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April 2, 2022
Ukraine Open Thread 2022-39
Comments
@ Don Bacon | Apr 3 2022 2:19 utc | 176
This statement from The Hill, “Some analysts believe the shift is a tacit acknowledgement that Russia cannot take and hold Kyiv as Putin had hoped,” that you cite is typical of the MSM making statements they have no evidence for. How could they know what Putin had hoped?
In reality, the military campaign is obscure. The MSM and many others are treating it as maneuver warfare like the Second World War, but it definitely is not that. Most of the really important factors, the real struggles, are outside of Ukraine and include such facts as the great nuclear arsenals that completely change the meaning of everything.
To me, Russia seems not to be interested in trying to conquer or control all of Ukraine, at least not directly. Because it has the Great Equalizer of nuclear weapons, it cannot be defeated or ousted from Ukraine, so the only thing Ukraine can do is negotiate, although the US and NATO are naturally loath to permit that. So Russia can just sit where it is and has already won, because Ukraine will have to offer something to get them to withdraw. Russia doesn’t need to enter the Ukrainian cities, because the fact of its being outside of them is more effective. And that is not so much because it can threaten to enter them as because the Russian presence just stops normal economic life. Thus, while Russia has been careful not to damage the Ukrainian civilian infrastructure wherever it can, the economy of Ukraine is nevertheless completely aborted and ruined until a peace agreement is reached. Time is on Russia’s side, because Ukraine cannot recover until it gets peace.
The only exception so far has been the battle to take Mariupol, which is because that city is in the Donetsk oblast and because of the Azovs being there. It may be as well that Russia ultimately would like to have the rest of the Donetsk and Luhansk/Lugansk oblasts, but it doesn’t really need them nor does it need to advance any further at all. It can just stop and say, “OK, now what are you going to do? Make an offer…”
The other big, outside factor is the economics that Michael Hudson talks about, the threatened demise of dollar hegemony, trading blocks, withholding vital resources from the market, etc., where there is almost too much going on with too many variables to predict exactly how things will end up. As in 1962, some face-saving measures have to be thought up so that neither the US or Russia is backed up against the wall, which might require them to unleash the unthinkable.
The most depressing thing about either side getting desperate might be that the US’s threshhold for desperation is lower, that is, the US is more likely to blow up the world, because of the whole population’s sense of entitlement owing to never having been demoted, or, in more positivist language, because of American exceptionalism. God save us all.
Posted by: Cabe | Apr 3 2022 3:45 utc | 201
Posted by: uncle tungsten | Apr 3 2022 0:19 utc | 142
Now do Canada… please!
Should I stay or should I go?
Posted by: ianMoone | Apr 3 2022 3:59 utc | 202
Richard Steven Hack | Apr 3 2022 2:42 utc | 188
I don’t see Russia allowing US a foothold in any part of Ukraine. you’re a cranky old fart.
Bernard Montgomery quote: Rule 1, on page 1 of the book of war, is: Do not march on Moscow. Various people have tried it, Napoleon and Hitler, and it is no good. That is the first rule. I do not know whether your Lordships will know Rule 2 of war. It is: Do not go fighting with your land armies in China. It is a vast country, with no clearly defined objectives.
Putin is writing a new book of war but Montgomery’s advice is also good. The exceptional yanks are marching on both Moscow and China.
Posted by: Peter AU1 | Apr 3 2022 4:11 utc | 203
I used to attribute Neimöller’s poem to Tristan Bernard. For some obscure reason, I thought these words were his. Thanks for setting me straight.
But Tristan had a splendid one, when they came to arrest him:
“I used to live in fear, now I will live in hope.”
Posted by: CarlD | Apr 3 2022 4:11 utc | 204
That’s odd. I did not use any bold for the Montgomery quot nor any part of that post @203.
Posted by: Peter AU1 | Apr 3 2022 4:21 utc | 205
Juliania,
at the beginning of the Karamazov bros (Book II, V), there’s also a discussion about an article published by Ivan that may be relevant. Ivan’s position, wholeheartedly approved by the clergy at the monastery, is that it is not for the Church to try to be like the State but on the contrary for the State to become like the Church. It seems that for D or his characters, Catholicism is the prime example of a church trying to be a state.
I think this question is also related to the dichotomy we previously discussed: trying to reach heaven from earth versus trying to lower heaven down to earth. The Church trying to be state-like seems similar to lowering heaven down to earth while converting the state into church is more like trying to reach heaven from earth. The difference is still not entirely clear to me and I also can’t see how the Church could induce the State into becoming the Church.
Posted by: Robert Macaire | Apr 3 2022 4:24 utc | 206
Putin has ordered a plan to strengthen Russia’s Western boarder to mirror the Nato build up on the other side,that Nato would not even dare to cross.
For one Ukraine can Kiss goodbye to the entire Azov and Black sea coastline,probably encompassing Transnistria.
Posted by: Kim | Apr 3 2022 4:28 utc | 207
@197 cabe
Thanks for the enlightening post re: Catholicism in Ukraine. Definitely a large piece of the puzzle!
Posted by: NemesisCalling | Apr 3 2022 4:32 utc | 208
Posted by: Peter AU1 | Apr 3 2022 4:11 utc | 203
I agree. I don’t see Russia allowing any part of NATO access to Ukraine. But now I’ve decided I don’t know squat.
“you’re a cranky old fart.”
Yes, I am. So much so that I’ve deleted all my stuff on Ukraine off the hard drive. I’m packing it in. I’m finished with this war. I’ll no doubt read about it still, but I see no point in commenting on something I know nothing about. That puts me in the same category as all these other people here and at Martyanov and The Saker and everywhere else making assertions unsupported by evidence.
I don’t need that. I’ve got other things I should be spending time on. Wasted a whole month on this. Unless it goes to nuclear war – which is why I’ll keep an eye on it – it doesn’t affect me in the least. The economic moves probably won’t even affect me unless the US goes into hyperinflation. So intellectual curiosity is not enough to sustain my interest.
So long, everyone. I’m going back into isolation – which I’m sure most people will be happy about.
Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Apr 3 2022 4:57 utc | 209
Robert Macaire | Apr 3 2022 4:24 utc | 206
“it is not for the Church to try to be like the State but on the contrary for the State to become like the Church. It seems that for D or his characters, Catholicism is the prime example of a church trying to be a state.”
That’s true for the church trying to be like the state, or more accurately de facto part of the state. (Witness how in 2020 all the establishment churches I’m aware of, evidently by prior arrangement, all shackled their doors on cue at the command of the godless state, and all the bad shepherds turned their flocks out for Satan to pick off one by one.)
But although the details of Ivan’s article aren’t clear, it doesn’t sound like “the state becoming like the church”, which is an abominable notion anyway. Such a chimera would be pre-desolated. On the contrary, the state is supposed to be engulfed by the church and cease to exist. One could call it a version of the “withering away of the state”.
“The Church trying to be state-like seems similar to lowering heaven down to earth while converting the state into church is more like trying to reach heaven from earth.”
According to scripture Christ is supposed to do just that, return from heaven and establish his millennial reign on earth. Whether or not the millennium is a literal time span, for that period Christ will reign over a global theocracy and universal church while human life continues as before, being born and living and dying.
Until this second coming the mission of a faithful church is to Christianize the earth and come as close as possible to establishing theocracy, in anticipatory imitation of Christ’s coming earthly kingdom.
That, as I read it, is what Ivan was saying.
Posted by: Flying Dutchman | Apr 3 2022 5:08 utc | 210
Posted by: psychohistorian | Apr 3 2022 0:54 utc | 152 +
@ NemesisCalling | Apr 3 2022 1:37 utc | 164 who wrote
”
Francis is a wolf.
”
Francis is a Jesuit wolf….the worst kind. I know because I was “taught” by them for 4 years…..they give patriarchy a new meaning
Many christian values are valuable but the institution is corrupt and anti-humanistic, IMO.
+
Posted by: psychohistorian | Apr 3 2022 1:49 utc | 167 +
Posted by: John Kennard | Apr 3 2022 3:25 utc | 198
Francis is not a wolf but a clown, having as much independent agency as Zelensky. The pope has been under CIA control since the installation of JPII. If you listen to some of the things Bergoglio said in the beginning, about masons for instance, he wasn’t aware of the levers. But now he is. Ratzinger resigned when he realized he does not have independent agency.
Today they use this control for some desperate and silly measures, though, having the pope parroting propaganda about climate change, and messing with the doctrine, destroying their own asset.
Posted by: veto | Apr 3 2022 5:08 utc | 211
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cp41QhVEFZQ
Great work by Gonzalo Lira showing that four ostensibly different propaganda videos were all shot in the same location.
Posted by: Walt | Apr 3 2022 5:10 utc | 212
@ Cabe | Apr 3 2022 3:45 utc | 201
thanks cabe.. great overview which i happen to mostly share with you… thanks for saying all that…
@ Richard Steven Hack | Apr 3 2022 4:57 utc | 209
hey richard… i have enjoyed your participation and involvement here… take it easy either way… cheers..
Posted by: james | Apr 3 2022 5:18 utc | 213
Richard Steven Hack wrote:
“I’m beginning to think everything I thought was established is not.”
You, me, everyone here, and French intelligence chiefs, and despite that we’re still all (perhaps except that chief) generally talking more sense than most others out there even when/if we happen to be wrong. Not bad 🙂
But yes don’t let it steal your life; do your best to enjoy yourself! (I take breaks too.)
– – –
Cabe (Apr 3 2022 3:45 utc | 201):
100% agree!
Posted by: Sunny Runny Burger | Apr 3 2022 5:19 utc | 214
lot of socmed chatter about Russian atrocities in Kiev being brought to light by the re-occupation of Kiev suburbs….anyone got news of this?
Posted by: steve brown | Apr 3 2022 5:32 utc | 215
Or okay; 99% agree since I think Russia would like to “reset” Ukraine (into a union state arrangement as I wrote some weeks ago) which implies some sort of direct 100% control (but it likely won’t entail or need occupation as such).
Posted by: Sunny Runny Burger | Apr 3 2022 5:38 utc | 216
@ 215 steve brown… the free guns and releasing everyone from the prisons obviously would have nothing to do with it….. it is all russias fault, lol….
Posted by: james | Apr 3 2022 5:47 utc | 217
LE FIGARO INTERVIEWS FRENCH-RUSSIAN AUTHOR ANDREI MAKINE: “TO STOP THIS WAR [IN UKRAINE], WE MUST UNDERSTAND THE BACKGROUND THAT MADE IT POSSIBLE”
i enjoyed this interview… it is a transcript of the interview..
Posted by: james | Apr 3 2022 5:49 utc | 218
lot of socmed chatter about Russian atrocities in Kiev being brought to light by the re-occupation of Kiev suburbs….anyone got news of this?
Posted by: steve brown | Apr 3 2022 5:32 utc | 215
lol. …
Posted by: Laurence | Apr 3 2022 5:58 utc | 219
Ukraine is a banana republic – Azarov, former Ukrainian Prime Minister
https://t.me/realCRP/4116
Posted by: Kim | Apr 3 2022 6:09 utc | 220
dadda@199
NASA’s SLS moon rocket is basically just a stretched Space Shuttle fuel tank with 4 of the RS-25 Shuttle engines you mentioned stuck to the bottom, flanked with stretched Shuttle solid rocket boosters. Despite being constructed with early 70s tech that NASA flew for 3 decades, it is 5 years behind schedule (original launch date was Dec 2016, now looking at June-July 2021). The whole program has been a bit of a comedy of errors (bad welds, a leaning launch tower etc), giving plenty of ammunition to the SpaceX fan base who would like to see the money handed over to Musk instead with a few crumbs trickling down to his non-union workforce.
In order to match the payload of the Saturn V, SLS will required two Block upgrades (a purpose built upper stage instead of the current hand-me-down from a much smaller rocket, and advanced solid rocket boosters) that the US congress refuses to pay for, reducing its payload by almost half. Its Orion spacecraft (another hand-me-down from a canceled program) lacks the power to both enter and leave low lunar orbit. Instead it will have to dock with a small space-station in distant lunar orbit where it will meets its lunar lander (a massive beast derived from SpaceX’s Starship).
So in order for the US to reach the moon they will have to:
1) Get the SLS off the ground.
2) Build a small station in distant lunar orbit.
3) Get Musk’s Starship off the ground.
4) Get the Starship to fly many times over a short period to launch the lunar lander into earth orbit, then fill its tanks with enough fuel to fly from earth orbit to the lunar station with enough left over to land on the Moon and return to the lunar station. This could mean up to 10 launches.
I’m betting on the Chinese/Russian International Lunar Research Station sending a delegation to welcome the first US crew…
Posted by: S.P. Korolev | Apr 3 2022 6:11 utc | 221
I happen to agree with RSH about Russia & Ukraine. On the other hand, by now I’ve learned not to second guess Russia. Still, If I was Russia, I would distribute my government and deploy my mobile ballistic missile launchers throughout the Yamal region, etc. and within a nuclear blast zone of the Norilsk mine.
Posted by: Laurence | Apr 3 2022 6:14 utc | 222
Posted by: Laurence | Apr 3 2022 5:58 utc | 219
I think they are referring to the re-discovery of their own Mass crave with 300 ukie civilians in it.
Posted by: Kim | Apr 3 2022 6:16 utc | 223
One explanation of “rublegas” arrangement.
The writer describes the payment system quite frank:”dollars, euros, British pounds will again accumulate on the balance sheet of the Central Bank, and the collective West will periodically confiscate foreign exchange assets of the Bank of Russia as part of the sanctions war.”
In Russian.
https://aftershock.news/?q=node/1089955
Posted by: ka | Apr 3 2022 6:24 utc | 224
Today we visited the home of a co-worker who helps her aging parents, all glued to CNN when we arrived, their brains totally washed like Orwell’s Proles. Such a sad scene multiplied by millions.
Posted by: karlof1 | Apr 3 2022 1:26 utc | 160
In through the eyes and ears, out through the mouth.
No processing applied or desired.
It’s unpatriotic.
Posted by: John Kennard | Apr 3 2022 6:30 utc | 225
Can people here please read the right I do and stop spreading bullshit on Rublegas?
“Once again, very simple: Customers open an account with Gazprombank in Russia. Payments are made in foreign currency – dollars or euros – converted into rubles according to the current exchange rate, and transferred to different Gazprom accounts.”
‘Rublegas:’ the world’s new resource-based reserve currency
https://thesaker.is/rublegas-the-worlds-new-resource-based-reserve-currency/
Posted by: Surferket | Apr 3 2022 6:35 utc | 226
@ Kim | Apr 3 2022 6:16 utc | 223
No doubt. It’s as credible as the Bellingcrap’s MH17 contraption. We’ve reached peak Empire sheepdip a long time ago.
Posted by: Laurence | Apr 3 2022 6:39 utc | 227
Seems to me, one of the motivations of Russia in dragging this out over time is to ensure that Zelensky is still alive. The moment it’s certain the UkroNazis have offed him [for `treason’ you know], shit gets real and brutal.
Posted by: Laurence | Apr 3 2022 6:58 utc | 228
LIVE UPDATES: Poland Ready to Deploy US Nuclear Weapons on Its Land, Deputy PM Kaczynski Says
1 hour agohttps://sputniknews.com/20220403/live-updates-ukrainian-nationalists-take-food-away-from-donbass-civilians-lpr-ombudsperson-says-1094435534.html
The abyss yawned. …
Posted by: Laurence | Apr 3 2022 7:07 utc | 229
The whole population’s sense of entitlement owing to never having been demoted, or, in more positivist language, because of American exceptionalism. God save us all.
Posted by: Cabe | Apr 3 2022 3:45 utc | 201
You’re obviously not referring to working-class Americans, who were crushed under the “conservative” Reagan by the transfer of American consumer-manufacturing to _Communist China_, aided by extortion from Walmart and even provided with Federal funds and other assistance, importing Chinese poverty, shattering working-class communities and unions, and exploding trade-deficits, all to the further enrichment of the already-wealthy and skyrocketing inequality of income and wealth.
Could that have happened in a real democracy?
The garbage that people spew about America is based on what comes out of DC, NYC and LA.
It has nothing to do with the real America, sneered at by the aforementioned crowds as “The Flyover,” and the old manufacturing regions snickered at as “Rust Belts.”
Incidentally, many of the major players in DC have heavy investments in China
Posted by: John Kennard | Apr 3 2022 7:13 utc | 230
The writer describes the payment system quite frank:”dollars, euros, British pounds will again accumulate on the balance sheet of the Central Bank, and the collective West will periodically confiscate foreign exchange assets of the Bank of Russia as part of the sanctions war.”
In Russian.
https://aftershock.news/?q=node/1089955
Posted by: ka | Apr 3 2022 6:24 utc | 224
That’s exactly what I think. The Euros finally gather at any russian bank, where the can be „blocked“ by pushing the bank out of the system.
IMO, the only difference is the substantial increase of the Rubel demand, which strengthens the Russian currency, as we see. But as long as Europe pays with Euros, the money can be nihilated.
It will be interesting to see, how the new contacts will be set up by Gazprom.
Posted by: njet | Apr 3 2022 7:20 utc | 231
The writer describes the payment system quite frank:”dollars, euros, British pounds will again accumulate on the balance sheet of the Central Bank, and the collective West will periodically confiscate foreign exchange assets of the Bank of Russia as part of the sanctions war.”
In Russian.
https://aftershock.news/?q=node/1089955
Posted by: ka | Apr 3 2022 6:24 utc | 224
That’s exactly what I think. The Euros finally gather at any russian bank, where the can be „blocked“ by pushing the bank out of the system.
IMO, the only difference is the substantial increase of the Rubel demand, which strengthens the Russian currency, as we see. But as long as Europe pays with Euros, the money can be nihilated.
It will be interesting to see, how the new contacts will be set up by Gazprom.
Posted by: njet | Apr 3 2022 7:20 utc | 232
@ Laurence | Apr 3 2022 6:39 utc | 227
Yes,no doubt.
They appear to be trying to counter the Russian POW blowback.The bodies that were uncovered in the top of the trench, all have a white armband,these were used to signify civilians,during the humanitarian corridor evacuations.
———–
Nazi defense tactics in Mariupol.
https://t.me/neoficialniybezsonov/10453
Posted by: Kim | Apr 3 2022 7:27 utc | 233
Doesn’t the attack on Russian infrastructure(oil depot)immediately activate their defense treaty with China?
Posted by: wowser | Apr 3 2022 7:38 utc | 234
⚡️Natural gas from Russia is no longer supplied to the Baltic countries, Uldis Bariss, chairman of the board of the natural gas system operator JSC Conexus Baltic Grid (Conexus), told Latvian Radio.
Posted by: Kim | Apr 3 2022 8:06 utc | 235
So the Question arises: Will* the Western Vaporwar€$ deposited in Russian banks have any real value or utility beyond the transaction? Do those `dollars’ or `Euros’ have serial numbers? What makes them `legitimate’ or negotiable?
* n.b.
Posted by: Laurence | Apr 3 2022 8:17 utc | 236
Briefing by Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov as of 10 a.m. on April 3, 2022
▪️ The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation continue to conduct a special military operation in Ukraine.
▪️ This morning, high-precision sea- and air-launched missiles destroyed an oil refinery and three storage facilities for fuel and lubricants near ODESSA, from which fuel was supplied to a group of Ukrainian forces in the Nikolaev direction.
The Russian Aerospace Forces air defence forces shot down two Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles near the settlements of Kudryashovka and Shurovka.
▪️ During the night, the Russian Air Force’s tactical aviation forces hit 51 Ukrainian military facilities.
Among them: four command posts, two Osa-AKM surface-to-air missile launchers near the settlements of BARVENKOVO and SLAVYANSK, two artillery batteries, two multiple rocket launchers, four field depots of rocket and artillery weapons and ammunition near the settlements of KONSTANTINOVKA and KRESTISHKO, and 32 strongholds and areas where AFU combat equipment is concentrated.
A total of 125 aircraft and 88 helicopters, 383 unmanned aerial vehicles, 221 surface-to-air missile systems, 1,903 tanks and other armoured combat vehicles, 207 multiple rocket launchers, 805 field artillery guns and mortars, as well as 1,781 pieces of special military vehicle equipment have been destroyed since the start of the special military operation.
Posted by: sitrep | Apr 3 2022 8:19 utc | 237
Wouldn’t `ruble accounts’ in European banks make more sense?
Posted by: Laurence | Apr 3 2022 8:25 utc | 238
@Dadda | Apr 3 2022 3:38 utc | 199
NASA on Friday began a critical two-day-long test of its giant Space Launch System (SLS) rocket complete with a simulated countdown, as the agency gears up to return humans to the Moon.
Interesting description on sputniknews (yes, I can read it) about this:
NASA’s Artemis 1 Begins Critical ‘Wet Dress Rehearsal’ Ahead of Summer Liftoff
Artemis 1 is the first planned unscrewed test flight for NASA’s Artemis program, which aims to set a long-term human spaceflight goal to Mars after landing humans on the moon by 2025. The mission, slated for as early as June 1, will also serve as the first flight for NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) and the Orion crew capsule.
(my emphasis)
Posted by: Norwegian | Apr 3 2022 8:28 utc | 239
The Pakistani opposition voiced a plans for a no-confidence vote against Khan on a 26-point plan, citing, among other things, a significant surge in prices, which resulted in protests across the country.
The parliament of Pakistan rejected a no-confidence motion against PM Imran Khan on Sunday. Deputy speaker Qasim Suri suspended the motion to initiate a no-confidence vote against Khan due to “foreign interference” in Pakistan’s internal affairs. The politician stressed that the motion filed by the opposition ran counter to Article 5 of the Pakistani Constitution on loyalty to the state and adherence to the constitution.
Opposition leader Bilawal Bhutto accused the government of violating the constitution and stated that the opposition will petition the Supreme Court.
Khan praised the decision and urged Pakistani President Arif Alvi to dissolve the parliament and hold new elections. Following his appeal, the parliament was dissolved, and a snap elections to be held in three month.
Posted by: Laurence | Apr 3 2022 8:31 utc | 240
Wow,this is barbaric treatment of Russian POWs.
From the Belgorod hospital:
“We exchanged 50 prisoners of war Ukrainian soldiers treated in our hospital in Belgorod for ours. Our fingers on our hands are chopped off, the reproductive organs are cut off. Nurses do not rest for three days, they cry, they go for dressings. The guys are all screwed up. …
There are no words. But you need to know this.”
https://t.me/epoddubny/9358
Posted by: Kim | Apr 3 2022 8:34 utc | 241
@steve brown | Apr 3 2022 5:32 utc | 215
lot of socmed chatter about Russian atrocities in Kiev being brought to light by the re-occupation of Kiev suburbs….anyone got news of this?
You give the impression that you know lots. If that is true, why not share some links to back it up?
Posted by: Norwegian | Apr 3 2022 8:45 utc | 242
Posted by: Kim | Apr 3 2022 8:34 utc | 241
It’s fake. Bunch of channels have discussed it (rozhin, major and general, Rybar) and its not confirmed by the Russian officials so far.
Posted by: Boo | Apr 3 2022 8:46 utc | 243
At this point what individual channels claim has to be taken with massive grain of salt. The 404 fake-o-mats are working non-stop supported by us/UK/etc. propaganda machines. I’ll wait for multiple confirmations before claiming.
Posted by: Boo | Apr 3 2022 8:49 utc | 244
@S.P. Korolev | Apr 3 2022 6:11 utc | 221
I’m betting on the Chinese/Russian International Lunar Research Station sending a delegation to welcome the first US crew…
Indeed, very much so! From the cobbled together (although it took a very long time) SLS and the Musk video games, the chances of the US landing on the Moon in the near future are…. shall we say small. We should have Gordog to comment on this again.
Posted by: Norwegian | Apr 3 2022 8:51 utc | 245
Posted by: Kim | Apr 3 2022 8:34 utc | 241
I don’t think prisoners who are obvious living evidence of war crimes will be just handed over in an exchange.
Off the bat I can tell it’s a fabrication.
Posted by: Arch Bungle | Apr 3 2022 9:00 utc | 246
Francis is a Jesuit wolf….the worst kind.
Posted by: psychohistorian | Apr 3 2022 1:49 utc | 167
On “Veterans Today” some years ago I found an article referring to a book about the Jesuits that was quite an eye opener for me. The book is downloadable.
The book is —-> “The Jesuit Order as a Synagogue of Jews”
“In its simplest form, it is asserted that Loyola and his associates began the Society of Jesus and unleashed a holocaust across the Christian world. In ways, I might go much further, tying in not only the tens of thousands murdered as witches but the ethnic cleansing that, under Jesuit “Catholicism”, accounted for up to 100-million deaths, depending on whose figures you accept, in colonial conquests in the New World.
Consider the full download, it is a good read.”
https://www.veteranstoday.com/2018/01/07/review-the-jesuit-order-as-a-synagogue-of-jews-part-one/
So was JP II. Over the years I was getting strange vibes that the man was not what the PR machine was making him out to be. This suspicion came from where he traveled, who he met and what he said. But it wasn’t until I read David Yallop’s book “The Power and the Glory”, that I had a clearer picture of my suspicions. He ,IMHO, was a classic matryoshka.
Posted by: Tom_12 | Apr 3 2022 9:06 utc | 247
Francis is a wolf… psychohistorian @ 167, Tom_12 @ 247 et al
Gotta chime in to note that Pope Francis did recently do something that is anti-Empire/anti-Zionist/anti-occupier
He gave an apology to the First Nations people of Canada for the Catholic Church’s role in the residential school system. This is something First Nations people have asked for for a long time — not a quick or easy process.
https://nunatsiaq.com/stories/article/pope-apologizes-for-abuse-at-residential-schools/
Posted by: Bruised Northerner | Apr 3 2022 9:25 utc | 248
Russia considers EU is drunk from American bourbon. I think the solution is not to sober up but to completely dissolve the EU with more bourbon. Russia relations can only be restored with reformed individual European countries, not with the drunk and corrupt EU.
Russia tells EU to ‘sober up’
rt dot com/russia/553184-moscow-europe-mending-ties/
Mending relations between Russia and the European Union (EU) is still possible, but it will only happen when the latter “sobers up from the American bourbon” and gets rid of US influence, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Saturday.
“There are always solutions. From any confrontation, from any difficult situation, there are always ways out,” Peskov explained.
Russia-EU relations, however, are unlikely to improve in the near future, he admitted. Moscow expects that to happen only when Western Europe realizes that it, and not the US, is responsible for its own fate, he added.
Posted by: Norwegian | Apr 3 2022 9:40 utc | 249
I used to attribute Neimöller’s poem to Tristan Bernard. For some obscure reason, I thought these words were his. Thanks for setting me straight.
Posted by: CarlD | Apr 3 2022 4:11 utc | 204
It is clear from Neimöller’s interview that he did not write the poem. He articulated the idea in a speech/sermon in January 1946 in Frankfurt. Anyone who has spent time in a Protestant church knows clergy will use 1000 words when 100 would do. Someone else simplified it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_they_came_…#Origin
Posted by: Opport Knocks | Apr 3 2022 9:50 utc | 250
bevin | Apr 2 2022 23:50 utc | 134
-Ukraine is the poorest country in Europe. The bulk of its income from abroad is either donated to crooked oligarchs or used to implant racist lies in the minds of the young.
Like it’s not their Modus Operandi. Do they call them in Ukraine, or do they have a special version?
Posted by: Anne B | Apr 3 2022 9:50 utc | 251
https://www.newstatesman.com/world/europe/ukraine/2022/04/russia-cannot-afford-to-lose-so-we-need-a-kind-of-a-victory-sergey-karaganov-on-what-putin-wants
Interview with Karaganov in the New statesman. Some questions are propaganda ladden, but overall gives an indication of the recent thinking in the Russian think thanks close to Putin.
Posted by: Boo | Apr 3 2022 9:56 utc | 252
@karlof1 #20
Ronan Manly is a gold tunnel vision person – if you want to understand what is really happening re: de-dollarization, look at the FRA’s Zoltan Pozsar + Yra Harris roundtable. I posted link and a summary in OT.
Posted by: c1ue | Apr 3 2022 10:25 utc | 253
@Laurence #238
ruble accounts at European banks is one option, but would require both the cooperation of the CBR and ruble reserves at the ECB.
I don’t see either happening at the moment.
Posted by: c1ue | Apr 3 2022 10:32 utc | 254
Posted by: Surferket | Apr 3 2022 6:35 utc | 226
The foreign currency in Gasprombank book will be easily confiscated by EU since they never left the books of the Euro bank.
There is no physical transfer of money.
Posted by: Greg Galloway | Apr 3 2022 10:37 utc | 255
Orlov has an interesting take on the new Euro for Rubles scheme.
Basically, his view is that it incentivises the Europeans to try and lift the value of Euros within Russia so that Gazprombank can effectively sell them for Rubles, and the only way to really do this is to get rid of the sanctions as Euros are pretty worthless in Russia right now.
Because they are giving their Euros to Gazprombank in a brokerage agreement, all they can do if they throw a hissy fit is stop the sale of Euros for Rubles after they have asked the bank to do it, and then they get no gas. They could also just refuse to open an account with gazprombank in the first place, but then they are in breach of contract under Russian Law, get no gas and if they eventually decide they want more a new contract will have to be drawn up in Rubles with no Euro exchange option.
An outcome could be full blown asset stripping of Europe by Russian companies as they will be able to accumulate enormous amounts of Euros. There is no reason they couldn’t take a huge loan of Rubles from the Russian central bank, buy Euros from Gazprombank and then wade into the EU all guns (metaphorically) blazing. Now Europe could of course just say no again, more sanctions, restrictions on buying etc but then the value of the Euro plummets within Russia, no Rubles and no gas.
The end result of this could be Russia taking a lot of EU industrial capacity and shipping it east as keeping it in Europe if they were to buy it is a sovereign risk with all the asset freezing. Obviously the EU would do all they could to stop this but again, therefore no gas.
All of this also allows EU leadership to save face while kowtowing to Moscow.
What do we all think?
Posted by: Aleenkags | Apr 3 2022 11:04 utc | 256
Watcher at #119
Agreed but what have the Russians been doing? Food should never have been available for them from one or two days into the war. Ie ALL roads into the “cauldron” should have been under Russian fire control , if not actual physical roadblock.
yes, they could have food stored for months’ worth of battle, but still allowing food in is an unforgivable error. A siege, means no food ,water or people in or out by definition.
My understanding is that the Russians still allowed those Turk guard outposts in Syria to be resupplied ,even when Syrians and Russians surrounded them in battle a year or two ago. They are still there!
This armchair general says that is a mistake!
Posted by: Brother Ma | Apr 3 2022 11:06 utc | 257
Posted by: Laurence | Apr 3 2022 8:17 utc | 236
“So the Question arises: Will* the Western Vaporwar€$ deposited in Russian banks have any real value or utility beyond the transaction? Do those `dollars’ or `Euros’ have serial numbers? What makes them `legitimate’ or negotiable?”
All gold bars are numbered. Perhaps Russia should call Interpol.to report the crime of the [current] century /S
Posted by: Paul | Apr 3 2022 11:12 utc | 258
Karlofi at #123
Did the IMF and the World bank really say you won’t get loans if you try and become self -sufficient in agriculture?
My Experience with the real world says, yes, but my mind says to me ,about teying to convince my peers, “be sure of it before telling others about it”.You cant convince others if your credibility is shot.
So please ,any references about this? Clauses of the agreements on the internet? People worked in gov or ngo know about this to confirm?
I
Posted by: Brother Ma | Apr 3 2022 11:13 utc | 259
Bernhard, please discuss what’s happening in Pakistan. The head of the army, Bajwa, is playing out an American plan to depose Imran Khan. Khan is commending Modi for his (‘neutral’) Russia stance. It’s not clear what China’s position is, but Bajwa is reaching out to Modi and hinting he has China’s support. Given Bajwa’s anti-Russia stance, one wonders. Big tectonic shifts.
Posted by: sarz | Apr 3 2022 11:19 utc | 260
So long, everyone. I’m going back into isolation – which I’m sure most people will be happy about.
Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Apr 3 2022 4:57 utc | 209
Not really. I can tell you put a lot of time into your posts, and you do stick to the facts, I’m sure that is appreciated by many here. I suppose posters come and go from here for all kinds of reasons. Realising we don’t know shit is always a good place to get to in life imo. Take it easy and thanks for all your effort and input over the Ukraine situation.
Posted by: K | Apr 3 2022 11:24 utc | 261
There are informations claiming that Russia is going to open corridors both to the East and to the West in Mariupol at request of Erdogan.
Sounds plausible, because: There are these rumors that Western military or intelligence personnel are trapped in Mariupol, and that there is an intense effort to free them. Macron has tried in vain to persuade the Russians. Now the West is going the route via Turkey, which reinforces Erdogan’s importance. Wonder if he’ll get anything else.
Posted by: theosch | Apr 3 2022 11:34 utc | 262
Sarz, 259.
T
With thanks to Laurence earlier for this:
The parliament of Pakistan rejected a no-confidence motion against PM Imran Khan on Sunday. Deputy speaker Qasim Suri suspended the motion to initiate a no-confidence vote against Khan due to “foreign interference” in Pakistan’s internal affairs. The politician stressed that the motion filed by the opposition ran counter to Article 5 of the Pakistani Constitution on loyalty to the state and adherence to the constitution.
I had a long discussion a few weeks ago with a Pakistani about Pakistan affairs. The focal point of all this is China’s proposal to link to a BRI port on the coast at Baluchistan, and the US are not too pleased about that, hence the interference. Would like to learn more.
Posted by: Walt | Apr 3 2022 11:37 utc | 263
Peter au at #159 et al.
Indeed, thirty percent of Ukraine’s population are on pensions; old or sick or very poor. Most clever, educated and /or able -bodied ukros have left the ukraine years ago , and many since the Maidan incident.
Posted by: Brother Ma | Apr 3 2022 11:44 utc | 264
262 continued.
The significance of the proposed port vs the US is that China fears that the US could close the Molucca strait and cut off its sea access to the west. An outlet at Pakistan is one solution.
Posted by: Walt | Apr 3 2022 11:53 utc | 265
On Saturday, Trump took to the stage in Michigan prognosticating that Biden is unleashing the worst economic nightmare on the U.S.: recession together with inflation, calling it the most dangerous period in our lives, and that he is destroying the U.S.
Uh…and what’s wrong with that? The Empire must fall, and my hope is that it crashes into an unrecoverable mass of rubble, and from it rise a new world order.
May Ukraine topple with it!
Posted by: Circe | Apr 3 2022 11:56 utc | 266
NemesisCalling | Apr 3 2022 1:37 utc | 164
https://callmejorgebergoglio.blogspot.com/
bookmarked “Fellow Travelers” – been at it a while….
Posted by: Anne B | Apr 3 2022 12:03 utc | 267
The next three weeks will be decisive for Russia. Putin must be at the top of his game and in charge. No stone must be left unturned.
Every road leads to Donbass, so every road should be surveilled 24/7. The eyes of the world will be on East and South Ukraine. Odessa and surroundings could become a fortress for U.S. weaponry. The surprise element will be around every corner. This will be the mother of all battles.
Round-the-clock surveillance of ground and air will be paramount. Russia must prevail.
Posted by: Circe | Apr 3 2022 12:09 utc | 268
Posted by: Aleenkags | Apr 3 2022 11:04 utc | 255
As of last Friday Gasprom Germany no longer exists as far as Gazprom is concerned.
Germany inherited all their assets free of charge including the empty pipework when Russia decides to turn off the Tap.
The Gas Contracts fell over with Gazprom Germany and its subsidiaries also.
Posted by: Kim | Apr 3 2022 12:14 utc | 269
If the gas stops flowing to Europe…it too will crumble.
Posted by: Circe | Apr 3 2022 12:17 utc | 270
Posted by: sarz | Apr 3 2022 11:19 utc | 259
America wanted regime change as Kahn refused USA Military bases.
Posted by: Kim | Apr 3 2022 12:18 utc | 271
@ Brother Ma , 258
Did the IMF and the World bank really say you won’t get loans if you try and become self -sufficient in agriculture?
The key term to that is structural adjustment programms (SAP).
https://fpif.org/structural_adjustment_programs/
Posted by: Moses | Apr 3 2022 12:29 utc | 272
I have a gut feeling we are in surprise in next week or so regarding Russian regrouping and attack on Donbass cauldron.
Russian planers love maskirovka, it is never that straight forward as expected. I expect some new fronts opening parallel with squeezing of Donbass. Russians have extra troops and firepower, they surveyed enemy positions, things are somewhat “static” now meaning enemy built some expectations where and how fight is. Perfect time for breaking it.
Just a gut feeling.
Posted by: Abe | Apr 3 2022 12:34 utc | 273
On its face the big pivot from Kiev, Kharkov etc. to focus on the Donbass cauldron makes little sense.
If the cauldron really is effectively sealed off the way the “expert” commentators have been assuring us for so many weeks now, then it can be left to be reduced at leisure later on while for now the main Russian effort goes into securing Odessa and the hostile western part of the country, an absolute necessity if Russia’s still serious about preventing any part of the Ukraine becoming a de facto NATO zone.
But this apparent turn back toward the Donbass, coupled with the baffling willingness of the Russians to hold farcical-looking “talks” with the Kiev regime, sure looks like a major diminution of Putin’s overall aspirations for the war.
Posted by: Flying Dutchman | Apr 3 2022 12:54 utc | 274
Fascinating interview by @gregtabibian of Alain Juillet, former head of France’s intelligence services DGSE (French CIA equivalent) under Chirac: https://youtube.com/watch?v=AQhGxsprH8A
I’ll translate and summarize what he says about Ukraine, and notably on the origins of the war.
https://twitter.com/RnaudBertrand/status/1510495717520928772
Posted by: Arne Hartmann | Apr 3 2022 12:57 utc | 275
On his Telegram channel Oleg Tsarev predicted the method the SBU would use to accuse Russia of atrocities in Irpin and Bucha: https://t.me/olegtsarov/1443
Here is the partial machine translation. The entire post is twice as long:
SBU is preparing a cynical provocation with corpses to accuse Russia of war crimes
According to our sources in Kyiv, the SBU is preparing a large-scale provocation in order to accuse Russian troops of massacres and torture of civilians. For this purpose, the bodies of those killed in the dungeons of the SBU are brought to the cities of Irpen and Bucha, where bloody battles took place. As you know, these cities were abandoned by Russian troops as part of the redeployment. The Americans ordered the SBU to urgently take all those shot in their dungeons to these cities, scatter the corpses on the streets, in destroyed houses. The task was set to bring to Irpen and Bucha about 300 corpses of dead citizens of Ukraine, including those shot in the dungeons of the SBU. In particular, the SBU arrested everyone who collaborated with Oleg Tsarev during the distribution of humanitarian aid in the village of Borodyanka. They were shot, and their corpses were transported to Bucha and Irpin.
Horrific footage of the dead, most of whom were shot in the back of the head, will be presented to the world media as evidence of the brutal treatment of the local population by Russian troops. As planned by the SBU and their American curators, all this should take place according to the scenario of a staged “chemical attack” in the Syrian city of Douma.
So it’s clear why all the bodies seen in the staged photos have no blood on them…
Posted by: ChasingGlowies | Apr 3 2022 12:57 utc | 276
Interesting posting on strategic-culture by Ethret.
Was prompted by broadcast in UK on what I suppose is a documentary titled The Traitor King or something close to that.
Did anyone here see that documentary? I am having trouble to believe it is real – too strange. Ethret goes into an amazing spiel.
Posted by: jared | Apr 3 2022 12:57 utc | 277
Posted by: Kim | Apr 3 2022 12:14 utc | 268
Do explain how that happens ? There is no mechanism for Shareholders and Equity-holders to simply exit the store. It is not possible. The balance-sheet is the responsibility of the Shareholder and even in Liquidation – which is a convoluted process in Germany – you cannot simply walk away.
So what exactly did Gazprom Germania and Rosneft agree with the Scholz regime ?
Posted by: Paul Greenwood | Apr 3 2022 13:00 utc | 278
Aleenkags @ 255
What do we think? I think that when I say versions of that around here I get shot down or ignored. The Western audience, even the slightly aware persons on the fringe, will need to be slapped upside the head with a 4×4 repeatedly over a long period of time. Normalcy bias rules.
Posted by: oldhippie | Apr 3 2022 13:01 utc | 279
Imagine the uproar from the West if this idiot was pushing the idea of putting Russian nukes in countries close to the USA. The hypocrisy from clowns like this guy knows no bounds.
“Jaroslaw Kaczynski, Poland’s Deputy Prime Minister, has spoken in favor of US nuclear weapons being deployed in eastern Europe, citing Russia’s military offensive against Ukraine.
In an interview with Germany’s Die Welt news outlet published on Sunday, Kaczynski said that “fundamentally, it makes sense to expand nuclear sharing to the eastern flank,” apparently referring to a NATO concept by which “the benefits, responsibilities and risks of nuclear deterrence are shared across the Alliance.” The Polish official noted, however, that such an initiative should come from the US.”
Posted by: Republicofscotland | Apr 3 2022 13:01 utc | 280
the US are not too pleased about that, hence the interference.
The “interference” has been going on for decades. – Gen Zia ul-Haq was put there by the USA to pursue their hardline Islamist agenda. IMF imposed austerity on Pakistan closing schools and cutting healthcare budgets – that is how Saudi came to fund Madrassas.
USA enhanced Saudi Arabian influence in Pakistan which is unstable at both ends – with Kashmir as one incendiary situation in the east and the Pashtun tribal lands in the west straddling the Pakistan/Afghan border – the notorious North West Frontier of the British Raj
Posted by: Paul Greenwood | Apr 3 2022 13:05 utc | 281
Posted by: Abe | Apr 3 2022 12:34 utc | 272
Posted by: Flying Dutchman | Apr 3 2022 12:54 utc | 273
Methinks about M-19 to Kovel-Lutsk-Lvov and M-21 to Korosten- Zhitomir and further down Vinnitsa.
I also expect no-confidence motion in the Bundestag to oust Scholz/Baerbock, backed by industrials with FDP going to coalition with CDU-CSU.
I expect France/ Germany/Turkey to leave NATO.
Opportunists always support victory…
Posted by: Greg Galloway | Apr 3 2022 13:07 utc | 282
ChasingGlowies | Apr 3 2022 12:57 utc | 275
Yep, major psy-ops going on, the “Massacre of Bucha”. It already has a Wikipedia entry. Bodies of civilians randomly sprawled on streets, discovered not by Ukrainian media, but by AFP and Reuters, of course. It’s just a coinkidink that those 2 outlets were 1st on scene. And 1st on scene means a whole 48 hours after the city was actually retaken by Ukrainian forces. Apparently, the Ukrainians entered the place on March 31, but the story broke just yesterday.
Guess we should have been expecting a sick, stupid stunt like this, on Ukrainian territory recently released by Russian forces. But I for one haven’t.
Posted by: Scotch Bingeington | Apr 3 2022 13:24 utc | 283
Posted by: jared | Apr 3 2022 12:57 utc | 276
I haven’t seen the doco, so I do not know if there is much new stuff, but it has been known for many years that Edward VIII was far too close the the NAZIs and that the dislike of Wallace Simpson was more about her very “friendly” relations with the German Ambassador.
My understanding was that during the war they packed him off as governor to Barbados or somewhere- where he could do little harm.
Of course many of the British upper class were NAZI sympathizers. He was probably not the only Royal with such sympathies. There is also the mysterious flying accident and death of his brother, Duke of Kent, around about the time Hesse was sending out feelers to the British. The Duke of Kent was known to be a negotiator with some brains and had been used on diplomatic missions. He was however very anti Russian.
Posted by: watcher | Apr 3 2022 13:27 utc | 284
German drivers rallye to support Russia!
Video:
https://t.me/intelslava/24288
Posted by: Greg Galloway | Apr 3 2022 13:34 utc | 285
Posted by: Paul Greenwood | Apr 3 2022 13:00 utc | 277
I guess after you have had the buyer steal money from you and then refuse to pay in Rubles,then anything is possible.
All you have to do is walk back across the boarder,shut the door,hang a Gazprom bank sign above the door,turn the gas tap off and redirect all phone enquiries to President Vladimir Putin.
Posted by: Kim | Apr 3 2022 13:37 utc | 286
@Richard Steven Hack | 171
“Maybe I should just sit this one out until the war is over one way or the other.”
—-
Please don’t. You’re not wasting your time.
Posted by: Doug Hillman | Apr 3 2022 13:48 utc | 287
NASA on Friday began a critical two-day-long test of its giant Space Launch System (SLS) rocket complete with a simulated countdown, as the agency gears up to return humans to the Moon.
Posted by: Dadda | Apr 3 2022 3:38 utc | 200
To return to the moon it would have been necessary to have gone there at least once, which never happened. All hollywood kind propaganda.
By the way “we” went to Mars too.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Martian_(film)
Posted by: Olivier | Apr 3 2022 13:55 utc | 288
Posted by: Greg Galloway | Apr 3 2022 13:07 utc | 283
I also expect no-confidence motion in the Bundestag to oust Scholz/Baerbock, backed by industrials with FDP going to coalition with CDU-CSU.
That would be a minority government – something German politicians abhor. It’s not going to happen.
Doesn’t mean that they won’t try to oust Scholz but that Baerbock will be a part of the new government. (Alternatively they can go for AfD instead of the Green party. Now that would cause an uproar.) Friedrich Merz will certainly jump at the opportunity.
Posted by: Martina | Apr 3 2022 14:03 utc | 289
the chances of the US landing on the Moon in the near future are…. shall we say small.
Posted by: Norwegian | Apr 3 2022 8:51 utc | 246
They are non existent. No rocket is powerful enough from the earth to land a man on the moon and return. It is necessary first to build a station in earth orbit and to upload the material and the fuel. There are also some other little problems not yet resolved like radiations.
Of course a hollywood production is always possible with much better chances of fooling everybody than 50 years ago.
Posted by: Olivier | Apr 3 2022 14:09 utc | 290
On its face the big pivot from Kiev, Kharkov etc. to focus on the Donbass cauldron makes little sense.
If the cauldron really is effectively sealed off the way the “expert” commentators have been assuring us for so many weeks now, then it can be left to be reduced at leisure later on while for now the main Russian effort goes into securing Odessa and the hostile western part of the country, an absolute necessity if Russia’s still serious about preventing any part of the Ukraine becoming a de facto NATO zone.
But this apparent turn back toward the Donbass, coupled with the baffling willingness of the Russians to hold farcical-looking “talks” with the Kiev regime, sure looks like a major diminution of Putin’s overall aspirations for the war.
Posted by: Flying Dutchman | Apr 3 2022 12:54 utc | 273
The “talks” I can only see as maskirovka, feigned weakness. I think this is a long game, and was always planned to be, unless for the unlikely but not entirely impossible success of an early surrender or military coup against NATO/CIA command. That did not work out, and I don’t think this came as a surprise, at all.
There are three stated goals:
The liberation of Donbass.
The demilitarization of the entire Ukraine.
The denazification of the entire Ukraine.
The second goal is largely accomplished, and time works in its favour. Russia can destory fuel depots and military hardware pretty much as leisure. Does not need to enter cities. Does not need, nor want to, kill and die a lot for this purpose.
The last goal, “denazification”, is the hardest one. But I think Peskov said today again that all stated goals will be accomplished.
Unlike much of the rest of the Ukraine, the Donbass, and perhaps also Cherson, can be trusted to manage on their own after liberation. With local administration, policing, defence, all pro-Russian. Let’s set that up, then. Begin to build the peace. Rather than keep the war and the Ukrainian shelling of civilians from their bunkers going for months in this region, while keeping on killing and dying in the rest of Ukraine. Donbass has suffered enough.
If the Donbass is cleared and made peaceful, and maybe also Cherson and even Zaporoshskaya, these regions may become a beacon of light for the rest. How long will it be before the rest then accepts peace on Russia’s terms? Which are clearly stated as: give us the nazis, and then do what you like (except have a military, and oppress Russian speakers).
West Ukraine will be demilitarized and NATO and CIA will not have access. I think Russia will have the intelligence and the means to see that this part of the bargain is kept, if Ukraine accepts it, or else, rinse and repeat. Occupation is not needed. But I don’t think they really need to fight much, just wait for it. Take control of the western borders, perhaps. Remind NATO that their entering Ukraine remains casus belli.
And the rest of Ukraine don’t need to be friendly. Let go of that sentimental stuff. Nobody in Russia likes them or thinks of them as brothers anyway, apart from the occasional kindhearted sovok.
Fancy Odessa may not want to be friends with the RF, but they sure as hell don’t want to remain with the losers. A cosmopolitan free state, perhaps, demilitarized, or they might have to accept an RF naval base.
Posted by: veto | Apr 3 2022 14:12 utc | 291
@ ChasingGlowies 277
On his Telegram channel Oleg Tsarev predicted the method the SBU would use to accuse Russia of atrocities
The US also has the UN looking at Russian “atrocities” but these won’t go anywhere beyond charges. The UK is a party to the Rome Statute, the International Criminal Court in the Hague, but Russia and the US are not.
Posted by: Don Bacon | Apr 3 2022 14:15 utc | 292
Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Apr 3 2022 2:03 utc | 172
What exactly did you expect when the war started? Surely the name “Special Operation”should have given a hint that objectives were limited.
Taking over all of Ukraine was never a realistic option, and indeed never thought of I think. I read somewhere that China was firm about not supporting any long term invasion.
So far we have:
1. Lukansk freed, probably voting to join Russia
2. Donbass partly free, but obviously still a bit of a mess.
3. Mariopol almost free and the whole Sea of Azov. This is a major strategic plus.
4. The resources of Ukraine in terms of fuel and supplies wiped out
5. The Kharkov situation is disappointing
6. Kiev is unclear. No idea what Russia hoped to achieve here, but I feel sure a military invasion was never intended ie no urban warfare. I feel pretty sure that while Russia expected an easy capitulation, with a new more reasonable government. This has not happened. Yes we need to be honest and realistic. This is a major setback for Russia.
7. Odessa and Nikoleyev – work in progress.
Posted by: watcher | Apr 3 2022 14:15 utc | 293
Posted by: Martina | Apr 3 2022 14:03 utc | 289
Alternative is to pay gas in Ruble (or even highway to Hell with no gas and no speed limit)!
Let’s have a CDU+FDP+Grün (with Baerbock somewhere else like Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety, and Consumer Protection).
Posted by: Greg Galloway | Apr 3 2022 14:22 utc | 294
In Pakistan, the US for many years provided financial support to Pakistan knowing full well that Pakistan supported the Taliban. That was made explicit in General McChrystal’s 2009 report to Obama, fully publicized. Recently Trump & Biden are receiving static for ending this profitable war after only twenty years. . .Now the US is embarked on a similar situation (not the same) in eastern Europe which is thankfully (to the US) leading to pushing the Pentagon up and Europe down.
Posted by: Don Bacon | Apr 3 2022 14:26 utc | 295
@ watcher 293
I feel pretty sure that while Russia expected an easy capitulation
There you go again with feelings leading to “a major setback for Russia.”
Posted by: Don Bacon | Apr 3 2022 14:30 utc | 296
Is Kharkov really a disappointment? It’s the second largest city in Ukraine and according to recent reports the Russian force in Ukraine might be much smaller than originally thought, on the order of no more than 80 thousand men. Don’t expect any occupation beyond the East and South unless the balance of forces changes drastically.
Posted by: ChasingGlowies | Apr 3 2022 14:39 utc | 297
Posted by: watcher | Apr 3 2022 14:15 utc | 293
You are a troll, a sophisticated troll, but still a troll. And your opinion – like guess work – has not value at all. So no point to comment your absurdities.
You are polluting this site.
Posted by: Olivier | Apr 3 2022 14:39 utc | 298
A must read!
Interview of Sergey Glazyev:
http://thesaker.is/events-like-this-happen-once-a-century-sergey-glazyev-on-the-breakdown-of-epochs-and-changing-ways-of-life/
Posted by: Olivier | Apr 3 2022 14:43 utc | 299
You know — even in well-off Canada, some of these “suffering Ukrainians, oh the indecency!” reports just come off as… well …
“Ukraine scrambling to export grain as Russia’s war blocks Black Sea ports: analyst”
https://globalnews.ca/news/8730547/ukraine-export-grain-russia-war/
Posted by: Bruised Northerner | Apr 3 2022 14:46 utc | 300