August 2024

Aug 31, 2024

Featured • Scott Ritter: Ukrainian Conflict Escalation Can Lead to ‘Global-Ending’ Nuclear War, Sputnik International, Aug 31, 2024

Ukraine attacking Russia using long-range weapons provided by the US “might be interpreted by Russia as a direct attack by the US, by NATO, on Russian territory,” former US Marine Corps intelligence officer Scott Ritter tells Sputnik.

Such an attack, Ritter explains, might be regarded as a prelude to a “larger military incursion” meant to accomplish the US’ ultimate goal, “the strategic defeat of Russia.”

“Russia has made it clear that as a nuclear power, it not only will not, but cannot be defeated strategically - because if such a possibility manifested itself, Russia would be required to use its nuclear arsenal to ensure that outcome would never, never occur. This means general nuclear war,” he says.

Ritter also recalls the warnings made by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov who questioned the US’ apparent belief that a Russia-NATO conflict would be limited to Europe and who said that a Russian retaliatory strike against the United States is possible if such a conflict were to break out.

“This is a very dangerous escalation, one that could rapidly create the conditions conducive for not limited nuclear conflict, but a general nuclear war, a global-ending global disaster, the destruction of the US, the destruction of Russia, the destruction of Europe, the destruction of the world. Why? Because the US and NATO will not be honest about the state of affairs in Ukraine today,” laments Ritter.

Russia's Special Operation in Ukraine

Ukraine Blackmails Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant Employees

Ukraine has already “lost the war," he adds, and nothing that Kiev might do to try and “tip the scales” in its favor is going to change that.

“All it will do is provoke Russia into enlarging this conflict so that it's not just Ukraine that pays the price, but Europe, the US, and the rest of the world,” Ritter says. “Hopefully, the Ukrainian Defense Minister Andrei Yermak will be received by the US, and have their recommendations regarding using long-range weapons to strike deep inside Russia rejected. Because there's only one outcome if the US greenlights this escalation, and that is total nuclear war.”

Washington is prepared to lift its ban on Ukrainian strikes deep inside Russia’s territory with the use of US-supplied weapons, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has said. Last week, Pentagon Deputy Press Secretary Sabrina Singh said that US “policy does allow for Ukraine to conduct counter fires to defend itself from Russian attacks coming over that border region,” including Kursk Region, where an incursion by Kiev’s forces has been ongoing since early August. On Monday, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters that Washington was aware of Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky’s “desire” to be allowed to fire US weapons such as ATACMS missiles, which have a range of up to 300km (186 miles), deep into Russia. “We will keep the conversations with the Ukrainians going [on the issue], but we are going to keep them private,” he said.

“Extremely serious conclusions” can be drawn from the latest statements coming from Washington, Zakharova said on Friday. “Ukraine has been given a carte blanche for operations in Russian regions,” she added. “Furthermore, the administration of [US President] Joe Biden is obviously getting ready to make new concessions to Zelensky and give him a free hand to use virtually any type of American weapons, including [for attacks] deep into Russian territory,” the spokeswoman stressed, as cited by RIA Novosti. Through its continued support for Kiev, Washington “has effectively become a party to the armed conflict over Ukraine,” she insisted.

“The US course towards escalation is becoming increasingly outrageous. It seems that the American elites have cast aside the last vestiges of common sense and believe that anything is allowed to them,” Zakharova said. Earlier this week, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov compared the US and their allies to “children playing with matches” over their continued speculations about greenlighting Ukrainian strikes deep inside Russian territory. “It is a very dangerous thing to do for grown-ups, who are entrusted with nuclear weapons in one or another Western country,” he said. Russian President Vladimir Putin warned earlier that Moscow might engage in an asymmetrical response to the US supply of long-range systems to Ukraine, by arming groups or countries hostile to Washington – such as North Korea – with advanced weaponry.

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump said during a town hall event in the state of Wisconsin that the biggest challenge the United States and the international community face is preventing a nuclear war in the near future.

"In my opinion, the biggest problem our country has, the biggest problem the world has, is nuclear weapons," Trump said on Thursday. "They are a destructive force, the likes of which nobody has ever seen before, and we have to make sure they're never used."

Trump said he'd be able to help maintain stability around the world by keeping lines of communication open, adding "I could do it with telephone calls, by being smart."

Trump mentioned that the United States and Russia are the biggest nuclear powers, but expects that China will catch up in about five years as it builds up its nuclear arsenal.

Trump is expected to enter arms control talks with Russia if he returns to the White House after the November election.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said Wednesday that the biggest problem Kyiv has faced in its war against Russia is the Western concern for escalation and the risk of provoking Moscow. “Ever since the beginning of the large-scale invasion, the biggest problem Ukraine has been facing is the domination of the concept of escalation in the decision-making processes among our partners,” Kuleba said, according to Reuters. The foreign minister’s comments come as Ukraine is pushing hard for the US to allow long-range strikes inside Russian territory using US-provided missiles. Russia has strongly warned against the move and suggested that it would risk World War III. “The war is always about a lot of hardware: money, weapons, resources but the real problems are always here, in the heads,” Kuleba said.

“Most of our partners are afraid of discussing the future of Russia… This is something that is very upsetting because if we do not speak about the future of the source of threat, then we cannot build strategy.” Throughout the war, the US and NATO have taken steps that they previously ruled out over escalation concerns, such as providing tanks and fighter jets. The most recent significant escalation was President Biden’s decision to give Ukraine the greenlight to use US weapons in attacks on Russian border regions. A few months later, Ukraine launched its invasion of Kursk. Kuleba made the comments during a conversation with Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski, who expressed support for allowing Ukraine to launch long-range strikes with NATO weapons. Sikorski said NATO should “let Ukraine fight with whatever it has, with whatever we have delivered them, and let’s deliver them more.”

Aug 30, 2024

 • Last of the Wunderwaffen? F-16 Blasted Out of Sky in First Mission, Simplicius, Aug 30, 2024

 • Ukrainian impunity could result in major nuclear incident – Moscow, RT, Aug 29, 2024

The refusal to hold Ukraine accountable for attacks on the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant has emboldened Kiev to target the Kursk NPP in the same way, Russia’s deputy envoy to the UN, Dmitry Polyansky, has said. Speaking at a UN Security Council session in New York on Wednesday, Polyansky denounced the Western powers for failing to acknowledge the escalating Ukrainian threat to nuclear safety. The Zaporozhye plant is located in the city of Energodar in Zaporozhye Region, Russia, which Kiev claims under its own sovereignty. Moscow has accused Ukrainian forces of targeting the city and the facility itself on multiple occasions with artillery fire and drone attacks. An incendiary device deployed by a Ukrainian drone caused a major fire at one of its two cooling towers earlier this month, according to the plant’s management.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which has an observer mission at the location, has confirmed that the blaze did not start at the base of the structure and that the tower may need to be dismantled. Russia has urged Western backers of Ukraine to use their leverage to stop attacks on the Zaporozhye site. Polyansky said Kiev’s impunity for these actions has put another nuclear power plant, in Kursk Region, in its crosshair. Ukrainian forces have shelled the plant and attempted to seize it during their incursion into the Russian region, he explained. “This kind of recklessness, which potentially could trigger a nuclear incident with tragic consequences for the whole of Europe, is the best rebuff” to people who ignored the situation in Zaporozhye Region, Polyansky said. “This is what your unprincipled ostrich-like stance leads to.”

Senior Russian officials have previously accused Kiev of engaging in “nuclear terrorism” by attacking Russian reactors. President Vladimir Putin specifically mentioned this when he stated that peace talks with Ukraine have been ruled out in the wake of the incursion into Kursk Region. He also cited Kiev’s attacks on civilians as a reason that negotiations are no longer possible. Following the incident with the Zaporozhye plant’s cooling tower, the Russian Foreign Ministry warned that Ukrainian forces would target the Kursk facility, and urged the IAEA to denounce these actions.

Aug 29, 2024

Featured • Top Ukrainian Officials to Meet With US Gov’t to Seek Permission to Strike Russia - Reports, Sputnik International, Aug 29, 2024

Andriy Yermak, the head of Ukrainian President's office and Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov will meet this week with representatives of the US President administration in an attempt to persuade the White House to lift restrictions on strikes deep into Russian territory using long-range US weapons, media reported.

Yermak and Umerov intend to provide Washington with a list of "priority targets" without which, according to Kiev's position, "it will be difficult to change the course of the war in Ukraine’s favor," the report said.

Umerov will meet with US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Friday, the report read, adding that it is unclear, however, with whom Yermak will hold talks.

"We consider strikes deep into Russian territory with American weapons no more provocative than strikes with American weapons on Russian territory near the border. Both are Russian territory and it makes no difference how deep the targets are," the lawmaker was quoted as saying by the broadcaster.

On Tuesday, Pentagon Press Secretary Pat Ryder said that the United States has no immediate plans to lift restrictions on strikes against Russian targets inside the country using US-donated weapons.

Russia views the supply of weapons to Ukraine as an impediment to conflict resolution, arguing that it directly involves NATO countries in the conflict and constitutes "playing with fire." Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has stated that any shipments containing weapons for Ukraine will be considered legitimate targets for Russia.

It seems clear enough that when the truth does eventually come out, it will likely be as sordid as it is mundane, entirely unfit for Hollywood, deeply embarrassing to the West, and devoid of alcohol. And it’s extremely hard to imagine that the road to ultimate culpability doesn’t end in Washington. We may well end up not far from where veteran journalist Seymour Hersch pointed with his report claiming that the sabotage was a CIA operation carried out by US Navy divers.

But there’s another angle here that can be pursued. More interesting than ‘who did it’ is to ask ‘how did they know they could’? In other words, when a brazen crime is committed and the perpetrator gets off scot-free, the question isn’t necessary ‘how did he get away with it?’, but ‘how did he know he would get away with it?’ A crime is one thing, but the apparent confidence in advance that it will entail no consequences is a matter of a much larger magnitude. The latter points to deeper forces operating within a society or even a civilization....

But in this case, there doesn’t seem to have been any risk, and the perpetrators seem to have known that. It is this sense of impunity that is more telling than the act itself. It means that it was well understood in the corridors of true Western power – not the beer-drenched bar stools of Ukraine – that a high level of discipline within the trans-Atlantic bloc could be maintained, and that the European countries affected would do exactly what they have done – go to any length not to implicate their powerful ally....

In contemplating Europe’s inability to think critically about its own policies or carve out its own path separate from the US, the excellent Swedish analyst Malcom Kyeyune has identified a phenomenon that he calls “Europe’s mental deindustrialization.”

While physical deindustrialization – the shutting down of factories, laying off of workers, and decay of productive capacities – is still underway, Kyeyune sees this mental deindustrialization as a fait accompli. The result is “a growing intellectual and cultural dependence on a superpower that is itself in a state of decadence.”

Aug 28, 2024

Featured • Danny Davis and I Deep Dive on Ukraine, Larry Johnson, Aug 27, 2024

Recent remarks by Russia’s Foreign Minister Lavrov, at a joint press conference with the representative of Yemen, signals a fundamental shift in Russia’s policy on the war in Ukraine that portends a dramatic escalation in the conflict if the West ignores Lavrov’s message. He made the following key points:

Russia’s doctrine on the use of nuclear weapons is “currently being clarified.”

Kiev’s demands for the West to permit strikes with Storm Shadow missiles on Moscow and St. Petersburg are blackmail, and discussing their potential use is “playing with fire.”

Russia will not be swayed by a “peace summit” with Ukraine in a Global South country if it follows the same logic as the first one.

If the West is interested in resolving the conflict in Ukraine, then negotiations need to be initiated.

This comes on the heels of Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov stating that:

“some kind of specification” of Russia’s nuclear doctrine might follow after some time amid a further escalation of the situation on the part of Moscow’s opponents.

The West better damn well pay attention to their words. These two men are not known for speaking off-the-cuff or saying whatever comes into their head. They are clearly and strongly enunciating Russia’s view on the use of NATO weapons inside Russian territory — Russia will hit NATO countries if they provide weapons that strike deep inside Russia. Something that Ukraine is demanding.

Poland has slipped into a state of “hybrid war” amid soaring tensions with Russia and its key ally Belarus, Polish Deputy Defense Minister Cezary Tomczyk has said. Tomczyk made the remarks on Monday while speaking at a high-level panel on Poland’s security situation, suggesting that his country had already entered a state just below the level of actual war. “What we are facing in Poland today is de facto hybrid warfare. And we can say directly that Poland is in a state of war today, but in a state of hybrid warfare,” he stated, as quoted by PAP news agency. He pointed to the situation on the border with Belarus, as well as incidents where weather balloons appeared in Polish airspace. Warsaw has for years accused Minsk of trying to pressure it by sending illegal migrants across the border.

Aug 26, 2024

Featured • The western way of war – Owning the narrative trumps reality, Alastair Crooke, Strategic Culture Foundation, Aug 26, 2024

War propaganda and feint are as old as the hills. Nothing new. But what is new is that infowar is no longer the adjunct to wider war objectives – but has become an end in and of itself....

This objective enjoys a higher priority than, say, ensuring a manufacturing capacity sufficient to sustain military objectives. Crafting an imagined ‘reality’ has taken precedence over shaping the ground reality.

The point here is that this approach – being a function of whole of society alignment (both at home and abroad) – creates entrapments into false realities, false expectations, from which an exit (when such becomes necessary), turns near impossible, precisely because imposed alignment has ossified public sentiment. The possibility for a State to change course as events unfold becomes curtailed or lost, and the accurate reading of facts on the ground veers toward the politically correct and away from reality....

Just to be clear, this genre of ‘winning narrative’ surrounding Kursk is neither deceit nor feint. The Minsk Accords were examples of deceit, but they were deceits grounded in rational strategy (i.e. they were historically normal). The Minsk deceits were intended to buy the West time to further Ukraine’s militarisation – before attacking the Donbas. The deceit worked, but only at the price of a rupture of trust between Russia and the West. The Minsk deceits however, also accelerated an end to the 200-year era of the westification of Russia.

Kursk rather, is a different ‘fish’. It is grounded in the notions of western exceptionalism. The West perceives itself as tacking to ‘the right side of History’. ‘Winning narratives’ essentially assert – in secular format – the inevitability of the western eschatological Mission for global redemption and convergence. In this new narrative context, facts-on-the-ground become mere irritants, and not realities that must be taken into account...

The Kursk ploy no doubt seemed clever and audacious to London and Washington. Yet with what result? It achieved neither objective of taking Kursk NPP, nor of syphoning Russian troops from the Contact Line. The Ukrainian presence in the Kursk Oblast will be eliminated.

What it did do, however, is put an end to all prospects of an eventual negotiated settlement in Ukraine. Distrust of the U.S. in Russia is now absolute. It has made Moscow more determined to prosecute the special operation to conclusion. German equipment visible in Kursk has raised old ghosts, and consolidated awareness of the hostile western intentions toward Russia. ‘Never again’ is the unspoken riposte.

Aug 25, 2024

 • Putin has chosen response to Ukraine’s incursion – envoy, RT, Aug 23, 2024

President Vladimir Putin has decided on how to respond to Kiev’s incursion into Russia’s Kursk Region and everyone responsible will undoubtedly be punished, Moscow’s Ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov told journalists on Thursday. Earlier this month, Kiev launched its largest cross-border attack to date on Russia, sending in some of its best-equipped and most experienced soldiers in to Kursk Region in an attempt to seize Russian territory. The Ukrainian government has expressed hope that the operation will relieve pressure on its forces elsewhere on the front line, and strengthen Kiev’s position at eventual peace talks with Moscow. However, Russia’s Defense Ministry has reported that the incursion has effectively been halted and, while Kiev’s troops still hold a number of territories in the region, they have been experiencing heavy casualties throughout the fighting.

The US government has sanctioned almost 400 individuals and companies in Russia and around the world, including Russian Defense Minister Andrey Belousov’s son and his wife. Departments of State and Treasury announced the measure on Friday, on the eve of Ukraine’s independence day, to signal Washington’s ongoing support to Kiev in the conflict with Moscow. The sanctions also extended to entities and individuals in Asia, Europe and the Middle East. In keeping with the practice of sanctioning family members of Russian officials, the US has blacklisted Pavel Belousov and his wife Yevgenya, as well as a consulting company in their ownership. Belousov’s father Andrey became the Russian defense minister in May....

Friday’s designations mean that any property or interests in property of the listed individuals, directly or indirectly, have been blocked and must be reported to the government. Any transactions between US citizens – or foreign nationals within the US – are forbidden. Washington and its allies have placed over 22,000 sanctions on Russia since 2014, when Moscow responded to the US-backed coup in Kiev by welcoming Crimea’s reunification.

Aug 24, 2024

 • Nord Stream Ecocide & Fall of Germany ‘Engineered by Western Powers’ – Analyst, John Miles, Sputnik International, Aug 23, 2024

“It has been cheap Russian energy that has powered this German economic miracle,” he noted. “So it doesn’t have it anymore. Germany is ceasing to be competitive and that’s why Germany is now invariably in a recession.” Host Garland Nixon agreed that the situation is “very dangerous,” speculating that the US and its allies are likely escalating their involvement in the Ukraine proxy war to attempt to negate the threat of a newly-reelected President Donald Trump seeking to end the conflict. Szamuely suggested that Republican allies such as notorious neoconservative Lindsay Graham would likely move to impeach Trump in such an event.“It has been cheap Russian energy that has powered this German economic miracle,” he noted. “So it doesn’t have it anymore. Germany is ceasing to be competitive and that’s why Germany is now invariably in a recession.” Host Garland Nixon agreed that the situation is “very dangerous,” speculating that the US and its allies are likely escalating their involvement in the Ukraine proxy war to attempt to negate the threat of a newly-reelected President Donald Trump seeking to end the conflict. Szamuely suggested that Republican allies such as notorious neoconservative Lindsay Graham would likely move to impeach Trump in such an event.

Washington cannot be trusted over claims that Ukraine is prohibited from using certain weapons, Russian envoy Anatoly Antonov has said.

Claims by Washington that it has banned Ukraine from using US-supplied long-range weapons for strikes deep inside Russian territory cannot be trusted, Moscow’s ambassador to the US, Anatoly Antonov, has said.

Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky has resumed his calls for the country’s Western backers to allow long-range strikes on Russian territory during Kiev’s ongoing incursion into Kursk Region.

The Pentagon stated last week that its stance remains unchanged, and that Ukraine is still banned from using US-supplied ATACMS missiles, which have a range of up to 300km (186 miles), for attacks deep inside Russia.

Speaking to journalists on Friday, Antonov claimed that the US authorities “seem to be constantly teasing us by saying that today it is allegedly not allowed to use long-range systems to strike at Russian territory.”

“But in reality, they are essentially preparing the ground to simply remove all existing restrictions, at a certain point,” the Russian envoy added.

Judging by Washington’s previous assistance to Kiev, including its training of pilots to fly F-16 jets, it is almost certain that Ukraine will “fight with US-made [long-range] weapons against us,” the ambassador said, as cited by TASS. “Where exactly will it happen? We cannot say or foretell,” he stressed.

According to Antonov, the administration of US President Joe Biden is becoming increasingly unpredictable. “There is no guarantee that the whole world will not change tomorrow when you and I wake up. How the Americans will behave in this situation is very hard to tell,” he said.

Ukrainian forces have attempted to strike Russia’s Kursk Nuclear Power Plant (NPP), President Vladimir Putin has said during a cabinet meeting. Kiev sent thousands of troops into Russia’s Kursk Region earlier this month, attempting to reach the town of Kurchatov, where the nuclear facility is located. Moscow has declared the incursion an act of terrorism and has deployed additional troops to repel the invaders. “Last night, the enemy attempted to strike the atomic power plant,” Putin said at a cabinet meeting on Thursday afternoon. “The International Atomic Energy Agency [IAEA] has been informed. They promised to come themselves and send specialists to assess the situation. I hope they actually do so.” The IAEA already has observers working at the Zaporozhye NPP, Europe’s largest such facility. The mission was deployed in the summer of 2023, as Ukrainian troops attempted to seize the plant.

Aug 22, 2024

Featured • Qatar "Talks" Just Another Ukrainian Perception Management Diversion, Simplicius, Aug 20, 2024
Indispensible

Featured • Britain Claims To Have Helped With The Ukrainian Invasion Of Russia, Moon of Alabama, Aug 19, 2024
Complimentary to the Simplicius piece. Some overlap, some differences. b is the more seasoned analyst, so his cred is a little higher, but it is impossible to get a picture that is both accurate and full.

Featured • NATO Invades Russia, a Red Line is Crossed, Larry Johnson, Aug 19, 2024
Yet another smart perspective, this time from a higher altitude with more general observations as to the strategic implications of this UK-assisted madness.

 • US, UK, Poland Took Part in Preparing Ukraine’s Operation in Kursk - Russian Foreign Intel, Sputnik International, Aug 21, 2024

On August 6, Ukrainian forces launched an incursion into Russia’s Kursk region, which was slammed by President Vladimir Putin as a large-scale provocation. The Kiev regime planned the attack with the participation of the US and NATO, Russian presidential aide Nikolai Patrushev earlier said.

Ukraine’s operation in Russia’s Kursk region was prepared with the participation of the US, UK, and Polish intelligence services, the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) said.

"According to available information, the operation of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Kursk region was prepared with the participation of the US, British, and Polish intelligence services. The units involved in it underwent combat coordination in training centers in the UK and Germany. Military advisers from NATO countries are providing assistance in managing Ukraine’s units that have invaded Russian territory, and in using Western weapons and military equipment," the agency told Russian media.

NATO countries are also providing the Ukrainian military with satellite reconnaissance data on the deployment of Russian troops in the area of the operation, the SVR added.

Aug 19, 2024

Featured • Washington and New York Fiddle While the World Threatens to Burn with a Nuclear Glow, Larry Johnson, Aug 17, 2024

If you take a look at the front pages of the Washington Post and the NY Times you will discover that the “big news” is all-things Kamala Harris and the decline of Donald Trump. I haven’t seen this kind of desperate propaganda campaign since the glory days of Pravda under the Soviets. Not one word about the brewing crisis between Iran and Israel. A brief mention of the Palestinian fatalities at the hands of the Israeli Occupation Force and when it comes to Ukraine and Russia, only the NY Times is beating the drum about the amazing Ukrainian victory.

The Washington Post, for its part, posted a piece today about secret negotiations between Russia and Ukraine over a ceasefire and an end to attacks on the energy and power grids in both countries....

When you dig into the article you learn that the Russians and Ukrainians are not talking to each other. Nope. They are talking to Qatari officials, who are playing mediator. I have a bold prediction — those talks will not resume and Russia will not agree to any such deal. I can’t help but assume that this is another clever Western propaganda campaign designed to portray Russia as desperate for a negotiated end to the war. Given the incandescent political temperature in Moscow, even contemplating such a deal would be political suicide for Putin. It appears that most Russian officials other than Putin want to put an end to Ukraine. From the point of view of leaders like Medvedev, Ukraine is a cancerous tumor and must be yanked out at its roots. (emphasis added).

Russia and Ukraine have not been involved in any “direct or indirect” talks that could have been derailed by Kiev’s cross-borer incursion into Kursk Region, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told journalists on Sunday. She was asked to comment on a Washington Post article which claimed, citing sources, that the Ukrainian attack thwarted secret indirect negotiations between Moscow and Kiev regarding a potential moratorium on striking energy infrastructure. The supposed talks were said to be mediated by Qatar, the outlet wrote on Saturday. “No one has derailed anything,” Zakharova said, explaining that the two sides have not discussed any “security regimes” for critical infrastructure facilities. She went on to say that threats to energy facilities such as the nuclear power stations in Zaporozhye and Kursk come from Kiev, not Moscow.

Foreign Affairs has published a remarkable article. Under the title, “A Post-American Europe: It’s Time for Washington to Europeanize NATO and Give Up Responsibility for the Continent’s Security,” the authors, Justin Logan and Joshua Shifrinson, make, in essence, one simple argument: the US should leave Europe’s defense to the Europeans because it is no longer in Washington’s interest to do their job for them. Moreover, Logan and Shifrinson add, the Europeans clearly have the resources – economically and demographically – to look after themselves.

Aug 17, 2024

Featured • U.S. Mulls Arming Ukraine’s F-16s With JASSM Long-Range Missiles – Report, South Front, Aug 17, 2024

The United States is studying the possibility of sending Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missiles (JASSM) to Ukraine, Politico reported on August 16.

The long-range cruise missiles could be launched from the Ukrainian Air Force (UAF) new American-made F-16 fighter jets and would allow Kiev to strike “targets over 230 miles [370 kilometers] away,” boosting Ukraine’s military capabilities against Russia, according to the news outlet.

Recent FBI raids on properties belonging to Russian-American political scientist Dimitri K. Simes and Scott Ritter, who both challenge the mainstream US political propaganda, are meant to squash dissent on Ukraine, former UN weapons inspector Ritter told Sputnik. The conflict in Ukraine – in which the US has become deeply involved by providing the Kiev regime with billions of dollars – reportedly has people questioning Washington’s hawkish policy that the government seeks to suppress. “What is our crime? Our crime is to have an opinion that is opposite of that of the United States government when it comes to Ukraine,” Ritter emphasized. It is not just about the government deceiving the American people, it is about the mainstream media working in close coordination with the US government to deceive the American people about a war, Ritter noted.

Ukraine was forced to expend some of their most well-trained soldiers and advanced technology in a failed effort to capture the Kursk nuclear power plant, highlighted former US Marine intelligence officer Scott Ritter.

Such was the former UN chief weapons inspector’s analysis on Sputnik’s The Critical Hour program Thursday, where Ritter discussed the latest desperate maneuver of the failing Western proxy war.

“A NATO-created, trained, equipped and directed force of not just Ukrainians, but Polish, French, Americans [and] British has invaded Russia,” said the American dissident, who faced persecution in Washington after challenging the George W. Bush administration’s claims of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction during the runup to the United States’ disastrous war on the Middle Eastern country.

“This force could be up to 20,000-strong,” Ritter noted. “It looks like the Ukrainians are seeking to reinforce it as we speak with thousands of more people drawn from the Zaporozhye front. It's an invasion of Russia. And that should scare the heck out of everybody who just heard that statement.”...

“I think most people, when the Kursk battle is evaluated, would say that the capture of the Kursk nuclear power plant was always a bridge too far,” Ritter claimed. “It wasn't going to happen. But that appears to be the actual operational battle plan and goal and objective of the Ukrainian forces.”

The analyst claimed Ukraine’s repeated intransigence would force Moscow to capture more territory, noting Russia’s repeated attempts to reach a diplomatic solution with Kiev both before and after it launched its special military operation in early 2022.

“Ukraine is going to lose another 30 percent or more of its territory when this is done because Russia has basically determined that Ukraine can't be trusted, the West can't be trusted, that Russia can never believe in the notion of a Ukraine willing to live in peace with its Russian neighbor," Ritter claimed.

An extremely serious debate is already raging among selected circles of power/intelligence in Moscow – and the heart of the matter could not be more incandescent.

To cut to the chase: what really happened in Kursk? Was the Russian Ministry of Defense caught napping? Or did they see it coming and profited to set up a deadly trap for Kiev?

Well-informed players willing to share a few nuggets on condition of anonymity all stress the extreme sensitivity of it all. An intel pro though has offered what may be interpreted as a precious clue: “It is rather surprising to see such a concentration of force was unnoticed by satellite and drone surveillance at Kursk, but I would not exaggerate its importance.”

Another intel pro prefers to stress that “the foreign intel section is weak as it was very badly run.” This is a direct reference to the state of affairs after former security overseer Nikolai “Yoda” Patrushev, during Putin’s post-inauguration reshuffle, was transferred from his post as secretary of the Security Council to serve as a special presidential aide.

The Russian military will unleash a swift retaliation if Ukraine launches an attack on the Kursk nuclear power plant, located not far from the frontline following Kiev’s cross-border incursion, the Defense Ministry in Moscow has warned.

In a statement on Saturday, the ministry said it was taking very seriously reports of Kiev’s plans to attack the Kursk NPP, located about 90 km from the Ukraine-Russia border, which has become the scene of fierce fighting in recent days.

Aug 16, 2024

Featured • West knew about Ukraine’s Kursk incursion plan – Zelensky aide, RT, Aug 15, 2024

West knew about Ukraine’s Kursk incursion plan – Zelensky aide Kiev discussed its plan to launch a cross-border attack into Russia with its Western backers, a top adviser to Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky has admitted.

Western officials have said they supported last week’s incursion into Kursk Region, but have denied any prior knowledge of the operation.

However, Zelensky aide Mikhail Podoliak has told The Independent that these disclaimers were not accurate, the British online newspaper reported on Thursday.

“There are certain things that have to be done with the element of surprise, and that have to happen on a local level,” he was quoted as saying. “But there were discussions between partner forces, just not on the public level.”

Kiev would never dare to stage a large-scale incursion into Russian territory without Washington’s blessing and NATO support, former Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev said. Last week, Kiev launched its largest attack on Russian territory since the outbreak of conflict in February 2022. Western officials have voiced their support for the incursion into Kursk Region but denied any prior knowledge or involvement in the operation. ”The US leadership’s claims of non-involvement in Kiev’s actions in Kursk Region do not correspond to reality… Without their participation and direct support, Kiev would not have ventured into Russian territory,” Patrushev told Izvestia in an interview published on Friday.

The adviser to President Vladimir Putin, who has recently been appointed to oversee Russia’s global maritime strategy, emphasized that the “West put the criminal junta at the head of Ukraine,” while “NATO countries have supplied Kiev with weapons, military instructors, and continuous intelligence while controlling the actions of neo-Nazis.” The operation in Kursk Region was also planned with the involvement of NATO and Western special services. The advance of Kiev’s troops was swiftly halted by Russian forces, although they maintain control over several settlements in Kursk Region.

Support among Russians for the special military operation is at a high as Western governments scramble to cover up the United States’ increasingly sloppy crimes. Two decades from the outset of the United States’ war in Iraq a 2023 opinion survey found 61% of Americans disagree with the decision to launch the ill-fated invasion. The finding is the culmination of years of soul searching on the part of the American public, which has grown increasingly wary of US military intervention in recent years. A large majority of Russian citizens, on the other hand, have indicated they approve of the country’s special military operation against Ukraine with healthy military recruitment figures serving as the latest evidence the citizenry is united behind President and Commander-in-Chief Vladimir Putin. International relations and security analyst Mark Sleboda joined Sputnik’s The Final Countdown program Wednesday to discuss the latest developments in the Western proxy war on Russia as well as the curious case of the Nord Stream pipeline explosion as the German government claims to have found a suspect for the crime.

“The German news that broke is pretty interesting,” said Sleboda, referring to the German government’s release of the name of a supposed suspect behind the presumed sabotage of the Russo-German Nord Stream Pipeline in 2022. “This Volodymyr Z – according to German privacy laws, the full name is not released… this is the absolutely complete bull feces, cockamamie cover-up story that the United States and Germany have centered on.”“They can’t admit that the United States blew up the Nord Stream pipelines, because that would mean the end of NATO,” the analyst added. “It would be a member of NATO attacking a member of NATO. They can’t admit that. So they came up with this.” In a case of reality sometimes proving to be stranger than fiction, the German government has claimed an amateur Ukrainian scuba diver by the name of “Volodymyr Z” is responsible for the explosion that blew up the Nord Stream 2 pipeline that formerly transported cheap natural gas from Russia to Europe.

The “Ukraine crisis” is not actually an accurate name for what is happening now in relations between Russia and the West. This confrontation is global. It touches virtually every functional area – from finance to pharmaceuticals to sport – and spans many geographical regions.

We can only hope that Washington realizes that a naval blockade of Kaliningrad or St. Petersburg would be a casus belli – an excuse to declare war. The current American administration does not seem to desire a major direct conflict with Russia. But history shows that they sometimes happen when neither side seems to want them. The strategy of creeping escalation in order to strategically defeat Russia, which the US has adopted in the protracted proxy war in Ukraine, carries with it the risk of just such a scenario, where the logic of a process once set in motion begins to determine political and military decisions and the situation quickly spirals out of control.

Another danger lies in Washington’s de facto encouragement not only of irresponsible rhetoric but also of irresponsible action by American satellites. The latter, convinced of their impunity, may go too far in thoughtlessly provoking Moscow, thereby bringing the US and Russia into direct armed conflict. Again, we can only hope that America’s instinct for self-preservation will be stronger than its arrogance.

Hopes are hopes, but it is clear that Russia has already exhausted its reserve of verbal warnings.

Aug 15, 2024

Featured • FT Reports A Ukrainian Warcrime, Moon of Alabama, Aug 15, 2024
American readers are so inured to war crimes they generally cannot assess what is happening in this war. The ultra-nationalist, racist, and -- yes Nazi -- sympathies that are -- yes -- widely shared in the Ukrainian Armed Forces make war crimes far more common in the UAF.

Featured • SITREP 8/14/24: Zelensky Doubles Down as His Front Collapses, Simplicius, Aug 14, 2024
Pretty good. Like the article in the NYT(!) he cites, I don't see any viable path for Ukraine's military, in its Kursk effort or anywhere. I think the biggest surprise for Western observers is the slow, grinding, lethal quality of attritional warfare. Running around in hamlets and forests with little ability to resupply and mount operational advances means nothing, except defeat.

Featured • Craig Murray: We Are the Bad Guys, Consortium News, Aug 13, 2024

German politicians seem to have an atavistic urge to attack Russia, and support the genocide of Palestinians to an astonishing degree.

Germany has effectively ended all freedom of speech on Palestine, banning conferences of distinguished speakers and making pro-Palestinian speech illegal. Germany has intervened on Israel’s side in the genocide case before the ICJ, and intervened at the ICC to object to an arrest warrant against Netanyahu.

I do not know how many civilian dead would assuage German lust for the expiatory blood of Palestinians — 500,000? 1 Million? 2 Million?

Or perhaps 6 Million?

The West are not the good guys. Our so-called “democratic systems” give us no ability to vote for anybody who may get into power who does not support the genocide and imperialist foreign policy....

There is no longer any free space for dissent in the media to oppose any of this.

We are the Bad Guys. We resist our own governing systems, or we are complicit.

More military aid to Ukraine and additional sanctions on Russia are all too often treated as goals in of themselves rather than as instruments used to shape outcomes on the strategic level.

The American experience has always been underwritten by a kind of decentralized techno-optimism enabling a uniquely entrepreneurial, solution-oriented culture which has made the U.S. a global innovation leader. But this technocratic spirit, though a great boon in all manner of commercial and scientific enterprises, can become a major liability in more obscurantist matters of statecraft, geopolitics, and military strategy.

America’s trademark technical prowess, personified by the brashly confident Defense Secretary Robert S. McNamara, failed to pierce the fog of war in Vietnam because it proceeded from strategically unsound assumptions about the conflict’s broader dynamics and refused to correct course at key junctures.

Fitch Ratings has downgraded Ukraine’s credit rating to ‘restricted default’ on Tuesday, citing the expiry of a ten-day grace period for the coupon payment on the country’s $750 million 2026 Eurobond, which was due on August 1. The US-based credit-rating agency said it has lowered the rating on the 2026 Eurobond to ‘D from ‘C’ and affirmed the other foreign-currency bonds at ‘C.’ The downgrade comes after Kiev passed a law permitting the suspension of foreign debt payments until October 1. On July 18, the Ukrainian parliament approved legislation that allows the government to temporarily suspend payments on state and state-guaranteed external commercial debt until a restructuring agreement with external commercial debt creditors is completed. “This marks an event of default under Fitch’s criteria with respect to the sovereign’s IDR [Issuer Default Rating] as well as the individual issue rating of the affected security,” Fitch stated.

Rival US ratings agency S&P Global also cut Ukraine’s rating to ‘selective’ default on August 2. Ukraine has been negotiating with creditors a restructuring of its nearly $20 billion in international debt.

NATO allies consider it unlikely that Ukrainian forces will be able to hold Russian territory, even if it takes weeks for Moscow to force them out of Kursk Region, a Western official familiar with Kiev’s planning of last week’s incursion has told Bloomberg. Elements of six Ukrainian brigades invaded Kursk Region in the morning of August 6, taking over several border villages. Moscow has introduced a state of emergency and launched a counter-terrorist operation in the region, which borders Ukraine’s Sumy. The Russian Defense Ministry later said that the Ukrainian advance had been halted, estimating enemy losses at up to 2,000 service members and more than 200 armored vehicles. According to the unnamed NATO official, cited by Bloomberg on Tuesday, the incursion was “at least crucial to show that Kiev can challenge the Kremlin.”

With Ukraine’s military on the defensive, a cross-border attack had been “weighed for some time” before the incursion, the Western official said. Ukraine had reportedly been weighing several possibilities for an attack aimed at putting Russia on the backfoot. “While President Joe Biden’s administration and the European Union have given their blessing as the first military presence on Russian soil since World War II unfolds, NATO allies have so far withheld judgment,” Bloomberg wrote. Kiev officials did not share specific information on the cross-border attack until it was well underway, according to an unnamed Western intelligence official.

Aug 13, 2024

Featured • Ukraine SitRep: The Kursk Incursion Was Stopped, Moon of Alabama, Aug 12, 2024
This assessment seems beyond dispute to me. The Zelensky gang threw more lives away. It's what they do.

 • US Working to Replace Zelensky – Russia's Foreign Intelligence, Sputnik International, Aug 13, 2024

Washington is working on options to replace Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky with a more manageable and less corrupt figure, the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) said on Tuesday.

"In the current situation, Washington is working on options to replace the Ukrainian leader with a 'more manageable and less corrupt figure, who would suit most Western allies," the statement said.

Zelensky is taking "insane steps" that threaten to escalate situation far beyond the borders of Ukraine, the SVR said.

The United States consider former Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov* as a suitable candidate to replace Volodymyr Zelensky, the Russian Intelligence Service said.he US administration is planning to launch a powerful information campaign to discredit Zelensky in order to force him to leave his post, the SVR said.

"The US administration has already instructed affiliated NGOs to work out the scenario of Avakov's coming to power in Ukraine. Now this issue is being discussed with the leaders of the leading Ukrainian opposition parties ... as well as with a number of influential deputies of the Verkhovna Rada from the ruling Servant of the People party," the statement said.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic is risking his life by refusing to back Western nations on the Ukraine conflict, a senior member of his government has claimed. Serbia, a traditional Russian ally, has declined to impose sanctions on Russia or support the policies of the US and Kiev’s other backers. Brussels in-turn has insisted that Belgrade’s aspiration to join the EU will not be realized unless it changes course. In an interview with Russia’s RIA Novosti published on Monday, Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Vulin said that Serbian authorities are concerned about the president’s safety, following attempts on the lives of Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico and former US President Donald Trump. “After the attempt on Mr. Fico, and later Trump, I told Vucic to be on guard,” Vulin said, “that’s because something happens to everyone calling for a peaceful resolution on Ukraine, they get shot at.”

Any peace talks with Ukraine are impossible as long as it conducts strikes on civilian populations and threatens nuclear power plants, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said. Speaking at a meeting with senior officials on Monday, Putin addressed Ukraine’s recent incursion into the border region of Kursk, as well as a drone strike that damaged Russia’s Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant. He suggested that Ukraine’s most recent actions show why it has refused to revisit plans to settle the conflict based on either on a Russian proposal, or roadmaps presented by neutral parties. Apparently, the enemy, relying on the help of its Western masters… is striving to improve its negotiating positions in the future. But how can we talk about negotiations with those who conduct indiscriminate strikes on civilians, civilian infrastructure, or try to threaten nuclear energy facilities?

Putin went on to say that one of Kiev’s main goals in Kursk is to divert attention from Donbass, where Russian forces have been steadily gaining ground in recent months. “But what are the results? The pace of offensive operations… not only have not slowed down, but on the contrary increased by one and a half times.” By striking into Kursk Region, Ukraine also sought to undermine the morale of the Russian population, but also achieved contrary results, Putin said, noting an increased stream of volunteers to join the military and defend the border.

Incursion into Russia could spell doom for Kiev – ex-Austrian official Ukraine’s incursion into Kursk Region across the border in Russia is a risky gamble that could backfire and lead to a major defeat and a loss of Western support, Gustav Gressel, a former Austrian Defense Ministry official, has told Der Spiegel.

Kiev’s forces launched a major cross-border operation in Kursk Region earlier this week. Clashes in the border areas have been ongoing since last Tuesday. The Kremlin called Kiev’s move a large-scale provocation and accused Ukrainian troops of indiscriminate attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure.

The Russian Defense Ministry has stated on multiple occasions that Ukrainian attempts to penetrate deeper into the region have been thwarted. Nevertheless, Kiev’s troops are still present in some border settlements in Kursk Region where heavy fighting continues, according to the ministry. Gressel, who is currently a senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, described Kiev’s actions as a “risky strategy.”

“If Ukraine wants to hold the area for several months, this will result in military costs that are hardly sustainable,” the expert, who previously served in the Austrian military, explained. Extending the front line “benefits Russia first and foremost,” he said an interview published on Saturday.

Aug 12, 2024

Featured • “An Intricate Fabric of Bad Actors Working Hand-in-Hand” – So is war Inevitable?, Alastair Crooke, Strategic Culture Foundation, Aug 12, 2024

“For years now, the answer, in every situation—‘Russiagate,’ COVID, Ukraine—has been more censorship, more silencing, more division, more scapegoating. It’s almost as if these are goals in themselves – and the cascade of emergencies mere excuses for them. Hate is always the way,”

Jacob Siegel has explained the historical development of the ‘whole of society’ approach during the Obama administration’s attempt to pivot in the ‘war on terror’ to what it called ‘CVE’ – countering violent extremism. The idea was to surveil the American people’s online behaviour in order to identify those who may, at some unspecified time in the future, ‘commit a crime’.

Inherent to the concept of the potential ‘violent extremist’ who has, as yet, committed no crime, is a weaponised vagueness: “A cloud of suspicion that hangs over anyone who challenges the prevailing ideological narratives”.

“What the various iterations of this whole-of-society approach have in common is their disregard for democratic process and the right to free association – their embrace of social media surveillance, and their repeated failure to deliver results …”.

Aaron Kheriaty writes:

“More recently, the whole of society political machinery facilitated the overnight flip from Joe Biden to Kamala Harris, with news media and party supporters turning on a dime when instructed to do so—democratic primary voters ‘be damned’. This happened not because of the personalities of the candidates involved, but on the orders of party leadership. The actual nominees are fungible, and entirely replaceable, functionaries, serving the interests of the ruling party … The party was delivered to her because she was selected by its leaders to act as its figurehead. That real achievement belongs not to Harris, but to the party-state”.

...The “party-state” machinery (Kheriaty’s term) for geo-politics has also been co-opted:

“To avoid the appearance of totalitarian overreach in such efforts”, Kheriaty argues,“the party requires an endless supply of causes … that party officers use as pretexts to demand ideological alignment across public and private sector institutions. These causes come in roughly two forms: the urgent existential crisis (examples include COVID and the much-hyped threat of Russian disinformation) – and victim groups supposedly in need of the party’s protection”.

The Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) has caught fire after being shelled by Ukrainian forces, the governor of Russia’s Zaporozhye Region, Evgeny Balitsky, announced on Sunday. The fire is under control, the official added. The fire broke out following a Ukrainian attack on the nearby city of Energodar on Sunday and affected the plant’s cooling systems, Balitsky said in a statement. The plant’s six reactors were placed in a state of “cold shutdown” as a precaution, the governor continued, adding that there is “no threat of a steam explosion or other consequences.” “Emergency workers are working at the scene of the fire, and the sources of ignition have begun being eliminated,” Balitsky said. According to the governor, radiation levels around the plant are normal and “there is no threat” to people nearby.

The Zaporozhye NPP was seized by Russian forces in 2022, four days into Moscow’s military operation. Six months later, the region of Zaporozhye voted to join the Russian Federation in a referendum. Throughout the first year of the conflict, Russian forces foiled repeated Ukrainian attempts to attack the facility – which sits on the Dnieper River – with landing craft and drones. Kamikaze drones were used in Sunday’s attack, the facility’s communications director, Evgeniya Yashina, said in a statement. According to Yashina, the attack marked the first time that Ukrainian forces were able to seriously damage the plant’s infrastructure. Responding to the incident, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called on the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to perform “at least some imitation of work” and ensure the plant’s security.

Aug 10, 2024

 • Kiev's Kursk Gas Hub Gambit Brainchild of 'Same People' Who Blew Up Nord Stream - Slovak Politician, Ilya Tsukanov, Sputnik International, Aug 10, 2024

The Ukrainian military began a large-scale surprise incursion into Russia's Kursk region on August 6, sending as many as 10,000 troops and 600 armored vehicles into the area, sparking off fierce battles with Russian forces. Russia redeployed large-scale reserves in the area to fend off and contain the attacks, evacuating civilians and engaging in the large-scale bombing and shelling of Ukrainian positions using aircraft and artillery.

Aug 9, 2024

Featured • German heavy armor returns to iconic WWII battle site – media, RT, Aug 9, 2024

German-made heavy armor pieces are rolling through the fields of Russia’s Kursk Region again, some 80 years since one of the biggest battles of WWII in the same area, Bild wrote on Thursday, reporting on Kiev’s cross-border incursion. The German tabloid, citing videos posted online, said that several Marder infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs) have been spotted among the equipment used by the Ukrainian military in its offensive, launched early on Tuesday. The media outlet pointed to footage published by the Russian Defense Ministry, which shows IFVs being hit with Russian kamikaze drones. Thursday morning, the ministry published a clip showing the destruction of at least three Marder vehicles by Russian Lancet drones, among other strikes on Ukrainian military equipment. The armor pieces were hit while moving along dirt roads and through a wooded area....

“This is a highly dangerous development,” said Sahra Wagenknecht, the head of the newly formed BSW Party and a former Left Party leader.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz should call the Ukrainian leadership and “demand that no German weapons be used in [attacks] on the Russian territory,” she added. Back in 1943, Soviet troops clashed with the Nazi forces on the fields of the Kursk Region in what has since become known as the Battle of Kursk. It was one of the deadliest episodes of World War II and one of the largest tank battles in history. Nazi Germany sought to achieve victory at the time by fielding its then brand-new armor pieces, including Panther and Tiger tanks as well as Ferdinand tank destroyers. The battle involved thousands of tanks on both sides, ended with the Soviet forces inflicting a defeat on the Nazi troops.

Up to 1,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been involved in the incursion into Kursk Region this week, supported by armor that included several US-made Stryker armored fighting vehicles, as well as artillery and drones, the Russian Defense Ministry has said. Kiev’s forces have lost some 660 soldiers and 82 armor pieces, including eight tanks, 12 armored personnel carriers and six infantry fighting vehicles since the start of their operation, according to estimates provided by the ministry on Thursday. Moscow’s forces have stalled the Ukrainian troops’ offensive and prevented them from getting deeper into the region, the Russian authorities said.

The plan in Kiev is not to negotiate but to prolong the war and to convince the west to further finance it. This would have the advantage of moving billions of additional dollar from western sources into the various pockets in Kiev with Zelenski and Yermak cashing in the largest share of it.

There is potential for this operation to turn into a war-ending disaster for Ukraine. Recall that since last year to early this year, many prominent figures on both sides—which include Budanov on the Ukrainian side, Russian commander of the Center Group General Mordvichev—stated that “the decisive battles of the war will be fought in summer 2024” and that the war will effectively be settled at this time. They seemed to all know something we didn’t at the time. Maybe these predictions are finally coming home to roost, and perhaps Ukraine is throwing everything into the fire for one last desperate attempt to unman Russia in some decisive way.

If that’s the case, it’s certainly a valiant effort, and makes more sense than simply throwing waves of meat at highly reinforced Donbass fortresses. I’ve been saying for a long time now, that the only trump cards Ukraine has left, are some small, relatively easy to attain objectives which can make huge symbolic or PR splashes; i.e. Zaporozhye plant, Kerch Bridge, Crimea, etc. All these things are easier than defeating the entire Russian Army in detail. But it seems Ukraine may have found one other alternative we hadn’t considered in the Kursk plant, whose unexpected trajectory was lightly defended.

However, make no mistake, there is also a major danger here for Russia. As I said, it all depends how adequately and competently Russian General Staff can assess the true strategic thought behind the operation. If they can correctly predict the new secondary vectors, and adequately prepare forces to respond to them, grabbing the initiative to stymy the AFU’s plans, then it may turn to naught for Ukraine. But if they continue getting caught with their pants down, and functioning only passively or reactively, letting Ukraine maintain combat initiative, then Ukraine may keep two steps ahead, and snow-ball the assault into another Kharkov-style collapse which would turn into a huge headache for Russia.

Such a headache would be reputationally very costly, given that it would degrade Russian citizens’ trust in their government, Putin’s leadership, etc. This is particularly the case since many have already complained that Russia’s handling of the ongoing events has been lackluster, with little warning given to civilians to evacuate, causing many to now be injured, and a growing number killed.

British singer Gordon Sumner, widely recognized as Sting, has recently parted ways with his Tuscan wine estate, Tenuta il Palagio, selling it to San Tomaso S.R.L., a firm owned by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his spouse, Olena Zelenska. The transaction is rumoured to be valued at approximately €75 million! Originally acquired in 1997 by Sting and his wife, film producer Trudie Styler, the historic 16th-century villa was in a state of disrepair. However, over the years, they successfully restored both the estate and its once-neglected vineyards. According to records from the Italian land registry, the sale of the Tuscan winery took place in June 2024, with San Tommaso SRL now at the helm. While the precise sale amount remains undisclosed, estimates suggest it hovers around €75 million. According to Italy's land registry, Tenuta il Palagio acquired Zelensky's company on June 28, just two weeks after he attended the G7 summit in Italy. At this summit, European leaders reached an agreement to provide Ukraine with $50 billion, funded by frozen Russian assets, to support the nation’s efforts in the ongoing conflict. It is unclear what plans the new owner has for the winery. According to Ukrainian media, it's no secret that Volodymyr Zelensky likes red wine.

The Pentagon on Thursday was asked by a reporter during the daily briefing whether Ukraine forces' use of American weapons in its ongoing Kursk incursion is "consistent" with US policy of what Ukraine can and cannot do with US weapons. It has become clear that Ukrainian troops are currently using American weapons to attack Russian territory, troops, civilians, and infrastructure.

Spokeswoman Sabrina Singh answered without hesitation that "yes it is consistent with our policy" and explained that Washington has supported the need for "crossfire" from Ukraine back across the border onto Russian positions from which it is being attacked, even if that is on Russian territory. She framed what is happening in Russia's Kursk oblast—an offensive which has entered day four—as 'defensive' in nature.

Singh still tried to point out that it remains US policy for Ukraine to avoid striking deep into Russian territory using American arms; however, when pressed about the scenario of a direct attack on Moscow, she simply said: "I’m not going to put a specific range on it" and thus refused to rule it out. But she did caveat that "we still don't support long-range attacks into Russia." Singh additionally explained, "I'm not gonna draw a circular map for you here of where they can and cannot strike." The Kremlin is likely to remain unconvinced when hearing this clear escalation in rhetoric from the Pentagon where attacking the Russian capital is discussed, even if theoretically.

The “terrorist operation” in Kursk Region justifies going “to Kiev and further,” the former president believes.

Russia should respond to Kiev’s attempted incursion in Kursk Region by taking over land that Moscow currently recognizes as Ukraine, former President Dmitry Medvedev has suggested.

The Ukrainian military initiated a cross-border raid involving some 1,000 troops this week, which has so far claimed five civilian lives and left over 30 others wounded in Russia. The operation has largely been thwarted by the Russian army and border guards, Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov reported on Wednesday. He estimated Ukrainian casualties at 315, including 100 killed in action.

“From this moment, the special military operation should become openly exterritorial in nature,” Medvedev, who serves as deputy chair of the Russian Security Council, argued in a post on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Ukraine is busy committing military suicide with its PR attack into Russian territory near Kursk. The attacking force lacked air cover and the power to sustain the attack. The Ukrainian troops were savaged by Russian air strikes, artillery and drones. Some have opined that this was a feint or a diversion, i.e., focus Russian attention in the north and then strike at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant. Maybe, but Ukraine lost significant resources in terms of men and equipment that cannot be easily replaced.

Let’s assume, for the sake of argument, that Ukraine managed to reach Kursk. Okay. How do they resupply their troops and sustain the momentum of the attack. Russia has a wealth of resources — manpower, combat air, artillery and drones — to bog the Ukrainians down and chew them up. Those who believe that this would force Russia to seek a negotiated end to the war are the same delusional clowns who promised that Ukrainian troops would be sloshing around on the beaches of Crimea last summer.

This attack is likely to have the opposite effect — Russia will accelerate its offensive against Ukraine and will not negotiate until Ukraine begs for mercy.

The Sever Battlegroup and Federal Security Services (FSB) continue to destroy Ukrainian Armed Forces (UAF) units in the Sudzhansky and Korenevsky districts of the Kursk region, which directly border Ukraine, according to the Ministry of Defense.

"Throughout the day, border defense units, in coordination with border guards, reinforcement units, and incoming reserves, have successfully prevented enemy advances through airstrikes, missile forces, and artillery fire," the ministry reported.

Russian forces struck detected concentrations of militants and UAF equipment, thwarting attempts by individual units to penetrate deeper into the Kursk region.

Additionally, airstrikes were conducted against advancing Ukrainian reserves in the Sumy region.

Since the beginning of hostilities in the Kursk direction, Kiev has lost 660 soldiers and 82 pieces of armored equipment, including eight tanks, 12 armored personnel carriers, six infantry fighting vehicles, 55 armored combat vehicles, and one engineering vehicle.

In the past 24 hours alone, the UAF has lost up to 400 personnel and 32 armored vehicles, including a tank, four armored personnel carriers, three infantry fighting vehicles, and 24 Kozak armored combat vehicles.

The US must stop the flow of weapons to Ukraine after American-supplied arms were used to strike schools, hospitals, and homes in Russia, Moscow’s ambassador to Washington, Anatoly Antonov, has said. The senior diplomat was referring to strikes on civilians during Kiev’s attempted incursion into Russia’s Kursk Region this week. According to the regional governor, Ukrainians deliberately attacked non-military targets, even hitting an ambulance with a kamikaze drone and killing the driver and a paramedic. The Russian Defense Ministry listed Western-donated weapons among those destroyed in repelling the Ukrainian forces. Antonov joined other Russian officials in describing the Ukrainian operation as “terrorist,” stressing in a statement on Wednesday that contrary to Western claims, Kiev’s actions cannot be justified by the right to self-defense.

“Washington should stop supplying arms to Kiev and yank the chain of the neo-Nazis in the Ukrainian army,” he said. So far, remarks by American officials on the issue have been “outrageous,” since they failed to sympathize with the civilian victims of “their clients,” he added.

Aug 7, 2024

Featured • What’s Known About Ukraine’s Botched Attack on Russia’s Kursk Region?, Oleg Burunov, Sputnik International, Aug 7, 2024
I don't know about "botched." The idea was to get headlines in the sympathetic Western media. It probably succeeded. Militarily it was a foreordained failure, as stated. Men died for no reason. That's how Ukraine rolls. An additional element is the deliberate targeting of Russian civilians, which will only harden Russian attitudes. That's not strategic; it's a sadistic lashing-out of morally-weak men in a weak army. The weakness and moral vacuity, which are not at all universal of course, go all the way to the top. Most soldiers, who don't want to be war criminals, are just following orders as best they can. They are being sacrificed by their selfish leaders, an ancient story.

 • Ukraine SitRep: Incursion Towards Kursk, Moon of Alabama, Aug 7, 2024

 • SITREP 8/6/24: Shaky Start of Zelensky's Risky Gambit to Deflect Disaster, Simplicius, Aug 7, 2024

 • Ukraine Lost Over 115,000 Troops in Less Than 2 Months - Shoigu, Sputnik International, Aug 6, 2024

 • US Gives Ukraine $3.9 Billion in ‘Direct Budgetary Aid’, Dave DeCamp, Antiwar.com, Aug 6, 2024

 • 800,000 Ukrainian men have gone ‘underground’ – MP, RT, Aug 6, 2024

An estimated 800,000 Ukrainian men have gone “underground” due to the threat of military mobilization amid the conflict with Russia, a senior MP in Kiev, Dmitry Natalukha, has told the Financial Times. The lawmaker stated the case for economic-driven exemptions from the draft.

Kiev introduced a harsh new system for military conscription earlier this year, which was intended to discourage draft avoidance through the threat of serious punishment. One consequence was that businesses operating legally in Ukraine are now at a disadvantage compared to those in the ‘shadow economy,’ the FT explained. Draft-dodgers change their addresses and prefer to be paid in cash to stay under the radar, it added.

Aug 5, 2024

 • 'Uninterested in Negotiations': Israel and US Stoke the Fire as China Pursues Peace, Mary Manley, Sputnik International, Aug 4, 2024

“They want to come to a different conclusion, despite being confronted by the same facts. The facts are that the US will lose. It cannot fight a multi-pronged war against superpowers but it seems dead set on continuing to do that,” said Noh. The report also found that the US military lacks both the capabilities and capacity required to be confident in its ability to deter and prevail in combat. It added that China remains the “preeminent challenge” to US interests and the country’s most formidable military threat. “So, once again, having come to the same conclusions, they do not suggest a way out or a reasonable accommodation with the rest of the world. They still want to double down on US supremacy. They want more war, preferably spending more money, using more proxies and more instruments of death,” the activist added.

The first F-16s have been delivered to Ukraine, media reported earlier in the week. Promised to the Kiev regime a year ago, it took far longer than predicted to train Ukrainian pilots on the jets, with media speculating about what the F-16s will be used for, citing air defense as an option. Deliveries of aging F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine will play into Russia’s hands and improve its image, The Independent has speculated. Russian President Vladimir Putin “would savor the image that destroying F-16s from NATO countries would bring,” the UK media outlet noted. Russia’s Armed Forces will likely “destroy the F-16s on the ground with long-range missiles,” the publication further predicted. It went on to underscore that Russia’s Su-35 fighter jet would be “one of the biggest threats” to the F-16s, and noted that sophisticated air surveillance radars would be used against them. Russia’s air defense systems would make it too risky for Ukraine to try to use the jets to support its troop movements on the front line, analysts cited by the outlet acknowledged.

Aug 3, 2024

Featured • US Decision to Tear Up INF Treaty Has Left Nuclear ‘Sword of Damocles’ Hanging Over Europeans’ Heads, Ilya Tsukanov, Sputnik International, Aug 2, 2024

 • Russian MOD Purges Hit Fever Pitch, as Belousov Scythes Corruption, Simplicius, Aug 3, 2024

 • Hungary & Slovakia Consider Cutting Electricity Supply To Ukraine If Kiev Keeps Blocking Russian Oil Supplies, ZeroHedge, Aug 3, 2024

 • US Trying to 'Teach' Russia, China 'Proper Behavior' in Nuclear Sphere - Envoy, Sputnik International, Aug 2, 2024

The United States is trying to teach Russia and China how to behave in the nuclear sphere, Russian Ambassador to Washington Anatoly Antonov said.

"Today we heard regular insinuations about Russia's allegedly irresponsible behavior in the nuclear sphere. With a persistence worthy of a better use, they are again trying to teach our country, just like China, 'proper behavior,'" Antonov told reporters.

He said that otherwise, Washington says the United States will not restrain the growth of its own nuclear arsenal.

Acting US Assistant Secretary of Defense for Space Policy Vipin Narang said on Thursday that the United States might be forced to reconsider its nuclear size and posture in the absence of a change in the nuclear trajectories of Russia, China and North Korea.

INF Treaty Stood in Way of Plans to Militarize Europe, Hold Russia Back - Ex-DoD Analyst

The New START treaty between Russia and the United States is set to expire in 2026. Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev has said that extending the arms reduction treaty is possible only after the United States stops supplying weapons to Ukraine and blocks that country's accession to NATO.

"Our country will continue to be guided exclusively by national interests, without account for which building a Russian-American dialogue on arms control is impossible," Antonov told reporters.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said on Thursday, commenting on the delivery of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, that escalation and the fact that there are no restraints left are a problem.

Media reported on Wednesday that the first batch of several F-16s had been delivered to Ukraine and had already made the first flights in an "air defense" capacity. Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said earlier on Thursday that Kiev would not comment on reports about the arrival of F-16 fighters.

"The problem is in escalation, the problem is that there are no restraints left. American assurances that no such decisions have been made and no indulgences have been given to Kiev, these assurances are worthless, we do not believe what we hear from Washington on the matter. We see opposite things in practice, it needs to stop, it should be understood that the price of all this will be further growth of tensions, new losses, new tragedies," Ryabkov said in a televised appearance on the Rossiya 1 broadcaster.

Aug 2, 2024

 • Poll Shows Germans Oppose New US Missile Deployment, Dave DeCamp, Antiwar.com, Aug 1, 2024

Aug 1, 2024

 • War in Ukraine: Wide Partisan Differences on U.S. Responsibility and Support, Pew Research Center, Jul 29, 2024

July 2024

June 2024

May 2024

April 2024

March 2024

February 2024

January 2024

December 2023

November 2023

October 2023

September 2023

August 2023

July 2023

June 2023

May 2023

April 2023

March 2023

February 2023

January 2023

December 2022

November 2022

 • ‘The Real Purpose In Making The Bomb Was To Subdue The Soviets.’ Now It’s Happening Again, On A Vast Scale. Why? – July 22 At Fuller Lodge, Los Alamos Reporter, Jul 19, 2023

 • Bulletin 330: "'The real purpose in making the bomb was to subdue the Soviets.'* Now it's happening again, on a vast scale. WHY?" A conversation with acclaimed historian Peter Kuznick and Greg Mello in Los Alamos, July 22, Jul 7, 2023

 • Ukraine War Makes it Harder to be a Nuclear ‘Dove’ | Our Land, Laura Paskus, New Mexico in Focus, Jun 30, 2023

 • Bulletin 329: Russia rules out nuclear disarmament negotiations; second week of Ukrainian offenses fail; what will US and NATO do? Build 60 projects in LANL's Pajarito Corridor?, Jun 17, 2023

 • Ukraine; Biden's Manicheism; the U.S. cannot even conduct a nuclear arms race, let alone win one, LASG friends ltr, Mar 16, 2023

 • Ukraine protest and updates, pit production delays and cost increases in NNSA's new budget, LASG friends ltr, Mar 14, 2023

 • Antiwar rally 2 pm Saturday in Albuquerque; LANL pits delayed, endorse the "Call for Sanity"; Ukraine update; the Nordstream investigation (and likely impeachment) "imperative" LASG friends ltr, Mar 11, 2023
 • Ukraine losses mount toward critical point; ANSWER rally against the war is now 2 pm (not 1 pm), March 18, Albuquerque; nearly half U.S. citizens believe WWIII is near, LASG friends ltr, Mar 7, 2023

 • Ukraine news and views; antiwar rally March 18; pending guest editorial; pit production precis, LASG friends ltr, Mar 3, 2023

 • Bulletin 325: Understanding the Nordstream sabotage and punishing those responsible, Feb 18, 2023

 • Ukraine news with comments and excerpts; bookmark for future reference if desired,LASG friends ltr, Feb 8, 2023

 • Bulletin 324: Opposition to Ukraine war gains visibility in New Mexico and via our web site, more broadly, Feb 6, 2023

 • Anti-nuclear activist opposes helping Ukraine, encourages peace, Santa Fe New Mexican, Feb 5, 2023

 • Bulletin 323: "Nuclear Hotseat" interview / Ukraine war updates, Feb 4, 2023

 • Bulletin 322: Right and Left To Join in D.C. Protest: ‘Not One More Penny for War in Ukraine’ / Bulletin of Atomic Scientists resets clock, blames Russia, Jan 25, 2023

 • $10 Trillion for Nuclear War: Racing to the Nuclear Cliff, The Socialist Program with Brian Becker, Jan 10, 2023

 • Bulletin 321: Last day for 2022 donations! / A few quick updates, Dec 31, 2022

 • Bulletin 320: Neocon humiliation -- or nuclear exchange / The centrality of war resistance in moral politics / 3 days left for 1:1 donation match!, Dec 29, 2022

 • Bulletin 319: Ukraine; NDAA: omnibus appropriations bill; fundraising --thank you; some matching funds still available, Dec 21, 2022

 • Stop the war now, Jean Nichols, The Taos News, Dec 19, 2022

 • Bulletin 318: Speak out now against further U.S. escalation in Ukraine; daily updates for your use, Dec 14, 2022

 • Agenda for tonight's emergency Ukraine meeting in Albuquerque, and by Zoom, Nov 15, 2022

 • Bulletin 314: Reminder re next week's antiwar, disarmament, & nuclear safety events: come if you can or tune in, outreach needed; pit interview on KNME tonight 7 pm; fundraising drive continues; erratum, Nov 11, 2022

 • Bulletin 313: Important meeting about Ukraine next week; DNFSB hearing in Santa Fe; more, Nov 7, 2022

 • Biden Administration releases aggressive nuclear strategy envisioning "first use" of nuclear weapons in wars like Ukraine, press release, Oct 27, 2022

 • Bulletin 310: Speak up! We urge you to take up the call for peace in Ukraine, Sep 25, 2022

 • Pope Francis: "World War III has been declared." We agree. Stop LANL's pit factory; Stop the U.S. war against Russia, presentation, Jun 15, 2022

 • Bulletin 301: Oppose the war! Demand and create accountability for lawmakers who fund and promote more war in Ukraine, May 16, 2022

 • Grave dangers loom in Ukraine war votes and escalations; opportunities open for journalists and citizens; We urge news media to widen debate, pose questions, create accountability, press release, May 16, 2022

 • LASG friends ltr: Thursday evening public discussion in Albuquerque: Ukraine, propaganda, progressives supporting Nazis and war, May 10, 2022

 • Escalation in Ukraine: The Nuclear War Danger is Real, Brian Becker & Greg Mello discuss the U.S. policy of waging proxy war on Russia, BreakThrough News, May 4, 2022

 • Bulletin 299: Emergency call to action: stop Biden's proposed $33 billion war escalation, Apr 28, 2022

 • Bulletin 298: Talk on pits & renewed U.S. nuclear weapons production Tuesday evening 4/26/22; antiwar billboard; what you can do, Apr 25, 2022

 • The core debate, Searchlight New Mexico, Mar 23, 2022

 • Bulletin 294: Please consider forwarding this fine statement from UNAC re Ukraine, Mar 23, 2022

 • Nuclear expert speaks on the dangers of war between the US and Russia, World Socialist Website, Mar 15, 2022

 • A Proposed Solution to the Ukraine War, Consortium News, Greg Mello, Mar 7, 2022

 • Bulletin 293: Ukraine conflict: If you want a ceasefire (as we do), stop firing, Mar 5, 2022

 • Bulletin 292: Statement on the Ukraine conflict and war with Russia, Mar 1, 2022

 • "What can we in New Mexico do?," LASG letter, Feb 23, 2022

 • Bulletin 288: US nuclear weapons since 2020: continuity and change, Dec 7, 2021 (see discussion of US, NATO, and Russia)

 • Nuclear experts speak on the dangers of war between the US and Russia, World Socialist Web Site, Apr 15, 2017

 • US Leaders Reject “Nuclear Winter” Studies, Ignore Existential Danger of Nuclear War. Turn a Blind Eye towards Armageddon, Steven Starr, Global Research, Nov 1, 2016

 • The Ukraine Conflict: What's Behind It? Why Is It Important?, Sep 26, 2015

 • Bulletin 200: Warhead budget bloat; U.S.-caused Ukraine catastrophe at the brink; hello peak oil, Feb 8, 2015