Ukraine Open Thread 2023-61
Only for news & views directly related to the Ukraine conflict.
The current open thread for other issues is here.
Please stick to the topic. Contribute facts. Do not attack other commentators.
Posted by b on March 13, 2023 at 19:34 UTC | Permalink
next page »There is a giant sucking sound from Bakhmut and Adeevka as they draw reserves into the vacuum. Let's hope this is the beginning of the end for the eastern UAF army.
I am hoping that the Lavra monks in Kiev don't back down and get some public support. Either way that will be big symbolically.
Posted by: the pessimist | Mar 13 2023 19:51 utc | 2
If there's one fact to call attention to about this war, it's that the bulk of people dying in it are dying from explosives launched or operated miles away from the battlefield. That's a stark contrast from the portrayal of warfare as consisting of heroic individuals and teams coordinating victory via small arms fire. War is boring and it sucks.
Posted by: fnord | Mar 13 2023 19:54 utc | 3
Kyiv has doubled down on preventing Russian forces from taking the eastern city as spring offensives loom - Wall Street Journal, archive.md
The Armed Forces of Ukraine have heavy losses in Bakhmut due to problems with the delivery of ammunition and the removal of the wounded▪️"Ukrainian troops are suffering heavy losses in Bakhmut (Artemovsk), especially now, when paved roads for the transport of ammunition and evacuation of the wounded are no longer available, and alternative dirt roads are impassable due to mud for many wheeled vehicles," writes Wall Street Journal.
▪️Despite calls to retreat from the West, Zelensky last week "redoubled his efforts to keep Bakhmut." According to General Syrsky, the situation on this front remains difficult, and the Wagner assault units are attacking from several directions, trying to break the defense.
Elbridge Colby - Threadreaderapp
Things are changing on Ukraine. You can detect it in these *major* policy shifts that are framed as no big deal parentheticals.“The U.S. has been clear with Kyiv that it cannot fund Ukraine indefinitely at this level.”
...
Now it’s clear Administration officials are using friendly press to normalize that message. 3/
“Though backing Ukraine has largely been a bipartisan effort, a small but growing number of GOPs have begun to voice skepticism about the use of American treasure to support Kyiv without an end in sight to a distant war.”...
“For now, Biden continued to stick to his refrain that the United States will leave all decisions about war and peace to Zelenskky. But whispers have begun across Washington as to how tenable that will be as the war grinds on — and another presidential election looms.”
Ya don't say, been raising this regularly as the narrative change accelerates, since Dec'22/Jan'23. Proxy abandonment, latest Jun/Jul.
For the benefit of the Trolls who were so anxious for that "Russian Offensive"....Are you getting it now?
Posted by: SwissArmyMan | Mar 13 2023 19:57 utc | 5
Reposting from previous Open Thread ....
@ 272 Thank you for bringing our attention to this.
A peer-reviewed paper initially approved and praised by a prestigious academic journal was suddenly rescinded without explanation. Its author, one of the world’s top scholars on Ukraine-related issues, had marshaled overwhelming evidence to conclude Maidan protesters were killed by pro-coup snipers.
https://thegrayzone.com/2023/03/12/academic-journal-maidan-massacre/
Posted by: Apollyon | Mar 13 2023 16:08 utc | 272
Among those fervently supporting Katchanovski’s appeal was renowned US academic Jeffrey Sachs. “You have written a very important, rigorous, and substantial article. It is thoroughly documented. It is on a topic of great significance,” Sachs wrote to the scholar. “Your paper should be published for reasons of its excellence…The journal will only benefit from publishing such a work of importance and excellence, which will further the scholarly understanding and debate regarding a very important moment of modern history.” [Grayzone]
I read one of Katchanovski’s working papers on this a few years ago - and posted it on an MSM blog - it was deleted within an hour. I highly recommend his work
He has certainly convinced me. Note that German Intelligence, and Angela Merkel, fully aware of this work - as are many other European intelligence services.
Posted by: Don Firineach | Mar 13 2023 16:55 utc | 278
Posted by: Don Firineach | Mar 13 2023 20:04 utc | 6
Looks like the Russian meat grinder is being replaced by the Russian Commercial-grade Meat Processing Machine. All thanks to the Comedian.
Posted by: Comandante | Mar 13 2023 20:04 utc | 7
Outraged no. 4
Looks like the honeymoon is over, and if so, what will europe's position be i wonder:
"Are tensions emerging between US and Ukraine?"
After Vladimir Putin sent his troops into neighbouring Ukraine, the US alongside other Western allies did not hesitate to stand with them.
Over the last year, the US has provided critical support to the country, with President Joe Biden vowing to show his nation's "unwavering support" for the war-torn country.
But now there appears to be growing differences behind the scenes between Washington and Kyiv on war aims, POLTICO reports, citing sources in the White House administration.
The news outlet said based on conversations with 10 officials, lawmakers and experts, both nations were trying to maintain unity but "fractures" and "new points of tension" were appearing.
It also reported multiple administration officials had "begun worrying that Ukraine is expending so much manpower and ammunition in Bakhmut", which remains the focal point of the war.
There have been moments of frustration about Washington's delivery of weapons to Ukraine and though most in the administration have been understanding about Kyiv's defence aims, there have been "grumblings" about the constant weapons requests, White House officials told the news outlet.
Speaking on the crisis, Michael McCaul, chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said: "The administration doesn't have a clear policy objective and a clear goal. Is it to drag this thing out, which is precisely what Vladimir Putin wants?”
"Is it to just give them enough to survive and not to win? I don't see a policy for victory right now, and if we don’t have that, then what are we doing?"
With the war in its second year, the US remains in lockstep with Ukraine but "whispers have begun" about how tenable this relationship will be as the war continues, the news outlet adds.
Sky news 13 march
Posted by: ThusspakeZarathustra | Mar 13 2023 20:11 utc | 8
Maryanov on the Russian Navy submarines and other missile-carrying ships, for certain morons here who b has not banned yet...
Some Tables On Russian Navy.
https://smoothiex12.blogspot.com/2023/03/some-tables-on-russian-navy.html
I leave it here just for reference.Russian NEW (there are dozens of old active ones which are not in this table) SSKs.
[Table of SSKs]Now nukes in the category of SSN-SSGN, aka fast-attack and cruise missile carrying ones. Some of the contracted and under construction pr. 885M Yasens are also NOT shown in this table. Their total number will reach 11 by 2028-29. Newest strategic missile submarines (SSBNs) of Borei-class (pr. 955-955A) are also not tabulated.
[Table of SSN-SSGNs]Here are Gorshkov-class (pr. 22350-22350M) FFGs ONLY:
[Table of FFGs]
There is no table for 3 Grigorovich-class FFGs, 15+ corvettes of pr. 22380 and Zircon carriers 20385, as well as more than 30 pr. 21630 Buyan and 22800 Karakurt small missile ships, as well as modernized good ol' pr. 1155 such as Marshal Shaposhnikov (with Admiral Vinogradov undergoing deep modernization to Zircon carrier) and other crucial ships, such as Admiral Nakhimov et al.
So, the point is--just by looking at and taking in this info, one can clearly see a massive and constantly accelerating naval modernization program which is designed to not just "project power", it changes the naval warfare in the most revolutionary way not seen since the times of steam removing the sail and aircraft carriers sending battleships into the retirement. And mind you, this is done by the country with the "economy smaller that that of Italy", wink, wink:))
One thing the troll missed was the small corvettes and frigates which can fire long-range missiles, such as the ones that hit ISIS in Syria from the Caspian Sea during the Syrian conflict.
Kurdish Video Lends Credibility to Russian Navy Caspian Sea Strike Mission Claims
https://news.usni.org/2015/10/07/kurdish-video-lends-credibility-to-russian-navy-caspian-sea-strike-mission-claims
According to a Wednesday release from the Russian Ministry of Defense, three 1,000-ton Buyan-M corvettes and the 2,000-ton guided missile frigate Dagestan fired the SS-N-30A cruise missiles from ships to target sets including “plants producing ammunition and explosives, command centers, storages of munitions, armament and POL as well as a training camp of terrorists on the territory of the Raqqah, Idlib and Aleppo provinces,” according to the statement.The Peshmerga video shows two subsonic cruise missiles that correspond to the characteristics of the SS-N-30A.
The Russian Foreign Ministry released its own video combining footage of the ships launching weapons and map of the alleged flight path of the missiles to central Syria at a distance of more than 900 miles for the sub-sonic SS-N-30As or Kalibr NK or 3M-14T.
Those were indeed subsonic. But there was 26 of them. Like to see a US Navy ship successfully shoot down all 26 in one salvo.
Barflies need to STOP ENGAGING WITH THE TROLL. He's only here to waste your time, like I wasted it yesterday and right now.
Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Mar 13 2023 20:12 utc | 9
Relevant broader events re current wider Situ & context, re-posted from previous thread:
Translated:
Military Chronicle - Telegram'Reports' from the field that in the area of Golubovka and Minkovka, ~20km north-west of Artyomovsk(Bahkmut), there is a strong battle going on. You can hear how the artillery works.
Presumably, the “orchestra” has taken under ranged Fire(?), the core AFU reserves of the 4th and 17th tank brigades, the battalions of the 61st Jaeger brigade and the 116th territorial defense brigade, accumulated between two villages.
According to the Military Chronicle, Ukrainian units have been arriving in the area since the beginning of March to actively counter PMC artillery and were being reinforced by mobile artillery and mortar groups.
Comment:
IF true, then likely AFU units were taken under Fire whilst dispersed in incohesive non-combat deployment formations, in assumptive secure rear reserve Locs. Spetznaz &/or Recon teams directing drones & Fires ?
Translated:
INTERCEPTION (Z) - TelegramKiev resource about the delay in the offensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine near Artemovsk / Bakhmut:
Uncorroborated source in the OP said that the counteroffensive near Bakhmut is postponed to next week, Syrsky will hold the city to the last, despite the situation. The weather (& mud) does not allow the Armed Forces to use wheeled vehicles, and without it there is no possibility of flank attacks.
Richard Steven Hack | Mar 13 2023 20:12 utc | 9
Thanks Richard. I don't know what we'd do without you here to tell us who to pay attention to and what to think.
Posted by: Jon_in_AU | Mar 13 2023 20:19 utc | 11
Stating the obveous...
Zelensky has always been barking mad (look at his eyes) right from the beginning, that fact is becoming starkly clear to all sides including the public.
But the thing is... the west backed him financed and equipt him gave him the entire western media as his platform, gave him the power he has.
And here we are,
Where to go from here on ?
Posted by: Mark2 | Mar 13 2023 20:21 utc | 12
@outraged: I know that gloating is unbecoming, but that news makes me want to dance. The glorious coke head clowns’ spring offensive - delayed by mud!
Posted by: Chris | Mar 13 2023 20:26 utc | 13
Posted by: ThusspakeZarathustra | Mar 13 2023 20:11 utc | 8
There was a rumor circulating earlier, according to which Biden had supposedly told Zelensky that he has till this year, or Autumn, to take Crimea, or at least cut the land bridge. Everyone knows what Nato wants to do, namely they want to cause some humiliating defeat even by land grab in those directions, and then call it a day with the Korea-scenario. But now they picked to do this deblocking Bakhmut thing instead. It seems that UAF/Zelensky went somewhat rogue of what Nato actually intended to do.
Military Summary had a theory on it, namely:
1. offensive around Bakhmut is easier, and potentially less costly to implement than towards Mariupol which is by now a properly 2 - 3 layered defense
2. While Ukraine is not ready for this operation (they have "nothing" according to military summary), their losses from this operation may convince Pentagon that they are no longer able to take offensive toward Mariupol, and Pentagon will let them to come to some conclusive Korea style scenario, or send more weapons like F-16 and Abrams tanks to make a better try next time
3. They are forced to do the Bakhmut deblocking attempt, because the situation has morphed into a catastrophic one due to amount of foreign mercenary and other perhaps not-worst-quality manpower left in Bakhmut
4. Zelensky political chips laid on the "myth of Bakhmut" are numerous
Posted by: unimperator | Mar 13 2023 20:27 utc | 14
Actual NATO operational readiness ... now & for the next 3 to 5 years ...
Translated from Russian:
Operation Z: Military commissars of the Russian Spring (t.me/RVvoenkor) (Telegram)"The Bundeswehr lacks everything," Eva Hegel
The German Parliamentary Commissioner for Defense stated that the Bundeswehr "lacks everything".
▪️Еva Hegel said that in particular the military lacks equipment, night vision devices and radio equipment. The lack of these things, in her opinion, interferes with theoretical and practical training of soldiers. (Oh, really ?)
▪️She also called on the German cabinet to take urgent measures to improve equipment supply to the armed forces. According to Högel, the first priority is to provide soldiers with digital radios. In addition, she said, barracks must be cleaned up.
Italics comment, mine.
German source:
Eva Högl im "ntv Frühstart": "Der Bundeswehr fehlt es an allem" - NTV.de, Politik (German), Mar13'23
Trotz des Sonderetats von 100 Milliarden Euro kommt bei der deutschen Bundeswehr nur wenig von dem Geld an. Der Truppe fehle es an passender Ausrüstung und Waffen, beklagt die Wehrbeauftragte Eva Högl. Es müsse dringend etwas passieren, da die Streitkräfte sonst nicht verteidigungsfähig seien....
the pessimist @ 2
I am hoping that the Lavra monks in Kiev don't back down and get some public support. Either way that will be big symbolically.
Remember back in the '90s and '00s all the Free Tibet stuff, and the big rock bands and rock stars and famous actors meeting with the Dali Lama? Any event you went to there'd be a stand with some people organizing for Tibet and the monks and worthy mysticism and spirituality. Yo, Foo Fighters, there's some monks in need of help in Lavra.
Apparently, some monks are more worthy than others at least to the fad driven, superficial, insincere, head full of shit, western youth and their stars.
For that matter where's the Dali Lama? No solidarity among monks?
Posted by: LightYearsFromHome | Mar 13 2023 20:59 utc | 16
This from the Donbass Devushka TG is funny enough to be worth posting:
"USA has enough banks left for 2-3 weeks"
Posted by: LightYearsFromHome | Mar 13 2023 21:10 utc | 17
Latest Brian Berletic...
Ukraine's Possible Bakhmut Counteroffensive + What Poland's Military Build-Up Means
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZ817Ynwdng
From the description:
38,500 views Mar 13, 2023
Update on conflict in Ukraine for March 13, 2023;- Bakhmut continues to be encircled by Russian forces;
- The Western media is reporting conflicting claims by Ukraine and Russia regarding steep losses inflicted on opposing sides;
- The West claims Ukraine is inflicting huge losses on Russian forces and that Bakhmut has little strategic value;
- The Western media, however, also admits Ukraine is outgunned between 3:1 to 4:1 in terms of artillery and despite claims that Russia has lost 20,000-30,000 troops around Bakhmut alone, the BBC’s own project verifying Russian losses says as of March 2023 Russia’s 1 year total losses stand at 16,000;
- A counteroffensive by Ukraine may lead to temporary gains, just as in Aleppo, Syria in 2016, however the fundamentals leading to Bakhmut’s encirclement have not been addressed, therefore any gains risk being reversed;
- A Ukrainian counteroffensive on any major scale will divert troops meant for Kiev’s spring offensive, diminishing the combat potential of other upcoming offensives;
- Poland’s military build-up is being hyped by the Western media, however Polish ambitions would see the creation of a military force roughly the size of Ukraine’s military at the beginning of 2022;
- Poland’s build-up will take years to complete;
The latter two points are important, especially given the Polish war game which showed a revamped Polish military with all new Western weapons systems being demolished by Russia in five days.
I also think people "concerned" about a Ukrainian offensive anywhere forget that Russia has added another 200-300.000 troops and hardware to the battlefield or the immediate vicinity and can obviously call on them to reinforce any gaps in coverage of the front lines since it appears few of them are actually currently engaged in the main battles. And there is always the Russian Aerospace forces which can be called on to reinforce the situation regardless of the threat of Ukrainian air defense.
The only thing determining whether Russia will retreat from any offensive is simply whether they consider the ground worth holding in comparison to anticipated Russian personnel losses. This is the lesson of Kharkiv and Kherson in the past.
Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Mar 13 2023 21:16 utc | 18
Posted by: the pessimist | Mar 13 2023 19:51 utc | 2
Russians With Attitude @RWApodcast
4h
Metropolitan Pavel, Father Superior of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, says that the monks of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church will not comply with the government's order to leave the monastery by March 29th.
Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Mar 13 2023 21:19 utc | 19
Posted by: Outraged | Mar 13 2023 20:13 utc | 10
‘in assumptive secure rear reserve Locs’
There are no secure rear areas in this ‘lego brick’ conflict, which makes launching traditional large-scale attacks attacks so challenging as to be often pointless. Artillery can concentrate whilst dispersed and have their combat power unaffected manoeuvre units cannot, hence the character of the war and a massive advantage to Russia. Since it’s inception, modern artillery has been the premier killer.
Posted by: Milites | Mar 13 2023 21:19 utc | 20
Posted by: Milites | Mar 13 2023 21:19 utc | 20
Yes, concentration of force is unhelpful and unnecessary. Being networked a big plus, but looks like a new vulnerability too. Could get pretty weird. Makes me dizzy. Could be some good science fiction in it.
Posted by: Bemildred | Mar 13 2023 21:30 utc | 21
Translated from Russian:
Operation Z: Military commissars of the Russian Spring (t.me/RVvoenkor) (Telegram) - Videoclip (Russian/Russian text)Former Rada deputy Sirotyuk: Ukraine must defeat Russia, reach the Urals and start a war with China:
"Two world wars were fought on the territory of Ukraine and for Ukraine. It is clear that both imperial Russia and independent Ukraine cannot exist in balance.
Therefore, inevitably, in order for us to remain as a nation Ukraine, we must break up the Russian Empire and build there a natural space of national states, and we must become a great ambitious country, at least a regional leader who will control the territories up to the Urals, to the Caucasus, which together with Poland and the Baltic countries will form a Baltic-Black Sea axis of security."
OUN-B Nazi's, what's there to say ...
&
Frank & Fearless advice, Speaking Truth to Power in the West ... explains why US/NATO/EU decisions/actions are apparently so moronic/stupid.
See: Topic @ Sonar21, Larry Johnson, Intelligence/Decision failures.
The head of the German armed forces will be fired due to the assessment of the actions of the Russian armed forces in Ukraine - TheEasternHerald, Mar14'23, (Republished in English (India) as opposed to original German)
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius has decided to sack the head of the German armed forces, Eberhard Zorn, after his recent controversial comments on the actions of the Russian military in Ukraine, reports Bild.In September last year, Eberhard Zorn doubted that the Ukrainian Armed Forces would be able to effectively resist Russian troops. In particular, he said that Ukraine was carrying out counterattacks, but could not repel Russia on a broad front.
The 63-year-old military official also claimed that the Russian army could open a second front in Moldova, near Kaliningrad, in Finland or in Georgia.
According to media reports, Zorn, who has held the position since 2018, will retire early on Thursday. He will be replaced as Inspector General of the Bundeswehr by Major General Karsten Breuer.
The Commander of the German Navy was fired promptly pre SMO for the same reasons(IIRC).
@ Milites | Mar 13 2023 21:19 utc | 20
Quite. Perhaps inform the Ukies, post haste. On second thoughts, perhaps not ...
"By mid-April, almost all the weapons promised by the West will reach Kyiv: with what the Armed Forces of Ukraine plan to go on a spring offensive
Agreed batches of Western armored personnel carriers, infantry fighting vehicles, tanks and artillery installations have already begun to arrive in Ukraine. Despite the delays and repairs that were required to bring military equipment into working condition, most of the 1,034 units of military equipment will be transferred to Kyiv by mid-April.
Readovka has studied what weapons will reach the Kyiv regime before the start of the planned spring offensive. At the moment, the EU and NATO countries have already transferred 14 armored combat vehicles, 90 infantry fighting vehicles, 100 armored personnel carriers and 34 tanks to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. By the end of spring, the total number of delivered combat vehicles (armored personnel carriers, armored personnel carriers and infantry fighting vehicles) will be 562 vehicles. Also at the disposal of Kyiv will be 381 armored vehicles. In addition, Ukraine is counting on 42 self-propelled artillery installations, but the UK, which promised to transfer 30 self-propelled guns, may refuse to supply, so by mid-spring Kiev may have only 12 French installations.
Despite the apparent unity of the NATO and EU countries on the issue of military support to Ukraine, only the United States can afford to take and allocate a one-time tangible batch of weapons: by mid-spring they will send 90 Stryker armored personnel carriers and 181 MRAP armored vehicles to Kiev. But the EU countries are forced to look for tanks, armored personnel carriers and infantry fighting vehicles in their warehouses for a long time and are ready to give Ukraine not as much as Zelensky would like. France, for example, found only 14 AFVs suitable for Kyiv, and Poland - 60 tanks, the delivery of which has already stretched out for several months. Ukraine is also waiting for 100 Leopard 1 tanks from Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands, but the first 20 units will reach Kyiv no earlier than summer, and the remaining 80 only by 2024.
Whether this weapon will be enough for the Armed Forces of Ukraine to go on the offensive is still unknown, but this threat must be remembered, being aware that, in technical terms, the entire defense industry of the collective West will have to resist."
https://t.me/CyberspecNews/24428
Posted by: unimperator | Mar 13 2023 21:32 utc | 23
We all might be surprised by the sudden and massive failure of US banking system. It might turn out that “general” who is going to deliver the final blow to Zelensky is US FED chairman Jerome Powell.
Posted by: Milos | Mar 13 2023 21:38 utc | 24
@unimperator | Mar 13 2023 20:27 utc | 14
Re #3, and a Korean style outcome. It's delusionional to think that the Russians will negotiate a Korean style outcome with the Ukraine or the US. A Korean style outcomeay be imposed on Ukraine by Russia, but I suspect there will be rather little negotiating involved. Fool me once, and all of that...
Posted by: Another James | Mar 13 2023 21:52 utc | 25
I'm somewhat amused by the term Air Raid nowadays, particularly in relation to the manner Russia employs its aerospace forces. Unlike NATO, Russia's missile attacks are very precise and are not aimed at non-military use civilian infrastructure. Thus, we see all kinds of video aired by people unafraid to stand on their roof or look out their window to film such attacks as they know they're not being targeted. The situation is the exact opposite when NATO launches an attack--everyone heads for shelter and the attacks are seldom recorded. But what I find odd NATO military find terrifying as when the sirens sound, they all head for cover as fast as they can for missiles are incoming, not a flight of slow-moving bombers approaching. And even rather early warning can still be traumatic as proved by the Iranian missile assault in response to Soleimani's murder where over 100 soldiers ensconced in shelters suffered brain trauma from the missile impacts. And what's perhaps the worst for NATO soldiers is they have no defense against missile attacks while Russians have excellent defenses and thus have a completely different outlook--Russians can't wait to shoot down the incoming.
NATO commanders learned early that no concentrated force in safe within Ukraine as mercenary training grounds, barracks and marshalling areas were attacked by missiles to staggering affect. So, all training now takes place outside Ukraine thus making NATO a party to the war it yet one further manner. Even deeply buried bunkers offer no protection from hypersonic penetration more effective than nuclear because it's pinpoint. In many respects I see NATO as a huge coward that turned Ukraine into a killing ground to advance its own interests but refuses to enter the fight preferring to kill as many Ukies as possible.
Еva Hegel [...] also called on the German cabinet to take urgent measures to improve equipment supply to the armed forces.
Posted by: Outraged | Mar 13 2023 20:58 utc | 15
Ms. Hegel misses the point: if anybody cared about soldiers, about defending Ukraine or about ending the war, they would talk about soldiers, strategy or ways to end the conflict.
Instead, all they talk about us buying and shipping weapons. Because that is all they care about: redirecting as much taxpayers money to weapons manufacturers. Preferably US weapons manufacturers.
Never mind the soldiers. Or Ukraine. Or Germany.
Posted by: Marvin | Mar 13 2023 21:57 utc | 27
@Karlof1
Well, your statements always include a heavy pro Russian bias. Everyone here knows that being the cuckold you are, you would gleefully jerk off while watching your wife service Putin.
Posted by: Jetpack1 | Mar 13 2023 22:06 utc | 28
@ Chris | Mar 13 2023 20:26 utc | 13
Gloat away, realistically the outcome was determined ~6-8 months ago, IMV. Cheers.
Translated from Russian, current nighttime Arty fires, including PMC Wagner artillery on the positions of Ukrainian forces in Konstantinovka (first clip):
Operation Z: Military commissars of the Russian Spring (t.me/RVvoenkor) (Telegram) - Four brief Videoclips (Russian text)Fiery hell at AFU in Bakhmut, Chasov Yar and Konstantinovka:
▪️Rumble and glow - the most powerful strikes on the enemy positions at the front and in the rear outside Bakhmut are delivered by our artillery.Ukrainian military analysts report:
▪️"Bakhmut - heavy fighting in all sectors. Our people are holding on, but the enemy is pressing hard. There is hell near Bogdanivka. East of Ivanivske - similar."
&
Very tough in the east:Zelensky on the heaviest fighting across Donbass, where Ukraine's future is being decided
He reported on meetings with the commanders of the fronts, with intelligence. According to him, in the east - "very hard" and "very painful."
"Belogorovka and Maryinka, Avdeevka and Bakhmut, Ugledar and Kamianka - and all the other places where our future is now being decided. Where our future - all Ukrainians - is struggling."
Zelensky also threatened on duty to "destroy the military power of the enemy"(Russia).
Peace. Out.
Anyone notice Lukashenko shuttling btwn China and Iran spending close to a week in each? This isn't about setting up drone factories or fertilizer deals. Something regarding the SMO is up, Belarus has some big role to play and is coordinating with Iran and China. Belarus joining the SCO is the backdoor for Chinese and Iranian military aid to Russia. I think after the fall of Artemivsk China and Russia will give an ultimatum to NATO and a functional peace plan, and a clear message to sign on the dotted line to avoid global east-west escalation.
The Saudi-Iran deal is in there too, this put in check the Israeli-USA planned attack on Iran. Israel may still strike but the coalition it thought it was building against Iran with the gulf states is finished. Last week Iran flew a fighter jet into Azerbaijan, an old jet and totally pointless except as a message, they are taking up slack for Russia. Georgia and Moldova may not turn out as the neocons plan either, Maidan caught a good part of the Ukraian population unaware of the price, this is no longer the case in Georgia and Moldova, the price is stark. Many pieces moving as the end of battle for Artemivsk approaches.
Posted by: LightYearsFromHome | Mar 13 2023 22:09 utc | 30
karlof1 @ 26
In many respects I see NATO as a huge coward that turned Ukraine into a killing ground to advance its own interests but refuses to enter the fight preferring to kill as many Ukies as possible.
Best said with music:
Roger Waters The Bravery of Being Out of Range
Posted by: LightYearsFromHome | Mar 13 2023 22:13 utc | 31
Posted by: unimperator | Mar 13 2023 21:32 utc | 23
"By mid-April, almost all the weapons promised by the West will reach Kyiv: with what the Armed Forces of Ukraine plan to go on a spring offensive. .
Assuming Ukraine assembly of weapons and fighters into a fighting force by end of April. . .and projecting likely scenario at that time - Bakhmut will be completely under Russian control. Ukraine will have attempted a counterattack late March to free the city, but with depleted brigades and inadequate armor (the latest tranch of NATO wonder weapons not having arrived), suffered massive losses of men and material from Russian thermobarics, glide bombs and even Russian AF ground support until beaten back. Avdeevka is encircled, cut off and about to be captured, with thousands of UAF troops inside. Russian AF now operating more freely due to attrition of Ukrainian AD. Ukrainian forces, many newly armed and trained in NATO countries, amass somewhere east of Zaporhyze, and drive south, much like the first attack on Kherson province. They are bogged down in layer after layer of Russian fortifications, massive artillery barrages and heavy gravity bombs dropped by Russian high altitude bombers. Ukrainian losses far exceed those of the So much for the drive to Crimea.
Posted by: Mike R | Mar 13 2023 22:16 utc | 32
Posted by: LightYearsFromHome | Mar 13 2023 22:09 utc | 30
Yes, Lukashenko was in Iran and he looked very happy to be there.
Posted by: Bemildred | Mar 13 2023 22:21 utc | 33
Posted by: Mike R | Mar 13 2023 22:16 utc | 32
"Ukrainian losses far exceed those of the first Kherson offensive." Brain cramp there.
Posted by: Jetpack1 | Mar 13 2023 22:06 utc | 28
This sort of personal attack should really be deleted, IMO.
Posted by: Mike R | Mar 13 2023 22:23 utc | 34
Posted by: Milos | Mar 13 2023 21:38 utc | 24
Most of the pro-Russian Twitter sources I follow are pouring cold water on that notion. I don't follow this stuff closely, as usual YMMV.
Big Serge says:
Big Serge ☦️🇺🇸🇷🇺 @witte_sergei
The US banking sector will probably be just fine. Sorry collapse bros.Big Serge ☦️🇺🇸🇷🇺 @witte_sergei
6h
I love a good collapse story as much as anyone else, but as far as I can tell this is a small selection of banks that were vulnerable to a liquidity crisis from oversized exposure to fixed rate securities. The Fed will backstop it, and we'll move on.
From The Sirius Report:
The Sirius Report @thesiriusreport·
7h
Note: US Treasury will make available up to $25bn from the Exchange Stabilisation Fund as a backstop for the BTFP, Bank Term Funding Program.The Sirius Report @thesiriusreport
7h
UK govt cleared the way for HSBC to buy the UK arm of Silicon Valley Bank by waiving certain restrictions on what types of customers could be taken on by its UK retail bank, related to not allowing complex corporate customers to be housed within ring-fenced banks.The Sirius Report @thesiriusreport
7h
Who is currently backstopping the US Treasury markets because it is very obvious there is a move to drive down yields, given ongoing developments.
Or are we seriously supposed to believe that the very institutions with massive unrealised UST losses are buying more?The Sirius Report @thesiriusreport
7h
So there is the perception of a financial crisis looming and yet we see the dumping of the dollar for the pound, yen, euro, yuan, Swiss franc, Aussie dollar etc
Apparently this is only a small number of banks with positions in specific securities. But it appears the major impact will be on Silicon Valley startups more than the overall banking system.
SVB Meltdown: What It Means for Cybersecurity Startups' Access to Capital
https://www.darkreading.com/risk/svb-meltdown-cybersec-startups-access-capital
Signature Bank was just closed by state authorities and allegedly three more banks are under investigation.
Supposedly trading halted for the following banks:
Western Alliance Bancorp down 75%
First Republic Bank down 66%
Customers Bancorp down 54%
PacWest Bancorp down 46%
Zions Bancorp down 44%
Bank of Hawaii down 42%
Comerica down 39%
East West Bancorp down 32%
Supposedly from the Swiss Department of Finance: Supervisory authority is closely monitoring Credit Suisse.
So who knows? I don't.
Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Mar 13 2023 22:23 utc | 35
If there's one fact to call attention to about this war, it's that the bulk of people dying in it are dying from explosives launched or operated miles away from the battlefield. That's a stark contrast from the portrayal of warfare as consisting of heroic individuals and teams coordinating victory via small arms fire. War is boring and it sucks.
Posted by: fnord | Mar 13 2023 19:54 utc | 3
Wasn't this already the case 100 years ago (WWI)?
Posted by: Colin | Mar 13 2023 22:27 utc | 36
Liu Xin's interview with Seymour Hersh...
CGTN anchor Liu Xin interviewed Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Seymour #Hersh on the #Nord Stream pipeline sabotage. How can he make sure his source is legit? Why is he questioning the Biden administration's sense of rationality and morality? What does he make of the latest New York Times story focusing on a "pro-Ukrainian group"?
The Point Special: One-on-one with Seymour Hersh
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Ev4cMILOXc
Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Mar 13 2023 22:28 utc | 37
re: Richard Steven Hack | Mar 13 2023 22:23 utc | 35
I think the too-big-to-fail banks and the Central banks want to get rid of most of the regional commercial banks (and scoop up the good assets while the depositors get to eat sh*t). This is a consolidation tied to the initiation of Central Bank Digital Currencies; they need to create a climate of fear, while simultaneously removing competition, in order to justify this ultimate power grab.
Posted by: Perimetr | Mar 13 2023 22:29 utc | 38
Brian Berletic on a live stream...
Live Stream | The War in Ukraine | How Will It End?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jR_5ZLbgv8
From the description:
Join Cyrus Janssen, Reporterfy Media and Brain Berletic (New Atlas) & Surprise GuestIn this Live Stream, we will be discussing the ongoing conflict between Ukraine and Russia, and exploring potential solutions to bring about a peaceful resolution to the conflict.
The conflict between Ukraine and Russia has been ongoing for several years, resulting in numerous casualties, displacement of civilians, and economic disruption. Despite various attempts at mediation and ceasefire agreements, the conflict has yet to be fully resolved.
In this live stream, we will examine the root causes of the conflict and the various perspectives and interests of the parties involved. We will also explore potential solutions, including diplomatic negotiations, economic sanctions, and humanitarian aid.
It is important to acknowledge the complexity of this conflict and the diverse perspectives involved. By understanding the underlying causes and motivations of the conflict, we can work towards a more informed and effective resolution.
Join us as we delve into this complex issue and explore potential pathways towards a peaceful resolution to the conflict between Ukraine and Russia.
We will also examine China's role in trying to broker an end to this conflict.
Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Mar 13 2023 22:31 utc | 39
I remember the 80's Texas Real Estate collapse, that too started with just a few bad apple Banks, by the time it was over every Texas Bank went under except one. Stockholders were not bailed out.
Posted by: SwissArmyMan | Mar 13 2023 22:32 utc | 40
Posted by: Perimetr | Mar 13 2023 22:29 utc | 38
Yes, I've read others saying the same thing: it will consolidate the banking industry further. People forget that every time there is a negative economic event, someone profits. This is the nature of economy.
Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Mar 13 2023 22:33 utc | 41
So, the Patriot system delivered to Lvov to protect the NATO/Kiev underground HQ failed. A Kinzhal missile hit the bunker last week killing approx 300 top officials, including NATO advisers.
Western media haven't commented neither have western officials, but the US isn't happy with Kiev.
Posted by: HERMIUS | Mar 13 2023 22:37 utc | 42
Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Mar 13 2023 22:23 utc | 35
Current data shows that hedge funds predict that the Fed rate is expected to decrease by an average of 50 basis points in June compared to May. This is also reflected in Treasury rates.
The expected rate for December fell by one basis point compared to last Friday.
In short, traders expect the crisis to greatly affect the entire banking system and the Fed's decision-making.
In other words, this is far from "just a small group of crypto brothers and their banks".
This does not necessarily mean a collapse, as the covid surplus savings can still support the unprecedented high rate of household consumption rate since '08 to sustain an overheated economy.
But to assert that this will have little impact is fooling you.
Posted by: Colin | Mar 13 2023 22:40 utc | 43
Getting a little tired of the wasted space and vitriol expended here, may I remind of the thread admonition?:
“Please stick to the topic. Contribute facts. Do not attack other commentators.“
The small minds that attack others are useless and not deserving of a stool at the “bar”!
Posted by: Wilhelm | Mar 13 2023 22:42 utc | 44
Colin | Mar 13 2023 22:40 utc | 43
This is a message from the Atlanticist community to the Biden administration regarding Ukraine. Let see if they heed it.
Posted by: Ned | Mar 13 2023 22:51 utc | 45
Posted by: Colin | Mar 13 2023 22:40 utc | 43
As I said explicitly, I don't follow this stuff, so everything you say may be true. Personally, I don't care at all until one of two things happens: 1) Wells Fargo fails and I lose my bank account there, or 2) my Social Security gets cut off.
Which doesn't appear to be immediately in the cards.
So that's all I have to say about that. I'm just reporting what I saw on Twitter this morning. Take it up with those guys.
Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Mar 13 2023 22:58 utc | 46
LightYearsFromHome & Bemildred--
Yes, OT for this thread but elsewhere I commented upon the combined synergy between Iran/China/Russia that's just underway in similar fashion to that already existing between Russia/China. Now Belarus being the other Union State partner ought to also join this nascent synergy which IMO is what Lukashenko is trying to promote via his interactions. But the synergy is much more than just the head-of-state as it involves the entire nation in multiple areas and takes time to properly develop--and there's no guarantee it will regardless of the desire.
From the Big Picture, we can see why the Outlaw US Empire started this war to prevent the sort of synergy we see rising as it wants to keep as much of the world subservient to it as possible, thus the attempt by the Anti-Human @28 above who clearly wants the status quo to continue. The immoral troll mirrors the immorality of its master which fits right in with our counter-narrative. A handful of insignificant nations along with a few others that are rapidly moving in that direction being devoured by their own Neoliberal Parasites while tethered via leash to their master which is also being devoured by its Neoliberal Parasites are trying to halt the RoW from combining their efforts to improve humanity and their nations at the same time all so they can enjoy the orgasm of being on top of the hill, or at least being the bitch slave of its master on top of the hill. The expression "gone to the dogs" is quite apt.
Wilhelm @44--
Well said! There're two places in the bar for it: inside a spittoon or as a urinal cake.
@Richard Steven Hack | Mar 13 2023 21:19 utc | 19
Kiev says they should leave by the 29th, the monks say they will not. The question is will Kiev back down or will they force the monks out, and what will the public reaction be in either case. This monastery is a very special place and important in Russia as well as Ukraine. Hopefully if Kiev tries to use force there will be a public outcry in the city - an indication that the population still has some will for resistance (or is finally developing some).
Posted by: the pessimist | Mar 13 2023 23:14 utc | 49
from Kyiv Independent
Ukraine war latest: Fierce fighting rages over central Bakhmut as Russia’s Wagner mercenaries storm into the ruined city
Russian forces attack power engineers in Kherson OblastFierce fighting rages over central Bakhmut as Russia’s Wagner mercenaries try to break through Ukrainian defenses in the ruined city, Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi said on March 13.
Syrskyi, who commands Ukraine’s Ground Forces and made two known visits to Bakhmut in recent weeks, acknowledged that the situation in the embattled city remained difficult as Russia continued to press forward.
The commander said that the Wagner members were storming into central Bakhmut from multiple fronts, but Ukraine still held on to the “fortress” while inflicting “significant losses” on the invading forces.
“All enemy attempts to capture the city are repelled by artillery, tanks, and other firepower," Syrskyi said, as quoted by the Ukrainian Defense Ministry's media center.
Syrskyi’s statement comes amid an eight-month-long battle over Bakhmut, a largely destroyed city nearly emptied of its 70,000 residents. Russia has intensified its offensive on Bakhmut in recent weeks as it captured neighboring settlements, inching its way into encircling the city. . . .here
Posted by: Don Bacon | Mar 13 2023 23:15 utc | 50
my Social Security gets cut off.
Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Mar 13 2023 22:58 utc | 46
There’s a degree of counterparty risk there, strictly off-topic, so I will just draw a parallel with the counterparty risk Ukraine faces in relying upon US/NATO nations fulfilling their promises of equipment provision
Posted by: West of England Andy | Mar 13 2023 23:19 utc | 51
From the previous thread by Roman:
Questions for Mr. Putin from a Russian
1. Why has a special operation, which usually takes no more than a few days, a few weeks maximum, has turned into a full-scale armed conflict that has been going on for a year and, judging by the President’s actions (giving vacations to the members of the Special Military Operation every six months, for example), will last at least several years? If this is due to intelligence errors and miscalculations of the political leadership, then what conclusions should be drawn from these errors, including those involving personnel?
2. What is the purpose of the SMO? Demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine, coupled with pushing NATO out of our borders, as mentioned at the beginning? Or the protection of Donbass from bombardments, or the protection of our border lands, which until February 2022 were never hit by shells and rockets from the Ukrainian side? The president and his ideologues named and the first, and second, and third reason, but never explained why they have change their minds so quickly. It is noteworthy that not only were none of these goals achieved in the last year, but exactly the opposite happened. An attempt to demilitarize Ukraine has led to a Ukraine is now much better armed than a year ago, and with the most modern Western weapons. An attempt to denazify ended with an increase in the approval of the nationalist Bandera among the citizens of Ukraine (from 22% in 2012 to 74% in the spring of 2022). The "defense of Donbass" was carried out with such elephantine grace that it is still being bombed and the number of casualties has increased dramatically (in 2021 there were about 100 victims of the UAF bombing, and in 2022 more than a thousand). An attempt to put up a barrier against NATO has resulted in Finland and Sweden joining NATO (which means NATO troops soon to be stationed near St. Petersburg), and Ukraine, though formally remaining a non-NATO member, is in fact in the closest coordination with the armies of the alliance. And again, no one at the top even tries to admit mistakes and understand who is to blame for the fact that the goal of the SMO achieved exactly its opposite.
3. What are the losses of Russia in this conflict? The Ministry of Defense reported on the losses many months ago, the authorities with cheerful cynicism repeat the words that "we have not started yet" and "we have a large resource." Foreign media and internet sites are spreading such frightening figures that they cause deep despondency among the Russian population.
4. Why, during this protracted conflict, has Russia continued to sell oil and gas to the West, which propaganda and the top leaders themselves call the enemy? Why does Russia continue to pay millions of dollars to Ukraine for the transit of gas and oil through its territory? Obviously, these millions go to the Ukrainian budget and turn into bullets and shells that kill Russian servicemen and volunteers. Why, finally, is the command regrouping troops in such a way that it suspiciously resembles a retreat from previously occupied territories?
5. Why did the army find itself in such a state that people even have to buy weapons and equipment themselves? The media reported that about 1 million uniforms were stolen from warehouses and the perpetrators were not found or punished! People take loans to supply their mobilized relatives with the necessary things! The authorities, the prosecutor's office, the police are silent about this.
6. Why do any attempts to criticize the outrages that are happening cause a sharp repressive reaction? People are fined, imprisoned for "fake news," the media and Telegram channels are closed. We have no provision for censorship under the constitution; civil liberties, on the contrary, are indeed guaranteed by that document. No martial law has been introduced in the country, and formally we are generally at peace with Ukraine and continue to recognize its government and its borders under the relevant treaty. True, several former Ukrainian regions have been declared part of the Russian Federation, but it seems that we have not canceled international agreements that are incompatible with the current state of affairs.
When will President Putin explain all this, say what is happening, what the government expects from the people, and why it is behaving so incomprehensibly?
---------
You know, I can answer each of your questions both by justifying Putin and his government and by proving they are all betrayers and thieves. That's the funny thing about conceptuality. There will always be multiple interpretations of current events depending on who we are and where we are. The history is written by the winners. I guess all we have left is to adapt to this new reality without wasting our time on investigating it which is hard to do since our minds need a rational explanation which is always based on conceptual. But tell that to my mobilized cousin who's in coma after being injured. At least the system does everything to save his life and he was transported all the way to Moscow. And even the mayor of the town came to visit him all the way from Vladivostok region. I think each individual has his/her path and what matters is how we overcome all those challenges rather than trying to find who caused those challenges to happen in the first place.
What is important now for the Russians is to remain in unity. Not to give in to suspecting each other despite what initial intentions of Putin were. He's not the only one who decides in any way. The only problem I see is that people become like sheep. They are easily manipulated and totally disconnected to their inner self. That loss of connection lacks peace of mind and creates more chaos around us.
Posted by: Yuri | Mar 13 2023 23:24 utc | 52
HERMIUS @ 42
So, the Patriot system delivered to Lvov to protect the NATO/Kiev underground HQ failed. A Kinzhal missile hit the bunker last week killing approx 300 top officials, including NATO advisers. Western media haven't commented neither have western officials, but the US isn't happy with Kiev.
Why was the USA's Patriot system's failure Kiev's fault? I am aware of the Patriot's faults you'd think a bunch of NATO honchos would too. And, who told 300 officials to pile all into a bunker? Maybe there was a U2 concert in the bunker, we should be so lucky, anyone seen signs of Bono in the last couple of days? And another upside, I think we've seen the last of Kiev propaganda trips by Bojo, Biden, Von der Leyen, Penn, etc. etc.
Posted by: LightYearsFromHome | Mar 13 2023 23:25 utc | 53
Posted by: HERMIUS | Mar 13 2023 22:37 utc | 42
If true, and it’s a big if, I wonder if they’ll try the SADF’s tactic of disguising the number of troops killed in the 80’s bush wars. Every now and then a transport aircraft would crash, killing all on board, guess who the ‘passengers’ were?
Posted by: Mike R | Mar 13 2023 22:16 utc | 32
You forgot the tactic the Russians perfected in Afghanistan and Chechnya, drop mine dispensing munitions behind the attackers, on their supply routes and ammo dumps. Russia has only used a fraction of it’s weapons, so as to not give NATO too much of a heads up; but given the opportunity to eviscerate the Ukrainian strategic reserve and update their COFM database, vis-Avis Western armour, I think they might break with that policy.
Posted by: Bemildred | Mar 13 2023 21:30 utc | 21
For no better reason than as an exercise in update my cold-war based, knowledge on all things military, I researched the so called over-the-horizon technologies. What fascinated me was the subject of ballistic protection rendering firearms redundant and the idea of drones. I envisaged scenarios where another layer of warfare was created as systems deployed their surveillance and attack drones, but also HK models to take out opposing drones. Apart from developments in electro-optical ADS and trained raptors, there have been no real developments in anti-drone drones, with armies relying on soft-ware updates to existing SAM systems. Still, I agree this SMO, whilst harrowing to watch at times, is a fascinating display in the revolution in warfare.
Posted by: Milites | Mar 13 2023 23:30 utc | 54
Richard Steven Hack @ 46
my Social Security gets cut off
West of England Andy @ 51
There’s a degree of counterparty risk there
I'll add runaway inflation and fixed income isn't a good mix either.
Posted by: LightYearsFromHome | Mar 13 2023 23:31 utc | 55
Posted by: Yuri | Mar 13 2023 23:24 utc | 52
That's a long way to say you're Ukrainian.
Posted by: Passerby | Mar 13 2023 23:33 utc | 56
@karlof1.
When the trolls are posting ad hominem poorer than that offered by a 15year-old on 4-chan….. you’re over the target.
As ever, your work much (very much) appreciated by me and many @bar.
Posted by: Melaleuca | Mar 13 2023 23:37 utc | 57
@Don Bacon | Mar 13 2023 23:15 utc | 50
It is suggested in the article that they (UAF) are hoping to weaken Wagner forces by continuing to engage them in Bakhmut and the Wagners have taken up the challenge. I get the sense that part of the motivation on both sides, aside from overall strategy, is simple patriotic determination. Every time there has been a war, certainly in the past several hundred years, the Russians have come out to fight (I include the majority of 'normal' Ukrainians when I say Russians). Most would rather not, but it is their duty as they see it. You can see this characterization in the Wagner film "Best in Hell". Soldiers (as opposed to Right Sector and Azov crazies) on both sides have expressed respect for the other side. This actually gives me hope that when the war is over that some sort of reconciliation is still possible - perhaps not right away, but over time.
BTW, I object to calling the UAF forces "ukies" and the like as I think it shows lack of respect for their humanity. For a little taste try reading an article linked in the one Don linked to and quoted from:
Posted by: the pessimist | Mar 13 2023 23:49 utc | 58
An article in Grayzone by Ivan Katchanovski that was linked to yesterday @ 274 and today @ 4 has made me reconsider the motives by the current President of the US. The article can be found here:
GRAYZONE Article by Ivan Katchanovski. The critical excerpt to Biden's motivation follows:
The truth behind the events could implicate US officials directly in the killings, and more generally the Maidan coup, is considerable. It is an axiomatic article of faith in the Western mainstream that Washington was in no way involved in the upheaval, despite mountains of hard proof to the contrary. High-ranking members of the far-right Svoboda party, including its longtime leader Oleg Tyagnibok, and his deputy Ruslan Koshulinskyi, have alleged that the Maidan sniper slaughter was closely coordinated with the US. Tyagnibok has sworn that after the first four protesters were killed, he was shocked by the lack of international outcry.“Why is there no reaction? This is not enough,” he claims to have lamented at the time.
In turn, Koshulinskyi discussed what death toll would be sufficient for Washington and its international lackeys to begin loudly demanding Yanukovych’s removal from office:
“They talked about the first deaths – well, five, 20…100? When will the government be to blame? In the end, they reached the figure of 100. There was no pressure. There were no sanctions. They waited until a mass murder. And if there is a mass murder in the country, the government is to blame, because they crossed the line, the authorities cannot allow mass murders.”
This shows that Joe Biden's obsession with Ukraine is not primarily to cover up his sons financial involvement but by his 2014 decision to drive the Ukraine coup forward regardless of the fatalities. This mass murder was terrorism plain and simple. Terrorism directed by the Vice-President's office which was charged with handling the Ukraine insurrection by the Obama White House.
Posted by: Quid Me Vexare | Mar 13 2023 23:52 utc | 59
LightYearsFromHome | Mar 13 2023 23:25 utc | 53
Thanks for “Why was the USA's Patriot system's failure Kiev's fault?”
Exactly. Exactly the thought I had on reading the post.
And agree with your humour, and the hope celebrity tours of Kiev may be curtailed.
Posted by: Melaleuca | Mar 13 2023 23:56 utc | 60
@ karlof1 | Mar 13 2023 23:14 utc | 48
"Urinal cake" is now my new favorite just-deserts karmic reincarnation.
Posted by: John Kennard | Mar 13 2023 23:57 utc | 61
@ @Richard Steven Hack | Mar 13 2023 21:19 utc | 19
Posted by: the pessimist | Mar 13 2023 23:14 utc | 49
Do the Orthodox have any tradition of political immolation?
Remember how such murderous folly accelerated the downfall of America's and the Vatican's hatchet-man in Vietnam, Diem.
Zelenskiy and the Uniates are making the Pope proud.
Posted by: John Kennard | Mar 14 2023 0:07 utc | 62
Re Serge opining on the banking crisis
@ Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Mar 13 2023 22:23 utc | 35
And @ Colin 43
RSH and Colin your contributions are deeply appreciated.
Big Serge should stick to matters military. I posted on the Main Thread; the FED is in a horrendous spot. They have two options: Save the dollar or save the banks. Ain’t see nothing yet.
Just a tiny bit on the corruption behind the curtain. You can’t make this Stuff Up.
If you want to genuinely understand why Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) failed and why Jerome Powell’s Fed led the effort yesterday to make sure $150 billion of the bank’s uninsured depositors’ money would be treated as FDIC insured and available today, you need to take a look at how the bank defined itself right up until it blew up on Friday. (That history is still available at the Internet Archives’ Wayback Machine at this link. Give the page time to load.This was a financial institution deployed to facilitate the goals of powerful venture capital and private equity operators, by financing tech and pharmaceutical startups until they could raise millions or billions of dollars in a Wall Street Initial Public Offering (IPO).
The bank was also involved in managing the wealth of those startup millionaires or billionaires once they struck it big in an IPO.Many of the former startup companies also continued to keep their operating money at the bank – in many cases in the millions of dollars, ignoring the fact that just $250,000 of that was insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).
Last Friday, dozens of publicly-traded companies made filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission indicating that they had large sums of uninsured deposits now frozen at Silicon Valley Bank. Several indicated that the amounts represented 23 to 26 percent of the company’s cash and/or cash equivalents.
Roku, Inc., the publicly-traded manufacturer of digital media players for video streaming, reported the following to the SEC: “The Company has total cash and cash equivalents of approximately $1.9 billion as of March 10, 2023. Approximately $487 million is held at SVB, which represents approximately 26% of the Company’s cash and cash equivalents balance as of March 10, 2023.”[.]
To put it bluntly, this was a Wall Street IPO machine that enriched the investment banks on Wall Street by keeping the IPO pipeline moving; padded the bank accounts of the venture capital and private equity middlemen; and minted startup millionaires for ideas that often flamed out after the companies went public. [.]
More
Got it?
All are interconnected. Save the banks! Taxpayer's $$$ at work.
Posted by: Likklemore | Mar 14 2023 0:13 utc | 63
A petition posted on Zelensky's website in November 2022 suggested changing Russia's official name to "Muscovy". Well then, I propose calling the U$A the "United States of Amnesia", like Gore Vidal once suggested. Or else "Bolivia" would be an option. Just imagine the headlines: "Bolivia took out Nord Stream 2", und so weiter.
Posted by: Sektion2B | Mar 14 2023 0:28 utc | 64
Arestovych mush have AIDS or a terminal cancer.
He keeps dropping truth bomb after truth bomb… he is fearless!
"The west deceived Russia. They promised not to push NATO to the east, and they did. They turned Ukraine into a huge anti-Russian country.
If I was in Russia's shoes, I would have done the exact same thing."
—Former adviser to Zelensky, Alexey Arestovich
And. Biden is a postergramps for dementia in Russia:
https://twitter.com/Likeshesays/status/1635425355329867777
Posted by: Melaleuca | Mar 14 2023 0:31 utc | 65
As Alexander Mercouris, of the Duran, says on YouTube, the U.S., Britain, and the German military, have repeatedly told Zelensky to pull out of Bakhmut. Zelensky refuses.
So stop all the factless claims about "the Ukrainians are forced to do this by the neocons".
Furthermore, the Democrats are in control of the White House, they aren't "neocons". They are leftists. Which the neocons also are, revealing themselves by supporting Hillary in 2016. The Left hates Russia ever since the "Trump is a Russian agent and Russia hacked the election!" hoax.
But especially because Russia is a conservative country that has banned homosexual propaganda in the schools. "Ultimately this war is about LGBTQ rights!" the Democrats say. Putin has also condemned the flood of "refugees" pouring in over the West, which the socialist parties rely on, since they otherwise wouldn't have won a single national election since the 1990s. They hate Putin for pointing out that they are killing the West.
And Russia supports the pro-Palestinian Syria and Iran. Which the Zionists who control U.S. media and therefore U.S. politics can never forget. They want Russia destroyed for this.
Posted by: Hegar | Mar 14 2023 0:34 utc | 66
Posted by: Hegar | Mar 14 2023 0:34 utc | 67
"Isn't it rather comical for you to make such a statement, given the Democratic Party's praise for Bush and the number of neoconservatives who have switched sides and joined the party?"
Posted by: Colin | Mar 14 2023 0:41 utc | 67
@Hegar | Mar 14 2023 0:34 utc | 67
The 'neocons' are not "leftists" and they are party agnostic - lots of Republicans and some Democrats. The "Left" in the US is dead or gone underground. Traditionally the "left" is anti-war and leaning toward socialism or communism as a form of social organization. Today's Democratic Party is kind of mutant organism, the old guard of which routinely colludes with old guard Republicans to keep the wealth spread properly around amongst the political elite.
Posted by: the pessimist | Mar 14 2023 0:48 utc | 68
Moscow might recover like just fine from this war. Whatever this had lost population wise in this war is balanced by the amount of people in the occupied territories. As for equipments, this could manufacture hundreds of tanks per year, despite sanctions and its airforce is still intact. This war could end with a deal, around the table between Washington and Moscow. The sanctions might not be permanent.
The biggest loser in this war is EU, that had shown itself, beyond a doubt, to be puppet of Washington. This had lost access to cheap and abundant gas from Russia, having to pay many times more for American and Norwegian gas. This had demilitarized itself, its equipments burned down in the fields of Ukraine.
Washington won in short term but only that - Washington and its vassals had lost all of goodwill in the global south because of hypocritical responses to this war, with russophiles rallies being held in Africa of all, Beijing meddling in the middle east and solving conflicts in this world's region, more and more countries moving into Beijing's sphere of influence. French troops were recently kicked out of Mali, only to be replaced with Russian mercenaries.
This war is the culmination of decades of western supremacy, an effect of the war in Iraq and Syria, where Moscow stood by and watched the west destroy its allies, one by one.
Countries are seeing the writing on the wall and no one would want to deal with a rejuvenated and militant west - So, people are getting their affairs in order and alliances are being made.
The unipolar world order is over. The question is would Washington accept not being top dog anymore or would burn the world down ? This would seem to be the latter, as Washington is gearing up for a conflict against Beijing.
Posted by: Nuclear | Mar 14 2023 0:55 utc | 69
As usual, MoA veers towards the two-party system of the hegemon and the childish illusion of democracy.
Show me the way
To the next whiskey bar
Oh don't ask why
Oh don't ask why.
Posted by: Sektion2B | Mar 14 2023 0:56 utc | 70
Few days ago rumors about possible losses among US military personal during latest Russian air strike were circulating in Russian social media channels. They were referencing some West media. No confimation was readily avaiable though.
Russian are complaining about armored vehicle losses done by cheap fpv drones flying with RPG alike explosive warheads and are trying to catch up Ukrainians in this. We are witnessing elements of future wars being tested in this conflict.
Moscow is preparing for Ukrainian advance backed by lates West weaponry assistance to the Ukraine. Some rumors related to the lack of ammunition for artillery on Russian side could be linked to the stockpiling them by RF as part of preparation for this offensive. may be. Seems both West and Russia tries to utilize old weaponry (whenever they can) while trying to keep latest for possible upcoming major battles.
Posted by: asehi | Mar 14 2023 1:04 utc | 71
Posted by: Milites | Mar 13 2023 23:30 utc | 54
Thank for your comment, I am not much of an expert and I wanted to see how you would see it.
Military organizations are normally quite conservative, and for good reason. The rate of change of late, both technical and social is going to add a lot of disorder and waste. And the way forward is not clear. To bring order to it will take some time.
I have to give the Russians a lot of credit for innovation, accomplishment. People should wise up.
The things you mention, mech war and drone war and remote war all possible, and hard to predict. Drones have been around a long time, so has robotics, for example. Piloted aircraft have been obsolete for a long time. ATGM seem to be very versatile.
But artillery is still the queen. I know it has been out of fashion for a while. I became acquainted with Ft. Sill for a while back in the 80s.
I suppose there are lots of computer models already.
We may never find out though, I think the Chinese and Russians have better things to do.
Posted by: Bemildred | Mar 14 2023 1:05 utc | 72
Update to my comment at #6 above on the GrayZone piece and the author on Maidan
Full paper available here - I highly recommend reading it .... I read it a few years ago - as J. Sachs put it -
Among those fervently supporting Katchanovski’s appeal was renowned US academic Jeffrey Sachs. “You have written a very important, rigorous, and substantial article. It is thoroughly documented. It is on a topic of great significance,” Sachs wrote to the scholar. “Your paper should be published for reasons of its excellence…The journal will only benefit from publishing such a work of importance and excellence, which will further the scholarly understanding and debate regarding a very important moment of modern history.” [Grayzone]
...
The Maidan Massacre in Ukraine: Revelations from Trials and Investigation
Ivan Katchanovski
University of Ottawa
Download full text PDF here:
Posted by: Don Firineach | Mar 14 2023 1:22 utc | 73
Please take finance discussion to the Week In Review Open Thread where I have just added a link to an Ellen Brown piece and quotes from it about derivatives....thanks
Posted by: psychohistorian | Mar 14 2023 1:32 utc | 74
Some videos for today.
Russian weaponry gaining ground against Western-armed Ukrainian troops:
https://odysee.com/@RT:fd/Igor_Zhdanov_1303:9
Black Sea Fleet Marines have thwarted an attack by a Kiev regime sabotage and reconnaissance group:
https://odysee.com/@SputnikInternational:c/2023-03-13-10.59.53:9
T-90M ‘Breakthrough’ tank provides fire support for Russian assault units:
https://odysee.com/@RT:fd/T-90_1303:d
Russian Grad launchers pound enemy position:
https://rutube.ru/video/291a1b09ff10306d507b1d7e25b8ff0a/
Russian Ka-52 helicopter destroys enemy support points and armored vehicles:
https://rutube.ru/video/762c0ad311391f3be13b000fdbc14912/
Bulgaria protesters rally for military neutrality in Ukraine conflict:
https://odysee.com/@RT:fd/BULGARIAPROTEST:c
Demonstrators in Germany march against arms deliveries to Kiev regime:
https://odysee.com/@RT:fd/GERMANY-PEACE-MARCH:f
Posted by: Nate | Mar 14 2023 1:42 utc | 75
Follow the mouse-click pretend money. Ze is pushed to the bank burner focus is now on "how to save the banks."
The Banking Crisis will affect the USD. I repeat,the FED is in a horrendous spot. They blew up the bond market.
Prof. Michael Hudson goes there with the word that shall not be uttered - the elephant in the room.
Why the Banking System Is Breaking Up
LINK
The collapses of Silvergate and Silicon Valley Bank are like icebergs calving off from the Antarctic glacier. The financial analogy to the global warming causing this collapse of supporting shelving is the rising temperature of interest rates, which spiked last Thursday and Friday to close at 4.60 percent for the U.S. Treasury’s two-year bonds. Bank depositors meanwhile were still being paid only 0.2 percent on their deposits. That has led to a steady withdrawal of funds from banks – and a corresponding decline in commercial bank balances with the Federal Reserve.Most media reports reflect a prayer that the bank runs will be localized, as if there is no context or environmental cause.
There is general embarrassment to explain how the breakup of banks that is now gaining momentum is the result of the way that the Obama Administration bailed out the banks in 2008 with fifteen years of Quantitative Easing to re-inflate prices for packaged bank mortgages – and with them, housing prices, along with stock and bond prices.[.]
There is an even larger elephant in the room: derivatives. Volatility increased last Thursday and Friday. The turmoil has reached vast magnitudes beyond what characterized the 2008 crash of AIG and other speculators. Today, JP Morgan Chase and other New York banks have tens of trillions of dollar valuations of derivatives – casino bets on which way interest rates, bond prices, stock prices and other measures will change.
For every winning guess, there is a loser. When trillions of dollars are bet on, some bank trader is bound to wind up with a loss that can easily wipe out the bank’s entire net equity.[.]
More
Those instruments of financial destruction: Derivatives.
And there are some biggies on the ropes.
Someone needs to monitor the fever levels at Wellsy Fargo. -its loan to deposit ratio is an eye watering 70%/ SVB was 42%.
Posted by: Likklemore | Mar 14 2023 1:47 utc | 76
@ psychohistorian | Mar 14 2023 1:32 utc | 76
Seconded. Along with any other non-Ukraine topics ...
@ asehi | Mar 14 2023 1:04 utc | 73
RF has deliberately from day 0 used majority consumable/expendable second rate arms, materiel & units by choice. With limited wartime testing of 1st rate kit & prototypes. They are currently rolling out a fleet of rebuilt/upgraded/modernized T-62s with custom ERA, digital comms/battle systems, NVG & thermal imaging sensors/sights/vision. Not because they are suffering shortages but because why use higher quality arms when the critical need to do so is not imperative across the battlefield. Good enough vs AFU & economy of effort/treasure & efficient destruction utilization of preceding gen assets.
Why was a terrorist attack by Ukraine inside Russia needed for Russia to attack the war fighting capabilty of the government Russia is at war with.
Why wasn't the Ukrainian military infrastructure destroyed a long time ago?
BE HONEST WITH YOURSELF, THERE IS NO GOOD ANSWER.
Posted by: Anton Gorbatow | Mar 14 2023 2:02 utc | 78
"Prof. Michael Hudson goes there with the word that shall not be uttered - the elephant in the room."
That got my hopes up. Alas, disappointed. He named a symptom only.
Posted by: Wisco | Mar 14 2023 2:12 utc | 79
To Likklemore at 78
Adding to your observations;
One can surmise there is some link between the bank failures and what is going down in the Ukraine. How much money has the U.S. finance cartels tied up in the Ukraine? To think it is all going up in smoke as we speak. After Bakhmut, the entire Ukriaine front will collapse in relatively short time. And then there is China. All China needs to do is dump some bonds onto the U.S. market of which it has plenty, and the whole system crashes. With the U.S. tapped out on debt, it does not take much. I'm sure Putin knew this going into the conflict. He is out to take down more than just the Ukraine, and it looks like he may succeed. Basically, with the U.S. economy being tapped out as it is, Biden in essence went to a gun fight without a fully loaded magazine. Then to top it off he is pissing off the big boy Xi.
All I can say is "dumb, dumb, dumb.
Posted by: Bobby jo | Mar 14 2023 2:16 utc | 80
@ Anton Gorbatow | Mar 14 2023 2:02 utc | 80
'Cause Zelensky, OUN-B Nazis & NAFO trolls(like you?) are possibly secretly cross-dressing latex & leather wearing gimps for the RF STAVKA ? Valuable covert ASSets ?
Posted by: LightYearsFromHome | Mar 13 2023 23:31 utc | 55
"I'll add runaway inflation and fixed income isn't a good mix either."
Depends on the level of inflation. So far the food increases have crimped me only a little. I've still got $1,400 in food stamps which will cover me for the next four months at least not counting new issues. Helps that I'm on a diet for the next few months. :-)
Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Mar 14 2023 2:28 utc | 82
Posted by: the pessimist | Mar 13 2023 23:14 utc | 49
Speaking of public reaction, I saw on Twitter earlier pictures of protests from Orthodox Ukrainians. So I suspect it won't go over well for some people. My guess is they will force the monks out. The government is a band of Nazis, after all.
Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Mar 14 2023 2:31 utc | 83
Anton Gorbatow | Mar 14 2023 2:02 utc | 80
There is, just not one you want to hear. See Outraged @ 79 for the answer.
Posted by: David | Mar 14 2023 2:32 utc | 84
Simplicius has a new Substack up. In this one he remembers the Iraq war and more importantly compares the events of that war - the real events, not the media spectacle that everyone remembers - with the media portrayal of events in the SMO. Everyone should find this a very interesting read.
The Iraq War Was A Sham
We mark the 20 year anniversary of the fraudulent Operation Iraqi Freedom by reframing it with a new, revealing historiography.
https://simplicius76.substack.com/p/the-iraq-war-was-a-sham?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
An example:
As the American columns continued to leisurely drive down the highways toward Baghdad, they faced the occasional light small-arms resistance. However, even with such paltry opposition, they were experiencing massive problems.They go on to outline how the Marines continued driving into Iraqi territory for two weeks (with little to no resistance, mind you) in their AAV’s (Assault Amphibious Vehicle), which began to break down en masse:
(13:48 timestamp)
“The AAV’s were constantly breaking down,” says the anchor. “At one point, one third of the tracks were out of service. Vehicles designed to carry 15 Marines now regularly carried 24.”
So they lost a whopping, unheard of 1/3 of their vehicles in the first week or two of the road march just from systemic break downs? Where’s the outcry about the mighty ‘1st Army’? Remember the cries of Russian incompetence, lack of maintenance, poor army, etc., in the early part of the SMO? But the US, of course, gets a free pass for the same sins as Russia.
At 15:27 of the NBC Nightline special, they even groan about how badly the supply situation deteriorated, the commander explaining how ‘nervous’ he got when they had to ration down to two meals a day for four days straight.
Here again, at 57:11 of the NBC doc, they describe completely running out of supplies during a sandstorm, where US troops were rationed down to 1 MRE per day, and almost no water. Sure, it was a bad sandstorm—but no worse than the equivalent bad ‘snowstorms’ and rasputitsa that Russia has had to endure repeatedly in Ukraine—and Russian forces never ran out of food to the point of rationing to 1 or 2 MRE’s per day.
Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Mar 14 2023 2:36 utc | 85
My guess is they will force the monks out. The government is a band of Nazis, after all.Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Mar 14 2023 2:31 utc | 85
My guess is also that, despite Patriarch Kirill's pleas, there won't be a word of protest from the likes of Bergoglio or the Archbishop of Canterbury.
@ Bobby jo | Mar 14 2023 2:16 utc | 82
One almost -- almost! -- has to pity Dementia Joe. Here he was, obsessed with peeling off Banderastan for NATO (and, not coincidentally, for the family business), but those naughty Republicans keep on deriding him as a ChiCom symp, so he has to go after China too. Heh.
Posted by: malenkov | Mar 14 2023 2:43 utc | 86
[35]
I am curious as to why Big Serge thinks SVB was underwater because of fixed-rate bonds and not simply bonds where YTM is set by traders. Surely the bank was actively trading maturities and would need to MTM periodically. They obviously had a big loan book since every loan creates a deposit
Posted by: Paul Greenwood | Mar 14 2023 3:01 utc | 87
⚡️🇷🇺🇺🇦⚔️ #Chronicle of the Special Military Operation for 13 Mar 2023⚡️🔹#Russia's Border Areas:
▪️ In the #Bryansk region, Ukrainian terrorist formations struck the village of #Rakovka in Pogarsky district, power supply line and civilian infrastructure were damaged.
➖ In Sevsky district, in the villages of #Grudskaya and #Nekislitsa several residential buildings have been damaged, with no civilian casualties.▪️ In the #Belgorod region, the enemy terrorists shelled the village of #Terebrino, Krasnoyaruzhsky district, damaging several houses.
➖ Over #Belgorod, Russian air defence systems intercepted four missiles. All targets were shot down, one woman was injured.🔹#Starobelsk Direction (MAP):
▪️ In the #Kupyansk sector, Russian troops under air cover conduct an offensive towards #Yagodnoye.
➖ The enemy is preparing defensive positions at the Krasnoye Pervoye - #Dvurechnaya line.▪️ In the #Liman sector near Balka Zhuravka, Russian units repulsed several attacks by Ukrainian paratroopers aimed at regaining positions lost the day before. The enemy, having suffered losses, was forced to withdrew.
🔹#Soledar (#Bakhmut) Direction:
▪️ Northwest of #Bakhmut, Wagner PMC units took several enemy strongholds near #Zaliznyanskoye.
➖ In Orekhovo-Vasilyevka, the AFU is fighting on the western outskirts of the village, trying to slow down the advance of the Russian assault squads.▪️ In #Bakhmut, the "Wagnerians" are dislodging the enemy from underground communications on the territory of the Artyomovsk Metal Processing Plant (AZOM).
➖ In the southwest of the city, the PMC Wagner is expanding the zone of control in the area of Sobachevka and Budenovka, dislodging the enemy from several strongholds.🔹#Donetsk Direction:
▪️ The AFU terrorists once again struck civilian infrastructure in #Donetsk and other towns in the republic.
➖ School No.58 was damaged in Kievsky district, there is destruction of housing in #Volnovakha and #Aleksandrovka, at least eight people were wounded, two were killed.🔹#Zaporozhye Direction:
▪️ The enemy is completing the training of assault teams undergoing active training in Europe and western Ukraine.
➖ With the end of the spring thaw and the arrival of Western equipment, the Ukrainian command plans to launch a full scale offensive from several directions at once.🔹#Kherson Direction on #SouthFront:
▪️ In #Kherson, a Russian reconnaissance team conducted a series of successful attacks on Ukrainian positions, eliminating AFU militants.
➖ A curfew was imposed in the city in an attempt to find saboteurs.▪️ In Nova Kakhovka, an improvised explosive device was detonated in the area of the Tasty Ukraine canteen. Presumably, the target of the attack was the deputy of the Novaya Kakhovka military regional administration. The incident resulted in no casualties.
https://t.me/sitreports/5767
Posted by: Down South | Mar 14 2023 3:14 utc | 88
⚡️🇷🇺🇺🇦💀 Wagner on the General Situation⚡️🔹 What is Happening on the Front cannot help but suggest that by accumulating forces along the entire line of contact, In #Nikolayev, #Kherson, #KrivoyRog, #Zaporozhye, #Kharkov and #Donbass, the enemy is preparing some sort of revenge. Since the beginning of Feb and until today, the redeployment of new brigades by the AFU has continued.
🔹New Units are arriving in #Nikolayev, and humanitarian aid is pouring in, because the enemy's supplies are all right in terms of volunteers and regular supplies. They are also moving troops to the right bank part of the #Kherson region, which is still controlled by Kiev, and the SBU is raging in the frontline areas, local residents are being forcibly resettled from the frontline, apparently they want to completely exclude even the hypothetical possibility of assistance from the population to the Russian army.
🔹In Many Sub-Publics and, of course, on the sidelines, it is said that by mid-April the AFU General Staff is planning a largescale offensive along the entire frontline. Kiev needs to account to the West for the lend-lease at all costs, which is why, in fact, the topic of the strike in #Kherson Oblast is being hyped. If we assess these assumptions purely from the point of view of scenario analysis, then by analogy with the Aug failure of the #Kharkov bridgehead, losing control over the #Kherson region would mean that the enemy would reach the borders of #Crimea; as a result, the peninsula could be cut off from land communications. By no means are we aiming to create panic, we are simply analyzing the facts that are obvious and must be taken into account in military planning.
🔹And the Facts are: More and more details are becoming known about the regrouping of the AFU at the #Zaporozhye sector and the redeployment of new brigades assembled from former military personnel and trained according to new NATO standards for the AFU. The enemy is also accumulating sabotage forces on the border with the #Bryansk and #Kursk regions, where not so long ago "Ukro-SFO" and all kinds of mercenaries from "enlightened" #Europe showed up. Here a direct parallel can be drawn with the entry into the #Bryansk region border area of the "Russian Volunteer Corps" SRG on 2 Mar.
🔹There is also Active Movement in the #Kharkov direction. If we recall the events of last Aug, after which the Russian army withdrew from #Izyum, #Balakleya and #Kupyansk, which put #Svatovo under attack, clearly strengthening the Kharkov grouping, including with foreign equipment, the enemy does not leave plans to force #Oskol to reach the #Svatovo - #Torskoye line to block the supply of the Russian Severodonetsk grouping.
🔹The AFU, of course, is suffocating in terms of depleted human resources. It is becoming increasingly difficult to ensure an influx of fresh forces to the troops. Therefore, in addition to lend-lease, Kiev is relying on the direct participation in combat operations of military personnel from #NATO countries, not to mention mercenaries from all kinds of American, Polish and British PMCs. The facts themselves speak for themselves. The fact of the appearance of German military and engineering personnel in #Izyum also explains a great deal about the AFU General Staff's plans. Somewhat simultaneously with the expected deliveries of Leopard tanks. British artillery has already turned up at the training grounds in Krivoy Rog. And the enemy's use of HIMARS in #Donbass has already ceased to surprise anyone.
📌 The Manoeuvres conducted by the AFU command are, in all probability, evidence of Kiev's preparations for a largescale offensive. And if the situation in #Donbass is permanently tense, the activation in the relatively "stable" #Kherson and #Zaporozhye areas suggests that it is here where the blow must be expected. And not just wait, but with an understanding of the threat to prepare to prevent a repeat of the #Kharkov retreat of Aug 2022.
https://t.me/sitreports/5768
Posted by: Down South | Mar 14 2023 3:15 utc | 89
⚡️🇷🇺🇺🇦💀 Military Expert Boris Rozhin on the Situation in the #Artyomovsk (#Bakhmut) Sector on the Evening of 13 March 2023⚡️🔹 North:
➖ The Wagner PMC continues fighting in the direction of #Khromovo and #Bogdanovka. Both settlements are held by the AFU.
➖ There is also fighting near #Zaliznyanskoye and Orekhovo-Vasilyevka. There is no confirmation of the capture of these settlements at the moment, but there will be movement in the coming days.
➖ The enemy strengthens the direction to #Ray - #Aleksandrovka.
📌 Fire control of the road through #Khromovo is also maintained. The cost of its use is increasing. The same applies to the fields between #Khromovo and #Krasnoye.🔹South:
➖ Fighting continues near #Krasnoye, which is held by the AFU. Our troops retain fire control over the road through #Krasnoye. The enemy's attempts to push back the Wagner PMC from the road are not yet successful.
📌 One can expect attempts by the AFU to counterattack in the direction of #Kleshchiyevka, including with the use of reserves from Chasov Yar and #Konstantinovka.🔹City:
➖ The assault on the industrial zone of the AZOM plant continues. The enemy confirms the advancement of the Wagner PMC assault squads.
➖ There is an advance towards the centre of the city from the Zabakhmutka area, where mopping-up activities are still ongoing.
➖ The fighting is gradually shifting to the western part of the city, where the enemy expects to continue its defence.
📌 There are currently no signs of the collapse of organised resistance, although the number of deserters and defectors continues to increase in some of the AFU Brigades.
https://t.me/sitreports/5764
Posted by: Down South | Mar 14 2023 3:17 utc | 90
@ Sektion2B | Mar 14 2023 0:56 utc | 71
When _will_ people learn the word "plutocracy"?
As in "The two-Party system is, and has been from the first, plutocratic theater (see Foord, Plunkitt, Karp)."
(I find the UK's Oxbridge Parliamentary Labor Party fascinating in that regard.)
de Gaulle fingered Party-rule itself as the problem.
Posted by: John Kennard | Mar 14 2023 3:25 utc | 91
The monks of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC MP) will not comply with the order to leave the monastery at the request of the museum-reserve, which is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine.Such a position was voiced by the vicar of the Holy Assumption Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, Metropolitan Paul:
"We do not intend to be evicted and will not be, because now there are laws that are on the side of the person." It is not the 17th year that we are threatened with "we will be dealt with." Today there is a world community. There is some culture.
He stressed that the monks of the UOC are citizens of Ukraine and do not violate any laws."We are not collaborators; we are citizens of our country; we are people who have lived here since 1988; many have no other place but here."
The problem is that power in Kiev is now in the hands of NATO occupiers and Nazi bastards, so we are left to pray to Our Lord that there will be no casualties among His servants who are willing to sacrifice themselves for the True Faith.
https://t.me/Slavyangrad/37142
Posted by: Down South | Mar 14 2023 3:39 utc | 92
"Prof. Michael Hudson goes there with the word that shall not be uttered - the elephant in the room."
That got my hopes up. Alas, disappointed. He named a symptom only.
@ Wisco Post 81
Let’s mitigate your disappointment. Granted, by Prof. Hudson’s standard, that was a very short piece. If you read the linked article, it’s the Derivatives, those financial instruments Warren Buffett described as – Financial Weapons of Mass Destruction.
Here is the worry, also noted by Paul Craig Roberts, former Assistant Secretary of US Treasury and, this piece should enlighten. Suggest you add to your reading list the helpful links within this article:
Banking Troubles on the Horizon
LINK
[.]
Of course, as during the previous financial crisis, government and financial executives will make reassuring statements, such as the one made by Treasury Secretary Yellen last Friday when she reassured the public that the American banking system is resilient and well capitalized.But is it? The five banks labeled “too big to fail” have $188 trillion in derivatives.
The brutal fact is that 5 US banks have risk exposure that is twice the size of the GDP of the entire world.
[.]
It is incomprehensible that 5 US banks have sufficient capital to back derivative bets that are twice the size of world GDP.[.]It is possible that darker forces are at work. The five big banks, knowing that they are protected by the Fed, regard bank failures as opportunities to buy up assets for pennies on the dollar. The three New York banks, who control the New York Fed, the operating arm of the Federal Reserve, might even have their greedy eyes on Bank of America and Wells Fargo.
A Looming Derivative Tsunami?
The existing trillions of dollars of derivative bets were made when interest rates were lower. When these contracts are reset, it will be at higher interest rates, so the value of the bets would be adversely affected.
Ellen Brown explains what might be a Derivative Tsunami...{The Looming Quadrillion Dollar Derivative Tsunami]
https://scheerpost.com/2023/03/12/ellen-brown-the-looming-quadrillion-dollar-derivatives-tsunami/?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=emailOne still reads in the financial media that banks finance businesses and new investment, but they don’t. Banks finance purchases of existing assets and speculative derivative bets that produce profits for investment banks but nothing real for the economy. Indeed, derivatives have become extreme risks with no productive purpose.[.]
Interest rates and
Global Derivatives: $600 trillion. BIS has it at a quadrillion.
Posted by: Likklemore | Mar 14 2023 3:40 utc | 93
[.]
Biden in essence went to a gun fight without a fully loaded magazine. Then to top it off he is pissing off the big boy Xi.
All I can say is "dumb, dumb, dumb.
@ Bobby Jo Post 82
China has been unloading USTs. What is little known on main street; the bond market, larger than the stock market, has been imploding.
Biden promised to weaken and defeat Russia now finds himself in a banking crisis with no friends capable of helping out. This banking debacle requires trillions as the insured and uninsured depositors are covered.
Bears repeating there are only two options: Save the banks or Save the dollar.
Posted by: Likklemore | Mar 14 2023 3:56 utc | 94
Jacob Dreizin, who unlike certain blowhard armchair generals does not pass off wishful thinking as fact, has posted two important mini articles.
"Ukraine redeploys forces from other sectors, commits almost all reserves, has 19 brigades (16 maneuver, 3 artillery) and parts of another, plus multiple brigades of militia—the gayest army ever assembled, and densest concentration of force since at least the 1982 Lebanon War—in place and preparing to take back Soledar, unblock and recover Artemovsk (Bakhmut.) Operation to use new weapons (incl. “Switchblade 600” kamikaze drones); to be undertaken with real-time battlefield intelligence and close operational guidance from dedicated U.S. military command center (same as east Kharkov offensive last year, but with even more complete integration of U.S. battlefield awareness software among Ukr. commanders—the largest, most intensive and realistic U.S. Army “war game” EVER.) Will America’s Frankenstein knock Russia out this time?"
"On March 11, Gayest Air Force In History Flew UK-Based B-52 Strategic Bomber (“Noble61”) Into Gulf Of Finland For (Likely Unarmed) Nuclear Cruise Missile Launch Approach Training Run Against St. Petersburg (Or Nearby Military Facilities), Russia’s 2nd City, Coming To Within ~200km (~124mi) Of The City, Also PROVOCATIVELY Passing Over All Baltic States AND Not More Than 95km (~59mi) From Russia’s Pskov On Its “Extended, In Your Face” Return Trip. (No, This Is *NOT* Common.)"
In relation to Number One, I believe that Russia is in a much stronger position now than in September last year when the Pitin regime's failure to plan for a war longer than 6 months meant the Kharkov front was almost stripped of soldiers and the nazis to Kupyansk and Izyum without a shot, with Russia now having to fight for every metre to get back to where it can recapture Kupyansk. But "much stronger" doesn't mean "invincible", not unless Putin is going to permit the military to use maximum five as required. For example, as Simplicius76 points out, Russia could have eradicated the entire nazi leadership at one go when it gathered at a nazi funeral, but didn't. So if the nazis actually manage a breakthrough, the question is whether more "hard decisions" like Kherson will be taken or whether we will finally see the full force of the Russian military unleashed.
I suppose we'll find out.
Posted by: Biswapriya Purkayast | Mar 14 2023 4:05 utc | 95
" RF has deliberately from day 0 used majority consumable/expendable second rate arms, materiel & units by choice.
Posted by: Outraged | Mar 14 2023 1:59 utc | 79 "
Do tell, which Russians are " expandable " , their mothers, daughters, and wives want to know ?
Posted by: Deplorable Commissar | Mar 14 2023 4:30 utc | 96
Posted by: Deplorable Commissar | Mar 14 2023 4:30 utc | 98
Do tell, which Russians are " expandable " , their mothers, daughters, and wives want to know ?
It doesn’t make any difference. They’re at war. There’s nothing “nice” about it. It’s about winning.
Your question would be better addressed to Zelensky.
Posted by: PalmaSailor | Mar 14 2023 5:18 utc | 98
# 94
Thanks for the post
They should hold the monastery, church and their belief
Bravery in the face of brutal possible death. Z- boy should take a pass on this situation.
Posted by: Dingo | Mar 14 2023 5:21 utc | 99
Posted by: Down South | Mar 14 2023 3:39 utc | 94
----------
Just a global "Thank You" for the content you bring to here on a daily basis. I find Telegram cumbersome to navigate, and your regular updates (along with various battle maps) are helping me to understand the OOB and what is transpiring, where.
As a bonus, I think I could pass a Ukraine geography test lol. Well, at least in the Donbass region.
Posted by: Drake Schroeder | Mar 14 2023 5:29 utc | 100
The comments to this entry are closed.
Minimum, incomplete, low-ball KIA(only) 440+ ... Translated:
Comment:
Sustained increase in OP tempo of ~50%+ over past 48hrs.
Significant sustained numbers of soft skinned vehicles destroyed daily since Bahkmut sole remaining MSR came under RF Direct Fire Control more than a week ago. Combination of destruction during retreat under fire from, as well as repeated attempted resupply of, Bahkmut AFU enveloped forces, on the fragile, partially traffic-able sole remaining MSR ... the Muddy Track of Death(MToD).
AFU held in contact all along FEBA, by RF superior direct & indirect Fires & rolling RuAF & Army Close Air Support(CAS) & air strikes. AFU under sustained localized offensive OPs & disadvantageous attrition on five fronts. RuAF now confirmed dropping medium & heavy explosive precision glide bombs on hardened AFU fortified positions. Further double envelopments developing beyond Bahkmut, especially threatening re pseudo-fortress Avdiivka & Seversk.
RF Bahkmut outer defense lines & flanks being expanded upon & developed in-depth re possible AFU counter-attack re attempted relief of 'doomed' Bahkmut. Inadequate AFU poorly executed minor counter-attacks failed against RF outer Bahkmut defensive positions. AFU inner Bahkmut ring be heavily pressed by RF Fires & assaults from multiple axis.
AFU withdraws & re-deploys units from North, South and SouthWest Ukraine towards Bahkmut. AFU available & deploy-able Strategic Reserves probable approaching exhaustion. Note: These are not full strength nor fully equipped nor well-armed nor freshly formed & trained units.
Posted by: Outraged | Mar 13 2023 19:38 utc | 1