WW3? Ukraine/US vs. Donbass/Russia

[Vicus]

Medvedev: We Would Have Hit 'Genital Musician' Zelensky if We Wanted to Mar 7, 2024

Ukrainian president became famous for playing the piano with no hands.



Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy chairman of Russia’s national security council, addressed the recent missile strike that landed near Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in Odesa and said there was no planned attack on the motorcade.

“If a target had been set, they would have hit it,” he said, according to TASS.

Medvedev also mocked Zelensky and referenced the time the Ukrainian Churchill” played the piano with his penis.

He called Zelensky a “cocaine shadow of his master, a blind anti–Russian weapon.” He also called Zelensky a “genital musician,” referencing his experience playing the piano with no hands.

https://trendsinthenews.substack.com...ve-hit-genital

[Vicus]

US embassy warns of ‘imminent’ attack in Moscow 7 Mar, 2024

Diplomats have urged American citizens to avoid large gatherings over the next 48 hours

The US Embassy in Moscow has warned that “extremists” are plotting attacks in the Russian capital that could happen within the next few days.

“The embassy is monitoring reports that extremists have imminent plans to target large gatherings in Moscow, to include concerts, and US citizens should be advised to avoid large gatherings over the next 48 hours,” the diplomatic mission said in a statement on its website in the early hours of Friday local time.

It urged Americans to stay vigilant and “monitor local media for updates.” The embassy did not provide any additional details about the alert.

The Russian authorities have not commented on the notice yet.

The alert comes at a time of heightened tensions between Moscow and Washington. On Thursday, the Russian Foreign Ministry summoned American Ambassador Lynne Tracy, demanding that the embassy cut all ties with three US-funded NGOs whose work was recently banned in Russia.

The Foreign Ministry further threatened to expel “any US Embassy employees” who will attempt “to interfere in the domestic affairs of the Russian Federation, including subversive campaigns and misinformation” in the context of the conflict in Ukraine and the upcoming presidential election in Russia.

https://swentr.site/russia/593951-us...-moscow-alert/

[Vicus]

Taurus Missiles to Not Be Decisive for Ukraine Crisis, Germany to Not Cross Line - Official 6 hours ago



BERLIN (Sputnik) - Long-range Taurus missiles will not be decisive for the conflict in Ukraine and will only help in certain areas, but Germany does not intend to cross this line, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said on Friday.

After a conversation between four high-ranking German military officers discussing possible supply of long-range Taurus missiles to Kiev was leaked last week, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz once again ruled out supplying the missiles to Ukraine since it could require the presence of German troops on the ground to help deploy them.

"Nobody wants to send troops into Ukraine. Of course, such discussions continue. But they should stop. Now let's move on to another aspect —long-range missiles. We have always emphasized that such long-range missiles will not solve this [crisis]," Pistorius said at a joint press conference with Finnish Defense Minister Antti Hakkanen.

Such missiles "could help at one point or another" at the front, but Germany does not intend to "cross the decisive line" and is not ready to supply Taurus missiles, the minister added.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240308/ta...collaboration2

[Vicus]

Why Ukrainian Fortifications Are Not as Good as Russian Ones



Having liberated the city of Avdeyevka in the Donetsk People’s Republic last month, Russian forces continue advancing further to the west, driving away the Kiev regime forces who try to halt their march.

The Ukrainian forces’ inability to stabilize the front line in the wake of Avdeyevka’s liberation has already been attributed by some Western media outlets to the poor quality of fortifications the Kiev regime forces hastily constructed in the field.
The New York Times, for example, described these fortifications as “sparse, rudimentary trench lines” that “lack many of the additional fortifications that could help slow Russian tanks and help defend major roads and important terrain.”
The newspaper also pointed out that the Ukrainian fortifications are a far cry from the defensive lines that helped the Russian troops defeat the overhyped Ukrainian counteroffensive last year.
While the Ukrainian government has allocated some $34 million for the construction of fortifications in areas of the Zaporozhye region currently controlled by Kiev regime forces, it remains unclear how effective this effort is going to be, said military analyst and retired colonel of the Russian Armed Forces Anatoliy Matviychuk.

With Ukraine’s military-industrial complex in tatters, Kiev simply lacks the capability to produce components needed for the construction of fortifications, Matviychuk explained.

“So they dig into the ground, try to create some obstacle zones that are simply not effective and do not match the criteria of modern warfare,” he said. “They fail in both the quality and the quantity of such fortifications that they build along their defensive lines.”

Today, Ukraine lacks the ability to create multi-layered defensive positions akin to those built by Russia, featuring anti-personnel and anti-tank minefields and dragon’s teeth fortifications, and the shipments of materials from the West are not enough to help Kiev bridge that gap.

“We [Russia] could lay between 500 to 1,000 mines per one kilometer of front line, we established lines of dragon’s teeth with gaps no more than one-and-a-half meter wide, which would not allow modern main battle tanks to pass without special engineering assistance,” Matviychuk added. “Today, Ukraine cannot do that.”

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240307/wh...collaboration2

[Ravenlocke]

Text:
🇷🇺588th Night Light Bomber Women's Aviation Regiment

During the Second World War, the Soviet Union became one of the few states in the world that not only recruited women into the armed forces, but also formed them into full-fledged combat units. Among them was the 588th Night Aviation Regiment.

From 1941 to 1945, pilots of the air regiment made 23,672 missions, destroying Wehrmacht combat positions and equipment in the Caucasus, Kuban, Crimea, Belarus, Poland and Germany. For exclusively night flights and the practice of turning off engines during a dive, the Germans nicknamed Soviet pilots “night witches.”

🏅 For their bravery the women's 588th night air regiment was awarded the Order of the Red Banner and the Order of Suvorov, III degree, and since 1943 the air wing has been awarded the name "Guards".

DPR MFA

https://x.com/dana916/status/1766229614521713082

[Ravenlocke]

Text:

A full-size van with 34 men of conscription age who hoped to avoid mobilization was stopped near the Romanian border in Ukraine, the Ukrainian newspaper “Strana” reported on its Telegram channel, citing a local source.

According to media reports, the draft dodgers paid 10,000 euros each for a chance to cross into the neighboring country illegally to avoid fighting for the Kiev regime.

Ukrainian telegram channels later posted a video of the brutal detention where the men are forced to lie down on top of each other after being pulled out of the car and beaten.

https://x.com/SputnikInt/status/1766218873328529556

https://x.com/MaimunkaNews/status/1766090576695300166

[Ravenlocke]

Text:
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky rejected Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's idea to hold a peace summit with Russia's participation.

"We don't see Russian representatives at such a summit," Zelensky said at a joint conference with the Turkish leader in Istanbul, reiterating his old thesis that a peace plan should be prepared by other countries without Moscow's participation - an idea already repeatedly rejected by Russia.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Ankara is ready to host a peace summit on Ukraine with Russia's participation. He recalled that the Black Sea Initiative prevented a global food crisis.

According to the Kremlin, the conflict in Ukraine can move to a peaceful course if the de facto situation and new realities are taken into account, and all of Moscow's demands are well known.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said later that if Ukraine wants a negotiation process, performative gestures are not the way. It is necessary to cancel the decree prohibiting negotiations with Russia. According to the president, Russia has never been against the settlement of the conflict in Ukraine by peaceful means, but insists on the observance of Russian security guarantees.

https://x.com/SputnikInt/status/1766273756039725325

[Ravenlocke]

https://x.com/MatreshkaRF/status/1766125778968690772

[Ravenlocke]

Text:

Scott Ritter on Biden’s State of the Union address: ‘America's running away from Ukraine’

“Instead of a State of the Union address, the US Congress and indeed the American people were treated to a rousing campaign speech which POTUS was using to kick off the 2024 presidential election campaign,” former US Marine Corps intelligence officer and independent military analyst Scott Ritter tells Sputnik.

Citing Joe Biden as saying during the address that America “will not walk away from Ukraine”, Ritter notes that “in many ways, the 46th US president is right.”

“Biden didn't walk away from Ukraine. He ran away from there, straight into issues about domestic politics because it's a campaign address, not a State of the Union speech,” the ex-US Marine Corps intelligence officer insists.

“America's running away from Ukraine. And that's the reality,” Ritter said, adding that “people need to understand” that the next months will see Biden “almost singularly focused on domestic American policy, trying to differentiate himself from [Donald Trump].”

https://x.com/SputnikInt/status/1766084538730479752

[Ravenlocke]

https://x.com/RT_com/status/1766229912761905249

https://www.rt.com/news/593959-why-v...a-nuland-quit/

Sergey Strokan: Is this the real reason why Victoria Nuland quit?
He
Biden and Blinken chose a China hater over their chief Russophobe. This may have pushed her over the edge

The forthcoming resignation of US Deputy Secretary of State Victoria Nuland has given rise to various theories as to the reason for her unexpected departure from the State Department. Moscow believes it’s due to the failure of the “anti-Russian course” and of the overall American “Ukrainian project.” As well as that, eyes in Washington are turning to the nomination of Kurt Campbell, currently responsible for Indo-Pacific policy, to the role of second-ranking official in the State Department. The media and analysts interpret this as evidence that Asia is becoming Washington’s top priority against the backdrop of declining US interest in Ukraine.

Nuland’s announcement came as a surprise to many. The veteran US diplomat, who played an active part in the 2014 Maidan events in Ukraine, is remembered not only for handing out cookies in Kiev, but also for her involvement in major international crises and conflicts in recent decades.

Her record of more than 35 years at the US State Department under various administrations looks more impressive than the CV of the current secretary of state, Mr Blinken. On Tuesday, Blinken himself rushed to pay tribute to Nuland’s achievements and solemnly escorted her out of the State Department and straight into the history and diplomacy books. Recalling that she had served under six presidents and ten secretaries of state, Blinken argued that in her last post in the Joe Biden administration she had embodied the desire to restore “America’s global leadership.”

The head of the State Department paid special attention to the role played by Nuland in the formation of the anti-Russia coalition after the start of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, calling her efforts indispensable, and saying they will be studied by future diplomats and students.

The main task that Nuland has been working on in recent years, he said, was the “strategic defeat” of Russia and helping Ukraine “to stand on its own feet democratically, economically and militarily.” But despite all her experience and influence, it seems Blinken didn’t try to dissuade her from resigning.

The news triggered an avalanche of reactions from leading Russian politicians, diplomats, experts and the media.

According to Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, Nuland was forced to resign because of the failure of Biden’s course on Russia.

“This is a failure of the policy associated with Nuland, because she was the central figure who pursued a Russophobic policy towards our country, the whole story was tied to Nuland,” Zakharova said. According to her, the outgoing US deputy secretary of state was “not just a high-ranking representative of the State Department, but a key figure in US interagency cooperation.”

“She was a coordinator of anti-Russian sentiment and anti-Russian policy by the United States, especially in the context of Ukraine. I can’t say that she was an ideologue. There are people out there who hate us more, but she really was a coordinator, she is associated with that policy. And that is how they said goodbye to her,” the Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said.

Meanwhile, a theory has emerged in Washington that Nuland’s resignation was the result of a power struggle in which she lost the race for the post of first deputy foreign policy chief.

Some pundits see a battle of narratives, with behind-the-scenes jockeying of personalities. All part of a dispute over the long-term shape of US foreign policy and its priorities.

It should be recalled that after Wendy Sherman resigned last summer as US deputy secretary of state, her duties were carried out for six months by Nuland. At the end of last year, however, the White House made the unexpected decision to nominate Campbell, another veteran of American diplomacy, for the second post in the diplomatic service. Campbell, who does not have as big a name in the diplomatic world as Nuland, has made his career not in the Euro-Atlantic but in the Indo-Pacific region.

“Ms. Nuland was considered the natural candidate to replace Ms. Sherman on a permanent basis. But Mr Blinken nominated Kurt Campbell, the former National Security Council representative for Asia,” the New York Times commented on the reshuffle. James Carden, a former US State Department official, told RIA Novosti: “I was actually surprised that she lasted as long as she did. I realised her time was up when Kurt Campbell got the second-ranked job at the department.” In a Senate vote on 6 February, his nomination received broad bipartisan support: 92 senators voted in favour, with five voting against.

“President Biden’s choice of Kurt Campbell signals a desire to continue the efforts begun by his predecessors decades ago to shift the focus of US foreign policy to China as the major challenge facing America in the future,” AP commented on the reshuffle.

“Kurt Campbell played a key role in developing President Barack Obama’s ‘pivot to Asia’ into President Biden’s Indo-Pacific strategy,” Yuri Tavrovsky, chairman of the expert council of the Russian-Chinese Friendship, Peace and Development Committee, told Kommersant.

“In practical terms, he was particularly active in the creation of the anti-Chinese military bloc AUKUS (Australia, the UK and the US) and in strengthening the military component of the QUAD group (Quadrilateral Security Dialogue - Australia, India, the US and Japan,” Tavrovsky said. “The appointment of Campbell to the second-highest post in the State Department demonstrates the White House’s long-term course of containing China, despite words and gestures that look like a desire for reconciliation.”

Thus, according to Mr Tavrovsky, “the second place in the State Department went not to the greatest hater of Russia, but to the greatest hater of China.”

[Ravenlocke]

https://x.com/ArthurM40330824/status...18481059668167

[shaberon]

Posted by Bruce G Charlton (here)
It is difficult to know what really are the aims of the neo-con/ Kagan cult inside their minds. I'm sure that weakening Russia is one of these aims, and that plan has failed.

It's not terribly complicated.

As you know, once, the United States severed its relationship to Britain, in a way that was mostly due to Parliament.

Around that time, within Britain, was a marriage of scriptural Israelism with Imperialism--result, mindless abhorrence of Russia. That could have vanished with the marriage of the future queen to the man she really liked, but, of course, "mom and pop won't hear of it".

To generalize, from what I can tell, this type of Millenialist belief in scripture was started/avidly followed by maybe about 1/3, then there was another 1/3 who were aware of and opposed it, and about a remaining 1/3 who don't know/stay out of it.

At the time, it meant very little to America. With the advent of steam power, it was around the 1850s that the Americans got into China. The reaction on the part of some commanders was sheer horror: there are so many Chinese, they're going to take over the world. This is still the same today, call it John Birch.

With the re-marriage of America to Britain in the late 1800s, the freakish ideas became one.

Ever since then, our entire language is based on marginalization and othering, particularly of Russians and Chinese. The people in power today have never been in a situation understood as anything other than dominating threats.

That's all they know.

Nothing is "working" in those noggins, it's a tired old script, like an endless loop on a player piano.


Now, for a quick word on why Russia doesn't turn on or even use a lot of equipment, from Singapore:

It’s an axiom that the United States is deeply involved in the Ukrainian conflict. In fact, the warmongering elites in Washington DC initiated it a decade ago, just as they either started or are covertly behind virtually every single conflict in modern history. War is the only industry that still functions in America, which explains its obsession with death and destruction. And yet, we have reached the point when profit doesn’t really matter, as the consequences of direct confrontation with a country like Russia will most certainly nullify the very logic of profiteering. In other words, who stands to gain from blowing up the world? What’s the point of having money and power if all of it burns in a thermonuclear apocalypse that would be over in around 15-20 minutes? And yet, the political West keeps playing precisely with such a scenario.

Although arms shipments can certainly be considered direct involvement, Moscow chose not to use it to escalate the conflict. It should be noted that it certainly could, especially because NATO personnel are often operating these weapons. And yet, the US-led political West keeps pushing the boundaries toward ever more direct involvement, including with the usage of ISR (intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance) assets against the Russian military. The battlefield data acquired by these platforms is then relayed to the Kiev regime forces which use it to attack not only Moscow’s troops, but also civilians in Donbass and former regions of southern Ukraine. The exact number of casualties is yet to be determined, but it’s most likely in the thousands. This is yet another proof that NATO only wants death and destruction.

This time, a rather unlikely source revealed the extent of US/NATO aggression in Europe. Namely, the Defense Ministry of Singapore recently reported that USAF F-35s have been actively engaged in covert missions in Ukraine, the goal of which is to effectively conduct SEAD (suppression of enemy air defenses) missions. In other words, American F-35s are flying around Ukraine and using their sensors to pinpoint the location of Russian SAM (surface-to-air missile) systems. Needless to say, these are then relayed to the Kiev regime forces, which use them to attack the Russian military or find ways to circumvent its air defenses. NATO certainly has extensive SEAD capabilities, as it’s been mastering them in various illegal invasions and its general aggression against the world, particularly in the last several decades.

“In recent activities, the United States has mobilized its F-35s to identify the deployment of Russian anti-aircraft missile systems within Ukraine. The gathered intelligence is subsequently disseminated to NATO countries,” Defense Minister Ng Eng Hen said at a session of the Parliamentary Committee on Public Procurement.

Hen’s statement came after the February 28 announcement that Singapore would acquire F-35A fighters in addition to the previously ordered F-35B variant. The main difference between the two is that the latter is a STOVL (short take-off, vertical landing) aircraft. The Pentagon didn’t even bother to deny the revelations, with one of its spokespeople declining to comment, insisting that “it’s not their place to speak for Singapore’s MOD [Ministry of Defence] or try to clarify [its] comments”. Rather interestingly, the spokesperson added that the US doesn’t fly F-35s in Ukraine. It should be noted that this isn’t a denial of their usage. Namely, the US fighter jet has a plethora of sensors that can be used outside of Ukrainian airspace. Hen’s revelations about this are part of the procurement process that aims to justify the F-35B’s enormous acquisition costs.

It’s still unclear if the statement by the Singaporean MoD is simply inadvertent or just a peculiar marketing strategy that the Pentagon wants to use to increase foreign sales. In addition, it’s not the first time F-35s are being used in this capacity. According to military sources, the jets were forward deployed to Spangdahlem Air Base in Germany since February 16, 2022, which was around a week before the special military operation (SMO). The USAF’s 388th Fighter Wing and its Reserve’s 419th Fighter Wing were the first units deployed to the region. Their primary mission was ELINT (electronic intelligence) gathering on Russian positions, with a particular focus on air defense systems. At the time, the Pentagon made similar statements about their supposed “non-involvement in Ukraine”, insisting they’re “merely observing”.

“We weren’t crossing the border. We’re not shooting anything or dropping anything. But the jet is always sensing, gathering information. And it was doing that very, very well… We had all hoped it was going to work like it’s supposed to, but then to see it actually perform very, very well in that role was great,” commander of the 388th Fighter Wing Colonel Craig Andrle said in an interview in early 2023, adding that they also faced issues with Russian EW (electronic warfare) systems: “We’re looking at an SA-20 [S-300PMU-1/2]. I know it’s an SA-20. Intel says there’s an SA-20 there, but now my jet doesn’t ID it as such, because that SA-20 is operating, potentially, in a war reserve mode that we haven’t seen before.”

This was also confirmed by the 388th Operations Group commander Colonel Brad Bashore, who also commented on collecting battlefield data on Russian SAM systems.

“We don’t have a ton of weapons where we can decimate the entire space. We’re sharing data and making sure that everybody has awareness — surface-to-air and air-to-air — of what’s out there in the environment,” Bashore said, adding: “They’re doing the same thing that we’re doing. We just looked at each other… No direct interaction and nothing that was unprofessional on either side.”

It should be noted that, while the F-35 is certainly an embarrassment for the US in terms of its flight performance and an absolutely atrocious track record, the jet is a potent ISR platform that can be used in various “non-kinetic” ways. ELINT is just one of them and it can certainly be beneficial to the Neo-Nazi junta forces that are having a lot of trouble with Russia’s second-to-none air defenses. However, this can lead to Moscow’s (rightful) anger and even a direct response, as pairing the F-35’s sensors with the strike capabilities of long-range weapons such as the ATACMS can be quite a challenge for the Russian military. And while it’s certainly not the end of the world for the Kremlin, the range of such missiles means that Russia needs to invest even more in SAM systems and other air defenses, as the Kiev regime has the habit of attacking civilian areas.

[Bruce G Charlton]

@Shaberon - I don't personally believe that historical explanations are sufficient - and, in particular, it seems to me that the nature of dominating evil has changed over the centuries.

Indeed, the brand of evil to which VN allies herself has changed from one that wanted to bring the whole world under a tyrannical totalitarian control, to an evil that is spitefully destructive - even when that destruction strongly tends to destabilize, and will eventually end, the globalist totalitarian project.

In a phrase: destruction now trumps control.

(Destruction even trumps self-enrichment and luxury in the medium to long term: the ravaged world that is wanted will be poorer, more dangerous, and much less comfortable for everybody.)

It is the difference between wanting to control a functioning Russia, and wanting to destroy the livelihood, lives and actual physical land of Russians (and - eventually - everybody). This destructive mania is why not just ancient enemies, but even Israel, has been set-up for annihilation.

One great danger is that, for such people, all-in nuclear war* would be a feature - not a bug.

*Although I wonder quite seriously how many of the nuclear bombs and missiles would actually work if they were used - probably nothing like so many as is supposed... But I'd rather not find-out.

[ExomatrixTV]

• Pumping more money into the war in Ukraine has become a money laundering exercise to feed the military industrial complex. If we really cared about Ukraine we'd do something to bring Peace, but we've opposed dialogue and diplomacy and wasted billions supporting this #US #NATO Proxy War.

• source

[Ravenlocke]

Text:

Residents of #Mariupol - those who managed to escape the clutches of the Neo-Nazis - tell the TRUTH about the way they were treated by the Ukrainian Armed Forces and about the atrocities of the infamous Neo-Nazi "Azov" Battalion, who shelled and punished civilians. And in contrast, how the Russian military assisted.

The Truth that the mainstream media will never show or tell.

https://x.com/djuric_zlatko/status/1766786010275332549

[Ravenlocke]

Text:
🇨🇿🇺🇦 The Czechs want to take part in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, but only in a covert way

One of the possible options for Prague's assistance to Kiev is to send its instructors to train AFU recruits. In this case, however, Czech soldiers would become legitimate targets for the Russian Armed Forces, according to Lidovky.

As soon as Czech soldiers cross the Ukrainian border to help the AFU, they will become a legitimate target for Russia,
- says the publication.

@ukraine_watch

https://x.com/djuric_zlatko/status/1766830841630466495

[Ravenlocke]

🇪🇺 NATO is divided. Italy has taken umbrage at French and Polish plans to send troops to Ukraine.

Paris and Warsaw cannot talk about sending forces to Ukraine on behalf of the entire alliance. This was pointed out by the head of the Italian defence ministry, Guido Crozetto.

According to him, the deployment of military forces would be a step towards unilateral escalation, which would 'erase the path of diplomacy'. Crozetto believes that the West must help Ukraine by other means, by activating diplomatic channels.

@ukraine_watch

https://x.com/djuric_zlatko/status/1766827323993493570

¤=[Post Update]=¤

https://x.com/djuric_zlatko/status/1766812582764003552

¤=[Post Update]=¤

https://x.com/MaimunkaNews/status/1766873012849025461

[Ravenlocke]

https://x.com/MaimunkaNews/status/1766845270677926205

[Ravenlocke]

Text:
❗️In the Donetsk area, Ukrainian losses amounted to 280 people, 11 armored vehicles and two warehouse.

🇷🇺🪖 Other statements from the Russian Defense Ministry briefing on the progress of the special military operation in Ukraine:

▪️In South Donetsk, Ukrainian losses amounted to over 150 soldiers;

▪️In the Avdeyevka area, Russian forces occupied more advantageous positions and repeled two attacks by Ukrainian troops. Ukrainian losses amounted to 310 soldiers and 16 armored vehicles;

▪️In the Kupyansk area, Ukrainian losses amounted to over 110 soldiers;

▪️Russian air defenses shot down three Ukrainian HIMARS missiles and destroyed 130 drones.

https://x.com/SputnikInt/status/1766788275711225950

[Ravenlocke]

Text:
France and Poland cannot speak on behalf of NATO, and the alliance's intervention in the conflict "will erase the path to diplomacy," Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto said, commenting on the idea of Paris sending troops to Ukraine and statements on the subject from Warsaw.

"France and Poland cannot speak on behalf of NATO, which has not formally and voluntarily intervened in the conflict from the very beginning. Sending troops to Kiev means a step towards a unilateral escalation that will erase the path to diplomacy," he stated.

https://x.com/SputnikInt/status/1766788229917721027