Ukraine - Gonzalo Lira, War Aims, Railway Supplies And Incoming Fire
1. Gonzalo Lira is alive
Lira had been arrested on April 15 by the SBU, the Ukrainian Gestapo, but is now at some private place in Kharkov under a kind of house arrest. He is not allowed to leave the city. It seems that the public attention the case had caught has helped to hold back the nastier side of the Ukrainian authorities. Last night Alex Christoforou of The Duran published a short video talk with Gonzalo Lira (vid).
2. Russia's war aims
In a talk at a defense industry meeting Major General Rustam Minnekaev, Deputy Commander of the Central Military District, named areas of Ukraine which Russia wants to secure (machine translation):
"Since the beginning of the second phase of the special operation, it has already begun, literally two days ago, one of the tasks of the Russian army is to establish full control over the Donbass and southern Ukraine," he said.
...
"This (control over the Donbass - TASS note) will provide a land corridor to the Crimea, as well as influence the vital facilities of the Ukrainian [military forces], Black Sea ports through which agricultural and metallurgical products are delivered to [other] countries," - said the deputy commander."Control over the South of Ukraine is another way out to [Transnistria], where there are also facts of oppression of the Russian-speaking population. Apparently, we are now at war with the whole world, as it was in the Great Patriotic War, all of Europe, the whole world was against us. And now the same thing, they never liked Russia," he added.
The Russian ambassador to the U.S. again named the political aims:
Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine is aimed at demilitarization and denazification of the country, and Moscow will ensure that the country has a non-nuclear and neutral status, Russian Ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov said on Thursday.
3. Military supplies
Yesterday Russia attacked four railway crossing over the Dnjepr river. One in the Zaporozhye region and three in the area of Dnepropetrovsk.
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This cuts off Ukrainian troops on the Donbas front east of the river from all large scale supplies.
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The Ukrainian military, like Russia's, depends on railways for all long distance mass supplies as both have relatively few logistic trucks.
The U.S. and others have said they would give the Ukraine dozens of 155mm towed artillery guns plus tens of thousands of shells with them. The U.S. guns come with one truck each to tow the gun.
That is all manageable so far but now let's look at the logistics (especially without railways). A 155mm shell plus the powder needed to fire it weighs about 50 kilogram. A three axle military truck can carry 7.5 metric tons or 150 shells. That's about what one or maybe two guns will fire on a good day.
The distance from the Ukrainian border with Poland to the Donbas front is about 1,200 kilometer (~800 miles). That is at least a two days drive with a truck. The daily supplies for one gun on the frontline will thus require constant traffic of at least 6 trucks plus all the fuel needed to run them. Adding maintenance and load/unload time means even more trucks. Now multiply that with the number of guns that are supposed to come in.
This is very fast becoming a huge transport operation with lots of trucks the Ukraine does not have. So how will it get all those shells to the frontline? It won't.
4. Current operations
Since the launch of phase two of its operation the Russia military has not started any larger offensive but has increased its artillery fire on the frontline. Here is a part of the 'clobber list' from this morning's Russian Defense Ministry briefing:
Kalibr high-precision long-range missiles destroyed up to a battalion of enemy personnel with weapons and military equipment near Miliorativnoe railway station.High-precision air-based missiles of the Russian Aerospace Forces hit 3 military assets of Ukraine.
...
Operational-tactical aviation of the Russian Aerospace Forces hit 58 military assets of Ukraine. Among them: 4 command posts, 3 fuel depots, and 51 areas of Ukrainian manpower and military equipment concentration.Missile troops and artillery carried out 1,285 firing missions during the night. Destroyed: 9 fuel depots, 37 command posts. 1,221 strong points, areas of enemy's manpower and military equipment were hit.
One artillery firing missions usually includes multiple guns (often 6) and multiple shells (3 to 10) fired per gun. This constant incoming artillery fire will be extremely demoralizing (and deadly) for the Ukrainian troops on the frontline. (I have experienced only one artillery onslaught, during officer training and in a safe bunker. It was still extremely violent. Some of us literally wet their pants.)
The Ukrainian soldiers can only dig in, keep their heads down and hope to not receive a direct hit. Their artillery is gone. They have no way left to respond to the fire. After a few days of this the Russian troops will be able to roll them up with little difficulties.
Posted by b on April 22, 2022 at 12:40 UTC | Permalink
next page »I for one am so glad, and relieved, to hear that Lira is still alive
thanks for the good news, b
Posted by: michaelj72 | Apr 22 2022 12:49 utc | 3
The Russians no doubt are trying hard to interdict heavy weapon supply from Western Powers to the UKRINE.
How the deliveries of Western heavy equipment to Ukraine , artillery, and missile weapons will take place.
———————————
It should be understood that the key factor in hiding the Ukrainian military cargo delivery is its dispersal, and not in convoy or anything that looks organised, from space.
The second key factor is the extremely limited technical capabilities of Russian intelligence, which is physically unable to control the Ukrainian-Polish border, even in its individual sections.
The delivery of heavy weapons will take place according to the same way as normal cargo, except that country roads will be used instead of public roads; some equipment will be disguised as civilian transport (having a satellite with the quality of the 80s, the Russians will be unable to distinguish between ordinary cargo or military travelling in individual civilian trucked along the route -
Ukrainians will actively use cover of night, transferring even large military formations to combat zones after sunset, and moving dispersed and compact columns of equipment across the rear without attracting any attention.
Of course, it will be more difficult to move near the front line (firstly, Russian air reconnaissance operates there, and secondly, there is little civilian traffic flow there to mix disguised military transports.
Posted by: Syed Mirza Chagatai | Apr 22 2022 12:56 utc | 4
There are vids up of what a Ukrainian fortified position looks like after an artillery barrage. Dig in? Dig into what, may as well write your name on a cross and plant it above you.
Just can't see this going past another month in the Donbas. Orc retreat and resupply routes have been severed.
Cheers M
Posted by: sean the leprechaun | Apr 22 2022 12:58 utc | 5
"Clobber list" -- love it!
B, thanks also for your personal insight into what it's like to be the clobberee, so to speak. That straightforward description says it all.
Posted by: Herr Ringbone | Apr 22 2022 12:59 utc | 6
Lira is currently doing a livestream with the Duran which, frankly, seems incredibly unwise. He was warned in advance that his past comments could lead to arrest or worse but I'm not sure he has learned his lesson. He is clearly not free to move and appears to be under criminal investigation for breaching wartime laws on criticism of the Ukrainian government, i.e. he might still be jailed. Going on a live feed where he might, through an excess of emotion or poor phrasing, say the wrong thing, is something that could land him in further trouble.
Before his arrest/abduction I was of the opinion that the hosts of the various blogs he appeared on were doing him a disservice by giving him a platform for commentary that would bring him serious trouble. It's not that he should not say those things but doing so while in Kharkov and at the mercy of unscrupulous people is incredibly foolish. The same pattern is repeating and he would really be better served by releasing only prerecorded and carefully scripted updates until he can get out of the area, assuming that is in any way possible. Given his foreign citizenship and clear threats to his safety the Chilean consulate should have some room to assist him.
Posted by: Brannagyn | Apr 22 2022 13:09 utc | 7
Posted by: Brannagyn | Apr 22 2022 13:09 utc | 7
Largely agree.
Lira has already survived a run-in with the SBU, whatever the reasons.
Does he really want to reroll those dice?
Posted by: Arganthonios | Apr 22 2022 13:16 utc | 8
good to know Gonzalo is ok. appreciate the update.
Posted by: Himy Misra | Apr 22 2022 13:20 utc | 9
"After a few days of this the Russian troops will be able to roll them up with little difficulties."
I defer to b's more extensive military background, but I wouldn't be so quick to make the above pronouncement. Does anyone on the RF side know with relative certainty the extent and the strength of the fortified positions/bunkers of the UAF along the Line Of Contact? Also, as we have seen, even when it is obvious that they have been defeated there seems to remain a quixotic refusal to surrender. That is the reason I yesterday posted my sentiment that this tragedy is going to widen and deepen before it comes to an end.
I agree the eventual outcome is inevitable, but it make take quite a bit more than "a few days."
Excellent analysis of the logistical absurdities of Biden's et. al. bluster about re-arming the UAF. I had been speculating along those lines myself, but b supplies the minimal technical details needed to debunk the forlorn hope.
Posted by: vinnieoh | Apr 22 2022 13:37 utc | 10
Lira should be careful. The SBU can't kill him openly. But he could be killed by a "Russian" Tochka-U cluster munition next time Ukro-Nazis launch one. Save him for more PR, smarter than tortured to death in a cell. Careful Gonzalo (but I guess he's too dumb).
Posted by: JGarbo | Apr 22 2022 13:40 utc | 11
Posted by: Syed Mirza Chagatai | Apr 22 2022 12:56 utc | 4
Aha, yet another comedian, I see!
and not in convoy or anything that looks organised, from space.
It doesn't matter. Anything going in the opposite direction to refugees traffic is suspicious, organized or not.
The second key factor is the extremely limited technical capabilities of Russian intelligence, which is physically unable to control the Ukrainian-Polish border, even in its individual sections.
There's no point in controlling the Ukrainian-polish border. What they want to do is control the logistics hubs where the traffic accumulates, example that training center they blew up some weeks ago.
except that country roads will be used instead of public roads; some equipment will be disguised as civilian transport
That's going to be slow as molasses. By the time they've spent a month crawling the country roads the war will be over.
Civilian transport? Really? What civilian transport has the load capacity to carry the kind of heavy weaponry needed?
(having a satellite with the quality of the 80s, the Russians will be unable to distinguish between ordinary cargo
80s satellite? What are you smoking, man!?
Ukrainians will actively use cover of night, transferring even large military formations to combat zones after sunset,
That'll slow them down even more, as night travel along country roads is wont to do ...
and moving dispersed and compact columns of equipment across the rear without attracting any attention.
Hahahaha... You're funny. Do you seriously believe Russian surveillance drones don't have night vision?
Of course, it will be more difficult to move near the front line (firstly, Russian air reconnaissance operates there, and secondly, there is little civilian traffic flow there to mix disguised military transports.
You bet. Though it's not likely they'll ever get close enough for this to become a problem
Posted by: Arch Bungle | Apr 22 2022 13:41 utc | 12
Photos of abandoned Ukranazi trenches lined with corpses show what the coup regime's forces are going through now. The truth is percolating through even in Kiev though it is officially verboten to utter it.
Posted by: Biswapriya Purkayast | Apr 22 2022 13:50 utc | 13
Posted by: vinnieoh | Apr 22 2022 13:37 utc | 10
I agree. Lots of people were saying Mariupol would fall “in a few days” for longer than a month.
Russia has so far adopted an approach that is meant to minimize Russian casualties at the expense of time. I believe this will continue in the Donbas offensive. Russia does not believe they need to rush things. I believe that many in the West wished that Russia would rush things, as we suspect that the longer the war drags on the higher chance there is of direct NATO Russia conflict. I am sure Russia has taken this into account. So far they don’t seem to be that worried about it, to be frank.
Posted by: WJ | Apr 22 2022 13:52 utc | 14
Gonzalo has been a very brave man for several weeks now. Indeed to have said openly what he says at any time during the past eight years of the Nazi occupation of Donbas and Kharkov took considerable courage. He is a model of dignified resistance to bullies.
And now he is 'a dead man on leave' again. Those who regard him as foolish are telling us more about themselves than him.
Posted by: bevin | Apr 22 2022 13:53 utc | 15
🙏 Wow! The first item on the list is the best news item I have read in a while. My prayers are with him. Although we don't know in what condition he's in but I hope for the best!
Posted by: Steve | Apr 22 2022 13:56 utc | 16
The Ukrainian soldiers can only dig in, keep their heads down and hope to not receive a direct hit.
This kind of artillery barrage concusses soldier in the strike range, while reducing them to quivering PTSD zombies. Brutal stuff. That's why smart people endeavor to avoid war at all costs.
Posted by: posa | Apr 22 2022 13:59 utc | 17
Keep in mind that this is not WW1 or WW2 but modern times where arty fire is much more accurate, there is constant targeting update (drones and what not) and there are some nasty LOS new devices (TOS) that uses - thermobaric ammo. Yes, it can be delivered as air bomb but when used by TOS MLRS it is the killer for dug in infantry, bunkers and all things found in static defense lines.
Basically, thermobarics and greatly enhanced arty accuracy changed calculations on capabilities of static defenses in modern times. This is why only cities or bigger villages (+ civilian population mixed in) offer some form of defense, out in the open anyone dug in is just sitting duck without own arty/air cover.
Posted by: Abe | Apr 22 2022 14:00 utc | 18
Good to read Mr Lira is still alive, if in the hands of the Nazi's, I guess the outcry of him missing has led the SBU to think twice about killing him immediately, he I would say is still in grave danger though.
British PM on radio news claiming that the British embassy in Kiev will open up again in a few days, I was thinking that the Ukrainian forces might think Kiev is a good staging post to send truck Eastwards, I suppose its nearer than the Polish border to the Donbas. Russian forces will need to monitor closely what's coming in from Poland and other countries that border it close to Ukraine. I think they've already tried smuggling weapons in via civilian vehicles, of which Russia destroyed.
Posted by: Republicofscotland | Apr 22 2022 14:00 utc | 19
I apologize for writing in my earlier comment before I watched the video that we don't know Gonzalo's physical condition. I realize now that he is physically fine.That's great!
Posted by: Steve | Apr 22 2022 14:05 utc | 20
The obvious question is why?
Gonzalo is obviously compromised by the SBU and is likely being used in some way for propaganda and leverage by his new friends/handlers.
It would be outside of the character of the SBU to simply release him on "house arrest" and politely ask him to stay put and keep up your youtube commentaries????????????????
BEWARE now of what appears to be communicated from Gonzalo.
He will not be safe until the Russians free him.
Posted by: James Cook | Apr 22 2022 14:09 utc | 21
Russia send Lithuanian, Estonian and Latvian diplomats packing.
"The Russian Foreign Ministry responded to the “unfriendly actions” of the three Baltic states on Thursday, by closing their consulates and declaring their staff ‘personae non grata’. Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania had previously announced their decision to close their Russian consulates.
The ministry summoned top representatives of the diplomatic missions of these countries to express a “strong protest” over such measures. During the meeting, Russia announced it would forbid the operations of all three countries’ Consulates General in Saint Petersburg, as well as of Latvia’s consulate and Estonia’s consulate in Pskov. The foreign ministry specified that the decision was made “on the basis of the principle of reciprocity,” as well as taking into account the military assistance that was being provided by these countries to Kiev, and “the covering up of the crimes of Ukrainian nationalists against the civilian population of the Donbass and Ukraine.”"
Posted by: Republicofscotland | Apr 22 2022 14:09 utc | 22
Seems strange to me that Mr. Lira is under 'house arrest' for communicating to the outside world and is still free to communicate to the outside world. Something doesn't track.
On the other hand Navalny seems to have no problem communicating his thoughts to the outside world from his prison cell so what do I know...
https://nypost.com/2022/04/19/alexei-navalny-says-russian-troops-killed-man-for-sharing-his-name/
Posted by: gottlieb | Apr 22 2022 14:12 utc | 23
Some people are willing to put their life on the line for their convictions. This is called living. As opposed to alternatives like mediocrity. There’s a thin line between bravery, being foolhardy, or tempting suicidal impulses. Let’s hope we all have the wisdom to manage that ourselves!
Posted by: Geoff | Apr 22 2022 14:12 utc | 24
I don't know about the whole Gonzalo Lira story to be honest. Fair play if it's legit, and hats off to him for sticking his neck out, but politics aside, looking at his checkered history and his dodgy sleazy character, what is to say he just didn't make the whole thing up? It's not just the Jussie Smolett's et al. woke lefty types who would do immoral things to get attention.
Posted by: Et Tu | Apr 22 2022 14:23 utc | 25
Some people are willing to put their life on the line for their convictions. This is called living. As opposed to alternatives like mediocrity. There’s a thin line between bravery, being foolhardy, or tempting suicidal impulses. Let’s hope we all have the wisdom to manage that ourselves!Posted by: Geoff | Apr 22 2022 14:12 utc | 24
Well and sensitively observed. Myself, I wonder whether there's really a thin line -- or whether there's an overlap!
Posted by: malenkov | Apr 22 2022 14:24 utc | 26
A very useful primer on Ukraine, the 'left' and Soviet history at Coverty Action
https://covertactionmagazine.com/2022/04/22/the-synthetic-left-joins-the-corporate-right-in-getting-the-ukraine-war-wrong/
Posted by: bevin | Apr 22 2022 14:26 utc | 27
Sorry about the typos!
The British, Jewish anti-fascist blogger Tony Greenstein has a good piece today on Bucha.
https://azvsas.blogspot.com/
Posted by: bevin | Apr 22 2022 14:29 utc | 28
"Apparently, we are now at war with the whole world, as it was in the Great Patriotic War, all of Europe, the whole world was against us. And now the same thing, they never liked Russia,"
Most people aware of the Lend Lease program that saved Stalin's a55 might have a different take on things. All of Europe, seriously??? Pretty sure it wasn't aliens that landed in Normandy with the Americans.
The best way to ensure the whole world actually does not like Russia, is clumsy revisionist bs like this and its continued failure to have better relations with its neighbours. Color revolutions, even with the billions the US/EU poured into them, always feed on genuine grievances. The fact so many chose to fight with Hitler and not for Russia says a lot about what their neighbours actually thought of them.
Maybe it's to learn a few tricks of the West and try exerting influence in manners that don't result in so much bloodshed?
Posted by: Et Tu | Apr 22 2022 14:37 utc | 29
> it has already begun, literally two days ago
Just a small detail: in this context "literally" sounds dismissive. "It's no big deal, i have to make a notice, but actually it does not matter", either because the said timespan is too short, or because in the grand scheme of things adding or removing a day would not matter.
It is kinda weird, because it contradicts the "bookish" meaning of "literally" word, but in common speech that is how it is
Posted by: Arioch | Apr 22 2022 14:39 utc | 30
> either because the said timespan is too short
> adding or removing a day would not matter
It is hard to rationally dissect one's "background knowledge" and guts feeling. The quoted interpretations seems to be one and the same. The former however stresses the very early stages, the "infancy" of the topic. Kind of "you can't see any outcomes yet, because it is too early for them". While the latter is more like "you won't want to see any outcomes, because they are too miniscule to bother"
Posted by: Arioch | Apr 22 2022 14:43 utc | 31
Et Tu @29--
Given how the Outlaw US Empire describes the Global Community, meaning NATO+Japan+AnZac, the Russian general is correct. I've termed this The Second Great Patriotic War since Russia's top political people termed December's security proposals as being existential--NATO threatens Russia's existence. Now, if you can't understand Russia's POV, then that's too bad for you. Reality the Russian general properly described.
I have no animus toward the man at all, but Lira has to have some kind of death wish to be doing what he is doing.
Posted by: Gigo | Apr 22 2022 14:54 utc | 33
Of course, it will be more difficult to move near the front line (firstly, Russian air reconnaissance operates there, and secondly, there is little civilian traffic flow there to mix disguised military transports.Posted by: Syed Mirza Chagatai | Apr 22 2022 12:56 utc | 4
Arch Bungle pretty much covered it @12, but I'm hoping the Russians are so confident they can blow all that away at any stage, that they allow the Ukie forces to go through all kinds of trouble and expense, and then clobber them on arrival.
▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎
Phoenix Ghost Drones Developed by US in Response to Ukrainian RequirementsThe Phoenix Ghost drones have been developed by the United States in response to Ukrainian requirements and will require minimal training, a senior US defense official said during a press briefing.
"What I can tell you about the Phoenix Ghost [drone] is this was rapidly developed by the [US] Air Force in response specifically to Ukrainian requirements," the official said on Thursday. "It will require some minimal training for knowledgeable UAS [unmanned aircraft systems] operators to be able to use it and we are going to be working through those training requirements directly with the Ukrainian Armed Forces."
The Phoenix Ghost drones provide similar capabilities to the Switchblade but not exactly the same ones as there are some differences in the capabilities for the Phoenix, the official clarified.
Later in the day, Defense Department spokesperson John Kirby explained that the Phoenix Ghost drone had been in development by the US Air Force before the beginning of the Russian special military operation in Ukraine on February 24. The discussions that Pentagon had with Ukrainians made the US defense officials believe that this drone system will “nicely suit their needs, particularly in eastern Ukraine.”[Sputnik 21-04-22]
CNN reported on this yesterday but had even less detail, as in no name and little else, because this drone project is considered highly classified by Defense Department. Obviously Ghost means they're impervious to Russian jamming. Maybe. Some secret.
Posted by: Circe | Apr 22 2022 14:54 utc | 34
Russian troops are referring to Ukie soldiers as “hohols” and to Ukraine as “hoholReich”. Obviously, derogatory terms. Does anyone know what they mean? I note that it may not be printable, but in this day and age, who knows? Cheers to the bar flies, and here’s to a round for Gonzalo Lira!
I’m still getting RT here in Texas.
Billy
Posted by: Billy the Texas Red | Apr 22 2022 14:58 utc | 35
Posted by: Syed Mirza Chagatai | Apr 22 2022 12:56 utc | 4
Posted by: Arch Bungle | Apr 22 2022 13:41 utc | 12
You both seem to make a same omission about human intelligence.
Good sats, bad sats, good drones, bad drones...
Since the inception Ukraine kept showing her eagerness to sell everything including herself.
In 1990-s Ukraine had the most part of USSR Army hardware - and for years it enjoyed easy life of sellign them el cheapo around the world (undercutting Russian industries along the way: Russia just could not sell newly produced weapons at the prices Ukraine was selling essentially the same "frisbies" from Soviet depots).
In 2014 EuroUkraine was beggaring for weapons to fight "Russian agression" - which it immediately sold to Syria.
Then and still locals keep reporting "humanitaring aid" never given to citizens for free, but sold instead. Via bribes or black markets.
Few days ago USA military said they can't understand where the military hardware routed to Ukraine end, comparing Ukraine to black hole. Actually destroying depots with arson (or with "Russian bombs") is ages old way to legalize theft.
You are arguing if Russia can - in her best efforts - stop supplies flowing that Ukraine would - in her best efforts - try to smeak behind radars. That would be happening in some minor cases, but the major, typical case would be the opposite: Ukrainian "fat cats" selling off most of the gear, then stockpiling the minor but sizeable remains of it and calling Russia to destroy it to give them plausible deniability.
It is NOT about satellites and drones, it is about bribing humans. And i am not even sure if that would be Russians bribing Ukrainians or vice versa.
Posted by: Arioch | Apr 22 2022 15:00 utc | 36
I was struck by this speech from almost 2,000 years ago and the position Russia finds herself in facing the Empire of Lies:
“....We are the last people on earth, and the last to be free: our very remoteness in a land known only to rumour has protected us up till this day. ….But now there is no people beyond us, nothing but tides and rocks and, more deadly than these, the Romans. It is no use trying to escape their arrogance by submission or good behaviour. They have pillaged the world: when the land has nothing left for men who ravage everything, they scour the sea. If an enemy is rich, they are greedy, if he is poor, they crave glory. Neither East nor West can sate their appetite. They are the only people on earth to covet wealth and poverty with equal craving. They plunder, they butcher, they ravish, and call it by the lying name of ‘empire’. They make a desert and call it ‘peace’.”
- Calgacus, ca. AD 84. Speech before the Battle of Mons Graupius, the Scottish Highlands against the Romans.
Posted by: Moses22 | Apr 22 2022 15:00 utc | 37
I can’t access Consortium News anymore.
Same with Strategic Culture.org, although the error messages are not the same.
Are you guys experiencing the same? We will soon be barred from all alternative media...
Posted by: scc | Apr 22 2022 15:02 utc | 38
It’s hard to comprehend that Ukraine was ever a part of the Soviet/RF with all this absolute bs going down after a few years of Yankee outright ownership. All this death and destruction for want of a few words of peaceful existence with the neighbours. Insane
Posted by: sadness | Apr 22 2022 15:05 utc | 39
Col Cassad has some info on Russia just now dropping the bridges over the Dnieper River. Looks like they feel they have the bulk of the Orcs trapped now. Cauldron or no cauldron. No retreat other than small boat or swim, no resupply unless by small boat. Mr Dress Up claims Canada still plans on sending it's towed artillery, just trying to muster enough Quarter horses and feed to complete the mobilization.
Cheers, M
Posted by: sean the leprechaun | Apr 22 2022 15:07 utc | 40
To be useful, the imported materiel has to arrive at, or near, the front. Proximity brings an increased chance of detection and or elimination. Until then the traffic can be dispersed but it can be slowed at every bridge crossing or culvert. Laager/Transfer points can be identified.
The railway system should be interdicted. Main roadways too.
Posted by: Kevin Quinn | Apr 22 2022 15:08 utc | 41
Et Tu | Apr 22 2022 14:37 utc | 29
Military units from most European countries were involved in the invasion of Russia.
Posted by: Peter AU1 | Apr 22 2022 15:09 utc | 42
Posted by: Billy the Texas Red | Apr 22 2022 14:58 utc | 35
Хохол - is, literally, the long lock of hair, sticking up. Which is stereotypical for Ukrainian
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oseledets
Similarly Ukrainians were calling Russians кацап - he-goat, because many Russians had a beard like he-goats.
--------
Хохло-рейх - means "Third Reich LARPed by Kokhols", mocking their eagerness - and total incompetence - to make the actualy, industrially and scientificalyl advanced and militarily powerfull Third Reich reenaction. They adore Hitler, but they no more can reach his governing levels, then they managed to keep Ukraine "The second France" (the real motto from 1990-s)
Posted by: Arioch | Apr 22 2022 15:11 utc | 43
Look at Gonzalo. Not a mark on him. His mouth moves at normal speed. His eyes are bright. They did not even break his glasses. Have you ever experienced such a gentle arrest? On a political? And this is wartime. SBU are supposed to be ultimate bad boys operating without adult supervision. Yet they were kind this time.
How does that work? Gonzalo simply outranks those who came to get him. The one place cops are exquisitely sensitive is social class and social rank. I did not know if Chilean ruling class would count in this case, apparently it does. Same families all over the world.
In cases where I have been personally involved the arrestees who got deference from the cops were usually cops themselves, sometimes they were very rich kids slumming. Gonzalo from what I can see is perfectly honest. Not a plant, provocateur, mole, or double agent. He uses his class privilege to be independent and give us a view from above the fray. It is an interesting perspective.
There are real journalists working in Ukraine. They do not get the placement and promotion Gonzalo gets. Closest would be Graham Phillips. Who is after all a Phillips.
Posted by: oldhippie | Apr 22 2022 15:12 utc | 44
@Moses22 | Apr 22 2022 15:00 utc | 37
I too re-read Roman military discourse on empire many times. One has to wonder if man has truly learned anything about the destructive nature of power, greed and the purpose of war?
Robbers of the world, having by their universal plunder exhausted the land, they rifle the deep. If the enemy be rich, they are rapacious; if he be poor, they lust for dominion; neither the east nor the west has been able to satisfy them. Alone among men they covet with equal eagerness poverty and riches. To robbery, slaughter, plunder, they give the lying name of empire; they make a solitude and call it peace (ubi solitudinem faciunt, pacem appellant). Tacitus, Agricola, AD85
Posted by: James Cook | Apr 22 2022 15:23 utc | 45
Good to hear Gonzalo Lira speaking out loud and clear.
Thank you b for the Tass link which included the news that the OAS Organisation Of American States, a meddlesome CIA front in South America has suspended Russias membership.
It is way past time to denazify South America. The way the nazi scum were settled there from Germany after ww2 was a disgusting colonial crime. Time to clean house in South America. Their collaborators and nazi sympathisers in the USAi will lovingly welcome them I guess.
Yet another day of Israel's silence and craven collaboration with nazis has passed. Tomorrow - more of the same. Disgrace.
Posted by: uncle tungsten | Apr 22 2022 15:23 utc | 46
Moses22 | Apr 22 2022 15:00 utc | 37
Wow. Thanks for that. The more things change, the more they remain the same.
Posted by: vinnieoh | Apr 22 2022 15:24 utc | 47
@ Posted by: karlof1 | Apr 22 2022 14:54 utc | 32
LOL i understand the Russian perspective perfectly well.
My point is, you don't get to claim that "the international community" is in fact just the US + Europe, while boasting that India and China and the global south has your back, and then also claim the whole world is against you when it suits to play the victim card.
There is enough legitimacy in Russia's grievances to avoid fluffing it with propaganda and bs talking points that only serve to discredit it. That is all.
Posted by: Et Tu | Apr 22 2022 15:25 utc | 48
Sounds strange - I saw pics of the bullet ridden car of a blogger that wrote about the Donbas Atrocities - Valery Kuleshov in Kherson area, yet Gonzales get a free pass ? Do I smell a payoff or theatrics ? No offense.
Posted by: GMC | Apr 22 2022 15:26 utc | 49
gottlieb @23
"Seems strange to me that Mr. Lira is under 'house arrest' for communicating to the outside world and is still free to communicate to the outside world. Something doesn't track."
----
If you watched Alex's brief interview ... Gonzo is only free to provide proof of life, no more. He's essentially under gag order and house arrest, that is until RF forces control Kharkov.
Posted by: Doug Hillman | Apr 22 2022 15:26 utc | 50
this whole Gonzalo Lira story has just highlighted how totally amoral some of the people in the USA media are.
They were willing to deliver up a human being on a platter to be tortured and maybe executed because the man disagreed with them.
What has the collective West become? I thought that the era of collaborators was finished but they live among us
I cannot tell you how much this disturbs me.
Posted by: Manage without me | Apr 22 2022 15:26 utc | 51
scc | Apr 22 2022 15:02 utc | 38
On your suggestion, I just checked CN. It came up, same as always, no problems.
Posted by: vinnieoh | Apr 22 2022 15:28 utc | 52
Re: hohol
(and hohol vs. xoxol)
Note that in Russian this would be gogol, as in nikolai gogol whose family name was yanovsky, but whose father was elevated to the nobility and given the name gogol, which came from an early cossack hetmen.
Posted by: Platero | Apr 22 2022 15:29 utc | 53
I had book marked the fake @lira01real twitter account to keep an eye on it but it has now been deleted. That had a very recent photo of Lira for the profile picture that matched his beard in the first short video. It could only have been started by the goons that snatched him or somebody involved and they were trying to make out he had left Ukraine.
Posted by: Peter AU1 | Apr 22 2022 15:30 utc | 54
* Good news about Gonzalo Lira.
* Looking at EU natural gas... no radical changes to Dec'22 and Dec'23 pricing.
* EU (EC, specifically) makes a very tentative statement saying payment in Rubles could in theory be compatible with the sanctions regime, with some indirect financial mechanism TBD
https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/eu-says-gas-payments-may-be-possible-under-russian-roubles-proposal-without-2022-04-22/
* Soon the payments for Russian gas for the month will be due. Might provide impetus to clarify that situation, but as likely as not, another temporary-compromise or temporary-exception of some kind could result.
* RF announcement of Odessa as a military objective in "phase 2" is ... maybe a little bold. It would present some unique difficulties, especially as it is pretty close to Romanian airspace. Not expecting it any time soon, maybe Nikolaev for now.
Posted by: ptb | Apr 22 2022 15:33 utc | 55
A question for anyone at the bar: my understanding of modern warfare is that with complex computerized weapons (even tanks and aircraft are shooting/flying computers these days), one can only operate for so long in the field until one needs to cycle the devices off the front lines for maintenance of software or even hardware.
Could this play a part in the 'slow go' of the Russian side? I'm not saying that downtime of equipment would be the primary reason for Russia's patience, but perhaps a smaller secondary reason.
Posted by: Ursula Zandt | Apr 22 2022 15:34 utc | 56
Et Tu | Apr 22 2022 15:25 utc | 48
Et Tu I had the same reaction as you to the General's words. Perhaps he should stick to military matters in public comments. Your further clarification to Karl, I also concur. Yes, Russia has enough weight of history and recent moral/political justification without a loose cannon straying into hyperbole.
I also thought the recent launch of the new ICBM was a bad look for Russia. I UNDERSTAND it, but consider it "unfortunate."
Posted by: vinnieoh | Apr 22 2022 15:35 utc | 57
I see the ghost drone has been a top secret development for years and specifically for Ukraine. I guess it is designed to distribute aerosols and cbw products deep into Russia from the supply chain in Ukraine. It must have successfuly passed trials last year.
These things do not jump into existence overnight as the US MIC needs a few years to bleed the peoples treasury in prototype development.
Posted by: uncle tungsten | Apr 22 2022 15:35 utc | 58
Posted by: Arioch | Apr 22 2022 15:00 utc | 36
You both seem to make a same omission about human intelligence.
Good sats, bad sats, good drones, bad drones...
Leave me out of it I haven't even got to humint yet.
I was just addressing Chagatai's specific points.
Of course Ukraine, given it's ethnic makeup must be riddled with Russian or Russian sympathetic assets. Which makes Chagatai's thesis all the more comical.
This Chagatai has delusions of grandeur:
The Chagatai Khanate, or Chagatai Ulus[6] (Mongolian: Цагаадайн улс; Uzbek: Chigʻatoy ulusi; Chinese: 察合台汗國), was a Mongol and later Turkicized khanate[7][8] that comprised the lands ruled by Chagatai Khan,[9] second son of Genghis Khan, and his descendants and successors. At its height in the late 13th century the khanate extended from the ...
Posted by: Arch Bungle | Apr 22 2022 15:35 utc | 59
An article and video on the UN meeting about US bio warfare
https://www.newsclick.in/Migratory-Birds-Mass-Destruction
A mind-boggling “discovery” that Russian forces in Ukraine stumbled upon is the use of numbered birds by the Pentagon-funded labs. This almost falls out of science fiction and Sir Alfred Hitchcock could have made an epic movie out of it where deception mixes with innocence and man’s cruelty to nature becomes unbearably grotesque. The project works like this:To begin with, the Pentagon accesses the scientific data available with environmental specialists and zoologists after studying the migration of birds and observing them throughout the seasons, relating to the path these birds take each year on their seasonal journey from one country to another and even from one continent to others.
On the basis of this data, groups of migratory birds are caught, digitised and capsules of germs are attached to them that carry a chip to be controlled through computers. They birds are then released to the flock of the migratory birds in those target countries toward which the US intelligence has malevolent intentions...
... During the long flight of the birds that have been digitised in the Pentagon bio-labs, their movement is monitored step by step by means of satellites and the exact locations are determined. The idea is that if the Biden Administration (or the CIA) has a requirement to inflict harm on, say, Russia or China (or India for that matter), the chip is destroyed when the bird is in their skies.
Posted by: Peter AU1 | Apr 22 2022 15:42 utc | 60
Biden, in a political speech yesterday --
"But the point is: The most important thing to have happen that we’ve had to do is how do we keep NATO and Europe united — united. Because I guarantee you Putin has been hoping and believing that NATO would crack and we would not make any (inaudible) sacrifice to help and deal with what he was doing in — in Eastern Europe." . .here
But in other news --
--UK's Johnson: a Russian victory in Ukraine is a realistic possibility
--Germany's Scholz: is virtually ruling out a EU embargo on oil/gas, along with Austria, Hungary and others
--US provides 99% of aid to Ukraine while Europe watches and pouts
--Moscow aims to seize “full control” over eastern and southern Ukraine, providing a path to the annexed Crimean Peninsula and to a breakaway enclave of Moldova
Posted by: Don Bacon | Apr 22 2022 15:44 utc | 61
Russia to take retaliatory measures after the oppressive apartheid military regime known as Israel, announced via Benny Gantz, said, Israel would provide Ukrainian forces with military equipment, what measures Russia will take are unclear for the moment.
Posted by: Republicofscotland | Apr 22 2022 15:46 utc | 62
Glad Lira is alive.
Lucky man - looks like the right SBU Team/Bureaucrats, and Local Connections saved him.
There probably won't be another chance, so he'll need to STFU, Behave, and stick to making Films from now on.
This stopped being a Free Speech Issue for Lira. Angry UKR Nationals, Bandera-Nazi, Western Merc/Intel, and Others may still try to Kill Him and his Family given the opportunity.
The SBU handling his situation may have placed a "Stamp of Protection" on him for the War.
Somebody tell Lira that:
A) He Fracked Up and nearly got his Amateur Civilian Arse and ALL of his Close Ones in UKR Killed by Bandera-Nazi+Fog of War for Streaming as if he was protected by the Murican First Amendment;
B) Needs to STFU. He's a marked and tagged Man.
C) End the Dissident Act;
D) Keep the Filmmaking "Politically Neutral";
E) Kiss the Arses of those who Lobbied on his Behalf - including Ritter and RT who did a few Articles/NewsBroadcasts for him.
F) STFU - because there probably won't be a 2nd Chance; and he'll most likely drag others into his "Kill Job".
Posted by: IronForge | Apr 22 2022 15:47 utc | 63
The war party and it’s vassals have written off the Kiev military units in Donbass.
The military supplies is for a massive Spring counter offensive. The counter offensive troops will consistent of Ukrainians, Nato advisors, Nato Volunteers, and others. It will take at least 6 months to train and organize the counter offensive Army. Figure - around 350,000 troops for the counter offensive.
Prepare for a multi-year war.
Posted by: Exile | Apr 22 2022 15:48 utc | 64
I can’t access Consortium News anymore.
Same with Strategic Culture.org, although the error messages are not the same.
Are you guys experiencing the same? We will soon be barred from all alternative media...
Posted by: scc | Apr 22 2022 15:02 utc | 38
so far I can still access CN
I believe we have seen the last of SCF site as we have known it.
Neither Alistaire Crooke nor Pepe Escobar have mentioned it in more recent articles so who knows?
And to answer your question Yes. All counter narrative sites will disappear.
Many offer articles by email
Take advantage
Posted by: ld | Apr 22 2022 15:49 utc | 65
The delivery of heavy weapons will take place according to the same way as normal cargo, except that country roads will be used instead of public roads; some equipment will be disguised as civilian transport (having a satellite with the quality of the 80s, the Russians will be unable to distinguish between ordinary cargo or military travelling in individual civilian trucked along the route
Posted by: Syed Mirza Chagatai | Apr 22 2022 12:56 utc | 4
They're already hitting commercial trucks with military cargo, see below. You completely forgot the human intelligence factor, which the Russians are very good at. 80's quality satellite? Please, if you're going to spread propaganda at least make it believable.
https://t.me/milinfolive/81755
Posted by: One Too Many | Apr 22 2022 15:51 utc | 66
Phase two seems to be proceeding well. The civilian exodus from the south, Odessa etc, may have declined to a trickle so the rail tracks can be destroyed. The cauldron can be brought to the boil. I read of many ukies heading across to Romania/Moldova etc so that must leave limited civilian presence in Nikolaev and Odessa.
It will be interesting to see how those southern borders are sealed by the liberation armies, if at all. Now is the time for a Russian controlled no fly zone.
Posted by: uncle tungsten | Apr 22 2022 15:56 utc | 67
Posted by: oldhippie | Apr 22 2022 15:12 utc | 44
I do not follow Lira, watched him a couple of times long ago and hard to tell why but his tone, the fact that he is always indoors and something in the air that does not jive for my taste. There are so many channels that he is just one more and always indoors. I much prefer the Rangeloni guy, Italian, roaming around Mariupol plus of course many many Russian channels like Gonzo, Rybar, Poddubny, Kots.... and a very long list of guys in the front lines.
Posted by: Paco | Apr 22 2022 15:59 utc | 68
The abilities of Russian Intel are well described in "Remarks by Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation Alexander Lukashevich at a special meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council on Ukraine's ongoing crimes against civilians with the support of the Western alliance of OSCE participating States, 22 April 2022." As a former member of a Signal/Intelligence company that specialized in radio intercept and its opposite, the dissemination of false orders via radio, it's very clear to me that Ukrainian units are just as terrible at ComSec as their US Army trainers as a great amount of information's being transmitted in the open. Here's just one example from the many described by Lukashevich:
"Ukrainian nationalists shelled the village of Dergachi in the Kharkiv region and filmed the destruction and 'numerous dead' for transmission to the Western media in order to pass off the death of civilians as the alleged result of the actions of the Russian military. According to the Ministry of Defense of Russia, representatives of Western news agencies participated in the action, the leadership was carried out by the 72nd center for information and psychological operations of the Ukrainian army, the participants of the production from among civilians were paid $ 25 each."
Then there's this additional info revealed about the Ukie forces trapped in Mariupol:
"It seems that Kiev's attitude to its own armed formations is also not distinguished by 'sentimentality'. According to President Zelensky, 'Kiev will refuse to negotiate with Russia if the Ukrainian military remaining in the industrial zone of Mariupol are destroyed.' But after all, the Ukrainian leadership did nothing to save them. The Russian Armed Forces have repeatedly – almost every day in recent times – opened a humanitarian corridor for evacuation from the territory of the Azovstal Metallurgical Plant in Mariupol, offered servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, militants of nationalist battalions and foreign mercenaries to lay down their arms and voluntarily surrender. We have to admit that this humanitarian operation is cynically disrupted by the Kiev authorities, no one has used this corridor. The commanders of the national battalions never took the opportunity to save themselves and the lives of their subordinates. The Kiev authorities show inhumane treatment of Ukrainian servicemen and do not give them the only correct order – to stop senseless resistance and lay down their arms.
"As for the video statement of the command of the nationalist battalion "Azov" to the world community with a request to ensure that it is provided with 'green corridors' - it appealed to the wrong address. The Russian Armed Forces did everything to save the lives of these people. It was necessary to appeal directly to the leadership of Ukraine, which had long ago treacherously abandoned them. At the same time, Russia guaranteed the preservation of life, security and medical care to all those who voluntarily laid down their arms. On April 21, the Russian president directly confirmed that Mariupol was completely liberated, and as for the nationalists remaining at the Azovstal plant, the Russian army will only block them in order to avoid unnecessary casualties."
The overall statement seems long but note what's said in conclusion:
"The numerous established facts cited by us represent only the 'tip of the iceberg' from the huge array of crimes of the Kiev regime and the security threats it has created for the population of both Ukraine itself and neighboring countries. It is to eliminate such threats and protect the civilian population that Russia's special military operation is aimed at. Its tasks will be fully fulfilled."
He also reports on several ongoing investigations, one of which is the bioweapon labs and another dealing with OSCE espionage in service of Ukraine. Yes, it's obvious his remarks are for the record as I expect nothing to be done by OSCE, nor do we know how many of its members were present to hear them. The genuine global community will indeed be interested in what Russia uncovers in Ukraine, and it's also just as clear that the Outlaw US Empire and its vassals no longer care about their international reputation.
(and hohol vs. xoxol)
Note that in Russian this would be gogol
Posted by: Platero | Apr 22 2022 15:29 utc | 53
Not sure at all.
Гоголь is a bird - https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9E%D0%B1%D1%8B%D0%BA%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%BD%D1%8B%D0%B9_%D0%B3%D0%BE%D0%B3%D0%BE%D0%BB%D1%8C
Or a food - https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%93%D0%BE%D0%B3%D0%BE%D0%BB%D1%8C-%D0%BC%D0%BE%D0%B3%D0%BE%D0%BB%D1%8C
Хохол is a feature of bad hairdo (including with some birds like hens, refering to sticking head feathers or even a comb) https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A7%D1%83%D0%B1
In general, хохол is much more common a word than гоголь. Albeit it is quite plausible that long long ago those were one and the same word, but today they split and both exist.
Posted by: Arioch | Apr 22 2022 16:05 utc | 70
Arch Bungle #59
I surmise the Russian and Donbass forces have excellent human intelligence support throughout the Ukraine. They seem to have good data when it comes to the storage of imported weapons deliveries and troop concentrations. I surmise that requires a combination of satellite, air cover and human sources.
I appreciated your critical analysis and historical references. Thank you.
Posted by: uncle tungsten | Apr 22 2022 16:05 utc | 71
"he daily supplies for one gun on the frontline will thus require constant traffic of at least 6 trucks plus all the fuel needed to run them"
And this is why I did not buy into the hype that Zelensky was planning a tank based offensive after requesting tanks from NATO. Tanks drink fuel and getting them into Donbas with any logistical support is very difficult.
Why tanks? Is a nice thing to barter for money after the war ends. I bet the tanks will stay in Lviv.
Posted by: Christian J. Chuba | Apr 22 2022 16:06 utc | 72
I am not sure if people here have any understanding of who Gonzalo Lira is. This is not a character assassination but an attempt to put what has or has not been happening to him lately into perspective.
I don't want to go through his whole life but according to one of his own YT chats he was born into a wealthy quasi-aristocratic Chilean family, his father was an asshole, he was always bored in school and read novels during class (One of his fav authors is Solzhenytsin lol). He became a screenwriter, a "novelist" himself etc.
Politically, he as adopted some kind of alt-right persona, with all the lingo of a Richard Spencer. I've read somewhere that he was contributor to ZeroHedge, Business Insider - and I even read on Yves Smith's blog that used to comment on NakedCapitalism. Nothing wrong with that.
Now the more funny stuff:
It seems like Gonzalo Lira has defrauded Steve Keen in 2013, cashing in on Keen's description money on a website they've set up (lol!). For more of the fraudulent behavior read here.
A few years ago he became an influencer and YT pick-up artist. One of his advices for single men is to go to poor places to exploit desperate young women. Just one of his neat counsels. And I am not making this up. You can go to Coach Red Pill to look this stuff up. Some of this stuff has been deleted quite recetly however.
From his Twitter account we know that he thinks that Pinochet was the best president Chile ever had and that Allende "tortured" and went after his family. Nice. Of course now that he goes on the Duran frequently he mumbles that the Zelensky regime is almost as bad as Pinochet back then. What a turncoat, eh?
Many of his other political and social convictions are, e.g.:
-the US military is infiltrated by Commies
- white people and rich black people should go out of South African b/c there's going to happen a Communist revolution
- Transgender people are mentally ill and subhumans
etc. the list could go on and on. He's quite open about this stuff.
Of course this doesn't say much about whether his tale of the story is true or not and how much of this is true, but - call me crazy - someone who is such an open homophob, racist, misogynist, ant-communist, reactionary grifter and fraudster... I am inclined to regard people like that with a certain degree of skeptisism.
Posted by: v | Apr 22 2022 16:07 utc | 73
I also thought the recent launch of the new ICBM was a bad look for Russia. I UNDERSTAND it, but consider it "unfortunate."
Posted by: vinnieoh | Apr 22 2022 15:35 utc | 57
But i guess Biden was boasting a lot about USA arming Ukraine up to their teeth just few hours before "Sarmat" test, yet eventually denied his own words mere few hours later.
Posted by: Arioch | Apr 22 2022 16:08 utc | 74
Et Tu @ 29
Maybe someone should think about pouring a few billion dollars into the imminent "colour revolution" in the Snakes. You haven't won a war since 1945 and then you only happened to be on the winning side. Even little guys thrash you. The corrollary of the bully is the inevitability of his cowardice. One thing we can probably guarantee is that the Russians won't stab their local subserviants in the back and run away. Monty Python had you lot right "Brave Sir Robin".
Posted by: hoggy | Apr 22 2022 16:09 utc | 75
ld @65--
I wrote a message at Strategic Culture's VK page an hour ago expressing the fact that many of its readers are concerned, although I've relayed its server change message as best I can. I suggested they update their message since it's been 48+ hours since they went offline, which is a long amount of time to accomplish something that's usually routine.
Man, I just wrote a long fucking entry about who Gonzalo Lira is (did you know that he defrauded Steve Keen in 2013? lol) and now it doesn't pop up here. That's devastating!
Posted by: v | Apr 22 2022 16:14 utc | 77
So how does this end?
I see two ways to end this that will favor Russia.
1. After they secure eastern and southern Ukraine it becomes a frozen conflict. This allows Russia to periodically bomb supplies from NATO.
2. Russia secures an end to the war that includes some kind of energy deal with Ukraine. This forces the U.S. to choose between dropping sanctions on Russia or imposing sanctions on Ukraine.
Posted by: Christian J. Chuba | Apr 22 2022 16:15 utc | 78
I can't believe how bad CBC.ca/news has become. Yesterday it was mocking Russia about sanctions and Mariupol. But Bojo's statement of Russia winning and "UK waives sanctions on key Russian bank" are good news for Russia. I guess as many had said MSM is painfully acknowledging the reality. i.e they lied and now they have to do some face saving stuff when Russia concludes it's operataion.
PS: It's snowing at the end of April, I guess its Calgary weather.
Posted by: Calgary guy | Apr 22 2022 16:16 utc | 79
Posted by: v | Apr 22 2022 16:14 utc | 75
That's WWW for you. In internet before WWW hegemony that would had been technically impossible - but there were not Youtube with cute cats and Pornhub with flashy adds :-)
So, make it a habit, BEFORE you send some post on WWW - spend a second for Select-All and Copy the text. If things go off the rail, you at least can paste it to Notepad or something.
Posted by: Arioch | Apr 22 2022 16:17 utc | 80
karlof1 #68
The Outlaw US Empire an vassals have clearly discarded all conept of reputation. I guess they (wrongly) assume their total narrative dominance. Thats how stupid they are. I gather they are content to divide the world into camps as if that were logical and inconsequential.
I can see a time coming when there will be a walkout from a UN meeting just as the usa begins to speak. I trust the opposition voices in the usa grow into a vast shout of disgust and rejection. The mid terms could yet be a turning point beyond mere turning over in sleep.
Posted by: uncle tungsten | Apr 22 2022 16:18 utc | 81
Posted by: Arioch | Apr 22 2022 16:17 utc | 78
Yeah, I actually did copy it before sending, but then wanted to make an adjustment in the text, i.e copy+paste a HTML tag but then forgot to copy the text again. Me dummy haha! Life sucks, man!
Posted by: v | Apr 22 2022 16:21 utc | 82
Pretty sure it wasn't aliens that landed in Normandy with the Americans.
Yeah, US elite forces bogged down fighting old men and boys. Patton fought actual retards. The US was NO help to Russia on the battlefield. The elite German units were in Russia. Same thing in the Pacific theater. US soldiers died by the tens of thousands at a time fighting bottle washers, cooks and coolies. The elite Japanese units were in China.
Posted by: Berndt Braincell | Apr 22 2022 16:26 utc | 83
v #75
I share that pain as it has bitten me as well. I am most interested in your report so do give the detail. Steve Keen is a good economist/capitalist so your story will be informative. Gonzalo is certainly an odd character but anyone openly chasing nazis and sticking their neck out in doing so is good enough for me. I dont hear Steve Keen putting the boot into fascist economics as practiced in ukraine by name but then he is very academic in approach.
Save the draft on a notepad this time please.
Posted by: uncle tungsten | Apr 22 2022 16:31 utc | 84
On NATO weapon deliveries to Ukraine. They get destroyed almost as soon as they arrive. Yes, Russian intel is exceptionally good in that regard--from ground to space. Invariably, some will leak through, which is why critical points along logistical lines are interdicted--Railroad bridges and assembly yards--but roads not so much since Russian forces will need to use them eventually. Thermal tracking from space means night offers no cover as it did once. And as I noted @68, communications security is extremely poor while Russian intercept assets are beyond excellent. The demonstrations that nothing in the rear area is safe occurs daily. Yet, NATO acts as if it's blind to that reality. As mentioned by many, draining NATO armories gives Merchant of Death Corporations the opportunity to restock and continue to reap massive profits. But given the sell-off of much of the manufacturing plant of the arms producers following Neoliberal dogma, the restocking will take quite awhile, which paradoxically leaves NATO more defenseless than usual. I'll bet readiness levels are well below acceptable levels throughout Europe, and that will only worsen.
Circe @ 34
"It will require some minimal training for knowledgeable UAS [unmanned aircraft systems] operators to be able to use it and we are going to be working through those training requirements directly with the Ukrainian Armed Forces."
It is interesting that the line "minimal training required" keeps coming up. How can an army train on systems from multiple countries and be effective?
The Phoenix Ghost is similar to “switchblade” drones—also known as “kamikaze drones” or “loitering munitions”—the U.S. has already delivered to Ukraine in that it doesn’t fire on an enemy from a far distance. Instead, such drones hang in the air before crashing into their target and detonating an anti-armor warhead on impact.
Meet the Phoenix Ghost, a secretive new drone the U.S. fast-tracked for delivery to Ukraine
This article may be misdirection or it may be real. The ghost part may be its small size and not some super secret technology that the DOD is going to throw at the Russians so they can copy.
Exile @ 64
Is that sourced or theory?
Posted by: circumspect | Apr 22 2022 16:32 utc | 86
Arioch | Apr 22 2022 16:08 utc | 72
Point well taken. I very much doubt though that the readiness of Sarmat was a secret unknown to US intelligence. Perhaps I shouldn't have mentioned it; just relaying my gut reaction, fwiw.
Posted by: vinnieoh | Apr 22 2022 16:32 utc | 87
New post at Dances with Bears:
"If you understand the war in the Ukraine as the US operation to fight to the last Ukrainian for as long as required to save the Democrats at the November election and conceal the most incapacitated president since Woodrow Wilson’s stroke in October 1919, how well is it going?
"And if you understand the war as the Russian operation to defeat the NATO attack against Russia through the Ukraine, and its neighbours, what is the parallel answer?...
"A Canadian military veteran with NATO warfighting expertise cautions against taking what the GRU is saying at face value. He sees the strategic plan as a trap – “the Ukrainians, European and North American ‘volunteers’, are being allowed everything they need to march, ride, drive, or fly to their ultimate destruction east and southwest of the Dniepr. And when they are surrounded in various pockets/cauldrons, hungry, thirsty, miserable, and dying under non-stop shelling and bombing, no one will be coming to save them.”
“The new formations moved east to check the Russians do not represent high-quality units such as the airmobile/airborne brigades which have been engaging them along the Donetsk line of contact. They instead represent much lower quality conscripts bolstered with Freiwillegen outfits consisting of European and North American mercenaries, Nazis, white supremacists, and, possibly, tiny NATO special operations contingents performing recon and intelligence-gathering or acting as advisors.”
“In the fighting east of the Dnieper River, what we are seeing, besides the diminishing Ukrainized Soviet-era kit, are the same hodgepodge of US/NATO-supplied weaponry, communications gear, and drones. Judging by the April 18 Russian missile strike on a weapons storage depot in Lvov, as well as renewed strikes on railways in the Pavlograd region on the same date, and the subsequent howling from Zelensky to get weapons from the U.S./NATO, the situation in terms of attrition and re-supply of any of those items is getting worse, not better. All of this comes after reports regarding the April 10 destruction of the Slovakian-donated S300 SAM systems in the Nikolaev region by Russian Kalibr missiles.”
http://johnhelmer.net/the-ukraine-war-clock-is-a-time-bomb-it-blows-up-on-november-8-us-election-day/#more-47945
Posted by: bevin | Apr 22 2022 16:34 utc | 88
Posted by: Et Tu | Apr 22 2022 14:37 utc | 29
I also find this behavior by the Russians very strange. In the months of tension before the current war began, there was a speech made by Putin where he described the state of Russia's international relations, which had a high-ranking Russian official (whose name I cannot remember) comment that it was "embarrassing" how non-Western countries went completely without any mention by Putin, while many representatives from such countries were present in the audience. And we also have, as you point out, Russian officials on the hand lecturing to Western countries that their circle of countries is far from making up the whole world, and then declaring that Russia is "alone against the whole world". It's an absolutely bizarre way of affirming, in the most powerful way possible, the same Western preconceptions that they just attacked as an arrogant delusion. It serves to both demonstrate to Western countries that Russia is not serious about decoupling from the West and "pivoting" East, and that they therefore can (and, from a certain perspective, should) increase the pressure and attacks on Russia further, and to alienate non-Western peoples from Russia.
I have seen both Russian leaders and ordinary Russians bitterly remark that "apparently the whole world is against us, and it's good that was finally made clear to us". One gets the strong impression that Russia views its relations with non-Western countries only as bargaining chips against the Western countries which it insists it is "done with" and at the same time can't hide that it more or less worships. This dynamic is definitely not lost on non-Western "partners" of Russia, and I've become convinced it's a major reason why relations with Iran and to some extent China are not as warm or deep as geopolitical realities suggest they should be.
Posted by: Unnamed | Apr 22 2022 16:35 utc | 89
>>>>>: Et Tu | Apr 22 2022 14:37 utc | 29
Apparently, we are now at war with the whole world, as it was in the Great Patriotic War, all of Europe, the whole world was against us. And now the same thing, they never liked Russia,"
True, most European countries fought in the Soviet Union on the side of the Nazis, providing regular army units and volunteer units or their nationals joined the Waffen SS. Finland even invaded Soviet Union with Nazi units alongside.
Most people aware of the Lend Lease program that saved Stalin's a55 might have a different take on things.Lend-lease did not save Stalin. What saved Stalin if anything was British equipment and ammunition that was freely given to Soviet Union by the British government, nothing to do with Lend-lease. After Hitler's defeat in front of Moscow, it became very unlikely that Nazi Germany would win. American Lend-lease just shortened the war on the Eastern Front.
All of Europe, seriously??? Pretty sure it wasn't aliens that landed in Normandy with the Americans.Nah, it was American, British and Canadian troops that did the heavy lifting on D-Day with a small unit of French troops capturing a strong point in Ouistreham. Other countries provided naval and air support.
The best way to ensure the whole world actually does not like Russia, is clumsy revisionist bs like this and its continued failure to have better relations with its neighbours.Actually most of the world does like Russia. The World does not consist exclusively of US, UK, EU or NATO. Most of the world doesn't like the United States or UK.
Color revolutions, even with the billions the US/EU poured into them, always feed on genuine grievances.The "grievance" that triggered the current operation - that Yanukovych decided the EU offer to Ukraine for EU membership was flawed was a matter that should have been settled via the ballot box, not by an US organised, funded and backed putsch. For a country that claims such strong support of democracy to overthrow a democratically elected president was disgusting.
The fact so many chose to fight with Hitler and not for Russia says a lot about what their neighbours actually thought of them.At most about 250,000 Europeans fought on the side of the Nazis A large number of them died. Meanwhile, after the start of Barbarossa, many Communists throughout Europe joined the resistance to Nazi Germany particularly in Italy, Yugoslavia and Greece.
Maybe it's to learn a few tricks of the West and try exerting influence in manners that don't result in so much bloodshed?Bloodshed? F*ck off, the bloodshed in Syria, Libya, Yemen, Iraq, Vietnam, etc. have all been far greater than in Ukraine.
Posted by: Ghost Ship | Apr 22 2022 16:35 utc | 90
[email protected] of the NATO positioning will need to take place outside the Ukraine, Russia so far has demonstrated that nowhere in the Ukraine is safe for storage and mustering forces. The lack of fuel alone will completely hinder NATO forces, unless Musk has some ace batteries up his sleeve that can run a tank. Odessa may be the King in the entire game. With the fall of the Donbas, should Russia swing west to cut Rumpkraine from the sea, Rumpkraine will wither and die on the vine......so fitting. Any push west by Russia to Odessa will really test NATO's mettle, kind of a do or die point for them. One other issue that NATO will have issues with, Kousin Kalibar from Kaliningrad pointed at the back of their head.
Cheers M
Posted by: sean the leprechaun | Apr 22 2022 16:35 utc | 91
Video of Ukrainian (no more) ammo depot in Kharkov district.
https://tvzvezda.ru/news/20224221858-FOQa7.html
https://t.me/uranews/52431
So, West supplying Ukrainian army? D'oh... They would either sell it off or give it up.
Posted by: Arioch | Apr 22 2022 16:35 utc | 92
karlof1 #83
That last sentence says it all for why the West nazi facilitators/collaborators are panicking. What a good time to launch an ICBM of awesome capability!
Posted by: uncle tungsten | Apr 22 2022 16:38 utc | 93
There’s something off with this Gonzalo Lira guy.
The Ukrainians have never been shy about murdering journalists but now all of a sudden they’re worried about bad publicity about some random blogger which the world never and probably still knows nothing about outside of independent blogs like MOA, The Saker etc.
House arrest? Seriously ????? And he’s still able to communicate?
Maybe oldhippie is right about his family connections keeping him out of harms way and leading a charmed life, but sill, something doesn’t sit right.
Posted by: Down South | Apr 22 2022 16:39 utc | 94
copy+paste a HTML tag but then forgot to copy the text again. Me dummy haha! Life sucks, man!
Posted by: v | Apr 22 2022 16:21 utc | 80
Try to install some Clipboard Manager or Clipboard history program. Actually, both Windows and Linux clipboard API sucks (albeit in different ways), but for well-known formatls like plain text (HTML source) it would work.
Personally i used а True Launch Bar swissknife, until they dropped free version in v. 7.x, but there are a number of other clipboard history managers, who track last N snippets you had inserted.
Posted by: Arioch | Apr 22 2022 16:40 utc | 95
Posted by: karlof1 | Apr 22 2022 16:10 utc | 74
Short Q&A session Lavrov with the Kazakh FM. Some interesting details in it.
https://mid.ru/ru/foreign_policy/news/1810518/
Posted by: Paco | Apr 22 2022 16:41 utc | 96
Karlof1
Thank You for checking
I have rceived a variety of responses to my searches
from this site does not exist
asking for a sign in
or error 404
currently
This site can’t be reachedThe connection was reset.
Try:
Checking the connection
Checking the proxy and the firewall
Running Windows Network Diagnostics
ERR_CONNECTION_RESET
SCF was the first site I tried to post during the 2016 election
It was deemed subversive.
loved it ever since. lol
Anyhoo
I am starting this weekend with a celebratory toast to Mr. Lira and his living status.
I shall ask no more.
Thank you b for all the truths
love to you from Canada
Posted by: ld | Apr 22 2022 16:41 utc | 97
>>>>>: karlof1 | Apr 22 2022 16:31 utc | 83
"draining NATO armories"
Like with Libya, the US armouries are the important ones. European militaries ran out of weapons very quickly. A few months of this and NATO won't even have the weapons to fight a "defensive war".
Posted by: Ghost Ship | Apr 22 2022 16:41 utc | 98
I very much doubt though that the readiness of Sarmat was a secret unknown to US intelligence.
Posted by: vinnieoh | Apr 22 2022 16:32 utc | 85
That is what it should be in a sane world. Readiness of the rocket, or maybe readiness of RuArmy to "press the button" would've been Biden's entourage input. In a sane world there would be no so explicit and pathetic knee-jerk reaction from Biden and his ilk, he would say some thought out words, then would stand up for them, Sarmat or not. Well, do we live in one? Not so sure any more.
Posted by: Arioch | Apr 22 2022 16:44 utc | 99
Re: 3. this merely begs the question of what took so long?
I am hardly a military expert, but I'd be making well sure that I had every bridge, railroad, railyard, warehouse, fuel depot, etc. blasted to oblivion on Day One, and I'd next be making sure I could do whatever it takes so my aircraft could go truck-hunting if there was any traffic still on the roads.
I'd also be doing everything possible to disrupt communications and electrical power. If I wanted to be nasty, I'd target water and sewer infrastructure to make the cities uninhabitable.
Posted by: Feral Finster | Apr 22 2022 16:48 utc | 100
The comments to this entry are closed.
Good news
Gonzalo Lira is alive
Good news on the rail way.
Thanks b
Posted by: jo6pac | Apr 22 2022 12:43 utc | 1