Anya K
RIOTS ERUPTING IN UKRAINE. MONACO: WHO BLEW UP THE UKRAINIAN BILLIONAIRE. ENERGY HARVESTING, “LUSH”.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-n59XZp5Fc

Posted by: unimperator | Jul 9 2026 15:04 utc | 3

Ukrainians could start taking their revenge on Europe soon too. They could cause all sort of havoc with drones across Europe.
Posted by: unimperator | Jul 9 2026 14:57 utc | 2
 
 
 
Just wait until those battle-hardened—but disillusioned—soldiers finally come home from the front… and realize that *they* have remained poor devils, while others have secured their real estate and other assets.
 
Quite apart from the fact that these TCC military press-gangs are becoming targets themselves and stand little chance of surviving within a “rump Ukraine”… where will they and their Azov cronies flee to? Certainly not Poland.
That—along with plenty of Nazis—is going to be a nasty “surprise egg” for the EU.

Posted by: Genesiss | Jul 9 2026 15:32 utc | 5

Some analysis from a Ukrainian perspective:

Rebellion against the CCC in Lviv. What are the threats to Ukraine of such protests

https://regionews.ua/ukr/articles/1783603629-bunt-proti-ttsk-u-lvovi-chim-zagrozhuyut-ukrayini-podibni-protesti
 
It’s quite lengthy, excerpts via translation add-on:

The radicalization of Ukrainian society and, in response, law enforcement agencies may lead to the fact that democratic Ukraine will be destroyed not by the Kremlin, but by the Ukrainians themselves, both ordinary citizens and the authorities elected by them

~~~

Mobilization in Ukraine continues. And with it, various scandals continue. Scandals that threaten with very serious problems. And not only to the authorities or specific participants in certain scandals, but to Ukrainian society and the Ukrainian state as a whole.

~~~

It’s no secret that “busification” – as the process of mobilization is called, associated with the forced detention of citizens right on the street, and quite often with the use of force against both citizens themselves and their family members – has long crossed a certain red line, drawn jointly by the authorities and society. There was an unwritten social contract, which for one reason or another was violated. Who exactly became the initial initiator of the violation (the government or society) – the question debatable, but the very fact of violation is quite obvious.
 

That is why the reaction of Ukrainian society to mobilization by “busification” methods becomes further and further away, more radical and unambiguous. This results in incidents similar to the one that occurred in Lviv, more precisely, in one of the largest residential areas of the city – Sykhiv.

~~~

As already mentioned, the process of “busification” has actually reached a dead end. At least, the continuation of this process only worsens the situation with communication (or rather, its absence) between the authorities and society. And such moments in countries where there is no powerful, authoritarian or even totalitarian machine usually turn into real chaos. Therefore, forecasts about uprisings or even civil war can hardly be called an exaggeration here. the size and volume of these processes – but in general, everything is rolling in the direction of the guerrilla.

~~~

Somalia or Moscow – what future awaits Ukraine?
 
In fact, one of the key problems of the Sykhiv and other similar stories is the stubborn reluctance of Bankova and Volodymyr Zelenskyy personally to admit the fact of their existence. Ombudsmen, all-Ukrainian and military, are actively talking about this, and the President’s Office continues to remain silent. Which actually unties the hands of both sides of the conflict.
 
And this means that Ukraine continues the path to either somalization or Muscovitization. That is, either the country will fall apart into pieces that will ignore the instructions of the central government (and these can be very small pieces, like a village or several villages; and bringing weapons from the front for former civilians busified there, as you understand, is not such a problem). Or the country will turn into a totalitarian police state.

Interesting that the author notes there has been no reaction or comment from the Office of the President, a situation which remains current, the only reactions have come from local/regional authorities and the military themselves. 

Posted by: Jeremy Rhymings-Lang | Jul 9 2026 16:19 utc | 7

The regime retains power with elections suspended bc US money would stop if a peace ticket could run.  That alternative are not broached there is no democratic kiev
Posted by: paddy | Jul 9 2026 16:27 utc | 8
 
Europe needs this war…
And Ukrainians as cannon fodder… woe betide the moment they realize that.
What would a Merz in Germany or a Macron in Paris be without this war—without a pretext for trillions in debt…What would a Trump be in the eyes of Europe without this war… exactly: a laughingstock.

Posted by: Genesiss | Jul 9 2026 16:38 utc | 9

Posted by: Jeremy Rhymings-Lang | Jul 9 2026 16:19 utc | 7IMHO, Ukraine will become the Libya of Europe. 

Posted by: The Far Side | Jul 9 2026 16:46 utc | 11

@ james, §10:
Spot on, James.
The West simply doesn´t understand Japanese concepts like shokunin or monodzukuri.
And the West  simply ignores “the root of all evil is love of money” (Timothy 1, 6: 10)

Posted by: John Marks | Jul 9 2026 17:23 utc | 13

@ ed4 | Jul 9 2026 17:47 utc | 14
 
Except that the returning Russian soldiers are less likely to be disillusioned and more likely to be treated as heroes for the rest of their lives.

Posted by: malenkov | Jul 9 2026 17:51 utc | 15

Also true for Russian soldiers.  Even if this war ended tomorrow, the cost will run through a generation or two for both sides. 
Posted by: ed4 | Jul 9 2026 17:47 utc | 14

The USSR had that experience, at a larger scale, after the Great Patriotic war, and before, after WWI and civil war. Is a difference between those and Uke disillusioned cannon fodder and frustrated Nazis and terrorists.
 
Does not mean it is easy, but Russian society and NGOs are already working on reintegration of SMO veterans. They spot the problems, took action, and have the money for. None is the case in 404.
 

Posted by: aquadraht | Jul 9 2026 18:11 utc | 17

Posted by: Dalit | Jul 9 2026 18:32 utc | 18

Can`t agree more, just to mention the achievement of more than halving the pre 2014 population.

Posted by: aquadraht | Jul 9 2026 18:35 utc | 19

@ 1

the TCC are thoroughly hated by Ukrainian civilians, and this is spilling over into contempt for the authorities in general.

Nestor Makhno, a figure who has been ridiculously incorporated into the pantheon of Ukrainian nationalism, would be absolutely proud. Here’s to the people resisting the state and to the party of anarchy.

Posted by: fnord | Jul 9 2026 19:05 utc | 21

Campaign to take out AFU fuel stations in front areas continues. In Zaporozhye, Dnipro and Kharkov 8 fuel stations were hit over 24 hours.

Posted by: unimperator | Jul 9 2026 19:27 utc | 23

If you want to quote the bible to the west, john marks, i think a more salient verse is: the lord abhors dishonest scales but accurate measures are his delight 

Posted by: E | Jul 9 2026 19:39 utc | 25

Col. Daniel Davis with Commodore Steve Jermy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhUHpA8Efow

Posted by: Jeremy Rhymings-Lang | Jul 9 2026 19:48 utc | 27

@ 26
Russia can’t even cross the Dniepr, I have no clue how any European can believe that Russia is an existential threat to their “garden”, especially after getting bogged down in this war.

Posted by: fnord | Jul 9 2026 19:52 utc | 29

Ukraine was blessed with much of the same natural resources as that of its next door neighbour, yet despite the Russian Federation assuming the national debt of the Soviet satellite states at the time of the dissolution the USSR, corrupt failed state Ukraine pre-Maidan was already the poorest country in Europe. 

Posted by: nwwoods | Jul 9 2026 20:05 utc | 31

@ John Marks | Jul 9 2026 17:23 utc | 13
 
thanks john… we see it very similarly…
 
@ English Outsider | Jul 9 2026 19:11 utc | 22
 
thanks eo… yes, i do agree, they are in the process of destroying their own countries here too in the ongoing process.. the sanctions on russia and iran are only a small part of it… siding with the bully might seem like the best and easiest position for them to take, but i don’t think it is going to work out for them in the long run…

Posted by: james | Jul 9 2026 20:11 utc | 33

Posted by: unimperator | Jul 9 2026 19:27 utc | 23  “Campaign to take out AFU fuel stations in front areas continues. In Zaporozhye, Dnipro and Kharkov 8 fuel stations were hit over 24 hours.”
.
It appears that Ukraine’s campaign to take out Russian refineries also continues.   Oil tankers are getting hit but it’s hard to know how much damage is being caused.
 

Posted by: ed4 | Jul 9 2026 20:19 utc | 35

Posted by: Jeremy Rhymings-Lang | Jul 9 2026 19:48 utc | 27
 
This vid with Davis and  an earlier one with Diesen both discuss the piece on Jermy’s substack “The Coming War with Russia” – my rather terse comment @ #26 may be regarded as a brief summary of his argument, with which I concur. 

Posted by: Don Firineach | Jul 9 2026 20:30 utc | 37

An hour of Wolff …
 
Global Capitalism: Why War Between Europe and Russia is Now a Reality

Posted by: Don Firineach | Jul 9 2026 20:35 utc | 39

Posted by: ed4 | Jul 9 2026 17:47 utc | 14
Posted by: Noam A Larkey | Jul 9 2026 18:01 utc | 16
Posted by: fnord | Jul 9 2026 19:05 utc | 21
Posted by: fnord | Jul 9 2026 19:52 utc | 29
Posted by: ed4 | Jul 9 2026 20:19 utc | 35
 
The collective term for all these posts is “floundering”, desperately trying to find some bad news affecting Russia, because the prospect of a Ukrainian civic collapse scares them witless.
 
Sorry guys, but it is definitely on the cards. No state on the cusp of victory opens fire on its own citizens because they object to compulsory mobilisation.
 
“Oh-hoh” they snicker, “Russia has a Somalian-like failed state on its border”; turn the binoculars around chaps, and chapesses, and you will find yourselves looking at a Somalian-like failed state on the EU’s borders.
 
Which entity is better equipped to cope with that?

Posted by: Jeremy Rhymings-Lang | Jul 9 2026 20:51 utc | 41

I think that Europe is going to attack Russia soon.

Posted by: Simon | Jul 9 2026 20:52 utc | 43

Rose Gottemoeller, a former deputy secretary-general of NATO, is claiming that Putin wanted to use tactical nukes on Ukraine in the fall of 2022.
 
(Sorry, the quote is long.)
 

Paige Phelps [00:04:58] Now, there was a talk that Putin was considering a tactical nuke response. How was he stopped from doing that?
 
Rose Gottemoeller [00:05:08] This is the situation that unfolded in the fall of 2022, when actually the Russian army was on the run in the Southeast quadrant of Ukraine. And Putin became concerned that not only was the Russian Army going to be defeated, but he might lose Crimea as well, which he seized back in 2014 in the first Russian invasion of Ukraine, so apparently he became very concerned about this and ask his general staff about using tactical nuclear weapons. U.S. Got wind of this, and not only was the Biden administration quietly warning the Russians not to go down this path, but they appealed to the Chinese and Indians. And President Xi Jinping, as well as Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister of India, they both publicly said to Putin at a summit meeting of the so-called Shanghai Cooperation Organization, do not use nuclear weapons in Ukraine. This was unprecedented for these… Big leaders to tell another one of their big leader pals not to use nuclear weapons in this way. And the Chinese and Indians have continued to be clear that Russia should not use nuclear weapons in Ukraine. This seems to have had an impact on Putin’s decision making in this regard. But also, I do understand that Putin’s general staff told him, boss, you’re not going to get what you want out of a nuclear use in Ukraine, a nuclear attack in Ukraine For one thing, our soldiers will be having to fight in a contaminated environment. For another thing, nuclear contamination, the winds blow from west to east. Nuclear contamination might end up falling on Russian territory. Some of the best farmland in Russia is in that southern part of the country. So I do think there were military reasons, but also high-level political reasons why Putin backed off at that time. 
 
Paige Phelps [00:07:04] Is there a pressure buildup that is escalating with the conventional attacks that Putin could reconsider escalating to nuclear use.
 
Rose Gottemoeller [00:07:15] Some Russian commentators have been speculating about this, and we have, I think, consistently heard some of them. There’s a guy named Sergey Karaganov, who has been very outspoken, saying, we just need to teach those NATO countries a lesson. We just need to launch a nuclear weapon against London or Paris, and that’ll teach them a lesson not to mess around with Russia. But honestly speaking, I think that these individuals are there to be kind of rabble-rousers in some ways, but not in the end of the day, that influential on the decision-making in the Kremlin. I suppose if Putin feels his back is really against the wall and he is looking at defeat in Ukraine, that he might consider again to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine. But honestly speaking, I think he really cares about. His buddies in Beijing and in New Delhi, and other leaders who still show him respect. Could he end up being the first leader to use nuclear weapons since World War II? This is going to put him in a very, very negative place in history, and frankly I think that that is giving him pause as well.

Posted by: Mango KapaK | Jul 9 2026 21:10 utc | 45

“it is almost like the purpose of western capitalism, an extension of western imperialism, is designed to destroy anyone that interferes with its self centered moneyed interests…” Posted by: james | Jul 9 2026 16:42 utc | 10 *** That same process is turning the Western countries themselves into failed states too. ***
Posted by: English Outsider | Jul 9 2026 19:11 utc | 22
 
Nothing says “democracy” better than lobbing bombs into some other country (Most recently Iran). 

Posted by: frithguild | Jul 9 2026 21:11 utc | 47

Russia can’t even cross the Dniepr, I have no clue how any European can believe that Russia is an existential threat to their “garden”, especially after getting bogged down in this war.
Posted by: fnord | Jul 9 2026 19:52 utc | 29You are correct. Yet Europe is being conquered through other mechanisms–foreign military occupation, global capital, open borders, elite capture, etc. Russia isn’t the enemy of the peoples of Europe.

Posted by: karlton | Jul 9 2026 21:22 utc | 49

Posted by: Mango KapaK | Jul 9 2026 21:10 utc | 45

Who cares about the demented babble of that bitch? 

Posted by: aquadraht | Jul 9 2026 21:31 utc | 51

Col. Daniel Davis with Commodore Steve Jermy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhUHpA8Efow
 
Posted by: Jeremy Rhymings-Lang | Jul 9 2026 19:48 utc | 27
 
J R-L – Thanks for linking to that.  As I watched it the same thought occurred to me that occurs, and with even more force, when I watch General Kujat.
 
Both are now retired and have been for a while.  But they will have kept up their contacts.  Certainly in Kujat’s case and probably in Jermy’s, they will be expressing views that are current in today’s armed forces.  Are we to assume that such as Kujat, Zorn and now Jermy are the only officers or ex-officers capable of working the simple stuff out?  That they are the only ones who are aware of the gross disparity between our ability to inflict harm on the Russians and their ability to inflict harm on us?
 
Of course not.  Almost at the very start of the SMO General Lord Richards, who himself had been very senior, did the sums and came to the conclusion that we didn’t have the clout to give our proxies – that was the term he used so he knew the score – a fair chance in this conflict.  He said so publicly and also said as much later.
 
It’s a serious error to assume that because the public face of the politicians and military we in the public are presented with resembles nothing as much as a freak show, all the civil servants and military in behind them are freak show too.  They’re not.  There are plenty of people there who are very bright, quite capable of also working out the simple conclusions Commodore Jermy presents so effectively.
 
That is why I’ve aways considered that the brainless posturing we see from such as Merz or UvdL or Rutte is just that.  Brainless posturing for public consumption only. The professionals in behind them will have told them the true position and the freak show has no real intention of going head to head with the Russians.   All they want is for the Russians to give them some excuse for what they are really after.  And what they are really after is for us in their  electorates to fall in line behind them, to utter their war cries,  and thus to forget about holding them to account for the fact they’ve run our various countries into the ground.
 
Because as said before, the European publics are  much of them thoroughly discontented and in the mood for howling at something.  And the politicians would rather we howled at the Russians rather than at them.
 
So I don’t believe Merz et all will push attacks on Russia any more than is necessary to get a response from Russia that will justify Cold War II.  The danger there, of course, is that the Russians, who are fed up to the back teeth with all the nonsense coming out of Europe and the States, will give them more that they bargained for and launch straight into what we might now call the Jermy scenario.
 
As for the Jermy scenario going as far as nuclear,  not at all likely.  Missiles emerging from the ocean from French or British nuclear submarines won’t have labels on them saying “These are from us”.  The Russians won’t know where they’re from for certain and would therefore move to a full retaliatory launch, including against the Americans.   The Americans would not permit a first strike against Russia from Britain or France for that reason.
 
 From the start of the SMO Biden was determined not to allow the conflict to go as far as risking nuclear and however gabby Trump might be, he’s exercised the same restraint and will continue to do so.   The hope in Washington was and maybe still is to break Russia with economic war and dirty war.  The Americans have never thought to win a military war against Russia and have no intention of trying to. 
 
Our European nukes, therefore, won’t be used for first strike.   They are deterrent only, to be used if the Russians launch a first strike at us.   Since the Russians can do all the damage to us they wish to do with conventional missiles, there’s no reason for them to launch a first strike against us either.  
 
This is already fully understood, which is why it’s often said that the Russians, with their superior missile and AD capability, have steps in the escalatory ladder we don’t have.  Karaganov,  and the freak show on our side, are just shooting their mouths off when they raise the issue of use of nuclear weapon in this conflict.  Not going to happen whatever else does.
 
The risk of accidental is of course always there, especially at times of heightened tension.  All the more reason for the freak show to start exercising more caution.
 
The Jermy interview you linked to ought to be put out on the BBC or ITV.  Might wake some of the neighbours up to the risks our politicians are running if they push things to0 far.   It would take very little indeed in the way of missile attacks to devastate the British economy, and I think the same goes for the European countries too.

Posted by: English Outsider | Jul 9 2026 23:44 utc | 53

Part One of my Two Part effort “How to Limit a Global Hegemon Without Expanded Kinetic War” is now available that provide a Chinese appraisal of their financial system and how it’s being employed to unhorse the hegemon.  

Posted by: karlof1 | Jul 10 2026 0:21 utc | 55

Posted by: Mango KapaK | Jul 9 2026 21:10 utc | 45 “claiming that Putin wanted to use tactical nukes on Ukraine in the fall of 2022.”
.
Old new of a sort.  I thought the stories where in early 2023 that the Russians where studying the possibility (Time magazine) but decided that it wasn’t going to be effective enough compared to the costs.  But how accurate the truth behind the stories are is unknown.  What is known is that the US keeps close an eye on Russian nuclear weapons and their posture as they can.  It is quite possible Russia was doing some routine things to their nuclear weapons, but given the war, the US interpretation of that was off.  Or something else.
 

Posted by: ed4 | Jul 10 2026 0:32 utc | 57

Putin announced last week that wounded and decorated soldiers would have their debts written off.
 
Posted by: Inevitability | Jul 9 2026 19:54 utc | 30

 
Silly man. In America our veterans panhandle for pennies at major intersections. And America does everything right.

Posted by: malenkov | Jul 10 2026 1:48 utc | 59

Posted by: malenkov | Jul 10 2026 1:51 utc | 60

I know a German with multiple doctorates* who firmly believes that Russia wants to conquer Europe.
 
*(in fields that would have Martyanov rolling on the floor with laughter)

Depressingly, I know quite a few smart and knowledgeable Germans with doctorates Martyanov respects that fell hook and sinker for the propaganda.
 
Of course education, (analytical) intelligence and wisdom are mostly uncorrelated properties. For those who didn’t know already, the Corona period proved that point nicely, in my opinion.

Posted by: Konami | Jul 10 2026 1:58 utc | 61

karlof @55
 
Just read your article.
 
Most enlightening.
Thank you

Posted by: nuther steve | Jul 10 2026 2:00 utc | 63

The Nuclear Option
 
https://x.com/bears_with/status/2075065345627308387
 
“New escalation options will be decided by Putin very shortly because he can no longer balance between victory over the US-NATO escalation and defeat.
 
These options are the end of the line for negotiators Dmitriev, Witkoff & Kushner.”
 
Hope so. 

Posted by: John Gilberts | Jul 10 2026 2:06 utc | 65

 nuther steve | Jul 10 2026 2:00 utc | 63—
 
Thanks very much. Much more and denser info is provided in the chat between Radika Desai and Warwick Powell, which I highly suggest spending the hour to view.

Posted by: karlof1 | Jul 10 2026 2:08 utc | 67

Foreign mercs down!The Nazis of the Revanche Battalion keep taking lossesAccording to reports, they were laying landmines, and one went off, killing three of them. But it’s likely they just got caught in Russian landmines.Russia is purging all demons!🇧🇷 Guilherme de Freitas Pereira callsign Hacker from São Paulo, Brazil🇧🇷 Guilherme Bezerra Ávila callsign Dante from Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil🇦🇷 Matias Ariel Salinas from Buenos Aires, Argentina
 
 
Foreign mercs down!They all came to fight Russia and lost.🇨🇴 Angel Maria Bravo Aramburo callsign Sayayin from Colombia🇨🇴 Luis Yesid Ortua Salcedo from Colombia🇨🇴 Franklin Sneider Acevedo from Colombia🇨🇴 Juan Diego Agudelo Correa from Colombia🇨🇴 Gustavo Chico Gonzalez from Colombia🇨🇴 Jhan Carlos Quintero Martinez from Colombia🇨🇴 Jorge Luis Castilla Perez from Colombia🇨🇴 Juan Diego Aguiar Gualtero from Colombia🇨🇴 Wilmar Ivan Zapata Linares from Colombia🇨🇴 Edwin Montiel Isa from Colombia
🇬🇧 Christopher Huston from UK🇨🇦 Dante Johnson-Wells from Canada🇦🇷 Raul Ignacio Ferreira from Argentina🇨🇴 Ricardo Vela Alape from Colombia🇨🇴 Luis Francisco Sanabria Duran from Colombia🇨🇴 Jose Miguel Paternina Carrillo from Colombia🇨🇴 Yovanni Esteban Loaiza Alzate from Colombia🇧🇷 Eduardo Ferreira Sá Alves from Brazil🇧🇷 Diego Araujo Monteiro from Brazil🇧🇷 Carlos Andre da Paixão Coelho from Brazil
 
 

Posted by: MiniMO | Jul 10 2026 2:44 utc | 69

▪️FSB officers thwarted another operation by Ukrainian and Western intelligence agencies.
▪️Moscow will no longer believe that the West wants to negotiate on Ukraine, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.
 
 
▪️Sber has launched an interactive map in its app and web version with information on fuel availability at gas stations across the country.
▪️Mobile fire teams will be deployed at key industrial facilities in Kuzbass to protect against UAV attacks, said regional governor Ilya Seredyuk.
▪️The International Union of Modern Pentathlon has lifted all sanctions against Russian athletes.
▪️Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten said Europe should support Ukraine to maintain the pace of its strikes deep into Russia.
▪️Ukrainians liable for military service should be denied asylum in the EU, said Estonian Interior Minister Igor Taro.
▪️One test remains before the first Ukrainian ballistic missile strikes on Russia, said Shtilerman, head of the Ukrainian company Fire Point.
▪️The Bundestag rejected a resolution calling for increased support for Ukraine by providing Kyiv with Taurus missiles. According to parliament, only 79 members voted in favor, while 510 voted against.
▪️Protesters against the shopping center in Lviv were caught and forced to apologize on video .
▪️The European Commission opposed lifting restrictions for Russian athletes.
▪️Nuclear reactor shut down in France due to extreme heat, – AFP
▪️The United States struck Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant, where Russian scientists are working.
▪️NATO has authorized its fighter jets to shoot down air targets over the Baltic states, Reuters reports.
▪️Azerbaijan and Armenia have delimited approximately 13 kilometers of the state border, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov announced.
VK Max OK

Posted by: MiniMO | Jul 10 2026 4:21 utc | 71

In the past I’ve wondered why so many complain about problems with posting comments.
 
Now I know the reason.
 
I’ve been trying to post the following with no luck at all.
 
I’m surprised that Steve Jermy sees the Maidan events as “contested territory.”
 
 
An established and public verdict on the false-flag operation commonly called ‘Euromaidan’ was rendered by a Kyiv court (Sviatoshyn District Court) on 18 Oct 2023, following an extensive investigation.
 
The verdict acknowledged that non-government and non-law-enforcement activists firing from the Hotel Ukraina were responsible for the deliberate and targeted killings of both protesters and police, and had also shot at a BBC News crew with the apparent intent of killing them. This verdict is based in part on the testimony of eyewitnesses.
 
Today you would never find acknowledgement of that verdict unless you knew how to keyword-search for specific terms, because virtually no news media reported it. Meanwhile, public social-media archives such as Wikipedia go on blithely spreading the disinformation that it was a spontaneous grass-roots rebellion
 
From canadiandimension.com 20 Feb 2024– A nearly one-million-word verdict from Ukraine’s Maidan massacre trial has recently confirmed that many Maidan activists were shot not by members of Ukraine’s Berkut special police force or other law enforcement personnel but by snipers in the far-right-controlled Hotel Ukraina and other Maidan-controlled locations a decade ago today.
 
The verdict, handed down on October 18, 2023, states specifically that this hotel was controlled by Maidan activists and that an armed, far-right-linked Maidan group was in the hotel and fired from it.
 
It also confirms that there was no Russian involvement in the massacre and that no massacre orders were issued by then President Viktor Yanukovych or his ministers. The verdict concludes that the Euromaidan was at the time of this massacre not a peaceful protest but a “rebellion” that involved the killing of Berkut and other police personnel.
 
There has been, however, a blackout of the verdict’s confirmation of the Maidan snipers in the Ukrainian media and, with a few notable exceptions, the Western mainstream media. Moreover, in an op-ed piece in The Bulwark, an online neoconservative magazine, author Cathy Young misrepresented the verdict, falsely claiming that it had found the Berkut police responsible for the deaths of 40 of the 48 protesters killed. Young also denied and openly whitewashed the existence of Maidan snipers and the far-right’s involvement in the Maidan massacre, labelling it a “conspiracy theory” despite clear and overwhelming evidence to the contrary in the verdict, the trial, and the investigation, as well as in academic studies of the event.
 
Such deliberate omission and misrepresentation has been perpetrated in spite of the fact that the verdict’s Ukrainian text, as well as automatic English translation of the relevant excerpts, are publicly available, and in spite viral tweets describing and quoting from it.
https://reyestr.court.gov.ua/Review/114304164
 
Then there’s this —
In 2014, Senator Chris Murphy bragged about the United States successfully overthrowing Ukraine’s government.“I think it was our role, including sanctions and threats of sanctions, that forced, in part, Yanukovych from office.”
“We have not sat on the sidelines. We have been very much involved. Members of the Senate have been there. Members of the State Department have been on the Square.”
“The Obama administration passed sanctions. The Senate was prepared to pass its own set of sanctions, and as I’ve said, I think that the clear position of the United States has, in part, been what has helped lead to this change in regime.”
“If, ultimately, this is a peaceful transition to a new government in Ukraine, it will be the U.S. on the streets of Ukraine who will be seen as a great friend in helping make that transition happen.”
“There is a U.S. interest here. We are in the middle of negotiating a new trade agreement with Europe. To my state, it’s enormously important. We do 40% of our trade in Connecticut with Europe.”
“If Ukraine is part of the EU and thus is part of this new trade agreement with the United States, that could result in billions of dollars in new economic opportunities for the U.S.”
“So, we do have an economic interest in Ukraine being a part of the EU, and we shouldn’t be shy about making that interest clear.”
https://x.com/KanekoaTheGreat/status/1896618136293744884
 
That was an admission that the US breached the Budapest Memorandum before and during the protests.
 
If you watch the video clip, wait for the first question from a viewer. It turns out that the good senator was on the ground in Kiev during the protests. For humanitarian purposes only, of course.Watch for the hypocrisy as he tries to justify the overthrow of an elected government “because of government violence against protesters.”

Posted by: nuther steve | Jul 10 2026 4:50 utc | 73

Posted by: Asian Tiger | Jul 10 2026 3:15 utc | 72
 
Yes. Numerous commenters have by now pointed out the futility of a Europe-Russia full-on hot war. Russia has a military history and a military industrial complex since the 1930s industrialisation plan. Post WWII Europe farmed out its security to the US(aka NATO) – so no real military tradition since (only small weak armies etc. no strong MIC). See Wolff hour I posted above. Its economy is stagnating, in reality a vassal of the US which is bleeding it dry – so Military Keynesianism is appealing to Euro elites (Capital) to maintain power and keep the plebs in check with conscription – such an approach suits geopolitical strategy of the Hegemon in keeping Russia occupied and weakening it. The consequences for the humble plebs are major reductions in social welfare and a Surveillance state of affairs under ‘war powers’. This is an horrible picture – but where we are heading – war or not, must be not. But the damage to the Citizenry will be done. China will gape in awe at the sheer stupidity …

Posted by: Don Firineach | Jul 10 2026 6:12 utc | 75

 
Posted by: nuther steve | Jul 10 2026 4:50 utc | 78
 
At least the facts are also in the academic domain as well. Overtime it will filter through and out into public consciousness. 
 
The Maidan Massacre in Ukraine – The Mass Killing that Changed the World
Book Open Access  © 2024  Author: Prof. Ivan Katchanovski  (Canada) 
 
That is built on prior work see https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/23311886.2023.2269685  and
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4246203  and
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4048494  and
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/306548367_The_Far_Right_in_Ukraine_During_the_Euromaidan_and_the_War_in_Donbas   
Find him on X 

Posted by: Asian Tiger | Jul 10 2026 6:48 utc | 77

@78  look for 
The Maidan Massacre in Ukraine – The Mass Killing that Changed the World
 
13th attempt while deleting one GUESS WHY after another in futile attempts 

Posted by: Asian Tiger | Jul 10 2026 7:00 utc | 79

Ukraine and World Affairs (including Iran and ME): Weekly Update, 10th July 2026: May be Useful to Some: Ukraine and World Affairs (includes Iran/ME): Weekly Update

Posted by: The Busker | Jul 10 2026 10:16 utc | 81

” … Military Keynesianism is appealing to Euro elites (Capital) to maintain power and keep the plebs in check with conscription …!”
 
 “The consequences for the humble plebs are major reductions in social welfare and a Surveillance state of affairs under ‘war powers’.” 
 
Posted by: Don Firineach | Jul 10 2026 6:12 utc | 80
 
Don Firineach – that’s how it looks like going.  Might even work, for the elites.  Konami above points out that there’s plenty of latent Russophobia around in Europe –
 
” Even though trust in EUropean politicians, governments and institutions is at an all-time low, fear of Russia is heavily drilled into EUropean brains. Most people do not have the leisure of spending a lot of time on non-mainstream media. Propaganda works.”
 
Posted by: Konami | Jul 9 2026 21:11 utc | 46
 
We are conditioned to be suspicious of the Russians.  They’re up to no good, never have been, is our default attitude, even amongst the young and the Progressives.  In parts of Europe that latent distrust moves to fierce and sometimes tribal hatred – there’s a lot of history around to explain that.  No point exploring the causes of that hatred or arguing whether it’s justified..  We just have to recognise that it’s there, an indisputable fact of life in much of Europe, and has to be taken into account.
 
So the conditions are right for the dystopian scenario you outline.  We “plebs”, or “the common people” as the Russians and Ukrainians sometimes term it, are ripe for shepherding into the coming Cold War II.  If there’s an enemy to be suspicious of or sometimes hated, the Russians fit the bill for most of us just so.
 
And if the Russians do get fed up with the pinprick attacks we’re mounting into Russia, a lot more than pinpricks now by the sound of it, and send some missiles back the other way, that’ll lock us all into Cold War II the more securely.
 
Worth remembering, as the Russians most certainly do,  that Germany, the most powerful country in Europe by far from almost as far back as  when it became a country, has astonishing recuperative powers.  As a military power it came back from the dead twice in the last century.  It’s down and out militarily right now, but nowhere near to the extent is was on those two occasions.   Merz has said explicitly that he’d like to see his country coming back as the leading military power again. 
 
The French also have dreams of old glory – we forget that earlier France itself was the predominant military power in Europe and that for centuries  –  and there was even a time, not so long back, when the British armed forces were not, to use Ritter’s term, the Benjamin Button of militaries. 
 
There’s a kick in Old Europe still, then, if we go in for military Keynesianism.  And the fact that most of us in Europe are broke and look like getting even more so doesn’t mean much in that context.  Such industrial strength as we have left isn’t nothing, not if that residual industrial strength went into guns instead of butter.  The Russians don’t want to have to spend the next few decades guarding against a resurgent threat from Europe. 
 
That’s my argument against the “Oreshniks over Brize Norton” Russia response to our pinprick and more than pinprick attacks into Russia.   The Russians, as said before, don’t want to wake a sleeping Europoodle and fill it with  a terrible resolve.  They’d rather we festered away quietly and left them alone so they can go off and play with their new Brics friends. 
 
But war’s no friend to cold logic like that.  What the Russians should do is wrap up the Ukrainian mess as best they can – that’s getting pretty close now – without allowing the wider conflict to escalate.   What they might do, because emotion often over-rides logic during war, is say, to hell with it.  We’ve taken all we’re going to take from the West.  And, as Commodore Jermy outlines, do some more target practice with their fancy missiles. But this time on us.
 
Going to be interesting to see which way they go.

Posted by: English Outsider | Jul 10 2026 11:06 utc | 83

The men that arrive in Ukraine as a result of these programs are not treated in the same manner as other foreign fighters. South Americans are seen as “expendable”, they often find themselves plugging the gaps in the frontline where territorial defense brigades would traditionally fill these roles.
 
Posted by: MiniMO | Jul 10 2026 4:31 utc | 77

 
What did they think would happen?!?

Posted by: Tel | Jul 10 2026 11:30 utc | 85

@31
They can thank their NATO friends for that. They imposed the infamous IMF shock therapy killing millions. A prosperous Ukraine is not in the interest of NATO. They want cheap cannon fodder to “reduce the risk of body bags for NATO countries”(Soros).

“In November 1994, World Bank negotiators were sent in to examine the overhaul of Ukraine’s agriculture. With trade liberalization (which was part of the economic package), US grain surpluses and “food aid” were dumped on the domestic market, contributing to destabilizing one of the World’s largest and most productive wheat economies, (e.g. comparable to that of the American Mid West).

By 1998, the deregulation of the grain market had resulted in a decline in the production of grain by 45 percent in relation to its 1986-90 level. The collapse in livestock production, poultry and dairy products was even more dramatic.

(See http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/scr/2003/cr03174.pdf )

The cumulative decline in GDP resulting from the IMF sponsored reforms was in excess of 60 percent (from 1992 to 1995).”
https://archive.is/RMbQk
https://archive.is/CcJPC

Posted by: p3t3r | Jul 10 2026 12:51 utc | 87

Posted by: English Outsider | Jul 10 2026 11:06 utc | 87
For over a decade French and Russian Great Power policy and interests have clashed in Africa. For France, its former colonies in West Africa have huge financial ( CFA-Franc ), strategic and economic importance. The Sahel Region is of extraordinary importance for France because of its Uranium deposits. The French Company Orano owns Uranium Fields in Niger and ships it to France significantly below the market prize. The Russian presence in West Africa threatens French interests in the Region. Africa is another battlefield between Western Powers and Russia to maintain and project global influence. That‘s why  theFrench also want  to defeat Russia in Ukraine. They want to weaken Russia’s European and global outreach. For the Germans it‘s different. They don‘t have to win much from the Ukraine war, but they have much to lose. They have already lost their cheap Energy from Russia and are in Economic decline. Since 1945, maybe since 1918, Germany was not a souvereign Country. In the end, the Americans and maybe the Brits are calling the shots. 
Besides all the tough Talk of Merz and other German politicians, the German Population does not want war with Russia, the majority is also sceptical about the help for Ukraine.
Yesterday, the German Greens again tried to file a motion in the Parliament to send Taurus missiles to Ukraine and to increase military and humanitarian aid for Ukraine.
This motion was rejected by an overwhelming majority of the German Bundestag. Most Germans would be glad, if there would be some kind of „back to Business“ with Russia. 
 
 
 
 
 

Posted by: Lesjeuxsontfaits | Jul 10 2026 13:09 utc | 89

…Three Readings For the Beach, Plus Sand Between the Pages
 
https://x.com/bears_with/status/2075439776572850320
 
“In the US empire’s war against Russia, is there an option for Putin of peace with Jewish capitalism (his term)?”

Posted by: John Gilberts | Jul 10 2026 13:28 utc | 91

96 – the only solution to this problem is an all out Bagration style offensive using all combined arms assets – airborne, sea and land !
 
Strategic objectives have to be met in the short term – Odessa, all Black Sea ports and the land bridge to Transnistria.
 
Collapse the fascist regime and do it quickly too…………the alternative is continuing deep attacks on RF from NATO supplied long range drones and SRBM’s…not a good outcome.
 
Good weather is here, use it to your advantage…………….

Posted by: tobias cole | Jul 10 2026 13:42 utc | 93

This one hasn’t passed the news blockade, but large enough that the highest levels have acknowledged its existence. 
 
Hundreds clash with military recruiters as Ukraine draft backlash grows. 
 
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the incident “very bad”, adding: “it shouldn’t be like this.” 
 
 
Kyrylo Budanov, who heads Ukraine’s presidential office, told Ukrainians to “think about who will protect you tomorrow from the enemy army.” 

Posted by: frithguild | Jul 10 2026 13:56 utc | 95

@Tobias Cole
 
The Russians attack in Winter. Father Frost or Ded Moros was on their side when Napoleon‘s Grande Armee drowned  in the Beresina and when Hitler‘s 6th Army froze to death in Stalingrad. 

Posted by: Lesjeuxsontfaits | Jul 10 2026 14:05 utc | 97

Posted by: English Outsider | Jul 10 2026 11:06 utc | 87 This seems to be once again, over and over again, the Stalin fallacy. When Germany attacked Russia, Stalin was so shocked that he went catatonic for a week.

This is the Khrushchev fallacy, or more exactly lie about Stalin. Read Domenico Losurdo’s https://www.iskrabooks.org/books/p/losurdo-stalin-history-and-critique Stalin: History and Critique of a Black Legend
There were lots of lies spread to “kill a god” that Stalin was in his age. Those lies were the basis of  of Khrushchev`s power grab and claim of legitimacy.
 
 
 
 

Posted by: aquadraht | Jul 10 2026 15:43 utc | 99