It seems to me that, for a number of reasons, the Biden bribery matter is central to the Ukraine issue.
Apart from the stunningly obvious and shocking fact that Biden’s political and personal financial fortunes have been tied into the corrupt Ukraine Regime since 2014, there is the ‘wag the dog’ aspect of the use of the war as a distraction from the legal issues.
Then there are the vast amounts of money involved in arms appropriations for NATO in general- which constitute most of what is called Bidenomics- or re-industrialisation.
The political reality is that the most obvious way to mobilise opinion against the proxy war is to unveil the obvious links between the warmongers and the sources of their fortunes. Ukrainians and Russians are dying in order that the most sordid political adventurers can cash in- the oligarchs who arose in the former Soviet Union, thanks to Harvard Shock Therapy, have taken over legislatures and governments throughout the “west.”
All that Biden, in his crude way is doing is following the path set by Clinton, Bush and Obama. The Clinton Foundation being the emblematic institution of the era.
It should also be noted that this deep involvement of politicians (Tony Blair?) with criminal has facilitated the sealing of the takeover of our societies by organisations like MI6 which runs the UK and the CIA in the US. Those who talk of the blackmail opportunities revealed by the Epstein matter are talk of trivialities compared with the capital mobilised in the looting of the USSR etc.

Posted by: bevin | Aug 2 2023 16:03 utc | 3

The party line in the NYT is seeing the dawn of reality:
Ukrainian Troops Trained by the West Stumble in Battle

Ukraine’s army has for now set aside U.S. fighting methods and reverted to tactics it knows best.
“The counteroffensive itself hasn’t failed; it will drag on for several months into the fall,” said Michael Kofman, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace who recently visited the front lines. “Arguably, the problem was in the assumption that with a few months of training, Ukrainian units could be converted into fighting more the way American forces might fight, leading the assault against a well-prepared Russian defense, rather than helping Ukrainians fight more the best way they know how.”

Seeing how it has been 70 years since the US fought such a conflict (Korea), obviously training is not based on experience and 80 year old doctrine (WW2). The trainers need training.

Posted by: upstater | Aug 2 2023 16:20 utc | 5

HIMARS as counter-counter-artillery
NATO may have finally found its game-changing Wunderwaffe. It is the use of HIMARS rockets to destroy Russian counter-battery artillery. In the last two weeks I have seen three Ukrainian drone videos where HIMARS rockets hit Russian artillery pieces. In the first video, five camouflaged 2S19 Msta-S guns were destroyed with single well-aimed shots.
When artillery is used on enemy troops and other soft target, it can be placed 10 to 15 kilometers behind the front line. I believe towed artillery, like the American M777 or the Soviet D-30 and D-20 are used for this purpose. Artillery used in counter-battery fire needs to be placed close to the front line, so that the above-mentioned anti-personnel guns come within range. For this, the guns need to be highly mobile and well protected, i.e. tracked artillery.
Initially the Ukrainians tried to use the HIMARS as a long-range weapon to hit strategic targets well beyond the front-lines. Russians quickly learnt to counter this use, and started shooting down the HIMARS missiles. But when the target of the HIMARS rocket is only a few kilometers behind the front line, Russians have very little time to intercept. It may be that HIMARS has finally found a role where it is unbeatable. The HIMARS launchers are now placed 80 kilometers behind the front lines, well beyond the range of any Russian artillery or Lancets. Even finding the launcher may be impossible for Russia.
This tweet from “Koba” illuminates the situation. He says (or his original Russian language source says) that before last week’s Ukrainian attack east of Rabotine Ukrainians destroyed twenty pieces of Russian artillery. I believe most of these artillery pieces were hit by HIMARS rockets.

Koba @Roberto05246129 on Twitter, July 30, 2023
🇺🇸 🇪🇺 This is how the AFU offensive in Rabotino was complicated 3 days ago. Captured on video.
The plan started well: in the course of some 2-3 days of artillery- and UAV-preparations, the ZSU smashed more than 20 Russian artillery pieces in the area south of the attack zone (including numerous MSTA-S and Akatsiya SPHs). And so, when the attack was launched, there was no reaction from the Russian artillery. However, then the things went bad, and I’m not yet sure why – because I’ve heard at least three different versions:
Version 1: the CO 118th Mech received a confirmation that either a) Russian fortifications in the hills directly east of Robotyne or b) two Russian fortifications directly on the path of his advance, were secured. Which was not yet the case. Thus, he ordered the advance of his unit….
Version 2: There was an outright mistake in communications and the 118th Mech attacked before the 47th Mech, instead the other way around (i.e. the 47th first, then the 118th)….
Version 3: ….and if some others are to ask, it was either the 118th’s Artillery Group or the 44th Artillery Brigade that botched up because it didn’t deploy smoke shells to cover the advance of the 118th…
One way or the other, the lead company of the 118th run into two Russian fortifications and stopped almost atop of them, while still mounted on its vehicles. That with stopping was a bad idea then hardly that the troops started exiting the vehicles, they’ve been hit by ATGMs of the 1430th MRR, 45th Spetsnaz and the 810th Naval Infantry Brigade – all still entrenched ‘on that hill above Robotyne’ – plus by RPG-29s of the entrenched Russian infantry in front of them, and then Lancets….
Result: 4-5 knocked out T-72s, some 13-15 BMPs and BTRs, and almost the entire company either killed, wounded, or captured (apparently including the Major in command of that attack)
Sure, immediately after, the 47th Mech then cleared that hill, collapsing the 1430th MRR, and driving its and the survivors of the Spetsnaz and the 810th Naval Infantry back to Novoprokopivka. Moreover, on the eastern flank of that attack, the 15th Kara-Dag and the Azov NG Brigade then hit the 70th MRR in and around Novopokrovka so hard, its survivors run away to Verbove to complain about its incompetent CO.
But, because of the losses of the 118th Mech, it was a pyrrhic victory…

The three drone videos I saw were – naturally – drone videos, so it is likely that “the Ukrainians” used the same drone feed to target their HIMARS rockets. It is also possible that some of the hits were targeted by American satellites. If so, we would never see video or other evidence of this.
Considering the role the United States and NATO now play in this war, it may be questionable to refer to the other warring party as “Ukraine”. Remember, that Western media always referred to to the Novorossiyan Armed Forces as “Russia”.

Posted by: Petri Krohn | Aug 2 2023 16:26 utc | 7

Akash | Aug 2 2023 15:47 utc | 1–
I read Kagarlitsky’s account of Yeltsin’s 1993 attack on Russia’s Duma where Kagarlitsky was a deputy at the time. He was a very outspoken critic of Yeltsin and from what I saw a Russian patriot. A Marxist? Most certainly. But I have no information about his current status. A brief look revealed nothing.

Posted by: karlof1 | Aug 2 2023 16:45 utc | 9

Post #5:
““The counteroffensive itself hasn’t failed; it will drag on for several months into the fall,” said Michael Kofman, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace”
I would say that something from which all that is expected is to ‘drag on for several months’ is a failure.

Posted by: Figleaf23 | Aug 2 2023 16:52 utc | 11

Russia continues to characterize Ukraine’s attacks on Russian civilians as acts of terrorism which again prompted Maria Zakharova in her weekly briefing to make some comparisons. Here’s that portion of her Ukraine Report:

Twice, on the night of July 30 and August 1 of this year, drones of the Kiev regime crashed into the facades of the towers of the Moscow City complex. It is obvious that the Ukrainian neo-Nazis, launching aircraft into peaceful office buildings, acted according to the scenario of their predecessors, international terrorists, who attacked, among other things, many civilian objects in this way. Similar attacks, but with a different scale of defeat, were in New York on September 11, 2001.
No one is going to compare the scale. It is blasphemous to compare terrorist attacks as people are damaged, defeated, and killed. But it is impossible not to see the obvious: a unified methodology for committing such actions, which carry a whole range of tasks – the destruction of civilian infrastructure, the threat to the lives of the civilian population and, of course, the psychological factor. This methodology is usually used by terrorists, and now the same terrorist methods have been picked up by the Kiev regime.
Let me remind you that various terrorist acts in the world have been unequivocally condemned by the West. But only when they happened in their countries. Then they were declared unacceptable, bad, outlawed, fully showing the inhuman nature of terrorists. The West qualified these terrorist attacks in their countries as actions that cannot be tolerated, and declared (they even have a special expression) “zero tolerance” in relation to such activities. When similar terrorist attacks were carried out in other countries, for example, in the countries of the Greater South, in the same Syria or in Russia, there are no words of sympathy, no words of condemnation (no words at all).
This time, the West went even further. Through the mouths of their officials, they bluntly stated that the Kyiv regime can choose any targets for destruction.
US State Department spokesman Miller said that the Ukrainian authorities can independently choose targets for strikes against Russia. Let’s project the situation in a mirror image – imagine that the official representatives of any state on September 11, 2001 would say that terrorists can independently choose their targets in the United States. How would this be received in Washington? Or in Paris, when they hit the editorial office of Charlie Hebdo? French President Francois Hollande called on the whole world to unite and asked the leaders and officials of various states to march through the streets of Paris. How, then, would the Elysee Palace perceive a call or an official explanation from some capital or some state, in which there would be the words uttered now in Washington, that terrorists themselves can choose their own targets for defeat? We leave out of the brackets of this particular case the fact that the Kyiv regime is doing all this with money, with technical support, weapons, and intelligence information from the West.
This is exactly how they now reacted to Russia, to Muscovites who work in this office center. In fact, the United States officially justified terrorist methods, confirmed that civilian objects can be destroyed, endangering the lives of civilians. Not a word of condemnation. On the other hand, we know the concept – all for the sake of one “golden billion”, and all the rest are of secondary importance. We also know the position voiced by EU High Representative for Foreign Policy Josep Borrell that they are a “beautiful garden” and all the rest are a “jungle”. A similar attitude of segregation of people fits into this concept.
The Kiev Nazis, realizing that they would not meet with condemnation from the West, boldly claimed responsibility for the attacks and do not hide their true intentions – intimidation of civilians. At the same time, they say that these objects are not civilian. How are they not civilian? There is a housing stock, offices of people who come to work every day, in no way connected with anything related to the military-industrial complex or the like.
Spokesman for the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Yury Ignat bluntly stated: “There is no need to talk about Russian peace in the outback. They got what they wanted.” We recommend that Yury Ignat return to reality. Let him not hope – we have no panic. On the contrary, the consolidation of society on the issue of the absolute need to implement the goals of the special military operation is only getting stronger, since the Ukrainian junta repeatedly shows the world its monstrous inside. If at a certain stage someone could somehow doubt what the Kyiv regime is, now no one has any doubts.
We also know that Western countries not only pay lip service to the terrorist methods of the Kiev regime, but are also directly involved in organizing terrorist attacks, supplying weapons and transmitting the necessary intelligence.
However, all Ukrainian criminals will face inevitable punishment. Russian law enforcement agencies carefully investigate criminal cases that are opened for each crime of the Kiev regime. The organizers and perpetrators of crimes will sooner or later find themselves in the dock. [My Emphasis]

IMO, there’s really no surprise in this for those who know the Outlaw US Empire’s history of using terrorism to attain its ends. And if Ukies are going to be arrested and tried for their actions, what about the Western organizers and facilitators who are just as guilty?

Posted by: karlof1 | Aug 2 2023 17:10 utc | 13

Ulrich Heyden, a journalist who has reported from Moskau for quite a long time now (for “Junge Welt”), comments in German on the arrest of Boris Kagarlitsky. His conclusion (my translation):

I have interviewed Kagarlitsky many times over the past three decades. For me, he was an important left-wing critic in Russia who knew how to present sore points in the country in a way that could be understood by a broad readership. But since the Ukraine war, the sociologist has gone into a frontal opposition to Russian power that resembles the position of Russian liberals, much of whom have gone abroad to the West. See also my comments on the Kagarlitsky interview for the “Jacobin” portal. The sociologist only mentions NATO’s expansion into Ukraine in passing and no longer mentions it as a central problem for Russia. Nevertheless, I wish that Kagarlitsky would be released.

Posted by: Ulrike | Aug 2 2023 17:16 utc | 15

At the end of her Ukraine update, Zakharova adds this:

July 27 is a mournful date for our entire country. This is a day of remembrance for children who suffered from the war in Donbass. Since 2014, Ukrainian Nazis have murdered hundreds of underage residents of the region of all ages. We talked about this last time.
Nine years ago, on this day, Kiev criminals organized a brutal shelling of Horlivka. Dozens of civilians were killed and wounded, including many children. A mourning ceremony was held on the Alley of Angels, a memorial complex in Donetsk.
Ukrainian neo-Nazis decided to make their black contribution to this date again. It was not enough for them what they did in Horlivka. We decided to distinguish ourselves again. They organized a mass mailing of messages to the inhabitants of the region, the cruelty and cynicism of which has no limits. In these messages, they promised to kill more children, compared the day of mourning with “burger day”, sent mocking images using photos of dead children.
I don’t understand why and why. So that they – the Kiev – regime in Donetsk and Lugansk are hated even more? To forever inscribe your name in bloody letters in the history of this region? Is the Kyiv regime trying to distinguish itself for this? In principle, everything has already been done. I don’t think it’s worth it anymore. These crimes will never be forgotten. Never! Based on everything we see and say, we must not forget that in Ukraine the Russian Armed Forces are fighting against fascist misanthropic ideology. Not with individual people who absolutely do not meet the elementary requirements of morality and ethics, but with a whole system, “fed” exactly in order to “cleanse” their own space from dissent and segregate it into varieties, allowing some to live, and the second not even allowing to exist. [My Emphasis]

The ideological aspect of the confrontation between the RoW and the Outlaw US Empire is too often overlooked. But the point of its spear can be seen quite well in Ukraine. That’s why there’re bioweapon labs globally. The world is combating the toxic mixture of Nazism and Neoliberalism, although it seems few see or understand that reality. Denazifying Ukraine is the easy part of the job. Denazifying the West will prove more difficult.

Posted by: karlof1 | Aug 2 2023 17:29 utc | 17

Thanks karlof1 and Ulrike for your insights. The Ulrich Heyden view kindly translated by Ulrike seems to me the most accurate summary of what I was able to gather searching the internet regarding Kagarlitsky. Read (not sure if it is true or not) that he justified Ukraine’s targeting of the Kerch bridge as a military rather than civilian target. But I also think he should be released. Maybe when the conflict ends and cooler heads prevail, he will indeed be released, and the charges dropped.

Posted by: Akash | Aug 2 2023 17:39 utc | 19

An australian blogger makes some “amazing” predictions, I guess entirely based on ukrainian government claims as reflected in corporate media:
«1. I predict that by the end of 2023 Russia will have a much smaller number of military aircraft through maintenance problems even if Ukraine doesn’t get long-range SAM systems.
2. I predict that by mid 2024 Ukraine will have air superiority. They will destroy many Russian SAM systems and be able to bomb Russian targets with little risk.
3. I predict that Russia won’t impose any significant new conscription programs on their population. Such programs are extremely unpopular and Russia doesn’t have the industrial capacity to equip a larger army as they can’t properly equip their current army.
4. Currently Ukraine is making slow but steady progress in retaking their territory in the East. I predict that before the end of 2023 they will have cut all supply lines to Crimea from the mainland by having artillery that can accurately cover all the distance to the coast of the Sea of Azov. I also predict that the bridge over the Kerch strait will be mostly unusable from now on (on average less than 1/3 the bridge capacity usable). As fast as the Russians can repair it the Ukrainians will bomb it again. At most they will have half of the road lanes available to cars and will be unable to transport any significant amount of military equipment.
5. Due to Russians lacking supplies I predict that Ukraine will recapture at least half the Crimean land area by the end of 2023.
6. The regions of Luhansk and Donetsk will be the most difficult to capture as they have been held the longest. I predict that the war will not end until Ukraine controls everything within their 2013 borders including Luhansk and Donetsk. The final victory may happen due to the Russian military collapsing or due to a new Russian government ordering a withdrawal.
7. I predict that Russia will make significant efforts to help Trump get elected in 2024. But even if they succeed it will be too late for him to help them much or change the outcome.
8. I predict that Ukraine will win this war before the end of 2025. Even if some of my other predictions turn out to be incorrect I predict that by the end of 2025 the military forces of Russia and Ukraine will not be fighting and that it will be because Ukraine has given the Russian military a proper spanking. If something like the “Troubles” in Ireland happens (which is a real possibility) that doesn’t count as a war.
9. I predict that Ukraine will not deploy any significant attack inside Russian territory. They will launch small scale attacks on specific military targets but do nothing that the Russian population might consider to be full scale war.
10. I predict that Putin will not lead Russia 2 months after Ukraine recaptures all their territory. He may not live for long after Ukraine wins, or the Russian withdrawal might happen because Putin dies of apparently natural causes.
11. After the war I predict that Ukraine will control all their territory from 2013 and there will be a demilitarised zone or no-fly zone in Russian territory.
12. I predict that after the war some parts of the Russian Federation will break free. There are many different groups who would like to be free of Russia and Ukraine destroying most of the Russian military will make things easy for them. A Russian civil war is a possibility.
13. I predict that the US will give minimal support to Russia after the war as a strategic plan to block China. I predict that the quality and efficacy of such support will be comparable to the US actions in the Middle East.»
I think that the USA strategists (as opposed to their PR fronts in the White House and Congress) have much more realistic expectations.

Posted by: Blissex | Aug 2 2023 17:45 utc | 21

Posted by: bevin | Aug 2 2023 16:03 utc | 3
«It seems to me that, for a number of reasons, the Biden bribery matter is central to the Ukraine issue. […] Biden’s political and personal financial fortunes have been tied into the corrupt Ukraine Regime since 2014,»
That’s a tiny sideshow, and the USA and Biden have been enmeshed in Ukraine for decades.
«Ukrainians and Russians are dying in order that the most sordid political adventurers can cash in»
That is ridiculous, the USA “deep state” strategists have working on this overtly at least since 1993, there are much bigger “overall plutocracy” reasons for that the personal fortunes of some minions.
I can’t believe that “bevin” wrote the above sincerely, perhaps he thinks that while “hoi polloi” cannot grasp serious geopolitical operations covering decades, they can more easily grasp side issues of corruption and be outraged by those. Perhaps somewhat like the campaigns against Jeremy Corbyn and Boris Johnson in the UK, which were based on simple minded smears about their personalities, rather than on their politics.

Posted by: Blissex | Aug 2 2023 18:04 utc | 23

«Ukraine’s targeting of the Kerch bridge as a military rather than civilian target»
That is pretty obvious, and the RF government often claims “terrorism” when they are operations against dual-use military targets, even if the fascist ukrainians attack plenty of civilian targets. This reduces the credibility of the RF government’s arguments.
Also as against Kagarlitsky. Writing against the SMO might reduce home front morale, which is sabotage (not terrorism…) in war time, but the RF government claims that the RF is not at war.

Posted by: Blissex | Aug 2 2023 18:13 utc | 25

@ Jmaas | Aug 2 2023 17:14 utc | 16
kolomoiskis ownership on zelensky got taken over along the way.. that’s a fact..see where kolomoiski is now.. cheers..

Posted by: james | Aug 2 2023 18:20 utc | 27

Correction…. for Danube substitute Dniester

Posted by: Dr. George W Oprisko | Aug 2 2023 18:35 utc | 29

Posted by: bevin | Aug 2 2023 16:03 utc | 3
While the Biden’s involvement in Ukraine is a small part of a depraved universe of corruption there, politically this is not going away, as the Republicans may have found the signature issue, like Hillary’s emails, to destroy his re-election chances. There are claims that the wife of a former Moscow mayor, and richest woman in Russia, transferred several million to Hunter, and Devon Archer testified that papa was in contact with the rich Russian lady at this time, also that her businesses somehow evaded sanctions. I don’t know how much there is to this, but it’s the kind of story that, politically, can be milked until the election by the Republicans. Republicans are certainly not above this sort of corruption, and with a few exceptions are no better on Ukraine than the Dems, but they will exploit a political gift when it is available.

Posted by: Mike R | Aug 2 2023 18:45 utc | 31

I wanna add too that it’s not really surprising that the Russian state has gotten about as bad about civil liberties as the Soviet state was when the restriction of certain personal liberties has only become more strict since the Soviet state was demolished. It is substantially harder to be a sexual minority in Russia today than it was in Russia in 1989, or in Cuba today, or in even the DDR in the 1970s. Drugs are more proscribed, whereas up until very late in the USSR one could grow and consume one’s own supply of cannabis with relatively no interference by the state (just don’t start selling it, because that’s capitalist).
Some people on here aren’t concerned with or even cheer on the restriction of personal liberties, considering themselves squares (perhaps in other terms) and thus unlikely to be targeted. But the restriction of personal liberty coincides with the restriction of civil liberties, especially the freedom to be a political non-conformist. Russia today sports a political culture that bar flies have nightmares about, and it would be helpful if we could be honest about that even as we wish for total NATO defeat as good revolutionary defeatists.

Posted by: fnord | Aug 2 2023 18:58 utc | 33

Thanks to those commenters who providing information useful to making sense of Kagarlitsky’s arrest. I’ve only read his book “Square Wheels,” which reflects a guy with a brave and intelligent Marxist sensibility opposing Yeltsin’s corrupt privatization campaign.
His objection to the use of “terrorism” to characterize the Kerch bridge attack strikes me as at least arguable. Defenders of Russia’s position should not conflate the routine shelling of Donetsk and other cities in eastern Ukraine, which is most definitely intended to terrorize a population, with attacks on lines of communication, something that Russia itself has been obliged to do. Kagarlitsky’s comment should be taken seriously, not refuted with judicial harassment.

Posted by: dadooronron | Aug 2 2023 19:06 utc | 35

@Stonebird
“The law of “More” will be seen to decline: (= “the law of more”, either consumerism or “A-Mericque”(?)”
Or democracy? He who gets more votes is elected, that bill that gets more votes in parliament becomes law.
“Votes should be weighed not counted.”
– Friedrich Schiller

Posted by: Apollyon | Aug 2 2023 19:15 utc | 37

It would make much more sense to strike West via Liman, using at least 150,00 of their reserves, to the Dneiper and then head south, destroying Ukr logistics hubs and roues as they go and roll up the Ukr battle-front in a flanking manoeuvre.
You put the remaining Ukr attack battalions in a quandary: fight Russia north and south with an evaporating ammo base, or withdraw across the Dneiper.
Either way, Z will then sue for peace, or risk losing the the entirety of Eastern Ukraine.

Posted by: scepticalSOB | Aug 2 2023 19:19 utc | 39

The 30th Leopard tank was destroyed today.
How many Leopards did Ukraine receive? I only find, “85 tanks were pledged by European allies.” And as we have learned a pledge could mean 2024.

Posted by: Tenet | Aug 2 2023 19:36 utc | 41

“The majority? What is the majority? The majority is nonsense understanding always lies only with the few. […] We should weigh the votes and not count them; the state must perish sooner or later where the majority triumphs and ignorance decides.”
– Friedrich Schiller, Demetrius

Posted by: Apollyon | Aug 2 2023 19:38 utc | 43

Still no updates on Gonzalo Lira, I heard that he attempted to cross the boarder with Hungary, but was turned back by the Ukrainian boarder guards (but no news on if he was taken in custody). it’s been more than 48 hours since his last video so if we don’t hear from him by tomorrow I would think he was taken into custody again.

Posted by: Kadath | Aug 2 2023 19:42 utc | 45

@Kadath | Aug 2 2023 19:42 utc | 45

Still no updates on Gonzalo Lira, I heard that he attempted to cross the boarder with Hungary, but was turned back by the Ukrainian boarder guards (but no news on if he was taken in custody). it’s been more than 48 hours since his last video so if we don’t hear from him by tomorrow I would think he was taken into custody again.

From Brian Berletic:
Gonzalo Lira’s Attempted Escape from Ukraine: What’s Happening & How to Help

Posted by: Norwegian | Aug 2 2023 19:51 utc | 47

Interesting rumors coming from Turkish sources
According to them, Ukrainian Ground Forces Commander Syrsky informed Zelensky that things are going poorly in Artyomovsk. Syrsky allegedly said that counterattacks in the past three months have yielded little results, and the Ukrainian Armed Forces have suffered significant losses.
Syrsky believes that using cluster munitions was a big mistake, as they proved to be less effective than regular artillery and MLRS munitions. However, he also mentioned that the losses escalated significantly due to Russia employing more complex and sophisticated cluster munitions from both air and ground.
He also stated that holding the heights around Klescheevka was challenging, and his elite units were sent to that front line.
As the Turks observe, Gerasimov’s attempt to destroy the elite of the Ukrainian army and nationalist units seems to be working in this new trap.
https://t.me/DDGeopolitics/75630

Posted by: LightYearsFromHome | Aug 2 2023 19:56 utc | 49

Have there been any reports of Storm Shadow strikes since Russia launched the attack on the Ukranian airbases a week or so ago?

Posted by: Bob | Aug 2 2023 20:09 utc | 51

@ “ I am curious to hear the opinions of fellow barflies regarding the arrest of Boris Kagarlitsky …”
Posted by: Akash | Aug 2 2023 15:47 utc | 1
Since you ask for it , my opinion is :
I don’t give a flying duck when the greatest political prisoner of our Collective Waste – in one of its ancient capital cities – is a journalist, in high security jail, without a jury trial and is tortured daily, along with threats of deportation to an even more awful illegal captivity for the rest of his life – is the greatest journalist of this century for revealing the murderous activities of OUR establishments.
Can’t cry about ‘over there’ until you’ve taken care of ‘right here at home’
Thanks for asking.

Posted by: DunGroanin | Aug 2 2023 20:17 utc | 53

Never heard of that guy Kagarlitsky. No wander; I am not into social science or anything similar.
Interesting biography though.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boris_Kagarlitsky

Posted by: 2+2=5 | Aug 2 2023 20:20 utc | 55

@21
I predict that by the end of 2023, and again by mid 2024, that Australian blogger will be making new set of predictions.

Posted by: Fred777 | Aug 2 2023 20:30 utc | 57

blissex
meh

Posted by: paddy | Aug 2 2023 20:40 utc | 59

Posted by: Mr B | Aug 2 2023 20:08 utc | 50
reality check “Mr. B” the heart of empire is Washington DC. when the US government in effect took over Ukraine in 2014 it knew exactly what it was doing, and that provoking Russia to reacting to an existential threat on its border would lead to the loss of millions of Ukrainian lives. Russia has so far been very restrained in targeting US leaders for doing this. US leaders and the elites behind them feel very safe, using Ukrainians as a tool to attack Russia.

Posted by: pretzelattack | Aug 2 2023 20:46 utc | 61

I hope Gonzalo survives, but I fear.
Posted by: William Verick | Aug 2 2023 20:45 utc | 60
as an insurance policy, as the link provided by Norwegian to Brian Berletic explains. It’s a helpful short video.

Posted by: pretzelattack | Aug 2 2023 20:49 utc | 63

@William Verick | Aug 2 2023 20:45 utc | 60
He didn’t.
How to Schedule a YouTube Video

Posted by: Norwegian | Aug 2 2023 20:52 utc | 65

Why? The YT videos were uploaded with a time delay. By the time they were online, Gonzalo had probably already been arrested.

Posted by: Apollyon | Aug 2 2023 21:06 utc | 67

Here’s another speculation on Gonzalo Lira and a bunch of questions and scenarios which could also suggest he could have made a deal with SBU to enable them target other people. Make of it what you want.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TneEvapbS4

Posted by: unimperator | Aug 2 2023 21:12 utc | 69

@Flying Dutchman #66
It could all be fake, but the story Gonzalo told about being “encouraged to jump bail” and flee the country has some basis. Gonzalo said he didn’t understand why he got his passport back until it was explained to him by another detainee:
Get Out: How Autocratic Regimes Select Who Emigrates
“In response, autocracies simultaneously punish dissidents for attempting to emigrate, screening out all but the most determined opponents”… who they then encourage to emigrate.
“Autocratic rulers seem to realize the lower cost of selective emigration: In recent years, the Kremlin, for example, “appears to be betting that forcing high-profile critics out of the country is less of a headache than imprisoning them”
https://gripe.polisci.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/121/2022/09/GRIPE_S06E01_MICHEL.pdf
This was how Ai Weiwei (inexplicably) was allowed to leave China in 2015 …they gave his passport back to him, with the tacit understanding that he would leave China.
For an American to better understand this, think about what happens now at your Southern Border. People are detained and then released with a future court date, that all acknowledge will never be honored by the emigree. (wink, wink)
Of course this could have been a trick to add more serious charges to his case, so Gonzalo had to weigh that all out before deciding on a course of action.

Posted by: Rokossovsky | Aug 2 2023 21:40 utc | 71

@Ahenobarbus
Thank you for that WSWS link. Interesting and informative, even with the patent biases, article (or maybe screed would be a better word to describe it).

Posted by: Akash | Aug 2 2023 21:42 utc | 73

Posted by: Blissex | Aug 2 2023 17:45 utc | 21
I predict that by Mid 2025 Ukraine will be a parceled out, sold to the highest bidder-known as “Commonwealth of Baltic Provinces” or some such loose fitting “Alliance” thing, controlled by varying Baltic States, and Novorossyia & Crimea will remain in the Russian Federation as they are now.
I predict by Mid 2026… US/NATO AUKUS QUAD will be towing their wrecked ships and aircraft back to respective nations.
Let’s compare “predictions” in 2026 🍺

Posted by: Trubind1 | Aug 2 2023 21:51 utc | 75

How long did already seasoned, highly motivated, American troops train for D-Day? To think that barely trained forcibly conscripted soldiers could be used in conjunction with outclassed artillery and armor to push through layer after layer of fortified lines manned by a force with air dominance was madness. And not in the cool “This is Sparta!” way.

Posted by: Babel-17 | Aug 2 2023 22:27 utc | 77

Dear God some people have more time than brains……if he tells no one what his plans are, and he gets caught….who writes the god damn book……The End…..just like he did with the Round Tables, he’s not fucking stupid and he knows what he’s up against……to be continued.
Cheers M

Posted by: sean the leprechaun | Aug 2 2023 22:52 utc | 79

James @ 6
“zelensky is a cia/mi6 operative goes without saying.”
I assumed that the CIA was calling the shots on Zelensky,
but learned a lot about the real MI6 connection from Scott Ritter’s documentary Agent Zelensky, parts 1 and 2. I expect most here have viewed these truly excellent and informative documentaries, with lots of new-to-me information, so I won’t provide a link. I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised at Ritter’s on-screen competence in these docs, and I assume that he had at least significant input in doing the research and creating the script.

Posted by: Jane | Aug 2 2023 23:01 utc | 81

@ LightYearsFromHome | Aug 2 2023 23:00 utc | 80
Indeed. And on top of that he was ripping off Yves Rocher!

Posted by: malenkov | Aug 2 2023 23:08 utc | 83

“Saudi Arabia is now an ally of Russia” writes Giyane. I’m confident that Russia isn’t so foolish as to assume that that’s the case.

Posted by: malenkov | Aug 2 2023 23:16 utc | 85

to DunGroanin | Aug 2 2023 20:17 utc | 53 …
Seconded.

Posted by: Cynic | Aug 2 2023 23:20 utc | 87

We have no idea what has happened to Lira. It could be as simple as the border guard wanted more cash than Lira had. Or he wanted the bike and Lira said no. Worst case is the border guard was a Nazi who didn’t care that Kiev/SBU was cutting Lira loose. Any plan, any scenario goes haywire if there is a man with a gun and a temper.
Or he is in Hungary and Hungary is less than happy with having a flamboyant loudmouth on their hands. In which case they should pass him along to Serbia. That could take time. Time to think it through, time to arrange it.
The Sleboda story is useless. Who is Sleboda talking to? Does Sleboda have SBU friends?
Interesting that gas stations are apparently selling gas this deep into a war.Even in remote corners. BMW parts and service is open for business on regular schedule. Wartime free for all meets business as usual.
Lira met no trigger happy guards in jail. Bureaucracy prevails. Until it doesn’t.
The usual for the Hollywood regime in Kiev has been to display all their trophies and invent a few more. He ain’t a trophy yet.

Posted by: oldhippie | Aug 2 2023 23:47 utc | 89

@oldhippie 89
If Lira was for real he would have been much much better off only announcing he was going to get out after being out of the country. Or else just going to the Amerikastani embassy in Kiev and seeking refuge there. Does anyone remotely sane imagine the SBU would dare invade the embassy to extract him?
And the chances of Hungary wanting a diplomatic incident by giving this character, putatively a wanted criminal in Ukranazistan, asylum are….somewhat doubtful. Why would Lira think Orban, already with the western crosshairs on him, might want to do so?

Posted by: Biswapriya Purkayast | Aug 2 2023 23:56 utc | 91

https://www.rt.com/news/580727-us-frustrated-zelensky-nato/
There is a degree of justice towards US warmongering. Zelensky has become the ‘tail that wags the dog’. He is an egotistical, unthankful, spoiled jerk – and the US is stuck supporting him, no matter what. Not only that, Poland is stuck with the same situation: Zelensky can mouth off and treat his benefactors like sh*t and there’s nothing they can do about it but keep draining their armories and treasuries to keep him in power.

Posted by: Eighthman | Aug 3 2023 0:03 utc | 93

“The story line on Zelensky is that he was brought to power by the backing of a wealthy Ukrainian (aka Oligarch). Prior to that he had a career in acting. Thus it is unlikely he is an operative.”
According to Ritter’s Agent Zelensky, part 1, there is a much more complicated story behind the genesis of that comedy series. According to Ritter, considerable forward planning went into the “creation” of Zelensky qua President, and the TV series was part of the plan. Zelensky was never a “peace candidate.”

Posted by: Jane | Aug 3 2023 0:16 utc | 95

21 blissex Yeah anyone can drop toast and have it land butter side down. theres actually a maths equation based on bench height that makes it more likely to land butter side down on the floor, much like that bloggers views
Defense Minister of Ukraine Oleksiy Reznikov:
“A huge number of ethnic Ukrainians live in Canada, it’s one of the largest national communities. Now, when the historical homeland needs them, they must be here. They are Canadian citizens, but above all Ukrainians. We will ask the Canadian government to send 30,000 men of military age to us,”
Hmm getting desperate to find cannon fodder from around the world now

Posted by: hankster | Aug 3 2023 0:42 utc | 97

At this point there is quite a large probability Ukraine will move to a defensive position behind cluster munitions. Just like last winter it will be a stalemate. Mild and wet with artillery duels.
This could go on for years. Unless the Russians come up with a way to deal with drones.

Posted by: Echo Chamber | Aug 3 2023 1:14 utc | 99