Europe's Economic And Social Suicide - Provoked by The U.S. And Helped Along By Europe's Leaders
Due to the stupidity of Europe's political leadership the U.S. has managed to push it towards committing economic and social suicide.
On February 8 Michael Hudson, a research professor of Economics at University of Missouri, wrote about the then upcoming conflict in Ukraine which the U.S. was intentionally provoking.
Michael Hudson: America’s Real Adversaries Are Its European and Other Allies
The sanctions that U.S. diplomats are insisting that their allies impose against trade with Russia and China are aimed ostensibly at deterring a military buildup. But such a buildup cannot really be the main Russian and Chinese concern. They have much more to gain by offering mutual economic benefits to the West. So the underlying question is whether Europe will find its advantage in replacing U.S. exports with Russian and Chinese supplies and the associated mutual economic linkages.
What worries American diplomats is that Germany, other NATO nations and countries along the Belt and Road route understand the gains that can be made by opening up peaceful trade and investment. If there is no Russian or Chinese plan to invade or bomb them, what is the need for NATO? And if there is no inherently adversarial relationship, why do foreign countries need to sacrifice their own trade and financial interests by relying exclusively on U.S. exporters and investors?
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Instead of a real military threat from Russia and China, the problem for American strategists is the absence of such a threat. ...
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The only way left for U.S. diplomats to block European purchases is to goad Russia into a military response and then claim that avenging this response outweighs any purely national economic interest. As hawkish Under-Secretary of State for Political Affairs, Victoria Nuland, explained in a State Department press briefing on January 27: “If Russia invades Ukraine one way or another Nord Stream 2 will not move forward.” The problem is to create a suitably offensive incident and depict Russia as the aggressor.
To provoke a war in Ukraine was easy as the movie production team ruling Ukraine was willing to sacrifice its people and country in a unwinnable war against Russia. The Ukrainian actor and president Vladimir Zelensky had already announced that the Ukraine would, by force, take back Crimea and the Donbas republics that were in the hand of a Russia aligned Ukrainian resistance.
On February 15 Professor John Mearsheimer gave a talk (vid) in which he documented how the U.S. had caused, and is responsible for, the whole Ukraine crisis.
Since last year about half of the Ukrainian army was positioned in the county's southeast at the ceasefire line with the Donbas republics. On February 17 it opened preparatory artillery fire against the resistance positions. Over the next days the barrage steadily increased.
The observers of the Organization for Security and Co-operation (OSCE), positioned at the frontline, counted and documented each artillery strike and published daily summaries on its website. From 80 artillery impacts on February 16 the attacks increased each day to over 2,000 per day on February 22.
The OSCE observers also provided maps of where the grenades exploded (here of February 21):
bigger
The vast majority of impacts were on three areas east of the ceasefire line on resistance held positions. Anyone with a bit of military knowledge will recognize such intense artillery campaigns along distinct axes as the preparation action for an all out attack.
The leaders of the Donbas republics as well as of Russia had to react to this upcoming attack. On February 19 the Donetsk People's Republic and the Luhansk People's Republic asked the Russia government for help. Left alone they would have had no chance to resist against the Ukrainian army the U.S. and its allies, since 2015, had financed and built.
Up to this point Russia had insisted that the DPR and LNR were part of Ukraine but should receive some kind of autonomy as provided by the Minsk agreements. But it now had to take steps that would legalize Russian support for the Donbas. On February 21 Russia recognized the republics as independent states. The three parties signed cooperation agreements which included clauses for mutual military support:
Russia’s treaty with the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR) stipulates granting the right to build military bases on their territory and provide mutual military assistance, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko told a plenary session of the lower house of parliament on Tuesday."An important aspect: the treaty stipulates the intentions by the parties to interact in the field of foreign policy, the protection of sovereignty and territorial integrity and security provision, in particular, by way of rendering each other required assistance, including military aid, and granting the right to build, use and improve military infrastructure and military bases on their territory," the high-ranking Russian diplomat pointed out.
With the agreements in place Russian military help against the Ukrainian attack became (at least arguably) legal under Article 51 (collective self-defense) of the UN Charter.
On February 22, no Russia soldier had yet stepped onto Ukrainian ground, the U.S. and its allies imposed extreme economic sanctions against Russia. President Biden acknowledged that the U.S. had long prepared for this.
Over the last few months, we have coordinated closely with our NATO Allies and partners in Europe and around the world to prepare that response. We’ve said all along and I’ve told Putin to his face a mon- — a month a- — more than a month ago that we would act together and the moment Russia moved against Ukraine.Russia has now undeniably moved against Ukraine by declaring these independent states.
So, today, I’m announcing the first tranche of sanctions to impose costs on Russia in response to their actions yesterday. These have been closely coordinated with our Allies and partners, and we’ll continue to escalate sanctions if Russia escalates.
On February 24 Russian forces entered the Ukraine to preempt the coming attack on the Donbas republics. (The Russian plan A was to press on Kiev to agree to a fast settlement of the crisis. That failed in early April after Boris Johnson's intervention in Kiev. Russia switched to plan B, the de-militarization of Ukraine.)
The German government announced that the Nord Stream II pipeline, which is technically ready to deliver Russian gas to Germany, would not be launched.
On February 27 the German chancellor Olaf Scholz gave a hysteric and moralizing speech in front of the Germany parliament. It accused Russia of breaking peace in Europe.
The Minsk agreement, under which the Ukraine had committed to federalize and give some autonomy to Donbas, was not mentioned once. Germany and France were both guarantee powers who in 2015 had cosigned the Minsk agreement but had, over seven long years, done little to press for its implementation.
Instead of working for a fast ceasefire and a renewal of economic relations with Russia Scholz committed Germany to economic suicide.
On February 28 Professor Hudson published another deep analysis of the crisis:
America Defeats Germany for the Third Time in a Century: The MIC, BARE and OGAM Conquer NATO.
In a forward to the piece Yves Smith summarized:
Michael Hudson expands on his theme on how the conflict in Ukraine is the result of much bigger forces at work, and not necessarily the ones you have top of mind. He argues that preventing European countries, particularly Germany, from developing deeper economic ties with China and Russia is what’s really at stake.Here, Hudson describes the hold key US interests have on foreign policy and how they see conflict as a way to hold off a possible fall in their status and power.
The Hudson piece is quite long and deep. I recommend to read it in full.
The U.S. idea is to isolate Europe from its Eurasian hinterland, to move Europe's industries to the U.S. and to buy up the rest for cheap.
To take Nord Stream II out and to get European countries to boycott Russian energy the U.S. had promised that it would 'help' by selling its (quite expensive) Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) to Europe. But when natural gas prices started to rise in Europe free market forces set in and they also started to increase in the United States. High energy prices threatened to damage Biden and to tank the Democrats in the midterm elections.
Then a mysterious accident happened:
An explosion at a liquefied natural gas terminal in Texas has left nearby residents rattled and is taking a substantial amount of the fuel off the market at a time when global demand is soaring.Freeport LNG will be offline for at least three weeks, the company said Thursday, following a fire in its export facility.
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Most of Freeport LNG's exports were going to Europe, according to Rystad Energy. Europe may be able to offset the lost volume with increases from other facilities, said Emily McClain, vice president at Rystad. Europe gets about 45% of its LNG from the U.S., and the rest comes from Russia, Qatar and other sources, she said.
Three weeks was too short to lower U.S. natural gas prices. The U.S. regulator for such plants, the U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), stepped in and prolonged the restart process:
The second-biggest U.S. liquefied natural gas export facility hit by fire earlier this month will not be allowed to repair or restart operations until it addresses risks to public safety, a pipeline regulator said on Thursday.
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U.S. natural gas futures tumbled 15% on Thursday due to the report and on a continued inventory build, contributing to a 33% price drop in June, the biggest monthly drop since 2018.
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"The actual process (of reviews, repairs and approvals) will take longer than three months, and potentially take six to 12 months," said Alex Munton, director of global gas and LNG at consultants Rapidan Energy Group.
There was also some news of sudden 'problems' at other LNG facilities.
It is not only natural gas but also petroleum products that the U.S. is withholding while Europe is in need:
The Biden administration is warning refiners that it may take “emergency measures” to address fuel exports as stockpiles of gasoline and diesel fuel remain near historically low levels in the Northeast.
Fertilizer making plants in Europe have shut down because of way too high natural gas prices. Steel and aluminum smelters are following. Glas production in Europe is severely endangered.
In a long piece today Yves Smith is looking at the economic and political consequences for Europe. In a breach of Betteridge's law</A she headlines:
Will Europe Go Down to Defeat Before Ukraine?
We will be so bold as to posit that not only has the sanctions war against Russia backfired spectacularly, but the damage to the West, most of all Europe, is accelerating rapidly. And this is not the result of Russia taking active measures but the costs of the loss or reduction of key Russian resources compounding over time.So due to the intensity of the energy shock, the economic timetable is moving faster than the military. Unless Europe engages in a major course correction, and we don’t see how this can happen, the European economic crisis looks set to become devastating before Ukraine is formally defeated.
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As we’ll explain, this shock will be so severe if nothing is done (and as we’ll explain, it’s hard to see anything meaningful enough being done), that the result will be not a recession, but a depression in Europe.
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In theory, the EU could try to make up to Russia. But the time for that has passed. It isn’t just that too many key European players like Ursula von der Leyen and Robert Habeck are too deeply invested in Russia-hatred to retreat. Even if there were blood in the street come December, they wouldn’t be turfed out quickly enough.It is also that Europe has burned its bridges with Russia beyond just the sanctions. Putin has repeatedly offered the EU the option of using Nord Stream 2. Even with Russia now using half its capacity, it could still fully substitute for former Nord Stream 1 deliveries. Putin did warn that option would not stay open for all that long, that Russia would start using the rest of the volume.
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So the outcome seems inevitable: many Europeans businesses will fail, leading to job losses, business loan defaults, loss of government revenues, foreclosures. And with governments thinking they’d maybe spent a bit too freely with Covid relief, their emergency energy fillups will be too little to make all that much difference.At some point, the economic contraction will lead to a financial crisis. If the downdraft is rapid enough, it could be the result as much of (well warranted) loss of confidence as actual losses and defaults to date.
The U.S. has, out of purely egoistic reasons, dragged Europe, and especially Germany, into a trap that will lead to its economic and social destruction. Instead of recognizing the danger, and taking the necessary countermeasure, the European and the German 'leaders' committed themselves to help with the process.
The best thing for Europe and Germany would of course have been to avoid the crisis. That failed because of a lack of insight and effort. But now, as Europe is deep down in a hole, the politicians should at least stop digging. It is in Europe's and especially Germany's obvious interest to keep the crisis as short as possible.
But the lunatics who are ruling over Europe are still doing the opposite:
Germany will keep up its support for Kyiv "for as long as it takes", Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Monday, calling for an enlargement of the European Union to eventually include Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia.
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Germany had undergone a "fundamental change of heart" in recent months on its military support for Ukraine, he said."We will keep up this support, reliably and, above all, for as long as it takes," he told the packed university audience.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen echoed the "as long as it takes" promise to Kyiv in a speech in Slovenia, calling for "a new strategic thinking" to uphold European values.
As those 'leaders' seem to see it, affordable energy, warm homes, sufficient food, jobs and pensions of Europe citizens are not part of the 'European values' they intend to uphold.
The economic and financial breakdown of Europe will be much faster than the obviously necessary political change of its third rate leadership.
The only political sector that will not be damaged by all this, at least in France and Germany, is the far right. That in itself is also a danger.
Posted by b on August 29, 2022 at 17:38 UTC | Permalink
next page »Yes - ever since 1991, it’s been Washington’s Grand Strategy to forment division and instability in Europe. It’s been a consistent pattern for 30 years now.
Posted by: Exile | Aug 29 2022 17:51 utc | 2
Great post. Sums it all up. There is a unified super-elite of America and Europe (and elsewhere) who control the financial sphere (through the biggest banks) which has dragged the European political leaders to do their bidding in order to stop the Russia-China-Iran elites from challenging their plans for world hegemony based on dollar dominance.
Posted by: Kali El | Aug 29 2022 17:52 utc | 3
thanks for the overview here bernhard... michael hudson is very insightful and has had a lifetime to understand and appreciate the financial dynamics that underpin what is taking place here.... on the other hand the eu leadership is fully beholden to this same financial agenda of the west that has hit a real bump... i can't see things moving out of the ditch at this point.. more pain and suffering will need to take place before these leaders are replaced... they must know they are on borrowed time here too... wishing and hoping is no substitute for accepting reality as it presently stands... germany and these euro leaders are on borrowed time and they don't have a lot of time left to work out of this conflict that the usa has graciously handed them.... will they do it? i am not hopeful...
Posted by: james | Aug 29 2022 17:53 utc | 4
I'm wondering if European economic suicide was the US plan all along, if things get really bad and its a good possibility that they might, revolt and revolution might be on the cards, as the the bourgeoisie middle classes come out with the lower classes, it happened recently in Sri Lanka.
Posted by: Republicofscotland | Aug 29 2022 17:55 utc | 5
Biden House announced suspension of NS2 on Feb 23, the day before the SMO commenced. See statement above
Posted by: Ringo | Aug 29 2022 18:05 utc | 6
Well, I live in Europe amidst the madness. I spent most of today collecting firewood from the local forest. I was the only one doing this. Am I the crazy one or the idiots around me? I'll get back to you next April. Hopefully!
Posted by: Hereward the Woke | Aug 29 2022 18:06 utc | 7
It is hard not to see the war against western europe as the last piece in the neo-liberal jigsaw puzzle: the thorough immiseration of the proletariat, bringing their living standards back down again to the levels that they were at in the early 1800s, when a factory weaver in Lancashire earned no more than a weaver in southern India.
The completion of the eurasian project, which is what the Empire is desperately trying to thwart- the completion of the dream of trade across the land from Vladivostok to Lisbon, from Hamburg to Shanghai- would raise living standards at both ends of the world island, inaugurating a new era of comfort and security.
What happens now, if the US prevails and Europe does accept its assistance in suicide, is not that the BRI fails but that Europe becomes, again, a mere backwater, the far western appendage of the supercontinent.
The action, in the meantime, is diverted slightly through west Asia into Africa: in every sense a wealthier, more populous land with vastly more potential than a Europe that has signified its weariness and lack of ideas in the personnel it has chosen to govern it: a thousand or so mediocrities whose collective ambition is to retire to the American sunbelt and spend their declining years in warmth of the glowing approval of the likes of Nuland, Biden, Trump and the misfits who run the 'West".
Posted by: bevin | Aug 29 2022 18:06 utc | 8
Although I have relatives in Hamburg, I have absolutely no sympathy or pity for Germany or any of the other EUvassals. Nor, though my girlfriend is a British citizen, have I any sympathy for the Brits. It's long past time that they could have rebelled against their suicidal regimes; that they did not is going to bring them to ruin and it is their fault.
Posted by: Biswapriya Purkayast | Aug 29 2022 18:08 utc | 9
It amazes me that the Europeans ignore the fact that Critical race theory is widely believed in by the Biden Administration. A==CRT means all non-Jewish White people are evil. The CRT loving Biden admin is killing lots of White men in Ukraine thru this war, and the sanctions will devastate the largely White populations of Europe. The Euros seem incapable of realizing that the USA has changed drastically.
Posted by: John Neal Spangler | Aug 29 2022 18:08 utc | 10
One thing I would like to understand is how Asian and especially the Sino-Russian economies are preparing for the downfall of western economies? Gold based basket of currencies? Relying on 4 billion consumers or even 80% of the (developing) world population? Alternatives to SWIFT trade? Cheap energy? Strong industrialization? Combination of all of these?
Posted by: J | Aug 29 2022 18:12 utc | 11
The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist.
While not a Christian this saying comes back to me over and over when I see what is happening in our world today. It must have felt the same during the rise of Hitler and Stalin, Napoleon and Attila the Hun, or when Genghis Khan and his Horde rode into town. It feels like the world has turned upside down. Is it the devil or our own nature that lead us down these dark and terrible paths? It certainly appears to me that the Devil has once again been let loose upon our world, his minions, the madmen and psychopaths we call our leaders.
It is nothing less then an insanity....a death cult, driven by ignorance, propaganda, greed, fear and hate that will shatter our civilization while the uncomprehending masses either stand aside and let it happen or worse, actively cheer it on.
I cannot help but think, using history as a guide and then extrapolating that history with our exponentially growing ability for mass annihilation, that humanities days are numbered. The momentum for self destruction is at this point so great I see nothing that can stop it. Over the edge we go.
Have a great day.
Posted by: JustAMaverick | Aug 29 2022 18:14 utc | 12
"I'm wondering if European economic suicide was the US plan all along,"
The US was able to build a grand coalition around the certainty that sanctions would lead to a pliable, transnational corporation friendly regime in Russia. There may be have been thoughts about a Plan B along the lines of what you suggest, but there is too much political risk involved for me to take it very seriously. The possibility of a breakup of NATO is now > trivial.
Posted by: dadooronron | Aug 29 2022 18:14 utc | 13
Pepe's Escobar's Mea Culpa on posting a fake news story on his Telegram channel re: Vovk's now debunked non-assassination:
https://t.me/rocknrollgeopolitics/4562
I reposted the link here myself in the last MoA thread, reacting upon Pepe's own posting, presuming there may be some credibility to the story.
Once the story was debunked, I kinda called him out on it, questioning why he would want to damage a 30 year career promoting such questionable bs... i wonder if his Mea Culpa was his own conscience talking, or does he actually look through the lowly barfly comments section? LOL
Posted by: Et Tu | Aug 29 2022 18:15 utc | 14
Let me (as a German) confirm that article in every detail/aspect. But folks here still not understand what's awaiting them in the future. Well, in the end, maybe we get what we deserve - I guess it's called "evolution".
Russia will be the new Germany. And i will migrate there asap.
Posted by: Klaus | Aug 29 2022 18:16 utc | 15
Well, the good news is that not only will most European leadership have been removed, come next summer, but that some of them will have downright be shot or hanged. At this point, I just don't care if they're shot by far-right or far-left goons, they just deserve a painful death and hopefully some will get their comeuppance in the next months.
The breakdown will come faster than the removal of that bunch of incompetent traitors, which is bad because a timely removal would allow us to avoid the major economic and social suffering, but there's still a positive bit here: if the breakdown is fast and brutal enough, not all of them will make it out alive. The change in political leadership will happen as well, but since Euro big businesses can't even manage to get their supposed political underlings under control and they can't make them change course, then too bad; and with any luck, social troubles will be big enough for some CEOs to find their heads on spikes right along the political euro-trash.
Posted by: Clueless Joe | Aug 29 2022 18:17 utc | 16
I also made the last point -- that the far right will rise in the wake of the European suicide -- when the war began.
Jobs and industries will be lost. Public resources are going to arms not welfare. Another immigration wave.
And the liberal-centrist and social democratic forces are to blame for it all. With no real left alternative, the far right will soar in the next elections.
German social democrats are again segueing to fascism.
Posted by: Ringo | Aug 29 2022 18:20 utc | 17
I'm sure the likes of Chancellor Olaf Scholz and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen have a nice fat severance package waiting for them in the US.
Posted by: Ghost Ship | Aug 29 2022 18:25 utc | 18
I see that the Ukrainian "offensive" into Kherson was a total failure, as predicted (or scripted) take your pick.
The countdown to either capitulation or us boots on the ground is under way.
Posted by: Opport Knocks | Aug 29 2022 18:31 utc | 19
Meanwhile, the Strategic Petroleum Reserve has been drawn down significantly to reduce gasoline retail prices moderately and last week the largest midwest refinery in the US had a fire in its power unit. How long the two distillation units will be down is unknown at this point. As someone relatively experienced with refinery fires this doesn't look catastrophic and it does not appear that it affected any of the actually production units directly. On the flip side, without being involved in the response I can't say whether the news reports that it's not that bad are true. It's a complicated thing.
I assume that US leaders think that the economic fallout can be limited to Europe but I'm not so sure. First, financial contagion is hard to avoid. Second, the US looks a lot more stable than it really is. I do think that when times get hard at least some European nations are much more likely to go into the streets than Americans are, but the flip side to that is that Americans will be more unpredictable and US law enforcement will either be much more violent than European or ally with street protests (depending on which side of the "aisle" the protestors come from).
Posted by: Lex | Aug 29 2022 18:32 utc | 20
@7 You were lucky you didn't run into the Green Party Forest Protection Police.
Posted by: dh | Aug 29 2022 18:32 utc | 21
More on topic of the MoA article: words are cheap.
Sergeant Scholz already has internal pressure from within his own party. It is still only August. Germany still has some reserves, and even one significant signature or statement would make energy Futures contracts crumble the instant it was made public.
I myself am freaking out since i live in EU, but despite my contempt and lack of faith in the current leadership, I cannot see how anyone would commit both economic and political suicide to the point where we have blackouts and no heating. While there is always room for mistakes and miscalculations, this is still fundamentally an artificial crisis, driven by geopolitical factors, and limited by basic physical ones, which means that half the reason why it is being pursued to the breaking point, is also because the stubborn actors know it could be rectified rather quickly in practical and logistical terms.
The optimist in me believes European leaders are still just posturing, hoping to gain whatever leverage is left, before their inevitable moment of capitulation. No one will survive the alternative, politically for sure, but let's face it, it would take a very brave person to expect to physically survive, once their role in the destruction of Europe is fully understood by the public. And there is one thing we can all agree on: politicians, especially the current crop of EU leadership, are anything but brave.
Posted by: Et Tu | Aug 29 2022 18:42 utc | 22
Refining is dangerous. You're raising a flammable substance to high heat and things do happen.
OTOH, there is a lot of money and power to be gained in the EV transition and you can be sure the usual suspects are invested to the hilt. Gasoline supply problems only help them.
Lots of opportunities for plausible deniability.
Posted by: Sideshow Bob | Aug 29 2022 18:44 utc | 23
They are not lunatics, they are US puppets playing their part. Anyway, Europeans like it. They voted for for each puppet. Anyone protesting or demanding elections? Any country exiting EU? Anyone from Taiwan on the streets?
As long as people approve everything, there is no problem, let them wash less
Posted by: rk | Aug 29 2022 18:44 utc | 24
Well, at least Europe will finally get a security treaty out of it.
And Europe will diversify it's gas supply further.
And the extreme white supremacists impulse will be crushed again.
And - witness the rising influence of this community of argument - people are slowly awakening to the fact the media are playing them on the 1% 's behalf.
Posted by: Powerandpeople | Aug 29 2022 18:52 utc | 25
Simpler version"
"Let's you and him fight."
Posted by: James J. O'Meara | Aug 29 2022 18:54 utc | 26
Yesterday the German Foreign Minister Baerbock said the same thing as Scholz - that the war could take years. NATO chief Stoltenberg said the same thing two months ago.
That's not a prediction. Endless war is NATO policy and it is being slavishly implemented by the German government.
It doesn't seem to matter if Germany drags the rest of Europe with it into economic disaster. "Fuck the EU".
Posted by: Brendan | Aug 29 2022 18:57 utc | 27
re: the lunatics who are ruling over Europe
It's true, but it also illustrates that the emergence of "rulers" signifies a loss in democracy, rule by the people. Of course sane people if they had any authority wouldn't allow their representatives to worsen matters so thoroughly. But democracy has failed.
From a report published last year on democratic erosion in Europe. quote
Democracy remains the most common form of government across Europe. Yet, democratic erosion, backsliding and deepening autocratization present growing challenges. The state of Civil Liberties and Checks on Government in many of eastern Europe's former communist countries were, at the end of 2020, comparable to when they joined the European Union. For more than a decade, a majority of Europe's established democracies have seen their democratic qualities stagnate rather than improve. Some have experienced erosion of democratic processes and fundamental rights, and several others have deteriorated to the point where they can hardly be qualified as democracies. . . .here
I would disregard the report's claiming that Russia is a non-democracy, the only European country so honored, on the colorful map, especially given the current state of affairs.
Also note that there has been no democracy erosion in western Europe, from Netherlands-Italy westward, nor in the Baltics, Sweden and Finland. hah
Posted by: Don Bacon | Aug 29 2022 18:58 utc | 28
@ Et Tu | Aug 29 2022 18:42 utc | 22
good overview.. i think you are right about all that.. they will switch course at the last minute.. if not- they and you are in trouble..... take a page out of @ Hereward the Woke | Aug 29 2022 18:06 utc | 7 book if you can.. watch out for the green party forest protection police as dh notes, lol..
Posted by: james | Aug 29 2022 18:59 utc | 29
I have had the same thoughts about the rise of the far right from this. They are a reaction to extremist progressives that made life unbearable for the majority the last 5-6 years.
The extremist progressives, in power almost everywhere in the EU, talk and talk about how bad the right is. They havent seen anything yet. Just like Hitler that rose on the waves of failed progressives back then, I fear the day a new Hitler rises here.
Posted by: alek_a | Aug 29 2022 18:59 utc | 30
nulands quote ''fuck the eu'' is really coming to pass! kudos on her statement which looks like a very accurate prediction from 8 years ago...
Posted by: james | Aug 29 2022 19:01 utc | 32
https://metallicman.com/laoban4site/things-starting-to-flush-out-geopolitical-front-usa-the-biggest-loser/
Things are really starting to flush-out on the Geo-political front and the USA appears to be the biggest loser
Here’s some stuff that you just won’t find in the American and Western “news”. If you read that “news” you would be convinced that Russia is alone, China is a pariah, and America is roaring into life with fantastic employment, great prosperity and excellent news for the future. LOL
Posted by: MD | Aug 29 2022 19:03 utc | 33
I have been reading the past decades developments through the prism of an Empire exercising zero sum strategies to mitigate its impending decline.
What becomes obvious, once we go down that road, is that this strategy is both ubiquitous and coherent. In my opinion, the Empire has realized for some time that the natural evolution for the Eurasian continent as whole is toward full integration. Oceania ends at Airstrip One and Eurasia starts in Lisbon.
The mysterious accidents in Texan liquefied gas plants reported by b lead me to believe that the Empire could take this a step further and work to undermine alternate supplies of energy to Europe. I remember that Algerian production sites were hit by terror attacks some years ago. A repeat of similar incidents would certainly compound the crisis.
Posted by: robin | Aug 29 2022 19:03 utc | 34
"I'm wondering if European economic suicide was the US plan all along,"
--
Posted by: dadooronron | Aug 29 2022 18:14 utc | 13
I think Hudson is right that the intentions were two:
a.) subdue an economic competitor (in particular Germany).
b.) prevent Yurpean economic integration with the rest of "EurAsia", and for that matter Africa, which is huge.
Crashing the Yurpean economy is not optimal, but will do. Lots of salvage, and they are all scavengers these days. The US attitude has become a lot more grasping since the glory days of Bush the Lesser. From pallets of cash to taking Afghanistan's gold, in 20 years flat.
They have essentially destroyed the social compact here, and they wiil do the same to you. Good luck, as an USA-ian, I wish Germany well, I think we have meddled in Yurpean affairs enough. We have our own house to clean.
Posted by: Bemildred | Aug 29 2022 19:04 utc | 35
An excellent and thought provoking article. The only point over which I have doubts is the rationale for Russia's uncharacteristically inept advance on Kiev.
I suggest that since they were well aware of the power of the Ukrainian forces and the imminence of an all-out assault on Donbas, that the feint toward Kiev was the only way of forestalling that assault, at least for sufficient time to enable Russian support to build up in Donbas. The possibility of a Kiev capitulation seems highly unlikely given their bullish stance over Donbas and their belief in the power of their forces.
It could well have been a deliberately sacrificial act by the Russians who sat in a neat column for an extended period, tempting attack and drawing some forces from the Donbas front, against all norms of traditional offensive conduct.
Since that time they have demonstrated numerous times that they are willing to take a short term hit (ie withdrawal under fire) for the sake of a longer term benefit where they destroy a large part of the attacking force once they are drawn into the open.
Posted by: Pancho Plail | Aug 29 2022 19:05 utc | 36
Klaus no. 15
"Russia will be the new Germany. And i will migrate there asap."
Not if liz truss has anything to do with it. She has already stated she would use nukes.
Posted by: ThusspakeZarathustra | Aug 29 2022 19:05 utc | 37
It could well have been a deliberately sacrificial act by the Russians who sat in a neat column for an extended period, tempting attack and drawing some forces from the Donbas front, against all norms of traditional offensive conduct.
Those with actual tactical experience understand the so-called "40-km column" was a ruse to draw Ukrainian forces northward so they could be engaged by superior forces waiting across the border in Belarus. The Ukrainians did not take the bait.
Posted by: Deep Woods | Aug 29 2022 19:12 utc | 38
The destruction of Europe started in the early 2000s, when the US invaded the middle east unleashing a huge number of migrants that Europe had to deal with. That was an initial blow to German welfare state inflicted by the Americans. This new "gift" from the US will complete the destruction of German and European economy. As some people said, Europe is now becoming a new Puerto Rico: a colony that doesn't speak English.
Posted by: JamesFav | Aug 29 2022 19:17 utc | 39
It seems that the common theme in western dialog (managed by you-know-who, I suppose) is that democracy is a luxury that circumstances will simply not allow.
Europeans must now live with these sacrifices because of circunstances and fault of others.
This has been common response to the string of crises which have been thrust on us.
Is this planned, is this panic, I wonder.
Posted by: jared | Aug 29 2022 19:20 utc | 40
"The U.S. has, out of purely egoistic reasons, dragged Europe, and especially Germany, into a trap that will lead to its economic and social destruction."
"The U.S. idea is to isolate Europe from its Eurasian hinterland, to move Europe's industries to the U.S. and to buy up the rest for cheap."
Looks like its Morganthau Plan 2.0 for Germany.
Posted by: hobnob | Aug 29 2022 19:21 utc | 41
#36: "The only point over which I have doubts is the rationale for Russia's uncharacteristically inept advance on Kiev."
Normal Russian planning practice since at least WW2 has been to have more than one purpose. Also, to have it serve some purpose even if it "fails" in other purposes. There is no one answer, by design. There never was just one purpose. That sort of planning would invite failure, whereas alternatives invites success "even if."
It is not only Russia that plans for, "Well, even if not that, then this other," and "Well, we can accomplish both of these things," or all three or four. Take it, or distract, or force the hand of the other side, or stop something else from happening somewhere else.
Posted by: Mark Thomason | Aug 29 2022 19:22 utc | 42
jared | Aug 29 2022 19:20 utc | 42
If you do not hold leaders accountable for their actions, it inevitably leads to death camps. The Germans proved that less than 80 years ago. If they are not held accountable for this, that's what is coming next.
Posted by: Maxx | Aug 29 2022 19:26 utc | 43
Not if liz truss has anything to do with it. She has already stated she would use nukes.Posted by: ThusspakeZarathustra | Aug 29 2022 19:05 utc | 37
Has anyone tested the UK's missile offense and defense capabilities in a real world scenario recently. Do their nukes even work?
If Truss's posturing became a directive, it would most certainly be ignored by the military.
Posted by: Opport Knocks | Aug 29 2022 19:28 utc | 44
I don't agree with this thesis: if it's possibile (if not sure) that the utterly incompetent u.s. leadership wanted to plant a wedge between Europe on one side and Russia and China on the other side, now, due to the total failure of the sanctions against Russia, the consequences risk ti backfire directly on the United States.
The sum of the US economic potential and that of its European vassal/allies, has supported the role of the dollar as a bargaining chip in international transactions:
bring Europe to its knees inevitably leads to the downfall of the US economy.
The U.S. leadership has led his country and its main allies into a dead end from which it does not know and cannot get out because it has exposed its weaknesses to the whole world and the damage is now irreparable.
The only solution for it is to produce a mountain of lies that grows dramatically every day and that at a certain moment will fall like a house of cards
Posted by: Stefano de Martino | Aug 29 2022 19:28 utc | 45
The trouble with 'Europe' IMO is the fact that 'Europe' is typically a phantom concept that has been conceived by Americans who look at 'Europe' from an outside perspective. 'Europe' is typically the product of American ideology. If there is a grain of truth in this (Europe = An American concept), what does 'Europe's Economic And Social Suicide - Provoked by The U.S.' mean? Does it mean that a ghost-like concept that has been conceived by well-wishing Americans (who are dreaming of a United States of Europe) is all of a sudden harakiri-ing itself? But when 'Europe' is boiling down to being nothing more an American phantasy, is this harakiri of 'Europe' really such a big deal? Perhaps it means nothing more than that the 'Europe-ideology' (dreamed wet by an Austrian corporal A.H.) of EU-leaders (who have been trained by Americans how to conceive 'Europe' in the American dream-way) is now playing Russian roulette with itself in a borderline hysteria that is de facto situated in a borderline country called 'Ukraine'.
Prof. Hudson's article is using 'Europe' in a typical American manner with the invention of 'Europe' being streamlined to look like two drops of water identical with another invention, the invention of the U.S.A. that is in acute danger of failing, both as a reality as well as a dream. The American concept of 'Europe' never existed and happily never will exist.
Posted by: Oblomovka daydream | Aug 29 2022 19:32 utc | 46
Nicely done b, definitely one of the best summaries of the last 7 months going around.
Question to barflies: if a European depression triggers a financial collapse I suspect that QE will ramp up again to bail out the key players. Will that return us to a negative interest rate regime or will energy inflation (which will inflate all other prices) keep interest rates where they are?
At any rate the US—whose foreign policy has been to fail states who act in their own interests—is now trying to fail the world. The question for marionette puppets like we Aussies is how to wake up and throw ourselves clear of the train wreck.
Posted by: Patroklos | Aug 29 2022 19:32 utc | 47
Great recap.
Scholz committed Germany and by extension the whole EU to seppuku. Not out of honor, not even ideology, but out of stupidity, hubris and because he's a eunuch with no balls. Instead of making concessions these privileged retards high on hubris (Baerbock, Haebeck, the eunuch, ...) double down in their errors. The only thing I can see is that by next spring they will have been forced out of any politically significant post. Be it by their party leadership, a putsch or a revolution.
Posted by: xor | Aug 29 2022 19:34 utc | 48
Posted by: Opport Knocks | Aug 29 2022 18:31 utc | 19
Not sure if it was a total failure. Due to Rybar the ukronazis broke through on some front areas.
https://t.me/s/rybar
What i do not understand is that the russian MOD are highly praising the Ukraine fortification and trench warfare how difficult it is to break through blablablaba......and on the side the shithole ukraine army of terrorists is able to break through in some parts of the front. I mean what re the russians doing in their fortifications respectivly trenches? Or put differently, are the Ukraine defenders in the trenches more motivated respectivly better commanded by NATO advisors?
Even the breakthroughs are only symbolic This raises questions concerning the RF and the complete SMO.
Russia is fighting this war (not SMO) its a war with weaponary from the 80's, 70's and 60's
This war clearly shows that Russia is lagging behind developments in a number of military areas like drones, air force, navy, electronic warfare,.......
Where re all these new weapon high tech weapons like T14 or others?
Only show ?
The slow speed of the so called SMO has nothing to do with tactics but with lack of military power and knowhow.
I am really curiouse how the responsible people in the MOD will use the 3 rd army corps.
They ve started setting up the corp about a month ago. As far as I know, in Yakutia, Bashkiria, the Orenburg region. Well, it seems that they are formed even in every region and they don't talk about it much. Well equipped and motivated.
The 3rd Army Corps with 30 battalions throughout Russia is a strange corps with almost 12 brigades there re in
Peter-5, Yakutia-1, Primorye-1, Tatarstan-2, Chuvashia-1, Amur-1, Tyumen-1 + company pulls in 3 corps + art. div., Grozny - 8, Bashkiria-2, Chelyabinsk-2, Ulyanovsk-2, Tomsk-2, Kursk-1, Kuban-2 + Don Brigade,
Omsk - 3 companies, Perm - company and Odessa Brigade.
BUT HOW THESE "SMO EXPERTS" IN THE RUSSIAN GENERAL STAFF WILL USE THEM?
I am filled with horror when I think that people like the "SMO EXPERTS" with such an extraordinary warefare qualification and experiance will manage the 3rd corps.
Posted by: Chessmaster | Aug 29 2022 19:34 utc | 49
Patroklos | Aug 29 2022 19:32 utc | 49
You ARE the train wreck. America is the conductor. Enjoy the ride, and learn to speak Chinese.
Posted by: Playba | Aug 29 2022 19:34 utc | 50
@17 Ringo
Only this time, the reactionary movement in Europe will succeed because it has far more in common with Russia and the conservative in the U.S. than with their own self-torpedoing elites.
The writing is on the wall. And if you can reign in the more aggressive attribute of Nationalism, then you can have a fighting chance of a live and let live theme emerging.
The left is dead.
Posted by: NemesisCalling | Aug 29 2022 19:34 utc | 51
#9
What would be your preferred method of getting rid of these regimes, given there was enough time to still do it? For hundreds of years they have been playing the long game, the masses were always in the cross-hairs and little could have been done to change what is happening now. Fortunately, I don't rely on your empathy to get a decent nights sleep and besides - sympathy fixes few problems.
Excellent post B.
Posted by: duplicitousdemocracy | Aug 29 2022 19:37 utc | 53
@15 Klaus:
You mentioned that you'd like to emigrate to Russia. Do other Germans feel as you do?
I'm asking because I see a lot of commentary about how Germans have a racial antipathy toward Slavs, and yet I know that there are a lot of people of German heritage living quite successfully in Russia.
What is your perspective, if you care to share it?
Posted by: Tom Pfotzer | Aug 29 2022 19:39 utc | 54
Klaus no. 15
"Russia will be the new Germany. And i will migrate there asap."
Not if liz truss has anything to do with it. She has already stated she would use nukes.
Posted by: ThusspakeZarathustra | Aug 29 2022 19:05 utc | 37
.
Well in that case you are neither in Europe nor in the USA nor safe!
Thanks to hypersonics, the USA would be a 100% target!
And you can't intercept them.
No aircraft carrier is safe even then with conventional warheads....
Posted by: mon3 | Aug 29 2022 19:41 utc | 55
Terrific piece. I would only add one comment. The general assumption is that Germany and other EU countries are ‘independent’. The US has circa 100K troops stationed in Europe; 35K ‘active duty’ US troops are stationed in Germany. The Pentagon has bases in: Germany (6), Greece (5), Spain (2) and Greenland (Denmark; 1). Over 7 decades following the conclusion of WWII, Europe is still occupied by US troops. Thus, the EU/European Commission is not independent but rather is largely a US stooge/vassal and take their marching orders from Washington. As seen in the UK, it makes little difference who is running the show. Boris Johnson was forced to resign only to be replaced by Liz Truss an unprincipled buffoon, who confused the Baltic and Black Seas and unaware that Voronezh and Rostov regions are in Russia. At a recent campaign meeting in Birmingham, Truss assured moderator John Pienaar of Times Radio that she was ready to launch nuclear missiles against Russia. People in the audience applauded. Borris Johnson, Liz Turss, Olaf Scholz, Emmanuel Macron, etc. are all US stooges who take their marching orders from the US State Department. If they step out of line, they will be replaced by someone more willing to follow Washington’s dictates. By and large, the EU is incapable of formulating an independent foreign policy.
Macpott no. 40
Listen to the audience reaction in this video
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=CM8evVhzHPI
Posted by: ThusspakeZarathustra | Aug 29 2022 19:42 utc | 57
It appears that these "stupid" leaders are getting rich and continue to breathe.
Please check assumptions.
Posted by: jared | Aug 29 2022 19:43 utc | 58
In conditions like this (which some cultures located in the rich western world are intimately familiar with, and have been for prolonged periods of time-just saying), it seems like it’s natural to ask: What about the black market? Forget Hudson - this is how the oppressed survive… isn’t it??
Posted by: Bruised Northerner | Aug 29 2022 19:45 utc | 59
The notion that Europe goes down and US somehow escapes the storm and 'wins' is comical. Our economy even exists at the whim of China. US continues to insult and annoy everyone. US has near nothing to sell that anyone wants. US is hardly self sufficient. Hard landing all around seems likely.
A neighbor is planning an October trip to Germany. His friends in Hamburg are completely convinced that normalcy bias rules, nothing at all is happening. If anything they are expecting a great victory in Ukraine followed by a great leap forward.
Posted by: oldhippie | Aug 29 2022 19:49 utc | 60
Opport knocks no. 46
"Has anyone tested the UK's missile offense and defense capabilities in a real world scenario recently. Do their nukes even work?"
They'd use a "poxy" nuke from one of the US bases. 😂
Posted by: ThusspakeZarathustra | Aug 29 2022 19:52 utc | 61
The only worry I have with this article is the idea that the US wanted to provoke Russia into invading Ukraine. I have doubts that the US wanted this war.
Is not the first enemy of the US, the Russian state? The second would be Europe and the desire or need to subjugate it.
Posted by: John Philpot | Aug 29 2022 20:04 utc | 62
Question !
Why is there no progress report from the SMO today?
No word on the website today!
.
Are you planning something there?
.
https://eng.mil.ru/en/news_page/country.htm?f=1&blk=10340619&objInBlock=10
Posted by: mon3 | Aug 29 2022 20:05 utc | 63
Germany Reponds to Friday's Catastrophic Rise in Gas Prices →
The head of the European Union‘s executive branch and Germany’s chancellor on Monday pledged a reform of the continent’s electricity market to help bring down power prices that have been pushed higher by skyrocketing gas prices.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a speech in Bled, Slovenia, "blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, word salad, blah, blah, blah."
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, visiting Prague on Monday, said "blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, word salad, blah, blah, blah."
Speaking earlier in Berlin, a German economy ministry spokeswoman said "blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, word salad, blah, blah, blah."
The British publication The Economist suggested that isolation from Western markets could only “cause havoc in Russia… on a three- to five-year horizon. The biggest flaw [of sanctions] is that full or partial embargoes are not being enforced by over 100 countries with 40% of world GDP,” the outlet insisted. “A globalized economy is good at adapting to shocks and opportunities, particularly as most countries have no desire to enforce Western policy.”
Posted by: Archus | Aug 29 2022 20:06 utc | 64
Great post. Sums it all up.
Agree with #3Kali.
Thanks
Posted by: La Bastille | Aug 29 2022 20:07 utc | 65
I don't know what's with the Western populations that they sit back to allow these low IQ sociopathic creeps to dictate how much pain we must suffer. Maybe it's 80 years of vaccines and fluoride in the water, plus 40 years of chemtrails. That may have done the trick.
I'm convinced the WEF crowd plays with us. I imagine them betting on who can get us to do the most stupid, illogical things. Bourla to the forum: "I'll bet anyone of you $50 million that I can get everyone to wear a mask by 2021". Tederous; "I'll take that, and I'll raise you $50 million that I can have everyone isolate at home for 12 months". Klaus Schwab to Bill Gates: "I'll bet you $100 million I can get the goyim to eat ze bugs by 2030". Gates: I'll take that bet and bet you $400 million that I can get 75% of the population to inject poison by 2023". Stefane Bancel stands up to say: I'll bet the lot of you $33billion I can get the goyim to vax their infant babies by Dec. 2022. And they all laugh. Klauss: Ok let's get down to business. How do we cover all these excess deaths. Yuval Harari jumps up. "I know. Call it Sudden Adult Death Syndrome". "Vonderful my child. you get bonus".
Masterful summary. I think you point out that history is being diligently re-written. Minsk 2 has been memory holed. If it is mentioned, recourse is had to pointing out that Germany and France were not signatories to Minsk 2, ignoring the fact that they were guarantors.
In the press conference after his meeting with Putin, Scholz was still emphasising the importance of observing Minsk 2. That, when he knew there was no intention of observing it. I therefore believe that Scholz was fully complicit in the plan that was soon to be adopted by the West: force a Russian military response and use that Russian military response to gain public support for heavy sanctions.
From many remarks made at the time, both the American and European leaders were confident that it was the sanctions that would defeat Russia.
Pilger referred to that gaining and retention of public support for the sanctions war as the most intensive propaganda war he had ever seen. It's worked. So well that the sanctions we have imposed on Russia are now sometimes being referred to in the English press as if they were imposed by Putin! There is now nothing the Russians can do that is not interpreted as sinister and hostile.
I'm sorry for the Ukrainians. Not the extremists but the average Ukrainian caught up in all this. They're already seeing ownership of national assets being transferred to foreign countries or companies: they will have a wrecked country and a greatly diminished one: the casualties are appalling.
For us in Western Europe, we face a bleak time as result of this attempt to damage Russia. For the Ukrainians the result is simply tragic. To be a Western proxy is bad enough. Occupying a square of the Grand Chessboard as well has destroyed their country.
As the article says, it's difficult to see how the European politicians can row back on sanctions. It could get worse than that. What is seldom noted is that the Russian security demands made in late 2021 have still not been met.
Far from their being met NATO has doubled down. I don't think many are taking into account that the Russians could impose counter-sanctions to get them met. How likely is that? Should counter-sanctions be imposed then as far as economic damage goes we've seen nothing yet.
Posted by: English Outsider | Aug 29 2022 20:14 utc | 67
Who is this "Chessmaster"[51]? Is he something like the break clown?
Posted by: Humml | Aug 29 2022 20:20 utc | 68
@ Posted by: Brendan | Aug 29 2022 18:57 utc | 27
In order for a war to go on for years, it requires morons like Sergeant Scholz, Annalena Bareback and Robert Heartbreak to still be in power to support and fund it. Stranger things have happened, but I doubt any of those toxic clowns with see through the winter. Whether their successors will carry on with the same madness is of course another matter, but unlike green energy, hope does spring eternal and is a renewable source...
Posted by: Et Tu | Aug 29 2022 20:21 utc | 69
@51
i agree completely...america would crush this pathetic counter offensive with a couple of airplanes in few hours...really don't know what to get out of it...lack of using air force is still a mystery to me...firing artillery all day long without any deeper tactics looks like wasting time and missiles for nothing...and if ukraine is still capable of organizing ANY kind of counter offensive it's a proof of serious lack of results of such tactic...they are still in fortifications 6 months later and walking around like there is no 24/7 artillery...artillery alone will not win this war...
Posted by: denazi | Aug 29 2022 20:28 utc | 70
Humml @ 71
Sometimes he posts by the name David Levin
Posted by: Annette | Aug 29 2022 20:30 utc | 71
denazi @ 73
You are wrong. Artillery alone will win this war.
Posted by: Deep Woods | Aug 29 2022 20:32 utc | 72
Deep Woods @ 75
Hello Pete. Read any good books lately?
Posted by: Annette | Aug 29 2022 20:34 utc | 73
Today's briefing from the Russian MOD discussing recent territorial gains.
Posted by: evilsooty999 | Aug 29 2022 20:38 utc | 74
European Gas Prices Plunge As Germany Fills Storage Ahead Of Schedule
Germany has filled its storage ahead of schedule! Germany has filled its storage ahead of schedule!
Posted by: Scholtzie | Aug 29 2022 20:40 utc | 75
"It is not only natural gas but also petroleum products that the U.S. is withholding while Europe is in need..."
If this is deliberate then it explains why vassal Canada hosted Germany's Scholz a few weeks ago under the (initial) initiative of arranging for Canadian LNG and petroleum exports, but strangely and with suddenness it was announced such exports were off the table in favour of a yet non-existent hydrogen scheme.
Which leads to the question: to what extent is this a controlled demolition with input from all? Or a successful manipulation (by US) fooling unwitting Europeans?
Posted by: jayc | Aug 29 2022 20:41 utc | 76
Posted by: mon3 | Aug 29 2022 20:05 utc | 66
.
But strangely enough, no written report there
.
https://eng.mil.ru/en/news_page/country.htm?f=1&blk=10340619&objInBlock=10
Posted by: mon3 | Aug 29 2022 20:41 utc | 78
@ Posted by: joseph | Aug 29 2022 20:13 utc | 69
You missed the continuous bombardment by 3-4-5g frequencies, not to mention the "content" transmitted by them ;-)
Posted by: Opport Knocks | Aug 29 2022 20:41 utc | 79
Joseph no. 69
I love your website. Especially the cartoon slot. LOL.
Posted by: ThusspakeZarathustra | Aug 29 2022 20:42 utc | 80
mon3 | Aug 29 2022 20:41 utc | 81
Russian Defence Ministry report on the progress of the special military operation in Ukraine
High-precision weapons strikes of the Russian Aerospace Forces have destroyed the temporary deployment point of 95th Airborne Assault Brigade of AFU in Slavyansk, Donetsk People's Republic. The attacks have resulted in the elimination of up to 150 nationalists, as well as 10 units of weapons and military equipment.
Allied Forces offensive in Donetsk direction have resulted in losses of 204th Battalion of 241st Territorial Defence Brigade near Artemovsk exceeding 60 per cent of its personnel. The command of Liman task force has withdrawn brigade units from the combat area to Kiev to be re-staffed.
High-precision strike near Slavyansk in Donetsk People's Republic has eliminated more than 100 nationalists trained at AFU reserve training centre.
Operational-tactical and army aviation, missile troops and artillery strikes continue against Ukrainian defence industry facilities where weapons are manufactured and repaired.
High-precision weapons of the Russian Aerospace Forces have hit production halls where Ukrainian air force helicopters were being repaired at Motor Sich plant in Zaporozhye city.
In addition, 3 AFU command posts, including those of 54th AFU Mechanized Brigade near Kurakhovo, Donetsk People's Republic, as well as 42 artillery units at firing positions, and 139 areas of AFU manpower and military equipment concentration have been hit.
1 oil storage depot near Nikopol', Dniepropetrovsk Region, which was used to supply fuel to AFU units in Donbass, has been destroyed.
8 missile and artillery weapons and ammunition depots near Seversk, Kramatorsk, Ulakly in Donetsk People's Republic, Travnevoye in Kharkov Region, Kavkaz in Nikolaev Region and Marganets in Dniepropetrovsk Region have also been destroyed.
Russian air defence means have shot down 6 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles near Staromaiorskoye, Dokuchayevsk, Komsomolskyi, Maksimovka in Donetsk People's Republic, Semenovka in Kharkov Region and Belaya Krynytsa in Kherson Region.
28 projectiles of multiple-launch rocket systems Olha and HIMARS have been intercepted near Ol'ginka, Novotroitskoye in Donetsk People's Republic, Chernobaevka in Kherson Region, Antonovskyi and Dariyevskyi bridges, and over Kakhovskaya HPP.
In addition, 1 Tochka-U ballistic missile has been shot down in the air near Novaya Kakhovka, Kherson Region.
In total, 274 Ukrainian airplanes and 148 helicopters, 1,826 unmanned aerial vehicles, 370 anti-aircraft missile systems, 4,400 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 822 multiple launch rocket systems, 3,349 field artillery and mortars, as well as 5,095 units of special military vehicles were destroyed during the operation.
***
Kiev regime continues provocations to threaten a man-made nuclear disaster at Zaporozhye NPP.
Over the past 24 hours, 2 AFU artillery attacks on the territory of the nuclear power plant have been recorded.
A total of 9 shells have been fired, 3 of which landed near Special Building No 2, where TVEL's fresh nuclear fuel and solid radioactive waste are stored.
As a result of the shells hitting the nuclear power plant area, pipeline line was hit by shrapnel.
As a result of the second shelling, one shell landed near Unit 6 and five other shells fell in front of Unit 6 pumping station, which provides cooling for this reactor.
Ukrainian artillery shelling of the nuclear power plant was carried out from Marganets area in Dniepropetrovsk Region.
In counter-battery warfare, AFU units shelling NPP have been suppressed by return fire.
Currently, a full-time technical staff monitors the technical condition of the nuclear plant and ensures its operation. The radiation situation in the nuclear power plant area remains normal.
Posted by: Edd | Aug 29 2022 20:44 utc | 81
Et Tu | Aug 29 2022 20:21 utc | 72
Those clowns will be in power for a while because there's no significant opposition to their insane policies in the German parliament. The only other large party is the conservative CDU/CSU which is just as fanatically anti-Russian. There is some "war-weariness" in the Left party and far-right AfD but that's only a small minority of German politicians.
Posted by: Brendan | Aug 29 2022 20:45 utc | 82
@ Tom Pfotzer | Aug 29 2022 19:39 utc | 56
"Go East My Son!"
I don't know for @15 Klaus.
I personally moved from France to Germany 6 years ago. For the future of my kinds, I can't stay in a country which committed a slow economic suicide during the last 30 years [+ welcoming millions of immigrants in order to save low wages for the remaining "service and tourism industries".
French deserves the result and re-elected Macron "to save democracy", afraid of "far-right LePen".
In my opinion, LePen was no danger [or less than Macron] but the only possible way to put some sand in the neo-cons gear [for a while]
And now, I find myself in the same way, just on high speed.
Most in the neighborhood received a letter from our gas company with a 50% increase, but just for the next 3 months. "Solidarity" for the energy BigBusiness. They don't smile.
We all know that by November we will receive a new 50 or 100% and will have to stop warming the houses.
East-Germany is possibly awakening.
Not sure for all those new-age ecologists waiting for more economic depression.
We need tu put some sand in the Devil's gearbox.
Is there anything available?
An Alternative?
But I suppose that Germany will re-elect any Groß-Koalition to avoid "AfD nazis".
My wife is tired but I hope my children will be able to move East
Posted by: La Bastille | Aug 29 2022 20:48 utc | 83
Excellent. European wealth comes from theft, fraud, murder, and genocide. Forcing them into poverty is a good thing. They can get used to working again instead of living off the backs of low wage laborers in the global south. Maybe it will teach them some humility, that they aren't the masters of the universe born to dictate to the rest of the world like they believe themselves to be.
Posted by: FVK | Aug 29 2022 20:48 utc | 84
Posted by: Chessmaster | Aug 29 2022 19:34 utc | 51
"Chessmaster" - don't worry about Russian tactics. As Chirkin wrote at the start of the SMO, it's difficult to fight an all-out war when the emphasis is on avoiding killing civilians and harming civilian infrastructure.
On the "slow advance", what we're seeing is the "Falkenhayn scenario" but this time operating as Falkenhayn intended.
This war was lost on February 21st. That's when the shelling continued after the Russian recognition of the republics. As in 2014/15 the average Ukrainian solider is courageous, resourceful and determined. That avails nothing against even the relatively small forces the Russians and LDNR have fielded. This is no contest and it is a tragedy for the Ukrainians that they were ever put in this position.
A further tragedy that Western and internal pressures means they are unable to escape it. I suspect that the carnage must continue at least until the midterms.
Posted by: English Outsider | Aug 29 2022 20:51 utc | 85
Gepostet von: Edd | 29. August 2022 20:44 UTC | 84
.
Thank you on the website yesterday is the last !!
Posted by: mon3 | Aug 29 2022 20:52 utc | 86
Where re all these new weapon high tech weapons like T14 or others? Only show ? The slow speed of the so called SMO has nothing to do with tactics but with lack of military power and knowhow.Posted by: Chessmaster | Aug 29 2022 19:34 utc | 51
Both teams are clearing out a lot of old inventory. This is a good time to be in the scrap metal business in Ukraine.
As in Syria, Russia knows the US is closely monitoring the real world performance of Russia's tech. Russia also knows that this is potentially the warm up for a much bigger conflict.
Think of it as a team chess tournament. No one is going to send their star players in the first round against the 8th ranked player of their opponents.
Posted by: Opport Knocks | Aug 29 2022 20:53 utc | 87
Yes, we certainly got like 15 % inflation here in the Netherlands and economic recession has already been forecasted by Major banks.
Of course official inflation figures are way lower but they just hiding it. I used to be able to make ends meet but now I need help from my parents. Guess I'm still lucky to have parents that are able and willing to help me out.
I ride a motorcycle and I have a couple of buddies that do too, but guess what, we ride less and less because you know 25 euros for fuel, 10 euros for a drink here and there, folks just don't have the money anymore.
But don't worry folks says our MSM , Ursula from the EU got a plan to fix high prices, never mind that the EU caused all of this because they started a sanctions economic war with Russia .....
But there was also good news in our MSM from the eastern front: Ukraine started the Kherson offensive and this time in earnest, guess the 5 times before don't count or something.
Posted by: Jimmy | Aug 29 2022 20:57 utc | 88
European Gas Prices Plunge As Germany Fills Storage Ahead Of ScheduleGermany has filled its storage ahead of schedule! Germany has filled its storage ahead of schedule!
Posted by: Scholtzie | Aug 29 2022 20:40 utc | 78
Benchmark Dutch front-month futures crashed 21% on Monday, reversing last week’s 40% jump after Germany’s Economy Minister Robert Habeck revealed that the country’s gas stores are filling up fast and are on target to meet the October target of 85% full.
The price of benchmark German power for next year slumped 29%, after earlier climbing to a record 1,050 euros a megawatt-hour.
OK, good news. Only 0,7€ for 1 KWh.
I used to pay in 2021 0,06€ for 1Kwh.
So I must have to stop warming anyway
Posted by: La Bastille | Aug 29 2022 20:59 utc | 89
Europe will finally know what it is to be at the bottom of the food chain, in a world without reciprocity.
Posted by: Marjorie | Aug 29 2022 21:01 utc | 90
@ j #11
One thing I would like to understand is how Asian and especially the Sino-Russian economies are preparing for the downfall of western economies? Gold based basket of currencies? Relying on 4 billion consumers or even 80% of the (developing) world population? Alternatives to SWIFT trade? Cheap energy? Strong industrialization? Combination of all of these?
Russian government plans to 'break the LBMA monopoly' on goldA new international standard for the precious metals market, the Moscow World Standard (MWS), should be created to become an alternative to the standard of the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA), the Russian Finance Ministry said.
https://gata.org/node/22137
SPFS – Russia’s alternative to SWIFT relaunched
President Vladimir Putin of Russia has announced Wednesday that BRICS countries can now “freely connect” to Systems for Transfer of Financial Messages (SPFS) as an alternative to SWIFT which is US dominated. The announcement comes as Western countries cut off major Russian banks from their financial infrastructure which has hampered Russian access to lenders and creditors.https://jengolese.com/2022/06/22/spfs-russias-alternative-to-swift-relaunched/
Posted by: ? | Aug 29 2022 21:02 utc | 91
Hudson's article and B's analysis nails it. It's as if leaders in EU, and some EU adjacent, countries have been hypnotized, drugged or threatened until they obediently not just go along with Uncle Scam, they do that anyway, but actively destroy their countries' economic base and condemn their subjects to lives of hardship and misery. Some opposition politicians such as Die Linke's Wagenknecht are questioning the wisdom and sanity of Europe sacrificing itself in America's hybrid war against Russia and China but AFAIK within the EU only Hungary's Orban is pushing back against this insanity.
I really would like to be a fly on the wall when these people meet and discuss policy. Maybe the cringeworthy von der Leyen has aristocratic pretensions but even she was a cabinet minister in a federal government, hardly a position that's cloistered away from the unwashed masses. So how did these EU a$$ kissers get so out of touch and start acting like monarchs or reclusive billionaires who have no idea what matters to normal people and how they live their lives? Why are the leaders of Sweden and Finland, and even Switzerland, clamouring to to join or achieve "interoperability" with NATO (i.e. the US)while harming their economies and their relations with Russia and China?
The people who make these decision come across as insane but I am sure they think that they are being very rational and realistic. So what is going through their minds as they do this? Why are they doing it? The only (very incomplete) explanation I can think of is that Europe, which after 1945 was quite happy to submit to the US and take the road of least resistance, simply has no backbone, no balls, no cojones and no concept of itself as an independent entity. So when Washington dials up the pressure, it inevitably folds. Also, the animosity against Russia has been there since the imperial empire days and definitely since 1917. The West, of course, has a supremacist mindset in which its "values" should be the rules for every human on earth. All these aspects combined lead to Europe blowing both its feet off and justifying it with pearl clutching "concern" and self-aggrandizing morality tales.
It's a vague and not very satisfying explanation but never before has the EU so blatantly gone against its own self-interest and been so out of touch with reality. How long will Europeans put up with this? Are the people as lost as their leaders? Tanking one's economy, sacrificing comfort and quality of life in a military and economic struggle against another country is called war. The West is at war with Russia (and China) and right now the "hot" part is in Ukraine. Do Europeans understand this and its implications and, if so, are they willing to go all in up to and including potentially underwrite their own annihilation?
Posted by: Harry Haller | Aug 29 2022 21:03 utc | 92
"Sergeant Scholz" is much too kind a nickname since Sergeant Hans Schultz (played by John Banner who was "born to Jewish parents in Stanislau, Austria-Hungary (now Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine)") in "Hogan's Heroes" was the most lovable (not-actually-)"nazi" possible.
"I know nothing" :)
Posted by: Sunny Runny Burger | Aug 29 2022 21:04 utc | 93
"I'm wondering if European economic suicide was the US plan all along,"
Except the US is doing the same to itself ... or should I say, Biden and democrats are .. along with our deep state (uni-party) that controls both political parties ... and likely the election.
This is no moving industries from Europe to the US.
It's all going to China, IMHO.
Posted by: Johnny Rocket | Aug 29 2022 21:13 utc | 94
@RuMoDsaid | Aug 29 2022 17:44 utc | 1
I wonder what was the purpose of that counter offensive?
1. I think there was no military purpose that justified the actual losses.
2. It creares new Ukrainian dead heroes.
3. It's part of a film scenario for the MSM consumption. The actors don't survive though.
4. Someone wants all normal Ukrainians dead.
5. The US consultants and the CIA operatives in Ukraine need to create action to keep their job. They may even get a promotion for that one.
6. Some US senator will use that example as evidence of the will to fight of the Ukrainuan military. He will convince his colkeages to send new arnemebt to the Zelensky regime.
In any case the life of the Ukrainian people is of very little value to all those poluticians and consultants, Very sad.
Posted by: Richard L | Aug 29 2022 21:13 utc | 95
Part of the explanation for why the European "leaders" blindly follow the dictates from Washington might be explained by what we know of the NSA thanks to Edward Snowden. Basically nearly every person has something he or she would not like to get public. But with the NSA able to monitor all emails and all phone calls from anybody who is anything in the western world, Washington doubtless has a ton of 'kompromat' on most EU politicians.
Posted by: Ronald Portier | Aug 29 2022 21:15 utc | 96
Peculiar that nobody speaks about this: this and all that mascarade sanctions are with the covid pandemic part of the great reset.
Posted by: Fayez Chergui | Aug 29 2022 21:16 utc | 97
@95 and 99. Another explanation may be related to Russia's attitude towards LGBT issues. And yet another may be pictures of Putin shirtless.
Posted by: dh | Aug 29 2022 21:19 utc | 98
Any country that fully embraces this Green BS and abandons what is reliable and works (Nuclear, Nat Gas, Oil, Gas, Coal) ... will pay the price. The truth is green energy requires close to a 100% reliable fossil fuel backup to be reliable. So anyone getting rid of those sources and pushing for all electric things ... knows fully well, it will lead to collapse. Then they can control you all.
Posted by: Snickers | Aug 29 2022 21:21 utc | 99
I assume that US leaders think that the economic fallout can be limited to Europe but I'm not so sure.
Posted by: Lex | Aug 29 2022 18:32 utc | 20
Undoubtedly US (managed) collapse is on the menu too...
The comments to this entry are closed.
Today, during the day, on the direct instructions of V. Zelensky, Ukrainian troops attempted an offensive in the Mykolaiv and Kherson regions in three directions.
As a result of the active defense of the grouping of Russian troops, the AFU units suffered heavy losses.
During the fighting, 26 Ukrainian tanks, 23 infantry fighting vehicles, nine other armored combat vehicles were destroyed, two Su-25 attack aircraft were shot down.
The enemy's losses in manpower amounted to more than 560 servicemen. Another attempt at offensive actions of the enemy failed miserably.
Posted by: RuMoDsaid | Aug 29 2022 17:44 utc | 1