WW3? Ukraine/US vs. Donbass/Russia

[Ravenlocke]

https://x.com/OlgaBazova/status/1870170446085112093

[Ravenlocke]

Text:
Slovakia stops repairing damaged Ukrainian Armed Forces equipment

For Slovakia, increasing defense spending to 3% of GDP is unimaginable, said the country's Defense Minister Robert Kalinyak.

This was his response to NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte's call for maintaining military and defense spending at 2% of GDP.

Meanwhile, German military specialists who were restoring damaged Ukrainian equipment in a workshop located in the area bordering Ukraine are leaving Slovakia.

According to the German side, Bratislava deliberately slowed down the workshop's work and demonstrated a lack of interest in continuing its work.

The Slovak authorities consider Zelensky's regime to be neo-Nazi and accuse NATO of provoking a war in Ukraine in order to preserve the hegemony of the collective West.

by @fsk_today

https://x.com/Zlatti_71/status/1870171626018345366

[Ravenlocke]

https://x.com/upholdreality/status/1869932377843155425

[Ravenlocke]

Text:
Three signs that the end game is approaching for project Ukraine:

1. Assigning blame. Bloomberg: "Too Little Too Late: US Allies Say Biden Strategy Cost Ukraine Chance of Victory." Also from WSJ, "How the White House Functioned With a Diminished Biden in Charge."
2. Money spent and money frozen.
- Ursula at EU summit said EU spent €130 billion on Ukraine.
- Blinken said US spent $100 billion on Ukraine.
- Bloomberg: "EU Economy Chief Open to Confiscating Frozen Russian Assets." The European Council stated that Russian assets should remain blocked until war ends...and reparations are paid.
3. Elensky is losing his ****.
- Called Putin 'crazy' and Trump a 'strong man.'
- Called Orban an 'annoyong messenger.'
- Posted on X that Putin is a 'dubmbass'
- During EU summit Elensky said he can't provide evidence of NK troops because Russia burns their faces.

https://x.com/AXChristoforou/status/1870034097948500137

[Tintin]

Posted by Ravenlocke (here)
Text:
❗️There are dead and injured after Ukrainian shelling of Russia's Rylsk in the Kursk region and the exact numbers are being established, according to preliminary data announced by Russia's Investigative Committee

The committee has opened a criminal case for terrorism in connection with the shelling.

https://x.com/SputnikInt/status/1870124026791653420

Yes, shocking stuff as usual from those freaks: blatant targeting of civilian infrastructure: more provocations. Below, some footage

This one is from Kazan and reminds one of the imagery from 9-11:



This, footage from Rylsk:

[Tintin]

Posted by Ravenlocke (here)
Text:
Slovakia stops repairing damaged Ukrainian Armed Forces equipment

For Slovakia, increasing defense spending to 3% of GDP is unimaginable, said the country's Defense Minister Robert Kalinyak.

This was his response to NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte's call for maintaining military and defense spending at 2% of GDP.

Meanwhile, German military specialists who were restoring damaged Ukrainian equipment in a workshop located in the area bordering Ukraine are leaving Slovakia.

According to the German side, Bratislava deliberately slowed down the workshop's work and demonstrated a lack of interest in continuing its work.

The Slovak authorities consider Zelensky's regime to be neo-Nazi and accuse NATO of provoking a war in Ukraine in order to preserve the hegemony of the collective West.

by @fsk_today

https://x.com/Zlatti_71/status/1870171626018345366

More on the Slovakian perspective here: although there isn't a link to a written source here there is video of Fico actually saying this, and the footage I saw didn't have English subtitles; if I can source a version that does I can share it here. Here though appears to be a full transcript, and should be, in a regular world, a HUGE story: evidence of bribery by a 'Head of State', or at least in the case of the Elensky fellow, an expired one.

Drum roll......

---

🇸🇰 Fico Accuses Zelensky of Offering Bribes in exchange for supporting Ukraine’s accession to NATO.

'I will not quote them but Zelenskyy made me certain proposals behind closed doors. And I want to say that Slovakia is not in a state of war. Neither with the Russian Federation, nor with Ukraine. We are very sorry about what is happening in Ukraine now. And we are not going to give them weapons, we know that the Ukrainians are losing this war completely. Ladies and gentlemen, I must say that President Zelensky categorically rejects any ceasefire. Any truce. He still has some idea that first, perhaps, he should get everything in the world, and only then will he talk about some kind of truce.

And when I asked him about the transit of gas through Ukraine, Zelensky ruled out any idea of ​​it. He made proposals that seem absurd to me. For example, that he would agree to it only if we did not pay Russia until the end of the war. What fool would give us free gas? As we were coming to the end, the president returned to the topic of gas and asked me whether I would vote for NATO membership if he gave me 500 million euros from Russian assets. Of course, I immediately answered that I would never. You just know my opinion about Ukraine's membership in NATO. And it is strange that he asked me such a question, because he knows perfectly well that inviting Ukraine to NATO is completely unrealistic."

Source: DD Geopolitics on X

[Bruce G Charlton]

@Tintin - As you know, I regard the NATO - Russia war as ultimately spiritual; and I am increasingly concerned that a major Western motivation for its continuation and escalation is the spiritual corruption of Russia.

Specifically, the demon-serving Western-Establishment intent; is that in order to fight a prolonged and increasingly destructive war, Russia will be "forced" to drop its Christian basis, and will take the short-termist path of winning by any means, and at any cost. Winning for the sake of winning - or for material and selfish reasons.

This desire to corrupt and destroy that which is good is, IMO, increasingly obvious as a core motivation of those who ultimately control NATO and (really-) lead the Western powers. And it is deeply, spitefully, evil. More and more resources are expended on this negative goal, such strategies increasingly dominate our discourse (domestic as well as international); even as The West's power and cohesion collapses.

I think that such a fate can only be avoided for Russia if the ongoing revival of Orthodox Christianity increases as the state of war increases; indeed Russia must become more-Christian more rapidly than it becomes more war-orientated; such that the war is conceptualized and prosecuted within a vision of Holy Russia. In other words, the true and most powerful objective of war must continue to be Christian (in the specifically Russian meaning of that - which is distinctive)

I am one who regards this Orthodox Christian restoration as the distinctive destiny of Russia, and Russia as the only nation that could pursue such a destiny - nonetheless, that path is not pre-determined. All is by human choice, and the destiny could be rejected. The fact that restoration is possible in Russia, is the deepest reason why Russia is the primary target of the demonic totalitarians, above all other targets.

But if Holy Russia is rejected, then the war will become - like most wars, and like all geopolitics - simply a case of rival evils in competition.

[Tintin]

Posted by Tintin (here)
More on the Slovakian perspective here: although there isn't a link to a written source here there is video of Fico actually saying this, and the footage I saw didn't have English subtitles; if I can source a version that does I can share it here. Here though appears to be a full transcript, and should be, in a regular world, a HUGE story: evidence of bribery by a 'Head of State', or at least in the case of the Elensky fellow, an expired one.

Drum roll......

---

🇸🇰 Fico Accuses Zelensky of Offering Bribes in exchange for supporting Ukraine’s accession to NATO.

'I will not quote them but Zelenskyy made me certain proposals behind closed doors. And I want to say that Slovakia is not in a state of war. Neither with the Russian Federation, nor with Ukraine. We are very sorry about what is happening in Ukraine now. And we are not going to give them weapons, we know that the Ukrainians are losing this war completely. Ladies and gentlemen, I must say that President Zelensky categorically rejects any ceasefire. Any truce. He still has some idea that first, perhaps, he should get everything in the world, and only then will he talk about some kind of truce.

And when I asked him about the transit of gas through Ukraine, Zelensky ruled out any idea of ​​it. He made proposals that seem absurd to me. For example, that he would agree to it only if we did not pay Russia until the end of the war. What fool would give us free gas? As we were coming to the end, the president returned to the topic of gas and asked me whether I would vote for NATO membership if he gave me 500 million euros from Russian assets. Of course, I immediately answered that I would never. You just know my opinion about Ukraine's membership in NATO. And it is strange that he asked me such a question, because he knows perfectly well that inviting Ukraine to NATO is completely unrealistic."

Source: DD Geopolitics on X

Video, with subtitles, below

[Michel Leclerc]

Bruce. Thank you for your perspective. I somehow guess what you mean – but your formulation may not even be true to your own meaning (which I, who would call myself Christian in the metaphysical sense, in many ways not unlike you, do not necessarily endorse).

Allow me to quote the uncomfortable phrasings.

indeed Russia must become more-Christian more rapidly than it becomes more war-orientated; such that the war is conceptualized and prosecuted within a vision of Holy Russia. In other words, the true and most powerful objective of war must continue to be Christian

I do not think that you mean that the Christianisation of Russia is a means to the goal of its “polemicisation”, although it may be, and you understand it to be I suppose, a means to the effectiveness of war — but don’t you, by your phrasing, mean, or imply, or imply and mean, that its "polemicisation” is a means to the goal of its Christianisation? Which would amount to the logic of the Holy War, as of the Christian knights against the Sarrasins, or the Muslims against the Crusaders? “Let us use weapons to make the Others better.”

On the other hand, if you mean that it should be hoped that Russia may always be, or continue to be, more holy than warlike – which I suppose that you mean as well, I guess that you understand that the war is not so much driven by Russia's holiness than by the West’s demonic nature. And the demon never desists. It, oddly, does not seem to be in God’s Power to finally crush the Evil One. He, God that is, – and allow me to apply now a little theology by which I for one can survive – even went so far as to incarnate or create into His avatara as His Son in order to be crushed and crucified by Evil, demonstrating that Love, which is Divine, is ultimately only possible as Self-Sacrifice, i.e. as Crucifixion by demonic Evil. Yes, there is no Birth without Resurrection. But there is also no Resurrection without Birth (and hence being Crushed by evil).

That means that the program you are laying out for Holier than Holy Russia is to be crushed by Evil.

I think that Russia and its allies will however decide to fight evil with greater evil, hoping that the final eradication of Western “polemicisation” (that they call denazification) may create a form of peace in which humans may be able to breathe again – outside of tyranny. They want to denazify Ukraine, and are willing to kill hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians for that purpose, as the reluctant instruments of Western demonic Evil, that carries the real responsibility and guilt for it (and of course for the Russian victims).

I think this “Holy Warlike” cross-fertilisation of Thomas Aquinas and Clausewitz is a dangerous path, to the extent that its "conceptualisation" (to quote you) may become highly unpredictable: food for AI, maybe.

I would suggest two related, but different, paths. The first is to restrict our own responsibilities in this world to what is our civil responsibility. We are not responsible for what Russia may or may not do. We are, however, you, if I am not mistaken, for what the United Kingdom does, I for what Belgium does. We carry the civil responsibility for the undertakings of the States we are nationals of. Now, alas, both our states are carrying out the "never desisting" program of demonic Evil. Should we then not, instead of piously speculating on the Holiness of Russia, throw our existences into the fight for the "de-demonisation" of our own “polemicised" polities? For their denazification?

Is it not for the United Kingdom, or for Belgium, to become holy first? Should we not first and foremost concentrate on our own political responsibility for “saving ourselves from the Evil one”, rather than on the reponsibility of the other party? Instead of wishing that the jihadi Sarrasins convert to Christianity, should we not “de-crusade" ourselves so that we can allow everybody to comprehend that Love is the solution – and that Islam and Christianity mean the same?

(Inviting Islam to the discussion I do only as a metaphor, as you quite well understand, considering that Orthodoxy and spiritual (Sufi, Shia) Islam are theologically quite close.)

My second point then would be the following: let us moreover draw "theo-polemical" responsibilities even closer to ourselves than just from the Russian nation to the British/Belgian nation. Let them put where they belong: on our own personal shoulders. To what extent am I myself an instrument of demonic Evil?

It is fashionable for quite a number of successful “show” speakers to call the leaders of the governments of the United Kingdom, or the United States, "overtaken by the Deep State", or "dumb", or "making mistakes” – instead of calling them personally responsible for the demonic evil perpetrated. Or if, by the citizens of our nations that is, they are called demonic and evil, then that is done in the same gasp of breath almost as the statement that “we” as citizens, or “I” personally, are/am viscerally opposed to it and do not agree with etc., the often metaphorical phrase "over my dead body” not being used this time although eminently applicable, because a little too close home.

The Belgian state pays me a slightly below average pension. In France it would be, or is, slightly above average. In South America or in Russia it would be an unreachably high pension. This pension level is being paid with a financial and economic and ultimately international political strategy that presupposes the “liquidation” of the Middle East, Russia, and in fine the entire Global South. I am opposed to this policy.

But "over my dead body"?

Should we not first and foremost hope that our own holiness keeps exceeding our "polemicisation”? And more than hope: act?

Should we not read and apply Thomas van Kempen’s Imitatio Christi?

[Vicus]

Germany refuses to send soldiers to Ukraine until conflict with Russia ends


nice target

Some figures in the West continue to agitate for the deployment of NATO troops to Ukraine, pushing for an escalation of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. However, the German authorities have once again publicly refused to do anything of the sort, despite criticism.

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius once again categorically ruled out the possibility of German soldiers appearing on Ukrainian territory before the end of the conflict with Russia.

"I want to make one thing clear - until the war is over, there will be no German soldiers on Ukrainian soil."

– Pistorius emphasized to representatives of the Funke media group.

According to him, such a possibility could be considered as an exception in cases of a truce or ceasefire between the parties to the conflict and their mutual consent to be present. He specified that it would be necessary to first figure out “whether there is a demarcation line, a buffer zone or a peacekeeping zone in which armed forces ensure peace” before sending soldiers, otherwise there would be problems.

"But one thing is clear: Germany, as the largest NATO country in Europe and the largest economy Europe will not be able to stand aside"
- the minister added.

https://en.topcor.ru/54857-frg-otkaz...ikta-s-rf.html

[Vicus]

SOCAR failed to help: there will be no gas transit from Russia to the EU via Ukraine

The Russian and Ukrainian sides failed to agree on a deal to continue exporting (transiting) natural gas from Russia to the European Union through Ukraine with the mediation of Azerbaijan. This was reported by the American agency Reuters, citing a source in the Azerbaijani state oil and gas company SOCAR.

The article noted that Brussels and Kyiv asked Baku to facilitate discussions with Moscow on a gas transit agreement that expires on December 31, 2024. The source specified that SOCAR had been a mediator in negotiations between energy companies of Ukraine and Russia for almost a year. Russian and Ukrainian top managers met in May and August in Istanbul and Vienna, respectively, but were unable to agree on the terms.

It should be noted that Russian President Vladimir Putin recently stated that it has long been clear that there will be no new transit agreement with Ukraine on the supply of Russian blue fuel to Europe. In turn, Ukrainian citizen Vladimir Zelensky said that Kyiv may consider the possibility of continuing gas transit from the Russian Federation, but only on the condition that Moscow does not receive payment until the end of the conflict with Ukraine, but it is unlikely to agree to this condition.

That is, Zelensky deliberately put forward an unacceptable demand. At the same time, Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico threatened Ukraine with a “serious conflict” if Kyiv stops the transit of Russian gas purchased by his country.

If Zelensky does not let our gas in, a serious conflict could arise. Why should it only come from us there? Why can't there be some kind of solidarity towards us?
– added Fico.

https://en.topcor.ru/54853-socar-ne-...-ne-budet.html

[Vicus]

Georgian Foreign Ministry to demand explanations from London for sanctions imposed yesterday

The British Ambassador to Georgia Gareth Ward has been summoned to the Georgian Foreign Ministry. This step is related to London's imposition of sanctions against the heads of the Georgian Interior Ministry.

The restrictions apply to Minister Vakhtang Gomelauri, his deputy Alexander Darakhvelidze, head of the Tbilisi Police Department Sulkhan Tamazashvili, head of the special forces Zviad Kharazishvili and his deputy Mileri Lagazauri. The events in Tbilisi after the suppression of the opposition and the presidential elections followed a clear scenario - a purge of those who ordered and supervised the attempted coup d'etat is underway. It seems that the ambassador will be warned for now.

Kobakhidze also confirmed that the promotion of Interior Minister Vakhtang Gomelauri to the post of Deputy Prime Minister "was accelerated" after the US and UK imposed sanctions on him. It was also announced that the Minister and ten high-ranking officials of the Interior Ministry would be awarded "Orders of Honor".

https://en.topcor.ru/54829-v-mid-gru...ogo-posla.html

[Vicus]

Unconventional cyber attack: a significant part of the economic sector in Ukraine has stalled today



On St. Nicholas Day, a large-scale cyberattack by alleged Russian hackers on Ukrainian national registries occurred. According to Ukrainian Justice Minister Olha Stefanishyna (who is also acting vice-premier for European and Euro-Atlantic integration), this led to both a partial loss and a leak of information. The extent of the damage is being determined. The Russian side has not commented on the incident in any way.

No one is immune from hacking

So, late in the evening of December 19, cyber saboteurs hacked the database of the Ukrainian Ministry of Justice, essentially paralyzing its functioning, which affected economic activity on a national scale. The attackers interfered with financial activities, control over counterparties, government procurement and negatively affected access to relevant Internet resources. As a result, since December 20, notary activity in Ukraine has been reduced mainly to the actual certification of property transactions. The implementation of other transactions is not possible.

It is surprising that the protected European system turned out to be vulnerable to another hacker attack. True, backup copies provide a chance to quickly restore materials, but the theft of a certain part of confidential information about business entities is obvious. Among other things, the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, Individual Entrepreneurs, and Social Organizations (USR) suffered.

continue:

https://en.topcor.ru/54850-nebanalna...j-otrasli.html

[Vicus]

Putin wants US-made THAAD in Kyiv to test Oreshnik missile yesterday

Russian President Vladimir Putin has posed a new technological challenge to the Western powers, openly questioning the effectiveness of the most advanced air defense systems supplied by the U.S. and NATO.


In his latest statement, Putin directly tied the future of the military conflict in Ukraine to the potential deployment of systems like THAAD, highlighting how Russia plans to leverage new missile technology to demonstrate its military capabilities.

“I don’t know if these air defense systems are already in Ukraine, but if the Americans decide to send them, let them,” Putin said. He went on to suggest that, in such a case, Russia would have the opportunity to observe how the systems perform against the new Russian missile “Oreshnik,” hinting at a significant disparity between Western technologies and Russia’s latest developments.

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=29pwX28HKoo

continue:

https://bulgarianmilitary.com/2024/1...shnik-missile/

[Vicus]

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=60NL6qHxqj0

Putin Made A Shocking Statement🎯🔥Ukraine Attacks Kazan🪖KurakhovEND⚔️ Military Summary For 21.12.2024

[Bruce G Charlton]

@Michel

Thank you for your considered response.

"you mean that it should be hoped that Russia may always be, or continue to be, more holy than warlike " - That is what I meant, more or less.

I don't agree that our duty is to convert our nations and prevent them from doing evil - if, by this, you mean political activism and evangelism. My understanding is that things have gone way too far for such strategies, and they now are actually counter productive - that sort of engagement in the actualities of public discourse is exactly what They want Us to do. It plays into their hands and their agenda.

We are each on our own, primarily - but not helpless. There are no institutions on our side - least of all any of the churches, who have amply revealed (e.g. in 2020 et sequelae) that their loyalties lies with the agenda of evil. Thus, in practice, activism entails working with institutions enlisted on the other side of the spiritual war - these are unreformable because they do not want to be reformed - quite the opposite.

With the material world net enlisted to materialism; my conviction is that the situation is a clear indicator that we should be serious about spiritual matters. If we really believe that the spirit is real, and that God is real, good, and the creator - then whatever we achieve will be taken up into creation, and shall affect reality...

And by reality I primarily mean eternal reality, not the temporary reality of this mortal life - which is important. but permeated by evil and ravaged by entropy - unto death.

Christ's kingdom is Not of this World - - which is not to denigrate this world - which is vitally important, but for Christians to regard mortal life as a developmental phase en route so that which is everlasting.

[Ravenlocke]

Text:
Today, Kazan was attacked with Ukrainian drones striking a residential high-rise building early in the morning. Twice, with a 50 minute interval. Kazan is 1075 km away from Kharkov and 1045 km away from Ukrainian-occupied Sudzha. Ukrainians claim that these drones have a range of up to 1000 km and can carry 50 kg worth of explosives.

https://x.com/OlgaBazova/status/1870368392840110447

Still, I'm not entirely convinced that all of these drones were launched from the Ukraine. We are supposed to believe that they flew over entire European Russia, bypassed all air defences and, most importantly, EXCEEDED their maximum range. Maybe it did happen. Or maybe the Ukrainians smuggled some of them into Russia directly, and then SBU's little helpers launched them from the woods somewhere, making it much easier to bypass air defence. The latter would be even more catastrophic. In any case, I'm eagerly waiting for a proper investigation to happen.

https://x.com/ArmchairW/status/1870511370296553711

[Ravenlocke]

https://x.com/NewRulesGeo/status/1870514573515636775

[Ravenlocke]

https://tass.com/defense/1891305

CIA station in Kiev targeted in recent Russian attack, military expert reveals

According to Alexander Stepanov, strikes are systematic efforts to gradually wipe out the military capabilities of Ukraine

MOSCOW, December 21. /TASS/. Among other targets, the Russian military hit a CIA station in Kiev, Alexander Stepanov, program director at the Political Sciences Academy, told TASS.

"Retaliatory strikes are not a sudden one-off measure, but rather systematic efforts to gradually wipe out the military capabilities and control centers of the international terrorist wing, also known as the criminal Kiev regime," the military expert, who is also a senior researcher at the Institute of Latin American Studies at the Russian Academy of Sciences, explained.

"Available reports indicate that, apart from energy facilities, military components of NATO’s intelligence proxies were struck, including a base of special group `Alpha’ of the SBU (Ukraine’s Security Service - TASS) and a CIA station at Holiday Inn," he specified.

[Ravenlocke]

https://tass.com/defense/1891451

Civilian industrial complex supplies Russian army with over 65 types of units — top brass

Russian Defense Minister Andrey Belousov praised the new mechanisms for accelerating the introduction of advanced weapons and equipment developed by the civilian defense industrial complex in the interests of the Russian army
MOSCOW, December 21. /TASS/. The civilian defense industrial complex has supplied the Russian Armed Forces with over 65 types of units, including 31 types of drones and four types of drone boats, Russian Defense Minister Andrey Belousov said.

The final meeting of the the technical council of the Russian Defense Ministry and the All-Russia People's Front was held with Belousov's participation. The top defense official praised the new mechanisms for accelerating the introduction of advanced weapons and equipment developed by the civilian defense industrial complex in the interests of the Russian army.

"The civilian defense industrial complex has provided the Russian Armed Forces with more than 65 types of units: 31 types of drones, including three reconnaissance drones, eight ground robotics systems, two types of electronic intelligence systems, 20 electronic warfare systems, four types of drone boats. All this equipment has been delivered to the troops since April," Belousov said.

Belousov also added that drones are primarily used to perform reconnaissance, strike and transportation tasks during the special military operation.

"During the special military operation, drones of air, land and sea basing <…> are widely used to perform reconnaissance, strike and transportation tasks. They are used as means of combat and network information exchange," he said at the final meeting of the the technical council of the Russian Defense Ministry and the All-Russia People's Front.

He noted that the role of such means in modern combat operations is so great that it has been decided to create a separate branch of troops in the armed forces: the unmanned systems troops.