Russia, Ukraine and the West

[Phoenix]

Breaking: Israel launches "special military operation" inside Iran

https://mobile.twitter.com/officejjs...81603532795904

Just one more step closer to WWIII…hard to believe that Iran won’t retaliate in some major way.

[Carlin]

Richard Kemp, retired British army commander:

"I think that, unfortunately, they [Russians] are hammering the Ukrainians to hell with artillery, and then they go to mop them up. But I think that in the end, unfortunately, they will probably prevail in the east of Ukraine."

https://mobile.twitter.com/AZgeopolitics/status/1619080998930763776?cxt=HHwWgMDSvePlkPgsAAAA

[Carlin]

FRENCH TV DISCUSSES PROSPECT OF ETHNIC CLEANSING OF RUSSIANS IN CRIMEA

https://mobile.twitter.com/The_Real_Fly/status/1620862109671378945?cxt=HHwWgsDSzYjguv4sAAAA

[Carlin]

A Turkish news outlet published what is alleged to be a leaked Mossad intelligence assessment of Russian and Kiev Regime battlefield losses in the conflict.

All casualties and losses add up to:

Kiev: 416,000
Moscow: 63,000

This is a 7-to-1 ratio.

The KIA figures dovetail exactly with reports from Col. Douglas Macgregor and the BBC.

Macgregor has stated pubicly that Kiev has lost 157,000 troops. The BBC recently estimated Russia had lost between 12,000 and 20,000 troops, which fits the 18,480 Mossad figure.

https://twitter.com/GonzaloLira1968/status/1622503188405297152?cxt=HHwWgICx_bWDpYQtAAAA

[Phoenix]

A Turkish news outlet published what is alleged to be a leaked Mossad intelligence assessment of Russian and Kiev Regime battlefield losses in the conflict.

All casualties and losses add up to:

Kiev: 416,000
Moscow: 63,000

This is a 7-to-1 ratio.

The KIA figures dovetail exactly with reports from Col. Douglas Macgregor and the BBC.

Macgregor has stated pubicly that Kiev has lost 157,000 troops. The BBC recently estimated Russia had lost between 12,000 and 20,000 troops, which fits the 18,480 Mossad figure.

https://twitter.com/GonzaloLira1968/...Cx_bWDpYQtAAAA

Some truly horrifying numbers are being thrown around at the moment...a little while ago, president of the European Commission, von der Leyen was trying to walk back a figure of 100K that she claimed had been KIA on the Ukrainian side...just last week, Croatia president Milanović was floating a figure of at least 150K by now... (based on the figure that von der Leyen had previously announced).

There are now claims that Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Valery Zaluzhny has informed his American handlers of 257K KIA.
(stated by Col. D. McGregor)

Throughout history the futility of war has been spoken about, written about, studied and debated but nothing seems to alter the course of meaningless self destruction.

Ukraine quickly exhausting its pool of fit, healthy, mature and well trained men is now throwing inexperienced and poorly equipped 16 and 17 year old boys into the Bakhmut meat grinder where Ukrainian media are reporting a life expectancy of 4 hours for the wretched souls sent there on behalf of the American hegemony project that demands that Ukraine fight to the last Ukrainian.

Sadly Ukraine is running at breakneck speed to its very last Ukrainian, already by many estimations, some 10 million Ukrainians have poured into Western Europe (and Russia), some 53% (as claimed by some pundits recently) of the Ukrainian military has been destroyed in a mere 12 months of the relentless Russian SMO.

Since 2014, the Americans with their NATO partners have been pouring billions of dollars into arming and training Ukrainians, lines of 3 tier fortifications were scarred deeply into the earth to keep the Russians at bay whilst Ukrainian nazi's were given free reign to terrorise the ethnic Russians of Eastern Ukraine on a daily basis and the hegemon, just arrogantly smirked and poked the bear.

Hubris has an uncanny ability to double down on stupid, like some karmic law of the universe the hegemon and the great project of the west to destroy and dismantle Russia and subjugate the Russian people is slowly backfiring in the most spectacular of fashions.
Like every previous major war the time comes when momentum reaches a tipping point in favour of one side, this is marked by an ever accelerating loss of life that becomes unsustainable very quickly, much like what the nazi's suffered in the death throes of WWII...Ukraine is at that tipping point NOW...what comes in the weeks and months ahead won't have been seen inflicted on an enemy in close to 80 years.

I feel so sad for the average Ukrainian, talk about being sold the most glittering of turds, shame on Zelensky and every other Ukrainian whore that has profited from the pain and suffering needlessly inflicted on innocent Ukrainians who were seen as nothing more than cannon fodder and the dispensable pawns in a global 4D chess game that was rigged from the beginning to guarantee the primacy of the hegemon...

The best-laid plans of mice and men...

[Risto the Great]

It seems Ukraine is too important for this new world order that is forming. I fear (extra) external intervention. Escalation seems inevitable to me.

As a self avowed conspiracy theorist, I'm left wondering if Putin is in on it - in one way or another. Everyone takes home a prize (except for the Ukranian people).

In any case, the Ukranians are suffering. Meanwhile, Russell Brand is absolutely exquisite in his assessments here:

https://youtu.be/HtOsKvFdhjg

[Vangelovski]

Seems Russia has launched its much-awaited offensive in the Donbass. The next week or so will show whether it's going to have any success, though I wouldn't hold your breath. Prigozhin estimates that it would take between 1.5 to 2 years just for Russia to capture the rest of the Donbass (https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-02-...ears/101962380). That basically means never.

NATO supplies of Tanks, APCs, IFVs, howitzers, and long-range missiles are due over the next few months. I have little doubt NATO war planes will arrive at the same time. Ukraine will have a complete package for advanced combined arms warfare (something the Russians have never managed to understand in theory or practice even though it's the basis of modern warfare since WWII) for a counter offensive once the Russians have run out of steam in their self-created meat grinder of WWI artillery barrage followed by pointless human infantry waves.

For anyone that is interested in a good article about the state of the Russian armed forces (which really are reflective of the state of Russia and its society), the below is a really good one. Might have a paywall, but if you don't read the NY Times regularly, I think you're entitled to four free articles:

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/12/16/world/europe/russia-putin-war-failures-ukraine.html

[Vangelovski]

Some truly horrifying numbers are being thrown around at the moment...a little while ago, president of the European Commission, von der Leyen was trying to walk back a figure of 100K that she claimed had been KIA on the Ukrainian side...just last week, Croatia president Milanović was floating a figure of at least 150K by now... (based on the figure that von der Leyen had previously announced).

There are now claims that Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Valery Zaluzhny has informed his American handlers of 257K KIA.
(stated by Col. D. McGregor)

Throughout history the futility of war has been spoken about, written about, studied and debated but nothing seems to alter the course of meaningless self destruction.

Ukraine quickly exhausting its pool of fit, healthy, mature and well trained men is now throwing inexperienced and poorly equipped 16 and 17 year old boys into the Bakhmut meat grinder where Ukrainian media are reporting a life expectancy of 4 hours for the wretched souls sent there on behalf of the American hegemony project that demands that Ukraine fight to the last Ukrainian.

Sadly Ukraine is running at breakneck speed to its very last Ukrainian, already by many estimations, some 10 million Ukrainians have poured into Western Europe (and Russia), some 53% (as claimed by some pundits recently) of the Ukrainian military has been destroyed in a mere 12 months of the relentless Russian SMO.

Since 2014, the Americans with their NATO partners have been pouring billions of dollars into arming and training Ukrainians, lines of 3 tier fortifications were scarred deeply into the earth to keep the Russians at bay whilst Ukrainian nazi's were given free reign to terrorise the ethnic Russians of Eastern Ukraine on a daily basis and the hegemon, just arrogantly smirked and poked the bear.

Hubris has an uncanny ability to double down on stupid, like some karmic law of the universe the hegemon and the great project of the west to destroy and dismantle Russia and subjugate the Russian people is slowly backfiring in the most spectacular of fashions.
Like every previous major war the time comes when momentum reaches a tipping point in favour of one side, this is marked by an ever accelerating loss of life that becomes unsustainable very quickly, much like what the nazi's suffered in the death throes of WWII...Ukraine is at that tipping point NOW...what comes in the weeks and months ahead won't have been seen inflicted on an enemy in close to 80 years.

I feel so sad for the average Ukrainian, talk about being sold the most glittering of turds, shame on Zelensky and every other Ukrainian whore that has profited from the pain and suffering needlessly inflicted on innocent Ukrainians who were seen as nothing more than cannon fodder and the dispensable pawns in a global 4D chess game that was rigged from the beginning to guarantee the primacy of the hegemon...

The best-laid plans of mice and men...

Those poor Ukrainian fools. If only they weren't being brainwashed into thinking they're a separate ethnic/national people who want to determine their own affairs and run their own state they would willingly embrace the warm brotherly Russian offer of subjugation and defer to Moscow's orders. Why don't they just capitulate?

Sounds very familiar....but you used to oppose that sort of thinking.

[Risto the Great]

Those poor Ukrainian fools. If only they weren't being brainwashed into thinking they're a separate ethnic/national people who want to determine their own affairs and run their own state they would willingly embrace the warm brotherly Russian offer of subjugation and defer to Moscow's orders. Why don't they just capitulate?

If only they didn't defer to USA already. Reminds me of Macedonia (except Macedonia has nothing to offer in comparison to Ukraine).

https://twitter.com/mtracey/status/1617786634606628865?s=20

[Phoenix]

Those poor Ukrainian fools. If only they weren't being brainwashed into thinking they're a separate ethnic/national people who want to determine their own affairs and run their own state they would willingly embrace the warm brotherly Russian offer of subjugation and defer to Moscow's orders. Why don't they just capitulate?

Sounds very familiar....but you used to oppose that sort of thinking.

The thing I oppose is not ones right to self determination or the pursuit of a better life (in all of its shapes and colours, or whatever that means to the individual)...the thing I greatly oppose is the way Ukrainians have been used to do the dirty work of the US...what I oppose is the relentless march of NATO further east and on the doorstep of a nuclear armed nation...I oppose the constant poking and prodding by the US and its lackey allies that could lead to a global nuclear conflict, one that will lead to the destruction of everything on this planet

If Ukraine had patriotic leaders serving the best interests of their people, they probably have/had every opportunity to achieve their wishes.
Ukraine is/was a country rich in natural resources and industrial capacity...all it needs is honest politicians that put the nation and people ahead of everything else...instead it is the most corrupt shithole in Europe.

So don't give me this nonsense that the Ukrainian people are having their rights to freedom taken away from them by the 'big bad russians'...they're doing it to themselves under the pretence of seeking freedom, all the Ukrainian leadership want is the freedom to act with impunity and to fleece the state, all under the impotent and uncaring gaze of that beacon of hope and freedom, the USA.

Sort of reminds me about America's role in a little corner of the Balkans as well...

[Carlin]

Ukraine Relies on Intelligence from US for HIMARS Rocket Strikes
Ukrainian officials tell WaPo they almost never launch HIMARS rounds without using coordinates provided by US military personnel

https://news.antiwar.com/2023/02/09/ukraine-relies-on-intelligence-by-us-for-himars-rocket-strikes/

Ukraine Prepared to Strike Crimea With British Missiles
The UK is in discussions with Ukraine on providing longer-range missiles

https://news.antiwar.com/2023/02/09/ukraine-prepared-to-strike-crimea-with-british-missiles/

[Phoenix]

Seems Russia has launched its much-awaited offensive in the Donbass. The next week or so will show whether it's going to have any success, though I wouldn't hold your breath. Prigozhin estimates that it would take between 1.5 to 2 years just for Russia to capture the rest of the Donbass (https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-02-...ears/101962380). That basically means never.

There was much debate on social media about the Prigozhin comment...personally I would take Putin's comments more seriously and he came out the other day saying that he wants everything in the east finished by the end of March.

NATO supplies of Tanks, APCs, IFVs, howitzers, and long-range missiles are due over the next few months. I have little doubt NATO war planes will arrive at the same time. Ukraine will have a complete package for advanced combined arms warfare (something the Russians have never managed to understand in theory or practice even though it's the basis of modern warfare since WWII) for a counter offensive once the Russians have run out of steam in their self-created meat grinder of WWI artillery barrage followed by pointless human infantry waves.

Your mind works in mysterious ways...Do you realise that with the latest promises and donations of western military aid to Ukraine that the Russians have now destroyed the second iteration of the Ukrainian military and are now probably moving onto AFU V3.0...and where do you think Ukraine is going to find the manpower to operate all of these new systems or the logistical infrastructure to maintain and resupply such disparate systems?

For anyone that is interested in a good article about the state of the Russian armed forces (which really are reflective of the state of Russia and its society), the below is a really good one. Might have a paywall, but if you don't read the NY Times regularly, I think you're entitled to four free articles:

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/...s-ukraine.html

Yeah, like the NY Times isn't full of shit...yep the hopeless state of Russia's armed forces...we've heard it all before...they ran out of missiles in March 2022...

[Vangelovski]

If only they didn't defer to USA already. Reminds me of Macedonia (except Macedonia has nothing to offer in comparison to Ukraine).

https://twitter.com/mtracey/status/1...606628865?s=20

What do you mean by "deferring". That's pretty vague.

[Vangelovski]

The thing I oppose is not ones right to self determination or the pursuit of a better life (in all of its shapes and colours, or whatever that means to the individual)...

Then why do you support the Russian invasion of Ukraine?

the thing I greatly oppose is the way Ukrainians have been used to do the dirty work of the US...

What dirty work? Can you actually be specific for once?

what I oppose is the relentless march of NATO further east and on the doorstep of a nuclear armed nation...

Same bagpipe. NATO hasn't marched anywhere. East European countries willingly joined NATO because they have been subjugated by Russia for over 100 years and saw their security and sovereignty (not perfectly) but much better protected as part of the NATO alliance.

I oppose the constant poking and prodding by the US and its lackey allies that could lead to a global nuclear conflict, one that will lead to the destruction of everything on this planet

Russia invaded Ukraine and somehow that is America's fault. This is nothing more than incoherent anti-American, anti-Western diatribe. All of this has already been covered in previous posts and you've don't nothing more that make vague suggestions of American/Western "poking" and "prodding".

If Ukraine had patriotic leaders serving the best interests of their people, they probably have/had every opportunity to achieve their wishes.

Doesn't really seem like you know much about the Ukrainians peoples' wishes. Tens of Millions of them are voluntarily fighting and/or working against the Russians in an existential war as we type and you're saying they're wrong and Russia is right.

Ukraine is/was a country rich in natural resources and industrial capacity...all it needs is honest politicians that put the nation and people ahead of everything else...instead it is the most corrupt shithole in Europe.

I agree re needing honest politicians (potentially a non-existant species) but its highly debatable as to which country deserves the title of Europe's most corrupt shithole. I still think Macedonia is giving it a good run.

So don't give me this nonsense that the Ukrainian people are having their rights to freedom taken away from them by the 'big bad russians'...

Russia literally invaded Ukraine. In 2014 and again last year. Its literally Russia that is violently attempting to destroy Ukrainian national sovereignty. Literally right now.

they're doing it to themselves under the pretence of seeking freedom,

What on earth does that even mean????

all the Ukrainian leadership want is the freedom to act with impunity and to fleece the state, all under the impotent and uncaring gaze of that beacon of hope and freedom, the USA.

No doubt, but that's not America's fault. It's up to Ukrainians to sort out corruption in their own country, just like it's up to Macedonians to sort out corruption in Macedonia or Australians to sort out corruption in Australia. Setting the blame on a foreign country for the corrupt, nepotistic and administratively incompetent mentality of the domestic population that has been cultivated over centuries through despotic ideologies and philosophies is completely vacuous and a shallow sociological understanding of what corruption is and how it can be combatted.

Sort of reminds me about America's role in a little corner of the Balkans as well...

I think you forget the totality of America's role in that little corner and the overwhelming blame that lies with the mentality of the people of that little corner...which you seem to be absorbing as part of your own outlook. You can't pin blame for your own incompetence on someone else.

[Vangelovski]

There was much debate on social media about the Prigozhin comment...personally I would take Putin's comments more seriously and he came out the other day saying that he wants everything in the east finished by the end of March.

What Putin wants and what the Russian armed forces can realistically accomplish are clearly two different things. Documents captured from retreating Russians last year demonstrate that Putin wanted the total collapse of Ukraine within weeks, if not days.

Your mind works in mysterious ways...

Its only mysterious to those who fail to understand logic and/or the actual capabilities (as opposed to the myth) of the Russian armed forces.

Do you realise that with the latest promises and donations of western military aid to Ukraine that the Russians have now destroyed the second iteration of the Ukrainian military and are now probably moving onto AFU V3.0...and where do you think Ukraine is going to find the manpower to operate all of these new systems or the logistical infrastructure to maintain and resupply such disparate systems?

Got any actual evidence other than the conjecture spread around by RT or the world socialist web site? Ukraine has never been given the type of equipment now being promised by NATO (heavy and light tanks, new long-range missiles). Further, Ukraine losing equipment in battle does not equate to the destruction of its entire armed forces. We could also make the same statement, and more, about Russia getting supplies from Iran and North Korea - but it's not the case.

If Ukraine has no manpower left, then who exactly led the counter offensives that liberated up to five oblasts over the past few months? Who has been repelling Russian attacks since then and who is repelling the latest Russian offensive? Maybe the Russians are more incompetent that even I imagined and are tripping over themselves?

Yeah, like the NY Times isn't full of shit...yep the hopeless state of Russia's armed forces...we've heard it all before...they ran out of missiles in March 2022...

Still with the missiles (which by the way, Russia can only manage to fire sporadically and at best only about 100 at a time. Yes, this is a ridiculously pathetic effort.) The NY times has hit the nail on the head with this peice.