bonus as in bogus..

Posted by: james | Jun 18 2023 4:15 utc | 203

May I have your attention, please?
May I have your attention, please?
Will the real James please stand up?
Please stand up…
I repeat, will the real James please stand up?
We’re gonna have a problem here…

Posted by: Archetypex | Jun 18 2023 4:24 utc | 205

@ Melaleuca | Jun 18 2023 3:50 utc | 201 with the African leaders peace mission report…thanks
Part of me says that this is kabuki for some and education for others.
What I don’t understand is the blame on UK for “controlling the UK” and not broader empire….is the UK going to get thrown under the bus to allow the God Of Mammon cult a few more years of delusion over the zombies?
Pieces moving on the chess board that are puzzling like the Bill Gates visit with Xi. Us pond scum are fed pieces of the happenings behind the curtains but not any transparency of the process…..and who know what sort of of view we will get of the results…..sigh

Posted by: psychohistorian | Jun 18 2023 4:30 utc | 207

McGregor recently dropped a very perceptive fact:
>>> China wants to make its Belt and Road through Russia to Europe. He says Europe actually wants this. BUT … they can hardly do that if a war in Ukraine blocks it. China has tried to propose a peace (out of self interest), same reason it *started* developing assets in Ukraine <2022 but got thwarted by the US. America obviously doesn't want Chinese tentacles into or through Ukraine to Europe. Hence it blocks peace.<<< McGregor is seriously clued up in so many ways, both broad and deep --politically, militarily, economically, historically. Q1. Does anyone else think (though his massive public exposure) he might be angling for a Presidential run sometime? Q2. Do any Americans here reckon he'd have any chances of success, (a) as a Rep or (b) as an independent? As a non-American, even I would feel confident he would make a good "Leader of The Free World" ... cough cough.

Posted by: The Dolphin | Jun 18 2023 4:34 utc | 209

Interesting Twitter thread on NATO operational doctrine applied to the Ukrainian Civil War. A possible explaination why NATO Counter Offensive jumped off without Air Power;,
……..This is a concept that has been mooted for decades now, going back to the original Future Combat Systems concepts of the late 1990s.
The idea is that light Western forces will be able to use “information dominance” and precise long-range fires to win with minimal losses……..
https://twitter.com/ArmchairW/status/1670181886499651584

Posted by: Exile | Jun 18 2023 4:41 utc | 211

@ The Dolphin | Jun 18 2023 4:34 utc | 212
that would require a break in the wall of propaganda that would confront him, if he were so bold.. as a canuck – i highly doubt it..

Posted by: james | Jun 18 2023 4:43 utc | 213

The Dolphin | Jun 18 2023 4:34 utc
Any idiot can be President here.
Our ballot choices are pre-determined by the bureaucracy to give a moronic electorate (80% of the population) the illusion of choice.
It’s why Soros gets so involved in Secretary of State candidates.
Only those who count the votes matter.

Posted by: Archetypex | Jun 18 2023 4:54 utc | 215

psychohistorian | Jun 18 2023 4:30 utc | 210
There’s going to be a lot of under-bus dispatching, defenestration, and simple disappearing of main cast, and supporting players in this kabuki, as you name it.
Boris Johnson for sure thwarted the April Kiev-Moscow agreement.
He was strutting 100ft tall across the world stage at the time.
Did he have “approval” to kill the deal?
That’ll be a question for the release of archives.
Now, of course, he’s a nobody. And blame can be safely shunted his way.
It’s hard to remember the cocksureness of USNATO in March April 2022.
Remember the RUSI think-tank piece “Return of Industrial Warfare”.
Outlining how USNATO did not have the capacity for an artillery war against Russia on Russia’s border?
How mocked and derided the report was?
And, here we are. The US has emptied the global attic of every piece of Soviet armament. They were shameless in even attempting to scrounge from Cuba!
Now USNATO own closets and storage are being raided and emptied.
Fancy expensive toys are being destroyed almost as soon as they complete the arduous trek across the world to the FEBA.
Blinken’s in China Right now, as we know. He remembers his arrogance in Alaska just a few short years ago. Now he’s reduced to grovelling in Beijing.
*Nothing* is going as per The Grand Plan of 12 months ago.
Even shitty little 2-dime countries are openly discussing using local currency instead of USD. The very thing that they well know got Gaddafi and Saddam killed.
There’s nothing more sacred than the onipotance of the USD.
To have it mocked, is the ultimate blasphemy.
We oft say, here @bar, that for the designers and operators of this Shitshow, they have no off-ramp. But they are aware they are in a speeding rig, accelerating downhill without brakes, and they are looking for the emergency brake ramp, where they think they’ll pause, recalibrate and find a way to prevail…
~~~~
Doing a quick scan about “Blinken arrives China”.
AP and Reuters have snaps only. No vid.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, right, is welcomed by Yang Tao, Director General of the Department of North American and Oceanian Affairs of the Foreign Ministry, as he arrives in Beijing, Sunday, June 18, 2023

So. His Foreign Affairs counterpart didn’t leave a comfy Sunday morning bed to trudge to the airport ….LOL.
~~~~
There’s a vid of Putin being told by the UAE reps, that they are being pressured not to deal with Russia.
Every country is, and every country knows every other country is subjected to the same pressure.
And every time a country sees another country stand with Russia and defy the tormentors; the message spreads. Countries have betrayed Russia at the UN and other forums this past year. Russia hasn’t remonstrated with them, threatened them, retaliated. The slightest “transgression” against the interests of the U$, and the threats of the full weight of the bully is unleashed.
Everyone is watching. And Russia has demonstrated reasonableness, temperance, and power. Especially demonstrated its ability to appropriately use restraint, and power, as necessary.

Posted by: Melaleuca | Jun 18 2023 5:10 utc | 217

Gee, I could’ve read Sputnik ten hours ago, “Putin: Kiev Threw Possible Russia-Ukraine Settlement Deal ‘Into Dustbin of History'”, but I clearly didn’t.

“Here it is! It exists!” Putin said, showing the document signed by a Ukrainian representative. “And it is called accordingly – the treaty on permanent neutrality and security guarantees for Ukraine. Exactly about guarantees. Eighteen articles,” the Russian leader noted.
“Moreover, there is also an annex to it. They [clauses] also concern the armed forces, other things. Everything is specified – down to the units of combat equipment and personnel of the armed forces. The document is here!” Putin said, adding that the document had been initialed and signed by the Ukrainian delegation.
“But after we withdrew the troops from Kiev, as we promised, the Kiev authorities, as their masters usually do, threw it all into the dustbin of history. Let’s put it clearly. I’ll try to put it intelligently. They gave it up,” he added.

IMO, the decision to reveal the existence of these documents was made during or shortly after Putin’s session with the War Correspondents, and it ought to be easy to understand why–no more lives should be forfeited to Biden and his owners. Talk about meddling in an election.
Now to let it fester until tomorrow.

Posted by: karlof1 | Jun 18 2023 5:10 utc | 219

@ Melaleuca | Jun 18 2023 5:12 utc | 223
thanks.. i missed him saying that.. i haven’t read the whole thread, but i agree with karlof1 it is quite significant.. as a consequence – the western msm will ignore it, or quickly gloss over it..

Posted by: james | Jun 18 2023 5:14 utc | 221

Posted by: karlof1 | Jun 18 2023 4:47 utc | 217
The problem is as I said – that was last year. As far as the world is concerned, it’s old news. The story about Bojo ruining the deal is known to most of the world by now. And what pressure on Biden is going to actually influence him? From whom? The only people the West listens to are in the West. Is Macron and Scholz going to “pressure” Biden? With what?
Putin can demonstrate western malfeasance until the cows come home. It won’t change anything except to enhance Russia’s position in the world and diminish the West’s position. What it won’t change is the West’s behavior and its continued escalation of the war. The only thing that will change that, short of a Pentagon revolt against the White House, is direct damage to the US/NATO military by the Russian military.

Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Jun 18 2023 5:19 utc | 223

Posted by: Melaleuca | Jun 18 2023 5:12 utc | 223
What’s that phrase from the Tom Cruise movie? “Show me the money!” Show me the Biden administration doing anything – anything at all – to stop the war and then I’ll agree Putin’s waving a document is important.

Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Jun 18 2023 5:21 utc | 225

When does the War stop ?
When Washington can longer sell cheap debt to fund the War.

Posted by: Exile | Jun 18 2023 5:40 utc | 227

Paul Greenwood @ 231
Thats an interesting fact.
That and Europe’s proximity to Russia tells us.. The EU is clearly on the wrong side of this conflict, not least economicly.
I’l put it down to the ‘Epstein’ effect that it is overwise.

Posted by: Mark2 | Jun 18 2023 6:51 utc | 229

@The Rev. David R. Gr | Jun 18 2023 0:54 utc | 171

With this in mind, I submit the following for consideration: Joe Biden is the Lee Harvey Oswald, the patsy, in the plot to assassinate The United States of America.

Then who plays the Jacob Rubenstein part?

Posted by: Norwegian | Jun 18 2023 7:12 utc | 231

“Scandal in the world of propaganda. It has emerged that one of the most influential Z tg channels, Rybar, is cooperating with the influential TsIPSO tg channel, the Kiev junta, Trukha.
What matters:
1. During the broadcast of Solovyov Life, the Rybar administrator accidentally showed that he had spoken with Trukhi administrator Maxim Lavrinenko.
2. It was also clear that the Rybar administrator had had a conversation with Tolya Sh. This is Shariy, who is a former opponent and who, judging by his messages, is now collaborating with the junta’s CIPSO.
3. Solovyov Life has cancelled Rybar’s next broadcast.
4. There has been no clear explanation from Rybar for several hours.
5. Rybar has over a million followers.
6. Rybar is a network of TG channels and has over 40 employees.
7. Rybar gives very precise maps somewhere.
8. Many western media refer to Rybar.
9. Rybar is controlled by an ethnic political group that has taken up very strong positions in the Russian media power system.”

Posted by: Quo Vadis | Jun 18 2023 7:20 utc | 233

@RSH 226
“direct damage to the US/NATO military by the Russian military”
albeit I consider that trip-wire far too dangerous for anyone involved to navigate without falling, for some constituencies that would be great news of course. Any war not fought on US soil is considered a blessing.
p.s. so far, WH is not willing I guess, even though Seymour Hersh has been warning. But then, his own sources are merely reiterating limited goup think fom the CIA. And he cannot report what he is not told.
What I AM surprised about, may be as the only one here, how TRULY limited these people´s (CIA, diplomats, disarmament talks personnel etc.) understanding on RU is. It´s really 19th century think.

Posted by: AG | Jun 18 2023 7:24 utc | 235

Posted by: karlof1 | Jun 18 2023 4:47 utc | 217
What is important to understand is that anything signed by western countries has NO value at all.
I am very glad that Russia begins to understand it.

Posted by: Quo Vadis | Jun 18 2023 7:34 utc | 237

Posted by: AG | Jun 18 2023 7:24 utc | 238
It’s like what Martyanov says: no one in the West has a clue about Russia. Including all the so-called “Russia scholars” since Stephen Cohen died. All the “old hands” who did have a clue about Russia have retired or died.
As for “Any war not fought on US soil is considered a blessing”, the US may not have a say in that. Besides which, losing a significant portion of any part of the US military which involves itself in Ukraine would be almost as big a death-blow to US hegemony and NATO as actually losing a full-scale conventional war with Russia. It would be orders of magnitude worse than losing the Vietnam war, which caused butt-hurt in the US for decades.
As I say, it’s up to the Pentagon whether they are willing to chance that. But the problem again as Martyanov says is that all the higher-ups in the Pentagon are dumb enough to believe they’re still the best. But they aren’t. So it boils down to whether those who do get it can convince the higher-ups that it will be suicide to take on Russia directly.
We’ll just have to wait and see. But so far it appears escalation remains the US/NATO path. We’ll know more once the Vilnius meeting is over and the results of the Ukrainian “offensive” have become clear.

Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Jun 18 2023 7:54 utc | 239

Posted by: Melaleuca | Jun 18 2023 5:21 utc | 229
Aw, come on mate. As a fellow alt-Aussie, I know it’s not our form to say anything gracious about Americans as a group or as individuals. But can’t you even give McGregor a few points for speaking against the normal viewpoints and making known the lesser known motives of US foreign policy and how it affects the Ukraine war? And just because he mentioned it (or I only heard him mention it) only yesterday does not mean he only just realised it. What a cockheaded thing to say. I’m sure he’s been following the deep state playbook for longer than both you and I put together.
Of the 4 comments to my sincere questions, all I got was 2 year olds’ responses.
Over many years, I’ve asked a similar question about who in America might be a decent President to bust the Uniparty grip. Tulsi Gabbard? But never have I received a POSITIVE REPLY. Just dissaffected whingers. Always shit thrown at all comers. So, I guess they go on just getting the lowlifes they deserve.
So, who then do you follow and respect as a knowledgeable pundit … other than your own good self and some of the other know-alls within MoA? 🙂 I know RSH thinks he’d make a good Saviour of Humanity.

Posted by: The Dolphin | Jun 18 2023 8:17 utc | 241

Posted by: The Dolphin | Jun 18 2023 8:17 utc | 245
The beast is almost dead and you want someone to perform mouth to mouth?

Posted by: badjoke | Jun 18 2023 8:20 utc | 243

@ The Dolphin
The thing is, it doesn’t make any difference who the president is, US foreign policy is not changing.
JFK is the last one to attempt changing it and I don’t think that ended very well.

Posted by: airstrip1 | Jun 18 2023 8:41 utc | 245

Ukrainian intelligence chief Kirill Budanov died without regaining consciousness — some local reports
This was reported by Ukrainian politician Ilya Kiva, who said he received the information from the Ukrainian embassy in Germany.
https://t.me/ukraine_watch/4360

Posted by: Apollyon | Jun 18 2023 9:05 utc | 247

Posted by: airstrip1 | Jun 18 2023 8:41 utc | 249
I really don’t think that’s 100% true. US policy is so public relations-driven that even the deep state seems to need the right leadership in place and the right inciting incident to force an agenda. They’re never permanently stopped, but they are stymied on occasion.
Posted by: Exile | Jun 18 2023 9:05 utc | 252
Both Obama and Trump were basically the same person – narcissist self-promoters not reformers – but even so they each stymied a neocon plan or two.

Posted by: OnceWere | Jun 18 2023 9:13 utc | 249

@The Reverend/171:
IMHO you´re right: The globalists conquered (if not built) the USA first and use it as a platform, tool or “flagg ship” for dominating and then destroying all national countries since then. The country itself and it´s people are of no other interest for them than exploitation, so this country is as occupied as any other they´re using as a tool as long as possible.
Destroying nations, cultures and family structures, they´re basing on, is part of the transhumanistic, satanistic (= adoring only material and unlimited might) agenda. It´s easier to manage single egos than people with stable social structures as their cattle. And that´s what all the rest of us around the world are: Just cattle to be exploited and slaughtered by their will and for their entertainment.

Posted by: Blue Angel | Jun 18 2023 9:20 utc | 251

Posted by: AG | Jun 18 2023 7:12 utc | 235
https://www.verkehrsrundschau.de/nachrichten/transport-logistik/neue-zugverbindung-zwischen-china-und-duisburg-2972025
Belarus and Poland
https://www.duisburg.de/wohnenleben/wasser/hafen.php
The Inland Port of Duisburg is largest in the world employing 11% Duisburg workforce

Posted by: Paul Greenwood | Jun 18 2023 9:21 utc | 253

A source from the Ukrainian telegram channel Legitimny reports that a positional war is dangerous for the Office of the President and the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Now the second blitzkrieg is being urgently prepared at Bankovaya. Zelensky demands results – this haste of the President can cost Ukraine “expensive”.
The goal of the second blitzkrieg is to bring down the defense of the RF Armed Forces, and not to capture three villages of great value.
As experts say, if every 3-4 villages will cost us 10% of the transferred military, credit assistance, then in the 30th village of the Armed Forces of Ukraine we will have to think about a deep long defense, not an offensive. Plus, the morale of the army will sink to the bottom, seeing such losses.
Zelensky’s strategy is leading the country to a dangerous outcome.
It would be better if he, as at the beginning of the war, did not get into the affairs and strategy of the army, but simply publicly hyped, there was more benefit – the source.
“We would like to add that such an opinion is very common among the Ukrainian military,” sums up the Ukrainian telegram channel.
https://t.me/Slavyangrad/51190
—-
Based on the results of some enemy attacks over the past 24 hours.
At the positions of the 5th motorized rifle company of the 291st motorized rifle regiment, 41 corpses of enemy soldiers were counted.
In front of the positions of the 9th motorized rifle company of the 70th motorized rifle regiment, 27 units of burned-out wheeled and tracked vehicles remained
Counting after yesterday’s fights continue.
Ours also have losses, but much less than those of the enemy. The men waved for more than a day and the enemy failed to bend them.
In the morning, the enemy continued to attack and had already managed to lose up to 7 units of various equipment in different areas.
—-
🇺🇦⚔️🇷🇺The offensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine: everything is going on as in the old days
Deputy Head of the Russian Guard for the DPR A. Khodakovsky on the offensive on the South Donetsk front:
The protracted intrigue with the counteroffensive gave rise to the feeling that somewhere in the dungeons of Mordor unknown forces are being forged, and as soon as they go into battle, we will encounter something that we have not yet encountered. The wait is over – and we saw a picture that gives reason to say that modern warfare is the same as it was in the old days, and the enemy was simply waiting for more foreign tanks and domestic mobilized.
To crush our position with fire, and then try to take it with infantry – the tactics are simple and trivial. Of course, there are missiles and anti-missiles, there are drones and anti-drone guns – there is even Musk with his Starlink – but in the end, all this is only to pick out from the earth a few grubby men who block the path to honor and glory.
In our section, there is an intense war abroad all day long, where even the concrete “dragon’s teeth” have not reached. They are somewhere behind, like the main strip of mining – and the drama unfolds on the stage of several positions that the enemy seeks to capture at any cost. Sometimes he succeeds, and he takes possession of one of them, but he cannot gain a foothold and under the influence of our artillery retreats to the starting line, and we crawl back and restore what was destroyed – until the next fight.
🎖And it becomes completely clear that if our soldier has no intention to retreat, the enemy has no chance to advance.
@Slavyangrad
🇺🇦⚔️🇷🇺 The enemy launched a new wave of offensive on the Zaporozhye front : under cover of smoke, the Armed Forces of Ukraine are attacking near Orekhovo
▪️ In the morning, Ukrainian militants again blew smoke to mask the movement of troops and, under the cover of artillery, went forward in the Orekhovsky direction.
▪️After a relative calm at night, the enemy continues offensive operations at the same line in the area of ​​​​the beam near Rabotino.
▪️After losses, the enemy saves armored vehicles, throws only infantry into meat assaults.
▪️Fighters of the 291st and 70th regiments, special forces, artillerymen and mobilized guys from Moscow and the Moscow region repelled many attacks in a day and again meet the enemy with fire.
#source (https://t.me/RVvoenkor/47517)

So they have discovered a new tactic of smoke screen, and omitting usage of AFVs during attacks. Attack only with infantry now, under the cover of smoke.

Posted by: unimperator | Jun 18 2023 9:24 utc | 255

Posted by: OnceWere | Jun 18 2023 9:13 utc | 253
“they each stymied a neocon plan or two.”
Obama didn’t stymie anything. He was within hours of launching a war on Syria when Putin outwitted him by getting Assad to get rid of chemical weapons and Congress pushed back against him. Obama tried six times to get a war with Syria going, and was only beaten when Russia and China vetoed his UNSC Resolutions and Russia entered the Syria conflict.
Obama only made the JCPOA deal with Iran because he needed a foreign policy “win” for his “legacy”, knowing whoever followed him would tear it up – which Trump promptly did. Trump almost started a war with Iran with his assassination of Soleimani until Iran forced him to back down. He also almost started a war with North Korea until the Pentagon told him it would cost 50,000 US casualties in the first ninety days.
Both of them only hesitated to start wars because, being narcissists, they didn’t want to be blamed for starting one without being able to blame the other country first.
Now people are looking to Trump again, or some retread Kennedy figurehead. It’s pathetic.

Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Jun 18 2023 9:27 utc | 257

@Richard Steven Hack | Jun 18 2023 9:20 utc | 256
Sad to relate – but the enemy of the US Citizenry is the US state itself. I agree with you on this point – it has been my reasonably informed opinion for quite some time.
And the function of a Republic is to sustain and develop the welfare of its Citizenry.
Sadder to relate – the US is “not” a republic. Most certainly not since the early 1970s.
p.s. like that one about Libertarians on weed …

Posted by: Don Firineach | Jun 18 2023 9:37 utc | 259

I view all this from a different background.
Nature.
Look at US and UK as large powerfull predictors. The ONLY thing that will stop a hungry preditor predating its smaller prey is the possibility of injury, out balancing the reward.
The US needs to feel extreme pain, so far it hasent. The sooner it feels pain the better for all of us.
—————-
If Ukraine has a good result with its offensive before the summit NATO WILL back Ukraine some more.
If Ukraine fails in its offence NATO WILL use that to back ukraine some more.
So no need for RSH to wait and see.
That’s how it is, thats how it will be. End of.
———–
Putin thankfully knows this, his recent words were designed for pre summit.
————-
But don’t lets be fooled or nieve,
Will Putin warn us before the blow hits us ? Ha ha ha.
Get real.
We’ll all know by whether we are alive next morning.

Posted by: Mark2 | Jun 18 2023 9:48 utc | 261

@ whirlX | Jun 17 2023 17:28 utc | 443
> can only add that RF’s AA doctrine concerning ICBMs is deterring those with
> around 200 anti-ICBM, anti-satelitte, missiles per 1 ICBM launch
> and 10 dedicated to each US satellite.
Whoa. Does Russia possess that large an inventory of S-500’s or whatever they are? Are you saying they have a quantity of two hundred S-500’s per ICBM? And another ten for each US satellite? Does that include the “commercial” satellites?

Posted by: natokraine | Jun 18 2023 9:59 utc | 263

One could argue adinfinatium regarding the actual foreign policies actions of Obama and Trump once elected. However, what’s most significant isn’t their actions once in office.
What’s significant is both Obama and Trump were elected on reformist platforms – Change you can believe in; Make America Great Again.
Neither Obama nor Trump changed anything in American Foreign Policy, despite some very big initial efforts at the start of their presidencies. The War Party quickly whipped them into shaoe such that they stayed on the reservation.
Conclusion – Reform ain’t gonna’ happen.

Posted by: Exile | Jun 18 2023 10:00 utc | 265

Posted by: Exile | Jun 18 2023 10:00 utc | 269
Couldn’t agree more that reform ain’t going to happen. But I still make one request of the American people – please, at the very least, don’t elect any more mutton-headed dementia patients. The record suggests that when you do the deep state neocons take the opportunity to go extra hogwild.

Posted by: OnceWere | Jun 18 2023 10:10 utc | 267

246 hey thanks i did hear it shut i thought maybe political reasons , but it was a long time ago and i never searched for that piece of info. i just remembered the opening fanfare.

Posted by: hankster | Jun 18 2023 10:17 utc | 269

Putin HATES it!
How NATO tried to use ONE WEIRD TRICK to destroy the Russian Army!
Thread 👇
This is very apropos today because Putin revealed details of the April 2022 Russo-Ukrainian peace treaty to the African peace delegation today.
NATO seems to have promised Zelensky not just unlimited support but a war-winning superweapon to get him to denounce the agreement.
This led directly to the provision, starting in late April 2022, of vast quantities of Western precision weapons linked to the full glare of NATO’s intelligence and surveillance apparatus.
No other escalation in Western support has remotely approached this one in significance.
This explains why HIMARS – America’s most dangerous surface-fired weapon and an enormous leap up the escalation ladder from the previous shoulder-fired missiles – arrived in Ukraine so early and when the AFU still had substantial rocket and missile forces remaining.
This also explains why NATO (read: the US) has been willing to expend so much of its stock of precision-guided MLRS munitions in Ukraine.
This war was to have been the first test of Western next-generation battle doctrine, focused on persistent surveillance and precision strike.
This is a concept that has been mooted for decades now, going back to the original Future Combat Systems concepts of the late 1990s.
The idea is that light Western forces will be able to use “information dominance” and precise long-range fires to win with minimal losses.
Col. Douglas Macgregor (a far higher profile military commentator than myself) has presented precisely such a concept as the “Light Reconnaissance Strike Group,” essentially an off-the-shelf FCS Brigade.
You can read the whole presentation at: http://www.douglasmacgregor.com/LRSGBriefing.pdf
This thinking was also influential in designing the United Kingdom’s new Strike Brigade concept, mounted in wheeled APCs but intended to square off with Russian armored formations by using standoff fires and precision missiles.
See: https://wavellroom.com/2020/01/07/strike-brigades-more-than-just-a-medium-weight-capability/
The provision of exactly these capabilities to Ukraine was intended to enable them to target and destroy Russian forces at an absolutely industrial scale, day after day after day, leading to their military collapse and defeat. A “strategy of corrosion” if you will.
The war planners at NATO thought this would work because, as explained above, this was exactly how they themselves intended to fight in the future – stiff-arming heavier enemies with precise fires from standoff distances.
Unfortunately for them, there are no shortcuts in war.
The Russians quickly adapted to the new threat by dispersing, hiding and digging-in their forces, interdicting launchers and missiles, deploying effective GPS jammers, and revealing that their air defenses can do missile defense.
Video: Pantsir shooting down 12 GMLRS missiles.
The end result of this has been much like the end-result of most life hacks – wasted time, effort and money, with the problem remaining very much unsolved.
NATO is running out of precision weapons and the Russian position in Ukraine is probably better now than it has ever been.
https://twitter.com/ArmchairW/status/1670181877196677120

And with this new innovative and next generation Nato doctrine developed by knowledgeable British military experts, the fate of the American century was sealed.

Posted by: unimperator | Jun 18 2023 10:20 utc | 271

Statement by the head of the press center of the Vostok group
In the South Donetsk direction, the units of the Vostok group of troops, supported by artillery and aviation, inflicted a fire defeat on the enemy, who is trying to conduct offensive operations.
The enemy’s attack in the area of the Harvest was thwarted.
Motorized rifle units with the support of artillery destroyed: armored personnel carriers, four armored vehicles and manpower.
During the counter-battery fight, an M-777 howitzer was destroyed by artillery fire in the Shakhtersky area.
The forces of army aviation destroyed armored combat vehicles and the Armed Forces of the Armed Forces in the Novodonetsky area.
The calculation of the anti-aircraft missile system “Osa” shot down the UAV “Valkyrie”.
In the Zaporozhye direction, an enemy attack was thwarted, advancing by forces up to a company with the support of tanks in the Levadny area. Two tanks, two armored fighting vehicles and up to 70% of the advancing Armed Forces of the Armed Forces were destroyed.
The attack on the settlement of Pyatikhatki was repelled.
More than a dozen tanks, armored vehicles and the Armed Forces of the Armed Forces were destroyed.
The forces of the army aviation destroyed armored fighting vehicles, armored personnel carriers, and also inflicted fire damage on the places where militants congregate in the Levadnoye and Pyatikhatki districts.
By means of air defense, unmanned aerial vehicles “Valkyrie” and “Leleka” were shot down.

Posted by: Peast | Jun 18 2023 10:26 utc | 273

@Paul Greenwood 257
appreciated!

Posted by: AG | Jun 18 2023 10:38 utc | 275

So If China is going to be the next adversary that the USA will pick a fight with, it would be in their interest for their ally Russia to keep draining the West’s weapons stockpiles and not sue for peace any time soon, keep the Ukranians in the game via the occasional tactical retreat, baiting them with small “victories” and allowing them to continue promoting the idea of eventual victory, all the while allowing China to build up their forces.

Posted by: Subtropical | Jun 18 2023 10:46 utc | 277

Now people are looking to Trump again, or some retread Kennedy figurehead. It’s pathetic.
Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Jun 18 2023 9:27 utc | 261
———
What you state is all so true and the sentiments of many Americans no doubt.

Posted by: John2007 | Jun 18 2023 10:53 utc | 279

‘The world will be different’ when the Ukraine conflict ends – Lavrov to RT
https://www.rt.com/russia/578175-lavrov-ukraine-world-order/

Firstly, Kiev must accept that any potential peace agreement will need to take into account the loss of the Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson, and Zaporozhye Regions, which voted to join the Russian Federation last year. Before sending its military into Ukraine, Moscow offered more generous terms, and Lavrov warned on Friday that “the longer they put off talks, the more difficult it will be for them to reach an agreement with us.”
Ukraine and its European backers have admitted that the 2014 and 2015 Minsk agreements – under which Kiev promised to grant limited autonomy to Donetsk and Lugansk – were a ruse to buy Ukraine time to prepare for war with Russia. This situation will never be repeated, Lavrov told RT.
“We won’t be prepared to let security guarantees be based on more pledges and promises or even documents the West may offer us,” he said. “We must guarantee our national security on our own.”
“We fully understand that we can only rely on ourselves and build relations only with countries open to an equal and mutually beneficial partnership,” Lavrov continued. “This is not what we see in the West these days.”

Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Jun 18 2023 11:06 utc | 281

Regarding the fighting in the area of Pyatikhatok, all need to understand the following.
• A flexible line of defense was invented in order to concentrate and use forces in the most convenient way.
• The previous weeks of the AFU counteroffensive showed that entering or advancing several hundred meters does not guarantee consolidation.
• Each such site, like Pyatikhatki, is complicated by the fact that it is actually an open field, in which it is impossible to dig in. As soon as the AFU enters certain positions, artillery immediately works on them. After that, the positions are returned back, and the Ukrainian infantry rolls back to their original positions.
• The tactics of the AFU have changed, but there are still no qualitatively new, breakthrough solutions. Everywhere there are “meat assaults”, and not the work of reconnaissance or sending powerful armored groups into battle.
• Leopard tanks are practically not used, which means that an order has been given to protect this equipment at any cost.
• Only last night, the AFU lost a platoon of infantry fighting vehicles, two tanks, up to five armored cars and about 50 people killed.
The total losses compared to last week have seriously increased and exceeded 1,000 per day killed and wounded.
(milchron)

Posted by: BIkHAd | Jun 18 2023 11:11 utc | 283

Posted by: AG | Jun 18 2023 10:51 utc | 281
I was also waiting to hear what these alternatives could have been because Mercouris seemed to find them compelling. I found Jacques Baud who has done numerous interviews,(mostly in French, though there is one with the grayzone in english), to have the most coherent explanation of the events. An explanation that starts in March 2021 when Zelensky signs the National Security and Defense Council Decree no. 117/2021 which led to reports of Russian build-up at the border several days later and ends with the reported shelling of Donbass immediately prior to the measures the Russian parliament took in Feb. 2022 to recognise the DPR/LPR.
I have suggested him to the Duran as a future guest and I guess we shall have to wait and see. In my own opinion, the abrupt nature of the events that unfolded in the week prior, suggests that the SMO was a reaction to something immediate and not, at least initially, concerned with NATO accession for Ukraine or whatever other reasons are bandied about in the MSM circles.

Posted by: clueless | Jun 18 2023 11:19 utc | 285

@clueless/288:
“…the abrupt nature of the events that unfolded in the week prior, suggests that the SMO was a reaction to something immediate…”
Thomas Röper, beneath others, suggested that it was caused not only through increasing Donbass-shelling and massing of Ukie-troops at the republics borders but also increasing danger throughout globalist-controlled/-owned biolaps. There had been reports about collecting samples especially from Slavs aimed at developing/unleashing specialized bio-weapons.
Some of the first actions of the SMo had been the securing of as many of these labs as possible.
At Thomas Röpers website there are some articles concerning this item (Deepl is a usefull translation tool). This is one from last year:
https://www.anti-spiegel.ru/2022/firma-von-hunter-biden-an-den-biowaffen-forschungen-des-pentagon-in-der-ukraine-beteiligt/
There are a lot more, even elder ones.
This collection (by searching the site with Biolabore + Ukraine) is starting with the newer ones:
https://www.anti-spiegel.ru/?dps_paged=1&s=Biolabore+Ukraine

Posted by: Blue Angel | Jun 18 2023 11:38 utc | 287

Jun 18 2023 10:20 utc | 274
note of macgregor’s picture of the future combat system ‘lrsg’ not one vehicle was designed (cancelled around 2010?), and the ‘new’ 120 mm guns never fleshed out!
and that was before anyone used drones…
using himars in place of air support, reinforces the marginal effect of expensive ‘airpower’, which is good for the war profiteers but not much for the operations.
why f-16 is useless: absent the rest of the us’ expensive air forces they cannot ‘work’.

Posted by: paddy | Jun 18 2023 11:46 utc | 289

Paul Greenwood | Jun 18 2023 9:24 utc | 258
”how many British/US soldiers died in Odessa during the *seismic* activity last week”
So, I’m not the only one scanning sources for more info to seep out about WTF in Odessa.

Posted by: Melaleuca | Jun 18 2023 12:27 utc | 291

Posted by: unimperator | Jun 18 2023 9:33 utc | 262 “Concrete penetrating warheads and time delayed fuzes – it’s plausible to assume there are lot of underground bunkers in Kiev which used by Nato, etc. Visit during working hours.”
It is only plausible if you ignore the internet, you know things like Zoom. And wouldn’t these people be working 24 hours a day?

Posted by: Tim2 | Jun 18 2023 13:09 utc | 293

Latest Scott Ritter…
Scott Ritter – The Russian T-90 Assault Breaker.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4qcBqvT31U
Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Jun 18 2023 1:56 utc | 181

That was lifted from an episode of the Duran that was live streamed on the 13th June. Scott does an excellent job (IMHO) in explaining the issues that the Ukrainians are experiencing with the Bradley and overall tactics due to lack of training and experience. The cut is 22 mins taken from a 3 hour 15 mins stream.
Its long, but if you have the time its highly recommended as Scott takes you through military training and planning doctrine which highlights the inadequacies of Ukraine tactics and helps to explain what you see on the battlefield.
That section starts @57 mins (including the question that Scott was responding to).
The next wave of the counteroffensive w/Scott Ritter (Live)
https://rumble.com/v2tx168-the-next-wave-of-the-counteroffensive-wscott-ritter-live.html

I watch him, but really… he knows less than a good dozen or more of our own barflies.
Posted by: Melaleuca | Jun 18 2023 5:21 utc | 229

You’re right and it has to be acknowledged … the bar often has some very good insights into some very disparate but relevant topics, topics I have to recognise I would most likely not have gotten to without the assistance of the bar. Having said that, Scott on military insights, gets deep into the weeds and explains it well. He might not have the same level of expertise on some more broader geopolitical areas but on the specifics of military matters and US post cold war thinking I would argue his knowledge is nothing less that expert.
There is a brilliant (again IMHO) @21:50 explanation on the movement from Cold War thinking which helps to explain the lack of understanding currently in Washington.
@30:00 he gives a very good insight into economic considerations and although its not the first time I’ve heard it, he explains why the mistakes the West has made have instead of weakening Russia and Putin, they actually strengthened Putin in the eyes of Russians, and I would say, the eyes of the Global South.
@35:00 explains he Russian Doctrinal Defence and its author, Colonel General Alexander Romanchuk’s approach.
He also expounds on this here in an article for Intel Drop

In the article, Romanchuk noted that the main mission of a defending force “is to neutralize the initiative of the advancing enemy, i.e., to bring him to the state of impossibility to continue advancing with deployed forces. Ultimately, this allows you to reduce his activity and seize the initiative by going over to a decisive counter-offensive to defeat the enemy with shock groups.”
Scott Ritter: Ukrainian Counteroffensive Runs Into Defensive Wall
https://www.theinteldrop.org/2023/06/10/scott-ritter-ukrainian-counteroffensive-runs-into-defensive-wall/

If anyone hasn’t seen the show he did on the Duran (and at over 3 hours if you have the time), I would strongly recommend it along with the article on Intel Drop.

Posted by: SattaMassaGana | Jun 18 2023 13:24 utc | 295

Those who haven’t read Melaleuca’s post (| Jun 18 2023 3:50 utc | 202) are missing one of the most important posts of the past 18 months. Thank you, Melaleuca.
The signed agreements linked via that post prompt the question, “If the US approved the agreement and the UK scotched it, who is really running the show?”
To whom do Nuland et al really report? My guess is the bankers—the descendants of those who brokered Versailles. Remember that, among others, the Warburgs were so prominent that they sat on both sides of the table—Paul for the US and Max for Germany.

Posted by: Ciaran | Jun 18 2023 13:51 utc | 297

So If China is going to be the next adversary that the USA will pick a fight with, it would be in their interest for their ally Russia to keep draining the West’s weapons stockpiles and not sue for peace any time soon, keep the Ukranians in the game via the occasional tactical retreat, baiting them with small “victories” and allowing them to continue promoting the idea of eventual victory, all the while allowing China to build up their forces.
Posted by: Subtropical | Jun 18 2023 10:46 utc | 280
Build up forces for what? Russia has more nukes than the rest of the world combined and that does not stop anyone from attacking Moscow, Engels or ZNPP or NS or basically anything. After 1.5 years of smo they’re still inside Donbass, Kherson and Zap. are still occupied. This can change in the future, or not, but today it is the way it is.
Xi had a moment to win quickly at the beginning of the smo in Ukr. He did nothing, did not even recognize Donbass, then he was humiliated in public by Pelosi, then many others followed in the same way. Taiwan is applying sanctions to Russia and China. One China is very funny stuff.
Occupied parts of Syria became bases for terrorists sent to Ukr, in the future Al-Tanf and Kyyïiyiyyv will be sources for Taiwan azovs. Like EU bases work for Zely today, so will Japan, SK and other bases will work for Taiwanese Zely.

Posted by: rk | Jun 18 2023 14:00 utc | 299