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February 25, 2024
Ukraine Open Thread 2024-061
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Took awhile as the interview is 90 minutes and dense, but the transcript is posted and ready to read, “Dmitry Medvedev’s Roundtable Interview”. A veery wide range of questions and responses. Entertaining and informative.
mtw @ 5 posts:
A nation (Confederates, South) initiates the conflict against the larger, better equipped adversary (Union, North)
The Confederation was trying to free itself from the unbalanced taxation of the North. Escaping captivity might not be considered an initiation of aggression. The comparison is absurd considering the origin of the conflict.
Posted by: catbonez | Feb 26 2024 4:19 utc | 202
Even Politico is struggling to find inspirational quotes from Ukrainians.
Or maybe their LLM has been fed some of Victoria Nuland’s Biolab Soup.
Ukraine vows more self-reliance as war enters third year
‘The situation is so dynamic that at the moment commitment [from partners] does not constitute delivery,’ Ukraine Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said.
“However, the needs of Ukrainian forces are so big, not even U.S., European, and Ukrainian defense industries combined can cover it,” Kamyshin said.
“Our competitiveness, our energy to survive whatever it takes, creates fears among established EU farmers,” Taras Kachka, Ukraine’s deputy economy minister, said at the Saturday conference in Kyiv.
“The West does not know what to do with Russia and therefore it does not allow us to win. Russians constantly blackmail and intimidate the West. However, if you are afraid of a dog, it will bite you,” he said.
https://www.politico.eu/article/ukraine-russia-war-third-year-military-aid-support-zelenskyy-putin/
When you walk through a storm
Hold your head up high
And don’t be afraid of the dog.
Posted by: Deaf2America | Feb 26 2024 4:46 utc | 203
Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Feb 25 2024 21:50 utc | 116
If you are still interested, Tom – I posted a couple of comments on the previous open forum (before Sundays) to straighten out the conversation on philosophy we had. They are on the last page, lower segment. The needed link was by persiflo top of the page, 206 I believe.
Posted by: juliania | Feb 26 2024 4:47 utc | 204
ZH has a posting up about a NYT story
CIA Built “12 Secret Spy Bases” In Ukraine & Waged Shadow War For Last Decade, Bombshell NYT Report Confirms
the quote
On Sunday The New York Times published an explosive and very belated full admission that US intelligence has not only been instrumental in Ukraine wartime decision-making, but has established and financed high tech command-and-control spy centers, and was doing so long prior to the Feb. 24 Russian invasion of two years ago.
Among the biggest revelations is that the program was established a decade ago and spans three different American presidents. The Times says the CIA program to modernize Ukraine’s intelligence services has “transformed” the former Soviet state and its capabilities into “Washington’s most important intelligence partners against the Kremlin today.”
This has included the agency having secretly trained and equipped Ukrainian intelligence officers spanning back to just after the 2014 Maidan coup events, as well constructing a network of 12 secret bases along the Russian border—work which began eight years ago. These intelligence bases, from which Russian commanders’ communications can be swept up and Russian spy satellites monitored, are being used launch and track cross-border drone and missile attacks on Russian territory.
Posted by: psychohistorian | Feb 26 2024 5:02 utc | 205
Medvedev wrote the following on his Telegram in response to the latest sanctions:
On the new sanctions timed to coincide with 24/02
We have become accustomed to their endless restrictions and have learned to live with them.
But what I want to draw your attention to today is that these bans are no longer directed against the authorities or business in the country, as our opponent likes to say. They have been adopted against the entire population of Russia. For example, the ban on the Mir payment system and restrictions on the activities of companies engaged in housing construction in the country.
The reason is clear: the worse it is for the citizens of Russia, the better it is for the Western world. Let them all suffer there.
We all need to remember this and take revenge on them wherever possible.
They are our enemies.
To create possible difficulties for them in the economy, to arouse public discontent with the inept policy of the Western authorities, to develop and promote international solutions that infringe on the interests of the Western world. Do it constantly, systematically and as openly as possible.
As well as to carry out other activities on their territory, which is not customary to talk about publicly.
In war as in war.
And in this war, Victory will be ours![Emphasis, format original]
Much stronger rhetoric than the interview, although he did say he “hates” Russia’s enemies.
psychohistorian | Feb 26 2024 5:02 utc | 206–
Gee, they told a small portion of the truth. Why not admit the Outlaw US Empire was supporting Nazis in Ukraine even before the CIA’s birth? That would have provided much better context for understanding what’s happening there and why.
Posted by: sean the leprechaun | Feb 25 2024 16:25 utc | 20
shаdοwbanned@10….Johnson and Trudeau in Kiev and Russia couldn’t even do a Drone drive by flag drop ffs.
Shoigu says wrapping it up next year, BloJo and Canada’s Mr Dress Up sign on the line for another 10 years, free flow blow; Shoigu miss the memo? He sure as fuck missed the target.
NATO at the Deniper? Long range missiles and F 16s…..opening in theatres soon, pass the popcorn.
“…Shoigu says wrapping it up next year…”
Did you think that repeating crap makes crap better?
Kratoklastes | Oct 4 2023 19:24 utc | 88 has already reported in detail on this FAKE
Defence Ministry Extended Board session takes place in Moscow
‘Under these conditions, Russia continues to build up the combat power of the
Armed Forces, including by supplying modern weapons and improving the training of troops,
taking into account the experience of the special military operation.
The objectives can be accomplished if the 2025 Action Plan’s activities are consistently
carried out’ the Defence Minister of the Russian Federation stated.
“…opening in theatres soon…”
so not even YOU believe the CIPSO’s lies ?
Posted by: shаdοwbanned | Jan 29 2024 19:13 utc
“….They are not kept in Ukraine at all. They fly from Poland and Romania, touch down to refuel, take off immediately…”
Posted by: ghiwen | Feb 26 2024 6:04 utc | 208
“I still doubt it was a Patriot, but if it was, it was not just a Patriot, but a Patriot with a previously undisclosed capability of shooting much further than the publicly announced range.”
Ukraine accidentally shot down a civilian airliner (Siberia Airlines Flight 1812) over the Eastern side of the Black Sea in 2001. It was an S-200. Probably the same this time, but deliberate.
Posted by: Rhinoskerous | Feb 26 2024 6:06 utc | 209
@ karlof1 | Feb 26 2024 5:20 utc | 208 with the follow up to my NYT posting from ZH
Yeah, crazy. It has to be a reaction from the Tucker interview but seems to go further than necessary for that which is a bit confusing unless its a bigger train they are trying to get out in front of.
Admitting perfidy like this is heavy shit, IMO, but there is a lot of heavy shit going down or about to.
Posted by: psychohistorian | Feb 26 2024 6:36 utc | 210
Re: Repeated downing of Russian A-50s. Has anyone considered sabotage? Someone with access to the avionics package, tampering just enough so that the friend-or-foe ident fails at some random point in the future. Friendly fire takes care of the rest. And no need to shoot missiles into Russian territory.
Posted by: spindz | Feb 26 2024 7:17 utc | 211
“What the Russians, and most sensible people, did not realize was that behind the US/NATO position was an appetite for the revival of Operation Barbarossa. Having repudiated socialism the Russians had lost the ability to identify the close connection between capitalism and fascism – they honestly and naively thought that they were dealing with benign liberals ignorant of the true nature of Bandera-ism.”
Bravo.
Posted by: Cherrycoke | Feb 26 2024 7:33 utc | 212
dealing with benign liberals
Posted by: Cherrycoke | Feb 26 2024 7:33 utc | 213
—
Can the philosophy of selfish individualism ever be benign?
Posted by: too scents | Feb 26 2024 7:39 utc | 213
The original A-50 was supposed to have been shot down over the Sea of Azov, according to ‘British Intelligence’. The Sea of Azov is too shallow for an aircraft the size of an A-50 to lie undetected on the bottom, even if it broke up extensively. So where’s the wreckage? There is to date no evidence of which I am aware that the first one was ever shot down except for more peremoga blabber from the Ukrainians. And now it seems the evidence of a ‘second’ one being destroyed is shaky.
“The Sea of Azov is the shallowest sea in the world, with an average depth of 7 meters (23 feet) and a maximum depth of 14 meters (46 feet).”
Don’t you think if there was a busted-up A-50 lying in the Sea of Azov that it would be visible from the air, and that the jubilant Ukrainians would have a drone over it, taking pictures, faster than you could eat a piece of salo?
The NY Times has an article about CIA bases in Ukraine.
A C.I.A.-supported network of spy bases has been constructed in the past eight years that includes 12 secret locations along the Russian border.
To me, the article in the NY Times implies there is no harm in publishing this. There is no harm because the CIA is quietly thinking of wrapping up the Ukraine operation. But also, given that the US travelling circus wishes to move on from Ukraine to Taiwan, I assume China is being targeted in a similar way today.
Posted by: Passerby | Feb 26 2024 8:12 utc | 216
I assume China is being targeted in a similar way today.
Posted by: Passerby | Feb 26 2024 8:12 utc | 217
—
China rolled up the CIA presence in their country a decade ago and the agency has been crying about it ever since.
It was considered one of the CIA’s worst failures in decades: Over a two-year period starting in late 2010, Chinese authorities systematically dismantled the agency’s network of agents across the country, executing dozens of suspected U.S. spies. …
Posted by: too scents | Feb 26 2024 8:21 utc | 217
executing dozens of suspected U.S. spies. …
Posted by: too scents | Feb 26 2024 8:21 utc | 218
The Chinese take these things seriously. Dealing drugs and government corruption may get you a similar fate in China.
On a side note: China does not publish statistics about the number of executions. The statistics about executions in China are invented out of thin air by a US-based NGO.
Posted by: Passerby | Feb 26 2024 8:32 utc | 218
121
U mean the same Merkel who led Putin by the nose with Minsk 2 & NS 2?
The same Merkel who said that Minsk 2 was only a tool to buy time for rearming Ukraine
20 years she was wiping her floor with him Putztinlappen!
Chessmaster is a naive liberal dreamer!
Merkel and all western partners profiled him as naive weakling.
Posted by: SlowSoft | Feb 26 2024 8:37 utc | 219
Posted by: SlowSoft | Feb 26 2024 8:37 utc | 220
That’s what Prigozhin said.
Posted by: Lev Davidovich | Feb 26 2024 8:50 utc | 220
– Former CIA analyst Ray Mcgovern confirms it once more. The city of Donetsk was being shelled by the ukrainians on a regular basis from the year 2014 (think: the Maidan revolution / coup) onwards. And all those shells were fired from the city of Avdeevka and Bachmut. No wonder the russians were “hell bent” on taking out / destroying / conquering / ………… (take your pick) that city.
Posted by: WMG | Feb 26 2024 8:51 utc | 221
Clean up on the Ukraine open thread.
Which one is it?
Posted by: shаdοwbanned | Feb 25 2024 22:55 utc | 136
Neither. You offer a false dichotomy with two anti Putin conclusions.
What does that remind you of?
Posted by: shаdοwbanned | Feb 25 2024 23:20 utc | 140
It reminds me of all your other spam. There is a a kernel of Russian history or a reference to Russian culture, then from there you fill in with half truths, embellishments and outright falsehoods to suit your dooming relentlessly anti Putin narrative.
How did we get to this point?
Posted by: shаdοwbanned | Feb 25 2024 23:22 utc | 141
It’s your fertile doom monger imagination. Nothing more.
Posted by: Lev Davidovich | Feb 26 2024 8:54 utc | 222
– The information in my previous post (#222) came from a video made by Martin Gardner with former CIA analyst Ray McGovern.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcIHchh7Bac
The information about the shelling of Donetsk comes from and after the 14 minute timemark in the video.
Posted by: WMG | Feb 26 2024 8:59 utc | 223
Posted by: GW | Feb 26 2024 1:17 utc | 171
By this stage, actually for about 18 months, state controlled western media have been actively fighting The Inversion War.
If Ukraine loses 400,000 troops (which they have) the western media claim that Russia has lost 400,000 troops (they haven’t).
If Russia loses 31,000 regular soldiers, minus Wagner forces, then Ukrainian politicians will claim that Ukraine has lost ‘merely’ 31,000 troops. This is despite us knowing that in the first month of the catastrophic NATO planned Ukrainian Counter Offensive of summer 2023, the Ukrainians were losing an average of 1,100 troops per day and on some days 1,800 per day. The first rule of western stenographers is that they must not question the claims of the politicians.
If Russian troops advance over territory, taking Mariupol, Artemovsk, Avdeevka etc, then the western media will refuse to publish the news until two months later when Ukrainian politicians finally concede after throwing thousands more into pointless death. The western media will then tell us that the town is “strategically unimportant” and produce a graphic showing Ukrainian troops advancing with big arrows to regain the ground.
In the west this is the same media that devotes December to propagating the myth of Father Christmas where every child is lied to that a fat man with a beard enters via their chimney and leaves them presents. The deceit and self delusion is an integral part of western culture. In the UK the most notorious paedophile Savile had his own TV and radio shows on the BBC. During the Miners Strike in 1984 BBC News edited a riot started by police to make it look like the miners started the violence. The Sun newspaper claimed that Liverpool fans at the Hillsborough disaster robbed dead fans and urinated on policemen. All lies. The last elected UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is a compulsive liar and had support from all aspects of UK media. All agents of the neoliberal capitalist establishment.
So up is down and war is peace and the bewildered public who try to listen to the controlled western media don’t have a clue what is happening.
Posted by: Lev Davidovich | Feb 26 2024 9:05 utc | 225
Posted by: Eighthman | Feb 26 2024 3:33 utc | 198
You could lay out calendar sheets in a hen hut and the most shat on day is the day it ends.
Probability of being correct is the same, you save a lot of energy and ressources and you can make omelette.
Posted by: kspr | Feb 26 2024 9:13 utc | 226
Speaking at the Munich Security Conference, United States Senator from Ohio James David Vance has warned that supplies of armaments to Ukraine have been totally unsustainable when considering the productive capacities of the American defence sector. He stated that American output of military equipment was far from sufficient to sustain the war effort, and that even if the Joe Biden administration were able to pass over $60 billion in new military aid to the country, this would not “fundamentally change the reality on the battlefield.” “We have expended decades’ worth of supplies of American weapons” on the Ukraine conflict, Vance stated, adding that as a result of decades of contraction of the American industrial base “we don’t make enough of that stuff on our own.” “Yet at the same time they want us to send all of our critical weapons overseas,” he exclaimed. His statement comes as Western sources on the ground in Ukraine have reported with growing frequency and seriousness that the combat capability of even Ukraine’s most elite frontline units has been very seriously undermined by severe and worsening equipment shortages.
Reflecting widespread concerns among American conservative voters and Republican lawmakers, Senator Vance further elaborated regarding his position: “It is absurd for the U.S. to devote so many resources, so much attention, and so much time to a border conflict six thousand miles away while out own U.S. southern border is wide open.” “We now no longer have the weapons in store to actually prosecute our own national security. Let’s focus on our own problems,” he added. With the bulk of attendees at Munich coming from European states, which have been the strongest state lobbyists for greater American financing and arms transfers for the Ukrainian war effort rather than less of it, the senator’s comments were likely to be far from welcome. Countries in Europe have shown willingness to take increasingly extreme measures to sustain a Ukrainian combat capacity, an example being a decision by the government of Denmark less than a week before Senator Vance’s statement to provide the entirety of its artillery stockpiles to the Ukrainian Army as aid, leaving the country with no artillery whatsoever.
The latest statements questioning the sustainability of arms transfers to Ukraine follow the release of reports by Pentagon Inspector General Robert P. Storch, which highlight that vehicles and missile systems provided to Ukraine were taken from the U.S. Army’s own stocks “without limits.” Such transfers had been made under the Presidential Drawdown Authority, with inspectors informed by an official that if this practice continued, it “may require the [Department of Defence] to choose between the readiness of [Ukrainian] units or the readiness of U.S. units.” Parts shortages and a lack of sufficient production lines or trained personnel have been leading factors restricting the American defence sector’s ability to replenish donated equipment. Shortages in the United States have been exacerbated by the acceleration of supplies of many kinds of equipment to respond to significant attrition on the battlefield from the early summer of 2023. Bradley fighting vehicles have been a leading example, with over 60 lost in combat at the most conservative estimates leading the Biden administration to increase supplies.
https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/senator-expended-readiness-threatened
Posted by: unimperator | Feb 26 2024 9:20 utc | 227
Translation: The US is planning an attack on a scale the Russians cannot pretend to be an accident. The US is planning to do something that by Russia’s published protocols demands a nuclear response.
That’s why the A-50s are being targeted. It is clearing the air to maximize the effectiveness of the US attack… maximum “Shock&Awe™”. I wonder if they are really intending a decapitation strike?
Posted by: William Gruff | Feb 26 2024 1:50 utc | 188
They already announced what that will be. By published protocol, any missile salvo launched towards central Russia will be responded to with a nuclear strike.
And Stoltenberg just said that they are going to be launching such salvos…
Posted by: shаdοwbanned | Feb 26 2024 9:42 utc | 228
Residents of Kharkov have begun selling their apartments at a 50% discount
https://t.me/Slavyangrad/89832
Posted by: Norwegian | Feb 26 2024 9:49 utc | 229
And Stoltenberg just said that they are going to be launching such salvos…
Posted by: shаdοwbanned | Feb 26 2024 9:42 utc | 229
source please?
all this quisling has “announced” was that nato will “allow” the ukraine to strike in russias rear. not that nato itself will do it. plausible deniability. they just provide the weapons (and other things) but ukraine does what it wants with them. at least officially.
Posted by: Justpassinby | Feb 26 2024 9:51 utc | 230
@dillfrash brings us very strange video:
Drunken commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Syrsky visited the “recruiting center” in Lvov
Another scandal involving the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Syrsky, is gaining momentum in Ukraine. The Commander-in-Chief, together with Minister Umerov, visited the Ukrainian Armed Forces recruiting center in Lvov, but the audience here was interested in something else: Syrsky was drunk, had difficulty standing on his feet and was unable to utter a word during his stay at the center.
https://t.me/Slavyangrad/89852
Posted by: Norwegian | Feb 26 2024 9:55 utc | 231
BMA’s newest article from a few days ago on Avdeevka, Navalny, Zaporozhye, Taurus missiles or other long range weapons etc.
https://bmanalysis.substack.com/p/olympus-has-fallen
Posted by: unimperator | Feb 26 2024 10:17 utc | 232
Posted by: shаdοwbanned | Feb 26 2024 9:42 utc | 229
Go change your diaper. And try not to sound so excited.
It’s called confirmation bias, when you think that you hear something that you strongly believe with scant evidence, but you want so much.
It’s inherent in every single post you make.
Posted by: Lev Davidovich | Feb 26 2024 10:25 utc | 233
Cokeman saying Russia is planning to launch and offensive.
I run that through a machine translator entered language as bullshit, and in the translate to I put English.
So translating that from bullshit to English, Coke man says he is running out of Ukrainians, running out of ammo. In other words – up shit creek.
Posted by: Peter AU1 | Feb 26 2024 10:28 utc | 234
Europe’s desperate hunt for ammunition. Germany in talks with India on buying artillery grenades for Ukraine.
https://t.me/global_affairs_byelena/611
Posted by: Andreas | Feb 26 2024 10:29 utc | 235
And Stoltenberg just said that they are going to be launching such salvos…
Posted by: shаdοwbanned | Feb 26 2024 9:42 utc | 229source please?
all this quisling has “announced” was that nato will “allow” the ukraine to strike in russias rear. not that nato itself will do it. plausible deniability. they just provide the weapons (and other things) but ukraine does what it wants with them. at least officially.
Posted by: Justpassinby | Feb 26 2024 9:51 utc | 231
What difference exactly does that made with respect to the reasons why the protocol is what it is?
Have you stopped for a second to work out the decision tree that is behind that protocol?
Posted by: shаdοwbanned | Feb 26 2024 10:32 utc | 236
What difference exactly does that made with respect to the reasons why the protocol is what it is?
Posted by: shаdοwbanned | Feb 26 2024 10:32 utc | 237
You make assertions based on zero credible evidence and when someone has the timerity to ask for your source, you respond with a combination of goodledegook and whataboutery. You incorrectly claimed that the US will soon be launching salvos into central Russia when someone else kindly had corrected your latest error by clarifying that Stoltenberg meant that NATO would be supplying missiles for Ukraine to launch at Russia. Don’t let those facts get in the way of your fairytale narrative. Your source appears to be William Gruff after two bottles of whiskey. At least that’s better than the Christopher Steele dossier, but still not the strongest evidence to justify your nuclear strike desires.
Posted by: Lev Davidovich | Feb 26 2024 10:59 utc | 237
Posted by: Lev Davidovich | Feb 26 2024 10:59 utc | 238
It’s probable that Ukronato will launch some strikes with ATACMS and air-ground missiles (what is the longest range Nato air-ground missile?) to targets in Russia.
However it will make much less difference now compared to a year ago when the AFU was still in better shape. The reason is AFU might be in a shape that it can’t take advantage of such strikes.
More possibly, the targets will be designed to reap maximum headline efficiency, not military targets. Since there are only a few ATACMS or F-16 available to make strikes, they will use it for PR, not military effect. That would mean a strike will have even less effect or delay some operation a couple of hours.
No, I think F-16 and ATACMS are more like the parting shots (screw you) rage quit tantrums by Nato. Flipping over the game board.
Posted by: unimperator | Feb 26 2024 11:09 utc | 238
Posted by: unimperator | Feb 26 2024 11:09 utc | 239
IMHO most of the attacks of ukr/Nato delivered are simply pr/terroristico.
While taking down an A50 has some importance in the battlefield, hitting a restaurant in Russia rear has no impact on the battlefield and, the weapon could have been used better by hitting some military/industrial complex.
Posted by: Mario | Feb 26 2024 11:19 utc | 239
Posted by: Andreas | Feb 26 2024 10:29 utc | 236
India supplying arms for / to Ukraine would legitimise them supplying arms for / to Russia.
Posted by: anon2020 | Feb 26 2024 12:00 utc | 240
There is a poem on the Statue of Liberty in the New York harbor that reads in part: “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free. The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.”
Perhaps Russia should erect something similar at Avdiivka?
“Give me your Poles, your Brits, your Foreign Legion to fight for Zelenski. The wretched refuse of Syria’s shore.
Send these the clueless western mercenaries to me. My FAB 1000’s will make them steaming gore.”
Posted by: Quid Me Vexari | Feb 26 2024 12:27 utc | 241
🇬🇧🏴☠️🇺🇦 Footage of Zelensky exiting the conference under the escort of British intelligence services
The video clearly shows a British security officer wearing overalls with an SSPU badge.
▪️Earlier, the former head of Roscosmos Dmitry Rogozin reported that the entire retinue of security guards around Zelensky “speaks the purest English.”
▪️ The same thoughts were previously shared by Russian publicist Nikolai Starikov, who reported that Zelensky was being protected by British special forces.
▪️ According to political scientist Marat Bashirov, London is essentially holding Zelensky hostage in order to “control Kyiv’s political decisions.”
https://t.me/ZandVchannel/101857
Posted by: Norwegian | Feb 26 2024 12:31 utc | 242
Posted by: Norwegian | Feb 26 2024 12:31 utc | 243
No escape for Zelensky.
The real interesting question is does he really enjoy his position and think he is a savior president of Ukraine?
OR is he just reading the script he got from London, and hoping to some day escape to his Dubai mansion and ride the waves of the gulf of Persia with the newly acquire $40M yacht ‘My Legacy’?
You would think the answer is the latter, but you never know. The British government and special service are holding the entire country hostage through the nazis and Zelensky.
Posted by: unimperator | Feb 26 2024 12:44 utc | 243
@178
“Let me get this straight, you want peeps here to explain about the credibility of the NYP?”
No, that’s not what I asked. Not at all.
My question pertained to that section of the article which focused on alleged developments on the ground, which the Post seems to have obtained from some outside source of military analysis. Its claims seemed dubious to me, and I wanted input from someone who tracks battle developments that much more closely than I do.
If you read my comment again you’ll see that I explicitly state that the Post is garbage, in terms of credibility.
But that one segment of the article focusing on military developments came from a source other than the Post.
Posted by: GW | Feb 26 2024 12:53 utc | 244
Posted by: unimperator | Feb 26 2024 12:44 utc | 244
I think his days are numbered, but he is a tribe member and they seem to look out for one another sort of.
I don’t think there is much surf on the Persian Gulf. oops…Maybe I was wrong about the surf…
Posted by: lex talionis | Feb 26 2024 12:53 utc | 245
“I have lurked here for over a year, rarely posting. I try to abide by b’s admonition to not attack other users. But I will break that now:
I am tired of the constant war-mongering by sean, shadowbanned, mtw, and others. Their only answer for anything is more death, more destruction, more escalation. Ukraine does X; bomb Kiev! Britain supplies cruise missiles; nuke London! The Americans supply weapons; sink a carrier group!
Apparently, they don’t read much else, otherwise they might realize that 1) the US is not near as powerful as it was, and more important, as it thinks it is, and 2) the US is stretched beyond breaking as it is today. There is no need for escalation.
They are apparently unaware that the US is close to a second civil war, and that the only thing likely to avert it is the appearance of an external enemy that would unify the Americans. A Russian escalation would be exactly what the Deep State craves – an attack that shames everyone into being ‘patriotic’. Netanyahu is playing the same trick in Palestine right now – it’s the only way he can cling to power.
So I am sick to f’ing death of reading their constant exhortations for ‘moar war’. As others have speculated, one has to wonder whose side they are really on. Like most sane people, I’d like to see the war over soon; these psychopaths want to expand it.”
Posted by: FrankDrakman | Feb 25 2024 19:14 utc | 65
Marvelous post; you should post more often.
“Some posts, #70 for instance, are so absurdly long as to constitute spam, even if unintentionally. Try checking the big egos at the door, eh?”
Posted by: Robert E.Smith | Feb 25 2024 19:43 utc | 80
I found the text at 70 quite illuminating; I consider your Karen like complaint ‘spam’.
Goddamn I hate Shadowbanned’s posts. What a waste of life.
Posted by: Zippy the Pinhead | Feb 26 2024 13:02 utc | 248
reply to 243
This is why the end of Ukraine will be so horrible. Britain can run it by remote control. No amountof losses of life make any difference. No protest means anything.
Posted by: Eighthman | Feb 26 2024 13:09 utc | 249
“@dillfrash brings us very strange video:
Drunken commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Syrsky visited the “recruiting center” in Lvov
Another scandal involving the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Syrsky, is gaining momentum in Ukraine. The Commander-in-Chief, together with Minister Umerov, visited the Ukrainian Armed Forces recruiting center in Lvov, but the audience here was interested in something else: Syrsky was drunk, had difficulty standing on his feet and was unable to utter a word during his stay at the center.
https://t.me/Slavyangrad/89852“
Posted by: Norwegian | Feb 26 2024 9:55 utc | 232
If I had Syrsky’s current military position I would be drinking enormously as well.
“Goddamn I hate Shadowbanned’s posts. What a waste of life.”
Posted by: Zippy the Pinhead | Feb 26 2024 13:02 utc | 249
You are the ignorant one; your nomenclature captures it perfectly..
You don’t like shadowbanned, don’t read his posts.
Problem solved.
And,
I followed someone’s advice and started reading backwards from the last post on these threads. Makes the experience so much more pleasurable as I can completely avoid reading shadowbanned’s posts.
Posted by: Johnny Boy | Feb 26 2024 13:20 utc | 252
‘ @dillfrash brings us very strange video:
Drunken commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Syrsky visited the “recruiting center” in Lvov
Another scandal involving the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Syrsky, is gaining momentum in Ukraine. The Commander-in-Chief, together with Minister Umerov, visited the Ukrainian Armed Forces recruiting center in Lvov, but the audience here was interested in something else: Syrsky was drunk, had difficulty standing on his feet and was unable to utter a word during his stay at the center.
Many also drew attention to the fact that Ukrainian propaganda, in all its numerous stories dedicated to recruiting centers, was unable to create the illusion of a multitude.
@Slavyangrad | Inna 👋 ‘
He doesn’t look particularly drunk – it may just be that in the video everyone is speaking in ukropian and the General looks like he is about to have them all shot if they don’t speak in Russian immediately 😝
Shelenski is announcing 31k casualties !
That is a lot for a month – a short one even though it’s a leap year!
Probably end up closer to 35 + by 29th Feb.
Under Zaluzny it was only about 20k a month.
Yes, yes , I know … but it’s such an obvious Big Lie easily disapproved by a photo of a single new cemetery of which there are hundreds. So this is the off-ramp being further prepared – “ he went mad! We didn’t realise he was a drug addict! It’s all in Sean Penn’s film next year ! …”
Posted by: DunGroanin | Feb 26 2024 13:22 utc | 253
You don’t like shadow**** fan Canuck, don’t read his posts.
Problem solved. Save us all the drivel.
And, to take a pinch of your oft dished out advice of zero usefulness
You don’t like zippy the pinhead don’t read his posts.
Posted by: canuck | Feb 26 2024 13:19 utc | 252
Posted by: Lev Davidovich | Feb 26 2024 13:28 utc | 254
A few issues here with the RF counter-oink in Donbass.
The first is that we are probably looking in a wrong direction – a massive pour-in of Russian reserves and frontline combat units is flowing to Kherson via Crimea last 3 days …I do not know how many troops and what, but it is rather significant force.
The Avdeyevka breakthrough doesn’t stop, but gains the momentum.
My view is that RF is straightening the line of contact, with a possible Sumy- Zaporozhye line being straightened up. That move will ensure the safety of Donetsk city and the other towns in Donbass. That line is about to be pushed until it meets the Ukrainian hard trenches, but also not necessary to stop there. So a buffer zone is created there now, with the aim of having more troops density on the shorter battlefield line.
To ensure Crimea being untouchable, it is the obvious that, if things go as they do for RF, it will do a push on Odessa Raion/Oblast and that is certain.
So it is a ruse with a predictable outcome. That is right now the only clever option RF must achieve.
Before that, there will be no attempts to negotiate at all. After that, RF will, in its fashion, talk about the ceasefire and meeting the security requirements, but it will not stop.
At some point in the war against the Ottoman Empire, Russia did almost the same thing – if you do not want to talk today, tomorrow we will be somewhere else. Turks hated every day that they failed to talk to Russians, until they conceded.
The same story enrols today.
History has no Western students enrolled, yet.
Posted by: whirlX | Feb 26 2024 13:37 utc | 255
65
Amen!
Hey How about visiting forums where only u decide which comments re readable ?
Shadow is not forcing u to read his comments
I don’t want to miss reading his comments
Posted by: SlowSoft | Feb 26 2024 13:38 utc | 256
“You don’t like shadow**** fan Canuck, don’t read his posts.
Problem solved. Save us all the drivel.
And, to take a pinch of your oft dished out advice of zero usefulness
You don’t like zippy the pinhead don’t read his posts.”
Posted by: Lev Davidovich | Feb 26 2024 13:28 utc | 255
You are a trifle confused, Lev; I posted, “for pinhead not to read shadowbanned posts’, not myself.
I don’t like or dislike pinhead, I don’t know the man: however, his attack on shadowbanned-“What a waste of life” is over the top idiocy and if you don’t recognize that puerile invective as such you too are on the same “intellectual basement” level as pinhead..
If accept that puerile invective as well, you are
Posted by: Lev Davidovich | Feb 26 2024 13:28 utc | 255
This is why the end of Ukraine will be so horrible. Britain can run it by remote control. No amountof losses of life make any difference.
Posted by: Eighthman | Feb 26 2024 13:09 utc | 250
The end of Ukr has already passed. Now they are simply following the invasion script, like Afgh or Syria: “Some EU and NATO countries are considering the possibility of sending their military to Ukraine on the basis of bilateral agreements, said Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico”
Posted by: rk | Feb 26 2024 13:52 utc | 258
“Denmark ends Nord Stream blast investigation but concludes deliberate sabotage at play
Denmark on Monday said it had dropped its investigation into the explosions in 2022 on the Nord Stream pipelines carrying Russian gas to Germany, becoming the second nation to do so after Sweden also closed a separate probe, Reuters reports.
The multi-billion dollar Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines transporting gas under the Baltic Sea were ruptured by a series of blasts in the Swedish and Danish economic zones in September 2022, releasing vast amounts of methane into the air.
Russia and the West, at loggerheads over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in February that year, have pointed fingers at one another. Each has denied any involvement and no one has taken responsibility.
“There is not sufficient grounds to pursue a criminal case in Denmark … and therefore the Copenhagen Police has decided to conclude the criminal investigation of the explosions,” Denmark’s police said in a statement.
Police added that they believe there was deliberate sabotage of the gas lines.
Sweden earlier this month dropped its investigation into the explosions saying it lacked jurisdiction in the case but had handed evidence uncovered over to German investigators, which are yet to publish any findings.”
Looks like Sweden suspects Russia, but doesn’t want to get in trouble with that powerful nation! (I’m being ironic here).
https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2024/feb/26/russia-ukraine-war-live-missiles-drones-kharkiv-dnipropetrovsk-eu-leaders-summit-elysee-zelenskiy
Posted by: Ludo | Feb 26 2024 13:58 utc | 259
🇷🇺🇺🇦⚡Footage of the destruction of the first Abram tank
It is reported that the tank was blown up by soldiers of the 15th Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade in the Avdeevka sector.
Posted by: Norwegian | Feb 26 2024 14:02 utc | 260
‘Oleksiy Arestovych, President Zelenskyy’s former spokesman, told the Unherd website that the root of Ukraine’s recruitment problem is that only 20% of Ukrainians believe in the anti-Russian Ukrainian nationalism that has controlled Ukrainian governments since the overthrow of the Yanukovych government in 2014. “What about the remaining 80%?” the interviewer asked.
“I think for most of them, their idea is of a multinational and poly-cultural country,” Arestovych replied.
Posted by: Ludo | Feb 25 2024 18:58 utc | 61
Actually, the “recruitment problem” can be wider. Strana.ua YouTube channel has a video about events in a Ukrainian village. In a village, someone spread a rumor that undercover women will be used as recruiters, lo and behold, a women driving a car with a small child stopped at the gas station. She was mobbed by the villagers who even went physical (by women, no injuries) shouting that “we are Banderovtsy, but we do not want this war, this is not a true war, we do not want to fight”, a village deep in Galicia/Halychyna territory, actually, not that far from Halych (capital of a Ruthenian/Rus kingdom that, by Austrian interpretation, should belong to Hapsburgs, so the name the territory Galizien).
Posted by: Piotr Berman | Feb 26 2024 14:08 utc | 261
Ukrainian M1A1 Abrams tanks have arrived in Berdychi
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYjca2XCSFs
Allegedly burning Abraham
https://t.me/SolovievLive/242546
Episode of the battle of the Russian 114th Brigade of the 1st Army Corps, which took place near a coal dump near the Avdeevka coking plant.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzKl421pOAs&rco=1
Posted by: 600w | Feb 26 2024 14:13 utc | 262
“Some EU and NATO countries are considering the possibility of sending their military to Ukraine on the basis of bilateral agreements, said Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico”
Posted by: rk | Feb 26 2024 13:52 utc | 259
British minister of defense recommends conscription. I would guess that Labour will not go that far, at this point Tories can babble because nobody takes them seriously. OTOH, who knows what Blairites (now, Starmerians) are thinking.
Posted by: Piotr Berman | Feb 26 2024 14:13 utc | 263
“Go change your diaper. And try not to sound so excited.”
Posted by: Lev Davidovich | Feb 26 2024 10:25 utc | 23
With that infantile remark you just became a chartered member of the “Intellectual basement club” (TM) alongside pinhead and giyane.
The 1st Abram tank has reportedly been destroyed.
https://t.me/intelslava/55491?single
Posted by: Mary | Feb 26 2024 14:38 utc | 265
@ WhirlX, §258:
Agreed, Whirl. I think the Russians will push to the Dniester in the south and at least the Dnieper in the north before they´ll be prepared for any talking.
If they pushed to the 1939 border, they might be able to dangle Galicia and Bessarabia before the Poles and Rumanians.
Might sweeten the talks . . .
Posted by: John Marks | Feb 26 2024 14:46 utc | 266
FrankDrakman@65…what’s your solution? More talk, have you ever lived under colonial yoke as a second or no class citizen? Great reads, try living it. So the kid that fried his self over yonder, wast of time was it. Maybe we just have a mass barbeque ourselves and spare the bastards the bullets and effort.
Yeah I’m sick of the death also, hurry up and get it over with.
Cheers M
Posted by: sean the leprechaun | Feb 26 2024 14:50 utc | 267
The end of Ukr has already passed. Now they are simply following the invasion script, like Afgh or Syria: “Some EU and NATO countries are considering the possibility of sending their military to Ukraine on the basis of bilateral agreements, said Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico”
Posted by: rk | Feb 26 2024 13:52 utc | 261
The Western intervention is surely nearing. We must never underestimate the western irrationality. Stalin also thought, Hitler would not fight on two fronts, but Hitler did. The collective West still considers Russians and other Slavs as sub humans.
So, they would take certain roles from Ukrainian army and launch terror attack.
Unfortunately, they consider Putin being to soft.
Posted by: vargas | Feb 26 2024 14:51 utc | 268
@ Ludo, §262:
Much more likely that Sweden (and Denmark) have discovered evidence that implicates US/UK . . . and they “don´t want to get in trouble with that powerful nation”.
Ask yourself, Ludo, “cui bono?”
Why would Russia blow up its own pipeline to its own best customer?
Posted by: John Marks | Feb 26 2024 15:00 utc | 269
Does anyone have a link to a list of the 500 sanctions announced by Biden?
Posted by: daffyDuct | Feb 26 2024 1:19 utc | 173
probably not for the last time… There is no free lunch in America.
Here’s the top-line announcement
treasury.gov, On Second Anniversary of Russia’s Further Invasion of Ukraine and Following the Death of Aleksey Navalny, Treasury Sanctions Hundreds of Targets in Russia and Globally
Here’s treasury.gov Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) landing page
OFAC
Navigation bar titles RECENT ACTIONS (news) | SANCTIONS LIST | SANCTIONS PROGRAMS point to subdomain databases in the drop-down and sidebar menues.
IF one has got a LOT of uhh unobligated time on one’s hands, one can retrieve records of every person (individual, company or “eNTITY”) by OFAC.
Posted by: sln2002 | Feb 26 2024 15:01 utc | 270
Ah, the public admission of the previously unsayable. Has finally started.
Next we’ll be told how shocked Washington is to find out about all of Ukraine’s naughty shortcomings. Along with Z-man’s coke & pill addiction etc.
We’re entering the start of the proxy-dump phase. Of course NATO will try to leave some parting gifts for the RF, but they always try s**tting in the well, when they skedaddle.
Oh, I’m sorry if that disappoints the nukemongers, no”fun” fallout-verse for you, anytime soon. You’ll need to embrace the present-world suck.
Obligatory reminder: NATO doesn’t fight those who can fight back head-on. Ever! :=).
Posted by: Urban Fox | Feb 26 2024 15:09 utc | 271
AntiSpin@184….two common human misconceptions, it’s a being and it’s up in the sky….has created no shortage of death on this planet.
Cheers M
Posted by: sean the leprechaun | Feb 26 2024 15:12 utc | 272
@ 261 & 271.
Nope and nope.
I’ll say it again. They missed their f**king chance two years ago.
So the idea of any little toy NATO army (I.E aside from the US) even theoretically doing s**t now is laughable. They exist as glorified auxillaries at best, decorations at worst.
Also, since someone mentioned Britain, no-one is getting conscripted to fight anywhere, because no-one is willing to fight for the present regime. The UK regular armed forces are a husk due to chronic lack of recruits & people quitting.
Hell, even if was possible just how are those Tommies going to be trained & equipped? The power of positive thinking?
Posted by: Urban Fox | Feb 26 2024 15:23 utc | 273
I’m sure someone else has posted this but I don’t have time to go through the whole thread rn. Ukrainian intelligence says Navalny died naturally from a blood clot.
https://www.kyivpost.com/post/28630
Posted by: KMRIA | Feb 26 2024 15:41 utc | 274
You make assertions based on zero credible evidence and when someone has the timerity to ask for your source, you respond with a combination of goodledegook and whataboutery. You incorrectly claimed that the US will soon be launching salvos into central Russia when someone else kindly had corrected your latest error by clarifying that Stoltenberg meant that NATO would be supplying missiles for Ukraine to launch at Russia.
Posted by: Lev Davidovich | Feb 26 2024 10:59 utc | 240
Let me spell it out for you, even though we have been over this many times.
The moment a missile salvo is detected towards pre-war Russia, the question immediately comes up what their targets are and what warheads they carry. ATACMS can carry nukes, so can Tomahawks, and so can the various F-16 ALCMs. But even the missiles that are not publicly known to be nuclear capable can be nuclear tipped, because these things are not always publicly announced.
So the Kremlin has to decide — do we let whatever gets past AD hit its targets or do we respond as if it is a nuclear strike? Problem is we don’t know what the targets are and we don’t know what the warheads are. It may well be a decapitation strike combined with strike against vital nuclear facilities, which will degrade second strike capabilities unless those second strike assets are launched now.
Then there is the issue of what happens if it is indeed a conventional attack and we don’t respond to it. Then the enemy knows we won’t respond next time either. That means that next time they can in fact put nukes on the missiles. You directly are inviting a nuclear strike if you don’t respond to the first one.
It should not be that hard to understand.
There is also another second order issue — the enemy knows all of the above, so logic dictates that they would not be launching a conventional attack against us knowing that we will respond with nuclear strikes in return because we will assume it is nuclear. Therefore he would more likely directly go for a nuclear first strike, and thus we have to assume even more strongly that those missiles are nuclear.
This is why public doctrine is so important, so that there is no confusion on these matters.
Once again, what difference does who fires the missiles make with respect to why the protocol is what it is?
Those are NATO missiles. Ukraine may be launching them, but the warheads come from NATO. So Ukraine not being a nuclear state is irrelevant. NATO has three nuclear states in it.
Posted by: shаdοwbanned | Feb 26 2024 15:46 utc | 275
“Zelensky claiming only 30k nazis liquidated in the course of the SMO.”
Zelensky’s definitely lying.
Last summer, a NYT article reported that US officials estimated Ukie casualties as 70,000 KIA and 120,000 WIA. The same officials claimed Russia’s losses were 120,000 KIA and 180,000 KIA. (the NYT article is dated 8/18/23).
Obviously, US officials are certain to understate Ukraine’s losses and exaggerate Russia’s, although to what degree is impossible to ascertain.
Has anyone seen any updated estimates of Russian and Ukie casualties? I don’t mean figures released by Russia or Ukraine, as both sides have powerful incentives for spinning the truth.
But maybe some half-credible think tank or academic source has published casualty estimates recently?
Posted by: GW | Feb 25 2024 19:33 utc | 75
You might have seen some previous estimates I made (no credible think tank, just curious)
Yesterday I was considering that the number of “handicaped/mutilated” in the ukraine records jumped 300.000 (and there are barely civilian casualties) and decided to take a look at WWII
Decided to take a look at USSR during WWII
Population 186.000.000
Initial army 4.900.000
Drafted 29.600.000
WoundDischar 3.900.000 )of which 3.000.000 mutilated
KIA 8.700.000
With a zero less this could be Ukraine…
Yes, when I made the WWI comparisons I would say that now discharged WIA = KIA = 630.000+ (same total 1.260.000 irrecoverable losses for the AFU, so Z divides by 20 or 30 his numbers, maybe he just passed his monthly casualties as total.
As for RF I’d say WIA=KIA= 70.000 mediazona seem to identify roughly 2/3 of the total KIA , at least it was close to that when it could be compared to excess mortality in the sub-50 male segment of the population (total kia+wia 140.000, when the “us sources” talked about 315.000 they were at least doubling the numbers)
Posted by: Newbie | Feb 26 2024 15:51 utc | 276
I’m sure someone else has posted this but I don’t have time to go through the whole thread rn. Ukrainian intelligence says Navalny died naturally from a blood clot.
https://www.kyivpost.com/post/28630
Posted by: KMRIA | Feb 26 2024 15:41 utc | 277
If Budanov is saying that, he (or his friends) did it 😀
Posted by: Newbie | Feb 26 2024 15:54 utc | 277
shаdοwbanned@278
Once again, what difference does who fires the missiles make with respect to why the protocol is what it is?
Absolutely none, other than target acquisition for payback.
Cheers M
Posted by: sean the leprechaun | Feb 26 2024 15:57 utc | 278
“In the west this is the same media that devotes December to propagating the myth of Father Christmas where every child is lied to that a fat man with a beard enters via their chimney and leaves them presents. The deceit and self delusion is an integral part of western culture.”
Lev Davidovich
What the hell does Father Christmas have to do with the SMO?
I think you like the sound of your own voice, however trite and irrelevant.
“ Some EU and NATO countries are considering the possibility of sending their military to Ukraine on the basis of bilateral agreements, said Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico”
Posted by: rk | Feb 26 2024 13:52 utc | 259
_____
This has been going on for at least two years already, and I suppose making it official would result in a slight reduction in costs—no need to sheep-dip the troops.
I say: Go ahead and send them. Russia will know how to take care of them. Won’t change the outcome one bit.
Posted by: malenkov | Feb 26 2024 16:46 utc | 280
by: John Marks | Feb 26 2024 14:46 utc | 269
If they pushed to the 1939 border, they might be able to dangle Galicia and Bessarabia before the Poles and Rumanians.
Might sweeten the talks . . .
Yes, it could be that is maybe the aim, at least for the future buffer zone establishment.
That will probably be the a no-weapons zone, if achieved in the future talks. It is a long way away, still.
But I doubt that Russia needs any of that territory and a dangerous presence in a non Russian world. They would just be seen as troublemakers and occupiers, by the locals and the West won’t let go that narrative.
Transnistria is a good prize and a solid strategic peek to EU and I doubt that people would object being under RF there.
As for Ukrainian national minorities population, they should be joined to their core countries, where in theory that idea makes NATO spread further East. I am not so sure if that is what RF wants. To me it is unclear what are real RF ambitions on taking the territory it doesn’t need.
I have no doubt that Hungary, Slovakia and Romania would not object to get this extra territory, but it is a tricky thing to do as many events can go wrong there. Poland is apparently falsely encouraged, but they understand that it is only possible as Russia will be mainly deciding on that.
Russia is not to keep anything in this hostile environment as it’ll cost a lot.
Odessa Oblast and a South-East Dniepr border is the prime and secondary desirable land catch.
In general I think in the future as current Ukraine loses the territory, there is going to be a lot of discussions, questions on should Ukraine exist or be distributed.
From what I see the West is terribly obsessed with Crimea and it will not let it go. Taking Odessa Oblast (city will surrender) kills that dream.
The best attitude since the Russian advances, is to keep the line ‘We do not know’. As that is the case.
Posted by: whirlX | Feb 26 2024 17:00 utc | 281
Imo, part of one way for Russia to solidify and future-proof its eventual victory over the AFU and the Zelenskyy regime would be for it to ensure that the government of what was left of Ukraine would be debt free, and also free of any claims from foreign entitities to its lands and resources.
Yadda yadda yadda, there is more than just military sense for Russian Federation forces to destroy the notion that Kiev controls the territory of Ukraine as currently shown on most maps. And there is more than just an immediate utility to seeing Ukraine with a new Constitution, and a new government.
Normally when a revolution occurs in a nation there is one very important thing that happens, and one very important thing that doesn’t happen. The important thing that happens, and which the West is generally always on top of beforehand, is that the foreign debt obligations of the new government are addressed. The very important thing that doesn’t happen is that the borders of the nation under the new government don’t change.
If Russia continues with its successes in Ukraine, the stage could eventually be set for history being made in regards the new government of what remains of Ukraine, and how it treats the debts, and previous sales of assets to foreigners, approved by the Zelenskyy regime and the ones before it.
Should Russia exceed expectations with its victories on the battlefield, and the collapse of the government in Kiev became total, I could imagine a transformation by Russia so encompassing of the governing of the new Ukraine that they debated on whether or not the capital should remain in Kiev.
Because nothing would tell the West “game over” as effectively as would eliminating governance from Kiev. But that would be more about appearances, albeit there could be utility to keeping the new levers of government far removed from where the former operators of them reside. The real goal for Russia could be all about getting a new Constitution in place, and getting the world to recognize the new government as being legitimate. So there would have to be an election, one that validated what Russia wanted to see in place.
And imo, at the end of the day the only way to get a thorough political victory within Ukraine is to first win a complete and overwhelming military one. And it should be so large and encompassing that most of the surviving Neo-Nazis choose to flee rather than being compelled by the Russian Federation victors to bare their arms as they got checked for tattoos.
Posted by: Babel-17 | Feb 26 2024 18:04 utc | 282
AntiSpin @184….two common human misconceptions, it’s a being and it’s up in the sky….has created no shortage of death on this planet.
Cheers M
Posted by: sean the leprechaun | Feb 26 2024 15:12 utc | 275
//
If it is, the James Webb telescope will find it for us 🙂
Posted by: AntiSpin | Feb 26 2024 18:37 utc | 283
@ WhirlX, §284:
Thanks, Whirl, for your response.
Indeed Transcarpathia would welcome being an exclave of Russia, like Kaliningrad. The population there identify as Russian, not “Ukrainian” and the Hungarian minority is tiny, comparable to the gypsies.
I don´t think anyone wants the Galicians but the Russians must take the whole of the Ukraine and then use Galicia as a bargaining chip to “cede” to the Poles, provided they demilitarize (i.e. no foreign troops) and leave NATO. They can stay in the EU (if they´re stupid enough). Let the Poles (and EU) deal with the disgruntled Galicians: watching the EU trying to impose LGBTQ on the Galicians would make good theatre . . .
Bessarabia is somewhat different as it´s populated with mostly Rumanians with smatterings of Turks, Bulgarians, Greeks, all sorts. Again, let Rumania sort that out provided they too abandon NATO and demilitarize.
The future of the Ukraine? I think the whole lot east of the 1939 border should be absorbed into Russia. At most a ´brotherly republic´ like Belarus could be established, perhaps renamed ´Chornarus´ after the rich black soils there. It should be restricted to Kiev, Zhitomir, Xmelnitsky, Vinnitsa, Yelizavetgrad and Cherkassy – maybe Chernigov and Poltava, if the Russians are feeling generous. Referenda should decide.
The minimum Russian demand should be the 1939-Dniester border. And, of course, as far as the foreign debts of the erstwhile Ukraine are concerned, BlakRock et al. can go sing for their money.
Crimea is and must stay securely Russian which is why Odessa, at least up to the Dniester, must be Russian
Posted by: John Marks | Feb 26 2024 19:14 utc | 284
Posted by: whirlX | Feb 26 2024 13:37 utc | 258
Illusionists use a number of techniques to misdirect their audience’s attention to where they want it to focus on, open source intelligence, about troop movements, are often used for similar purposes. Russia has practiced large scale, rapid, strategic relocations for over a decade now, and the ‘transparency’, afforded by ever-present media can be used effectively to ‘hide’ these movements. The supposed 40 mile convoy outside Kiev could have been an early attempt at misdirection, as perhaps were the reports of reinforcements being flown in, during the Ukrainian Kharkov offensive, and the resultant talk on SM of an imminent Russian counter-attack. I’m sure the Russians are making the most of the opportunity of working under Western ISR and have developed several strategies to blunt its effectiveness.
Posted by: Milites | Feb 26 2024 22:11 utc | 285
Posted by: whirlX | Feb 26 2024 13:37 utc | 258
Illusionists use a number of techniques to misdirect their audience’s attention to where they want it to focus on, open source intelligence, about troop movements, are often used for similar purposes. Russia has practiced large scale, rapid, strategic relocations for over a decade now, and the ‘transparency’, afforded by ever-present media can be used effectively to ‘hide’ these movements. The supposed 40 mile convoy outside Kiev could have been an early attempt at misdirection, as perhaps were the reports of reinforcements being flown in, during the Ukrainian Kharkov offensive, and the resultant talk on SM of an imminent Russian counter-attack. I’m sure the Russians are making the most of the opportunity of working under Western ISR and have developed several strategies to blunt its effectiveness.
Posted by: Milites | Feb 26 2024 22:11 utc | 286
Seeing the NYT reporting on the US Govt’s Ukraine “integration” the last 8 years speaks volumes to both complicity and farse. This will end badly when reality “intrudes”, upsetting their marginal control limits. It’s already beginning to “wobble”. Hold my beer… 🙂
Posted by: Ledovik1 | Feb 26 2024 22:19 utc | 287
Russian special forces release video of operations in the AFU rear and border area.
https://southfront.press/in-video-18-russian-special-forces-showed-their-operations-in-ukrainian-rear-areas/
Posted by: unimperator | Feb 26 2024 22:22 utc | 288
Russian special forces release video of operations in the AFU rear and border area.
https://southfront.press/in-video-18-russian-special-forces-showed-their-operations-in-ukrainian-rear-areas/
Posted by: unimperator | Feb 26 2024 22:22 utc | 289
“As has been explained to you Shadow**** 31,000 times. No 400,000 times, more accurate – Russia is winning on the battlefield; Putin’s domestic approval rating is around 80%, Russia’s economy is growing faster than the U.S., UK, Canada, Germany, France, Japan; BRICS gets stronger by the day. Ukraine is a political shit show on a par with its US and UK masters. Eventually the tipping point will be reached, the constant lies will no longer work and the citizens of the west and what is left of the former Ukraine will rise up and overthrow their leaders. They’re almost at that point, new western leaders will have to be more realistic, less belligerent towards Russia.
The demilitarisation and denazification goes on. No need for nukes. You Shadow**** can shove them and your childish, trolling posts and the lies of western leaders and their ‘we’ll never give up, as long as it takes’, faux concern anti Russian, angry patriots club bullshit up your arse.”
Posted by: Lev Davidovich | Feb 25 2024 21:31 utc | 112
Lev can you do a fucking post without the ludicrous and irrelevant ad hominens?
Your posts, at times, aren’t bad, yet you aren’t nearly as smart as you think you are such that your inflated ego and senseless personal attacks deeply mars your credibility.
“Western media is so incredibly sneaky in the way it skews info and plays with words in order to make Ukraine’s military debacle seem so much less bad than is actually the case.”
Posted by: GW | Feb 25 2024 22:03 utc | 122
The increasingly ‘out of touch’ US propaganda is actually a good sign. When Empires, countries, themes begin to fail the propaganda level increases exponentially: see Nazi Germany March 1945; USSR 1980’s; Baghdad Bob 2003; ‘Just say No to Drugs’: Nancy Reagan 1985; “If you take the vax you won’t get sick nor will you be able pass the virus on” 2022 The West.
The Empire is dying, quickly; the only worries that in its death throes if lashes out in a nuclear war.
shаdοwbanned | Feb 26 2024 15:46 utc | 278
***Those are NATO missiles. Ukraine may be launching them, but the warheads come from NATO. So Ukraine not being a nuclear state is irrelevant. NATO has three nuclear states in it.***
Once it had, but can the UK — long reduced to buying from the USA, which would completely control allegedly “UK” nuclear missiles and their use — really still be classed as one?
Posted by: Cynic | Feb 27 2024 15:58 utc | 292
canuck | Feb 26 2024 16:42 utc | 282
*** What the hell does Father Christmas have to do with the SMO?***
Khazarian Santa comes down the broadband and steals people’s brain cells?
Posted by: Cynic | Feb 27 2024 16:05 utc | 293
Posted by: sln2002 | Feb 26 2024 15:01 utc | 273
Thanks
Posted by: daffyDuct | Feb 28 2024 1:37 utc | 294