Ukraine - Doubling Down
The Russian side is making some progress in the war in Ukraine. While the differences on the map look small the repositioning of forces that had threatened Kiev is finished and the Russian military is now seriously degrading and grinding down the Ukrainian forces in Donbas.
Source: Liveuamap - bigger
bigger
According to the daily reports of Russia's Ministry of Defense the Ukraine is losing several hundred soldiers and some 30 armored vehicles per day, most of them to artillery. A flood of gruel pictures posted on Telegram by both sides confirm this. Several Ukrainian attempts to counterattack Russian forces have failed.
'Western' propagandists are noting that their side is losing.
Anders Åslund @anders_aslund 14:02 UTC · Apr 28, 2022
The War: Ukraine has experienced setback in the past few days. A senior Ukrainian official announced yesterday that Russian troops had taken part of the Kharkiv region. Yesterday, Russia announced that it has captured the entire Kherson region. No Ukrainian advances.
Not good.
The typical U.S. reaction to losing is to double down.
This can be done financially:
Jack Detsch @JackDetsch - 19:25 UTC · Apr 28, 2022
DATA: A cumulative total of U.S. military aid to Ukraine since Russia's Feb. 24 invasion.
February 25: $350m
March 12: $550m
March 16: $1.35b
April 1: $1.65b
April 5: $1.75b
April 13: $2.55b
April 21: $3.35b
April 24: $3.67b
April 28: $14.67b (if approved by Congress)
Most of above sums will go the U.S. arms industry to deliver weapons for which the Ukraine has little use or which never will reach the frontline. The rest will be pilfered by Ukrainian oligarchs.
That financial doubling down will not be very effective.
There is also the possibility of doubling down by widening the war. This could be in Bosnia where attacks on the Serbian population could drag the Russian ally Serbia into another war. An additional war could also be created in Transnistria (marked as a lengthy strip on the left of the above maps). This could involve not only forces from the Ukraine but also from Moldova, Romania and Poland. In the early 1990s a small war between Moldova and the Russian population in Transnistria ended in 1992 with a ceasefire and Russian peacekeeper troops on the ground.
In a piece about Biden's new pledge of money to Ukraine the NYT notes:
The Ukrainian military said it was moving more troops to the border with Transnistria, a small breakaway region in Moldova, on Ukraine’s southwest flank, hundreds of miles from the fighting on the eastern front.
Should those troops do something Russia does not like it will likely use its air and missile capabilities to destroy their fighting power. President Putin certainly did not mean Transnistria when he recently spoke to Russian lawmakers and threatened retaliation:
Let me emphasise once again: if anyone intends to intervene from the outside and create a strategic threat to Russia that is unacceptable to us, they should know that our retaliatory strikes will be lightning-fast. We have the tools we need for this, the likes of which no one else can claim at this point. We will not just brag; we will use them if necessary. And I want everyone to know this; we have made all the decisions on this matter.
That threat was likely a response to rumors that the U.S. and UK are planing to deliver longer range missiles to Ukraine to be use against targets on Russian grounds. That would be another form of doubling down but also a way more dangerous one.
Ukraine is a victim here but not a victim of Russia but of much bigger plans in the U.S. which did its best to instigate this war (recommended).
As Michael Hudson explains (vid), the economic consequences of this war will be catastrophic for many countries and people. But the neocons who are running the war do not care about those. They have a plan to profit from it. They want to stay the unipolar power of the globe. To them it is a game and their main motives include an ingrained hatred towards Russia.
Posted by b on April 29, 2022 at 15:19 UTC | Permalink
next page »The Ukranazi coup regime is literally arresting people at checkpoints and packing them off to the front, so the question is also how much longer they can find anyone to fight Bidet's war. What will Bidet do if the Ukrainians simply stop fighting for Elensky? Send NATOstani troops in Ukrainian uniform to fight?
Posted by: Biswapriya Purkayast | Apr 29 2022 15:29 utc | 2
thanks b...
usa-nato are doubling down for ww3...it is doubling down on stupidity and arrogance and trying to maintain the life support system of am empire in decline..
Posted by: james | Apr 29 2022 15:29 utc | 3
If we accept the premise that US will fight Russia to the last Ukrainian, then Russia should do it's utmost to reduce the number of Ukrainians as fast as possible. Attack Kiev and erase it from the face of the earth
Posted by: Balkanizer | Apr 29 2022 15:35 utc | 4
https://twitter.com/AZmilitary1/status/1519984803122188290
A very good read from AZ Military News.
DEJAN BERIC'S REPORT FROM YESTERDAY!!!HE IS ONE OF THE MOST RELIABLE SOURCES OUT THERE!!!
THIS IS MUST READ AND RETWEET IT IF YOU LIKE SO MORE PEOPLE CAN SEE THE TRUTH
Posted by: Sundial | Apr 29 2022 15:36 utc | 5
Ukraine is a victim of Russian imperialism just as surely as Iraq was of American imperialism. You can put lipstick on a pig but it's still a pig.
Posted by: Mike Adamson | Apr 29 2022 15:39 utc | 6
Send NATOstani troops in Ukrainian uniform to fight?
Posted by: Biswapriya Purkayast | Apr 29 2022 15:29 utc | 2
NOW, there's a plan so diabolical, it just might werk!
Posted by: sln2002 | Apr 29 2022 15:39 utc | 7
Sundial | Apr 29 2022 15:36 utc | 5
Anybody who writes something with three exclamation marks and all uppercase letters is probably not worth reading.
Posted by: colin786 | Apr 29 2022 15:45 utc | 8
Posted by: james | Apr 29 2022 15:29 utc | 3
Yes, james; and my question would be: does not the 'doubling down' the US seems determined to do put at risk their objective to bleed dry Russia? Or rather, does it not turn back that objective upon itself, rather like the famous story about the scorpion's stinging tail?
I will go to b's link to Michael Hudson to see if he has any answers.
Posted by: juliania | Apr 29 2022 15:45 utc | 9
The United States just gave Russia an excuse to take Kyiv and all of Ukraine.
Here https://abrahamstein.substack.com/p/the-usa-just-gave-russia-an-excuse
Posted by: Dean Oneil | Apr 29 2022 15:47 utc | 10
Not impressed at all with Ukraine's ability to fight. Every time I turn around there is a video of their troops dying in trenches probably from artillery strikes.
Posted by: Ken B | Apr 29 2022 16:01 utc | 12
Posted by: Peacemaker | Apr 29 2022 15:55 utc | 11
Nazi-Anglo Treaty Organization.
(It does work better in Spanish)
Posted by: Arganthonios | Apr 29 2022 16:06 utc | 13
Supposedly there are 50
French military advisers with the Avozstal underground people.
Posted by: steven | Apr 29 2022 16:07 utc | 14
Russia has a combat-tested army in Ukraine and NATO has nothing comparable. On the European Continent there is no military presence that can withstand Russia.
There are no prospects of US reinforcements arriving in Europe if Russia does not accept it.
Ukraine will have a manpower shortage as UK had after 1919 and France also. France had fewer men of fighting age in 1939 than in 1914 Germany had more
Russia has no peer equal on European Continent
Posted by: Paul Greenwood | Apr 29 2022 16:09 utc | 15
Posted by: Arganthonios | Apr 29 2022 16:06 utc | 13
North/NaziNuclear Atlantic/American Treaty/Tyranny Organisation
And so on.
Posted by: anon2020 | Apr 29 2022 16:11 utc | 16
@colin786 | Apr 29 2022 15:45 utc | 8
That's AZmilitary quote and not Dejan Beric. Dejan Beric was a sniper in DPR army. His words are worth reading, unless they are fake. I assume it's a summarised translation of one of his videos.
Posted by: Sundial | Apr 29 2022 16:16 utc | 17
IMHO,
Kiev-Lvov were already Fail-Stating when the DNR+LNR+Crimea Voted to Leave with their Feet.
Per Russian and Regional Experts, it looks like the Russian Speaking+Friendly Oblasts of the East and South will be Seceded+Protected by RUS. RUS+SilkRoad Investments will help them Prosper.
No One wants Kiev-Lvov save for the AngloMuricans and their MIC. Kiev already were notorious for Corruption, Lvov notorious for being a Bandera-Nazi/POL-Friendly Region.
Once the Donbas-NovoRussia are Secured, RUS will probably maintain a "De Facto Air Control Zone" over Kiev-Lvov. Artillery, Missiles, Hypersonics, and Aircraft Launched Stand-Off/Gliding Bombs will be active outside Kiev-Lvov as Drones should eventually be monitoring+striking from the Airspace above Kiev-Lvov.
This isn't going to be the "Bleeding War of Attrition" that the Token Slow-yd Austin of the Raytheon Board was hoping for.
Posted by: IronForge | Apr 29 2022 16:19 utc | 18
Have the European members of NATO opened the floodgates to increase the flow of weapons to Ukraine in the expectation that at some point in the near future Washington will demand that NATO forces enter the fight in Ukraine against Russia. The European members of NATO then turn and say to Washington "Love to old chap but we're shit out of weapons and ammo, can you supply us with any?"
Posted by: Ghost Ship | Apr 29 2022 16:19 utc | 19
The Bitch in control of Moldova used to work with EU - You can be sure that she will F.. Transnistria and Russia for that big pay-off. The deals under the table were made years ago. As soon as she made it in office - it was a no brainer. Chisinau, last time I was there in 2013 was speaking Russian. I bet that pisses off all those Ykie Nazi chicks that are there looking for a free ride.
Posted by: GMC | Apr 29 2022 16:20 utc | 20
I've had enough of this shit:
https://github.com/terraform-aws-modules/terraform-aws-alb/issues/246
The entire teraform module collection for AWS is now infected with Ukrainoids.
Posted by: Arch Bungle | Apr 29 2022 16:23 utc | 21
I've had enough of this shit:
https://github.com/terraform-aws-modules/terraform-aws-alb/issues/246
The entire teraform module collection for AWS is now infected with Ukrainoids.
Posted by: Arch Bungle | Apr 29 2022 16:23 utc | 22
Posted by: Dean Oneil | Apr 29 2022 15:47 utc | 10
https://abrahamstein.substack.com/p/the-usa-just-gave-russia-an-excuse
That's what they want, a Vietnam for Russia.
Posted by: Arch Bungle | Apr 29 2022 16:25 utc | 23
Posted by: Dean Oneil | Apr 29 2022 15:47 utc | 10
https://abrahamstein.substack.com/p/the-usa-just-gave-russia-an-excuse
That's what they want, a Vietnam for Russia.
Posted by: Arch Bungle | Apr 29 2022 16:25 utc | 24
@ Mike Adamson | Apr 29 2022 15:39 utc | 6
ukraine is much more a victim of usa (nato) imperialism as i see it.... if a similar dynamic of russia influencing canada happened, what would we call it??
Posted by: james | Apr 29 2022 16:29 utc | 25
>>>>: Dean Oneil | Apr 29 2022 15:47 utc | 10
The United States just gave Russia an excuse to take Kyiv and all of Ukraine.
Nah, I doubt the Russians are interested. The biggest obstruction to winning wars is adding objectives as you go along.
For example, UN (US really) entered civil war in Korea to push North Koreans back north of the 38th parallel, which they did. At that point, they'd won a very creditable war under difficult circumstances. Then idiots running US Army decided that they'd just stroll up to Chinese border and capture North Korea. Chinese decided otherwise and UN (US really) got pushed back to 38th parallel and failed to take North Korea. China's victory overshadowed UN's earlier victory. No wonder US got vicious with North Korea.
Posted by: Ghost Ship | Apr 29 2022 16:30 utc | 26
@ juliania | Apr 29 2022 15:45 utc | 9
thanks juliania.. i am part way thru reading the michael brenner link b provided.. i highly recommend that article for my american friends...
Posted by: james | Apr 29 2022 16:31 utc | 27
Seems a perfect storm is brewing for the global food market. with the following adding to the Chinese woes, the Ukrainian reduced supplies and soaring fertilizer costs:
Heat wave scorches India’s wheat crop, snags export plans
Brazil’s Drought: The Trigger that Could Take Corn Prices Higher?
Posted by: Balkanizer | Apr 29 2022 15:35 utc | 4
Attack Kiev and erase it from the face of the earth
Only the useless and incapable are holed up in Kiev. The people who matter are in the Donbas and they're being quickly subjected to Shoigu's eraser.
Posted by: Arch Bungle | Apr 29 2022 16:31 utc | 29
GMC @20--
That "Bitch" admitted Moldova has no real army or proper weapons. One plan floated is to have Romanian soldiers don Moldovan Army uniforms and fight as a proxy in that manner. Lots of people leaving the region, however. The other threat is from Poland as it moves its Army close to the Ukie border to prepare for action under the guise of war games. Both Poland and Romaniaa must be eliminated from NATO to secure Russia's security, so their antics actually aid Russia's overall mission.
As I reported on the other open thread, today's meeting of Russia's Security Council focused on Afghanistan, not Ukraine, telling me the SMO is going as planned. I do hope to see more Ukie troops surrendering than ending their existence as cannon fodder for the Outlaw US Empire, the enemy of all humanity.
The article on the Straussians at Voltaire net is a good start down a very necessary path. I prefer to use the term Zionist but we are talking about the same group. This group has hijacked US foreign policy for 20 years at the cost of over 1 million lives in the Middle East. Now that they have been surrounded and have lost in that theatre they are moving on to Ukraine. How many will die in Ukraine before these people are removed from power? We must call them out. They must be flushed out of hiding.They cannot continue to endanger the world with their narrow ethnic agenda
Posted by: Obamavirus | Apr 29 2022 16:42 utc | 31
"Ukraine is a victim here but not a victim of Russia but of much bigger plans in the U.S. which did its best to instigate this war (recommended)."
Yeah, that's a good point that should be repeated over and over again--particularly to those "I Support Ukraine" drones.
If they really want to support Ukraine, they wouldn't be using them as cannon fodder to fight Russia--nor would they be supporting the Ukraine oligarchs (including Zelensky), who are implementing this policy even though ordinary Ukraine people are the ones who will pay in blood.
Ukraine is certainly a victim ... of America, the Anglosphere, and Europeans--all of whom are guilty of weaponzing Ukrainian cannon fodder.
Posted by: ak74 | Apr 29 2022 16:45 utc | 32
It appears that one family made it out of Avostal and says that 71 remain. Let’s hope these three serve as an example to the rest.
The west is calling Russia’s advance slow. Methodical is probably a better word. They’re chewing the bulk of the Ukrainian military up now. I expect it’s far worse than even telegram is showing.
Re: imperialism, bullshit. This isn’t imperialism. Which doesn’t mean Russia is incapable of imperialism, it just means this isn’t an example. Whether Russia would win the case in international court is unknown, but it has a strong case based on UN article 51, the precedent of Kosovo and R2P precedent. Kosovo is a particularly shitty precedent but that’s not Russia’s fault.
The difference is that there was a viable threat to Russia’s national security and it expended great effort in solving the issue diplomatically. The US makes up reasons about its national security which boil down to “we’re an empire so everything that might erode imperial power is a threat”. Iraq was never an actual threat, nor Afghanistan. The only threat to US national security is nuclear weapon use because that’s the only form of force capable of causing significant military damage to the US. Yet that’s the only thing a nation can possess that keeps it safe from US military imperialism.
Posted by: Lex | Apr 29 2022 16:51 utc | 33
From The 'Hedge:
An American citizen and Marine veteran has died fighting Russia and Ukraine, while reportedly in the employment of an unnamed military contractor company.
22-year old Willy Joseph Cancel had entered Ukraine from Poland, sometime around March 12 or 13th, and his family has just announced his death which occurred Monday, according to CNN.
What an appropriate name. I guess he got Cancel'ed.
Ok, I'll see myself out ...
Posted by: Arch Bungle | Apr 29 2022 16:51 utc | 34
Posted by b on April 29, 2022 at 15:19 UTC
re... They have a plan to profit from it. They want to stay the unipolar power of the globe....
It is time for clarity on which "elites" you are referring.
The powerful global elites who are "on top" are defined by their unique accumulation of exorbitant privileges garnered over multi-generational establishment of communication lines to each other and to subordinate "administrators" who do their bidding. These elites are not driven by financial "profits". They seek only to maintain their "on-top" status at all costs...the money and financial wealth is already established and essentially flows easily because of their "on-top" status. These unique elites will never give up their "on-top" status...it is ingrained and "hard-wired" from birth. That is what makes them unique.
Note that the "new rich" do not have the essential communication lines that are created only by trust and power that has endured thru several generations of family connections...without which they cannot create the exorbitant privileges.
Posted by: chu teh | Apr 29 2022 16:55 utc | 35
Biswapriva at @2
Right. Tell yourself that Ukraine is doing that to prop up your vicious image of Ukraine.
Posted by: Inkan1969 | Apr 29 2022 16:56 utc | 36
If Russia were to take Kiev it would have a perpetual war on its hands and governance problems. In the south east to Odessa (which leaned pro Russia politically - see 2020 elections plus their corrupt mayor who has an address in Russia) it will have more stability.
Posted by: GS | Apr 29 2022 17:01 utc | 37
>>>>: Ken B | Apr 29 2022 16:01 utc | 12
Not impressed at all with Ukraine's ability to fight. Every time I turn around there is a video of their troops dying in trenches probably from artillery strikes.
What do you expect? They were trained by the US Army who are the best military trainers in the world. Just look at the success they had with the Afghan and Iraqi Armies.
I suspect the problem is twofold.
1. Racism/exceptionalism among the trainers so that US tries to train people to fight like Americans but without America's level of resourcing that just doesn't work.
2. Infection with German war fighting techniques. Looking at major European land wars of the last century, Germany lost both times. First in WW1 to the British Army including the colonies along with the French but not really the Americans except a division or two in a couple of battles. Second in WW2 to the Russians with a bit of support from American, British, Canadian and French Armies in the West. But whose techniques do the Americans adopt? The Germans.
Instead in WW1, the Americans should have principally looked at the response of British Army including Canadian and Australian units but also French units after the 1918 German Spring Offensive when the Imperial German Army was gutted. The Hundred Day Offensive from the Battle of Amiens ("the black day of the German Army") to the Battle of the St. Quentin Canal when British, Australian and American combined arms forces broke through the Hindenburg Line and persuaded German High Command there was no chance of them winning.
In WW2, they should have looked at the Red Army from the Battle of Moscow onwards after which the Red Army gutted the Wehrmacht and Waffen SS. They shouldn't have written Soviet Deep Battle off so quickly.
Posted by: Ghost Ship | Apr 29 2022 17:01 utc | 38
I can see this escalating from fighting to the last Ukrainian, to fighting to the last European.
Posted by: Helen | Apr 29 2022 17:07 utc | 39
The Sheerpost item b suggests leads with the statement that Russia "illegally" invaded Ukraine which is 100% false and prompted me to leave that page. Instead, this short TASS item provides a rather interesting look into the sanity of the Outlaw US Empire's ambassador to Russia, John Sullivan:
US Ambassador to Russia John Sullivan voiced a critical approach to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s recent statement about the inadmissibility of a nuclear war, CNN reported."We won't succumb to nuclear blackmail, but we won't tolerate nuclear saber rattling and nuclear brinksmanship," Sullivan was quoted by CNN as saying.
"We do not engage in irresponsible rhetoric with respect to nuclear weapons," Sullivan said adding that Washington is "prepared to deter nuclear aggression against the United States."
Speaking earlier in an interview with Russia’s Channel One television channel, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov recalled that in January the five permanent members of the UN Security Council made a statement on the inadmissibility of nuclear war. "This is our principled position, we are guided by this, and of course I would not want to see these risks artificially inflated now, when the risks are rather significant. The danger is serious, it is real, it should not be underestimated," according to Lavrov.
Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stated on Thursday on her Telegram channel that a number of Western countries’ statements regarding Russia’s alleged nuclear threat were all fake news. According to her, the West has little interest in what the Russian side says and, therefore, misinterprets everything, which was the case with the previously voiced statement of the Russian top diplomat. [My Emphasis]
If Sullivan interprets Lavrov's words in the way he was cited by CNN, then he's clearly deranged as what Lavrov said was merely a reiteration of what he's stated since December, which is why Zakharova commented as she did. Even when they say they've listened, it's clear all Outlaw "diplomats" cannot hear as their minds are filled with their thoughts alone, allowing no room for any others. What Sullivan really provided was yet another confirmation that he represents and is an example of the Empire of Lies.
"A flood of gruel pictures posted on Telegram"
Grueling: trying or taxing to the point of exhaustion
Gruel 1 : a thin porridge 3 : something that lacks substance or significance (2: is British, getting punishment)
One may wonder what is the connection of "grueling" to "gruel". Gruel is not used as a verb, but perhaps it was a verb or a process of breaking grains into smaller pieces that could be soaked in water or milk, something like grind[ing]. In any case, pictures of suffering or losses could be grueling pictures, while gruel pictures would show thin porridge, for pigs or unfortunate humans (like poor Irish, Scots and English in Dickensian era), perhaps showing happy pigs or unhappy humans (Ukrainian soldiers at meal time?).
Posted by: Piotr Berman | Apr 29 2022 17:14 utc | 41
Moaobserver @341, previous thread, also Pul Greenwood
I took your suggestion and clicked the LinkedIn symbol below Kristina Touventis’ name on the Presidium Network home page. It takes us to a person named Kristina Touzentis. Spelled with a ‘Z’ rather than a ‘’V’. I would expect that the Founding Partner would have her name correct on the home page. Yes, as you say there is a bit to be read between the lines of the Touzentis bio. Sounds like an MI6 asset from here. But the Touventis person does not exist at all. Neither does Presidium Network.
Posted by: oldhippie | Apr 29 2022 17:18 utc | 42
Posted by: Piotr Berman | Apr 29 2022 17:14 utc | 41
"A flood of gruel pictures posted on Telegram"
Grueling: trying or taxing to the point of exhaustion
Gruel 1 : a thin porridge 3 : something that lacks substance or significance (2: is British, getting punishment)
I don't see the problem. The man said "gruel", and "gruel" it most likely was (a gruesome gruel though it may have been).
Grammar NAZI!
Posted by: Arch Bungle | Apr 29 2022 17:19 utc | 43
Telegram resources publish lists of names of hundreds of foreign mercenaries in the ranks of the International Legion of Territorial Defense of Ukraine.
Canadian mercenaries and their captured banner.
Interrogation of a captured British mercenary.
Helen @39--
Your insight is correct, but it began long ago when the Outlaw US Empire forced the part of Europe under its control to accept fascist governments and then the fascist EU structure aimed at supplementing NATO in its control over Europe. CIA sponsored terrorism in Europe provides all the proof needed.
The fact that people here can not identity the same banking-finance order which is challenging Russia currently is also the same group of Allies which defeated the Nazis by funding the Soviets shows that there is a vicious streak of bad faith residing at the bar.
Conflating German NSDAP Nazis with current western globalists does absolutely nothing to challenge the elites who have captured our governments in the west. But who profits from this willful bad faith?
I am not sure. I am not sure of the motivation. In the end, it won't make any difference, because Russia is going to Russia anyway and western society is headed over a cliff.
The only reason I can come up with for this continuing obfuscation is that there is a separate faction of world-conquering elites in the east who, when the collapse of the west invariably occurs, seeks to make Europe its ongoing customer. If it is doing this for mutually-beneficial commodity trading, I have no qualms with such an arrangement.
As an American isolationist, I want countries to engage in commodity-trading at fair values for all parties. But I do want Jewish debt-slavery to rule the world any longer.
Certainly say what you want about the Nazis, even though it can be shown that much of their actions were driven by being forced-to-act and then, consequently, being pinned on all sides by a hostile Europe.
But give them credit for using labor as an upbuilding means to strengthen their country and provide their people with a better life. The actions of the west, currently, in its financial institutions and militaristic bullying, can be argued are diametrically-opposed to the actions taken by the NSDAP after Germany was blamed and punished for WW1.
IMH assessment, you should be wary of these people who are trying to obfuscate the current situation by likening all western movements in their bullying of Russia to Germany's NSDAP. The situation is, in fact, entirely inverted.
Posted by: NemesisCalling | Apr 29 2022 17:23 utc | 46
@46 addendum
Ugghh...
Should read: I do NOT want Jewish debt-slavery.
Posted by: NemesisCalling | Apr 29 2022 17:25 utc | 47
From Ukrainian TV:
Ukrainian channels confirmed the information
"More than a thousand soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the National Guard are doomed to death near the Oskol reservoir in the Kharkiv region. The command refused to release the units of the 1st brigade of the NSU, which had previously tried to advance on Izyum. The Russian army has pressed them to the water and is methodically destroying them"
Ukrainian forces at risk of being completely surrounded in Olexandrivka. Their situation is bad and they only have communication with the rest of the AFU through a small corridor along the coast, whether this corridor is still open I don't know.
There is talk of up to 1000 Ukrainian soldiers trapped.
After the battle near Aleksandrovka, on the western outskirts of the dam of the Dnieper-Bug Estuary, the wrong choice was made by more than 30 servicemen of the 8th mechanized company of the 28th Ombre of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Fighting is going on, the Russian Army has transferred the units that fought in Mariupol to the Zaporozhye direction
The head of the Zaporozhye regional military administration, Starukh, explains the intensification of hostilities. Gulyaipole remains the main hot spot in the region
Looks like things are heating up....
INDY
Posted by: Dr. George W Oprisko | Apr 29 2022 17:28 utc | 48
@ak74 | Apr 29 2022 16:45 utc | 32
> Ukraine is certainly a victim ... of America, the Anglosphere, and Europeans--all of whom are guilty of weaponzing Ukrainian cannon fodder.
They did it in Libya, Syria and many other places all over the world. They find traitors and the disenfranchised. Once they control an area, they can brainwash the youth over years. USA/NATO is a cancer on the world.
Posted by: Sundial | Apr 29 2022 17:31 utc | 49
Posted by: NemesisCalling | Apr 29 2022 17:23 utc | 46
The fact that people here can not identity the same banking-finance order which is challenging Russia currently is also the same group of Allies which defeated the Nazis by funding the Soviets shows that there is a vicious streak of bad faith residing at the bar.
Shhhh. The anti-semitism commissars will come for you if you don't look out ...
Posted by: Arch Bungle | Apr 29 2022 17:32 utc | 50
Not impressed at all with Ukraine's ability to fight. Every time I turn around there is a video of their troops dying in trenches probably from artillery strikes.
Posted by: Ken B | Apr 29 2022 16:01 utc | 12
Actually, Ukrainian are doing much better that predicted. They minimize the effectiveness of opponents' artillery with earth fortification, masking positions etc., and engage in retreats and counter-attacks. The fortified positions next to Donetsk have impressive results, the line of control barely moved for weeks.
In some conflicts, a weaker side surviving for more that one or two months could score a favorable outcome. However, this does not seem the case in this conflict. Extrapolation of the trends may lead to the collapse of the Ukrainian forces in the east of the country, and that can change the balance from some Russian advantage to decisive advantage.
In the face of that, USA decided to escalate, boost the Ukrainian forces with a flood of weapons. That said, in a limited war, escalation leads to escalation from the other side, thus increasing the human and economic costs without much of an effect. More concretely, the Russian aim is to control Ukraine in some form, which includes taking responsibility for the population and the economy, and that makes them reluctant to resort to "scorched earth" tactics. Escalation can change that. Most obvious escalation is changing the target list for the long range missiles and, perhaps, high altitude bombers, to destroy the electric train system -- the bulk of Ukrainian cargo moving capacity, more bridges and approaches to bridges (easier to repair after the war), eliminating the Ukrainian capacity to make fuel. In other words, American weapons will have a harrowing road to the front, once delivered to Ukrainian border.
Posted by: Piotr Berman | Apr 29 2022 17:37 utc | 51
Posted by: Piotr Berman | Apr 29 2022 17:37 utc | 51
Actually, Ukrainian are doing much better that predicted. They minimize the effectiveness of opponents' artillery with earth fortification, masking positions etc., and engage in retreats and counter-attacks. The fortified positions next to Donetsk have impressive results, the line of control barely moved for weeks.
I don't see how this can be true if thermobaric weapons are being used (TOS-1, TOS-2) ?
Posted by: Arch Bungle | Apr 29 2022 17:41 utc | 52
@NemesisCalling | Apr 29 2022 17:23 utc | 46
> IMH assessment, you should be wary of these people who are trying to obfuscate the current situation by likening all western movements in their bullying of Russia to Germany's NSDAP. The situation is, in fact, entirely inverted.
Biden's Disinformation Board does not approve of this message.
Posted by: Sundial | Apr 29 2022 17:41 utc | 53
Posted by: Obamavirus | Apr 29 2022 16:42 utc | 31
"This group has hijacked US foreign policy for 20 years..."
I think you missed the first digit, should read:
"This group has hijacked US foreign policy for at least 120 years.."
Posted by: Scorpion | Apr 29 2022 17:48 utc | 54
Brenner hits the nail on the head on all counts. The part about how Joe Biden and the oligarch owned corporate media have been so sure Russia would invade brings the situation into crystal clarity; I had not seen it expressed so bluntly and accurately before and it genuinely pissed me off to see it put that way.
Of course they were right about Russia invading. They had plans for a major military offensive on the Donbass since November. That explains all the fucking sky is falling, Putin is invading and we know it! bullshit.
He's also 100% correct on the chilling/silencing effect in the West, no matter what 'circles' we're talking about, neolibs, neocons, "progressives", conservatives, academics, intellectuals, etc. We are subject to a psychopathic media and social media blitz that aims to stupefy and render us helpless or feeling like cheerleaders for this losing war the Ukraine is fighting.
I think I'm going to be sick...
Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Apr 29 2022 17:52 utc | 55
Posted by: karlof1 | Apr 29 2022 17:14 utc | 40
"If Sullivan interprets Lavrov's words in the way he was cited by CNN, then he's clearly deranged..."
First: I very much doubt he interpreted Lavrov's words that way but rather characterized them in the most inflammatory way possible because that is their propagandistic approach on all fronts domestic, foreign, military, political and so on.
Second, anyone working in the USG and/or their ruling cabal clearly hell-bent on bringing the country down for whatever messianic or satanic reasons are indeed:
deranged.
Posted by: Scorpion | Apr 29 2022 17:57 utc | 56
Posted by: NemesisCalling | Apr 29 2022 17:23 utc | 46
It's the same banking 'order' that funded the Nazis to begin with. That they eventually quietly then loudly switched sides is usually not talked about. Their reasons for supporting the Bolsheviks are also rarely mentioned or analyzed.
Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Apr 29 2022 17:57 utc | 57
"The West has little interest in what the Russian side says and, therefore, misinterprets everything." -- Maria Zakharova
Terse, but comprehensive. Russia's Foreign Ministry pretty much sums it up here, from day one. Whether RF speaks with words or with hypersonic missiles, they have come to expect willful misinterpretation in response. The escalator we're riding has no "off" switch.
Posted by: Aleph_Null | Apr 29 2022 17:59 utc | 58
ATTENTION isolationists and amateur historiigrphers!
Have I got news for yooose
CRS, "Instances of Use of United States Armed
Forces Abroad, 1798-2022", 38th ed: a listical
Chas. Beard, An Economic Interpretation of the Constitution of the United States, 1913. 360 pp.
Posted by: sln2002 | Apr 29 2022 18:03 utc | 59
Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Apr 29 2022 17:57 utc | 57
"It's the same banking 'order' that funded the Nazis to begin with. That they eventually quietly then loudly switched sides is usually not talked about. Their reasons for supporting the Bolsheviks are also rarely mentioned or analyzed."
Exactly. Personally am not yet convinced that something similar isn't in the works right now, albeit the players may have changed somewhat over the decades as geopolitical zones of influence shift.
Posted by: Scorpion | Apr 29 2022 18:03 utc | 60
@ Sundial - Thank you for the Col. Richard Black video on the previous thread.
Here it is for anyone interested.
Col. Richard Black: U.S. Leading World to Nuclear War
Posted by: lex talionis | Apr 29 2022 18:06 utc | 61
Ill-conceived Headline of the Week ending 1 May
New gas pipeline boosts Europe’s bid to ease Russian supply
formerly-known-as Russian "blackmail" formerly-known-as EU "embargo" formerly-known-as the "9-step" ration programming
Posted by: sln | Apr 29 2022 18:12 utc | 62
I like the use of the word "instigate" rather than "provoke" to describe the US policy that got this war started. It avoids some of the emotional responses, of blame like a child claiming "he made me do it" even if in fact he did so.
Posted by: Mark Thomason | Apr 29 2022 18:14 utc | 63
@57 tom q
Negative. Some wealthy banking and industrialists were initially on the side of Germany correct, but not the entire system.
Is it akin to some Jews funding DJT, while the lionshare were against him.
I think that analogy is far more apt.
It is never as perfect as you would like it to be. There is nuance there but the pattern remains the same.
Now the U.S. is resurrecting lend-lease to support the Ukes.
History rhymes, brother.
Posted by: NemesisCalling | Apr 29 2022 18:16 utc | 64
Re: soviets and bankers
What on this cursed earth does any banking clan stand to gain from bankrolling a political faction that ultimately seeks to erase any form of private rent-seeking? Sooner rather than later? And with bayonets if needed?
(Which anyways is one of the paramount goals of classical economy, as outlined by Comrade Adam Smith, the difference lies more in the sense of urgency and the methods considered acceptable)
Anybody up to provide an actual rational explanation?
Posted by: Arganthonios | Apr 29 2022 18:17 utc | 65
Posted by: Arch Bungle | Apr 29 2022 17:41 utc | 52
"I don't see how this can be true if thermobaric weapons are being used (TOS-1, TOS-2) ?"
Same could be said for thermobaric bombs (KAB) dropped from air force bombers but lets focus on the land:
- TOS-1A is at the core a T-72 tank and doesn't come well protected against counter attacks (e.g. drones, missiles)
- A well located fortified position is not that easy to approach by a tank, a path needs to be cleared
- Rockets are unguided so might have to approach quite closely for a precision shot
My estimate is that these weapons will move in to smoke certain deeply buried positions, increasingly so as defenses crumble and sufficient approach is possible. Realize that Ukraine defenses will generally know what is coming and will make an effort to target this system. But the capacity to do so will wither fast.
Posted by: John Dowser | Apr 29 2022 18:21 utc | 66
Thank you b for this synopsis. You stated that:
As Michael Hudson explains (vid), the economic consequences of this war will be catastrophic for many countries and people. But the neocons who are running the war do not care about those. They have a plan to profit from it. They want to stay the unipolar power of the globe. To them it is a game and their main motives include an ingrained hatred towards Russia.
Twenty-thirty years ago the Neocons/Neolibs were on the dominant position side of humanity and were able to enforce their wishes at will. A generation later, they aren't any more. Their economic and military dominance have gone with the wind as they got fat, dumb, and illusional. Problem is they don't know this reality. They are still drunk on their own potion of illusionary might. They don't know when to stop and think through situations and alternatives. They are in the Thucydides Trap of their own making.
The west, as a block, is in a conspicuous spiral downwards into a pit. The question of whether the rest of the world will be dragged down by them and not survive the fall is a ponderable one.
Posted by: Oriental Voice | Apr 29 2022 18:21 utc | 67
I've been seeing many, MANY videos of dead Ukrainian soldiers. I feel a lot of things, none of them good. I wrote something reflecting on those feelings. An excerpt:
Last month, my silly blog found its way onto the Ru-net, and since then, there has been a trickle of Russian people who want to talk, they’re curious about America and have questions, or want to share something about their own country. I’m always happy for these conversations, even about bitter subjects. So far, no one has been able to talk about the war without a trembling voice. More than one has cried. I’m not a mind reader, but I don’t think they were feeling any one particular emotion. Not anger, sadness, regret, fear, just all of those things mixed together into a general sense of horror.
https://readingjunkie.com/2022/04/29/who-has-more-will-to-fight-in-this-war/
Posted by: Ian Kummer | Apr 29 2022 18:30 utc | 68
History rhymes, brother.
Posted by: NemesisCalling | Apr 29 2022 18:16 utc | 64
I don't usually disagree with that. But you can't capture rhythm without copying cadence as well. So it's more than just rhyming at this point.
To use a turn of phrase used by Brenner in the linked interview, I tend to run and hide when someone gets so fixated on DaJoooooz.
https://www.smh.com.au/business/how-bankers-helped-the-nazis-20130801-2r1fd.html
And that's just it. The bankers will always back who they think is going to be the victor while also profiting on arms and other sales to the eventual losers. It's baked into the system of Western FIRE sector dominated capitalism. Nothing has changed since WWI.
Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Apr 29 2022 18:36 utc | 69
“ anybody up to providing a rational explanation”
The bankers are Talmudist and seek to use communism to enslave populations while they will live as the rentier class.
There is a Zionist anthem called “Jerusalem” where the words say that “ they will make Jerusalem in England’s green and pleasant land”
Posted by: Obamavirus | Apr 29 2022 18:40 utc | 70
"What on this cursed earth does any banking clan stand to gain from bankrolling a political faction that ultimately seeks to erase any form of private rent-seeking? Sooner rather than later? And with bayonets if needed? ... Anybody up to provide an actual rational explanation?.."
[email protected]
Don't hold your breath. There will be no rational explanation. And very few irrational ones either. But the assertions, in various forms will continue.
Posted by: bevin | Apr 29 2022 18:44 utc | 71
Perhaps the simplest explanation is that all of the nations sanctioning Russia are nations who have printed so much money and altered/devalued their financial systems enough to cause a very sudden collapse of their currency. No countries back their currency with gold any more. China is also in some trouble with credit, but they have gold. Russia has announced they will back their ruble with gold, but someone is really freaking out, likely the BIS and WMF. Every nation that has said they would back their currency with gold has their leader killed by unknown persons for decades. Gold and other natural resources will become the value backing for the new money that Russia and China are moving to, in cooperation with other nations that need a different future to survive. And oil, gas, material, food......
The US/UK/EU is not prepared and in denial of this reality. They are risking everything on Russia losing. They must tell us that we are winning. When the new depression hits the world, some will think they are rich. Follow the money.
.
Posted by: Tard | Apr 29 2022 18:49 utc | 72
@Mike Adamson # 6
Ukraine is a victim of Russian imperialism just as surely as Iraq was of American imperialism. You can put lipstick on a pig but it's still a pig.
Someone entirely ignorant of the long war of the Empire against Russia might think that. So let me add some context.
The utterly unprovoked and aggressive Empire wars of conquest in the past decades were largely against Russian allies, particularly Serbia and Syria but also to some degree Libya and Iraq. If we include economic and information war, add Venezuela and Iran, and even China and Russia itself.
As to Ukraine, the Empire has been suiting Ukrainian "Nazis" since the 1950s, that we know of, starting with the CIA's Project Aerodynamic. It then sponsored a violent putsch against a fairly neutral, democratically elected President of Ukraine in 2014, and immediately placed these Nazis into positions of power, esp. the SBU (Ukrainian intelligence/security) and the military. The entire point of this support of Nazis was to use them as a proxy army first, against USSR, and then after its collapse, Russia.
In 2008 already, the Empire announced plans to annex Ukraine and Georgia to NATO, an aggressive military alliance whose principal purpose is to confront (and conquer) Russia. In the prior decades, this massive military machine has been steadily marching toward the "Eastern front", and after the 2014 coup, incorporated the Nazi proxy army into its structures (even if Ukraine was not "formally" a NATO member, it de facto was). Russia was faced with the ineluctable future of having Empire bases and offensive missile systems right on its border - a far greater danger to Russia than the missiles in Cuba posed to the US in the 1960s.
In 2023, Ukraine adopted a presidential edict to conquer Crimea, and made clear its commitment to conquer the Donbass republics that had seceded. In January 2024, Ukraine started amassing huge forces in southern Ukraine close to Donbass and Crimea. In mid-February, while Russian forces were surrounding Ukraine in response to this provocation, Ukraine started massive shelling of the Donbass area, clearly attempting to "soften" defenses in anticipation of an invasion, much like Russia is now doing in the Ukrainian-occupied areas of Donbass. Russia concluded that an invasion of Donbass was imminent, and, rather than face the death of thousands more in Donbass, and the increased difficulty of removing them if they managed to enter Donetsk, after receiving a request for assistance from the two Donbass republics, Russia struck.
This is a pretty clear case of the justifiable use of force in self-defense and defense of others. The Donetsk republics seceded, after a plebiscite, from Ukraine, and Russia recognized them as sovereign countries. This is all fully in accordance with international law, if you doubt this look up the Kosovo precedent, where the international court determined that no principle of international law prevents secession or a state's recognition of the seceded province.
If someone is holding a gun to your head, and threatening to use it, you don't have to wait until the gun is fired to defend yourself. In that regard, there is absolutely no analogy to the Empire's wars of the past decades - all of which were waged against countries that posed no threat to the Empire and that were not engaged in a war against the Empire or its vassals. Simply put, the Empire backed Russia into a corner, and waited for it to defend itself. The entire response to that was pre-planned.
Now, the Empire is finally admitting (via its calls for a coup and its more recent admissions about wanting to "weaken" Russia, many even openly admitting the goal of dismemberment) that its goal is to weaken, dismember and pillage Russia. But if one looks at the logic of the Empire, one does not need that express confirmation. One crystal clear demonstration of its ideology is in PNAC's "Rebuilding America's Defenses" (Offenses) tomb, where the neo-con authors (who have all worked at top levels of the US regime for decades and have been deeply involved in the Empire's war against Russia) promote a "uni-polar" world, and discuss quite openly their agenda to prevent any power arising in the world that could challenge the global hegemony/dictatorship of the Empire. Russia's actions to defend Syria against Empire aggression (using, in that case, al-Qaeda and ISIS as their proxy army, much like they are using Ukrainian Nazis as their proxy army in their war against Russia) and refusal to submit to global Empire hegemony (instead seeking a multi-polar world) were the last straw for the Empire.
If you go back even further, one can document centuries of Empire efforts to conquer Russia.
While you may proclaim yourself as being anti-war, you actually support the Empire's war of conquest against Russia, and denounce Russia for defending itself. My guess is you actually supported the Empire's war against Iraq at the time, and now, after the irrevocable damage has been done, oppose it as some "virtue signaling". The fact is the Empire is an extremely aggressive, violent and destructive force in the world, but sure, it has massive propaganda organs that paint all of its aggressions - including, obviously, all of its wars of conquest in the last decades, if not the last centuries - as "defensive". Nothing could be further from the truth.
Posted by: CalDre | Apr 29 2022 18:55 utc | 73
@ Tom_Q_Collins | Apr 29 2022 18:36 utc |69
Hello, your email is now set as default on Ian Kummer's site.
Posted by: boon | Apr 29 2022 19:13 utc | 74
@Mike Adamson # 6
Ukraine is a victim of Russian imperialism just as surely as Iraq was of American imperialism. You can put lipstick on a pig but it's still a pig.
Someone entirely ignorant of the long war of the Empire against Russia might think that. So let me add some context.
Couple of other thoughts supplemental to my prior post at 73.
In terms of "imperialism", Crimea and Donbass were part of Russia for centuries - in fact, as long as the US has been a country. In the USSR, these territories were (illegally, I may add) put into the Ukrainian SSR and, when USSR collapsed, became part of Ukraine - against their will (Crimea in particular immediately tried to secede from Ukraine after the collapse, these efforts failed but eventually it obtained constitutional autonomy - but the Empire's coup in 2014, combined with the already-then-obvious "Nazification" of Ukraine by the sponsors of the coup, led them to follow the path of secession again). These territories are inhabited by Russians.
Comparing to the Empire's wars or aggression, they are all against countries with no historical ties to the Empire, and which are not inhabited by subjects of the Empire (or, in particular, Americans or British).
The 2014 coup was a clear case of imperialism - the Empire established economic and political dominance over all of Ukraine, including Donbass and Crimea. In reacting to that aggression, Russia was (and is) *fighting* imperialism. But you call Russia's actions imperialism. Either because you support the Evil Empire and its agenda of global hegemony/dictatorship, or because you are completely blinded by the massive Empire propaganda machine that spews only lies and deceit 24/7. There is really no genuine way to spin Russia's defense of its people, in its historical lands (arbitrarily and illegally taken from Russia), against Empire imperialism as imperialism.
Also, some typos in years, 2023 should be 2021 and 2024 should be 2022.
Posted by: CalDre | Apr 29 2022 19:14 utc | 75
Sergey Lavrov said;
Poland delivered to Ukraine more than 200 T-72 tanks and several dozen infantry fighting vehicles.
Posted by: Kim | Apr 29 2022 19:15 utc | 76
Posted by: Kim | Apr 29 2022 19:15 utc | 76
The US and its allies delivering 50 year old junk from the reserve parks is not going to change the course of the war, as b demonstrated yesterday.
Posted by: laguerre | Apr 29 2022 19:21 utc | 77
To all Germans: Reinhard Mey signed an open letter that said no to weapons deliveries to Ukraine due to risking a nuclear war. Now, he and everybody who signed that letter is being cut to pieces by the German mainstream twitter bubble. This is not my Germany anymore. The Germany I grew up in had no imperial ambitions and was rooted in the peaceful resolution of conflicts. To all of you who feel the same, here is an excerpt from Reinhard Mey's song "Sei wachsam", basically a description of current German affairs:
Wir hab'n ein Grundgesetz, das soll den Rechtsstaat gerantier'n
Was hift's, wenn sie nach Lust und Laune dran manipulieren
Die Scharfmacher, die immer von der Friedensmission quasseln
Und unterm Tisch schon emsig mit dem Säbel rasseln?
Der alte Glanz in ihren Augen beim großen Zapfenstreich
Abteilung kehrt, im Gleichschritt marsch, ein Lied und Heim ins Reich!
"Nie wieder soll von diesem Land ein Krieg ausgehen!"
"Wir müssen Flagge zeigen, dürfen nicht beiseite stehen!"
"Rein humanitär natürlich und ganz ohne Blutvergießen!"
"Kampfeinsaätze sind jetzt nicht mehr so ganz auszuschließen"
Sie ziehen uns immer tiefer rein, Stück für Stück
Und seit heute früh um fünf Uhr schießen wir wieder zurück
(maybe a dismembered Germany without the ability to wage war is better than a warmongering one)
Posted by: Arne Hartmann | Apr 29 2022 19:21 utc | 78
I find it difficult to have sympathy for Ukraine it has been killing Russian speaking Ukrainians for eight years, and its hatred for Russia, has allowed the US and its minions to turn it into a battlefield, in the end Ukrainians will be the biggest losers, they thought by having the US and its minions onside that they would be the big winners.
When the dust settles on this conflict whenever that will be, and it could be a long time and it could spread further afield, Ukrainians will still be left with a huge debt for mostly outdated weapons and aid before any rebuilding is considered, and its likely they'll lose land as well, if only they'd have allowed the Donbas regions of Lugansk and Dontesk become autonomous regions within Ukraine, things might have turned out differently.
Meanwhile US and EU global corporations have caused poverty in the West and the Third World with their greed and hatred the poverty and cost of living will just keep rising, and we in the West will suffer as our living standards drop, and we too will be left to pick a huge bill for arming Ukraine, if hostilities don't reach a nuclear level which isn't outwith the realms of possibility.
Posted by: Republicofscotland | Apr 29 2022 19:22 utc | 79
Lex | Apr 29 2022 16:51 utc | 33
If you go to Azmilitary1 -telegram you will see that there is a picture of the father wearing the NAZI iron cross and in the uniform of Ukraine.
Posted by: Krollchem | Apr 29 2022 19:23 utc | 80
"What on this cursed earth does any banking clan stand to gain from bankrolling a political faction that ultimately seeks to erase any form of private rent-seeking? Sooner rather than later? And with bayonets if needed? ... Anybody up to provide an actual rational explanation?.."[email protected]
Don't hold your breath. There will be no rational explanation. And very few irrational ones either. ButPosted by: bevin | Apr 29 2022 18:44 utc | 7
Israel? https://tass.com/politics/1112015
The Soviet Union was the first to recognize de-jure the state of Israel on May 18, 1948, and established diplomatic relations with it about a week later. The Soviet Union’s military support (delivery of military equipment and ammunition via Czechoslovakia, including combat planes) helped Israel to win the first Arab-Israeli War of 1948-1949.
Posted by: Laurence | Apr 29 2022 19:24 utc | 81
The Organ Grinders monkey speaks.
"NATO is preparing to support Kiev “over a long period of time”, for as long as the military conflict in Ukraine will last “for months and years,” the alliance’s Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Thursday."
Posted by: Republicofscotland | Apr 29 2022 19:27 utc | 82
@Laurence # 81
The Soviet Union was the first to recognize de-jure the state of Israel on May 18, 1948, and established diplomatic relations with it about a week later. The Soviet Union’s military support (delivery of military equipment and ammunition via Czechoslovakia, including combat planes) helped Israel to win the first Arab-Israeli War of 1948-1949.Difficult to easily comprehend Stalin's actions, but, my guess is that there was a secret agreement (not yet made public) between the Zionists and Stalin that USSR would recognize/assist Israel and in turn the Zionists would provide USSR with nuclear weapon and other advanced technology (accomplished via the Rosenbergs). That exchange happened almost contemporaneously (the Rosenbergs were arrested in 1951).
Posted by: CalDre | Apr 29 2022 19:32 utc | 83
The Brenner piece starts off badly:
"As the death toll in Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine continues to rise ..."
Russia invoked the right of self defense as outlined in the UN Charter to protect Russian citizens in east Ukraine from an imminent massive attack by Ukraine military, marked by a massive build up of troops on the LPR/DPR border coupled with a massive supply of weapons from the US and UK from January 2022 onwards. There was also Elenskyy's statement of intent to acquire nuclear weapons, echoed by US Vice President Harris - probably in the form of a third installation of nuke-ready Aegis Ashore system with a 5 minute flight time to Moscow. The other two are in north Poland and south romania with a 12 minute flight time to Moscow. This statement of intent created an existential threat to Russia's national security.
Maybe it is boilerpate apologia to pre-empt cancellation.
Daniel Kovalik: Why Russia's Intervention in Ukraine Is Legal Under International Law
Posted by: Arfur Mo | Apr 29 2022 19:44 utc | 84
Posted by: Arch Bungle | Apr 29 2022 17:19 utc | 43
Gruel vs grueling is not a question of grammar (word endings, tenses, cases and the like), but of meaning.
The history of the two words is interesting. Both originally derive from an old French word meaning "ground grains" or "porridge", but "gruel", is now short for "thin gruel": a watery porridge given to invalids and the infirm. Whereas the adjective "grueling" has its origin in the coarse slop given as meals to prisoners, often containing dubious bits of meat. Referring to a prisoners last meal before execution, it means exhausting or difficult. http://www.word-detective.com/2012/04/gruel-grueling/
Posted by: Harold | Apr 29 2022 19:44 utc | 85
"..Conflating German NSDAP Nazis with current western globalists does absolutely nothing to challenge the elites who have captured our governments in the west..."
Here again is the quotation from "Nazi Billionaires" by journalist and historian David de Jong.
"On Monday, February 20, 1933, at 6 p.m., about two dozen of Nazi Germany’s wealthiest and most influential businessmen arrived, on foot or by chauffeured car, to attend a meeting at the official residence of the Reichstag president, Hermann Göring, in the heart of Berlin’s government and business district. The attendees included Günther Quandt, a textile producer turned arms-and-battery tycoon; Friedrich Flick, a steel magnate; Baron August von Finck, a Bavarian finance mogul; Kurt Schmitt, CEO of the insurance behemoth Allianz; executives from the chemicals conglomerate IG Farben and the potash giant Wintershall; and Gustav Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach, chairman-through-marriage of the Krupp steel empire.
"The purpose of that meeting was not to sell big business on anti-semitism, Hitler’s plans for world conquest, or the Holocaust. Hitler’s regime as we now know it was not up for for debate. The purpose of the meeting was to raise money with which to end German democracy.
“Private enterprise cannot be maintained in the age of democracy,” the forty-three-year-old chancellor said. “It is conceivable only if the people have a sound idea of authority and personality. Everything positive, good and valuable, which has been achieved in the world in the field of economics and culture, is solely attributable to the importance of personality.”
"What Hitler and his movement needed was money with which to win the election of March 5 1933. It was to be a decisive vote.
“the last election,” according to Hitler. One way or another, democracy would fall. Germany’s new chancellor intended to dissolve it entirely and replace it with a dictatorship. “Regardless of the outcome,” he warned, “there would be no retreat . . . There are only two possibilities, either to crowd back the opponent on constitutional grounds . . . or a struggle will be conducted with other weapons, which may demand greater sacrifices.” If the election didn’t bring Hitler’s party into control, a civil war between the right and the left would certainly erupt, he intimated. Hitler waxed poetic: “I hope the German people recognize the greatness of the hour. It shall decide the next ten or probably even hundred years.”
What Hitler, Goering and Schacht had in mind was a fund equivalent to $20 million in today’s money with which to win the election and end Germany democracy. They had no problem raising the funds.
The day after the meeting, February 21, 1933, thirty-five-year-old Joseph Goebbels, who led the Nazi propaganda machine from Berlin as the capital’s Gauleiter (regional leader), wrote in his diary: “Göring brings the joyful news that 3 million is available for the election. Great thing! I immediately alert the whole propaganda department. And one hour later, the machines rattle. Now we will turn on an election campaign . . . Today the work is fun. The money is there.” Goebbels had started this very diary entry the day before, describing the depressed mood at his Berlin headquarters because of the lack of funds. What a difference twenty-four hours could make.
"If the choice was between consolidating Hitler’s or continuing the Weimar Republic, by 1933 the German business community knew which way it would swing.
"This had not always been their choice. In the 1920s they had learned to live with the Weimar Republic and its Western-facing foreign policy. But after ten years of what they regarded as intolerable instability, with the Communist Party surging, the economy in deep crisis and little prospect of a return to the international economic order of the 1920s, they made their choice...."
The entire piece at Chartbook is worth reading. But it merely confirms what historians, particularly socialist historians have long known. And what socialists and communists were saying at the time- many of them being killed in Concentration Camps for doing so- which is that Fascism, as both Hitler and Mussolini were very honest in saying, is primarily aimed at the suppression of democracy and democratic impulses (Trade Unions for example) in order to protect Private Property, the foundation of the class system, imperialism and capitalism.
Nemesis @46 turns this reality on its head whilst admitting " there is a vicious streak of bad faith residing at the bar."
"Conflating German NSDAP Nazis with current western globalists does absolutely nothing to challenge the elites who have captured our governments in the west..."
The contrary is true. The elites to which Nemesis refers are precisely the political descendants of the Nazis. Their project is exactly the same as Hitler's, which was 'to capture government' in order to achieve full spectrum dominance of the globe. The Nazis were globalists who saw Russia as the major obstacle to the achievement of their objective. They had no doubt that they could reach a modus vivendi with the rulers of the UK and they almost did. They enrolled every ruling class in Europe- in an era in which Europe ruled most of the world- into their project.
The current political situation is almost precisely analagous with that in 1939, except that the strength of all working class and democratic institutions is enormously diminished.
My guess is that Nemesis and those who think with him are misled by their conflation of anti-semitism with Nazism. Why, with the example of Israeli fascism staring them in the face, they cannot bring themselves to understand that Hitler's hatred of Jews was, in the long term, of little political significance. He hated homosexuals too. But we can see that the global elite fascists currently attacking Russia are perfectly able to ally themselves with gays or Jews, black people or Asians, because their real enemies are, as they always were, democrats and socialists. It is equality that they fear. They are composed of every race and religious persuasion, every pigment and every sexual disposition.
And just in case anyone doubts this take a look at Biden's cabinet. Or Bojo's. Or Trudeau's. All of them as diverse as you please but chock full of fascists.
Unlike Nemesis I am not accusing him of bad faith but of misunderstanding historical facts which, although they have been staring the world in the face since the 1930s, are far too explosive in their implications for the people who rule the world, including the education systems and the Media, to stomach.
It is they who deny, for example, that Zelensky, clearly a fascist can be a Nazi because he is Jewish. They say the same of Israel. But fascism is not about identity politics it is about power in a class society. In the end it is about enslaving the great bulk of humanity in the interests of an elite.
Posted by: bevin | Apr 29 2022 19:47 utc | 86
"... my guess is that there was a secret agreement (not yet made public) between the Zionists and Stalin that USSR would recognize/assist Israel and in turn the Zionists would provide USSR with nuclear weapon and other advanced technology (accomplished via the Rosenbergs). That exchange happened almost contemporaneously (the Rosenbergs were arrested in 1951)." [email protected]
Wrong on all counts.
Posted by: bevin | Apr 29 2022 19:50 utc | 87
Krollchem @80,
Yeah I saw that and the accusation that the wife is a sniper, but the latter seems to be pretty well debunked now. The little girl is innocent regardless. I’m guessing the cagey look in the dude’s eyes was mostly based on him knowing that somebody was going to find those pictures.
Posted by: Lex | Apr 29 2022 19:52 utc | 88
Posted by: Republicofscotland | Apr 29 2022 19:27 utc | 82
NATO is preparing to support Kiev “over a long period of time”, for as long as the military conflict in Ukraine will last “for months and years,” the alliance’s Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Thursday."
------------
I think they're going to run out of Nazi Nationalist's to support within 6 month's,
1.There won't be any left in the
East & South.
2.They Won't be running Ukraine
anymore,that's certain.
3.They will have to decide if they
want to be exterminated by Russian
hands or chased over the Zbruch
River to be exterminated by the
Polish Army who will be waiting
for them in Lvov.
Posted by: Kim | Apr 29 2022 20:01 utc | 89
"There is a Zionist anthem called “Jerusalem” where the words say that “ they will make Jerusalem in England’s green and pleasant land” [email protected]
William Blake was not a Zionist.
Here's a good summary of the poem by a Poetry website:
"William Blake was a social reformer and an ardent supporter of the French Revolution which toppled the monarchy. His poem revisits an urban legend of a young Jesus walking on English shores during his “lost years”. Blake despises the tyranny of British rule and the horrors of industrialization knocking on English doors. The prophetic poem is a mishmash of fantasy and reality, embedded with a political and social message therein. It’s a master-class of subliminal messages aptly delivered by William Blake.
"The Church of England has long used “Jerusalem” as a metaphor for heaven, and the story that Jesus had visited England in his youth has carried through to the present day, and certainly would have been a factor in the minds of the religious in the nineteenth century. It makes sense to think of this poem as being analysis and comparison of humanity against machinery, and nature against industrialization because those were two extremely powerful ideologies of the time.
"In a literal interpretation of ‘Jerusalem,’ he contemplates if Jesus walked on English shores once as the popular legend is milked from time to time. He wonders about establishing a New Jerusalem as promised in the Bible. ...
Posted by: bevin | Apr 29 2022 20:04 utc | 90
colin786 | Apr 29 2022 15:45 utc | 8
I would agree, and be mistaken.
Posted by: G | Apr 29 2022 20:08 utc | 92
@CalDre, #73, 75:
Nice synopsis of the salami slicing tactic of the Empire against Russia. I learned from your posts.
Posted by: Oriental Voice | Apr 29 2022 20:15 utc | 93
“William Blake was not a Zionist”
I think the hymn has been hijacked and is used subtly to instill a sense of Zionism into the population. It’s meant to show the power of Rothschild dynasty who consider themselves on the same level as the royal family.
Posted by: Obamavirus | Apr 29 2022 20:25 utc | 94
"This group has hijacked US foreign policy for 20 years..."
No US President has had control of foreign policy since November 22, 1963. All presidents since that date understand that if they attempt to control foreign policy that they will go the way of John F. Kennedy.
Posted by: Al | Apr 29 2022 20:41 utc | 95
>>>>: Piotr Berman | Apr 29 2022 17:37 utc | 51
They minimize the effectiveness of opponents' artillery with earth fortification, masking positions etc.,Nah, this is not World War 1. Trench warfare is obsolete.
and engage in retreatsIt's called saving you life.
and engage in ... counter-attacks.The British and Americans got burned in Normandy by German forces counter attacking immediately after they'd lost a position. Americans seem to have adopted this as a significant tactic and train their followers to do this. Trouble is if the opposing forces expect a counter-attack and prepare their defences for it, then it's a good opportunity to kill the counter-attackers as demonstrated through East Aleppo and other parts of Syria (Deir ez-Zor) by the SAA.
The fortified positions next to Donetsk have impressive results, the line of control barely moved for weeks.The Russians like fixing their opponents in place then liquidating them or going and doing other things. The Ukrainian soldiers in fortified positions next to Donetsk fixed themselves in place so some of DNR forces could do other things elsewhere. It was cheaper for Russian forces than feints etc. as used around Kiev.
Posted by: Ghost Ship | Apr 29 2022 20:44 utc | 96
Posted by: Piotr Berman | Apr 29 2022 17:14 UTC | 41
"A flood of gruel pictures posted on Telegram"
Grueling: trying or taxing to the point of exhaustion
Gruel 1 : a thin porridge 3 : something that lacks substance or significance (2: is British, getting punishment)
* * *
I believe I can explain B’s curious use of the term “gruel pictures”. In the German language, the word “Greuel” denotes a horror or an atrocity. The German the term “Greuelbilder” is used to denote “horror images”, which is what I think he meant to say.
To those who are German/English speakers, it happens all the time, because both languages are actually so closely related.
The word “Hand” in German means exactly the same thing in English, for instance. Even the amazing similarity between the words “grueling” in English and “Greuel” in German may have a remote etymological connection, for anything which is particularly grueling can certainly be a horror and, as pointed out by Piotr, in British English the word “gruel” also means “getting punishment” which, as with a good whipping, can also often be a horror.
A bit off topic, but hopefully not a thin porridge.
Posted by: GreyRaven | Apr 29 2022 20:48 utc | 97
Posted by: Platero | Apr 29 2022 20:07 utc | 90
Can anyone report on the battle for Lyman?
Allied troops, having completed the cleansing of Yampol, went to the outskirts of Liman from the southeast. Fire control was established over the Liman-Raygorodok road. Liman's operational encirclement is complete.
Posted by: Kim | Apr 29 2022 20:53 utc | 98
For some years now, I have had an idea swirling around in my head, that it is not in fact the UK which is the poodle, but rather the USA. I am not sure I believe this myself but somehow I think the role of the UK is under rated.
I find this hard to accept myself in a way because for most of my life I was a bit of a UKphile, at least in comparison to the USA, preferring UK dramas and the BBC to the rubbish generated by Hollywood etc. The idea first started with Tony Blair and has not been substantially shaken since.
I did read somewhere (cannot now recall where) that in the US the diplomatic service had two factions- the Atlantacists who were very pro UK and looked up to the MI6, and I guess the rest who were more Asia focused.
Anyway I would appreciate sensible comment (please nothing about the 1 mill year role of bankers etc)- if you get my drift Arch and Nemesis.
Posted by: watcher | Apr 29 2022 20:53 utc | 99
Posted by: NemesisCalling | Apr 29 2022 17:23 utc | 46
"Conflating German NSDAP Nazis with current western Globalists... "
There is difficulty in resolving the fact that U.S. corporations who built Hitler and produced German re-armament, and who financed, fueled and armed Germany for the duration of WWII, were the same corporations who armed the Soviet Union in WWII. This difficulty was simplified by Averell Harriman, who was simultaneously a U.S., Nazi, and Soviet industrialist.
He said the problem was the Soviet workforce. He said they were tough as nails, they had been through war, famine, revolution, and civil war, and they had been through Bolshevik schools, and therefor they believed they owned the means of production.
Harriman explained how this was unworkable, as he had to negotiate with this one big union at every point in the development of railroads and mines.
It is my understanding that men like Harriman built Hitler for the purpose of replacing the Soviet system with slave labor. Granted Harriman and others worked with Stalin, but the labor movement was still a force to be reckoned with in Russia and in the West.
This is essentially the conflict between our overlords and Putin. Putin is pro-labor compared to Yeltsin, and I believe this is the core problem in Ukraine. Industrial workers in Eastern Ukraine want to be paid for their work and likely favor Putin's policies forcing industrial oligarchs to pay wages and taxes.
This conflict endures because labor can be oppressed by extremes of violence.
Posted by: Linda Wood | Apr 29 2022 20:54 utc | 100
The comments to this entry are closed.
re: While the differences on the map look small . .
Forcing the Ukies out of their comfortable, relatively safe dug-in emplacements into open terrain is of significant advantage to RF forces.
Posted by: Don Bacon | Apr 29 2022 15:26 utc | 1