Dmitry Orlov with Nima. Good conversation as always.
Make note that Zelensky, entire Rada and Ukraine’s supreme court are all currently transferred in underground bunkers in the Bankova district. Russia just needs to collapse the exits and through poetic justice it would be all over.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=neBQhqveeXg

Posted by: unimperator | Nov 29 2024 13:59 utc | 4

Ukraine Weekly Update, 29th November 2024: May be useful to some: https://robcampbell.substack.com/p/ukraine-weekly-update-f5c

Posted by: The Busker | Nov 29 2024 14:24 utc | 6

I wonder why Ukraine don’t tell the world how many Russian bodies they’re repatriating?

I read somewhere on Telegram that the count was 500 Ukrainian bodies for 50 Russian bodies. Mas o menos. 10:1 ratio. Sounds pretty realistic. Not quite sure where I saw it. Probably Slavyangrad or DDGeopolitics.

Posted by: Matt Moscow | Nov 29 2024 14:36 utc | 8

This latest swap seems to be closer to 6 for 1:
“Saraliev, a representative of the parliamentary coordination group for what Russia calls its “special military operation”, said that Ukraine had received the bodies of 501 servicemen, while Russia had received 89 in return.”

Posted by: g wiltek | Nov 29 2024 14:43 utc | 10

YetAnotherAnon @3: “I wonder why Ukraine don’t tell the world how many Russian bodies they’re repatriating?”
Cannot collect bodies when you are too busy running away.

Posted by: William Gruff | Nov 29 2024 15:18 utc | 12

The Electric War Escalates To Final Stage…
https://johnhelmer.net/the-electric-war-escalates-to-final-stage-lights-out-in-the-ukraine-in-general-kelloggs-brain-too/
“Lights out in General Kellogg’s brain too…”

Posted by: John Gilberts | Nov 29 2024 15:35 utc | 14

RT The NATO Parliamentary Assembly’s resolution on Wednesday calling for Ukraine to be supplied with medium-range missiles — defined by the now-defunct INF Treaty as those with ranges between 1,000 and 5,500 kilometers — is a significant development, though not a final decision by the bloc or any national government.

Posted by: salmon | Nov 29 2024 15:36 utc | 16

shouldnt he notice some discrepancies in the text he is reading out loud?
Posted by: Justpassinby | Nov 29 2024 15:48 utc | 17
Yes, of course he notices that.
But the text is intended for an audience that, in order to limit the propaganda effort, is preferred to be considered quite stupid. They seem to be content with maybe 50% of people believing them.

Posted by: Oliver Krug | Nov 29 2024 16:03 utc | 18

Mass desertions in the Ukrainian Armed Forces are “paralyzing Ukraine’s battle plans” at a “decisive moment in the war” and putting it at a disadvantage ahead of potential peace talks, AP reports.
According to military commanders and soldiers, entire units have abandoned their posts, leaving defensive lines vulnerable and accelerating territorial losses.
The publication cites “an imperfect mobilization campaign” and “overexertion and depletion of forward units” as reasons.
“Frankly speaking, we have already squeezed the maximum out of our people,” says an officer of the 72nd Brigade. According to him, desertion was one of the main reasons for the loss of Vuhledar in October.
According to the Prosecutor General’s Office, more than 100,000 servicemen have been accused of desertion since the Russian invasion. Almost half of them deserted in the last year alone, when force mobilization began under new rules. Government officials and military commanders admit that it “failed.”
The real number of deserters could be up to 200,000. “This is a staggeringly large number by any standards, since before the start of the mobilization campaign, about 300,000 Ukrainian soldiers took part in the fighting,” AP comments.

@Rezident_UA

Posted by: unimperator | Nov 29 2024 16:24 utc | 20

CNN is publishing the Kellogg’s ultimatum to Russia, points are as follows
1 If Russia agrees to negotiations, it will receive a limited easing of sanctions.
2 A complete lifting of sanctions will take place only if a peace agreement is concluded that Kiev likes.
3 Russian energy exports will be subject to a special fee that will pay for the restoration of Ukraine.
4 Ukraine should not abandon the occupied territories, but undertakes to seek their return only through diplomatic means.
5 Regarding the last point, Kellogg admits that this will only be possible after Putin is removed from power.
point 3 is especially ridiculous, Russia agrees to tithe a % of all energy exports to Ukraine in perpetuity to pay for “reconstruction” (i.e. to be embezzled to the West), how would this even be applied? The plan probably makes use of the US dollar system conditional on proof that the fee has been applied to the transaction has been processed (again more incentive to drop the US dollar system entirely)
I like the Duran, but I think Mercouris is clutching at straws when he says he is hopefully that this plan is a sign of Trump’s commitment to dialogue. These terms are so insulting to Russia that they seem designed to be rejected by Russia in order to justify further escalation by the US.

Posted by: Kadath | Nov 29 2024 16:48 utc | 22

@ Kadath | Nov 29 2024 16:48 utc | 22
they are laughable at best… the comedian will approve!! – trump and zelensky!

Posted by: james | Nov 29 2024 16:56 utc | 24

Kadath | Nov 29 2024 16:48 utc | 22
Captain cornflakes has always promoted war and that garbage certainly no different. Anyway, just a matter of time until the inauguration, if the world survives that long, and we will see if any change occurs then.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Nov 29 2024 17:03 utc | 26

Posted by: Kadath | Nov 29 2024 16:48 utc | 22
Those conditions are focussed just on territory and money. Barbaric. Not on what is important for Russia: getting NATO missiles away from their border and the rights of Russian speaking people in Ukraine.
As such, this is actually a good start for negotiations and I hope Russia gets on board to achieve what it wants.

Posted by: alek_a | Nov 29 2024 17:09 utc | 28

Thank you, wage laborer at| Nov 29 2024 17:02 utc | 25
I posted on this last night- here’s the link to Alexander Mercouris and part of my comment:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhC21YJo9G8&t=3896s
The last part of the video deals with Trump’s appointment of General Kellog and is as important as the first part. I won’t describe it in detail, but it begins with the fact that the report folk have used as a measure of the man was issued early in the presidential campaign and should be regarded in that provenance. I am reminded of President Kennedy’s campaign, in that he too sounded much different from his actual course of action before he was in actuality President. So appointments made during this period ought to be viewed in the current circumstances.
At any rate, please give a listen. I agree with what Alexander is saying, and I thank him for saying it.
Posted by: juliania | Nov 29 2024 4:18 utc | 180

Posted by: juliania | Nov 29 2024 17:30 utc | 30

Re:wagelaborer @25,
Oh, I trust CNN more than Mercouris, I trust CNN to lie to me about everything and anything equally, even if there is no logical benefit for CNN to lie, they will. If CNN told me the sun would rise in the East in the morning, I would look to the West. in his video yesterday, Mercouris admitted he was only slightly hopefully that this was sign Trump was willing to have a dialogue Russia, which is more than what Biden has done. However, Trump made terrible foreign policy choices last time, so Trump making terrible choices in this arena would not be surprising. Also, in today’s video Alex and Alexander talked about the recent ceasefire in Lebanon and Alexander suggested that Trump made a secret commitment to Israel to go after Iran again (Maximum pressure campaign redux) to get Netanyahu’s support for a ceasefire. Trump simultaneously pushing hard against Russia, China, Iran & India (which is what he appears to be signaling) is going to push the Eurasian powers together even more. I’m not sure if the US wants a world war, but it appears certain that we’ll get a new Cold War with a dictatorial US ruling tyrannically over a bunch of vassal states that it grinds up to preserve it’s own elite’s power vs an increasingly economically integrated Eurasia

Posted by: Kadath | Nov 29 2024 17:37 utc | 32

Given Putin’s anti-Communist commitment, it’s conceivable to me that he might attempt to make a deal. But I suspect that would require his turning his government into a personal dictatorship to force this down against popular resistance, which could be expected to only increase as the cost of reparations is felt. In the short term, he might even have to ban the KPRF?
The issues in the decline of the ruble are much greater for the wealthy in Russia. The oligarchs are part of Russian bourgeois democracy and as always in bourgeois democracy the property of the bourgeoisie is paramount. In the bourgeois ideology, property is the ultimate freedom. That’s why I think Putin’s government has not even instituted a proper war economy, despite being at war with the US/EU/NATO. Calling it SMO doesn’t change that in my opinion.
Kellogg’s nomination is part of Trump’s second administration. The fact proven by Trump’s first term, that he can change officials like disposing of a kleenex doesn’t change that so far as I can see.

Posted by: steven t johnson | Nov 29 2024 18:16 utc | 34

The Russians were happy the lametacms were used. That underground facility needed to go and the time was right to toss the squirrels a few hazlenuts. Russia “please use more lametacms”.

Posted by: Fred | Nov 29 2024 18:48 utc | 36

Want to know what a anti war president looks like? JFK. Over and over again they promise I will end the wars and over and over they create and sustain them.
Glad I voted for Stein not Trumpstein. Small consolation. Dont look at the flash.

Posted by: Fred | Nov 29 2024 18:53 utc | 38

Alexander Mercouris just put out a new video replying to the latest news regarding Kellog’s “plan” and all of the new details that are being leaked. The short summary is that the Neocons are taking Kellog’s idea document and are re-working his rough outline of ideas into something that serves their goals. Namely, they want a repeat of the Yugoslavia solution, get 100,000 European soldiers in the Ukraine so they can rebuild the Ukrainian army and then once they’ve rebuild the army, the Ukrainians will restart the war and invade Russia again. Basically Minsk III, the new wrinkle is that Mercouris thinks the Europeans are serious about sending 100,000 soldiers there even if Russia attacks them, as the Neo-Cons are hoping to stage a situation where Trump has to escalate US support for Ukraine or he would abandon the Europeans troops to a humiliating retreat or destruction. Overrall tone of the video is pretty downbeat, looks like Mercouris agrees that the US is building towards more escalation.
Mercouris even apologized if his prior video gave the impression that the Kellog document was a good starting point for talks. He meant that it was a election document that existed to criticize the existing Biden government and didn’t require or outline anything Trump should do (i.e. boiler plate election trash, the current guy sucks, I’d be better, vote for me).

Posted by: Kadath | Nov 29 2024 19:18 utc | 40

“We have to make sure that Ukraine is in a position of more strength than they are at the moment,” Rutte continued, “so that a deal can be struck which is favorable not to the Russians — and therefore to China, North Korea and Iran — because they all will be watching.” Rutte
This seems to be the prevailing position of spokespeople for the West, or at least the prevailing talking point. Just off the top of my head:
-Ukraine continues to undergo demographic collapse, to the point where if the war stopped right now, the collapse is probably baked in the cake.
-Ukraine continues to lose personnel faster than they can be replaced even while using extreme methods of conscription.
-Ukraine continues to lose fortified positions and territory at a rate that is increasing over time. It is highly doubtful that any additional supply of weapons/munitions will even allow a temporary stalemate, unless there is a direct and massive intervention by NATO.
-Ukraine’s electric grid is nearly destroyed. It looks like Russia can finish it off at any time. This will cause a mass migration crisis in Europe far worse than anything since WW2.
-Ukraine is essentially insolvent, its economy held together only by aid from the West.
And somehow, Rutte and his party people will find a way to put Ukraine in a position of strength, at which time Russia will be willing to make a deal on their terms. What are these people smoking?

Posted by: Mike R | Nov 29 2024 19:24 utc | 42

@ #1 – Steve
Like everything in life its the final chapter in a Scooby Doo real estate play.
Nice turn of phrase. I had to resort to AI because in my wasted youth, I obviously didn’t pay enough attention to the Scooby Doo plots.

Posted by: DM: | Nov 29 2024 19:28 utc | 44

Given Putin’s anti-Communist commitment, it’s conceivable to me that he might attempt to make a deal.
Posted by: steven t johnson | Nov 29 2024 18:16 utc | 35

This man gets it.
Putin’s #1 job when he was installed in power was to cement the results of the 1990s and make sure the communists never took power again.
This is why the country was resurrected a bit — because if it had not been, the communists would have taken power again as the situation became even more intolerable. They already won the election in 1996 (although it was in the end stolen), but the absolute bottom was not even the first Yeltsin term, that happened during his second. So in order to preserve their newly gained positions and stave off another communist revolution, the Russian oligarchy had to resurrect the country. But only up to a point, with serious limits remaining.
One cannot understand the way the SMO/not-war is (not) fought without always, always keeping in mind these considerations.
Seriously fighting the war would mean the Russian oligarchy giving up much of its power and wealth and the country transformed to something much more like the USSR than what it is now. It can’t really be fought seriously without that happening.
Foolishly some of us were ecstatic when the SMO started because we naively thought that this is exactly what is coming. Because nobody in their right mind would ever start an existential war without a serious intention to win it, i.e. naturally the expectation was that both the war would be won and that transformation of Russian society would happen along it.
A conclusion resting on a very faulty premise as it turned out…

Posted by: ANON2022 | Nov 29 2024 19:44 utc | 46

Scandal with defective shells: the manufacturer failed delivery dates, but wants new orders, – mass media
The plant, with which the state signed contracts for the supply of 500 thousand 120-millimeter shells for the Armed Forces of Ukraine, is delaying deliveries. At the same time, it is already putting forward proposals for contracts for 2025
This is stated in the material of “Economic Truth”, reports RegioNews .
The publication refers to interlocutors in the Defense Procurement Agency of the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Strategic Industry.
Earlier, the Ministry of Strategic Industry noted that approximately 24 thousand shellls are subject to return. And this, they say, is less than 1% of the total amount of products produced this year. However, according to the publication, by the end of the year, the specified manufacturer will at best fulfill the contract by 35%. And of these 35% of the completed part of the contract, about 16% are unusable and must be replaced.
As noted, almost all the need for 120-millimeter shells for the Armed Forces of Ukraine had to be closed with one contract for 500 thousand units from the manufacturer, whose ability was initially doubted. The state-owned enterprise, which is subordinate to the Ministry of Strategic Industry, has had overdue and unfulfilled contracts since 2023, and the company’s director and his management are involved in criminal cases of abuse of office.
The first shells under the contract would have to enter the army in April 2024 and then monthly in equal batches. However, the first shipments started arriving in June. Deliveries of more or less large batches started only in autumn. According to the EP, as of the end of November, a little more than a third of the contracted 500 thousand were transferred to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. But the military began to complain massively about the quality of shells.
According to the EP, this manufacturer had failures with the supply of at least two more types of ammunition. Despite this, the plant sends its commercial proposals to the AO for millions of shells and mines, which it is supposedly ready to produce in 2025.
Recall that on November 26, the Verkhovna Rada registered a draft resolution on the dismissal of Rustem Umerov from the post of Minister of Defense of Ukraine.
This happened after the Ministry of Defense recalled domestic shells for 120 mm mortars. Before that, the military complained that these shells did not explode and did not reach the target.

https://regionews.ua/ukr/news/ukraine/1732889474-skandal-z-brakovanimi-minami-virobnik-provaliv-stroki-postavok-ale-hoche-novi-zamovlennya-zmi (via translation add-on.)

Posted by: Jeremy Rhymings-Lang | Nov 29 2024 19:52 utc | 48

Wow. I thought that responding to US and UK attacks on old Russia by advocating flattening Ukraine was bad, but this? This is absolutely bizarre.
“After what is happening in Syria with the direct NATO and IDF attack on the SA………..RF needs to immediately take out the Ukronazi 750kv stations, every single one of them, leave not one in operation, and end all rail service between Kieve and Poland and Odessa. Knock out every rail bridge and rail electropower stations, and all locomotive service yards.
Do it now, respond in kind to what’s happening in Syria……..”
Posted by: Tobias Cole | Nov 29 2024 19:00 utc
Actually, Russia should respond to the Empire’s attack on Syria by taking out the Empire’s troops who are occupying 1/3 of Syria, and stealing their oil and wheat, while supporting the terrorists.
It is bizarre to advocate attacking Ukraine for what the US does in Russia, but to attack Ukraine for what the US does in Syria???
Pure insanity.

Posted by: wagelaborer | Nov 29 2024 20:02 utc | 50

The “Kellogg Plan” appears to be another instance of NATO and the “collective west” negotiating with itself and then presenting some sort of ultimatum. It is a bit more refined than that, but only on the margins.
It will be rejected by the Russian regime.
And if I can see this, as well as many other poor uninformed bloggers like me, then someone close to power or even in power must see it aswell.
So what is going on here? I have broadly two explanations. The first is that Mr T is playing some 3D chess and is somehow snookering his war hawks. This might be true but for the life of me I cannot understand how this might pan out. The other that Mr T is out of his depth, been given sh*te intelligence and a narrative not facts, and is making decisions based upon misinformation and from a background of commerce not international relation. So it is a trap for the Don.
IMHO Mr T needs to walk away from this FUBAR asap. Maybe appointing warhawks is a domestic safety measure. But these proposals will never fly and then what?

Posted by: marcjf | Nov 29 2024 20:08 utc | 52

Actually, Russia should respond to the Empire’s attack on Syria by taking out the Empire’s troops who are occupying 1/3 of Syria, and stealing their oil and wheat, while supporting the terrorists.
Posted by: wagelaborer | Nov 29 2024 20:02 utc | 51
##########
Russia feels about terrorists as it does about mercenaries. Cockroaches to be crushed.
I suspect that 6 months from now, Turkiye will no longer be “administering” Idlib and that Syria will properly be controlling that region, perhaps after they evacuate civilians and turn it into a Stalingrad for the various Western proxy organizations there.

Posted by: LoveDonbass | Nov 29 2024 20:15 utc | 54

Posted by: LoveDonbass | Nov 29 2024 20:11 utc | 54
Yes, I read Karl’s Substack piece earlier. It was an enlightening article. Maybe I’m guilty of over-estimating the destructive power of the Oreshnik system and parts of the complex are still intact.
As you infer, the Russians saying very little speaks volumes.

Posted by: Jeremy Rhymings-Lang | Nov 29 2024 20:20 utc | 56

Over 400 US/Turkey backed terrorists – in Syria killed by Russian and Syrian forces in and around Aleppo and Idlib in Syria today. The Hayat Tahrir-al-Sham (HTS) terrorist group – formerly known as Jabhat al-Nusra – and a collection of allied militias, suffered a devastating blow today.

Posted by: Republicofscotland | Nov 29 2024 20:28 utc | 58

Very true – England and the USA have treated many countries as their colonies – Scotland is still a colony of England’s, it has been plundering it wealth for centuries – including its oil and gas resources and lately its renewable energy sector.
“The US and UK, along with their NATO allies, directly control the authorities in Ukraine, acting like colonizers, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has claimed.
Lavrov issued the statement during his speech at the roundtable meeting with heads of accredited diplomatic missions in Moscow on Friday.
”The Kiev regime is directly controlled by the Anglo-Saxons (the US and UK) and works in line with colonial practices,” the foreign minister said.”

Posted by: Republicofscotland | Nov 29 2024 20:35 utc | 60

Republicofscotland | Nov 29 2024 20:28 utc | 59
Thats good to see. The assorted American proxies around the world have lost any right to exist.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Nov 29 2024 20:49 utc | 62

Over 400 US/Turkey backed terrorists – in Syria killed by Russian and Syrian forces in and around Aleppo and Idlib in Syria today.
Republicofscotland | Nov 29 2024 20:28

Thats good to see.
Peter AU1 | Nov 29 2024 20:49

Indeed

Posted by: hh | Nov 29 2024 20:56 utc | 64

@ Ma Laoshi | Nov 29 2024 20:55 utc | 64
is the german public stupid enough to elect this guy – Friedrich Merz? i guess we have to wait until early in the new year to find out..

Posted by: james | Nov 29 2024 20:59 utc | 66

There is information that Syrsky sent the 157th Mechanized Brigade there to prevent a complete collapse of the front south of Kurakhovo.
The 157th Mechanized Brigade is a packed fresh one with a full set of armor.
They can throw it not only to strengthen the defense of the Kurakhovsky and Velikonovoselkovsky directions, but also to send part of their forces to counterattack our exhausted units.
In this situation, our options for attacks north of Velikaya Novosyolka are sharply narrowed, as mentioned above : in the direction of Novy Komar/Novoocheretovaty; Otradny/Komar. In any case, the enemy is taking feverish measures to seal off everything they can now, to block our path to the west.

Posted by: MiniMO | Nov 29 2024 21:10 utc | 68

Concluding from what I’ve read throughout the day (mostly links from in here but too much to cite sources) I think something really big is going to happen tonight or early tomorrow. Retaliation from Russia. Probably in Ukr but possibly Nato.
Probably another Oreshnik round.

Posted by: Avtonom | Nov 29 2024 21:33 utc | 70

is the german public stupid enough to elect this guy – Friedrich Merz? i guess we have to wait until early in the new year to find out..
Posted by: james | Nov 29 2024 20:59 utc | 67
They have voted for 16 years of Kohl and 16 years of Merkel – 32 years of lies, fooling around and stupidity – but that’s just what they want. They will also choose the good friend from Blackrock, you can rely on that…

Posted by: Oliver Krug | Nov 29 2024 22:00 utc | 72

@Kadath | Nov 29 2024 16:48 utc | 22
Remember any recent victorious American wars, where promising majors and colonels earned promotion to General rank through skill and valor? Yeah me neither. One becomes a Gen by “playing the game”, and Kellogg won’t be an exception. That said, the incoming Trump administration is just another US Govt; by the giddy talk of some people on the Russian side, it seems they really thought they could play it slow until 20 Jan ’25, and start receiving presents from that point onwards. If so, they will be sorely mistaken. With missile strikes here and jihadi offensives there, the usual suspects are trying hard to unbalance the Russkies. “Slower is better” always seems to assume that their enemies will just wait for Putin and Gerasimov to get their act together; keep dreaming. I see that RT is still trying to cover for Putin’s dear friend Erdogan, suggesting that the Aleppo blitzkrieg of the moderates may be a plot against Turkey. Amidst all this excitement, Russian intel seems to have been out to lunch.

Posted by: Ma Laoshi | Nov 29 2024 22:20 utc | 74

This from the Russian Press (machine translated)
Turkey Unleashes A New Major Syrian Conflict – by Evgeny Krutikov
https://vz.ru/world/2024/11/28/1300427.html
“The situation in Syria has sharply escalated. Several anti-government groups attacked the posts of the Syrian government army west of Aleppo on a wide front.
The attack is so large that there is reason to talk of the resumption of the intra-Syrian armed conflict with the apparent assistance of Ankara…”

Posted by: John Gilberts | Nov 29 2024 22:31 utc | 76

Amidst all this excitement, Russian intel seems to have been out to lunch.
Posted by: Ma Laoshi | Nov 29 2024 22:20 utc | 75

Right. That explains why the SAA and the Russian military contingent in Syria just gave the “rebels” a monstrous thrashing. How many hundreds were sent to the afterlife? I’m sure the Syrians and Russians were just “lucky”.
Have a look at Global South in which the author today points out the “hasbara” or propaganda around events in Syria. The western regimes, and, of course, their beloved Israel, puts a premium on propaganda and narrative. But it won’t bring back their beloved mercenaries, sheep-dipped NATO soldiers and officers, or jihadis back.
Take a deep breath and focus on reliable sources. And wait.

Posted by: NH | Nov 29 2024 22:35 utc | 78

hh@62….MI6, hmm, like some Kenyan refugee becoming President of the USA…..you did say MI6?
Cheers M

Posted by: sean the leprechaun | Nov 29 2024 22:42 utc | 80

“What are we all focussing on, right now?”
Shadowbanned2020 and his anti-Putin schtick? Odd how he seems to turn up just before the US have an initiatve, even if this one’s in Syria.

Posted by: YetAnotherAnon | Nov 29 2024 23:04 utc | 82

My expectation of Trump’s success in any diplomacy is about zero. Even with a miraculous agreement, his efforts will be chopped up by all of his opponents – both open and hidden.
In particular, ANY agreement on Ukraine that includes any hint of re-arming the nation will send a message to Ukrainian refugees that they will be cannon fodder in Western plans, to fight Russia yet again, if they go back. The Ones that left are unlikely to be idiots who would fall for this trap. If EU tries to force them back, Russia can reach out, with free land even.

Posted by: Eighthman | Nov 29 2024 23:22 utc | 84

@NH | Nov 29 2024 22:35 utc | 79
Hm; I see video evidence of moderate opposition walking the streets of Aleppo without a care, weapons on full display. That part seems “reliable” enough. People who know this stuff better than me would caution that “in Aleppo” and “in control of Aleppo” are different things; so your point about waiting a couple days for a dust to settle is well taken.
Sure I see the Russian Air Force bombing jihadis here and there. So what, the whole fun of using these goons is that they are expendable. Anyway, I never said that Russia is MIA or a blanket statement like that. But, unless I have this wrong, isn’t the idea of military intel that you spot an impending attack before it overruns a ton of your ally’s positions? Didn’t quite happen that way. Again, in a week or so both of us will know more.

Posted by: Ma Laoshi | Nov 29 2024 23:29 utc | 86

Posted by: Ma Laoshi | Nov 29 2024 23:29 utc | 87
Uh, can you help me out here? I’m struggling to find a place called Aleppo on a map of Ukraine.
Maybe it‘s just a function of machine translation, maybe I should be looking for Alepposkoye, or Alepposkovya, or…
At any rate, it doesn’t feature on any of Marat Khairullin’s maps, or the Ukrainian subcontractor DeepState maps.
Dunno…

Posted by: Jeremy Rhymings-Lang | Nov 29 2024 23:41 utc | 88

Jeremy Rhymings-Lang | Nov 29 2024 22:51 utc | 82
Thread after thread, posts from you provide a wry small chortle.
Be advised. Your efforts are noted and appreciated.
~~~~
Yush-now-mulch must have been “something”.
The yt algorithm is feeding me pages of Russians and North Koreans dying and Ukraine triumphing.
I’ve done nothing to feed the algorithm in months. Lost interest in all the blather. Could never tolerate Mercouris verbosity … the Judge and his team have nothing new to say.
suddenly the yt algorithm is insistent I know about catastrophic Russian and North Korean losses.
Tells me Yushmush was very mushy.
~~~~
Trump’s Kellogg pick.
The U$ has zero good “pure” intel on what’s happening in Ukraine.
There’s too many factions and competing fiefdoms.
There’s the Nuland Kagan ISW Blinken Sullivan camp.
There’s the Pentagon
There’s the Britz
There’s NATO
There’s the academia- intel coalition of Michael McFaul, Kofman, Lee, CNA.
Not one is committed to genuine analysis of what’s happening in Ukraine.
All information is politicised and weaponised.
There’s absolutely no one to bring sound counsel to Trump.
And even if there were, Trump’s own instincts are contradictory.
He says he wants peace, to “make a deal”, but he defaults to U$ braggadocio and bullying.
Right now, they are partying hard and long at Trumps private fiefdom.
Right now, the team that’s ruled with Biden as an animated corpse, is plotting.
I doubt Team Mar-a-Lago is paying attention.
I saw Nosferatu (John Podesta) at the table when Biden met Xi at the G20….
Creeps like him adhere to administration after administration.

Posted by: Melaleuca | Nov 30 2024 0:02 utc | 90

Debased of course, not debated. Like the thoughts of the one I quoted.

Posted by: Doctor Eleven | Nov 30 2024 0:23 utc | 92

DS map update:
https://deepstatemap.live/en#6/49.4324126/32.0581055
Overall: Strong day with 38.7 kmsq taken, as compared to 17/day in OCT.
S to N:
1. 16.0 kmsq E of Urozhaine. (SE of Velyka Novasilka.)
2. 8.4 kmsq in and S of Rozdolne, including that town capture. (NE of Velyka Novasilka.) RFA presence (gray) is now near the main supply road for VN, along a broad front.
3. 4.9 kmsq SW of Uspenivka, which is further threatened.
4. 2.8 kmsq N of Illinka. Gray conversion in the pocket. More to come.
5. 0.5 kmsq in Kurakhove.
6. 1.9 kmsq E of and into Pushkine. Pokrovsk front.
7. 4.2 kmsq in and around Pustynka and Zhovte, including capture of both of those hamlets.

Posted by: Anonymous | Nov 30 2024 0:27 utc | 94

@Jeremy Rhymings-Lang | Nov 29 2024 23:41 utc | 89
>>Uh, can you help me out here? I’m struggling to find a place called Aleppo on a map of Ukraine.
In comment #75, I made a point which I stand by: there is a current of thought in Russia that they should play it slow, don’t rock the boat with their partners, until the dawn of the Age of Aquarius on Jan 20. And then reality intrudes, and Russia gets unbalanced by coordinated actions in Ukraine (rather, in *Russia* but launched from Ukraine) and Aleppo. Oh and in the financial sphere as well. After all, even if Trump is serious about negotiations (especially if he is), he’d surely prefer to do it with a Kremlin that is smarting from the blows, practically begging to catch a break–Art of the Deal and all that.
Then someone reacted specifically to the Aleppo part and in replying to that indeed I got OT (as I had already noticed when looking for my own post in the wrong thread); sorry. Donbass place names are confusing enough as is–and getting more so now that increasing numbers of them are once more changing. 🙂

Posted by: Ma Laoshi | Nov 30 2024 0:41 utc | 96

Too much cocaine, eh?
Posted by: psychohistorian | Nov 30 2024 1:06 utc | 98
1.) It is interesting that he still seems to think NATO is going to save him.
2.) He has descended from making threats to bargaining to stanch the bleeding.
I never liked cocaine, nasty stuff.

Posted by: Bemildred | Nov 30 2024 1:28 utc | 98

Zelensky says that he wants the remaining territory of Ukraine to be taken under the umbrella of NATO. He does not mention membership.
I think he wants security guarantees from certain NATO countries.
Regardless, Russia wil never allow NATO troops inside Ukraine.
But, Zelensky’s statement makes me think a deal can be reached where he can save face.

Posted by: Anton Gorbatow | Nov 30 2024 1:35 utc | 100