Moon of Alabama Brecht quote
February 26, 2022

Disarming Ukraine - Day 3

Yesterday the Russian military halted its advance to give time to the Ukrainian president Zelensky to agree to ceasefire talks. The U.S. however told him not to hold such talks and said he should leave Kiev. Up to this morning Russia had received no response to its ceasefire offer and resumed the attack. Zelensky decided to stay in Kiev.

There was little operational news from the ground that could be verified. Despite that lots of claims were made about the progress or non-progress of the Russian campaign. I believe that these claims are nearly all propaganda and will refrain from reproducing them.

Approximate situation today

"Blue dots=Ukraine forces presence/siege of military HQ or control of all main roads around."
Source - bigger

The units from Crimea are moving towards north and east. The eastern group, together with a move from Donbas west, is supposed to surround the Ukrainian units in and around Mariupol. Some Ukrainian units near to Donbas seem to fear getting encircled and are moving out.

There was a Russian attempt to capture another airport by an air assault. It may have failed. I have seen no hard evidence to confirm that in either way.

Russia has moved in more heavy rocket and mortar artillery. The so far rather light touch of the traditionally very strong Russian artillery may well get stronger.

Several European countries are sending weapons to the Ukraine. This is mostly 'small stuff' like machine guns and anti-tank missiles. Throughout the day there were lots of international diplomatic reactions and promises. AP had a live update that catches these.

The idea of kicking Russia out of Swift seems to be still on that table. It would be the beginning of the end of U.S. dollar supremacy.

Cutting Russia off from SWIFT a "matter of days" - euro zone central banker Reuters

The U.S. aim is to create an insurgency in the Ukraine.

The Coming Ukrainian Insurgency - Foreign Affairs
Russia’s Invasion Could Unleash Forces the Kremlin Can’t Control

Since 2015 the CIA has trained Ukrainian groups for exactly that purpose.

CIA-trained Ukrainian paramilitaries may take central role if Russia invades - Yahoo

CIA support for Ukrainian Nazis has a long history.

Op-Ed: The CIA has backed Ukrainian insurgents before. Let’s learn from those mistakes - LA Times

A new Nazi insurgency in eastern Europe is an exceptionally bad idea. Fascist groups form everywhere would join in. A few years from now it may well lead to Nazi terror in many European countries. Have we learned really nothing from the war on Syria and the ISIS campaign?

Posted by b on February 26, 2022 at 18:15 UTC | Permalink

Comments
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What the hell is happening on this video?

🇷🇺🇺🇦⚡️⚡️⚡️ Ukrainian troops do not let people out of Mariupol, many are shot. Total chaos began in the city and its environs.

Dear residents of Mariupol, try not to move around the city. Mariupol will soon be liberated!
https://t.me/intelslava/20724

Posted by: Petri Krohn | Feb 26 2022 18:19 utc | 1

I wonder if the pause in offensive operations occurred as a result of Putin's consultations with Xi?

Posted by: too scents | Feb 26 2022 18:20 utc | 2

The multi-level regime running various western countries reminds me of the historical statements about the Bourbon rule in France "they learn nothing and forget nothing". The Donbas people were the hostages. Russia had to either consent to their liquidation or exile or submit to the western borg. In the end their plans were for the 'full monty' because they knew the western reaction would be the same if they only operated to directly defend the Donbas, plus NATO could contribute more weapons to an intact Ukraine than to a besieged rump.

Posted by: exiled off mainstree | Feb 26 2022 18:23 utc | 3

They funded the Jihadists in Afghanistan to kill Russians and we saw the result. Why not Nazis? The playbook is always the same. Pour weapons into the maelstrom and place them in the hands of whomever serves their needs.

How this ends is anyone guess but I do believe the Russians have this all figured out while NATO is just throwing shit against the wall to see what sticks.

Posted by: circumspect | Feb 26 2022 18:30 utc | 4

Information is circulating that Zelensky has transferred to Lvov.

Posted by: Fábio Marinho | Feb 26 2022 18:31 utc | 5

A slow moving fight will encourage those motivated by hate to get in and stay in the fight. Part of the de-nazification strategy?

Sadly, video of Ukie military atrocities against civilians hiding in basements or trying to flee, mounts.

Posted by: Les7 | Feb 26 2022 18:32 utc | 6

Here is the link to the Russians With Attitude Twitter feed. They've done great work so far parsing through the news, separating fact from fiction, during this fast-moving situation.

Posted by: Masked Marvel | Feb 26 2022 18:34 utc | 7

I am just coming back to MOA since yesterday and reposting what I just posted on yesterday's Disarming Ukraine - Day 2
*************

Yesterday I posted some analysis written by Professor Michael Brenner. librul replied as below:

"Say Housedoc,
The quote you posted yesterday, Feb 25th, from Michael Brenner
is a genuine keeper. Something that people would want to refer back to months/years from now to understand the thinking about this huge event in Ukraine.
I can find no source link for what you posted. Could you kindly provide it? Much thanks."

It was an email from Prof Brenner - he maintains a list of people to whom sends his thoughts. I believe anyone can subscribe.

His site is:
https://sites.pitt.edu/~mbren/Welcome.htm
On this site he gives his email as [email protected] I am sure you can contact him using that email.

Posted by: Housedoc | Feb 26 2022 18:35 utc | 8

Some of Wall Street’s largest banks told lawmakers and the Biden administration that kicking Russia off the SWIFT financial-messaging system would have far-reaching fallout that could hurt the global economy and undermine the purpose of the penalties, people familiar with the matter said.

Firms including JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Citigroup Inc. suggested Washington stick with other types of sanctions to punish Russia for invading Ukraine, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing private talks. Other banks with less international exposure were more receptive to the idea, telling officials that it would be a manageable step. Representatives from the banks declined to comment.

Opponents of the idea passed along a warning: Booting Russia from the critical global system -- which handles 42 million messages a day and serves as a lifeline to some of the world’s biggest financial institutions -- could backfire, sending inflation higher, pushing Russia closer to China and shielding financial transactions from scrutiny by the West. It might also encourage the development of a SWIFT alternative that could eventually damage the supremacy of the U.S. dollar.


Wall Street Counsels Washington Against Kicking Russia Off SWIFT

Posted by: Down South | Feb 26 2022 18:36 utc | 9

A bit like Syria with Jihadists, if Ukraine attracts worldwide Nazi support they can all be put into the meat grinder under the Burisma. Once again Russia cleaning up the mess the west leaves lying around.

Posted by: Jezabeel | Feb 26 2022 18:37 utc | 10

I would think that the small force available to Russia would never be able to control much land area. Success would be in destroying capability of Ukraine military.

Status on southfront seems to show mixed results - characterized by Ukraine holing-up in city centers. Is that a sensible strategy?

Posted by: jared | Feb 26 2022 18:38 utc | 11

@11 Jared

Not if the checkers do the door to door.

Posted by: Les7 | Feb 26 2022 18:41 utc | 12

@11, 12

CHECHENS, curse the spell check

Posted by: Les7 | Feb 26 2022 18:42 utc | 13

There is a small studio theater across the street from my windows. They have a new display in their window which shines brightly in the dark. Blue and yellow spotlights shine on two hanging drapes.

I also see many people have decided to #StandWithUkraine and framed their Facebook profile picture with the blue and yellow Nazi flag. Those fooled include some of my relatives. I posted some texts on Facebook that you can share with your friends and relatives if the have chosen the dark side.

CRYING FOR HITLER AND UKRAINE

I have a small collection of books in Finnish about the Third Reich. They were given to me by a friend when her father died. He had been an admirer of Hitler as a child during WWII. His love for Nazi Germany evidently never died after the war.

But the story is far more tragic. There had been three young friends with intense Nazi sympathies. When Hitler died, two of them went to the attic, took a pistol and shot their brains out.

You can share the post, along with nice picture from this link.

In Berlin this week the Brandenburg Gate was illuminated in the blue and yellow flag it the former Ukraine. I used a photo to illustrate this post.

LET THE PAIN BURN YOUR HEART

Feel the horror when bombs fall and jets fly over. Cry for your favorite dictatorship. Smell the burning flesh of killed solders and smoldering tanks. Memorize every emotion you had when the yellow blue flag was stomped to the ground.

You never cried for Libya. Or Iraq or Afghanistan or Yugoslavia. You cheered when Raqqa and Mosul were bombed to rubble. You never heard of Yemen. Or Gorlovka or Donetsk. But now you know what it feels like when countries are destroyed.

I also made another version of the Brandenburg Gate post

STAND WITH GERMANY

Stop Stalin's evil Barbarossa now!

–– Social media in 1941

Posted by: Petri Krohn | Feb 26 2022 18:47 utc | 14

This, by Prof. Michael J. Brenner, is what I posted yesterday that librul thinks valuble -- as do I of course. That's why I posted it and why I am reposting it.
***********

"When a prediction proves erroneous, a decent respect for your colleagues requires at least an explanation." Prof. Michael Brenner

[excerpt of his self-description - full version https://sites.pitt.edu/~mbren/Background.htm ]

Consultant to United States Departments of Defense and State, Foreign Service Institute and Mellon Bank on multilateral diplomacy, peace keeping by multinational organizations, and political risk assessment.

Prof. Brenner writes:
Friends & Colleagues
When a prediction proves erroneous, a decent respect for your colleagues requires at least an explanation.
cheers
Michael Brenner
[email protected]
SOMETHING HAPPENED

My muse knocked at dawn. Exhausted after catching the redeye from Moscow and then diverted over Finland. He insisted on a full breakfast before whispering in my ear. A week pulling up the grass roots from the permafrost in Gorky Park while subsisting on borscht and boiled cabbage had drained him.. Reanimated, the Truth began to flow – in short, staccato sentences with none of the usual refinements and subtle similes.

Context and background are everything in understanding the Russian attack. Look at the process of decision as dynamic over time rather than sharply focused in the immediate.

Putin is not a dictator. He cannot simply choose a course of action and give commands a la Stalin. Never has been. He has great authority; yet, at the same time, he represents the underlying convictions, thoughts and interests of powerful people in and around the government. Most of them were seated in that semicircle at St. Catherine’s Hall for the televised meeting of the Russian Security Council.

They, along with most all of Russia’s political cum economic class, have felt deeply humiliated by what they see as the shabby, patronizing treatment they have received from the West – led by a crass America – since 1991. The insults in word and action have hit them nonstop since 2014, reaching a crescendo from March 2021 onward. They have known full well that the aim is to denature Russia as a political cum diplomatic power in Europe – and beyond. The West want it neutralized and marginalized so that the U.S. can remain master of Europe as it prepares for a titanic struggle with China for global supremacy. Unfettered access to Russia’s wealth of natural resources is a bonus.

Concrete security concern have sharpened progressively as Washington has broken a series of major arms control agreements, expanded NATO, connived to replace friendly governments with American proxies via the notorious “color revolutions,” sought to undercut energy ties with European states, and deployed advanced weapons systems (above all, the anti-missile systems in Poland and Rumania able to be converted into offensive missile launchers), and via its ‘rules-based international order’ sloganeering and democracy vs autocracy campaign make explicit its intention to do everything possible to rig the game of world politics in its favor.

Ukraine, they believe, became the occasion (not the cause) to pin down a Russia whose growing strength discomforted and annoyed the Americans. It represented a conscious decision of the Biden administration under the sway of reborn Cold Warriors in State, the NSC, the CIA and the Pentagon. The triumph of their will in a government bereft of contrary voices and led by a weak, manipulable President was a sure thing. The Ukraine anti-Russia operation began in March with the Washington encouraged build-up of Ukrainian military forces along the Donbass Line, delivery of large quantities of arms including Javelin anti-armor weapons, renewed talk of heavy economic sanctions, and a chorus of shrill rhetoric from all quarters in Washington and Brussels.

The American objective of putting Russia back in its subordinate place was taken as an obvious given by the Kremlin. Uncertainty existed on the question of what initiatives on the ground to expect: a major assault on the Donbass or provocative acts to force a Russian reaction that could be used as a pretext for imposing sanctions (above all, the cancelling of NORDSTROM II).

It is likely that senior policymakers in Washington themselves had not made a definitive judgment on the issue. Divisions among individual players and a wavering President could very well left have important matters unresolved within a soft, cloudy consensus. There was visible evidence of this in the repeated juxtaposition, and alternation, of bellicose rhetoric and Biden’s mollifying words in public and the “let’s not go to war” telephone conversations he initiated to Putin and reaffirmed at their Geneva Summit.

In Moscow, too, there likely were differences of opinion – or, more accurately, of emphasis. They surely led to some divergences over what actions Russia should take. It is essential to bear in mind that Putin himself seems to have been closer to the dovish end of the continuum among Security Council members on the overarching issue of how to deal with the U.S., with the West, and particularly Ukraine. One could imagine a gradual hardening of thinking among all individuals as tensions mounted and frustrations grew in the Kremlin. A Putin, who might have been trying to fashion an approach that reconciled his own wariness about military confrontation with genuine worry about the threats to Russian security presented by Washington’s hardline, might have found himself in a quandary. I suspect that American official have very little understanding of this reality or appreciate its implications.

That could explain the promulgation of that strange position paper/demarche wherein he laid out in detail a list of demands for a drastic revision of Europe’s security configuration punctuated by an emphasis on time urgency. That is to say, a Hail Mary to stay the hand of a growing consensus that the time had come for Russia to hit back at the West in the Ukraine. Two things perhaps tipped Putin’s thinking into accepting the necessity of doing what he did. One was the West’s unbending and unaccommodating response. The other, was the Ukrainians’ launching an unprecedented artillery and mortar barrage against the Donetsk and Luhansk provinces. Who forced that fateful step? Elements of the Ukraine Army and/or security services? The AZOV brigade and associated parties? Zelensky? With how much encouragement from the CIA and/or the White House?

Michael Brenner

Posted by: Housedoc | Feb 26 2022 18:47 utc | 15

I would think that the small force available to Russia would never be able to control much land area. Success would be in destroying capability of Ukraine military.

Status on southfront seems to show mixed results - characterized by Ukraine holing-up in city centers. Is that a sensible strategy?

Posted by: jared | Feb 26 2022 18:38 utc | 11

The Russians have been surrounding cities and negotiating demilitarization in Syria for some years now, very patient about it too. Since they don't want to occupy, they don't have to take cities.

Since it seems the Ukrainian forces are siting heavy weapons in the cities, the Russians might well have to go into the cities, but even then they don't need to take them.

I think the problem is going to be finding someone to hand it over to when they are done and want to leave.

Posted by: Bemildred | Feb 26 2022 18:49 utc | 16

Tweet by:
@dgaytandzhieva
Dilyana Gaytandzhieva

“...
The US Embassy in #Ukraine has just deleted from its website all documents about 11 Pentagon-funded biolaboratories in Ukraine. I have published all these documents (now deleted by the Embassy) here dilyana.bg/the-pentagon-b… and in the thread below
...”

https://twitter.com/dgaytandzhieva/status/1497556518278991873?s=21

Posted by: MadMax2 | Feb 26 2022 18:49 utc | 17

Bundeskanzler Olaf Scholz
@Bundeskanzler

Regierungsvertreter*in aus Deutschland
· 26m
The Russian invasion marks a turning point. It is our duty to support Ukraine to the best of our ability in defending against Putin's invading army. That is why we are delivering 1000 anti-tank weapons and 500 #Stinger missiles to our friends in #Ukraine.

Posted by: Down South | Feb 26 2022 18:50 utc | 18

There is an incredible channel on Telegram, 'Intel Slava Z', clearly the Russian military propaganda channel but with some astounding videos! One, shot from inside a car heading out of Mariupol, shows Ukrainian military? dragging passengers out of a car and shooting them in cold blood. On seeing this the driver videoing the scene realises that he's next and takes off like a bat out of hell!

Posted by: Barofsky | Feb 26 2022 18:50 utc | 19

How credible is this news ''Zelensky prepared to surrender'' https://www.voltairenet.org/article215848.html

Posted by: Nick | Feb 26 2022 18:50 utc | 20

I think twitter is being replaced by telegram right now for fast information and videos. Twitter has changed and allowed to be captured by Western narrative creation workers. Videos that I can see on telegram dont make it to twitter. It seems like. Unfiltered reporting now comes from telegram. How can I used telegram without logging in? I dont want to give my phone number to any company!

Posted by: Arne Hartmann | Feb 26 2022 18:55 utc | 21

Footage of military engineers from the Russian Black Sea Fleet blowing up a concrete dam that has been blocking the North Crimean Canal since 2014

https://t.me/sputniknewsus/8030

Posted by: Norwegian | Feb 26 2022 18:57 utc | 22

I suspect Ukraine "peace negotitions" sought to bring about a RF halt which allowed Ukrainian forces to escape the kessel forming behind the Donbass LOC.

The blue lines on b's map illustrate this retrograde manouvre. If these units do evade RF capture then they offer the Z regieme an opportunity to extend the conflict.

Posted by: Sushi | Feb 26 2022 19:01 utc | 23

As also mentioned by circumspect @4, the US goal since its Maidan regime change coup in 2014 has been to turn the Ukraine into another Afghanistan to inflict upon Russia "a Vietnam War" (to use Brzezinski's parlance.)

The Ukrainians were foolish enough to fall for that proxy pawn role. Have they not seen the suffering and societal destruction that Afghanistan has gone through in the four decades since 1979? What is that, two generations ruined? Their best bet is to kick their US/Western manipulators out, stop the manipulators' incoming flow of "lethal aid" (read: lethal weaponry) and fascists, and become neutral.

Posted by: Canadian Cents | Feb 26 2022 19:01 utc | 24

"Have they not seen the suffering and societal destruction that Afghanistan has gone through in the four decades since 1979?"

They definitely see it, but they also see all the zeroes in their Swiss bank accounts they're getting from USAID/NED and Lord knows where else.

When the going gets tough in Ukraine, these people get out of town and go to Nice or Alexandria.

Posted by: P Walker | Feb 26 2022 19:14 utc | 25

@ Down South | Feb 26 2022 18:50 utc | 18

How would those weapons be transported into and distributed in Ukraine, I wonder?

... asking for a friend

That supply chain should be the focus.

Posted by: jared | Feb 26 2022 19:14 utc | 26

How can I used telegram without logging in? I dont want to give my phone number to any company!

Posted by: Arne Hartmann | Feb 26 2022 18:55 utc | 2

You can register to telegram with a number but only use an id and hide your number. You can also pick a disposable free phone number from smartphone apps(fongo, TextNow..)

Posted by: Virgile | Feb 26 2022 19:15 utc | 27

If I were Russia, at this point I would say fuck it, disconnect from SWIFT, and cut diplomatic relations with US, UK, and anyone sending arms to Ukronazis.

Posted by: Trisha | Feb 26 2022 19:17 utc | 28

Some people believe that all the factors that drove Putin into this Operation were a cleverly-orchestrated trap laid by the CIA to lead Putin into Ukraine to self-destruct himself and weaken Russia. Or maybe they put a chip in his brain to take him as far as they want him to go? What's the difference?

Even if the CIA stoked some fires; and who am I to prove they didn't; I can guarantee you that when they did whatever they did for whatever goal they did, they never saw the nuclear-powered train that was already reflecting in the whites of their eyes.

Posted by: Circe | Feb 26 2022 19:20 utc | 29

Saker has a new sitrep with what he says are credible maps and links to their source. Here's a portion of his report that I see as important for us barflies to comprehend:

"Next, Nikolaev is either fully surrounded or will be very soon.

"So, what does all that mean?

"It means that we are coming to some kind of informational climax here. So far, in the West, that information is suppressed (even Sputnik and RT are under regular DDoS attack). I won’t even bother on the 500 foot high wave of disinformation produced by western PSYOPs in the social media....

"So right now the western PYSOPs can still throw out as many claims as it wants, but pretty soon the entire narrative will collapse, at which point the Russia-hating-and-bashing hysteria will reach a new feverish pitch. Be mentally prepared for that." [My Emphasis]

Also, his Day 2 sitrep contains very important info, some of which was shared here in the previous thread, but ought to be read by all barflies.

Posted by: karlof1 | Feb 26 2022 19:23 utc | 30

"Several European countries are sending weapons to the Ukraine".

How? By donkey caravans? You probably mean trying to send. Russia has closed the airspace and promised the US and the Eurofags a retaliation never experianced in their history should they try to intervene. That probably means shooting down the delivery and the place/airport it came from, or worse.

Not even the English would be stupid enough to be the first.

Posted by: mikhas | Feb 26 2022 19:26 utc | 31

According to Pepe, Zelensky fled Kiev to Lviv


Pepe Escobar
@RealPepeEscobar
·
8h
The Comedian has fled the (Kiev) building and is under protection of neo-Nazis in Lviv.

Posted by: Down South | Feb 26 2022 19:29 utc | 32

As b has said, there is little verificable news to report. In the meantine the anti-rusos are winning the propoganda war and Will continúe to do so until the operación concludes. Lets Hope they wrap It Up soon. I think the invasión was a mistake. The end of NATO and a little daylight between the US and Europe now seems farther off than ever, but we Will see. That miserable twit Blinky and his suckass sidekick Jakey are looking good now, which really pains me. Not to mention what the ordinary people in Ucrania are going through.

Posted by: c | Feb 26 2022 19:31 utc | 33

@ Les7 | Feb 26 2022 18:42 utc | 13

Yes, Chechens.
That would be the us trained moderate rebel proxy, proxy force.
Just in case the Ukraine regulars were having any thoughts of yielding.

That should boost morale.

Posted by: jared | Feb 26 2022 19:31 utc | 34

So now the European satraps are even enforcing the US sanctions list, ie. the French bringing the ship to port. Will they never tire of cutting their own throats, much less the humiliation? I can understand Australia being "America's sheriff" as Bush called them. Never would have believed it of the EU.

Posted by: mwm | Feb 26 2022 19:34 utc | 35

thanks b and the posters here... @ 28 trisha.. interesting thought experiment.. thanks.. not sure how that would work, but sure as hell would catch the west off guard..

Posted by: james | Feb 26 2022 19:35 utc | 36

My theory:
Kiew is not the real target.
If Russia wanted to decapitate the enemy they would apply shock and awe:
1. Initial massive wave of missile attacks against fixed targets
2. Continuous wave of multi squadron attacks for SEAD reasons. Bombers accompanied by drones and dog fight aircraft
3. Cutting off of all communication
4. Destruction of power plants
5. a two-pronged huge ground attack secured by helicopters
Result: probably high casualties in the short term but quick finish of the war by capturing Zelenski or the surrender of the central government

The real goal is capturing Mariupol and a stretch of land connecting Crimea to the eastern rebel held areas while building a buffer westwards of DNR and LNR.

So, why so many attack points?
To distract UA forces and stretch them thin. Side effect: by moving towards Kiew to rescue the capital such remote forces are exposed and partially annihilated

Outcome: much better negotiation position for Russia, security for DNR and LNR.

Posted by: Kerkaraje | Feb 26 2022 19:48 utc | 37

https://www.bloombergquint.com/business/indian-refiners-are-snapping-up-cheap-russian-oil?cx_testId=2&cx_testVariant=cx_1&cx_artPos=1#cxrecs_s

It is events such as this that could rout all sanctions.

India abstained from condemning Russia and quickly offered a currency swap for Russian fertilizer and other goods. This must enrage the US. Now, they are buying up cheap oil.

It will interesting to see how the Euro poodles hold out while others are jumping on bargains and opportunities.

Posted by: Eighthman | Feb 26 2022 19:48 utc | 38

A video taken by someone driving through the remains of a massive Ukraine military convoy on the E97 approach to Oleshky southwest of Kherson. The convoy extends over many kilometers. There are many trailers without towing vehicles, indicating that the driving crew high tailed the convoy once it was hit. The vehicles appear to be pointing in both directions so it is unclear if the group was originally head towards or from Crimea.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RR8BVr_B338

Posted by: Arfur Mo | Feb 26 2022 19:49 utc | 39

Posted by: Trisha | Feb 26 2022 19:17 utc | 28


If I were Russia, at this point I would say fuck it, disconnect from SWIFT, and cut diplomatic relations with US, UK, and anyone sending arms to Ukronazis.

I agree. Couple this action with the demand that all energy exports be repriced in rubles would send a message.

Any state which delivers arms to one of the combatants is entering the conflict and may be subject to attack. This attack would need to occur on the territory of Ukraine to avoid the state invoking NATO article 5.

RT reports France has seized a RF cargo ship transporting autos to a RF Baltic port. Technically such seizure is an act of war.
https://www.rt.com/russia/550707-russia-ship-detained-france/

RT confirms Germany sending ATM and Stinger manpads to Ukraine.
https://www.rt.com/russia/550723-germany-send-weapons-ukraine-operation/

Posted by: Sushi | Feb 26 2022 19:50 utc | 40

I'm retrospectively trying to figure out what NATO/'the west' was thinking in the lead up to this. They spent months predicting a Russian invasion, all the while signalling they would do nothing proactive to stand in the way. And from things the Ukraine junta was saying, they didn't provide much solid intel to Ukraine about how to prepare.

Meanwhile, there were even maps published purporting to show exactly how a Russian invasion would go, and yet now that it has proceeded almost exactly along those predictions, NATO/the west seem surprised and caught flat-footed.

A glaring example of strategic lunacy was the concentration of Ukie forces against the Donbass. The maps published by UK media should have made it obvious that those forces would be kettled and destroyed by the anticipated invasion. And yet the concentration was intensified.

Is it weird that I am sensing whiffs of some kind of set-piece going on here?

Posted by: Figleaf23 | Feb 26 2022 19:50 utc | 41

Jared @ 34:

My understanding is that Chechen forces in Ukraine are with Russian forces and were sent there by Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov.

Any ISIS-affiliated Chechens presumably would have gone to Syria years ago and been dealt with by the Syrians and their allies (Iran, Hezbollah, Russia). By 2017, ISIS was importing Uyghurs so they must have been replacing the Chechens.

Posted by: Jen | Feb 26 2022 19:54 utc | 42

Colonel Lang has come around to the idea of U.S. involvement in the Ukraine conflict via covert actions.

https://turcopolier.com/the-situation-and-possible-courses-of-action/

Posted by: morongobill | Feb 26 2022 19:54 utc | 43

@38 Eighthman
re: India
Smart move. India is top of the list for collateral damage (read: famine) in the commodities based economic war that is just kicking off. German efforts, such as they were, to preserve basic materials trade, seem to have failed now.

Posted by: ptb | Feb 26 2022 19:54 utc | 44

If Mr Putin is true to his word, and Turkey still intends on supplying drones to Ukraine, might we see some industrial parks in Turkey go boom?

Cheers M

Posted by: sean the leprechaun | Feb 26 2022 19:54 utc | 45

I think Ukraine is now a battleground in a world wide asymmetric war. Not clear what the sides are but one side wants to effect its Great Reset and the other side is all the rest of us who are not on board with the first side. Most developed countries, judging by the covid response which was the bombardment softening up phase of this war, are part of the Great Reset side.

The over-riding priority in this first phase of this new world war, which perhaps now has a small kinetic element now in Ukraine though the most important aspects of what is going on there have to do with world wide narrative management, is to bring the United States down to its knees principally through internal collapse of the political, cultural and economic spheres so that they will be open to accepting the inevitable Great Reset offer which they will then be in no position to refuse.

I expect stuff to heat up around Taiwan, a financial collapse, a USD abandonment as world reserve currency, food shortages especially in the US and perhaps a climate disaster (nuclear-triggered tsunami somewhere hitting...... Japan most likely since it's a US ally). There is probably another 3-5 years of all this unless we are brought to surrender sooner.

Or find a viable way to overthrow these jokers. Will the truckers be able to do this? Doesn't seem likely, but it's a start perhaps.

Posted by: BaronAsh | Feb 26 2022 19:58 utc | 46

re 41
Yes Vladimir bit. He took the bait. I fear he was too ámbitious (deNazify a whole country? Ask the spanish how that turns out) but i hope he can pull It off.

Posted by: c | Feb 26 2022 19:58 utc | 47

There are seemingly endless videos of Russian captured warehouses stacked to the rafters with fresh crates of small arms and ammo. And antitank weapons. And heavy machine guns. And so forth.

Sending arms to Ukraine has been a Congressional hobby for a while now. The have all the arms they can possibly use. More will be sent and then still more will be sent.

Also vids of captured Ukrainians with pathetic boots begging the Russians for something better to walk home in..

Posted by: oldhippie | Feb 26 2022 19:59 utc | 48

How this ends is anyone guess but I do believe the Russians have this all figured out while NATO is just throwing shit against the wall to see what sticks.

Posted by: circumspect

Maybe the Russians are just waiting for the US ( and the rest) to crumble economically. And than no money, no candy for the Nazis.
It shouldn't be too long.

Posted by: Louis | Feb 26 2022 20:01 utc | 49

A new Nazi insurgency in eastern Europe is an exceptionally bad idea. Fascist groups form everywhere would join in. A few years from now it may well lead to Nazi terror in many European countries.

Moon's broad geopolitical instincts are correct but I must say he sometimes gets too emotional, particularly wrt the UK and Brexit and certain elements of hardcore Russian talking points. The above scenario is absurd.

At this point the best outcome for everyone would be a swift and decisive Russian victory. There was hope that a quick Russian victory with no US-NATO response may have humbled the neocons but in reality the whole 'Russiagate' hysteria means the entire Western upper middle classes and up have lost their minds and rather than issue sanctions etc in a reasonable perfunctory manner, the neocons may be able to successfully push for even more aggression and pressure on Russia with no progressive liberals in their way to try and stop them.

The alternative is a bloody insurgency that will kill untold people, lead to more intensive ethnic cleansing of Ukrainians from the East, leave Ukraine even more poor and leave the EU to deal with a millions of very poor 40 million Ukrainian refugees and 'refugees'. Whilst also taking out Russia as a serious geopolitical player who could intervene in neocons/Israel's next regime change. And pushing what's left of Russia into China's arms.

Posted by: Altai | Feb 26 2022 20:03 utc | 50

I believe this will go down as a historic blunder. I can't see any short term, or even long term benefit of this action. I have always viewed Russia as acting rationally, proportionately and strategically in contrast to the U.S. Their action in Ukraine is none of these.

War must always be the last resort, even moreso when the action is taken against a neighbour. The threat posed by NATO expansion does not justify war; it is an incredibly disproportionate response. Ukraine was not going to join NATO anytime soon. Given the issues with Donbass etc., this was never going to be on the agenda.

What they have done is increase their insecurity by gaining the enmity of their neighbour, and will bring MORE NATO troops and weapons closer to their borders. It's a massive strategic mistake. The U.S. is a declining power; they just needed to bide their time and watch them collapse.
They've isolated themselves diplomatically from Europe for the foreseeable future, when they could have been building their relationship as the U.S declines. They should have taken advantage of Macron's eagerness to mediate.

I don't know what the goal of this incursion is as 100-200,000 soldiers can't take, much less hold a country of ~40million people. I really can't understand the military thinking.

The lives of ordinary Russians will be impacted economically and reputationally.

This is the stupidest, most irrational and criminal blunder since the Iraq invasion. The reputation of Russia is now in the gutter and will take a decade or more to rebuild. As someone who has viewed Russia as a rational actor, and who has defended their actions to friends against the propaganda from the western media, I'm deeply disappointed. I will no longer be able to do this.

Posted by: bachac | Feb 26 2022 20:12 utc | 51

@ Arfur Mo | Feb 26 2022 19:49 utc | 39... thanks for that..

Posted by: james | Feb 26 2022 20:14 utc | 52

This blog-post contains the full speech Putin made on Thursday, in English.

https://johnplatinumgoss.com/2022/02/26/putins-speech-on-thursday/

They've taken down RT in English. The above speech is increasingly difficult to find. Fortunately someone sent me a link.

Posted by: John Goss | Feb 26 2022 20:14 utc | 53

@ morongobill | Feb 26 2022 19:54 utc | 43... funny guy pat is... he wants to get rid of the cia - he ought to know, and yet here he flips to wanting to use them, lol.. the guy defies logic..

Posted by: james | Feb 26 2022 20:16 utc | 54

Giving diplomacy a chance …

NATO moving in massive supplies of weapons …
NATO refueling remaining Ukrainian fighter jets on Romanian border ..
NATO countries massive surge in supplies of lethal weapons for Ukraine …
The Dutch are sending 200 Stinger missiles and 400 RPGs …
Germany joins in build-up of lethal weapons for Ukraine …
Death and destruction … it will harden positions and make a ceasefire impossible.

The Ukrainian graveyard will be enlarged and the war hostilities extended … as I have posted before, so unnecessary if only Zelensky and before him Poroshenko would have implemented the Minsk agreement and signed a treaty EU Yes and NATO No. Fu** the neo-nazis of Lviv and surroundings.

In polling, nearly 75% of Dutch urge stronger sanctions on Russia, NATO was negligent and should have given more military support, want Mark Rutte to increase budget for military and NATO. Two decades of disinformation ended in Russophobia, people have followed their leader and gone fully MAD. A wet dream of Goebbels, so gullible. Has ☮️ been scrapped from Dutch vocabulary.

Posted by: Oui | Feb 26 2022 20:17 utc | 55

As someone who has viewed Russia as a rational actor, and who has defended their actions to friends against the propaganda from the western media, I'm deeply disappointed. I will no longer be able to do this.

Posted by: bachac | Feb 26 2022 20:12 utc | 51

Turns out you default to supporting NATO-backed nazis, of all things.

Posted by: Misotheist | Feb 26 2022 20:20 utc | 56

@ bachac 51

IMO, your case grew weak here:

>> They've isolated themselves diplomatically from Europe for the foreseeable future, when they could have been building their relationship.

because they already tried and kept watching Europe follow its masters.

Then your case fell apart here:

>> They should have taken advantage of Macron's eagerness to mediate.

At first I wondered: Are you having a laugh? The remainder continues downhill, IMO.

Posted by: nom de derriere | Feb 26 2022 20:22 utc | 57

They've taken down RT in English

25 Years ago when TV antennas were banned, I refused national cable connection, feared censorship. Installed satellite reception and have been proven right … a very broad reception of free channels. No subscription of any sort.

Posted by: Oui | Feb 26 2022 20:23 utc | 58

Posted by: Figleaf23 | Feb 26 2022 19:50 utc | 41

The US wants the Ukraine destroyed. It is part of its propaganda blitz against Russia. The Ukraine has been set up to help demonize Russia. The US and EU do not want the Ukraine. they want it to be Russia's basket case.

Posted by: Blue Dotterel | Feb 26 2022 20:23 utc | 59

@ Jen | Feb 26 2022 19:54 utc | 42

Go, Chechens!

Suggest "no drive" zone around boarder - just a concept.
Poland will take action.
Presents an opportunity to draw in NADO.

It becomes more apparent (bio labs) that this is an existential matter for Russia. Is it smart for China to sit out? Maybe joint exercises in Black Sea or Baltic?

Posted by: jared | Feb 26 2022 20:23 utc | 60

The crowds gathered to grab the free guns and the crowd for the community Molotov manufacturing are all wearing The North Face and Harris tweed. Normal Ukrainians wear vatnik. Not that many Ukrainians have benefited in any way from the Maidan government. It is only a small group that got rich.

We shall see how many are willing to throw that Molotov or fire that gun. And how many continue to be willing when it becomes plain that Russians and Chechens are pretty darn good at house to house fighting. So far the Russian army has been kind to the captured. When the housewives in North Face are seen as Nazis in close combat there will be no captured. The Chechens are not there to process prisoners.

Posted by: oldhippie | Feb 26 2022 20:24 utc | 61

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IexFtDCJNsM

Scott Ritter yesterday.

Posted by: Michael Weddington | Feb 26 2022 20:25 utc | 62

The Empire of Lies continues its, uh... litany of lies in all of the mainstream media from Murdoch to Micro-Soft NBC that have joined lock-step to nauseatingly repeat the CIA propaganda...

For those who wish Russia didn't respond to genocide from Nazis and existential pressure from an Empire of Lies, and believe it's a huge blunder etc... are internalizing propaganda which you've experienced all your lives and call it 'news.'

Posted by: gottlieb | Feb 26 2022 20:26 utc | 63

Many more social groups than the fascist have become armed as a result of Zelinsky — social revolution Al la Rojava is already starting in occupied Krakiv.

Posted by: Wobblie | Feb 26 2022 20:27 utc | 64

@bachac

I understand what you're trying to say, but you're studiously ignoring an important fact : NATO was ALREADY inching towards Russia's borders. I, too, hate this war and am queasy and afraid, but when I look back at the 8 past years, I am always led to the same conclusion : Putin, Lavrov and Russia tried everything diplomatically. For 8 years they waited, went through 2 Minsk accords, while Zakharchenko, Givi, Motorola, Mozgovoï were picked off one after another. I cannot think of anything else they could have done, apart from giving up, offering the keys of Russia on a silver plate and telling US empire "please go ahead, resume plundering and break up our country please".

Every time, at every turn, NATO and the US only replied "fuck you" in diplomatese.

I hate seeing these images of war, but then I think to these Donbass residents who for 8 years have gone to bed with the sound of shelling in the background and I say to myself fuck it, these people also deserve to have a good night's rest.

And if Russia's reputation is in the gutters, so be it. I'm old enough to remember the Chechen wars, when Putin and Russia were condemned every day as butchers. Then there was MH 17, and Russia being "paria", "isolated". Don't you remember it at the time ? Russia was kicked off the G8 and was supposed to be the world's outcast. Then things slowly went back to normal.

It will be the same this time. Because you know what : Russia is a big, big country and the world cannot simply function without it. And in the end, people respect you more when you stand up for your rights than when you meekly go down and turn the other cheek. That is ok at a personal level to earn your spot in paradise, but states should assert themselves. Go Russia.

Posted by: MIcron | Feb 26 2022 20:29 utc | 65

Posted by: jared | Feb 26 2022 19:14 utc | 26

Via Poland would work. Let’s hope they aren’t that crazy.

Posted by: Jörgen Hassler | Feb 26 2022 20:29 utc | 66

>> In the meantine the anti-rusos are winning the propoganda war

It looks that way where we live, behind the Fiber Curtain in the Empire of Lies. But, that battle was unwinnable. Apparently, Russia has conceded it and chose to fight where it can win and to do so while it matters.

Posted by: nom de derriere | Feb 26 2022 20:31 utc | 67

Thanks for the update b. It's exceedingly difficult to get any 'clear view' as Thucydides puts it (1.22). This site is a tether to sane analysis. History moves very slowly but is also opaque to those caught in its moment. We may not fully understand what's happening for years, if ever.

Posted by: Patroklos | Feb 26 2022 20:33 utc | 68

https://t.me/intelslava/20755

This very short video will be everywhere quite soon. This male model is not going to fight. Should the fight come to him he will shoot his foot, shoot his comrades, and then run like hell.

Posted by: oldhippie | Feb 26 2022 20:33 utc | 69

@John Goss | Feb 26 2022 20:14 utc | 53

They've taken down RT in English.

This is NOT correct. I am accessing RT now. There is DDOS protection and you may have to prove you are not a bot. RT works.

Posted by: Norwegian | Feb 26 2022 20:34 utc | 70

Time to put down the Sun Tzu and take up the writings Of Ghengis Khan - most written in blood and fire I gather.

Forget signing agreeing not to fight, they will fight for Russia, I suggest.

Posted by: jared | Feb 26 2022 20:36 utc | 71

This is a worthy read on Nato and its affiliation with Nazism in Eastern Europe.


https://www.voltairenet.org/article215552.html

Posted by: Republicofscotland | Feb 26 2022 20:36 utc | 72

i love watching fat lazy know nothing do nothing Americans cheering on grandma and her Molotov cocktails to fight their battles for them. such tough guys.

not only can the 95 year old queen mother not a get break from the fake virus (back to work, grandma! you represent British values, right?), granny courage is their Rambo.

Posted by: rjb1.5 | Feb 26 2022 20:42 utc | 73

bachac | Feb 26 2022 20:12 utc | 51

NATO and the US under war hawk Joe Biden were unrelentless. Kyiv was run under US Command … implementation of Minsk agreements were blocked by the rightwing groups and Zelensky’s own “moderate” party … the actor broke his campaign promise to ease tensions with neighbour Russia.

Instead, an initiative was introduced to re-possess the Donbas.

Crimea in the Spotlight – the Road to De-Occupation | Wilfried Martens Institute - Aug. 23, 2021 | — see the Crimea Platform and backers.

De facto, NATO states were changing the status of Ukraine to a member state while borders were not secure and a stalemate with Russia existed.

NATO under US military command and the White House have proven themselves to be wholly unreliable. Since the Bucharest Summit of 2008, Russia was declared an enemy state or evil empire. All channels of communication and diplomacy were cut. The recent visit of UK Ben Wallace to Moscow was the first visit and high level contact between the two nations for over a decade. Completely irresponsible … we don’t know what is in Putin’s mind … no shit! Provocative dumb a$$es.

Posted by: Oui | Feb 26 2022 20:42 utc | 74

@34 Jared

You obviously need to update yourself on Chechnya, and a guy by the name of Ramzan

Enjoy, or not

Posted by: Les7 | Feb 26 2022 20:43 utc | 75

John Goss | Feb 26 2022 20:14 utc | 53
Posted by: Norwegian | Feb 26 2022 20:34 utc | 70

I can access RT from Turkey, as well, but maybe it comes and goes, or maybe some countries can block it.

Posted by: Blue Dotterel | Feb 26 2022 20:44 utc | 76

@MIcron

"NATO was ALREADY inching towards Russia's borders. I, too, hate this war and am queasy and afraid, but when I look back at the 8 past years, I am always led to the same conclusion : Putin, Lavrov and Russia tried everything diplomatically. For 8 years they waited, went through 2 Minsk accords, while Zakharchenko, Givi, Motorola, Mozgovoï were picked off one after another. I cannot think of anything else they could have done, apart from giving up, offering the keys of Russia on a silver plate and telling US empire "please go ahead, resume plundering and break up our country please".

Agreed on this. However my point is that the U.S. is a clearly declining power. Their pace of decline is only going to pick up as any observer of their current domestic politics will attest. Russia could have bided it's time and develop better relations with its European neighbours as the U.S declined to take advantage. There was no imminent thret from Ukraine.

There was this Onion article a few years ago about Al Queda's plan being to sit back and watch the collapse of the U.S. Russia could have taken the same approach. And they wouldn't have had to wait long, just wait for the next U.S. election for more chaos.

I'm still struggling to see the logic in Russia's action.

Posted by: bachac | Feb 26 2022 20:46 utc | 77

Across Europe, Russian broadcast networks, which have long been accused of carrying Kremlin propaganda, are being taken off the air.

https://www.c21media.net/news/european-nations-start-to-pull-russian-networks-after-invasion-of-ukraine/

Posted by: Oui | Feb 26 2022 20:46 utc | 78

Posted by: nom de derriere | Feb 26 2022 20:31 utc | 67

Apparently, Russia has conceded it and chose to fight where it can win and to do so while it matters.

I think you're quite right. Ultimately, the optic war is soft power. The Russians are deploying hard power. But who cares if a suburban mum and dad in Australia think Putin is a baddy? They already did. Their views are shaped by fairy tales crafted in Hollywood. But the optics war is a war against their own populations who may accidentally ask "how different is this to WMD and Iraq?". History is indifferent to the stories we tell each other to explain why things happen. If there's any people on the planet who can teach us about the impotence of optics management it's the Russians. They just wait patiently and then—bang—a swift rectal reminder. And they simply don't give a shit what others think of them. But what is Putin's crime? He brought his country out of wilderness and turned their lives around. Russians are proud again. The West will never forgive him for that.

This whole thing is like watching one of those videos where someone taunts an animal which patiently absorbs it until...

Posted by: Patroklos | Feb 26 2022 20:50 utc | 79

Posted by: james | Feb 26 2022 20:16 utc | 54

He's anything but funny, he's and old man with a very bad conscience, his deeds in Central America and many other places are the stuff that bring sleepless night to someone that claims christianity as his philosophy. At the same time it goes without saying, Russia can be imperial, communist, christian, buddhist or pagan, but the commie excuse is just that, a excuse, what they want is that piece of real estate, badly, for centuries now. Their chance is gone, they were close to it with Yeltsin the drunkard, but things have changed.

Posted by: Paco | Feb 26 2022 20:51 utc | 80

Operation Technical Means, in its third day and going very well!!! Slow, thorough, and steady! Professionally executed. Tip my hats off to Putin and company.

I understand that right now Russia units are carpet cleaning, sweeping out embedded Ukronazis military units here and there, neighborhood by neighborhood in cities, and keep self and civilian casualties low. Over a thousand paramilitary boroughs has been cleaned out. Way to go. Meanwhile, Ukronazis watch their turf being mopped up and gets nervous. Sooner or later they'll pop their heads to see which way to scramble to save their own butts. That's when they'll be snatched. Didn't Putin said one of the goals is to round up ALL the neo-nazis? It takes time. Go slow and steady, you'll get them all. Most of them anyway. Besides, what the hell is the hurry.

I see that this operation is going to expose the west for who they are, disorganized, incompetent, and selfish to the souls chicken shits. The world is seeing the bare butts of the west wearing no cloths, butts after butts and stinking up to heavens. The longer this operation takes, the deeper the image of a scrambling west etches into the global memory bank. About time!!!

Posted by: Oriental Voice | Feb 26 2022 20:54 utc | 81

@ bachac | Feb 26 2022 20:46 utc | 77.. obviously russia saw it different here at this moment in time..

@ paco... i said funny, but i was being sarcastic... schizophrenic is more like it.. i agree with you...

Posted by: james | Feb 26 2022 20:54 utc | 82

Oui | Feb 26 2022 20:17 utc | 55

the dutch volunteered about two hundred of their people as sacraficial goats in MH17.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Feb 26 2022 20:57 utc | 83

Posted by: Kerkaraje | Feb 26 2022 19:48 utc | 37

"The real goal is capturing Mariupol and a stretch of land connecting Crimea to the eastern rebel held areas while building a buffer westwards of DNR and LNR.

So, why so many attack points?"

I agree that Russia would like to section off this area from a future Ukrainian govt. but this alone wouldn't be enough. There has to be a neutrality agreement (including no nukes) otherwise the real problem of a hostile neighbour under US control remains.

Posted by: MikeO | Feb 26 2022 21:01 utc | 84

Zelensky and power brokers in US Military Industrial Complex

Erik Prince Offer to Kyiv to Build Aircraft Industry in 2019, takeover of Motor Sich aircraft industry production of jet engines.

Motor Sich's ownership structure is complex. The company passed into private hands in the 90s when Vyacheslav Bohuslayev, a former lawmaker, bought up its shares. It is now owned by a number of offshore companies in Cyprus, Panama, and Belize.

Selling Motor Sich to the Chinese: The Political Significance of the Business Transaction | Aug. 31, 2019 |

The U.S. administration aims to block the sale of a strategically important Ukrainian engine manufacturer for aircraft and missiles to China. During his recent visit to Kyiv, John Bolton has probably warned the Ukrainians about the consequences of finalising such a transaction. The White House has already sent a warning signal, delaying the transfer of $250 million worth of military aid to Ukraine.

Motor Sich case: $100 million should be repaid to Chinese investors | July 12, 2021 |

In January, the U.S. Department of Commerce imposed sanctions on China's Skyrizon Aircraft Holdings Limited, an investor in Ukraine's Motor Sich. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said the United States wanted to warn exporters that Skyrizon had close ties to the Chinese army.

Posted by: Oui | Feb 26 2022 21:03 utc | 85

I totally agree with kerkaraje at #37.

I think Russia is going to close off Ukrainian regime access to azov sea (Mariupol), and then a few days later, access to Black Sea (Odessa). In the course of mopping up operations in lands to the east of Dnieper, Donbas and Luhansk republics will be claimed to be stabilised, and Odessa, Mariupol and everything else this side of dniepr will be treated as temporary buffers ( as in like 20 years temporary), while Russian language culture and sense of belonging is made to be unbreakable and then there will come about a further recognition of these peoples republics.

In the meantime, the Galician rump of Ukraine will be kept in the state of suspended animation and any weapons supplies will be simply destroyed.

Posted by: stan6565 | Feb 26 2022 21:06 utc | 86

@Peter AU1 | Feb 26 2022 20:57 utc | 83

the dutch volunteered about two hundred of their people as sacraficial goats in MH17.
Or.... they were the passengers of MH370 that were killed a few months before and never found (only case in world history). There were several reports of bodies looking asian and smelling of formaldehyde.

Posted by: Norwegian | Feb 26 2022 21:06 utc | 87

CNN reporter on Kyiv: "relatively civilized, relatively European"

Wow, Ukrainians are still regarded as Untermenschen by the "civilised" US & NATO?

Posted by: lulu | Feb 26 2022 21:08 utc | 88


I like reading Doctorow from time to time, and today he has a particularly interesting article, about war and the way the Russians handle things in Syria, and will now handle them in Ukraine. Why make new enemies when in fact these people, this country, are old friends?


https://gilbertdoctorow.com/2022/02/26/the-russian-way-of-war/

"...The first point is a generalization from the remarks I made yesterday about their humane treatment of the enemy’s servicemen. This approach to the military tasks results from awareness that the military is a handmaiden to diplomacy and to politics, not vice versa, as has been the case in each of the major wars that the United States fought and ultimately lost in the past thirty years. That is why the Russians are not practicing “shock and awe,” which is the American way of war...."

Shock and awe is for barbarians like the americans and their european vassal states, especially the UK. Russia is practising something different, and I believe it will make a big difference in how their forces are received..... and also in their success to denazify the Ukraine - in which I surely hope they succeed.

Posted by: michaelj72 | Feb 26 2022 21:14 utc | 89

Let there be nazi insurgency in eastern Europe, I say.

This is nothing new. CIA tried it after the WW2. Seems they couldn't do much and Soviets were very effective in clensing nazi scum from their territories. Russians will be even more effective.

And those NATO countries that are fertile ground for nazi scum - I say let the grow and grow and show the world what they really are (Poland and Baltic midgets, I am looking at you mostly).

Posted by: Abe | Feb 26 2022 21:14 utc | 90

jared | Feb 26 2022 20:36 utc | 71

Sun Tzu was not just a talker or philosopher.
https://suntzudo.weebly.com/tzu-and-the-concubines.html

Skip the first bit til you get to the part about teaching discipline. war requires a certain ruthlessness and that, like the fire power is something Putin is capable of dialing up if required.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Feb 26 2022 21:16 utc | 91

Peter AU1 | Feb 26 2022 20:57 utc | 83

Followed the crash and aftermath by the hour for days and weeks.

From zero hour, The Hague and PM Mark Rutte communicated with Washington DC and Pentagon. The Dutch parroted exact copy/paste the American propaganda lines. The Dutch refused to contact the Donbas leaders, waited on Kyiv and Kharkiv for support. Wasted 3 weeks while Malaysia didn’t reckon with NATO a$$holes and was at the crash site in a day. Did the crucial forensics and obtained the black boxes from Donbas leadership as were shipped to France/Canada as I recall.

The Dutch were late and had an agenda. The Dutch ambassador was at a meeting with the corrupt SBU and “diplomats” and refused to close the air space for commercial flights just days prior to the accident.

Posted by: Oui | Feb 26 2022 21:17 utc | 92

bachac | Feb 26 2022 20:12 utc | 51

I too must wonder if you are being purposely disingenuous. If you are being serious then you will have to go back to the collapse of the Soviet Union and everything that has transpired since then. To begin with (and possibly end with) GHW Bush proclaiming as POTUS "There will be no peace dividend!" Another signpost on the road to world conflict is the circa 2000 PNAC document "Rebuilding America's Defenses" wherein the US MICIMATT compiled their military toys wish list but also their intent to use them to promote US "interests, ideals, and way of life." The only item that needs to be observed is "interests."

Again, if you are serious in wanting to know, one source that will be very good at walking through the pertinent details of how we got here is Consortium News. These past several weeks - and especially this last - have been many excellent articles that recap the FACTS of this several decades history.

I'm just a civilian, a pedestrian, a dilletante, compared to the regulars here, but I am guessing that a sort of very, very somber fatalism has settled in the minds of Russian leadership. It was either do this now or continue to suffer a death by a thousand cuts. Where and how it ends all of us must wait and see.

Posted by: vinnieoh | Feb 26 2022 21:17 utc | 93

Posted by: bachac | Feb 26 2022 20:12 utc | 51

Given that the Ukraine President was warning that he would get nuclear weapons at Munich Conference then what do you propose?

Posted by: Passer by | Feb 26 2022 21:18 utc | 94

Norwegian | Feb 26 2022 21:06 utc | 87

I don't think that was the case. Those passengers died at very high altitude with no oxygen and a freezing high velocity wind. MH370 disappeared when the track it was thought to have flown was not covered by the west Australian over the horizon radar due to it conveniently being shut down for two weeks to undergo maintenance/upgrades. Some wreckage found off the coast of Africa has been identified as being part of MH370.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Feb 26 2022 21:24 utc | 95

michaelj72 | Feb 26 2022 21:14 utc | 89

The idea and the term "Shock and Awe" originated with the Israelis. They merely updated "Blitzkrieg."

Posted by: vinnieoh | Feb 26 2022 21:25 utc | 96

For the US this is about EU dependence and ending Russian energy supply to Europe

For Russian this is about protecting Russian people

I case anyone forgot...In 2014 at the start of that Civil War, Chevron and Shell were the 1st to be re-xploring the conflict zone between the breakaway provinces and the Ukrainian army. After about a year and a half I think it was shell that gave up and said that there was no gas to be found in the big Ukrainian cold deposits under the Slavianks area. Chevron gave up after 2 and a 1/2 years. Many people were of the opinion that the US promoted the coup in 2014 in order to get what they thought was a guaranteed massive Natural gas supply in Ukraine so that they could cut Europe off of Russian energy at that time. The coup succeeded, but the gas deposits failed to materialize. When the gas deposits were not realized the US and the rest of Europe turned away from the Ukrainian Civil War and ignored it. Pretty obvious evidence that the motive even in 2014 was how to separate Europe from Russian energy.

Posted by: Les7 | Feb 26 2022 21:28 utc | 97

Couple of small comments. (Call them opinions as "fact Chechening" them is difficult these days)

* Mariopol is a/the key Azov base. The Russians are moving to kettle it, and I expect much more major fighting in that direction. Casualties.
*As Petri Krohn | Feb 26 2022 18:19 utc | 1, says they are shooting civilians trying to leave. There are other (non-confirmed cases of this being reported elsewhere, but as it is absolutely unclear to which side the shooters belong....). I separate Ukes from Azov here, with Rus being another possibility. The Latter is however unlikely. PS. Chechens are another upcoming fator.
*The Northern Pincer movement takes it towards large Nuclear power plant in Zaporihzhizia. Taking power from Zelenskis hands? Now the others?
*There was an attack by small boats during the night, (Sevastopol area?) which resulted in the sinking of five/six of them. To NOTE is that there was a US Global hawk overhead. Coordinating? This, coupled with stratotankers using Bulgarian and Polish airspace means that the US is taking an active participation in keeping an Uke airforce going. (The US has several Migs and other planes similar to those used by Ukraine, that they use for training. So are they really Ukrainian?

**
Arms and money flowing in from the EU. This is multiplying the possibilities for civilian casualties, and multiplies the number of countries that will become hostile targets if the whole thing goes nuclear.

Side note UK. Ten Labour MPs were forced by Starmer to withdraw their signatures on an anti-war effort. Should be called Sir Azov Starmer?
**

I conclude there will be possibly one more "halt" as this is one of Putins tactics, - allow a get-out. I think he must have got this from Sun Tzu who said (paraphrase) "do not entirely surround an enemy as they will have to fight to the death - (ie harder).

However, there are very few illusions that the US is going to keep the fighting going and be as bloody as possible to weaken Russia. Conversely Putin will close the affair as rapidly as possible. Third alternative; the amount of US and EU, UK pressure causes an uncontrollable extension of the war to other countries.

***
Propaganda; vids (not usually possible to link) with kids (teenagers) being madeup with paint (blooood colour), smiling at each other. CNN is running an "ad" campaign for the Russians by showing massive Russian artillery and other military hardware moving up to the front, Why scare the Ukes?
****

@Suchi. Thanks for the breakdown of the column (a way back in threads) I didn't get the opportunity to reply before.

Posted by: Stonebird | Feb 26 2022 21:31 utc | 98

Czech Republic: all alternative web sites shut down. 3 years in prison for “supporting Russian agression”. First people already arrested.

Posted by: Hes | Feb 26 2022 21:37 utc | 99

Oui | Feb 26 2022 21:17 utc | 92

I remember it well. Both the Dutch and Australians sat in Kiev fora couple of weeks, feet up and drinking beer. On the 3oth, the EU finally agreed to sanction Russia. The Ukraine rada met and passed a law allowing the Australians and Dutch to officially go to the crash sit. On the 31st, a Ukie armored column pushed up through Torenz and sporadic fighting commenced at the crash site.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Feb 26 2022 21:38 utc | 100

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