Bits Of Interest From The War In Ukraine
Below are various bits of interest from the war in Ukraine.
- Zelensky says 'western' leaders said no to Ukrainian NATO membership, but rejected to do so publicly.
- U.S. supported 'activist' commits publicly to war crimes.
- CNN promotes leader of neo-Nazi Azov Battalion.
- Arch Zionists are pissed off by Zelensky's holocaust revisionism.
- Destroyed Kiev shopping mall was used as weapon and ammunition depot.
- Despite a hopeless situation the government in Kiev rejects to end war in Mariupol.
- Unconfirmed: Zelensky rejects Ukrainian military request for retreat from the Donbas front.
In two draft treaties, which Russia had sent to the U.S. and EU in December, it demanded written declarations that the Ukraine would never join NATO. The U.S. and the EU publicly rejected that demand. It was a major reason for Russia to start its intervention.
Consider the above in light of this interview Zelensky gave yesterday to CNN. He said:
I requested them personally to say directly that we are going to accept you into NATO in a year or two or five. Just say it directly and clearly or just say no, and the response was very clear, you are not going to be a NATO or E.U. member, but publicly the doors will remain open.
The cowards just didn't want to say it publicly, even as it could have avoided a war.
White Swan @SDyorin - 10:32 UTC · Mar 21, 2022Head of #Ukrainian "1st volunteer mobile hospital" operating in #Donbass, political activist Gennady Druzenko claimed on '#Ukraine 24' channel that he 'ordered to 𝒄𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆 captive #Russian soldiers, because they are cockroaches, not humans'. #neonazis - Video
Dan Cohen @dancohen3000 - 9:21 UTC · Mar 20, 2022Druzenko is closely tied to the US government. He's had stints at USAID/Chemonics and the Wilson Center. - Image
Mark Ames @MarkAmesExiled - 12:47 UTC · Mar 21, 2022Incredible. neo-Nazi Azov promoting Azov Regiment commander Denis Prokopenko’s appearance on @CNN. Everything is upside-down. - Video
Oleksiy Kuzmenko @kooleksiy - 21:24 UTC · Mar 18, 2020Azov Regiment never de-politicized. The current commander Denys "Redis" Prokopenko, has been with Azov since 2014, came, per "Redis" himself, from the milieu of Dynamo Kyiv soccer hooligans. The photos are from a 2014 rally. The cover is of Azov's own zine "The Black Sun". - Images
Israeli lawmakers tear into Zelensky for Holocaust comparisons in Knesset speech - Times of Israel
Caroline Glick @CarolineGlick - 15:37 UTC · Mar 20, 2022Zelensky's claim that the Ukrainians were righteous gentiles who saved Jews in the Holocaust is sick historical revisionism. The Ukrainians were active, enthusiastic Nazis. Ukrainian Jewry wasn't annihilated in Poland, but in Ukraine, by their neighbors
Large explosion partially destroys Kyiv shopping mall, killing at least 8, officials say - Washington Post
> Early Monday, photographers documented several bodies laid outside an entrance to the mall. A Washington Post reporter who visited the site after the bodies were removed saw puddles of blood and olive green blood-soaked jackets on the ground. Abandoned surgical gloves were scattered about — apparently left over from medics who tried to save the victims. <
Aladin @aldin_ww - 9:41 UTC · Mar 21, 2022Now that all is done and there is more light on that situation I will say that strike on Retroville Mall in Kyiv was not just a strike on a shopping mall.
...
New images have been posted online showing military vehicles parked at the shopping mall. - ImageI don't like to do this stuff, I have promised to be as objective as possible and there it is.
Harry Boone @Harry_Boone - 11:54 UTC · Mar 21, 2022looks like "Retroville" shopping center was used as military storage - Image
Secondary explosion after Russian missile strike on Kyiv's "Retroville" shopping center
... Ammo storage ? - Video
Yuri Lyamin @imp_navigator - 14:45 UTC · 21 Mar 2022Fottages from Russian recc UAV (looks like Orlan-10) that tracked postion of the Ukrainian "Grad" MLRS that covered in parking of the Retroville Mall in Kiev. After that, a missile strike was carried out, that was also filmed from recc UAV. - Video
Bill Roggio @billroggio - 11:53 UTC · Mar 21, 20221) This map, from @BBC, dated March 20, shows the situation in Mariupol. Ukrainian forces, led by the Azov Battalion, are bottled up in an area approximately 6 square miles. There is no relief. - Map
2) A Russian general called for Ukrainian troops to surrender.
"There can be no question of any surrender, laying down of arms" in the city, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk responded.
Reuters: Ukraine defies Russian demand to lay down arms in Mariupol3) The neo-Nazi Azov Battalion is unlikely to lay down its arms, so the fight for Mariupol will only get bloodier.
Gleb Bazov @gbazov - 12:34 UTC · Mar 21, 2022
Command of #UA Joint Forces Operation in #Donbass has urgently requested a full-scale withdrawal from around #Donetsk to escape a forming cauldron. JFO command has asked to retreat from positions at #Kurakhovo, #Dachnoye, #Avdeedvka. 1/4 - Map#Russia|n forces have already reached the rear of #Ukrainian forces in this area, west of #Donetsk. The complete elimination of #UA units here is a matter of several days according to #JFO command. 2/4 - Map
According to #UA #JFO command, withdrawal from these positions could enable #Ukraine|ian troops to salvage the desperate situation and continue defensive operations in the area of #Dzerzhinsk and #Kramatorsk. 3/4
#Zelensky is refusing to allow the retreat for fear that it would be used by #Russia as a weapon in the information war against #Ukraine, as it would mean deblockading #Donetsk and abandoning defensive fortifications. 4/4
Posted by b on March 21, 2022 at 16:51 UTC | Permalink
next page »And you know why Zelensky rejected a truce? Because his masters in Washington DC told him not to. The coke-head is nothing more than drug-crazed puppet! A puppet prepared to sacrifice the Ukrainian people for the glory of Western capitalism!
"Despite a hopeless situation the government in Kiev rejects to end war in Mariupol."
Zelensky is not stupid. He is happy to let Russia destroy all the Neonazis in the East, so he can either stall for (unlikely) Nato support or if (when) he doesn't get it, switch the narrative to 'Western betrayal' mode and clear the path for becoming Putin's bitch without the risk of being hanged by extremists after he surrenders.
Posted by: Et Tu | Mar 21 2022 17:02 utc | 3
"Arch Zionists are pissed off by Zelensky's holocaust revisionism"
At least Caroline Glick told the truth.
Posted by: Christian J. Chuba | Mar 21 2022 17:05 utc | 4
The "victim of Russian indiscriminate bombing of Mariupol maternity yard" was maybe filmed taking humanitarian aid from Russia.
"Russian f...rs, feed me now for i have nothing to s..t on your doorway with"
Posted by: Arioch | Mar 21 2022 17:12 utc | 5
Allegedly United Nation reports humanitarian disaster in Afghanistan: 13 000 of newbord babies during last 3 months died due to malnutrition, 95% of the population are starving.
MSM newslines? "Glory to Zelensky!"
----
https://t.me/readovkanews/28834
YouTube channel (in Russian) "Weaponry History" was sustained by Kirill Fyodorov, citizens of Latvia.
After refusing to spin rusophobia content in his YouTube channel he was arrested.
By EU laws he had to be let free or given the specific indictment in 48 hours.
He was neither.
EU as usual would not see viaoltation of their laws by Baltic states, especially when it was them asking Riga to find some way to silence the popular YT channel.
His relatives and lawyers were prohibited ("suggested against") from speaking to media.
Posted by: Arioch | Mar 21 2022 17:19 utc | 6
The refusal to surrender follows a Nazi pattern. When things were not going well for the Reich, stand fast orders were given out. An accessible vehicle for the end of the Nazi regime is actually the film 'Untergang" (called Downfall in English and parts of it are used for taking the mickey out of various things on line.)
It is a sign of Nazi influence and the fact things are not going well for the Zelenski puppet regime.
Posted by: exiled off mainstree | Mar 21 2022 17:20 utc | 7
> ordered to 𝒄𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆 captive #Russian soldiers
The video with mostly correct translation (two errors, showed in comments, that are only visible after log-in)
----
Ukraine, it seems, had a good binge and now having a bad hangover.
https://tass.ru/ekonomika/14126385
Modovian company Orhei-vit was shipping fruit juices to China, with total cost €100K
Also flour and some other food.
Moldova is hosting Ukrainian refugees and should be considered a nation friendly to EuroUkraine, more so, with Transnistria frozen conflict it can even be considered another Euro-oriented ex-USSR nation victimized by "Russian aggression".
Regardless, EuroUkraine just robbed them off - intercepter the shippign and confiscate all the cargo.
Why? Because they could. Hangover.
Posted by: Arioch | Mar 21 2022 17:23 utc | 8
@Misothiest ....give over already.....we get it, he's gettin' yer goat.
Try scrolling through the park.
Cheers M
Posted by: sean the leprechaun | Mar 21 2022 17:26 utc | 9
"Azov" sent vodka gift packs, merchendize, made off weaponry
Creative or sick?..
Posted by: Arioch | Mar 21 2022 17:30 utc | 10
As a mass political thought, the idea that pro-American Empire is anti-America has an uphill climb. Most people don't have their heads around an American Empire. Each aggression is presented as a response to an emergency, with the unstated follow on that once the emergency is fixed, American forces will return to their bases. Of course, it never works that way.
Humanitarian imperialism at least has the honesty to call itself imperial. Trotting out the old tired tropes every time an opportunity for military action is perceived by the MIC and their servants in government just becomes part of the background. While taxpayer money disappears whenever the military hardware we've shipped to Ukraine is hit by a Russian cruise missile, the cheap talk from American 'leaders' continues.
Posted by: jhill | Mar 21 2022 17:34 utc | 11
Not seeing obvious reasons for a change in the pattern this week (caveat: previous expectations miserably wrong like everyone else). Anyway, weather around DNR = mostly sunny. Lack of clouds would seem not helpful for bold actions by either side, whereas the slow moving drone + missile/artillery tactics would remain convenient. VSU forces would perhaps gradually be relocating a limited part of people and portable equipment from the fortified areas on LOC, into various little east-west strips of urban places that maybe function as defensive lines, to slow the advance of RF/DNR.
This detail of geography can be seen for example on the map below, apparently reproduced from Russian MoD press briefings. Start at the bottom and slowly scroll up... Marked location of forces of either side, in this map series, appears largely devoid of meaningful information - useful only to learn about geography.
https://ic.pics.livejournal.com/dragon_first_1/72271520/163592/163592_original.png
We are getting little or no information at all about activity in the Northern part of the country.
Meanwhile, the on the NATO side, the scene is slowly set for some type of increase in NATO involvement -- or at least everything needed to keep the option open, just in case Ukraine's government should start thinking too hard about ceasefire terms Russia would accept. But there's little sign of that anyway.
Finally, signs over the weekend that US getting frustrated with Chinese offering countries who wish to be neutral, a robust alternative to the Western sanctions regime. After a meaninglessly polite agree-to-disagree meeting with Xi and Biden, Chinese ambassador was thoroughly disrespected on CNN yesterday. I'm keeping eyes open for moves by US State Dept etc to play some of its options in the department of strategic destabilization of countries adjacent to China, and/or neutral countries.
Posted by: ptb | Mar 21 2022 17:42 utc | 12
Referring to the BBC map cited in top post the BBC reporter is very wrong in interpreting that Azov only holds 6 square miles. There is a scale in the lower right corner of the map. Were it only 6 sq miles yesterday it would all be done by now.
Never ever believe anything in MSM that includes a number. Reporters are verbal people. They have no concept of number. None. They cannot add 2+2. They can discuss why 2+2 is a topic relative to race or gender. They can’t come up with the answer.
Posted by: oldhippie | Mar 21 2022 17:50 utc | 13
On YouTube channel ssutainer "disappeared" in EU Latvia, in English
----
Serbian derelict resort...
...is featured by everlying CNN as Ukrainia hotel destroyed by Russia.
Ukrainian ancient Tochka-U intercepted in Donbass...
...is featured by everlying CNN as Russian modern hypersonic missile.
-----
"Changing boots while in jumping.
https://t.me/intelslava/23086
https://t.me/intelslava/23085
he captive Nazi "Taira" from "Azov" no longer wants to reach the Kuban and Moscow, but calls on her accomplices from Mariupol to release the hostages.
“I would like to appeal to those on whom it depends. There are a lot of civilians in Mariupol who could not leave for one reason or another. The fighting continues and the situation is getting worse. And this is not a place for women, children, old people.”
----
Children in Ukrainian school were studying NATO tactical infantry fighting.
Indeed, EuroUkraine never had any civilian use for the children.
----
FIDE (Chess Federation) "cancels" Sergey Karyaking, one of the top world players and championship contenders. Because sport is above politics.
FUKUS no more even bothers to fake "doping tests".
----
Aussie ABC TV openly shows how EuroUkraine uses schools to hide military defense points.
War crimes? What war crimes? "Everything for our friends, laws for our enemies" (c)
----
Ukrainian MoD reports Russian army ressurecting her dead and putting them back to frontlines. Since we Putin always was a god-like figure in Ukraine, and a dark god at that, this sounds OK.
----
Italy gov't reportedly decreed for all the schools to have an hour of anti-Russian propaganda per week. Because, what else EU public schools are for?..
----
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AY55WXX5_OY
Reportedly phone prankers talked to UK MoD, and they promised to help Ukraine develop nuclear weapons.
Non-Proliferation Treaty? Don't pull our legs away.
"Everything for our friends, laws for our enemies"
Posted by: Arioch | Mar 21 2022 17:53 utc | 14
@b
Thanks for this b. Very useful information. It's a shame none of it gets heard outside in NPC land. Given your extensive media background, however, would you care to comment on the sustainability of the Western media/Ukro-propaganda narrative? The level of cognitive dissonance and shock value necessary to stop Western audiences from getting annoyed or bored has to increase to the point where the law of diminishing returns kicks in. Even Australia's conservative press has demoted Ukraine to the casual update just before sport. At some point Zelensky and his band of thugs will just be quietly forgotten by a bored public and Ukraine just another Syria/Yemen/shithole country.
On the other hand, the West's tacit acceptance of Nazi revisionism is going to be fun for the future as young people are no longer bound by boomer/Gen X post-war horror of fascism. We won't get that toothpaste back in the (you)tube.
Posted by: Patroklos | Mar 21 2022 17:54 utc | 15
Posted by: sean the leprechaun | Mar 21 2022 17:26 utc | 10
1.what is "blood memory" exactly?
2.nazis weren't left wing.
Posted by: pretzelattack | Mar 21 2022 18:02 utc | 16
On the Information/Propaganda/Psyops Theatre, today's Global Times editorial provides a little comic relief:
"The above lies are well concocted, but without any evidence. Certainly, the problem of no evidence may be a bit of overthinking, because when does Washington need to provide evidence to smear others? Isn't it always following the logic of 'if I say so, it has to be so?' If you must ask for any 'evidence, it will again hold up a tiny vial of white powder, or produce a video of the White Helmets being instructed to pose...
"Of course, what's behind it is Washington's hegemony and ambition. Kurt Campbell, the NSC's Indo-Pacific policy coordinator, 'took the initiative' to say at the end of February that the US will keep its focus on the 'Indo-Pacific region' despite the Ukraine crisis. In order to maintain the US' hegemonic self-interests, fabricating lies has become a 'necessary means' for Washington. In the words of Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla, 'The US, as usual, lies to try to achieve its political goals'....
"When looking back at his past as CIA director, former US secretary of state Mike Pompeo once said publicly, 'We lied, we cheated, we stole. We had entire training courses.' So how does the US lie and deceive people? It is easier for Washington and the US media to quote 'anonymous officials' to spread lies as shocking 'exclusive news.' The cooperation between US propaganda machines and diplomatic and intelligence services has greatly increased the deceptiveness of those lies. Moreover, the US' alliance system and hegemony in public opinion can make sure that even though Washington is a habitual liar, it can obtain a certain amount of assentation and support. This has become the bases for the US to play politics as it wants.
"While US media maliciously falsifies the truth, Washington deliberately pretends to know nothing. These two to some extent have even formed an integral production, supply and distribution chain of fake news. This is unprofessional, immoral, and irresponsible, and will only further discredit the US in front of the world. As some comments pointed out, whenever people see the news reports that include sentences like 'anonymous officials revealed…' and 'US intelligence agencies claimed…,' they should in their minds replace everything in those sentences with 'They may be lying.'" [I'd say they're probably lying or They're lying again.]
And as if more proof was required, we again see China seconding Russia's reasoning and explanations of what it's doing:
"Right now, when the military conflict in Ukraine is getting increasingly serious under Washington's provocation, and when the energy and refugee crises become more and more severe in Europe, the US' smear campaign will only unmask it as the initiator. More and more people will see the true face of the US - an 'empire of lies.'" [All emphasis mine]
How many billions of people agree with the bolded sentence above--2, 3, 6? How many millions within the Empire agree? Polling suggests that just 30% of the public see media as credible giving us 70% who think otherwise or about 230 million, and since media is the main messenger of the Empire of Lies, we might assume that same number agrees. But even if that number is only 50 million, I'd say the lies aren't sinking in as hoped. Of course, this whole paragraph will be controversial as opinion polling within the Outlaw US Empire of Lies has its own credibility problems.
oldhippie | Mar 21 2022 17:50 utc | 14
After the spelling wars (e.g. Киев/Київ) have been won we will fight the numeracy war.
Posted by: too scents | Mar 21 2022 18:11 utc | 18
Misotheist | Mar 21 2022 17:01 utc | 1
you've documented his, her, their, zhe's, comments and opinions. the dungeon master can handle his own blog.
as for banning people, if b starts banning people for their views on covid and/or global warming, 75% of posters could be banned. the other stuff the reante gasbag belches up, i think you are spot on about. (the historical revisionism begins w/the equation of Hitler, Mao and Stalin. it's legerdemain to make defense of the socialist tradition into some kind of apologia for Hitler. but hey, that's what buffalo killers do.)
and what was up that guy, with his unending "aw shucks, i'm just a country yokel" routine (but who's read the complete works of Marx and Engels??) if somebody is such a pile of Texas style chicken fried corn pone, how about not posting tome after tome testifying to one's ignorance?
Posted by: rjb1.5 | Mar 21 2022 18:21 utc | 19
Patroklos | Mar 21 2022 17:54 utc | 16
"in NPC land"? is that a D&D/RPG reference? non-player characters? one class of NPC's is the cheerleader.
that's a great way to refer to people's actual interest and involvement in Ukraine. can i steal it? NPC? thanks.
Posted by: rjb1.5 | Mar 21 2022 18:25 utc | 20
There are two videos supporting the idea that Ukraine was planning to attack Russia all along. The first link is to a RT report and an NED manual for the Ukraine Russia War published in 2021
The second is a video featuring Oleksiy Arestovych in an interview supposedly from 2019. I have no idea whether it is genuine or is a clever fake
Oleksiy Arestovych 2019 interview excerpt
I think it comes from this video where surprise surprise auto translate is not available
Oleksiy Arestovych 2019 interview excerpt
Posted by: M Le Docteur Ralph | Mar 21 2022 18:30 utc | 21
thanks b... it is all helpful for better understanding...
@ Arioch | Mar 21 2022 17:19 utc | 7
regarding the situation in afganistan... i can't see the nato countries wanting to stop funneling weapons into ukraine, in exchange for food into afganistan... they are the wrong colour people and of course their is no money because it is not war - it is helping people.. as we see in ukraine - the west and nato are not interested in helping people of ukraine either! they just want to fight russia down to the last ukrainian... so - i see no likelihood of change here...
@ Patroklos | Mar 21 2022 17:54 utc | 16
i'm not b, so i can't answer your question for him.. however, if we make a broad comparison to the msm propaganda on syria - nothing has changed... the west is intent on controlling the media narrative... when it goes out of whack with the reality on the ground - that is where they eventually cease and desist with the hollywood narratives, or they lessen..
Posted by: james | Mar 21 2022 18:36 utc | 22
Zelensky is practising the Hitler version of military strategy "no retreat", just so the West can string this out on social media and have as much time as possible to smear Russia. It may also be that the Ukro-nationalists around him may not be accepting of any retreat that would give up the full territory of the Donbass republics. The problem with this approach is that once the resistance is destroyed in Mariupol and Donbass there will be little left of a professionally trained army to stop the Russians. Defeat will come very fast once the Russian army is able to reassign all the troops currently engaged in Mariupol and Donbass.
I really don't see a Plan B for the West, other than keep escalating in the hope that the opposition will give in. Short of nuclear war this is a losing strategy, as has been seen with the increasing negative rhetoric from China and India and their actions to keep buying Russian exports. Once Russia has successfully completed its mission it will have significantly reduced the mystique of NATO (i.e. it can be beaten) and the US, and raised its own status in the Rest of the World. Then they wait for the economic pain to be felt within Western Europe and the US. Russia could also simply refuse to renew gas supply contracts when they expire, showing that it respects current contracts (rule of law) but will not support those that have taken aggressive actions against Russia.
b, I'm not asking you to ban anybody, but could you please delete the repetitive posts between renante and Misothiest about Nazis and how to deal with them. It is just a waste of bandwidth.
Antoinetta III
Posted by: Antoinetta III | Mar 21 2022 18:51 utc | 24
no one is crying the loss of Nazi forces, the EU, Zelensky, Putin/Russia, Pentagon, Neo-cons, need fodder to feed Raytheon, just grist in the mill; "mowing the lawn" as the Israelis say. Bummer about the infrastructure, dead and damaged kids though.
Posted by: ScottinDallas | Mar 21 2022 18:52 utc | 25
Roger, they don't care about losing Ukraine, you fight proxy wars for the creative destruction. I think they're in denial about the very real knock on defeats to dollar hegemony, NATO is a dying pact, but it's enough to pry Europe away from Eurasia; or at least for now.
Posted by: ScottinDallas | Mar 21 2022 18:56 utc | 26
If barflies failed to read the initial comment by Grieved and ensuing thread of comments between him, William Gruff then myself, I empathically suggest you do so; otherwise, today's essay by Crooke will be much harder to comprehend. And yes, it's rather important that you do comprehend because of Crooke's warning in his concluding lines:
"We might read history differently, yet the above, nonetheless, may represent something of the authentic view of most Russians. That is the point. It carries implications for war and peace." [My Emphasis]
And yes, the West--in particular those that supposedly lead it--are extremely ignorant of all things Russian except for those parts it thinks it knows and hates. The West very much appears to believe its own lies about Russia because it's acting as if it does, and that's currently proving fatal for some and can easily become catastrophic for Humanity as events move forward.
Crooke provides two lengthy citations to prove his central point that the West's interpretations/stereotyping is gravely mistaken beyond folly. Here's the first:
"An award-winning Russian filmmaker, Nikita Mikhalkov, made his own address to the Russian people – a parallel to Zelensky’s address to Congress, perhaps:
Look at us [the Russian people] and remember that they will do the same thing to you when you show weakness … Brothers, remember the fate of Yugoslavia and do not allow them to do the same to you. I am personally convinced that this is not a war between Russia and Ukraine, this is not a war between Russia, Europe and America. This is not a war for democracy that our partners want to convince us of. This is a global and perhaps the last attempt of Western civilization to attack the Russian world, Orthodox ethics, on traditional values. He who is brought up on these values will never agree to what they offer us, from same-sex marriages to the legalization of fascism. War is a terrible thing. I don’t know a normal person who thinks war is a good thing. But Ukraine, America and Europe began preparing for this war back in 1991 … There are two ways out of this situation – we will either defend ourselves; or we will cease to exist. In the end, I offer the wise words of a smart man: "It is better to be hanged for loyalty, than to be rewarded for betrayal". [My Emphasis]
And here's the second:
"An eminent Serbian academic, Professor Vladusic, puts this into wider context: 'There is a map of civilizations in Huntington’s Clash of Civilizations: On that map, Ukraine and Russia are painted the same colour, because they belong to the same, Orthodox civilization. And right next to Ukraine, the dark colour with which Huntington marks the civilization of the West – begins:
[As I] look at war through Huntington’s eyes, here is what I conclude: the war between Russia and Ukraine is a great catastrophe for Orthodox civilization. The hypothetical disappearance of Russia would also be the end of Orthodox civilization, because there is no other, sufficiently powerful Orthodox country to defend other Orthodox nations. Huntington then whispers to me that it has never happened in history for a country to move from one civilization to another, not because some countries did not try, but because, simply put, other civilizations never accepted them permanently. Without Russia, the geopolitical price of the remaining Orthodox countries would fall so much that other civilizations would, at best, bring them down to the level of dying colonies. This, of course, also applies to Ukraine. At the moment when Russia would be defeated, which means, most likely, divided into several states, the same fate would probably befall Ukraine. We all know what the word Balkanization means. [My Emphasis]
Crooke sums up:
"It looks as if total war may become inevitable. The two different interpretations of ‘reality’ touch at no point. The logic is ineluctable. Within these architectures of hatred, selected or invented historical facts about Russia, its culture, and its racial nature are taken out of context – and slotted into prearranged intellectual structures to indict President Putin as a ‘thug’ and a ‘war criminal’." [My Emphasis]
And we all know Putin's famous saying if the above comes to pass--What Russian would want to live in a world without Russia. I'm optimistic that won't occur because I believe the West will break prior to Russia having to enter into direct combat with NATO in order to roll it back to 1997. Why I think that will require an article.
@ Antoinetta III | Mar 21 2022 18:51 utc | 26
the problem i see it is that nazism is a very central issue here however much the west would like to support it while ignoring it..
Posted by: james | Mar 21 2022 18:57 utc | 28
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elXZVCLapIU
patrick lancaster video from less then an hour ago..
At 19:30 Moscow time today March 21 I (And British journalist Maximilian Clarke) witnessed rockets and explosions Over the DPR from center Donetsk. It seems to be 2 Ukrainian Tochka-Us shot down by DPR forces
Posted by: james | Mar 21 2022 19:05 utc | 29
The U$A got exactly what it most desires, destabilization and war. Both, good for profits.
Posted by: vetinLA | Mar 21 2022 19:07 utc | 30
Posted by: rjb1.5 | Mar 21 2022 18:25 utc | 22
It comes from this cartoon that is making rounds on the tubes:
https://patrickarmstrong.ca/2022/03/10/npc/
Posted by: Boo | Mar 21 2022 19:09 utc | 31
i suspect "blood memory" whatever the fuck that is, is related.
Posted by: pretzelattack | Mar 21 2022 19:15 utc | 32
Say what you will about Nazism, at least it's an ethos. What the US/NATO is doing is worse; what do they support, brinksmanship and conflagration over dialogue, and for what? Nothing but to poke the bear; we're children fucking around, breaking bottles on the beach. I think all that argument about gov't structures is pointless; authoritarianism is the issue, regardless the economic orientation espoused/adopted; they're all pretty much the same, as they must be; theories differ wildly on paper, on the ground it's pretty much all the same. Napoleonic Code, Common Law, Sharia; there are courts, ultimately the authority of the government issues from the consent of the governed; all are 'democratic' in that way. Beyond all that, our foreign policy is simply malign, murderous and mendacious; rooted in no principal save immediate whim, divisive hatemongering. We're bankrupt in ways that aren't reckoned by accountants.
Posted by: ScottinDallas | Mar 21 2022 19:19 utc | 33
Nazism, at least it's an ethos ... ScottinDallas | Mar 21 2022 19:19 utc | 33
---
Nazism is a brand. Packaged for easy consumption and mutable as a funhouse mirror.
Fascist cults. Collect them all.
Posted by: too scents | Mar 21 2022 19:33 utc | 34
SiD @ 33 said;"We're bankrupt in ways that aren't reckoned by accountants."
Yep!! Damn shame that America has forgotten the concept of introspection. As most of us hang out involved in our own versions of Hedonism, waiting for corporate advertisements to instruct us on who and what we should want, and be. Truly sad, but, E. Bernays would be happy.
Posted by: vetinLA | Mar 21 2022 19:39 utc | 35
Assuming that he doesn't expect decisive US military intervention, I can only assume Zelensky is holding out as long as possible knowing the Russians have to avoid large-scale occupation and the bloody endless quagmire the US/Poland would giddily support to drag out for as long as possible. And that Russia also needs this to be wrapped up on a shorter time frame than he does. (Ukraine is already invaded, what else can happen for him?)
Since the sticking block is the status of the Donbass, alternative compromises might end up being partition within partition by having only slices of the Eastern provinces with the highest ethnic Russian populations allowed to break away.
Left unexamined is that no matter what happens to Ukraine East of the Dneiper, be it adsorbed by Russia or mostly left in Ukraine, will ethnic Ukrainians and Russians in those areas be able to live together after all this? Certainly no matter what happens the US will seek to stoke further ethnic conflict.
Posted by: Altai | Mar 21 2022 19:44 utc | 36
From IntelSlava
🇷🇺🇱🇻 The author of one of the main Russian-language YouTube channels on military topics was arrested in Riga. European authorities want to accuse him of treason because of the pro-Russian orientation of his videosThe History of Weapons YouTube channel has become one of the main patriotic amateur sites on YouTube in recent weeks. Its author, Kirill Fedorov, published in it analyzes of hostilities and did not hide his pro-Russian positions. The videos went into trends and gained millions of views, which the EU authorities did not like very much.
Permanently residing in Latvia, Kirill decided to emigrate to Russia, seeing how the foreign policy situation was deteriorating. Moreover, from the very beginning of the military operation, the blogger began to receive regular threats - he was obsessively offered to change the direction of his videos to anti-Russian, promising otherwise serious problems with the authorities. But on March 17, just before his departure, right in his parents' apartment, he was detained by state security agencies without explanation.
After the 48 hours required by European law, he was not released, and his relatives and lawyer were threatened with problems if they spoke to the Russian press. As Readovka managed to find out, Fedorov was detained upon appeal to Latvia by the European authorities - he is accused of cooperation with Russia and will be charged with treason. In particular, he is charged with cooperation with Russian intelligence.
The situation is complicated by the fact that Fedorov is a citizen of Latvia, and that pressure is being exerted on his relatives, who are currently in Riga - people are extremely intimidated and afraid to talk to anyone. It is obvious that the European authorities will use this case to put pressure on everyone who provides at least some media support to Russia. In modern Europe, there can no longer be two opinions on the issue of our country.
Posted by: Down South | Mar 21 2022 19:45 utc | 37
@36 Altai
"Assuming that he doesn't expect decisive US military intervention..."
IMO that, or the functional equivalent by other NATO countries, is precisely what Ukraine's government expects
Posted by: ptb | Mar 21 2022 19:57 utc | 38
@ b
Like to buy you some edibles.
using Email instructions end of page,
my attempt to send email on confirming information re new method to donate has failed. Email @ aol.com returned invalid. Recall my previous donation (international bank draft) ended with the banksters at your end helping themselves to a 65% fee.
Posted by: Likklemore | Mar 21 2022 19:59 utc | 39
@37
On a similar note, ASBmil has now shut down their Ukraine coverage via telegram, after being chased out of twitter a bit over a week ago ... non-MSM coverage of this war in the US/Euro internet is thinning out pretty fast
Posted by: ptb | Mar 21 2022 20:00 utc | 40
However people perceive this latest war, we might all remember the events of 2014, when, the U$A helped overthrow the govt. of Ukraine, and installed our latest "sock puppet". And, IMO, thats just what Zelensky is.
Whatever happens to Ukraine going forward, its all on the U$A/ NATO.
Posted by: vetinLA | Mar 21 2022 20:02 utc | 41
"Unconfirmed: Zelensky rejects Ukrainian military request for retreat from the Donbas front."
This would be utter madness, the kind of blunders Hitler made in the Eastern front. Frankly, local commanders or even top military brass in Kiev should just discard his opinion and order retreat. Getting as many men back from the Donbas pocket would greatly increase their military resistance potential, whatever doomed it might be; at the very least they'd gain time to get a reasonable deal at the negotiations with Russia.
Posted by: Clueless Joe | Mar 21 2022 20:06 utc | 42
It seems to me that Biden’s visit to Poland on Friday could be an opportunity for a False Flag attack on his plane that would be blamed on Russia (of course). A big opportunity for more NATO and US involvement. A la MH 17.
Posted by: John Sanguinetti | Mar 21 2022 20:07 utc | 43
@Posted by: Patroklos | Mar 21 2022 17:54 utc | 15
During some idle chat at a business meeting today my acquaintance in oz asked when am i going to take my boys there for education...
Because i like them to be brainwashed nazis? Obviously i bit my tounge and gave some random non-committal answer....
Seriously, i don't know how these kinds control by narrative can be reversed. I don't believe it will be reversed.
Posted by: A.L. | Mar 21 2022 20:09 utc | 44
The history of deep anti-semitism amongst Ukrainians is very well documented. The Ukraine was a hostile place for Jews long before the Nazi-led Holocaust, and pogroms were fairly common events there. Joining forces with the Germans must have felt quite comfortable for many Ukrainians.
Posted by: Rob | Mar 21 2022 20:14 utc | 45
Patrick Armstrong may have closed down but Patrick Lawrence is still firing on all cylinders:
"..When those purporting to serve as America’s statesmen and stateswomen think calling other world leaders names is properly part of the diplomatic repertoire — a prominent part, I’ll add — we are left with only one conclusion: The U.S. has no one capable of sailing its ship of state, no one in a position of influence worthy of the title “diplomat.”
"...Simply stated, power obviates the need for serious statecraft. The powerful nation has no need of diplomacy. A figure such as George Kennan was the exception proving the rule, and he was an exception because he saw the need to understand how the world looked to the Soviet Union. Henry Kissinger proved the rule: For all his claim to diplomatic skill, Hank K. was a wielder of American power with a calculating mind, nothing more.
"The rest follows naturally: Antony Blinken is not a serious diplomat. Samantha Power is not a serious diplomat. As a diplomat (and various other things), Hillary “He’s Hitler” Clinton is a walking calamity. Biden, who’s spent his career selling snake oil off the back of a buckwagon, is not a statesman of any kind, serious or otherwise...."
"The lineup of secretaries of state and senior diplomats prior to the attacks in New York and Washington is other than brilliant, but it was by and large accepted that talking to one’s adversaries was at least as important (and often more so) as talking to one’s friends. It was the Bush II regime, with all its kooky ideologues in positions they never should have gotten near, that declared: “We don’t negotiate with our enemies.”
"This pronouncement was advanced, if you recall, as if it were a sound, baseline rule of wise statesmanship. There were corollaries. Diplomatic contacts with those deemed enemies would “give them credibility.”....The all-but-stated assertion is America would not any longer take interest in other people and their perspectives. The American way of defining the world was the only acceptable way. Nothing else need be considered. ..."
"...Diplomacy is an essential skill in the century swiftly taking shape around us. But every time Biden or another American “leader” hurls one of their playground insults at the leader of another nation, (Putin as the Beelzebub du jour) they are reminding us: There will be no diplomacy emanating from Washington because they have no idea how to conduct it.
"Power and coercion are all they know."
https://consortiumnews.com/2022/03/21/patrick-lawrence-on-american-infantilism/
Posted by: bevin | Mar 21 2022 20:16 utc | 46
It seems to me that Biden’s visit to Poland on Friday could be an opportunity for a False Flag attack on his plane that would be blamed on Russia (of course). A big opportunity for more NATO and US involvement. A la MH 17.
Posted by: John Sanguinetti | Mar 21 2022 20:07 utc | 43
Nah, they want to have Zelensky meet Putin. To either take Putin out or, way more probable, to stage a Navalny-like incident with Zelensky.
Just imagine the headlines: "Zelensky poisoned by Putin!"...
Posted by: zet | Mar 21 2022 20:18 utc | 47
Zelensky must be wishing more than anyone that the war continues - because it's grinding down his Nazi masters. He's been their puppet since he was elected, but now Russia is decimating their military power, especially in Mariupol.
He therefore has no reason to concede defeat. None of his allies would dare to publicly tell him to do that anyway - because that would contradict the propaganda that Russia is facing defeat in the war.
So Zelensky can hand a 'Hero of Ukraine' medal to the leader of the Azov Regiment - as reported today - and then sit back and watch their base in Mariupol being destroyed. Once Russia has finished that job, they'll have no reason to stay in Ukraine. Zelensky can then present himself as the hero who stopped the Russians from occupying Kiev.
Posted by: Brendan | Mar 21 2022 20:20 utc | 48
@et tu #3
that's a good read. if I were Ze I would want to negotiate only after Russia finishes eliminating the nazis. let Russia kill off his death threats, then act the peace savior, and try to be part of the transitional govt. that's the best he can hope for.
if he hopes instead to live abroad with his siphoned wealth, I expect him to be epsteined or "killed by Russia" as the story would go. this time with novichok working, instead of magically failing despite its toxicity heh.
Posted by: mastameta | Mar 21 2022 20:23 utc | 49
I've been saying for weeks how weird it was for NATO to be:
1) insisting Ukraine had the right to join NATO to for protection
while
2) proclaiming it would categorically not defend Ukraine.
In fact, there have been other weird inconsistencies in this whole matter as well. At times it has felt like a performance where NATO and Russia have a tacit contrivance for Russia to get Ukraine but that it must look like it is being opposed.
Posted by: Figleaf23 | Mar 21 2022 20:28 utc | 50
@ John Sanguinetti | Mar 21 2022 20:07 utc | 43 with the note about Biden visit to Poland this Friday.
Thanks....I saw that late yesterday and it has been chewing away at me.
Biden going to Poland says to the world that Poland is a colony of empire. He will likely fly in and out of the military base that Russia wants to see gone as part of the roll back to 1997....get the point?
I am going to say that if I were Russia, I would do my best to either make Biden cancel his Poland appearance or scare the shit out of him when he is there.
Maybe the facts on the ground in Ukraine will be clearer by then and that will cancel the Biden trip....very interesting times....
Posted by: psychohistorian | Mar 21 2022 20:33 utc | 51
Just a wee note: The Comedian just banned all the 'left wing' parties (pro-Russian was the euphemism used) because he's a Nazi, and he didn't ban the Nazi parties, because he's a Nazi. And if you don't think he's a Nazi dictator, when are the next Ukrainian elections, and do we think they will be a model of democratic practice?
When have the Americans ever backed anyone who wasn't a Nazi, or something similar?
You will never go broke betting against the Americans. Not everything they are against is good, but everything they are in favour of is bad. One knows on a priori grounds that there is something wrong with The Comedian, simply because he is backed by the Americans. Twas ever thus.
Posted by: Hidari | Mar 21 2022 20:36 utc | 52
Just finished watching Dr. Hudson on Renegade Inc that first aired today. He doesn't talk at all about new global financial architecture, focusing instead on the realities the world faces that is somewhat in tune with the reality drawn by today's Crooke essay. Instead of Cold War as a descriptor, Hudson invokes Global Fracture, which is the title of the book he wrote as a sequel to Super Imperialism in 1977, although this time the antagonisms are rather different: The Outlaw US Empire's aim is to become the winner of the game of Monopoly with all the zero-sum outcomes that would imply, while Putin's Russia sees things as Existential: What Russian would want to live in a world without Russia. Hudson implies that the Neocons are delusional and completely divorced from reality and the reality of the outcomes of their policy aims--rather different from what we saw with the Cheney crew of neocons during W's time as they weren't as driven by Neoliberal dogma unlike the Obama/Biden/Clinton crew, who IMO are the more dangerous. As for Putin's Russia, IMO Hudson understands why they see what's happening as an Existential threat and acting accordingly. I'm to participate in a Patreon chat group with him this Wednesday afternoon that will hopefully overcome the technical glitches we've had during the previous attempts and allow me to ask some important clarifying questions.
I had no problems connecting and watching from here in Oregon. And this isn't the same Renegade Inc program Hudson has near the top of his webpage; that program was aired back in January and was never posted at his site until now.
Fucking software not allowing RT links again god damn it!!!!! I've removed the link so my comment will post.
Just finished watching Dr. Hudson on RT's Renegade Inc that first aired today. He doesn't talk at all about new global financial architecture, focusing instead on the realities the world faces that is somewhat in tune with the reality drawn by today's Crooke essay. Instead of Cold War as a descriptor, Hudson invokes Global Fracture, which is the title of the book he wrote as a sequel to Super Imperialism in 1977, although this time the antagonisms are rather different: The Outlaw US Empire's aim is to become the winner of the game of Monopoly with all the zero-sum outcomes that would imply, while Putin's Russia sees things as Existential: What Russian would want to live in a world without Russia. Hudson implies that the Neocons are delusional and completely divorced from reality and the reality of the outcomes of their policy aims--rather different from what we saw with the Cheney crew of neocons during W's time as they weren't as driven by Neoliberal dogma unlike the Obama/Biden/Clinton crew, who IMO are the more dangerous. As for Putin's Russia, IMO Hudson understands why they see what's happening as an Existential threat and acting accordingly. I'm to participate in a Patreon chat group with him this Wednesday afternoon that will hopefully overcome the technical glitches we've had during the previous attempts and allow me to ask some important clarifying questions.
I had no problems connecting and watching from here in Oregon. And this isn't the same Renegade Inc program Hudson has near the top of his webpage; that program was aired back in January and was never posted at his site until now.
@48
The Comedian will have a contract just waiting to be signed with Netflix on his heroic battle against the Evil Russians (perhaps he can call it 'My Struggle'). All he needs to do is escape just before the Ukraine falls and piss off to Hollywood where he can feed his cocaine and alcohol addiction and swan about with his other billionaire mates.
As you say, he must be secretly delighted that Putin is killing the Nazis who have a knife to his throat.
At the moment he can't sign a peace treaty as he'll immediately be killed if he does. But when Putin has clearly won The Comedian will run away and then, after his 15 minutes, be quickly forgotten.
Posted by: Hidari | Mar 21 2022 20:40 utc | 55
US/UK/NATO Goal: Regime change and a balkanized-partitioned Russia like the former Yugoslavia, then, steal-control Russia's vast oil, gas reserves, their rare earth metals and other resources, be indebted to the US controlled World Bank and IMF, like most countries, (Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, by John Perkins)
RUSSIA's Goal: A neutral and demilitarized Ukraine, NATO out of Poland, Romania, Bulgaria and the three Baltic states, i.e. removal of all US/NATO bases, ballistic missile batteries etc. from its borders
In my opinion, Russia must accomplish this, if not they are done, their entire survival, culture and sovereignty as a nation is at stake here.
Posted by: Hannibal | Mar 21 2022 20:41 utc | 56
"#Zelensky is refusing to allow the retreat for fear that it would be used by #Russia as a weapon in the information war against #Ukraine, as it would mean deblockading #Donetsk and abandoning defensive fortifications. 4/4"
It is very doubtful that anything is up to Zelensky. Anyway, whoever is making the decisions, this 'rationale' is goofy -- which information win is better, a strategic retreat or a cauldron slaughter. (To be frank, I don't think they could effect a retreat successfully by this point and maybe that's why it won't be permitted.)
Posted by: Figleaf23 | Mar 21 2022 20:46 utc | 57
When did Drudge get so breathtakingly stupid? Oh, sure, some guy close to Putin is plotting to overthrow him. We just found out. Maybe he'll give us an interview, "how's that plot coming along?"
Posted by: Eighthman | Mar 21 2022 20:47 utc | 58
Et Tu #3
Zelensky is not stupid. He is happy to let Russia destroy all the Neonazis in the East, so he can either stall for (unlikely) Nato support or if (when) he doesn't get it, switch the narrative to 'Western betrayal' mode and clear the path for becoming Putin's bitch without the risk of being hanged by extremists after he surrenders.
Thanks and that gave a chuckle. Zelensky is entirely stupid imo. Anyone fool enough to align and surround themselves with fascists has already signed their own death warrant. Putin is in the business of proving that point and undoubtedly some Azov zealot will do the deed.
Zelensky as Putin's bitch and still in Ukraine? unlikely. If he remains in Ukraine after this he will be shredded by the vengeful mob. Putin has no need for rsoles such as Zelensky.
There are fine and intelligent people in Ukraine totally up to the task of managing a nation freed from fascism. They are the ones that Zelensky has banned from their parliament.
Posted by: uncle tungsten | Mar 21 2022 20:49 utc | 59
local commanders or even top military brass in Kiev should just discard his opinion and order retreat
Posted by: Clueless Joe | Mar 21 2022 20:06 utc | 42
With Russian aviation and missiles owning the skies? "Few birds can make it to the middle of Dnieper river".
As long as UkroArmy stops hiding and comes out of cities and cave - they are free game.
Posted by: Arioch | Mar 21 2022 20:53 utc | 60
As a matter of interest, I have noticed a similar correlation of pro and anti war/ hate Russia opinion between the vaxxed and unvaxxed as the Canadian poll below demonstrates. My observations are anecdotal.
The question remains are vaxxed people inherently more likely to be receptive to government/MSM propaganda or do they become docile and deliberately ignorant sheep because of their vaxxed status?
I know it is a chicken and egg question.
"How Covid vaccination status might predict views on the Russian invasion of Ukraine (Canadian poll)"...
"How vaccination status might predict views on the Russian invasion of Ukraine New poll indicates that “vaccine refusers are much more sympathetic to Russia.”
Unvaccinated Canadians are about 12 times more likely than those who received three doses to believe Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine was justified, according to a new survey by national polling firm EKOS.
The poll found 26 per cent of those who identified as unvaccinated agreed the Russian invasion is justified, with another 35 per cent not offering an opinion. This compared to only two per cent of surveyed Canadians who said they had three doses of the COVID-19 vaccine and who supported the attack, and four per cent who offered no view..."
https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/4048536/posts
Posted by: Paul | Mar 21 2022 21:00 utc | 61
Interesting contrast between the controlled and constrained Russian 'invasion' of Eastern Ukraine and the 'shock and awe' of the USA invasion into Iraq. Targeted destruction versus kill everything !
Posted by: Henry Smith | Mar 21 2022 21:03 utc | 62
This is just a question re a site in the Donbass named "Kramorsky" that had a large explosion the other night. I first saw it on one of the Telegram channels I'm using.
It may be nothing special, but the quickness of the coming and going of the explosion is "striking."
Posted by: donten | Mar 21 2022 21:08 utc | 63
Does anyone have any evidence of Zelensky being sympathetic to the neo-Nazis before he was elected? He got sufficient enough votes from the East to win the election. Have to wonder if he was all heck-bent on being what he's portraying today that that tendency would have been seen somewhere along the line, before he was elected. If he wasn't facing the neo-Nazis AND had there not been the West breathing down his neck I have to wonder how he could have done. Of course, given that his expertise is being a comedian it's really all about those around him and the people who voted for him. Neo-Nazis and massive corruption, how could that have gone wrong?
Posted by: Seer | Mar 21 2022 21:12 utc | 64
Thanks for the map
Posted by: ptb | Mar 21 2022 17:42 utc | 13
WRT news from the North. The UAF have blown the road bridge over the river Irpen and are reported to have fallen back on central Kiev.
WRT to news from the Donbass it is reported the UAF forces have sought permission to withdraw from the hardened positions along the LOC and fall back to the NW before they are completely encircled. The Z men in Kiev, Lvov, Poland, Brussels and Washington are reported to have refused this permission.
This refusal is a positive outcome as once the kessel is closed, and the lines of supply severed, the UAF on the LOC will grow weaker and weaker with each passing day.
Posted by: Sushi | Mar 21 2022 21:14 utc | 66
@ Altai | Mar 21 2022 19:44 utc | 36
zelensky is deciding nothing here.. he is a prop being used in a play... a mediocre actor... he is just as likely to get novichoked as the next prop in the ongoing narrative..
@ Seer | Mar 21 2022 21:12 utc | 63
its my understanding zelensky was the front man for kolomoisky.... kolomoisky never wanted to miss a chance at playing russia off with usa and if using nazis would help - he would do it! our foriegn minister in canada joly would disagree... she would claim that how could this be? they are both jewish!!! but alas... many people have not studied history and no little to nothing about just how depraved people can be when it comes to money..
Posted by: james | Mar 21 2022 21:23 utc | 67
"Unconfirmed: Zelensky rejects Ukrainian military request for retreat from the Donbas front."
They can't do it anyway. They would be destroyed from the air and savaged from the rear by the LNDR and Russian forces. What Kiev told them was they couldn't send any reinforcements, also because those would be destroyed from the air and would reduce the defense of Kiev.
Russia had the LDNR pin the Ukrainians in Donbass, enabling the Russians to encircle them. Russia sent its forces to Kiev to split the Ukrainian forces and pin many of them in Kiev. Then, having destroyed most of the command and control, this left the rest of the Ukrainian forces wandering around doing whatever they thought they could do tactically on a local level. The Russians retain operational control of the battlefield. The Ukrainian forces, under Russian air superiority, were forced to collapse back into the cities, thus losing most of their maneuverability.
This war was over in the first two days, despite Ukrainian resistance. If you can't maneuver in war, you lose. Any Ukrainians who mount an effective resistance will end up being destroyed. If Russia has to, it can bring in the other half of their army still sitting on the Ukrainian border.
There is no possibility that Russia could lose this unless it dragged on for months - which it won't. It should be over by end of April, possibly much sooner.
Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Mar 21 2022 21:27 utc | 68
karlof1@53, i hear your frustration. thank you for the head's up on the michael hudson. the saker has a pepe interview that is the most frustrating interview i have ever watched. i sincerely hope pepe simply posts what he was trying to say bt could not/was not allowed to say b/c the interviewer could not stop interrupting him.
Posted by: emersonreturn | Mar 21 2022 21:28 utc | 69
Posted by: james | Mar 21 2022 21:23 utc | 66
James, thanks for that reply. I knew of Kolominsky, to a degree, that he has bankrolled Zelensky as well as the neo_Nazis (I'm quasi-sure about that later). Still wondering, though, about Zelensky's ideological background. I know that "just following orders" is no excuse, but am kind of looking at this as to what extent the US/West has corrupted everything: we can pretend that somehow a trial might occur...
Posted by: Seer | Mar 21 2022 21:29 utc | 70
@ 38 ptb
I think Zelensky has to try and been seen to try to get it if only for negotiation purposes but I don't think they expect it, there is just more downside for Russia for this to go on longer than for Ukraine and a sense that they might as well try.
The Americans are quite content to fight Russia to the last Ukrainian, works out better for them for this to go on longer anyway, public opinion in the West will just get even more to a fever-pitch and make non-dissidents from Helsinki to Lisbon neocons on Russia. To really try and regime change Putin with a full-scale military campaign is still ultimately up to Joe Biden and even if he incompetently let things get to this point I don't think he has any appetite or indeed motive to take this into a direct shooting war. (Indeed, half the point of Putin invading was to prove that US aggression through Ukraine served no legitimate US interests since they weren't willing to actually fight Russia when it invaded precisely because they had no reason to.)
Posted by: Altai | Mar 21 2022 21:32 utc | 71
james @ 66 posted in part, a quote; ". she would claim that how could this be? they are both jewish!!
And so were many that aided and abetted the 3rd Reich.......
Posted by: vetinLA | Mar 21 2022 21:34 utc | 72
This is a global and perhaps the last attempt of Western civilization to attack the Russian world, Orthodox ethics, on traditional values. He who is brought up on these values will never agree to what they offer us, from same-sex marriages to the legalization of fascism
karlof1 | Mar 21 2022 18:56 utc | 27
Conflating Fascism with same sex marriage. This is Christian nationalist bullshit whether it's coming out of Russia or any other country. Makes me sick. People of all kinds of sexual orientations have existed since time began, to me this is the real stinking heart of the Monotheistic religions. Being inclusive of differences is not "liberal" or "western" it is ancient, humane and mature.
And don't give me that crap about gays are ok just not for marriage. We just went through all that in Australia where our very own Christian Fascist government tried to pass an anti Gay discrimination bill. We even had a referendum on it if you can effing believe that!!!! Anyway it failed. Now I know that Aus is not a bastion of freedom these days but this is one instance where the people stood against the narrative for the good of everyone.
If we support Russian Christians go to hate on gays what difference to Nazis hating on other races? This is a film maker who is using religion for propaganda just like the good ole USA.
Perhaps this is why the conversation on Nazism should not be banned here, Christian Supremacists anyone?
Putin steers clear of this kind of rhetoric, I truly hope that in private he holds the same views.
Posted by: K | Mar 21 2022 21:38 utc | 73
emersonreturn | Mar 21 2022 21:28 utc | 68
Yes, that woman was extremely annoying with her constant interruptions halfway through each response. I gather she had some kind of a show on RT and is now canceled?
Posted by: Billb | Mar 21 2022 21:38 utc | 74
Posted by: Patroklos | Mar 21 2022 17:54 utc | 15
That's the real problem. Once the fait accompli sets in, as Martyanov says, people are going to be so "butthurt" that they were wrong about literally everything.
Unfortunately, most of the US population still won't get it because the overwhelming Russian victory will be suppressed, to be replaced by "Russian war crimes." It will basically be Syria all over again, but times 100.
Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Mar 21 2022 21:42 utc | 75
Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Mar 21 2022 21:42 utc | 74
Unfortunately, most of the US population still won't get it because the overwhelming Russian victory will be suppressed, to be replaced by "Russian war crimes." It will basically be Syria all over again, but times 100.
Movies will be made showing how the US liberated Ukraine from Russia. No western media (all run by a handful of people) will be allowed to say otherwise. No travel to Ukraine will be allowed because, for some reason, sanctions will be in place (just like in Afghanistan).
Posted by: Seer | Mar 21 2022 21:47 utc | 76
Posted by: karlof1 | Mar 21 2022 18:56 utc | 27
Nuclear war makes the concept of "total war" obsolete. So there won't be a WWIII - except by accident, someone doing something stupid - which, admittedly, is a consistent condition for most humans, especially the leaders. So we could have WWIII. But Russia isn't going to start it. So that leaves the US. It's not clear that the ruling elites in the economic sphere will allow that. Their political/social front men might by accident pull it off.
As for the other areas of "total war" - economic, cultural, etc. - well, that's been ongoing all over the world for all of history. No one wins it except by, as Martyanov says, economic and military power, which is mostly dependent on geography and history. The US has a huge land mass, so it won - temporarily. Russia and China both have huge land masses, so they were always going to do well, eventually. Now that they're joined at the hip, the US is going to lose.
Such is life. The only thing that matters is: what are you going to do about that?
Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Mar 21 2022 21:59 utc | 77
Head of #Ukrainian "1st volunteer mobile hospital" operating in #Donbass, political activist Gennady Druzenko claimed on '#Ukraine 24' channel that he 'ordered to 𝒄𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆 captive #Russian soldiers, because they are cockroaches, not humans'. #neonazis - Video
I guess these guys never read Sun Tzu: always leave an avenue of escape to your enemy, or they will fight to the death.
Mind you... I've heard the Russians are killing anyone they catch with Nazi tattoos.
Posted by: Observer | Mar 21 2022 22:05 utc | 78
Figleaf23 | Mar 21 2022 20:28 utc | 50
Excellent observation! It's the western world in a nutshell. Inconsistencies, lies, fakes, lawfare, the complete eradication of anything that resembles a boundary. It's also the topic of today's essay by James Howard Kunstler: National Assisted Suicide.
---
james & Seer: Kolomoisky, I wonder where that guy is right now, what kind of future he thinks he has, how the Russians will deal with his business empire...
Posted by: Scotch Bingeington | Mar 21 2022 22:09 utc | 79
@Seer | Mar 21 2022 21:12 utc | 63
Point is Zelensky was elected on an anti-nazi & anti-corruption scheme but was backed and directed by one of the most powerful oligarch who has his own pro-nazi militia and is, by definition, a corrupter. Like all comedians, he is a puppet dancing on the tune of who pays him. As everyone there, his money is secured in the west as one of the last "paper" outcome reveals it. That makes a reason why he also dances on the tune of the USA. Rest assured that his PR is highly professional and if his role needs that he has to be killed, it will be a glorious death or at least for the greater glory of Nato. And the USA. And the dollar.
Posted by: John V. Doe | Mar 21 2022 22:11 utc | 80
@70 Altai
"The Americans are quite content to fight Russia to the last Ukrainian"
Yes and Ukraine is having a general mobilization, so it is entirely possible. Unfortunately such an awful ending lacks the deterrence value that a NATO flag might have. For that you would need at least some Poles, or Brits, or Lithuanians. (Apologies for stereotypes, their governments seem the most enthusiastic in the matter). Heck, the French and Germans would probably approve it without too much struggle, if they were assured immunity from the side effects.
And in case you're into brutal honesty, US sacrificing poor kids for dubious causes is not unusual either - one just has to generate the necessary level of fear first and we're well on our way.
Posted by: ptb | Mar 21 2022 22:13 utc | 81
Fabrications are rife during wars. The say, and no doubt it has validity, that the first victim of war is the truth. Here is a translation from RIA Novosti in Moscow, of some of the fake stories we in the west have been spinning.
https://johnplatinumgoss.com/2022/03/21/fake-news-the-west-tries-its-hand/
No nazis in Ukraine? Western MSM surely try to deny that fact!
This is mind-blowing propaganda:CNN quoted the mayor of the Ukrainian city of Mariupol to compare Russia to Nazi Germany
Then two paragraphs later, CNN quoted an actual neo-Nazi from the fascist Azov regiment, without mentioning its Nazi ideology
https://twitter.com/BenjaminNorton/status/1505979899168833538
Posted by: Zanon | Mar 21 2022 22:18 utc | 83
@Posted by: ScottinDallas | Mar 21 2022 18:56 utc | 26
Roger, they don't care about losing Ukraine, you fight proxy wars for the creative destruction. I think they're in denial about the very real knock on defeats to dollar hegemony, NATO is a dying pact, but it's enough to pry Europe away from Eurasia; or at least for now.
The US seems to have dreams of turning Ukraine into another Afghanistan, I think that their biggest disappointment will be Russia's ability to turn Ukraine into a somewhat more successful nation that will not fight them - especially West of the Dniepr and in the south. The bigger blowback may be all the Ukronazis etc. that have been let into Europe, the Poles should remember all the problems they had when Lviv was part of Poland. I am sure that Hamas and the Yemeni etc. could also make good use of all those weapons that the West has provided to Russia for free. The US is most definitely in denial of the decline of dollar hegemony and a dying NATO, and yes it is sad but seems true that Europe (and my own Canada) will step onto the wrong side of history.
Posted by: Altai | Mar 21 2022 19:44 utc | 36
Let's parse this...
"Assuming that he doesn't expect decisive US military intervention,"
What he assumes is irrelevant, because he has no agency. He is not in charge - except in the sense Scott Ritter points out. Russia needs Zelensky to make a deal, because he is considered the legitimate President of the country by the West. So if he makes a deal, the West doesn't get to have a "government in exile" in Poland saying they didn't agree to anything, which gives the Western continued aggression against Russia in Ukraine some legitimacy.
There are two problems with Ritter's thesis: 1) Zelensky can't make a deal because he has no agency. He's between the US and the Nazis. 2) Russia is naive in thinking that even if they get Zelensky to make a deal that the West will abide by it.
Where Ritter is right is that there won't be a "deal." Russia has presented surrender terms. There are no "negotiations." Russia will not stop de-militarization and de-Nazification regardless of any "deal" by Zelensky to recognize Donbass, Crimea and neutrality. Russia doesn't want "neutrality" anyway. They want a compliant pro-Russian Ukraine government that will allow them to store strategic missiles inside Ukraine (along with Belarus).
So Zelensky is simply irrelevant. The only reason the Russians are talking to him is in the (vain - and they know it) hope that he will order a complete surrender, so the fighting stops and the Russians can get on with it without losing any more forces. Period. End of story.
"I can only assume Zelensky is holding out as long as possible knowing the Russians have to avoid large-scale occupation and the bloody endless quagmire the US/Poland would giddily support to drag out for as long as possible."
Not going to happen, and Zelensky can't do that in any case. The Russian operation proceeds at its pace and will continue to do so. It will be over by end of April when there are little to no more Ukrainian forces to resist. There will be "dragging out" - Ukraine does not have capability. Ritter talks about Ukraine having 240,000 troops and 300,000 "reserves" - all of whom are irrelevant. Ritter is just being kind to the Ukrainians and showing them some respect as fellow soldiers. But they have zero chance to win. There will be no "insurgency" of former soldiers like in Iraq, and even if there were it would not stop the Russian plan. There will be no "quagmire." So what Zelensky thinks, again, is irrelevant. He has no agency to produce that. Neither does the CIA, as Ritter also points out.
"And that Russia also needs this to be wrapped up on a shorter time frame than he does. (Ukraine is already invaded, what else can happen for him?)"
He can die. Despite what Ritter says about the Russians "needing Zelensky", if it comes down to it, they can just arrest or kill him. Again, Zelensky has no agency. The Russians don't care about him in the least. He has no capacity whatsoever to drag this out longer than the Russians can finish it.
"Since the sticking block is the status of the Donbass, alternative compromises might end up being partition within partition by having only slices of the Eastern provinces with the highest ethnic Russian populations allowed to break away."
Oh, hell, no. Since there are no "negotiations" but only surrender terms, Russia will get precisely what it wants. There will be no "compromises" made by the Russians in any way, shape or form.
"Left unexamined is that no matter what happens to Ukraine East of the Dneiper, be it adsorbed by Russia or mostly left in Ukraine"
I'm on record as saying Ukraine will be retained in whole, minus Crimea and possibly the Donbass. Why partition when you don't have to? Russia has won. It gets whatever it wants. Why give up part of Ukraine if you don't have to?
"will ethnic Ukrainians and Russians in those areas be able to live together after all this?"
Who cares? The Russians don't. All they care about is a stable, pro-Russian government that can "negotiate" for Russian strategic weapons inside Ukraine. What the citizens of Ukraine think about that is irrelevant. As long as the hardline nationalists and neo-Nazis can be kept down, Russia doesn't care. As long as there isn't another Maidan, Russia doesn't care. And if there is another Maidan, Russia will rinse and repeat. Since the new Ukraine won't have a significant army after this affair, Russia won't have to worry about doing another major operation to fix Ukraine.
"Certainly no matter what happens the US will seek to stoke further ethnic conflict."
Good luck with that. With most of the nationalists and neo-Nazis dead, in jail or deported, there won't be any real way to destabilize the new government. And if there is, rinse and repeat.
This is how you solve a problem. The only question remaining is whether Russia understands that. I think they do or this operation wouldn't have been started in the first place.
Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Mar 21 2022 22:20 utc | 85
We are standing at an inflection point in history, and there can be no bystanders. Everyone needs to help. Here’s what you can do to turn the tide of the information war against global nazism. And by “help,” I don’t mean vapid “thoughts and prayers.” I’m talking about real, practical things every person reading this can do that will have a meaningful impact in the war.
How YOU can help win the war against nazism
https://readingjunkie.com/2022/03/21/how-you-can-help-win-the-war-against-nazism/
Posted by: Ian Kummer | Mar 21 2022 22:22 utc | 86
You have to wonder what any surviving Ukrainian soldiers will want to do with Zelensky when they find out he has been bravely ordering them to fight to the death from his basement hideaway in Poland....
Posted by: J Swift | Mar 21 2022 22:23 utc | 87
...Russia, China, US, WWIII...
Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Mar 21 2022 21:59 utc | 76
The USA wants to stay No. 1 and to do that, it has to tackle China.
To win against China, in a non military way (you don't want to risk a WW!), to subjugate it, you have to control its energy imports. All of them.
So the first step is to crush Russia. Use a proxy to draw it into a local war (like now with UA), sanction the hell out of it, get a regime change, and ultimately balkanize it with the help of a strong local military force like the NATO is becoming now. You are now in control of Russia's resources.
If that has been done, then you can start all over and do the same to China: local war over Taiwan, sanctions aka economic war, stop any energy going into China and so on.
Mission accomplished – all without a major world war.
Posted by: zet | Mar 21 2022 22:25 utc | 88
@Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Mar 21 2022 21:42 utc | 74
I am waiting for the extreme cognitive dissonance among the many scholars that I work and interact with. The angst level will go through the roof. My worry is the possibility of continued escalation as a form of denial. The Russia-hating craziness has been ramped up to such a level it will be difficult to walk away from.
@Down South | Mar 21 2022 19:45 utc | 37
Fedorov was detained upon appeal to Latvia by the European authorities - he is accused of cooperation with Russia and will be charged with treason.
I do not understand how a private citizen expressing his own personal opinions can be accused of treason. He is not a member of the government. He is not a member of the armed forces.
Posted by: cirsium | Mar 21 2022 22:28 utc | 90
The underlying & untellable Truth about Naziism as a Cult is that they, along with their peers the Khazarian Usurpers are both "adoratores" of Saturn, The Black Sun for the former & Remphan for the latter..
Selah.
Posted by: Lozion | Mar 21 2022 22:30 utc | 91
An example of what I mean by "Zelensky has no agency".
Possible compromise agreements with Russia, including on security guarantees, should be put for nationwide referendum, Ukrainian President Zelensky said on Monday.
"I explained to every negotiating team: when you are speaking about all these changes, they may be historic. We will come to a referendum," he said in an interview with TV companies, which was posted on the website of Ukraine’s Public television. "People will have to say and give an answer about these or those compromise formats. And what these compromises will be about is a matter of our talks and understanding between Ukraine and Russia. Anyway, I am ready to do everything which is needed if I am together with our people."
According to Zelensky, a "normal compromise" is a situation when Ukraine agrees to drop its NATO-wards plans but receives security guarantees from NATO member countries.
You see? "We won't be in NATO but we will be protected by NATO."
Does anyone take this seriously? And he says what he "negotiates" with Russia is subject to a "referendum". No, it won't.
This is just meaningless talk coming from someone with no agency to do anything but who is in a position where he has to say something - something his masters tell him to say.
People need to stop treating this guy like he is someone with say in anything. He's not. He's a puppet. The only thing he cares about is living long enough to get out of Ukraine and going to his mansion in Florida and retiring in luxury. And that's dependent on the CIA, the Nazis and the Russians.
Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Mar 21 2022 22:30 utc | 92
Briefing by Russian Defence Ministry
Ukrainian nationalists continue to use residential areas of settlements and social facilities as a "human shield" to deploy their artillery systems and conduct massive fire on Russian servicemen.
So, on Kiev outskirts, in Vinogradar district, Ukrainian nationalist units covered themselves with residential buildings for several days and fired multiple launch rocket systems at Russian servicemen.
At the same time, the areas of the nearby shopping centre were used as a large base for storing rocket ammunition and reloading multiple launch rocket systems.
The coordinates of the position of Ukrainian multiple rocket launchers were confirmed by Russian reconnaissence through several channels, as well as the location of warehouse with rocket ammunition was discovered.
Live monitoring and recording system clearly shows how a Ukrainian multiple launch rocket system enters a shopping centre on the outskirts of Kiev to hide and reload missiles.
High-precision long-range weapons destroyed a battery of Ukrainian multiple rocket launchers and a storage base for their ammunition in closed shopping centre on the night of March 21.
We would like to draw the attention of the Western media once again. We have presented absolute evidence of the criminal use by Kiev nationalist regime of civilian objects in residential areas of Kiev and other cities of Ukraine, as firing positions of artillery and rocket systems.
I have to comment on the words of the adviser to the office of the Ukrainian President, Mikhail Podolyak, that allegedly Russia is fighting only with "manpower and cruise missiles."
I must emphasize that the special military operation is carried out by a professional army, which actually uses cruise missiles.
Their use is highly effective. They carry out precision strikes against military infrastructure and never against civilian objects. The nationalists themselves and the Ukrainian Armed Forces are hitting civilian targets. There are a lot of people's testimonies about this, and we have just presented one of them.
Returning to the actions of the Russian Armed Forces, not only cruise missiles are used, but also hypersonic weapons. Which is absolutely high-precision and is also used only for military targets.
In particular, we are talking about the Kinzhal aviation missile systems with hypersonic aeroballistic missiles.
The Russian Defence Ministry has analyzed the results of the destruction of the military infrastructure assets of Ukraine by aviation missile complexes Kinzhal with hypersonic aeroballistic missiles.
Underground protected storages of Ukrainian aviation weapons and combat units for Tochka-U missile systems located in the Delyatin, Ivano-Frankovsk region, as well as large fuel depots in Konstantinovka, Nikolaev region, were destroyed.
I would like to draw your attention to the fact that the use of a hypersonic aeroballistic missile of Kinzhal complex was carried out from a range of more than 1,000 kilometers. The flight time of the hypersonic missile was less than 10 minutes.
Due to hypersonic speed and ultra-high kinetic energy, the warhead of Kinzhal missile complex destroyed a protected underground arsenal located in a mountainous area, built in Soviet times to store special ammunition and missiles.
The destruction of a large fuel depot in Konstantinovka by Kinzhal hypersonic missile was due to its invisibility and invulnerability to any means of enemy air and missile defence.
Combat use of Kynzhal aviation missile system confirmed its effectiveness in destroying highly protected special enemy assets. The strikes on the military infrastructure of Ukraine by this missile system will continue within the special military operation.
I would like to emphasize that Kinzhal system is used with a conventional warhead. Although experts are well aware of the capabilities of this weapon, not only in terms of range, but also in terms of the type of charge.
Other latest means of destruction are also used, as well as modern aviation.
All these weapons systems, as well as other weapons, if Mr. Podolyak does not know, are called the modern Russian Army and the Navy.
So I do not recommend misleading anyone about the real capabilities and professionalism of the Russian Armed Forces. All the alleged "real data" about losses of military equipment and personnel of the Russian Armed Forces, including senior and superior officers, disseminated by Mr. Podolyak is propagandistic lies.
In turn, I would like to draw Mikhail Podolyak's attention to the actions of the Ukrainian Security Service, neo-Nazi formations and other so-called "special Ukrainian structures" that terrorize their own citizens trying to leave the territory of Ukraine. It is these representatives of the Kiev regime who create a stir on the border.
They still let children and women through. Although not all of them.
As for the male population of Ukraine, they are forcibly conscripted into the army as so-called "reservists" at the border. In fact, they are used as "cannon fodder".
(https://t.me/mod_russia_en/318)#Russia #Ukraine #Briefing
@mod_russia_en
Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Mar 21 2022 22:35 utc | 93
Boo | Mar 21 2022 19:09 utc | 31
thanks. what's the opposite of 'au courante'? 2018...so long ago now...
Posted by: rjb1.5 | Mar 21 2022 22:40 utc | 94
about the nazi "Taira" #14, her name is Yulia Paevskaya, and there is this Free Yulia and/or Free Taira campaign in Ukraine.
https://twitter.com/Lilyofcamp/status/1505359101315985411
In Ukraine, Yulia is a well-known personality, she actively spoke on the Maidan and participated in military operations in the Donbass in the ranks of the neo-Nazi Azov regiment. During 8 years 14000 people died in Dobass.
Russia caught her March 16 as she was trying to get out of Mariupol with a medical team, here's a video after her capture (must watch) https://twitter.com/_ruskadevushka_/status/1505892176613769218
caption:
"Captured Commander of the medical service of Azov is watching a report about the consequences of a strike on Donetsk.
She pretend now that she got no idea"
Scott Ritter comments "The trial will be interesting"
https://twitter.com/RealScottRitter/status/1505896971617382404
one more video, https://twitter.com/ntvru/status/1505888127692513288 (from captivity?) A member of the Azov National Battalion (banned in the Russian Federation) Yulia Paevskaya (call sign Taira), captured by the DPR People’s Militia, appealed to the battalion soldiers with a request to release the civilian population from Mariupol
so it is her brothers and arms holding the population in captivity and russia is no doubt demanding she make this appeal. and when did the people start pouring out of Mariupol? was it after they captured her?
Posted by: annie | Mar 21 2022 22:44 utc | 95
Posted by: Brendan | Mar 21 2022 20:20 utc | 48
"So Zelensky can hand a 'Hero of Ukraine' medal to the leader of the Azov Regiment - as reported today - and then sit back and watch their base in Mariupol being destroyed. Once Russia has finished that job, they'll have no reason to stay in Ukraine. Zelensky can then present himself as the hero who stopped the Russians from occupying Kiev."
If he thinks that, he's delusional. If the Russians get their hands on him, he's going to a war crimes tribunal in Donbass and will be executed. You forget that even if the Nazis get killed, he's still been cooperating with them. The Russians won't cut him any slack for being under threat by the Nazis because he continues this war which is killing Russian soldiers.
He's a dead man walking. Even if he flees to the US and his mansion in Florida, some Chechen team will eliminate his ass.
Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Mar 21 2022 22:47 utc | 96
Zelensky is not stupid. He is happy to let Russia destroy all the Neonazis in the East, so he can either stall for (unlikely) Nato support or if (when) he doesn't get it, switch the narrative to 'Western betrayal' mode and clear the path for becoming Putin's bitch without the risk of being hanged by extremists after he surrenders.
Posted by: Et Tu | Mar 21 2022 17:02 utc | 3
He is stupid and a killer. He wants to increase the casualties among Russian civilians and the destruction of Mariupol. Like most Jews he does not care about the lives of non-Jews.
Posted by: Olivier | Mar 21 2022 22:50 utc | 97
re: Richard Steven Hack | Mar 21 2022 21:59 utc | 76
You wrote " So we could have WWIII. But Russia isn't going to start it. So that leaves the US. It's not clear that the ruling elites in the economic sphere will allow that. Their political/social front men might by accident pull it off."
If you are talking about a massive "out of the blue" nuclear first-strike, then I would tend to agree with you. But nuclear war can be the "logical" next step by a nuclear power that is losing a major war, and decides to use a "battlefield" nuclear weapon (i.e. one with an explosive power of a few kilotons or so) to prevent defeat. In this case, with both nations being armed with massive nuclear arsenals, it may not be so logical to expect that the other side will not retaliate in kind.
Without getting into Russian military doctrine, let's just say that Russia will use its nuclear weapons en masse if Russia is hit with a nuke. If the Russian army is somehow being defeated on the Russian border and the survival of Russia is considered to be at stake, then Russia will also use its nukes.
However, I am more worried about the fools in the US and NATO getting their planes shot down or a NATO base outside of Ukraine getting hit because the base was used to stage an attack against Russian troops. The Zero Hedge headline today was that the US is sending an S-300 system to Ukraine. Good luck with that you fools. Russia will certainly attempt to destroy it, perhaps even before it gets to Ukraine.
In other words, I think a nuclear war is most likely to begin with direct military conflict between the US/NATO and Russia in Ukraine, with an escalation from conventional to nuclear once one side -- probably NATO -- is losing big time.
Posted by: Perimetr | Mar 21 2022 22:50 utc | 98
And currently all French channels are blaming the destruction of Mariupol and the killing of civilians to the Russian. Not one word on the nazi Azov regiment.
Posted by: Olivier | Mar 21 2022 22:51 utc | 99
Well, well - the BBC proof-reader must have taken the night off!
BBC News:
"Why does Mariupol matter so much?
...Propaganda opportunity: Mariupol is home to a Ukrainian militia unit called the Azov Brigade, which contains far-right extremists including neo-Nazis. Although they form only the tiniest fraction of Ukraine's fighting forces, this has given Moscow a pretext for telling Russia's population that the young men it has sent to fight in Ukraine are there to rid their neighbour of neo-Nazis."
Posted by: RJ | Mar 21 2022 22:55 utc | 100
The comments to this entry are closed.
From a blog post I wrote yesterday:
It is time for the empire to die
"Our media is filled with silly lies, like Russians not having access to information from outside their country. Because that’s believable in the internet age. Or that the Russian military does evil things for no reason, like blowing up hospitals and theaters full of children (though these atrocities miraculously never leave any evidence behind, like bodies). Then why are civilian casualties from more than three weeks of heavy fighting so low? By all accounts, much lower than Russian military casualties? Isn’t that pretty compelling evidence that they’re tiptoeing through Ukraine being extraordinarily careful to not cause civilian casualties?
Well, ackshullllly that’s only because they’re too weak to use the means necessary to win! Oh, I see. That famous Russian weakness again. First off, it’s interesting that we see goodness as weakness and are proud of it. And yes, that is a true statement. Our first month in Iraq inflicted 4-7 thousand civilian deaths and that’s probably undercounted. It’s also interesting that we tell lies that obviously contradict each other and see no problem with this.
Try to have a memory span longer than a goldfish. Remember Day 3 of the operation when a bunch of Russian armored vehicles parked near Kiev and American “experts” declared they were out of fuel? Because as we all know, Russia is famous for not having enough oil. I’m sure their tanks running out of fuel within 75 miles of their own border is a plausible thing that could happen and not total nonsense."
https://readingjunkie.com/2022/03/21/it-is-time-for-the-empire-to-die/
Posted by: Ian Kummer | Mar 21 2022 17:01 utc | 1