Media Tune Down Ukraine Hysteria - Continue To Print Falsehoods
The Ukraine war has fallen below the fold of the New York Times and the Washington Post. It is not the only sign that the 'western' war rage and cheer leading for Ukraine has ended. When one scrolls down though there are still Ukraine headlines on the NYT front page.
One is to its "live" coverage with the current headline saying:
Ukraine Live Updates: Russian Forces Move Into Center of Sievierodonetsk.
That 'live update' is two week behind the real news. As Reuters reported on May 31:
Russia takes most of Sievierodonetsk city in eastern Ukraine.
KYIV, May 31 (Reuters) - Ukraine said on Tuesday that Russia had taken control of most of the eastern industrial city of Sievierodonetsk, a bombed-out wasteland whose capture Moscow has made the principal objective of its invasion.
Some 'western' analysts had since falsely claimed that Ukraine had launched a counteroffensive into the city. That counterattack in fact never has taken place. The forces who were supposed to launch it where shelled to clumps before they could set off.
The NYT live update also includes this headline and report:
Amnesty says Russia’s use of cluster munitions caused widespread civilian deaths in Kharkiv.
Reading a bit into it one finds:
Amnesty said 606 civilians were killed in the Kharkiv region between Feb. 24 and April 28, citing the head of the regional medical department.In investigating 41 strikes that killed more than 60 civilians, Amnesty said its researchers found fragments of cluster sub-munitions as well as parts of rockets known to carry such weapons. Cluster munitions are banned under a 2010 treaty because of the risk they pose for noncombatants, but Russia, Ukraine and the United States are not among the more than 100 countries that have signed the convention. Ukraine has also used cluster munitions in the war.
Some 600 civilians died in Karkiv over a month. Debris from cluster bombs, which both sides use, was also found. That must mean that Russian forces must have killed those civilians?
Really?
This reminds me of 2008 when Amnesty's sister organization Human Rights Watch published a fake cluster bomb report during the Georgia war. Back then the HRW analyst Marc Garlasco falsely identified 'western' produced cluster bombs which had been fired by Georgia as Russian ones. It was easy to debunk that claim simply by checking HRW's own cluster bomb identification charts. (Shortly thereafter Garlasco was suspended and then fired over his fondness for Nazi memorabilia. His false and debunked report however is still on HRW's website.)
The Washington Post front page also links, below the fold, to live coverage. The current headline being:
Ukrainian forces pushed from Severodonetsk city’s center; NATO chief to Sweden
Again, the claim about Severodonetsk' city center is false. The Ukrainian forces have been 'pushed out' of it 14 days ago. Aside from the industrial western part, the Azot factory, the city has been under Russian control since May 31.
The WaPo live coverage includes this part:
Update from key battlefields: Russia makes gains in Severodonetsk, targets bridges
Slovyansk area: Russian forces are advancing toward this city in the Donetsk region and have made minor gains north of it. Russian troops have sought to destroy bridges over the Siverskyi Donets river to disrupt the flow of supplies and reinforcements between Severodonetsk and Lysychansk, but the destruction has made it difficult for them to successfully attack Slovyansk because of challenges crossing the river, according to analysts.
Here is a map of east Ukraine with red marking the Russian held territory.

bigger
Slovyansk is on the very left side of the map. Severodonetsk and Lysychansk are on the very right side of the map. A crow will have to fly 60 kilometer (37 miles) to reach from one to the others. Now please reread the WaPO paragraph above and see if it makes any geographical sense. How would destroyed bridges between Severodonetsk and Lysychansk hinder any attack on Slovyansk?
The 'analysts' WaPo linked as sources for that paragraph are the neo-conservative Institute for the Study of War which is the widely quoted prime outlet for Ukraine slanted propaganda about the war. It believe that it is also the source for the false claim both papers print about Severodonetsk's city center.
Now on towards real news: U.S. president Joe Biden has told NATO to end the proxy war in Ukraine as soon as possible.
Dr. David Lütke @DrLuetke - 20:33 UTC · Jun 12, 2022Today #NATO's #Stoltenberg stated that #negotiations are needed for #peace in #Ukraine.
Quote:
"Peace is possible. The question is how much territory, how much independence...are [Ukraine] willing to sacrifice for peace."Rhetoric is changing:
What happened to Ukraine winning?
video
This is the same Stoltenberg who in early April said that NATO must prepare for a ‘long haul’ in Ukraine. Who then said that the war could drag on for years. Jens Stoltenberg, who told us in May that we must put values over profits, is now talking about peace for territorial and sovereignty concessions.
It seems that someone has told Biden that there is zero chance for the Democrats to win in the midterm elections if gas prices stay beyond 5 dollar per gallon. Or maybe this Saturday NYT piece really got under his skin:
Should Biden Run in 2024? Democratic Whispers of ‘No’ Start to Rise.
In interviews, dozens of frustrated Democratic officials, members of Congress and voters expressed doubts about the president’s ability to rescue his reeling party and take the fight to Republicans.
Whatever.
Russia is winning the war. The Ukraine has lost the war and will also lose a large chunk of its territory. Its western fueled 'resistance' against the inevitable has seen to that. The U.S. and NATO now acknowledge that much.
Unfortunately some of Zelenski's advisors are still unable to recognize that:
Михайло Подоляк @Podolyak_M - 7:12 UTC · Jun 13, 2022Being straightforward – to end the war we need heavy weapons parity:
1000 howitzers caliber 155 mm;
300 MLRS;
500 tanks;
2000 armored vehicles;
1000 drones.Contact Group of Defense Ministers meeting is held in #Brussels on June 15. We are waiting for a decision.
"To end the war" ... Ukraine needs as many weapons as it had when the war started? What happened to those weapons? Will it also need 50 pink unicorns?
It is over. How much territory Ukraine will have to give will be decided by Russia.
Posted by b on June 13, 2022 at 12:28 UTC | Permalink
next page »Hubris is worse for the poor souls being rendered into meat lumps as a consequence of this.
I was watching a documentary on the Crimean war.
And the manufactured outrage to make sure it was demmanded by the peasantry.
Nothing has changed since 1854.
And the some of the Ukraine was part of the Ottoman empire back then.
The Russians wanted Constantinople to make the black Sea their lake.
The Brits weren't having it.
Posted by: Jpc | Jun 13 2022 12:53 utc | 2
Once the fighting ends the campaign to smear Russia for all the bad consequences of our own actions will go into overdrive. There will be no corrective to this as the Western media landscape has been purged of any balance. Anyone speaking up for Russia will be, metaphorically, burnt at the stake. I hope it will only be metaphorical, although one never knows nowadays.
Posted by: Jeremn | Jun 13 2022 12:53 utc | 3
Early on in the war's heady days of BS we were told that Ukraine had captured so many Russian tanks that they now had more than when the war started....and were short of drivers, lol.
Posted by: Guy Thornton | Jun 13 2022 12:54 utc | 4
The current phase will be over very soon. However, Russia must also liberate Odessa and the surrounding areas. After that......
Posted by: Merkin Scot | Jun 13 2022 13:09 utc | 5
USA/NATO still assuming they can get Russia on board with Minsk 3.0, giving them time to re-arm and re-supply Ukraine for the next round. I don't think Russia is falling for it. There will be no negotiated end to the war between the current warring parties. And since any military plan to depose Zelensky now would originate in USA and maintain USA control over Ukraine, that wouldn't result in negotiation either.
Posted by: Kingsmeg | Jun 13 2022 13:12 utc | 6
The American Public has been held behind a nearly airtight Iron Curtain of media falsehoods for some time now. Fortunately, Americans have stopped watching the endless stream of lies emanating from "newrooms". Sadly, for the average person this means there is no place to turn to for an accurate picture of the world.
Simply put, the American People are being held hostage by the swarms of sociopaths that breed in DC's fetid swamps. Fortunately, some brave souls still carry the battle forward:
Posted by: S Brennan | Jun 13 2022 13:15 utc | 7
The war is really against Germany, not the German government which is a very pretty set of puppets, but Germany's future as Eurasia's western anchorage.
The US obsession with what Rumsfeld called the New Europe- the string of quasi fascist US clients all begging for bigger bases and more foreign occupation forces-is all about building a real Iron Curtain to cut off Germany, and possibly an independent minded France and Italy, from its eastern, land based trading partners and allies of the future.
It is as often said the old British strategy to prevent another development like Bismark's dreikaiserbund which would spell the end of the old dispensation and the possible beginning of-that dreaded thing- world peace and humanity's development of alternative pastimes, to war and competition.
An interesting piece at Dances with Bears today for those who don't mind the sound of tall poppies pontificating.
Posted by: bevin | Jun 13 2022 13:18 utc | 8
⚡️ From the very beginning of the special operation in Ukraine, military experts undertook to analyze the tactics and further strategy of the RF Armed Forces. The guesses turned out to be wrong due to the dynamic development of events and the fact that our army tried different models of warfare. Today it is already possible to conduct an intermediate analysis of the situation that is developing within the framework of the NWO. In my estimation, everything is going as it should.
The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation have completely switched to the tactics of mobile assault groups and complex fire engagement, shifting the focus from high speed of advance to minimizing losses while maintaining damage to the enemy.
Now an approximate algorithm of actions looks like this: Ukrainian positions are opened by UAVs and reconnaissance groups, then artillery and aircraft hit at the identified objects, after critical damage to the positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, assault groups consisting of several tanks, other armored vehicles and infantry platoons are advanced in the direction of key objects. Point support is provided by artillery forces and mortars. If Ukraine tries to counterattack, or the offensive of our troops is slowed down, and the enemy’s points are again “polished” by artillery and fighters. Such tactics are systematically squeezing the Armed Forces of Ukraine out of cities, villages and fortified areas.
❗️In general, the Russian troops adopted a strategy to deplete the enemy's resources. After the final retirement of the combat-ready backbone of the personnel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, as well as the deprivation of the Ukrainian troops of the minimum number of heavy weapons, repair and fuel and lubricant resources, things will go faster.
At the moment, the actions of Ukrainian sabotage and reconnaissance groups have been almost completely neutralized. First of all, due to the counter-ambush actions of our special forces. In addition, extensive work is being carried out in the rear of the RF Armed Forces to identify and capture / destroy Ukrainian DRGs. Additionally, there is a checkpoint system.
As for the losses of Ukraine as a whole. With a change in tactics, the effectiveness of the liquidation of the personnel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine increased. On average, it is 300-500 people per day. The total amount of Ukrainian combat losses today is, in my opinion, up to 100,000 people. Of these, approximately 25-30 thousand were killed and up to 70 thousand were wounded and surrendered. To these 100 thousand one can add several tens of thousands more deserters.
Russian long-range aviation and the Navy continue to regularly strike with long-range cruise missiles at enemy military targets, including deep in the rear. The calculation of Kyiv and the Western side that the Russian Armed Forces would run out of missiles did not materialize - our military industry provides a sufficient rate of production of these products.
Speaking of aviation, our Air Force has now achieved operational air supremacy. It eliminates the possibility for any effective actions of Ukrainian aviation over the territories controlled by the Russian Federation, and also allows Russian pilots to operate effectively. At the same time, pockets of Ukrainian air defense remain, creating a high danger for our aircraft. The air defense system of the Ukraine was created according to Soviet principles, with deep separation, extensive use of maneuver and camouflage, and the use of anti-aircraft ambush tactics. In the history of wars, such a powerful and diverse air defense system operates for the first time.
With regards to the supply of Western weapons. They turned out to be a tangible help for the Ukrainian troops, but not enough. There are few foreign weapons, ensuring their operation suffers due to the extremely short training period for Ukrainian combat crews. There is an ammunition shortage. In addition, a number of European countries are sabotaging supplies initiated by the United States, which leads to a low density of heavy equipment per kilometer of front and does not have a significant impact on hostilities.
The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation use the theater of operations within the framework of the NMD to develop the latest weapons. At a minimum, the use of BMPTs, the Tornado-G and Tornado-S MLRS systems, and a flight of Su-57 fighters was noticed. For the first time, the Buk-M3 air defense system is used in combat conditions.
- Colonel Khodarenok
(machine translation)
Posted by: ostro | Jun 13 2022 13:19 utc | 9
Guess sales of T-shirts will take a hit.
The above fashion display window contains a nuclear family.
Love the above photo. Headless American dummies doing fashionable groupthink,
in support of Nazis, no less.
Are they headless because groupthink doesn't require a brain?
Or is this symbolic of their support for head-chopping Nazis?
[Head-choppping has been attested.
https://www.newsweek.com/evidence-war-crimes-committed-ukrainian-nationalist-volunteers-grows-269604
]
Americans' fad-interest in Ukraine is dwindling. T-shirt makers will have to gear up for something newer.
Posted by: librul | Jun 13 2022 13:19 utc | 10
The front is changing very little, but 2-4 villages near Slaviansk (Ukrainians prefer Sloviansk, I guess) got "liberated" (becoming a part of Donetsk free from Kiev).
Ukraine government change the political strategy, they need more weapons and ammo in serious quantities, the collective West has a serious case of head scratching.
Biden Administration embarked semi-suicidal PR method, "Putin's inflation". If true, was it wise to pick a fight focused on damaging the economy -- after spending many years on efforts to make the economy global. In any case, for Republican is it Biden oppositions caused by the huge deficit and green policies. 2022 elections are as good as lost for the Democrats, 2024 -- still long time ahead, but I recall Trumpian ads "Joe Biden, he is just to weak". On both sides of the political spectrum, talented people try to make big bucks doing something easier than politics, negative selection.
Posted by: Piotr Berman | Jun 13 2022 13:27 utc | 11
Will Russia allow "Ukraine" to exist?
Many people are speculating that the war will end with the total integration of the Ukraine into the Russian federation, with the possibility of partitioning some of it with Poland.
There is a third option.
For any post-Ukrainian independent state to exist, it must give up its flag, its name, and its symbols.
Why?
Ukraine is not a nation.
Ukraine is a racist theory about the inferiority of the Russian people.
Denazification ultimately means abolishing the flag and name. The new independent post-Ukrainian government must condemn them as Nazi symbols of White Supremacy. Anyone in the West showing the blue and yellow "flag of piss and tears" must be condemn for what they are, Russophobe racists.
Posted by: Petri Krohn | Jun 13 2022 13:36 utc | 12
Librul-10:
Selective outrage is a helluva drug ain’t it? The extent to which the American public in general is completely brainwash is astounding. Not only that, cognitive emotional mechanisms have been installed to prevent the host from accepting any information contrary to the prescribed narrative. Total outrage and rejection, HowDareYou style….
All this happening as trust and confidence in the any “public” institution is at an all time low.
I wonder when it will be safe to wear my Z-O-V T-shirt?
Posted by: Chevrus | Jun 13 2022 13:43 utc | 13
Posted by: Jeremn | Jun 13 2022 12:53 utc | 3
Anyone speaking up for the Ukraine, too. This is a country torn to pieces by NATO and EU intervention since well before 2014.
Still happening. The peoples of the old Ukraine, all sides, are hostage to internal Western politics as the Western politicians struggle to find an off-ramp - a way of getting out of the mess without losing face and thus domestic voter support.
Each time we stopped Kiev surrendering Ukraine lost more lives and more territory. It will continue to lose both as our Western politicians fumble around attempting to put the best face they can on the disaster.
This is a failed enterprise, both the proxy war and the sanctions war. The only way to deal with failed enterprises of this magnitude is to ditch them fast. The deaths of hundreds a day - and the civilians still shelled in the Donbas too - will be due to these politicians now worrying only about domestic political advantage.
Posted by: English Outsider | Jun 13 2022 13:45 utc | 14
Russia will take Kiev too, in time. Kiev is a Hero city, so cannot be left to the US/NATO neo-Nazis.
Summer is now on in Europe, winter is just across the corner. Heating season starts in about 4-5 months. There’s a massive lack of coal in Poland, a coal producing country, by the way. Germany is dodging supplying armament to Ukraine. France will have a hung parliament. The rest of the NATO is small fish, but they too need to heat their homes.
There is a lack of fertilizers in Europe, if any left they are pretty expensive. So, a food shortage, or very expensive food is imminent. In all the liberated areas in the former Ukraine, fuel will be cheaper than in any unfriendly country. Harvest will be good too.
There’s going to be lot of unhappiness in the unfriendly countries. There’s also going to be increasing anger toward to refugees from the former Ukraine. This anger is slowly seen in many cities the unfriendly countries in Europe.
Russia is not in a hurry. Why should it? It is self-sufficient and has very loyal citizens. Defeating the US/UK makes them happy. They are fighting a war against the Nazis, just like their granddads did.
Posted by: ostro | Jun 13 2022 13:48 utc | 15
HELP WANTED
Guns, bombs, missiles, tanks, planes, etc. urgently wanted, any age, any condition. Also mercs with or without training, must have own gear. Can't pay or arrange transportation. Replies to Box 666, Kyiv, Ukraine
Posted by: pasha | Jun 13 2022 13:49 utc | 16
@12
But the White Supremacists are rallying behind Putin, not Ukraine.
Perhaps the most well known among Orthodox converts who worked within alt-right circles was Matthew Heimbach. He had established the Traditionalist Worker Party, which helped organize a deadly gathering of neo-Nazis and white nationalists at the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Va., in 2017. But years before that, Heimbach's activities had already created waves within some Orthodox circles.
Posted by: Inkan1969 | Jun 13 2022 13:53 utc | 17
NATO realized that it would not be possible to defeat Russia:
The head of European diplomacy, Josep Barrel, told Le Journal du Dimanche in an interview that the European Union "needs to make every effort to maintain a dialogue with Moscow." This is the same Josep who shouted the loudest on April 9 that the conflict in Ukraine "should be resolved by military means."
He said a lot, but the bottom line is that Europe somehow needs to "adapt and coexist next to Russia, both during and after the hostilities in Ukraine."
Other European politicians are also forced to look for their own format of relations.
French President Emmanuel Macron repeatedly warns everyone that Russia “should not be humiliated,” and Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis states in the media that Russia “Ukrainians cannot maintain the line of armed contact and Russia will not lose.”
Against this background, a number of foreign media again raised the topic of "NATO's effectiveness." Journalists from various publications continue to search for an answer to the question: why maintain the North Atlantic Alliance if its weapons are not able to ensure economic and military security in Europe? No answers found...
Against this background, the statement on Russia Day by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg that he allowed "ceding part of the territories of Ukraine for the sake of establishing peace" sounded quite expected. Like, we are ready to accept the surrender of part of the territories by Ukraine if it so decides. Indeed, how is this even possible without the permission of the United States on another continent?!
It is clear that the Pentagon has long had its own plans for military pressure on Russia and China in the long term. “Now it’s gone,” Stoltenberg makes it clear to China and Russia.
It is clear that Stoltenberg also does not decide anything on his own. He just sang on command in unison with former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who had previously stated that the West “should give up trying to achieve a military defeat for Russia in Ukraine, and the latter should make territorial concessions, otherwise tensions and upheavals will not be easy to overcome” .
In general, the overture "let's go back to February 24 and pretend that nothing happened" is in full swing. And it seems that the cries from this scene will be more and more interesting, and the rattling of the weakened sword belt from the Polish elite is getting louder. Warsaw is literally spinning with a plastic saber under the feet of adults who are allowed to blow out the candles on the cake that has already been served to the table.
Only now they will not give a table knife and a fork to children. And they will also laugh at how they will eat with their hands.
But is it likely that the United States began to understand that the sanctions against Russia, as well as the opposition to the special operation to demilitarize and denazify Ukraine, caused a natural formatting of the former world order, which they were always afraid of losing?
So far, this whole overture about "territorial concessions" looks more like an attempt to probe the strategic plans of Russia's political leadership. When the White House really puts aside its arrogance and realizes that the further this process goes, the "harder it will be to overcome tensions and upheavals" will be too late.
-Komsomolskaya Pravda
Posted by: ostro | Jun 13 2022 14:00 utc | 18
@ Petri Krohn | Jun 13 2022 13:36 utc | 12
Pardon me for saying so but I suspect that your proposed policy of openly calling for the elimination of Ukraine as a nation would likely have the same effect on the Ukrainians as the 'leaked' Morgenthau plan did on the Germans in WW2, which is to say that it made surrender well nigh unthinkable.
Posted by: MarkU | Jun 13 2022 14:06 utc | 19
Honestly wondering if Russia has already decided to go slow and stretch this out at least through this coming winter, to explore the feasibility of breaking of EU and NATO, letting the Dems / neocons be destroyed in the US midterms. Let General Winter and General Hunger do their work.
Europe to be broken of their clueless delusions of supremacy. Imposing the withdrawal of all foreign troops from NATO countries, the dismantling or destruction of missile complexes in Poland and Romania, no more NATO exercises in countries adjoining Russian territory, removal of all third-country nuclear weapons from all European countries (at least).
That would mean continuing at this very gradual pace, after Donbass, to seal off Odessa then--surround Kiev, occupy and then partition Western Ukraine between Hungary, Poland and Romania. These would be temporary 'pacifying' actions, the installation of compliant regimes, referendums on independence, joining Russia or staying with Ukraine.
Posted by: Paul Damascene | Jun 13 2022 14:06 utc | 20
How did the Soviet Union collapse?
Some people say the Soviet Union did not collapse. It was voluntarily dissolved. Yes, the "Union" was voluntarily dissolved. The "Soviet" part collapsed. But how and why?
The collapse did not happen because of the economy. Soviet economy was growing faster than the US economy, to the very end. Russian economy was only destroyed under Yeltsin in the 1990s.
The collapse happend because President Yeltsin of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic signed a decree, an ukaz, that banned the Communist Party of the Soviet Union within the territory of Soviet Russia. Mikhail Gorbachev was still the President of the Soviet Union, but he had lost his power base.
"Ukraine" can be dissolved in a similar way. President Zelensky can sign a decree banning the symbols and name of Nazi Ukraine.
Posted by: Petri Krohn | Jun 13 2022 14:16 utc | 21
England wants to steal Ukraine grain and all this is a drama.
Foolish was putin to have spared English boat which strayed deliberately in Crimean water late last year - that ship should have been attacked and sunk.
English parasites got the message that Russia is fearful of nato reprisal and article 5.
That has emboldened English parasites to turn the screw more tight on Russia.
This is an English war on Russia and Russian passivity has encouraged that 3rd grade country to challenge Russia at her backyard.
Shame on Russia!
Posted by: Soi | Jun 13 2022 14:20 utc | 22
Bless MOA, who hasn't banned me yet. On the Saker site, from a comment, I read ...
" The last estimate that I am aware of, is that Lugansk is 95% cleared, whereas in the Donbass Republic there still is some work to do with 50% of the area still under battle or planned to be under battle."
I watch Military Summary and try to read the blogs, but the 'big picture' totally eludes me, and the quoted comment above comes as a somewhat shocking surprise to me (if true). Is it true?
Russia was punished for helping pirate island England by flaunting continental Boycott of England by Napoleon the Great.
What did English pirates did 30 years later?-
Attacked the same Russians in Crimea to help Muslim turks!
This is what anglos always do.
In all wars theirs' is main plotter role and it is always theirprecious ally of 30 years ago that they plot to attack.
This series of plotting wars has to be stopped by eleminating English means of creating chaos
Posted by: Soi | Jun 13 2022 14:23 utc | 24
Anti Russia tirade like anti German one was started by English parasites who have plotted all wars.
English are like hyenas who in pack of 5 anglo evil eyes are instigating two lions to fight each other till both get weak so that English heynas can steal kill from both lions.
That is how they neutralised Prussians, Germans French etc.
Considering the extent of the disaster (at battle of Austerlitz and of Ulm before that in 1805 instigated by england with money stolen from India), The Austrian Emperor said
" The English are coward dealers of human flesh ; they pay others to fight at their place".
The Emperor forgot to mention that the payment of gold was from the victim or some other people’s wealth especially loot from India.
Incidentally when Napoleon was celebrating that great victory of Austerlitz,(battle of aristocratic armies ) the so called Trafalgar win happened-the pirates won while the whole grand army was somewhere else celebrating the greatest victory ever of Napoleon !
Russia was punished for helping pirate island England by flaunting continental Boycott of England by Napoleon the Great.
What did English pirates did 30 years later?-
Attacked the same Russians in Crimea to help Muslim turks!
This is what anglos always do.
In all wars theirs' is main plotter role and it is always their precious ally of 30 years ago that they plot to attack.
This series of plotting wars has to be stopped by eleminating English parasites the main creater of chaos.
Posted by: Soi | Jun 13 2022 14:24 utc | 25
Watching the western media-industrial complex's coverage of this war is an education in its own right. When you connect the various dots a picture emerges. And as expected it's the "usual suspects".
Posted by: Citizenfitz | Jun 13 2022 14:24 utc | 26
@Jeremn: "Once the fighting ends the campaign to smear Russia for all the bad consequences of our own actions will go into overdrive. There will be no corrective to this as the Western media landscape has been purged of any balance."
Succinctly stated, sad but true. I would like to see a sea-change in politics, that will only happen if anti-war Republicans win in November and assert themselves against the raving, maniacs in the (use to be nice people) Democratic Party and the pro-Imperialism war mongering Republicans. The American electorate and citizenry have gone mad and they emote like children lacking any semblance of critical thinking skills. The "Blob" will suffer no consequences w/o that political shift. Go on Twitter and you have to resist trolling the paroxysm of the brain-addled who bought into the Putin in evil and Ukraine is winning propaganda. They are besides themselves and will do precisely what Jeremn says.
From Mark Twain:
Europeans have wars so Americans will study geography.
Posted by: BroncoBilly | Jun 13 2022 14:26 utc | 28
Now we know why they want the extra weapons even though it will do nothing to change the course of the war
From IntelSlava
🇺🇦 Several dark web marketplaces are selling military weapons allegedly sourced from Western countries to support the Ukrainian military. It is likely that the weapons have been shelved from the main supplies and are now being sold to terrorists. In one of the markets called Thief, there are 9 ads from 3 suppliers associated with Ukraine.A vendor called Weapons Ukraine sells rifles, grenades and body armor for prices ranging from $1,100 to $3,600, promising delivery within Ukraine. Despite the lack of reviews about the store, 32 people have already made a purchase.
Another supplier, Big Discounts on Weapons, offers an American Javelin anti-tank missile system for $30,000. The seller indicated the location of the goods in Kyiv.
In addition, the Black Market Guns store sells NLAW anti-tank missiles for $15,000 and the American Switchblade 600 Kamikaze UAV for $7,000.
Posted by: Down South | Jun 13 2022 14:27 utc | 29
Posted by: Inkan1969 | Jun 13 2022 13:53 utc | 17
But the White Supremacists are rallying behind Putin, not Ukraine.
Yes, and American progressives, Black Lives Matter and social justice warriors, Gay Pride and LGBT+ activist, and other Western "Leftist" are are flying the blue and Yellow Nazi flag in their social media profiles and in their backyards. But all of this is internal Western politics, that has nothing to do with Russia or Ukraine or the true meaning of these symbols.
Or maybe they have. I personally believe that many of the Western progressives that fly the Ukrainian Nazi flag do so because of their deep-rooted racist Russophobia and belief in White Western Supremacy.
Posted by: Petri Krohn | Jun 13 2022 14:32 utc | 30
Despite the bloated US defense budget, and significant EU spending, it was all distorted by waste and high end projects. The long Global War on Terror also distorted what was produced on the lower end.
As a result, it is wrong to presume that the West can supply limitless amounts of the weapons and ammo needed for a Ukraine-scale conventional war in Europe. They did not produce nor stockpile that sort of stuff.
They've already given Ukraine a very large part of the limited stockpile they had.
Their factories have not been producing these things in volume for decades, and now can't just do it overnight.
Thus, what Ukraine demands just can't be provided. The West does not have it, and can't buy it.
Worse, what will the West do if it is faced with more or larger conventional fighting, about Taiwan, or about Poland or the Baltic states? The cupboard was not full before, and now has been raided back to the dusty rear of the shelves.
This is a vulnerability that has been mentioned a bit in specialist press, but resolutely ignored in our mass media. However, it is about to have a big impact in Ukraine.
It would have an even bigger impact on any new problems. China will notice. Putin may well feel that having absorbed the worst NATO can do short of nukes, maybe he should collect more for the price he's paid.
This could get ugly. It is far worse than our suddenly-worried press has so far realized.
Posted by: Mark Thomason | Jun 13 2022 14:33 utc | 31
Starlink- fast internet for poor countries uh-huh!
From IntelSlava
🇺🇦 Gauleiter of the remnants of the Luhansk "region" boasted of the captures of supporters of the Republics of Donbass and Russia.Thanks to the moron for disclosing important information: traffic through the Starlink network is intercepted by Ukrainian "special services", including reading instant messengers. This is how the seizures of like-minded people in the territories controlled by Kyiv are carried out.
Friends "on the other side", be very careful even when expressing personal opinions in private, and even more so when assisting the Special Operations Forces!
https://t.me/intelslava/31109
Posted by: Down South | Jun 13 2022 14:33 utc | 32
No doubt the Big Guy still gets his 10% cut from those weapons sales.
Posted by: Lysias | Jun 13 2022 14:35 utc | 33
Posted by: Soi | Jun 13 2022 14:23 utc | 24
Brits played the same game with Albania, a cheap Pawn in the Great Game to this day.
From this it can be concluded that the project envisioned the recruitment of Albania mercenaries and their usage as canon fodder for a few partial and immediate military objectives, without ever imposing any political commitment to the British Empire.
https://www.quora.com/What-was-the-policy-of-the-British-Empire-towards-the-independence-of-Albania-during-WW2-and-where-does-Greece-fit-in-it?share=1
Then we have the "Kosovo Gambit" involving Albanians who were played against Russia's ally Serbia. And the Game goes on with Ukraine today.
Posted by: Tom_12 | Jun 13 2022 14:40 utc | 34
Though I can't stand the rag and never read it here is a little defense of the offending WAPO paragraph. First, as it stands now it's clearly bad. But if we assume it was written or edited by someone who didn't look at a map and doesn't know where any of those places are, a couple of minor changes and it does make sense.
The original paragraph:
"Slovyansk area: Russian forces are advancing toward this city in the Donetsk region and have made minor gains north of it. Russian troops have sought to destroy bridges over the Siverskyi Donets river to disrupt the flow of supplies and reinforcements between Severodonetsk and Lysychansk, but the destruction has made it difficult for them to successfully attack Slovyansk because of challenges crossing the river, according to analysts."
Changed version:
Slovyansk area: Russian forces are advancing toward this city in the Donetsk region and have made minor gains north of it. Russian troops have sought to destroy bridges over the Siverskyi Donets river to disrupt the flow of supplies and reinforcements [TO] Severodonetsk and Lysychansk, but [THAT] destruction has made it difficult for [THE RUSSIANS] to [NOW] successfully attack Slovyansk because of challenges crossing the river, according to analysts.
In war truth is lost in the frenzy of propaganda. In a sense that is apt, ironic, because war is about power; but power is an illusion.
https://patternofhistory.wordpress.com/
Posted by: peter mcloughlin | Jun 13 2022 14:51 utc | 36
"Ukraine" can be dissolved in a similar way. President Zelensky can sign a decree banning the symbols and name of Nazi Ukraine.
Posted by: Petri Krohn | Jun 13 2022 14:16 utc | 21
----------------
Well, if Ze had created Ukraine...yes.
But, the Ukraine was created by V.I. Lenin...on paper.
Posted by: ostro | Jun 13 2022 14:51 utc | 37
How Russia can get even with the United States for the proxy war in Ukraine..
And what if Russia mirror-respond to all the intrigues of the collective West? To follow the line of "double standards", smiling apologies for crimes, impudent provocations? Start, following the example of the Bolsheviks, to inspire revolutions in the West and in the USA: for example, send our middle-level diplomat to Mexico (like Mrs. Nuland, but smarter), who would feed all Mexicans illegally rushing across the borders to the USA, not with cookies, but with Tula gingerbread.
The creation of military bases in friendly Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba would be very sensitive and sensational - after all, no one has yet forbidden to have foreign bases in free countries. As a joke, create biolaboratories there with some kind of cheerful twist, like turning American soldiers into impotent ones.
Posted by: ostro | Jun 13 2022 14:55 utc | 38
But, the Ukraine was created by V.I. Lenin...on paper.
Posted by: ostro | Jun 13 2022 14:51 utc | 37
Westerners have a very hard time learning this historical lesson EVEN IF you lay out a few salient facts to support this position.
Posted by: Tom_12 | Jun 13 2022 14:57 utc | 39
I'm running out of vocabulary to describe my reaction to the wholesale enlistment in denialism by many nominally independent Western intellectuals. Adam Tooze, who I've thought of as a smart statist, applauding the central banks because he worries that without intervention flexibility the show will go down the tubes, has been exhibiting exactly the sort of incomprehension b describes here. His latest Chartbook, as of 6/10, applauds the "agile" Ukrainian resistance and their defeat of one of Russia's attempts to cross the Dnieper, and so tunnel-visions right by the overall failure. I suppose his mind meld with the New York Times and the Institute for the Study of Warfare will attest to his loyalty and will gain him access to this or that council of notables. But what he doesn't seem to realize is that the usual expectable and forgivable cheerleading in this case will be linked to what is shaping up to be the most serious crisis for US foreign policy since World War II, and the US doesn't have most of the cards this time around. I suppose he'll still be able to point to Crashed on his vita, but he's behaving like the dopes that breezed out of Washington in their carriages to watch McClellan trounce the Confederacy. Casual, thoughtless enthusiasm. What a putz.
Posted by: dadooronron | Jun 13 2022 14:58 utc | 40
Stoltenberg got new marching orders from Washington.
"Peace is possible. The question is how much territory, how much independence...are [Ukraine] willing to sacrifice for peace."
What happened to Ukraine winning?
Russia's SMO happened.
But so what. The real US "security" interest is in Asia, not Europe.
General Austin, in Singapore June 11:
"Today, the Indo-Pacific is our priority theater of operations.
Today, the Indo-Pacific is at the heart of American grand strategy.
Today, senior American officials—including the President, the Vice President, the Secretary of State, the National Security Adviser, and so many others—travel constantly in this region.
And so the Indo-Pacific is our center of strategic gravity."
Today China -- Europe is so yesterday!
Posted by: Don Bacon | Jun 13 2022 15:06 utc | 41
How much territory Ukraine will have to give will be decided by Russia. #1
True, but just half the story. UA must "give territory" to pay the war debt, I'm sure.
Credits that cannot be paid back never are "gifts" but entail bankrupcy and liquidation of assets. Same here. No money, no problem. UA has land, much of it being fertile black earth. That's better than paper money. Even better than gold. Ask Soros, who sold gold to buy 1 million acres in Argentina.
Agrarian land has appreciated between 2000 an 2011 by 1200% alone. And UA has 42.7 million hectares of that (70.8 percent of its territory) [1], 32 million ha being arable [2]. Nova Russia must be discounted, though. The remaining territory is an incentive to stop the war now and not let Russia occupy/free more of the country.
Zelensky has (pre-SMO) ordered the Verkhovna Rada to open the land market [1]. Western finance is the driving force as they want to get a slice of that pie: "...behind the land reform,... there were financial lobbies in the West. Western pension funds and investment funds wanted to invest money that was depreciating. Looking for assets to invest in, they enlisted support of the IMF, the World Bank, EBRD, and various lobbying groups to promote their interests and lay out all necessary groundwork". [4] - In contrast, "...Ukraine’s rural population is on the verge of poverty. 44 percent of people earn an income below the subsistence level, and 7 percent suffer from malnutrition." [1]
The land grab has been going on for two decades by neoliberal land reform and plainly illegal practice. "Oligarchs and transnational capital take over the land..." [2]. As many nationalists oppose international ownership, clandestine operations flourished. For 5 million ha (the size of Slovakia), Ukraine's land register is lacking information on the new owners. This land has "disappeared" [3].
The longer the war rages, the more debt is mounting. An increasing fraction of the population will go down 6ft under, be crippled, go out into exile (youth in the first place), or simply get desperate enough to sell at a dictated price.
A president who evisions Israel 2.0 and has plenty of thugs -paramilitary and parliamentary- at hand could even re-enact Nakba 2.0 and "accelerate the land sale", if need be. - Add the denial of the right to citizenship/return a lá Israel (already in UA in place for males of draftable age) and/or the unwillingness to return for those who grew roots abroad...
It is the dream of the financial oligarchs of the West to acquire UA, just as they did with Romania, Hungary, Argentina etc., and lease the land back to those who work it. Purebred neo-slavery. Well, Hungary differs a bit, since Orbán "illegally" undid some of that. Brussels cries foul -> reading sample: "Orbán expropriates German Entrepreneurs" [5]. To own land in the EU is lucrative. The EU shells out 58 bn EUR anually (2019) for the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). That is 38% of the total EU budget, or 130 EUR of taxes/subsidies for each of the 445 million citizens.
41.5 bn of that (i.e. 27% of the total EU budget) are "CAP income support", disseminated via area key. In contrast, in Germany, the number of employees in the agrarian sector accounts for a meager 1.2% of the total workforce.
The area key is, by the way, the main obstacle for EU membership of UA; Not "democracy" nor "institutions" or the lack thereof. The current subsidy profiteers simply don't want to share and fear a re-definition of distribution quota. A tax hike of this magnitude rightfully seems risky.
The same is the reason why Turkiye has been duped by the EU for decades. Too powerful agrarian lobbies at work.
An unprecetended bonanza is looming. Foodprices deliberatedly driven up in the last years, UA (=wheat exporter #2 (sunflower seed #1)) acquired on the cheap, exporter #1 excluded by sanction from selling on their lucrative home turf.
Conclusion: Whenever the fate of 404 after the SMO is discussed, its land is a major aspect. It will be interesting to watch which vulture (from which part of the world) is getting which chunk when the corpse is eaten, and how they behave among each other.
References (I had difficulties posting links)
[1] "Legislating Land Reform in Ukraine", Taras Bilous at al., 2020
[2] "Land Grabs in the Black Earth: Ukrainian Oligarchs and International Investors", Christina Plank , 2013
[3] "How did 5 million hectares disappear? Secret land privatisation in Ukraine", Sławomir Matuszak, 2020
[4] "The real Zelensky: from celebrity populist to unpopular Pinochet-style neoliberal", Natylie Baldwin, 2022
[5] "Orbán enteignet deutsche Unternehmer, Matthias Kamp, 2018
Posted by: OttoE | Jun 13 2022 15:07 utc | 42
Blame game for the Ukrainian defeat already started:
US media: Ukraine kept us in the dark about losses
Stoltenberg: Ukraine must negotiate a peaceful resolution
Western media dont write anymore about Ukraine needing weapons or Russian alledged atrocities
Ukraine now fires back: Give us weapons for an entire new army or else we will lose, thus creating grounds for blaming West for being forced into a negotiated peace.
Who do I blame? Western politicians who drummed up warfever and prolonged death and destruction in Ukraine without changing the outcome of the war. The discrepancy between Ukrainian and Russian capabilities is just too big. The only reason Stauffenberg attempted to assassinate Hitler in 1944 was to save as many lives as possible in a lost cause, not because he was such an enemy of Hitler's war he willfully participated in before. He was made a hero for this in post WW2 Germany. If you compare current politicians to that time, they would be cheering on and wanting to see as many dead ppl as possible until the known downfall of Berlin.
Posted by: Arne Hartmann | Jun 13 2022 15:12 utc | 43
@ Petri Krohn | Jun 13 2022 13:36 utc | 12
Pardon me for saying so but I suspect that your proposed policy of openly calling for the elimination of Ukraine as a nation would likely have the same effect on the Ukrainians as the 'leaked' Morgenthau plan did on the Germans in WW2, which is to say that it made surrender well nigh unthinkable.
Posted by: MarkU | Jun 13 2022 14:06
What's the difference? Aren't we Europeans supposed into big regions governed from Brussels to be wealthy and free?
Posted by: Anon | Jun 13 2022 15:20 utc | 44
As more than one commentator has noted, without encouraging more war (I was opposed to this needless conflict from the get go), if I were in Russia's shoes I would come to the conclusion that going slow not only best serves my military objectives, that is a deliberate and thorough grinding down of the enemy--demilitarization-- while minimizing my own casualties, it also serves and maximizes Russia's political and economic objectives.
If this war lasts into the Fall and Winter, and it appears it will, Russia will acquire increasing leverage including the possibility of completely cutting off energy resources from "unfriendly nations" causing political and economic shock waves across the USA and NATO-Stan, even as Russia gobbles up more of Ukraine. Talk about regime change on asteroids!! The EU citizenry will have the pitchforks out, Biden's ratings continue to tumble as the dollar continues to weaken and America becomes more geo-politically isolated.
How quickly people forget that the world's human and natural resources are in Eurasia!? Russia and China don't need the West, cheap Russian energy and Chinese industrial and infrastructure building prowess t could transform Eurasia--Mackinder's Island'-- and the Global South into countries that actually develop internally and compete with the US and the EU economically. Why would they choose IMF dollars that only open up their countries to exploitation by multi-national corporations?
The US and NATO better thank their lucky stars that China is taking a more nuanced approach perhaps believing that once the US and NATO sober up from the Ukrainian debacle they will think twice about confronting China over Taiwan. Otherwise the perfect time for China to seize Taiwan would be the night of the November elections in America.
Talk about hubris fueling reckless behavior. This has to be the greatest strategic blunder in modern history.
This is the same Stoltenberg who in early April said that NATO must prepare for a ‘long haul’ in Ukraine. Who then said that the war could drag on for years. Jens Stoltenberg, who told us in May that we must put values over profits, is now talking about peace for territorial and sovereignty concessions.
It is the same Stoltenberg who in 2007 introduced the "Norwegian Moon Landing" which was an idiotic project to pump CO2 under the bottom of the Sea. It was pointless, extremely expensive and it didn't happen. It is the same Stoltenberg who in July 2011 promised "more openness, more democracy" after the July 2011 attack at Utøya which stopped Norwegian boycott of Israel, killed ~70 of his party members and handed him the position as NATO Secretary General. A more evil puppet Quisling is hard to find.
Posted by: Norwegian | Jun 13 2022 15:23 utc | 46
[email protected] one needs, giving this idea out for free, a t-shirt with an eye chart printed on it. The first letters appearing at the top of the chart.....
Z V O T R F
U L O S T S
U C K E R S
Cheers M
Posted by: sean the leprechaun | Jun 13 2022 15:24 utc | 47
#---Posted by: Down South | Jun 13 2022 14:33 utc | 32
Now is probably the time to lay as low as possible- until the new border is clear. Then apply for Russian citizenship ASAP.
No need to risk ones life just to make a pose.
Posted by: Anne B | Jun 13 2022 15:24 utc | 48
It is an intricate part of bourgeois "democracies" like the US where citizens are allowed to vote for their proxy ruling class representatives that the proxy that holds office must avoid embarrassment and never admit obvious policy failures. Any real changes to the existing US policy concerning Ukraine will have to wait until there is either a convincing Russian SMO victory, or until proxy Biden is removed from office allowing for a new Ukraine policy to come forward.
Posted by: Eldean | Jun 13 2022 15:30 utc | 49
The "unity" of the EU/NATO...
Before February 24th, Hungary and Poland were together against the EU, and now Poland is against Hungary, because of Poland's Russia-hate, and also against the EU, because of judiciary problems. Germany, sort of running the show in the EU with VD Leyen, and France is going to have anti-EU parliamentary majority come next Sunday. Rest of the countries, even Spain, or Belgium is small fish. But, every country wants to keep its sovereignty, language, culture, even though most of them lost the sovereign currency. The EU would break, most probably within a decade.
Posted by: ostro | Jun 13 2022 15:37 utc | 50
There were several comments in the last thread regarding Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill about what a poor writer he was, a poor historian, and maybe his books were ghost written. I would just like to point out that there was another Winston Churchill. He was older than Leonard Spencer although they were somewhat contemporaries. I've read both Winston Churchills and prefer the American one. His best and most popular novel is "Coniston," which is about political corruption in the American state of New Hampshire in the late 19th century. It's been out of print a long time but if you chance upon it at a used book store it's an entertaining read. Coniston (1906) MacMillan.
Posted by: Chas | Jun 13 2022 15:38 utc | 51
thank you b... i come to this place for some sanity... you and the many posters here contribute to my sanity.. thank you..
@ OttoE | Jun 13 2022 15:07 utc | 43
thanks otto.. i was curious and went and read the link you highlight [4] The real Zelensky: from celebrity populist to unpopular Pinochet-style neoliberal
its from late april, but still a very good read.. i quote from this article immediately below -
"What united us was the desire to westernize, a lack of understanding of societal contradictions characterizing the post-Soviet transition, and deafness to the concerns of working people who opposed reforms. In our eyes, the latter were “retrograde”: they did not understand what civilization was about. We saw [our]selves as a revolutionary vanguard and chosen progressive reformers. It is we—media workers—who created a favorable environment for Ukraine’s neoliberalization, presented as westernization and civilization, with all disastrous consequences for society they brought. Only years after, I realized this."
as a result, i suggest to @ Arne Hartmann | Jun 13 2022 15:12 utc | 44, it is not just western politicians, but many of the so called progressives within ukraine itself, thinking they are bringing something better to ukraine, only to realize later how they have been duped... well.. i suppose it was the western politicians who contributed to this too...
bottom line.... there is no hurry... russia can go as slow as it wants.. it is basically working.. come the fall- winter, it will be very interesting to see how europe feels about all this..
Posted by: james | Jun 13 2022 15:40 utc | 52
Posted by: Eldean | Jun 13 2022 15:30 utc | 50
That is exactly how they play The Game in the DC Swamp. The mob will never catch on as to how they are being played. Now part of their focus has been directed at the cosmic issue of what is the definition of women.
Posted by: Tom_12 | Jun 13 2022 15:40 utc | 53
Posted by: Chas | Jun 13 2022 15:38 utc | 52
It's here for free
https://archive.org/details/coniston00churrich/page/14/mode/2up
Posted by: Tom_12 | Jun 13 2022 15:43 utc | 54
@Paul Damascene | Jun 13 2022 14:06 utc | 20
Honestly wondering if Russia has already decided to go slow and stretch this out at least through this coming winter, to explore the feasibility of breaking of EU and NATO, letting the Dems / neocons be destroyed in the US midterms. Let General Winter and General Hunger do their work.I agree this is quite likely the plan, since a negotiated settlement is out of the question. It is consistent with implementing the objectives of the December 2021 documents to NATO and US by "military-technical" means.
Posted by: Norwegian | Jun 13 2022 15:43 utc | 55
@Scorpion
Why fix WaPo's shit for them?
@Soi
They don't call it Perfidious Albion for nothing
Bagration and Kutuzov kicked Napoleon in the goolies. The weather had little to do with it.
Posted by: pasha | Jun 13 2022 15:46 utc | 56
Best option for Russia is to drag this out with no negotiations, as those would be pointless with the agreement incapable West, just slowly (and in some cases quickly when possible) grind all the way to the Polish border. Russia would become the unstoppable force, creating extreme frustration and angst in the European elites every day. Also, its the only way to fully destroy the putrid mess that is Ukraine and restore it to a friend/subservient of Russia (what is left after Novorossiya splits off).
The slow grind will also extend out the economic and financial crisis in the US, which seems to be entering an extreme phase with 5-year and 10-year interest rates blowing out, the debt market is much bigger and more important than the stock market. Also, a new Euro debt crisis in the making with Italian 10-year rates above 4%. All good to make the US mid-terms a nightmare for the Democrats, bringing in the Republicans who are much more focused on China. In addition, endless hearings on Russiagate to impeach as many Democrats as possible. Then have the European population have to put on extra layers over the winter, that should help cause some extreme political chaos in Europe.
Putin needs to play for the long game, also the people of Russia may not react positively to the diplomats giving up the advantage that Russian blood has provided.
Then in 2024, the Republicans win the Presidency and Taiwan becomes the new Ukraine, although China will subjugate Taiwan a lot faster than things will take with Ukraine. No overland supply possibilities there, and a significantly smaller geography and population.
The New Silk Road. What will be the results of the president's and entrepreneurs' visit to China?
Beijing has declared that it wants to invest $ 5 billion in Central and Eastern Europe. Poland is counting on a large part of this range of motion on the Vistula River. Andrzej Duda also took entrepreneurs to China when they dreamed of entering the local market for our products.
------------------------
That was in 2015...
Posted by: ostro | Jun 13 2022 15:48 utc | 58
@Chevrus | Jun 13 2022 13:43 utc | 13
"The extent to which the American public in general is completely brainwash is astounding."
american publics are not the only ones with squeeky-clean brains.
Posted by: Otter | Jun 13 2022 15:53 utc | 59
The words of Amarynth at the current Saker sitrep:
"The news for these august gentlemen [Stoltenberg, Sikorski, etc.] is simple. You have sugar spun cotton candy in your heads. You cannot appease Russia with some territory that they already have, or will take. Its not yours to give. Russia will decide exactly what happens to the Ukraine, how, and when. The Great WalkBack will make no difference to Russia’s decisions here as the core issue is a restructuring of the complete European security structural apparatus, in such a way that Russia is not threatened. The next steps from Russia will give us more insight into how they will accomplish this." [Bolded Emphasis Mine]
At the sitrep's end, it's noted that Kadyrov's forces are being augmented for the impending battles to liberate urban zones from Ukies using civilians as shields and 50% of Donetsk still remains to be cleared/captured. IMO, this observation is quite valid:
Brian Berletic notes from a Guardian article:“Ukraine fears western support will fade as media loses interest in the war” “Costs and casualties are rising but Kyiv warns that the conflict with Russia is becoming normalised in people’s minds, at home and abroad.” (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jun/12/ukraine-fears-western-support-will-fade-as-media-loses-interest-in-the-war))
Berletic continues: “IF” Ukraine’s conflict was really as important as its engineers and sponsors claim, this wouldn’t be the case. The West only poses as having a moral imperative, propped up with PR stunts. Russia actually has one – and having a moral imperative is one of the KEY prerequisites of winning any conflict.
The concluding sentence could also include the legal imperative/justification as I pointed out yesterday. Now that the Russia Day celebrations are over and the hangovers vanquished, the Security Council will meet to determine what will occur next. One thing I don't expect to happen at this time is a move on Odessa as Russia will want to see the remaining grain exported via that terminus prior to closing it off.
What we aren't being allowed to see/hear is the political war happening between industrialists and Neoliberal political parasites and how that's interacting with growing social unrest in Unfriendly Nations. The industrialists will point out to the parasites that their Master continues to import the very items the parasites have cut themselves off from receiving and those artificial shortages will force an economic depression.
That was then...and went on for quite a long time, but the chances for Poland to enter the New Silk Road had got washed away at the end of 2021...
Posted by: ostro | Jun 13 2022 15:54 utc | 61
re: “Ukraine fears western support will fade as media loses interest in the war”
Also the US has lost interest (my #41 above).
So how will Europe react?
. . .from ukrinfom
The Polish Foreign Ministry is aware of plans for a joint visit of French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi to Kyiv, and is convinced that the three leaders should not put pressure on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to make any concessions to Russia.. .here
Posted by: Don Bacon | Jun 13 2022 15:58 utc | 62
Posted by: ostro | Jun 13 2022 13:19 utc | 9
Thank you for Colonel Khodarenok's analysis. Please share it with Scott Ritter.
----
"There’s also going to be increasing anger toward to refugees from the former Ukraine. This anger is slowly seen in many cities the unfriendly countries in Europe."
Posted by: ostro | Jun 13 2022 13:48 utc | 15
_____
Imagine what the current anger toward refugees will become with the coming flood of Nazis created by denazification. >:<{
Posted by: Doug Hillman | Jun 13 2022 16:03 utc | 63
From IntelSlava
🇷🇺🏳️🌈⚡The Hill pointed to a weak spot in the US. The country will not survive the energy crisis if Russia stops the supply of enriched uranium to American nuclear power plants. The country is already experiencing a fuel crisis, a record rise in prices, refusing to supply oil and petroleum products from the Russian Federation.But what will happen if Russia stops the supply of enriched uranium to American companies. Russia controls 40 percent of the global uranium enrichment market. The share of US nuclear energy exceeds 20 percent of generating capacity in some parts of the country.
Posted by: Down South | Jun 13 2022 16:06 utc | 64
The stark reality is that if Russia stopped delivery of enriched uranium to U.S. power companies, the U.S. could see impacts on reactor operation possibly this year or next. That could lead to reactor outages, and given nuclear power is over 20 percent of the generation capacity in areas of the country, electricity prices would jump even further than today’s electricity price inflation. There may not be even enough power in those regions to cover demand. Furthermore, if there was any question that Russia might use its energy exports for political purposes, it was made clear this last month when it stopped natural gas deliveries to Poland, Bulgaria and Finland.
- The Hill
Posted by: ostro | Jun 13 2022 16:06 utc | 65
This one might cause readers to choke on their beverage, so beware as you continue. TASS reports:
The candidate for a moderator role in the plenary session of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) with President Vladimir Putin to be held on June 17 is currently being coordinated with the president, who is comfortable with Russian and foreign reporters alike, Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told TASS on Monday."The president feels comfortable communicating with both foreign and Russian reporters," Peskov explained. However, he doubted the sanity of most Western reporters.
"The sanity of many prominent Western reporters is currently raising questions, at least for us, and we wouldn’t call them true and unbiased journalists, because all of them have simply gone nuts," the Kremlin spokesman said.
And their nutty condition is chronic having continued for decades, Peskov didn't add.
Going slow may also just look like going slow. Going big would require a level of logistics that may not be preferable. There are currently a lot of forces jammed into fairly tight quarters and more troops might not speed things up at all. The Ukrainians are still mostly in their well established defensive positions and it's hard to root them out. But as we've seen on the Slavyansk front, once those initial defensive points are broken, the retreat degrades Ukrainian defenses geometrically. Troops are lost, more are lost in the retreat, the new positions aren't as well prepared and that allows the Russians to take advantage of cascading failures of the local front.
Since the western press gets all their information from the ISW, which only gets its information from the Ukrainian MoD and then doesn't deal with information less than a week old, the media reliant on ISW analysis is publishing worthless information.
I find Russia's approach to the south fascinating and elegant. Handing out passports to those who want them is much stronger than a referendum, which the west would say is rigged no matter what. The relative slowness to the north allows that process to play out and even expanded (unless I misread, any Ukrainian from anywhere can show up in Kherson and get a Russian passport). Actual Russians on the ground are fait acompli for Russia staying to defend them.
The slowness may also be partially because Russia's expending so much effort to restore as they go. Demining the beaches of Mariupol cannot be the highest military priority, but it's a huge priority for returning residents' normal life. Or actively building up the contrast in life between Kherson and Nikolaev. "Slowness" is allowing those differences to sink in amongst Ukrainians, both those who are already in Russian controlled territory and those who are not ... yet.
Posted by: Lex | Jun 13 2022 16:15 utc | 68
How does one negotiate with leaders of governments that are not agreement capable? What the West has set in motion with the crazies they placed in power in the Ukraine will not end quickly.
Everything they touch turns to shit. Everything. Putin will demand that all the sanctions be dropped. The spin from the West on this one will be very strange.
Posted by: circumspect | Jun 13 2022 16:15 utc | 69
@67 Cont'd--
More from Peskov on the upcoming SPIEF and Putin's participation:
Russian President Vladimir Putin will talk about the impact anti-Russian sanctions have caused on energy price rise and the evolving global food crisis at the plenary session of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) to be held later this week, Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in an interview with TASS."We are seeing how all these restrictions and sanctions imposed [against Russia] are fueling up prices in the energy, food and other sectors. We can see that the mistakes made by many countries are starting to manifest themselves in the evolving food crisis," Peskov said.
Peskov said with confidence that the president would talk about the issues at the forum, and his speech "will be extremely important," he emphasized.
"Economies were taken hostage by politics, and politicians in many countries made a colossal number of mistakes amid the coronavirus," the Kremlin spokesman said, as he called the situation "an ideal systemic storm."
"The mistakes have been aggravated by the economic war being waged [by unfriendly countries] on Russia. And Russia’s too large a country for the [economic] war not to boomerang to them," Peskov concluded.
Friday we'll read what Putin has to say.
I would say that this Podoljak doofus basically wants someone to gift him an entire new army to replace the one that got wrecked, but it's worse than that.
He's also going to need an entire army of troops, trained to use these Wuenderwaffen, not to mention fuel, food, munitions and money to pay the troops and civilian bureaucracy. Then he's got to get this new army to the front.
I want a pony.
Posted by: Feral Finster | Jun 13 2022 16:17 utc | 71
AZ OSINT
@AZmilitary1
·
3h
❌ European enterprises are forced to close due to rising energy prices - WSJFor decades, European industry has relied on Russia for supplies of cheap oil and natural gas, which provided the operation of the continent's factories.
AZ OSINT
@AZmilitary1
·
3h
European producers of chemicals, fertilizers, steel and other energy-intensive goods were under pressure. Some manufacturers are closing their plants in the face of competition from factories in the United States,AZ OSINT
@AZmilitary1
·
3h
the Middle East and other regions where the cost of energy is much lower than in Europe. Natural gas prices in Europe are now almost three times higher than in the United States
Posted by: Down South | Jun 13 2022 16:18 utc | 72
... traffic through the Starlink network is intercepted by Ukrainian "special services", including reading instant messengers.
Posted by: Down South | Jun 13 2022 14:33 utc | 32
From Politico:
Ukrainian drones have relied on Starlink to drop bombs on Russian forward positions.The Ukrainian troops who held out in the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol were able to maintain contact with their commanders and even Zelenskyy — and conduct live video interviews with journalists — because they had a Starlink system in the besieged factory.
Commanders have been impressed by the company’s ability, within days, to deliver thousands of backpack-sized satellite stations to the war-torn country.
USAID said in early April it had bought over 1,300 satellite dishes as part of the Starlink project, with SpaceX donating a further 3,600 stations.
There is a five-year waiting list for Starlink in the US, meanwhile thousands of Starlink satellite ground stations are shipped to Ukraine, free of charge. Starlink is not a commercial company, but a front for a three-letter agency.
Consider Elon Musk a fully owned US "asset". Musk's Starlink is no more concerned about bringing Internet to the masses than Soros' Open Society is concerned about democracy.
Posted by: Passerby | Jun 13 2022 16:21 utc | 73
At this point I would speculate that some military analyst in the Kremlin must be thinking that Ukraine/West prolonging the war while unfortunate will allow Russia to destroy NATO's inventory of weapons. Rather than shooting off cruise missiles into Germany and Poland, let them deliver the weapons system into Ukrainian territory where they will be closer in distance to destroy.
Posted by: Erelis | Jun 13 2022 16:23 utc | 74
Britain surprised Ukraine somewhat unpleasently
Zelensky was looking forward to the arrival of the British Secretary of Defense with a large team of specialists. It turned out that Wallace arrived literally light, with a small retinue.
The lion's share of British discussion was devoted to the topic of rescuing of two British "volunteers" who had recently been sentenced to death in the DPR. But the matter did not end there either. There was a detailed discussion of the urgent evacuation of all British "volunteers" from Ukraine.
Just some kind of knife in the back...😃
Posted by: ostro | Jun 13 2022 16:24 utc | 75
“That is so cool! The leather SS jacket makes my blood go cold it is so COOL!” –Flak88 (aka Marc Garlasco), wehrmacht-awards.com, 2005
“To imply that Garlasco’s collection is evidence of Nazi sympathies is not only absurd but an attempt to deflect attention” –HRW statement, September 8, 2009
Apparently, no one bothered to notice the implications of having a handle composed of Flak and 88 (Heil Hitler).
That does it for me. HRW is clearly a cutout. What's next....Nolan Peterson as Asst Secretary of State? Thank you for the enlightenment.
Posted by: Color me Enlightened | Jun 13 2022 16:27 utc | 76
US inflation rate 8.6%
price increases
gasoline 22%
electricity 12%
dairy 25%
etc
Posted by: Don Bacon | Jun 13 2022 16:28 utc | 77
About Ukrainians being entitled SOB's, this response to a comment on youtube:
Lol that's how they were in Soviet union ,they wanted everything for free basically,they are known for that in Russia
Posted by: Manage without me | Jun 13 2022 16:32 utc | 78
Sean-48
Bloody brilliant idea!!
Yeah after great American Covid Witch Hunts and now the Evil Russia campaign I just keep my mouth shut….people just virtue signal and talk shit’bout stuff they dont know….and they are welcome to it as long as their ignorance and feeble mindedness doesn’t not impinge directly on my life. The level of congestive dissonance as reached levels way past double speak and is now actively harming peoples ability to do even simple reasoning. It’s not going to transition well, so anyone with half a brain left is bracing for impact.
Posted by: Chevrus | Jun 13 2022 16:35 utc | 79
I don't know where I read that the Brits and Americans were now saying that the reason that they discouraged Ukraine from noegotiating was that they then believed that Ukraine could defeat the Russians after the Russians' withdrawal from Kiev.
That's how it will go down in the history books, not that the Brits and Americans were fighting to the last Ukrainian in order to try to bleed the Russians as much as possible.
Posted by: Manage without me | Jun 13 2022 16:35 utc | 80
@ my 63
BERLIN (Reuters) - A German government spokesperson declined to confirm a media report on Monday that Chancellor Olaf Scholz would travel to Kyiv on Thursday with French President Emmanuel Macron and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi.
Posted by: Don Bacon | Jun 13 2022 16:37 utc | 81
Otter-60
Yeah I imagine this is the case, but I can only speak from the sphere I am in which is Atlantic NorthEast USA….
Looking back to the time of Bernays and the like it becomes clear that this program has been brewing for a while and continues to bear fruit. Ugly fruit.
Posted by: Chevrus | Jun 13 2022 16:43 utc | 82
@ 21 & 37 petri & ostro - when the final agreements are decided upon for what to do with Ukraine, it would be poetic justice to sign them at Belovezhia Pushcha. Hopefully the SMO will end before December 8. I would love to see _elenski seated between Lukasheno and Putin.
Posted by: lex talionis | Jun 13 2022 16:44 utc | 83
https://www.stripes.com/theaters/europe/2022-06-12/russia-seize-all-luhansk-6316009.html
I think the real 'fireworks' (hopefully in quotes only) begin after it is no longer in doubt Russia has won (in the Western media, that is) and the Mighty Wurlitzer cranks into gear for whatever happens next. This will be similar to the "Russia illegally annexed Crimea" with fake or non-existent context bullshit.
Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Jun 13 2022 16:47 utc | 84
cimcumspect @70--
As both Putin and Lavrov have continually noted, Russia has lived with illegal sanctions placed upon it for many decades back into Soviet times. Both continue to point to their illegality, but I've never read them or any other Russian leader ask/demand they be lifted. So, I don't expect to hear Putin ask for sanctions to be removed, although I do expect him to say the crisis is due to the illegal sanctions and would be mitigated if they were removed. I also expect Putin as he has already to again demonstrate that the current crisis existed well before Russia launched its SMO, and that the Collective West is 100% responsible. Hudson has shown that the Outlaw US Empire's inflation crisis's roots go back to 2019, and we now have several analysts calling for another fracture similar to 2008's, although for different yet similar reasons. Relatedly, this article indicates capital flows are fleeing Wall Street and returning to China as China is now the new Safe Harbor. And from China, some of those funds are fueling the Russian market's rise. There are few good investment/speculation prospects in the West, but they do exist in places the Outlaw US Empire doesn't want them to land.
Guess they have Soros-Schwartz, Nudelman-Khagan, Biden, Blinken, Austin,Kolomoiskyy+Bandera-Nazi, Zelenskyy, Stoltenberg, Von der Leyen, Merkel/Scholz/Baerbock/Habeck, and Macron to blame for the 8-Year Coup of Kiev and Ethnocidal Removal of the Donbas in this Idiotic, Ethnic-Hatred driven Anti-RUS Campaign.
The Zionist-Mason-Christo-Catholics are desperate to Subjugate RUS+CHN+Others.
Posted by: IronForge | Jun 13 2022 16:49 utc | 86
Posted by: Norwegian | Jun 13 2022 15:23 utc | 47
HØR! HØR!
Indeed, the stoltzenberg family is soaked in blood.
Posted by: Per/Norway | Jun 13 2022 16:50 utc | 87
Don Bacon @78--
The announced 8.6% rate of inflation is a Howler as we both know, and I suspect that most within the Outlaw US Empire who read that likely reacted with a massively bellowed BULL SHIT!! Here's the latest from Shadowstats:
" I N F L A T I O N - FLASH (June 10): May 2022 Annual CPI Inflation of 8.6%, and Annual ShadowStats Alternate “Corrected” CPI Inflation of 16.8% jumped to respective new 41- and 75-year historic highs, on top of rebounding gasoline prices."
So, 17% or double the gov's lies. The wife and I were discussing COLAs over the weekend. What happens there is currently unknown except for this bit: the SS COLA won't be large enough to offset the rise in the Medicare B premium, so SS recipients will see their income reduced for a second straight year by a substantial amount similar to this year. I'm very pleased I don't have that problem, but millions do.
Panic is setting in at Democrat party HQ and WH. The midterms are almost here and the Biden junta polling numbers are still dropping. The problem is that the Jews that run the junta are not able to communicate effectively with American people. They think the American people are stupid and will fall for any lie or dirty tricks they try to pull off. They think throwing a pair of aviator sunglasses on Biden and scripting some tough talk at Putin was going to rally the nation behind the junta and scare the Trump voters to fall in line. Well Trump voters are not going to fall in line. The cold fact is that you can steal an election and manufacture a mountain of lies in the media but you can’t make an electorate support you. That little rodent Merrick Garland US AG can try to criminalize over 50 percent of the population for their political beliefs and google etc can try to wipe all conservative opinions from the internet but it won’t work. It isn’t working.
Posted by: Bobolinski | Jun 13 2022 17:13 utc | 89
@OttoE (43)
Return to serfdom in Ukraine? (Ironically, even more of a feature in the formerly Polish parts, ie Banderite homeland, than the Russian parts.)
Posted by: hk | Jun 13 2022 17:15 utc | 90
It still makes my head hurt how the instagram Prime Minister in Finland and the slightly older instagram Prime Minister in Sweden looked at the results of 'Operation: Protect Ukraine's independence and sovereign territory' and thought joining NATO was a good deal. (Though it looks like the Turks have given them a nice out) This, along with the Georgia war are the greatest examples of why joining NATO as a frontline state is suicide and rather invites the outcome you (Supposedly, obviously everyone knows that everyone knew what this was really about) seek to forestall by joining.
The glibness with how Stoltenberg spoke of the loss of Karelia to the Soviet Union as if land is ever just a thing and not full of people was shocking. How swiftly they've all gone realpolitik after goading us all into this furnace with pure moral fervor. Again, it's almost like all the big rich countries don't give a shit what happens to Ukraine or ethnic Ukrainians. A fact that was made clear about 15 seconds after the news of the Russian invasions went live. So why did that PMs of Finland and Sweden think NATO was their friend? Their policies of national service, neutrality and building armies designed to do nothing else but resist a numerically larger Russian force (A regular army that fights for as long as it can before melting into the woods and fighting a guerilla war) as a way of both removing either a carrot or stick to induce a Russian invasion were a classic example of Scandinavian good governance.
Stoltenberg is even still under quarantine with the stress having led to shingles, not exactly adding to any narrative of NATO calmness.
Posted by: Altai | Jun 13 2022 17:16 utc | 91
Yesterday, 12.06.2022, the Russia Day in liberated Energodar, a small city on the left bank of the Dniepr river. https://youtu.be/7KqY0ZCOrao
Posted by: ostro | Jun 13 2022 17:26 utc | 92
@ down south and @ ostro
regarding uranium... i believe the usa can get a lot of this from canada... someone can correct me if i am wrong... regarding enriched uranium - i am not as sure as i don't believe canada has gotten into that, or if so - not as much as it might need or want to..
Posted by: james | Jun 13 2022 17:26 utc | 93
Posted by: Soi | Jun 13 2022 14:20 utc | 22
"This is an English war on Russia and Russian passivity has encouraged that 3rd grade country to challenge Russia at her backyard. Shame on Russia!"
I wouldn't worry about it. The English couldn't fight their way out of a soggy paper bag. Over 40s overweight couch potatoes, 30s play computer games, teens and 20s fighting one another for 'likes' on social media and wondering if they have the right genitals.
Posted by: Bonky | Jun 13 2022 17:28 utc | 94
Posted by: Petri Krohn | Jun 13 2022 14:32 utc | 30
"I personally believe that many of the Western progressives that fly the Ukrainian Nazi flag do so because of their deep-rooted racist Russophobia and belief in White Western Supremacy."
Nah, they are just twats.
Posted by: Bonky | Jun 13 2022 17:31 utc | 95
The City Day in Energodar, https://youtu.be/3Nq-Yu5rbSo
Smiling children...
Posted by: ostro | Jun 13 2022 17:34 utc | 96
Stoltenberg got new marching orders from Washington.
Posted by: Don Bacon | Jun 13 2022 15:06 utc | 41
YLE (funded in whole or in part by FI government) | Gold Coast (now there's an unfortunated turn of phrase) Debates 2022, E01-05, 12-13 June "Kultaranta" A/V recordings (mostly EN, ironically) feat. Pres. Sauli Niinistö and NATO Sec. Gen Jens Stoltenberg following 11 June SE, FI, TR NATO invitational ultimatums
Posted by: sln2002 | Jun 13 2022 17:37 utc | 97
Frankly at this point I don't think that it's up to the West to set the timetable for when the war ends. As the first commenter on this thread aptly put it: "hubris is a bitch". The West has missed the opportunity to have a say in how this thing ends.
Posted by: Steve | Jun 13 2022 17:37 utc | 98
Mariupol beach, demining and people sunbathing https://youtu.be/YKyeqXG6hp0
Posted by: ostro | Jun 13 2022 17:46 utc | 99
OttoE | Jun 13 2022 15:07 utc | 43
Thank you for your very interesting, important and informative post, including the sources. It is posts like these that make the comments section of MoA valuable by helping to expand horizons and open eyes wider.
Posted by: JB | Jun 13 2022 17:48 utc | 100
The comments to this entry are closed.
Hubris is a bitch.
Posted by: Don Midwest | Jun 13 2022 12:42 utc | 1