Only for news & views directly related to the war in Ukraine.

The current open thread for other issues is here.

Please stick to the topic. Contribute facts. Do not attack other commentators.

News & views (not related to the wars in Ukraine and Palestine) …

This is a rather sad tale:

Address by the President of the Russian Federation – Kremlin.ru, Feb 24 2022

The purpose of this operation is to protect people who, for eight years now, have been facing humiliation and genocide perpetrated by the Kiev regime. To this end, we will seek to demilitarise and denazify Ukraine, as well as bring to trial those who perpetrated numerous bloody crimes against civilians, including against citizens of the Russian Federation.

Official introduction of 153rd Mechanized Brigade – Military Land, Dec 27 2023

Another brigade from the 150s batch makes an official appearance.

On October 17, 2023, we reported about the creation of five new Ukrainian mechanized brigades for the possible counter-offensive in 2024. The 151st Mechanized Brigade was officially revealed on October 30 while 154th Mechanized Brigade on November 1.

Today, the 153rd Mechanized Brigade was publicly announced. The unit received its insignia and motto – the power of unconquered.

Russian Defense Minister General of the Army Sergei Shoigu held a conference call with the leadership of the Armed Forces (machine translation) – Ministry of Defense, Apr 2 2024

Since January, the armed forces of Ukraine have lost more than 80 thousand servicemen, 14 thousand units of various weapons, including more than one thousand two hundred tanks and other armored combat vehicles.

153rd Mechanized Brigade is no longer mechanized – Military Land, Apr 3 2024

The lack of vehicles forced Ukrainian command to back down from the original plans.

The leadership of the Armed Forces of Ukraine has reorganized the 153rd Mechanized Brigade into an infantry brigade. This change was announced through the official social media channels of the brigade.

While the official reason behind the change remains undisclosed, it is presumably linked to the shortage of infantry fighting vehicles.
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The reorganization of the 153rd Brigade may not be an isolated occurrence. According to our sources, the 152nd Mechanized Brigade is also slated for transformation into an infantry brigade in the near future.

Cont. reading: The Ukrainian Army Is No Longer Mechanized

Only for news & views directly related to the war in Palestine.

The current open thread for other issues is here.

Please stick to the topic. Contribute facts. Do not attack other commentators.

Only for news & views directly related to the war in Ukraine.

The current open thread for other issues is here.

Please stick to the topic. Contribute facts. Do not attack other commentators.

U.S. intelligence sources have, at times, fed bullshit to Seymour Hersh:

DUTY TO WARN Seymour Hersh, Mar 27 2024 (emphasis added)

This American intelligence community passed a warning of a possible attack involving religious extremists from Pakistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan eighteen days in advance of the Moscow concert hall assault that killed at least 137 people and injured more than one hundred. Such a warning invariably comes from intercepts from the National Security Agency and agent reports from the Central Intelligence Agency.

The Americans did their job but the Russian intelligence community, heeding its boss, did not. President Vladimir Putin publicly called the warning “provocative statements” three days before the attack, and the Russian security services ignored it. They bear responsibility, in the view of American intelligence experts, for failing to do what was necessary to protect the concertgoers.

According to the above President Putin of Russia is responsible for ignoring the warning of a terror attack the U.S. gave to Russia.

Similar bullshit was fed to Shane Harris of the Washington Post:

U.S. told Russia that Crocus City Hall was possible target of attack Washington Post, Apr 2 2024

More than two weeks before terrorists staged a bloody attack in the suburbs of Moscow, the U.S. government told Russian officials that Crocus City Hall, a popular concert venue, was a potential target, according to U.S. officials familiar with the matter.
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The Russian leader himself publicly dismissed U.S. warnings just three days before the March 22 attack, calling them “outright blackmail” and attempts to “intimidate and destabilize our society.”

It is again Putin who is to blame.

However the above claims are nonsensical. As Shane Harris writes further down in his piece:

Cont. reading: U.S. Has Claimed Duty To Warn But Did Not Do It

No one expects that western officials are knowledgeable – especially not with regards to facts. But some exceed even the lowest expectations one might have – and no, not to the upside.

Consider this op-ed by Evelyn N. Farkas, published two days ago:

Ukraine is not losing; US assistance must continue – The Hill, Mar 31 2024

The congressional faction that opposes Ukraine assistance shares a common talking point with the Kremlin — that Ukraine is losing the war with Russia anyway. Having just returned from Ukraine, where I met with top Ukrainian officials and participated in a security conference, I have found substantial evidence to the contrary.

All Farkas did was to talk with some Ukraine boosters in Kiev.  She has penned down whatever they claimed and now tries to sell that as the real. She thinks she is qualified to do so because she once held a high position in U.S. Defense Department:

Evelyn N. Farkas, Ph.D., is executive director of the McCain Institute and former deputy assistant secretary of Defense for Russia, Ukraine, Eurasia.

This however proves that she is extremely miss-informed and totally unqualified to make any judgment:

While the Ukrainians hardly welcome a new Russian offensive in the spring or summer, they believe it is likely. The officials we met with explained that Putin needs to show progress, some kind of victory to justify renewed mobilization and, emboldened now by his fake elections, he is likely to move on the ground and may try once again to open a land corridor to Crimea. But such decisions may plant the seeds of military overreach.

The land corridor between Crimea and the rest of the Russian Federation was established in early March 2022, less than two weeks after the current phase of the war had started.

At that time even the maps by the neo-conned Institute for the Study of War said so:

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The maps by the French Ministry of Defense confirmed the connection:

Cont. reading: Ukraine – When Opining War Experts Can’t Read Maps

Today, at 17:00 local time, Israel bombed the Iranian embassy area in Damascus, Syria. It hit a building next to the embassy which is used for consular services as well as for accommodations for embassy staff.

The target of the attack was General Mohammad Reza Zahedi (Abou Mahdi Zahedi) of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corp. He as well as other IRGC personnel were killed.

Zahedi was stationed in Damascus on invitation of the Syrian government. His responsibilities  included the IRGC relations with friendly forces in Lebanon as well as Syria.

The attack can be seen as another attempt by the Israeli government to incite a war with Hizbullah on its northern border. The idea behind such a war is to escalate far enough to draw U.S. forces into the fight (and to leave it to them to clean up the mess).

I doubt that the IRGC or its allies will fall for this. Zahedi will be replaced and the resistance against Israel will continue as planned.

Israeli officials in embassies around the world will now be forced to limit their movements in the general public as they are the most likely targets of revenge strikes.