Here is an interview with Lindsey Snell conducted by Katie Halper and Aaron Mate
https://youtu.be/P_NBTq-34b0?t=1238
Lindsey Snell, journalist at ishgal.com, crossed the Ukraine border to talk to soldiers and civilians. What she found surprised her:
There are Ukrainian forces who are “openly Neonazis…

Posted by: Piotr Berman | Aug 8 2022 2:06 utc | 104

@Yenwoda | Aug 8 2022 2:49 utc | 105
Given that there is a ~900km front line why is it that the UAF finds it necessary to shell the Zaporizhzhya NPP and civilian areas of Donesk and the prison where the Azov POWs were staying? They weren’t shelling the NPP to dislodge the Russians or hit a military target but to attempt to disrupt the power station and score points with their international backers.
Why don’t you go back and hang with your bros over at Bellingcrap?

Posted by: the pessimist | Aug 8 2022 3:19 utc | 106

Steven Starr: thank you! Interesting video.

Posted by: Sunny Runny Burger | Aug 8 2022 4:18 utc | 108

On the economic side:
That Yale economic report that’s being widely circulated fails on a number of counts:,
First – Those Yale boffins can not conceive of a economy that grows without endlessly adding debt. The Russian economy has been cash flow positive for some time now. That means they can self fund economic growth without debt.
Second – It’s True that a isolated economy tends to have lower growth long term growth rate than a integrated economy over the long term. ( law of comparative advantage ) However, the (illegal) sanctions haven‘t isolated the Russian economy from the R.O.W. One might argue the sanctions regime has only served to isolate NATOland economies from the dynamic Eurasian growth markets.
Third – The specter of de-dollarization is now very real. Our Yale friends might scoff at the notion of de-dollarization because ‚what currency could possibly replace the dollar ?‘ . That’s where our friends make a fatal error – there does not need to be a signal global reserve currency. Full De-dollarization might take Eurasia 5-7 years – but it’s now inevitable. The negative effects of de-dollarization will be profound on our living standards. What happens when Washington needs to pay average 5% interest on its debt instead of the ~1% average interest cost in 2019 ?
Fourth – The (illegal) Asset Seizures have a profound chilling effect on foreign investment in the US. There are roughly $30 trillion of foreign financial assets invested in U.S. markets. Ask yourself what Brazillian, Indian, Chinese, or Arab investor is going to increase his US investments ? On the contrary, they‘ll be slowly and prudently exiting their US investments. Our Yale friends missed this critical variable.
In conclusion – while these negative effects will take a some years to be felt, they are profound.

Posted by: Exile | Aug 8 2022 5:00 utc | 110

Europe’s largest nuclear power plant shelled! (Again)
“Europe should thank Russia,” the newspaper Izvestia quoted Kovitti, a member of the Russian Federation Council, as saying that it is necessary for the international community to recognize that the systematic attack of the Ukrainian army on the Zaporizhian nuclear power plant poses a fatal danger to the entire European continent. Because of the protection of the Russian army, Europeans were protected from the nuclear catastrophe caused by the crazy actions of Ukraine.
Source: Global Times
[Sui Xin, Liu Yupeng, special correspondent of the Global Times in Russia] The authorities of the Ukrainian city of Energodar said on the 7th [Aug. 7, yesterday apparently] that the Ukrainian army attacked the Zaporozhia nuclear power plant located in the city in the early morning of the same day. Just this past weekend, Russia and Ukraine were accusing each other of being “terrorist acts” because the nuclear power plant was shelled twice on the 5th. This is not the first spat between Russia and Ukraine over the attack on the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant. Shells frequently landed at Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, increasingly unsettling the region and the world. On the 6th, the International Atomic Energy Agency issued a warning on the threat of nuclear disaster, calling for “must stop” and requesting the dispatch of a team of experts. However, the United States and the West clearly cannot wait for the investigation of the truth of the matter, and they have used this as the latest pretext to condemn Russia.
Shell fragments fell less than 400 meters from the reactor
https://www.laitimes.com/en/article/3rowh_48dvy.html

Posted by: RKJoyce – Prophet | Aug 8 2022 5:20 utc | 112

Piotr Berman | Aug 8 2022 5:26 utc | 113
Why talk to trolls? He has mental problems

Posted by: rk | Aug 8 2022 5:39 utc | 114

Antisemitism, you say? That’s your word, not mine. His parents had a country, because the USSR allowed that, otherwise, which Jew actually calls the country s/he lives as his/her own? Zelensky is playing being an Ukrainian, which he is not!
Posted by: rp | Aug 7 2022 20:56 utc | 77
Millions of Jews claim many countries as their own, as well as Christians and Muslims.
WTF is wrong with you?

Posted by: RB | Aug 8 2022 7:59 utc | 116

Jesus Christ, now CBS News walk back on that critical documentary they aired on Ukraine the other day!
https://telegram.me/UkraineHumanRightsAbuses/8232

Posted by: Zanon | Aug 8 2022 10:24 utc | 118

@Piotr Berman, thanks for the reply. Of course, the US case for WMDs in Iraq was bogus, but it seems almost nihilistic to argue that because a dishonest interpretation of satellite imagery was put forward once, we should ignore any visual evidence going forward. The problem with Powell’s presentation to the UN is that it didn’t *directly* show what he was trying to prove: he showed photos of cargo trucks and then displayed a cutout illustration of the mobile lab components that were supposedly inside them, with no evidence to back up his key claim.
This is a pretty good thread summarizing Russian activities at the NPP and damage/strikes in the past month:
https://twitter.com/wammezz/status/1556605121664106496
I was watching this stream live when Russia captured the plant in March, there’s lots of reckless firing from Russian IFVs of which 03:11:00 is a good example:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYUT36YGOh8
I think Russia has been extremely careless with the NPP, it’s unlikely that Russia has recently shelled it, claims of damage in the past week are likely exaggerated, and Ukraine should avoid attacks near the plant regardless of what the Russians are doing there, even with precision/loitering munitions which can be jammed and end up going god knows where.

Posted by: Yenwoda | Aug 8 2022 12:41 utc | 120

Posted by: Yenwoda | Aug 8 2022 12:41 utc | 120
You think how your masters want..in every post you work hard to elaborate something that put Russia in a bad light..this story of the NPP is the last attempt of the former ukraine to get attention..get over it,here MSM crap doesn’t work.

Posted by: LuBa | Aug 8 2022 13:44 utc | 122

For the armchair generals.
Ukrainian tactics and strategy before 24 feb
nice map in southfront
what is B and yours opinion?

The successful actions of the AFU contributed to Belarus’ refusal to openly join the war on Russia’s side.
Also, the success of the AFU made it possible to repel the pressure of Russian forces in the Odessa direction. Although Snake Island was under the control of Russian troops, the landing in Odessa did not succeed. This was largely due to the quick action of mines on the coast.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces have been quite effective in the southwest of Kyiv. In the vicinity of the towns of Fastov and Vasylkiv, the defense was quite competently organized. Military units were withdrawn fairly quickly from under missile attacks. This made it possible to save manpower and conduct defensive operations against the Russian Armed Forces stationed in the vicinity of Kiev. These steps subsequently led to the partial unblocking of the Ukrainian capital.
At the same time, the AFU also made quite a serious miscalculation, underestimating the Crimean grouping of the Russian Armed Forces and the nature of its actions. This was the reason for the rapid seizure of the Kherson region. In addition, troops advancing towards the territory of the DNR hit the southern positions of the Donetsk grouping of the AFU. This contributed to the rapid advance of the Russian Armed Forces and the encirclement of Mariupol.

Posted by: gary | Aug 8 2022 15:03 utc | 124

Yenwoda @ 120
I understood that the Russian have some anti missile defense systems to counter a missile attack or surveillance/attack drones on or near the plant and they have been used in times past. The satellite photos do a poor job of proving some type of large military buildup or storage of munitions at the plant.
It would be foolish not to have a military presence at the plant. Are they using the grounds for artillery duels? Doubtful but provable given modern technology. We should all fear an accident. A war around nuke plants leaves room for doubt.

Posted by: circumspect | Aug 8 2022 15:43 utc | 126

from https://t.me/s/Slavyangrad
Slavyangrad
Forwarded from
TheNebulator
Calls by Kiev and the West for a “demilitarized zone” around Zaporozhye (not “Zaporzhizhiya” or what have you) nuclear power plant are a trap. It is clear as day that the Ukrainian forces are deliberately bombarding it and endangering its safety. Moscow has even named the specific unit doing so, and its location: the 44th Artillery Brigade, near the town of Marganets, on the other side of the lake.
Kiev claims that the Russians are deliberately shelling themselves while using the NPP as a shield…or something. It’s nonsense. The plant has been operating just fine since February. If Russia wanted to cut power to Ukraine, all it had to do is flip a switch.
Well maybe it should. If the only way for the Zaporozhye NPP to be safe from Ukrainian shelling is to bring it offline, so be it. Because it’s not like anyone can expect Kiev to be reasonable at this point.
As for the DMZ… I’ve seen this ploy before, in Bosnia. The Sarajevo regime (in a precursor to Kiev’s strategy) would lose on the battlefield, but make a huge stink in the Western media, so the Bosnian Serbs (being naive and stupid) would agree to set up a DMZ or a humanitarian corridor. They would inevitably be used as staging areas for the Bosnian Muslim military, with the UN peacekeepers and the Western media looking the other way. Every time. I have firsthand knowledge of this, but there’s also an official CIA account of the war in Bosnia showing it.
In case you keep wondering how I keep calling these things: I’ve seen them before. They’re working off the same script.

Posted by: james | Aug 8 2022 17:29 utc | 128

Wind maps of Ukraine show prevailing winds blowing from the north. In case of an accident at the NPP, Crimea would be in the direct path of any fallout.
https://meteologix.com/ua/model-charts/french/wind-mean-direction.html

Posted by: nazcalito | Aug 8 2022 19:37 utc | 130

Volodymyr poked the bear through his cage
Bringing most of the west to the stage
Now the Donbas is lost
At such a high cost
He hurls bombs at a nuke in his rage

Posted by: Gt Stroller | Aug 8 2022 21:07 utc | 132

@pretzelattack | Aug 8 2022 12:57 utc | 121
Dishonest and Yenwoda is a pleonasm.

Posted by: aquadraht | Aug 8 2022 22:30 utc | 134

@ rk | Aug 8 2022 20:15 utc | 131
i agree with you on all accounts.. cheers..

Posted by: james | Aug 8 2022 23:01 utc | 136

Just to mention: I have some problems when b, and not only him, are expressing doubts about the accuracy of the Russian MoD’s “clobber list”.
Of course it is wise not to trust either side of the conflict. But when browsing that list against reports from the field, includint ukrainian and western ones, and of course those of the own forces, I found those reports rather reluctant and conservative, even compared with the reports of the own units on the ground.
An example from today: Konashenko’s report

In total, 263 Ukrainian airplanes and 145 helicopters, 1,708 unmanned aerial vehicles, 363 anti-aircraft missile systems, 4,269 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 791 multiple launch rocket systems, 3,276 field artillery and mortars, as well as 4,774 units of special military vehicles were destroyed during the operation.

The day before’s summary reports 789 MLRS destroyed, so 2 more.
Earlier, we read (reports from the front):

💥During counter-battery warfare, 1 battery of Uragan multiple-launch rocket systems near Ochertino, 1 battery of Acatsia self-propelled artillery systems near Krasnoye, and combat vehicles of American HIMARS multiple-launch rocket systems near Kramotorsk have been hit.
💥3 platoons of Grad MLRS near Kodema, Mayaki and Adamovka, 4 artillery platoons of Msta-B guns, and 2 platoons of Giatsint-B guns at firing positions near Soledar, Artemovsk, Veseloye, Dzerzhinsk, Maksimil’yanovka and Antonovka in Donetsk People’s Republic have been suppressed.

So, to summarize, Russian MoD reported 1 Uragan MLRS destroyed, and also a non specified >1 number of HIMARS, which may mean launcher(s) plus loading/restocking vehicles, so 2 additional MLRS would fit.
But what means “suppressed” for “3 platoons of Grad MLRS”? A platoon consists of 1 or more (up to 3) batteries, and a battery consists of at most 3 (HIMARS) or at most 4 or 3 (Grad, Uragan) MLRS units. So when speaking of 3 Grad platoons it means that 3 to 12 Grad launchers came under fire, independently of hte ones reported destroyed.
What does “suppressed” mean? In an artillery “duel” fire exchange, either unit targets the identified opposite positions until the opponents stop firing and retreats. That is the meaning of “suppression”. It does not necessarily mean destruction, but certainly does not outrule it. When whole “platoons”, be it one or more batteries, are forced to retreat, it absolutely certainly means that they have suffered losses, of staff, DC, guns, vehicles.
But MoD report does not reflect it. The “clobber list” relies on “objective control and confirmation” only. And it seems they are sticking to (Russian military can be tiringly bureaucratic) stubbornly. Following the “clobber list” daily I even found that the did backwards corrections, substracting from previous day’s gains, obviously when “objective control” prove to be flawed.
Personally, I think therefore that the MoD figures are reliable, ok as reliable as you may expect in wartime. But different to ravings, speculations, and outright rubbish from Western and Ukrainian sources, the MoD clobber list appears trustworthy.
Also, the figures of destroyed aircraft well match the losses confirmed by either side. The tank and armor losses look plausible as well. Pre confilict, UA had about 700 MBT in service, 200 in reserve, and large crapyards with hundreds of retired tanks some able to be refitted. Same with BMP and BTR, only in larger numbers. So over 4000 destroyed are nothing less than credible, same ofc with IFW.
Not to mention attrition. You can drive a tank for 1000km at best, then it needs overhaul, earlier when having crossed heavy terrain, or been in combat. Howitzer barrels need to be changed every couple of some 100 rounds fired, maybe bit above, but certainly not 1000. After that the gun has to go to the workshop. In UA, a workshop under constant calibre or iskander threat, servicing a zoo of Caesar, M777, Canadian, Scandinavian, and vanilla Soviet guns. Nice job.

Posted by: aquadraht | Aug 8 2022 23:59 utc | 138

PS.
White House, FACT SHEET: U.S. STRATEGY TOWARD SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA bottom line, literally.

Pursuing public-private partnerships to sustainably develop and secure the critical minerals that will supply clean energy technologies

Posted by: sln2002 | Aug 9 2022 0:13 utc | 140

@Yenwoda | Aug 9 2022 0:34 utc | 141
We all know that you are a liar and a troll. And you know nothing about people living in Russia, as you do not understand the language, or know anything about the country. Stick to Bellingcrap

Posted by: aquadraht | Aug 9 2022 0:49 utc | 142

Sorry @aquadraht, I shouldn’t have tried to dispel the magic of childhood for you. The clobber list is real, Rybar has a well placed source leaking the true casualties, Russia is doing a lively trade in black market CAESARs and HIMARS and Santa Claus will be coming down the chimney in December, just like he always does <3

Posted by: Yenwoda | Aug 9 2022 1:16 utc | 144

@18 circumspect
The average US citizen is completely disengaged.
You could say that, but I would say that the average American is completely disenfranchised.

Posted by: HelenB | Aug 9 2022 1:52 utc | 146

Zakharova never dissapoints

https://t.me/sputnik/10399
Zakharova commented on the message about Zelensky’s late-night conversation with Bill Clinton.
She recalled that a year ago, the American cable and satellite television network C-SPAN called Zelensky “President Lewinsky.”

Posted by: Norwegian | Aug 9 2022 7:41 utc | 148

AGM-88 HARM missile. within hours of RF releasing pictures of a downed missile, usa defense secretary responded that usa had sent them for ukraine to use. funny thing is only usa /NATO aircraft can use them. they are integrated into battle sysytems and have a weapons rack only these planes can carry and use to fire. so very interesting usa got caught out so had to double down and a bigger lie. there was no mention of these in any list of supplied weapons . further proof perhaps of direct usa nato involvement. but we all know this .
heres msm take on it
https://edition.cnn.com/2022/08/08/politics/anti-radar-missiles-ukraine-russia-pentagon/index.html

Posted by: hankster | Aug 9 2022 10:25 utc | 150

The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation about the explosions in the Crimea:
“On August 9, at about 15.20, several aviation ammunition detonated on the territory of the Saki airfield near the settlement of Novofedorovka on a collapsed storage site.”
“Please stop spreading Ukrainian fakes. We rely only on official information. No emergency situation regime has been imposed,” Oleg Kryuchkov, an adviser to Crimea’s head

Posted by: rk | Aug 9 2022 13:55 utc | 152

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Posted by: 22 bet | Aug 10 2022 12:24 utc | 154