Ukraine Open Thread 2022-32
Only news & views related to the Ukraine conflict ...
Posted by b on March 20, 2022 at 13:01 UTC | Permalink
next page »2022-03-20
The German authorities have refused further deliveries of weapons to the Ukrainian military.
Despite the fact that earlier the German authorities announced that they would put 2700 Strela man-portable anti-aircraft missile systems into service with Ukraine, it became known that a decision was made to refuse to transfer these weapons to the Ukrainian military after sending the first batch of funds air defense.
According to data available to the Avia.pro news agency, it was originally planned to send 2700 Strela MANPADS to Ukraine from German warehouses, however, after the first batch of 500 complexes arrived in Ukraine, Germany announced that withdraw their decision and will no longer provide assistance to Ukraine in the form of supplies of such weapons.
It is known that 500 Strela man-portable anti-aircraft missile systems were delivered to Ukraine last Thursday. At the same time, Germany has not yet commented on what exactly the refusal of further deliveries is connected with. However, apparently, this is due to the fact that Berlin does not want to aggravate relations with Russia, although numerous provocations are recorded from Germany.
Posted by: Kim | Mar 20 2022 13:07 utc | 2
Reante has been spamming by-the-book Nazi propaganda since he appeared.
He has also liberally given pseudo-medical quackery "health advice"
He has also stated several times that MoA commentariat is composed of nazis who just aren't quite nazi enough yet.
He engages in consistent projection, gaslighting, belittling.
He has also praised dirty bombs, and spontaneously admitted to wanting to shape MoA commentariat into a nazi workshop.
Posted by: Misotheist | Mar 20 2022 13:08 utc | 3
Misotheist | Mar 20 2022 13:08 utc | 3
The trick is: argument against argument! No other way in discussions. This "technique" to name the topology of another commenting person and claim this is sufficient is a plague in these days.
Posted by: Hausmeister | Mar 20 2022 13:35 utc | 4
Reply to 2
Nobody is warning about the danger these missiles pose to commercial aviation. They get strewn over battlefields in a very poor nation and it takes no great imagination to think terrorists will get them.
Posted by: Eighthman | Mar 20 2022 13:40 utc | 5
Russian sources claim that those VSU personnel responsible for the tochka-u strike on Donetsk have been neutralized. The intel the Russians have...
Posted by: Boo | Mar 20 2022 13:44 utc | 6
Misotheist | Mar 20 2022 13:08 utc | 3
The trick is: argument against argument! No other way in discussions. This "technique" to name the topology of another commenting person and claim this is sufficient is a plague in these days.
Posted by: Hausmeister | Mar 20 2022 13:35 utc | 4
No.
This guy doesn't want Nazis to be called Nazis because it hurts nazi feelings.
You don't debate nazism.
You destroy it.
I am physically incapable of giving a fuck about the enlightened centrist concern-trolling calls to debate nazism.
If you don't realize how allowing such "discussion" can very well put this very website at risk, THINK AGAIN.
Posted by: Misotheist | Mar 20 2022 13:45 utc | 7
@2:
I think most of the Strelas were in a very bad and dangerous state considering their age of 30+ years, probably without maintenance.
Posted by: Verdant | Mar 20 2022 13:50 utc | 8
I have a legitimate question.
Is an attack on some nato members forces while they are in a third party country (non- Nato) considered an attack triggering clause 5? ( invoking the common defense agreement)
I think not, but would like clarification
In other words, Russia could fight forces deployed by a Nato country like the US or Poland, in Ukraine, without 'attacking' Nato.
Posted by: Les7 | Mar 20 2022 13:52 utc | 9
First Western Journalist In Russia & DPR Controlled Mariupol (Special Report)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6UzUMrEEXM&list=LL
Posted by: jo6pac | Mar 20 2022 14:06 utc | 10
Posted by: Les7 | Mar 20 2022 13:52 utc | 9
The way the international laws and treaties have been totally trampled to date,I doubt mere technicalities will matter at this point and any other point in the past when a US of A or Nato invasion occurred.
Posted by: Kim | Mar 20 2022 14:08 utc | 11
Posted by: Misotheist | Mar 20 2022 13:45 utc | 7
"If you don't realize how allowing such "discussion" can very well put this very website at risk, THINK AGAIN."
You mean censor debate now so there's no censorship later? fantastic idea!
"
You don't debate nazism.
You destroy it.
"
This is why there is no communist party at the forefront of politics in the West anymore. We've become what we hated most because we are unable to actually talk to the people and we'd rather spend most of our times spouting empty ideology like what you've just said. I know unfortunately too many communist candidates who talk just like that, live in their bubble and think somehow they're talking to the people.
"I am physically incapable of giving a fuck "
You know what they say: if you can't stand the heat get out of the kitchen.
Posted by: Lemming | Mar 20 2022 14:16 utc | 12
Kim | Mar 20 2022 13:07 utc | 2
That's a good thing, glad to read! Commenters in German msm are beside themselves with rage, demanding Ukraine should be showered with German weapons. You know, Endsieg, Wunderwaffen, that crazy.
Since Strela is clearly Soviet/Russia manufactured, I think they'd need Russia's permission to pass them on to another country.
Posted by: Scotch Bingeington | Mar 20 2022 14:26 utc | 13
I am physically incapable of giving a fuck about the enlightened centrist concern-trolling calls to debate nazism.If you don't realize how allowing such "discussion" can very well put this very website at risk, THINK AGAIN.
Posted by: Misotheist | Mar 20 2022 13:45 utc | 7
One of the few things I've been able to dislodge from his word salads is an insistence on calling Putin (and the Russian state in general) "national socialist" -- inflammatory, defamatory, and flat-out wrong.
Posted by: malenkov | Mar 20 2022 14:27 utc | 14
@ Posted by: Misotheist | Mar 20 2022 13:08 utc | 3
That is interesting and I make a note of it will assess for self. Thanks.
I think is best to mention and move on. Dont get bogged down in perceived propaganda more than to make note if it.
I will watch for your comments going forward
Posted by: jared | Mar 20 2022 14:35 utc | 15
I'm still confused what the Russian leadership is thinking. A nuclear economic war is being waged against the Russian nation and the government is not doing anything to fight back. This is the latest from the enemy, https://tass.com/economy/1424731. It boggles the mind what President Putin and his cabinet gameplan is. I think Paul Craig Roberts nails it here: https://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2022/03/19/it-took-russia-31-years-to-figure-out-she-was-trusting-satan-but-the-knowledge-hasnt-translated-into-action/
Posted by: Steve | Mar 20 2022 14:45 utc | 16
Posted by: Les7 | Mar 20 2022 13:52 utc | 9 asked: "Is an attack on some nato members forces while they are in a third party country (non- Nato) considered an attack triggering clause 5? ( invoking the common defense agreement?"
Excellent point!
This is exactly what happened in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria, where NATO troops etc. were involved.
NATO is based on the idea of the sovereignty of its member states, "state" being construed -- as in international law -- as the permanent structure by means of which a territory is administered and its people governed, and, by extension, the territory itself.
Attacks on a state's nationals outside the state's territory do not count -- unless, of course, a certain superpower, invoking its rules-based international order, suddenly decides that such attacks do count.
Posted by: RJPJR | Mar 20 2022 14:45 utc | 17
I have seen the comment and struck by the potential validity that western governments are increasingly coming under influence of nazi mentality.
I think it first takes root in form of partisan, extremism, pragmatism then facsism and is tied with finance (being amoral at best).
Prime recent examples of facism in America are russia collusion narative, trump impeachment, blm movement, covid response, now Ukraine response.
Posted by: jared | Mar 20 2022 14:48 utc | 18
Posted by: Lemming | Mar 20 2022 14:16 utc | 12
One does not debate "Nazism" per se. One debates -- and fast demolishes -- the specific tenets underlying it, such as racial superiority or the age-old belief that might makes right ("Macht macht Recht").
Posted by: RJPJR | Mar 20 2022 14:49 utc | 19
21 MAR, 02:07Updated at: 02:28
France freezes Russian Central Bank’s assets worth 22 bln euro, says minister
Property totally worth "half a billion euro" owned by around 30 Russians have also been frozen on French territory
Central Bank of Russia Sergei Bobylev/TASS
Central Bank of Russia
© Sergei Bobylev/TASS
PARIS, March 20. /TASS/. The French authorities have frozen the funds of the Bank of Russia worth 22 bln euro, as well as accounts and property of individuals sanctioned by western countries, France’s Minister of Economy and Finance Bruno Le Maire said in live broadcast of the RTL radio station on Sunday.
"We have frozen the assets of the Russian Central Bank worth 22 bln euro. We have also frozen funds on accounts of individuals in French enterprises worth 150 mln euro," he said. Property totally worth "half a billion euro" owned by around 30 Russians have also been frozen on French territory, and two yachts totally worth 150 mln euro have been detained, the minister added.
"Since we established a center that unites the efforts of hundreds of employees of the TRACFIN financial intelligence service, the treasury, customs and the Public Finances Directorate for the first time in the history of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, we have managed to unveil and freeze the assets of Russian tycoons totally worth 1.8 bln euro on French territory apart from the Russian Central Bank’s 22 bln euro," he said.
The freezing of property does not imply disposal to the advantage of the state, Le Maire noted. The issue is about making sure that its owners cannot resell it or use it for gaining profit, he explained.
Posted by: Kim | Mar 20 2022 14:52 utc | 20
As Biden pressures China, with threats of sanctions, which we all know is war by other means, China doesn't hold back in its response.
"Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Le Yucheng has said globalization should not be “weaponized” and military-bloc politics must be “rejected.” The comments come a day after US President Joe Biden warned his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, that there would be “consequences” if China supported Russia’s military action in Ukraine.
Speaking at the Fourth International Forum on Security and Strategy in Beijing on Saturday, the official agreed with Moscow’s assessment that NATO’s unchecked expansion in Eastern Europe and the failure to address Russia’s national security concerns had paved the way for the current crisis. He said a simple “commitment of no eastward expansion could have easily ended the crisis and stopped the suffering.”
“Instead, one chose to fan the flames at a safe distance, watching its own arms dealers, bankers, and oil tycoons make a fortune out of the war, while leaving the people of a small country with the wounds of war that would take years to heal,” he said.
NATO’s pursuit of “absolute security” leads instead to “absolute non-security,” Le added."
Posted by: Republicofscotland | Mar 20 2022 14:57 utc | 21
@ Posted by: Steve | Mar 20 2022 14:45 utc | 16
Russias response is characteristically cautious.
Many of the western responses are self inflicted wounds.
Russia may want to allow enemy to destroy self and make only limited response.
They are also aware that situation is fluid - will change as war progresses.
There is reason why pundits are yelling from sidelines.
Posted by: jared | Mar 20 2022 14:57 utc | 22
Lemming If you ever get a chance read the Jakarta method. There are no real communist parties anywhere the US went in and Bombed them Genocide them Chem weaponed them. 1/4 of the people in Bally Indonesia were slaughtered, their bodies left on the beach. To this day the occasional skull is found. This happened all over the world. Brazil Gautama, Chili ,Philippines, Mexico So shocking instead of communism we now are going after Putinism!
Posted by: Susan | Mar 20 2022 14:57 utc | 23
Thank goodness for the Sunday morning satire on US MSM.
There’s Putin, the war criminal, and the brave, female, Russian, anti-Putin journalist.
Juxtaposed with the heroic US political leadership, and no mention of that agent of espionage, Julian Assange.
The evil Putin, versus the forces of goodness and light, and democracy in the rest of the world.
And, China had better wake up before the rest of the world is forced to destroy them, as well as Russia.
They have to talk fast to fit that much comedy in one hour.
Time to get some fresh air and sunshine.
Have a splendid day.
Posted by: $outhpaw | Mar 20 2022 14:59 utc | 24
One-hundred Nazis, and many mad dog foreign mercenaries killed today in Russian missile strike.
"Russian forces hit a Ukrainian special forces training center early on Sunday, killing more than 100 local troops and foreign mercenaries, the Ministry of Defense has said.
A Ukrainian Special Operations Forces training center near the town of Ovruch in the northern Zhytomyr Region, which hosted the mercenaries, was targeted by “high-precision air-launched missiles,” ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said during a briefing.
The airstrike has eliminated more than 100 Ukrainian special ops troops and foreign soldiers of fortune."
Posted by: Republicofscotland | Mar 20 2022 14:59 utc | 25
Surely this was another week in denial.
March 16, 2022: Standing ovation in Congress for Zelensky…..invokes 9/11
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-60762022
Flashback
June 10, 2015: the late Robert Parry noted,
U.S. House Admits Nazi Role in Ukraine
https://consortiumnews.com/2015/06/12/u-s-house-admits-nazi-role-in-ukraine/
Snips:
Exclusive: The U.S. House of Representatives has admitted an ugly truth that the U.S. mainstream media has tried to hide from the American people that the post-coup regime in Ukraine has relied heavily on Nazi storm troopers to carry out its bloody war against ethnic Russians, reports Robert Parry.The long Times article by Rick Lyman fit with the sorry performance of America’s “paper of record” as it has descended into outright propaganda hiding the dark side of the post-coup regime in Kiev. But what makes Lyman’s sadly typical story noteworthy today is that the Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives has just voted unanimously to bar U.S. assistance going to the Azov battalion because of its Nazi ties.
[.]on June 10, the U.S. House of Representatives approved a bipartisan amendment to the Defense Appropriations Act from Reps. John Conyers Jr., D-Michigan, and Ted Yoho, R-Florida that would block U.S. training of the Azov battalion and would prevent transfer of shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles to fighters in Iraq and Ukraine.[.]
Though the House vote on June 10 may have shined a spotlight into this dark corner of the U.S.-embraced Kiev regime, the reality has been well-known for many months though played down in most of the Western news media, often dismissed as “Russian propaganda.”[.]
A Shiver Down the Spine
The conservative London Telegraph offered more details about the Azov battalion in an article by correspondent Tom Parfitt, who wrote: “Kiev’s use of volunteer paramilitaries to stamp out the Russian-backed Donetsk and Luhansk ‘people’s republics’ should send a shiver down Europe’s spine.
“Recently formed battalions such as Donbas, Dnipro and Azov, with several thousand men under their command, are officially under the control of the interior ministry but their financing is murky, their training inadequate and their ideology often alarming. The Azov men use the neo-Nazi Wolfsangel (Wolf’s Hook) symbol on their banner and members of the battalion are openly white supremacists, or anti-Semites.”[.]
Based on interviews with militia members, the Telegraph reported that some of the fighters doubted the reality of the Holocaust, expressed admiration for Adolf Hitler and acknowledged that they are indeed Nazis.[.]
(Emphasis added)
Full circle. No Spine. Full Embrace. Full Funding.
= = = = = = =
An admission of defeat.
Boris Johnson offers refuge to Zelensky and family. Zelensky declines
https://www.newindianexpress.com/world/2022/mar/20/zelenskyy-declines-boris-johnsons-offer-to-taking-refuge-in-uk-amid-heightened-russian-missile-stri-2432196.html
Johnson told the Sunday Times that Zelenskyy has regular conversations with him and is an "absolutely charming guy but he's also proved to be an inspiration."According to the British prime minister, the possibility of Zelenskyy and his family getting refuge in the UK had been discussed, but "Volodymyr has always been clear, his duty is to the Ukrainian people; he's going to stay there, he's going to look after them . I have to say I admire him."
We need a change of leadership
Boris Johnson Hints China Should Stop Sitting on the Fence Over Ukraine Crisis
China: we determine our own interests without outside interference
Posted by: Likklemore | Mar 20 2022 15:03 utc | 27
Very long, not much new but there is this:
American training facility was training 5 Ukrainian battalions a year, to send to attack Donetsk/Lugansk
Article 5 - never been used in reality. 9/11 symbolic use only. However, Article 4 has: Libya, Yugoslavia, bombing of Serbia, Iraq etc
Posted by: c1ue | Mar 20 2022 15:09 utc | 28
Article 5 - NATO Treaty
The Parties agree that an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all and consequently they agree that, if such an armed attack occurs, each of them, in exercise of the right of individual or collective self-defence recognised by Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations, will assist the Party or Parties so attacked by taking forthwith, individually and in concert with the other Parties, such action as it deems necessary, including the use of armed force, to restore and maintain the security of the North Atlantic area.Any such armed attack and all measures taken as a result thereof shall immediately be reported to the Security Council. Such measures shall be terminated when the Security Council has taken the measures necessary to restore and maintain international peace and security . . .here
Posted by: Don Bacon | Mar 20 2022 15:09 utc | 29
Germany and possibly the rest of the EU calling for the restart of talks to push through the (TTIP), Transatlantic Trade investment Partnership, apparently the EU not happy with already being the USA's puppet wants to deepen bonds with it even further, thus utterly cementing it capitulation, only Biden isn't responsive to it right now, and Trump halted the deal in his term as POTUS.
Effectively the US will only push through partnerships like this when it is beneficial to the US, when will Europeans wake up and realise the US is using them to suit its own agenda, mind you after witnessing Europe's actions on the Russian intervention in Ukraine, I fear that Europe is just as deceitful, belligerent, and self serving as the US.
"Germany is calling for discussions about the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) between the EU and the US, which were halted by former US President Donald Trump, to be revived."
Posted by: Republicofscotland | Mar 20 2022 15:10 utc | 30
Posted by: Republicofscotland | Mar 20 2022 14:59 utc | 25
Let's refrain from calling the regular Ukraine forces Nazis; remember that most of them are poor and only for the money, and under the political control of the real Nazis. Even the Russian commentators call them VSUshniki - for VSU stands for military corps of Ukraine. Let's use the Nazi term for the Azovs, the right sector and the banderite scum.
A lot of them have already laid down their arms, hopefully forever.
Posted by: Boo | Mar 20 2022 15:14 utc | 31
@ Boo | Mar 20 2022 15:14 utc | 30
Strictly speaking, a lot of the German soldiers in World War II weren't Nazis (i.e., members of the NSDAP) either, and yet they were commonly referred to as Nazi forces.
So while I agree with you, terminologically speaking that horse has already left the barn. In any case it's good to keep in mind the nature of the Ukraine's fighting (or fleeing) forces.
Posted by: malenkov | Mar 20 2022 15:21 utc | 32
Posted by: Scotch Bingeington | Mar 20 2022 14:26 utc | 13
Could also be heeding the show of power (warning) from Russia,with the annilation of the Nato training camp,its mercenaries,weapons and ammo 10 miles from the polish border.
Also Russia's demonstration of its new Kinzhal hypersonic missile into a western Ukraine underground missile storage facility.
These activities have probably also brought on a big hangover after participating in the initial hubris of the massive sanctions package that they helped inflict upon Russia and forgetting they are fully dependent on Russian oil and Gas which could be turned off in an instant.
Posted by: Kim | Mar 20 2022 15:22 utc | 33
Article 5 does not require NATO signatories to provide military assistance it. It provides a mechanism for NATO nations to respond without any other reasoning than Article 5. When the US invoked it for Afghanistan it still had to convince other NATO nations to participate. It’s not binding and it certainly doesn’t require any level of commitment.
Posted by: Lex | Mar 20 2022 15:23 utc | 34
#30 Boo
I agree. Many Ukrainian young men were conscripted involuntarily, many responded out of patriotic duty. I think these men deserve respect. I feel sorry for those that get killed or wounded unnecessarily.
Posted by: Milos | Mar 20 2022 15:23 utc | 35
from TASS
Australia bans exports of alumina, aluminium ores, bauxite to Russia - Foreign Minister
The Government has overnight imposed an immediate ban on Australian exports of alumina and aluminium ores and bauxite to Russia, which will limit its capacity to produce aluminium - a critical export for Russia
also
The Australian authorities will send at least 70,000 tonnes of thermal coal to Ukraine to ensure the country's energy security, Payne announced. According to her, Australian coal, which is supplied by the country's largest coal mining company Whitehaven Coal, "will help keep the country’s coal-fired power generators operating and supplying electricity to country’s power grid, supporting the Ukrainian people by keeping lights on, homes heated, and factories running at this very difficult time.". .here
Posted by: Don Bacon | Mar 20 2022 15:24 utc | 36
Russian authorities have already said that the laws of combat will not cover foreign mad dog mercenaries and that they will not be afforded leniency on the battlefield, now many Canadians, of Ukrainian descent have made their way to fight in Ukraine against Russian forces, though believe it or not Nazi commanders have said that they don't want anyone without combat training or experience in their ranks, with the Nazis ranks being so depleted I'm sure as long as they can hold a rifle you'll be welcomed.
Canada has a large population form Ukraine or of Ukrainian descent, mind you Canada has many Nazi memorials as well.
"Foreigners who want to volunteer on the front lines in Ukraine should not show up in the country if they have not had previous training and real “live combat experience,” the International Legion of Territorial Defense of Ukraine (ILDU) has warned.
Speaking to Canadian news channel CTV News on Saturday, ILDU spokesperson Damien Magrou said the foreign legion, set up to attract volunteers from around the world, would only accept fighters who already “know their way around a battlefield.”
“Right now we’re looking for people exclusively with live combat experience,” Magrou said. “We’ve had, unfortunately, quite a lot of people coming through to Ukraine and being turned away because they don’t have this experience.”"
Posted by: Republicofscotland | Mar 20 2022 15:25 utc | 37
Posted by: malenkov | Mar 20 2022 15:21 utc | 31
Yep, agreed to an extent. It's the level to which they stoop that should be used to decide. A lot of VSUshniki have not been to Donbass and have not killed out of supremacist beliefs, so it's hard for me personally to cross that threshold.
Posted by: Boo | Mar 20 2022 15:26 utc | 38
Could a ceasefire be closer than we think, the Turkish Foreign minister seems to think so.
"Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has said Ukraine and Russia are nearing agreement on “critical” issues and that Ankara believes a ceasefire is possible provided neither side decides to backtrack.
"In an interview with Turkish daily Hurriyet on Sunday, Cavusoglu, who traveled to Moscow and Kiev for meetings last week, said there had been “rapprochement in the positions of both sides on important subjects, critical subjects.”
“We can say we are hopeful for a ceasefire if the sides do not take a step back from the current positions,” he added, without offering further details.
Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin told Al Jazeera, however, that Moscow and Kiev were close on four main issues, citing Russia’s red line of Ukraine vowing not to join NATO, demilitarization and “denazification” of the country, and the protection of the Russian language."
Posted by: Republicofscotland | Mar 20 2022 15:31 utc | 39
Re: Posted by: Les7 | Mar 20 2022 13:52 utc | 9
It is not something Article 5 can be invoked over.
Sure, it could be "trampled" on but for Article 5 to be invoked it has to be unanimous.
There would be many countries (Germany, Hungary, Cyprus, Greece, Turkey, Baltics) that would refuse to invoke Article 5 over something like that.
You might be surprised to see me list the Baltics - but who do you think would be the first target for any retaliation against a NATO invocation of Article 5 and could serve as a good "example"?
Posted by: Julian | Mar 20 2022 15:33 utc | 40
on the Oz coal...
“The company is also working with the Government to ensure the coal can be delivered to Ukraine as soon as possible,” Minister Pitt said.
wow -- at least 70,000 tonnes of thermal coal from Australia to Ukraine ASAP, with Ukraine's ports blocked, whenever it gets to the Black Sea
Posted by: Don Bacon | Mar 20 2022 15:34 utc | 41
@Boo
"I was just following orders" was not a defense allowed at Nuremburg!!
Posted by: oldcutlas | Mar 20 2022 15:38 utc | 42
The Ukraine situation is horribly dangerous - one slip, one miscalculation, one hand over-played could lead to nuclear war and the extinction of life on earth...what would WW3 actually look like:
"Within the first 3 minutes of a nuclear conflict, 2600 ‘high alert’ nuclear weapons are launched. They hit targets in Russia, the US and Europe. They target cities, nuclear power stations, industrial areas, oil refineries, transport hubs. In the following hours up to a further 7600 nuclear weapons are launched.
By the end of the day 600 million people are dead. They are the lucky ones"...
https://richardhennerley.wordpress.com/2022/02/12/what-would-world-war-3-look-like/
Posted by: Richard | Mar 20 2022 15:41 utc | 43
Posted by: jo6pac | Mar 20 2022 14:06 utc | 10
One can say that cleanup operations in Mariupol are now taking place, by tomorrow evening Mariupol will be free. Moving all forces from Mariupol to Donetsk will inevitably force the end of hostilities. I predicted this to happen by this weekend, but it seems to last few more days.
Posted by: Milos | Mar 20 2022 15:44 utc | 44
Posted by: oldcutlas | Mar 20 2022 15:38 utc | 41
Correct. All I'm saying is let's Russians sort the wheat from the chaff. They don't call all of the VSU staff Nazis and that's good enough for me. Somebody needs to work for the new, smaller, de-militarized forces of Ukraine when the Russians leave.
Posted by: Boo | Mar 20 2022 15:44 utc | 45
Don Bacon | Mar 20 2022 15:34 utc | 40
Approximately 600 rail cars.
For comparison 3 million rail cars of coal were transported in 2020 in the USA. A factor of 5000.
https://www.aar.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/AAR-Coal-Fact-Sheet.pdf
Posted by: too scents | Mar 20 2022 15:45 utc | 46
Theory on why Russia does not respond with countersanctions and also why it is in no hurry to finish the demilitarization.
It seems to me that Russia benefits the longer things take as the west keeps doing more and more sanctions, which just hurts themselves. As long as the west keeps self-inflicting damage to itself, what is the hurry? Also, when the west has done all the sanctions it can do, it cannot do anymore and Russia will be able to precisely calculate what countersanctions will be the most cost effective.
The frozen central bank funds, was a good trap. It speeds up the demise of the dollar and in any case, they seem to be able to use it to make debt payments, so it seems it is not really lost at all.
Until the west starts doing things that are effective, seems fine to methodically complete the special operation, which so far seems quite impressive. Aren't more civilians killed each week in American cities than Russia's collateral damage?
Anyway, the Russian advances are inevitably going to turn the situation maps all red, with just Kharkov, Kiev, Odessa and the western ukraine remaining to go. If there is no surrender then, the final push to the Polish border and hoping the siege will make the big cities surrender. Would be a shame to have to mariupol Kiev.
Posted by: ct23 | Mar 20 2022 15:46 utc | 47
So there was a story a few days ago, from various folks reporting with maps using open source information, pointing out that the civilian corridors from Mariopol were likely being opened to the East - Russia - not Ukraine because the people in that city were within the breakaway republics and identified with Russia. When this was reported, this made sense to me, ie, that the civilian in Mariopol were within the breakaway area and it was likely the Ukrainian (Azov) fighters in that city, now surrounded by Russians, blocking that corridor. Then, later, Russia reported Mariopol was mostly taken and they were sending hundreds of cars and buses to ship people either East to Russia or southwest along the coast to a city there in Russian hands. Now, this morning, the story is, Russians are capturing civilians and sending them East to camps, against their will, and this story has been picked up with horror, reflecting what Stalin did 80 years ago.
So what is correct? I am guessing that this latest story of civilians forced East is propaganda, and not true, but I could be wrong. This is like that bombed theater, initially reported holding 1400 civilians in the basement, with all the associated wailing and horrors, and now, five days later, all we know for sure is 130 people were evacuated from the structure, and total silence about the other hundreds still in the basement, if they were ever there to begin with. The initial story, a building marked Children and bombed, with 1400 civilians inside, ran on all the MSM and was the lead story. Now, these days later, not one photo of victims, injured, even survivors, yet still statements of hundreds dead.
Now the same guy who reported the Donetsk missile strike is sending a film from Mariopol, which may be accurate, but maybe not, maybe the shot of the city sign is real but all the other shots taken in Donetsk, or another city. The fog of war....
Posted by: Boomheist | Mar 20 2022 15:49 utc | 48
re: Kim | Mar 20 2022 14:52 utc | 20
You quote Le Maire, writing:
". . . we have managed to unveil and freeze the assets of Russian tycoons totally worth 1.8 bln euro on French territory apart from the Russian Central Bank’s 22 bln euro," he said.
The freezing of property does not imply disposal to the advantage of the state, Le Maire noted. The issue is about making sure that its owners cannot resell it or use it for gaining profit, he explained."
"The freezing of property does not imply disposal to the advantage of the state." Yeah, just like what happened with the stolen gold from Libya and Ukraine, right? Don't worry, the state will take good care of your assets.
Posted by: Perimetr | Mar 20 2022 15:53 utc | 49
So what is correct? ... Boomheist | Mar 20 2022 15:49 utc | 47
If you have a tattoo of a nazi totenkopf you're gonna have a sad time crossing a Russian controlled humanitarian checkpoint.
My understanding is that corridor guards are also checking with nitrate swabs to see if civilians have recently handled firearms or explosives.
Posted by: too scents | Mar 20 2022 15:57 utc | 50
Zerensky is a 'rock star' on Kyiv Post.
--courage in Kyev
--The leader who galvanised the world
--What can we do to answer Zelensky's call
--Their finest hour
--Nobody will break us
--We'll fight in forests, fields and on shores (Churchillian) . .here
Posted by: Don Bacon | Mar 20 2022 16:09 utc | 51
If Russia tires of precision strikes or gets bogged down as the west suggests,we could witness precision strikes with Plan B artillery Russian style.
https://avia-pro.net/news/posledstviya-udara-ognemyotnoy-sistemy-tos-1a-popali-na-video
Posted by: Kim | Mar 20 2022 16:13 utc | 52
Looks like the ukro-orcs have found their false flag (from today's fraudian):
Ukraine accuses Russian forces of killing 56 elderly people in Luhansk region
Daniel Boffey Daniel Boffey
Ukraine’s human rights ombudsman Ludmila Denisova has accused Russian forces of shooting dozens of elderly people in Luhansk region. In a post on Telegram, she said:
Today it became known about another terrible crime against humanity committed by the racist occupation forces - the shooting of 56 elderly people in Luhansk region.
In the town of Kreminna on March 11, the Russian occupiers cynically and purposefully fired from a tank at a home for the elderly.
56 residents who lived to their old age in the house died on the spot. The survivors, 15 people, were abducted by the occupiers and taken to the occupied territory in Svatove to the regional geriatric boarding school.
It is still impossible to get to the site of the tragedy to bury the dead old people.
This is another act of horrific genocide - the extermination of the civilian population of Ukraine. For every such crime, for every innocent life taken, the leadership of the aggressor state must be held accountable in all the severity of international criminal law.
I call on the International Criminal Court to take this fact into account in the investigation of war crimes and crimes against humanity by the Russian political and military leadership.
I ask UN member states to speed up the establishment of the Special Military Tribunal. Rashist criminals must bear full responsibility for the atrocities in Ukraine!
Posted by: Boo | Mar 20 2022 16:14 utc | 53
(Having read to comment 50 I agree with the reactions other people have already posted).
Steve wrote:
"A nuclear economic war is being waged against the Russian nation..."And all those economic missiles are hitting everywhere but Russia just as if it was a real nuclear war!
Scary for those of us outside of Russia.
Or are there shortages of diesel, cooking oil, and flour in Russia that I haven't heard about because there sure is in Europe and it's only been three weeks.
How will it look in Europe when it has been three months?
- - -
I never checked if it was true that Bill Gates bought a lot of farmland in the US but if he did will he be able to do anything with it?
- - -
Wow what a joke that Australian coal story is.
Posted by: Sunny Runny Burger | Mar 20 2022 16:24 utc | 54
Posted by: Les7 | Mar 20 2022 13:52 utc | 9
The attack on the 13 US Marine and Navy soldiers in Kabul in August did not trigger Art. 5. If it had, the US and Mato would never have left!
Posted by: Jonathan W | Mar 20 2022 16:41 utc | 55
Today I got a phone call from a friend who told me with some enthusiasm that she just watched a 'wonderful' TV show, starring Zelensky. He played some guy becoming a state leader or something and obviously was portrayed in the rosiest colors. What a nice, down to earth guy he is, my friend swooned. I live in Germany, and while I hadn't had a TV for some thirty years, I'm kinda sure they didn't show any obscure Ukrainian soap operas, or at least I've never heard of that before. Seems this has changed these days - so apart from the propaganda firing out of all barrels, folks get the mushy Disney treatment as well. Oh look, what a nice guy. How mean of big bad Putin to go after the poor dear and his lovely country. Yes, sure she knows it was a show - but the guy is just so cute. I really should watch it. And after all, big bad Putin started the war for no good reason. Am I not for peace?
I honestly didn't know what to say. I never took my friend - a woman in her 60s, not some gullible teenie - for being that much of an idiot. I had sent her pdf and videos about Ukrainian war crimes in Donbass before - she never even looked at it, she told me this was far too cruel. It was probably forgotten after about 15 mins. But a stupid sitcom soap show sure left an impression.
My silent hope that folks will eventually wake up and start looking more closely at government lies just took a blow. Next time Putin or Lavrov address the European populace they had better resort to funny little cartoons and try baby talk.
Posted by: Katharina | Mar 20 2022 16:45 utc | 56
Posted by: Sunny Runny Burger | Mar 20 2022 16:24 utc | 53
In the 3 weeks since invasion started,Europe has paid Russia €16 billion for oil & Gas imports
Posted by: Kim | Mar 20 2022 16:52 utc | 57
Posted by: blues | Mar 20 2022 13:05 utc | 1
Well done!
Posted by: juliania | Mar 20 2022 16:53 utc | 58
Looks like US/Nato got Putins message !!!
21 MAR, 04:48
Germany concerned over use of hypersonic weapons in Ukraine by Russia
The Russian defense ministry said earlier that Russia’s Kinzhal missile system with hypersonic aeroballistic missiles was used on March 18 to destroy a Ukrainian military underground depot containing missiles and aviation ammunition in Ukraine’s Ivano-Frankovsk region
BERLIN, March 20. /TASS/. Germany’s government is concerned over the use of state-of-the-arm hypersonic weapons in Ukraine by Russia, a ministry spokesperson said on Sunday.
"We are concerned over the use of a hypersonic missile by Russia in the war against Ukraine," she told Germany’s Funke Media Group.
The Russian defense ministry said earlier that Russia’s Kinzhal missile system with hypersonic aeroballistic missiles was used on March 18 to destroy a Ukrainian military underground depot containing missiles and aviation ammunition in Ukraine’s Ivano-Frankovsk region.
On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a special military operation in response to a request for help by the heads of the Donbass republics. He stressed that Moscow had no plans of occupying Ukrainian territories, but aimed to demilitarize and denazify the country.
Following this step, the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom and several other countries announced sanctions against Russia individuals and legal entities.
Posted by: Kim | Mar 20 2022 17:00 utc | 59
Okay, I hate to do this, but I need ex military here to help me understand this.
Today, I watched Petraeus going over what he considers to be the Russian game plan, going on about the Russian command and control breaking down and Russian communications systems getting jammed by the Ukrainians; secure comms not working; so Russians had to go to single channel that's jammable; so then Russians used cellphones and Ukes blocked prefix for Russia; then Ukes took down 3G. He went as far as saying that Russians are having to literally steal cellphones from civilians to communicate with each other, so columns get stopped, and an impatient general in armored vehicle goes forward to find out what's going on because there's no initiative on lower levels to do something; there's no non-commissioned officer corps, junior levels are waiting to be told what to do, so the general gets up there and is shot by a Ukrainian sniper, and he claims these snipers are so good they've been picking off Russian generals this way, left and right and so far killed 5 in total, and they're showing photos they got from media archives with names and titles. And Petraeus claims they have been absolutely confirmed dead.
We should be getting figures on Ukie military casualties. I know there are lots of casualties, but we need actual figures so the other side can't brag about thousands of Russians killed.
Okay, where's RSH or someone who can help me with this?
Where is Petraeus getting this shit from? Is this possible? He's bragging only one U.S. general got killed in all the years in Afghanistan and it was green on blue insider attack; says it's a very uncommon occurrence.
So I researched and about 23 generals were killed in action in WWII
Korean War - 2
Vietnam- 13
Afghanistan - 1
In Iraq I read up to 5 Colonels were killed (but I found 2); no Generals, lots of Majors and Lieutenants though.
▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎
Sometimes I turn on CNN to catch a glimpse of what they're up to, and on Friday, I was listening to Anderson Cooper, and it's not the first time, 'cause it's good to be aware, and CNN is the worst by far, although the other networks are catching up. So he had two generals on trashing the Russian Military in every way imaginable, and Cooper was there probing for as much dirt as possible, and I swear I ended up screaming in disgust and wanting to throw something only a few minutes in!
Cooper is a rabid Psyops Replicant for TPTB in the U.S. spitting out hours of the vilest, most toxic propaganda from Ukraine every day non-stop into the atmosphere. That is what we are up against.
I'd like to see figures for other side's casualties and more weapons stashes blown to smithereens in ever direction.
Posted by: Circe | Mar 20 2022 17:00 utc | 60
"One does not debate "Nazism" per se. One debates -- and fast demolishes -- the specific tenets underlying it, such as racial superiority or the age-old belief that might makes right ("Macht macht Recht"). RJPJR@19
You are absolutely correct. The case against Nazism is so clear and obvious that a refusal to allow Nazis to state their position is only of benefit to them and keeps their dead ideas on life support.
Censorship- the shouting down of arguments not to one's taste- is the most common expression of the idea that Might makes Right.
The crimes of Nazis were carried out by men and women conforming with received wisdom and obedient to hierarchies.
It is particularly inappropriate at this moment when hysterical russophobia- entirely characteristic of liberal democratic society- dominates our culture to insist that we should conform and disallow opinions that we feel are mistaken.
Posted by: bevin | Mar 20 2022 17:02 utc | 61
Posted by: Misotheist | Mar 20 2022 13:08 utc | 3
I rarely post here, but I do read it. Can't recall coming across anything you have written before, but you seemed to be pleading for another poster Reante to be banned.
I do not like such behaviour that you have exhibited, (effectively requesting another poster to be censored) unless it can be fully justified for reasons such as obvious spamming, repetetitive strong personal abuse or violent threats or illegal content.
So I spent 30 minutes, searching for content written by Reante, and found no such justification whatsover.
Reante, seems to be highly intelligent (maybe a bit arrogant), but also polite and thankful to other posters. I actually agree with some of his/her content.
Thanks for making me aware of Reante.
I haven't bothered reading anything else you might have written.
Tony
Posted by: Tony_0pmoc | Mar 20 2022 17:03 utc | 62
Steve | Mar 20 2022 14:45 utc | 16
Paul Craig Roberts does not care about Russia one jot. He only wants Russia to jolt USA out of its current state which is the trajectory Reagan set it on by overfunding the Defence Industry.......Roberts is American and only thinks of USA. He sees Russia as a useful agency to hurt USA.
He has no concern for Russia or Russians
Posted by: Paul Greenwood | Mar 20 2022 17:04 utc | 63
Katharine
My sister never believed anything I said she worked for Biden for years and was faithful to DC. For many years I avoid politics with her because she would always say she knew because she lived in DC. Her daughter got her to read the Jakarta Method by Vincent Bevins The change was crazy! We drove from Cal to Oregon over 4 days and talked about politics a good junk of the time, on the same Page! I turned my husband with the Stanford nazi study, and the captured embassy bio weapons documents.
When it comes from sources that people can’t shut out it helps! Good luck. https://stanford.app.box.com/s/7ocm1tlvp2uydbki04qiuph4oa5j8tg9
Posted by: Susan | Mar 20 2022 17:05 utc | 64
re" Paul Greenwood | Mar 20 2022 17:04 utc | 62
you write "Paul Craig Roberts does not care about Russia one jot. . . Roberts is American and only thinks of USA."
Seriously? Are you close personal friend, do you correspond with him? I don't get that at all from his writings or interviews. He is obviously frustrated by the incredible corruption in the US and also at what he sees as mistakes Russia is making with its Central Bank. That certainly doesn't show that he doesn't care for the Russian or American people.
Posted by: Perimetr | Mar 20 2022 17:17 utc | 65
Circe @ 59
Petraeus is purely pulling it out of his ass. No one sane would be giving him such operational intelligence. If the insane are passing information to their insane fellows that only helps Russia.
Posted by: oldhippie | Mar 20 2022 17:27 utc | 66
Hopefully doing a little clearing. Seems an awful lot of distractions and getting bogged down in minutiae.
What I see:
To claim to walk in someone else's shoes is pointless unless you suspend your own preconceived notions and ideological baggage and actually look at things from another's point of view without your filtering biases... That is a whole lot more than giving lipservice to there being such a thing as 'another point of view'; especially when it is a known known that what spews forth from "Western" sources are prevarications intended to manufacture consent.
To force, through one's own actions (US and its tails), another (RU) into an existential corner and at the same time refuse many many times to interact honestly when diplomatic pathways are presented, and then to act as though the "push back" which you forced needs to be within some arbitrary parameters which you yourself have rejected for your own behavior is criminal sophistry of the highest order. The stench of this isn't going to be mitigated any time soon no matter what the "West" does now.
You can't un-open Pandora's Box. The collective West, most particularly US, its proxy NATO, UK, and the EU aren't even trying other than to double down on their lie saturated Goebellsian fantasies.
AT this point there is ONLY one party that can bring about the immediate termination of the existing conflict which is most assuredly goes beyond just Ukraine; and that party isn't Russia or any Russian.
If you can't see that then for me it is clear you have NOT walked the figurative mile...
From my perspective there is no reason to give credence to anything reported through any media based in the "West". It is all controlled and it is obvious that they are controlled enough so they all sing the same tune as they are directed. The only reason to read or listen to any of them is to be aware of the lies they tell and which they have vested themselves in.
Sit back and watch as the genie the "West" called forth cleans up. It won't be what the "West" wants, but it will be, I think, what the world needs.
Posted by: Doesitreallymatter | Mar 20 2022 17:35 utc | 67
@Posted by: Perimetr | Mar 20 2022 17:17 utc | 64
Ermmm... I have to agree with Paul on this. He looks at things through American glasses for America.
I believe its a bit like Snowden, he might speak ill of the US regime in charge, but he is a patroit.
Whatever they have against the DC hymn sheets only extends as far as how it may further USA towards their respective ideals of what USA should be. How it aligns with what you and I may belive are just coincidental.
Posted by: A.L. | Mar 20 2022 17:38 utc | 68
@Circe | Mar 20 2022 17:00 utc | 59
Gonzalo Lira is online by mobile phone daily from Kharkov. Petraeus is lying. No surprise.
From today
Live in Kharkiv (Lviv Handmade Chocolate)
Posted by: Norwegian | Mar 20 2022 17:42 utc | 69
Scott Ritter is here really good!!!!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6OAGgLCp7t4
Posted by: Mikkael | Mar 20 2022 17:51 utc | 70
Its interesting to note that in previous days when Russia forces asked the Ukrainian forces to allow ten corridors for civilians to leave that the Nazis said no and agreed in only three corridors for civilians and none of them were towards the Donbas or Russia. Just how many more Ukrainian civilians would've headed East to Russia if the Nazis had allowed all ten corridors to function.
"MOSCOW, March 20. /TASS/. The number of people that have arrived in Russia from the Donetsk and Lugansk people’s republics (DPR and LPR), as well as from Ukraine, has surpassed 335,000, a source in security agencies told TASS.
"As of 12:00 am on Sunday, over 335,000 people have crossed the Russian border, coming from the DPR, the LPR and Ukraine. Among them are over 71,000 children," the source said.
Around 111,000 of those that have arrived are Russian citizens, over 188,000 people are citizens of the DPR and the LPR, and more than 35,000 people are citizens of other countries."
Posted by: Republicofscotland | Mar 20 2022 17:51 utc | 71
This is the latest from the enemy, https://tass.com/economy/1424731.
Posted by: Steve | Mar 20 2022 14:45 utc | 16
Who's enemy? I don't allow the state to tell me who to hate or who my enemy is
Posted by: Berndt Braincell | Mar 20 2022 17:53 utc | 72
Kim (Mar 20 2022 16:52 utc | 56) wrote:
In the 3 weeks since invasion started,Europe has paid Russia €16 billion for oil & Gas importsThank you Kim for your many interesting posts!
Posted by: Sunny Runny Burger | Mar 20 2022 17:56 utc | 73
@Circe #59
Ukrainian casualties as of March 19, 12:00 (MSK):
AFU NGU SBGSU Total
Killed 10376 1739 321 12436 Wounded 9970 998 293 11261 Captured 905 14 116 1035
Total 21251 2751 730 24732
These are casualties that have been confirmed by Russia’s Ministry of Defence. Real casualties are higher.
Posted by: S | Mar 20 2022 17:56 utc | 74
I'm quite satisfied with Dmitry Nikotin's sitreps, in particular since the auto-translation, for the most part, is serviceable. For some maps and interviews it cuts out, don't know if that's just me, so I'll try to provide translations where necessary.
Here's one sitrep on Mariupol.
First video, with a woman giving testimony:
A: You see that house? It ended up like this, the people who lived on the top floors, they were thrown out. 13'th floor and up, and then they shot at the house.
Second video, guy in window, auto-translation reasonable:
Q: Why were they shooting, in your opinion, at the homes of civilians?
A: To kill more people, so that when Western journalists show up, they can pretend they -- Ukrainians -- had nothing to do with it. The whole war, this whole mess, was created by Ukrainians.
Posted by: Skiffer | Mar 20 2022 18:01 utc | 75
https://opentv.media/kadyrovtsev-ubityh-v-regione-budut-horonit-v-svinyh-shkurah-zammera-dnepra
https://apostrophe.ua/news/society/2022-03-20/v-ray-uje-ne-popadut-unichtojennyih-v-dnepre-kadyirovtsev-budut-horonit-v-svinyih-shkurah/263228
https://vchaspik.ua/regiony/525140-zammera-dnepra-zayavil-chto-ubityh-kadyrovcev-budut-horonit-v-svinyh-shkurah
Dnepropetrovsk government: it's official warning: Muslims fighting for Russia would be killed and burried wrapped in pig skins.
...when Syrian and Chechen jihadi were not enough and you want yet more to come
Posted by: Arioch | Mar 20 2022 18:03 utc | 76
- opentv .media/kadyrovtsev-ubityh-v-regione-budut-horonit-v-svinyh-shkurah-zammera-dnepra
- apostrophe .ua/news/society/2022-03-20/v-ray-uje-ne-popadut-unichtojennyih-v-dnepre-kadyirovtsev-budut-horonit-v-svinyih-shkurah/263228
- vchaspik .ua/regiony/525140-zammera-dnepra-zayavil-chto-ubityh-kadyrovcev-budut-horonit-v-svinyh-shkurah
Dnepropetrovsk government: it's official warning: Muslims fighting for Russia would be killed and burried wrapped in pig skins.
...when Syrian and Chechen jihadi were not enough and you want yet more to come
Posted by: Arioch | Mar 20 2022 18:04 utc | 77
Good article from thegrayzone:
https://thegrayzone.com/2022/03/18/bombing-mariupol-theater-ukrainian-azov-nato-intervention/
Posted by: vector | Mar 20 2022 18:06 utc | 78
A couple of threads ago (way too much to plow through) HZ was making translations from a Chinese website with geopolitical analysis. Does anyone reading this perchance know what this Chinese site was called?
A bit off topic, but an interesting development: Bashar al-Assad made a surprise visit (and received a warm welcome) in the UAE on Friday the 18th. I was shocked to read that (in a good way, obviously), and agree with the author that this is probably the most glaring sign yet that US hegemony in the Persian Gulf is unraveling: https://thecradle.co/Article/columns/8170
Posted by: Unnamed | Mar 20 2022 18:07 utc | 79
Brilliant analysis By Ghassan Kadi for the Saker Blog
"Is the Petrodollar swaying?"
https://thesaker.is/is-the-petrodollar-swaying/
Posted by: Circe | Mar 20 2022 17:00 utc | 59
I am not ex-military, but don't be silly "He went as far as saying that Russians are having to literally steal cellphones from civilians"
Almost everything in The Western Media over the last couple of weeks is a complete reversal of the truth.
As I am English, and live in London, I am totally disgusted with the lot of them.
These politicians and the media, are not working for us British. They are not only stupid, they are totally corrupt.
Tony
Posted by: Tony_0pmoc | Mar 20 2022 18:12 utc | 80
Posted by: Circe | Mar 20 2022 17:00 utc | 59
For Russian numbers and reports go to the Saker site.
http://thesaker.is/
Click on the picture at the top and then scroll down.
He puts up the reports every other day, and they are highly detailed, not just vague accusations, direct from the Russian Defense Ministry.
Today's report is the first article in line.
Posted by: AntiSpin | Mar 20 2022 18:14 utc | 81
A partial route of a 19 March flight VI5966 of a Volga-Dnepr Airlines Ilyushin il-76TD from Bratislava to ? via the Sulwaki gap.
https://ic.pics.livejournal.com/makanom/46071093/933541/933541_800.jpg
Is this taking Slovakia's S-300 out of the country? Destined for Lithuania/Latvia/Estonia to be smuggled somehow into Ukraine?
[20 March 2022] "American Patriot air defense systems have arrived in Slovakia, which will replace the S-300 air defense systems sent to Ukraine. A few hours ago, American Patriot anti-aircraft missile systems were seen on the territory of Slovakia, which were sent from the Netherlands and Germany and which are already being deployed in several regions of the republic by the current hour. It is noteworthy that earlier Slovakia publicly announced its readiness to transfer its S-300 air defense systems to Ukraine if the United States or other NATO countries transfer equivalent air defense systems to the country. According to foreign sources, medium and short-range air defense systems are already allegedly on their way to Ukraine."
Posted by: Arfur Mo | Mar 20 2022 18:16 utc | 82
MOSCOW, March 20. /TASS/. Russia’s forces are completing the defeat of the Donbass nationalist battalion and have advanced 12 more kilometers in the course of the special military operation in Ukraine, Russian Defense Ministry Spokesman Igor Konashenkov said on Sunday.
"Russian army units are completing the defeat of the Donbass nationalist battalion. During the day, Russian troops advance 12 kilometers to reach Nikolskoye and jointly with units of the Donetsk People’s Republic blocked the settlement of Sladkoye from three sides," he said.
According to Konashenkov, up to 60 militants were killed, three armored vehicles, six artillery systems and mortars of nationalists were destroyed. Currently, fighting continues in the settlements of Sladkoye, Novoukrainka, and Shakhterskoye.
Troops of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) continued to chase retreating Ukrainian troops of the 53rd brigade. Twenty Ukrainian soldiers killed, one tank, one infantry carrier and three all-terrain cars were destroyed. DPR forces continue fighting to take control of the settlements of Kamenka and Novoselovka.
Posted by: Kim | Mar 20 2022 18:18 utc | 83
My post a no-show.Surely this was a week in denial.
March 16, 2022: Standing ovation in Congress for Zelensky…..invokes 9/11
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-60762022
June 10, 2015: the late Robert Parry notes,
U.S. House Admits Nazi Role in Ukraine
https://consortiumnews.com/2015/06/12/u-s-house-admits-nazi-role-in-ukraine/
Exclusive: The U.S. House of Representatives has admitted an ugly truth that the U.S. mainstream media has tried to hide from the American people that the post-coup regime in Ukraine has relied heavily on Nazi storm troopers to carry out its bloody war against ethnic Russians, reports Robert Parry.The long Times article by Rick Lyman fit with the sorry performance of America’s “paper of record” as it has descended into outright propaganda hiding the dark side of the post-coup regime in Kiev. But what makes Lyman’s sadly typical story noteworthy today is that the Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives has just voted unanimously to bar U.S. assistance going to the Azov battalion because of its Nazi ties.
[.]on June 10, the U.S. House of Representatives approved a bipartisan amendment to the Defense Appropriations Act from Reps. John Conyers Jr., D-Michigan, and Ted Yoho, R-Florida that would block U.S. training of the Azov battalion and would prevent transfer of shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles to fighters in Iraq and Ukraine.[.]
Though the House vote on June 10 may have shined a spotlight into this dark corner of the U.S.-embraced Kiev regime, the reality has been well-known for many months though played down in most of the Western news media, often dismissed as “Russian propaganda.”[.]
A Shiver Down the Spine
The conservative London Telegraph offered more details about the Azov battalion in an article by correspondent Tom Parfitt, who wrote: “Kiev’s use of volunteer paramilitaries to stamp out the Russian-backed Donetsk and Luhansk ‘people’s republics’ should send a shiver down Europe’s spine.[.]
More
Full circle. No. Spine. Full Embrace. Full Funding.
Posted by: likklemore | Mar 20 2022 18:19 utc | 84
Posted by: Arfur Mo | Mar 20 2022 18:16 utc | 77
I can't tell you what is going on exactly there, but note that Volga-Dnepr is a Russian cargo airline.
Posted by: Unnamed | Mar 20 2022 18:20 utc | 85
Posted by: Les7 | Mar 20 2022 13:52 utc | 9
If someone already explained - I apologize.
Article 5 of NATO treaty stipulates that if one member state is attacked, all other states will do everything they can and desire to help, after assessing situation. They are not, *NOT* required to enter the war or do anything if they don't want it.
Eg. Russia can nuke part of Poland if it enters the war against Russia and article 5 of NATO won't force any other member to fight for Poland.
Posted by: Abe | Mar 20 2022 18:21 utc | 86
"I'd like to see figures for other side's casualties and more weapons stashes blown to smithereens in ever direction."
Posted by: Circe | Mar 20 2022 17:00 utc | 59
My response to you was magically transformed into insubstantial ether . . .
I'll try again.
Go to the Saker site -- http://thesaker.is/
Click on the picture at the top, then scroll down.
The Russian Ministry of Defense puts up highly detailed, daily reports giving all the info you are after. Today's entry is the first article in line.
If you don't see this, then there's been an embargo on the Saker site, which would be extremely unfortunate.
Posted by: AntiSpin | Mar 20 2022 18:21 utc | 87
Don Bacon
I spent a lot of time in 2014 commenting on the Kyiv Post website, having little to do myself except eat brunch and suntan in Dubai at the time.
Canvassing opinion in 2014, it was clear the pro coup commentators were of the same clique as other Zionists. Same talking points. Ukraine had become in my mind eastern European Israel.
Posted by: Jezabeel | Mar 20 2022 18:27 utc | 90
As many on this thread are already aware Mariupol is now in the hands of separatist forces. There is a totally different narrative coming out of Russia, a more believable narrative. And the BBC is not worth my spit.
https://johnplatinumgoss.com/2022/03/20/the-mariupol-theatre-bombing-what-really-happened/
Posted by: Likklemore | Mar 20 2022 18:24 utc | 81
Mine too. There is a war on. Maybe it was the link about the Petrodollar.
Posted by: Circe | Mar 20 2022 17:00 utc | 59
I am not ex-military, but don't be silly "He went as far as saying that Russians are having to literally steal cellphones from civilians"
Almost everything in The Western Media over the last couple of weeks is a complete reversal of the truth.
As I am English, and live in London, I am totally disgusted with the lot of them.
These politicians and the media, are not working for us British. They are not only stupid, they are totally corrupt.
Posted by: Tony_0pmoc | Mar 20 2022 18:30 utc | 93
Today on CNN
Zelensky reveals compromise he won't make
The Ukrainian president has ruled out any deal with Moscow that would impact his country's territorial integrity.
https://www.rt.com/russia/552345-ukraine-russia-nato-compromise/
So much for negotiations. No need then.
Posted by: Likklemore | Mar 20 2022 18:30 utc | 94
"Russian sources claim that those VSU personnel responsible for the tochka-u strike on Donetsk have been neutralized. The intel the Russians have..."
Boo | Mar 20 2022 13:44 utc | 6
Do you mean killed or they didn't say?
Posted by: David G Horsman | Mar 20 2022 18:31 utc | 95
@ Paul Greenwood | Mar 20 2022 17:04 utc | 62
Paul Craig Roberts, Assistant Secretary of the Treasury 1981-1982 under Reagan, original supply-sider economist, had a complete reversal of view, which, considering his age at the time, was quite remarkable, completely refuting the idea that you can't teach an old dog new tricks. Because of his libertarian view, he was very enraged by the concept of "civil forfetiure," where the state arbitrarily seizes the property of innocent individuals without any due process on the basis that a crime may have been committed by the owners or on the premises, indeed one of the worst aspects of American law enforcement practices, of which there are many. This point caused him to broaden his research into the American justice system, which he describes as "the criminal injustice system" quite correctly. When the invasion of Iraq occurred in 2003, he was immediately denouncing the servile "presstitute" for its lies, as well as the government it serves. Furthermore, rare among American commentators of that time, he actually expressed concern for the Iraqi lives being lost in the invasion, not just for the Americans. I even wrote to him to laud his efforts, and he wrote back saying, "Professor, that is the nicest letter I have ever received" (although he declined to meet with me). I know that he can fly off the handle a bit in reacting to outrages perpetrated by the warmongers and imperialists, and his demands for more militant action by Russia may be out of place, because he may not be comprehending Russia's strategy here. But as far as I am concerned, he has proven his antiwar and true - not fake - humanitarian bona fides many times over.
Posted by: Cabe | Mar 20 2022 18:41 utc | 96
"You don't debate nazism. You destroy it.
I am physically incapable of giving a fuck about the enlightened centrist concern-trolling calls to debate nazism.
If you don't realize how allowing such "discussion" can very well put this very website at risk, THINK AGAIN."
Posted by: Misotheist | Mar 20 2022 13:45 utc | 7
It's a standard fascist trick to use debate in civil society to gain a platform and hijack democracy.
I agree with your view completely and felt it needs repeating here.
Posted by: David G Horsman | Mar 20 2022 18:45 utc | 97
My 2nd try had this:
Today on CNN
Zelensky reveals compromise he won't make. has ruled out any deal that would impact his country's territorial integrity. [found at the banned RF state media an r and a t.]
= = = = = =
Zelensky had a standing ovation in Congress on Wednesday..
But flashback to June 10, 2015. Do read.
U.S. House admits Nazi Role in Ukraine,
by the late Robert Parry.
[The] U.S. House of representatives approved a bipartisan amendment to the Defense Appropriations Act from Reps. John Conyers Jr., and Ted Yoho that would block U.S. training of the Azov battalion and would prevent transfer of shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles to fighters in Iraq and Ukraine.[.]
https://consortiumnews.com/2015/06/12/u-s-house-admits-nazi-role-in-ukraine/
Posted by: Likklemore | Mar 20 2022 18:45 utc | 98
Testing again.
June 10. 2015: U.S. House of Representatives passed an amendment that would prohibit.....
https://consortiumnews.com/2015/06/12/u-s-house-admits-nazi-role-in-ukraine/
Posted by: Likklemore | Mar 20 2022 18:51 utc | 99
June 10, 2015:
https://consortiumnews.com/2015/06/12/u-s-house-admits-nazi-role-in-ukraine/
= = = = =
Today on CNN. Ze revealed he will not compromise on his country's territorial integrity. No to these demands.
Posted by: Likklemore | Mar 20 2022 18:56 utc | 100
The comments to this entry are closed.
It's just like I been sayin all along. You either deal with your macherita syndrome or you take it up your own zalensky. Either way it's definitely gonna hurt a little. That Putin he been playin five dimensional chess all along. Set them silly NAZIs up right there on the border and then just use basic military force to burn out a backfire. 'Tis a simple move really. Not all that subtle, but just subtle enough.
Wickipedia ~~ Volodymyr Zelenskyy
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~//
Zelenskyy has gained worldwide recognition as the wartime leader of Ukraine during the Russian invasion; historian Andrew Roberts compared him to Winston Churchill.[172][173] Harvard Political Review said that Zelenskyy "has harnessed the power of social media to become history's first truly online wartime leader, bypassing traditional gatekeepers as he uses the internet to reach out to the people."[174] He has been described as a national hero or a "global hero" by many commentators, including publications such as The Hill, Deutsche Welle, Der Spiegel and USA Today.[172][175][176][177] BBC News and The Guardian have reported that his response to the invasion has received praise even from previous critics.[171][178]
//~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You cannot make this stuff up. Unless you are a serious big time stuff-maker.
Posted by: blues | Mar 20 2022 13:05 utc | 1