By Saker Staff for the Saker Blog

Military Summary Channel reports on the collapses and the progress.  Soon after the start, he relates the sorry story of the sorry Ukrainian attempt to bribe Russian pilots to fly their battle aircraft out of Russia, in an attempt to steal them and stage a media victory for the Ukraine.

Defense Politics Asia Channel has more information.

The SMO is making steady but slow progress if one does not take into consideration that Russia and the Republics are reconstructing and instituting military-civilian social structures all the time.

Military Summary reports or considers that the entire South of the front line has already collapsed in some areas and is in the process of collapsing in others. Only small and under-equipped Ukrainian forces remain, are being cleaned, or retreating or surrendering.

To note:  These two reports in from the Republics:

Less than 10% of the military personnel remained in the Armed Forces of Ukraine after the start of the special operation – Ministry of Information of the DPR.

and

Donetsk People’s Republic will be liberated from the Ukrainian army by end of August – Information Minister of Donetsk Republic.

As for surrounding news Sergei Lavrov’s visits to Arab countries, the Arab League, and African countries continue and can only be described as a stunning victory and a complete triumph for diplomacy.

Zakharova reports that US officials tried to persuade everybody (and of course themselves) that Russia is “completely isolated” and “separated” from the rest of the world.  These officials have been running around trying to convince everyone not to take photos with Mr. Lavrov, so that they can support their thesis for a domestic audience, that Russia is isolated.  Another US ploy unmasked!  From Mr Putin’s meeting with Ali Khamenei in Tehran, several European leaders said to Ali Khamenei, that they totally oppose NATO expansion eastward and (in particular) towards Russia. However, when they (European leaders) were questioned about the reason behind this expansion, they answered that it is an American demand.”

Of course, trying to isolate Russia by not taking photos with Mr Lavrov, did not go anywhere.  In diplomatic circles, contacts are usually peer to peer, in other words, a foreign minister will be met by a foreign minister.  For these visits, Lavrov is being welcomed with full honors in each country and in each case being met by the President of the country.  This is rare to see and is a triumph, coming so soon after Mr Putin’s successful visit to Iran.

If Lavrov was an opera singer, we would describe him as being ‘in full voice’ during his visits, and his comments are both scathing and at times jubilant.  It takes sheer guts for a diplomat to describe the self-named ‘free world’ as “… a disgusting manifestation of hegemony and neocolonialism.”

These diplomatic coups will then filter through to the highest levels and we can expect to see more overt support for Russia in the UN and its organs.  In reality, the situation on the ground in the world is the following:

 

“We are at the beginning of a new era, which would be a movement towards real multilateralism, not to the multilateralism, which the West tries to impose on the basis of the exceptional role of the Western civilization in the modern world.

And I think the movement is unstoppable.”  [quote: Lavrov]

Enjoy your comments, and the SMO is making steady and relentless progress and these diplomatic successes will filter through to the Ukraine and the eventual ending of the carnage there.  We will have to wait and see the shape that the exact resolution takes.  Moscow will dictate these terms.