WW3? Ukraine/US vs. Donbass/Russia

[Reinhard]

Posted by Rizotto (here)
Let me know if Russian media is ever proven wrong (so far I haven't seen that). Because the following Sputnik article on UK & Ukraine puppets taking the USA hegemony war against Russia to the rest of the world seems far-fetched, except that most everything that the USA military industrial complex has done during the past few decades is over the top criminal hubris spread all over the world.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230816/we...112645300.html

August 16, 2023

West's Desire to Control Russia-Friendly Africa Explains MI6 Plot to Send Ukrainian Mercs

A military-diplomatic source revealed to Sputnik and other Russian media Wednesday that Britain’s foreign intelligence service, the MI6, has prepared a 100-militant-strong “sabotage hit squad” to send to Africa on missions against Russia-friendly governments. Sputnik reached out to a Russian special forces vet to dissect the details of these plans.

“According to information confirmed by several sources…MI6 has formed and prepared for deployment on the southern continent a sabotage and assassination squad, comprising of members of Ukrainian nationalist and neo-Nazi formations, in an attempt to prevent cooperation between African countries and Russia,” an informed source told Sputnik early Wednesday morning.

According to the source’s information, the MI6 and the British Army’s elite Special Air Service special forces unit helped handpick the 100-man squad from among fighters with “significant combat experience” against Russia. Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) and the Main Directorate of Intelligence of Ukraine’s Defense Ministry (GUR) were directed to assist them, with the would-be mercenaries’ training conducted in Greece and Poland.

The squad is reportedly led by Lieutenant Colonel Vitaliy Prashchuk, a veteran GUR officer with reported experience in “successful liquidations,” including combat experience in Donbass going back to 2014, and assisting covert MI6 missions in Zimbabwe.

Along with operations to sabotage African countries’ infrastructure (a favorite tactic of Western special operations on the continent during the Cold War), the secretive Ukrainian unit’s job will reportedly include attempts to assassinate African leaders seeking closer ties with Moscow.

A chartered civilian ship sailing from the southern Ukrainian port city of Izmail is thought to have taken the squad on route to Sudan, and is expected to arrive in the Sudanese Nile-adjacent city of Omdurman sometime “during the second half of August.”

Also:
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230816/uk...112628632.html
UK's MI6 Prepared Ukrainian Sabotage Unit to Be Sent to Africa - Source

Mods: maybe this hot topic (Africa) needs it's own thread??.....with Rizotto's post as an ideal starter?..........

[Bill Ryan]

Forbes published this piece the day before yesterday. I'll just copy the opening few paragraphs.

I wonder how long we'll have to wait to see new Russian videos of burning Challenger 2 tanks. This surely has to be the beginning of the end.

• https://forbes.com/sites/davidaxe/20...unteroffensive

Ukraine’s Powerful 82nd Brigade, Once Held In Reserve, Has Finally Joined The Counteroffensive

The Ukrainian air assault forces finally have deployed their most powerful unit. The 2,000-person 82nd Air Assault Brigade, which is stacked with Marder and Stryker fighting vehicles and Challenger 2 tanks, rolled into action around Robotyne, in southern Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia Oblast, apparently in the last few days.

The deployment is good and bad news for Kyiv’s long-anticipated counteroffensive, which kicked off with a series of coordinated assaults across southern and eastern Ukraine starting on June 4.

The 82nd Brigade and its sister air-assault unit, the 46th Brigade, were some of the last major units that the Ukrainian general staff was holding in reserve. In finally sending those formations into battle, the Ukrainians could significantly boost their firepower along one of the main axes of the counteroffensive—the one stretching 50 miles from Russian-occupied Robotyne to occupied Melitopol, just north of the Black Sea coast.

But no brigade can fight forever. When the 46th and 82nd Brigades pull back for rest, reset and repairs, there might not be any equally powerful fresh brigades to fill in for them. The counteroffensive could lose momentum.

[Vicus]

Exhibition of captured Western weaponry opens near Moscow (VIDEO) 16 Aug, 2023



Hundreds of pieces of heavy military equipment seized by Russian troops during the campaign against Ukraine have been put on display as part of a massive open-air exhibition just outside of Moscow. Visitors are able to view both Ukrainian-made weapons and those provided to Kiev by the West.

Videos published in Russian media showed dozens of trophy weapons lined up at the ‘Patriot Park’ venue located west of the Russian capital. The exhibition is part of the international military and technical forum ‘Army-2023’.

The Russian Defense Ministry, which organized the event, said the exhibition includes everything from American M-113 armored personnel carriers and Swedish CV90-40’s to French wheeled AMX-10RCR tanks and Australian Bushmaster armored vehicles.

According to the ministry, the event features a fair amount of British-made equipment such as Husky and Mastiff armored vehicles. Accompanying descriptions also relate how and where each weapon was captured by Russian troops.

Over 870 types of armaments seized by Russian forces were provided for the exhibition. Most examples are either Soviet-made or produced in Ukraine. The event features not only ground equipment, but also several patrol boats captured in the Black Sea port city of Mariupol.

The Russian Defense Ministry regularly reports on the destruction of Ukrainian systems in the ongoing conflict. According to the ministry, Kiev’s military has lost some 5,000 pieces of heavy equipment in largely unsuccessful attempts to break through Russian defenses since the start of their counteroffensive in early June.

Russia’s armed forces also regularly publish photos and videos of captured Ukrainian vehicles, including Western-made examples. One such clip featured a German-made Leopard tank.

Earlier this week, Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said that there is “nothing unique or invulnerable to Russian weapons,” including Western-made arms. Some Soviet-era weapons have even proven to be superior in combat to their modern Western equivalents, he added.


https://www.rt.com/russia/581375-cap...bition-moscow/

[Vicus]

Ukraine’s ‘high hopes’ for F-16s dashed 17 Aug, 2023

Top US military officials have said the aircraft transfer could take years to complete
Ukraine should not expect to receive American F-16 fighter jets until sometime in 2024, a Ukrainian Air Force spokesman has said, noting that Kiev’s “high hopes” for the system were unlikely to be met anytime soon.

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Air Force Command representative Yury Ignat suggested the timeline for the arms transfer was still to be decided, but said Kiev would have to make do through the end of the year.

“Unfortunately, it is already clear that we will not be able to protect Ukraine with F-16s throughout the fall and this winter,” he said. “There were high hopes for these aircraft, that these could really become part of the air defense.”

Officials in Kiev have repeatedly requested the F-16 by name, and while some NATO states have agreed to instruct Ukrainian airmen on the system, it remains unclear when the first transfer could occur. To date, no country has made any concrete proposal, and US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley said last month that it could take years to provide Ukraine with a meaningful capability.

“Just do a quick math drill here. Ten F-16s are $2 billion,” Milley told reporters at the time, attempting to explain the delay. “The Russians have hundreds of fourth- and fifth-generation airframes, so if they’re going to try to match the Russians one for one – or even, you know, two-to-one – you’re talking about a large number of aircraft.”

According to a recent report in the Washington Post, the initial batch of Ukrainian pilots trained on the F-16 will not be ready until after the summer of 2024, with only six airmen set to complete the first round of instruction. Officials cited by the outlet said each pilot will have to take four months in English courses before they can even begin flight training.

Moscow has repeatedly warned against foreign arms shipments to Kiev, arguing the military aid would only extend the conflict and do little to deter its objectives. Earlier this year, the Kremlin said Western powers would run “colossal risks” if they decided to supply the F-16, while Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Russia would consider the aircraft a nuclear threat due to its ability to carry atomic weapons.

“We will regard the very fact that the Ukrainian armed forces have such systems as a threat from the West in the nuclear sphere,” the diplomat said.

https://www.rt.com/news/581385-ukraine-f16-next-year/

[Vicus]

Starving Ukrainian Soldiers Swim Across Dnepr River to Surrender to Russians 4 hours ago video

Ukrainian soldiers crossed the Dnepr River on a boat to defect to the Russian Armed Forces. One of the defectors from Kiev's army told Sputnik that together with two of his fellow troops, they decided to surrender to the Russian military after three days on the front lines due to neglect by their commanders, lack of combat training and hunger.

The defector said that what drove him to this decision was the brazen negligence of his commanders, who abandoned his unit on the front without providing any weapons and food.
According to him, he was trained for only five days at a "training facility" in the Zhitomir Region.

"I don't get it, is it possible to learn something in such a short period of time?" he wondered. After that, the soldier was sent to the 123rd brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. On the second day after his arrival in the Kherson region, where the brigade is stationed, he found himself stationed on the right bank of the Dnepr.

"There was constant artillery and mortar fire from the left bank, we couldn't even carry out the tasks assigned to us by our commander... I only saw him on the first day. He stayed in the rear all the time and never came to us. On the third day, hunger set in. They said the rations couldn't be delivered because of the fuel shortage. They said we had to buy it with our own money, but our pockets were empty," the defector complained.
The fighter refused to risk his life any further under such conditions without being properly trained and prepared.

"So, I decided to surrender at the first opportunity," he added.

"On the banks of the Dnepr, I spotted a boat during the day. At night, we crossed the river with two of my comrades who were on board with the plan. We found a white piece of cloth, tied it to a stick and set off. We had three rifles and a grenade launcher. It was really nerve-wracking because our guys could have started shooting at us at any moment," the former Ukrainian military officer said.

The three defectors were detained by the Russian military on August 8 in the area between the settlements of Velikaya Lepetykha and Zavodovka on the left bank of the Dnepr. They were carrying three AK-74 assault rifles, 360 rounds of 5.45 millimeter ammunition, a portable anti-tank grenade launcher and three rounds of ammunition.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230817/st...112665590.html

[Vicus]

Banned Terrorist Group Azov Resurfaces in Active Combat in Ukraine 6 hours ago

Fighters from the Azov Battalion [banned in Russia] are once again actively engaged in combat operations against Russian forces, Ukrainian sources reported.

Officials of the National Guard of Ukraine have pointed out that the nationalist unit is currently carrying out missions in the vicinity of the Serebrian Forestry.
Earlier, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov noted that regarding the return of the Azov leaders, there had been a violation of the agreements between Moscow and Ankara, and that Russia would be addressing the matter with the Turkish authorities, as they had already initiated discussions on it.
The presidential spokesman highlighted that Moscow was anticipating further information to clarify the matter and would consider it when forming future agreements.
Simultaneously, he stressed that the situation had no connection whatsoever with the creation of a gas hub in Turkiye.


NATO Instructors Trained Neo-Nazi Azov Battalion Soldiers in 2021
6 August, 10:31 GMT

At the end of April last year, Russian forces trapped over 2,000 Ukrainian soldiers and fighters of the Azov Battalion* in the Azovstal factory in Mariupol. In mid-May, they began to surrender, and on May 20, the Russian Defense Ministry announced the complete liberation of the city.
In September, Denis Pushilin, the head of the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), spoke about an exchange that freed 56 people from Ukrainian captivity. At the time, 215 people, including the leaders of Azov, were handed over to Kiev. Until recently, these Azov members were in Turkiye, reportedly due to Russia's demands.
In July, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky paid a visit to Turkiye, where he held talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Upon his return to Kiev, he wrote on his Telegram channel that Azov fighters Denis Prokopenko, Sviatoslav Palamar, Serhiy Volynskyi, Oleh Khomenko, and Denis Shlega were going back with him.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov then stated that Ankara's decision to extradite them to Ukraine violated agreements with Russia and was directly related to the failure of the Ukrainian Armed Forces' counteroffensive.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230817/ba...112668924.html

[Vicus]

Russia Makes Advances on the Donetsk and Kharkov Fronts


Published 17 August 2023
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian casualties in Donetsk amounted to 310 soldiers, in addition to losing a tank, three armored vehicles, nine cars and a D-20 howitzer.
On Thursday, the Russian Defense spokesman Igor Konashenkov reported that the Russian army made significant advances on the Donetsk and Kharkiv fronts.

"On the Donetsk front, units of the South military group...repelled four attacks by the Ukrainian army in the vicinity of the towns of Zaliznyanske, Staromikhailivka and Krasnohirivka," Konashenkov said.

"The assault groups carried out successful offensive actions and improved their positions on the front line," he added to issue the daily war report.

On the Kupiansk front, in the eastern Kharkov region, the units of the Western group improved their front line positions with support from aviation and artillery.

In Kupiansk, where Russian forces repelled six attacks by the Ukrainian Army, enemy casualties amounted to 125 soldiers, in addition to two armored vehicles, two SUVs, a Tiulpan self-propelled mortar, an M777 howitzer and an M109 Paladin self-propelled artillery piece.

Meanwhile, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Secretary Jens Stoltenberg on Thursday reiterated that the Alliance's position on the territorial integrity of Ukraine has not changed and assured that the path to peace is military support.


https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/...0817-0006.html

[Vicus]

NATO official says Ukraine could give up demands for Russian territory
RT
Wed, 16 Aug




The idea of trading claims to land for peace is already being discussed within the bloc, Stian Jenssen told Norwegian media

Kiev could end up relinquishing its claims on Russian territory in exchange for NATO membership, Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg's chief of staff, Stian Jenssen suggested at a debate on Tuesday. In his own statements on the issue, Stoltenberg has insisted that Kiev will set its own terms for "victory."

"I think that a solution could be for Ukraine to give up territory, and get NATO membership in return," Jenssen said at the debate, according to Norway's VG newspaper. This discussion is already underway within NATO, he said, suggesting that it could be a "possible solution" to the conflict.

No NATO leaders have publicly endorsed the idea of Kiev giving up its claims to the territories of Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson, or Zaporozhye, which were incorporated into the Russian Federation following referendums last September. Likewise, while Western officials have cast doubt on Ukraine's ability to seize Crimea - an historical Russian territory which rejoined the Russian Federation in 2014, none have urged Kiev to abandon its claim to the peninsula.

Such an idea has apparently been floated behind the scenes, however. Swiss outlet Neue Zürcher Zeitung claimed in February, citing sources, that CIA Director William Burns had offered Russia a "land for peace" deal in which Moscow would keep "20% of Ukrainian territory." The White House, the CIA, and the Kremlin all denied that such a proposal had been made.

Whether such a deal would be accepted by Kiev or Moscow remains doubtful. Russian President Vladimir Putin stated last year that securing the military neutrality of Ukraine was a key factor behind his decision to send troops into the country, and that having a NATO-aligned Ukraine on Russia's borders would present an unacceptable security risk.

Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council chief Aleksey Danilov stated on Tuesday that Kiev will never negotiate with Putin's government, that none of Ukraine's Western backers are pushing for peace, and that "Russia must be destroyed like a modern-day Carthage."

Achieving this goal is proving extremely difficult for Kiev. Two months into its long-anticipated counteroffensive against Russian forces, the Ukrainian military has lost more than 43,000 men and nearly 5,000 pieces of heavy equipment, according to the latest figures from the Russian Defense Ministry.

Comment: Now there's an under statement, considering the stats that follow.

Stoltenberg insists that NATO will "ensure that Ukraine gets the weapons it needs to be able to retake territory, liberate the lands and win this war and prevail as a sovereign, independent nation."

While he has delivered variations on this statement throughout the conflict, NATO has been more evasive on when Ukraine can join the military bloc. After a summit in Lithuania last month at which Kiev was denied an offer of membership, NATO's 31 members put out a joint statement explaining that Ukraine can join only "when allies agree and conditions are met."

Comment: So much for a 'free and sovereign' Ukraine. Here is NATO more or less negotiating by press release over the head of Ukraine, just as the U.S. negotiated with North Vietnam, effectively cutting out South Vietnam from the process. The White House and the EU are getting desperate to pull themselves out of the Ukrainian morass, and the carrot of NATO membership for whatever is left of Ukraine (presuming anything will be) may not be enough to get the Ukraine government to play along.


https://www.sott.net/article/483574-...sian-territory

[Bill Ryan]

Posted by Vicus (here)
Starving Ukrainian Soldiers Swim Across Dnepr River to Surrender to Russians 4 hours ago video

Ukrainian soldiers crossed the Dnepr River on a boat to defect to the Russian Armed Forces. One of the defectors from Kiev's army told Sputnik that together with two of his fellow troops, they decided to surrender to the Russian military after three days on the front lines due to neglect by their commanders, lack of combat training and hunger.

The defector said that what drove him to this decision was the brazen negligence of his commanders, who abandoned his unit on the front without providing any weapons and food.
According to him, he was trained for only five days at a "training facility" in the Zhitomir Region.

"I don't get it, is it possible to learn something in such a short period of time?" he wondered. After that, the soldier was sent to the 123rd brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. On the second day after his arrival in the Kherson region, where the brigade is stationed, he found himself stationed on the right bank of the Dnepr.

"There was constant artillery and mortar fire from the left bank, we couldn't even carry out the tasks assigned to us by our commander... I only saw him on the first day. He stayed in the rear all the time and never came to us. On the third day, hunger set in. They said the rations couldn't be delivered because of the fuel shortage. They said we had to buy it with our own money, but our pockets were empty," the defector complained.
The fighter refused to risk his life any further under such conditions without being properly trained and prepared.

"So, I decided to surrender at the first opportunity," he added.

"On the banks of the Dnepr, I spotted a boat during the day. At night, we crossed the river with two of my comrades who were on board with the plan. We found a white piece of cloth, tied it to a stick and set off. We had three rifles and a grenade launcher. It was really nerve-wracking because our guys could have started shooting at us at any moment," the former Ukrainian military officer said.

The three defectors were detained by the Russian military on August 8 in the area between the settlements of Velikaya Lepetykha and Zavodovka on the left bank of the Dnepr. They were carrying three AK-74 assault rifles, 360 rounds of 5.45 millimeter ammunition, a portable anti-tank grenade launcher and three rounds of ammunition.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230817/st...112665590.html

Here's the video of their surrender, which is pretty unusual. Despite the night vision, it's very clear to see what's happening.

https://t.me/Slavyangrad/58599

[Rizotto]

"RFK Jr tells Tucker Carlson how the Ukraine-Russia war is being funded with American taxpayer money in order to enrich corporate donors that keep members of congress such as Mitch McConnell in office so they can make policies like cutting food stamps and medicare in order to give more money to Ukraine. It's a big scheme!"

What JUST Leaked Out of Congress Is HORRIFYING! - by Steven Gardner, August 17, 2023

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=ZaCnK_nFLg8

[Kryztian]

Zelensky's horrifying treatment of peace activists.

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=O0i9b3DW9lc

[Ravenlocke]

https://twitter.com/Judgenap/status/1692236514103546075

[Ravenlocke]

Text:
🇺🇸 🇺🇦 The USA told why Ukraine is not given the latest Abrams -Judging Freedom

❗️ The United States prefers to supply Ukraine with obsolete equipment, often from the end of the last century.

Military expert Matthew Ho believes that Washington fears that the Russians, having captured new models of American tanks, could reverse-engineer secret military technologies.

He pointed out that this has already happened with HIMARS missiles: the Russians have learned to jam the GPS navigation of these American missiles .

“We also reasonably believe that any information that the Russians have, they are going to pass on to the Chinese… We don’t want China to know anything about our weapons as a result of them being lost by the Ukrainians and captured by the Russians,” Ho added.

OstashkoNews

https://twitter.com/dana916/status/1692334036834738192

Ukraine Russia War - Could it Be Nearing the End? w/Matthew Hoh

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=NZeFicMSu00

[Vicus]

The Russians Won A Fierce Tank Battle In The South. Military Summary 2023.08.17

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

[Vicus]

Russian Foreign Ministry Appeals to Ukrainian Troops: Resist Kiev Regime or Surrender
2 hours ago


Maria Zakharova, the official spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, has advised soldiers of the Ukrainian Armed Forces to either turn their weapons against the Kiev regime or surrender. The diplomat's comment was published on the ministry's official website.
"We strongly recommend Ukrainian servicemen who are convinced of the criminal nature of the bandit junta that has seized their country to either turn their weapons against it or surrender to our forces," the official noted.
Zakharova also emphasized that in such cases, the humane and dignified treatment of Ukrainian military personnel will be ensured.

She also stressed that the criminal Kiev regime continues to shell Russian cities and villages with NATO weapons, including with banned cluster munitions. These actions result in civilian casualties, including children.
In early July, the US government announced it would send hundreds of thousands of cluster bombs to Ukraine to aid its struggling counteroffensive. The munitions, fired from howitzers, are intended to bolster Ukrainian forces. The move came after significant losses, including more than 43,000 Ukrainian soldiers and more than 4,900 military vehicles.

The US pre-positioned these weapons prior to the announcement, and their use began shortly thereafter. These cluster bombs, similar to depleted uranium shells in Ukraine's tanks, pose the risk of widespread unexploded bomblets, leaving areas dangerous for years. The US and its allies have provided nearly $100 billion in support since February 2022 as Ukrainian forces face Russian superiority, raising concerns about waning Western interest in the ongoing conflict.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230818/ru...112710792.html

[Ravenlocke]

Text:
🇷🇺🇺🇦The blow in the Chernihiv region was delivered on the building of the Drama Theater, where at that moment, with the support of the Chernihiv Regional Military Administration, a presentation of Ukrainian UAV manufacturers, representatives of flight schools and the military took place.

Interestingly, the presentation was promised to be held in a safe place, the exact address of which was reported only 4 hours before the event.

intelslavaz

https://twitter.com/dana916/status/1692941544393740401

Text:
"At 17.00 Kiev time. More than 100 people were injured as a result of a rocket attack on an "exhibition" in Chernihiv with a modified Iskander K missile. More than 60 people died.
The NATO air ambulance has been working around the clock, carrying heavy ones to the countries of the alliance.
Destroyed several key specialists - NATO cryptographers from the Baltics - 11 senior NATO officers are missing"
(IL_RUSSO) - unconfirmed

https://twitter.com/GeromanAT/status...37312752042071

[Ravenlocke]

https://twitter.com/miladvisor/statu...62394475688332

[Ravenlocke]

https://twitter.com/mazzenilsson/sta...94208128860300

[Ravenlocke]

https://twitter.com/ArthurM40330824/...67240922284353

https://twitter.com/ArthurM40330824/...78195685175454

https://twitter.com/djuric_zlatko/st...55262083076136

[Ravenlocke]

Tucker Carlson meets with the president of Serbia at the Serbian embassy in Budapest Hungary

https://twitter.com/TuckerCarlson/st...74436215152986