Ukraine SitRep - Counter Artillery War - Financial Disaster
Since the mid of the year it has become clear that the war in Ukraine is one that is mainly fought by artillery.
Ukraine was clearly the underdog in that fight as the Russian forces fired eight times the amount of artillery munitions the Ukraine could make available. The U.S. and some European dependents stepped in. Some 120 M-777 guns and a myriad of modern track mounted artillery systems were given to the Ukrainian army. Hundred of tons of ammunition were moved in. The U.S. and some allies delivered HIMARS systems that could reach beyond the limits of gun artillery.
The Russian military reacted to it. It dispersed its depots and command centers thereby limiting the number of targets for HIMARS systems. It also intensified its use of electronic warfare which took down the drones the Ukrainian artillery used to find its targets:
The electronic suppression of Ukraine’s unmanned aerial vehicles blunted one of Kyiv’s biggest advantages in the early months of the war. The Ukrainians counted on superior intelligence—largely provided by UAVs—to make their smaller artillery arsenal more precise than Russia’s own, larger arsenal of big guns and rocket-launchers.
But the Russians’ electronic warfare prevented those drones from navigating and communicating—and deprived the Ukrainians of the precision they were counting on. “The defeat of precision was critical to unit survival” for the Russians, analysts Mykhaylo Zabrodskyi, Jack Watling, Oleksandr Danylyuk and Nick Reynolds explained in a study for the Royal United Services Institute in London.
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“The average life-expectancy of a quadcopter remained around three flights,” Zabrodskyi, Watling, Danylyuk and Reynolds wrote. “The average life-expectancy of a fixed-wing UAV was around six flights” and, “in aggregate, only around a third of UAV missions can be said to have been successful.”
Lacking real fighting capabilities the Ukrainian artillery switched towards easier fixed targets. In late November it again started to intensely bombard Donetsk city with artillery and missiles. As there are few military installations or even barracks within the city this clearly was a war against its civilian population.
Source: Live UA map - bigger
Source: Live UA map - bigger
Source: Live UA map - bigger
Russian language papers wrote about the civilian casualties caused by the carnage. The political leadership of the Donetsk Republic requested an urgent operation against the threat.
As the heavily fortified frontline makes it impossible to quickly break through and hunt the artillery behind that line, the Russian military moved to other measures. A special cell was created to wage the fight against Ukrainian artillery around Donetsk. More counter artillery radars were moved in. More satellite picture interpreters began to look for firing positions. Longer range counter battery guns also appeared.
Over the last ten days the campaign began to show significant results. Many of the recent daily reports from the Russian Ministry of Defense noted the results of this anti-artillery campaign. Here is yesterday's one:
Within the counterbattery warfare, one U.S.-manufactured M-777 artillery system has been detected and destroyed near Netaylovo along with its crew that had shelled residential areas in Donetsk. Another M-777 artillery system has been destroyed near Preobrazhenka (Zaporozhye region).
One Uragan and two Grad multiple-launch rocket systems (MLRS) have been destroyed near Nevskoye (Lugansk People's Republic) and Seversk (Donetsk People's Republic).
Two Ukrainian 2S1 Gvozdika self-propelled artillery systems have been destroyed at their firing positions near Krasnogorovka and Prechistovka (Donetsk People's Republic).
Four Msta-B and two D-20 howitzers have been destroyed near Kupyansk (Kharkov region), Velikaya Novosyolka (Donetsk People's Republic) and Novogrigorovka (Kherson region).
Air defence facilities have shot down three Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles near Olginka, Guselskoye (Donetsk People's Republic) and Peremozhnoye (Zaporozhye region).
In addition, two Uragan MLRS have been intercepted near Kostogryzovo (Kherson region), and three U.S.-manufactured HARM anti-radiation missiles near Debaltsevo (Donetsk People's Republic).
And this one from today:
Within the counterbattery warfare, two U.S.-manufactured M-777 artillery systems, and one German-manufactured FH-70 howitzer, that were used for shelling residential areas of Donetsk, have been destroyed at their firing positions near Krasnogorovka (Donetsk People's Republic).
Three Ukrainian fighting vehicles for Grad multiple-launch rocket systems have been destroyed near Seversk.
Three Ukrainian Msta-B howitzers have been destroyed near Petropavlovka (Kharkov region), Berestovoye (Donetsk People's Republic), and Chernobayevka (Kherson region).
Ukrainian D-20 and D-30 howitzers have been destroyed near Georgiyevka and Maryinka (Donetsk People's Republic).
Another reports says that the reaction time between detecting and submitting target coordinates to active counter fire is down to two minutes. The setup and displacement time for a M-777 howitzer are each at least three minutes with a fully manned and well trained crew. When radar detects a firing Ukrainian M-777 the Russian response now comes in before the gun could be moved out.
The counter battery campaign can now be called a full success. The last Ukrainian artillery impact in Donetsk city was reported on December 23. The campaign will have to continue until the Ukraine runs out of guns. Up to now the Ukrainians fire still more ammunition than the 'west' can produce:
“Ukrainian artillery use, conservatively, is probably around maybe 90,000 rounds per month,” Michael Kofman, the director of Russian studies at C.N.A., a Virginia research institute, said last week on the “War on the Rocks” podcast. “That’s a lot more than anybody makes in the West right now. So all of this has been coming out of stocks, which is like going through your saving accounts.”
With less guns available on the Ukrainian side the need for new ammunition will decrease.
That is bad news for those Ukrainians who man the frontline trenches. The heavy artillery fire they are under will only intensify and increase their already very high losses. In some time and some places the lines will break and leave space for the Russian military to move through.
The current fighting is concentrated around Bakhmut/Artyomovsk. The Ukrainian command has thrown in reserves to hold the city.
Source: Military Land - bigger
Under permanent Russia artillery fire the sixteen brigades currently deployed in and behind Bakhmut will be decimated one by one. It is a slow fight where the lines move only little by little in favor of the Russian side. But it is very effective battle in a war designed to demilitarize Ukraine. Due to very uneven artillery fight the Ukrainian losses will be many times higher than the Russian ones.
On the economic side the Ukraine has already lost the war. It is living off loans from 'western' governments it will surely default on:
The Ukrainian government has struggled to raise money on bond markets during the war and is paying investors more than it is collecting, according to a Central Bank statement that points to the country’s deepening dependence on foreign aid.
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The economy has been projected to shrink about 40 percent this year, drying up tax revenue and indefinitely delaying previously planned spending that would have spurred growth.The Central Bank statement, published on Monday, pointed to a less visible side of Ukraine’s financing shortfalls caused by the war: an inability to raise money on the market. Since Russia invaded on Feb. 24, Ukraine has not been able to roll over debt accumulated before the war. The country paid investors about $2.2 billion more than it collected in bond sales in that time, the Central Bank said.
All of that has left Ukrainian public finance, which has been wobbly at the best of times in the post-independence period, deeply reliant on assistance from the United States, the European Union, European countries that donate individually and other donors.
Even the U.S. controlled IMF is unwilling to throw more money into that black hole:
The budget passed by Ukraine’s Parliament for next year includes a deficit of about $36 billion. About half of the planned expenditures are for the army, the police and other military outlays. The deficit this year has run even higher, at about $5 billion a month.The International Monetary Fund, which bailed out Ukraine through a long run of post-independence financial crises, has not continued large-scale lending during the war.
“They are worried about debt sustainability,” said Tymofiy Mylovanov, a former economy minister who is a professor at the Kyiv School of Economics. “If the I.M.F. is worried about debt sustainability and ability to finance, imagine what private investors are thinking.”
In contrast international trade with Russia has been booming this year and its financial numbers, recently mentioned by its president Putin, look better than those in the 'west':
First, the predicted economic collapse did not happen. True, we have posted a decline, and I will repeat the figures. There have been promises – or predictions or hopes maybe – that Russia’s economy will contract. Some said its GDP would drop by 20 percent or more, by 20–25 percent. True, there is a decline in GDP, but not 20–25 percent; it is in fact 2.5 percent. That is the first thing.Second. Inflation, as I said, will be a little more than 12 percent this year – it is one of the most important indicators, too. This, I think, is much better than in many other countries, including the G20 countries. Inflation is not good of course, but it being smaller than in other countries is good.
Next year – we have mentioned this, too – we will strive for the 4–5 percent target, based on the economy's performance in the first quarter – at least, we hope so. And this is a very good trend, unlike in some other G20 countries, where inflation is on the rise.
Unemployment is at a historic low of 3.8 percent. We are running a budget deficit, this is true, but it is only 2 percent this year, next year too, then it is projected at one percent, and less than one percent in 2025: we are expecting about 0.8 percent. I would like to point out that other countries – both large developing economies and the so-called developed market economies – are running a much greater deficit. In the United States, I think, it is 5.7 percent, and in China, it is over 7 percent. All major economies are running deficits above 5 percent. We are not.
This is a good foundation for moving confidently into 2023.
When the war ends the Ukraine will have an incredible amount of debt that it will not be able to pay for in generations. It will have no more land to sell off to foreigners and no industry left that will be of any value.
The people who had thought up, designed and implemented the 'western' sanction war against Russia have done more damage to Ukraine and the 'west' that anyone had imagined. But they utterly failed to hurt Russia. They should all be fired for their demonstrated incompetence.
Posted by b on December 28, 2022 at 16:15 UTC | Permalink
next page »Excellent report on the state of affairs and war within Ukraine.
It seems that the Russians move extremely slow when it comes to warfare. Yet, they eventually come around to doing what the West would have done much earlier in the war.
Putin has begun to more fully realize that he and his Russia is at war with all of NATO and its allies. Of course the USA is the linchpin of NATO. Putin's awakening was embodied with the appointment of General Surovikin as commander over the Ukrainian war.
Ukraine now is finally going dark. Now that Ukraine's electrical system is now almost gone. More emphasis will be given to taking out military targets such as artillery shelling civilians in Donetsk City. It's army is systematically being shelled and missiled away.
I don't think Zelensky will be anyone's man of the year, a year from now.
It is a very serious situation to allow one's hand to strenghten the evil of Zelensky and his supporters. Such is the tainted hands of the West.
Posted by: young | Dec 28 2022 16:39 utc | 2
How in the world does Kiev have 16 combat brigades in Bakmunt (sp?). Note - Kiev started out 2022 with 25 first line regular army combat brigades. Around 18 of the 25 were mostly annihilated during the Spring campaigns.
This leads to the question - How many of those 16 brigades currently deployed around Bakmunt are NATO sheep dipped formations and how many are Kiev Volksturm ?
Posted by: exile | Dec 28 2022 16:47 utc | 3
thanks b.. excellent overview...
the fact that ukraine armed forces are using the western military gear to bomb civilians in donetsk can't go un noticed.. sure the western media will try to push bucha into our faces, while hiding these war crimes of the ukrainian army.. but anyone who asks questions, is not going to be happy with what they find...
and, yes - ukraine has been turned into a very dependent juvenile by the west - imf and friends, with very little hope of getting thru adolescence here.. if it does, it will be like a young person addicted to drugs from an early age... it doesn't bode well for ukraine, but perhaps that is the more malevolent way of thinking what the west had in mind here? screw russia by making a failed state on its border.. these hideous actions of the west are and will continue to bite them in the ass and hard.. the west is led by a bunch of mental midgets in comparison to russias leadership here..
when the west runs out of options, they always resort to worse options.. that is my take here.. i sincerely hope i am wrong..
Posted by: james | Dec 28 2022 16:56 utc | 4
Do Western bankster "optics" (eg no bad news until next year) guide UAF propaganda?
⚡️ Is Kiev preparing to surrender Donbass or is the Ukrainian Armed Forces retreating to a new line of defence?The Kramatorsk city council has published a curious announcement: on 2 January, the evacuation of all territories of the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) occupied by the Ukrainian Armed Forces to a new line of defence to several Ukrainian regions will begin.
There are several options:
♦️the simplest one is that the Kiev regime has no money to provide the residents of Donbass with.
♦️FFAA from Ukraine are preparing to withdraw to a new line of defence, which will actually run along the DPR borders (Krasny Liman - Slavyansk - Kramatorsk - Chasov Yar - Konstantinovka).
♦️ We are talking about the implementation of the infamous "Sullivan formula" - an agreement between Patrushev and a US official to resolve the conflict in Ukraine (not very likely).
Posted by: ? | Dec 28 2022 17:02 utc | 5
I rather doubt there'll be any entity called Ukraine to collect debt from when this is finished. Putin has already stated what part of the current Ukraine won't be "new lands" for Russia and why that's so--Galicia. The West's Neoliberal Parasites will take a big hit from their loss in Ukraine.
I'll tell you what I would do with those Made in the USA M777s when all is said and done. I'd rig a dozen of whats left of them and chopper them to the train headed to Moscow, and when they got to Moscow, I would re rig them, fly them over to the US Embassy and decorate their yard and front street with them. Period.
Posted by: GMC | Dec 28 2022 17:06 utc | 7
@ karlof1 | Dec 28 2022 17:05 utc | 6
maybe so karlof1... just like in 2008, they will make the little person pay for it, and the big banks will run free.. i can't see it playing out differently from 2008.. can you??
Posted by: james | Dec 28 2022 17:06 utc | 8
thanks b, i really needed that.
james #4 perhaps that is the more malevolent way of thinking what the west had in mind here? screw russia by making a failed state on its border.
all along i've had this sneaking suspicion part of the US plan has been the expansion of their current favorite Nato pet, Poland.
Posted by: annie | Dec 28 2022 17:06 utc | 9
young | Dec 28 2022 16:39 utc | 2
Zelensky is certainly past his expiration date, and is now worth more dead than alive. I expect him to be booked on a "Ron Brown" flight before this Spring.
Posted by: Eric Blair | Dec 28 2022 17:07 utc | 10
the financial collapse is a feature, not a bug. i predicted months ago that this would become a "smash and grab" where the russians do the smashing and the IMF/world bank/goldman/etc do the looting. this is a disaster capitalism playground for the same vermin who raped and pillaged russia in the 1990s. those types never expect their debts repaid and in most cases don't want them repaid. if you don't owe them anything how will they take your land and f_ck your 12 year old kid?
it shouldn't surprise anyone who followed greece over the past decade or two. or the states for that matter; it's already a plutocracy full of plantations called "wal-marts" and "fulfillment centers". if you're not in finance or working for lockheed you're going to end up as a serf at the mercy of the same parasites who will carve up ukraine and continue to slowly loot the rest of the west. feudalism never ended, it just hit some socialist bumps in the road.
Posted by: the pair | Dec 28 2022 17:08 utc | 11
" They should all be fired for their demonstrated incompetence. "
Perhaps they will be lucky to face just this fate?
On a scale of bad decisions, then doubling down on these bad decisions their fate may be more consequential if they do not somehow win this mis-adventure - thru a strategy of bad decision making?
Their only hope is that there are SO MANY responsible for this fiasco, they may be able to hide in the crowd and/or point fingers at their compatriots!
Posted by: James Cook | Dec 28 2022 17:12 utc | 12
FWIW: History Legends claims there are very few foreign fighters in Ukraine. Most of those that had been there left.
Posted by: Kauai John | Dec 28 2022 17:16 utc | 13
Russia recently deployed its "Penicillin" counter-battery systems all along the front lines. It is a passive artillery detection system that uses seismic and acoustic sensors instead of radar, so it has no radio signature, making it hard to find. Russia reports a sharp uptick in the number of hits on Ukrainian artillery and rocket-launchers. More significantly, Ukraine has not bombarded Donetsk city for several days. Since the war in Ukraine is largely one huge artillery duel, this could be the real game-changer.
Posted by: paperlesstiger | Dec 28 2022 17:17 utc | 14
I've said it before, but ukraine is not in charge of its war. It can't quit, or make exercise any sovereignty. It doesn't need an economy or even an army. The western powers will fight through it like a meat puppet, as they have lots of power left to keep its corpse animated and life like.
When the war is done, whatever happens ukraine will be left on the ground like a used condom, forgotten and left for dead, just like Afghanistan.
And the survivors will be surely disappointed to learn that they and their whole country was sold off to western nations and they will import the necessary, non Ukrainian, labour to work the fields. The Ukrainians may even learn that their whiteness and Christianity is unwanted and will be replaced just like the precursor western populations in their sponsor nations.
And who will lament their passing? Sadly their brother nation of Russia might be unsympathetic.
Posted by: Neofeudalfuture | Dec 28 2022 17:21 utc | 15
james @ 4
it doesn't bode well for ukraine, but perhaps that is the more malevolent way of thinking what the west had in mind here? screw russia by making a failed state on its border..
Except Ukraine borders just as much on NATOstan: Romania, Hungary Slovakia, Poland, which in turn border on Germany, Austria, Czech Republic, Balkans, Greece...
Seeing how NATOstan is about to blow up Serbia again I'd say not so much failed state on Russia's border as failed continent on Russia's border - Now that's a plan! Take that Russia!
Being forced to abandon EU and turn east may be the best thing that ever happened to Russia. The Peter The Great turn westwards was so yesterday's news.
Posted by: LightYearsFromHome | Dec 28 2022 17:29 utc | 16
@ annie | Dec 28 2022 17:06 utc | 9
i really can't understand poland.. maybe it is the history i remain ignorant of.. i recall annie applepants and her polish husband ranting on about russia back in 2014.. she was on a munk debate from toronto where i picked up the rabid russophobia agenda.. her husband more recently let the cat out of the bag on the nordstream sabotage thanking the usa on twitter around the same time.. these folks are insane.. are there no sane people in poland? i have to extend this question to all of europe at this point.. they all seem insane! at least with canada, usa and others outside this area - i know they are insane..
@ paperlesstiger | Dec 28 2022 17:17 utc | 14
the real game changer is when the west acknowledges bombing civilians with its own weapons it has thrown into ukraine, has crossed a red line and there is no turning back.. that is where i think we are here.. media silence.. i saw musk mentioning how all the social media platforms are being controlled by the intel agencies... at least some truth comes out, even if many continue to swallow the propaganda..
Posted by: james | Dec 28 2022 17:32 utc | 17
Self destruction is always the most complete. Do congrats go to a cia drug of insanity an intelligent[sic] assassination of a general of peace for their zionist state? I’d say well done not should be fired. Give away your money give away your guns to a country that’s always done war of defense better than any other…Just, has the money moved elsewhere, or, it’s everywhere, never a loser
Posted by: sadness | Dec 28 2022 17:33 utc | 18
Posted by Inlagd av: OdessaConnected | 28 dec 2022 0:04 UTC | 381
Seriously, are you kidding?
I wrote about the EU, that he workers right have deteriorated in Ukraina. And that has happened in all EU-countries.
You, Odessa Connected write: “This is what allways happens as a government moves left. One day you are in a socialist system, then the next day you cross an invisble line and you realize you are now in something that goes beyond socialism-it´s just a purer version of Marxism”.
EU, is excatly the opposite to all left politic and marxism. And that´s the politic that USA wants to introduce in Ukraine. And all EU- and Nato-countries are obidient tools for USA to introduce this politic in Ukraine.
In Sweden... all these EU Directive are good for the capitalists and bad for the workers
1.Unemployment has increased 2.Municipal housing companies must now make profit, in stead of guarantee affordable housing for the people 3. Our tax money goes now to venture capitalists who have taken over the welfare. 4. We can no longer conduct an independent foreign policy.5. The open borders for goods has caused that smuggling of weapons and drugs has increased exponentially. 6 EUs free movement forces the workers to move around all of Europé in search of work. 7. Swedish workers wages and working conditions have deteriorated. 8. EUs laws are superior to Swedish laws. 9. The EU membership fee is extremly expensive. Etc
A more socialist policy? No, that´s “the democracy” that Wall Street wants to introduce in Ukraine, and EU has introduced so far in all EU-countries.
By the way, the Brittish workers voted for Brexit, and as soon as Brexit won, the right-wing populist party Ukip lost many supporters.
(I hope it´s okay, that I post this here, it was a discussion from the 26th...)
Posted by: Northern Eve | Dec 28 2022 17:34 utc | 19
@ LightYearsFromHome | Dec 28 2022 17:29 utc | 16
true! and good point at the end... i can't believe how insane europe is.. oh well..
Posted by: james | Dec 28 2022 17:34 utc | 20
@ Northern Eve | Dec 28 2022 17:34 utc | 19
i was an idiot on the previous thread responding to this troll.. i won't continue.. i hope you don't either.. cheers..
Posted by: james | Dec 28 2022 17:35 utc | 21
Posted by: james | 28 dec 2022 17:35 utc | 21
Sorry, you are right!
Posted by: Northern Eve | Dec 28 2022 17:38 utc | 22
Analogies always fail, but they can be fun. I am on a hybrid "belling the cat" and "the emperor has no clothes" over the the Russian Federation vs. UKR, UK, NATO usOfa, etc imbrogilio. Well someone has to bell the cat, consequences not immediately being digested as food, but an abreaction by the cat, see Iran, and now see RF. Somebody has to be a foot further out from the crowd trying to prove that the usd$, pound, london insurance, etc. has no clothes, or that the rest of the world is capable of making economic raiments just as beautiful and more durable than the present lingua franca economic.
Now I attempt to tangentially go to artillery as per the main venue for today. As per the saying, the Russians have a plan even when they go to the bathroom, RF has to have a plan for the Patriot system. Why take it out immediately if you can for several months show how much of an ineffective gilded lily it is. Just chuck out carbon fibre exterior Shadeds etc on targets near for a couple months, and then when the Poles or usOfa soldiers running it are ready to move out and let UKR or true nazi mercs take over, blow the shit out of it and take some of my fellow usOfa citizens with it. And the thing is, RF is not wed to any one plan. They have a nimbleness that nato'ish does not. They have several options that I could not ever reason, dream or even under hallucinogens conceive.
Posted by: paxmark1 | Dec 28 2022 17:38 utc | 23
Eric Blair | Dec 28 2022 17:07 utc | 10
I don't know for sure what will happen to Zelensky. A falling airplane or helicopter certainly is an option.
When the West sees his hand in their demise, I don't think he nor his high spending spouse will fair well.
Posted by: young | Dec 28 2022 17:43 utc | 24
Posted by: exile | Dec 28 2022 16:47 utc | 3
By various sources, Ukraine has about 97 of what they call brigades currently in the field plus smaller unattached units. About 30 are Territorial Defense Brigades. Yeah, TDF, very mixed quality. But some of those TDF units have now had months of low level on the job combat training. Good for defense but not offense?
Over the last 9 months it is pretty clear from posts in various locations that Ukraine has been training up to 3 brigades at a time scattered along the Polish border. Plus the stuff going on in other countries. Sure, abbreviated training compared to peacetime but far better than nothing.
How well armed these units are is unknown but those tanks the Poles passed along were shown in some of the pictures.
Posted by: Bill Smith | Dec 28 2022 17:48 utc | 25
A Europe of failed states could also be good for Russia, since that would force millions of Europeans( and their industries) to migrate east, ending Belarus and Russia's population problems. Ukraine would be better off shared between Russia (getting the east + south) and Belarus (getting the 4 north oblasts, maybe center too if Russia decides to end Ukraine, otherwise it could turn rump Ukraine into a vassal/buffer and put missiles in it). If both RF and Belarus can raise their natality rate to 2.1, there is a chance Russia could reach a 190 million population by 2050 and Belarus a 25 mln one, which would help to turn it into an economic superpower by late 2030s.
Posted by: Phariah | Dec 28 2022 18:00 utc | 26
The people who had thought up, designed and implemented the 'western' sanction war against Russia have done more damage to Ukraine and the 'west' that anyone had imagined. But they utterly failed to hurt Russia. They should all be fired for their demonstrated incompetence.
Posted by b on December 28, 2022 at 16:15 UTC | Permalink
I have come to believe that it is not actually incompetence. Other commentators also drum on incompetence as an explanation but that is not so in my view. At least not directly.
Life has simply become very easy in the West. Living standards are at an all-time high. Everything is within grasp. Social media and modern entertainment (streaming etc) enabled by tech made instant satisfaction possible. Everything is just a few mouse clicks away. People have no more need to study or develop skills, all they need to do is take what easy life gives to them. Old values of being independent and self-sufficient are frowned upon. Making money or improving living conditions is not enough, you need to have the x-factor in order for others to take you seriously.
The people then elect political leaders that give them, in essence, entertainment. Cheap, emotionally charged, addictive. Just like modern social media apps or games. The political leaders are superb actors, creating endless drama for the masses.
What we see today is a reflection of the type of democracy we have developed for ourselves as a consequence of the endless economic growth. Someone called it “audience democracy”, in Dutch “toeschouwers democratie.”
Looking incompetent is just in the eyes of those that look at the world from a position of scarcity or those that have life experiences that are caused by harsh reality, corruption, betrayal or loss of identity. Everyone else in the West is in agreement with whatever politics are implemented since it reflects their a) yearning for experiences beyond the material and b) feeling of superiority over whoever looks at the material world as an achor.
Posted by: alek_a | Dec 28 2022 18:01 utc | 27
its clear, that the west looses in his fight to enslave the global south... but even in the case, that his bio-warfare dont work like expected (the genbased vaccinated are dying more then the clean-blooded in every age-group), it can be presented as victory against the "overpopulation"...
There are still ignorant people in the Western corridors of power, such as ursula von der Leyen, who continue to fantasize about using the Russian's seized assets to bail Ukraine out. I doubt they will succeed in doing that.
Posted by: Steve | Dec 28 2022 18:08 utc | 29
The people who had thought up, designed and implemented the 'western' sanction war against Russia have done more damage to Ukraine and the 'west' that anyone had imagined. But they utterly failed to hurt Russia. They should all be fired for their demonstrated incompetence.
If only they were hired for competence in the first place.
Nepotism tends to be worst among the elite.
Legacy admits at Harvard and Yale, graduate straight into work in some think tank, big appointed office in the government, or the media.
Some run for elected office, their cronies in the think tanks, government & media help them elected.
They run the government. Enact ridiculous policies with no consequence because those who make them accountable are also their cronies.
Then they send their kids as legacy admits to Harvard with millions in cover charge or donations which they also swindled from tax payer money through nefarious schemes colluding with their cronies in the private sector.
Rinse. Repeat.
Posted by: FieryButMostPeaceful | Dec 28 2022 18:21 utc | 30
Since the 1800s “Western” nations have held international debt to be sacrosanct and even victorious nations have honoured the debt of their defeated foes. Since the West has stolen 300-odd billion in Russian central bank assets I think one of Russia’s responses once they defeat Ukraine will be denounce all western owned debts that will hammer the West with more than 300 billion in loses. It will also make rebuilding a Russian-controlled Ukraine much easier as it will have no western debt (only Chinese & non-western debts). It will also poison all future Ukrainian/Western relations as the west will obviously make a restoration of relations contingent on paying the debt and Ukraine will obviously not want to kill itself economically by taking on an impossible debt burden
Posted by: Kadath | Dec 28 2022 18:28 utc | 31
If one had invested in land east of the Dnieper River, well it was cheap for a reason and there will be no profit next year, I believe. This is part of the economic war, drive out the western investors by any means, but it is the western sanctions that are really going to work this event.
Posted by: T S | Dec 28 2022 18:56 utc | 32
Posted by: Bill Smith | Dec 28 2022 17:48 utc | 25
How many of those 97 Kiev combat brigades are staffed by NATO troops ?
Posted by: Exile | Dec 28 2022 19:02 utc | 33
How will this struggle for influence in the area of the former Eastern Bloc end? In the Book of Daniel we read: "At the appointed time [the king of the north] will return back [and that, in this context, means the end of "the era of the unipolar world". The Russian garrisons will return to where they were previously stationed. It also means military actions and major crisis. Not only the eurozone will break up, but also the European Union and NATO], and come into the south [this will be the beginning of nuclear war], but won't be as before or as afterwards [these military actions will not lead to a global nuclear war. This war will only begin after the return of the king of the north and the detonator will be an ethnic conflict (Matthew 24:7)], then the dwellers of coastlands of Kittim [the distant West] will come against him, and (he) will break down [mentally], and will go back." (11:29, 30a) This will be a mutual slaughter. This time it will be a world war not only by name. Peace will be taken from the earth and the sword of great power will be used. (Revelation 6:4) Jesus characterized it in this way: "A frightening things both and extraordinary (related to unusual phenomena) from sky powerful will be." For this reason, there will be significant tremors along the length and breadth of the regions [of strategic importance] and famines, and pestilences. Some ancient manuscripts contain the words "and frosts". The Aramaic Peshitta: "and will be great frosts". (Luke 21:11) We call this today "nuclear winter". In Mark 13:8 there are also words of Jesus: "and disorders" (lack of public order). The Aramaic Peshitta: "and confusion" (on the state of public order). This extremely detailed sign fits only one war. "All these are only the beginning of the labor pains." (Matthew 24:8, New Catholic Bible)
Posted by: Ewiak Ryszard | Dec 28 2022 19:09 utc | 34
Once the heavy guns in the rear are smoked out, it's the beginning of the end for the front line trenches, which then becomes pretty vulnerable to straight attacks and bombardments.
Posted by: unimperator | Dec 28 2022 19:09 utc | 35
A Primer on financing the Ukraine War.
1. All the equipment and munitions to date already existed, therefore are SUNK COSTS. The U.S. and NATO are just shuffling old kit off their balance sheets, not spending new money on new stuff. So far.
2.Western Central Banks have been transferring real assets from the less wealthy/poor private sector Working Class into the control of the fiat money class for 2 decades now. And clearly with general Inflation, this is reaching or has reached a limit.
3.So the Western Fiat economies will either have to let Inflation reign or let Ukraine fall. Russia has real assets and energy, and are motivated to their core.
Posted by: kupkee | Dec 28 2022 19:12 utc | 36
It’s taken a year for counter battery ware fare to kick in, seriously?
Maybe it will take another year for the Russians to figure out they’d be better off hitting supply lines.
Posted by: Johnycomelately | Dec 28 2022 19:14 utc | 37
alek_@| 27
I have come to believe that it is not actually incompetence. Other commentators also drum on incompetence as an explanation but that is not so in my view. At least not directly.
What you say is a part of it but among the elites it is incompetence. The neocons, the NATO and Pentagon chiefs, intelligence heads, the heads of the EU in Brussels, the heads of the EU nations, and the leader of the free world himself, the Big Guy, have all failed-up progressively from the very start of their careers, right up to the pinnacles of power. It is something endemic throughout the neoliberal capitalist makeover of the last 40 years, fail-up is pervasive and defines the crapification of everything throughout the economy and culture. As Garland Nixon noted neoliberalism is the philosophy, neocon is its military expression, financialization its economic, woke its cultural. This is why the fail-up up is so devastatingly comprehensive.
In this case the NATOstan elites assume their big plans for Russia will go their way no matter what as the hybrid war will also fail-up to victory. And, why would it not? Everything always fails-up! It sounds stupid but that’s the way it is, and if the well being along with the liberty and very life of all of us wasn’t at stake it would be hilarious to watch.
Trick to fail-up up is it’s a private club and an insider’s scheme, a circle jerk, a mutual appreciation society of boundless mediocrities patting each other on the back after each disaster, everything on expense account and someone else’s tab. The game works as long as it stays insular and within the club. Russia was blackballed from the club and China was never allowed to apply, neither is playing the game. The fail-up up just hit the wall, the crash will destroy the leadership class in the west leaving a giant hole in the legitimacy and the authority of power. Demagogy usually fills that hole. They are preparing for that, sadly for us it’s maybe the only thing the fail-up crowd will get right.
Posted by: LightYearsFromHome | Dec 28 2022 19:17 utc | 38
I wonder what the Germans think of Poland's idea of taking the west of Ukraine. This could trigger a bitter conflict inside NATO. Germany may feel that since Poland is getting back its lost teritories, Berlin also should take those territories it had to cede to the Polish.
Posted by: Jaime | Dec 28 2022 19:17 utc | 39
No shell on Donetz from the 24 of december?
Is it your kind of source?
What I know from people living in Donetz and fight against Ukies since 2014:
Today
17h20 4 shell of 155 on Kievsky
17h00 Kirovsky 10 shells of 155
16h45 same place4 shells of 155
16h40 Kuybishevsky , 5 shells of 155
16h20 Petrovsky, 15 rockets of 122
15h33 Kuybishevsky 10 shells
15h28 Petrovsky Kirovsky 13 shells
15h15 same place, 4 shells
15h05 same place, 6 shells
Between 15h and 17h20, 72 shells on Donetz
It's better not to say wishfull thinking false infos because after nobody believe you no more.
Don't ever parrot official communication. From West or East, all bullshiters.
Posted by: Rambert | Dec 28 2022 19:17 utc | 40
In the west, ideology is more important than competence. You can waste trillions of dollars, kill millions of innocents, lie to your own people and in the end even get caught red handed and none of it matters. They receive a promotion, not punishment.The United States is a criminal enterprise masquerading as a government. It is twisted, sick and evil and somebody badly needs to put it down before it kills and enslaves us all.
Chris Hedges calls these people 'mediocrities'. All the sclerotic old monsters that've been around since Nixon keep getting recycled and killing people and burning mountains of money. John Bolton, the Kagans, Rumsfeld, every Ivy League loser who's been born with a silver spoon in his mouth (RIP Molly Ivins) and thinks this gives them license to stomp everyone with their repulsive ideology.
I've seen it asserted that the US has been functionally bankrupt for decades. It's only the petrodollar that keeps the US going. And our military/shakedown force.
Posted by: kupkee | Dec 28 2022 19:12 utc | 36
US could also fund this war for "free" with the copious amounts of Warsaw pact equipment, which don't show as costs anywhere. Of course, it does show as costs for the vassals who now get bills of billions or even tens of billions of dollars.
Take Poland for example, they have to significantly increase their corporate tax rate. EU also cuts the free money tap to Poland because Poland didn't do enough to adopt EU neoliberal values. On the other hand, Germany is incapable of funding Poland through EU, and Germans are pissed after what Poles did to the Nordstreams and cheap gas which contributed in wrecking chemical, steel, automotive subcontracting sectors and a host of other sectors.
Scarcity always leads to a sparring match, which can easily lead to real ruptures. The Ukraine project won't get any better for the involved Nato/EU countries.
Posted by: unimperator | Dec 28 2022 19:19 utc | 42
COViDiOT | Dec 28 2022 18:07 utc | 28
I'm kinda freaked out by all the "5 Eyes" getting Moderna (a Cambridge, MA company) 'vaccine' plants. Isn't that a big, fat hint that the USA is getting ready to launch a bio-war? All the talk of Nuke War might just be cover for the real global offensive. A bio-war that reduces the global population has to be Bill Gates' biggest wet dream imaginable.
Posted by: Eric Blair | Dec 28 2022 19:22 utc | 43
Posted by: Jaime | Dec 28 2022 19:17 utc | 39
ahh the european shakal thats always hungry haha
I think that story with central europe will never end :)
Posted by: Macpott | Dec 28 2022 19:27 utc | 44
I can remember being very sceptical in 2014 when the then president Yatsenyuk said that Ukraine would pay off the funding that it received. It was obvious back then that the money was going into a black hole, or at least into military spending.
Nowadays the situation is so bad that nobody even tries to pretend that Ukraine can service its debts.
Posted by: Brendan | Dec 28 2022 19:28 utc | 45
> They should all be fired for their demonstrated incompetence.
No, they should be left in power until they bring whole west into oblivion. Ho-ho-ho.
Posted by: Abe | Dec 28 2022 19:29 utc | 46
Don't ever parrot official communication. From West or East, all bullshiters.
Posted by: Rambert | Dec 28 2022 19:17 utc | 40
Well said. And true viz BS remark.
That said b's description of the artillery war felt generally accurate and provides good perspective of a generally muddled situation.
And THAT said I believe we should always keep in mind that Ukraine is not about Ukraine...
Eric Blair @ 10
Haven't thought of Ron Brown in a long time. Never understood why he was taken out. Do you have a good guess?
Posted by: oldhippie | Dec 28 2022 19:38 utc | 48
oldhippie | Dec 28 2022 19:38 utc | 48
Ron Brown was under subpoena to testify about shady fundraising issues between Democratic Party donors and the Chinese government. Here's a sample backrounder.
Posted by: Eric Blair | Dec 28 2022 19:50 utc | 49
Posted by: LightYearsFromHome | Dec 28 2022 19:17 utc | 38
Yes, there is also something to be said of what you call “fail-up” and what I call “lack of consequences”.
I believe the lack of real consequences has also been born of the abundance we in the West are blessed with. This is not only valid for the elite - as you point out - but also for the more common man.
As a way of example. The max punishment for causing a lethal road accident in the Netherlands is 240h community service and 1 year revoking of the driving license (even if you caused it by not abiding to traffic rules). The reasoning of the progressive mindset that made this possible - supported by the majority here - is as follows: a) why ruin two lives when you can save at least one and b) a second chance in life is worth it as they can become a productive member of society again. Ok, I get it. Justice is not revenge and no matter how difficult it is for the victim’s family, they need to look elsewhere for emotional recuperation than through the justice system.
But. What about consequences for your actions? What does our society look like when consequences for actions, however inadvertently done, are judged only by intent? How can you prevent the message to others that as long as you didn't intend to run over that biker with your speeding car (at twice the limit), there is just a slap on the wrist waiting for you? What about consequences in other areas of life like raising kids, public administrators, doctors, police etc. “But I didnt mean to do it!” The progressives tend to forget that the road to hell is paved with good intentions.
Also, how does that judge live with him/her/themselves if a mistake was made and the perpetrator repeats? When the opinion of the judge that the perpetrator has low risk of repeat offense was in error? They have in effect murdered the next victim by choice not to send a clear message of consequences the first time. What do the progressive say a out that? (I know what they will say: trust the expert opinions that the justice system relies on to determine repeat risk and intent. But can we?)
Posted by: alek_a | Dec 28 2022 19:50 utc | 50
When the war ends the Ukraine will have an incredible amount of debt that it will not be able to pay for in generations. It will have no more land to sell off to foreigners and no industry left that will be of any value.
I seriously doubt that those Nazi Ukraine Government land sales will be recognised by the liberation Government of Ukraine. Companies that do business with Nazis and provide funds for their crimes against humanity have surrendered any rights to claim property. Rather they owe the liberation Government of Ukraine reparations for their crimes.
The western agricultural oligarchs can piss off and mourn their losses.
Posted by: uncle tungsten | Dec 28 2022 19:52 utc | 51
Posted by: paperlesstiger | Dec 28 2022 17:17 utc | 14
Great counter-battery system, even the Wikipedia article is complementary!
Posted by: anon2020 | Dec 28 2022 19:58 utc | 52
Posted by: Rambert | Dec 28 2022 19:17 utc | 40
Thanks for that, Rambert. I was kinda startled by the claims of no shelling on Donetsk as I was sure I"d been viewing reports on Telegram but I don't have the references handy.
You confirm my thoughts. And that's a very depressing state of affairs. That was 'b's' report. Our authority. The one we depend upon for the overall veracity of this forum.
Claiming no shelling since 23rd. That's a working week away now. He couldn't find a report since then? Where's he been looking?
Kinda like finding a sudden breach in our defences.
Eric Blair @ 49
Thank you for that. I had never known.
Can tell you a personal story. The night before it happened I was at a party with a bunch of politicos. People I had known since high school or even before who had sadly become big D Democrats. One of them had been having an affair with Brown. She was drinking herself stupid and finally let out that he was going to die. We all put it down to drunkenness. I drove her home. She knew something, I did not credit an asassination. Next day on the news....
Posted by: oldhippie | Dec 28 2022 19:59 utc | 54
Too much shelling still going on says Sputnik.
todays map and one can scroll back daily to get a view of shelling in Donetsk:
Testerday Slavyangrad was running the line of no shelling since 23 December. But that's typical Slavyangrad.
Posted by: uncle tungsten | Dec 28 2022 20:00 utc | 55
James, whether they are insane or not i can't answer, but biden announced the new permanent US army headquarters in Poland back in june, "billed as the biggest overhaul of NATO defenses since the Cold War" and its first in eastern europe. so my hunch is, there's some reward in that for Poland, which is might signal Galicia, at least.
Posted by: annie | Dec 28 2022 20:06 utc | 56
Ukraine has not bombarded Donetsk city for several days.
Posted by: paperlesstiger | Dec 28 2022 17:17 utc |
Ukr/nato did target Donetsk, there was no pause. Even a school today.
Posted by: rk | Dec 28 2022 20:17 utc | 57
The war will only end when Russia captures all of Ukraine, and even then Nato which is heavily involved in the war, and the US, in which its economic dominance depends on Russia losing will in my opinion keep on going turning this proxy war into a full fledged war between Nato countries and Russia.
The USA will not willingly give up its economic dominance so a all out war, nuclear or not is a real possibility in my opinion, 2023 will see the climax to the Nato-Russia confrontation, a loss for Russia will see a puppet government installed and the continued surrounding of China, a win for Russia will see the USA economy crash, Europe will not escape unscathed caught in the middle of the USA's hegemony it will suffer greatly.
There's far too much at stake for the USA to allow peace talks to be successful, I foresee a great conflict next year, and the fall of an empire.
Posted by: Republicofscotland | Dec 28 2022 20:17 utc | 58
Russia recently deployed its "Penicillin" counter-battery systems all along the front lines. It is a passive artillery detection system that uses seismic and acoustic sensors instead of radar, so it has no radio signature, making it hard to find. Russia reports a sharp uptick in the number of hits on Ukrainian artillery and rocket-launchers. More significantly, Ukraine has not bombarded Donetsk city for several days. Since the war in Ukraine is largely one huge artillery duel, this could be the real game-changer.
I agree.... They claim they can configure it to search for specific atillery systems....
INDY
Posted by: Dr. George W Oprisko | Dec 28 2022 20:17 utc | 59
alek_a @27 said in part;
"Making money or improving living conditions is not enough, you need to have the x-factor in order for others to take you seriously."
"The people then elect political leaders that give them, in essence, entertainment. Cheap, emotionally charged, addictive. Just like modern social media apps or games. The political leaders are superb actors, creating endless drama for the masses."
Very good take on the current state of most of the U$A populace....
Posted by: vetinLA | Dec 28 2022 20:23 utc | 61
Thank you.
The Ukraine can repay debts by selling its peoples' blood, marrow, organs, children, etc. If rumours are true this is already happening. The Ukraine can further repay debts by volunteering its people for pharmaceutical experimentation (already happening) and genetic experimentation. Maybe the first neuralink transhuman will be Ukrainian.
This translated short story by a Russian author about Ukraine:
was meant to be satire but begins to look like an instruction manual.
Posted by: Browser | Dec 28 2022 20:27 utc | 62
"With less guns available on the Ukrainian side..."
The is grammatically incorrect usage. Fewer by count, less if by volume. Fewer guns, less water.
Posted by: Al | Dec 28 2022 20:32 utc | 63
what security guarantees does Russia want?
Any agreement with anglos/NATO is not worth the paper it is written on. by now it should be clear even to the most ardent europhiles.
Anglos do not negotiate. they dictate.
Posted by: nothing but the trut | Dec 28 2022 20:41 utc | 64
Republicofscotland #58
"There's far too much at stake for the USA to allow peace talks to be successful, I foresee a great conflict next year, and the fall of an empire."
Peace talks? Forget it. The entirety of Ukraine will dissolve into fierce civil strife between what's left of the nazis and their credibility and Ukrainians that just want a peaceful, productive life. The nazis strutted their stuff once again and once again proved their stupidity - they are finished for another few decades.
Poland will not invade (or at least will be snotted very fast) and Galicia district will be a festering pot for decades under a new Ukrainian government.
There is ZERO benefit for Russia to allow the western Galician nazis to secede to Poland. They are perpetual belligerents and in the hands of the manipulative nato scum would be a thousand times worse. Russia will always have to deal with the idiot Polish government that delights in licking US butt. They have ways.
There is a peace deal on the table dated 16 December 2021 and it requires the US and its nato lapdogs to shapeshift to its 1997? or is it 1992 borders. That is the proposal the westies abhor and I gather it is the only option the Russians are prepared to discuss.
Posted by: uncle tungsten | Dec 28 2022 20:41 utc | 65
Commenters say Ukraine has 97 brigades. How many soldiers per brigade? Basically, how many soldiers does Ukraine have left? How many Ukraine soldiers are daily, permanently removed from the battlefield?
Posted by: Ramsey Glissadevil | Dec 28 2022 20:42 utc | 66
Al | Dec 28 2022 20:32 utc | 63
yeah, i thought i noticed a spelling error or two in the Ukrainian names in the article, but Ukrainian is not my first language, and, in my Socratic wisdom, i thought better of being such a little geography Nazi and didn't rip the article a new one.
"no soup for you"
Posted by: rjb1.5 | Dec 28 2022 20:45 utc | 67
The question I'm asking myself is if the media partners of the MIC will assign the eventual blame for the current meat grinder assaults by the AFU on Zelenskyy, or allow him to pin it on the General, Zaluzhnyi, seen as his rival for the affections of Western leaders.
Zelenskyy perhaps sees himself as the preeminent star of the war in Ukraine, and in a way he could be right, in the way that Richard III was the preeminent star of the eponymous play about his rise, and ultimate fall.
Zelenskyy probably correctly sees the media as loving him, but imo he's failing to consider how the media often devours and later spits out the objects of its affection.
Posted by: Babel-17 | Dec 28 2022 20:47 utc | 68
@ annie | Dec 28 2022 20:06 utc | 56
thanks.. i was unaware of that recent development.. i am going for supper tonight with a group of about 8.. one of the women is from poland, but has been living in canada for many years.. her mom, brother and a number of relatives are still alive and living in poland.. her brother - a drummer - supports russia, although she doesn't as she has been fed a steady diet of cbc, lol... i doubt we will talk about it, but if i find out something i will share it here.. that is quite the promo biden gave on nato and poland..
Posted by: james | Dec 28 2022 20:47 utc | 70
what might happen "in the long run..
https://english.pravda.ru/world/155288-putin_ukraine_future/
Posted by: r.rebar | Dec 28 2022 20:48 utc | 71
Legacy admits at Harvard and Yale, graduate straight into work in some think tank, big appointed office in the government, or the media.
Some run for elected office, their cronies in the think tanks, government & media help them elected.
Pretty spot on. I'll fill in a little more. An "event planner" at a think tank will earn $60K. Perfect gig for someone with a "worthless" degree to get a start. A media spot is a coveted goal. The other big one is a "staffer" for a Senator. But even if they don't make it that big, $100K staying on the "think tank", "lobbyist", or "foundation" circuit is a nice consolation prize. Another option, working at DoD or a major regulatory agency (Food & Drug) pays decent, but is a stepping stone for a fat private gig later on. A way to show gratitude.
Posted by: JackG | Dec 28 2022 20:51 utc | 72
FWIW: History Legends claims there are very few foreign fighters in Ukraine. Most of those that had been there left.
Posted by: Kauai John | Dec 28 2022 17:16 utc | 13
In another report from HL last week, the numbers of foreign fighters (derived from a Russian gov’t report, in which it was claimed that the lion’s share of foreign mercs are Canadians, believe it or not), the totals did not add up to more than roughly a couple of thousand or so, if I recall.
Nonetheless, it seems doubtful that Ukrainian troops are operating some of the more hi tech U.S. weapons notorious for requiring months of intensive training.
Posted by: nwwoods | Dec 28 2022 20:54 utc | 73
FWIW: History Legends claims there are very few foreign fighters in Ukraine. Most of those that had been there left.
Posted by: Kauai John | Dec 28 2022 17:16 utc | 13
In another report from HL last week, the numbers of foreign fighters (derived from a Russian gov’t report, in which it was claimed that the lion’s share of foreign mercs are Canadians, believe it or not), the totals did not add up to more than roughly a couple of thousand or so, if I recall.
Nonetheless, it seems doubtful that Ukrainian troops are operating some of the more hi tech U.S. weapons notorious for requiring months of intensive training.
Posted by: nwwoods | Dec 28 2022 20:54 utc | 74
Never got any decent reporting on Gerhardt Schroeder. After the liberation of the Luhansk Oblast in June, he shows up in Moscow. Ukraine is on the run, and Russian troops are advancing on Siversk. And then Russia shuts down the war for 2 months. Chechyans go home. Wagner gets time off. Regular army replaced with border guards. The military holds up on attacking Siversk. Nothing out of Izium toward Slavyansk. Zero operations.
Was Schroeder part of a plan to buy time, or was he a tool NATO used? "Working" with him on a peace plan, meanwhile stacking up Kherson with sheep-dipped NATO soldiers?
Posted by: JackG | Dec 28 2022 20:59 utc | 75
b, many thanks for this new SITREP.
“On the economic side the Ukraine has already lost the war. It is living off loans from 'western' governments it will surely default on:
[.]
Even the U.S. controlled IMF is unwilling to throw more money into that black hole:[.]
When the war ends the Ukraine will have an incredible amount of debt that it will not be able to pay for in generations. It will have no more land to sell off to foreigners and no industry left that will be of any value. [.] ”
As per Zelenksy, those mouse-click dollars/Euro loans are investments to promote democracy. So whether by creditors or investors, take it chumps it’s gone.
Now this fella Ze is forward looking, he has a plan B and will be calling in the Fink,,,such an apt descriptor.
Said with a straight face, very seriously;
Zelensky Says Ukraine Ready to Join WEF Meeting in Davos as It Seeks Postwar Funding
When the global elites of business, finance, banking, and big government convene in Davos next month at the World Economi
c Forum (WEF) annual meeting, Ukraine will be amongst them.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed Wednesday his government will be at the meeting in Switzerland, revealing he also spoke again with BlackRock Inc CEO Larry Fink about financing the postwar rebuilding effort.
“Specialists of this company are already helping Ukraine to structure the fund for the reconstruction of our state,” Zelensky, who had a video call with Fink in September, said in his evening address to the nation, according to Bloomberg.
He didn’t say whether he would attend the January 16-20 WEF in person or participate virtually, although in the past he has been a regular attendee at the elite gathering.
[.]
Now wait a tiny minute. Thought I read BlackRock and Blackstone were imposing limits on investors' redemption of funds.
Posted by: Likklemore | Dec 28 2022 21:09 utc | 77
b: "When the war ends the Ukraine will have an incredible amount of debt that it will not be able to pay for in generations."
No, it won't. The debt will be owed to the West, but Russia will own the country formerly known as Ukraine and will simply repudiate the debt. If the West can seize $300 billion of Russia's assets, Russia will simply kick Western Ukraine debt to the curb.
Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Dec 28 2022 21:09 utc | 78
"With less guns available on the Ukrainian side..."
The is grammatically incorrect usage. Fewer by count, less if by volume. Fewer guns, less water.
Posted by: Al | Dec 28 2022 20:32 utc | 63
Does anyone else see the irony in the above 'correction'?
Let's have a little grace with each other here at the bar.
Posted by: Objective Observer | Dec 28 2022 21:10 utc | 79
Posted by: JackG | Dec 28 2022 21:04 utc | 76
> "kharkov" not "Kherson".
And Lugansk, not Luhansk, and also Seversk, not Siversk.
Posted by: hopehely | Dec 28 2022 21:13 utc | 80
Re Doneskt shelling from yesterday's Russian MoD via Rybar Telegram channel...
RYBAR English, [12/27/22 10:41 PM]
Highlights of Russian Military Operation in Ukraine on December 27, 2022In Kup'yans'k Sector, the overall intensity of fighting noticeably decreased, the sides are limited to mutual reconnaissance and the exchange of artillery strikes.
At the same time, Ukrainian Command makes up for losses by redeploying mercenaries from the International Legion to the area.
In Lyman Sector, AFU assault groups attempted an offensive towards Chervonopopivka.
Russian artillery launched a massive strike on the advancing Ukrainian units forcing the enemy to halt the advance.
North of Soledar, Wagner's PMC units are successfully advancing simultaneously in several directions from Yakovlivka.
Assault groups supported by artillery are fighting on the outskirts of Vesele and are coming close to Rozdolivka.
Ukrainian Command attempted to launch a counterattack towards Stryapivka at the junction of the positions of the neighboring units.
But a counterattack by Russian forces forced the enemy not only to retreat, but also to leave several forward stronghold
Fierce fighting continues south of Bakhmut. In Opytne, Wagner's PMC units occupied several enemy strongholds.
In Klishchiivka, Russian Armed Forces entrenched on the eastern outskirts. Ukrainian units are mining the central streets and shifting their defences to the center of the settlement.
Ukrainian Command is not going to leave the city and continues to pull in reserves near Bakhmut.
Tank units from Kherson Direction are detected in Kramatorsk. Mechanized units are arriving in Chasiv Yar from Kharkiv.
Ukrainian units once again launched artillery strikes on Donetsk and nearby towns. As a result of the shelling, in Yasynuvata, the railway station was damaged. Civilians are injured.
#digest #Russia #Ukraine
@rybarenglish
Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Dec 28 2022 21:18 utc | 81
Posted by: Ramsey Glissadevil | Dec 28 2022 20:42 utc | 66
A brigade is usually 3-5,000 men (the range indicates how little we actually know about numbers in any military.)
So at 3,000 men 97 brigades is 291,000, at 5,000 men it's 485,000. The probability that Ukrainian brigades are at full strength is extremely unlikely. so if we take the lower number of 3,000, that approximately agrees with what Ukrainian General Zaluzhnyi said in his interview with The Economist - about 200,000 "effectives" backed by (allegedly) 400,000 conscripts (who are mostly useless.)
Reportedly, Russia claims Ukraine is losing two brigades a day, one in Bakhmut and one further north in Kharkiv region. So if the 97 brigades figure is correct (which I actually doubt), Ukraine will run out of men in 48 days.
Which is why Ukraine is running yet another mobilization drive.
Of course, that rate of loss probably won't be sustained. It will either go down or increase, depending on how the war progresses. Once the Ukraine fortifications in the east are breached, and Ukraine is forced to retreat back across the Dnieper, they could go either way.
As Mercouris, Berletic, and all the other analysts have pointed out, Ukraine seems determined to hold every inch of territory and is willing to sacrifice the entire country, including women and children, to that task. As I've pointed out, the more people you throw into a kill zone, the higher the body count, if you don't have enough to overwhelm the enemy.
Ukraine has lost at least 200,000 people - perhaps as high as 400,000 - in the last ten months, so expect them to lose another 200,000-400,000 in the next ten months. There's almost certainly no way the body count will go down. Most analysts' best guess is the war will be over by end of summer, 2023, if not sooner. Optimists believe sooner, pessimist believe later.
As I've said repeatedly, it is physically impossible for Ukraine to win this war, short of the US deploying nuclear weapons against Russia.
Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Dec 28 2022 21:31 utc | 82
Meanwhile, NATO war games 2023 get under way at Katterbach, Germany (remember Defender-Europe 21?) Winter Strike 23, a ‘scenario-based exercise’ involving troops from USA, Poland, and Romania. An ‘opportunity to apply lessons learned and observations from current world events’.
The German army is also training with USA in the Arctic.
Exercise African Lion 23 starts in January in Stuttgart, Germany, when the AFRICOM staff will ‘identify a fictional emerging crisis’ in Africa. African Lion will culminate in June with various field, maritime, air and medical training exercises in Morocco, Tunisia, Senegal and Ghana.
Wars are constant, Ukraine just looks ‘more important’ because white people are being bombed by white people. USA abandoned Afghanistan, and if another conflict comes up that is more important then they would be suicidal not to abandon Ukraine.
Posted by: olaf22 | Dec 28 2022 21:34 utc | 83
Take a deep breath and read Paul Keating's 1997 warning:
Posted by: Paul GV | Dec 28 2022 21:38 utc | 84
Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Dec 28 2022 21:18 utc | 81
> Re Donetsk shelling from yesterday's Russian MoD via Rybar Telegram channel...
Interesting, Russian channel Rybar (which btw means fisher[man]), uses Ukrainian names for Russian cities and towns:
Kup'yans'k
Chervonopopivka
Yakovlivka
Vesele
Rozdolivka
Bakhmut
Klishchiivka
Chasiv Yar
Kharkiv
Posted by: hopehely | Dec 28 2022 21:44 utc | 85
Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Dec 28 2022 21:09 utc | 78
dreamer :)
I think its more fun to have something like slovenia with abot I dont know how much debt :D
Posted by: Macpott | Dec 28 2022 21:52 utc | 86
"
'The people who had thought up, designed and implemented the 'western' sanction war against Russia have done more damage to Ukraine and the 'west' that anyone had imagined'
The Biden administration front man for the sanctions Deputy National Security Adviser Daleep Singh reputedly had a nervous breakdown (once he saw their early failure) and was gone by late April.
Posted by: Raumati | Dec 28 2022 22:00 utc | 87
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/why-is-us-funding-ukraine-war
A "no holds barred" article by Robert Freeman.
Posted by: ThusspakeZarathustra | Dec 28 2022 22:01 utc | 88
Related. In the previous Ukraine thread there was a long discussion on list of countries considered and /or factual a NATO-ally.
Mike Whitney’s new post at UNZ wherein he asks a number of questions and then answers shed some light:
New to me is this appellation; "a NATO Enhanced Opportunities Partner"
Tucker "Gets It" - Putin Doesn't Want American Missiles on His Border
[.]The point we’re making is that the current conflict has nothing to do with claims that Putin is “an aspiring imperialist longing to reconstruct the Soviet empire.” There is no evidence for that at all. The real issue is NATO expansion and, in particular, the secret agreements between the United States and Ukraine that made Ukraine a full-fledged member of NATO in everything but name.
Take a look at this excerpt from an article by Marcy Winograd:
The September, 2021, Joint Statement on the U.S.- Ukraine Strategic Partnership reaffirmed Ukraine as a de facto NATO partner, “to continue our robust training and exercise program in keeping with Ukraine’s status as a NATO Enhanced Opportunities Partner.”…. the Partnership Interoperability Initiative (PII) encouraged favored non-NATO nations, then Australia, Finland, Georgia, Jordan and Sweden–the NATO farm team– to share intelligence and participate in NATO-led military interventions, such as Iraq and Afghanistan, and join in euphemistically-labeled “war games.”
[.]
Let’s summarize:Ukraine was being armed and trained by its partners at NATO
Ukraine was participating in military drills and maneuvers conducted by NATOUkraine had been “integrated into NATO’s military command structures” including “support of NATO operations… cyber defense and Black Sea maritime maneuvers”
Ukraine was sharing “intelligence and participating in NATO-led military interventions, such as Iraq and Afghanistan.”
Ukraine participated in “mock nuclear exercises” with NATOUkraine (and its NATO allies) endorse the retaking of Crimea from Russia (“unwavering commitment to Ukraine’s ….territorial integrity… including Crimea”)
Does it sound like Ukraine snuck into NATO through the back door?
It does.
https://www.unz.com/mwhitney/tucker-gets-it-putin-doesnt-want-american-missiles-on-his-border/
(original emphasis)
25 years ago, US led-NATO's courtship and engagement of Ukraine was blessed by the CON-gre$$' House Resolution. Do not be distracted by the soft header.....
See H.Con. Res. 120 (104th Congress 1995-1996
“ Supporting the independence and sovereignty of Ukraine and the progress of its political and economic reforms.”
[.]
(4) support continued U.S. security assistance for Ukraine; and (5) ensure continued U.S. efforts to assist Ukraine in its accession to the World Trade Organization and ensure [.]
Here is the
LINK
(H/t: Oliver Stone’s docu-series –“Ukraine On Fire” If you did not view the documentary, too late. Banned and removed under censorship.)
Posted by: Likklemore | Dec 28 2022 22:01 utc | 89
Many people have been mentioning the debt that Ukraine is going to need to pay.
Well everyone knows Ukraine can't pay as Ukraine will likely not exist.
Russia will take the East and South.
Poland, Romania, Hungry will occupy their border areas and integrate them just like Russia did.
Once BRICS starts to grow and they create a trading currency, nations will be invited to join and abandon the USD and USD debt. The World will just walk away from all dollar debts into the arms of Russia, China, India etc. A fresh start for anyone that wishes to join and real Sovereignty with equal status for all Countries.
Who is going to say no to that?
The empire will collapse- The rest of the World will explode with growth and innovation. Oh and this is not just for governments but business and individuals.
This is the debt jubilee that will change the World.
Posted by: Cocochanel | Dec 28 2022 22:04 utc | 90
@ Likklemore | Dec 28 2022 22:01 utc | 89
its on rumble now..
Posted by: james | Dec 28 2022 22:04 utc | 91
@ Likklemore | Dec 28 2022 22:01 utc | 89
ukraine on fire is on rumble, an alternative to youtube.. i tried posting it here, but for whatever reason it has not posted.. search rumble 'ukraine of fire' for anyone who wants to see it..
Posted by: james | Dec 28 2022 22:05 utc | 92
Posted by: Likklemore | Dec 28 2022 22:01 utc | 89
I was just able to purchase UKRAINE ON FIRE via Amazon...so not banned, yet.
Posted by: Objective Observer | Dec 28 2022 22:09 utc | 93
They should all be fired for their demonstrated incompetence.
That's not how neoliberalism works b. At a certain threshold of management seniority failure is necessary for promotion. Exhibit A: Scott Morrison, former Australian PM. Exhibit B: Liz Truss, etc.
Let's call it the 'Morrison-Truss Law':
1. Plot a bell-curve on a graph and draw a line directly down the centre halving the curve.
2. On the left side of the graph the curve rises sharply to the centre line, on the right it declines in inverse proportion.
3. The x-axis indicates level of managerial seniority. Low values for x indicate entry level employees, NCOs, junior officers, and lower management, higher values upper management and the highest for CFOs, COOs, CEOs, government bureaucrats, ministers, generals, leaders etc.
4. The y-axis indicates the severity of consequences for individuals responsible for fuck-ups, losses, catastrophic failures, etc. Low values for y indicate no or very low consequences for the individual responsible with little or no impact on career advancement. As y approaches zero the individual's chances of promotion increase proportionally. High values for y indicate consequences for those responsible; an increase in the y value increases the possibility of being fired for failure to manage the situation.
5. For each institution the centre line will be placed variably depending on internal structure and organisation. You will easily be able to assign values to x.
6. This line is crucial: to the left, employees and management are low paid yet also carry responsibility. Those entering an organization at this level will rarely move upwards because these people are competent and keep the place running as it should. The consequences of failure are borne almost completely by this group. Since neoliberalism abhors meritocracy the advancement of good managers is capped.
7. To the right, managers are high paid and are rarely if ever held responsible for bad decisions, brain farts, poor governance and even criminality. As the curve suggests, their advancement is limitless and failure, counter-intuitively, improves their chances.
Only a zombie apocalypse can fix this.
Posted by: Patroklos | Dec 28 2022 22:11 utc | 94
Posted by: annie | Dec 28 2022 20:06 utc | 56
I doubt Russia will allow Poland to be awarded Galicia by the USA. However, after she conquers Galicia, Russia might decide to sell Galicia to Poland for roubles. That way Russia could place restrictions in the deed such that if Poland militarizes Galicia it reverts to Russia. A referendum could be held to see what the Galicians think. But to allow Poland to just step in and take Galicia on the say so of the USA, there nothing in that for Russia.
Posted by: Chas | Dec 28 2022 22:12 utc | 95
US Advisor Dan Rice Proposes Use of Cluster Munitions
The key to winning this artillery duel is to increase the lethality of the artillery rounds: Dual Purpose Improved Conventional Munitions (DPICM) or cluster munitions Western European nations have signed the treaty banning cluster munitions, our allies of Eastern Europe have not.
A page from an “amazing” new book called "Kyiv Rysing".
Ukraine’s population to “catastrophically” shrink to 35 million by 2030, demographers predict.
Nato does the work when the Central Coup detat Agency fails.
By now you should have realized that laws or "human rights" are meant for the masses to blind them for the hypocrisy of the elite.
The government can put you in a lockdown, take away your freedom of speech and thought and say they are "saving lives".
The government can run the greatest Ponzi scheme in history and jail Madoff for running a Ponzi scheme.
The government can sell tons of weapons to saddists and jail the "merchant of death" Bout with a straight face.
The government can take your money and life because you owe them, not just owe, you are "honored" to serve them, like they say in the military, and pay your "fair share" in taxes. And yes, Kennedy played along with "don't ask what your country can do for you".
They make the rules, they make the laws. Everyone else simply needs to follow their "rules based world order". It's for the "greater good".... Their good.
Posted by: Vikichka | Dec 28 2022 22:17 utc | 97
"The people then elect political leaders that give them, in essence, entertainment. Cheap, emotionally charged, addictive. Just like modern social media apps or games. The political leaders are superb actors, creating endless drama for the masses."
Very good take on the current state of most of the U$A populace....
Posted by: vetinLA | Dec 28 2022 20:23 utc | 61
***
I believe it was Frank Zappa who described the two party system as "the entertainment division of the military-industrial complex".
Posted by: Vintage Red | Dec 28 2022 22:21 utc | 98
Posted by: Chas | Dec 28 2022 22:12 utc | 94
Agreed. It's nonsense that "Russia doesn't want Galicia" because of some speculated "inability to control western Ukrainians." As I've said repeatedly, it's not about what Russia "wants", but what Russia "needs". For its security interests, it need all of Ukraine right up to the Polish border. And Russia has quite the capability to control western Ukrainians.
Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Dec 28 2022 22:25 utc | 99
"... a Russian gov’t report, in which it was claimed that the lion’s share of foreign mercs are Canadians, believe it or not"
Posted by: nwwoods | Dec 28 2022 20:54 utc | 73
***
Ha, let the SMO de-Nazify NATO all the way to Banff.
Posted by: Vintage Red | Dec 28 2022 22:26 utc | 100
The comments to this entry are closed.
In the west, ideology is more important than competence. You can waste trillions of dollars, kill millions of innocents, lie to your own people and in the end even get caught red handed and none of it matters. They receive a promotion, not punishment.
The United States is a criminal enterprise masquerading as a government. It is twisted, sick and evil and somebody badly needs to put it down before it kills and enslaves us all.
Posted by: JustAMaverick | Dec 28 2022 16:37 utc | 1