speech fight
POSTED BY @NSANZO ⋅ 06/28/2023
Back to normal once closed, the future will tell if false or not, the crisis caused by the armed mutiny led by Evgeny Prigozhin, Wagner's acts continue to focus the public discourse of each of the parties involved directly or indirectly in the war in Ukraine or in the political conflict with Russia. On Monday night, Evgeny Prigozhin tried to justify his actions by appealing to the epic and a speech based on falsehoods such as that Wagner did not attack the Russian aviation or flagrant exaggerations such as the qualification of his private army as the best unit of the Russian army. Wagner's exaltation as a force in the battle not only clashes with the reality that it has taken him more than six months to capture the destroyed city of Artyomovsk, but with the proof that the best units of the Russian army have been reserved to face the Ukrainian counteroffensive. Preserving those units was precisely General Surovikin's reasoning for withdrawing from the city of Kherson and the territories on the right bank of the Dnieper rather than fighting for them. For months, Wagner, together with other units of the regular army, has fought on the most compromised part of the front, as on previous occasions the militias of the People's Republics or the Chechen troops linked to Kadirov have fought and continue to fight.
Prigozhin's complaints would have been more convincing if he had focused the argument on having become expendable troops., that is, in being sent to die. However, Prigozhin has preferred to focus his speech on exalting his troops as large combat units, taking advantage of the excessive prominence that winter has given to the bloody and eternal battle for Artyomovsk. A veritable butchery for both sides, Prigozhin could have expressed his dissatisfaction with the planning or the chosen tactic, but he chose to continue recruiting, mainly in prisons, to keep the bulk of his army to continue that fight. As the journalist Mark Ames recalled this week, the profile of the Russian soldier who fell in the war in Ukraine has gone from being a professional soldier in his early twenties to an ex-convict in his thirties.
Yesterday, Alexander Lukashenko confirmed Prigozhin's arrival in the country, where according to the Belarusian president he will have his security guarantees. Few are known details about the negotiation process that allowed a battle between Wagner's private army and the Russian regular army not to take place. Highlighting the importance of having prevented that image is now the main objective, at least in terms of political communication, both in Moscow and in Minsk. After his short speech on Monday, in which he simply tried to highlight the unity of the Russian people, Vladimir Putin returned to the facts yesterday. The Russian president was in the same terms, but wanted to add an important detail: that of financing. Reminding both Prigozhin and the general public that Wagner's operations have been possible only thanks to state funding, the Russian president recalled that in the last year one of the empire's companies, Concord, received 940 million dollars for contracts precisely with the Ministry of Defense against which they acted on Saturday. A double-edged sword that has ultimately turned against him, Wagner has been able to rise because the Russian state has allowed and financed it. Putin has not announced anything that was unknown or particularly striking, since the financing base of private military companies is precisely the contracts with the State. "Let's hope that nobody stole anything during these activities or at least little was stolen," Vladimir Putin said.
Vladimir Putin spoke those words on a day when he also took part in an event paying tribute to the 13 VKS members who died on Saturday. Although the de-escalation prevented a warlike confrontation from taking place that would give the image of civil war, Prigozhin's acts shed blood and caused a series of casualties that have created strong discontent in Russian aviation, which calls for those who caused losses to be punished. materials and, above all, the death of the personnel who carried out their tasks. The impunity agreement for Prigozhin for an act that the president himself described as treason is not something that this sector of the army that suffered losses as a result of the events liked. However, this immunity for the owner of the company and for those who participated in the acts is the basis of the agreement reached.
The official version given by Alexander Lukashenko refers to tough negotiations in which Prigozhin demanded security guarantees that the Belarusian president did not hesitate to offer. According to this version, which Wagner's owner has not yet commented on, the turning point came at the moment when Prigozhin renounced his two main demands: the dismissal of Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu and Chief of Staff Valery Gerasimov and being received by Vladimir Putin. This last demand contrasts with Prigozhin's refusal to respond to the call from the Russian president that several media outlets had published and also with the fact that Wagner's owner never left Rostov. However, the speech is relevant, since it shows what will be the official line maintained by Russia and Belarus,
What will be Prigozhin's status in Minsk or the size of Wagner's contingent in Belarus are still up in the air. Yesterday morning, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation announced that preparations had begun for the delivery of Wagner's heavy military equipment to state authorities, which points to the disarmament of the company, at least in Russia, and to a clear loss of autonomy. As it already intended before what happened on Saturday and even more so now, the Ministry of Defense seeks to dissolve Prigozhin's private army among the units of the regular army, thus preventing a company from becoming, as it has already shown itself capable of doing, a threat to the state. This disarmament, which may be partially offset by the facilities that, according to Prigozhin,maskirovka¸ the secretly prepared plan to transfer Wagner to Belarus and thus threaten the Ukrainian and Polish borders. Although meaningless and denied by the facts, this reasoning has been enough for Poland to put its army on alert and Lithuania to demand action before the next NATO summit to be held in Vilnius. Sometimes it is useful for Western countries to follow Prigozhin's speech and exaggerate the military capabilities of his private army.
The role of the West in this crisis has also been contradictory. The press has not hesitated to publish conspiracy theories based on Cold War stereotypes such as that the Russian authorities had threatened the families of Wagner's soldiers to force Prigozhin to stop the advance on Moscow that a British media alleged. The evident happiness of the most popular political representatives, who have taken advantage of the events to highlight Russian weakness and herald the end of the Putin regime contrasts with the concern of the most diplomatic sectors about the seriousness of a possible massive destabilization in the country with the largest nuclear arsenal in the world. Much has been made of yesterday's words by Lavrov, who stated that the West's participation in the mutiny will be investigated. However, these words occurred in a context in which the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation also insisted on the communication between Russia and the United States that took place throughout Saturday and in which Washington expressed its concern and assured to Moscow not to be implicated in the facts. It is no secret that the West would favor a regime change that it wants to see happen in the Russian Federation, but only the most exalted figures,The Economist calls for a coup, and which on Saturday called on the population to support the useful fool Prigozhin, are ready to favor a mutiny that could lead to the hardest wing of the Russian nationalist hawks. Once again, the public discourse and satisfaction with the Russian suffering of the most visible faces in the media, be they Borrell or Baerbock, collides with the realism of those who would have to deal with the consequences.
https://slavyangrad.es/2023/06/28/27611/#more-27611
Google Translator
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Chronicle of the special military operation for June 27, 2023
June 27, 2023
Rybar
In the Starobelsky direction, the RF Armed Forces were able to advance in the area of Serebryansky forestry. At the Bakhmut site in the Kleshcheevka area, the Armed Forces of Ukraine have already achieved some success.
On the Vremievsky ledge, the attacks of Ukrainian formations do not stop. Fighting continues in the area of Orekhov and Pyatikhatki , the enemy is making rolls at Rabotino .
The Presidents of Belarus and Russia spoke about the rebellion of PMC "Wagner". Lukashenka spoke about his role in the negotiations, and Putin awarded the distinguished military.
Fighting near the Antonovsky bridge
Ukrainian formations continue to hold a bridgehead on the eastern bank of the Dnieper in the Dach area and under the remains of the Antonovsky bridge. Getting them out of there is a difficult task. The enemy is actively using electronic warfare and pulled up air defense, the hunt for which is complicated due to interference.
Infantry formations and equipment cannot uproot the dug-in enemy, since the western coast is higher, and all approach routes are shot through by the enemy with artillery and anti-tank weapons.
The situation on the front line and the fighting
In the border area, the situation remained unchanged. The enemy is accumulating forces for the alleged attack on Valuiki , however, at the same time, the number of shelling of the territory of the Russian Federation has significantly decreased.
Fighting continues in the area of the Kupyansky forests . The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation managed to achieve some success, but there is no specific information yet.
Around Bakhmut, the formations of the Armed Forces of Ukraine do not stop rolling on the positions of the RF Armed Forces. Regular attacks, despite the losses, go along almost the entire front line from Yakovlevka in the north of Soledar and ending with Kurdyumovka in the south of Bakhmut.
At the moment, Russian fighters have repulsed all attacks, but such strikes will continue. The Armed Forces of Ukraine use small groups to stretch the defense line of the RF Armed Forces and wear down the personnel on the front line.
And the goal in this case is obvious: to press until the defense cracks somewhere. In this case, the Ukrainian formations will concentrate their efforts in this area to break through the front.
In the Donetsk direction, positional battles are going on in the area of \u200b\u200bthe Avdeevsky ledge and Maryinka . The Russian Armed Forces managed to advance in the direction of the village of Pobeda , taking the fortified area "Zverinets". Now the positions are being strengthened for the development of offensive operations.
On the Vremyevsky ledge , after establishing control over Rovnopol , the Armed Forces of Ukraine equipped additional positions in the vicinity of the village under the cover of a tank platoon of the 31st mechanized brigade.
At the moment, two assault groups of the 31st brigade and the DRG of the 36th brigade took up positions at the Levadnoye - Rivnopol line to attack Priyutnoye . At the same time, there is a fog of war in the Novodarovka area , and the exact front line there is still unknown for sure.
In the vicinity of Makarovka, two DRGs of the 88th battalion of the 35th infantry regiment tried to infiltrate the positions of the Russian Armed Forces a few kilometers southwest of the settlement, with the support of artillery, to destroy Russian armored vehicles.
During the ensuing battle, the servicemen of the RF Armed Forces managed to repulse the attack, and the Ukrainian marines retreated with minor losses. To strengthen the assault grouping, the command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine transferred the battalion of the 37th infantry regiment from Shakhtyorskoye.
In the Zaporozhye direction, fighting continues near Pyatikhatki and Rabotino . Pyatikhatki are still in the gray zone - neither side can finally occupy the village.
Under Rabotino , the enemy broke through to a height of 137.8, but could not advance to it. The line of defense of the RF Armed Forces is located 2 kilometers north of the settlement.
In Marganets and Nikopol , in addition to the 121st brigade of the Troops, units of the 417th and 423rd battalions of the 141st separate rifle brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine are now based. Formations of 141 osbr were not previously noted in any direction, and were probably created recently.
To divert the attention of the RF Armed Forces grouping, a ground attack by units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine from Nikopol is possible. According to the latest data, the old road from the right to the left bank has already dried up so much that after the pontoons are built, light vehicles will be able to cross the dry reservoir without any problems.
For the second week in a row, stories about a provocation planned by the RF Armed Forces at the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant have been spread on the Internet at the suggestion of the Ukrainian side .
For 16 months of the NMD, such accusations from Kyiv turned into either attempts to demonize the Russian leadership, or preparation of public opinion for their own man-made provocations.
In this case, we have reason to believe that stuffing is a preparation of public opinion before a real provocation by the GUR. This is evidenced by the increased contacts of the Ukrainian side through the main intelligence department and the British secret intelligence service Mi-6. According to our information, everything is under their control, and the operation plan is already on the table.
In the Kherson direction in the area of the Antonovsky bridge, clashes continue with units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, entrenched under the remnants of the crossing near Dach on the banks of the Dnieper . Today, the aviation of the Russian Aerospace Forces tried to strike at the shelters of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on the left bank of the river, but to no avail.
The Armed Forces of Ukraine deployed S-300 anti-aircraft missile systems to Sadovoye and Pravdino to hunt for Russian combat aircraft. This complicated the work of front-line aviation on targets in this area.
Their search, detection and defeat by Lancet drones and FPV drones is also complicated: when approaching the contact area, the operators lose the signal. This may be due to the activities of electronic warfare units.
From the Dnepropetrovsk region, the transfer of units of the 93rd brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to the Antonovsky bridge and the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric station began on an emergency basis . The 93rd brigade was recovering from the fighting in the Bakhmut area . In Antonovka , pontoon crossings and engineering groups of the Armed Forces of Ukraine have already been noticed.
The main forces should arrive in the coming days to carry out an operation to force the Dnieper River in the area of the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric station and capture Novaya Kakhovka. Taking into account the existing foothold near the Antonovsky bridge and a certain distraction of Russian troops to this area, a strike from the side of Kozatsky would be quite logical.
Shelling of rear territories and residential areas
In the Belgorod region, the frequency of shelling has significantly decreased, but Ukrainian formations do not stop chaotic shelling. In the afternoon, the village of Terezovka came under fire from the Armed Forces of Ukraine .
Ukrainian formations continue shelling the settlements of the Donetsk agglomeration . Under enemy fire Kirovsky , Petrovsky , Kievsky and Kuibyshevsky districts of Donetsk , as well as Gorlovka , Blagodatnoe, Makeevka and Vladimirovka . Air defense worked in Yenakiyevo .
There are dead and injured among civilians. One woman was killed and three civilians were injured. Private houses and apartment buildings were damaged.
In addition, the Armed Forces of Ukraine at about 17.00 delivered two strikes on Primorsk in the Zaporozhye region.
Once again, New Kakhovka , Kakhovka , Solonetsy and Cossack Camps on the left bank of the Dnieper were shelled. Civilian infrastructure was damaged, fortunately no one was injured.
The head of the Republic of Crimea, Sergei Aksyonov, said that the railway tracks were once again damaged in the Kirovsky district. There were no casualties.
According to the authorities, the repair will take several hours. The movement of trains is temporarily suspended, but the management promises to restore the message as soon as possible.
Political events
Speech by President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko
“For 30 years I have been preparing for war, so today we live under peaceful skies. Life without war is the result of painstaking daily work. Our generation has been tested for strength. We must be stronger than the threats hanging over our land. And the threats again come from the West . We see a new wave of NATO expansion and the buildup of the military potential of the alliance countries near our borders.
It was painful for us to watch the recent events in the south of Russia. Our citizens took them to heart, because we have one Fatherland .
When the events in Russia took place, within noon all the Armed Forces, including the police, special forces, were put on full combat readiness”
Later , Alexander Lukashenko said that he urged Vladimir Putin not to rush into tough decisions during the Saturday events. According to the Belarusian leader, he phoned the head of the Russian state on Saturday morning, when he had already received all the information about what was happening in Rostov-on-Don . After that, with the help of the FSB of Russia, contacts were found and three channels of communication were established with Yevgeny Prigozhin .
He also noted that the brigade of the Belarusian army, if necessary, was ready to be transferred to the Russian Federation to help suppress the rebellion.
Later, Lukashenka confirmed the arrival of Prigozhin, the head of Wagner PMC, to Belarus and noted that the company’s fighters could begin training or at least consulting with the Belarusian army.
Address by Russian President Vladimir Putin to military personnel in the Kremlin
The head of state said that the military stopped the Civil War , acting clearly and harmoniously. The people and the army did not support the rebels.
Putin thanked the entire personnel of the Armed Forces, law enforcement agencies and special services for their courage, valor and loyalty to the people of Russia. A moment of silence was declared for the pilots who died during the confrontation.
Later, in his conversation with journalists, the head of state said that the content of Wagner PMC was provided by the state.
Between May 2022 and May 2023, the authorities paid the company more than 86 billion rubles from the state budget. Another 80 billion for products for the army received Prigozhin's company "Concord".
Results of Saturday's "March of Justice"
If we ignore the disputes about what the Supreme Commander and representatives of law enforcement agencies said or did not say, then in general the results of Prigozhin's rebellion look like this.
PMCs were withdrawn from the jurisdiction of the Russian Defense Ministry, partially reorganized (from Prigozhin’s point of view, the “ballast” was dropped from among the most disloyal, who refused to go to Moscow together with Prigozhin), transferred to another direction, where they are ready to provide all the infrastructure for them.
Despite the statements of the Russian Ministry of Defense about the transfer of heavy equipment, yesterday PMC columns completed the march to Belarus with all the equipment. The remnants not involved in the march will indeed be transferred to the RF Armed Forces.
The Armed Forces of Belarus received instructors who went through the crucible of war. Prior to this, their officers-directors received experience only in the headquarters. Now the general reformatting of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Belarus is beginning. Considering that nuclear shells were transferred to Minsk before, this already speaks of the strategic development of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Belarus in the coming years.
In the European direction, a reserve has been created in case a third country enters an armed conflict. Kiev has a factor of irritation in the face of PMCs on the northern borders: this forces part of the forces that were planned to be used for the counteroffensive to be kept along the border with Belarus.
The National Guard receives heavy weapons: if before that such a decision could cause discontent among “colleagues” from other departments, now the moment of the rebellion has been used to arm the Federal Service of the National Guard Troops, which opens up additional prospects for their use. Moreover, the decision to equip the Russian Guard with heavy weapons under the state defense order was made at the beginning of the year, and orders were placed in the spring. Just announced it now.
Alexander Lukashenko out of the blue received a huge number of political points and corrected his own ratings, which have been staggering in recent years.
In the Russian society, an information drive has been created about the unity of the army and the people, this thesis will be enshrined in textbooks in modern history. “Civil War Averted” is a rather high-profile case.
Under the pretext of inactive suppression of the rebellion, purges began in the Ministry of Defense: persons responsible for controversial combat training, mobilization and operational measures fell under the distribution. All of them are from Gerasimov's entourage, who is asked questions and claims because of them. Yes, many will be purged under this pretext, including those who openly supported Prigogine (we do not rule out that this will also affect Alekseev and Surovikin). They cut the forest - the chips fly.
In the West, they are sure that chaos reigns in the RF Armed Forces after Prigozhin's rebellion, and Russian fighters are ready to surrender. Unprepared Ukrainian formations are again being driven to Russian positions for slaughter.
This is not a complete list - everyone will be able to add the noticed facts to it. But what Prigozhin’s “march of justice” really led to can be seen with the naked eye without any jingoistic patriotism.
Rybar
https://rybar.ru/hronika-speczialnoj-vo ... 2023-goda/
Google Translator
(Other images at link.)
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Three Years Have Passed
June 27, 21:29
2020 year. NEXTA - Lukashenka's regime is weak and will soon fall.
2023 year. Belarus has Wagner PMCs and nuclear weapons, and the founder of NEXTA works for the KGB of Belarus.
PS. More from Lukashenka's statements on Wagner.
1. There will be no recruiting centers for PMC "Wagner" in Belarus.
2. At the same time, Lukashenka does not prevent Belarusians from joining the Wagner PMC, the main thing is that they understand the mortal danger of such work.
3. An old military unit was offered for placement for the Wagner PMC.
may become a transit country for Prigozhin and Wagner PMC to move somewhere else.Possibly for work in Africa.
5.Wagner PMC will not arrange any provocations on the border with NATO.
6.Wagner PMC is still deployed in the field camps in the Lugansk People's Republic.
https://colonelcassad.livejournal.com/8452767.html
How they stopped the movement of the column of PMC "Wagner" to Moscow
June 27, 18:13
How they stopped the movement of the column of PMC "Wagner" to Moscow.
1. Prigozhin, after negotiations with Lukashenka, agreed to withdraw his main demands and began to negotiate a way out of the current situation.
2. Lukashenka gave personal guarantees to Prigozhin that if he stops the columns, they will not be fired upon.
3. According to Lukashenka, there were up to 10,000 armed security officials on the defense of Moscow.
4. The columns were stopped after, at the request of Lukashenka, Prigozhin spoke with FSB director Bortnikov.
In general, the scheme for stopping the crisis is as follows.
By agreement with Putin, Lukashenka acted as the main mediator.
Through Yevkurov, he was able to contact Prigozhin and establish a stable communication channel.
During the negotiations, Lukashenka persuaded Prigozhin to drop his demands.
After Lukashenka gave personal security guarantees to Prigozhin, he agreed to stop the columns.
Lukashenka was able to organize a telephone conversation between Bortnikov and Prigozhin, where, apparently, the guarantees were confirmed.
After that, Prigozhin stopped the movement of columns to Moscow and the crisis moved into the stage of eliminating the consequences.
In the bottom line, during the crisis, Putin acted as an evil cop, and Lukashenka as a good cop.
Prigogine understood everything, and by the evening of June 24 he realized that his rebellion would not receive political support, so he withdrew his demands, for the sake of which the whole campaign against Rostov and Moscow was actually started.
In the presentation of Lukashenko, the people who stopped the fratricide near Moscow are Putin, Lukashenko, Yevkurov, Bortnikov.
https://colonelcassad.livejournal.com/8452563.html
Google Translator
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Suicidal Attacks, Horrendous Losses and Insubordination Plague Kiev Regime Forces
Posted by INTERNATIONALIST 360° on JUNE 27, 2023
Drago Bosnic
Worn-out artillery pieces that they have received from the US as part of Washington’s military aid to Kiev
Back in mid-January, retired United States Army Lieutenant General Ben Hodges, who previously led the US Army Europe Command and still holds several high-ranking positions within NATO, gave an interview to the CIA front Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), where he claimed that Western heavy armor would supposedly give the Kiev regime “an edge” against the Russian military. When asked “how much of a disadvantage has Ukraine had without [Western/NATO armor] and what can Kiev now achieve with it”, Hodges stated the following:
“Well, of course, I wish these decisions to provide ‘Bradley’ and ‘Marder’ and AMX-10RC and other systems would have been made sooner. But the good news is they’ve been made. What I heard last week was the foundation for an armor brigade. Basically, you’ve got self-propelled artillery from the Czech Republic, a battalion; AMX-10RC from France, which is an excellent wheeled vehicle, a lot of mobility with a big gun on it; and then a battalion of ‘Marder’, which is a very good system; and then a battalion of ‘Bradley’, which is the best infantry fighting vehicle in the world. If you get those and then if you put maybe a Ukrainian tank battalion in the middle of it with engineers, you’ve got a lethal combined arms formation that could be the iron fist that would help penetrate these endless lines of Russian trenches…”
It’s hardly breaking news that these “excellent wheeled vehicles” and “very good systems”, including “the best infantry fighting vehicle in the world”, have been anything but as the much-touted counteroffensive of the Kiev regime forces has proven to be a spectacular failure. After weeks of attempts to break through Russian lines, apart from a few small tactical successes that cannot possibly be justified considering the horrendous losses, the “iron fist” of the Neo-Nazi junta troops demonstrated its impotence as it has been unable to achieve any of the stated strategic goals.
By June 21, losses of the Kiev regime forces have been staggering, standing at approximately 13,000 servicemen, 246 tanks (13 of which were NATO heavy armor), 595 armored fighting vehicles (AFVs), 279 artillery guns and mortars (48 sent by NATO), 42 multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS), two SAM (surface-to-air) missile systems, 14 aircraft (including helicopters), 264 drones and 424 vehicles. Since then, the losses seem to have escalated dramatically, although precise numbers are yet to be released. As the German daily Handelsblatt described it: “This isn’t a counteroffensive. It is a bloody crash test.”
Despite this, the Neo-Nazi junta keeps sending the forcibly conscripted Ukrainians to certain death (or horrendous injuries, at best). On June 24, offensive operations were launched in both Zaporozhye and Donetsk regions (oblasts), but failed, although the Kiev regime claimed there was “progress in all directions“. Video evidence suggests that virtually all assault units engaged in offensive operations were either destroyed or damaged beyond repair, while Russian kamikaze drones neutralized their artillery support composed primarily of US-made M777 howitzers.
The following day, the Neo-Nazi junta forces lost well over 700 soldiers and dozens of pieces of heavy armor and lighter support vehicles. During a failed attack, the 47th brigade of the Kiev regime forces got bogged down in a minefield, resulting in catastrophic losses, including life-altering injuries. War footage suggests there are dozens of critically injured soldiers, with virtually no way to either provide immediate medical assistance or evacuate the wounded. There are numerous instances where soldiers are simply left behind to die.
Expectedly, this has resulted in insubordination from many Ukrainian servicemen, some of whom are openly refusing to follow orders of their superiors, further reinforcing previous claims about a looming mutiny within the Neo-Nazi junta forces. Battlefield reports now even suggest that their commanding officers are often taking extreme measures to ensure obedience. One of the latest videos shows an officer throwing at least two hand grenades at several Ukrainian servicemen standing in a bunker for failing to hold their positions. Presumably, the Ukrainian soldiers (at least three of them) either failed or refused to follow the order of their commanding officer to hold the position they were assigned to.
It’s safe to assume that they were most likely forced to retreat from their post in order not to get overrun, as there were only three of them. Obviously agitated by this, the officer decided that the immediate punishment for insubordination was to throw hand grenades at them. The available footage shows the commanding officer taking at least two grenades from another soldier and throwing them into the bunker where the fleeing soldiers were standing, after which an explosion can be heard. The fate of the unfortunate servicemen is unknown, but given the confined space they were in, it can only be assumed that the best-case scenario is they suffered serious shrapnel wounds.
https://libya360.wordpress.com/2023/06/ ... me-forces/
What Happens in Russia After the Longest Day?
Posted by INTERNATIONALIST 360° on JUNE 27, 2023
Pepe Escobar
Following Wagner’s ‘rebellion’ – which was nothing more than a blatant coup attempt, and a PR stunt demonstrated by Prighozin’s top-notch theatrics – NATO and the Collective West’s excitement over the possibility of Russia descending into chaos and civil war were quickly turned into utter disappointment.
The first draft of the extraordinary events that took place in Russia on The Longest Day – Saturday, June 24 – leads us to a whole new can of worms.
The Global Majority badly wants to know what happens next. Let’s examine the key pieces in the chessboard.
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is cutting to the chase: he has reminded everyone that the Hegemon’s modus operandi is to back coup attempts whenever it can benefit. This dovetails with the fact that the FSB is actively investigating whether and how Western intel was involved in The Longest Day.
President Putin could not have been more unequivocal:
“They [the West and Ukraine] wanted Russian soldiers to kill each other, so that soldiers and civilians would die, so that in the end Russia would lose, and our society would break apart and choke on bloody civil strife (…) They rubbed their hands, dreaming of getting revenge for their failures at the front and during the so-called counter-offensive, but they miscalculated.”
Cue to the collective West – from Secretary of State Anthony Blinken on down – frantically trying to distance itself even as the CIA leaked, via its trademark mouthpiece, the Washington Post, that they knew about “the rebellion.”
The agenda was painfully obvious: Kiev losing on all fronts would be ritually buried by wall-to-wall coverage of the fake Russian “civil war.”
There’s no smoking gun – yet. But the FSB is following several leads to demonstrate how the “the rebellion” was set up by CIA/NATO. The spectacular failure makes the upcoming NATO July 11 summit in Vilnius even more incandescent.
The Chinese, much like Lavrov, also cut to the chase: the Global Times asserted that the idea of “Wagner’s revolt weakening Putin’s authority is wishful thinking of the West,” with the Kremlin’s “strong capacity of deterrence” further increasing its authority. That’s exactly the reading of the Russian street.
The Chinese reached their conclusion after a crucial visit by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrei Rudenko, who promptly flew to Beijing on Sunday, June 25. This is how the iron-clad strategic partnership works in practice.
“The rebellion” as a P.R. stunt
Arguably the best explanation so far of the nuts and bolts of The Longest Day has been offered by Rostislav Ischenko.
The Global Majority will rejoice that Prighozin’s theatrics, in the end, left the collective West dazed, confused, and shattered: wasn’t the whole thing supposed to unleash total chaos inside Russian society and the army?
Even as the fake, lightning-quick “mutiny” was in progress, Russia continued to pound Kiev’s forces – which, by the way, were spinning that the main phase of the “counter-offensive” was being launched exactly on June 24 at night. That was, predictably, yet another bluff.
Back to the Russian street. “The rebellion” – inbuilt in a very convoluted plot – in the end was widely interpreted as just another military demonstration (by master of ceremonies Prighozin, not by the overwhelming majority of Wagner soldiers). “The rebellion” turned out to be a Western P.R. stunt, a series of (ultimately faded) pictures for global consumption.
But now things are bound to get way more serious.
Lavrov, once again, pointed to the role being played by the ever-self-aggrandized Le Petit Roi, Emmanuel Macron, right up there with the United States: “Macron clearly saw in the developments an opportunity to realize the threat of Ukraine dealing Russia a strategic blow, a mantra NATO leaders have been holding onto.”
So just like Kiev and the collective Western media, Lavrov added, Macron remains part of a single “machine” working against Moscow. That ties up with Putin, who stated of Macron’s Sunday intervention that “the entire Western military, economic and information machine has been set in motion against us.”
And that’s a fact.
Betting on a “long-term economic blockade”
Another fact adds to the more ominous clouds on the horizon.
While no one was paying attention, a mini-Congress of national security officials took place in Copenhagen exactly on the fateful 24 and 25 of June.
They were arguably discussing “peace in Ukraine.” The chairman was none other than US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan.
Present at the meeting were Brazil, Germany, the U.K., France, Italy, Denmark, India, Canada, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, South Africa, Japan, Ukraine – and the proverbial Eurocrat of the non-sovereign EU.
Note the G7 majority, side by side with three BRICS and two aspiring BRICS+ members.
“Peace in Ukraine” means, in this context, the so-called 10-point “Zelensky peace plan,” which implies a total Russian strategic defeat – complete with the restoration of Ukraine within the borders of 1991 and payment of colossal “reparations” by Moscow.
No wonder China was not part of it. Yet three BRICS – call them the weakest nodes – were there. BRICS and BRICS+ prospective members compose the six “swing states” which will be relentlessly courted and/or submitted to hardcore Hybrid Wars by the Hegemon to “behave” when it comes to Ukraine: Brazil, India, South Africa, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Indonesia.
Then there’s the 11th EU sanctions package, which is taking the economic war against Russia to a whole new level, as attested by Acting Permanent Representative to the EU, Kirill Logvinov.
Logvinov explained how “Brussels intends to drag as many countries as possible into this war (…) There is a clear shift from a failed blitzkrieg, which was said to be aimed at causing irreparable damage to Russia, to a multi-move game with the goal of establishing a kind of long-term economic blockade against our country.”
That’s undiluted Hybrid War territory – and the key targets are the six “swing states.”
Logvinov remarked how “the EU always prefers to use blackmail and coercion. Since the EU remains the biggest economic partner for many countries, as well as a source of investment and a financial donor, Brussels clearly has enough leverage to exert pressure. So, the EU’s fight against the bypassing of sanctions is expected to be lengthy and uncompromising.”
So welcome to extraterritorial sanctions, EU-style, blacklisting companies from third countries “suspected” of re-exporting banned goods to Russia or engaged in oil trade without taking the so-called Russian oil price cap into account.
Fun in the Belarussian sun
Among so many cheap thrills, what will be the next role of the main actor in The Longest Day (and even before)? And does it matter?
Chinese scholars are fond of reminding us that during China’s periods of turmoil – for instance, at the end of the Han and Tang dynasties – the reason was always warlords not following orders from the Emperor.
The Ottoman Empire’s Janissaries – their Wagner at the time – were meant to protect the Sultan and fight his wars. They ended up deciding who could be Sultan – as much as Roman Empire legionaries ended up deciding who would be Emperor.
Chinese advice is always prescient: Beware of how you use your soldiers. Make sure they believe in what they’re fighting for. Otherwise, they’ll turn around to bite you.
And that leads us to Prighozin once again changing his story (he’s a specialist on the matter).
He’s now saying that June 23-24 was just a mere “demonstration” to express his discontent. The main objective was to prove the superiority of Wagner over the Russian Army.
Well, everybody knew about that: Wagner soldiers have been in combat day in, day out for over 10 years now in Libya, Syria, the Central African Republic, and Ukraine.
And that’s why he could boast that “Wagner advanced for 700 km without meeting any resistance. If Russia had asked them to be in charge of the war from the beginning, that would have been over by the night of February 24, 2022.”
Prighozin is also alluding to a deal with Belarus – laying extra fog of war around a possible transfer of Wagner under Belarus jurisdiction. NATO is already terrified in advance. Expect more ballooning military budgets – to be imposed at the Vilnius summit next month.
Camps to accommodate at least 8,000 Wagner fighters are already being built in Belarus, in the Mogilev region – according to “Vyorstka” (“Layout”).
The real story behind it is that Belarus, for quite a while, has been expecting a possible attack from rabid Poland. In parallel, as much as sending NATO into extra freakout mode, Moscow could be contemplating the opening of a new front between Lviv and Kiev.
Wagner in Belarus makes total sense. The Belarussian Army is not exactly strong. Wagner secures Russia’s western front. That will raise major hell on NATO – even figuratively, and force them to spend even more astronomical sums. And Wagner can merrily use airports in Belarus to pursue its – rebranded – activities in West Asia and Africa.
Everything that happened since The Longest Day is part of a new dramatic plot twist in a running series – way more gripping than whatever Netflix could offer.
Yet what the majority of Russian public opinion really seems to expect is not another farcical Ride of the Valkyrie. They expect a serious draining of the Soviet-style bureaucratic swamp, and a real commitment to get this “almost war” to its logical conclusion as quickly as possible.
https://libya360.wordpress.com/2023/06/ ... ngest-day/
(Pepe, Pepe, "Soviet-style bureaucratic swamp", really? Man you gotta quit hangin' with liberals or something.
https://media.thecradle.co/wp-content/u ... -Group.jpg
Ukraine: How the Green Party in the US and Canada Stumble on Matters of International Law
Posted by INTERNATIONALIST 360° on JUNE 27, 2023
Roger Annis
Green Party figures in U.S. and Canada condemn the NATO provocations leading to conflict in Ukraine, but muddy the waters with condemnation of Russia.
Those who choose to accept a Western interpretation of the already-loose concept of ‘international law’ are doing a disservice to the people of Russia and Ukraine.
Jill Stein, former leader of the Green Party U.S., and Dimitri Lascaris, leadership candidate in 2019 of the Green Party of Canada and recently returned from a month-long reporting visit to Russia, were interviewed recently on the conflict in Russia. The 71-minute interview was broadcast on the ‘Plebity’ program (AcTVism Munich) on YouTube, with host Rain Raza, on June 23, 2023.
Stein and Lascaris each had sharp words condemning what they consider to be years of political and military provocations by the governments of the United States and the NATO-member countries against the against the Russian Federation. They condemned the 2014 coup in Ukraine which brough a far-right government to power. The coup opened the door to sweeping measures since then to restrict or outright ban the political, social and language rights of the people of Ukraine, notably those in the large parts of the country that rejected the coup and wanted to maintain peaceful and mutually beneficial relations with Russia.
The two left-wing activists stumble, however, over the issue of the legality of Russia’s military intervention into Ukraine that began in late-February 2022. Jill Stein tells the interviewer, “Russia’s invasion, special operation–whatever you want to call it-of the eastern provinces of Ukraine and beyond is, arguably, illegal and murderous.” She cites three liberal commentators as authorities on the conflict in Ukraine –Jeffrey Sachs, Chris Hedges and Noam Chomsky. All three have condemned Russia’s intervention, calling it ‘illegal’ or worse.
Dimitri Lascaris briefly states at the 30′ mark of the interview why he continues to believe that Russia’s military intervention is “illegal” according to the concept of ‘international law’. But his comments on the subject are nevertheless directed primarily against the NATO powers. He explains, “I’m sorry to have to say this, but the people on the left and in the progressive community who are out there focusing their ire upon the Russian Federation, the Chinese government–all the official ‘enemies’ of the United States–are giving ammunition to the imperialists and the regime change scam artists who have taken over our society and our politics.
“When our voices on the left are directed at the official enemies of the United States, we are being exploited and manipulated by the imperialist to pursue their agenda. What do they do? They look at us and say, ‘Look at these leftists out there, criticizing the Russian Federation. Surely everything we’re doing to undermine Russia and its government must be justified.
“Well I refuse to make myself a useful idiot of the Anglo-American Empire. And further, my goal as a journalist and as a public commentator is to talk about the things that are not being spoken about in the mainstream discourse.”
Jill Stein nods approvingly throughout the remarks by Lascaris.
The comments by Stein and Lascaris in the interview fail to explain and highlight one of the very key issues in the conflict in Ukraine, namely, the right to political self-determination of the people in what was formerly recognized as eastern and southern territories of the country.
Stein calls the two Donbass republics of Donetsk and Lugansk “eastern provinces of Ukraine”. They are most decidedly not this anymore. In 2014, the peoples of the two territories rejected the coup carried out in Kiev and western Ukraine. They rebelled against it and voted that year to secede from the ‘new’, extreme-right Ukraine. For their defiant actions, they were targeted by the new regime. With NATO backing, the regime imposed an eight-year war on Donbass that killed some 14,000 civilians and combatants, Most of the deaths were on the side of those rejecting the coup. In 2022, the two republics voted again to join the Russian Federation. This vote was and remains lawful and definitive by any fair and progressive definition of the terms.
Crimea was also targeted for war by the new regime in Kiev. But the Crimean people acted quickly and decisively to forestall this by defending their territory against incursions by far-right paramilitaries from Ukraine. With crucial assistance from Russia, they held a referendum on March 16, 2014 to secede from Ukraine and join the Russian Federation. (Wikipedia)
Numerous polls in Crimea subsequent to the 2014 referendum vote have shown strong support for the original referendum. (The Wikipedia entry listed here contains considerable detail on these polls.)
‘International law’ typically refers to the Charter of the United Nations, the founding document of the UN approved by a large majority of the world’s governments of the day in San Francisco in June 1945. The Charter’s Article 51 specifically upholds the right of peoples and countries to resist armed aggression. It reads, “Nothing in the present Charter shall impair the inherent right of individual or collective self-defence if an armed attack occurs against a Member of the United Nations, until the Security Council has taken measures necessary to maintain international peace and security.”
Article 2 of the UN Charter defines the very purpose of the organization as “To develop friendly relations among nations based on respect for the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples, and to take other appropriate measures to strengthen universal peace.”
Why, then, do self-professed opponents of U.S. and NATO aggression in Ukraine give skewed and inaccurate interpretations of ‘international law’ and condemn Russia’s actions in Ukraine as ‘illegal’? In so doing, they ignore the lead of progressive governments such as China, Cuba, Venezuela and others which reject the anti-Russia propaganda and war measures by the West and refuse to condemn Russia’s defensive military intervention.
It was the Western countries, not Russia, that fomented a violent coup in Ukraine in 2014, aimed at rupturing the historically close–very close–relations between the Russian and Ukrainian peoples. Their coup (truly an ‘illegal’ act if ever there was one) then proceeded with draconian measures that have eliminated political rights in Ukraine and placed the country on a murderous path to war against Donbass and Crimea.
Those who choose to accept a Western interpretation of the already-loose concept of ‘international law’ are doing a disservice to the people of Russia and Ukraine. Their words create confusion and hinder the crucial need to speak out and organize against the ‘real’ aggression taking place in Ukraine—that of the U.S. and the other governments of NATO, joined with the ultra-nationalist and far-right governing regime in Kyiv.
Related Reading:
* Uproar in New Zealand as state media self-censors its reporting on Ukraine, by Roger Annis, A Socialist In Canada, June 13, 2023 (with postscript and background reading)
* Nordic green left: Solidarity with Ukraine, statement by green left parties in Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and Finland, published in Swedish on the website of the Left Party of Sweden, June 24, 2023 (English translation via here:
https://www.europe-solidaire.org/spip.php?article66870) (The five signing parties are: Rødt (Red Party), Norway; Vänsterpartiet (Left Party), Sweden; Sosialistisk venstreparti (Socialist Left Party), Norway; Enhedslisten (Red-Green Alliance), Denmark; Vasemmistoliitto (Left Alliance), Finland.)
‘…We emphasise the sole responsibility of the Russian regime for initiating this illegal invasion, escalating it to the point of risking nuclear war, and provoking global re-armament… We recognize that arms support is necessary to give Ukraine the ability to defend itself…’
https://libya360.wordpress.com/2023/06/ ... ional-law/
Seems to me that these Green Parties have little to nothing to offer. The German has become totally reactionary, as are the Nordics. Over here they seem a petty bourgeois party at best, refuse to embrace socialism and are therefore counter-productive. Their brand of environmentalism is also dubious, too corporate friendly, too 'West-centric'. Class will tell... The pathetic state of the left and the rules which perpetuate the duopoly force good(but not great) left leaders to run under their banner in order to get on the ballot.(Pounds head against wall...)
If they were really serious they'd be 'Red".
****************
About the fighters of PMC "Wagner"
June 28, 7:26 am
About the fighters of the PMC "Wagner"
Regarding the defamation of the fighters of the PMC "Wagner".
1. The main claims of the state exist against Yevgeny Prigozhin and a narrow circle of officially unidentified persons (for the general public - the state, of course, is well aware of who planned and did what to organize and attempt a military rebellion)
2. The political position of the state on what happened in general - what happened is an armed rebellion. The closure of the criminal case against Yevgeny Prigozhin does not cancel the political assessment made by Putin and the key law enforcement agencies of the country. You may or may not like this assessment, regardless of your personal relationship with the Wagner PMC, but from the point of view of the state, this was an armed rebellion. And it will go down in the history books as an armed rebellion. There is nothing good in what has come to this, of course. If Prigozhin's conflict with the leadership of the Ministry of Defense had been stopped in a timely manner, the rebellion would hardly have taken place.
3. The political position of the state in relation to the fighters of PMC "Wagner" - they are heroes who were involved in the actions of Yevgeny Prigozhin. Many unconsciously, following orders.
4. Some of the fighters of PMC "Wagner" have already entered the contract with the Russian Defense Ministry and will continue to fight at the front. An as yet undetermined part of the Wagner PMC fighters will do this in the foreseeable future. When PMC "Wagner" is indiscriminately poured with mud, these people, who are either on a contract or at the stage of signing a contract with the Russian Defense Ministry, are also being poured.
5. The remaining fighters of PMC "Wagner" will continue their activities on the territory of Belarus and possibly on the territory of a number of countries (there is still no clarity here). Some may be demobilized. There are no open criminal cases against them (in any case, this has not been publicly announced). They themselves will be able to form a public attitude towards them there after an attempted rebellion. Here the future will show.
6. The law continues to operate in the country on discrediting participants in the SVO, which provides for a period of up to 15 years in especially serious cases for its violation. In the case of PMC "Wagner" we are talking about active participants in the NWO.
7. The indiscriminate defamation of all the fighters of the PMC "Wagner" in the current realities contradicts the position of Putin himself, the current legislation, the official political assessment, and simply is the indiscriminate slinging of mud at those who took Popasnaya, Svetlodarsk, Uglegorskaya TPP, Soledar and Artemovsk. These victories will also remain in history, as will the attempted military rebellion.
8. If the state considers it necessary to bring to justice individuals associated with the organization of the rebellion or those who are directly involved in the death of pilots of the Russian Aerospace Forces, it will do this without unnecessary hysterics. Obviously, in addition to resolving the political crisis, the state intends to continue to use a significant part of the resources and personnel of the Wagner PMC in the public interest.
Therefore, in the current conditions, the indiscriminate pouring of mud on all the fighters of the PMC "Wagner" looks, to put it mildly, not smart. Great idiocy is only speculative constructions, who would win - "Wagner" or the National Guard in clashes in Rostov or in the Moscow region. Apparently someone really wanted to see it. Especially Ukraine and the West.
The main achievement on June 24 is precisely that we did not see this and did not begin to find out who is stronger and who could kill whom more. We have a real enemy, on whom efforts should be directed, and not to find out who is cooler in the rear areas.
https://t.me/boris_rozhin/90566 - zinc
https://colonelcassad.livejournal.com/8452960.html
Google Translator
Meh, the mercs should be (preferably) absorbed or de-mobilized.
March of Wagner PMC: what is known as of 13.00
The columns moved around - towards Buturlinovka and Borisoglebsk . There was no information about the occupation of the airfield.
I appeal to all the left-wing patriotic forces: we must unite as much as possible and support the guys who are fighting for our homeland, liberating the Ukraine from the Nazis, the Banderites, and the fascists.
You were deceived into Prigozhin's criminal adventure and participation in an armed rebellion.
There was a higher goal - to avoid bloodshed, to avoid internal confrontation, to avoid clashes with unpredictable results. It was in the name of these objectives that Lukashenko's mediation efforts were implemented. President Putin made the decision accordingly.
An unsuccessful rebellion will not create difficulties in the relations of the Russian Federation with friends, but it doesn’t matter about the rest.
