any sophistry, this one too is a clever argument but inherently fallacious and deceptive. The New York Times has interpreted the drone attack on Crimea as a challenge to the leadership of President Vladimir Putin. The Times wrote that the Crimea attacks “put domestic political pressure on the Kremlin, with criticism and debate about the war increasingly being unleashed on social media and underscoring that even what the Russian government considers to be Russian territory is not safe.”

Times claimed that “as images of antiaircraft fire streaking through the blue Crimean sky ricocheted through social media, the visceral reality of war was becoming more and more apparent to Russians–many of whom have rallied behind the Kremlin’s line, hammered home in state media, that the “special military operation” to save Ukraine from Nazi domination is going smoothly and according to plan.”

The paper quoted a prominent establishment think tanker in Moscow acknowledging that the Crimean attack is a “serious” development insofar as “People are beginning to feel that the war is coming to them.” The Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky claimed in a nationwide address on Saturday, “One can literally feel in the air of Crimea that the occupation there is temporary, and Ukraine is returning.”

Once again, while Russia is steadily winning the ground war in Ukraine, the U.S. is determined not to lose the information war. In Washington’s reckoning, in this Internet Age, the war is to be ultimately won in the Russian people’s minds. Therefore, this studied escalation by Washington puts Moscow in a dilemma, since if it is unanswered, Zelensky may target the 19-km long Crimean Bridge connecting the Taman Peninsula of Krasnodar in mainland Russia with the Kerch Peninsula of Crimea.

In fact, it is a near certainty. The point is, the Kerch bridge is “Putin’s bridge” in the Russian people’s consciousness. While formally opening the bridge to car traffic in May 2018, Putin was quoted as telling the workers, “In different historical epochs, even under the tsar priests, people dreamed of building this bridge. Then they returned to this in the 1930s, the 40s, the 50s. And finally, thanks to your work and your talent, the miracle has happened.”

Therefore, there is no better way to puncture the halo around Putin than by despatching at least a bit of the Kerch bridge to the bottom of the Black Sea. Meanwhile, from the U.S. perspective, Kiev’s drone attacks on Crimea already serve three purposes.

First, this is meant to be a blow to the Russian morale. Indeed, Putin’s towering popularity within Russia has become an eyesore for the Biden Administration. Putin’s masterly navigation of the Russian economy out of crisis mode is an incredible feat that defied all logic of power in the American calculus–inflation is steadily falling (in contrast with the European countries and the U.S.); the GDP decline is narrowing; foreign reserves are swelling; the current account is on the plus side; and lo and behold, the Biden Administration’s so-called “nuclear option”–Russia’s removal from the SWIFT messaging system–failed to cripple foreign trade.

Second, both Washington and Kiev are desperately scrambling for “success” stories to distract attention. The Times playing up the story speaks for itself. In reality, Russia’s Donbass offensive has created a new momentum and is steadily grinding the Ukrainian forces. Within the week, Russian forces will have encircled the lynchpin of the Ukrainian defence line, Bakhmut city, which is a communication hub for troop movements and supply logistics in Donbass. Russian forces have reached the city outskirts from the north, east and south. The fall of Bakhmut will be a crushing defeat for Zelensky.

On the other hand, even after two months after Zelensky promised a “counteroffensive” on Kherson near Crimea, it is nowhere in sight. Even his most ardent votaries in the western media feel let down. To be sure, there is growing disenchantment in Europe.

The Hungarian PM Viktor Orban, undoubtedly the smartest European politician today (with an economy registering over 6% growth when the rest of the continent is mired in recession), told German magazine Tichys Einblick in an interview last week that this war marked the end of “western superiority.” Interestingly, he named Big Oil as “war profiteers” and singled out that Exxon doubled its profits, Chevron quadrupled, and ConocoPhillips’ profits have shot up manifold. (Of course, all three are American companies.) Orban’s message was clear: America has weakened the EU. This thought must be troubling many a European politician today.

Third, Washington has thrown down the gauntlet in a measured way. But there is no way the war can be brought into the drawing rooms of the average Americans the way Times says is happening in Russia. Twenty Americans were killed in Kharkiv two days ago in a high-precision Russian missile strike, but there aren’t going to be any body bags returning to Arlington Cemetery; nor does it make headline in the cooperative American media.

The U.S. plans to go further up on the escalation ladder. Escalation is the Biden Administration’s last chance to stall a Russian victory. The American strategic thinker and academic John Mearsheimer has written that the risk of a disastrous escalation is “substantially greater than the conventional wisdom holds. And given that the consequences of escalation could include a major war in Europe and possibly even nuclear annihilation, there is good reason for extra concern.”

Moscow’s preference is to avoid any escalation, since the special military operation is achieving results. Whereas, it is the U.S. that is in some visible despair, and in immediate terms, Russia’s plans to hold referendums in Kherson and Zaporozhye in September must be stalled. Herein lies the danger.

The U.S.’ current build-up over Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant points toward a hidden agenda to intervene in the war at some point directly. Kiev’s attempt to arrange a nuclear explosion in Zaporozhye can only be seen in this light. Moscow seems to anticipate such an eventuality.

Defence Minister Sergey Shoigu disclosed yesterday that Russia has begun mass production of Tsirkon hypersonic cruise missiles and is already deploying them. The U.S. lacks the capability to counter Tsirkon, which is estimated to be 11 times faster than Tomahawk with far superior target-penetration characteristics. Shoigu may have given a stark warning that Russia will not be cowed down if there’s a NATO intervention in Ukraine.

https://mronline.org/2022/08/23/u-s-tau ... n-ukraine/
"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 Aug 24, 2022 11:54 am

Independence, red lines and retaliation
POSTED BY @NSANZO ⋅ 08/24/2022

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Like a year ago, the Ukrainian government yesterday staged the support of its international partners for its territorial integrity in what kyiv last year called the "Crimean Platform", a forum whose only result was, in 2021, to announce that Ukraine not only has not renounced the peninsula, but rather considers itself entitled to recover the territory in the manner it deems appropriate. Understanding that this statement left open the possibility of using force to recover lost territory, Russia understood that idea as something close to a declaration of war. A year later, although by video conference, the meeting had higher profile guests than in its first edition and in it Zelensky was able to hear from the mouths of his two main European allies, France and Germany,

However, unlike a year ago, these are not just empty words from world leaders aware that kyiv does not have the political or military capacity to retake Crimea, whose population decided eight years ago to leave Ukraine and has never shown any intention of returning. . On this occasion, Ukraine has heavy weapons delivered by its American partners with which it could potentially reach Crimea. Last week, Politician, a medium with good connections in the Democratic party and in the Biden administration, published that the artillery and long-range ammunition that the United States has delivered or plans to deliver to Ukraine should not be used to attack Russian territory, understood, yes, according to internationally recognized borders. There is no US ban on the possible use of US missiles against Russian targets on the peninsula, where some are located, such as the Kerch Bridge, which have become one of the most desired.

Practically since the arrival of the first HIMARS systems in Ukraine, the Kerch bridge has been one of the most repeated targets. General Marchenko or the provocateur Oleskiy Arestovich did it openly, and Minister Reznikov and the adviser to the Office of the President Mikhailo Podoliak more ambiguously. This same week, the official accounts of the Ukrainian Defense published a video of the bridge that connects Crimea with mainland Russia with the comment "Kerch Bridge... we are watching you", a new provocation that was briefly and erroneously broadcast also with the Twitter account of the now defunct OSCE Ukraine Monitoring Mission.

Despite the desire to take the military conflict to Crimea, where the war until now had been only economic - Ukraine cut off the passage of the canal to the north of Crimea to prevent supplies, which has ruined the region's agriculture - and informative, Ukraine has only achieved partial successes. The attack on the Saki military base was a first and hard impact, although the material damage was not excessive and there was no irreversible personal injury. Since then, Ukraine has tried to overwhelm the anti-aircraft defenses of the peninsula with the use of drones, a tactic without great success and that possibly had no greater objective than seeking a media victory and undermining the confidence of the Crimean population in its security. .

Throughout these months of war between Russia and Ukraine, the mention of Crimea has caused immediate reactions from Russia. In an outburst that does not differ too much from the rhetoric of characters such as Oleksiy Arestovich, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev warned Ukraine of a "final judgment" in case of attacking the peninsula, Russian territory since 2014. Since then, kyiv has included the region in its list of targets, without, for the time being, an escalation by Russia. Despite the irrationality that many Western analysts attribute to the Kremlin in general and to Vladimir Putin in particular, the Russian command seems to have understood the risks of a war out of control and has opted for a slower and more conservative strategy in which only an attack that truly endangers the Russian territorial integrity or the security of the population in the broad sense will imply that “final judgment”. Due to its importance as an infrastructure and the symbolic value that it would entail, an attack on the Kerch bridge -although at this time it would not leave the peninsula isolated, to which Russia has a land corridor from the DPR- would entail an immediate response , although not the use of drones to carry out minor attacks. So it happened last week and so it happened again yesterday.

For the time being, even though the use of Ukrainian drones responds to combat reconnaissance for later actions, the real danger for the population is not in Sevastopol, Kerch or Evpatoria, but in places like Donetsk, which yesterday was bombed again in full day light. Both Russian and DPR authorities reported a bombing, accusing Ukraine of using US weapons, on Denis Pushilin's office. However, the bombing not only affected the upper floors of said building, located in the heart of the capital of the DPR, lost to Ukraine in 2014, but also caused casualties among the civilian population. A dozen people were injured and four died as a result of an attack with no other military objective than to remind the population that Ukraine has weapons with which to continue attacking despite the fact that the front is gradually moving away from Donetsk. With Peski lost, Ukraine may now lose the Marinka fort, where Russian and Republican troops have focused their artillery attacks in recent days.

Despite the threats to attack decision-making centers in the event of attacks against Russian territory that the Moscow authorities expressed months ago, these attacks have not occurred for the moment. Moscow has not attacked more decision-making centers than the Vinnitsa House of Officers, where several high-ranking military personnel from the Ukrainian aviation were killed. There have been no attacks against the Government or against key civilian infrastructure. Unlike the once-damaged Antonovsky Bridge in Kherson, the bridges over the Dnieper are still standing in the Ukrainian-controlled areas.

Russia has accepted the reality of a long-term war in which losses and casualties are guaranteed. Even so, without massive bombings against, for example, Nikopol, in response to the bombings against Energodar and the Zaporozhye NPP, the symbolic anniversary of Ukraine's Independence Day has made Zelensky and his associates warn about possible and “ cruel” Russian acts. Ukraine, which has increased in recent days actions that, despite not having great military success, can be considered red lines - Crimea, the Energodar nuclear power plant, towns in Belgorod or the Pushilin office in Donetsk - seems to be waiting for a response Russia to once again allege that Moscow's goal is to destroy Ukraine. In that line, waiting for the concentration of forces in Belarus to be the prelude to a major air attack, Ukraine has canceled massive events to celebrate August 24, a curfew has been imposed for these days in Kharkov and the United States has asked its citizens to immediately leave the country. More dependent than ever on the financing and flow of weapons from its foreign partners, Ukraine will celebrate its Independence Day while waiting for a new military escalation and the announcement of a new shipment of weapons from its Washington bosses. As it became known yesterday, the United States plans to send a new package of weapons to Ukraine, 3,000 million more, which will mean the largest shipment since the beginning of the Russian intervention.

https://slavyangrad.es/2022/08/24/25345/#more-25345

Google Translator

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Ukraine’s Next “Wonder Weapon” – US Anti-Radar Missiles
Posted by INTERNATIONALIST 360° on AUGUST 22, 2022



Russia has claimed and the Pentagon has confirmed that the US has sent Ukraine AGM-88 High-Speed Anti-Radiation Missiles (HARM) for targeting Russian radars used for air defense and counter battery operations. While the Pentagon and the Western media have once again hyped the impact of these missiles, the truth is even under ideal conditions they are difficult and dangerous to use – and Ukraine is using them under the least ideal conditions.

References:

Business Insider – The US has been quietly giving Ukraine radar-hunting missiles that could really be a problem for Russia: https://www.businessinsider.com/us-qu

The Drive – Ukrainian MiG-29s Are Firing AGM-88 Anti-Radiation Missiles: https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone

The Drive – New Evidence Of AGM-88 Anti-Radiation Missile Use By Ukraine Emerges: https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone

The Drive – How Ukraine Could’ve Quickly Put AGM-88 Anti-Radiation Missiles To Use: https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone

CSIS – Russian Air and Missile Defense: https://missilethreat.csis.org/system

Air Force Magazine – The Weasels at War (1991): https://www.airforcemag.com/article/0….

Air Force Magazine – Take It Down! The Wild Weasels in Vietnam (2010, another description of how difficult SEAD missions were and how ambiguous their success was): https://www.airforcemag.com/article/0

The Aviationist – Here’s how an F-16 Wild Weasel pilot earned the Silver Star decoration during Operation Allied Force: https://theaviationist.com/2016/04/20

Conference Paper – Assessment of Iraq’s Air Defense System in the Iraqi Freedom Operation (2019): https://www.researchgate.net/publicat

https://libya360.wordpress.com/2022/08/ ... -missiles/

The Western Strategy to Dismantle the Russian Federation
Posted by INTERNATIONALIST 360° on AUGUST 22, 2022
Thierry Meyssan

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Renewing the strategies of Germany during the First World War and of the United States and the Ukrainian integral nationalists during the Cold War, the Westerners have just created a Forum of the free peoples of Russia. The aim is to prolong the break-up of the USSR, to create separatist movements and, ultimately, to proclaim the independence of twenty regions of the country.

THE GERMAN EMPIRE OF WILLIAM II VERSUS THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE OF NICHOLAS II

At the beginning of the 20th century, before the world wars, Central Europe was deeply unstable. Two powers clashed in this great plain: in the West, the German and Austro-Hungarian Empires, in the East, the Russian Empire. The populations were invited to choose their protector, knowing that the borders had been modified many times and that none seemed definitive.

The Russian Empire had remained blocked for several centuries, leaving its subjects in a situation of ignorance and complete misery, while the German Empire had become the main scientific center of the world and was developing at great speed. Therefore, most Central European intellectuals chose to support Germany rather than Russia.

During the First World War, the German and Austro-Hungarian foreign ministries launched a joint secret operation: the creation of the League of Allogenic Peoples of Russia (Liga der Fremdvölker Rußlands – LFR) [1]. They recruited many high-level intellectuals to lead it. The aim was to implode the Russian Empire by creating separatist movements. The League called on the United States (which did not enter the war until 1917) to liberate the enslaved peoples.

Dmytro Dontsov, the future founder of “Ukrainian integral nationalism” [2], supported this movement and even became its employee. He shamelessly directed the Bern branch and edited the monthly Bulletin des nationalités de Russie in French.

THE UNITED STATES AGAINST THE SOVIET UNION

In addition, at the end of World War II, the OSS, and later the CIA, organized the transfer of anti-communist leaders from the Axis to the Third World and recycled them into various governments. They created an Asian Peoples’ Anti-Communist League around the Chinese Chiang Kai-shek, then a World Anti-Communist League (WACL), with the support of the former Ukrainian full nationalist Prime Minister, the Nazi Yaroslav Stetsko [3]. This secret organization, whose headquarters are still in Taiwan, was renamed the World League for Freedom and Democracy in 1990.

It is no coincidence that the war in Ukraine is followed by provocations in Taiwan, but the logical extension of this strategy. The League is always financed by the Taiwanese secret service and its actions are covered by the defense secret.

UKRAINIAN INTEGRAL NATIONALISTS AGAINST THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION

Ukrainian integral nationalist Dmytro Yarosh created in Ternopol (Western Ukraine) in 2007 – that is, under the presidency of Viktor Yushchenko – an “Anti-Imperialist Front”, an organization aimed at blowing up the Russian Federation. But whereas the attempts of the 1910s were based on the appeal of the German Empire and those of the Cold War on anti-communism, this third operation relied on jihadists [4].

The first Islamic emir of Itchkeria (Chechnya), Doku Umarov, should have participated, but he was wanted worldwide and could not get out of Russia. He sent a message of support and was elected co-chairman of the organization. In addition to the above-mentioned, he was elected co-chairman of the organization. Jihadists from Crimea, Adygea, Dagestan, Ingushetia, Kabardino-Balkaria, Karachaevo-Cherkessia and Ossetia came to the meeting.

Dmytro Yarosh and many Ukrainian integral nationalists fought in Chechnya on the side of the Islamic Emirate of Itchkeria. At the time, the Western press spoke of a national liberation movement and ignored the imposition of Sharia law by Doku Umarov.

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The Forum of Free Peoples of Russia has distributed this map of the dismantling of the Russian Federation.

THE FORUM OF FREE PEOPLES OF RUSSIA

Today, when Dontsov’s works are required reading for the 120,000 soldiers of the Ukrainian integral nationalist militias and Dmytro Yarosh has become an advisor to the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian armies, an unidentified sponsor – presumably the German BND, the U.S. CIA and the Ukrainian SBU – organized a Forum of Free Nations of Russia in Prague on July 23-24, 2022 [5].

It seems that the SBU was reluctant to participate and that this was one of the reasons that led the US to recommend to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to dismiss its director.

The term “Free Peoples” is the one used by Ukrainian integral nationalists, including the Ukrainian economist Lev Dobriansky. Dobriansky founded the National Captive Nations Committee with President Dwight Eisenhower and Yaroslav Stetsko, and later helped found the World Anti-Communist League. His daughter, Paula Dobriansky, played a central role in the propaganda apparatus of the State Department and the Thomson Reuters news agency. She served as Under Secretary of State for Global Affairs during the presidency of George W. Bush. President Donald Trump opposed her appointment as Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs.

The Free Peoples’ Forum of Russia uses the argument of peoples’ self-determination to justify a partition of Russia. When the USSR was dissolved, fifteen separate states were freed, including the Russian Federation. The idea is to extend this partition, this time creating twenty more states. This would not only create new states in the Caucasus, but also completely change the map of Siberia, that is, the marches of China.

However, if there is a real problem of development in some regions of Russia, it is being solved with the creation of new communication routes, first East-West, then for the last ten years, North-South. The peoples that the BND, the CIA and the SBU wish to “liberate” have never expressed their desire to leave the Russian Federation, with the exception of Chechnya, which is now at peace.

Again, it is no coincidence that the Russian army is emphasizing the place of its Chechen units in its special military operation against the Ukrainian “Nazis” in Donbass [I prefer the term “Ukrainian integral nationalists”]. This is a way for her to remind that she has satisfied the Chechen demands after two terrible wars. Similarly, the President of the Chechen Republic, Ramzan Kadyrov, calls on his people to take revenge for the abuses committed in his country by Ukrainian integral nationalists.

On August 15, 2022, President Vladimir Putin, who is acutely aware of this Western strategy, announced the convening of a world anti-Nazi conference in Moscow.

Translation by Roger Lagassé

NOTES:

[1] Liga der Fremdvölker Russlands 1916–1918. Ein Beitrag zu Deutschlands antirussischem Propagandakrieg unter den Fremdvölkern Russlands im Ersten Weltkrieg, Seppo Zetterberg, Akateeminen Kirjakauppa (1978).

[2] In previous articles, I have used the term “Nazi” to describe this school of thought. However, this term is incorrect insofar as these are two distinct ideologies. Then, I used the term “banderists”. But it is not more adequate insofar as it refers to the context of the Second World War. I therefore now use the expression “integral nationalists” that those who lay claim to be so claim. It refers to the writings of the Frenchman Charles Maurras and especially to those of the Ukrainian Dmytro Dontsov. However, the first was Germanophobe while the second was Germanophile.

[3] “The World Anti-Communist League: the Internationale of Crime”, by Thierry Meyssan, Translation Anoosha Boralessa, Voltaire Network, 12 May 2004.

[4] “The CIA Coordinates Nazis and Jihadists”, by Thierry Meyssan, Translation Roger Lagassé, Al-Watan (Syria) , Voltaire Network, 19 May 2014.

[5] “Declaration about the decolonization of Russia”, Voltaire Network, 24 July 2022.

https://libya360.wordpress.com/2022/08/ ... ederation/

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Donetsk besieged by U.S. proxy war
August 22, 2022 Melinda Butterfield

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An example of the ‘petal’ antipersonnel mines scattered by Ukraine through the streets of Donetsk and other Donbass cities.

Based on remarks at the Socialist Unity Party national plenum on Aug. 13.

For eight and a half years, people living in the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics have endured shelling, bombings, landmines, drone attacks, sniper fire, and acts of terrorism by the Ukrainian regime on behalf of U.S. imperialism. For those living in the capital of Donetsk and other nearby cities, the siege has never been more intense and unrelenting than it has been in recent months.

Since July, Ukraine’s military has been raining antipersonnel mines called “petals” on the streets of Donetsk and other urban areas. These small mines are easily overlooked. Anyone who steps on one is guaranteed to be killed or maimed for life. Most of the victims have been seniors, children, rescue and repair workers. The use of these mines in residential areas is banned under international law. But you will not hear or read a word about it in Western media.

Every day Ukrainian fascists shell residential areas of Donetsk and nearby cities. The allied forces of Donetsk, Lugansk and the Russian Federation continue to make steady progress in liberating Ukrainian-occupied areas of Donbass. However, as they advance, the Ukrainian forces have been driven back to high ground in a well-defended area west of Donetsk. This has resulted in more and more enemy fire concentrated on the capital.

Residents of Donetsk post updates on social media when they can, as do journalists in the city. What they share is harrowing. For months there has been no running water; drinking water is carefully rationed by the authorities to keep the population alive. Electricity and internet are out much of the time. Deaths from the mines and rocket attacks are a daily occurrence.

The population is incredibly determined and strong, but there is growing despair. There is no light at the end of the tunnel right now.

Adding to the fear is that Ukraine is now starting to deploy high-range and more powerful weapons recently received from the U.S. and other NATO powers. Alchevsk, a city in central Lugansk, has largely been shielded from Ukrainian attacks since the start of the current phase of the war in February. But in the past three weeks, Alchevsk has been hit twice by high-powered rockets. One of those rockets hit a residential apartment building, killing a civilian and wounding 19, including several children. Similarly, areas in the east of Donetsk have been hit recently with new high-powered rockets.

Now Ukraine’s forces are targeting sites with dangerous chemicals (Donetsk, Gorlovka) and nuclear materials (Zaporozhye). They are toying with, if not actively trying to cause, a mass-death catastrophe.

Washington doesn’t care about the lives of Ukrainians. As a popular saying goes, “Biden will fight to the last Ukrainian” to advance Wall Street profits and U.S. global domination. The proxy war is not ending anytime soon.

The recent FBI raid on Donald Trump’s Florida enclave is said to be centered around classified documents illegally removed from the White House, possibly including information on the U.S. nuclear arsenal.

Whatever the truth behind this latest clash between two racist enemies of the working class, the groundwork is being laid with media speculation about “treason” for the Democratic administration to justify further aggression against Donbass and Russia.

Democrats will use war mongering in the midterm elections, just as Republicans are campaigning by attacking the rights of women, trans people and people of color.

Unfortunately, the established anti-war organizations in the U.S. and Europe have abdicated their responsibility to oppose the U.S.-NATO proxy war against Donbass and Russia. We must continue to seek out and build cooperation with allies who take a genuinely anti-imperialist perspective, not just in words but in actions.

https://www.struggle-la-lucha.org/2022/ ... proxy-war/

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The plan of the offensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Kherson direction
August 23, 20:36

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Who wins the sanctions war?

Your economy will face devastating consequences, U.S. President Joe Biden warned Russian President Vladimir Putin, because the U.S., along with its allies, would impose sanctions on Russia in the event of a conflict in Ukraine. But Putin launched a special operation anyway, and the sanctions were a serious blow. However, the Russian president did not give up. He entered into a duel with the West and introduced his own counter-sanctions. The sanctions war has been going on for almost six months and has entered its third phase (first there was containment, then coercion, and now exhaustion). Who wins in it?

The first phase, when sanctions were the most important element of deterrence and deterrence, was not crowned with success. <...> From other historical examples, we know that the threat of sanctions can sometimes achieve limited changes in policy, but they cannot deter a determined aggressor from unleashing a conflict. They did not deter Italian dictator Benito Mussolini from attacking Ethiopia-Abyssinia in 1935 or former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein from invading Kuwait in 1990 <…>.

The second phase is the extensive sanctions imposed against Russia with the start of the special operation. Their goal is to inflict significant damage on it, as well as to support the Ukrainian resistance with the help of NATO and force Putin to retreat. The financial sanctions cut Russia off from the international financial system and froze almost half of its $640 billion of foreign exchange reserves held abroad. An embargo was imposed on the supply of semiconductors, which are necessary for military equipment and for civilian products such as cell phones and cars.

Unlike many other sanctions campaigns, more than 1,000 foreign firms have abandoned or at least reduced their business activities in Russia. Individual sanctions have been imposed against 600 Russian oligarchs and the security elite, including against Putin and his family. Bans on participation in sports and cultural events - in the World Cup (men's and women's), in the International Ice Hockey Federation and Formula 1 competitions, and in the Eurovision Song Contest - were an attempt to create a sense of isolation among ordinary Russians. Although oil and gas are extremely important for the Russian economy and are of strategic importance, since before the special operation they provided about half of the federal budget and contributed a third of the country's GDP,

Overall, the sanctions package had a significant economic impact. Russia's GDP is forecast to see its biggest contraction since the chaotic 1990s. In March, the ruble lost almost half of its value. Its rate against the dollar fell from 84 to 154 rubles. In mid-April, the Moscow mayor warned that 200,000 people could lose their jobs. The inflation rate for the economy as a whole approached 18%, and in those industries that are heavily dependent on international supply chains, it rose even higher. <…>

But as is often the case with sanctioned countries, Russia has adopted three main anti-sanction strategies to reduce costs. These are the search for alternative trading partners, undermining international sanctions, and compensatory ploys.
Many countries have joined the sanctions, but some key states have refused to apply them. China increased its purchases of Russian oil, supplied some military goods to Russia and issued statements in support of the ongoing operation, but did not fully support it, although this is precisely what the "limitless" partnership announced before the start of hostilities implies. India, seduced by price discounts and bilateral military ties, has increased its oil imports from Russia from one percent to 20 percent.

Since Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates refused to significantly increase oil production, world prices have risen significantly, and this increase more than offsets the rebates that Russia has resorted to. Thus, according to some estimates, her income this year will be even higher than last year.

But the figures for oil profits do not include the tripled number of "shadowed" oil tankers trying to hide themselves, and the fact that carriers and refiners hide Russian oil by mixing it with other brands. <…> There are many other examples of avoiding sanctions. <…>

But there are still costs from sanctions, and in these conditions the Kremlin resorts to economic compensatory measures. The rise in interest rates by the Central Bank and capital controls have helped to restore the ruble after its sharp fall. Moreover, at the end of June it rose to its highest level in seven years. Increasing pensions and bailing out companies helped soften the blow to ordinary Russians. <…>
The third phase we are in right now is the exhaustion phase. Who will fall to the ground first?

Russia's counter-sanctions, primarily the reduction of gas supplies to the European Union, have had their own painful effect. If last year the daily volume of gas pumped through pipelines was more than 400 million cubic meters, then on July 31 it decreased to 100 million cubic meters. From January to June, electricity prices almost doubled in Germany, from 140 to 260 euros per megawatt hour. The shortage of gas is already forcing large enterprises to reduce production. Savings measures, as well as changing fuel and suppliers, help, but very little. There are so many loopholes in the recently signed agreement on mutual assistance with gas supplies that the threat of winter rationing is becoming a reality. In some places, such rationing has already begun. In record summer heat, Spain has required businesses to install air conditioners no lower than than 27 degrees Celsius. The Netherlands calls for no more than five minutes in the shower, and in France, "urban guerrillas" turn off shop window lighting.

And there are even wider global implications. Waving aside climate change, the US is lifting restrictions on domestic oil and gas production, and Europe is returning to using coal. If in 2021 global GDP growth amounted to 5.7%, then in January it was projected at less than 4.1%, and now the forecasts have been lowered to 2.9%. Recently, world oil prices have declined somewhat, but fears remain that with the tightening of sanctions against Russian oil, world prices may approach $200 per barrel. Poor and developing countries will be particularly affected by this, with at least 40 million people falling below the poverty line. <...>
Statements that sanctions have brought Russia into "economic non-existence" and "crushed Putin's military machine"

And it's not just about Putin. The history of sanctions is replete with examples of how they had the strongest economic impact but did not lead to policy changes. For example, sanctions against Cuba have been in place for more than 60 years, but the regime remains in place. Sanctions against North Korea have been in place for decades, but its leader Kim Jong-un has not stopped expanding his nuclear arsenal. Former President Donald Trump's "maximum pressure" campaign on Iran reduced that country's GDP by 10%, raised inflation by 40%, and raised youth unemployment to 30%. Nevertheless, Tehran is also not going to ask for mercy.

Where the economic impact of sanctions has led to political change, two key factors have been at work.
The first factor is when the domestic elite and other key political forces play the role of either a chain breaker or a drive belt. That is, they either block sanctions pressure on the regime or pass it on, depending on what their interests require: resistance or compliance. Why did former US President Barack Obama's sanctions against Iran achieve their political goals, while Trump's sanctions did not? One reason is that Obama stepped up economic pressure, but without political antagonism, and through his actions he felt for internal shifts in Iranian politics. The same can be said for Libya in 2003, when its oil industry collapsed due to a lack of foreign technology and investment caused by US, European and UN sanctions.
<…>
The second key factor is the diplomatic strategy. It uses sanctions-enhanced influence to achieve favorable, yet mutually acceptable terms. Despite the existing differences, the example of Iran and Libya is very instructive here. Obama's sanctions on Iran have done enough economic damage to Iran for it to start nuclear nonproliferation talks in earnest. And when the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action reached agreement, he lifted many of those sanctions. Trump has shunned anything that even remotely resembled a serious diplomatic process and, as a result, lost hope of reciprocity.

The same goes for Libya. The deal, negotiated by American and British negotiators (led by then Assistant Secretary of State William Burns, who now heads the CIA), secured sanctions relief in exchange for concessions on terrorism and the renunciation of weapons of mass destruction. Their significance became especially noticeable in 2011, when the chaos of the Arab Spring began, giving rise to instability that continues to this day.

Establishing acceptable content and politically viable terms with Iran and Libya was difficult. It will be much more difficult to do this with Russia. What sanctions will be lifted and in exchange for what?Will any sanctions remain in place permanently? On these and other issues, the main thing is to maintain their punitive nature to a sufficient extent in order to enlist the support of the United States, Europe and Ukraine. On the other hand, they should lay the groundwork for Putin or any other Russian leader to agree to them. Finding the right balance in such a situation is difficult, but necessary.

Author: Bruce W. Gentleson

https://inosmi.ru/20220822/sanktsii-255610745.html - zinc
https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/08/18/ru ... -sanctions -putin/ - zinc

So far, no one wins, so far everyone is suffering one way or another. Winter and Europe's readiness to endure the most catastrophic economic downturn in decades will tell a lot. From an economic point of view, the main beneficiary of the current war is China and partly India. Well, if you look at the situation more globally, then the prolongation of the crisis destroying the European economy is objectively beneficial for both the United States (in terms of eliminating a competitor) and the Russian Federation and China (for which this is an important step in undermining the economic hegemony of the West and transforming the world economy with a shift in its centers to Asia).

Part of the establishment in the West understands this and is looking for opportunities to jump off this track, through the calls of Kissinger or the covert sabotage of the policies of the hegemonists, which threatens to destroy the hegemony of the West much faster than expected under the "evolutionary scenarios". But these voices are drowned in the background noise of "war to a victorious end" propaganda, where the European economy is the first to be minced.

https://colonelcassad.livejournal.com/7818352.html

Google Translator

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In Just Under Three Weeks, Ukrainian-Fired Prohibited “Petal” Mines Maim At Least 44 Civilians, Kill 2, in Donetsk Region
Posted by INTERNATIONALIST 360° on AUGUST 23, 2022
Eva Bartlett

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[Source: Photo Courtesy of Eva Bartlett]

Ukraine continues to fire internationally-banned anti-personnel mines on civilian areas of Donetsk and other cities in the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), in violation of international law and of the mine ban convention Ukraine signed in 1999 and ratified in 2005.

Since July 27, Ukraine has been firing rockets containing cluster munitions filled with banned PFM-1 “Petal” (or “Butterfly”) anti-personnel mines all over Donetsk and surrounding areas. Each rocket contains over 300 of the mines. Already by August 3, the DPR’s Ministry of Emergency Situations noted that Ukraine had fired several thousand of the prohibited mines on Donetsk.

As of August 15, 44 civilians, including two children, have suffered gruesome injuries. Another mine victim died in hospital.

Some days ago, such mines grotesquely maimed a 15 year old boy in Donetsk.

Younger children don’t know that the mines aren’t toys, and elderly often simply don’t see them, or likewise don’t understand the danger, as was the case with an elderly lady with dementia who, on August 8, lost a foot as a result of stepping on a mine while she was going to work in her garden plot.

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[Source: Photo Courtesy of Eva Bartlett]

Tiny but powerful, these insidious mines are designed not to kill but to tear off feet or hands. Their design allows them to float to the ground without exploding, where they easily blend in with most settings and generally lie dormant until stepped on or otherwise disturbed.

According to Konstantin Zhukov, Chief Medical Officer of Donetsk Ambulance Service, a weight of just 2 kg is enough to activate one of the mines. Sometimes, however, they explode spontaneously. An unspoken tragedy on top of the already tragic targeting of civilians is that dogs, cats, birds and other animals are also victims of these dirty mines.

In the grass, or surprisingly even on sidewalks and streets, it is very easy to overlook them or mistake them for a leaf. Even when I’ve seen such mines marked with warning signs or circled, it still took me quite a bit to actually see them.

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[Source: Photo Courtesy of Eva Bartlett]

In its relentless deploying of these mines, Ukraine has targeted all over Donetsk, as well as Makeevka to the east and Yasinovataya to the north. Ukraine has fired them elsewhere, including the hard-hit northern DPR city of Gorlovka, as well as regions in the Lugansk People’s Republic in previous months.

In fact, according to DPR authorities, Ukraine began using the mines in March, during battles for Mariupol, and in May was already firing them into DPR settlements. Also in early May, while in Rubiznhe in the Lugansk People’s Republic, I was warned that Ukraine had been littering nearby areas with the mines, something confirmed by locals when I went to nearby Sievierodonetsk on August 12.

Ukraine turns Donetsk into a minefield

I first saw the Ukrainian-fired mines on July 30, in Kirovskiy, western Donetsk, just days after Ukraine began showering the city with them.

Mine clearance sappers had isolated mines scattered in a field, to detonate after they had destroyed mines in the courtyard of an apartment complex. Amidst the tall grass, wild plants and garden plots, the mines would have been impossible for a non-sapper to spot, and very easy to disturb and lose a foot or hand in doing so.

Although I’d been assured that sappers had cleared the path, I still watched every step I took. And generally for the duration of my time in the DPR, I looked down while walking, watching for mines that could have been moved by wind or rain.

Behind a wall at one end of the apartment complex courtyard, sapper timer-detonated the eight mines they’d found scattered around the playground, lanes and walkways.

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Mine sappers at work. [Source: Photo Courtesy of Eva Bartlett]

That evening, Ukraine fired more rockets with petal mines at Donetsk, this time targeting the centre of the city. People driving in the streets unknowingly set some off.

On a central Donetsk street the next morning, I saw a grouping of seven mines on a curbside, gathered either by sappers or some courageous local, with warnings to pedestrians and drivers of their presence.

They were so plentiful that marking them however possible was the only way to mitigate the immediate danger of someone randomly stepping or driving over them until they could be neutralized by the sappers.

Even with warning, these nefarious “petal”/”butterfly” mines dropped by Ukraine on Donetsk are hard to see & easy to miss.

Ukraine is committing war crimes against the civilians of the Donbass, and has been for 8+ years. pic.twitter.com/p5byG95GVG

— Eva Karene Bartlett (@EvaKBartlett) August 1, 2022

[Source: https://twitter.com/EvaKBartlett/status ... 3399583745]


Across the street, another group of mines curbside. A preliminary search in the nearby park found most of the mines, but I was warned to walk carefully as the park wasn’t officially mine-free. Having not been able to easily spot the circled and otherwise-identified mines on the street, I walked extremely carefully, wary of any object that could be covering a mine.

I saw mines on a lane behind an apartment building, on sidewalks nearby, and on leaf-strewn earth, and each time I couldn’t locate them immediately. I repeat this to emphasize how insidious Ukraine’s deploying of these mines is: if they are barely noticeable with warnings, it is all to easy without warnings to step on them and have your foot blown off.

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[Source: Photo Courtesy of Eva Bartlett]

After the mines were scattered on July 30, DPR authorities created an interactive map showing areas most contaminated by the mines, giving residents a general warning of which areas to avoid walking or driving in. Some days after, however, Donetsk experienced heavy rains, washing the mines from where they originally landed, rendering the initial demining efforts futile and the map irrelevant, and meaning sappers would have to re-clear areas they had deemed mine-free.

On August 6, I went to an orphanage in Makeevka, a city just east of Donetsk, where two days prior Ukraine had fired artillery containing the nefarious petal mines which Ukraine has been raining down all over Donetsk, and Gorlovka to the north. Thankfully, all of the children had been evacuated in February, due to the proximity to the frontline.

Emergency Services sappers were working for a second day, having found 25 of the mines so far, including in the playground, on a swing, on a merry-go-round, on the roof of the orphanage itself, and around the property. A sapper suited up and prepared to destroy one more mine, lying in the grass of the playground.

Whereas in Kirovsky, sappers had detonated a group of the mines using explosive material, in this case, sappers detonated the single mine with an electric charge. Standing tens of metres back and around the side of the building—to avoid any potential flying debris—the blast from the single mine alone was still powerful. The thought of stepping on one is a dread which one can’t fully understand if you haven’t walked in streets and on sidewalks littered with the mines.

Ukraine targeted a Makeevka orphanage with illegal Petal mines. Emergency Services sappers demined the property, finding 26.

Thankfully, orphanage was evacuated months ago. Head Physician said Ukraine’s attack on the orphanage was deliberate. A war crime.https://t.co/TsbU0Lo3wZ

— Eva Karene Bartlett (@EvaKBartlett) August 9, 2022

[Source: ttps://twitter.com/EvaKBartlett/status/1556892320397664256]


Media Claims Russia is Laying the Mines

As with most of its war crimes against the civilians of the Donbass, Ukraine and NATO media invert reality and claim Russia is the guilty party. They cry crocodile tears for the Donetsk children Ukraine has targeted, also disingenuously claiming the now-famous video of a DPR soldier detonating a mine by throwing a tire at it was a Ukrainian soldier demining Russian-fired mines.

The notion that Russia would explode mines over the city is not a reality-based idea. Most of the population are ethnic Russians, a significant number who now happily hold Russian citizenship. And further, it is Russian and DPR sappers putting themselves at risk to clear the streets, walks and fields of the mines.

In fact, a 21 year old DPR sapper lost a foot to such mine. Director of the Department of Fire and Rescue Forces of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Donetsk People’s Republic, Colonel Sergey Neka, told me of his injury: “After the cleansing of territories from explosive objects, returning back to the transport, a mine fell from the building, as a result of which it exploded under his feet and he lost his foot.”

In Makeevka, Igor Goncharov, the Chief Physician of the bombarded orphanage, spoke to me about his anger that Ukraine was targeting the property, insisting it had been deliberate, that since 2001 the orphanage was well-known to various international organizations, as well as Kiev, because, “It was the only one specialized in HIV.”

According to him, “American law allowed the adoption of HIV-positive children, so the United States was the only state that adopted HIV-infected children, so we were well known both within Ukraine and the Russian Federation and abroad. When they shoot, they know where they shoot,” he said of Ukraine.

“I think that this is not just inhumane, it is without morality, without conscience and without honour.”

I asked him to address Ukrainian and Western claims that it was Russia which deployed the mines, Russia which is shelling Donetsk and surrounding areas, knowing full well any average local resident could likewise easily debunk the claims.

“Even without being educated in military matters, it’s easy to localize the craters. Which way they are located indicates which side they were sent from. We know perfectly well where they shoot from. It’s all from Peski, Avdeevka, Nevelskoye. You can hear the crash and the whistle coming first. Ballistics can be defined. All the shelling comes from the Ukrainian side, it is unambiguous.”

Even without that logical thinking, let’s recall that Ukraine has been committing war crimes in the Donbass for over eight years, violating the Minsk Accords signed in 2014 and 2015. That Ukraine would use Petal mines from its enormous stockpile, after already shelling and sniping civilians, it not at all out of the question.

Ukrainian nationalists openly declare they view Russians as sub-human. School books teach this warped ideology. Videos show the extent of this mentality: teaching children not only to also hate Russians and see them as not humans, but also brainwashing them to believe killing Donbass residents is acceptable. The Ukrainian government itself funds Neo-Nazi-run indoctrination camps for youths.

As mentioned at the start, Ukraine signed the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention, under which Ukraine was obliged to destroy its 6 million stock of the mines. However, reportedly, its stockpile remains over 3.3 million such mines.

The convention, “prohibits the use, stockpiling, production, and transfer of anti-personnel landmines (APLs).” Further, as outlined, Ukraine is, “in violation of Article 5 of the Mine Ban Treaty due to missing its 1 June 2016 clearance deadline without having requested and being granted an extension.”

Ukraine’s firing of rockets containing these mines is against international law and the Geneva Conventions. Ukraine is specifically targeting civilian areas with them. It is pure terrorism. And it is another Ukrainian war crime in a very long list of war crimes stretching back over eight years.

https://libya360.wordpress.com/2022/08/ ... sk-region/

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Syria at its peak
August 24, 11:09

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About 6 months of SVO.

Syria at its peak

In early March, I wrote that the conflict in Ukraine was waiting for the inevitable "Syrianization". Not everyone agreed with this, and six months after the start of the NWO, this became obvious.

1. Fronts with bastion cities took shape and stabilized.
2. The enemy is increasingly and systematically falling into purely terrorist methods of warfare.
3. The size of the theater of operations exceeds the available forces of both sides, despite all efforts to build up groupings.
4. The supply of foreign weapons plays a significant role in maintaining the intensity of the conflict when it is impossible to completely block the channels of these supplies.
5. The high proportion of the role of foreign mercenaries and special services in organizing the activities of the enemy.
6. Inevitable provocations in the spirit of the "White Helmets" and playing the WMD card.
7. Complete paralysis of the negotiation process due to the desire of the sponsors of the conflict to achieve their goals at any cost.
8. Terrorist attacks in cities in Russia, committed by terrorists who present territorial claims to Russia.

There is no direct comparison here, Ukraine is Syria at maximum speed. The fighting on its territory will go on for a long time, destroying what is still left of Ukraine. From an economic point of view, Ukraine, like Syria, is in for a catastrophe. A significant part of its infrastructure will simply be destroyed within the framework of the chosen war format. Systematically, something will be rebuilt only in the territories under the control of the Russian Federation, which Russia considers its own.
It can also be guaranteed that the CTO regime will operate in the liberated territories for a long time, and inside the country terrorist attacks by the Nazis will compete with terrorist attacks by the Islamists.

For Russia, as well as for the United States, this is a war not only for control over territories, but also a struggle for the configuration of the future world order, where the survival of Ukraine as a state is not important, as well as the economic survival of Europe, which is not an actor of ongoing changes, but their victim.

Just as the Syrian war reshaped the entire Middle East, the war in Ukraine will reshape the existing world order. For the Russian Federation, as well as for the United States, this is not a sprint, but a stayer distance, for which one must be prepared (although this cannot be said for the whole society and states yet), as well as for the continuation of hostilities in the winter, spring and summer of 2023.
Let me remind you that Palmyra was taken in March 2016, Aleppo - in December 2016, Deir ez-Zor was released in September 2017. And Idlib has not been taken so far. This is to the frequent question of the pace and whining "why so slow".

As in Syria, in Ukraine we are at war not only with an army of local terrorists. Behind them, as in Syria, stands our main enemy - the United States and its European satellites. Therefore, the conflict turned into a grueling confrontation not only on the streets of Soledar or Marinka, but also on the fields of economic and political battles for the future world order.

The task of the Russian Federation is simple and complex at the same time - to resist this confrontation and achieve its goals. For this, considerable efforts will have to be made by the state and society. Slackness and underestimation of the threats from our enemies, who are constantly raising the stakes, must be met with an adequate response. It will no longer be possible to return to the departure station or press the stop valve. Having taken on increased obligations and acting as a historically subject country, the Russian Federation simply has no choice but to move forward towards achieving its goals.

https://t.me/boris_rozhin/61218 - zinc

https://colonelcassad.livejournal.com/7819762.html

Google translator

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From Cassad's Telegram Account:

Сolonelcassad
🔹The situation in the east of Ukraine
by the end of August 23, 2022

▪️In Kharkov in the morning there was a fire at the instrument-making plant named after. Shevchenko, who was already attacked by the Russian Aerospace Forces at the beginning of the NMD.

▪️In the Bakhmut (Artemovsky) direction, the allied forces are engaged in positional battles in key sectors of the front line.
➖Units of the 6th Cossack Regiment of the LPR People's Militia continue their assault on Soledar . Trying to hold back the offensive of the allied forces, the Armed Forces of Ukraine scatter mines of pressure action (“petals”). Currently, clashes are taking place in the area of ​​Zalevsky Street and the Belokamensky Refractory Plant.
➖Sources from the Ukrainian side confirm the control of the Wagner PMC over the eastern part of Patrice Lumumba Street in Bakhmut (Artemivsk) . Russian forces are suppressing the identified firing points of Ukrainian formations with artillery and mortar fire, including in the city center.
➖To the south of Bakhmut , the allied forces came close to the settlement of Zaitsevo , which is an important knot of the city's defense.
➖Fighting continues in Kodem, Yakovlevka and in the vicinity of the Mayorskaya station .

▪️In the Donetsk direction, the allied forces are developing an offensive after taking Pesok and positions in the vicinity of Nevelskoye :
➖Units of the People's Militia of the DPR began to storm the strongholds of the Armed Forces of Ukraine along the Donetsk Ring Road, advancing from Staromikhaylovka.
➖To the east of the Donetsk ring road, the 100th brigade of the NM of the DPR drove the enemy out of the state farm buildings south of Pesok.
➖Ukrainian formations attacked the buildings of the administration of the head of the DPR and the republican Ministry of Internal Affairs, as well as civilian objects in the center of Donetsk . There are wounded and dead among the civilian population.

▪️In the Zaporozhye region , the Russian Aerospace Forces worked on targets in the area of ​​Zaliznychny, Malinovka and Olhovsky.

▪️The RF Armed Forces attacked enemy firing points in Nikopol , Marganets and Chervonogrigorovka in the Dnipropetrovsk region, from where the Armed Forces of Ukraine are shelling Energodar and the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant . In addition, Russian forces carried out rocket attacks on AFU facilities in the vicinity of Dnepropetrovsk.

▪️In the Krivoy Rog direction , units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine once again tried to storm the positions of the RF Armed Forces in Vysokopolye , but suffered losses and retreated.

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***

Сolonelcassad
The Bundeswehr has exhausted stocks of weapons to supply Ukraine

The German Defense Ministry announced the exhaustion of stocks of weapons and military equipment that could be sent to Ukraine from the storage of the German military department.

It is known that the Germans sent to the Ukrainian armed formations:

🔹10 155mm PzH-2000 self-propelled howitzers, 3 227mm M270 'MARS' MLRS, 20 70mm self-propelled rocket launchers.

🔹35 special armored vehicles, 58 armored personnel carriers.

🔹30 Gepard anti-aircraft guns, 1 IRIS-T SAM battery.

🔹2 UAV jamming installations, 43 reconnaissance UAVs.

🔹1 counter-battery radar and 8 surveillance radars.

🔹3200 MANPADS, 1000 grenade launchers, anti-tank mines, small arms, cartridges and ammunition, ammunition.

Earlier, a group of Bundestag deputies made a public appeal to increase the supply of weapons to Ukraine, even at the expense of weakening the combat capability of the German army.

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 » Thu Aug 25, 2022 11:59 am

there is no rear
POSTED BY @NSANZO ⋅ 08/25/2022 ⋅ LEAVE A COMMENT

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While alerting the world to acts of special cruelty that Russia would commit on Ukraine's Independence Day, Ukraine continued with its usual routine, which in Donetsk involves random bombings since the end of May and with no more military sense than to frighten the population. Without attacks causing such a high number of casualties that they could make headlines, the attacks on Donetsk have not stopped causing a steady trickle of casualties and around thirty civilians are dying every week from Ukrainian bombing without any possibility of creating facilities for an offensive. Throughout yesterday, the bombings were repeated and this time a shopping center was hit. As the press was able to verify, the previous day, the bombings were more chaotic,

Original Article: Dmitry Steshin / Komsomolskaya Pravda

The loudest arrival was in the river area, practically under my window. Then the city began to shake from the explosions and the sound of car alarms. More explosions and more sirens. Downtown streets quickly emptied. It seems that Donetsk has started to get used to the fact that the center is no longer untouchable. Residents of the Petrovsky and Kievsky districts told the press in the spring that they went downtown to take a break from the eternal tension of waiting: Where will the next one blow up and when?

The shelling hadn't let up as I prepared for a short trip. I put a whole box of bandages in the car. They were produced in 1984, but in extreme cases they can be worth it [it has been difficult for a long time to find medicines and material for the medicine cabinet in Donetsk- Ed ]. I turned off the radio, put on my bulletproof vest, and rolled down the windows. The belt? It's been a long time since I've fastened my seatbelt here, it's tied at the back so the car doesn't make that unpleasant sound.

The streets in the center were blocked. In an internal chat of journalists, a request by the administration and the military authorities not to publish the places where damage had occurred had been broadcast so that the Ukrainians could not correct the fire. A second bombardment was expected from these data. This was the case three weeks ago, when they shot at the funeral in which the last goodbye was given to the legendary Korsa .

The first stop was by the river, where a shell had exploded in the courtyard. No windows had been saved, but there were no deaths. Later, the old Donetsk, the historical center. Here the bombs had fallen near the building of the Ministry of the Interior. Windows were broken and signs on both sides of the road were bent. In a rusty old car, frozen at the intersection, was Ruslan, a taxi driver born in 1951, buried in the steering wheel. The impact tore off the entire front part of his skull, it is likely that he died on the spot. Next to the car, in a state of shock, a passenger wandered around covered in blood. His wife was sitting on the floor, crying. I tried to calm the passenger, Sergey, by telling him that he was born again. But you could hardly hear me with his bloody fingers he tried to make his bloody iPhone work, but the screen did not understand his touches. He said that everything had happened very quickly, abang and that's it. Everything was covered in blood.

The shell lay exactly in the middle of the tram tracks. The agents collected the fragments and placed them in the evidence bag. I asked, “What caliber?”

“155 millimeters, three axles , American. Now someone from the Prosecutor's Office will arrive, because there is a deceased, they will take the matter."

I drove one kilometer, where there had been another explosion in an apartment building above the Moloko supermarket .

“Three wounded,” a guard explained to me. “They haven't had time to run to the store. They are not very serious, the ambulances have already taken them away”.

At the entrance, in a hipster cafe, a girl with a pierced nose sweeping away the remains of shrapnel confirmed to me: "We were all alive and well."

An older man approached me and stopped me, mistaking me for a soldier: "Where did they shoot from, from Avdeevka?" I explained that this caliber doesn't care where I shoot from, they can shoot 155-millimeter shells all over the city, "there's no rear." A tearful woman approached us: “I can't find my mother. There is nobody at home, he does not answer the phone. How can I find her?

I assumed it was one of the injured people that the doctors had just taken away. But I kept quiet. What if she isn't? I advised him to call the police, it is to them that the hospitals transmit the data on deaths and injuries.

In the courtyard behind the supermarket, on the steps of an expensive beauty salon, there was a girl, Yulia, who couldn't stop looking at her car, covered with branches. I tried to comfort her by saying that my car had also lost windows and had had to change them the day before. But she looked at me without understanding anything: “The car is broken in half. A cement slab fell on him.” It's true, when you look you can see that, under all those branches, there is a large gray concrete slab. The explosion had ripped off part of a balcony.

Yulia explained that she hadn't had time to reach the basement when the shelling of the city center began, but that she had been able to take cover along a wall. It is strange to hear such things from a glamorous young woman, but this is Donetsk and every person here knows how to act during a bombing. We comfort each other saying “we are alive and kicking, everything will be alright”. What else can we do?

https://slavyangrad.es/2022/08/25/no-ha ... more-25353

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USA! USA!

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Ukrainian President Pledges To Take Over the Crimean Region

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Ukrainian President announced Tuesday that Kiev forces will recover Crimea. Aug. 23, 2022. | Photo: Twitter/@AndyVermaut

Published 23 August 2022 (12 hours 42 minutes ago)

On Tuesday, the Ukrainian President announced his desire to seize the Crimean region.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky said Tuesday that Kiev would take over the Crimea region by all means. The Ukrainian President said they would use military forces to seize the Russian territory and will not consult any other country.

Zelensky announced while speaking to the 'Crimea Platform,' a Ukrainian-organized gathering of 60 nations and international organizations supporting Kiev's claims of sovereignty over Crimea. The Ukrainian head of state said the country "is strong and powerful enough" to achieve the "Ukrainian Crimea."

"We will return Crimea by any means that we consider correct, without consulting with other countries," said Zelensky. "I know that Crimea is with Ukraine, [and] is waiting for us to return. We need to win the fight against Russian aggression. Therefore, we need to free Crimea from occupation."

In recent weeks Kiev military has been carrying out several strikes on the Russian territory of Crimea, including a drone attack on the headquarters of Russia's Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol last Saturday. The Russian Federation has blamed the Ukrainian side for sabotage, but Kiev has not reacted to the accusation, either assuming or denying it.


NATO alliance considers Crimea territory as Ukrainian, "illegally annexed" by Russia, demanding Moscow to return the region to Ukrainian hands. According to reports, the White House has agreed with Ukraine to strike targets of its choosing in Crimea.

Since imperial times Crimea has been considered Russian territory. In 1954 for logistical reasons, the territory was appended to the Ukrainian SSR by Soviet Premier Nikita Kruschev.

In 2014, the Crimean people voted to join Russia as Kiev's government rejected several plebiscites during the 1990s intended to re-establishing Crimea as an independent republic.

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

I'm starting to believe the rumors that this guy is deranged on coke....

UN Official: End Military Actions Around Ukraine Nuclear Plant

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Rosemary DiCarlo, UN under-secretary-general for political and peacebuilding affairs, speaks during the UN Security Council briefing on Ukraine at the UN headquarters in New York, July 29, 2022. | Photo: Loey Felipe/UN Photo

Published 23 August 2022 (12 hours 41 minutes ago)

"We must be clear that any potential damage to the plant, or any other nuclear facilities in Ukraine, leading to a possible nuclear incident would have catastrophic consequences, not only for the immediate vicinity, but for the region and beyond," UN Undersecretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs Rosemary DiCarlo warned.

UN Undersecretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs Rosemary DiCarlo on Tuesday called for the cessation of all military activities around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine.

Agreement is urgently needed to re-establish the Zaporizhzhia plant as purely civilian infrastructure and to ensure the safety of the area, she told the Security Council in a briefing.

"We must be clear that any potential damage to the plant, or any other nuclear facilities in Ukraine, leading to a possible nuclear incident would have catastrophic consequences, not only for the immediate vicinity, but for the region and beyond," she warned.

"At this moment, it is imperative that we receive the expressed commitment of the parties to stop any military activities around the plant to enable its continued safe and secure operations," she said. "To paraphrase the (UN) secretary-general's blunt warning, any potential damage to Zaporizhzhia is suicidal."

The Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant continues to be operated by Ukrainian technical personnel but has been under the control of Russian military forces since early March. In early August, disturbing reports of an escalation of shelling around the plant began to emerge, said DiCarlo.

"Regrettably, despite numerous calls and appeals, instead of de-escalation, we continue to see almost daily reports of alarming incidents involving the plant," she said. "If such incidents continue to escalate, we could face a disaster."

The United Nations continues to fully support the critical work of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and its efforts to ensure the safe operation of Zaporizhzhia and other nuclear facilities in Ukraine, said DiCarlo.

IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi on Tuesday renewed his request to send a mission to carry out essential safety, security and safeguards activities at the site. Preparations for the mission are proceeding, and the IAEA is in active consultations with all parties. The United Nations welcomes Ukraine's and Russia's recent statements indicating support for such a mission, she said.

"In close contact with the IAEA, the UN has assessed that we have the logistics and security capacity in Ukraine to support any IAEA mission to the plant from Kiev, provided Ukraine and Russia agree. We once again urge the parties to provide the IAEA mission with immediate, secure and unfettered access to the site," she said.

https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/UN- ... -0017.html

I think it telling that the UN talked to Ukraine about this threat and not Russia. Only the seriously dim would believe that Russia is doing the shelling, whereas Ukraine has embarked on increasing more dangerous gambits in a hopeless effort to stave off defeat.

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Russian resilience shown in GDP pace
By ZHAO RUINAN | China Daily | Updated: 2022-08-24 09:50

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Photo taken on March 10, 2022 shows the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia. [Photo/Xinhua]

Russia's economy achieved a rapid recovery in 2021 despite the pandemic and rising geopolitical tensions, with a GDP growth of 4.7 percent, according to a report issued on Tuesday.

The Annual Report on Development of Russia (2022), released by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, or CASS, said that last year Russia endured a tough time as the confrontation with Western countries was aggravated and economic development was disrupted by COVID-19.

However, Moscow has largely maintained stability in economic, political, social and other fields, as the government pushes forward with social adjustment and recovery measures, the report said.

Xu Poling, head of the Department of Russian Economy of the Institute of Russian, Eastern European and Central Asian Studies at CASS, said Russia's economy had achieved an unexpected recovery across a broad range of industries, with the fastest growth seen in the services sector.

In addition, Xu highlighted the growth in the electric power industry and in the oil and gas industry. Citing the report, Xu said the manufacturing industry also grew at some level, driving demand in the banking and insurance sectors.

However, the CASS report sounded a note of caution on the country's inflation rate, reaching 8.4 percent at the end of 2021. The high rate was believed to be triggered by the sudden release of strong pent-up demand and rising global prices for commodities amid supply and demand uncertainties, it said.

The document noted that trade between Russia and China has surged. Bilateral trade last year reached $146.8 billion, a record high for the fourth consecutive year.

According to data from China's General Administration of Customs, China's exports to Russia in 2021 reached $67.6 billion, jumping 33.8 percent from the previous year. Imports from Russia topped $79.3 billion, up 37.5 percent from 2020.

The two countries have been committed to promoting economic and trade cooperation, said the report, estimating that Sino-Russian trade will continue to grow steadily.

Russia has made great efforts in combating the COVID-19 pandemic, with cooperation on vaccines carried out with countries in the Asia-Pacific region, according to the report.

http://global.chinadaily.com.cn/a/20220 ... 73f1e.html

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Evidence of Ukrainian Shelling of Zaporozhye Provided to UN
Posted by INTERNATIONALIST 360° on AUGUST 23, 2022

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Statement by Permanent Representative Vassily Nebenzia at UNSC briefing regarding the attacks of Ukrainian armed forces on the Zaporozhye NPP

Mr. President,

I thank Under-Secretary-General R.DiCarlo for her briefing. In the context of the briefing I would like to point out that we’ve heard her words that the electricity of the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant belongs to Ukraine. I would like to draw attention to the fact that we have not heard such words from the representatives of the UN Secretariat regarding the frozen Russian financial assets or the Syrian oil, which were stolen by the US authorities, who illegally occupied part of the Syrian territory.

It’s been about two weeks since the last Council meeting on the Zaporozhye NPP. During this time, nuclear safety there has deteriorated even further. Ukrainian armed forces continue to shell the territory of the plant and the city of Energodar almost daily, creating a real risk of a radiation accident at the ZNPP with catastrophic consequences for the entire European continent.

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According to the Russian Ministry of Defense and the military-civilian administration of the Zaporozhye region, on August 11, units of the 44th artillery brigade of Ukrainian armed forces shelled the station with 152-millimeter guns. As a result of the strikes, the equipment of the spray pools of nuclear reactor’s cooling system was damaged.

On August 14, the Ukrainian armed forces fired 10 shells at Zaporozhye NPP with 155-mm shells from American-made M-777 howitzer, and also launched two guided munitions. As a result of the shelling of the city of Energodar, one person died, another was wounded. On August 15, 30 shells were fired from 152-millimeter guns. August 17, 11 shells were launched as well as a Polish-made kamikaze unmanned aerial vehicle. Three strikes were made with loitering munition on Energodar.

On August 18, Energodar was shelled 7 times with heavy artillery. On August 20, strikes on the station were made from Ukrainian positions using heavy artillery and American-made 155-millimetre shells with American-made M-379 fuses. An artillery strike was carried out in the area of ​​special buildings No. 1 and No. 2 and the laboratory and amenities building. As a result, the building of the laboratory and amenities building No. 2, the building of the hydraulic engineering unit and the station lighting were damaged. Immediately after the shelling of the station, fire was opened on the suburbs of Energodar.

On August 22, an unmanned aerial vehicle attacked the area of ​​laboratory building No. 2. In addition, American long-range artillery was used to shell the thermal tower station in Energodar. According to reports, one civilian was killed and one injured.

I want to show the Council a photograph of the destruction of the territory of the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant as a result of shelling by the Ukrainian armed forces. We have a whole collection of such photographic evidence, we distributed it this morning as official documents of the Security Council and the UN General Assembly.

The fact that the Kiev regime does not stop shelling the station is a direct consequence of the criminal acquiescence of its Western patrons. At the most recent meeting, not a single Western delegation had the courage to condemn the shelling of the station by the Ukrainian armed forces and call on the Kiev regime to stop it. There was no such courage in the European capitals. We’ve only heard absurd calls for Russia to stop some “recent actions around Zaporozhye nuclear power plant”. It seems that our colleagues exist in some kind of parallel reality, where the Russian military itself is shelling the plant it is protecting, and, moreover, uses US systems for such attacks. The pinnacle of this absurdity were the recent statements by British parliamentarian T. Ellwood and member of the US House of Representatives A. Kinsinger that the shelling of the Zaporozhye NPP could be a reason to invoke Article 5 of NATO.

At the same time, the Western media promotes the conclusions of the United States Arms Control and Disarmament Agency according to which the shelling of the plant and even a hypothetical accident aren’t dangerous for the population of Western Europe. They say that there will be no large-scale catastrophe, the plant is made to withstand a rocket strike, and if it doesn’t – the radioactive “tongue” would not reach Western Europe. Apparently, our Western colleagues are ready to traditionally consider as a “collateral damage” the fact that even under the least destructive scenario, at least the population of the Zaporozhye region will suffer. Apparently, this shows their concern for human rights and “human-centered” security, which the Western delegations discussed at such length at yesterday’s Council meeting.

Such a cynical attitude towards the population of Ukraine is another evidence that the Western curators of Kiev are not at all concerned about their fate and are ready to fight “to the last Ukrainian.”

So far, we have been able to avoid catastrophes as a result of shelling of the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant by the Ukrainian armed forces only thanks to the joint well-coordinated work of the plant personnel, firefighters, emergency crews and Russian military personnel, who are providing them with comprehensive emergency assistance. This confirms that there is healthy working atmosphere at the plant, and no one is harassing anyone.

Contrary to the false claims of the Kiev regime and its curators, Russia does not place heavy weapons on the territory of the plant and does not use it for military purposes. The Russian Ministry of Defense is ready to provide the IAEA with high-resolution images, which show that weapons, especially heavy ones, have not been placed there.

Mr. President,

Recently, the UN Secretary General Guterres visited Ukraine. We pinned certain hopes on his visit. We expected that the UN would finally firmly demand that Kiev stop shelling the plant. But we have not heard any words of condemnation of what is happening from Mr. Guterres, other than appeals for “military actions to bypass the Zaporizhzhya NPP.”

I would like to ask Ms. DiCarlo whether the Secretary-General managed to get a promise from Vladimir Zelensky to stop shelling the plant. What does the the UN Secretariat make of the fact that the shelling of the plant by Ukraine is continuing in the light of the grave concern expressed by the IAEA about the situation?

From day one, we have supported the efforts of the IAEA and its Director General Rafael Grossi to organize a mission to ZNPP. We did everything we could to ensure that the visit of the Agency’s experts to the plant could take place as early as June, having agreed to this mission as early as June 3rd. Then the visit was canceled through no fault of ours. Today we hear absurd speculations in the foreign press that the Western countries almost forced Russia’s consent to organize this mission.

We expect that the IAEA mission will nevertheless take place in the near future and the Agency’s experts will be able to confirm the real situation at the plant. We are ready to provide the maximum possible assistance in resolving all organizational issues.

Mr. President,

In conclusion, I would like to draw the attention of the Council members to the tragedy that took place on August 20 near Moscow. A car driven by Daria Dugina, a well-known independent journalist, war correspondent and political scientist, was blown up.

Our competent authorities are conducting an investigation. According to their preliminary conclusions, the Ukrainian special services are behind this heinous crime. They have established the identity of his direct perpetrator affiliated with the nationalist battalion “Azov”. She managed to escape justice and flee to Estonia.

Daria Dugina was 29 years old. Her life was cut short in its prime. Due to her professional activities, the journalist has long been in the sights of Ukrainian nationalists. Here is a photo of her from the infamous Peacemaker website, which we have referenced so many times. They openly flaunt her murder – as you can see, Daria’s photo is crossed out with the inscription “liquidated”. We note that this crime was condemned by the official representative of the US State Department.

We call on the Council and leadership to strongly condemn this latest crime of the Kiev regime. Not only are they actively using nuclear blackmail, shelling the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant and, in fact, holding the population of Europe hostage, but they also crossed all the lines by physically eliminating foreign civilians that they do not like. Moreover, their victim was an independent journalist, killed because of her professional activities.

Official representatives of the Kiev regime openly call for the killing of Russians. Pyotr Vrublevsky, Ukrainian Ambassador to Kazakhstan recently publicly stated that the goal of Ukraine is to kill as many Russians as possible: according to him, the more are killed now, the less Russians the next generations of Ukrainians will have to kill.

We are outraged that not only the Western countries do not condemn all this, but also help the Ukrainian special services to train subversive saboteurs to exterminate “undesirables”. A vivid example is the situation with the Ukrainian citizen Yevgeniy Karpenko, who was recruited by the Ukrainian special services in the Czech Republic and underwent sabotage training to lay mines at a military base in the Czech city of Český Krumlov. He was taught to plant explosive devices in buildings and cars and then sent to the territory of the Donetsk People’s Republic to carry out a terrorist attack in the administration building of the Volodarsky district. Fortunately, Karpenko turned himself in. But if he had done what he had planned, the scale of the casualties among the civilian population is even scary to imagine.

In this context, it is no longer surprising that the Czech authorities have crossed all the boundaries of moral standards, openly gloating about the murder of Daria Dugina. Jana Černochová, the Czech Minister of Defense, said that she did not feel sorry for either Daria or her father, and and that the night of 21 August will long be remembered in Russia. She subsequently confirmed that “she stands behind every word.” But even putting aside morality, which has long been eclipsed by Russophobia among our Western colleagues, the statements of Ms. Chernokhova essentially amounts to open support and propaganda for acts of terror against civilians. I would like to remind you that Czech citizen Chermak, who publicly supported the terrorist attack in the New Zealand city of Christchurch, was sentenced to 6 years in prison in the Czech Republic. We expect the competent Czech authorities to treat their Minister of Defense’s statements with equal seriousness and asses it appropriately.

Thank you for attention.

Right of reply:

Mr. President,

We have all gathered today since the reasons for requesting this meeting have not disappeared. The shelling of Zaporozhye nuclear power plant and Energodar by the Ukrainian armed forces continues despite the fact that there are no Russian heavy weapons at the plant and no shelling comes from there. We have repeatedly stated this and it can be confirmed by objective monitoring data, including from the satellite. However, today once again we heard the old record that Russia is to blame for everything. The real background of the events around Zaporozhye nuclear power plant is shamelessly distorted, obvious facts are hushed up or denied. All this is being done with one single goal – to whitewash their Kiev wards whatever they do, giving them carte blanche for most reckless actions, in the expectation that they will be justified by their patrons in any case.

We are once again being urged to agree to a visit by the IAEA mission, to which we agreed back in June and confirmed it many times, including today. Some Western colleagues think that there is the only and easiest way out of this situation – to withdraw Russian troops and create a demilitarized zone around the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant. These are irresponsible statements that do not take into account the need to maintain conditions for the safe operation of the plant. We once again urge you to stop covering for your Kiev wards and encourage them to stop reckless attacks on the plant, threatening a nuclear incident and radioactive contamination of European countries.

Thank you.

Remarks to the Press by Permanent Representative Vassily Nebenzia following the UNSC meeting regarding the attacks of Ukrainian armed forces on the Zaporozhye NPP

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We have material evidence that the Ukrainian armed forces are shelling to nuclear power plants, but that is being neglected and these sponsors of the Kiev regime simply covered it. I can share with you the letter we sent today to the SG and the President of the Security Council with photos of material evidence of the NPP shelling which they claim Russia is doing as if it is shelling itself. I can share it with you. You can get acquainted with it.

There’s another topic, that arranged today – the killing of Daria Dugina in Moscow which was made on a clear terrorist basis, I would say. And this is the famous Ukrainian site “Mirotvorets” which showed her picture there with the inscription eliminated. Get acquainted with that.

Q: Ambassador how do you respond to the West accusations that Russia is going to attack Kiev and make an assault?

A: I haven’t seen those accusations, at least in recent days. Where did you find them?

Q: They telling American citizens they should leave Kiev.

A: US made an advice to their citizens to leave Kiev? I do not know what it related to.

Q: What’s holding up the IAEA mission? What’s the hold up?

A: I think they discuss the technical details. We’ve been saying consistently we are in favor of the mission. We agreed to the mission in early June and it was not our fault that the mission was not affected at that time. We know whom to blame, but I will not say it clearly now. But now I think it’s on the way. We are proceeding with that. I hope as early as perhaps late August, early September the mission may take place.

Q: And you’re okay with the mission coming in through Kiev?

A: That is being negotiated and discussed. I don’t know the details.

PERMANENT MISSION
OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION TO THE UNITED NATIONS

https://libya360.wordpress.com/2022/08/ ... ded-to-un/

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Ukraine - Wrong Assumptions, Wrong Conclusions - And A Lot Of Dead Soldiers

As the war in Ukraine passes the half year mark lots of media produce their conclusions about the beginning of the war. But when looked at in detail these are most superficial write ups of what people assume Russia's plans at the start of the war were and how those assumed plans fit with the presumed reality.

The Washington Post has a long 'exclusive' piece headlined:

Battle for Kyiv: Ukrainian valor, Russian blunders combined to save the capital

It first describes the immediate start of the war and then states a false assumption:

The question everyone faced at that moment, [Ukrainian Interior Minister Denis] Monastyrsky said, was: “How far can the enemy go with that enormous fist?”
If the Russians could seize the seat of power in Ukraine, or at least cause the government to flee in panic, the defense of the country would quickly unravel. Moscow could install a puppet government.

That was the Kremlin’s plan.


I don't know why the authors think they know what the Kremlin's plan was. I am certain that the described one is not what Russia intended to strive for.

A piece in Newsweek makes similar assertions:

How Putin Botched the Ukraine War and Put Russia's Military Might at Risk

Ukrainian defenders have indeed been ferociously determined, while Russian troops have had to contend with bad battlefield leaders, inferior weapons and an unworkable supply chain. They've also been hobbled by Putin himself. He misread the world situation and personally ordered a disastrous invasion, looking to overthrow the government in Kyiv. He directed a botched effort to take Donbas, depleting the Russian armed forces in the process.
...
"Putin, like every other dictator we've known in the modern era, thinks he knows better, more than his own military, and more than any experts," one senior intelligence official who works on Russia (and requested anonymity to speak frankly) tells Newsweek.
...
The February invasion was designed to overthrow Volodymyr Zelensky and take over the entire country, and Russia deployed tens of thousands of troops in Belarus to Ukraine's north, threatening Kyiv.
Given Russia's overwhelming numerical superiority, Putin expected the government in Kyiv to fall in as little as 72 hours.


There is no evidence that any of those assertions are true.

At the beginning of the year Russia faced a problem. In the larger picture it had to prevent Ukraine's admission to NATO. Negotiations with the U.S. had failed to achieve that. In the immediate situation Russia also had to prevent an imminent Ukrainian attack on the Donbas republics.

There were several potential ways to achieve that and each which came with different time lines and price points.

At the beginning of war Putin made one remark to the Ukrainian military to give up, to make the necessary concessions and to remove the civil government should it not agree with them. But during the first days of the war it became immediate clear that the Ukrainian military command did not want or did not dare to do that. This military coup would have been the cheapest solution for both, Russia and Ukraine.

A second option was to press the Ukrainian government into agreeing to Russia conditions to end the war. To remove the Ukrainian army from the Donbas, to accept Crimea as part of Russia and to repudiate any NATO association plans.

The move of Russian forces to around Kiev was designed to achieve that. It nearly reached that aim during talks held at the end of March in Turkey. As soon as the Ukraine seemed to agree to the Kremlin's conditions, and to a potential summit, Russia ordered its troops to move back from the city.

On March 29 France24 summerized its daily report collection with this:

Ukraine proposed adopting neutral status and a 15-year consultation period on the future of Russian-occupied Crimea as long as a complete ceasefire with Russian forces is agreed, negotiators said at the conclusion of peace talks in Istanbul on Tuesday. Despite Russian vows to "radically" reduce military operations near Kyiv and Chernigiv, Western officials urged caution.

The Kremlin's hope for a fast end of the conflict was disappointed when, a few days later, Zelensky suddenly refuted all the concessions his negotiators in Istanbul had made.

This followed a phone call between the British prime minister Boris Johnson and Zelensky on April 2 and Johnson's visit to Kiev on April 9.

A report in the Ukrainian Pravda describe what happened (machine translation):

After the arrival of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson in Kyiv, a possible meeting between Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin has become less likely.
...
[T]wo things happened, after which a member of the Ukrainian delegation, Mikhail Podolyak, had to openly admit that the meeting of the presidents was "out of time."
The first is the exposure of atrocities, rapes, murders, massacres, robbery, indiscriminate bombing, hundreds and thousands of other war crimes committed by Russian troops in the temporarily occupied Ukrainian territories…

The second obstacle to agreements with the Russians arrived in Kyiv on April 9."

Details: According to UP sources close to Zelensky, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who appeared in the capital almost without warning, brought two simple messages.

The first is that Putin is a war criminal, he needs to be squeezed, and not negotiated with him.

And secondly, if Ukraine is ready to sign any agreements on guarantees with him, then they are not.

This position of Johnson testified: the collective West, which back in February offered Zelensky to surrender and run away, now felt that Putin was actually not at all as omnipotent as he was imagined, and that right now there was a chance to squeeze him.

Three days after Johnson left for the UK, Putin went public and said talks with Ukraine "have reached an impasse."


The 'west', in form of Joe Biden's messenger Boris Johnson, told Zelensky - first in a phone call and then in person - that he would be on his own if he should sign a ceasefire agreement that made any concessions to Russia.

Russia's initiative to achieve fast concessions, and its motive to keep troops around Kiev, had failed because the 'west' did not agree to it. It wanted a long war to drag Russia down.

Zelensky accepted the 'western' pressure for a war 'down to the last Ukrainian' and ended the negotiations by making new demands that Russia could never accept.

Since then Russia removed its troops from the vicinity of the big cities Kiev, Chernihiv, Sumy and Karkiv. This to drag the Ukrainian troops away from the civilians in the cities and to exposed them to the massive artillery strikes the Russians use along the frontline.

There they troops get 'demilitarized' and 'denazified' just as Putin had ordered.

Anyone who says that Russia is 'too slow' and 'does not make progress' along the frontline misunderstands this situation. Russia is deliberately dragging the Ukrainian forces towards the rural frontline to destroy them there without creating massive civil casualties:

The Russian army deliberately slowed down its advance in the special military operation in Ukraine in order to reduce civilian casualties, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said at a meeting of defense chiefs from Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) member states on Wednesday.
"We strictly comply with humanitarian law during the special operation. Attacks are carried out with high-precision weapons on the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ military infrastructure facilities, including command points, airfields, depots, fortified areas and defense industry sites. At the same time, every effort is being done to prevent civilian casualties. It certainly slows down the advance but we do it consciously," Shoigu pointed out.


If the following document is really original this approach seems to be quite successful.

Image

Up to July 1, according to the document, the losses of the Ukrainian military were:

76,640 dead
42,704 wounded or shell shocked
7,244 captured
2,816 missing
1,610 non-combat casualties (suicides?)
The total numbers look realistic to me. The number of dead is higher then my estimate but the number of wounded seems to be low in relation to the dead.

There may be several reasons for that. The evacuation of wounded from positions under artillery fire is extremely difficult and Ukraine's military medical service is not exactly up to date. There are no helicopter evacuations and no tracked vehicles that could take the wounded out.

A lot of wounded will thereby miss the 'golden hour' and simply die before they can be brought into effective medical care. We can also assume that the Ukrainian staff only counts the heavily wounded and that people who get patched up and send back to the front line are likely not included here.

July 1 was in the 17th week of the war and the total number of likely dead on the above list is 81,066. That makes for an average kill rate of 4.767 per week or 681 Ukrainian soldiers per day. As the first weeks of the war were not exceptionally bloody the number of current dead per day is likely higher.

Nine weeks have passed since the reference date of the above report. They have likely added another 42,000 dead to the list.

These numbers are consistent with Russian military's daily 'clobber list' which reports of several hundreds Ukrainian casualties per day due to air strikes and well target ammunition.

A recent New York Times piece about the costs of war gives also some numbers:

Gen. Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, the top commander of Ukraine’s armed forces, said Monday that about 9,000 Ukrainians had been killed at the front.
...
[T]his month, Pentagon officials estimated that 70,000 to 80,000 Russians had been killed or wounded; they put the number of deaths at 20,000.


Those numbers are simply not believable. Here is why:

Analysts estimate that Russia is firing around 10,000 artillery shells a day, down from a peak of as much as 20,000 during the campaign to take Luhansk, and that Ukraine is firing several thousand artillery rounds a month.

10 to 20 thousand rounds per day(!) means some 450,000 rounds per month fired from the Russian side. The Ukrainian counter fire is down to 'several thousand artillery rounds a month'. That is ratio of 100 to 1.

How the heck is that supposed to result in only 9,000 killed Ukrainians and 80,000 Russian casualties? It simply can't.

The deliberately slow advance Shoigu describes is achieving the war aim of 'demilitarizing' the Ukraine while Russia's army takes a minimum of casualties.

Most of the experienced younger officers, captains and majors and the senior sergeants that were the backbone of the Ukrainian army will by now be dead. Together with the high material losses and high troop casualties the Ukrainian army has taken this will make it less and less capable of any organized maneuver or resistance.

All that is left is Ukrainian cannon fodder which Russian artillery eats up with enormous ferocity.

It is sad that it has come to this.

Posted by b on August 24, 2022 at 17:58 UTC | Permalink

https://www.moonofalabama.org/2022/08/u ... .html#more

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From Cassad's Telegram Account:

***

Сolonelcassad
The Russian Defense Ministry commented on Zelensky's whining yesterday about the "peace train" that was hit by a missile attack.
The echelon with reservists, who were being taken to the front, was hit. More than 200 killed by the enemy are declared.
The blow was delivered by the Iskander. 10 pieces of equipment were also destroyed.

***

Сolonelcassad
Special operation, 24 August. The main thing from RIA Novosti :

Russian Aerospace Forces with a precision strike destroyed about 80 Ukrainian nationalists of the 72nd brigade in the Konstantinovka region in the DPR, the Russian Defense Ministry said;

▪️Over the past day, without the participation of the Ukrainian side, more than 25.3 thousand people were evacuated to Russia from dangerous regions of Ukraine and the republics of Donbass;

▪️Russian sappers neutralized more than 590 thousand explosive objects in the DPR and LPR;

▪️The conflict in Ukraine has become for the United States and its allies a pretext for an economic and information war against the Russian Federation, Shoigu said;

▪️The slowdown in the offensive during the NMD is a conscious decision, due to the desire to minimize civilian casualties, Shoigu said;

▪️The Ukrainian army deliberately strikes at densely populated residential areas, the DPR said;

▪️Ukrainian militants plan to blow up a water station in the DPR and blame the Russian troops for this, more than 12 thousand people may be left without water, the Russian Defense Ministry said;

▪️Diplomats from the UK traveled to European capitals to convince colleagues not to cut aid to Ukraine, writes The Telegraph;

▪️US arms deliveries to Ukraine as part of a new $3 billion military aid package will begin in the next few months, the US Deputy Secretary of Defense said;

▪️Western countries, financing Kyiv, are not only accomplices in war crimes of Ukraine, but also their customers, said the head of the DPR Pushilin.

***

Forwarded from
Pool N3
2:49
Professor John Mearsheimer: We're redoubling our efforts. We are getting tougher with the Russians. That is our strategy. I contend that you are playing for a losing hand because this is a competition between economic considerations and security considerations. When security is at stake, other countries will suffer greatly before the Russians raise their hands.
So you can hurt the Russians a lot, but they won't leave because Ukraine matters to them. And for Ukraine it does not matter. And you're willing to risk nuclear war over a piece of real estate in Ukraine that is not a vital US interest.
It just goes to show how discredited American foreign policy is these days. And the Ukrainian crisis is just one of the many turmoils we have created. As you know, we have the "Midas touch", only in reverse. There is nothing that we do that goes well - Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Ukraine. I can go on. So I wanna say it won't work

https://t.me/s/boris_rozhin

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

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

Post by blindpig » Fri Aug 26, 2022 12:12 pm

about the evacuation
POSTED BY @NSANZO ⋅ 08/26/2022

Image

Throughout the six months that the Russian intervention in Ukraine has lasted, each evacuation of the DPR, RPL or Russia has been described by Ukraine, and chorus by a Western press willing to reproduce in full and in an absolutely uncritical way the speech of kyiv, as a forced deportation, while each evacuation from kyiv is a humanitarian sign of authorities trying to protect the population. However, judging by the explanation given by the kyiv authorities of the logic of the evacuation and the consequences of rejecting it, the project, which does not seem to be having any particular success judging by the figures being handled, is also a way of signaling to all that population that they renounce becoming displaced to remain in their home. This is what I reflected a few days agoKomsomolskaya Pravda :

kyiv is so worried about its citizens that it has to hold back tears. Every holder of a Ukrainian passport is guaranteed protection. It should be remembered that, at the end of July, Deputy Prime Minister Irina Vereschuk announced the mandatory evacuation of the territories of the Donetsk region still under Ukrainian control. Later, she seemed to come to her senses and stated that it was possible not to leave the area, but for that it would be necessary to sign an official resignation.

On August 2, this mandatory evacuation began, which, however, does not seem to be going exactly as kyiv had planned. On August 11, Vereschuk herself returned to the subject. Moreover, she spoke in such a tone that it became clear that Ukraine intends to evacuate its fellow citizens to death. Well, if not to death, then to prison, that's for sure.

In a recent press conference, Vereschuk openly explained that "if a person refuses, he simply signs a form in which he accepts that he is personally responsible for everything that may happen to him in case of negative consequences for his person."

Those negative consequences have already been determined. What are they exactly? Vereschuk did not throw the stone and hid his hand, but explained them briefly and clearly so that every Ukrainian citizen would have goosebumps. It turns out that every citizen of Ukraine who remains in the territory outside the control of kyiv [currently the DPR/RPL with its gradually expanding borders, southern Zaporozhye and Kherson] will pay for it later, after the liberation by kyiv. And he will spend a good time in prison. Between five and fifteen years, depending on "the seriousness of the crime."

Vereschuk even explained what penalty will be applied according to the laws that kyiv interprets as it wants. "If it is a voluntary production of economic activity with interaction with the aggressor State, then it will have a sentence of up to five years in prison and confiscation of property," he explained with a smile. “That is to say, it is a very serious sanction and a very serious punishment. I really ask everyone to think hard about whether it is necessary to do this or not.”

Any herdsman who raises cattle, any farmer who produces grain or even an elderly person who sells cucumbers and tomatoes from his orchard and every worker or office worker who works in the territory controlled by Russia automatically becomes liable to imprisonment for a period of up to five years and lose their properties.

For municipal employees, police officers and members of the state security forces, the punishment will be even harsher, especially if the person receives a Russian Federation passport and thus becomes a Russian citizen.

"If this happens, we propose prison sentences, but with a higher penalty: between ten and fifteen years and confiscation of property," added Vereschuk, who once again pronounced the word "confiscation" carefully and immediately explained what the real objective is. of the "evacuation". “We have to stop this parade that pleases Russia so much, which organizes these forced certifications precisely for the people who should be held accountable for their acts and for the acts that occur on the territory, because they represent the State. This is Ukraine and the state will defend itself in this case.”

kyiv is simply upset by the number of Ukrainians applying for and obtaining Russian passports in the liberated territories. Especially compared to the microscopic number of Ukrainian citizens who have decided to apply for a visa to enter Ukraine under the new rules.

But even more difficult times are ahead for kyiv. And unlike the Arestoviches, Zelenskys, Kuleba or Podoliak, Vereschuk is at least dealing with reality. He cannot announce counter-offensives and great victories, his destiny is to prepare the population for forced evacuations carried out by the Ukrainian authorities in ways not so different from those used by the fascists to enslave the Ukrainians during the Great War. Homeland. Vereschuk fully understands the prospects of the Zelensky regime. Otherwise, he would not have announced that the evacuation of three more regions will take place soon. Actually, the evacuation of the territories of the Zaporozhye, Kherson and Kharkiv regions, which are currently under the control of kyiv.


Since then, several media have reflected the complaints of a part of the citizenry for what they considered a form of deportation. But the complaints have not been limited to that aspect. A part of the population that refuses to leave the areas of Donbass that have not yet been fought wonders why it has not taken any bombardment for the electricity or gas supply to disappear from the cities and if it is a form of “ encourage” citizens to leave the area.

Yesterday, Irina Vereschuk was once again asked about the evacuation issue, specifically about the 2,500 people who refuse to leave Avdeevka. Vereschuk dumped the responsibility of deciding what to do on the local authorities, ignoring the main question: why a part of the population refuses to leave even one of the most destroyed and dangerous places of the moment. Uncertainty about the future, the natural reluctance to leave one's home or the difficulties of older people are obviously one factor, but so is another that Ukraine refuses to see, that a part of the population, even in places more bombed, awaits the arrival of Russia.

https://slavyangrad.es/2022/08/26/25359/#more-25359

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Intelligence Expert Believes CIA Behind Car Bomb Assassination of Darya Dugin
Posted by INTERNATIONALIST 360° on AUGUST 24, 2022
Jeremy Kuzmarov

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Alexander Dugin and his daughter Darya

Douglas Valentine says that “Zelensky doesn’t go to the bathroom without asking permission from his CIA case officer.”


CIA expert Douglas Valentine, author of the seminal book The Phoenix Program (1990), believes that the CIA was behind the car bomb that killed Darya Dugin, a journalist and daughter of well-known Russian intellectual Alexander Dugin.

Ms. Dugina, 29, was killed on Saturday night when a bomb blew up the Toyota Land Cruiser she was driving in a suburb of Moscow. She was the intended target along with her father, whose promotion of a Eurasian Union has influenced the thinking of Vladimir Putin and members of his inner circle.

Russia’s Federal Security Services (FSB) blamed the Ukrainian intelligence services for the killing, specifying that the attack was carried out by a woman named Natalya Vovk (AKA Natalya Shaban), a member of the Azov Battalion along with her brother who arrived in Russia last month with her teenage daughter.[1]

Vovk allegedly rented an apartment from where she researched Ms. Dugina, attended “The Tradition” celebration where her father gave a speech and Ms. Dugina was killed, and after planting the bomb, fled to Estonia via Pskov.

According to Douglas Valentine, “Zelensky doesn’t go to the bathroom without asking permission from his CIA case officer. Ten billion dollars comes with a lot of strings attached. The CIA would have been intimately involved in recruiting the woman assassin, preparing the plan every step of the way including escape. That’s just Standard Operating Procedure.”

Valentine admits of course that there is no direct evidence to implicate the CIA in Dugina’s killing and that he’s making an “educated guess,” however, “clandestine ops occur by definition without anyone knowing they happened.” Valentine further told CAM that “the CIA doesn’t conduct a covert operation of this grandiosity unless it’s deniable and worth the risk. That’s known. So there’s rarely any evidence.”

Phoenix Program Redux

Just days before Dugina’s assassination, The New York Times published a front-page article about Ukrainian guerrilla fighters, or partisans, who openly admitted to planting car bombs targeting pro-Russian police officers and politicians behind Russian lines.

Ukraine’s Special Services (SBU) is also known to have set up a Phoenix-style kidnapping and assassination program targeting dissidents, including mayors and local government officials considered sympathetic to Russia.

Vasily Prozorov, a former SBU officer, meanwhile proclaimed that the SBU had been advised by the CIA since 2014. “CIA employees [who have been present in Kyiv since 2014] are residing in clandestine apartments and suburban houses,” he said. “However, they frequently come to the SBU’s central office for holding, for example, specific meetings or plotting secret operations.”

Valentine told CAM in April that the CIA “is applying the same organizational structure in Ukraine as it used in South Vietnam to conduct an updated version of the typical ‘two tier’ Phoenix program. The top tier is to assure political control, the lower tier to pacify the population.”

Valentine continued:

“CIA foreign intelligence officers advise SBU security service to assure ‘top tier’ internal security and political control; and Ukrainian CIA agents run ops into Donbas, Russia and Belarus, sending illegal travelers, smugglers, and agents to set up agent nets and penetrate the enemy in his territory, [and carry out] sabotage and subversion. SBU and Ukrainian CIA are where hit-lists get authored. CIA officers advise military, militias and mercenaries in deniable political, paramilitary and psychological operations to terrorize and otherwise persuade civilian population to support Zelensky while demoralizing and fighting the enemy.”

As in Vietnam, some of the CIA agents may be operating under the cover of State Department-run police training programs which were instituted in Ukraine after the 2014 Maidan coup.[4] Others have been assigned to specialized paramilitary units fighting in eastern Ukraine.[5]


Valentine stated that the “original Phoenix was responsible for the planned assassination of between 25,000 to 40,000 people in South Vietnam. Based on the Phoenix organizational model, assassination became a standarized component of military and CIA operations. It has since been perfected, as evidenced by the assassination of Dugina and scores of other examples from Central Americca to Iran to Africa and the Far East.”

The CIA, Valentine added, is “always finding a reason to start a war, so they can send the next generation of young men into battle, to learn how to kill people in the most brutal fashion—that’s Phoenix, always rising from the ashes of war.”

Notes

A Russian website of the NemeZida project, which publishes data on Ukrainian servicemen posted in April that Natalya Shaban, born in 1979, served in the Azov-based National Guard. (The National Guard is not the same as the U.S. National Guard; rather, it was formed directly by the hardcore Azov Regiment, with many members not directly members of the Azov.) The April posting displays a copy of Vovk/Shaban’s certificate indicating military unit No. 3057, in which the 12th brigade of the National Guard of Ukraine is stationed. Shaban is the name that her daughter, Sophia Shaban, used when they entered Russia—and the assumption is that Natalya Vovk is the maiden name of Natalya Shaban. The photograph of the National Guard member is a close match with the Natalya Vovk renting an apartment next to Darya Dugina’s residence. ↑

https://libya360.wordpress.com/2022/08/ ... rya-dugin/

n Assassin’s Bomb and the Death of the West
Posted by INTERNATIONALIST 360° on AUGUST 24, 2022
Christopher Black

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In September 2018 I wrote an essay about the brutal murder of Alexander Zakharchenko, the leader of the Donetsk Republic, by Kiev agents, backed by NATO, who was killed by a bomb on August 31 of that year, signalling the death of the Minsk Agreements and the inevitability of Russia’s special military operation to free Ukraine from the Nazi-NATO yoke.

That essay has been eliminated from Google and we can understand why, as on August 20, 2022, another Kiev bomb killed Darya Dugina, the daughter of Alexander Dugin, the Russian intellectual, in the Moscow region, after she accompanied her father to an event where he gave a lecture. So far as we know from reports, he survived the attack by choosing, at the last minute, to leave in another vehicle while his daughter drove home in the car in which they had arrived.

The Russian FSB has identified the murderess as Natalya Vovk, a member of the Kiev National Guard and, I understand, of the Nazi Azov Battalion, whose main elements were destroyed by Russian forces in Mariupol when they liberated the city. She was able to enter Russia using false identification and fake Donetsk licence plates, accompanied by her daughter to provide a cover. Both fled to Estonia immediately after their murder of Dugina, which they entered with Ukrainian licence plates, no doubt arranged with Estonia in advance, for which they will pay a price. The evidence against her and therefore Kiev and NATO involvement seems irrefutable.

This murder reveals several things: firstly it confirms the NAZI orientation and immorality of the Kiev regime, secondly it confirms that Kiev and NATO are so desperate with the on-going defeats of the Kiev military forces, that they have chosen the path of cowardice and the murder of anyone who speaks out against them, about which we should not be surprised since they have been murdering people in Ukraine since the NATO arranged coup in Ukraine in 2014, and on a mass scale. Finally, it confirms, yet once again, the hypocrisy of the combined West, who pretended to be angels of justice and vengeance when they alleged Russia attempted to murder the Skripals in the UK for instance, or Navalny in Russia, when it is clear Navalny was not poisoned at all and when it is also clear the British claims about the Skripals are equally fake. Yet they used those claims as a pretext to conduct economic war on Russia and to generate a tsunami of anti-Russian hate propaganda in all the western media with all sorts of crocodile tears and fake posturing about morality and the law.

And where are the Skripals anway? Are they dead or alive? It is likely they are dead, murdered by a UK and US death squad, as happened to Dr. Richard Kelly, in 2003, when he testified to a UK Parliamentary Committee about his role in a news report that the US and UK had made false claims of chemical weapons held by Iraq. He was murdered shortly afterwards and the British government claimed it was a “suicide.” Few believe it.

The Skripals would have an interesting tale to tell if, as many of us suspect, the British claims of a Russian attempt on their lives using a rare poison were fabricated, and the whole drama staged as a pretext to intensify the economic and political war on Russia. No one has seen or heard from them for several years now. The Russian government has continually insisted on meeting them, as has the family, but the Skripals have been disappeared. As journalist, John Helmer details in his series of reports on the issue, they have not even made an appearance at the on-going inquiry into that incident being conducted in Britain and the British government will not let anyone see or talk with them. So, it is likely they are held incommunicado or, worse, like Dr. Kelly, have been murdered as well.

Yet, what is the response in the West to the murder, by an agent of the West, of a Russian citizen, in Russia? No western government has yet denounced the crime, indicating their support and complicity in the murder and the reports in the western media are, more or less, justifying the murder by claiming, as if this can justify murder, that Alexander Dugin is some important advisor to President Putin. Whether he is or is not, I am not in a place to say, and it is irrelevant in any case. But that is their line, making the media also complicit in this murder. This is their morality; it is ok to murder friends of President Putin, even alleged friends. It is ok to murder Russians. And, of course, we have heard the calls in western capitals for the head of President Putin himself.

But what is the purpose of this murder? It appears to me, that the attempted assassination of Alexander Dugin and the murder of his daughter, who may have been the target according to the FSB, had two purposes; to send a message to the Russian government, and President Putin in particular, and the message is clear, and to spoil Russia’s national flag day on August 22nd. We remember that both Alexander Dugin and his daughter were “sanctioned” by the West for their thoughts and statements. That was the first step towards the fate planned for them. These are the true “values” of the West; the suppression of speech and thought to the point of murder is condoned and advocated openly. Russia intends to raise the issue at the Security Council of the United Nations.

Europe is moving towards a form of pogrom against Russians, banning them from living there or even visiting. Faced with the defeat of the Kiev-NATO regime by Russian and Donbass Republic forces in Ukraine, the USA and its NATO gang of thugs have become desperate, so desperate that they are willing to throw their people into poverty and misery with the consequences of their economic warfare on Russia.

Crushing Russia is more important to the globalist elites pushing this war than the lives and welfare of their own people. They can no longer make rational decisions. They are mired in the logic of war and are determined to pursue war against Russia, literally at all costs. The costs will be great, since Russia is clear in its objectives, sure of its place in history, confident in its ability to overcome any enemy, economically and militarily and is proving it on the ground in Ukraine, as it proved it before in Syria.

Clausewitz said that “war is a pulsation of violence, variable in strength and therefore, variable in the speed with which it explodes and discharges it energy” and that, “If we keep in mind that war springs from some political purpose, it is natural that the prime cause of its existence will remain the supreme consideration in conducting it.”

The prime cause of the war in Ukraine, the war against Russia is the decline of the combined West, economically, spiritually, culturally, a decline that is accelerating for all to see. The West I once knew, or thought I knew, is dead, the west of the Enlightenment, of Reason, of Morality, a decline others have spoken about since the late 19th century, as observers of society and philosophers told us over and over what was happening to the lives of ordinary people which became dominated by the immorality of elites who care nothing for them, who control the state, and see their citizens only as a means to make money for themselves.

We see in the war in Ukraine the expression of the Anglo-American-German political purpose: the desire to force Russia to submit to their will. They failed in World War I, which bankrupted Britain and most of Europe, and led the to the rise of fascism. The attempt failed again in World War II with catastrophic consequences for the world. Their third attempt to destroy Russia will also fail with similar consequences if they persist.

The Russian state that rose from dark days of the 1990’s has gathered its strength and resolve once again and refuses to submit to any one’s diktats. With China, and its many other allies, all of whom have been the victims of western colonialism and brutality from the 19th century through to the present, Russia offers the world a return to international law and integrity, to the sovereignty of nations, respect for their cultures, for their own forms of democracy, an alternative to control by western global capital.

The western colonial order is finally is being smashed and smashed it must be if we want the murders and chaos to stop. For the assassin’s bomb not only killed Darya Dugina, it also heralded the death of the West.

https://libya360.wordpress.com/2022/08/ ... -the-west/

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What do the New York Times, Kiev Independent, Euromaidan Press, Twitter, Facebook, Reddit, and TikTok All Have in Common?
By John Parker - August 22, 2022 2

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[Source: forbes.com]

They are all funded by or staffed by Western and U.S. intelligence members pushing the U.S. narrative about the war in Ukraine. This is why Struggle-La-Lucha.org organized a fact-finding mission to Ukraine and Russia to report on the suppressed information that challenges the narrative of NATO and its member states, led by the U.S.
This is the second part of my report. (See Part 1: Fact-finding trip to Donbas: A front-line shelter in Rubizhne)


The social media outlets are an open door to organizations like NATO, military suppliers, and the Atlantic Council, with executives making decisions about what content is allowed to circulate widely on social media and what content is encouraged to support U.S. foreign policy goals. Some of these same organizations sold us the misinformation about weapons of mass destruction regarding Iraq—like the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, funded by the U.S. government and its defense industry contractors. They partner with Twitter and others to allegedly stop misinformation and provide “alternate” information that counters or eliminates views that do not agree with the Pentagon’s narrative on Russia, China or Ukraine.

In John Pilger’s 2016 documentary “The Coming War on China,” he says: “ASPI has played a leading role—some would say, the leading role—in driving Australia’s mendacious and self-destructive and often absurd China-bashing campaign. The current Coalition government, perhaps the most right-wing and incompetent in Australia’s recent history, has relied upon the ASPI to disseminate Washington’s desperate strategic policies, into which much of the Australian political class, along with its intelligence and military structures, has been integrated.”

Russian stereotypes return

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[Source: medium.com]

Thanks to the actual “big brother” watchdogs, Russian stereotypes that are as sophisticated as the 1960s cartoon characters Boris and Natasha are showing their ugly heads again. However, this time—in addition to pushing war and anti-communism despite the fall of the Soviet Union—the media is elevating fascism along with apologies for fascist organizations.

And, of course, Hollywood must get involved to help the lies go down smoothly with Hollywood movies like “Old Man” with Jeff Bridges or “Stranger Things” (third and fourth seasons), reinforcing those messages as we relax in front of the tube.

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Sadistic Soviet colonel featured in Netflix series Stranger Things. [Source: thatswhatshehad.com]

Forgetten is the fact that the people of the Soviet Union and Russia were responsible for defeating one of the greatest threats to humanity—fascism—during World War II, losing 27 million of their people doing so.

Celebrating May 1 and May 9
I was reminded of the pride felt by the Russian people in defending humanity from fascism while making my way to the Lenin monument at October Square in Moscow on May 1 of this year. This was one of the many celebrations of International Workers Day leading up to the “Great Patriotic War” celebrations on May 9. Many shops along the way had posters proudly displaying the hammer-and-sickle flag of the Soviet Union to show that pride.

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Lenin monument in Moscow. [Source: tripadvisor.com]

In addition to the activities by the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, the second largest Party in Parliament, other celebrations were being held by the Union of Communists—which my organization, the Socialist Unity Party, has worked with in the past—which I also attended.

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People laying flowers on Lenin’s tomb. [Source: Photo courtesy of John Parker]

One of the Brazilian participants who is now in Moscow studying Russian said: “I am here because I think it is very important, the fight of workers in all the world who are working in difficulty in all countries. Many are without jobs or have low salaries and in my country, people are living on the streets. So, this is a very important moment to gather together to say we need a just world, we need better social conditions all over the world. There are people here who are communists and remember their conditions were better under the Soviet Union so it is important to celebrate here with Lenin.”

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Brazilian woman holding Soviet flag. [Source: Photo courtesy of John Parker]

At Home with Organizer Olga

An organizer for the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, Olga, made her way to this celebration after participating in her organization’s parade earlier. She explained why May 1 is so important: “It’s a great day, the first of May. We remember that this was founded by Chicago workers who were the first to come onto the street to fight for their rights in 1886.

In this time people in many countries celebrate, including Russia too, because we know it should be free education, free medical care and we still have lots of problems that must be decided together.” Olga mentioned that the policies of the Soviet Union regarding free medicine continued in Russia after its fall and it helped the Russian people, including her mother, handle the COVID crisis better.

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May Day rally in Moscow’s Red Square. [Source: voanews.com]

In Moscow, I was accompanied by Leonid Ilderkin, from the Union of Political Refugees and Political Prisoners of Ukraine. He is one of the many individuals forced to flee Ukraine due to the political persecution of communists or members of many labor or workers organizations. Leonid and members of the socialist organization Borotba helped us organize this trip and provided translation for me.

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Leonid Ilderkin [Source: space4peace.org]

After the powerful speeches, we were invited to join Olga and her family for dinner to discuss the movement in the U.S. and my questions about Russia today. The type of hospitality we experienced reminded me of being down South in the U.S., and not fitting the stereotype of the cold Russians at all.

After leaving her family’s home and enjoying a great meal, we came away with a better understanding of the connections that people here have with people living in Ukraine. They are in solidarity with their friends and family, who are now targeted by the allies of U.S. imperialism. When discussing Ukraine with Olga’s mom, she cried, telling me about her friend who was caught in the violence by fascist forces there.

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Olga, Russian communist. [Source: photo courtesy of John Parker]

We are now being told that the Russian people are also bloodthirsty and are purposely targeting civilians and committing unspeakable war crimes in Ukraine. In part one of these articles, I mentioned the National Endowment for Democracy-sponsored Kyiv Independent, published in Ukraine. That media’s reliance on unsubstantiated reports and videos given them by one of the fascist regiments, the Azov Battalion, is then passed on to Western media without any verification of its content.

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[Source: mronline.org]

Euromaidan Press—U.S.-sponsored media

Another media source out of Ukraine also funded by Western intelligence sources—the Euromaidan Press—does a thorough job of keeping the U.S.-sponsored narrative alive.

For example, their accounts of what went on immediately after the Russian intervention on February 24 and the current situation in areas of Ukraine that I visited were completely different from my experience.

During the first month after the Russian intervention in Ukraine, the Euromaidan Press reported “evidence” and videos indicating that the main targets of the Russian military were civilians.

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[Source: euromaidanpress.com]

However, in an exposé published by Newsweek, “Putin’s Bombers Could Devastate Ukraine But He’s Holding Back. Here’s Why,” analysts and advisers working for the Pentagon became unlikely whistleblowers. Covering most of the same period Euromaidan Press was referring to—the first 24 days after the Russian intervention on February 24—Newsweek quotes U.S. military officers and analysts, all of whom were surprised at how little civilian loss there was on the part of the Russian military.

One of the quotes from an adviser who is also a U.S. Air Force officer makes clear their message and intentions: “I’m frustrated by the current narrative—that Russia is intentionally targeting civilians, that it is demolishing cities, and that Putin doesn’t care. Such a distorted view stands in the way of finding an end before true disaster hits or the war spreads to the rest of Europe.”

About two months before I arrived there, Euromaidan Press wrote about a village in the Lugansk region of Ukraine called Rubizhne. See what essential detail is twisted in this report. The article “How the Russian Invasion Destroyed My World,” by Orysia Hrudka, shares an account of someone who was in touch with relatives and friends in Rubizhne about two weeks after the Russian intervention in Ukraine:

“Since 8 March I have been unable to contact my close ones in Rubizhne.…My grandmother, together with many other people from Rubizhne in Luhansk Oblast, was brought to the town nearby. The town was not yet ready to place the refugees in one of the buildings. Food and mattresses were just being brought there.…

“On 11 March, at 10:56 pm, I learned that my friend’s husband’s parents had been shot at a checkpoint on the way from Rubizhne to Kreminna. Her husband’s parents were kind people and were bringing food from the village to Rubizhne because the city was cut off from food supplies. The mother died immediately, and the father was able to call his son and say his last words. The son talked with his father until his father’s heart stopped. We still can’t find the bodies of our friends’ parents.…

“On 25 March, my friend’s mother was killed in the Russian shelling. She came to bring the water to the South district in Rubizhne. Her body is still there.”

What I saw in Rubizhne

This is a heart-wrenching account of brutality and neglect, the lack of water and food, danger in leaving and coming to Rubizhne at that time. It generally corresponds with what I heard from the people of Lugansk at the shelter where there were 350 people who had escaped as their homes were bombed by tanks. They were left with nothing and totally dependent on the humanitarian aid of food and water to survive and the protection of the military to stay alive.

However, they all said it was the Ukrainian military—not the Russian military—that shot into their homes with guns and tanks; that abandoned them with no food, water, or transportation. In fact, the residents of the shelter in Rubizhne I spoke to said if not for the protection of the Russian soldiers they would not have survived. See Part 1 for the full interviews of Rubizhne residents forced to flee their homes.

Rubizhne Ukraine War Luhansk Oblast

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Devastation in Rubizhne. The Euromaidan Press made it appear the Russians caused the devastation when residents all said it was the Ukrainians. [Source: euromaidanpress.com]

“Ukrainian soldiers did not help at all,” said a teary-eyed Larisa, who was in charge of the shelter and reflected on the hardship for the children there. “That is unacceptable. No one from the Ukrainian side asked us or visited us. I had supported Ukraine, but after I saw how they left these people I no longer supported them.”

The thunder heard around us while we were there was a constant reminder of how the area was still very dangerous. That thunder was not from lightning. It was the sound of exploding artillery shells that, like lightning, hit a nearby apartment building while we were there. And, to be clear, that artillery was fired from Ukrainian military positions.

When I arrived in Rubizhne on May 6, the area was under the control of the Russian military and the Lugansk People’s Militia, which brought in humanitarian aid. In my short time in Lugansk, from the border to the shelter, I witnessed many trucks bringing water, grain, diapers, milk, etc. My clumsy attempt at helping to bring the supplies in, ending in an almost dropped box, confirmed these items were diapers and foodstuffs.

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At restaurant dedicated to honoring the memory of the Soviet Union in the city of Lugansk. With fellow fact-finding participants Alexey Albu, Evgeniy Miroshnichenko, and John Parker in back. [Source: Photo courtesy of John Parker]

How residents received aid

The Euromaidan Press account also left the impression that the Russian forces were targeting civilians at checkpoints and on the dangerous roads they controlled. However, this area only came under Russian control a little over three weeks prior to our visit on May 6. According to Alexey Albu, an organizer with Borotba who accompanied me in Lugansk: “The roads here, although dangerous now, were even more dangerous during Ukrainian control, so leaving was not a safe option then. It became more possible after the area came under Russian control.”

Larisa added: “We tell people it is not safe, but if they want to leave here, of course, they can. No one will stop them.”

Alexey, once a resident of Odessa who moved with his family to Lugansk, was an elected member of the Odessa Regional Council and a former member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine. Alexey barely escaped with his life in the violence of fascists after the 2014 coup, a coup financed by the U.S.

Instead of discouraging and shooting at civilians trying to bring food to Rubizhne, as the journalist from Euromaidan Press implied of the Russian soldiers, Alexey explained a different reality: “Because of the war, getting assistance to the shelter was difficult. The trade unions in charge of delivering food in Lugansk were unable to due to the area becoming a war zone. So, they had to hand over that task to the military.”

Despite the danger and the fact that the Ukrainian military still controlled the area, Alexey continued, “the Russian and Lugansk soldiers, at great risk to their own lives, were determined to get aid to the residents of the shelter even before the area was liberated.”

Why such a different view from Euromaidan Press, a view contradicted by U.S. military sources covered in Newsweek and my own live interviews and experiences there?


Funded by U.S. National Endowment for Democracy
Euromaidan Press is an NGO partly funded by the National Democratic Institute, one of the four core institutes of the National Endowment for Democracy. Euromaidan Press is also partly funded by the British Embassy in Kiev. And Euromaidan Press is partly funded by the International Renaissance Foundation subsidized by George Soros’s Open Society Foundation, which funds regime-change efforts and was heavily involved in funding the anti-Russian opposition in Ukraine.

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[Source: ned.org]

Alya Shandra, the editor-in-chief at Euromaidan Press, and Christine Chraibi, an editor, both state in their profiles their wish for European integration, especially, said Chraibi, in terms of NATO membership.

Orysia Hrudka, the writer of this particular piece in Euromaidan Press, is also employed at the Agents of Change School, funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)—a U.S. government agency—and the U.S. Embassy Democracy Fund, which, according to their website, “supports unique and promising projects that promote the capacity-building and self-sufficiency of NGOs in Ukraine.”

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Orysia Hrudka, war propagandist. [Source: gpusu.edu]

Since the first U.S.-sponsored coup in 2004, those NGOs were how the U.S. government poured billions of dollars into regime-change efforts, culminating in the second undemocratic 2014 coup in Ukraine.

Euromaidan Press also ran stories pushing the allegations of rape by Russian soldiers, “confirmed” by former Ukrainian Ombudsman Lyudmyla Denisova who said that 25 teenage girls were kept in a basement in Bucha and gang-raped; nine of them are now pregnant. After evidence showed those claims were false, the accusations called into question the legitimacy of other Ukrainian government claims. The Ukrainian Parliament promptly fired Ombudsman Denisova with the advice: “Check the facts before publication” and “disclose only information for which there is sufficient evidence.”

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Lyudmyla Denisova [Source: wikipedia.org]
The neo-Nazi Azov Battalion

Another staff person at Euromaidan Press is Bohdan Ben. According to his description on the site, Ben is a researcher in the field of social and ethical philosophy and the field of local governance. He was among the winners of the program “Youth Will Change Ukraine,” organized by the Bohdan Hawrylyshyn Family Foundation.

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Bohdan Ben [Source: kyivpost.com]

On November 4, 2019, Ben did a piece countering the letter circulated by 40 U.S. House members asking that the Azov Battalion be put on the terrorist list. In it, he characterizes the Azov Battalion as a mixture of various ideologies leaning towards far-right politics but stresses that they cannot be considered a neo-Nazi organization since they are an official part of the Ukrainian military.

However, his admissions in the article remarkably refute his premises and lousy logic. In denying that the Azov Battalion has aided and abetted terrorists around the world he says, reflecting on the letter: “That the Azov Battalion ‘openly welcomes neo-Nazis into its ranks’ is true in some cases. Indeed, several radically far-right individuals were fighting or training in this detachment…several commanders of the Battalion previously belonged to right-wing Ukrainian NGOs or political parties. Naturally, volunteers with nationalist political backgrounds preferred serving in Azov rather than other detachments, to have like-minded people around. This is entirely within the legal framework.”

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Azov Battalion. [Source: ft.com]

It should be noted that the “legal framework” has been radically changing since 2014 to favor fascist organizations and ban and criminalize their greatest opposition—the communist parties.

He also states that the political entity most affiliated with the Azov Battalion, the National Corps, is a separate organization and cannot be assumed to represent the views of the Azov organization when they promote Nazism and terrorism. However, he then mentions that the Corps is led by Andriy Biletskyi, who he admits is “a far-right nationalist who espoused white supremacist views.” He also forgets to say that Biletskyi founded the Azov militia group in 2014.

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Andriy Biletskyi [Source: pravda.com]

Ben himself quoted Biletskyi saying in 2010 that the Ukrainian nation’s mission was to “lead the white race of the world in a final crusade…against Semite-led Untermenschen.” Untermenschen is an unscientific term used by Nazi Germany, implying an ethnic designation. They are supposedly inferior people who fall into a category of basically anyone not “accepted” by the German Nazis.

Ben also admits:

“Azov Battalion and the National Corps Political Party indeed had contacts with persons who called for violence or committed crimes…Olena Semenyaka, for example, acknowledged contacts with the American Rise Above Movement (RAM) and said that RAM members came to Ukraine to ‘learn how to create youth forces in the ways Azov has’…However, there is little evidence of any calls for terrorism or violence by members of the Battalion.”

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American Rise Above Movement. [Source: csac.fi.stanford.edu]

Azov and “Unite the Right” riot in Charlottesville

After the meeting with RAM to which Ben was referring, three RAM members participated in and helped organize the August 11, 2017, Unite the Right riot of neo-Nazis in Charlottesville, Virginia, where Heather Heyer was killed by a white supremacist driving into the counter-protest she participated in. Those three were arrested in Virginia for inciting and organizing violence there, and sentenced to more than two years in prison.

It is especially clear how far from the truth Euromaidan Press is willing to go in allegiance to the Azov Battalion when comparing what Ben is saying to a 2021 report in Time magazine—which is no friend of Russia or the Donbas republics and is a supporter of the Ukrainian military. In that report, “Like, Share, Recruit: How a White-Supremacist Militia Uses Facebook to Radicalize and Train New Members,” Time contradicts Ben’s assertion that the Corps is not related to nor speaks for Azov.

Time reporters Simon Shuster and Billy Perrigo expose that the National Corps, instead of being separate from Azov, is an integral part of an Azov recruitment center in Kyiv.

They write: “The main recruitment center for Azov, known as the Cossack House, stands in the center of Kiev, a four-story brick building on loan from Ukraine’s Defense Ministry. In the courtyard is a cinema and a boxing club. The top floor hosts a lecture hall and a library, full of books by authors who supported German fascism, like Ezra Pound and Martin Heidegger…On the ground floor is a shop called Militant Zone, which sells clothes and key chains with stylized swastikas and other neo-Nazi merchandise. [Emphases added.]

The reporters interviewed the person Ben mentioned, Olena Semenyaka, who has almost achieved celebrity status in the white supremacist world:

“‘It could be described as a small state within a state,’ says Olena Semenyaka, the head of international outreach for the Azov movement. On a tour of the Cossack House in 2019, she told TIME that Azov’s mission was to form a coalition of far-right groups across the Western world, with the ultimate aim of taking power throughout Europe.”

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Olena Semenyaka [Source: kresy.pl]

Semenyaka is speaking for the Azov organization. However, Ben said the National Corps she represents is separate. The Time reporters also agree with Semenyaka regarding the direction of Azov.

They write:

“Outside Ukraine, Azov occupies a central role in a network of extremist groups stretching from California across Europe to New Zealand, according to law enforcement officials on three continents. And it acts as a magnet for young men eager for combat experience. Ali Soufan, a security consultant and former FBI agent who has studied Azov, estimates that more than 17,000 foreign fighters have come to Ukraine over the past six years from 50 countries.”

Brenton Tarrant, who killed 51 Muslims in March 2019 as they worshipped in a Christchurch, New Zealand, mosque, wrote in his manifesto that he visited Ukraine. He also wore the emblem of the Azov Battalion when he did the killing and featured the Azov emblem in his manifesto. By the way, the recent killing in Buffalo, New York, of 10 Black people in a supermarket was done by an 18-year-old white supremacist who said he was influenced by Tarrant—and the beat goes on.

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Mass killer Brenton Tarrant—another Azov Battalion admirer. [Source: reddit.com]

The Facebook algorithm driving white supremacists

Time explains how Azov grew such a wide and influential global presence—in a word, Facebook and other social media. However, it was Facebook’s algorithm driving white supremacists and disaffected youth toward them that allowed Azov exponential visibility growth.

In a simple experiment done while writing this article, I was able to get to an Azov Battalion recruiting video simply by searching the word “Azov,” on Facebook, which led me in about two clicks to the recruitment video on YouTube with the Azov logo, the Sonnenrad. You can find my search here: Recruitment Video.

Why have social media outlets in the U.S., that were quick to act when it was revealed that ISIS was successfully recruiting members through Facebook and YouTube and other social media, refused to act on white supremacist terrorism and recruitment?

Perhaps a former leader of the influential Atlantic Council, the NATO entity which helps shape public opinion on Russia and Ukraine, can answer that.

Alina Polyakova, at the time working as Director of Research for Europe and Eurasia at the Atlantic Council, where she developed and led the institute’s work on disinformation and Russia, is quoted in an article in Jacobin on Stepan Bandera:

“‘The Russian government and its proxies in eastern Ukraine have consistently branded Kyiv’s government a fascist junta and accused it of having Nazi sympathizers. Moscow’s propaganda is outrageous and wrong.” Given Ukraine’s deepening economic woes, she continued, ‘should Ukraine watchers be concerned about the potential growth of extreme right-wing parties?’ Her answer: ‘Absolutely not.’”

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Alina Polyakova [Source: brookings.edu]

Regarding the U.S. proxy war against Russia, the sole purpose of U.S. and Western European-sponsored media outlets like Euromaidan Press and Kyiv Independent is to be a disseminator of Nazi propaganda about the war and handle international public relations for fascist organizations in Ukraine.

Their coverage of events around the same time I was in Lugansk as compared to what I saw and heard from residents there exposes the lies of their sponsors and puppet masters, especially those in the U.S.

2014 massacre at Odessa House of Trade Unions

What is scarcely covered, however, are horrors like that which occurred in the city of Odessa in Ukraine on May 2, 2014, at the House of Trade Unions, witnessed by those I interviewed here in Moscow at a memorial outside of the Kremlin.

“Today is the second of May,” said a journalist covering the event. “Eight years ago my city of Odessa was full of beauty on the seashore, for artists, writers, musicians. We had the best architects who built the opera theater house. But those Ukrainian Nazis burned the Odessan people alive and shot them. They say there were 48 who died but that number is not correct since there were many more victims reported in the morgue. They burned alive people who were hiding, and those who escaped the building were beaten with sticks and iron pipes and shot at. None of the perpetrators were punished. Innocent people died for their right to speak their language by a Nazi regime. This was repeated in Mariupol on May 9, 2014, with killings in that Russian-speaking area. I was there in Mariupol as a journalist also. It’s been eight years, and nobody cared, and they continue to kill us using weapons originating in the USA and European Union. And any honest journalists reporting on this are being hidden there in Ukraine.”

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Burning of Trade Union House in Odessa after Maidan coup. [Source: theguardian.com]

He then introduced me to Vasilly, who had been trapped inside the House of Trade Unions. He took many photos of the situation then—from the beginning of the incident until about 8:30 p.m. when people began to jump out of the windows of the burning building. “By 7 p.m. it started, before that, there was a fight outside…I have many photos and showed these to many journalists from the West but they did nothing with them,” he said.

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The author pays his respects to the victims of the Odessa massacre. [Source: Photo courtesy of John Parker]

I asked him what he thought about Zelensky appointing a governor of Odessa a few months ago who is affiliated with fascist organizations. “Zelensky is not only a comedian, he is also a clown. He is not an independent person, he works for Biden. What is there to think about a person who goes to Great Britain and first meets with the chief of MI6, his other boss? Our great regret is that there was a president Yushchenko in 2004 who also pushed to empower oligarchs, and he began inviting Nazis and gave the highest honor to Bandera.”

Another commemorator who had just finished placing roses at the monument, then making the sign of the cross on his chest, showed me his cell phone with texts he had just received from someone also trying, but unable, to commemorate the day. His friend texting him at that moment was in Odessa, but a curfew was established to discourage such activity. This curfew was being enforced with bullets from the Ukrainian police, his friend who was witnessing the violence there told him. “One woman was injured and the police were ordered to shoot, with no warning, anyone holding public commemorations outside,” he read from his phone.

Here in Moscow, where that terror did not exist we visited another commemoration in another part of the city with mainly youth carrying signs with the words “Odessa May 2, 2014.” At the front of the thousands who were lined up to pay tribute by placing roses where the pictures of the dead victims were, another witness of the Odessa tragedy was playing Rachmaninoff’s Prelude in C Sharp Minor on a piano moved right there onto the sidewalk. The intense piece she chose was fitting because, in 1898, one of the many titles of that piece introduced to the West by a London publisher was called “The Burning of Moscow.”

Commemorations on May 9 for the victory over Nazi Germany are also outlawed in Ukraine. But, like the May 2 commemorations, here in Russia, celebrating the defeat of the Nazis is welcomed.

Coming in part 3: Two cities in Ukraine, two ideologies, two experiences of war.

https://covertactionmagazine.com/2022/0 ... in-common/

John Parker has got my vote.

***************

Echelon at Chaplino station
August 25, 16:22

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The Russian Defense Ministry commented on Zelensky's whining yesterday about the "peace train" on which the Russian Iskander missile attack fell
. More than 200 killed by the enemy are declared. 10 pieces of equipment were also destroyed.
A little later, after the statements of the Russian Defense Ministry, a video surfaced (see here https://t.me/boris_rozhin/61362 )
of the consequences of a strike on a train, where platforms with military wheeled vehicles, which, together with reservists, were traveling to Donbass, are clearly visible.
The main arrivals fell precisely on the wagons with personnel, but some of the platforms with automotive replenishment equipment did not fall into the epicenter of the explosion and survived. It must be understood that the cars were packed full of reservists, most of whom died instantly. Therefore, having declared about 22 dead, the Zelensky gang was in no hurry to show the corpses, because they had to be raked out of the burned-out military train cars.
This is the largest one-time destruction of enemy personnel as a result of a strike on a railway since the beginning of the war. In terms of records for one-time losses, this episode will probably be in the top ten, although it is certainly inferior to the results of attacks on the barracks of the 79th brigade in Nikolaev and the Desna training center of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, as well as the destruction of the barracks with mercenaries at the Yavorovsky training ground. But in general, a very effective blow to the "independence day". The whole story is a solid advertisement of the lethality of the Iskander.

https://colonelcassad.livejournal.com/7821875.html

Supplies of electricity from ZNPP to Ukraine stopped
August 26, 13:38

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Electricity supplies from ZNPP to Ukraine stopped

The authorities of the liberated territory of the Zaporozhye region reported that as a result of Ukrainian shelling, all power lines were killed, through which energy from ZNPP went to Ukraine, and now there is no possibility to supply electricity from ZNPP to Ukraine. This means a one-time reduction in the total generation of Ukraine by 20%. Therefore, instead of plans to "sell electricity to Europe", the puppet regime will have to deal with the search for electricity to replace the lost capacity. And this is even without considering the likelihood of a strike by the RF Armed Forces on some TPPs (in response to the shelling of the ZNPP), which will automatically bring the situation in the energy sector of Ukraine to the brink of disaster.

After yesterday's jump, electricity is supplied to the liberated territories from the ZNPP. But in light of the ongoing shelling, I will assume that the station will be disabled and mothballed until the end of the war.

https://colonelcassad.livejournal.com/7825082.html

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

Post by blindpig » Fri Aug 26, 2022 3:10 pm

About the armed conflict in Ukraine
August 26, 12:34 p.m

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The West supports neo-colonial hegemony in Africa while Russia supports its liberation (Photo: Shutterstock)
A look at the war in Ukraine from a Marxist position.

About the armed conflict in Ukraine


The key to understanding the essence of armed conflicts is fixing in the minds of the moment when the peaceful development of capitalism enters the phase of clash of armies and navies, that is, the main institutions of state violence. Outwardly, it seems that there is a fundamental difference between the era of peaceful life and the period of warfare, that these are two completely opposite states of society. Bourgeois ideology and bourgeois theory of wars are filled with hypocritical pacifism and focus all attention on the moment of the outbreak of hostilities, on the validity, political expediency or inexpediency of the external side of the conflict. The conflicts between states themselves are considered as a product of the will of individual politicians, a clash of some abstract "national interests".

<...>

War serves as a natural means of eliminating the discrepancy between the growth of productive forces, primarily in the idiotic form of capital accumulation, on the one hand, and the division of spheres of influence for finance capital, on the other. Take, for example, this Leninist truth:

“The epoch of modern capitalism shows us that certain relations are developing between capitalist alliances on the basis of the economic division of the world, and next to this, in connection with this, certain relations are developing between political unions, states, on the basis of territorial division. peace, the struggle for colonies, the struggle for economic territory.

So, between the capitalists of the West, primarily the USA, England, France, Germany, certain relations have developed on the basis of the complete economic division of the world, which look like the hegemony and dictatorship of Western transnational corporations from military-industrial conglomerates and oil and gas corporations to IT giants and "big pharma. And next to this, in connection with this, an alliance of states has formed, including in the form of the NATO alliance, which suppresses the sovereignties of individual countries and resorts to force of arms where necessary, or provokes wars through the hands of crazed nationalists.

As soon as the Soviet state was destroyed and the dictatorship of capital prevailed, all conditions were created for entrepreneurs, firstly, to tear the country to pieces, and secondly, to fall into general competition, that is, a war of all against all, creating many configurations like between themselves and with their Western "partners", thus setting fire to more and more "hot spots" on the territory of the USSR. The mass death of people and rampant fascism is the payment for the bungling shown by the people in 1991.

From a general theoretical approach to the specifics of a particular

On February 24, 2022, the bourgeois Russian Federation, represented by President Putin, announced a special military operation in Ukraine, referring to the NATO expansion policy and a number of other circumstances that led to the outbreak of hostilities. In essence, we are talking about the fact that one bourgeois state is openly intervening in a civil war in another bourgeois state on the side of the rebellious people of Donbass and the subsequently emerging bourgeois "people's republics".

Let us recall some conclusions about the situation in Ukraine that we made in 2019. So, we argued:

1. After 2014, a pro-Western group of oligarchs seized power in Ukraine, finally turning the Ukrainian state into a puppet, primarily of the American oligarchy. Ukraine, like earlier Poland and the Baltic countries, has become an outpost of US imperialism in Eastern Europe.

2. Power in the Russian Federation is in the hands of the oligarchy, that is, financial capital, and is guided solely by the interests of preserving state-monopoly capitalism in Russia and expanding its dominance outside. All the talk about the protection of the "Russian world", the multipolar device is a screen and a cover.

3. The civil war in Ukraine was unleashed by the Western oligarchy:

“Maidan, the annexation of Crimea to the Russian Federation, the formation of the LDNR and the civil war, with all the complex and contradictory course of these processes, are primarily a product of the policy of the American and European oligarchs. The Russian bourgeoisie in this case acted according to the situation, trying not to weaken its position in the face of the loss of influence in Kyiv.

4. The participation of the bourgeois Russian Federation in the civil war in Ukraine through the so-called Minsk and Normandy formats, that is, in fact, the conservation of the conflict, was dictated by the political motives of countering American imperialism. The bourgeois Russian Federation, feeling its weakness, did not openly intervene in the civil war in Ukraine, but did not allow the Armed Forces of Ukraine to seize the Donbass. Such participation of the Russian Federation was not of an imperialist nature, it was not aimed at seizing territories or reshaping spheres of influence. However, at the same time, we noted that, quite possibly, the Russian oligarchy was hatching expansionist plans regarding Ukraine.

5. We pointed out that the principled position of Marxism in any such conflict is that the proletariat needs to turn its weapon against any bourgeoisie: Ukrainian, Russian, American, European, Donetsk, Luhansk. But since such a slogan would be empty air shaking in the current situation, since there are no appropriate conditions for its promotion, the most productive solution to the situation would be the defeat of the Ukrainian government in the civil war.

6. We predicted the three most likely scenarios that could lead to the end of the civil war: 1) if a communist revolution takes place in Russia, Ukraine or the Donbass and the dictatorship of the working class resolves the issue peacefully or militarily; 2) if power in Ukraine passes into the hands of the pro-Russian oligarchy; 3) if the Russian oligarchs need to resolve the issue by military means.

At the same time, since 2019, there has been a significant change in the international situation. The confrontation between world imperialism and China sharply escalated, the American oligarchy essentially unleashed a new cold war against the PRC, in which the bourgeois Russian Federation is a springboard on the way of encircling and isolating China. The pressure of American and European imperialism on the bourgeois Russian Federation has increased significantly in all directions, including through internal attacks on Belarus and attempts to provoke an “orange revolution” in Russia (poisoning Navalny and activating the liberal opposition). There were many publications about this, in which we developed the idea that the world system of imperialism is on the verge of a new world war.

The behavior of the bourgeois Russian Federation in the changing situation was consistently mercantile and "business". First, proposals were made to Western imperialism, led by the United States, to voluntarily leave Eastern Europe, primarily Ukraine, that is, to recognize the sphere of influence of Russian financial capital, which would guarantee the neutrality of the Russian Federation in the confrontation between the United States and China. And after ignoring these proposals, the Russian Federation initiated a special operation in Ukraine on its own initiative.

There has clearly been a change in the strength of the potentials of the Russian and Western oligarchies, since the first time the conversation went on an equal footing. And also the fact that the degree of pressure from the US turned out to be critical for the Russian oligarchy. The military-political leadership of the Russian Federation, expressing the interests and needs of the Russian oligarchy, considered that further passive delay only worsens the situation of the country, and the “fight” is still inevitable. It cannot be ruled out that the Armed Forces of Ukraine were indeed preparing a massive offensive against Donbass and even Crimea.

The outbreak of hostilities in Ukraine completed the period of preparation for the open struggle of American imperialism to preserve its hegemony and the world order that had taken shape after the collapse of the USSR. There was a sharp mobilization of Western countries, they all as one began to pump up the Ukrainian army with weapons, supply intelligence and recruit mercenaries. In the domestic politics of Western countries, exactly the same rejection of bourgeois-democratic freedoms is taking place, which was observed in the 1950s during the so-called era of McCarthyism.

In turn, the actions of the United States as an imperialist state are dictated by the tasks of maintaining the hegemony of American corporations and the business interests of all the main subjects belonging to the structural Anglo-Saxon system of the globalized economy, which stretched its tentacles around the globe after the collapse of the USSR. They can be conditionally divided into two sides - political and economic.

The political side is the unleashing of a new cold war against China, in which the Russian Federation has an important foothold on the outskirts of the PRC. In it, economic benefits appear indirectly through competition with Chinese state capital, and, of course, there is a moment of fear of communism and the socialist state as such. The dynamics of modern China's development clearly demonstrates the high efficiency of communist power even in a market economy.

The economic side of the actions of American imperialism is associated with direct benefits from specific decisions, for example, in the form of enrichment of the private military-industrial complex from the supply of arms and the arms race in general, oil and gas giants from the redistribution of the European gas market, the ruin of the masses of small proprietors, etc.

The same is true in the position of the imperialists of France and Germany, with the only difference being that it reflects the balancing act and relations between the monopolists of these countries and their American "colleagues", that is, in this case they directly and openly support the United States in the confrontation with the Russian Federation, but are somewhat staggering. , not wanting a direct confrontation with China. Inter-imperialist contradictions between the US and the EU are also growing, as the US oligarchs directly use Europe in their own interests, regardless of the economic and social damage to the power of their "partners".

The complexity of the moment showed the theoretical helplessness of the left
The beginning of the special operation of the Russian Federation in Ukraine was an event in the assessments of which left-wing figures and organizations diverged. But the special operation not only caused a split in the left into supporters and opponents of the war, but transferred the entire theoretical assessment of the situation to the plane of purely external phenomena. From some leftists Putin and Russian imperialism get it, from other leftists Zelensky, Biden and American imperialism get it. Much of the discussion revolves around Ukrainian fascist gangs and the role of NATO countries in the conflict. However, almost no one reveals the role of capitalism proper in the war.

None of the left dared to reason from the general to the particular. So, all entrepreneurs are competitors, and they are much more internationalists than proletarians. They do not need to be called to internationalism, they themselves are always looking for combinations on the side. No wonder some Russian oligarchs kept money abroad, they are always for any war, but on the side of the potential, as it seems to them, the winner. Another question is that the Russian Federation is full of entrepreneurs who have nothing to look for over the "hill", but they never pay attention to race, nationality, or religious affiliation. From time to time, political leaders appear on the scene expressing the aspirations of some groups of capitalists, not only large ones, but also small ones, sometimes comprador, sometimes nationalist, but this does not change much in the overall picture. So all wars in general are conducted exclusively by the bourgeoisie, regardless of what nation they belong to, what country they live in, and in what combination they entered the war. But the state and the army always become the scapegoat. There would be no entrepreneurs, there would be no competition between them, there would be no bourgeois parties and presidents reflecting the interests of groups of entrepreneurs, warring for life and death, both small and large, both strong and weak.

Therefore, whatever the specifics, no matter how significant the nuances of a particular military campaign may seem, while the masses of the townsfolk are under the impression of political chatter, the militaristic component, state policy, the role of presidents and field commanders, they are immersed in an attempt to embrace all these nuances in the process of searching for personal culprits nothing threatens capitalism itself. The modern left considers the topic of capitalism in war so sluggishly and fadedly that there are no claims, hatred and contempt among the mass of citizens for capitalism as the source of all wars. The fact that today there are borders, countries, governments, political systems and figures - all this is secondary, inherited by the earthly community as remnants of slavery, feudalism, clerical fragmentation. That's what's important.

We are not opposed to revealing specific nuances and the role of superstructure institutions, but only after our readers realize that all wars are prepared and unleashed by ordinary entrepreneurs, including the smallest ones.

This position is dictated both by the general considerations of promoting the theory of Marxism, and by the fact that the most that we are capable of in fact is to formulate a scientifically sound point of view on current events, without being able to exert a practical influence on it. If our point of view is scientific, then this is what will eventually work and generate a constructive practical reaction from the masses and their leaders closest to the left.

For a more detailed consideration of the position of opponents of the special operation of the Russian Federation, we will resort to a joint statement by the Communist Parties of Greece, Spain, Mexico and Turkey, which, in its theoretical content, covers almost all the arguments of the left. Thus, fairly large and respected communist parties claim that the Russian-Ukrainian war is an imperialist war between the US, NATO, the EU on the one hand, and the Russian Federation on the other, in the struggle for control over the markets, raw materials and transport networks of Ukraine. A similar risk of wars is present in other regions, as the confrontation between the US and China for supremacy in the capitalist world intensifies. The anti-fascist rhetoric of the Russian Federation is recognized by them as false, designed to disorient the workers.

What specific outcome of the special operation of the Russian Federation is seen by the data of the Communist Party as the most acceptable for the cause of communism is unclear. They are simply against imperialist wars, that is, they take the position of abstract pacifism. It is clear that the statement "no war" in the current circumstances means the actual support for the military defeat of the Russian Federation.

It is difficult to call such a position anything other than schoolboy, it is the product of some compromise between organizations that do not want to substantively understand the situation. And again, in their criticism there was no place for capitalism proper, the origins of the conflict are not considered in connection with the collapse of the USSR and the transition from communism to capitalism. Equating American and Russian imperialisms, equating American imperialism and the socialist PRC looks especially obscene, which again only plays into the hands of maintaining the hegemony of the Western oligarchy. The confusion that these communist parties have created is further delaying the task of bringing the Marxist worldview to the masses.

At least now there are a number of socialist states in the world (China, Cuba, North Korea, Vietnam, Laos), and communists are obliged to consider all international political processes through the prism of the needs of their existence and development. They oppose world imperialism, and in this class struggle we must firmly take the side of the forces of communism. The fact that some leftists do not like "Marxism with Chinese characteristics" or Juche, that, in their opinion, the socialist government in these countries is not correct enough, and the policy is opportunistic, is a manifestation of dogmatism and Trotskyism. We have the right to form our opinion in the field of the theory and practice of communism in these countries, but it should not run counter to their support. It is not for us to teach Chinese, North Korean, Vietnamese, Cuban and Laotian communists, and certainly not Greek, Spanish,

In addition, there are a number of states of socialist orientation (Venezuela, Nicaragua, Bolivia, Nepal, Syria, Eritrea, Belarus, Transnistria), there is a national liberation struggle of different peoples. Of course, communists are sympathetic to all anti-capitalist and anti-imperialist processes and are obliged to take them into account when evaluating certain political events and phenomena, especially global ones of international significance.

But all this has been forgotten by the left and sacrificed to "Marxist" dogmatism and "revolutionary" posture. Such theoretical assessments cause nothing but regret.

Important nuances in assessing the situation
The first important nuance in assessing the situation is that the basis of imperialism corresponds to the superstructure of imperialism, whose ideology is fascism.

“The highest stage of the development of capitalism, i.e. imperialism, also corresponds to the highest, i.e., the ideology that is limiting in its genocidogenicity, which is the subjective prerequisite for the withering away of market capitalist relations, since private monopoly property has exhausted its possibilities for ideological maneuver, for generating theories masking the reactionary essence of the exploitative formations. The bourgeoisie of every nation is forced to openly admit that under the dominance of monopolies, those who want to continue the growth of the profitability of their capital have no other way to do this than to “wet” their competitors on a global scale. Free-trading, fascism and globalization differ somewhat in the terms used,

The total strength of imperialism of one or another group of oligarchs and the states controlled by it is proportional to the degree of its reactionaryness. Unlike the era of the First World War, the contradictions of modern imperialism are not a struggle between two blocs of equal potential. The world market is already under the control of US imperialism, and the oligarchies of other nations are trying to free themselves from the dictates of Washington. That is, we already live in the world of victorious American fascism, even if its terminological flair revolves around the doctrines of neoliberalism and globalization. The situation with political regimes in Ukraine, the Baltics, Poland, Taiwan, Japan, Kosovo and the like shows how easily American democracy on the ground turns into nationalism and support for openly fascist gangs when it is beneficial to Washington patrons.

Further, American imperialism (USA, England, Canada, Australia, Israel, Japan, Poland, the Baltic States and other openly pro-American regimes) is not equal to EU imperialism (France, Germany), Turkish imperialism, Indian or Russian imperialism. They treat each other as strong to weak, block, compete, enter into open confrontation at the regional level.

Consequently, fascism as the ideology and practice of the striving of the financial capital of one nation for world domination is inherent in all bourgeois countries, but to varying degrees, depending on the strength and correlation of the potentials of the bourgeois classes ruling in them. Countries in which national capital, due to their size and total subordination to the world market, is not able to reach the level of financial monopolization, become the arena of the struggle of foreign financial capital and fall into political dependence.

Thus, Ukrainian fascism - Banderaism - with all its gangs, nationalism, terror, is an element of the superstructure not of Ukrainian capitalism, but of American imperialism. Ukrainian oligarchs are not capable of claiming world domination, but are a mere rump of American corporations, typical compradores, who are allowed to exist and enrich themselves for the time being.

The second important nuance in assessing the situation is the understanding of the objective nature of the inter-imperialist class struggle that follows from what has been said above. The fact that American imperialism = fascism does not imply an unconditional approval of the fight against it, because it is also carried out by an imperialist force, albeit a weaker and less reactionary one in this connection.

Communists treat the war in Ukraine as an objective reality of capitalism. As already mentioned, capitalism is generally a war of all against all, and concrete military operations are only an undisguised, frank form of this war. That is, in the conditions of capitalism, war is something like a natural disaster, it is inevitable, because such is the very basis of capitalism, which permanently gives rise to military conflicts here and there.

Fascism in the United States and the West as a whole is a superstructure that serves the imperialist basis. The struggle of the bourgeois Russian Federation for spheres of influence with the West is a squabble between two imperialists, which, strictly speaking, does not bother the proletariat, since the weakening of one leads to the strengthening of the other with all the ensuing consequences in the superstructure.

The bulk of people with a petty-bourgeois consciousness are fixated on Putin, on his personal role in the war, or at best on the fact that it is not Ukraine that is at war with the Russian Federation, but NATO countries. Entrepreneurs of the Russian Federation are mastering the Crimea perfectly and will not “choke” on the territories of the LDNR and Ukraine if the war ends in their victory. Yes, and the Polish capitalists will gladly send their troops to Galicia in order to enthusiastically develop the Lviv region.

The current war in Ukraine was initiated by the presidents, but first of all by the American ones, as in Vietnam, in Yugoslavia, Sudan, Libya, Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria…, at the behest of the most aggressive detachment of the business class. Until 2014, there was not a single sign, not a single thesis was voiced that Putin personally, or even more so the Russian Federation, have territorial claims to Georgia, Kazakhstan, the Baltic states or Ukraine. On the contrary, there were systematic calls: guys, let's live together in the CIS and the CSTO. But the territorial claims to the market RF on the part of the listed states for the sake of obtaining loans from the USA and the EU have not stopped since 1991, although the Russian Federation bought equipment, for example, in Ukraine, paid for the transit of oil and gas, for renting the Sevastopol Bay at world prices, and Poroshenko's factory worked quietly in Lipetsk. The population of Ukraine had no objective reasons for inflating nationalism and fascist hysteria. This means that it was inflated in the interests of the United States for the billions of dollars that they invested in the politics of Ukrainian presidents and the insanity of the masses over several years.

Although now, in comparison with Ukraine and the West, the regime of the Russian Federation is softer and more loyal, but nevertheless, the imperialist basis guarantees that as the power of the Russian oligarchy grows, the mug of the same fascism will more and more clearly manifest itself. The Russian and Ukrainian proletarians, having fought and drunk the cup of military suffering, must understand that capital is the force that drove them into the trenches. Groups of financial capital playing "table monopoly" with the lives of ordinary proletarians of different nations.

However, in the struggle of any forces against the dominant American imperialism (even in the weathervane of the oligarchy of France, Germany, Turkey, India, the opposition of the regime of the Ayatollahs of Iran and the armed struggle of the Taliban, Hezbollah, Hamas, the Houthis) there is a progressive moment. The weakening of US and NATO hegemony plays into the hands of the socialist states, countries of socialist orientation and all anti-imperialist forces in different regions. The loss of hegemony by the US oligarchs creates a more favorable configuration in the world. In this connection, and only in this connection, one can speak of a sympathetic attitude towards "anti-Americanism", as well as towards those internal political processes in Western countries that undermine the potential of American and, in some cases, European imperialism.

The third important nuance in assessing the situation is the practical implementation of the thesis of Marxism about supporting any just struggle of the people, because the struggling people learn more willingly and better in the course of such a struggle, including communism. The struggle of the people of Donbass to be independent or even part of the bourgeois Russian Federation, and not Bandera Ukraine, is just and liberating. It demands our unconditional sympathy.

As for the position of the Khersonians or the Cossacks, it is difficult to say something definite at the moment, therefore, the inclusion of Zaporozhye and Kherson in the Russian Federation should be treated simply as a political fact. In any case, firstly, there are no signs that the population of Ukraine perceives the war as domestic, and secondly, they are somewhat loyal to both the pro-American regime in Kyiv and the Russian bourgeois authorities. Marxism teaches that all countries on a market basis and with a market ideology tend to collapse and redistribute borders.

The fourth important nuance in assessing the situation is the unconditionally positive attitude of the communists to the physical extermination of ordinary fascists by the armies of the Russian Federation and the LDNR. These are incorrigible subjects who will be the first to rise in armed struggle against communism and the first to unleash terror against the working class. The righteous anger of the people regarding the crimes of fascist gangs in Ukraine is worthy of all support.

At the same time, when Russian nationalists and chauvinists die in the ranks of the “allies”, who took up arms to build the “Russian world”, it is also difficult to perceive this as something other than the cleansing of our people from rot.

The fifth important nuance in assessing the situation is the presence of nostalgic-emotional references by Russian and DPR fighters to the USSR and a request for social justice as a motive for conducting hostilities. This creates favorable conditions for the propaganda of communism and the introduction of Marxist consciousness into the masses both at the front and in the rear. The tactical task of our propaganda is to transfer attention from the external form, from the emotional attitude to the essence of political processes.

Summing up, the following should be noted.

Firstly, the reasons for the emergence of this particular war, which is more like a kind of national liberation movement from the pro-fascist and pro-American regime, must be attributed to the entire hundred years of the immediate history of the class struggle after the end of the civil war in Soviet Russia.

Secondly, the answer to the question whether the current war is purely imperialist must be sought not through historical analogies, but diamatically.

Communists in their work for scientific and theoretical authority among the proletarians of mental and physical labor must be able to demonstrate a diamatic approach to the study of events and, from the standpoint of essence, “dissect” them in all “colors and colors”, shades and halftones, and not demonstrate a schematic rr-revolutionary, as many leftist Kisa Vorobyaninovs do today. We fully approve only the struggle of the people of Donbass against American fascism and local Bandera and are not going to in any way interfere with the leadership of the Russian Federation to provide them with comprehensive assistance.

Classical imperialist wars, as they were recorded by the classics, had practically no subtexts - the imperialists openly fought for the redistribution of colonial possessions: the US war with Spain, World War I, World War II until 1941. But even the Second World War cannot be called unambiguously imperialist, if we keep in mind its transformation in 1941. In those wars before 1941, dumb Western cannon fodder did what the oligarchs told them to do.

If we talk about the fact that in fact two market systems of the same type entered into an armed conflict in Ukraine, in which the main role is played by national big capital, the oligarchs, then yes, this war has a lot of imperialist features. From the point of view of official statements, the leadership of the Russian Federation tried to implement the Minsk agreements, according to which Ukraine retained the sovereignty and territory of the LDNR (that is, it lost only Crimea). But this was not part of the US plans. On the part of US billionaires and democrats, this war is indeed unequivocally imperialistic, and if during it the Ukrainian and the entire European economy collapses as a result of sanctions or the explosion of the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, then this will be an acceptable outcome for the US oligarchs.

What policy the current leadership of the Russian Federation is pursuing in relation to, for example, South Ossetia, Abkhazia or Syria, proves that so far the Putin government does not intend to pursue a policy that is anything like the bloody predatory tyranny of England, France, Spain, Portugal, Belgium in its colonies or US policy towards North Korea, Vietnam, Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria.

And if we proceed from the fact of the abundance of cases of demonstrations of red banners by the warring contingent of the LDNR, the mindset of the masses, it is clear that people perceive hostilities somewhat differently than they did at the beginning of the 20th century. Although in the First World War the Russian soldier seemed to go to war with the Germans with understanding in order to protect the brothers of the Serbs, nevertheless, until 1917, there was no talk in the trenches about any red banner or about turning the imperialist war into a civil war. And in our case, for eight years, the people of Donbass waged a struggle of a predominantly national liberation nature with minimal material and moral support from the bourgeois Russian Federation, however, with mysterious losses among the leaders of the LDNR of the left and leftist persuasion - which also fully fits into the laws of the class struggle.

So that:

1) war is a product of capitalism, it is the natural and organic policy of the entrepreneurial class—the objective reality of capitalism and the counter-revolutionary destruction of the USSR;

2) the Ukrainian conflict on the part of the West is purely imperialistic in nature;

3) the imperialism of the Russian Federation is also present, but so far limited by the specifics of the Bonapartist regime;

4) the struggle of the people of Donbass is just, and the collapse of the Kyiv regime and the weakening of US imperialism in the region are progressive.

If we examine the line of conduct of the CCP and the WPK in relation to the Ukrainian conflict, then it is generally consistent with these conclusions.

https://prorivists.org/72_ukraine-war/ - full link

https://colonelcassad.livejournal.com/7824471.html

Google Translator

That was clear as spring water and needs wide distribution throughout the Left.

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Ukraine Previously Cited High Casualty Rates - It Is Now Lowballing Those Numbers

In June several Ukrainian officials admitted that their army had some 700 or even more casualties per day. The numbers were played up to gain access to more 'western' weapons. Since then Ukrainian officials have stated much lower totals of killed and wounded than make sense.

The lowball casualty numbers now are probably convenient to increase moral in Ukraine and to hide from its supporters the inevitable defeat that the Ukrainian army will experience.

This report must be seen in that light.

Russia Hits Train Station in Deadly Attack on Ukraine’s Independence Day - New York Times

A Russian missile hit a train station in eastern Ukraine, killing at least 22 people, President Volodymyr Zelensky said Wednesday, in an attack that came as Ukraine celebrated its Independence Day and brought home the harsh reality of the six-month-old war.
The attack, which took place in an area about 74 miles east of the city of Dnipro in Ukraine-controlled territory, was one of the deadliest strikes on the country’s railways since April, when more than 50 people were killed when a rocket slammed into a crowded railway platform in eastern Ukraine.


The previous attack on a train station which killed some 50 people in Kramatorsk was done with a Ukrainian Tochka-U missile fired from a position under Ukrainian control. Since 2019 the Russian military no longer uses Tochka-U missiles. They have been completely replaced with the more effective Iskander missiles. (A month ago the Donetsk People's Republic was said to have received some old Tochka's for counter battery fire against the Ukrainian units that fire at Donetsk city.)

Now lets look at yesterday's attack which happened near the Chaplino railway station in the Dnepropetrovsk region.

Direct attacks on trains or train stations have been quite unusual in this war. A few months ago there were some night attacks on trains in the western regions of Ukraine hitting at weapon transports that had come in from the 'west'. But an attack with high casualty numbers is unusual. Russia must have been sure that the train transported military and not civilian stuff.

Here are pictures of the result of yesterday's attack:

/Update/

There is also a short video clip which shows that the passenger train was standing next to freight train that carried military vehicles.
https://twitter.com/AZmilitary1/status/ ... 5570378752
/End-update


Image

Image

That huge attack 'killed at least 22 people'?

Each of the carriages has 10 larger windows each for a compartment that sits six passengers. Additional people may stand or sit in the aisle. At least four carriages were destroyed. If the train has been reasonably full it carried more than 300 passengers. 22 killed is thereby a quite low estimate. In reality there were probably several hundreds casualties.

Here is what the Russian military now says:

An Iskander missile has hit a military train at Chaplino railway station in Dnepropetrovsk Region, destroying over 200 AFU servicemen reserve and 10 units of military equipment on their way to Donbass war zone.
That estimate of casualties of the attack on the Armed Forces of Ukraine sounds more reasonable to me.

Posted by b on August 25, 2022 at 12:37 UTC | Permalink

https://www.moonofalabama.org/2022/08/u ... .html#more

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From Cassad's Telegram Account:

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forwarded from
Unofficial Bezsonov "Z"
IMPORTANT! Our intelligence has received reliable data that the military-political leadership of Ukraine is shelling the territory of Russia, including in order to improve the moral and psychological state of their warriors. To this end, the units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine are reporting information about the upcoming transfer of hostilities to the territory of Russia. As an example, they cite strikes on the places of deployment of units of the RF Armed Forces in the Crimea, in the Belgorod direction, as well as the commission of sabotage and terrorist acts in the central regions of the Russian Federation.

The military personnel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine were informed that the political leadership of Ukraine, with the full support of the Western allies, decided to organize a massive series of strikes and sabotage in Crimea, after which it is planned to create conditions for going on the offensive in the Kherson strategic direction and liberating part of the abandoned territories, including Crimea.

In other words, with examples of their shelling and terrorist acts on the territory of Russia, the Ukrainian command deceives its soldiers, passing it off as successes and a counteroffensive into Russian territory. Every Ukrainian soldier, no matter how deplorable his situation, no matter what the losses before his eyes, should think that on the other sectors of the front of the Armed Forces of Ukraine are paramagae.

***

Сolonelcassad
Special operation in Ukraine. The situation on August 25 from RIA Novosti .

▪️According to the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, five combat aircraft of the Ukrainian Air Force were hit by high-precision weapons of the Russian Aerospace Forces at the Mirgorod military airfield in the Poltava region. In the Dnipropetrovsk region, three aircraft of the Ukrainian air force were destroyed.

▪️The command post of the Kakhovka grouping of Ukrainian troops was destroyed by a Russian Aerospace Forces strike in the area of ​​​​the settlement of Novy Bug in the Nikolaev region. Liquidated 64 Ukrainian soldiers and 7 units of military equipment.

▪️Over 200 Ukrainian reservists and 10 units of military equipment were destroyed by an Iskander strike on a train at the Chaplino railway station in the Dnipropetrovsk region.

▪️The Russian Aerospace Forces destroyed an enterprise in the Khmelnytsky region for the repair of armored weapons and MLRS, including foreign-made ones. In the city of Zaporizhia, the shops of the Iskra plant were hit, in which Ukrainian air defense and counter-battery radar stations were being repaired

▪️As a result of a strike by the Ukrainian armed formations on power lines in the area of ​​the Zaporozhye NPP, the territory of the security zone of the 750 kV overhead line caught fire. Two power units were turned off, after which the Zaporozhye region was left without electricity.

▪️The shutdown of power units at the ZNPP indicates the need to deliver IAEA specialists to the station as soon as possible, the UN said.

▪️Due to shelling by Ukrainian troops, a transformer substation was on fire on the territory of the Stirol chemical plant in Horlivka, and the roof was on fire on the territory of Transammiak State Enterprise.

▪️On Thursday, 95 streets, lanes and squares were renamed in Kyiv, whose names are associated with Russia and the USSR. Marshal Malinovsky Street was renamed the street of the Heroes of the Azov Regiment (a terrorist organization banned in Russia), Tulskaya Square - into the UPA Heroes Square (Ukrainian Insurgent Army, recognized as an extremist organization and banned in the Russian Federation), Piterskaya Street - into Londonskaya Street.

https://t.me/s/boris_rozhin

Google Translator

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Britons will pay 80 percent more on energy

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Many Britons are concerned about managing their finances in the face of rising energy spending. | Photo: @WhichUK
Published 26 August 2022

Rising inflation in Britain has sparked strikes across various labor sectors demanding wage increases.

The UK Office of Gas and Electricity Markets (Ofgem) announced this Friday that the maximum price of the energy bill for British households will increase by 80 percent from October, due to the high cost of fuels in the market. international.

From October 1, companies in the sector will be able to charge private consumers up to 3,549 pounds sterling (4,198 US dollars) per year, compared to 1,971 pounds ($2,332) established today, according to data from Ofgem.

“We know the huge impact this maximum price increase will have on UK households and the difficult decisions consumers will have to make now. I speak to clients regularly and I know today's news will be very worrying for many," Ofgem CEO Jonathan Brearley told reporters.


The high cost of living has worsened during the current year and has caused strikes from different social sectors, such as railway workers, longshoremen and postal workers who demand a salary increase to face the difficult scenario.

Analysts forecast a sharp jump in British year-on-year inflation to 13 percent in December, well above the 10.1 percent they see today, with another energy hike likely by January 2023.


This means, Ofgem warned, that from last October to this the 24 million British households will pay triple energy, since in 2021 the average was around 1,277 pounds (1,511 dollars).

Brearley urged the prime minister who is elected on September 6, Lis Truss or Rishi Sunak, to take action and issue "an urgent response to the continuing rise in prices."

https://www.telesurtv.net/news/britanic ... -0007.html

Google Translator

The Ukrainian Nazis thank you for your sacrifices...suckers!

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Zelensky Is Scared That Detained Azov Members Will Spill the Beans About Kiev’s War Crimes
AUGUST 25, 2022

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Azov Battalion. File photo.

By Andrew Korybko – Aug 22, 2022

The last thing that Zelensky wants is for those fighters to admit to the war crimes that they carried out on the orders of senior officials answerable to him personally, which would therefore implicate him since he ultimately sits atop the chain of command. Just last week, “The Washington Post Admitted That Zelensky Lied, People Died, And Ukrainians Are Upset”, and his people would be even more enraged if they learned how many human shields he sacrificed in Mariupol.

Zelensky demanded that detained members of the Azov Battalion not face trial in Donbass otherwise he’ll refuse to restart peace talks with Russia, which prompted Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) leader Denis Pushilin to double down by declaring that his Ukrainian counterpart’s ultimatum will have “no effect” on the forthcoming judicial proceedings. That new nation captured those Neo-Nazis throughout the course of the ongoing special military operation that it’s participating in alongside its Russian and Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR) allies, and since it sincerely believes in equally applying the rule of law without discrimination, its officials couldn’t in good conscience capitulate to that ridiculous demand.

The entire reason why the Ukrainian leader put forth his ultimatum is because he’s scared that those detained Azov members will spill the beans about Kiev’s war crimes. After all, Amnesty International just proved that his side illegally militarized residential areas and thus exploited civilians there as human shields. The Battle of Mariupol was the most infamous example of this since the latest phase of the Ukrainian Conflict began in late February, which is why his forces bombed a prison late last month where their fellows were being kept in a desperate last-ditch attempt to take them out before they talk too much.

They didn’t kill all of them, though, as Pushilin confirmed in his response that “23 people have been arrested and are in custody” as part of his republic’s investigation into the “80 counts of crimes committed by the Azov”. The last thing that Zelensky wants is for those fighters to admit to the war crimes that they carried out on the orders of senior officials answerable to him personally, which would therefore implicate him since he ultimately sits atop the chain of command. Just last week, “The Washington Post Admitted That Zelensky Lied, People Died, And Ukrainians Are Upset”, and his people would be even more enraged if they learned how many human shields he sacrificed in Mariupol.

It’s one thing for Donbass and Russian officials to make such allegations, and another entirely for Amnesty International to say the same then have their findings confirmed by testimony from so-called “heroes” like some in Ukraine consider Azov members to be. Of course, Zelensky and his side’s perception managers can just claim that they’re “under duress” and only admitting to those war crimes in order to “save their lives”, but evidently even he himself isn’t confident that his people would believe that lie, which is why he ordered his forces to bomb the prison where some of those members were detained and is now demanding that they don’t stand trial as a perquisite for restarting peace talks.

The Ukrainian leader’s desperation is clear, and he’s probably also panicking after the US-led Western Mainstream Media (MSM) began to decisively turn against him in recent weeks following scandalous reports from CBS News, CNN, and The Guardian that contradicted the hitherto “official narrative” about the conflict. Coupled with Amnesty International and the Washington Post’s latest reports, there’s good reason for Zelensky to suspect that his foreign patrons might be plotting to dump him should he become too much of a soft power liability for them if Azov members testify about his war crimes. Be that as it may, the DPR won’t capitulate to his demands but will instead bring those criminals to justice.

https://orinocotribune.com/zelensky-is- ... ar-crimes/

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Journalists Who Challenge NATO Narratives Are Now ‘Information Terrorists’
Posted by INTERNATIONALIST 360° on AUGUST 25, 2022
Vanessa Beeley

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Nazis congregate on Google Plus 2019.

A US state department sponsored round table on ‘countering disinformation’ was recently held at the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine.

“Information terrorists should know that they will have to answer to the law as war criminals” Andrii Shapovalov

According to the press release – “NGOs, mass media and international experts” took part in the round table discussions. Delegates discussed ‘disinformation methods’ used in Ukraine and abroad. On the agenda was legal and state prevention of ‘fakes and disinformation in the context of cyber security’.

Andrii Shapovalov, head of the Ukrainian Centre for Combatting Disinformation emphasized that those who ‘deliberately spread disinformation are information terrorists’. Shapovalov recommended changes to the legislation to crack down on these terrorists – reminiscent of the pre-WW2 Nazi Germany suppression of media and information channels. Shapovalov determined that ‘information terrorists should know that they will have to answer to the law as war criminals’.

It goes without saying that the crushing of dissent is essential for public support for NATO’s proxy war in Ukraine to be maintained. Russian media has already been wiped from the Western-controlled internet sphere. Ukrainian ‘kill lists’ such as the infamous Myrotvorets already include the courageous Canadian independent journalist Eva Bartlett and outspoken Pink Floyd co-founder Roger Waters.

Bartlett was also doxxed on Twitter by former UK Conservative Party MP Louise Mensch who alerted Ukrainian Special Forces to her presence in Donetsk. A few days later an attack was carried out on the hotel in Donetsk housing multiple journalists including Bartlett – coincidence?

German journalist Alina Lipp has been effectively sanctioned and threatened with prosecution by the German government for reporting on the daily atrocities committed by Ukrainian Nazi forces against civilians in Donetsk and Lughansk. Lipp told Stalkerzone:

“They just closed my bank account. Then they closed my father’s account. A month ago, I noticed that all the money disappeared from my account – 1,600 euros. I realised that something was happening in Germany. A few days ago, I received a notification from the prosecutor’s office, and a criminal case was opened against me for supporting the special operation. In Germany, special operations are considered a crime, and I am also a criminal. I face three years in prison or a huge fine.”

British journalist Graham Philips has illegally been sanctioned by the UK regime without any investigation or Philips being given a ‘right to reply’. Most mainstream media reports on this violation of his human rights describe Philips as ‘one of the most prominent pro-Kremlin online conspiracy theorists’. A familiar smear deployed by NATO-aligned media outlets to dehumanise and discredit challenging voices.

Philips like many other journalists being targeted lives in Donbass which has been threatened with brutal ethnic cleansing by the NATO proxy Ukrainian Nazi and ultra-nationalist forces since Washington’s Victoria Nuland- engineered coup in 2014.

These journalists transmit the voices of the Russian-speaking Ukrainians who have been subjected to horrendous war crimes, torture, detention and persecution for eight years and ignored by the West. For this they are now to be designated ‘information terrorists’ – because they expose terrorism sanctioned by NATO member states.

Organisations are springing up in the UK like Molfar Global whose ‘Book of Orcs’ project employs 200 alleged volunteers to identify ‘Russian (Orcs) war criminals’ and to compile a legal ‘kill list’. The ‘Orc’ terminology is another dehumanisation process, converting Russian citizens and military into fantasy science fiction monsters to soften western publics to the measures being taken to silence and punish them for…being Russian or speaking Russian. They state on their website homepage:

“Every Russian occupier must be identified and punished according to the law. War crimes and and crimes against Humanity have no statute of limitations. That is why we set ourselves the goal of finding everyone and preventing them from escaping justice”

Who determines who should be put on the list? Who determines their fate? What justice? In a country like Ukraine seeped in corruption – where executions or the disappearance of dissidents and political or media opposition is a regular occurrence – who is to be made accountable for action taken against those listed on the ‘Orc hit list’? This is lawless justice that falls under the umbrella of US “rules based global governance” – comply or die and newly furnished legislation will make your death or state-sanctioned assassination a legal one.

The organisers of the round table were the National Security Service Academy, the US State Department/Department of Defence-funded Civilian Research and Development Fund (CRDF Global Urkaine), the International Academy of Information, the US state department-linked National Cyber Security Cluster.

The tentacles of US and UK dominated intelligence agencies are spreading further and deeper into society trying to strangle kick back against their respective regime oppressive domestic policies and foreign policy perpetual war objectives. We are all under attack, we are all facing the same fate as Julian Assange if we do not break the cycle and start to fight back.

If you oppose imperialist wars, racism, Nazism, terrorism, violent extremism, global health tyranny, technocratic supremacy, predator class elitism and pharmaceutical-controlled Eugenics- you are a ‘terrorist’. We are all ‘terrorists’.

https://libya360.wordpress.com/2022/08/ ... errorists/

Ukraine’s Growing Dependency on Terrorism
Posted by INTERNATIONALIST 360° on AUGUST 25, 2022



An up-tick of sabotage and terrorism from Ukraine comes as Kiev’s forces fail to make any gains on the battlefield. International relations and security expert Mark Sleboda breaks down the context the recent assassination of Darya Dugina took place within, what it means for both Ukraine and Russia now and in the near future, and what’s to follow.

Follow Mark Sleboda:

On Twitter: https://twitter.com/MarkSleboda1
On YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheRealPoli
On Telegram: https://t.me/TheRealPolitick

References:

Gonzalo Lira – Open House (Mark Sleboda on the assassination of Darya Dugina): https://youtu.be/XVzkWGsTubE?t=10719

Grayzone – Dugin targeted as US-Ukraine shadow wars expand: https://youtu.be/IBO9UElgi5I

Ukraine Pravda – Pro-Russian media blogger shot and killed in Kherson: https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/20

RFE/RL – Moscow-Imposed Official In Russian-Occupied Ukrainian City Killed By Car Bomb https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-kherso

Al Jazeera – Ukraine investigates, attacks those who collaborate with Russia: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/7

Amnesty International – Ukraine must stop ongoing abuses and war crimes by pro-Ukrainian volunteer forces (2014): https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/new

Newsweek – Tulsi Gabbard, Rand Paul Placed on List of Russian Propagandists by Ukraine: https://www.newsweek.com/tulsi-gabbar

https://libya360.wordpress.com/2022/08/ ... terrorism/
"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 » Sat Aug 27, 2022 12:28 pm

end of abundance
POSTED BY @NSANZO ⋅ 08/27/2022 ⋅ LEAVE A COMMENT

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Original Article: Alexey Zotiev

Ukraine has celebrated another anniversary of its “independence”. Surrounded by a huge number of soldiers, Volodymyr Zelensky and Boris Johnson "strolled" through kyiv, where the Ukrainian president showed them the remains of Russian military vehicles. Everyone smiled, but in the distance the sirens announcing air alerts sounded and the population did not show much desire to leave the house to join the "universal celebration". The acts have been much more modest than other years and there has been no enthusiasm among its participants. The population prefers to walk another day, not the one exactly six months after the Russian intervention. Zelensky also recalled it in his official speech, paying much more attention to that detail than to Ukraine's independence.

Everyone is tense because, contrary to the emboldened statements of the country's representatives, the aggressor has not yet been expelled from Ukraine and Crimea, the territories of the People's Republics of Donbass have not returned home, and Taganrog and Krasnodar Krai, who were also going to join Ukraine, they remain part of Russia. The situation on all fronts is dire, Ukraine is continually losing territory and its population is losing faith in the power of Ukrainian arms and large-scale assistance from Western powers.

Unlike the official ones, the Ukrainian propagandists launched a large-scale "celebration" in the pages of the national press, and a huge torrent of information about the great military and economic successes of the current regime and on the immediate prospects of Ukraine as an independent European state. In their articles, especially sophisticated propagandists went beyond the “known facts” and sent their wishes to the citizens of the Republics of Donbass, reminding them of what they have lost by becoming part of the “Russian world”.

The new and independent Ukraine will be rebuilt by the entire civilized world, which will direct all possible resources for those purposes. Of course, with such help and support, the country will recover at an incredible rate and will develop no less actively in the future, eventually integrating into the friendly European family. And the residents of the territories that broke with Ukraine will experience a harshness that will be accompanied by Russia, which is supposedly experiencing the consequences of universal isolation.

It sounds like a song, but the music and lyrics don't match. Yes, the West has a serious financial base. At least that is what everyone thought at the start of the full-scale sanctions war, the last round of escalation of which began in February 2022. It has been the sanctions that the West has imposed on Russia that have exposed all the weaknesses of the economy. in whose great power kyiv naively trusts.

On Wednesday, French President Emmanuel Macron said that the world's period of abundance, carefreeness and apparent self-evident truths is over. According to Macron, in recent years the country has lived in apparent abundance in which it seemed that all goods and technological products would be available forever, but this summer, it has turned out that even water is scarce. On the same day, the press published a statement by British Deputy Defense Minister James Hippy, who admitted that the coming winter will be very difficult in terms of paying electricity bills. The Swiss authorities have also introduced a 15% gas savings target for this winter.

The German authorities continue to cheer up, stating that gas reserves are at 85% and that the country is ready for winter, but accompanying these statements is a rapid increase in the price of gas, which exceeds $3,100 per cubic meter. The most interesting thing is that, according to experts, if the winter turns out to be cold, the cost of Russian gas can exceed $5,000 per cubic meter.

In the context of the drought that is ravaging Europe and the agricultural crisis caused by climatic anomalies, this cost of energy resources can be a catastrophe for many residents of the EU countries. It will be for the citizens, because it will be them that European politicians will undoubtedly bear all the costs of the “fight for the future of Ukraine”.

Will the West rebuild Ukrainian cities and towns? That is unlikely to be the plan of US and European politicians right now. To this day, the only road builders and workers working to rebuild Ukrainian towns and villages destroyed in the battle are from Russia, which is "bent over because of sanctions and general isolation." They are the ones who are rebuilding Mariupol, who are repairing the roads and bridges and recovering the communications mined by the Ukrainian patriots, in order to restore normal living conditions to the population. At this moment, the West, according to Ukrainian propagandists, is ready to rebuild the war-torn Ukraine, but continues to flood the country with weapons and thus provoke a further escalation of the military conflict.

We saw all this already in 2015. It was then that Ukrainian politicians declared that, thanks to large-scale assistance from the West, they would be able to develop the territories adjacent to Crimea and the DPR/PRL in such a way that the Ukrainians who left to Russia they would begin to make a voluntary exodus from the "temporarily occupied territories" when they were amazed at the contrast in the level and quality of life.

It didn't work. The territories controlled by Ukraine have been further degraded in this time, while Russia has been able to provide an adequate standard of living for the population of Crimea and has supported the residents of the Republics of Donbass. The same will happen with the reconstruction of Ukraine. because if the West wanted Ukraine to prosper, it would not have pushed it into war with Russia.

https://slavyangrad.es/2022/08/27/fin-d ... more-25368

Google Translator

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War in Ukraine. Summary 08/26/2022
August 27, 14:03

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War in Ukraine. Summary 08/26/2022

1. Avdiivka.
Positional battles in the industrial zone and north of the village along the Avdeevka-Konstantinovka highway. There has been no significant progress in recent days. The artillery of the Avdiivka group continues shelling Donetsk and other settlements.
The fighting at the Donetsk airport is in a positional vein. Experienced - completely under the enemy. Fights with the aim of advancing to Experienced have not yet yielded decisive results.

2. Sands.
The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation and the army of the DPR are entrenched in the occupied fortified area and are methodically pushing the enemy away from the outskirts of Peski from the nearest forest plantations, although the enemy continues to claim that he is still fighting for Peski. He has already lost the main fortifications here. Our troops are exerting pressure in the direction of Pervomaisky and Nevelskoye (there is a slight advance) and in the direction of Vodyany, in order to advance towards the Orlovka-Avdeevka highway and try to take them under fire control from the south. The enemy understands this, so he fortifies himself in Vodyany, transfers reserves to Orlovka in case of an unfavorable development of events. The main advance of our troops in this direction becomes possible mainly due to the overwhelming artillery destruction of enemy positions, which in a significant part of cases ensures the success of the assault groups.

3. Marinka.
There is little progress in the village. The enemy is holding the western part of the settlement behind a waste heap and has not yet demonstrated readiness to withdraw. The current activity of assault groups and the factor of artillery destruction of enemy positions is still not enough to knock the enemy out of positions.
Attempts to advance south of Maryinka between Maryinka and Novomikhailovka have so far not given decisive results.

4. Carbon.
On the outskirts of Novomikhailovka - positional battles, as in the Shevchenkovo ​​area. Pavlovka is still under the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
The Ugledar-Marinka road has not yet been cut. The enemy periodically makes counterattacks with forces up to 1-2 companies, but to no avail. Positional tendencies continue to dominate.

5. Artemovsk.
The main battles were for the Zaitsevo-Kodema line. Zaitsevo (not to be confused with the captured Gorlovsky Zaitsevo) is still under the enemy, the fighting is on the near approaches, but ours have not yet entered the village itself. Kodema is partially covered by our troops, the fighting has moved to the village itself, although it is too early to talk about control, the enemy is stubbornly resisting. Attempts to counterattack the Armed Forces of Ukraine did not lead to success and ended in losses without any results.
On the outskirts of Artemovsk - no change. It has not yet been possible to advance to the Artyomovsk-Soledar road.
Regular strikes against concentrations and locations of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Artemovsk, in the area of ​​Chasov Yar and other settlements. The artillery group of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, in addition to supporting the troops, continues to launch missile strikes on the territory of the DPR and LPR.

6. Soledar.
Fighting in the industrial zone to the west of the Knauf plant and in the area of ​​​​the quarry, from where the APU was ousted. The enemy is stubbornly defending himself and is clearly counting on a long-term defense of the western part of Soledar. The assault on Bakhmutsky continues, but the village has not yet been taken.
To the north of Soledar - battles near Belogorovka and Yakovlevka (not yet completely taken).
In the Seversk area, as a whole, there are no changes - the battles at Serebryanka, Grigorovka, Verkhnekamensky, Ivano-Daryevka. The Seversk-Soledar highway is still under enemy control.

7. Slavyansk.
Here tendencies to positionality triumph. In addition to a slight advance in the area of ​​​​Bogorodichny, the last days were marked by fighting near the ruins of Mazanovka. Attempts to counterattack the Armed Forces of Ukraine ended in heavy losses for them. Here the front has stabilized.
The Russian Armed Forces continue to strike at concentrations of troops in the Slavyansko-Kramatorsk agglomeration and at the communications of the Donbass group, the most striking evidence of which was the destruction of a train with reservists in the Chaplino area (more than 200 - "200"), whom the enemy tried to pass off as "civilians".

8. Raisins.
In the area of ​​Kurulka and Bolshaya Kamyshevakhi - in general, no changes. The mutual activity of the DRG parties in the forests and the lack of forces on both sides keep the positional front, which was formed back in April-May, unchanged. Attempts by the RF Armed Forces to achieve tactical success in the Gusarovka area and advance in the direction of Barvenkovo ​​and the Barvenkovo-Slavyansk highway did not produce decisive results.

9. Kharkov.
Fighting near the village of Udy in the direction of Zolochiv. The enemy reinforced this direction with reserves after the withdrawal last week. Fighting at Dementievka, south of Borshcheva in the direction of Cherkassy Tishok. The enemy continues shelling the border settlements of the Russian Federation. The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation inflict regular strikes on Kharkov, Chuguev, in the Zolochev area. Despite recent tactical shifts in favor of the RF Armed Forces, positional tendencies dominate here.

10. Zaporozhye.
On the line Kamenskoye-Orekhov-Gulyaipole-Velikaya Novoselovka - without significant changes. The activity of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation in the area of ​​Gulyaipol and Velikaya Novoselovka, as well as the activity of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the area of ​​Ravnopol, did not bring success to the parties.
The enemy is shelling Energodar and the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant - Ukraine has actually disconnected itself from one of the main sources of generation. In response to the shelling of the ZNPP, the RF Armed Forces delivered strikes against targets in the area of ​​Nikopol and Marganets. It is expected that the head of the IAEA will soon arrive at ZNPP, but they do not expect much from this visit.
Preparations for a referendum on the annexation of the liberated territories to Russia have officially started in Zaporozhye, which forces the Zelensky gang to speed up terrorist attacks in order to disrupt the referendum. Nuclear blackmail around the ZNPP is also aimed at disrupting the referendum, which should ensure the irreversibility of Ukraine's loss of the next territories.

11. Nikolaev.
After the defeat of the enemy in the battles for Blagodatnoye and the occupation of the settlement by the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, the enemy sat on the defensive. Our troops continue to probe the enemy defenses near the Kherson-Nikolaev highway, expand the control zone on the coast near Aleksandrovka in the direction of Golitsyno. Our troops have good tactical progress, but they should not be confused with a full-fledged attack on Nikolaev. There is also no attack on Kherson, it was actually thwarted by the Russian Armed Forces in mid-August and now remains only in outdated propaganda clichés.

12. Krivoy Rog.
The enemy continues unsuccessful attempts to gain a foothold in the bridgehead in the area of ​​Belogorka and Andreevka, where he has already suffered heavy losses in people and equipment. The terrain here is not conducive to the offensive activity of the parties, and the RF Armed Forces, taking advantage of the advantage in artillery, regularly inflict serious losses on the enemy in manpower during attempts to attack by forces of reservists and Volkssturm. The front on the Ingulets River was never able to provide the Armed Forces of Ukraine with the necessary foothold for an attack on Berislav. Similarly, repeated attempts at attacks in the Vysokopolye and Potemkino regions ended in failure. The front here is quite stable.
The enemy continues shelling bridges across the Dnieper. Arrivals on the Antonovsky bridge and the dam of the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power station are regular. Despite numerous blows, the enemy has not yet been able to bring down the supports and spans, but he has done a fair amount of holes in the bridges. Missile strikes on the positions of the RF Armed Forces in Kherson and Nova Kakhovka continue. The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation regularly strike at Nikolaev and the rear of the Krivoy Rog grouping of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

13. Dzerzhinsk, Odessa, Sumy - no significant changes.

https://colonelcassad.livejournal.com/7826045.html

Iranian drones for SVO
August 27, 12:54

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Iranian drones for SVO

I would like to note that the expected Iranian drones and their use at the front will not become some kind of treasure-sword that will automatically ensure victory and a cardinal change at the front. With the appropriate volumes of supplies, they will first of all make it possible to fill the depleted niche of reconnaissance and strike drones, supplementing the existing, but numerically insufficient fleet of Russian models and increasing the overall capabilities of our troops to effectively implement air superiority and artillery. It can be expected that with a significant use of such drones, enemy losses will increase significantly, especially in equipment, including by increasing the accuracy of artillery fire, while reducing the consumption of ammunition to hit a single target.

It is also necessary to evaluate the potential of such drones to hunt for enemy equipment in the conditions of maintaining a focal air defense system and its ability to counteract shock drones in their mass use. Of course, it would be desirable to achieve the picture that Turkey demonstrated in Karabakh, but the air defense of Ukraine is still stronger than the Armenian one + the United States and NATO can help in these matters. So this question will still be tested in battle. So far, the most promising option for using Iranian drones is the creation of full-fledged RUKs on a systematic basis, which requires trained operators. It is not yet known how long, on average, it may take a new operator to learn how to work on a Shahed-129 type complex.

Regarding the issue of supplies as such. It seems that even if the active use of Iranian drones begins, Russia and Iran will not officially recognize this, maintaining the fog of war regime until the moment when the Armed Forces of Ukraine are somehow able to shoot down at least one Iranian car and obtain material evidence of their use. . In the case of using Iranian drones as spotters at a safe distance, this will be quite difficult to do. In addition, the presence of a large number of such drones makes it possible for the Russian Aerospace Forces to launch a systematic hunt for the remaining enemy air defense systems, luring them to such drones for the subsequent destruction of the remaining Buk and Os.

https://colonelcassad.livejournal.com/7825683.html

Senator Black about the war in Ukraine
August 27, 9:44 am

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Former US Senator Richard Black about the war in Ukraine.

We don't care how many Ukrainians die. How many women, children, civilians, military will die. We do not care. It's like a great football game and we want to win.
Russia did not plan the invasion in advance. This can be seen from the number of troops involved in the attack. Ukraine had 250 thousand, and Russia attacked with only 160 thousand.
Putin was forced to attack in order to prevent Ukraine from attacking the Donbass.
Russia is trying not to inflict damage on civilian Ukrainians, because. considers them brothers-Slavs.
Unlike American tanks in Vietnam, the Russians stopped in front of peaceful crowds in the early days of the invasion. We would simply crush them in such a situation.
Ukraine cannot make a decision about peace. The decision about peace can only be made in Washington, but as long as we want to continue this war, we will fight until the last Ukrainian dies.

(Video at link)

https://colonelcassad.livejournal.com/7825330.html

Google Translator

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How the Western Media Deciphers the Neo-Nazi Code – Counter Information

Russian allegations of rampant Nazism in Europe
By Gilbert Doctorow (Posted Aug 26, 2022)

Originally published: Gilbert Doctorow Blog on August 25, 2022 (more by Gilbert Doctorow Blog)

A couple of weeks before Vladimir Putin announced his ‘special military operation’ in Ukraine, he met in the Kremlin with Germany’s chancellor Olaf Scholz. At their joint press conference following the meeting, Putin mentioned in passing that Ukraine is controlled today by neo-Nazis. This remark was famously ridiculed by Scholz as “laughable,” thereby earning for him the Kremlin’s utter contempt. German-Russian relations have undergone a sharp deterioration ever since, with Germany gradually stepping up its supplies of cutting-edge lethal weaponry to Kiev and Russia, in its internal political discussions, placing Germany alongside the United States and Britain as de facto ‘co-belligerents’ which may be subjected to Russian missile attacks if the war escalates further.

At the time of the exchange of courtesies between Putin and Scholz in February, I wrote an essay in which I tried to explain the background to Russian claims of rampant Nazism in Ukraine, which sounded very odd to Westerners but found a very receptive audience among the Russian population, where evocations of Nazism arise at every annual May 9th celebration of Victory in Europe Day, marking the end of WWII. As I noted then, one source of Russian allegations was the celebration by official Kiev of the ultra-nationalist Stepan Bandera, a Nazi collaborator of the German forces in WWII who practiced vicious ethnic cleansing against Jews, Russians and Poles. Statues are erected to him; streets are named after him across Ukraine.

Of course, the numbers of actual neo-Nazi groups in Ukraine before and since 2014 have been very small as a percentage of the overall population. In the parliamentary and presidential elections that have taken place since the United States installed its preferred regime in Kiev in February 2014, the neo-Nazi candidates have not scored more than several percentage points. However, from the first days of the February coup d’etat, neo-Nazis have held the key ministerial posts in defense and the security apparatus of the Ukrainian government, effectively calling the shots in foreign policy and the confrontation with Russia.

When the Russians finally flushed out the Azov battalion extremists from their fortified positions at the Azovstal steel works in Mariupol three months into the ‘special military operation,’ they found and presented on television proof positive of the Nazi presence at the core of the Ukrainian armed forces. Ukrainian prisoners of war were stripped and the Russian camera men video-recorded their tattooed bodies, featuring not only swastikas and other German Nazi symbols but also portraits of Hitler and other Nazi leaders from the Third Reich. Western journalists, of course, saw all of this but it hardly was reported in our media. Nor has there been any reconsideration in the West of the facile dismissal of Russian concern over neo-Nazism that Scholz demonstrated.

Events in the EU’s ‘front line’ countries of the Baltic states and Poland have given a new dimension to the Russian concerns over neo-Nazism. I have in mind the dismantling and removal of statues and other monuments to the Soviet Army liberators of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania from German occupation in 1945 even as their own Nazi collaborators from the past are given new honors. This has greatly accelerated in recent weeks. Meanwhile, parades of the descendants of the collaborators have been going on in Riga and elsewhere year after year.

Still more controversial and significant has been the attempts of Lithuania to close down land transportation between the main territory of the RF and its Kaliningrad outpost in violation of all signed undertakings for free transit between different constituent parts of Russia agreed by the EU.

Add to that the latest Estonian led effort to close Europe entirely to Russians. A few weeks ago, Estonian border guards at the Narva crossing refused to admit Russians holding Schengen visas issued previously by their own authorities and now they are refusing to recognize Schengen visas issued by other EU Member States. Together with Poland, all three Baltic States have demanded that the EU no longer issue visas to Russian tourists.

To be sure, the demand that all Russians be barred from Europe as punishment for their war on Ukraine has not met with universal approval within the EU. Even Germany came out against the initiative, with Scholz saying that exceptions must be made for humanitarian reasons. Others have debated the legality under EU law of such generalized prohibitions directed at an entire population. But the debate rages on.

Finally, a statement made yesterday by Latvian President Egils Levits got the full attention of Moscow. He said that Russian-speaking residents of Latvia should be ‘isolated from society’ if they oppose his government’s policies with respect to the war in Ukraine. Just what is meant by “isolate” is not clear. Does Levits intend to intern them in concentration camps? Given the absolute failure of Latvia to respect EU human rights norms going back from the first days of the country’s independence from the USSR in 1991, such an atrocity would not be out of character.

I have dealt with precisely this issue in essays going back to 2014 which were included in my collection Does Russia Have a Future?: see chapter 22 “Latvia’s 300,000 Non-Citizens and the Ukrainian Crisis Today” and chapter 33 “Latvia’s failed U.S. inspired policies towards Russia and Russians.” I further explored these issues in my 2019 book A Belgian Perspective on International Relations, chapter 38 “Republic of Latvia, Apartheid State Within the EU.”

The point is that upon achieving independence thanks to the active support of many of its Russian-speaking citizenry, the government of Latvia turned around and stripped 400,000 of them of their citizenship, close to 40% of the total population at the time, and offered them a path to regain passports that only a tiny fraction of them could follow. When President Levits speaks today of Russian-speaking “residents” of Latvia, he has in mind those who were deprived of civil rights including passports and remain stateless up to the present time. Everything that Latvia did to its Russian-speaking population going back 30 years set the precedents for Kiev’s repressive policies towards its own 40% who are Russian speakers after the nationalists from Lvov came to power in 2014.

These various developments were the main topic for discussion in yesterday’s Evening with Vladimir Solovyov political talk show, which stood out as especially valuable. Although I have made reference to this particular talk show frequently over the years as a good source of information about what Russia’s political and social elites are thinking, I freely acknowledge that the presenter cannot and does not fill every program with material and panelists worth listening to. Indeed, there is a lot of sludge on air between the gems. By ‘sludge’ I mean the kind of ‘kitchen talk’ in which expert panelists talk the same non-facts-based drivel that ordinary Russians will engage in when they follow the principle of socializing described by Chekhov in Act Two of The Three Sisters:

They are not serving us tea, so let’s philosophize.

In any case, last night’s Solovyov was definitely worth listening to. The question of neo-Nazism in Europe was the glue binding together different elements of the discussion, ranging from Levits’ obnoxious declaration of the same day to the fate of ordinary Russians in Kazakhstan and Central Asia after the collapse of the Soviet Union, and what to do about all of these challenges to the Russian World.

The overriding point was that the Russophobia and ‘cancel Russian culture’ movements that have swept Europe during 2022 mean that Russians are the Jews of today. They are what the Hitlerites called Untermenschen, against whom all manner of rights violations if not outright murder can be practiced. This arises in its worst form in Ukraine, where Russians as a people are systematically dehumanized in statements from the top leadership of the country. In Ukraine, the ultra-nationalists call Russians “Colorado,” a reference to the bugs that infest potato crops. These insects carry the red and yellow colors of the St George’s ribbons that patriotic Russians wear. This is the same logic that made possible the biological weapons attack on Russian soldiers in the Zaporozhie that was carried out last week by Ukrainian forces, sending the victims to intensive care treatment for botulism poisoning. That development probably did not get coverage in your daily newspaper.

The conversation on Solovyov was particularly interesting in the ‘what is to be done’ segment. Acknowledging that a ‘special military operation’ against Latvia is not practicable yet given Latvia’s membership in NATO, a panelist who heads the State Duma committee on relations with the Former Soviet Union states, said that those Russians who profited from the transit business between Russia and Latvia for decades should now pay up and contribute financially to relocating the Russian speakers in Riga to the Russian Federation, meaning providing good housing and jobs that till now were never on offer to incentivize immigration. A fellow panelist broadened the proposed assistance to suggest a government program of resettlement modeled on what Israel did some decades ago to facilitate the relocation of certain Black African Jews from their country of persecution to the State of Israel. And it was suggested that similar relocation offers should be extended to Russian speakers in Kazakhstan and other Central Asian countries where they have all been second class citizens since these countries became independent of the USSR.

This issue of the fate of ethnic Russians living outside the borders of the Russian Federation at the time of the break-up of the Soviet Union has been around for a long time. When Vladimir Putin spoke the words that have been so often raised by Russia-haters in the West, namely that the break-up of the USSR was the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the 20th century, he definitely had in mind the fate of the 25 million Russian speakers who were left high and dry in the other republics, now sovereign states ruled by the non-Russian majority populations. In 1991 and later years, Russia’s own economic woes left it unable to offer decent housing to its soldiers and officers transferred back to Russia from the former Warsaw Pact countries, let alone to care for the 25 million Russian civilians outside its borders.

Last night’s panelists argued that the time has come to redress this moral failure of Russia to stand by its former citizens who are Russian-speakers, to offer to repatriate them under attractive conditions. This would respond to the country’s own economic interests by redressing the demographic challenges Russia is facing as a result of its 1990s collapse and birth rates that then declined precipitously. And it would be a direct answer to the neo-Nazi movements in Europe which would gladly exacerbate repression among Russians in their midst.

https://mronline.org/2022/08/26/russian ... in-europe/

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Erdogan Asks Russia to Return the Crimean Peninsula to Ukraine: Who Does Turkey Support?
Posted by INTERNATIONALIST 360° on AUGUST 25, 2022
Yoselina Guevara Lopez

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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan recently pointed out in a video message that “The return of Crimea to Ukraine, of which it is an inseparable part, is essentially a requirement of international law”, statements he made within the framework of the second international summit of the Crimean Platform. Erdogan added that “ensuring the safety and well-being of our Crimean Tatar compatriots is also among Turkey’s priorities”. The president again called for the release of Nariman Dzhelyal, deputy speaker of the Crimean Tatar “parliament”, and at least 45 other Tatars who remain detained on the peninsula.

The Crimean Platform Summit, which Kiev held online, bringing together the leaders of Western countries, more strongly maintained its anti-Russian character this year, without losing one iota of the characteristics with which last year Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov described it as a witches’ meeting (Sabbat, coven) in which “the West will continue to cultivate the neo-nazi and racist sentiments of the current Ukrainian authorities.”

For this reason the position of the skilled politician that is Recep Tayyip Erdogan is not surprising. In fact, since the beginning of the Russian military operation in Ukraine, Ankara has been able to play with two hands, maintaining a balance between the West, represented by the United States and its NATO allies, and the Russian Federation. It is precisely this quality of expert balancing act that has led it to play the role of mediator because Turkey has powerful interests on both sides of the conflict.

At the level of Moscow, Ankara is one of the main commercial partners of the gas giant Gazprom, with which it has established a series of agreements for energy supplies from the Russian Federation. For example, in 2021 Russia supplied Turkey with 5 million 800 thousand cubic meters of gas. Moscow has also sold Ankara the famous S-400 missile systems. On the other hand, if we analyze Turkey’s relationship with the West, it cannot be overlooked that since 1952, Ankara has been a member of NATO, and hosts numerous bases, including the Incirlik Air Base which has served as a command base for NATO operations in the Middle East. There is no doubt that for NATO, staying on Turkish territory gives it a geostrategic advantage. As for the migration problem, Ankara functions as a containment wall for the numerous migrants seeking to enter Europe through the Balkan Route.

But Turkey, independently of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, has other objectives on the table that indirectly affect what happens between Kiev-Moscow. In the Balkans, for example, Erdogan wants to start bilateral collaboration with Belgrade, especially in the area of arms exports, which on the one hand, will allow modernizing the Serbian armed forces and, on the other hand, will give Turkey the opportunity to exercise a greater presence, both military and of its war industry, in the heart of Europe; with a turnover that, according to some analysts, would be close to 15 million euros. Just as it is no secret that Turkey also wants to expand its sphere of influence and investments towards Asia; the decisions it has taken amply demonstrate this willingness to expand diplomatic and political relations with this area. It is no coincidence that Ankara has made huge investments with the aim of being able to connect Central Asia with Anatolia through major infrastructures: railroads, ports in the Caspian Sea and energy facilities, through Kazakhstan to China, which can reinforce its role as an energy hub.

If Erdogan succeeds in his role as mediator, he will gain international recognition as a “peacemaker” or “the one who achieved world peace”, which could mean that Erdogan will continue to play his role as a mediator in the coming days. This could mean for Erdogan, in addition to going down in history, being rid, once and for all, of the image of dictator placed on him after he imposed strict policies against dissidents of his government in 2013, without disdaining all his warlike wanderings in different places. The chessboard is still open, the game has not been closed, the political players are still moving the pieces.

https://libya360.wordpress.com/2022/08/ ... y-support/

What a silly question, Turkey supports Turkey. Erdogan is the friskiest 'player' of our times, sometimes useful but utterly untrustworthy, and that quality could be his undoing down the line. This time he was talking to the Ukes, with Putin he will talk out of the other side of his mouth.

US Becomes a Party to the Conflict in Ukraine
Posted by INTERNATIONALIST 360° on AUGUST 25, 2022
Valery Kulikov

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The fact that the escalation of the Ukraine conflict is happening not only at the direct instigation of the United States and other NATO allies but also with direct encouragement from Washington, is now openly expressed by many politicians and observers.

As Russian Federation Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told Russia-1 TV on August 20, Russia is by no means trying to get the United States to intervene directly in the armed conflict in Ukraine, but so far all of Washington’s actions have led precisely to this result. According to him, Moscow wants to avoid a situation in which the United States becomes a party to the conflict, countering Russia’s special military operation to denazify Ukraine. “The United States denies this, but the facts speak for themselves, no matter how much they argue that they are not involved in any decisions on the use of weapons, all this is refuted by life, refuted by statements, including statements of the Ukrainian side, to which we pay attention,” stressed Mr. Ryabkov.

The fact that the influence of the United States on official Kyiv has reached such a level that Washington is increasingly becoming a party to the conflict in Ukraine was also highlighted on August 13 by the Director of the North America Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Alexander Darchiev: “The extent of Washington’s influence on Kyiv exceeds all conceivable limits. In addition to extensive military and financial aid, as well as moral support for the Zelensky regime, the Americans are increasingly becoming a direct party to the conflict.” Darchiev noted that Ukrainian officials themselves are “ranting” about this state of affairs. “In particular, General Vadim Skibitsky, deputy head of the Main Intelligence Department of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, recently stated that the Ukrainian military consults with its curators from the United States before a HIMARS attack,” he explained.

The German publication Merkur recently drew attention to NATO’s attempt to distance itself from the conflict in Ukraine and officially limit the alliance’s support to financial aid and arms deliveries. Although the Alliance and the United States try to emphasize that they are not directly involved in the conflict, a recent investigation has shown that a network of Western special forces is operating on Ukrainian territory, not only from the United States, but also from other NATO countries such as the United Kingdom, France, Canada, and Lithuania. They are engaged in reconnaissance, weapons preparation, and training of Ukrainian soldiers.

The CIA officers, who are also present in some cities in Western Ukraine, coordinate from Kyiv some of the reconnaissance.

Air Force Magazine also talks about the direct involvement of the United States in the Ukraine conflict, citing the words of the commander of the US Space Forces, General John Raymond, who admitted that American commercial satellites support Ukraine’s forces. In particular, they provide high-speed Internet access that allows troops to stay in touch with command and helps expand Ukraine’s battlefield capabilities.

Officials of the current Kyiv regime, without hesitation, speak of close coordination of their actions with Washington. For example, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov announced on August 18 that there was an agreement between Kyiv and the United States that American weapons would not be used to attack Russian territory, but “there are no such restrictions in Crimea, the Donbas, and other areas not controlled by Kyiv.” Clear confirmation of such concerted action by the United States and Ukraine in the armed conflict with Russia may also be the refusal of White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on August 9 to respond to media questions about how the United States views the idea of possible attacks by Kyiv on Crimea with American weapons.

The United States has a penchant for proxy wars in Ukraine: with its weapons but in the wrong hands, it began pumping mercenaries from various parts of the world, particularly Afghan mercenaries, into the country. And the Special Representative of the President of the Russian Federation for Afghanistan, Zamir Kabulov, recently confirmed that Afghan mercenaries were fighting in Ukraine on the side of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. These are former fighters of the Afghan army who left the country after the Taliban took power (representatives of the Afghan formation banned in the Russian Federation) and had been trained by American instructors. As the Taliban approached Kabul, they were promised US citizenship, which they never received.

Today the United States indeed makes no secret of its ability to openly interfere in the Ukraine conflict. This version of the development of events in Ukraine was presented in particular by John Mearsheimer, professor of political science at the College of Chicago, in his article “Playing with Fire in Ukraine” for the American publication Foreign Affairs. That could happen, for example, if the Russian army wins a major victory or if the conflict does not end within a year. And then Washington could use ground troops to help Ukraine. At the same time, the general conclusion of the publication is that the United States will directly intervene in the conflict in Ukraine in any case unless Russia is defeated and surrenders.

As the American philosopher, historian and linguist Noam Chomsky told the Mexican newspaper El Universal, the United States, supporting Kyiv and forming an anti-Russian coalition of Western countries, has started an unthinkable game, trying to weaken Russia’s position on the political stage as much as possible. Chomsky is convinced that Washington wants to aggravate the situation in the world to the extreme and deprive Moscow of the opportunity to solve the Ukraine crisis diplomatically. And such a decision, according to the American historian, was made by NATO during the summit at Ramstein Air Base in Germany and is based on the declared position of the United States. Namely, this boils down to the fact that Moscow must be weakened more than the Versailles Treaty weakened Germany in 1919 in order to weaken Russia’s forces even more – so that it cannot negotiate and engage in diplomacy. At the same time, Noam Chomsky pointed out the injustice of such an attitude toward the Ukraine conflict. He pointed out how events in Ukraine are portrayed in the media, recalling American methods of imposing its own order in Iraq, Syria, or Libya. Chomsky described Washington’s long-standing efforts to bring Kyiv into the North Atlantic Alliance to the detriment of Russian interests as a downright provocation, despite Moscow’s constant protests and the warnings of experienced American politicians.

Another prominent American politician, former Congresswoman and Iraq War veteran Tulsi Gabbard, who replaced Fox News host Tucker Carlson on August 11, said that US President Joe Biden’s real goal in escalating the Ukraine crisis was to tempt Russia into a coup. As Gabbard noted, the United States under Biden’s leadership is trying to escalate the situation in Russia, including through a proxy conflict, when economic pressure does not work.

On August 19, US President Joe Biden signed a memorandum providing a new $775 million military aid package to the Kyiv regime. At the same time, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced that the total amount of military aid provided by the United States to Kyiv since the outbreak of hostilities in Ukraine exceeds $10 billion. The Spanish publication El Debato rightly noted that the increasing interference of the United States in the events in Ukraine and the decisions it makes in connection with the situation there may result in Washington losing billions of dollars, just as in the case of the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan.

https://libya360.wordpress.com/2022/08/ ... n-ukraine/

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West’s Sanctions Against Russia Limit Agricultural Exports

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Russia said that sanctions against the Kremlin continue limiting exports. Aug. 26, 2022. | Photo: Twitter/@CarnegieRussia

Published 26 August 2022

On Friday, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that the sanctions imposed on the Russian federation continue affecting exports.

In light of the Russian special military operation in Ukraine, Western countries have imposed several sanctions, which continue to restrain the Russian agricultural produce and fertilizers exports to the international market, according to Friday's statement of the Russian Foreign Ministry.

The Ministry said that to implement a memorandum between Russia and the UN regarding exports of Russian agricultural products and fertilizers, there is much to be done.

"Despite statements made by Washington and Brussels that anti-Russian sanctions do not apply to foodstuffs and fertilizers, blocking obstacles to banking settlements, insurance and carriage of cargo occurred as a result of their introduction still remain in place," said the Ministry.

The Russian Ministry highlighted that Russia's share in the global food market structure is much greater than in Ukraine. "In 2021, grain exports stood at 43 mln tonnes, while it is planned to increase this figure to 50 mln tonnes of products in this year," it emphasized.


"For the time being, 7-8 mln tonnes of fertilizers and raw materials sufficient to produce food for 100 mln people remain blocked at shipping terminals because of Western sanctions," said the Russian Foreign Ministry.

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

CIA Allegedly Targets Turkish Businessmen for Trade With Russia

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CIA logo | Photo: @twenty4_io

Published 26 August 2022 (9 hours 52 minutes ago)

On Friday, a Türkish newspaper said that the CIA reportedly targeted Turkish business people linked to trade with Russia.

Türkish newspaper Yeni Safak reported Friday that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) chief in Türkiye called and "openly threatened" officials of construction companies involved in trade with Russian companies and nationals.

According to the paper, the CIA interrogated the Türkish business people, asking about confidential details such as real estate contracts with Russians, the currency used in transactions, and others.

The paper reported that the U.S. Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo allegedly sent a letter on Monday intended to reach the Türkish Industry and Business Association (TUSIAD) with threats to impose sanctions against association members linked to a business with Russia.

Also, last Friday, the U.S. Deputy Treasury Secretary held a phone call with the Türkish Deputy Finance Minister Yunus Elitas, commenting on his concerns about Russians trying to use Türkiye to evade sanctions imposed by the West.

Since February 24, the U.S. and other Western countries have imposed sanctions on the Russian Federation as a response to the special military operation launched by the Kremlin in Ukrainian territory intended to demilitarize and denazify the neighboring country.

https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/CIA ... -0021.html
"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 » Sat Aug 27, 2022 8:23 pm

From Nurseries to Nazis: Ukraine’s Terrorist Radicalization of Children
Posted by INTERNATIONALIST 360° on AUGUST 26, 2022
Deborah L. Armstrong

Part I
“Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.”

— Proverbs 22:6, New King James Version


Ukrainian toddler taught to “cut Russians.”

The year is 2015.
The little Ukrainian girl is wearing a Hello Kitty t-shirt that says “love cat.”
She looks to be about four or five years old, maybe younger.
She is holding a knife in her tiny hands.
From off camera, her father says, “Marinochka, will you cut Russians?”
He uses a slur for “Russians.”
“Yes!” She shouts.
“What will you do to them?” He asks.
She shrieks: “I WILL CUT RUSSIANS!”
She repeats this phrase several times and makes little thrusting motions with the knife.
Then she gives a Nazi salute. “Sieg Heil!” She says, “Sieg Heil!”
Her father laughs.

The video of the little girl was posted seven years ago. Well before Russia crossed Ukraine’s borders in February of this year. On YouTube you can find hundreds of videos of Ukrainian children saying they will kill “Moskals,” singing songs about how they are ready to fight for Ukraine, waving knives, shouting slogans and giving Nazi salutes. Such videos are all over social media and they have been appearing for many years.

This may come as a shock to you. But it’s only shocking if you do not understand the history of Ukraine and what has been happening there since 1991, when the Soviet Union broke apart and all of its republics declared independence.

Independence has been important to Ukrainians since at least the 1920’s, when the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists, the OUN, was founded. I have previously written about the atrocities of the OUN and its leaders including Stepan Bandera, a Nazi who served alongside the Wehrmacht during Operation Barbarossa.

It is indisputable fact that the OUN, led by Bandera, murdered more than a hundred thousand people. In fact, the bodies of the victims are still being exhumed today.

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Exhumed remains of OUN victims, Poland, 1990s. Photo credit: kresky.pl

The list of the OUN’s atrocities is long and well-documented despite the “amnesia” which seems to have swept over much of Europe. Here are the most famous ones:

1. The Lvov pogrom of July, 1941 in which several thousand civilians, mostly Jews, were brutally tortured and murdered.

2. The massacre of Babi Yar near Kiev between 1941 and 1943, in which Ukrainian nationalists were complicit in the murder of tens of thousands of people including Jews and Ukrainians loyal to the Soviet Union.

3. The liquidation of the Jewish ghetto in Rivne in July 1942, where over five thousand people were killed.

4. The razing of the Belarusian village of Khatyn in March, 1943.

5. The massacre at Wołyń, a region in Nazi-occupied Poland that is now part of present-day Ukraine. There, between 1943 and 1945, more than 100,000 Poles were slaughtered, along with several thousand Ukrainians who were thought to be “Soviet sympathizers.”

And that is only a partial list.

Feel free to check all of the links I included in the above list. Even The Smithsonian does not shy away from giving credit to the Nazis’ Ukrainian collaborators.

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Screen shot of Smithsonian article about the massacre in Khatyn, Belarus.

The OUN behaved like bandits, raiding farms and villages and targeting civilians. They slaughtered Jews, Roma, Russians, communists and anyone they suspected might be loyal to the Soviet Union. The Banderites wanted a racially pure Ukrainian ethno-state and they believed that anyone who was not Ukrainian needed to be purged.

That is the story which history tells.

But it is not the story taught to Ukrainian children.

The Rebel ABC’s



In 2013, schools received the first edition of “The Rebel ABC’s,” a textbook which teaches elementary-school children the Ukrainian alphabet with a colorful cartoon story about the OUN.

Unlike the real OUN who roamed the back-country raping, murdering, looting and burning, the OUN in this textbook is portrayed as a merry band of friends who romp around the countryside doing good deeds. The author of the book, Oleg Vitvitsky, is proud that the textbook will teach children to be “real Banderites.” He designed it like a comic book and gave the characters cute names like Alyarmik, Adolfik, Liliputin and Medvedchukovich.

There are more pictures in the book than text, but let’s take a look at what the text says.

For example, here is the letter “M.”

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A picture from “The Rebel ABC’s.” Photo credit: Livejournal

Here you can see little Alyarmik, the hero of the story, whose name means “alarm,” carrying his trumpet and leading his merry band of Banderites. In the background, the Russian Kremlin is ablaze.

“M” is for “Maskovia,” which means “Muscovy,” an archaic name for Moscow. The word is written with an “a” instead of an “o,” which mocks the Russian pronunciation of the word.

There is a short poem:

“Muscovy is the Khanate of Fear,
Massacres and mausoleum masks,
There, Liliputin is the emperor,
Medvedchukovich is a lackey there,
Alyarmik will put on his mazepinka
He’ll load his machine gun and his finka
Because he knows the day will come
When Medvedchukovich and Liliputin
Just like Vatutin of old
Will fall into rebel hands.”

Liliputin is, of course, a reference to Vladimir Putin, and Medvedchukovich is a reference to Dmitri Medvedev and former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovich, who was ousted during the 2014 Maidan coup.

Mazepinka is the type of cap worn by the OUN and finka is a dagger.

Vatutin was a Red Army general who liberated Kiev from the Germans and was later killed by Bandera.

The word used for “machine gun” (mashingver) is derived from a German word, “Sturmgever,”which was a type of assault rifle produced by the Third Reich in 1944.

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“Sturmgever” assault rifle used by German Nazis in WW2. Photo credit: Alexander Zavaly

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Ukrainian children at a nationalist march. Note the Wolfsangel symbol on their hats. This symbol was used by Hitler’s SS. Photo credit: LiveJournal
A Comic Book History of Ukraine

You might feel that it’s understandable for Ukrainians to bear such hatred for Russians, in view of the current war. But the Banderites have been teaching children to hate the “Moskals” (a slur meaning “Russians”) for decades. They have long cared about the “education” of future “warriors of Ukraine.”

In 1996, a comic book was produced portraying Stepan Bandera as a hero, and then in 2007, it was reprinted with the title “Ukraine in its Struggle.”

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The “Ukraine in its Struggle” comic of 2007. Photo credit: LiveJournal

The comic tells of brave insurgents who selflessly fight the “Moskal murderers” The artist, Leonid Perfetsky, depicts the OUN soldiers, compatriots of Hitler’s Wehrmacht, as daring heroes fighting against the Soviet allied forces in World War Two. The Soviets, of course, are depicted as ugly and bloodthirsty.

Perfetsky himself was a member of the SS division Galicia, and he originally created the drawings for leaflets and newspapers produced by the Ukrainian Insurgent Army. In 1953, the drawings were collected and printed by a daily newspaper run by Ukrainian diaspora in Philadelphia, United States. In the 1970’s, the drawings appeared in the magazine of the Union of Ukrainian Youth, “Krylati.” In 2013, the comics were published in a book and 2,000 copies were distributed among libraries and public organizations, according to Yaroslav Lipovetsky of the Department of Family and Youth Affairs of Ternopil, a major city in western Ukraine.

According to Lipovetsky, at first they wanted to publish the comic as a coloring book, however this idea was abandoned and the text was carefully edited to bring it closer to the modern Ukrainian language. The first edition was distributed to school and college libraries. Later, 12,000 copies were published in Ukrainian, and then 10,000 more were published in the Russian language and distributed in southeastern Ukraine, which is primarily inhabited by Russian-speakers.

In 2008, the comic “Murders by Order of KGB” was published for children, about how the KGB killed Stepan Bandera.

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“Murders by Order of KGB” comic. Photo credit: Livejournal

This comic, really more of a graphic novel, was published by the Union of Ukrainian Youth. According to the developers, there is nothing humorous in it and it’s intended for children 13 and older — “those who are in search of a political ideal.”

A girl at a school contest in Lvov famously said, “You need Bandera to come to you, to your world as a relative, as a father, as a brother, as something native and inalienable.” Her call was heeded by the Kapranov brothers, fervent nationalists and members of an organization called “Trident,” which was named after Stepan Bandera. And in 2011, they published a book called “Bandera and I,” which was included in an educational series for children called “Twelve Points,” about prominent Ukrainian figures.

In this book, two schoolboy brothers hear someone on TV calling the Banderites “fascists.” They set about investigating Bandera for themselves, to find out if he is a hero or a mass-murderer. And in their history classroom, they find a portrait of Bandera wrapped in a towel. Then members of Svoboda (“Freedom,” a nationalist political party) proceed to educate the young lads. The conclusion of the book is predictable: The brothers determine that Bandera is a hero.


Ukrainian girl holding a painting of the Kremlin in flames. Photo Credit: Vesti
In 2021, the Russian publication Vesti published an article titled “Hate Education: Why Ukrainian Children Are Being Set Against Russia.”

The article is about the above photo of a Ukrainian preschooler holding a painting of the Russian Kremlin, which is burning and belching smoke. Flames are blazing from Spasskaya Tower, the Kremlin’s historic clock. The photo was a big hit on the internet and was reposted hundreds of times with thousands of enthusiastic comments about the “beautiful” new generation growing up in Ukraine.

In a video (which may require a VPN to view) the little girl says “Hi, I’m not Katrusya, but Darusya, and this was not drawn by me, but a girl from Kharkov. I am very pleased that you call me popular, because Putin’s castle is on fire in the picture!” She cheers, “Hooray!”

To the preschooler, the Kremlin is a fairy tale castle, and Putin is an evil character like the wicked Queen in Snow White or Sleeping Beauty.

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Children are given military training. Photo credit: Rodina moya

From comics to camps

But the “education” doesn’t end with fairy tales and comic books. Ukrainian children are also taught how to fight, how to fire an assault rifle, and how to kill.

The following video, produced by a Russian TV show called “Current Time,” was uploaded to YouTube in 2015. It shows children of all ages wearing military fatigues, running obstacle courses and firing automatic weapons at a training camp run by Ukrainian nationalists.



Forty seconds into the video, the correspondent talks to the instructor who downplays her questions about the Nazi symbols the children are wearing and the Nazi salutes they perform.

“The fact is that they took this gesture here ‘from the heart to the sun,’ and they said ‘Sieg Heil,’” which Hitler came up with,” he explains awkwardly.

The Nazi Party slogan was actually the brainchild of Rudolf Hess, who began shouting it after feeling inspired by one of Hitler’s speeches. The phrase was then picked up by the mob of adoring fans listening to their Führer.

After talking to the instructor, the narrator introduces a boy, age nine, who she says already knows how to fire an assault weapon.

“Who will you fight?” She asks the boy.
“Enemies,” the boy replies.
“What enemies?” She asks.
“Any.”
“Do you realize you can go to war from here? Aren’t you afraid?”
“No.”

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Top: Ukraine in 2015. Bottom: Germany in 1937. Photo credit: Komsomolskaya Pravda

In 2015, the Russian publication Komsomolskaya Pravda wrote several articles about the camps where youths are taught the “right spirit of Ukrainian Aryans.” Nationalists set up a network of camps for children, teenagers and young adults in western Ukraine where they are taught weapons handling, shooting, hand-to-hand combat and even how to fight with knives.

The camps were formed after the Maidan coup in 2014 in seven regions of Ukraine: Kiev, Kharkov, Chernigov, Cherkasy, Zaporozhye, Dnepropetrovsk, and Transcarpathia.

Azov Battalion, the notorious neo-Nazi group, even have a camp called “Azovets,” for children and teenagers, on the outskirts of Kiev. In Odessa, you can find “Camp Chota,” where Pravi Sektor (Right Sector) runs things. Children ages four and up can join the “Carpathian Legion,” and there are several camps run by Svoboda Party. The network of camps welcomes boys and girls of all ages.

At the Azovets camp outside Kiev, anywhere from 400 to 500 children are given Nazi paramilitary training during the summer. These camps have been run every summer, and even during the spring, fall and winter, in every year since Maidan. The camps are free to the children and are financed by western grants and state funding from the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine.

The focus of the training is to kill “Moskals” and “Separatists.” Kids are taught to kill with assault rifles, carbines, pistols, knives and fists. Then they learn tactics, hand-to-hand combat, assembly and disassembly of submachine guns.

In 2014, the children learned to shoot at targets.

Later on, their training complete, they joined the ranks of Azov Battalion and other nationalist militias and shot at the Russian-speaking people of Donbas.

Where did their childhood go…?

I leave you with some photos which I found while searching Yandex.

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Part II

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A Ukrainian soldier teaches children about guns. Photo credit: Yandex

“Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death.”
— Matthew 10:21 New International Version

Despite attempts by Ukrainian nationalists to portray themselves as racially pure Viking Aryans untainted by inferior Russian blood, in truth Russians and Ukrainians share the same genetic roots which stretch back to ancient Rus` and the times before that.

Though there is plenty of debate among scholars, the prevailing theory is that the Rus` were the progeny of local Slavic tribes and Viking traders who founded the first cities of Rus` — principally, Novgorod and Kiev.

Novgorod is believed to have been founded by a Scandinavian Viking chieftain named Rurik who arrived in the Ladoga region of what is now northwest Russia, in the year 862. It was he, his descendants and followers, Viking and Slavic, who became known as the Kievan Rus`. They captured a “city on a hill” to the south called Kiy — Kiev — and made it their capital in circa 882.

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The ancient walls of Novgorod. Photo credit VelikiyNovgorod

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11th century territories of Kievan Rus`. Photo credit: WorldHistory

The Kievan Rus` ruled into the 13th century during a time now known as the Rurik Dynasty, until they were invaded by the “Golden Horde” — the great mounted armies led by the descendants of Genghis Khan. The princes of Kiev, grossly outnumbered and fearing their own death if they did not submit, swore fealty to their new overlords who ruled until they, in turn, were overthrown in the 15th century.

The history of the region is complex. There have been many who coveted the fertile land now known as Ukraine, with its rich, black soil, moderate climate and sunny beaches that lie along the shores of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov.

The very word “Ukraine” is derived from Slavic words meaning “the south” (yug in Russian) and “region” (raion in Russian). The word itself translates as “outlying region” or “southern region.” During the time of the Russian Empire and during Soviet times, Ukraine was the breadbasket where the majority of food was grown, especially wheat, by peasant farmers.

Ukraine was given the status of “republic” during Soviet times, allowing it some autonomy under Soviet rule, and when the USSR disintegrated, Ukraine became independent. But for hundreds of years prior to that, Ukraine was considered a region in Russia. Many Ukrainians thought of themselves as Russian. They often intermarried and had children and, apart from the bitter rumblings of the nationalists, Ukrainians were not thought of as a different ethnicity.

The blood-ties between Russians and Ukrainians are strong. But fascism, it seems, is stronger.

Fascism demands more than blood

“The historic mission of our nation in this critical moment is to lead the White Races of the world in a final crusade for their survival, a crusade against the Semite-led Untermenschen.”

-–Andriy Biletsky, Maidan activist and founder of Azov Battalion.


Inthe years after the bloody Maidan coup which tore Ukraine apart, the Banderites, followers of the Ukrainian nationalist and Nazi collaborator Stepan Bandera, intensified their education of Ukrainian children with the support of the state. They introduced special textbooks in classrooms, such as the one we looked at in part one of this series, and they taught children that Russian was the enemy’s language. Naturally, people living in eastern Ukraine, in the Donbas region, were horrified. Most of them are Russian-speakers.

Children were told at school to be ashamed of their parents, who spoke the “language of the oppressor.” And children who spoke Russian or came from Russian-speaking families were bullied by the other children.

The nationalists’ hostility toward Russian-speaking Ukrainians had already been unleashed during Maidan with terrifying brutality and in the years to follow it would grow even uglier. Neo-Nazi militias such as Azov Battalion, operating with full approval from Kiev, began making targeted attacks on civilian populations in Donbas. They shelled schools, hospitals, public markets and critical civilian infrastructure. They raped and murdered people, including women and children. This is what led to the rebellion of the Russian-speaking people in eastern Ukraine, who founded the breakaway People’s Republics of Donetsk and Lugansk.

At first, the Banderites were unable to force Ukrainian soldiers to shoot at their own family, friends and neighbors in eastern Ukraine. Many defected and joined the growing militias in Donbas, which fought against the nationalists attacking their region.

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Danyial al-Takbir, callsign “Mujahid” Source: New Cold War

Then, in 2015, Ukraine formed the “Special Tasks Patrol “ and filled its ranks with a different kind of soldier. Men like Danyial al-Takbir, a neo-Nazi, former ISIS member and convicted murderer, are praised by the nationalists. Al-Takbir raped some of his victims until they were dead and didn’t shy away from burning people alive. He and his ilk are the legacy of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists, eager to perpetrate a Holocaust in Donbas just as their forefathers did seven decades ago.

To understand how this works, one has only to take a look at Germany in the 1930’s, where the Nazis taught children to swear allegiance to their Führer even when their parents did not. Fascism demands a kind of loyalty that supersedes blood ties.

As the war neared its end, Hitler had no qualms about sacrificing these children to prolong his “millennial Reich” for a few more days. He sent Volkssturm (people’s storm) units comprised of children, old men and women, to fight against the Soviets as they closed in on Berlin in the spring of 1945.

Blood is not enough. Only death can suffice.

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Goebbels with Volkssturm Lauban 1945. Photo credit: WordPress

Dissent is not tolerated

It was not only “Russian separatists” in Donbas who were horrified by the way children were (and still are) being educated in Ukraine.

Five hundred kilometers from Kiev, in the city of Dnepropetrovsk (renamed “Dnipro” by Ukraine’s new government), the parents of elementary school students filed a complaint against a teacher who called Russian “the language of the enemies.”

In 2021, the parents of second-graders at school № 137 complained that a new teacher, Viktoria Zhdanova, was telling their seven- and eight-year-old children that “Russians are enemies, they came here and colonized Ukraine” and that anyone “who does not speak Ukrainian is an ‘enemy of the state’ and supports enemies of Ukraine.”

The parents had screen-shots and other evidence, but the school responded that they did not see any crime and would not replace the teacher. You can read a discussion concerning one mother’s complaint about the teacher at this Ukrainian website if you use an online translation service, but the upshot is that the school supported the “patriotic teacher,” the mother was smeared for supporting the Immortal Regiment (a global group of allied WW2 veterans and their descendants which is seen as “pro-Soviet” and therefore against Ukraine), and the children began demanding that their parents speak Ukrainian because otherwise they are “enemies.”

In 2018, the director of the Ukrainian Jewish Committee, Eduard Dolinsky, wrote on Facebook that a lecture about military valor was held in Kiev gymnasium № 315. The students were provided with a “glorious” example of valor: The SS Division Galicia of the Nazis. “This is the latest trend for schools,” Dolinsky wrote, “when valor and courage are taught with examples of [Nazi] collaboration, service in the SS, schutzmanschaft, auxiliary police, and fighting with civilians.”

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Photo of the lecture at Kiev gymnasium № 315. The slide shown to the class features the symbol of the SS Division Galicia, the rearing lion. Photo credit: Eduard Dolinsky

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SS Oberfuhrer Fritz Freitag (left), a fanatical Nazi who was directly involved in the mass murder of Jews, takes a salute from the newly formed 14th SS Division Galicia. The rearing lion symbol is again featured. Photo credit: EspiritDeCorps

In 2017, NBC News produced a segment in its series “Left Field” about an Azovets training camp for children, which is sponsored by the neo-Nazi militia, Azov Battalion. In the following clip, you can listen to the kids as they openly chant “death to Moskals!” Moskal, as I’ve written before, is a slur referring to Russians.

The children, gathered around a bonfire, shout and chant, “What is our slogan? We are Ukraine’s children! Let Moscow lie in ruins, we don’t give a damn! We will conquer the whole world! Death, death to Moskals! Death, death to Moskals!”

The video explains how the Azovets children are given paramilitary training. A boy named Smolny, age 9, talks about how the camp is a “dream come true” for him. The children sleep in tents, according to the British-accented journalist who went there, and are often woken up at 3AM by smoke grenades, to simulate war. The “war,” at that time, was with the Russian-speaking people of Donbas. The journalist refers to them as “Ukrainian-born Russian sympathizers,” apparently not understanding that Russian and Ukrainian are really one blood and that the differences between them are political rather than genetic.

One of the instructors speaks, claiming he is not a Nazi but a nationalist. However, the instructors wear Nazi symbols on their clothing or tattooed on their skin, teach children Nazi salutes and tell them that the Nazi mass-murderer Bandera is a “hero of Ukraine.”

“We shall recover Crimea and then Kuban!” one of the instructors shouts, as a group of campers travels by bus. The children pick up the chant: “We shall recover Crimea and then Kuban!” they shout, “And we’ll chase away the Moskal skunks!”

An instructor says off camera, “Today’s generation has to ensure the foundations for the next.”

The journalist doesn’t call out their racism directly, but he does admit that “their ideologies are radical for the rest of Ukraine. They don’t like immigration, they don’t like foreigners.” By the “rest of Ukraine,” he is doubtlessly referring to the Russian-speaking and Romani parts of Ukraine, where the “foreigners” (the non-Aryan Ukrainians) live.

Next, we see children crawling through the dirt as they struggle through a paramilitary obstacle course. In the background, children chant, “Beat the Moskal! Beat the Moskal! Stack the corpses!”

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Internet meme displaying mainstream media headlines about Nazis in Ukraine prior to 2022.

In previous years, western journalists who visited the training camps were often openly horrified by what has now come to be accepted and even admired in Europe, Australia and North America where Vogue published articles promoting Bandera and his followers.

In 2015, journalists from the British publication Daily Mail visited an Azovets camp and observed: “They are an ultranationalist, swastika-loving battalion that openly opposes the truce agreed upon with pro-Russian separatists. Now the Azov extremists are teaching children as young as six how to shoot. This is done in order to lure them into the bloody conflict taking place in the country.”

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Azovets children learn to assemble and disassemble automatic weapons. Photo credit: DailyMail

In those days, western journalists were more honest in their reactions to the training camps.

“Nationalist camp in Ukraine trains kids to kill,” the Associated Press wrote in 2018. “A camp founded by a Ukrainian nationalist group teaches children to use assault rifles to kill Russians and their sympathizers. They are also being inculcated with nationalist ideology, including derision of LGBT rights.”

The Guardian, in 2017, made a film about one of Azovets camps in which it was compared to the Hitler Youth camps of Nazi Germany.

“This is the future of Ukraine,” an instructor says, “So we teaching childrens [sic] to love Ukraine.”

“Slava Ukraine!” Another instructor shouts, “Glory to the heroes!”
“Glory to the nation!” The children chant, thumping their hearts with their fists.
“Ukraine above all!” They chant.
A girl wearing shorts exposes tattoos in English on the backs of her thighs which say “White Pride.”

“Almost all our children come every year,” a female instructor says, “to strengthen their spirit, might, their power.”

The children are shown wearing gas masks as they run an obstacle course.

“We are preparing future warriors,” the instructor continues, “people who will protect and love Ukraine. They need to be prepared for everything.”

Prepared even to kill their own parents, their own family?

Author’s Edit: By the way, I am fairly certain that the man in the SS helmet, in the top photo of this article, is the same man who was seen torturing Russian prisoners of war. Shooting them in the legs and watching them bleed out. He has the same leathery skin, the same duck-bill nose, the same frown, and he cocks his head to his right.

Here is his picture. You can judge for yourself.

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“NYT confirms footage of Ukrainian Soldiers committing war crime” : Photo source

Great guy to teach those kids, isn’t he?

Part III

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Thousands participate in a torchlit march in Kiev. The banner says “Nothing will stop an idea whose time has come.” It features an image of Stepan Bandera and the Russian Kremlin on fire behind him. Photo credit: Atalyar

“He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”

— John 8:44 New International Version.


In 2017, the Times of Israel reported that Ukrainians chanted, “Jews out!” during a torchlit march celebrating the birthday of Ukrainian nationalist and Nazi collaborator Stepan Bandera, whose troops killed thousands of Jews in the Second World War, in addition to more than 100,000 others, mostly Poles and Russians.

The event was attended by thousands in Kiev. Bandera’s portrait was held up while someone shouted the anti-Semitic slogan over a loudspeaker and the crowd quickly picked up the chant.

Among those marching in the event were hundreds of children, members of a nationalist group known as “Plast.”

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Stepan Bandera in his Plast uniform, 1923. Photo Credit: wikimedia.org

Like Boy Scouts only with assault rifles and swastikas

The Ukrainian scouting organization, “Plast,” is one of the main tools for recruiting young people into the Bandera “anti-Moskal” community. Though its website looks wholesome enough, with smiling kids rowing boats, camping, and delivering goods to the needy, the group has a dark history of fascism. Stepan Bandera himself was a proud member of Plast, which has always been associated with Ukrainian nationalism and the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, in which his father was a priest.

During the Second World War, the scouts were used as allies by Nazi Germany. After the war, the Plast organization was preserved among Ukrainian diaspora in Australia, Argentina, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany and the United States. From there, the Plast movement again returned to Ukraine in the late 1980’s where it operated without sanction from the failing Soviet government.

After the fall of the USSR in 1991, Plast was finally legalized in Ukraine again. In 1993, the first international camps were held where the experience of Plast was passed on to Ukrainian youth by representatives of Ukrainian diaspora.

According to a statement made by the organization itself, members of Plast were involved in the Maidan attacks on authorities and in the attacks on Donbas which followed. Whether the statement is accurate or not, after 2014, the cooperation between Plast and the Ministry of Education and Science reached a new level. In 2015, the Ministry prepared an order “to create Plast centers and, accordingly, to hold trainings and seminars for teachers of the education system to familiarize them with the Plast system of education…”

In other words, Plast would now set the tone for the upbringing of the younger generation in Ukraine. And what does Plast teach kids?

Today, the organization’s primary role models are fascists from the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) which collaborated with Nazi Germany during WW2. In 2012, at a march in honor of the 70th anniversary of the UPA, young members of Plast marched carrying portraits of Bandera right behind actual UPA veterans.

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Ukrainian youth holds a portrait of Bandera at a torchlit march. Photo credit: Twitter

In 2016, on the birthday of Nazi mass-murderer Roman Shukhevich, Plast stated on Facebook:

“On June 30, 1907, Roman Shukhevich, Plast member, commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army was born! In Plast, Shukhevich learned organizational skills, acquired a steely will and boundless sacrifice — qualities that are necessary for a military commander. Chuprinka (one of Roman Shukhevich’s aliases) is the ideal for the struggle of Ukraine, devotion and the will to win! For his work in the organization, he received the highest strata degree — the Hetman’s brace!”

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Roman Shukhevich in his Plast uniform. Photo credit: Plast on Facebook

Shukhevich and his unit known as “Nightingale” killed thousands of Jews and reduced the city of Lvov from a population of 500,000 to just 150,000.

Plast also admires the fighters of the Nazi SS Division Galicia. In 2008, a monument to the members of this Nazi SS group was installed at Lychakiv cemetery in Lvov. The man responsible for the installation, Yuri Ferentsovich, was a fighter in the SS Galicia Division and a member of Plast when it was still operating underground.

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2008 a monument to the SS Division Galicia at Lychakiv cemetary in Lvov. Photo credit: Wikimedia.

Plast’s heroes are fighters with the so-called “Anti-Terrorist Operation,” an operation which takes punitive actions against anyone deemed to be an “enemy of Ukraine.” Members of Plast fight with the ATO’s nationalist battalions such as Azov, Right Sector and Svoboda. In 2014 it was reported that 62 “Plastuns” (young members of Plast) were in an ATO zone, and that seven were wounded and two dead. This establishes that children were used in a military operation.

Adult members of Plast are required to take an active role in politics, according to the group’s charter. “Senior, already mature Plast citizens…must take part in the public and political life of their nation. It is their main duty and one of the most important forms of service to the homeland.”

And of course, clergy of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church continue to play a very important role in training Plast members as “guides” to Ukrainian society. In fact, a UGCC priest and member of Plast from its “Forest Devils” troop was appointed as the organization’s chaplain in 2016.

Yes, you read that right, a devil-priest.

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Emblem of “Forest Devils”. Photo credit, SPZH

After the Maidan coup in 2014, members of Plast successively held public office and these appointments were all joyfully recorded on social media.

Lies, damned lies and blood sacrifice

The American literary legend, Mark Twain, is credited with saying, “There are three kinds of lies: Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics.” A good example of a “damned lie” is when Ukrainian propagandists declared the photographs of dead children in Donbas to be “fakes.”

Throughout the Donbas region, there are gardens and memorials dedicated to the children slain by Ukrainian forces. Angel Alley is the most famous place. It was established in Donetsk Victory Park in 2015. There, you will see the names and ages of the dead children engraved in alphabetical order on black marble. At the foot of the memorial, there are always fresh flowers and stuffed toys.

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The plaque at Angel Alley in the DPR. Photo credit: Twitter

According to officials in the DPR, a total of 135 children under the age of 18 have been killed by Ukrainian forces since 2014, and at least 515 children have been wounded, some very seriously. There are many children left without arms or legs.

A special international commission was set up in Donetsk to investigate the murders of the youngest Donbas residents, and investigators were sent to speak with witnesses and family members, and take their testimonies.

Here are a few of the testimonies which were recorded.

Alexandra (Sasha) Mamedkhanova was 14 years old in 2014. She is one of the first victims of the Donbas war, whose life was cut short by Ukrainian gunfire. Sasha was gifted with a near-perfect memory, her mother said. She studied hard, loved to do creative work, drew and made her own toys, helped her parents a lot and cared for her younger brother.

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Alexandra Mamedkhanova. Photo credit: Tsargrad
The child’s mother recalled the day they fled from the war:

“We were leaving in our car. We passed all the checkpoints. Before the last checkpoint, where Ukrainian soldiers were already standing, I gave Sashenka the phone and asked her to call her grandmother and tell her that we had already arrived.”

But when they passed the checkpoint, Sasha’s father recalls that “several rounds rang out.” He said that the Ukrainian military fired at point-blank range.

Several bullets hit the girl.

“We thought the child was only wounded,” Sasha’s mother remembers, “She was still breathing. We went to a house nearby, called an ambulance.”

The men who shot at their car also came to the house to make sure there were no “terrorists.” That was when the family learned that four rifles had been fired at them. The Ukrainian fighters left immediately, telling the family that they would “sort it out.” But there was never any investigation other than the one conducted by the DPR.

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Nikita Russov. Photo credit: Tsargrad

12-year-old Nikita Russov died during a massive shelling by the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) in the Donetsk settlement of Azotny. The boy’s mother, Olga, said that he studied at Donetsk school № 48, loved sports, participated in wrestling and had excellent marks.

He was killed on his way to training.

“He often said to me, ‘Mom, let’s hug,” Olga recalled, her eyes filling with tears. “Once he asked me to teach him how to bake a pie, an apple quiche.”

On that last day when he left for training, she called him but the phone remained silent. Olga later found out that he had been killed instantly in the shelling.

In that first, terrible year of 2014, following the Maidan coup, Ukrainian nationalists and the AFU regularly attacked towns and villages in Donbas, and entire families were killed by bullets and exploding shells.

On August 7, a one-year-old infant, Anastasia, was killed along with her mother, Valeria Podlipskaya.

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Valeria and Anastasia Podlipskie. Photo credit: Tsargrad

Tatyana Pashina, mother and grandmother of the victims, said that her daughter was born in Gorlovka, that she had graduated from a university and worked at a design institute in Donetsk as a road planner. She went on maternity leave to care for her newborn daughter.

Little Anastasia, who had just started saying her first words, was killed along with her mother when their family dacha was shelled by Ukrainian forces.

Tatyana, who was on the phone with her daughter when the shelling started, said that two of their neighbors’ dachas were hit first, then there was another explosion and Valeria ran to the stroller where the baby was. And that was where they were found afterwards. Little Anastasia was in the stroller and her mother was next to her, partially covering the infant with her own body.

There are more testimonies from family members whose loved ones were slaughtered by Ukrainian attacks on Donbas, and you can read them here, if you use an online translator such as DeepL.com.

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A monument to victims of Ukrainian attacks. Donetsk, DPR. Photo Credit: Tsargrad.

Russian-speaking children cannot live in Ukraine

Ukrainian propagandists claim that all the photos are fakes, a damned lie which is unbearably cruel to the families of the victims who still live in eastern Ukraine, in the war-torn Donbas. The murderers of their children, meanwhile, live within a bubble of denial, insulated by fascist mythology, claiming that “Russian aggression” justifies any retaliation, even against civilians. Even against women and children. Even against babies.

The position of Ukrainian nationalists was summed up by Maidan activist Ostap Drozdov, who explained the “final solution” for Russian-speaking children in a post on Facebook. You can read it and translate it for yourself if you want. The original is in Ukrainian.

“Russian-speaking children must disappear from the face of my country. They can be bilingual, trilingual, quadrilingual or purely Ukrainian-speaking. But monolingual Russian-speakers should disappear as a species. Or move to live in Russia or another nearby country where you can be a monolingual Russian speaker.”

For people living in western Ukraine, it may be easier to believe the propagandists when they say that the photos of the children are fake, than it is to believe that their own soldiers are slaughtering little children and babies in the name of an “ethnically pure” Ukraine.

After all, how many German people believed the truth about the Holocaust while it was going on right next door? In Nazi Germany, it was far easier to believe the propaganda, which said that all those “undesirables” were being taken to a nice place where they would be put to use. Out of sight, out of mind.

Until the Germans were forced to confront the enormous and unimaginable crimes of their beloved Nazi state.

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German civilians are forced to visit a concentration camp on May 6, 1945. Photo credit: The Atlantic.

Just as Nazi Germany attempted to cover up its crimes, so do the Nazis in Ukraine. But mountains of evidence, personal testimony and facts collected by the special commission in Donbas inexorably reveal the terrible truth.

Blame-shifting, the strategy of narcissists and Nazis.

Blame-shifting is a tactic employed by narcissists, sociopaths and psychopaths. When a crime cannot be denied outright because there is too much evidence, it just gets blamed on someone else. Fascists use the same tactic. Fascism is, after all, a narcissistic ideology. An ideology about being a “superior race” which must eliminate anyone considered “racially inferior.”

On May 28, 2018, a teenage girl was killed during an AFU shelling of Zheleznoe, a village near Toretsk within the territory of the DPR. Ukrainian news crews arrived on the scene and some of the girl’s relatives appeared on camera, saying that the AFU had killed the girl.

The story of the girl’s murder was broadcast on Ukrainian TV, which created a big scandal. But the very next day, it was reported that “Russian separatists” from the DPR had killed the girl and “experts” from the AFU were brought on camera to confirm that Russians had shelled the village and that they wanted to “rule over Ukrainian lands.”

This distortion and censorship of the truth is considered an essential measure by many in Ukrainian media. A well-known Ukrainian propagandist named Vakhtang Kipiani remarked on the story:

“I worked as an editor of TSN for more than three years and if I had to prepare material on this topic, I would not hesitate to cut out my own mother’s words,” he said, “This is not censorship, but hygiene and an element of national security.”

Another favorite tactic is “shame the truth-tellers.”

Just last week, Amnesty International took heat for a tweet which pointed out that Ukrainians were putting civilian lives in danger.

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Amnesty International tweet

Even though Amnesty International has overwhelmingly sided with Ukraine against Russia, the organization was attacked by hordes of outraged social justice warriors who labeled the group a “Russian propagandist” because of this one tweet.

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One of many outraged responses to Amnesty International
Ukraine above all

The most famous nationalist slogan in Ukraine, enthusiastically chanted by adults and children alike as they gather around bonfires or march with burning torches, is “Ukraine above all!” The words of this chant can be traced back to the first line of the German anthem during Hitler’s time: “Germany above all!”

“Das Lied der Deutschen.” 1940’s German anthem with English translation.
One wonders if perhaps, at some future Nuremberg, the true crimes of Ukraine’s Nazis will finally come to light. Will the world’s verdict be what it was back then?

Will the world reject fascism now as it did in 1945?

Or has fascism, and its damned lies, already duped most of humanity beyond hope…?

https://libya360.wordpress.com/2022/08/ ... -children/
"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 Aug 28, 2022 12:49 pm

peace and victory
POSTED BY @NSANZO ⋅ 08/28/2022

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Now that the first six months have passed since the beginning of the Russian intervention, the conflict is already facing a phase of chronification in its political, economic and military aspects, a particularly serious situation for the civilian population of an important part of the Ukrainian territory, where the population faces the arrival of what Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has warned could be the “harshest winter since independence”. With millions of people outside the country as refugees -both in the European Union and in Russia-, the paralysis of large sectors of the economy and with a way of avoiding hyperinflation that in recent months has been based on the printing of currency in large quantities, the Ukrainian population faces, not only a situation of uncertainty in military terms,

Not unlike the reaction of the Russian state, Ukraine has opted for a neoliberal, or even libertarian (in its American sense) response to the economic situation caused by the war. From the Ministry of Economy they have responded to the destruction of the industry -either by Russian missiles or by the economic effects of the war- without any intention of protecting that once key sector in the country's economy. The war has been understood as a way to achieve these reformsthat peacetime had slowed down. This is the case of the outsourcing of the economy, which will leave thousands of people unemployed and which will disproportionately affect the east of the country, curiously, that part closest to the active war zone and with the possibility of ending up on the other side of the front under control Russian. This is also the case with the deregulation of the labor market. Accelerating a trend that has existed since the 1990s and that President Zelensky has always carried on his agenda, Ukraine has taken advantage of the war situation to approve, without the possibility of any protest, a series of reforms that leave no union representation or possibility of negotiation collectively to an important part of the working class at the moment of greatest vulnerability.

In reality, the Ukrainian government's disinterest in its population predates the war. With a comment that is implicitly an admission of the use of the population as a human shield, President Volodymyr Zelensky recently stated in an interview that he had chosen not to warn the population of the possibility of an imminent Russian intervention on the grounds that, in that case, the exodus from the country would have collapsed its economy even before the start of hostilities. With the economy collapsing, but with the confidence that neither the suspension of payments nor the absolute abandonment of the population will have negative consequences for the image of the Government or its strategy, Ukraine now seeks to prepare for a long war.

The speech has been slightly modified to continue to maintain the favor of the population and its foreign partners by promising a certain victory, but that it will take time. Gone are the predictions of victory in two or three weeks that the then Government spokesman Oleksiy Arestovich made in the first weeks of the Russo-Ukrainian war and the official discourse now states that it will be the next two or three months that will determine the course of the war and of your resolution. Zelensky appears to have given up trying to secure such a supply of Western weapons that Ukraine could end the war before the dreaded winter, when the energy crisis could jeopardize the flow of financial assistance to the country. As Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov admitted this week,

The evident energy crisis in a context of high inflation and decoupling of the supply chains of essential products poses a risk of loss of financing for Ukraine from its allied countries, mainly European countries, which as the war drags on will have to focus their efforts on their internal needs and Ukraine fears being left in the background. Internally, as Reznikov admitted, Ukraine is forced to convince its population that the suffering that war implies is not only necessary but is the opinion shared by an entire united country. For both cases, it is necessary to show military capacity to face a more powerful enemy, but at the same time also remember their own shortcomings, especially the lack of weapons, that foreign partners have a moral obligation to compensate. A difficult balance between blind confidence in a victory that they try to make seem inevitable and the victimhood of those who suffer from an absolute military and financial dependency on their partners to keep the country afloat, who is gradually breaking down in the face of reality.

Months have passed since Ukraine began talk of a counteroffensive for the imminent capture of Kherson, the only Ukrainian capital beyond Donbass under Russian control. Ukraine has insisted that it will attack the bridge linking Crimea and mainland Russia and has promised to take back the territories captured by Russia, first those captured since February 24, but also Donbass and Crimea. However, Kherson's offensive has given, as the only result, the Russian capture of a locality that opens the way to Nikolaev. In Kharkov, where Ukraine was singing victory after capturing a town in the Izium area, the battle now resembles what has been experienced in Donbass for eight years: trench warfare that can only cause death and destruction. And in Donbass, the fortifications of recent years help Ukraine withstand the Russian artillery assault, but the casualties make any Ukrainian advance impossible. Despite having made its destructive capacity clear, this tactic of causing damage in the hope that the enemy will simply withdraw from that fifth part of the country under its control is a naïveté that is difficult to sustain over time.

With no success to present to its population or its foreign partners since the Russian withdrawal from Snake Island, Ukraine must content itself with displaying its capacity for destruction. This is how he intends to achieve his military successes. Aware that an open field offensive towards Kherson would involve heavy casualties and uncertain possibilities, kyiv has opted for the tactic of making the situation unfeasible for the Russian troops, who, according to some experts, would be forced to leave the city in a few days (Dmitry Alperovitch predicted two weeks ago that withdrawal in two-three weeks). Hence, the target of US artillery in Ukrainian hands remains the Antonovsky Bridge, where Russia has already installed a pontoon in case of any incident. Despite several announcements of the destruction of the bridge,

Much more dangerous is the situation around the Zaporozhie nuclear power plant, under Russian control since March and where fighting is taking place that these days has come to interrupt the power supply, something that could compromise the operation of the plant. On Thursday, the United States, always ready to blame Russia in the event of the slightest bit of evidence, said it could not determine who was bombing the plant. However, Washington, like the rest of its partners, maintains the strategy of claiming that only the Russian abandonment of the plant will prevent the danger, a subtle way of confirming that Ukraine will continue to use its artillery as a tool of pressure despite the danger that involves playing with fire around a nuclear power plant.

In his speech on Ukraine's Independence Day, which came at the time of the country's greatest dependence on its foreign partners, Volodymyr Zelensky, who stated that Ukraine has changed the world in these six months, stated that every day is a reason not to give up "We used to say peace, but now we say victory," said the Ukrainian president, who abandoned the rhetoric of peace that had brought him to power as soon as he took office. For Zelensky, as for Poroshenko and Turchinov before him, peace never meant compromise and always meant the surrender of his enemy, the DPR and the LPR until February 24 and Russia ever since. The demand to surrender border control as a prerequisite to continue with the peace process, the rejection of dialogue with Donetsk and Lugansk and the granting of the minimum rights of autonomy that Minsk implied were always present in the discourse of Ukraine which, with the support of its partners, always preferred to maintain a state of war and the danger of an escalation war instead of compromise. Since 2014, not since February 24, Ukraine has always had only one version of peace: victory, a peace imposed on its terms and without any possible compromise.

https://slavyangrad.es/2022/08/28/la-pa ... more-25365

Google Translator

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‘Peacemaker’ of Death: This Ukrainian Website Threatens Hundreds of Thousands with Extrajudicial Killings
Posted by INTERNATIONALIST 360° on AUGUST 26, 2022
Olga Sukharevskaya

Mirotvorets, which compiles lists of ‘enemies of Ukraine’, has been operating with impunity for eight years

For the last eight years, a group of publicly unknown activists in Ukraine have been compiling lists of ‘enemies of the people’ with impunity. Hundreds of thousands have been declared criminals without trial.

Among them are not only Russian citizens, but also Ukrainian opposition figures and bloggers, European politicians, and US citizens. At the very least, being added to this list is a stigma that makes life difficult in Ukraine, but it can also serve as justification for imprisonment or, in some cases, even being killed. This is exactly what happened last weekend to Daria Dugina, daughter of world-famous Russian philosopher Alexander Dugin, who’s name also can be found on that list.

RT explains what is behind the Mirotvorets, or ‘Peacemaker’, website, whose creators seek to bring ‘peace’ to their country with the help of extrajudicial killings, and why the Ukrainian authorities have done nothing about this despite condemnation from the international community.

What is Mirotvorets?

The main page of the Ukrainian Mirotvorets website proclaims that the outlet represents a ‘Center for Research of Signs of Crimes against the National Security of Ukraine, Peace, Humanity, and the International Law’. It claims to have been created by a group of academics, journalists, and other specialists. However, their names are known to no one, and the outfit itself has never even been officially registered in Ukraine.

Nevertheless, this organization has been in operation for nine years, since August 2014. And although it positions itself as “independent, non-state media,” government officials still had a hand in its creation. In fact, the website emerged at the initiative of Anton Gerashchenko, a former adviser to the Ukrainian minister of internal affairs.

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Anton Gerashchenko © Sputnik / Alexandr Maksimenko

Mirotvorets’ activities boil down to publishing personal information on people who the site’s administrators consider a threat, in one way or another, to Ukrainian statehood.

The site’s owners urge the country’s law enforcement agencies to take note of the personal data and activities of the people it lists. However, street radicals sometimes also take heed of Mirotvorets’ lists.

And every time someone unlucky enough to have had his or her home address or other personal data revealed turns up dead, the site is updated: the name of the deceased now appears in bright flickering letters reminiscent of a Las Vegas casino, and the person’s photo is crossed out with the callous inscription: ‘liquidated’.

For example, the current Mirotvorets’ web page design displays this way the data of the Russian journalist Darya Dugina, daughter of the philosopher Aleksandr, who was brutally killed last weekend in her own car.

Despite the accusations from the Russian FSB, Ukraine denies any involvement in that murder. On Mirotvorets, however, Dugina’s death is described with a brief, dehumanizing commentary, along with a conspiracy theory: “Liquidated by the special services of fascist russia (sic) due to interspecies disagreements.”

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Screenshot © myrotvorets.team

Who gets on the Mirotvorets lists and how?

According to the site’s administrators, “the sources of information used by the Mirotvorets Center for ongoing academic research are publicly available materials that are printed and posted on social networks, web publications, private web pages, and specialized forums and blogs, as well as radio and TV broadcasts.”

However, it’s not that simple. In 2017, the site launched its IDentigraF facial recognition system, which was funded by donors from 40 countries, according to the center’s editorial board. This database contains more than 2 million images of “persons who have committed crimes against Ukraine and its citizens.”

In addition, up until 2016, the Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), and other law enforcement agencies in the country were among Mirotvorets’ partners. One can’t help but conclude that the personal information of the people who ended up in ‘Purgatory’ – a section of the site where personal information, including addresses, phone numbers, and documents, is published – were not obtained solely from social networks and newspapers.

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RT composite: Screenshot © myrotvorets.team

As of 2019, when the latest Mirotvorets report was published, the site contained data on “more than 30,000 Russian war criminals”, “more than 70,000 terrorists, militants, mercenaries, members of illegal armed formations and private armies controlled by the Russian aggressor”, “about 40,000 flagrant violators of Ukraine’s national borders”, “more than 44,000 traitors to the Motherland”, “more than 6,000 anti-Ukrainian propagandists”, etc.

In total, nearly 200,000 people have been declared ‘criminals’ over the five years.

However, these figures are far from complete since the site continues to collect personal information on a daily basis. Recently, participants in Russia’s Special Military Operation to demilitarize Ukraine, as well as Russian politicians, have been added to the list – although to an insufficient extent, according to the website’s creators, who support the official government in Kiev.

Presumption of guilt

Mirotvorets’ creators claim that the center “carries out its activities in strict accordance with the current legislation of Ukraine and international legal acts ratified by our state.” As an example, they refer to Article 17 of the Constitution of Ukraine, which obliges citizens to protect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country.

In legally justifying its activities, Mirotvorets refers to laws on information, terrorism, and privacy, as well as the ‘Convention on the Protection of Individuals with regard to Automated Processing of Personal Data’ adopted in 1981. However, the articles cited in the above-mentioned pieces of legislation have been chosen very selectively, with an emphasis on “protecting the security of the state.”

Legally speaking, the Mirotvorets’ approach is very controversial. First of all, one of the basic principles of justice is the presumption of innocence, which is reflected, in particular, in the Council of Europe’s ‘Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms’.

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The Palace of Europe, seat of the Council of Europe, in the EU institutions district. © Andia / Universal Images Group via Getty Images

Among the crimes for which Mirotvorets collects data are “impingement on the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine”, being a “traitor to the Motherland”, “aiding militants and terrorists”, disseminating “war propaganda”, “inciting ethnic hatred, fascism, or anti-Semitism,” etc., which are included in the Criminal Code of Ukraine. However, only a court can find a person guilty of such acts, whereas Mirotvorets has no such authority.

Mirotvorets not only accuses people of committing ‘crimes’ but also includes more abstract offenses in its lists, such as producing “anti-Ukrainian propaganda” and “participating in anti-Ukrainian propaganda events.” The list even has a section for “agents of influence of the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine.” However, such areas are regulated by articles 9-11 of the ‘European Convention on Human Rights’, which concern freedom of expression, conscience, religion, thought, assembly, and association. The Mirotvorets center’s administrators are essentially seeking to deprive people whose opinions and beliefs do not suit them of their right to expression.

In addition, in the site’s ‘On Interaction and Cooperation with the Center’ section, there is a sample form for reporting personal information on ‘criminals’ and their relatives, which includes fields for addresses, phone numbers, photos, links to social network profiles, and their ‘crime’ (i.e., categorization as ‘militant’ or ‘terrorist’), all without trial or investigation.

The ‘criminals’ on public display, along with their wives, children, and parents, don’t even know they’re in ‘Purgatory’, let alone given a chance to defend themselves or cross-examine witnesses and confront their accusers.

A scandal in the noble family

As long as Mirotvorets was limiting itself to publishing information on Ukrainian citizens living in Crimea and Donbass, Ukrainian opposition politicians and journalists, and Russian residents and officials, the odious organization went unnoticed in the ‘civilized world’. But a scandal erupted in 2016, when Mirotvorets published information on employees of a host of media outlets, including the BBC, Reuters, Al Jazeera, AFP, Le Monde, the Guardian, Le Figaro, France 24, El Mundo, CBS News, CNN, Sky News, The Daily Telegraph, The Times, Cheska Televize, Radio France, Channel 9 Australia, the Associated Press, Japan TV, the Daily Mail, Die Welt, the Washington Post and New York Times, as well as representatives of Human Rights Watch and many other organizations, for “cooperating with a terrorist organization” (i.e., the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics).

US State Department spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau noted at the time that the US was “very concerned about the hacking of a database and publication of personal information about journalists in combat areas.”

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Elizabeth Trudeau © Henning Kaiser / picture alliance via Getty Images

“It is simply unacceptable for journalists to be threatened for what they say or write. Governments should do everything possible to ensure the safety of journalists. A wave of online threats against journalists worsens the situation,” said Dunja Mijatovic, OSCE representative on Freedom of the Media.

In addition to journalists and human rights defenders, politicians have also made it into Mirotvorets’ database. The website published information on German Bundestag deputies who visited Crimea, a list that includes Evgeny Schmidt, Rainer Balzer, Gunar Lindeman, Harold Latch, Nick Vogel, Helmut Seifen, and Blakes Christian.

Ten US citizens, as well as French actor Samy Naceri, were relegated to ‘Purgatory’ for the same ‘offense’. According to the website, the Greek ‘enemies of Ukraine’ include former Energy Minister Panagiotis Lafazanis, cartoonist Stathis Stavropoulos, retired Air Force Lieutenant General Pavlos Hristou, and ‘Russian Athens’ editor Pavel Onoiko. While former Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras also visited Crimea, he was removed from the database after expressing support for Petro Poroshenko. Top-tier politicians are also represented in Mirotvorets’ lists. Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder can be found there, while Croatian President Zoran Milanovic and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban have also been recently added, as has authoritative American diplomat Henry Kissinger.

Inclusion in the Mirotvorets list has been used as a justification for threats directed not only against ordinary citizens and journalists, but politicians as well. As the infamous and recently recalled Ukrainian ambassador to Germany, Andrey Melnyk, wrote, “an irresponsible trip of several would-be deputies can carry very, very unfortunate legal consequences for them. It is a pity that our warnings are still not taken seriously. Well, we’ll see.” In turn, Benjamin Moreau, deputy head of the UN’s human rights monitoring mission in Ukraine, stressed that the problem is moving from a purely legal to a practical one: some banks refuse to issue loans to persons included in the Mirotvorets database.

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Andriy Melnyk © Christoph Soeder / POOL / AFP

The uproar involving the murders of opposition politician Oleg Kalashnikov and journalist Olesya Buzina after their addresses were published in the Mirotvorets database is widely known. Of course, the word ‘after’ does not necessarily mean ‘due to’, but the creators of the notorious center played along. In commenting on these murders, they wrote: “Agent 404 has distinguished himself again. He has been granted a short-term leave for the successful completion of today’s combat mission.”

Closing Mirotvorets

There have been repeated demands to shut down the website. In 2018, Germany joined the chorus of journalists and human rights activists protesting Gerhard Schroeder’s inclusion in the database. According to the Cabinet of Ministers, “the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany most definitely condemns Mirotvorets and demands that the Ukrainian government and authorities assist in its removal.”

In February of 2021, the European Parliament approved a resolution stating: “The EP regrets that the political climate in the country has deteriorated when intimidation, hate speech and political pressure are widely used for political purposes; urges the authorities to strongly condemn and ban the activities of extremist and hateful groups and websites, such as Mirotvorets, which create tension in society and misuse the personal data of hundreds of people, including journalists, politicians and members of minority groups.”

But so far, calls for the closure of Mirotvorets have, in fact, been limited to a chorus of journalists, human rights defenders, and parliamentarians, who lack the power to make legally binding decisions with respect to Ukraine. This issue is not included among the list of requirements put forth by the Council of Europe or the European Commission that Kiev must fulfil in order to implement the EU Association Agreement. Allocation of European and American assistance to Ukraine for carrying out reforms has not been made contingent on closing down Mirotvorets, nor have measures been taken to pressure the Kiev authorities to respect privacy and the presumption of innocence.

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky meets Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz , France’s President Emmanuel Macron, Italy’s Prime Minister Mario Draghi and Romania’s President Klaus Werner Iohannis in Kyiv, Ukraine on June 16, 2022. © Ukrainian Presidency / Handout / Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

With the Western authorities turning a blind eye, the Ukrainian government has been able to ignore the activities of the scandalous site and dismiss demands from international human rights defenders by coming up with various pretenses. For example, in response to demands by the UN for it to be shut down, Dmitry Razumkov, the ex-speaker of Ukraine’s parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, said that the Rada does not have the authority to close media outlets.

Nevertheless, when the Ukrainian authorities want to shut down certain media outlets, they do not hesitate to do so. For example, the National Security and Defense Council granted Zelensky the ability to close the 112 Ukraine, NewsOne, and ZIK opposition TV channels, and subsequently First Independent and UKRLIVE, as well as an online publication called Strana, among other media outlets.

The Mirotvorets site is still up and continually updated with new data to this day.

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Olga Sukharevskaya is a Ukrainian-born ex-diplomat, jurist, and author based in Moscow.

https://libya360.wordpress.com/2022/08/ ... -killings/

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Ukraine - 'Game Changing' Policy Moves That Ain't Game Changing
When politicians throw around big numbers or plans one should always look at the details to see what they really entail.

In May Biden announced and Congress passed a $40 billion package 'for Ukraine'.

The former U.S. Marines intelligence officer Scott Ritter was very impressed with it. On May 22 he went on a talk show with Garland Nixon and Ray McGovern and claimed that Russia would have to change its special operation to counter all the new weapons. Ritter was very agitated (47:55 min). A few days later, in an email-interview with Sputnik, he called the $40 billion package a "game changer":

Sputnik: On 21 May, Biden signed a $40 billion military aid package to Ukraine. Could the provision of new weapons become a game-changer for Kiev?
Scott Ritter: It's not could, it is a game changer. That doesn't mean that Ukraine wins the game. But Russia started the special military operation with a limited number of troops and with clearly stated objectives that were designed to be achieved with this limited number of troops.

Today, Russia still has the same number of troops and the same objectives. But instead of going up against the Ukrainian military as it existed at the start of the conflict, it's now going up against a Ukrainian military that is supported by a weapons package that by itself nearly matches the defence budget for Russia in all of one year. I think the defence budget for Russia in 2021 was around $43 billion.

This package that was just provided nearly matches that and when you add it to what has already been provided during the first five months of 2022, that's $53 billion. That's nearly $10 billion more than Russia spends on the totality of its military in one year. That changes the game. Again, the $40 billion package is not all weapons. A lot of it is humanitarian support and then some other financial support. But it's still... The amount of money it's provided through in terms of weapons, it's a lot.

The United States and NATO are also providing real time intelligence support to the Ukrainians. That's a game changer. And NATO's countries have now provided Ukraine with strategic depth going back through Poland and Germany, where bases are being used to train Ukrainian forces on the new weapons that are being provided.


However, as Larry Johnson and others pointed out to him, the $40 billion was just a talking point and the real sum was much smaller:

Mark Cancian at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (aka CSIS) provides an excellent breakdown of what was actually appropriated. Here is a quick summary:

$19 billion for immediate military support to Ukraine
$3.9 billion to sustain U.S. forces deployed to Europe
$16 billion for economic support to Ukraine and global humanitarian relief
$2 billion for long-term support to NATO allies and DOD modernization programs
Right off the bat, you can see that Ukraine is not getting $40 billion dollars worth of military goodies to whack Russians. They are not even getting $19 billion. The $19 billion is carved up into smaller packages:

$6 billion for training, equipment, weapons, logistic support, supplies and services, salaries and stipends and intelligence support to the military and national security forces of Ukraine (and the specifics of the expenditures remain to be determined).
$9 billion to replenish U.S. weapons stocks already sent to Ukraine.
$4 billion for the Foreign Military Financing Program (this allows a foreign country like Ukraine to buy brand new weapon systems).[/i]

New weapon systems must first be build which takes quite some time, often years, to do.

Last week the Biden administration made another announcement:

Biden announces $3 billion in additional aid to Ukraine

President Biden announced Wednesday that the U.S. is sending its largest security package to Ukraine to date, valued at $3 billion. The announcement coincided with the six-month anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The package will come from the Ukraine Security Assistance (USAI) funds process, which means the U.S. will buy the weapons through contracts instead of drawing from existing Defense Department inventory and sending them immediately.


People got the impression that this was additional money on top of the previous announced numbers. But, as Politico detailed, this spending is part of the previously announced $40 billion package. More specific it comes out of the $6 billion for training, equipment, weapons, etc. It also only means that the Pentagon will start issuing contracts to manufacturers to produce the weapons and ammunition. The Ukraine is unlikely to receive any of them over the next months:

The Biden administration announced a new $3 billion package on Wednesday that will directly fund contracts with the U.S. defense industry for artillery rounds, mortar rounds, surface-to-air missile systems; a new counter-drone capability; additional drones; and 24 counter-battery radars. The move marks a major shift in how the U.S. has supplied Ukraine, from pulling existing weapons off of shelves to awarding contracts to defense firms for weapons that need to be built.
None of that equipment will arrive for months, if not years. But officials say the investment will allow Kyiv to begin planning for its own future defense. The hope is that other wealthy European nations, which have at times lagged in their support for Ukraine, might follow suit in the coming months.
...
In all, Congress has set aside $6.3 billion for the Pentagon-administered effort: $6 billion as part of May’s $40 billion supplemental assistance legislation and $300 million in a government-wide funding package that passed in March. As of Aug. 1, just $1.8 billion of that cash had been used, according to Pentagon documentation seen by POLITICO. Wednesday’s announcement leaves roughly $1.5 billion left to be spent.


U.S. weapons are notoriously expensive. A billion or three will not buy much.

A similar misinterpretation of a government announcements as Scott Ritter has made is now playing out on the other side. As the New York Times today headlines:

Putin Orders a Sharp Expansion of Russia’s Hard-Hit Armed Forces

President Vladimir V. Putin on Thursday ordered a sharp increase in the size of Russia’s armed forces, a reversal of years of efforts by the Kremlin to slim down a bloated military and the latest sign that he is bracing for a long war in Ukraine, where Russia has suffered heavy losses.
The decree, stamped by the president’s office and posted on the Kremlin website, raised the target number of active-duty service members by about 137,000, to 1.15 million, as of January of next year, and ordered the government to set aside money to pay for the increase.


In yesterday's analysis Dima of the Military Summary Channel debunked that announcement as a repeat of orders that had already be given months ago.

The Russian Federation consists of 85 federal subjects which are federal cities, oblast, republics or autonomous ethnic regions. In June the Kremlin asked the governors of each of these subjects to set up one or more volunteer battalions of former soldiers who are no longer active reservists. The bigger federal subjects, like Moscow and St.Petersburg, will set up multiple units. On August 8 Kommersant reported (in Russian) that some 20 federal subjects had already set up 40 battalions and that more will become available (machine translation):

In the Perm Territory, a motorized rifle company "Parma" of 90 people and a tank battalion "Molot" (about 160 people) are being formed. Another tank battalion named after Kuzma Minin is being created in the Nizhny Novgorod region. The Amur region, as reported in mid-July by local media, is gathering the Amursky motorized rifle battalion, which is expected to consist of 400-500 people. On the website of the government of the Leningrad Region, an announcement appeared about the recruitment to the artillery battalions "Nevsky" and "Ladoga". And in the Tyumen region, they announced the formation of three units at once with different specializations: the Tobol sapper battalion, the Taiga sniper company and the Siberia artillery battalion. According to the official version, Tobol was formed on the initiative of veterans of the Tyumen Higher Military Engineering Command School. The first groups of volunteers from these units went to the NWO at the end of July.

The people in these units have signed contracts with the Ministry of Defense. They will be equipped with refurbished weapons out of Russia's endless depot reserves that are left from earlier downsizing. These are now full times soldiers for which the Ministry of Defense had yet to have a budget. All that Putin's new order does is to arrange the funding for those new volunteer units.

To form military units, named after local heroes, from men who come from the same region has some advantages. These people will not feel like strangers to each other which gives them some extra cohesion.The Chechen units which are already operating in Ukraine have shown that such an approach can be very successful. The regional approach has also the advantage of involving every part of Russia in the endeavor. It makes the 'special military operation' in Ukraine a national project.

While the men in these units will be older than fresh recruits they will also have valuable life and work experience. These new units will probably not be the most agile but they will certainly be able to do a decent job. Moreover these are trained soldiers who will have the standard tanks and other equipment for combined arms operations. Their units will be way more powerful than the drafted Territorial Defense and Jager Infantry Brigades that now make up the bulk of the Ukrainian forces. Currently the new units are training at various facilities throughout Russia. When they are ready they will start their rotation into Ukraine.

Likes Biden's 'new' announcement of the $3 billion 'additional' aid, Putin's decree is only a detail of a previously announced policy.

But neither of those announcements, nor the HIMARS systems, are 'game changers'.

Big Serge ☦️🇺🇸🇷🇺 @witte_sergei - 13:27 UTC · Aug 27, 2022
Ukrainian channels are reporting that at least 60% of the HIMARS have been destroyed, and they are doubtful of the attempts to destroy the bridge in Kherson. Another wonder weapon gone bust.

First saw this on Legitimniy, repeated by Rezident. Both reliably optimistic Ukrainian insider channels. HIMARS activity has definitely dropped off, so there isn’t any particular reason to assume they’re lying.

The thing about the HIMARS isn’t that there’s something particularly wrong with it. It’s a fine system. It’s just meant to function as part of a competent combined arms force. It has a specific role, and can’t single-handedly prop up a defeated army.


Posted by b on August 27, 2022 at 16:06 UTC | Permalink

https://www.moonofalabama.org/2022/08/u ... .html#more

Must agree with 'b' on this, all of that 'in the pipeline' don't mean jack unless this goes on for years, which I think it cannot.

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Contemplatives from the IAEA
August 27, 22:26

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Contemplatives from the IAEA

While the IAEA is gathering a long-awaited delegation to visit the Zaporozhye NPP, the level of trust in prestigious international organizations is approaching freezing.

I can't help but recall, after a mass of predictably cautious and politically correct declarations, all the multiple and unsuccessful attempts by the UN to prevent wars in recent decades. So far, the UN has not stopped any of the war crimes of the US and its allies. Yes, there were sighs, words of condemnation from high tribunes and many voices against, but this did not save anyone's life. Those who decided to kill, overthrow and strangle did it habitually and with impunity.

My current fears are that now the international bureaucracy has already been turned from yesterday's passive toothless contemplator into a full-fledged accomplice of planetary lawlessness.

If, after several annual votes around the world against the US economic blockade of Cuba with 2-3 votes against, the UN General Assembly did not find a mechanism at least to achieve an easing of the blockade, generally recognized as criminal, and the topic of Cuba is not a priority for the US governments, but rather symbolic, which Can we expect from the IAEA in a situation of a real war a real force that has called into question the continuation of the world domination of the empire?

Will IAEA officials definitely ask Zelensky not to lie and not to shoot at Europe's largest nuclear power plant anymore? Stomp your feet? Will they threaten sanctions if they refuse? What illusions should we still have?

I will not forget the emergency session of one of the UN bodies in Chile after the earthquake in Haiti. Then several of the employees died there. I was a translator. Two weeks of discussion were devoted to the mortal danger of the work of UN officials and the need for an urgent and radical increase in their salaries. I thought that most of the budget for helping the unfortunate Haitians would definitely go to salaries and business-class tickets for their saviors.

Almost fifteen years have passed since then, and all this time the world and its international organizations have changed only for the worse.

(c) Oleg Yasinsky


https://t.me/olegyasynsky/407 - zinc

I fully agree with the opinion of Oleg Yasinsky. Don't expect much from this mission. The IAEA in its current form is an organization that hails from the outgoing world order, where the IAEA has served American hegemony for decades. And the current transformation of the world order will either force it to transform, or bury it under the rubble of the outgoing world order. In the case of the IAEA, all this is reminiscent of the situation with the OPCW and its mission in Syria, where the leadership of the organization primitively edited the reports of field specialists in order to adjust them to the requirements of the sponsors of the war against Syria.

https://colonelcassad.livejournal.com/7826902.html


Europe stops producing fertilizers
August 28, 9:15 am

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Europe stops producing fertilizers

A rise in gas prices of nearly 30% since mid-August has triggered a wave of shutdowns in European fertilizer production capacity. In a few days, the largest companies in Norway, Germany, Poland, Lithuania, France, Great Britain and Hungary announced a decrease in output or the closure of factories. In general, according to analysts, more than 10% of the world's ammonia capacity is leaving the market, which will support the already high prices for fertilizers in the world.

One of the world's largest fertilizer producers, Norway's Yara, announced on August 25 that it would reduce the use of ammonium (a less toxic form of ammonia) in the production of nitrogen fertilizers by 35% and reduce production to 3.1 million tons due to record gas prices. The nearest futures for the TTF index on the London ICE exchange on Thursday exceeded $3,200 per 1,000 cubic meters for the first time since March: this is 3.5 times more than in early June, and 11 times more than a year ago.

The day before, CF Industries Holdings, an American fertilizer manufacturer, announced the suspension of ammonium production at a plant in the UK. It is the largest carbon producer in the country with a capacity of 400 thousand tons per year. So far, a temporary shutdown has been reported, but before that, CF Industries had already completely closed a similar British plant for the production of ammonia and carbon.

Since the beginning of the week, the leading Polish chemical holding Grupa Azoty has stopped the plant in Tarnow and reduced production to a minimum level (43% of the design capacity) at another plant in Kedzierzyn, while maintaining the load at the plant in Politse. Stopped production of nitrogen-containing products and another Polish chemical concern - Anwil (part of PKN Orlen), which owns a plant for the production of ammonia and calcium ammonium nitrate (IAS) in Wloclawek.

In Lithuania, from September 1, the production of ammonia is stopped by the largest chemical manufacturer in the Baltics, Achema, which has been working with a reduced load since autumn 2021. The company's CEO Ramunas Miliauskas said on August 24 that prices for Lithuanian fertilizers had become uncompetitive compared to products from Russia and the United States. He noted that in order for Achema production to be cost-effective, gas prices must be at least three times lower than current levels.

According to the head of the company, if the high price of gas continues in the next one or two years, Achema will not be able to withstand such costs.

Also over the past week, similar statements were made by the Hungarian chemical concern Nitrogenmuvek and the French Borealis (it is decommissioning the plant in Grandpuy, other facilities are operating at a reduced load). Back in July, Germany's largest chemical company BASF began cutting ammonia production. Reduced loading and the largest German ammonia producer SKW Piesteritz.

The interlocutor of Kommersant, who is familiar with the situation, notes that now 70% of European capacities for the production of ammonia (24 million tons per year) and carbamide (13 million tons) have been significantly reduced or stopped.

According to Kommersant's interlocutors, this trend will continue, which will maintain high prices not only for nitrogen, but also for complex types of fertilizers that use the nitrogen component.

Kommersant's sources are sure that a sharp decline in the volume of fertilizers may threaten the EU with a food crisis and Brussels will soon approve a directive that will allow importers to purchase Russian fertilizers without fear. Now, one of Kommersant's interlocutors notes, the biggest problem for exports from the Russian Federation is logistics.

Dmitry Akishin from Vygon Consulting notes that the share of gas in the cost structure of ammonia can reach 80-90%. According to him, the total stopped capacity is already measured in millions of tons and may be a few percent of the world's consumption of ammonia in the production of fertilizers (140 million tons per year). In total, up to 15 million tons of ammonia capacities have already been stopped or are at risk of closing in Europe, the expert notes.

At the same time, in countries with cheap gas, including Russia, capacities for the production of ammonia and other nitrogen fertilizers are traditionally loaded by 80–90% due to high competitiveness.

Therefore, it is quite difficult to organize a quick replacement of the dropped volumes, Mr. Akishin believes, noting the good prospects for new capacities being built in the Russian Federation. Nina Adamova from the CEP of Gazprombank shares the opinion that in the next six months no one can make up for the fallen European offer on the global market.

https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/5526650 - zinc

Sanctions work. 3% of the world economy, they said...

https://colonelcassad.livejournal.com/7827358.html

Google Translator

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FRom Cassad's Telegram Account:

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Сolonelcassad

Image
Battle for the Sands

situation by the end of August 27, 2022

▪️After the capture of the village of Peski , the strongholds of the Armed Forces of Ukraine along the Donetsk Ring Road became the main goal of the People's Militia units of the DPR.

▪️Advancing from the south of Staromikhailivka in the direction of Pesok , the allied forces came out along the Ring Road to a large stronghold of the Armed Forces of Ukraine near the bridge between Pervomaisky and Peski .

Concentrated fire from 152-mm guns burns out the positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine at the Donetsk seed station . The firing points near the ring road canvas are covered with pinpoint mortar fire.

▪️To the north of Sand , strikes are being made on the reserves of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, transferred to Opytnoe , as well as on enemy positions near the runway of the Donetsk airport .

▪️The assault on the fortified area of ​​the Armed Forces of Ukraine will follow only after the destruction of enemy reinforcements formed after the next wave of mobilization.

Panic is growing in the units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine at the front. Separate units retreat to the rear, refusing to follow the orders of the command and to be on the front line under continuous fire from the artillery of the allied forces.

But the Ukrainian side still has plenty of "manpower" to fill in the gaps with the next "suicide bombers".

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Сolonelcassad
Special operation, 27 August. The main thing from RIA Novosti:

▪️Kyiv carried out artillery shelling of Energodar, five strikes were made on the territory of the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, the administration of the Zaporozhye region reported
▪️Arrivals of shells during the shelling of Gorlovka by Ukrainian troops were recorded on the territory of the Stirol chemical concern, the mayor of Gorlovka said
▪️The air defense system worked in the sky over Kherson, about six explosions sounded
▪️Counter-battery fire near Marganets, Dnepropetrovsk region, destroyed the M777 howitzer, from which the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant was fired
▪️The Ukrainian military shelled the center of Donetsk, "arrivals" were also recorded in the area of ​​the Park Inn hotel
▪️A Ukrainian warehouse with missiles for MLRS HIMARS and shells for M777 howitzers was destroyed by high-precision ground-based weapons in the Dnipropetrovsk region
▪️Allied forces in the Kharkiv direction and in the Kherson region destroyed more than 300 militants per day
▪️Putin signed a number of decrees concerning citizens of the DPR, LPR and Ukraine: on social benefits, on the right to stay in the Russian Federation without a time limit and to work in the Russian Federation without a work permit or a patent
▪️Slutsky said that Russia will consider the possibility of negotiations with the Ukrainian side only if it is ready for unconditional surrender.

https://t.me/s/boris_rozhin

Google Translator

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Russian Ops in Ukraine Update (August 27, 2022) – Latest US Military Aid Package “Biggest” Yet
Posted by INTERNATIONALIST 360° on AUGUST 27, 2022

[youtube]https://youtu.be/6sm5Emu2tKM[/youtube]

Update on Russian military operations in Ukraine for August 27, 2022

US to send air defense systems, VAMPIRE laser-guided rockets, Puma UAS and parts for (not additional drones) ScanEagle drones… many of these systems will not reach Ukraine for months if not years. While the Pentagon is trying to convince Moscow it is in this long-term, the meager package reveals the US isn’t capable of sustaining support for Ukraine in the long-term.

References:

National Interest – Does Ukraine Have Hope of Recapturing Russian-Held Kherson?” https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buz

Ministry of Defence (UK) on Twitter – Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine – 27 August 2022: https://twitter.com/DefenceHQ/status/

US Department of Defense – Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Dr. Colin Kahl Holds a Press Briefing on Security Assistance in Support of Ukraine AUG. 24, 2022: https://www.defense.gov/News/Transcri

Business Insider – US is sending Ukraine VAMPIRE rocket launchers that can turn a regular pickup truck into a drone killer: https://www.businessinsider.com/us-se

Forbes – U.S. Is Sending Ukraine VAMPIRE Systems To Turn Pickups Into Missile Launchers: https://www.forbes.com/sites/erictegl

NYT – Putin Orders a Sharp Expansion of Russia’s Hard-Hit Armed Forces: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/25/wo

TASS – Putin issues decree to increase army’s standard strength by 137,000 as of 2023: https://tass.com/politics/1498157

The Jamestown Foundation – Moscow Resurrects Battalion Tactical Groups (BTGs) (2012): https://jamestown.org/program/moscow-

ARMOR (Spring 2017) – Defeating the Russian Battalion Tactical Group (page 11) (more information about Russian BTGs): https://www.benning.army.mil/Armor/eA

https://libya360.wordpress.com/2022/08/ ... ggest-yet/

Ukraine: The Ground Beneath Zelensky’s Feet is Shifting
Posted by INTERNATIONALIST 360° on AUGUST 27, 2022
M. K. BHADRAKUMAR

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A HIMARS vehicle on deployment in Eastern Ukraine (File photo)

Reading and rereading the US President Joe Biden’s statement last Monday on Ukraine Independence Day, one is reminded of English poet John Keats’ immortal line, ‘Heard melodies are sweet but those unheard are sweeter.’ Three things are striking.

Biden repeatedly invoked the abiding nature of the US’ relationship with the Ukrainian people. But in the entire statement, he never once mentioned the Ukrainian government or the leadership of President Volodymyr Zelensky. A careless omission?

Second, Biden underplayed to the point of ignoring the intense US-Ukraine partnership at state-to-state level. The regime in Kiev is unthinkable without robust US support. Third, most important, Biden was silent on the war as such, which is at a decisive stage at present.

As recently as on August 18, twenty prominent American national security professionals urged the Biden administration to “to produce a satisfactory strategic narrative which enables governments to maintain public support for the NATO engagement over the long term… (and) move more quickly and strategically, in meeting Ukrainian requests for weapons systems.”

But Biden neatly sidestepped all that. Even when he spoke of the latest tranche of arms for Ukraine worth $2.98 billion, Biden expressed the hope that the weapon systems may ensure that Ukraine “can continue to defend itself over the long term.” (Emphasis added.)

American analysts estimate that the $2.98 billion weapons package is radically different in its dispensation mechanism. Thus, while military aid hitherto was drawn from pre-existing stockpiles of US weaponry and equipment, this time around, the aid package will be purchased or ordered from defence contractors.

John Kirby, the spokesman for the National Security Council, admitted to reporters that some of the aid in the latest package could be dispensed more slowly than other parts of the package depending on defence contractors’ current stocks. He vaguely said, “It’s going to depend, quite frankly, on the item that we’re talking about. Some stuff probably will still need some production time to develop.”

In effect, the military-industrial complex may have more to celebrate in Biden’s announcement than Zelensky. The Biden administration is moving away from depleting US current stockpiles, as European allies are also doing.

According to Mark Cancian, Senior Adviser, International Security Program at the CSIS, Biden’s latest $2.98 billion package “will sustain the Ukrainian military over the long term but take months or even years to implement fully… Thus, this (package) will sustain the Ukrainian military over the long term, likely postwar, rather than increase its capabilities in the near or medium term…

“This means that the U.S. ability to provide equipment rapidly may be diminishing… The administration may need to ask Congress for more money soon. Although the bipartisan consensus for supporting Ukraine remains strong, there may be a fight with the progressive left and isolationist right about the wisdom of sending money abroad when there are pressing needs at home.”

This is almost the same dilemmas that the US’ European allies are facing. The prestigious German think tank, Kiel Institute for the World Economy reported last week: “The flow of new international support for Ukraine has dried up in July. No large EU country like Germany, France, or Italy, has made significant new pledges.”

It said the EU commission is pushing for larger and more regular aid packages to Ukraine, but the enthusiasm is lacking at the member country level — “Major EU countries such as France, Spain, or Italy have so far provided very little support or remain very opaque about their aid.”

Waning domestic support is the main factor. Even in Poland, there is “refugee fatigue”. The inflation is the all-consuming concern in the public opinion. The German magazine Spiegel has reported that Chancellor Olaf Scholz is facing dissent within his own party ranks from those who want Berlin to stop providing Kiev with weapons and instead want the chancellor to engage in dialogue with Russia.

On Thursday, Chancellor Scholz made a significant remark at a public event in Magdeburg that Berlin will not provide Kiev with arms that could be used to attack Russia. Scholz explained that Berlin’s goal in sending weapons is to “support Ukraine” and “prevent an escalation of the war into something that would be very different.” He said he was echoing Biden’s thinking.

Indeed, while on the one hand, the United States continues to exert military pressure on Russia, hoping to break the resistance of its long-term strategic adversary, on the other hand, over the past two months, Washington has repeatedly signalled that it is not seeking victory, but a final solution to the Ukraine problem through peaceful negotiations.

As in Germany, there is a huge amount of anti-war pressure in the US too, especially among Democratic Party and the academic elite, as well as retired high-ranking officials and business executives, calling on the administration to stop heating up the situation around Ukraine. if the Democrats lose the midterm elections, or if the Republicans come to power in 2024, then the war could take a fundamentally different turn. Over time, similar changes are highly likely to occur in Europe too.

Already, the steady decline in the intensity of the impact of European and US sanctions against Russia speaks for itself. The Economist, which is a virulent critic of the Kremlin, admitted this week that the expected knockout blow from anti-Russia restrictions “has not materialised.” The magazine wrote: “Energy sales will generate a current-account surplus of $265 billion this year (for Russia), the world’s second-largest after China. After a crunch, Russia’s financial system has stabilised and the country is finding new suppliers for some imports, including China.”

On a sombre note, the Economist wrote, “The unipolar moment of the 1990s, when America’s supremacy was uncontested, is long gone, and the West’s appetite to use military force has waned since the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.”

Again, internationally, the support for Ukraine outside of the western bloc has dropped dramatically in the recent months. Kiev’s proposal on Wednesday to condemn Russia attracted the backing of just 58 out of 193 UN member states, whereas, at the March 2 UN GA session, 141 member countries had voted for a non-binding resolution to condemn Moscow.

Equally, Zelensky’s teflon coating is peeling off. His drug addiction is out in public view. The regime is shaky, as the wave of purges in the Ukrainian security establishment shows. According to Turkish President Recep Erdogan who met Zelensky in Lvov recently, the latter sounded insecure and unsure whether he is being fully kept informed of the ground situation.

Zelensky’s erratic behaviour is not exactly endearing him, either. Pope Francis is the latest figure to be chastised by Kiev — because the Pontiff remarked that Darya Dugina was “innocent.” The Vatican ambassador was summoned to the foreign ministry to receive Kiev’s protest.

The German daily Handelsblatt wrote today that the “internal cohesion” of the Ukrainian government “is in danger. There are serious allegations against the president… At home, the Ukrainian president, who is celebrated abroad as a war hero, is under pressure… The comedian has become a warlord… The 44-year-old has so far been able to switch and act freely with his team, which is partly made up of colleagues from his television production company. But the grace period now seems to have expired.” The daily forecast an approaching political upheaval by winter.

Biden carefully distanced himself from the Kiev regime and focused on the people-to-people relations. Even if the Americans know the Byzantine corridors of power in Kiev, they cannot afford to be explicit like the former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev who predicted last week that the Ukrainian military may stage a coup and enter into peace talks with Russia.

https://libya360.wordpress.com/2022/08/ ... -shifting/
"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 Aug 29, 2022 12:12 pm

Zaporozhye and the energy crisis
POSTED BY @NSANZO ⋅ 08/29/2022
Original Article: Vzglyad

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The Zaporozhie nuclear power plant, the largest in Europe, which annually generates 40 billion kilowatts (50% of all power generated by Ukrainian nuclear power plants) and supplies a fifth of the country's electricity needs, has been recently become a target of bombing by the Armed Forces of Ukraine. A new attack was reported on Friday.

The power supply from the plant to the Ukrainian territory stopped, although it was later recovered. As Vladimir Rogov, representative of the regional administration, explained on Saturday, two electrical units, the fifth and the sixth, of the plant currently supply electricity, which supplies the territories under Russian control. The plant supplies not only the Russian-controlled Kherson region and Zaporozhie areas, but also the Ukrainian-controlled city of Zaporozhie and its surroundings, as well as the Nikolaev and Odessa regions.

The independent [Ukrainian] publication Strana has suggested that the temporary disconnection of the plant from the Ukrainian electricity system occurred "not because of the bombing, but for technical reasons, to investigate the possibility of connecting the plant to the Russian electricity system." Earlier, the director of the Energy Development Fund Sergey Pikin had explained to Vzglyad that, if necessary, the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant can be included in the Russian electricity system in a single day.

In May, the Russian deputy prime minister, Marat Jusnulin, pointed out that the plant, under the control of Russian troops, could be disconnected from the Russian energy system. If Ukraine is willing to accept and pay for the power supply of the plant, which Russia is ready to sell to Ukraine, the plant will work for Ukraine, the government representative said. “If they don't accept, he will work for Russia. Nuclear power is one of the cheapest and most competitive types of energy. There will be no question about where to sell the electricity,” Jusnulin was quoted as saying by RIA Novosti .

The former prime minister, now leader of the opposition Batkivschina party, appealed on Thursday to prepare for the loss of the plant, which as of February produced up to 20% of the electricity consumed by Ukraine. "This means that we urgently need to review the energy balance," Tymoshenko was quoted as saying by TASS . According to the former prime minister, waiting for the winter, Ukraine should focus on the purchase of coal and on negotiations with the European Union for the provision of 2-2.5 billion cubic meters of gas for reserves. It is clear that this fuel (possibly US liquefied gas) will cost Ukrainian users exorbitantly. It should be remembered that, in August, the price of gas in Europe increased to 3,275 dollars per thousand cubic meters.

“Ukraine, of course, needs the energy produced by the nuclear power plant, and it barely got through last winter. At that time, energy prices in the EU were already very high and kyiv was saved only by buying electricity from Belarus. Now the situation is worse for Ukraine, so Kiev needs some shadow negotiations with the Russian side or at the international level so that the plant continues to supply the Ukrainian territory and facilitate the transition to the heating season," economist Vasili told Vzglyad . Koltashov.

As energy expert Igor Yushkov explains, Ukraine is unlikely to be able to solve its energy problems at the expense of its own imported sources of gas and coal. So the question of importing gas from Europe can become a reality for Ukraine. Taking into account the decline in domestic production, it is possible that 2,000-2,500 million cubic meters of gas will have to be pumped, which will cost, as explained to Strana by the energy market expert Oleg Popenko, between 120 and 160 million hryvnias (between 3.2 and 4.3 billion dollars).

"The main question is how much gas Ukraine itself is producing," Yushkov said. “The main capacities are in the west, but some extractions were also developed in the Kharkov region and, according to kyiv, now the work there has stopped. It is worse in the case of coal: it cannot be imported through the ports, it will not be possible to get it from Donbass either, at least directly. I think that Ukraine is still an energy deficient country, even taking into account the reduction in consumption, so it still needs the Zaporozhye NPP.”

However, the reduction in electricity consumption due to the loss of territories, including the cities of Donbass and its industrial giants (such as Azovstal and Ilyich in Mariupol and Azot in Severodonetsk) is an important factor. Since the beginning of the Russian intervention, electricity consumption in the country has fallen by 30%, according to Energy Minister German Galuschenko at the end of March. In April, Sergei Marchenko, Finance Minister, reported that electricity consumption had already fallen by 35%.

“Now kyiv has been left without a significant part of private consumption. There was strong consumption in Donbass, partly because of mining, metallurgy and industry, which are energy-intensive industries. It has also lost Lugansk, the southern territories, the agricultural region of Kherson and part of Kharkov. I can tell off the top of my head that it's about 20% of the energy system. It is the fifth part of Ukraine's energy traffic base,” explained Professor Bulat Nigmatulin, doctor of technical sciences and director of the Institute of Energy Problems.

The drop in consumption may explain why Ukrainian troops allow themselves to fire on the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, hoping that the lost territories of Kherson and Zaporozhye will suffer the consequences. "Ukrainian actions can be called a stress test: they have tried and realized that they can live without the Zaporozhye NPP," said Alexey Anpilogov, an expert on the nuclear industry.

But Anpilogov also added that the situation will change in the peak season of consumption: winter. So if the supply stops, it will be noticed. Energy consumption increases by 20-25% in winter, as Yury Korolchuk, an analyst at the Institute for Strategic Studies, explained to Strana . The Ukrainian media points out that, taking into account the shortage of gas and the blackouts, before the arrival of the cold, the demand for electric stoves has multiplied by fifteen or twenty compared to last year and the cost of a cubic meter of firewood has amounted to 1,500-2,000 hryvnias (twice as much as last year).

Given the real prospects for energy shortages, kyiv's plans to sell surplus energy to the West are a pipe dream. It should be remembered that at the end of July, Prime Minister Denis Shmygal stated that Ukraine was increasing electricity exports to the European Union. “Now we are exporting 100 MW and we will supply 250, which we want to increase eight times in a year”, he stated at the time.

In early August, Energy Minister German Galuschenko told the US outlet Politico that Kiev is ready to increase exports to the European Union to 1,690 MW. According to the minister, the deal would be beneficial: it would allow the EU to save 6,000 million cubic meters of gas (it is understood that Russian). That yes, then Galuschenko complained that the European system ENTSO-E is opposed, since he stated that it was preferable to gradually increase the volumes only up to 250 MW. The European Office left open the "possibility of increasing trade potential, which will be assessed in September considering the stability and security of the energy system."

Taking into account the real situation, kyiv's plans to sell surplus energy to the European Union in the autumn and earn money from it are nothing but bravado," Koltashov said. For the kyiv expert Korolchuk, in winter, when the energy balance is at zero or in the red, not only will the question of stopping the export of electricity to the European Union arise, but also the need to import it. And given the energy crisis in the European Union and rapidly rising prices, there is no guarantee that Ukraine will be supplied.

Returning to what is happening around the Zaporozhie nuclear power plant, it should be added that the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, described the situation on Friday as "extremely alarming" and recalled the need to allow a mission from the International Organization for Atomic Energy. The general director of this organization, Rafael Mariano Grossi, stated that the experts can arrive at the plant before September 5. There is even talk that the visit may begin this week.

https://slavyangrad.es/2022/08/29/zapor ... more-25376

Google Translator

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Canadian Media Once Called Azov Neo-Nazis. Now They Hide That Fact
Posted by INTERNATIONALIST 360° on AUGUST 27, 2022
Davide Mastracci and Alex Cosh

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News outlets have stopped labelling the Azov Regiment as neo-Nazis because it has become politically inconvenient.

Earlier this month, The Globe and Mail published a story profiling the wife of an Azov Regiment colonel, who denied that the group is made up of neo-Nazis. Instead, she insisted it’s “the most motivated, most patriotic unit in Ukraine.” The story offered no real pushback against that claim, and effectively amounted to a piece of outright neo-Nazi propaganda, despite whatever intentions the reporter may have had.

Unfortunately, the piece wasn’t entirely unique, and is merely part of a broader trend in Canadian media that has seen major outlets downplay or openly deny the fascist group’s ideology. This wasn’t always the case — at least not to the same extent.

In order to get a better sense of how Canadian media’s approach to reporting on the Azov Regiment (formerly the Azov Battalion) has changed over the years, we searched for every mention of the group in the archives of the Toronto Star, Globe and Mail, and National Post. We also searched through the CBC News website, as well as some of their broadcasts. All of the 90 unique mentions we found (as of August 10) were compiled, with the description of Azov provided in said article or broadcast being noted for comparison.

We found that these news outlets (and the wire services much of their coverage relied upon) went from directly acknowledging Azov’s neo-Nazi ideology to suggesting that the group is merely “controversial” or has a “checkered past.” Some reports included no qualifiers at all, and simply presented the group as just another Ukrainian military unit fighting against Russia.

Here’s a timeline of how the reporting shifted over the years, followed by an interview with an expert who claims this shift is not due to any change within Azov, but rather out of political convenience for Western forces.

The earliest mention of the Azov Battalion in the publications we searched that we found came in September 2014. From then until the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, nearly all mentions of the group were accompanied by descriptors that accurately captured what they are. These descriptors included: “Ukrainian fascist group”; “ultra-nationalist white supremacist paramilitary regiment”; “a pro-Ukrainian group with nakedly neo-Nazi sympathies and symbols”; “far-right Ukrainian group.”

In February, Russian President Vladimir Putin sought to justify the invasion of Ukraine in part by claiming it needed to be de-nazified. Understandably, some media reports took care not to uncritically repeat Russia’s narrative. However, even in the early stages of Russia’s invasion — when public and official outrage at Russia’s actions, and eagerness to avoid reporting information that complicated anything but unconditional support for arming Ukraine, were arguably at their peak — these news outlets still managed to acknowledge Azov’s neo-Nazism, with no suggestion that this was a feature consigned to the group’s past.

In March, The Globe and Mail published two opinion articles that referred to the group as a “neo-Nazi regiment” and an “overtly extreme-right faction,” respectively. Also that month, the National Post reported that Azov “has openly neo-Nazi sympathies, with members often seen posing with swastikas or photos of Adolf Hitler.” In April, news and opinion pieces from the Toronto Star variously called Azov “far-right-affiliated,” “ultranationalist” and “unabashedly fascist.” And podcast and video descriptions at the CBC referred to it as a “far-right” group.

But then, starting in early May, things changed.

That month, CBC News published an Associated Press (AP) story describing Azov Regiment as having “originated as a far-right paramilitary unit” (emphasis ours).

The National Post published a pair of opinion pieces by a columnist that noted the Azov Regiment “has previously described itself as pro-Nazi,” and called it “problematic” and “controversial,” while stressing the group’s relatively small size. A news article merely described Azov as “one of two units still resisting the Russians in Mariupol,” and cited an “anti-Kremlin” activist who claimed the unit has “moved beyond” its far-right politics.

During the same period, the Toronto Star relied almost exclusively on AP wire stories, which either included no qualifiers of the group at all, or described it as having “far-right origins.” One of the two original stories that the Star did publish said Azov has “been accused of holding white supremacist and neo-Nazi views.” The second Star story included no qualifiers.

Meanwhile, echoing language used in several wire stories, a Globe piece described Azov as having “far-right roots,” but claimed that it has been “increasing[ly] depoliticized in recent years.” Two other Globe articles, along with a dozen or so Reuters and AP reports, included no qualifying descriptions of the unit at all.

As a whole, these news outlets either offered no description of Azov, or claimed that it was far-right in the past but had since evolved. That trend has continued since May, for example with an August broadcast from CBC’s The National referring to the unit as having a “controversial past,” and the August article from The Globe and Mail mentioned in the introduction to this piece claiming it “has a history of far-right leanings but is now part of the Ukrainian army.”

So, what happened? Why did descriptions of the Azov Regiment go from almost unanimously consisting of some mention of neo-Nazi ideology to portraying the group as being just like any other unit fighting Russia?

Some argue that the group has changed and been deradicalized in recent years. As such, they claim that calling the Azov Regiment a neo-Nazi group is no longer accurate. But Ivan Katchanovski, a political science professor at the University of Ottawa specializing in Russia, Ukraine and armed conflicts, told Passage that these sorts of claims are inaccurate.

Katchanovski noted that despite formal changes to Azov’s structure when it became a part of Ukraine’s National Guard, it remains dominated by neo-Nazis. He noted that the armed group also has an affiliated civilian wing, called the National Corps, a neo-Nazi political organization led by Azov’s first commander, Andriy Biletsky. “Before the Russian invasion, they were very active in a variety of attacks, including attacks on Roma and attacks on the presidential administration of [Volodymyr] Zelensky,” Katchanovski explained. He added that Azov Regiment has also been involved in setting up other Nazi-led units.

So, again, why the change? Katchanovski is blunt in his assessment: “This is a political change. It’s not based on facts. Media coverage is often driven by political considerations, and not what actually happens on the ground.”

The political consideration at play here for the war in general is that it’s damaging to Western interests to point out these countries are supporting neo-Nazi formations such as Azov, as well as other less well-known armed far-right groups. More specifically, in May, a major event in the war took place: the battle at the Azovstal steel plant. This battle, which lasted for weeks, saw the Russians fight against Ukrainian forces made up almost entirely of members of the Azov Regiment. This battle was dominating Western news coverage, and is also the period where news reports published in Canadian media began to soften descriptions of the fascist unit. This has resulted in misleading news coverage.

Katchanovski adds that, “This is also going to have a dangerous effect on Ukraine and potentially other countries because now, basically, Nazis in Ukraine are made into national heroes.” He also noted that Azov (as well as Western governments) has consistently pressured Zelensky — including with threats, and even before Russia invaded — not to seek a peace deal with Russia or withdraw forces from the Donbas region. In February, Azov branded Zelensky a “servant of the Russian people” after he suggested that he might negotiate with Moscow.

Katchanovski said that the valorization of the Azov Regiment is comparable to how the West initially supported the predecessors of the Taliban in their fight against the Soviet Union’s intervention in the war in Afghanistan in the 1980s, and also risks inspiring yet more far-right activists from other countries to join the conflict in Ukraine in order to gain military experience, potentially causing a blowback effect if they make it home.

While the Kremlin’s framing of Ukraine as a Nazi state is false, Katchanovski said, Western governments and media have gone in the opposite direction: “They’ve started to deny any presence of neo-Nazis.”

The shameless shift toward sympathetic coverage of the Azov Regiment is another useful reminder that Canadian media are perfectly happy to valorize anyone, including Nazis, so long as doing so serves the West’s interests. These media outlets should be continuously reminded of their coddling of fascists, including if and when the grim consequences of it play out over the coming years in blowback.

https://libya360.wordpress.com/2022/08/ ... that-fact/

All true...But what really blows my mind is that intelligent people don't even notice the shift. The 'Memory Hole' is not on some bureaucrat's desk, it's in people's heads. Goddamn Edward Bernays, blow up the TV.

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About the situation in Nikolaev 29.08.2022
August 29, 13:51

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About the situation in Nikolaev 29.08.2022

The main news today was the complete shutdown of water throughout the city.
The authorities no longer blame the shelling, but admit that there was an accident at the water intake, and the timing of turning on the water is unknown.
Many in social networks believe that the main reason for the shutdown was the complete unsuitability of salt water from the estuary, which harms networks much more than the absence of water.

Against this background, information about the closure of several points for the distribution of drinking water sounded especially painful. In all likelihood, the water from the water supply was further purified there, and the shutdown of the central water supply became the reason for their closure.
On Sunday, Irina Vereshchuk came to Nikolaev. According to some reports, her arrival was supposed to extinguish the scandal between Sienkiewicz and the regional ombudsman of Khmelnytsky, who accused the city authorities of disgusting conditions for refugees.
In order to dampen the scandal, she brought back promises of additional funding for hostels and shelters.
City officials have sweetened the pill for the unemployed by including them on the list of people eligible for aid.
True, in order to get on this list, you need to be officially registered at the employment center, and there are only 1800 such people in Nikolaev.

If we take into account Kim's confessions that 80 percent of Nikolaev residents have lost their jobs, then the figure clearly does not correspond to the scale of those in need.
But given the already huge queues for humanitarian aid, in which desperate pensioners fight and quarrel, there will be a noticeable increase in problems with obtaining food packages.

If a week ago the city authorities abandoned the idea of ​​forced evacuation of the population, now the voices from Kyiv are louder and louder about this, which included the Nikolaev region among the critical ones, along with Kharkiv and Zaporozhye.
For diligence in repressions, the head of the Nikolaev SBU, Nevedrov, was promoted to general.

Of course, in no other region are there such a stream of reports about the detentions of elderly people who “speak pro-Russian on social networks.” Yes, and "correctors" grab almost daily.
Through gritted teeth, the authorities admitted the loss of Blagodatny, from which Nikolaev is only 32 kilometers away.
But at the same time, they continue to “advance on Kherson, breaking through the next lines of defense on the way to Kherson.
But even the most notorious city "patriots" do not believe in it.

(c) Larisa Shesler

https://t.me/LarShesler/65 - zinc

https://colonelcassad.livejournal.com/7829400.html

About the shelling of the ZNPP
August 28, 23:02

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About shelling of ZNPP

1. Ukraine continues shelling of ZNPP and Energodar. Tonight, in addition to shelling the Zaporizhzhya NPP itself, they flew in a high-rise building in Energodar.
2. The IAEA mission should arrive at the site in early September, it is obvious that until the arrival (if any), shelling will continue.
3. Nuclear blackmail continues - its goal is to force Russia not to disconnect the ZNPP from the energy system of Ukraine to the end and transfer the ZNPP under Western control. These goals are not hidden and are articulated openly.
4. It is quite obvious that if the Russian Federation agrees to this, it will be an unequivocal concession, which will show the effectiveness of such blackmail and its reproduction in the future on other occasions and in a different configuration.
5. As before, retaliatory strikes against generating facilities in the territory controlled by the Armed Forces of Ukraine, as well as against underground gas storage facilities, are suggested. Of course, Ukraine should be completely disconnected from the ZNPP.

https://colonelcassad.livejournal.com/7828267.html

Google Translator

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Ukrainian Suicide Drone Shot Down Over Zaporozhie Power Plant

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Its target was a spent nuclear fuel storage facility, the Energodar Military-Civilian Administration reported. Aug. 28, 2022. | Photo: Twitter / @NewsLatinPress

Published 28 August 2022

The device detonated, falling on the roof, leaving no damage or casualties.

Russian servicemen on Sunday shot down a kamikaze drone of the Ukrainian Armed Forces over the Zaporozhie nuclear power plant.

Its target was a spent nuclear fuel storage facility, the Energodar Military-Civilian Administration reported.

"The drone crashed on the roof of the nuclear power plant building. There was a detonation of a transported cargo after the impact on the roof, but sources in the Military-Civil Administration said there was no damage to infrastructure and no human casualties," the statement clarified.


This Thursday, the leader of Zaporozhie, Yevgeny Balitsky, reported that the region suffered 29 bombings in a single day, specifying that 17 of them were carried out against the nuclear power plant.

"There were bombings during the day, there were 29, we recorded every attack," Balitsky explained, specifying that nine of them hit the industrial zone, 17 directly against the nuclear power plant and three more in the area of the town of Kamenka-Dneprovskaya.

Since August 5, both local and Russian authorities have repeatedly denounced direct attacks against the Zaporozhie power plant by Kiev.

Russia's permanent representative to the UN, Vasili Nebenzia, insisted that the continuation of these warlike actions could trigger a "nuclear accident with catastrophic consequences for the entire European continent".

https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Ukr ... -0003.html

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Canada to Return Nord Stream 1 Turbines to Russia
AUGUST 27, 2022

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German Chancellor Olaf Scholz looks at the Siemens gas turbine intended for the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline on August 3, 2022 in Muelheim an der Ruhr. Photo: Andreas Rentz/Getty Images.

Ottawa shrugs off Ukrainian objections to say it will send Nord Stream 1 components back to Gazprom.

Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said on Wednesday, August 24, that her government will ship the five Nord Stream 1 turbines from Montreal back to Germany, despite demands from ethnic Ukrainians in Canada and Kiev’s ambassador in Ottawa to hold onto them. Joly revealed that the decision was made after a request from German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who is currently visiting Canada.

“That was the decision that we took,” Joly said in an interview with the state broadcaster CBC. “That’s exactly what Germany asked us.”

“Canada doesn’t want to give any form of excuse to [Russian President Vladimir] Putin to continue to weaponize his flow of energy to Europe,” Joly told CBC’s Hannah Thibedeau.

Six Siemens turbines were in Montreal for maintenance when Canada announced an embargo against Russia over the conflict in Ukraine. At Germany’s request, Ottawa announced an exemption for the turbines in July, and sent one of them over, but Gazprom declined delivery, citing irregularities in documentation.

Scholz, who was in Ottawa this week to sign agreements on developing hydrogen power with his Canadian counterpart, Justin Trudeau, told CBC that the two countries would continue to cooperate on having the five remaining turbines returned.

“I think there is political understanding that we will cooperate, that we are friends and that we will not make it feasible that the Russian game is working,” Scholz told CBC host Vassy Kapelos.

Ukraine and Germany have accused Russia of holding the EU hostage with gas deliveries. Gazprom has said it would fulfill all of its contractual obligations but cannot be faulted when the EU or Canada impose unilateral embargoes on equipment—such as the Siemens turbines for Nord Stream 1, a pipeline under the Baltic Sea that bypasses Ukraine.

Both Kiev and Canada’s ethnic Ukrainian lobby have protested the decision to return the turbines, saying that it won’t prevent Moscow from “terrorizing” the EU by withholding gas.

“We do think that this waiver should be canceled and now,” Ukraine’s ambassador to Ottawa, Yulia Kovaliv, told Canadian Press. Meanwhile, the Ukrainian Canadian Congress issued a statement saying it was “disappointing to our community that Canada missed the opportunity to cancel the permit during the chancellor’s visit.”

The price of natural gas in the EU skyrocketed this week, after Gazprom announced it would be shutting down Nord Stream 1 for repairs between August 31 and September 2. Nord Stream 2, which does not use Siemens turbines, has been completed, but is not operational, as Germany refused to certify it in protest over Russia’s recognition of Donetsk and Lugansk as independent states.

https://orinocotribune.com/canada-to-re ... to-russia/

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Every Meddling Tactic the U.S. Empire Has Used in Ukraine Has a Historical Precedent
Posted by INTERNATIONALIST 360° on AUGUST 28, 2022
Rainer Shea

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The perception of the events in Ukraine that U.S. imperialism seeks to propagate is one of “see no evil, hear no evil” when it comes to the role Washington has played. The demonization of Russia is so extreme that Kiev supporters often can’t even admit the conflict is a proxy war, for fear that this would in any way harm their narrative about Russia being a completely unprovoked imperialist aggressor. When those on the pro-NATO side have to seriously engage with the reality of what Washington is doing, their responses have a tellingly open-ended nature, where they concede that the views of the anti-imperialists are potentially true while insisting that the whole matter is subjective. Like when the neoconservative think tank the Atlantic Council has concluded that “Ukraine’s status as a proxy for the United States and NATO may be a matter of interpretation.”

As the think tank admits in response to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s charge that Washington is waging a proxy war, “That the United States’, much less NATO’s, military support for Kyiv raises ethical concerns is no surprise; states rarely provide military assistance to other parties unless their interests are also served.” But the possibility that such concerns are based in fact is only vaguely entertained by these neocons. Right after recognizing it’s entirely possible that they’re wrong, and that Washington is indeed using Ukraine as a tool in a geopolitical game, they make it clear that their concern is not over the situation’s ethics. It’s about how best to advance imperialism’s strategic and narrative goals, despite Lavrov clearly having a point: “whether the United States and its NATO partners are in a textbook proxy relationship with Ukraine matters less than the potential consequences if that relationship isn’t properly managed. Both parties should pay close attention to these possible perils—if not out of a commitment to the values associated with the liberal international order, then at least to deny Russia a narrative that can make its cause seem more legitimate.”

The people whose minds the imperialists seek to influence on Ukraine, those being the masses whose opinions provide a sense of “democratic” authenticity to the wars their governments wage, don’t have their support for military aid to Kiev dependent on whether it can be called a proxy war. As long as the imperialists can convince the people that Russia’s actions are without provocation, and that Operation Z’s denazification mission is lacking in factual grounds, the public won’t undergo a consciousness shift. This is why the imperialist propaganda outlets have admitted that it’s a proxy conflict, and instead focus on those other areas within the propaganda war.

As Michael Parenti has said about the attitude our ruling class has towards how we view the world:, “I tell students when they say, ‘Oh they don’t care what we think. They ignore us’, and all that, and I say, ‘Oh no, no. That’s the only thing they care about. The only thing they care about is what you’re thinking.” This is because democracy may be an illusion under capitalism, but even dictatorships do everything they can to control the flow of information and deceive the people into supporting the government’s policies. If the people become conscious of their government’s lies, it’s only a matter of time before the government falls.

Crucial to keeping the public from discovering our government’s big lie on Ukraine—that Russia’s intervention was unprovoked—is maintaining blanket suspicion towards every statement Russia makes to explain its actions. The people must be made to believe Russia is lying when it says neo-Nazis make up a defining element of the Ukrainian governmentalal and military structure. Conversely, when Russia says Washington is using Ukraine as a proxy, the imperialist narrative managers must insist that even if this is true, Washington certainly doesn’t seek to prolong the conflict for the sake of weakening Russia. This is what Biden has asserted in one op-ed, which contains perhaps the clearest example so far of the current president telling a lie. Perhaps we’re waging a proxy war, they say, but that’s up to interpretation. And if you can prove we are, we aren’t doing it for selfish reasons.

Their narrative of a noble proxy war, in which Washington has been taking Kiev’s side against Russia for altruistic reasons, is recognizable as absurd if one has any knowledge of how imperialism works, or the most rudimentary understanding of U.S. history. The U.S. empire would never give military aid to a country, or sacrifice its own internal social stability by imposing self-destructive sanctions, out of some unselfish desire to defend that country’s self-determination. The entire reason the United States exists is due to the genocidal annexation of an entire continent of indigenous nations, and Washington has violated the sovereignty of many dozens of countries through its own invasions and foreign meddling. The aid to Kiev is not about defending the Ukrainian people, but about using them as expendable tools to destabilize Eurasia. To believe Washington is acting altruistically—and by extension to believe Russia is acting out of imperial ambition—one would have to be unaware of every time the U.S. empire has committed crimes similar to the crimes it’s committed in Ukraine.

In parallel to how Washington carried out a fascist coup in Ukraine in 2014, Washington has carried out numerous coups throughout Latin America especially. In parallel to how the U.S. has been backing Nazi terrorists in Ukraine, the U.S. has backed Chilean Nazi torturers, Islamist terror groups, terroristic Hong Kong protesters, numerous dictatorships, drug lords, and the genocidal states of Israel and Saudi Arabia in order to advance imperialism’s goals. In parallel to how the U.S.-backed Kiev regime has carried out ethnic cleansing, ethnic cleansing has been a common practice for the governments the U.S. supports (see Israel for just one example). In parallel to how the CIA carried out false flags throughout the Yugoslavia conflict to portray the Serbs as solely responsible for the war, such fraudulent atrocity stories are now being attributed to Russia.

Another similarity to Yugoslavia is in how the U.S. installed a series of far-right leaders after dismembering Yugoslavia, like how the U.S. has done within Ukraine during the last decade. In parallel to how the U.S. south Korean puppet dictatorship planned to invade the DPRK, then the U.S. portrayed the DPRK as the aggressor when the DPRK preemptively intervened to defend itself, the U.S. has portrayed Russia as the aggressor for preemptively defending the Donbass republics from a planned Ukrainian invasion.

In parallel to how Washington is using Ukraine as a proxy war instrument for weakening Russia, Washington used the Mujahideen as proxy war agents for weakening the Soviet Union. Which later had terroristic blowback towards the United States, like how Washington’s support for neo-Nazi Ukrainian militants may one day start exacerbating America’s own white supremacist violence problem. We’re already seeing U.S. neo-Nazis regularly use Ukraine as a training ground for gaining combat experience, and seeing racial U.S. mass shooters use the same symbols Azov often uses. Imperialism’s infamous past catastrophes are repeating themselves, now with the additional factor of an inflation crisis that’s being exacerbated by this wildly destructive imperialist maneuver. In essentially all parts of the globe, the various human costs of this proxy war are being felt.

How do the empire’s narrative managers engage with these realities? They don’t, because they can’t. If the people get reminded of all the atrocities and vile schemes their government has carried out in pursuit of total worldwide hegemony, this conflict will become easily recognizable as another one of these U.S. crimes. It will become only logical to accept that Russia’s intervention was provoked, and that the U.S. installed a belligerent fascist regime in Kiev with the intention of provoking it. Our ruling class doesn’t want us to engage in these logical steps. “Hear no evil, see no evil” must be maintained by any means necessary, and all the historical context behind today’s events must be concealed.

https://libya360.wordpress.com/2022/08/ ... precedent/

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From Cassad's Telegram Account:

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Сolonelcassad
Short.

1. Ukrainian sources claim a "counterattack on Kherson" and a strike in the direction of the village of Sukhoi Stavok (near Belogorka) and even the capture of the village of Sukhoi Stavok. So far, there has been an attempt to move from the Andreevka area in the direction of Bruskinskoye, Sukhoi Stavok and Kostromka.
Intense artillery shelling of Berislav is also recorded (the workshop of the machine-building plant is on fire), as well as traditional positional battles on the Ingulets River (Kryvyi Rih direction) and in the Potemkino-Vysokopolye region (Nikopol direction - by the way, at night they covered the accumulation of enemy troops in the Novorontsovka area - many 200x). Also, active battles are going on in the area of ​​​​Partizansky and Aleksandrovka, where, after the capture of Blagodatovka, the front advanced towards Nikolaev.

2. According to the Code. Not yet fully taken. The enemy clings to the western part of the village. Ours are working. I think they'll clean it up in the next few days. As soon as they take Kodema, things will immediately go more cheerfully in the Zaitsevo area and in the direction of the Artemovsk-Gorlovka road in the direction of Otradovka.

3. An American howitzer M777 was destroyed in the area of ​​Plavni station. Caught on the run.

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Сolonelcassad
Special operation, 28 August. The main thing from RIA Novosti :

▪️Ukrainian troops again struck at the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant. The Russian Ministry of Defense in the morning reported two shellings per day, in the late afternoon a Ukrainian drone was shot down over a nuclear power plant.

▪️The authorities of the Zaporozhye region are ready for any developments in the ZNPP, an evacuation plan has been worked out, the head of the regional administration told RIA Novosti.

▪️In the area of ​​Slavyansk, 250 enemy personnel were killed by high-precision strikes, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

▪️The Russian Aerospace Forces destroyed an oil storage facility in the Dnepropetrovsk region, from which Ukrainian units were supplied with fuel.

▪️The Russian Defense Ministry announced a strike on the workshops of the Motor Sich plant in Zaporozhye, where Ukrainian helicopters were being repaired.

▪️Ukrainian troops fired four times at Novaya Kakhovka in the Kherson region, in total about 20 rockets were fired, air defense went off, there were hits in the city center and the hydroelectric power station area.

▪️In the evening, Ukrainian troops shelled residential areas of Energodar, there are victims.

▪️Zelensky held a meeting with the heads of law enforcement agencies, it was held in secret mode, the situation at the front was discussed.

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Сolonelcassad

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The situation in the Slavyansko-Barvenkovsky direction
by the end of August 28, 2022

While the offensive against Slavyansk has stalled, the RF Armed Forces continue positional battles near Malaya Kamyshevakha and Brazhkovka , trying to expand the security zone around Izyum .

▪️In the Barvenkovsky direction , as early as the tenth of August, the RF Armed Forces lost control over key heights south of the Brazhkovka-Suligovka-Dolgenkoe line . The heights are in the neutral zone, sometimes units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine rise to them, which are immediately chased away by artillery fire.

At the moment, the presence of the RF Armed Forces is maintained in Brazhkovka and Suligovka, and in Dolgenkoe, the southern part of the village is in the battle zone. Conventionally, the APU hills are located only 1 kilometer from the outskirts of the villages.

▪️Last week, the Russian Armed Forces made repeated attempts to storm height 204.7 west of Brazhkovka : a road opens from the hill to Vernopolye , from where Ukrainian ATGM crews operate.

At the moment, the height is controlled by the APU.

▪️Fighting is taking place on the outskirts of the village of Kopanki : the RF Armed Forces are holding defenses on the border of the village and the heights located to the south, preventing the Armed Forces of Ukraine from advancing further.

▪️The checkpoint of the 93rd brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is located in Dmitrovka : the Armed Forces of Ukraine are unable to move north. New anti-tank systems of the Armed Forces of Ukraine were deployed to the front to counter the RF Armed Forces.

▪️Russian rocket troops and artillery daily strike at the rear positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Kurulka , Adamovka , Dolina , Krasnopolye , Slavyansk , Kramatorsk and the heights occupied by 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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