FVK | Jun 1 2023 17:18 utc | 46

Yes, Romania as well. I had held out hope that Romania would see the light and not go along with western plans, but unfortately that didn’t happen.

Romanians aren’t the problem, romanian politicians etc. are

Posted by: Sarlat La Canède | Jun 1 2023 22:36 utc | 104

“The all new Toyota ISIS: Fighting for You!”
I hate to see Toyota made fun of like that. They are good vehicles.
But i do see why they mount weapons in the bed of the Trucks.
Unlike Bradleys and Strykers. Toyotas start and run great every time you turn the key.

Posted by: Golddiggr | Jun 1 2023 22:46 utc | 106

Lex #21:37 utc | 102

So either the US leadership is truly crazy or it craves a big war.
Of course it isn’t prepared for a big war.

How right you are.

Defense News has reached out to Office of Inspector General for the Defense Department to identify the contractor.
The team subsequently found that all six howitzers had operational issues. Four of the six howitzers had breech blocks improperly aligned with the rack gear, which prevented the breech from correctly locking. A breech not properly locked could result in an explosion that could kill the crew, the report noted.
Additionally, all six howitzers contained reused, old hydraulic fluid, which is not allowed because the fluid degrades over time and could lead to “disastrous results and malfunctions of critical systems,” the inspector general found.
The contractor paid the mobile repair team $114,000 for labor and travel expenses, according to the report.
As the howitzers were being prepared to leave Kuwait for shipment to Europe on June 21, 2022, one of the howitzers experienced a brake fire, likely due to the contractor not releasing the parking brake when moving it, according to the report, which cited a specialist with the mobile repair team. The contractor claimed it was likely due to leaking brake fluid, the report noted.
When the howitzers reached Poland for distribution to Ukraine, officials there said all six howitzers still had faults that made them non-mission capable, according to the report, including worn firing pins and issues with the firing mechanism. The repairs cost about $17,490 in labor and materials.
Officials said they were able to avoid delays in getting the howitzers to Ukraine, but the inspector general noted in the report the inadequate maintenance on the howitzers highlights the need to consider the time it would take to maintain and repair equipment coming from the APS site in Kuwait for Ukraine.
Tire troubles
Prior to August 2022, the 401st declared 28 of 29 Humvees as fully mission capable, but when it received an order to pull those out for Ukraine on Aug. 24, only three of the 29 were ready, the inspector general said.
Problems with the Humvees included dead batteries, inoperative lights, faulty gauges, damaged seat belts, broken door lock latches and fluid leaks, the report listed.
In order to meet the deadline to ship the equipment to Europe, the contractor took parts from other Humvees in the inventory, including in one case a transmission, “potentially making that equipment non-mission capable,” the report noted.
When the vehicles arrived in Poland, officials there reported one of the tires on a Humvee was shredded due to dry rot. When the tire was replaced with a spare, that one also failed due to dry rot, the report described.
The officials in Poland opened up work orders to replace tires damaged with dry rot in September 2022. Additionally, the vehicles did not come with spare tires, the officials noted, causing concern they would cross the border and fail with no means to replace tires there.
Tires were ultimately pulled from other equipment for the Humvees headed to Ukraine.
The process delayed delivery to Ukraine and required significant labor and time, “pulling soldiers away from primary duties,” and cost $173,524 for labor and material, the report added.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Jun 1 2023 23:02 utc | 108

Ceaclearly | Jun 1 2023 18:39 utc | 63

Am I the only one who thinks that when the US is doing it’s war games in June over next to Russia, that would be a perfect time for China to do something militarily to secure Taiwan.

Yes, because you are, clearly, fick as shit, mmm kay?

Posted by: Sarlat La Canède | Jun 1 2023 23:17 utc | 110

grunzt #22:01 utc | 105

But it is incredible how deep this Biden & Nuland team has involved us in this sh*t – Russia may soon be mobilizing up to 2 million soldiers.
You may point to Biden’s dementia all you like, but he is still the one whose will is being executed, and who is the driving force behind all this. Or should we assume that it is Obama, Clinton and other bystanders from the Council of Foreign Relations, who are the primary instigators, and Biden just happens to be in agreement with them?

Thank you for reminding me. Here is Vikky the bikky blathering about her divine purpose:

Nuland was asked at the interview’s end: what are the U.S. Government’s bottom-line minimal acceptable results from this war. (Obviously, if neither Netanyahu nor anyone else will be able to meet these minimal U.S. requirements, then the U.S. side of this war will not stop, and the war will continue, and so there will be no negotiated end of this war

There is much more in Nulands answer but best read entirely to get the full picture.
Then there is this deeper background from theduran.com on the evolution of the entire neoconservative project with Nuland included as a mighty significant player over multiple presidencies:

Here is Victoria Nuland, of the Bill Clinton, and of the George W. Bush, and of the Barack Obama, and of the Joe Biden, Administrations, setting forth in more detail than any high official of the U.S. Government yet has done, the Rhodesist viewpoint, regarding the war in Ukraine, and why the U.S. Government is preparing to go as far as into WW III, if necessary, to defeat Russia in Ukraine. She speaks there for both the Democratic Party and the Republican Party, because both Parties, in both houses of the U.S. Congress, are nearly 100% on board with that viewpoint, the Rhodesist viewpoint. This view, which some call “neoconservatism,” originated with Cecil Rhodes, back in 1877. They’re virtually 100% for the billionaires, against the public, and carrying it out regarding both Russia and China. But, to do that, there would have to be a nuclear war involving the U.S. and its allies, on one side, versus Russia and China, on the other. For the U.S. and its allies, the goal would be global conquest. For both Russia and China, the goal of defending themselves against the constantly hyper-aggressive neoconservative alliance would be to protect themselves against losing their national sovereignty to the U.S. Consequently: whether there will be that World War Three is a decision that can be made only in Washington DC. That is the hunter, and Russia and China are its biggest prey. Among the super-powers, the aggression comes solely from the U.S.A. Its allies are merely the members of its gang, all of which would need to be destroyed, since the U.S. gang refuses to stop their constant aggressions, which are intended ultimately to conquer the entire world, in accord with what had been Rhodes’s plan.

Russia proposed a treaty formutually assured security and the return of NATO to its 1991 borders. It was handed to the USA and NATO in December 2021. It was ignored by the former and scorned by the latter.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Jun 1 2023 23:26 utc | 112

Ukraine has retaken Crimea.

The head of the GUR of Ukraine, Kirill Budanov, said today that Ukraine has taken Crimea “purely psychologically”.
“Today the occupiers have a holiday: supposedly we did not keep our promise to enter Crimea before the end of spring. There is such a thing as a psychological counteroffensive. Impress the enemy with the inevitability of defeat.
I think that we have completely succeeded. Purely psychologically, we took the Crimea.
As a military man, I will say that this is sometimes more important than real clashes with the enemy. This is an unconditional victory for our army, which will go down in military history textbooks, ” he said.

Was that 300 Billion dollars that the USA parted with for this gang?
Its almost enough to make a Philadelphia lawyer look like a holy man.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Jun 1 2023 23:37 utc | 114

Obviously this is not directly related to the current situation and should be taken with a spoon of salt but, one wonders if the call for F16 fighter jets is just an excuse to roll out some: “Oh sorry that thing was flying on it’s own, all the way through where it should not fly. But it was’nt us it was just a software error”.
Extract:
“Hamilton is the Operations Commander of the 96th Test Wing of the U.S. Air Force as well as the Chief of AI Test and Operations. The 96th tests a lot of different systems, including AI, cybersecurity, and various medical advances. Hamilton and the 96th previously made headlines for developing Autonomous Ground Collision Avoidance Systems (Auto-GCAS) systems for F-16s, which can help prevent them from crashing into the ground. Hamilton is part of a team that is currently working on making F-16 planes autonomous. In December 2022, the U.S. Department of Defense’s research agency, DARPA, announced that AI could successfully control an F-16. ”
Whole article:
https://www.vice.com/en/article/n7zakb/ai-has-successfully-piloted-a-us-f-16-fighter-jet-darpa-says
and
https://www.vice.com/en/article/4a33gj/ai-controlled-drone-goes-rogue-kills-human-operator-in-usaf-simulated-test

Posted by: Pet | Jun 2 2023 0:06 utc | 116

@Fudup:

I am beginning to think the new Ukrainian plan is to invade Russia, take a few villages hostage and try to trade them for Crimea, or something close

well, you could be on to something, but if so they weren’t paying attention when the Chechnyans tried that during the 90’s. It ended with all the terrorists and the hostages dead.

Posted by: Ghost of Zanon | Jun 2 2023 0:25 utc | 118

Zelensky. Another day, another performance. This time commencement address at John Hopkins U. Anne Applebaum introduced him.
https://twitter.com/pravda_eng/status/1661824464005496832
He had a standing ovation from students before he uttered a word.
Another generation lost to the brainwashing.

Posted by: Melaleuca | Jun 2 2023 0:29 utc | 120

If the spring offensive is a propaganda ploy hasn’t it already backfired massively as it is now June?

Posted by: Jonathan W | Jun 2 2023 1:00 utc | 122

@shadowbanned | Jun 1 2023 17:36 utc | 50
1) Romania was controlled by Bulgarians for most of the Middle Ages
2) Romania ended up as a “Latin” country
Both these claims are false. Romania is a Latin country, with Romanian language one of the closest to Latin language among the 5 Latin languages. As for Bulgaria, it was a province in Ottoman Empire since late 14th century, so I really fail to see how Bulgarians would control Romanians under these circumstances

Posted by: AlexShadow | Jun 2 2023 1:21 utc | 124

Both these claims are false. Romania is a Latin country, with Romanian language one of the closest to Latin language among the 5 Latin languages. As for Bulgaria, it was a province in Ottoman Empire since late 14th century, so I really fail to see how Bulgarians would control Romanians under these circumstances
Posted by: AlexShadow | Jun 2 2023 1:21 utc | 136

Look at maps of the 8th, 9th and 12th centuries.

Posted by: shadowbanned | Jun 2 2023 1:27 utc | 126

dh #139
I am tempted to create Crimea chicken this weekend to commemorate the imagined victory. Lots of Turmeric for a solid yellow tone and a black sun in cloves, under the chicken of course. Topped with hemp leaves to open the upper chakra and enable psychological supremacy.
At this rate of Ukraine stupidity it could be worthwhile to leave these clowns in place and just repeat text their statements to every mobile device in the country. Maybe that iPhone back door could yet be weaponised by Russia.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Jun 2 2023 2:08 utc | 128

uncle tungsten: for authentic flavor substitute the hemp leaves with a liberal sprinkling of cocaine powder.

Posted by: malenkov | Jun 2 2023 2:23 utc | 130

Posted by: 2+2=5 | Jun 2 2023 0:19 utc | 126
i think it’s mostly trolls, maybe a specific subset of trolls. i’ve wondered if the various trolls in here always recognize each other. i suspect we have representatives of the US intel community and the brits, and the Israelis, not sure how many others.

Posted by: pretzelattack | Jun 2 2023 2:33 utc | 132

Re: Posted by: shadowbanned | Jun 1 2023 17:38 utc | 51
Just quit. Obviously Russia invested heavily in “doomsday” deterrence as you suggest, but they obviously also invested in a boatload array of all kinds and spectrums of defensive and state of the art offensive conventional weapons capabilities for air, sea and land use. Putins “lamenting” as you claim, about “deterrence” , is simply the obvious choice of escalation the west appears to want to take the conflict.
Any decent leader would lament over the coming destruction, not ours though, not the West, they believe that nary a drone will even fly over their sky.
Time will tell.

Posted by: Trubind1 | Jun 2 2023 3:08 utc | 134

dh #144
My secret service friend tells me that khinzal is an ancient Bulgarian herb known to cure abreactive stupor and like psychological imaginings of grandeur. Fortunately the Russians have these cures in abundance and are rushing them to every ukraian orifice.
Those Bulgarian ancients were smart bastards.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Jun 2 2023 4:07 utc | 136

Some more details on the Swedish “Carl Gustav” anti-tank weapon.
Sorry if someone mentioned this already but the units of the U.S. Army use this weapon. The ones that showed up on the Ukie black market certainly could have come from the Swedish government themselves. It also could have come part of the various military aid packages that the U.S. gov has given the AFU. I have no real idea and don’t really care.
My Army kid says this thing beats the shit out of a person shooting it from the shoulder. In practice, they generally don’t shoot more than 2 rounds each so probably not the best weapon for sustained combat. He told me that he heard of a story were one stud muffin shot 7 Carl Gustavs from the shoulder in one day. The downside for that guy was that he spent the next 2 weeks recovering. Then again, as the kid said tonight, in a real combat situation, no one is going to count how many times a person can shoot the weapon if death is around the corner any given moment.
So, perhaps a step up from a “one shot and your done” type of weapon but certainly not the best weapon to give to dismounted infantry for a sustained fight.

Posted by: DakotaRog | Jun 2 2023 5:13 utc | 138

Re: Moldova
NATO needs to weaken Russia/Eurasia before attacking. Therefore, NATO focuses on destabilizing the periphery. We are likely going to see more of this all around the periphery of Eurasia over the next year.

Posted by: Exile | Jun 2 2023 5:19 utc | 140

Here’s some excerpts from Wikipedia on the “re-latinization” of Romania which happened from the 17th-19th century.
The re-latinization of Romanian was the reinforcement of the Romance features of the Romanian language during the 18th and 19th centuries. In this period, Romanian adopted a Latin-based alphabet to replace the Cyrillic script and borrowed many words from French as well as from Latin and Italian, in order to acquire the lexical tools necessary for modernization.
…Due to the high ratio of Slavic loanwords, some scholars believed Romanian was a Slavic language
Educated Romanians started to regard Latin and Italian as linguistic models already in the 17th century. Scholars of the Transylvanian School were the first to make concerted efforts to eliminate certain non-Romance features of the language in the late 18th century. They were Greek Catholic (or Uniate) intellectuals tutored in Vienna and Rome who were determined to manifest the Latin origin of Romanian.[48][49] They regarded the Romanians as “an island of Latinity in a Slav sea”.
They decided to replace Slavic loanwords with terms of Latin origin
They created portmanteau words, containing both Slavic and Latin roots, like răzbel from the Slavic loanword război and the Latin term bellum (both meaning war).
Wallachian and Moldavian writers who took a more conventional approach than the Transylvanian scholars were more successful. Re-latinisation reached its peak in Wallachia in the early 19th century, when Ion Heliade Rădulescu introduced large numbers of Italian neologisms. Subsequently, literary figures at Iași, in Moldavia, began borrowing from French, at the time the language of high European culture.
The Roman script was introduced gradually between 1830 and 1860. A pure Latin writing system was introduced by law in the united Danubian Principalities in 1860.

Posted by: MiniMo | Jun 2 2023 5:37 utc | 142

Posted by: DakotaRog | Jun 2 2023 5:13 utc | 170
I knew the 84 was being investigated as a number of weapons that might cause blast induced TBI’s, but accelerating a 10 lb round to 500 mph must involve a strong wallop factor. The weapon was designed in 1948, so the effects on the target were probably more on the minds of the designers than the users. Warfare has always affected the user, from the muscular and skeletal impact, pre-gunpowder, to TBI and hearing loss in the gunpowder age (most of the soldiers seen in SMO combat footage have lost up to 40% of their hearing). In the days of massed armies, fighting existential battles, little thought was paid to the collateral damage, now things are different.
Posted by: uncle tungsten | Jun 1 2023 23:26 utc | 121
There’s a reason I call the pro-Ukraine cabal the Nuland clan. Like all the bad pennies that are in near-constant circulation from the Clinton-Obama axis she keeps on turning up. Just like the crooked FBI agents who participated in the Russiagate scam, now are involved in hiding Biden’s Ukraine connections, during an election year. There was a reason Trump had to lose in 2020, he’d already delayed the Ukraine project and threatened its laundromat function, leaving their stooge Zelensky awkwardly looking around, waiting for his cue, and inadvertently helping their target escape by releasing the transcript of the real conversation they’d had. Another delay was not only intolerable it risked everything, so one home-grown colour revolution and a soft-coup later and voila! Trouble is that four year delay holed the project below the waterline and now political and military wake-homers, courtesy of team Putin, are in the water.

Posted by: Milites | Jun 2 2023 6:01 utc | 144

Educated Romanians started to regard Latin and Italian as linguistic models already in the 17th century. Scholars of the Transylvanian School were the first to make concerted efforts to eliminate certain non-Romance features of the language in the late 18th century. They were Greek Catholic (or Uniate) intellectuals tutored in Vienna and Rome who were determined to manifest the Latin origin of Romanian.[48][49] They regarded the Romanians as “an island of Latinity in a Slav sea”.
Posted by: MiniMo | Jun 2 2023 5:37 utc | 143

Indeed. It should also be mentioned that this happens during the time when there wasn’t even a Greek model to follow — Greece would only become a thing in the early 19th century, and while obviously there was a patriarch in Constantinople and Greek was widely spoken in the Ottoman empire, the Ottoman empire was Turkic.
So the choices were to either adopt Islam and gradually undergo Turkicization (which many Christian populations indeed did) or to look West.
Ironically, had the Ottomans stably pushed further into Europe, Romania may not have been Latinized, because then it would have been a deeply buried behind the front lines internal province isolated from Europe, and the nationalist revival movement would have developed a century later, by which point it was again starting to be cool to be a Slav because of the rise of Russia as a global power.

Posted by: shadowbanned | Jun 2 2023 6:34 utc | 146

Seen this in the Guardian. Blaming ‘Anti Putin partisans on shelling Belgorod!
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jun/01/anti-putin-partisans-shell-russian-town?utm_term=6479694490d3301b002337ddc2e43e44&utm_campaign=GuardianTodayUK&utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&CMP=GTUK_email

Posted by: whitebeach | Jun 2 2023 6:46 utc | 148

and that Medvedev now says that the Kiev regime must be overthrown. Perhaps Russian plans are solidifying and coming into clearer focus.
Posted by: Tim | Jun 2 2023 7:01 utc | 150

Medvedev’s words yesterday were much harhser — he said that they have to be destroyed and a minute later that they have to be exterminated. And the first time he threw in the US and the UK too together with the Ukrainians.

Seen this in the Guardian. Blaming ‘Anti Putin partisans on shelling Belgorod!
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jun/01/anti-putin-partisans-shell-russian-town
Posted by: whitebeach | Jun 2 2023 6:46 utc | 149

Zero shame.
“Partisans” have BM-21s with endless munition supplies and tanks and BMPs? Since when?

Posted by: shadowbanned | Jun 2 2023 7:09 utc | 150

Russian Ministry of Defense
On the morning of June 1 this year, as a result of the competent and selfless actions of the units of the “Western” grouping of troops, a new attempt by the Kiev regime to carry out a terrorist act against the civilian population of the city of Shebekino, Belgorod region, was thwarted.
At 03.57, after an hour of intense artillery shelling of the international automobile checkpoint “Shebekino” on the Russian-Ukrainian border and residential quarters of the settlement of Novaya Tavolzhanka, the enemy, consisting of three armored combat vehicles, four pickups and 30 militants, attempted an attack in the direction of Volchansk, the international automobile checkpoint “Shebekino”.
The artillery fire of the Western Military District inflicted a fire defeat on the enemy, as a result of which an armored combat vehicle and up to ten militants were destroyed. The enemy retreated in the direction of Pletenevka.
In addition, a terrorist group of 15 militants attempted to enter the territory of the Russian Federation along the left bank of the Seversky Donets River in the direction of Gatischevo, Novaya Tavolzhanka. Ukrainian terrorists were blown up in a minefield, and their remnants were destroyed by Russian artillery.
At the same time, another Ukrainian terrorist group consisting of 20 militants and two armored combat vehicles was advancing along the right bank of the Seversky Donets to Novaya Tavolzhanka. During a small-arms battle with the units covering the State Border of the Western Military District, it was dispersed.
The enemy lost eight fighters and an armored combat vehicle.
At 04.45, the units covering the state border of the Western Military District were reinforced by an armored group.
At 04.57, two strikes were carried out on the territory of Ukraine by the army aviation of the Russian Aerospace Forces on enemy reserves in the Ogurtsovo and Gatyshche districts.
From 06.05 to 06.45, Ukrainian terrorist groups, having increased their efforts, made another attempt to break into the territory of the Russian Federation from the districts of Pletnevka and Volchansk. In total, up to 70 militants, five tanks, four armored combat vehicles, seven pickup trucks and one Kamaz took part in the attack.
From 06.10 to 06.50, the enemy was hit by heavy flamethrower systems, rocket troops and artillery of the Western Military District, as a result of which the enemy retreated in the direction of Zhovtnevoye after suffering losses.
During the battle, Ukrainian terrorists lost 12 militants, two armored combat vehicles and a pickup truck.
From 07.00 to 09.50, the retreating terrorists and enemy reserves were hit by nine strikes by the army aviation of the Russian Aerospace Forces in the areas of the settlements of Ogurtsovo, Pletenevka, Staritsa and Volchansk.
In total, more than 50 Ukrainian terrorists, four armored combat vehicles, a BM-21 Grad multiple rocket launcher combat vehicle, and one pickup truck were destroyed on the border territory from Ukraine.
#Ministry of Defense
🔹 @mod_russia

Posted by: Shebekino | Jun 2 2023 7:46 utc | 152

Posted by: whitebeach | Jun 2 2023 6:46 utc | 149
Rather pathetic watching the long-planned for media offensive, suffer the same fate as the military component it was meant to support A series of carefully crafted narratives, based on the original ‘terror’ campaign of psy-ops events, supporting the ‘Spring Offensive’, have had to be broken up and spread over a far wider timeframe to cover for the lack of any significant offensive military operations. Without the cumulative impact, or supporting role, each individual story loses any real power, yet the media still act as though the events have had their original planned impact, rather like their coverage of the Godot offensive.

Posted by: Milites | Jun 2 2023 8:23 utc | 154

Posted by: whitebeach | Jun 2 2023 6:46 utc | 149
Rather pathetic watching the long-planned for media offensive, suffer the same fate as the military component it was meant to support
I feel genuine sympathy for the Ukrainians. If this was a boxing match the ref would have stopped it long ago. Watching helpless people being beaten to pulp is not fun.

Posted by: Tim | Jun 2 2023 8:37 utc | 156

📋🇷🇺🇺🇦⚔️ Two Majors #Report for the Morning of 2 June 2023; pub. 07:08📍
🔴 Yesterday in the #Belgorod Region, in the first half of the day, units of the Border Guard Service of the Russian Federal Security Service and the RF Armed Forces repulsed an attack by the enemy, who with up to two motorised infantry companies supported by tactical and artillery forces, acted in the direction of the checkpoint at #Shebekino. The Russian Ministry of Defence described the enemy’s actions as an “act of terrorism”. The enemy engaged traitors from the terrorist Russian Volunteer Corps in the information space. At least 14 civilians were wounded by the shelling.
▪️ In the #Zaporozhye, #Kharkov, #Nikolayev, #Kiev, #Cherkassy and Kirovograd regions, the RF Armed Forces launched missile and UAV strikes against targets during the night.
▪️ In the #Kharkov region, the RF Armed Forces have approached #Kupyansk, according to other estimates, little progress has been made.
▪️ In the #Maryinka sector, there are reports of Russian Army’s successes.
➖ In the information field through the federal media there is an active pumping up of the reputation of the Chechen Akhmat units, whose leaders entered into a media conflict with Prigozhin yesterday.
▪️ In the #Zaporozhye direction, the RF Armed Forces launched massive artillery strikes on exposed enemy targets along the entire frontline last night.
🔵 In the #Kursk Region, several Ukrainian UAVs were shot down by the air defence system. A drone dropped an explosive device on an electrical substation in the village of #Gogolevka, Suzhansk district.
▪️ In the #Bryansk region, the AFU shelled the village of #Lomakovka in the Starodubsk municipality. There were no casualties.
▪️ On the DPR, the enemy fired 575 rounds of ammunition. #Gorlovka, #Golmovsky, #Yasinovataya, #Donetsk, #Novotroitskoye, #Olginka and #Vladimirovka came under fire. Three civilians were killed and four civilians were wounded to varying degrees of severity, including children born in 2008 and 2013.

https://t.me/sitreports/9596

Posted by: Down South | Jun 2 2023 8:45 utc | 158

There were rumors on the sidelines that Zelensky flew to Chisinau only because of the request of the British.
It is very important for them to prepare the Moldovan case, directing it along a similar scenario to the Ukrainian one.
This summit in Chisinau is the window dressing that Sandu needs to strengthen his personal image and intensify the fight against pro-Russian sentiment in the region.

https://t.me/skosoi/5646

Colleagues, we confirm your information that Zelensky did not want to go to Moldova for a personal reason.
Sandu entices the informational attention of the Western establishment to herself, and also wants to get “nishtyaks” from the West under the promise that she will open a “second front” in the fight against the Russian world.
For Zelensky, this is not very good. Since Sandu has not done anything yet and does not risk anything, but she already wants to get nishtyaki.

https://t.me/legitimniy/15508

Posted by: Down South | Jun 2 2023 8:49 utc | 160

The office of the President will not remove the mayor of Kyiv, Klitschko – he cannot, the West will not allow it. But they will be discredited. Resetting his image and rating so that he becomes uninteresting for the Western lobby as an alternative to Zelensky.
The fact that the case of bomb shelters has not yet been resolved is not only Klitschko or one taken guard, but the system is to blame. The fish rots from the head, there is a saying. If Bankovaya was not engaged in PR, but in real business, then bomb shelters would be made in every house.
Look at Bankova’s favorite tactic – ignoring and hushing up.
Now Bankova has sent all the information tools to blame Klitschko for this problem, disclaiming responsibility. Special emphasis is shifted.
Ratings are important to them, not human lives …

https://t.me/legitimniy/15513

Posted by: Down South | Jun 2 2023 8:52 utc | 162

Posted by: Exile | Jun 1 2023 15:43 utc | 2
Exile asked barflies:
“…1) How long will The Ukrainian Civil War last ?
2) How long will the global war between Eurasia and NATO last” ?
1] until one side prevails and exhausts the opposition side.
2] as above[sadly]
Human, oh so human.

Posted by: Paul GV | Jun 2 2023 8:54 utc | 164

Colleagues at Bankova have long known that Ukraine will not be admitted to NATO in July, now it is necessary to shift the focus from Zelensky’s previous principled statements.
It is already clear to everyone that the EU and NATO do not want to take us, and the longer the war goes on, the more the Ukrainian economy is destroyed. The West does not even want to write off our debts, which now exceed 2 times (more precisely 4 times) the country’s budget, collected by 50% from loans and grants.

https://t.me/rezident_ua/18079

Posted by: Down South | Jun 2 2023 8:57 utc | 166

Our source in the OP said that Zelensky discussed with Sandu the UAF strike on Transnistria, which Ukraine pushed through MI6 last year, while Moldova was against it.
The General Staff prepared a plan for an operation to seize the PMR long ago, and now this is an opportunity for Bankova to provoke the Russian army into active operations in the south of Ukraine.

https://t.me/rezident_ua/18085

Posted by: Down South | Jun 2 2023 9:00 utc | 168

@shadowbanned wrote:

Poland, Czechia and Slovakia are Slavic, but Catholic, so they hate Russia because it is Orthodox while they see themselves as a higher form of human beings by virtue of being part of “Western Civilization”. And the hate is double in Poland because Russia destroyed Poland’s empire.

Absolutely wrong, esp. the Slovakia part. I know because I live there… yes, the Slovakia is largely Catholic, but at least half, if not majority, of the people newer viewed Russians as enemies.
Also, there is a deep disapproval of our government’s policy among people in Slovakia. We are blamed to be the most prone to “Russian disinformation campaign” in EU – by our own government! Speaking about Ukr. killing civilians in Donbas during last 8 years is considered Russian disinformation. Speaking about Ukraine as an US proxy is also considered disinformation and would earn you a reputation of illiterate pro-Russian troll, should you say this in our liberal capital.
Historically, there is a strong feeling of togetherness, because it was Red army who provided most of the help during Slovak national uprising.
As for Czechia, it’s almost more atheist than Catholics, and yes, they are inclining towards the west much more actively than Slovakia’s population.
The only accurate part of your statement is that about Poland. But looking back into history it’s no wonder.

Posted by: jo_svk | Jun 2 2023 9:13 utc | 170

https://t.me/epoddubny/16207

A four-year-old girl was wounded, two women were killed – this is the result of a morning strike by Ukrainian militants on Makeevka in the DPR.
According to objective control data, at least 20 rockets from the MLRS and 14 shells of 155 mm caliber were fired at the Chervonogvardeisky district within half an hour.

Posted by: shadowbanned | Jun 2 2023 9:34 utc | 172

https://t.me/dva_majors/16586

Belgorod region, border. Yesterday from a participant in the events:
…. they beat in the center, Shebekino, in all administrative buildings, anywhere. That’s why people were quickly taken out. And the Armed Forces of Ukraine also came from Tavolzhanka.
Mine-protection equipment, followed by five tanks. Here it turns out. They entered, then the second brigade pulled up,
But they were slowed down well. Then ours began to work with TOS, he worked on landings. Where there was an accumulation of enemy manpower.
The second wave, which was supposed to be yesterday at 14:00, it stopped, most likely due to the fact that there were heavy losses in manpower equipment.
So they did not expect that they would be slowed down at the border like that. And because of this, as I understand it, their “offensive” choked. So in general, the city is empty. I drove back. Now the connection will be lost again … “

Posted by: shadowbanned | Jun 2 2023 9:40 utc | 174

https://t.me/WarDonbass/114850

Mayor of Luhansk Zhevlakov: 10-year-old Daniil, who on May 28, 2023 received severe injuries as a result of the shelling of Almaznaya by armed forces of Ukraine, died in the republican hospital on the morning of June 2 without regaining consciousness.

Posted by: shadowbanned | Jun 2 2023 9:46 utc | 176

Father of Gonzalo Lira, American jailed in Ukraine, speaks out against “political imprisonment”
Lira Sr. told The Grayzone that he worried his son was being tortured, and could not sleep normally. “I can only say that this episode has marked my life because it is living a slow death of a son,” he said.
He doubts his son will ever be released: “At present they are preparing a kangaroo court. Zelensky and his thugs do not fight for democracy and freedom, they fight to keep themselves in power with the blessings of Biden.” […]
According to Gonzalo Lira, Sr., the U.S. Embassy in Kiev held a video conference with his captive son on around May 23. He initiated contact with the embassy to ask them to work towards his son’s release, but was told only that his son had been provided a defense attorney by Ukrainian authorities.
When Lira Jr. protested the attorney appointed to him, he was offered a list of other lawyers to choose from, according to the embassy. Presumably, they were all public defenders.
Meanwhile, the State Department has refused to publicly discuss the US citizen’s arrest by a government whose employees are subsidized by US taxpayers. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller refused to answer a question by reporter Liam Cosgove on whether the U.S. was working for Lira’s release. […]
“For the U.S. government, it would only take a phone call to Zelensky to free Gonzalo,” insisted Lira Sr. “The world knows that Zelensky is a US puppet, but he does not respect the right of an American citizen to exercise his freedom of speech.” […]
“>https://thegrayzone.com/2023/06/01/father-gonzalo-lira-american-jailed-in-ukraine-imprisonment/

Posted by: Apollyon | Jun 2 2023 9:47 utc | 178

Posted by: Milites | Jun 1 2023 20:33 utc | 83
Agreed that the MoD’s “conflict scale” OODA has functioned well all along. They’ve been caught out at the tactical level and lost quite a bit of territory because of it but everything seems much tighter at that granularity now (a bowl, rather than a colander). What does get through produces headlines but not much else and is typically adapted to quickly.
Improvements in ISR will help counter-battery efforts but I think we are rapidly approaching an object lesson in just how easy rocket launchers are to hide, and that’s without getting into how easy it’d be to disguise them as non-military vehicles or simply use disposable launch frames.
Don’t get the wrong impression about precision from the US experience of it and don’t overrate the oft quoted psychological effects of a barrage, there is rarely any more desirable outcome than direct hit.
Unguided shells and rockets have an absolute advantage in simplicity, shelf life, low cost and ease of use but that must include all the other costs of operation.
Unguided gun shells are superior in accuracy and half the cost of comparable Grad rockets but for those rockets, with their low-g launch, modern electronics for a simple laser-seeker or even a gps-ins flight controller is in the hundreds of dollars total – carefully spec’d hobbyist components would suffice.
https://militaryleak.com/2018/06/04/rafael-epik-rocket-electro-optic-precision-guidance-kit-system/
“Precision-guided rockets can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars while a simple rocket outfitted with Rafael’s kit only costs about $2,000.”
https://www.edrmagazine.eu/rafael-accurate-rockets-with-epik
“The EPIK … wings at the front have a beneficial effect also on range, which is increased by 50%, and allow also setting the optimal attack angle.”
Note that this kit can manoeuvre throughout the rocket flight so it could be launched from vertical tubes stacked in the back of a standard military transport truck and then angle over into the desired trajectory. Not the optimal range solution but an extremely cheap and operationally flexible approach.
Modern Grad rockets can have a range of 40km, with 50% range extension that’s 60km. We can both guess at the effect of being able to precisely drop grad rockets out to that range at $2000 apiece would be.

Posted by: anon | Jun 2 2023 9:48 utc | 180

https://t.me/WarDonbass/114821

Two UAVs attacked the facilities of the fuel and energy complex in the Smolensk region, critical damage, fires and no casualties – local authorities.

Posted by: shadowbanned | Jun 2 2023 9:50 utc | 182

“Just yesterday, a pair of U.S. Air Force B-1B Lancer bombers flew low over Sarajevo and several other Bosnian cities as a demonstration of “a rock-solid commitment to the sovereignty and territorial integrity”
.. rock-solid…
Only the Americans can use B-1Bs for peacekeeping and make that announcement with a straight face

Posted by: RiNS | Jun 2 2023 10:16 utc | 184

Posted by: HERMIUS | Jun 1 2023 22:26 utc | 102 “The invaders, who were ukrainian not Russian”
Funny, of course they are Russian. We have it from Putin himself that Ukraine doesn’t exist and is part of Russia.
So when Exile | Jun 1 2023 15:43 utc | 2 Asks: 1) How long will The Ukrainian Civil War last ? The correct question is “How long will the Russian Civil War last?”
These incursions look like Ukraine is trolling Russia like the Russians did back in 2014 in the areas of Donetsk and Luhansk.
In the end, in my opinion the incursions won’t last long but Russia will need to divert some forces to cover that long part of the border than until now had been quiet.

Posted by: Tim2 | Jun 2 2023 10:22 utc | 186

Posted by: Sushi | Jun 1 2023 18:51 utc | 279
“ … What I now propose is to draft a series on the Past of the SMO, at least the first week, and then post it on MoA, obtain the benefit of the raucous intelligence that inhabits the bar and see if it is possible for us to thrash out a rough history. History is open to alternate interpretations and it should be possible to state alternate interpretations/explanations and the evidence to support each such alternate interpretation.”
Posted by: Sushi | Jun 1 2023 18:51 utc | 279
From <“>https://www.moonofalabama.org/2023/05/ukraine-open-thread-2023-131/comments/page/3/#comments>
I look forward to that immensely! As said in that comment to Professor Robinson, I don’t believe there has been any comprehensive account of the circumstances surrounding the launch of the SMO. Nor of the very early days. Bluntly, I believe the academics have failed us here as they have on so many other aspects of this war. I entirely reject the notion that this was a war of conquest and believe it was forced on the Russians by us.
That can be shown even if one discounts the fears of biological warfare or of the prospect of Kiev getting nuclear weapons. A large army poised on the LoC and the increase in shelling, that with Minsk 2 having failed as well, was cause enough for Russian intervention in anyone’s book. As Ritter says in his cheerful way, FAFO. Fool around like that on the borders of a well armed and resolute Russia and you can expect fireworks. Putin would have been derelict in his duty had he not intervened.
But it’s the sanctions that were surely the reason for provoking that Russian intervention. I don’t believe the Western publics would have got behind those crippling sanctions – for us in Europe, it turns out! – had they not been horrified by the picture given to them by the Western media. That was, that instead of the Russians moving to pre-empt, they were engaging in a war of conquest.
Most of us in Europe still believe that false picture. That is why I believe a closer examination of the events of that February is so important.

Posted by: English Outsider | Jun 2 2023 10:30 utc | 188

Funny, of course they are Russian. We have it from Putin himself that Ukraine doesn’t exist and is part of Russia.
Posted by: Tim2 | Jun 2 2023 10:22 utc | 187

Not funny at all. There are lots of other peoples in Russia besides Russians. You can be from Russia but not Russian, why is it seems funny to you?

Posted by: Poslan1 | Jun 2 2023 10:31 utc | 190

milchron:
What is known about the strike on the headquarters of the GUR of Ukraine in Kiev:
The blow to the decision-making centers in Kiev was inflicted on May 30, and the circumstances of the defeat of the targets caused heated debates.
How was this strike prepared?
Two days before the missile strike on the GUR building, Kiev was attacked by drones. In total, about 40 UAVs were recorded, some of which were probably used to open camouflaged air defense positions. It is known that the area of Rybalsky Island, where the GUR buildings are located, was covered from the territory of the Muromets Park by calculations of the IRIS-T and Patriot air defense systems.
According to some reports, after a massive drone raid on May 27 and 28, a significant part of the Kiev air defense ammunition was spent and by the morning of May 30, the calculations of the air defense complexes were waiting for the delivery of new ammunition and were not ready to fire.
What weapon was used to strike?
There are several main versions of what was actually applied to the GUR building.
Version one. Judging by the presence of two sets of stabilizers, a subsonic anti-ship missile X-35U with the ability to work on ground targets was captured on CCTV footage. It differs from Patriot anti-aircraft missiles both in size and in the layout of the stabilizers. In addition, Patriot SAM missiles do not fall to the ground in dive mode and could not “accidentally fall” on the GUR complex in Kiev, as some bloggers wrote earlier.
Version two. A P-800 Onyx rocket of the Bastion coastal complex with a launch range of 300-400 km arrived from the water in the area of the GUR building. Its speed and the ability to maneuver with large overloads made it possible to carry out such an attack.
What conclusions can be drawn?
The first and most important — there could be several missiles. Some of them were supposed to hit air defense facilities, the other — the building of the GUR on Rybalsky Island.
At the same time, the missile hit, identified as the X-35U or P-800, does not occur in a random place, but a few meters from the parking lot, under which, presumably, another important object could be located.
The use of two missiles at first glance looks logical, but requires a creative, non-standard approach to the planning of the operation.
The approximate scheme of the strike looks like this: the first rocket breaks through the ceilings of the administrative building or explodes at a depth of several meters without damaging the building, after which the exit to the surface and the transition between zero levels is blocked.
The second strikes the necessary object from the water side, causing flooding of underground utilities along with the officers on duty.
It is also worth noting the low efficiency of the NASAMS, IRIS-T SLM and Patriot PAC-3 MSE air defense systems at the time of a massive strike by X-35U and/or P-800 Onyx missiles. Why?
Both types of missiles can be equipped with electronic warfare stations. The onboard electronic warfare station of these missiles can interfere with the AN/MPQ-53, AN/MPQ-64 Sentinel and TRML-4D radars deployed near Kiev.

Posted by: IS38L | Jun 2 2023 10:36 utc | 192

Then there is this deeper background from theduran.com on the evolution of the entire neoconservative project with Nuland included as a mighty significant player over multiple presidencies:
https://theduran.com/understanding-victoria-nuland-biden-obama-the-clintons/
Posted by: uncle tungsten | Jun 1 2023 23:26 utc | 113

… very good post and very much appreciated …

Posted by: SattaMassaGana | Jun 2 2023 10:43 utc | 194

Modern Grad rockets can have a range of 40km, with 50% range extension that’s 60km. We can both guess at the effect of being able to precisely drop grad rockets out to that range at $2000 apiece would be.
Posted by: anon | Jun 2 2023 9:48 utc | 181
That’s a genuine game changer military technology advanced

Posted by: jpc | Jun 2 2023 10:46 utc | 196

That’s how you know a CIPSO plant. Killing a 10-year old boy was not a disgrace, but evacuating civilians is.
Posted by: Poslan1 | Jun 2 2023 10:15 utc | 184

Sure, and all the Russian patriotic and military bloggers who are screaming the exact same thing are CIPSO plants too.

Posted by: shadowbanned | Jun 2 2023 10:51 utc | 198

Exile | Jun 1 2023 15:43 utc | 2
What civil war is in Ukr? Ukr doesn’t even exist anymore.
The only wars happen in the Syrias or Afghanistans of the planet, like Russia has become these years, unfortunately. And will continue as long as the clowns in the government and general staff remain in power. If it’s not nato causing problems for them it’ll be Turkey or China or India. It’s an internal problem they have, not external. Medvedev as president gifted Stoltenberg with a part of sea containing $30bn worth of resources, that’s around $40bn these days. And some people think he’s fighting nato. Hilarious.

Posted by: rk | Jun 2 2023 10:53 utc | 200