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 Feb 21, 2023 1:42 pm

"global" war
POSTED BY @NSANZO

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Of late, Ukraine's Western allies, which include some of the world's major military powers, have admitted the difficulties they are experiencing in securing supplies of weapons and especially ammunition for a war unmatched by any conflict in the world. who have participated in recent years. Accustomed to conflicts with a great imbalance of forces, in which they have been able to impose their air superiority and artillery power over militias, guerrillas and smaller armies that they have faced -and whom they have not always been able to defeat-, the Ukraine's western allies now face, albeit in a subsidiary way, a well-armed army supported by a country with the military capacity to supply its armed forces in a long conflict.

In the year since the Russian military intervention, Kiev and its partners, especially Washington, London and Brussels, but also the smaller capitals of European countries, have tried to present a discourse of world unity in the face of an aggressor who caused an unstoppable war. provoked and unprecedented in the rule-based international order , specifically those of the United States. This simplistic speech tries to make us forget the eight years of war that preceded the Russian intervention, Ukraine's attitude towards the peace agreements signed in 2015 and the use that external actors such as the United States have made of the conflict in their successful attempt of hindering political and economic relations between Moscow and the European capitals, mainly Berlin.

However, as evidenced by the case of sanctions, to which a large part of the countries of Asia, Africa or the Americas have not joined, this global unity against Russia that European and North American officials proclaim lacks foundation. Aware of this, the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell, has lamented the situation. But even in those moments when the leader of European diplomacyhas managed to carry out a correct analysis of the situation, its causes are always found in those commonplaces based on the condescension of seeing the countries of the global south as easy to manipulate through "disinformation". With the Russian media banned from the European Union despite its more than limited diffusion, Borrell observes the danger it poses to those countries that he tries to convince "with arguments."

“That battle against misinformation must also be fought. Because whether we like it or not, there is still an anti-colonial sentiment in Africa, and in Latin America, an anti-imperialist sentiment that makes many of its leaders – and its inhabitants – look at this war with different eyes from ours”, affirmed the High Representative of the European Union in one of his many speeches. “Minister Lavrov is touring Africa again these days. Mali, Eritrea. Well, those are easy countries for him, but others are not so easy," he added on another occasion with a comment that can hardly be misunderstood as European condescension about the credulity of countries that are not part of his garden .

Like Borrell, Emmanuel Macron has also recently been surprised by the unwillingness of the former colonies to accept the discourse of the old metropolis. But beyond disinformation - defined as any message from Russia, whether false or not - France has focused on political and military issues and views with extreme concern the tendency of several countries to prefer the presence of Russian mercenaries instead of of the armed forces of countries like the one he himself presides over.

The refusal of the African countries to take a position in a war that is completely foreign to them was made clear by Zelensky's failure in his meeting with the countries of the African Union. Western diplomacy in Africa has only one great success: convincing Morocco, a virtually staunch ally of the United States, to send Russian-sourced tanks purchased from Belarus to Ukraine.

The case of Latin America, for its part, is even more painful for Western countries, since not only has a political position been required of them, but they have also been required to get directly involved in the European and North American effort to finance and equip war. Without understanding why progressive governments and the working classes, who have suffered the consequences of US interventionism in the region and their fight "against Moscow" through death squads or coups in the Cold War era, the United States The United States and its European partners are also surprised by the Latin American refusal to join the war drums.

Even before his electoral victory, in an interview published by Time magazine , Lula da Silva described Zelensky as a bad actor and stated that “this boy is as responsible as Putin for the war. Because in war, there is not just one guilty person." Lula, comparing the current situation with the 1962 missile crisis, a comparison that has been made in recent years, argued that diplomacy should be favored instead of "motivating this boy and thinking that he is the icing on the cake” and, above all, guarantee Russia that Ukraine will not be part of NATO. Lula's speech, similar to that maintained by other continental political leaders such as Andrés Manuel López Obrador or Alberto Fernández, does not seek to defend the Russian position but simply advocates peace.

However, in the current context of exaltation of the war, this position is such a surprise for Western countries, accustomed to the fact that the global south complies without question with the orders of the United States, that even large media publish reports about it. “The US offer sounded attractive: if Latin American countries donated their aging Russian-made equipment to Ukraine, Washington would replace it with superior US weaponry,” the Financial Times wrote last week.surprised that "far from accepting the US proposal, revealed last month by General Laura Richardson, head of the US Southern Command, Latin American leaders have lined up to denounce it." Richardson, who in the past has not hesitated to speak of Russia and China as enemies "that are there to undermine the United States" or to refer to the natural resources of the region as his fundamental interest, presented, smiling, a proposal that always he must have known that it would be widely rejected. The same thing happened with the European attempt to obtain Western weapons and, above all, ammunition for the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

It is possible that the surprise was actually the public way in which, from Mexico to Argentina passing through Brazil, Chile and Colombia, one by one, the Latin American countries have refused to interfere in an alien war between two European countries in which they aspire to mediate. Unlike the European countries, many of which sought war against Russia since the war years in Donbass, the Latin American countries have shown an independence that those who colonized them politically or economically did not expect to obtain in their backyard and for which now they are accused of equidistance .

“With all due respect, we are all America,” said Andrés Manuel López Obrador criticizing that Joe Biden had welcomed Volodymyr Zelensky “to America”, not to the United States, during his visit. Those same countries whose existence they forget to the point of having appropriated for themselves the name of the continent, now demand that Latin America join their war against Russia. The surprise caused by the Latin American refusal to join a conflict and the autonomy shown in these times of geopolitical pressures is as relevant as the complete lack of independence shown by the European countries in this war that Rishi Sunak has already described as "global". In that sense,de facto .

Joe Biden's visit to kyiv yesterday, more propaganda than strategic, sought to show the importance of the Ukrainian issue for the Western alliance. The war in Ukraine has reached the pinnacle of global prominence to which kyiv has been aspiring for years. But in that global war , a large part of the globe is missing. Unless it is forgotten that the West, defined as NATO and its closest allies, can no longer impose its will on countries that it considers should, as a matter of course, follow orders without question.

https://slavyangrad.es/2023/02/21/guerr ... more-26678

Google Translator

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‘Azov’ fascist units in Ukrainian National Guard and Army are being expanded
February 20, 2023 Susann Witt-Stahl

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Fascist ‘Azov’ units deployed at embattled Bakhmut, Feb. 6. Photo: Junge Welt

The Ukrainian military is recruiting forces for new offensive brigades. In addition to a police unit and a border guard unit, six brigades of the National Guard are said to belong to them. These assault units will be made up entirely of volunteers, most of whom have “been through hell” and “driven by patriotism,” Interior Minister Igor Klimenko said on Feb. 2. “There are a lot of those in our country.” So far, more than 27,000 applications are said to have been received.

The new offensive formation also includes the best-known fascist elite unit of the National Guard, which has achieved cult status in Ukraine and throughout the Western world as the “heroic defenders of Azovstal.” Recently, an Azov delegation with celebrities from France’s politics, business and culture – including former President François Hollande – celebrated the premiere of the propaganda film “Glory to Ukraine” by right-wing publicist Bernard-Henri Lévy in Paris.

A Nazi special unit commanded by Azov founder Andriy Biletsky, which was formed in February 2022 and shortly afterward incorporated into the regular army, was expanded to a brigade three weeks ago. Recently, however, Azov has also again become a paramilitary organization inside the National Guard, where it was originally created in 2014 – a large association that can operate independently.

“It’s time to go on the offensive” was the call for supporters to volunteer. “Write history with us. Come to Azov!” As a reward, there are privileges that regular soldiers of the army, who are often driven into the meat grinders of the Donbass without any significant training and adequate equipment, can only dream of: several months of intensive training in artillery, tanks, and drones by experienced officers, a lucrative salary, medical treatment in state hospitals, later a university degree or a career in the Ministry of the Interior.

The announcement that “We guarantee combat operations on the front lines with like-minded people” is likely to attract militant right-wingers with a great bloodlust. Ultimately tempting for them is the destination of the “combat trip,” which Biletsky praised as the “most difficult area”: ​​Bakhmut. “The decisive battle of this war is yet to come. It requires a new standard. That’s why the military command is giving us a new responsibility,” Biletsky boasted on Jan. 26 about the increase in power of his troops. He announced a “hot winter” for the Russian enemies: “We are preparing many surprises for you.”

Azov has launched an extensive recruitment campaign. The promotional videos are designed according to the highest cultural-industrial standards of Hollywood war films. With extremely fast cuts from dramatic action images, underlined with archaic battle horns and Wagnerian bombast sounds as well as beats made of pulses to increase the adrenaline output, the lowest violent instincts are appealed to. “Without a fight there is no glory!” was the motto. On Tuesday, Azov already presented footage of the first days of its army brigade’s deployment in Bakhmut.

In January, U.S. tech giant Meta, which owns Instagram, Facebook and other social media outlets, removed Azov from its list of dangerous organizations. Hundreds of Azov accounts were unlocked. Since then, Azov as a movement – ​​which, in addition to the combat units, also includes militias for terrorizing opposition members and minorities inside Ukraine, a political party, its own fashion and music labels and a merchandise network – has been able to operate worldwide without restrictions.

With its ever-expanding propaganda machine, Azov not only produces fascist warmongering, ideologies of a master race and heroic myths, but also targeted disinformation: above all, the lie that Azov has broken away from Nazism, which is the lie that politicians and the media in the European Union and the United States put forward, being disseminated on a large scale.

Azov leader Biletsky exposed the lie himself on Feb. 3, on the occasion of the 94th anniversary of the founding of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN). He paid tribute to Stepan Bandera, Roman Shukhevych and other collaborators with Hitler’s Germany who shared responsibility for the Holocaust, and urged his followers to act decisively: “The OUN has fulfilled its historic mission. Now is our time.”

https://www.struggle-la-lucha.org/2023/ ... -expanded/

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Not a minute to lose

Yesterday Russian television (Sixty Minutes) showed video recordings taken at the opening of the Munich Security Conference. Stomach churning scenes of Nancy Pelosi kissy-kissy with Annalena Baerbock, of everyone gladhanding Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Minister Dmytro Kuleba and Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov. The Ukrainian delegation to the Conference forms the second largest after the USA. Thirty U.S. Senators! The organizers have found worthy replacements for Sergei Lavrov: Khodorkovsky and Kasparov, who no doubt would be given central roles in any puppet regime installed by Washington in the event the Russians lose the war.

This surely was the single biggest concentration of evil in one building on our planet.

Today in the morning I watched a BBC feature news report on their own British soldiers of fortune fighting in Ukraine. Incredible. These degenerates are lionized. The only thing missing was distribution of medals to them by King Charles. That surely will come in a week or two.

Let us be clear about it: day by day this war in and about Ukraine is taking on resemblance to the Spanish civil war which preceded the outbreak of WWII. Russians are quietly reporting the existence of foreign volunteers serving on their side, including 16 Finns! And the North Koreans are said to have offered to send up to 200,000 soldiers to serve on the Russian side.

Meanwhile Euronews was reporting on the plans for a war crimes tribunal to be set up in the Hague in July. The purpose of this kangaroo court will be to enable the transfer to Ukraine of the seized assets of Russian oligarchs and of the 350 billion in Russian state reserves that are now frozen. By any measure this would constitute a declaration of war by the whole of Europe against Russia. In this context, the 8 billion dollars destroyed in the Nord Stream pipeline bombings look like kid stuff.

Oh, yes, this morning I find that the Iran Press TV video I recorded yesterday is blocked. Try it to see if it works in your area: http://www.urmedium.com/c/presstv/122019

Regrettably, it is clear we are in the antechamber before the onset of a generalized war when all hell breaks loose. There is not a minute to lose to bring out the fire extinguishers.

I wish the speakers and attendees of tomorrow’s Rage Against the War Machine demonstrations in Washington, D.C. and in San Francisco bon courage. The general public must be roused from its apathy. There is not a minute to lose.

©Gilbert Doctorow, 2023

https://gilbertdoctorow.com/2023/02/18/ ... e-to-lose/

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Ursula von der Leyen’s Nazi Pedigree
Posted by INTERNATIONALIST 360° on FEBRUARY 19, 2023
Evan Reif

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Ursula von der Leyen with Ukrainian President Volodymyr ZelenskyI

Her father Ernst Albrecht, President of the German state of Lower Saxony from 1978 to 1990, brought unrehabilitated Nazis into his administration and carried out a black-flag terrorist operation designed to discredit the left-wing Red Army Faction.


In the wake of the Russo-Ukrainian war, terms like “European values” have come back into the mainstream. One of the people who has been most responsible for this is Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission who is now a nearly omnipresent figure in the media.

According to Ursula, “European values” represent only the highest attributes of humankind: freedom, justice, solidarity, and rule of law.

Of course, anyone with even a passing knowledge of history can tell you that these are nothing but euphemisms. Not long ago, “European values” meant something very different. Those values drew the borders of the world in oceans of blood, both of Europeans and those they conquered. A look at the history of Ursula’s aristocratic European family can show us the true face of these “European values” and how the ruling class profited from imposing them on the world.

Sins of the Father

“If we succeed in bringing people of above-average capabilities to governance an autocracy or the rule of the few will be able to create a better order than the rule of the people.” – Ernst Albrecht

Ursula von der Leyen is the scion of two aristocratic German families. She was born Ursula Albrecht, the daughter of a prominent European bureaucrat, CDU party leader, and former governor of Lower Saxony, Ernst Albrecht. The family carefully nurtured a cosmopolitan image as Ernst spent most of his life working for the EU and various precursor organizations. Growing up, Ursula was nicknamed “Röschen” (Rosie in English) by her father, and images of the happy family featured heavily in her father’s political advertisements.

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Ursula von der Leyen und ihr Vater Ernst Albrecht (1930–2014) im Juni 2010Ernst Albrecht with his beloved “Röschen.” [Source: welt.de]

The Albrecht family made its fortune by using its position as customs enforcers in the Holy Roman Empire to dominate the cotton markets of 19th-century Bremen and, from there, the name Albrecht has been a fixture throughout German history.

As is typical for bourgeois Germans, the otherwise exhaustively documented history of the Albrecht family has a mysterious gap between 1936 and 1945. To avoid uncomfortable questions about where their power and money came from and what they did to earn it, the House of Albrecht, like so many others, is content to pretend the Nazi regime simply never existed. Since we will never have answers, perhaps if we raise a light to what surrounds this void, the shadow it casts can show us the true shape of the “European values” Ursula is so fond of.

To begin, we can look at Ernst’s first job in politics, with the European Coal and Steel Commission under the direction of another aristocrat, Hans von der Groeben.

Hans was already a long-time bureaucrat by this point. During the war, he worked as a deputy for the Reich Ministry of Agriculture under the command of Richard Walther Darré. Darré was a fanatical Nazi, writing his first fascist propaganda in 1926 and joining the Nazi Party in 1930.

He soon joined the SS and his loyalty and dedication to the cause led Heinrich Himmler to personally select Obergruppenführer Darré as head of both the SS Race and Resettlement Office and later the Reich Department of Agriculture. Darré was one of the party’s leading ideologists, and he combined the tasks of the agricultural and race offices to set the foundation for Generalplan Ost, the Nazi plan to exterminate the entire Slavic race and colonize Eastern Europe.

Darré was the architect of the Nazi “blood and soil” agrarian policies and sought to create a new land-owning “Aryan” aristocracy. He passed laws requiring an “Aryan certificate” to inherit farmland and was instrumental in Nazi eugenics programs, particularly the Lebensborn program, designed to breed a new generation of “Aryan” supermen and purge the German people of “undesirable bloodlines.”

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Darré shaking hands with Hitler. [Source: collections.ushmm.org]

One of his most promising acolytes was a doctor by the name of Josef Mengele who was put in charge of “racial health” policies within the department. Mengele would later go on to become the infamous angel of death who carried out some of the vilest crimes in history with his industrial-scale medical experiments at Auschwitz concentration camp. Mengele particularly targeted children as his victims and kept them alive for months to gain as much data as possible. He never forgot where he came from: Mengele always cited Darré as inspiration for his ideas on “racial hygiene.”

After the war, Mengele escaped justice by fleeing to Argentina and later Brazil on the “rat lines” operated by CIA agent, future head of West German intelligence and unreformed Nazi Reinhard Gehlen and was protected under the personal order of CIA Director Allen Dulles, who viewed Mengele as a useful ally in his war against the USSR. Mengele died a free man in 1976 and was buried under the name Wolfgang Gerhard in São Paulo, Brazil.

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Mengele, known to the CIA as Helmut Gregor. [Source: wikipedia.org]

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Some of Mengele’s victims after their liberation by the Red Army. [Source: bbc.com]

Darré was proud of his work. He wrote thousands of pages outlining his plans in various publications, and routinely gave speeches inside Nazi Germany promoting his ideas.

“By blitzkrieg…before autumn…we shall be the absolute masters of two continents…a new aristocracy of German masters will be created….[With] slaves assigned to it, these slaves to be their property and to consist of landless, non-German nationals…we actually have in mind a modern form of medieval slavery which we must and will introduce because we urgently need it in order to fulfill our great tasks. These slaves will by no means be denied the blessings of illiteracy; higher education will, in future, be reserved only for the German population of Europe…” – Richard Darré

Together with Hans von der Groeben, they implemented what was known as the Hunger Plan to feed the Reich at the expense of conquered territories. Millions of slaves worked on starvation rations, forced to send every morsel of food to the Reich where it would be used to quite literally sustain the Nazi machine which oppressed them. By 1944, more than 15 million tons of foodstuffs had been requisitioned from the USSR, and this led to the intentional deaths by starvation of more than 10 million people. According to Darré’s plan, after they had been all been sterilized and starved to death, the Slavic “Untermensch” was to be replaced by Darré’s new race of “Aryan” aristocrats, ready to use this land for the benefit of the Reich.

After the war, Darré was arrested and tried for war crimes at Nuremberg. He was found guilty, but despite the scope and scale of his crimes, he received a sentence of only seven years. He served just three of them and was released in 1950. He died of liver cancer in 1953. While this sentence was shockingly lenient, it could have been worse. Hans never saw the inside of the courtroom.

This was very common after the war. The “liberal internationalists” such as Allen Dulles, in charge of American foreign policy, were not bothered by the crimes of the Nazi regime. Indeed, as early as 1940 Dulles was already arguing for an alliance with Nazi Germany, and in 1944 was meeting with Nazi intelligence to arrange a separate peace to use the Nazis as a weapon against the USSR.

They sought only trials for the most egregious Nazis and, even then, ensured that their sentences were as lenient as possible. The rank-and-file of the Nazi regime, the army of people who physically made the Nazi machine do the murderous work of subjugating and exterminating an entire continent went almost entirely unpunished for their crimes.

In the case of people like Hans von der Groeben, they were rewarded with jobs in the new “de-Nazified” West German government. Despite the pretenses of a new Germany, only the names changed. The same bureaucrats labored toward the same goal, the destruction of the Soviet Union and its people, by any means necessary. The state machinery once called the Greater German Reich had now simply been absorbed into a new structure, now called the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

Now in the position of the deputy, Ernst Albrecht took on the same role his boss had in the 1940s, this time with “blood and soil” replaced with “European values.”

Although Ernst Albrecht was a few years too young to have been a Nazi himself, throughout his long political career he made his sympathies very clear. Ernst was an elitist dripping with contempt for the common people and wanted to bring about what he deemed elite rule in Germany as opposed to the rule of the “uninsightful” mob. Given that he never missed a chance to venerate the Third Reich and its killers, it is very clear whom Ernst considered elite.

“The rule of the people, especially direct rule, is essentially such that decisions are not determined by the insight of the insightful [elite], but rather by the common average level based on the majority of the population.” – Ernst Albrecht, The State, Idea and Reality: Outlines of a Political Philosophy

During his time as leader of the Christian Democratic Union (one of Germany’s two largest political parties) government of the German state of Lower Saxony, Ernst successfully wooed members of the neo-Nazi Deutsche Reichspartei (DRP) into the ranks of the CDU. The DRP practiced what was known as Esoteric Hitlerism, a bizarre variety of neo-Nazism that claims Hitler is the literal reincarnation of the Hindu god Vishnu and the “Aryans” of Nazism are the same Aryans who once inhabited ancient India.

The ideology was created by Savitri Devi, a French-born Nazi spy who had been expelled from Germany in 1951 for repeatedly spreading Nazi propaganda and came to the DRP through Devi’s closest friend, Nazi pilot Hans-Ulrich Rudel, who was working as an arms dealer for South American fascists and actively plotting to overthrow the German government in favor of a Nazi dictatorship.

Rudel and Devi believed that, if they succeeded in building a new Reich, Hitler would be reincarnated once more as the Hindu god Kalki to cleanse all inferior races and lead the “Aryan” people to a paradise called Hyperborea. Despite this, Albrecht’s CDU absorbed the DRP almost completely, as they were worried that the DRP would otherwise erode their voter base. The strategy of kowtowing to Nazis worked, and Albrecht’s CDU governed the region continuously from 1976 to 1990.

When he came to power, one of the elites Ernst entrusted to rule was his justice minister, a jurist by the name of Hans Puvogel. Once again, he picked a fanatical Nazi. Puvogel joined the Sturmabteilung, the paramilitary arm of the Nazi Party in 1934 and, by 1937, he was a regional leader in the German Nazi Party (NSDAP). Puvogel used his skills as a lawyer to help justify the extermination of Nazi racial enemies. In his doctoral thesis, he argued for the mass euthanasia and sterilization of all inferior races as a way of solving the Nazi “race problem.”

When he was exposed in 1978, Puvogel lied and said he was in a small right-wing group called Steel Helmet which was absorbed into the Nazi Party, but maintained he had no Nazi past. Documents released by the Lower Saxony parliament in 2012 have proven that this was a lie. Puvogel never even tried to distance himself from the contents of his dissertation, and as far as anyone knows he went to the grave a committed Nazi. For his part, Ernst Albrecht simply never mentioned it. The strategy of simply pretending the Third Reich never existed paid off once more as Albrecht himself faced no real consequences.

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Wolfgang WeihsHans Puvogel (second from left) with Albrecht (center) and his Cabinet, 1977. [Source: ndr.de]

“An individual’s worth in the community is measured by his racial personality. Only a racially valuable person has the right to exist within the community. Someone who is useless for the community because of his inferiority, or even harmful to it, is to be eliminated.” – Hans Puvogel


Ernst did not just work for Nazis, fill his cabinet with Nazis and invite Nazis into his party; he also spent a great deal of time courting Nazi voters. Ernst and his deputies were fixtures at Nazi veteran events throughout Lower Saxony.

Albrecht’s deputy minister, close friend, and Nazi officer Wilfried Hasselmann even gave the keynote speech at a Knight’s Cross Association dinner in 1978, in which he venerated the worst killers of Hitler’s Reich as brave and honorable men, whose courage was an example for future generations who would be inspired by their “European values.”

Albrecht and Puvogel were also involved in a bomb attack known as the Celle Hole scandal. On the 25th of July, 1978, a bomb was detonated on the wall of the prison, in Celle, Germany. The bomb did not have the desired effect, creating only a small hole, and a group of 12 men who were supposed to enter the prison were forced to flee. The perpetrators escaped, but a Mercedes was found loaded with a rubber raft, escape tools, a Walther handgun, and forged passports, one of which had a picture of jailed left-wing militant Sigurd Debus. Later, tools were planted in Debus’s cell to seal the deal, making the whole affair seem like a failed escape plan from the Red Army Faction (RAF).

Albrecht hailed the attacks as a successful operation, which he claims stopped a robbery and murder (he provided no evidence for this), and the incident was used to justify the worsening of conditions for Debus and other jailed RAF members. The RAF responded with a hunger strike, which eventually led to the death of Debus in 1981.

However, the story never quite added up. The RAF members maintained their innocence, and mounting pressure from lawyers and the public eventually led to a parliamentary inquiry in 1986, which found that there was no escape attempt, no robbery or murder, and that the entire affair was a false-flag attack called Operation Fire Magic, planned by the German Federal and Lower Saxony police with the approval of Ernst Albrecht. A Lower Saxony policeman even detonated the bomb. Despite this, nothing happened to Albrecht or his government. The embarrassing affair was quickly hushed up, and Debus’s death was reduced to little more than one name on the long list of those who have starved to death for the benefit of the Albrechts.

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Ernst with Ursula, 1982. [Source: diepresse.com]

It is still unclear why Ernst Albrecht carried out this terrorist attack against his own country; however, it is possible that it was linked to persistent rumors that the RAF was seeking to kidnap his beloved daughter Ursula in retaliation for Ernst’s Nazi sympathies. Because of rumors, when Ursula enrolled in the London School of Economics, she did so under the assumed name of Rose Ladson to conceal her identity. That name was not chosen at random. Rather, it is the link to another time House Albrecht’s “European values” were imposed upon the world.

The Dixie Rose

The religious and moral instruction of the negroes has, for several years, been a subject of great interest to me, and I am satisfied that our exertions in their behalf (although much, very much, yet remains to be done) are not only misunderstood abroad, but unappreciated. To improve the negro is a far more arduous task than many, who have no experience in teaching them, are aware. They are naturally dull, and of a weak intellect, but generally possessing good memories; and those who have been engaged in this work of charity, have to lament, after much labour, that the instruction they have endeavoured to give, although remembered, has been perverted and misdirected. – James H. Ladson, “The Religious Instruction of the Negroes”

Ursula chose her name after another branch of her family, the Ladsons of South Carolina. The Ladsons were a family of slave traders, plantation owners and secessionists. Although the Ladsons do not bear an aristocratic title like Albrecht or von der Leyen, they bore all the same hallmarks of the European aristocracy. The Albrecht cotton business brought the family in close contact with the Ladsons and the relationship grew until, in 1902, Mary Ladson-Robertson married Carl Albrecht, joining the two families by blood.

The colonial ties of the Albrecht family may explain why they were so comfortable around Nazis. Besides the obvious parallels regarding the enslavement and economic exploitation of entire races of people, the colonization of a continent, the racial hierarchies, and mass murder on an industrial scale, the Nazis were ardent admirers of the American colonial system. They even specifically based their racial system on that of the American South.

The Ladson family got its start on the path of infamy in Barbados when John Ladson immigrated from England in the mid-1600s. In 1679, John was among the first settlers in the new Carolina Colony, where he bought a plantation outside of Charleston, which the city has long since grown to encompass. At the time, Barbados was a major stopover point for the slave trade, and it was here that the Ladsons enjoyed their first taste of blood and money.

Barbados was the first British slave society. The beautiful Caribbean island was ruthlessly exploited for its natural wealth when it came under British control starting in 1630. Frequent slave raiding, disease, and intentional policies of genocide from the Spanish before them had exterminated the indigenous Arawak people, leaving the island ripe for repopulation by slaves. Its warm climate and fertile soil made it perfect for growing tobacco and sugarcane, which was then distilled into rum and sold throughout the world.

By 1636, laws were implemented ensuring that all Africans brought to the island and their descendants would be permanent chattel, with no provision to be freed. In 1661, the slave codes were strengthened, deeming all slaves to be real estate, alive for the sole purpose of creating value for their owners. Slaves were considered property first and human beings a distant second, if at all. The rules existed to protect the value of slaves as property, not their lives or dignity.

From 1630 to 1807, some 380,000 Africans were kidnapped from their homes, put in chains, and shipped to Barbados to be worked until they died. Untold thousands of those were sold by the Ladsons to plantations all over the hemisphere and their deaths and suffering made the family tremendously wealthy.

The slaves in Barbados suffered unimaginable brutality at the hands of slave masters like the Ladsons. From 1705 to 1735, the number of slaves imported into Barbados, in addition to those born there was roughly 85,000. However, due to the extreme mortality rate on the island, the total population increased by only 4,000.

Slave revolts, refusal to accept Christianity, or any acts of defiance from the chattel were put down with the absolute maximum amount of violence to serve as an example for the rest of the slaves. This torture and butchery were so common that most instances were never recorded but, in some cases, we have firsthand accounts of the brutality. One of these is from the diary of Father Antoine Biet, a French priest and missionary in 1654.

“They treat their Negro slaves with a great deal of severity. If some go beyond the limits of the plantation on a Sunday they are given fifty blows with a cudgel; these often bruise them severely. If they commit some other slightly more serious offense they are beaten to excess, sometimes up to the point of applying a firebrand all over their bodies which makes them shriek with despair. I saw a poor Negro woman, perhaps thirty-five or forty years old, whose body was full of scars which she claimed had been caused by her master’s having applied the fire-brand to her: this horrified me. As these poor unfortunates are very badly fed, a few occasionally escape during the night and go to steal a pig or something similar from a neighbouring plantation. But, if they are discovered, there is no forgiving them. One day I went to visit my Irishman. He had in irons one of these poor Negroes who had stolen a pig. Every day, his hands in irons, the overseer had him whipped by the other Negroes until he was all covered with blood. The overseer, after having had him treated thus for seven or eight days, cut off one of his ears, had it roasted, and forced him to eat it.”

Despite this, slaves did resist. Acts of resistance ranged from speaking their native language in private to work stoppages, acts of sabotage, and even organized revolts. Sadly, the British authorities maintained a large and well-armed police force, and since Barbados’s forests were completely clear-cut to make way for more sugar cane, the rebel slaves had nowhere to hide. The revolts were always crushed, and slaves in Barbados were not freed until 1834, nearly 200 years after their first encounter with “European values.”

In South Carolina, the Ladsons consolidated their wealth and power, eventually becoming one of the most influential families in the state, with deep connections to finance, politics and, of course, slavery. Much like the aristocrats of Europe, the Ladsons strengthened their house through marriage to other elite families, most of whom were in the slave trade. Among their ancestors were men like James Moore, the former governor of Carolina who earned his position through genocidal raids in which more than 4,000 indigenous Apalachee people were taken as slaves, eventually leading to the complete extermination of the tribe.

In the 1790s, the Ladsons were able to secure their place at the top echelons of the slave trade through a marriage into the Wragg family. Joseph Wragg was the most prolific slave trader and one of the wealthiest men in the Americas. He started out as a captain on slave ships until he earned enough money to buy his own slave market and a plantation near Charleston. Between 1717 and 1747, at least 10,000 people were kidnapped from their homes, put in chains, and forced into the dark, overcrowded holds of “Guineamen” to be sold as chattel by Joseph Wragg and company at the Wragg wharf in Wraggborogh, South Carolina.

It is estimated that two million slaves perished in what was known as the triangular trade from Britain to Africa, to the Americas and back to Britain. As slaves were considered property first, every attempt was made to maximize profits even at the cost of human lives. To maximize their space efficiency, slaves were packed as tightly as possible, often leading to horrible outbreaks of disease and even suffocation.
Two people talking Description automatically generated with medium confidence[Source: twitter.com]


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While expressing my horror at what I saw and exclaiming against the state of this vessel for conveying human beings, I was informed by my friends, who had passed so long a time on the coast of Africa and visited so many ships, that this was one of the best they had seen. The height sometimes between decks was only eighteen inches, so that the unfortunate beings could not turn round or even on their sides, the elevation being less than the breadth of their shoulders; and here they are usually chained to the decks by the neck and legs. In such a place the sense of misery and suffocation is so great that the Negroes, like the English in the Black Hole at Calcutta, are driven to a frenzy. They had on one occasion taken a slave vessel in the river Bonny; the slaves were stowed in the narrow space between decks and chained together. They heard a horrible din and tumult among them and could not imagine from what cause it proceeded. They opened the hatches and turned them up on deck. They were manacled together in twos and threes. Their horror may be well conceived when they found a number of them in different stages of suffocation; many of them were foaming at the mouth and in the last agonies—many were dead. A living man was sometimes dragged up, and his companion was a dead body; sometimes of the three attached to the same chain, one was dying and another dead. The tumult they had heard was the frenzy of those suffocating wretches in the last stage of fury and desperation, struggling to extricate themselves. When they were all dragged up, nineteen were irrecoverably dead. Many destroyed one another in the hopes of procuring room to breathe; men strangled those next them, and women drove nails into each other’s brains. Many unfortunate creatures on other occasions took the first opportunity of leaping overboard and getting rid, in this way, of an intolerable life.

– Rev. Robert Walsh, Notices of Brazil in Walsh, Notices of Brazil in 1828 and 1829


The Ladsons were also active in imposing “European values” on their victims. In particular, James H. Ladson (there are several James Henry Ladsons in this family, none of whom was given a suffix to tell them apart; for the sake of clarity, I will refer to this person as James H. Ladson) was noted for building a huge chapel on one of his plantations where he could impose “European values” on his slaves through forced conversion. This was typical of the South, where their brand of white supremacy took on a paternalistic character. Slave masters viewed themselves as noble, charitable people, bringing “civilization” to the savage Blacks that they brutalized for money. Civilization, much like “blood and soil” and “European values,” was nothing more than a bloody euphemism.

Indeed, the local newspaper called him “an excellent specimen of the old Carolina gentleman, pure in character, and high-toned in his dealings, and was for many years the head of the house of James H. Ladson & Co., now represented by the firm of W.C. Bee & Co. This firm carried on an extensive and lucrative business as rice and cotton factors. He was also a bank director, and for most of his life a leading member of St. Michael’s Episcopal Church of our city, where he stood foremost in Christian virtues and active benevolence.”

This fine southern gentleman was also a fierce devotee of the cause of “states’ rights,” yet another bloody euphemism, and one for which the Ladsons were willing to kill. The truth of “states’ rights” was revealed by Ladson’s own actions: He worked tirelessly for the cause of the Confederacy, and was quite clear that he did so to protect his economic interests.

All in all, 620,000 people died for James H. Ladson’s economic interests, including his own son, and another million were injured, many of them permanently maimed. For this, he suffered no consequences whatsoever, and kept every penny and all the prestige earned through the blood and suffering of slave and soldier alike.

Every Rose Has Its Thorns

“She has a profound European culture, she’s born in Brussels and is the daughter of a Brussels functionary so I can say she has the union’s DNA in her.” – Emmanuel Macron

It is not at all unfair to ask where Ursula von der Leyen’s family’s money and power came from, and what they did to earn it, especially given that Ursula has benefitted enormously from her family’s wealth and connections to further her own career, which can stand on its own as an example of corruption, severe scandal, incompetence and, possibly, even outright treason. Her time as a politician shows that Ursula’s apple has not fallen far from the Albrecht family tree.

Ursula first entered politics in 2003 when she was defeated via technicality in a Hanover regional election primary by CDU stalwart Lutz von der Heide. This was unacceptable for Ursula’s father Ernst, who launched a full-court press alongside his old deputy and Wehrmacht artillery officer Wilfried Hasselmann.

The two set to work both campaigning for Ursula and smearing her opponent, who had held the seat for more than 15 years at this point. At the time, Ursula had a long-running column in far-right tabloid Bild, a newspaper founded by ex-Nazi propagandist and CIA asset Axel Springer which has been sanctioned dozens of times for violations of German law and, through this, she was able to effectively amplify their attacks on von der Heide. Soon, all of Germany was reading the latest dirt about a primary for a small regional election.

The campaign was decisive and, in the second round of voting, Ursula won by a two-thirds majority. It was a safe seat so, as the new CDU candidate, Ursula was elected easily. Considering this, it is impossible to separate Ursula von der Leyen from her father’s legacy.

Two years later, she was picked by Angela Merkel to serve as Minister of Labor and Family Affairs, despite her almost non-existent political experience. In this role, she was mostly noted for cutting social services for the blind and trying to ban heavy-metal albums, a resumé that would not seem to justify further promotion.

Despite this, she was promoted to Minister of Defense in 2013, a move which baffled the opposition. It was here that the “European values” of Ursula von der Leyen began to show their shape once more.

Ursula’s mandate was to expand and increase readiness of the Bundeswehr, and she set about the job with gusto. She began a constant drumbeat for war, arguing that the German army was too small and unprepared to face whatever new enemy she conjured up on that day. Be it Afghanistan, Iran, China, Russia or Syria, Ursula consistently advocated for more weapons, more war, and more money. Ursula even proposed a German foreign legion to bolster the ranks of the Bundeswehr, a proposal that was met with horror and condemnation from all sides.

Almost immediately, she said that the ministry required outside help and hired one of the favorite and most criminal consultants of the neo-liberal political class, the CIA-affiliated McKinsey, former home to such luminaries as Susan Rice, Chelsea Clinton, Pete Buttigieg and many other politicians and business executives of dubious character. McKinsey’s tendrils reach into governments and corporations throughout the world, and it exemplifies the “revolving door” among government, intelligence and big business.

It was more than just a consultancy: McKinsey was given direct control of the ministry, with consultant Katrin Suder awarded a new position inside the ministry to “reform the armaments sector.” Ursula shoveled nearly half a billion euros into the coffers of McKinsey and others for “consulting” services, and received absolutely nothing in return. The unelected Suder was seen so often beside von der Leyen that the opposition joked she was Ursula’s new bodyguard.

This brazen corruption became known as the “consultant affair” and was so severe that it led to a parliamentary inquiry, with opposition from both the left and right demanding answers from von der Leyen. Ursula responded mostly by stonewalling, simply refusing to answer questions or provide information, eventually destroying evidence of her misdeeds before she could be brought before Parliament. As there was no evidence, the inquiry failed. For her role in the affair, Katrin Suder was awarded the Bundeswehr Cross of Honor by von der Leyen.

The scandal was so serious, so brazen and so utterly baffling that the opposition Social Democratic Party openly accused Ursula von der Leyen of treason, working in the interests of the United States government as opposed to Germany:
As Federal Defense Minister, von der Leyen behaved as the U.S. President wanted when he called for increase in military spending: higher military budgets, increased armaments instead of disarmament. And although this minister got into trouble because of her high spending on consulting firms and various personnel decisions and was anything but a role model, she became President of the EU Commission. That is a key function and it is important for the U.S.
The decision for von der Leyen happened quietly backstage. No sensible person can explain why she was given this important office. A partial explanation is that she had the support of important countries from Eastern Europe. The United States has a great influence on these states.

In the first major critical case, von der Leyen immediately and unequivocally represented the U.S. position, where she said Iran itself is to be blamed for the confrontation in the Middle East and for the execution of the Iranian general. With her, the United States can probably also stake a claim on other occasions and play a key role in shaping the internal structure of the European Union. Ursula von der Leyen is the perfect example of an ‘agent of influence.’

– Albrecht Müller, SPD member of parliament January 2, 2021

Ursula’s Bundeswehr was more than just a fundraising scheme for a parasitic consultant class. It was also an incubator for the same vile ideology her father spent his entire life promoting. Under von der Leyen, far-right and neo-Nazi sympathies exploded in the ranks of the Bundeswehr.

Despite repeated warnings from both within and outside of the army, von der Leyen did nothing substantial. Her McKinsey consultants created sensitivity training courses for the army, and Ursula made constant publicity tours of military bases, but the problem continued to get worse. Finally, in 2018, a plot was uncovered from the elite Kommando Spezialkräfte (KSK) special forces unit to assassinate German politicians and overthrow the German government.

Further investigations in 2019 revealed that the special forces unit was not only infested with open neo-Nazis, but they had been actively planning to overthrow the German government for at least three years. Furthermore, despite being repeatedly warned, Ursula von der Leyen and her army of consultants had at best done nothing and at worst actively exacerbated the issue.

A raid uncovered caches of weapons, explosives and Nazi memorabilia. Further audits revealed 48,000 rounds of ammunition and roughly 135 pounds of plastic explosives unaccounted for, leaving many German politicians to question just how many more of these terrorist cells existed within the Bundeswehr. The missing ammo and explosives have never been found. In the end, the Ministry of Defense had no choice but to disband the KSK entirely.

Despite all of this, Ursula was considered a favorite to succeed Jens Stoltenberg as secretary general of NATO. Given the alliance’s history with Nazis, it should be no surprise that her ties to the far right were either ignored or, more likely, counted in her favor.

The reason Ursula was not chosen was because she had once again failed upwards and had already been elected president of the European Commission in a close election which she won despite almost universal condemnation from German politicians both from her own party and the opposition. Angela Merkel, von der Leyen’s boss and close friend, had to abstain from the vote after the German Parliament refused to even nominate Ursula.

The move was, however, welcomed by foreign politicians such as Emmanuel Macron, who released a laughable statement in which he said “I’ve seen her capacity to get things done, and to avoid being captive to particular interests” about the leader who only months before had been accused of treason for her complete submission to foreign special interests. Bloomberg called the woman who had spent nearly five years creating new cabinet positions for her friends and at best ignoring if not actively incubating a second Beer Hall Putsch a “Tough, Visionary reformer.”

Ursula was the first woman to hold this position, and the second with any connection to the Nazis: Former Wehrmacht artillery officer and Nazi law professor Walter Hallstein had gotten his start in politics arguing for the virtues of the Nuremburg race laws as a young man, demonstrating his lifelong commitment to “European values.”

It was from her new platform in Brussels that the whole world got to see the “European values” of Ursula von der Leyen. After the outbreak of war in Ukraine, Ursula has dominated the news as one of the most forceful and steadfast advocates for more war, more sanctions and more weapons.

Ursula even toured Ukraine, stopping for a now-famous photo op in the recently reconquered Bucha, where she shed crocodile tears for the victims of a massacre that we are supposed to believe was caused by Russian forces shelling their own positions, but in reality was almost certainly caused by Ukrainian artillery.

As it turns out, Ursula has family ties to this area as well. The last time a von der Leyen was in Ukraine, Ursula’s distant relative Joachim was bringing “European values” to Ukraine as the Nazi Gaultier of Galicia. In what the Nazis called Operation Reinhard, the region was rendered “Juden Frei” thanks to the diligent efforts of Ukrainian nationalists, who served as punishers for the Nazi regime, only to escape punishment thanks to the efforts of the United States and NATO.

Now, Joachim’s descendant stands with those of the nationalists once more, bringing death and devastation to the people of Ukraine and the world. How many more must die this time for the “European values” of Ursula von der Leyen?

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

Post by blindpig » Tue Feb 21, 2023 5:20 pm

Recognizing The War Is Lost The 'West' Seeks An Exit

U.S. President Joe Biden is in Kiev today to rescue his lunatic project of destroying Russia by proxy war. But there is no good way to do that.

A review of 'western' media shows that the inevitable outcome of the war is now recognized. The only still open alternatives are to risk a large nuclear war or to retreat from 'western' dreams of its permanent hegemony.

Few 'western' officials will admit that the war is lost, that Russia has won in Ukraine. But it has. It had won the war when it successfully trapped the Ukrainian army into a war of attrition.

A the Russian commentator Sacha Rogers writes (in Russian, machine translation):

This war has already been won (moreover, what is most offensive for various "unrecognized geniuses", without their participation and contrary to their foolish ideas of how it should be won). It was won at the moment when, instead of a highly maneuverable war, our General Staff imposed a positional “standing” with an attrition war on the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Strictly by the textbook: Attrition warfare is a military strategy consisting of belligerent attempts to win a war by wearing down the enemy to the point of collapse through continuous losses in personnel and material.


Ukraine has already lost two armies and it is begging for a third one. But the 'West' is unable to deliver it:

Less than a quarter of the modern battle tanks the West has promised to Ukraine are likely to arrive in time to counter an anticipated Russian spring offensive.
Kyiv is expecting its supporters to send up to 320 western tanks in total but estimates suggest barely 50 will reach the front lines by the start of April, prompting concerns they will not be enough to have a substantial impact on the fighting.


The recognition that the Ukraine has lost the war is creating a panic in those quarters that are committed to 'western' uni-polarity.

The Economist warns of the loss of the 'West’s authority':

Ukraine’s future still hangs in the balance—and is likely to remain uncertain for years to come. Mr Putin may accept a ceasefire at some point out of expedience, but his overhaul of Russian society is geared entirely towards aggression abroad and repression at home. Any conceivable end to the shooting will therefore require strong Western security guarantees and large and lasting transfers of arms and financial aid—almost as if a second, much bigger Israel had appeared on Europe’s eastern borders. Some European leaders argue that requires full NATO membership. If reconstruction of Ukraine were to fail, and its economy to falter, then Ukrainian democracy would start to fail, too.
...
Only a third of the world’s population lives in countries that have both condemned Russia for its invasion and also imposed sanctions on it, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit, our sister organisation. Most of them are close allies of America. The rest tend to see the war as a contest between autocrats and hypocrites.
...
Even countries that think that Mr Putin’s invasion was reprehensible might still conclude that Western power is on the wane if it fails to succour Ukraine. But given arms, money and political support Ukraine may yet prevail. Through courage and by the power of their example, the Ukrainian people have earned that chance. There could be no better investment in Western security.


An editorial in the Washington Post is blowing the same horn:

To allow an outcome that rewards the Kremlin in any way would be a moral travesty. It would also deal a potentially lethal blow to the principle on which Western stability and civilized international conduct rests: that sovereign states cannot be invaded, subjugated and subjected to mass slaughter with impunity.

(Ever heard of Yugoslavia? Or Iraq?)

To thwart Russia and safeguard Ukraine’s sovereignty, the United States and its European allies have little choice but to intensify their military, economic and diplomatic support for Kyiv. That means equipping Ukrainian forces with more decisive weapons and in greater numbers, imposing more aggressive sanctions on Moscow and galvanizing a more muscular international coalition to isolate and ostracize Russia.

That agenda is urgent; the status quo of relatively static battle lines is untenable.

In the New York Times one David French warns that America Can’t Go ‘Wobbly’ on Ukraine:

Yet the outcome of the war is simply too important — to America as well as Ukraine — to allow our support to falter. On the war’s anniversary it’s time for a concerted effort to persuade Americans of a single idea: We should support Ukraine as much as it takes, as long as it takes, until the Russian military suffers a decisive, unmistakable defeat.

On the one side of the current discussion you have those, see above, who think of the outcome of the war in absolute terms. The U.S. must win in the proxy war it has caused, no matter what. But there are alternatives. The will require to acknowledge that the short period of U.S. global hegemony has ended. The time for multi-polarity has come.

Count Secretary of State Anthony Blinken as one who is unwilling to admit that As soon as China 'threatened' to negotiate peace in Ukraine did he accuse it -without evidence- of aiding Russia in the war:

In his interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press,” which was taped on Saturday night for broadcast on Sunday, Mr. Blinken said the United States would soon be offering new information to demonstrate Beijing was “strongly considering providing lethal assistance to Russia.”
...
Mr. Wang has been using the conference in Munich as a platform to tell European leaders and diplomats that China is ready to bolster ties with them and to try to play a role in ending the war in Ukraine. In his public remarks on Saturday, he said that China would soon offer a peace proposal to stop the fighting. But Mr. Blinken warned in a separate event against the allure of cease-fires that Russia might exploit to regroup for new offensives.
China has not yet supported Russia in the war. But if Russia would seem to lose the war China would have to intervene. It would otherwise become the very next country that the U.S. would try to obliterate.


The U.S. fell into an escalation trap when it has allowed the Ukraine leadership to lead the country towards disaster:

By virtue of its decision, Ukraine, along with its closest partners in Poland and the Baltic nations, became the classic “trojan ally” — smaller countries whose desire for regional clout against the extant middle power (Russia) is predicated on their ability to persuade an external great power and its global military network (here, the US and, by extension, Nato) to step in militarily on their behalf. As we noted in our study, “this comes at great risk to the regional balancer and at great cost to the external great power”. For ultimately, the arrangement depends on “the threat of the use of force and military intervention” by that external great power, without which the regional balancer would fail.

That is exactly where we are. Ukraine's pathological hater Vladimir Zelenski is leading the U.S. into an ever deeper commitment to win by ultimately destroying Russia.

But any direct confrontation with Russia would lead to nuclear war. The U.S. can not risk that. It is therefore pushing Ukraine to speed up its commitment to suicide:

As the fighting continues to rage, both sides of the Atlantic fear that Russia is finding its footing, Ukraine may be overmatched in certain parts of the east and south and the West’s pipeline of weapons will slow to a trickle. Biden leaves Monday for Poland to meet with President Andrzej Duda and other key NATO leaders. U.S. officials believe that Ukraine’s defense is about to hit a critical phase with Russia launching its much-telegraphed offensive. The Biden administration has urgently pressed President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s administration to consolidate its gains — and perhaps launch its own counterstrike.
The White House has also told Zelenskyy’s team, per multiple officials, to prepare for the offensive now, as weapons and aid from Washington and Europe flow freely, for fear that backing from Ukraine’s European neighbors could be finite.
...
But the reality Biden will confront in Poland is that Zelenskyy has made clear that he will not negotiate until all of Ukraine’s territory is restored — all but ensuring that the war will stretch into the distant horizon.

“We’re in this for the long-haul and it’s going to grind on for quite some time,” said Rachel Rizzo, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Europe Center. If Western support starts to fade away, “there’s no denying that it will have an effect on both the outcome and the length of the war.”


You don't say ...

The 'West' is going wobbly because it can not provide enough for long enough to give the Ukraine even a small chance to win the war:

“We will continue to try to impress upon them that we can’t do anything and everything forever,” said one senior administration official, referring to Ukraine’s leaders. The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive diplomatic matters, added that it was the administration’s “very strong view” that it will be hard to keep getting the same level of security and economic assistance from Congress.
“'As long as it takes’ pertains to the amount of conflict,” the official added. “It doesn’t pertain to the amount of assistance.”
...
The critical nature of the next few months has already been conveyed to Kyiv in blunt terms by top Biden officials — including deputy national security adviser Jon Finer, deputy secretary of state Wendy Sherman and undersecretary of defense Colin Kahl, all of whom visited Ukraine last month.

CIA Director William J. Burns traveled to the country one week ahead of those officials, where he briefed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on his expectations for what Russia is planning militarily in the coming months and emphasized the urgency of the moment.


Faster please, is what the U.S. is telling Ukraine. Hurry up because we will soon have to end our support.

But the Ukrainian army does not have the material and manpower ready to launch some kind of counter offense that would have a chance to be win the war. It doesn't even have enough to regain some significant territory.

The third army it would need would have to be much stronger than the two armies it has already lost. And its not coming.

So what is the 'West' going to do? Deliver more wonder weapons?

President Biden is set to travel to Poland this week to discuss Western efforts to help Ukraine resist Russia’s invasion, as pressure builds on his administration to provide Kyiv with F-16 fighter jets. Poland’s prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, said in a weekend interview with CBS’s “Face the Nation” he believes that eventually “there will be fighter jets from the West” — as was the case with other advanced weapons whose provision was “unimaginable” when the war began.

I have news for Mr. Morawiecki. The first F-16 flew in 1974. To think that 50 year old airplanes will have a chance against Russia's first class air defenses and fifth generation fighter planes is lunacy.

Fighter planes are flown by using trained reflexes, not by conscious decisions. Pilots get trained for that. Once those reflexes are adopted to a specific plane, and its philosophy, it takes years to retrain them for a different one. Ukrainian pilots in F-16s anytime soon is wishful thinking.

But maybe Poland, in its futile bid to be Ukraine's savior, can convince its own pilots to suicide themselves in an environment that is saturated with Su-57s fighter jets and S-400 air defenses. Or it can send its own army to the front. The U.S. would surely welcome another country's commitment to suicide for the greater good of its dollar hegemony.

But I don't think that it will come to that.

The U.S. needs an exit strategy from the war. To recognize that the only alternative is total war and nuclear annihilation, as the Economist, WaPo and NYT opinions imply, is the first step to developing one.

Posted by b on February 20, 2023 at 12:45 UTC | Permalink

https://www.moonofalabama.org/2023/02/r ... .html#more

The Buildup To War In Ukraine - Sunday, February 20, 2022

It is somewhat disquieting how the events these days track those of a year ago.

In 2022 we saw a preparation of Russian and Ukrainian troops for a war, a meeting between the presidents of Russia and Belarus, an exercise of Russia’s strategic nuclear forces on February 19, a strong Putin speech on the 21st, followed the next day by legislative action. Then the solemn and very symbolic Defender of the Fatherland Day on February 23 with military action starting the next day.

The anniversary is following the same pattern. The mobilized troops have been prepared. Putin has again met Lukashenko. Yesterday there was another strategic nuclear exercise. Tomorrow at noon (Moscow time) Putin will hold a public address. On the 22nd the Duma will hold an extraordinary session. Then another wreath laying during the Defender of the Fatherland Day followed by what? We don't know. But something is definitely coming.

From AP's summary of Sunday, February 20, 2022:

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, facing a sharp spike in violence in and around territory held by Russia-backed rebels and increasingly dire warnings that Russia plans to invade, on Saturday called for Russian President Vladimir Putin to meet him and seek resolution to the crisis.
...
In new signs of fears that a war could start within days, Germany and Austria told their citizens to leave Ukraine. German air carrier Lufthansa canceled flights to the capital, Kyiv, and to Odessa, a Black Sea port that could be a key target in an invasion.
NATO’s liaison office in Kyiv said it was relocating staff to Brussels and to the western Ukraine city of Lviv.


CNN added:

The Ukrainian defense ministry has reported further ceasefire violations in the east, after a day of heavy weapons fire Saturday.
...
Ukraine said it recorded a total of 136 ceasefire violations on Saturday.
The Ukrainian Border Guards said that because of the shelling one crossing point for international humanitarian organizations, Shchastia, at the Line of Contact had been closed since 8:00 a.m. local time Sunday. A UNHCR convoy that used the crossing point Friday said it had been caught in crossfire.

Some residents of Donetsk -- which is controlled by pro-Russian separatists -- reported heavy shelling early Sunday. One woman contacted by CNN said she and her children wanted to move closer to the city center because of shelling in her district, Abakumova.

It's unclear where the shelling originated. The authorities in the breakaway republics persistently claim shelling by Ukrainian forces, who in turn regularly deny firing artillery across the front lines.

The woman also told CNN that on Saturday her neighbors had left for Russia and had been accommodated somewhere near Rostov-on-Don in a tent encampment.

The Russian authorities say that more than 40,000 people have arrived in Russia after being evacuated from the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics, according to the acting head of the Ministry of Emergency Situations Alexander Chupriyan.
...
Russia's Investigative Committee says it is beginning an investigation into media reports of fatalities due to shelling in Luhansk region. In a statement, the committee said: "The media reported that this morning the Armed Forces of Ukraine made an attempt to attack the positions of the People's Militia of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic, while, according to preliminary data, there are casualties among the civilian population."


The Donetzk News Agnecy reported of infiltration attempts:

Donetsk, Feb 21 – DAN. Ukrainian saboteur squad has infiltrated the DPR with the purpose of arriving to the Russian border, the Ministry of State Security said.
...
"A DPR artillery depot has been blown up," the report added.
Another saboteur attack was thwarted in Donetsk in the night of February 20.

A Ukrainian saboteur blew himself up at the Donetsk railway station this morning while installing an explosive device.


The President of Russia Vladimir Putin had a call with the French President Emmanuel Macron:

In a follow-up to the talks during President Macron’s recent visit to Moscow and regular telephone conversations, the two leaders had an in-depth discussion of the developments around Ukraine as well as developments regarding long-term legal security guarantees for the Russian Federation.
Serious concerns were expressed due to the quickly deteriorating situation along the contact line in Donbass. The President of Russia noted that provocations from Ukrainian militants were the reason for the escalation. Attention was drawn to the modern weapons and ammunition being sent to Ukraine by NATO member countries, which is encouraging Kiev to pursue a military solution to the Donbass problem. As a result, civilians in the Donetsk and Lugansk people’s republics are suffering and being forced to leave for Russia to save themselves from intensifying attacks.


The OSCE Special Observer Mission at the ceasefire line in southeast-Ukraine reported of Saturday, February 19 2022 and Sunday, February 20 2022 without separating both days in its verbal description.

In Donetsk region, between the evenings of 18 and 20 February, the SMM recorded 2,158 ceasefire violations, including 1,100 explosions. In the previous reporting period, it recorded 591 ceasefire violations in the region.
In Luhansk region, between the evenings of 18 and 20 February, the Mission recorded 1,073 ceasefire violations, including 926 explosions. In the previous reporting period, it recorded 975 ceasefire violations in the region.


However the graphic showing the number of observed incidents attached to the report separates both days. For unknown reasons the number of total ceasefire violations and explosions on Sunday decreased significantly from the previous day. (This was however not a trend. The next day will see another large increase.)

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The map shows ceasefire violations in yellow, orange to red colors. Most of these appear on the side of the Donbas republics. The source of most of the ceasefire violations, like noise of shooting or explosions recorded by cameras, drones or heard by the observers, is listed as 'undetermined'.

The map shows explosions, as small black dots, on both sides of the ceasefire line for Saturday and Sunday. While only few of the hundreds of explosions were located and marked on the map a count of the black dots shows some evenness with 25 impacts marked on the Donbas side and 28 on the government controlled side of the ceasefire line.

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Posted by b on February 20, 2023 at 15:37 UTC | Permalink

https://www.moonofalabama.org/2023/02/t ... .html#more

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President Biden arrives in Ukraine when facing protests in the US

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The meeting between the two presidents took place near the Monastery of Saint Michael of the Golden Domes in kyiv. | Photo: dpa
Posted 20 February 2023 (4 hours 43 minutes ago)

Thousands of Americans demonstrated on the eve against the financing of the US Government to Ukraine.

The President of the United States (USA), Joe Biden, arrived in Ukraine on Monday on an unannounced visit to meet with his counterpart Volodimir Zelenski, when a majority rejection of Washington's intervention in the conflict is reported in his country. in eastern Europe.

The president reported through a statement that "I am in Kiev today to meet with President Zelensky and reaffirm the unwavering and tireless commitment to democracy, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine."

Domestically, Biden is currently facing mounting pressure over thorny issues, including the derailment of a hazardous materials train and popular demand that he stop funding Ukraine to address social problems in the North American country.


Thousands of people rallied in Washington to protest America's warmongering foreign policy and its role in various conflicts around the world.

A few days after the first anniversary of the start of Russia's special military operation in Ukraine, Biden posted on his Twitter account that at the time Russian President Vladimir Putin "thought Ukraine was weak and the West was divided." .

In the same way, the head of the White House announced in front of his Ukrainian counterpart a new aid package of 500 million dollars, meanwhile, announced that new sanctions against Russia will be implemented this week.

“Over the past year, the United States has built a coalition of nations from the Atlantic to the Pacific to help defend Ukraine with unprecedented military, economic, and humanitarian support, and that support will endure,” Biden said.

For his part, the Ukrainian president noted in his Telegram account shortly after the arrival of his American counterpart that "his visit is an extremely important sign of support for all Ukrainians."


According to local media, the meeting between the two heads of state took place in the vicinity of the Monastery of Saint Michael of the Golden Domes located in the Ukrainian capital.

This month, the White House Press Secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, had announced that the US president would make an official visit to Poland between February 20 and 22.

https://www.telesurtv.net/news/presiden ... -0008.html

Google Translator

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Thousands Marched Against the Munich Security Conference

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People protesting against NATO, Munich, Germany, Feb. 18, 2023. | Photo: Twitter/ @MarkusKraus6

Over 30,000 peace activists strongly expressed their opposition to NATO and its claim to increase the arms supply in Ukraine.

Over the weekend, over 30,000 European peace activists gathered in the Bavarian capital to protest against the 59th Munich Security Conference (MSC).

The demonstrators gathered in the city center, from where they moved to the square in front of the Museum of Ancient Greek and Roman sculpture," blog The Free reported.

Besides protesting against the U.S.-centered world order, peace activists strongly expressed their opposition to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and its claim to increase the arms supply in Ukraine.

Meanwhile, the MSC participants continued to deliberate on options for increasing the military capabilities of the Vodolomyr Zelensky regime in the short and long term.

According to a recent study by Infratest dimap, however, "64 percent of German residents object to the transfer of fighter jets to Ukraine. Only 23 percent of respondents supported this initiative, while 13 percent refrained from answering," the Free explained.

"Among politicians, members of the right-wing Alternative for Germany party (86 percent) and left-wing factions (81 percent) consider the supply of combat aircraft to Ukraine unacceptable," it added.


Independent media highlighted that the MSC's main goal was to build updated justifications for the NATO's armament policy and outline a common strategy against Russia and China.

This year, the Munich Security Conference invited a record number of representatives from Asian, African and Latin American countries, aiming to pay extra attention to the problems challenging these countries and their dissatisfaction with the existing global order, said Christoph Heusgen, the chairman of the MSC.

During the three-day conference, many Western leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron, acknowledged that the current global order is imbalanced and Western countries are rapidly losing the trust of the Global South.

According to a MSC report, many countries of the Global South have so far been confined to the role of "rule-takers" under the existing global order. The report urged efforts to re-envision the existing global order so that it can win the support of more countries.

https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Tho ... -0002.html

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Expense of military conflict unbearable
By Grzegorz W. Kolodko | China Daily Global | Updated: 2023-02-20 09:14

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A damaged building is in demolition process in Mariupol, Aug 23, 2022. [Photo/Xinhua]

How different is the Russian-Ukrainian war as seen by those in Bakhmut, where Ukrainian and Russian forces are fighting, from the view of those in the conference room of the NATO air base in Ramstein, Germany, where representatives of 54 countries are trying to agree on more military aid for Ukraine.

The fighting will continue as both belligerents stubbornly take mutually exclusive positions, expecting the negotiations to exclusively meet their terms, which are unacceptable to the other party. But eventually peace talks must take place, because the fighting will not be decisive either on the frozen front of Bakhmut, or on other front lines drawn by strategists and politicians in Kyiv, Moscow, or some other capitals. A cease-fire must be agreed to, and peace negotiations must be held. Yet, according to those promoting continued fighting, these will only happen when one side or the other is greatly exhausted, if not on its knees. So far, each side believes that by continuing the hostilities, its negotiating position will be more favorable.

The situation is further complicated because the conflict continues to escalate. It has become an international conflict on an ever-increasing scale, involving about 60 countries, most of which are supporting Ukraine. Without economic and financial aid, Ukraine would already be a failed state; in 2023, more than half of the Ukrainian budget is foreign-funded.

Although it does not directly participate in combat with troops under its command — rightly so, because it could quickly turn Cold War II into World War III — NATO has been flexing its muscles. Russian President Vladimir Putin's "special military operation" would soon have ended in a victory for Russia, if not for the huge military aid provided by the West, which has cost it over $100 billion in the first year of the war. So far, despite unanimous political declarations made in 2009, the rich West has not been able to allocate such an amount to help poor countries in their fight against climate warming, the true global public enemy No 1.

The recent meeting in Ramstein of 30 NATO members and delegates from another 24 countries, including Japan and Australia, again shows that although there is general and firm support for Ukraine, the positions of individual states vary, with a conflict between ideals and interests. The idea of fighting for "a just" cause (especially when it is far from one's borders) reconciles the whole group easier than the practicalities of specific monetary and in-kind support. The conflicting interests of NATO members and their influential military-industrial lobbies collide.

While it is expensive for countries to send military equipment, it is a lucrative business for their armaments companies. No wonder, therefore, that as many as five brands of howitzers — the US M777, British AS90 Braveheart, German PzH 2000, French CAESAR and Polish AHS Krab — that require different ammunition and partially different logistics, have been sent to Ukraine at the expense of taxpayers. There have been disputes concerning the supply of tanks: US Abrams, British Challengers, German Leopards and French Leclercs. At the NATO level, coordination in this matter is failing, and in Kyiv, harsh words of discontent are heard: "Every day of delay is the death of Ukrainians", President Volodymyr Zelensky's adviser has said, appealing for more weapons. For Ukraine, these deliveries — their timing and quantity — are seen as essential; for arms manufacturers, it is an opportunity to showcase their armaments, so why should they want to shorten the duration of the conflict? That would reduce their profits.

But supplying military equipment is straining the budgets of the countries that are doing so. Years of spending exceeding revenues have led to a United States public debt of 121 percent of GDP.The situation is hardly better in other Western countries, and in some, such as Italy, Greece or Japan, it is much worse. The cost of servicing this debt is rising even more in the wake of anti-inflationary interest rate hikes. The time of great fiscal challenge has arrived. Public expenditures related to the functioning of pension systems inevitably increase due to deteriorating relations between people of working and post-working age. Healthcare spending in aging societies and state expenses toward net-zero greenhouse gas emissions are also growing.

The possibilities of cutting other public expenditures are slight, so it will be necessary to raise taxes. This is not because a group of billionaires and millionaires have called for it, sending a spectacular yet practically insignificant letter to the participants of the Davos Economic Forum, but because state coffers demand it if we want to avoid another serious financial crisis. So far, we are on the road toward one.

Politicians do not present the matter honestly. While declaring that aid for Ukraine is costly and that it is necessary to increase defense expenditures, they do not say that it has to be paid for either by lowering the level of some public services, such as healthcare or education, or by increasing taxes. Reality will force them to say it, in different countries at different times, depending on the phase of political cycles and public mood.

On average in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries, the ratio of taxes to GDP is 36.3 percent. In the US, it is 10 percentage points less, only 26.6 percent, so it should be easier to raise taxes. In France, where this ratio is almost 10 percentage points above the average, 45.7 percent, it will be very tough. In Poland, the political class imposed a statutory obligation to allocate at least 3 percent of GDP annually to defense, without indicating where this additional 1 percent over the level of 2 percent of GDP suggested by NATO should come from, and recently the prime minister announced an increase in military spending in 2023 to as much as 4 percent of GDP.

The sooner there is a cease-fire in Ukraine and peace negotiations begin the better. Concerted international efforts are needed to this effect. It is a time for diplomacy and statesmen, not an arms race and zero-sum politicians.

http://global.chinadaily.com.cn/a/20230 ... afa86.html

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Munich Security Conference 2023: An Exercise in Western Self-Delusion
Posted by INTERNATIONALIST 360° on FEBRUARY 20, 2023
Scott Ritter

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Delegates from around the world assembled in Munich, Germany on February 17, 2023, to convene an eponymously named security conference that has, since its inception in 1963, operated under the motto “Peace through Dialogue.”

For three days, world leaders participated in what has become known as “the Davos of Defense” (a reference to the World Economic Forum held in Davos, Switzerland), discussing critical security issues of the day.

This year, not surprisingly, the Russian-Ukrainian conflict dominated the agenda. What was a surprise, however, was the emphasis that western participants placed on action over discussion when it came to formulating a collective strategy for achieving some sort of conflict termination. Indeed, the dominant theme at Munich was not simply how to provide more material to Ukraine’s military, but how to do so in a manner that escalates the conflict by challenging Russia’s so-called “red lines” – regarding western support to Ukraine.

For the first time since the 1990’s, Russia was not invited to attend the conference. Instead, prominent Russian opposition figures, including exiled oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky, chess champion Gary Kasparov, and Yulia Navalnaya, the wife of the imprisoned opposition leader Alexei Navalny, were invited. The chairman of the conference, Christoph Heusgen, explained this pointed deviation from the principle of promoting dialogue by declaring that he did not want to be seen as providing a platform for Russian propaganda.

The underlying theme in Munich went beyond an escalation of support for Ukraine, and instead embraced the outright provocation of Russia. Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda served as the pace-setter for this trend when, prior to the Munich Security Conference, he urged western leaders to consider providing Ukraine with “essential military aid” such as tanks, fighter aircraft, and long-range missiles, despite long-standing concerns by the west that the provision of such aid would be seen by Russia as evidence of direct participation by the providing parties in the conflict. “These red lines,” Nauseda declared, “must be crossed.”

On cue, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky opened the conference with an appeal, delivered via video and designed to underscore a sense of urgency. “We need to hurry up,” Zelensky declared. “We need speed—speed of our agreements, speed of our delivery, speed of decisions to limit Russian potential. There is no alternative to speed because it is the speed that the life depends on,” Zelensky said, concluding that there was “no alternative to a Ukrainian victory.”

But Zelensky’s exhortations for speed appeared to fall upon deaf ears when it came to two of Europe’s most important leaders. Both Germany’s Olaf Scholz and France’s Emmanuel Macron underscored that, from their perspective, the conflict in Ukraine would not be ending anytime soon. “I think it’s wise to prepare for a long war,” Scholz noted in his remarks to the conference, a sentiment Macron echoed by saying that Europe should prepare for a “prolonged conflict in Ukraine.”

Declaring that now was “not the time for dialogue,” Macron urged his fellow conference attendees to action. “We absolutely need to intensify our support and our effort to the resistance of the Ukrainian people and its army,” Macron said, and “help them to launch a counter-offensive which alone can allow credible negotiations, determined by Ukraine, its authorities and its people.”

There is a fundamental disconnect between the frenetic urgings of President Zelensky and the long-term approaches taken by Scholz and Macron that point to an overall atmosphere of self-delusion that seemed to dominate the Munich Security Conference.

While US Vice President Kamala Harris spoke of bringing Russian leaders “to justice” for alleged war crimes in Ukraine, the Ukrainian military is being systemically ground down on the battlefields of eastern Ukraine, soil that Russia now claims for its own. Current NATO military commander, Lieutenant General Christopher Cavoli, has described these battles as being “out of proportion” to NATO plans and capabilities in terms of the “scope and scale” of the violence being perpetrated on the ground by both parties to the conflict.

Rather than accept the inevitability of a Ukrainian military defeat, however, Cavoli briefed US lawmakers on the sidelines of the Munich Conference that, in his opinion, Ukraine should be provided with modern jet aircraft, including F-16 fighters, and long-range missiles capable of striking targets deep inside Russian territory. These weapons, Cavoli said, would enable Ukraine to fight what he termed “the deep fight”, shifting the emphasis from the deadly fighting at the point of direct engagement to a new war where Ukraine would disrupt the Russian war effort by striking headquarters and supply lines deep behind the frontlines.

In short, Cavoli was outlining an escalatory strategy brought to life by Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda’s earlier exhortations to cross all “red lines” when it came to supporting Ukraine.

But simple rhetoric cannot bridge the yawning gap that exists with reality. Words, especially in an environment like this year’s Munich Security Conference, where all pretense at dialogue has been forsaken in favor of the construction of a pro-western echo, resonate in a manner which promotes an artificial sense of substance. But unless these words are backed by concerted action, they carry no weight and will soon dissipate into nothingness.

This, in short, is the reality of the Munich Security Council—an exercise in self-delusion, similar in construct to the discussions around the conference table in the last days of the Battle of Berlin in 1945, in which Adolf Hitler moved imaginary armies around in a vain effort to seize victory from the inevitability of defeat.

The fact is, there are no tanks, no long-range missiles, no fighter aircraft available in any realistic time-frame that can help Ukraine reverse the deterioration of its military posture vis-à-vis Russia. Zelensky’s demands for urgency reflect a growing recognition on his part that, if left on the current trajectory, the war with Russia will be over soon—perhaps as early as August 2023. The inability and/or unwillingness on the part of the western military and civilian leadership to match their declarations of support with Zelensky’s timeline demonstrates an absolute divorce from reality on the part of those who were gathered in Munich, or else the cynicism of those who know the tragic fate that awaits those the claim to support only too well.

The harsh truth that the participants of the Munich Security Conference know, but cannot speak, is that there is no hope for a Ukrainian victory over Russia.

https://libya360.wordpress.com/2023/02/ ... -delusion/

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European parliament member Clare Daly on Nordstream pipeline attack
Originally published: European parliament member Clare Daly on Nordstream pipeline attack on February 17, 2023 by News Bytes Youtube Channel (more by European parliament member Clare Daly on Nordstream pipeline attack) (Posted Feb 20, 2023)



European parliament member Clare Daly on Nord stream pipeline attack.

https://mronline.org/2023/02/20/ukraine ... now-about/

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The NWO Museum was opened
February 20, 22:42

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Today in St. Petersburg opened a permanent military exposition dedicated to the war in Ukraine on the basis of the artillery museum.
The exhibits were collected for a long time, some with adventures.

The Ministry of Defense and the museum management provided full assistance to the project, which made it possible to collect exhibits already exhibited and not yet exhibited from various directions from front-line units. An important role was played by the International Public Organization Veche and Vladimir Orlov, who organized the collection and delivery process. Special thanks to the museum staff, who gave the collected items an expositional look.

So far one room has been opened. It will start working for everyone on February 22. There will be 4 more halls as the collection of exhibits + equipment will also be.

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There were a few bugs, but they will be corrected. Also, the heroes of 2014 were not forgotten, including those who would rather be forgotten. Well, PMC Wagner was also reflected, although a separate stand is needed there at least. And in general, in the future, in 2014 it would be good to give a whole room. Another war 2015-2021 and 3 under NWO.

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In general, they did an important job. I will also transfer part of my collection of Ukrainian trophies to the museum.

I’ll post a photo separately (there’s a little in the telegram), as soon as I get to Moscow.

PS. The museum itself is of course grandiose. When I arrive in the city of three revolutions for a longer period, I will first look there.

https://colonelcassad.livejournal.com/8181496.html

Google Translator

That portrait of the Donbass folk, I can find Givi and Motorola, but where are Batman and Brain? Perhaps my old eyes are failing but I can't find them there. Could it be that their inclusion of socialism, of expropriation of the oligarchs in their programs disqualifies them from memorial by the capitalist state?

Those two were great heroes of the people. Pisses me off.

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From Cassad's Telegram account:

Colonelcassad

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The battle for Bakhmut,
the situation as of 15.00 on February 20, 2023

After the liberation of Paraskovievka , the assault detachments of the PMC "Wagner" swooped through the defenses of the Armed Forces of Ukraine southeast of Berkhovka and advanced close to Yagodnoye . Now the fighting is going on on the northern outskirts of the village.

At the same time, there is an assault on the northern regions of Berkhovka. Russian units established control over an important position on a hill north of Berkhovka and Dubovo-Vasilevka , improving their tactical position before assaulting the suburbs of Bakhmut.

In Bakhmut, the "Wagnerites" went deep into the defense lines of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Stupka areain the north of the city, freeing the territory of the railway station. The cleanup is ongoing.

In Zabakhmutovka, the assault troops advanced further along Vatutina Street , reaching the area of ​​the cemetery, in the eastern parts of Bakhmut.

Positional battles are going on in the south of the city and southeast of Bakhmut. Russian units, with fire support from artillery and aviation, are pushing through Ukrainian fortifications in the Budenovka area and near the highway from Konstantinovka .

Now the main efforts are concentrated on the assault on the northern regions of Bakhmut and its suburbs. The successful liberation of Paraskoviivka made it possible to increase pressure on Berkhovka and Dubovo-Vasilevka, through which the supply of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the north of the city was organized.

The advance in the south-east of Bakhmut and in the direction of Orekhovo-Vasilevka makes it possible to tie down the efforts of Ukrainian formations. At the same time, the Armed Forces of Ukraine sent a hastily formed battalion from the Sumy region to Bakhmut.

Also in the same area, there is an accelerated training of a combined rifle battalion, which should replace 37 OSB from the Karpaty TGr , which suffered losses in the battles for Krasnaya Gora and Paraskovievka.

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Colonelcassad


Armed Forces of Ukraine lost the "repair center" of M777 howitzers in the Liman direction: Details According to the “Military Chronicle”, during the attack on the object of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, at least three guns were destroyed and four more guns were seriously damaged. Presumably, interchangeable barrels for M777 howitzers, transferred to Ukrainian artillery units, were also stored there.

According to preliminary data, the guns belonged to units of the 43rd and 45th artillery brigades and were damaged during the battles for Soledar, after which they were delivered for repairs. During the inspection, it turned out that the repair center of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, in which technicians who had undergone artillery training under the JMTG-U and UNIFIER programs at the Yavorovsky training ground, would be able to restore no more than two damaged M777 guns and one FH-70 howitzer of 155 mm caliber.

The Lancet drones were deployed to the center for restoring the combat readiness of Western howitzers. After one of the February strikes on the positions of the 45th artillery brigade with loitering ammunition, units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine began an emergency withdrawal and sent a large number of Western-made guns to a camouflaged repair base 40 km west of Kremennaya.

Weapons dispatch routes were uncovered by Orlan-30 drone operators, and after several days of observation, the repair facility was hit. According to preliminary data, the destruction of guns and sets of spare parts for them will lead to the fact that in late February - early March, the Armed Forces of Ukraine may encounter difficulties in repairing US and NATO howitzers near the front line. Another repair center for 155 mm caliber guns is supposedly located in Kharkiv, due to which the process of sending, restoring, testing and delivering the gun back to the units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine can stretch for two to three months.

https://t.me/s/boris_rozhin

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

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

Post by blindpig » Wed Feb 22, 2023 1:20 pm

The People's Republics one year after their recognition
POSTED BY @NSANZO ⋅ 02/22/2023

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After several months of escalating tensions and failed negotiations, the hours of February 22, 2022 represented a hectic moment in which the fragile balance that had been maintained for seven years in the Minsk process completely collapsed. Weeks earlier, the United States and NATO had rejected any political negotiations with Russia to stop the Alliance's expansion to the east in which Moscow demanded a written commitment not to admit countries such as Georgia and Ukraine. The Russian goal was not unlike the Soviet Union's diplomatic attempts over the past century, to be included in the continent's security architecture. Created largely against Moscow in both the post-World War I years and the Cold War, the European security architecture has always been closed to Moscow, which has never ceased to be considered a rival and an opponent, never a potential ally with whom continental countries shared interests. Overestimating the weakness of the United States after the withdrawal from Afghanistan, Russia wanted to force Washington into a negotiation that was always impossible. The United States, which used the war to pressure its partners for a move away from Moscow that has materialized in the last year, which since 2014 has been comfortable with a controlled war on Russia's borders. Negotiation was never possible.

From the beginning, the Ukrainian conflict had an internal component, a political part stemming from the division caused by the coup on February 24, 2014, which made possible the annexation of Crimea and caused the war in Donbass, and a geopolitical aspect. that went beyond internal Ukrainian politics or the relationship between Moscow and Kiev. In the first weeks of 2022, these two aspects converged at their maximum tension to force a complete change in the strategy that Russia had followed since the first months of 2014 after the annexation of Crimea,

Used throughout the Minsk years as an element of pressure in moments of tension, Ukrainian bombing increased from February 18, four days before what would be the Russian recognition of the People's Republics. The latest attempt to hold a Normandy Format summit to relaunch the ever-moribund Minsk process had already failed. As it became known in subsequent weeks, Zelensky had also rejected Olaf Scholz's latest attempt to avoid war by promising Ukraine easy access to the European Union in exchange for a resolution of the conflict based on the Minsk agreements and the resignation from NATO. . For Ukraine, Minsk was always an unacceptable concession: the existence of a region with a certain degree of autonomy made it impossible to impose that monocultural country, nationalist and to reject any common past, present or future with Russia. The risk of a broader and more destructive war was preferable to compliance with the peace agreements signed in the Belarusian capital on February 12, 2015.

In a context of sharp increase in bombardments against Donetsk and Lugansk, announcement of evacuation of civilians and hasty departure of the OSCE monitoring mission, on February 22, 2022, in a three-way conversation with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron, Vladimir Putin announced Russia's intention to recognize the independence of the DPR and the RPL, a step hitherto unthinkable and with which Russia finally buried the Minsk process. Hours later, the Russian media broadcast Vladimir Putin's pre-recorded speech, in which the Russian president appealed to history and denied everything the Soviet Union meant, but ultimately regretted its dissolution. Minutes later, and after years of trying to reach a face-to-face negotiation with Volodymyr Zelensky,

The joy of the People's Republics for having finally achieved what a large part of the population still residing in the area had been seeking for years was brief. On February 23, both Donbass and Russia celebrated Fatherland Defense Day. These acts, a continuation of what happened the previous day, not only marked the closure of one stage but the beginning of another: Russian recognition not only opened the final path to the accession of the territories to Russia but also the beginning of a new and much harsher phase of the war. The special military operation , like the anti-terrorist operation and the joint forces operation before it , was nothing more than a euphemism for a land war with a special role for artillery.

February 24 meant extending the war to the entire country and, with the Russian withdrawal from kyiv in the first days of April, the consolidation of a front of around a thousand kilometers that divided the Ukrainian territory. The entry of Russia affected for the first time the civilian population of Ukraine, which had remained so far from the war that in eight years of conflict there has not been a single action in the country against Kiev's aggression against Donbass. But this phase of the war has disproportionately affected the civilian population of Donbass, which suffers from the bombing and the destruction of infrastructure, ruined both by the current bombing and by what has accumulated in the first eight years of war.

The first days of the Russian military intervention marked a rapid advance in the Lugansk region, where the LPR managed to capture, with little to no fighting, towns that had been fought over for months in 2014-2015. The Russian and Republican advance in the region was not complicated until the battle for larger cities such as Popasnaya began, in strategic positioning and which in June 2022 meant a series of important advances. Although less publicized than Mariupol, the battles for Severodonetsk or Rubezhnoe caused similar destruction and followed the same script: Ukrainian troops chose to fight to the end by taking refuge in industrial zones,
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The Russian advance into the DPR, much more fortified during the eight years of war in Donbass, was always slower, even in the first moments of Russian intervention, still counting on the surprise effect of the rapid arrival of reinforcements for the armies of the People's Republics. So far, successes in driving Ukrainian troops away from large urban agglomerations have been limited in both Gorlovka to the north and Donetsk-Makeevka to the west. Completely destroyed, Marinka remains, at least partially, in the hands of Kiev, which from there, as from other neighboring satellite cities, continues to attack the residential areas of the Donbass capital almost daily and indiscriminately.

Russia's main military success in the DPR came in the first few months with the two-way advance on Mariupol. From the north, the Donetsk army managed, with great effort and at the cost of significant casualties, to capture Volnovaja, a town that opened the way to the southern capital, on which Russian troops were advancing from the Crimea. Both contingents would unite, sealing the fate of the Ukrainian group, which despite the offer of a green corridor through which to leave the city, chose to fight until the end that occurred in the Azovstal catacombs, where the immense Soviet factory it protected members of the Azov regiment and other units of the Ukrainian regular army until the surrender and evacuation. A political agreement returned part of those soldiers to Ukraine months later,

The end of the battle for Mariupol released a significant number of troops, which resulted in the final advances in the summer of 2022 with the capture of Severodonetsk and Lisichansk and the approach to Artyomovsk. However, the paralysis of Russian advances on the southern front, the exhaustion of the war and the difficulty of advancing on the most fortified areas of Donbass against Ukrainian troops reinforced by the successful defense of Kiev showed the limits of offensive capabilities. The battle for Artyomovsk, which began last July, currently continues based on methodical assaults on the surrounding towns and the attempt to close the siege that prevents Ukraine from supplying its troops.

With the fighting concentrated on the northern front, but without any Russian attempt to advance on Slavyansk from the north, Ukraine began its campaign of pressure against the civilian population of Donetsk at the end of May, subjected to daily bombardments in a context of growing precariousness . Ukrainian control of the northern part of the region means control of the water supply, which has left Donbass's most populous city with deprivations that make an already difficult life even more difficult. Although not reaching the levels of Mariupol, Rubezhnoe or Popasnaya, death and destruction accumulates daily in Donetsk, with the population unable to glimpse the end.

Throughout the spring, when the road to Russia's accession already seemed a straight line, Russian managers landed in the DPR and PRL governments. Its mission is to achieve a functional administration and, above all, speed up a minimal reconstruction that makes life possible for the civilian population. Although with successes such as the construction of entire neighborhoods of residential buildings in Mariupol, the magnitude of the reconstruction needs means that the work has only just begun.

The definitive change occurred as a result of the Russian defeat at Kharkov, when Russia lost the possibility of advancing towards Slavyansk-Kramatorsk from the north and the direct assault on fortified areas remained the only way forward. But beyond the tactical consequences of the loss of positions such as Izium, the collapse of the Kharkov front meant for Russia the need to justify the partial mobilization decreed in September by President Vladimir Putin. This political decision required legitimation, which resulted in the referendums that gave rise to the accession of the territories to Russia. Eight and a half years after the accession of Crimea, on September 30, 2022, the DPR and the RPL finally achieved the goal for which they were born.

This recognition of the DPR and the RPL as Russian territories does not imply, at least for the moment, a final resolution and will only be symbolic until it is consolidated on the ground. Since official accession, Russia has lost control of part of the territory, mainly the city of Krasny Liman, and has recovered others, such as the city of Soledar, as early as January 2023. However, with enormous accumulated destruction and thousands of casualties both among the armies of the Republics and among the civilian population, the year that has passed since Russian recognition has not meant an improvement in the standard of living or a reduction in the danger for the civilian population. With the front still too close to the most important cities and with the Ukrainian artillery threat in large residential areas even in the capital of Donbass,

https://slavyangrad.es/2023/02/22/las-r ... more-26685

Google Translator

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Russian Foreign Ministry on the suspension of START-3
February 21, 23:35

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Statement by the Russian Foreign Ministry in connection with the suspension by the Russian Federation of the Treaty on Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms (START)

In the statement of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the situation around the START, published on February 8, 2023, as well as in the corresponding comments of the leadership of the Ministry, a detailed assessment was given of the unfavorable state of affairs with the implementation of the Treaty, which has developed as a result of the destructive actions of the United States in the context of this agreement, as well as in general behind the line they are pursuing towards a comprehensive weakening of the security of the Russian Federation and the political and economic "suffocation" of our country.

In the development of the previously outlined approaches, we note the following negative factors that, through the fault of the United States, undercut the full-fledged functioning of the New START Treaty.

Washington's extreme hostility, the confrontation it escalates, and its overt course of malicious escalation of the conflict in and around Ukraine have created a fundamentally different security environment for us.

At the same time, we remind you again that the START preamble, which is its integral part, postulates the commitment of the parties to the principle of indivisible security and building relations based on mutual trust and cooperation. Today, however, the United States is openly seeking to inflict a “strategic defeat” on Russia, and the tensions fueled by Washington go far beyond the Ukrainian crisis – the United States and the West they lead are trying to harm our country at any level, in any area and in any region of the world.

There is every reason to state that US policy is aimed at undermining Russia's national security, which directly contradicts the fundamental principles and understandings enshrined in the START preamble, on which the Treaty is based and without which it would not have been concluded. In fact, we are talking about a radical change in circumstances compared to those that existed at the time the START was signed.

In such an environment, it is no longer possible to conduct business with the United States and the West in general as usual, both in principle and in relation to the field of arms control, which is inseparable from geopolitical and military-strategic realities.

Moreover, serious changes in the security landscape are also related to the fact that the consolidation of Western countries on anti-Russian soil is increasingly affecting aspects of their nuclear policy. In particular, NATO members, who have been practicing so-called “joint nuclear missions” for decades and have for some time now openly declared the North Atlantic bloc a “nuclear alliance”, are increasing the emphasis on nuclear weapons in NATO-wide conceptual guidelines, declaring their focus on further strengthening and increasing the combat readiness of “assigned » to NATO potentials in this area. There are calls for expanding the bloc's nuclear infrastructure and moving it east. The direction of these efforts against our country is not hidden.

In this context, the factor of the combined nuclear arsenal of the three NATO nuclear powers, namely the United States, Great Britain and France, which can be turned against Russia, is of particular importance in the current conditions. In this sense, it is very symbolic that all the countries of the North Atlantic bloc, including Great Britain and France, have clearly demonstrated their involvement in the START issue by issuing a joint statement in which they completely block the US approaches. This political act confirms the validity of the Russian position on the need to take the nuclear potentials of the three Western nuclear states together and take this factor into account in the process of limiting and reducing nuclear weapons, as well as when considering the future fate of START.

For many years, Washington has ignored the relationship between strategic offensive and strategic defensive weapons, which is also fixed in the New START. The statement on missile defense made by Russia in the context of signing and ratifying the Treaty clearly refers to the fundamental importance of this relationship. Our document clearly emphasizes that START can operate and be viable only in the absence of a qualitative and quantitative build-up of US missile defense systems. Nevertheless, Washington defiantly continues to take actions that go in the diametrically opposite direction. Against the backdrop of a general aggravation of the military-strategic situation, this factor is becoming increasingly important.

The most important thing for assessing the situation with the implementation of START is the fact that Washington has long and in a significant way violated the central provisions of the START on quantitative restrictions on the corresponding weapons of the parties. This is due to the illegitimate unilateral exclusion from the count under the Treaty of more than 100 US START units, which were renamed in Washington so that they ceased to fall under treaty definitions, or declared converted, without giving the Russian side the opportunity to reliably verify that the results of such conversion comply with the START requirements, i.e. .e. follow the procedure expressly stipulated by the Agreement. This clear and direct violation has been repeatedly pointed out.

In addition, the well-known US attempts to “probe” the security of a number of Russian START facilities declared under the Treaty have become blatantly provocative and extremely risky. Armed attacks on them, undertaken by the puppet regime in Kyiv, were carried out with the clear military-technical and information-intelligence assistance of Washington.

Against this background, we consider it the height of cynicism to demand that the United States immediately provide them with access to these and other strategic facilities of Russia, under the guise of the provisions of the START on inspection activities. This causes particular bewilderment in conditions when the anti-Russian restrictions imposed by Washington previously violated the efficiency of the procedures provided for by the Treaty related to verification activities. As a result, the ability of the Russian side to freely and on a completely equal basis to carry out control measures on US soil was undermined, which created obvious unilateral advantages for the American side.

These assessments were repeatedly brought to the attention of the American side and were invariably accompanied by a call for Washington to take measures to rectify the situation, taking into account the concerns expressed by Russia. Instead, however, Washington continued to purposefully pursue malicious moves to undermine Russia's security. The Americans are raising the stakes in the all-out hybrid war unleashed against our country.

Based on the totality of the circumstances outlined, the Russian side was forced to conclude that the United States committed a material violation of the New START Treaty, that is, a violation that is of fundamental importance for the implementation of the object and goals of the Treaty.

In this regard, President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin announced on February 21 this year. in the Address to the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation on the suspension by our country of the START.

At the same time, in order to maintain a sufficient degree of predictability and stability in the nuclear missile sphere, Russia intends to adhere to a responsible approach and will continue to strictly comply with the quantitative restrictions on strategic offensive arms stipulated by it within the life cycle of the Treaty. In addition, the Russian side will continue to participate in the exchange of notifications with the American side on launches of ICBMs and SLBMs on the basis of the relevant agreement between the USSR and the USA in 1988.

The decision to suspend the START may be reversible. To do this, Washington must show political will, make conscientious efforts for a general de-escalation and create conditions for the resumption of the full functioning of the Treaty and, accordingly, comprehensively ensuring its viability. We urge the American side to do just that. Until then, any of our steps towards Washington in the context of START are absolutely out of the question.

We also call on the United States to refrain from steps that could prevent the resumption of the New START in the event that the necessary conditions for this mature. We are convinced that the potential of the Treaty in terms of its contribution to strengthening international security and strategic stability is far from exhausted. Nevertheless, it will be able to open up in full only if the possibilities for symmetrical, equal and thorough implementation of the START Treaty by both parties are restored.

We mean to closely monitor the further actions of the United States and its allies, both in the field of strategic offensive arms and in general on the track of international security and strategic stability, and also analyze them for damage to Russian interests and the need for us to take additional countermeasures.

https://www.mid.ru/ru/foreign_policy/news/1855184/ - zinc

The US State Department has already expressed "disappointment" with Russia's decision today.
The decision itself will obviously have not short-term, but long-term consequences associated with the further unwinding of the nuclear-missile arms race, which will be intertwined with the hypersonic arms race. This is an inevitable and objective process. You won't be able to skip it. The more nuclear weapons, the less likely nuclear war. Fear of destruction affects diplomacy.

https://colonelcassad.livejournal.com/8183279.html

Google Translator

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How The U.S. (And UK) Sabotaged Peace In Ukraine

The Washington Post provides another of those lame flattering portraits of the Ukrainian president Vladimir Zelinski:

A year in the trenches has hardened Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky came into office thinking peace with Putin was possible. He now believes victory is the only answer.[/i]

The piece is contradicting itself in certain manners but it also provides new evidence that the U.S. had set out to sabotage the Minsk agreement.

The headline is of course wrong. Zelenski has not been in the trenches but continued his pampered life near a bunker in Kiev. It is not Zelenski's 'hardening' that prevents peace negotiations with Russia but the blockage of any negotiation attempts by the U.S. government.

But first a look at the contradiction:

Not long after Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, a year ago this week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky found himself in a safe room beneath Kyiv’s government complex with the voice of the Belarusian president booming over the phone.
Alexander Lukashenko, one of the Kremlin’s key allies, was inviting a delegation of officials to Minsk to negotiate an end to the war that Russia had launched just three days earlier, according to Andriy Sybiha, the deputy head of Ukraine’s presidential office, who was in the room for the call.

Zelensky was incensed at the invitation to another negotiation — recalling talks over the conflict in Ukraine’s east, known as “Minsk 1” and “Minsk 2,” that took place in the Belarusian capital in 2014 and 2015 — in which Kyiv was forced to make concessions to the Kremlin under the threat of battlefield losses.

“There will be no Minsk,” Zelensky said, according to Sybiha. “There will be no Minsk 3.”


The claim is that Zelenski was rejecting negotiations. But that claim is false and contradicted by the following events. Many paragraphs later we learn:

Zelensky remained adamant that Ukraine would not enter another Minsk-type negotiation with Russia, but emissaries from the Ukrainian government still held talks with the Russians in Belarus and Turkey throughout March, until the discovery of Russian atrocities in the Kyiv suburb of Bucha. When Zelensky visited Bucha on April 4, he looked visibly stricken, telling reporters it was “very difficult to talk when you see what they have done here.” Arakhamia said he called the leader of the Russian negotiating team and explained that Ukraine could no longer participate in any negotiations. “How can I fly in and sit down at a table and speak to them?” Arakhamia said. “I simply don’t understand.”

That is fake history. Whatever happened in Bucha did not stop Zelenski from negotiating with Russia. As the BBC reported on April 4 2022:

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky has said peace talks will continue with Russia despite accusing Moscow of war crimes and genocide.
Mr Zelensky was speaking in Bucha, near the capital Kyiv, where bodies of civilians were found strewn on the streets after Russian troops withdrew.
...
Responding to a question from the BBC on whether it was still possible to talk peace with Russia, Mr Zelensky said: "Yes, because Ukraine must have peace. We are in Europe in the 21st Century. We will continue efforts diplomatically and militarily."


It was only days later, after a phone call and then a visit by the British prime minister Boris Johnson, that the Ukraine ended the negotiations with Russia. The Ukrainian Pravda reported in May 2022:

According Ukrainska Pravda sources close to Zelenskyy, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Boris Johnson, who appeared in the capital almost without warning, brought two simple messages.

The first is that Putin is a war criminal, he should be pressured, not negotiated with.

And the second is that even if Ukraine is ready to sign some agreements on guarantees with Putin, they are not.

Johnson’s position was that the collective West, which back in February had suggested Zelenskyy should surrender and flee, now felt that Putin was not really as powerful as they had previously imagined, and that here was a chance to "press him."

Three days after Johnson left for Britain, Putin went public and said talks with Ukraine "had turned into a dead end".


Boris Johnson made his unannounced visit to Kiev on April 9 2022.

The Ukrainian Pravda account has been confirmed by Fiona Hill, Russia specialist in the National Security Council under the Trump administration. In a piece for Foreign Affairs Fiona Hill and Angela Stent wrote in August 2022:

According to multiple former senior U.S. officials we spoke with, in April 2022, Russian and Ukrainian negotiators appeared to have tentatively agreed on the outlines of a negotiated interim settlement: Russia would withdraw to its position on February 23, when it controlled part of the Donbas region and all of Crimea, and in exchange, Ukraine would promise not to seek NATO membership and instead receive security guarantees from a number of countries.

In an interview with an Israeli outlet (vid), former prime minister of Israel Naftali Bennett, who was personally deeply involved in the negotiation process, also alleged that the 'West' blocked them:

Reports at the time reflect Bennet’s comments and said Russia and Ukraine were softening their positions. Citing Israeli officials, Axios reported on March 8 that Putin’s “proposal is difficult for Zelensky to accept but not as extreme as they anticipated. They said the proposal doesn’t include regime change in Kyiv and allows Ukraine to keep its sovereignty.”

Discussing how Western leaders felt about his mediation efforts, Bennett said then-British Prime Minister Boris Johnson took an “aggressive line” while French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz were more “pragmatic.” Bennett said President Biden adopted “both” positions.

But ultimately, the Western leaders opposed Bennet’s efforts. “I’ll say this in the broad sense. I think there was a legitimate decision by the West to keep striking Putin and not [negotiate],” Bennett said.

When asked if the Western powers “blocked” the mediation efforts, Bennet said,

"Basically, yes. They blocked it, and I thought they were wrong."


Again, the end of the negotiations between Russian and Ukraine in early April 2022 had nothing to with Bucha, but was caused by 'Western', the U.S. and UK's, unwillingness to support a peace agreement.

Washington's resistance against any Ukrainian agreement with Russia can also be seen in an anecdote the Washington Post piece provides from Zelenski's first year as president:

William B. Taylor Jr., the top official at the U.S. Embassy at the time, recalled finding Zelensky in his office in the summer of 2019 expressing curiosity about the “Steinmeier Formula,” an interpretation of the Minsk accords named after Germany’s former foreign minister that the Ukrainian president hoped might lead to a deal with the Kremlin.

“No one knows what it is,” Taylor recalled replying. “Steinmeier doesn’t know what it is.”

Zelensky, according to Taylor, grabbed his phone and pointed to a document explaining the formulation, thinking that somewhere in the details of the legalese a workable compromise with Moscow might be found.

“It’s a terrible idea,” Taylor replied, though Zelensky went on to endorse it in the coming months, trying to land a face-to-face with Putin.


The Steinmeier formula determined the sequencing of the steps the Ukrainian government and the Donbas authorities had to take under the Minsk agreements:

Specifically, Steinmeier's formula calls for elections to be held in the separatist-held territories under Ukrainian legislation and the supervision of the OSCE. If the OSCE judges the balloting to be free and fair, then a special self-governing status for the territories will be initiated and Ukraine will be returned control of its easternmost border.
The formula was vocalized and had not been put to paper until it was signed on October 1 by representatives of Ukraine, Russia, the separatist territories of Luhansk and Donetsk, and the OSCE in Minsk.


It was a simple and clear agreement. But the top U.S. envoy in Ukraine tried to prevent Zelenski from implementing it.

Multiple times along the line of events the Ukraine had tried to come to peace with Russia. Each time we know of the 'West', i.e. the U.S. and UK, successfully sabotaged the peace efforts.

Posted by b on February 22, 2023 at 11:04 UTC | Permalink

https://www.moonofalabama.org/2023/02/h ... .html#more

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Where is Russia’s Winter Offensive? President Biden Empty-Handed in Kiev.

Posted by INTERNATIONALIST 360° on FEBRUARY 21, 2023



Update on Russian military operations in Ukraine for February 22, 2023:

– Russian forces continue encircling Bakhmut, moving outward from Kremenna, and pressuring Vugladar;

– US President Joe Biden arrived in Kiev, Ukraine with little else but rhetoric;

– the most recent US military assistance package to Ukraine is meager with many items omitting the quantity being sent;

– US analysts believe Russia’s winter offensive already began, that it is underwhelming, and will exhaust Russian combat potential giving Ukraine better chances of success for its own spring offensive;

– More likely Russia is conducting theater-wide spoiling operations to deny Ukraine a pause to put together significant offensive forces;

– Russian General S. Surovikin prepared extensive defenses to blunt Ukraine’s offensive;

References at link.

https://libya360.wordpress.com/2023/02/ ... d-in-kiev/

The Defeat of Ukraine is Becoming Clearer, but Does Not Mean the End of War
Posted by INTERNATIONALIST 360° on FEBRUARY 21, 2023
Thierry Meyssan

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President Zelensky, who mocked the way Ukrainians came to Brussels to beg when he was a comedian, came to Brussels to beg as president.

It is an open secret: the government of Kiyv is losing militarily to the Russian army. The latter is advancing without hurrying and is building the defense of the regions that joined Moscow by referendum. But this inexorable reality hides others. For example, the fact that Turkey, still a member of NATO, supports Russia and provides it with spare parts for its army. Not only is the Atlantic Alliance losing, but it is cracking.


The future of Ukraine is becoming clearer. The fighting is between the government in Kyiv, which refuses to honor its signature on the Minsk Agreements, and Russia, which intends to enforce Security Council Resolution 2202, which endorses the Agreements. On the one hand, a state that refuses international law and is supported by the West, on the other hand, another state that refuses Western rules and is supported by China and Turkey.

How could President Volodymyr Zelensky, elected to implement the Minsk Agreements, turn into an “integral nationalist” [1], siding with fanatics, heirs to the worst criminals of the 20th century? This is a mystery. The most likely hypothesis is financial, as Mr. Zelensky has been known since the publication of the Paradise Papers for his off-shore accounts and his properties in England and Italy. Incidentally, Volodymyr Zelensky does not have much to do with his “integral nationalists”. He is a coward. At the beginning of the war, he stayed several weeks, hidden in a bunker, probably outside Kiyv. He came out only after Israeli Prime Minister Nafatali Bennett assured him that President Vladimir Putin had promised him that he would not kill the Ukrainian president [2]. Since then, he has been playing the matamore by video in all the political summits and artistic festivals in the West.

How did Turkey, a Western ally in NATO, get involved on the Russian side? This is easier to understand for those who followed the CIA’s assassination attempts on President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. At first Erdoğan was a street thug. Then he became involved in an Islamic militia that led him to become close to both Afghan insurgents and Russian jihadists in Itchkeria, only after this journey did he enter politics, in the classical sense. During his period of support for anti-Russian Muslim groups, he was a CIA agent. Like many, when he came to power, he saw things differently. He gradually detached himself from Langley and wanted to serve his people. However, his personal evolution took place while his own country changed its strategy several times. Turkicia still has not come to terms with the fall of the Ottoman Empire. It has tried several strategies in succession. Since 1987, it is a candidate for the European Union. In 2009, with Ahmet Davutoğlu, it thought of restoring its Ottoman influence. One thing leading to another, it imagined combining this national goal with the personal background of its president to become the homeland of the Muslim Brotherhood and restore the Caliphate, abrogated by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk in 1924. But the fall of the Islamic Emirate, forces him to abandon this project. Türkiye then turns to the Turkish-speaking peoples, it hesitates to include the Uyghurs and finally chooses the ethnically Turkish peoples. In any case, in this quest, it no longer needed the Europeans or the United States, but Russia and China. After its victory over Armenia, it created the “Organization of Turkic States” (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkey and Uzbekistan). In addition, Hungary and Turkmenistan have observer status).

Today, according to the Wall Street Journal, 15 Turkish companies export $18.5 million worth of equipment purchased in the United States every month to a dozen Russian companies that are subject to illegal US unilateral coercive measures (presented as “sanctions” by the Atlanticist propaganda) [3]. The US Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, Brian Nelson, went to Ankara in vain to force Turkey to comply with Western rules. Ankara continues to secretly support the Russian army.

When the US envoy pointed out that Turkey was on the wrong track by siding with the defeated Russia, his interlocutors presented him with the real figures of the war in Ukraine, established by Mossad and published by Hürseda Haber [4]. On the ground, the balance of power is 1 to 8 in favor of Russia. There are 18,480 dead on the Russian side, against 157,000 on the Ukrainian side. As in Andersen’s fairy tale, the king was naked.

Türkiye is now blocking Sweden’s membership of NATO. In doing so, it is also blocking Finland’s membership, which was presented in the same file. If we accept the information of the Wall Street Journal, it is not a matter of chance. It is true that Ankara had obtained a commitment from these two countries to extradite the leaders of the PKK and Fethullah Gülen’s movement, a commitment they did not keep. But it could not have been otherwise, since the imprisonment of its leader, Abdullah Öcallan, the PKK has become a tool of the CIA and is now fighting under the orders of NATO, which was once an ally of the Soviets. [5]. As for Fethullah Gülen, he lives in the United States under the protection of the CIA.

So today, Turkey supports Russia in the same way as China: it supplies it with spare parts for its defence industry and does not hesitate to send it back American-made equipment. But while Croatia and Hungary, other Nato members, do not hesitate to say publicly that the Alliance’s support for Ukraine is stupid, without leaving it, Ankara pretends to be fully Atlanticist.

The earthquake that has just shaken Turkey and Syria does not have the characteristics of earthquakes observed so far, anywhere in the world. The fact that a dozen Western ambassadors left Ankara in the five days preceding the earthquake and that, in the same period, their countries issued advice not to travel to Turkey seems to indicate that the West knew in advance what was going to happen. The United States has the technical means to cause earthquakes. In 1976, they promised never to use them. Romanian Senator Diana Ivanovici Șoșoacă claims that they violated their signature of the “Convention on the Prohibition of the Use of Environmental Modification Techniques for Military or any other Hostile Purposes” and caused this earthquake [6]. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has asked his intelligence services (MİT) to investigate what is now only a hypothesis. In the case of a positive response, it would have to be admitted that Washington, aware that it is no longer the world’s leading economic power, nor the world’s leading military power, destroys its allies before it dies.

Contrary to the messages the West is fed, not only is Ukraine losing on the ground, but NATO is being questioned from within by at least three of its members.

Under these conditions, how can we explain that the United States continues to send weapons to the battlefield and to demand that its allies send them en masse? It must be noted that a majority of these weapons are not modern, but date from the Cold War and are generally Soviet. There is no point in wasting weapons from the 2000s knowing that they will be destroyed because Russia has more modern weapons than the West. On the other hand, it may be interesting for various armies to test the latest generation of weapons in a high-intensity battle. In this case, the West sends only a few specimens of these weapons and certainly not more.

Moreover, while Ukrainian “full nationalist” units receive Western weapons, conscripts do not. The difference, probably two-thirds, is kept in Albania and Kosovo or sent to the Sahel. Three months ago, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, at the Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC) summit, denounced the arrival of these weapons in the hands of the Islamic State [6]. In the face of the exclamations of surprise and indignation from US parliamentarians, the Pentagon created a commission to monitor the deliveries. At no time did the commission report on its activities or on the detour that it had observed.

Two weeks ago, the Pentagon’s inspector general went to Ukraine, officially to shed light on these detours. In a previous article, I showed that he came there mainly to successfully erase the traces of Hunter Biden’s affairs [7]. The Ukrainian Defense Minister, Oleksiy Reznikov, had announced that he and several members of his administration would resign urgently. This is still not the case.

The last question is why Germany, France and the Netherlands, co-owners of the Nord Stream gas pipelines, do not protest after the sabotage of which they were victims on September 26, 2022? And why don’t they react to the revelations of Seymour Hersch on the responsibility of the United States and Norway? [8] ? It is true that the spokesman of the Alternative for Germany nationalists has called for the creation of a commission of inquiry in the Bundestag on this sabotage, but the vast majority of politicians in these three countries are keeping a low profile: their worst enemy is their ally!

On the contrary, they flattered themselves by receiving President Volodymyr Zelensky in Brussels. But he had previously visited Washington and London, the two capitals that count, before coming to address those who pay.

The defeat of Ukraine does not mean the end of the war
It is wrong to think that the defeat of President Zelensky in Donetsk and Lugansk, in Kherson and Zaporijjia, could mark the end of the fighting. In the face of the resistance that Moscow has encountered in enforcing Security Council Resolution 2202, President Putin has declared that he still has to liberate Odessa and join Transnistria. This is precisely what the Pentagon is looking for since 2019. Already, it is preparing a second round in Moldova. Not because it wants to defend the Ukrainians, then the Moldovans, but because it intends to strip its own allies.

The figures of the Atlantic Alliance, relayed by the Western press agencies, make it possible to think that the Ukrainian people are united and resisting thanks to Western weapons. However, those of the Mossad, published by the Turkish site Hürseda Haber, show that they have no relation to reality.

This phenomenon is not new. Having edited a daily bulletin during the Kosovo war, relaying the reports of Western press agencies crossed with those of Balkan press agencies, I am not surprised. NATO has a long experience of lying to its citizens. This is not an exaggeration, but a blatant lie. Older readers will remember that they won the hearts of all Westerners, including those who dreamed them up. At the end of the conflict, the Alliance generously agreed to let the remnants of the Serbian (then called “Yugoslav”) army withdraw under the protection of the Russian army.

Then, to everyone’s amazement, a number of tanks and aircraft emerged intact from their underground shelters.

During a war, it is certainly not possible to know things accurately on a battlefield. The armies themselves count their losses, but do not know whether the missing men are dead or wounded, prisoners or fugitives. Officers must always decide in the blur of war, without ever having accurate statistics as there are in peacetime.

In any case, while the governments all know that Russia has won and will continue to liberate Novorossia to Transnistria, some pretend to believe that it will invade Moldova as it did in Ukraine. It does not matter that after the dissolution of the USSR, Transnistria declared itself independent like Crimea. The main thing is to continue to present Russia as a conquering tyranny that devastates everything in its path.

It should be remembered that when Moldova declared itself independent, it recognized the consequences of the German-Soviet Pact of 1939 as null and void, including the attachment of Transnistria to its political entity [1]. However, shortly afterwards, it claimed it as its own territory. In June 1992, Colonel Howard J.T. Steers, a US military intelligence officer and advisor to the Atlantic Alliance, coordinated a military operation to conquer Transnistria. For this, he was not content with the small Moldovan army, but mobilized the Romanian army and numerous Romanian prisoners.

Transnistria was a small valley with a microclimate that had made it a secret base for the Soviet military-industrial complex. It was therefore populated both by its original inhabitants, but also by many families of Soviet scientists. It was protected by a small base, that of the 14th Soviet army. The Russian president, Boris Yeltsin, refused to defend Transnistria, just as he refused to allow Crimea to join the Russian Federation. The 14th army, now Russian, more than 1,000 men, was ordered not to intervene. But thousands of Transnistrian women besieged the military base. The Russian soldiers did not shoot at them, but disobeyed President Yeltsin’s orders and let them in. They took 1,000 Kalashnikovs, 1.5 million rounds of ammunition and 1,300 grenades. It was this armed people who pushed back the Romanian army led by Colonel Steers.

This defeat of the Atlantic Alliance has never been told in Europe. You have to have been there to know it [2]. It struck those who experienced it so hard that some changed sides. This was notably the case of the CIA station chief, Harold James Nicholson, who, in the following months, placed himself at the service of the Russian KGB, of which he became one of the most important informers.
Today, Transnistria claims to be the only heir to the Soviet Union, retaining its best practices without its authoritarian and bureaucratic aspects.

When the Rand Corporation planned the current war in Ukraine, it briefed the Representatives in Congress. That was on September 5, 2019. It relied on two reports [3]. In them, they explained that the objective of the operation should be to provoke Russia to deploy beyond its borders, when it already cannot defend them. It is therefore necessary to force it to enter Ukraine, then Transnistria.

We must understand what the Pentagon is doing, not with regard to the situation imagined by the Western press agencies, but with regard to the plans of the Rand Corporation, in this case an additional round around, not Novorossia, but Transnistria.

The US Secretary of Defense, General Lloyd Austin, continues to pressure his allies to give up their weapons and ammunition until they are exhausted (and therefore even more in need of his protection). At the same time, he has forced them to accept changes in the way NATO operates. NATO can now transform itself into a “coalition of the willing” for operations outside Article 5 (i.e. not responding to an aggression against one of its members). This is nothing new. It was already the case with the operation against Libya. At the time, Alliance members who opposed the war were kept on the sidelines, while others, such as Qatar, were associated with it. This time, NATO will act without having to violate its own statutes. In practice, this means that the Atlantic Council has lost all power. An Ally can no longer oppose NATO’s entry into the war, since the US will still use NATO’s resources with a coalition of the willing.

The defeat of Ukraine, which has already lost the Donbass and four oblasts, does not mean the end of the war. While the Kremlin has already explained that it still has to liberate Odessa and thus make the link with Transnistria, NATO is refining its discourse. The aim is to create confusion between Transnistria (known as the “Dniester Moldavian Republic”) and Moldavia. Then to make believe that the Russian Bear invaded the latter.

Translation by Roger Lagassé

https://libya360.wordpress.com/2023/02/ ... nd-of-war/

Statement by Permanent Representative Vassily Nebenzia at the UNSC Meeting on the Destruction of Nord Stream
Posted by INTERNATIONALIST 360° on FEBRUARY 21, 2023

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Statement by Permanent Representative Vassily Nebenzia at UNSC briefing on threats to international peace and security (sabotage of Nord Stream gas pipeline)

Mme.President,

Today we have gathered here for a very remarkable meeting. It is somewhat assonant with the previous meeting regarding the act of sabotage against the Nord Stream pipe that we called on 30 September last year, yet this meeting is completely different by its tone. As many of you surely remember, back then it was already clear who may be standing behind that act of international terrorism (for this is how we qualify this incident), and Russian investigative bodies started criminal proceedings under a corresponding Article of Russia’s Criminal Code. US leadership made some statements which boil down to one message – if Russia kept doing what the United States does not like, the Nord Stream would be destroyed. Then, rather inopportunely, former Foreign Minister of Poland Sikorski (who clearly knew something) got in the spotlight, having thanked the United States on social media in a paroxysm of Russophobia. Add to this a rather indiscreet text message by former head of the British Government L.Truss, who is also known for her fierce hatred to my country. Yet formally, the United States strongly denied its involvement, realizing prospective consequences of such sabotage of critical international pipeline infrastructure. They still do, by the way.

Since then, the malevolence of Washington’s officials has increased, not in the least thanks to another famous Russophobe, “godmother” of the anti-constitutional coup in Ukraine V.Nuland. However, we would not be convening this meeting only because of this. The thing is that on 8 February, thanks to a prominent American investigative journalist and Pulitzer Prize winner S.Hersh, we not only learned the whos, but also the hows. We came to know how the US did this with help from Norway, its ally in NATO. Proceeding from facts and testimonies by eyewitnesses, he convincingly proves that during NATO’s BALTOPS exercise in summer 2022, divers from US Navy planted explosives under the pipes, which were detonated by the Norwegians three months later, on 26 September 2022. So now we know with a high degree of certainty not only who blew up our gas pipe, and also how they did it. Basically, these facts allow us to say that this was a use of force carried out in a way that is incompatible with the goals of the UN Charter.

In this statement, I will not go further into details of S.Hersh’s topline investigation, because our two briefers, J.Sachs and R.McGovern, have covered those extensively. I will only say that the depth of information that he has collected is truly striking. His previous professional expertise and uncompromising integrity leave us no doubt that this American journalist is telling the truth.

What is also striking is the level of cynicism and all-out sense of impunity with which this unprecedented crime was committed. We have got accustomed to the fact that our American colleagues position themselves above the law or rather pretend that they are the law, which they think gives them the right to interfere in internal affairs of states without retribution, carry out anti-constitutional coups, take aggressive action against independent states (I remind that by estimates of the US Congressional Research Service, since the end of the Cold War, the US has used its armed forces abroad on 251 occasions), kill and torture peaceful population in third countries while refusing to commit the perpetrators to international justice. With their allies singing along, they call it “rules-based order”, where the rules are set by themselves.

However before now, they never went as low as to blow up foreign pipelines that are owned by states with which the US was not at war. Well, this day has come. Maybe, it presages a new era, in which cross-border and trans-continental infrastructure will become a legitimate target for operations aimed at weakening of some or other states. As you can imagine, this would be an era of chaos and unspeakable harm to the entire humanity. Odds are huge that this era may truly come, unless those responsible for the sabotage of the Nord Stream are identified and held duly accountable. And unless those who masterminded this crime reimburse for the damage that occurred with the affected states – the way international law (and basic principles of justice) see it. Then and only then we will have a chance to avoid this chaos. All is in our hands, and the choice is being made i.a today, at this very meeting of the Security Council.

Mr.President,

Contrary to what our former Western partners are about to say, we do not spread disinformation in the Security Council, and do not ty to make a guilty verdict based on allegations in the “highly likely” spirit. This is something British representatives did five years ago when they made an unconvincing attempt to accuse us of the poisoning of the Skripals which was based only on allegations and speculations neither of which had anything to do with facts or common sense. With the Nord Stream sabotage, neither the motive of the crime nor the perpetrators or the method raise any doubts. This is even more than the “smoking gun” that detectives always dream to find in Hollywood blockbuster movies. With such evidence, no lawyer would venture to defend our American colleagues in court, and predicting the jury verdict would be a no-brainer.

But we have not gathered here to have a trial. As you know, we put forward a draft UNSC resolution that tasks the Secretary-General to carry out an independent international investigation, and double-check the facts that S.Hersh and other independent journalists cite.

We have to do this, because we have strong reasons to doubt the effectiveness, transparency, and impartiality of investigations that are being carried out under some national jurisdictions. We do not see our partners being eager to cooperate. We have taken note of the letter by Permanent Representatives of Germany, Denmark, and Sweden saying that the authorities of these states had informed Russia on the progress of the investigation. Things are different in reality. Leaders of the states in question ignored the communications that Prime Minister of Russia, M.Mishustin, addressed to them in October 2022 regarding participation of relevant Russian agencies and PJSC Gazprom in the investigations. Relevant requests of the General Prosecutor’s Office of the Russian Federation were declined. Since we talk about a crime that was committed by means of an explosive device, which makes it subject to the International Convention for the Suppression of Terrorist Bombings of 15 December 1997, we expect that all states that have to do with the incident, namely the US, Norway, Denmark, and Sweden, will fulfil their obligations under this document. But leadership of these states do not show any political will or rather do not have any.

Unfortunately, there is no other way for us to attain the truth. Those so-called investigations by Scandinavian states and Germany not only lack transparency, but, and this has become obvious by now, are aimed at covering up the tracks and exculpating the big American brother. We are not allowed to partake, and all our requests are ignored with arrogance. By the way, it is rather weird that the states who conduct the investigations have not requested to act as briefers today. With other meetings, there is no end to those willing to take the floor. Of course, we do not and cannot have any trust in them. But we still do have trust in the Secretary-General and hope that you do too. That is why we suggest that he should be tasked with this investigation.

We circulated as official documents of the Security Council and General Assembly an address of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation that contains a corresponding request, and also verbal notes on that matter that our respective embassies addressed to Foreign Ministries of Germany, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and the US. Everyone who wants to can read those documents.

If our American colleagues indeed have nothing to fear and if they do not doubt that their fellow citizen was all wrong, then the US does not risk anything, of which we will soon be able to make sure. In such case, we will strive to identify and hold accountable whoever it was that encroached on international peace and security by their actions. So, we look forward to having our proposal supported. These days, experts are in the middle of discussing our draft. After the first round, however, we are inclined to think that Western experts are not interested in an objective international investigation, which but substantiates our suspicion.

Colleagues, your approach to our proposed draft resolution, your interest (or the lack of it) in searching for the perpetrators and holding them accountable will define our further steps in the context of the act of sabotage that took place. We very much want to believe that you will not disappoint us or your own people and will help to establish the truth as prescribed by the Charter of this Organization.

Thank you.

PERMANENT MISSION OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION TO THE UNITED NATIONS

United Nations: Threats to international peace and security – Security Council, 9266th meeting

https://libya360.wordpress.com/2023/02/ ... rd-stream/

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Russia Summons US Ambassador to Moscow

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Russia protests the U.S. "growing involvement in the Ukrainian conflict." Feb. 21, 2023. | Photo: Twitter/@PDChina

Published 21 February 2023 (13 hours 45 minutes ago)

U.S. claims of non-involvement in the ongoing conflict in Ukraine are "inadequate and false," the Russian Foreign Ministry said.


On Tuesday, the Russian Foreign Ministry summoned U.S. Ambassador to Moscow Lynne Tracy amid "growing U.S. involvement in hostilities on the side of the Kiev regime."

The Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Washington is "pumping weapons into the Ukrainian military and providing it with information on targets for attacks against Russian military and civilian infrastructure."

This is clear evidence that "claims by the American side that the United States is not a party to the conflict are inadequate and false," the Ministry added.

In this regard, the Foreign Ministry said that Western-supplied weapons and the personnel operating them, including U.S. citizens, are "legitimate targets" of the Russian military.



U.S. Ambassador Lynne Tracy to Russia was recalled due to the growing U.S. involvement in hostilities on the side of the Kiev regime. It was also stressed that the U.S. must give explanations about the explosions in the Nord stream pipelines.

According to the statement, the U.S. ambassador was also told that "the current aggressive course of the U.S. to deepen confrontation with Russia in all areas is counterproductive."

"To achieve de-escalation, Washington has to take measures providing for the withdrawal of U.S. and NATO military and their military equipment, as well as the cessation of hostile anti-Russian activities," the ministry also said.

Likewise, it said the U.S. should provide explanations for the Nord Stream pipeline explosions last September, but also that it should not interfere in the investigations. A UN Security Council meeting is scheduled for tomorrow to address the recent report by U.S. journalist Seymour Hersh blaming Washington for the sabotage of the infrastructure.

https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Rus ... -0020.html
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Re: Footnotes from the Ukrainian "Crisis"; New High-Points in Cynicism Part IV

Post by blindpig » Wed Feb 22, 2023 11:56 pm

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Mapping Faultlines: The planning, execution, and aftermath of Nord Stream sabotage
By Prabir Purkayastha (Posted Feb 21, 2023)

Originally published: Peoples Dispatch on February 18, 2023 (more by Peoples Dispatch) |



In this episode, NewsClick’s Prabir Purkayastha talks about the revelations by renowned journalist Seymour Hersh on the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines in September 2022. Hersh reported that the U.S. and Norway conducted the operations that led to the explosions on the pipelines. Prabir explains the significance of the pipelines, the details of the operation according to Hersh, and who benefited from the pipelines becoming inoperational.

https://mronline.org/2023/02/21/mapping ... -sabotage/

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PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN SIGNED SAFE CONDUCT FOR PRESIDENT JOSEPH BIDEN, ONE RETURN PRZEMYSL RAIL PASS, 24-HOUR LEAVE PASS FOR KIEV, IN “COVERT” MISSION TO FOOL NEW YORK TIMES, LONDON TIMES, FINANCIAL TIMES (AND IT DID)

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By John Helmer, Moscow @bears_with

For the first time in the century of US warfare against Russia, a sitting US president has requested and received a formal ceasefire and safe conduct pledge (propusk) from the Kremlin in order for him to visit a third country.

President Vladimir Putin signed his authorization for the pass before it was transmitted to the Oval Office in Washington last Friday morning, according to the New York Times, “when the president gathered with a handful of top advisers in the Oval Office and consulted with others by phone.”

The newspaper also reported the Russian terms required Biden’s signed undertaking in advance that no US military or civilian aircraft would enter Ukrainian airspace during the 24-hour duration of the safe conduct pass. The New York Times confirmed this detail, claiming “American military planes were spotted hovering in eastern Poland near the border during the trip, but officials said they never entered Ukrainian airspace out of concern that it would be taken as the sort of direct American intervention that Mr. Biden has avoided.”

CBS News has reported the National Security Adviser, Jake Sullivan, as confirming the application to the Kremlin and the receipt of the reply several hours before Biden agreed to make his trip to the Ukraine. “’We did notify the Russians that President Biden would be traveling to Kyiv,’ Sullivan told CBS News chief White House correspondent Nancy Cordes. ‘We did so some hours before his departure for deconfliction purposes. And because of the sensitive nature of those communications, I won’t get into how they responded or what the precise nature of our message was, but I can confirm that we provided that notification.’”

This is the first time White House officials have publicly confirmed accepting Putin’s word on a diplomatic, military, or security issue.

Biden responded in Kiev with a personal attack on Putin: “Putin thought Ukraine was weak and the West was divided,” Biden said. “He thought he could outlast us. I don’t think he’s thinking that right now. God knows what he’s thinking, but I don’t think he’s thinking that. But he’s just been plain wrong. Plain wrong. And one year later, the evidence is right here in this room. We stand here together.”

The record of the White House-Kremlin exchange for Biden’s propusk also reveals Putin’s willingness to accept Biden’s word. But four days later on February 21, in his speech to the Federal Assembly, Putin declared: “The concepts of honour, trust, and decency are not for them…[nor] of [their] total, unprincipled lies.”

The Russian press has not reported the Putin propusk. But there is speculation in Moscow the clash of public statements and the contradiction between them and the private safe conduct agreement are a sign of secret negotiations on armistice terms between the Americans and Russians, which Biden also promised Putin to put to Ukrainian officials in Kiev.

Last Friday, February 17, Putin was busy in meetings with the Belarus President, Alexander Lukashenko, which were held at the Novo-Ogarevo residence outside Moscow. The Kremlin communiqué, issued at 15:15 – that was 07:15 Washington time – did not refer to the war.

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The Kremlin record is silent on whether Putin’s safe conduct pass for Biden is included among the papers visible on the table between Lukashenko and Putin. Source: http://en.kremlin.ru/

Until CBS broadcast Sullivan’s admissions on the evening of February 20, the White House had successfully deceived the New York Times, Washington Post and the mainstream Anglo-American media into reporting Biden’s trip to Kiev as a surprise — “a show of defiance of Moscow quickly beamed around the world”, and “an audacious move meant to demonstrate American resolve to help Ukraine defeat the Russian forces”.

Peter Baker, one of the New York Times reporters Seymour Hersh endorsed last week as “bright”, published the claim that “for much of the past year, in fact, most of the people around the president resisted any urge to go, on the assumption that it was too risky. But nearly a year after the Russian invasion, with Ukrainian troops faring far better than anyone expected at the start and other American and European leaders having made the trip, Mr. Biden and his team gambled that he could get in and out safely.”

Baker and his newspaper had missed the fact, and also the significance, that Biden had asked, Putin had agreed, to assure the US president’s security, removing thereby what Baker and his newspaper called their gamble.

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The New York Times published this photograph of the empty blue sky above Biden and Zelensky in Kiev, claiming in the text: “The White House was so intent on keeping the secret that it lied to reporters back in Washington. About four hours after Mr. Biden crossed the border into Ukraine, his office back in Washington issued a public schedule falsely stating that the president was still in the nation’s capital and not planning to leave for Europe until Monday evening.” Baker’s report concluded with the newspaper’s notice on how it had verified his reporting of the secret Biden had asked Putin to keep. And he still has.

Also fooled into publishing false propaganda of Biden’s trip to Kiev were The Times of London, owned by Rupert Murdoch, and the Financial Times, owned by the Nikkei Corporation of Tokyo.

[http://johnhelmer.net/wp-content/upload ... 68x497.png[/img]
The London Times has not retracted or clarified its surprise: https://www.thetimes.co.uk

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According to Financial Times reporters in Kiev, Warsaw and Riga, Latvia, “US President Joe Biden made a surprise visit to Kyiv on Monday in a show of American commitment… On a trip shrouded by secrecy for security reasons…the visit resembled previous US presidents’ clandestine wartime trips to Iraq and Afghanistan — but was more daring since US troops were not on the ground to help provide support.” Source: https://www.ft.com/

The Washington Post ignored the Kiev trip except to claim that during Biden’s visit, he and Zelensky “walked the city streets as an air raid siren blared.”

The Post omitted to republish the video clip of the two men walking, Biden displaying a neurologically symptomatic foot shuffle and Zelensky warning him against tripping as they approached a low curb step:

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Source: https://www.ft.com/

A week earlier, according to the Post on February 16, the president’s doctor, former US Army colonel and long-time Biden physician Kevin O’Connor, announced that following his clinical examination of the president: “O’Connor said Biden underwent an ‘extremely detailed neurologic exam’ that did not find any signs of neurological disorders such as stroke, multiple sclerosis or Parkinson’s disease.”

http://johnhelmer.net/president-vladimi ... more-70734

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Under Siege: How Has Donbass Lived Through its First Year of Official Separation from Ukraine?
Posted by INTERNATIONALIST 360° on FEBRUARY 21, 2023
Vladislav Ugolny

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Residents celebrate the signing of documents on the recognition by the Russian Federation of the Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR) and the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) in Donetsk, DPR, Ukraine. © Sputnik / Ilya Pitalev

On the evening of February 21 of last year, Russian President Vladimir Putin delivered a speech officially recognizing the independence of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) and the Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR).

It stunned the world, and set the course for events which have dominated the headlines since.

Agreements on friendship, cooperation, and mutual assistance were signed on the same day. This historical event has ultimately changed the lives of the residents of both republics, prefaced Moscow’s military offensive in Ukraine and the entry of four new regions into the Russian Federation at the end of September. However, for Donbass residents, the year was marked not just by events of global importance, but also by a series of perhaps less well-known developments.

The background story

When the Western-backed coup (directed against Russia, among other things), took place in Kiev on February 23, 2014, it launched counter-processes in what was then eastern Ukraine. This marked the beginning, of what was known as the ‘Russian Spring’ – a series of pro-Moscow protests in Crimea and Novorossiya [a largely historical term for an area comprising eight regions of southeastern Ukraine – RT]. Supporters of the movement originally advocated the creation of an independent state recognized by Moscow or the direct accession of the territories to the Russian Federation.

As of 2014-2015, this goal had been accomplished only by residents of Sevastopol and Crimea. In Donbass, the signing of the Minsk Agreements put a temporary end to full-scale fighting, with the confrontation largely shifting to politics and diplomacy. However, the regular shelling of the region’s cities continued. As part of the Minsk Agreements, Russia recognized the republics of Donbass as an autonomous part of Ukraine while protests in other regions were suppressed by Kiev.

Over the following years, the realization grew that the Minsk Agreements would not be kept. Since the start of last year’s military offensive, Western leaders have openly admitted that the treaties were initially regarded as a pause before a new phase of war.

Several milestones marked those years: Russia’s decision to recognize documents issued in Donbass (2017), the simplified acquisition of Russian citizenship for residents of the self-proclaimed republics (2019) and their right to vote in the parliamentary elections of the Russian Federation (2021). Starting in 2020, Donbass officials also supported the “integration” course by modifying legislation and introducing Russian social support services and electronic public services.

Ideologically, these processes were backed by a doctrine called “Russian Donbass,” issued in late 2020-2021. The document proclaimed the republics a part of the Russian national state, with a historical goal of joining with Moscow. Its publication did not spark much of a reaction – either positive or negative. The people were expecting more determined steps from the Russian authorities.

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Russian citizens holding their passports sit in a bus to Rostov region as they prepare to vote during the parliamentary elections, in Donetsk, Donetsk People’s Republic. © Sputnik / Sergey Averin

Throughout this time the Ukrainian army continued dropping bombs on Donbass residents, including those who acquired Russian citizenship. Meanwhile, the region faced a humanitarian disaster and growing poverty caused by economic disruption.

Official recognition of independence and security guarantees from Moscow were supposed to solve these problems.

Security guarantees for Donbass

Around February 17, 2022, Donbass experienced an escalation of the conflict accompanied by attacks on residential areas. This usually happened once every year or two when both parties would bring their armies to the front line and would try to scare the other. Initially, this escalation was seen the same way. But the recognition of Donbass and the ensuing security guarantees had changed the game.

In the days of February 21-23, one of the biggest disputes was centered on defining the borders of the republics recognized by Putin as the DPR and the LPR. Donbass residents understood that their future and bringing an end to the fighting depended on the answer to this question.

In light of their recent history, few people wanted active combat to resume. But there was resounding faith that the Russian army would meet its responsibility to protect the people of Donbass from Ukrainian attacks.

Evacuation of civilians to the Russian Federation

In light of the growing danger, the head of the DPR Denis Pushilin announced the evacuation of civilians on February 18, 2022. Over the next three days, over 60,000 people became refugees. Social workers caring for orphans and people with disabilities were also re-located to Russia.

Unfortunately, hundreds of thousands of people underestimated the danger. Refusing to evacuate, they remained near the frontline and faced increasing attacks.

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Residents of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics prepare to board a bus upon their arrival to Taganrog, Rostov region, Russia. © Sputnik / Maksim Bogodvid

Mobilization in Donbass and the start of combat

On February 19, 2022, the DPR and LPR announced general mobilization. Many veterans who had left the armed forces at the time of the Minsk Agreements now joined the People’s Militia as volunteers.

However, a great number of men with no prior combat experience were also called up to serve in the army. In some cases, the DPR and the LPR armies had no proper ammunition. For example, some of the mobilized were equipped with steel helmets and armed with Mosin-Nagant rifles (used by the Russians in the First World War). They formed rifle battalions and mobilization reserve regiments and were supposed to occupy the third line of defense. However, without any proper training, these divisions were sent to participate in the fighting during February and March, including the battles for Mariupol, where they suffered major losses.

The republics lost a significant number of critically important specialists as a result of the mobilization: doctors, power engineers, gas and water supply service workers, drivers, and other professionals.

Multiple violations accompanied the mobilization process. For example, some students were taken into the army. They were demobilized after the DPR and LPR joined Russia. Presently, the mobilization in Donbass has been paused. The issue is now under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation and is synchronized with Russia’s national policy.

The liberation of Mariupol and the influx of refugees

In 2014, Mariupol was the second largest city in Donbass, with a population of 450,000 people. It was also the center of metallurgy and the region’s main port. After the outbreak of hostilities in 2014, it was briefly controlled by the DPR, but in June came under the control of the Ukrainian government. For the eight years that followed, the front line was located 20 km from the eastern outskirts of Mariupol. The city served as the eastern outpost of the Ukrainian army. The Azov Regiment of the National Guard of Ukraine, known for its pro-Nazi ideology, occupied significant positions.

After the start of the military offensive, Mariupol became one of the key strategic and political targets due to its economic potential and the city’s location along the Rostov-on-Don—Dzhankoy highway, known as the “land corridor to Crimea”. The battle for Mariupol continued from the first days of the attack until May 20, when the remaining fighters of the Ukrainian garrison, hidden away in the dungeons of the Azovstal metal works, finally capitulated.

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Residents of the Left-bank district of Mariupol during the evacuation. © Sputnik / Ilya Pitalev

Mariupol suffered an extreme blow during these battles and a major portion of its residential buildings were destroyed. Since Ukraine did not evacuate the city’s residents and sabotaged humanitarian corridors, hundreds of thousands of people became hostages in their hometown.

At this time, the DPR’s emergency services were overwhelmed by a sudden influx of refugees. Before the issue was taken up by the Russian state and its political structures, Moscow’s military and even journalists who covered the storming of the city helped with humanitarian aid. Volunteers continue to play an important role in providing humanitarian assistance in Donbass to this day.

For the first time in eight years, residents of Donetsk had a chance to provide aid, not only receive it. A wide network of volunteers helped refugees housed in schools and other non-functioning institutions.

This situation also sparked the first clashes between Donbass residents and the people who lived in territories previously under Ukrainian control. Certain conflicts resulted from an increase in paranoia and mistrust among locals who suspected that migrants might be spies or saboteurs. Although the suspicions were mostly groundless, Ukrainian operatives did sometimes pose as refugees, as in the case of the murder of Daria Dugina.

The brief comeback of the Ukrainian hryvnia

Initially, the DPR and LPR had a dual currency and preserved economic ties with Ukraine. However, after the economic blockade imposed by Kiev in 2016, the hryvnia was replaced by the Russian ruble. The Ukrainian currency was brought in only by senior citizens who traveled to the country to collect their pensions.

After many territories were liberated and Ukrainian banknotes started circulating in cash, Donbass authorities set a fixed exchange rate and residents saw a brief comeback of the nearly forgotten currency. However, the hryvnia wasn’t able to gain a foothold in the region and as of 2023, it is no longer in circulation outside of the currency exchanges.

Liberation of the entire LPR

The LPR later came under the complete control of Russian troops. This was achieved through the liberation of the Lisichansk-Severodonetsk urban agglomeration. The battles were as important for the LPR as the battles for Mariupol were for the DPR.

In July 2022, Russian troops established control over the entire length of the LPR border. Though the full control lasted only two months before the retreat from the Kharkov region in September-October, Lugansk ceased to be a front-line city.

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A man sets Russian flag on the facade of a building, as Russia’s military operation in Ukraine continues, in the city of Lysychansk, controlled by pro-Russian troops, Luhansk People’s Republic. © Sputnik / Valery Melnikov

Large-scale reconstruction of Donbass infrastructure

For the period of eight years following the signing of the Minsk agreements, Donbass seemed stuck in time, somehow preserving the urban infrastructure that existed before the war. In some places, like Donetsk, the infrastructure was good, but in others, like Makeyevka or Lugansk, things were a lot worse. In rural areas, some schools still had outside bathrooms and the Ukrainian roads, known for their poor quality, broke under heavy military machinery.

Last year, some major changes occurred. The Russian Federation created a program of patronage over Donbass cities and districts. Moscow took responsibility for Donetsk and Lugansk and St. Petersburg did the same for the destroyed city of Mariupol.

Thousands of specialists, construction workers, water supply engineers, doctors, and others necessary for the proper functioning of the civil infrastructure, were sent to Donbass. Investments from Russia also flowed into the region.

Donetsk is still unable to fully participate in the program, because the city is constantly being attacked by the Ukrainian army. But in Lugansk and Mariupol, where the fighting has ended, reconstruction is in full swing. This includes the roads, the bridge over the Seversky Donets River, water treatment infrastructure, and public transport in Lugansk. As for Mariupol, it’s being practically rebuilt from scratch, including hospitals and schools.

The arrival of Russian companies in Donbass

Before the start of the military campaign, Donbass residents had to resort to different schemes in order to use bank cards, since the republics had no functioning banking infrastructure. The closest the people had to a bank were local structures used for paying taxes and utility bills, as well as receiving pensions and salaries from the state, as it was.

Many Donbass residents also relied on the services of so-called ‘cashiers’ – for a 5% commission, these people could receive money sent from abroad and pay it in cash. Such operations were carried out on the basis of trust, and weren’t regulated by law.


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A view shows a stand with exchange rates at a spontaneous market, as Russia’s military operation in Ukraine continues, in Mariupol, Donetsk People’s Republic © Sputnik / Ilya Pitalev

After Russia officially recognized the republics, the first Russian bank, Promsvyazbank (PSB), appeared in the region. Despite limited functionality in terms of lending and other banking services, PSB integrated Donbass into the Russian banking system and eliminated the need for illegal money schemes.

Similar changes affected mobile service providers. Donbass was previously served by two local mobile network providers, Phoenix and Lugakom, both of which relied on the infrastructure of Ukrainian mobile service providers. By the end of 2022, roaming services were provided by Russian mobile service providers Beeline, Megafon, and Tele2.

No more borders between the DPR, LPR, and Russia

After the Donbass republics joined Russia, the state border was eliminated. This applied both to the frontier between Donetsk and Lugansk, which, despite allied relations remained in place during the eight years of conflict, and the border with Russia.

These barriers represented a considerable inconvenience for Donbass residents, since trips to Russia and back took longer, and involved sizeable queues. Moreover, since the Donbass republics were outside the Russian customs zone, delivery costs increased, which negatively affected the local economy.

The state border as an economic boundary has now been eliminated. Posts remain to check documents and prevent the illegal transport of weapons or ammunition.

No water or central heating, and new pipelines that merely delay disaster

The main humanitarian crisis faced by DPR residents over the past year has been the lack of a reliable water supply. Beforehand, both sides depended on the Seversky Donets-Donbass water canal: water from Slavyansk flowed to the DPR, and then to Mariupol, which was then under Ukrainian control. However, following the start of the military operation and the battle for Mariupol, Ukraine blocked the canal.

This resulted in a humanitarian disaster regarding water supply, sanitation, and hygiene. In some areas of Donbass, water was supplied once in three days according to a schedule which allowed people to collect just enough water to partly maintain hygiene. However, there were areas that had water once a month at best, while in others, it was gone for good.

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Men collect water in the courtyard of a residential building in the liberated city of Happiness in the Luhansk People’s Republic. © Sputnik / Valery Melnikov

As a result, people ran to get drinking water under shelling, collected rainwater, and washed in the far-from-clean Kalmius River. The cost of drilling individual water wells surged to 100,000 rubles.

The construction of water pipelines from the region’s eastern reservoirs did not considerably improve things and only made up for the losses of the Donetsk reservoir. Finally, weary of waiting for the liberation of Slaviansk, Russian authorities sponsored the construction of a water pipeline from Rostov Region, which is set to be completed in the spring of 2023. However, even this will not fully resolve the supply issue.

With the arrival of cold weather, the situation became disastrous. In some areas, the central heating system could not be filled up with the required amount of water and stopped functioning altogether.

Mined cities and increasing strikes

In 2022, 1,091 people died from Ukrainian strikes and another 3,533 were injured, in the DPR. These numbers are comparable to those of 2014-2015. Renewed hostilities and high-intensity fighting have turned the life of Donbass residents into hell. Whereas several years ago, active strikes occurred only in the front-line regions deserted by civilians, now the densely populated areas of Donetsk, Gorlovka, and Makeyevka have come under direct attack.

Moreover, the Armed Forces of Ukraine started mining Donbass cities using PFM-1 mines (also called ‘Butterfly’ mines) that explode upon contact and disable civilians. The effects remain engraved in the memory of people and preserved in local lore – like in this video of a woman who collected such ‘butterflies’ to show her colleagues at work, or the video demonstrating an improvised attempt to remotely blow up the mines, or the lyrics of Donbass musicians.

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PFM-1 anti-personnel land mines are seen in Donetsk, Donetsk People’s Republic. In the evening of July 30, central Donetsk was shelled by the Ukrainian Armed Forces with projectiles containing PFM-1 anti-personnel land mines. © Sputnik / RIA Novosti

As of February 2023, Donetsk is no longer a city excited by a possible end to its eight years of turmoil. It has become a place where, on the heels of an attack by MLRS Grad, residents flock to nearby shops for cigarettes, knowing they’ve got 30-60 minutes before the rocket launcher is recharged and transferred to another position.

Military and civilian deaths

Donbass has lost many residents and supporters who settled in the region. Among those who died was Olga Kachura (military nickname ‘Korsa’), the only female commander of a rocket battalion and a hero of Gorlovka.

Taras Gordienko (‘Clooney’), an intelligent but tough and effective commander who worked in IT before the war, was killed during the storming of Mariupol. In Volnovakha, Vladimir Zhoga (‘Vokha’) who took over the legendary ‘Sparta’ division after the death of its founder Arsen Pavlov (‘Motorola’), died during the evacuation of civilians. Igor Mangushev (‘Bereg’), who for the past six months had been engaged in developing a means to combat drones, was also killed.

These victims are only some of the more well known names. Unfortunately, the war has affected almost every household in Donbass. All the things the locals had dreamed about – security guarantees, peaceful skies, a return to normal life and a fully functioning region – have not yet come to pass. They still need to be achieved.

https://libya360.wordpress.com/2023/02/ ... m-ukraine/

Russia Summons US Ambassador to Moscow

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Russia protests the U.S. "growing involvement in the Ukrainian conflict." Feb. 21, 2023. | Photo: Twitter/@PDChina

U.S. claims of non-involvement in the ongoing conflict in Ukraine are "inadequate and false," the Russian Foreign Ministry said.


On Tuesday, the Russian Foreign Ministry summoned U.S. Ambassador to Moscow Lynne Tracy amid "growing U.S. involvement in hostilities on the side of the Kiev regime."

rainian Crisis

The Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Washington is "pumping weapons into the Ukrainian military and providing it with information on targets for attacks against Russian military and civilian infrastructure."

This is clear evidence that "claims by the American side that the United States is not a party to the conflict are inadequate and false," the Ministry added.

In this regard, the Foreign Ministry said that Western-supplied weapons and the personnel operating them, including U.S. citizens, are "legitimate targets" of the Russian military.



U.S. Ambassador Lynne Tracy to Russia was recalled due to the growing U.S. involvement in hostilities on the side of the Kiev regime. It was also stressed that the U.S. must give explanations about the explosions in the Nord stream pipelines.

According to the statement, the U.S. ambassador was also told that "the current aggressive course of the U.S. to deepen confrontation with Russia in all areas is counterproductive."

"To achieve de-escalation, Washington has to take measures providing for the withdrawal of U.S. and NATO military and their military equipment, as well as the cessation of hostile anti-Russian activities," the ministry also said.

Likewise, it said the U.S. should provide explanations for the Nord Stream pipeline explosions last September, but also that it should not interfere in the investigations. A UN Security Council meeting is scheduled for tomorrow to address the recent report by U.S. journalist Seymour Hersh blaming Washington for the sabotage of the infrastructure.

https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Rus ... -0020.html

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Left and Right Join Together to Rage Against Ukraine War on Its One Year Anniversary
By Jeremy Kuzmarov - February 20, 2023 6

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[Source: Photo Courtesy of Jeremy Kuzmarov]

Several thousand people gathered at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., on Sunday, February 19, to protest U.S. support for the war in Ukraine around the time of its one-year anniversary.

The protest was organized by the People’s Party and Libertarian Party. It brought together groups on the left and libertarian right which were unified in their demand that the U.S. government should not spend one more penny on the war in Ukraine.

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Scene from Rage Against the War Machine rally on Sunday [Source: Photo Courtesy of Jeremy Kuzmarov]

Nick Brana, the founder of the People’s Party and a main organizer of the event, told CovertAction Magazine that the rally was “the biggest anti-war demonstration since the Iraq War and it was sorely needed.” Brana said that it was nice to see groups on the left and right coming together, though “these labels are largely artificial” as “working people are being screwed whether they are left and right and we need to collectively fight back.”

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Nick Brana [Source: ranchchimpjournal.blogspot.com]

Pat Ford, a member of the Libertarian Party national committee, echoed Brana when he told CovertAction Magazine that the “rally was a complete success as an exercise in coalition building.” According to Ford, while the latter “can be challenging, fractious, and messy, it is the best possible avenue for grassroots organizers to affect social change” and “succeeded before when people of differing outlooks came together to end the Vietnam War.”

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Pat Ford [Source: golocalprov.com]

Prior to the event, a few people on the left pulled out or wrote denunciations of the rally because of the presence of the Libertarian Party, which advocates policies they don’t like.

Responding to that, comedian Jimmy Dore said on Sunday that this kind of attitude was akin to saying: “I would like to fight against the threat of nuclear war but not with you [as if these people had some kind of disease]” and that, “if a fireman came to help save his burning home, he would not quiz them about their views on gender relations or trans-sexuals and then stop them if they didn’t accord to his own.”

Dore further said that the oligarchy wants Americans to hate their neighbors when people have mutually suffered from their policies, including the controlled demolition of the economy. He then told the crowd sarcastically they should know that “not everyone on the left likes Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer” and that “not everyone on the right is a Trumper, white supremacist, and gun nut, only a gun nut.”

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Comedian Jimmy Dore rocks the house at the Rage Against the War Machine rally in Washington, D.C. on Sunday. [Source: Photo Courtesy of Jeremy Kuzmarov]

Inspiring the Crowd

Dore was one of the A-list speakers at the event who inspired the crowd.

Dore started out by quoting from his friend who, when asked “if he didn’t like America, why didn’t he move to another country,” responded, “because then I’d become a victim of our foreign policy.”

Dore went on to provide a list of better ways the U.S. government could have spent the $100 billion used for arms to Ukraine. These included:

Ending homelessness in the U.S., reinstating it, and then ending it again
Funding a new police force to police against the current ones
Facilitating two FTX collapses
Paying Hunter Biden’s monthly salary for the rest of his life; and giving Joe Biden a dog who knows where to lead him when his press conferences are over
Funding 90 Alex Jones lawsuits
Funding balloons to spy on China
Curing cancer
All kidding aside, Dore said that, instead of improving health care and funding high-speed rail and needed social programs, the U.S. government decided to fund people who commit horrible atrocities, many of whom are Nazis.

The U.S. government is led by the most powerful mafia that ever existed; even its Nobel Prize winners are war criminals, like Barack Obama, who bombed Libya and sent 26,000 bombs over Syria.

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Protester with sign calling on Jimmy Dore to run for president in 2024. [Source: Photo Courtesy of Jeremy Kuzmarov]

Raging Against the Satanic War Machine

Max Blumenthal, of The Grayzone Project, started the rally by reminding the audience that the people of Luhansk and Donetsk have suffered for nine years under bombs supplied by the U.S. and by avowed neo-Nazi forces who killed Jews in pogroms [during World War II].

Blumenthal also said that people on the other side of the U.S. empire did not care whether people identified as a leftist, or rightist—what they wanted was for people in the U.S. to “rage against the sick, satanic, neo-conservative war machine” that has caused so much destruction.

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Max Blumenthal with former Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein who also gave a great speech at the Rage Against the War Machine rally on Sunday. [Source: Photo Courtesy of Jeremy Kuzmarov]

Chris Hedges promoted a similar message, emphasizing that the Ukraine War had been waged by the same intellectually dishonest “high priests of empire” who had advanced the original Cold War and War on Terror. These “pimps of war never see the corpses of their victims”; and subscribe to “delusional fantasies”; they are “parasites vomited up in the dying days of empire.”

Since politicians use fear, the best strategy for the anti-war movement, according to Hedges, is to make those in power afraid; the latter must feel the wrath of non-violent civil disobedience on a massive scale and civil and political disruption. “And if that doesn’t work, to quote the Queen of Hearts: Off With Their Heads.”

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Chris Hedges [Source: youtube.com]

Ex-Congresspeople and a Former Presidential Candidate

The speakers at the rally included three former congressmen and women (Dennis Kucinich, Tulsi Gabbard, and Ron Paul) and a former presidential candidate (Jill Stein of the Green Party).

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Former Repoublican Congressman and presidential candidate Ron Paul speaks at Rage Against the War Machine rally on Sunday. Nick Branna stands to his right. [Source: Photo Courtesy of Jeremy Kuzmarov]

The speech by Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) was notable in its call to hold Biden administration officials accountable for their apparent bombing of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, an act of war which is illegal under U.S. law since only Congress has the authority to make war.

According to Kucinich, the reprehensible conduct of the U.S. government has “debased the U.S. Constitution and threatened the peace of the world” to the extent that “even former intelligence officials are aghast.” The people of Ukraine have been “used as pawns in a vicious geopolitical chess game,” and “the people of Taiwan will be used next as the U.S. tries to portray China as the aggressor while it surrounds it with military bases.”[1]

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Former Congressman Dennis Kucinich in his speech called for Americans to work to restore the rule of law and change their government before it “destroys” the country. [Source: Photo courtesy of Jeremy Kuzmarov]

Tulsi Gabbard followed Kucinich, saying that people at the Rage Against the War Machine rally were united in one thing: They valued human life and don’t want to die in a nuclear holocaust. Gabbard said she had warned about the danger of the new Cold War during the 2020 Democratic primaries but that, sadly, things have worsened since that time, with the advent of this proxy war with Russia that could easily now turn into a direct and nuclear war.

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Tulsi Gabbard speaking truth to power at the Rage Against the War Machine rally. [Source: Photo Courtesy of Jeremy Kuzmarov]

An Avoidable Catastrophe….
The rally ended with concluding remarks over a video by Pink Floyd founder Roger Waters, who said that we wouldn’t be in the current mess that we are today if U.S. leaders had kept Secretary of State James Baker’s 1991 promise not to expand NATO one inch eastward in return for the removal of Russian troops from Germany, and not engineered an illegal coup in Ukraine in 2014 that helped trigger the current war.

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Roger Waters [Source: globalnews.ca]

The U.S. could have also supported the Minsk peace agreements in 2019, and chosen not to blow up the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which was an act of war and international terrorism.

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[Source: Photo Courtesy of Jeremy Kuzmarov]

New Bipartisan Movement Against War?
Many people traveled long distances to attend the rally.

As an example, Abel Tomlinson, 42, and Edward J. Hejmanek, 73, drove eighteen hours from Fayetteville, Arkansas, telling CovertAction Magazine that they were concerned that the proxy war with Russia could soon become a nuclear war and that they wanted to support the demonstrators.

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Abel Tomlinson and Edward J. Hejmanek. [Source: Photo Courtesy of Jeremy Kuzmarov]

The rally turned out to be completely non-violent, with a minimal police presence and no counter-demonstrators.

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[Source: Photo Courtesy of Jeremy Kuzmarov]

There were many creative signs and peace anthems were played during breaks from the speeches and at the end.

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Many at the event felt that it was a great thing that people of different ideological perspectives were coming together to oppose war and that, potentially, this event could mark the beginning of a revived anti-war movement that effects real political change.

https://covertactionmagazine.com/2023/0 ... niversary/

Liberals and libertarians and comedians, oh my! I guess that's the best we can do...

How is it that people in the USA must get their politics from comedians and rock stars? Could it be that the established duopoly is at least subconsciously recognized as a bunch of lying scum? Or is it that we are so fucking jaded that we must be entertained in all things? That surely explains Trump...

Better than nothing, I guess, or mebbe not. Perhaps all that was accomplished was displaying how weak the movement is? Numbers are everything

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Mebbe it's cause nobody here has their ass on the line and things like the suffering of Donbass or the war against Russia to the last Ukrainian do not provide entertainment.

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Black Politics and Ukraine
Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist 22 Feb 2023

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Rep. Gregory Meeks Declares "Glory to Ukraine" on the House floor (Photo: C-Span)

The Ukraine project is a dangerous scam perpetrated on the people of this country. Yet no member of the Congressional Black Caucus has attempted to speak truthfully about this ongoing disaster.

“You know, and it’s going to deliver much-needed humanitarian assistance as well as food, water, medicines, shelter, and other aid to Ukrainians displaced by Russia’s war, and provide aid to those seeking refuge in other countries from Ukraine. It’s also going to help schools and hospitals open. It’s going to allow pensions and social support to be paid to the Ukrainian people so they have something — something in their pocket.” Joe Biden press conference April 28, 2022

It is fascinating to read Joe Biden’s words from last year as he made the case for sending billions of dollars to help Ukrainians. Actually most of that money went to the military industrial complex, but it would be a bad look to plead for Raytheon, McDonnell-Douglas, and Lockheed. The humanitarian pitch made more sense politically, but not by much. Don’t people in the U.S. need funding for schools and hospitals? There are thousands of unhoused people living on the street, in parks, and under bridges in Washington DC. Biden doesn’t have to go far to find people in need of shelter. As for water, he might want to visit Flint, Michigan and Jackson, Mississippi. Very few Americans get pensions anymore, and the proliferation of low wage work and crushing austerity mean that millions of people need money in their pockets but don’t have it.

The cash cow for the military industrial complex and the theft of public money was a golden opportunity for the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) to amplify the needs of their constituents. But that didn’t happen because Black politics died long ago.

There are plenty of Black politicians, one even became president, but in the age of corporate control of the Democratic Party, office holders are by definition the least likely to speak up for working people. Black politics are a means of declaring that Black people have a right to make demands about the issues impacting them, and to make Blackness the focus of their political organizing. When Black politics still existed, there were people in office who represented their constituents by giving voice to their grievances and by making some effort to help them, if only for appearance's sake. Now they don’t even go through the motions.

For more than a year, the Biden administration has been using Ukraine to target Russia and the end result has been a protracted war. The latest imperialist effort blew up in the faces of the Biden team as they failed to “turn the ruble to rubble” or get Vladimir Putin out of office. The war has taken thousands of lives, decimated NATO weapons stockpiles, created inflation around the world, and cost the people of this country some $113 billion. In the days of old, at least one member of the CBC would have spoken up regarding this expenditure of public money for nefarious purposes while millions of people in this country are struggling.

In the absence of Black politics we get silence or even active support of the fanatics who endanger the entire world. The main CBC cheerleader was Gregory Meeks, who served as Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee when Democrats were in the majority. “Putin wins if he can divide us. He would love to divide some of our NATO allies, some of our EU allies and Ukrainians - divide us on this issue. [That] - would be a victory for him. So we can't allow that to happen.”

Who are “our” allies? If he meant NATO member nations, they have nothing to do with Meeks’ working class constituents who didn’t get their Child Tax Credit renewed or who still haven’t seen any student loan debt relief. In fact, the huge sums of money allocated to defense contractors is the cause of their woes. A neoliberal, imperialist state isn’t going to help both the war makers and the people too. To do so would be antithetical to its mission of serving the oligarchy and keeping the people financially insecure.

Meeks was the leading voice behind the Russian Malign Influence Act, which would have subjected African nations to more U.S. interference and established a modern day COINTELPRO that would have put the entire African diaspora under surveillance.

The CBC is a Democratic Party tool that is used to give an illusion of Black political power. The members get good jobs that they keep for years and in exchange they say what people want to hear at opportune moments while simultaneously acting as errand girls and boys for the Democratic Party wing of the ruling class. CBC member Hakeem Jeffries is the House Minority Leader but he is a member of the Democratic Party leadership precisely because he toes the party line.

Of course they ask no questions or make any demands regarding the Ukraine political scam. Some of them have even turned into embarrassing shadows of their former selves. When Volodymyr Zelensky spoke to congress in December 2022 he was greeted by attention seeking members eager to shake his hand. Two of those were Sheila Jackson Lee and Barbara Lee of the CBC. They were clad in blue and yellow, the colors of the Ukrainian flag, while hoping to be in view of cameras as they shook the hand of a man who sacrificed his people for the sake of U.S. imperialism. To put it bluntly, Ukrainians are dying in a war that he could have stopped if he had the courage to defy Biden’s fantasy foreign policy. Barbara Lee is remembered for providing the sole vote in opposition to the war against Afghanistan. Now she is just another political hack.

The late John Conyers proposed a ban on funding to Ukraine’s neo-Nazi Azov battalion but his successors in the CBC have silenced themselves regarding far right and white supremacist influence in Ukraine. White Lives Matter marches are held there and George Floyd’s killer, Derek Chauvin, is celebrated. But mums the word for the craven CBC.

Black politics died an ignominious death and every crisis reveals the rot. The Ukraine project isn’t going as Biden planned but with an acquiescent party and media to protect him most people won’t even know when the jig is finally up. The CBC will wait for their marching orders and do whatever they are told. The corruption will go on as planned.

https://www.blackagendareport.com/black ... nd-ukraine

**********

From Cassad's Telegram account:

Colonelcassad

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Soledar direction
situation by the end of February 22, 2023

To the north-west of Bakhmut , assault detachments of the Wagner PMC pushed through the defense of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Berkhovka . Now under the control of Russian units is most of the village, the fighting is going on in the western and southern outskirts.

In Yagodnoe, the assault on strongholds of Ukrainian formations continues. The Armed Forces of Ukraine transferred reinforcements to the area of ​​clashes and were able to keep recapturing part of Yagodny. "Wagnerites" are trying to squeeze Ukrainian units out of the settlement.

On the eastern and southeastern outskirts of Bakhmut, assault detachments occupied a residential area along Vatutina Street and reached Shchedraya Street.. In addition, the Russian fighters managed to gain a foothold in the area of ​​the meat processing plant.

As a result of intense fighting, the enemy was forced to withdraw one of the battalions of an unidentified formation due to heavy losses (about 40% of the personnel died) to the Zaporozhye region to restore combat capability.

In the Soledar sector, Russian troops pushed through the defenses of the 10th Guards Rifle Brigade and advanced towards Veseloy , improving their tactical position. The Armed Forces of Ukraine are actively using copters and observers to track the actions of the RF Armed Forces and Wagner PMC in the direction.

In the south-west of Bakhmut, the "Wagnerites" partially regained control over the previously lost positions near the Bakhmut-Konstantinovka highwayand approached the southeastern outskirts of Krasnoe .

https://t.me/s/boris_rozhin

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

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

Post by blindpig » Thu Feb 23, 2023 1:55 pm

It's never enough
POSTED BY @NSANZO ⋅ 02/23/2023

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Throughout the year that has elapsed since the start of the Russian intervention, one of the great issues in this war has been Western assistance to Ukraine, which has made the country, not just its army, a proxyNATO and the European Union. Although in this time more prominence has been given to military assistance and the problems of meeting Kiev's huge demands in terms of weapons and ammunition - which Ukraine claims to lack, but uses daily in indiscriminate bombing of places like the city of Donetsk -, financial assistance has not been less important. These constant incomes have allowed Ukraine to maintain a certain functioning of the state and, for example, the payment of pensions. But even though it is completely financed from abroad, and with practically no economy of its own that does not depend on its creditors, aid is never enough. Two of kyiv's most stalwart supporters also have an impact on this: the British press and the Polish government.

Original Article: Antifashist

The British media Financial TimesCiting the conclusions of analysts at the Institute of World Economy in Kiel, he states that Ukraine has so far received less than half of the funds that Western countries have promised to allocate as financial assistance. According to the institute, as of December 2022, the Ukrainian Finance Ministry had received 31 billion euros from its Western allies despite the fact that they had promised transfers of 64 billion, not including military assistance in this amount. Of the 30 billion promised by the countries of the European Union and the European Investment Bank, kyiv has received 12.5 billion euros so far. It should also be mentioned that, in November, the European Union reviewed the payment structure and promised to transfer the rest of the funds throughout 2023 in a ratio of around 1.

“There is a problem with the payments, hence the change, but they are delayed and unstable,” said Timofey Milovanov, adviser to the head of the President's Office and former Minister of Economic Development, Trade and Agriculture, adding that everything must start to work. improve this year. For the former minister, the situation was especially worrying in the summer, but that should change shortly.

According to Christopher Trebes of the Institute of World Economy, it has taken the European Union about six months to resolve all the political and legal issues necessary to make the payments. The official pointed out that Western countries allocated a more significant amount of funds for the Gulf War in 1990-1991 in terms of percentage of GDP than Ukraine has received this past year.

The Financial Times cites data from the Brussels-based think-tank Bruegel, which shows that EU countries have invested around 800 billion euros in helping families and businesses in the context of the energy crisis since 2021, a 7 .2% of GDP and about twenty times more than expected for Ukraine.

On the other hand, the Polish Foreign Minister, Zbigniew Rau, stated that it could take years for the European Union to establish ammunition production in the quantities specified by Ukraine, so for the moment, the EU is focusing on the supply of the weapons available to the different member countries. According to the Polish minister, Estonia's proposal on a common procurement of ammunition for Ukraine by the European Union was discussed during a meeting. As Rau noted, the discussion focused on “identifying common problems, which means that the European Union's military production of defense weapons is designed for peacetime”. "And we are dealing with a war and the demand for these products corresponds to the requirements of the military actions of the Ukrainian side," he added.

“That is why the need for joint acquisition of, above all, ammunition beyond the European Union is being discussed. But there are also few sources, ”he explained. “So we appeal to the different participants, including the High Representative [for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, i.e. Josep Borrell- Ed ] and the European countries to proactively hand over to the Ukrainian side the weapons that are available to them,” he continued. As Rau concluded, the discussion on this topic has taken place, but it has not led to anything. "The problem has been diagnosed, but there is no concrete solution, although everyone understands that it is necessary."

https://slavyangrad.es/2023/02/23/nunca ... more-26695

Google Translator

*******

9 years of Russian Spring
February 23, 14:34

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9 years ago, an anti-Bandera rally took place in Sevastopol, which began the Russian Spring in Crimea. This rally began the return of my hometown to Russia.

I was there and from that day on my life changed dramatically in every sense. And not only mine. An era of great change has begun for me, my city, my people and my country.

Here is a nine-year-old post https://colonelcassad.livejournal.com/1428328.html that divided my life into before and after.

What is happening now is what we did not decide then. But now this problem must be solved finally and irrevocably.

https://colonelcassad.livejournal.com/8185983.html

Shell conflict resolved
February 23, 12:10

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The shell conflict has been resolved

Yevgeny Prigozhin said that the necessary papers for the shipment of ammunition for the Wagner PMC have been signed and the process has begun. As the document published yesterday showed, PMC Wagner had significant problems in a number of categories of ammunition, and this was the cause of a public conflict that dragged on for quite a long time. Apparently, yesterday some agreements were reached at the top on the settlement / mitigation of the conflict. And this is good. Such problems should be solved at the top in a closed manner without bringing the situation to what happened in the projectile issue and public squabbles in general. In a war, this is unacceptable.

Today we can expect good news from the Artemovsky direction from the area of ​​Berkhovka, Yagodny, etc. In a number of areas, the fighting moved into the stage of mopping up. The enemy continues to try to hold the front north of the Chasov Yar - Artemovsk route through Khromovo, but every day it becomes more and more difficult to do this, the Wagner grinds the enemy defenses in fierce battles and gradually moves towards the key supply route.
At the same time, the disintegration of the organized enemy has not yet been observed. The enemy stubbornly resists and transfers additional forces to the threatening sectors.

https://ic.pics.livejournal.com/colonel ... 61_900.jpg

Well and good, but when this is over Prigozhin is gonna have to be put in his place...

Preparation of a provocation on the borders of Transnistria
February 23, 8:56 am

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The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation issued a warning about the preparation of an armed provocation on the borders of Transnistria.

According to available information, in the near future the Kiev regime is preparing an armed provocation against the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic, which will be carried out by units of the armed forces of Ukraine, including with the involvement of the nationalist formation "Azov".

As a pretext for the invasion, it is planned to stage an alleged offensive of Russian troops from the territory of Transnistria. To do this, the Ukrainian saboteurs participating in the staged invasion will be dressed in the uniform of the military personnel of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.

The Russian Ministry of Defense is closely monitoring the situation and is ready to respond to any changes in the situation.

PS. Of course, such a provocation can only be carried out with the approval and support of NATO. Moreover, there is a great desire to capture the ammunition depots in Kolbasnoye.
It is no coincidence that in recent months, Western equipment has already been delivered to Moldova, NATO troops are concentrated in Romania near the borders with Moldova, and in Moldova itself a process is being prepared to ban all opposition parties and TV channels along the Ukrainian model. In fact, only the complete weakness of the Sandu regime slows down this process, but with a further increase in rates, the problem of the puppet Sandu is unlikely to be looked at.

https://colonelcassad.livejournal.com/8184999.html

Google Translators

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

Nord Stream: Propaganda, the Ultimate Weapon of Empire
Posted by INTERNATIONALIST 360° on FEBRUARY 22, 2023
Mohsen Abdelmoumen

(Yet another photo of bubbling water)

Empire’s relentless and murderous persecution of journalists who reveal the truth

Journalists who care about doing their job and informing the public are very rare in the West, but fortunately there are still some, even if everything is done to prevent them from delivering information contrary to the dominant doxa. The most obvious example is Julian Assange, who is locked up in the British high-security prison of Belmarsh as a terrorist, and who faces a 175-year prison sentence if extradited to the United States – even though he is an Australian national – just for doing his job as a journalist. Those who dare to speak out against Western propaganda are ostracized, accused of conspiracy and disinformation, threatened, banned from the media, fired, taken to court, even imprisoned, their bank accounts frozen and their assets seized, as in the case of British journalist Graham Phillips for his coverage of the war in Donbass. Or the Frenchwoman Anne-Laure Bonnel, who lost her teaching position at the University of Paris 1 because her report entitled Donbass shows the fate of Russian-speaking inhabitants of eastern Ukraine bombed by the Kiev army since 2014. Her work earned her the reputation of being “pro-Putin” and subject to numerous threats and insults. Let’s also mention the German Alina Lipp, who also went to cover the reality of the Donbass and is threatened with three years in prison if she sets foot in Germany again. The fact that she put a Z – a letter now banned in Germany – on her Telegram account is considered a crime. In retaliation, her bank account as well as her father’s has been frozen. There is also the Spanish freelance reporter Pablo Gonzalez who has been in prison in Poland since February 27, 2022 because he wanted to cover the war in Ukraine. And the list is not exhaustive.

You speak, you die. You don’t speak… you live

Some journalists even lose their lives when they get too close to certain truths. They are then victims of acts of barbarism disguised as accidents such as, for example, an unfortunate fall from the fifth floor, like the one that killed Didier Contant in February 2004, who was investigating the death of the monks of Tibhirine and who felt spied upon and watched because he was about to publish a version that did not please the champions of the “who-takes-who”, the anti-Algerian doctrine dear to Jean-Baptiste Rivoire and his clique of franchouillard “droits-de-l’hommistes”. Anthropologist Rina Sherman, Didier Contant’s companion, has written a book entitled Le Huitième Mort de Tibhirine (The Eighth Death of Tibhirine) in which she recounts the hell that the journalist lived through before his death, victim of a slanderous campaign and deprived of means of subsistence by the relentless censorship he suffered.

Others are riddled with bullets like the young Slovak journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiancée who were shot dead in their home in February 2018 while the journalist was investigating the Slovak government’s links to the Calabrian mafia. Let’s also mention Italian photojournalist Andrea Rochelli who was targeted by Ukrainian forces in the Donbass in May 2014. And, closer to home, the car bombing last August near Moscow of Russian journalist Daria Dugina, who died before the eyes of her father Alexander Dugin.

And we will not mention all those who are listed on the Ukrainian website Myrotvorets which puts online personal data such as addresses and passport numbers of many journalists and other Ukrainian or foreign persons declared as “pro-Russian”, or “traitors to the fatherland”, and therefore “enemies of Ukraine”, among which are more than 300 minors. This platform is nothing but a list of people to be killed, a call to murder issued by Kiev and when one of these people is killed, his picture is crossed out with “liquidated” written in red.

It is a well-known method of fascists to draw up lists of people to be eliminated, and we have experienced this in Algeria during the black decade. Among the people listed on this site, in addition to journalists, we find some French politicians, from all parties, such as Ségolène Royal, François Asselineau, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, Marine Le Pen, and others who, with one or two exceptions, have never questioned France’s Atlanticist policy. There are also artists like Samy Naceri, Gerard Depardieu or Emir Kusturica. Such are the “values” of the West shared by the “democratic” Ukraine. And the Western self-righteousness continues, in spite of everything, to bombard us with the “freedom of expression” propaganda.

McCarthyism 2.0

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Seymour Hersh, a legend of journalism.

I personally worked for an American site called American Herald Tribune, which featured the publications of the cream of anti-imperialist and anti-Zionist activists, most of them Americans, who were not afraid to express what they thought of American policy. The FBI proved to us that it had not buried the practices of J. Edgar Hoover since the site was closed down, its publications being judged too critical of American foreign policy. Just like in the good old days of McCarthyism. The director of the site, Anthony J. Hall, was fired from the university where he taught under the pretext of “anti-Semitism”. Shortly before the site was closed, I was contacted by a “journalist” from CNN, Donie O’Sullivan, who wanted to know how much the newspaper paid me to publish my articles. I told him that I was working for free and that I didn’t get a cent, which was true. This guy sounded to me like an agent rather than a journalist and his profile in CNN indicates that he is paid to track and identify online disinformation campaigns. He also wrote a false article stating that AH Tribune was paying those who wrote for the site, which led to its closure.

This testimony is a typical example of the “values” of democracy, freedom of expression and other bullshit with which the West is continually assaulting us. We can also mention the more recent case of the channel RT France which was censored since the first sanctions package enacted by Von der Leyen, and which ended with the freezing of the channel’s bank accounts and 123 unemployed employees. It takes a lot of courage to dare to challenge the established order by reporting the real facts.

Seymour Hersh is a world-renowned American investigative journalist, a true legend of journalism who has always “carried the pen in his wound”, as Albert Londres said. He has written for major newspapers such as The New Yorker and The New York Time. He was the one who revealed the My Lai massacre by American troops during the Vietnam War, which earned him the Pulitzer Prize in 1970, and decades later he published an investigation into the practice of torture in Abu Ghrib for which he received the prestigious Polk Prize. He refuted Barak Obama’s accusation that Bashar Al-Assad had launched a chemical attack against his own people. He investigated the CIA’s hostile actions on American soil against peace movements and other opponents under the guise of counter-intelligence, which cost the CIA’s counter-intelligence chief his job. He revealed the existence of the OSP, Office of Special Plans, an intelligence unit of the US Department of Defense set up by Ronald Rumsfeld in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks. He revealed that Hillary Clinton was financed by the Israeli lobby. He also claimed that the U.S. government lied about the raid that eliminated Osama bin Laden and that his body was not thrown into the sea. His investigative work and his publications exposing the turpitude of the empire earned him, of course, a lot of enmity from those whose actions he was exposing. And today, at the age of 85, Seymour Hersh proves once again that he is one of the greatest journalists by publishing on his personal blog an investigation on the sabotage of the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines, on September 26 last year, in the Baltic Sea. (How America Took Out the Nord Stream Pipeline)

Invasion of Ukraine versus destruction of Nord Stream

It turns out that the investigation conducted by Seymour Hersh, the result of the testimony of a “deep throat” from the American intelligence services, in the manner of the Watergate scandal of 1974 – on which, by the way, Hersh investigated for the New York Times and in particular the involvement of Henry Kissinger – points directly to Joe Biden and the Straussians. The investigation reveals, in fact, that the operation was ordered by Joe Biden and planned by the Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, the Under-Secretary of State for Political Affairs, Victoria Nuland, and the National Security Adviser, Jake Sullivan, the same neo-conservative poisons, therefore, that have infested the American administration for years and whose hegemonic ideology risks plunging the world into apocalypse at any moment.

The preparation of this attack began in December 2021, that is to say three months before the Russian special operation in Ukraine, involving various people from different intelligence agencies, including William Burns, the boss of the CIA, who were meeting in the greatest secrecy to work out the plan to destroy the gas pipelines. Throughout the development of this attack, the question was not whether to carry out the mission, but how to carry it out without anyone being able to determine who was responsible.

Hersh’s publication is a real bombshell that describes in great detail the secret meetings that took place over nine months and that allowed for the implementation of the planning, selection of the divers, who were not to be part of the military to avoid the operation being reported to Congress and to the Gang of Eight (a group of eight leaders within the United States Congress who are informed on classified intelligence matters by the executive branch), the organization of the timing ; in short, the entire course of what is nothing less than an act of war by the United States against allied Europe, involving, moreover, one of NATO’s members, namely Norway, which has shown itself particularly enthusiastic about participating in this mission.

It was in June 2022, during the military training exercise Baltops, that divers placed explosives on the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines, explosives that were then remotely detonated on September 26. All Europeans should spare a thought for Victoria Nuland as they recall her famous “Fuck Europe!” she uttered in 2014 during a phone call with the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine about who the U.S. would put in power following the coup it had planned and funded.

It took two days before the mainstream media, stunned and confused by this “explosive” news, decided to talk about it. Above all, before reacting, they impatiently awaited a reaction from the White House, which, of course, categorically denied the information, followed by the CIA, which declared, hand on heart, that the whole story was totally false.

The Norwegian Foreign Minister also denied any involvement of his country in the sabotage.

It is interesting to note that since this publication, the people involved in this attack, Blinken, Sullivan, Nuland and Burns, have kept a low profile and avoided appearing before the press. Everyone also seems to have forgotten the White House press conference of February 7, 2022, during the visit of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, during which Joseph Robinette Biden said that if Russia invaded Ukraine, the United States would stop Nord Stream. A journalist asked him how they would do it, and Biden replied that they had the means to do it. All this, it should be noted, in the presence of Olaf Scholz, who has been a stooge for Washington and should give the German people pause.

In any case, following these revelations, the Western media, the watchdogs of imperialist propaganda, all repeated the same phrases like parrots, namely that “the articles of this famous reporter have been controversial for some years, and that one cannot give credence to an investigation based on a single source”. Hersh has even become a conspiracy theorist, with the reliability of his sources and his professionalism being questioned by some TV hacks who claim to be “journalists”.

This monument to investigative journalism is treated as a mere doddering old man. However, a whistleblower who was present at the Baltops military exercises in the Baltic Sea confirmed the presence of the “special” divers and reported on the jobs they did.

“Thank you, USA.”

Most of us remember the day when the Nord Stream pipeline bringing Russian gas to Europe via Germany exploded. The images of the gas gushing into the Baltic Sea were seen around the world. This act of sabotage can be seen as a casus belli against the whole of Europe but, above all, against Germany, which was totally dependent on Russian gas and which sees its entire economy threatened. Germany, which was considered as the locomotive of Europe, is witnessing the collapse of its industry because it cannot remain competitive when it has to run its factories with energy whose prices are soaring.

Immediately, the Western media accused Russia of destroying its own gas pipeline, as if the Russian government was crazy enough to pulverize a multi-billion dollar investment at the bottom of the sea, not to mention the thousands of wasted cubic meters bubbling away in the waters. But one reaction on Twitter caught the interest of some Internet users, that of former Polish foreign minister and MEP Radoslaw Sikorski, who posted a message the day after the explosion saying, “Thank you, USA,” accompanied by an aerial image of the blast site. And some of us also wondered about the cryptic text message that Liz Truss, then British Prime Minister, sent to Antony Blinken moments after the explosion: “It’s done”. It seems that many people in the West were “in cahoots” in this sabotage.

Sikorski is interesting in more ways than one. A former British-educated journalist with dual Polish and British citizenship, he worked for several British and American media, including Voice of America, before embarking on a political career. He is married to the American journalist Anne Applebaum, from a Belarusian Jewish family, a neo-conservative who spreads his hatred of the former USSR which, nevertheless, no longer exists, through purportedly scientific books which are nothing more than imperialist and anti-communist propaganda, such as The History of the Gulag, awarded a Pulitzer Prize, an institution which is decidedly no longer what it used to be, Red Famine, Stalin’s War in the Ukraine, Iron Curtain: Crushed Eastern Europe, in short, a whole disheveled literature against the evil Soviet communists.

Applebaum is an editorial writer for the Washington Post and a member of the American Enterprise Institute, a veritable nest of Straussians. A neo-conservative think tank, this institute is close to the American business community and is known for its support of military intervention. In addition to Applebaum, her husband Radoslaw Sikorski, John Bolton, Trump’s national security advisor, Lee Raymond, former CEO of ExxonMobil, Lynne Cheney, wife of George W. Bush’s former vice president, have been or are still on board. Bush; Reuel Marc Gerecht, former CIA Middle East specialist and former director of the Project for the New American Century’s Middle East Initiative; and Richard Perle, nicknamed the “Prince of Darkness,” a person accused by Seymour Hersh in the New Yorker of March 9, 2003, of conflict of interest and collusion with Israeli businessmen representing an arms manufacturing company, as well as with a company linked to the preparations for the invasion of Iraq, of which he was one of the most fervent supporters. At the time, Perle was appointed chairman of the Defense Policy Committee by George W. Bush, a position from which he was forced to resign on March 27 following the article by Seymour Hersh, whom he called a “terrorist. This is the power of the press when it does its job.

Article 5

One of the greatest acts of terrorism in history – far surpassing the attacks of September 11, 2001, in its impact on the European economy, starting with Germany’s – has been completely ignored.

The media have stopped talking about it and European politicians have not commented on it. There is not even a serious investigation.

We remember that the New York attacks were front-page news for weeks, with TV channels showing images of the destroyed buildings over and over again. NATO’s Article 5 was immediately activated. It reads:

“The Parties agree that an armed attack against one or more of them occurring in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against all of them and, accordingly, they agree that, if such an attack occurs, each of them, in exercise of the right of self-defence Consequently, they agree that, if such an attack occurs, each of them, in exercise of the right of self-defence, individual or collective, recognized by Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations, will assist the Party or Parties so attacked by taking forthwith, individually and in agreement with the other Parties, such action as it deems necessary, including the use of armed force, to restore and maintain the security of the North Atlantic area.

Any such armed attack and any action taken in consequence thereof shall be immediately reported to the Security Council. Such measures shall be terminated when the Security Council has taken the measures necessary to restore and maintain international peace and security.”


But how can Article 5 be activated when two NATO countries, the United States and Norway, commit a terrorist attack against their own partners? Moreover, the United Kingdom, Poland and Denmark are under suspicion, as the latter is responsible for monitoring the area where the attack took place.

Today, the bourgeois oligarchy that runs Europe, completely subservient to imperialism, looks the other way and buys shale gas from the United States without batting an eyelid, which doesn’t seem to bother the war-mongering German ecologists like Baerbock and Habeck, who have little to do with the color green. Uncle Sam, on the other hand, is rubbing his hands together because the programmed deindustrialization of Europe will incite European factories to relocate to the United States, which will lead to employment and wealth in the United States, but also to millions of job losses in Europe and endemic pauperization going hand in hand with a drastic increase in the cost of living due to unaffordable energy. But schuuut, let’s let the swirls in the water of the Baltic calm down and move on.

No one in the media is talking about this anymore. The blanket of silence that has fallen over Seymour Hersh’s revelation brings us back to the concept of “freedom of expression” as it is practiced in the West. Better yet, to distract the public from the terrorist attack on Nord Stream, the Russian defeat of NATO in Ukraine, and the environmental disaster in one of the most fertile regions of Ohio, with the derailment of a train carrying dangerous chemicals including vinyl chloride, which caused a veritable Seveso, Washington has found nothing better than to involve the world in a hunt for balloons and UFOs. This diversion prompted Edward Snowden to comment on Twitter on February 13: “It’s not alien. I wish it was extraterrestrial but it’s not extraterrestrial, it’s just the old artificial panic, an attractive nuisance ensuring that Natsec (ed. note: national security) reporters are assigned to investigate balloon bullshit rather than budgets or bombings (on Nord Stream) until next time.”


Russia won’t fall. Putin is a chess player.

The West is beginning to understand that, contrary to its belief, Russia will not fall, neither economically, nor militarily, nor politically, and that it is ready to continue its special operation in Ukraine as long as it takes despite the sanctions, the sending of mercenaries, weapons and tanks from NATO countries, which end up as fodder and scrap piles.

Antony Blinken can continue to sermonize his mantra that “the world cannot be allowed to remain without American leadership”, China, Russia and Iran are intensifying their cooperation, followed by the BRICS and emerging countries, paving the way for a multi-polar world. Washington’s puppet Jens Stoltenberg may demand more weapons for Kiev from NATO countries, while acknowledging that there is a shortage of ammunition, but his agitation during his press appearances shows a deep malaise and he has declared that he will not renew his mandate next October.

The Pentagon has also declared that it will not send long-range missiles to Ukraine either, as it prefers to keep them for its army.

Another sign of weakening was the visit to Europe of the most famous beggar on the planet, Volodymyr Zelensky, who returned to his bunker in Lviv with his tail between his legs, failing to play the piano, because his European tour proved to be a fiasco despite the hypocritical pampering of various parties. Only one European leader stood out by refusing to applaud the clown in khaki, Viktor Orban, proving by his attitude that there is at least one European politician who knows the meaning of the word “dignity”.

The response of the empire was not long in coming. USAID’s boss, the detestable interventionist Samantha Power, went to Budapest where she met with Hungarian students to discuss their “aspirations”, she also spoke with “independent” journalists and NGO representatives, as well as with LGBTQI+ communities and “human rights” activists. In short, Agent Power has been busy lighting fuses all over Hungary. Let’s expect to see a colorful revolution to overthrow Orban in the near future.


Confronted with what is becoming a headache for the empire, which is losing control of events, some voices are beginning to be raised to propose negotiations. For example, the Rand Corporation, which is a showcase for the CIA, has suggested that a Korean-style plan be considered in a report it published at the end of January. According to the report, it would be wise to “minimize the risk of major escalation” because “American interests would be better served by avoiding a prolonged conflict.


In particular, the think tank advocates “giving assurances about Washington’s neutrality and considering easing sanctions against Russia.” Zelensky’s former adviser, Oleksiy Arestovich, who has been featured on the famous Myrotvorets website since he revealed that the residential building destroyed by a missile on January 14, 2023 in Dnipro, killing 40 people, was not Russian but Ukrainian, which forced him to resign, is also a supporter of negotiations and the Korean-style solution.

From now on, there is no longer any question of bombing Crimea, as had been envisaged very recently, of sending long-range missiles and testing Russia with bellicose bravado, and the fact that the Russian navy went out for the first time loaded with missiles with nuclear warheads ready for use has calmed the ardor.

Biden’s upcoming visit to Poland will have all the stooges agreeing. Ukraine will not be in the geographical atlases for much longer, it will be split into two parts, one going to Poland and the other to the Russian Federation. And everything leads us to believe that the Ukrainian straw man, the “hero” Zelensky, now useless, will come to an end without honor and without glory in front of a mountain of cocaine.

Europe is disintegrating before our eyes, the revelation of Seymour Hersh having been the pin that pierced the balloon.

There was a NATO meeting on February 14 and 15 in Brussels, bringing together the chiefs of staff and the various defense ministers of the alliance countries, and Denmark and the Netherlands have already announced that they will not send tanks to Ukraine. There will be no British fighter planes in the Ukrainian sky either. Everyone seems to have understood that Vladimir Putin is a chess player, not a poker player, and that he was not bluffing when he said that a world without the Russian Federation would simply not exist.

The Original Article was Published in French.

https://libya360.wordpress.com/2023/02/ ... of-empire/

From the Gulf of Tonkin to the Baltic Sea
Posted by INTERNATIONALIST 360° on FEBRUARY 22, 2023
Seymour Hersh

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Lyndon B. Johnson delivering his televised report on the Gulf of Tonkin incident, August 4, 1964.

The secret and incomplete history of US-Norway collaboration in covert operations


Why Norway? In my account of the Biden Administration’s decision to destroy the Nord Stream pipelines, why did much of the secret planning and training for the operation take place in Norway? And why were highly skilled seamen and technicians from the Norwegian Navy involved?

The simple answer is that the Norwegian Navy has a long and murky history of cooperation with American intelligence. Five months ago that teamwork—about which we still know very little—resulted in the destruction of two pipelines, on orders of President Biden, with international implications yet to be determined. And six decades ago, so the histories of those years have it, a small group of Norwegian seamen were entangled in a presidential deceit that led to an early—and bloody—turning point in the Vietnam war.

US, Norway Have Cooperated on Clandestine Operations Since Vietnam War

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Sputnik

Two weeks after his explosive account that the United States and Norway were behind the bombing of the Nord Stream pipelines last September, US investigative journalist Seymour Hersh wrote Wednesday that Norway’s navy has had a “murky history” of cooperation with American intelligence since the Vietnam War.

“The Norwegian Navy has a long and murky history of cooperation with American intelligence,” Hersh wrote in a follow-up post on Substack.

Hersh said that Norway invested in developing large armed boats to defend its 1,400 miles of Atlantic coastline after World War II, which were more powerful than US boats. Norway subsequently used these boats to assist the CIA to pressure North Vietnam’s leadership during the Vietnam War.

This eventually culminated in a confrontation on August 2, 1964 between three North Vietnamese gunships and two American destroyers in the Gulf of Tonkin. The leader of one of the US destroyers initially cabled a false alarm that he was under attack and later rescinded his report. However, President Lyndon Johnson claimed to the US public that North Vietnam had attacked a US destroyer, creating a pretext for the US to bomb the North. Congress also passed the Tonkin Gulf Resolution to allow Johnson to deploy US military force as he saw fit in South Vietnam.

Hersh said that Norway stayed quiet all along about its assistance to the US and even went on to sell 18 more of their boats to the US Navy. Citing a US intelligence source, Hersh said that the first batch of such boats used in the CIA’s “secret war within a secret war” against North Vietnam numbered six and landed in early 1964 at a naval base in Danang.

These boats had Norwegian captains and crews to train US and Vietnamese sailors to use them in a long-running series of secret coastal attacks directed by the CIA and controlled by the Joint Chiefs of Staff in Washington, Hersh said.

Earlier this month, Hersh, a Pulitzer Prize-winning US investigative journalist, published a report detailing how US Navy divers had planted explosives under the Nord Stream pipelines, which Norway activated three months later at the order of President Joe Biden.

Hersh wrote that cheap Russian gas had been a boon for the German economy, fueling its post-war rise to prosperity while diminishing Europe’s dependence on the United States. He cited a source with direct knowledge of the US operational planning as saying that Norway played a key role in helping the US organize the attack and keep the Swedish and Danish navies in the dark.

Both the United States and Norway dismissed the investigation as a lie. Russia, for its part, said it was no surprise that Hersh’s report was largely overlooked by Western mainstream media despite Biden and Undersecretary of State Victoria Nuland outright warning Russia months before the attack that the pipeline would be dealt with if it launched a military operation in Ukraine.

On September 26, 2022, blasts occurred at three of the four strings of Nord Stream 1 and 2 underwater pipelines built to carry a combined 110 billion cubic meters of Russian gas to Europe annually. The incidents halted gas deliveries to Germany ahead of the cold season, prompting a gas price hike and a scramble for alternative sources in the European Union.

https://libya360.wordpress.com/2023/02/ ... altic-sea/

Putin’s ‘Civilizational’ Speech Frames Conflict Between East and West
Posted by INTERNATIONALIST 360° on FEBRUARY 22, 2023
Pepe Escobar

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In his Federal Assembly address, President Putin emphasized that Russia is not only an independent nation-state but also a distinct civilization with its own identity, which is in conflict and actively opposes the values of ‘western civilization.’

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s much awaited address to the Russian Federal Assembly on Tuesday should be interpreted as a tour de force of sovereignty.

The address, significantly, marked the first anniversary of Russia’s official recognition of the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics, only a few hours before 22 February, 2022. In myriad ways, what happened a year ago also marked the birth of the real, 21st century multipolar world.

Then two days later, Moscow launched the Special Military Operation (SMO) in Ukraine to defend said republics.

Cool, calm, collected, without a hint of aggression, Putin’s speech painted Russia as an ancient, independent, and quite distinct civilization – sometimes following a path in concert with other civilizations, sometimes in divergence.

Ukraine, part of Russian civilization, now happens to be occupied by western civilization, which Putin said “became hostile to us,” like in a few instances in the past. So the acute phase of what is essentially a war by proxy of the west against Russia takes place over the body of Russian civilization.

That explains Putin’s clarification that “Russia is an open country, but an independent civilization – we do not consider ourselves superior but we inherited our civilization from our ancestors and we must pass it on.”

A war dilacerating the body of Russian civilization is a serious existential business. Putin also made clear that “Ukraine is being used as a tool and testing ground by the west against Russia.” Thus the inevitable follow-up: “The more long-range weapons are sent to Ukraine, the longer we have to push the threat away from our borders.”

Translation: this war will be long – and painful. There will be no swift victory with minimal loss of blood. The next moves around the Dnieper may take years to solidify. Depending on whether US policy continues to cleave to neo-con and neoliberal objectives, the frontline may be displaced to Lviv. Then German politics may change. Normal trade with France and Germany may be recovered only by the end of the next decade.

Kremlin exasperation: START is finished

All that brings us to the games played by the Empire of Lies. Says Putin: “The promises…of western rulers turned into forgery and cruel lies. The west supplied weapons, trained nationalist battalions. Even before the start of the SMO, there were negotiations…on the supply of air defense systems… We remember Kyiv’s attempts to obtain nuclear weapons.”

Putin made it clear, once again, that the element of trust between Russia and the west, especially the US, is gone. So it’s a natural decision for Russia to “withdraw from the treaty on strategic offensive weapons, but we don’t do it officially. For now we are only halting our participation to the START treaty. No US inspections in our nuclear sites can be allowed.”

As an aside, of the three main US-Russian weapons treaties, Washington abandoned two of these: The Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty was dumped by the administration of former president George W. Bush in 2002, and the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty was nixed by former president Donald Trump in 2019.

This shows the Kremlin’s degree of exasperation. Putin is even prepared to order the Ministry of Defense and Rosatom to get ready to test Russian nuclear weapons if the US goes first along the same road.

If that’s the case, Russia will be forced to completely break parity in the nuclear sphere, and abandon the moratorium on nuclear testing and cooperation with other nations when it comes to the production of nuclear weapons. So far, the US and NATO game consisted in opening a little window allowing them to inspect Russian nuclear sites.

With his judo move, Putin returns the pressure onto the White House.

The US and NATO will not be exactly thrilled when Russia starts testing its new strategic weapons, especially the post-doomsday Poseidon – the largest nuclear-powered torpedo ever deployed, capable of triggering terrifying radioactive ocean swells.

On the economic front: Bypassing the US dollar is the essential play towards multipolarity. During his speech, Putin made a point to extol the resilience of the Russian economy: “Russian GDP in 2022 decreased only by 2.1 percent, estimates of the opposing side did not become reality, they said 15, 20 percent.” That resilience gives Russia enough room to “work with partners to make the system of international settlements independent of the US dollar and other western currencies. The dollar will lose its universal role.”

On geoeconomics: Putin went all out in praise of economic corridors, from West Asia to South Asia: “New corridors, transport routes will be built towards the East, this is the region where we will focus our development, new highways to Kazakhstan and China, new North-South corridor to Pakistan, Iran.”

And those will connect to Russia developing “the ports of the Black and Azov Seas, it’s necessary to build logistics corridors within the country.” The result will be a progressive interconnection with the International North South Transportation Corridor (INSTC) whose principals include Iran and India, and eventually China’s mega-trillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

China’s plan for global security

It’s inevitable that apart from sketching several state policies geared towards Russia’s internal development – one might even compare them to socialist policies – a great deal of Putin’s address had to focus on the NATO vs. Russia war till-the-last-Ukrainian.

Putin remarked on how “our relations with the west have degraded, and this is entirely the fault of the United States;” how NATO’s goal is to inflict a “strategic defeat” on Russia; and how the warmongering frenzy had forced him, a week ago, to sign a decree “putting new ground-based strategic complexes on combat duty.”

So it’s no accident that the US ambassador was immediately summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs right after Putin’s address.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told Ambassador Lynne Tracey in no uncertain terms that Washington must take concrete measures: among them, to remove all US and NATO military forces and equipment away from Ukraine. In a stunning move, he demanded a detailed explanation of the destruction of the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines, as well as a halt to US interference in an independent inquiry to identify the responsible parties.

Keeping the momentum in Moscow, top Chinese diplomat Wang Yi met with secretary of Russian Security Council Nikolai Patrushev, before talking to Lavrov and Putin. Patrushev remarked, “the course towards developing a strategic partnership with China is an absolute priority for Russia’s foreign policy.” Wang Yi, not so cryptically, added, “Moscow and Beijing need to synchronize their watches.”

The Americans are doing everything to try and pre-empt the Chinese proposal for a de-escalation in Ukraine. China’s plan should be presented this Friday, and there’s a serious risk Beijing may fall into a trap set by the western plutocracy.

Too many Chinese “concessions” to Russia, and not as many to Ukraine, may be spun to drive a wedge between Moscow and Beijing (Divide and Rule, which is always the US Plan A. There’s no Plan B).

Sensing the waters, the Chinese themselves decided to take the offensive, presenting a Global Security Initiative Concept Paper.

The problem is Beijing still attributes too much clout to a toothless UN, when they refer to“formulating a New Agenda for Peace and other proposals put forth in Our Common Agenda by the UN Secretary-General.”

Same when Beijing upholds the consensus that “a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought.” Try to explain that to the Straussian neo-con psychos in the Beltway, who know nothing about war, much less nuclear ones.

The Chinese affirm the necessity to “comply with the joint statement on preventing nuclear war and avoiding arms races issued by leaders of the five nuclear-weapon states in January 2022.” And to “strengthen dialogue and cooperation among nuclear-weapon states to reduce the risk of nuclear war.”

Bets can be made that Patrushev explained in detail to Wang Yi how that is just wishful thinking. The “logic “of the current collective western “leadership” has been expressed, among others, by irredeemable mediocrity Jens Stoltenberg, NATO’s secretary-general: even nuclear war is preferable to a Russian victory in Ukraine.

Putin’s measured but firm address has made it clear that the stakes keep getting higher. And it all revolves on how deep Russia’s – and China’s – “strategic ambiguity” are able to petrify a paranoid west flirting with mushroom clouds.

https://libya360.wordpress.com/2023/02/ ... -and-west/

Personally, I think all this talk of 'civilizational conflict' is bullshit. Cultural, yes, but the 'civilization' of humans on Earth is primarily capitalism, though China seems to be threading the needle. If it ain't capitalism, with it's Western roots, why does damn near everyone on the planet wear Western style clothing?

I think Pepe is wrong about China, they are not fools and can see how it works. But they do support the idea, and their soft approach to foreign policy, with emphasis upon cooperation, legality and the long-term condition of humanity cannot be disputed. 'Catching flies with honey'.

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The Buildup To War In Ukraine - Tuesday, February 22, 2022

To provide a legal framework for Russian military support to Donetsk and Luhansk the Russian President Vladimir Putin had signed executive orders to recognize the Donetsk People's Republic and the Lunhansk People's Republic as independent countries:

In this regard, I consider it necessary to take a long overdue decision and to immediately recognise the independence and sovereignty of the Donetsk People's Republic and the Lugansk People's Republic.
I would like to ask the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation to support this decision and then ratify the Treaty of Friendship and Mutual Assistance with both republics. These two documents will be prepared and signed shortly.


On Tuesday, February 22, 2022 the Federal Assembly held an extraordinary session and did as Putin had ask:

In a session held on Tuesday, the Duma, the lower house of Russia’s parliament, unanimously backed the deals, with 400 MPs voting in favor. Earlier that same day, the parliaments of the two regions simultaneously ratified the ‘Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation with the Russian Federation.’

This was sufficient reason for the U.S. and EU to implement their long planned fireworks of sanctions against Russia:

The European Union agreed to new sanctions on Russia that will blacklist more politicians, lawmakers and officials, ban EU investors from trading in Russian state bonds, and target imports and exports with separatist entities.
...
Russia’s formal recognition of two breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine was an unacceptable breach of Ukraine’s sovereignty, Borrell said.
“This package of sanctions that has been approved by unanimity by the member states will hurt Russia, and it will hurt a lot,” Borrell told a news conference alongside France’s foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian at a meeting in Paris.

Separately, Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas told Reuters that further Russian aggression in Ukraine would result in more sanctions, in coordination with the United States.

The package of sanctions includes all members of the lower house of the Russian parliament who voted in favor of the recognition of the breakaway regions, freezing any assets they have in the EU and banning them from traveling to the bloc.


U.S. sanctions on Russia were imposed in a coordinated manner.

Germany halted the approval for the Nord Stream 2 pipeline.

Later that day Putin signed the Federal Law On Ratifying the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance Between the Russian Federation and the Lugansk People’s Republic and a similar treaty with the Donetsk People’s Republic:

The Federal Law was adopted by the State Duma and approved by the Federation Council on February 22, 2022.
...
The Treaty provides for broad cooperation in the political, economic, social, military and humanitarian areas.


After recognizing the independence of the LPR/DNR Russia all three could claim a right of collective self-defense in analog to Article 51 of the UN Charter.

Sticking to the necessary legal formalities Putin then asked the Federal Council to authorize the use of Russian Armed Forces abroad:

On the basis of Paragraph “d”, Part 1, Article 102 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, and under the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance between the Russian Federation and the Donetsk People’s Republic, and the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance between the Russian Federation and the Lugansk People’s Republic, I am submitting a proposal that the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation approve a resolution authorising the use of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation abroad on the basis of the generally accepted principles and norms of international law.

Putin then took media questions. He made some interesting points.

*Russia recognizes the republics in their constitutional borders, i.e. their original borders in Ukraine before the conflict there started.
*He compares Crimea, where a referendum was held and people voted to became part of Russia, with Kosovo, where only a parliament vote was held to declare itself independent.
*He lays out what the conditions for peace had been before: Recognition of Crimea as part of Russia, no NATO membership for Ukraine, fulfillment of the Minsk agreements and a certain extend of demilitarization of Ukraine.
*Being asked about Ukraine's intend to build and deploy nuclear weapons (as announced by Zelenski on Feb 19 in Munich) Putin responded that the Ukraine has the means to do that. This would be a strategic threat to Russia.

Last but not least he is asked about the length and extend of the potential military deployment:

Andrei Kolesnikov, Kommersant newspaper:

Mr President, do you think it is possible in today’s world to resolve problems with force and remain on the side of good? This is my first question.

The second one is more technical, if you will. In your view, how far might troops advance: up to the contact line, to the administrative borders of the DPR and LPR, or somewhere else?

Thank you.

Vladimir Putin: First, I did not say our troops would enter right away, after our meeting here. That is first. Second, it is absolutely impossible to predict the detailed path of possible actions. It depends on the concrete situation that is unfolding on the ground, as they say.

Regarding the question if all issues can and must be resolved by force or if it is possible to remain on the side of good. Well, why do you think that good must always be frail and helpless? I do not think that is true. I think good means being able to defend oneself. We will proceed from that.


The OSCE Special Observer Mission at the ceasefire line in southeast-Ukraine reported of Tuesday, February 22 2022.

In Donetsk region, the SMM recorded 528 ceasefire violations, including 345 explosions. In the previous reporting period, it recorded 703 ceasefire violations in the region.
In Luhansk region, the Mission recorded 1,182 ceasefire violations, including 1,075 explosions. In the previous reporting period, it recorded 1,224 ceasefire violations in the region.


The OSCE reported slightly less incidents than the day before.

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Both sides moved further equipment towards the ceasefire line:

In violation of withdrawal lines, in government-controlled areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions, the SMM saw 13 tanks near a residential area of Karlivka (25km north-west of Donetsk), eight towed howitzers, including four in a residential area of Novotroitske (36km south-west of Donetsk), as well as four surface-to-air missile systems and two towed anti-tank guns. In non-government-controlled areas of Donetsk region, the SMM saw two surface-to-air missile systems and eight towed howitzers, of which four were moving south on road T-0508 near Bessarabka (85km south of Donetsk), in a zone within which deployment of heavy armaments and military equipment is further proscribed according to Point 5 of the Memorandum of 19 September 2014.
...
The SMM saw five armoured combat vehicles in government-controlled areas of Donetsk region, including one in a residential area, and a self-propelled anti-aircraft system near a residential area, as well as eight armoured combat vehicles in non-government-controlled areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions, including two near Novomykhailivka (52km south of Donetsk), in a zone within which deployment of heavy armaments and military equipment is proscribed according to Point 5 of the Memorandum of 19 September 2014.


The map shows ceasefire violations in yellow, orange to red colors. The most appear on the side of the Donbas republics. The source of most of the ceasefire violations, like noise of shooting or explosions recorded by cameras, drones or heard by the observers, is listed as 'undetermined'.

The map shows explosions, as small black dots, on both sides of the ceasefire line. While only a part of the hundreds of explosions were located and marked on the map a count of the black dots shows that a great majority of those happened on the side of the Donbas republics. I count 68 impacts marked on the Donbas side and 34 on the government controlled side of the ceasefire line.

This was no longer an artillery duel or exchange of harassment. From a military standpoint this looked like artillery preparations for an attack along roads that could then be used as future lines of attack for a mechanized force.

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Posted by b on February 22, 2023 at 16:05 UTC | Permalink
"There is great chaos under heaven; the situation is excellent."

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

Post by blindpig » Fri Feb 24, 2023 1:13 pm

with no end in sight
POSTED BY @NSANZO ⋅ 24/02/2023

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Exactly one year ago, through a pre-recorded speech, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the start of a special military operation with which the country was to liberate the territories of the People's Republics as proclaimed in 2014 and to denazify and demilitarizeUkraine. During the months before the invasion, the intelligence of the NATO countries had worked hard to install in the collective consciousness the false idea that Russia could capture kyiv in 72 hours. Although this motto was always Western disinformation, the fact that the war has dragged on beyond what Moscow wanted has served in this time for the Ukrainian discourse exalting its successes and its abilities. However, apart from these false conceptions of a short war in which Russia would manage to subdue Ukraine in a short time, there is no doubt that Moscow has encountered a series of difficulties in Ukraine that, although it should have foreseen, it did not expect.

Much has been debated about the specific objectives that the Russian leadership was pursuing with its attack on Ukraine and, above all, with its advance on kyiv. Without sufficient air cover and starting from the false premise that the Ukrainian troops would not resist - an unforgivable intelligence mistake, which should never have trusted that an army would not fight to the end after having spent eight years in the trenches -, the russian troops advanced rapidly towards the ukrainian capital to finally collide with the ukrainian wall that they never managed to demolish. However, the actions of the Russian authorities and the words of Vladimir Putin just a few hours after the start of the military operation suggest that Moscow's interest was not to capture all of Ukraine or reabsorb the country into its sphere of influence.

"It will be easier to reach an agreement with you," Vladimir Putin said when appealing to the Ukrainian troops to overthrow their political authorities. That speech, coupled with the fact that Russia began, almost immediately, the first rounds of peace talks, suggests that Moscow's real goal was a quick deal to force Kiev to accept the loss of Crimea, possibly also of Donbass and to renounce NATO in exchange for security guarantees for Ukraine. From this conviction that an agreement was possible, the negotiations that culminated on March 29 in Istanbul were born, a summit in which a preliminary agreement or, at least, a ceasefire was expected. However, by that time, Ukraine, who had already managed to defend their capital and gain the necessary time to show their partners the need to receive offensive weapons with which to fight a long war, openly rejected any agreement that implied territorial losses. Thus Kiev, with the explicit support of its partners, opted for war to the end, thus preventing a resolution that, while painful, would have prevented much of the death and destruction that has occurred since.

When determining the political and military phases that have elapsed in this year of Russo-Ukrainian war, which is added to the eight years of trench warfare in Donbass, it is necessary to take into account the turning point in Istanbul. Throughout the last days of February and the month of March, Russian troops advanced rather rapidly north into the Luhansk People's Republic, south to Volnovaja in the Donetsk People's Republic, and north from Crimea. . Aware of the key aspect of the defense of Kiev, Ukraine sacrificed territorial battalions, nationalist units, volunteers and mobilized recruits in the south, keeping its best units in the capital area, which prevented the siege of the city.

The Russian withdrawal from Kiev, anticipated after the Istanbul summit when, believing that he was on the verge of an agreement in principle, Vladimir Medinsky announced a reduction in military activity in the area to make it easier for Ukraine to make decisions, marked the end of a first military and political phase that has marked the development of the following months. The Russian troops had managed to reach the natural border of the Dnieper in the south, capture important points such as Kherson, Melitopol, Energodar or Berdiansk and advance in two directions on Mariupol. However, Russian troops had not succeeded in fully besieging either Kiev or Kharkov, so military pressure was never existential for Ukraine, whose government remained at the forefront and, with the help of its partners, he managed to delay the negotiations long enough to organize his defense. Boris Johnson's visit to Kiev in the first week of April, when casualties from artillery duels had already been turned into Russian summary executions, was merely the culmination of the mock negotiation phase. Despite the credit that Johnson himself gives himself for stalling the negotiation process, the deal was already a distant dream. As in Minsk and Normandy, Ukraine used the negotiations to buy time and allow its partners to strengthen their defenses in preparation for what has, over time, become an all-out war.

The next phase of the war involved the exhaustion of the Russian offensive and the preparation of the Ukrainian counteroffensive. With great difficulties and suffering heavy casualties, the Russian troops captured a significant part of the Kharkov region. The city of Balakleya stands out in this area, with one of the largest arsenals in the country, and, above all, Izium, the city where the anti-terrorist operation began in April 2014.. However, exhausted after the Kiev offensive, where casualties were high, and because of the long battle for Mariupol, the Russian troops were unable, over the next few months, to translate their artillery superiority into further territorial advances, which throughout July they were limited to the Donbass central front only. The first week of July, the Russian authorities considered the entire territory of the RPL liberated, although a few weeks later they would be forced to defend it again from the Ukrainian offensive.

The stalemate of July and August 2022, a time when Ukraine was openly announcing its upcoming counter-offensive and using its long-range artillery to destroy the bridges around Kherson and all manner of Russian powder magazines and arsenals on the southern front and in Donbass, It is an important moment precisely because of everything that does not happen. Russia is able to control the first attempted Ukrainian counteroffensive on Kherson, which ends up filling Nikolaev hospitals with wounded, but has already created the conditions that will make it impossible for Moscow to defend the city in the future. Although it took weeks of constant attacks with its brand new American HIMARS, Ukraine managed to disable the Antonovsky bridge, key to Russian logistics at its most vulnerable point:

However, it was the swift Ukrainian attack on Kharkov that marked a turning point and forced the Russian authorities to make political and military decisions. In just a few days, Russia lost, in a hasty and disorganized retreat involving casualties and loss of equipment, both Balakleya and Izium, thus losing any chance of advancing on Slavyansk and Kramatorsk from the north. The Russian troops were also unable to defend Kupyansk with the Oskol at their back, a sure sign of the difficulties they would face in defending Kherson.

The collapse of the Kharkov front finally forced the Russian authorities to decree the partial mobilization that they had tried to avoid for months. Other decisions of no less political and military importance were added to that decree. Sergey Surovikin was appointed commander-in-chief of the troops of the special military operationand with it began a new tactic that involved attacking Ukrainian critical infrastructures with the aim of undermining the capacity of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and, above all, forcing the country to divert resources from the military to the civilian level. That was also the moment when, after the hasty call for referendums, Russia accepted as its own the territories of the DPR, the PRL and the Ukrainian regions of Kherson and Zaporozhye, annexations that will be only symbolic as long as Moscow has to defend them militarily from the Ukrainian attacks.

The mobilization, the exhaustion of both parties and the arrival of the mud season slowed down the development of events at the front, with the battle concentrated solely in Donbass. Despite the inertia inherited from the Kharkov offensive, which allowed Ukraine to capture Krasny Liman when it had already been proclaimed part of Russia, Ukrainian troops failed, as expected, to break through the Lugansk front in the direction of Kremennaya and Svatovo, where it is still fought between small Russian advances.

The first anniversary of the start of the Russian military intervention occurs with Valery Gerasimov, Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Federation, in command of troops that, in the coming weeks or months, will have to face the announced Ukrainian offensive, which is expected to will focus on Zaporozhye, with the goal of capturing Melitopol and endangering Russian control of Crimea. For this, Ukraine has already obtained the promise of the supply of Western tanks and also seeks to receive aviation and long-range missiles. However, in that future offensive they will face more risk-aware Russian troops, with a larger number of soldiers available and their defensive positions reinforced. On this road to total war that the Western commitment to the military path implies until the end, the next few months will be decisive in marking the development of events. In this war, which is increasingly dangerous for the civilian population, the only certainty is increasing destruction.

https://slavyangrad.es/2023/02/24/26700/#more-26700

Google Translator

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U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba condemn neutrality at the Munich Security Conference on February 18, 2023

West tells Global South ‘you can’t be neutral’ in Ukraine war: You are either with us, or against us
By Ben Norton (Posted Feb 23, 2023)

Originally published: Geopolitical Economy Report on February 20, 2023 (more by Geopolitical Economy Report) |
Strategy, WarAmericas, Europe, Germany, Global, Russia, Ukraine, United StatesNewswireAnnalena Baerbock, Antony Blinken, Dmytro Kuleba, Global

The foreign ministers of the United States, Germany, and Ukraine have told the world “you can’t be neutral” in NATO’s proxy war with Russia, recalling President George W. Bush’s infamous declaration,

You are either with us, or against us.

In doing so, these Western officials are implicitly criticizing the vast majority of the countries on Earth, which are in the Global South, and which have maintained strict neutrality over the war.

In a joint event at the Munich Security Conference on February 18, Germany’s Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock declared,

Neutrality is not an option, because then you are standing on the side of the aggressor.



Baerbock emphasized that “this is a plea we are also giving next week to the world again: Please take a side, a side for peace, a side for Ukraine, a side for the humanitarian international law, and these times this means also delivering ammunition so Ukraine can defend itself”.

The German foreign minister’s comments were echoed by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

“As Annalena [Baerbock] said, there is no neutral position… There is no balance”, Blinken said, stressing,

You really can’t be neutral.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba praised the West for “stand[ing] for principles and rules”, while implying that the Global South is barbaric and lawless.

“We see an unprecedented unity of one part of the world that stands for principles and rules this world is based on, but we also see other parts of the world, some are neutral, which means effectively the support of Russia”, Kuleba said with disgust.

Baerbock had previously made it clear that the West is waging war on Russia, declaring at the Council of Europe in January,

We are fighting a war against Russia.

The tone and context of the comments made by top Western officials at the Munich Security Conference on February 18 made it clear that they are angry with the Global South for refusing to join their proxy war.

[youtube]http://twitter.com/i/status/1627757493886636040[/youtube]

Vast majority of world population, located in Global South, is neutral in Ukraine proxy war

A day before this discussion at the Munich Security Conference, French state media outlet France 24 published an article complaining that,

Over the past year, most Global South countries adopted a position of studied neutrality on the war in Ukraine.

In a deeply arrogant voice, the French state media outlet wrote dismissively that “what binds this diverse group [in the Global South] together is the quest for a ‘multipolar’ world order stacked against the ‘unipolar hegemony’ of the West”. It added smugly that this “also happens to be Russia’s favourite talking point”.

This condescending talking point has been a consistent refrain coming from Western governments and media outlets, criticizing the Global South for not taking NATO’s side.

The global population is roughly 8 billion people, and more than 6 billion live in countries that have been neutral in the Ukraine proxy war.

These include the world’s most populous countries, such as:

China (1.41 billion people)
India (1.38 billion people)
Indonesia (276 million people)
Pakistan (236 million people)
Nigeria (219 million people)
Brazil (216 million people)
Bangladesh (170 million people)
Mexico (129 million people)
Ethiopia (105 million people)
Egypt (104 million people)
Vietnam (99 million people)
Türkiye (85 million people)
Thailand (67 million people)
Tanzania (62 million people)
South Africa (61 million people)
Kenya (48 million people)
Argentina (46 million people)
Algeria (45 million people)
Sudan (45 million people)
Uganda (43 million people)
Iraq (42 million people)
Morocco (37 million people)
Uzbekistan (36 million people)
Saudi Arabia (34 million people)

As Geopolitical Economy previously reported, two former U.S. diplomats published an article in Newsweek in September admitting, “Nearly 90 Percent of the World Isn’t Following Us on Ukraine”. They wrote:

While the United States and its closest allies in Europe and Asia have imposed tough economic sanctions on Moscow, 87 percent of the world’s population has declined to follow us. Economic sanctions have united our adversaries in shared resistance.

Less predictably, the outbreak of Cold War II has also led countries that were once partners or non-aligned to become increasingly multi-aligned.


This global divergence is especially clear when one looks at a map of which countries have imposed sanctions on Russia.

These nations only represent a bit over 1 billion people: the United States, Canada, Britain, European Union, Australia, South Korea, and Japan (the last two of which have been militarily occupied by the U.S. for decades).

Russia commonly refers to this bloc as the “collective West”, and their comparatively wealth population as the “golden billion” that has benefited from the economic exploitation inherent in the imperialist world-system.

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Geopolitical Economy previously cited an article published in March 2022 by British newspaper The Guardian, titled “Cold war echoes as African leaders resist criticising Putin’s war”, which lamented that “Many remember Moscow’s support for liberation from colonial rule, and a strong anti-imperialist feeling remains”.

The publication noted with anger that most African nations were “calling for peace but blaming Nato’s eastward expansion for the war, complaining of western ‘double standards’ and resisting all calls to criticise Russia”.

Today, almost all African countries are members of the Non-Aligned Movement, and are decidedly neutral.

Western attacks on the Non-Aligned Movement

This Western narrative that Global South countries are not actually neutral goes back to the First Cold War.

In 1961, leftist leaders of India, Ghana, Egypt, Indonesia, and Yugoslavia formed the Non-Aligned Movement. This bloc represented the majority of the world population and consisted of countries, largely in the Global South, that opposed colonialism and imperialism and did not want to participate in the cold war. They sought to build a truly multipolar world, not a bipolar one.

Because the Non-Aligned Movement was led by socialists (India’s Jawaharlal Nehru, Ghana’s Kwame Nkrumah, Egypt’s Gamal Abdel Nasser, Indonesia’s Sukarno, and Yugoslavia’s Josip Broz Tito), the United States and its cold war allies attacked the movement and claimed that being non-aligned really meant being a secret supporter of the Soviet-led communist bloc.

The CIA backed a coup against Nkrumah in Ghana in 1966. The year before, the CIA sponsored a coup against Sukarno in Indonesia (and subsequently supported the genocide carried out by U.S.-backed right-wing dictator Suharto, who killed between 1 and 3 million leftists). The United States also repeatedly tried to overthrow Nasser, but failed.

Western imperialist powers have long adopted this George W. Bush-esque position, that any country that did not actively support them was against them.

Ukraine itself had been an observer state in the Non-Aligned Movement. In 2010, the government of democratically elected President Viktor Yanukovych voted to officially declare Ukraine non-aligned.

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A map of Non-Aligned Movement members (dark blue) and observer states (light blue)

But in February 2014, the United States sponsored a coup d’etat in Ukraine, which overthrew Yanukovych and installed a pro-Western regime. Soon after the violent putsch, Kiev officially dropped its non-aligned status and declared its intention to join the U.S.-led NATO military alliance.

Global South countries condemn Russian invasion, but blame Western aggression and maintain neutrality
The misleading comments by Blinken, Baerbock, and Kuleba claiming the Global South is not actually neutral about Ukraine are objectively false. But this doesn’t mean that all of these Global South countries support Russia’s war.

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Many countries in the Global South have condemned the Russian invasion.

On March 2, 2022, a week after Russia sent its troops into Ukraine, the majority of member states of the United Nations did vote to condemn the invasion, including many countries in the Global South.

However, Eritrea, the DPRK, Syria, and Belarus voted against the resolution, and 35 member states abstained, including massive countries like China and India (which together have nearly 3 billion people), as well as Pakistan, South Africa, Iran, Iraq, Sudan, Zimbabwe, Vietnam, Algeria, Cuba, Nicaragua, Bolivia, Mozambique, and Lao.

Then in April, the General Assembly held another vote, this time to expel Russia from the UN Human Rights Council.

There was less support for this resolution, with 93 votes in favor.

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58 countries abstained, such as India, Pakistan, Indonesia, Brazil, Mexico, South Africa, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Sudan.

24 countries voted against the measure, including China, Iran, Algeria, Bolivia, Nicaragua, Cuba, Ethiopia, Mali, Laos, Vietnam, and Zimbabwe.

The Western bloc wants the world to believe there are only two options: aligning with it, or opposing it.

But most countries on Earth, representing the vast majority of the world’s population, in the Global South, truly are neutral.

NATO is simply frustrated that 87% of the planet won’t join its war efforts.

https://mronline.org/2023/02/23/west-te ... raine-war/

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NEMO

The Ukraine War viewed from the Global South
Originally published: American Committee for U.S.-Russia Accord (ACURA) on February 22, 2023 by Krishen Mehta (more by American Committee for U.S.-Russia Accord (ACURA)) (Posted Feb 24, 2023)

In October 2022, about eight months after the beginning of the war in Ukraine, the University of Cambridge in the UK harmonized surveys that asked the inhabitants of 137 countries about their views of the West, Russia, and China. The findings in the combined study are robust enough to demand our serious attention.

Of the 6.3 billion people who live outside of the West, 66% feel positively towards Russia, and 70% feel positively towards China.
75% of respondents in South Asia, 68% of respondents in Francophone Africa, and 62% of respondents in Southeast Asia report feeling positively toward Russia.
Public opinion of Russia remains positive in Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, India, Pakistan, and Vietnam.
These findings have caused some surprise and even anger in the West. It’s difficult for Western thought leaders to comprehend that two-thirds of the world’s population is just not lining up with the West in this conflict. However, I believe there are five reasons why the Global South is not taking the West’s side. I discuss these reasons in the short essay below.

1. The Global South does not believe that the West understands or empathizes with its problems.
India’s foreign minister, S. Jaishankar, summed it up succinctly in a recent interview: “Europe has to grow out of the mindset that Europe’s problems are the world’s problems, but the world’s problems are not Europe’s problems.” Developing countries face many challenges, from the aftermath of the pandemic, the high cost of debt service, and the climate crisis that is ravaging their environments, to the pain of poverty, food shortages, droughts, and high energy prices. Yet the West has barely given lip service to the seriousness of many of these issues, even while insisting that the Global South join it in sanctioning Russia.

The Covid pandemic is a perfect example. Despite the Global South’s repeated pleas to share intellectual property on the vaccines with the goal of saving lives, no Western nation has been willing to do so. Africa remains to this day the most unvaccinated continent in the world. African nations have the manufacturing capability to make the vaccines, but without the necessary intellectual property, they remain dependent on imports.

But help did come from Russia, China, and India. Algeria launched a vaccination program in January 2021 after it received its first batch of Russia’s Sputnik V vaccines. Egypt started vaccinations after receiving China’s Sinopharm vaccine at about the same time, while South Africa procured a million doses of AstraZeneca from the Serum Institute of India. In Argentina, Sputnik became the backbone of the national vaccine program. This all happened while the West was using its financial resources to buy millions of doses in advance, then often destroying them when they expired. The message to the Global South was clear–the pandemic in your countries is your problem, not ours.

2. History matters: who stood where during colonialism and after independence?
Many countries in Latin America, Africa, and Asia view the war in Ukraine through a different lens than the West. They see their former colonial powers regrouped as members of the Western alliance. This alliance–for the most part, members of the European Union and NATO or the closest allies of the U.S. in the Asia-Pacific region–makes up the countries that have sanctioned Russia. By contrast, many countries in Asia, and almost all countries in the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America, have tried to remain on good terms with both Russia and the West, shunning sanctions against Russia. Could this be because they remember their history at the receiving end of the West’s colonial policies, a trauma that they still live with but which the West has mostly forgotten?

Nelson Mandela often said that it was the Soviet Union’s support, both moral and material, that helped inspire South Africans to overthrow the Apartheid regime. Because of this, Russia is still viewed in a favorable light by many African countries. And once independence came for these countries, it was the Soviet Union that supported them, despite its own limited resources. Egypt’s Aswan Dam, completed in 1971, was designed by the Moscow-based Hydro Project Institute and financed in large part by the Soviet Union. The Bhilai Steel Plant, one of the first large infrastructure projects in newly independent India, was set up by the USSR in 1959.

Other countries also benefited from the political and economic support provided by the former Soviet Union, including Ghana, Mali, Sudan, Angola, Benin, Ethiopia, Uganda, and Mozambique. On February 18, 2023, at the African Union Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the foreign minister of Uganda, Jeje Odongo, had this to say: “We were colonized and forgave those who colonized us. Now the colonizers are asking us to be enemies of Russia, who never colonized us. Is that fair? Not for us. Their enemies are their enemies. Our friends are our friends.”

Rightly or wrongly, present-day Russia is seen by many countries in the Global South as an ideological successor to the former Soviet Union. Fondly remembering the USSR’s help, they now view Russia in a unique and often favorable light. Given the painful history of colonization, can we blame them?

3. The war in Ukraine is seen by the Global South as mainly about the future of Europe rather than the future of the entire world.
The history of the Cold War has taught developing countries that getting embroiled in great power conflicts carries enormous risks but returns scant, if any, rewards. As a consequence, they view the Ukraine proxy war as one that is more about the future of European security than the future of the entire world. From the Global South’s perspective, the Ukraine war seems to be an expensive distraction from its own most pressing issues. These include higher fuel prices, rising food prices, higher debt service costs, and more inflation, all of which Western sanctions against Russia have greatly aggravated.

A recent survey published by Nature Energy states that up to 140 million people could be pushed into extreme poverty by the soaring energy prices seen over the past year. High energy prices not only directly impact energy bills–they also lead to upward price pressures along supply chains and ultimately on consumer items, including food and other necessities. This across-the-board inflation inevitably hurts developing countries much more than the West.

The West can sustain the war “as long as it takes.” They have the financial resources and the capital markets to do so, and of course they remain deeply invested in the future of European security. But the Global South does not have the same luxury, and a war for the future of security in Europe has the potential to devastate the security of the entire world. The Global South is alarmed that the West is not pursuing negotiations that could bring this war to an early end, beginning with the missed opportunity in December 2021, when Russia proposed revised security treaties for Europe that could have prevented the war but which were rejected by the West. The peace negotiations of April 2022 in Istanbul were also rejected by the West in part to “weaken” Russia. Now, the entire world–but especially the developing world–is paying the price for an invasion that the Western media like to call “unprovoked” but which likely could have been avoided, and which the Global South has always seen as a local rather than an international conflict.

4. The world economy is no longer dominated by America or led by the West. The Global South now has other options.
Several countries in the Global South increasingly see their futures as tied to countries that are no longer in the Western sphere of influence. Whether this view reflects an accurate perception of the shifting balance of power or wishful thinking is partially an empirical question, so let’s look at some metrics.

The U.S. share of global output declined from 21 percent in 1991 to 15 percent in 2021, while China’s share rose from 4% to 19% during the same period. China is the largest trading partner for most of the world, and its GDP in purchasing power parity already exceeds that of the U.S. The BRICS (Brazil, Russia, China, India, and South Africa) had a combined GDP in 2021 of $42 trillion, compared with $41 trillion in the U.S.-led G7. Their population of 3.2 billion is more than 4.5 times the combined population of the G7 countries, which stands at 700 million.

The BRICS are not imposing sanctions on Russia nor supplying arms to the opposing side. Russia is one of the biggest suppliers of energy and foodgrains for the Global South, while China’s Belt and Road Initiative remains a major supplier of financing and infrastructure projects. When it comes to financing, food, energy, and infrastructure, the Global South must rely more on China and Russia more than on the West. The Global South also sees the Shanghai Cooperation Organization expanding, more countries wanting to join the BRICS, and some countries now trading in currencies that move them away from the dollar, the Euro, or the West. Meanwhile, some countries in Europe are risking deindustrialization thanks to higher energy costs. This reveals an economic vulnerability in the West that was not so evident before the war. With developing countries having an obligation to put the interests of their own citizens first, is it any wonder that they see their future more and more tied to countries outside the West?

5. The “rules-based international order” is losing credibility and in decline.
The vaunted “rules-based international order” is the bulwark of post—World War II liberalism, but many countries in the Global South see it as having been conceived by the West and imposed unilaterally on other countries. Few if any non-Western countries ever signed on to this order. The South is not opposed to a rules-based order, but rather to the present content of these rules as conceived by the West.

But one must also ask, does the rules-based international order apply even to the West?

For decades now, many in the Global South have seen the West as having its way with the world without much concern for playing by the rules. Several countries were invaded at will, mostly without United Nations Security Council authorization. These include the former Yugoslavia, Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, and Syria. Under what “rules” were those countries attacked or devastated, and were those wars provoked or unprovoked? Julian Assange is languishing in prison and Ed Snowden remains in exile, both for having the courage (or perhaps the audacity) to expose the truths behind these and similar actions.

Even today, sanctions imposed on over 40 countries by the West impose considerable hardship and suffering. Under what international law or “rules-based order” did the West use its economic strength to impose these sanctions? Why are the assets of Afghanistan still frozen in Western banks while the country is facing starvation and famine? Why is Venezuelan gold still held hostage in the UK while the people of Venezuela are living at subsistence levels? And if Sy Hersh’s expose is true, under what ‘rules-based order’ did the West destroy the Nord Stream pipelines?

A paradigm shift appears to be taking place. We’re moving from a Western-dominated to a more multipolar world. The war in Ukraine has made more evident the international divergences that are driving this shift. Partly because of its own history, and partly because of emerging economic realities, the Global South sees a multipolar world as a preferable outcome, one in which its voice is more likely to be heard.

President Kennedy ended his American University speech in 1963 with the following words: “We must do our part to build a world of peace where the weak are safe and the strong are just. We are not helpless before that task or hopeless for its success. Confident and unafraid, we must labor on towards a strategy of peace.” That strategy of peace was the challenge before us in 1963, and it remains a challenge for us today. The voices for peace, including those of the Global South, need to be heard.

https://mronline.org/2023/02/24/the-ukr ... bal-south/

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Anniversary of the beginning of the NWO
February 24, 13:59

A year ago, the NWO began as the next stage of the war in Ukraine between the Russian Federation and the United States.
For the Russian Federation, the beginning of the NWO marked the final acquisition of full sovereignty, including economic. The 30-year experiment with going to the "golden billion" has finally come to an end. Normal relations with the West are over for the long term. This would become a serious problem within the framework of the old world order, but within the framework of the transition to a multipolar world, this gap is no longer so critical.

In the context of a long-term proxy war with the US and NATO on the territory of Ukraine, which can go on for years, the Russian Federation needs to strengthen the economic base and the military-industrial complex, as well as build up military efforts in Ukraine, avoiding a number of unnecessary mistakes in 2022. The 2022 campaign showed that the pre-war plans of the parties could not withstand the collision with reality and were already transformed on the go based on the current situation on the battlefield and around it.

With regard to the question of the need to start the SVO, there has always been exactly one complaint - why is it so late? In fact, Putin admitted this in the fall that perhaps it should have been earlier. As for the rest, Russia cannot in any way allow the existence of a Nazi regime at its side, which possesses nuclear weapons and seeks to seize the Donbass and Crimea, as well as pursuing a policy of ethnocide against Russians and Russian-speakers. Therefore, SVO is fully justified and necessary. With the onset of the second year of the NWO, I would like to wish everyone fruitful and productive work to achieve the goals of the 2023 campaign and increase the overall efficiency of operations, rear work and social transformation.

https://colonelcassad.livejournal.com/8188562.html

Chinese plan to resolve the war in Ukraine
February 24, 10:14 am

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The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs has published a 12-point plan to resolve the Ukrainian crisis.


"1. Respect the sovereignty of all states. Universally recognized international law, including the purposes and principles of the UN Charter must be strictly observed, the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of any state must be guaranteed. All countries are equal regardless of their size, power and economic scale. Fundamental norms international relations must be upheld by all participants in defense of international justice.International law is subject to equal and universal application without double standards.

2. Drop cold war thinking. The security of one state cannot be ensured at the expense of the security of another, and regional security cannot be achieved by strengthening, let alone expanding, military blocs. The legitimate security interests and legitimate concerns of all countries must be taken seriously and dealt with appropriately. Complex problems are not solved in simple ways. It is necessary to adhere to the concept of common, comprehensive, joint and sustainable security, taking into account long-term peace on the planet, to promote the formation of a balanced, effective, sustainable architecture of European security. Attempts to ensure one's own security at the expense of the security of other countries, as well as the policy of bloc confrontation,

3. Stop military conflicts. There are no winners in wars. Instead of adding fuel to the fire and pumping up the confrontation, all parties should exercise prudence and restraint in order to avoid further escalation and out of control of the situation around Ukraine. It is important to support the reciprocal steps of Moscow and Kyiv in favor of the speedy restoration of direct dialogue, the gradual reduction of tension in the situation and the complete cessation of hostilities.  

4. Launch peace talks. Dialogue and negotiations are the only way out of the Ukrainian crisis. All efforts aimed at a peaceful settlement of the crisis deserve approval and support. The international community must stay on the right track in favor of reconciliation, pave the way for the launch of a political settlement, create conditions for the resumption of negotiations and offer appropriate venues. The Chinese side is ready to play a constructive role for this.

5. Eliminate the humanitarian crisis. It is important to welcome and support any steps that can alleviate the tense humanitarian situation. In humanitarian actions, it is necessary to observe the principle of neutrality and impartiality without politicizing the humanitarian issue. It is necessary to take effective measures to ensure the safety of the civilian population, to open humanitarian corridors for the evacuation of people from the conflict zone. Humanitarian assistance to the affected areas should be stepped up, the humanitarian situation on the ground should be improved, and rapid, safe and unhindered humanitarian access should be ensured to prevent further deterioration of the situation. It is necessary to support the coordinating role of the UN in the implementation of humanitarian action in the conflict zone.

6. Protect civilians and prisoners. The parties to the conflict must strictly observe international humanitarian law and refrain from inflicting strikes on the civilian population and civilian objects. It is necessary to protect women, children and other victims of the conflict, to respect the elementary rights of prisoners. The Chinese side supports the exchange of prisoners between Russia and Ukraine, and calls on all parties to create more favorable conditions for this."

7. Ensure the safety of nuclear power plants. An armed attack on nuclear power plants and other peaceful nuclear facilities is not allowed. We call for compliance with international law, including the Conventions on Nuclear Safety. A man-made nuclear catastrophe is categorically not allowed. We support the constructive role of the IAEA in promoting nuclear safety and physical security of peaceful nuclear facilities. 

8. Reduce strategic risk. The use of nuclear weapons is not allowed, a nuclear war cannot be unleashed. Attempts to use or threaten to use nuclear weapons must be countered. The proliferation of nuclear weapons and the emergence of a nuclear crisis are unacceptable. The development and use of biological and chemical weapons by any country under any circumstances is strictly prohibited.

9. Ensure the export of grain. The "Black Sea Initiative" for the export of Ukrainian grain, signed by Russia, Turkey and Ukraine, with the assurance of the UN, is subject to balanced, full and effective implementation in identifying the key role of the UN. China's International Food Security Cooperation Initiative is a viable option to overcome the global food crisis.

10. Lift unilateral sanctions. Unilateral sanctions and increased pressure are not only counterproductive, but also create new problems. We will not allow any unilateral restrictive measures unauthorized by the UN Security Council. Individual countries should stop the abuse of unilateral sanctions and the extraterritorial exercise of jurisdiction against other countries, have a positive impact on easing the tension of the Ukrainian crisis, and create prerequisites for economic development and improving the welfare of the population in developing countries.

11. Ensure the sustainability of production and supply chains. It is necessary to defend the existing world economic system by practical actions, to oppose attempts to politicize the world economy, and also to use it as a tool and weapon. In order to prevent damage to the recovery of the global economy, it is necessary to jointly neutralize the negative consequences of the crisis, in particular for international cooperation in the fields of energy, finance, grain trading and logistics.

12. Promote post-conflict recovery. The international community must take action to support peaceful reconstruction in the conflict zone. The Chinese side is ready to provide assistance and play its constructive role."

It is quite obvious that this plan will not be implemented (primarily due to the position of the United States, for which the practical implementation of some points of the plan actually means giving up hegemony), but will allow China to take a certain moral position of superiority and use it in the future.

https://colonelcassad.livejournal.com/8187953.html

Google Translator

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U.S. Hegemony - At War With China's Global Security Initiative

Over the last week China released a flurry of papers and statements that are accusing the U.S. of hegemony while contrasting it with China's peace initiatives.

As 'western' media rarely communicate what the Chinese say I find it necessary to give the Chinese standpoint some extended space.

Larry Johnson sets the stage by musing about the deterioration of U.S. China relations:

When the United States chose to shoot down the Chinese balloon (Beijing insists it was a weather balloon, the U.S. claims it was a spy platform) without contacting the Chinese Government, the Chinese initially expressed their outrage by refusing to accept a phone call from U.S. Secretary of Defense Austin. Austin continues to ask for a telephone conversation between the defense ministers of the two countries to discuss the situation around the weather balloon, but Beijing refuses to do so.
The Chinese then vowed to retaliate, but did not initially spell out what those countermeasures would entail. Then, last Thursday, Beijing announced sanctions and fines against two key American defense companies due to their participation in arms sales to Taiwan: Lockheed Martin Corp. and a subsidiary of Raytheon Technologies Corp.

The Biden Administration had a choice — take steps to try to repair relations with China or double down on antagonizing Beijing. Joe Biden and his feckless team, who have a knack for doing the wrong thing, opted to poke the Chinese in the eye. This week, the U.S. Department of Defense and Department of State, claimed they had intelligence that China was preparing to give Russia military aid and warned China in the strongest terms not to do so.

Talk about hypocrisy. The United States is free to supply Ukraine with billions in weapons and equipment but declares itself the sole arbiter to decide who China can support with military aid. Beijing was not amused ...


The U.S. 'intelligence' claim came immediately after China's foreign policy big wig Wang Yi (Director of the Office of the Central Commission for Foreign Affairs) hinted in Munich that China would propose a peace plan for Ukraine:

On the Ukrainian issue, China believes that it is imperative to return to the Minsk II agreement, the starting point of this matter, as quickly as possible. The agreement is a binding instrument negotiated by the parties concerned and endorsed by the UN Security Council, and provides the only viable way out. State Councilor Wang noted that to his knowledge, Russia and the EU both support Minsk II, and in his recent telephone call with US Secretary of State Tony Blinken, the US side also expressed its support. In this context, shouldn’t the relevant parties sit down together for a thorough discussion to work out a roadmap and timetable for the implementation of the agreement? What all parties need to do now is to earnestly shoulder responsibilities and work for peace, instead of increasing tensions, stoking panic, or hyping up war.
As for the prospect of the issue, Wang Yi stressed that Ukraine should be a bridge for communication between the East and the West, not a frontier for confrontation between major powers. Regarding the security of Europe, all parties are free to raise their own concerns, and Russia’s reasonable security concerns should be respected and taken seriously. China hopes all parties will pursue dialogue and consultation to find a solution that is truly conducive to safeguarding the security of Europe.


China then took several actions to make its standpoint more clear.

On February 20 its foreign ministry released a paper about US Hegemony and Its Perils. It is full broadside against U.S. foreign policy behavior. Its chapter are:

Introduction
I. Political Hegemony—Throwing Its Weight Around
II. Military Hegemony—Wanton Use of Force 
III. Economic Hegemony—Looting and Exploitation
IV. Technological Hegemony—Monopoly and Suppression
V. Cultural Hegemony—Spreading False Narratives
Conclusion
The introduction lays out the facts:

Since becoming the world's most powerful country after the two world wars and the Cold War, the United States has acted more boldly to interfere in the internal affairs of other countries, pursue, maintain and abuse hegemony, advance subversion and infiltration, and willfully wage wars, bringing harm to the international community.
The United States has developed a hegemonic playbook to stage "color revolutions," instigate regional disputes, and even directly launch wars under the guise of promoting democracy, freedom and human rights. Clinging to the Cold War mentality, the United States has ramped up bloc politics and stoked conflict and confrontation. It has overstretched the concept of national security, abused export controls and forced unilateral sanctions upon others. It has taken a selective approach to international law and rules, utilizing or discarding them as it sees fit, and has sought to impose rules that serve its own interests in the name of upholding a "rules-based international order."

This report, by presenting the relevant facts, seeks to expose the U.S. abuse of hegemony in the political, military, economic, financial, technological and cultural fields, and to draw greater international attention to the perils of the U.S. practices to world peace and stability and the well-being of all peoples.

I recommend to read the full paper to expandd your knowledge and amusement.

On February 21 China released a Global Security Initiative Concept Paper. It is a long paper and a bit muddled. But it talks of deep cooperation and processes designed to defuse several areas of global instability:

We are convinced that the historical trends of peace, development and win-win cooperation are unstoppable. Upholding world peace and security and promoting global development and prosperity should be the common pursuit of all countries. Chinese President Xi Jinping has proposed the Global Security Initiative (GSI), calling on countries to adapt to the profoundly changing international landscape in the spirit of solidarity, and address the complex and intertwined security challenges with a win-win mindset. The GSI aims to eliminate the root causes of international conflicts, improve global security governance, encourage joint international efforts to bring more stability and certainty to a volatile and changing era, and promote durable peace and development in the world. 
The dual papers, exposing the brutality of U.S. foreign policy on one side and countering it with China's peace initiatives on the other, are China's offer to the rest of the world to build a multilateral coalition against the U.S. and its proxy 'allies'.

After leaving Munich Wang Yi traveled to Moscow to start a discussion about a peace proposal for the conflict in Ukraine. A potential visit by the Chinese president Xi Jinping to Moscow was announced. It will probably happen within the next two or three weeks.

The U.S. expressed concern about it:

The United States is concerned by greater alignment between China and Russia, the U.S. State Department said on Wednesday after Russian President Vladimir Putin hailed "new frontiers" in ties with Beijing and signalled China's Xi Jinping would visit his country.
...
U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price said Wang's visit to Russia on the eve of the war's one-year anniversary was further evidence of Beijing's alignment with Moscow.
"We are concerned because these two countries share a vision," Price told a press briefing. "It is a vision ... of an era in which big countries could bully small countries, borders could be redrawn by force, an era in which might could make right," he said.

"We have not yet seen the PRC provide Russia with lethal aid, but we don't believe they've taken it off the table either," Price added.

The former Indian ambassador MK Bhadrakumar thinks that the Chinese initiative put renewed Russian fireworks over Ukraine, originally set to go off today, into suspension:

Putin confirmed that Moscow is expecting a visit by the Chinese President Xi Jinping after the sessions of the highest deliberative and legislative bodies of China — the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and the National People’s Congress — which will begin in Beijing on March 4 and 5. Conceivably, the launch of any large scale Russian offensive will remain in suspended animation until then.
Yesterday China's foreign ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin referred to the policy papers in his press confernece. Asked about Wang Yi's visit to Moscow he said that Russia is fully on board with China's initiative:

China and Russia advocate and practice true multilateralism, oppose all forms of unilateralism and bullying, firmly safeguard our respective sovereignty, security and development interests, actively explore development paths suited to our respective national conditions, and tap the cooperation potential in various fields. No matter how the international landscape may change, China will maintain a sound momentum in growing a new type of major-country relations with Russia. China is willing to work with Russia to maintain strategic resolve, deepen political trust, strengthen strategic coordination, expand practical cooperation, safeguard the legitimate interests of both countries and play both countries’ constructive role in promoting world peace and development.
When asked about the State Department Ned Price's response Wang Wenbin fired another salvo against the U.S.:

CCTV: The US is concerned because China and Russia share a vision, the Spokesperson for the US Department of State Ned Price said. What’s your comment? 
Wang Wenbin: The China-Russia relationship is built on the basis of non-alignment, non-confrontation and non-targeting at any third party. It is a factor conducive to world peace and stability, which is no cause for concern. What is truly concerning is the destructive role the US has played to peace and stability in the world.

The US is the No.1 warmonger in the world. The US was not at war for only 16 years throughout its 240-plus years of history. The US accounted for about 80 percent of all post-WWII armed conflicts.

The US is also the No.1 violator of sovereignty and interferer in the internal affairs of other countries. According to reports, since the end of WWII, the US has sought to subvert more than 50 foreign governments, grossly interfered in elections in at least 30 countries and attempted assassination on over 50 foreign leaders.

The US is also the No.1 source of antagonism and bloc confrontation. The US-led NATO is responsible for wars on Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria that killed more than 900,000 and created 37 million refugees. It has also made the Eurasia continent a less stable place. The impact of US-initiated Quad and AUKUS on Asia-Pacific security and stability also calls for vigilance. 

As long as US hegemonism and belligerence still exists, the rest of world will hardly get the peace it deserves.

The last question of the press conference allowed for another shot:

Reuters: The Wall Street Journal reported that the Biden administration may release intelligence that shows that China is considering whether to supply weapons to support Russia’s war in Ukraine. What’s China’s comment on this?
Wang Wenbin: ...

Speaking of releasing valuable intelligence, the US could release intelligence on the truth behind the Nord Stream blast. We hope the US will provide a serious and responsible response to the revelations as soon as possible, rather than being evasive about it.

Today the foreign ministry released China’s Position on the Political Settlement of the Ukraine Crisis. It has twelve points:

Respecting the sovereignty of all countries.
Abandoning the Cold War mentality.
Ceasing hostilities.
Resuming peace talks.
Resolving the humanitarian crisis.
Protecting civilians and prisoners of war (POWs).
Keeping nuclear power plants safe.
Reducing strategic risks.
Facilitating grain exports.
Stopping unilateral sanctions.
Keeping industrial and supply chains stable.
Promoting post-conflict reconstruction.
Point two is the essential one:

2. Abandoning the Cold War mentality. The security of a country should not be pursued at the expense of others. The security of a region should not be achieved by strengthening or expanding military blocs. The legitimate security interests and concerns of all countries must be taken seriously and addressed properly. There is no simple solution to a complex issue. All parties should, following the vision of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security and bearing in mind the long-term peace and stability of the world, help forge a balanced, effective and sustainable European security architecture. All parties should oppose the pursuit of one’s own security at the cost of others’ security, prevent bloc confrontation, and work together for peace and stability on the Eurasian Continent.


That point emphasizes the "equal and indivisible security" Putin had spoken of on February 23 2022. China is thereby fully supportive of Russia's core position.

Yesterday the United Nations General Assembly voted on a resolution that demands that Russia leave Ukraine. While the majority of countries voted in favor of the resolution those who voted against or abstained (including China, India, Pakistan, Iran, South Africa) represent nearly half of the global population.

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Posted by b on February 24, 2023 at 11:47 UTC | Permalink

https://www.moonofalabama.org/2023/02/u ... .html#more
"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 Feb 25, 2023 12:44 pm

Ukrainian special forces
POSTED BY @NSANZO ⋅ 02/25/2023

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At the beginning of February of this year, Daniel Boffey took over from other Anglo-Saxon journalists in The Guardian , such as Carlotta Gall, in reporting on the exploits of the Bratstvo Battalion. In his article, the journalist refers to the Brotherhood of Dmytro Korchinsky as " a group of volunteers from the Ukrainian special forces ."

As Gall's previous chronicles in The New York Times reported , Bratstvo has specialized in penetration actions in territory under the control of the Russian Federation Army, occasionally in Russian territory. In December 2022 , during one of those missions, four members of the group fell in the Bryansk region, after entering ten kilometers beyond the Russian-Ukrainian border. Despite the December casualties, Bratstvo's military intentions remain geared towards “ taking the ” Ukrainian “ fight ” beyond the occupied areas of their country, and into Russia ”. The declared objective: to stress, demoralize and make the Russian command nervous.

Boffey's account is actually that of his interlocutors and, as such, partly reflects the taste for fiction of the organic intelligentsia of Korchinsky's fundamentalist organization. For this reason, there is no lack of overacting, for example, in the mention of the " collective shudder when thinking of them " that would be felt in " the western capitals ". Can it really be believed that the Bratstvo task “ ranges from kidnapping top Kremlin officials to destroying key military infrastructure to shooting down enemy aircraft on Russian soil ”? Stories or actions “ extraordinary in their audacity ”, according to Boffey.

Among the operations carried out, the Guardian journalist includes the one that his contacts point out as the most successful to date. According to the account, around December of last year, a five-man commando from Bratstvo took on " the task of destroying a Russian helicopter carrying high-ranking officials of the Russian Interior Ministry ." They fired “ from a portable anti-aircraft missile system at a helicopter from a distance of 4 km. Unfortunately, we didn't see the hit because we were so far away, but we did hear the explosion. And then we quickly fled from our positions. We left behind the tripod used for the portable anti-aircraft missile system”. At the end of November, in an article by Carlotta Gall about Bratstvo, its commander Oleksiy Serediuk already mentioned the downing of a Russian helicopter as one of the main successes of his reconnaissance and sabotage groups. However, there is no news of the death of high-ranking members of the Russian Interior Ministry or changes in personnel that could confirm that supposed success against that particular target.

Another action in Russia would have taken place at the end of December or the beginning of January in the Belgorod region. In this case, the mission was to capture or assassinate a high command of the FSB. According to the interlocutor, the attempted ambush failed due to the failure of the high command to appear on the planned route, in its hasty return to Ukraine the Bratstvo command killed three Russian border guards and captured another, later handed over to the Ukrainian army. According to Boffey, members of these reconnaissance and sabotage commandos " determine where the safe routes to Russia are by examining the movement of cattle or taking advice from pre-war smugglers ."

None of the many actions mentioned in the article have been independently verified by the Guardian journalist , but the account is indicative both of the ease with which Ukraine manages to get its speech into the press and of the role Bratstvo has assumed in the development of reconnaissance and sabotage actions on the other side of the front controlled by Ukraine, not necessarily on Russian territory. These are actions carried out in small groups of four or five people, like the one made up of the group dismantled in the Bryansk region.

Regarding this command, the article provides some aspects of particular interest, such as the participation of the fallen group in Bryansk, led by Yuriy Horovets ( Svyatosha ), in reconnaissance missions in the Chernobyl area during the Russian occupation. Given that the Russian forces left the area at the end of March, this indicates that Bratstvo's participation in this type of mission begins to develop from the early phases of the Russo-Ukrainian war, reflecting the relevance of the relationship with its leader, Dmytro Korchinsky, with the top Ukrainian military officials. It is also of interest to verify that it was neither the tracks of the cattle nor the advice of smugglers, but rather a guide who directly led Svyatosha 's commandtowards the Bryansk area in which the group finally fell. The logistical autonomy of the group was therefore more limited than what its leaders pretend to reflect.

Commander Oleksiy, Boffey's main interlocutor in Kiev, points out in the interview that the commando was filmed moments before embarking on their mission, putting on their " snow camouflage " uniform and preparing their weapons. Oleksiy asked the leader of the group, Yuriy Horovets “ How do you feel? ” to which he replied: “ This is my dream. I'm doing the operation I've dreamed of all my life'. All these guys were very bright and very driven .” As can be seen in the video attached by The Guardian , the real objective of the operation could have been the blowing up of a train in the territory of the Russian Federation.

The references to the 39-year-old commander “Oleksiy” who claims to work in “ intelligence ”, suggest Oleksiy Serediuk, one of the characters closest to the Brotherhood leader , Dmytro Korchinsky. Serediuk has been a regular reference in Carlotta Gall's articles.

Two striking features should be mentioned in the Bratstvo action in the context recounted in the Guardian article . One of them has to do with the incorporation of very young people to these actions. The members of the group mentioned by Boffey, under the leadership of Oleksiy, include two people aged 23 and 21 (Taras and Vladyslav). A 19-year-old boy, Bohdan Lyagov, was part of the group that fell in Bryansk. According to Oleksiy, Bratstvo " mainly recruits civilians, or selects the brightest from other volunteer battalions " for its sabotage actions.

A second feature to highlight is the link with the Korchinsky unit of a large group of non-Ukrainian volunteers. In the last of her usual chronicles about Bratstvo, on January 8, Carlotta Gall published an article in The New York Times about the participation of volunteers from the Russian Federation committed to the Ukrainian side in the war, including according to the author some exiles " including Russian nationalists and neo-Nazis who oppose Putin ." According to Gall, many " of her operations are covert, including dangerous reconnaissance or sabotage missions behind Russian lines."”. The article includes photographs by Ivan Prickett in which Russian volunteers can be seen returning, in the Kherson area, from reconnaissance missions with the Bratstvo group.

They are members of the RDK (Russian Volunteer Corps), a group led by Denis Kapustin, White Rex or Nikitin , defined by Gall as an " extreme right-wing nationalist ". According to Gall, Bratstvo " helped the Russian regiment find a role not unlike other ethnic battalions, operating behind Russian lines and carrying out reconnaissance and sabotage missions for the Ukrainian army. " Kapustin himself would participate in these missions. In its annual balance of activities , the RDK confirms its participation in “ subversive activities and the performance of special tasks in the south direction [Kherson region on the other side of the Dnieper]together with the soldiers from Bratstvo ”.

In a previous article by Gall published on November 21, 2022 , the journalist already offered clues to the RDK's collaboration with the Ukrainian fundamentalist group. In addition to looking at photos of volunteers wearing the RDK insignia, the article then made reference to the participation in the Bratstvo operations of " a group of Russian volunteers, political refugees who had been living in the Ukraine for several years and had taken up arms from the side of the Ukrainians ”.

But there are not only far-right exiles from the Russian Federation among the Bratstvo volunteers, but also militants from Western countries. One of them, from the United States, Flash , died in one of the raid actions carried out by the group at the end of 2022.

In his chronicle, Boffey mentions that Commander Oleksiy and his men " know very well that the Ukrainian government will deny knowledge of them ." However, the Bratstvo volunteers have been assigned to official military units since the beginning of the war. Boffey himself is aware of this when he points out that the Bratstvo volunteers “ have a peculiar status, technically independent from the Ukrainian army but operating side by side with the official forces ”. For him, however, what is relevant is that his indefinite status makes denial possible.

A denial that would be quite improbable to uphold when confronted with the facts, as revealed, for example, by the account in the press of the Ukrainian attack on an advanced command post of the Russian Federation army carried out between 23 and 24 February. January in the Novaya Kakhovka area. It is probably one of the most important of those publicly claimed by Bratstvo since the beginning of the war. According to sources from the Ministry itself, this action is attributed to " special forces of the General Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine”, supported by the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The chronicle states that during the raid, military intelligence officers crossed the river and reached the opposite bank, managing to destroy the building where the command post was located with grenades. The Bratstvo members were to all intents and purposes part of these “ special forces ”, as shown by the parallel videos released by both the group and the Ministry of Defense.

The linkage to the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine of units such as Bratstvo is also observed in the case of the RDK and other similar groups. Along these lines, a piece of news from Remix.news referred a few days ago to the creation of the Polish Volunteer Legion, directly dependent on the aforementioned Ukrainian ministry. The unit will handle reconnaissance and sabotage actions and will only accept the most experienced soldiers, including volunteers who have fought against Russia.

According to Remix.news , the Polish unit will cooperate with a similar one made up of Russian soldiers, precisely the one made up of the far-right and neo-Nazis of the RDK. This formation would constitute, together with the BDK of the Belarusian Volunteer Corps and the new Polish Volunteer Legion, the base for the formation of various units of around a dozen soldiers aimed at participating in special missions on the other side of the front. Another unit of these characteristics, in this case German, would also be in the formation phase.

Remix.news points out that the formation of these special operations groups is carried out in all cases outside the so-called Ukrainian International Legion. In this context, the role of Bratstvo as a reference or coordination group for these foreign units reaches a relevance that hardly seemed to be expected in an apparently marginal organization like the one led by Dmytro Korchinsky.

Boffey insists in his article that it may seem strange that a battalion like Major Oleksiy's would allow their stories to be heard in public. But, as befits a group of political-military provocateurs, external diffusion is the ultimate meaning of Bratstvo's performance. Conveying their message is precisely what this group seeks through the Anglo-Saxon newspapers, in this case stating that "it is very easy for us to cross the Russian border " and that, beyond the doubts of Western governments, Ukraine has " the ability to attack Russia in Russia”. Bratstvo needs this media presence to become a benchmark in the process of recruiting new fighters. And also to continue participating in the private economic funds that reach the different volunteer battalions in Ukraine.

However, after the death of the Bryansk commando, “ our best fighters ”, as Serediuk pointed out at the time, or that of the American Flash, it does not seem that the optimistic message about Bratstvo's military capabilities is completely true. In the action that took place between January 23 and 24, in the Novaya Kakhovka area, on the east bank of the Dnieper, two other Bratstvo militants suffered serious injuries. In an interview on February 14, Korchinsky commented on the unfortunate loss for his group that the fall of Bryansk meant. Despite this, he pointed out that “ We have a lot of people… there are still some worthy ones ”. The Ukrainian special forces will therefore continue with the planned activities.

https://slavyangrad.es/2023/02/25/fuerz ... more-26708

Google Translator

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The Buildup To War In Ukraine - Wednesday, February 23, 2022

February 23 2022 was a holiday in Russia, the Defender of the Fatherland Day. It is a annual memorial day for all the people who, over the centuries, have fought for Russia in its wars.

As usual Russia's president Vladimir Putin addressed veterans, Armed Forces personnel and the people of Russia:

President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Comrade officers, veterans,
Please accept my warmest greetings on this holiday, Defender of the Fatherland Day, which is celebrated all over the country not only by tradition but also by right.

It embodies the feelings of respect our citizens feel for their noble defenders, our pride in all those who served and serve in the Army and the Navy, recognition of their heroic merits to the Fatherland to assert our national interests, sovereignty and independence.

Patriotism and the unity of our nation, the exploits of its devoted sons and daughters have always been the foundation of the martial history of our thousand-year-old country, its glory and victories. We are proud of the many generations of its defenders: the guards of Alexander Nevsky and Dmitry Donskoy, the warriors of Minin and Pozharsky and the heroes of Poltava and Borodino, Stalingrad and the unstoppable assault on Berlin, all those who brought glory to our Fatherland according to the great traditions of our ancestors.
...
We can see the difficult international situation and the threats posed by current challenges, such as the erosion of the arms control system and NATO’s military activities. And yet, Russia’s appeals to build a system of equal and indivisible security that would reliably defend all countries, remain unanswered.

Our country is always open to a direct and honest dialogue and ready to search for diplomatic solutions to the most complicated issues. But I want to repeat that Russia’s interests and the security of our people are an indisputable priority. ...


Putin also laid a wreath at the tomb of the unknown soldier.

The only diplomacy involving Moscow that happened during the day was a call with the president of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan:

The leaders exchanged views on the situation with Russia’s recognition of the Donetsk and Lugansk people’s republics. Vladimir Putin stressed the objective necessity to take that decision based on the Ukrainian authorities’ aggression in Donbass and their categorical refusal to implement the Minsk Agreements. Recep Tayyip Erdogan gave his well-known views on the matter.
The issues of working out long-term legally binding security guarantees for the Russian Federation were also discussed. In this context, Vladimir Putin expressed his disappointment with the US and NATO response which came down to an attempt to ignore Russia’s legitimate concerns and demands.

The presidents agreed to continue Russian-Turkish contacts in various formats.


CNN's coverage on February 23 2022 was mostly related to new sanctions imposed on Russia as well as about various political voices warning of the imminent war.

Ukraine introduced a state of emergency.

In the evening some Ukrainian government web sites went down after a number of run-of-the-mill cyberattacks.

CNN also reported that the separatist regions in Donbas had asked the Kremlin for help repelling Ukraine forces:

The heads of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) and Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR), two separatist regions in Ukraine, recently recognized by Russia as independent, have formally asked Russian President Vladimir Putin for help repelling the aggression of Ukrainian Armed Forces, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told Russian state news agency RIA-Novosti on Wednesday.
"The president of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin received letters of appeal from the head of the Luhansk People's Republic Leonid Pasechnik and the head of the Donetsk People's Republic Denis Pushilin,” Peskov said, according to RIA.

According to Peskov, the appeal said: “Kyiv continues to build up its military presence on the line of contact, while receiving comprehensive support, including military support, from the United States and other Western states. The Kyiv regime is focused on resolving the conflict by force.”

“Given the foregoing, the heads of the two republics, in connection with the current situation, as well as in order to prevent civilian casualties and a humanitarian catastrophe, on the basis of Articles 3 and 4 of the treaties on friendship, cooperation and mutual assistance between the Russian Federation and the republics, ask the president of Russia to assist in repelling aggression of the armed forces and formations of Ukraine," Peskov added, according to RIA.


This was the last formal step for Russia to enter the war in Ukraine.

Soon Russia troops moved into the separate Donbas region:

Russian troops have moved into the eastern region of Ukraine that Russia has now recognized as “independent,” according the prime minister of NATO member Latvia and sources familiar with US intelligence.
“According to the information at my disposal, Putin is moving additional forces and tanks into the occupied Donbas territories,” Latvian Prime Minister Arturs Krišjānis Kariņš told CNN’s Jim Sciutto on Wednesday. “By any definition that’s a crossing of a sovereign territory into a neighboring country.”

Pressed specifically on whether he was referring to the entry of additional Russian troops since Moscow recognized the two separatist regions earlier this week, Kariņš replied: “Yes, according to the information at my disposal, this is exactly what we’re seeing.”


At midnight Moscow time Russian troops moved towards Ukraine from several directions. On February 24, at 6:00 am Moscow time, Putin addressed Russia. The Russian airforce started operating in Ukraine, Russian troops moved in. The war was on.

Curiously the OSCE Special Observer Mission at the ceasefire line in southeast-Ukraine issued no report that covers whatever happened on the ground on Wednesday, February 23 2022.

Its Daily Report 42/2022 issued on 23 February 2022 covers what happened on Tuesday, February 22 2022. Its Daily Report 43/2022 issued on Tuesday, February 24 2022 covers only things that happened all over Ukraine on Thursday, February 24 2022.

The later report seems confused:

Based on information from the Monitoring Teams as of 19:30 23 February 2022. All times are in Eastern European Time.
Since the early hours of 24 February, at various locations across Ukraine, the SMM observed a severely deteriorated security situation.
The Mission heard multiple explosions, including multiple launch rocket system fire.
The SMM saw military aircraft overflying Kherson and Kyiv cities.
The Mission recorded a spike in shelling in government-controlled areas of Luhansk region.
In various locations across Ukraine, the SMM saw fewer people in the streets and long queues at shops, pharmacies, ATMs and petrol stations.

Donwload the full report
https://www.osce.org/files/2022-02-24%2 ... itok=39275

While the first line states that the observations for the report ended "as of 19:30 23 February 2022" all reporting in the intro as well as in the full report seems to be of observations and incidents that happened on February 24. There is no count of ceasefire violations and no map of incidents and impacts for the 23rd.

We thus do not have any record from the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission on ceasefire violations, explosions and military movements along the ceasefire line in Donbas for Wednesday, February 23 2022.

I have found no explanation for this.

Posted by b on February 23, 2023 at 16:56 UTC | Permalink

https://www.moonofalabama.org/2023/02/t ... .html#more

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’Statement by Permanent Representative Vassily Nebenzia at UNSC: “Russia-EU Relations No Longer Exist”
Posted by INTERNATIONALIST 360° on FEBRUARY 23, 2023

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Statement by Permanent Representative Vassily Nebenzia at UNSC briefing on cooperation between regional and sub-regional organisations (UN-EU)

Mr.President,

Last time we discussed UN-EU interaction, which was in June 2022, we said that thanks to Brussels, the relations of the European Union and Russia had hit the rock bottom. As it turned out later, there was an entire abyss below that bottom, where not only our relations (which are basically non existent), are falling but the united Europe as such.

I think that when historians describe the years 2022 and 2023 in history books, the most frequent words in the section about the European Union will be degradation, helplessness, shortsightedness, and Russophobia. Credit for this goes not only to individual European leaders, but also European bureaucrats, such as our today’s briefer, Mr.Borrell.

Thanks to you, Mr.Borrell, in the past year we have learned a lot about Europe and the true nature of European diplomacy. For example, we learned that Europe is a blossoming garden surrounded by jungle. We also learned that for European diplomats, to struggle for peace means to channel ever-growing flows of weapons to a conflict zone (though domestic EU legislation explicitly prohibits this). Add to this the fact that part of these deliveries is funded from the European Peace Fund, so that no one ever doubts EU’s peaceful disposition. Then we learned that freedom of speech in the European Union means a ban on alternative opinions.

Of course, we used to suspect that behind the European exterior there was some dormant Russophobia, but to say frankly, we could never imagine what scale it would assume once released. It is not limited to an obsessive desire to defeat Russia on the battlefield with the hands of Ukrainians. It goes down way deeper. In order to please the most primitive Russophobes from among Poles and Balts, European capitals and European institutions hold events where ways to dismember and disintegrate our country are discussed. Against the backdrop of steps aimed at “cancellation of Russia”, its culture, arts, and sports, we are developing a rather unambiguous image of our European neighbors. And what we see makes us want to shut the door or maybe board it up until this bigotry and Russophobic mayhem are over.

Russia has been declared the main and only threat to European security. Speculations about possibilities of building a shared security architecture with Russia have become a taboo, one can only talk about collective security against Russia. To any questions, Brussels would answer that Russia only has itself to blame.

However these assertions founder on a simple fact: it was Russia who, on the eve of the Ukrainian crisis, had consistently offered to the West to sign agreements on mutual security guarantees, and promoted proposals regarding all-encompassing and indivisible security across the Euro-Atlantics. But all those were arrogantly rejected. Why Brussels would need this if, starting from 2009, the European Union had been promoting completely different ideas through its Eastern Partnership? The EU promoted the need to split with Russia and made our neighbors choose who they want to be with, either Russia or the EU. This logic clearly manifested itself in the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement, which triggered the Maidan coup of 2014 and ignited the acute Ukrainian crisis, the final phase of which unfolds in front of us now.

We realize today that all those tales about good neighborly relations, partnership, and shared space were just a smokescreen for preparing for a confrontation with Russia with the hands of our common neighbors. Georgia, and then Ukraine turned out the most susceptible and were picked as pawns in a geopolitical confrontation with my country. Tbilisi had enough sense to stop before it was too late and try to minimize the damage. But post-Maidan Kiev that is imbued with revitalized Ukrainian Nazi-based nationalism, has been driven mad by its new lackey role. As a result, the world is teetering on the verge of a suicidal conflict that the European Union and others in the West are bringing closer to us at rapid-fire pace by boosting weapons deliveries to the Kiev regime and enhancing their involvement.

By the way, in such contexts we customarily refer to the European Union as the united Europe, our closest and only neighbors. But of course this is no longer the case. In militarily-political terms, the European Union is losing its legal identity by the day and turning into an appendix to a military alliance, the real goals, intentions, and the master of which are well-known to you.

The Joint Declaration on EU-NATO Cooperation dated 10 February, essentially conforms complete subordination of the European Union to the tasks of the North Atlantic Alliance. The provision about secondary significance or “complementarity” (if we use the terminology of NATO strategists) of EU’s defense policy to NATO basically reduces to zero all aspirations of the EU to autonomy in this area. “Next level of partnership” means full solidarity of the European Union with NATO’s confrontational approaches and involvement in junior roles in its geopolitical ambition for global superiority.

The Joint Declaration is also another panegyric of the philosophy of Western superiority. It states in very plain terms that NATO and the EU will further mobilize the combined set of political, economic or military instruments at their disposal “to the benefit of our one billion citizens”. They view the rest of the world as a hostile environment, which they have to reform with the help of those instruments. In a word, it is a jungle full of weed plants, as perceived by Mr. Borrell.

Some may contradict that the European Union was first founded as an economic rather than a political bloc. Economy has always been Europe’s strong and attractive side. Maybe a year ago this was true, but things changed dramatically since then. One year after ties with my country were severed, GDP growth in the “united Europe” is stuck around a zero mark. At the same time, record pace of inflation is measured by double digits. Rejoicing that it was able to kick its dependence on Russian gas, the European Union promptly became addicted to a heavy drug, the expensive American LNG.

In 2022, it cost Europe 710 billion Euros to keep the energy sector of economy running. In other words, Europe’s liberal free market economies can only survive today thanks to state subsidies and grants-in-aid. However, the prosperity and economic strength of Europe were based primarily on Russian cheap energy. Now that it’s gone, Europe became an economic “colossus with feet of clay”, and energy-intensive industries started to stretch across the ocean – to sheer delight of the “big brother”.

As “pestilent tongues” say, from the very beginning of the conflict Washington has been working towards this goal, which is to ruin its European competitor. Let us not stoop to conspiracy theories, but one thing is clear: there has never been such economic impotence and such subservience to the United States in the history of Europe. Things got to the point where Brussels obediently put up with the fact that its closest allies sabotaged a major gas pipeline that had been paid for, i.a. by European investors. Now they are trying to sweep under the carpet all the unflattering facts so as not to displease Washington. What independent role of the EU and Europe can we talk about in such circumstances? One thing we can say for sure. With all those gross political and economic shortcomings, Europe’s chances to become one of the poles in the emerging multipolar world are tending to zero.

One may say, “wait, but Europe is a union based on shared values in the first place. The proverbial freedom, equality, and brotherhood. Democracy and human rights. This is what always made Europe so alluring”. Alas, the EU failed to deliver on these standards. Back in the day the EU let in the Baltic states with their Russophobia and apartheid-style approach to Russian-speaking population. But instead of curing them, the EU got infested itself. Brussels has long lost its perspective in terms of freedom of media, having reduced it to tough censorship and ban on non-conforming opinions. Over the recent years, this “bouquet” has started to include rapidly progressing blindness to manifestations of neo-Nazism, namely complete disregard for Nazism in Ukraine and results of the vote on annual UNGA resolution that condemns glorification of Nazism. What is left of your values? What are your accomplishments? Perhaps the fact that you turned a woman into a man, and the latter – in a non-binary person, something of neutral gender, or rather of no gender at all. And that you turned traditional families into something obscene. We recognize those “breakthroughs” and are not going to compete. But don’t you thrust those “values” upon us.

Mr.President,

The last and only (in recent years) Security Council document on cooperation with the European Union was a PRST dated 14 February 2014. Back then, Security Council members, including us, were in a completely different paradigm of ties with the EU, and so we welcomed EU’s promotion of stabilization in Western Balkans, Mali, the CAR, Afghanistan, and Syria. Today, nine years from that point, the text of this document looks as an evil joke to us, because involvement of the West has brought but instability, economic trouble and suffering to those and many more regions. Now there is no point singling out the European Union from among other structures that have been completely subjugated by the United States.

By a strange and almost mystical coincidence, the date of that PRST to a large extent split apart the old and the new Europe. Only a week after it was adopted, European representatives directly participated in the anti-constitutional armed coup d’état in Kiev, thus putting their stakes (at the US prompting) at a confrontation with Russia. This fateful decision marked the starting point for degradation of the European Union and its regress to the rank of obedient tools in Washington’s hands.

Colleagues,

Taking into account outspoken animosity of the European Union in its current form with regard to Russia and its minuscule self-standing importance, we have to be very skeptical about all projects (including at the UN platform) to involve the EU. I call on all developing states to think about making such a reassessment too. You have to understand that it is Washington who stands behind Brussels. For every dollar of their investment, for every NGO and political foundation that they open, you will have to pay with your independence and your sovereignty, or even have to deal with a direct interference in your internal affairs. Just remember the independence of Ukraine that the West trampled upon. Remember the dire fate of this state that was turned into a visionless and spineless pawn in someone else’s game. Remember the flaming Middle East and the tormented Yugoslavia. Remember them and never repeat those mistakes.

Thank you.

PERMANENT MISSION OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION TO THE UNITED NATIONS

https://libya360.wordpress.com/2023/02/ ... ger-exist/

War Clouds Over Transnistria
Posted by INTERNATIONALIST 360° on FEBRUARY 23, 2023

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The Kiev regime is plotting an armed provocation against the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (Transnistria) amid the growing tensions in the region. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, it will be carried out by units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, including members of the Azov formation.

The Kiev regime has intensified preparations for an invasion of the Transnistrian Moldovan Republic

◽️ As previously reported, this action of the Ukrainian armed forces will be carried out in response to an alleged attack by Russian troops from the territory of Transnistria.

◽️ The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation currently records significant accumulation of personnel and military equipment of Ukrainian units near the Ukrainian-Transnistrian border, deployment of artillery at firing positions, as well as unprecedented build-up of unmanned aerial flights by the Ukrainian armed forces over the DMR territory.

◽️ The implementation of the planned provocation by the Ukrainian authorities poses a direct threat to the Russian peacekeeping contingent deployed legally in Transnistria.

◽️ The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation will respond adequately to the planned provocation of the Ukrainian side.

– Russian Ministry of Defense


This false flag attack will be used as the pretext for the invasion on Transnistrian territory. For this purpose, Ukrainian saboteurs will be disguised as military personnel of the Russian Armed Forces. The Russian Defence Ministry stated that it is closely monitoring the situation and is ready to respond to any changes in the situation.

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Map of Modola showing the breakaway pro-Russian region of Transnistria and surrounding countries.Earlier it was reported that the Kiev regime already accumulated large forces that together with Romanian and Moldovan troops could be involved in a coordinated attack on Transnistria, where the Operational Group of Russian Forces are deployed.

Amidst dim prospects of pro-Kiev forces in battle for the region of Donbass, the Zelensky regime may have decided to coordinate with other puppet states in the region to open a new front against the Russians thus expanding flames of war into even further. The Kiev regime and its real rulers in Washington do not really care about the disastrous outcome of such move for the entirety of Europe. Instead, the White House and affiliated global elites may see this as a wise time to rise stakes and prevent European nations from any attempts to make even small steps towards the diplomatic settlement of the military diplomatic standoff.

This will also help Kiev & company to draw attention of the international community from a dare situation in which pro-Kiev forces have found itself in the region of Donbass. The loss of Soledar and the crumbling defense of pro-Kiev formations in Bakhmut indicate that detachments of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in this sector are on the brink of collapse. The only factors slowing this down is a permanent flow of Ukrainian cannon fodder and foreign-supplied weapons. Therefore, the theatrical type of coverage of the conflict by MSM and Western talking heads require some PR victory immediately. And nobody cares, if this victory may lead to the eruption of even larger, potentially nuclear, war in Europe.

South Front
Russian Ministry of Defense

https://libya360.wordpress.com/2023/02/ ... nsnistria/

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Anniversary of Russian Special Military Operation: A victory for Russia will be a victory for the international working class!
February 24, 2023 Marxists Speak Out

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Graphic: Henry Wong

Marxists Speak Out has been working since February 2022 to bring together the communist forces internationally that support a Russian victory over NATO and support the Russian-speaking territories that have chosen to break from Ukraine. We have done so through joint statements, panels and promoting protests.

Feb. 24 will mark the first anniversary of Russia coming to the aid of the people in the Lugansk and Donetsk People’s Republics, defending those in the Eastern Ukraine region that had seceded in 2014 due to the Kiev regime’s Neo-Nazi ties. German fascism was the spearhead used by imperialism to try and destroy the Soviet Union workers’ state in World War II. Fascist forces have once again been utilized by imperialism within Ukraine, this time to target the people of the Donbass and capitalist Russia. Now that the U.S./EU/NATO bloc have dropped their policy of limited intervention for open escalation, the world is once again on the brink of a destructive war between nuclear-armed powers.

For 30 years, NATO has lied to the Russian people and closed the distance between NATO-aligned countries and the Russian border. Russophobia has been a convenient cover for imperialism as it dismisses any concerns about NATO’s ambition to place weapons on the border between Russia and Ukraine as Russian aggression. We now know that every step of so-called diplomacy of the Minsk Agreement was nothing more than broken promises and opportunities to further prepare for imperialist war. Angela Merkel and former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko have both admitted the Minsk agreement was aimed to stall Russia so NATO could supply Ukraine with weaponry.

The fascist militias and battalions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces terrorized the citizens of Donbass between 2014 and 2022, killing thousands of civilians and ultimately leaving Russia no choice but to launch an offensive in the region to protect the Russian-speaking population. Russians have never forgotten how many of their ancestors, who fought as citizens of the Soviet Union, died to defeat Nazi Germany during WWII. Given this history, it was intolerable for many Russians to see the resurgence of the likes of Stepan Bandera gaining a foothold to threaten Russia at the behest of imperialism.

Ukraine has been propped up by imperialist forces from the beginning of the conflict and Zelensky is increasingly calling for more aid from the West: first long-range missiles, then tanks, and now fighter jets. There appears to be no “red line” the Western imperialists will not cross as they escalate the conflict. In addition to the billions of dollars in weapons, the imperialists have stooped to terrorism over the past year, blowing up the Nord Stream pipeline and launching terrorist attacks within Russian territory.

The U.S./EU/NATO alliance is prepared to destroy the working class of their own countries to undermine Russia, destabilize the region and make way for territorial conquest. Many citizens are feeling the real consequences of rampant militarism in the U.S., UK, France, and across all of Europe in the form of austerity and inflation. As many liberal forces bay for war, it is the working class that pays the price. U.S. President Joe Biden has overseen upwards of $100 billion in equipment sent to Ukraine, at a time when Americans are facing layoffs, pay cuts, and growing unrest.

A victory for the U.S./EU/NATO bloc in the current war would spell devastation for the world anti-imperialist struggle. It would likely lead to the break up of Russia and the opening up of its resources for full exploitation by Western imperialism. The removal of Russia as a military obstacle would accelerate the war drive of the U.S. against the People’s Republic of China to complete its aim to dominate the Eurasian landmass. The proxy war against Russia is inseparable from the war drive against China.

The failure of so many Marxist groups across all traditions to oppose the imperialist war against Russia has been an historic failure. However, out of this failure comes the opportunity for genuinely anti-imperialist forces to join together, overcoming traditional sectarian divides. In this way, building the struggle against the war against Russia is a stepping stone to rebuilding and uniting the international communist movement and towards the ultimate victory of socialism!

Defeat for the NATO-led imperialist alliance! Victory to the resistance! No cooperation with imperialist war!

Current Endorsers:

Anti-War West Sydney (Australia)
볼셰비키그룹/Bolshevik Group (South Korea)
Classconscious.org (U.S. and Australia)
κομμουνιστικη επαναστατικη δραση / Communist Revolutionary Action (Greece)
Liaison Committee for the Fourth International, and its sections:

Consistent Democrats (Britain)
Liga Communista / Communist League (Brazil)
Socialist Workers League (U.S.)
Tendencia Militante Bolchevique/ Militant Bolshevik Tendency (Argentina)
Mohammad Basir Ul Haq Sinha – Socialist Republican Movement (Bangladesh)
नेशनल डेमोक्रेटिक पीपुल्स फ्रंट/ National Democratic People’s Front (NDPF) (India)
Partido Comunista do Povo Brasileiro, PCPB; (Communist Party of the Brazilian People – PCPB (Brazil)
Partido Obrero Socialista CR/ Socialist Workers Party CR (Costa Rica)
RedLine/Κόκκινη γραμμή (Greece)
Socialist Unity Party (U.S.)
Socialist Fight (Britain)
U.S. Friends of the Soviet People

Individuals

Mark Andresen (Britain)
Fábio Sobral (Brazil)
Fernando Gaebler / Organización Internacional Comunista (Brazil)
Gaukhar Datkhabayeva (Kazakhstan)
Askar Aisin (Kazakhstan)

If you would like to sign the statement, send your endorsement to: nowaronrussiaandchina@proton.me

Source: Marxists Speak Out

https://www.struggle-la-lucha.org/2023/ ... ing-class/

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Russia: Biden Did Not Dare Visit Kyiv Without First Telling Russia
FEBRUARY 24, 2023

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Spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova. Photo: Sergei Bobylev/TASS/File photo.

This Wednesday, February 22, the spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, stated during a press briefing that US President Joe Biden would not have dared to visit Ukraine without first asking Moscow for security guarantees.

“Biden did not dare to visit Kyiv without warning Russia,” Zakharova said during the briefing, “and without asking the Russian side to guarantee his safety.”

The US president arrived in Ukraine on Monday on a surprise visit in the days leading up to the first anniversary of the war in Ukraine—February 24—to express his “support” for Kyiv. In fact, he offered his Ukrainian counterpart, Vladimir Zelensky, a new war aid package.

Almost immediately after it was reported that Biden had arrived in Kyiv, the air alert was activated throughout the Ukrainian territory. However, no Russian air or missile strikes were reported. The Russian spokesperson noted that “the visit of the US leader was staged dramatically, but, in reality, it resembled a failed performance in a provincial theater.”

She even noted that “to add some drama” to Biden’s arrival in Ukraine, “they ordered to sound the air raid alarm, although, they told the people of Kiev in advance not to pay attention to it, due to absence of any actual threat. Everyone warned their neighbor: Biden is about to come, they will launch the siren, but it’s okay, we can stay home or do our own stuff, because it is a part of the staging.”

She also said that if Washington wanted to set another example to its allies on how to support the Kyiv regime, it “didn’t go very well,” particularly amid strong claims that they are in full control of the situation in the battlefield and that Kyiv has resisted and is about to win.

On Tuesday, the director of the Russian Federal Security Service, Aleksandr Bortnikov, also confirmed that “the US did notify Russia of Biden’s visit to Kyiv through the diplomatic line. We did not give guarantees about his safety. We just said we took the note.”

Days before the one year anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin presented Russia and Ukraine as victims of the West’s manipulations and stated that the US and its allies tried to start a crisis to lead Russia to a strategic defeat.

https://orinocotribune.com/russia-biden ... ng-russia/

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One year on, countries divided over Ukraine crisis
By Chen Weihua in Brussels | China Daily | Updated: 2023-02-24 07:43

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Relatives and friends mourn during a Ukrainian soldier's funeral at a cemetery in Lviv, Ukraine, on Wednesday. Friday marks the one-year anniversary of the start of the Russia-Ukraine conflict. PETROS GIANNAKOURIS/AP

The West and the rest of the world are sharply divided in their views on the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the ensuing global order, according to a survey released on Wednesday by the European Council on Foreign Relations.

Friday marks the one-year anniversary of Russia's special military operation in Ukraine.

The survey was conducted in China, India, Turkiye, the United States, Great Britain, Russia and nine European Union nations.

According to the survey, 65 percent of the respondents in Great Britain, 55 percent in the US and 54 percent in the nine EU nations see Russia as their avowed "adversary". Many people in these countries also agree they should help Ukraine win the conflict.

For 80 percent of the respondents in India, 79 percent in China and 69 percent in Turkiye, Russia is either an "ally" or a "necessary partner".

Also, 54 percent in India, 48 percent in Turkiye and 42 percent in China support a quick end to the crisis.

People in these three countries, as well as in Russia, consider the emergence of a "multipolar world order" more probable than a "bipolar arrangement" between China and the US.

In contrast to opinions in the West, people in many non-Western countries appear to believe that the post-Cold War era is over.

The paradox of the Russia-Ukraine conflict is that "the West is both more united and less influential in the world than ever before", said Mark Leonard, co-founder of the European Council on Foreign Relations and co-author of a report based on the survey.

Emerging powers, such as India and Turkiye, will act on their own terms and resist being caught in a conflict between the US and China, according to Leonard's report.

It said that one of the most striking findings of the survey is that most people, both within and beyond the West, believe the US-led liberal order is coming to an end.

Only 9 percent of the respondents in the US, 7 percent in the EU countries and 4 percent in Great Britain see US global supremacy as the most likely state of affairs a decade from now. Most people in the EU nations and the US expect a bipolar world led by the US and China.

But outside the West, people believe that "fragmentation", not "polarization", will mark the next international order. Respondents in China, India, Turkiye and Russia predict that the West will soon be just one global pole among many. The West may still be the strongest party, but it will not have "hegemonic" control, they believe.

The survey also found that people in China, India and Turkiye are skeptical of the West's claims about defending democracy in Ukraine.

A vast majority of Chinese and Turkish respondents said that the West's support for Ukraine is motivated by reasons other than the defense of Ukraine's territorial integrity or its democracy.

Many in China said the West's support is driven by the desire to protect Western dominance.

http://global.chinadaily.com.cn/a/20230 ... b08d9.html

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US AND NORWAY HAVE BEEN CONDUCTING COVERT MISSIONS SINCE THE VIETNAM WAR
23 Feb 2023 , 12:13 pm .

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American soldier during an assault practice on Norwegian soil (Photo: File)

The American journalist Seymour Hersh published an article in which he points out that the United States and Norway have jointly carried out covert maritime operations at least since the Vietnam War.

This claim arises in the scene of the attack against the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines. Hersh, who blames the United States for the sabotage through a journalistic investigation, refers to the fact that much of the secret planning and training for the attacks took place on Norwegian soil.

"The simple answer is that the Norwegian Navy has a long and murky history of cooperation with US intelligence," Hersh writes.

He said that six decades ago a small group of Norwegian sailors became embroiled in a "presidential hoax" that led to an early — and bloody — turning point in the Vietnam War. On this he cited evidence that in 1964 at least two sailors of that nationality had confessed their complicity in clandestine procedures organized by the CIA.

According to the evidence, that same year the Scandinavian country sold to the Anglo-American six combat ships that were delivered to the base that the US Navy used in Da Nang, where Norwegian sailors also arrived, supposedly to train the US and Vietnamese military in handling of those ships.

Later, according to the same journalist, they participated in the clashes and the Nordic country sold another 18 vessels of this type to the Americans, six of which were destroyed in the fighting.

https://misionverdad.com/eeuu-y-noruega ... de-vietnam

Google Translator

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From Cassad's telegram account:

Colonelcassad

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The situation in the Starobelsk direction
as of February 24, 2023 at 16:00

There are no visible changes in the front line in the Starobelsk direction . Mutual artillery shelling is taking place along the line of contact, the Armed Forces of Ukraine are reinforcing their positions on the right bank of the Oskol River in case of an offensive by Russian troops. In the Kupyansky sector, 1 tank company of the 10th battalion of the 3rd detachment of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the amount of five tanks was transferred from Staroverovka to the Dvurechnaya area . After refueling, the crews took up prepared positions. The Ukrainian command is considering the possibility of a counteroffensive on Dvurechnoye



to regain lost territories. However, the scenario is unlikely due to large losses in manpower and the transfer of some units to other sectors of the front.

So, in the 14th Ombre, a gap has already formed, which is quickly filled by the mobilized. As a result of yesterday 's strike by the RF Armed Forces on the deployment point of the brigade 's personnel , 32 people were killed . Separate units of the 67th mechanized brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, as well as a mobile EW group, were transferred to the Kolesnikovka-Zagryzovo

line at the Svatovsky sector . The newly created formation was supposed to operate in the operational reserve of the AFU grouping in the Kharkiv region, however, due to a change in the situation, it is actively used on the front line. On the Limansky site

Ukrainian paratroopers at the turn of Torskoye - Kirovsk are experiencing a shortage of ammunition. At the moment, artillery crews can only fire at confirmed targets.

Reinforcements of the Armed Forces of Ukraine arrived at the positions of the 1st battalion of the 25th airborne brigade and the 13th battalion of the 95th airborne brigade in Terny , Yampolovka and Torsk, as well as radio stations and drone control panels were handed over.

***

Colonelcassad

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Soledar direction
situation as of 15.00 February 24, 2023

In the north of Bakhmut , the assault on the village of Yagodnoye continues . After the liberation of Berkhovka, the position of the Armed Forces of Ukraine seriously deteriorated. Assault detachments of PMC "Wagner" pushed back the forces of the 25th rifle battalion of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to the outskirts of Yagodnoye - a settlement practically under the control of Russian units .

To the west of Berkhovka, there is fighting near dachas near Dubovo-Vasilevka . The Ukrainian command is trying to hold the village: fire support for the defenders is provided by cannon and rocket artillery from Bogdanovka. However, the dominating hills north of Dubovo-Vasilevka are already controlled by the Wagnerites, so it is becoming more and more difficult for the Armed Forces of Ukraine to keep this area.

To the north, clashes continue at the Zaliznyanskoye-Vasyukovka line , as well as in the direction of Orekhovo-Vasilevka . The forces of the 123rd battalion of the 113th arr. of the TPO tried to hit the flank of the advancing group of Russian troops from Minkovka and recapture a section of the route to Slavyansk , but the forces of the Wagner PMC repelled the attack.

Positional battles are going on in Bakhmut. The Wagnerites deepened on the eastern outskirts of the city in the Zabakhmutovka area , gaining a foothold in the quarter adjacent to Shchedraya Street . In the southwest, the assault detachments entered the suburban areas.

In the south-west of Bakhmut, the assault detachments of the "Wagnerites" resumed their offensive on Krasnoe and in the direction of the road to Konstantinovka . Now the fighting is going on on the outskirts of the settlement, the Armed Forces of Ukraine are using ground attack aircraft to contain units of the Wagner PMC.

***

Colonelcassad
= NATO cordon around Russia increases military spending in 2023 by 30% to $94 billion

⚔️The military spending of the cordon countries around Russia will increase by 30% in 2023 and amount to $94 billion, Ravenstvo calculated. Taking into account Ukraine's military spending ($67 billion), this will be $161 billion - 1.5 times more than Russia, whose spending can be estimated at $107 billion. In 2021, there was parity ($64 against $66 billion).

The estimate is based on open data from SIPRI , NATO and the World Bank . According to their methodology, military spending includes not only defense budgets, but also spending on paramilitaries, foreign aid, military-civilian spending (when the military unit can be estimated), etc. Dynamics in 2023 taken from official statements.

The anti-Russian cordon includes 11 members of the Alliance on the border with the CIS, from Turkey to Norway, as well as Finland, which has a membership plan. 8 of these countries joined NATO in 1999 and 2004.

Cordon countries increased military spending from 1.6% of GDP in 2013 to 1.9% in 2021 and 2.8% in 2023. Most in 2023 Poland has them ($32 billion, or 4.2% of GDP), which is 80% more than a year earlier.

Ukraine's military spending in 2022 was $35.6 billion , which is comparable to $32 billion in external financial assistance that paid, in other words, for the war. Another $65 billion- military supplies from the West, of which $36 billion was actually transferred. As a result, Ukraine's spending in 2022 reached $71.4 billion (46% of GDP) and was 95% at the expense of the West. Somewhere at the same level ($67 billion) they are expected in 2023.

NATO's total spending in 2023 will grow by 13% and reach $1.36 trillion, 2/3 of which is borne by the United States. This is almost 13 times more than in Russia.

👁‍🗨Opinion. Initially, the Alliance was created against the USSR, and the Soviet strategy of deterring the enemy with less inertia continues to prove effective.

But the destruction of the economy as a result of market reforms undermined the geopolitical potential of the state. The surrender of Eastern Europe and Ukraine strengthened NATO at the expense of these countries. And now they are being used cheaply to build up military efforts against Russia.

https://t.me/s/boris_rozhin

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

Post by blindpig » Sat Feb 25, 2023 11:25 pm

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

Feb 24, 2023 , 9:43 a.m.

Today, February 24, marks one year of the Special Military Operation (OME) that the Russian Federation began in Ukraine, announced by its president, Vladimir Putin. There is hardly a geopolitical event of greater magnitude so far this century, the same one that has been nourished by great events and shocking tectonic movements on the entire planet.

At practically all levels and spheres in geopolitical matters, international relations, in the war, economic and energy panorama, everything has been fundamentally disrupted by a war, or the military response to an indirect, hybrid war, which had years freeing itself, leaving in a before and after the course of the planet and its destiny.

Given the overwhelming scope of these movements, in this series we propose a sequence of "vignettes", one part for the whole, to review the elements with which preliminary balances can be made in a global situation that still has an open ending. In this first part, product of the collection of a year of monitoring, coverage and study, two points will be addressed in the military that, from less to more, in the two subsequent installments will address elements of greater scope.

1. IS THE END OF NATO NEAR?
With the expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) towards eastern Europe, bordering on the Eurasian space and, therefore, with the historically Russian territory —including its area of ​​influence—, the military pressure of the United States —and his cohort of trained partners— on the Russian Federation gradually consolidated until the collision with the red lines marked by the Kremlin itself. This did not translate into an alarm, but rather an incentive for neoconservative factors that sought preparation, supplies and the allocation of resources in the war field to Ukraine, designated since 2014 as a wedge wedged for the purpose of Western aggression against Russia. .

In a general way, the supposed superiority of the Atlantic alliance had been consolidated in the world imagination after decades of assault campaigns on smaller countries and organizations —remember the Libyan tragedy, for example—, which had not been disputed until a year ago, when all the logistical support in weapons, ammunition and various equipment to Kiev ran into the current reality of a world that had inadvertently changed —for them— in military affairs.

The clearest expression of that is found in the existing state of its military-industrial ecosystem compared to the Russian deployment. This can be illustrated, first of all, with what was provided to Ukraine in terms of ammunition in relation to what was deployed by Russia.

According to a report published in Sky News , the Russian army has fired an average of 20,000 artillery shells a day, compared to the 5-6,000 that the Ukrainian army fires daily. The British outlet considers that "since the great battles of World War II, artillery has not been used with such ferocity and intensity as it is now in Ukraine."

There is more. A military analysis by blogger Simplicius The Thinker concludes that Russia "has launched more cruise missiles in the first year of the conflict in Ukraine than the United States has launched from its famous 'Tomahawks' in its entire four-decade lifespan." of that weaponry. If we can accept as true the figures issued by the Ukrainian president Volodimir Zelensky in August 2022, Russia has launched more than 3,500 missiles, "and since then Russia has only increased the intensity, which means that right now the count is probably over 5,000. Meanwhile, the United States has launched a total of 802 Tomahawks during the entirety of the Iraq War from 2003 onwards, and about 2,300 total since the start of the Tomahawk in the early 1980s."

If we take into consideration that "the United States has an arsenal of about 4 thousand Tomahawks in total today, and in recent years they have only produced about 100-150 of them per year", it would not be strange then "if the western bloc repeatedly ran into shortages of guided munitions as recently as the Libyan conflict in 2011. Think of it this way: if Russia has so far launched more than 5,000 cruise missiles at Ukraine, a country that hasn't even moved them, imagine what "That 4,000 Tomahawks could do to Russia. In a direct confrontation, the United States would run out of all precision-guided missiles in a short time. What would they trust after that? Artillery?", comments the aforementioned author.

These data clearly show the picture of erosion in the weapons capacity of NATO, including the United States, in the face of a Russian military-industrial complex that enjoys robustness and production in war scenarios that is much more comfortable than its Atlanticist counterparts.

In mid-February NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg stated that "Ukraine's current rate of spending on ammunition is many times higher than our current rate of production", which "puts our defense industries under pressure ".

In short, NATO countries are running out of military supplies to arm kyiv. Sky News claims that "some analysts" believe the Atlanticist organization "would not have enough supplies to fight Russia if it did so now. Germany is reported to have a two-day supply of ammunition, for example, if Russian tanks cross its borders." ".

Although the data on ammunition is difficult to obtain and classify, the reports published in different American and European media suggest that there is not enough and that production must be increased. This is how Stoltenberg understands it : "It is clear that we are in the logistics race... A war of attrition becomes a logistics battle."


But wait times for some ammunition "have more than doubled." "Europe's factories can barely produce enough shells to meet Ukraine's needs for a week," according to an article in the Financial Times with the suggestive title "A year of war in Ukraine has dried up Europe's arsenals."

The general breakdown in global supply chains , the lack of investment in the field of European military defense, the difficulties of achieving a kind of synergy between the arms production companies in the area of ​​Atlantic influence and the competition for contracts that could justify the absorption of costs, while austericide consolidates as the economic navigation chart of the European Union, industrial difficulty increases, exposing NATO's challenge to the objectives set in a war of attrition, with Ukraine as a pivot .

According to the Kiel Institute , NATO countries have supported Kiev worth more than $110 billion, including $38 billion worth of weapons.

The Joe Biden administration has also given Ukraine a reason not to send long-range missiles to the battlefield: it worries it won't have enough of its own "and would harm the readiness of the US military for future fighting," so According to a Politico report . While the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), one of the largest think tanks in the Washington, DC circuit, categorically accepts that US weapons inventories need to be " rebuilt" because they are "in crisis", a logistical replacement that "will take many years".

The contrast of the picture described with respect to the Russian defense industry is evident. President Vladimir Putin, in a speech on the occasion of Defender of the Fatherland Day on February 22, confirmed that "troops will receive cutting-edge equipment with the industry rapidly increasing production of the entire range of armaments," adding that " We will continue to supply our troops with the most advanced equipment." This implies new attack systems, means of reconnaissance and communication, drones and artillery systems. He also noted that the Russian defensive capability would be strengthened based on the combat experience gained.

The statements and public relations campaigns, coupled with the military doctrines of each side, marinate the scene in situ , at least in the case of Russia, which shows a healthier arms muscle than that of the American and European powers, which is conspicuous on the battlefield. Sustainability, production and manufacturing power tip the balance in favor of Moscow, which works around the clock in this strategic area, allowing it to eclipse NATO's weapons manufacturing potential in many key areas, exemplified in spent ammunition and the challenges Americans and Europeans have in supplying military equipment to Ukraine.

The United States does not have the possibility of succeeding in theaters of wars against powerful regular armies. Russian military analyst Andrei Martyanov, a graduate of the Sevastopol academy, who maintains the blog " Reminiscences of the Future ", has written a series of books exposing how the revolution in Russian military affairs has undermined US hegemony in this an area so dear to his imperial imagination. But it hasn't just lost its competitive advantage: the US military is not tailored to the military needs the world is witnessing today. Its structure is limited to the war capacity of smaller war organizations and not to what has been developed by the Russian power.

But in addition to Martyanov's point that the US military's post-industrial structure reflects its post-industrial, financialized, export-led economy of the dollar system and due to debt inflation, it can also be directed at NATO as a multinational military entity, Washington being the undisputed leader of said alliance. Its production capacity is limited by the crisis experienced by the eurozone economy, whose industrial configuration is almost totally dependent on Russian energy, at least until the imposition of "sanctions" by the European Union (EU).

In the same way that the EU was not prepared to cut off the flow of energy from Russia to Europe, NATO did not foresee the consequences that a lacerated economy could affect its military-industrial complex. A protracted war in an indirect way against Russia would have had to arrange in the organization a reconditioning of the member armies and, therefore, of their industrial complexes, something they did not do and the effects are notable today.

Faced with the industrial-military crisis in the bowels of the United States and Europe, opinions about a possible end to NATO are increasingly heard in the media and digital platforms. In Sweden, a country whose rulers aspire to join the North Atlantic Treaty, publicist Lars Bern argued in an interview with SwebbTV that Europeans "vastly underestimated the Russian military industry: the speed with which the Russians are producing new shells and missiles." , while the effect contrary to the interests of the United States and the organization it leads was brewing: "When the Russians brought troops, they said they would demilitarize Ukraine. But do you know what they are doing now? They are demilitarizing NATO."

It could be seen that the United States will no longer be able to hold on to Europe as a military power, a factor that would indicate that NATO's transcontinental wars will end in the near rather than distant future. The war in Ukraine and Donbass would confirm this scenario, to the extent that the Russian offensive increases in power and tactical deployment.

The combined military-industrial capabilities of the two and a half dozen Atlantic bloc countries cannot compete with those of their Russian adversary, the latter capable of maintaining the same pace, scale and scope of the ongoing WCO despite economic warfare. , financial and commercial against him. Some thirty countries cannot do it collectively. The "logistics race" conditioned by the "war of attrition" that Russia is winning on the ground would force it to finally cede to NATO in the dispute for military supremacy, which will undermine its own legitimacy and operational capacity as an offensive warfare organization.

Everything indicates that not even the business of war in all its fullness could save the Atlantic alliance from an almost certified defeat to date, taking into account that it is the main American companies that see their coffers fill with profits while Europeans, in their capacity as vassals, complain about the situation and admit , despite themselves, that in this sense the balance of capital is on the North American side of the Atlantic. Every time Russia strengthens its position as a military power.

2. THE LANDSCAPES OF BAKHMUT OR WHAT A WAR OF ATTRITION IS LIKE IN THE 21ST CENTURY
Broadly speaking, at least since Iraq 1991, with the mutation of armed conflicts, the ways of coverage in the media and its diffusion have also changed. If in 1991 the live wars premiered on CNN , through its greenish images product of the rudimentary night vision of those times in which the missile charges fell on Iraqi targets difficult to distinguish —perfected later, as could be verified, with the first charges against civil infrastructures in 2003—; and if in the meantime Libya and Syria were wars on social networks, mainly YouTube and Twitter, the Russian-Ukrainian conflict is, by far, the war through Telegram.

Strange dialectic between Western censorship and citizen initiatives resulting from the insufficiency and/or deficiency in the coverage of the usual media, the incessant information production by Telegram has represented a little-studied revolution in communication.

The profuse number of channels and sources, sometimes summarized in a chaotic way, has been a source that seems to further reduce the registration periods in real time, since the range between frank misinformation or propaganda colludes with observations, analysis and even Opinions of the highest level and seriousness that offer a nervous mosaic of consultation references whose quantity —and variable quality— produces a classic situation of informative opulence: the voluminous, even gargantuan, news supply makes it practically impossible to follow political events in an "orderly" fashion. , but especially the military, which ultimately does not finish "reporting" anything if it is done automatically.


The granular study of warfare doesn't help newcomer OSINT nerds to reliably gauge battles with such ease, see them shore up ongoing situations, or for their torrential steadfastness, fish out and give their fair share of warfare. various news or not-so-news, but very specific events on the battlefield. To this must be added the spread and military and civilian use of drones and cell phones in the line of contact itself and in the very long front line, which together offer a layer of complementary audiovisual archive that redefines the information landscape due to its level of detail.

Contrasting it with the coverage of the war against Syria from practically a decade earlier, the simultaneity of fronts, theaters of operations, triumphs and setbacks becomes an almost carnivalesque affair: in the media projection of the battle of Aleppo, in 2016, regardless of the sources, there were fewer parties that had to be put together to have a clear idea about the development of events, especially in its last stage.

Therefore, for the practical effects of this work, with a view to talking about the military situation, everything will focus on a single battle, today the most important and that in a way offers a synthesis of what the mechanics have been. of military operations, on both sides, in broad strokes.

We are talking about the Battle of Bakhmut (or Artiomovsk , as it was called during the Soviet era), in central Donbass, in the Donetsk Oblast , now a Russian province. Of all, the most critical point in the cartography of the south-southeast of Ukraine at the moment, on a map that in recent months, since the Russian withdrawal from the city of Kherson on the right bank of the Dnieper River, very little has moved. in some significant direction in the more than thousand kilometers of line of contact.

The city, located to the center-northeast of Donetsk, as well as one of the most fortified points in Donbass, including the —now liberated— Soledar salt mines, is a critical road, automotive, and rail junction, where the main roads that connect the region, where the main supply lines for the Ukrainian army are established in the area. On the other hand, the city and its surroundings in the north and south constitute the dividing line between the territories controlled by one side and the other.

In all directions it communicates with important urban concentrations such as Severdonetsk and Lyman to the north, in Lugansk, with the city of Donetsk, to the south, to the northwest with Slavyansk and Kramatorsk.

In this sense, for both it is of cardinal strategic importance: once Bakhmut was liberated, the concentrations of Slavyansk and Kramatorsk would remain to, in essence, liberate Donetsk and, to a large extent, Donbas. It was in Slavyansk that the military uprising against the kyiv coup government began in 2014, and that is probably where the Donbass campaign ended.

Bakhmut/Artiomovsk has been in the crosshairs since at least May 2022. On this front, the Wagner Private Military Company (CMP), a group now declared a criminal entity by the United States and one of the notorious black beasts for the West, on a par with Ranzam Kadyrov's Chechen units.

But it's been since mid-late November that it's become the most important flashpoint of the entire war right now. It would be reckless and false to say that the rest of the battlefield has remained static, but it is here that a decisive battle is being fought for all, although at this moment spokespersons for the Ukrainian government try to qualify it as an unimportant city.

The way in which it has been approached by the global mainstream media , compared to the version that is handled, let's say, from the pro-Russian camp, is in tune with the treatment that all the other great narratively adjusted episodes have received:

The city is a decisive battlefield ,
there the Ukrainian forces stop and push back the different " human waves " of the Russian Federation and the Wagner group,
Bajmut has an incalculable strategic value and that is why it will always be a bastion that will be defended to the last ,
It is not true that the Russian offensive is successful ,
the destruction that turns the city into a devastating moonscape is exclusively Russian work,
As a result of problems and failures, there are great conflicts and differences between Wagner and the regular Russian units (or Donbass militias),
the internal feud escalates to a clash between the leaders, in this case Yevgeny Prigoshin, from Wagner, and the Russian Defense Ministry,
Despite Russian advances, not an inch of Bakhmut will be given up,
Bakhmut has no strategic value
and it is possible that at some point Ukraine will cede this unimportant place.
Any follow-up of the year of combat will repeatedly run into nervously colorful, and unverified matrices claiming that Russia is running out of missiles, or artillery, that it has two weeks of inventory left, that the Ukrainian "counterattacks"—Kharkov, Kherson — have been withering and irreversible, that the Russian army —and allies— is actually made up of kidnapped conscripts, common criminals, and fanatical units —the Chechens—, that at any moment there is a coup in Moscow, that Putin has cancer, that is terminal, suffering from dementia, and so on. And that Russia is losing thousands of soldiers and mercenaries daily in Bakhmut.

But that string of unverifiable claims is not describing or analyzing reality on the battlefield; it is useful to verify the degree of propaganda or narrative urgency that continues to give meaning and controlled emotion to the western public. Much can be said for the harsh and bland, sometimes inaccurate or anticlimactic, reports from the Russian Defense Ministry and orbiting broadcast sites, but they have always been more than accurate to reality.

Is Bakhmut important for the Ukrainian army or not? Here one should not lose sight of the fact that by breaking, slowing down or omitting the Minsk II agreements of 2015, Kiev and NATO took advantage of the time gained to reform and restructure the army, but also to fortify and establish defensive lines in the areas they controlled. of Donbass, anticipating the scenario of the probable —and inevitable?— direct military intervention by Moscow.

In this sense, as can be seen in the graph below, there are several defensive axes. Again, any point-by-point follow-up of the Donbass campaign will reveal how precisely these fortified defense lines have been the ones that were demolished over the past year by the Russians and the allied militias from Donetsk and Lugansk.

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Map of the four contact lines on the border with Luhansk (Photo: Big Serge Thought)

Bakhmut/Artiomovsk is located in the third effective and solidly fortified line, before a fourth and last one —Slavyansk, Kramatorsk, Konstantinovka—, the least consolidated and which had the least time to strengthen in relation to the previous defensive belts.

On the other hand, let's see what the media also say when referring to the city of Marras, a strategic point of interconnectivity with the different exits-entries to the region. By December 22, the Forbes correspondent stated that on the Russian side, according to the author of the note —who does not stray from the established line—, 40,000 common prisoners died in waves of people who collided with the best eight brigades of the entire Ukrainian army: the 60th and 71st infantry brigades; the 24, 57, and 58 mechanized brigades; the 4th tank brigade; the 46th Airborne Brigade; the 128th mountain brigade.

To that list must be added the conscript battalions of the territorial guard, paramilitary formations and numerous foreign mercenary units.

On the other side, it is estimated that in a little over three months of intensified combat, every four hours a new combatant enters the defense of the city —which is not yet completely surrounded or besieged—, with a figure of 45,000. dead on the Ukrainian side —one of the most sober estimates—, with 400-500 daily casualties, including dead, wounded and surrendered.

Despite the schizoid narrative cycle that goes from Bakhmut as a great defensive bastion to an absurd "symbolic and political" battle for the Russians, obsessed with a non-strategic enclave, such a bleeding, in which they have put themselves at stake —and that they should already having withdrawn—the best Ukrainian units, plus 26 other units that would make 34 brigades in total , would there be any sense in such a commitment for so little? And if, as they want to say, the bleeding of troops and resources is from the Russian side, when would it stop?

Breaking through the narrative noise curtain with which the battle is covered, an Australian mercenary identified only by the pseudonym "soldier X", interviewed by an Australian video blogger who is currently following the war in Ukraine, who in his statements clearly establishes that he is a special forces soldier with respectable tactical knowledge makes it profoundly clear that the Ukraine is losing, that the Russians, especially Wagner, are not exactly primitive military formations that European logic—Borrell's "garden"—goes. , they release human waves of common prisoners activating their "Mongolian horde genes"—as if it were, first, real and, second, something "bad"—but rather a capable army,well organized and quite creative.

He also admits and for his part, with the benefit of his veiled identity, that despite the fact that the CMP Wagner in particular is not exempt from casualties, those suffered by the opposing side are greater.

Taking into account that admission that comes directly from an authoritative voice and not from a mili-dilettante hipster employed by a magazine dedicated to following and exalting great fortunes, the first presents a frankly bleak picture to which it is possible to add another analytical layer.

It has been a little over three months in which the imprint of the combat has been a very slow advance —sober voices estimate that Bakhmut will be completely liberated in March-April, including Prigozhin himself, leader of Wagner—, in which each position is methodically occupied after a softening with artillery on the positions in the first line of defense, so that a coordinated advance can then take place, which has been resulting in what has been said up to now. That is to say, that the methodical slowness translates on the one hand in a systematic depletion of troops and resources, while on the other in basically an area that can be understood as a fixed, fixed point. What does that tell us?

Serious specialists would speak of a war of static positions and, consequently, of a war of attrition in which the logistical and combat capabilities of the Ukrainian army are gradually being crushed, again, at a single point in the cartography of the war. . Understand the sending of units and brigades from other sides of the front "taking care" exclusively of this point on the map, weakening others and further wearing down operational capacity. A permanent and sustained degradation of inventories, with a replacement that is increasingly difficult to achieve, especially when it is needed.

One has then that the battle of Bakhmut is a black hole through which men and indispensable weapon systems, almost irreplaceable at this point, fall and disappear on a daily basis, which are necessary for future battles. On the other side, therefore, there is a group of allied formations that, maximizing the asymmetric advantage of superiority in fixed artillery in a position to the enemy, at a considerably lower cost, maintain numbers and weapon systems in reserve to the next steps, after a methodical destruction of the opponent's offensive and defensive possibilities.

In the classical sense, a maneuver. Maneuver warfare . "Distraction" actions force the opposing side to dedicate resources and attention to a single point while others are weakened, worn out, and eventually facilitate the advance of the opponent in other theaters of operations since units that were better able to defend or attack at this point they are fixed in another. As was done with the pseudo-siege of kyiv at the beginning of the war, to give just one eloquent example.

In essence, what happens in Bakhmut, projected on a larger scale, has been the logic and nature of the Russian campaign in the Donbass from the start: slow, prone to distorting its development as that of a military action that offers "few results", according to the Western media, in which it is Russia that is being bled dry.

Under that argument, the Ukrainian military has consisted throughout 2022 of variations of armies that are disbanded and then raised again with foreign aid, "destroying the prewar force in the initial months, then fighting units that were replenished with inventories." of the Warsaw Pact, and which is now a declining force that is largely dependent on Western systems".

It is likely that by now many of these elite units have been evacuated or rotated and that a higher percentage of the Russian army, the Donbas militias and the Wagner group are mainly facing conscripts, which makes the scenario even more tragic in in which countless recruits with little military preparation or readiness for combat are being systematically eliminated or deactivated.

Prigozhin himself in an interview confirms that Bakhmut's purpose and Wagner's essential function is precisely to be "the main point of attraction" that allows troops in other places to "operate comfortably" whenever the task is, precisely, to turn this mining town into a "meat grinder", by which he alludes to the constant entry of Ukrainian and NATO "cannon fodder".

Thus, finally, we can use Bakhmut, first, as the imprint of what has been the fundamental tactic to confront Ukraine and NATO, how this effort, despite being deliberately misreported by the mainstream media, has the results it has , what These are the urgencies of the Ukraine-West, where its military forces are being slowly, methodically and gradually suppressed, and why the desperation to continue transferring, whatever, new inventories of artillery systems, tanks, anti-aircraft batteries, etc.

Bajmut is, in short, the reproduction on a smaller scale of what the Donbass campaign has been, whose resolution, at least for this specific mission, will be the point of no return, as there is no anxiety or hurry from the army of the Russian Federation to achieve its strategic objectives as the demilitarization, denazification and protection of its population advance. The three main objectives of why the then called Special Military Operation (OME) was started.

https://misionverdad.com/globalistan/un ... politico-i

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US animosity toward Russia root cause of Ukraine conflict: China Daily editorial
chinadaily.com.cn | Updated: 2023-02-24 21:43

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Birds fly near the US Capitol at sunrise, on Capitol Hill in Washington, US, in this Feb 8, 2022 file photo. [Photo/Agencies]

Any proposal that fails to address the root cause of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict will not bring an end to the fighting and secure a comprehensive, just and lasting peace, as urged by a resolution the United Nations Security Council passed on Thursday, just hours before the conflict entered its second year on Friday.

Instead of just focusing on what happened over the past year, the international community should not ignore the fact that it is the United States' animosity toward Russia that has driven the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's continuous eastward expansion. This has led to Moscow changing its view on the West, from a partner in the distance to an enemy at the gate.

That the Cold War bloc has been relentlessly pushing eastward while Russia is still suffering from the aftermaths of the collapse of the Soviet Union has aggravated Moscow's sense of insecurity. It is that threat to Russia that has been unprovoked, rather than Russia's "special military action" in Ukraine, which is just what the US expected to reap from what it has sown.

That's why the US is in no hurry to help end the conflict. It wants it to drag down Russia and reassert its authority over Europe. Not to mention the tremendous profits it can make by selling arms and energy.

For Russia, the West's actions represent a security crisis. For the US, the conflict, which it frames as being a struggle between democracy versus autocracy, is not only the culmination of its years-long campaign to debilitate Russia, but also an opportunity to stake a claim to the moral high ground by criticizing those countries which refuse to join its unilateral sanctions on Russia.

Countries should look objectively at the rights and wrongs of the matter rather than let themselves be swayed by the moral burden the US is trying to put on them.

Among the other permanent members of the UN Security Council, China is the only one that has not joined the US in its sanctions on Russia or provided Ukraine with arms, nor has it provided support to Russia regarding its "special military action". Its position on the Ukraine crisis is neutral and it continues to urge the belligerents to agree on a cease-fire and talk.

China's ties with Russia are not subject to any party's approval, nor its relations with Ukraine. And the crisis is not in China's interests.

As the position paper China issued on Friday states, the security of a region will not be achieved by strengthening or expanding military blocs, and the security of a country should not be pursued at the expense of others.

It is absurd for Washington to try and claim the moral high ground while it continues to impose sanctions on Russia, which are unauthorized by the UN and have no legitimacy in international law, continues to supply ever more advanced long-range weapons to Ukraine, and encourages its NATO allies to do the same.

In waging its proxy war against Russia, the US is the primary aggressor. Putting a stop to those actions is the very first step to creating the necessary conditions for a cease-fire and peace talks.

Dialogue and negotiation are the only viable solution to the Ukraine crisis. But although Ukraine is a sovereign state, it is being funded and supported to such an extent by the US club, that even if Kyiv wants to talk with Moscow, so long as Washington doesn't want it to, Kyiv has no choice but to continue to fight.

http://global.chinadaily.com.cn/a/20230 ... b0c5d.html

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Russia Welcomes the Chinese Peace Plan for Ukraine

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Maria Zakharova, Feb. 24, 2023. | Photo: Twitter/ @taquinepasmamie

"We highly value the sincere aspiration of our Chinese friends to offer their contribution to the solution of the Ukrainian conflict by peaceful means," Zakharova said.

Russian Foreign Affairs Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova announced that her country welcomes the peace plan for Ukraine proposed by China on Friday.

"We highly value the sincere aspiration of our Chinese friends to offer their contribution to the solution of the Ukrainian conflict by peaceful means," she said on the day that marks one year since the start of the special military operation.

"Russia maintains its adherence to the principles of the United Nations Charter, the norms of international law, including humanitarian law, and the indivisibility of security, on the basis of which the security of a country should not be strengthened to the detriment of the safety of another."

“Like our Chinese colleagues, we consider any restrictive measures unauthorized by the UN Security Council to be illegitimate,” Zakharova said, stressing that such restrictions are crude instruments of unfair competition and economic warfare.

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Zakharova added that Russia is willing to seek a solution to the objectives of the special military operation through political-diplomatic channels.

"This means the end of supplies to Ukraine of Western weapons and mercenaries, the end of all war actions, the return of Ukraine to non-aligned status, and the recognition of the new territorial realities," she said referring to the annexation referendums in four regions.

Besides demanding the demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine, Zaharova called for respect for the rights of the Russian-speaking population. She also demanded the removal of all international sanctions and lawsuits against Russia.

"We are convinced that progress along this path will lead to a total, just and stable peace," Zakharova concluded.

https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Rus ... -0011.html

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Ukraine - Those Guns Unknown To Me

Over the last months I read each Daily Report on the war in Ukraine by the Russian Ministry of Defense.

The reports list the losses of the Ukrainian side on each of the major fronts. I was especially interested in the dedicated counter-artillery campaign the Russian's have been waging during the last two months.

They numbers in the Russian reports may be wrong or exaggerated but they are in a range that is plausible for such a high intensity operation.

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The average daily Ukrainian losses are 12 major artillery pieces, one artillery radar and 3 to 4 artillery ammunition points or depots. The Ukrainian losses of men are listed at around 400+ per day. (The reports exclude the Wagner operations in Bakhmut/Artyomovsk.)

For the one month I recorded 214 destroyed truck pulled howitzers, 92 destroyed self-propelled howitzers and 56 destroyed Multiple Launch Rocket Systems (MLRS). About 12,000 Ukrainian troops were also reported to have been killed.

For comparison the artillery 'fist' of a NATO tank or motorized infantry division is its artillery brigade. It consists of 3 fire battalions each of which has 3 fire companies each of which has 6 guns or MLRS. That is a total of 52 major artillery pieces.

Losing a total of 362 major artillery pieces as Ukraine has done in a month is a lot, much more than the 'west' is able to replace. The current lack of ammunition that Ukraine claims to have will soon change into an oversupply simply because Ukraine will lack the guns and MLRS to fire it.

But that isn't the focus of this piece.

I have wondered about some howitzer/gun types the reports mentioned as destroyed. I had never heard of those and had to look them up.

What is for example the M101 truck pulled howitzer?

After World War I, the U.S. Army Ordnance Department studied various captured German 105 mm-caliber howitzers and developed the 105 mm Howitzer M1920 on Carriage M1920.
...
A modified version of the M1 was trialed in 1932 which used semi-fixed ammunition instead of separate-loading ammunition.
...
The original M1 carriage had been designed for towing using horses rather than trucks, and a new carriage, the T5 (M2), was developed in 1939 and standardized in February 1940.
...
The U.S. military artillery designation system was changed in 1962, redesignating the M2A1 howitzer the M101A1.


So the M101, pictured below, is a U.S. copy of a German army howitzer design from World War I. Some 10,000 have been build mostly during World War II.

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The ones Ukraine has, and the two Russia claimed to have destroyed, were gifts from the Lithuanian army reserve.

The D-44 anti-tank gun was also unknown to me:

The 85-mm divisional gun D-44 (Russian: 85-мм дивизионная пушка Д-44) was a Soviet divisional 85-mm calibre field artillery gun used in the last action of World War II.
...
The barrel was developed from that of the T-34-85 tank and was capable of firing 20–25 high-explosive (HE), armor-piercing, and high-explosive antitank (HEAT) projectiles per minute.

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A nice little museum piece.

There is also the Rapira anti tank gun which turns out to be a bit more modern:

2A19 or T-12 is a Soviet-designed 100-mm anti-tank gun. It was the first anti-tank gun to adopt a smoothbore barrel, and to introduce modern armor piercing shot, like the APFSDS. It uses long projectiles that are more powerful than its caliber suggests.
...
In 1971 a new variant was introduced, T-12A or MT-12 "Rapira" (2A29). This has the same barrel, but has a redesigned carriage and gun shield.
...
By the mid-1990s modern western tanks' frontal armor protection could no longer be penetrated by a 100 mm gun. The 100 mm caliber ammunition had reached the limits of what could be achieved with it.

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It is sad to see that the Ukrainian army has to use such museum pieces. Yes, they still may be useful in special cases. Also having such guns is probably better than having no gun at all.

But they have no chance to survive or even win on a more recent battle field.

Posted by b on February 25, 2023 at 11:50 UTC | Permalink

https://www.moonofalabama.org/2023/02/u ... .html#more

*******

A year into the war, peace seems a mirage

It has gradually become clear that the West—US, EU, and NATO—is fighting a proxy war against Russia, at the cost of the Ukrainian people, and does not desire any negotiated settlement in the near future

February 23, 2023 by Abdul Rahman

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(Photo: Alexander Reka/TASS)

The war in Ukraine will complete a full year on Friday, February 24, without any signs of resolution. Apart from affecting millions of people directly in Ukraine and Russia, the war has caused massive economic problems across the world. Grave concerns have been expressed about the possibility of its escalation into a much greater conflict, perhaps even at the scale of a global nuclear confrontation. And yet, over the past years, there have been very few attempts by international bodies to initiate steps for a peaceful resolution.

It is by now well documented that Ukraine’s Western backers—the US, the EU, and NATO—played a key role in preventing a negotiated settlement. In fact, with their supply of weapons, the Western countries acted to make the conflict even bloodier. A carefully orchestrated campaign has tried to marginalize voices of dissent, brushing them aside as pro-Russian.

Obstructions in peace attempts
The West pro-actively hampered all attempts to bring an end to the war. In the initial days, Russian and Ukrainian delegates tried to sit and discuss the issues. Several rounds of talks were held in Belarus and in Turkey. All those attempts were abandoned without any explanation within days of then UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s visit to Kiev in April.

Johnson was reported to have offered more money and weapons to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in return for withdrawal from the talks with Russia and continuation of war. He even claimed that “Putin needs to be defeated.”

Zelensky has since then refused to talk with Russia and used language similar to Western leaders. In December, during his first foreign trip since the beginning of the war, Zelensky addressed the US Congress and claimed that the war in Ukraine cannot be frozen or stopped until Russia is defeated, claiming that the result will have ramifications for the future of democracy in the world.

Following Zelensky’s speech, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dymtro Kuleba proposed a “peace summit” under UN leadership. However, conditions for such a meeting were near impossible to meet. Ukraine claimed that Russia will only be allowed to join the summit if it agrees to face a war tribunal and pay remuneration.

No wonder that Russians, though expressing their willingness to talk, refused the conditions pronounced by Kuleba, calling them “illusory.”

Provocations for war
From the years of incidents that led up to the war to statements and policy measures during the past 12 months, the West’s role has only vindicated the views of experts who have termed it a conflict between NATO and Russia.

In the year leading up to the war, the Western countries not only failed to urge Ukraine to implement the Minsk agreements, they also supported far-right groups which which were active in the Euromaidan uprisings and the assault on the Russia-speaking population of the Donbass region which led to thousands of deaths. Instead Meanwhile, NATO proposed deployment of a sophisticated anti-rocket defense system near Russia’s western borders.

Ever since the start of the war, the US and the EU have only pushed Ukraine for its continuation, and refused to respond to issues raised by Russia.

Some NATO leaders have instead expressed support for Ukraine’s membership. NATO has meanwhile initiated a process to admit two more members from Europe, Sweden and Finland. The US, EU and other NATO members have supplied billions of dollars worth of weapons to Ukraine, including tanks. There are talks about the possible supply of war planes to Ukraine as well.

The US alone has provided weapons worth more than USD 100 billion to Ukraine so far. There are also unconfirmed reports about “volunteers” from the US and other countries fighting in Ukraine.

In September, Russia’s Nord Stream pipelines were blown up by explosives. In recent days, evidence has emerged which establishes that it was the US which carried out these explosions with the objective of isolating Russia by breaking its economic ties with Europe.

The UN, apart from adopting a few resolutions condemning Russian aggression in Ukraine and alleged human rights violations, has largely failed to be effective in its talks to promote peace. Partial success, with active aid from Turkey, to get a grain export deal from the Black Sea ports is the only fruitful intervention made by the global body in the conflict so far.

At the same time, the US, EU, and some of their allies have imposed numerous economic and political sanctions on Russia and Russians. There is an undeclared boycott campaign against Russians in the fields of sports, culture, and media as well.

US President Joe Biden’s speech in Poland, following his visit to Kiev earlier this month, removes all doubts that the war in Ukraine is a hybrid proxy war. Biden claimed that the war in Ukraine is a test for Europe, NATO, and the US. He expressed appreciation at Sweden and Finland’s bid to join NATO and asserted, confirming Russian claims, that Ukrainian territory is the territory of a NATO ally.

https://peoplesdispatch.org/2023/02/23/ ... -a-mirage/

****

Growth in military spending by 2023
February 25, 16:31

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The military spending of the main actors continues to grow, and one can be sure that by 2025 these figures will increase even more.

https://colonelcassad.livejournal.com/8190899.html

Google Translator

*********

From Cassad's Telegram account:

Colonelcassad

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Soledar direction
situation as of 13.00 February 25, 2023

🔻In the north of Bakhmut, assault detachments of the Wagner PMC completed the cleansing of the village of Yagodnoye , a settlement under the control of Russian units. The loss of Yagodny forced the personnel of the 25th rifle battalion of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to withdraw from one of the quarters in the Stupka area .

▪️In addition, the "Wagnerites" entered Dubovo-Vasilevka , from which paratroopers of the 46th detachment of the Airborne Forces of Ukraine retreated from Bogdanovka at night under the cover of artillery. The Armed Forces of Ukraine are firing at the village with the help of MLRS and attack aircraft.

▪️Now the Ukrainian units are rapidly preparing the defense line Grigorovka - Bogdanovka - Chasov Yar . ATGM firing positions are being set up in the apartment buildings of Chasy Yar.

❗️After the final mopping up of Yagodny and Dubovo-Vasilevka, the most logical direction of attack will be Khromovo . It is through this suburb, along with Berkhovka, that the remaining supply routes for the AFU grouping on the northern outskirts of Bakhmut previously pass.

🔻Northwest of Soledar, the command of the 10th Guards Brigade of the Airborne Forces of Ukraine expects the activation of the assault detachments of the Wagner PMC and units of the regular Army at the Zaliznyanskoye-Vasyukovka line . Ditches and trenches are being built along the defense line.

🔻On the Toretsk sector, a rotation of the personnel of the 5th separate assault regiment of the special forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine was carried out. 82-mm mortars and anti-tank systems were transferred to the forward positions.

***

forwarded from
Voenkor Kitten Z
Military analyst Boris Rozhin on the situation in the Artemovsky direction by the middle of the day on February 25, 2023. Especially for the Voenkor Kotenok channel Z @voenkorKotenok :

Yagodnoe, fierce battles continue, the enemy is resisting, the assault units of the Wagner PMC have the initiative. In the near future, a turning point may occur here, and Yagodnoye will be released.

2. Dubovo-Vasilyevka has not yet been taken, contrary to the statements of some channels. Fights are going on the outskirts, but there is no complete control over the village. We expect success here in the near future, but do not get ahead of events.

3. In the southern part of Bakhmut, south of the Stella with the plane at the entrance to the city, there is a certain advance from the Mariupol cemetery, but there is no talk of a breakthrough to the plane. Cutting the track in this area is ahead.

4. In the area of ​​N. p. Red and Stupochki of the enemy is trying to regularly counterattack and push our troops back from the route, which we are constantly shelling. A section of the Khromovo-Bakhmut highway is also being fired upon by the "orchestra" artillery, so the enemy is trying to solve the problem of blocking the supply of his forces, which still remain in Bakhmut.

5. To date, the problem of lack of ammunition has been resolved in the medium term. What will happen next is unclear, but so far there is enough ammunition, which allows you to effectively move forward in a number of areas.

But

There is no word of enemy resistance. The enemy organized and fiercely resisted, suffering heavy losses. But due to the transfer of reserves and counterattacks, he is trying to slow down the advance of our troops.

The operational situation for the Bakhmut group of troops of the Armed Forces of Ukraine continues to deteriorate inexorably.

***

Colonelcassad

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Offensive in the Donetsk direction
the situation as of 11.00 on February 25, 2023

Russian troops resumed a positional attack on the defense lines of the 59th motorized infantry brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the vicinity of Pervomaisky .

After establishing control over the heights north of the Vodyanoy subdivision of a separate assault battalion, the Somali entrenched themselves in the occupied territories and advanced towards Avdiivka from Experienced , improving their tactical position.

South of Vodyany, as a result of the assault, the RF Armed Forces encircled one of the strongholds of the 59th Ompbr and advanced in the fields between Pervomaisky and Vodyany.

In Netailovoreinforcements arrived to rotate the forces of the 59th brigade, including a mortar crew. After the regrouping of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, they plan to conduct a counterattack on the western outskirts of settlements.

https://t.me/s/boris_rozhin

Google Translator
"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 Feb 26, 2023 1:50 pm

China and the war in Ukraine: Western rejection of the new peace plan
POSTED BY @NSANZO ⋅ 02/26/2023

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On a day riddled with obviousness, Dai Bing, the ambassador of the People's Republic of China to the United Nations, delivered a few words on Friday that should seem self-evident: "Getting the parties back to the negotiating table is not going to be easy, but it is the first step towards a political solution”. As had already been announced throughout the week, coinciding with the first anniversary of the start of the Russian military intervention in Ukraine, China had published its peace proposal for the Ukrainian conflict hours before. Although with points directly referring to the Russo-Ukrainian war, the proposal is also a road map of good practices and the search for collective security and rejection of the bloc policy that goes far beyond the current war in Europe.new cold war that currently reigns in international relations and is expressed almost daily in the statements of international leaders.

In general terms, the Chinese proposal proposes a ceasefire, opening of humanitarian corridors and protection of critical infrastructures, especially nuclear power plants, in search of protection for the civilian population and as a way towards a political negotiation between the parties that would be favored. by the international community. China also recalls the danger of nuclear weapons and explicitly states that they should not be used. Showing that the road map does not only refer to the Russo-Ukrainian conflict, Beijing calls for "preventing nuclear proliferation and avoiding nuclear crises." As a final point, China calls for the elimination of all sanctions not approved by the United Nations Security Council, that is,

Although generic and practically a road map in which each of the twelve points would have to be specifically developed, the Chinese document proposes a return to peace and collective security that seeks to avoid the policy of blocs, two threats to Chinese economic plans. . As expected, both the United States and its European allies were quick to reject the plan, repeating all sorts of platitudes and calling China unreliable. All this comes after a week in which both the political and media representatives of the United States and its European allies have warned China against the possibility of supplying Russia with weapons for war. Although China has tried to keep its distance from the war and has given Moscow some diplomatic support, In the year that has elapsed since the start of the Russian military intervention, there has been no Chinese military assistance to Russia, an option that is now being considered according to Western sources. According toThe Wall Street Journal , China is considering the possibility of supplying Russia with drones and artillery. Certain Russian sources have also wanted to see in the presentation of the Chinese plan a game in which Beijing would be freed to act in the form of arms sales to Moscow after the foreseeable rejection of the peace plan.

The escalation of the war, the rearmament policy on the European continent, the possibility of a new arms race and the strengthening of the bloc policy that has accelerated Russian military intervention in Ukraine pose an obstacle to Chinese economic plans, which involve reconciling their good relations with Russia, a source of accessible raw materials and also of knowledge, with the commercial relationship with Western countries. In this global balancing game, Ukraine is not just an obstacle to economic relations in Eurasia, but a country with which China has traded and dealt normally over the years, even despite anti-communist laws or US intervention to prevent Kiev from finally selling the Motor Sich industry, capable of producing aerospace engines,

Despite China's obvious interests in restoring peace and avoiding the bloc policy, or precisely because of it, countries like the United States have not been slow to reject the proposal. "You say you are neutral, you say you support the principles of state sovereignty and non-aggression of the United Nations Charter, so behave that way and do not contribute to this fight," said Victoria Nuland, one of the people who has done the most to over the years for destroying the east-west balances that held Ukraine together and at peace and that, in conjunction with his neocon political family, has supported the violation of territorial integrity and even the destruction of countries like Yugoslavia or Iraq from different positions in US diplomacy. However, Victoria Nuland was not the most critical of the Chinese peace plan. "I have not seen anything in the plan that could indicate that there is something that would benefit someone other than Russia," said US President Joe Biden, who in an interview with ABC, added that the Chinese offer of a negotiated exit to war "just isn't rational." The United States, one of the great beneficiaries of this war, has not been in a hurry to seek peace either since the Russian intervention or in previous years, when it did not even join the defense of the Minsk agreements.

Without really going into the points of the proposal, Western countries have openly rejected the Chinese plan and any ability for Beijing to act as a goodwill mediator. It matters little that these same countries acted as mediators, for example, of the Minsk process, agreements that all Western parties now deny, adding that it was precious time that Ukraine skilfully used to rearm. However, the Chinese plan is not only based on the principle that both kyiv and all its Western partners claim to defend, that of territorial integrity, but that is precisely the first point:

Respect the sovereignty of all countries. Universally recognized international law, including the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations, must be strictly observed. The sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of all countries must be effectively defended. All countries, whether big or small, strong or weak, rich or poor, are equal members of the international community. All parties must jointly uphold the basic norms governing international relations and safeguard international fairness and justice. We must promote the equal and uniform application of international law and reject double standards.

China, which has not recognized Russian sovereignty over Crimea, so it must be understood that it is proposing a return to the Ukrainian borders of 1991, something that can hardly favor Moscow - or the Crimean population, which would undoubtedly be subjected to the Ukrainian revenge - does not limit the idea of ​​sovereignty to the current conflict, but rather puts the idea in general terms. Clearly, China's interest is to defend its own sovereignty, including Taiwan, which is becoming a red line for the West, willing to rearm the island and use it against the PRC in the same way that Ukraine is being used against the Federation. Russian. But the Chinese proposal to respect the sovereignty of all countries also reveals Western hypocrisy in cases like Serbia, where the United States calls on its partners to recognize the independence of Kosovo. On Friday, from the Twitter account of its embassy in Pristina, the United States showed its commitment to the territorial integrity of Ukraine, a country that Washington curiously avoids putting pressure on. Despite the movement led by Oleksiy Goncharenko for the recognition of Kosovo, kyiv cannot afford to act at the moment, since it would lose all arguments to reject the secession of Crimea.

Apart from these contradictions that the defense of the territorial integrity of all states reveals, this is the point most appreciated by some officials. For example, the US National Security Adviser, Jake Sullivan, stated that China should have stopped there, after that point referring to territorial integrity. This position, similar to the one maintained by Antony Blinken, is nothing more than affirming that there is no Ukrainian conflict but a Russian aggression, an idea widely repeated throughout the years of war in Donbass. His goal then, as it is today, was to blame Russia for the situation in order to deny any concessions to the population that had risen up politically and militarily against Ukraine, demanding political, cultural and economic rights. The goal of kyiv and its partners was never to achieve a Ukraine in which a fair accommodation to Donbass could be found as demanded by Minsk, but rather to achieve Russian military surrender on Ukrainian territory. Hence, any mention of a political negotiation annoyed, which implied accepting that there was a political conflict beyond what was then imagined.Russian aggression . The logic continues now in an even clearer way, without even trying to maintain the fiction that the idea that the rights of the populations that Ukraine aspires to reconquer are going to be respected is raised.

The West does not consider any political solution and the military path is the only way out. Hence the rejection by countries like the United States of the third point of the Chinese plan, the ceasefire. "Council members must not be misled by calls for a temporary or unconditional ceasefire," Antony Blinken said, saying any lull in the battle would consolidate Russian control over territories now under their control and provide time to prepare for subsequent attacks. . With this, the US Secretary of State is outlining, in detail, the Ukrainian strategy during the Minsk years, denied for years, but now openly admitted by both Kiev and its partners.

In his usual seemingly more conciliatory tone, French President Emmanuel Macron, who also demands that China not do what the West is doing, send weapons, said that peace is only possible "if the Russian aggression stops, the troops are withdrawn and the territorial sovereignty of Ukraine and its people is respected.” Macron, who says he does not seek Russia's humiliation but only its defeat, made it clear in his speech at the Munich Security Conference that the path to peace , indeed to victory, is a major offensive for control of the Sea of Azov and endangering the security of Crimea, thus forcing Russia to submit to the diktatUkrainian, a highly unlikely option considering the correlation of forces and resources. "What we need now is for Ukraine to launch a military offensive that will push back the Russian front to open the way for a return to negotiations," Macron was quoted as saying by The Wall Street Journal .

Curiously, faced with the direct rejection of his partners and creditors, Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday raised a more constructive position. The Ukrainian president, who is currently trying to get more diplomatic support from third world countries to turn this intra-European conflict into a global war, was open to "working with China." "Based on what I know, China respects historical integrity," said Zelensky, who knows that he cannot afford to antagonize an economy as powerful as China's. However, without any need to save diplomatic manners, some of his advisers were much more candid. “Any peace planOnly with a ceasefire and, as a result, a new demarcation line and continued Russian occupation of the territory is not about peace but about freezing the conflict, about Ukrainian defeat, the next phases of the genocide. Ukraine's position is already known: withdrawal of Russian troops to the 1991 borders," wrote Mikhailo Podolyak, who on Friday also posted a message stating that "Ukraine means death for Russia."

The positions are clear and the only way that kyiv and its Western bosses consider viable is the military offensive. There is no peace plan or possible opening of negotiations when the only option on the table is force. This was expressed by the NATO Secretary General in an interview with Spanish Television. "The war will end at a negotiating table, but it depends on the situation on the battlefield," Stoltenberg said, adding that "to achieve peace, Ukraine must be armed." The only plan on the table for those who last March chose to extend the war continues to be the land advance through Russian territory towards the Crimea, at the cost of more death and destruction, risking an even greater escalation of the war. All of this for the good of Western countries, as Zelensky himself admitted last Friday when asked about the loss of support for Ukraine seen in the polls in Western countries. "If they don't change their position, if they don't support Ukraine, they will not only lose NATO, but they will lose their leading position in the world." Bearing in mind those interests at stake,

https://slavyangrad.es/2023/02/26/26715/#more-26715

Google Translator

******

Pretty depressing meeting
February 26, 13:06

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CIA chief Burns on meeting with SVR chief Naryshkin.

Pretty depressing encounter. There was a very defiant attitude on the part of Naryshkin. Feelings of insolence and arrogance. A sentiment that I think reflects Russian President Vladimir Putin's own opinion, his own belief today that he can make time work for him, that he can grind Ukrainians down, that he can wear down our European allies, that in the end there will be political exhaustion. (c) Burns

- Russians give up!
- No.
- It was quite a depressing meeting.

https://colonelcassad.livejournal.com/8192479.html

Google Translator

*********

SOROS, GATES, ROCKEFELLER & GERMAN MONEY THINK TANK REVEALS THE ANTI-RUSSIAN PROPAGANDA WAR IS FAILING IN INDIA, CHINA, TURKEY, AND EVEN IN THE US

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By John Helmer, Moscow
@bears_with

The brainwashing of the peoples of the NATO alliance is working much better with the British than the Americans. For the time being, Russia-hating is a peculiarly English phenomenon.

Almost half the Americans polled a month ago said they did not believe Russia was an adversary with whom the US is in conflict. The poll results were reported by a government-sponsored and financed think tank called the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR), and the results published on February 22. Asked to say which prompt statement “best reflects your view on what Russia is to your country”, 55% of Americans took the war-fighting option. However, 14% replied that Russia was “an ally that shares our interests and values” or “a necessary partner with which we must strategically cooperate”; another 16% of Americans described Russia as “a rival with which we need to compete”; and 16% were non-committal, saying they “don’t know”.

Altogether, 46% of the national US sample refused to agree to the mainstream media line on Russia and the policy of the US Government and Congress.

By contrast, the proportion of British respondents polled who agreed Russia is the enemy in the present war was about two-thirds – 65% — while the dissenters numbered only 35%. Northern Ireland was not included in the survey, and the Scots were under-represented.

The European country results have been manipulated by the ECFR think tank, casting doubt on the first conclusion it reported that “Europeans are united in believing that Russia is an ‘adversary’ or a ‘rival’”, and the second conclusion of “the growing hostility of Europeans towards Russians”. This rigging was managed by withholding the separate poll results for France, Germany, Italy, Portugal and Spain, and over-weighting the influence of Estonia, Poland, Denmark, and Romania in the consolidated European Union (EU9) result reported.

Interpretation of the results by a group of academics at St Antony’s College, Oxford, was paid for by US and German foundations which have published their anti-Russian views, like these: “Stiftung Mercator views the war against Ukraine also as an attack by Putin on European values, an attack directed against democracy, pluralism, freedom of opinion and freedom of the press throughout Europe.”

Despite the message of the money, one-third of the EU9 respondents resisted, saying they believe Russia is either an ally or partner, and 20% refused to give the pollsters an answer – the largest non-committal response in the entire survey worldwide.

Even more hostile to the sponsors of the survey were Indians, Chinese, and Turks. In India, where the surveys pressured respondents in face-to-face interviews, 80% insisted Russia is an ally or partner, and only 3% an enemy. In China, the opinion was almost identical — 79% and 5%, respectively. In Turkey 69% favoured alliance or partnership with Russia; 8% said Russia was an enemy; 5% said they didn’t know.

TNT Radio’s War of the Worlds programme broadcasts to provide the breaking news and analyses which the Don’t Knows of Europe and North America need to hear, before making up their minds. This is also information unpaid by the war-fighting governments of the NATO alliance, and by the German foundations committed to continuing the Wehrmacht aims of 1939. The broadcast is also an opportunity for the Irish and Scots to pull their ears out of Westminster’s hands.

This week the breaking news on microphone reveals the evidence of how and why the Kremlin gave US President Joseph Biden s safe-conduct pass to Kiev, with the caution that the Russians could give no “security guarantees” against an attack on Biden from Ukrainian fanatics afraid of a sell-out by Washington.

Listen also as the terms for an armistice and partition of the Ukraine are revealed in the Chinese Government’s twelve-point proposals for a political settlement of the war, released on Friday morning.

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Listen back at https://tntradiolive.podbean.com/

Backing up the mentions and the references, and for additional reading and thinking, here is the first disclosure by former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev on his Telegram account in the Moscow afternoon of last Monday, February 20.

Medvedev’s disclosure of “guarantees of safety” triggered the admissions by White House National Security Adviser, Jake Sullivan, a few hours later in the Washington morning. Follow that story here.

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Source: https://t.me/medvedev_telegram/

Medvedev was followed the next day, Tuesday February 21, by a second Russian official and member of the Security Council, Alexander Bortnikov, head of the Federal Security Service (FSB). Bortnikov was not contradicting Medvedev; his reference was to the domestic security situation in Kiev.

In President Vladimir Putin’s speech to the Federal Assembly on February 21, he spelled out this territorial limit for mutual and reciprocal security between the NATO forces in the Ukraine and Russia: “The West is using Ukraine as a battering ram against Russia and as a testing range,” Putin said. “I am not going to discuss in detail the West’s attempts to turn the war around, or their plans to ramp up military supplies, since everyone is well aware of that. However, there is one circumstance that everyone should be clear about: the longer the range of the Western systems that will be supplied to Ukraine, the further we will have to move the threat away from our borders. This is obvious”.

To illustrate what this means on the map at the full 500-kilometre extent of range of the US-supplied High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS), here’s the map of the Ukraine with red-line distances reflecting the Google estimation of road distance. The US Army reports the “max[imum] cruising range” of the artillery system to be 483 kms. This is a published figure; from launch to target impact the actual range is likely to be longer than 500 kms.

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The Chinese Foreign Ministry in Beijing released this official English-language version of the 12-point proposal paper on the morning of February 24.

The details had been discussed and approved in advance in talks in Moscow two days earlier when China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi met his Russian counterpart, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, and Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev, with President Putin.

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Source, above: https://www.fmprc.gov.cn -- below: http://en.kremlin.ru/

This is the first official statement by a permanent member of the UN Security Council which is not engaged on the battlefield that the military terms of armistice cannot be negotiated to agreement unless there is also the cessation of the US economic war against Russia, and the lifting of worldwide sanctions by the US, the European Union and the NATO allies.

The European-sponsored global opinion report by ECFR does not explain why it has withheld the individual state results of polling in the nine European member states it canvassed, or why Estonia and Poland were selected although their accession to the EU came more than twenty years after Greece, which was ignored in the poll. This selectivity favoured an anti-Russian result for the so-called EU9.

Notwithstanding, the report is the strongest evidence published to date that the propaganda war waged by the US and its allies has totally failed outside Europe and North America. It is also failing with almost half of Americans, and with majorities in the southern European states.

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Source: https://ecfr.eu/

The US pollster Gallup did the polling for the ECFR by means of an online survey on January 17. By identifying and recording the IP address and other particulars of respondents, the poll method over-represented the proportion of Americans identifying their opinion with the mainstream. The ECFR report issued a caution for interpretation of the results “bearing in mind [the] possibility that some respondents might have felt constrained in expressing their opinions freely”. However, the ECFR claimed the warning applied only to Chinese and Russians.

The European Council running the ECFR think tank is headed by several of the most anti-Russian politicians in Europe, including the ex-prime minister of Sweden, Carl Bildt; he has long been a paid retainer of the Ukrainian oligarch Victor Pinchuk.

The Council’s money which pays for the ECFR operations is reported as coming from NATO member foreign and defence ministries, as well as German and US foundations including the Bill and Melinda Gates, Rockefeller Brothers and George Soros’s Open Society funds. The ECFR claims this “diversity of funding sources is critical to ensure the independence of our organisation.”

http://johnhelmer.net/soros-gates-rocke ... more-70764

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Why are No Sanctions Imposed on the Perpetrators of the Ukrainian Conflict?
Posted by INTERNATIONALIST 360° on FEBRUARY 23, 2023
Vladimir Danilov

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A year has passed since the West instigated the start of Moscow’s special military operation (SOF) to denazify the criminal Ukrainian regime. It has been a year of difficult confrontation between Russia and the West, united in its Russophobic desire to “inflict a crushing strategic defeat on Moscow,” as stated by the US, European, and NATO politicians in charge.

It is no secret today that the aggravation of the situation in Ukraine, as well as the use of the resurgence of neo-Nazism there, was chosen by the West back in 2014 to unleash an indirect war against Russia at the expense of the lives of the Ukrainian population. And Moscow’s attempts to find a peaceful solution to the Ukrainian conflict, including through the “Minsk agreements,” were not only ignored by the West, but were used to pump more weapons into Ukraine, increase its military potential to deepen the armed conflict and the possibility of seizing Russian territories. And all this has already been publicly confirmed by the so-called “guarantors of peace in Ukraine” in Germany, France, the USA, and NATO.

In all this “history” that preceded the beginning of Russia’s special operation in Ukraine, the West showed not only Moscow, but also the whole world its openly aggressive face, a complete lack of agreement, which raises doubts about the possibility of any agreement on the peaceful conclusion of the current Ukrainian conflict with the West in these conditions.

Although it has long been clear to everyone that the West is incapable of making an agreement. Suffice it to recall the results of World War II, when, after peace was achieved, the same Western “signatories” unleashed an ideological war against Moscow, a recent ally. This same incapacity was demonstrated most recently by the behavior of the “leader of the Western world” when, in a single morning caprice, American President Trump destroyed a carefully and hard-won multilateral international agreement with Iran on its nuclear program, which had also been signed by the American side. — But has there been any shouting of displeasure from Washington’s Western allies since then? And who among today’s Western leaders and leading EU politicians would dare criticize Washington when they are all feeding from its plates and saying only what the White House will let them?

Similarly, none of the Westerners reacted, without Washington’s “approval,” to Moscow’s peace initiatives in late 2021, which could have prevented the current hostilities on Ukrainian soil and new human casualties. Meanwhile, according to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, more than 3,000 civilians were killed during the years of armed conflict in Donbass before Moscow’s special operation in eastern Ukraine. In 2014 alone, according to the UN observation mission, 2,082 people were killed and more than 4,000 civilians, adults and children, were wounded in the territories that declared independence from the criminal Kyiv regime.

And how did the West’s recklessness in refusing to discuss peace initiatives with Moscow in 2021 turn out? — A continuation of the unpunished murder by Ukrainian neo-Nazis of hundreds of civilians in eastern Ukraine, including a significant number of Russian citizens, whose safety and prevention of armed aggression against them is the responsibility of the Russian authorities under Russian law. By the way, as well as with regard to security and armed aggression against American or, for example, Israeli citizens on the territory of foreign countries, which the US and Israel, as everyone knows, have already repeatedly used “to punish the aggressor and release their citizens” in many countries of the world!

However, to Moscow’s natural reaction of inaction and deliberate silence of the international public under Washington’s onslaught for eight years since 2014 on the criminal activity of the neo-Nazi regime in Kyiv, the West responded not with logic, but only with a Russophobic position. The United States has united the West in attacking Russia and pursuing illegal sanctions.

According to Bloomberg, the estimated cost of European states’ confrontation with Moscow is one trillion dollars. There are thousands of sanctions measures in place. Only in 2022 did the European Union issue nine sanctions packages, and how many of them were adopted by the West after 2014 is difficult to say even for the most ardent opponents of Russia. It is not Russia’s economy that has been predicted to collapse by American so-called analysts, but the economies of the United Kingdom and Germany that have proven to be the weakest among the developed economies in this conflict. According to the German Finance Ministry, Uniper’s losses alone exceeded $50 billion. The energy crisis imposed by Washington in order to seize Russia’s gas market in Europe, followed by the economic crisis, bankrupted thousands of European manufacturers and drove millions into poverty…

The Ukrainian conflict, as acknowledged by numerous American and Western analysts and media, enriches only the United States on a daily basis. Particularly in American military-industrial circles. Washington’s decision to send more military equipment and ammunition to Ukraine forces European “exporters” of such weapons to increase spending on additional weapons from the same US at the expense of the national budget and cuts in European social programs. And in this regard, EU European officials, particularly US protégés Ursula von der Leyen and Josep Borrell Fontelles, have become active “promoters” of the US policy.

Apart from the insatiable enrichment at the expense of Europe, the White House’s policy of militarization of events exacerbates the Ukrainian crisis, resulting in the deaths of tens of thousands of civilians and Ukrainian soldiers. Even today, no one can deny that the conflict in Ukraine is the largest military conflict on the European continent since World War II. However, determining the magnitude of the disaster in terms of the number of people killed and injured in the fighting remains difficult. According to the Pentagon, over 100,000 AFU soldiers were killed or injured during Russia’s special operation in Ukraine. These losses, which exceed all predictions by American analysts, are causing concern even among NATO Allied Forces in Europe commander-in-chief Christopher Gerard Cavoli.

For 2022, the West has already spent an estimated $150 billion on military aid to Ukraine. Despite all of these human, financial, and economic losses, the West, in Washington’s relentlessly Russophobic frenzy, continues to support the criminal Kyiv regime, supplying it with more weapons and ammunition. Involving more than just European countries in this process and the actual armed conflict with Russia. As a result, the threat of World War III is becoming more real.

Until recently, Russia’s response to the aggressive Western sanctions policy was limited to retaliatory sanctions against unfriendly countries. However, the situation has recently shifted, and it is now objectively necessary for Russia to impose initiative sanctions on the instigators of the Ukrainian conflict, as well as other states that do not want the West to resurrect neo-Nazism in Ukraine, against which Moscow is conducting a special operation in Ukraine.

https://libya360.wordpress.com/2023/02/ ... -conflict/

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UK: 14 Questions for John McDonnell (and others) on Ukraine
FEBRUARY 25, 2023

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John McDonnell, MP, Shadow Chancellor speaking at Community Wealth Building conference in Preston, Harris Museum and Art Gallery, 8th February 2018. Photo: Sophie Brown/Wikimedia.

By Paul Atkin – Feb 22, 2023

John McDonnell’s article for Labour Hub, “The Ukrainian Question for Socialists,” has so many missing dimensions its hard to know where to start. It is a story with a middle, but no explanation of the beginning, nor any projection of where the course of action he supports might end.

John’s judgement on the war is oddly flat, missing whole dimensions of the conflict and lacking any sense of causation beyond a kind of moralism, the 21st century equivalent of WW1 “German War Guilt.” The assessment of the conflict as Five Wars in One in the most recent New Left Review Editorial gives a fuller picture, every aspect of which has to be grasped to understand the dynamics of it.

There is a civil conflict within Ukraine itself.
The Russian intervention after February 2014, which NLR defines as having “a double character,” interventionist against Ukraine, and defensive against NATO at the same time, leading to
A Ukrainian war of national self defense combined with
What former CIA chief Leon Panetta describes as a “proxy war” against Russia carried out by the US using Ukrainian soldiers on the ground, but also imposing global sanctions that have had a terrible blowback on food prices in the Global South and energy prices in Europe. NLR describes this as “unambiguously imperialist” in that “it aims at regime change… (in Russia) …and the assertion of American hegemony over the Eurasian continent.”
“The prospect of a Sino-American conflict, the real focus of the last three administrations in Washington, is the final lock determining the Ukraine war’s dynamic.”
John only looks at 3 and half of 2. Does he recognize that he’s missing the determining forces driving this process?

In the context of a “civil war in Ukraine itself,” John’s article acknowledges fighting since 2014, but does not acknowledge that there is any popular legitimacy in the pro Russian side of the civil war. This disorients him from the off, as important facts have to be denied to maintain his posture.

The Guardian last week quoted a Ukrainian junior officer fighting around Vuhledar on the southern Donetsk front complaining that troops recruited locally didn’t want to fight. Most Ukrainian troops are conscripted. Some are unwilling. Aleksey Arestovich, an adviser to the office of the Ukrainian president, said in January that many Ukrainian soldiers fighting in Soledar simply fled and there were “a substantial number” of refuseniks who declared they “cannot fight any longer in this terrible war.” Arestovich said, “We have people who refused to dig trenches, and when they were led into ready-made trenches, they just stood still. Many said the enemy (Russian soldiers) were too close and it was better to move several miles back from the front lines.” This has meant that that month President Zelenskyy in January signed into force a punitive law introducing harsher punishment for deserters and wayward soldiers, even stripping them of their right to appeal.

At the same time Ukrainian dissident Dmitriy Kovalevich reports that refugees and residents in the south of Ukraine …are attending protest rallies organized by the wives and mothers of servicemen.

Perhaps more significantly, the soldier in Donetsk went on to note that “about half” of the local population was “pro Russian” anyway. Does John acknowledge this?

NLR describes the uprisings that led to the formation of the Donbass People’s Republics in 2014 like this:

After the Maidan events “opposition to the new government was broad. In late February, some 3,500 elected officials gathered at an anti-Maidan conference in Kharkiv. The following day, the Kiev parliament repealed protections for Russian as a regional language. The anti-Maidan uprisings in Eastern Ukraine copied the Kiev model of occupying central squares and taking over government buildings. The security forces were also divided; in some areas the local police made no effort to stop the anti-Maidan protestors. In cities like Kharkiv or Odessa, Kiev’s authority prevailed. In hardscrabble towns like Donetsk and Luhansk, popular militias made up of miners, truck drivers, security guards and the local unemployed stormed the regional-administration offices and declared peoples republics…”

In Odessa, Kiev’s authority “prevailed” through far right thugs trained in from the capital for a football match burning down the local trade union HQ with anti-Maidan protestors inside it, killing nearly 50 people. Is John unaware of this?

This division in the country is widely recognized inside it. NLR notes a student in Kiev remarking of workers rebelling in the Donbass, “They can’t help it. They’re all Sovoks over there.” Sovoks being a term applied to people nostalgic for the Soviet Union. “All Sovoks over there.“ Does John think that these people should be occupied against their will?

In the context of this civil war since 2014, has John not noticed the steady stream of fighters from the European and North American far right who have signed up to fight in the Donbass, and get tooled up for future fights at home once they’ve gained the combat experience? While John mentions people in Ukraine that he knows and identifies with who are not like this, there are a lot of people fighting on the Ukraine side who are; some of them local, some from all over in a kind of fascist foreign legion.

John also does not note what happens when the Ukrainian army reoccupies an area and carries out “cleansing” operations against “saboteurs and collaborators.” Some of the dead bodies are posted on Instagram. Is that ok?

The same applies to Crimea. I don’t think there’s anyone even amongst the most gung ho Ukraine Solidarity Campaign supporters who argue that the population of Crimea is clamoring to be reconquered by Ukraine.

And there is a recognition now being freely expressed by the United States that, given the concentration of Russian armed forces, including nuclear weapons, on the peninsular, pushing to retake it could trip over the threshold into nuclear war, so best not try. Would John agree with that assessment, that surrendering territory will be necessary to avoid of tripping nuclear thresholds?

If so, would he be prepared to concede that this is a principle that may have to be applied more broadly; and that there is no level of escalation that is capable of reconquering the Donbass without pushing through nuclear red lines; so that has to be ruled out too?

In the first month of the war, President Zelensky called for a NATO enforced No Fly Zone. Arguing for Ukraine to be able to “defend” itself with all possible means would imply support for that. As this is an obvious invitation to Armageddon, it hasn’t been taken up, so far. Am I wrong to presume that John would be against that?

I hope so, but he doesn’t mention it, so its hard to say. The problem is that that’s where we are heading. The latest USC statement – signed by John – lists lots of additional sets of equipment that could be supplied by the British Army, including fighter jets. Where does this end?

Its important to be clear on this, because starting from the need to pull back from escalation to World War 3 requires the Labour movement to push for peace and a negotiated settlement, rather than going along with the step by step escalation in munitions. And pressure for that has to start with the Left.

There is a domestic dimension to this too. The UK government and Labour front bench support an increase in military expenditure at a time of collapsing public services and impoverishment of the working population. That means “hard choices” to build up the military at the expense of the population in a country that already spends more on it than any other country in the world apart from the USA, China and India. In fact the per capita burden on the UK population is already double what it is for Russian citizens and five times that on the Chinese. Does John support that?

To have an idea of how this could end short of escalation to mutually assured destruction, you need to go back to why it started in the first place and how it could have been avoided. John does not examine this at all. He just gives the invasion a pair of labels – “illegal” and “imperialist” – and leaves it at that. Any closer examination can’t help but look at NATO, and whether the Russians have any legitimate security concerns about it. I wonder if John thinks they do? He doesn’t say.

Just taking the months in the run up to 24th Feb,

the Russians were asking for NATO to rule out Ukrainian membership and for mutual security guarantees that could defuse the crisis – and implementation of the Minsk accords that would have gone some way to restoring a peaceful modus operandi; with autonomy within Ukraine for the Donbass Republics.
It also would have allowed Europe to sustain its supply of relatively cheap Russian natural gas, instead of being forced to buy expensive LNG from the USA and Qatar.
Just to spell out the obvious, NATO outspends Russia on its military by a factor of 19 to 1 – and that’s before the current proposed increases.
NATO is the core alliance of global imperialism centered on the USA.
“The West” is the same place as “The Global North.” It has armed forces to maintain its system of global dominance and exploitation.
Russia has never been included in this core because doing so would set up the potential for a Russo German bloc that would edge the USA out of its dominance in Europe.
So, Russia is not at the table (despite asking to be let in on numerous occasions). And, as they say, if you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu.
What this might look like is Dick Cheney’s 1991 plan to balkanize Russia into three more easily manageable countries, the European part, Siberia and the Far East.
A less drastic bottom line might be the replacement of Putin with a more compliant oligarch who knew his place in the US world order. more like Yeltsin.
The Russians are acutely aware of this. Which is why they feel under threat. And why the Ukrainian oligarchy being so eager to sign itself up as a US henchman in NATO feels like an existential threat.
The refusal of NATO to even discuss their proposals, couldn’t help but confirm the impression in Moscow that NATO was preparing for war.

Does John think that these concerns on the part of the Russians should have been negotiated about then and, more to the point, should addressing them be an essential aspect of any attempt to secure peace?

We should be clear here that framing the war as simply one of national defense in which NATO is just helping out, implies that the tail is wagging the dog. The power in this situation is in Washington not Kyiv. The Americans are now beginning to argue about the risks, costs and advantages of a long war versus a short one with a diplomatic off ramp. This is all within the framework of US national interests of course – which the UK political establishment will go along with; whatever it is.

The phrase “proxy war” was coined by Leon Panetta long before anyone in Stop the War started using it. But whatever its origin, it is a very accurate description of what’s happening. All the finance for the war and to sustain the Ukrainian state is coming from NATO powers. All the training for the army, targeting for missiles and artillery systems, is coming from NATO too. The USA will be perfectly happy to destroy Ukraine in order to save it. Does John not realize that that is what his position is supporting?

John’s call for a new Marshall Plan to rebuild Ukraine is the opposite of what’s on the cards. Since 2014 Ukraine has become increasingly neo liberal, with “Sovok” holdovers in state property sold off to multi national capital, including Monsanto in agriculture and negotiations around EU convergence noting that Ukraine is moving away from EU standards on regulations and labor standards. Were it to be fast tracked into EU membership it would act as a Trojan Horse to undermine them in the rest of the continent. The plan for reconstruction agreed at Geneva last Autumn sets Ukraine up to be asset stripped, with Blackrock presiding over the dismemberment. Fighting for a “victory” for the Kyiv government, is fighting for that.

The views of the Social Movement will count for nothing in that context. Does John really think that because there are small groups of left wingers who wanted to be part of the Maidan -but were marginalized and driven off by the right sector – and have opposed the neo liberal dystopia that Ukraine has become – but failed to make any headway – and are hoping that, in the event of a military victory by the world’s most powerful imperialisms, they will be in a position to move the country towards “socialism” that this is remotely realistic?

https://orinocotribune.com/uk-14-questi ... n-ukraine/

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From Cassad's Telegram account:

Colonelcassad
❗️🇬🇧🇺🇦 The battle for Bakhmut
situation as of 15.00 February 26, 2023

🔻After the liberation of Yagodny, the assault detachments of the Wagner PMC continued to move south from Berkhovka . Now Russian units have entrenched themselves south of the Berkhovsky reservoir , and have also liberated Dubovo-Vasilevka - the surrounding area in the west is being cleaned up.

▪️The establishment of control over an important transport artery through Berkhovka created a serious threat to the grouping of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the north of Bakhmut - now the only way to the city lies through a country road in Artemovsky (Khromovo) , the state of which does not allow it to be used properly.

▪️Despite the fact that the Ukrainian formations stubbornly hold every strong point in Bakhmut, the situation for them has noticeably worsened. To slow down the advance of the Wagnerites, a dam was blown up on the northwestern outskirts of Bakhmut.

Thus, the Armed Forces of Ukraine intended to hold back the advance of Russian units and ensure the safe withdrawal of their forces from the right bank of the Bakhmutka River . But the destruction of the dam will not fundamentally affect the situation in the city: water flows will go to the Stupka area north of AZOM and leave along Bakhmutka in a northerly direction for several days.

In fact, this may force the formations of the Armed Forces to leave the northern districts of the city due to the threat of being surrounded, and the decision itself is likely, was taken hastily in a panic after the breakthrough of the Wagner PMC in Yagodnoye and Berkhovka.

🔻On the eastern outskirts, the "Wagnerites" advanced from Shchedraya Street to Kooperativnaya Street , gaining a foothold in residential development. There are about 300 meters left before the crossing to the left bank of Bakhmutka.

🔻In the southwest, the assault on Krasnoye continues - fighting is underway near the southwestern outskirts of the village. In addition, the assault detachments recaptured some of the positions near the Bakhmut-Konstantinovka highway . In the units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the situation is assessed as critical, one of the battalions of the 46th detachment of the Airborne Troops of Ukraine was withdrawn to reserve lines to restore combat capability.

▪️In other sectors of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, new lines of defense are being prepared. Engineer units of the 24th and 28th Ombre are strengthening their positions in Chasov Yar , Grigorovka , Belaya Gora and Dyleevka . Construction materials are supplied daily from Slavyansk and Kramatorsk .

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https://t.me/s/boris_rozhin

Google Translator
"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 Feb 27, 2023 1:15 pm

The Lugansk Front
POSTED BY @NSANZO ⋅ 02/27/2023

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Original article: Alexander Kots / Komsomolskaya Pravda

"Happy day, comrades." On February 23 [Defense of the Fatherland Day], I crawl into the underground control room of one of the Russian formations. A dozen uniformed men watch several large screens. From the outside, one might think that it is an organized viewing of a festive concert or congratulations from the commander-in-chief. But on the monitors there are no pop stars, no colorful screens. The day of the defense of the motherland in the zone of operations of the special military operation is not a reason to put aside the combat tasks. The screens show the images of the drones that, bypassing the enemy's electronic measures, transmit the vision of the other side in real time. "What about that point? Aim," orders the commander.

A man maneuvers the joystick like a video game console and zooms in on an armored vehicle. It is an armored opponent. He approaches the forest, believing himself to be invisible to the drones. But, from the checkpoint, it is clearly visible how two people leave the box and meet a third and, keeping their distance, amicably walk somewhere in the snow. The drone follows them for ten minutes until they take our operator to a strong point hidden in nature and carefully covered. It seems that one of the packages arrives with inspection.

"Send Grads there."

"How many?"

"Two for five"

That means five rockets will be fired at the enemy positions at first. After a readjustment, there will be another five. Ten others followed, leaving the place covered in black smoke, after which there was no movement in the forest. The tank managed to go somewhere, but the operators found a new target: an artillery piece similar to the US M777s. By then, through communication with the control room, they contact the operators of the Lancet ammunition, located a few kilometers away. Minutes later, the control room already has the images of the coup, carried out by a kamikaze drone.

In reality, this is how reconnaissance and attack should ideally work, when management, artillery, drones and assault teams from different units work as one body. But a few months ago, the resistance line here near Kremennaya was fuming. The enemy really threatened to break through the defenses and reach the rear of the Lugansk People's Republic. In the autumn, after Kharkiv, we could have lost part of the RPL. However, the airborne units I have come to visit were quickly transferred here. It was they who made it possible to stop the Ukrainian offensive. And the mobilized who joined the newly arrived units not only stabilized the line of defense, but are now advancing alongside the professional military,

Paratroopers operate on virtually the entire Svatovo line, advancing towards Liman and Belogorovka. At the same time, they can boast of the new weapons delivered to the troops directly from the factories. The Lancet themselves, self-made kamikaze drones, have been very active for a few weeks. They reach the artillery so that it cannot fire. “Or the new BMD-4s (amphibious assault vehicles) that have come our way. The Berezhka, very valid weapons”, says an officer of the 76th Division.

“Does your idea of ​​​​the war correspond to reality?” I ask Sergey from the Kemerovo region, commander of the BMP-2M “Berezhka” with the inscription “Kuzbass Force”.

“Well, no one expected this to be a kindergarten, everyone here understood that it was not child's play. The adversary is strong, no one takes pity on anyone. The cheating and military naivety have not been canceled either. We have the necessary weapons, we will crush the enemy”.

Berezhok is the reconfiguration of the good old BMP-2 infantry fighting vehicle. But instead of a 30mm cannon, it now has four Cornet anti-tank complexes, a heavy machine gun, and an automatic grenade launcher. What's more, the vehicle can use all four Cornets at the same time. At the training facilities, the mobilized have practiced shooting, which will be useful when NATO tanks appear on the line of contact. The same Abrams cannot be destroyed with one shot, but when there are two, there are much more options. And the armor of the BMP-2M is much more serious.

“Recently, we have been under mortar fire and the vehicle came out intact and all the personnel healthy,” says Sergey. “And of course, it's a completely different class here. There is thermal vision, night vision devices and a fire control system that is accurate and reliable. We work at night without problems”.

Six years ago, Sergey did his military service in the Far East, in the 83rd Airborne Assault Brigade. After being demobilized, he was self-employed in construction and metal. He says that when the mobilization notification arrived, he had no doubts.

“If you don't go to the adversary, he will soon be at your door. I wouldn't want my family to suffer because of this."

“This may be your first day of homeland defense like this. Has your attitude towards him changed?”

“I have more pride in the army. I want to congratulate my relatives, colleagues and comrades. I wish you health and, most importantly, patience. We will definitely win."

As in Artyomovsk, the Ukrainian Armed Forces are suffering heavy casualties in Kremennaya. However, they cling to every bush and constantly look for opportunities to counterattack. The enemy is trying to crush the positions of our paratroopers and motorized infantry in small groups. If it gets too hot, armored groups come to your aid. Several vehicles circulate into direct fire and sew up the forest in front of them. As a rule, after this teamwork, the enemy's offensive decays.

“Sometimes it is easy to advance on the enemy, other times it is very difficult, but in any case we keep going. We have a goal. Where it is hard, we endure; where it is easier, we rest. We work with artillery and armored groups. Intelligence transmits the coordinates to us, coordinates our actions from the air, we go out, we suppress the enemy's fire and the infantry is covered”, explains another of the mobilized.

Oleg is from Omsk and also served in the airborne forces, in the 137th Ryazan regiment as a driver. In civilian clothes, he worked in a transportation company. “After military service, he would celebrate February 23, but without really thinking about what it meant. Now I understand that I am defending the homeland”.

"To the vehicles", is heard from the command. Oleg and his team advance in a column of three vehicles to the next task in the Torsky salient area, where Russian paratroopers push the enemy towards Seversk and Belgorovka. From the east, the adversary grouping is being driven off by motorized infantry and units of the LPR Second Army Corps; from the south, by groups of Wagner, who in parallel try to close the siege around Artyomovsk.

"The initiative is on our side," one of the commanders explains to me. “If before I felt like a goalkeeper in training, jumping from one corner of the goal to the other, covering holes, now the opponent is in that role. The main thing is to move forward so that you do not have the opportunity to concentrate attack groups in any direction. Let the Ukrainian Armed Forces have to run like a goalkeeper now."

https://esslavyangrad.files.wordpress.c ... eversk.png

Google Translator

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Behind the Self-Defeating Approach Toward the National Protest against the US War on Russia in Ukraine
Posted by INTERNATIONALIST 360° on FEBRUARY 26, 2023
Stansfield Smith

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[]Those who brought us Rage Against the War Machine recognized if we are to defeat the non-stop imperial war machine that rules over our lives, we must work with all people possible under its boot. Until we all do, we defeat ourselves.[/i]

The Rage Against the War Machine, which stood up against the US war on Russia in Ukraine, was the first national anti-war demonstration in the capital in years. This was a groundbreaking event, showing that the anti-war movement has revived on a national scale after years of relative quiescence. Yet this success was not welcomed by some leftist anti-war activists. People may be acquainted with the issue of Libertarians as a key sponsor of the rally, and some of the views or alleged views of some of the speakers – views unrelated to the demands of the demonstration. Underlying this are deeper causes for the conflict.

A lefty anti-war coalition?

Some consciously, some not, seek to build a “left” anti-war coalition, an anti-imperialist and anti-capitalist one. This confuses an anti-war movement with a left organization. It isolates you from possible allies. It is a myth that anti-war movements are led by leftists, a myth that anti-war movements consist mostly of leftists. Most people protest war because they are sick of war, are against new wars – not because they are leftist, but because they have human feeling. This should not be some new revelation.

Movement building means we need to win over the people. And we need committed activists and experienced organizers. Whether they hold an anti-imperialist worldview is secondary. People become anti-imperialist – if they do at all – after becoming politically active, combined with some period of study. Often they become so only temporarily, as we see today with so many on the left supporting US regime change in Ukraine, Nicaragua, Syria, Iran, Hong Kong, or Russia.

The root of these leftists’ mixed-up thinking goes back to the purge of the working class leftwing from the trade union movement after World War II. US government operations drove this class struggle force out of its home base in the working class. The left has not rebuilt its natural home there, nor does it focus on reestablishing the working class as its base. Instead, they orient to the multi-class socially progressive milieu with its nebulous relation to the means of production.

A left that exists separate from a working class leftwing is homeless, cast adrift. In the socially progressive milieu, it rotates around Democratic Party voters, its liberal identity politics, and its disdain for the “deplorables.” Ironically, those who articulated that the Democratic Party is the more effective evil are living proof of the accuracy of this statement.

A left wing grounded working class would not make such foolish mistakes as not supporting the February 19 demonstration against imperialist war. Nor would a working class leftwing, in contrast to today’s left, have any greater hostility to Trump voters than to Obama, Clinton or Biden voters.

Left-right alliance?

The February 19 anti-war demonstration was dubbed a “left-right” alliance, a term first used by left supporters of US regime change in Syria. These left apologists for the “Syrian Revolution” smeared opponents of that military operation as allied with “fascists” in a “red-brown” alliance. Now this has been picked up by some left opponents of the US war on Russia to attack a demonstration against the present imperial war.

A reality check is in order. People who attack demonstrations against US imperial wars are the ones who are reactionary, not the people who organize the demonstrations. That has always been the case.

Fortunately, many of these have called another anti-war rally on March 18, even if not for the best of reasons.

The demands of the Rage Against the War Machine rally were: Not One More Penny for War in Ukraine; Negotiate Peace; Stop the War Inflation; Disband NATO; Global Nuclear De-Escalation; Slash the Pentagon Budget; Abolish the CIA and Military Industrial Deep State; Abolish War and Empire; Restore Civil Liberties; and Free Julian Assange.

While it is not clear what is meant by “left” and “right,” the demands of the rally are directed against the national security state, the actual government of this country. If you confront it, then you are not supporting it, and we are on the same side.

Why did some lefty people set up a litmus test on other issues unrelated to the Rage Against the War Machine demands to determine who should be allowed to participate? If you want to weaken a movement, that is what you would do. Shun people who hold dissimilar beliefs on issues unrelated to the demands of the demonstration? That is a definition of sectarian.

A demonstration gives us the opportunity to explain our anti-imperialist message to other participants. If we don’t use that opportunity, then we don’t do our job.

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SOA Watch organized annual rallies outside Fort Benning against US military intervention and murder in Latin America. The protests were staged and funded by different orders and groups of the Catholic Church. Most participants came from Catholic orders and schools. These are organizations opposed to women’s right to choose, opposed to LGBT rights. Were the SOA Watch rallies a “left-right” alliance we should attack instead of joining? Attack the protests for being a platform legitimizing anti-woman and anti-gay groups?


The “Left-Right” Alliance Fred Hampton Built

Fred Hampton and Bobby Lee of the Chicago Black Panthers showed how class-conscious activists work with seemingly hostile groups. In the late 1960s these Panthers helped create a Rainbow Coalition of poor blacks, Puerto Ricans, and southern whites to fight for fair housing, economic equality, and against police brutality. The whites, Young Patriot Organization (YPO) was based in Hillbilly Harlem, in uptown Chicago. They wore the Confederate flag as their emblem, and many were racist. But like blacks and latinos, the Young Patriots and their families experienced discrimination – being poor and from the South. Fred Hampton tolerated YPO members wearing their Confederate flag patches at meetings and rallies. It came to take on a new meaning within the Rainbow Coalition. The YPO began wearing the Confederate flag with black power symbols and slogans. Despite the racial divisions, the BPP and YPO found common cause in the fight against their oppression. Through their joint work, the Young Patriots cast off their white supremacy views, including the Confederate flag. They saw they had in much common with the Black Panthers and latino Young Lords. This is but one example of people, focused on taking on the imperialist power structure, overcame their “left-right” divisions and worked together to fight their common oppressor.

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Despite many differences, the two groups united under the umbrella of economic justice. Redneck Revolt

Medea Benjamin

Medea Benjamin, a sensible and highly respected anti-war activist, no sectarian, had this to say about Rage Against the War Machine:

Many people have asked me why I am not speaking at the Rage Against the War Machine rally in DC on Feb. 19. Here’s why:

I supported the Rage Against the War Machine Rally from the time of its conception and I support it today, even though I will not be one of the speakers because the organization I have been associated with for 20 years, CODEPINK, urged me not to speak…

So why do I support the rally?

Because I am heartbroken by a war that is causing such death and destruction in Ukraine.

Because I have real fears that this war could lead us into World War III or a nuclear confrontation.

Because both political parties are complicit in giving over $100 billion to Ukraine to keep this war going.

Because the Biden administration is pushing this war to weaken Russia instead of promoting solutions.

Because we urgently need as many voices as possible, from a broad variety of perspectives, to speak out so we can be much more effective at pressuring Congress and the White House to move this conflict from the bloody battlefield to the negotiating table. The future of our world stands in the balance.”

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Russian flags appeared for the fist time in front of the Lincoln Memorial

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Media Benjamin (right) at the RAWM rally.

Those are the key issues. To emphasize: on the anniversary of Ukraine war, the two superpowers are in combat. The US government states it remains committed to driving Russia out of the Ukraine; Russia says defeat threatens its very existence. Recall Biden said a year ago that US and European sanctions would make Russia leave Ukraine. The war has only escalated since then. Where will it lead?

Tulsi Gabbard began her speech with the day in January 2018 when Hawaiians were warned on their cell phones “Ballistic missile inbound. Seek immediate shelter. This is not a drill.” To think the leaders of the US and Russia will not blunder into a nuclear war, given all the previous incidents over the years, reveals a naïve faith in our leaders. To refuse to work with “the right” to avoid Ukraine becoming a nuclear war is mind-boggling in its stupidity. The Libertarians show their approach is not so sectarian. Those who brought us Rage Against the War Machine recognized if we are to defeat the non-stop imperial war machine that rules over our lives, we must work with all people possible under its boot. Until we all do, we defeat ourselves.

https://libya360.wordpress.com/2023/02/ ... n-ukraine/

People like these can be worked with but don't turn your back on them.

Donbass: A Story of Defiance
Posted by INTERNATIONALIST 360° on FEBRUARY 26, 2023
Simes Dimitri


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Russell Bentley is no stranger to facing death. In December 2014, the Texas-native arrived in the Donbass region to help the newly-formed local militias defend against Ukrainian government forces. During his very first battle, Bentley narrowly dodged an enemy sniper bullet headed his way.

Not long afterwards, Bentley was sleeping in a basement after a long night of guard duty when his position came under Ukrainian artillery fire. As he awoke from his slumber, a shell smashed through the wall and landed next to him.

“I was pretty lucky because two chunks of shrapnel the size of a butcher’s knife blade came through my sleeping bag, but they barely missed my feet,” he said. “A few more inches and they would have definitely cut off my feet.”

Although Bentley retired from combat duty several years ago, he remained in Donbass as a war correspondent. Several days before our interview earlier this month, his home in Donetsk had been badly damaged during a Ukrainian HIMARs attack. The shell itself missed his building, but the ensuing shockwave shattered its windows and blew off the roof tiles.

Bentley and his wife were not home during the attack, so they thankfully emerged unscathed. A family living in a nearby building was not so fortunate. The mother was later found dead and the daughter buried under the rubble.

Following years of conflict, the people of Donetsk have learned to not take life for granted, Bentley said. He told Sputnik that when driving across the city, he sometimes came across cars and buildings that had been struck by Ukrainian artillery fire just minutes beforehand. “There’s a lot of fatalism in Donetsk, but also a sense of courage and defiance,” he said. “We will not kneel or surrender.”

Since 2014, the people of Donbass have shown their resilience in the face of constant hardship and seemingly overwhelming odds. Their homes have been bombarded by Ukrainian artillery systems for nearly nine years. With the help of NATO powers, the Kiev regime has repeatedly sent its troops to invade and subdue the proud industrial region. Despite all these trials, the people of Donbass remain committed to victory.

Sputnik spoke with Donbass militia fighters, activists, and volunteers. We asked them about how they were able to repel Kiev regime forces despite being heavily outnumbered and outgunned, the sacrifices they had to make for their convictions, and what gave them the strength to keep going all these years. This is their story of resistance.

Russian Spring of 2014

Nelli Taraban was a retired law enforcement officer in February 2014, when a Western-backed coup in Kiev overthrew the democratically-elected Ukrainian government of President Viktor Yanukovych. Taraban was horrified and decided to take action. She began helping organize rallies in her native Donetsk against the new regime’s unlawful seizure of power and virulently Russophobic ideology. Following the brutal massacre of peaceful protestors in Odessa on May 2, 2014, Taraban and fellow activists began to prepare for a referendum on Donetsk gaining independence from Ukraine.

It soon became clear that the Kiev regime would not allow Donetsk to leave peacefully. As Ukrainian troops began moving east, Taraban took charge in organizing a volunteer battalion for the defense of the city. “Our battalion had 1,200 people. We were initially armed with sticks – We had no clothes, no food, nothing. Everything started from scratch,” she said.

Taraban was not alone in her endeavor. In the spring and summer of 2014, local militias were formed all across Donbass. The newly-created units attracted people of completely different socioeconomic statuses and political views. Coal miners and college professors, communists and monarchists all took up arms to defend their home region.

rina Popova, a lawmaker from Donetsk, told Sputnik that entire families enlisted in the militias, with sons and fathers going to the front while wives and daughters signed up for logistical support roles. The lack of proper supplies did not seem to deter anyone. “Just imagine, there were no weapons, nothing,” she said. “Our boys literally stood at checkpoints with their bare hands, with some kind of picket fences against the army of Ukraine.”

What motivated such a diverse group of people to risk their lives together? Necessity was the primary unifying force, Bentley explained. It was clear even in early 2014, that if Kiev regime forces entered Donetsk and Lugansk, they would show absolutely no mercy to the local civilians.

“Everyone had two things in common: We understood that we were fighting Nazis, just like our grandfathers did, and we understood that this was an existential fight that could only end in victory or death,” Bentley said. “We understood that in a very real way – the sort you can only understand when you see a mother getting shot by a sniper in front of her little kid in her yard while she’s putting up laundry.”

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Ukrainian reprisals against civilians was not an abstract possibility. Mikhail Shubin was living in Mariupol in April 2014, when a group of mothers organized a protest outside the city’s military barracks one evening. “The mothers wanted the authorities to allow conscripts whose terms of service had expired to go home. Instead, they were being kept closed like cattle in there,” he said. “When the mothers tried to pick them up, machine-gun fire was opened.”

That incident was the final straw for Shubin. Shortly after the massacre, he decided to enlist in the militia. “I realized that I had no other choice when America and Europe arrived at my home in their dirty boots in order to teach us how to live and force their ‘democracy’ on us,” he said.

At first, the militias struggled to find an answer for the Kiev regime’s overwhelming advantages in manpower, artillery, heavy armored vehicles, and combat aircraft. During the spring and summer of 2014, the Ukrainian military advanced through Donbass, reaching the outskirts of Donetsk and Lugansk. The militias refused to accept defeat, however. They soon rallied and inflicted heavy defeats on Ukrainian troops in the battles for Ilovaisk, Debaltsevo, and Donetsk airport.

These victories did not come easily. Taraban told Sputnik that the militia’s weapons situation in 2014 was so strained that her troops often had to re-equip with guns and uniforms found at captured Ukrainian check-points. The fighters were often forced to face down Ukrainian tanks armed with only Molotov cocktails.

“It was a very difficult situation for us, but we had the feeling that we were protecting our home and our people,” she said. “ By contrast, the Ukrainians walked in and thought that since they had tanks everything would be easy. No, we either stole or destroyed their tanks.”

These battlefield victories forced the Kiev regime to come to the negotiating table. With the mediation of France and Germany, the Minsk agreements were drawn up between September 2014 and February 2015. The agreements were meant to provide a roadmap for the peaceful reintegration of Donbass into Ukraine, albeit with greater autonomy than before.

However, Ukraine and the West had no intention of honoring their promises. The key architects of the agreement – former German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and French President Francois Hollande – later admitted that they pushed the deal to provide the Kiev regime time to rebuild its military.

A Nightmare That Never Ends

For Donbass civilians living in territories under control of the Kiev regime, any sign of opposition could lead to the most gruesome consequences.

On March 3, 2015, Hieromonk Feofan was seized at his monastery by a group of Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) officers. His crime? In the months preceding the raid, the Orthodox Christian priest had passed on information about the movement of Ukrainian rocket launcher systems to local militia fighters so that they could warn civilians about upcoming attacks. “I was trying to save people so that no one got hurt. That’s the only reason I did it,” he said.

Shortly after being abducted, Feofan was brought to the SBU headquarters in Mariupol and taken to the basement of the building. The SBU agents handcuffed his hands behind his back and pulled his hat over his eyes. They began the interrogation by threatening to inject Feofan with narcotics unless he confessed to being a spy. The priest responded with stoic silence.

Seeing that their attempt at intimidation had failed, the SBU agents moved on to more brutish methods. They started beating Feofan with their fists, baseball bats, and electric shockers. “It was like a nightmare that goes on and on and never ends,” he said. “It was real torture – brutal, cruel, stupid, and completely merciless.”

But the SBU agents didn’t stop there. After beating and electrocuting Feofan, they laid the priest onto the floor and tightened his handcuffs. They covered his face with a cloth and began pouring water all over him. “I started choking and felt as though I was about to die,” he said. “When everything was already completely bad, they left me alone and took me back to the cell. My neighbors – two criminals – were so horrified when they saw me. My face was bluish-brown after nearly drowning.”

Feofan spent more than a month in Ukrainian captivity before he was freed as part of a prisoner exchange. During our interview, he emphasized that his story was no anomaly. Many Donbass residents had gone through similar hellish experiences, but not everybody was fortunate enough to survive the ordeal. ”Let’s just say, there is a burial place for about 300 people at the airport of Mariupol, who were tortured to death there,” he said.

Similar testimony was given by Shubin, the former militiaman. In August 2014, Shubin was performing maintenance work at the Olympus stadium in Mariupol when he was suddenly ambushed by members of the neo-Nazi Azov Battalion*. One of the attackers hit Shubin over the head with a hard object, knocking him unconscious. He was taken to a torture chamber at the nearby airport, where he was thrown into an industrial refrigerator. “Two hours later, the torture began,” he said. “We were electrocuted, beaten, hung on a rack, and forced to lie in a pit of corpses. The details are too horrible to remember.”

The Fight Continues

On February 24, 2022, Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine aimed at protecting the civilians of Donbass. Russian armed forces and Donbass militias fully liberated the Lugansk People’s Republic and much of the Donetsk People’s Republic. In late September of that year, the residents of the two republics voted overwhelmingly to join the Russian Federation.

Just as in 2014, Ukrainian forces responded to battlefield losses with reprisals against civilians. Bentley told Sputnik that in recent months, Ukrainian artillery has attacked schools, hospitals, theaters, and even churches in Donetsk. “These attacks are not random, the Ukrainians are specifically targeting civilian infrastructure,” he said.

Popova, the local lawmaker, said the same thing. She explained that Ukrainian forces had targeted the water infrastructure in Donetsk. “As a result of these attacks, it is impossible to drink water from the tap,” she said. We can only use it for technical purposes, nothing else.”

At the same time, Popova noted that all the residential houses in her district of Donetsk were covered in holes from Ukrainian shells. “How do you get used to shelling? You never get used to it,” she said. “In fact, if they start shooting at night, I can’t go to bed. I sit up wondering where the shells will come, what they will do, who we will have to save.”

What gives the people of Donetsk the strength to withstand these constant attacks is the belief in their “rightness and future victory,” explained Feofan, the priest who spent over a month in Ukrainian captivity. The people of Donbass believe that despite their current hardships, they are playing a central role in the resurrection of a greater Russia.

“I am confident that Russia is in the process of writing a new chronicle of its greatness, in the best sense of the word,” he said. “The fate of the world is being decided in Donbass right now. We all realized that in 2014, but we understand it even more clearly right now.”

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https://libya360.wordpress.com/2023/02/ ... -defiance/

Russell ‘Texas’ Bentley: Russia Must End NATO Aggression in Ukraine Sooner Than Later
Posted by INTERNATIONALIST 360° on FEBRUARY 25, 2023



Russell Bentley is a former U.S. soldier who has been living in the Donbass since 2014 fighting against the NATO-backed Kiev regime.

He claims that NATO troops are on the ground as mercenaries, shelling the Donbass region which is now part of the Russian Federation. He testifies that the NATO-sponsored aggression and war crimes have been going on for more than eight years since the CIA-backed coup in Kiev in 2014. NATO provoked the current war against Russia, says Bentley.

He believes Russia has the military power to win the war, but military leaders in Moscow are not pushing for victory as decisively as they should. The result, he says, is that the conflict is being prolonged which runs the risk of spiraling into a full-on NATO-Russia war.

Russell Bentley, a volunteer fighter and blogger from the US in Donetsk People’s Republic © Sputnik

AN EXPLANATION & DEFENSE OF THE RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Russell Bently

Why I stand with Russia

I stand with Russia completely and give my unwavering support to the President and Government of the Russian Federation in the Special Operation.

Every century Russia is invaded from the West :

Ottoman 1571

Poland 1609

Sweden 1701

Napoleon 1812

Hitler 1941

NATO 20

Perhaps the above will help my Western friends to understand the Russian perspective… enough is enough … Russia has every right to defend itself and to do everything in its sphere of influence to protect its borders and to not allow foreign aggressive governments to control or influence sovereign states in Russia’s region of influence and any violation of this would be viewed as a threat to The Russian Federation’s security.

By the way if you consider the above policy to be unacceptable then you may want to reconsider as this policy is in fact called the Monroe Doctrine established by US President Monroe and has been in effect & enforced since 1823 in the United States.

Now, since the fall of the Soviet Union there was an agreement and understanding between the US and Russia that it would let go of East Germany but that NATO would not expand further East and not accept new members into its fold. Clearly, this did not happen as NATO has aggressively pursued an expansionist policy into the East of Europe despite continued protests and warnings from the Russian Government.

Don’t poke the Bear. The West has been playing a dangerous game of chicken with Russia and enough is enough. I commend the President for having the foresight to take action and to protect the interests of his country’s sovereign territory before NATO & the West could become an even greater threat. His decision shows great foresight and a true love for his country and his people like a loving and protecting father, he is doing everything to protect his nation from a future invasion.

Next point, the Ukrainians have been bombing and killing their own citizens in the East of Ukraine for 8+ years and no one in Europe gave any thought or concern to these horrible attrocities and crimes. Only Russia came to the defence of these russian speaking people. On top of that it is very revealing the larger extent of Europe to openly open and accept refugees from the Ukraine because they are white Europeans but as for all the African and Middle Eastern refugees it seems to have a racial double standard.

Now, this too goes without saying but I think we can all agree that Nazis are bad. Well, in fact, in the Ukraine there is a serious group of Neo – Nazis that have been part of its territories history since the Second World War and have reamerged with the overthrow of the elected government via a coup. They should and must be stopped and their influence destroyed. This may be hard for a Western person to understand but in WW2 the USSR lost up to 27 MILLION people all because of Nazis.

In context here are some of the countries in the West casualty numbers:

Germany – 8.8 million …. for obvious reasons

Poland – 5.6 million

Yugoslavia – 1 million

France – 567 thousand

UK – 450 thousand

America – 418 thousand

Clearly there is no comparison. and all of Europe in fact owes a great deal to the Russian people for the incredible and heroic sacrifice they made in combating Nazis. So its understandable that Russia doesn’t want to have a Nazi sympathizing goverment in the Ukraine to be taken over. Enough is enough!!!!

Lastly, I want to add how completely taken back, shocked and ashamed at the gross over response to Russia from the West. The extreme Russophobia expressed shows really what was underneath the skin of Europe all this time. How Europe and the West can have pretended to have been friendly with Russia and her people and in a moments notice to attack with the most extreme sanctions ever put on a country … it is very shocking.

https://libya360.wordpress.com/2023/02/ ... han-later/

Going Underground Interview with Seymour Hersh
Posted by INTERNATIONALIST 360° on FEBRUARY 25, 2023



On this special episode of Going Underground, we speak to legendary journalist Seymour Hersh who sent shockwaves around the world when he released an article detailing how the US blew up the Nordstream pipelines. He discusses the motivations for Biden to blow up the pipelines, the evolution of the Russia-Ukraine war into a Russia vs NATO proxy war, the history of US sabotage from the Gulf of Tonkin to the Baltic Sea and much more.

https://libya360.wordpress.com/2023/02/ ... our-hersh/

*************
From Cassad's Telegram account:

Colonelcassad
0:09
❗️ What happens in Bakhmut after the dam blows up?

Yesterday, Ukrainian formations blew up a dam in the north-west of Bakhmut in the hope of slowing down the advance of the Wagner PMC assault detachments in the north of the city and from the direction of Berkhovka with Yagodny .

Will this help the APU in any way? Yes, but only in part.

▪️The stream released from the dam will go towards the Stupka area to the north of the territory of the Bakhmut plant for the processing of non-ferrous metals .

▪️Further, the water will be divided along Bakhmutovka : a small part will go south to the Zabakhmutovka area , and the main part will go north along the river to the Seversky Donets .

There will be flooding, but not as significant as the Ukrainian media describe it. There is no large plain there, and the banks are quite steep. The situation will be similar to the spring flood, for which Bakhmut's infrastructure is already ready. Within a few days the water level will return to normal.

🔻Then why did the Armed Forces of Ukraine blow up the dam?

From a tactical point of view, there is no great sense in such a step: the flood is minimal, and the threat is leveled by itself in the near future. The Ukrainian Armed Forces did more harm to their own formations in the Stupka area, to the extent that they may have cut off part of their forces and deprived them of shelters.

The undermining of the dam is due to the deliberate policy of the West to destroy Ukraine as a state by creating a permanent zone of tension near the Russian borders and turning the entire territory of Ukraine into a non-residential and sparsely populated space.

And the Armed Forces of Ukraine are only a means to an end, which Western curators simply do not interfere with destroying their country.

***

forwarded from
Voenkor Kitten Z
Military expert Boris Rozhin on the situation in Artemovsk as of February 26, 2023 15.00 Moscow time specially for the channel Voenkor Kotenok Z @voenkorKotenok :Part 1

In Artemovsk, negative trends continue to grow for the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the north of the city after the liberation of Yagodny. Confirming photos from the village have already appeared yesterday.

The enemy was forced to withdraw from northern Artemovsk, blow up the dam in order to flood the area and hinder the further advance of our troops in the north of the city. In the future, this, of course, will affect logistics for some time. Promotion there is likely to slow down as well.

Nevertheless, there is progress in the Dubovo-Vasilevka area, where fighting is taking place near the village, and according to some reports, already in the village itself. The enemy, despite the withdrawal of part of the forces, still continues to resist, there are no signs of breaking the resistance in the north of Artemovsk yet. The enemy is apparently acting according to a pre-prepared plan.

That is, gradually, when our troops begin to squeeze key positions from him, he prepares a retreat to the next line of defense, while trying to maintain control over supply lines, because if the road through Khromovo is lost, then, of course, all these plans for methodical defense the western part of the city, which were evident in the fall, will gradually diverge from reality.

Therefore, now the enemy is trying to create a defensive position already southwest of Dubovo-Vasilevka and Yagodnoye, trying to at least physically cover the road to Khromovo, although it can already be said that he decided to take the road under fire control, because the artillery is gradually being pulled up, and travel on this road will become more and more dangerous, the same applies to the various adjacent dirt roads.

That is, it will be possible to drive, but with art. shelling, this will be associated with losses, that is, the situation with Severo-Donetsk and Lisichansk is repeated. As for the southern road through Krasnoye, the enemy continues to attempt counterattacks there in order to push the assault groups of the PMC "Wagner" directly from the road. This does not allow him to fully ensure the safety of the road, because it has been under artillery fire for a long time, which Ukrainian sources confirmed, but at least it will reduce some of the costs associated with the operation of the road that passes through Krasnoe.

***

forwarded from
Voenkor Kitten Z
Military expert Boris Rozhin on the situation in Artemovsk as of February 26, 2023 at 15.00 Moscow time, specially for the VoenkorKotenok channel Z @voenkorKotenok : Part 2

road and completely close this issue.

And in the city itself, fighting continues, in the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe meat processing plant, the southeastern quarters, these are the southern quarters, including in the direction of the plane at the entrance to the city, but so far it cannot be said that some kind of breakthrough has taken shape there.

There is a slow progress. There is no operational environment for the city yet, since there is still no dense art. control over all roads that lead into the city. But, on the other hand, this control is gradually increasing as the artillery advances, on the other hand, now, due to the fact that the terrain, roads, primers have been transported, it has become more difficult to pass.

This led to an increase in the role of these highways, which provide the main supply for the Artemov group. The enemy is making every effort to hold the city, including by transferring forces from other directions.

There is a transfer of reserves from the Dnepropetrovsk region, a transfer of reserves from the Kharkiv region. This is necessary, on the one hand, to build new defensive positions, to rotate badly battered units and subunits that held the front, especially to the north of Artemovsk.

Well, this is also an attempt to simultaneously strengthen the Seversk grouping, because the Wagner continues to press in the direction of the Seversk highway, Seversk-Krasny Liman. These are the districts of Razdolovka and Vasyukovka.

That is, it is now an additional threat for them. because all their efforts are now aimed at holding Artemovsk. Recently, Syrsky came there, who is following Zelensky’s order that Artemivsk must be kept at all costs, despite any losses. Actually, this is happening now.

forwarded from
Voenkor Kitten Z
Military expert Boris Rozhin on the situation in Artemovsk as of February 26, 2023 at 15.00 Moscow time, specially for the VoenkorKotenok channel Z @voenkorKotenok : Part 2

road and completely close this issue.

And in the city itself, fighting continues, in the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe meat processing plant, the southeastern quarters, these are the southern quarters, including in the direction of the plane at the entrance to the city, but so far it cannot be said that some kind of breakthrough has taken shape there.

There is a slow progress. There is no operational environment for the city yet, since there is still no dense art. control over all roads that lead into the city. But, on the other hand, this control is gradually increasing as the artillery advances, on the other hand, now, due to the fact that the terrain, roads, primers have been transported, it has become more difficult to pass.

This led to an increase in the role of these highways, which provide the main supply for the Artemov group. The enemy is making every effort to hold the city, including by transferring forces from other directions.

There is a transfer of reserves from the Dnepropetrovsk region, a transfer of reserves from the Kharkiv region. This is necessary, on the one hand, to build new defensive positions, to rotate badly battered units and subunits that held the front, especially to the north of Artemovsk.

Well, this is also an attempt to simultaneously strengthen the Seversk grouping, because the Wagner continues to press in the direction of the Seversk highway, Seversk-Krasny Liman. These are the districts of Razdolovka and Vasyukovka.

That is, it is now an additional threat for them. because all their efforts are now aimed at holding Artemovsk. Recently, Syrsky came there, who is following Zelensky’s order that Artemivsk must be kept at all costs, despite any losses. Actually, this is happening now.

***

Colonelcassad
Donetsk direction
situation as of 15.00 February 27, 2023

🔻In the Avdiivka sector, over the past few days, the RF Armed Forces have expanded their zone of control near Novobakhmutovka , advancing towards Novokalinovo and Alexandropol .

▪️Further south, Russian units gained control of an important hill east of Krasnogorovka , improving their tactical position before assaulting UAF positions in the village. The liberation of Krasnogorovka will allow expanding the bridgehead north of the Avdeevsky fortified area .

▪️At the same time, ammunition was delivered to Avdiivka itself and the personnel of infantry units were rotated, additional firing points of heavy machine guns were installed.

▪️South of Avdiivka, positional battles continue in Pervomaisky . At the moment, the advance has stalled - both sides hold the previously occupied lines without going on the offensive.

🔻In Maryinka, Russian troops forced out the paratroopers of the 79th Airborne Infantry Brigade of Ukraine from the streets of Blagodatnaya and Heroes of Chernobyl , completely gaining a foothold on the southern outskirts of the city near Druzhby Avenue . Partially from Marinka and Georgievka, the forces of 79 odshbr were withdrawn for restoration and rest.

▪️To the south, the Armed Forces of Ukraine strengthened their positions in Pobeda . Three armored vehicles "Kozak" with personnel were deployed to the village , machine-gun crews were placed on the heights, and approaches to strong points were controlled from copters.

▪️In the second echelon in Galitsynivka and Shevchenko , tank groups of the 59th motorized infantry brigade and 1 detachment of the Armed Forces of Ukraine are deployed. Units of the 59th brigade are in reserve in Galitsinovka in case of a breakthrough of positions on the front line.

🔻Positional battles continue in the Ugledar sector . After the breakthrough to the Nikolsky dachas, the forces of the 72nd Ombre of the Armed Forces of Ukraine went on the defensive, and the marines of the 155th brigade of the Pacific Fleet of the RF Armed Forces are fighting in the dachas near Ugledar .

▪️In Ugledar, additional positions of ATGMs of the 72nd Ombre were equipped, and reserves of the 68th Ombre of the Armed Forces of Ukraine were deployed to Bogoyavlenka in the event of a breakthrough . In addition, Ukrainian mobile air defense groups ZU-23 based on the Mitsubishi L200 operate at the Bogoyavlenka-Ugledar line .

▪️A newly created unit of mobilized people arrived in Bogatyr from the training ground in Temirovka in the Zaporozhye region, and advanced depots of rocket and artillery weapons were placed in Novoukrainka and Bogoyavlenka .

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***

Colonelcassad
🇲🇩🇬🇧🇺🇦 Situation around Pridnestrovie
Situation as of February 27, 2023 at 14.00

🔻On the border of the Odessa region and the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (PMR), the situation is still tense. Ukrainian formations were deployed along the territory with the PMR and set up tent camps for units.

▪️From the environs of Odessa and the Nikolaev region, additional personnel of an unidentified formation were transferred. Now at least one battalion with armored vehicles is located 40 kilometers from Kolbasnoye .

▪️For the first time in recent months, a satellite constellation of NATO countries has filmed Russian army facilities in Dubossary , Krasnaya Gorka and Vladimirovka in Transnistria. Eight photographs were taken , while during last year's escalation, only the situation in Kolbasnoye was monitored.

▪️To the north of Kolbasnoye, reconnaissance groups of foreign mercenaries, mainly from citizens of English-speaking states, are actively operating. DRG conduct air reconnaissance of the Russian peacekeeping contingent in the PMR.

🔻More and more Ukrainian formations are being pulled to the border with the PMR, and the intelligence of Western countries is using a satellite constellation to assess the capabilities of the Russian garrison in Transnistria.

At the moment, there are no prerequisites for a partial de-escalation . By all indications, the Ukrainian command, under pressure from foreign curators, is preparing a military operation in the PMR.

▪️At the same time, the organs of information and psychological operations of Ukraine carry out mass disinformation of the PMR population in local chats.

They spread information about the need to revise relations with Russia and try to popularize the image of Ukraine in the eyes of Pridnestrovians.

▪️The reason for the attack is the opportunity to get rid of the Russian contingent in Transnistria once and for all and along the way to solve the issue of shell hunger - the warehouses in Kolbasnoye have stocks of ammunition for arming Soviet models.

▪️In addition, this will make it possible to prick Russia in a region where it will be extremely difficult for it to protect its own population. We have already said that in the current configuration, the only adequate response would be the use of tactical nuclear weapons on an uninhabited area as a deterrent.

Of course, you can destroy the Odessa port and all the ships going there, and hope for a positive outcome. However, the attack on Transnistria will not stop this in any way.

🔻Western "partners" are trying with all their might to provoke the Russian leadership into a radical response, since for them such a scenario would be the most acceptable option for the development of the Ukrainian conflict.

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https://t.me/s/boris_rozhin

Google Translator

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There Has Never In History Been A Greater Need For A Large Anti-War Movement

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Things are escalating more and more rapidly between the US-centralized power structure and the few remaining nations with the will and the means to stand against its demands for total obedience, namely China, Russia, and Iran. The world is becoming increasingly split between two groups of governments who are becoming increasingly hostile toward each other, and you don’t have to be a historian to know it’s probably a bad sign when that happens. Especially in the age of nuclear weapons.

The US State Department’s Victoria Nuland is now saying that the US is supporting Ukrainian strikes on Crimea, drawing sharp rebukes from Moscow with a stern reminder that the peninsula is a “red line” for the Kremlin which will result in escalations in the conflict if crossed. On Friday, Ukraine’s President Zelensky told the press that Kyiv is preparing a large offensive for the “de-occupation” of Crimea, which Moscow has considered a part of the Russian Federation since its annexation in 2014.

As Anatol Lieven explained for Jacobin earlier this month, this exact scenario is currently the one most likely to lead to a sequence of escalations ending in nuclear war. In light of the aforementioned recent revelations, the opening paragraph of Lieven’s article is even more chilling to read now than it was when it came out a couple of weeks ago:

The greatest threat of nuclear catastrophe that humanity has ever faced is now centered on the Crimean peninsula. In recent months, the Ukrainian government and army have repeatedly vowed to reconquer this territory, which Russia seized and annexed in 2014. The Russian establishment, and most ordinary Russians, for their part believe that holding Crimea is vital to Russian identity and Russia’s position as a great power. As a Russian liberal acquaintance (and no admirer of Putin) told me, “In the last resort, America would use nuclear weapons to save Hawaii and Pearl Harbor, and if we have to, we should use them to save Crimea.”


And that’s just Russia. The war in Ukraine is being used to escalate against all powers not aligned with the US-centralized alliance, with recent developments including drone attacks on an Iranian weapons factory which reportedly arms Russian soldiers in Ukraine, and Chinese companies being sanctioned for “backfill activities in support of Russia’s defence sector” following US accusations that the Chinese government is preparing to arm Russia in the war.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reportedly been holding multiple meetings with top military officials regarding potential future attacks on Iran to neutralize the alleged threat of Iran developing a nuclear arsenal, a “threat” that Netanyahu has personally been lying about for years.

If you’ve been reading Antiwar.com (and if you care about this stuff you probably should be), you’ve been seeing new articles about the latest imperial escalations against China on a near-daily basis now. Sometimes they come out multiple times per day; this past Thursday Dave DeCamp put out two completely separate news stories titled “US Plans to Expand Military Presence in Taiwan, a Move That Risks Provoking China” and “Philippines in Talks With US, Australia on Joint South China Sea Patrols“. Taiwan and the South China Sea are two powderkeg flashpoints where war could quickly erupt at any time in a number of different ways.

If you know where to look for good updates on the behavior of the US-centralized empire and you follow them from day to day, it’s clear that things are accelerating toward a global conflict of unimaginable horror. As bad as things look right now, the future our current trajectory has us pointed toward is much, much, much worse.


Empire apologists will frame this trajectory toward global disaster as an entirely one-sided affair, with bloody-fanged tyrants trying to take over the world because they are evil and hate freedom, and the US-centralized alliance either cast in the role of poor widdle victim or heroic defender of the weak and helpless depending on which generates more sympathy on that day.

These people are lying. Any intellectually honest research into the west’s aggressions and provocations against both Russia and China will show you that Russia and China are reacting defensively to the empire’s campaign to secure US unipolar planetary hegemony; you might not agree with those reactions, but you cannot deny that they are reactions to a clear and deliberate aggressor.

This is important to understand, because whenever you say that something must be done to try and avert an Atomic Age world war, you’ll get empire apologists saying “Well go protest in Moscow and Beijing then,” as though the US power alliance is some kind of passive witness to all this. Which is of course complete bullshit; if World War III does indeed befall us, it will be because of choices that were made by the drivers of the western empire while ignoring off-ramp after off-ramp.

This tendency to flip reality and frame the western imperial power structure as the reactive force for peace against malevolent warmongers serves to help quash the emergence of a robust anti-war movement in the west, because if your own government is virtuous and innocent in a conflict then there’s no good reason to go protesting it. But that’s exactly what urgently needs to happen, because these people are driving us to our doom.


In fact, it is fair to say that there has never in history been a time when the need to forcefully oppose the warmongering of our own western governments was more urgent. The attacks on Vietnam and Iraq were horrific atrocities which unleashed unfathomable suffering upon our world, but they did not pose any major existential threat to the world as a whole. The wars in Vietnam and Iraq killed millions; we’re talking about a conflict that can kill billions.

Each of the World Wars was in turn the worst single thing that happened to our species as a whole up until that point in history. World War I was the worst thing that ever happened until World War II happened, and if World War III happens it will almost certainly make World War II look like a schoolyard tussle. This is because all of the major players in that conflict would be armed with nuclear weapons, and at some point some of them are going to be faced with strong incentives to use them. Once that happens, Mutually Assured Destruction ceases to protect us from armageddon, and the “Mutual” and “Destruction” components come in to play.

None of this needs to happen. There is nothing written in adamantine which says the US must rule the world with an iron fist no matter the cost and no matter the risk. There is nothing inscribed upon the fabric of reality which says nations can’t simply coexist peacefully and collaborate toward the common good of all beings, can’t turn away from our primitive impulses of domination and control, can’t do anything but drift passively toward nuclear annihilation all because a few imperialists in Washington convinced everyone to buy into the doctrine of unipolarism.

But we’re not going to turn away from this trajectory unless the masses start using the power of our numbers to force a change from warmongering, militarism and continual escalation toward diplomacy, de-escalation and detente. We need to start organizing against those who would steer our species into extinction, and working to pry their hands away from the steering wheel if they refuse to turn away. We need to resist all efforts to cast inertia on this most sacred of all priorities, and we need to start moving now. We’re all on a southbound bus to oblivion, and it’s showing no signs of stopping.

https://caitlinjohnstone.com/2023/02/27 ... -movement/

Yeah, well, it took the threat of personal annihilation to put half a million USAians on the street back in the day.....Dunno about this time, has a bomb gotta drop before people raise their eyes from their goddamn phones?

It's really up to us, as long as we tolerate capitalism and it's trillion dollar Pentagon budget we are just 'Good Germans", 'Little Eichmanns', and will have no room to complain when the hard rain falls.
"There is great chaos under heaven; the situation is excellent."

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