WW3? Ukraine/US vs. Donbass/Russia

[Ravenlocke]

https://x.com/Russia/status/1883923114763194529

[Ravenlocke]

https://x.com/MoonofA/status/1883918095573749764

https://www.moonofalabama.org/2025/0...nal-chaos.html

Ukraine - Organizational Chaos, Commanders Fired
January 27, 2025

The unusual combat organization of the Ukrainian army is taking its toll.

In a classic military hierarchy Corps, Divisions, Brigades and Battalions each have their own staff and responsibilities. The Ukrainian army is using a more flexible but also chaotic structure of Operational Units with less control. The results are unnecessary losses on the battle field.

After the Maidan coup the Ukrainian government designated the eastern Donetsk and Luhansk areas held by separatists as the Anti-Terrorist Operation Zone (ATO) and put it under the control of the Ukrainian secret service SBU.

In 2018 this changed:

On 20 February 2018, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko changed the status of the ATO zone from an anti-terrorist operation to "taking measures to ensure national security and defense, and repulsing and deterring the armed aggression of the Russian Federation in Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts". This allowed the Ukrainian military to take charge of the zones instead of the Ukrainian secret service SBU. As such, the ATO was renamed to JFO zone (Joint Forces Operation (Ukrainian: Операція об'єднаних сил, ООС, romanized: Operatsiya ob'yednanykh syl).

The Commander of the Joint (or 'Combined') Forces Operation is also the commander of the Khortytsia Operational-Strategic Group which is directing the war against Russian forces in eastern Ukraine.

The Operational-Strategic Group (OSUV) commands several Operational Tactical Groups (OTUs), each with their local areas of responsibility. Several brigades and/or battalions get temporarily assigned to each Operation Tactical Group to fulfill its tasks.

This scheme is largely seen as ineffective:

Operational Tactical Groups (OTUs) and Operational Strategic Groups (OSUVs) are temporary military administrative bodies created specifically to command troops within combat zones and adjacent areas. These entities lack formal legal attributes such as correspondence addresses, contact details, or designated military unit numbers. Their structure is flexible, with authority limited to units operating within their respective zones of responsibility. In contrast, the established Operational Commands (OCs) focus on broader responsibilities, including the manning, training, and ensuring the combat readiness of their assigned units. In simple terms, Operational Commands are responsible for preparing troops, while units deployed to a combat zone are transferred to an OTU or OSUV, which plan and coordinate their combat operations. This division often causes conflicts at both tactical and strategic levels. OTUs and OSUVs do not oversee the condition of the troops; they assign tasks based solely on operational needs, treating units as abstract entities on paper. When a unit loses its combat effectiveness, it is returned to its Operational Command for recovery and reorganization.

Operational-Strategic Groups as well as Operational Tactical Groups lack the staff and dedicated resources to fight their battles. They have little control over their assigned units which also continue to receive orders from their Operational Command. Units thus lack a clear line of reporting.

The commander of the Joint Forces and the Khortytsia Operational-Strategic Group is in a very hot seat. He is responsible for the successes and failures in eastern Ukraine while lacking control over his assigned resources and the means to influence those.
Sudden unceremoniously changes in that position have happened frequently with the latest announced just yesterday.

Zelensky replaces commander of Joint Forces Operation - Interfax, Mar 15 2022

KYIV. March 15 (Interfax-Ukraine) - Eduard Moskaliov has been appointed the new commander of the Joint Forces Operation, and its previous commander, Oleksandr Pavliuk, is the new head of the Kyiv regional military administration, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
...
Gen. Maj. Eduard Moskaliov, a professional, has been appointed the new commander of the Joint Forces Operation," Zelensky said in his video address on Tuesday.

--- Zelenskyy fired commander of joint forces - Ukrainska Pravda, Feb 26 2023

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has fired Eduard Moskaliov from the post of commander of the joint forces.
Source: President’s decree on the President's website
Quote: "To fire Eduard Mykhailovych Moskaliov from the position of commander of the joint forces."

--- Recently dismissed Joint Forces Commander says he found out about his dismissal from news headlines - Ukrainska Pravda, Feb 11 2024

Serhii Naiev, Commander of the Joint Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, has indicated that he learned about the presidential decree on his dismissal from the mass media on 11 February.

--- Zelensky appoints 4 new high-level military commanders - Kyiv Independent, Feb 11 2024

President Volodymyr Zelensky announced four high-level military appointments on his website on Feb. 11, including the commanders of the Ground Forces, Territorial Defense Forces, the Combined Forces, and the Airborne Assault Forces.
...
The Combined Forces will be headed by Lieutenant General Yurii Sodol, former head of Ukraine’s marine corps since 2018. Zelensky dismissed former Airborne Assault Commander Maksym Myrhorodskyi and former Combined Forces Commander Serhii Naiev.

--- Zelensky Replaces AFU Joint Forces Commander Amid Criticism and Military Failures - Kyiv Post, Jun 24 2024

Late night on Monday, June 24, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky replaced Lieutenant General Yurii Sodol as the Commander of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) Joint Forces with Brigadier General Andrii Hnatov.
...
Sodol had been the Joint Forces Commander since February 2024. His tenure faced criticism from military observers. Activist Serhii Sternenko called his appointment a "personnel disaster," and People's Deputy Mariana Bezuhla blamed him for failing to defend Kharkiv Oblast from a Russian incursion in mid-May.
Earlier on Monday, June 24, Bohdan Krotevych, Chief of Staff of the Azov National Guard Brigade, has formally requested the State Bureau of Investigation (DBR) to investigate Lieutenant General Yuri Sodol, the commander of the Joint Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

--- Ukraine's ​​Andrii Hnatov to head Khortytsia Operational Strategic Group soon - Ukrainska Pravda, Jun 26 2024

Brigadier General Andrii Hnatov, the new commander of the Joint Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, will replace Lieutenant General Yurii Sodol as the Head of Khortytsia Operational Strategic Group.

--- Ukraine replaces commander of eastern front after Russia captures another town - Reuters, Jan 26 2025

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy replaced the commander of the eastern front, the most heated battlefield of the Ukraine war, after Russian forces captured another strategic town there. Brigadier-General Andriy Hnatov was replaced as the battlefield commander in the east by Major General Mykhailo Drapatyi, overall commander of ground forces, who will keep his previous duties. Hnatov was given a role overseeing training and communications.

Eduard Moskaliov lasted 11 months. Serhii Naiev lasted 12 months. Yuri Sodol was fired after 4 months. Andrii Hnatov had 7 months.

How Mykhailo Drapatyi, now in a double role, is supposed to better handle the chaotic organization is beyond me.

[Ravenlocke]

Text:
It’s always a pleasure to catch up with Professor Jeffrey Sachs. We agreed on a number of things:
🕊️ We have to end the Russia-Ukraine war.
⚙️ We are witnessing rapid changes in the world economy, technology and geopolitics.
🇪🇺 If we want Europe to be a global player in a multipolar world, it’s time to make Europe great again!

https://x.com/PM_ViktorOrban/status/1883938705712488947

[Ravenlocke]

Text:
‼️🇷🇺 “🅾️tvazhnye” forces are destroying enemy equipment and infantry en masse, advancing on Pokrovsk and Toretsk – another day of battles by the “Center” group

▪️ Footage shows the effective combat operations of the “Center” group forces on January 26, as they destroyed military equipment, weaponry, infantry, and Ukrainian strongholds during active offensive actions in the Pokrovsk direction.

▪️ The footage highlights the destruction of military vehicles, trucks, pickups, bunkers, communication systems, and Ukrainian infantry.

- RVvoenkor

https://x.com/Zlatti_71/status/1883994341284204994

[Ravenlocke]

Text:
‼️🇷🇺 Breakthrough toward Dnipropetrovsk: “🅾️tvazhnye” forces have nearly taken Nadezhdynka, storming Novoandreevka and attacking Srybnoye

▪️ On the left flank of the Pokrovskoye direction, units of the “Center” group continue their powerful offensive, approaching the borders of the Dnipropetrovsk region.

▪️ Nadezhdynka is virtually under control (consolidation is underway). Just a day ago, our troops advanced 700 meters northward and eastward into Nadezhdynka (Nadeyevka), and now the settlement has been taken in a short time.

▪️ Novoandreevka is being stormed, with Russian units advancing and attacking from three directions, capturing a significant part of the settlement.

▪️ Even Ukrainian forces acknowledge Russia’s progress:
➖ “Between the Solyonaya and Volchya rivers, the Russians managed to secure Nadezhdynka and are now consolidating. The next movement will likely target Kotlyarovka to put the villages further south in a difficult position. Meanwhile, they have begun storming Srybnoye (Serebryanoye) and are targeting Preobrazhenka in the rear.”
➖ “They are already approaching the Dnipropetrovsk region. Additionally, the Russians are attempting to seize Uspenovka and are trying to enter Novoalexandrovka through the ravines.”

- RVvoenkor

https://x.com/Zlatti_71/status/1883993626037879116

[Ravenlocke]

Text:
🇺🇦⚔️🇷🇺 How the Ukrainian Armed Forces “broke through” to the rear of the Kursk region with a “Photoshop attack” but got a response from our soldiers 💪

▪️ Ukrainian military propagandists published a “photo” supposedly showing Ukrainian soldiers near the Karizh road sign, 16 km from the border town of Tyotkino.

▪️ We immediately contacted our soldiers in this area, and the guys laughed at the Ukrainian “psychological operation.” In response, they took a photo near the real Karizh road sign, where everything is completely calm.

- RVvoenkor

https://x.com/Zlatti_71/status/1883993060868071601

[Ravenlocke]

Text:

The village of Dvurechnaya in the Kharkov region came under the control of the Russian Army.

It is noted that this is the first urban-type settlement in the Kharkov region liberated by the Russian Armed Forces since 2022. The population of the urban-type settlement before the start of military operations was estimated at approximately 4 thousand people.
- FRWL

https://x.com/Zlatti_71/status/1883992450374717441

[Ravenlocke]

https://x.com/Zlatti_71/status/1883990597465473128

[Ravenlocke]

Text:

Kiev disguises drone production as pizza delivery

SpetsKorr V Channel reports that drone parts are being sent between several small production facilities under the guise of Dominos pizza. They are only given out with the pizza flavors signed in felt-tip pen: "pilot" and "repair".

The workshops are located in residential areas. This disguise is intended for local residents who may be outraged that their homes have been turned into a target for the Russian Armed Forces.
- AN

https://x.com/Zlatti_71/status/1883968553029886280

[Rizotto]

https://sputnikglobe.com/20250128/pu...121515700.html

January 28, 2025

Putin: Russia Ready to Pick Negotiators for Direct Talks With Zelensky, But He Can't Sign Peace Deal

Volodymyr Zelensky signed a decree outlawing peace negotiations with Moscow in 2022, months after the West sabotaged a ready peace treaty to pursue an all-out proxy war against Russia.
President Putin has expressed readiness to find negotiators to speak directly with Volodymyr Zelensky.
"If he wants to take part in negotiations, I will select such people, it's not an issue. The question is about the final signing of the documents," Putin said in a TV interview Tuesday, noting that Zelensky's legitimacy has expired, and he therefore "does not have the right to sign anything."

Under Ukrainian law, the end of the president's term means his powers are transferred to the chairman of the Verkhovna Rada parliament, and in accordance with the Constitution, even martial law does not give him the right to extend his authority, Putin said.
Zelensky's powers officially ran out last spring, but he remained in office after cancelling elections, citing martial law.
"On the question of the final signing of the documents...there cannot be a single mistake or wrinkle. Everything must be polished," Putin emphasized.

Furthermore, direct talks cannot start if Zelensky does not lift his self-imposed ban, Putin said.
"If there is a desire, any legal question can be resolved. So far, we simply don't see such a desire" from the Ukrainian side, the president said.

[Tintin]

Posted by grapevine (here)
Trump just Unleashed a BOMBSHELL on Putin & BRICS Braces for IMPACT - Ukraine Shocked! | Redacted

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=vrF2TpMTzNo

(13:00)
"What's happening with Trump behind the scenes right now is going to upend the global world order and the BRICS nations are on notice... that a strong American leader is back in charge. It's being called the most important first 100 hours of any presidency in American history."

Interesting development, especiallly as Mohammed bin Salman was hesitant about joining BRICS.

Clayton is wearing Trump-tainted spectacles here, in my view. BRICS will have little to fear here: it's all quite bombastic. Trump 2.0 is riding a wave, with some justification, but reducing the price of oil is extraordinarily unlikely to impact on Russia's self-sufficiency from a military point of view - she's sitting on a decillion barrels, probably. And plenty of folks out there will buy it: basically, Russia isn't going to run out anytime soon regardless price-fixing

Also (Clayton) let's not forget the trillions of $$$ of precious minerals that are present in the new regions of Russia (formerly Eastern Ukraine), to include the Donbass, of course. That's a fantastic bargaining chip (pardoning a half-pun there). The US and/or British Crown won't be getting their grubby mitts on those resources anytime soon. And you've got to get past the Russian army to stand even a remote chance. Good luck with that

Some good points here in the video, as is often the case, but the segment dealing with 'oil', to me at least, seemed to smack of a little naivete.

[Tintin]

Posted by Kryztian (here)


An excellent little summary of U.S. - Russia relations since 1990 which clearly demonstrates how U.S. foreign policy has been geared at destroying Russia since the Clinton Administration.

Posted by ExomatrixTV (here)

]

Yes, that's a really great segment. I'd saved this a while back to the library and the segment actually runs to around 10 minutes. Highly recommended

If anyone has anybody in their circle of friends and acquaintances who (still) doesn't get it, this is probably the very best oral summary you'll find anywhere which can be used as a reference. This segment is from Jeffrey Sachs Cambridge University Union presentation and Q&A from October 2024. The FULL event version can also be seen here.

Jeffrey Sachs explains the war in Ukraine in 10 minutes - University of Cambridge Union, October 22nd, 2024

[Tintin]

Ukrainian volunteer battalion Maksim Krivonos fighting alongside Russia since 2023

Retrieved from Sputnik India on X. I really do want to see more recruits to this battalion

(Text by Sputnik India channel)

The volunteer battalion named after Maksim Kryvonos has been fighting alongside Russia since 2023. It’s made up of ex-Ukrainian Army soldiers, both voluntary & forcibly mobilised, who made a decision to switch sides.

Only one rule: war criminals not allowed.

This is NOT a Russian army unit—it’s a Ukrainian volunteer formation, loyal to their oath to the Ukrainian people — not to the West or Zelensky’s puppet regime, the battalion's police officer told Sputnik.

❗️Many of them trained by NATO.

How do they fight COMPATRIOTS?

The battalion wants Ukraine to BREAK FREE from Western intel services.

"They’re told we’ll torture or kill them, but when we risk it all to pull them from the frontlines, their whole worldview shatters. Many join us & fight by our side."

WATCH ex-Japanese TEACHER & now a FIGHTER of the volunteer battalion with a call sign 'YAKUZA' explain why he didn’t kill a Russian soldier while in the Ukrainian army 👇

'YOUR LIFE BELONGS TO WESTERN INTEL SERVICES'

📹 A medic from the volunteer battalion explains how Zelensky's regime sold out its own people to the West, leaving them with no freedom—not even the choice to live or die.

Police officer with a call sign 'Jacques' tells Sputnik a story from Novogrodovka: the Ukrainian army shelled evacuees with CLUSTER BOMBS, revealing the truth—Zelensky's willing to sacrifices everybody.

"We’re fighting our brothers, but our mission is to save them."

[Moemers]

figured it out!

[Vicus]

Domestic political intrigues in Ukraine are gaining momentum: the mayor of Kyiv accused Zelensky of trying to usurp power
today

With the change of power in the White House, the position of the illegitimate President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, has also noticeably weakened. Fight for the right to negotiate with Russia, and along with this for future leadership positions, is gaining momentum.

Today, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko harshly criticized Ukrainian usurper Zelensky. The head of the capital stated that people from the entourage of the country's illegitimate president are engaged in political intrigues. Klitschko pointed out the incompetence of the new head of the Kyiv military administration appointed by Zelensky.

"People around you are engaged in political intrigues. And these processes are becoming critical"

– the mayor of Kyiv addressed the illegitimate president.

Klitschko pointed out that with such appointments Zelensky is trying to "unbalance power" in the capital and destroy local government, taking everything under his personal control. At the same time, the appointee is blocking the solution of key economic issues of the city and creating a threat to the life support of Kyiv.

Let us recall that this morning it became known about the excitation criminal case against another high-ranking representative of the Ukrainian elite. Defense Minister Rustem Umerov is accused of abuse of power.

https://en.topcor.ru/56135-vnutripol...ii-vlasti.html

[Vicus]

U.S. Transferred Dozens Of Patriot Missiles From Israel To Ukraine

The United States military transferred dozens of Patriot air defense interceptors from storage in Israel to Poland in order to deliver them to Ukraine, Axios reported on January 28, citing three sources with knowledge on the matter.

The Israeli military designation for the Patriot system is “Yahalom” [diamond in Hebrew]. Israeli PAC-2 systems have been upgraded to the GEM+ standard which has better performance against tactical ballistic missiles, cruise missiles or warplanes in complement to the PAC-3. Last April, the Israeli Air Force (IAF) officially decommissioned all of its Patriot air defense systems.

In June, the Financial Times reported that the U.S., Israel and Ukraine are in talks to provide Kiev forces with up to eight Patriot systems which were in service with the IAF.

Axios’ sources confirmed the talks. According to the sources, Israel dragged its feet for the last few months out of concern Russia would retaliate, perhaps by supplying advanced weapons to Iran.

One of the sources, a Ukrainian official, told the U.S. news site that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu refused to take his calls on that issue for weeks. But in late September, Netanyahu finally approved the idea, according to an Israeli official.

The same Israeli official said that his country had informed Russia in advance of the move and stressed it was “only returning the Patriot system to the U.S.” and not supplying weapons to Ukraine.

The sources told the news site that the flight transferred roughly 90 patriot interceptors that can be used by Ukraine with its current Patriot systems. Additional equipment, like radars and other gear, will first be transferred to the U.S. to be refurbished.

A Patriot system costs around $1,1 billion. A single PAC-3 missile costs some $7 million and a PAC-2 missile could cost up to $4 million, depending on the version. Ukraine has already received multiple Patriot systems from the U.S., Germany and other allies. Most of these systems had been damaged or destroyed by the Russian military.

While the transfer of the systems will not have any impact on the battlefield in Ukraine, it will increase tensions between Russia and Israel.

https://southfront.press/u-s-transfe...el-to-ukraine/

[Vicus]

On January 28, 2025, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine published an updated map of military operations in the Kursk region, which almost coincides with the data of the Russian Ministry of Defense and independent military analysts. According to the information presented, Ukrainian troops have lost about 70% of the territories they occupied in August last year.

During the offensive operations, Russian forces liberated more than 15 settlements in the Kursk region, previously controlled by the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Among them are Alexandria, Leonidovo, Russkoye Porechnoye and Kruglenkoye. The last settlement to be liberated was the village of Nikolayevo-Daryino, which the Russian Defense Ministry reported on January 27.

continue:
https://avia-pro.net/news/vsu-potery...noy-territorii

[Vicus]

The exclusion of Russia at the official commemorative event marking the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz is not just shameful. It is much darker and sinister.

The history of imperialist barbarism is audaciously rewritten to conceal its culpability.

When the industrial-scale Nazi extermination center at Auschwitz was liberated on January 27, 1945, by Soviet Red Army troops, few people would believe it possible that only 80 years later, the memory of the liberators would be written out of official Western history.

This is not just about petty rivalry and envy over historical achievement. The forces of imperialism are rehabilitating and seeking a license for greater war and killing.

Polish President Andrzej Duda this week led other Western leaders and dignitaries at the site of the infamous camp, where 1.3 million people – mostly Jewish – were exterminated in gas chambers. The organizers banned Russia from attending, citing alleged Russian aggression against Ukraine as the reason.

Eight decades ago, the Russian army would go on to liberate all the remaining Nazi death camps – all of them located on Nazi-occupied Polish territory. Auschwitz-Birkenau, Belzec, Chelmo, Sobibor and Treblinka. The names of these hellish places continue to resonate with horror. This was in the weeks before the final defeat of Hitler’s Third Reich in the Battle of Berlin when the Red Army raised the Hammer and Sickle over the Reichstag building in May.

The Soviet Union was the main victor of the Second World War and paid an incomparable price for defeating the scourge of fascism in Europe – with over 27 million of its people destroyed in the epic struggle.

From 1941 to 1945, the Red Army inflicted over 80 percent of the German Wehrmacht’s total war casualties, while Britain and the United States delayed their European front until the summer of 1944.

However, with the end of the war, Fascism wasn’t eliminated, nor was the capitalist imperialism that bore it. The Nazi variant of imperialism was certainly an extreme manifestation. Its industrialized mass murder of those it considered sub-human was shockingly systematized.

Western imperialism re-emerged soon after the world’s biggest, most horrific war. Only five years later, the U.S. military was killing millions of Korean civilians in a war supposedly to defend the free world against communism. Another 10 years later, millions of Vietnamese were being exterminated in the same evil charade.

continue:

https://strategic-culture.su/news/20...ialist-crimes/

[Vicus]

A pathetic clown-world alliance is signed by two moribund partners

This comical treaty concluded between two cripples reflects the decay of realistic and responsible statesmanship in the contemporary world.

The recent news item that imploding Great Britain and rump Ukraine have concluded a hundred-year alliance has injected some much-needed humour into the otherwise unbearably sombre political situation in the world.

The absurd length of the pact signed by Starmer and Zelensky illustrates the complete lack of realism that for some time has governed the conduct of both delusional chancelleries, in London as well as in Kiev. Neither of the contracting parties has any reasonable prospects of remaining in existence a century hence, by the time the term of the just concluded centennial alliance expires.

Nor are there grounds to believe that their successor states, if there are any, will have an interest in maintaining this stillborn and utterly preposterous alliance once both contracting parties have departed from the world stage.

Though at first blush it may appear harsh, this prognosis is fully consistent with observable facts. The dysfunctionality on many levels of Great Britain, or United Kingdom, it hardly matters what one chooses to call it, is rapidly dawning on everyone with eyes to see.

From the top down it is a country that is falling apart at the seams. At the very top, the Royal Family has lost its lustre in the time frame of a generation. Because of the irresponsible and unseemly conduct of its members it is no longer capable of performing its traditional symbolic and mediating duties. Precisely as William Butler Yeats anticipated, “Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold.”

It is that Britain, however, a country that many doubt will make it in recognisable shape or form to the year 2050 that has just signed a hundred-year alliance with Ukraine, a hollowed out entity that many are sceptical can make it to the end of this year, 2025.

Concerning Ukraine’s prospects, it is unnecessary to elaborate in great detail because this topic has been covered extensively and with great expertise by serious political commentators. Suffice it to say that since the failure of the plan to use Ukraine as a battering ram against Russia became manifest, the Kiev regime’s most ardent supporters and generous financiers are now removing the props from under it. The war they cynically instigated and were prepared to finance “to the last Ukrainian,” after three years has cost at least a million Ukrainian lives and caused millions of refugees to scatter throughout the neighbouring countries, enormously depleting Ukraine’s human and material resources and making its viability entirely doubtful even in the short-term.

continue:

https://strategic-culture.su/news/20...bund-partners/

[Vicus]

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=j3xLGgqudJs

Putin Refused Negotiations with Zelensky🚫🤝Chasiv Yar Is Semi-Encircled 🎯⚔️Military Summary 2025.1.29

...from 7 hours ago