WW3? Ukraine/US vs. Donbass/Russia

[Vicus]

More than half of world’s population supports Russia – Seymour Hersh 12 Jun, 2023

The US has lost so much credibility internationally over the conflict in Ukraine, the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist says

A majority of people globally are on Russia’s side in relation to its conflict with Ukraine, while US influence in the international arena is declining, veteran journalist Seymour Hersh has said.

“The percentage, particularly of the African and Central Asian and South Asian countries, that have changed from being pro-America to being pro-Russia is really quite dramatic,” he noted during an interview with George Galloway, which was published on YouTube on Sunday.

“Much more than half of the world’s population supports Russia in the war and not the US. This was never the way it was,” Hersh said.

Washington has “lost so much credibility around the world” amid the conflict in Ukraine, said the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, who returned to the spotlight in February when he published a bombshell report, accusing the US of sabotaging the Nord Stream pipelines. Washington rejected the report as “utterly false and complete fiction.”

According to Hersh, an example of waning US influence is the rapprochement between former arch-rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran, which began in March.

“It’s happened because… of Ukraine and dislike of the war” and was a “big blow” to the people in the Biden administration, who “hate” Iran, he said.

As a result of the mending of ties between Tehran and Riyadh, “we’re going to have a settlement in Yemen that we – in America – could never get. We’re getting pushed out,” the 86-year-old added.

Polls show that support for Washington’s involvement in Ukraine is declining in the US as people become increasingly worried about its economic cost, Hersh said.

“America spent something like $140 billion on this war at a time when 15 million Americans were taken off free healthcare by this administration. I mean what’s going on America this is just outrageous,” he added.

The journalist expressed belief that Ukraine’s long-awaited counteroffensive is “doomed to fail” as Kiev’s military units all have different training, weapons and commanders, and seem unable to work together efficiently.


https://www.rt.com/russia/577894-her...ukraine-biden/

[Vicus]

More than ten NATO states don’t support Ukraine’s bid – Kiev

The other 21 member states have already assured Ukraine of support, the deputy head of President Vladimir Zelensky’s office says

More than ten NATO member states out of 31 don’t want Ukraine to join the US-led military bloc, Igor Zhovkva, the deputy head of Vladimir Zelensky’s office, has stated.

Kiev already has 20 signed declarations of support for its NATO bid, Zhovkva wrote on Facebook on Saturday. This means that 11 member states have so far refused to back Kiev's application.

Zhovkva published his post hours after Zelensky and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau signed a document in Kiev that signaled Ottawa’s consent to Ukraine becoming a part of NATO.

"The joint declaration clearly fixes backing for Ukraine’s membership of NATO from the Canadian side as soon as conditions permit this. This is the strongest wording among all G7 countries that are NATO members," Zhovkva wrote.

A similar declaration has also recently been signed with the government of Romania, Zhovkva added.

According to the deputy head of Vladimir Zelensky’s office, those developments were "another stage of preparation for the successful NATO Summit in Vilnius in July" for Ukraine.

Earlier this week, US envoy to NATO Julianne Smith told Politico that "a proper invitation" into NATO for Ukraine is "unlikely" as long as Kiev remains in conflict with Moscow.

However, Smith pointed out that during the upcoming gathering in the Lithuanian capital, the bloc still wanted to send a message to Kiev that it was determined to keep helping it in the long term. There’s an "array of options" for NATO to do so, she added.

Russia, which sees NATO’s eastward expansion as a major security threat, had singled out Kiev’s push to join the US-led military alliance among the main reasons for launching its military operation in Ukraine more than a year ago.

https://www.rt.com/news/577859-nato-...anada-romania/

[Vicus]

Ukraine SACRIFICES THOUSANDS In Counteroffensive DISASTER

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=cl5DuQULu2A

[Ravenlocke]

https://twitter.com/ArthurM40330824/...42387926773761

[Ravenlocke]

Fighting stuck in gray zone. Neocon escalation, tactical nuke

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=GTgxoFj2Vmo

¤=[Post Update]=¤

https://twitter.com/vicktop55/status...27818608902172

[Ravenlocke]

WHAT COULD RUSSIA DEMAND TO END UKRAINE WAR - Larry Johnson fmr CIA

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

[Bill Ryan]

Posted by Ravenlocke (here)
Fighting stuck in gray zone. Neocon escalation, tactical nukes

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=GTgxoFj2Vmo

Bumping this. (You beat me to it. )

The very very interesting part of this for me was the final 10 minutes or so, starting in at 38:48.

For the first time, as best I recall, Alex and Alexander have a serious and extended discussion about the possible use of tactical nuclear weapons. This really could happen — maybe several escalation steps away, but it really could happen nonetheless. (And as I mentioned in an earlier post, the inevitable failure of Ukraine's current offensive is ONLY likely to hasten the escalation.)

Here's one important comment I'd like to offer, not referenced in the video (or in many other commentaries out there which touch on this). Some very forgivably believe that a 'tactical nuke' is just a fairly small thing, like an extra-powerful explosive shell that can maybe take out 20 tanks at once in an area like a whole large field, all incinerated instantly.

That's a mistaken assumption. Many 'tactical nukes' are as large as Hiroshima or Nagasaki, or larger. They may well be deployed on a battlefield (rather than launched intercontinentally at cities halfway round the world), but they're enormous, terrible things. There's nothing 'small' about them.

[Ravenlocke]

Text:

🇷🇺⚔️🇺🇦 A whole platoon of the Armed Forces of Ukraine surrendered in the Avdeevka sector. The platoon commander of the 110th Separate Mechanized Brigade got in touch with one of the Russian units. He wanted to save the personnel, since he had a lot of 300s [wounded], and his command refused to evacuate.

After negotiations they drove to the Russian side on a BMP.

DDGeopolitics

https://twitter.com/dana916/status/1668359878203658241

https://twitter.com/dana916/status/1668361535427600385

[Ravenlocke]

https://twitter.com/dana916/status/1668354877892837376

[Ravenlocke]

https://twitter.com/djuric_zlatko/st...48046243946533

[Bill Ryan]

Posted by Ravenlocke (here)
Text:

🇷🇺⚔️🇺🇦 A whole platoon of the Armed Forces of Ukraine surrendered in the Avdeevka sector. The platoon commander of the 110th Separate Mechanized Brigade got in touch with one of the Russian units. He wanted to save the personnel, since he had a lot of 300s [wounded], and his command refused to evacuate.

Good for him. (A tiny thing in the context of the ongoing battle, but I was moved to comment.)

Not all of the Ukrainian commanders are butchers — of course. There have to be some decent men there, grappling with terrible human problems. The Russians will take good care of them, and his men will learn a very great deal from the experience.

[Ravenlocke]

https://twitter.com/Sprinter99880/st...66611672121344

[Ravenlocke]

https://twitter.com/tristradamus/sta...28173434699776

https://twitter.com/WithyGrove/statu...29060286464010

https://twitter.com/Blackrussiantv/s...70469597114368

https://twitter.com/Blackrussiantv/s...65706914672640

[Vicus]

Posted by Ravenlocke (here)
https://twitter.com/Sprinter99880/st...66611672121344

This video show something "special"... after been hit , the solders(3) go out and you can see another one laying on
the ground, still moving...after quick check from his comrades they decided to run away...

All this is observed from the drone and just wait... what are the soldiers going to do ? take his comrade with them or not?
Only after their decision the tank is been hit again...who ever is in control don't want just kill the soldiers but the tank.

This act talk volumes about the different "moral" between the two opponents...

[Vicus]

Russian soldiers seize American Bradleys and German Leopard (VIDEO) 13 Jun, 2023

The captured NATO hardware was abandoned by Ukrainians in battle, the Defense Ministry has claimed

https://mf.b37mrtl.ru/files/2023.06/...3e022350ab.mp4




The Russian Defense Ministry has released footage which it said shows Russian troops in Zaporozhye Region inspecting NATO-supplied armor that they captured from its Ukrainian operators.

The video released on Tuesday appears to show an excited Russian soldier circling several damaged pieces of equipment, including a German-made Leopard 2 main battle tank and US-produced Bradley infantry fighting vehicles. He remarked that some of their engines were still running.

“This [explicit] hardware is not as scary as it seemed,” the man is heard saying.

The ministry, which shared the clip on social media, called the Western vehicles “our trophies” and argued that the condition in which they were found “indicates the rapid pace of the engagement and the abandonment of the battle-ready hardware by the Ukrainian armed forces.”

As Kiev was preparing for its counteroffensive against Russia, Western nations supplied it with dozens of armored vehicles, including main battle tanks. Ukrainian officials, including Defense Minister Aleksey Reznikov, touted the donated “panzerfist” as a gamechanger in the conflict.

The operation was finally launched last week and has so far failed to bring any dramatic changes on the frontline. Moscow says it has thwarted all Ukrainian attempts to break through its defensive lines.

Russian President Vladimir Putin called the losses of the Ukrainian army “impressive” and blamed the country’s government for taking actions that pushed the situation to the current “tragic” state.


https://www.rt.com/russia/577940-rus...opard-ukraine/

[Vicus]

Zelensky cancels traditional celebration of Nazi defeat in WWII

Ukraine’s president has signed a law moving the day marking defeat of the Nazis from May 9 to May 8, breaking with an established tradition

Kiev has broken with a longstanding tradition of celebrating victory over Nazism on May 9, a date that has been observed in most post-Soviet nations. On Monday, President Vladimir Zelensky signed a bill into law that moves the commemorative date from May 9 to May 8. The holiday itself was also renamed the “Day of Remembrance and Victory [over] Nazism in World War II of 1939–1945.”

The new law makes May 8 a public holiday instead of May 9, which is now to be considered a regular working day in Ukraine under the new legislation. Earlier, Zelensky also signed a decree making May 9 “Europe Day,” as it is in the EU. Although not a public holiday, the Day of Europe was previously marked in Ukraine on the third Saturday of May.

The bill was introduced to the Ukrainian parliament by Zelensky himself on May 8 and marked as urgent. The lawmakers then passed it later that same month.


The traditional Victory Day was once widely celebrated throughout Ukraine on May 9. Back in 2017, some 600,000 citizens attended commemorations across the country on that date, according to the then-interior ministry spokesman, Artem Shevchenko.

In the wake of the 2014 Maidan coup, such celebrations were increasingly marred by nationalist provocations and violence. The history of WWII also became an increasingly controversial issue in Ukraine as leaders of the nationalist paramilitary forces, including those who collaborated with the Nazis, were increasingly glorified by nationalist groups and authorities in Kiev.

Stepan Bandera (1909-1959), the head of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN), known for its radical anti-Semitic ideology, was officially declared a national hero in Ukraine in 2010. Ukrainian nationalists have regularly marked his birthday on January 1 with torchlit marches and massive demonstrations.

Bandera’s status has long been a contentious issue in relations between Ukraine and Poland, as well as with Israel, since the OUN’s paramilitary wing, the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), was responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of Poles and Jews in Ukraine during WWII.

In December 2022, a Ukrainian court ruled that emblems and symbols linked to the SS Galicia Division, a notorious Nazi-aligned unit, are “not Nazi” and are thus legal to use in Ukraine, despite a formal ban on Nazi imagery.

The flags and patches of the division have been repeatedly displayed by Ukrainian nationalists and servicemen alike, even making it into official pictures released by Kiev. The Galicia Division itself was known for committing war crimes against Polish civilians during WWII.

https://www.rt.com/russia/577921-zel...n-nazi-defeat/

[Vicus]

On the Ukraine counter-offensive, finally the bull charged Scott Ritter



Finally the bull charged, the horse leaders ran for the barrera, the picador hit too far back, and the bull got under the horse, lifted him, threw him onto his back.

Zurito watched. The monos, in their red shirts, running out to drag the picador clear. The picador, now on his feet, swearing and flopping his arms. Manuel and Hernandez standing ready with their capes. And the bull, the great, black bull, with a horse on his back, hooves dangling, the bridle caught in the horns. Black bull with a horse on his back, staggering short-legged, then arching his neck and lifting, thrusting, charging to slide the horse off, horse sliding down. Then the bull into a lunging charge at the cape Manuel spread for him.

Ernest Hemingway, The Short Stories

Finally the bull charged.

The long-awaited Ukrainian counter-offensive has finally begun. After months of handwringing and speculation, the western investment in Ukrainian military might has been put on display for the whole world to see — billions of dollars of advanced weaponry, drawn from NATO stocks, manned by Ukrainian soldiers who have been trained by NATO instructors, and whose actions have been shaped by NATO intelligence and directed by NATO planners. Let there be no doubt — this is a NATO offensive, a sad reflection on the reality that what was once called a simple proxy conflict has morphed into so much more — direct force-on-force combat between the collective west and Russia.

For Anne Applebaum, this offensive is an answer to her prayers. The Polish-American Pulitzer Prize-winning historian has for some time now been calling for such an action, a decisive blow by the collective west and Ukraine against a Russia she characterizes as autocratic and dangerous. The lessons of history have been shunted aside in favor of her feverish lust for Russian blood. Killing Russians, Applebaum believes, is the only way for the civilized west to show the Russian nation — autocrats and automatons alike — that the price for regional hegemony is too high for the Russian people and their government to bear.

In a new article she penned for The Atlantic, Applebaum — a staff writer for the journal — writes of things she has no knowledge of or experience in, namely military operations, both operational and psychological. Like the dilletante she is, Applebaum throws about buzz phrases as if by putting them down on paper, it somehow makes them real, and the schemes they describe possible.

continue: https://www.sott.net/article/481182-...e-bull-charged

[christian]

One May 30, 2023—just days before the destruction of the Nova Kakhovka dam in Ukraine—Russian authorities announced that they wouldn't investigate damages to hydroelectric plants caused by terrorism or military attacks until 2028.

It's point 10 on page 6 of this document: http://publication.pravo.gov.ru/docu...310067?index=6

In 1941, the Soviet Union destroyed another dam in Ukraine (Zaporizhzhia's dnipro dam) to cover the retreat of the Red Army from the Nazis.

Maybe these are just coincidences, but I find them remarkable. I saw many mentions of the 1941 incident in the media, but only few of the recent Russian decision not to investigate incidents. Ukrainska Pravda, Human Rights in Ukraine, and Euromaidan Press reported on it.

[Bill Ryan]

Posted by christian (here)
One May 30, 2023—just days before the destruction of the Nova Kakhovka dam in Ukraine—Russian authorities announced that they wouldn't investigate damages to hydroelectric plants caused by terrorism or military attacks until 2028.

It's point 10 on page 6 of this document: http://publication.pravo.gov.ru/docu...310067?index=6

In 1941, the Soviet Union destroyed another dam in Ukraine (Zaporizhzhia's dnipro dam) to cover the retreat of the Red Army from the Nazis.

Maybe these are just coincidences, but I find them remarkable. I saw many mentions of the 1941 incident in the media, but only few of the recent Russian decision not to investigate incidents. Ukrainska Pravda, Human Rights in Ukraine, and Euromaidan Press reported on it.

Looks like I lost my bet... you got there first.

[Bill Ryan]

Text:

Budanov is reported to be conducting urgent consultations with Zaluzhny, but both have been unable to reach Zelensky and Syrsky due to bad weather interfering with interdimensional communications.

This may or may not be a bad translation, but here we might have evidence that Zelensky is living in a parallel universe.


https://t.me/Slavyangrad/50625