two German generals salivating over Russians killing Russians and discussing how Germany can further assist with that by planning to supply Kiev with about 30 Leopard 1 tanks, 400 MRAP armored vehicles, 4 IRIS-T anti-aircraft systems, 10 Gepard ZSUs, 12 PzH 2000 self-propelled guns, 4 Zuzana 2 self-propelled guns, and an RCH 155 self-propelled gun by the end of the year.
In addition, the list includes various types of drones and anti-drone systems, logistics transport, including various types of trucks, medicines, and a field hospital, as stated by Major General Christian Freuding, head of the working group for coordinating assistance to Kiev at the German Defense Ministry.
post from telegram Putinger cat

Posted by: Jo | Aug 16 2024 16:24 utc | 104

Posted by: marcjf | Aug 16 2024 16:08 utc | 98
This will end badly now for NATO and Ukraine as the negotiated option appears closed. Why would Russia trust the current generation of Western leaders. Whoever they may be. And I don’t know. And who in any event would Russia actually negotiate with? Again, I have no idea and I speculate neither do the Russians. And maybe the West doesn’t either.

You make a lot of sense but I will (again) venture a prediction based on what little understanding I have of the Russian/Putin general approach, which tends to be almost pedantically legalistic, stodgy. With that premise in mind:
1. Ukraine no longer has constitutionally correct leadership, either President or Parliament. Therefore RF can deal directly with the Ukraine Military. The only thing to treat with in that zone of authority is Ukie surrender whose commander can negotiate terms of such surrender such as whether or not arms are piled in town squares, barracks emptied, top brass arrested and so on.
2. Ukraine’s surrender will come only via direct negotiations with RF without any other parties involved such as US, NATO, UK, Poland, UN etc. The scope of terms will be fairly narrow, basically involving the logistics of unconditional surrender.
3. Once Ukraine has unconditionally surrendered, the geopolitical chips will fall into yet another tectonically different configuration as the world wakes up to a world where whatever the blowhards in London, DC, Paris or Brussels say is clearly irrelevant.

Posted by: Scorpion | Aug 16 2024 16:34 utc | 106

Before year end, few ‘gringo’ Vulture Funds will be knocking at the Mariinskyi Palace in country 404. No other than $156 billions (“B”) are now at stake and by the time this latest adventure reaches its forced end by the mighty Russians; w could be talking a figure close to $170B.

Posted by: AI | Aug 16 2024 16:36 utc | 108

Posted by: William Gruff | Aug 16 2024 16:32 utc | 105
I am not a bot, fuckface.
God, you are Karen of the worst kind.

Posted by: canuck | Aug 16 2024 16:42 utc | 110

Addendum to above comment – Syrski of course had a reputation as a butcher who didn’t care about his men, but if even he was against Kursk, then just imagine how his death could lead to an even worse butcher being installed by NATO.

Posted by: Ghost of Zanon | Aug 16 2024 16:47 utc | 112

Posted by: Jo | Aug 16 2024 16:24 utc | 104
Leopard 1 tank and Gepard AA-gun are 1960’s design, 1970’s made. Leopard has one big gun, Geopard has two smaller, faster guns, and a radar to track airplanes.
The engine of a Leopard is 37.4 liter. Think of it this way: each time the axle turns, 4 large buckets of air and diesel mixture burn.
The American counterpart the Abrams tank is somethink like 2 gallon per mile (4 liters per km).
And no NGO complains about climate change, nor do people glue themselves to roads.

Posted by: Passerby | Aug 16 2024 16:51 utc | 114

To the last Ukrainian….

Ministry of Registration of Ukraine:
Ukrainians aged 16 and over will be included in the register of conscripts without undergoing a military medical examination when applying for a passport in Ukraine and abroad.
And from the age of 17, you must register for military service. And also without passing the MME
https://x.com/GeromanAT/status/1824443388445278276

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Aug 16 2024 16:55 utc | 116

Posted by: Jeremy Rhymings-Lang | Aug 16 2024 16:48 utc | 113
Well, as european financial expert vargas so aptly said many a times: “the west can simply print, they have unlimited money“.
My guess is the west will have to waste the stolen russian money for ukraine, instead of filling their own pockets with it, as was intended.
Thatll be some 300b plus interest, enough to bail ukraina out for a while. Highly likely? Probably not, but clever accounting only goes so far.

Posted by: Justpassinby | Aug 16 2024 16:57 utc | 118

Posted by: Ghost of Zanon | Aug 16 2024 16:45 utc | 111

Eliminating another general who cares about husbanding his [ukrops] and materials in a professional way may clear the deck for a deranged lunatic replacement who will do Zelensky and NATOs biding, even if it is an obvious suicide mission.

You say that like it’s a bad thing.

Posted by: Johan Kaspar | Aug 16 2024 17:08 utc | 120

@ Posted by: Doctor Eleven | Aug 16 2024 15:34 utc | 85
Regarding the essay at Indian Punchline:
I don’t believe Mr. Bhadrakumar would claim to be a military analyst, but he is an astute political analyst. I believe he is correct stating that the Ukraine incursion into Russia is a big political embarrassment for Putin and that departing US president Biden might do something stupid to escalate the war (while allowing that Blinken and Sullivan are more in control of US policy than Biden ever was). Still, as Bhadrakumar writes, “the fact remains that every time Putin mentions tactical nukes, it is still a message of deterrence.”
But the idea that Russia is fully in control of the situation, as frequently echoed here at MoA, is naïve. Yes, Russia is making steady progress toward its goals. And no, Russia does not know what the West is going to do next. For the US empire, this is an existential struggle to maintain global dominance. It seems to me that Putin is doing everything possible to avoid being drawn into a war with NATO. I am no military analyst, nor a political analyst. But, based on what has come before, it seems more likely than not that the US will continue to escalate the conflict. How far will that go?
I like MoA because B provides useful analysis and links to factual news that I would not otherwise see. Some of the commenters also provide useful links. And I like Indian Punchline and Gilbert Doctorow, among others, because they provide thoughtful, independent viewpoints. There’s room for all of that.

Posted by: Clever Dog | Aug 16 2024 17:12 utc | 122

@82
I am dumber, if that is possible, having read the first paragraph of your click bait!
I am not dum enough to read that…… more.

Posted by: paddy | Aug 16 2024 17:18 utc | 124

Posted by: Johan Kaspar | Aug 16 2024 17:08 utc | 120
I suppose from a very cynical point of view, it would be better to have madmen in charge of the UAF, but this goes back to the question of what, if any, autonomy the UAF still has?
It would be better, IMO, if the UAF still maintained at least some autonomy to push back against the worst of NATO ghouls who would turn them into a zombie army with no military discipline. Just raw meat to attack Russia and who cares if they get a pike inserted into their skulls.
Imagine that Russia takes the entire Donbass up to the Dnipr in 2025. Such a zombie army could be converted into terror cells that continue to harrass Russia and cause trouble.
But we may be already at that point.

Posted by: Ghost of Zanon | Aug 16 2024 17:23 utc | 126

An estimated 15,000 personnel have been involved in the assault on Kursk, including not only Ukrainian forces, but also contractors and volunteers from a number of Western countries, with the presences of Polish and English speaking forces having been confirmed.
https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/kursk-mi28-nighttime-strikes-ukrainian
Posted by: Jams O’Donnell | Aug 16 2024 12:23 utc | 19
Then I am surprised there are no named foreigners/westerners killed, injured, or captured so far.

Posted by: MiniMo | Aug 16 2024 17:26 utc | 128

It would be better, IMO, if the UAF still maintained at least some autonomy to push back against the worst of NATO ghouls who would turn them into a zombie army with no military discipline. Just raw meat to attack Russia and who cares if they get a pike inserted into their skulls.
Imagine that Russia takes the entire Donbass up to the Dnipr in 2025. Such a zombie army could be converted into terror cells that continue to harrass Russia and cause trouble.
But we may be already at that point.

Posted by: Ghost of Zanon | Aug 16 2024 17:23 utc | 126
At the risk of sounding like a bloodthirsty ghoul myself, what you outline is not an infinite resource. As an entity, Ukraine keeps over-stamping itself with ever-shorter expiry dates.

Posted by: Jeremy Rhymings-Lang | Aug 16 2024 17:30 utc | 130

Posted by: MiniMo | Aug 16 2024 17:26 utc | 128
Are you expecting to see some kind of “Kursk Roll Of Honour”? Listing all the British, US, Polish, French, Uncle Tom Cobleigh and all the other “heroic defenders of freedumb and democwacy”?
Personally, I’m on high alert for an uptick in Osprey and Chinook ‘accidents’, or tragic losses whilst ski-ing (in August? In the northern hemisphere?)!

Posted by: Jeremy Rhymings-Lang | Aug 16 2024 17:38 utc | 132

The link for 133 https://x.com/vicktop55/status/1824321048189210908

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Aug 16 2024 17:41 utc | 134

War correspondent Sladkov: This is the most recent video collection of our actions in the SMO zone.
But in the Kursk direction. I understand the situation like this.
They entered the Kursk region at 13-15 km. There was one place up to 19, but the enemy had to retreat. The width of the enemy’s zone of action, the front, 40 kilometers, it is difficult to squeeze the throat to cut off the oxygen of those who entered – too wide.
In Sudzha, there are their own affairs, you need to be there to say for sure, I am not there. But I know that the Armed Forces of Ukraine turned from Sudzha towards Korenev. But we have competently fortified ourselves in that regional center and in Rylsk, and the enemy can neither take us there nor bypass us.
But! The enemy has at least four brigades and a sea of recruits in the Ukrainian Sumy region. And we kept wondering why they didn’t take Rylsk and Korenev in pincers – they could have gone from Sudzha and Sumy, and that’s it!
But! In my opinion, if they send their reserves into Kursk province, who will pull them back? They’ve already taken their people from Ugledar and Chasy Yar and brought them to Sumy. If they had gone in the direction of Rylsk in their entire crowd, we could have hit them in the flank along the border and surrounded them.
But if we go to surround them, we’ll find ourselves between two fires, the reserves in Sumy and the grouping near Sudzha. They can’t throw their reserves into battle and send them back to Donbass. We’re distracting their forces.

But forecasters still say: time will pass and all Ukrainian units that entered the Kursk region will have to group in Sudzha and slowly die in encirclement, like at the Azovstal plant in Mariupol. Or they will have to run home under the hurricane fire of the Russian Army.
Today we are hellishly hitting the reserves of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in Sumy, and the supply routes of the Ukrainian group in the Kursk region. I am sure that the prospects for the Ukrainian Armed Forces on Russian territory are very, very gloomy.
Either death during withdrawal, or death in encirclement, or thousands of prisoners. Ukraine has already tried all the options.

https://x.com/vicktop55/status/1824394924541853864

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Aug 16 2024 17:49 utc | 136

Posted by: Clever Dog | Aug 16 2024 17:12 utc | 122
Russia may not know what Nato is going to do next by this doesn’t mean that NATO can do ‘everything’ and choose from an unlimited bouquet of options.
What do you think next Nato move will be or possibly be?

Posted by: Mario | Aug 16 2024 17:56 utc | 138

What do you think next Nato move will be or possibly be?

Posted by: MiniMo | Aug 16 2024 17:26 utc | 128
Probably the same as all their previous moves… “Make it up as we go along, and hope against hope that something sticks”.

Posted by: Jeremy Rhymings-Lang | Aug 16 2024 18:06 utc | 140

The Russians ruthlessly killing HIMARS that are firing from Sumy into Kursk
Supposedly 3 Sumy HIMARS have been destroyed in the last 72 hours.
The Nazis have been attacking bridges in Kursk with HIMAR to obstruct Russian forces. Ironically, they are limiting the movement of their own forces, and in a few hours, cement will be laid. Unlike the West, it won’t take Russia a week to pour a new bridge.

Posted by: LoveDonbass | Aug 16 2024 18:13 utc | 142

followed by return to Ukraine and poverty and shunning by the rest of Ukrainian society as one of the idiots who contributed to Ukraine’s ruin.
Posted by: anonposter | Aug 16 2024 17:41 utc | 135
—
After the war is lost Ukrainian nationals will forget their political opinions as fluidly as the population of post WWII Europe did.

Posted by: too scents | Aug 16 2024 18:13 utc | 144

@Napoleon seems to be missing in action today. Shame, I was looking forward to his updates about the “game-changing” capabilities of Schrödingers F-16s…

Posted by: Jeremy Rhymings-Lang | Aug 16 2024 18:16 utc | 146

Dima says that Ukrainian offensive has stalled and that Ukrainians had significant losses.
That is the most reliable confirmation of the possible failure of their offensive.
But, why is Lukashenko calling for peace?
But why are Lukashenko and Putin asking for peace if Ukro army has just crashed in Kursk?
I understand nothing.

Posted by: vargas | Aug 16 2024 18:18 utc | 148

Posted by: LoveDonbass | Aug 16 2024 18:07 utc | 141
This works not only for Zelensky but for Putin too and, I suspect for Trump/Khamala.
In my opinion Trump/Khamala will change nothing, the regime change longed from the west in RF is not granted to change anything in favor of the west, unless they can install their puppet in the Kremlin.

Posted by: Mario | Aug 16 2024 18:19 utc | 150

I understand nothing.
Posted by: vargas | Aug 16 2024 18:18 utc | 148
###########
“even on the darkest day, the sun shines on some dog’s ass.”

Posted by: LoveDonbass | Aug 16 2024 18:21 utc | 152

The bridge over the Seim River in the village of Zvannoye, Glushkovsky District, Kursk Region, was hit by the Ukrainian Armed Forces using HIMARS. This is clearly visible in the first four holes that the HIMARS leaves behind.
So they were given the go-ahead…
This means that the Ukrainian Armed Forces want to complicate the transfer of equipment of the Russian Armed Forces, and it is also worth forgetting about the further offensive of the Ukrainian army.
There are still two bridges, which means they will be hit.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces just need to freeze this direction so that it is not as costly as in the first days, in order to be able to switch to phase two.
This is not possible yet, since there is a risk of losing all the results, and then phase two does not make any sense.

https://t.me/legitimniy/18543

Posted by: Down South | Aug 16 2024 18:25 utc | 154

August 16, 2024. Kursk region.
During ten days of the invasion of Kursk region, the AFU lost more than 2,500 people killed and more than 4,000 wounded. Total total sanitary losses of the grouping that entered the Kursk region and combat tactical groups of the enemy’s operational reserve in Sumy region – about 7000 people.
Over the past 24 hours in the area of CTO in Kursk region and in the border area, the zone of control of our territories by the AFU has been truncated. At the same time, the enemy does not abandon attempts to enter our territory from other directions and destroys infrastructure. In particular, on the third time he managed to destroy one of the four bridges over the Seim River. And made an attempt to break through to the village of Glushkovka. Glushkovka. Right now there are small arms battles and works barrel.
In the near future will be cleared np. Borki, Spalnoye, Cherkasskaya, Dmitriukov. As well as surrounded by AFU forces np. Matveevka and Olgovka. The mop-up operation is underway.
The situation in the CTO zone in Kursk region is complicated, but controlled. The enemy is inventing new methods of breakthrough, trying various variants of combat pressure, including the use of MLRS. It is trying to move northward from the captured bridgehead. But all attempts are bought as they are detected by the Russian Armed Forces.

https://t.me/Slavyangrad/106150

Posted by: Down South | Aug 16 2024 18:29 utc | 156

Posted by: William Gruff | Aug 16 2024 16:32 utc | 105
I am not a bot, fuckface.
God, you are Karen of the worst kind.
Posted by: canuck | Aug 16 2024 16:42 utc | 110
Might as well b a bot. U offer about the same here. Might wanna look up the def of karen as it fits your persona here 100%. I hope u enjoy the constant belittling. Consider this a get what you give moment fuck face.

Posted by: Tannenhouser | Aug 16 2024 18:33 utc | 158

Down South | Aug 16 2024 18:29 utc | 156
If that number of losses is correct, then it is likely the amount thrown in to date is up around the 20,000 mark as they are still attacking on the south eastern flank area.
The Americans and Brits though just consider it cheap cannon fodder to throw at the Russians.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Aug 16 2024 18:35 utc | 160

Where did you get the info that Putin is calling for peace?
Lukashenko is a more or less outside player, will you understand why Erdogan ask for peace?
Posted by: Mario | Aug 16 2024 18:34 utc | 159
Lukashenko was calling for peace, but he wouldn’t say anything without Putin’s approval.

Posted by: vargas | Aug 16 2024 18:37 utc | 162

Victor | Aug 16 2024 18:35 utc | 161
You clowns that come here to post MSM propaganda like it is the gods truth – if that’s your thing, go read it at an MSM site and comment at the MSM site.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Aug 16 2024 18:42 utc | 164

i really shouldnt ask, but… you know that from where?
Posted by: Justpassinby | Aug 16 2024 18:40 utc | 163
I suppose he would never make such an important statement without Putin’s confirmation.

Posted by: vargas | Aug 16 2024 18:49 utc | 166

****But why are Lukashenko and Putin asking for peace if Ukro army has just crashed in Kursk?
I understand nothing.
vargas @148
*****************************
I read Lukashenko as asking for Ukraine to surrender, and that we (Rus, Belorus and Ukraine) are really all the same people so let’s work together.

Posted by: Jerr | Aug 16 2024 18:56 utc | 168

Posted by: Napoleon | Aug 16 2024 18:56 utc | 169
############
Where are the F-16s?

Posted by: LoveDonbass | Aug 16 2024 18:59 utc | 170

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Aug 16 2024 18:42 utc | 164
“You clowns that…”
Can you tell me why you stay awake at all times, if Bubba is not force-feeding you the food of his loins at all hours? May be you are an inmate?
Or you could be a bot, or you could be a racist neo-nazi group? They are several in the criminal downunder?

Posted by: Victor | Aug 16 2024 19:01 utc | 172

The 7000 dead and wounded doesn’t match general Apti’s numbers of 11k total. Bloggers…
It was in the news that St. Pete’s governor is preparing for drone and other flying attacks. A guy with brains

Posted by: rk | Aug 16 2024 19:04 utc | 174

There’s been a pattern of cope with Kursk. First, Russia said they had immediately expelled the incursion. (A lie…and very wrong.) Then we keep hearing, day after day, that the “situation is now stabilized”. But UFA drives on and takes more territory and we get a NEW “situation is NOW” stabilized.
And peeps here tended to claim it was similar to the Belgorad incursions and would be gone in a few days. (Except for the passive aggressive types who refused to make a guess…of any sort…not wanting to be exposed with a too early prediction or admit to realistic longer duration.) Anyhow, it’s well over a week now. So the “it will take months” view seems the most realistic. And yes, Kharkiv area invasion by the Russians was the best comparable, not the Belgorad speed runs, not Krinky.
None of this is to say that this will open the doors to Moscow. My point isn’t even the strategic significance (although I think it’s “medium”). My point is the cope, cope, cope of the peeps here.
Heck, one guy said it must be a mysterious trap since the Russians looked bad. IOW, if there’s good news, that’s legit. And if there’s bad news, it must be 5D chess. IOW, in his view, there’s ZERO ability to acknowledge setbacks. Zero ability to look at things objectively.
Heck…it reminds me of the yuckyucks posting RFA claims or UFA killed, and accepting them, while refusing to accept the UFA claims of RFA killed. (And I think both sides lie, both sides exaggerate. And the entire history of military BDA (battle damage assessment) shows that sides tend to overestimate how much damage they did to the enemy!

Posted by: Anonymous | Aug 16 2024 19:05 utc | 176

Posted by: Rune Denmark | Aug 16 2024 15:30 utc | 82
This is a very good point. I have also been surprised by this (uncharacteristic) short-sightedness on the part of China. The Russians have of course said no to a new pipeline as long as it’s associated with a long-term contract for a low price, both because their natural gas will be more valuable in the future (the 30 year gas supply contract, signed in 2014 with an undisclosed fixed price, is probably not going to be repeated) and also probably partly because the Chinese have gravely insulted them.
The Chinese have supported the Russians in important ways but in this case they have blatantly attempted to use Russia’s state of war to try to squeeze them and essentially exploit their ally’s involvement in an existential war for China’s commercial gain. Big surprise that this would blow up in their faces.
In a situation such as the one you describe, where the US blocks the Malacca Strait, it’s obviously China that will be starved of energy, not Russia. Why would the Chinese not be desperate to have a gas pipeline in place, even in the absence of a gas supply contract? It’s not like they have any shortage of foreign exchange reserves to spend on infrastructure worldwide (in fact, they’re plagued by the problem of not finding enough low-risk, high-reward projects to spend them on.)
And to make it even worse: Besides blocking the Malacca Strait, the US could also simply start sinking or threaten to sink any crude or LNG carrier suspected to be heading for China anywhere in the world’s oceans. The quite large US nuclear submarine fleet, just like – until recently at least – even their production of new submarines, is unfortunately still one of the best-functioning components of their navy (not to mention their crumbling military overall), as I understand it.
Even though China’s own submarine and anti-submarine capabilities have undoubtedly made substantial progress, publicly known or secret, it would be very difficult to hunt and destroy these American submarines if the area in which tankers are threatened is not just the Malacca straits but much of the Indian Ocean and the Pacific.
In such a situation, it will be China that’s starved of energy, not Russia. They could have had not just one bur many more overland supply routes (not just gas pipelines, but also oil pipelines and HVDC power lines) to ameliorate the energy shortages they would experience, but they chose, exactly as you put it, to antagonize the Russians instead, ending up with not even a single new pipeline (Power of Siberia 2) completed for at least five more years so. Very strange.
Another worry I have is if if the railway capacity between Russia and China is sufficient (especially if the lines through Kazakhstan for some reason, for example US threats or interference, would need to be bypassed) and if there are enough oil tanker cars to rapidly increase the shipments of crude oil and petroleum products from Russia to China in the event of war. Once again, you would think that there would have been a lot more done to strengthen the road and railway links between China and Russia than has actually been done, if not else for this reason (how many tanker cars are in reserve or could be available I don’t know).
If anything, the Chinese seem in this case to be making the same mistake with regard to Russia the West has made: Thinking that a country with not just enormous foreign exchange reserves and recurring current account surpluses, but massively endowed with resources the world will need both in times (energy, food, minerals) and as such an almost built-in resistance to Western-engineered balance of payment crises.
The best example of this is how the West sanctioned Russian oil and gas exports, and did manage to decrease exports of both oil and gas in volume terms. But since prices were driven up, Russia ended up with much higher oil and gas revenues and with record current account surpluses. (In other words: Russia gets to keep more of their oil and gas still in the ground, but still end up with higher oil and gas export revenues. Nicely done!)
Now I really hope that Russia has those channeled those earnings into assets that can’t be seized again, and there are persistent rumors that Russia just like China has secretly amassed much larger gold reserves than officially declared, but there’s no way to know.
There are countless ways in which Russia is worse off than the USSR, but a constant need for hard currency (or foreign assets more generally) is, as described above, not one of them. Why anyone, whether the West or China, would assume that such a country would be desperate to export their natural resources, even if they have to accept bargain prices, I don’t know.
To make it even more ironic: The West made much the same false assumptions about China, i.e. that it’s China that’s dependent on exports to the West, and not the West that’s dependent on imports from China. A beautful illustration of this was how the tariffs that Trump (and later also Biden) imposed on China didn’t decrease America’s imports from China at all, whether by value or volume. Instead, both measures continued to increase (although, more recently, China has begun reducing its exports to the West and increasing them to the rest of the world).
The only thing that changed was that American consumers had to pay more for Chinese goods to the American government, increasing their cost of living. This may even have been an underappreciated factor in the surge of inflation – even the offical numbers – that began around 2021. Michael Hudson used to joke at the time that China should say “Hey, if you put 50% tariffs on your imports from us, then we’ll put 50% tariffs on our exports to you. It’s only fair that we should get a cut too.”

Posted by: Unnamed | Aug 16 2024 19:07 utc | 178

But! The enemy has at least four brigades and a sea of recruits in the Ukrainian Sumy region. And we kept wondering why they didn’t take Rylsk and Korenev in pincers – they could have gone from Sudzha and Sumy, and that’s it!
Posted by: Peter AU1 | Aug 16 2024 17:49 utc | 136
Go back some pages and read what I warned much earlier and was confirmed today. They did try to pincer Rylsk.
And on another of your posts, 20.000 still seems short for the order. 30.000 for the Sudzha axis I guess.

Posted by: Newbie | Aug 16 2024 19:11 utc | 180

Posted by: Clever Dog | Aug 16 2024 14:59 utc | 67 & 122
Thanks for the link, Mr. Bhadrakumar often writes interesting and pertinent analyses, and this is one of them.
First of all, it’s obvious that political will and “diplomacy” (or the lack of it) are just as important as the purely military aspect of the Ukrainian intrusion into Russia.
Whatever the outcome of this gambit, it is already a setback for Russia, and refusing to see it will prevent a reliable and complete analysis of the situation.
Russia is well aware that, this is not its first setback in this war, and it has suffered many others, much worse, in other wars waged against her.
But she always got back on her feet, and in the end, Russia always win.
As for the Ukrainian intrusion, Mr. Bhadrakumar’s hypothesis, which can be summed up roughly as a desire to force Russia to escalate and eventually go as far as the use of a tactical nuclear weapon, is probably right: those in Ukraine and NATO who conceived this intrusion clearly have several military and political objectives in mind, including :
>escalation, by provoking Russia further and further; it’s more than likely that one or more factions in the Ukraine or NATO are hoping for a nuclear escalation by Russia (what a relief it would be for the Yankees to no longer be the only nuclear genocidals in the eyes of history)
>breaking “red lines”, pushing hesitant “allies” into war by the deed: your weapons ARE being used in Russia
>propaganda action and media spectacle
Two other factors should not be underestimated when attempting to understand this maneuver: the particular mentality of neo-Nazis, whether Ukrainian or NATO, and their excessive consumption of synthetic stimulants.
And also the fact that in Palestine, every day, the USA and the West, in short NATO, show the rest of the world just how far they’re prepared to go: to hell.

Posted by: Tak-Tik | Aug 16 2024 19:15 utc | 182

Those who follow the Ukrainian theater of operations in the north, near Kupyansk, where things have been stagnant for a long time, have finally broken through. The Russian Armed Forces have significantly advanced towards the Oskol River and the village of Kolesnikovka near Kupyansk.
Even according to Western military analysts, our offensive in the area of ​​the village of Peschanoye has been very successful. From there, the Russian Armed Forces have less than seven kilometers left to go in a straight line to Oskol.
Apparently, reaching this river and taking up positions along its left bank is one of the key goals of our General Staff in this direction.
But this is not all the successful advancement of the Russian Armed Forces over the past 10 days, while the Ukrainian Armed Forces are burning their strategic reserves in the Kursk region.

https://t.me/geromanat/31985

Posted by: Down South | Aug 16 2024 19:17 utc | 184

Posted by: Jeremy Rhymings-Lang | Aug 16 2024 19:12 utc | 181
###########
The coffee break is over!

Posted by: LoveDonbass | Aug 16 2024 19:21 utc | 186

Down South | Aug 16 2024 19:17 utc | 184
I see settlements and localities on the eastern front going down like ninepins in the last days/week. A good indicator Nato have greatly weakened their forces in that direction.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Aug 16 2024 19:25 utc | 188

“Victor | Aug 16 2024 19:01 utc | 172
Fuck off troll.”
Posted by: Peter AU1 | Aug 16 2024 19:02 utc | 173
Peter, that idiot undoubtedly needs an intellectual spanking – however, you are improving, no sexual innuendos just a solid, profane invective.
The way you are coming along, criticizing people for who they are, rather than what you might think they may be, is solid progress…
You won’t need therapy…

Posted by: canuck | Aug 16 2024 19:26 utc | 190

Lord Of War
⚡️🔴 The Ukrainian Armed Forces are preparing to explode a “dirty” nuclear bomb, they plan to strike spent fuel storage sites NPP – RT with reference to Marat Khairulin
▪️At the moment, it is known about the intention of the Ukrainian Armed Forces to attack the nuclear facilities of the Kursk nuclear power plant in Kurchatov and the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant in Energodar.
▪️The Ukrainian Armed Forces have already delivered special warheads to the city of Zhovti Vody (Dnepropetrovsk region) to attack spent nuclear fuel storage sites.
Editorial comment – if the launch point is known, this could be a win/win situation for Zelensky. If Russia wipes out the launch site before they attempt the attack, Zelensky can cry and whine that Russia used a tactical nuke (it would be a lie but increased radiation levels near the blast radius would be cited to drum up outrage.)
▪️According to sources, the warheads are located at the Eastern Mining and Processing Plant. An attack is possible during the next attempt by the Ukrainian Armed Forces to enter Rylsk from Glukhov.
#important

Posted by: Ghost of Zanon | Aug 16 2024 19:27 utc | 192

Posted by: Unnamed | Aug 16 2024 19:07 utc | 178
>it’s obviously China that will be starved of energy,
You are obviously not keeping up with Chinese progress with solar panels, battery technology and nuclear power. China may be overflowing with non fossil fuel energy in 10 years. It’s also simpler to let Russia use the gas to fuel energy intensive basic industry (metals, glass, fertilizer, etc) and then import the outputs of those basic industries for further processing in China. So China might not see any big future need for more gas than what existing pipelines supply.

Posted by: anonposter | Aug 16 2024 19:27 utc | 194

🇷🇺☢️🇺🇦
Per RIA Novosti the planned strike against both nuclear power plants is being supervised by the Intelligence Services of the United Kingdom. Large numbers of Western journalists are in Zaporozhye and Sumy to report on the strikes and ensure early spin.
🐻 RIA Novosti is huge. It is one of the big two Russian press agencies along with TASS. The source for this is not some military blogger, it is apparently a very high ranking source from the Russian Intelligence Services. This means before you ask ‘is Putin aware/will Russia do something/why are they not paying attention?’ this means that the very highest levels of the Russian government know about this plot and are giving details publically. They have their attention fixed on this and are worried.

https://t.me/DDGeopolitics/119647

🇷🇺☢️🇺🇦 A large number of Western journalists have arrived in Sumy and Zaporozhye amid Kiev’s preparations for an attack on the Kursk and Zaporozhye nuclear power plants, said Lebedev, coordinator of the pro-Russian underground, to RIA Novosti.

https://t.me/DDGeopolitics/119648

Posted by: Norwegian | Aug 16 2024 19:28 utc | 196

Posted by: Tannenhouser’s Panties | Aug 16 2024 16:19 utc | 103
“Who are you referring to?”
Posted by: Unnamed | Aug 16 2024 19:09 utc | 179
To you, you dumb fuck.
On the other hand, Tannenhouser’s Panties, he isn’t much higher on the intellectual ladder than yourself.

Posted by: canuck | Aug 16 2024 19:32 utc | 198

canuck | Aug 16 2024 19:26 utc | 190
I could be bothered putting that piece in a translator the other day.
I wish I was fit enough to be bouncing around a paddock trying to make babies with a kangaroo though I suspect that would be beyond the abilities of even an olympic level athlete.
Though I think if I had just a little bit of energy, I would be finding more interesting things to do.
Places to go, things to do… A bit beyond me now.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Aug 16 2024 19:35 utc | 200