On the flip side – maybe the debunking of those winter painted tanks is the real lie.
How would anyone really know? Unless you yourself were there; unless you were the person actually doing the filming; and you could be trusted to tell the truth.

Posted by: SeanAU | Nov 28 2022 21:53 utc | 104

That John Helmer article, he mentions uses many times different “Military sources” as well as the militaryleak.com site – who go into some detail.
Now it made ponder two things. If these sources are reasonably accurate and reliable then JH is doing a great job telling NATO and Ukraine all about these current “internal plans” by the Russian military leaders. A great job.
ON the other hand, if it is all a ruse to confuse the enemy, then what Helmer is publish isn;t worth a nickle – it’s all Bullshit …. so why bother?
Such is life.
Helmer also says:

[*]There was plagiarism on this topic by Pepe Escobar in a recent piece he entitled “Electric War” in which concepts, terms and references were cribbed from Dances with Bears. Following republication of Escobar by Ron Unz of The Unz Review and Andrei Raevsky of The Saker, they have refused to acknowledge the evidence of the plagiarism.

Point taken, and it’s no surprise to hear that about Escobar. I have seen things like that before and have questioned his “veracity and reliability” for myself. That being said, reusing a term like electric war” does not rise to the level of plagiarism. Helmer is being a bit “precious here”. But whatever.
Is there anyone else out there beside this rehash of usual sources that might be worth reading, more credible, occasionally – to get a another pov and facts?

Posted by: SeanAU | Nov 28 2022 22:06 utc | 106

I wonder if maybe there’s a second reason why the Poles are calling the new cemetery the “American cemetery.” A couple years ago we stayed in a hotel in Concord, New Hampshire. A plaque in the lobby said the building had been built shortly after the civil war as the “Confederate Widows Home.” Why would there have been confederate widows in yankee New Hampshire? It was because it was the confederates who made the New Hampshire women widows. So maybe the Poles are calling it the American cemetery, in part, because they know it was Americans who are ultimately responsible for the deaths of the Polish soldiers.

Posted by: Chas | Nov 28 2022 22:08 utc | 108

@SeanAU | Nov 28 2022 22:06 utc | 104
Sources available to Helmer are also, presumably, available to the USM planners, right? Having an idea of the plans doesn’t guarantee the ability to deploy effective counter measures – depending on the time frame involved.

Posted by: the pessimist | Nov 28 2022 22:15 utc | 110

Interesting. I don’t remember where I read it, I don’t have a link, whether it was here in the comment section or elsewhere where it was stated that Poles have over “100,000” mercenaries fighting in Ukraine. I also read a comment from a Polish official to a western journalist what he seeks from the west and his comment was “security & prosperity!” Well, I certainly hope when the Russians start their new offensive/assault in Ukraine to roll over everything, including these Polish mercenaries, all the way to the Polish border (I don’t know what else Russians have in store for the Poles for their part in blowing up the Nord Stream I & II?) and send all these mercenaries back in body bags to be buried in the new “American” style cemeteries as a sign of “security & prosperity” from the west.

Posted by: TruthSeeker | Nov 28 2022 22:19 utc | 112

From a Russian guy in Kiev:
I’ve walked around Kiev during weekend. The biggest impression is the old houses on the Windy Mountains, if you lived in Kiev you know what I’m talking about. The old people in the yards cook food on bricks. It is tough to see. I suppose they should have gas, but well… Children in front of our eyes warmed instand noodles to eat in an aluminum bowl. Young people have completely switched to food delivery, not sure how they cook it but they do deliver pizza, though you have to wait for 3 hours.
Supermarkets are kind of random. In the same district (Obolon) you go to Fora – there seems to be everything and not many people, but in a Silpo in 300 meters and there are no products.
The main problem now in Kiev is that there is no work in the commercial sector and there will not be. Everything is closed, but young rich boys are not leaving yet, because there appeared a whole industry of plundering Western funds. Some associations of volunteers, assistants of some battalions, etc. By the way, it’s hard to believe, but warehouses of the former MaryKey, Avon, Procter & Gamble, Caterpillar, etc. are now rented by some humanitarian aid funds. Ridiculously huge amounts of money involved there.
Do you know what infuriates ordinary Kievans most of all? These people in camouflage, half with weapons. There are hundreds of thousands of them in Kiev. The front is 700 km away, yet in every second car in Kiev there is a redneck with a machine gun. Not a single plant is working in the country, everything has gone down. But these 130-kilogram carcasses with huge bellies in camouflage and with weapons are everywhere.
Our impression: the country is dead, this is some kind of militaristic agony. Abyss ahead.
https://t.me/denatofication/4351
Take: most of the economy in Kiev is composed of schemes to plunder western aid fund (big business) and large amounts mercenaries cowarding from the front line, rather collecting their average pay by hanging out in the city.

Posted by: unimperator | Nov 28 2022 22:22 utc | 114

@ the pessimist 108,
thx for that comment —
by “available to the USM planners,” do you mean US Military planners?
and “Sources available to Helmer” I may have made a wrong assumption there. Are you suggesting these are merely adhoc “military types” thinking up ideas at random in isolation – as opposed to actual currently serving Russia Military sources?
Because I was (maybe foolishly) thinking it was the latter.
If they are merely random people, then their maybe hundreds of possible ideas floating around … even I assumed some kind of buffer zone would be needed when the thing started if Russia was to be even half successful. Lazarov himself said recently publicly about possibly needing a 300klm buffer zone (instead of 100-200 kms) if newer artillery are sent to Ukraine by the US.
Now I am a nobody but even I can think up scenarios for dmz. What makes Helmers sources or his article any better than guesswork or pondering the angles that can fit on a pin head?
Anyway, I checked and you’re probably right : “Russian and other military sources” could be anyone. I took it too literal/assumed wrongly to mean – currently serving “Russian military” with insider information.
It’s good to be corrected when that is happening .. it is too easy to misconstrue and draw incorrect assumptions and conclusions what someone meant, or intended. Too easy.

In what follows, Russian and other military sources have reviewed the official Russian policy statements, published operational bulletins, and social media and website commentaries in Russian. The maps with their overlays of the UDZ have been drawn by the sources to illustrate some of the constants, some of the variables in the present situation — the tactical options and the operational scenarios.
They are presented to warn that Russian politico-military thinking should not be interpreted as if it’s similar to US military doctrine.

I do not like his use of the term “sources” – they are not really “sources” of credible factual information. They are merely anonymous unnamed independent commentators with opinions with unknown qualifications or expertise, imho.
iow appeals to unverified authorities. In need of taken with very large doses of salt.
Meaning anyone in USM or anywhere could conjure up multiple possible scenarios like Helmer tells us, and “war game” each one.
TY for the heads up Pessimist. I could have called myself that – or the Skeptical Cynical Pessimist.

Posted by: SeanAU | Nov 28 2022 22:46 utc | 116

Two comments paraphrasing movie quotes:
1) You’re gonna need a bigger graveyard… (Jaws, 1975)
2) “I’ve always been interested in primitive rituals like tucking the dead away.” (The Mechanic, 1972)

Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Nov 28 2022 22:50 utc | 118

cyberhorse: that sounds right.
Duncan Idaho@109
I have a copy of his last book too, written with David Wengrow, The Dawn of Everything. My daughter gave it to me- I gave her Debt the First 5000.
The world really is a meaner place since he died.

Posted by: bevin | Nov 28 2022 22:52 utc | 120

Posted by: C | Nov 28 2022 22:20 utc | 111
Sorry I should have scanned the last page of comments. You beat me to it.

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Nov 28 2022 22:56 utc | 122

@SeanAU | Nov 28 2022 22:46 utc | 114
I doubt that JH has “insider sources” meaning current military planners working on SMO strategy – if he did and published the info heads would role and he might be imprisoned – don’t you think? My take on what he wrote is that it is a digest of what at least some well informed people in Moscow are thinking. The Russian defense line on the map is fact. Russian deployments north of Ukraine also fact. What is the purpose of these things? Russia is not going to storm Kharkiv, Odessa, Kiev, Dnipro, etc, so what are they going to do with the half million troops they will have in or adjacent to the theater? Somehow they need to secure the new Russian oblasts this winter and the plan he put forward seems like it is a possibility. Dima over at Military Summary suggested that they might try to cut off Kiev again, or cut the supply lines east of Lovov. These seem possible but more difficult to sustain. We will see, won’t we? I know through friends that life in Kiev is miserable at the moment – not going to get any easier either.

Posted by: the pessimist | Nov 28 2022 23:09 utc | 124

They in turn will make it as streamlined and profitable as possible – including the maintenance costs.
—
They could rent out advertising space, preferably but not necessarily on the backs of the tombstones. Maybe something like…This incomplete cadaver was brought to you by…(insert cheap US fast-food joint), in bright flashing neon letters. Because as we all know, only bright neon lights are a sure sign of an advanced stage of civilization (just ask Ms. Rosenbaum).
Would add that special touch of American-style business mentality.

Posted by: Nobody | Nov 28 2022 23:22 utc | 126

🤣😂🤣😂🤣 nooooo really??
Politico: Europe accuses US of profiting from war
https://www.politico.eu/article/vladimir-putin-war-europe-ukraine-gas-inflation-reduction-act-ira-joe-biden-rift-west-eu-accuses-us-of-profiting-from-war/

Posted by: Dystoman9 | Nov 28 2022 23:27 utc | 128

John Helmer today has a decent map of what a future Ukrainian DMZ might look like.
http://johnhelmer.org/ukraine-armistice-how-the-udz-of-2023-will-separate-the-armies-like-the-korean-dmz-of-1953/
Posted by: Opport Knocks | Nov 28 2022 18:17 utc | 38

I don’t know what his sources are, but that is a straight up absurd proposition that doesn’t really resolve Russia’s problems.
Even if you DMZ the whole left/east bank, that only takes care of short-range artillery fire against Bryansk, Belgorod and Kursk.
But the war didn’t start because of that, it started because of, first, the threat of nukes being situated 5 minutes flight away from Moscow, and second, because historically core Russian territories (and everything east of Kiev, including Kiev itself, plus Odessa and Nikolaev oblasts, is historically core Russian territory) were being de-Russified and Nazified.
From the beginning of the SMO this meant that once the war started, it could only finish on truly favorable for Russia terms if the whole of Ukraine comes under Russian control.
And that conclusion was only strengthened as the war evolved into one in which NATO fights from behind the Ukrainians’ back because it does not dare fight Russia openly and because that way Russia can’t strike back directly.
Which again means that the only real solution is for Ukraine to cease to exist – then NATO would have to fight Russia directly, if it wishes to do so, but then it will be under rules of engagement that will untie Russia’s hands to strike with its full might.
A DMZ that encompasses the whole left/east bank and an Ukrainian entity remaining west of the river doesn’t solve any of these problems. Nukes will be situated not five minutes away from Moscow, but 6-7 minutes. What is the difference? And that Ukrainian entity will be even more militantly anti-Russian.
Not a solution.
Also, why leave such a large historically Russian territory depopulated? Doesn’t make any sense. What is also forgotten is that Kiev itself is on the river, and while the governmental buildings are on the west/right bank, half the city itself is on the other side. How is that dealt with?
A DMZ as shown on the first map, that runs from Kharkov to Odessa is even more absurd — that leaves Chernigov and Sumy as the spearhead of a deep anti-Russian salient aimed at the heart of Central Russia. That doesn’t make any sense, you need to straighten the border, and the straightest border, and also furthest away from Moscow, is the one that runs from Grodno in NW Belarus to Uzhgorod in Transcarpathia. Or at least along the Zbruch river as it did after WWI, but that only solves the problem of the NATO proxy if indeed Poland is stupid enough to take over Galicia and Volynia.
Other than that any outcome leaving any sort of Ukraine on the map means another war in a few years, but with an even more vicious and well armed opponent.
This problem has to be solved now and for good.

Posted by: Tbx | Nov 28 2022 23:41 utc | 130

Likklemore | Nov 28 2022 23:23 utc | 125
A bit late now for the green walking dead to wake up. Their umbilical pipes are dead and gone

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Nov 29 2022 0:38 utc | 132

unimperator @112:

Take: most of the economy in Kiev is composed of schemes to plunder western aid fund (big business) and large amounts mercenaries cowarding from the front line, rather collecting their average pay by hanging out in the city.

That sounds about right. I’ll add that since there are zero western “journalists” willing to risks their necks in Kiev, we have to take such “on the ground” reports as ground truth. Said western “journalists” are either too lazy or corrupt to do more than regurgitate propaganda from their MIC masters inside the Beltway. May they all choke on a latte in their comfortable McLean McMansions!

Posted by: Chris | Nov 29 2022 0:58 utc | 134

DueWest | Nov 28 2022 20:49 utc | 78
Melaleuca | Nov 28 2022 23:33 utc | 127
Slightly above average intelligence at best. Her arguments lacks internal cohesion and are not really logic based. A woman in a sea of men gives her some novelty.

Posted by: Austropithicis | Nov 29 2022 1:00 utc | 136

Don’t agree. The front will settle down to a natural stalemate, as happened in Korea, unless some dramatic change occurs.
Posted by: laguerre | Nov 29 2022 0:58 utc | 133

Very different situation.
First, it is not the case that North Koreans or South Koreans are brainwashed into militant genocidal hatred for the other side. It is the case in Ukraine. Ukraine can only exist as an anti-Russia, because there is no socioeconomic ideological split the way Korea was divided along (when people divided based on ideology, that tends to diminish their genocidal ambitions towards each other; when they divided on “ethnicity”, the effect is the opposite), and then there is the long history of literal Nazi allegiances that Ukrainian nationalism has.
Left on their own the Koreas would have probably reunited already.
Left on their own, the Russians would have to de-Ukrainize the whole of Ukraine for there to be stable peace. And they would be able to accomplish it, but there is a lot of external interference right now.
Second, Korea was split when Cold War mutual deterrence lines were being established, right at the time when both sides had just acquired nukes.
Again, a very different situation now – one side has either decided it can take out the other, or is so desperate because of its internal collapse trends that it sees no other choice but to try to destroy its opponents.
Third, Koreans are Koreans. It is a distinct ethnicity, its own language group, etc., that occupies an isolated small peninsula at the far eastern edge of Eurasia. Never has been a superpower, never will be, again, small and isolated. Not at all the same as the relationship between Ukrainians and Russians – Ukrainians are a subset of Russians and this is in reality a Russian civil war, instigated from outside. Korea and Koreans don’t matter that much but Russian territories and natural resources are the largest geopolitical prize on the planet.
So there is going to be no stable solution here.
P.S. Historically, this is a century-plus old conflict.
Ukrainian nationalism was first pushed by the Austro-Hungarians in the late 19th century, in order to destabilize Russia. It was no problem for them internally in Galicia – they already had a dozen acknowledged nationalities in their empire, another one wouldn’t make much of a difference – but splitting off a quarter to a third of the Russian ethnicity would be a major strategic success.
Then it was pushed again by the Germans in WWI when the Eastern Front collapsed.
Then it was coopted by the Nazis in WWII, the legacy of which is that to this day Ukrainian nationalists are literal Nazis.
Then the US started pumping money and weapons into it from circa 1946 onwards, again in order to destabilize Russia/the USSR.
Then after the USSR collapsed there was little to stop that support from expanding exponentially.
And here we are.
There is nothing in this situation to suggest that a DMZ would result in stable peace the way it has in Korea. The stakes and objectives are very different.

Posted by: Tbx | Nov 29 2022 1:19 utc | 138

What about the missing Poles? Are there any?
In Ukraine it looks like the dead and missing total 380,000. Some will have deserted but most will be dead like the bodies the AFU left behind on the battlefields.

Posted by: Ghost Ship | Nov 29 2022 1:41 utc | 140

the pessimist | Nov 28 2022 22:15 utc | 108
“……Sources available to Helmer are also, presumably, available to the USM planners, right?”
It’d be correct to suspect so. But I’m not so sure.
Obama handed Trump a dog turd in glitter when he expelled 35 Russian diplomats and stole Russian diplomatic US property as “punishment” for the alleged (and now disproven) 2016 election “meddling” [WTF is a “meddling”. Be specific in your terms]
Russia, refused to retaliate, allowing Trump to take office and rebalance.
He never did. The spiral went rapidly down beyond the toilet to the deeps of the sewer.
After tit4tat expulsions and reciprocity, the US now finds itself without “assets” on the ground. The Navalny psyop is expired; most 5th columnists have fled or bled.
Apart from the 24/7 eyes in the sky, I think the US is limited now in the intel it can harvest.
One reason, I suspect, that MoA is still functioning is the intel guys lurk here… we do their research for them…..
Helmer, 30 years in Russia and a “real” and “old school” journo, has a lifetime of contacts, networks, friends of friends and baristas, hairdressers and taxi-drivers to winnow for grains of info.
Knowing both what to ask, who to ask, and where to go for a “nod” of confirmation is something only a gumshoe journo “on the ground” can deliver.
My uninformed supposition of what Helmer sees as plagiarism, is that he knitted together a piece from disparate sources, (that on,y he has), and Escobar has appropriated the final piece as his….. it happens in every sales/marketing / management team and corporation everywhere…. I’ve certainly seen (and personally experienced) similar across my career…….

Posted by: Melaleuca | Nov 29 2022 2:05 utc | 142

Posted by: DakotaRog | Nov 29 2022 2:16 utc | 141
Where’s Zanon? Haven’t seen him/her/it post for 3 or 4 days.
Narrative Collapse.

Posted by: Arch Bungle | Nov 29 2022 2:30 utc | 144

https://www.ohchr.org/en/news/2022/11/ukraine-civilian-casualty-update-21-november-2022
Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
Ukraine: civilian casualty update 21 November 2022
21 November 2022
From 24 February 2022, when the Russian Federation’s armed attack against Ukraine started, to 20 November 2022, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) recorded 16,784 civilian casualties in the country: 6,595 killed and 10,189 injured.
In Donetsk and Luhansk regions: 9,277 casualties (3,939 killed and 5,338 injured)
On Government-controlled territory: 7,305 casualties (3,490 killed and 3,815 injured)
On territory controlled by Russian armed forces and affiliated armed groups: 1,972 casualties (449 killed and 1,523 injured)

Posted by: wilbur | Nov 29 2022 2:55 utc | 146

The US found a way to cut costs of war.
Remains of US troops killed in Iraq dumped in a landfill
The cremated remains of American troops who were killed in action in Iraq and Afghanistan were dumped in a landfill, it has emerged.
By US current standards poles are well treated.
Ref: The Telegram.

Posted by: ATM | Nov 29 2022 3:05 utc | 148

DueWest | Nov 28 2022 20:49 utc | 78
Many in the west have preconceived notions about religious practice based upon their own backgrounds which they project onto other cultures. This is likely one of those instances.

Posted by: Kassinikaska | Nov 29 2022 3:19 utc | 150

Where’s Zanon?
Telling that no one ever asks: “where’s shitwoda”.

Posted by: Melaleuca | Nov 29 2022 3:30 utc | 152

On the flip side – maybe the debunking of those winter painted tanks is the real lie.
How would anyone really know? Unless you yourself were there; unless you were the person actually doing the filming; and you could be trusted to tell the truth.
Posted by: SeanAU | Nov 28 2022 21:53 utc | 102

Or you could check the date on the original video from which the Helmer screen shots were taken
https://youtu.be/q4-JmNbAEK4

Posted by: Opport Knocks | Nov 29 2022 3:34 utc | 154

I’m very unconvinced by this story. Haven’t read all the comments yet, maybe someone has a good explanation I didn’t think of.
Ex-Ukrainians leave their dead on the battlefield but Poles (soon to be ex-Poles) not only gather up all the pieces but transports them across nearly the entire ex-Ukraine?
I don’t think so.
All those dead Polish nazis have no next of kin deciding on the details of their burial?
Again I highly doubt it.
Maybe those grave aren’t for Poles? No, not even that make any sense. Dead bottom rung “mercenaries” don’t get graves unless the Russians clean them up. The dead “Poles” don’t get paid either, they don’t go missing, they’re not acknowledged as existing or involved in any way. Nor are they unknown soldiers since they’re unlawful combatants.
Many of them wouldn’t even leave behind any carcass to be identified and if they did leave anything behind in an accessible location where the wildlife doesn’t clean up the mess then such an unfortunate circumstance is easily remedied; they get their burial by real or improvised cremation that is left on site or in the garbage, or by being pig fodder.
Ashes to ashes, pig shit to pig shit.
Or are there no pigs in ex-Ukraine?

Posted by: Sunny Runny Burger | Nov 29 2022 3:50 utc | 156

Where’s Zanon? 
He’s on a training course at #nafo
Posted by: Pete UK | Nov 29 2022 2:40 utc | 143
You may have nailed it Pete. I think a lot of the username hijacking that has been going on in the last month or so could also be connected to this bunch, as their MO is to cause maximum disruption and chaos rather an engage in debate (if Zanon is a fella s/he is one of the more housetrained examples).
For those are unfamiliar with these trolls:
How the pro-Ukraine NAFO Troll Operation Crowd-Funds War Criminals
Meet the Spooks, Mercs and Chickenhawk Politicos Enlisting as NAFO Trolls

Posted by: S.P. Korolev | Nov 29 2022 4:10 utc | 158

Maybe the new cemeteries are in ” American ” style because its actually Americans that are being buried there ?

Posted by: Deplorable Commissar | Nov 29 2022 4:22 utc | 160

@ S.P. Korolev | Nov 29 2022 4:10 utc | 156
with hard hitting articles like that from greyzone, i can see why they are in the crosshairs of the big boys… good stuff coming from greyzone.. can’t remember where i read it, but they want to take down greyzone for obvious reason! don’t want truth to get in the way of narrative management..

Posted by: james | Nov 29 2022 4:30 utc | 162

Wonder what it feels like to pretend when you are always under attack by trolls when it’s you that’s actually doing it…

Posted by: Grass | Nov 29 2022 4:34 utc | 164

“…most 5th columnists have fled or bled. “
What a wonderful turn of phrase. Bravo! I like it so much I will -with your permission honour you , by using it elsewhere as a homage.
You are absolutely right, like you I believe baristas, hairdressers and taxi -drivers know almost everything. I have people in all those professions , and the things I learn from them noone knows , and we are talking about words from the mouths of politicians ,actors etc.
Your experiences in stolen ideas? #Metoo
Yep , all it takes a nod or an eyebrow flash to elicit information , if you know how to ask a question.
Posted by: Deplorable Commissar | Nov 29 2022 4:22 utc | 158
My exact thoughts. For those that need to know, I guess some human intel from the town drinking -quarters would quickly ascertain if most of those graves have a different set of grieving loved-ones if any at all .
Maybe ask some of the ladies of the night of the town if they came across any foreigners -from the Anglo -sphere -with authoritative demeanour who perhaps happened to be in the town on the days or nights that bulk shipments of bodies would arrive. If real Polish dead , then we wouldn’t expect Anglosphere “ curators” in town liaising with anyone. It would be all Poles.

Posted by: Brother Ma | Nov 29 2022 4:37 utc | 166

⚡️🇷🇺🇺🇦⚔️ AFU defeated on Southern Flank of #Bakhmut Direction; pub. 22:09⚡️
By mid-day on 28 Nov, Wagner PMC, dispersed along the T-05-13 highway, managed to break the first line of the AFU defence near #Kleshcheyevka, #Ozaryanovka and #Andreyevka villages south of #Bakhmut (#Artemovsk).
Having suppressed enemy platoon strongholds, the Wagnerians and LPR units were able to advance 1.5-2 km from their previously held positions. Scattered AFU units were pushed back to the area between #Kleshcheyevka and Chasovy Yar.
The redeployed reinforcements of the 5th Mechanized Brigade and the 112th Brigade of the Territorial Defence did not improve the position of the Ukrainian army.
The next stage of the offensive is likely to be the advance of the Wagner PMCs to the village of #Ivanovka with the blocking of the H-32 highway. This will potentially eliminate the possibility of supplying the entire #Bakhmut grouping of the AFU.

https://t.me/sitreports/1357

Posted by: Down South | Nov 29 2022 4:51 utc | 168

The Situation Nears Critical for the Ukrainian Troops in Artyomovsk
There are various reports, including from respected channels, that the situation for the Ukrainian forces near Bakhmut is close to critical.
Whether this is true or not, we will see in the very next few days. But if Bakhmut is captured, and if we add to it the success near Avdeevka and Maryinka, it will be the first major victory of the Russian Army since the crushing of the enemy near Severodonetsk and Lisichansk in mid-summer.
In this case, it is not even the capture of this populated area but the destruction of a large mass of AFU personnel and equipment that becomes especially important. Bakhmut in general could become the beginning of the winter campaign of the battle for the initiative in it.

https://t.me/Slavyangrad/22749

Posted by: Down South | Nov 29 2022 4:57 utc | 170

I think it would be good if 4/5ths of ukraine were given to the russian ukrainians who’ve taken so much shit over the past years when this is all over to farm outside the purvey of cargill/ADM and other big western ag corps. Use the land to feed and stabilize the global south and basically sanction the god damn west.

Posted by: comrade simba | Nov 29 2022 5:15 utc | 172

Posted by: Likklemore | Nov 28 2022 20:33 utc | 75
and all others
the whining about blocked RT + Sputnik URLs is incomprehensible
the EU had forbidden the broadcast of RT und Sputnik since 02.03.2022
( COUNCIL REGULATION (EU) 2022/350 + 351 )

“Article 4g
1.   It shall be prohibited for operators to broadcast, or to enable, facilitate or otherwise contribute to broadcast, any
content by the legal persons, entities or bodies listed in Annex IX, including through transmission or distribution by any
means such as cable, satellite, IP-TV, internet service providers, internet video-sharing platforms or applications,
whether new or pre-installed.”

you can try to mask the URL like
Posted by: james | Nov 28 2022 16:29 utc | 3

Posted by: ghiwen | Nov 29 2022 5:20 utc | 174

Posted by: Laurence | Nov 28 2022 19:59 utc | 57….
Thanks for the link Laurence, it’s refreshing to see some realism. I predict more to follow and then a rush for the exit door.
https://sputniknews.com/20221128/german-statesman-slams-eu-leaders-spinelessness-demands-natos-dismemberment-closure-of-us-bases-1104796406.html

Posted by: Paul GV | Nov 29 2022 5:35 utc | 176

james @160 re grayzone
Ain’t it the truth! As if being sued by a pro-Israel heiress (who fortune was stolen from Iran via lawfare) and targeted by Paul Mason’s Left-Spook cyber army wasn’t bad enough, they were recently banned from a Web conference on the intervention of Mme Zelenskya herself!
I understand our host is not a big fan due to Blumenthal et al’s disgraceful behavior in the early days of the Syrian conflict, but that’s a whole other story…

Posted by: S.P. Korolev | Nov 29 2022 5:40 utc | 178

Down South | Nov 29 2022 4:55 utc | 167
I imagine this conflict appears as as a Catholic/Uniate versus Orthodox holy est to the Vatican, which gave a coded green-light to the crusade in early March, by invoking Fatima and consecrating the RF to Mary.
I’m hoping for a great disgust over the greed lying and murderousness of the Western bourgeoisie and its institutions as one positive outcome of this horror, as in the ’60s and ’70s wrt the American aggression against Vietnam.

Posted by: John Kennard | Nov 29 2022 5:55 utc | 180

I imagine this conflict appears as as a Catholic/Uniate versus Orthodox holy est to the Vatican, which gave a coded green-light to the crusade in early March, by invoking Fatima and consecrating the RF to Mary.
Posted by: John Kennard | Nov 29 2022 5:55 utc | 178

That is a greatly underappreciated aspect of Russophobia, because Russophobia was at its peak during the Cold War, and at that time it was the “godless communists” that were the enemy.
But, of course, the hate runs much deeper than that, and it didn’t start with the USSR, nor did it end with it.
As is well known, the Catholic/Orthodoxy Great Schism was in 1054. And while there has never been a war over it comparable to the explicitly religious wars later fought between Catholics and Protestants, when it comes to the schism, Catholics and Protestants tend to be united in their hatred of the Orthodox. Which, because Russia was the only Orthodox country for centuries, and because of course it had the temerity to sit on top of so much natural resources that should rightfully belong to the higher form of human beings inhabiting the West, meant vicious Russophobia.
But the history of this is often forgotten in the West.
When the Crusades started, it was initially about “liberating” the Holy lands. In order to do that, one had to go through the lands of the Byzantine Empire, which naturally raised some suspicions there – nobody wants foreign, not reliably friendly armed forces marching through his territory – but was kind of OK initially. However, as soon as the Fourth Crusade the crusaders realized that what they were really after – loot – was much more abundant and easily accessible in Constantinople itself than in the Levant, so the Fourth Crusade ended up with a partitioning of the Byzantine Empire.
It never recovered from it, and that sealed the fate of the other Orthodox countries in the Balkans. Once Byzantium was reduced to a rump state around the Straits it could no longer protect from invasions from Asia Minor the way it had done for centuries, and the Ottomans took over everything – the lands of the Bulgarians, the Serbs and Byzantium. It took a couple centuries — the process was completed at the end of the 14th and early 15th centuries — but essentially it was set in motion and became hard to stop in large part by the Crusades, as well as all the other, mostly maritime, Western incursions into the Eastern Mediterranean.
BTW, there were pleas from the East towards the West for more crusades against the Turks when the Turks were taking over, with very little in terms of real military response.
Meanwhile in the 13th century the Mongols conquered almost all of Rus.
So Orthodox Christianity in the mid-15th century was actually on the brink of extinction, or at best being reduced to what the Church of the East (the Assyrian one) is today – it used to actually be the largest Christian denomination in the Middle Ages, reaching all the way to China, but then the Mongol conquests and the Turk expansions reduced it to its current state (in which most people don’t even realize it still exists, or even that it ever existed).
But then Russia was reborn, absorbed the monks and scholars that fled Constantinople, Bulgaria and Serbia, and developed into a strong independent Orthodox state that also had the temerity to take over all of Northern Eurasia.
Is it any wonder the West developed such a hatred for it over time?

Posted by: Tbx | Nov 29 2022 6:26 utc | 182

@bevin 161
re: Patrick Lawrence quote:
“Let me try to get this straight. Red Army soldiers who fought the Third Reich as Soviet citizens are to be retroactively assigned an imagined nationality if they came from the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic? How does that work?…”
The Church of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) baptize their ancestors into the LDS Church (so that they too can be saved). To facilitate identifying ancestors in need of saving, the LDS runs geneology dot com, the largest (?) geneological database in the USA.
The Saga of Bjorn – tale of an old viking’s quest for the afterlife.
7min video animation. For the impatient: just watch the last 1 or 2 minutes for the relevent twist.

Posted by: greenJello | Nov 29 2022 6:51 utc | 184

USA is considering giving Ukraine some new Boeing missile launchers coming out in the spring that shoot 100 miles.
https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/100-mile-strike-weapon-weighed-ukraine-arms-makers-wrestle-with-demand-sources-2022-11-28/

Posted by: Simon | Nov 29 2022 7:59 utc | 186

Maybe Scott Ritter has finally got a clue. Watching the “November 27 – It’s all over” video someone posted above. At 2:35, Scott says, “If Russia leaves a western Ukraine to survive after this, then Russia has lost the war. If Russia allows a cold peace to survive after this, Russia has lost the war. Russia’s victory is the treaty they put on the table in December…” He goes on to contrast Chechnya with western Ukraine, and he declares that Russia knows how to win against insurgencies, and Russia will crush western Ukrainians if they resist.
Precisely. Now maybe he figures Poland and Romania will grab western Ukraine and Russia will allow it, I don’t know. If so, he’s wrong. But in my opinion, his statement, as stated, is correct.
And then, of course, Mark Sleboda pours cold water on the whole thing, much like Ritter did months ago, claiming Russia will have to do 2-3 more mobilizations, and need “hundreds of thousands” of troops to surround various cities. Ritter disagrees and I agree with Ritter this time.
Here’s the link again: WATCH CN Live! — ‘What’s Next For Ukraine?’

Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Nov 29 2022 8:27 utc | 188

I am among the first to call the Kherson retreat a mistake—despite understanding the reasoning for and the justification behind it. I know why the Russian Army withdrew—and I know that it was inevitable— but I wish that the circumstances had not made it inexorable. Things could and should have been turned around.
I thought that the second Kharkov withdrawal was a travesty. Kupyansk, Balakleya, and Izyum are Russian cities. And yet, I will not argue with the military logic of the retreat—even though it should never have happened. It could have been avoided and prevented.
AND YET, the Russian Army can afford to withdraw from such a vast swath of the Ukrainian terrain and still be completely winning this war. If Ukraine had withdrawn from even 1/3 of the terrain that Russia had retreated from, there would have been an uprising in Kiev. There will be one, with time. However, Russia is capable of electing when and where to fight Ukraine, while the Ukrainian army is obligated to waste tens of thousands of its best soldiers in attempts to merely hold on.
If I were a Ukrainian military strategist, I would consider this terrifying.
This war has been won. There is no doubt as to which side is the successful one.

https://t.me/Slavyangrad/22784

Posted by: Down South | Nov 29 2022 8:44 utc | 190

Legitimnyi is a pro Ukraine TG

#Rumors Our source reports that even millions of generators will not be able to solve the problem in the energy case with its constant failure. Also, the help of the West with the supply of transformer equipment, which will be destroyed or “burned”, will not cope with this.
Now the cumulative effect of problems in the “energy case” is already affecting, which gradually triggers a systemic collapse. Dozens of transformers and power lines will burn on a permanent basis. We are already silent about wiring short circuits in houses and on the streets. Winter will only add to the problems, exacerbating the problem. There is no specific solution to the problem.
We advise you to be prepared for the worst case scenario. Stock up on everyone.

https://t.me/legitimniy/14203

🇺🇦 🚫 Electric generators left Ukraine without fuel
“The demand for fuel in the country has increased by 35%, there is a need to accelerate logistics,” Alexander Melnichuk, Marketing Director of Nafta BRSM.
This situation is affected by the following aspects:
▪️ Diesel crisis in Europe, due to the imposed embargo on Russian oil;
▪️ actual stoppage of fuel supplies by sea;
▪️ internal logistics problem.
“There isn’t enough fuel trucks, so we won’t be able to cope without the sea transport and the railway. Until we get things right at the border, at the crossings, we will always live in a permanent state of crisis. We have no reserves” Melnichuk added.

https://t.me/Slavyangrad/22799

Posted by: Down South | Nov 29 2022 9:08 utc | 192

Posted by: Down South | Nov 29 2022 9:08 utc | 190
Funny, I was wondering when the Euroidiots would figure out that they need diesel for generators.

Posted by: unimperator | Nov 29 2022 9:28 utc | 194

As Down South says, there is still a diesel crisis of sorts.
However, What is going on with that much talked- about “diesel crisis” ; that was meant to stop the Western war in the Ukraine “ in 25 days “ ? All by stopping all transport of tanks ,personnel carriers, trains, trucks and heating of army concentrations in forts .
Nothing much has happened. Did the Ukros get diesel supplies by ships illegally exploiting the “grain deal” , by docking into Yuzhne fuel depots, in the Black Sea or what ?

Posted by: Brother Ma | Nov 29 2022 9:37 utc | 196

@iainthepict, 187, thanks!
Indeed, the whole story seems to be a non-story. I was wondering, why there were no links to communal decisions for providing land etc. The article in Polsatnews refers to a cemetery for only urn burials on small pieces of land – thus resembling a “American” one. The focus on the prices gives a good argument for the reason of such a new burial ground, called even “necropolis” [city of the dead] in the article. 1700 is the expected number of annual burials – quite high for a city of 150k, but reasonable for a district (województwo) of ~1.5M – if it is the only one of its kind.

Posted by: BG13 | Nov 29 2022 10:31 utc | 198

Is Poland really using fuel to transport corpses back to Poland or are these dying of wounds in Poland ? It requires some organisation to move corpses from a battlefront and I thought the ambulances were being used as ammo taxis………
It was not usual for Britain to repatriate war dead and I think the Falklands was the first time it happened……..prior to that they were interred near dressing stations or at least locally…….
Who is paying to bring wounded/dead back to UK ? Must be very expensive and bureaucratic with lots of Customs forms to cross borders……….do they get UK-based Coroner Inquests ?

Posted by: Paul Greenwood | Nov 29 2022 10:45 utc | 200