Things look bad for Ukraine in Bakmut right now. Last time things looked so bad for them was Lisichansk. There is a rumor that Ukraine is plugging the front with totally untrained conscripts. I hope that RU’s small successes on the Donbass front are not only happening because Ukraine is pooling its best troops and weapons for a major offensive elsewhere, like it did a few months ago. The Zaphorozie front has been very quiet lately. A successful UA drive to Melitopol would be very bad.

Posted by: catdog | Dec 8 2022 16:21 utc | 3

Posted by: velizhan | Dec 8 2022 16:15 utc | 2
I don’t think that “the idea that NATO is not crazy enough to have a full-on clash with Russia” gets much traction here, but good luck to you.

Posted by: Bemildred | Dec 8 2022 16:26 utc | 5

Southfront had an interesting comment from a DPR commander, https://southfront.org/critical-look-at-russian-military-command-of-mr-strelkov-who-returned-from-front-lines/ (assuming the U.S. State Dept let’s you read it).
As a Russophile, I think it is important not to fall into group think. It basically says that Russian soldiers are confused about the mission and goals and notes that Ukrainian soldiers have the advantage of clarity.
This rings true to me. Think about it. If you are a Ukrainian you hear, ‘Russia is invading you need to protect your country’. Can anyone actually refute this?
If you are a Russian soldier, you are told, ‘you are doing something good’ without being told what victory looks like, should I advance or do a tactical retreat?
I’ve heard many say that Russia is clever by confusing Ukraine and NATO, okay but the flip side is that their own troops are kept in the dark.

Posted by: Christian Chuba | Dec 8 2022 16:34 utc | 7

reply to 3
Where are the Ukr. tanks? They were using 60+ yr old T-64s ( and been given 60 yr old Hawk missiles). As above, Germany is donating more “pickups”??? It looks like they have no ability to sustain any offensive and if they don’t stop wasting lives in Donbass, they won’t have a defensive capability either.

Posted by: Eighthman | Dec 8 2022 16:35 utc | 9

There is a rumor that Ukraine is plugging the front with totally untrained conscripts..

Posted by: catdog | Dec 8 2022 16:21 utc | 3
Not a rumour.

🇷🇺🇺🇦🇺🇲⚡ The founder and head of Mozart PMC, retired US Marine Corps Colonel Andrew Milburn, in an interview with American Newsweek, said that it is “not excluded” that Mozart fighters became a target for Wagner PMC.
“Now there is not a single hotel in the Donbass that would allow us to stay with them, as they were told that we were targets.”
The fact that the three hotels where the Mozart had previously been housed were under fire, Milburn called an accident.
He also added that the Armed Forces of Ukraine are suffering “incredibly high losses” in Artemovsk, and untrained recruits are coming as replenishment, 80% of whom “have never fired before.“

https://t.me/intelslava/42503

Posted by: Down South | Dec 8 2022 16:39 utc | 11

i just hope the shining city isn’t glowing in the dark.

Posted by: pretzelattack | Dec 8 2022 16:39 utc | 13

Why is Poland on a shopping spree for tanks? It seems hard to imagine it’s all for defensive purposes

Posted by: Dwilland | Dec 8 2022 16:42 utc | 15

Posted by: Jo | Dec 8 2022 16:22 utc | 4
It was just as expected. Every country in eastern Europe, most of whom have Soviet legacy weapons sent them, pretty much everything in Ukraine. Now US MIC received a jackpot and is making multi hundred million euro deals every month or two with all those countries. They’ll probably rack up tens of billions for years to come. But military spending can and will really wreck their society and economy.
Posted by: catdog | Dec 8 2022 16:21 utc | 3
If Ukraine is attempting to redo what they did during last summer, then they are throwing completely raw conscripts to “plug gaps”. That will buy them some time and enable to build something up, but maybe Russians are better prepared for any new forces this time around compared to last Fall. So far per MOD reports and TG reports, all those attacks are getting wrecked every day, and artillery effectively holds them back.
US is the only real sustainable supplier for natostan and ukroreich. There’s no economical benefits for anyone else. Not sure how US vehicle, APC, radar, howitzer, ammunition etc. production is holding up, but I’d guess it isn’t covering a minority of what Ukraine is losing. Russia should eventually be able to strip the UAF of that equipment which will then increase their losses. Like in Soledar, currently. Everything is lacking.

Posted by: unimperator | Dec 8 2022 16:50 utc | 17

Posted by: Eighthman | Dec 8 2022 16:35 utc | 9
My understanding is that T-64’s are still pretty good tanks. Russia has been modernizing and using T-62’s which are far inferior.
I see a report that Germany JUST announced that they’re sending eighty Leo 2’s. Perhaps they already have done so. Certainly hohols have been training as Leo 2 operators for months now.
We could see the Leo 2 donation as a good thing that NATO has felt the need to escalate to providing MBTs, but the Abrams and Bradleys in Romania and Poland are probably not far behind.

Posted by: catdog | Dec 8 2022 16:56 utc | 19

@catdog | Dec 8 2022 16:21 utc | 3
Russia is having this success now because it was able to consolidate it’s forces and inject fresh troops, while mauling the advancing Ukrainians. Earlier Ukrainian ‘victories’ should be seen in that light. Ukraine’s recaptured territories have proven to be nothing but abject misery for Ukrainians. (Then factor in Russia starting to go after infrastructure targets on top of that.)
By most accounts a large majority of the mobilized Russians and new volunteers haven’t entered combat yet. I think that Scott Ritter has the gist of it when he speculates that the Russian general staff were uncomfortable waisting Russian lives when there was a large force of new troops coming down the pipe. While the loss of Kherson city was awkward for the Russians, saving the lives of your troops while you’re assembling a large new force is just sensible policy. Telling troops to stand to the last for bombed out farmland, with new forces in the pipe, is a bad idea on several levels.
If the Ukrainians are pulling some of their better quality forces back it will be to blunt where that Russian hammer blow falls. I suspect it won’t matter much– A one, or several, pronged Russian offensive with North of 200K men (about as many as the Russians had at the start if the SMO), that stays out of the cities, will obliterate anything the Ukraun has that chooses to engage. Especially given the current state of Ukraine, and the Ukrainian forces.

Posted by: Another James | Dec 8 2022 17:03 utc | 21

Posted by: Christian Chuba | Dec 8 2022 16:34 utc | 7
The Russian military has always been tight lipped about their operational and strategic intent. Russian soldiers are intentionally kept in the dark for security and are often given diversionary tasks as masking operations to hide the armies real intent. All military forces do this but the Russians are especially good at diversion.
People these days as compared to the 1940’s when Russia last fought a major war are used to having information at their fingertips.
Conversation that used to be shared around the lunch table among soldiers can now be tweeted worldwide in an instant. Soldiers today are even posting videos of the view from their trench as artillery rains down and it’s seen by millions. Propagandists can use this and magnify the problem … negative talk has a tendency to propagate exponentially faster then positive talk.

Posted by: HB_Norica | Dec 8 2022 17:05 utc | 23

In a recent interview with George Galloway, posted Dec.6, Scott Ritter stated that “there is a petition that has been signed by Ukrainian wives and mothers, that are asking for the status of upwards of 320,000 men. They want to know where have they gone. What’s happened to them, why aren’t they writing home, why aren’t they phoning home? These are missing.”

Posted by: rhoro | Dec 8 2022 17:16 utc | 25

Posted by: Another James | Dec 8 2022 17:03 utc | 21
I do not think the Russians will attempt a deep offensive in the near future. Surovikin and others have talked only of a slow grind. I think Russia is pursuing this approach because they believe a slow, attritional war is low-risk for the stronger side (Russia). During the 80 Years War’s second half, the Dutch had the same thinking. They avoided open field battles, which could easily swing in either direction, and fought only long, attritional sieges. There were many famous field battles in this same period right next door in Germany, and the results of those battles wildly shifted the balance of power each time. Back to Russia, an big offensive has too much risk of a disastrous failure. It would be very satisfying to finally see one of these mythical “cauldrons” that shills like Saker used to assure us were happening but I don’t think we will until Ukraine gets months more of grinding down.

Posted by: Catdog | Dec 8 2022 17:26 utc | 27

Posted by: Dwilland | Dec 8 2022 16:42 utc | 15 “Why is Poland on a shopping spree for tanks? It seems hard to imagine it’s all for defensive purposes”
My opinion: 1) Poland has very bad memories of the decades of Soviet occupation. 2) Poland gave several hundred tanks to Ukraine this year. 3) Poland wants co-production to make tanks so that they can give them to away like they did with the Soviet era tanks if the need came up again in the future. I think Poland would give more tanks to Ukraine but the original manufacturer (Germany) won’t let them.
If you watch Russian TV, yesterday, on one show, they were taking about the Russian Army going all the way to Lisbon

Posted by: Bill Smith | Dec 8 2022 17:53 utc | 29

Posted by: Eighthman | Dec 8 2022 17:42 utc | 28
80 Leo 2’s is reported by UA propaganda organ Nexta.
https://twitter.com/nexta_tv/status/1600850044151799808?cxt=HHwWgICxxcWorrcsAAAA

Posted by: catdog | Dec 8 2022 17:59 utc | 31

I do not think the Russians will attempt a deep offensive. Surovikin and others have talked only of a slow grind. to Russia, a big offensive has too much risk of a disastrous failure.
Posted by: Catdog | Dec 8 2022 17:26 utc | 27
—
Agreed. Simple question: who is “winning” right now? So, why change? unless something else develops, this could go on for 5, 10, 25 years.
In the meantime, the world goes on. Every day, another event/decision occurs that weakens the dollar standard. As everyone here understands, this is the true battle.
Usa demographics are changing; usa politics are dead. Usa culture is degraded; around 50% no longer believe in the state.
This is a one way street. If you’re not a yank, if you don’t live here in a place undergoing rapid change, you might still think of the US as a monolithic empire.
Now, as to what comes after the fall, this is where I believe our commie contingent are dead wrong. Rather than the end of the age of plunder, we will see a global fight for remaining natural resources.
With the chosen thrown out or debased, the return of traditional Anglo Saxon supremacy is waiting in the wings

Posted by: B9k9 | Dec 8 2022 18:07 utc | 33

@ Down South | Dec 8 2022 16:48 utc | 16
It’s a pretext so Scholtz can crackdown on Germany’s Right. In this case, Germany’s Right is defined as anyone who opposes Scholtz’s support of Ukraine’s Right (Reich).

Posted by: ? | Dec 8 2022 18:08 utc | 35

@ Catdog | Dec 8 2022 17:26 utc | 27
Prigozhin’s proud as a peacock of his meat grinder. He brags about how a USA citizen, the former USMC general in command of Wagner’s foreign brigade, knows all of NATO’s dirty tricks.

Posted by: ? | Dec 8 2022 18:17 utc | 37

@ rhoro | Dec 8 2022 17:16 utc | 25
320,000 Ukranian soldiers not calling home — that’s a gut-wrench and a half. Only one of the huge news-stories summarily ignored by our putative media. Ritter has said Ukraine is over, regardless of how it goes from here: you’ll never have eastern and western provinces together again. Now Putin tells Russians this operation could go on awhile — in a message possibly meant for non-recipients in “the West” — and Kiev’s mayor says the population doesn’t yet need to evacuate. Hoo-ray.
I find it awesomely ludicrous when outraged pundits accuse Russia of deploying “General Winter” into this theater. Honestly, have none of these so-called reporters read any history at all, even recent history? Have none of them given any thought to what it meant when Russia opted to burn Moscow down rather than cede it to Napoleon? I know: it’s a silly question — of course the vacuity of imperial pundits has no bottom. But I’d bet awareness of how winter works with warfare lies quite deep in the Russian consciousness.
It gets to the point so much reality — historical and current — gets swept under the rug, the mass of US Americans lead lives of delusional desperation. (Thoreauetically, at any rate.) People who unabashedly violate our rigid infonorms, such as Ritter and Galloway, are scarce and vanishing antelopes on the prairie.

Posted by: Aleph_Null | Dec 8 2022 18:20 utc | 39

Aleph_Null no. 39
“But I’d bet awareness of how winter works with warfare lies quite deep in the Russian consciousness.”
The Siege of Leningrad.

Posted by: ThusspakeZarathustra | Dec 8 2022 18:36 utc | 41

Oh, and: “Essentially, NATO will be bereft of any new equipment capable of making a difference, which leaves it very vulnerable. And of course, Russia is well aware of NATO’s problem”.
Are you joking? We have mountainhalls full of military equipment in reserve in Nato. Not even engaging first echelon tech in Ukraine yet.

Posted by: Fnord73 | Dec 8 2022 18:46 utc | 43

Posted by: karlof1 | Dec 8 2022 18:17 utc | 38
Good post: Lavrov is an extraordinary diplomat, made even more so when measured against the infantile blundering of the entire western corps. NATO/US/UK leadership lacks history, context, Realpolitik, the long view, pragmatism. All of them see the world through a puerile Hollywood lens and push their baby boomer woke moralism that casts all wars as oversimplified re-runs of ww2, with goodies and baddies and clear priorities. They simply cannot grasp complexity and have no capacity for empathy with opponents which a diplomat needs.
Russia will need to take or reshape all of Ukraine. To leave even a rump Galicia unreformed will allow the cancer to return. The Augean stables must be flushed clean—of Nazis, mafias, OUN, and all the CIA/MI6 tumours that riddle the place. Then, as in Mariupol, the people of Ukraine can be offered what they’ve never really had: a functioning and predictable state framework within which to build a life and be happy. Some of them will remember the old days, not perfect but with Russian help it could work. The alternative is full exposure to the rapacity of IMF strip mining and slavery under oligarchic mafia fiefdoms (i.e., now). If Ukrainians properly reflected on this war they’d realise Russia is fighting for grassroots Ukrainian independence and sovereignty.
But Russia needs to go all the way to the Polish border.

Posted by: Patroklos | Dec 8 2022 18:53 utc | 45

“Lavrov is an extraordinary diplomat, made even more so when measured against the infantile blundering of the entire western corps. NATO/US/UK leadership lacks history, context, Realpolitik, the long view, pragmatism”.
Are you joking, again? Do you think Russia does not have logistic problems? NATO is for once functioning in antifascism, its nice.

Posted by: Fnord73 | Dec 8 2022 19:08 utc | 47

Today is Zakharova Day–MFA’s Briefing which begins with a long indictment of Merkel’s Treason to Humanity. IMO, it must be 100% pasted:

December 7 a “revelation” has been published worthy of starting today’s briefing with these lines.
Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who was in power for more than 16 years, directly participated in the meetings of the Normandy format and in the process of developing the Minsk Agreements. And so she shared what Berlin really thought and on the basis of what positions it acted in this direction.
Angela Merkel said: “The Minsk agreement of 2014 was an attempt (I think that we are talking about the Minsk agreement of 2015). give time to Ukraine. They used this time to become stronger, as can be seen today. The Ukraine of 2014-2015 is not Ukraine today. As we saw during the fighting in the Debaltseve area in early 2015, Russia could have easily captured them then. I doubt that NATO countries could have done as much then as they are doing now to help Ukraine. It was clear to all of us that this was a frozen conflict, that the problem had not been solved. This is what gave Ukraine precious time.” It’s not just a revelation and a remembrance, but a confession that is so clearly voiced for the first time. Yes, the Kiev regime has repeatedly said that it did not intend to fulfill the Minsk agreements, but the West… The same countries and their leaders who were part of the Normandy format have never stated this so clearly and articulatedly. Now we have the recognition of a person, leader and leader of the country, who had a tremendous influence on the political “ferments” within the “sovereign” Ukraine. These politicians manually led many political processes, including the change of power in Ukraine. This recognition belongs to a person in the depths of the country’s system who formed the very Ukrainian elites who “created history” of modern Ukraine, or vice versa – antihistory. The same state and its leader who distributed residence permits, passports and all other “benefits” to those whom they either abandoned or recruited in Ukraine in order to conduct an appropriate policy. Today we have received a testimony from a person regarding everything that was worked out and presented to the world as agreements and became part of international law in the form of a UN Security Council resolution that is mandatory for implementation by every state (not just members of the Normandy format or only by the Kiev regime, but by everyone). The main thing in this revelation sounded – from the point of view of the West, it was all a falsification, a flirtation with the use of international law with the sole purpose of pumping up the Kiev regime with weapons. It was a “diversion” of the views of the international community from the real events on the territory of Ukraine, that humanitarian catastrophe, those endless murders that led to more than 13 thousand victims from all sides by 2022. This was done for only one purpose – to pump up the Kiev regime with weapons and to prepare politically to start hostilities, which we saw in early 2022, when the Kiev regime began to inflict deadly blows on the Donbass. This left no room for any other action than those taken by the Russian Federation: the recognition of these territories first as sovereign, then their admission into the Russian Federation so that they become truly protected, so that they can save their lives. This has been demonstrated to the world through international law and through existing mechanisms.
In this confession of former German Chancellor Angela Merkel, there is something terrible: forgery (as a method of action of the West), machinations, manipulations, all kinds of distortions of the truth of law and law that can only be imagined. Even then in 2015, when they spent many hours of conversations, they knew that they would never do it and that they would pump the Kiev regime with weapons. They did not feel sorry for anyone: women, children, the civilian population of Donbass, and ukraine as a whole. They needed conflict. They were ready for it back in 2015.
Now there is a lot of talk about legal assessments of what is happening around Ukraine: “tribunals”, etc. But “this” is a specific application for a tribunal. What Angela Merkel said in her interview is the testimony of a man who directly stated that everything done in 2014-2015 had one goal – to divert the views of the world community from real problems, to waste time and pump up the Kiev regime with weapons and lead the matter to a big conflict. That’s the evidence.
It turns out that without any legal and legal mechanism, we have received invaluable proof of what we have been talking about for many years. It was a falsification of the West and a criminal provocation. In the beginning, this was in the form of the formation of a Ukrainian political elite alien to its national interests, working in the opposite direction than the aspiration of the interests of the people of Ukraine.
The main goal was to create a hotbed of tension in the region. This was followed by regime change despite the fact that the people of Ukraine were making the choice they needed. The West swept away all legitimately elected presidents and brought to power its puppets: V.A. Yushchenko, P.A. Poroshenko and then the “bloody, bunker” V.A. Zelensky. Eventually, they began to prepare for a big conflict.

Zakharova’s very long update on Ukraine follows and begins with an indictment of the terrorist Victoria Nuland with whom Merkel ought to be grouped–Yes, I loathe both and have nothing but contempt for them as they are both criminals of the highest order–Enemies of Humanity.
Zakharova mentions Polish troops dressed in Ukie uniforms performing Nazi atrocities:
“The other day it was reported that in the city of Marganets, Dnipropetrovsk region, a detachment of special services and polish servicemen dressed in Ukrainian uniforms was sent to identify citizens sympathetic to Russia. I don’t understand why they should be dressed in Ukrainian uniforms then? Proud of what you do? You supply weapons and spend money on this, participate in the development of plans “on the ground” (I am now addressing Warsaw). Let them walk in your uniform so that the whole world can see. What are you hiding behind Ukrainian camouflage? Walk with your head held high! Let the whole world see yours there and know who is involved in these massacres.”
And the same ought to be said of all NATO, its flag also hides its reality, the flag of Hitler’s Reich. And then there’s this:

As part of the misanthropic policy of the Ukrainian authorities, a real repressive machine has been deployed in many regions of the country. Any criticism of the regime is perceived in a totalitarian context. Criminal cases are being initiated under articles on treason and collaboration. However, it is not enough for the Kiev regime to incite hatred only on its own territory. There were reports in the media that one of the Lviv private law firms launched the “Surrender Moskal” service. I understand that this is an ideological upgrade of the Myrotvorets website. It wasn’t enough for them to do what they had done. Now they go further. The purpose of this resource is “the legal cleansing of Europe from potential invaders.” This is the Third Reich, as it is – to cleanse Europe, and accordingly, the “best” part of humanity from the “genetically failed”. This has all already been described – the ideology of fascists, nationalists and Nazis as it is. We’ve been through all of this before. Users of the resource are invited to write denunciations on Russian citizens living in European countries, whose data is supposed to be sent to the competent authorities of these countries. The question is: what kind of democracy or freedom are we talking about, if these practices in the worst traditions of dictatorships are now legalized in the territory controlled by the Kiev regime? On the other hand, it is “something” new. Probably, this is new for those who have not heard about how people were burned in the House of Trade Unions in Odessa. Who never knew about the existence of the site “Peacemaker” and had no idea that in the center of Ukrainian cities, including in the center of Kiev, people are shot who voice their opinion or come up with an alternative view of the situation. Perhaps for those people who have never heard of it, there is something new here. Not for us. It’s not easy for us to hear about it, and for eight years we “beat all the bells.” We state that this logic is now enshrined at the legislative level in a number of laws and by-laws stamped by the Kiev regime. Previously, this was attributed to certain groups that acted outside the law. They could not be found, and when they were found, they were chewed, released or cases fell apart before our eyes. Today, what has been tested for eight years has received the status of law. This is all exposed in the form of legal actions.

Come on out of the woodwork you defenders of NATO!! Come on out and defend these abominations! Come on!!! Be brave like those who murder innocents!! Come on!! Don’t be shy!! You’ve shown your “faces” here before. So, Come on out!!

Posted by: karlof1 | Dec 8 2022 19:10 utc | 49

Six Armies. Six. Those numbers are sourced all over the internet. Hard to believe it’s a gross over estimation.
Three more weeks till conditions are right for hell to be unleashed, though I suspect the line will just move 100K further than the eastern and southern oblasts, then pause to give NATO one last chance to capitulate.

Posted by: comrade simba | Dec 8 2022 19:15 utc | 51

reply to 31
The twitter comment doesn’t appear to say anything much new. They will supply tanks to Ukraine. They CAN supply 80. Will they? Hard to say. Germany has been less than enthusiastic. And if they supply them gradually, they won’t have much impact. This piecemeal supply of often old, unreliable and widely varied equipment looks good in headlines but doesn’t do much for Ukraine. The Leos are probably better quality than most of the junk they’re stuck with.

Posted by: Eighthman | Dec 8 2022 19:26 utc | 53

Man, I had no idea Moonshine was sold in the Bar 😉
Some Reality to sober up by.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCNRYW-_4-s

Posted by: Tom_12 | Dec 8 2022 19:36 utc | 55

Rarely have I read a more dishonest and repellent expose than the one by Olaf Sholz in Foreign Affairs.
https://www.foreignaffairs.com/germany/olaf-scholz-global-zeitenwende-how-avoid-new-cold-war
Does anyone have the Merkel interview to Der Spiegel in English to share. It is important to compare the two, and then both of them to what Lavrov and Putin are, and have been saying. That is, to look at the facts about Ukraine and everything else Sholz is on about.
So Germany wants to be guarantor of security in Europe! Nobody asked me if I want that and I’m a European. I don’t want Germany to guarantee European security, or anyone else. I want security based on genuine adherence to the law, on accountable government, on cooperation with all states based on equality, mutual respect and mutual interests for the wellbeing of the citizens of all countries. Security based in truth, not a pile of lies that keep growing.

Posted by: JB | Dec 8 2022 19:43 utc | 57

“What of those 340,000 Ukie soldiers who never call home??”
See, thats when you are Jade Helming bigtime again. 340 000 dead ukrainians, and nobody noticed? You are making up numbers. Just saying.

Posted by: Fnord73 | Dec 8 2022 19:48 utc | 59

«Angela Merkel said: “The Minsk agreement of 2014 was an attempt (I think that we are talking about the Minsk agreement of 2015). give time to Ukraine. They used this time to become stronger, as can be seen today. […]”»
Sakharova can quote Merkel as much as she wants, or Poroshenko who boasted in the same way, but it does not matter: as far as the “western” public it is all “fake news” by the “orcs”, if they ever get to know that. As to the non-western audiences in the “third world” so many countries have been targeted by USA “freedom fighting” operations that they know pretty well what to expect.

Posted by: Blissex | Dec 8 2022 19:51 utc | 61

JB, I would read the Foreign Affairs with a smile. There is a lot of wishful thinking in there.
“GOOD FOR THE CLIMATE, BAD FOR RUSSIA
Russia’s war has not only unified the EU, NATO, and the G-7 in opposition to his aggression; it has also catalyzed changes in economic and energy policy that will hurt Russia in the long run—and give a boost to the vital transition to clean energy that was already underway. Right after taking office as German chancellor in December 2021, I asked my advisers whether we had a plan in place should Russia decide to stop its gas deliveries to Europe. The answer was no, even though we had become dangerously dependent on Russian gas deliveries. ”
“Putin wanted to divide Europe into zones of influence and to divide the world into blocs of great powers and vassal states. Instead, his war has served only to advance the EU. At the European Council in June 2022, the EU granted Ukraine and Moldova the status of “candidate countries” and reaffirmed that Georgia’s future lies with Europe. We also agreed that the EU accession of all six countries of the western Balkans must finally become a reality, a goal to which I am personally committed. That is why I have revived the so-called Berlin Process for the western Balkans, which intends to deepen cooperation in the region, bringing its countries and their citizens closer together and preparing them for EU integration.”
That articles almost reads like a plot in a Batman and Robin cartoon episode.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qddas1Gwmys

Posted by: Tom_12 | Dec 8 2022 19:53 utc | 63

Cracks forming in the heart(land) of the empire? Interesting to followup with the author or news outlet to see if they suffer repercussions.
https://www.post-gazette.com/opinion/Op-Ed/2022/11/30/maiden-azov-battalion-neonazi-donetsk-luhansk/stories/202212010013

Posted by: Milton | Dec 8 2022 20:04 utc | 65

Posted by: Christian Chuba | Dec 8 2022 16:34 utc | 7
«says that Russian soldiers are confused about the mission and goals and notes that Ukrainian soldiers have the advantage of clarity.»
The war of aggression by Ukraine against the Donbas (and several other regions) has been going on for 8 years, it has made many thousands of civilian deaths. there are several million ukrainian refugees in the Russian Federation escaping the massacres and tyranny of the ukrainian government, and every soldier of the Russian Federation knows that very well, they are not confused at all.
What confuses them a bit is that their dear president Putin tells them that all ukrianians are their cousins and belong to the “Russky Mir”, when it is really obvious that the fascist ruthenians from western Ukraine dream of eliminating the “Russky Mir” and recreate the lithuanian-ruthenian-polish empire in its place.
It is a bit confusing also that the RF government that has been sending two messages, mixing the humanitarian defense of the Donbas with the strategic needs of the RF for security, and emphasizing the latter instead of the former.
«If you are a Ukrainian you hear, ‘Russia is invading you need to protect your country’. Can anyone actually refute this?»
Every ukrainian soldier knows very well that their government started on 9 May 2014 a war of aggression against the Donbas with the Mariupol Massacre, along with other massacres in Odessa, etc.; every ukrainian soldier knows well that many millions of ukrainian citizens escaped to the Russian Federation to avoid being massacred and oppressed, and that their mission is to finish that job, to invade those areas and massacre and ethnically clean them of “kastaps”/”moskals”. for the glory of Greater Ukraine, and ideally also reclaim the long-occupied territories of Rostov and Voronezh. They have indeed absolute clarity of mission.

Posted by: Blissex | Dec 8 2022 20:06 utc | 67

“I see Fnord73 isn’t afraid to admit being a Nazi”.
I fought them in the streets. I served in jail against the Iraq war. But Putin is fascist, so fuck them. Is all my friends mood.

Posted by: Fnord73 | Dec 8 2022 20:11 utc | 69

An observation:
The war is following the Syrian path, as the original formations and equipment are destroyed they are increasingly replaced with smaller units and smaller actions.
Ukraine and Russia are both using older tanks, mismatched units, and platoon level “offensives”
As time goes by power gets fragmented too, local warlords form small areas of control. Its a good bet ukraine has developed lots of small power centers now.
Russia – maybe as well. The Chechnyan guy, patrushev who knows who else.
Individual strikes one vehicle at a time. In some sense Russian strategy is geared to this, the artillery heavy slow grind very much like Aleppo, and idlib for a while now.

Posted by: Neofeudalfuture | Dec 8 2022 20:16 utc | 71

harryash | Dec 8 2022 19:29 utc | 54
maybe Merkel should have added something in about “the Joos”? to fire up the ovens of your interest?

Posted by: rjb1.5 | Dec 8 2022 20:24 utc | 73

Posted by: JB | Dec 8 2022 19:43 utc | 60
«So Germany wants to be guarantor of security in Europe! Nobody asked me if I want that and I’m a European.»
That’s one of the most ridiculous claims that I have read: the only “guarantor of security” or imperial power the USA can tolerate is themselves, and Germany is a vassal state, not an imperial power, even a regional one, and public USA policy is to snuff out any potential regional power. You can disregard Germany’s ambition to be the kingpin of an european protection racket as a delusion, even if they were thinking of doing that as an obedient franchisee of the USA. The USA oligarchs do not delegate.
«I don’t want Germany to guarantee European security, or anyone else.»
https://www.politico.eu/article/kristian-jensen-brits-angry-at-danes-small-nation-jibe/
“There are two kinds of European nations. There are small nations and there are countries that have not yet realized they are small nations.”
«I want security based on genuine adherence to the law, on accountable government, on cooperation with all states based on equality, mutual respect and mutual interests for the wellbeing of the citizens of all countries.»
Soon everybody in the world will bee singing “Kumbaya! Kumbaya!” with you, and the lion will lie down with the lamb to discuss high philosophy. 🙂
How much money and how many lives are you willing to pay for that to happen, or do you really think that “security based on […]” will happen without enormous cost and sacrifice of many lives, or that someone will pay that enormous cost?
«Security based in truth, not a pile of lies that keep growing.»
The athenian ambassadors to Melos spoke truth, they did not bother indeed with a “pile of lies”:
https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/History_of_the_Peloponnesian_War/Book_5
“For ourselves, we shall not trouble you with specious pretences — either of how we have a right to our empire because we overthrew the Mede, or are now attacking you because of wrong that you have done us — and make a long speech which would not be believed; and in return we hope that you, instead of thinking to influence us by saying that you did not join the Lacedaemonians, although their colonists, or that you have done us no wrong, will aim at what is feasible, holding in view the real sentiments of us both; since you know as well as we do that right, as the world goes, is only in question between equals in power, while the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must.”

Posted by: Blissex | Dec 8 2022 20:28 utc | 75

Posted by: Patroklos | Dec 8 2022 20:18 utc | 77
” Your self-righteous attempt to referee between the chaff and the wheat serves only to mark you as petty and pedantic.”
I have been called pedantic before, could be something to it. Does not really take anything away from my point, does it?
And I certainly wasn’t trying to referee. Just wanted the chaff to put up shut up. I know he is incapable of apologizing. Results are in this page for everybody to see.

Posted by: Membrum Virile | Dec 8 2022 20:40 utc | 77

If you watch Russian TV, yesterday, on one show, they were taking about the Russian Army going all the way to Lisbon
Posted by: Bill Smith | Dec 8 2022 17:53 utc | 29
Who said that? Who are “they?” Anyone of authority? I hear crap like that ALL the time on Western MSM.

Posted by: ED | Dec 8 2022 20:47 utc | 79

RE: harryash | Dec 8 2022 19:29 utc | 54
In regard to karlofi’s post covering Zakharova’s update:
“fck..took me half n hr to read that shit karlofi…
by the time i got to the bottem …i forgot the top”
So stick with headline news on CNN and stop wasting space here with ill-written moronic posts.
karlofi does everyone here a service by posting information that never is allowed in western corporate/fascist media.

Posted by: Perimetr | Dec 8 2022 20:58 utc | 81

I also find it ironic that someone who rants about Nazis can also rant about the evil jews. That level of cognitive dissonance is detrimental to ones mental health and I believe the evidence for that can be seen here.
Posted by: Klaatu | Dec 8 2022 20:49 utc | 87

Fitzgerald said: “The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function.”
Zionists and Nazis have a lot of common traits, most importantly the belief in their racial superiority and divine rights to govern and exploit the Untermenschen.

Posted by: Opport Knocks | Dec 8 2022 21:04 utc | 83

Zionists and Nazis have a lot of common traits, most importantly the belief in their racial superiority and divine rights to govern and exploit the Untermenschen.
Posted by: Opport Knocks | Dec 8 2022 21:04 utc | 91
I don’t think there is any difference.
https://twitter.com/daneasterman/status/1599806572548349953
https://twitter.com/daneasterman/status/1600440579929710594

Posted by: Tom_12 | Dec 8 2022 21:10 utc | 85

Opport Knocks | Dec 8 2022 21:04 utc | 91
Isn’t Irony ironic 🙂
F.S.Fitzgerald is the perfect example that cognitive dissonance is detrimental to your mental health.
Thanks for that 😉

Posted by: Klaatu | Dec 8 2022 21:13 utc | 87

@ Chevrus | Dec 8 2022 19:24 utc | 52
very well said chevrus… thank you…

Posted by: james | Dec 8 2022 21:20 utc | 89

Posted by: B9k9 | Dec 8 2022 18:07 utc | 33
Demographic death? Why ? They can just bring in the Ukros ,which will please the Republican Hawks, Employers , Democrat Liberal Interventionists ,KKK White Supremacists etc. Problem is those Ukros will do every average Americans out of a job and being more racist than Americans will set off Race Wars . I am forward to the USA breaking apart like it should have in the 1860s .
Posted by: ? | Dec 8 2022 18:17 utc | 37
I am confused. The USMC ex -general is the leader of Mozart , the enemy of Russian Wagners …not its friend or leader
Posted by: Klaatu | Dec 8 2022 20:49 utc | 87
Love your posts but disagree with you on one point. One can be a Jew and a “ Nazi “ ,and I believe we have already proven this point many times in Israel and Ukraine in the modern era.
If we define a Nazi as a violent , supremacist conservative ,well most jewish leaders of Israel, medieval Yemen( read up on the Himyarites) , Ukraine (Many Ukro Jewish oligarchs had private armies that were and still are anti -Jewish.). Let us not forget the Jewish fanatics of Hellenistic ,Roman and Medieval times, to wit , Rioters in Alexandria and Cyprus who Cleopatra had to exterminate, Maccabees in Hellenistic Judea ,Zealots in Roman Judea, Kitos War against Byzantines in 600s. Just read the Bible to see the savagery / race-purity laws and beliefs of the Ancient Hebrews. It continues on with now dead- Rabbi Kahane ,Netanyahu , Begin and public statements about Non-Jews made by the Chief Rabbis of Israel themselves and Neocons of the USA. One must stop suspending disbelief of such behaviour by Jews with power and influence.

Posted by: Brother Ma | Dec 8 2022 21:28 utc | 91

Ukraine sends 360-500 people to Artyomovsk direction daily — LPR People’s Militia
https://tass.com/defense/1547959
So Ukraine can after 9 months war of war still transfer up to 500 people a day directly to Donbas border!
Always 1 step behind.
Posted by: Z_anon | Dec 8 2022 20:29 utc | 82
——————————————————–
Zanon, I see that you have changed your signature just a bit. We don’t hear much from you anymore. I assume you are using other monikers these days.
The 360 to 500 sacrificial lambs that UAF is sending to the front lines are necessary because that is the kill rate in the Artyomovsk direction daily. That is why they call it the meat grinder.
There is a story in RT (and I saw it mentioned above) about a retired US Marine Colonel who is in charge of a mercenary group called the “Mozart Brigade”, look it up yourself and read the bad new.

Posted by: Ed | Dec 8 2022 21:32 utc | 93

“Could you perhaps quote the part where Fnord73 admitted that?”
Membrum Virile | Dec 8 2022 19:51 utc | 65
_____
Assuming Fnord knows that NATO is actively supporting Nazis in Ukraine, then one might infer Fnord’s Nazi sympathy from his otherwise nonsensical statement that “NATO is for once functioning in antifascism, its nice.” Maybe he’s blissfully unaware of who we’re shipping those mountains full of weapons to?

Posted by: Doug Hillman | Dec 8 2022 21:35 utc | 95

Posted by: Klaatu | Dec 8 2022 20:49 utc | 87
«I also find it ironic that someone who rants about Nazis can also rant about the evil jews.»
One of the huge mistakes by the RF propaganda has been to call “nazis” the ruthenian fascists. Most of them are not “nazis”, they are just mass murdering fascists, in the Pinochet/Chiang/Kim/Suharto style; Dontsov, Petliura, Bandera massacred poles and jews, but also fought against the invading nazis at some points.
Lots of fascists, in Ukraine, Italy, etc. were jews, and lots of jews were and are fascists, for example plenty of fascist jews (e.g. Netanyahu) in Israel too.
However some stupid ruthenian fascists are cosplaying “nazi” because their granddad fought for the “nazis”, and are racists against what they think is a “slav/mongol mongrel race” they call “moskals” or “kastaps” or “orcs”. But not all racists are “nazis” either.
Also there are a few real “nazis” in Ukraine, not just cosplayers, even if they are much fewer. As to them, the “nazi” part “NSDAP” was a specifically german party, and their anti-jews actions were specifically for what they believed was the benefit of the german people, not in general, they did not care about the jews elsewhere.
Therefore for non-germans “nazism” does not need to be anti-jews, it can well be anti-“moskal” in Ukraine, in the same way that it was anti-jews for the NSDAP.

Posted by: Blissex | Dec 8 2022 21:41 utc | 97

“fck..took me half n hr to read that shit karlofi…
by the time i got to the bottem …i forgot the top”
harryash | Dec 8 2022 19:29 utc | 54
____
Seriously? Time to assign you to the short bus for remedial reading. Either that or switch to club soda. Your own vacuous one-liners are growing sloppy, incoherent, and tedious

Posted by: Doug Hillman | Dec 8 2022 21:46 utc | 99