Ukrainaz, oraindik ere? (12)

The New York Times disclosed yesterday that the CIA built “12 Secret Spy Bases” in Ukraine, waging a shadow war against Russia for the past decade.

After a U.S.-supported violent coup toppled Ukraine’s democratically elected government, CIA Director John Brennan visited Kyiv in April 2014.

Shortly after, the new Ukrainian government launched an “anti-terror operation” against its Russian-speaking citizens in Eastern Ukraine.

For eight years leading up to Russia’s invasion in 2022, Ukraine’s government, with help from the CIA, relentlessly bombed Eastern Ukraine.

Millions of innocent civilians were caught in the crossfire of a geopolitical chess match between Russia and the United States.

This is part of the story often ignored by the Western press.

Bideoa: https://twitter.com/i/status/1762199551031787734

11 h

Joe Biden in 2016: “We led a coup in Ukraine, installed a government, looted, and played both sides”

Mario Nawfal @MarioNawfal

LARGE-SCALE NATO EXERCISE ON RUSSIA’S BORDER STARTS TODAY

Nordic Response 24 is a joint military exercise between 13 countries that takes place in Finland, Sweden, and Norway.

As part of NATO’s Steadfast Defender war preparations, it involves 20,000 troops, 100 aircraft, and 50 ships.

Source: Forsvaret

Kim Dotcom@KimDotcom

The rat is leaving the sinking ship.

Victoria Nuland’s Ukraine project has utterly failed and the shadow President of Ukraine resigns from the US Govt in disgrace. She will be remembered as the coup manager, proxy war aficionado, NordStream plotter and “Fuck the EU” lunatic who has killed hundreds of thousands and wrecked Ukraine.

This is a clear sign that the US proxy war in Ukraine is coming to an end. Russia has won. The West has lost. Europe has wrecked its economic engine with self-harming sanctions. NATO will be busy selling US arms to scared EU nations who will forever fear Russias revenge and leaders across the West will be kicked out of power at the next election. Relations between the EU and the US will sour substantially.

Anthony Blinken will have to explain to his son, who likes to dress up as Zelenskyy on Halloween, how his daddy betrayed his son’s Hero and all Ukrainians. He will grow up to find out that his daddy is a serial liar and that he has the blood of hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians on his hands.

Victoria Nuland doesn’t have children who will be burdened with the shame of her despicable crimes. Vicky and her warmongering husband made millions from the US proxy war in Ukraine and other warmongering activities. Imagine getting rich with mass murder. You must be totally deranged to find any happiness or good sleep in your life.

To understand her deranged mind watch this video by Gonzalo Lira who had to die in custody in Ukraine for telling you the truth about vengeance driven Victoria ‘Nudelmann’ Nuland:

https://youtube.com/live/TzR—YDD

Victoria Nuland will resign and retire in the next few weeks. A reminder of one of her most infamous moments, the leaked phone call with the US Ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt after the 2014 Maidan Coup. The call shows it was the US calling the shots in the post-coup government

Chay Bowes@BowesChay

During the 2014 CIA Coup

Liar Victoria Nuland was caught secretly deciding Ukraine’s next prime minister, telling the US Ambassador in a call that Arseniy Yatsenyuk “is the guy.”

Two years later, she insisted “we never choose candidates in any country.”

19 h

Ukrainian Amb Chalyi, who participated in peace negotiations with Russia in April 2022:

– “We were very close… to finalise our war with some peaceful settlement”

– Putin “tried to do everything possible to conclude an agreement with Ukraine”

– We found “a very real compromise”

Scott Ritter@RealScottRitter

18 h

For all you “Putin only wants war” people out there, how do you explain this?

Had the Istanbul Communique been implemented, we wouldn’t be where we are today.

What is happening today is because of all the Western leaders who, unlike Putin, chose war over peace.

mar. 6

Today Russia showed yet again that it has no regard for human life with a ballistic missile attack on Odesa that reportedly killed five people and injured others. Ukraine needs our unwavering support now as it continues to defend itself against Russia’s unjust & cruel aggression.

Scott Ritter@RealScottRitter

Russia attacked a military target.

I guess that makes me and every other U.S. military professional who ever participated in a military strike against a military target “inhuman.”

Think before you post.

Either take over your account, or give control to someone with common sense.

You’re an embarrassment to your nation.

Normally I wouldn’t care.

But it’s my nation, too.

Julian Röpcke@JulianRoepcke

Again and again and again and again: Propaganda doesn’t help Ukraine. Fact-based analysis and corresponding measures do. Ukraine needs MUCH more Western air defense, more Western electronic warfare & the weapons and permission to attack Russian airfields and bomb factories.

Scott Ritter@RealScottRitter

The interesting thing about “giving Ukraine permission to attack Russian airfields and bomb factories” is that you ignore the fact that Europe/NATO has given Ukraine a huge safe haven on its collective territory where training, command and control, defense manufacturing, logistics, intelligence and more takes place outside Russian reach. If Europe green-lights attacks in Russia, it is opening up the Ukrainian safe haven in Europe to attack by Russia.

War, after all, is war.

Europe is better of limiting this conflict to a Special Military Operation.

oooooo

Mick Wallace@wallacemick

18 h

Pumping more money into the War in Ukraine has become a money laundering exercise to feed Military Industrial Complex. If we really cared about Ukraine we’d do something to bring Peace, but we’ve opposed Dialogue+Diplomacy and wasted billions supporting this #US #NATO Proxy War..

Bideoa: https://twitter.com/i/status/1765739134771958051

oooooo

George Szamuely@GeorgeSzamuely

19 h

It’s a particularly devious sleight of hand that she’s practicing here. She keeps talking about “European defense,” but everything she is advocating here–sending more and more weapons to Ukraine–is offense. Ukraine is a member neither of NATO nor of the EU.

mar. 7

Pumping more money into the War in Ukraine has become a money laundering exercise to feed Military Industrial Complex. If we really cared about Ukraine we’d do something to bring Peace, but we’ve opposed Dialogue+Diplomacy and wasted billions supporting this #US #NATO Proxy War..

mar. 9

Dear Americans. This is a van load of Ukrainian kids that didn’t want to die fighting in a War your Government started in 2014. So, they paid theirs, and their parents’ life savings trying to escape Zelensky and Bidens meatgrinder Stop sending money to fund this insanit

Arnaud Bertrand@RnaudBertrand

This is hands-down the best explanation I’ve heard on why sanctions on Russia backfired, and why they were never going to succeed in the first place.

By economist James K. Galbraith, professor at the University of Texas at Austin.

Best quote of his explanation: “This is a situation in which the sanctions were imposed by one important sector of the world economy which then cut itself off from resources that it needs – and that’s particularly true of Western Europe – in return for cutting Russia off from various things that Russia doesn’t really need.”

Second best quote: “If you go back to the period before the introduction of the sanctions […] the Russian economy was very heavily colonized by Western firms. That was true in automobiles, it was true in aircrafts, it was true in everything from fast food restaurants to big box stores. Western firms were present all throughout the Russian economy. A great many of them […] either chose to exit Russia or were pressured to exit Russia after early 2022. So on what terms did they leave? Well, they were required, if they were leaving permanently, to sell their capital equipment, their factories and so forth, to let’s say a Russian business which would get a loan from Russian banks or maybe have other sources of financing, at a very favorable price for the Russians. So effectively a lot of capital wealth, which was partly owned by the West, has been transferred to Russian ownership. And you now have an economy which is moving forward and has the advantage compared to Europe of relatively low resource costs because Russia is a great producer of resources, oil and gas and fertilizer and food stuff and so forth. And so while the Europeans are paying maybe twice in Germany what they were paying for energy, the Russians are not, they’re paying perhaps less than they were paying before the war. So again I characterize the effect of the sanctions, in fact as being in certain respects a gift to the Russian economy. And this is, I think, quite different from what the authors of the sanctions expected. […] And the essence of the situation is this would not have happened without the sanctions. You could have had the war, and it would have gone pretty much as it has gone. But the Russian government in 2022 was in no position to force the exit of Western firms. It didn’t want to, wouldn’t have done that. It was in no position to force its oligarchs to choose between Russia and the West. It didn’t wish to do that. These choices were imposed by the West, and the results were actually, in many respects, favorable to the long-term independent development of the Russian Federation’s economy.”

Arnaud Bertrand@RnaudBertrand

mar. 11

Link to the video on YouTube:

youtube.com

Sanctions: To Russia with Love

James Galbraith challenges common perceptions about western sanctions and their impact on Russia, rev

Wow. Seems I kicked a hornets nest with this one.

The trolls are unhinged!

Let’s recall the first three articles of the memorandum.

1. The Russian Federation agrees to respect the independence and sovereignty and the existing borders of Ukraine.

2. The Russian Federation reaffirms their obligation to refrain from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of Ukraine, and that none of their weapons will ever be used against Ukraine except in self-defense or otherwise in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations.

3. The Russian Federation reaffirms to refrain from economic coercion designed to subordinate to their own interest the exercise by Ukraine of the rights inherent in its sovereignty and thus to secure advantages of any kind.

“none of their weapons will ever be used against Ukraine except in self-defense or otherwise in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations.”

Hence Russia’s case for preemptive self-defense under Article 51 of the UN Charter.

I mean, if you’re going to pretend to be a lawyer, at least familiarize yourself with the case…

COL (Ret) Jeff in @JeffFisch

FACT CHECK Here is how stupid Putin’s ‘Expanding NATO threatened us,’ argument is.

In 2006, Uzbekistan joined the CSTO.

In 2008, S. Ossetia and Abkhazia joined CSTO

In 2009, the CSTO majorly expanded.

Note: The CSTO is Russia’s ‘wanna be’ NATO.

At no point did Ukraine demand the CSTO not expand. Nor did it ever say ‘we are threatened’ by this growing alliance.

One of the two nations is ‘adulting.’ And it isn’t Russia.

Scott Ritter@RealScottRitter

mar. 12

@JeffFisch

erabiltzaileari erantzuten

How long is the border between Uzbekistan and Ukraine?

Abkhazia and Ukraine?

South Ossetia and Ukraine?

I’d be careful about using the term “stupid.”

You sort of bought controlling stock in the concept with this last post.

Arnaud Bertrand@RnaudBertrand

This is an exceedingly rare and fascinating article in French magazine Marianne, who got access to “several confidential defense reports” from the French army on the situation in Ukraine: https://marianne.net/monde/europe/guerre-en-ukraine-endurance-russe-echec-de-la-contre-offensive-ce-que-cache-le-virage-de-macron

The situation looks exceedingly bleak for Ukraine, which might in part explain Macron’s recent declarations around sending troops to Ukraine. I translated the important parts of the article:

“A Ukrainian military victory now seems impossible” The reports Marianne consulted write that Ukraine’s counter-offensive “gradually bogged down in mud and blood and did not result in any strategic gain” and that its planning, conceived by Kiev and Western general staffs, turned out to be “disastrous”: “Planners thought that once the first Russian defense lines were breached, the entire front would collapse […] These fundamental preliminary phases were conducted without considering the moral forces of the enemy in defense: that is, the will of the Russian soldier to hold onto the terrain”.

The reports also highlight “the inadequacy of the training of Ukrainian soldiers and officers”: due to a lack of officers and a significant number of veterans, these “Year II soldiers” from Ukraine – often trained for “no more than three weeks” – were launched into an assault on a Russian fortification line that proved impregnable.

Without any air support, with disparate Western equipment that was less efficient than the old Soviet material (“obsolete, easy to maintain, and capable of being used in degraded mode”, the report mentions), the Ukrainian troops had no hope of breaking through. Add to this the “Russian super-dominance in the field of electronic jamming penalizing, on the Ukrainian side, the use of drones and command systems”.

“The Russian army is today the ‘tactical and technical’ reference for thinking and implementing the defensive mode,” writes the report. Not only does Moscow have heavy engineering equipment that allowed it to construct defensive works (“almost total absence of this material on the Ukrainian side, and the impossibility for Westerners to supply it quickly”) but the 1,200 km front, known as the Sourokovine line (after a Russian general), has been mined to a huge extent.

The reports also highlight that contrary to Ukraine “the Russians have managed their reserve troops well, to ensure operational endurance.” According to this document, Moscow reinforces its units before they are completely worn out, mixes recruits with experienced troops, ensures regular rest periods in the rear… and “always had a coherent reserve force to manage unforeseen events.” This is far from the widespread idea in the West of a Russian army sending its troops to the slaughter without counting… “

To date, the Ukrainian general staff does not have a critical mass of land forces capable of inter-arms maneuver at the corps level capable of challenging their Russian counterparts to break through its defensive line,” concludes this confidential defense report, according to which “the gravest error of analysis and judgment would be to continue to seek exclusively military solutions to stop the hostilities”. A French officer summarizes: “It is clear, given the forces present, that Ukraine cannot win this war militarily.”

“The conflict entered a critical phase in December” “The combativeness of Ukrainian soldiers is deeply affected,” mentions a forward-looking report for the year 2024. “Zelensky would need 35,000 men per month, he’s not recruiting half of that, while Putin draws from a pool of 30,000 volunteers per month,” observes a military officer returned from Kiev. In terms of equipment, the balance is just as unbalanced: the failed offensive of 2023 “tactically destroyed” half of Kiev’s 12 combat brigades.

Since then, Western aid has never been so low. It is therefore clear that no Ukrainian offensive can be launched this year. “The West can supply 3D printers to manufacture drones or loitering munitions, but can never print men,” notes this report. “Given the situation, it may have been decided to strengthen the Ukrainian army, not with fighters, but with support forces, in the rear, allowing Ukrainian soldiers to be freed up for the front,” admits a senior officer, confirming a “ramp-up” of Western military personnel in civilian clothes. “Besides the Americans, who allowed the New York Times to visit a CIA camp, there are quite a few Britons,” slips a military officer, who does not deny the presence of French special forces, notably combat swimmers for training missions… “

The risk of a Russian breakthrough is real” On February 17, Kiev had to abandon the city of Avdiivka, in the northern suburbs of Donetsk, which had until then been a fortified stronghold. “It was both the heart and symbol of Ukrainian resistance in the Russian-speaking Donbass,” highlights a report on the “battle of Avdiivka,” drawing a series of damning lessons. “The Russians changed their modus operandi by compartmentalizing the city, and especially by using gliding bombs on a large scale for the first time,” notes this document. When a 155mm artillery shell carries 7 kg of explosive, the gliding bomb delivers between 200 and 700 kg and can thus pierce concrete structures more than 2 m thick. A hell for Ukrainian defenses, which lost more than 1,000 men per day. Furthermore, the Russians use sound suppressors on light infantry weapons to foil acoustic detection systems on the ground.

“The decision to retreat by the Ukrainian armed forces was a surprise,” notes this last report, highlighting “its suddenness and lack of preparation,” fearing that this choice was “more endured than decided by the Ukrainian command,” suggesting a possible onset of “disarray.”

“The Ukrainian armed forces have tactically shown that they do not possess the human and material capabilities […] to hold a sector of the front that is subjected to the assailant’s effort,” continues the document. “The Ukrainian failure in Avdiivka shows that, despite the emergency deployment of an ‘elite’ brigade – the 3rd Azov Air Assault Brigade –, Kiev is not capable of locally restoring a sector of the front that collapses,” alerts this last report.

What the Russians will do with this tactical success remains to be seen. Will they continue in the current mode of “nibbling and slowly shaking” the entire front line, or will they seek to “break through in depth”? “The terrain behind Avdiivka allows it,” signals this recent document, also warning that Western sources tend to “underestimate” the Russians, themselves adept at the practice of “Maskirovka,” “appearing weak when strong.” According to this analysis, after two years of war, Russian forces have thus shown their ability to “develop operational endurance” that allows them to wage “a slow and long-intensity war based on the continuous attrition of the Ukrainian army.”

The City of Mary by the Sea.

We remember you as you were living your best life that hot and bright summer of ‘21.

Clean streets, wonderful coffee shops and new restaurants, the gentle roar of the sea, boys and girls playing volleyball on the beach, the magnificent contours of gigantic steel factories.

The last summer before the Russian plague came — and turned a vibrant city, the fastest developing one in Ukraine, into a giant mass grave amid ruins.

Why, whatever for, how could they have so much hatred, savagery, and bloodthirstiness on their mind to do THAT.

I’m afraid the holocaust of Mariupol was in 2022 was so horrific that we, even two years on, do not fully realize what had happened to the City of Mary by the Sea.

Guys behind @20DaysMariupol did the greatest piece of journalism amid this war, and one of the greatest journalistic works of all time.

I just hope the world will finally make conclusions from what it saw as the Oscar’s best documentary 2023.

Otherwise, we fail as a species again.

Scott Ritter@RealScottRitter

Imagine forgetting the brutal rape and pillage of Mariupol by the Azov Nazis in 2014, and how they turned Mariupol into their little Nazi fortress.

How the Nazis murdered civilians, turning their apartments into bunkers while holding the residents hostage.

Mariupol had become a Nazi stronghold, something the propagandists who made the so-called documentary conveniently forgot.

But you, a hard core Azov supporter, know the truth.

And someday you and your Nazi brethren will be brought to justice for the crimes you committed.

Meanwhile, Mariupol is being brought back to life by Russia, this time free of the stain of the Azov Regiment.