From:
https://greatwarchannel.medium.com/%D0%BF%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%BF%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%B2%D0%B0-%D0%BF%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%BF%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%B2%D0%B0-922630a9ab71
regarding the satellite photos of all the equipment on both banks of the pontoon bridge crossing of the Severski Donets…
A photo series with mountains of the beaten equipment near a crossing through the Seversky Donets caused the whole squall of discussions. The Ukrainian side celebrates another victory on twitter, мамкин OSINT laboriously considers fragments, among (about) the Russian observers the despondency reigns. Generally came to uncover darling флюгегехаймен and to get down to business.
For a start we will repeat elements:
1) The photo and short video without binding to date are a “fly in amber”, we don’t know what was to and what happened after the shooting moment.
2) We also don’t know during what time there was what remained then on shooting.
3) Both parties use a similar set of military equipment. It is difficult to determine accessory of the concrete car by the available photos and video, and it is often impossible.
4) As we wrote in a grant for mamkiny OSINT of the analyst, the parties already managed to exchange several times the equipment that only confuses observers
5) At the Ukrainian side and partially western party of observers (which began to consider the burned equipment) by default powerful confirmation bias. And here some details they it is conscious or on ignorance ignore.
Having armed with this not sensational, but useful knowledge we will start studying materials.
We will thoroughly not be driven in each piece of equipment, but we will consider the most important.
Photo 1
On the Photo 1 we can already notice very strange things (тм), namely fragments of BMP-1 (1, 2 and 4) and the BQ of a tower still broken by detonation and too from BMP-1 (3 and 6)
One more curious exhibit is 5 which we defined how BTR-D.
BTR-D uses airborne forces of the Russian Federation, but the Ukrainian airmobile and ground forces have them and. Also armored personnel carriers of this type got to LDNR forces as trophies.
And here with BMP-1 it is more and more interesting. The Russian army doesn’t use basic BMP-1 option any more. “Infidel” and BRM-1K, but also that uses BMP-1AM, and other car obviously small single towers of good old “kopek” differ in fighting office, and here.
BMP-1 is on arms of national militias of LPR and the DPR.
We go to the next slide.
Photo 2
What do we see on this photo? (C)
First, whole horde of BMP-1. Are unambiguously identified number 6, 7, 11, 12, 20, 21, 15, 16 and 19. About 12 it is possible to make out a turret. Nine pieces, plus three on the previous shot. Twelve “kopeks”. Yes, number 6 is BMP-1, it is better visible on other shot.
Already it is impossible to tell about an accidental trophy which was “picked up” by the Russian troops.
Pearl of this shot is number 10 which with a high share of probability is that other as Ukrainian “bronemedichka” on the basis of MT-LB, namely MT-LB S delivered to AFU since 2015. According to open data of cars of this type at AFU about 70, not such a rarity.
The nine is obvious old “motolyga” which with a small turret.
Number 8, 13, 17, 18 and 14 are defined worse. Most likely it is cars of the MT-LB family, at number 13 even the small turret is guessed.
Next slide.
Photo 3
We continue calculation of BMP-1.
Number 23, 25, 27, 28, 29 and 30. Twelve “kopeks” plus six more, already eighteen! It is too much to be accident.
Bonus “motolyga”, number 22 wormed way.
Further.
Photo 4
We continue to consider “kopeks” (the truth with us it is cheerful?)
Number 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 37, 41. Already 25 counted!
And at numbers 41, 31 and 35 badges “O” are obviously visible that indicates belonging to allied forces, but doesn’t explain why such badges aren’t applied on all cars.
Number 36 is MT-LB and such feeling again that he threw a tower too.
Number 38 isn’t clear.
Number 39 and 40 it is the T-72 tanks, perhaps B. Prich cars don’t look damaged. However, it is not news. Both parties of the conflict have most of all pain and humiliations “light” armor of the Soviet development — the IFV, the armored personnel carrier, MT-LB and BRDM tests.
Photo 5
And from this place is more detailed.
Number 42 is KAMAZ 8х8 with a pontoon, it is difficult to mix his accessory.
Number 43 is similar to PTS, numbers from 44 to 47 are various elements of the pontoon and bridge park, and similar parks (for example PMP-60 is used also by Ukrainians), it is difficult to distinguish the unloaded links.
48 and 49 it is the BMK towing powerboats.
Well, data we gathered enough. Let’s pass to conclusions.
1) On structure of the burned equipment we see presence of the Russian and Ukrainian armies and also forces of LPR or the DPR. To write down all heap in the Russian losses it won’t turn out any more.
2) Apparently on a photo 5, a footpath there nayezzhenny, as it is clear. After explosion of bridges such convenient location of a crossing couldn’t remain unaddressed both parties.
3) Thus, we approach the most probable version of what occurred on a crossing near Belogorovka. The place of a crossing was fallen in love to both parties. And, at first there otgrebl Ukrainians, but also the Russian (allied) forces suffered losses during a crossing.
4) “Mix” of the equipment and her state specify that the parties some time fought for a crossing (perhaps about a week) until it didn’t pass to allied troops.
5) On same specifies the Ukrainian photos and videos made from a respectful distance. A crossing obviously not under control of the Ukrainian forces, differently us already. otherwise we would have already been inundated with materials with hopak on the bones and broken equipment. They have a known tendency to tick-current peremogs.
6) By the way, the bodies are not visible, which suggests that one of the parties had the opportunity to take them out.
7) Another curious detail. The General Staff of Ukraine said that on the evening of May 11, “The enemy is trying to seize positions on the right bank,” and by the next morning, “the raven had crossed the rіchku Sіversky Donetsk for an offensive.”
Later there were reports that Russian troops not only did not retreat from the area, but also expand the bridgehead. It is difficult to say how true this is now, but on May 11, judging by the published satellite images, the crossing of Seversky Donets stood.”
No doubt the crossing was fought over, and there were losses, but the Russians prevailed, and now are exploiting their achievement.
War is HELL…
INDY

Posted by: Dr. George W Oprisko | May 13 2022 23:13 utc | 103

92, 93
Maybe the vigil around May 9 when things where supposed to happen caused a lapse in awareness on the 10th so that after the stress of maintaining watch took its toll on RUF and they were caught asleep.

Posted by: CarlD | May 13 2022 23:19 utc | 105

@58 “man on the street” interview was invented by folklorist Alan Lomax, the day after Pearl Harbor, December 8, 1942, a couple of weeks before Nisker was born, not to diminish anyone else’s accomplishments. Lomax’s interviews can be heard at the library of Congress website.

Posted by: Harold | May 13 2022 23:24 utc | 107

Pepe Escobar’s latest is now up on The Saker…
Empire of Bioweapon Lies
http://thesaker.is/empire-of-bioweapon-lies/

Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | May 13 2022 23:26 utc | 109

I regard any opinion of Richard S. Hack, as a “Hack” of the truth.
Posted by: Dr. George W Oprisko | May 13 2022 23:05 utc | 99
Yesterday I got way off on a tangent, leading to a book called “Logicomix: An Epic Search for Truth” about Bertrand Russell’s path through Mathematical Logic. I’ve got a love/hate relationship with this book. Almost everyone underestimates how awfully difficult a concept lies behind that little “t” word, so I appreciate the job the author’s did on their basic mission: truth is hard to know. But OTOH, this book about truth contains lies, imho, about the lives of some mathematicians. What can you do?
Truth is dynamic, like Earth’s atmosphere, ephemeral, like a passing scent. You can’t hold it in your hand. That doesn’t mean there’s no hope of truthtelling, no difference between truth and lies. Your post hooks me with the affectionate pun on RSH’s surname, because I’ve spent years in search of literature about truth, from Karl Popper to Denys the Areopagite… What could you call the falsification criterion of scientific statements, if not a hack of the truth? James Hanson invented a pocket-calculator technique for estimating a planet’s radiation — just a hack, but good enough for government work. What else do we have, besides hacks?

Posted by: Aleph_Null | May 13 2022 23:39 utc | 111

@ line islands | May 13 2022 22:34 utc | 85 Re:
“Eventually a demonstration test of an extremely large hydrogen bomb in the far north of Russia may become wise, with plenty of notice to the world, and lots of camera angles, so people are shocked into their senses.”
How could that be wise? People are already well aware of the power of an H-bomb, they have been tested before and why would the RF waste a perfectly good bomb on contaminating its own territory? It wouldn’t even demonstrate the willingness of the RF to use a nuclear weapon on a NATO target, it would only support the narrative that Putin is demented.

Posted by: MarkU | May 13 2022 23:49 utc | 113

Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | May 13 2022 23:07 utc | 100
Richard, even though I shudder at your reports, I thank you for making them. Not because I need to know what is going on; I don’t.
But somewhere out there is someone who loves someone in the ranks of the soldiers like those women not sufficiently trained with weapons they cannot rely on – war is hell but it doesn’t have to be THIS hell, worse than Dante’s ninth level!
A war consciously being fiendishly (I use the term deliberately) orchestrated by politicians only interested in saving their own skin. And that someone who loves someone might have a chance to stop this carnage for that loved individual, after reading what you report.
Thank you.

Posted by: juliania | May 14 2022 0:05 utc | 115

Latest Russian MoD briefing… Relatively slow day…

Briefing by Russian Defence Ministry
The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation continue the special military operation in Ukraine.
High-precision air-based missiles of the Russian Aerospace Forces have destroyed the headquarters of the territorial defence and battalion of the 24th Mechanized Brigade near Zolotoe and Vrubovka, Lugansk People’s Republic.
In addition, 32 areas of manpower and military equipment concentration and 1 ammunition depot near Krasnopavlovka, Kharkov Region, have been hit.
The attacks have resulted in the elimination of more than 300 nationalists and up to 37 armoured and motor vehicles.
Operational-tactical and army aviation have hit 3 AFU command posts, as well as 52 areas of manpower and military equipment concentration.
Missile troops and artillery have hit 17 command posts, as well as 370 areas of manpower and military equipment concentration and 5 artillery units at firing positions.
Russian air defence means have shot down 3 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles near Krasnopolie, Malaya Kamyshevakha, Kharkov Region, and Gorlovka, Donetsk People’s Republic.
In total, 165 Ukrainian aircraft and 125 helicopters, 845 unmanned aerial vehicles, 304 anti-aircraft missile systems, 3,039 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 369 multiple launch rocket systems, 1,498 field artillery and mortars, as well as 2,882 units of special military vehicles were destroyed during the operation.
#MoD #Russia #Ukraine #Briefing
@mod_russia_en

Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | May 14 2022 0:09 utc | 117

Posted by: hk | May 13 2022 23:39 utc | 109
I’d listen to a taxi driver who told me “you don’t wanna go into that neighborhood.” That’s local information he would know. But a taxi driver who tells me “I know a guy in the Pentagon who says they used nukes in Iraq”, well… I don’t think so.

Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | May 14 2022 0:12 utc | 119

A very interesting map of Russian cellphone subscribers around Ukraine:
https://t.me/rossia_3/6520
Looks like a huge concentration of Russian military aimed at Kharkov that has not engaged yet.
I think the Russians have a flexible plan based on phase lines not timelines. The second phase doesn’t really begin until Azov has been completely cleared from Azovstal, so that the crack units involved there can participate in the offensive. 2 or 3 days after azovstal falls the big offensive will begin.
Looks like the main axis is going to be Kharkov.

Posted by: Razumov | May 14 2022 0:16 utc | 121

They are vaguely different forms of bullshit but that is about all. So what was your point?
Posted by: MarkU | May 13 2022 22:16 utc | 79
Well, yeah, there’s no difference in the sense that neither statement is truthful, but both animate invidious connotations of “just war” opposed to “axis of evil”, rather than cynicism. I guess, I shouldn’t be surprised to find this find this cheap formula buried, like a repressed memory, in vdL’s screed inciting war; she survived a bit of a plagiary scandal didn’t she? But there it is: Ukraine symbolizes Israel, personified by Zelesk* himself, “a jewish president“. The difference is, Nazi Germany symbolizes Iran, in the present epic struggle to fulfill the one, true covenant ordained by GOTT.

Posted by: sln2002 | May 14 2022 0:24 utc | 123

Posted by: MarkU | May 14 2022 0:09 utc | 113
“You seem to be assuming that Gilbert Doctorow is a gullible fucking idiot”
If the shoe fits…
“and that the value of a persons worth as a source of information can be established purely from their current occupation.”
See my #116.
“What do you do for a living exactly? (the same question could be asked of anyone who posts here)”
And that would be relevant to the internals of the Russian government, how?
“I would tend to assume that there is a valid reason that Gilbert Doctorow values the information coming from said taxi driver, presumably because previous information and/or predictions have turned out to be correct.”
This is his level of trust:
“He maintains contact with former pals in the service and so I take his story with a high degree of trust.”
He believes the guy is ex-intelligence, then he believes the guy has active duty contacts in the service on a level to know what’s what, and then be believes those guys who he has no clue who they are or what their agenda is or where they got their information.
So it’s not just second-hand information, it’s not even third-hand information.
And then he assumes Putin might be influenced by this.
I’d say that makes Doctorow a gullible fucking idiot, at least as far as this article goes.
As I said before, Doctorow has a tendency to throw out stuff like this without any evidence or logic behind it. I view him as a lightweight when it comes to analysis. Occasionally he’s right and I credit him when he is. But he’s just as often wrong in my opinion. YMMV.

Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | May 14 2022 0:25 utc | 125

People die in wars. That’s why we shouldn’t have them. They die on both sides. The US does a good job of hiding that its forces suffer serious setbacks and die on the battlefield. Lots of things went wrong for the US in Iraq 2003, against a competent force but certainly inferior to Ukraine (especially with unlimited western assistance). It was hardly the rousing success it was portrayed at the time or in memory. They cut off press access at one point because there were too many dead American boys. People wondered if the British could ever take Basra. Kurds turned out to be unreliable allies in the north.
Russia will lose battles. It will be forced into tactical retreats. It’s not going to go shock and awe, and you’ll know things are going badly in the big picture it russia does.
Nobody’s fought a war like this since the 1950’s. It has the complications of a civil war. And a whole bunch of new technologies and methods are being applied. It’s unlikely Russia doesn’t achieve its stated goal and likely in less than 6 months. (Liberate friendly oblasts and demilitarize Ukraine) When this is over, one military in the world will have real world experience in modern warfare. Enlisted troops through the general staff. The rest of the world’s militaries will have watched and learned something but they won’t have real world experience in any quantity.

Posted by: Lex | May 14 2022 0:26 utc | 127

@RSH (116)
No one should expect a random everyman to “know” what’s “really” going on any topic of a large enough scope. But it is a window into what “regular people” in a country are thinking about such topics without anything “official” getting in the way. In most countries, citizens are distrusting of official pronouncements to varying degrees, yet, at the same time, they are also patriotic, when they feel that their country, way of life, and their kin are being threatened by outside forces. You’d want to know how people are handling these opposing impulses in order to make sense of the deeper public sentiment in a country and talking to regular people is a good way to start, although with a lot of caveats. As noted before, taxi drivers are about the only people that outsiders can talk easily to during a short stay and are an extremely limited source of information. But they are a window without the official narrative getting in the way, nevertheless, however limited it is.

Posted by: hk | May 14 2022 0:34 utc | 129

Russia must turn Odesa into next Mariupol as soon as possible. That’s the best way to neutralize Ukraine. With Snake Island firmly in Russian hands destruction of Nazis in Odesa will seal Ukraine’s fate.

Posted by: Jason | May 14 2022 0:37 utc | 131

a flexible plan based on phase lines not timelines. The second phase …
Posted by: Razumov | May 14 2022 0:16 utc | 118
appears to be materializing, featuring a “model minority” technocrat.
Ukraine War Day #77: Never Too Early To Think About Rebuilding

Posted by: sln2002 | May 14 2022 0:46 utc | 133

Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | May 13 2022 19:04 utc | 28
“I regard Doctorow as an unreliable source.”
lol yeah that was an absolutely ridiculous article. How embarrassing to be the guy who stoops to writing obvious BS like that. Even neocon shill Thomas Friedman could make his dorky taxi driver stories sound more believable.

Posted by: darrren price | May 14 2022 0:55 utc | 135

“So, an increasingly Totalitarian West led by the Outlaw US Empire is overtly allied with its Terrorist Foreign Legion, by arming it and providing media and political support. I’d be very surprised if the Russian Security Council hasn’t come to a similar conclusion.
Posted by: karlof1 | May 13 2022 21:19 utc | 56
____
I too think it’s clear Russia concluded this many years ago. The Nazis the US is exploiting now as Ukraine’s “freedom fighters” are much like the “moderate” terrorists US-Israel hired to oust Assad in Syria, including al-Qaeda (arch-nemesis to ally), al-Nusra ISIS, etc. In that case, Russia deftly used US propanda efforts to hide behind these “rogue” terrorists to enter the fray at Assad’s invitation and fight the very forces that US and Israel (CIA/Mossad) funded and supported. What a burn! No wonder they hate Putin; he runs circles around their Machiavellian machinations.

Posted by: Doug Hillman | May 14 2022 1:04 utc | 137

“Personally I go with the Russian polls that show the bulk of the Russian people are behind Putin. I also go with what Mercouris says about Russian media channels supporting the operation and further, that even people he knows in Russia who are pro-Western are lining up behind the operation.”
Richard Steven Hack@131
But that is exactly the position that Doctorow takes.
In this article he does mention another taxi driver who, trying to ingratiate himself with a foreigner, said he opposed the war. But Doctorow is one of the foremost western observers insisting that the operation is generally supported among the general public.
I wonder how many of those piling on the guy for doing what every writer in his position does, if he speaks the language well enough, have actually read the article?
Perhaps they prefer the reports of other American journalists in Russia. If so please share them.

Posted by: bevin | May 14 2022 1:25 utc | 139

Martyanov today on “trolls”, “concern trolls”, and Telegram channels… Well, some people may be “butthurt” (to use his favorite phrase) about this, but as he also always says “it is what it is.” YMMV.

Statement For Ukie and Other Trolls. Read Attentively.
Judging by the activity of all kinds of Ukie IPSO and simply “patriotic”, US-UK, NATO etc. trolls and FUD “masters” at this blog, including promoters of an open anti-Russian asset Girkin (aka Strelkov), let me explain something.
1. I do not have nor do I follow any Telegram channels for a simple reason–ANY, I underscore, ANY so called info in those TGs unless it is from official and accredited sources is a collection of a BS, most of which is either FUD ops or, otherwise, turbo-“patriotic” crap. It is also the main reason I do not follow all those Podolyakas, “Colonel” Cassads, Kotenoks, and other “analysts” whose level of reporting is this:
“I was in the first APC when we got hit with NLAW….”, or “We take these POWs but we have got 2 200s in our unit..” etc. I respect deeply the combat work LDNR forces do and heroism of their guys but I do not bother myself with constant description of tactical and human minutiae of this war, because this is not what I do. I AM NOT interested in opinions of even heroic and very tactically literate soldiers. Even the best of them do not have background to have a competent opinion on the theater of operations scale-wise issues, let alone on geopolitics and strategy. This is not to denigrate those people, no, but unless one has a serious military-intel-academic background in this there is nothing to talk about. But even tactically, you saw yourself how yet another Ukie fake was debunked with this river-crossing BS. So, for trolls–I now will ban you without any warning and will continue to ban you.
2. Here is how professionals talk about war.
They talk about war correlates, attrition rates, mobilization, combat cohesion etc. They also do not get excited over some tactical episodes which create a lot of impression on housewives and househusbands, mama’s basement “strategists” and the category of public like this. I try in this blog to bring most professional and competent opinions by people who DO understand and you know those people from Larry Johnson, Douglas Macgregor to Scott Ritter, Russian MoD, Russian military specialists etc. I do not take kindly to those who bring here such human waste as Girkin–those posts will be removed, unless they are for the purpose of making a case from such tools as Girkin, Bellingcat and other intel propaganda assets and poking well-deserved fun at them.
3. So, the general message here (I reiterate) is that I will be removing all kinds of “analyses” which are obviously fake or are nothing, which is the 99% of the cases, but a result of mass media echo-chamber, because REAL plans, REAL maps, REAL movements of troops, REAL data are known only to Russia’s General Staff and nobody else. Us, former military and intel professionals, we merely try to give the operational and strategic framework–that requires a completely different set of skills which is required on the tactical level.

Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | May 14 2022 1:35 utc | 141

Posted by: bevin | May 14 2022 1:25 utc | 136
I read the article. He can ask anyone he likes for info. When he starts taking random comments about the progress of the SMO from a taxi driver seriously, he’s an idiot. Period. End of story.
Read my immediate post above.

Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | May 14 2022 1:37 utc | 143

Posted by: jared | May 14 2022 1:35 utc | 139
“Generally, you wont find such information mention of acknowledged or discussed in a rational manner on this site. Only self reinforcing or harmless commentary is allowed.”
Bullshit. We just spent half this thread on the subject, and I and others posted several analyses from various sources. In the end, no one but the Russian military (and possibly the Ukrainian military) knows what happened or why. The important thing is the meaning of what happened and as I pointed out that meaning is a minor tactical issue on a local front caused by no one knows what.
“Even Mercouris, it pains him to discuss negative news though I find he is becoming more balance.”
Unlike the butthurt here being displayed by the concern trolls. Mercouris does very well reporting the military situation on the ground. I don’t think he’s always entirely accurate, but given that almost no one knows any different, I generally find him to be nuanced and careful in his assessments, emphasizing as he does that he is by no means a military expert. He gets his information from the same sources everyone else does, but he also gets input from people who do know military matters.
“Basically, assume everyone is lying and think for yourself.”
Good advice – which I follow.

Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | May 14 2022 1:46 utc | 145

sln2002 #130
From your link:

Approximately 400,000 people live in this city; in other words, it’s huge, by Ukrainian standards….
[the Ukies blew up the water mains]
Shesler again: “This [water pipe] is the single source of drinking water. Leaving people without water is tantamount to a humanitarian catastrophe.”
I will try to follow this story and see if there is some improvement. For the time being, file this under This is what happens when you appoint ideologues instead of technocrats, to administer your regions.

Thinking of Flint Michigan and the entire abandonment from local right through to the EPA and O’bummers appointee.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | May 14 2022 1:50 utc | 147

Anyways — I simply don’t share your aversion to unreliable rumors rising from men or women “on the street”. Wouldn’t you like to know whether other Russians, besides the driver who happened to pick up Doctorow, share such sentiments?
Posted by: Aleph_Null | May 13 2022 21:24 utc | 58
Hey…I’m all for acquiring an accurate gauge of public sentiment by sifting through the chatter, but I don’t feel that one taxi driver in St. Petersburg does the trick. Let’s hear from a few more taxi drivers, not to mention their fares and perhaps some people who don’t take taxis.

Posted by: Activist Potato | May 14 2022 2:06 utc | 149

juliania @143 and previous posts about Pope Francis
I have read some days ago that the Pope said – paraphrasing – ‘NATO was barking at the door of Kremlin’ – was that indeed what he said?

Posted by: fanto | May 14 2022 2:10 utc | 151

Dr. George W Oprisko #101

INDY

Thank you for that link to a good site. There is much to explore in there and I look forward to that as a daily goto.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | May 14 2022 2:42 utc | 153

“Why would people give more weight to a Pope’s remarks, before anyone else’s?”
He be de Pope, man. Ya gotta get down and kiss the ring, man.
I have this project called ‘simple hedge voting’, and all the ‘experts’ in their echo chamber hate me because of it.
One giant echo chamber is the Interagency narrative of “Russia be bad, Russia be bad, Russia be bad”. Really once the toads start honking it never stops.

Posted by: blues | May 14 2022 2:45 utc | 155

@129 RSH
Peter didn’t merely state Russian forces got hit; he stated they got hammered at the pontoon bridge site. Big difference. So why single me out in that nasty tone? Never mind.
Also, I believe the excerpt you quoted @ 95 stated the 15,000 Ukie forces with U.S. fire-power are mobilizing from the Nikolayev area to frontlines in Ukraine West of the Donets, not to the Russian border. I thought the Russians retreated from Kharkiv and blew bridges along the way. The attacks inside Russia will be staged by other Ukie forces, probably the ones that were fighting around Kharkiv which you stated in brackets are crap, while the main thrust by massed Ukie forces with U.S. weaponry will be staged West of the Donets River. I’m speculating, but this looks like the likely scenario, since that’s the area Russian forces are trying to cross the river to take. I looked up those towns in your post @95 i.e. Vysokole and Knyazevka and can’t find them on any map.
I’m not so much upset as questioning how the pontoon bridge ambush and the hit on 13 Russian vessels since the start of SMO happened and what should have been done to prevent such losses.
▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎

Clearly, the Pope’s no longer Catholic; he’s now NATO and has proven to be what many feared when he was elevated: He’d become a mere pawn, which he now proves he has.
Posted by: karlof1 | May 13 2022 21:30 utc | 61

I wrote a comment weeks ago that never posted, not sure why, wherein I tore into the proposed idea of getting the Pope to visit Ukraine. I felt if he accepted the invite, it would be incongruent with his supposed role as peacemaker to remove all ambiguity and display affinity with one side, allowing himself to be used as a pawn for U.S. hegemony and NATO expansion.
Later, I wrote another comment which posted, wherein I stated that Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill should make up and embrace, because they’re really soulmates on the same stairway to heaven.

The house boy rings the Tuvan –
Posted by: Peter AU1 | May 13 2022 21:46 utc | 66

Please don’t refer to him as the house boy. I know he’s a MIC/NATO tool, but he deserves a modicum of respect; we’re better than that.

From now on Pope Frank, for me, is:
NATO’s altar boy.
Posted by: Aleph_Null | May 13 2022 22:38 utc | 87

LOL! You’re reverse zinger is priceless. However, the Pope is proving he’s diplomatically clumsy and not infallible, so let’s give him another chance to get it right.

Posted by: Circe | May 14 2022 2:48 utc | 157

I’m exhausted correction @154: Your reverse zinger…
Done and out!

Posted by: Circe | May 14 2022 2:56 utc | 159

Posted by: Scorpion | May 14 2022 2:06 utc | 147
“Personally, I cannot follow Martyanov’s video. His accent and intonation mangle the language so much I can’t handle more than about 2 minutes.”
He is an acquired taste. After you view a few of them, you pick up on his patterns of speech (or perhaps non-patterns of speech might be a better term.) 🙂
“I don’t watch any of these battlefield videos or listen to accounts from the front. For the reasons he cites. They have no overview perspective.”
I agree. When I go through my Telegram channels, I skim down the list looking for significant amounts of text that might contain something important, then I translate it. The videos I mostly ignore unless they show something that might be interesting, say, a significant strike on a city or something. I’ve mentioned before that seeing another video of a Russian jet or a helicopter flying around somewhere is utterly boring and useless.
“For similar reasons don’t read or follow MSM articles or broadcasts. Waste of time.”
Yup.
“I get more from an hour going through comments with their various references and links than cruising myself.”
Yup.
“The good stuff ends up here anyway!!”
Yup. That’s why I go through the Telegram channels – to find something that at least offers some info to post here so everyone who doesn’t have a Telegram account can see it.
“Three Cheers to b!!”
Yup.

Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | May 14 2022 3:15 utc | 161

Soon come internationally fungible central bank issues digital currencies which will require digital ID’s.
shld read:
Soon come internationally fungible central bank issued digital currencies which will require digital ID’s.
(I swear, some bot somewhere is messing with my spelling.
Or maybe it’s the barfly effect (even though stone cold sober).
Or maybe my Russian-designed (?) Lenovo keyboard is messin’ with me?!)

Posted by: Scorpion | May 14 2022 3:26 utc | 163

Re Lira PS:
Also, based on photos on his latest Youtube videos (surprisingly not banned…. we wonders, aye, we wonders, Precious!) he is getting giddy.
Hmmm
Did some of that 40 billion make it to his account somewhere in same bank as Z?
Enquiring minds…..

Posted by: Scorpion | May 14 2022 3:34 utc | 165

If the MSM runs it (and they do) then it is unlikely to be true as presented.
Partially true possibly, but only possibly and that part can be incredibly small.
So whatever happened is on its own rather unimportant despite how callous it is to say so.
But the overall narrative and the stage it sets can still be important. Yes this is another Snake Island, and it sets the stage for further narrative developments and in particular the one I worry about which is the opportunity for a nuclear false flag where the US etc. think they’ll get away with stories of a “desperate Russia” taking extreme measures.
It is pretty much public knowledge that there are plenty of systems in this world continually sensing for nuclear detonations as well as other things. If you doubt it then ask yourself why then are the weapons continually armed and ready to go? Been that way for more than half a century. You don’t and can’t have all that many humans in the loop when you’re limited to minutes.
Even further than that at the present moment the Russian nuclear forces are operating in what is essentially “war mode” ie. the highest level of activity possible up until they launch and try to survive.
This has been reported to the public, it is not secret. It has been this way for weeks now.
A single detonation (and especially one relatively close to Russia and in an area that would have been covered by USSR systems) is one too many and tempting a fate too stupid to risk. Some people on both sides still seem to know but maybe too few on the US one and boy did they take their sweet time speaking up. Not convinced they’re getting through to their “leaders”.
The US must deescalate and withdraw. The Russians have not been and are not being unreasonable, it is “we” who are. “Our” words are worthless and “our” actions belligerent in the extreme.

Posted by: Sunny Runny Burger | May 14 2022 4:43 utc | 167

Posted by: Dr. George W Oprisko | May 14 2022 2:52 utc | 155
“I know one thing, and one thing only…. “Richard Stevens Hack” is not this poster’s real name…”
LOL Now that is a new one! Not that it matters. I’ve been posting under the same name since I got on the Internet twenty years ago. Even if it wasn’t my real name – and it is – it wouldn’t matter due to the consistency. A quick Google would show you posts of mine going back however long Google is willing to search on dozens of sites – and it’s all consistent views. Search this site – I believe I’ve had posts here from 6 or 8 years ago, mostly on Iran back then.
“Note that he only gives credence to MI6/CIA/NSA sources..”
Wow – So I guess Mercouris, Ritter, Macgregor, even Martyanov are “CIA assets”. Amazing. Andrei will want to know.
You just blew your credibility here, boyo. Not to mention your inability to formulate a sentence. Maybe you’re working for Trump or Biden since they can’t, either.
One of the funniest posts I’ve seen here – and that’s saying something given some of the jerkoffs.

Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | May 14 2022 4:50 utc | 169

It was deeply offensive.
Posted by: juliania | May 14 2022 1:49 utc | 143
Never in my life would I have expected Francis to smirk about his childish insult of the Patriarch. The whole world putrifies, at every facet. I’m disturbed that Catholic commentary on this historic insult remains completely oblivious, at this writing, to the significance of what Francis is doing. No “walking it back”; it was totally intentional, and Francis, after all, is infallible — until he isn’t.
It’s time for the world to remind Francis of previous Catholic problems, affiliating with Nazis. Now I’ve chosen some reading matter: The Deputy by Rolf Hochhuth, “the most controversial play of our time.”

Posted by: Aleph_Null | May 14 2022 4:55 utc | 171

Just watched the Defense Politics Asia video someone recommended earlier. He pointed out the same thing I did – 73 armored vehicles is not important in the overall picture. The Russians have destroyed over 3,000 Ukrainian vehicles, and Ukraine claims to have destroyed over 2,000 Russian vehicles (which I do not believe for a second.) 73 is a drop in the bucket. And as he pointed out, in the photos and video it looks like a lot of the vehicles there are either still operational or repairable.
Another point is that the photos and videos are inconsistent with there being only one crossing – but consistent with the Rybar analysis I posted earlier, i.e., there were at least two attempts to cross the river, and apparently at least one was not entirely unsuccessful. If you look at the first pontoon – the ones with the sunken tanks and tanks on the opposite shore, that seems clear.
The entire problem appears to be a lack of AD against surveillance drones overnight which enabled a Ukraine UAV to pinpoint the vehicle park area (which he notes is off the road itself for obvious reasons) for Ukrainian artillery.
If that’s true, no doubt someone will get chewed out, because there should have been major AD for a river crossing. And the next time they try, which I’m sure they will, there almost certainly will be. A few Pantsirs should at least be there.

Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | May 14 2022 5:09 utc | 173

@165 Richard Steven Hack | May 14 2022 4:50 utc – “blew your credibility…”
You shoulder the burden of a lot of nuances in your posts, and I appreciate that – but how about if we add one more layer, which is that few people actually blow their credibility for all time, just from one post?
Doctorow doesn’t destroy his long-haul value from some of the downs of his ups and downs, and Oprisko has established a lot more credibility over time here than could be wiped away in one post. You yourself are someone whom I stopped reading after your parting death threat some time ago, and whom I have gradually become fascinated with lately for the diamond worth of your reporting on the war.
We all say things that are less than we are. We all have ups and downs. Patience, forgiveness, forbearance, tolerance and wide acceptance of margins of error will help us all along the path together – even as we ruthlessly focus on the truth itself and nothing but.
Everybody just carry on, everything be just fine…
Two cents.

Posted by: Grieved | May 14 2022 5:24 utc | 175

Biden slips again… From Sputnik News Telegram channel…

Suddenly: Joe Biden forgot everything again and made a slip. This time about who is the president of the United States. At the summit of the United States and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Biden called Kamala Harris, the Vice president of the United States, an American leader. Or maybe he didn’t misspoke?

From the official transcript, the White House entered the “Vice”. I entered the “sic”. 🙂 And this is after he said “Vice President” several times earlier.
“And that’s why I asked [sic: Vice] President Harris to travel to the region last August…”

Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | May 14 2022 5:48 utc | 177

it’s hard to offer forgiveness, tolerance and patience to those won’t don’t appear to offer the same! thanks for your comment @ 171 grieved.. none of this comes easy to anyone… we’d all benefit from following what you say… easier said then done!

Posted by: james | May 14 2022 6:03 utc | 179

What will be saved in western Ukraine will be unable to grow enough to feed its own people. They will be forced to import US wheat, as well as US guns and the money to pay for both…”
http://johnhelmer.net/
Posted by: bevin | May 14 2022 1:08 utc | 135
Ukies unable to feed themselves? …more supportive, in-direct evidence of the WEF-driven, global depopulation ‘great reset.’

Posted by: ERing46Z | May 14 2022 6:14 utc | 181

@ Grieved | May 14 2022 5:24 utc | 171 with their two cents about life at the MoA bar to share with RSH
Thanks for that.
My additional two cents would be that this is an environment where it is best to have the 4th of the Hopi precept’s in mind when you contribute (Don’t own the outcome) as well as the perspective that what others may write about you often times says much more about them than it does about you.

Posted by: psychohistorian | May 14 2022 6:16 utc | 183

To Richard Steven Hack: You are very good and I urge you to keep up dealing with trolls. The Western propaganda is overwhelming and some people cannot believe that they are being lied to everyday. They simply can’t see the big picture, and brought up in a culture where hollowood reigns supreme or America got talent etc..
I do not go on to any social media websites for I know who owns them, just like I know who owns all of mainstream media. Everything in the taught history in the west is designed to make them look like the good guys, the saviours. It is completely incorrect, false and designed to brainwash.
Everyday you see the West coming up with more ways of sanctions or ways to stop others from trying to get needed supplies for their citizens. Everyday you see them begging, bullying countries to join their crusade. Why? They are winning just like in the hollowood movies.

Posted by: Karl luck | May 14 2022 6:26 utc | 185

SIM roaming data…?
@ TomD | May 14 2022 6:29 utc | 181
Looks like textbook Bellingcrap to me!

Posted by: Aleph_Null | May 14 2022 6:35 utc | 187

Scott Ritter on International Legion hijinks:

This inability to effectively screen genuine combat veterans from LARPers points to a lack of professionalism on the part of the International Legion.

https://consortiumnews.com/2022/05/13/scott-ritter-live-action-role-play-in-ukraine/

Posted by: Aleph_Null | May 14 2022 6:56 utc | 189

To what degree the Americans can increasing their dosage of involvement without being seen as a direct involvement that will lead to a big war?
Other than few east European countries who will continue to show their loyalty to the US, it is very difficult to believe that the test of the European countries are actually willing to turn this conflict into a major war with nuclear exchange that will grantee their capitals to be wiped a way in few seconds, starting with Finland!

Posted by: Man | May 14 2022 7:34 utc | 191

Posted by: Grieved | May 14 2022 5:24 utc | 171
“We all say things that are less than we are. We all have ups and downs. Patience, forgiveness, forbearance, tolerance and wide acceptance of margins of error will help us all along the path together – even as we ruthlessly focus on the truth itself and nothing but”…
Grieved, thanks for you polymath observations. You give the bar a certain tone. Thanks to RSH you do a lot of hard work. I’m glad you reappeared after your absence.
The last good thing out of Indiana was the 1964 Studebaker Datona. [South Bend] INDI

Posted by: Paul | May 14 2022 8:06 utc | 193

Posted by: Gerrard White | May 14 2022 8:52 utc | 189
What did he say?
It’s about time for some diplomacy. Why leave that to Austin?
Have the adults left the room?

Posted by: Paul | May 14 2022 9:00 utc | 195

re: Dr. George W Oprisko | May 13 2022 23:13 utc | 101
флюгегехаймен
ah, the new things I learn everyday, here at MOA.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NmYUUv8DUE
…Have the adults left the room?
Posted by: Paul | May 14 2022 9:00 utc | 190
foreseeing my comment, eh?

Posted by: tucenz | May 14 2022 9:15 utc | 197

@Gerrard White | May 14 2022 8:52 utc | 189
Significant in the sense that my first reaction after following that link was “Where is the readout?”.
Then I realized the “readout” was 2 sentences long, the first being an introduction. The second being an urge to “immediate ceasefire” from the party that is pouring weapons into western Ukraine. Maybe it is supposed to be understood as “stop shooting, we’re loosing”?

Posted by: Norwegian | May 14 2022 9:50 utc | 199