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March 9, 2023
Ukraine Open Thread 2023-58
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You most likely have heard proclaimed in the MSM_of_Lies the latest high-tech Russian weaponry deployed, that the Empire has claimed allowed RF forces to drive AFU troops before them, if not in stark raving horrified terror, in Bahkmut, Avdiivka & elsewhere recently.
Behold, the genesis & evolutionary development over more than a century of the Russian military equipment designations, MPL-50 v.1869, 1917 & 1939, CS92SF & SIS-50 (The high-tech Chinese analogue is WJQ-308):
THE most deadly & HORRIFYING Weapon of all in the Russian arsenal – URA! – Youtube. 6m:57s
Intro – History – Combat – Everyday Use – Outro.
Note: Common additional secondary uses include: Lethal close-quarter combat, short-ranged thrown projectile, cooking & traditional serving of pancakes.
People used to American blitzkrieg keep complaining about russia taking forever, but like….you have 10:1 artillery superiority, their army is 5x bigger than yours, and they insist on fighting for every inch of ground while you’re busy waiting for reinforcements. Why go to them when they’re coming to you? Just hunker down and blast the AFU with shells, then go when you’re good and ready.
Russia still has time to take it slow, it’s going to be a while before western munitions production can actually meet Ukrainian demand.
Posted by: Hrughus | Mar 9 2023 15:48 utc | 2
Russia Wagner Group claims they have taken Bakhmat, and NATO confirms the city will fall to Russia.
Wagner group claims, “now the whole world will shake”
https://twitter.com/AbrahamStein8/status/1633855525442953216?s=20.
Posted by: Dave Oneil | Mar 9 2023 15:49 utc | 3
Looks like Poland wants to be more involved in the conflict in Ukraine.
“The construction of a Polish military center in Ukraine will directly draw Warsaw into the conflict, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at a briefing.
«
“Obviously, we are talking about Warsaw’s intention to deploy its infrastructure to increase the number of the Polish group, previously announced as the Polish Volunteer Legion, which will be located on the basis of the center. <... > That this is fraught with direct retraction Poland in the Ukrainian conflict, no one in Warsaw, or even more so in Kiev does not bother at all,””
https://ria.ru/20230309/polsha-1856795934.html
Posted by: Republicofscotland | Mar 9 2023 15:50 utc | 4
As if the West’s credibility wasn’t at an all time low, they then come up with some fairy tale on the terrorist attacks on the Nordstream pipelines, when everyone and their granny knows it was the USA and Norway that did it.
https://tass.com/world/1586589
Posted by: Republicofscotland | Mar 9 2023 15:56 utc | 5
… some fairy tale on the terrorist attacks on the Nordstream pipelines, when everyone and their granny knows it was the USA and Norway that did it.
Posted by: Republicofscotland | Mar 9 2023 15:56 utc | 5
The only evidence of Norway is Hersh’s source who said it was their military plane that dropped the sonar buoy which triggered the explosives. However lots of Flight Tracker videos at the time showed that plane as being American.
Posted by: Sanctions R US | Mar 9 2023 16:02 utc | 6
The recent massive missile & drone strikes throughout Ukraine in retaliation for their terrorist attack on Russian civilians, was not done by Russia!
‘Twere done by a mysterious, unknown, ‘pro-Russian group’, because Russia ran out of missiles last year, in March, have been reliably informed, repeatedly … by MSM_of_Lies …
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and his colleagues seek to avoid providing answers about the situation around Nord Stream gas pipeline sabotage, they consistently dodge questions on it by reporters.
The sheer bias of the UN has been revealed during this conflict showing it to be a Western tool controlled by the USA, for the UN to gain any credibility back it needs to move its HQ out of New York and into somewhere more central in the world, even then US/West would control it.
https://tass.com/politics/1586565
Posted by: Republicofscotland | Mar 9 2023 16:03 utc | 8
Sanctions R US (6).
I’ll stick with Hersh, the West tried for a time to ignore his report, says it all really, of course some will buy into the other fairy tales pumped out by his detractors.
Posted by: Republicofscotland | Mar 9 2023 16:06 utc | 9
A hypersonic missle launched! Well one anyways and it looks like it took out a central kiev energy plant. Probably right in the middle of many overlapping layers of air defence.
Nice to see new tech working.
Kharkov completely deenergized(I’m liking this new war term)
Now if only they had a way to shut down transport into and out of bahkmut.
Ukraine needs a response to the missles besides crying to their mama about war crimes or civilians like they give a shit about it. Weakness. They should at least launch something at Moscow- hits on the capital need forceful responses. Too bad they have no missles. UK? you out there? Their totally elected PM should step up here. The drones they launch at oil depots is not cutting it. If they want Russians to feel the cost of the war they’ll need more than terrorism or one off drones.
Ukraine needs to occupy non annexed russian territory.
Posted by: Neofeudalfuture | Mar 9 2023 16:07 utc | 10
https://stanislavs.org/fainting-piglet-aka-unconscious-pig-satirical-cartoons-explain-the-core-of-ukraine-and-why-smo-was-unavoidable-with-future-updates/
Nothing from me required. Good animated cartoons. Most need no subtitles.
Posted by: oldhippie | Mar 9 2023 16:09 utc | 11
@Sanctions R US | Mar 9 2023 16:02 utc | 6
The only evidence of Norway is Hersh’s source who said it was their military plane that dropped the sonar buoy which triggered the explosives. However lots of Flight Tracker videos at the time showed that plane as being American.
True, but some don’t want missing evidence get in the way of confirming their prejudice.
I don’t know the truth, only that the responsible should be punished as the terrorist they are.
Posted by: Norwegian | Mar 9 2023 16:11 utc | 12
The Ukrainian Neo-Nazi’s want to use illegal weapons, weapons banned by the Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM).
“Two American lawmakers say Ukraine is pushing the United States to provide it with banned cluster bombs to drop them on Russian forces from drones.
Jason Crow and Adam Smith who serve on the House of Representatives Armed Services Committee said Kiev has urged members of Congress to press the White House to approve the weapons shipment, Reuters reported on Wednesday.
Cluster bombs include anti-armor bomblets Ukraine plans to use against Russian forces by drones. That is in addition to the 155-millimeter artillery cluster shells Ukraine has already requested.
Cluster munitions, banned by more than 120 countries, normally release large numbers of smaller bomblets that can kill indiscriminately over a wide area, threatening civilians.
The lawmakers said Ukraine is seeking the MK-20, an air-delivered cluster bomb, to release its individual explosives from drones.
They said Ukrainian officials called on American lawmakers at last month’s Munich Security Conference to press for White House approval.”
https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2023/03/08/699490/Ukraine-seeks-US-cluster-bombs-to-drop-on-Russian-forces–Lawmakers
Posted by: Republicofscotland | Mar 9 2023 16:12 utc | 13
@ Hrughus | Mar 9 2023 15:48 utc | 2
ukraine will have run out of soldiers by then… yes, nato has some they continue to send, but i still don’t think this is sustainable..
Posted by: james | Mar 9 2023 16:22 utc | 14
You don’t say ?
Lawmakers paint dire picture of Britain running out of weapons – Defense News
LONDON — Britain’s Ministry of Defence must rapidly grow local industrial capacity in order speed rebuilding weapon stockpiles, the parliamentary Defence Committee says in a report to be published Mar 7.
The committee said at the current rate of progress it will take 10 years to replace weapon stocks gifted to Ukraine and rebuild British weapon numbers to an acceptable level.
Defense industrial capacity in Britain has atrophied over the decades since the end of the Cold War and the British, along with their NATO allies, have been caught out …
The report itself pointed up the growing problem. “It is clear that the U.K. and its NATO allies have allowed ammunition stockpiles to dwindle to dangerously low levels,” said the lawmakers. “It is clear that the manner in which Western governments procure armaments is not fit for purpose.”
…
@ Neofeudalfuture | Mar 9 2023 16:07 utc | 10
Now if only they had a way to shut down transport into and out of Bahkmut.
Someone is clearly not paying attention. 🙁
Ukraine needs to occupy non annexed Russian territory.
Ukraine needs to unconditionally, surrender.
A hypersonic missle launched! Well one anyways
Posted by: Neofeudalfuture | Mar 9 2023 16:07 utc | 10
Ukranews has helpfully posted a breakdown:
– 28 launches of Kh-101/Kh-555 air-based cruise missiles;
– 20 launches of Kalibr sea-based cruise missiles;
– 6 launches of Kh-22 air-based cruise missiles;
– 6 launches of Kh-47 Kinzhal air-based cruise missiles;
– 8 launches of guided air missiles: 2 – Kh-31P; 6 – Kh-59;
– 13 launches of S-300 anti-aircraft guided missiles.
In addition, 8 Shahed-136/131 attack UAVs were launched.
Posted by: West of England Andy | Mar 9 2023 16:34 utc | 16
Another likely perp for the NS destruction maybe none other than Edmund Blackadder and his chums, utilising one of Baldrick’s more “cunning plans.” It involved weighted barrels of waterproof gunpowder, placed into position by Edmunds chums using air filled pig’s bladders. Like medieval SCUBA equipment.
Posted by: Pyewacket | Mar 9 2023 16:40 utc | 17
@Outraged | Mar 9 2023 16:30 utc | 15
Ukraine needs to unconditionally, surrender.
A proxy cannot surrender without permission. Ukraine is surrender-incapable.
Posted by: Norwegian | Mar 9 2023 16:41 utc | 18
I don’t see any chance for the West to ramp up ammo production enough in time to save the Ukrainians.
Posted by: SwissArmyMan | Mar 9 2023 16:51 utc | 19
Norwegian @18–
Yes, it’s extremely important to recognize that fact. IMO, it’s very clear that NATO must be forced into an unconditional surrender to remove it as a Big Picture threat leaving the Outlaw US Empire standing mostly alone. How its Asian vassals react to NATO’s defeat will determine quite a lot.
Russian momentum and pressure will shortly drive things to the ‘bargaining table’ – if a desperate, craven, crumbling empire allows it. Seems to be a ‘battle’ going on within Empire between those who are actually insane versus those who merely worship money.
If ‘peace’ doesn’t break out soon: Then let those with ears hear.
cheers.
Posted by: gottlieb | Mar 9 2023 17:00 utc | 21
Ukraine needs shells (So too do US/NATO) – New York Times, Mar8’23 – archive.ph
So desperate is Ukraine for ammunition, it is firing considerably fewer artillery shells than it otherwise would, its defense minister says.
But it is still going through shells faster than the West can produce or supply them, and making more shells is expensive. If arms manufacturers are to increase production and build new factories, they want large orders with guaranteed money — and those factories can take two to three years or more to come online.
Arguing that their efforts to hold back current Russian attacks in the Donbas are being hampered by lack of ammunition, Ukraine’s defense minister, Oleksii Reznikov, told EU counterparts in a recent letter obtained by The Financial Times that, at a minimum, Kyiv needed 250,000 artillery shells a month. He also said that his forces were firing only about 120,000 a month, a fifth of the rounds they would ordinarily use.
But a senior European official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the topic, said that the 12 companies in 10 EU countries that make such artillery shells can currently produce only 650,000 a year — and that includes other types of ammunition that are in short supply, including 120-millimeter rounds needed for German Leopard 2 tanks and 105-millimeter rounds needed for the older Leopard 1 tanks.
The United States, too, does not make many 155-millimeter shells and is trying to increase its own production. It is ramping up from about 14,400 rounds a month to 20,000 a month this spring, with plans to be making 90,000 rounds a month by 2025.
…
@ Norwegian | Mar 9 2023 16:41 utc | 18
Conceded, on a technicality. 😉
Yet they must be compelled, irregardless, to unconditionally surrender, though, prior to collapse. ‘Tis futile abhorrent slaughter.
@ SwissArmyMan | Mar 9 2023 16:51 utc | 19
Ukies be lucky to hold out to Jun/Jul, latest.
Posted by: West of England Andy | Mar 9 2023 16:34 utc | 16
It’ll be interesting to see if Kinzhals were actually used. What one might term the Ukrosphere is so pitifully tarded that those numbers are just as likely to be pure ass-pull as to be true.
All very precise and certain on number and types of weapons used … showing off NATO’s electronic signature database?
Posted by: anon2020 | Mar 9 2023 17:06 utc | 23
Peace negotiations seem extremely far away in my view.
But then again governments change suddenly and pretend the past never happened.
Its like Orwell said: “Oceania was always at war with East Asia. Oceania was never at war with East Asia”
Kinda like the Covid thing. Governments were forcing people to take vaccines or they would be fired from their jobs and taken out of society. Governments were putting people in jail for not wearing a stupid paper mask.
Now its like that never happened.
Maybe the Ukraine war will be similar. At some point they all will pretend it never happened and those hundreds of thousands of rotting bodies never existed.
Posted by: Comandante | Mar 9 2023 17:09 utc | 24
It isn’t first time of Kinzhal use. During first week(s) of SMO, one destroyed a Soviet era bunker warehouse complex somewhere in the Transcarpathian mountain area.
Posted by: unimperator | Mar 9 2023 17:16 utc | 25
@Sanctions R US at 6-“The only evidence of Norway is Hersh’s source who said it was their military plane that dropped the sonar buoy which triggered the explosives..”
And there I was Sanctions R US, thinking it was a fairy sliding down a rainbow that detonated the mines! Thanks for putting me straight.
Posted by: Vragtes | Mar 9 2023 17:18 utc | 26
It’ll be interesting to see if Kinzhals were actually used. What one might term the Ukrosphere is so pitifully tarded that those numbers are just as likely to be pure ass-pull as to be true.
Posted by: anon2020 | Mar 9 2023 17:06 utc | 23
Towards the very end of the last Ukraine open thread I posted today’s ‘clobber list’ from the Russian MoD which reports deployment of the Kinzhal system in the overnight barrage.
I agree with you about the generally pitiful bleatings from the Ukrosphere, I just used the Ukranews link in response to @Neofeudalfuture’s disdain.
Posted by: West of England Andy | Mar 9 2023 17:21 utc | 27
#9 : Seriously, I have no opinion about who blew up the pipeline but I know, being a Norwegian in a very small country, that it was not us. We would have known.
Posted by: Fnord73 | Mar 9 2023 17:24 utc | 28
Maybe the Ukraine war will be similar. At some point they all will pretend it never happened and those hundreds of thousands of rotting bodies never existed.
Yes, I suspect a similar resolution. Murricans have very short attention spans.
Look over there – shiny object!
Not so sure about the Ukrainians, though. Reality has a way of waking people up. Once they internalize that they’ve been used as meat shields for latte-sipping Euro-soy-boys, they might familiarize us with the term “blowback.”
Posted by: Chris | Mar 9 2023 17:31 utc | 29
Below is the beginning of a Reuters posting
Russia launched a huge wave of missile strikes across Ukraine while people slept on Thursday, killing at least six civilians, knocking out electricity and briefly forcing Europe’s biggest nuclear power plant off the grid.
Sounds like a lot of precision strikes to only kill 6 civilians with some reported 80+ missiles strikes
I do believe that the pot is boiling now and we are seeing crazy froth come off the top. Like others commenting here, I don’t see this SMO continuing through the summer and as part of the bigger civilization war we are in, this SMO is a significant blow to the Might-Makes-Right folks.
It is not Z that needs to unconditionally surrender but empire
Posted by: psychohistorian | Mar 9 2023 17:33 utc | 30
Posted by: West of England Andy | Mar 9 2023 17:21 utc | 27
Great, thanks for the MoD report!
Posted by: anon2020 | Mar 9 2023 17:34 utc | 31
Posted by: Chris | Mar 9 2023 17:31 utc | 29
One can also recall the remark by Arestovich. He said that if the Ukrainians joined with Russia, they could roll over the entire Europe. This is probably one factor why Zelensky, or Nato is sending them to the slaughter.
Posted by: unimperator | Mar 9 2023 17:34 utc | 32
Posted by: psychohistorian | Mar 9 2023 17:33 utc | 30
The MSM reporting during every missile salvo has been:
“1 killed, 2 injured, 1 nursery hit killing a baby, and 73 / 80 shot down”.
Posted by: unimperator | Mar 9 2023 17:36 utc | 33
Outraged @22–
When Covid-19 hit China, they built full scale hospitals in 14 days. During WW2, Stalin moved the arms factories beyond the Urals and built more in just a few months–things the “free market” seem completely incapable of doing despite the need–must have orders to guarantee the excess level of profits required before land is purchased and ground broken for constructing a factory–that wasn’t the way it was done during WW2 within the USA. So from Can-do to Can’t is how Neoliberalism has castrated proper military building within those nations its captured. Russia and China aren’t in any way captured by Neoliberalism and understand what it means to prepare for Total War. NATO fidgets while Russia produces showing which side will prevail. Yesterday’s discussion of tech toys related to the F-16 that would also work with F-22 & F-35 that is if the latter two functioned properly was an excellent example of the above case in point. IMO, the Empire is incapable of producing this war’s equivalent of the P-51. What’s worse IMO is that no one within the federal government seems to care as long as the MIC reaps its excess profits and their stocks and dividends continue to climb.
Posted by: unimperator | Mar 9 2023 17:34 utc | 32
Yes. How can Georgians (or any potential next victims, Moldovans come to mind) be so stupid as to not see what fate awaits them, if they embrace the West?
Posted by: Chris | Mar 9 2023 17:49 utc | 35
Russia Wagner Group claims they have taken Bakhmat, and NATO confirms the city will fall to Russia.
@
Posted by: Dave Oneil | Mar 9 2023 15:49 utc | 3
Not so.
08.03.2023 10:00 PM EST
Artemovsk, Donetsk People’s Republic
PMC Wagner founder Evgeny Prigozhin said that Russian forces had taken the eastern part of the city under control.
Visit Sputniknews Interactive SMO map
Took several months to take the eastern half. Very doubtful the other half would have been taken overnight !!
= = = = =
@
#9 : Seriously, I have no opinion about who blew up the pipeline but I know, being a Norwegian in a very small country, that it was not us. We would have known.
Posted by: Fnord73 | Mar 9 2023 17:24 utc | 28
And that is incredible…. We would have known
the Norway guvernmintlie but you believe it is so openly truthful, bares all national security to its citizens and will publish afore or post all deeds. And considering my cousin lives in Norway, I have some ocean front in the Gobi desert. Very attractively priced. Hurry.
Indeed Einstein is proven right.
Posted by: Likklemore | Mar 9 2023 17:55 utc | 36
The way I see it, the Russians have all the artillery tubes, the factories, the technology, the steel, the explosives and the labour that they need. If they don’t trip up over their own shoelaces they can’t fail to beat the finger wagging, puffed up West. They can sit back and leisurely shell them all in their concrete bunkers until they give up. No amount of western manufactured reality and narrative shaping can change the facts on the ground. I remember my grandfather telling me many years ago Soviet Artillery won WW2. They knew the facts then and nothing has changed.
The only big arrow move I see coming is the shaft of reality that will make the narrative shapers blush.
Posted by: Bristolian | Mar 9 2023 17:58 utc | 37
@ karlof1 | Mar 9 2023 17:38 utc | 34
Distinctly remember a hospital build, fit-out & patient admission in less than 6 days, 24/hr live stream, late Jan2020 … 😉
Astounding demonstration of capacity & capability, supervision/management, professionalism, team-work, skill, deliverables, to the world.
Indeed. All true. MIC is IMO no more than a Potemkin Front for extracting annual tribute to Empire from vassals and ‘extorted’ others via Arms purchases. In last 3-4 decades it has become so extreme, we end up with non-combat deployable F-35s, CVAs @ $6Billion+ that don’t work, Javelins/NLAWs, $3Billion+ LHDs that burn to the waterline ’cause Captain down has zero knowledge re fire safety systems nor firefighting training nor parties, Subs hulls manufactured with non Mil-Spec indeterminate metal/alloy, flawed Helmets ordered from Norinco in China re-labled manufactured Ohio, same with faux body armor ballistic plates, etc …
40,000+ services recruitment shortfall this year (4 Divs), targets not met for more than decade, 8,000 Naval personnel retained though no possibility of ever being promoted, 75%+ of potential candidates for service enlistment ineligible, 44% on 3 or more grounds, 25% excluded re equivalent of Rickets …
The Empire is naked & exposed.
@ Bristolian | Mar 9 2023 17:58 utc | 37
Average no of artillery shells fired per day by British Army during WWI = ~689.
Comandante @24
” At some point they all will pretend it never happened …”
I think you’re right.
Your comment reminded me of Harold Pinter’s Nobel speech in which he spoke of US crimes; “It never happened. Nothing ever happened. Even while it was happening it wasn’t happening. It didn’t matter. It was of no interest.”
Posted by: Steve from Oz | Mar 9 2023 18:11 utc | 39
Posted by: Fnord73 | Mar 9 2023 17:24 utc | 28
Fnord Stream? Didn’t that blow itself up or something?
Posted by: anon2020 | Mar 9 2023 18:17 utc | 40
“….UK? you out there? Their totally elected PM should step up here. The drones they launch at oil depots is not cutting it. If they want Russians to feel the cost of the war, they’ll need more than terrorism or one-off drones.”
Ukraine needs to occupy non annexed Russian territory.
Posted by: Neofeudalfuture | Mar 9 2023 16:07 utc | 10
————————————-
That is some real Neofeudal thinking there.
Posted by: Ed | Mar 9 2023 18:20 utc | 41
IMO, the Empire is incapable of producing this war’s equivalent of the P-51
Posted by: karlof1 | Mar 9 2023 17:38 utc | 34
Agree, plus the MiG-15 was a huge culture shock when it suddenly appeared.
I believe the Russian and Chinese (and I quietly suspect Iranian) research and development of hypersonics is today’s equivalent of the MiG-15, but the totally financialised Western economy is in no way geared up to produce today’s equivalent to the Sabre.
Posted by: West of England Andy | Mar 9 2023 18:20 utc | 42
Is it safe to say we are past the point of no return? Did anyone see this coming?
No one is now safe no where.
I do not believe this is emotional however, it seems some folks are down right pissed off. While a whole other crew is pissing themselves.
More difficult to contimplate is that things will indeed get much nastier. So be on the lookout.
Posted by: thecelticwithinme | Mar 9 2023 18:25 utc | 43
This new type of war…. combining realtime surveillance from observation drones coupled to fire control systems is relatively slow because it is so thorough…. individual foxholes are being designated for destruction… plus this occupied part of the break away oblasts are very heavily fortified….not hasty but reinforced fabricated positions in depth tied into massive Soviet era civil defense complexes. NATO supplied assets are making their way at considerable expense from the borders to within the gun sites of Russian artillery and aviation….less Russian resources expended to achieve this massive disparity in combat losses. The initial velvet glove limited operation to force Kiev’s hand failed so operational strategy was revised to this current war of attrition. So purely from the destruction of the Ukrainian and NATO combined forces in country….and consequent corresponding Russian losses….this operation is a resounding success. Once the last Ukrainian defensive positions are breached there will be operational space for the stacked dormant Tank Armies to blitzkrieg south west and north west. NATO is currently forwarding ground attack squadrons which is an ominous sign of escalation. Georgia and Moldova will be agitated by Western intelligence to open second or third fronts….my guess is Transnistria is a priority to get NATO involved from Romania and try take Odessa for a springboard at a later date in Sevastopol. This of course is based on logical guessing but it must be apperent by now that the Death Cult in the west is a wild unpredictable dying animal with a Sampson Option mentality
Posted by: Joe | Mar 9 2023 18:39 utc | 44
Fnord73 (28).
You’ve no opinion on the matter but you know what happened in relation to it, that it wasn’t Norway, now that’s what I call a contradiction, have you ever thought about becoming a US Whitehouse spokesperson, you appear to have the gift of the gab.
Posted by: Republicofscotland | Mar 9 2023 18:45 utc | 45
outraged @38
expensive failures like f-35, ford class carriers, attack subs etc are high profit unilateral disarmament.
us army tried new main battle tank, etc started in 2003. terminated and updated 1970’s vehicles is all army has. same for replacing army aviation….
Posted by: paddy | Mar 9 2023 18:46 utc | 46
Yes, it’s extremely important to recognize that fact. IMO, it’s very clear that NATO must be forced into an unconditional surrender to remove it as a Big Picture threat leaving the Outlaw US Empire standing mostly alone. How its Asian vassals react to NATO’s defeat will determine quite a lot.
I have no doubt that Ukraine will be unconditionally surrendering (and if anyone wants to get an office pool started, I got dibs on July 4, 2023!), but what does NATO unconditionally surrendering look like? Does this mean that you think Russia would invade? Or will just the threat to do something do the trick? I don’t share your optimism with regard to NATO. I think that any ending would be something negotiated (and hopefully peaceful, not that the Euros couldn’t do with a little taste of pain).
Posted by: LGB! | Mar 9 2023 18:48 utc | 47
Paris: “In Zaporizhzhia unacceptable risk”
The raids that led to a new disconnection from the electricity grid of the Zaporizhzhia plant in southern Ukraine represent “an unacceptable risk for nuclear safety”: said the spokeswoman for the French Foreign Ministry, Anne-Claire Legendre . “France notes with concern the information relating to a new disconnection of the Zaporizhzhia plant”, added the spokeswoman in Paris, specifying that France “will continue to support the action of the IAEA (the International Energy Agency Atomic) in favor of nuclear safety in Ukraine, in particular, the efforts of its director general in view of the creation of a protection zone around the plant”.
Difficult to view the latest attack on ZNPP as anything other than a made-to-order provocation so hustlers can make a last ditch play for it against the backdrop of a potential UA military defeat.
The are all still hoping that a piece Ukraine will break off and fall neatly into their own pocket.
Posted by: anon2020 | Mar 9 2023 18:48 utc | 48
Three US bigwigs suggesting that the Ukrainian conflict could end anytime between six months and three years, long term UK astrologer Mystic Meg who died today (I wonder if she predicted it) would probably have narrowed it down better than this lot.
https://ria.ru/20230309/berns-1856867266.html
Posted by: Republicofscotland | Mar 9 2023 18:51 utc | 49
The Office of the President is trying to use all sorts of tools to promote the image of the Zelensky and Ukrainian crisis.
But every month it becomes more and more difficult to do it for free, as anti-Ukrainian sentiments are growing in the West.
Zelensky’s refusal to speak at the Oscars only confirms the fact that in the West, the mood for the Ukrainian crisis and Zelensky personally is changing.
According to rumors, even articles in the Western press are published on a financial basis, and not like in 2022, all PR was free.
Posted by: Down South | Mar 9 2023 18:53 utc | 50
🇺🇦Zelensky has been denied a speech at the Oscars” for the second year in a row – Variety Magazine
“>https://variety.com/2023/film/news/volodymyr-zelensky-ukraine-oscars-appearance-russia-1235547499/
https://t.me/azmilitary11/40324
Posted by: Down South | Mar 9 2023 18:55 utc | 51
So French president Macron will meet with UK PM Sunak on Friday to show a united front against Russia with Ukraine in mind, unlike Whitehouse spokes people the French ones know how to butter up their allies, in this instances the French spokesperson said that Britain had a large army, the French have what appears to be a good sense of humour.
https://ria.ru/20230309/signal-1856764705.html
Posted by: Republicofscotland | Mar 9 2023 18:58 utc | 52
@41 thanks Ed, I like to be brand 😉 see you guys next thread.
Posted by: Neofeudalfuture | Mar 9 2023 18:58 utc | 53
The sheer bias of the UN has been revealed during this conflict showing it to be a Western tool controlled by the USA, for the UN to gain any credibility back it needs to move its HQ out of New York and into somewhere more central in the world, even then US/West would control it.
Posted by: Republicofscotland | Mar 9 2023 16:03 utc | 8
I recall John Helmer stating that in the history of the UN there has been but two directors general who were not USA toadys…Boutros Boutros Gali and Dag Hammerskold, the latter who was murdered by “a mysterious pro-Washington group”
/S
Posted by: nwwoods | Mar 9 2023 19:01 utc | 54
During WW2, Stalin moved the arms factories beyond the Urals and built more in just a few months–things the “free market” seem completely incapable of doing despite the need–must have orders to guarantee the excess level of profits required before land is purchased and ground broken for constructing a factory–that wasn’t the way it was done during WW2 within the USA. So from Can-do to Can’t is how Neoliberalism has castrated proper military building within those nations its captured.
karlof1 @41
Not the right comparison. In WW2, everyone on both sides of the Atlantic were *united* in their desire to defeat the common foe. My mother was a little girl of 7 when the war started; she remembers paper drives, and tin drives, and rubber drives, where she’d go out with other kids and collect items for recycling. Food stuffs were rationed; only so much sugar, so much butter, so many eggs. The baseball season was cancelled. Western society, *which shared the same values of basic Christianity*, pulled together to defeat the Nazis.
Ford’s Willow Run plant was turning out a B-24 bomber every hour. A jeep was coming off the line every 9 minutes. But those were being produced by people who *believed* in the war, *believed* it was important, and *believed* their contribution made a difference.
Is that the situation today? Is anyone in North America feeling the slightest Ukraine paine?(sic) There’s sportsball on the TV every night, the shops are mostly full now, even the price of gas is coming back down. No one is affected in the slightest.
Tin drives? Rubber drives? Today, you can’t even get people to recycle properly, and that’s just their own driveway, let alone a walk around the block. There’s no sense of urgency about Ukraine, as most of us sense it’s not really any of our business, nor is it in any way under our control, nor has it made a difference in our lives. (Germans, not so much…)
Absent the unifying forces of WWII – mostly, the shared values of Christ so diminished in my lifetime – it’s difficult to get the Western hordes to put down their WISPs, and look around the world. There’s Tiks to be Tokked, and chats to be Snapped. Until some new unifying force is found – an actual pandemic, not the Covid scam, or a visit by real aliens, or the Big Quake in California – that isn’t going to change.
Posted by: FrankDrakman | Mar 9 2023 19:06 utc | 55
@ paddy | Mar 9 2023 18:46 utc | 46
Too true, Leopard II & Abrams were initially a joint design, MBT-70 (IIRC)… zilch deliverable since then at what exorbitant cost in serial failed/abandoned projects … never a shortage of funds for development/purchase, always insufficient & dwindling re operations/deployment/servicing/support/sustainment/PARTS & SPARES, never enough funds or priority given to technical service/support recruitment/training/development/retention …
The mighty illusory facade falls away vs actual Peer, even near-Peer opposition … Worlds Sole Remaining SuperPower ? Not (Absent damnable curse-d nukes).
@ Republicofscotland | Mar 9 2023 18:51 utc | 49
The International Clairvoyants Convention was recently cancelled due unforeseen circumstances …
@ nwwoods | Mar 9 2023 19:01 utc | 54
Damned right.
Sanctions R US | Mar 9 2023 16:02 utc | 6
It’s highly probable that the designation of the airplane dropping the bouy as Norwegian was deliberate journalistic misdirection to protect his source(s). Just think the fun there would be if he said it was German. Or French. Or the UK, which may be closer to reality in many ways.
Posted by: Jerr | Mar 9 2023 19:10 utc | 57
Is that the situation today? Is anyone in North America feeling the slightest Ukraine paine?(sic) There’s sportsball on the TV every night, the shops are mostly full now, even the price of gas is coming back down. No one is affected in the slightest.
Yeah, I can second that. American here and can confirm that aside from the ever shrinking number of blue and yellow flags I see these days, nobody in America even knows we are in a civilizational war. Something big (like 9/11 big) is gonna be needed to wake these sheeple up. Now I do disagree that Americans are not in pain, but here its more about the clotshot and the invasion on our southern border and CRT/Trans invasion/Drag Shows that are causing it, not Russia who never did nothing to us.
Posted by: LGB! | Mar 9 2023 19:11 utc | 59
Posted by: Joe | Mar 9 2023 18:39 utc | 44
“… but it must be apperent by now that the Death Cult in the west is a wild unpredictable dying animal with a Sampson Option mentality”
Damned straight! Well said!
Posted by: surfeit | Mar 9 2023 19:12 utc | 60
LGB! @47 : ” I think that any ending would be something negotiated…”
And who is Russia to negotiate with? The US and it’s gimp vassals in the EU are all liars beyond the pathological. The lies have gone on uninterrupted in all of the gimp states and their master through changes of political figureheads, so it isn’t as if the claim ”It was all out previous leaders’ faults!” carries any weight; is anything but just another lie.
There will be no “negotiated” end to the conflict. Russia will stop when their borderlands are demilitarized and the EU gimps neutered again. There is simply no one there worth talking to. Russia’s security will not be guaranteed by promises from liars, but by the destruction of those liars’ ability to harm Russia.
Europeans should really think very long and hard about what that means.
Posted by: William Gruff | Mar 9 2023 19:13 utc | 61
karlof @ 34
Many pieces of military equipment today are far more complex than in WWII. Some items, as artillery shells, have not changed much or at all. Locally I knew old workers at the Schwinn Bicycle factory who made shells during WWII. Switching from bikes to shells took a matter of days. Workers who could do the task are a different matter. Today’s students learn pronouns and only work with their thumbs. Factories ready to be converted are just not there. Rail transport? Nothing is ready. If there were a will to get the job done manufacturing something as basic as a shell in any volume would take a decade. The castles in the air for increasing production in one or two years involve piddling quantities.
Posted by: oldhippie | Mar 9 2023 19:20 utc | 62
Today’s gleaned tidbits. Most interesting one first:
U.S. Air Force transport aircraft are having their flight numbers and identification codes removed
The Air Mobility Command (AMC) of the United States Air Force confirmed in a statement sent to Aviation Week, February 28, 2023, that it had decided to remove all the airplane identification numbers, insignia, unit and identification codes, and even the inscription indicating that they belong to the United States Air Force (“US Air Force”). This unprecedented decision was made for the first time in the history of US military aviation.
infoDefenseENGLISH
Source: Aviation Week
https://t.me/infodefENGLAND/4411
The Empire is always up to something but it is up to something big, soon. Maybe, after the loss of Artyomovsk, all at once it will be Georgia, Moldova, Iran, plus Poland fully entering the fray in Ukraine. Some crazy full court press, a last hybrid war geopolitical chaos move is all they have left. Guessing Biden neocons figure if they lose eastern Ukraine they can gather up loose some ends, Georgia, Moldova, and Iran to cause years of trouble for Russia. Nothing stirring yet but if I was India I’d watch my back, and front and sides too, hopefully even the Empire of chaos fears stirring up chaos in India.
They are working extra hard infiltrating Belarus:
Today Lukashenko signed a decree: In Belarus, the death penalty has been established for officials and military personnel for treason.
https://t.me/ZandVchannel/55338
Moldova:
The car [image] that the terrorists wanted to blow up in Transnistria to kill the head of the republic. The striking elements were hidden in the Land Rover door, where they found 8 kilograms of RDX, screws, nuts and wire.
https://t.me/ZandVchannel/55330
This is same old same old, USA loves selling unhinged nations with nukes to its gullible populace, but Israel and USA were always bad cop, good cop with Iran, now they are bad cop, bad cop. The game can’t work that way, so I assume the game is over:
Lloyd Austin in Israel: “The United States will not let Iran get a nuclear weapon.”
“Tehran’s desire for nuclear weapons requires Tel Aviv to be ready for any action, there are important decisions ahead,” the Israeli Defense Minister said in turn.
https://t.me/ZandVchannel/55333
Poland is very close to making its assigned move, likely several moves all at once. I doubt all the busy work there is for nothing. Bryansk seems to be a new focus:
Polish mercenaries began to settle in Ukrainian villages on the border with the Bryansk region. This was told by local residents, whom they drove out of their homes, reports Mash.
Dozens of Polish military appeared in the north-east of Ukraine along with units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The latter had the task of driving their countrymen out of their homes and driving them away, preferably towards Europe. Some of the locals followed the advice, others did not, they decided to flee to Russia by detours. Many told relatives by phone that on the border from their villages, in fact, bases of Polish mercenaries were being prepared.
Posted by: LightYearsFromHome | Mar 9 2023 19:23 utc | 63
On the latest (serious) attack on ZNPP and the apparent French lead in trying steer it towards an “international” solution:
https://www.montelnews.com/news/1454505/new-corrosion-risk-extends-to-all-french-reactors–asn
“9 hours ago — (Montel) The corrosion that caused a large crack at EDF’s Penly 1 (1.3 GW) nuclear reactor may be present at all 56 French reactors, .”
One way to read that might be that ZNPP just got a whole lot more valuable.
A related question is whether RF is prepared to leave *any* nuclear sites under UA control.
Posted by: anon2020 | Mar 9 2023 19:29 utc | 64
LOL Russia is still behind of everything, Ukraine have massed 40k soldiers at Zaporozhye
https://tass.com/politics/1586671
As usual Russia missed any intelligence, missed the weapons transfers.
Posted by: Zinon | Mar 9 2023 19:37 utc | 65
anon2020 @ 64
On the latest (serious) attack on ZNPP and the apparent French lead in trying steer it towards an “international” solution
Total waste of time, guessing for domestic consumption, keep repeating to a troubled EU public that we are the good guys. Mr Gruff @ 61 has it right, there is nothing that can be negotiated with the west, everything is a bluff and a feint. From now on any agreements will have to be imposed. Ugly world coming for a few decades, until a pax multipolar settles in. I doubt most of the old geezers here will see it.
Posted by: LightYearsFromHome | Mar 9 2023 19:37 utc | 66
Russia has conducted a major strike on various Ukrainian military infrastructures in retaliation for the attack on Bryansk.
Can anyone tell me why Russia didn’t strike these military infrastructures PRIOR to the attack on Bryansk.
If you can’t think of a good reason then it means that the entire Ukraine conflict is merely theatre scripted by the WEF.
Posted by: Anton Gorbatow | Mar 9 2023 19:38 utc | 67
Darwin award for eradicating your own bloodline. Father and son serving in UA both perished after orchestra mortar work. Same shell boinked both
https://twitter.com/mdfzeh/status/1633843398833733633
Posted by: unimperator | Mar 9 2023 19:39 utc | 68
@Comandante, §24:
Here in Austria they introduced compulsory jabs – and fines for not wering masks-
Now, you´re liable to be fined on public transport if you wear a mask!
Posted by: John Marks | Mar 9 2023 19:44 utc | 69
Well, that’s what I’m saying. Nobody in Europe is going surrender, and even if they did, RF won’t trust them, so how is an unconditional surrender going to play out? (other than a war with NATO, resulting in occupation and installation of friendly governments).
Posted by: LGB! | Mar 9 2023 19:45 utc | 70
Now that Hersh has brought the NS2 issue to everybody’s attention, the US government had to come up with something. Of course they cannot admit to their participation in the plot, for then even the lazy Germans might start asking questions about the status of the “alliance”.
Looks to me like Scholz visited Biden so they could synchronize a common strategy of lying. Of course, unlike with Hersh’s version, the German TV will this time cover the new version. I wonder if deliberate lying to one’s population cannot be charged as treason.
Posted by: grunzt | Mar 9 2023 19:47 utc | 71
Yeah, looks like Georgia is a goner. A beautiful country and people turned into another to-become failed state.
Posted by: unimperator | Mar 9 2023 19:49 utc | 72
🇬🇪From the podium at the rally in Tbilisi, they said that the government should resign and early parliamentary elections should be called.
🇬🇪Protests in Tbilisi continue…
The crowd chants: “Sokhumi , Sokhumi (the capital of Abkhazia).”
https://t.me/azmilitary11/40364
Posted by: Down South | Mar 9 2023 19:54 utc | 73
Posted by: Jerr | Mar 9 2023 19:10 utc | 57
It’s interesting how everything that is obviously wrong in Hershes reporting is explained by eager bar flies as a clever way of protecting his sources.
Especially given that he practically outed them (or it) by retelling information from a meeting that very few people had access to.
Trust me: it’s no longer a secret in Washington who the source is. If it ever was.
Posted by: Jörgen Hassler | Mar 9 2023 19:55 utc | 74
Jörgen Hassler | Mar 9 2023 19:55 utc | 75
That may well be friend, but I still think it would have been alot of fun if he said the airplane that dropped the bouy was German.
Posted by: Jerr | Mar 9 2023 20:01 utc | 75
On my youtube it just popped up that in Vugledar the Ukrainian have destroyed 130 tanks. Kind of hard to believe but something is going on there.
Posted by: Dima Trunk | Mar 9 2023 20:04 utc | 76
The car [image] that the terrorists wanted to blow up in Transnistria to kill the head of the republic. The striking elements were hidden in the Land Rover door, where they found 8 kilograms of RDX, screws, nuts and wire.
https://t.me/ZandVchannel/55330
Posted by: LightYearsFromHome | Mar 9 2023 19:23 utc | 63
SBU is straight up assassinating other countries’ leaders, meanwhile Malyuk, Budanov, Zaluzhny, Zelensky, Shymhal, etc. are safe and not at all worried about being visited by a missile…
Posted by: shadowbanned | Mar 9 2023 20:13 utc | 77
https://t.me/Slavyangrad/36497
The Patriot air defense system will not help Ukraine against Russian cruise missiles, according to White House Strategic Communications Coordinator John Kirby.
According to the American official, the system is also useless against drones and cruise missiles, as it was developed exclusively to intercept ballistic missiles.
To date, there are no missile defense or air defense systems that can effectively resist supersonic missiles.
Today, the speaker of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Yuri Ignat, reported that Ukraine’s air defense system was unable to shoot down a single missile.
“>https://t.me/Slavyangrad/36496
Posted by: Norwegian | Mar 9 2023 20:14 utc | 78
Dima Trunk | Mar 9 2023 20:04 utc | 77
MSN reported this 7 days ago.
Russia Loses 130 Armored Vehicles In Biggest Tank Battle of Russo-Ukrainian War
Clare Fitzgerald – Mar 1
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/russia-loses-130-armored-vehicles-in-biggest-tank-battle-of-russo-ukrainian-war/ar-AA186WDN
Posted by: Jerr | Mar 9 2023 20:15 utc | 79
A hypersonic missle launched! Well one anyways and it looks like it took out a central kiev energy plant. Probably right in the middle of many overlapping layers of air defence.
Posted by: Neofeudalfuture | Mar 9 2023 16:07 utc | 10
Highly doubtful it was a Kinzhal that hit the Kiev TPP.
What is the point? They can hit it 15 other different ways, all of them much much cheaper.
The TPP is one of the few objects that were visibly hit, so people are getting the two reports mixed up.
Kinzhals have so far been used to hit deep bunkers because the kinetic energy allows for much greater penetration.
Rumor now is that either some command and control centers were finally hit and/or they used it to hit underground facilities for drone and other dangerous weapon storage and manufacturing. But, as usual, RU MoD is silent when it comes to details, so we don’t know, and the doubt that expensive missiles were once again wasted remains…
Posted by: shadowbanned | Mar 9 2023 20:17 utc | 80
Retaliation strike: “Daggers” destroyed the “shadow General Staff” of NATO in Ukraine?
According to unverified reports, American officers who controlled the Armed Forces of Ukraine were killed
According to rumors that are circulating on the Ukrnet, on March 9, a large delegation of the Ukro-General Staff visited the American embassy in Kyiv. It seems that the transfer of lists of star-striped “200th” took place.
“Zelensky was forced to admit: “A hard night.” The audience noted that the president’s coming out looked like a beaten dog, and there were no words about interceptions in his speech.”
In addition, it became known about hits on the Iris-r and Nasams air defense systems, which were worked out on dummy missiles and were destroyed by the Xs flying behind. What is indicative: those Ukrainian Internet resources that reported this were blocked by the independent Mintsifra. As many as 25 publics immediately fell under the distribution, which indirectly indicates hysteria in the Kyiv junta.
https://svpressa.ru/war21/article/364901/ (translated)
Posted by: unimperator | Mar 9 2023 20:18 utc | 81
Mar 9 2023 19:43 utc | 69
you must have misread the think tank report. think tanks in beijing cannot have cloudy crystal ball!
the usa/eu economies collapse in summer 2023, not the russian!
Posted by: paddy | Mar 9 2023 20:19 utc | 82
The Ukrainian Neo-Nazi’s want to use illegal weapons, weapons banned by the Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM).
“Two American lawmakers say Ukraine is pushing the United States to provide it with banned cluster bombs to drop them on Russian forces from drones.
Posted by: Republicofscotland | Mar 9 2023 16:12 utc | 13
Let’s recall why these things are banned — because not all of them explode, so you are left with scattered small bomblets all over the landscape, impossible to clean up.
Now if UA was truly after “liberating” the territories that RU has taken over and is committing “atrocities” on a daily basis in, would they ever even think about using cluster munitions? That’s their own land after all, right?
We all know the answer, from previous experience — these are the same people who covered Donetsk with petal mines, mined their own farmland so heavily tractors will be blown up by them well into the 22nd century (if there are still tractors then), shell civilians all over the Donbass, including with anti-personnel HIMARS rounds, did the same in Kherson (which had only been Russian for six months, i.e. the civilians there were even more “Ukrainian”, but it didn’t matter), etc. etc.
Posted by: shadowbanned | Mar 9 2023 20:23 utc | 83
Russian momentum and pressure will shortly drive things to the ‘bargaining table’ – if a desperate, craven, crumbling empire allows it. Seems to be a ‘battle’ going on within Empire between those who are actually insane versus those who merely worship money.
If ‘peace’ doesn’t break out soon: Then let those with ears hear.
cheers.
Posted by: gottlieb | Mar 9 2023 17:00 utc | 21
Not true unfortunately.
UA is very far from exhausting its cannon fodder pool. Yes, they are press ganging people off the streets now, but that is because they ran out of volunteers, not because there aren’t enough males out there.
There is still an enormous pool of people who paid bribes to not be drafted, and then another pool of people who fled to Europe but can be deported at any time (the smart Ukrainians went to Europe first, then immediately found a way to get to Russia — no other place is really safe for them). And those pools will be tapped into eventually.
Posted by: shadowbanned | Mar 9 2023 20:26 utc | 84
“Houston, we have a problem, a dose of reality…
Patriot Systems for Kiev Not Effective Against Russian Cruise Missiles, Drones – Kirby
WASHINGTON (Sputnik) – Patriot systems for Ukraine will not be effective against Russian cruise missiles and drones, US National Security Council Strategic Communications Coordinator John Kirby said on Thursday.
“The Patriot missile system is really designed to go after ballistic missiles. It is not as effective on cruise missiles, and it certainly cannot be effective against drones,” Kirby said.
He added that Ukraine’s capabilities to fight hypersonic missiles are “limited.”
“Hypersonic missiles are generally very, very difficult to counter, and it would not surprise me that Ukrainian air defenses are limited in their ability to go after hypersonic missiles,” he said.
What to do? When is the hour of surrender?
Posted by: Likklemore | Mar 9 2023 20:28 utc | 85
The only evidence of Norway is Hersh’s source who said it was their military plane that dropped the sonar buoy which triggered the explosives. However lots of Flight Tracker videos at the time showed that plane as being American.
Posted by: Sanctions R US | Mar 9 2023 16:02 utc | 6
Really? What about the Mega $$$ Norway is now making from selling gas? A lucky coincidence? What about Norway’s history as a US lackey?
Following the money is usually a more realistic method than looking for ideological reasons for. From my perspective, given the above, why would Norway NOT have done it? And who elsee, as a US proxy, had equal incentive? These European countries, or more correctly thier paid off leaders, are digging themselves deeper and deeper holes.
Posted by: K | Mar 9 2023 20:29 utc | 86
Posted by: Likklemore | Mar 9 2023 20:28 utc | 87
Kirby is a complete idiot. US Patriot systems have trouble shooting down Houthi rockets, which are more or less modified Katyusha’s.
Posted by: unimperator | Mar 9 2023 20:34 utc | 87
Posted by: Outraged | Mar 9 2023 15:34 utc | 1
Many thanks for that Outraged, thought that was going to be another humorous riff on the BBC shovel story (shout out to Milites – Mar 6 2023 23:36 utc | 105 – I owe you a drink) … it was however quite informative and showed that although the BBC report was actually rooted in fact, they simple brutalised the context to create another anti-Russian story.
Regards
Posted by: SattaMassaGana | Mar 9 2023 20:34 utc | 88
Rats! I missed the start of Comedy Hour! Looks like it’s in full swing…
Posted by: West of England Andy | Mar 9 2023 20:34 utc | 89
unimperator | Mar 9 2023 19:49 utc | 73
Georgia is a fascinating case study in how a nation-state destroys itself. It owes its modern existance (1783-1991) to Russia and yet it allowed itself to be turned by the siren song of the EU at the beginning of the century. Now it seeks to assert what little sovereignity it has left, only to bow in the face of western-inspired protests. Very similar to Austria in the 1930s. The 21st century will undoubtably see a Russian-backed Caucasian Confederation of independent states – Abkhazia, Sveneti, Kartli, Kakketi, Mingrella, Adjura and Guria – and a unified Alania within the RF.
Posted by: rk | Mar 9 2023 20:21 utc | 84
Both Georgia and Armenia wouldn’t exist if they hadn’t been taken over by Russia.
The Armenians especially should be particularly aware of that — after all the Turks did try to exterminate them down to the last man on the territory that wasn’t controlled by Russia. And now there are no Armenians in Turkey, even though most of their historic land is in modern northeastern Turkey
Current Armenia is just a rump remnant. If the Ottomans had controlled all Armenian lands, there would have been nothing left.
The same would have happened to Georgians, as those massacres weren’t directed at Armenians specifically — it was against all Christians. Assyrians were targets too.
But Georgians are apparently even less aware of it, because all of them were safely in Russian hands so there wasn’t even an attempt.
Unfortunately, this is what elite capture can achieve — having a country act in complete contradiction to its self interests. Another country like that is Bulgaria — it also owes its existence to Russia, and it too would have been genocided out of existence circa 1915 had it not been for the was between Russia and the Ottomans, and yet it sided with Germany in both WWI and WWII, and is a servant to the West now too. Completely contrary to public opinion in all three cases, but who ever care about that…
Posted by: shadowbanned | Mar 9 2023 20:35 utc | 90
Russia and China aren’t in any way captured by Neoliberalism and understand what it means to prepare for Total War
Posted by: karlof1 | Mar 9 2023 17:38 utc | 34
Not true unfortunately, at least for Russia. China is certainly much better, but inside Russia there is constant bemoaning of how much the MIC has degraded compared to Soviet times because various facilities were privatized and then strip mined, converted into malls, etc. etc. I’ve mentioned it before how the USSR had multiple tank factories, now it is down to only one, and that is just one example of many.
The truth is that Russia has been a neoliberal society for the last 30 years, and that has done tremendous damage.
Posted by: shadowbanned | Mar 9 2023 20:38 utc | 91
I’d like to see someone write a concise history of the shelling of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant. As I remember Lavrov was asked on camera at an event he was at what the Russians would do with the plant. He said they would protect it until the war is over then reroute the power to Russian areas. Two days later Blinken came out with a bizarre video warning about something happening to the plant, even though Russia had controlled it for 8 months without incident. The shelling began a few days later and continues to this day. The people shelling the plant are trying to hit the cooling systems to cause a disaster. This is at least as big of a crime against humanity as the US blowing up the pipeline, and like that crime the US officials warned what they were going to do in advance. The US MSM like the NYT write the most bizarre explanations, suggesting Russia has turned the plant into a “fortress” that they are firing from, but at the same time shelling their own positions at this fortress. It’s amazing that there isn’t more outrage in the world over this attempt at environmental terrorism that would affect us all.
Posted by: James c | Mar 9 2023 20:38 utc | 92
Not the right comparison. In WW2, everyone on both sides of the Atlantic were *united* in their desire to defeat the common foe.
It was all a lie, unfortunately.
Immediately after the war ended the Nazis and the Anglo-Saxons embraced each other. It wasn’t openly acknowledged, but even that is changing now in Ukraine.
Real loyalties in WWII go something like this:
1) USSR — tries to get the Germans and the English/French to destroy each other as they did in WI so that it can then pick up the pieces all the way to the Atlantic. Totally failed.
2) UK — tries to get the Germans and the Soviets to destroy each other so that first, communism is defeated, and as a secondary goal Germany is subjugated. Success on both counts (though delayed by a few decades for the first goal), but it was a Pyrrhic victory, because:
3) US — same objective as the UK but with the additional goal of the Germans also finishing off the UK and French empires so that the US can take over. Total success.
Posted by: shadowbanned | Mar 9 2023 20:44 utc | 93
People used to American blitzkrieg keep complaining about russia taking forever, but like….you have 10:1 artillery superiority, their army is 5x bigger than yours, and they insist on fighting for every inch of ground while you’re busy waiting for reinforcements. Why go to them when they’re coming to you? Just hunker down and blast the AFU with shells, then go when you’re good and ready.
Russia still has time to take it slow, it’s going to be a while before western munitions production can actually meet Ukrainian demand.
Posted by: Hrughus | Mar 9 2023 15:48 utc | 2
Unfortunately not true.
Russia doesn’t have the time, the last year should have demonstrated this. Had they finished off UA early on with a proper campaign, there would have been no opportunity for the West to pump weapons into UA, and there would have been no hundreds of thousands dead, cities destroyed, and the war dragging on. Remember that Ukrainian lands are Russian lands and Ukrainians are Russians even if misguided. What is happening now is not a win in any way.
And make no mistake, Western weapons did make a difference. The September fiasco doesn’t happen without them. There is more to come, including eventually NATO jumping in directly.
RU has superiority over NATO in ground forces and an edge in strategic forces.
Everything else — air force, navy, ISR — NATO has superior numbers and/or technical quality.
Complacency is the mother of defeat.
Posted by: shadowbanned | Mar 9 2023 20:49 utc | 94
Two posts appeared today on Telgram CyberspecNews
Bulgaria. Scandal of the week (video): A candidate for deputy from the Renaissance party, Atanas Shtefanov, threw the flag of Ukraine from the balcony of Sofia City Hall, calling it fascist. video
China. Troll of the day: China’s Foreign Ministry says China’s arms sales to Russia will be the same as US arms sales to Taiwan.
Lovely
Posted by: OttoE | Mar 9 2023 20:51 utc | 95
https://www.kp.ru/daily/27475/4731438/
The ex-mayor of Chita, Alexander Sapozhnikov, told how he came under fire on the front line: “At the” site of death “a tank started hitting us. It was scary”
KP.RU political observer Alexander Gamov met with the mayor, who volunteered for the NVO zone
“GET UP FROM THE LEATHER CHAIR”
– Have you lost weight, Alexander Mikhailovich?
– Well, a little bit.
– And what kind of watch do you have, by the way – commander’s?
– No, a simple clock with a backlight so small that it doesn’t glow too much.
– When you went to the NVO zone, you were a senior warrant officer. And now, probably, at least – Major?
– Lieutenant. I was awarded the first officer rank on December 19.
– Did you somehow wash this case or is it not allowed there?
– Of course, officers should wash their next ranks. Well, stars, glasses, as expected. You introduce yourself. It’s a tradition, military…
– In general, are there many Sapozhnikovs in the special operation zone, like you?
– Yes. Even in my regiment there are Sapozhnikov.
Captain by rank and my countryman, from Transbaikalia, a lawyer by profession.
– And you are the mayor by profession.
– Yes. Everyone who is there next to me has his own character. For example, I always make decisions quickly. My grandmother, a veteran of the Great Patriotic War, taught me this way. I was very proud of her. So I made a decision – to get up from a leather chair …
– Did you have a leather chair?
– Yes. And go to the special operation zone, not everyone can do it. But, when the Motherland calls, any of the men should do it. Although I respect any decision, because everyone has a family, children, and work behind their backs.
– Are there many volunteers like Sapozhnikov?
– Yes, almost all the mobilized in my regiment …
– Can you name your current position?
– Yes, it’s not a secret. I am an engineer of the service responsible for the supply of artillery weapons and ammunition.
– And who are your colleagues?
– And we have only the Far East. These are Buryatia, Transbaikalia, Primorye, Chukotka … We are all in the same regiment. For me, this is also a great pride. Because both Siberians and Far Easterners, they …
– Moscow was saved.
– Yes. And Stalingrad. These were key fights.
VILLAGES ARE HALF-DESTROYED AND MONUMENTS ARE NOT TOUCHED
– You have been at the forefront since November. What else – surprises, amazes? ..
– I am deeply surprised and grateful to the people who lived and live in the territories where the NWO is going. They have preserved monuments to the soldiers of the Great Patriotic War.
Dilapidated villages stand, but the monuments are not touched. Here people did not give, most likely.
But I was very disappointed that chapels and churches were destroyed. Without faith, a person is scary. I was surprised.
Where our grandfathers went there in 1943, they were liberated, now we are there. When we stop near the monument, we stand silently and look. And everyone probably remembers their relatives.
– You – your grandmother?
– Necessarily.
DRIVER KUZYA DRIVES AT NIGHT WITHOUT HEADLIGHTS 100 KM/HOUR
– Are there casualties in your regiment?
– Where I was, we were changed from the front line, the kingdom of heaven to the guys, two of us died. We took out one guy with the callsign Father, 22 years old, my countryman, Aksha guy.
– Is Aksha a regional center in Transbaikalia?
– Yes. He died in our car, we did not take him. During the day it is difficult to take out the wounded. But we decided so, deputy. The commander was with me there, his call sign is Grandfather.
We got into the car with him, by the way, in that SUV Ford Ranger, which was presented by my friend, the mayor of Yakutsk. Thank you very much.
We are constantly under mortar fire there, and if we moved, it was only at night. Because we are standing very close to the place where the Nazis are (I will not call it differently). Well, they didn’t deliver.
Before that, I took out another fellow soldier … He was filled up in the building, immediately, instantly he died.
– Is it scary after this?
– Of course, I’ll be honest. Only fools are not afraid, as they say.
Here, trolleybus drivers, teachers, doctors from our hospitals serve with me. It is a great honor for me to be in the same regiment with such guys.
– That is, first they left on mobilization, teachers, drivers, and then the mayor?
– In fact, the mayor of Chita was the chairman of the city draft board ex officio.
– Interestingly, when soldiers, former teachers, drivers see their mayor, do they trump you? What are their ranks?
– No, we have almost everything by call sign. But with respect. We all treat each other with respect. We appreciate everyone. Because the person with you is on the front line, on the front line.
“AND THE TANK STARTED TO WORK FOR US”
– We have a driver, callsign Kuzya.
– Kuzya?
– Yes. He drives a car at 100 km per hour at night without headlights. We don’t turn on the headlights. He sees the way even so. We still wonder how he does it. He brings us in and out. Both ammunition and food.
– How old is he, Kuze?
– He’s over 30. Two kids. And now we have taken the second driver, Yakut, White call sign. Well done guys, I’m proud to serve with them. Very bold.
We came under fire with them, the tank fired at us. When we had our first trip, we were carrying the 300th, guys to replace – well, wash up, get ammunition …
First there was shelling, where we were unloading, we quickly hid in the cellars, waited, then – into the car.
There is on this road 2 kilometers 700 meters, such a section of death, open area.
And the tank started working for us. The first shot was forward, the second a little back, the third even closer to the car. But we got through. It was very scary, of course. The tank is aiming.
On the second day, there was also a check-out and check-in. We thought that the tank had left, but he worked for us for the second time. But, thank God, they are alive.
And it is very important to take care of each other. You even ask: “How are you, fighter, how are you at home, how are the children?” – “Yes, everything is fine.” This is also important. You should always ask, show concern. We are one whole, one military family.
“THE FEED WELL, THE SHELLS ARE ENOUGH”
– Do you have enough?
– Everything is. They feed very well. Bottled water 1.5 liters. Juice in boxes.
– Which?
– Apple, grape, orange. Various juice.
– This is not only for lieutenants, but for everyone?
– Everyone. Cheese, juice, butter, a one-time briquette, cereals, bread, water, cabbage soup, borscht, hodgepodge in jars, chicken in jars. Very tasty, by the way, chicken. Stew. That is, the food is very good. Imagine, all this comes into every trench.
And gifts. To be honest, I was surprised, it was nice when on New Year’s Eve we were given gifts to everyone from the Ministry of Defense. There was cheese, sausage, a postcard.
– Was it 100 grams?
– No, we have about alcohol … There must always be a sober head. And, by the way, the gifts on February 23 were good.
– And then what?
– The same – sausage, cheese … Well, great, good gifts.
I will even say so. When the president spoke on New Year’s Eve, we managed to put on a TV. It was, you know…
– In a trench, or what?
– Where we were, it was so hard to find a TV, connect, adjust the antenna, when there are only these Ukrainian channels around, where this dialect is, we don’t understand it well.
And then the message. So, not only in our regiment, but also in other brigades, I asked: “Did you look?” – “Yes, I watched”, “I listened to the radio”. From the first word to the last.
– Are there enough shells?
– That’s enough.
– Some complain – there is none, this is not enough.
– You see, sometimes it happens, if there are shellings, it is impossible to deliver.
I’ll tell myself.
We don’t feel like that. It’s never happened before, to be honest. I always have enough stores, ammunition with me, grenades. Even if you carry zinc with you, carry as much as you carry.
– What about drones, thermal imagers?
– As for quadcopters, night vision sights… Not everyone can work with them…
– You have?
– Of course have.
– Are there specialists?
– Yes, the guys who were trained with us in Peschanka (military training center near Chita. – A.G.). Wonderful specials. We see the positions of the “dill”, we see everything.
And we have nightlights. Not to say that everyone has it, but everyone doesn’t need it, either the squad leader or the senior in position needs it.
Just recently, they sent me two night sights, letters from children, knitted socks. Our People’s Front is Transbaikalian. It came straight to me. I handed it out to the guys, said: “Here, from our fellow countrymen.” Comes from Chukotka.
– That is, it warms, what are yours?
– Yes, there is, there is always a humanitarian aid. Somewhere products, somewhere diesel stations.
Of course, I do not want to say that we all have to carry it. People sometimes give their last.
– Does the post office work?
– Everything works, parcels arrive.
“LEOPARDS” WE WANT, WANT TO GET OUT”
– Have you seen the NATO “Leopards” yet?
– No. Only in the picture.
– Have you already studied the weak points of these tanks? Are you ready to meet?
– Not only do we know, we have full documentation for everything that is in the enemy troops. Especially on the Leopard.
– Yes? And how are they scary?
– Well, how scary? They get stuck in the mud, that’s all. I’m sure of it.
We have the same equipment – we drive on such roads on it. Honestly, here you go and think: now you will drown. And it’s passing.
– Are we now giving out military secrets to NATO?
– No. What about our gunners? They will dismantle the Leopard instantly.
– In what sense?
– Well, they will, then. And it will be necessary, and they will capture it. Long time, right?
– The Governor of Transbaikalia Osipov even established some awards for this.
– Yes, I heard. Of course, all the guys have a desire to steal his alien tank. Why not?
– I started talking about something, you should probably be in position. Thanks for the meeting.
– And you. For the support.
Posted by: Oblomovka daydream | Mar 9 2023 20:55 utc | 96
Both Georgia and Armenia wouldn’t exist if they hadn’t been taken over by Russia.
Posted by: shadowbanned | Mar 9 2023 20:35 utc | 92
P.S. I forgot to mention — quite likely this applies to the Baltics too. They would have been thoroughly Germanized over time had it not been for Russian influence.
That did happen to several of the original Baltic tribes in fact. The name “Prussia” refers to one of those tribes — the Old Prussians, who lived where Kaliningrad is now, but ceased to exist once Germans moved in and assimilated them.
Looks like there is deep though unacknowledged regret in the Baltics that they were denied the opportunity to share that fate…
Posted by: shadowbanned | Mar 9 2023 20:56 utc | 97
More European unity:
The West’s decision to continue arming Ukraine threatens to turn the conflict into a long and brutal conflagration, French opposition leader Marine Le Pen has warned.
“There aren’t fifty different solutions; apart from a peace agreement, all the rest will be bad. Ukraine will not be able to win unless NATO comes to its aid. But if NATO enters the conflict on Ukraine’s side, the whole world will be at war. China will likely also enter the conflict,” the senior National Rally politician said in an interview with French radio on Thursday.
“If we continue to send weapons – which we don’t have, by the way, depriving our own army, then what we have before us is a Hundred Years’ War,” Le Pen warned, referencing the brutal series of conflicts between France and England during the Middle Ages between 1337 and 1453, which cost the lives of between 2.3 and 3.3 million people, and culminated in England’s loss of nearly all of its continental European possessions.
The politician reiterated her previously voiced call to take the delivery of “offensive weapons” to Ukraine off the table due to the danger they pose in escalating the crisis. “The supply of offensive weapons worries us, because it could become an element contributing to the escalation of the territorial conflict into a global one,” she said.
Posted by: West of England Andy | Mar 9 2023 20:57 utc | 98
@nwwoods, §54:
Yep. Like Republicofscotland, maybe the world should consider the antipodes of the USA.
Unfortunately, there´s only Kerguelen, an uninhabited, desolate island about three times the size of Luxemburg. It´s at a similar latitude to New York, but South, in the Indian Ocean.
Nearest practical place to Kerguelen would be Reunion or Mauritius, each about the same size as Luxemburg. As a plus, both these islands have delightful climates.
Posted by: John Marks | Mar 9 2023 20:58 utc | 99
Some think this stuff from Prigozhin is a ruse to draw Ukrainian forces onto Wagner positions that are better prepared than they had been led to believe. I don’t see it myself but I certainly hope they are correct.
https://t.me/Slavyangrad/36495
Statements of the head of the Wagner PMC :
📝 “Yes, the fighters and commanders of the Wagner PMC are the most combat-ready, but this does not mean that in other military units the commanders are stupider and the fighters are less brave.” This is due to the fact that the Wagner PMCs do not kill the initiative of the commander, or humiliate the bravery of the fighter. And in this case, they are able to crush the enemy and carry out the most outstanding victories.
This is what distinguishes the Wagner PMC from other military units. We treat each soldier and each commander as a person, as a person who has great value to the team. Of course, if such a structure ceases to exist, it is not just bad, it is a collapse, a disaster, and a direct path to a total and shameful defeat.
Posted by: anon2020 | Mar 9 2023 21:04 utc | 100