Posted by: Anton Gorbatow | Feb 4 2023 18:23 utc | 1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijHL10tYVSA
Young Lydia Spivak (later to become a teacher in Donetsk) monitors traffic at Bandenburg Gate, Berlin 1945.

Posted by: Greg Galloway | Feb 4 2023 18:31 utc | 4

Our source reports that Zelensky indicated at the headquarters that it is necessary to keep Bakhmut / Artemovsk at any cost until the start of the spring offensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Bakhmut should be like a breakwater that will hold back the Russian onslaught while the best reserves are being prepared in the rear, who have been trained at NATO bases and are waiting for the arrival of military equipment.

https://t.me/legitimniy/14702

The Office of the President has long been working on options for delivering strikes on the territory in the depths of Russia. This will allegedly raise the falling morale among the Ukrainian masses and provoke panic in the Russian Federation.
They also want to disrupt the summer season in Crimea by constantly striking at the peninsula. According to rumors from the OP, this will be possible closer to April-May, according to functionaries based on the weapons they receive.

https://t.me/legitimniy/14707

Posted by: Down South | Feb 4 2023 18:35 utc | 6

#Summary #Report on the morning of February 4, 2023
During the past week, the initiative on the line of contact remained in the hands of the Russian Armed Forces.
After a week-long defence, the 144th Motorised Rifle Division launched a counter-offensive, advancing towards Yampolovka. The capture of Belogorovka is reported. The offensive on this section of the front would mean that there is a plan to encircle Seversk from this direction, which is 10-15 km away.
The PMC Wagner is moving towards Seversk from the south, having liberated several other settlements. Seversk’s population before the war was comparable to Soledar (about 10,000 people).
South of Soledar, in the village of Krasnaya Gora, the enemy suffers heavy losses and throws border guards and defence forces into the battle. Our advanced line in the settlement is holding.
Artyomovsk (Bakhmut, up to 70,000 population before the war) is constantly being reinforced by new enemy forces, with roads under fire from our troops and reinforcement columns being periodically destroyed. To the south of the city the zone of control is expanding, the road to Chasov Yar is only a few kilometres away.
There is heavy fighting in Avdeevka and Mariinka. No success has been achieved in the Ugledar sector, the enemy has moved reserves. The bypass of the city from the eastern side failed.
Common to all sectors of the front in the actions of our troops are attempts to encircle enemy strongholds.
On the Zaporizhzhya direction, the sides are fighting positional battles, with no advances by the Russian Armed Forces.
Russian frontline regions are under constant strikes by the AFU. Belgorod region appears most frequently in the reports, but strikes are also carried out regularly in Kursk and Bryansk regions. Civilians in the LNR and DNR experience enemy fire even more frequently.
Some logistics issues have not been fully resolved.
The enemy is experiencing problems with manpower throughout the front, but massive mobilisation and rapid transfer of reserves are preventing our forces from making deep breakthroughs on the front. In addition, we should not forget Kiev’s massive preparation of large reserves.
The enemy’s sabotage activity on Russian territory remains high: yesterday, a vehicle explosion in Energodar killed an employee of the Zaporizhzhya Regional Ministry of Internal Affairs.
As of 4th February, we can conclude that the main reserves of the Russian armed forces have not yet been brought into combat. The question of their use remains open. The most successful advance is being carried out by the PMC Wagner, which is ably accompanied in the information field.

https://t.me/sitreports/4143

Posted by: Down South | Feb 4 2023 18:38 utc | 8

It seems to me on another thread recent there was a consensus of sorts that Odessa is critical with respect to resolution of the “Special Military Operation”. For some misguided and misbegotten it seems, I suspect the concept of transparency is inconsistent with how they conduct themselves and “do business”. Per my perspective, and taking into consideration the frailty of fiat currency based upon nothing but “good faith” as well as the delusion of Modern Monetary Theory (MMT – an idea easily used nefariously flawed as such), Odessa could be the solution to this conflict after it returns to the country that deserves to have sovereignty of Odessa based on my studies serious. I’m sure if I had been to Odessa (I’ve been to Odessa, TX – “west Texas you know”) – my view could be more informed, but I don’t see much chance for me to ever go there even though if there was peace, there might be a chance. I suspect it is a beautiful place in peace.
~
If I ever go there (most unlikely, but a fella can dream), I think I’d like to get there via dirigible because I won’t ever fly in an aeroplane ever again and that seems like sad reality of the world we live in today when there have been so many lies and so much trickery..so much obfuscation…who is a peasant to put faith in is a fair question. Certainly not the gubment emanating out of DC, and that is also sad since it wasn’t always this way and so many still don’t realize the trickery in play.
~
Tis a sad world we live in today, but I think things are going to get better, and it is only a matter of will and time. Thank-you to all who post here where ideas are shared in the bar and all that is left is for the reader to discern.
Peace,
BK

Posted by: Buffalo_Ken | Feb 4 2023 18:47 utc | 10

Buffalo_Ken@10
If you want to see what Odessa looked like watch Eisenstein’s “Battleship Potemkin’ one of the greatest movies ever made.

Posted by: bevin | Feb 4 2023 18:52 utc | 12

Lord of war

Posted by: rk | Feb 4 2023 19:03 utc | 14

Thanks @rk
That was it. The plot could have been done better, the telling of the story, many aspects of the movie.
But the theme of the movie was on target seemed to me – and so sad it is.
Makes one wonder – “have we lost our way”.
Oh well.
Bartender – give me a double please.
BK

Posted by: Buffalo_Ken | Feb 4 2023 19:08 utc | 16

Report of Abrams tanks transported in eastern Bulgaria
https://obektivno.bg/amerikanski-tankove-ejbrams-na-am-trakiya-video/

Posted by: Paul | Feb 4 2023 19:13 utc | 18

Aleks at Black Mountain Analysis posted a new strategic analysis today focusing on the longer term.
https://bmanalysis.substack.com/p/prospects-for-world-war-3-dedicated

Posted by: Tom Hickey | Feb 4 2023 19:32 utc | 20

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova’s response to a media question about the EU-Ukraine summit in Kiev on February 3:

Question: Please comment on the EU-Ukraine summit held in Kyiv on February 3 and the joint statement adopted on its results.
Maria Zakharova: The February 3 event in Kiev once again confirmed that in order to weaken Russia and serve the hegemonic aspirations of the United States and NATO, the European Union continues to recklessly support the neo-Nazi regime in Kiev. Promising him a euro perspective in violation of its own standard requirements for European candidates and declaring the “common values” of the EU with it, it is in solidarity with the total suppression of dissent, the violation of freedom of speech and expression, and the gross violation of linguistic and religious rights in Ukraine. At the same time, he cynically “confirms” in a joint statement at the end of the summit “commitment to full respect for the rights of persons belonging to minorities.” This completely negates the principles on which the EU was once built.
Equally hypocritical are the EU’s calls for peace when they declare their readiness to invest in the continuation of hostilities “for as long as necessary.” 12 billion euros have already been allocated at the expense of European taxpayers. Increasing funding for the conflict, new supplies of weapons and equipment, increasing training camps, expanding training programs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine – all this leads to an increase in the number of victims of the conflict, including among the civilian population.
Attempts in these conditions to launch the process of creating any quasi-structures to bring to justice for what is happening in Ukraine are absurd and immoral. As they say, who are the judges? Those who cheated with the Minsk agreements, covered up the war crimes of the Kiev regime against civilians in the Donbas since 2014, pumped Ukrainian criminals with weapons and money, who are trying to misappropriate Russia’s state assets and the funds of our citizens?
It is once again confirmed that the leadership of the European Union and its member states has invested all political, financial and military resources in order to deploy a front in Ukraine against the formation of a multipolar world order, which Russia and the majority of the world community firmly support.
But Western efforts are in vain. As the Russian leadership has repeatedly stated, the goals and objectives of the special military operation of the Russian Armed Forces in Ukraine will be fully achieved. All participants of the Kiev gathering on February 3 of this year are waiting for a cruel disappointment. They will have to answer, among other things, to their own population, at the expense of whose funds the bloody geopolitical game “to the last Ukrainian” started by the West is financed.

Posted by: karlof1 | Feb 4 2023 19:40 utc | 22

Found this at Sputnik News:

UK ‘Has No More Heavy Guns’ After Giving Them to Ukraine – Report
A report claiming two Royal Artillery regiments were left completely disarmed due to Downing Street’s decision to send the guns to Ukraine comes as British hawks step up their public relations campaign to convince taxpayers to submit to a surge in military spending.
The British Army has no more heavy guns left after having given them all to Ukraine, according to a recent report.
All of the UK’s 30 serviceable AS-90 self-propelled artillery guns have been sent to the Zelensky regime, The Sun is reporting.
“The decision to give them away has stripped two Royal Artillery regiments, based on Salisbury Plain, Wilts, of all their working weapons,” wrote the outlet, which added that an artillery source told them: “If gunners don’t have guns we can’t fight, we can’t train.”
The news comes amid a high-profile push by British war hawks to convince the public to cough up for newer and fancier toys for the military.
Claiming that British fighting capabilities have been “hollowed out by spending cuts,” the former head of the UK’s Joint Forces Command, retired General Richard Barrons, wrote in a recent op-ed that “years of cuts to ammunition production mean that, for some types of key weapons, the army would run out in a busy afternoon.”
Opining that the UK’s military is now “barely tier two” – a designation which would place it among the ranks of Germany and Italy, rather than “tier one” militaries like those of the US, China, Russia, or France – Barrons insisted the Brits will have to fork over an additional £3 billion to return to the upper echelon.
British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace also recently echoed the view the British military has been left “hollowed out and underfunded” in light of his government’s continuing campaign to pump Ukraine full of deadly weapons. “As the world gets more dangerous, defense should get a growing proportion of spend,” he reportedly urged.
The possibility that the UK would likely be left flat-footed in a military engagement has been greeted with increasing concern among British military members, but across the Atlantic, news that UK military supplies have been gutted has provoked a decidedly different response.
“The UK Is Giving Ukraine Lots of Artillery — Now The British Army Can Get Newer And Better Guns,” cheered Forbes in one particularly shameless headline.
By “donating to Ukraine more and more of its artillery,” the British Army is “effectively forcing the government in London finally to spend real money on new guns and launchers,” the author crowed.
But there’s little indication that view aligns with those of working-class Britons, who have endured one of the toughest years in recent memory. With half a million Brits on strike Wednesday amid the worst cost-of-living crisis in generations, issues like better pay and an end to draconian public spending cuts tended to be at the top of the list of demands – but ‘new heavy weapons’ was nowhere to be found.

https://sputniknews.com/20230204/uk-has-no-more-heavy-guns-after-giving-them-to-ukraine—report-1106964062.html

Posted by: W | Feb 4 2023 20:11 utc | 24

I think that Zelenskyy’s decisions regarding not retreating, and continuing to push troops to the front, are a result of fear and cunning.
He fears that America and the West are teetering on the point of bailing out on their joint endeavor with him, and he cunningly suspects that it will be supremely difficult for them to do that as long as he continues the drama of “No Surrender, No Retreat” as he opposes Putin and Russia.
He fears the elements in his administration and/or Kiev who are ready to depose or kill him should he appear to be less of a true believer than they are. He cunningly suspects that the media in the West has the whip hand here, and as long as he keeps posing heroically, they will not allow the political class to abandon him. Zelenskyy thinks that if he keeps things playing out like an episodic drama that the viewing audiences are addicted to, then they, and the media, will demand that West step in with whatever it takes for Ukrainian’s military to not be destroyed as the culmination of a do or die, all in, season finale, series of battles on the front line.
Zelenskyy is betting that by not retreating he can compel the West to directly enter the fray.

Posted by: Babel-17 | Feb 4 2023 20:17 utc | 26

Posted by: Johnycomelately | Feb 4 2023 20:03 utc | 23
.
Have you ever thought that you don’t want to meet the mobile forces in the hinterland?
Why should they come forward by themselves!
With the effect that they reveal their direction, where they center themselves, where what is planned.
Incompetent…Oops what incompetence what calculation is will probably always remain closed to YOU.
Just as every journalist in the West is suddenly a war reporter and a specialist in Russian thought.
Correct is….. the appearance of German tanks on Russian soil (and all Russians perceive the Ukraine as such)!!!
Putin now brought up to 86% approval among Russians ….. The West is well aware of what the appearance of German tanks now means for the mentality of the Russians!
And is possibly even wanted to get to the desired escalation….BECAUSE THE WEST wants to escalate at any price….BUT Putin should be driven to it…why?
For example, because escalation is the only solution for NATO and the USA to save their system…. to save face???
Besides….

Posted by: mo3 | Feb 4 2023 20:29 utc | 28

Are you a troll…..or do you want to tell us the last hope of your thinking….some kind of WHAT can’t be, that mustn’t be!
Russia (nuclear power) cannot be defeated without wiping out Ukraine (Europe)!!!!
The dumbest person should understand that…..YOU too!

Posted by: mo3 | Feb 4 2023 20:30 utc | 30

Zelensky is surrounded by people-armed and dangerous madmen- who regard Hitler as the model statesman.
And Zelensky, channeling Adolf as the script requires, issues No Surrender edicts because, if the troops in the trenches were ever allowed to retreat they would march, as one man, to Kiev and string the fascists and their puppet up. Unless of course, they discover that the traitors have killed themselves first and booby trapped their bunker.
The truth about Ukraine is staring the world in the face: it is run by men who couldn’t get to elected anywhere east of Lvov. And only there because their gangs control the place and kill any opponent. Zelensky was elected on a programme of peace, and putting Minsk into effect.
What the Russians want is what 8 out of 10 Ukrainians, and almost all Ukrainians abroad, want.
And that is why, Johnycomelatel@23, they are not bombing and burning the land in which the Ukrainian victims of western demagogues are struggling to survive.

Posted by: bevin | Feb 4 2023 20:39 utc | 32

But there’s little indication that view aligns with those of working-class Britons, who have endured one of the toughest years in recent memory. With half a million Brits on strike Wednesday amid the worst cost-of-living crisis in generations, issues like better pay and an end to draconian public spending cuts tended to be at the top of the list of demands – but ‘new heavy weapons’ was nowhere to be found.
Posted by: W | Feb 4 2023 20:11 utc | 24
I guess someone should inform Sputnik that the views of working-class Britons are absolutely meaningless to the Tory government. The fact that there are so many on strike with no significant negotiations happening should have clued them in. In the late stage capitalist Anglophone West, the working-class is but a nuisance to be gotten rid of or ignored.

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Feb 4 2023 20:45 utc | 34

@Babel #26
The Ukrainian army does not have a good spot to go if they retreat from Bahkmut. They over committed and have too many guys that are going to have to leave on foot. It looks like the expected a huge Russian push and the Russians went north instead.
That being said Zelensky announced they will not retreat so the Ukies will probably try to retreat and suffer serious losses.

Posted by: OohCanada | Feb 4 2023 20:50 utc | 36

Public Spending in the UK is at record levels and most on strike were the middle class on wages well above the national average. All politicians in Britain are bought either by big business or public unions. For those of us working in small private business there is nobody to vote for.
Great site by the way.

Posted by: IAN WRIGHT | Feb 4 2023 20:54 utc | 38

Posted by: IAN WRIGHT | Feb 4 2023 20:54 utc | 38
What I’m told over here in the US at labor-centric sites is that the strikes are primarily rail workers, teachers, nurses, police and “maritime services”, even those who process passport applications and driving tests – I can see perhaps nurses being in the upper middle class, but the rest of them paid more than average Britons? If that’s the case then England truly is a third world 51st state of the USA.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPSO8pdAX6c

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Feb 4 2023 21:00 utc | 40

As a follow up to my post above, from the 2nd link:
~
That’s when Viktor Bout schooled me on the harm that movie did to his life. Nicholas Cage is a superstar of rare talent, and to have him portray you in a film means that his interpretation of the character will define you in the eyes of anyone who had seen the film.
This was a reality the prosecution took full advantage of. Viktor Bout wasn’t just fighting the trumped-up charges the DEA had brought him up on, but the Hollywood narrative that Nicholas Cage had brought to life on film.
If someone was looking to tamper with a jury, you couldn’t have done a better job than have this movie out in the public.
Nicholas Cage, unwittingly, helped convict Viktor Bout.

Posted by: Buffalo_Ken | Feb 4 2023 21:11 utc | 42

@43 chatgpt is nothing more than a glorified text prediction program like the one that auto completes your text messages, but tiered beyond human(but not computer) comprehension.
Like any good text predictor it gets it training data from stuff humans type.
Responses, your posts its all good.
Conversely like any dumb machine garbage in garbage out. Who’s a troll and what trolling means may be very different than you assume.

Posted by: Neofeudalfuture | Feb 4 2023 21:24 utc | 44

Yet another reason that the US and UK are attempting to make an example out of Julian Assange and Wikileaks.
https://www.counterpunch.org/2023/02/03/diplomatic-cables-prove-top-u-s-officials-knew-they-were-crossing-russias-red-lines-on-nato-expansion/
If not for the cables, they could just deny knowledge and feign surprise at Russia’s reaction to NATO expansion.

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Feb 4 2023 21:45 utc | 46

Babel17@26
Interesting take. Maybe worth watching as events unfold.

Posted by: aristodemos | Feb 4 2023 22:01 utc | 48

@CoupLeeBob | Feb 4 2023 21:49 utc | 47
That sounds like a reasonable template for an acceptable outcome for Russia at this point. The problem is what guarantees could the Ukraine or the broader West possibly make that the Ukrainians wouldn’t simply keep firing missiles across the river? Send in the OSCE again? I don’t think there is any market for that in Russia. That shifts the minimal acceptable outcome to everything East of the river and a Russian zone of control with slightly more depth that the longest ranged weapons system the Ukrainians can acquire in bulk (maybe with an indigenous production licence for graft and deniability). At that point the Russians might as well grab Odessa and remove that pain point for once and all.

Posted by: Another James | Feb 4 2023 22:08 utc | 50

Lira got the balloon right:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14_0r6TZc5Q

Posted by: LightYearsFromHome | Feb 4 2023 22:25 utc | 52

The perceived wisdom is that Zelensky has made a tactical decision to sacrifice poorly trained conscripts on the front lines whilst husbanding experienced forces behind the front lines for the future; this may not be true.
Multiple sources have described Ukrainian Officers as leading from the rear; the Ukrainian Army will have an entirely accurate picture of the present position on the front lines and a realistic view of the likely future prospects for success.
I know from relatives in Ukraine that Ukrainian soldiers have a natural desire to stay alive, and avoiding a post to the front lines is a necessary prerequisite to that end. The experienced military have the contacts to obtain posts behind the lines; new conscripts don’t. We can see the results.

Posted by: CitizenSmith | Feb 4 2023 23:01 utc | 54

Posted by: Buffalo_Ken | Feb 4 2023 19:17 utc | 19
There is no off ramp for the continual escalation in Ukraine. So, the conflict in Ukraine will go nuclear. I have no doubt of this. Logic alone leads to this conclusion.
The only question is when? Logic points to after the Russians take the Donbas. At this point Russia will have taken down most of the Ukrainian army. They no longer will have a serious threat on their Western border. Also, the Ukrainian conflict to that point will allow the Russians to position their military where they want it to be prior to the nukes flying. The Russian don’t want a hostile army on its Western border when the nukes fly.
The when can be determined from several perspectives, that is by logic, remote viewing, military intel, future memories, the Bible, by divine revelation, by the 10 kings, by the tree of knowledge.
If one does not believe in any of these and lock into one or more of them, they will not see what is coming until it comes. And that may not be very far away either in time or in the physical.

Posted by: young | Feb 4 2023 23:28 utc | 56

I thought your hero Putin is all about observing the UN legal system. Your idea of expelling Ukrainians would be a crime against humanity under UN rules. Anyway, if Putin did expel them most of the Western nations would expel Russians in retaliation. Careful what you wish for.
Posted by: Deplorable Commissar | Feb 4 2023 23:25 utc | 55
I think most Americans would be ok with this. American for Americans, Europe/Africa for Russians, Asia for the Chinese/Japanese. Only way for world peace. MEGA (Make Earth Great Again!)

Posted by: Let’s Go Brandon! | Feb 4 2023 23:29 utc | 58

” I think most Americans would be ok with this. American for Americans, Europe/Africa for Russians, Asia for the Chinese/Japanese. Only way for world peace. MEGA (Make Earth Great Again!)
Posted by: Let’s Go Brandon! | Feb 4 2023 23:29 utc | 58 ”
Define what an American is.

Posted by: Deplorable Commissar | Feb 4 2023 23:33 utc | 60

“Define what an American is.”
A patriotic American either by birth or naturalization. Your definition?

Posted by: Let’s Go Brandon! | Feb 4 2023 23:36 utc | 62

Posted by: Deplorable Commissar | Feb 4 2023 23:33 utc | 60
“Define what an American is.”
Nothing at all…Perhaps you mean a citizen of the United States? Many of these make the same mistake you just did.

Posted by: donten | Feb 4 2023 23:40 utc | 64

Posted by: altCensored.com | Feb 4 2023 22:11 utc | 51
Thanking you for that site.

Posted by: Brother Ma | Feb 4 2023 23:50 utc | 66

” “Define what an American is.”
A patriotic American either by birth or naturalization. Your definition?
Posted by: Let’s Go Brandon! | Feb 4 2023 23:36 utc | 62 ”
No, your definition of an American. Whats a true American ?

Posted by: Deplorable Commissar | Feb 5 2023 0:00 utc | 68

Southfront had an article of some UK government bureau sending letters to hosts of Ukrainian refugees, demanding the refugees to visit the Ukrainian embassy in UK.
https://southfront.org/kiev-regime-looking-for-new-soldiers-among-ukrainian-refugees-abroad/
Still remember Arestovich’s “million man army” from last August. Well, the net balance seems to be struggling but maybe they’ll get there some day.

Posted by: unimperator | Feb 5 2023 0:04 utc | 70

In response to Trimalchio | Feb 4 2023 19:34 utc | 21
I stated my premise based upon Daniel 7:5
“I see it from the prophecy of Daniel 7:5 where the bear arises and devours much flesh after it has 3 ribs in its mouth between its teeth. I see those 3 ribs as being Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk.”
Logic reveals that Russia wants to take and secure the Donbas before it launches.
We will see what happens after Russia takes and secures the Donbas.

Posted by: young | Feb 5 2023 0:10 utc | 72

Heavy weapons from North America and Western Europe bound for Ukraine arrive in neighboring countries on rail cars before being brought across the border covertly….but more importantly very dispersed. To interdict that far behind FEBA would involve long range weapons….a Kalibre per tractor trailer hauling a Bradley is hardly economic. I suspect they are heading for the front because orientation and training would be done outside of Ukraine… training areas even on the Polish border have been destroyed in the past…these units with have to form up as they get closer to the front and concentrate to be effective. This is when they are being hit….when they are within range of tube artillery and laser guided munitions for individual machines or rocket artillery for troop concentrations. It’s economy of effort.

Posted by: Joe | Feb 5 2023 0:11 utc | 74

Posted by: Milos | Feb 4 2023 22:31 utc | 53
Big Serge agrees…
Big Serge ☦️🇺🇸🇷🇺 @witte_sergei
1h
It tentatively appears that Ukrainian forces are at long last beginning to leave Bakhmut, or at least the extremities of the city. Russian progress is accelerating on the flanks.

Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Feb 5 2023 0:14 utc | 76

IIRC a commander of Vostok battalion (or Wagner) claimed that Ukraine has half a million in reserve. If things start to stretch and crumble, and turn to a local route here or there, the casualty rate should shoot up significantly. Then it will last even a shorter time.

Posted by: unimperator | Feb 5 2023 0:19 utc | 78

“The advantage is that the Russians will carry out the genocide. Clean service.”
Hey now, the Ukes could end it at any time by just surrendering.

Posted by: LGB! | Feb 5 2023 0:36 utc | 80

Looks like the end of Ukie control of Bakhmut….
From Slavyangrad telegram channel….
https://t.me/Slavyangrad/31998
In Bakhmut , the “Wagnerites” entered the Stupka area in the north of the city. Fierce battles are going on in urban areas. Statements about a breakthrough in the defense of the Armed Forces of Ukraine are not true – Ukrainian formations continue to resist.
At the same time, the partial withdrawal of units from the northern suburbs of Bakhmut and the departure of 63 mechanized brigades from the city yesterday indicate preparations for a possible surrender of the garrison. Now the Armed Forces of Ukraine are concentrating their efforts on holding the route to Chasy Yar in order to preserve the logistics hub.
▪️At the same time, intense fighting continues in the industrial zone on the eastern outskirts, as well as in residential areas in the southern part of the city, where assault squads are attacking the positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Pervyy Radyansky Street.
🔻Southwest of Bakhmut , Russian units are advancing in the direction of the section of the Chasov Yar – Bakhmut highway. The Wagnerites advanced towards Krasnoe – less than one and a half kilometers remained to the suburbs.
▪️The command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is transferring manpower and armored vehicles from Konstantinovka to the vicinity of Chasov Yar . At the same time, additional defensive lines are being prepared in Konstantinovka itself.
▪️Russian artillery is conducting a massive shelling of the areas where enemy reinforcements are concentrated on the Konstantinovka -Chasov Yar – Bakhmut highway.
Russians are attacking from NW E SE SW & W…
INDY

Posted by: Dr. George W Oprisko | Feb 5 2023 1:23 utc | 82

It seems a common understanding of the bar that the driving force for the US and therefore Zelensky is corporate interests like Blackrock and various oligarchs. Russia’s foreign exchange reserves were frozen as the penalty for invading Ukraine. That is what they regarded as their property.
What if Russia was to say after taking over all of Ukraine “you can keep our reserves while we keep Ukraine”. Blackrock and co will have no property rights going forward while Russia keeps the country and all its assets.
If anyone wants to sue they’ve already been compensated. And they also chose the settlement amount and the payment method.

Posted by: Cyberhorse | Feb 5 2023 1:24 utc | 84

Ross Douthat, NYT opinionator… reality is setting in with the elites:
The Costs of a Long War in Ukraine
It starts out with this:

The Ukrainian hope for how this escalation ends was sketched out by Mykhailo Podolyak, a key adviser to President Volodymyr Zelensky, in a recent interview with Bruno Macaes for The New Statesman. “Russia will embark on some minor offensive actions in a short period of time,” Macaes summarizes. “A lot of manpower will be lost. After that, it will face a series of significant defeats.” This will lead to Russian unraveling: Major cities will be lost, some kind of military collapse will follow, and then there will be “uncontrolled political transformation” within the Russian Federation itself.

It ends this way, after discussing the RAND Long War paper:

But if the next phase of war suggests that such a compromise is required for peace, better to seek it sooner than after many more seasons of suffering and death.

We need resources to defend against Chinese baloons.

Posted by: upstater | Feb 5 2023 1:35 utc | 86

Young @56
Guess its time to list you among those who approach this conflict from a mindset of existential fear. Death wishes do not add to the tenor of this site. Not helpful. Consider the possibility that we are spirits, already possessed of eternal life and that though our bodies will experience whatever comes about; the center of our beings live on.

Posted by: aristodemos | Feb 5 2023 1:50 utc | 88

Posted by: psychohistorian | Feb 5 2023 1:14 utc | 81
The ukrop whos negotiating these exhanges is a better diplomat than Russia has in all of Kremlin. Time after time he manages to get double the Ukrainians released, makes Russia give them back Azov fighters and foreign mercs already sentenced to death. Replace Zelensky with this dude and he will negotiate Russian surrender before the snows melt.

Posted by: experienced | Feb 5 2023 1:57 utc | 90

You see, my mother had a Russian friend that escaped Russia under Stalin. She was a ballerina and toured Europe with her American husband who was a concert pianist. This was in the 60s-70s. So I grew up unafraid of Russians and we also had Chinese and Japanese friends. I never believed all the bullshit. Especially since my grandfather worked for Standard oil in the LA basin. I learned early in life to not trust anything on the news. My grandfather uncle’s and cousins fought in every war since WW1 And none of them would ever trust this lying, conniving shit show we call a government. That’s my rant for awhile.

Posted by: Immaculate deception | Feb 5 2023 1:59 utc | 92

The ukrop whos negotiating these exhanges is a better diplomat than Russia has in all of Kremlin. Time after time he manages to get double the Ukrainians released, makes Russia give them back Azov fighters and foreign mercs already sentenced to death. Replace Zelensky with this dude and he will negotiate Russian surrender before the snows melt.
Posted by: experienced |
And you believe those numbers coming from the same propaganda machine that issues such whoppers as “we’ll take Crimea back by end of 2022!”, because … ?
Seems like we should all stay skeptical about anything coming out of the western propaganda machine.

Posted by: Chris | Feb 5 2023 2:06 utc | 94

Posted by: Down South | Feb 4 2023 18:35 utc | 6
ref: https://t.me/legitimniy/14707

The Office of the President has long been working on options for delivering strikes on the territory in the depths of Russia. This will allegedly raise the falling morale among the Ukrainian masses and provoke panic in the Russian Federation.
They also want to disrupt the summer season in Crimea by constantly striking at the peninsula. According to rumors from the OP, this will be possible closer to April-May, according to functionaries based on the weapons they receive.

That is the plan, suggested by the Cock-Piano player. Wake up Mr. Lensky .. Sniper is waiting ..

Posted by: spare_truth | Feb 5 2023 2:07 utc | 96

experienced @90
Do note that the Russians have experienced horrific videos taken by Ukie troops proving that those maniacs hogtie prisoners and demand they lay on their bellies. Next they shoot them one by one. That was not the only such occasion.
So they murder prisoners, don’t they?
Thus, even by trading two Ukie prisoners for every one Russian in their captivity; they are all about saving precious lives, no matter the cost.
Can you determine who holds the moral edge in this conflict?

Posted by: aristodemos | Feb 5 2023 2:22 utc | 98

spare__truth @96
Appears like those moves or threats emanating out of the assholes in Kiev are genuine signs of desperation.

Posted by: aristodemos | Feb 5 2023 2:25 utc | 100