WW3? Ukraine/US vs. Donbass/Russia

[Ravenlocke]

https://www.rt.com/news/557664-eu-brics-hold-summits/

EU and BRICS launch key summits

Two major economic integration organizations – the European Union and BRICS – are holding key summits this week. The leaders of EU member states are gathering in Brussels on Thursday for a two-day meeting, while BRICS countries are holding a virtual gathering hosted by China on the same dates.

The situation in Ukraine and its bid to become part of the Union top the agenda at the EU summit. European leaders will discuss economic crises around the world and how they affect the continent, as well as key foreign policy issues.

Meanwhile, Beijing will this week be hosting the 14th summit of BRICS emerging economies, uniting Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Member states will chart plans for closer economic, security and public health cooperation, and set goals for reviving the global economy in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

READ MORE: Russian SWIFT replacement ready for BRICS – Putin
Beijing, which holds the rotating presidency of BRICS, has argued for expanding the group by including Argentina as a full member. The Latin American nation has expressed its desire to join BRICS and will be attending the summit.

The virtual meeting of BRICS leaders will be the highest-profile international event for Russian President Vladimir Putin since he ordered an attack against Ukraine in February. As Western nations have sought to punish Moscow with economic sanctions, Russia has prioritized trade with nations including China and India, to mitigate the impact of Western trade restrictions.


https://www.rt.com/business/557620-r...ssenger-brics/

Russian SWIFT replacement ready for BRICS – Putin

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that banks from BRICS nations can freely connect to the System for Transfer of Financial Messages (SPFS), Russia’s alternative to SWIFT.

While addressing a BRICS business forum, Putin said that together with its partners – Brazil, India, China and South Africa – Moscow is developing reliable alternatives for international payments.

“The Russian system for transmitting financial messages is open to connecting banks from the five countries,” he said, adding: “The geography of the use of the Russian payment system Mir is expanding.”

The Russian president also noted that work is underway to create an international reserve currency based on a basket of BRICS currencies.

READ MORE: China calls for BRICS expansion
SPFS has similar functionality to SWIFT and allows the transmission of messages between financial institutions in the same format. It was created by the Bank of Russia as an alternative to the Belgium-based system in 2014, when Moscow was hit with Western sanctions over the conflict in Ukraine.

In April, Russian Central Bank governor Elvira Nabiullina said most Russian lenders and 52 foreign organizations from 12 countries had received access to SPFS, and that the regulator would keep the identity of payment system members secret.


https://twitter.com/RT_com/status/1539971547347263489

[Ravenlocke]

https://twitter.com/ChannelOne_eng/s...55273204465664

https://twitter.com/ChannelOne_eng/s...21278815162368

[Ravenlocke]

https://twitter.com/ReadovkaWorld/st...27245061468161

https://twitter.com/Cyberspec1/statu...06830943416320

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=HeqO_cAaxOc

[Ravenlocke]

https://twitter.com/Russ_Warrior/sta...73428203372545

https://twitter.com/Russ_Warrior/sta...73760165769217

https://twitter.com/ReadovkaWorld/st...04512081010689

[Ewan]

Meanwhile, the BBC ramp up their efforts to be first in place to assume the official designation of sole broadcaster for the Ministery of Truth.

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=9O_zWb686lg

Never felt more inclined to write them a short missive but don't feel quite incensed enough to put so many expletives on a sheet of paper that never did anything to me.

[Goba]

I am flabbergasted by the number of people who fall for the Russian agitprop. Russia has always used the same names and the same channels to get their word out. They did not become reliable or even truthful overnight only because the US in similar ways has b/s-ed the world. What people here who seem to love taking sides for the perceived underdog Russia do not realize is this: NOBODY here wants to live in Russia - at least not as long as it is in its current political state which is VERY close to Germany in the 1930s.

Russia is not only not winning, it has already lost. It may even keep the Donbass which it has thoroughly ground to rubble - but it will NEVER ever get to the state of limited prosperity it enjoyed pre-war. Not even their most wealthy members.

In fact it will revert to something akin to 1990s industry without the western tech it now cant import.
Of course for those who live outside Moscow it makes little difference because those who die for the motherland are poor and mainly uneducated villagers without many other options to get funds outside the army.

Given the extreme imbalance in weaponry and manpower in favor of Russia one can only ask: how long will the RT believers predict the fall of Ukraine. It should have been evident months ago. Yet in the last 4 weeks the front lines have moved only marginally in Russia's favor.

There is an old rule of war some German generals told Hitler before he decided to invade Russia: You can invade with a small number but you can only hold with a vastly superior number of armed forces. Some say it has to be 4:1, some 6:1 - but in any case Russia has none of these numbers.
If the Ukrainians keep fighting there can only be one loser, the one that has lost already - Russia. And if NATO keeps supplying munitions the Ukrainians may even entirely rip apart any conventional power Russia once had. If that happens some elements of the Russian federation may rethink their plans for independence.

[Bill Ryan]

Posted by Ravenlocke (here)

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=HeqO_cAaxOc

I quite enjoyed watching that short video. It shows a Russian military train trundling quite quickly, and without any problems or resistance at all, through empty, green Ukrainian countryside — save for one lone cyclist who waved at the train as it passed. The camouflage was ostentatiously overpainted by huge letter 'Z's for all to see, rather as if it was a marketing campaign.

[Ravenlocke]

https://www.moonofalabama.org/2022/0...ltz-smith.html

Two Big Errors About Russia - By Helmholtz Smith
June 23, 2022

by Helmholtz Smith

American and Western policy towards Russia is founded on two serious errors. (A considerable understatement, of course – the past thirty years show that conventional Western ideas of Russia are almost completely wrong.)

But these two are endlessly repeated and, no matter how many times they are proven wrong, they remain the foundational assumptions of the West's attempts to change or control Russia.

First is the idea that the Russian economy is feeble, unbalanced and dependent on income from the West. The second is that Putin is the chief of a band of thieves who, who if made to feel pain, will get rid of him. Sanctions will collapse the first and bring the pain to cause the second. (Another delusion is that once Putin goes, everything will be to the West's liking – but I did say there was a multitude of misconceptions.)

First let's consider Russia's economy. Op-eds that say that the Russian economy is the size of Texas or Belgium or Luxembourg or whatever simply translate rubles into dollars and gallop to their preassigned conclusion. They never ask how big the space program of the country Russia is compared to is, or how many nuclear submarines it makes, or new subway stations, airports or bridges it opens, or whether that country makes all kinds of airplanes and trucks, or how much food it grows and exports or anything else that actually measures a real economy.

As soon as they did, of course, they would see that the Russian economy is much bigger than the puerile ruble-dollar comparison suggests. And, a slightly closer look would reveal that Russia's economy is almost self-sufficient. But the West carries on confident that Russia is a "gas station with nuclear weapons" and its feeble economy can be easily collapsed. RAND based a whole strategy on "Russia’s greatest vulnerability... is its economy, which is comparatively small and highly dependent on energy exports

They persist in the face of all experience to the contrary. The EU cut food exports to Russia to, I suppose, bring people out into the streets protesting the disappearance of exotic cheese (remember Masha Gessen's heartbreak about my little cheese?) Russia responded intelligently and is now self-sufficient in food and Europe has lost that market. Biden was going to reduce the ruble to rubble but Moscow effortlessly countered him and the ruble is now tied to energy – one of the strongest foundations a currency can have.

And still the sanctions pile on. But it's educational – now we know a lot more about what potash is used for and where it comes from. And neon – who knew that was important? Rare earths! Beer bottles! Moscow is only just now starting to counter-sanction and the world is discovering that Russia is a major producer of a lot of important things and if you sanction them, you will find yourself running short of lots of things you'd never heard of. (You'd think anyone who owned an atlas would be able to figure out that a country as large as Russia must be a big producer of most resources).

Biden can blame Putin all he likes, but sanctioning energy and potash is a certain way to drive up prices all round. Biden used to think that Russia had "nuclear weapons and oil wells and nothing else". Maybe the people running Russia are better at thinking things out and seeing reality than we thought they were. (Yet another mistaken Western assumption – what is there in the last twenty years that suggests we're smarter than they are?)

The idea that Russia is a big criminal conspiracy and Putin is the Boss of Bosses is the foundation of the personal sanctions strategy. So-and-so is deemed "close to Putin", whatever that means, and he's prevented from going to Paris to buy cheese and his yacht is stolen confiscated. Angry, he sits down with the other capos and decides it's time the Boss was found face down in a bowl of kasha and blood. The think tankers tell us that Putin is the Chief Thief holding onto power by spreading the loot around, fake elections and making critics disappear. (By the way, wasn't he supposed to have tried to kill Navalny, where's the oped savant explaining why he's still alive?)

All elections in Russia are fake, all opinion polls are fake, all media is controlled by the Kremlin, the underbosses are hurting so why is Putin still there? It surely couldn't be that he is the very popular and respected elected head of state – to suggest that would be to call into question three decades of US and EU think tankery. Therefore he must be just one more sanction away from being whacked out. And so more names – all "close to Putin" – are added to more lists. But nothing changes.

These two errors run on and on. Russia is now the most sanctioned country ever and Western politicians still think another round of "tough sanctions" will do the job. But the more sanctions it survives, the more sanction-proof Russia becomes.

Wars are irruptions of brutal reality into fantasy and the Ukraine war is laying bare the empty complacency at the root of the West's view of Russia. It's going to be a cold hungry winter in Europe and in parts of America. Can't blame Putin forever.

But the depressing truth is that minds are rarely changed, you have to change the man. How much longer will the West's leaders outlast their repeated failures?

[Ravenlocke]

https://tass.com/pressreview/1470099...m_social_share

23 JUN, 06:00
Press review: How Russia can strike back at Lithuania and will oil top Lavrov’s Iran tour


Vedomosti: How Russia could retaliate for Lithuania’s transit ban

READ ALSO
Kaliningrad governor says blockade of region deliberate, rules out mistake
Russian officials are discussing measures to retaliate for Lithuania’s ban on the transit of certain goods through its territory over the EU sanctions, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov announced on Wednesday. The day before, Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolay Patrushev warned that Moscow’s response would sting the Baltic nation’s population.

Russia could retaliate with economic, political or military measures, Alexander Nosovich, a political analyst at the Valdai think-tank, told Vedomosti. Symmetrical restrictions for Lithuania’s transit are likely to be the key. If Russia chooses to ban transit via Kaliningrad, Lithuania’s economy will be affected. Or Russia could opt for a proportionate scenario mirroring half of the goods banned by Lithuania. These would primarily include fertilizers as well as oil products from the majority of EU countries. Though Lithuania has formally stopped importing Russian oil products, one of its refineries, which is also the country’s largest taxpayer, has been processing oil brought from Poland via the Kaliningrad Region, Nosovich said. So, a ban on oil transit from Poland would hit Lithuania’s budget hard, the expert added.

Russia could also sue Lithuania in a Stockholm court, said Vladimir Olenchenko, a senior researcher at the Institute of World Economy and International Relations (IMEMO). According to the expert, Moscow has already complained that Vilnius’ move runs counter to the 2002 agreements on the transit of goods to the EU, and could demand compensation for the costs of using a longer transit route via St. Petersburg, Ust-Luga and other northwestern ports.

It's clear that Russia’s trade with the EU will plunge even further, and a seventh package of sanctions will inevitably impose tougher restrictions, said Mikhail Burmistrov, CEO of Infoline Analytics. Therefore, Russia should use the situation to adjust to new EU restrictions, rather than put pressure on Lithuania.

[Bill Ryan]

There's a VERY interesting major segment of Alexander Mercouris' video for today, about Industrial Warfare. It's well worth listening to. Start in at 12:24, and it lasts for 40 minutes.

It's long, and there's a lot of fascinating detail, but here's my summary:

In a major protracted conflict such as Ukraine vs Russia right now, the country with the largest, most productive and most sustainable military industrial capacity is sure to win out. It's a much more important factor than (e.g.) number of troops on the ground.

Russia started to ramp up its military industrial production back in 2007, and so it's been steadily building and building its military strength (and weapons inventory) for the last 15 years. The US no longer has that capacity, and would take at least half that time to catch up with Russia — IF the political decision was made to give that any priority.

And given China's enormous manufacturing capacity, one can only guess at how easily China would be able to maintain and grow its weapons inventory if it had to. (Is it doing that right now? Surely yes.)

In recent war games of a conflict against Russia, the US expended all its ammunition and missiles in a few weeks, and the UK in 8 (eight!) days. In contrast, Russia's ability to manufacture sophisticated weapons and quickly replace any that are destroyed appears to be almost limitless.

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=ZqXC22fRCBE

[Goba]

Well, you seem not to watch a lot of YT made in Russia. I do. I have friends there and pre-war I planned a big motorcyle trip all over that place.

Russias space industry is pathetic. The band of thiefs around Putin include the Roskosmos boss. A fully corrupt individual who has not made ONE stride towards a reusable rocket in the last 10 years knowing its the ONLY way of the future. Russia fell behind even China - and big time.

There is a plethora of videos showing traffic (accidents, mostly) in Vodka country. Tell me how many civilian trucks you can recognize that are not western brands. Or how many civilian cars. None of which will receive any spares in the future. its one thing to repair a Lada, another to repair a complex modern electronic car.

The Oil extraction industry is almost entirely based on western technology with western engineers overseeing it. No more spares, it will take month for the first failure to show up, and that without Ukrainian commandos blowing them up.

China has all but left Russia alone. Not just that, it has back-stabbed it by making promises (yes, we will always supply computers to you) and then forgetting bout them (when Uncle sam waved the extended sanctions flag). Russia has about 4% of Chinese exports, guess how much the US has.
On top of this, if the Russian army fails in Ukraine China may remember it once owned Vladivostok.

"All elections in Russia are fake, all opinion polls are fake, all media is controlled by the Kremlin, the underbosses are hurting so why is Putin still there?" Why was Hitler still in power until almost the last day? Yes, all of the above is true. Elections are fake, opinion polls are mostly fake in that the people polled are avid TV watchers and those who can think for themselves have lost interest to get fined 500 US$ for having the wrong opinion (or they left Russia). Yes, all media is NOW controlled by the Kremlin.

I am not saying this - Russians I know who are still trapped in Russia are telling me. There is not a single source you can trust and unless you know how to navigate the darknet you have no access to real information.

The Russians living in the vast and undeveloped countryside will not feel much difference. They have been exploited by the Moskwitch gang of thiefs since forever. War or no war. But the people in the European cities of Russia will. They already do. There are various Russians showing it on YT albeit very carefully weighting their words. But if you read between the lines and look at what they show you the picture is clear: Sanctions work.

[Goba]

"In a major protracted conflict such as Ukraine vs Russia right now, the country with the largest, most productive and most sustainable military industrial capacity is sure to win out. It's a much more important factor than (e.g.) number of troops on the ground."

In a major war between NATO and Russia the ability to locate production factories are most important. I guess the US has them mapped out already. Modern explosives dont have to be nuclear to disable a factory and US long range cruise missiles will be there before the day ends because it is only a few hundred km from NATO borders to Russia while the Russians would have to get over the Atlantic or lose their subs to US attack subs if they launched from sea. Such a war is in any case extremely unlikely because no side could be sure what kind of warhead are heading towards them and therefor going nuclear would be almost a given.

In the end even with only Ukraine the Russians will use up their supply of willing idiots quite fast unless Putin declares war. That would be a game changer and I have no idea what would happen in that case. BUT it is already clear that the idea of Russia having nearly unlimited abilities to produce sophisticated (read: with western electronics) weaponry is a wet dream - one out of which they already awake as the very limited use in Ukraine shows. The Russians have nothing of note in terms of ships and their air force is a show force. Or a no-show force as seen on "victory day" where it was absent because what they have is spent in Ukraine. They have a lot of artillery and ****loads of ammunition. Thats why they make gains in Donbass. But its not the tripple seven kind that can hit with one shot.
The USA if forced to do so could probably revert to mass production of them within a month if needed. But I dont think it is. Just send what you have - its enough to get rid of the Russians.

[Baby Steps]

So currently we are on over usd100 per barrel oil. TPTB tell us that this plus all the other cost hikes are Russias fault. The incompetent Biden admin is making some small steps towards encouraging other producers to increase production.

A conspiracy view is that this is not just a local war but a pre planned strategy to choke off human prosperity and autonomy. TPTB hope we will accept our rations and sequestration of our assets and accept the ‘blame Putin’ pre arranged BS narrative.

What do we know about oil supply and production?

One important fact is that economic activity is stimulated by cheap oil - say under $60.

Another fact is that Russian exports of oil continue to friendly nations plus others via proxy ‘oil launderers’

Another fact is that the Russian and Saudi state need $100 oil to fund their state expenses.

So TPTB are effectively choking off their own populations while blaming someone else spuriously, meanwhile they are looking the other way while expensive oil actually props up the Russian war effort.

How to stick a needle is that BS bubble ? The coherent strategy to weaken Russia - likely more effective than sanctions - would be to flood the market with cheap oil. They cannot do that - are they close to being check mated ?

[Goba]

Before someone asks: I am of the opinion that using the military in a shooting war can ONLY be excused in a situation of self defense against an aggressor who ALSO uses lethal methods on a grand scale. Any political moves or dishonesty in keeping contracts (isn't that the definition of politics) is EXCLUDED from this right. That is my conviction and it is also international law. The fact that the US has violated that rule numerous times does not make it a bit better that this deranged KGB clown with severe psychological problems invaded a sovereign country.

There can be no two opinions on that - whoever starts is at fault. I do not care one bit what the political situation was on either side before the invasion began. Therefor I can and will only support Ukraine in this regard - knowing full well about all the political and corruption related misdeeds that country has done or allowed in the past.
Funny enough even CHINA is of the same opinion although probably not for the same reasons as I am.

I also assume that Putin at this point is fully aware how MUCH he actually f*cked up. And why. Being surrounded by bootlicking servants never works out. Now to get out of this situation without also being killed or at least kicked out he has to be inventive. How inventive the future will show. But his options diminish on a daily basis.

[kfm27917]

just read
With a weight of 4,200 kg (9,300 lb), the M777 is 41% lighter than the 7,154 kg (15,772 lb) M198 howitzer it
replaces. Much of the weight reduction is due to the extensive use of titanium.

Going to be fun replacing that without Ti from Russia

[Goba]

Oil much like money is a smoke screen. First off there are unlimited energy resources that are not being tapped and I do not even include "free energy" although I am convinced it exists (UFOs anyone?).

Money can and will be printed at will. So yes, this war is a theatrical show. All wars are bankers wars goes a bit into that but only limited to this earthly "reality". Nobody knows who exactly rules this planet. Its not Biden or Putin, so much is sure. Hell, we can't even agree if the afterlife is a manipulated show or for real LOL.

[Ravenlocke]

Caution! May be fake news.

https://twitter.com/12tmimi/status/1539184821808861184

https://twitter.com/DefenseNigeria/s...64029595406338

[kfm27917]

A quick update from from Andrei and with a few notes


It has now been a month since my last update, so I have decided to post this note to share a few thoughts with you.

First, the boring stuff: my health is definitely doing better and, while I very much regret having had to take that time off, I now am sure that it was the right decision, both for me and the blog. I hope to come back to full-time blogging by the end of July. Again, I apologize to you all for my absence, and I ask for your understanding.

Second, and as I had predicted, the situation in the world and in the Ukraine has changed a great deal over the past couple of months. I will just mention a few bullet-points of what I see as the highlights:

The “the glorious Ukrainians are winning” narrative has now quasi-officially faceplanted (heck, even the NYT changed its tune) and nobody sane is spewing this nonsense anymore. The reality is that the Ukrainians are, on average, losing about one battalion per day, and this is why they are now sending barely trained civilians to the East: most of the (often very well-trained and courageous) Ukrainian combat units are even dead, prisoners, MIA or in “cauldrons” (actual or by firepower) with no chance to escape.
It is now also undeniable that what began as a special military operation (SMO) has now turned into a open and full-scale war between the consolidated West (aka the Anglo-Zionist Empire) and Russia: the Empire has now “hit” Russia with everything it had short of a direct military attack. The (originally 200’000+ strong) Ukrainian military, arguably the strongest NATO military force (which is otherwise mostly composed of small and thoroughly woked-out “parade militaries”!), especially with the full support of the West (intelligence, weapons, money, political, etc. etc. etc.) is being “demilitarized” and “denazified” by a vastly superior Russian military force (but not one bigger in size: Russia has used only a fraction of her full military power). The outcome here is not in doubt.
This reality has now been fully accepted by the Russian society which now stands behind the Kremlin (at 80%+) which has made no secret that it is now locked into an existential war against the West. This has been the case since at least 2013, but now the original ratios (roughly 80% informational, 15% economic and 5% military) have shifted to what I would call “total war by proxy“.
The hardcore crazies in the West (US Neocons, UK, Poland and the 3B) are trying hard to trigger a fullscale war between NATO and Russia and, so far, the spineless Eurolemmings have let them set the agenda, however suicidal it might be for the EU and NATO. Frankly, my disgust with western Europe is total – I never had any illusions about the “new” Europeans – and all I can say is that they all richly deserve each other and what is coming their way. All I can say is this: continue to act like Nazis and you shall be denazified. It is really that simple.
The leaders of the Empire know that they lost yet again, and they are seeking refuge in their usual coping mechanisms: ideological self-gratification and deep, deep denial. While the EU is committing a straightforward economic, political and social suicide, the Biden Administration has gone “full woke”, as did corporate “America”(meaning the USA, of course, not the American continent): the so-called “minorities” are now shoved down the collective throats of the US people now, no matter how small, or freaky, the said “minorities” are. This is especially striking in the kind of advertisements the US corporations are now unanimously producing. I think, for example, of the morbidly obese black women in diapers (!!!) taking “ballerina poses” YouTube is now regularly showing. Watching these ads, one would think that blacks in the USA occupy all positions of authority and prestige, that most US women are lesbians, and millions of US kids (and even infants!) urgently need a sex change (watch the excellent “What is a Woman?” documentary to see how insane this has all become). When I see this collective woke insanity, I cannot help but wonder whether corporate “America” is not deliberately trying to really piss off the vast majority of US Americans and trigger some kind of major and violent internal crisis.
The Russians, in the meantime, are passing new laws against the propaganda of homosexuality: while in the past, such propaganda was only banned if directed at children, now this expanded to the entire population of Russia. Just to clarify: Russia is not banning homosexuals and their sexual practices, however pathological, remain fully legal. But what Russia IS doing is refusing to consider homosexuality as a “normal and natural variation in human sexuality” (Wikipedia). In other words, the Russians still consider homosexuality as a psychological disorder which might deserve compassion, but not affirmation (nevermind encouragement). Since “inclusiveness” and “positivity” are now key western “values” this is also a message from Russia: keep your woke-freaks and their ideology to yourselves, we want none of it!
In the meantime the Euroukrainians are now planning to ban and destroy over 100’000’000 copies of Russian language books. Hitler would be proud. The Eurolemmings have nothing to say. You know, “#cancelRussia” thingie (meaning both Russians themselves and the Russian culture in all its forms) and all that “it’s okay when we do it” or “our SOBs” stuff.
The Western economic Blitzkrieg against Russia has totally failed and the joke in Russia is that while McCain famously once said that “Russia is a gas station masquerading as a country” with contempt, “Biden” is now saying the same thing, but with deep envy :-)

Translation: for our Fatherland

I could go on and on, but the bottom line is this: the West has declared total war on Russia (and, de facto, to all of Zone B) and Russia has accepted this. For a decade and more the West has tried hard to wake up and provoke the proverbial Russian bear and these efforts have finally been successful: the bear is now out, and he is very, very angry. To clarify, by this I am not referring to former Atlantic Integrationists like Medvedev now “coming out” as a Eurasian Sovereignist hardliner (he is clearly setting himself up for a future Presidential election and says all the “right things”), but about the Russian people which are now in what I call a full “WWII” mode (“Rise up immense country” and all that). To the right is the kind of images now circulating on the Russian Internet and which expresses the awareness that Europe was never truly denazifed, at least not in the US occupied countries.

Russia is now determined to finish this ugly job, once and forever. You want to “cancel Russia”? In your dreams only, but Russia can, and will, “cancel Nazism” once and or all. 1000 years of that crap is enough!

From the first Crusades to the invasion of the USSR by the united Europe under Hitler’s command, the West has always has some kind of ideology to justify its wars of imperialist aggression. The interesting thing is that now this is over and rather than justify is acts of aggression in the name of some putatively universal religion or ideology, the western elites (and, alas, much of its population) have now finally shown their true face which is:

Virulent anti-Russian racism in its purest form (again, Hitler would be proud)
Pure and overt Satanism under the label of “Woke” ideology (the last western ideology it appears) with its focus on the destruction of the family and, especially, children (Satanists know that they cannot do anything against the Creator of all, hence they try to take out their hatred and revenge against His creatures, especially children)
Overt and even “in your face” hatred to any and all who oppose that agenda (as the French revolutionary Louis Antoine de Saint-Just famously declared “No freedom for the enemies of freedom“, right?!)
The truth is that the real West, the one born from the Middle-Ages (and *not* from the Roman or Greek civilizations!) has always been ruled by cynical, evil, thugs. In the past, these thugs always concealed their real worldview and agenda under all sorts of pious pretexts, now its only “ideology” left is pure hatred and wokism (same thing, really).

I submit that it is impossible to predict what will happen in the coming months and years – there are simply too many variables which can dramatically affect our future. What began as a special military operation (as opposed to a combined arms operation) has now morphed into what one could call WWIII or even WWIV (depending on your definitions). This war will last for several years unless, of course, the Neocons and their associated crazies in the EU get their way and trigger a nuclear conflict: in the latter case it will be short and very final.

Right now the focus is on the Donbass and the southern Ukraine, but we have to understand two things about this:

The Ukronazis and their NATO bosses have already long lost that war, and all the West and its Nazi puppets in Kiev are doing is trying to prolong this unwinnable war for as long as possible to get a maximum number of Ukrainians killed or maimed and to destroy as much of the Ukraine as possible and make Russia “pay the highest price” for her (quite inevitable) victory on the battlefield. What a paradox! The Russian “aggressors” are trying as hard as they can to save as many Ukrainians as possible (even at the cost of their own lives!) along with whatever is left of the Ukrainian infrastructure after 30 years of “independence”, while the western “defenders” and even “allies” of the Ukraine want to turn it into a desolate moonscape covered with corpses.
This is not a war about the Ukraine, at least not anymore, this is now a war for the future of the European continent and even the future international order. As I have said many times already, the Russians fully intend to denazify at least all of the European continent, preferably by economic and political means but, if needed, by military means too. Why? Because the West has left Russia no other choice. For Russia and, I would argue, all of Zone B the choice is both stark and simple: true and full sovereignty (economic, of course, but also cultural, spiritual and civilizational) or subjugation.
In other words, this is not a war Russia can afford to lose and the Russian people know it.

Last time around, Russia lost about 27 million people while China lost about 35 millions. That a total of 62 million people, about two thirds of which were civilians. Keep these figures in mind when you look at the quick and quite radical modernization of the Russian and Chinese armed forces (btw – the Chinese people also “get it” and they fully support Russia, as does the Chinese leadership, even if they try to keep a low profile for the time being and let Russia carry the burden of being on the frontline of this war: simply put, the Chinese are buying time which, frankly, they still need to achieve parity, or better, against the US and its protectorates in Asia such as Taiwan, Japan, ROK or Australia. The Russians also understand that as they themselves were in a similar position between 2000 and 2018. But they know that the Chinese Dragon will have to fully “wake up” sooner rather than later.

Yeah, I know, most folks in the West don’t know that, or don’t care, but the point is now what the folks in the West do not know, but rather it is what the people of Russia and China know and understand quite well. Only an utter fool would doubt or disregard the kind of determination which sits deep inside the souls of the Russian and Chinese people to never allow the West to subjugate them again. Ever.

[Sidebar: yes, I know, the Japanese Empire which attacked China was not part of the West (yet), but that is an extremely superficial argument which fails to understand that it was precisely western imperialism which created the conditions, in both China and Japan, which resulted in the Japanese imperialist attacks against the entire Asian-Pacific region!]

The above does not even begin to cover all the amazing developments which have taken place in the last few months. Not only have there been truly huge changes INSIDE Russia (and they are only accelerating), but also in Latin America, Africa and the Middle-East. And I will revisit all these topics in about a month or so, when I will come back to full-time blogging. Besides, in a month or so many of the things I mentioned above will become even more obvious for all to see so rather than trying to establish “fact X” we will be able to actually discuss and analyze it, its reality having been quite established.

[Sidebar: please remember who told you the truth and who lied to you over the past months. There were many, many such liars, ranging from the official propaganda machine (aka the “free press”) to the “Putin has lost it all” emo-Marxists and assorted 6th columnists who, whether they understood it or not, served the purpose of the Empire’s PSYOPs. Also please remember that Andrei Martynov, Bernard and Gonzalo Lira not only spoke truthfully, but they were right and their detractors totally wrong. We all owe them an immense debt of gratitude!]

Frankly, before my forced break, I was getting really frustrated trying to prove to misinformed or even fully brainwashed commentators that the official narrative (produced by the biggest strategic PSYOP in history) was a load of bull, based on lies and/or on a total “misunderstanding” (and I am being kind here!) of the real world outside the “mental Zone A”. Now most of that narrative has collapsed.

I am also confident that a month from today, things will be even more obvious than they are today.

So, my friends and readers, I leave you in the (very competent) hands of Amarynth, Herb and the rest of the Saker team and I very much look forward to my full return, God willing, in a month or so.

Kind regards to all, and many thanks for your support!

Andrei

PS: yesterday I was re-watching the superb movie by Costa Gavras “Z” which, at the end, lists all the works of art, literature, music, etc. which the (US CIA backed) Greek “colonels” banned and I thought to myself: “what leftist director would make such a movie today about how the entire West is now doing the same with all things Russian?“. None, of course. I also noticed the sweet irony of Costa Gavras’ movie being called “Z” (which in Greek stands for “Ζει” or “he lives”) and I wondered if the copyright owners of the movie will now have to rename it since the letter “Z” is now banned amongst doubleplusgoodthinking russophobes. Finally, there are some in the West who want to create two categories: “good Russians”, who are expected to publicly denounce their country and President, and “bad Russians” who refuse to do so. Hitler wanted Jews to wear a star of David, so could we see a day when “bad Russians” in Zone A will be told to wear a “Z”. Right now, no T-shirt or mugs printing companies in Zone A will accept to print a “Z” on their items (I know, I tried and failed!), but considering the collective rage and insanity of the western ruling elites, maybe the letter “Z” will become obligatory for “bad Russians” in Zone A? Just kidding, of course, but rewatching the movie “Z” felt quite eerie anyway.

surce http://thesaker.is/a-quick-update-fr...h-a-few-notes/

[Bill Ryan]

Posted by Ravenlocke (here)
Caution! May be fake news.

https://twitter.com/12tmimi/status/1539184821808861184

Yes, it's fake. It comes from a YouTube video about a hypothetical nuclear event posted a while back. Here it is:

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=DZ67hVlxM-8

[Bill Ryan]

Posted by Goba (here)

Russia is not only not winning, it has already lost. It may even keep the Donbass which it has thoroughly ground to rubble...

Goba, many thanks for your posts, thoughts and comments, and I appreciate that you're sincere and intelligent. (Many people are not! )

But just a couple of points here, if I may.

• We may all have to watch this play out, and see for ourselves whether "Russia has lost" or not. In the end, the truth will have its way.
• I do have to say, Russia has certainly not "thoroughly ground Donbass to rubble". It concerns me that you've allowed yourself to state that, because if you really believe that it means your sources of information are misguided at best.

I do have a question for you. It's not means as an insult, or in any way some kind of snide "attack". I'm genuinely curious.

It does seem evident that you dislike and disrespect Russia (and maybe Russians) a great deal. Can you explain why?

I have the opposite view — and so, even, does Scott Ritter, who had been trained in the US Marines to hate the Russians — and so I'm always suspect of someone's stated views which just might have been heavily influenced by cultural norms, and/or government or media propaganda. And there's a LOT of that, all over Europe and the US right now.

(Yes, I've seen the many traffic accidents recorded on Russian dashcams, but that's because every car there has one as an insurance requirement. The crazy road incidents we see from American and European dashcams, though there are far fewer of them recorded, are just as worrying. )