This is an open thread for discussion of everything Saker related.
Two notes to start it off:
The Russian MoD released a very interesting additional statement, beyond their usual factual briefings. It reads as follows:
◽️Successful offensive of Russian units towards Lugansk within 5 days has resulted in the liberation of Loskutovka, Podlesnoye, Mirnaya Dolina, Shchebkaryer, Vrubovka, Nyrkovo, Nikiolayevka, Novoivanovka, Ustinovka and Ray-Aleksandrovka.
◽️Group of Ukrainian units has been completely isolated near Gorskoye and Zolotoye.
◽️This pocket has encircled 4 battalions: 3rd Mechanised Battalion of 24th Mechanised Brigade, 15th Mountain Assault Battalion of 128th Mountain Assault Brigade, 42nd Mechanised Infantry Battalion of 57th Mechanised Infantry Brigade, 70th Battalion of 101st Territorial Defence Brigade, as well as an artillery group of 57th Mechanised Infantry Brigade, a group of Nazis from Right Sector organisation and a detachment of foreign mercenaries.
📊 In total, the Gorskoye pocket has isolated up to 2,000 people: about 1,800 servicemen, 120 Nazis from Right Sector, up to 80 foreign mercenaries, as well as over 40 armoured combat vehicles and about 80 guns and mortars.
◽️41 servicemen abandoned their resistance and surrendered voluntarily just over the past 24 hours.
◽️According to the prisoners, the encircled Ukrainian units are exhausted. The units are currently manned by less than 40%. Higher Ukrainian command has lost control over these units. Armament, munitions, fuel and other logistic supply is completely stopped.
◽️Russian troops are straitening the Gorskoye encirclement by launching uninterrupted attacks at the enemy. Half of Zolotoye had been taken under control over yesterday.
◽️The enemy suffers considerable losses in other directions, too.
💥High-precision attacks of Russian Aerospace Forces at three bases of foreign mercenaries in Nikolayev, Golitsyno (Nikolayev region) and Oleshki (Kharkov region) have resulted in the elimination of more than 200 ‘soldiers of fortune’ and up to 100 Ukrainian nationalists.
◽️Desertion and refusals to be involved in operations are becoming widespread in the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU). Over 30 Ukrainian servicemen from one of the battalions of 25th Airborne Brigade have abandoned their positions and personal weapons near Aleksandropol (Donetsk People’s Republic).
◽️To replenish the losses in manpower, Ukrainian command are forced to form separate rifle battalions formed by untrained, mobilised citizens in each region towards Donetsk and Lugansk.
This tells the story in full and no more comment is required.
On the broader world front, the economists are discussing Mr Putin’s announcement of a new International reserve currency based on a basket of BRICS currencies.
There is little detail available currently and what it looks like on the face of it, is that the efforts currently are toward the integration of systems and currency swaps, rather than huge monetary changes. The details here will be world changing and fascinating.
Use as open thread.
Finally, a visual aid from a Chinese spokesperson, Zhao Lijian:
The monetary question stands above all others.
Until we go back to the Gold Standard we’re in danger. And totally abolish usury.
Yes you” re correct. Gold and silver is a fair system for the poor as well as the rich man and people who want to save something. No banks needed just safes ha ha. Investment is of course better than saving.
BTW. What you mention are two basic principles of Islamic finance.
Invest in what, with whom, market invested gold sits on small bits of paper. A good wind or fire and you are penniless. Well, there is investment insurance, but the fine print will read the same. “invest at your own risk”.
That’s the problem with current usury and ‘bank’ruptsy? The lenders take no risk.
Cheers M
Investing in insurance?
Claiming my pension this week, the investment, had lost its value of more than a third since 28th of January last year.
What are you going to invest in for everything out there is corrupt, the big boys control all the investment schemes and can clean you out in a heartbeat, they have forced the people into the stock market with their pension funds and when the market goes so will their pensions, banks pay no interest to try to force the people into jumping into the stock market which is as corrupt as it comes backed up by the Fed. and Central Bank. In a survey taken a short time ago 56% said this form of government no longer worked for them and I bet today it’s well over 60%, and they are right for the average American the working class this system simply fails to work and needs to be destroyed.
If we copytrade Bill Gates it will be
20 years ago: Buy Big Tech, Microsoft, Apple, Google, Facebook (all went to heaven)
Today: Sell Google and Microsoft, keep Apple
Bill Gates
$100,000 will be $20 mill
Compare that to Gold (Peter Schiff)
$100,000 will be $3 mill
Since Big Tech is where the Central Commitee member themselves put their money, Big Tech profit will be protected by government. Not so with Gold.
20 years ago ain’t today, but I presume you knew that and of course government when it’s flat on its back can protect little to nothing as it tries to keep the people off its back, as it tries to climb out of the hole that got them there, and he who puts their faith in anything to do with the government is only begging for a mauling.
Its probably right. Government controls and define fake value and people will believe, why it will have purchase value.
But reality is still that Bill Gates is still fiat and fake money, while gold is real physical money. https://www.pngwing.com/en/free-png-kprvg .
Bill Gates bought shares in some company called Microsoft, and Google – as he just sold out those shares – because he does not believe they are worth face value any more.
Shares is a registered paper about ownership, not fiat money. Fiat money is what you get each month.
The current form of the U.S. government is ahistorical and has only worked for the bankers and rentiers.
It’s really only been around for about 30 years.
Invest? Whoa! “Out of the frying pan into the fire.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcH_HCRQczM
A true “blast from the past”. Ah, good old days.
Let me compliment you on that one :-D. One of the best rock albums.
In many cases, an investment is offered to the unsuspecting public only when private investors want to get out.
Near Lisichansk, more than 800 soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine surrendered
https://readovka.news/news/102039
From TASS.
There Can Be No Peace Without the Bankruptcy Reorganization of the Dying Trans-Atlantic Financial System
https://schillerinstitute.com/blog/2022/06/17/conference-there-can-be-no-peace-without-the-bankruptcy-reorganization-of-the-dying-trans-atlantic-financial-system/
And a Call for ‘New Bretton Woods’ Initiative For Economic Security, Peace For All Nations
https://schillerinstitute.com/blog/2022/06/20/schiller-institute-conference-call-for-new-bretton-woods-initiative-for-economic-security-peace-for-all-nations/
In other words, the Bretton Woods System that President Nixon killed in 1971, a Gold Reserve (NOT Gold Standard) System, has led to the disaster today.
No matter what the EAEU do, if this hyperinflationary transatlantic collapse is not immediately dealt with, A New Bretton Woods, the threat remains.
Monetarists and Goldbugs, take a lesson!
The La Rouchies still don’t realize where their institute gets its money from. I would suggest you go and do some deep deep research. Besides that .. A New Bretton Woods? Y’all are from the sixties and you do not realize the changes today. We are decades beyond that.
It is very simple really – if the Transatlantic is not reorganized, there is no chance the world will survive.
That is the 2020’s .
The outstanding $2 Quadrillion nominal debt is driving the NATO war pranks. Putin knows that, Glazyev knows that, The Saker is a bit slow on the uptake, so far. As they say here, economics is not their Forte.
It is very disturbing for the Anglo Establishment, that an American precisely identified the danger of Nixon’s 1971 action, and forecast decades in advance exactly the danger we face today in the 2020’s. Not a single other economist had the slightest inkling what is happening.
To be clear, you are also in the cauldron that Nixon ignited, ok?
Strategic Culture is blocked from my location. I should perhaps look into a VPN.
Yes, I know the Beeb. In 2014, I watched them shamelessly plagiarize a Graham Phillips video, strip the sound of people cursing Poroshenko in Russian, and relabel it ‘Russians shelling Ukraine’. I did not trust them already, but that told me all I need to know.
And no, I am not looking forward to the coming years in the belly of the beast.
STC’s problem is just IPv6 – turn it off in your PC.
The DNS entry there is for what looks like a dev. server.
IPv4 works fine.
My comment above was supposed to be at another place on the tree. It was a reply to your remark about the BBC. I must have hit the wrong ‘reply’ … but thanks, I’ll look into IPv6 as the problem. I never really understood how it is an ‘improvement’.
And the Saker has been good enough to have Catherine Austin Fitts come here, for a nice long discussion. It’s what makes this website great. He has brought in real experts to complement his analyses.
I think Amarynth is correct, we are way beyond Bretton Woods. The new Eurasian system will be the backbone of the global economy going forward, leaving Sterling and Eruos and Dollars and Yen in the backwaters of declining relevance.
Way beyond, yes into the current cauldron.
Missing the cauldron we are cooking in, while guzzling Ukrainian grilling, is pretty daft!
Sometime ago, Putin talked about having bonds (I believe international) backed by gold and numbered to prevent counterfeit bonds, but I never read anything past that time about it.
I think everyone realizes that currencies have to be backed with something other than hot air and good faith where none exist, where ever you get a banker involved your car your house and everything else you own is gone otherwise we will end up just where we are today the Fed. is a very good example of that, as they run the country down the crapper for the business/banking sector where the purchasing power is only 3 cents on the dollar, perhaps it’s time the states went back to coining their own currencies for interstate usage leaving the Federal government out of it.
The US Constitution Credit Clause, 8, makes clear what this fight is all about.
Oh, sure. Clause 8 readily springs to everyone’s mind. The clause may make something clear, but this comment does not. Too much trouble to mansplain any more guff to us?
This is definitely not for delicate weak knees !
Hamilton’s Constitution
https://larouchepub.com/lym/2009/3631hamiltons_constitution.html
Everyone please take this conversation to the MFC where topics not related to the site can be discussed. And no attacks on the author – breaks site rules. All removed. Mod.
Great answer Bon Bon. The Associations are run on a shoestring with the organizers I know sharing apartments, going without food and new clothing, and taking outside jobs just to live. These are the finest human beings I have ever known and don’t deserve to be denigrated.
Without “LaRouchies” there would be no BRICS, no BRI (which was pitched by Mr. LaRouche to the Chinese as the “Eurasian Landbridge”), and no Mr. Glazyev because he was trained by Mr. LaRouche. Mr. LaRouche was inducted into the Russian Academy of Science where he was paired with Mr. Glazyev to learn what is called the “American System of Political Economy.”
I have been an associate of Mr. LaRouche’s organization for my entire adult life, have been attacked by the most powerful forces on the planet such as the British and American intelligence services, the US Department of (In)Justice, the lying global news media, the corrupt think tanks of Washington DC, and the cast of venal political characters populating the US Congress to this day. Some of my associates were imprisioned, as was Mr. LaRouche, by railroad prosecutions under George Bush the Elder.
So where does the money come from? I thought it was from me and countless others making small contributions.
Funny story. I was standing across the street from the Sacramento convention centre watching a lively demonstration by what was then the LaRouche youth movement who had managed to take over a chunk of the state’s Democratic Party. Two women walked up to cross the street and one said to the other, “Who pays for those people to come here?” I looked over at them and responded, “I did.” That quickly shut them up.
Keep up the fight for The Good, Bon Bon!
Find out,who was banned from all Europe and these nations in the 13th century. How lands designated a foreign country, even in England, and who paid for Oliver Cromwells mercenary armies, all three of them, to murder the king of England, perhaps then you might see the cancer on the backs of humanity, regardless of national sovereignty one thing joins them all, from the American revolution, French Revolution, WW1-ww2.
The facts hidden in plain sight.
Regarding economic salvation. If there is any initiative it’s going to come from Russia and China, for the simple reason the US is so politically comprised, it’s not funny. Russia and China have something of what the US had long ago. Private enterprise, technology, and a political state to direct important economies.
LaRouche was ahead of his time. No perfect but a foil to the oligarchs. For this reason, they sent over 400 agents to arrest him! Roger Stone merited 29.
However today the political economy is in the hands of Russia and China. It is for this reason the western oligarchs want to break these two up and coming premiere states to pieces, collect the assets, so as to keep the western system afloat. These exploiters, all they know how to do is to plunder and to destroy, and so the politics they engender is corrupt cronyism.
I am afraid our (American) state is in for a long process of trouble, and Russia and China will be the trend setters.
“the Bretton Woods System that President Nixon killed in 1971, a Gold Reserve (NOT Gold Standard) System, has led to the disaster today.”
The gold reserve system was not a problem. The problem was US spending and the creation of debt over and above tax receipts. Somebody thought that stacking US debt on other Central Bank balance sheets would never be noticed. Unfortunately some people had calculators and could figure out the USA would run out of gold.
The failure of Bretton Woods was a combination of two things. Failure to adjust the USD gold price to balance trade and US government overspending. Once people figure out you will have to adjust the gold price per dollar, they will always take gold over USD.
Inflation and a fixed gold price cannot coexist. Compounded inflation over time will drop gold production to zero because nobody can harvest gold from the ground at a loss for an extended period.
When Bretton Woods was formed, the dollar was still overvalued relative to gold from when the USG revalued gold in the 1930’s. Parity adjusted to inflation, was not reached until mid 1950’s as I recall.
…. . Once people figure out you will have to adjust the gold price per dollar, they will always take gold over USD…..
The collary is they‘ll hoard the gold, and spend the fiat. Bad money always drives out good money…until economic collapse
bertdilbert – “Once people figure out you will have to adjust the gold price per dollar, they will always take gold over USD.”
Good points.
Projecting their overspending into global balance sheets is bouncing back as hyperinflation. Presenting a choice between the fiat USD’s diminshed buying power with skyrocketing inflation, or the new gold standard and it’s regulated currencies. As the collapse of the fiat dollar happens before everyone’s eyes.
Along with a few people’s dreams of expanding their money-tree plantations and paper mache mansions.
The Ruble has recovered nicely, it’s at a 5 year high this morning!
Z
No, in reality this is a problem.
From the perspective of the sanctions, it might appear so. But when Russia is trading 1:1 with it’s partners, the problem dissolves. Along with ties to the fiat dollar.
As western inflation rises and gold goes up, the ruble goes up.
– gold goes up
As 1 ounce of Gold = 100 RUB … it is all locked https://exchangerate.guru/xau/rub/1/
The value of Gold RUB is now decided by market in Shanghai and Chicago/London
100K RUB
ROFL !. Good one, Petr, nicely phrased.
Hmmm…Petr, could you expound on that please? The sanctions (Golem) were intended to crash the Ruble, doing untold harm to the Russian people, with wailing Wall Street glee and the maniacal rubbing of hands…
Z
If the RUBUSD is suddenly stronger they must discount exports otherwise their trading partners cannot afford to buy in terms of recent USD prices. Russian exporters are now getting less rubles for their wares than prior to the war, ie less rubles to pay to the workers that produce the wares inside of Russia.
“Russian exporters are now getting less rubles…”
That might be a moot point considering the RUB marked performance uptic on world indices (Bloomberg, Wall St). And increasing value against the USD, with Russian energy income increasing daily ($100M). Less rubles maybe, but with higher value. Just wait till they ask for trade payment in gold. As BRICS is gaining momentum.
The swift system is winding down with the fiat dollar on the wane. Comparing the gold backed RUB with the fiat USD now is comparing apples to oranges. Usury is a dead deal.
RCB has by setting Ruble=gold painted themselves into a corner where they cannot print Ruble.
(Some minor increase of Ruble supply is possible by buying up gold in the world)
Worse, private banks cannot create Ruble by debt when Ruble is restricted by mass of gold, not mass of collaterals.
Logically, Russian farmers will be decimated, and farming will be for oligarchs only, who don’t depend on credit.
There is a reason for Paul Craig Robert telling f**k RCB
Good point. But the RCB can always modify the gold peg (if it really does exist) if necessary.
It seems you are unaware of the Russian agricultural sector structure.
Ever since the collectivisation in the 30s, it is dominated by big /and so efficient/ enterprises. Individual farmers are an exception to the rule and they mostly server the local market – exchange rates have no effect on those folks.
True, the refinancing rate is too high still – but an appreciated ruble is exactly what allows the RCB to gradually reduce the interest levels. It is easy for Russia to depreciate ruble – should they desire so.
UK has been running 0-2% interest while inflation has been 2-4%. Not a problem. RCB can do the same.
Now real interest is terrible in Russia.
In the countryside, all will have some place to grow vegetables in Russia. That is what is common agriculture … so tiny it can be inside kitchen. A lot of work is required, not a lot of land.
Agrobusiness is common in Russia outside big cities. It is some cheap vegetables (low in nutrients)
There is a simple solution. Get some more gold :-).
The American media is reporting a retreat from sievierodonetsk.
https://www.foxnews.com/world/ukrainian-forces-retreat-sievierodonetsk-encircled-russians.
Does anyone know if this is true or if the remaining Ukrainian forces have surrendered?
Unconfirmed reports say Russia now holds Severdonetsk. Per Intel Slava Z the retreat was a bloodbath:
Slava Z
🇷🇺🇺🇦⚡The enemy’s exit from Severodonetsk cost a lot of blood
This is reported by volunteers close to the Kiev propagandist Yuriy Butusovka
Yesterday was a terrible day.
Yury Butusov repeatedly wrote and warned about such events.
Also per Intel Slava Z, Ukr is now preparing to draft the disabled.
~2,000 are surrounded in Gorska(?)
And large # of mercs killed yesterday
Thanks for supplying me with that information.
Mary,
…that was several days ago. It seems Russians and her allies have now Lysichansk almost surrendered which before we heard was one of the toughest uki garrisons.
/Ukr is now preparing to draft the disabled/
Here we go again:
Panzerfäust shooting VOLKSSTURM (WWII short film) HD 4K
https://youtu.be/tRwy5BaIMU0
That is a re-enactment (of all things) but isn’t the situation the same with upgraded technology? (Panzerfaust vs T-34 then; Javelin vs T-80 now).
The ‘Associated Press’ is reporting the same, the NYT too, it’s true.
The story is “Ukraine government orders a retreat” —
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-61920708
If Military Summary is to be believed, there is no direction in which they can retreat without encountering Allied forces. Presumably they will be ‘safely evacuated’ like the Azovstal Ukrops.
The BBC is not known for chess smarts – The EU, NATO and Kiev are in Zugzwang*
*A chess term, where a player must move, but every possible move only worsens his situation
https://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2022/06/20/zugzwang/
True, they lost an entire Brigade, was being reported on warzone 247, the retreat was from Lisichansk, the saps in Severodonetsk are trapped, some are surrendering now.
We’ll know soon enough.
There was some Ukrainian counter offensive in the south trying maybe to split the Kherson resupply lines. I’d be interested in know what happened there, as the majority of allied forces are further north.
Cheers M
“Lavrov believes that the EU and NATO are gathering a coalition for war with Russia”
https://readovka.news/news/102046
“He also said that he had no hope that “the current Russophobic charge of the European Union will somehow dissipate” in the foreseeable future.”
The relentless malevolence and the hatred in the speeches of all the Europuppet leaders confirming their satanic malice can not but lead to any other conclusion than the one Mr Lavrov expresses. There is a bloody-mindedness at work here defying rational explanation.
This is not going to end until Russia decisively ends it.
It will not end until the Transatlantic bankruptcy is re-organized, as posted above.
$2 Quadrillion nominal debt outstanding sure buy’s a lot of fear and loathing.
Good to hear. They have been peeing for 20-25 years on Russia and everybody else so the time is in.
After all what happened since 1995 and the way it happened, I am sorry but it should not have ended differently.
Deep Purple “Bloodsucker “https://youtu.be/IBTtVDRvrXg .
Any thoughts on Kazakhstan refusing to recognise the DPR and LPR?
I wouldn’t take it too seriously. Every state preaches the sanctity of borders because it doesn’t want its own borders questioned. Look instead to the quality of the relationship between Kazakhstan and the Russian Federation.
Source for that assertion?
The same as with all other pro-Russia countries: In accordance with the interests of RF, the pro-Russian countries try to stay out of US/EU sanctions as long as possible by being “obedient” in matters that don’t matter at the moment. By staying “afloat”, Russia doesn’t have to “help them out”.
The only important thing is that they do not join the sanctions.
All the rest is “lip service” to the west, and later on this will change.
President Tokayev’s statement at the SPIEF that Kazakhstan would not recognize the LPR and DPR is not “lip service” to the West. He justified the decision with fundamental reflections on international law. He said that there is an inconsistency between 2 principles of the UN Charter. These are the principle of territorial integrity and the principle of self-determination. If one gives preference to the principle of self-determination, then there might be 500 members of the United Nations instead of today’s 190. He considers that this would be chaotic. That is why Kazakhstan does not or would not recognize Kosovo, South Ossetia, Abkhazia, Québec, Scotland, Catalonia, the Basque country and so on at this time.
These profound remarks should lead one to reflect upon the greater wisdom of doing everything possible to promote ethnic cooperation instead of division, such as in Switzerland with 4 official languages and avoiding ethnic tension or exclusion. The remarks would hint that greater autonomy for different regions (as was intended in the Minsk Agreements that were never implemented in Ukraine) would be preferable to separatism. They may signal understanding of Russia’s, LPR’s and DPR’s dilemma, which regrettably was intentionally created by Western geopolitics and which has led to the necessity of the SMO.
Excellent comment.
Have a look at Switzerland’s Rütly Oath :
We want to be a single People of brethren,
Never to part in danger nor distress.
We want to be free, as our fathers were,
And rather die than live in slavery.
We want to trust in the one highest God
And never be afraid of human power.
Switzerland are under the Angloz so that Oath mean nothing.
Well then please explain why Davos hosts the WEF?
Same reason Basel hosts the ‘independent BIS’ – British central bankers decided. Prince Charles is the Davos kingpin.
And the UBS is well known as United Banksters of Switzerland.
Anyone want to talk about the City of London Corporation that actually runs the UK?
The Oath does mean something – From the stars we claim our rights:
“No, there is a limit to the tyrant’s power, when
The oppressed can find no justice, when
The burden grows unbearable—he reaches,
With hopeful courage up unto the heavens
And seizes hither his eternal rights,
Which hang above, inalienable
And indestructible as stars themselves
The primal state of nature reappears,
When man stands opposite his fellow man—
As last resort, when not another means
Is of avail, the sword is given him—
The highest of all goods we may defend
From violence.—Thus stand we, ’fore our country,
Thus stand we ’fore our wives, and ’fore our children!
This is the American revolution, Schiller set in Wilhelm Tell. Time to reach for the Stars again!!!
Central Asian Stans will be the first to recognize LPR and DPR when it’s time. Right now western bankers might freeze their assets if they are seen supporting Russia or China openly. But as corvo says, shouldn’t take that too seriously.
“In total, the Gorskoye pocket has isolated up to 2,000 people: about 1,800 servicemen, 120 Nazis from Right Sector, up to 80 foreign mercenaries, as well as over 40 armoured combat vehicles and about 80 guns and mortars.”
Russia doesn’t call all of them “Nazis” there; it’s differentiating carefully and as truthfully as it can. In the same situation, there are others who would call them all Nazis.
It is not the ‘others’ call.
I know, but sometimes it’s called like that here; you can tell them, and I hope you do.
Anyone have any comments or insight on this article? I saw on Joseph Farrell’s podcast page yesterday where he was saying to keep a watch on this story as there is a lot going on in between the lines.
https://www.fox3now.com/putin-colonel-vadim-zimin-who-carried-russian-presidents-nuclear-codes-found-dead-at-home/
It seems he was the former “football” carrier for Mr. Putin.
When he died he was working for the customs service.
Another problem of corruption may be solved by some kind of “direct action”
Hmm, desperation. Click bait headline. He was under investigation, for bribes, and was working as a Mall Cop…not employed by the Kremlin.
Cheers M
“There is little detail available currently and what it looks like on the face of it”
It will look like all other ICU proposals. Designed by surplus countries and utlimately collapsed by deficit countries.
If you want to sell something to another country then you have to take some of their current production in exchange. If you don’t do that, then you won’t be able to sell your surplus to them, or you can pretend you can and amass promises which will then not be delivered upon.
Eventually countries will realise that there is no such thing as ‘reserve currencies’ and the only reserve asset that can be relied upon is the power to tax your own population. It is that asset which is discounted into the denomination the tax is paid in. Everything else is a smokescreen.
Countries are countries because they do financial transfer payments internally. They are separate from other countries because they don’t do financial transfer payments internationally.
Perfect example of why countries must never, ever, be run by accountants – bean counters,
otherwise called Technocrats – hey, that’s the EU!
The Mother of all poisons, the Charter for the privately owned AD1694 Bank of England, the Charter which gave the Bank the power to, ‘create money from nothing, to impose interest upon these monies, and to demand taxation from the people, to repay this interest’!
Banks operate as pawnbrokers, with licenses to create bank credit. There is no reason why we cannot have sovereign asset banks, offering profit-free services, and monetising customer collateral, as interest-free customer assets. With a simply tweak in bookkeeping, the four demons vanish, those of debt, interest, taxation, and inflation!
That Charter is the original Central Bank model, today rampant.
It signaled the move of the Bank of Amsterdam to London, today the City of London Corporation. And the founding of the Venetian Party.
Countering that was the 1801 Alexander Hamilton National Bank of the USA, scuppered soon after. The FED is not a national bank.
Banks must serve the general welfare, fund progress. Agro-Industrial economies cannot function under feudal Venetian banking – no improvements in food production, machine tool building would be possible.
The Mittelstand, medium sized firms die without cheap credit for new plant.
And exactly that cheap credit is frozen for years after the 2008 bailouts which pumped $13 trillion liquidity into finance, none into the physical economy. Putin referred exactly to this problem – “the productivity of the printing press’.
I think this is relevant, in a big picture sort of way.
https://www.ecosophia.net/the-twilight-of-empire/
Free,
Thanks for the link. I enjoyed reading JMG’s thoughts on the US and Empire.
Stephen
As Phase 2 reaches its inevitable conclusion in the next 2-4 weeks; note the preparations for Phase 3 a step up in efforts towards liberation of Odessa Oblast.
The list of Kiev formations getting clobbered is significant. These are first rate NATO trained, supplied and NATO led units. These are units that have spent a number of overseas tours supporting various NATO missions. This is very big. it signals that the Allies ( RF, DPR, LPR, etc) have figured out how to fight NATO outnumbered and win.
‘overseas NATO missions’ ? Where and when?
Syria, Libya, Yemen, Iraq
Thank you Mary. Spot on :)
I saw that a third of the French Foreign Legion are Ukrainian.
Did NATO use Ukrainian’s directly?
Is this what you are looking for?
Ukraine forces as part of NATO mission in Afghanistan withdrawn from country
https://www.unian.info/world/ukraine-forces-as-part-of-nato-mission-in-afghanistan-withdrawn-from-country-11448670.html
21 Servicemen? The FFL has 3000 Ukrainians – something does not add up, Sir!
Go to the Wikipedia page of most any regular army brigade for Kiev‘s military. ( there’s only 25) you‘ll find these units have had plenty of NATO experience rotating into various NATO overseas missions.
Kiev‘s military is NATO and has been for a few years.
This article provides details about Ukraine’s involvement in NATO and U.S. military operations:
=====
“Ukraine After the Orange Revolution: Can It Complete Military Transformation and Join the U.S.-Led War on Terrorism?” (2006)
https://press.armywarcollege.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1708&context=monographs
=====
For example, page 14 states:
“Ukraine has been a long and active supporter of peacekeeping operations, with its service personnel having performed peacekeeping missions in Eastern Slovenia, Macedonia, Angola, Abkhazia, Guatemala, Tajikistan, and Lebanon. Ukraine has played an important role in NATO-led peacekeeping in Bosnia and Herzegovina as well as Kosovo. The Ukrainian government demonstrated its commitment to the U.S.-led defeat of international terrorism when it deployed a chemical and biological decontamination unit to Kuwait during the first phase of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. Indicating the new government’s support for the provision of niche capabilities, Ukrainian transport aircraft have provided airlift for cargo and peacekeepers in Afghanistan…”
HeyHeyHey,
Great link – indeed Kiev’s military has been everywhere NATO has been. Kiev’s military is a NATO military.
That a big powerful NATO military force is getting crushed while outnumbering the opposing forces by 3:1 is profound.
The DPR and LPR don’t even have well equipped Ground forces. They are called Militia for a reason.
Good one. That could explain why they trusted their own Ukrainian army to enter into an adventure confronting Russia. They thought a trained Nato attack force could do something.
Personally the last thing in this world I would do, no matter whether I were commander of the best 1’st class marine team battalion or army ever seen, was to attack the Russian military machine.
They dont have a China man’s chance, but that is just me.
The DPR and LPR showed to be surprisingly effective bad arses.
“… outnumbering the opposing forces by 3:1…”
That’s funny. Considering 80% of Ukro’s elite forces are dead, wounded, captured, or mia.
And NATO”s loss of 57 of it’s ranked generals and officers (Andrei Martynov, June 22 ) while you commented “5 or 6?…” Not to mention scores of them (NATO, 200+) pulled out of Azovstal.
If “militia” did all that as you claim, that doesn’t speak well for NATO forces. But says a lot for LDNR , Russia and her various Special Forces contingent.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UH2tiIx22u4
Zelensky is responsible as president, he’s no puppet (unless you want to mention a puppet master not yet mentioned):
Mixture of video dance and current statements
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5eXWeoe1Ko
The best insight I have seen is :
Guy Mettan from the Tribune de Geneve, Switzerland, nails Dr. Jekill and Mr. Hyde perfectly :
Dr. Volodymyr & Mr. Zelensky: _ the dark side of the Ukrainian president
https://www.voltairenet.org/article217403.html
The original story is famous – not sure of the ending….
Mr. Hyde was prescribed medicine by Dr. Jekyll for his tuberculosis – Cocaine.
Lavrov refers to the Kiev Junta saying something depending on what drug they took.
More than one Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, I presume!
This video gives the true picture of the situation there. The Generals currently obeying orders to fight against Russia a totally hopeless fight which can only cause more deaths without changing the outcome, could face, like the Germans after WWII, a trial where there is no acceptable excuse to the basic question: “How could you continue to obey this man?”
At least he can keep some balance on those high heels. His master, sleepy joe, can’t even sit on a chair without significant amount of medications, written instructions and numerous servants.
Will Zelensky end up in Rwanda?… :-)
The Guardian, 23 June 2022:
Ukrainians who come to UK illegally could be sent to Rwanda, Johnson says
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/jun/23/ukrainians-who-come-to-uk-illegally-could-be-sent-to-rwanda-johnson-says
The global Financial Tsunami has Just begun, a very good read by F. William Endgdale at neoeastern.
https://m.journal-neo.org/2022/06/21/global-planned-financial-tsunami-has-just-begun/
Dear Andrei and team,
It’s been said that Russia has 1M men in its Armed Forces, has only done SMO with 200K, and therefore is holding 800K holdback for NATO.
However, have learned out of 1,014K RAF, the Army (Ground Forces) is only 280K. The rest are Air/Space (165K); Navy (160K); Airborne Infantry (Blue beret paratroopers) (45K); ICBM strategic missiles (50K); and Special Forces (perhaps 5K?), as of 2020, Wikipedia crud sigh. This comes to 705K so someone over there can’t count badly, unless they’re including 309K slop as defense factory suppliers.
280K ground infantry is much lower than 1M. Even if only half, 140K, is used for SMO, and other 60K of SMO is Navy/AirForce/SpecOps, it seems that’s only a 50% holdback. This would indicate current and potential additional operations vis-a-vis NATO could be more fraught than thought, and would tend to explain why Pentagon folk seem so confident.
Could you please address the holdback issue, and in particular projections on possible escalation sequences in the Lithuanian issue? America seems to be missing how pissed the Russians are. Since American politicians only know bullshit, it looks like the US is not taking Russia seriously yet again; this miscalibration feels quite dangerous. How much room do you think Russia has for response? What could happen? Thank you.
Keep in mind that Russian men are required to serve a year in the RAF when they turn eighteen. It is deferred while they are in university, and there are medical and some other waivers. The obligation ends when they are 27, so someone getting a doctorate who is otherwise eligible might avoid service. They may stay in after their one year of service if the branch agrees (they usually do); these are the “volunteers”. Everyone past their mandatory service and before the end of active service age (I think it’s 45) is in the “reserve” and can be called up. That pool of reservists in Russia is very large – in the millions, and perhaps tens of millions (not sure).
It is much easier to tally forces for the U.S., where there is no mandatory service and the reserve period (IRR, Individual Ready Reserve) is very limited in time period. The current number of Army active duty forces in Russia is 384K. The number of conscripts on active duty is 270K (the difference is officers and enlisted volunteers, including NCOs) and turn over every year.
tldr; counting the number of RAF soldiers is difficult. It doesn’t make sense to say the 270K conscripts released last year don’t somehow matter while they’re still within a year of their exit date from service.
very useful, thanks. Wow, so Russia has 100% registration, like Israel and NK? Al Zr article mentions hazing is a problem, but only about 1/3 of cohort actually gets drafted; fathers of 3, medical exemptions. Creates population in which everyone knows how to use and has respect for a gun. If America had 100% draft, perhaps we’d overthrow less countries? But gives military even stronger control over the population.
Looks like Lithuania has blinked. WWIII averted for another few months.
Assuming 280K number is right, though I don’t think it is. There are the 45K paras and 12K marines. I suspect the actual Russian forces currently deployed to the SMO is 80-100K. The rest of the forces are made up of 35-50K DPR/LPR troops, 10K Chechan Republic troops and some others.
Also remember that if needed Russia has at least 2 million reservists whose military training is relatively up to date and a total of 31 million men who have had military training, but many might be too old to serve.
Hard figures are difficult to come by but roughly the ground forces engaged in the SMO are
LPR – 40,000
DPR – 60,000
RF – 70,000
Others 10,000
The brunt of the fighting has been LPR and DPR forces. For example,,Mariupol was liberated by the DPR military.
From ВЗГЛЯД, 24 June 2022, 13:40:
“…
Why did the EU abandon plans to blockade Kaliningrad
The acute political crisis that has arisen between Russia and the European Union due to the blockade of the Kaliningrad region seems to have been overcome. At least, the head of EU diplomacy, Josep Borrel, says that the relevant sanctions directives will be revised. What made Europe back down and what conclusions should Russia draw from this?
The blockade of the Kaliningrad region, imposed by Lithuania on the basis of anti-Russian sanctions adopted by Brussels, is apparently coming to an end. The European Union is ready to lift it. This is how the words of the European Commissioner for Foreign Policy Josep Borrel can be interpreted that the wording of the sanctions (which allowed Lithuania to restrict the import of almost 50% of the range of goods into the Russian enclave through its territory) will be revised.
“We want to introduce measures that will allow us to prevent any form of violation of sanctions – but at the same time not to interfere with the transportation (of people and goods from the rest of Russia to Kaliningrad – approx. VZGLYAD). Therefore, the European Commission and the External Relations Service of the European Union are going to revise the sanctions instructions in order to clearly show that we are not going to block or prevent traffic between Russia (meaning the rest of Russia – approx. VIEW) and Kaliningrad,” Mr. Borrel said. – We have two goals in front of us: to prevent circumvention of sanctions and not to block traffic. Both of these goals can be achieved simultaneously, and we are working on it.”
This revision, according to the European Commissioner, will be completed “as soon as possible.” Apparently, we will talk about what the governor of the Kaliningrad region Anton Alikhanov said earlier: the European Union will divide the concept of the transfer of Russian goods to Europe through Kaliningrad and the transit of goods that go from Russia to Russia for consumption in Russia (that is, in Kaliningrad).
It certainly looks strange. “The Europeans are showing such innocent bewilderment. Two days ago, Borrel said that Lithuania had nothing to do with it at all and that it was only implementing the sanctions of the European Union. Including, as Borrel put it, his personal decisions, which he himself wrote into the relevant sanctions packages. And now he says that let’s reconsider in order to convince that there are no requirements and instructions in these sanctions that can really lead to a blockade of the sanctions transit,” Dmitry Suslov, deputy director of the Centre for Integrated European and International Studies at the Higher School of Economics, tells the newspaper VIEW. – In turn, Lithuania says that it is counting on new instructions from the European Commission, and hints that if these instructions are that transit should be restored, then it will restore it.” That is, simply put, only a bureaucratic solution is needed in order for this crisis in Russian-European relations to be resolved.
And if the EU really backs down, then the reason for that was the correct reaction of the Russian Federation. The representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, previously explained that Moscow’s retaliatory measures “will not be in the diplomatic, but in the practical plane.” According to her, Brussels “was told about the need to change the steps taken, and if this does not happen, then retaliatory measures will be introduced.”
…
…
…”
https://vz.ru/world/2022/6/24/1164552.html
The retaliatory measure was for Russia to block oil/gas pipeline transit from Poland to Lithuania’s only large refinery, the largest tax source for the economy. Result would be devastating.
Whether this is actually resolved we will see.
Lithuania gets all of its electricity from Leningradskaya Aes, the nuclear power complex 70km from St. Petersburg, as do Latvia and Estonia. The tax revenue from Orlen Lietuva (the oil refinery) could be made up by the EU – there’s already massive transfer of EU funds to the Baltic states (and has been since they joined the EU). Lithuania uses LNG to power its public transport, and many/most private vehicles and agricultural equipment also runs on LNG. So they could survive the loss of oil (although it would hurt). Combined with turning off the electricity, it would probably be devastating.
Very useful info!
This is not correct. Lithuania imports much of its electricity from Sweden. Previously it generated most of its electricity from a nuclear power plant and exported power to Russia. The Ignalina plant is now closed. 70% of electricity comes from Sweden and around 30% from renewables.
Lithuania along with the other Baltic states are connected to the BRELL system that links Russia, Belarus and the Baltics but Lithuanian imports are negligible to zero and, as far as I am aware, the system uses only enough electricity to maintain the viability of the system.
I’m looking for confirmation of backing down in the Western press and find nothing. I do see Lithuania is asking for greatly increased subsidies from the EU because the blockade will cost its railways and the state treasury money. No sacrifice too great as long as other people have to bear it.
The situation of Kaliningrad is becoming dangerous-entirely predictable-NATO’s logic as I have statee before in other article. But here for your interest is my article today about the NATO Blockade of Kaliningrad:
https://journal-neo.org/2022/06/23/nato-blockades-kaliningrad/
“With the success of Russia’s operations in Ukraine, we have to be concerned about NATO reacting to their strategic defeat by shifting their aggression not only to intense economic and propaganda warfare against Russia but also against Russia’s position in the Baltic region.
The blockade imposed on Kaliningrad on June 20th by Lithuania, a NATO member, and approved by the European Union, on the pretext of enforcing their illegal ‘sanctions,” is a direct act of war against Russia which will lead to immediate action by Russia to end the blockade, and follows the NATO logic which has been expressed openly for some time…..’
Thank you for your linked article. I read it.
RT today:
“The EU is not seeking to impose a “blockade” on Russia’s Kaliningrad Region and will review its sanctions guidelines to avoid “blocking” traffic into and out of the exclave, the bloc’s top diplomat Josep Borrell said Thursday.”
They say they only want to carry out the EU “sanctions.” That’s bad enough for Russia. Like Germany needed a direct access to Kaliningrad before 1939 for obvious reasons, Russia has that same need today. Germany proposed a narrow strip of land to reach Kaliningrad-Prussia. This direct access to Kaliningrad through a narrow strip of land could be taken by Russia if or when it decides that it has been ‘provoked’ to take it. I read that there is even a name already for the narrow strip which Russia could decide to take.
The leaders who don’t know if Putin wants all of Ukraine or just parts, or to expand Russia beyond Ukraine, would not want to give Putin additional reasons to take all of Ukraine by attacking Kaliningrad as the think tanks you quoted recommend. Ukraine is what counts now. The actual goal was stated by pres. Biden in his NYT column: To cause a stalemate in Ukraine so as to negotiate with a strong hand. A conflict in Kaliningrad ruins that goal, and anyone can wonder if it could then provoke Russia into further conquests close to Russia.
Also, there can be no reasonable doubt that an attack on Kaliningrad would be like attacking mainland Russia, because Russia has made this clear. That attack on Kaliningrad seems more possible after a direct war has started elsewhere and not as the initiation of it. Pres. Biden, and Generals like Austin and Milley, do not want a war with Russia (WWIII). The Saker here says that we are already in WWIII, to others it’s WWIV. I prefer to understand WWIII as most people do, including Biden, as a war in which the nuclear weapons are used. It’s hard to agree on a name for this…it’s almost WWIII.
Seems America still wants war and even the president Biden says we are at war. Some are celebrating the court decision overturning abortion rights. Maybe its another sign war is coming. Maybe those who rule America understand therell be massive loss of life and they’ll need those birth rates to rise.i know that’s really crazy sounding but the way this western world has been so corrupted by that chosen group one never knows.
From Military Chronicle:
“Did you see how many of ours were put today!? YOU WILL RESPOND FOR EVERYONE!” Fierce fighting on the outskirts of Lisichansk – June 24 (19 videos)
The total losses of the Armed Forces of Ukraine killed in 2 days near Lisichansk are about 1000 people. With a standard calculation of 1 to 3, you can add about 2.5-3.5 thousand wounded to these figures. Over 800 servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine surrendered near Lisichansk and in a cauldron near Gorsky and Zolote over the past two days – TASS source. Four battalions are surrounded in the “Mountain Cauldron”: about 1800 military personnel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, 120 Nazis of the “Right Sector”, up to 80 foreign mercenaries, as well as more than 40 units of armored combat vehicles and about 80 guns and mortars.
What does “Quad” refer to?
What does IPEF stand for?
Anti-China, simple!
A rewarmed Obama TPP.
the Quad: US, Japan, Australia and India.
IPEF: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indo-Pacific_Economic_Framework
Nocaster
All the acronyms and abbreviations are the pox of lazy texting, crossed with the US military obsessive exceptionalism.
Any US military dude has about six levels of unit lD’s. Where I comfort, it’s Pte Bloggs 3rd infantry Battalion. Wanna know more look it up.
The crap is all over the web.
Cannot wait for “Friendly Countries ,” to switch on a normal internet without all the ads and adult children pulling silly faces, with a 7 second ad then 9 second vid. Crumble or something, Russian site?
So the American disease appears to be twice as bad in Russia. How many boosters required?
Humans: any good idea will the dumbed down then commercialised to death, cookies and spyware are compulsory.
WTFIGO
Things will look a lot better once Boris gets back from Rwanda, where the British Home Office have decided to send all UK illegal immigrants, including Ukrainians who were given temporary residency.
Maybe Rwanda will be the next training ground for NATO.
Boris may not get there with us though, as he’s even persona non grata within his own Conservative Party.
Let’s add him to the long list of Western flunkies who Vlad’s seen off.
Clownworld story from RT. It’s seems a big budget crime movie by the famous director Guy Ritchie is being held up until they can change some of the crooks in the story from being Ukrainian. They don’t want to make the Ukrainians out to be crooks,lol. I’m going to “guess” they are now going to make them Russians in the story. I’m actually surprised they didn’t do that from the start. They alway’s love to make the “bad guys” in Western made movies Russians.
BTW another interesting fact is that many of the “Russian” mafia are really Jews,Georgians,and Ukrainians in real life. But since in the West any criminal organization in the Soviet Union was labeled as Russian. They just continued that labeling after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Though today inside the CIS countries those groups are now joined by Kavkaz and Central Asian crime gangs as well.
https://www.rt.com/pop-culture/557763-spy-film-delayed-ukrainian-villains/
No one has a patch on the Central Banks.
Are they going to re-release all the movies in recent decades starring Ukrainian Gangsters changing them to Russian ? i.e movies like Taken, Taken 2 etc.
Dissenting opinions allowed here? Time to admit the obvious? The Rooskies are f-ups, botched their invasion of the Ukraine, and are accomplishing their goals the hard way. The “shock and awe” Iraq attack should have been the model. On the first day, all major western Ukraine power stations should have been taken out (requiriing maybe 100 missiles) casting the society into darkness. No modern society functions in the dark…..no lighting, no communications, no entertainment, no internet, no financial transactions, no transportation. The euroweanie welfare states would have been immediately inundated with 20 million or more refugees, keeping them busy feeding the newly arrived freedom lovers. On the second day, all nat gas, gasoline, and oil to the euroweanies should have been cut off. Let the pathetic euroweanies heat with bird killing windmills and solar cells, and peddle their fat asses around on bicycles. After a month or two in the dark, the remaining ukies would be eating their pets and each other, or surrendering en masse. Instead, Rooskie gradualism has led to the present bloody and destructive mess. In retrospect, bet the Rooskie leadership regrets not taking care of their Ukie problem and vile nato’s eastward expansion back in 2014. The Rooskies have a flare for doing everything the hard way.
nda, personally I think Russia should have kalibrated DAVOS. One strike, the predatory “leaders” taken out, the normal world left to get on with life, problem solved.
The Russian Oblasts had to be secured first with minimum civilian casualties. After Phase 2 , folks standing in the way won’t receive such consideration.
Scorched earth is the American way, where did you command your last unit?
Yup, here’s how the US does it:
https://twitter.com/ArmchairW/status/1540382565890084864/photo/1
The US didn’t live next door in which case it could care less how messed up it got. The Russians, on the other hand… And as history is unfolding we see that slaughtering a lot of people in order to “win” doesn’t end up with lasting allegiances. Russia is actually trying to do what the US only mouths: “make the world safe for democracy” (let nations decide for themselves their paths).
As Col. McGreggor said, never forget the ignominious Afghan retreat – NATO is now facing the next denouement.
And how man Ukrainians will join https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novorossiya .
Eat your own pets!
Ah yes shuck and jive in Iraq and other places, places we got run out of Korea fought to a stalemate by a peasant force, Nam run for your life the VC are coming behind us, Iraq and Afghanistan not any different.
Gees for God’s sake man the Russians aren’t there to kill off the population nor to be asked later were those 500,000 children’s lives worth it. Russia is doing just fine, the dance is almost over and most of the people will harbor no ill will toward them.
Dissent that isn’t Ukie propaganda is fine, I’m sure. Your opinion has been voiced by others.
I however, will have to side with President Putin, Defense Minister Shoigu, and Chief of the General Staff Gerasimov on this one.
The fact that Russia is winning without laying waste to The Ukraine and at the same time strangling the Empire of Lies with it’s own gas pump hoses shows the wisdom of this path.
Increasingly it becomes obvious, that for all its bluster, the United States is just a ‘shopping center with nukes’.
A shopping center with empty shelves and nukes. Recently went to a Rite Aid store near where I live and was shocked at the bare shelves. They were out of a lot of basic items. I’ve never seen it before now.
Remember that twenty years of insurrection which the USA lost in both Iraq and Afghanistan was the price paid for shock and awe and bribes. (why did you forget the trifecta component?).
Trillions of dollars spent and usa lost.
Russia meanwhile for a fraction of the price is destroying any possibility of an insurrection and not alienating Ukrainians while.
Maintaining a pace of war that rf can afford.
While keeping the bulk of its armed forces ready for nato.
While not falling for an Afghanistan two trap where hordes of modern tanks and helicopters are blown up by vast amounts of western man portable missiles.
I too once thought that modern blitzkrieg was the best option for rf. Then unlike you I gave it some thought.
“Dissenting opinions allowed here? Time to admit the obvious? The Rooskies are f-ups,”
Time has run past your American hatred and violence. As soon as America and its zionist masters and partners are cleaned of their evil and possibly dismantled, there is real hope that no one will have to see your “shock and awe” satanism any more. Ever.
How clever you are mon ami ! You will certainly be promoted to Chief of Staff armchair generals…
The Russians quite obvious chose a fashion of Special military operation, whose ultimate goal was to get rid of the fascists and neo-Nazis in Ukraine. Not more and not less. 27 million dead in WWII, speaks volumes of suffering and misery inflicted on Russia and its courageous and brave peoples. Without The Soviet Union, the Hitler regime might possibly not have fallen. I do not belittle the determination and will and bravery also shown by Great Britain, and the role of Winston Churchill during the war, the right man at the right time, in fact the allied forces were gifted with exceptional leaders: Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin, they all have stains to their reputation, sure, but history have shown their importance. In the end, it was the lack of trust between them that formed the aftermath of WWII. For good and bad. I visited Berlin in 1977 as a very young man, went to the platforms along the wall and gazed into the almost complete darkness that was East Berlin, it was slightly depressing. We even visited East Berlin, even more depressing, but the Berliners were very friendly and hospitable, and we young adults were treated as adults, so we all behaved very good, I guess we all were well brought up.
RUSSIAN AIR DEFENSES ARE DECISIVELY DEFEATING TURKISH BAYRAKTARS!!
That’s the latest war news from the neocon propaganda rags Foreign Policy and ISW Study of War. According to FP’s Jack Detsch, the Ukrainians are scaling back their use of drones, including loitering munitions and Bayraktars, because so many are being shot-down by Russian air defense systems.
According to the report, Russian air defenses in Donbass have demonstrated massively improved combat efficiency in recent weeks.
As best as I know, this is the very first report of Turkish Bayraktars being defeated and relegated to the scrap metal heap. In recent years, the Bayraktars were heralded as a potentially revolutionary weapons because of their utterly efficient performance in the Libya, Syria, and Armenia wars. But the Russians seem to have rendered this weapon useless.
I’m impressed also that FP and ISW Study of War would feel compelled to share this news with the public. That’s because both outlets normally function as mouthpieces supporting the US/NATO/Ukraine propaganda line. They wouldn’t acknowledge developments boding badly for the Nazis unless the truth was so catastrophic it can no longer be denied.
It is strange that they were successful in the beginning with the Turkish drone. Russia had no problems with drones in Syria or where ever their military was. “The Russians came and the drones fell out of the sky.” The war is very different than in the beginning and I’m wondering if Russians didn’t want to give away info on their best assets early. Iran also has no problem with drones either. Took over our global hawk and landed it. Obama asked for it back. They copied it instead.
Why would a country of 350 millions vote for someone with diminished mental capacities?
Crazy news from the White House: Biden blundered with a cheat sheet
.
US President Joe Biden gave himself away by accidentally turning over a piece of paper in his hands, on the reverse side of which there are step-by-step instructions for his actions. Video with this cheat sheet is discussed by all American media.
According to the New York Post newspaper, the incident occurred at one of the president’s meetings.
In particular, the cheat sheet states: “You go into the Roosevelt room and greet the participants”, “You sit in YOUR seat”, “the press comes in”, “You give a brief comment (2 minutes)”, “You ask a question to Liz Schuler ( note: Liz will be on video call)”, “You thank the participants”, “You are leaving”.
“Crazy news from the Biden office,” comments the host of the Newsmax TV channel. “Now we’re going to show you a close-up shot of the piece of paper Biden is holding in his hands from today’s meeting. You can’t read it because it’s too far away, but now we’ll zoom in. During a meeting with wind energy companies, Biden was given step-by-step instructions with the simplest things. “You walk into the room,” “you ask Liz Shuler,” “she joins us virtually,” “you walk out.” “Are you coming out”?! And this is the President of the United States? Can you imagine if they found such a card with Trump? Calls for impeachment would explode even louder. It is as if the country was run by a kindergarten teacher. And nobody cares!”
Подробнее: https://eadaily.com/ru/news/2022/06/24/sumasshedshie-novosti-iz-belogo-doma-bayden-oploshal-so-shpargalkoy
Never misunderestimate the power of determined criminality shotgun-married to mass stupidity. Murika has the finest public edumacation that money can buy. Few of the numerous wavers of the Country 404 Blue and Yeller can find the place on a map, or tell you the name of the tune its ‘President’ so skillfully played upon the piano with no hands in his vaudeville days. Below are some aphorisms of Murika’s greatest warrior-strategist evaahh, elected by at least 81 million votes (and trust me tovarishch, there are vast necropoles filled with ‘voters’ in here in Murika, some of whom have been voting since the elections of 1796) – the incomparable Joe Tzu, who singlehandedly defeated the dreaded centurion Corn-Pop and the Romanz of Wilmington.
*The journey of 1000 gaffes begins with a single misstep.
*A journey greater than ten thousand miles begins by stepping off a cliff.
*Never trust a piano player who uses both hands to wave at the audience.
*You can always find a plan if you use a good teleprompter.
*To dismount with dignity. First take your foot out of the stirrup.
*Fervently believe your own disinformation.
*Shake hands with the air! Your opponent will wonder at what person he’s not seeing!
*By doing almost everything, nothing is achieved.
*The supreme art of war is to fight without winning.
*The government is 70 percent right 30 percent of the time.
(Courtesy of the kind folks over at Moon of Alabama, who found these important concepts on the internet or were inspired to relate them in their own words)
This needs correction – with France’s 58% election turnout this weekend :
58% see the the government is 70 percent right 30 percent of the time.
The math gets way beyond 101 !
“Why would a country of 350 millions vote for someone with diminished mental capacities?”
They did not – there fixed it for ya.
Right you are. The proof is in this video. It was a landslide victory, but not for Biden. Some math skills help, but narration is well presented.
The documentary “2,000 Mules” adds to the proof.
https://rumble.com/vdp7df-share-unmasked-have-we-uncovered-the-truth-about-the-2020-election.html
Hell, Reagan had the same thing when he met with the Russians, they had written down everything on index cards which he screwed up by being clumsy and dropping them on the floor. Most U.S. presidents have been brain-dead, some just hid it better than others but never fear the American people will vote for him again.
Reagan sure gave Sir Henry Kissinger a heart attack when he read a different script at Reykjavik in 1983, on SDI. He gave Andropov a stroke, he did not live long more.
A shared ‘new physical principles’ to make MAD missiles obsolete, put the Empire on notice.
We still do not have that yet, hypersonics, Peresvets notwithstanding.
The economic benefit of such strategy far outweigh any feudal monetarist statistical accounting bunkum.
That from a Hollywood actor! Compare Dr. Volodymyr and Mr. Zelensky – mere circus.
WaPo suspended my account for seven days, even though I scrupulously complied with their forum policies. Here are samples of my comments, which WaPo finds so objectionable.
1.
In WW2, western Ukraine supported Hitler. The descendants of those WW2 Ukrainians are the hard-right wing nationalists who have dominated Ukraine’s government since the 2014 Maidan revolution.
Russia’s gone to war because those Ukrainian nationalists have allowed themselves to be used as US/NATO proxies, whose object is to undermine the RF’s national security.
Nazi Germany used west Ukrainian nationalists to wage war against the rest of the USSR in WW2. Now, US/NATO is using west Ukrainian nationalists to wage war against Russia and eastern Ukrainians.
2.
Basically, US/NATO has been hellbent on expanding the alliance eastward, to corner and ring Russia with military bases. No degree of Russian forbearance or appeasement will prevent US/NATO from pursuing this goal.
If Russia hadn’t invaded the Ukraine in 2014, the latter would be a NATO member by now. And if Russia didn’t launch another invasion this year, the Ukraine would be a “special US military ally” sometime in the next two or three years.
Also, if Russia had remained passive and allowed US/NATO to achieve its goals in the Ukraine, it’s inevitable that Sweden, Finland, and Georgia would quickly join the alliance too.
It’s total US/NATO propaganda that the alliance’s expansion has been “forced” by Russian aggression.
3.
However, you overlook the Ukrainian army’s losses are now much higher than Russia’s. Be aware Kiev’s manpower pool is limited. Russia’s manpower pool, by comparison, is massive.
Russia can afford to take its time and slowly grind down the Ukrainian military. The latter will eventually reach a point where it is no longer combat effective.
As for Lysychansk, it’s almost totally surrounded. One thin road connects the city with the rear, and Russia has fire control over that route. Ukrainian officials are already talking about abandoning Lysychansk.
The other fortified cities you mention are Slavyansk, Kramatorsk, and Bakhmut. However, considering the Ukraine’s unusually severe casualties in Donbass, Kiev might choose to abandon these cities. Russia could probably encircle each of them before long, given the speed with which events are unfolding in that sector.
4.
Fat chance. Russia’s turned the tide in Donbass and is now decimating the Ukrainian army.
Kiev’s troops are suffering horrifically high casualties, roughly 1,000 men per day. That’s far more than the US army’s daily losses during the height of the Vietnam War. The handwriting is on the wall for the Ukraine.
The high-tech weapons we’ve send so far are not making any difference. Russia’s adjusted its tactics, so Javelin missiles and MANPADS are no longer having much impact in combat. The M777 howitzers, which were supposed to be a game changer, are getting turned into scrap metal by Russian artillery.
It remains to be seen whether the HIMARS will impact the balance of power between the belligerents. Keep in mind Russia has equivalent firepower systems, in much great quantity than the HIMARS we give the Ukraine.
Either way, the decisive factor is manpower. This is a bloody war of attrition, and the Ukraine simply doesn’t have the manpower pool to hang in there with Russia, which has a far bigger population.
The Ukraine’s on the ropes and it will eventually go down for the full count.
5.
Russia is only fighting to prevent US/NATO from turning the Ukraine into a giant military base, to be used against the RF.
Like it or not, the Ukraine is a buffer state. It is geographically situated between two great power blocs: Russia and US/NATO. For this reason, the Ukraine is not, and should not be, free to join an anti-Russian alliance. Doing so only upends the existing international security order, and rams up the risk of great power wars.
The US would never allow Mexico, Venezuela, or Colombia to join a Chinese military alliance and serve as bases to be used against America. Same difference with Russia and the Ukraine.
So, it’s not right to view this complex issue as Russia trying to “enslave” the Ukraine.
6.
But what exactly is “Russian propaganda” about the war? Microsoft and WaPo leave this question unaddressed.
The irony is the entire West has been flooded with a false, propagandistic narrative of what’s happening in the war.
Many Westerners don’t even realize the Ukrainian army is being destroyed in Donbass right now. Western MSM is starting to acknowledge the grim truth, but is still trying to whitewash reports of Ukrainian military catastrophes.
7.
The latest bombshell news is Russian air defenses are so devastatingly efficient that the Ukraine’s drones, including Bayraktars, are now useless. The Ukraine isn’t even trying to fly its Bayraktars anymore, as Russia will turn them into scrap metal.
Don’t believe me? Well, the information comes straight from ISW Study of War.
https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campaign-assessment-june-22
8.
ISW is not a real think tank. It’s more of a US/NATO propaganda outlet, spinning the facts to depict the Ukraine as morally validated and militarily victorious at all times.
Just check the footnotes on ISW’s daily updates. Invariably, 70% reference announcements made by the Ukrainian military or state. This means ISW is repackaging and disseminating Ukrainian war propaganda.
Western MSM loves to quote ISW in its war reporting. That’s because Western MSM is mostly a propaganda mill functioning as the public relations arm of US/NATO/Ukraine’s war effort against Russia.
The only valuable information offered by ISW is their war maps, which are excellent. But their analysis is so disingenuous it’s nauseating to any intellectually self-respecting reader.
Don’t feel bad, my comments routinely were ignored or deleted. WaPo wants to keep their Comment section cheerful and sunny. So be it.
Have you ever read from WaPo about Bezos’ philandering? Or WSJ Murdoch’s wife being other man’s woman?
“WaPo wants to keep their Comment section cheerful and sunny.”
But WaPo’s forum is anything but cheerful and sunny. It’s flooded with comments expressing virulent, hateful, vulgar, racist attitudes toward Russia and Russians. Many other posts are blatantly dishonest, twisted claims about Russia and Russian history which are deeply offensive. The moderators make no effort to delete, discourage, or limit these Russophobic statements.
The newspaper’s managers probably intend its forum to be a cesspool of Russophobia. I guess the intention is to whip up anti-Russian hysteria among suggestable Americans. WaPo may believe doing so will increase Americans’ likelihood of supporting US leaders who pursue policies such as NATO expansion, anti-Russian sanctions, and unnecessary increases in the US/NATO defense budgets.
Agree. I meant cheerful to Bdien’s ears and sunny to US prevalent winds.
Russia should get China’s help to mass produce UCAVs equipped with counter-battery electronics and armed with hellfire type missiles. They could be accompanied by SEAD drones with harm missiles as well as EW drones. Then saturate the airspace over the Avdeevka-Marinka line to suppress the AFU artillery.
I have three remarks.
1) Isn’t it already established that China will not provide Russia with any technological or military assistance during the war? Two weeks ago a spate of MSM articles appeared on this subject. Allegedly Russia’s been pressing China to provide such assistance, but Beijing flatly refuses. Reportedly meetings between each country’s representatives have been “tense.” The explanation, according to MSM, is China’s wary of crossing the US’s redlines regarding Russian sanctions.
2) Concerning Nazi artillery, isn’t it already outclassed and battered by Russian heavy firepower? That’s what I’ve read. Allegedly Russia’s big guns and rockets are superior to the Nazis’ in quality and quantity.
3) As I understand matters, the big question now is how Russia will handle US/NATO supplied HIMARS, which are just beginning to enter the war zone. I don’t know if HIMARS will impact the war or not. I hope Russia has an answer to this weapon. If so, the war may be as good as over. After HIMARS, there are probably no remaining weapons systems the West can give – or is willing to give – to the Nazis which will make a difference on the battlefield.
Correct me if I’m wrong on any of these counts.
These HIMARS must first reach the Battlefield and have trained soldiers to operate them . Other problem is that if used , these weapons must be resupplied daily. Too little , too late to make a difference ..
That’s disappointing to hear. I’m sure if the situation were reversed(it soon might be if China tries something with Taiwan), Russia would not hesitate to help, but they’re already sanctioned so it wouldn’t make any difference. The line from Marinka to Krasnogorovka to Avdeevka to Gorlovka is stuffed with AFU artillery and MLRS that the DPR and LPR can’t seem to suppress. I’ve heard that there are 15,000 AFU in the Avdeevka area alone.
A word of warning – Putin has no obligation to save EU, USA floundering molluscs!
We have to save ourselves! Expecting Putin to ‘save us’ is a symptom of Imperial Infantilism! And quite a few publisher’s here take a kind of perverse pleasure in the absolute breakdown of family finance!
The EAEU is putting in place exactly what we should also be struggling to do!
Immediate bankruptcy re-organization is existentially necessary!
NATO pranks at the Russia border will not stop until the force driving this insanity is put through Chapter 11!!
Putin knows an elite change is immanent – that must mean bank separation (Glass-Steagall) and a New Deal!
All of this adds up to a New Bretton Woods financial system, with the BRICS, EAEU system now in progress.
Real forced labor is what one sees in the U.S. prison industry where prisoners have no choice but to work for a few pennies which the prison will in the end regain due to absurd prices for small necessities prisoners have to pay for.
https://fivegunswest.blogspot.com/2022/06/to-hell-with-poverty.html
Privatized PRison Industrial Complex, PRIC for short, shows why forced labor camps, ala Schacht, destroy industry, agriculture.
LOL … I’m dyin’ … PRIC for short. Very good. I will remember that and use it as soon as possible. Thanks. Destroying industry and agriculture … quite true. You see it all over California. Prisoners being used on fire lines for next to nothing and then having years of experience fighting our wildfires, can’t get a job with any of our Fire Departments.
You’ve made my day. LOL. Good one.
Sorry I forgot forests – give ’em hell!
So far in Germany they have good forest management – been there done that, if you get my drift!
I NEVER look at the US corporate media, except when it occurs accidentally. Today I accidentally found this, written by a US Ph.D.: (wtf???)
Why Have the Wars in Afghanistan and Ukraine Played Out So Differently?
https://www.usip.org/publications/2022/06/why-have-wars-afghanistan-and-ukraine-played-out-so-differently
Afghanistan was an embarrassment for the United States, but Ukraine will be an utter HUMILIATION and world changing event for the “Empire of Lies”… and yet their intellectual class is oblivious. (facepalm)
“Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and to remove all doubt.” ~Abraham Lincoln
That’s years of brainwashing right there.
Exceptionally stupid.
The PhD who wrote that article is an economist. He’s not an expert on military affairs or international relations. Neither is he a historian or political scientist. Keep that in mind. Also, parts of the article are written as hollow rhetoric, is if the author or his think tank is under obligation to publish material flattering the policy line of US State Department hawks.
Lots of Western think tanks have cross-connections with the US government or other international governing organizations. The tank’s purpose is to produce research and analysis validating the policies of those powerful entities.
Remarkably, the author published the article just yesterday, a point in time when the whole world knows the Ukrainian army is suffering a catastrophic casualty rate of 1,000 troops per day. In spite of this, the author speaks in laudatory terms about the US’s Ukraine policy, as if it’s a glowing success. What does that tell you about him? IMO, anyone who writes articles like this is just a hack or in need of a psychiatrist.
Latest From Military Chronicle:
The Lisichansk cauldron SHUT DOWN: 8,000 APU soldiers and 700 pieces of heavy equipment are inside! Yuriy Podolyaka: Emergency reports (21 videos)
Formations and military units of the “Center” grouping of troops under the command of Colonel General Lapin A.P. having broken through the well-prepared defense of the Ukrainian troops, they defeated the opposing enemy, and, developing the offensive, blocked the city of Lysichansk from the south – the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation. Within five days, they liberated 11 settlements, of which the largest are LOSKUTOVKA, MIRNA DOLINA, and USTINOVKA.
At the same time, the Southern Group of Forces under the command of General of the Army Surovikin S.V. completed the defeat of the encircled grouping of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the “Gorsky cauldron”. Russian troops and units of the People’s Militia of the LPR liberated the settlements of GORSKOE and ZOLOTOE.
@bonbon on June 24, 2022 · at 8:29 am EST/EDT
Near Lisichansk, more than 800 soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine surrendered
https://readovka.news/news/102039
From TASS.
——————————-
These soldiers were first defeated by their own government, then they surrendered to the enemy they were supposed to fight and die fighting. No reason to die for a ruling elite that is using them as cannon fodder.
These men are not cowards, but they cannot fight two enemies at the same time, their own army and the all powerful Russian army and allies. Don’t know exactly where these men surrendered, but I know Cossacks were in charge of cleaning Gorskoye/Zolotoye cauldron, along with some Chechen units.
You don’t want to fight with those warriors, surrender was the smart thing to do. My respects to the Ukrainian ground pounders, they are being defeated first by those who send them, not to fight, but to die.
The faces of these men in the picture says it all.
Lone Wolf
At least, so far, the living do not envy the dead.
Mil. Spec. people may think they know this – heartbreaking!
Let us hope there is a mass capitulation to save lives,more than enough are dead,but i have no sympathy for the hardline Nazi fanatics they can be sent to hell.
You can hope – they face an utterly hellish situation – if any get out they must publicize!
Dr. Volodymyr and Mr. Zelensky must answer for this nightmare!
/open-thread-for-today-3/#comment-1113456
I presume Ukrainian’s are Anglo literature fluent – then look up Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic horror tale!
i can only praise Krich Li again, who outlined overall operation plan months ago, albeit was understandably non-exact about timetable and some particular sequences.
April 22: https://aftershock.news/?q=node/1099202
May 10: map №3 https://aftershock.news/?q=node/1106474
May 20: https://aftershock.news/?q=node/1110895
The Unsustainable Fall of Empires
Despite being part of the winning trio of WWII (along with Truman and Stalin), Churchill was the bleak image of defeat at the Potsdam Conference.
Only 4 days after the end of that conference, the Cold War was unleashed with the explosion of the atomic bomb in Hiroshima.
British supremacy also came to an end. But Empires fall only for others to rise.
Now, as the war in Ukraine unfolds, Putin announces the end of the unipolar era. And Biden has become a pathetic image of arrogant senility, with his bicycle tumble and his instruction card.
The armed guarantee of the unipolar world was provided by American military power, financed by the “exorbitant privilege” of issuing the Dollar.
The birth of multipolarity occurs under the protection of Russian hypersonic missiles. And with the Ruble anchored to Gold and gas, Russia paves the way for a new international monetary standard.
As in all childbirths, even more so if induced by weapons, pains are inevitable.
What kind of multipolarity will this be? Just a reproduction of the same music, now with more than a single performer? Will nothing be the same as before? Or will everything change just to continue as it has always been?
What new empire is looming on the horizon?
Very good question, as Percy Shelley mentioned In Defence of Poetry- gigantic shadows of futurity beckon.
But Beethoven put is to to music – there is no better way to comprehend such issues – the 9th Symphony.
Which is why the Empire is terrified of Beethoven.
The following is from the German newspaper “Die Welt”:
Tactical retreat from Severodonetsk.
It looks like a defeat, but it is a partial success.
Ukrainian troops are withdrawing from the Russian-besieged city of Zyverodonetsk in eastern Ukraine. The West should not be deterred by this move. Because what looks like a failure is ultimately smart military leadership.
I suppose that he who fights then runs away lives to fight another day . . . . . . unless you come under the heavy duty bombardment of Russian fire control.
Best surrender unless you’re a war criminal.
But the Nazis in Severdonetsk have pulled back to Lysychansk. And, according to everything I’ve read, Lysychansk is almost completely cut off from the large concentrations of Nazi troops further west, in Slavyansk, Kramatorsk, and Bakhmut.
Therefore the Nazis from Severodonetsk are still trapped in a cauldron. It’s just that the focus of the cauldron has moved to Lysychansk.
A Nazi official (local mayor or something) made statements to Western MSM that a thin road still connects Lysychansk to the Nazi strongholds at Slavyansk, Kramatorsk, and Bakhmut. But I’ve read this road is under Russian fire control.
Does anyone know how many Nazi troops are concentrated in Lysychansk? I’d like to see this victory translate into thousands of prisoners for Russia. But maybe there aren’t too many Nazis in that city. I don’t know.
“Nazi” is namecalling of ukrainian soldiers, on the level of “Orcs”
American military aggression against Russia may not be something Russia need fear.
It does look increasingly like the US is busy destroying itself. One wonders if in a short while it will be capable of functioning in any kind of military way. Author Jim Kunstler in his usual erudite way sums up the impending demise of the “great superpower””
“When the wicked try to flee”
https://kunstler.com/clusterfuck-nation/when-the-wicked-try-to-flee/
The Ukrainians aren’t losing, they’re making a strategic retreat…so Ukrainian media states.
The Russians are taking more casualties than the Ukrainians…so Ukrainian media states.
I thought the people doing the fighting were mainly soldiers from the Donbass provinces backed by Russians.
The Ukrainians made it easy for Russian recruitment by murdering the people since 2014.
Once the Donbass is taken its Odessa turn. Then its over…the Europeans can have the rest…an economic anchor around their necks in a tidal wave of debt that is drowning Europe.
“The Russians are taking more casualties than the Ukrainians…so Ukrainian media states.”
Well, we know for a fact the Nazi army is suffering 1,000 losses per day. This has been confirmed by statements Zelensky and other Nazi officials made to Western MSM. If anything, Zelensky and his associates have motives to lowball their true losses.
I’m not a military expert, but it seems to me the Russian army could not possibly be moving forward along multiple axes in Donbass, crumbling Nazi defenses in some sectors and clinching pockets in others, if its casualties were anything close to those of the Ukraine. That Western presstitutes would have the gall to insult their readers’ intelligence by suggesting otherwise isn’t just stupid. It’s mentally ill, in that it’s unconscionable.
One reason I like Paul Craig Roberts’s columns is because of his blunt, succinct judgments about MSM journalists. Routinely, Roberts calls them “scum.” I agree. They are indeed scum. Western MSM journos have no inner moral compass inclining them to respect truth. They are indeed whores.
That’s why MSM is telling us the Ukraine’s unfolding military catastrophe in Donbass is a “partial success,” or “nothing to worry about” because “the Russians have higher casualties,” and that the Nazis are “valiant and brave,” and, finally, that “US policy in the Ukraine is clearly a success and should continue.”
Go figure.
I call them presstitutes, lying for $$$$…
@ Englishman on June 24, 2022 · at 4:07 pm EST/EDT
Let us hope there is a mass capitulation to save lives,more than enough are dead,but i have no sympathy for the hardline Nazi fanatics they can be sent to hell.
———————-
You failed to add the mercenaries, for whom there is a special level of hell. These MoFos came to Ukraine after killing defenseless people in Syria, Afghanistan, Libya, etc., war criminals, most of them racists with a nazi ideology, self-entitled to kill the weak and vulnerable.
Ukraine was a different ball game, they are facing warriors, people with battlefield experience and combat traditions that go back centuries. Different to face third world armies, than a Cossack, a Russian, or a Chechen.
No mercy for the mercenaries.
Lone Wolf
Yes Lone Wolf you are right,they have been high on arrogance for years,they just found out what a real war is,i remember when it was all over the MSM here about those idiots heading for Ukraine to fight,these days we never hear anything about them,i would think some are dead and others with missing limbs etc,how it can be explained away i have no idea.
There is an eternal justice there – give the mercs a taste of hell, then send them there, for eternity if the Lord decides. Must be somewhere in Dante’s Divine Comedy …
As for the retribution, imagine being shot and stabbed in the back, for an eternity?
They faced warriors in Afghanistan and Iraq. The difference now is they’re fighting warriors who are equally armed. They lost against less well armed warriors in those places; it’s hard to fathom how they thought they’d win against very well armed warriors.
Maybe some level of justice that they’re experiencing what they served. They report not enjoying being on the receiving end of an air strike being called in or artillery against AKs.
@ Saker Team
Thanks for giving us the details of the encircled units in the “Golden Mountain” cauldron.
——————————————————-
Group of Ukrainian units has been completely isolated near Gorskoye and Zolotoye.
◽️This pocket has encircled 4 battalions: 3rd Mechanised Battalion of 24th Mechanised Brigade, 15th Mountain Assault Battalion of 128th Mountain Assault Brigade, 42nd Mechanised Infantry Battalion of 57th Mechanised Infantry Brigade, 70th Battalion of 101st Territorial Defence Brigade, as well as an artillery group of 57th Mechanised Infantry Brigade, a group of Nazis from Right Sector organisation and a detachment of foreign mercenaries.
📊 In total, the Gorskoye pocket has isolated up to 2,000 people: about 1,800 servicemen, 120 Nazis from Right Sector, up to 80 foreign mercenaries, as well as over 40 armoured combat vehicles and about 80 guns and mortars.
———————————————————
According to Military Chronicle
(https://voenhronika.ru/publ/vojna_na_ukraine/lisichanskij_kotel_zakhlopnulsja_vnutri_8000_soldat_vsu_i_700_edinic_tjazheloj_tekhniki_jurij_podoljaka_ehkstrennye_svodki_21_video/60-1-0-12428),
The commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine accused the political center of influence of delaying orders to withdraw troops to Slavyansk and Kramatorsk, the incompetent command of the showmen led to the fact that the best units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine deliberately killed for the “picture”.
———————————————————
So, it is confirmed, straight from the horse’s mouth, these were elite troops à la NATO, trained and armed by the US and NATO. No reason they thought the “El Dorado Mountain” was impregnable. They failed to ask, “For who?”
Now we are in what has become a routine between clown Zelensky and his Army chief, Zalushny, the blame game. The same article reports that,
”… Feigned symbolism and manipulation of slogans save us on Azot”, led to the fact that a group of 8,000 people and 700 units of equipment were surrounded. In the morning, a column of equipment of the Armed Forces of Ukraine tried to break through from Lisichansk, but the ybla was completely broken. All heavy weapons will have to be destroyed and forces withdrawn in small groups…”
————————————————————-
And then clown Zelensky had to come with a laughable punch, after all, he’s a comedian,
”…The Office of the President instructed Zaluzhny to transfer all reserves from the Mykolaiv/Odessa/Kharkiv direction for a counterattack in the Severodonetsk direction.
Really?
From what direction? Wagner PMC is having a well deserved break, after cutting the supply road to Lisichansk. Still, they are guarding what was the supply road Artemivsk (Bakhmut)/Lisichansk, or Artemivsk/Seversk/Lisichansk. Either way, all around, the roads are occupied by Allied troops, or are controlled by fire. How is he going to move the troops from Nikolaev/Odessa/Kharkiv, without risking a massacre from any direction? Is he planning on a frontal counterattack hoping to dislodge Allied troops already getting settled?
I look forward to seeing this “counter-offensive.” Somebody has to take the pipe off Zelesnky’s office, he’s digging deeper into the rabbit hole. Zelensky does not give a crap about Ukrainian servicemen, as his chief of staff well stated, it is all for the “picture,” so US/NATO see that “yes, he’s committed to win, keep the billions going” who cares about bleeding Ukraine white.
The article quotes a Lt. Col. Daniel Davis on Fox Moooooos,
”…Russia has an “overwhelming” advantage in the war in Ukraine , Lt. Col. Daniel Davis on Fox News. “There is no rational reason to hope that the war can be reversed, because Russia is methodically moving forward and destroying the Ukrainian armed forces in the Donbas, not just seizing territory, but destroying their ability to defend the country anywhere else. And even the total amount of all the weapons that we promised to provide is much less – it is hardly a tenth of what would be minimally necessary. And if you look only at these two things, then there is no rational way to victory for Ukraine…”
—————————————————————-
”…no rational way to victory for Ukraine…”
Ukrainian Army Forces are being decimated piecemeal, and no “counterattack” can reverse that process. Zelensky’s irrational delusion from all the drugs that inhabit his head, plus the daily feeding of Western intel drivel to keep the war against Russia going, does not allow him to see he was defeated long ago, and he’s now living in a perennial zugzwang.
To end, the article reports that,
”…Due to the large losses in reconnaissance equipment, Ukrainian units use advanced gunners and observers to monitor the movement of the Russian Armed Forces behind the front line…”
So, after so many UAV the Allied forces shut down (how many only in Snake Island? 15? 16?) Turkey realized their marketing of Bayraktar was getting a blow, and stopped selling them to Ukraine. Now Ukraine is having to use “advanced gunners and observers” (I guess with binoculars?) to check the Allied movements.
Is this how he attempts to start a “counterattack”?
Laughable.
Someone has to get the pipe.
Soon.
And get rid of the CIA/MI6/Mossad/NATO “advisors.”
How about a courtesy visit by Comrade Kalibr?
Lone Wolf
One reader’s funny reaction to the reaction of pres. Biden to the Supreme Court’s reversal of the Roe vs. Wade decision (from RT):
“Democrats haven’t been this angry since the Republicans freed the slaves”
About hatred of Russians, let’s remember how the Democrats treated pres. Trump as if he were a “Russian” too. They keep trying to destroy him two years after he left Washington. He’s not Russian but then that makes no difference. It’s about themselves, not the other. The Democrats and the Republicans fight each other as if one of them were a “Russian” too. I don’t think there’s hatred of Russia per se. It’s a deeper or bigger problem, spiritual too. It’s not “Nazism.” Maybe the gods would have the Russians play the role of Europe purifiers, but I think Putin would not want to have anything to do with that role. As mentioned earlier, I think he wants to turn “friendly” as soon as he can and “let them deal with their own problems.” Besides it being a natural wish to not want to be the purifier or world denazifier, it’s smart to just throw the hot potato back at them as soon as possible. He must have his own issues to deal with in Russia.
Bulls eye :-D (Democrats havent been this angry……..since the Republicans freed the slaves) :-D.
I have seen several Russia Parliament members talk about rooting nazism out one and for all, not just Ukraine, so the agenda is there. The question is how to deal with it.
US still is a tremendous military power with sub nukes in the wrong hands, we must not forget that.
Here is another funny reader one from VK reporting from European mass nude demonstrations: “How nice that we live in Russia , and we don’t have to look at naked old men on the street”.
https://vk.com/wall-163061027_2437473
The big news of the day: the LPR army liberated the large town of Gorskoye. However, it remains unclear if all 2,000 encircled Kiev regime troops in the Zolotoye/Gorskoye area have totally surrendered.
Some videos for today.
RT reports from the front line in Lugansk People’s Republic:
https://odysee.com/@RT:fd/igor_lisichansk_2406:8
Ukrainian troops surrender due to lack of military support:
https://odysee.com/@RT:fd/soldiers_surrender_2406:3
The Victory Banner now flies over liberated Zolotoye:
https://www.bitchute.com/video/IVc9Nc8xrZA8/
The Russian, LPR, and Prizrak Battalion flags now fly over liberated Gorskoye (scroll down a little for the video):
https://colonelcassad.livejournal.com/7698010.html
Russian TOS-1A launcher fires thermobaric warheads:
https://odysee.com/@RT:fd/TOS-A1_2406:a
Why dont these idiots just give up?
They continue to issue new stupid statements, gather in new stupid meetings, crying now the Russians have done this, and now the Russians have done that, and we are very very outraged and whining whining, whining.
In the mean time…………………..https://vk.com/wall-163061027_2437473
Jules Verne wrote a stupid book called Michel Strogoff. Long story short, Michel, a messenger sent by the Czar to the governor of Irkutsk for a secret mission, reveals himself to save his mother who was a captive, and is blinded in return. (In most dramatizations the mother expires upon watching this, although in the original she doesn’t.)
Long story short, Michel makes to Irkutsk and manages to destroy the false messenger who wanted to deliver Irkutsk for the Tartars who were attacking it. MIchel is honored and returns Moscow as an exalted man.
As far as I know about Russia, Michel has become a traitor when he revealed himself, mother or not, so he would be set for execution no matter what he did afterwards, and the girl he was carrying with would be sent to Paris by the French reporter-narrator to become a demimonde at there.
But such is the fantasy the Western authors had on Russia.
@ kulmthestatusquo on June 24, 2022 · at 9:38 pm EST/EDT
Are you beginning a cancel culture campaign in reverse?
I was 6 y/o when I read that book, and I couldn’t care less about treason or the geopolitics in Russia during the Czar’s era. In my little boy imagination, it was an adventure worth to emulate, Michel Strogoff was a hero, Ivan Ogareff was a traitor, and deserved to die. End of story.
Jules Verne’s books, next to those of Mark Twain, Upton Sinclair, Jack London, Dostoievsky, Hemingway, and many others, were an integral part of my childhood. I was a grown up when I started to have an inkling about the historical/political context behind some of the novels and books I read in my early years.
For example, in another book you might call “stupid,” Jules Verne’s “Twenty thousand leagues under the sea,” a book I read twenty thousand times, Captain Nemo had a portrait of Tadeusz Kościuszko next to those of George Washington, Daniel O’Connell, Abraham Lincoln, John Brown and others. I had no idea who these people were (well, that’s no true, I knew who George Washington and Abraham Lincoln were), all I could see as a boy was that Captain Nemo identified himself with the struggle against oppression, it wasn’t clear whose oppression, but the name Kościuszko told me it had something to do with Poland.
Jules Verne could have had an anti-Russian trait, he really wanted Captain Nemo to be Polish, but his editors, concerned about the political implications since Russia was friendly to the French at that time, urged him to change Nemo’s origins, though it remains vaguely Polish. In a sequel to “Twenty thousand leagues,” called “The Mysterious Island,” Captain Nemo’s nationality changes to Indian, a radical discrepancy with the prequel.
The rumor goes Jules Verne’s ancestry was Polish-Jewish, but nothing serious came out of it.
I don’t believe dissecting books such as “Michel Strogoff” against the light of the current cancel culture anti-Russia brings anything positive. We should avoid falling into the same hostile pattern the West is using against Russia. We can be more objective than the stupid West. If we start looking into every novel, every book, every film, etc., that goes against Russia, we end up behaving just like them
Lone Wolf
ukro terror again have successfully killed an official in Kherson.
If No steps are being taken to stop these terror attacks the consequences impact on the whole russian society could be even more dramatic.
I believe it would be right to start taking out ukro VIPs for every terror attack in Russian held terretorys
“On the broader world front, the economists are discussing Mr Putin’s announcement of a new International reserve currency based on a basket of BRICS currencies.”
This is actually the most dangerous aspect of all of the current kerfuffle. TPTB have shown that they absolutely will not accept any challenge to their monetary hegemony. Think Qaddafi (sp?), JFK, and a few others. Examples were made of them, with extreme prejudice…
However, these were all minor powers with no nuclear arsenal. Russia and China are a whole other class of power. Both have self-sufficient economies, large militaries, and nuke arsenals.
So, Now is when the Irresistible Force meets the Immovable Object. Interesting Times…
Not a quiet night!
Operation Z: Military Correspondents of the Russian Spring
‼️💥A massive missile attack on targets in Ukraine: fires in the Lviv and Chernihiv regions, explosions in Kharkov, Zhytomyr and Kiev
The photo shows the sky over the Lviv region, where a target hit by a cruise missile is burning.
Before the explosions, residents of different regions saw the flight of cruise missiles.
All over Ukraine air raid alert.
t.me/RVvoenkor
34.8Kviews
21:57
A case of “demilitarization ” caught on video. The “denazification” of those fellows would come later:
The present footage is not a new material as it comes from a recent report made by our troops and hasn’t been given to the public before.
On the Popasnaya front, our men traded ten crates of canned food to the Ukrainian fighters for an American Javelin ATGM, a German Panzerfaust and two domestically made grenade launchers. It was a pretty fair trade-off.
https://t.me/intelslava/31860
This may be an impossible request but can someone point me in a direction of an article etc that succinctily describes the state of the world compliments of the US’s foreign policy?
I keep coming in contact with Americans that are so ignorant of everything that has happened, is happening that if I had something to give them for education that would great.
Perhaps they are not ‘education capable’.
They say war is just politics by other means. USA foreign policy is directly tied to their military industrial complex. The following link is an air/land/sea view of those assets. Europe is most interesting at this moment.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vk4qbBweIzo
A good article on Ukraine being a part of Russia:
“The current conflict was necessary. What is happening in Ukraine is best explained in plain English, little Russia transformed into a violent, vile, corrupt, racist, strip of land that learned to hate Big Russia. Little Russia (Ukraine) is working with NATO to weaken Big Russia. This is not a secret Secretary of Defense Llyod Austin admitted this publicly on camera, this is not hidden information, it is public.”
Historical Proof all of Ukraine belongs to Russia
https://abrahamstein.substack.com/p/historical-proof-all-of-ukraine-belongs?fbclid=IwAR0tk6_vTLdZH_qFRGsVldRwZdTANqpRBxOyNWqqhm7scMhIbnmgtwKclvw
Der Untergang is coming
“Please send more for disassembly…” –
https://sputniknews.com/20220625/thank-you-macron-french-politician-slams-ukraine-for-abandoning-howitzers-to-russian-forces-1096655685.html
“Russia Fires Barrage of Missiles at Targets Across Ukraine”
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/06/25/world/russia-ukraine-war-news#russia-hits-ukraine-with-over-40-rockets-including-in-areas-that-were-recently-spared
“Officials said the attacks included over 40 missiles fired from Belarusian airspace and appeared to hit mostly military targets.” -NYT
Voenkor Kitten Z
Military expert Boris Rozhin with a brief summary of the results of the operation to denazify and demilitarize Ukraine at 21.40 on June 25, 2022, specially for the Voenkor Kotenok Z @voenkorKotenok channel :
1.
Severodonetsk.
The city has been completely liberated, including the entire industrial zone of the Azot plant. All civilian hostages have been released.
Borovskoye, Voronovo and Sirotino were liberated. The remnants of the enemy forces from Severodonetsk withdrew to Lisichansk.
2.
Golden.
The liquidation of the boiler is completed. The remnants of the enemy forces tried to break through the minefields towards Disputed.
Like Severodonetsk, Zolote, together with Gorsky, will actually disappear from military reports in the coming days, just as Mariupol disappeared.
So far, there is no clarity on the losses of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (killed / wounded / prisoners) in Severodonetsk, Gorsky and Zolote – up to 800 prisoners and more than 1000 killed were declared yesterday.
3.
Lisichansk.
The city is in an operational environment. The only road to the city from Seversk is under fire control of the RF Armed Forces.
There are signs of preparations for the withdrawal of the AFU grouping from Lisichansk to Seversk.
Today, fighting began directly in Lisichansk itself and on the outskirts of the Lisichansk refinery.
The battles for Belaya Gora and Privolye continue.
4.
Soledar.
Fights for Berestovoye and Belogorovka, as well as near the Artemovsk-Lysichansk highway in the area of the captured Nikolaevka. The pressure on the enemy front north of Soledar will obviously increase in the coming days. The enemy, in turn, will prepare to defend the Soledar-Seversk line.
5.
Artemovsk.
Fights in Klinovoe and near Pokrovsky. So far, it has not been possible to completely cut off the Novolugansk and Uglegorsk TPPs. The enemy is still holding Semigorye.
6.
Avdiivka.
Positional battles near the Avdeevka-Konstantinovka highway and on the outskirts of New York. After the build-up of counter-battery work on our part, the intensity of shelling of Donetsk decreased somewhat.
In addition to terrorist shelling, the enemy fires at the DPR army units and targets ammunition depots. Our troops are focused on the destruction of guns and MLRS of the enemy.
7.
Carbon.
Quite intense fighting continues in the area of Yegorovka and Pavlovka. The enemy is trying by his activity to force the command of the RF Armed Forces to reduce pressure in other directions and along the way to improve their tactical position, taking advantage of the fact that there are no large forces in the Uludar direction now.
8.
Kharkov.
The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation have seized the operational initiative in this direction and are putting pressure on the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the area of Uda, Tsupovka, Dementievka and Verkhny Saltov.
A direct threat to Kharkov and Chuguev has not yet been created – so far, the UAF is gradually taking away what was lost in May during the counteroffensive of the UAF to the border.
9.
Slavyansk.
Fighting in the area of the Valley and Krasnopolye, as well as in the area of Prishib, Bogorodichny and Sidorovo. The pace of progress here is still low.
10.
Nikolaev.
Positional battles in the Nikolaev and Krivoy Rog directions. The activity of both sides is constrained by artillery.
The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation continue to inflict intensive strikes on manpower and equipment in Nikolaev, incidentally inflicting strikes on Krivoy Rog and in the Nikopol directions.
The Armed Forces of Ukraine are trying to fire missiles at Kherson and Skadovsk.
11.
Odessa, Izyum, Zaporozhye – no significant changes.
@voenkorKotenok
153.6Kviews
edited
14:48
Voenkor Kitten Z
The stronghold of the Russian spring – my commentary to PolitExpert .
The liberation of the Lisichansko-Severodonetsk agglomeration, which includes the cities of Severodonetsk, Rubizhne, Lisichansk, is one of the key stages of the special military operation to liberate Donbass. This is a serious defense unit that the enemy has been preparing for eight years: he deployed strongholds, buried equipment, created in-depth underground communications in order to resist. But, thank God, we are pushing the enemy out of there.
At the same time, I would warn against premature rejoicing on the topic of boilers and the reduction in the number of personnel of the Ukrainian troops. Do not belittle the role of the enemy. The enemy must always be given credit. This is the law. The enemy is on the defensive. Some units are withdrawing from their positions, yes, they are withdrawing, but they are stubborn, and we have losses. That is, there is no easy walk. We fight to occupy every line.
Part of the forces were withdrawn from the last boilers in the area of the settlements of Zolote and Gorskoe. Several columns came under fire on the march. The same can be said about Severodonetsk, Lysichansk. They began to withdraw their forces from Severodonetsk. They suffered losses under fire, but partially crossed the Seversky Donets in boats. Now they expect to stay for some time in Lisichansk. This city has a dominant position on the ground, which makes it easier for them to defend.
Ahead is a serious stage in the liberation of Lisichansk, after which the allied forces will go west. Without this, it is too early to talk about the successful fulfillment of the tasks set by the NWO. It is these buttings in the Severodonetsk region that determine the entire course of action. Then we advance to the west in the direction of Artemovsk, the Slavic-Kramatorsk agglomeration. The fighting to liberate these cities will be key, if not the most important. Because it was from Slavyansk that the Russian spring began. It was there that the militias gave impetus to all the resistance in the Donbass, which official Kyiv tried to suppress by all means. The liberation of the city will accelerate the advance to the borders of the republics. First of all, to the border of the Donetsk Republic, because 85-90% of Lugansk has already been liberated.
@voenkorKotenok
57.5Kviews
14:50
Who needs the Allied forces to defeat the Ukrainians, if the social networks can do the job? Deputy defense minister Anna Ma-liar, spinning the Severodonetsk cauldron. The tight lid on the cauldron had nothing to do with the failure of the evacuation, social networks are to blame.
——————————————————————————-
https://voenhronika.ru/publ/vojna_na_ukraine/nashi_zashli_v_lisichansk_boj_s_polskimi_naemnikami_video_srochnye_svodki_s_ukrainy_segodnja_25_ijunja_22_video/60-1-0-12433
Ours came to LISICHANSK! Battle with Polish mercenaries: VIDEO. Urgent reports from Ukraine – today June 25 (22 videos)
”…Deputy Defense Minister of Ukraine Anna Maliar said that due to premature publications about the withdrawal of the Armed Forces of Ukraine from Severodonetsk, the operation was disrupted. According to the official of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, “these publications, made in social networks, simply did not allow the troops to complete the planned in Severodonetsk…”
—————————————————————————
Lone Wolf
“Vkontakte made NATO collapse.”
The funny thing is their psychological drug addiction to their perception management tools on MSM.
They have used the tools so much the last 20-25 years or more, they believe in their cultish minds they can make a campaign: “Let there be darkness over Russia”, and immediately it dimmed. The difference between mind f.kk.ng, and ground control. https://youtu.be/D67kmFzSh_o
In case anyone missed it, the big news today was that the key northern LPR city of Severodonetsk has been fully liberated. 800 civilians held hostage by the Kiev regime forces were rescued in the Azot industrial area. The nearby LPR settlements of Borovskoye, Voronovo and Sirotino were also liberated. It remains unclear how many enemy forces were captured and how many successfully fled or died while attempting to flee.
Some videos for today.
Russian troops taking remaining areas of LPR under control:
https://odysee.com/@RT:fd/Igor-Zhdanov_2506:2
LPR’s Popasnaya in ruins as Kiev regime artillery shells civilian infrastructure:
https://odysee.com/@RT:fd/Kosarev_2506:b
Russian artillery firing in the special military operation:
https://rutube.ru/video/7fa9c3128518f5ff22f16bd4ba2759d3/
Russian military helicopter crews in action:
https://odysee.com/@RT:fd/ka-Helicopters_2506:9
@ Nate on June 25, 2022 · at 10:59 pm EST/EDT
LPR’s Popasnaya in ruins as Kiev regime artillery shells civilian infrastructure:
https://odysee.com/@RT:fd/Kosarev_2506:b
————————————————————–
Popasnaya is one of thousands of towns in Donbass that have been razed to the ground. Scorched earth is the policy of the UkroWerhmacht across the Donbass. If they are “defending” the town, their weapons are in between civilian housing, which are destroyed during the combat to dislodge them. Once expelled, they continue bombing the towns in revenge for having lost them.
War criminal scum.
Lone Wolf
I really hope the Russians have the names of the military officers giving the orders and Ukrainian officials so the bastards can stand trial one day,same with the Ukrainian war criminals who tortured and murdered POWs,like the savage who stabbed a Russian POW who was tied up in the head and eyes with a bayonet,that SOB should be a dead man.
I have some speculations that I don’t know if they are “Saker related”, on the definition of the word “partner”, as used by Putin.
Pardon my ignorance, but can we clarify on Russia’s use of the word Partners?
Putin uses that word a lot. I have never parsed his use of the word as it applies to relationships and as a reflection of his principles.
“I welcome all participants and guests of the 25th St Petersburg International Economic Forum.
It is taking place at a difficult time for the international community when the economy, markets and the very principles of the global economic system have taken a blow. Many trade, industrial and logistics chains, which were dislocated by the pandemic, have been subjected to new tests. Moreover, such fundamental business notions as business reputation, the inviolability of property and trust in global currencies have been seriously damaged. Regrettably, they have been undermined by our Western PARTNERS, who have done this deliberately, for the sake of their ambitions and in order to preserve obsolete geopolitical illusions.”
He calls us partners. I would say that we are pretty poor partners, as is Ukraine.
“Today, I would like to talk about the key principles on which our country, our economy will develop.
The first principle is openness. Genuinely sovereign states are always interested in equal PARTNERship and in contributing to global development. On the contrary, weak and dependent countries are usually looking for enemies, fuelling xenophobia or losing the last remnants of their identity and independence, blindly following in the wake of their suzerain.
Russia will never follow the road of self-isolation and autarky although our so-called Western friends are literally dreaming about this. Moreover, we are expanding cooperation with all those who are interested in it, who want to work with us, and will continue to do so. There are many of them. I will not list them at this point. They make up the overwhelming majority of people on Earth. I will not list all these countries now. It is common knowledge.
I will say nothing new when I remind you that everyone who wants to continue working or is working with Russia is subjected to blatant pressure from the United States and Europe; it goes as far as direct threats. However, this kind of blackmail means little when it comes to countries headed by true leaders who know the difference between their own national interests, the interests of their people – and someone else’s.
Russia will build up economic cooperation with these states and promote joint projects. At the same time, we will certainly continue to cooperate with Western companies that have remained in the Russian market despite the unprecedented arm-twisting – such companies exist, too.
We believe the development of a convenient and independent payment infrastructure in national currencies is a solid and predictable basis for deepening international cooperation. To help companies from other countries develop logistical and cooperation ties, we are working to improve transport corridors, increase the capacity of railways, transshipment capacity at ports in the Arctic, and in the eastern, southern and other parts of the country, including in the Azov-Black Sea and Caspian basins – they will become the most important section of the North-South Corridor, which will provide stable connectivity with the Middle East and Southern Asia. We expect freight traffic along this route to begin growing steadily in the near future.
But foreign trade is not our only priority. Russia intends to increase scientific, technological, cultural, humanitarian and sports cooperation based on equality and mutual respect between PARTNERS. At the same time, our country will strive for responsible leadership in all these areas.”
His use of the word partner always made me think that there may be some insincerity behind his use of the word. But now I see it is like the use of the word ‘friends’ or ‘brothers’. It’s in a putative sense that he sees that everyone plays their part, and has their part, whether they accept it or not, if they enter into some degree of partnership. He also says colleagues, and friends, in a putative sense and is responded to in kind, on account of his own collegial and friendly way.
We don’t usually think of partnership as possibly having some significant adversarial components, but in my view, Putin does see it that way.
As partners, our western businesses in Russia were never necessarily the best of partners, for paying their taxes, or licensing..
“There is another very sensitive topic for business, which has also become important today for our national security and economic resilience. To reduce and bring to a minimum all sorts of abuse and loopholes to exert pressure on entrepreneurs, we are consistently removing loose regulations from criminal law that are applied to economic crimes.
Last March, a law was signed, under which tax-related criminal cases against entrepreneurs shall only be brought before a court by the tax service – there is no other way. Soon a draft law will be passed on reducing the statute of limitations for tax-related crimes and on rejecting lawsuits to initiate criminal proceedings after tax arrears have been paid off.
Working comprehensively, although prudently, we need to decriminalise a wide range of economic offenses, for instance, those that punish businesses without a licence or accreditation. This is a controversial practice today because our Western PARTNERS illegitimately refuse to provide such licenses.
Our own agencies must not single-handedly make our businesses criminally liable for actually doing nothing wrong. The problem is this, and small businesses understand it very well – if a licence has expired, and Western PARTNERS refuse to extend it, what are businesses to do, wrap up operations? By no means, let them work. State oversight should continue, but there should be no undue interference in business.
It also makes sense to think about raising the threshold of criminal liability for unpaid customs duties and other such taxes. Additionally, we have not for a long time reconsidered the parameters of the terms ‘large’ and ‘very large’ economic loss for the purposes of economic offences despite inflation accruing 50 percent since 2016. The law now fails to reflect the current realities and needs to be corrected.”
In Putin’s eyes the world is full of partners and potential partners, unlike our western leaders, where the world is full of people with property that we can appropriate, regimes we can change and nations we can sanction. Partners can have partners.
“For example, after dishonest KamAZ PARTNERS left the Russian market, their place was taken by domestic companies, which are supplying parts for traditional models and even advanced mainline, transport and heavy-duty vehicles.
The Mir card payment system has successfully replaced Visa and MasterCard on the domestic market. It is expanding its geography and gradually gaining international recognition.
The St Petersburg Tractor Plant is another case in point. Its former foreign PARTNERS stopped selling engines and providing warranty maintenance. Engine builders from Yaroslavl and Tutayev came to the rescue and started supplying their engines. As a result, the output of agricultural equipment at the St Petersburg Tractor Plant hit a record high in March-April. It did not decrease, but hit an all-time high.
I am sure there will be more positive practices and success stories.
To reiterate, Russia possesses the professional, scientific and technological potential to develop products that enjoy high demand, including household appliances and construction equipment, as well as industrial and service equipment.”
The President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev reciprocates, speaking of traditional partnerships.
“As part of our large-scale effort to modernise the country, we are drafting new rules of the game in the economy without glaring monopolies and rampant corruption. Our priority is to support businesses and improve the business climate with a view to providing the utmost protection for the rights of investors, and promoting stability and predictability. We will continue meeting all of our commitments to our traditional PARTNERS. Kazakhstan will continue building an inclusive, fair society without social inequality.”
“Russia has been and remains Kazakhstan’s key economic partner in the EAEU. Last year, our trade went up by almost a third to exceed $24 billion. These are record figures for us. The dynamics remains positive this year as well. Our trade increased by over 12 percent in the first quarter of 2022.”
“As far as I know, there has been much interest on the sidelines of the St Petersburg International Economic Forum in Russia’s initiative to build a Greater Eurasian PARTNERship. This concept consists of offering regional organisations a platform for creating a common space of equal cooperation. It is for this reason that Kazakhstan continues to have a positive outlook on the effort to build the Greater Eurasian PARTNERship.
This year, Kazakhstan chairs the Commonwealth of Independent States. Over the years, this structure has built up a positive track record despite all the geopolitical challenges, which proves that multilateral dialogue tools are effective.
I believe that the CIS is perfectly suited for serving as a foundation for this megaproject. I am referring to Greater Eurasia, or the Greater Eurasian PARTNERship. It can encompass the SCO, ASEAN, and the Eurasian Economic Union as its integral elements.
Over the next decade, China, India, as well as countries in the Middle East, South and Southeast Asia, which have traditionally been friendly to us, can become major investors in the economies of our region.
China has already emerged as Kazakhstan’s main economic and foreign trade PARTNER. This country invested in our economy more than $22 billion over the past 15 years. For this reason, strengthening our multilateral cooperation with China is a very important goal for our country.”
That was the President of Kazakhstan talking about partnership. Then there’s XI JINPING, the President of China, now talking about partnership:
“Second, we need to strengthen development PARTNERships. It is important that we enhance North-South and South-South cooperation, pool cooperation resources, platforms and networks of development PARTNERships, and scale up development assistance in order to forge greater synergy for development and close the development gap.”
Putin again, re as mundane a subject as packaging under sanctions, where foreign packaging companies leave Russia:
“Regarding packaging. I do not think it is such a complicated thing that either our PARTNERS from other countries can replace, who will be pleased to occupy this market sooner or later, or we will be able to make ourselves.”
“The issue is not about import substitution, the issue is to establish our own capabilities based on progress in education, science and new promising schools of engineering. We will always be given packaging materials and other simple things, event telephones and smartphones. What we have never been given and never will be is critically important technologies. We have never been given them before even though we had problem-free relations with our Western PARTNERS in the previous decades. This is the problem.
And when we begin to stand up for our rights, we are immediately slapped with some sanctions and restrictions; this is what the problem is all about. Therefore, we must commit ourselves to that and have the capacity to reproduce critically important technologies on the basis of what I mentioned. And with that base we will always be able to manufacture the goods you mentioned: packaging materials, telephones and smartphones. If we realise that and keep focusing on solving fundamental issues, we will resolve everything else without a problem.”
“By the way, I have no doubt that as time goes by, many of our partners, at least in Europe, will return to the Russian market and will once again enjoy working here. I have no doubt about that. They will be compelled to do so, while we will not stand in their way. We are open to the entire world, as I have already said. However, they must realise that we need to treat each other with respect.”
Beyond that he goes into the meaning of sovereignty in relation to the Russia/China partnership, given Margarita Simonyan, a journalist I guess, saying that even Huawei stores are leaving Russia.
“Our trade with China is US$140 billion and will keep growing. This year, it will probably hit a record high. Not because we have to do so because of the current political situation, but because this is an objective global picture.
We find it interesting and beneficial to be PARTNERS with China, especially since we enjoy stable and trust-based political relations. I have excellent friendly personal relations with President Xi Jinping in the full sense of the word, which creates a good atmosphere for building ties between our countries. However, this does not mean that China should play along with us or support us every step of the way. We do not need this, after all.
There are interests of the state. Just like us, the Chinese leadership is acting primarily out of its national interests, but our interests are not at odds with their interests, and that is what matters. When issues arise – and they always arise at the agency level in the course of work – the nature and quality of relations between our countries makes it possible for us to always find solutions. I am confident it will stay that way going forward.”
Again the president of Kazakhstan on partnership with China, a “reliable partner”.
“To follow up on China, China is a critically important market for Kazakhstan. We have a common border of over 2,000 kilometres long that unites us. Everything that we produce, raw materials or finished products such as chocolate or vegetable oil, are very popular with Chinese consumers.
We value our relationship with the People’s Republic of China. It is a reliable PARTNER, no matter what they say about China in today’s world.”
Margarita Simonyan asking a question:
“Both in Moscow and beyond, and even more so in the West, people are increasingly saying, just pronouncing the words ‘nuclear war’, ‘World War Three’. We understand that this is not the first, not the second, not the third special operation, that it is not ours, but in general is going on in the world over the past few years. Our so-called PARTNERS are carrying out special operations and waging wars wherever they want, for any reason and without one. No one has ever said that the situation in Libya or somewhere else, in Afghanistan, in Syria, could lead to World War III. But they are talking about it now.
Do you think this rhetoric is acceptable? Does it have any grounds or is it just talk – the louder, the better to be heard?”
Putin on Ukraine, and the possibility of partnership:
“Look, we have allied, even fraternal, relations with Kazakhstan; we are members of a defence bloc – the CSTO, and members of an economic association. Who in Russia can even think of spoiling relations with Kazakhstan over any issues? That is nonsense, isn’t it? We are interested in strengthening such relations.
We would have treated Ukraine the same way. Look, if we had an allied, neighbourly relationship, or just a PARTNERship, no one would have thought of it. And by the way, there would be no problem with Crimea either, because if Ukraine had respected the rights of the people who live there, the Russian-speaking population, the Russian language and culture, this would never have occurred to anyone, don’t you see?
The current situation is of their own making. This nationalism of theirs – something the party chiefs cherished there in Soviet times, by the way – eventually began to gain momentum with every day once they gained sovereignty. Every day, despite our massive support and the amounts of energy resources supplied at bargain prices – we were as good as subsidising Ukraine’s economy – their nationalism continued to grow. Why were they doing that? What were they hoping to gain? No idea. Just the ambitions of a bunch of people, you know, some Bandera followers. That’s it.
If we had normal relations, there would be nothing like this, nothing like this tragedy, I assure you. But we did not do it.
As concerns the future, you know that, first of all, we are ready to build relationships with everybody, despite the current events. And secondly, the army and the navy can be the only guarantors of our security.”
President Tokayev wraps it up on partnership and optimism:
“After all, there are so many good and promising PARTNERS in the modern world. We just need to find them and build cooperation. It is good to see that right now, a number of countries are showing real interest in joining the Eurasian Economic Union in one role or another.”
In conclusion, it seems plain that partners are less than an allied, neighbourly relationship, in Putin’s mind.
i.e. “We would have treated Ukraine the same way. Look, if we had an allied, neighbourly relationship, or just a PARTNERship, no one would have thought of it.”
After all, Putin referred to the USA as a “partner”, when the USA entered Syria, and Russia had to cooperate with them on deconfliction to avoid a nuclear war.
So partnerships are definitely less than allied or neighbourly relations.