By Batko Milacic for the Saker Blog Ukraine is the core of the formation of the Russian state and nation. And much more. In modern circumstances, the question of Ukraine is a question of Russia’s survival. Ukraine is the country that decides on Russia’s destiny because it is in the lobby of the Kremlin. In the modern conditions of modern weapons, it is a springboard for the dismemberment of Russia.
So we are a week in and I think it is time to take short pause and see what happened over the last 7 days. The Russian attack began, as predicted, mostly by strikes with standoff weapons. 24 hours later, the Ukie air force and navy ceased to exist. In this initial phase, few Ukrainian units were directly engaged. The bulk of the Nazi forces is in Donbass and it
Dear friends, Here is a quick update. First, a (provisional) map (which is typically 6 hours late or so): I think that this map is self-explanatory, especially since the only major change is in that pink box. What we see here is what looks to me like an envelopment of the city of Odessa and the surrounding towns. I would also notice that the distance between the Russian forces in
By Thorsten J. Pattberg for the Saker Blog “Biden Imposes Sanctions on Nord Stream 2” –The Hill “Pentagon sending 7,000 more troops to Germany” –Politico “Germany’s own forces more or less blank” –Tagesspiegel BERLIN. After the German Reich was defeated in World War Two in 1949, its borders were redrawn, some territories went to France and Poland, and Austria was completely separated. The core German territory, however, was split into
Collated and posted by Amarynth for the Saker Blog These are short-form comments as the Russian governmental sites are still under attack. It is a collection of the latest comments from the Russian Foreign Affairs office. 🎙 FM Sergey Lavrov’s remarks at the high-level segment of the Conference on Disarmament, March 1, 2022 💬 Today, the dangers that the Zelensky regime poses to neighbouring countries and international security in general
Kindly forward video to time marker 14:00 This is not very good. But part 2 does not contain Pepe Escobar – just for your knowledge – Amarynth.
First, let’s begin with a pretty decent map of the situation today: Here is a small commentary on what we see in this map: In red the most recent Russian movements today. The only major progress is inside the purpose square when Russian forces have penetrated deep in the rear of both Odessa and Kiev. So I have to wonder – are they planning a strategic cauldron??? Dunno, but I
This question was asked by some pressitute while Biden was walking to his helicopter today: Mr President, is Ukraine winning the war? Wow, just wow. Either she fully believes it, and then WOW or she doesn’t and then WOW again. This is a “Let’s Go Brandon” on a geostrategic level! :-) By the way, she followed up with a question about whether he worried about a nuclear war. I think
by Mansoureh Tajik for the Saker Blog If I were to sum up the events of Ukraine in one short sentence, I would say: In the fall of Ukraine, the metaphorical west has fallen once again and cannot get up. The proof for this simple assessment should be sought in the answer to a larger contextual question: How does one actualize one’s dream of time travel floating between past, present,
By Pepe Escobar, posted with the author’s permission and cross-posted with The Cradle The US and EU are over-reaching on Russian sanctions. The end result could be the de-dollarization of the global economy and massive commodity shortages worldwide. So a congregation of NATO’s top brass ensconced in their echo chambers target the Russian Central Bank with sanctions and expect what? Cookies? What they got instead was Russia’s deterrence forces bumped
My dear TV western armchair generals, I get it, I promise. I really do! Your entire life you have been trained to see a successful military operation like so: Begin by bombing the shit of the “hadjis” or “sand niggers” with bombs and missiles, then flatten their town à la Fallujah, then move in with heavy armor and shoot everything which still moves or breathes. Then distribute chewing-gums to a
First, a hodgepodge sample of the kind of recent news: (sorry for the chaotic presentation, I am doing this all under time pressure) The International Chess Federation (FIDE) wants to sanction a Russian chess player for supporting the Russian intervention in the Ukraine. Hey, losers! This won’t help you! If you remove the Russians, the Chinese and Indians will still take all the titles from you :-P The Scala in
By Michael Hudson and posted with the author’s permission My old boss Herman Kahn, with whom I worked at the Hudson Institute in the 1970s, had a set speech that he would give at public meetings. He said that back in high school in Los Angeles, his teachers would say what most liberals were saying in the 1940s and 50s: “Wars never solved anything.” It was as if they never
by Straight-Bat for the Saker Blog Introduction It would be quite unusual for any thinking person to remain calm and quiet under the current geopolitical environment across the Eurasian landmass. Hence, I couldn’t resist myself from delving into the origin, causes, and future possibilities of the so-called ‘Ukraine problem’. The very first thing that comes to my mind is how the phrase ‘Ukraine problem’ came into limelight. Does the origin
Slowly the ability of the Russians to get information out to the world, while their internet infrastructure is still being heavily DDoS’ed, is improving. https://russiaun.ru/en/news/270222u 🎙 Russia’s Permanent Representative Vassily Nebenzia’s explanation of vote (https://russiaun.ru/en/news/270222u) following UNSC vote on a draft resolution calling an emergency special session of the General Assembly: 💬 Russia voted against the proposed draft resolution, because its authors offer to concede that Security Council is not
by Batko Milacic for the Saker Blog Just as Russia continues its peace operation in Ukraine, Warsaw is consulting with London. The EU is confident that the Russian blitzkrieg has fallen through and that Ukrainian troops will hold out in Kyiv and left-bank Ukraine for another week. Still, Russia’s military potential, not yet fully activated, will eventually allow Putin to achieve tangible military results. Unlike Hungary and Slovakia, the two
Dear friends, A couple of things. First, my post yesterday about my utter disgust with the West’s attitude resulted in well over FOUR HUNDRED comments overnight. And an avalanche of emails! I only had the time to skim the comments, but I will absolutely read every single one of them this afternoon. I might write up a post to answer some of them, or all of them together, we shall
By Dmitry Orlov and posted with the author’s permission. Last Thursday I reposed my “top ten signs that Russia has invaded the Ukraine” from 8 years ago when the Ukrainian regime change and civil war first started and the West continuously made claims that Russia had invaded. Well, last Thursday Russia did indeed invade. Russia had the full legal right to invade the Ukraine from several perspectives: to defend its
By Chris Faure for the Saker Blog Do people seriously imagine Russia simply blundered into the Ukraine not knowing what the west would do? You may be surprised to hear that the world is actually still spinning. All we have to deal with is the mighty Wurlitzer which is an old-style pipe organ for theaters, and also a propaganda instrument. Allow me a moment to explain: In 1967 the magazine
By Batko Milacic for the Saker Blog “The same pilot who shot down six Russian warplanes, he was nicknamed the ‘Ghost of Kiev”. “A column of scorched Russian equipment near Konotop”. “Snake Island recaptured”. Such messages have quickly gone viral on Russian-language telegram channels, which are a major source of information for the world media. The impression is that Russia has already lost the war and its last reserve are
