I hope Germany stick to their guns (no pun intended and do the sensible thing:
“Western weapons deliveries to Ukraine that threaten Russian territories will lead to a “global catastrophe”, a close ally of Vladimir Putin has warned. 
Vyacheslav Volodin said such action would also make arguments against using weapons of mass destruction untenable.
In a post on the messaging app Telegram, the speaker of the Duma – Russia’s lower house of parliament – warned that the United States and NATO’s support of Ukraine is leading the world to a “terrible war”.
“If Washington and NATO countries supply weapons that will be used to strike civilian cities and attempt to seize our territories, as they threaten, this will lead to retaliatory measures using more powerful weapons,” Mr Volodin wrote.
“Arguments that the nuclear powers have not previously used weapons of mass destruction in local conflicts are untenable.” 
(Sly news)
I don’t read Russian so cannot say what was posted on the telegram.(

Posted by: ThusspakeZarathustra | Jan 22 2023 14:01 utc | 4

In the Zaporizhzhya direction, two servicemen who served in what is considered an elite unit of the Armed Forces of Ukraine defected to the side of Russia. This was reported to TASS (https://t.me/tass_agency/177614) by the local administration of the region.
“Two Ukrainian servicemen today crossed over to our side in the Zaporozhye direction. These soldiers are from an elite unit; they have already begun to share important information with our side,” the interlocutor of the agency said.
https://t.me/CyberspecNews/17257

Posted by: unimperator | Jan 22 2023 14:06 utc | 6

Posted by: Biswapriya Purkayast | Jan 22 2023 13:39 utc | 1
Pavlograd, east of Dnepropetrovsk might be one target (eventually). It’s a big rail junction leading to Donbass. Then there’s only one rail junction at Lozova, NE of Pavlograd, and the connection from Kharkov to Izyum. There’s less rail connections, so the remaining 1 or 2 junctions could be put out of commission with other means. Depends on the plan of course, whether they would first like to wait that ukie commits some of those new reinforcements into Donbass by rail, and only then cut them off. The new shiny APCs out of gas and ammunition.
They might just blow up the bridges at Zaporizhe, isolate and screen it and the garrison in it, and thwart any meaningful ukie attempt to counter from that direction or across Dnepr in general.

Posted by: unimperator | Jan 22 2023 14:23 utc | 8

🇺🇦🪖📄Hunting for “cannon fodder” in Odessa
A man from home looks at the process of mobilizing men. Filmed in Odessa
He will go on the front for Boris Johnson’s ambition now…

https://twitter.com/AZgeopolitics/status/1617154441509052416
Must see! Not graphic.

Posted by: Down South | Jan 22 2023 14:46 utc | 10

Just a feeling due to the general tenor of things, but one of the dams could burst this week. Weakest point of the Ukie line is the Zap region. However, with muddy conditions apparently still prevalent at that latitude wheeled vehicles may need to stick to hard roads…meaning no logistical tail available for a major breakout. O. city should fall over the week in hand to hand combat with the RF forces holding artillery supremacy.
The Artymovsk/Bakhmut front “retreat gap” should be either very tight and highly threatened by the Wagner advance. Will Zaluzhny have the stones to disobey Zelensky’s orders and seek to remove his more valuable brigades out of the pocket before it closes? With daily losses averaging 500 or more, those 25-34 shattered brigades will be transformed into shadow units. There is an opportunity for those trapped troops to save their lives. They will need to outgun the Natzionalists first though in order to pull off a mass surrender.
Once the Bakhmut bag is deflated, it might be possible for the Russian forces to finally break through the retreating Ukies at long last, as open steppe country beckons.
Following Z’s adamant orders, those defenders holding the few settlements between Soledar and Seversk will steadily lose ground. A fall of Seversk within the next couple weeks should open up a strong move towards Krasny Lyman.
Throughout the week the sounds of shivering timbers will be heard right up and down the front lines.

Posted by: aristodemos | Jan 22 2023 14:58 utc | 12

This lad does a decent review of Best in Hell. I have yet to watch the actual film.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVM_hRj5Jpo

Posted by: Chevrus | Jan 22 2023 15:04 utc | 14

The West’s military aid packages make me think of a food drive. Lot’s of virtue signaling and utterances of support for the have-nots while they clean out their pantries of expired canned goods. Cans of artichoke hearts long past their sell-by dates? Feeling charitable today. How about those boxes of hamburger helper, all you need is the hamburger. Some canned hams, only a few years old. Well, I’m not sending those until my neighbor donates his.
Of course, none of this grab bag assortment will help put together an effective combined arms force to fight a very effective and unified force. Another delusion to indulge oneself in, to avoid confronting the biggest delusion of all — that someday soon Russia will see the error of its ways and bend the knee to the great West. The most dangerous element in this conflict is the West’s total inability to come to any grips with reality – that its unipolar moment is over and it can’t push around the rest of the world as it pleases.

Posted by: Mike R | Jan 22 2023 15:22 utc | 16

Isolating the battlefield?
In the previous thread @shadowbanned translated and posted a long comment by Viktor Imantovich Alxnis that was originally posted on VK. Based on his VK page, Viktor Alxnis is a member of the Russian patriotic opposition who wants more war and faster results.

Ukrainian formations are transporting Western-made armored vehicles from the Kharkiv region to the Svatov direction. In particular, it was transferred from Kharkov by two railway trains to Kupyansk. Further, in Kupyansk, heavy weapons were [un]loaded at the marshalling yard, and then sent in the direction of Svatovo.
The Russian group did not take any measures to counter this. As it did not undertake and does not undertake also in other sectors of the front.
In the art of war, it is considered an axiom that without isolating the area of ​​​​combat operations, their successful conduct is impossible.
The isolation of a combat area is understood as a ban on the movement of enemy troops and the delivery of material and technical means to any area of ​​combat operations. The experience of military operations of the last hundred years shows that the isolation of the combat area is a priority task of military aviation in any theater of operations, it is solved both on a tactical and strategic scale. Up to 70% of aviation sorties are assigned to this task.
Isolation of the combat area is carried out by:
– destruction of transport communications, road junctions, bridges, airfields;
– limiting the enemy’s maneuver with forces and reserves, disrupting the transfer of his troops and equipment;
– strikes against suitable troops along their movement routes and in their areas of concentration.
– In the coastal theaters of military operations, the main target of air strikes are naval bases and port infrastructure,
– in areas with mountainous terrain – passes and tunnels.
Based on the experience of local wars, it was concluded that the isolation of a combat area is a complex task that includes reconnaissance and immediate fire engagement of exposed targets by various tactical aviation forces. According to a number of experts, along with aviation, long-range guided weapons, airborne troops and special forces can also be used to isolate the combat area.
The current SVO in Ukraine is the first large-scale military conflict in the last 100 years, in which the Russian army refused to isolate combat areas and allows the enemy to freely transport personnel, military equipment and ammunition to the front. At the same time, the Russian army has an overwhelming superiority in the quantitative composition of tactical and army aviation, but due to the unsuppressed Ukrainian air defense, this aviation suffers serious losses and is not used to isolate the combat area.
At the same time, the suppression of Ukrainian air defense is carried out on a case-by-case basis and is not systematic. As a result, if at the beginning of the special military operation the air defense of Ukraine was relatively weak, armed with obsolete Soviet anti-aircraft missile systems and could be quickly suppressed, but for unknown reasons, apart from the bravura statements of our General Staff about its suppression and gaining air supremacy, nothing was done . At present, in connection with the supply of Western modern air defense systems, the air defense capabilities of Ukraine have increased significantly, and its suppression is becoming an increasingly difficult task every day.
I repeat, it is impossible to achieve victory without isolating the combat areas. Especially in the conditions of mass deliveries of Western weapons to Ukraine.
But this cannot be done without the use of aviation, and our aviation cannot isolate the combat area due to the unsuppressed Ukrainian air defense, the absence of modern space and air reconnaissance equipment in the Russian group, as well as the modern means of destruction necessary for this.
In addition, apparently, it can be assumed that, in addition to all of the above, there is also a political factor, when for some incomprehensible purposes, including commercial ones, there is a ban on strikes on transport infrastructure, since this can damage gas pipelines, ammonia pipelines. oil pipelines, etc., passing through the territory of Ukraine.
https://vk.com/wall701885602_54795

I disagree with Viktor Alxnis. It seems to me that Russia is intentionally not isolating the Bakhmut battlefield. Others here have reached the same conclusion. The aim is to let Ukraine move the maximum number of troops and materiel to Bakhmut, so that they may be destroyed in terrain and terms favorable to Russia.
One must also ask why Russia is attacking through the Ukrainian fortified lines in Donbass, when it might be far easier to advance through the open terrain in Kharkov or Zaporozhye. To conclude the war on favorable terms, Russia must reach the Dnieper River at the outskirts of Dnepropetrovsk. This Schwerpunkt may be easier to reach from the north or south than from the east.
The battle for Bakhmut may be a feint. Ukraine and NATO hold on to Bakhmut because they falsely believe that capturing Bakhmut is vital for the Russian war aim of liberating Donbass. Russia sees the Bakhmut meat grinder as the perfect tool for demilitarizing Ukraine and NATO. Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake. Defending Bakhmut to the last Ukrainian may be such a mistake.

Posted by: Petri Krohn | Jan 22 2023 15:29 utc | 18

What does the bar think of “ Natokraine ” as a term to refer to the army and political subunit that Russia is fighting?
I prefer it over “kyiv/kiev regime” because (a) that current regime will change, maybe this year, and (b) all the important decisions for “the part of Ukraine that NATO controls” are — like those for the fictional “South Vietnam” puppets — made from outside the country and so embedding the name of the capitol city subtly misrepresents what it is.
Similarly, I prefer it over “Ukraine” for roughly the same reason.

Posted by: Natokraine | Jan 22 2023 15:52 utc | 20

In eastern Germany, there is a growing sentiment against the current brown-green government.Here I hear at the dentist,in the discount store and at the market as good as no voice pro brown-green.
We have experienced in East Germany the young conscripted Russians in the 80s, how they were treated like cattle by their officers.There is already a lot of sympathy for the normal Russian citizen.And we older East Germans know the history of the WK 2.
And we know that Russia (Z) is the successor state of the USSR–>and not the Ukraine.
Unfortunately, there are people in all important positions in Germany who don’t give a damn.
Best regards @ Posted by: Apollyon | Jan 22 2023 15:31 utc | 19
Thanks @ deepl.com

Posted by: Oberbayer | Jan 22 2023 15:55 utc | 22

Posted by: Biswapriya Purkayast | Jan 22 2023 13:41 utc | 2
Posted by: Simplicius | Jan 22 2023 14:10 utc | 7
Posted by: Qsvgxn | Jan 22 2023 15:54 utc | 21
Re: Best in Hell
Gave a plug for this a couple threads ago. It is a very interesting piece of film.. quite even handed and minimal propaganda compared to any western war film.
The reason for the realism is that it was filmed by Wagner in Popasnaya, after taking it. They are the real ruins. When the tanks fire, they are real tanks, firing real rounds at real buildings. They used live explosives, and real guns. You’ll never get anything like that in “movie” SFX. AFAIK the only effects in it were the overheads of Uragan hits and the distance shot of the plane strike.
On a sadder note: “Polygon” (The leader of the white team) was really the squad leader and died very recently in Artemovsk.

Posted by: dask | Jan 22 2023 16:04 utc | 24

I still don’t think we’ll see big arrow offensives with deep penetration by the Russians. At this point it appears clear that the prime directive is to destroy the Ukrainian military capability and all the assistance it gets.
I can see a strong but “slow” push from the south. There are southern territories which need to be liberated and operational / strategic depth for the Crimean land bridge. Plus it is well know that Ukraine wants to sever that land bridge and threaten Crimea. The most recent equipment package seems designed for a spring/summer offensive in that direction. I suspect that the forces to the north will be the anvil, those in the south the hammer … though maybe a hydraulic press is a better analogy. Push the Donbas front between them.
Bakhmut almost certainly goes into the books as a massive strategic error on the part of Ukraine. It should have been abandoned at least a month ago to preserve forces and equipment. Whether the reason is purely political / propaganda or there is less than full confidence in the third line of defense is up for debate. That third line is a lot shorter. And every day the Ukrainians wait makes the trip there more dangerous.

Posted by: Lex | Jan 22 2023 16:17 utc | 26

@Lysander
Somehow I get the feeling that the Ukraine fiasco is coming to an end, with the only thing remaining is finding someone to blame. And it seems Germany drew the short straw.
And? Who cares? As long as the German-Russian-relations aren’t totally messed up, why should Germany care what Poles, Ukros or the Baltic minions think?

Posted by: Apollyon | Jan 22 2023 16:25 utc | 28

Good news for Azow: Facebook has lifted all restrictions for the Azow Battalion:
Mykhailo Fedorov
@FedorovMykhailo
Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine and Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine
Important news from @Meta
— changes in platform’s policies. Azov regiment no longer meets designation as dangerous organization. Means a lot for every Ukrainian.
https://twitter.com/FedorovMykhailo/status/1616155112547688448
Doesn’t say whether Facebook considers Asow no longer a threat because the entire battalion in in Russian POW camps. Or whether Facebook no longer considers Nazi Symbols and Hate Speech something that we should be protected from.

Posted by: Marvin | Jan 22 2023 16:35 utc | 30

” And? Who cares? As long as the German-Russian-relations aren’t totally messed up, why should Germany care what Poles, Ukros or the Baltic minions think?
Posted by: Apollyon | Jan 22 2023 16:25 utc | 28 ”
For Russians without any ulterior motives the relationship with Germany is over. The Germans have shown their true colors.

Posted by: Deplorable Commissar | Jan 22 2023 16:45 utc | 32

Meta spurred on hate speech against Russians. This wouldn’t be odd that Meta would be okay with Azov now.

Posted by: Malwen | Jan 22 2023 16:57 utc | 34

@Deplorable Commissar
The Germans have shown their true colors.
The Russians know, that Germany is an occupied country, and they know, that the USA controls most of the political parties and the mainstream media. The Germans have been brainwashed since ’45. Nonetheless, a lot of Germans want to have a friendly relationship with Russia, and most of the German companies even more so. The Germans did not vote for war (the Ukros don’t have either, btw. Keep in mind, Selenkskyj promised peace-talks with Russia during his campaign). A possible war against Russia was not a dominant issue in the German election campaign in 2021. The Green Party and the FDP have no voter mandate for their anti-Russian policies. They only have the support of the corrupt press, that pours out anti-Russian propaganda 24/7.
The Russians know all that, I’m sure. Putin lived some years in East Germany, he speaks German fluently, he knows that. And Germany will stay geographically where it is, as Russia will stay geographically where it is. So I really do think, if Russia sees any possibility of improving German-Russian relations again, they will try. Otherwise their only option is to fully rely on China.

Posted by: Apollyon | Jan 22 2023 17:11 utc | 36

Russia might not be destroying the transportation infrastructure because their military will use it as they pass the current defensive lines. Also, their motivation for being there is to give possession to the new Russian citizens who live there. They are fighting enemies, but are fighting on land that belongs to fellow Russians. They shouldn’t act like foreign invaders.

Posted by: barstool | Jan 22 2023 17:21 utc | 38

aristodemos | Jan 22 2023 14:58 utc | 12
Russia is putting pressure on the Ukr lines from Bakhmut all the way round to the Dnieper. I have not head of more pressure north to the Russian border apart from Shelling in the Sumy region. Ukr has I think started moving forces south to the Zap area.
The ground in the north is frozen. A Russian push down the Oskil River seems likely.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Jan 22 2023 17:40 utc | 40

Ukraine mobilization extreme. The militant thugs driving around in vans don’t even bother asking papers or identity anymore, they will just grab you and send you to front.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQ_uytQN0QI

Posted by: unimperator | Jan 22 2023 17:42 utc | 42

@ apollyon
I think the Russians realize that relations with Germany are permanently broken; German perfidy has simply been too egregious to reestablish any kind of trust. Not even what you folks call a “Canossagang” would help.

Posted by: malenkov | Jan 22 2023 17:48 utc | 44

Agree. “Best in Hell” is a Wagner recruitment video, full stop. I bailed after 5 minutes.
Maybe Mozart will soon make a similar version.
Posted by: Opport Knocks | Jan 22 2023 17:19 utc | 37
Recruitment propaganda shows perspectives.
“Best in hell” is an anti-war film by soldiers. It shows the everyday life of combined arms warfare in the 21st century between fighters who use the same weapons, know the tactics of the enemy and speak the same language. No side is portrayed in a morally privileged way; the background or goals of the conflict are not illuminated.
A single mission of the Wagner Group is used to convey the practice of combat in the current conflict. Whether there is a factual basis is unknown to me.
In addition, there is the component of dealing with death.
Both sides recall “Take death, give death”, the motto of the Waffen-SS.
Added to this is a bit of gallows humour.
For me, it is the best cinematic realisation of modern urban warfare so far.
Anyone who lets himself be recruited by this film would be crazy in my eyes.
This film is more an indictment of the world. And the Wagner Group commemorates itself because no one else does.
Mozart is a PMC, Wagner is Executive Outcomes on steroids, own tanks, artillery, planes, helicopters….
But propaganda films by the West are sure to come, with “Ukrainian heroes” and “Russian barbarians”. In contrast to “Best in hell”, however, their information value is likely to be limited.

Posted by: 600w | Jan 22 2023 18:06 utc | 46

Bojo back in Kiev is bad news. Brits are most likely to crank things up a notch or two. They’ve run out of Ukies judging by the videos of goons simply grabbing struggling cannon fodder off the street.
Biden classified doc’s and Bojo in Kiev. A good chance the war against Russia will get much larger.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Jan 22 2023 18:20 utc | 48

🇪🇺🚂🇷🇺🇨🇳Rare metals needed for the production of microchips, electronics and armor-piercing ammunition are supplied to the EU from China via Russia, Bloomberg wrote.
Russia has remained a key link in the supply of rare earth metals from China to the EU. Despite the conflict in Ukraine and sanctions, the volume of traffic on Russian railways has more than doubled in the first nine months of 2022
Rare earth elements necessary for the production of microchips, electronics and ammunition used in modern weapons are being transported from China to Europe through Russia, Bloomberg reports.
China supplies more than 90% of the rare earth metals used in the EU. Thus, Chinese lanthanum is widely used by Western manufacturers of armor-piercing ammunition. The most demanded tungsten in the EU, used for the production of anti-tank weapons, is also supplied by China.
According to Bloomberg, according to the latest EU data, Russian railways remain an important link in supplies from China, despite the fact that the total share of traffic through Russia is 3-4% of the total volume of trade between China and the EU. Metals can also be shipped by sea, but this route takes twice as long as rail. A freight train departing from the Chinese city of Wuhan to the German Duisburg through the territory of Russia takes only 16 days.
The volume of Chinese metals transported by trains, including those that fell under the European sanctions of the “Russian Railways”, increased to 36 thousand tons in the first nine months of 2022. This is more than twice the volume transported for the whole of 2021. The volume of trade in rare earth metals increased by more than four-fifths in nine months and by September amounted to €377 million ($408 million).
“It’s amazing that, despite all the sanctions, this supply chain is still working,” said the founder of the exploration company Norge Mining Ltd. Michael Wurmser. In his opinion, this underlines the importance of rare earth elements and the EU’s dependence on them.
Rare earth metals are crucial in the production of a number of products — from batteries to microchips, and almost two-thirds of the identified reserves were under the control of China and Russia. Abandoning Chinese tungsten mines, which account for more than 83% of global production, could make Western economies particularly vulnerable, Bloomberg notes.
At the same time, demand is only growing due to “defense spending fueled by the conflict between Ukraine and Russia,” according to Tungsten West Plc. “Competition for resources is about to become even more intense,” said Rafael Loss, an analyst at the European Council on Foreign Relations dealing with military trade issues. “>https://fortune.com/2023/01/22/ukraine-war-europe-russia-rail-trade-china-defense-industry-rare-earth-supply-chains/

https://t.me/azmilitary11/34453

Posted by: Down South | Jan 22 2023 18:25 utc | 50

I think the Russians realize that relations with Germany are permanently broken;
Posted by: malenkov | Jan 22 2023 17:48 utc | 44
The relations with Germany were already once broken until 1945 when sometime in May they abruptly became good again.

Posted by: Vikichka | Jan 22 2023 18:33 utc | 52

Another vote for the movie “Best in Hell” – absolutely amazing & realistic and likely as close as one can come to what is actually taking place in Donbass or any modern war…
I’d like to know how the technical details of how such a movie can be made. CGI is one thing, but not enough to explain the realism.
Posted by: Simplicius | Jan 22 2023 14:10 utc | 7
________________________
If you’re the same Simplicius that runs the bitchute channel, my hats off to you. That channel is insanely prolific. You should have a considerable video chronology of this war by now, would be incredible to compile and organize it all into a documentary series.

Posted by: liveload | Jan 22 2023 18:42 utc | 54

Posted by: dask | Jan 22 2023 16:04 utc | 24
Thanks for the information. I agree this movie is probably the best war movie ever made, with maximum realism, at least as compared to Hollywood stuff.
Reminds me of the John Wayne movie, “Green Berets”, where soldiers were jumping over exploding artillery shells without harm. That’s Hollywood.
I also agree with whoever said it’s ridiculous to consider this a recruitment film for Wagner. Did they not notice that everyone dies (except maybe two guys, the air strike spotter is one) in this movie?

Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Jan 22 2023 18:50 utc | 56

Apologies. @ post 55, page went crazy in preview:
The Carlson video: LINK
and available on YouTube

Posted by: Likklemore | Jan 22 2023 18:53 utc | 58

Emil Kio was a Soviet magician whose speciality was to perform illusions in front of circus audiences who, by the very nature of the seating, had a 360 view of the proceedings. Under this constant observation, or perhaps because of it, he was able to convince those watching ‘Cremation’ that he had immolated himself and his assistant, who would appear unscathed from a box suspended in the air. I think Russia’s response to NATO’s near-constant ISR coverage is to play the Kio gambit, use the very nature of this invasive surveillance as a tool to achieve one’s aims.
It’s a theory, obviously but it might explain how Russia is both confusing it’s opponents and frustrating it’s supporters by constantly defying both camps expectations. NATO’s public solution has been to pretend all their assumptions were correct, creating a stereotypical Russian WW2 offensive, that most of the public are too ignorant or uncaring to challenge. The reality though is that Russia seems to be winning, despite Western support, and seems to be inside NATO’s strategic OODA loop. In the other camp, some of their supporters are frustrated that Russia is not conforming to another stereotype; The Mighty Bear, a fearsome beast with big arrow moves, concealed by cunning 4D strategies, capable, surely, of smashing it’s opponent. Concerned at it’s failure to perform, interestingly, they ascribe weaknesses that match those of the Bears enemies.
Both groups might take time to reflect that at the core of misdirection is a simple idea: tell people what you are going to do, watch them naturally focus on the opposite thing, affording you the opportunity to do what you originally intended, but not in the way you suggested. Oh, and move things around constantly in plain sight, whilst making the occasional unexpected move. An example would be the concept of demilitarisation, NATO, through it’s proxy, planned and prepared defences against a massive armoured thrust that would take the country. Russia attempted a failed coup-de-main whilst rolling up to the defences, stopped, and proceeded to wage a war of attrition. By the time NATO had stopped congratulating themselves they realised, too late, what demilitarisation meant and the rest is history. Now, the expectation is for a major offensive, so dutifully they do not attack, instead preparing defences, conducting limited attacks and remote strikes. NATO though are not fooled, reinforcing likely axes of attack and making preparations for spoiling counter-attacks and counter-offensives, when the Russians run out of steam. Gradually, to their horror, they realise the Russians keep attacking the same locations, but with greatly reinforced artillery assets and the line begins to buckle and crack. A stealth offensive that achieves the same goals albeit slower than a conventional assault, which draws in enemy reserves and destroys the counter offensives without a battle.
I’d wager, any focused offensive will come when the West’s ISR is looking the wrong way and it will be achieved counter to their expectations leaving them, like Kio’s audiences, baffled and confused at just how Russia achieved her objectives when they were being watched all the time.

Posted by: Milites | Jan 22 2023 18:58 utc | 60

@Apollyon
Schröder is one of Russia’s business connections. He sat on the board of Nord Stream and Rosneft. And much like in 1999, his party, i.e. Sholcz’s current party was with the rabidly pro-war greens in a coalition – which given the historical precedent is all it takes for Germany to succumb to war fever. It’s a pity that Putin, who likes to refer to the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia so often, does not extend his convictions on the matter to his choice of business partners – but I guess it was Putin’s delusions regarding the West that in some respects led Russia to this point in the first place.
I agree that Germany is occupied and brainwashed – but the Americans didn’t need to do much brainwashing in relation to the German attitudes toward the East, Serbia or Russia. After all, the general idea in regards to the Slavs (‘kill them all and replace them with German settlers’) was very much alive up until Soviet tanks drove up to the Reichstag.

Posted by: Boo | Jan 22 2023 19:03 utc | 62

„How did you go bankrupt?“
“Two ways”, he replies, “gradually and then suddenly.”
(citation: bigserge.subtrack / the blood pump originaly by Hemingway)
Looking at the period after leaving Kherson one could observing a gradual increase of the internal and external pressure in Ukraine. The contradictions are steadily escelating. The military aspect, i think, is just the most obvious one to analyse.
From the „tank delivery saga“, the mobilisation madness, escelating cassulties, near collapsing energy distribution (thus economy), prosecution of orthodox faith (burning curches in Kiev!) , up to the reshuffeling of the Ukrainian political leadership (Helicopter crash / Arestovich resignation) it seems that the situation in its totality becomes instabile.
As Frantz Fanon once stated:
“There is a point at which systems tend to deavoure itself.”
We are at this point now and there is no way back anymore. We reached critical mass.
Everything indicates that the core of ukranian society becomes instable and a chain reaction is about to start or started already ( “gradually and then suddenly.”) The military situation is the moderator in this analogy. But it might turn out that it is not and can not be the decisive factor.
Only a internal collapse of Ukraine, in whatever form (military coupe / public uprising) can bring some form of resolution to the conflict and hinder further outside meddling.
I simply can not imagine the russian allied forces taking Kiev let alone Liviv. Nor can i imagine a survival of the current regime, in Kiev, in whatever shape and form. The division of Ukraine is obviously already happening but any scenario involving russian allied forces beyond Donbass
and/or westwards of the Dnjepr river seem incredibly unlikely to me (destruction / cost / long term commitment / partisan war).
Well and Odessa of course. I dont see a scenario were its inevitable destruction, in case of a siege, seems any how acceptable to the russian leadership and society.
The demilitirazied zone suggested by John Helmer (dancing with bears) so far was one if the only end game scenarios i saw so far. But its implementation seems rather difficult considering the sheer size it would have to cover.
Did anybody saw a full transcript of Arestovichs interview AFTER the resegnation? Could only find snipets. Given Arestovichs former position and his puplic exposure this seems like an very interesting development. Espacially considering his statments about alienating the russian speaking population.

Posted by: El Lissitzky | Jan 22 2023 19:22 utc | 64

@ Apollyon
Who cares what the German people want? The German leadership—heck, the German opposition too—doesn’t care what the German people want, and there’s nothing the German people can or for that matter want to do about it. Germans are notoriously obedient people.
@ Vikichka
If you’re suggesting that the Russians need to conquer Germany again, well, no objection from me!

Posted by: malenkov | Jan 22 2023 19:36 utc | 66

@64
Edit: “There is a point at which a system tends to deavour itself.”
Messed up the qoute. Dont have the book at hand. Old eastern german print of collected texts by Frantz Fanon “ Das kollonisierte Ding wird Mensch”.

Posted by: El Lissitzky | Jan 22 2023 19:40 utc | 68

@ malenkov | Jan 22 2023 19:36 utc | 66
i think you can extend that idea of ‘obedience’ to all of the poodles – canada, australia, and etc. etc… the fact is that until the people of these countries demonstrate in huge numbers, nothing will change.. and even then they are all fed a constant diet of bullshit from the msm, so they are fighting an uphill battle… i believe @ apollyon is correct, but it doesn’t seem to matter.. same deal here in canada… we don’t have a democracy.. we have a plutocracy run by the corporations and elite.. the public have been truly shafted… btw – i am enjoying this conservation.. thanks to all who are contributing to it..

Posted by: james | Jan 22 2023 19:44 utc | 70

@Milites | Jan 22 2023 18:58 utc | 60
I agree. This is the first large-scale conflict in many decades involving tens of thousands of troops on both sides and all the necessary logistics to support the war effort, and the first where it is impossible to hide the massing of troops and supplies from your opponent. One must assume that your enemy sees all, but still deception and surprise must be achieved where ever possible. Will there be a big Russian offensive before March? On one front? Several fronts? Which ones? So far Russia seems to have been successful in creating uncertainty at many levels, more or less throughout the course of the SMO. Some of the confusion may have been accidental or unintentional, but clearly both they (and the UAF) are attempting to use misdirection and deception at all scales.

Posted by: the pessimist | Jan 22 2023 19:44 utc | 72

@ james
Yes, lots of poodles, roughly 50 in number. Russia increasingly doesn’t need them. They’re probably beyond salvation (I mean that in a nonreligious sense but religionists can take it both ways) anyway.

Posted by: malenkov | Jan 22 2023 19:53 utc | 74

Everyone seems to be describing the collective West’s strategy of showering Ukraine with all kinds of weapons as non-sensical (e.g. The Duran). However, from the perspective of the US it makes perfect sense. On the one hand the US has been pressuring their “allies” i.e. vassals, to increase their military/defense budgets for years now, and now here’s the perfect opportunity to get rid of all the non-US weapons in NATO arsenal. The result is going to be that everybody is going to need new equipment which will have to be ordered from the big brother.

Posted by: Pagan | Jan 22 2023 20:06 utc | 76

@ PeterAU1 57
Abrams tanks. I read their weight and fuel requirements present challenges. Ukie roads/infrastructure, gas guzzlers. So are they being shipped with a few gas stations and storage tankers on standby?
+ + + + + + +
Larry Johnson’s latest finds the US-led NATO is continuing perception management of the great unwashed.
When on the losing end, deploy the propaganda artillery.
-“Russia faces incredible poverty warns ex-INF chief” (The Telegraph, UK)

WHY ARE WESTERN ESTABLISHMENT AND PUNDITS LOSING THEIR MINDS OVER UKRAINE?

Posted by: Likklemore | Jan 22 2023 20:18 utc | 78

@76
It’s looking like one gets a lot more bang for the buck with Russian weapons.

Posted by: chunga | Jan 22 2023 20:29 utc | 80

@dp | Jan 22 2023 20:35 utc | 81
Only signed contracts are required to improve the stock price.

Posted by: the pessimist | Jan 22 2023 20:40 utc | 82

I’ve got a question about Germany. The German government opposes being the first to send tanks to Ukraine. Why? Is this because sending tanks would make the current government impopular? Is this because images of German rolling over the Ukrainian plain bring back memories? Or is this because the German government feels that returning to business as usual with Russia after the war is becoming a rather remote possibility?

Posted by: Passerby | Jan 22 2023 20:55 utc | 84

Posted by: Qsvgxn | Jan 22 2023 15:54 utc | 21
A link to youtube without looking for alternatives essentially amounts to support for the censoring bat turds of google-youtube.
https://odysee.com/@airbornewolf:8/18+-RF-Ukraine-war-movie-The-Best-in-Hell:8
https://odysee.com/@Iceisnice11:8/%F0%9F%8E%ACPMC-Wagner—Best-in-Hell—2022-(English-subtitles):6
Oh, and btw, this might be of interest to the bar, those who don’t already know, and not a farthing will go to the coffers of google by checking it out.
https://odysee.com/@RT:fd

Posted by: Dalit | Jan 22 2023 20:59 utc | 86

@Apollyon | Jan 22 2023 15:31 utc | 19
Thanks for reply.
I agree with your general sentiment in #Apollyon | Jan 22 2023 17:11 utc | 36
“Somebody” want everything to be messed up between Germany and Russland.
That isn’t new!
A few months after Postam 1945 Agreement UK and US betrayed Russia (USSR).
A democratic, demilitarized, denazified AND united Germany controlled together by USSR, USA and Germany was the Agreement.
https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/potsdam-conference
But USUK definitely don’t want a united peacefull Germany to become a land bridge between West Europa and Russia (and Eurasia). They create and fund the “WestGermany” (BRD) as a “honeypot”, a success story of Western freedom and social capitalism (the famous “Soziale Marktwirtschaft”), a land of oportunity…
“Wir wollen ein Volk der guten Nachbarn sein” as Willy Brandt said.
Ostpolitik was encouraged by the occupying forces so that the Russians and Germans could honestly believe in it and accept in the end a reunification under the aegis of a democratic, demilitarized and denazified Western Germany
Unfortunatly, since 1989 ( or 1991) such an “honeypot” isn’t necessary.
And since 2014,even Merkel was able to believe in Realpolitik for a few years before admitting that she was only a puppet of the theater. Manipulated
Now, they just want their money back.
And, once again, driving German tanks against Russia in Ukraine that your grandfathers have already tried by the way back then with the Melanies and Banderas
Scholz was stupid enough to form an unprincipled coalition in order to become chancellor.
And here he is without power, bound hand and foot, handed over to the American deep state, manipulated by the British, insulted by the Ukrainians and even despised by the Poles.
As for Wagenknecht, it is time to abandon the ship “Die Linke”.
As in 1914, “the left” is totally rotten, and soon more militaristic than its ancestors. The French Communist Party is already calling to deliver tanks to Ukraine…

Posted by: Weimar | Jan 22 2023 21:03 utc | 88

“The remains of the no longer elite 46th brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on the outskirts of the settlement. Ivanovskoye (Krasnoe), retreating with 300 under fire from the Wagner Group.”
https://twitter.com/squatsons/status/1617074467901177857
Recall that some days ago, a group of Azov’s were stuck in the outskirts of Klicheevka (S of Bakhmut). According to the report they tried to sneak away from trenches at night but were detected and killed. Seems UAF has been routed S, and even SW settlement of Bakhmut.

Posted by: unimperator | Jan 22 2023 21:07 utc | 90

Russia owns Ukraine, just like PRC owns Tibet. Tibet has always been China, there is no Tibet! Ukraine has always been Russia, there is no Ukraine! Tibetans and Ukrainians (whatever they are) must serve their natural masters. Xi and Putin will lead this world to true freedom! So, looks like hundreds of Leopard 2 tanks are on their way to occupied Russia. No problem! They will melt in the face of Russian steel! The finest tanks on earth backed by all the most advanced nations will not make any difference to the warriors of Putin’s will. His will be done, his kingdom come! (BTW, in eastern Russia, Chinese language teachers are earning 400 percent more than a year ago. Look it up!) Okay, seriously now, last chance. Jail tragic Putin and his lackey’s, withdraw from all 1991 Ukraine territory, have democratic elections and systems installed, and Russia can keep the Sevastopol naval base on 2013 terms, with freedom of movement for personal stationed there and uninterrupted supplies of water and power. Otherwise, the safety of the Russian public can no longer be assured. Awake and smell the failure.

Posted by: Ahole | Jan 22 2023 21:15 utc | 92

The matter of German-Russian relations is central to plans for multipolarity. For all the crimes of its leaders Europe has much to offer the world and Chinese originated plans for eurasian integration and a revival of the ancient land based trading routes lead logically to trade from the Pacific to the Atlantic, from the South China to the North Sea.
Any settlement after the war which sees Europe and America hived off into an experiment to build imperialism in one country is doomed to fail.
While it is true that the ruling classes of NATO-led by the Ukrainians- have gone out of their way to promote racist russophobia, it is equally true that such nonsense is only effective amongst the brainwashed minorities who constitute the governing class, the media and the ideological brothel politely called the Intellectuals.
Messrs Garton Ash and Snyder, BH Levy and Anne Applebaum might believe that Russians are monsters at the lower end of the evolutionary scale but every autoworker, shop girl and, I would imagine, private soldier, knows better. That has always been the way and those who lament the inaction of the masses need not despair- the fuel for a complete change in relations between nations exists in the form of a population which longs for peace, security and measured development.
All that is needed is a spark. And the precondition for that is the thorough and unmistakable defeat of neoliberal ideology and policies. So long as the basic assumptions behind capitalism from a belief in the inevitability of inequality to the superstition that the market is a better regulator of the economy than conscious democratic planning are unchallenged we will be ruled by those who go along with the ideology in order, like the teenagers surrounding Biden et al, to get along.

Posted by: bevin | Jan 22 2023 21:17 utc | 94

In other news.
The “Guardian Newspaper”, is a truly unreliable source of any new and/or opinion pieces since foundation day. One who’s foreign correspondents(all) should register as foreign agents(gay).
Now claims the situation in country 404 is static all along the entire eastern front. :O

Posted by: Bad Deal Motors On | Jan 22 2023 21:19 utc | 96

Economically, Ukraine is fucked. Kievan elite is banking on the delusion that Western officials will turn Ukraine into a liberal country for free after the war for geopolitical reasons but the reality is that, after an armistice will be reached, Western governments will forget about Ukraine and the country will be left at the mercy of BlackRock, IMF and other psychopathic, capitalistic vultures.
European leaders are terrified of dealing with Ukraine in a post-war period and a widespread view that EU will be forced to pick the price tag up, getting little say in the process while Washington and its psycho baltic vassals will reap all of gains.

Posted by: Vampire Kissinger | Jan 22 2023 21:22 utc | 98

In addition. The world’s best source of propaganda and lies since foundation day. The British Bullshitting Corporation”, Londinium. Continues to promote nothing but lies and assorted failed conspiracy theories as usual about country 404. Along with many other unrelated countries in this world.

Posted by: Bad Deal Motors On | Jan 22 2023 21:26 utc | 100