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February 26, 2023
Ukraine Open Thread 2023-47
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Continuing the retrospective tone of recent commentary there’s a decent piece at Sputnik here: https://sputniknews.com/20230226/donbass-a-story-of-defiance-1107797697.html
I tried to copypaste the whole thing for those in the free and democratic west who can’t access Sputnik, but such is its length it gave TypePad indigestion, so a few random excerpts follow:
Since 2014, the people of Donbass have shown their resilience in the face of constant hardship and seemingly overwhelming odds. Their homes have been bombarded by Ukrainian artillery systems for nearly nine years. With the help of NATO powers, the Kiev regime has repeatedly sent its troops to invade and subdue the proud industrial region. Despite all these trials, the people of Donbass remain committed to victory.
Sputnik spoke with Donbass militia fighters, activists, and volunteers. We asked them about how they were able to repel Kiev regime forces despite being heavily outnumbered and outgunned, the sacrifices they had to make for their convictions, and what gave them the strength to keep going all these years. This is their story of resistance.
~~~
Nelli Taraban was a retired law enforcement officer in February 2014, when a Western-backed coup in Kiev overthrew the democratically-elected Ukrainian government of President Viktor Yanukovych. Taraban was horrified and decided to take action. She began helping organize rallies in her native Donetsk against the new regime’s unlawful seizure of power and virulently Russophobic ideology. Following the brutal massacre of peaceful protestors in Odessa on May 2, 2014, Taraban and fellow activists began to prepare for a referendum on Donetsk gaining independence from Ukraine.
~~~
Taraban was not alone in her endeavor. In the spring and summer of 2014, local militias were formed all across Donbass. The newly-created units attracted people of completely different socioeconomic statuses and political views. Coal miners and college professors, communists and monarchists all took up arms to defend their home region.
~~~
Irina Popova, a lawmaker from Donetsk, told Sputnik that entire families enlisted in the militias, with sons and fathers going to the front while wives and daughters signed up for logistical support roles. The lack of proper supplies did not seem to deter anyone. “Just imagine, there were no weapons, nothing,” she said. “Our boys literally stood at checkpoints with their bare hands, with some kind of picket fences against the army of Ukraine.”
~~~
Ukrainian reprisals against civilians was not an abstract possibility. Mikhail Shubin was living in Mariupol in April 2014, when a group of mothers organized a protest outside the city’s military barracks one evening. “The mothers wanted the authorities to allow conscripts whose terms of service had expired to go home. Instead, they were being kept closed like cattle in there,” he said. “When the mothers tried to pick them up, machine-gun fire was opened.”
That incident was the final straw for Shubin. Shortly after the massacre, he decided to enlist in the militia. “I realized that I had no other choice when America and Europe arrived at my home in their dirty boots in order to teach us how to live and force their ‘democracy’ on us,” he said.
~~~
Much more in a sobering tone, reminding us why we are here.
Posted by: West of England Andy | Feb 26 2023 14:23 utc | 1
Just heard (unconfirmed) the Swiss Gov’t decided Ukrainian ‘refugees’ need to sell their cars if they want to collect welfare and free housing.
Note – a decent take home wage in Ukraine was 90€/month.
Posted by: Exile | Feb 26 2023 14:24 utc | 2
I watched the recent video of the UN general Assembly meeting on the NS pipeline sabotage . Many countries supported an independent UN investigation and stressed the dire consequences if this crime were to go unpunished , it would mean undersea cables etc. might become legitimate targets in international disputes. It would set a precedent.
The US representative spoke and dismissed the idea as a waste of time and tried to settle the matter by stating that the US had nothing to do with the pipeline bombing. It was a moment reminiscent of Bill Clinton saying “I did not have sexual relations with that woman” or OJ saying “I am 100% innocent” or like in animal farm when the farm animals decided to build a windmill and the pigs came up and urinated on the plans.
Posted by: bartholomew cubbins | Feb 26 2023 14:26 utc | 3
Note – a decent take home wage in Ukraine was 90€/month.
Posted by: Exile | Feb 26 2023 14:24 utc | 2
Those are not the Ukies being asked to sell their cars in order to collect welfare.
Posted by: SwissArmyMan | Feb 26 2023 14:36 utc | 4
Self delusion and spin is no substitute for a coherent strategy, the public has had enough and it shows:
https://johnmenadue.com/the-wests-grand-illusions-in-ukraine/
Posted by: Paul GV | Feb 26 2023 14:43 utc | 5
Those are not the Ukies being asked to sell their cars in order to collect welfare.
Posted by: SwissArmyMan | Feb 26 2023 14:36 utc | 4
Very much so. Just makes one think
Posted by: Exile | Feb 26 2023 14:55 utc | 6
Now everyone has noticed that as soon as one shortage of onions provoked an increase in the price of “space”. Prices for 1 kg of onions reach $ 1, sometimes even higher.
Now this situation will be observed in many vegetables. Prices are going up on everything. By the winter of 2023-24, the situation will be even worse with food. No wonder many predict “hunger” in the next 2-3 years. And in Ukraine in the next year there is also the risk of growing epidemics.
Posted by: Down South | Feb 26 2023 15:11 utc | 7
@ Exile | Feb 26 2023 14:24 utc | 2
Ho ho ho. Sets an excellent policy example & precedent, for other nations to follow, methinks. 😉
From John Helmer:
Almost half the Americans polled a month ago said they did not believe Russia was an adversary with whom the US is in conflict. The poll results were reported by a government-sponsored and financed think tank called the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR), and the results published on February 22. Asked to say which prompt statement “best reflects your view on what Russia is to your country”, 55% of Americans took the war-fighting option. However, 14% replied that Russia was “an ally that shares our interests and values” or “a necessary partner with which we must strategically cooperate”; another 16% of Americans described Russia as “a rival with which we need to compete”; and 16% were non-committal, saying they “don’t know”. Altogether, 46% of the national US sample refused to agree to the mainstream media line on Russia and the policy of the US Government and Congress.
I.M.O. this increases the probability of the West devising a false flag event. Another airline shootdown? An atttack on one of its own military structures overseas? Dangerous times ahead.
Posted by: Maracatu | Feb 26 2023 15:11 utc | 9
🇷🇺 🇺🇦 The Ukrainian servicemen killed and captured in the south of Artemovsk(Bakhmut) in the vast majority of cases are from Western Ukraine, said one of the commanders of the musicians.
First officer: “Regarding the opponent today,guys has delivered documents, it is “Right sector”,chevrons,documents as evidence of being member of the Army[member of paradeArmy]. It is from 2021 signed by the president Zelensky himself. In the second document you can see his personal details…He is from Rivne region(Oblast)…Jorunalist(now they coming from West Ukraine),”Wagner” commander answering “Yes,West Ukraine”
Second (starts at 01:09) officer saying according to thte documents found form AFU reinforcements in Bakhmut are coming from Kiev region,Ivano-Frankivsk region and Lviv region,mostly from West Ukraine,all bodies of the oponnent are from West Ukraine
People who participated in Donbass conflict since 2014 are very little,now there are mostlymobilised people from West Ukraine
https://t.me/azmilitary11/39224
Posted by: Down South | Feb 26 2023 15:14 utc | 10
🇺🇦🏴☠️Daily reminder that AFU was and is being trained by “the West civilised society” which trains terrorists around the globe…
Ukrainian sources publish a video of the transportation of Western military equipment inside the trucks of the Ukrainian company Nova Poshta, the characteristic red symbol of this particular organization is visible on one of the vehicles.
Recall that earlier the facilities of this “peaceful” company were repeatedly hit, and the attached video once again proves that these “postmen” are a legitimate military target.
Most likely, the video was filmed on the border with one of the Western countries and, presumably, it is under the cover of such mail trucks that Western military equipment gets to Ukraine.
https://t.me/azmilitary11/39249
Posted by: Down South | Feb 26 2023 15:16 utc | 11
Polish Media Accidentally Captures Zelensky’s Body Double On Camera
https://twitter.com/ArthurM40330824/status/1629495776928841728/photo/2
Posted by: SwissArmyMan | Feb 26 2023 15:17 utc | 12
🇺🇦🇷🇺Kyiv will no longer be able to deprive Crimea of water.
A year after the unblocking of the hydrotechnical unit of the North Crimean Canal, located in the Kherson region, bypass channels were built and other measures were taken in case the dam collapsed, said the head of the Crimea, Sergei Aksenov.
Aksenov also said that the March reservoir is going to be built in the Bakhchisarai region of Crimea in order to provide Yalta with water.
https://t.me/Slavyangrad/35086
Posted by: Down South | Feb 26 2023 15:18 utc | 13
The Russians are not advancing that much or none at all except where the Wagner forces are spearheading the attack.
Yet, last week we get reports from Prigozhin, the head of Wagner, that the Wagner troops were being denied ammo.
Something very wrong seems to be going on in the Russian high command. Maybe Prigozhin is correct and there is actually treason going on within the Russian high military command.
Maybe some of those many billions of Western money bought off some Russian generals?
Posted by: young | Feb 26 2023 15:42 utc | 14
Scott Ritter, today. The best 1 hr. yet.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6fqRCLUdEg
Comprehensive AND forward-looking Q and A
Posted by: Elmagnostic | Feb 26 2023 15:47 utc | 15
The situation around Transnistria continues to escalate. A photo of an order issued to the engineer-sapper battalion of the 128th brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to move to the area of the border village of Kuchurgan to organize the delivery of ammunition appeared on the network.
https://t.me/Slavyangrad/35096
The armed forces of Ukraine are transferring ammunition from Kirovograd to Kuchurgan, a village bordering Pridnestrovie
The commander of the military unit of the engineer-sapper battalion of the 128th brigade of the armed forces of Ukraine was ordered to send personnel in order to organize the delivery of ammunition along the route of the village of Kuchurgan. Despite public statements about the absence of a provocation plan in Transnistria, Ukraine continues to send forces to its border.
Earlier, there were reports about the movement of the AFU grouping near the borders of Transnistria. The Russian Ministry of Defense also indicated that it had recorded a significant accumulation of personnel and military equipment of Ukrainian units near the Ukrainian-Pridnestrovian border, as well as the deployment of artillery in firing positions and an unprecedented increase in flights of unmanned aircraft of the Armed Forces of Ukraine over the territory of the PMR.
https://t.me/Slavyangrad/35102
❗️Urgent❗️ The Kiev authorities are transferring troops to the borders of Transnistria, Vladimir Rogov, a member of the main council of the administration of the Zaporozhye region, said.
“According to the operational information received, the Zelensky regime ordered the transfer of troops to the borders of Pridnestrovie. With a high degree of probability, we can say that Zelensky is preparing to attack Pridnestrovie,” Rogov told RIA Novosti.
https://t.me/Slavyangrad/35163
Posted by: Down South | Feb 26 2023 15:53 utc | 16
I.M.O. this increases the probability of the West devising a false flag event… Dangerous times ahead.
@ Maracatu | Feb 26 2023 15:11 utc | 9
I’m most grateful for links to shreds of optimism anywhere — some in this thread — that at some point the WWIII trajectory might turn around. Serious adults must search diligently, even in rich vineyards of difficult truth such as MoA.
But the non-optical reality of Russia’s gradual, grinding victory looms up, with the cognitive dissonance of internal colonialism for the tiny minority of US Americans walking around conscious. The big picture I see, this moment, is not at all optimistic — because this proxy conflict is existential on both sides. It’s clear by now that “our side” — the USA madness manufacturing machine — will stop at nothing.
I search every day, in vain, for glimmers of hope. What I’m finding instead of that are symptoms of mounting maniacal desperation — from Nord Stream to Balloonacy, from tragedy to farce…
Posted by: Aleph_Null | Feb 26 2023 16:04 utc | 17
If I were an American taxpayer I’d be furious that my tax dollars are being used to prop up a neo-Nazi regime, the amounts of cash given to Ukraine by the Washington are huge. The money could be used on a whole number of projects in the USA to help the people.
“The United States has sent more military assistance to help Ukraine fight against Russia than Washington spent annually to fight its own war in Afghanistan, according to a report.
The data compiled by German research firm Statista showed that US military aid to Ukraine up to mid-January, covering the first 11 months of the conflict, totaled $46.6 billion.
That compared with an average annual military spend of $43.4 billion, in 2022 dollars, during the first ten years of the Afghanistan war, said Statista citing data from the Kiel Institute for the World Economy.
“When calculating the average annual costs of previous wars in which the United States has been involved in, the true magnitude of the country’s Ukraine aid expenditure can be seen,” Statista data journalist Martin Armstrong said. The Ukraine total doesn’t include an additional $5 billion worth of weapons and equipment that the Pentagon sent to Kiev, he said.
The figures however exclude non-military aid, such as the $4.5 billion that US President Joe Biden pledged to fund pensions, government salary and another public spending. In total, the United States has allocated $113 billion in Ukraine aid, and multiple administration officials have vowed to keep supporting Kiev “as long as it takes.”
Americans have sent more money to Ukraine than Russia spends on its annual military budget. Russia spends about US$65 to 70 billion a year. The US sent more than $100 billion, including non-military aid, and plus there are the other NATO countries and those in Asia too.”
https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2023/02/26/698899/US-sent-more-military-aid-to-Ukraine-than-it-spent-in-Afghanistan–Report
Posted by: Republicofscotland | Feb 26 2023 16:05 utc | 18
No Russia winter offensive in return for not delivering long range weapons. And of course hands off of Transnistria. Backroom
deal explains continuing of da slow grind.
Source, this RT article with the second line: “A widening of the military operation depends on the weaponry Kiev gets from the West, Sergey Shoigu has said”
Then, cya in spring, fellaws..
Posted by: C | Feb 26 2023 16:08 utc | 19
West of england Andy no. 1
Thanyou for that consideration. I’ve no access to sputnik or rt. But can still get tass.
Posted by: ThusspakeZarathustra | Feb 26 2023 16:08 utc | 20
Polish Media Accidentally Captures Zelensky’s Body Double On Camera
Posted by: SwissArmyMan | Feb 26 2023 15:17 utc | 12
Com’on man, was there ever a more obvious photoshop job? The figure “pops” into place and never moves.
Posted by: Opport Knocks | Feb 26 2023 16:11 utc | 21
This is pretty interesting.
“German author and politician Christoph Horstel says Russia has the legal right to invade Germany in self-defense, but Moscow won’t because it is not aggressive.
“It’s very clear we’re made to lose here,” Hörstel, who is based in Berlin, Germany, said on Tuesday while speaking on Press TV’s “SPOTLIGHT” program.
“I said in the past that Germany is a guaranteed loser in the next war against Russia,” he added.
“And be careful about this. We signed the Two Plus Four Treaty. We had the NATO-Russia act. And we violated both of them very thoroughly. Russia would have the legal right to invade Germany on a very short red telephone notice to Washington, Paris and London, saying, ‘Look, guys, we’re coming, that’s self-defense. That’s allowed,’” he stated.
On September 12, 1990, the foreign ministers of the Federal Republic of Germany, the German Democratic Republic, France, Russia, the UK and the US signed the Two Plus Four Treaty that sealed the foreign policy aspects of reunification.
“So this is the situation here. Russia is not coming because they are not aggressive. The aggression sits solely and exclusively with Washington. And the Europeans know it but they are so corrupt; they’re more afraid of their Washingtonian leaders than their own voters and populations. That’s the dirty fact here,” he lamented.”
https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2023/02/22/698650/Russia-has-legal-right-to-invade-Germany-on-short-notice–German-politician
Posted by: Republicofscotland | Feb 26 2023 16:19 utc | 22
If I were an American taxpayer I’d be furious that my tax dollars are being used to prop up a neo-Nazi regime, the amounts of cash given to Ukraine by the Washington are huge. The money could be used on a whole number of projects in the USA to help the people.
Posted by: Republicofscotland | Feb 26 2023 16:05 utc | 18
Good point, except for the “tax dollars” part. Less than 50% of the US Federal Budget is tax receipts. By definition, any unbudgeted amount sent to Ukraine is added to the $31 trillion of debt that can never be repaid.
Who ends up getting “stiffed” for that? Hence the global process of de-dollarization.
Posted by: Opport Knocks | Feb 26 2023 16:22 utc | 23
🇺🇦Ukrainian TG-channel “Resident” writes:
“Our source in the OP said that Zaluzhny reported to Zelensky about the tactical encirclement of Bakhmut by Russian troops, the only road through Khromovo can only be used at night.
The fields around the city have turned into slush due to warming, which means that the supply of the Armed Forces will become more difficult every day.”
https://t.me/DonbassDevushka/46115
Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine warned Zelensky about the critical situation in Artyomovsk
Valery Zaluzhny informed Ukrainian President Zelensky about the critical situation in Artemivsk and the position of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, military commander Yevgeny Poddubny said.
📝 “ It is reported that the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported to Zelensky about the tactical encirclement of Artemovsk of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation and the impossibility of evacuating the remaining Ukrainian units. This wording is confirmed by the state of affairs on the “ground”, ”wrote Poddubny.
✅ Zelensky has long been spitting on the lives of Ukrainians. He begs money from allies every day. And if he officially announces that Russia has returned to Artemovsk, then the generous cash flow may end abruptly.
https://t.me/Slavyangrad/35165
Posted by: Down South | Feb 26 2023 16:40 utc | 24
Republicofscotland@22
In this war Germany doesn’t have a chance. Hudson called it right, a year ago, this is a war against Germany. And it looks as if the German people are catching on to it.
There is a good article at Consortium News to day by Joe Lauria
https://consortiumnews.com/2023/02/25/western-leaders-privately-say-ukraine-cant-win-the-war/
“The German and French leaders have told Ukraine they must seek peace with Russia in exchange for a post-war defense pact, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.”
Could Russia make peace on the basis that the US removes all its military bases from NATO member countries? It ought to because, if the Americans went home-as most Americans really want them to do anyway- European politics would change radically.
Posted by: bevin | Feb 26 2023 16:41 utc | 25
Self delusion and spin is no substitute for a coherent strategy, the public has had enough and it shows:
Posted by: Paul GV | Feb 26 2023 14:43 utc
Good Article!
Posted by: Cond Zero | Feb 26 2023 16:42 utc | 26
Posted by: ThusspakeZarathustra | Feb 26 2023 16:08 utc | 20
It appears somebody has already archived the full page here: https://archive.is/mIxyw though it is somewhat slow to load. Hope this is of help to all those whose ‘free and democratic’ governments have taken it upon themselves to decide what their ‘free and democratic’ citizens may or may not read…
Personally I found it a sobering, sometimes quite moving, read. Indeed, a reminder that the conflict is truly existential for the people of the liberated territories.
Posted by: West of England Andy | Feb 26 2023 16:43 utc | 27
A Ukie friend had to abandon his car in order to “emigrate” to Germany. They did not allow him to even bring the car in.
Sad story. I feel bad for all Ukie refugees but I cant really confront them and tell them its really their insane governments fault. Maybe I should. Someone should.
Posted by: Comandante | Feb 26 2023 16:43 utc | 28
Less than 50% of the US Federal Budget is tax receipts.
Posted by: Opport Knocks | Feb 26 2023 16:22 utc | 23
Barflies – reflect that 1/2 of Federal Gov‘t spend is funded by Debt. Now Muse a bit on what happens when a significant portion of foreigners stop buying that debt ? Sure, the Federal Reserve (Banking Cartel) can simply print dollars and ‘loan’ those dollars to the Gov’t…..but the interest rate will need to increase big time to cover the increased risk.
De-dollarization is happening, glacially but it’s happening
Posted by: Exile | Feb 26 2023 16:52 utc | 29
Time to ask who wants this war.
I submit the same people who have infiltrated, bought outright or blackmailed their way into dominance in all of our political and social institutions.
A purge must come or we will not survive.
Posted by: NOMAD | Feb 26 2023 16:57 utc | 30
🇧🇾🇺🇦🇷🇺Today, Belarusian opposition telegram channels reported an explosion at a military airfield in Machulishchi, from where Russian aircraft regularly take off.
They admitted that an explosive device was dropped on a Russian A-50 long-range radar detection aircraft. It is reported that the board could have been damaged.
There is also information that after the explosion, a transport “Il” arrived from Russia, and the approaches to the airfield were blocked by security forces.
Russian telegram channels then also reported explosions near Minsk (where the airfield is located), hinting that the situation is similar to the strike on the airbase in Saratov.
Official sources did not comment on this information.
https://t.me/azmilitary11/39270
Posted by: Down South | Feb 26 2023 17:09 utc | 31
Die Rede von Brigadegeneral Erich Vad a.D. am 25.2.2023 in Berlin:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzPn4rC_Gp4
Posted by: Andreas | Feb 26 2023 17:14 utc | 32
All russia has to do is wait for ukraine to launch an offensive then do their counter offensive. Patience they need ukriane to waste its reserves in a pathetic attempt to show their western paymasters they are good slavs and eagerly want to please.
The lack of a russian offensive is their best move I see more and more stories in the west how they’ve already failed at it. Pure bait, now is the time to consolidate and wait.
Posted by: Neofeudalfuture | Feb 26 2023 17:23 utc | 33
Posted by: Neofeudalfuture | Feb 26 2023 17:23 utc | 33
“All russia has to do is wait for ukraine to launch an offensive then do their counter offensive…”
My idea exactly, and I am a sergeant, so I do know these things.
A certain European midget monarchy is apparently exhortating to desperate displays again. http://avia.pro/news/vsu-nazvali-klyuchevuyu-cel-podgotavlivaemogo-kontrnastupleniya
If such an attack is to commence, we shall clearly see, who has been deceived and mislead, and who has not.
Posted by: Down South | Feb 26 2023 17:09 utc | 31
My guess is these are most likely Nato routed drones. Ukraine has next to nil to nothing to do with them. They use satellite data to route drones past any potential air defense, and they might fly very low. The radar plane is very important in preventing sneak Nato attacks in Belarus.
Posted by: unimperator | Feb 26 2023 17:53 utc | 35
All russia has to do is wait for ukraine to launch an offensive then do their counter offensive…
Posted by: Neofeudalfuture | Feb 26 2023 17:23 utc | 33
That’s part of the “absorption” phase of their doctrine. Uaf is waiting Russia to make a move, but Russia won’t make a big move till Ukraine makes their move. Ukraine has had to push their planned offensive date back. If time goes on and no one does anything, the build-up will continue and that will determine the outcome later.
Posted by: unimperator | Feb 26 2023 17:59 utc | 36
I have a question about Transnistria.
Can anyone tell me how the territory is supplied, civilian and military-wise?
Posted by: robin | Feb 26 2023 18:05 utc | 37
Posted by: Down South | Feb 26 2023 17:09 utc | 31
WarGonzo confirms that. A new twist, Belarus attacked, we’ll see how Batka Luka reacts.
Posted by: Paco | Feb 26 2023 18:12 utc | 38
Do they still have those Soviet drones used in Engels or nato provided long range toys? Or it was launched from another country? Anyway, Ukr media also said today that one of their soldiers was shot at the border with Belarus, event not confirmed yet by official sources. This is the stage “let’s make fun of Belarus, they can’t stop strikes on Minsk”.
Posted by: rk | Feb 26 2023 18:23 utc | 39
Border Guards service of Belarus has denied the reports of shooting incident with Ukrainian soldiers near Volyn, RIA.
Posted by: rk | Feb 26 2023 18:38 utc | 40
To all, if your government blocked Sputnik or RT then all you have to do to unblock them is to use the free & public Cloudflare DNS resolvers.
Just search for “use Cloudflare DNS on XYZ” where XYZ is your operating system, e.g. windows 10 or android or iOS etc.
It just takes a minute or two and any blocked site should be accessible again. Hope that helps…
Posted by: Zet | Feb 26 2023 18:41 utc | 41
Those who can’t access Sputnik or RT in the “free world”, if you use the Brave browser, it has a “open private window with TOR” option. Sometimes the window doesn’t connect to TOR in which case you can go to “settings” “privacy/security” and turn the TOR option off then on again.
Brave also cuts out most of the adverts, though it doesn’t seem to stop Google id-ing you (in that say youtube seems to recognise me and remembers my history despite not signing in).
Posted by: YetAnotherAnon | Feb 26 2023 18:45 utc | 42
Robert Freeman, speaking bluntly to liberals, in the following. I have not often encountered this level of reality-orientation, over there.
U.S. actions in Ukraine have driven together its two greatest adversaries, Russia and China. They, joined by India, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Iran and dozens of other countries, are carrying out a Mackinder-feared Eurasian integration that will leave the U.S. outside of the world’s largest and most dynamic trading bloc.
The U.S.’ military failure has advertised, once again (after Iraq and Afghanistan), the relative impotence of U.S. military solutions. Yes, it can still destroy small, defenseless countries like Serbia, Libya, Afghanistan, and Iraq. But against a peer competitor that has chosen to stand up to it, the U.S. has, frankly, been handed its ass. All the world can see it.
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/ukraine-and-the-tunnel-at-the-end-of-the-light
Posted by: Aleph_Null | Feb 26 2023 18:54 utc | 43
Time for the European citizenry to feel the danger and turn on the genocidal supremacists and war profiteers. The Deciders (owners of the collective west) should be targeted personally, particularly their deep underground bunkers, with the high-precision missiles.
Posted by: Cerena | Feb 26 2023 18:55 utc | 44
In Berlin, those Germans who actually lived during WW2 see through what Ukraine really is. Ukrainians, with the lead of the infamous Sergej Sumlenny wen’t to the tank in front of Russian embassy to take away the roses, but then they decided to bring more blue-yellow stripes. Sergej Sumlenny also is calling Germans nazis who bought roses.
https://twitter.com/ricwe123/status/1629909434938925061
https://twitter.com/sumlenny/status/1629522228982185985
Posted by: unimperator | Feb 26 2023 18:57 utc | 45
One of the vassal kings (Scholz) basically saying he’s not interested in knowing and accusing who committed one of the biggest acts of economic terrorism on Germany by blowing up the Nord Stream pipelines. As in “we can have assumptions of who did it but because we’re a constitutional state we don’t assume but we need to be precise and we should be able to prove it” which of course he knows will never ever happen. He as a lawyer knows perfectly well that a judge doesn’t always need exact prove but that a significant number of very strong indications and clues can be sufficient to make a verdict. And here the whole world knows that the US empire was behind the NS bombing.
https://twitter.com/ricwe123/status/1629758346013163520
Posted by: xor | Feb 26 2023 19:02 utc | 46
Withdraw and join the West against China, or Russia will be a vessel of the PRC until it too is ruined. It is not fair. It is reality. There is a price for miscalculation.
Posted by: Ahole | Feb 26 2023 19:02 utc | 47
Dima on Military Summary made an interesting note on Kherson. Ukrainians are losing relatively much men and stuff in Kherson, even though there is no possibility for physical contact due to the river. The Russians are getting more coordinate tips for their artillery.
Posted by: unimperator | Feb 26 2023 19:07 utc | 48
Posted by: Zet | Feb 26 2023 18:41 utc | 41
Have a drink on me, it works¡¡¡¡ and it took a minute. Thanks.
Posted by: Paco | Feb 26 2023 19:08 utc | 49
Posted by: YetAnotherAnon | Feb 26 2023 18:45 utc | 42
Tor is far from guaranteed to be a solution, simply because it will often set up circuits with exit nodes in one of the hegemonic nations that has blocked access to various sites, in which case we are no better off. OK, we can continue to reset the circuit but it is ‘pot luck’ on how the circuit arranges itself and where the exit node is located. I don’t think there is any way of blacklisting exit nodes from the users entry point.
Apologies to all for off-topic post.
Posted by: West of England Andy | Feb 26 2023 19:12 utc | 50
“Attack on A-50 could be another fake by bullshitter Shariy.
According to FB (Russian aviation channel) A-50 wasn’t damaged.
Belarus channels deny the fact of drone attack, though it’s understandable.”
https://t.me/denatofication/5145
Seems like the news of hitting the aircraft was a duck. There might’ve been an attack but guess it was unsuccessful. Also, the news of shooting on the border was a fake.
Posted by: unimperator | Feb 26 2023 19:18 utc | 51
@37 civilian trade goes on with Moldova and I doubt ukraine is blockading it in any effective way.
Militarily it’s russian peace keepers are locals and there is no resupply except for black market smuggling I’m sure. Russia can’t fly transports or sail without getting hit by nato missles fire from ukraine
Posted by: Neofeudalfuture | Feb 26 2023 19:22 utc | 52
Agreed, Andy, but I (in the UK) usually find it enables me to read RT/Sputnik and get a view from the other side of the hill.
Posted by: YetAnotherAnon | Feb 26 2023 19:23 utc | 53
Posted by: YetAnotherAnon | Feb 26 2023 19:23 utc | 53
I find Russian media is happy to tell me all the things western media doesn’t want to, and they are therefore very useful to people here, in the circumstances. Nobody else is willing to do that right now.
Posted by: Bemildred | Feb 26 2023 19:26 utc | 54
@54 and western media tells you things the russian media won’t. Gotta have both sides narrative and a firm grasp on history(from old textbooks) to have a decent frame of reference for current events.
Posted by: Neofeudalfuture | Feb 26 2023 19:31 utc | 55
Eine Abschrift der Rede gestern in Berlin von Brigadegeneral Erich Vlad a.D. als PDF findet sich hier:
https://www.afd-fuerth-neustadt.de/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/RedeErichVad.pdf
Posted by: Andreas | Feb 26 2023 19:32 utc | 56
Posted by: NOMAD | Feb 26 2023 16:57 utc | 30
Sometimes between the debacle of Ukraine and breakup of NATO and subsequent humiliation in Pacific, people of US will start a purge of the “swamp”. I predict it to be ugly, in a way a Civil War 2. This all is going to happen much sooner than many anticipate.
Posted by: Milos | Feb 26 2023 19:33 utc | 57
@54 and western media tells you things the russian media won’t. Gotta have both sides narrative and a firm grasp on history(from old textbooks) to have a decent frame of reference for current events.
Posted by: Neofeudalfuture | Feb 26 2023 19:31 utc | 55
I live here, I don’t need western media to tell me what is going on, or for anything. They are a pain in the a**, an obstacle in the way.
That was not always so, but it sure is today. Garbage in, garbage out.
Thank you for your comment.
Posted by: Bemildred | Feb 26 2023 19:37 utc | 58
@Milos | Feb 26 2023 19:33 utc | 57
Sometimes between the debacle of Ukraine and breakup of NATO and subsequent humiliation in Pacific, people of US will start a purge of the “swamp”. I predict it to be ugly, in a way a Civil War 2. This all is going to happen much sooner than many anticipate.
Ok, if are to take that at face value, what is your estimated time frame? Or put differently, when can we say it definitely didn’t happen?
Posted by: Norwegian | Feb 26 2023 19:43 utc | 59
@58 western narrative propaganda is very good at splicing in bits of truth as well as emphasizing what’s troubling their owners. The information is far from useless,although it needs discernment and processing to extract the information from it.
So, keep an open mind. I particularly enjoy cnns opinion pieces. It’s well written expressions of what they hate, hence what needs to be looked at further.
Posted by: Neofeudalfuture | Feb 26 2023 19:54 utc | 60
I (in the UK) usually find it enables me to read RT/Sputnik and get a view from the other side of the hill.
Posted by: YetAnotherAnon | Feb 26 2023 19:23 utc | 53
Fair enough, if it works for you then all is good. Curiously, the only one I have to use a workaround for is RT; all the others, Sputnik, TASS, Interfax, the Russian MoD site etc. I have no problem going to directly, yet I also live in GB. Perhaps TPTB just haven’t caught up with me yet!
Posted by: West of England Andy | Feb 26 2023 19:56 utc | 61
Norwegian | Feb 26 2023 19:43 utc | 59
Yogi Berra — ‘It’s tough to make predictions, especially about the future.’
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yogi_Berra#%22Yogi-isms%22
Posted by: YetAnotherAnon | Feb 26 2023 19:58 utc | 62
@ Posted by: NOMAD | Feb 26 2023 16:57 utc | 30
“…people of US will start a purge of the “swamp”.”
I wish I shared your optimism. There is no national Zeitgeist in the US as I see it. The population is rushing around in no particular direction. America is basically a fiat printing press masquerading as a country.
This is right up there in what disturbs me the most about this entire thing. The majority does not know right from wrong and I think it stems from the whole bit about being “exceptional”.
Posted by: chunga | Feb 26 2023 20:01 utc | 63
@YetAnotherAnon | Feb 26 2023 19:58 utc | 62
Sure, but “This all is going to happen much sooner than many anticipate.” is a hard prediction about the future. All we need is a date to call it BS.
Posted by: Norwegian | Feb 26 2023 20:02 utc | 64
Posted by: Neofeudalfuture | Feb 26 2023 19:54 utc | 60
Yes, I read them mainly to find out what they are pushing at the moment. That can be informative. Russians are, to be fair, mostly useless about what is going on here. I think you have to live here to get how bizarre it has become.
Posted by: Bemildred | Feb 26 2023 20:02 utc | 65
yup those people putting the roses on the Berlin tank …very very touching.More protests in Berlin and at Ramstein by nato out.Reports on telegram eg intelslava z seem to indicate much more radio traffic by mercs…concluding Ukrops numbers are seriously falling in big numbers proving previous speculation .Bakmut about to be surrounded…big circle??? Anychance the ukrops building up against Transnystria can be targeted ..as well as the tanks beginning to arrive from Poland–kinda message to say not even worth sending them take them back in pieces—-surely Rus intel is monitoring their location.
I seem to be able to get by on proton vpn.
Posted by: Jo | Feb 26 2023 20:11 utc | 66
So now a base inside Belarus was hit and a Russian plane destroyed. Also, Saudi Arabia just donated $410 million in relief funds to Ukraine and a representative of the Kingdom met with Zelensky today. I think Saudi Arabia sees the handwriting on the wall and is trying to get on NATO’s good side before it’s too late.
Posted by: bored | Feb 26 2023 20:22 utc | 67
Hmm, there are Anti-NATO protests against the war. It’s a start.
Ramstein, some two thousand expected; hopefully more will gather whether it has any effect on Scholz is the question.
RT:
Protesters gather outside major American airbase in EU
Demonstrators descended on the Ramstein military installation in Germany, calling for an end to arms deliveries to Ukraine.[.]
The placards called for the Americans to “go home,” and also featured slogans including “Freedom to Julian Assange” and “Stop the weapons deliveries.” [.]
On Saturday, tens of thousands of demonstrators turned up in central Berlin for the ‘Uprising for Peace’ protest organized by prominent Left Party politician Sahra Wagenknecht and author Alice Schwarzer.
They, too, denounced Western arms deliveries to Kiev and called for peace negotiations between the warring sides.
Earlier this month, approximately 10,000 people took to the streets of Munich for a similarly themed rally just outside of the Bayerische Hof Hotel, where world leaders convened for the Munich Security Conference. Further military support for Ukraine was among the topics high on their agenda. [.]
Posted by: Likklemore | Feb 26 2023 20:25 utc | 68
People tearing up EU flags in Paris and protesting weapons to Ukraine
https://t.me/ZandVchannel/53804
🇫🇷 A crowd of thousands in Paris is protesting against the supply of military aid to Ukraine. There are also calls for France to leave NATO.
It is a positive sign that we see an increasing trend of such protests. The ones in Germany are particularly important.
Posted by: Norwegian | Feb 26 2023 20:26 utc | 69
This is right up there in what disturbs me the most about this entire thing. The majority does not know right from wrong and I think it stems from the whole bit about being “exceptional”.
@ chunga | Feb 26 2023 20:01 utc | 63
This can be difficult to articulate. Where the polity knows not right from wrong, we can call it “rampant amorality”. We stumble into it, in friends and neighbors, like a sudden cliff behind the brambles, a dead, empty space in collective consciousness. To even recognize this dead space, we must step back into a less intensely amoral consciousness, risking an offensively self-righteous affect.
It seems to me, residing for years in the heart of SF Bay Area darkness, the problem with USA lies mainly in the shallows of our polity, essentially winking at historical crimes to enrich us, while pretending exceptional innocence. US Americans are an exceptionally dangerous people for the future of planet Earth. That’s my working hypothesis.
Posted by: Aleph_Null | Feb 26 2023 20:27 utc | 70
https://rus.delfi.lv/delfi-plus/istorija-dnja/300-mlrd-kotoryh-net-es-ne-udalos-najti-rezervy-rossijskogo-cb-kotorye-hotyat-otdat-ukraine.d?id=55266930
300 billion, which is not. The EU failed to find the reserves of the Russian Central Bank, which they want to give to Ukraine
Contrary to the assurances of European officials, the financial authorities of the European Union have not been able to discover the assets of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation (CBR) in the amount of 300 billion euros. This information was confirmed to Delfi by several sources. The leaders of the Baltic countries, as well as the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, propose to use these funds for the restoration of Ukraine. International law does not allow this.
On 21 February, 51 MEPs, led by former Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Paet, former French EU Minister Nathalie Loizeau and former Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski, sent a letter to President of the European Council Charles Michel and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen (copy available editions). The letter contains a demand to create a unified register of funds blocked in the EU by the Central Bank of the Russian Federation and Russian oligarchs, indicating the size and location of these funds. MEPs argue that such a registry does not yet exist, and also demand that the European Commission encourage EU member states to share with it information about the arrested Russian money “to create a clear picture of the situation.” The signers of the letter believe that after collecting the necessary information, the European Council and the European Commission should develop a common approach to the use of these funds for the restoration of Ukraine and consider it especially important that these funds be used in this way. The signatories of the letter represent most of the countries of the union and factions of the European Parliament.
At the same time, as Delfi learned from sources in Brussels and Kiev, the amount of CBR reserves found in the EU countries is significantly lower than the estimated amount of 300 billion euros, which was announced shortly after the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24 last year.
A senior official of the European Commission, who wished to remain anonymous due to lack of authority to communicate with the media, told Delfi that European financial authorities, despite their statements about the blocking of 300 billion euros belonging to the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, have not discovered these funds. According to him, estimates of the volume of Russia’s foreign assets are based solely on estimates of the Russian Central Bank itself, made before the invasion of Ukraine. Delfi’s interlocutor said that in reality the amount of blocked assets is much lower. In addition, he lamented the inconsistency in the actions of the central banks of the EU member states and the insufficient exchange of information with the relevant bodies of the European Commission.
A Delfi source in one of the expert groups interacting between Ukraine, the EU and the US on sanctions pressure on Russia specified that after blocking all transactions with the Russian Central Bank in February last year, it has still not been possible to locate all 300 billion euros of Russian reserves . He suggests that this may be due to the structure of Russian foreign asset management, which may be much more complex than previously thought. According to the interlocutor of Delfi, part of the Russian assets may be stored in private banks, whose cooperation with the EU financial authorities has yet to be ensured.
Posted by: Oblomovka daydream | Feb 26 2023 20:27 utc | 71
V. Zelenskyy is a pathetic figure : He’s a corrupt actor who was put in power to bring about peace but was quickly threatened by the banderovites and Western officials if he did so. Now, he led ‘his’ people to absolute destruction.
If he had any decency, he would expose Western cabal and give his life for ‘his’ people.
Make no mistake – He wouldn’t make this out of this war alive. So, he could either save what’s left of ‘his’ country or continue the coward’s path.
Posted by: Fatty, Cakes’ Faker | Feb 26 2023 20:28 utc | 72
Remarkebly how much stuff there is i small notes about Moldova recently:
Will newly trained Ukr troops take Transnistria. Only 1500 russian troops stationed there. US 101 airborne is in Romania, Maia Sandu the Presidant has just the other day also visited Romania that is a close allied.
24 feb
Russia warns West over threatening its troops in breakaway Moldovan region | Reuters
Moldova dismisses Russia report of Ukraine plot over Transdniestria, Moscow vows response | Reuters
Exclusive: US to give $10 bln in aid for Ukraine, also plans Moldova aid | Reuters
22 feb
Moldovan president invites Biden to visit amid Russia tensions | Reuters
Moldova authorities fear Russia plans to seize Chisinau Airport – AeroTime
I Believe that she Sandu has said that Moldova will bomb their own airport if russia comes
Biden shows firm support for Moldova, meets President Sandu at his arrival in Poland | Romania Insider (romania-insider.com)
Readout of President Biden’s Meeting with President Maia Sandu of Moldova – The White House
21 feb
Biden affirms Moldovan sovereignty after Russian coup plot allegation | Reuters
16 feb
Moldovan parliament approves new pro-Western government | Reuters
What does Moscow want with Moldova? – DW – 02/25/2023
It was a remarkable gesture by Joe Biden. The US president asked his Moldovan counterpart Maia Sandu to attend a meeting with representatives of the nine central and southeastern European members of the North Atlantic Treaty Alliance (NATO) in Warsaw on February 21, even though her country is not yet even seeking membership.
14 feb
Moldova briefly shuts airspace after report of balloon-like object | Reuters
13 feb
Moldovan president warns of Russian plot to topple leadership | Reuters
10 feb
Moldova Prime Minister, Government Resigns (voanews.com)
Prime minister resigns after visiting Brussels- no reason given
Romania counters Ukraine’s claim over straying Russian missiles | Russia-Ukraine war News | Al Jazeera
Posted by: Paul | Feb 26 2023 20:32 utc | 73
Norwegian @ 69
A crowd of thousands in Paris is protesting against the supply of military aid to Ukraine. There are also calls for France to leave NATO.
France leaving NATO is not too far fetched as it was Sarkozy in 2009 that brought it back in officially. Granted it’s unlikely w/o some upheaval in French politics but if it happens anywhere it would be in France. They stormed the Bastille once they can do it again. Vive La France, liberté, égalité, fraternité.
Posted by: LightYearsFromHome | Feb 26 2023 20:35 utc | 74
Imo there will be an increase in pushback against more aid to Ukraine once the battles over the upcoming Republican formulated budget proposals get started. And those battles will have had a running start due to the battles over raising the debt limit, as Republicans seem to have drawn a line in the sand, and the Democrats will be under pressure to agree to some cuts to the stimulus package that was recently passed, so as to be seen as making a mature compromise in order to get the debt ceiling raised.
Yadda yadda yadda, the voters will more and more become engaged with talk of the budget, as it is very much a zero sum game when the government is divided between Democrats and Republicans. We no longer have it where Nancy Pelosi announces a budget, and gives no time to read it.
So now there will be fights over who gets what, and there will be “horse trading” as money gets moved from one place in a proposed budget to another place in it. And throughout the process there will be advocates yelling that the people that they represent are getting shortchanged.
Those complaining about getting shortchanged will often inevitably bring up Ukraine.
“My kids are drinking contaminated water, and you say there’s no money to deliver clean water, but there’s a hundred billion dollars for Ukraine?”
“We need a billion dollars in the inner city of Chicago for affordable housing, now, and we’re only getting a tenth of that, but there’s a hundred billion dollars for Ukraine?”
Get used to that refrain, “but there’s a hundred billion dollars for Ukraine?”, because we’ll be hearing it a lot. Theoretically the Republicans and Democrats could get together and agree to raise the debt limit, and later agree on a budget, without arguing about who gets what, and how much it will raise the national debt, but too many in Congress were elected to office so as to put up a fight over all of that.
Speaker McCarthy can get tossed from his position very easily by a vote of his fellow Republicans in the House, that was part of the deal that got him the job. So he will be obligated to push back against how money has been allocated in the past, and how the Democrats want to allocate money going forward. That will inevitably, imo, involve all big ticket discretionary budget items, like aid to Ukraine, getting argued over, with many in Congress wanting to peel money off what’s been allocated to them so as to apply it to things that they want funded.
Posted by: Babel-17 | Feb 26 2023 20:44 utc | 76
Walking on a string but on the wrong side BRICS application under consideration.
Saudi Arabia makes Ukraine aid pledge
Saudi FM visited Kiev and donates $400 million in humanitarian aid….
RT:
[.]The senior diplomat also met other top Ukrainian officials, including his counterpart Dmitry Kuleba.
“I hope that [the visit] will give a new impetus to a further advancement of our mutually beneficial dialogue,” Zelensky said in a social media post after the meeting.
During the visit, the minister signed an agreement on a $100-million joint cooperation program with Kiev to provide humanitarian aid to Ukraine. On top of this, the two sides also signed a memorandum of understanding –worth $300 million– on financing Ukraine’s oil derivatives by the Saudi Fund for Development.
One thing to pledge until “goods” arecdelivered so wait to see what is left of UKR to receive said promise.
Z is an unsurpassed beggar.
Posted by: Likklemore | Feb 26 2023 20:45 utc | 77
Posted by: Oblomovka daydream | Feb 26 2023 20:27 utc | 71
Maybe there’s some issue that western real estate markets could crash if they find the “real” reserves. Or in London.
No one in Russia cares about the oligarchs. It only proves Putin’s point on people being very “adventurous” i.e. stupid to park wealth in western financial institution.
Pepe Escobar wrote about it today on Twitter, in Russia, no one at this point really gives a rats a$$ about EU sanctions. The economy is humming along with low inflation, there’s no shortages of consumer goods etc.
Posted by: unimperator | Feb 26 2023 20:50 utc | 78
@Commandante, §28:
You could say the same for all the peoples of the Western governments, Commandante.
You should confront him, kindly and sympathetically.
So should the people of England, Germany, France, etc.
I see the Czech leader has gone psychotic, almost certainly ´turned´ by the tsunami of Western propaganda. Goebbels would have appreciated it.
Posted by: John Marks | Feb 26 2023 20:55 utc | 79
Posted by: unimperator | Feb 26 2023 20:50 utc | 78
Re. Russian central bank reserves, maybe another possibility is that they have made some kind of deal with Indians or the Chinese. So they could transfer western bonds or other assets owned by the Russian central bank to China or India, in exchange for importing goods. Essentially, as Russia can’t use them, but China or India can still sell those assets. It would be a pretty neat way of circumventing sanctions, and still utilizing those supposedly sanctioned assets. Maybe someone knows if such an arrangement is possible, theoretically.
Posted by: unimperator | Feb 26 2023 21:01 utc | 80
Have not seen this article posted anywhere herein so here it is: it is a good article with maps pertaining to the potential encirclement at Bakhmut:
https://sonar21.com/is-russia-closing-the-cauldron-around-bakhmut/
Posted by: Taras 77 | Feb 26 2023 21:03 utc | 81
Posted by: unimperator | Feb 26 2023 20:50 utc | 78
«Pepe Escobar wrote about it today on Twitter, in Russia, no one at this point really gives a rats a$$ about EU sanctions. The economy is humming along with low inflation, there’s no shortages of consumer goods etc.»
There are two important aspects of that story:
* That’s because Putin has explicitly declared that the RF is pursuing a “guns and butter” policy (“We will not repeat the mistakes of the past, when in the interests of increasing our defense capability, we destroyed our economy where it was necessary, and where it was not really necessary. We will not engage in the militarization of the country and the militarization of the economy, primarily because the current level of development, the structure of the economy and so on do not require it, we simply do not need it”). The “Washington Consensus” empire, with a much bigger economy, can more easily pursue their current “guns and butter” policy too, even if inflation has been ramping up.
* Anyhow the RF is self-sufficient and even an exporter of the two pillars of the modern economy and of the ability to sustain military operations, fuels and cereals (while the USSR was not self-sufficient in cereals), plus many metals. The RF may eventually have scarcity of some modern-tech stuff like mobile phones or LCD displays, but those are not essentials.
Posted by: Blissex | Feb 26 2023 21:03 utc | 82
West of of touch with the rest of the world
https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2023/02/25/west-rest-world-eu-study/
Finally somebody in the west have come to their sences
Posted by: Paul | Feb 26 2023 21:09 utc | 83
“Pledging aid” is a coin with two sides.
There’s the face of the coin, which shows the amount it represents, and expresses the promise to deliver it.
The back of the coin is where the caveats are located. “Not all at once”, “Stop breaking our balls for dealing with Russia”, and “You owe us now”.
Saudi Arabia pledging humanitarian aid won’t affect the outcome on the battlefield. It’s bandages, not bullets, toiletries, not tanks, pain killers, not planes.
Posted by: Babel-17 | Feb 26 2023 21:17 utc | 84
Have a drink on me, it works¡¡¡¡ and it took a minute. Thanks.
Posted by: Paco | Feb 26 2023 19:08 utc | 49
I don’t drink anymore but I’m happy that it works now. Enjoy an uncensored internet 😉
Posted by: Zet | Feb 26 2023 21:17 utc | 85
About corruption:
https://www.rt.com/news/572106-ukraine-us-aid-packages-wastage/
And this blog from Georgia about the now ousted Zaporizhzhya Regional State Administration Oleksandr Starukh
https://gebulashvil.wordpress.com/2022/09/17/the-disappearance-of-humanitarian-aid-in-ukraine-is-a-problem-that-needs-special-attention/
Well i now know that the taxes here in Norway will increase to cover this
Posted by: Paul | Feb 26 2023 21:24 utc | 86
Usually I wouldn’t listen to what the European Council for Foreign Relations (a Soros biz) has to say but they did publish a very interesting report:
United West, divided from the rest: Global public opinion one year into Russia’s war on Ukraine
One of the most striking findings of the survey relates to differing ideas about the future world order. Most people both within and beyond the West believe the US-led liberal order is passing away.
In paradoxical way, the West’s new-found unity in response to Russia’s aggression does not signal a resurrection of an America-led international order. Just 9 per cent of people in the US, 7 per cent in the EU countries polled, and 4 per cent in Great Britain see American global supremacy as the most likely state of affairs in a decade from now.
Instead, in Europe and America, the prevailing view is that bipolarity is coming back. A significant number of people expect a world dominated by two blocs led by the US and China. Memories of the cold war likely shape the way that Americans and Europeans view the future.
Meanwhile, outside the West, citizens believe that fragmentation rather than polarisation will mark the next international order. Most people in major non-Western countries such as China, India, Turkiye, and Russia predict the West will soon be just one global pole among several. The West may still be the strongest party but it will not be hegemonic.
The most popular view in Russia and China is to expect a more even distribution of global power among multiple countries – namely, for multipolarity to emerge. More than 20 per cent of Turks and Indians also expect this. This is despite the fact that more Indians foresee US dominance, while responses in Turkiye are almost equally divided between anticipating American hegemony, Chinese hegemony, a bipolar world, and multipolarity.
Posted by: Zet | Feb 26 2023 21:28 utc | 87
Simplicius has put up a new “urgent” Substack piece two hours ago…
He covers the Belarus attack, as well as updates on how many Russian and PMR forces are actually in Transnistria – it’s more than we’ve been told, although he doesn’t cite sources for that.
SITREP 2/26 – Urgent Update
https://simplicius76.substack.com/p/sitrep-226-urgent-update?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
But on top of that—strangely—there was a reported clash in the Volyn region between AFU and Belarusian border guards, reportedly resulting in the death of 1 AFU soldier. Reported by the reputable channel @voenkorkotenok:
Also, the Kyiv media announce the death of a militant of the “Volyn Territorial Defense” on the border with Belarus. The incident took place yesterday morning, but it became known about it only today. @voenkorKotenok
Volyn Terodefense militant killed in skirmish on Ukrainian-Belarusian border According to Ukrainian media, the collision itself took place yesterday at 5 am, but there is no official reaction to this yet.
However, needless to say, this has the stink of deliberate provocation and escalation. Ukraine is not suicidal enough to want Belarus to open up a gigantic new front against them where the AFU would be forced to tie down tens of thousands of new troops. Particularly, not at the ‘trade off’ of damaging ONE Russian plane at some remote airport. Maybe if it was something that had actual consequence and was worth the invasion.
No, the only conceivable reason the AFU would strong-arm Belarus into entering the conflict is if it was part of a well-detailed and coordinated Western intel operation (read: trap) meant to vastly escalate the conflict. The most likely vector of escalation would be to force the entry of Belarusian forces into Ukraine to use that as raison d’être to bring Polish and/or NATO troops into the country to, in some way, assist Ukraine.
I think he’s right about that. That, and the proposed attack on Transnistria clearly shows the neocons in the US want to expand the war into a full fledged NATO vs Russia affair on a level higher than the “Western mercenaries” schtick done so far.
Also, the rumors that the Chinese are preparing to send military equipment to Russia may be true:
But now a Chinese military blogger has stated the following:
From the largest storage of reserves of the Chinese army in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (not far from the border with Russia), artillery systems began to be reactivated and brought into combat condition, writes military analyst Zhu Shufang.
Among other things, these are PLZ-05 howitzers with a caliber of 152 mm (an analogue of the Russian Msta-S), as well as Chinese AR1A multiple launch rocket systems (an analogue of the Russian Smerch MLRS). It was here that high-ranking Russian military personnel arrived 8 days ago, the author writes.
There’s a lot more – a must read.
Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Feb 26 2023 21:32 utc | 88
just a joke
—
the germans know how they can get nice with the russians again
—
speak russian and use roubles :3
Posted by: Macpott | Feb 26 2023 21:41 utc | 89
RE: Post 82
” The RF may eventually have scarcity of some modern-tech stuff like mobile phones or LCD displays, but those are not essentials.”
Who makes LCDs and cell phones? Not the west…
Posted by: Darren | Feb 26 2023 21:41 utc | 90
Just now, while carving I happened to get a roll from a decent source into a Hoover Institution “expert” name of Steven Kotkin giving a presentation totally against Russia and acting as a stooge for the puppet regime in Kiev. He “made” point upon point which I or just about any regular poster here on MoA could easily have rebuffed. Allegedly “conservative” that Foundation (think rich oligarch) supported institution is nothing more than yet another tentacle controlled by the enemies of humanity.
With a name like Kotkin, one wonders whether the sleazy little academic worm is not closely connected to some very powerful interests and possibly even a member of the world’s largest and most absolutely exclusivist secret society on the planet. Such toadies ALWAYS are granted a platform on which to propound the “on message” agenda.
Confession: After only half an hour listening to that weasel, I almost lost my lunch.
General take: Essentially each and every major institution in this ruptured republic is totally under control by the usual suspects and thus, utterly corrupted and corruptive.
Posted by: aristodemos | Feb 26 2023 21:43 utc | 91
@ RSH 88
[.]
He covers the Belarus attack, as well as updates on how many Russian and PMR forces are actually in Transnistria – it’s more than we’ve been told, although he doesn’t cite sources for that.
But on top of that—strangely—there was a reported clash in the Volyn region between AFU and Belarusian border guards, reportedly resulting in the death of 1 AFU soldier. Reported by the reputable channel @voenkorkotenok:
Also, the Kyiv media announce the death of a militant of the “Volyn Territorial Defense” on the border with Belarus. The incident took place yesterday morning, but it became known about it only today. @voenkorKotenok[.]
It’s DENIED
Belarus Says Ukrainian Media Spreading Lies About Cross-Border Shooting
https://sputniknews.com/20230226/belarus-says-ukrainian-media-spreading-lies-about-cross-border-shooting-1107827496.html
MINSK (Sputnik) – The Belarusian border agency warned on Sunday that Ukrainian media had been spreading disinformation about a shootout on their shared border that allegedly left a Ukrainian soldier dead.
“Several internet sources… have referenced Ukrainian media that alleged that a cross-border shooting happened at the border with Ukraine on February 25,” State Border Committee spokesperson Anton Bychkovsky told Sputnik.
“The information spread by extremists is far from reality. There were no incidents involving firearms and border guards did not open fire,” he added.
Separately, the chief of the information and analysis department at the general staff of the Belarusian armed forces said on Sunday that the country would revise its defense posture to designate organizations calling for war in Belarus as a national security risk.
[.]
Posted by: Likklemore | Feb 26 2023 21:46 utc | 92
@Paul, §83:
Thanks for the link.
Sadly shows how deluded the British are, but hardly surprising given the totalitarian control of all press and broadcasting in the UK. This has been the case since Blair and his introduction of psy-ops and propaganda. The British have suffered over a decade of what Goebbels inflicted on Germany – and we saw what effects that had.
Britain is far-and-away the most controlled and the population driven almost psychotic about Russia. At least in America many are robustly challenging the censorship. By contrast, in Britain they´re doubling down on it. Soon Britain will be the least free country in the West. How ironic!
Posted by: John Marks | Feb 26 2023 21:48 utc | 93
The price cap on oil turned out to be effective and Saudi Arabia is nothing but a petrostate – Like, oil rents would be about 24% of its economy but 8% of Russia’s and Moscow would already suffer a deficit in its budget.
Also, Beijing wouldn’t need Saudi Arabia within few years. Beijing would try to secure its energy supplies and thus get oil through pipelines instead of using tankers which could be seized by United States Navy or pirates like anytime. Chinese companies are going to invest massively in Russia, Kazakhstan, Myanmar, Afghanistan and so on to diversify from Saudi Arabia. CPC would also want transactions in renminbi instead of dollars but Mohammed bin Salman wouldn’t break away from the petrodollars, despite Riyadh’s vague promises to do so.
Posted by: Mîrq Aël | Feb 26 2023 21:48 utc | 94
Stop breaking our balls for dealing with Russia
This sounds like a plausible motive for Saudi Arabia to invest that money. It’s a ‘get out of jail’ card.
Also Salman might be setting himself up for the role of mediator, which is highly prestigious and so far Turkey would have been a more likely candidate.
I don’t think it will appease the US though. But I believe that Salman has learned a lot over the last five years and is very competent at the game of thrones b now. So he will have calculated the benefits of this.
Posted by: futkon | Feb 26 2023 21:50 utc | 95
Tragic really.
Up north and down south the all the trash /poorly trained CIA graduates from George Washington DC(AKA CIA U). Continue to output badly written ‘z’ grade poopaganda. To support the failed vassal slave state number 54. In country 404.
Meanwhile, in Berlun. The capitol of United Germania. a vassal slave state number 53 to the USSA since 1991. The latest and dumbest stunt engineered by the idiots at CIA Langley. A burned out T-72 parked in front of the Nova Ruslan(2022) embassy on February 2023.
Originally intended to goad the native Berluners to support the no win war in country 404.
Has had the exact opposite effect. The cunning revolting native residents of Berlun. Have carpet bombed the wreck with flowers and peace doves. To turn it into make peace not war memorial.
Sgt “I know Nothing” Scholtz. Is reportedly very angry along with his entire retinue of his publically exposed CIA spies in his office. Along with all CIA poopaganda writers in United Germania. The CIA cell in Prague continues to use the photo shopped scale model of a T-72. To hide the reality this is just yet another failed poopaganda effort. Since VE day.
Posted by: Bad Deal Motors On | Feb 26 2023 21:54 utc | 96
Bored @67
The Saudi funds going into goods for Ukraine are strictly humanitarian, medicines and such. Like so many regimes, they feel obligated to maintain a studied neutrality.
Posted by: aristodemos | Feb 26 2023 21:59 utc | 97
Posted by: Milos | Feb 26 2023 19:33 utc | 57
«people of US will start a purge of the “swamp”. I predict it to be ugly, in a way a Civil War 2. This all is going to happen much sooner than many anticipate.»
There is a really amusing story about that: a poster calling himself “John Titor” claimed in 2001 that he was a time-traveller from an alternate timeline where the civil war by “flyover americans” allied with the russians against the “coastal americans” had already happened in his timeline and went nuclear. The full story is quite interesting, here just some quotes:
«There is a civil war in the United States that starts in 2005. That conflict flares up and down for 10 years. In 2015, Russia launches a nuclear strike against the major cities in the United States (which is the “other side” of the civil war from my perspective), China and Europe. The United States counter attacks. The US cities are destroyed along with the AFE (American Federal Empire) … thus we (in the country) won.
Q: Can you give us some personal stories of your past?
A: I was born in 1998 so I do share some childhood memories with all of you. I remember going to Disney World at Christmas and I remember going to the beach in Daytona. When the civil “conflict” started and got worse, people generally decided to either stay in the cities and lose most of their civil rights under the guise of security or leave the cities for more isolated and rural areas. Our home was searched once and the neighbor across the street was arrested for some unknown reason. That convinced my father to leave the city. From the age of 8 to 12, we lived away from the cities and spent most of our time in a farm community with other families avoiding conflict with the federal police and National Guard. By that time, it was pretty clear that we were not going back to what we had and the division between the “cities” and the “country” was well defined.
The civil war ended in 2015 when Russia attacked the U.S. cities (our enemy), China and Europe. […] The attack on Europe is in response to a unified European army that masses and moves East from Germany. Also, please be aware that from my viewpoint, Russia attacked my enemy who was in the U.S. cities. Yes, the U.S. did counter attack. The “enemy” that was attacked by Russia in the U.S. was the forces of the government you live under right now.
Sometimes I watch your television programs that show SWAT teams using new non-lethal weapons. They usually start out with, “In the future, the army and police will fight its enemies with new weapons systems…” When they use the word “enemy”, they’re talking about YOU! You don’t really think the Marines are going to jump out of helicopters overseas with sticky goop, pepper spray and seizure lights, do you?
in the opening hours of N Day, the Russians did not launch any high altitude detonations. They knew we would most likely clean up after them so they wanted everyone outside the cities to be able to communicate. Most of the warheads that hit the cities came in threes and exploded close to the ground. The heavy EMP damage was isolated to those areas. I don’t believe I ever said the war was between Democrats and Republicans. If I am incorrect, please point that out.
Q: Were only cities along the Eastern US hit in the Nuclear War, or all over the country?
A: Cities and large military areas in the entire country.
Q: What kind of people will be the ones least trustworthy?
A: The people with the most to lose if the world changes, Camel through the eye of a needle?
None of the things I have said will be a surprise. They were set in motion ten, twenty, even thirty years ago. Are you really surprised to find out that Iraq has nukes now or is that just BS to whip everyone up into accepting the next war?»
«Q: What event started the war? Can it be stopped?
A: The war is a result of faulty politics and desperation from Western leadership during the US civil war. Yes, I suppose you could stop it.
Q: Are some areas of the United States safer than others?
A: Take a close look at the county-by-county voting map from the last elections.»
Posted by: Blissex | Feb 26 2023 22:05 utc | 98
“NATO deployed two aircraft carriers, destroyers and a nuclear submarine in the Adriatic Sea
▪️USA and NATO allies have concentrated two strike groups of aircraft carriers in the Adriatic Sea, according to data from the command of the US 6th operational fleet.
▪️In the region, among other things, there is the aircraft carrier “George Bush”, the Italian aircraft carrier “Cavour”, the Spanish universal landing ship Juan Carlos I, as well as an American missile cruiser, a destroyer and an Italian frigate.
▪️As they point out in the 6th fleet, the joint operations of ships in the Adriatic “show NATO’s common commitment to ensuring security in the region”, reports Interfax.
▪️The American group of ships, led by the aircraft carrier “George Bush” which sailed into the Mediterranean on August 25 last year, includes a missile cruiser, four destroyers and a nuclear submarine with Tomahawk cruise missiles.”
https://t.me/UAexposed/142715
Posted by: unimperator | Feb 26 2023 22:06 utc | 99
Saudi Arabia pledging humanitarian aid won’t affect the outcome on the battlefield. It’s bandages, not bullets, toiletries, not tanks, pain killers, not planes.
Posted by: Babel-17 | Feb 26 2023 21:17 utc | 84
Meanwhile Russia doesn’t so generously help the people in Donbass with humanitarian nor military aid. It is private charities who are collecting aid for the Donbass people and fighters. You have countries around the world sending money and aid to Ukraine, yet even Russia is stingy with the Donbass.
Posted by: MiniMo | Feb 26 2023 22:07 utc | 100