@ Richard Steven Hack | Oct 25 2022 11:26 utc | 390
@ Jax | Oct 25 2022 11:48 utc | 400
…view (shared by others) is that the highest chance of a dirty bomb (or other major event) happening is before the US mid-terms on Nov 8. Just 2 weeks today. I will be a lot more relaxed if on Nov 9th nothing has happened.
Absolutely nothing of such will happen.
Small sabotages on RF territory now and then will probably happen.
I doubt that ‘NS2 blows again and the Kerch bridge too, while ZPP is obliterated by HIMARS and dam is blown, while ‘dirty bomb’ just exploded as we speak’ actions will happen.
What is happening now is semi-clandestine movement all over the NATO space in an attempt of strengthening NATO borders with US troops and NATO forces. It could be just a strategic attempt to try to equalise the troops balance at the NATO borders.
I doubt that they will intervene into Ukraine openly. RF knows that covertly they are already there, although so far only few have been caught as a proof, as far as I know. Poles mostly. No active SAS or any of that sort.
Otherwise, what that troop shuffle could mean?
I cannot imagine a Syria scenario there at all.
What I expect at some point is perhaps a cordoning off Ukraine as a spill prevention. Not so much that RF will go for it or has the means of rolling into Romania or Moldova.
It could also be a preparation for a dialogue at some point, as Ukraine might be pressured to stop fighting and talk.
I am sure everyone has noticed that RF didn’t push beyond the borders of annexed regions/republics. Some territory percentage still needs to be cleared, but if that can be achieved in talks it might be better for both RF and Ukraine.
I still do not believe in any nuclear thing happening there unless some stupid Ukrainian breach of ZPP nuclear power plant, by shelling or whatever.

Posted by: whirlX | Oct 25 2022 12:44 utc | 403

Zelensky wants to start moving towards the capture of Abkhazia, Transnistria and the Kuriles
Zelensky said that the format of the Crimean Platform forum should be extended to other territories, such as Abkhazia, Transnistria, as well as the Kuril Islands.

Posted by: rk | Oct 25 2022 13:03 utc | 405

Dead Hand vs. Dead Brain
Posted by: james | Oct 25 2022 0:38 utc | 267
Thank you for the link. Very interesting article. I have to wonder though, if there really are thousands of NATO troops in Ukraine uniforms. It wouldn’t be a complete surprise but to hide/disguise this you would need bilingual radio operators/officers. No doubt in my mind though that NATO troops are manning the HIMARS and other advanced systems.

Posted by: ctiger | Oct 25 2022 13:12 utc | 407

james @ 267

Very interesting article. I have to wonder though, if there really are thousands of NATO troops in Ukraine uniforms

Problem would be prisoners, seems pretty true that Russians capture a bunch of Ukrainians each day. I don’t doubt the thousands of NATO troops present but they’re mostly supporting and those fighting only go where they have an assured exit, keeping out of the meat grinder, which they are too good for, and the POW camps which would be very problematic for NATO. A few stragglers caught I could see but several hundred Poles or Americans would be a disaster for USA/NATO.

Posted by: LightYearsFromHome | Oct 25 2022 13:27 utc | 409

Why would a dirty bomb necessitate a nuclear escalation?
Posted by: NewWorldDisorder | Oct 25 2022 4:01 utc | 306
It probably won’t. But we live in a world driven by narrative which carries far more weight than actuality.
That said, hysterical narrative can be used to justify outrageously bad actions. It seems clear that the narrative volume is increasing.
The DOJ trots out yesterday in US announcing arrests of Chinese spies in the homeland – there are thousands of them all the time so why make public arrests right now (mid-terms, Taiwan escalation?).
Both sides are rattling narrative chains, might even really be about a dirty bomb or busted dam, might be something else. Putin and Biden supposedly talked directly yesterday. Maybe they are coordinating their mini-nuclear exchange to make sure it terrifies all of us but doesn’t actually lead to all-out nuclear armageddon, or maybe they are considering deescalation. Either way, we’ll all be the last to know.

Posted by: Scorpion | Oct 25 2022 13:30 utc | 411

Hermit, further to 406
You and I know what a milliSievert is. Unlike other commenters here we would agree that a Sievert is real, not a story for children. Dosimetry for radiation workers is about as real as PCR tests. Always fudged for engineers at NPPs, who might have a clue what is going on. For miners I would give no credence to the numbers at all.

Posted by: oldhippie | Oct 25 2022 14:04 utc | 413

Posted by: rk | Oct 25 2022 13:03 utc | 413
Zelly also said this today:
“The EU will be able to replace Russian energy resources with our help, and our electricity exports will potentially be one of the fundamental pillars of European climate policy – Zelensky
Cocaine head, you don‘t even have enough electricity for your own country”
https://t.me/levigodman/5795
Like Lavrov said, Ze says a lot of things depending on the day and amount of cocainum. Also, most of the gas and mineral resources are east of Dnieper and in the Black sea basin. In fact Russia doesn’t even need those resources, they need to just deny their use from the west.

Posted by: unimperator | Oct 25 2022 14:46 utc | 415

PCR latest:
https://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2022/10/25/armageddon-is-closer-than-you-think/
[conclusion]

As there was no effective Russian response to provocations, despite declared “red lines,” next training for Ukrainian troops was provided.Then intelligence and targeting information. Then longer distance weapons that can reach strategic Russian targets.Then the attack on the Crimea bridge, the Nord Stream Pipelines, and now a plot for a dirty bomb, to be used as an excuse for US intervention with troops deployed in Romania and the destruction of a dam that would destroy the Russian city of Kherson and leave elite Russian special forces soldiers isolated and subject to Ukrainian capture,which would be a tremendous propaganda victory for the West.
As matters now stand, we have a situation where Putin’s method of warfare constrains his own forces and not his enemies. The latest indications are that Putin and the Russian high command are willing for the initiative to remain in the hands of their Western enemies. The Kremlin reacts to the moves of its enemy.If Ukraine with US and UK help blow the Dniper Dam and flood Kherson, then, and only then, perhaps, maybe,Russia will blow the dam that will win them the war by cutting a large chunk of Ukraine off from Ukraine.Apparently, the Kremlin hasn’t addressed the question why Russia accepts casualties and the appearance of humiliating defeats when Russia can easily win the war in one day.
Washington’s provocations mount, and Putin’s response is not a show of force but a plea for negotiations and offers to supply Russia’s NATO enemies with energy. Little wonder Washington escalates the conflict.
The lack of decisive action by Russia has allowed Washington to put humanity on the road to Armageddon.Washington and its NATO puppets have lost their fear of Russia, and the provocations will continue.As Putin has not defended any Russian declared red lines, Washington believes he has none. Putin does not even defend Syria, a country he rescuedfrom Washington’s conquest, from Israeli attacks.
Patience is a virtue in a leader, but Putin’s patience is seen by many in Washington as a lack of resolution. If this interpretation of Putin’s patience turns out to be a mistake, Washington will cross a red line that will bring us into the Armageddon period of human history.
https://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2022/10/24/the-ever-widening-war-becomes-wider/
https://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2022/10/24/breaking-news-rushing-toward-armageddon/
https://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2022/10/23/the-ever-widening-war-6/
https://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2022/10/22/the-ever-widening-war-5/
https://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2022/10/24/fred-reed-indicates-what-nuclear-war-would-be-like-but-steven-starrs-comment-better-describes-the-death-of-the-planet/

=======================================
I think there is another angle to consider here namely that even if everything PCR is saying is more or less correct, that doesn’t mean that Putin’s strategy makes no sense. Think Moscow invaded first by Napoleon then by Hitler. Russia’s classic tactic, similar to many who live in plains-territory, and similar to Genghis’s feint retreat which turned into a lassoo-envelopment of a now stretched-out enemy, is to allow the enemy to make its moves.
Recent reports are putting Ukrainian KIA as well North of 200,000 so probably double or triple that in wounded. US KIA in Vietnam over many years was under 60,000 I believe. They advance and the Bear guns them down.
If NATO now advances the same approach will be used even if they have to retreat from currently held territories for a while. More importantly, the advances on the ground require expenditure of financial and political capital both of which are in short supply. The longer the West sacrifices the well-being of its people for the benefit of the Khazarian Mafia in its midst driving Russo-phobic genocidal policies, the more tenuous their hold on power, the more their true face and corrupt agenda will be exposed. This exposure is similar to Napoleon in empty Moscow – he achieved his objective and realized, then and there, that he had achieved nothing. Yes, they will have mobilized the West to achieve their age-old ambition of kicking the Rus out of Russia just like the Rus kicked the Khazars out of Khazaria, but in so doing they will have revealed their true face and thus be stripped bare of all pretense.
At which point their hold on the West will falter, indeed fall.
Putin and Russia cannot win this conflict unless their true adversary is deposed. Their adversaries are not the European, British and American people, most of whom don’t even know where Ukraine is (or Russia for that matter). Their adversaries are the financial globalist/hegemonic elites in the West who have captured those nations. Their power is based on money and deceit. They are going to have to lose both.
So Russia might be ready for escalation. And they might be more than able to play this one out in slow painful ways that will continue to infuriate PCR.

Posted by: Scorpion | Oct 25 2022 15:08 utc | 417

@ Scorpion | Oct 25 2022 15:08 utc | 427
i don’t find pcr believable… he sounds more full of shit actually…
i do however agree with you here – ” Their adversaries are the financial globalist/hegemonic elites in the West “..

Posted by: james | Oct 25 2022 15:11 utc | 419

wagelaborer @254: “We living in the west never get to hear the US/NATO spin, so it’s important for you to post it here “for balance”.”
Laugh all you want, but the delusional “Establishment” pukes literally believe that their narrative management is losing traction because the “deplorables” are in an information bubble. They think all they have to do is shout the same bullshit louder and in more places and the stragglers who are drifting away from the “official narrative” will realize the error of their ways and get back in line.
That is why the “Establishment” pays trolls like the one you mentioned to come here and imitate a TV on the wall of the bar blaring CNN 24X7.
It is tragic, really. The empire’s “Establishment” pukes are truly stupid, and insulated from awareness of their own stupidity by the Dunning-Kruger effect. As graduates of university-level special education or entertainment/babysitting programs like Journalism and Humanities, they have participation trophy diplomas that reassure them they are smarter than the “deplorables” they are trying to manipulate. They are surrounded in their cubicle warrens by equally stupid special ed graduates with equally useless participation diplomas who circle-jerk at the water cooler to reinforce their delusion of competence.
Of course, it is the empire’s “Establishment” pukes who are locked in the narrative bubble, which is why their narratives lose traction with sane people and why their actions end in failure, but they have lots of company in that bubble. Sadly, you cannot explain this to them because they think it is the rest of the world that is in the bubble. They are certain everyone here is brainwashed by Putin, though perhaps only on odd days. On even days we are all brainwashed by China’s president Xi, and then on holidays we are brainwashed by Assad or Maduro or Raisi. Because of course these “enemies” have propaganda networks budgeted with many hundreds of billions of dollars like the Empire of Delusions does.

Posted by: William Gruff | Oct 25 2022 15:19 utc | 421

“history-making levels of internal turmoil, even strife, .. chaos, uncertainty, failure to achieve positive results, rising crime, energy rationing, food shortages…”
Posted by: Scorpion | Oct 25 2022 14:40 utc | 424
The time tested solution is a “great reset” except that such is only possible via global catastrophe. Think pandemic or global war. There is also the spreading meme of the necessity of significant population reduction (due to lack of carrying capacity) and these “ideas” are promoted mostly by western elites.
Putins and Chinas nukes may very well be our life insurance,.

Posted by: bottle | Oct 25 2022 15:37 utc | 423

@ marko | Oct 25 2022 15:14 utc | 430
marko believes pcr… lol… i rest my case!! scorpio – don’t bother posting that shit!

Posted by: james | Oct 25 2022 15:40 utc | 425

@james | Oct 25 2022 15:42 utc | 437
I don’t know. Will will see if it is repeated.

Posted by: Norwegian | Oct 25 2022 15:53 utc | 427

scorpio – don’t bother posting that shit!
Posted by: james | Oct 25 2022 15:40 utc | 436
Ditto

Posted by: Scorpion | Oct 25 2022 16:08 utc | 429

rk @ 413
«Zelensky wants to start moving towards the capture of Abkhazia, Transnistria and the Kuriles»
Posted by: Paulg | Oct 25 2022 13:29 utc | 420
«Well, Zelly is quite mad. Such dreams are quite normal for him.»
He has sometimes made very lucid, sensible remarks, by going off script…
As to dismembering the Russian Federation etc., here is a lithuanian fanatic with a “Smolensk in Lithuania” mug:
http://www2.cipd.co.uk/pm/peobplemanagement/b/weblog/archive/2013/01/29/temporary-flexiforce-is-the-future-of-business-says-cbi-2009-11.a
Here is the UK foreign minister first demanding the return of Rostov and Voronezh to Ukraine and then walking it back:
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/feb/10/russia-must-respect-ukraine-sovereignty-liz-truss-talks-open
«Away from the cameras, Truss allegedly confused the Russian regions of Voronezh and Rostov with Ukrainian territory when Lavrov asked her whether she recognised Russia’s sovereignty over them. She repeatedly told Lavrov that the UK would never recognise Moscow’s claim, until the British ambassador was forced to step in to correct her, the Russian business daily Kommersant reported. Truss partly confirmed the account in an interview with Russian press: “It seemed to me that Minister Lavrov was talking about a part of Ukraine. I have clearly indicated that these regions [Rostov and Voronezh] are part of sovereign Russia,”»
Obviously she did not make a mistake, she was sending a warning that the Russian Federation will be dismembered if it loses; and here is an USA government institute arguing quit exactly for that, “prometheian” style.
https://www.csce.gov/international-impact/events/decolonizing-russia
And an older argument by the usual Brzezinski for the same:
rk @ 413
«Zelensky wants to start moving towards the capture of Abkhazia, Transnistria and the Kuriles»
Posted by: Paulg | Oct 25 2022 13:29 utc | 420
«Well, Zelly is quite mad. Such dreams are quite normal for him.»
He has sometimes made very lucid, sensible remarks, by going off script…
As to dismembering the Russian Federation etc., here is a lithuanian fanatic with a “Smolensk in Lithuania” mug:
http://www2.cipd.co.uk/pm/peobplemanagement/b/weblog/archive/2013/01/29/temporary-flexiforce-is-the-future-of-business-says-cbi-2009-11.a
Here is the UK foreign minister first demanding the return of Rostov and Voronezh to Ukraine and then walking it back:
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/feb/10/russia-must-respect-ukraine-sovereignty-liz-truss-talks-open
«Away from the cameras, Truss allegedly confused the Russian regions of Voronezh and Rostov with Ukrainian territory when Lavrov asked her whether she recognised Russia’s sovereignty over them. She repeatedly told Lavrov that the UK would never recognise Moscow’s claim, until the British ambassador was forced to step in to correct her, the Russian business daily Kommersant reported. Truss partly confirmed the account in an interview with Russian press: “It seemed to me that Minister Lavrov was talking about a part of Ukraine. I have clearly indicated that these regions [Rostov and Voronezh] are part of sovereign Russia,”»
Obviously she did not make a mistake, she was sending a warning that the Russian Federation will be dismembered if it loses; and here is an USA government institute arguing quit exactly for that, “prometheian” style.
https://www.csce.gov/international-impact/events/decolonizing-russia
And here is the usual Brzezinski pushing “prometheism” not so long ago:
https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/asia/1997-09-01/geostrategy-eurasia
“A Geostrategy for Eurasia”, Zbigniew Brzezinski, September 1997:
«A loosely confederated Russia – composed of a European Russia, a Siberian Republic, and a Far Eastern Republic – would find it easier to cultivate closer economic relations with its neighbours. […] a decentralized Russia would be less susceptible to imperial mobilization. […] A sovereign Ukraine is a critically important component of such a policy, as is support for such strategically pivotal states as Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan.»

Posted by: Blissex | Oct 25 2022 16:10 utc | 431

Israeli media reports on transfer of “Smart Shooter” complexes to Kiev to fight alleged Iranian drones supplied to Russia by Tehran, after Israel said it would not send weapons to Ukraine.
“Smart Shooter” is a computerized high-precision remote-controlled gun turret.

Posted by: rk | Oct 25 2022 16:26 utc | 433

Posted by: Summary | Oct 25 2022 12:15 utc | 409

Thank you.

Posted by: David Levin | Oct 25 2022 16:58 utc | 435

@rk #441:

They’re all military already. Plus 70k reported volunteers, also with military training.

Some of those “with military training” have served as ordinary conscripts 20 years ago and have zero combat experience. Even those with combat experience in the past often have no idea how to operate modern comms systems, night vision systems, drones, etc. It takes time to train them. Plus, there are many problems with supplies that are currently being solved.
Here are videos from Rybar’s Rutube channel showing training of mobilized troops in various regions of Russia:
October 11: Leningrad oblast, Buryatiya Republic, Kaliningrad oblast
October 12: Tula oblast
October 13: Murmansk oblast
October 14: Novosibirsk
October 15: Moscow oblast, Voronezh, Tatarstan Republic
October 16: Samara oblast, Lugansk People’s Republic
October 17: Kaliningrad oblast
October 18: Primorye krai
October 19: Khabarovsk krai, Leningrad oblast
October 20: Samara oblast, Moscow oblast
October 21: Kostroma oblast, Novosibirsk oblast, Orenburg oblast
October 23: Kaliningrad oblast
October 24: Ryazan oblast
October 25: Kamchatka krai
So yeah, your claim that “mobilized and volunteers exist only on paper” is bullshit.
Whatever useful criticism of Russian Armed Forces you do offer is completely negated by the outlandish and completely untrue statements that you regularly make with much aplomb.

Posted by: S | Oct 25 2022 17:37 utc | 437

@ Melaleuca | Oct 25 2022 16:46 utc | 443
Whatever US/NATO is putting along its eastern borders, it would be not enough to hold the frontline they are about to create unless they back down, anyway. The eastern overland length between RF and NATO/EU/US is about 4500 km, minus Turkye. That is a lots of BTGs to attend to.
I am just kidding there.
It doesn’t matter how many soldiers they put in Europe, it is just a waste of manpower, extra cost etc.
Unless those soldiers are used to suppress EU citizens when they turn at the gates of NATO bases to throw those out. Maybe.

Posted by: whirlX | Oct 25 2022 18:01 utc | 439

Israeli media reports …
Posted by: rk | Oct 25 2022 16:26 utc | 442
Yeah, I’m sure you know well what the jew talking points are. I wish you, rk, would just fuck off and die.

Posted by: tucenz | Oct 25 2022 19:23 utc | 441

S | Oct 25 2022 17:37 utc | 446
Slavynagrad says: Kadyrov’s headquarters near Kherson was hit with a Himars attack:40 dead and around 60 wounded.
Call me when the 370k appear, anywhere. Maybe they will.

Posted by: rk | Oct 25 2022 19:48 utc | 443

Posted by: Blissex | Oct 24 2022 22:03 utc | 230
Third, he says, his presidency saw the creation of an independent autocephalous Ukrainian church
Creating an alternative Church, from what I know, is a relatively new twist for the ‘Mormon schoolboys’ (aka Murder Inc.); creating alternative trade and student unions is SOP learned in freshman year at Langley U.

Posted by: Gene Poole | Oct 25 2022 19:59 utc | 445

For those still keeping score, Voltairenet has this new article:
“The Ukrainian Court of Cassation has finally banned all 12 political opposition parties. The last on the list was the Socialist Party of Ukraine.
“These groups are accused of having acted in accordance with the Minsk Agreements (2015), recognized by the United Nations Security Council (resolution 2202).
“In March, the Ukrainian Security Council adopted a decision to ban them. A law was passed by the Rada on 3 May, and signed by President Zelensky on the 14th. As the Russian Federation has decided to intervene in order to protect the victims resulting from the violations of the Minsk Agreements, any reference to these Agreements is regarded as “high treason”.
“Only the Transcarpathian Oblast (close to Hungary) refuses to remove from office the local representatives of the political parties concerned.
“According to NATO, Ukraine is a “great democracy” (sic).”

Posted by: bevin | Oct 25 2022 20:17 utc | 447

Because many are not sick yet is not a reason to keep spreading poison.
Posted by: oldhippie | Oct 25 2022 12:11 utc | 407
I remember during the Iraq war reading scary prognostications about mass die-offs due to radition from DU which fragments into microscopic-size particles each one of which can bring a healthy human down with cancer.
Did you – or anyone here – ever read years-later reports on the effecs of that huge months-long DU barrage?

Posted by: Scorpion | Oct 25 2022 20:31 utc | 449

Posted by: Paul Greenwood | Oct 25 2022 12:08 utc | 405
You’re assuming Statistica has them all despite US security and that Statistica is up to date, both assumptions questionable. And if you count their figures, that’s 75,000 or so, so only short by 25,000.
Struggling to find reasons why this won’t happen, are we? As I said before, focusing on problematic minutia doesn’t help analysis of the situation.

Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Oct 25 2022 20:42 utc | 451

Posted by: whirlX | Oct 25 2022 12:44 utc | 412
“I doubt that…” “It could be…” “I doubt that…” “I cannot imagine…” “What I expect at some point…” “It could also be…” I am sure everyone has noticed that RF didn’t push beyond the borders of annexed regions/republics.” “…if that can be achieved in talks…” “I still do not believe…”
Do you listen to yourself as you type? The degree of cognitive dissonance reflected in your post is overwhelming.
This is why I don’t engage here any more. Outside of Karlof1, there is zero reasoning going on.

Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Oct 25 2022 20:48 utc | 453

Posted by: james | Oct 25 2022 15:08 utc | 427
“@ richard steven hack – good to see you back!”
I’m not back. I was impelled to post by Gonzalo Lira’s analysis of what appears to be a particularly dangerous escalation, that’s all. I’ve made my points, now back to silence while the rest of the bar continues to drink themselves stupid with the usual cognitive dissonance and nit-picking over what constitutes a “dirty bomb” – like anyone gives a shit.

Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Oct 25 2022 20:51 utc | 455

I forgot: PCR’s latest book:
https://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2016/02/29/review-of-paul-craig-roberts-book-the-neoconservative-threat-to-world-order-washingtons-perilous-war-for-hegemony/
“You will rarely read a book written in a more courageous, intelligent, and blunt manner about profoundly pressing world problems than this one. Paul Craig Roberts is a phenomenon; no issue, no matter how controversial, escapes his astute analysis. He writes with a tornadic power and logic that convinces as it challenges. Driven by a passionate concern for the horrible direction of the world – especially the United States government’s responsibility for so much of its wretchedness – he is relentless in roiling the waters of ignorance and complacency in which so many Americans float.”
I think he has deserved a little better than cheap stereotyping from the peanut gallery! Even if his criticism about Putin’s go slow approach with the SMO, he is no doubt providing valuable insight into how it is interpreted by those in charge of the Hegemon side so as such is valuable. But if you can’t get past disliking a man to consider his message, I guess ad hominem is all you need to go by…

Posted by: Scorpion | Oct 25 2022 21:03 utc | 457

Scorpion @ 458
Yes. Widely reported. Most apparent effect is large scale birth defects. Severe congenital malformations. Iraqis don’t much want to risk having children. Best evidence I know of to suspect that depopulation is a real objective of the rulers.
Radiation and its effects gets too technical very quickly. Throw in the efforts of paid confusionists and no one knows anything. The birth defects are not nephrology, it’s radiation.
It was not a months long campaign. The effects are, on any plausible timescale, permanent.

Posted by: oldhippie | Oct 25 2022 21:15 utc | 459

Re the DU in Iraq – it must be pure co-incidence that the only person I ever met in real life with a cancer stricken toddler was an Iraqi engineer from Basrah in 2012.

Posted by: Al Dossary | Oct 25 2022 21:28 utc | 461

RSH @462–
Thanks for your complement, but today I’m not looking at Ukraine. Instead, I’m looking at the numerous reasons why Ukraine is happening, and those roots are very deep. Most of my commentary is on the Week in Review thread, which began with China for excellent reasons then moved to the ever-important annual Valdai Club Meeting and its discussions. Just reviewing the submitted papers is time consuming yet beneficial for they stimulate thinking. The main product, “A World Without Superpowers”, which I consider a must read as these two paragraphs make clear:
“Let’s make it clear once again: the status of a superpower, as we understand it, is conferred only upon a state with which a significant number of other countries associate their ability to overcome challenges and survive in a chaotic international environment. In a sense, it is an imperial world order, but the authority is exercised through a set of tools that make subordinating to the centre a preferred choice as opposed to primitive coercion, which makes such subordination practically the only available option.
“Russia is a case in point. After it lost its own (Soviet) system-building role in 1991, its relations with the West have been based on the belief that Russia’s interest in participating in a Western-centric international system is much more important than Moscow’s interests in ensuring its own security. Everyone got used to this circumstance and began to take it for granted, especially in the West. Hence, the almost revolutionary nature of the events that unfolded in 2022, when Russia became the first major power which, guided by its own ideas of security and fairness, chose to discard the benefits of “global peace” created by the only superpower (the United States). Those benefits were seen by the Kremlin as much too risky, since political and economic integration into the system of collective interdependence imposes excessive restrictions on any particular state’s freedom of action.”
As we know, those events of 2022 were simmering for eight years and even longer depending on the variables chosen for analysis. But the overall tenor is correct. Most important was the seemingly sudden lawless behavior of the Outlaw US Empire, which in actuality was merely confirmation of its longstanding lawless nature, long ignored to the detriment of humanity. Yes, it’s important to know who upset the applecart and why, but concern is now focusing on what will be the endgame, with this report’s title suggesting one possibility. The report also examines several background factors that rarely if ever enter into discussion here. Of course, the report’s imperfect, and one wonders if some of the glaring rhetorical problems are the result of mistranslation. IMO, it’s important when a disagreement arises with the view expressed by the report to ask why, on what grounds, do you disagree–and you’ll certainly disagree several times.
If the above sounds like an academic exercise, it should as prior knowledge and critical reading are required to form an analysis and/or appraisal. And yes, to do all that properly requires time and effort, which are difficult when one must work at a job and at home.

Posted by: karlof1 | Oct 25 2022 21:43 utc | 463

To end this sidebar conversation – though it is germane to Ukraine – I picked an essay from PCR’s 2015 collection published in his book ‘the neoconservative threat to world order.’

PENTAGON BEATS THE DRUMS OF WAR
July 10, 2015
The fabrication of “the Russian security threat” has moved into high gear. At his confirmation hearing on July 9 as the nominee as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Joseph Dunford told the US Senate that Russia presents an “alarming” threat to US national security. The previous day Air Force Secretary Deborah James declared “Russia to be the biggest threat.”
The “alarming” and “worrisome” Russian behavior evoked by these two representatives of the military-security complex is part of the hoax created in order to keep the massive US military/security complex funded. To support the armaments corporations that supply political campaign donations and high-paying jobs for retired generals and pentagon officials as consultants and lobbyists, Washington needs a foe more powerful than a few Muslim terrorists.
The fact that “the Russian threat” is a hoax does not mean that a real threat is not present. Washington’s demonization of Russia is so intense and so outrageous in its audacious lies that the groundwork is being laid for a military confrontation. General Dunford and Secretary James might be directing their rhetoric at the 24 NATO countries that have not met Washington’s call to increase their arms purchases to 2% of GDP, but the irresponsible accusations have destroyed trust among the largest nuclear-armed powers. Today neither the Russian nor Chinese governments trust Washington. Indeed, by words and deeds Washington has forced Russia and China to build up their strategic forces in expectation of an American attack.
The situation is more dangerous than the risks associated with marketing a “threat” in order to fund the military-security complex. The neoconservatives have convinced the politicians and the military that countries with independent foreign policies are threats because of their sovereignty. The just-released “National Military Strategy of the United States of America 2015”151 defines countries that have independent foreign policies as “revisionist states” that fail to act “in accordance with international norms.” International norms are decided by Washington. A failure to act in accordance with international norms means to act independently of Washington’s will. Countries who act this way are defined as national security threats. The Pentagon’s report defines the foremost threats as Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea.
Russia is particularly singled out. Washington’s view toward Russia is the same as Cato the Elder’s view toward Carthage. Cato the Elder finished his every speech on any subject in the Roman Senate with the statement: “Carthage must be destroyed.” Carthage was a check on Roman unilateralism just as Russia is a check on Washington’s unilateralism.
The Pentagon report tells us that unless Russia becomes compliant with US hegemony and becomes a vassal like Europe, Canada, Australia, and Japan, war with Russia is our future.
By resurrecting distrust leading to conflict between nuclear powers, neoconservatives with their ideology of American supremacy have become the greatest threat to world order and to life itself.

Spot on. Rings true today albeit written 7 years ago. Not many writers evidence that sort of no-nonsense prescience. Even if he did work in the Treasury Dept in Reagan’s govt in the 1980s!
I don’t understand why people find him so beyond the pale – unless it’s his clear dislike of the neocons. Mayhap some here are secret 5th column supporters! In any case, he was way ahead of most of the world commentariat back in 2015 and he might just be way ahead of most of them again. Although as I said in my opening post about this, I don’t necessarily agree with him even though I definitely respect his voice. I go to get his latest every day – and luckily he is prolific – along with coming here and also my favorite aggregator sitrepworld.info.

Posted by: Scorpion | Oct 25 2022 22:28 utc | 465

whirlX | Oct 25 2022 18:01 utc | 448
I agree 100k US forces across NATO are not “enough” for ? Whatever?
For ?what? ….. (the stated purpose is to “deter” Russia/ to “reassure allies”, to provide a “show of force” and “send a message” to Russia.
100k troops is probably “enough” for a mission defined in those terms.
Above in the thread someone made the factual claim there are 100k US troops stationed in Europe….. and someone disputed (ridiculed) this.
So I provided two sources ….. NATO and the US …. That state….there’s 100k troops in Europe.
Since Feb we’ve had new posters confidently making all sorts of ignorant claims, because they think this kicked off with the “special military operation”.
And we have long term posters who know the background… to 2014, and long prior even to that. Soon the new posters learn with alarm they are woefully ignorant about….so much.
And long term posters are here to both learn and share. The resources brought to the bar are phenomenal.
Some people acknowledge this blog is now their primary source for “news”….
The blog is fantastically informative…. But wider reading is essential – if someone doesn’t want to make themselves ridiculous by disputing indisputable facts.
How those “facts” can be interpreted…. Well that’s what the bar excels at ….
Which is where most here have misunderstood my comments about the 101st airborne.
My concern is *not* the 4,700 or their capability or “interoperability” with the other 100k stationed in NATO.
My concern is the very (imho) significant change in rhetoric.
This is the first time it’s been stated a deployment is a “combat” role.
It’s the first time it’s been stated this combat unit is tasked with entering Ukraine directly.
It’s the first time a US combat unit has been tasked with engaging in direct conflict with Russia in Ukraine…..
The replies have mostly been “meh, Russia will destroy them”.
Yes.
And then? Will the belligerent US think: “oops, ok, we fucked around, we found out”.
Or… “US troops have been killed…. We retaliate and escalate” ?.
IMO the 101st are there to provoke an engagement… and provide a casus belli …
What no one seems concerned to note with the combat deployment of the 101st is why the change in rhetoric is something to be alarmed about.
Is the US about to enter yet another war bypassing Congress?
Surely US citizens might debate whether they want to directly combat Russia… in Ukraine… or anywhere?
So far, the PR team for the 101st airborne is being “tasked” with making a monumental change in US military rhetoric (and response).
I’m at the @bar saying WTF????

Posted by: Melaleuca | Oct 25 2022 22:43 utc | 467

Posted by: oldhippie | Oct 25 2022 22:36 utc | 475
Thanks for your reply. I like your take on Lira and PCR. Lira is definitely a great speaker but there’s a but. I like PCR’s writing. He voices strong opinions in clear language. Can’t ask for more.
I remember reading Indian reports on the bombing campaign and projections about uranium poisoning in the population and being horrified. I had never trusted any national government since teenage years but that campaign was the first time I felt truly outraged and saddened by the choices they made and the millions of people they harmed even though have never read good reports on the aftermath.
I hope Russia-China axis can succeed in delivering on their multi-polar post-military-conquest world order. Can’t happen soon enough – though am not sure it will turn out as many now imagine. Meanwhile 3-400,000 got killed or maimed the past few months in Ukraine so we’ve a long way to go. Where PCR was right in his latest piece, I think, is that RF is letting the West have the initiative. That’s why so many have died this year. Russia could have forestalled all this years ago but for whatever reason chose not to. Hopefully it turns out to be a good reason but still: 3-400,000 lives ruined, not to mention all those displaced. There are no winners in war.

Posted by: Scorpion | Oct 25 2022 23:00 utc | 469

@430 “…a TV on the wall of the bar blaring CNN 24X7.” No, owners have preferred Fox for decades. It’s been Fox blaring 24/7, not CNN and claiming CNN is straight-up lying. The preference for lying to indulge ludicrous prejudices and petty malice is SOP here.
Paul Craig Roberts is very close to being an open anti-Semite, and is by himself one of the reasons I learned to despise Counterpunch. Apparently it got so blatant that even St. Clair was embarrassed to pursue his ludicrous and repulsive unite with the Right to save the planet (but not necessarily the people) program. Cockburn was the poor man’s Hitchens but St. Clair is just a scammer. As to documenting Roberts’ nauseating views, the demand that I should have kept notes all those years would be stupid were it sincerely meant.
The numbers for the Ukraine war don’t add up, and still don’t. Putin has no endgame in Ukraine, no more than he does in Syria. He bungled it in 2014 because he’s a right-wing capitalist dipshit—but more sober than Yeltsin!—who let the fascists arm themselves for eight years. He didn’t want to oppose fascists, because they’re not against his shabby principles. (Explain why he sat on his hands rather than support the legally elected President?) If there’s any sanity to Putin’s war, it’s lies in his vain effort to force negotiation.
A note on military strategy: It is a commonplace of US imperialist warmongering that the goal of battles is to defeat the enemy army and territory doesn’t matter. The problem is, territory is not just lines and colored blobs and names on maps but where the material part of political will and war economy are located. The emphasis on counterforce is a petty bourgeois pipe dream of push-button murder. The grotesque part is that the supposed example of how you fight the enemy army and don’t care about mere territory is contradicted by the Civil War experience that is usually cited. There’s a reason why Joseph Johnston who actually fought as if keeping the army intact and forgetting about territory is not highly regarded. And why George Thomas, who actually destroyed an army in front of Nashville is not, even as Sherman won undying fame for *not* defeating any Confederate armies in Georgia and “merely” laid waste to Confederate lands. Putin is far more apt to make the first bad deal he can, because Putin doesn’t want to fight, never did.
And no, BRICS where fascists like Bolsonaro and Modi are supposedly going to make common cause with rotten bourgeois democrats in South Africa and Chinese socialists are not going to band together to save him. A team of horses pulling in opposite directions pulls no weight at all.

Posted by: steven t johnson | Oct 25 2022 23:54 utc | 471

@ Melaleuca | Oct 25 2022 22:43 utc | 476 with the concern about rhetoric surrounding the 101st airborne near Ukraine.
IMO, it represents more words that don’t/won’t necessarily translate into action. I am reading that you think this change of characterization to combat role will incite Americans to rise up and protest the war in which many Americans have been actively participating behind the scenes already…..My fellow Americans are, for the most part, clueless about the bigger world that is standing up to their owners.
I am glad that Russia and China are fighting this civilization war and hope that the results will be positive for those lost folks in my country.

Posted by: psychohistorian | Oct 26 2022 0:26 utc | 473

@Posted by: Et Tu | Oct 25 2022 9:36 utc | 368
Absolutely frightening
http://johnhelmer.net/the-us-signals-readiness-to-launch-nuclear-strike-against-russia/

Posted by: daffyDuct | Oct 26 2022 0:50 utc | 475

Yes. But The Fool is the most prized card in the Major Arcana, …right?
Posted by: Melaleuca | Oct 26 2022 0:17 utc | 481
LOL totally re the Fool Card. Wise people are aways considered crazy or have to act crazy to survive in our warped reality.
I have a similar MO to you as far as research goes, i can’t waste time listening to people who rehash what i can read for myself. But I do appreciate intelligent commentary and sincere journalism, so I also watch people like Brian and Mike because they are down to earth and straight up (far as I can tell). I don’t watch ll their stuff tho, not enough time.
I don’t know about Russia’s military, but I trust them. If Putin didn’t hit hard in 2014 I would say it was because he couldn’t, the ducks were not in a row. They would have weighed up the consequences I think.
But I am no expert this is just my own response to watching their words and actions for the last 8 years. No matter if they are well prepared a crazy Empire is something only the most desperate hero would want to tangle with. I think the whole thing should not have come to forcing Russia into this impossible position, but we in the west have succumbed to consumer culture and all the evils that make it possible. So we turn a blind eye until we get reality forced on us.
Personally I feel powerless except on a very small scale of not supporting the capitalist consumer model as much as possible. So coming here is all about finding some like minded people who remind me that i’m not crazy but definitely a fool.
Thanks for your reply 🙂

Posted by: K | Oct 26 2022 0:55 utc | 477

What Twitter just told me:
2 x SOCOM MC-130J Commando II planes in skies over Albania.
So? Whatza socom mc-130j. ?
Lemma juz put that in my search engine….
Well wadya know:
How SOCOM plans to use the MC-130J in a war with Russia or China

October 28, 2021
“The MC-130J Commando II is a special missions aircraft based on the legendary C-130 Hercules, but heavily modified for the rigors of clandestine special operations missions. The Commando II, which first entered service in 2012, has proven its mettle throughout eight subsequent years of covert combat operations…………
“…with America’s recent re-emphasis on Great Power Competition, the U.S. military is looking to readjust its platforms and doctrine for a potential war with nation-level opponents out of Beijing or Moscow.
The past twenty years of war in the Middle East produced many valuable lessons, but now they need to be adjusted to new realities and a completely different operational environment.
By taking a closer look at some recent MC-130J training operations, a picture of how this heavy-payload (but quite secretive) powerhouse plans to stay relevant begins to emerge. …………
https://www.sandboxx.us/blog/how-socom-plans-to-use-the-mc-130j-in-a-war-with-russia-or-china/
So, Twitter, what’s a “special missions aircraft” doing over Albania today?

Posted by: Melaleuca | Oct 26 2022 1:07 utc | 479

@ Scorpion | Oct 25 2022 21:50 utc | 473
i gave a bit of a response @ 427 but maybe you missed it..
i have read pcr before… i just thought it was kind of funny and ironic a poster who b deletes post of – marko – post is gone now) was supportive of pcr…
my thing on him and especially with the diatribe you shared is that he is arrogant and thinks he knows the best way russia ought to be acting here and how he obviously knows best… i just don’t see it the same way as him… i also agree with @ bevin and @ K | Oct 25 2022 22:53 utc | 477…. i just don’t find what you’ve shared lately from him has any value whatsoever…. but continue to post whatever you feel like… yes, i said it is shit and don’t post that shit… sometimes i say exactly what is on my mind… feel free to ignore..

Posted by: james | Oct 26 2022 1:20 utc | 481

john helmer wrote a fairly disturbing article yesterday on a topic that seems of interest at the moment –
“THE US SIGNALS READINESS TO LAUNCH NUCLEAR STRIKE AGAINST RUSSIA”

Posted by: james | Oct 26 2022 1:32 utc | 483

Maybe I am jumping to conclusions. If it is not the antisemitic angle then I have no idea why you have such strong feelings against him but it really doesn’t matter. Well, I read what you wrote but cannot understand the reaction. It’s just an opinion, albeit one more informed by life experience than anybody here for example. I think if you and K had voiced WHY you had such a reaction rather than just stating ‘he’s shit’ ‘he’s racist’ or ‘he’s an old white guy’ or whatever I wouldn’t have come back, but I find such things too opaque I guess. Then when I saw the reference in wikipedia I thought ‘oh, that’s what it’s about.’ Seems that was wrong too.
I find his stuff very helpful. Others don’t. I share him here because most commenters are extremely pro-Russia – which is fine – but rarely share critical commentary. PCR is unusual because he has long been criticized for being a Putin lover but also offers constructive criticism and as such I thought it would be welcome. Clearly not. You dislike him so much you and several others feel compelled to say so without saying why. I find it strange, but to each his own.
FINIS.

Posted by: Scorpion | Oct 26 2022 1:33 utc | 485

@ Melaleuca | Oct 26 2022 1:50 utc | 495 who wrote
”
I (simply and naively) think it should be the purview of more than a gungho PR team to so drastically alter U$ military doctrine…
”
I agree and thanks for making a point of it. There are just so many examples of outright aggression being shown that I am waiting for what they do, not what they say.

Posted by: psychohistorian | Oct 26 2022 2:01 utc | 487

And for those who are interested in the nuclear signature debate….
Here’s a twitter thread:
“Nuclear forensics: it’s a thing and nobody is quite sure of USA’s capabilities (including USA) and they’re generally (IMO) presumed to be at least moderately good to scary.”
https://twitter.com/NuclearAnthro/status/1585023199607418880

Posted by: Melaleuca | Oct 26 2022 2:34 utc | 489

Russia notified the U.S. that it has begun its annual nuclear drills, which include the launch of missiles. This comes as NATO is conducting its own military drills, claiming its best weapon is deterrence.
https://twitter.com/CBSEveningNews/status/1585043957595209730?cxt=HHwWhIC83ZvFmv8rAAAA
Russian strategic nuclear forces exercise appears to be scheduled for this week. Probably annual exercise Grom with ICBM, SLBM, bomber launches. Potentially also some non-strategic nuclear force activities.
https://twitter.com/nukestrat/status/1584839362599976960?cxt=HHwWgICgnZzAvf4rAAAA
Ffrom October 26 to 29, the exercises of the strategic nuclear forces of the Russian Federation will be held. NOTAM’s were issued for ICBM launches from Plesetsk and SLBMs from the coast of the Kola Peninsula to the Kura missile range.
2/. Cruise missiles are expected to be launched in the area from Amderma airfield to Pemboy.
NOTAM’s: X0312/22, X0313/22, X0314/22, P8604/22, P8804/22, X0226/22, Z7365/22
https://twitter.com/PararamTadam/status/1584828679921668096
***** Coinciding with NATO nuke exercise Steadfast Noon.
NATO & Russia both about to hold nuclear exercises. These war games happen every year but now inherently dangerous says @nukestrat timing & rhetoric increase perception of threats & can lock the 2 sides into escalating nuclear posturing:
>Cue Jack Sparrow gif: What could possibly go wrong?
————————
Russia’s ongoing attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure have been so methodical and destructive that Ukrainian and Western officials say they are being directed by electricity specialists who know which targets will inflict maximum pain on the grid.
https://twitter.com/ikhurshudyan/status/1584795020124725249
___________
Have an opinion on the Ukrainian Russian conflict….. you’re doing it wrong and this guy is here to lecture you :
“”Here are some things you might think it’s perfectly fine and noble to do in your communications about the war in Ukraine, and here’s why you shouldn’t do them. A few off the top of my head.
2x You should not say “we need diplomacy to avoid nuclear war.”
Why? Because Putin is the only one making nuclear threats, and he’s doing it to to scare you into accepting concessions to Ukrainian sovereignty and providing legitimacy for his conquests.
5/x you should not Putin’s invasion of Ukraine to the Cuban Missile Crisis.
The CMC was bilateral brinksmanship over intermediate-range nuclear posture. Making that comparison implies that both sides are at fault and have something to give, which is not the case.
6/x you should not use the term “forever war” to describe US support for Ukraine. That puts our support for Ukraine in the same category as our counterproductive and wrongheaded occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan. There is simply no comparison between the two, so don’t.
Somehow this guys sanctimonious snarky sermon has me wanting to
~ call to avoid nuclear escalation
~ make comparisons to the Cuban brinkmanship of the 60s
~ think of U$ policy and interference in Ukraine as more failed policy such as Vietnam + Afghanistan (to name 2/100+)
If you enjoy being lectured on “correct” opinions:
https://twitter.com/DanteAtkins/status/1584763881725038593

Posted by: Melaleuca | Oct 26 2022 3:22 utc | 491

Twitter:: https://www.armytimes.com/news/your-army/2022/10/21/18th-airborne-corps-unit-returns-after-rapid-response-deployment/
Allocating a point to Team “it’s just a rotation” .
At least one lot of troops flown into / out of Poland Saturday were rotating.:
Saturday, Oct 22
18th Airborne Corps’ unit returns after rapid response deployment
About 150 soldiers arrived back at Fort Bragg on Tuesday night after an eight-month deployment in Europe.
The soldiers, who are part of the 3rd Battalion, 321st Field Artillery Regiment, rapidly deployed to Germany on Feb. 28 in support of the 18th Airborne Corps and the immediate response force’s mission to bolster NATOS’s eastern flank and support NATO in deterring Russian aggression after Russian invaded Ukraine.
The regiment transferred responsibilities to the 1st Battalion, 14th Field Artillery Regiment from Fort Sill, Oklahoma, on Saturday.
Another 150 soldiers with the Fort Bragg-based battalion will also return back this week.
In February, Pentagon officials announced that about 4,700 paratroopers with the 82nd Airborne Division would go to Poland in wake of Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine, while more than 200 soldiers with the 18th Airborne Corps and its supporting units would go to Germany.
The 82nd Airborne paratroopers returned to Fort Bragg in July, while the 18th Airborne Corps’ headquarters has remained in Germany since February.
Maj. Gabe Dearman, the battalion operations officer for the regiment, said—-. ”We just knew we were going over there to
reinforce and
assure our allies and partner forces and
deter further Russian aggression”.……
Note
The
Rhetoric.
There’s nothing about being a “combat” unit, tasked with entering Ukraine and directly engaging Russia…. (Which is the rhetoric from 101st this week)…..

Posted by: Melaleuca | Oct 26 2022 4:24 utc | 493

re Melaleuca | Oct 26 2022 3:22 utc | 500
If you enjoy being lectured on “correct” opinions:
https://twitter.com/DanteAtkins/status/1584763881725038593
this kind of guy is a mad man, in fact he’s something worse: a warmongering charlatan hiding behind a thin facade of rationality. Sound familiar with our Political and Media Elite leadership?
just one point, by his logic the West should drop any and all diplomacy so we can escalate and have a nuclear war. that’s what he’s actually saying
and by the way, Caitlan Johnstone has an excellent recent piece, series of responses to this kind of insanity and sociopathology, here:
https://caitlinjohnstone.com/2022/10/18/the-profoundly-stupid-narrative-that-nuclear-brinkmanship-is-safety-and-de-escalation-is-danger/
The Profoundly Stupid Narrative That Nuclear Brinkmanship Is Safety And De-Escalation Is Danger
“Of all the face-meltingly stupid narratives that have been circulated about the US proxy war in Ukraine, the dumbest so far has got to be the increasingly common claim that aggressively escalating nuclear brinkmanship is safety and de-escalation is danger.
We see a prime example of this self-evidently idiotic narrative in a new Business Insider article titled “Putin’s nuclear threats are pushing people like Trump and Elon Musk to press for a Ukraine peace deal. A nuclear expert warns that’s ‘dangerous.’”…..
Like other empire apologists currently pushing the ridiculous “de-escalation actually causes escalation” line, Davis and Podvig argue as though nuclear weapons just showed up on the scene a few days ago, as if there haven’t been generations of western policies toward Moscow which have indeed involved backing down and making compromises at times because doing so was seen as preferable to risking a nuclear attack….”

Posted by: michaelj72 | Oct 26 2022 7:13 utc | 495

PCR is all about protecting the “legacy” of the Raygun Adminstration he was once a part of. He was not a competent military person then, and he is not one now. I think it is nice of Unz to give him a place to express himself, and of Putin to give him a place to stay, but I never pay any attention to his rants. He tends to sound just like Bolton but on the other side.

Posted by: Bemildred | Oct 26 2022 10:06 utc | 497

⚡️ Russian Defence Ministry report on the progress of the special military operation in Ukraine
(26 October 2022)
◽️The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation continue the special military operation.
◽️In the Kupyansk direction, the enemy with the forces of a battalion tactical group and a company of foreign mercenaries, totaling up to 500 people, launched 5 consecutive attacks on the positions of Russian troops on a narrow front in the direction of the settlement of Kuzemovka (Lugansk People’s Republic). All the enemy attacks have been repelled. The enemy was driven back to the initial positions by Russia’s troops, artillery fire, army and ground-attack aviation, and heavy flamethrower systems. More than 160 militants, 5 tanks, 9 armoured fighting vehicles, and 10 pickup trucks have been neutralised.
◽️In the Krasny Liman direction, Russia’s troops eliminated over 70 Ukraine’s personnel, 2 tanks, 5 infantry fighting vehicles, an armoured personnel carrier, and 5 pickup trucks.
◽️In the Nikolayev–Krivoy Rog direction, the enemy, with up to 2 battalion tactical groups, failed attempts to attack in the directions of Ishchenka, Bruskinskoye, Pyatikhatki, and Koshara (Kherson region). The defeat resulted in destroying up to 125 Ukrainian servicemen, seven armoured fighting vehicles, and 13 vehicles.
✈️ Operational-tactical and Army Aviation, missile troops and artillery annihilated 2 command posts in Artemovsk (Donetsk People’s Republic) and Konstantinovka (Zaporozhye region) as well as 59 artillery units in firing positions, manpower, and military hardware in 177 areas.
💥 A signal node of a Ukrainian group of troops has been destroyed near Prikolotnoye (Kharkov region). Close to Dnepropetrovsk, an oil terminal was destroyed, from which diesel fuel was supplied to the troops in Donbas.
💥 Russia’s air defence systems shot down 10 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles over the settlements of Egorovka, Zeleny Gai, Pavlovka, Nikolskoye, Zavitne Bazhannya, Kirillovka (Donetsk People’s Republic), Poltava (Lugansk People’s Republic), Novaya Tarasovka (Kharkov region) and Novaya Kamenka (Kherson region).
◽️Moreover, 13 shells of the U.S. HIMARS MLRS were shot down over the settlements of Burgunka, Olgovka, Nikolayevka, Novaya Kakhovka, Ponyatovka, Nikolskoye (Kherson region) and Novonikolskoye (Lugansk People’s Republic).
📊 In total, 326 airplanes and 162 helicopters, 2,349 unmanned aerial vehicles, 383 anti-aircraft missile systems, 6,084 tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles, 874 combat vehicles equipped with multiple rocket-launching systems, 3,527 field artillery cannons and mortars, as well as 6,791 units of special military hardware have been destroyed during the special military operation.

Posted by: Summary | Oct 26 2022 10:41 utc | 499