Economy of force. Casualty averse. Equals slow. Works for me.

Posted by: Leroy | May 27 2023 16:43 utc | 1

Posted by: Lantern Dude | May 27 2023 14:07 utc | 261

I used to think it was just narcissism, allied with elements of psychopathy and other disorders, but I think it’s darker, as though the very act of rejecting their humanity is the only way to gain pleasure. The deeply troubling recent revelations, confirming long-held suspicions and fragmented, anecdotal experiences of this sub-set drive me to the conclusion that only one word can be used for such people, evil. Which raises a host of moral and philosophical questions that are deeply disturbing in their implications.

Two weeks to the Channel was an English distillation of the plan that by D+9 the Warpac forces would have reached the Pyrenees and by D+14 the Atlantic coast, being typically Anglo-centric they probably co-opted the Atlantic phaseline? and replaced it with the catchier Channel one.

Posted by: Dr. George W Oprisko | May 27 2023 10:54 utc | 225

A superlative heavy narrative, stressing operational competence at every level, and the prompt and decisive execution by units of all assigned combat tasks. How very Soviet, especially the emphasis on the operations central objective being the Cold-War favourite of securing hostile WMD facilities. Given both sides had never experienced such a conflict, or were prepared for it beyond an assimilation of approximate, at best, experiences, history suggests such a smooth initial operational execution was virtually impossible.

The destruction of initial Ukrainian forces is no real metric of Russian military capabilities, beyond basic competence, as NATO’s training mission stressed battalion and smaller level operations, using ambush and raiding tactics, not combined operations, so the initial responses, initiated by the Ukrainians were, as a result, poorly executed. The evidence for the Western intel op is the arrest of numerous intel officers after the invasion and the short time Russian air units were given to prepare operations for fear of high-level leaking of the plans.

Posted by: Milites | May 27 2023 17:17 utc | 2

Today’s ‘clobber list’ from the Russian Defence Ministry: https://eng.mil.ru/en/special_operation/news/more.htm?id=12468631@egNews

Russian Defence Ministry report on the progress of the special military operation (27 May 2023)

The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation continue the special military operation.

In Kupyansk direction, Ground-Attack and Army aviation and artillery of the Zapad Group of Forces have engaged the units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine close to Masyutovka, Timkovka, Krasnoye Pervoye, and Novomlynsk (Kharkov region). ?? One sabotage and reconnaissance group of the Armed Forces of Ukraine has been disabled close to Novosyolovskoye (Lugansk People's Republic).

More than 45 Ukrainian servicemen, two armoured fighting vehicles, four motor vehicles, one Msta-B howitzer, and a U.S.-made AN/TPQ-36 counter-battery radar station have been destroyed during the day. An ammunition depot of the 92nd Mechanised Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces has been hit close to Stelmakhovka (Lugansk People's Republic).

In Krasny Liman direction, Operational-Tactical Aviation and artillery of the Tsentr Group of Forces engaged the units of the enemy close to Yampolovka, Serebryanka (Donetsk People's Republic), and Chervonaya Dibrova (Lugansk People's Republic). Up to 60 Ukrainian troops, three armoured fighting vehicles, three motor vehicles, two D-30 howitzers, and one Gvozdika self-propelled artillery unit have been eliminated in this direction during the day.

In Donetsk direction, Operational-Tactical and Army aviation, units, and artillery of the Yug Group of Forces have eliminated more than 260 Ukrainian troops, two armoured fighting vehicles, five motor vehicles, one Gvozdika self-propelled artillery system, and two D-30 howitzers during the day. An ammunition depot of the 110th Mechanised Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces has been hit close to Avdeevka (Donetsk People's Republic).

In South Donetsk and Zaporozhye directions, aviation and artillery of the Vostok Group of Forces inflicted a fire damage on AFU units close Nvomikhailovka (Donetsk People's Republic), and Malaya Tokmachka, Marfopol, and Komsomolskoye (Zaporozhye region).

The enemy losses in these directions amounted to up to 120 Ukrainian troops, one infantry fighting vehicle, one armoured fighting vehicle, two motor vehicles, one Polish-made Krab two Akatsiya and Gvozdika self-propelled howitzers, one D-30 howitzer, and one U.S.-made AN/TPQ-37 counter mortar radar.

In addition, two ammunition depots of the 79th Air Assault Brigade and 128th Mountain Assault Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces have been hit close to Novomikhailovka (Donetsk People's Republic) and Stepovoye (Zaporozhye region).

In Kherson direction, Russian troops have neutralised up to 10 Ukrainian troops, three motor vehicles, D-30 howitzer, and two Gvozdika self-propelled howitzers during the day.

Operational-Tactical and Army aviation, and artillery of the Russian Group of Forces have engaged 82 AFU artillery units, manpower, and hardware in 96 areas during the day. ?? Command posts of the 24th and 54th mechanised brigades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine were eliminated close to Verkhnekamenskoye and Toretsk (Donetsk People's Republic).

Air defence forces have shot downt two Storm Shadow, 19 HIMARS MLRS projectiles, and two HARM anti-radiation missile during the day.

In addition, 12 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles were destroyed in the areas of Zatishnoye,Kremennaya, and Chernopopovka (Lugansk People's Republic), Kremenets, Yasnoye (Donetsk People's Republic), Pologi, and Removka (Zaporozhye region).

In total, 429 airplanes and 235 helicopters, 4,353 unmanned aerial vehicles, 424 air defence missile systems, 9,310 tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles, 1,100 combat vehicles equipped with MLRS, 4,919 field artillery cannons and mortars, as well as 10,481 units of special military equipment have been destroyed during the special military operation.

Now, I am far from a military-minded person, but I can’t help thinking that having artillery pieces and ammo dumps blown up is not going to be helpful to any proposed counter-offensive...

Posted by: West of England Andy | May 27 2023 17:22 utc | 3

The possibility of a political solution to the Ukrainian conflict is greater than any type of military solution. Political changes are in the wind, there are upcoming US elections, a change in NATO confidence and European support could disappear for this war. The Ukrainian leadership could be replaced soon or not, and the speculation of potential political change is endless. In most man-made catastrophes (war) take time to unfold, the political solution is always necessary at some point, who will admit defeat or claim victory is pure politic.

Posted by: Bill Miner | May 27 2023 17:24 utc | 4

Report of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation on the progress of the special military operation (05/27/2023)

💥 In the Kupyansk direction , active actions of units, strikes by assault and army aviation, artillery fire of the "Western" group of troops hit enemy units in the areas of the settlements of Masyutovka, Timkovka, Krasnoe Pervoe and Novomlynsk of the Kharkov region. In the area of the settlement of Novoselovskoe of the Luhansk People's Republic, the actions of a Ukrainian sabotage and reconnaissance group were stopped.

◽️ More than 45 Ukrainian military personnel, two armored combat vehicles, four vehicles, Msta-B howitzer, and one AN / TPQ-50 US-made counter-battery radar. In addition, an ammunition depot of the 92nd mechanized brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine was destroyed in the area of the settlement of Stelmakhovka of the Luhansk People's Republic.

💥 In the Krasno-Limansky direction, operational-tactical aviation strikes and artillery fire from the "Center" group of troops defeated enemy units in the areas of the settlements of Yampolovka, Serebryanka of the Donetsk People's Republic and Chervonaya Dibrova of the Luhansk People's Republic. During the day, up to 60 Ukrainian military personnel, three armored fighting vehicles, three vehicles, two D-30 howitzers, and self-propelled artillery installation "Gvozdika" .

💥 In the Donetsk direction , as a result of strikes by operational-tactical and army aviation, artillery fire and active operations of units of the "Southern" group of forces over the past day , more than 260 Ukrainian servicemen, two armored combat vehicles, five vehicles, self-propelled artillery installation "Gvozdika" were destroyed and two D-30 howitzers. An ammunition depot of the 110th Mechanized Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine was destroyed near the settlement of Avdiivka in the Donetsk People's Republic.

💥 In the South-Donetsk and Zaporozhye directions , air strikes, artillery fire from the Vostok group of troops defeated enemy units in the areas of the settlements of Novomikhailovka of the Donetsk People's Republic, Malaya Tokmachka, Marfopol and Komsomolskoye of the Zaporozhye region.

◽️ Enemy losses per day in these directions amounted to 120 Ukrainian military personnel, an infantry fighting vehicle, two vehicles, a Polish-made Krab self-propelled artillery mount, and a US-made AN / TPQ-37 counter-battery radar.

◽️ Also, in the areas of the settlements of Novomikhailovka of the Donetsk People's Republic and Stepovoye of the Zaporozhye region, two ammunition depots were destroyed: the 79th airborne assault and 128th mountain assault brigades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine .

💥 In the Kherson direction, up to 10 Ukrainian servicemen, three vehicles, a D-30 howitzer were destroyed during a fire attack, as well as two Gvozdika self-propelled artillery mounts.

💥 Operational-tactical and army aviation, artillery of groups of troops of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation during the day hit 82 artillery units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in firing positions, manpower and military equipment in 96 districts. Control posts of the 24th and 54th mechanized brigades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine were hit in the areas of the settlements of Verkhnekamenskoye and Toretsk of the Donetsk People's Republic.

◽️ Air defense intercepted two Storm Shadow long-range cruise missiles, nineteen HIMARS multiple rocket launchers and two HARM anti-radar missiles. In addition, twelve Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles were destroyed in the areas of the settlements of Zatishnoe, Kremennaya, Chervonopovka of the Luhansk People's Republic, Kremenets, Yasnoye of the Donetsk People's Republic, Pologi and Removka of the Zaporizhia Region.

📊 In total, since the beginning of the special military operation , 429 aircraft, 235 helicopters, 4353 unmanned aerial vehicles, 424 anti-aircraft missile systems, 9310 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 1100 combat vehicles of multiple launch rocket systems, 4919 field artillery guns and mortars, and also 10481 units of special military vehicles.

Posted by: rumod report | May 27 2023 17:26 utc | 5

In several ways Russia is in the same situation that Germany was in at the start of World War II. At the time Germany was not ready to go to war, but German's adversaries were even less ready. That allowed for major gains early on, but Germany failed to finish up the war soon enough, and eventually the superior manpower and resources of the other side beat Germany down.

To regard this year as successful, at a minimum Russia has got to push well into the north of the Dnieper River, and then burn whatever resources they have to burn to take either the entire north of the Dnieper area or Odessa, or both. This slow slog thing will get them in trouble if it goes on for a couple of years.

Posted by: Jmaas | May 27 2023 17:26 utc | 6

Belgorod bombarded by Ukrainiens. (Just see it on Russian TV).
Casualties.
Any information, confirmation?

Posted by: FromFrance | May 27 2023 17:29 utc | 7

@Posted by: Bill Miner | May 27 2023 17:24 utc | 6

The problem is that the West has proven itself agreement incapable, and more than ready to continue to use any rump Ukraine as a weapon against Russia. The latter needs to be at the Dniepr plus control all of the south up to the top of Moldova (even better to have a border with Hungary) before they can have anything like a longer term beneficial stalemate. The US elites have also shown themselves to take many years (20 in Afghanistan!) before they accept any kind of real defeat. The bigger geo-strategic war also requires the ongoing turning of the screws on Europe and the US, which continued military failure and self-isolation (sanctions blowback) will continue to feed, as well as making any Taiwan gambit much harder.

War is an extension of politics, and more of it is required before the Russians think of any negotiations.

My next part on Russia: Russia: The Romanovs to Stalin

Posted by: Roger | May 27 2023 17:40 utc | 8

We talk a lot of existential threats. That is somewhat misleading in that NATO cannot exist without an existential threat. If it doesn't have any it will find some.

Posted by: Jonathan W | May 27 2023 17:47 utc | 9

Belgorod bombarded by Ukrainiens. (Just see it on Russian TV).
Casualties.
Any information, confirmation?

There’s this from TASS: https://tass.com/emergencies/1623913

MOSCOW, May 27. /TASS/. A civilian was killed, two minors and a man were injured in the shelling of the Shebekino district in the Belgorod Region by the Ukrainian armed forces, Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov wrote on his Telegram channel on Saturday.

"One person was killed. He was a security guard at an operating enterprise in the town and he was outdoors at the moment of the attack. Among those injured are children - two teenagers. A 15-year-old girl sustained leg wounds and a 17-year-old boy suffered a contusion," he wrote. "Another man with scalp wounds was treated by doctors at the Central Regional Hospital."

The governor added that the teenagers would be taken to the children’s regional hospital.

In addition, several shells landed on the premises of two major enterprises and a fire started at one of them. The employees were evacuated to a safe place.

"A power transmission line was damaged in the city. The emergency services keep inspecting the area," Gladkov added.

There’s something of an update from TASS here: https://tass.com/emergencies/1623923

MOSCOW, May 27. /TASS/. Bryansk Region Governor Alexander Bogomaz denied reports about a Ukrainian sabotage and reconnaissance group’s attempt to cross into the region, but three populated localities were shelled from Ukrainian territory, after that the Ukrainian military’s gun nests were suppressed, Bogomaz wrote on his Telegram channel on Saturday.

"This information is unreliable. There were no attempts of a sabotage group’s incursion from Ukraine. Today the Ukrainian military shelled Sushany, Khoromnoye and Zabrama of the Klimovo district. There were no civilian casualties. In response to the Ukrainian nationalists’ actions, the border troops and the Russian Armed Forces retaliated. The gun nests were suppressed," Bogomaz wrote.

Earlier on Saturday, the Telegram channel Mash reported that a group of Ukrainian saboteurs had made an incursion into the Bryansk Region.

Seems that what happened, and where, is not totally confirmed yet.

Posted by: West of England Andy | May 27 2023 17:49 utc | 10

Dont they talk fuggin nonsense!

Kiev regimes spy chief says theyre getting closer to putin and theyre going to kill him.

According to the braindead jerk, although the russian people support the SMO theyre getting scared, following recent attacks on home soil. If the kiev regime orcs kill putin, they reckon, therell be a revolution against the war.

Really? Well,there hasnt been such a revolution against the authorities in lugansk and donetsk after nearly 9 years of attacks and the assination of their leaders. In fact, the former east ukrainians have dug in and resisted the kiev orcs more strongly.

Posted by: HERMIUS | May 27 2023 17:50 utc | 11

@ Richard Steven Hack, 126-§202:
No belittling. You´re one of the best in the bar.
Agree totally re: Medvedev and western Ukraine. It´s probably another bone to the western pundits to waste their time.
At the very least, Galicia and Rumania will be occupied but they may then be used as bargaining chips. Poland would get Galicia and Rumania Bessarabia on condition they turn over their Aegis Ashore systems, withdraw from NATO and forbid any foreign troops on their territories. They can stay in the EU if they want to continue wasting their citizens´ taxes on bloated, useless, expensive, obstructive bureaucracies. But no military involvement with the EU whatsoever. Strict neutrality only.
Not sure whether you´ll see this because the pub opening times seem rather arbitrary. Why not clock over to a new thread regularly, say every 300 posts?

Posted by: John Marks | May 27 2023 17:47 utc | 126-277

Posted by: John Marks | May 27 2023 17:53 utc | 12

I want to comment about Russia, which is considering cutting ties with Great Britain. The Brits and the Soviets fought NAZIs. Now they’ve aligned themselves with NAZIs against Russians. So the actions of Great Britain is beyond any logical comprehension. But yet again, Great Britain is not great anymore. So it may explain their yearning for those glory days to return.

Posted by: Jose Garcia | May 27 2023 17:57 utc | 13

copied from end of previous thread:

@West of England Andy | May 26 2023 21:18 utc | 74

"I think it was @PeterAU1 (who posts here) who did some sterling work correlating the initial Russian advances during the early days of the SMO with the known locations of bio-labs in eastern Ukraine. The conclusion being that the early advances weren’t necessarily about gaining territory or overthrowing the Kiev regime, more about securing, eliminating or otherwise neutralising these laboratories, including evidence-gathering."

They were also going after the NPPs. Took control of Chernobyl long enough to do a thorough inspection, took and still hold Zap NNN, tried to take the South Ukraine NPP but failed due to lack of sufficient forces as they became over-extended and had to pull back. If I recall during the first month Russian troops even approached the university in the center of Kharkov where nuclear research is carried out.

I believe there were multiple objectives including those above which were at least partially successful- the land bridge to Crimea and unblocking the canal (check), forcing Kiev to the negotiating table (succeeded but negotiations failed), forcing Ukrainian forces away from the Donbass oblasts (working on that one).

.............

@Dr. George W Oprisko | May 27 2023 10:54 utc | 222

Yes, true, but it isn't clear to me why the assembled troop strength was so low prior to the start of the SMO - unless they were hoping for some defections in the UAF - and why they didn't reinforce the areas captured east and south of Kharkov and north of the Dnipr in Kherson when it was clear that insufficient forces to do this were deployed. I believe they would have liked to take Odessa but clearly had insufficient forces to do so while holding the land bridge. This suggests that the decision to proceed with a military operation was the choice of last resort, and perhaps there was a fear that a large mobilization effort would negate any advantage the uncertainty of their exact intentions could generate.

Posted by: the pessimist | May 27 2023 17:56 utc | 278

Posted by: the pessimist | May 27 2023 18:04 utc | 14

@11 West of England Andy
Thanks.
Let’s see.

Posted by: FromFrance | May 27 2023 18:21 utc | 15

They were also going after the NPPs. Took control of Chernobyl long enough to do a thorough inspection, took and still hold Zap NNN, tried to take the South Ukraine NPP but failed due to lack of sufficient forces as they became over-extended and had to pull back. If I recall during the first month Russian troops even approached the university in the center of Kharkov where nuclear research is carried out.

Posted by: the pessimist | May 27 2023 18:04 utc | 19

Yes, safe to say that there were multiple objectives that none of us hollering from the cheap seats will ever be told about.

Posted by: West of England Andy | May 27 2023 18:23 utc | 16

Posted by: Jmaas | May 27 2023 17:26 utc | 6
>This slow slog thing will get them [Russia ] in trouble if it goes on for a couple of years.

Maybe, but if USA has any suspicion that Russia can't tolerate endless war, then USA will force endless war precisely to exploit this Russian weakness. So best strategy for Russia is to assume they will have endless war, prepare for endless war, fight as if engaged in endless war, which implies going slow.

USA must do likewise and it then becomes a test of endurance. But USA depends on Ukraine, which will run out of soldiers before Russia, plus USA needs cooperation of Europe, which cannot tolerate endless war, plus USA will eventually be faced with open conflict with China, forcing USA to cut losses in Ukraine. So in a test of endurance, Russia likely wins.

Posted by: Revelo | May 27 2023 18:27 utc | 17

Posted by: Ing. Smrkovsky | May 27 2023 18:26 utc | 24

Sure, buddy.

Posted by: West of England Andy | May 27 2023 18:29 utc | 18

24.

Posting here is your way of coping with the slowly creeping realization you've been had. You affirm your deluded worldview in the face of all evidence because you have so much of your identity wrapped up in the lies you have either been told or are paid to promulgate.

See a shrink. You're welcome by the way.

-
In other news, I see the storm shadows are predictably being used in uncoordinated terror attacks, and just as predictably being shot down or jammed by Russian AD. NATO has no plan. Will we see massive escalation during the coming air exercises? I certainly hope not but the retard train ain't got breaks.

Posted by: Doctor Eleven | May 27 2023 18:33 utc | 19

Ukraine Watch Telegram Channel sums up UkroNazi losses from the Battle of Artyomovsk.....
https://t.me/ukraine_watch/3316

What needs to be understood about AFU casualty figures in Artyomovsk.

1. The AFU suffered monstrous losses at Artyomovsk. The 72,000 Ukrainian (and not only) military personnel dead includes not only enlisted personnel, but all - tankers, artillerymen, reconnaissance personnel, signalers and all those who fought in this area and were liquidated. It is not yet clear how many of them are mercenaries, even approximately.

2. For the 72 thousand killed there are about 200 thousand wounded of varying degrees (with a ratio of one to three). Most of the wounded will never return to action, and therefore will not be able to increase the combat effectiveness of the AFU.

3. Ukraine's entire pre-war army numbered about 230,000 men, and Artyomovsk destroyed its asset, its best personnel, which cannot be replenished in the foreseeable future.

4. Together with these cadres, the reserves that the AFU was preparing for an attack in the Donetsk direction were burned. Without a grouping of 200,000 men, no large-scale offensive is possible.

5. Now another problem has arisen: a shortage of junior and mid-level commanders, without whom combat management, even under current conditions, will be seriously hampered."

This does not include losses incurred during the battle(s) of Mariupol, Luhansk, and elsewhere...

Truly a catastrophe!

INDY

Posted by: Dr. George W Oprisko | May 27 2023 18:42 utc | 20

Posted by: FromFrance | May 27 2023 18:21 utc | 22

It’s not worth getting too stirred up about these various terrorist pinpricks (tragic though they are for the people directly hurt or bereaved), ultimately they aren’t going to change Russia’s approach to its wider security concerns over NATO encroachment.

Posted by: West of England Andy | May 27 2023 18:45 utc | 21

@Dr. George W Oprisko | May 27 2023 10:54 utc | 222

Yes, true, but it isn't clear to me why the assembled troop strength was so low prior to the start of the SMO - unless they were hoping for some defections in the UAF - and why they didn't reinforce the areas captured east and south of Kharkov and north of the Dnipr in Kherson when it was clear that insufficient forces to do this were deployed.

It is quite likely the decision to intervene was precipitated by events. I clearly remember the Russian Security Council meeting where Putin "demanded" a yay or nay from every participant. The vote was unanimous.. "we go"...

As for the size of the force deployed.... The Russians have a country to run.... a civilization to protect... To them the Ukrainian front was but one of many, with a population yet to come fully on board.... They went with what they had.... Only later.... after popular support came to be... did they mobilize 300,000 plus 100,000 volunteers... That mobilization had teething problems which took months to work out...

It must also be remembered that Russia thought they were engaging Ukraine.... only to discover they were in an existential conflict with NATO... That the Russian government was unsure Russia's economy could with stand the strains imposed by NATO.... that the Russians were unsure of support from other countries, which eventuated from China, Iran, Venezuela, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Vietnam, Indonesia, Brazil, Argentina, India, Myammar, Laos, Cambodia, Egypt, Sudan, and others...

It is important to remember that this is a war.... shit happens in wars... nothing is straight line...

INDY

Posted by: Dr. George W Oprisko | May 27 2023 18:56 utc | 22

Jose Garcia @ 15

I want to comment about Russia, which is considering cutting ties with Great Britain. The Brits and the Soviets fought NAZIs. Now they’ve aligned themselves with NAZIs against Russians. So the actions of Great Britain is beyond any logical comprehension

The Brits are simply returning to form after a brief not even 40 year diversion. Being on the good side in WW2 confuses people, as does the post war boom and redistribution of wealth across the west. The latter was only because the USA leadership feared a proletariat of war seasoned and fearless returning soldiers conscious of their own power who were sure as hell not going back to the conditions of the great depression nor the pre-union factories before that, true for Europe and Japan vassals as well.

Western capitalists were in competition for the hearts and minds of the their working class with the USSR, the post war prosperity was an anomaly, after the fall of the USSR and after China went "capitalist with Chinese characteristics" we are now living through the return to the merciless, exploitive historic baseline.

Back to the Nazis, Hitler wanted what Napoleon wanted, uniting the Eurasian landmass, the World Island, under German rule. He actually came extremely close, like Gettysburg if Stalingrad had fallen it would be a very different world today - the cold war would have been between Nazi Europe all the way to the Urals and the Five Eyes.

Back on point, if in the 1930s Hitler's only goal had been to eliminate commies for fun and profit you can be sure the UK and the USA would have been his steadfast allies, in the dark, out of sight, in their secret lairs they are all Nazis.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1937_tour_of_Germany_by_the_Duke_and_Duchess_of_Windsor

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-07-18/buckingham-palace-slams-images-of-queens-nazi-salute/6630346

Posted by: LightYearsFromHome | May 27 2023 19:04 utc | 23

Posted by: Bill Posters | May 27 2023 17:39 utc | 8

What a bunch of BS, first the Basque as queers, you know nothing about the Basque country, second, the rainbow flag dates from 1978 and I would bet something valuable that it originated with some gringo tourist that took a stroll in Guatemala City Central Market, I could post a picture of a shirt made with cotton cloth purchased in that market that predates by years the origin of the rainbow flag, a simple copy of it. Just like it was fashionable in gay bars to have religious images purchased for pennies in Mexico and Central America. The gringo's backyard with all its supposed backwardnes is a gift that keeps on giving, from lets say Bill Gates the king of royalties not paying a penny to the Maya for inventing the zero to many labs that have combed the jungles for plants and local traditional medicinal compounds soon to be locked under patents. Enough of gay and antisemitic BS on a site that is not concerned about sexual preferences or the fears and dealings of some tribe.

Posted by: Paco | May 27 2023 19:05 utc | 24

Posted by: John Marks | May 27 2023 18:19 utc | 21

Any hope for people of Britain stopped in 1660 and the counterrevolution that brought back the royals to power. And this lasts until today. Their fate was further sealed hundred years later in 1760 with emergence of Rotschilds.

Posted by: Milos | May 27 2023 19:05 utc | 25

Posted by: John Marks | May 27 2023 18:19 utc | 21
(The only question is who controls England?)

"Israel" and its founders. Sorry.
The vast majority of Christian West countries, including NATO, regard "Israel" as the Holy Land despite its unholy behaviour.
Read the Balfour Declaration.

Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | May 27 2023 19:07 utc | 26

Respect to Amsterdam from Berlin for decorating the russian tank with flowers. Keep up the spirit! And show NATO war propaganda the middle finger! Good to know that humanity has still a base!

Posted by: 600w | May 27 2023 19:10 utc | 27

Regarding the recent TV program which showcased a fit and healthy Zalushny...

The Russians noticed the recent video is of a Zalushny with brown eyes....

While in the past he had blue eyes....

The Ukies are doing their best to hide his demise...

Won't work.... he was the brains behind the brawn... his loss and losses of his subordinates including Syrski.. make coordination of complex operations impossible... Not to mention the morale issue...

INDY

Posted by: Dr. George W Oprisko | May 27 2023 19:12 utc | 28

@29 West of England Andy.
I agree.
I follow information on Russian media since years.
Russians are determined, that’s clear.
But do not underestimate the western foolishness.

Posted by: FromFrance | May 27 2023 19:13 utc | 29

The Russian society was not prepared for war.
This is a root of all problems Russia has.
Unfortunately Ukrainian army is getting stronger in terms of air war assets.
They want to seed terror in Russia.

Posted by: srbin | May 27 2023 19:27 utc | 30

The Toronto based lawyer Christopher Black shows, with considerable clarity, that the UK is a belligerent in the current war. And that Russia would be well within its rights in taking military measures to prevent the UK from further enjoyment of its impunity- that "Power without Responsibility" that Stanley Baldwin discovered in the warmongering Press Barons of the Thirties.

"On the 19th of May, the Financial Times quoted the British Minister of Defense, Ben Wallace, stating that the West could face the threat of full-scale war with Russia and China by the end of the decade and proclaimed defence preparation a paramount task for Western countries.

"One has to wonder what universe Mr. Wallace and his boss, Rishi Sunak, are living in since Britain is engaged in war with Russia right now, has, with every step, every hostile action, set itself up for a full-scale war, a full-scale catastrophe, which they cannot prevent. Why Britain would go to war with China as well as Russia when China has not threatened it and is oceans away, no one can explain in rational terms. Yet, this is the British rhetoric, the fetishistic parroting of the words of their lord and master, the USA.

"Many argue that statement, a war is not happening, that it is something that exits only in the future, are desperate attempts to fool the British people, to lie to them about their government’s intentions and what is coming. Others argue that they are signs that the British government has no sense of reality. But, in the end, one has to conclude that they are both at the same time..."

https://journal-neo.org/2023/05/26/britain-at-war-provoking-the-consequences/

Jonathan Cook, back in Britain after years on the front line of Nazareth in Palestine, detects a similar irresponsibility:
"...Britain now pays little more than lip service to the West’s claim that its role is only to help Ukraine defend itself from Russian aggression. The supply of increasingly offensive weapons has turned Ukraine into what amounts to a proxy battleground on which the Cold War can be revived.

"During Zelensky’s visit to the U.K. last week, Johnson’s successor, Rishi Sunak, effectively acted as an arms broker for Ukraine, joining with the Netherlands in what was grandly dubbed an “international coalition” to pressure the Biden administration and other European states to supply Kiev with F-16 fighter jets....

Cook adds that he finds it"...hard to imagine that the U.K. is heading off-script. More likely, the Biden administration is using Britain to make the running and soften up Western publics as NATO becomes ever more deeply immersed in the military activities of Russia’s neighbour.

"Ukraine is being gradually turned into the very NATO forward base that first set Moscow on course to invade.

"At the same time, Britain appears to be exploiting the Ukraine war as a showcase for its weaponry. After the U.S., it has been the largest supplier of military equipment to Ukraine.

"This week it was reported that U.K. arms exports hit a record £8.5 billion, more than double last year’s total. The last time Britain was so successful at selling weapons was in 2015, at the height of the Syrian war...."

Any assessment of the UK government's actions, or those of almost any of the old NATO powers, requires an understanding of the new reality that all are simply fronts for the neo-cons in Washington and Tel Aviv- the political facades of a military/security caste which is controlled by the CIA and the Pentagon.

The days of Conservative- King and Country- 'patriotism' are gone, the current political class in Europe regards patriotism as a form of treachery, as it must be when it puts the supposed national interest above that of the imperialist party line.

Military men, and the police are brought up to do as they are told, to follow orders from above and to question nothing, they have long wondered why politicians do not do the same. And now, in the middle of what they see as a major existential crisis for the empire, they insist that they do. In wartime everybody has to follow orders: those who don't (check with Tony Greenstein or one of the Bristol protestors) go to jail like Julian Assange. It is a matter of time before Jeremy Corbyn, if he lives, joins them.

That's how sovereignty goes- gradually over decades, then all at once.

Posted by: bevin | May 27 2023 19:27 utc | 31

Jonathan Cook link:
https://consortiumnews.com/2023/05/25/britains-perilous-escalation-in-ukraine/

Posted by: bevin | May 27 2023 19:28 utc | 32

Jaams @#6
You wrote, "In several ways Russia is in the same situation that Germany was in at the start of World War II. At the time Germany was not ready to go to war, but German's adversaries were even less ready. That allowed for major gains early on, but Germany failed to finish up the war soon enough, and eventually the superior manpower and resources of the other side beat Germany down

The difference today is "other side" can't beat Russia because they're broke. Since 1970's the US hollowed out its industrial base. The US and EU rely on China for 80 percent of all consumer products. Without cheap Russian gas, EU citizens now pay 7 times more for gas. Unsurprisingly Germany just announced it is in recession. De-dollarization is accelerating. The sun is setting on US fiat and its ability to fund endless wars.

Posted by: Willow | May 27 2023 19:29 utc | 33

[14]

Your facility near Preston is called Springfields and manufactures nuclear fuel. It is supposedly ceasing production 2023.

Posted by: Paul Greenwood | May 27 2023 19:29 utc | 34

Operations are expanding in briansk and belograd regions. Long range strikes are popping up everywhere in russian held territory clearly new missles are having an impact, at least until they run out.

However tanks and artillery for the offensive are no longer being bragged about.

So, has russia managed to destroy enough of them to stop any Ukrainian offensive or has ukraine simply stockpiled them and is using missles to soften targets beforehand?

Unfortunately it looks like previous weapon deliveries must be destroyed to a large extent, otherwise why waste the newer cruise missles without a follow up attack? Why attack into Russia with a small handful of soldiers that weren't going to be supported after? Why do that in absence of a rear strike?

Something screwy is happening, I'm logging a data point that says russia is successfully destroying western weapon deliveries and ukraine is popping stuff off as soon as it comes in either because they can't plan ahead or don't dare let it sit anywhere.

Posted by: Neofeudalfuture | May 27 2023 19:36 utc | 35

Prigozhin put Wagner deaths at the battle of Bakhmut (the Russian name) at about 20,000, and the Ukie deaths, about the same.

Armchair Generals on this board put Ukie deaths at 5 or even 10 for every Russian death. You even have people here quoting General Baghdad Bob Igor and his clobber list, as if somehow that wasn't just a daily gaggle of lies.

The big question mark is what Russia will do when scores of F-16s start getting loaded in Poland and Romania and fire their loads at the Russians in Ukraine. This will be accompanied by an invasion involving many thousands of tanks, and a massive artillery barrage, and a well trained and equipped invasion force of 200,000 men.

When it comes will the Russians run away again, like they did last year? Or will they stand and fight? Will they attack the air forces attacking them from Poland and Romania? Because if they do that, they will be in an openly declared war with NATO.

Putin is known as the King of Half Measures. He figured he could take his land bridge, and then negotiate a settlement with Washington where he gets to keep the land bridge.

It didn't work. Washington isn't interested. Strelkov is about to be proven correct. Washington isn't interested in a negotiated settlement. They aren't even interested in 1991 borders. Washington is out to destroy what is left of the Russian empire, breaking it up into 10 to 14 pieces.

If Putin returns to 1991 borders he might avoid total war for now. Half measures have failed. He will have to wage total war or run away. What will he do?

Posted by: Thim | May 27 2023 19:39 utc | 36

@45 I'm pretty sure putin is prepared to run away,but he's not the only figure in russia who has a say. He might be afraid of the nationalist faction which is eager to engage in total war. It really depends if he can get overthrown by someone who is committed to defending their country, as opposed to collaborationist traitors who will sell their people to the devil.

Posted by: Neofeudalfuture | May 27 2023 19:44 utc | 37

srbin@39

The only nations ever prepared for war are those kidding themselves. Britain in 1939 was absolutely opposed to war. The memories of 1914-18, in all their futile glory, were too recent. In the cities, by 1940, the distaste for war had increased. Historians obscure the fact but there were demonstrations calling for Peace with Germany in working class areas all through 1940. It took a while before the real mobilisation for total war caught on.

It took defeats, stupidity in brass hats, the whine of air raid sirens, constant bad news... to galvanise the people, who became the most mobilised population in Europe, to support the war.

What is happening in Russia now is not unlike what happened after the phony war ended and matters began to be very serious- some, including Royalty, Lloyd George and the Communists Party, called for peace. But there gradually grew a realisation that there could be no peace without victory.

In my view that will happen in Russia. But first it will be necessary to chuck out the Chamberlains. Then it will be necessary to put Labour right at the top of the domestic agenda- to end poverty, to cut down the enormous gulf in power and wealth between rich and poor. And to take the economy and put it in uniform- subject it to a plan for victory and use it to strengthen the human capital which is the most important resource that the nation has.

Posted by: bevin | May 27 2023 19:44 utc | 38

@ Thim, §45:
If Americans attack from Poland and/or Rumania, this does not trigger art. 5.
Only if Russia, or anyone else, attacks a NATO member does art. 5 apply.
Of course, that won´t affect the thinking of the US/UK NeoCons, whose MSM presstitutes will spin it as an attack by Russia.
First thing to be done after the Revolution is to break up the publishing and broadcasting cartels.

Posted by: John Marks | May 27 2023 19:54 utc | 39

The Russian society was not prepared for war.
This is a root of all problems Russia has.
Unfortunately Ukrainian army is getting stronger in terms of air war assets.
They want to seed terror in Russia.

Posted by: srbin | May 27 2023 19:27 utc | 39

The only "Air War assets" Ukraine is getting stronger in. Is in the odoriferous emissions from the southern part of their anatomy.
No terror. Just bad air.

Posted by: Golddiggr | May 27 2023 19:57 utc | 40

Paco | May 27 2023 19:05 utc | 32--

Ditto Paco! The "rainbow" flag is from the 1960s and was one of the many anti-war symbols from that age. I recall seeing it in Berkely and Haight-Ashbury when we started going to Kezar Stadium in Golden Gate Park to see 49er games back then. The multicolor motif was present in tie-dyed clothing and in the crazed patchwork clothing motif. You wore loud colors to declare you weren't a "square."

//////////////////////////////////////////////

Meanwhile, the latest bit of negotiation talk has taken place with Russia stating Ukies could end the SMO tomorrow by accepting reality by denazifying themselves and refusing to join NATO & EU, while the Ukies continue to spout their unacceptable idiocy. So, the impasse continues along with the forward grinding of Russian SMO forces.

There does appear to be more fallout from the droneboat attack. Russia believes the UK is behind it and is considering severing relations. Also, it appears the "Grain Corridor" was utilized as cover for the attack which threatens that agreement's renewal. The attack caused marine insurance rates to jump which benefits UK underwriters and is seen as the main motive. This report in Russian includes the following:

"In fact, the British have opened another Pandora's box, and the consequences of this can be very unpleasant for the British themselves and other allies of Ukraine. Now no vessel in the world's oceans is safe. Because "unknown naval drones" are probably not only in the UK, other NATO countries and Ukraine. The type of weapon is not exclusive, and the attack on Ivan Khurs off the coast of a third country, at a considerable distance from Ukraine, tacitly legitimizes the use of such tactics around the world."

Imagine similar attacks made on fully laden LNG carriers on their approach to UK/EU from the Outlaw US Empire.

Recently, several surveys were made about economic conditions of Europeans that are ugly and will worsen that will increase political pressure on NATO states to end sanctions and end hostilities. Many EU nations are running on reserves now that won't last much longer.

Posted by: karlof1 | May 27 2023 19:59 utc | 41

Neofeudalfuture | May 27 2023 19:44 utc | 46--

You are utterly full of shit! Putin will continue doing his excellent job as he displayed on many occasions over the past week alone.

Posted by: karlof1 | May 27 2023 20:02 utc | 42

War Aims

Eurasia - War Party in Washington can't sell cheap debt to fund wars
Washington - Russian, PRC, and maybe India fall into chaos and break up into little statelets

Conclusio: ?

Posted by: Exile | May 27 2023 20:04 utc | 43

Prigozhin put Wagner deaths at the battle of Bakhmut (the Russian name) at about 20,000, and the Ukie deaths, about the same.

Armchair Generals on this board put Ukie deaths at 5 or even 10 for every Russian death. You even have people here quoting General Baghdad Bob Igor and his clobber list, as if somehow that wasn't just a daily gaggle of lies.

The big question mark is what Russia will do when scores of F-16s start getting loaded in Poland and Romania and fire their loads at the Russians in Ukraine. This will be accompanied by an invasion involving many thousands of tanks, and a massive artillery barrage, and a well trained and equipped invasion force of 200,000 men.

When it comes will the Russians run away again, like they did last year? Or will they stand and fight? Will they attack the air forces attacking them from Poland and Romania? Because if they do that, they will be in an openly declared war with NATO.

Putin is known as the King of Half Measures. He figured he could take his land bridge, and then negotiate a settlement with Washington where he gets to keep the land bridge.

It didn't work. Washington isn't interested. Strelkov is about to be proven correct. Washington isn't interested in a negotiated settlement. They aren't even interested in 1991 borders. Washington is out to destroy what is left of the Russian empire, breaking it up into 10 to 14 pieces.

If Putin returns to 1991 borders he might avoid total war for now. Half measures have failed. He will have to wage total war or run away. What will he do?

Posted by: Thim | May 27 2023 19:39 utc | 45

<sigh: another one>

OK, so I copypasted your post into my patented, AI-based (with added blockchain verification) trollometer and it went right through the scale from LOL, PMSL, ROFL, ROFLMAO, ROFLMFAO to “failed an audition for 4Chan and is still waiting to hear from Reddit”.

It’s probably too much to ask for you to post any verifiable links to back up your lugubrious contentions.

Posted by: West of England Andy | May 27 2023 20:04 utc | 44

In several ways Russia is in the same situation that Germany was in at the start of World War II. At the time Germany was not ready to go to war, but German's adversaries were even less ready. That allowed for major gains early on, but Germany failed to finish up the war soon enough, and eventually the superior manpower and resources of the other side beat Germany down.

To regard this year as successful, at a minimum Russia has got to push well into the north of the Dnieper River, and then burn whatever resources they have to burn to take either the entire north of the Dnieper area or Odessa, or both. This slow slog thing will get them in trouble if it goes on for a couple of years.

Posted by: Jmaas | May 27 2023 17:26 utc | 6

Russia 2022 is a giant compared to the stripped-to-the-bone Nazi Germany, who's only option was Blitzkrieg. The hundred yard dash should be an option only, with a Marathon already to go.

""so since it turns out that Zaluzhny is alive and well, would it make sense to retract the rumors of his death in the “400 NATO generals” strike?

Posted by: Ing. Smrkovsky | May 27 2023 17:58 utc | 16""

Queue Young Frankenstein throwing the switch on his cobbled together creation with the "Abby Normal" brain. "Zalushny's ALIVE. ALIVE I SAY
!"

"The vast majority of Christian West countries, including NATO, regard "Israel" as the Holy Land despite its unholy behaviour.
Read the Balfour Declaration.

Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | May 27 2023 19:07 utc | 34

And carefully look the other way as Christians and Palestinian Christians are persecuted.
Very Christian of Europe and the U.S. indeed.

Posted by: kupkee | May 27 2023 20:05 utc | 45

Posted by: Thim | May 27 2023 19:39 utc | 45

You are talking about some "Nato army" coming to Ukraine. Ukraine's army itself is weakened in coherency and efficiency to the point that throwing any sort of equipment doesn't really matter anymore, because vast majority of all soldiers are recently mobilized conscripts. According to Zelly, there are km long lines into the conscription offices in Ukraine, proof here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xWE-MJa76U

Sure, if Polish army comes into eastern Ukraine it may change the picture, but last time I heard Poles do not go to eastern or even central Ukraine. Ukraine is goner and the Bakhmut losses are irrecoverable. Zelensky and his cronies are only jawboning about the counter-offensive it's just another story they created, already 4 months ago before they started suffering the major setbacks. They tried to shape the narrative through many talking heads in Kiev but Biden ordered them to make an attack anyway.

So here we are, they are doing their sporadic terror strike campaign which was scripted and planned a long time ago to precede the offensive. It will probably take a week or two to chew up whatever attack they got to muster. Russia will just bounce around their multilayered defenses, sophisticatedly guiding through withdrawals and "weak" flanks the Ukraine forces into firing bags and mine fields etc.

Posted by: unimperator | May 27 2023 20:05 utc | 46

The Nazis that the Russians are dealing with today are much less obsessed (at the top) with ideas, and more with the base pursuit of power in the material world at all costs.

Posted by: LoveDonbass | May 27 2023 18:08 utc | 20

Completely disagree. The "Nazis at the top," in other words the denizens of DC, are quite ideologically obsessed with dominance and hegemony, subsuming the world under their neoliberal doctrines, and maintaining their position as the master. As is plain to see, they are willing to chance nuclear war in order to maintain their status quo; doesn't get more ideological than that.

Posted by: Samm | May 27 2023 20:08 utc | 47

The Russian society was not prepared for war.
This is a root of all problems Russia has.
Unfortunately Ukrainian army is getting stronger in terms of air war assets.
They want to seed terror in Russia.

Posted by: srbin | May 27 2023 19:27 utc | 39

##############

Yeah totally unprepared, seems like you have forgotten that they have been successfully active in Georgia, Syria and Chechnya over the last 25 years.

Not like the brilliant Western successes in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria ...

Posted by: LoveDonbass | May 27 2023 20:11 utc | 48

Russia’s been making artillery shells while America’s been making up new pronouns.

Posted by: Sentient | May 27 2023 20:16 utc | 49

Larry Johnson is positing that the US and the Ukraine are working together to destroy the Turkstream gas pipelines. https://sonar21.com/is-the-united-states-poking-the-bear-or-is-ukraine-going-rogue-or-is-it-both/ That’s a source of gas to both Hungary and Turkiye. Both Hungary and Turkiye should veto Sweden’s entry into NATO - unless they want to be eunuchs like Germany after Nordstream was destroyed by the US.

Posted by: Sentient | May 27 2023 20:22 utc | 50

Some people here confused by my comment(45). I am saying the obvious truth: Washington is about to escalate. Putin will have to quit with the SMO nonsense and fight a total war. His only other option is to run away. The time for half measues is over.

So I didn't want to mention what would be the very best option for Russia. As comment 46, Neofeudal pointed out, there is the option of replacing the failed leader. If Surovikin was in control, I could predict a favorable outcome for Russia.

Posted by: Thim | May 27 2023 20:31 utc | 51

Posted by: Thim | May 27 2023 19:39 utc | 45

That Hollywood History version must be blinding, even with your rose colored glasses. The U.S. cut and ran in Iraq and Afghanistan, got their butts beaten by the Vietnamese, and erased from the records many smaller skirmishes where they came in like gangbusters and left like cats whose butts were scraped raw and doused in vinegar.
European countries who are too blind to see the writing on the wall and cannot see that Ukraine is just another Mob country doing dirty deals with the Mob in the District of Corruption, will soon enough run out of energy, key materials and food. Even the great food Basket of Hollande is cutting their own throat.
Russia cannot and will not lose in Ukraine. The F16s might as well be paper airplanes. And the first European capital that wants to base them on their own soil will reap their reward.

Posted by: kupkee | May 27 2023 20:32 utc | 52

FWIW, CNN, a Democratic Party mouthpiece ----a recent CNN poll conducted by SSRS now shows that 66% of all Americans (not just Republicans) believe that another four years of Biden could lead to 'disaster.' Even CNN can't dismiss the "horrible news" any longer.

Yessirree. The American People listened to the Ruble will be Rubble and have announced their verdict on another Washington, DC, adventure into insanity in another foreign country.
Ukraine is dead. The West is going to have to buy nails (on credit) from Russian or Chinese Steel Plants to secure the lid of the coffin.
Nails are no longer made in the U.S.A. Either directly from China or from wire made in China.

Posted by: kupkee | May 27 2023 20:39 utc | 53

Basically Belgorod is a backwater and irrelevant region in terms of significance to SMO. All Ukrainian forces located north of Kharkov are completely out of action where they would make any difference - Zaporozhye, Ugledar, Avdeevka and Chasov yar. There are, after all, relatively few troops in the Kharkov region (bordering Belgorod), but it is somewhat economical for Ukraine if it can force Russia to move troops to guard it.

Yet it still doesn't mean Russia can ignore this, they will have to deal with it, it may have the ultimate attempt to alter popular opinion. Another objective is probably to somehow disrupt operation in the main SMO theater, which is where the real defeat of UAF is happening.

Posted by: unimperator | May 27 2023 20:45 utc | 54

I am puzzled with the 66% cnn story.

Why? Cnn is a democrat channel. They do not publish stuff that harms the democrats unless they wanna get rid of someone.

But the only serious competitor to biden right now is rfk. Harris does even worse than biden. They dont want to switch biden for rfk. So whats the play here?

And its a poll that doesnt energize anybody.

Posted by: Orgel | May 27 2023 20:56 utc | 55

Russia’s been making artillery shells while America’s been making up new pronouns.

Posted by: Sentient | May 27 2023 20:16 utc | 50

Superb summary! A drink at the bar for you!

Posted by: West of England Andy | May 27 2023 20:56 utc | 56

Wow b' s watching these threads like a hawk today good thing too.
A couple of tedious off topic gay comments gone here. Thankfully.
One of mine gone three threads back putting right some twisted lies about me and another commenter. That's cool I know b read the truth anyway.
And we really should prioritize here and stick to the conflict between the west and Russia please.

Posted by: Mark2 | May 27 2023 21:01 utc | 57

If the Ukie 'counteroffensive' would ever happen, that would be the beginning of the end of the Ukraine.

Posted by: ostro | May 27 2023 21:03 utc | 58

@42 Cont'd--

The last week saw many business and economic forums gain Putin's attendance: Eurasian Economic Forum, Supreme Eurasian Economic Council, and the Plenary Session of Business Russia--over seven hours of very wide-ranging discussions. All can be found in English on my VK Wall, the last being close to four hours long is divided into two parts with Part One here.

Posted by: karlof1 | May 27 2023 21:07 utc | 59

@ Thim | May 27 2023 20:31 utc | 53

If Surovikin was in control, I could predict a favourable outcome for Russia.

Surovikin, Army General, is the Commander of the Aerospace Forces.

Surovikin is pretty much in control of the skies, air defence and missile ground attacks, and does exactly what he is tasked to do.
He directly reports to Gerasimov, and he is part of the tactical and strategic planning group.

That is everything that flies to and from, up and down, space to ground.
So, comparing the amount of missiles that get through, to the amount that they have been sent back to Ukrainian territory, he is doing really well and getting better.

Around 10-20% of everything the West via Ukrainians are throwing at RF on a daily basis goes through, and that is an amazing result.

Doubting that RF is endangered somehow, is something I do not get.

Posted by: whirlX | May 27 2023 21:08 utc | 60

Another ambulance targeted in east bank of Kherson - this time there were no casualty and they even managed to put out the fire. The last ambulance was targeted in Donetsk in February, with crew paying the price.

https://southfront.org/ambulance-crews-are-top-targets-for-ukrainian-attacks/

Posted by: unimperator | May 27 2023 21:10 utc | 61

Posted by: bevin | May 27 2023 19:27 utc | 40

In wartime everybody has to follow orders: those who don't (check with Tony Greenstein or one of the Bristol protestors) go to jail like Julian Assange. It is a matter of time before Jeremy Corbyn, if he lives, joins them.

That's how sovereignty goes- gradually over decades, then all at once.

Odd that you should mention Jeremy Corbyn, the former leader of HM’s most loyal opposition, in the same breath as Julian Assange and Tony Greenstein.

Here is a partial list of high profile members expelled from UK Labour on trumped up charges of anti-semitism and racism while the party was under Corbyn’s leadership:

Tony Greenstein (Jewish antifascist and anti-Zionist)

Jackie Walker (black and Jewish anti-racist activist)

Mark Wadsworth (journalist, founder of the anti-racist alliance, instrumental in the campaign for justice for Stephen Lawrence and ally of Nelson Mandela)

Chris Williamson (only campaigner for party democracy in the PLP, MP for Derby North, his crime was to urge Corbyn not play along with the establishment and the media nonsense about anti-semitism in the Labour Party)

Ken Livingstone. (Long time political ally of Corbyn’s who was expelled for anti-Zionism)

Bevin is intelligent enough to know that all people expelled and all constituency branches suspended under Corbyn’s leadership came from the left of the party, and invariably were expelled for being critical of Israeli colonialism and apartheid.

Bevin is also intelligent enough to know that while Corbyn was spent his time in office expelling and persecuting the left, he did not raise so much as a finger against the Labour parliamentarians who support or voted for the British wars of aggression against Iraq, Syria and Libya.

Bevin also knows that not only did Corbyn protect the right wing and establishment criminals in the Labour Party criticism, but he actually appointed them to key offices in the party and shadow Cabinet.

Take ‘Sir’ Keir Starmer, leader of the 2017 chicken coup attempt against Corbyn. Previously, as Director Public Prosecutions, Starmer was a ring leader in the UK establishment plot to have Julian Assange renditioned to the USA. What did Corbyn do to this creep? He brought him back into the shadow cabinet, made him one of his closest advisers, and then subsequently virtually handed the leadership of the party to him.

Corbyn’s only relationship with Julian Assange is that Corbyn placed Keir Starmer, the individual most responsible for Assange’s incarceration and likely rendition to the USA, into his current office, from where he stands a good chance of being the next PM of the septic isle.

It is in poor taste, if not downright mendacious, of Bevin to put the dishonest, self obsessed, narcissistic and spineless shit of a man that is Jeremy Corbyn in the same rank as people like Julian Assange and Tony Greenstein.

Unfortunately the leadership of the official UK left are by and large just as dishonest, corrupt and debased as the UK establishment which they claim to oppose, Corbyn being a case in point.

Posted by: Lengai | May 27 2023 21:11 utc | 62

Yet it still doesn't mean Russia can ignore this, they will have to deal with it, it may have the ultimate attempt to alter popular opinion. Another objective is probably to somehow disrupt operation in the main SMO theater, which is where the real defeat of UAF is happening.

Posted by: unimperator | May 27 2023 20:45 utc | 54

Not sure these terrorist acts will have much effect as they stand. If we look at the example of the IRA (leaving aside the wider debate about British colonialism in Ireland), their attacks didn’t change much, even after the elimination of a deep-state establishment figure like Mountbatten/Battenburg at Warrenpoint; if anything ‘public opinion’ manipulated by the MSM hardened. It was only after attacks on the financial centre (Baltic Exchange, Paternoster Square as examples) that momentum towards some kind of settlement was gained (now I wonder why...).

Porting these lessons across to Ukraine, I don’t see any way these pinprick attacks can deflect Russia from seeking to settle its security concerns to its satisfaction.

Posted by: West of England Andy | May 27 2023 21:12 utc | 63

I dont think Putin needs to make the next move Basicaly. The balls firmly in the western court and Putin knows it.
He also knows they'v exhausted there trickery moves.
And lost credabilty and moral high ground.
Honest question where the hell do you go next from there.
It's noticeable now as the weeks go by. Nothing....

Posted by: Mark2 | May 27 2023 21:13 utc | 64

WhirlX, completely agreed the aerospace forces have done well under Surovikin. The ground forces have performed very much less well, putting it charitably. Surovikin fights to win. Let Surovikin be Putin.

Some people cannot believe how stupid I can be, not believing Ukraine is on the verge of defeat, if not already defeated. I would say, get on Telegram and subscribe to Strelkov's channel. If you need to, just run it through Google translate or other translator.

Posted by: Thim | May 27 2023 21:19 utc | 65

@ Sergei | May 27 2023 20:53 utc | 55

Compare Russia to America. You just can't. One is a top and the other is a bottom.

Which one is where?

The Russian military has fled EVERY single time.

And you know that how? Kiev Daily said so? Or was it on 1&1 TV?

Guys, there really are 200,000 trained Ukrainians ready to launch a massive offensive in the coming days. This is no joke. Crimea is the target and is in real danger.

Oh, ok.

To all MoA, for sale a 19th century old villa near Yalta, Austrian architecture, 8 rooms, private garden and the road access. Must go in next week or so. Price to be quickly negotiated and agreed to.

Posted by: whirlX | May 27 2023 21:20 utc | 66

I guess Russia's not hoping for the US to collapse, so why the slow motion SMO ?

" The US economy will not collapse and its default would not be in Russia's best interests, Deputy Head of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev said on Friday. "

https://tass.com/politics/1623459

Posted by: Deplorable Commisar | May 27 2023 21:25 utc | 67

I second that motion!

Russia’s been making artillery shells while America’s been making up new pronouns.
Posted by: Sentient | May 27 2023 20:16 utc | 50

Superb summary! A drink at the bar for you!

Posted by: West of England Andy | May 27 2023 20:56 utc | 57

Posted by: MervRitchie | May 27 2023 21:31 utc | 68

For the computer-savvy I recommend the "MoA Helper Google Chrome extension". Life is too short to spend it reading troll posts.

Posted by: Passerby | May 27 2023 21:38 utc | 69

@karlof1

I dont understand what you mean. Putin had lost control of the borders, RF territory proper is getting attacked every day now, and with those sea drones he's lost the ability to sail in the black sea and the uks storm shadow missles are striking everywhere.

So many red lines crossed then pooped on, I can't fathom what a bad job would look like.

Thankfully there are some russian military guys bombing the shit out of the Ukrainian rear, but that's despite Putin not because of him.

Posted by: Neofeudalfuture | May 27 2023 21:38 utc | 70

@ Thim | May 27 2023 21:19 utc | 66

If there would be no Putin and his crew at the RF helm, there would be a smoking pile of rubble stretching from Lavrentiya in Chukotka Autonomous Okrug and all the way around back to the Tin City, Alaska already glowing for a year.

So yes, RF military needs sometime to get things straighten out and routinely exploitable, but overall RF runs pretty well at the battlespace and everywhere else so far.
Maybe not up to what we or some of us would like to see, but it is not that bad. And it could be a lot worse.

No NATO country or USA would not be able to survive what RF had to put up, utilizing many advancements with minimum energy, on the cheap and without many major blunders or strategic losses.

Strelkov is not the cleverest of the lot, and he is very negative in his defeatism.

Go listen and read Sladkov, as he is rather competent. He was ex SPECNAZ and understands what is going on even more after he met with Putin last year.

Posted by: whirlX | May 27 2023 21:40 utc | 71

Is an invasion force of 200,000 preparing to tear into the Russians in the South? Yes. Is it well armed and well trained? Yes. Should Russia take this seriously? Yes.

All of the above was clearly stated by Prigozhin in one of his infamous rants, barely a week ago.

Posted by: Thim | May 27 2023 21:40 utc | 72

Thim @ 73
Of course you know, we all know that's exactly what the west wants him, to do. Moral high ground. Look it up.

Posted by: Mark2 | May 27 2023 21:48 utc | 73

For goodness sake, quoting Strelkov or Prigozhin immediately undermines the credibility of the post. Neither of those two gentlemen have any more access to Russian SMO operational or strategic planning than the rest of us in the peanut gallery!

Posted by: West of England Andy | May 27 2023 21:55 utc | 74

@Sergei | May 27 2023 20:53 utc | 55

==========================
Could someone please tell me where the Russian military is? Chechens, Prisoners, and Mercs. All have done a marvelous job. The Russian military has fled EVERY single time.

Guys, there really are 200,000 trained Ukrainians ready to launch a massive offensive in the coming days. This is no joke. Crimea is the target and is in real danger.
==========================

Wherever the Russian Army has chosen to stand and fight they mostly have prevailed.

There is no evidence that the Ukrainian army can penetrate defenses the Russian Army is committed to holding.

There seems to be good evidence that the Russian Army is improving every day. I think it's legitimate to say they are not very aggressive but we don't know if that is by nature or intent.

200,000 trained Ukrainians ? Well I hope so and I hope they are mostly, finally recruits from the Nazi heartland in Western Ukraine. They seem to have reached the end of their ability to ethnically cleanse their precious Ukraine by sending unworthies to the front - now the ubermensch will get to show their stuff.

So 200,000 - the west has sent 200 tanks and 250 bradleys, marders and strykers. All good, solid equipment, but last I checked that would be about enough to outfit 3 or maybe 4 mechanized/armored brigades - 15 - 20,000 people. What are the other 180,000 going to be riding in ? Hummers and pickup trucks ? Are they the mine clearing and human wave boys ?

How many artillery tubes has the west sent ? 100 ? 150 ? And all while it seems AFU artillery losses has been 3 or 4 guns per day ?.

So far, all we can say is that Ukraine claims to be ready to attack and Russia claims to be ready to receive them. So in some strange way, Ukraine has the initiative and appears to have the Russians frozen in place awaiting the "great offensive". Perhaps Ukraine will succeed in consuming the entire summer fighting season with this bluff.

If it is a bluff and if it does succeed in creating a pause, I would have to hand it to the AFU because it will be the best move they can make.

On the other hand, we will soon find out what the Russian Army is made of. Because I doubt they will let the whole summer go to waste no matter what Ukraine does. But of course none of us really know. We are just observers.

Posted by: Dan Farrand | May 27 2023 22:09 utc | 75

Lengai @ 63

Well said. I remember attending many of Corbyn's campaign events, during his leadership and the election campaigns. (Mainly accompanying my wife, the then very enthusiastic Corbyn supporter.I never had much faith in the UK Labour Party.) Corbyn's/the Labour Party's actions never came anywhere close to the campaign rhetoric. And Corbyn's despicable attempts to override the Brexit referendum result and screw the working class, with Sir Starmer's enthusiastic help, was yet another example of his dishonesty.

Posted by: BornFree | May 27 2023 22:11 utc | 76

From karlof1's vk: Alexei Repik, chairman of R-Pharm, a pharmaceutical company.
Sanctioned, which always inspires confidence.

What do I think is important? Previously, Russian business grew on Western textbooks. Capitalization was at the top of the pyramid, and we made every effort to enter the markets of the so called "golden billion" countries-the United States of America and Europe. Many people thought that the future was there, but, Mr Putin, it is not there. Not just for us, I don't think it's there at all.

Posted by: Passerby | May 27 2023 22:12 utc | 77

Interesting week in review over at Racket (Taibbi's blog).

https://www.racket.news/p/transcript-america-this-week-may-ba6

Matt Taibbi: On this “State-in-a-smartphone” concept. This happened in stages. The prior president, Petro Poroshenko, introduced something called ProZorro, between 2014-2016, this was designed to be a .gov app that centralized contracting and some other things, improving transparency. And then it was Zelensky who came along and created this concept of the “Ministry of Digital Transformation” in 2019, and that’s when they coined the phrase, “A digital state in the smartphone,” where you could fight corruption and manage complex administrative hurdles, “with one click.” This became possible thanks to the DIIAA app, meaning “action” in Ukrainian. It goes into how in addition to all the civilian uses of this, they began to develop, after the war started, some other features for this app. This is from an agency called GlobSec:

Therefore, in the first days of the war, the Ukrainian government launched the chatbot E-Enemy, a called E-Enemy, designed for Ukrainian citizens to report the Russian military and its equipment’s movements, and inform the Ukrainian government about the collaborator’s activities. The chatbot activity gained over 370,000 visits, most revealing hostile groups. Moreover, the DIIA application offered the option to donate to the Ukrainian Army, a financial assistance program for businesses affected by the war… for damaged properties, a migrant card, assistance, consultations for displaced people, and an e-document for those crossing the border without documents, quickly became available in the application, and this way, a mobile phone could confirm people’s identity even when the physical copy of the document was lost.

So, it’s your whole life in the phone, and it’s a way to report on those who are enemies to the cause in Russia… I don’t know, Walter, this reminded me of the “Would you like to know more?” commercials in Starship Troopers.

Matt Taibbi: Also, it’s a little bit like the DHS program that we talked about just a couple of weeks ago, where obviously, they have more cause to do it in Ukraine, but creating an app... And they talked about the intersection with cybersecurity agencies and developing this stuff. You just start to wonder about the possibilities of this technology.

Walter Kirn: Luckily, we’re never going to have anything like this in America…

Matt Taibbi: (laughs)

Walter Kirn: That makes me feel good. Just because we developed it, and just because it has the convenience of putting an entire state in a smartphone, doesn’t mean we will ever be subjected to it. And I feel great for the Ukrainians, that they’re in this fashion ahead of us. E-Enemy, first of all, I think of that as the opposite of Tinder. If Tinder, the thing that we have in America, allows us to identify potential mates or friends, intimate friends, this allows us to find adversaries everywhere and report them. Maybe have them disappear from view, I don’t know what happens to your E-Enemy after you’ve registered them. I don’t know if it’s a-

Matt Taibbi: I think some reporting needs to be done on that. Yeah.

Walter Kirn: Is it a three strikes thing? Do three people have to identify you as an enemy before the drone comes or does only one person? So, let’s look at the other things. The attempt to get people into looking for troops and enemy aircraft and so on, I guess is just a modern version of the spotting that we were asked to do in America in World War II.

In a lot of ways this app, though sinister, only concentrates things that populations at war seek to do all the time, which is spot threats, identify traitors, loose lips sink ships, maybe call out people who are talking too much about state secrets. But it also, what was interesting, has all of these domestic everyday capabilities. So you apply for a mortgage on the same platform that you turn in traitors and spies. And that is, I think, the innovation here. In this banality of evil fashion, make a financial app, PayPal or Venmo or e-trade, absolutely adjacent to your militarized side of things. [continues]

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | May 27 2023 22:12 utc | 78

Milos 25:

"Any hope for the people of Britain stopped in 1660 and the counterrevolution that brought back the royals to power. And this lasts until today."

You misunderstand the British constitution. Britain is a republic. The people elect Parliament, and Parliament chooses the head of state, as in most other republics. Parliament passes laws to say who can and can't be the monarch, and since 1660 removed one king, James II, and refused the succession of another, Edward VIII.

Posted by: Hereward | May 27 2023 22:23 utc | 79

" For goodness sake, quoting Strelkov or Prigozhin immediately undermines the credibility of the post. Neither of those two gentlemen have any more access to Russian SMO operational or strategic planning than the rest of us in the peanut gallery!

Posted by: West of England Andy | May 27 2023 21:55 utc | 75 "

Based on that logic all the comments here should be ignored also.

Posted by: Deplorable Commisar | May 27 2023 22:27 utc | 80

WOE Andy, Prigozhin is well connected in the Kremlin. Powerful men there run Prigozhin, he is their front man. This is how FSB always fails to arrest him when he says things that would get anyone else in Russia whacked. He is protected.

So you are wrong about Prigozhin, he is well informed. And he says Russia is not winning, the invasion is coming, and this is serious.

Posted by: Thim | May 27 2023 22:28 utc | 81

Vladimir Putin has got a huge responsibility on his shoulders he's the leader of the largest country in the world, beyound doubt he has solid backing from his people, there's huge strength in that. Importantly he hasn't had to lie, unlike the west.

He has huge support from around the world as we know.
To my point
He knows how to control his emotions. Emotional response can be extremely dangerous in a dangerous situation.
Don't be deceived. The dudes ice cool.
But do you we really think he's going to forget the long list of hurt and harm done to Russia so far ?
Not going to happen.
America and Britain are in big deep trouble. Behind the bravado and midea hype they probably know it too.

Posted by: Mark2 | May 27 2023 22:32 utc | 82

#42 karlof1..thank you..his name neofeudalfuture say it all ...he will have a -NEO FEUDAL FUTURE -soon on "GOLDEN WEST" .. durak....

Posted by: sejmon | May 27 2023 22:39 utc | 83

Posted by: John Marks | May 27 2023 17:47 utc | 276

I responded to your post in the last thread.

Thanks for the compliment. Interestingly, while everyone is piling on me in the threads, I always pick up a couple more Substack readers from my more substantial posts here - two more this morning. Some people here, perhaps lurkers, recognize logic when they read it.

I ignored Sushi's last post in the last thread as it was the usual general assertions, devoid of actual content.

Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | May 27 2023 22:39 utc | 84

"...It is in poor taste, if not downright mendacious, of Bevin to put the dishonest, self obsessed, narcissistic and spineless shit of a man that is Jeremy Corbyn in the same rank as people like Julian Assange and Tony Greenstein..." Lengai@63

So sorry to have offended your highly sensitised sense of smell. But I was writing about the sensibilities of the, much less sophisticated, military men, spooks and CIA and MOSSAD types who hate Corbyn almost as much as you do. And had determined, openly, that he would never come close to taking power.

As to the tactics he pursued during his brief leadership they were important in at least one respect- he recruited about 300,000 new members to the Labour Party, most of them not office seekers either. He also, in 2017 came very close to scoring the election victory which was his only chance of rebalancing the forces within the Party. Significantly it was the SNP which, together with Labour's full time bureaucrats torpedoed that chance. Had Labour won there was a real chance of turning Labour into a mass party of the sort which will be needed to make ground against The Establishment.

Reformism has been a hopeless cause in the UK for a long time but people like Benn and Corbyn pushing it to its limits have done a marvellous job in exposing the real nature of the Broad Church of Labour. Nobody can be under any illusions how that the Kinnock, Callaghan, Blair, Starmer party has ceased pretending that it is anything other than a slave of the US Empire.

That leaves socialists in Britain with no choice but to do what has never been done since 1950, at least, and that is to chart a new course and to pursue it. What that course will be is a matter for discussion but the first option that should be removed is to follow the sectarians down the blind alley of little 'parties' each with its little Lenin, disciplined and dictated to by the heirs of the Separate Brothers.

If lengai can't see the difference between Starmer and Corbyn he may rest assured that the Tranmere Rovers terraces can.

Posted by: bevin | May 27 2023 22:40 utc | 85

@ Lengai 63

William Blake mocked the Chartered streets of London and the chartered Thames.
Chartering nears setting up a licence to run a private corporation to deal with government business.

The Oppositon might be called an opposition but its role is not to oppose the government authority but to its ideas

Posted by: Giyane | May 27 2023 22:41 utc | 86

Not sure how realistic or how "intelligent" this is, but I asked ChatGPT to come up with a realistic best case scenario for Ukraine, and this is what it came up with:

"After months of fierce fighting with Russian forces in eastern Ukraine, the Ukrainian government decides to launch a surprise offensive against Southern Russia, hoping to exploit the Russian army’s overstretched resources and low morale.
On May 15, 2023, Ukrainian troops cross the border near Rostov-on-Don, supported by air strikes and artillery fire. They quickly advance towards the city of Volgograd, a strategic and symbolic target for Ukraine. The Russian forces in the region are caught off guard and offer little resistance.

"The Ukrainian army reaches Volgograd on May 18, 2023, and begins a siege of the city. The city’s defenders, mostly local militia and police units, are outnumbered and outgunned by the Ukrainian invaders. The Ukrainian forces also cut off the city’s water and electricity supplies, creating a humanitarian crisis for the civilian population.

"The Russian government is shocked and outraged by the Ukrainian attack, and vows to retaliate with full force. However, it faces several challenges: its troops are already engaged in multiple fronts in Ukraine, Belarus, and Syria; its economy is crippled by Western sanctions and the global banking crisis; and its public opinion is divided and discontented by the war.

"The Russian military launches a counter-offensive on May 20, 2023, but fails to break through the Ukrainian lines. The Ukrainian forces are well-equipped and well-trained, having received substantial military aid from NATO and other allies. The Russian forces suffer heavy casualties and lose several aircraft and tanks.

"The international community condemns the Ukrainian invasion as a violation of international law and calls for an immediate ceasefire. The UN Security Council holds an emergency meeting on May 21, 2023, but fails to reach a consensus due to the veto power of Russia and China. The US and the EU impose new sanctions on Ukraine, but also urge Russia to de-escalate the situation and negotiate a peaceful solution.

"On May 23, 2023, after four days of intense fighting and mounting pressure from within and outside Russia, President Vladimir Putin announces that he is willing to enter into talks with President Volodymyr Zelensky to end the war. He says that Russia will accept a ceasefire and withdraw its troops from Ukraine if Ukraine does the same from Russia. He also says that Russia will respect Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, but demands that Ukraine grant autonomy and protection to the Russian-speaking minorities in its eastern regions.

"President Zelensky agrees to Putin’s proposal and declares a unilateral ceasefire on May 24, 2023. He says that Ukraine has achieved its strategic objectives by occupying Volgograd and inflicting a severe blow to Russia’s prestige and power. He also says that Ukraine is ready to engage in dialogue with Russia to resolve their differences peacefully and cooperatively.

"The ceasefire holds despite some sporadic clashes and violations. A peace conference is scheduled for June 1, 2023, in Geneva, Switzerland, where representatives of Ukraine, Russia, NATO, the EU, and the UN will discuss the terms of a permanent peace agreement. The main issues to be addressed include: the withdrawal of troops from both sides; the status of Volgograd; the security and rights of ethnic minorities in both countries; and the future of Crimea and Donbass."

I think it very interesting, to say the least, that ChatGPT used Volgograd as the Ukrainian target, obviously the value is both strategic and highly symbolic. I think at the very least it may signal NATO interest in commiting highly politically damaging acts of asymmetric warfare against Volgograd, aka Stalingrad.

Posted by: Ludovic | May 27 2023 22:48 utc | 87

Posted by: Milites | May 27 2023 17:17 utc | 2
"The destruction of initial Ukrainian forces is no real metric of Russian military capabilities, beyond basic competence, as NATO’s training mission stressed battalion and smaller level operations, using ambush and raiding tactics, not combined operations, so the initial responses, initiated by the Ukrainians were, as a result, poorly executed."

Yet we are supposed to believe that now Ukraine has mastered the art of combined operations.

if not, and if combined operations are not the forte of either Ukraine or Russia, and since Russia's resources massively exceed Ukraine's, especially in artillery, tanks, and stand-off weapons, how is that Russia is somehow at a disadvantage such as we can not predict its ability to defeat Ukraine?

Is Ukraine supposed to win by using "ambush and raiding tactics"? Clearly they have been doing so throughout the war, particularly against the Russian border towns. How successful has this strategy been throughout the first year of war?

I call bullshit on the whole theory. Whatever NATO taught Ukraine over the last eight years, it wasn't effective. What DID slow the Russians down was eight years of fortifications building, the sheer size of the Ukrainian army, and the need to both manage the level of Russian casualties in order to receive public support and foreign support and the need to manage NATO reactions to the invasion. None of the military experts on the pro-Russian side, and that goes beyond Martyanov, had or have any doubt about Russian resources and capability to defeat Ukraine.

People keep getting bogged down in this notion of Russian incompetence based solely on the chosen method and pace of the war. As most observers have noted correctly, Russia is in no hurry. It's not a question of capability, it's a question of choice.

"The evidence for the Western intel op is the arrest of numerous intel officers after the invasion and the short time Russian air units were given to prepare operations for fear of high-level leaking of the plans."

For which I've seen no evidence but assertions from people in the west. Cite a statement from Russia confirming these assertions, or it didn't happen.

See, these people like Milites come here and make assertions that betray their actual assessment of Russia as being essentially concern trolls. Some of them are very good at hiding this until their theories are called out for being internally contradictory.

This is not to say that Russia hasn't had issues in the conduct of the SMO. It's simply not clear what those issues are, certainly not on an operational level. Every war exposes issues in a military, so I assume Russia has had some. But they clearly are not affecting the Russian control of the situation, and that's all that matters.

Russia retains escalation dominance, and if the West escalates, that will be demonstrated to the concern trolls' satisfaction, I'm sure.

Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | May 27 2023 22:53 utc | 88

Posted by: Ludovic | May 27 2023 22:48 utc | 90

Please inform ChatGPT that I will be on Lac Leman by June 21st and look forward to seeing this one myself.

Posted by: SwissArmyMan | May 27 2023 22:53 utc | 89

Mark2 @84. Wholeheartedly agree. I think people should be immensely grateful to President Putin for being a very serious thinker, a rationalist and someone who is shouldering a huge burden of responsibility inasmuch as he is absorbing so much of the collective West's hatred, vitriol, vicious malice and weapons escalation to Ukraine and exercising a lot of patience and integrity in not automatically responding to Ukraine's terrorist attacks in Russia and other provocations. The world will owe him a huge debt at the end of all this because of his restraint in these decisions. That restraint should be commended not condemned. That is not to say that, once Russia has achieved it's military goals in the SMO there will be no retribution, there certainly will be. It will be hard hitting I think where it hurts the collective West the most but I doubt it will involve warfare.

His restraint, patience and intelligence is saving the world at the moment from WWIII. He knows the USA is desperately trying to provoke Russia into military action that would allow NATO into the conflict and his restraint is a good foil for that. Thank God there are 2 adults in the Room Putin and Xijing Ping. The other adults are Iran, Saudi Arabia, India. South Africa and Orban of Hungary and Vucic of Serbia.

I have a notion that, reading the rapid pace of activity by Russia in Ukraine now that the Ukrainian Army must be pretty close to reaching their critical fighting capacity. The Army is in disarray following Zaluzhny's disappearance. I am of the view that he was detained by the SBU but, as more of the world started to raise the alert about his disappearance, he re-materialised I think also because the morale of the UAF is at rock bottom with record number of desertions happening. Zelensky had no choice but to restore him to his position.

The collective West is destroying their own countries and their democracies for the sake of the most corrupt country in the world with a full on deranged Nazi Dictator in charge whose only interest is personal money making. Sometimes I think God has given us these Leaders of the collective West so that they will destroy their countries at which point, the citizens will revolt and prevail and genuine democracy restored. The firsts Russian Revolution changed the World. This one will change it for the better and for peaceful co-existence. The warmongers will have to go.

Posted by: Jo Dominich | May 27 2023 22:54 utc | 90

Posted by: Jmaas | May 27 2023 17:26 utc | 6
"This slow slog thing will get them in trouble if it goes on for a couple of years."

As usual, people get lost in this notion that this will go on "for a couple of years". Even Simplicius believes this.

But they never provide any evidence that either Ukraine or NATO are themselves capable of sustaining the war "for a couple of years."

Whereas there is little doubt that the Russian economy, the Russian military-industrial complex, the Russian military resources itself, and the support of the Russian people are capable of doing so.

So what happens when the Ukraine military finally runs out of everything and collapses, while Russia has half- to three-quarters-of-a million men to throw into the fight (with the option to call up at least a million more), along with 1,500 tanks, full artillery, full aviation and stand-off weapons?

They never answer that question, they just ignore it on the ASSUMPTION that Ukraine and NATO can sustain the war indefinitely.

And thus they betray their concern troll status.

Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | May 27 2023 23:00 utc | 91

“The "Nazis at the top," in other words the denizens of DC, are quite ideologically obsessed with dominance and hegemony, subsuming the world under their neoliberal doctrines, and maintaining their position as the master.”

Samm | May 27 2023 20:08 utc | 47

May I point to your idealized description of the zionized "deciders?" – They are not interested in any “doctrines.” They are neo-talmudists obsessed with the ancient and evergreen dream of becoming “effendis,” each served by thousands of submissive goyim. This dream of a luxurious parasitic life, in combination with the Purimized mental setups (Jewish children are taught from infancy to have genocidal tendencies towards any “Amalek”), explains the mentality of neo-talmudic idiots in charge of the US foreign policy.

These people cannot be reasoned with. They are possessed. They should have never been allowed into a civilized Western society. They are nothing but dangerous parasites. Look how flexible the American Jews are towards Ukrainian Banderites and the rise of neo-Nazism in Ukraine. The Straussians (neo-talmudists) want to destroy Russia-Amalek by any means. They have created a bloody mess in Europe and expect someone else to clean it up.

It is never too often to remind about the special relationships between American zionists and Ukrainian Banderites. In 2014, Nuland-Kagan ran the Zionist-Nazi putsch in Kiev in collaboration with members of the Ukrainian Nazi Party, including the founder of the Ukrainian Nazi Party, Parubij, who served as a commandant of the Nuland-Kagan putsch.

Posted by: Cerena | May 27 2023 23:03 utc | 92

@ Thim | May 27 2023 22:28 utc | 83

Prigozhin, he is well informed. And he says Russia is not winning, the invasion is coming, and this is serious.

Prigozhin is a part of Russian military machine. He is there to produce fog, act as a troll and a major obfuscater.
His PMC can fight with the gloves off, RF Army can not. He can say what he wants – nobody in the RF Armed force can do the same.
So he is a messenger.

What is he saying is, to a certain extent, obvious to all, but he also knows how to patronize the Army, and it is seen as a pretty good thing.

RF Army is slowly dislodging out of its comfortable zone that was lasting a good 70+ years, being a bit rocked by Afghanistan intervention. And they are not ashamed to admit it and are sincerely trying to change.

Also, the Western media are picking Prigozhin's every blabber as a proof that RF is losing, depleted, in tatters, dwindling etc. – which is fine by RF.
Nobody cares what the Western media think any more. A year ago I thought RF behaved as it was still important, now it is completely ignored.

Posted by: whirlX | May 27 2023 23:04 utc | 93

Jo Dominich @ 93
Thanks for that quick response. Were defiantly on the same page. Every word of that I agree with. And I'll ad... said much better than I could.
My round I think !

Posted by: Mark2 | May 27 2023 23:05 utc | 94

Whoops , I cut myself off prematurely.
You are in cloud cuckoo land if you think that licence to oppose the Government means a licence to subvert government policy.
Corbyn was given a licence to bring alternative ideas to oppose the insanity of the Tories. Tory insanity is so grotesque that it is necessary to attack it from a broad spectrum of ideas. This is a highly constrained, collective , formal game of measured debate, not in any way an Oliver Cromwell type of speaking truth to power.

Jeremy Corbyn performed the extremely limited role of Crown Jester tother Majesty's Government, sincerely, skillfully and inevitably unsuccessfully. That is what is given in the charter of British democracy, a temporary licence to suggest
alternatives to Government policy.

To knock the man for doing his job well, and playing the game dutifully, when his job spec is to fail , and endure constant rubbing of his nose in his own failure , is to misunderstand British politics and grossly unfair to Jeremy Corbyn.
Ad hominem, when the man in question has no platform by which to answer.

Why not work your own way up the ranks of British hypocrisy and see if you can do better? It's like folk here telling Putin how to run an SMO, when he's standing up to the USUKIS Psychos who trained Nazis in Ukraine and Daesh in Syria. Not just tapping tripe on a virtual keyboard with the tip of his nose.

Posted by: Giyane | May 27 2023 23:07 utc | 95

where do we find this 'sladkov' someone mentioned as a good source?

Posted by: abrogard | May 27 2023 23:08 utc | 96

"The collective West is destroying their own countries and their democracies for the sake of the most corrupt country in the world with a full on deranged Nazi Dictator in charge whose only interest is personal money making. ..."

Posted by: Jo Dominich | May 27 2023 22:54 utc | 93

The ongoing war against Russia is not for the sake of Ukraine but for the sake of the zionized US -- specifically, for the sake of the Financial Squid, dishonorable MIC, and parasitic neo-talmudists.
"All wars are bankers' war," General Smedley Butler. This war is no exception.
Ukraine and Ukrainian people are nothing but sacrificial lambs on the altar of war profiteers and usurers.

Posted by: Cerena | May 27 2023 23:11 utc | 97

@ Ludovic | May 27 2023 22:48 utc | 90

You should explain the situation to the poor Chatbot. It doesn't know.

RF liberated a territory of a Great Britain's size in less than a month with very small military force around a year ago.
It destroyed around 400 thousand manpower and around 20 thousand pieces of various military equipment ever since.
In the meantime, NATO tried for the third time to rebuild and rearm the Ukrainian Army, but the time is running out as Russian Army is getting stronger and gets more advanced weaponry.

So you should try along those lines. See how it goes...

Posted by: whirlX | May 27 2023 23:19 utc | 98

Posted by: the pessimist | May 27 2023 17:56 utc | 278
Posted by: the pessimist | May 27 2023 18:04 utc | 14

"Yes, true, but it isn't clear to me why the assembled troop strength was so low prior to the start of the SMO - unless they were hoping for some defections in the UAF - and why they didn't reinforce the areas captured east and south of Kharkov and north of the Dnipr in Kherson when it was clear that insufficient forces to do this were deployed. I believe they would have liked to take Odessa but clearly had insufficient forces to do so while holding the land bridge. This suggests that the decision to proceed with a military operation was the choice of last resort..."

You raise good points. However, I think there are other explanations. Again, this sort of analysis tends to assume that the Russian operational plan was defective in some way. Since we don't know that plan, we can't assume that. What we can assume is that there were reasons for the decisions taken. Whether those reasons were accurate is another question, to which, as I say, we don't have the answers because we don't know them. All we can do is assess what WE would have done in the same situations.

Thus, in particular, I agree with you that Russia should have reinforced their bridgehead over the Dnieper. That would have given them an advantage should Ukraine retreat from Donbass to the other side of the Dnieper and build a fortified line there using the river as a natural barrier. If Russia had reinforced that bridgehead, Russia would then have the advantage of already being on the other side of the river and in a position to outflank Ukraine.

That, you may remember, was my main criticism of Surovikin back when the Kherson withdrawal occurred. That was my only criticism of Russia so far in the SMO (aside from not taking out all of Ukraine's AD on Day One.)

However, consider this possibility: that the initial Russian advance was never intended to cross the Dnieper. But when they got there they saw an opportunity and they (or the local commander) took it for precisely the reasons I suggest. However, they didn't have the forces to reinforce, and the operational plan didn't provide for those forces or for pushing on to Nikolaev or Odessa until later in the war (if ever.)

So instead the General Staff sat on the situation for ten months - that was my main criticism point, you'll recall - before Surovikin came in and used the threat of the dam break and cutting off the Russian forces on that side of the river as the excuse to remove those forces and redeploy them in a more useful position (probably as support for Wagner in Bahkmut, although I don't know that.)

"and perhaps there was a fear that a large mobilization effort would negate any advantage the uncertainty of their exact intentions could generate."

Exactly. As I've suggested before, Russia has a need to "manage" both its own population's expectations and concerns over the war, as well as NATO's reaction to the invasion, as well as the level of casualties which impacts both perceptions.

Also, knowing the level of fortifications Russia was facing, the use of "overwhelming" force would have produced a much higher level of casualties than what Russia has suffered so far.

The Russian plan clearly was more of the "slow and steady wins the race" than the reverse. Most of us assumed the reverse, which only goes to show how little we understand the Russian operational plan and the political concerns of Putin and his team. We need to keep all of that in mind when assessing the war's progress.

However, that doesn't stop us from analyzing the ultimate objectives of the war based on the objective requirements of Russia's security concerns vis-a-vis NATO.

Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | May 27 2023 23:20 utc | 99

@LightYearsFromHome | May 27 2023 19:04 utc | 23

This what British and American propagandists have long asserted. That does not make any of it accurate.

Churchill chose to initiate WW II.

All the proximal contemporaneous evidence reflects that Hitler had no plans to attack, let alone rule, Europe or any non German speaking parts of Europe or Asia. In March 1939 Hitler told the German High Command that they need not plan for a near term war, as he only foresaw a possible brief but decisive conflict with the USSR in 1942.

This is nowhere near complete but it does support the above. Hitler and WW II. An authoritative work I strongly recommend, despite the conservative American author's reflexive hatred of the USSR and Stalin which makes him unreliable as far as that goes, is Buchanan Patrick J. (2008-05). Churchill, Hitler and the Unnecessary War: How Britain Lost Its Empire and the West Lost the World. Crown. A book which relies on recently declassified archival material to cut through the propaganda and reinterpret what we know about WW II.

In rough order, trying to take severity of war crimes, torture methods and number affected by their crimes into account, the real monsters of WW II, by far, were Churchill, Truman, the Ustaše, Japanese, Ukrainians, Germans associated with prisons and camps, Freikorps and Freiwillige fighting for the Fascists, FDR, American military, Italian military (in Africa) and British military. Franco and the French escape the list only because most of Franco's horrors were prewar, and most of the French horrors were post war or at least post VE day..

Posted by: Hermit | May 27 2023 23:21 utc | 100