Ukraine - For Laughs
'Western' media are nothing but Zelenski regime megaphones.
Liveuamap @Liveuamap - 21:30 UTC · May 16, 2022
Zelensky confirms Azovstal troops evacuation: «Ukraine needs Ukrainian heroes alive. This has been our principle»
https://liveuamap.com/en/2022/16-may... via @myroslavapetsa
The New York Times @nytimes - 22:59 UTC · May 16, 2022
Breaking News: Ukraine ended its “combat mission” in Mariupol and said fighters were being evacuated, signaling that the battle at a steel plant was over.
link
CNN International @cnni - 23:39 UTC · May 16, 2022
Ukrainian forces say they have ended their "combat mission" in besieged Mariupol, as hundreds are evacuated from the Azovstal steel plant. https://cnn.it/3FQALcV
Reuters @Reuters - 3:35 AM · May 17, 2022
Ukraine's military said it was working to evacuate all remaining troops from their last stronghold in the besieged port of Mariupol, ceding control of the city to Russia after months of bombardment https://reut.rs/3wlYbUG
From the false headline down the Washington Post report on the issue is a master piece of propaganda:
Ukraine ends bloody battle for Mariupol, evacuates Azovstal fighters
Ukrainian fighters have ended their weeks-long defense of a besieged steel plant in the strategic port city of Mariupol, as hundreds of combatants — dozens of them seriously wounded — were evacuated from the complex Monday.
One has to read beyond 323 words of falsehood to find out, down in paragraph 7, what really has happened.
Moscow hasn’t yet publicly responded to the developments in Mariupol, which were described by Russian state media as an order from Ukrainian military command for its troops to “surrender.”Ukraine’s deputy defense minister, Anna Malyar, said 53 seriously wounded soldiers were taken to a hospital in Novoazovsk, a nearby town which is controlled by Russian-backed separatists. Another 211 were transported to another Russian-aligned village, Olenivka, she said. Moscow and Kyiv are brokering a prisoner swap to secure their release.
Malyar said officials were still working to rescue the remaining soldiers, though it is unclear how many are still inside. Ukrainian authorities said last week there were nearly 1,000 holdout fighters in the plant.
The f***ers finally gave up and surrendered unconditionally to the Russian forces as their only alternative was to decease within the next hours or days.
I am sure that the Russian authorities will apply a fine filter to determine who of those prisoners of war are allegeable for war crime prosecutions, de-nazification and a long stay in some north Siberian road builder camp.
There are also rumors of NATO personnel presence in the Azovstal catacombs. They will likely get to know the cellars of the famous Lubyanka building in Moscow before being exchanged in this or that deal with their home countries.
The rest will eventually be exchanged for Russian soldiers who are unfortunately held by the Ukrainian military.
Ukraine Open Thread 2022-67
Only news & views related to the Ukraine conflict ...
The open thread for other issues is here.
British Info-Warriors Kill Abroad And Sabotage Politics At Home
The British Guardian reports that 'black propaganda', issued by the British government, has helped to kill millions of people:
The British government ran a secret “black propaganda” campaign for decades, targeting Africa, the Middle East and parts of Asia with leaflets and reports from fake sources aimed at destabilising cold war enemies by encouraging racial tensions, sowing chaos, inciting violence and reinforcing anti-communist ideas, newly declassified documents have revealed.The effort, run from the mid-1950s through to the late 70s by a unit in London that was part of the Foreign Office, was focused on cold war enemies such as the Soviet Union and China, leftwing liberation groups and leaders that the UK saw as threats to its interests
The campaign also sought to mobilise Muslims against Moscow, promoting greater religious conservatism and radical ideas. To appear authentic, documents encouraged hatred of Israel.
Recently declassified British government documents reveal hundreds of extensive and costly operations.
This isn't all new:
Cont. reading: British Info-Warriors Kill Abroad And Sabotage Politics At Home
Ukraine Open Thread 2022-66
Only news & views related to the Ukraine conflict ...
The open thread for other issues is here.
The MoA Week In Review - NOT Ukraine OT 2022-65
Last week's posts at Moon of Alabama:
- May 9 - Ukraine - Putin On Why The War Started, Failed Attempts On Snake Island, Other Issues
- May 11 - Ukraine - Congress Passes The Bucks, Realism Sneaks In, Poland Plans For More War
- May 13 - If Ukraine Is Winning Why Is The U.S. Requesting A Ceasefire?
Related:
- Why Ukraine war has no winners - Indian Punchline
- Putin, game master? - Jacques Baud (vid, Engl.subs) - Max Milo Éditions
- Saturday Morning Live With Scott Ritter And Ray McGovern (vid) - Garland Nixon
- May 12 - Matthew VanDyke - Some 3 Letter Agency Dude With An Obsessive Compulsion For Publicity
Related:
- The Covert Operation to Back Ukrainian Independence that Haunts the CIA - Politico
After WWII, officials in Washington sent scores of agents to their deaths in a misguided effort to create an uprising against Moscow.
- Army of Secret Propagandists in Ukraine Funded by U.S. to Win Western Hearts and Minds for NATO Policies - Covert Action Mag
- Ukraine war: Military intelligence chief 'optimistic' of Russian defeat saying war 'will be over by end of year' - Sky News
- Coup to remove cancer-stricken Putin underway in Russia, Ukrainian intelligence chief says - Fortune
- May 13 - U.S. Seeks ASEAN Proxy Willing To Poke China
Related:
- Indo-Pacific strategy adrift in an illusion - Indian Punchline
- Is the Biden Administration Serious About ‘ASEAN Centrality’? - The Diplomat
- Biden’s summit pushes ASEAN to confront China, runs counter to their interest - Global Times
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Other issues:
Cont. reading: The MoA Week In Review - NOT Ukraine OT 2022-65
If Ukraine Is Winning Why Is The U.S. Requesting A Ceasefire?
Yesterday the U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin called the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation Sergei Shoigu.
Why?
The U.S. readout of the call says:
On May 13, Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III spoke with Russian Minister of Defense Sergey Shoygu for the first time since February 18. Secretary Austin urged an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine and emphasized the importance of maintaining lines of communication.
Austin initiated the call and the U.S. is seeking a ceasefire in Ukraine!!!
Are we not told that the Ukraine is winning the war? That it will soon push the Russian forces back over the border? The operation to 'weaken Russia', which Austin had publicly announced two weeks ago, does not seem to go that well.
Told ya so!
Gonzalo Lira thinks that the call points to a soon coming collapse of the Ukrainian forces. Let us hope that this is indeed the case because it seems to be the only chance that the war will end soon.
The Ukraine is losing up to 15,000 men per month to the war. The total Ukrainian casualties, dead and wounded, are likely already at 50,000. The weapons the U.S. and others provide, are not sufficient to sustain the war. The Ukraine has only 3 days reserves of diesel and gasoline left. The main parts of its forces are immobile and are getting surrounded by Russian forces. Their situation is hopeless.
The Pentagon of course knows this all and that is why Austin initiated the call and asked for a ceasefire.
The Russia side will not agree to a ceasefire. At least not unless the 'west' offers to take back some of the 6,400 sanction measures it has initiated against Russia.
There are recently a number of other issues that also go in favor of Russia:
Cont. reading: If Ukraine Is Winning Why Is The U.S. Requesting A Ceasefire?
Ukraine Open Thread 2022-64
Only news & views related to the Ukraine conflict ...
The open thread for other stuff is here.
U.S. Seeks ASEAN Proxy Willing To Poke China
On Wednesday, May 11, the Associated Press published a piece of the election in Philippine which included some dubious editorial assertions:
Marcos presidency complicates US efforts to counter China
MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s apparent landslide victory in the Philippine presidential election is raising immediate concerns about a further erosion of democracy in Asia and could complicate American efforts to blunt growing Chinese influence and power in the Pacific.Marcos, the namesake son of longtime dictator Ferdinand Marcos, captured more than double the votes of his closest challenger in Monday’s election, according to the unofficial results.
If the results stand, he will take office at the end of June for a six-year term with Sara Duterte, the daughter of outgoing President Rodrigo Duterte, as his vice president.
Duterte — who leaves office with a 67% approval rating — nurtured closer ties with China and Russia, while at times railing against the United States.
The whole piece is much longer than the quote. But it nowhere explains why a free and fair election, like the one the Philippines just held, would lead to 'a further erosion of democracy in Asia'. It also does not explain why anyone might doubt the results when indeed nobody really does.
What it does explain well is why Ferdinand Marcos Jr. will not become a U.S. puppet:
Cont. reading: U.S. Seeks ASEAN Proxy Willing To Poke China
Matthew VanDyke - Some 3 Letter Agency Dude With An Obsessive Compulsion For Publicity
- Matthew VanDyke: US citizen held in Libya emerges on Syria's frontline - Guardian, Nov 9 2012
An American who fought alongside Libyan rebels, and who was detained in Tripoli's Abu Salim prison for six months before returning home to Baltimore in late 2011, has turned up on the frontline of the uprising in Syria.Matthew VanDyke said that he was in Aleppo to film a documentary alongside the Syrian rebel army. But he claims he is also advising the rebels on weaponry based on his experience in Libya.
"I go to sleep and wake up to the sound of artillery shells, and Assad's jets flying overhead and bombing the city," VanDyke, 33, wrote in the first of a series of emails with the Guardian. "Most of these booms signal the death of more civilians in Aleppo."
VanDyke claims to be a journalist-turned-freedom-fighter-turned documentarian, but others accuse him of being a misguided thrillseeker who repeatedly puts himself at risk.
...
He said he was also offering advice on weaponry, including the anti-aircraft Dushka machine guns he used while fighting in Libya, though that claim has been questioned by people who know him and who have spent time on the ground in Syria.
- Matthew VanDyke and Obsessive Compulsive Freedom Fighting, Wrath-Bearing Tree, Apr 12, 2015
Ukraine - Congress Passes The Bucks, Realism Sneaks In, Poland Plans For More War
After a lot of talk about defeating Russia in the Ukraine and an alleged lack of Russian fighting abilities Congress passed another $40 billion fund for weapons and economic support. That brings the total to some $53 billion for Ukraine.
Most of the money will go to the U.S. weapon industry, the CIA and to various Ukrainian oligarchs. Hardly anything will be received by those in need.
With that packet now passed reality is allowed to sneak into U.S. media reporting on the issue.
Not one but two reports in the New York Times suddenly lament about the huge area of land the Russian troops have taken in east Ukraine:
- How much of Ukraine does Russia hold?
- Ukraine War’s Geographic Reality: Russia Has Seized Much of the East
From the later:
Nonetheless, the Donbas seizure, combined with the Russian invasion’s early success in seizing parts of southern Ukraine adjoining the Crimean peninsula, which Russia illegally annexed in 2014, gives the Kremlin enormous leverage in any future negotiation to halt the conflict.And the Russians enjoy the added advantage of naval dominance in the Black Sea, the only maritime route for Ukrainian trade, which they have paralyzed with an embargo that could eventually starve Ukraine economically and is already contributing to a global grain shortage.
I have often pointed out that the Ukrainian frontline will have a huge number of casualties from Russian artillery strikes. It is even worse than I had thought:
Cont. reading: Ukraine - Congress Passes The Bucks, Realism Sneaks In, Poland Plans For More War