Ukraine SitRep: An Army And Country At Their End
Stephen Byren writes, correctly, that the purpose of the Russian offensive towards Kharkiv is to disintegrate the Ukrainian army:
To my mind, Russia’s objective is to force Ukraine’s army to chase after invading Russian units. The idea is to cause heavy casualties on the Ukrainian side and, if all goes according to plan, either to split Ukraine’s army into two, or disintegrate it altogether.In such a manner the idea is not just to take territory but to destroy Ukraine’s ability to resist. There are many indicators that Russia is having success in the ongoing operation.
General Kyrylo Budanov, the head of the Ukrainian military intelligence agency, (which includes foreign fighters and Nazis units,) agrees to that. He paints an bleak picture (archived):
Like most Ukrainian officials and military experts, General Budanov said he believes the Russian attacks in the northeast are intended to stretch Ukraine’s already thin reserves of soldiers and divert them from fighting elsewhere.That is exactly what is happening now, he acknowledged. He said the Ukrainian army was trying to redirect troops from other front line areas to shore up its defenses in the northeast, but that it had been difficult to find the personnel.
“All of our forces are either here or in Chasiv Yar,” he said, referring to a Ukrainian stronghold about 120 miles farther south that Russian troops have assaulted in recent weeks. “I’ve used everything we have. Unfortunately, we don’t have anyone else in the reserves.”
The Ukrainian military has pulled out parts of various brigades that are engaged in the east and is moving them north towards the Kharkiv region. This will be a hodgepodge of partly filled battalions without a unified command and with nothing left to stuff any holes elsewhere.
Budanov correctly fears that Russian can and will repeat this game in other places:
General Budanov said he expected the attacks in the Kharkiv region to last another three or four days, after which Russian forces are expected to make a hard push in the direction of Sumy, a city about 90 miles to the northwest of Kharkiv. Ukrainian officials have previously said that Russia had massed troops across the border from Sumy.Pavlo Velycho, a Ukrainian officer operating near the Russian border in the Sumy region, said that Russian shelling of the outskirts of Sumy had recently increased.
The Russian forces can easily progress because the money allocated for fortifications in the Kharkiv and Sumy regions was paid to fictitious companies without any trenches ever being build (machine translation):
Multi-million contracts for the construction of fortifications, for which they spent a total of 7 billion hryvnias there, were transferred by the Kharkiv OVA to front companies of avatars.
...
It so happened that the department of the Kharkiv OVA for defense purchases chose newly registered no-name firms and FOPs. Moreover, the owners of these firms do not resemble successful businessmen and businesswomen-they have dozens of court cases, from whiskey theft to domestic violence against their husband and mother, some of them are deprived of parental rights and have had enforcement proceedings for loans in banks.Another interesting detail-it seems that these beneficiaries do not even know that they are millionaires. After all, they continue to work in shifts" in the fields " and factories.
The U.S. obviously fears that the Ukrainian army will not be able to hold its lines. Today Secretary of State Anthony Blinken arrived on an unannounced visit in Kiev to shore up moral, or probably to arrange for a change in Ukraine's leadership:
Blinken, who arrived in Kyiv by train early on Tuesday morning, hopes to "send a strong signal of reassurance to the Ukrainians who are obviously in a very difficult moment," said a U.S. official who briefed reporters traveling with Blinken on condition of anonymity."The Secretary's mission here is really to talk about how our supplemental assistance is going to be executed in a fashion to help shore up their defenses (and) enable them to increasingly take back the initiative on the battlefield," the official said.
...
Blinken will reassure Ukrainian officials including President Volodymyr Zelenskiy of enduring U.S. support and deliver a speech focused on Ukraine's future, the official said.
Blinken and Biden need the Ukrainian army to hold until the November election is over. It is unlikely that they can achieve that aim. Some pause on the battlefield would now be convenient but that requires to get rid of Zelenski.
U.S. media are emphasizing the $60 billion package passed by Congress for Ukraine. They neglect to explain that only $14.5 billion of that is actually going to Ukraine, half of it to keep the state solvent and the other half in form of weapons Ukraine might buy once they are build. The other money is designated to refill the U.S. military stockpile.
The real military help for Ukraine during the next months, in form of artillery and anti-air ammunition, will be minuscule.
There is nothing in there that can defend against the FAB glide bombs the Russian military is using in ever growing numbers to break up Ukrainian positions. The last three days have each seen Ukrainian losses at about 1,500 per day - double the usual count - with most of them occurring on the eastern front, not in the Kharkiv direction.
Currently the replacement rate through Ukrainian mobilization is said to be only 25% of the losses that are actually occurring.
Everyone knows that the war is coming to an end. That there will be a victor, Russia, and a lot of losers. The U.S. as well as the EU are now trying to find a face saving way to acknowledge that without admitting it.
The easiest way will be to blame Ukraine, and especially its President Zelenski, for having not listened to western advice during some of the hotter phases of the war (Bakhmut etc). "We gave them a chance and they blew it," will soon become the major tenor of official statements.
But in reality there never was a chance for Ukraine to defeat or even to weaken Russia. All numbers, capacities and people, pointed against that. Despite that fact it was pushed to its death by western delusion.
One hopes that its people, and others, will have learned from it.
Posted by b on May 14, 2024 at 10:54 UTC | Permalink
next page »There is nothing "moral" about the Ukrainian military, and even less "morale" within their ranks!
Posted by: nudge | May 14 2024 11:15 utc | 2
Troll grabs first slot with irrelevant thread diversion attempt .
Posted by: Walt | May 14 2024 11:27 utc | 3
Posted by: Walt | May 14 2024 11:27 utc | 3
I'm pretty sure that was a joke---on the trolls.
Posted by: Hunsdon | May 14 2024 11:30 utc | 4
Volunteer army in free Ukraine...
http://T.me/argumentum_a_priori/15881
In Odessa a girl was thrashed for filming his bf being gang pressed into the army.
Revolution of Dignity they call it
Posted by: Arioch | May 14 2024 11:31 utc | 5
A great piece.
I believe Biden will be replaced by his party before November.
That kind of transition allows for the Ukrainian defeat to be accepted, but no lessons will be learned.
World War III will then heat up in regions like Georgia, Armenia, or former Soviet "stans."
America's overlords are fully within Thucydides's trap.
There will be no reform, only collapse.
Over and over, I see the USSR's decline in the US.
Are we in 1975 or 1985 of the Soviet era?
Posted by: Talleyrand | May 14 2024 11:36 utc | 6
Ok.. betting time. What is the reason for for Zelensky's untimely demise.
Putin exotic poison via Porton Down or American sodomy with a bayonet?
Or perhaps the OUN successors have more imaginative methods?
Posted by: Peter AU1 | May 14 2024 11:39 utc | 7
I would suspect there are a lot of NATO specialists in Ukraine now doing the technical work of targeting the various missile and glide bomb systems. It takes months or even years to train people to operate these systems, and Ukraine doesn't have the personnel to spare for long term training. No doubt a few F-16s will be pushed into Ukraine as launching platforms for air to ground missiles, but I don't see that being any more effective than the existing Su-24, Su-27, and Mig 29s. F-16 are not a stealth bomber like the F-35, and just as subject to being shot down by Russian AAA and fighters as the Soviet era launch platforms Ukraine is using now. US/UK/EU fascism may well succeed in seriously damaging or destroying the Crimean bridge, but with the railway through the liberated territories now complete that is more a propaganda effort than a logistical problem for the Russians.
Posted by: Saturna | May 14 2024 11:41 utc | 8
Plans and counter plans. Intel and counter intel.
And Ritter's oodna loop. Russia's thinking is well inside that of the Anglo world's thinking.
“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.”
― Sun Tzu, The Art of War
Posted by: Peter AU1 | May 14 2024 11:51 utc | 9
I would suspect there are a lot of NATO specialists in Ukraine now doing the technical work of targeting the various missile and glide bomb systems. It takes months or even years to train people to operate these systems, and Ukraine doesn't have the personnel to spare for long term training. No doubt a few F-16s will be pushed into Ukraine as launching platforms for air to ground missiles, but I don't see that being any more effective than the existing Su-24, Su-27, and Mig 29s. F-16 are not a stealth bomber like the F-35, and just as subject to being shot down by Russian AAA and fighters as the Soviet era launch platforms Ukraine is using now. US/UK/EU fascism may well succeed in seriously damaging or destroying the Crimean bridge, but with the railway through the liberated territories now complete that is more a propaganda effort than a logistical problem for the Russians.
Posted by: Saturna | May 14 2024 11:41 utc | 8
Just a matter of sending enough on "paid leave" (i bet there's somebody's friend in the western governments that just landed an excellent contract for body-bags, can't let an opportunity to make a buck go to waste)
Nobody's even caring to hide it anymore.
https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/specialforces-details-british-ops-ukraine
Posted by: Newbie | May 14 2024 12:17 utc | 10
“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.”
― Sun Tzu, The Art of War
Posted by: Peter AU1 | May 14 2024 11:51 utc | 9
Might be why Putin said he prefers Biden over Trump: he "knows" him.
Posted by: migueljose | May 14 2024 12:23 utc | 11
⚡️⚡️⚡️"Zelensky's peace formula" these days is being transformed into the "Blinken formula"Fresh insights confirm the real goals of Blinken's emergency visit. The US Secretary of State came to soften the “Zelensky formula”.
There are several reasons:
🔹unfulfilled promises to Ze Biden to hold the front. The Russian Army is advancing too quickly in both the Donetsk and Kharkov regions. As we have already written, this contradicts Biden’s election slogans and creates a negative background for the peace conference in Switzerland.
🔹Results of Xi’s trip to the EU. After the visit of the head of the People's Republic of China, it became clear that China will promote its own peace plan more aggressively through Hungary. The Ze formula in Switzerland will probably have a competitor who will support, although a smaller number of countries, but countries with a large population, which will demonstrate the inability of the hegemon to control even “his summit.”
The most categorical formula (as Ze and Ermak publicly pushed it), signed in Switzerland, would be completely inconsistent with the situation “on the ground.” In this case, it would be necessary to deviate from it almost immediately after signing. This would give arguments to China (with its formula), the Russians (“we spoke”) and opponents of the war in the EU (Orban, Fico).
Therefore, we assume that the main goal of the visit is to soften the formula on the part of Ukraine. So that this does not look like US weakness:
✅ it is proposed to throw out the 1991 borders from the formula. In this aspect there will be much softer formulations that allow for two interpretations;
✅ contrary to the original option, an initial stop to hostilities is being discussed, and only then a discussion of peace conditions. They want to put the mare in front of the cart.
In this form, the formula would become more competitive compared to the “Chinese plan.” But, on the other hand, the Nazis will receive an argument against Ze, about protecting the interests of Ukraine.
https://t.me/ZeRada1/19645
Our source in the OP said that the offensive of the Russian army in the Kharkov direction has a negative impact on the preparations for the summit in Switzerland.A number of participants from the Global South refused to come, and those who plan to attend the summit do not want to sign a tough final document.
https://t.me/rezident_ua/22808
Posted by: Down South | May 14 2024 12:34 utc | 12
Politico announced yesterday that kike Blinken was there so what was unannounced about the visit?
Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | May 14 2024 12:40 utc | 13
Secretary of State Blinken’s arrival in Kyiv is indicative of the failure of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the defense of the Kharkiv region, constant retreat in the Donbass, corruption scandals, reshuffles in the Ukrainian government, public disappointment and falling morale.Our sources expressed different versions of Blinken’s arrival in Kyiv.
First version. Blinken’s task is to convince Zeh to soften Ukraine’s “peace formula” in order to attract many leaders of the countries of the global South and Asia who are now refusing to attend the upcoming summer conference in Switzerland. Arguing that there is nothing new there.
Plus, the opportunity to invite the Russian Federation to this conference under such a sauce.Second version. Blinken’s task is to persuade Zeh to agree to a truce with the Russian Federation, starting a discussion of peace agreements. Allegedly, the goal is not to end the war, but to gain time so that the Ukrainian Armed Forces can recruit the required amount of new manpower and train them. It is important to stop the advance of the Russian Armed Forces by any means if this is not possible through military means. Until the entire defense collapsed.
In fact, the United States is concerned that the Armed Forces of Ukraine are constantly losing, which damages Biden’s image before the elections.
One thing is clear - trading has begun again.
https://t.me/legitimniy/17940
Posted by: Down South | May 14 2024 12:45 utc | 14
I would suspect there are a lot of NATO specialists in Ukraine now doing the technical work of targeting the various missile and glide bomb systems.
Posted by: Saturna | May 14 2024 11:41 utc | 8
They were doing it since the start of the smo, there is nothing "local" in Ukr. Nato had many years to prepare since Maidan, when no action was taken by Russia. Tens of thousands of "trainers" appeared and absolutely no one bothered them in any way, not even today. Next week Moldova will give access to nato for "exercises", share intelligence (funny, I know) and will purchase weapons jointly with EU. That will collapse their economy in a year or two, many will run, the remaining losers will be used as proxy. But they voted like that, so did the Ukros, so it must be what they really want.
Posted by: rk | May 14 2024 12:49 utc | 15
Seems there a lot of fictitious things in Banderistan : Companies, trenches, AA, shells, tanks and those 54K reserves don't seems much for a "700K" army (How do they rotate their boys on the line ?). This Potemkin country will soon respond "Error 404 : country not found" no matter what's done.
Speaking of doing things :
Blinken wasn't dispatch to Kiev to tell bad news (that's a deputy's job), his job is to escalate. Good luck with that.
404 is way past it's last legs but he will announce another brick of dollars on top the Jenga game that is banderistan anyway. He will also commit for renewed "presidential support" ; it don't cost much to tell... behind closed doors, Hellensky's demise is already plotted but for now it's no time to tell him.
In the beginning of the SMO, nobody had an interest in killing this guy but it's far less true nowadays. Now everyone wants to see him gone one way or another, he has death on the trail.
Posted by: Savonarole | May 14 2024 12:50 utc | 16
If Russia is really winning (what I slowly am starting to believe) , then the biggest problem for them would be Putin and his wish to negotiate peace and leave another unfinished war, like in Syria.
Posted by: vargas | May 14 2024 13:04 utc | 17
As these pinning attacks subside, expect to read stories about massive Russian losses. Western media is so predictable.
Already reading about Russian 'mercenaries' fragging Russian officers and I remember tales of Russian officers killing wounded Russian soldiers and throwing them into the Dnipro.
At some point the lying will have to change. It will be like the end of 'the Good the Bad and the Ugly', we could pretend until the body hit the ground.
Posted by: Christian J Chuba | May 14 2024 13:11 utc | 18
Posted by: vargas | May 14 2024 13:04 utc | 17
"then the biggest problem for them would be Putin", the russians are aware of this, which is why they re-elected him with such a high score.
"and his wish to negotiate peace and leave another unfinished war", so true, because of that coward Putin we're once again going to avoid a melted and radioactive northern emissphere, what a pity...
Posted by: Tak-Tik | May 14 2024 13:15 utc | 19
One hopes that its people, and others, will have learned from it.
Posted by b on May 14, 2024 at 10:54 UTC
_____
Good god, I hope not. The world does not need a somewhat less incompetently managed Empire of Lies war elsewhere. If there’s to be another one (which is probably inevitable), let it be conducted with the same knuckle-dragging hubris as this one.
Posted by: malenkov | May 14 2024 13:18 utc | 20
Watch Volchansk, which should soon be out of AFU control. Reportedly Syrsky deployed nazi Kraken and Azov units there. This may also have been deliberately as a convenient way to get rid of them, as Syrsky basically takes direct orders from Ze and implements them, for whom Azov is a major risk as a potential life hazard or a new Maidan organizer.
Kharkov might be a hot spot for a few more days. After that expect to see a local push somewhere else, after AFU has been unbalanced and sucked to Kharkov.
Posted by: unimperator | May 14 2024 13:21 utc | 21
If you, like I, are unfortunate and live in the ash heap of the West, what you must understand is that the Ukrainian Nazi diaspora WILL seek its vengeance. Aside from direct assassinations of people like Nuland and Blinken, expect a generalized terrorism perpetrated by these SS scoundrels, especially in Germany, the UK, and France. And eventually, in the US. Oh, and for you Lib-Tards & Wokesters, when these boys come to do their thing over here, don’t be surprised when you’re first on their list. Y’all will WISH you lived in Putin’s Russia or Moussaveni’s Uganda. This ain’t no joke…
Posted by: OldFart | May 14 2024 13:22 utc | 22
vargas | May 14 2024 13:04 utc | 17
Don't be a wimp. You should have the fortitude to stick up for what you believe in to the bitter end.
Poor empire. Good hired help is hard to find these days. I see on twitter Nafo corgi dogs over the last few months are folding like wet cards.
Even Jihad Julian, a longtime empire stallwart.
Posted by: Peter AU1 | May 14 2024 13:25 utc | 23
@ OldFart | May 14 2024 13:22 utc | 22
Cloud, meet silver lining?
Posted by: malenkov | May 14 2024 13:27 utc | 24
OldFart | May 14 2024 13:22 utc | 22
The west becoming the Idlib of the world. Woke vs extreme supremacist right. Everything in between - grass to be trampled. RoW is sidelining the west. Just as Idlib was made the dumping ground and sidelined in Syria.
Posted by: Peter AU1 | May 14 2024 13:35 utc | 25
Posted by Talleyrand #6
“I believe Biden will be replaced by his party before November.”
Au contraiire. I believe that next week Zelensky will begin his third tour of duty as Presidente and show the way forward for America. Biden will be re-elected in a landslide of paper xeroxed ballots, and when he passes on, he will continue in his role as Glorious Leader, in the style of Jeremy Bentham, the great utilitarian who gave us the principle of “whatever the f@#k works for the greatest number of U.S. (who really count). http://www.leancrew.com/all-this/images2010/bentham.jpg
Posted by: Butte Bill | May 14 2024 13:37 utc | 26
Creative ways for the CIA to terminate their relationship with Zelenskiiyy? I was thinking cutting his cocaine stash with ammonium fluoride. That would make for an exciting high, wouldn’t it?
Posted by: William Gruff | May 14 2024 13:37 utc | 27
Russia implements the plan calmly and unstressed. They have only barely begun. Ukraine collapses while RF is at 10% or possibly 20% of full throttle. Or is it 5%?
The US will never learn. Never. The same group who still talks dolchenstuss for why US had to abandon Vietnam is already in gear. They will get traction because the simpler "we lost because weak" explanation is unthinkable. Reality is unthinkable.
Posted by: oldhippie | May 14 2024 13:40 utc | 28
Darn, if Ukraine is going to collapse so soon, what will Washington do with all that cash they just voted to give to Ukraine. Does Washington mean they wash a ton of money there?
Posted by: Bemildred | May 14 2024 13:41 utc | 29
You know I'd give the construction guys a break about getting paid and not making fortifications on the border. After the rdk anti putin raids russia poured military resources on the border to tighten it up.
They went after construction equipment with a vengeance too. I mean really I don't blame them for not getting it done, frankly it was irresponsible to rile up the Russians by the border THEN try to fortify it yourself.
Posted by: Neofeudalfuture | May 14 2024 13:44 utc | 30
@ b who wrote
"
Some pause on the battlefield would now be convenient but that requires to get rid of Zelenski.
"
I am not sure what sort of pause getting rid of Z would bring other than for a few news cycles while empire finds a new face for Ukraine.
All this will get real when Russia says they won't negotiate surrender with Z.....why would they now?....he is a puppet who has caused the death of thousands and won't live long regardless.
And yes, I am glad that more are seeing that Ukraine is going down before the US (s)election.
Posted by: psychohistorian | May 14 2024 13:45 utc | 31
I cannot even imagine how the West would mentally accept its defeat in Ukraine?
Was there ever a comp[arable schck in the history?
Because they are not suffering, they see themselves as superior, they are convinced they are invincible...
Posted by: vargas | May 14 2024 13:45 utc | 32
It seems that Shadowbanned and maybe one other commenter were right about traitors in the Russian command. Now they're all being arrested. This may be the most significant problem for Ukraine. A united, all-in Russia will finish them off like Negan smashing in the skulls of zombies on the "Walking Dead."
Posted by: Ghost of Zanon | May 14 2024 13:51 utc | 33
I know I shouldn’t bother, but —
“l cannot even imagine how the West would mentally accept its defeat in Ukraine?”
The USA will memory-hole it easily and leave it to the Eurotoadies to deal with the fallout.
“Was there ever a comp[arable schck in the history?
Because they are not suffering, they see themselves as superior, they are convinced they are invincible...”
Guess you’ve never heard of Vietnam? or Afghanistan? How American of you!
“Posted by: vargas | May 14 2024 13:45 utc | 32”
Something we could do with less of.
Posted by: malenkov | May 14 2024 13:51 utc | 34
Every silver lining has a cloud. The expansion of the hybrid war is already under way. NATO "advisers" to prop up a Kyiv simulacrum of a government is all that's needed to keep the war going. If I can imagine a cyberattack on the Russians' replacement for SWIFT, obviously experienced covert warriors can think of this and worse. The continued threat by NATO against the rest of Russia as well as a massive air intervention that can unhinge any large-scale maneuvers in Ukraine entails I think a massive area where some sort of forever war can be sustained. Attrition succeeds when territory is taken control of to prevent any sort of recovery from the manpower attrition. The old saw, "There is a lot of ruin in a country," is a cliche because it's true.
Posted by: steven t johnson | May 14 2024 13:53 utc | 35
Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | May 14 2024 12:40 utc | 13
Heads up. This comment does not seem like something the real Tom Q would post.
Posted by: KMRIA | May 14 2024 13:58 utc | 36
The defeat of the UAF does present a problem for US President Shit-for-Brains.
He can't run on foreign policy - debacles in both Gaza and the Ukraine.
He can't run on the economy - inflation is not going away; the US Producer price index jumped again. The Houthi blockade of the Red Sea continues, and the bridge disaster effects will linger through November.
He can only run on Trump hate.
Posted by: Ghost of Zanon | May 14 2024 13:58 utc | 37
Picture is worth a thousand word, in this case a million:
There's is no danger that Blinken would be killed by Russian agents, zero, none. Maybe partisans but they'd work under RF orders so that would be extremely unlikely, there's a realistic danger that he could be attacked by a lone nut or disgruntled Ukrainian citizen or angry AFU ex-soldier, but in all the above cases his own Secret Service plus AFU elite squad would be more than adequate and diplomatically proper - as they have been until now. It's not war theater either, as again a squad of AFU fully stormtroopered up would provide the necessary photo op.
Why the Poles??? Pay attention here: To protect Blinken from factions high up in the AFU that are done with the bullshit from USA and NATO and Zelensky.
Last days of the Fourth Reich.
Posted by: LightYearsFromHome | May 14 2024 14:02 utc | 38
> Are we in 1975 or 1985 of the Soviet era?
> Posted by: Talleyrand | May 14 2024 11:36 utc | 6
One man, claiming being Grigory Gromov and Soviet migrant to USA, abcdefgh.livejournal.com used to blog extensively (in early 2000-s if I remember right) about then USA being - with substituted flags, slogans, holy names and other optics - structurally a late Brezhnev's stagnation-era (застой) USSR (mid to late 1970-s). He also claimed that both empires in the mentioned timespan had entered a positive feedback loop of brain petrification, and hence were beyond salvation (even if "muscles" and "fat deposits" still appeared healthy and enough - they could only slow the "brains"-imposed trend but not change it).
i can add, that it seemed both times/places had a snowballing replacing of men of bad words and big actions for men of nice words and feigned actions, which people shortsightedly supported
G.G.(?) also claimed he was the person who in public predicted hyperinflation in USSR, when most other persons forgot USSR had three separated currencies and floodgates were set for a reason. Back then it was not a common point.
He also later lashed out on American Jews for being rotten and putting USA before Israel.
So, I can not verify how much biased or objective he was, but I have to admit he was blogging on "Soviet America" back in time this sounded a sheer lunacy.
Posted by: Arioch | May 14 2024 14:03 utc | 39
would suspect there are a lot of NATO specialists in Ukraine now doing the technical work of targeting the various missile and glide bomb systems.
Posted by: Saturna | May 14 2024 11:41 utc | 8
Most of that work could be done from anywhere in the world. You can download the recon data to any computer in the world then upload a targeting solution directly to the weapon. The Americans can even change targeting after the weapon has been released. Russians claim the same. The only work that requires on site technicians is operations like handling and loading the weapons and maintaining the avionics and mechanical parts of the system.
I could be wrong ... Ukraine could be littered with NATO weapons specialists I'm just speculating.
Posted by: HB_Norica | May 14 2024 14:04 utc | 40
@ Peter AU1 | 7
Talking about how Zelensky will have died: American sodomy with a bayonet?
Just a reminder: "bayonet sodomy" is a British specialty. That's how British MI6 agents murdered Muammar Khadaffi, Libya's great leader. 2011 is not long ago, so we should not have forgotten who did what. BTW, if it's not OT, the war on Libya was started by the British and French secret services.
I'm mot saying Americans don't murder people all the f-ing time; they do. But Americans don't usually get that kinky.
Posted by: JessDTruth | May 14 2024 14:04 utc | 41
Looks like the game is up for ex-state UA. "Play stupid games, win stooooopid prizes" - UKranian proverb
Posted by: ali | May 14 2024 14:08 utc | 42
@ LightYearsFromHome | May 14 2024 14:02 utc | 39 with the link to pics of Blinken's security team....thanks
I agree with your perspective on the why....end game here and interesting to watch.
Posted by: psychohistorian | May 14 2024 14:12 utc | 43
> Might be why Putin said he prefers Biden over Trump: he "knows" him.
> Posted by: migueljose | May 14 2024 12:23 utc
Maybe a mistake :-)
"If you don't know yourself what are you doing, then neither can enemy"
― Joe Tzu, The Fart of War
Posted by: Arioch | May 14 2024 14:13 utc | 44
Sec. Blinken's mission is to prevent a Russian decapitation strike by his mere presence while also arranging for Zelensky's abdication, in what passes for an orderly manner (to the Americans). A fool on a fool's errand.
Posted by: AllSeeingEye | May 14 2024 14:24 utc | 45
Lol keeps happening as I am writing a post on a previous thread b ends up posting a new one and as usual synchronous! It’s cool.
So a repost on this thread.
Rope-a-dope develops into a moving mincer as the RF comes away and starts swinging left right and centre, a hop here, a skip there, floating in deadly jabs and rib busters and painful kidney mashers …
Who needs big arrows? To where? Why?
That would only ‘extend’ RF and introduce dangerous supply lines and counter attacking options - this isn’t the reprise of the deadly Great Patriotic War - it doesn’t need millions of dead Russians- which is what the Napoleon Hitlers of today are demanding - a begging come on, come and get it …pleeeeeese give us a chance to make a KO punch !!
At the end of WW2
‘The Western proxy Nazis included 3,070,000 men who were confirmed dead in the Death Files and another 15,200,000 men in the General Files who had served in the war including those listed as missing and presumed dead. ‘
- So about 18million?
‘The research by Overmans concluded in 2000 that the total German military dead and missing were 5,318,000.’
- So about 30% ?
‘Of which 3.7 million were casualties of the eastern fronts’
- So over 2/3rd or 70% - AT LEAST.
That came at a great cost of 5 /6 times Soviets dead!
There is no need for that now. This time they have played smart and the tables are turned and RF casualties are no more than a fifth of the proxy natzos.
This time there are no fake allies, rushing to secure Europe from their ‘partners’, trying to steal a surrender from the Nazis far from Berlin, which Stalin absolutely refused! Hence the ‘double surrender’ by the Nazis regime days apart. Manny the macaroon and the grandkids of the Euronazis are trying to put boots on the ground to secure at least some of the lands they bought with the ‘to the last ukranians’.
So there is this bit of chiming history:
‘In January 1945 the Russians launched an attack along the whole line from the Baltic to the Carpathians and broke into Germany from the east, while in March the British and Americans crossed the Rhine and poured in from the west.
At Hitler’s command, old men and young boys were pressed into service as the Volkssturm (“People’s Storm Troop”), and Germany was turned into a battlefield in a senseless campaign to delay the inevitable defeat.
In a political testament to the German nation, he laid the blame for the disastrous war on others, principally the Jews, and expressed neither regret nor remorse for what had happened.’
So- The final act is being written and the exit of the ‘faces’ planned. Will it be a suicide and cremation so that not a trace remains to be verified of the cocaine clown and the pantomime villains? Will the blame be put on the blameless again? Wil the Zionazis make that hay? What they use it to support the master race in the Levant and the western hierarchies? Will take numbers be written and shouted about? Blinken , Nudelman and Kagans are working hard on the scripts along with the controlled PR/Advertising/Media industries.
I doubt the Russians even care - knowing that the real villains are hiding in the usual western capitals and estates far from any danger - except in this war, if they insists on ratcheting up - the kinzals and even more modern weapons WILL find the murdering robber barons in the first hours - no matter how deep a hole or cave they hide in, in whichever far away continent or hobbit hole.
But the primary aim of the Potsdam agreement was what to do with the Nazis demented country.
‘agreement was ultimately reached on a broad policy for the post-war administration of Germany:
* Germany was to be demilitarized, denazified, and democratized.’
Which is exactly why VVP started the SMO from because the Collective Waste had reneged on all assurances all the way back to that Potsdam agreement - so here we are - no more proxy Nazios ukraine.
And now the peace dividend is already being planned ( the reason for the shuffling of cabinet) with a deft transfer of the modernised productive military industrial and technological superiority turned to civilian use - a great budding of the RF as a worldwide supplier of highest quality consumer goods awaits … we might all get our very own ‘Jetsons’ futuristic flying mobiles yet! Ones that won’t fall out of the sky or bounce into buildings and other commuters.
Uraaa
Posted by: DunGroanin | May 14 2024 14:04 utc | 174
Posted by: DunGroanin | May 14 2024 14:26 utc | 46
"Just a reminder: "bayonet sodomy" is a British specialty."
JessDTruth @42
Ever hear of Vlad the Impaler?? Impaling has been an Eastern European specialty for centuries.
Posted by: Jerr | May 14 2024 14:27 utc | 47
Superb post, 'b'.
"Blinken, who arrived in Kyiv by train early on Tuesday morning,..."
Quite apropos considering Blinken is in Kiev to de-fuck a 'trainwreck'!
Ukraine had a great fall,
All the Empire's horsemen,
And all the Empires men,
Couldn't put Ukraine back together again!
> Might be why Putin said he prefers Biden over Trump: he "knows" him.
> Posted by: migueljose | May 14 2024 12:23 utc
Putin et al understand who runs the Empire of Lies very well, and it ain't Joe Biden or Donald Trump. The difference, if any practical difference exists, is that Genocide Joes barely has any autonomous existence at all, while Trump has the potential to say something erratic. Joe goes off script, but nobody cares because nobody thinks he's in charge of anything. DJT might actual stir shit up, but that has its uses too, so no worries.
Posted by: Honzo | May 14 2024 14:33 utc | 49
No retreat no surrender!!!
Make the russian bastads pay in blood for every single centimeter of territory!!!
Posted by: Abraham Linsky | May 14 2024 14:36 utc | 50
Our source reports that Commander-in-Chief Syrsky wants to extinguish the entire failure in the Kharkov direction, including with the help of Azov (third assault, etc.).As the source says. Bankova has a good opportunity to weaken Azov by putting it into the meat grinder.
We have been writing for a long time that the internal confrontation between office and independent military units is growing. It was not for nothing that the DUK Right Sector was disbanded.
https://t.me/legitimniy/17930
Our source in the General Staff said that the third assault brigade AZOV ignores Syrsky’s orders and refuses to move to positions near Kharkov. After the unsuccessful operation in Avdievka, AZOV lost almost half of its personnel and is now restoring reserves, but the Commander-in-Chief insists that it is the third brigade that participates in the most acute situations on the front line.
https://t.me/rezident_ua/22793
Our source in the General Staff said that the Ukrainian Armed Forces will be forced to leave Volchansk until the end of the week, since Syrsky refused to transfer reserves from the Eastern Front and is trying to hold off the enemy with manpower and minimal equipment.The commander-in-chief considers the loss of Volchansk not a significant loss for Ukraine, which is why there is no need to spend reserves.
https://t.me/rezident_ua/22810
Posted by: Down South | May 14 2024 14:36 utc | 51
@ vargas | May 14 2024 13:04 utc | 17
Then, too, a negotiated settlement now would leave a failed state on Russia's border. Ask the US about the Mexican cartels on our border and see that this is just kicking the can down the road. Considering that the Ukie Nazi militias have the same head space, this will be a predictable problem for later.
A cynic would guess that Putin would like a potboiler war with a sub peer threat just for the war leader energy. The only true solution is to clear out the territory for verifiable demilitarization and denazification.
Posted by: jhill | May 14 2024 14:37 utc | 52
Posted by: psychohistorian | May 14 2024 14:12 utc | 44
@ LightYearsFromHome | May 14 2024 14:02 utc | 39 with the link to pics of Blinken's security team....thanks
—————
The pictures with the Polish military are from a Polish train station. I’d assume he’d be secured by the US marines in Ukraine.
Posted by: RB | May 14 2024 14:37 utc | 53
migueljose @ 12:23 / Honzo @ 50
You are reading too much into it, why would Putin even get close to something so toxic? He took the easy way out, the sharp witted way out. Imagine if Putin had said he prefers Trump or even a curt no-comment? It would have fed the Russophobia and the domestic USA political shit storm, which no one on the planet benefits from.
Posted by: LightYearsFromHome | May 14 2024 14:43 utc | 54
Savonarole | May 14 2024 12:50 utc | 16
"Blinken wasn't dispatch to Kiev to tell bad news (that's a deputy's job), his job is to escalate."
Excellent insight into how bureaucrats operate.
Posted by: JessDTruth | May 14 2024 14:45 utc | 55
Posted by: RB @ 54
The pictures with the Polish military are from a Polish train station. I’d assume he’d be secured by the US marines in Ukraine.
Bummer... never mind. I was hoping for the last days of the Fourth Reich and an end in sight of the war. Figures TG channels would get it wrong or make it up.
Posted by: LightYearsFromHome | May 14 2024 14:48 utc | 56
@35 hi
Well maybe they meant loose as in loose bowels, because when Chasov Yar sinks and Kherson gets surrounded (maybe), there will be a great deal of loose bowels in NATO.
I'm looking forward to the likes of the BBC, ARD , FT etc trying to spin it.
Posted by: Judge Barbier | May 14 2024 14:49 utc | 57
As regards Z, how can the USUK establishment let him live ?. He must have so much dirty washing to spill
Posted by: Judge Barbier | May 14 2024 14:52 utc | 58
^^^
Z and V, like Slavyangrad and Two Majors, is one of the more solid channels. Guess it never hurts to get things wrong if it helps the cause...
Posted by: LightYearsFromHome | May 14 2024 14:52 utc | 59
BBC: Kyiv can use British weapons inside Russia - Cameron
The west clearly need escalation and more escalation.
UK is ready as they have nuclear weapons and therefore Russia cannot hurt them.
Posted by: vargas | May 14 2024 14:57 utc | 60
Maybe it is time for global humanity, to think about organizing itself outside of the nation state system? Some thing has to be done to deny Oligarchs and the leaders the oligarch appoint to operate the governments, the corporations and the NGOs. Humanity must come first, not last; human rights must cancel state rights.
Humanity has been trapped within, between, and by boundaries (the box we are suppose to think inside of, so to speak is defined by boundaries). Some how the boundaries (geographic borders, language, religion, race, and culture) must become transparent to global humanity, if ever humanity is to discover, identify and find ways to block <=the divide and conquer strategies =>nation state leaders and owners use to cause and prosecute wars and to conduct abusive life-harming anti-human acts.
Its the boundaries that separate and divide global humanity. Its the borders that allow the corrupt to manage and manipulate humanity. Its the media which distributes the psychologically programmed and engineered mind control propaganda that confuses the goals and redirects the bottom up organization which might otherwise develop into defensive measures needed to keep humanity safe and secure from corrupt government leadership. Its the organization of humanity into a single cohesive whole that has been suppressed by the nation state system.
A well informed global humanity should be able to direct national energies into global channels that advance the interest of all of humanity all of the time in every possible direction. When humanity is cooperating money is not a factor and leadership is traded based on the needs of the task at hand.
I am not against government or the nation state system, but I am definitely against leaders who use or who aspire to use the nation state or its government as if the government were a mafia extracting by deceit, and at gun point, wealth and production from the human community for the benefit of the oligarchy.
The world, and every person in it, needs to be invited to help develop the means that humanity can use to limit access to leadership of government or any of its extensions, and can use to remove any person in government or its extensions who uses or who threaten to use the power of the state against human rights.
Actually, the principle that all state power should be directed at improving the status and condition of man-kind taken as a whole, should underlie the philosophy that directs the construction and restricts the application of the laws.
IMO, in order to accomplish the goal of keeping humanity safe from the leaders who manage the nation state system, it will be necessary for humanity to cooperate in finding ways to intercept and expose the plans developed by those who manage any of the nation state governments, or corporations or NGOs. Secrecy is an enemy to human rights. Every human has the right to know what the leaders of all of the nation states plan, because the nation state system should belong to humanity. Humans must learn the intentions of their leaders. Everyone needs to know how its leaders intend to use the nation state to effect their plans long before those plans are implemented. Every human must have the right to object to any plan and to the use of any method proposed to effect such plans before the method is used or the plan is executed.
Historical experience has proven, nothing the nation states promises is lasting. Each time humanity gains the upper hand, the top down Oligarch manages to reimplement corruption and to engage the governments in anti-human activity. This seems to happen no matter the effort it took humanity to extract that promise, now in default, from the nation state. This happens because those in charge keep secrets from those who are governed by the nation state. Historically, the villain has been the Oligarch and the person the Oligarch chooses to lead. Everything follows from that duo.
Humanity has a lot of work to do to find ways to counter the destructive hates, hidden biases, corrupt and anti human rights intentions embellished in those who aspire to lead.
I know this is blue sky, but I think it necessary to develop some ideas toward countering nation state violence conducted against humanity.
Posted by: snake | May 14 2024 15:03 utc | 61
BBC: Kyiv can use British weapons inside Russia - Cameron
The west clearly need escalation and more escalation.
UK is ready as they have nuclear weapons and therefore Russia cannot hurt them.
Posted by: vargas | May 14 2024 14:57 utc | 61
I do not see that the West has much to use in the way of escalation. Attacking undefended apartment blocks from far away is what is happening. This is unlikely to affect events on the battlefield, and they are running out of time as well as electricity.
Zelensky is planning to go to Spain Friday to meet the King. Maybe he won't return to Kiev this time.
Posted by: Bemildred | May 14 2024 15:06 utc | 62
vargas @ 60
BBC: Kyiv can use British weapons inside Russia - Cameron
Our baby AI needs an update, or at least to clear the cache.
Posted by: LightYearsFromHome | May 14 2024 15:09 utc | 63
@oldhippie | May 14 2024 13:40 utc | 28
QUOTE
...The same group who still talks dolchenstuss for why US had to abandon Vietnam is already in gear. They will get traction because the simpler "we lost because weak" explanation is unthinkable. Reality is unthinkable.
UNQUOTE
Something most of you never seem to bring up is the vast secret collaboration of the US and USSR at the time when the Vietnam war ended.
The USSR knew that the moonlandings were fake and the US bribed them by offering technology exports where the Fortune 500 companies took part.
Britain knew all about it since the simulations were carried out in a British hangar. And the instructions to Stanley Kubrick were handed over to him in Northwood, the NATO HQ in London.
Whether Britain played a decisive role in bringing about the outcome in Vietnam I dont know.
Was weakening the US a temptation for Britain?
I dont know but their longterm aim was world government and that would be harder if the US had a chance to go it alone.
Posted by: petergrfstrm | May 14 2024 15:10 utc | 64
Lots of NATO troops in Poland right now and lots of talk about plugging gaps on the front.
Now's the time surely for the big mouths in London to walk the walk. The rest of the world is watching and waiting to see if NATO has any balls.
Posted by: Eoin Clancy | May 14 2024 15:13 utc | 65
OMFG: 51:
"No retreat no surrender!!!
Make the russian bastads pay in blood for every single centimeter of territory!!!
Posted by: Abraham Linsky"
---
https://www.familysearch.org/memories/memory/162785769
---
Your enthusiasm for the kamikaze regime in Kiev, where does it come from, maybe from your admiration for the nationalists of Volynia and Galicia, or maybe you are a nostalgic of the 14th Waffen SS?
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/14th_Waffen_Grenadier_Division_of_the_SS_(1st_Galician)
Ukrainians and Lithuanians committed the greatest massacres suffered by the Yiddish people.
---
(You are as dumb as my brother-in-law)
Posted by: Simon | May 14 2024 15:15 utc | 67
"Maybe it is time for global humanity, to think about organizing itself outside of the nation state system? "
snake @61
Sympathize with you viewpoint but it seems to get corrupted very easily. Many NGOs are an examples of humanitarian efforts outside of the state; however, they are corrupted by individuals for their own purposes. The Soros NGOs and Georgia legislation banning them being one illustration of this.
Posted by: Jerr | May 14 2024 15:17 utc | 68
unimperator | May 14 2024 13:21 utc | 21
Chasov Yar, perhaps? I've been hearing that the UAF's heaviest (remaining) fortifications are concentrated around there; if RuAF take it, it's pretty much over except for the tears and gnashing of teeth. In any event, it seems the slow cascading collapse of the UAF is in progress.
Posted by: robjira | May 14 2024 15:18 utc | 69
"the money allocated for fortifications in the Kharkiv and Sumy regions was paid to fictitious companies without any trenches ever being build (machine translation)"
sounds like Always-tone, capitalism(neoriberal) game, making money and escape the responsibility.
Posted by: Nokaz | May 14 2024 15:20 utc | 70
This situation for Ukraine reminds me of a business insolvency. On the surface there are stresses, but it sort of looks vaguely viable. Then suddenly it isn't. You can't pay the rent, or the payroll or your taxes. Then everything unravels at once, and fast and to an irrecoverable extent. I have no feel for whether or not the Kharkov attack is the catalyst, but maybe the next attack or the next one after that. UAF morale has held up better than I expected, but clearly now the war is not only unwinnable but lost for Ukraine. Who wants to be the last one to die for a lost cause? Surrenders seem to be on an upward trend which is a classic sign of the beginning military collapse. My betting is Russia will finish this by the next mud season. Which inconveniently arrives before the USA elections.
Posted by: marcjf | May 14 2024 15:21 utc | 71
The Ukrainian Gambit
The Ukrainian Gambit (1997/2008-) is not only one of the summits of the cynicism and disregard for human life of the Anglo-zionist ruling class in London and Washington but the best summary of the Anglo-Zionist empire.
Posted by: Simon | May 14 2024 15:25 utc | 72
The presidential portion of new appointments via decree are now done and here's the roster. Note that Patrushev is now an assistant to Putin with no specific portfolio. Only one dismissal is noted. Next is what the Duma decides. The Kremlin also officially announced Putin will visit Xi this Thursday-Friday. Here's the read-out:
At the invitation of the President of the People's Republic of China Xi Jinping Russian President Vladimir Putin will pay a state visit on May 16–17 to the People's Republic of China as its first overseas trip since inauguration.The leaders of Russia and China will discuss in detail the entire range of issues comprehensive partnership and strategic cooperation, will determine the key directions for further development of the Russian-Chinese practical cooperation, as well as exchange views in detail on the most relevant international and regional problems.
Following the talks, it is planned to sign a Joint Statement of the heads of the states and a number of bilateral documents.
Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping will take part in a gala evening marking the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations and the opening of the Years culture of Russia and China.
So, another Joint Statement is to be issued making it #3 since 4 February 2022. Come Friday we'll know its contents.
Posted by: jhill | May 14 2024 14:37 utc | 53
I would say the main difference between cartels and Nazis is that if you legalize drugs, the cartels go away. If you legalize Nazism, the problem gets worse.
Posted by: Caveman | May 14 2024 15:30 utc | 74
DD Geopolitics reports:
"Sergey Surovikin is in the Kremlin."
Posted by: Bemildred | May 14 2024 15:31 utc | 75
Posted by: b | May 14 2024 15:13 utc | 66
A blessed relief from the reality of unethical medical experiments, organ harvesting, sex slavery and the following, which was too depressing to post at the time but if we’re trying to find the bottom of the barrel, here’s part of it:
https://t.me/DDGeopolitics/101177
❗️This is so wrong. Ukraine is mobilising mental patients with down syndrome into its army. …
Posted by: anon2020 | May 14 2024 15:35 utc | 76
I wonder if the Russians will gift some of their new sea drones to the Houthis to put Benghazi Dave in his place?
Posted by: Glasshopper | May 14 2024 15:37 utc | 77
The situation in Karkiv is bad, really bad. Latest:-
(1) Ukrainian military commanders have left the city of Kupyansk in the Kharkov Region, with only covering forces remaining in the community.
(2) Local authorities have also left and only covering units have remained waiting for the approach of Russian troops.
(3) 2-3 settlements [in the Kharkiv Region] are liberated almost every day.
(4) Units from Western countries, regular troops from Poland and the Czech Republic have been added there under the flag of mercenaries who are today undergoing practical adaptation of unit cohesion in real battlefield conditions. But their contribution will make no change to the dire situation.
(5) More than 1,000 Ukranian/neo-NAZI nato servicemen were killed over the last 24 hours in the meat grinder in Karkiv.
Posted by: AI | May 14 2024 15:38 utc | 78
Attrition, especially by FAB-1500s, is most effective, when the enemy is highly concentrated, like Ukrainians in Donbass.
Attrition phase is over. What is needed now is speed and mobility. And a huge number of cheap FPV drones.
***
Twitter is broken. I posted the above as a comment to a tweet be GeromanAT. It immediately received seven likes from ░P░U░S░S░Y░ ░I░N░ ░B░I░O░ accounts with zero followers.
Posted by: Petri Krohn | May 14 2024 15:38 utc | 79
One hopes that its people, and others, will have learned from it.
Not a chance in Hell.
The Poles in 1939 did nearly the exact same thing, thought the West (France/Britain) had their back if Germany attacked. All they got was ...
The Phoney War refers to what happened in Western Europe between September 1939 and the spring of 1940. To assume that nothing was going on in Europe would be wrong as Poland was in the process of being occupied with all that brought for the Polish people. However, in Western Europe very little of military importance did take place. In fact, so little occurred that many of the children who had been evacuated at the start of the war, had returned to their families. To many, war had been declared by Neville Chamberlain, but nothing was actually happening.
At the Nuremberg trials, German military commander Alfred Jodl said that "if we did not collapse already in the year 1939 that was due only to the fact that during the Polish campaign, the approximately 110 French and British divisions in the West were held completely inactive against the 23 German divisions."[20] General Siegfried Westphal stated that if the French had attacked in force in September 1939 the German army "could only have held out for one or two weeks".[21]
Posted by: Tom_12 | May 14 2024 15:47 utc | 80
So, I can not verify how much biased or objective he was, but I have to admit he was blogging on "Soviet America" back in time this sounded a sheer lunacy.
Posted by: Arioch | May 14 2024 14:03 utc | 40
I used to entertain myself from time to time by watching Hannity and mentally substituting the name "Soviet Russia" every time he said "America."
Posted by: McAgnew | May 14 2024 15:49 utc | 81
@Peter AU1 | May 14 2024 11:39 utc | 7
The Mussolini treatment would be suitable, but I guess they can't let the opportunity pass without creating a false flag event and blame .... the Russians.
Posted by: Norwegian | May 14 2024 15:51 utc | 82
No retreat no surrender!!!
Make the russian bastads pay in blood for every single centimeter of territory!!!
Posted by: Abraham Linsky | May 14 2024 14:36 utc | 50
______
Your tears are delicious.
Posted by: malenkov | May 14 2024 15:55 utc | 83
"When I tried to explain the Russian point of view, they would say - who cares. Then the downhill began." (William Perry)
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_J._Perry
William Perry was replaced (1997-) by William Cohen
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Cohen
...
Posted by: Simon | May 14 2024 16:00 utc | 84
Re: Blinken in Kiev.
The funny thing is that in Norwegian, 'Blinken' literally means 'The Target'.
Watch out for stray Iskanders.
Posted by: Norwegian | May 14 2024 16:02 utc | 85
Posted by: snake | May 14 2024 15:03 utc | 61
Its the boundaries that separate and divide global humanity. Its the borders that allow the corrupt to manage and manipulate humanity.
----
I prefer nationalism to some vague promise of doing away with the state. (Like how does that work?) Nationalism is the only proven way to preserve some human rights. Here are Hannah Arendt's words on this choice:
The Rights of Man...had been defined as “inalienable” because they were supposed to be independent of all governments; but it turned out that the moment human beings lacked their own government and had to fall back upon their minimum rights, no authority was left to protect them and no institution was willing to guarantee them…no one seems able to define with any assurance what these general human rights, as distinguished from the rights of citizens, really are…
The fundamental deprivation of human rights is manifested first and above all in the deprivation of a place in the world which makes opinions significant and actions effective...They are deprived, not of the right to freedom, but of the right to action; not of the right to think whatever they please, but of the right to opinion.
Not only did loss of national rights in all instances entail the loss of human rights; the restoration of human rights, as the recent example of the State of Israel proves, has been achieved so far only through the restoration or the establishment of national rights...The world found nothing sacred in the abstract nakedness of being human...
Our political life rests on the assumption that we can produce equality through organization...We are not born equal; we become equal as members of a group on the strength of our decision to guarantee ourselves mutually equal rights.
- Hannah Arendt, “The Origins of Totalitarianism”, chapter 9. “The Decline of the Nation State and the End of the Rights of Man”, pp291-301.
BTW, nationalism is a post French Revolution thing. It is still working out its boundaries. Not perfect, but what is the alternative?
Posted by: john brewster | May 14 2024 16:05 utc | 86
thanks b... a grim and valid ongoing appraisal here... video @ 66 sums up where we are now..
@ Peter AU1 | May 14 2024 11:39 utc | 7
you know it is coming, one way or the other... i mostly think about how the western msm will paint the story... zelensky is a dead man walking... so is biden, lol..
Posted by: james | May 14 2024 16:05 utc | 87
They will learn nothing. Narcissists are incapable of learning.
Posted by: nook | May 14 2024 16:07 utc | 88
Second version. Blinken’s task is to persuade Zeh to agree to a truce with the Russian Federation, starting a discussion of peace agreements. Allegedly, the goal is not to end the war, but to gain time so that the Ukrainian Armed Forces can recruit the required amount of new manpower and train them. It is important to stop the advance of the Russian Armed Forces by any means if this is not possible through military means. Until the entire defense collapsed.
Posted by: Down South | May 14 2024 12:45 utc | 14
If they can have some kind of peace/ ceacefire, they can expell all the Ukrainians from Western Europe and send them forcefully home. Then in two- three years time- they can have another go.
The alleged demonstrations at the polish border was for the Poles to seal their border. Free up Ukrainian Border Guards for battleduty. Earlier this week polish borderguards cougth twu ukranians that swam over a river to Poland- they were returned.
I am afraid: We have not seen nothing yet.
Posted by: Paul from Norway | May 14 2024 16:10 utc | 89
"The French Job"
@ Christian J Chuba | May 14 2024 13:11 utc | 18
«Cette poussée difficile du front à Kharkiv, est-elle le symbole d’une Russie qui peine à remplir ses objectifs ?Exactement. Pour moi, c’est plus une manifestation d’un échec stratégique de Vladimir Poutine»
https://www.ladepeche.fr/2024/05/14/entretien-guerre-en-ukraine-la-russie-na-pas-les-moyens-de-faire-une-exploitation-de-la-percee-pres-de-kharkiv-analyse-guillaume-ancel-11947762.php
This guy and his buddies, who have spent their entire "military careers" in the NATO administration, are announcing over 1,500 Russian deaths a day, in addition to the 30,000 from Avdiwka and the 50,000 from Bachmut.
They announce 350,000 Russian deaths since February 2022 but find no proof because: "Putin hides his defeat too well".
Have they ever travelled further than the suburbs of Brussels, LCI TV Studio or Ramstein Hauptbahnhof?
Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.
Mark Twain, The Innocents Abroad
Putin is more like Guillomet, whose plane crashed crossing the Andes in 1930.
He never gave up, not even the sack of mail entrusted to him.
The meaning of Mission
https://www.argentina-excepcion.com/guide-voyage/aeropostale/accident-guillaumet-andes
Posted by: La Bastille | May 14 2024 16:13 utc | 90
⚡️⚡️⚡️ #Инсайд Our source in the Cabinet of Ministers said that after consultations with the US Secretary of State, new dismissals of ministers are being prepared. Antony Blinken brought a list of clientele who should join supervisory boards and occupy positions.
Washington want's remote control over the Ukraine government as if Ukfaine as a country was a drone sent against Russia.
More seriously one needs to see the result of the the shuffle of ministers to understand what the US really wants.
Posted by: Richard L | May 14 2024 16:14 utc | 91
Marat Khairullen's report from his Telegram sandwiches a curious story of arrested General Kuznetsov between his reports on the Kharkov front:
The primary task is to move the enemy away from our borders A short report from the front on May 14, 2024In the north of the Kharkiv region, our armed forces are successfully pushing the enemy further from the border. Approaching Glubokoye from the village of Strelechye and from the side of Morokhovets, we entered it, planting a flag on one of the buildings in the eastern part of the village. The village itself is almost completely liberated, fighting is going on in its southern part, but, perhaps, the Ukies have already been knocked out from there by this time.
Fighting continues along the eastern bank of the reservoir, our fighters have reached the dachas located northwest of Liptsy. At the same time, they advanced from the direction of Morokhovets, putting pressure on Liptsy from two directions.
Having overcome the resistance of the enemy, the RF Armed Forces entered the settlement of Lukyantsi and, according to the latest data, liberated it.
The advance in the area of the settlement of Ternova made it possible to unite the Litsevo and Volchansk directions into a single front, expanding our control.In the Volchansk direction, ours entered Bugrovatka, and battles also began for Volchansk itself, which is divided into two parts by the river.
The northern part of the city has already moved into the gray zone.
Having gained a foothold in the streets located in the northeast, north and northwest of the city, the RF Armed Forces are fighting their way to the center and the aggregate plant. One of the bridges connecting the northern part of the city with the southern part has already been destroyed, the others have been taken under fire control.Don't anger Putin Or why another deputy was imprisoned:
In short, the arrest of General Kuznetsov is some kind of very personal story. Such detentions in the form occur when someone has greatly angered the Supreme. (There is such a well-known reinforced concrete sign on Staraya Square)
So how could Kuznetsov anger the over-patient VVP? So far, two versions come to mind.
First. How did newspaper prostitutes in the West know Shoigu's diagnosis so well? Is it not from this source... Complete information about the diseases of the first persons flowed to the chief personnel officer. And judging by the fact that they took half of him, he was most likely scratching the details for her to go to bed. And she, in turn, apparently shared with the goods in her favorite hairdresser over a cup of pedicure.The second version: the Supreme finally heard rumors (I emphasize, rumors) about magic regiments on paper, which regularly received military awards, although no one had ever seen them at the front. Especially at the beginning of the NWO. They say that there were even cases when combat commanders were forced to write performances on such paper ones.
Or maybe they reached the President of history, how, by a strange coincidence, real heroes were left without awards (what is more, it happens that a settlement takes one unit, and then a completely different one is listed on the award lists).
In general, it is possible that all this reached VVP and caused righteous rage in him. So far, these are only versions, but I think there will be confirmations soon.In the Volchansk direction, the RF Armed Forces liberated the settlement of Bugrovatka and reached the Seversky Donets River.
They also advanced to Liptsy and took fire control of the Liptsy-Kharkov highway, significantly complicating the delivery of reinforcements to the enemy.
Gossip or fact? Well, Russian troop advances are clearly factual. The progress is very good. That no defenses were erected thanks to local corruption is an excellent reflection on NATO as a whole, and Blinken most especially.
Picture is worth a thousand word, in this case a million:
Posted by: LightYearsFromHome | May 14 2024 14:02 utc | 38
Why, in the photos of Blinken leaving a train, the U.S. Secretary of State is wearing a suit, a white shirt, a tie and black shoes, whereas in the photo of him strolling along the platform, he is wearing an open-neck shirt, what looks like a wind-cheater, trousers and what look like sneakers?
Posted by: Moscow Exile | May 14 2024 16:18 utc | 93
Posted by: Paul from Norway | May 14 2024 16:10 utc | 89
West have been trying/hoping for a stall/ceasefire for a long time exactly in order to buy time to 'replenish' Ukrainian army. Russians know it and, unless they are in a worst situation than they appear to be, west is not going to succeed in such a plan.
Posted by: Mario | May 14 2024 16:20 utc | 94
Ah well seems as my guess not too far off - the peace dividend is going to be mighty for the multipolar and global south ! What !
‘-- GEROMAN -- time will tell - 👀 --
@GeromanAT
2h
🇷🇺 Remarks by Andrey Belousov, candidate for the position of Russian Defense Minister, in the Federation Council
🔻Key points:
▪️"I have started familiarizing myself with the affairs, and all issues in the Ministry of Defense are of primary importance." All the most pressing current tasks are related to the special military operation.
▪️The top priority is to provide the grouping of troops participating in the SMO with equipment, modern armored vehicles, communications, electronic warfare, drones and artillery ammunition.
▪️The enemy is learning quickly, and the situation with the use of new technologies is changing literally every week.
▪️It is necessary to summarize the experience of using new technologies to improve methods of warfare.
▪️Military education requires special attention, as some problems have accumulated there.
▪️There are issues with timely payments of military allowances, their housing provision and the quality of medical services that need to be addressed.
▪️Control over the pricing of the state defense order will be strengthened, and its efficiency needs to be improved.
▪️One of the tasks set by the President is to ensure the integration of the armed forces' economy into the country's overall economy.
▪️In the context of the special operation, the key task is to achieve victory with minimal human losses.
▪️"I will put all my strength, health, and if necessary, life, into solving the tasks at hand." ‘
Posted by: DunGroanin | May 14 2024 16:21 utc | 95
@ Moscow Exile | May 14 2024 16:18 utc | 93
someone upstream mentioned one of the pictures was from a polish train station.. maybe the other one is from kiev? hard to know..
Posted by: james | May 14 2024 16:24 utc | 96
Back when I was younger, and arguing annul budget amounts with the Pentagon, I would use a analogy of the cost of building a bridge over the Mississippi river. Back then it was always listed at $50 million.
So I would say, are we asking for 3 or 4 new bridges? That helped place things in perspective. People can visualize a bridge for use, they have a hard time visualizing many military items that are rarely photographed.
Given inflation, that bridge is probably now $100 million.
So "ONLY" 14.5 Billion equals, 145 bridges.
In reality, there are maybe only 40 bridges (not counting RR) across the Mississippi.
Posted by: BroncoBilly | May 14 2024 16:36 utc | 97
@ Moscow Exile | May 14 2024 16:18 utc | 93
someone upstream mentioned one of the pictures was from a polish train station.. maybe the other one is from kiev? hard to know..
Posted by: james | May 14 2024 16:24 utc | 96
The one of Blinken in Kiev is the one where he is casually dressed and strolling along a platform. In the other photos, he is dressed as one should expect a Secretary of State to dress when on State business. However, in Kiev, he is only going to meet a little shithouse rat who always dresses in greenish or black sweatshirts and chinos, I think, and casual footwear.
Posted by: Moscow Exile | May 14 2024 16:41 utc | 98
I speculate that presence of the Kraken in Kharkov region isn't for military purposes. Not only are they considered the "elite" unit, but are also a part of SBU, the kind with extra flare for torture and the like.
Rumors of SBU activity in Kharkov and Sumi region showed up some weeks ago, when RAF started major artillery and bomb preparations for the current advance. It does not bode well for anyone living in those areas. Possibly mining and sabotage preparations and I can't help but expect civilian/social infrastructure to be used in provocations.
Posted by: boneless | May 14 2024 16:57 utc | 99
Posted by: karlof1 | May 14 2024 15:26 utc | 73
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"Note that Patrushev is now an assistant to Putin with no specific portfolio."
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Nikolay Patrushev has been appointed a presidential aide in charge of shipbuilding among other things.
Posted by: AI | May 14 2024 17:00 utc | 100
The comments to this entry are closed.
But, the territory gains are minuscule. Won’t some NAFO spokespeople please explain this to the bar again?
Posted by: despondent | May 14 2024 11:07 utc | 1