Given, militarily Russia is calling the shots, however it is the sanctions regime which seems to have unexpectedly given Russia the upper hand. It appears that the Western countries are alienating their own population who are already trapped in runaway inflation and depressed economy due to the last 2 years of Covid reaction. Question: Will we see unrest and upheavals in some of these EU/NATO nations and will this further fracture these organisations?
Retired US Army Colonel McGregor:
✔️ I think in a few weeks people will know that the losses of the Ukrainian forces are very high, much more than anyone admits. I think there will be a different view on Russian operations. Remember that Russians are not like us. Many of us thought when Russian troops entered Ukraine that they would pass like a sledgehammer. But nothing like that.
✔️ The principal reason was that Putin made it very clear: “when this is over, we will live with the Ukrainians.” His goals were very simple: first, the neutrality of the Ukrainian state; the second is the autonomy or independence of the republics of Donbass and an agreement that Russian-speaking citizens of Ukraine will not be treated badly and that they will not be second-class citizens, as they used to be. And in the end, the withdrawal of any claims to the Crimea.
✔️ Crimea has never been Ukrainian. Going back to Khrushchev and his drinking in the 1950s, when he gave Kiev, which, by the way, was Russian, control of Crimea. These are basic conditions that have never changed.
✔️ But I think something has changed now – and not because of the alleged Ukrainian resistance, although they behave like ISIS and commit terrible atrocities against the Russians, and we cover it very little. I think Putin now listens to Zelensky and his negotiators, but no longer takes them seriously. And now he must reevaluate what he wants to do, and he may decide to leave everything east of the Dnieper to Russia.
✔️ Much of this historically was not Ukraine, for hundreds of years these lands were Mongolian, then they became Russian, there are Ukrainians, but there are also many Russians. I think he may decide that he will have to do it. We don’t know, but it’s not an unjustified conclusion, especially if he decides he can’t trust anything Ukrainians do or say.
✔️ Considering Zelensky’s behavior and resistance to any reasonable outcome, maybe he will decide: let Zelensky speak, and we will just continue to do what I have just described – we will take the entire eastern part.
✔️ But there is another side of the situation, and it is very dangerous: this constant flow of military equipment, coming mainly from Poland. And I won’t be surprised if he does something to stop it. He fired missiles at places where he knew we were training Ukrainian forces, where we could stage operations that would be blamed on Russia, as was already the case in Syria.
✔️ They have made it clear that they will not tolerate these deliveries to opponents in Ukraine. And this is very dangerous, because it comes close to the borders of NATO, and we can see something there that was not planned, some kind of incident, and then we will see that the war has expanded. It will be a disaster.
You either need to have responsible people as neighbors, or the ability to crush them without consequences, or an easily defended frontier.
I’m thinking if Ukraine doesn’t get a change of attitude really fast, they need to lose their coastline. They really need to lose access to the Azov Sea, regardless.
I wouldn’t want Romania to claim the bit below Odessa.
Looking at the sitrep maps give me a glimpse of the terrain. The waterways look tremendous. Can do lots of things with those. I’m not sure I’d want to share them with someone who is always trying to blow up my stuff.
Was it the east where the iron works and heavy manufacturing are/were? Something made me think it could be the equivalent of the Ruhr. But I haven’t checked an almanac.
If ukraine refuses to do what is right, it needs to be impoverished as much as possible, and this means taking away as much of its land as possible, including its Southern coastline, and landlock it. If ukies cannot be responsible stewards of those lands, then they won´t be.
My two favourite sources of information these days are Scott Ritter and Gonzalo Lira. I dreamed that the two of them would come together. And then, it happened!… But on Twitter, which I’ve always refused to sign up for, and which is blocked in Russia anyway (where I am). So sad and disappointed. Does anyone know if their discussion will be made available off Twitter? If it already is, could someone post a link?
🇷🇺🇺🇦 The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation made a number of important statements:
– Russia asks the UN and the OSCE to force Kyiv to fulfill its humanitarian obligations in Kharkov;
– On March 31, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation will open a gum corridor for the evacuation of citizens from Mariupol to Zaporozhye;
– In the hospitals of Kharkiv, only military personnel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and militants of the territorial defense are treated;
– The most critical humanitarian situation has developed in Kharkov;
– Nationalists place heavy military equipment in residential areas of Kharkov;
— The SBU conducts mass arrests in Kharkiv;
– Since March 2, the Russian Federation has delivered 6,521.3 tons of humanitarian cargo to Ukraine;
— During the day, 20,495 people were evacuated to Russia from the regions of Ukraine, the LPR and the DPR;
– Residents of Kharkov are blocked in the city;
– On March 30, Russia opened humanitarian routes in Ukraine in five directions;
– “Flying squadrons of death” nationalists are shelling residential buildings in Kharkov.
Given what is happening in Khakov, is Gonzalo still safe?
Magladhur, thanks for writing up the summary.
Twitter is banned currently in Russia.
Given, militarily Russia is calling the shots, however it is the sanctions regime which seems to have unexpectedly given Russia the upper hand. It appears that the Western countries are alienating their own population who are already trapped in runaway inflation and depressed economy due to the last 2 years of Covid reaction. Question: Will we see unrest and upheavals in some of these EU/NATO nations and will this further fracture these organisations?
Retired US Army Colonel McGregor:
✔️ I think in a few weeks people will know that the losses of the Ukrainian forces are very high, much more than anyone admits. I think there will be a different view on Russian operations. Remember that Russians are not like us. Many of us thought when Russian troops entered Ukraine that they would pass like a sledgehammer. But nothing like that.
✔️ The principal reason was that Putin made it very clear: “when this is over, we will live with the Ukrainians.” His goals were very simple: first, the neutrality of the Ukrainian state; the second is the autonomy or independence of the republics of Donbass and an agreement that Russian-speaking citizens of Ukraine will not be treated badly and that they will not be second-class citizens, as they used to be. And in the end, the withdrawal of any claims to the Crimea.
✔️ Crimea has never been Ukrainian. Going back to Khrushchev and his drinking in the 1950s, when he gave Kiev, which, by the way, was Russian, control of Crimea. These are basic conditions that have never changed.
✔️ But I think something has changed now – and not because of the alleged Ukrainian resistance, although they behave like ISIS and commit terrible atrocities against the Russians, and we cover it very little. I think Putin now listens to Zelensky and his negotiators, but no longer takes them seriously. And now he must reevaluate what he wants to do, and he may decide to leave everything east of the Dnieper to Russia.
✔️ Much of this historically was not Ukraine, for hundreds of years these lands were Mongolian, then they became Russian, there are Ukrainians, but there are also many Russians. I think he may decide that he will have to do it. We don’t know, but it’s not an unjustified conclusion, especially if he decides he can’t trust anything Ukrainians do or say.
✔️ Considering Zelensky’s behavior and resistance to any reasonable outcome, maybe he will decide: let Zelensky speak, and we will just continue to do what I have just described – we will take the entire eastern part.
✔️ But there is another side of the situation, and it is very dangerous: this constant flow of military equipment, coming mainly from Poland. And I won’t be surprised if he does something to stop it. He fired missiles at places where he knew we were training Ukrainian forces, where we could stage operations that would be blamed on Russia, as was already the case in Syria.
✔️ They have made it clear that they will not tolerate these deliveries to opponents in Ukraine. And this is very dangerous, because it comes close to the borders of NATO, and we can see something there that was not planned, some kind of incident, and then we will see that the war has expanded. It will be a disaster.
https://t.me/dimsmirnov175/31862
You either need to have responsible people as neighbors, or the ability to crush them without consequences, or an easily defended frontier.
I’m thinking if Ukraine doesn’t get a change of attitude really fast, they need to lose their coastline. They really need to lose access to the Azov Sea, regardless.
I wouldn’t want Romania to claim the bit below Odessa.
Looking at the sitrep maps give me a glimpse of the terrain. The waterways look tremendous. Can do lots of things with those. I’m not sure I’d want to share them with someone who is always trying to blow up my stuff.
Was it the east where the iron works and heavy manufacturing are/were? Something made me think it could be the equivalent of the Ruhr. But I haven’t checked an almanac.
If ukraine refuses to do what is right, it needs to be impoverished as much as possible, and this means taking away as much of its land as possible, including its Southern coastline, and landlock it. If ukies cannot be responsible stewards of those lands, then they won´t be.
Brilliant stuff from Gonzalo as always. I love his philosophy. The truth will piss you off then it will set you free.Stay safe man.
Most of the brilliant stuff seems to originate with Ritter ((:-)).
My two favourite sources of information these days are Scott Ritter and Gonzalo Lira. I dreamed that the two of them would come together. And then, it happened!… But on Twitter, which I’ve always refused to sign up for, and which is blocked in Russia anyway (where I am). So sad and disappointed. Does anyone know if their discussion will be made available off Twitter? If it already is, could someone post a link?