The important and accurate understanding of the Russian position is in the use of "suspend", and not the peculiar western interpretation as our (many) medias might have us believe, such as "rip up" etc.
-----------
Foreign Ministry statement in connection with the Russian Federation suspending the Treaty on Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms (New START)
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation
February 22, 2023
By releasing a statement regarding the New START Treaty on February 8, 2023, as well as in the comments by the Foreign Ministry’s senior officials on this topic, the Foreign Ministry provided a detailed assessment of the deplorable state of affairs regarding the implementation of the New START Treaty resulting from the destructive actions by the United States in the context of this agreement, as well as its overall policy line to weaken the security of the Russian Federation and strangle our country in political and economic terms.
Building on the approaches outlined earlier, the Foreign Ministry notes the following negative factors preventing the New START from being fully operational, which is the fault of the United States.
The Russian Federation found itself in a radically new security environment resulting from Washington’s extreme hostility and efforts to stir up confrontation, as well as its overt commitment to promoting a malicious escalation of the conflict in and around Ukraine.
In the meantime, we would like to point out that the New START’s preamble, which is an integral part of the treaty, sets forth the commitment by the parties to the principle of indivisible security and forging relations based on mutual trust and cooperation. However, the United States is now openly seeking to inflict a “strategic defeat” on Russia, while tensions encouraged by Washington go far beyond the Ukraine crisis with the United States and the US-led West trying to harm our country at every possible level, in every sphere and region of the world.
There is every reason to argue that the United States policy aims to undermine Russia’s national security, which directly contradicts the fundamental principles and understandings set forth in the New START’s preamble and forming its foundation. It would not have been signed without stating these principles. This de facto amounts to a fundamental change of circumstances compared to those prevailing at the time of signing the New START Treaty.
In this situation, it is no longer possible to maintain business as usual with the United States and the West in general, both as a matter of principle and regarding arms control, which is inseparable from the geopolitical, military and strategic reality.
Moreover, the fact that Western countries coalesced around the anti-Russia agenda increasingly impacts their nuclear policy, which constitutes a serious shift in the security landscape. In particular, NATO members have been carrying out the so-called Joint Nuclear Operations for decades, and designated the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation as a “nuclear alliance” at a certain point, while also placing a bigger emphasis on nuclear weapons in NATO’s conceptual documents and stating their commitment to further strengthening and improving the combat readiness of the relevant capabilities that are under NATO control. We are hearing calls to build up the block’s nuclear infrastructure and expand it eastward. And they are not even hiding the fact that these efforts target our country.
In this context, the integrated nuclear capability of the three nuclear powers within NATO, namely the United States, Great Britain, and France, takes on special importance in today’s environment. This capability can be turned against Russia. In this sense, it is quite symbolic that all NATO countries, including Great Britain and France, have explicitly confirmed their involvement in matters related to the New START Treaty by issuing a joint statement to support the US approaches. This political gesture confirmed that Russia adopted a justified position in viewing the nuclear capabilities of the three Western nuclear powers as forming a single whole, taking this factor into consideration when dealing with processes related to nuclear arms limitation and reduction, as well as when exploring matters related to the New START’s future.
Washington has for years disregarded the interrelationship between strategic offensive and strategic defensive weapons, which is also sealed in the New START Treaty. Russia’s statement on ballistic missile defence, which was made in the context of the signing and ratification of the treaty, provided a clear reference to that interrelationship. In that document, we unambiguously pointed out that New START could only be viable if the United States refrained from the qualitative and quantitative build-up of its BMD systems. Nevertheless, Washington continues to openly take steps in the opposite direction. This factor is acquiring special significance in the context of the overall aggravation of the military-strategic situation.
Of vital importance for assessing compliance with New START is the fact that Washington has long been seriously violating the fundamental provisions of the treaty on the quantitative restrictions of the parties’ relevant armaments. This includes the unilateral withdrawal from the counting rules of over 100 US strategic offensive systems, which Washington has renamed in order to withdraw them from the treaty provisions or it has claimed that they have been converted without giving Russia an opportunity to reliably verify the compliance of such conversion with the treaty provisions, in accordance with the procedures set out in the treaty. We have pointed out this clear and direct violation on numerous occasions.
In addition, the United States undertook clearly provocative and extremely dangerous attempts to probe the protection of several Russian facilities included in the treaty. The armed attacks on them, which the puppet regime in Kiev launched, were organised with Washington’s obvious military-technical, information and intelligence support.
In this context, we regard as utterly cynical Washington’s demand that they be given immediate access to these and other Russian strategic facilities in accordance with the New START provisions on inspections. This is especially outrageous in conditions when Washington’s anti-Russia restrictions have impaired the efficiency of the verification procedures stipulated in the treaty. As the result, Russia’s ability to freely conduct verification inspections on a fully equal basis in US territory has been curtailed, creating obvious unilateral advantages for the United States.
We have more than once provided our assessment of the situation to the American party and invariably called on Washington to take action to balance the situation with due regard to Russia’s concerns. However, Washington continued to take deliberate and malicious steps to undermine Russia’s security. The stakes in the hybrid war launched against Russia by the United States are rising.
Taking all these circumstances into account, Russia has come to the conclusion that the United States has seriously violated the New START Treaty and that this violation is of fundamental importance for the realisation of the treaty’s objective and goals.
In this context, President of Russia Vladimir Putin announced in his February 21 Address to the Federal Assembly that Russia would suspend the New START Treaty.
In order to maintain the necessary level of predictability and stability in the nuclear missile area, Russia will take a prudent approach and will continue to strictly comply with the quantitative restrictions stipulated in the treaty for strategic offensive armaments within the life cycle of the treaty. Russia will also continue to exchange notifications of ICBM and SLBM launches with the United States in accordance with the relevant Soviet-US agreement signed in 1988.
The decision to suspend the New START Treaty can be reversed if Washington demonstrates the political will and takes honest efforts towards general de-escalation and the creation of conditions for resuming the comprehensive operation of the treaty and, consequently, its survival. This is exactly what we urge the American party to do. Until then, any steps to accommodate Washington with regard to New START are absolutely out of the question.
We also urge the United States to refrain from taking any steps that might hinder the resumption of the treaty if conditions for this are created. We are convinced that the treaty’s potential in terms of its contribution to strengthening international security and strategic stability is far from exhausted. On the other hand, it can only be used in full measure if conditions are re-established for the parties’ symmetrical, equal and strict compliance with the treaty.
We intend to closely monitor subsequent actions by the United States and its allies in the area of strategic offensive weapons and international security and strategic stability as a whole, as well as analyse them for possible damage to Russia’s interests and the need for us to take additional countermeasures.
23rd February 2023 12:18
ExomatrixTV
Re: WW3? Ukraine/US vs. Donbass/Russia
Quote:
Posted by Tintin
Update on the fighting around Bakhmut (Artemovsk) via Donbass Devushka Telegram channel:
Text:
❗️🇷🇺🇺🇦 Battle for Bakhmut
situation as of 14.00 February 23, 2023
🔻According to some reports, the Ukrainian formations retreated from Berkhovka, and the settlement came under the complete control of the assault detachments of the Wagner PMC. The village is being cleared.
▪️Fighting for the village has been going on for the past few days, and yesterday the "Wagnerites" pushed the formations of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to the western outskirts. At night, Ukrainian units departed for Dubovo-Vasilevka and Yagodnoe.
▪️Now the assault on the village of Yagodnoye continues, where the Armed Forces of Ukraine transferred reinforcements the day before. At the moment, clashes continue near the Bakhmut nursery, where Ukrainian paratroopers dug in.
🔻The liberation of Berkhovka allows you to completely cut off the supply of the Ukrainian group in Bakhmut through the roads passing in the village and nearby. This will make it possible to increase the pressure on the nearby Dubovo-Vasilevka and Yagodnoe.
Now the command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is trying with all its might to hold the Yagodnoye line - the Stupka area in Bakhmut until a new line of defense is built at Chasy Yar. Strongholds are being prepared in Bogdanovka to defend the city.
Russian troops also conducted reconnaissance in combat on the Zaliznyanskoye-Vasyukovka line. In Kyiv, they fear a breakthrough in the defense in this sector and an exit to the rear of the AFU grouping in the Seversk agglomeration.
At the moment, the paratroopers of the 10th brigade and 81st brigade of the DShV of Ukraine are trying to recapture their lost positions in the direction of Vesele, east of Soledar and Belogorovka, west of Lysichansk.
This is how UK Mainstream Media (BBC) describes "Russia's Wagner Group of Mercenaries in Ukraine" ... are there better trustworthier sources describing them more accurately elsewhere, if so, where can I find it?
I do not trust MOSSAD controlled Wikipedia! ... The only reason I sometimes share Wikipedia pages is to show that even mainstream pages CAN agree with specific conspiracy-research that other mainstream sources do not want to discuss ... but I have to add a disclaimer as almost NOTHING is 100% true or to be trusted on Wikipedia especially IF it serves a specific agenda full of tunnel vision pushed narratives.
A good old friend of mine who build one of the biggest Dutch 🇳🇱 search engine even before google existed gave me a list of tips how to make your site go much higher in the page rankings and search results ... Those tips do work but nowadays, your site can easily be "black listed" and buried superfast too ... there are some tricks to go around that ... one of those "tricks" is to have at least 2 keywords on your page/article that links to Wikipedia ... as most sites that do that tend to be "more mainstream" and "more favorable" to the algorithms index system.
That does not mean your page is "pro Wikipedia" more like you reference to them to show even they admit certain conspiracy research topics.
Some people always assume that conspiracy-research have "no" valid sources, and it is all just "theories" >>> then when you show these pseudo-skeptics mainstream sources they act dump or want to stay dumb about that hoping others act dumb too.
cheers,
John 🦜🦋🌳
23rd February 2023 12:53
Tintin
Re: WW3? Ukraine/US vs. Donbass/Russia
Quote:
Posted by ExomatrixTV
This is how UK Mainstream Media (BBC) describes "Russia's Wagner Group of mercenaries in Ukraine" ... are there a better trustworthier sources describing them more accurately elsewhere, if so, where can I find it? ...
cheers,
John 🦜🦋🌳
I'd suggest Igor Strelkov, former Russian fighter turned blogger who, according to Anatoly Karlin wrote "a short history of the Wagner PMC", but it looks like the link that he provided, here on this thread now fails to redirect to the article or the site.
23rd February 2023 12:57
ExomatrixTV
Re: WW3? Ukraine/US vs. Donbass/Russia
Quote:
Posted by Tintin
Quote:
Posted by ExomatrixTV
This is how UK Mainstream Media (BBC) describes "Russia's Wagner Group of mercenaries in Ukraine" ... are there a better trustworthier sources describing them more accurately elsewhere, if so, where can I find it? ...
cheers,
John 🦜🦋🌳
I'd suggest Igor Strelkov, former Russian fighter turned blogger who, according to Anatoly Karlin wrote "a short history of the Wagner PMC", but it looks like the link that he provided, here on this thread now fails to redirect to the article or the site.
This past week will be remembered by most historians – if anyone is lucky enough to live through this Age of Self-Destruction – as the point of no return for the Russo-Ukrainian war.
Today, the former weapons inspector warned, "Russia is no longer a defeated, compliant state. The Russians have nuclear superiority over us today. Their missiles are better than anything we have. We don't have a missile defense system worthy of the name. And so if there was a nuclear conflict, we would be annihilated. Now the good chance is we would annihilate them, too.
Which brings us back to the situation that we existed in the 1960s, where we suddenly realized that this concept of mutually assured destruction wasn't a bad concept because it sort of put the brakes on nuclear conflict. Unfortunately, we have people today in Washington, D.C., that believe in American nuclear superiority or American nuclear supremacy, and they don't believe in arms control. And we need to replace them. We need to get rid of them. We need to bring in people who recognize that arms control is the only way to save the human race.”
Listen to more of Ritter’s conversation with Leon and Nixon below:
Embedded here:
Title: Russia Suspends START Cooperation; Anti-War Rally in DC; China's Push for Peace
Duration: 01:54:52
Russian President Vladimir Putin gave a speech in which he notified the world that the Russian Federation is suspending cooperation on the START treaty.
Mark Sleboda, Moscow-based international relations security analyst, joins us to discuss President Putin's speech. Russian President Vladimir Putin gave a speech in which he notified the world that the Russian Federation is suspending cooperation on the START treaty. Also, the neocons are eyeing Hungary for regime change.
George Koo, journalist, social activist, and international business consultant, joins us to discuss China. China has shared a new peace plan which pushes to end hostilities via diplomacy worldwide. Also, a squad of US members of Congress is heading to Taiwan.
Patrick Henningsen, independent journalist, joins us to discuss Saturday's "Rage Against War; protest in DC. A coalition of like-minded but ideologically disparate groups came together to sue for peace in Ukraine and beyond.
Dr. Gerald Horne, Professor of History at the University of Houston, TX, author, historian, and researcher, joins us to discuss the US empire. Western neocon leaders have joined to demand that Global South nations choose between supporting the US empire in Ukraine or facing its wrath.
Laith Marouf, broadcaster and journalist based in Beirut, Lebanon, joins us to discuss the Middle East. The US is giving Israel an open hand for hostilities against Iran. Also, Turkey and Syria have suffered another major earthquake.
Scott Ritter, former UN weapon inspector in Iraq, joins us to discuss foreign policy. Russian President Vladimir Putin gave a speech in which he notified the world that the Russian Federation is suspending cooperation on the New START treaty. Also, US neocons are pushing for escalation in Ukraine.
Ted Rall, political cartoonist, and syndicated columnist, joins us to discuss the EU. The EU has destroyed its economy for NATO's Ukraine proxy war. Also, we discuss Norway's part in the Nord Stream attack and Google is stepping up censorship in the EU.
Gary Flowers, radio talk show host, joins us to discuss domestic policy. The Twitter files have lifted the lid on a secret alliance between US intelligence agencies and the political establishment.
-----------
Audio broadcast also downloadable from the Avalon Library here
23rd February 2023 22:20
ExomatrixTV
Re: WW3? Ukraine/US vs. Donbass/Russia
Trump ADMITS U.S. Was Behind 2014 Coup In Ukraine:
Donald Trump recently released a video in which he not only admits that the United States was behind the 2014 coup in Ukraine but also pledging that, if elected, he will “clean house” at the CIA, State Department and FBI. Trump claims to be the “peace candidate” and that everyone agrees he was the best foreign policy president while even Joe Biden’s advisors admit the current administration is incompetent. Guest host Aaron Maté and Americans’ Comedian Kurt Metzger discuss Trump’s revisionist history about his own administration’s escalation of tensions with Russia.
23rd February 2023 22:43
Michel Leclerc
Re: WW3? Ukraine/US vs. Donbass/Russia
Quote:
Posted by Tintin
The important and accurate understanding of the Russian position is in the use of "suspend", and not the peculiar western interpretation as our (many) medias might have us believe, such as "rip up" etc.
(...)
That they would reconstruct the Russian in that way was to be expected. It reminds me of the way the words of one of the former Presidents of Iran, Ahmadi Nezhâd, i.e. that “Israel” should be "mahv shavad" (مهو شود), was interpreted as meaning "that Israel should be wiped off the map" (i.e. physically destroyed), whereas what he said and meant was that the name Israel should be erased from the maps, not at all implying that the people, the language, the culture should be eliminated. (Which statement of mine does not mean that statements about the physical elimination of the adversary have not been voiced by both parties.)
For a similar statement, i.e. that Israel and Palestine should be replaced by a common state which would then be called Isratina, Muhammad Khadafi was punished with getting an “embedded observer’s” bayonet worked up his anal opening and then stirred about a while as is done (by way of a fine allusion embedded in the procedure) when preparing the local sheep innards soup.
24th February 2023 01:54
Vicus
Re: WW3? Ukraine/US vs. Donbass/Russia
Edge of Darkness
Two days ago I watched an interview with actor/director Mel Gibson in a Thread called "Hollywierd" here in Avalon.
It seems that he is one of the few people in entertainment business with some percent of "integrity" and for that
was punish in different ways...(from Hollywood and presstitutes)
Today I wanted to watch some don't knower movie with him and found this one: Edge of Darkness (2010)
It is branded as "conspiracy thriller".
My jaw dropped on the floor when this lines came out:
"...they are making nuclear weapons, but these are not American nuclear weapons...
They are weapons designed to foreign specifications and built with foreign materials.
So, obviously, if these bombs were ever to be used... they would be traced directly back to another country and
not the United States" :sherlock:
I know... its a movie, but you see? when you want to entertain your self whit something else...
Synchronicity is a B1cht ! and the movie title pass to the second!
SHOW NOTES
Former GCHQ Officer Alex Thomson discusses the Anglo-American establishment's fixation on Ukraine as the underbelly of the World Island and how it is not in the interest now of either the West or the Russians to de-escalate. The logic of the expansionist system on both sides is that they're more interested in a Third World War or an eternal penumbra of Doomsday as opposed to the return of a Westphalian order. There is not a better world solution coming from Russia or China where there also exists world domination-minded elements. Very few national leaders remain who are willing and able to oppose globalism, there is an inevitable trend toward world government. He's optimistic about being able to survive the Algorithm Ghetto via parallel structures and also comments on prophecy, information operations, and antisemitic trolls.
If you want to see how effective the sanctions against Russia and the support from USofA, EU and even the Swiss recent pallets of greenbacks to prolong the war in Ukraine/destroy Russia are,
this walkaround in a German supermarket (in Moscow) may be enlightening.
Starving and freezing russians can only choose between six variants of Mandarins, Swiss cheese with the Swiss flag, Coca Cola and american liquors.
The bread price is about half of Sweden's and the egg department is about 20m long ... https://youtube.com/watch?v=CzjX7nAtzbI
26:08 min
24th February 2023 17:20
Michel Leclerc
Re: WW3? Ukraine/US vs. Donbass/Russia
Quote:
Posted by Tintin
Yes, this is a sobering interaction
(...)
Thank you Tintin. Sobering and sad.
IQ can be measured, and, as Jordan Peterson correctly contends, scientifically soundly measured by a test. EQ can not really be measured, but its presence, to a larger or smaller extent, can be established.
It is clear that the man on the left does not understand the issues, and the man on the right does: he is just considerably brighter than the man on the left.
In their eyes can be read how sensitive they are to the emotional side (investment and impact) of the discussion. The man on the left looks (in the meaning of: “has a glance appearing”) desensitised, drugged even; the man on the right embodies feelings he is aware of and stands up for.
24th February 2023 19:35
jaybee
Re: WW3? Ukraine/US vs. Donbass/Russia
.
Twice today I accidently saw a bit about Ukraine on the MSM news on telly - the first time when I was visiting someone in a Care Home and there was a big flat screen on the wall ... it was 11 o'clock and a morning show was covering the nationwide minute's silence for Ukraine to mark one year of the Russian Special Military Operation called an Invasion by them ... I didn't know it was happening and they certainly weren't showing any interest in the Care Home - the staff I mean, the residents had various stages of dementia ... It was very annoying that they were trying to pull the whole country into the anti Russia/pro Ukraine charade on this level - but I wonder how many in Britain really approved of it... I'm guessing that most people are probably fed up with the whole thing and wonder what it has all got to do with us... ??
Then later in the day around 5... I caught a couple of minutes of the Channel 5 news... it had a Ukraine Flag backdrop and they were showing a report of raggle taggle looking march in support of Ukraine, headed by a row of children - it was a big march in London they said... it was reaching right back along the road about a thousand people they said and there were marches like it all over the country they said... but they only showed the front of this one march - and I suspect, in reality, there wasn't much of a response...
My suspicions were confirmed when the presenter said that Britain had been strongly supporting Ukraine for the last year including sending arms ... THEN... they slipped in... (from memory not the exact words) now many are asking if Ukraine and Russia should come together and negotiate Peace and the Archbishop of Canterbury said that after the war Russians shouldn't be treated like Germans were after WW2....
So although Boris Johnson is ramping up the aggression and wants fighter jets sent over... are other groups in the UK behind the scenes trying to pull back from the precipice (of WW3)... and MSM outlets are being told to prepare the viewing public for a Russian Victory that must be carefully presented as a Russian defeat - because the public lack of interest in the whole affair is becoming more apparent as the fever pitch levels created by the warmongers and MSM over the last year cannot be maintained...
Video: NATO-Exit, Closure of Military Bases: Massive Protests against NATO Member States must contemplate withdrawal from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization as well as closure of US military bases.
More than 70 years ago NATO was born. In April 1949, The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) established what was designated as the doctrine of “Collective Security” under Art. 5 of the Washington Treaty.
NATO has a sordid history of aggression and war crimes. The US not only continues to “occupy” World War II “axis countries” (Italy, Germany), it has used the NATO emblem to install US military bases throughout Western Europe, as well as in Eastern Europe in the wake of the Cold War, extending into the Balkans in the wake of NATO’s war on Yugoslavia.
NATO is a criminal entity, an instrument of the Pentagon. There is no “Alliance”. There is “Military Occupation”.
What is required is a vast movement in Europe and North America in support of NATO-Exit.
There is a (somewhat contradictory) clause within the Treaty of the Atlantic Alliance (Article 13) which enables withdrawal from NATO.
Article 13 – After 20 years of the treaty in force, any party may cease to be a party one year after giving notice of denunciation to the Government of the United States of America, which will then inform all other parties.
This clause has to be examined and a strategy must be envisaged.
Member States must contemplate withdrawal from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization as well as closure of US military bases.
Michel Chossudovsky, February 25, 2023
___________________________
Daily Hot Video. France. Massive Protest Movement against NATO
The No 2 Nato, No 2 War rally still goes ahead in Central London after two venues shamefully cancelled. The royalty of the democracy movement will be speaking at it
25th February 2023 11:35
Bill Ryan
Re: WW3? Ukraine/US vs. Donbass/Russia
Tucker Carlson telling it exactly as it is. :muscle:
"Russia’s FSB spy service asked Carsten Linke last autumn via a courier to pass on precise information on the positioning of the Himars and Iris-T rocket systems that had been supplied to Ukraine by the US and Germany, Der Spiegel reported on Friday. German prosecutors are said to believe that it is unlikely that Mr Linke was able to pass on the information.
In return, the FSB likely paid the suspected German spy in cash. Investigators have found an envelope with a six figure sum in euros in a locker that belonged to him, the magazine reports."
Here's an intriguing story that broke about a week ago - February 17th - that echoes the Cold-War era. Of course the swapping of spies (and use of double-agents) are a day-to-day reality in the global intelligence services, and you aren't supposed to remember that :)
The original source was maybe the New York Times so some parsing, and deconstruction, of the information would be compulsory - usually. On further examining the article Der Spiegel may have run with it beforehand. Most of the links redirect to our enemies (WaPo, NYT).
Still, if it's genuine, which it may well be this time, then it's well worth adding to the library of events here. I was alerted to this story via Alex Thomson's Telegram channel @EastApp
------
Head of German intelligence unit was a Russian double agent
JOHN SEXTON 8:40 PM on February 17, 2023
His name is Carsten Linke and he was recently promoted to a top post in Germany’s intelligence service, the B.N.D. The NY Times reports he was the “director of technical reconnaissance — the unit responsible for cybersecurity and surveilling electronic communications.” He was also a double-agent being paid cash to pass information to Russia. He was apparently asked for specific information on the location of US HIMARS launchers in Ukraine:
Russia’s FSB spy service asked Carsten Linke last autumn via a courier to pass on precise information on the positioning of the Himars and Iris-T rocket systems that had been supplied to Ukraine by the US and Germany, Der Spiegel reported on Friday.
German prosecutors are said to believe that it is unlikely that Mr Linke was able to pass on the information.
In return, the FSB likely paid the suspected German spy in cash. Investigators have found an envelope with a six figure sum in euros in a locker that belonged to him, the magazine reports.
As a Russian mole, he would have had access to critical information gathered since Moscow invaded Ukraine last year. He may have obtained high-level surveillance, not only from German spies, but also from Western partners, like the C.I.A…
Privately, three officials familiar with the investigation — who requested anonymity in order to share details because discussing the inquiry publicly is illegal — worry the case could be the tip of an ominous iceberg.
“Recruiting other spies is the top tier of espionage,” one of the officials said. “And our technical reconnaissance unit is one of the most important departments of the B.N.D. To find someone relatively high up there? That makes this case explosive.”
The case has already led to a second arrest — that of a Russia-born accomplice, who acted as a courier, and, according to one official, brought some 400,000 euros in cash to Mr. Linke from Moscow for his information.
That’s a lot of money, but early indications don’t show Linke living beyond his means or having any debt. He didn’t need the money in other words. Instead, Der Spiegel and the NY Times are suggesting his motive may have been political.
At work, Mr. Linke had openly told colleagues he felt the country was deteriorating, and he was particularly disdainful of its new center-left government, one of those following the inquiry said…
One German politician following the investigation worries that some military and intelligence officials still admire Russia and aspire to closer relations, even after the invasion of Ukraine.
“It’s a kind of conviction, wanting to cooperate with Russia — it’s a romantic belief,” the official said. “I worry there are many others who hold that conviction in our security services.”
Apparently this isn’t a new problem. Russian infiltration of German intelligence has been going on since the Cold War. The Washington Post has a story today about some of the behind the scenes efforts to root out Russian spies that have been taking place around the world.
Over the past year, as Western governments have ramped up weapons deliveries to Ukraine and economic sanctions against Moscow, U.S. and European security services have been waging a parallel if less visible campaign to cripple Russian spy networks. The German case…followed roll-ups of suspected Russian operatives in the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Austria, Poland and Slovenia…
While the German case centers on a European accused of betraying his country for the Kremlin, others have involved Russian nationals seeking to infiltrate the West.
Among them are so-called “illegals” sent abroad not as diplomats — with accompanying legal protections — but under more elaborate cover arrangements designed to conceal any connection to Russia.
Authorities in the Netherlands last year confronted a passenger who presented a Brazilian passport when he arrived at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam, having accepted a position as an intern at the International Criminal Court. In reality, he was a Russian military officer named Sergey Cherkasov who had been sent overseas more than a decade earlier by Russia’s GRU spy agency, its main military intelligence service, according to officials and court records…
In October, authorities in Norway arrested an accused Russian spy under similar circumstances. The suspect had posed as a Brazilian researcher focused on Arctic security issues at a university in northern Norway, credentials that enabled him to gain access to European experts and officials. Like Cherkasov, Mikhail Mikushin was a Russian “illegal” who had spent years abroad developing an elaborate cover for his GRU assignment, according to Norwegian authorities.
And of course we’ve had our own problems with federal agents selling out to Russia. There are probably quite a few more of these guys out there. Here’s a photo of Carsten Linke.
----
HotAir is a conservative US site.
25th February 2023 12:45
Tintin
Re: WW3? Ukraine/US vs. Donbass/Russia
Extracts from a recent Economist piece: The stark reality of which many if not all of us on the forum are already aware, of the neglect and desperation in Ukraine's Armed Forces, or what remains of them :flower:
"Death and drones on the eastern front" - the grim diaries of a Ukrainian fighter
The Economist publishes the notes of an AFU fighter who fought in Artemivsk and other parts of the front. Below are the most interesting quotes from it describing the situation in the AFU:
▪️"We are going to Bakhmut. The town is being shelled by Russian artillery. Among the enemy forces is a bloodthirsty private army - mercenaries from the Wagner Group;
▪️"The battalion commander asks me how many men have not agreed to volunteer for the attack. Thirteen, I say. You can assess their reluctance. The guys do not understand where they are going and are not ready to attack when the plan is constantly changing;
▪️"Word is spreading fast in the army that the headquarters has been destroyed/that the Russians have already entered Bakhmut/that Russia is going to use tactical nuclear weapons;
▪️"This war is a complete mess";
▪️"The helmet was given to me by a policeman I know, the bulletproof vest was given to me by my friends;
▪️"You need to go through the rest of the stuff stacked haphazardly in the back of the truck. What we have left behind once belonged to the wounded or the dead";
▪️"I know there won't be anything in stock in my size. Buy the rest myself."
▪️"One soldier notes that the locals who are left behind are clearly not rooting for Ukraine."
▪️"We are tuning in to the LNR as it is the only station we can catch here.
As Biden tells Zelensky the US with stand with Ukraine “for as long as it takes”, Putin announces that Moscow is suspending its participation in the last remaining nuclear arms treaty between the US and Russia. This as the US now supports the Ukraine retaking Crimea – Putin’s “red line” – and yet more military aid for Zelensky. It’s all shaping up nicely.
From Bill:
John, what did he say?
This is clickbait. You MUST include some kind of video description.
:focus:
25th February 2023 14:17
Tintin
Re: WW3? Ukraine/US vs. Donbass/Russia
Photograph/camera still shot showing the current situation at the Pervomaisk-Kuchurgan checkpoint in Transnistria on the border with the Odessa region.
An update from the recent attempted bombing of Mariupol which was liberated by Russian and Allied forces last Spring/Summer via Donbass Devushka:
Text:
From our contributor Alcibiades,
Combat Debut
On February 21st, probably hoping to piss in Vladimir Putin's proverbial Cheerios as he was making his annual State of the Federation speech, the Ukrainians launched a massive salvo of ground-launched Small Diameter Bombs at Mariupol, which has been out of range of their weapons since they ran out of Tochkas over the summer. This incident was significant for a couple of reasons. First, it showed that Ukraine has gotten access to GLSDBs well ahead of schedule, although these are probably hand-built prototype rounds rather than mass-production models. Second, it showed that GLSDB is a terrible weapon, because every single one out of more than fifteen launched was shot down by Russian air defenses.
It turns out, unsurprisingly, that air defense systems that can handily see off near-hypersonic GMLRS projectiles have little trouble defeating subsonic glide bombs. I expect that further orders and a wider deployment of the system will be quietly cancelled after this fiasco.
This has wider implications, however. SDBs incorporate stealth shaping and apparently have a similar radar cross-section to the F-35 - a target that is immensely larger and hotter, and one which has failed to distinguish itself through superior flight performance compared to older models. NATO's fifth-generation fighter fleet would thus likely suffer a similar fate if it attempted to penetrate Russian airspace without conducting a very intensive old-style suppression campaign against their air defenses. This should give NATO's war planners considerable pause. I personally doubt it will, however, because if NATO has distinguished itself in any way during this conflict it is through unfounded, preening arrogance.
- Alcibiades
25th February 2023 16:36
Tintin
Re: WW3? Ukraine/US vs. Donbass/Russia
From Berlin, yesterday, on the first anniversary of the Russian intervention. May the good sense these German citizens display here catch like a fire across the rest of their country and Europe more widely :flower:
❗️Ukrainian provocation in Berlin turned into a monument to Russian soldiers
🇩🇪 While thousands of Germans are holding a rally for peace in the German capital, Ukrainians, who do not want it by any means, are staging provocations in the city.
Yesterday, the Ukrainians brought a destroyed tank in front of the Russian embassy in Berlin.
🌹But as early as this morning, hundreds of German residents who disagreed with the action of the Ukrainians covered the tank with thousands of red roses.
🕊 In memory of the victims of the Ukrainian conflict, of the civilians who have been killed by the Ukrainian army and the soldiers who have defended them.
🔺Alexander von Bismarck, great-grandson of the famous Otto, the first German chancellor, also came to the square with flowers. He calls on the authorities to negotiate and reminds them that no one wants war with Russia.
The combat version of the Marker robot has an electronic catalog in the control system with images of targets both in the visible range and in the infrared. Accordingly, the robot can automatically determine the enemy’s equipment. For example, as soon as deliveries of the American Abrams & German Leopard Tanks to the Ukrainian troops begin, Marker will receive an appropriate electronic image and be able to detect and hit American and German tanks with ATGMs automatically,” Rogozin said.
Russia sends killer robots to Ukraine to destroy modern tanks deployed by the West. The combat robot can recognize and disable Western tanks.
The so-called 'Marker' is an unmanned vehicle that is controlled by Artificial Intelligence. The robot is equipped with a variety of sensors that help detect and attack targets, such as Abrams or Leopard main battle tanks.
The killer robot can function autonomously for days without having to refuel and is equipped with various weapon systems. He can also disable drones with electromagnetic pulses (EMPs).
They were rumors for the time being, but now the Marker appears to actually exist. The German journalist Thomas Röper captured images of it. He was the only foreign journalist at the very first presentation of the new Russian combat robot.
Hide for days
The robot can hide for days to wait for enemy tanks and then destroy them from a great distance. It has a field of fire of 360 degrees.
The Marker can also distinguish between friendly troops, enemy troops and civilians, and evacuate wounded.
If you were concerned that Ukraine might run out of money to buy more weapons and perpetuate the proxy war against Russia, you can rest at ease. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has announced that Ukraine will be receiving another $10 billion – added to the $113 billion U.S. taxpayers have already shelled out – to “the most corrupt nation in Europe.” Guest host Aaron Maté and Americans’ Comedian Kurt Metzger discuss Joe Biden’s comments in April 2022 insisting that the United States help fund pension payments and otherwise put money “in the pockets” of suffering Ukrainians.
25th February 2023 19:15
Tintin
Re: WW3? Ukraine/US vs. Donbass/Russia
Four Christmases ago an ex-British ambassador to a certain European country asked me why the excellent relations between the West and Russia of the 1990s (when he was an ‘attache’ in the British Embassy in Moscow) had so regrettably dissolved. I answered him simply: ‘Because the arrogant West spat in Russia’s face’. He had not been expecting that answer and the only reply of the old spy was astounded silence. I maintain its truth.
- Batiushka, for the Saker blog
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For the First Anniversary: 24 February 2023
Tell everyone that the evil that is in the world will grow even stronger,
but that it is not evil that will triumph, but love.
Tsar Nicholas II
A published author for 35 years on Church and cultural matters, I wrote a first article for the Saker that was published on 29 March 2022. It seems strange now that it took so long for me to offer to write here, as Andrei and I have the same spiritual background. The SMO in the Ukraine was the turning-point. This article, for 24th February 2023, is the last for Andrei’s blog. Appropriately for the Orwellian-minded, it is the 84th article in those 330 odd days, one every four days. Thank you, Andrei. As for future writings on geopolitical and cultural themes, I will be talking to Pepe Escobar.
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Old Russia and Old Europe
I am an Old Russian who lives in Old Europe. I have lived in several European countries, not only in Russia. But just as I never recognised the New Russia, nor do I recognise the New Europe. Just as I recognised neither the Soviet Union with its post-Sovietism, nor do I recognise the European Union with its post-Europeanism. The latter Union was born just a few days after the funeral of the former Union, as the demons that had haunted the USSR for exactly 75 years from December 1916 to December 1991 crossed westwards and found another corrupted and rotting corpse to infest and consume. I believe that we are now at a millennial parting of the ways in world history with the clear and abject failure of the Western world. Although those of nominal faith are riven by nationalist politics, compromised by money-oriented careerism, strangled by bureaucratic centralism and reduced by superstitious ritualism, we follow another way. For the King is coming and we must be ready to meet Him.
I was brought up on Tsar Nicholas II, the man who is maligned far more than Vladimir Putin, and on the murdered Alexander Pushkin and Ivan Turgenev, but also on William Shakespeare, Johann von Goethe, Alphonse Daudet and Knut Hamsun. I listened to Piotr Tchaikovsky and Sergei Rakhmaninov, but also to Johann Strauss, Edvard Grieg, Charles Trenet, Amalia Rodrigues and Albert Ketelby. I lived in Saint Petersburg, but also in Oslo, Paris, Thessaloniki, Lisbon and Vienna, passing through Belgrade, Geneva, Berlin, Prague, Madrid, Rome, London, Helsinki, Budapest, Bucharest and some very obscure but far more significant places in-between, for their significance is mystical.
There is a birch forest and dusty summer tracks just outside Ekaterinburg in the Urals, a log peasant house outside Great Novgorod, a village on the Slovak border with the Ukraine where they have never spoken either Slovak or Ukrainian, the whitest sandy beach in the Gaelic Outer Hebrides by a ruined monk’s cell, a fragrant pine forest on the ambered Baltic coast of Latvia, a dark backstreet in Porto where I had a funeral, the woods of Thassos in the azure-blue Aegean, a secret, lilac-filled courtyard in north-east Paris left over from the time of Zola, a path by Lake Balaton in Hungary and a path by Lake Naroch in Belarus, and a little wooden chapel in the Romanian Carpathians that belongs to hermit-shepherds.
They have all played a part. All these places, and many others, form one continuous story. But that is the little epic of a family with branches scattered across Old Russia and Old Europe and which is yet to be told. The tale of that Resurrection is for another time and another place.
Russia Now
Four Christmases ago an ex-British ambassador to a certain European country asked me why the excellent relations between the West and Russia of the 1990s (when he was an ‘attache’ in the British Embassy in Moscow) had so regrettably dissolved. I answered him simply: ‘Because the arrogant West spat in Russia’s face’. He had not been expecting that answer and the only reply of the old spy was astounded silence. I maintain its truth.
In 1714 Tsar Peter I opened a window on Europe. Russia never closed it. But in 2014 the West did. The bad news was that Russia was sick for 300 years with an obsession with the setting sun of the Western world, the Abendland, the Evening land, as the Germans rightly have it.
The good news is that Russia is recovering from this obsession, because in 2014 it turned eastwards with its other head, to the rising sun. In 2014 Russia turned eastwards because the arrogant West had spat in its face. And, unsurprisingly, it found daybreak in the east much more pleasant than nightfall. Russia very quickly made friends with China, India, Brazil, South Africa and Iran – to name but a few. In fact, Russia very quickly made friends with seven-eighths of the world, where its real friends had been all along.
As President Putin said in his speech of 21 February, Russia is ‘an ancient, independent and quite distinct Civilisation’. Therefore, just because arrogant Europe spat in its face, Russia does not now have to face an identity crisis. It has refound its identity in being what it is, Northern Eurasia. It no longer has to pretend to be only the Western half of itself, it has reclaimed the double-headed eagle which faces both East and West.
But this does mean that the rest of Europe has to face an identity crisis. And this is serious. For it. Because, having renounced its Civilisation, it has lost its identity. And because without Russia, Europe cannot survive. Why else did the US try to destroy and substitute for Ukrainian Civilisation? It was in order to cut little Kiev off from its Russian child, who had become much greater than Kiev, just as it tried to cut off little Europe from Russia, that had become much greater than it. Why else did the US blow up Nordstream? It was to cut off the small north-western peninsula of Eurasia from the other half of Europe and so from all Eurasia, so as to make it a fully dependent invalid of the US.
The Ukraine and Europe
As we have said a multitude of times, Russia only ever had three aims in this conflict: the Demilitarisation and Denazification of the territory at present known as the Ukraine and the Liberation of the territory at present known as the Donbass. Demilitarisation. Denazification. Liberation. Three words. It is not the tens of thousands of words of the EU directive on the regulatory height of forklift truck seats. (I used to know the author). What has happened after a year is that through Western foolishness the territory to be demilitarised and denazified, the Ukraine, has had to be expanded, and the territory to be liberated, the Donbass, has had to be expanded.
As a result of ever-escalating Western aggression and its supply of ‘long-range weapons’, Russia has now had to go further ‘to repel the menace from our borders’. (I quote from President Putin’s same speech). In other words, the Demilitarisation and Denazification of the Ukraine has become the Demilitarisation and Denazification of all Europe, for Europe has been Ukrainianised. It was its own choice. And the Liberation of the Donbass has become the Liberation of all the Ukraine, for the Ukraine has been Donbassised. It was its own choice.
For, through its utterly suicidal foolishness, all that part of Europe that lies to the west of the borders of the Russian Federation and Belarus, has become a borderland. Europe is now the European borderland vassal of the US, controlled by puppet governors, appointed by the Court in Washington. Today there is a Zelensky court jester in every European Capital. Their only qualification is the ability to juggle. If they cannot, they are disposed of. The proof of this is that when Russian troops have liberated the whole territory of the present Ukraine, NATO and its equally US-ordered sister-organisation, the EU, will collapse. Russia will not need to demilitarise, denazify and liberate Europe.
Demilitarisation will be implemented by the collapse of NATO. Denazification will be implemented by the collapse of the EU and the rest of borderland Europe beyond the Russian borders. As for Liberation, it will be implemented by the rebellions of the peoples of Europe against the narcissistic vassals of their US Nazi Overlord. Then there will be a Free Europe.
And then Russia will be gently tapped on the shoulder by the countries of Europe, who one by one will humbly ask not to be forgotten. Oppressed Serbia has not been. Nor has gallant, if diplomatic, Hungary. However, others, especially those further west, will have to do a lot more to attract attention. Russia is busy elsewhere with far more important things than the Europe that is woke, that is, spiritually and so morally asleep, and so irrelevant.
Between 1914 and 2014 Europe attempted to commit suicide three times. World War I, from which Russia was ejected by a regime-change organised from London and New York and camouflaged as a ‘Revolution’, was won by the US, both militarily and politically. World War II, in which Russia was only allowed to achieve its World War I aims of liberating Vienna and Berlin, was won by the US, not militarily, but politically.
However, this present war, which is World War III and will be called so by the historians of the future, will be won by Russia, both militarily and politically. It will be the victory that Russia was deprived of in 1917 by the Anglo-Zionist conspiracy. Therefore, World War III, lost both militarily and politically by the US, will mean that the US loses its Empire. Its previous pride will be humbled and its previous impunity will be punished.
Afterword
In all my wanderings through Russia and Europe I have always believed that Russia must return to its roots and identity in order to refind itself. Since 2014, quite miraculously, this has been happening. However, I have always believed that Europe too must return to its roots and identity in order to refind itself. This can be so through the example of Russia’s return, but it will be very radical and it will hurt a lot. Just as it hurt and hurts Russia. Humility, like the Church, always hurts.
Nevertheless, all can still come right, injustices can still be righted. The thirst for justice and for restitution can still triumph over the conspiracies of the past. It is always the same sevenfold story: Repentance, return, redemption, rebirth, restoration, restitution and resurrection. They form one continuous story. But that is the great epic of all the families with branches scattered across Russia and Europe and which is yet to be told. The tale of that Resurrection is for another time and another place.
23 February 2023
25th February 2023 20:22
Bill Ryan
Re: WW3? Ukraine/US vs. Donbass/Russia
Quote:
Posted by Bill Ryan
I've not been able to find the original source, but it's been widely reported that a Ukrainian soldier in Bakhmut has stated that the life expectancy of an untrained soldier newly arrived on the front line there is four hours.
'Nonstop shelling': Former US Marine in Bakhmut, Ukraine, says fighting is 'chaotic'
The average lifespan on the frontline of the fierce fighting in the city of Bakhmut is "four hours," according to an American fighting side by side with the Ukrainian army against Russian forces in the Donbas.
Former U.S. Marine Troy Offenbecker, of Michigan, told ABC News that the situation in the city, which has seen some of the deadliest fighting since Russia's full-scale invasion, is "chaotic" and has been dubbed "the meat grinder."
"It's been pretty bad on the ground," he told ABC News. "A lot of casualties. The life expectancy is around four hours on the frontline."
The average lifespan on the frontline of the fierce fighting in the city of Bakhmut is "four hours".
So Nuland has decided that Europe should decide whether the main stakeholder of Nordstream should be allowed to investigate its destruction. So Nuland has made herself "Europe’s boss" - openly.
25th February 2023 22:29
Bill Ryan
Re: WW3? Ukraine/US vs. Donbass/Russia
A lovely photo. As a kind of misguided and cynical monument, the Germans placed a wrecked Russian tank right by the Russian embassy in Berlin.
Thousands of Berliners have responded all day by covering it with flowers. :heart:
US-trained Afghan special forces recruited by Wagner Group in Ukraine: Report
New reports of US-trained Afghan special forces joining the fight in Ukraine, but on the Russian side, are emerging. The Wagner Group, a Russian private military contractor firm that has played a vital role in the battle for the town of Bakhmut in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine, is recruiting Afghan fighters that US special forces spent decades training.
Russia and Ukraine have fought bitterly to control Bakhmut, with many soldiers killed on both sides, despite repeated Ukrainian claims the now largely depopulated town has any strategic value.
However, as the Financial Times reported, after eight months of combat, Russian forces are close to capturing the city, approaching from three directions, leaving Ukraine’s main supply line under severe pressure and forcing Kiev to face “an agonizing choice over the cost of holding its ground.”
With relentless shelling and WWI-style trench warfare, Russian forces have captured several towns and villages around Bakhmut in recent weeks, most notably the salt mining town of Soledar, 15km to the north.
Reports emerged early in the war, in April 2022, that former Afghan commandos were fighting for pay on the Ukrainian side.
But reports of Afghan special forces fighting instead on the Russian side began to emerge in the fall of last year. An AP report from 31 October described how Afghan special forces soldiers who fought alongside US troops during the two-decade occupation of Afghanistan fled to Iran after the chaotic US withdrawal in August 2021.
Russia reportedly then recruited these special forces members to fight in Ukraine.
Three former Afghan generals told the AP that the Russians wished to attract thousands of the former elite Afghan commandos to create a “foreign legion,” offering $1,500-a-month salaries and promises of safe havens for themselves and their families in Iran.
“They don’t want to go fight — but they have no choice,” said General Abdul Raof Arghandiwal, due to fears of being forced by the Iranian government to return to Afghanistan. “They ask me, ‘Give me a solution. What should we do? If we go back to Afghanistan, the Taliban will kill us.’”
The US military left Afghanistan in a chaotic fashion in August 2021 following the complete disintegration of the US-trained Afghan army in the face of the Taliban.
While exposing the Afghan special forces to the threat of reprisals from the new Taliban government, the US withdrawal simultaneously opened the door to more robust US military support for Ukraine in the war against Russia.
In a December 2022 State Department for year-end press conference, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken explained that “if we were still in Afghanistan, it would have, I think, made much more complicated the support that we’ve been able to give and that others have been able to give Ukraine” against Russia.
Though fighting between the Ukrainian army and Moscow-backed separatists in the Donetsk and Luhansk provinces in the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine had been steady since 2014, the war escalated in February 2022 when Russia launched what it called a special military operation and invaded Ukraine.
Some analysts have argued the White House sought to deliberately provoke the Russian invasion, which, if true, may shed light on Washington’s decision to withdraw from Afghanistan five months prior.
