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
by Batko Milacic for the Saker Blog Despite possible sanctions and their hard-hitting economic consequences, the hunted Russian bear has got out of the den and is going after the hunters. Until recently, Russians, Ukrainians, and Europeans believed that there would be no war. What we see now, however, is a full-scale Russian intervention and quite a successful one too. Where are the Russian troops going, and most importantly, why?
By Pepe Escobar, posted with the author’s permission and cross-posted with The Cradle. This is what happens when a bunch of ragged hyenas, jackals and tiny rodents poke The Bear: a new geopolitical order is born in breathtaking speed. From a dramatic meeting of the Russian Security Council to a history lesson delivered by President Putin and the subsequent birth of the Baby Twins – the People’s Republics of Donetsk
by Batko Milacic for the Saker Blog Ukraine has been firmly in the U.S. geopolitical orbit since violent neo-Nazi protests in Kyiv’s Maidan Square resulted in the 2014 overthrow of the allegedly pro-Russian president, Viktor Yanukovych. Yet, Russia did not attempt to help the then-Ukrainian leader stay in power. As a result, anti-Russian forces came to power in Kyiv, leading the people of the Donbass region to vote in favor
“Circumstances require us to take decisive and immediate action,” the order reads. “The People’s Republics of Donbass turned to Russia with a request for help. In this regard, in accordance with Article 51, part 7 of the UN Charter, with the sanction of the Federation Council and in pursuance of the friendship treaties ratified by the Federal Assembly and mutual assistance with the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, I have
By Quantum Bird for the Saker Blog Recently, in his widely praised article “Revisiting Russia’s 5th and, especially, 6th columns” (available in English and Portuguese ), Andrei Raevsky, from The Saker Blog, has revisited his – quite original – 6th-column concept, focusing on the Russian political landscape and geopolitical conjuncture. In this short article, I intend to apply the concepts exposed by Raevsky to Brazil, and as much as possible,
By Cynthia Chung for the Saker Blog Europeans are presently being told that the energy crisis they are entering, with natural gas prices now four times higher than last year, stems from a longer winter, competition with East Asian countries for gas, and problems on the supply end with delayed maintenance and less investment. These gas prices are in turn determining the price in electricity markets, since 1/5 of Europe’s
By Pepe Escobar, posted with the author’s permission and cross-posted to other sites (Written this morning in Istanbul, BEFORE Putin buried the Minsk agreements. Everything else – and beyond – stands.) History will register that the birth of the baby twins – Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics – only a few hours before 2/22/22, was simultaneous to the birth of the real, 21st century multipolar world. As my columns have
By Dmitry Orlov and posted with permission Today’s date, commonly written out as 22.02.2022, will be an easy one for future schoolchildren to remember. Various people will remember it in various ways. The residents of Donetsk and Lugansk, the two formerly Ukrainian, now once again Russian cities that have been subjected to conditions bordering on genocide since the US-instigated government overthrow of 2014 will remember jubilantly dancing in the streets,
From Batko Milacic for the Saker Blog On February 15, the Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation hosted an international conference “Geopolitical war of the West against Russia: Ukrainian case”. During the event, political scientists, experts, journalists and public figures from Russia, United States, Italy, Germany, Finland, Belgium and other countries discussed possible developments around Ukraine. Director of the Democracy Research Foundation Maxim Grigoriev reminded the audience about the Colin
By Dmitry Orlov and posted with permission Denis Pushilin, leader of Donetsk, has just ordered a full evacuation. Leonid Pasechnik, leader of Lugansk, did the same. In doing so, they did exactly as I expected, and as I predicted. For all those of you who think that Putin is a mystery wrapped in an enigma, perhaps you should avoid thinking and just read my articles! A bit less than a
By Pepe Escobar, posted with the author’s permission and widely cross-posted Moscow has not deviated for a moment from its Sun Tzu approach – while detailing all demands and all red lines many times over. The Dem combo remote-controlling the senile President of the United States by earpiece/teleprompter was never accused of being the brightest bulbs in the room – any room. That explains why one of their own, Nancy
By Theo Toll for the Saker Blog The whole world has been watching with great alarm the events unfolding around a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine for several months now. The Kremlin’s position is crystal-clear: expanding Russia’s borders will give access to a region rich in natural resources, while seizing Kiev, Dnieper and Kherson will provide Crimea with water. But is Putin the only one who would stand to gain
by Observer R for the Saker Blog INTRODUCTION This paper is mainly about the Chinese economy, but includes discussion of the Russian and United States (US) economies in order to provide a clearer explanation. The Chinese economy is the largest in the world according to the latest CIA Fact Book, based on the Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) method. The CIA claims that the PPP is a better method to use
by Pepe Escobar: posted with the author’s permission and cross-posted with The Cradle A deeply NATO-entrenched Turkey is heading east, but not in the way you think. Erdogan’s ‘Asia Anew’ strategy is all about Turkic primacy, and will likely be at odds with Chinese and Russian-driven integration plans The information dropped like a Hellfire in the middle of a productive discussion with a group of top analysts in Istanbul: Across
By Walt Garlington for the Saker Blog There have been a few political thinkers in the United States through the years worthy of attention, but many of those here who comment on such things are awful guides, their views being badly skewed by their belief in American exceptionalism. Mr William Federer is a great example: His articles, while full of interesting details most of the time, too often place them
By Francis Lee for the Saker Blog Readers should bear in mind that I wrote the following below in 2008-09 when the global economy was in its recovery stage; a stage of convalescence after the fever of the 2007/08 boom-bust economic phenomenon. Suffice it to say that the much vaunted ‘recovery’ was to run its course but eventually ran into phase 2 of an all-together more comprehensive debacle which started
As the other threads are getting unwieldy with comments, please use this open thread today for comments and reporting facts. As you can see from the header, the ‘Russia is going to invade imminently’ meme even has a euphemistic campaign name to cover the extremely dangerous information warfare and psychological warfare against Russia and, against the Ukraine as well. One can think of them what you want, but they are
By Thorsten J. Pattberg for the Saker Blog In September of 1986 in Keelung City at the sea close to Taipei, a distressed middle school teacher dialed the parents of one of his female pupils – the Guos. He said he hadn’t consulted with the authorities yet, but that he suspected their daughter, Dangdang (12), was a pathological liar, and cruel to birds, frogs and stray dogs, and that without
Andrei Martyanov ups the ante! Simple: to make sure that in case false flag happens (which is most likely) the US assets and “decision-making centers” are not annihilated. But that is not how it is going to work. While Biden declares: According to a White House readout of the call, Biden warned Putin that the US and its allies would “respond decisively and impose swift and severe costs on Russia”
