james | Mar 14 2022 2:13 utc | 198
Ze is likely dead, at least walking on-screen with the dead.

Posted by: Greg Galloway | Mar 14 2022 2:30 utc | 204

Good sign of common sense coming from influential people in the US – just saw the appearance of professor Jeffrey Sachs in BBC (I get it on Dish TV in the USA) – who was extremely eloquent about the absolute need for Ukraine to be neutral, because NATO membership would be unacceptable danger to Russia. He started off with listing the three clear demands Russia has made in mid-December 2021. He repeated again and again – “just look at the map” – and he mentioned also that many public figures in America have been warning about the NATO expansion as very provocative to Russia and added that those opinions were not heeded by G.W. Bush in 2008. He was critical of the American arrogance that they can put themselves anywhere in the world and claim that spot. (I am paraphrasing in the last sentence).
I am changing my opinion about him, from negative to positive.

Posted by: bystander 04 | Mar 14 2022 2:36 utc | 206

@ WastelandChic 199
I’m quite concerned that China is going to roll over for the West and play ball
Not likely. Abandon your concern. The Chinese people have recovered wonderfully from their hundred years’ humiliation by western powers and they are not likely to be humiliated by kowtowing to petty politicians with stupid accomplices. China will ensure its own success, which may entail some divergence from Russia policy, a sign of their independence.

Posted by: Don Bacon | Mar 14 2022 2:42 utc | 208

The link to “Worlds Apart”
https://www.rt.com/shows/worlds-apart-oksana-boyko/
In the program with Yiwei Wang (Center for European Studies, China) he calls Russia “China’s elder brother” with long experience with US sanctions among other things. He says that China is less independent from the world trade network than Russia is and thus must weigh carefully its options. Calls US sanctions “illegal” and China is not legally beholden to them, but as a practical matter they would have to decide how to respond.
This show has always been one of the better offerings from RT.

Posted by: the pessimist | Mar 14 2022 2:58 utc | 210

@ the pessimist 210
China is less independent from the world trade network than Russia is and thus must weigh carefully its options.
Jake ‘the mistake’ Sullivan has warned China it will face consequences if it helps Russia evade sanctions. Sullivan meets with a China guy tomorrow; he should expect a talking-to.

Posted by: Don Bacon | Mar 14 2022 3:12 utc | 212

to Richard Steven Hack | Mar 14 2022 1:59 utc | 194
an informative and interesting response, thanks. I tend to agree with your analysis.
though I do think from past history as a guide, that the CIA will indeed try and try again with an ‘insurgency’, but what you outline would perhaps cut all that off. time will tell.
I do think that Russia now using missile attacks in western Ukraine is a sign they are serious about cutting off these nato/US supplies and mercenaries.
I hope that Ritter is right.

Posted by: michaelj72 | Mar 14 2022 3:15 utc | 214

@ the pessimist 210 and Don Bacon 212 about Russia/China relationship
Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe that China is already actively working to help Russia evade financial sanctions both with CIPS/Union Pay and expanding the range of Ruble trading support internationally.
China is also, I have read but don’t have links, positioning itself to pick up the energy contracts and businesses being abandoned by empire losers with Russia.
I think that Jake will do his spiel and then be told that if the US signs into law the tacit approval of a Taiwan outside China that the response will be immediate and economically decisive. Then he will be told that sovereign security overrides the empire/NATO aggression against Russia as they continue to state over and over.

Posted by: psychohistorian | Mar 14 2022 3:27 utc | 216

Gilbert Doctorow has returned to his habit of “concern trolling” in this article over at Antiwar.com:
The Americans Want a Long War
https://www.antiwar.com/blog/2022/03/13/the-americans-want-a-long-war/
Since there seems to be some people here who share his concerns, allow me to post my detailed response I just wrote in response to that article. WARNING! LONG POST!
Unfortunately Gilbert has gone back to “concern trolling”. Well, that may be a bit harsh on my part. Yes, he has some valid “concerns” However, none of them are going to work out in the West’s favor.
Let’s parse this bit by bit…
“For the Americans, the longer the war drags on, the easier it is to impose ever more punishing sanctions to which European and other allies will also adhere…”
Uhm, no. As Alexander Mercouris has repeatedly pointed out in his videos, the West has “shot its load” in terms of sanctions. There are no more significant sanctions that can be imposed on Russia.
Second, Russia has been preparing for this for years, since at least 2014 when the first tranche of sanctions were imposed. While Russia may not have expected the sanctions on the Russian Central Bank, there are indications that they have ways of dealing with it. Also, we need to remember that Russia has yet to impose its own counter-sanctions, for which they many options which will be very painful for the West.
“Russian social media which reported the story of Bennett’s call also posted comments to the effect that Zelensky counts for nothing, that the army and radical nationalists will not follow any orders he may give.”
This part Gilbert gets right. Zelensky is entirely owned and operated by the CIA at this point. Not to mention, as I have previously, his reputed cocaine addiction, which explains his emotional instability. As Scott Ritter has said, everything you are seeing coming out of Ukraine right now is part of a CIA “information operation.” That is, the CIA is stage-managing every bit of information coming out of Ukraine. Ritter knows how this works because he has been a participant in such operations in the past.
Also, we need to keep in mind that the neo-Nazi apparatus is embedded in every sector of the Ukrainian government, from the police to the military to the foreign affairs. As Ritter points out, they’ve even bragged about their penetration of the Ukrainian government. Every President since Yanukovich has been explicitly threatened with death if they make any concessions to Russia.
“When the military materiel is exhausted, the Ukrainian forces will have no choice but to surrender.”
Correct. Which is why Russia has been concentrating on the military infrastructure as opposed to killing Ukrainian soldiers. Russia has a political objective here and it needs a functioning Ukrainian military in the future – just not one embedded with neo-Nazis and nationalist fanatics. More on that later.
“However, if the Russians simply get up and leave Ukraine upon signing a peace agreement…”
Who says Russia is going to do that? They haven’t. They’ve said the military operation will be over if Ukraine lays down their arms. Since they know the neo-Nazis aren’t going to and that the neo-Nazis are embedded in the Ukrainian military, they know that isn’t going to happen until the Ukrainian army realizes their full defeat. Which will happen when the Ukrainian units currently encircled in eastern Ukraine have surrended or been annihilated.
Russia has not said anything about stopping the “de-militarization” – which Scott Ritter says means removing anything connecting the Ukrainian military with NATO and removing anything which could threaten Russia – and “de-Nazification”. Those will continue even when military hostilities have stopped.
” it is entirely foreseeable that the West would rearm Ukraine very quickly, possibly within one year by simple drawdown of the surplus tanks and other gear now in storage in EU countries.”
No. Here Gilbert reveals his complete lack of military knowledge. You don’t reform a military in one year. And even if you could, what part of “rinse and repeat” the current operation doesn’t he get?
“denazification means more than arrest of Nazi radicals in the army, which is by itself beyond the capabilities of the 150,000 Russian troops now at work on Ukrainian territory…”
I don’t know who this Russian is that he refers to on this, but he’s wrong. In fact, it’s incomprehensibly wrong. Once the Ukrainian military is defeated, all its records are open to inspection. Russia will have no problem identifying, locating and arresting – or executing on the spot, which is more likely – almost all the neo-Nazis embedded in the Ukrainian army – at least, those who haven’t already fled to western Ukraine or Poland.
“It means bringing into play Ukrainian Russian-speaking civil society, which has been cowed into submission by eight years of terror inflicted by radical bully boys across the country, so that identification and court proceedings against neo-Nazis and nationalist gangsters proceed without Russian participation.”
Who says this will proceed without Russian participation? All Russia has to do is reorient the Ukrainian government after getting rid of the present regime. Scott Ritter thinks Russia already knows who will form a new “caretaker” government. The primary aim, identified in the Minsk Package of Measures, involves modification of the Ukrainian Constitution to reorganize Ukraine into a federated government, with autonomy for various regions.
In addition, Russia will require the new Constitution to ban membership in NATO, as well as banning the neo-Nazi political parties and militias. Subsequent to the formation of the new Ukrainian government, after new elections, the Ukrainian law enforcement services, backed by Russian intelligence services, will ensure that no underground movements gain sufficient traction to threaten the new government and the political process in Ukraine.
Note that the previous election of Yanukovich, who was pro-Russian, was with the support of eastern Ukraine. The subsequent elections of Poroshenko and Zelensky were based on their (false) promises of establishing peace in Ukraine. Does that sound the entirety of Ukraine is interested in restarting a war with Russia?
In addition, with regards to the oblasts in western Ukraine which are avowedly anti-Russian, there is a relatively simply solution: deport them to the West. Just as Russia and Syria deported the jihadists to Idlib and to Turkey, the Russians, once they have seized Lvov, can identify everyone involved with nationalist and neo-Nazi parties and they and the new Ukrainian government can simply deport them to the West. Once border is re-established, they just won’t be let back in. Combined with the ban of their parties and militias, they won’t be able to influence the internal Ukrainian political process. And the Ukrainian and Russian intelligence services can prevent any underground movement.
Finally, as Scott Ritter also points out, between 1945 and 1955, western Ukraine fought a bloody insurgency against the Soviet Union. They lost 250,000 lives compared to 23,000 Russian lives. If a repeat is necessary, Russia will do it. But in my view, deportation is much easier.
“The whole educational system in Ukraine must be reformed…”
That is a process for the new Ukrainian government, not Russia.
“All of this requires a more comprehensive and effective outreach to the Ukrainian public than the Russian leadership has demonstrated in its conduct of the war till now.”
This is just stupid. We’re in a hot war. How do you do these things in the middle of a hot war? Get a clue, Gilbert. You don’t think Russia has considered how these things need to progress subsequent to the cessation of military hostilities?
“a long, drawn out war may destabilize the Russian government as war protesters rise in numbers and effectiveness.”
The consensus of Scott Ritter and Mark Sleboda – who are both married to Russian and Georgian wives and who have considerable knowledge of Russians, especially Mark who actually lives in Russia – is that this is not going to happen. While sections of the Russian population, specifically the “Western intellectuals” and the “Moscow business class”, who are very Westernized, might bitch and moan, the bulk of Russia will not. This is proved by the increase in support for Putin in the polls, where he is around 68-71% approval at this point.
Not to mention that his isn’t going to be a “long war.” What IS a “long war”? Iraq was a short war that turned into a long war. Afghanistan was a “short war” that turned into a long war. Ukraine is going to be a war where the military hostilities are over within two months. There will be no “occupation” of the entire country, but only Russian units embedded in specific places of strategic importance for the short time it takes to reorient the Ukrainian government, produce a new Constitution and hold new elections. Cleaning out western Ukraine of nationalist fanatics and neo-Nazis will take longer, but the new Ukrainain government, with assistance from Russian intelligence services, can handle that without the presence of full Russian military presence – which can be reinstated in specific places as needed if necessary.
” It would also put in jeopardy the support Russia receives from its close friends abroad, China and India. Already now Chinese international broadcaster CGTN is broadcasting news on the Ukraine conflict that is almost undistinguishable from CNN or the BBC in its one-sidedness in favor of the Ukrainian “victims” of Russian aggression. The notion that the Russian-Chinese relationship is “greater than an alliance” will come into question if the war goes on more than one month.”
Bullcrap. He needs to listen to Chinese outlets other than CGTN. There has been no question of Chinese support for Russia in this matter, as Mercouris has analyzed Chinese statements from Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and editorials in Global Times, which reflects Chinese official positions.
In short, the bulk of this article, while raising issues of importance, is mostly “concern trolling”. There are ways of dealing with every issue raised. Whether Russia will do so is not certain. But there is no apriori reason that Russia can’t deal with these issues.

Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Mar 14 2022 3:37 utc | 218

Milo’s (45). It would help if you got the name right !
Nolan Peterson former pilot for Special Ops in USAF living in Kiev with wife Lily for past 8 years working as journalist for US mag “Coffee or Die”
Hardly a soldier

Posted by: Paul Greenwood | Mar 14 2022 3:40 utc | 220

@ 218
re: Gilbert Doctorow
. . .from his Amazon bio: For twenty-five years [1976-2000] he worked for US and European multinationals in marketing and general management with regional responsibility. . . .Mr. Doctorow’s next project will be a memoir of his corporate service in Moscow in the wild 1990s. (The Yeltsin years)

Posted by: Don Bacon | Mar 14 2022 4:01 utc | 222

Haven’t any Western leaders mouthing threats of a no fly zone ever heard of the Russian family of SAMs like the S-400? One of which I gather shot down a Ukie jet fighter about 150 miles away from where it was stationed. How is NATO going to set up a no fly zone if their fighter jets cannot cross over into Ukraine without getting shot down? What makes them think the Russians will not challenge any incursion?

Posted by: Erelis | Mar 14 2022 4:23 utc | 224

WJ #2

The US *really* does not want to see Kiev fall. Some factions within US government are willing to risk WW3 in order to prevent this.

EU inherits the chickens on their way home to roost
The Straussians are the infection at the top of the White House, the National Security Council, the Congress. They have a firm grip on the USA machinery of government and will not be dislodged any time soon. Israeli Premier Bennet has a dilemma to consider.
Club Orlov seems pleased with the People’s militia and Russia’s progress.
The sources of the global fascists rushing to their doom.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Mar 14 2022 4:24 utc | 226

JB #202

Donbas:
https://twitter.com/GeromanAT/status/1503093943315042304/photo/2
Best hope is mass surrender of 10,000s – which should put pressure on Zelensky et al to negotiate to Russia’s terms. And save 10,000s lives.

The Ukrainian army units are each commanded by a fascist trusty of Azov pedigree. The only way they can surrender is to terminate the commanding officers before they are terminated for surrendering.
Bye bye fascists.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Mar 14 2022 4:31 utc | 228

@ 223
Rand: providing lethal aid to Ukraine would exploit Russia’s greatest point of external vulnerability
But the US position is that the Russian assault to correct that situation was “unprovoked!”

Posted by: Don Bacon | Mar 14 2022 4:34 utc | 230

Don Bacon #219
“Yes. . .and China will not be pushed around any more by late arrivals in the world.”
:))
:))
:))

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Mar 14 2022 5:06 utc | 232

Indian punch line has very positive looking article. I like his take on this. I also like his opinion about that smug Sullivan “Sullivan’s gone overboard – yet, he’s intelligent man. Either he expects ridicule/ rebuke at Rome or is addressing domestic audience showing boss’s gutsy. But if as Sullivan expects, Biden can truly make China US’ subaltern, he’ll be creating history?”

Posted by: Calgary Guy | Mar 14 2022 5:12 utc | 234

Not many here are remembering Russia’s experience with the Chechen wars from 1999 to 2009 which was the final end of the insurgency phase. The Chechen capital Grozny was razed to the ground in the initial conflict and the whole country was a complete mess. Chechen terrorists were supported by the CIA, just like the Ukrainian Nazis – with the same objective which was to destroy Russia.
Subsequently with the installation of Akhmad Kadyrov who was replaced by his son Ramzan when he was assassinated in 2004, Russia helped Chechnya to completely rebuild itself to the point where Chechen soldiers now comprise the Nazi elimination force in the Ukraine invasion.
Putin has personal experience of how to re-structure a whole country by eliminating terrorist elements. All those who don’t understand what he is doing only have to look to Chechnya to see the beta version of Putin’s methods. My belief is that he will do it better this time.
Ukraine’s problem is that it is a resource rich country where all of the “income streams” are bing pillaged by a variety of home grown oligarchs, with the willing assistance of US politicians and the CIA. Remove that layer of scum from the picture and install some more effective people who are more prepared to share and the fortunes of the average Ukrainian can only improve.
Just a small example which struck me was that the price of gasoline in cities now under Russian control has halved. Assistance is being offered to farmers to get this year’s crop planted.
Putin is going to win this with plain common sense and create a country which will be a great ally to Russia just as Chechnya is now.

Posted by: Cyberhorse | Mar 14 2022 6:23 utc | 236

Posted by: Don Bacon | Mar 14 2022 4:01 utc | 222
Exactly. He has no military background to talk about “insurgency”, as Martyanov is always saying. I had several arguments with Doctorow’s articles at Antiwar prior to the war starting. Once it started, he got better. Now he’s reverted again. I think a lot of these “antiwar” pundits can’t handle realist analysis if a war looks like it’s going well for someone, because they’re too upset by the war itself.
I have the same problem with Thomas Knapp over at Antiwar. He’s extremely upset over the war and resorts to snark in response to my posts. I get that he’s vehemently anti-war and that’s fine. But one can’t let the emotional aspects get in the way of analysis.
Fortunately, as an individualist anarchist, I don’t have that problem. I despise everything a government is and does – but I can understand why they do it in any given situation. It’s like Scott Ritter said in that Consortium News video; when he puts on his “human hat”, he can commiserate with Ukraine. When he puts on his “analyst hat” he understands what Russia is doing and why. A lot of other “pundits” can’t seem to do that.

Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Mar 14 2022 6:49 utc | 238

Just read the Russian MoD latest update. They claim 1,267 tanks and other armored vehicles destroyed. According to one article I read, out of the 6,500 tanks Ukraine allegedly has, they had about 2,500 operational. The Guardian claims only 57 tanks destroyed so far.
An example of how stupid the propaganda is. Ukraine has actually lost close to half its tanks (and probably APCs, although the latter probably aren’t being targeted as heavily since Russia is trying to avoid unnecessary Ukrainian casualties), but the Guardian thinks only a tiny number are destroyed. It’s ludicrous.

Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Mar 14 2022 6:58 utc | 240

Interesting the framing, people are talking about, and complaining about the Russian invasion of the Ukraine. But no one is talking about the de facto American invasion of the Ukraine. But the US has invaded the Ukraine to all intents and purposes. A pro-US coup in 2014, brought the country under US control. Since then the Ukrainian army has been under US control and it’s obvious that ‘all power flows from the barrel of a gun’. Without an independent army, how can the Ukraine be an independent country?
It can’t.
The US trains, funds, arms and provides support to the Ukrainian army, as well as controlling the government through the Ukrainian proxy, puppet government. The so-called ‘country’ fo the Ukraine is simply a satrapy, a client regime of the Amerikkkan Empire.
In any situation like this, it’s always essential to listen to the so-called ‘crazies’ and not the liberals, who are all bought and sold, shoe shine boys of the ruling elite. The Ukrainina ‘crazies’ continually emphasise that World War 3 has already begun and they are right. The Amerikkkans wanted this war, and now, as, if they waited any later, China would be too strong for them. Hence the prevarication on the part of the Chinese. They know they are still 20, 30, 40 years away from really being able to ‘take on’ the Fourth Reich (AKA the Americans). The Chinese are desperate to defuse the situation. But if they don’t stand up to the Americans now, it will be 1992 all over again, when an American-backed coup destroyed Western Communism in Russia, with results we are all still living with. China cannot win a war against the Fourth Reich on its own, it needs Russia. Difficult dilemma for them.
Optimists should be aware that it is very much in the US’ interests for this war to continue and to spread. Ultimately, a ‘surprise’ nuclear strike provoked by a false flag on Russia and China might be the best way to ensure the 1000 year Reich.

Posted by: Hidari | Mar 14 2022 7:05 utc | 242

interesting, commentators have pointed out that Jeffrey St. Clair and Pat Lang suddenly became much more strident in support of Ukraine near the end of February. sounds like an email went out.

Posted by: pretzelattack | Mar 14 2022 7:09 utc | 244

The only way they can surrender is to terminate the commanding officers before they are terminated for surrendering.
Posted by: uncle tungsten | Mar 14 2022 4:31 utc | 228
Yes the fraggings will start soon enough.

Posted by: A.L. | Mar 14 2022 7:16 utc | 246

@Paul | Mar 14 2022 7:08 utc | 243
“My oldest friend now demands I support NATO expansionism based on my ancestry and my genealogy.”
Wow, would your friend say white people should support US genocide against Native Americans because of our ancestry/genealogy?
“The Volga must be our Mississippi”

Posted by: Vintage Red | Mar 14 2022 7:25 utc | 248

@ Hidari | Mar 14 2022 7:10 utc | 245
Andrew Korybko’s article below provides a critique of that article by Hu Wei and why it apparently has gone viral among certain elements of America’s imperial chattering classes.
Don’t Fall For The Carter Center’s Psy-Op That’s Trying To Divide Russia & China
http://zububrothers.com/2022/03/13/dont-fall-for-the-carter-centers-psy-op-thats-trying-to-divide-russia-china/

Posted by: ak74 | Mar 14 2022 7:36 utc | 250

There’s a lot of stuff going on. I tried to take some of the best and most accurate articles and summarized them all in an article. Organized to inform, rather than to influence.
Combined, it’s a damning assessment on the death of the United States, and its pitiful efforts to stay relevant.
https://metallicman.com/geo-political-sitrep-march-2022/

Posted by: Rufus Arrr | Mar 14 2022 8:14 utc | 252

Think in terms of 5-10 years to replace Russian oil.
Posted by: Likklemore | Mar 14 2022 0:43 utc | 176
To replace it? From where? At which price? My dream: oil at 10 Euro/litre.

Posted by: Olivier | Mar 14 2022 9:30 utc | 254

If this is true, questions need to be asked as to whether Putin will address the presence of *powerful* neo-NAZI groups within Russia:

Utkin has been alleged to have sympathies with the Third Reich by the Latvia-based Meduza and believed to be a neo-Nazi by the British NationalWorld. In 2022 images surfaced of Utkin purportedly showing Waffen SS collar tab and Reichsadler Eagle tattoos on his collar and chest.[10][11] Additionally, several prominent members of the Wagner group have been photographed or recorded in Nazi uniforms or taking part in re-enactments of WWII events.
.
.
.
Almost immediately after returning to Russia, Utkin reportedly created his own mercenary group. Utkin, who reportedly has a passion for the history of the Third Reich,[16] had the call-sign Wagner, presumably in honour of Richard Wagner, Adolf Hitler’s favourite composer.[15][17] Utkin and his “Wagner Group”, as well as several veterans of the Slavonic Corps were seen both in Crimea in February 2014 and then in Donbas, where they fought for the pro-Russian separatists during the Russo-Ukrainian War.[18] Gazeta.ru reports that Utkin and his men could have been involved in the killing of several field commanders of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic.[19]
Utkin was seen in Kremlin during the celebration of Fatherland’s Heroes Day on 9 December 2016. He attended the celebration as a laureate of four Orders of Courage,[20][21] and was photographed with the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin.[22] Dmitry Peskov, the Press Secretary for the Russian President, admitted that Utkin was indeed among the invitees, but did not comment on his connection with the mercenaries.[15]
RBK reported that after completing a training in Krasnodar Krai, Utkin and his men returned to Syria in 2015.[23] Soon after the start of the Russian aerial strikes, reports emerged on the deaths of Russian mercenaries fighting on the ground. Several images spread in the social media apparently depicting armed Russian men killed during the Battle of Palmyra in March 2016.[18] Sky News had reported that approximately 500 to 600 people, mostly Wagner mercenaries, were killed in Syria in 2016.[24]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dmitry_Utkin
Unknowns:
– Is Dmitry Utkin *really* the founder of the Wagner group?
– What is the relationship between the Wagner group and the Russian state?
– Is the Russian state aware of Utkin’s neo-Nazi ideological bent (assuming it’s not pure fabrication …)
Then again, this is WikiPaedia …

Posted by: Arch Bungle | Mar 14 2022 9:43 utc | 256

“Posted by: Arch Bungle | Mar 14 2022 9:43 utc | 256”
Or how to derail a thread…
The one who advertised to kill the Caucasians like the cockroaches they are is…
Navalny.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyqAWCx-I38
Educate yourself.

Posted by: Olivier | Mar 14 2022 9:54 utc | 258

Maybe this has already been said but it apparently it is easy to weed out the Azovs as they have tattoos as part of their induction.

Posted by: Oh | Mar 14 2022 10:13 utc | 260

Posted by: mastameta | Mar 14 2022 10:21 utc | 261
Agree, I just read the latest missive from PCR on Unz.com. Russia will have to cut its ties to USD-dominated forex, and create a petro/agro-rubble. The Indian-Russian rupee/ruble settlement scheme is an example of this.

Posted by: Boo | Mar 14 2022 10:28 utc | 262

Posted by: Olivier | Mar 14 2022 9:54 utc | 258
“Educate yourself.”
I would but:
“This video is not available in your country”
Bitchute perhaps?

Posted by: Arch Bungle | Mar 14 2022 10:35 utc | 264

Posted by: Skiffer | Mar 14 2022 10:33 utc | 263
According to Boris Rozhin and others it looks like hit from Uragan (GRAD like system) with cassete type ammunitions. Tochka-U was intercepted at a low angle (almost before the hit).

Posted by: Boo | Mar 14 2022 10:39 utc | 266

Twitter thread …
Azov mobilisation in Dnipro, recruiting video from Azov Telegram. From recent videos, Azov seems to have expanded rapidly in the past three weeks, including two new battalions in Kharkiv and a local defence unit in Ivano-Frankivsk

Posted by: too scents | Mar 14 2022 10:41 utc | 268

Posted by: Skiffer | Mar 14 2022 10:33 utc | 263
They are slow walking this news in the Western media.

Posted by: too scents | Mar 14 2022 10:43 utc | 270

Posted by: denazi | Mar 14 2022 10:42 utc | 269
From Intel Slava Z: “Losing the war, the terrorists decided to kill as many Russians as possible.”
20 civilians killed in that strike.

Posted by: Olivier | Mar 14 2022 10:56 utc | 272

In response to Boo@266,
Thanks for reminding me about his feed. According to him, head of DNR Pushilin claims that they’ve already intercepted 15 Tochka-U rockets today. If that is the case, 20 civilian casualties is a good outcome, although that sounds cynical.

Posted by: Skiffer | Mar 14 2022 11:09 utc | 274

Posted by: Cyberhorse | Mar 14 2022 6:23 utc | 236
“Ukraine’s problem is that it is a resource rich country where all of the “income streams” are bing pillaged by a variety of home grown oligarchs, with the willing assistance of US politicians and the CIA. Remove that layer of scum from the picture and install some more effective people who are more prepared to share and the fortunes of the average Ukrainian can only improve.”
I would elaborate on that. USA, UK and Canada supervise a panoply of “anti-corruption” structures, investigative and prosecutorial that have very little bite in terms of prepared cases, prosecutions etc., especially if we subtracts persons living in Russia for long time. In the same time, corruption is pervasive on all levels. We have seen the same scheme in Afghanistan, the way to rule the “natives” is to have obedient “big men”, warlords/narcolords in Afghanistan, and oligarchs of various caliber in Ukraine, and prosecute them and sanction when not sufficiently obedient. Kolomoisky is a prime example, a Trumpian personality, prosecuted for a while in USA (cases dropped? suspended?) that was tamed (like Trump, dare I say).
This methodology prevents development of the country under control, perhaps as a side effect — the goal is to control, and the means, alas, are “a bit toxic”.

Posted by: Piotr Berman | Mar 14 2022 11:11 utc | 276

Doctorov’s concern trolling.
He has a point that Russian advances are much slower than expected. This may be a bug, or a feature. For example, one scheme of Ukrainian defense is to station heavy weapons in cities and towns, and those emplacement hinder movements in a wide (10-20 km?) around. Flattening the towns could make a short work of those defenses, but this is not the chosen approach. Ukrainians known maskirovka as well as Russians or Serbian, which limits the effectiveness of air attacks. Nevertheless, when used, heavy weapons are visible, so over time you can destroy them.
What is strange is the initial rapid advance from Crimea to Dnieper and few other rapid movements that were not repeated. However, that merely shows a difference between prepared defense and unprepared.
Thus it is correct to predict that the operation may take months, although there are many variables and both sides are stingy with real information. Does it mean that it will fail? Not necessarily.

Posted by: Piotr Berman | Mar 14 2022 11:22 utc | 278

No true anarchist would ever convince themselves that the right to freedom from others’ regulation/interference could ever entitle them to shock, scare and terrify minimum wage workers especially not female minimum wage bank workers, into emptying their cash drawers and handing over the contents to some weak as piss, greed driven arsehole who threatens them at gunpoint. That is the antithesis of anarchy. Unless the claim of anarchy is just a pose to give yerself permission to treat all of those ‘lesser humans’ the faux anarchist holds in contempt while he/she looks after number one at everyone else’s expense.
A cogent anarchist who wished to take down a banking corporation would do so in a manner which didn’t threaten, debase or humiliate already oppressed humans, but instead required courage to take on and demean the elites who control & profit from the bank.

Posted by: Debsisdead | Mar 14 2022 11:36 utc | 280

Ukrainian terrorists fired at the center of Donetsk from the Tochka-U complex, at least 23 dead, including children. The authorities of the republic qualified the incident as a terrorist attack.
Fascism supported by the elites of Europe/USA.

Posted by: alaff | Mar 14 2022 12:11 utc | 282

Posted by: Cyberhorse | Mar 14 2022 9:34 utc | 255
or their pet’s head placed on a bed, or more likely just their weekly paycheck, no one time bank transfer needed.toll booth attendants don’ get paid much, why should they pay other gatekeepers more?

Posted by: pretzelattack | Mar 14 2022 12:23 utc | 284

Posted by: denazi | Mar 14 2022 10:42 utc | 269
yeah, they aren’t acting like de nazis did, or de Americans in Iraq for that matter.

Posted by: pretzelattack | Mar 14 2022 12:28 utc | 286

I fear that monstrous russian dictatorship going to attack the free world with bioweapons it seized in unexisting Pentagon funded humanitarian Ukrainian biolabs.

Posted by: Greg Galloway | Mar 14 2022 12:37 utc | 288

Fake news?
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10603179/Third-Russian-general-killed-Ukraine-eight-days-latest-blow-Vladimir-Putins-forces.html

Posted by: Gerasimov | Mar 14 2022 13:04 utc | 290

Russian Su-25SM3 managed to return to base after being hit with a portable surface-to-air missile: video.

Posted by: S | Mar 14 2022 13:07 utc | 292

So the Ukis keep attacking Donbas out of desperation, even when under siege, or what is the explanation? And, as Doctorov pointed out in one of his posts, the Russian TV can then use this footage to show the Ukis are savages? Just trying to connect the dots.

Posted by: Jonathan W | Mar 14 2022 13:14 utc | 294

Theophilus | Mar 14 2022 12:21 utc | 283
“I have been cut off from RT and Sputnik. Any idea how to get access?”
Workarounds have been described here a number of times.
I can tell you about the workaround that I tried, it works for me.
I think it was Petri Krohn’s or William Gruff’s instructions which I followed, so hats off!
Anyway:
– press the “Windows” key on your keyboard
– type “editor”, you now should see the Editor app appear
– rightclick on the symbol, a drop-down menu should appear
– select “execute as administrator” (or similar sentence)
– if Windows now asks you whether to run the app as administrator, click on yes
– in the app, select “file” and “open”
– move to this folder: local drive (c:) > windows > system32 > drivers > etc
– select all file types in the bottom right corner (so not just txt files!)
– a file called “hosts” should appear, open it
– at the very end of any text, insert the following:

# Anti-censorship additions March 14, 2022 [or actual date, this is just for you to keep track of changes you make to the file, and when]
178.248.233.26 sputniknews.com
185.178.208.5 rt.com
185.178.208.5 http://www.rt.com
185.79.236.190 de.rt.com
194.58.88.47 southfront.org

These are the current settings I use to access the web pages shown above. You can add your own as you please. It just has to be the right data.
First comes the web page’s IP address (you can find it using an online IP tracker), then a space, then the domain name of the web page. Note that the first part of the domain name is important here (with www or without, de or sth else instead of www, etc.).
– once you’ve entered what you needed to enter, save the file
– click “replace existing file” if this comes up (or sth similar)
– reboot your computer
All the domain names / web pages you added to your host file should be accessible now. However, they may do a DDOS check first, before letting your browser access the site.
If anyone with a better understanding of this stuff (I’m just a noob) proofreads this post and finds mistakes, please give a yell immediately! Thx.

Posted by: Scotch Bingeington | Mar 14 2022 13:19 utc | 296

Get your own Azov Nazi T-Shirt and mug from Amazon (not a joke).

Posted by: Norwegian | Mar 14 2022 13:22 utc | 298

Re: Posted by: Norwegian | Mar 13 2022 18:29 utc | 52
I agree and I continue to believe this is the plan – is why there has been a lot of bombing in Zhytomyr & Vinnytsia off airports and military installations.
Sure, there has been bombing in Western Ukraine of late but that makes sense as a warning to the West to stay out, it doesn’t to me indicate a plan to actually march the Russian Army into Lviv.
There is another problem with going into Western Ukraine that I haven’t seen mentioned: If the Russian Army marches into Western Ukraine it will encounter stiff resistance, and even more dangerously – It will be easy to pin a Russian attack on a NATO Country such as Poland, Slovakia, Romania or even Hungary via a FALSE FLAG .
It will be very easy to spin this story.
If the Russian Army stops at Zhytomyr & Vinnytsia they will not be able to carry out such a False Flag.

Posted by: Julian | Mar 14 2022 13:39 utc | 300