The Ukraine

[mashman]

There are a lot of Russians crossing over as mercenaries - Chechens as well. They are not Russian military, they're mercenaries, like a lot of troops in Ukraine. They may be ex=military, but a lot of the Donbass troops were as well. The Russians have been resupplying the NAB since the ceasefire - just as the US and some Nato countries have been resupplying Ukraine!
They say the first casualty of war is truth.........................

I do believe that there is a version of truth that justifies this, and every, war.

[oldrider]

I do believe that there is a version of truth that justifies this, and every, war.

Don't forget the Jack Nicholson factor - can we handle the truth? - Not when it comes to Zionism Israel and America!

[Swoop]

26 January 2015: The fighting in eastern Ukraine (Donbas) has killed over 6,000 since April 2014. Most of those dead have been civilians and over a million people have been driven from their homes.

Russia is causing itself lots of additional problems by continuing to pretend that Russia is not supplying the Ukrainian rebels with weapons, supplies (especially ammunition) and Russian troops to do most of the fighting.

In Ukraine the Russian backed rebels are actually disorganized, discouraged and not all that effective. Interrogations of captured rebels indicate that there are many different factions, some of them not even from Ukraine (like the “Cossack” units from southern Russia). The Cossacks are very nationalist and really keen on rebuilding the Russian empire (which is what Cossacks were invented for centuries ago). The Cossacks were welcome arrivals when they showed up in 2014, because the original local Donbas rebels quickly lost their enthusiasm when their uprising triggered a nationalistic fervour throughout Ukraine and inspired Ukrainian troops and armed volunteers to fight a lot harder than the rebels expected.

Russia, which sponsored and encouraged the rebels from the start soon found that the only way they could take territory was to send in Russian troops and heavy weapons (tanks, artillery, rocket launchers, and missiles).

The special operations units (Spetsnaz) were the best for this because these guys knew how to pretend (that they were Ukrainian rebels) and were very effective fighters. But there not enough of them available and regular Russian troops (which are mainly conscripts) had to be sent in as well, especially for support (transport and supply) functions. As more and more of these non-elite troops were killed a growing number of parents were not accepting the cover stories created to cover up the fact that their conscript son died in combat, not because of some accident.

While the government controls nearly all the mass media they have not managed to keep unwanted discussions from appearing via the Internet. Thus the parents and friends of soldiers who died in Donbas, but were reported as dying in Russia, are increasingly on the Internet comparing data and organizing demonstrations against the government lies, deceptions and getting soldiers killed in a clandestine war. The Russian secret police are not as scary as they used to be and the government is having a hard time keeping the angry parents quiet.

Worse, news of this unrest gets to the outside world where it makes more trouble for the Russian government and its cover story about what it is (or is not) doing in Donbas. The Russian government denies they have troops in Donbas but it is an open secret in Russia that they do and too many parents of Russian soldiers killed in Donbas are demonstrating their anger at government efforts to keep them quiet about where their sons died and how. In addition to the parents there is also the problem of Russian soldiers ignoring orders and posting their exploits in Ukraine on Facebook and other social networking sites. There aren’t many secrets in this secret war.


While the angry and Internet savvy parents are annoying the economic problems accompanying the secret war are very public and increasingly terrifying. The government is desperate to deal with the economic problems.

For example the government is coercing Russian companies and wealthy individuals to move foreign cash back to Russia. Hundreds of billions of dollars were moved out of Russia by Russian citizens once the Western sanctions began a year ago and that hurt the economy (by depriving Russian businesses of capital). While the state-controlled Russian media is ignoring the impact of the sanctions and the declining oil price most Russians can’t help but notice (and personally suffer from) the high inflation, shortage of foreign goods and rising unemployment.

The government has already admitted that government spending for 2015 will be cut by at least 10 percent. Unofficially officials talking about a 20 percent, or greater, cut. The government wants to maintain military spending, but those who study the government budget know that won’t work if the cuts get to 20 percent or more. Foreign, and even some Russian, economists also warn that the growing government intervention in the economy, and the management of major companies, is doing permanent damage. That government interference was what cause the economic collapse that destroyed the Soviet Union in the 1980s. It’s happening again, despite two decades of evidence that a market economy is much more productive, even in Russia (which the government insists is “different”).


China has been a big help to Russia in dealing with its diplomatic sanctions and economic problems resulting from the Ukrainian invasion.

For example China bought 36 percent more oil (665,000 barrels a day) from Russia and less from Saudi Arabia (but still 997,000 barrels a day) in the last year. Other countries have also helped Russia but they, like China, did it out of self-interest. Thus India, Russia and Iran have created an unofficial currency union and barter network to facilitate trade that gets around the sanctions on Russia and Iran. India wants peace with Iran because Iran is often on bad terms with Pakistan. Russia is still a major supplier of weapons to India and India has many leftists who are still nostalgic about the old Soviet Union.

The renewed Russian offensive in Donbas has brought forth more (and stronger) Western protests and more sanctions. Russia pretends to ignore the impact of the mess it has gotten into over Donbas and Crimea.

Most of the world disapproves of such aggression. The UN charter explicitly forbids that sort of thing.

No one, including most UN members, believes the Russian fiction that they are not involved. The Russian leadership, especially president-for-life Vladimir Putin, is making a major gamble here as he has made nationalism and “rebuilding Russian glory (and the empire)” a core part of his justification for turning Russia back into a police state.

While the majority of Russians go for the glory part they are not happy with the economic problems and worldwide condemnation. Unlike back in Soviet (pre-1991) days the government cannot keep out all the bad news from the rest of the world. In this case the bad news is that the rest of the world sees Russia as the bad guy here and this angers some Russians but dismays and demoralizes many more. Russians know their history and they know what a disaster power mad and power hungry leaders have been in the past.

More Russians are doing the math and most are concluding that Donbas is not worth the price the country is being forced to pay. Putin risks a backlash that could cost him his power and reputation. At the moment Putin believes his own press releases, that he is stronger and more determined than the leaders in Ukraine and their Western supporters.

Thus Putin sees himself eventually prevailing at a political price he can afford. A lot of Russians disagree with this math, including senior officials and long-time Putin allies. Many economists and business managers see long term damage to the Russian economy, which has still not recovered from the 70 years of communist mismanagement. In many ways the Ukraine blowback and the Putin centralization of government power has prevented the economy from growing and becoming competitive. The cost of grabbing Donbas is rising and if too many Russians decide it is not worth it, even the newly rebuilt Russian police state will be in danger. It happened to the czars, then to the communists and it can happen to the next lot of delusional megalomaniacs.

25 January 2015: Ukrainian officials supplied recordings of rebel cell phone and radio messages confirming that it was the rebels who recently fired rockets into residential neighbourhoods of the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol. The rebels and Russians accused the Ukrainians of doing this. It’s not the first time recordings have been used to unmask Russian misbehaviour. This is another problem the Russians have by relying on amateurs and conscript soldiers in Donbas. OPSEC (Operational Security) is something professional soldiers understand and employ. That means not posting military information on the Internet or discussing military matters via communications systems the enemy can overhear.

24 January 2015: In eastern Ukraine the pro-Russian rebels, reinforced by thousands of Russian troops and hundreds of military vehicles (including artillery and rocket launchers) launched a major offensive. The Russian troops are leading the way, with the local rebels and other volunteers (like the Cossacks and such from Russia) handling occupation of newly conquered territory.

The UN (and many Western and East European leaders) condemned Russia and the Ukrainian rebels for the death of 29 civilians in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol when residential areas were hit by a barrage of rockets. Russia, using its seat on the Security Council, blocked an official UN condemnation. The rebels, who had earlier bragged about their new offensive to take Mariupol backtracked when the deaths of the civilians became known and blamed it on the Ukrainian Army.

23 January 2015: The rebels in eastern Ukraine announced they were no longer abiding by the September ceasefire and were on the attack again. Apparently the rebels and their Russian sponsors want to take possession of all Donbas, an area consisting of two Ukrainian provinces (Donetsk and Luhansk). Donbas comprise about nine percent of Ukrainian territory, 13 percent of the population and 15 percent of the GDP. Donbas is about 38 percent ethnic Russian. The two provinces comprise the Donets Basin (or “Donbas”) which was for a long time an economic powerhouse for Russia. But that began to decline in the 1980s and accelerated when the Soviet Union fell (and Ukraine became a fully independent country) in 1991.

[Katman]

Blah, blah, blah....

Wow, you're a regular little Western propaganda mouthpiece, aren't you?

[Swoop]

Wow, you're a regular little Western propaganda mouthpiece, aren't you?

If it worries you, I can send you some tissues.

[SPman]

Where'd that come from - the New York Times?

[yokel]

Where'd that come from - the New York Times?

well there are people from New York there so I guess they would have the inside scoop?

[avgas]

In other news. Sevastapol is getting screwed thanks to UN sanctions. Power line to Russian mainland is 6 months away - Ukraine has its hands tied by UN so turns on supply to Sevastopol when it can sneak it.....but sanctions mean that they are supposed to cut supply to Sevas.

So now my buddies aren't allowed warm showers in the morning.

[oldrider]

A point of view other than presented by Western media:http://www.serendipity.li/the_saker/untermenschen.htm

[mashman]

Ukrainian MPs call on UN, NATO & PACE to recognize Russia as ‘aggressor state’.

[oldrider]

Ukrainian MPs call on UN, NATO & PACE to recognize Russia as ‘aggressor state’.

Adage: "Give me control of the finances of the world I care not who makes the laws" - A practical example of how this works for the international Zionists!

[mashman]

Adage: "Give me control of the finances of the world I care not who makes the laws" - A practical example of how this works for the international Zionists!

heh... that's all just conspiracy theory. Be interesting to have a glimpse at their timetable... to have a fighting chance like

[Brian d marge]

Ukrainian MPs call on UN, NATO & PACE to recognize Russia as ‘aggressor state’.

The same ones that the "land of the free" put in place

Didnt see that one coming

not

Stephen

[Brian d marge]

Well said Imran , well said



Stephen

[oldrider]

Well said Imran , well said Stephen

Adage: "When you don't know where you are going - how will you know when you get there?" - Imran has showed us they way and even why we are going!

The international Zionists are so confident in the stupidity of the world that they fear not who knows their plans - Putin has called "check mate" for the moment!

This was unexpected but the Zionists will deploy the guns of America and NATO to try and crush Putin into submission! (Once their media has established a reason!)

The world will suffer their consequences once again in world wide conflict and their media and theater will convince the world that it was all Putin's fault!

The stupid world will believe the Zionist propaganda to the letter! .