Transcarpathia
29 Jul. NATO has sponsored a project involving Romanian and Ukrainian scientists to monitor river pollution on the Tisza river. This is a major source of drinking water for the region and passes through Uzhhord. This is a major town situated close to the border with Romania. This strikes me as an opportunity to insert SIS types into the region under NGO/environmentalist cover.
5 Aug. The head of the region, deputy Valeriy Lunchenko claimed there were a few dozen citizens of the Russian Federation inciting the local people to protest against mobilisation. Lunchenko claimed that mobilisation is not forced and all moblised persons are volunteers.
7 Aug. Reports of the protesters acting against mass military mobilisation in the Transcarpathia region are turning into a full scale uprising. Local residents are blocking the roads, stopping trains and are taking over the control of places of strategic importance. The town of Mukachevo is at the heart of the rebellion. Protesters have also taken actions in the Mukachevo region: villages of Chervenovo, Domboki and Strabichevo, in the Beregove region: villages of Gat and Muzhievo and four towns in the Hustsky region
19 Aug. 1500 Ukrainian troops sent to Transcarpathia to control possible separatist action forming a second front. The effect of this has been exacerbated by the arrival of a similar number of trained volunteers in the east.
20 Aug. More than 100 activists from Irshava district rallied near the Transcarpathian Regional Administration. One of their main demands was to enforce the district council decision whereby two-thirds of the deputies passed a motion of no confidence in the head of Irshava District State Administration, a member of the Svoboda party Vasyl Svichkar.
24 Aug. Kiev passes decree intended to popularize signs of Ukrainian patriotism and to prohibit the use of the coat of arms, flag and anthem of undemocratic regimes. In particular, totalitarian, self-proclaimed quasi-state formations, terrorist, separatist organizations or groups. This is obviously aimed at Novorossian symbology.
25 Aug. Migration Service of Ukraine acts in Transcarpathia to identify illegally residing foreign & stateless persons.
26 Aug. Transcarpathians from western Ukraine will join the resisistance in the International Rusyn Battalion of Lugansk Republic.
27 Aug. Reports from Delatyn that the 5th Battalion of the Carpathian defence force has deserted from from the front in the south east. This video shows a battle-scarred convoy en route presumably back to Transcarpathia.
Transnistria
10 Jul. An article in the New York times mentions that Strelkov, described as a former intelligence agent, fought in the post-Soviet conflicts in Transnistria, Serbia and Chechnya. I like their further description - "Mr. Strelkov, a native Muscovite whose real name is Igor Girkin, is a figure as mysterious as he is fearsome". Can we look forward to him reappearing in Transnistria in the near future? If the Novorossia story is ever filmed, will there be a rejuvenated Sean Connery playing his part saying "My name is Strelkov.... Igor Strelkov" in a soft Scottish-Russian accent? Stay tuned.
27 Jul. Ukraine starts construction of a large ditch 3.5 m wide and 2-3 m deep, along the whole border with Transnistria. The intent is to stop the movement of heavy military equipment and the movement of contraband goods. The US Senate adopted Resolution SR 500 in support of the territorial integrity of Moldova and the condemnation of Russian economic pressure on Moldova. It also calls for the EU to deepen political and economic integration with Moldova. Once more, the EU becomes the fall guy for US foreign policy with respect to Russia.
3 Aug. Reports of concern in Transnistria that Ukraine will attack Tiraspol, the capitol, in order to draw Russia into the conflict, being framed as the aggressor.
11 Aug. Transnistria anounces that it is not preparing to attack anyone, but it is ready to repel any aggression against it.
20 Aug. Transnistria's government just announced it was mobilizing its military from 21 August.
21 Aug. Transnistria mobilizes its army. All employees of state agencies will undergo combat training. Russian official visits region.
22 Aug. Following his meeting with Transnistria's leadership, the Russian vice-premier Dmitriy Rogozin noted that even at this very difficult time Russia will continue supporting its compatriots.
26 Aug. More American soldiers are spotted at a bar in Moldova. Keep in mind the military build up in Transnistria. Moldova proposes introducing legislation making it a criminal offence to promote 'separatism' and 'extremism'.
28 Aug. Ukraine has increased the scope of its existing regulations preventing the passage of Russian males aged 18-60 across the border with Transnistria to include children, women and elderly people.
Background:
The Wiki links (with obvious caveats) Transcarpathia,
Zakarpatia oblast and Transnistria form a starting point. Given the complex ethography, history and politics of both regions, there are multiple interpretations of events, which must be borne in mind. Anonther source is the blog Springtime of Nations in which the author looks at the emergence of small states throughout the world, including seccession movements in the US. The interpetation of both regions seems to come from a conventional US/Western perspective, especially regarding foreign policy. He also considers the Armenia/Azerbaijan conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, which is another proxy for US/Russia conflict.
Saturday, August 30, 2014
Two open letters to President Putin (including possibly a fake one!)
Does it matter when private individuals sent a latter to a head of state? Don't their press services receive hundreds of letters every day? Yes, they do, but when somebody writes to a foreign head of state, one which is own rulers consider an enemy, this matters. It matters even more when the people writing express categorical disagreement with their own regime and support or understanding for the foreign ruler. It especially matters when they chose to do so publicly, because they know that they are exposing themselves to a chauvinistic backlash from all the doubleplusgoodthinking loyal TV-watching "true patriots" whose opinion happens to be best expressed by the MSM. In this case, the foreign head of state is, in my opinion, by far the most hated and vilified "Hitler of the moment" since the "new Hitlers parade" began with Saddam and Milosevic - Vladimir Putin - and that makes such open letter truly very significant.
To me, as Russian born in the West, it is very important to show that there is what I call "another West" which is both fully aware of what is going on and totally opposed to it. At the end of the day, we can hate the regimes in power, and we can feel disgusted by the zombies who support them, but we must always remember that the proportion of sober minded and honorable people is the same in any country and that we should always remember the "righteous men who save the city" (if even 10 is good enough for God, surely it should be good enough for us).
Today, I am posting two such letters. One sent to me by its author, one posted elsewhere on the Internet.
The Saker
UPDATE: I got a warning that the putative author of the 2nd letter now denies having written it. Okay, so it is either a fake, or he had cold feet. Either way, I will still leave it - it is better than removing it - but I will strikeout the full text. As for the first letter, I assure you that it is genuine, as I got it directly from its author.
-------
President Putin,
In this period of turmoil, I would like to express my shame and sorrow over the treatment, by the mass media in the West, of Russia in connection with events in Ukraine. Please be aware that not all Americans believe what is said by the likes of Barack Obama, a mere stuffed suit raised from obscurity to prove to Americans that the United States is a democracy, or John Kerry, a thoroughly corrupt career politician whose only priority is servile obedience to corporate power. I grew up in the Midwest, a typical American under the thrall of the empire’s doctrinal system, but during the Reagan Administration I was radicalised. There are many decent Americans who share my experience. I became a high school teacher, and have made a career out of opening students’ eyes to the dysfunctions of “the American Way”. I did not fall for the blandishments of Bill Clinton, whose Administration colluded in looting Russia after the breakup of the Soviet Union; and during the G.W. Bush term in office I emigrated to New Zealand with my family, having come to the conclusion that no amount of social commitment or direct action could alter America’s destructive behaviour.
I write to you in hopes that my words, meagre as they are, will give you a little strength in your struggle to lead Russia’s people into the Twenty-first century and beyond. Please do not give up. A by-product of your efforts will be a better world for all of earth’s inhabitants. This is the second time that Russia has saved the world from what is essentially Nazism (I speak here not of the fascists in Kiev, but of their masters in Washington, D.C.). Yes, I understand very well that it was the Soviet Union that broke the back of the Wehrmacht in World War II; that America and Britain had little to do with Germany’s defeat. I also understand that the United States is fully committed to balkanising Russia and to eliminating, by whatever means (no matter how murderous or immoral), any threat to its control over the world. Full commitment, however, does not equate with ability, nor does it guarantee success. In the case of the United States, full commitment means simply the taking of increasingly insane risks. The destruction of Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 seems a case in point. Whether the event was a false flag operation designed to isolate Russia and force you from office or an assassination attempt, the decision-making that lead to Washington’s giving Kiev a green light is insane, but this is the state of thinking in the United States at present. The empire is crumbling, and its masters are in a blind frenzy to reverse the disintegration.
The death-throes of any powerful entity are dangerous for everyone in its vicinity. This is just as true of the United States as it would be of a shark. The danger is real. Please be mindful, be safe, and continue to use whatever power you possess to end the threat that the United States poses to the world. I say this as a citizen not only of the former, but also of the latter.
Yours Sincerely,
David Lemire
-------
Dear Mr. President Putin
Please accept our apologies on behalf of a great many people here in the Netherlands for our Government and our Media.
The facts concerning MH17 are twisted to defame you and your country. We are powerless onlookers, as we witness how the Western Nations, led by the United States, accuse Russia of crimes they commit themselves more than anybody else.
We reject the double standards that are used for Russia and the West. In our societies, sufficient evidence is required for a conviction. The way you and your Nation are convicted for ‘crimes’ without evidence, is ruthless and despicable. You have saved us from a conflict in Syria that could have escalated into a World War. The mass killing of innocent Syrian civilians through gassing by ‘Al-Qaeda’ terrorists, trained and armed by the US and paid for by Saudi Arabia, was blamed on Assad. In doing so, the West hoped public opinion would turn against Assad, paving the way for an attack on Syria. Not long after this, Western forces have built up, trained and armed an ‘opposition’ in the Ukraine, to prepare a coup against the legitimate Government in Kiev. The putschists taking over were quickly recognized by Western Governments. They were provided with loans from our tax money to prop their new Government up. The people of the Crimea did not agree with this and showed this with peaceful demonstrations. Anonymous snipers and violence by Ukrainian troops turned these demonstrations into demands for independence from Kiev. Whether you support these separatist movements is immaterial, considering the blatant Imperialism of the West.Russia is wrongly accused, without evidence or investigation, of delivering the weapons systems that allegedly brought down MH17. For this reason Western Governments claim they have a right to economically pressure Russia.
We, awake citizens of the West, who see the lies and machinations of our Governments, wish to offer you our apologies for what is done in our name. It’s unfortunately true, that our media have lost all independence and are just mouthpieces for the Powers that Be. Because of this, Western people tend to have a warped view of reality and are unable to hold their politicians to account. Our hopes are focused on your wisdom. We want Peace. We see that Western Governments do not serve the people but are working towards a New World Order. The destruction of sovereign nations and the killing of millions of innocent people is, seemingly, a price worth paying for them, to achieve this goal. We, the people of the Netherlands, want Peace and Justice, also for and with Russia.
We hope to make clear that the Dutch Government speaks for itself only. We pray our efforts will help to diffuse the rising tensions between our Nations.
Sincerely, Professor Cees Hamelink
To me, as Russian born in the West, it is very important to show that there is what I call "another West" which is both fully aware of what is going on and totally opposed to it. At the end of the day, we can hate the regimes in power, and we can feel disgusted by the zombies who support them, but we must always remember that the proportion of sober minded and honorable people is the same in any country and that we should always remember the "righteous men who save the city" (if even 10 is good enough for God, surely it should be good enough for us).
Today, I am posting two such letters. One sent to me by its author, one posted elsewhere on the Internet.
The Saker
UPDATE: I got a warning that the putative author of the 2nd letter now denies having written it. Okay, so it is either a fake, or he had cold feet. Either way, I will still leave it - it is better than removing it - but I will strikeout the full text. As for the first letter, I assure you that it is genuine, as I got it directly from its author.
-------
President Putin,
In this period of turmoil, I would like to express my shame and sorrow over the treatment, by the mass media in the West, of Russia in connection with events in Ukraine. Please be aware that not all Americans believe what is said by the likes of Barack Obama, a mere stuffed suit raised from obscurity to prove to Americans that the United States is a democracy, or John Kerry, a thoroughly corrupt career politician whose only priority is servile obedience to corporate power. I grew up in the Midwest, a typical American under the thrall of the empire’s doctrinal system, but during the Reagan Administration I was radicalised. There are many decent Americans who share my experience. I became a high school teacher, and have made a career out of opening students’ eyes to the dysfunctions of “the American Way”. I did not fall for the blandishments of Bill Clinton, whose Administration colluded in looting Russia after the breakup of the Soviet Union; and during the G.W. Bush term in office I emigrated to New Zealand with my family, having come to the conclusion that no amount of social commitment or direct action could alter America’s destructive behaviour.
I write to you in hopes that my words, meagre as they are, will give you a little strength in your struggle to lead Russia’s people into the Twenty-first century and beyond. Please do not give up. A by-product of your efforts will be a better world for all of earth’s inhabitants. This is the second time that Russia has saved the world from what is essentially Nazism (I speak here not of the fascists in Kiev, but of their masters in Washington, D.C.). Yes, I understand very well that it was the Soviet Union that broke the back of the Wehrmacht in World War II; that America and Britain had little to do with Germany’s defeat. I also understand that the United States is fully committed to balkanising Russia and to eliminating, by whatever means (no matter how murderous or immoral), any threat to its control over the world. Full commitment, however, does not equate with ability, nor does it guarantee success. In the case of the United States, full commitment means simply the taking of increasingly insane risks. The destruction of Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 seems a case in point. Whether the event was a false flag operation designed to isolate Russia and force you from office or an assassination attempt, the decision-making that lead to Washington’s giving Kiev a green light is insane, but this is the state of thinking in the United States at present. The empire is crumbling, and its masters are in a blind frenzy to reverse the disintegration.
The death-throes of any powerful entity are dangerous for everyone in its vicinity. This is just as true of the United States as it would be of a shark. The danger is real. Please be mindful, be safe, and continue to use whatever power you possess to end the threat that the United States poses to the world. I say this as a citizen not only of the former, but also of the latter.
Yours Sincerely,
David Lemire
-------
Please accept our apologies on behalf of a great many people here in the Netherlands for our Government and our Media.
We hope to make clear that the Dutch Government speaks for itself only. We pray our efforts will help to diffuse the rising tensions between our Nations.
“Russian Invasion” – How long is screaming ‘Wolf!’ having an impact of the Western Populations? – Until Full Spectrum Dominance has been attained?
by Peter Koenig
Interestingly, most of us who are seeking the truth are primarily attempting to undo the lies - lies umpteen times repeated, lies about Russian invasions, first proclaimed by Poroshenko, Ukraine’s oligarch leader (sic), lies of Russia not respecting Ukraine’s sovereignty, demonization against President Putin, Malaysian airliners downed by Russia – and-so-on. The latest accusation is that JP Morgan and four other Wall Street banks have been hacked. And the culprit is…. Of, course Russia, according to the presstitute MSM.
It doesn’t matter whether what Poroshenko said and is repeated the world over was based on a translation error (according to the German Tagesschau, the German mainstream TV news) – or whether it is just a conventional lie continuously repeated until it becomes the truth à la Goebbels – the western bought propaganda machine takes full advantage of this hundreds of years old simple strategy of deception.
The interesting part, however, is that hardly anyone on that very occasion is presenting the counter-weight, so to speak, namely to what extent Kiev is assisted by US paid mercenaries, CIA military and strategic advisers and their equipment, all paid for in one way or another by the State Department, CIA, or NATO. And these are facts. Not inventions for deception.
There is enough proof about who caused the 22 February 2014 coup (Maidan) – Madame Nuland, Kerry’s assistant, bragged about it at the Washington Press club – remember the US$ 5 billion investment in Ukraine’s regime change that cannot be let go down the drain because of the f….ing Europeans. She was caught hot-handed or hot-voiced on the phone with the US Ambassador in Kiev.
Ever since that infamous coup, the US / NATO and the EU have had their dirty hands in Kiev's Nazi killer junta - otherwise the Kiev thugs would have never had either the courage or the military knowledge to advance to the Donbas area of Ukraine, where they were literally ordered to kill their brothers. Some of them with some conscience defected early on; then they were accompanied under threats of life by CIA ‘advisers’. Eventually they defected by the thousands because of lack of food and ammunition and the resulting low-low morale.
It is actually irrelevant whether Russia has troops and armory in East Ukraine. In fact it would be well justified for Russia to defend her countrymen from savage slaughter, as many Donbas citizens are originally Russians. But - they don't, as Mr. Putin is too smart to spoil his diplomatic assets on a war that is already lost by Kiev.
Be this as it may, why do we, truth seekers, at a time of Obama’s lie exclamations and countless media repetitions not present more frequently the US / NATO invasion in Ukraine and their assistance to the Kiev murderers, rather than always being on the defensive, undoing lies in defense of Russia?
The truth of what the US-NATO killing machine, its vassal EU states and its paid mercenaries are up to in Ukraine, and that they won’t let go regardless of what Obama mutters to tranquilize the world --- the truth is in one way or another Washington is committed to its financial and corporate elite to achieve Full Spectrum Dominance, meaning complete subjugation of the world to Washington’s masters, the military-security industrial complex and the war financing monetary system – FED-Wall Street-IMF, the latter being a mere extension of the US Treasury.
The Endgame means encircling Russia and China with more NATO bases, including in Ukraine and Moldova, as close as possible to Moscow’s doorsteps; and, foreseen by 2015, with 60% of the US naval fleet in the South China Sea.
We should not be detracted by the day-to-day details and lies, by the fires that flare up here and there, though all horrible, killing thousands of people; we should not be confused by ‘who is doing what?’ – But rather focus on the Big Picture, the intentions behind the US / NATO killing machine, not so much by denying the obvious lies, but rather by describing actual facts and the long-term strategy behind them.
Obama screamed again ‘wolf’ today, literally shouting – ‘Russia has invaded Ukraine, Russia’s military and equipment are in Ukraine, Russia is funding the separatists’ --- then adds, ‘but it’s not in the cards for America to intervene now.’
Don’t be fooled. Obama and his masters won’t go away. He says the same about American intervention in Syria – it’s not the right time, while arming and bombing (as a disguise) at the same time ISIS, created and funded in 2007 by Washington under successively different names to further confuse the public at large. At that time they came out of Turkey as Syrian Freedom Fighters, later they converted into the Al’Nusra Front of rebels, and now they are the ISIS, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, also called the Islamic State of the Levant.
This will do until the public needs to be again confused with a new group of Islamic terrorists to justify continuous wars on terror – to feed continuously the fat profit accounts of the eternal war lords. But only, if we the people let them confuse and deceive and divide us.
At the same time, Washington’s warmonger-in-chief, encourages his EU puppets to intervene and sending their troops into Ukraine, and imposing still more ‘sanctions’ on Russia. Let Europe take the hit if there is war. Not for nothing are NATO bases spiked throughout Europe, convenient targets for Russian missiles. – One could wonder – are the Europeans blind or just don’t care – or their leaders (sic) bought to the point where they hope to just disappear to America’s paradise when Russian rockets hit their countries’ NATO bases - and let their people smolder under nuclear dust?
We the 99.99% have all the powers to stop these US instigated murderous aggressions, by rejecting the continuously lying and deceiving propaganda machine, by rejecting and refusing to listen to the corporate presstitute media.
A few weeks ago there was hope that German Chancellor Merkel would see the light, would abandon the bandwagon of the ‘sanctioners’, because not only did she get a lot of pressure from German industrialists, but also the German people are worried about their energy supply – especially this coming winter. Germany depends by up to 40% on Russia for their energy supplies.
Unfortunately we were wrong. Madame Merkel bent over backwards to please Obama. The naked emperor convinced her not to leave his sinking ship. – What does he have up his imaginary sleeve? Anything he may have discovered by eavesdropping on her cellphone conversations? - So strong to sway her away from reason to the detriment of all of Europe? - These latest sanctions are backlashing on the EU, especially the farmers, a multiple times harder than they hit Russia. European agriculture and mostly small farmers, are losing billions of euros worth on stalled exports to Russia of meat, vegetables, fruit and other food stuff, because Russia retaliated by blocking imports from the EU. Russia is now establishing new trade routes with Latin America.
On 18 September Obama will meet at the White House with Poroshenko, to be sure he stays in line and doesn’t sway Putin’s way, because corrupt oligarchs tend to be not very reliable. Obama may promise him premature entry to NATO and all the fake fiat dollars that come with it.
It would not be a surprise if Obama were also to receive Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the ‘new’ ISIS caliphate, to assure him of America’s continuous support, if he lets him bomb them, the ISIS troops that is, ever so often, just for show and to confuse the public mind - and, of course, as a disguise to bomb Syria to eventually topple Baschar al-Assad for – regime change.
Obama may also promise the ISIS a key role in the new Syrian government – provided he succeeds in regime change (for now unlikely) – similar as he did to the ‘rebels’ and other Islamic fractions of Libya. What Obama needs are not well-organized new regimes, but civil wars, fighting sections of societies to keep populations dying, and those still alive on their toes, fighting for their daily survival and fleeing across borders into refugee camps of other lands, thereby swallowing up neighboring countries resources and creating anger in the local population – the old divide to rein tactic.
The Big Picture is important. The people need to see it, the End Game – what is expecting them, if they – we, the 99.99% - are not taking actions to prevent Full Spectrum Dominance from succeeding.
Peter Koenig is an economist and former World Bank staff. He worked extensively around the world in the fields of environment and water resources. He writes regularly for Global Research, ICH, the Voice of Russia and other internet sites. He is the author of Implosion – An Economic Thriller about War, Environmental Destruction and Corporate Greed – fiction based on facts and on 30 years of World Bank experience around the globe.
"The separatists are backed, trained, armed, financed by Russia. Russia determined that it had to be a little more overt in what it had already been doing, but it's not really a shift."
Barak Obama, 29 August 2014.
"If you repeat a lie often enough, it becomes the truth.”
Barak Obama, 29 August 2014.
"If you repeat a lie often enough, it becomes the truth.”
Joseph Goebbels
Interestingly, most of us who are seeking the truth are primarily attempting to undo the lies - lies umpteen times repeated, lies about Russian invasions, first proclaimed by Poroshenko, Ukraine’s oligarch leader (sic), lies of Russia not respecting Ukraine’s sovereignty, demonization against President Putin, Malaysian airliners downed by Russia – and-so-on. The latest accusation is that JP Morgan and four other Wall Street banks have been hacked. And the culprit is…. Of, course Russia, according to the presstitute MSM.
It doesn’t matter whether what Poroshenko said and is repeated the world over was based on a translation error (according to the German Tagesschau, the German mainstream TV news) – or whether it is just a conventional lie continuously repeated until it becomes the truth à la Goebbels – the western bought propaganda machine takes full advantage of this hundreds of years old simple strategy of deception.
The interesting part, however, is that hardly anyone on that very occasion is presenting the counter-weight, so to speak, namely to what extent Kiev is assisted by US paid mercenaries, CIA military and strategic advisers and their equipment, all paid for in one way or another by the State Department, CIA, or NATO. And these are facts. Not inventions for deception.
There is enough proof about who caused the 22 February 2014 coup (Maidan) – Madame Nuland, Kerry’s assistant, bragged about it at the Washington Press club – remember the US$ 5 billion investment in Ukraine’s regime change that cannot be let go down the drain because of the f….ing Europeans. She was caught hot-handed or hot-voiced on the phone with the US Ambassador in Kiev.
Ever since that infamous coup, the US / NATO and the EU have had their dirty hands in Kiev's Nazi killer junta - otherwise the Kiev thugs would have never had either the courage or the military knowledge to advance to the Donbas area of Ukraine, where they were literally ordered to kill their brothers. Some of them with some conscience defected early on; then they were accompanied under threats of life by CIA ‘advisers’. Eventually they defected by the thousands because of lack of food and ammunition and the resulting low-low morale.
It is actually irrelevant whether Russia has troops and armory in East Ukraine. In fact it would be well justified for Russia to defend her countrymen from savage slaughter, as many Donbas citizens are originally Russians. But - they don't, as Mr. Putin is too smart to spoil his diplomatic assets on a war that is already lost by Kiev.
Be this as it may, why do we, truth seekers, at a time of Obama’s lie exclamations and countless media repetitions not present more frequently the US / NATO invasion in Ukraine and their assistance to the Kiev murderers, rather than always being on the defensive, undoing lies in defense of Russia?
The truth of what the US-NATO killing machine, its vassal EU states and its paid mercenaries are up to in Ukraine, and that they won’t let go regardless of what Obama mutters to tranquilize the world --- the truth is in one way or another Washington is committed to its financial and corporate elite to achieve Full Spectrum Dominance, meaning complete subjugation of the world to Washington’s masters, the military-security industrial complex and the war financing monetary system – FED-Wall Street-IMF, the latter being a mere extension of the US Treasury.
The Endgame means encircling Russia and China with more NATO bases, including in Ukraine and Moldova, as close as possible to Moscow’s doorsteps; and, foreseen by 2015, with 60% of the US naval fleet in the South China Sea.
We should not be detracted by the day-to-day details and lies, by the fires that flare up here and there, though all horrible, killing thousands of people; we should not be confused by ‘who is doing what?’ – But rather focus on the Big Picture, the intentions behind the US / NATO killing machine, not so much by denying the obvious lies, but rather by describing actual facts and the long-term strategy behind them.
Obama screamed again ‘wolf’ today, literally shouting – ‘Russia has invaded Ukraine, Russia’s military and equipment are in Ukraine, Russia is funding the separatists’ --- then adds, ‘but it’s not in the cards for America to intervene now.’
Don’t be fooled. Obama and his masters won’t go away. He says the same about American intervention in Syria – it’s not the right time, while arming and bombing (as a disguise) at the same time ISIS, created and funded in 2007 by Washington under successively different names to further confuse the public at large. At that time they came out of Turkey as Syrian Freedom Fighters, later they converted into the Al’Nusra Front of rebels, and now they are the ISIS, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, also called the Islamic State of the Levant.
This will do until the public needs to be again confused with a new group of Islamic terrorists to justify continuous wars on terror – to feed continuously the fat profit accounts of the eternal war lords. But only, if we the people let them confuse and deceive and divide us.
At the same time, Washington’s warmonger-in-chief, encourages his EU puppets to intervene and sending their troops into Ukraine, and imposing still more ‘sanctions’ on Russia. Let Europe take the hit if there is war. Not for nothing are NATO bases spiked throughout Europe, convenient targets for Russian missiles. – One could wonder – are the Europeans blind or just don’t care – or their leaders (sic) bought to the point where they hope to just disappear to America’s paradise when Russian rockets hit their countries’ NATO bases - and let their people smolder under nuclear dust?
We the 99.99% have all the powers to stop these US instigated murderous aggressions, by rejecting the continuously lying and deceiving propaganda machine, by rejecting and refusing to listen to the corporate presstitute media.
A few weeks ago there was hope that German Chancellor Merkel would see the light, would abandon the bandwagon of the ‘sanctioners’, because not only did she get a lot of pressure from German industrialists, but also the German people are worried about their energy supply – especially this coming winter. Germany depends by up to 40% on Russia for their energy supplies.
Unfortunately we were wrong. Madame Merkel bent over backwards to please Obama. The naked emperor convinced her not to leave his sinking ship. – What does he have up his imaginary sleeve? Anything he may have discovered by eavesdropping on her cellphone conversations? - So strong to sway her away from reason to the detriment of all of Europe? - These latest sanctions are backlashing on the EU, especially the farmers, a multiple times harder than they hit Russia. European agriculture and mostly small farmers, are losing billions of euros worth on stalled exports to Russia of meat, vegetables, fruit and other food stuff, because Russia retaliated by blocking imports from the EU. Russia is now establishing new trade routes with Latin America.
On 18 September Obama will meet at the White House with Poroshenko, to be sure he stays in line and doesn’t sway Putin’s way, because corrupt oligarchs tend to be not very reliable. Obama may promise him premature entry to NATO and all the fake fiat dollars that come with it.
It would not be a surprise if Obama were also to receive Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the ‘new’ ISIS caliphate, to assure him of America’s continuous support, if he lets him bomb them, the ISIS troops that is, ever so often, just for show and to confuse the public mind - and, of course, as a disguise to bomb Syria to eventually topple Baschar al-Assad for – regime change.
Obama may also promise the ISIS a key role in the new Syrian government – provided he succeeds in regime change (for now unlikely) – similar as he did to the ‘rebels’ and other Islamic fractions of Libya. What Obama needs are not well-organized new regimes, but civil wars, fighting sections of societies to keep populations dying, and those still alive on their toes, fighting for their daily survival and fleeing across borders into refugee camps of other lands, thereby swallowing up neighboring countries resources and creating anger in the local population – the old divide to rein tactic.
The Big Picture is important. The people need to see it, the End Game – what is expecting them, if they – we, the 99.99% - are not taking actions to prevent Full Spectrum Dominance from succeeding.
Peter Koenig is an economist and former World Bank staff. He worked extensively around the world in the fields of environment and water resources. He writes regularly for Global Research, ICH, the Voice of Russia and other internet sites. He is the author of Implosion – An Economic Thriller about War, Environmental Destruction and Corporate Greed – fiction based on facts and on 30 years of World Bank experience around the globe.
Appeal to the mothers of Ukraine
Foreword: today I am publishing a number of appeals to the mothers and people of the Ukraine which I ask you to circulate as widely as possible. The women of the Ukraine have already shown their determination to stop the senseless bloodshed ordered by the junta and I think that it is crucial for us to let them know that we are aware of their struggle and that we support it. The butchery which is currently taking place is as obscene as it is futile and it has to stop. Now. Please circulate the text of these appeals as widely as you can. Many thanks and kind regards,
The Saker
-------
Appeal to the mothers of Ukraine
(original text in Russian here)
Dear Sisters,
We, the women of the international Russian Diaspora, appeal to you to help stop the civil war unleashed on your nation.
We understand the great tragedy that is happening in your land. Today, you are losing your sons to this inglorious war. As women, we know how much care and love it takes to give birth, nurture and raise our children. No mother gives birth to her child for a war. Any mother, anywhere in the world, will not hesitate to give her life for her child. In this we are united. This is our strength. So do not let the dark forces of evil rob you of your children using them for their own criminal purposes, pitting brother against brother, throwing them into a bloody meat grinder of war, and forcing them to forget their roots, their ancestors, culture and history.
Today the illegal and criminal Ukrainian government, this gang of bandits, thieves and criminals, imposed on you by the imperialist West, is waging war with its own people, in your name. Using the hands of your sons, they are bombing and shooting at peaceful towns, clearing out villages, and chasing people away from their own homes. Just for the fact that these people dared to express their desire to live freely on their soil. Because they dared to say "no" to the corporate and geopolitical interests of the West. Because they refused to be slaves.
We understand that it’s difficult for you to find a grain of truth in the torrent of vile propaganda and lies to which you have been subjected, which for decades has been skillfully and professionally directing your nation towards bitterness and hatred against their chosen enemy. Sisters, please stop and think, is this really your enemy? Look into the eyes of the women on "the other side" of the war. You will see in them the same pain and despair. They are also losing their sons... daughters, brothers, and husbands. In this you are one and the same.
Help stop this bloody madness! While there is still time, while you haven’t yet received the terrible news about the death of your child, before the line is crossed - the line beyond which there is nothing but despair, death, and emptiness – don’t let the criminals throw your sons into this shameful bloodbath. Don't let them disgrace their tribe and their nation. Save your children to build a future of a free and beautiful Ukraine. A Ukraine free from exploitation by the Western capitalists, oligarchs and the gang of international elites. Preserve not only the bodies but also the souls of your children. On your fragile maternal shoulders today, lies the future of all free, beautiful, proud and strong Slavs.
Only we, the mothers, can throw ourselves wholeheartedly to selflessly protect our children. For this, God has given us so much great power, power that will crush in its path everything, anything, and anybody who want to rob us of those who we love more than life itself.
God bless you.
-------
From The Russian team:
We received a huge response to our appeal from all over the world. We are publishing here some of them. We hope that these messages will resonate in your hearts. Trust us, living abroad, especially in the West, under a thick veil of propaganda, boiling and growing is anger at our governments’ policies. Many of us have known for a long time, and even more are waking up every day and realize the lies and deceit, in which they keep our populations. They are deceiving us about the state of our economies, labour markets, public finances, real situation with resources, and foreign policy. We are tired of the endless wars that our governments, under pressure from the United States, bring to other countries, in which they have personal interests. But especially we are concerned with the careless and dangerous enmity with Russia, a country with nuclear weapons, which crazy USA is pushing us to. We want peace with all countries and peoples. We want any nation to be able to determine how it should live and whom to be friends with. We must not allow these fools to sow a discord between us and force us to act against our own class interests.
*******
International appeals
In the waning days of war, the widows, the maimed, the orphaned and the crippled see light at the end of a dark tunnel, and it’s the only secure way out.
Peace.
Most cordially,
Daniel, Japan
* * * * * * *
‘Ukraine government please STOP the war that soaks the earth in the blood and tears of brother against brother, sister against sister.’
Kind regards,
Zeta & Fiodor, Australia
* * * * * * *
Dear Ukrainians,
It is with great sadness we watch from the other side of the world the conflict that has erupted in Ukraine. It is clear to me that a lot of historical animosity exists between many Ukrainians and their big brother Russia who has dominated them and no doubt is responsible for many injustices in the past. This has resulted in much distrust between West Ukraine and ethnic Russian Ukrainians.
It is also clear to me you are the victim of Super power politics and have been enticed by the USA to allow European and US interests to participate in (dominate) your economy and to further the US and Nato aggressive stance towards Russia. They have their own interests at heart here not yours.
In my opinion, despite its history Russia has reacted to this aggression in a very reasonable manner and does not want a conflict on its border. I feel the opportunity is there for Ukraine to be a truly independent country and an example to others if a cease fire is called and compassionate negotiations towards peace are entered into.
Further conflict can only create wider divisions within Ukraine.
Kind Regards
Ian, New Zealand
* * * * * * *
To the people of Ukraine:
Examine the record of US-led "democratization" and ask yourselves if you would like your nation to become another Iraq, Lybia, Serbia, Syria, etc. Your new Government was chosen for you, not by you, and is there to serve one purpose only, and that is to extract all your natural resources and deliver then into the hands of the Zionist clique that owns every Western Government. If you agree that this is the right course for you nation, do nothing. If you don't want a gang of thieves pillaging your wealth and setting brother upon brother, rid yourselves of the vermin that have been foisted upon you.
Appeal:
Many of us in America have been watching as the events have unfolded in Ukraine these past months. Please do not be deceived that our media and government have succeeded in deflecting our attention away from the carnage Ukraine has inflicted upon countless innocent civilians in the East with its indiscriminate shelling of cities and towns. There are far too many videos of the dead and dying under the most brutal of circumstances to obfuscate the truth for long. Ukraine is engaging in tactics of war clearly defined as war crimes by the Geneva Convention. There can be NO excuse for this. If Ukraine continues on this course, the world will eventually have no choice but to react and no amount of media or government obfuscation will obstruct its furor. It is time for Ukraine to END this conflict NOW.
Michael, USA
* * * * * * *
Dear Ukrainians,
I would like you to have peace, to have your sons, brothers, husbands, and fathers back home safe and sound. I wish this for you in the West AND the East. I don't believe this was your war.
I believe this has been a war of power addicted oligarchs, manipulated by Washington, Nato and Large Corporations.
These groups of people are psychologically so impaired, they are unable to experience compassion that normal healthy human beings feel. They are addicted to power and need ever increasing doses of it. You and I are just "unimportant stuff” used to obtain their fix. The loss of our bodies and our pain further feeds their addiction and makes them feel even more powerful.
If we let these disturbed people rule us and drive us into killing each other, then we too are responsible.
Killing people is NOT a healthy thing to do and damages us emotionally. Once you have killed a person, this can NEVER be undone and we live with that bad feeling for the rest of our lives. Is this what we wish for our men? For ourselves?
Now is the time for NO MORE KILLING! Period.
The one thing these people fear is loss of power, without power they cannot function. So it is up to us to stop giving power to them in as many ways as possible. Let's make a list of things we CAN do to take away their power and do those things we can do. And as we become stronger, take away MORE of that power.
With much concern and care for ALL,
Margie, Bulgaria
* * * * * * *
„Let my people go,
Oppress’d so hard they could not stand,
Let my People go.”
The peoples of Europe are suppressed. Don’t fool yourself that living in the EU is good. It is not. The living standard of the average German has fallen in the last 15 years. The living standards of the Greeks, the Spanish and many others have been smashed. The EU is an instrument for the exploitation of the average people to the benefit of the few. And this is why your Oligarchs want you to be in the EU: To institutionalize your suffering and exploitation.
For me, as a German with strong liberal views, it is hard to say this, but it is true: The hope for a better Europe today comes from the East.
If Ukraine goes to the West, it will go into the sunset of a declining part of the world.
If you go East, you will go into the sunrise of a rich and prosperous commonwealth.
I wished we in Germany would have the choice that you have.
Make your choice wisely.
Dr. Bernhard Seitz, Stuttgart, Germany
* * * * * * *
Dear People of the Ukraine
I am writing to you as a proud Englishman and citizen of an EU member state.
I have been horrified by the actions of my leaders, the horrors perpetrated against you and your country and done in my name.
I can only appeal to you on the grounds of all humanity to call on your new leaders to stop this madness.
Please understand that the lure of a golden future in the West is a gross exaggeration and those that offer it to tempt you have only their own very selfish interests at heart.
In the EU, Ukrainians will be at best second class citizens like the Poles or most probably third class like the Romanians. Your industries will be decimated, while the only beneficiaries will be the very corrupt oligarch cliché and their EU/US counterparts, that you originally protested against to remove.
You are now being cynically pitted against your former friends and comrades in the East of your country and used as a selfish tool against the Russian federation.
Do not be fooled by crocodile tears, as those in the West how wring their humanity on public podiums do not care about your pain or suffering, but actually seek to see as many suffer as possible as it is good for their politics against Russia. No meaningful help will be sent to you, you will simply suffer the further humiliation of being presented as a helpless victim, rather like a starving African child.
Demand Peace and Demand Reconciliation. Denounce the falsehoods of paid placemen leaders and of their insincere backers.
This and this alone will save your nation, a nation that your new friends and leaders are only too happy to sacrifice on the Altars of their own vanity and ambition.
In All Kindness and Humility
Keith Nelson-Tomsen, Bristol, UK * * * * * * *
“In times of deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.” George Orwell
Greetings,
I write to you from Australia in an attempt to help all Ukraine and former peoples of Ukraine including Crimea and the Peoples Republic of Donetsk. Whilst we maybe considered the lucky country it is no less fortunate than others albeit we do not have war on our soil nor an illegitimate government killing our people. However, all of humanity is under the influence of evil in high places who profit from war and the rape of this planet and unless stopped they will continue to consume like a pack of locusts in a field until this entire planet is laid waste. The people in high places I refer, in reality, are just simply evil people and their places are becoming lower by the very acts they are committing and this is lower in the cosmic sense and not just an Earthly sense.
I see every day, people waking up by the dozens as each atrocity is committed. The reason this is so is because these atrocities are so anti-human while the "official stories" crumble under the weight of their own lies. Now finally most of humanity are willing to hear the truth. Flight MH17 is one such example amongst many others.
At present in this country and while there are many still under the sway of main stream media controlled by a handful of conglomerates many are switching down this hydra full of lies. Those awake and as I have said previously many more awaken each day, we realise with REAL EYES what is going on in the Ukraine and we see with REAL EYES what is going on in Israel. WE SEE who is doing the killing and who the evil perpetrators are behind the killing and slaughter of innocent people we also see who is being blamed for the atrocities the very perpetrators are guilty of. Aside from this being a narcissistic and psychopathic trait, in government and certain circles it is also known as "flipping the script".
I oppose the war being committed by the Poroshenko government against Donetsk and other people of East Ukraine. I recognise the People's Republic of Donetsk and their Prime Minister, Aleksandr Zakharchenko. It is not the will of the people of Donetsk and other regions to be Ukraine any longer. The Ukraine people and former Ukraine people as all people, have the unalienable right given by God of free will choice for self determination and they have made their choice.
They also have absolute rights, by "absolute rights" of individuals is meant those which are so in their primary and strictest sense, such as would belong to their persons merely in a state of nature, and which every man is entitled to enjoy, whether out of society or in it. The rights of personal security, of personal liberty, and private property do not depend upon any Constitution or any law for their existence. They existed before the Constitution or laws were made, or the government was organized. These are what are termed the "absolute rights" of individuals, which belong to them independently of all government, and which all governments that derive their power from the consent of the governed were instituted to protect.
I have read the transcript of the speech by Vladimir Putin requesting peaceful negotiations between the Ukraine government and the PRD, while Aleksandr Zakharchenko certainly seems willing to do this, it is Petro Poroshenko who insists on killing, slaugher and more war. I do not recognise the current Ukraine government as legitimate anymore than I recognised the putsch government before that. I recognise the democatically elected deposed government of former Prime Minister, Viktor Yanukovych and believe this government should be re-installed and further elections called. The people should be allowed to cast their vote without military intervention in accordance with their free will and absolute right.
I maybe but one voice but it speaks loudly against fascism. I am a child of the original creation, I stand under no man. I of my free will support Aleksandr Zakharchenko the Prime Minister of the Peoples Republic of Donetsk and all of Novorussiya. God Bless the People's Republic of Donetsk.
Allow the Ukraine people to decide; God Bless Ukraine. God Bless Russia and God Bless Novorussiya.
May peace reign on Earth.
Kind regards.
Lori, Northern Rivers NSW Australia
* * * * * * *
To our friends in Russia here are some elements, maybe you will find something useful:
As I see it Ukraine has several special problems that it needs to address if it wants to get out of its self-destructive spiral:
Ukraine has several different populations with different languages and different traditions. This is always a difficult human problem but it can be overcome - for example Switzerland has 4 different populations with 4 different languages and traditions and it lives in peace. The main condition for peace is that each population respects the language and traditions of the others.
The intense trauma of the communist collectivization with its many millions of victims. The Ukraine trauma was indeed horrible. But it is a sad fact that the world is full of horrible genocides, some of them much worse than Ukraine ( f. ex. the genocide of the American Indians by the European colonists) and it would be a victory for the people of Ukraine if they could lift their heads out of the past and find a way to live in the world of today.
The meddling of foreigners who want to inflame the problems with the intent to poison the relationship between Ukraine and Russia. Here the people of Ukraine should look at the actions of their own government which obeys these foreigners: your sons and husbands, badly equipped and badly trained because there is no money left in Ukraine, are sent to die by the tens of thousands against your own people in Eastern Ukraine who have lived in peace with you for generations and whose only fault is that they want to keep their own language and their own traditions. Do you really want this meddling?
So the questions for the people of Ukraine comes down to this: Whom do they want to listen to:
- their own government, which obeys foreigners who are only interested in war with Russia and which is responsible for the civil war against East Ukraine with its untold thousands of deaths? And which has allowed the Ukrainian army to maim and kill many thousands of unarmed East Ukraine civilians who thought they were Ukrainians too? And which has taken all of Ukraine's money into their own pockets?
- their own neonazis who live in the past and can only think of more massacres and of more war and who have done so many horrible crimes against unarmed Eastern Ukraine civilians that it is doubtful that Eastern Ukraine can forget these deranged and cowardly war crimes?
- those Ukrainians who want to become part of Europe? A Europe that was never interested in Ukraine? A Europe that is now instructing your government to pursue its war against Russia and which is degenerating morally and economically? Where governments ignore the wishes of the people and follow destructive political programs?
- those Ukrainians who want to stay friends with Russia? A Russia which has lived in peace with you for generations now? A Russia that is the only country linked to Europe where the government cares for the common good and listens to the people and to the laws? It is our belief that this is the only friendship where the people of Ukraine will not be duped and exploited.
But it is for them to decide.
This is the point of view of a central European looking for truth :-)
Hope you find something interesting. Good luck and my heartfelt wishes of success.
Rudi Staudinger (Luxembourg)
* * * * * * *
Ukrainians,
Don't let the oligarchs plunder your country under the EU pretext of 'democracy'. They don't want democracy, they don't want peace, they want Ukraine's resources. They are not interested in what you want, in what I want, in what anyone wants. They only want more and more, all they'll be able to take.
Don't let it happen. Don't let your sons, your husbands, your fathers be cannon fodder for heartless accountants, foreign banks and foreign big business interests.
Stand for the people, stand for freedom, stand for truth, stand for a democratic and patriotic government by the people, for the people.
Stand for peace.
Lea, from Paris.
The Saker
-------
Appeal to the mothers of Ukraine
(original text in Russian here)
Dear Sisters,
We, the women of the international Russian Diaspora, appeal to you to help stop the civil war unleashed on your nation.
We understand the great tragedy that is happening in your land. Today, you are losing your sons to this inglorious war. As women, we know how much care and love it takes to give birth, nurture and raise our children. No mother gives birth to her child for a war. Any mother, anywhere in the world, will not hesitate to give her life for her child. In this we are united. This is our strength. So do not let the dark forces of evil rob you of your children using them for their own criminal purposes, pitting brother against brother, throwing them into a bloody meat grinder of war, and forcing them to forget their roots, their ancestors, culture and history.
Today the illegal and criminal Ukrainian government, this gang of bandits, thieves and criminals, imposed on you by the imperialist West, is waging war with its own people, in your name. Using the hands of your sons, they are bombing and shooting at peaceful towns, clearing out villages, and chasing people away from their own homes. Just for the fact that these people dared to express their desire to live freely on their soil. Because they dared to say "no" to the corporate and geopolitical interests of the West. Because they refused to be slaves.
We understand that it’s difficult for you to find a grain of truth in the torrent of vile propaganda and lies to which you have been subjected, which for decades has been skillfully and professionally directing your nation towards bitterness and hatred against their chosen enemy. Sisters, please stop and think, is this really your enemy? Look into the eyes of the women on "the other side" of the war. You will see in them the same pain and despair. They are also losing their sons... daughters, brothers, and husbands. In this you are one and the same.
Help stop this bloody madness! While there is still time, while you haven’t yet received the terrible news about the death of your child, before the line is crossed - the line beyond which there is nothing but despair, death, and emptiness – don’t let the criminals throw your sons into this shameful bloodbath. Don't let them disgrace their tribe and their nation. Save your children to build a future of a free and beautiful Ukraine. A Ukraine free from exploitation by the Western capitalists, oligarchs and the gang of international elites. Preserve not only the bodies but also the souls of your children. On your fragile maternal shoulders today, lies the future of all free, beautiful, proud and strong Slavs.
Only we, the mothers, can throw ourselves wholeheartedly to selflessly protect our children. For this, God has given us so much great power, power that will crush in its path everything, anything, and anybody who want to rob us of those who we love more than life itself.
God bless you.
-------
From The Russian team:
We received a huge response to our appeal from all over the world. We are publishing here some of them. We hope that these messages will resonate in your hearts. Trust us, living abroad, especially in the West, under a thick veil of propaganda, boiling and growing is anger at our governments’ policies. Many of us have known for a long time, and even more are waking up every day and realize the lies and deceit, in which they keep our populations. They are deceiving us about the state of our economies, labour markets, public finances, real situation with resources, and foreign policy. We are tired of the endless wars that our governments, under pressure from the United States, bring to other countries, in which they have personal interests. But especially we are concerned with the careless and dangerous enmity with Russia, a country with nuclear weapons, which crazy USA is pushing us to. We want peace with all countries and peoples. We want any nation to be able to determine how it should live and whom to be friends with. We must not allow these fools to sow a discord between us and force us to act against our own class interests.
*******
International appeals
In the waning days of war, the widows, the maimed, the orphaned and the crippled see light at the end of a dark tunnel, and it’s the only secure way out.
Peace.
Most cordially,
Daniel, Japan
* * * * * * *
‘Ukraine government please STOP the war that soaks the earth in the blood and tears of brother against brother, sister against sister.’
Kind regards,
Zeta & Fiodor, Australia
* * * * * * *
Dear Ukrainians,
It is with great sadness we watch from the other side of the world the conflict that has erupted in Ukraine. It is clear to me that a lot of historical animosity exists between many Ukrainians and their big brother Russia who has dominated them and no doubt is responsible for many injustices in the past. This has resulted in much distrust between West Ukraine and ethnic Russian Ukrainians.
It is also clear to me you are the victim of Super power politics and have been enticed by the USA to allow European and US interests to participate in (dominate) your economy and to further the US and Nato aggressive stance towards Russia. They have their own interests at heart here not yours.
In my opinion, despite its history Russia has reacted to this aggression in a very reasonable manner and does not want a conflict on its border. I feel the opportunity is there for Ukraine to be a truly independent country and an example to others if a cease fire is called and compassionate negotiations towards peace are entered into.
Further conflict can only create wider divisions within Ukraine.
Kind Regards
Ian, New Zealand
* * * * * * *
To the people of Ukraine:
Examine the record of US-led "democratization" and ask yourselves if you would like your nation to become another Iraq, Lybia, Serbia, Syria, etc. Your new Government was chosen for you, not by you, and is there to serve one purpose only, and that is to extract all your natural resources and deliver then into the hands of the Zionist clique that owns every Western Government. If you agree that this is the right course for you nation, do nothing. If you don't want a gang of thieves pillaging your wealth and setting brother upon brother, rid yourselves of the vermin that have been foisted upon you.
Appeal:
Many of us in America have been watching as the events have unfolded in Ukraine these past months. Please do not be deceived that our media and government have succeeded in deflecting our attention away from the carnage Ukraine has inflicted upon countless innocent civilians in the East with its indiscriminate shelling of cities and towns. There are far too many videos of the dead and dying under the most brutal of circumstances to obfuscate the truth for long. Ukraine is engaging in tactics of war clearly defined as war crimes by the Geneva Convention. There can be NO excuse for this. If Ukraine continues on this course, the world will eventually have no choice but to react and no amount of media or government obfuscation will obstruct its furor. It is time for Ukraine to END this conflict NOW.
Michael, USA
* * * * * * *
Dear Ukrainians,
I would like you to have peace, to have your sons, brothers, husbands, and fathers back home safe and sound. I wish this for you in the West AND the East. I don't believe this was your war.
I believe this has been a war of power addicted oligarchs, manipulated by Washington, Nato and Large Corporations.
These groups of people are psychologically so impaired, they are unable to experience compassion that normal healthy human beings feel. They are addicted to power and need ever increasing doses of it. You and I are just "unimportant stuff” used to obtain their fix. The loss of our bodies and our pain further feeds their addiction and makes them feel even more powerful.
If we let these disturbed people rule us and drive us into killing each other, then we too are responsible.
Killing people is NOT a healthy thing to do and damages us emotionally. Once you have killed a person, this can NEVER be undone and we live with that bad feeling for the rest of our lives. Is this what we wish for our men? For ourselves?
Now is the time for NO MORE KILLING! Period.
The one thing these people fear is loss of power, without power they cannot function. So it is up to us to stop giving power to them in as many ways as possible. Let's make a list of things we CAN do to take away their power and do those things we can do. And as we become stronger, take away MORE of that power.
With much concern and care for ALL,
Margie, Bulgaria
* * * * * * *
„Let my people go,
Oppress’d so hard they could not stand,
Let my People go.”
The peoples of Europe are suppressed. Don’t fool yourself that living in the EU is good. It is not. The living standard of the average German has fallen in the last 15 years. The living standards of the Greeks, the Spanish and many others have been smashed. The EU is an instrument for the exploitation of the average people to the benefit of the few. And this is why your Oligarchs want you to be in the EU: To institutionalize your suffering and exploitation.
For me, as a German with strong liberal views, it is hard to say this, but it is true: The hope for a better Europe today comes from the East.
If Ukraine goes to the West, it will go into the sunset of a declining part of the world.
If you go East, you will go into the sunrise of a rich and prosperous commonwealth.
I wished we in Germany would have the choice that you have.
Make your choice wisely.
Dr. Bernhard Seitz, Stuttgart, Germany
* * * * * * *
Dear People of the Ukraine
I am writing to you as a proud Englishman and citizen of an EU member state.
I have been horrified by the actions of my leaders, the horrors perpetrated against you and your country and done in my name.
I can only appeal to you on the grounds of all humanity to call on your new leaders to stop this madness.
Please understand that the lure of a golden future in the West is a gross exaggeration and those that offer it to tempt you have only their own very selfish interests at heart.
In the EU, Ukrainians will be at best second class citizens like the Poles or most probably third class like the Romanians. Your industries will be decimated, while the only beneficiaries will be the very corrupt oligarch cliché and their EU/US counterparts, that you originally protested against to remove.
You are now being cynically pitted against your former friends and comrades in the East of your country and used as a selfish tool against the Russian federation.
Do not be fooled by crocodile tears, as those in the West how wring their humanity on public podiums do not care about your pain or suffering, but actually seek to see as many suffer as possible as it is good for their politics against Russia. No meaningful help will be sent to you, you will simply suffer the further humiliation of being presented as a helpless victim, rather like a starving African child.
Demand Peace and Demand Reconciliation. Denounce the falsehoods of paid placemen leaders and of their insincere backers.
This and this alone will save your nation, a nation that your new friends and leaders are only too happy to sacrifice on the Altars of their own vanity and ambition.
In All Kindness and Humility
Keith Nelson-Tomsen, Bristol, UK * * * * * * *
“In times of deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.” George Orwell
Greetings,
I write to you from Australia in an attempt to help all Ukraine and former peoples of Ukraine including Crimea and the Peoples Republic of Donetsk. Whilst we maybe considered the lucky country it is no less fortunate than others albeit we do not have war on our soil nor an illegitimate government killing our people. However, all of humanity is under the influence of evil in high places who profit from war and the rape of this planet and unless stopped they will continue to consume like a pack of locusts in a field until this entire planet is laid waste. The people in high places I refer, in reality, are just simply evil people and their places are becoming lower by the very acts they are committing and this is lower in the cosmic sense and not just an Earthly sense.
I see every day, people waking up by the dozens as each atrocity is committed. The reason this is so is because these atrocities are so anti-human while the "official stories" crumble under the weight of their own lies. Now finally most of humanity are willing to hear the truth. Flight MH17 is one such example amongst many others.
At present in this country and while there are many still under the sway of main stream media controlled by a handful of conglomerates many are switching down this hydra full of lies. Those awake and as I have said previously many more awaken each day, we realise with REAL EYES what is going on in the Ukraine and we see with REAL EYES what is going on in Israel. WE SEE who is doing the killing and who the evil perpetrators are behind the killing and slaughter of innocent people we also see who is being blamed for the atrocities the very perpetrators are guilty of. Aside from this being a narcissistic and psychopathic trait, in government and certain circles it is also known as "flipping the script".
I oppose the war being committed by the Poroshenko government against Donetsk and other people of East Ukraine. I recognise the People's Republic of Donetsk and their Prime Minister, Aleksandr Zakharchenko. It is not the will of the people of Donetsk and other regions to be Ukraine any longer. The Ukraine people and former Ukraine people as all people, have the unalienable right given by God of free will choice for self determination and they have made their choice.
They also have absolute rights, by "absolute rights" of individuals is meant those which are so in their primary and strictest sense, such as would belong to their persons merely in a state of nature, and which every man is entitled to enjoy, whether out of society or in it. The rights of personal security, of personal liberty, and private property do not depend upon any Constitution or any law for their existence. They existed before the Constitution or laws were made, or the government was organized. These are what are termed the "absolute rights" of individuals, which belong to them independently of all government, and which all governments that derive their power from the consent of the governed were instituted to protect.
I have read the transcript of the speech by Vladimir Putin requesting peaceful negotiations between the Ukraine government and the PRD, while Aleksandr Zakharchenko certainly seems willing to do this, it is Petro Poroshenko who insists on killing, slaugher and more war. I do not recognise the current Ukraine government as legitimate anymore than I recognised the putsch government before that. I recognise the democatically elected deposed government of former Prime Minister, Viktor Yanukovych and believe this government should be re-installed and further elections called. The people should be allowed to cast their vote without military intervention in accordance with their free will and absolute right.
I maybe but one voice but it speaks loudly against fascism. I am a child of the original creation, I stand under no man. I of my free will support Aleksandr Zakharchenko the Prime Minister of the Peoples Republic of Donetsk and all of Novorussiya. God Bless the People's Republic of Donetsk.
Allow the Ukraine people to decide; God Bless Ukraine. God Bless Russia and God Bless Novorussiya.
May peace reign on Earth.
Kind regards.
Lori, Northern Rivers NSW Australia
* * * * * * *
To our friends in Russia here are some elements, maybe you will find something useful:
As I see it Ukraine has several special problems that it needs to address if it wants to get out of its self-destructive spiral:
Ukraine has several different populations with different languages and different traditions. This is always a difficult human problem but it can be overcome - for example Switzerland has 4 different populations with 4 different languages and traditions and it lives in peace. The main condition for peace is that each population respects the language and traditions of the others.
The intense trauma of the communist collectivization with its many millions of victims. The Ukraine trauma was indeed horrible. But it is a sad fact that the world is full of horrible genocides, some of them much worse than Ukraine ( f. ex. the genocide of the American Indians by the European colonists) and it would be a victory for the people of Ukraine if they could lift their heads out of the past and find a way to live in the world of today.
The meddling of foreigners who want to inflame the problems with the intent to poison the relationship between Ukraine and Russia. Here the people of Ukraine should look at the actions of their own government which obeys these foreigners: your sons and husbands, badly equipped and badly trained because there is no money left in Ukraine, are sent to die by the tens of thousands against your own people in Eastern Ukraine who have lived in peace with you for generations and whose only fault is that they want to keep their own language and their own traditions. Do you really want this meddling?
So the questions for the people of Ukraine comes down to this: Whom do they want to listen to:
- their own government, which obeys foreigners who are only interested in war with Russia and which is responsible for the civil war against East Ukraine with its untold thousands of deaths? And which has allowed the Ukrainian army to maim and kill many thousands of unarmed East Ukraine civilians who thought they were Ukrainians too? And which has taken all of Ukraine's money into their own pockets?
- their own neonazis who live in the past and can only think of more massacres and of more war and who have done so many horrible crimes against unarmed Eastern Ukraine civilians that it is doubtful that Eastern Ukraine can forget these deranged and cowardly war crimes?
- those Ukrainians who want to become part of Europe? A Europe that was never interested in Ukraine? A Europe that is now instructing your government to pursue its war against Russia and which is degenerating morally and economically? Where governments ignore the wishes of the people and follow destructive political programs?
- those Ukrainians who want to stay friends with Russia? A Russia which has lived in peace with you for generations now? A Russia that is the only country linked to Europe where the government cares for the common good and listens to the people and to the laws? It is our belief that this is the only friendship where the people of Ukraine will not be duped and exploited.
But it is for them to decide.
This is the point of view of a central European looking for truth :-)
Hope you find something interesting. Good luck and my heartfelt wishes of success.
Rudi Staudinger (Luxembourg)
* * * * * * *
Ukrainians,
Don't let the oligarchs plunder your country under the EU pretext of 'democracy'. They don't want democracy, they don't want peace, they want Ukraine's resources. They are not interested in what you want, in what I want, in what anyone wants. They only want more and more, all they'll be able to take.
Don't let it happen. Don't let your sons, your husbands, your fathers be cannon fodder for heartless accountants, foreign banks and foreign big business interests.
Stand for the people, stand for freedom, stand for truth, stand for a democratic and patriotic government by the people, for the people.
Stand for peace.
Lea, from Paris.
Friday, August 29, 2014
August 29th 15:35 UTC/ZULU Ukrainian SITREP
The Ukrainian civil war has reached a turning point and a lot of separate facts point to this conclusion:
Military situation on the ground
The Ukies are losing, badly. All the reports from Novorussian sources agree that the Ukie forces are either surrounded or in full retreat. But Ukies sources also confirm this. In Kiev, angry demonstrations by nationalists accuse the military high command of minimizing the real casualty figures, of having abandoned the forces fighting in the Donbass. Even Oleg Liashko has stated that the Ukie forces have been "betrayed". Demonstrations have taken place in from of the Ukie General Staff which many Right Sector protesters which are demanding the creation of a "generals battalion" which would be formed of only generals who would be sent to fight personally (an excellent idea, which I fully approve of!). Others are also demanding the resignation of the Ukie Minister of Defense. Ukrainian woman are regularly stopping military convoys on the roads, often by standing or lying down in front of trucks, to prevent their men from being sent to death. Entire Ukie battalions are deserting from the front and Special Forces are sent to stop them. Apparently, the Ukie police is afraid to arrest the soldiers for desertion because of their large numbers. The city of Mariupol is now surrounded and the local political elites and SBU personnel have fled. Poroshenko cancelled his trip to Turkey and gathered his Security Council. Kolomoiski, who controls the southwestern Ukraine, did the same thing with his own Security Council (yes, since he has his own army, is also has his own security council). Tymoshenko wants the introduction of full martial law. The male population up to 60 is now conscripted (though not called up as far as I know). Iatseniuk and Poroshenko have both demanded that NATO intervene and accept the Ukraine as some special ally. In other words, all the signs are of total complete and utter panic in Kiev.
Political situation
Russia: Putin met with Poroshenko and the EU leaders and delivered them a very simple yet stark message: "don't talk to us, we are not a party to the conflict - talk to the Novorussians". By the way, the Kremlin now openly speaks of "Novorussian" and "Novorussian forces". Furthermore, the Russians are also officially sending in a second aid convoy and they have announced that this will not be the only one. In the UN Security Council the Russian Representative, Vitalii Churkin, has dared the Ukie Rep to explain where the recording of the conversations between the Kiev ATC and MH17 were hidden and why. With the Fall rapidly arriving, the EU has pushed Kiev to renew gas negotiations which the Russians have declared "deadlocked". By all accounts, the "Voentorg" (a Russian contraction meaning "Military Trade", which was the name for the Soviet era building were military gear could be purchased) between Russia and Novorussia has further increased and the Novorussian are now getting more men, including specialists, and more equipment.
Contrary to the predictions of the Putin bashing crowd, the replacement of Strelkov by Zakharchenko was not followed by any "sellout" of Novorussia. Quite to the contrary, as soon as Zakharchenko took power the Novorussians went on a general offensive. As for Strelkov himself, he is apparently in good health and is supposed to make a public appearance today in Crimea. So all that talk about Putin backstabbing Novorussia, him having some kind of deal with Obama, about Strelkov having been eliminated by Putin's Spetsnaz and all the rest of the doom and gloom propaganda of the Putin haters has now clearly shown to be absolute rubbish. Clearly, some Putin bashers are paid by Russian oligarchs, others are just to dull to understand the sophisticated policy of the Kremlin in the Ukraine. Whatever may be the case, these shrills are now completely discredited by fact and forced to walk away in shame.
Putin's latest move is nothing short of brilliant. Think of it: the mothers and wives of Ukie servicemen are demanding that their men be returned to them, the regime in Kiev ignores them, and Putin steps in to agree with them and asks the Novorussians to open humanitarian corridors to allow them to safely leave and go back home. Thus, he shows more concern for the Ukies than the Ukie regime, he encourages the desertion of Ukie soliders, he minimizes the casualties on all sides, and he deals another death-blow to Ukie morale. Best of all, he achieves all this by a simple statement written in such a way that nobody can possibly condemn him for anything. As for the Novorussians, Zakharchenko has already agreed, but on the condition that the Ukies leave behind all their heavy weapons and the ammo for it. Perfect. Needless to say, the Ukie high command has rejected the offer and ordered the surrounded units to break out guns blazing. Just imagine how that response feels to the relatives of those stuck in the various "cauldrons"!
The EU: the EU is totally stuck. Apparently, the chaos in Banderastan combined with the Russian sanctions and the gas crisis is gradually having an effect in the dull brains of the Eurobureaucrats who are coming to realize that they have been at least as stupid as the Ukies and that the US has used them for their own imperial goals. "Fuck the EU" indeed. Badly. The best these hapless bureaucrats could do is to go to Minsk and agree to negotiate with Russia the terms under which the Ukraine would ratify the Agreement with the EU. Exactly that which Russia had been demanding from Day 1 and which the EU had always been contemptuously rejecting with the arrogant "none of your business" reply. Now Ashton and a few others had to eat humble pie and kindly ask the Russian to come and talk to them.
The US: Poor Uncle Sam is really looking pathetic, foolish and confused. The very best the USA can do is to accuse Russia of invading the Ukraine and only threaten more sanctions as Obama has already admitted that the US has no military option in the Ukraine. To measure the degree of disarray amongst the US Neocons I will just quote from an article written recently by Herbert E. Meyer, former Special Assistant to the Director of Central Intelligence and Vice Chairman of the CIA’s National Intelligence Council during the Reagan Administration, for American Thinker and modestly entitled "How to Solve the Putin Problem". Here is what this genius came up with:
Where do we go from here?
It' hard to tell. I think that Oleg Tsarev is right when he says that as soon as the Ukie regime begins collapsing the West will suddenly ask for negotiations. Zakharchenko in his crucial press conference has clearly indicated that options such as federalization or decentralization are off the table and that nothing short of full independence will do. Maybe. Maybe not. There are plenty of historical examples which show that separatist movements eventually settled for less, often wisely so. But in this case, we are dealing with several intertwined problems:
a) Geographical: the Ukraine is an artificial country
b) Political: internally the regime in Kiev is Nazi
c) Geo-strategic: externally the regime in Kiev is a russophobic US puppet
d) Economic: the Ukraine is economically dead
All these factors clearly point to the same conclusion: the Ukraine needs to be broken-up. This might happen catastrophically - the East going to Novorussia, the South to Kolomoiski, the Center to Poroshenko and the West breaking off completely. There are some signs that this is already gradually happening. Furthermore, this is all made worse by the undeniable fact that the Ukraine is already a failed state and that a seizable minority of the Ukrainian population if formed of truly rabid nationalists. So right now things don't look too good for any negotiated solution. Novorussia probably has the potential to rebuild and to become a more or less livable, stable place: most of its industry is in ruins, but it's "human capital", it's people, are very bright and hard working and its political leaders clearly capable people. But short of some kind of miracle, the rest of the Ukraine is probably going to slouch to towards the kind of mess the USA is so good at leaving behind in places like Libya or Iraq. Maybe not, maybe the Europeans will finally grow a spine and tell the US to stay out and then try to solve this ugly mess with Russia. I am not holding my breath, not as long as the current AngloZionist nomenklatura is in power in the EU.
One thing could possibly change this downward spiral: a regime change in Kiev. I don't mean one replacing Poroshenko by Liashko or Iarosh, but an anti-Nazi insurrection or coup. I will be honest with you, with kind of terror the SBU and the oligarchs are capable of meting out to the general public, this is not very likely. But who knows what might happen on a wave of popular discontent? If the current freaks could be kicked out by halfway sane people and a process of denazification initiated, then maybe something could still be salvaged? Again, I am not very hopeful. But let's stick to current events.
Current situation
I would say that things look better right now than ever before. This is far, far from over, and many things could go wrong but at least at this moment in time things look pretty good. Short of a sudden reversal, the cities of Lugansk and Donetsk are probably going to be freed from most of the shelling within 10-14 days. Currently, the Novorussians control the entire border between Russia and Novorussia, which makes the Voentorg much easier. Zakharchenko and his men seem to be making an excellent job and rumor has it that Strelkov will be back soon in some special capacity. The Novorussian leadership and the Kremlin are clearly on the same wavelength and there is no reason to suspect an over Russian military intervention. I am confident that the Black Sea Fleet will do what is needed to keep the Novorussian coast safe so as long as the Ukies are not able to mount a surprise attack from the North, Mariupol will probably fall very soon. There are increasing reports of partisan movements in Zaporozhie and that, if true, is something very interesting which might begin to affect other areas and cities such as Kharkov and Dnepropetrovsk. I still don't see Novorussian tanks headed for Kiev, but an operational success seems to be in the making right at this moment in time.
I am by character, education and trade a rather cautious person, but today I am cautiously optimistic, at least for Novorussia.
The Saker
Post Scriptum: this just in from a good friend:
DPR
- Volnovakha taken by Novorossiya Armed Forces (NAF); South-Western Cauldron closed off.
- Yalta (near Mariupol) taken, NAF is now 12 km away from Mariupol.
- Mariupol - Zaporozhye (Berdyansk) road closed off by NAF. Virtually all settlements around Mariupol appear to be taken by NAF. Mariupol Cauldron closed off.
- Fighting has crossed the border into Zaporozhye. Saboteur-Reconnaissance Groups (SRG) and guerrillas active inside Zaporozhye’s borders.
- Ukrainian punitive forces surrendering in the many cauldrons, the rate of surrenders is picking up pace.
- NAF is pushing outward toward Yasinovataya, Maryinka, Karlovka, Krasnogorovka (west of Donetsk)
AND, the BIGGEST (albeit not fully confirmed) NEWS: Donetsk Airport taken by NAF today.
LPR
- Lutugino partially controlled by the Militia, very heavy urban combat there, although Rodakovo was lost (plans to retake it shortly).
- Lyashko appears to be still trapped in Severodonetsk, which is besieged by Mozgovoi’s Brigade (I have no further information since a couple of days ago).
- LPR has encircled Shchastye and Metallist and is advancing on the Ukrainian positions there, as well as in the north-eastern direction (Stanitsa Luganskaya, which still remains contested).
- NAF continues to advance on Deblatsevo, taking checkpoints on the outskirts of the city.
- LPR is planning some major advances in the next few days, hopefully to clean up most of the remaining cauldrons.
PPS: and this from Russia Today:
Poland has refused overflight rights to the plane of Russia’s defense minister, Sergey Shoigu, who was on his way from Slovakia, RIA Novosti’s correspondent reported. The plane has landed in Bratislava.
The minister was returning from the celebrations of the 70th anniversary of the Slovakian national uprising that took place in the town of Banská Bystrica.
However, Poland banned entrance into its airspace for the Tu-154 plane, according to a RIA Novosti correspondent who was on board, citing one of the crewmembers.
The plane had to take a U-turn and landed in Bratislava an hour later.
Negotiations are being held on the matter at the moment. All the passengers are now on board the plane.
Comment: rather petty and infantile behavior in my opinion. This really begs the question of what the Poles think that they will achieve with this other than the dubious honor of "servicing" Uncle Sam once more (those who follow Polish politics will know what I mean).
Military situation on the ground
The Ukies are losing, badly. All the reports from Novorussian sources agree that the Ukie forces are either surrounded or in full retreat. But Ukies sources also confirm this. In Kiev, angry demonstrations by nationalists accuse the military high command of minimizing the real casualty figures, of having abandoned the forces fighting in the Donbass. Even Oleg Liashko has stated that the Ukie forces have been "betrayed". Demonstrations have taken place in from of the Ukie General Staff which many Right Sector protesters which are demanding the creation of a "generals battalion" which would be formed of only generals who would be sent to fight personally (an excellent idea, which I fully approve of!). Others are also demanding the resignation of the Ukie Minister of Defense. Ukrainian woman are regularly stopping military convoys on the roads, often by standing or lying down in front of trucks, to prevent their men from being sent to death. Entire Ukie battalions are deserting from the front and Special Forces are sent to stop them. Apparently, the Ukie police is afraid to arrest the soldiers for desertion because of their large numbers. The city of Mariupol is now surrounded and the local political elites and SBU personnel have fled. Poroshenko cancelled his trip to Turkey and gathered his Security Council. Kolomoiski, who controls the southwestern Ukraine, did the same thing with his own Security Council (yes, since he has his own army, is also has his own security council). Tymoshenko wants the introduction of full martial law. The male population up to 60 is now conscripted (though not called up as far as I know). Iatseniuk and Poroshenko have both demanded that NATO intervene and accept the Ukraine as some special ally. In other words, all the signs are of total complete and utter panic in Kiev.
Political situation
Russia: Putin met with Poroshenko and the EU leaders and delivered them a very simple yet stark message: "don't talk to us, we are not a party to the conflict - talk to the Novorussians". By the way, the Kremlin now openly speaks of "Novorussian" and "Novorussian forces". Furthermore, the Russians are also officially sending in a second aid convoy and they have announced that this will not be the only one. In the UN Security Council the Russian Representative, Vitalii Churkin, has dared the Ukie Rep to explain where the recording of the conversations between the Kiev ATC and MH17 were hidden and why. With the Fall rapidly arriving, the EU has pushed Kiev to renew gas negotiations which the Russians have declared "deadlocked". By all accounts, the "Voentorg" (a Russian contraction meaning "Military Trade", which was the name for the Soviet era building were military gear could be purchased) between Russia and Novorussia has further increased and the Novorussian are now getting more men, including specialists, and more equipment.
Contrary to the predictions of the Putin bashing crowd, the replacement of Strelkov by Zakharchenko was not followed by any "sellout" of Novorussia. Quite to the contrary, as soon as Zakharchenko took power the Novorussians went on a general offensive. As for Strelkov himself, he is apparently in good health and is supposed to make a public appearance today in Crimea. So all that talk about Putin backstabbing Novorussia, him having some kind of deal with Obama, about Strelkov having been eliminated by Putin's Spetsnaz and all the rest of the doom and gloom propaganda of the Putin haters has now clearly shown to be absolute rubbish. Clearly, some Putin bashers are paid by Russian oligarchs, others are just to dull to understand the sophisticated policy of the Kremlin in the Ukraine. Whatever may be the case, these shrills are now completely discredited by fact and forced to walk away in shame.
Putin's latest move is nothing short of brilliant. Think of it: the mothers and wives of Ukie servicemen are demanding that their men be returned to them, the regime in Kiev ignores them, and Putin steps in to agree with them and asks the Novorussians to open humanitarian corridors to allow them to safely leave and go back home. Thus, he shows more concern for the Ukies than the Ukie regime, he encourages the desertion of Ukie soliders, he minimizes the casualties on all sides, and he deals another death-blow to Ukie morale. Best of all, he achieves all this by a simple statement written in such a way that nobody can possibly condemn him for anything. As for the Novorussians, Zakharchenko has already agreed, but on the condition that the Ukies leave behind all their heavy weapons and the ammo for it. Perfect. Needless to say, the Ukie high command has rejected the offer and ordered the surrounded units to break out guns blazing. Just imagine how that response feels to the relatives of those stuck in the various "cauldrons"!
The EU: the EU is totally stuck. Apparently, the chaos in Banderastan combined with the Russian sanctions and the gas crisis is gradually having an effect in the dull brains of the Eurobureaucrats who are coming to realize that they have been at least as stupid as the Ukies and that the US has used them for their own imperial goals. "Fuck the EU" indeed. Badly. The best these hapless bureaucrats could do is to go to Minsk and agree to negotiate with Russia the terms under which the Ukraine would ratify the Agreement with the EU. Exactly that which Russia had been demanding from Day 1 and which the EU had always been contemptuously rejecting with the arrogant "none of your business" reply. Now Ashton and a few others had to eat humble pie and kindly ask the Russian to come and talk to them.
The US: Poor Uncle Sam is really looking pathetic, foolish and confused. The very best the USA can do is to accuse Russia of invading the Ukraine and only threaten more sanctions as Obama has already admitted that the US has no military option in the Ukraine. To measure the degree of disarray amongst the US Neocons I will just quote from an article written recently by Herbert E. Meyer, former Special Assistant to the Director of Central Intelligence and Vice Chairman of the CIA’s National Intelligence Council during the Reagan Administration, for American Thinker and modestly entitled "How to Solve the Putin Problem". Here is what this genius came up with:
Since subtlety doesn’t work with Russians, the president and his European counterparts should also make absolutely clear that we have no interest whatever in how these people (the Russian oligarchs) solve their Putin problem. If they can talk good old Vladimir into leaving the Kremlin with full military honors and a 21-gun salute -- that would be fine with us. If Putin is too too stubborn to acknowledge that his career is over, and the only way to get him out of the Kremlin is feet-first, with a bullet hole in the back of his head -- that would also be okay with us.I don't know if Mr. Meyer thinks that Mrs Nuland delivering cookies on the Maidan was the subtlety the Russian did not appreciate or understand, or if his own article is an expression of US subtlety, but he clearly has "Pat Robertson moment" (the latter wanted the US to kill Hugo Chavez) which just proves that the AngloZionists don't have a diplomacy as such and that magical thinking is a key coping mechanism when that lack of diplomacy becomes obvious.
Nor would we object to a bit of poetic justice.... For instance, if the next time Putin’s flying back to Moscow from yet another visit with his good friends in Cuba, or Venezuela, or Iran, his airplane gets blasted out of the sky by some murky para-military group that somehow, inexplicably, got its hands on a surface-to-air missile
Where do we go from here?
It' hard to tell. I think that Oleg Tsarev is right when he says that as soon as the Ukie regime begins collapsing the West will suddenly ask for negotiations. Zakharchenko in his crucial press conference has clearly indicated that options such as federalization or decentralization are off the table and that nothing short of full independence will do. Maybe. Maybe not. There are plenty of historical examples which show that separatist movements eventually settled for less, often wisely so. But in this case, we are dealing with several intertwined problems:
a) Geographical: the Ukraine is an artificial country
b) Political: internally the regime in Kiev is Nazi
c) Geo-strategic: externally the regime in Kiev is a russophobic US puppet
d) Economic: the Ukraine is economically dead
All these factors clearly point to the same conclusion: the Ukraine needs to be broken-up. This might happen catastrophically - the East going to Novorussia, the South to Kolomoiski, the Center to Poroshenko and the West breaking off completely. There are some signs that this is already gradually happening. Furthermore, this is all made worse by the undeniable fact that the Ukraine is already a failed state and that a seizable minority of the Ukrainian population if formed of truly rabid nationalists. So right now things don't look too good for any negotiated solution. Novorussia probably has the potential to rebuild and to become a more or less livable, stable place: most of its industry is in ruins, but it's "human capital", it's people, are very bright and hard working and its political leaders clearly capable people. But short of some kind of miracle, the rest of the Ukraine is probably going to slouch to towards the kind of mess the USA is so good at leaving behind in places like Libya or Iraq. Maybe not, maybe the Europeans will finally grow a spine and tell the US to stay out and then try to solve this ugly mess with Russia. I am not holding my breath, not as long as the current AngloZionist nomenklatura is in power in the EU.
One thing could possibly change this downward spiral: a regime change in Kiev. I don't mean one replacing Poroshenko by Liashko or Iarosh, but an anti-Nazi insurrection or coup. I will be honest with you, with kind of terror the SBU and the oligarchs are capable of meting out to the general public, this is not very likely. But who knows what might happen on a wave of popular discontent? If the current freaks could be kicked out by halfway sane people and a process of denazification initiated, then maybe something could still be salvaged? Again, I am not very hopeful. But let's stick to current events.
Current situation
I would say that things look better right now than ever before. This is far, far from over, and many things could go wrong but at least at this moment in time things look pretty good. Short of a sudden reversal, the cities of Lugansk and Donetsk are probably going to be freed from most of the shelling within 10-14 days. Currently, the Novorussians control the entire border between Russia and Novorussia, which makes the Voentorg much easier. Zakharchenko and his men seem to be making an excellent job and rumor has it that Strelkov will be back soon in some special capacity. The Novorussian leadership and the Kremlin are clearly on the same wavelength and there is no reason to suspect an over Russian military intervention. I am confident that the Black Sea Fleet will do what is needed to keep the Novorussian coast safe so as long as the Ukies are not able to mount a surprise attack from the North, Mariupol will probably fall very soon. There are increasing reports of partisan movements in Zaporozhie and that, if true, is something very interesting which might begin to affect other areas and cities such as Kharkov and Dnepropetrovsk. I still don't see Novorussian tanks headed for Kiev, but an operational success seems to be in the making right at this moment in time.
I am by character, education and trade a rather cautious person, but today I am cautiously optimistic, at least for Novorussia.
The Saker
Post Scriptum: this just in from a good friend:
DPR
- Volnovakha taken by Novorossiya Armed Forces (NAF); South-Western Cauldron closed off.
- Yalta (near Mariupol) taken, NAF is now 12 km away from Mariupol.
- Mariupol - Zaporozhye (Berdyansk) road closed off by NAF. Virtually all settlements around Mariupol appear to be taken by NAF. Mariupol Cauldron closed off.
- Fighting has crossed the border into Zaporozhye. Saboteur-Reconnaissance Groups (SRG) and guerrillas active inside Zaporozhye’s borders.
- Ukrainian punitive forces surrendering in the many cauldrons, the rate of surrenders is picking up pace.
- NAF is pushing outward toward Yasinovataya, Maryinka, Karlovka, Krasnogorovka (west of Donetsk)
AND, the BIGGEST (albeit not fully confirmed) NEWS: Donetsk Airport taken by NAF today.
LPR
- Lutugino partially controlled by the Militia, very heavy urban combat there, although Rodakovo was lost (plans to retake it shortly).
- Lyashko appears to be still trapped in Severodonetsk, which is besieged by Mozgovoi’s Brigade (I have no further information since a couple of days ago).
- LPR has encircled Shchastye and Metallist and is advancing on the Ukrainian positions there, as well as in the north-eastern direction (Stanitsa Luganskaya, which still remains contested).
- NAF continues to advance on Deblatsevo, taking checkpoints on the outskirts of the city.
- LPR is planning some major advances in the next few days, hopefully to clean up most of the remaining cauldrons.
PPS: and this from Russia Today:
Poland has refused overflight rights to the plane of Russia’s defense minister, Sergey Shoigu, who was on his way from Slovakia, RIA Novosti’s correspondent reported. The plane has landed in Bratislava.
The minister was returning from the celebrations of the 70th anniversary of the Slovakian national uprising that took place in the town of Banská Bystrica.
However, Poland banned entrance into its airspace for the Tu-154 plane, according to a RIA Novosti correspondent who was on board, citing one of the crewmembers.
The plane had to take a U-turn and landed in Bratislava an hour later.
Negotiations are being held on the matter at the moment. All the passengers are now on board the plane.
Comment: rather petty and infantile behavior in my opinion. This really begs the question of what the Poles think that they will achieve with this other than the dubious honor of "servicing" Uncle Sam once more (those who follow Polish politics will know what I mean).
"Manifest" by Andrey Avramenko, Kharkov
I envy the Russians, I envy these "katsaps" and "the Moskals"!
I envy their Olympics and their army. I have many friends and relatives in Russia. I see how they change and grow. They believe their President. They believe in their army. They are proud of their great history, achievements and victories.
It was once our common history ... victories and achievements. Not so long ago. They have found their ground. They don’t care about the West we worship. They move on and grow, despite of what we are told on our TVs and various social forums. I know that it’s us who are losing, and not them. We have become weaker, and they have gotten stronger.
No matter how loud we keep shouting "Glory to Ukraine!" we can’t stop it.
Not so long ago we were gloating when they had Chechnya.
Today the Chechens are no less Russian than the Russians themselves. They are ready to fight for their revived and great country, of which they are a part. Today we are the one to be frightened with the Chechen battalions. How did this happen???
They were killing each other just yesterday. But the reason is simple: the Chechens were able to remember that they were Russian, and they were part of the great Country and the Great People.
We gloat when they have terrorist attacks and disasters.
However, they overcome them over and over again and become stronger! Even though the whole world is against them!
They fall and rise again. Stand and grin. And just spit blood through their teeth.
We are screaming that they are slaves. That they will soon fall apart, the oil will fall, NATO will attack, and they will be struck down with another punishment. But they are us! We spit on our own reflection. On ourselves.
We must remember that we are a whole. And once we begin to understand and realize it, only then will come the feeling that once our ancestors had. A sense of inner strength, hope, faith, and pride that we are also the Russians.
It doesn’t matter who our ancestors were: Ukrainians, Tatars, Jews, Buryats, or Uzbeks. It doesn’t matter who we are by faith: Catholics, Orthodox, Muslims or Jews. This is not important. What’s important is that we are Russians! That we're a part of the Great people and the Great country.
Yes, our Great Country and our Great People still have a lot of problems. But if we remember that we are Russians, we will change everything forever! Everybody is afraid of that.
They are afraid that we will remember and will be together again.
That’s why they are building spider webs of lies and deceits. This lie and hatred is being maintained by us and in Russia.
They do not allow us to wake up. And if we do not remember who we are, you will never wake up.
About the situation, occupation and others.
Who shouts the loudest that we need to protect "our" independence, unity and freedom? The same officials, oligarchs and parliamentarians. They are terrified that they will have to answer for everything that has happened to our Motherland over the years.
Maybe this is not the occupation? Perhaps, this is the liberation? And our people came, when we lost all our hope, when we almost gave up.
Perhaps, we need to stand together and destroy all these lying politicians, oligarchs, mayors and officials, who are foaming at their mouths and screaming that we need to go and die! To die for their villas, yachts and castles, for their bank accounts, for their freedom to rob us, and for freedom from answering for their actions.
I understand that this Manifesto will be cut out from the web. There will be thousands of angry comments, screams that I'm a traitor, that I was sold out to Putin, that I am katsap and Moskal. I don't care. I know that the truth is with me.
I am a patriot of Ukraine, a true patriot, and now the fate of my people and my Ukraine is being decided.
Either we remember who we are, or we will perish.
I love my Ukrainian people, our ancestors and our culture.
I'm Ukrainian, but more than that I am Russian!
Andrey Avramenko, Kharkov
source: http://svetoven.pogled.info/
I envy their Olympics and their army. I have many friends and relatives in Russia. I see how they change and grow. They believe their President. They believe in their army. They are proud of their great history, achievements and victories.
It was once our common history ... victories and achievements. Not so long ago. They have found their ground. They don’t care about the West we worship. They move on and grow, despite of what we are told on our TVs and various social forums. I know that it’s us who are losing, and not them. We have become weaker, and they have gotten stronger.
No matter how loud we keep shouting "Glory to Ukraine!" we can’t stop it.
Not so long ago we were gloating when they had Chechnya.
Today the Chechens are no less Russian than the Russians themselves. They are ready to fight for their revived and great country, of which they are a part. Today we are the one to be frightened with the Chechen battalions. How did this happen???
They were killing each other just yesterday. But the reason is simple: the Chechens were able to remember that they were Russian, and they were part of the great Country and the Great People.
We gloat when they have terrorist attacks and disasters.
However, they overcome them over and over again and become stronger! Even though the whole world is against them!
They fall and rise again. Stand and grin. And just spit blood through their teeth.
We are screaming that they are slaves. That they will soon fall apart, the oil will fall, NATO will attack, and they will be struck down with another punishment. But they are us! We spit on our own reflection. On ourselves.
We must remember that we are a whole. And once we begin to understand and realize it, only then will come the feeling that once our ancestors had. A sense of inner strength, hope, faith, and pride that we are also the Russians.
It doesn’t matter who our ancestors were: Ukrainians, Tatars, Jews, Buryats, or Uzbeks. It doesn’t matter who we are by faith: Catholics, Orthodox, Muslims or Jews. This is not important. What’s important is that we are Russians! That we're a part of the Great people and the Great country.
Yes, our Great Country and our Great People still have a lot of problems. But if we remember that we are Russians, we will change everything forever! Everybody is afraid of that.
They are afraid that we will remember and will be together again.
That’s why they are building spider webs of lies and deceits. This lie and hatred is being maintained by us and in Russia.
They do not allow us to wake up. And if we do not remember who we are, you will never wake up.
About the situation, occupation and others.
Who shouts the loudest that we need to protect "our" independence, unity and freedom? The same officials, oligarchs and parliamentarians. They are terrified that they will have to answer for everything that has happened to our Motherland over the years.
Maybe this is not the occupation? Perhaps, this is the liberation? And our people came, when we lost all our hope, when we almost gave up.
Perhaps, we need to stand together and destroy all these lying politicians, oligarchs, mayors and officials, who are foaming at their mouths and screaming that we need to go and die! To die for their villas, yachts and castles, for their bank accounts, for their freedom to rob us, and for freedom from answering for their actions.
I understand that this Manifesto will be cut out from the web. There will be thousands of angry comments, screams that I'm a traitor, that I was sold out to Putin, that I am katsap and Moskal. I don't care. I know that the truth is with me.
I am a patriot of Ukraine, a true patriot, and now the fate of my people and my Ukraine is being decided.
Either we remember who we are, or we will perish.
I love my Ukrainian people, our ancestors and our culture.
I'm Ukrainian, but more than that I am Russian!
Andrey Avramenko, Kharkov
President of Russia Vladimir Putin addressed Novorossiya militia
Full text of address:
It is clear the militia has achieved a major success in intercepting Kiev’s military operation, which represents a grave danger to the population of Donbass and which has already led to the loss of many lives among peaceful residents.
As a result of the militia’s actions, a large number of Ukrainian service members who did not participate in the military operation of their own volition but while following orders have been surrounded.
I call on the militia groups to open a humanitarian corridor for Ukrainian service members who have been surrounded, so as to avoid any needless loss of life, giving them the opportunity to leave the combat area unimpeded and reunite with their families, to return them to their mothers, wives and children, and to quickly provide medical assistance to those who were injured in the course of the military operation.
For its part, the Russian side is ready and willing to provide humanitarian aid to the people of Donbass, who have been affected by this humanitarian catastrophe.
I once again call on the Ukrainian authorities to immediately stop military actions, cease fire, sit down at the negotiating table with Donbass representatives and resolve all the accumulated problems exclusively via peaceful means.
source
It is clear the militia has achieved a major success in intercepting Kiev’s military operation, which represents a grave danger to the population of Donbass and which has already led to the loss of many lives among peaceful residents.
As a result of the militia’s actions, a large number of Ukrainian service members who did not participate in the military operation of their own volition but while following orders have been surrounded.
I call on the militia groups to open a humanitarian corridor for Ukrainian service members who have been surrounded, so as to avoid any needless loss of life, giving them the opportunity to leave the combat area unimpeded and reunite with their families, to return them to their mothers, wives and children, and to quickly provide medical assistance to those who were injured in the course of the military operation.
For its part, the Russian side is ready and willing to provide humanitarian aid to the people of Donbass, who have been affected by this humanitarian catastrophe.
I once again call on the Ukrainian authorities to immediately stop military actions, cease fire, sit down at the negotiating table with Donbass representatives and resolve all the accumulated problems exclusively via peaceful means.
source
Appeal from the Russian Saker Team
Dear friends,
While we are all on
the edge waiting for the news from Novorossia to change any minute, we’d like
to ask your help with the two projects that the Russian Saker team is currently
undertaking:
1. Our Russian partners
from polismi.ru site asked us about the Ferguson crisis in the USA. Can those of
you who live in the US, write something up for us or send us a link from a reliable
source?
2. We are working on a
letter to the Ukrainians to help stop the war. Since we, the Russian Saker,
represent the Russian diaspora which is a part of the larger international
community, we would like to add your voices as well. Please send us your short
appeals to editor@vineyardsaker.ru.
Thank you for
standing with us in these difficult and trying times,
The Russian Saker
team
Thursday, August 28, 2014
Novorussian flag over Saur Mogila (UPDATED!)
what hand amongst the rubble
fixed you there
beneath vast spaces
of Novorussian skies?
left there leaning alone
blue stripe above as the sky
red stripe below as the blood
of the fallen
flying in the breeze
capturing hearts
with the silent joyful message
of victory and freedom
fixed you there
beneath vast spaces
of Novorussian skies?
left there leaning alone
blue stripe above as the sky
red stripe below as the blood
of the fallen
flying in the breeze
capturing hearts
with the silent joyful message
of victory and freedom
Prue Benson
Updated version by Vasco de Gama:
Wednesday, August 27, 2014
Not confirmed, but maybe?! (+ open thread)
Dear friends,
I just decided to quickly drop by to let you know that the reports out of Novorussia are nothing short of incredible. Okay, this is not, repeat, *NOT* confirmed, but sources are reporting that Novorussian forces have bypassed Mariupol from the north and have entered the Zaporozhie region! I find this hard to believe, but some sources indicate that there is an offensive on Berdiansk. If true, this is almost scary as this means a very long flank opening to a Ukie counterattack from the North. There have been reports over the past few days that the Ukies are fleeing Mariupol, but I still would be very careful. The Ukies in the first southern cauldron came very close to breaking out through the north and I just hope that no Ukie force is considered finished until it is really, truly, finished.
Still, the speed at which the Ukies are retreating might (not sure!!) that they have reached their breaking point. If so, then this conflict is coming to some kind of a new phase.
Another thing which really made my day is the news that Putin told Poroshenko and Co. "we are not a party to this war - talk to the Novorussians". Beautiful and perfectly timed!
We should know more by tomorrow morning.
In the meantime - keep open threading!
Cheers,
The Saker
I just decided to quickly drop by to let you know that the reports out of Novorussia are nothing short of incredible. Okay, this is not, repeat, *NOT* confirmed, but sources are reporting that Novorussian forces have bypassed Mariupol from the north and have entered the Zaporozhie region! I find this hard to believe, but some sources indicate that there is an offensive on Berdiansk. If true, this is almost scary as this means a very long flank opening to a Ukie counterattack from the North. There have been reports over the past few days that the Ukies are fleeing Mariupol, but I still would be very careful. The Ukies in the first southern cauldron came very close to breaking out through the north and I just hope that no Ukie force is considered finished until it is really, truly, finished.
Still, the speed at which the Ukies are retreating might (not sure!!) that they have reached their breaking point. If so, then this conflict is coming to some kind of a new phase.
Another thing which really made my day is the news that Putin told Poroshenko and Co. "we are not a party to this war - talk to the Novorussians". Beautiful and perfectly timed!
We should know more by tomorrow morning.
In the meantime - keep open threading!
Cheers,
The Saker
August 26th-27th Iraq SITREP by Mindfriedo: Sistani, Sistani, Sistani! May God keep you till the Mahdi!
Retraction: Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif was referring to Concessions being given by the West on compromises made in Arak, where nuclear facilities are located, and not on Iraq, its neighbour.
26th Aug: Iraqi Security Forces are stating that they have arrested the terrorist responsible for the bombing that took place in Babil on Monday.
26th Aug: Daash has destroyed using explosives the house of the advisor to the Salah Al Din Governor, Martyr Umayah Jebarah. She was killed fighting Daash on the 22nd of June. May God give her a better home close to Him.
26th Aug: Daash terrorists have detonated the house of Ahmed al-Khalaf al-Ibraheem, a tribal chief in Mosul.
26th Aug: The Peshmergas release a statement stating that they are firmly in control of Mosul Dam and they will legally prosecute anyone spreading rumours to the contrary. This is after an Iraqi media outlet claimed that Mosul Dam had been taken over by Daash and that 200 Peshmerga fighters had been imprisoned by Daash.
26th Aug: Saddam's Tactics: Militants in Fallujah block the flow of water by closing the 10 gates of Fallujah's Dam in an attempt to dry up areas to the south and flood areas around Baghdad. The Iraqi airforce bombs and damages three of the gates. The cracks in the gates start to free water being blocked by the dam.
26th Aug: Enemy of my enemy: Obama authorises reconnaissance flights over Syrian air space in order to be able to bomb Daash fighters in Syria.
26th Aug: Mullah Khalid, head of the Sunni Iraqi Scientist Group, condemns the retaliatory sectarian attacks targeting Shia Muslims: bombings in Karbala, Hilla, and Baghdad and sectarian statements being made by Sunni leaders after the attack on the Sunni Musab bin Omair mosque in Diyala as being irresponsible and nothing short of pouring oil on fire.
26th Aug: Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli, the Interior Minister of Iran, states that any attack on the Sacred Shrines in Najaf and Karbala will result in an automatic military response by Iran, no matter who the attacker is. He stated that President Rouhani has given the necessary permission to the people concerned to act in case this red line is crossed.
26th Aug: Massoud Barzani personally receives Javad Zarif at Erbil airport and hosts him at his house. At a joint press conference Zarif stresses that there is no need for Iran to send troops to Iraq as both Iraqi troops and Peshmerga forces are sufficient and strong enough to deal with Daash. Barzani refers to Iran as the First Nation to have come to the aid of Iraqi Kurdistan.
26th Aug: Fool me twice: US congressman Ed Royce talks of arming the good rebels in Syria once more.
26th Aaug: The Iraqi Security Forces kill seven Daash leaders in Al Karama, Baghdad: Samir Khaeed, Arkan Rashwan, Ahmed al-Suedawi, Zamel al-Halbusi, Saddam Rokan and Qatada from Saudi Arabia and Abu Osama from Libya
26th Aug: Daash has expelled 60 families from Nijana village in Al Atheem and killed three residents who refused to cooperate. Daash needed the houses of the civilians to booby trap them to impede the advance of Security Forces. Daash had asked the families to give all their money and belongings to Daash fighters evicting them. Daash has reportedly booby trapped 350 houses north of Baqouba.
26th Aug: Hitler's Youth: Daash starts to prepare young boys as suicide bombers in Saadia in preparation of Peshmerga assaults on the town. Daash was forced to retreat into the town in the face of artillery strikes by Peshmergas and air strikes by the Government.
26th Aug: Daash executes 12 residents of Hawija on suspicion of spying for the Iraqi government. The men executed belonged to Awakening forces or were police personnel.
27th Aug: Embodiment of the Shia faith, a living treasure for Iraq, Marja of Shias the world over, saviour of Moqtada Sadr, Protector of Baghdad, Evictor of Maliki (for unity), the man who single handedly Sanctioned the Americans from himself, bent the will of Iran, endeared the sects of Iraq, crushed the machinations of the Gulf Monarchs, prevented Iraq's descent into civil war, the man whose word made people return looted property, and whose command compels the Iraqi army to act: Sistani expresses concern for the citizens of Amerli and this has the Iraqi army preparing for a major push to fight Daash and end the siege of Amerli. The Iraqi Air Force has also carried out air trikes on Daash positions around Amerli.
(My parents had the good fortune to meet Ayatollah Sistani this year, and my father kept repeating, "what noor (light) he has")
Iraqi Security Forces are reporting that they have now reached Amerli outskirts and fighting with Daash will start soon. Hezbollah hum al Ghalibun.
27th Aug: Nouri Al Maliki criticises remarks made by Kerry that suggested that Iraq be divided on sectarian lines. He has asked other blocs: Sunni and Kurdish to lower their demands prior to government formation and has asked Haider Al Abadi to go ahead with majority rule if they do not show flexibility.
27th Aug: Overwhelmed: The High Commission for Human Rights in Iraq States that there is no accurate figure of the number of people displaced by fighting in Iraq. But a "reasonable" assumption is that 500000 to 1000000 have been displaced.
27th Aug: Nechirvan Barzani, the President of the Kurdistan Region in Iraq, States that the Kurds had a very bitter experience with Maliki. However, he repeats something that Maliki has been repeating since 2006, that fighting terrorism (Daash) is the responsibility of everybody and that the Kurds (Iraq) are fighting terrorism.
The Kurds are keen to resolve issues related to article 140 of Iraq's constitution. Read here http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirkuk_status_referendum
Most of the territory, though not all that the Kurds had moved into after the Iraqi army fled Daash in June was this same contested territory.
The Kurds state that negotiations between them and the National Alliance are moving forward in the right way. They mention that the National Alliance is cooperating with demands that are within the constitution.
27th Aug: The Kurds bombard Daash positions in Bashiqah, north east if Mosul with artillery and the United Staes bombs them with air strikes killing and injuring many.
27th Aug: Former Speaker and Sunni Politician Ayad al-Samarrai (head of the Iraqi Islamic Party) states that Iraqi Sunnis are also divided in their opinion of whether or not to work with the next government being formed.
27th Aug: One of three Indian nationals missing and believed to be fighting for Daash, Arif Majid, is reported killed in Iraq.
27th Aug: Javad Zarif concludes his three day visit to Iraq. He refers to Iran as being trustworthy and that he had a chance to consult with all political blocs including the Marjas in Najaf (and excluding Daash).
27th Aug: The Iraqi Security Forces hope to be able to free Tikrit in the next 14 days. The plan is to gradually attack and free other areas from Daash after Tokrit has fallen. The besieged sub district of Amerli will also be freed after Tikrit. Food supplies are running low in Amerli and it's Turkoman Shia inhabitants are at risk of mass murder by besieging Daash terrorists.
27th Aug: Salim Al Jubouri holds a meeting with the concerned officials of Salah al Din province concerning the fate of the 1700 Shia recruits murdered by Daash terrorists.
27th Aug: Death from above: The US carries out two air strikes against Daash targets near Erbil.
27th Aug: Feeling the pain before feeling their maker: A significantly large number of Daash casualties are being reported at the al-Salam Hospital (Saddam) and the al-Jumhori Hospital, and the General Hospital in Mosul. The hospitals lack medicine and anaesthetics. The Daash wounded are from US air strikes and Peshmerga artillery strikes north east of Mosul.
27th Aug: Tribal fighters from the Albu Faraj clan in Dhuluiya, believed to be a Salafi/Wahabi stronghold of Daash fighters 60 km south of Tikrit, attack and kill 7 fighters of Daash on a farm property and sequester their weapons and ammunition.
27th Aug: The Iraqi Air Force claims to have killed over a 100 fighters of Daash in different parts of Iraq.
27th Aug: Douglas McAuthur McCain, an American national, is killed fighting for Daash in Syria. Another 15 Australian fighters are reported killed in Iraq and Syria. Robert Fisk has correctly pointed out that most fighters from the West fighting on behalf of Daash are ethnically either Indian or Pakistani.
27th Aug: Iraqi security forces have used air borne troops to secure the road linking Haditha and Baiji.
Related:
27th Aug: Al Nusra fighters have taken over the Syrian Israeli crossing of Quneitra across from the Israeli occupied Golan Heights. Fighting with Syrian troops is continuing.
An Israeli soldier was hit in stray fire and Israel responded by shelling two Syrian army posts. like always a very measured response by the Israelis. It involves an algorithm that takes into account the total number of Israelis, the total number of Muslim Arabs, the Military strength of both sides, the Economic disparity of both sides, the influence and media outlets available to both sides etc etc etc
27th Aug: End of political correctness? Being British is a privilege: Police in the UK are reporting a five fold increase in the arrests of would be Daash fighters. While the US is tracking up to 300 Americans fighting for Daash.
27th Aug: Shirley Sotloff, mother of journalist Steven Sotloff held by Daash, makes a video appeal for his release. May Allah protect him and give him courage.
Meanwhile, Daash is demanding a 6.6 million USD ransom for a 26 year old Aid worker they had kidnapped. Let's hope Qatar pays for her too.
27th Aug: An example to all: A Syrian soldier about to be executed by Daash screams out "I swear to God we will eradicate the (Islamic) state." Amen, ya Rabal Alameen, so be it, oh lord of the Universe(s). The soldier was later executed.
27th Aug: Jordanian Islamic scholars are asking that Daash fighters not be referred to as Jihadists. As they tend to do things that are completely UnIslamic.
27th Aug: Until next time: Following the cease fire in Gaza, Qatar offers to rebuild the entire strip.
27th Aug: Iran announces that it has started to arm resistance groups in the a West Bank.
27th Aug: Pro Daash twitter accounts show photos of captured Syrian soldiers, weapons and Sukhoi aircraft that Daash has captured in Raqqa. It also shows photos of regime soldiers being executed.
Further reading:
The pimps of the Middle East:
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/qatar-and-the-reason-us-hostage-peter-theo-curtis-has-been-released-9690048.html
Spread of Poisoned Islam:
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/isiss-undoubted-skill-in-exploiting-social-media-is-no-reason-for-us-leaders-to-start-talking-about-the-apocalypse-9688438.html
Give and take:
http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/iraq-can-major-concessions-end-political-crisis
26th Aug: Iraqi Security Forces are stating that they have arrested the terrorist responsible for the bombing that took place in Babil on Monday.
26th Aug: Daash has destroyed using explosives the house of the advisor to the Salah Al Din Governor, Martyr Umayah Jebarah. She was killed fighting Daash on the 22nd of June. May God give her a better home close to Him.
26th Aug: Daash terrorists have detonated the house of Ahmed al-Khalaf al-Ibraheem, a tribal chief in Mosul.
26th Aug: The Peshmergas release a statement stating that they are firmly in control of Mosul Dam and they will legally prosecute anyone spreading rumours to the contrary. This is after an Iraqi media outlet claimed that Mosul Dam had been taken over by Daash and that 200 Peshmerga fighters had been imprisoned by Daash.
26th Aug: Saddam's Tactics: Militants in Fallujah block the flow of water by closing the 10 gates of Fallujah's Dam in an attempt to dry up areas to the south and flood areas around Baghdad. The Iraqi airforce bombs and damages three of the gates. The cracks in the gates start to free water being blocked by the dam.
26th Aug: Enemy of my enemy: Obama authorises reconnaissance flights over Syrian air space in order to be able to bomb Daash fighters in Syria.
26th Aug: Mullah Khalid, head of the Sunni Iraqi Scientist Group, condemns the retaliatory sectarian attacks targeting Shia Muslims: bombings in Karbala, Hilla, and Baghdad and sectarian statements being made by Sunni leaders after the attack on the Sunni Musab bin Omair mosque in Diyala as being irresponsible and nothing short of pouring oil on fire.
26th Aug: Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli, the Interior Minister of Iran, states that any attack on the Sacred Shrines in Najaf and Karbala will result in an automatic military response by Iran, no matter who the attacker is. He stated that President Rouhani has given the necessary permission to the people concerned to act in case this red line is crossed.
26th Aug: Massoud Barzani personally receives Javad Zarif at Erbil airport and hosts him at his house. At a joint press conference Zarif stresses that there is no need for Iran to send troops to Iraq as both Iraqi troops and Peshmerga forces are sufficient and strong enough to deal with Daash. Barzani refers to Iran as the First Nation to have come to the aid of Iraqi Kurdistan.
26th Aug: Fool me twice: US congressman Ed Royce talks of arming the good rebels in Syria once more.
26th Aaug: The Iraqi Security Forces kill seven Daash leaders in Al Karama, Baghdad: Samir Khaeed, Arkan Rashwan, Ahmed al-Suedawi, Zamel al-Halbusi, Saddam Rokan and Qatada from Saudi Arabia and Abu Osama from Libya
26th Aug: Daash has expelled 60 families from Nijana village in Al Atheem and killed three residents who refused to cooperate. Daash needed the houses of the civilians to booby trap them to impede the advance of Security Forces. Daash had asked the families to give all their money and belongings to Daash fighters evicting them. Daash has reportedly booby trapped 350 houses north of Baqouba.
26th Aug: Hitler's Youth: Daash starts to prepare young boys as suicide bombers in Saadia in preparation of Peshmerga assaults on the town. Daash was forced to retreat into the town in the face of artillery strikes by Peshmergas and air strikes by the Government.
26th Aug: Daash executes 12 residents of Hawija on suspicion of spying for the Iraqi government. The men executed belonged to Awakening forces or were police personnel.
27th Aug: Embodiment of the Shia faith, a living treasure for Iraq, Marja of Shias the world over, saviour of Moqtada Sadr, Protector of Baghdad, Evictor of Maliki (for unity), the man who single handedly Sanctioned the Americans from himself, bent the will of Iran, endeared the sects of Iraq, crushed the machinations of the Gulf Monarchs, prevented Iraq's descent into civil war, the man whose word made people return looted property, and whose command compels the Iraqi army to act: Sistani expresses concern for the citizens of Amerli and this has the Iraqi army preparing for a major push to fight Daash and end the siege of Amerli. The Iraqi Air Force has also carried out air trikes on Daash positions around Amerli.
(My parents had the good fortune to meet Ayatollah Sistani this year, and my father kept repeating, "what noor (light) he has")
Iraqi Security Forces are reporting that they have now reached Amerli outskirts and fighting with Daash will start soon. Hezbollah hum al Ghalibun.
27th Aug: Nouri Al Maliki criticises remarks made by Kerry that suggested that Iraq be divided on sectarian lines. He has asked other blocs: Sunni and Kurdish to lower their demands prior to government formation and has asked Haider Al Abadi to go ahead with majority rule if they do not show flexibility.
27th Aug: Overwhelmed: The High Commission for Human Rights in Iraq States that there is no accurate figure of the number of people displaced by fighting in Iraq. But a "reasonable" assumption is that 500000 to 1000000 have been displaced.
27th Aug: Nechirvan Barzani, the President of the Kurdistan Region in Iraq, States that the Kurds had a very bitter experience with Maliki. However, he repeats something that Maliki has been repeating since 2006, that fighting terrorism (Daash) is the responsibility of everybody and that the Kurds (Iraq) are fighting terrorism.
The Kurds are keen to resolve issues related to article 140 of Iraq's constitution. Read here http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirkuk_status_referendum
Most of the territory, though not all that the Kurds had moved into after the Iraqi army fled Daash in June was this same contested territory.
The Kurds state that negotiations between them and the National Alliance are moving forward in the right way. They mention that the National Alliance is cooperating with demands that are within the constitution.
27th Aug: The Kurds bombard Daash positions in Bashiqah, north east if Mosul with artillery and the United Staes bombs them with air strikes killing and injuring many.
27th Aug: Former Speaker and Sunni Politician Ayad al-Samarrai (head of the Iraqi Islamic Party) states that Iraqi Sunnis are also divided in their opinion of whether or not to work with the next government being formed.
27th Aug: One of three Indian nationals missing and believed to be fighting for Daash, Arif Majid, is reported killed in Iraq.
27th Aug: Javad Zarif concludes his three day visit to Iraq. He refers to Iran as being trustworthy and that he had a chance to consult with all political blocs including the Marjas in Najaf (and excluding Daash).
27th Aug: The Iraqi Security Forces hope to be able to free Tikrit in the next 14 days. The plan is to gradually attack and free other areas from Daash after Tokrit has fallen. The besieged sub district of Amerli will also be freed after Tikrit. Food supplies are running low in Amerli and it's Turkoman Shia inhabitants are at risk of mass murder by besieging Daash terrorists.
27th Aug: Salim Al Jubouri holds a meeting with the concerned officials of Salah al Din province concerning the fate of the 1700 Shia recruits murdered by Daash terrorists.
27th Aug: Death from above: The US carries out two air strikes against Daash targets near Erbil.
27th Aug: Feeling the pain before feeling their maker: A significantly large number of Daash casualties are being reported at the al-Salam Hospital (Saddam) and the al-Jumhori Hospital, and the General Hospital in Mosul. The hospitals lack medicine and anaesthetics. The Daash wounded are from US air strikes and Peshmerga artillery strikes north east of Mosul.
27th Aug: Tribal fighters from the Albu Faraj clan in Dhuluiya, believed to be a Salafi/Wahabi stronghold of Daash fighters 60 km south of Tikrit, attack and kill 7 fighters of Daash on a farm property and sequester their weapons and ammunition.
27th Aug: The Iraqi Air Force claims to have killed over a 100 fighters of Daash in different parts of Iraq.
27th Aug: Douglas McAuthur McCain, an American national, is killed fighting for Daash in Syria. Another 15 Australian fighters are reported killed in Iraq and Syria. Robert Fisk has correctly pointed out that most fighters from the West fighting on behalf of Daash are ethnically either Indian or Pakistani.
27th Aug: Iraqi security forces have used air borne troops to secure the road linking Haditha and Baiji.
Related:
27th Aug: Al Nusra fighters have taken over the Syrian Israeli crossing of Quneitra across from the Israeli occupied Golan Heights. Fighting with Syrian troops is continuing.
An Israeli soldier was hit in stray fire and Israel responded by shelling two Syrian army posts. like always a very measured response by the Israelis. It involves an algorithm that takes into account the total number of Israelis, the total number of Muslim Arabs, the Military strength of both sides, the Economic disparity of both sides, the influence and media outlets available to both sides etc etc etc
27th Aug: End of political correctness? Being British is a privilege: Police in the UK are reporting a five fold increase in the arrests of would be Daash fighters. While the US is tracking up to 300 Americans fighting for Daash.
27th Aug: Shirley Sotloff, mother of journalist Steven Sotloff held by Daash, makes a video appeal for his release. May Allah protect him and give him courage.
Meanwhile, Daash is demanding a 6.6 million USD ransom for a 26 year old Aid worker they had kidnapped. Let's hope Qatar pays for her too.
27th Aug: An example to all: A Syrian soldier about to be executed by Daash screams out "I swear to God we will eradicate the (Islamic) state." Amen, ya Rabal Alameen, so be it, oh lord of the Universe(s). The soldier was later executed.
27th Aug: Jordanian Islamic scholars are asking that Daash fighters not be referred to as Jihadists. As they tend to do things that are completely UnIslamic.
27th Aug: Until next time: Following the cease fire in Gaza, Qatar offers to rebuild the entire strip.
27th Aug: Iran announces that it has started to arm resistance groups in the a West Bank.
27th Aug: Pro Daash twitter accounts show photos of captured Syrian soldiers, weapons and Sukhoi aircraft that Daash has captured in Raqqa. It also shows photos of regime soldiers being executed.
Further reading:
The pimps of the Middle East:
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/qatar-and-the-reason-us-hostage-peter-theo-curtis-has-been-released-9690048.html
Spread of Poisoned Islam:
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/isiss-undoubted-skill-in-exploiting-social-media-is-no-reason-for-us-leaders-to-start-talking-about-the-apocalypse-9688438.html
Give and take:
http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/iraq-can-major-concessions-end-political-crisis
Overview of the Situation in the Donbass Region from Gleb Bazov
Overview of the Situation in the Donbass Region – August 24, 2014
Translated by Daniel Mikhailovich
Edited by Olga Luzanova
Edited by Olga Luzanova
The Fighting in the Coastal Area
Even
recently, it might have seemed laughable, but today the fighting has
begun in the area of Novoazovsk, where a powerful anti-aircraft defense
node and a hodgepodge of different units of questionable combat
capability have been stationed since April to cover the border with
Russia. After the Southern Encirclement 2.0 was created, the Militiamen
began to probe the other checkpoints to the south-west of Marinovka, and
were surprised to find out that there are almost no defenses. All the
forces were drawn up to the main front line, creating a gap to the south
of Amvrosievka, which was only partially covered with the covering
forces. At first, the Militia’s saboteur-reconnaisance groups (“SRG”)
began to infiltrate to the south-west, which has led to the capture of
the "Uspenka" border checkpoint. After that, the Militia broke-out to
the coast, as there were no serious forces of the Junta. As a result,
several SRGs moved almost to Novoazovsk and the towns of Holodnoe and
Sedovo, firing and attacking some checkpoints.
The
Militia obviously doesn't have enough forces there to seize and hold
the towns (let alone capturing Novoazovsk or Mariupol); but judging by
the reports that a bomb shelter has been opened in Mariupol, the command
of the Junta in this area lost their nerve. It is not only that the
gap along the border continues to expand, there is also a threat (even
if remote for now) to Novoazovsk and Mariupol; as there are few Junta's
forces there, and nobody knows what can appear from across the border.
Moreover, the gap in the front, to the south of Amvrosievka, also does
not seem optimistic. In general, what is happening now is not yet an
offensive with definite goals, but just a distracting raid in the rear
of the enemy, which turned out to be an unpleasant surprise for the
Junta. To be honest, very few people expected the fighting on the coast
of the Sea of Azov to start so soon. In general, the trend is
favorable for us.
Ilovaysk
Today
near Ilovaysk the Junta has continued its attempts "to break through
the wall with its head", sending almost all of the combat-ready forces
to attack Ilovajsk. The attack bogged down even before the Junta talking
heads could declare that Ilovajsk has been taken once again. This is a
very weird stubbornness, given that a more effective plan would
involve encircling and taking Mospino, and the gaps in the front to the
south of Amvrosievka. The strategic point of the attack is long gone; it
is an attempt to reverse the situation with insufficient forces -
because even if by some miracle the Junta takes the ruins of Ilovaysk
and pushes out the Militia, it will not go beyond one tactical success
against the backdrop of the bleak strategic situation.
Saur-Mogila, Schachtersk and Torez
Fighting
continued, with both sides largely staying on their positions. The
Junta’s mechanized units tried to move towards Miner and Thorez, but
didn’t make it far.
Theoretically,
these battles are good for the Militia, as the Junta spends reserves
there quite aimlessly. That has made the punitive battalions (volunteer
units made up of activists/neo-nazis/released criminals) suspect that
the Junta command deliberately drives the southern battlegroup into a
meat grinder. (That is one version - that they are agents of the Kremlin
- another, because that is how Poroshenko gets rid of radical
elements). All in all, another week or so of such operations, and the
Junta there will be in for a surprise. Southern Encirclement 2.0 has
held out so far, but the Junta losses and the Militia trophies there
will be considerable - the Militia is currently attacking on Dyakovo and
offering the surrounded forces the same conditions as before - retreat
to Russia, leaving the vehicles to the Militia.
Donetsk
In
the north of Donetsk the Junta seems absolutely exhausted, only
pretending that the failed offensive is proceeding via
the SRGs' forces and continuing shelling; whereas the self-defense
Militia forces managed to start an offensive towards Uglegorsk which,
although not yet taken, hardly looks like a springboard for the Junta's
attack on Yenakievo anymore. The Militia will try to take it in the
coming days to protect Gorlovka and Yenakievo and prevent the bisection
Donetsk-Gorlovka battlegroup. In general, it is now possible to say
conclusively that the attack on Donetsk has failed, and there is no
direct threat to the city. And the enemy was not merely driven from
Yasinovataya and back to Uglegorsk. In the area of Zhdanovka there
was another mini-encirclement, and the Junta salient in the area of
Verhnyaya and Nizhnyaya Krynka has been wiped out, with the Militia
taking captives and trophies. The front is gradually approaching
Debalcevo, which is one of the priority objectives for the Militia.
Debalcevo
To the
north of Debalcevo, the self-defense forces delivered an unexpected
blow to the Junta, towards the north-west, with the result that the
forward units were able to move to the vicinity of Severodonetsk. There
were overly optimistic statements that the Militia had been about to
take back Severodonetsk and Lisichansk, but in fact, there is a lack of
Militia forces there, and taking two major cities at once would be quite
problematic, especially with the advance SRGs alone. The weakness of
the Junta's forces in this area provides various options for offensive
action - the fact is that most of the Junta battlegroup that took
Lisichansk from the Militia were later moved to other areas - some units
moved towards Debalcevo and Yasinovataya, some left for Schast’e and
Stanitsa Luganskaya. As a result, the Militia found a weak spot and
delivered a nasty blow that led to a breakthrough in the front. The main
thing is that this breakthrough, and the raid of saboteur-reconnaisance
groups by the coast, demonstrates that the operational depth of the
enemy forces is not high. After breaking after through the enemy front
in weak areas, the Militia is able to act in the operational vacuum,
where the enemy has practically no reserves. But due to lack of
strength, those nasty (for the Junta) breakouts have not yet led to
decisive results. It is clear that if the Militia had dedicated 15-20
tanks, as many BMPs and 200-300 infantry to one of these gaps, then it
would have taken the cities in the rear of the enemy. But for now the
Militia do what they can.
Lugansk
The
Junta offensive against Lugansk failed. The enemy has been driven off
from Hryaschevatoe; they are still holding by Novosvetlovskaya, but this
is a purely defensive action. The self-defense militia forces have
already started an offensive against Lutugino and Chast’e. The loss of
either one of these would be a complete disaster for the battlegroup
besieging Lugansk, as it would be dissected into several parts; although
some of it is actually in operational encirclement even now. Today,
predictably, there was an attack from the south in the Volnuhino area,
and as a result, there is a direct threat to Lutugino; there are already
militia combat recon groups on the outskirts. The general meaning of
combat here is that if the militia take back Lutugino, they will then be
able to fully control the route Lugansk-Krasny Luch, which would
greatly enhance the connectivity of Novorossiya’s territory and the
coordination of its armed forces. In this regard, Lutugino and Debalcevo
are the key nodes of the transport network in the region, and control
over them is a part of the struggle for the operational initiative.
In
general, the situation, even though it is still difficult, is obviously
improving. In a number of areas, the militia are now on the offensive,
while the Junta offensive has petered out and stoped almost everywhere.
Original article: Colonel Cassad
Map of Operations, August 10-25, 2014 – Created by Kot Ivanov and Anthony Hartin
Translated by Daniel Mihailovitch
Edited by S. Naylor
Edited by S. Naylor
Official Briefing from the DPR, as of August 25, 2014, and Commentary
Original: Colonel Cassad LiveJournal
From: Semen Semenchenko(commander of the Ukrainian Donbass punitive battalion)
To: The Minister of Defense of Ukraine, Valeriy Geletey.
To the ATO(Anti-Terrorist
Operation)* command. Despite the numerous warnings about the situation
that is currently unfolding in sector B, despite the information from
yesterday and today about the tank breakthrough from sector D and also
from the border with the Russian Federation, from the area of Mospino,
the situation with regards to sending us additional units of the
UAF(Ukraine Armed Forces) was never resolved. Currently it is necessary
to stop the retreat of the units that up until now covered our rear.
Those units that report to your HQ, from the area of
Kuteynikovo-Starobeshevo, must return the artillery and to perform a
massive counterattack into the area [of the breakthrough], and to use
armored vehicles in this attack. You do have these forces. If this does
not get done and the situation will continue to deteriorate. I reserve
the right to interpret the lack of activity of the UAF leadership in the
most negative light. If needed – you personally must stand with a
pistol on the road and take control of the situation. Act, finally, act!
P.s. Please forgive me. I cannot write what exactly is happening right now. You are not the only one reading this.
Official DPR Briefing, as of August 25, 2014
Original: DNR.Today
In
the course of the offensive operation, the militia forces have
completely destroyed the government military base in Sedovo, and routed
all the enemy checkpoints around Sedovo and Novoazovsk. There's an
ongoing sweep of these two cities for remaining Junta forces. Taking
control of Novoazovsk will open a direct road to Mariupol for the DPR
army forces, and we plan to take this city in the near future.
Fierce
fighting is happening near the Svyato-Uspensky Nikolo-Vasilyevsky
monastery (village Nikolskoye of Volnovaha district). In the settlement
of Markino there is fighting against the entrenched militants of the
punitive battalions "Dnieper-1" and "Donbass". The LPR militia conducted
a recon by combat action on Lutugino. There is information that the
town of Rodakovo has been taken [by our units].
According
to the data of the DPR Ministry of Defense HQ, the government forces
lost 110 people KIA and 75 WIA fighting for Ilovaysk. 28 military
vehicles were destroyed or disabled. By the morning of August 25th, yet
another (third) battlegroup of the enemy was also fully encircled in the
area of the settlements Stepanovka, Amvrosiyevka and Stepano-Krynka.
The
whole night militia forces were focused on narrowing the encirclement
around the two blockaded Ukrainian battlegroups in the area of the
settlements Voykovsky, Kuteynikovo, Blagodatnoye, Alekseevskoye,
Uspenka, Ulyanovskoye, and also near the settlement of Yelenovka.
According to the intelligence reports, in these encirclements there are
more than 40 tanks, about 100 IFVs, APCs and airborne IFVs, 50 MLRS
(Multiple Launch Rocket System) "Grad" and "Uragan" vehicles, and more
than 60 field artillery and mortar pieces.
As
a result of a recon by combat action, detachments of the DPR army
entered Yelenovka, destroying up to 8 tanks, up to 19 armored vehicles
and a mortar battery. The enemy was pushed out of the two checkpoints on
the road from Donetsk to this settlement (i.e. Yelenovka). Three
prisoners were taken, three MT-12 anti-tank guns with ammunition, an
MTLB APC with a ZU-23-2 mounted, and a GAZ-66.
The
militia launched offensives on two major cities - Severodonetsk in the
northwest of Lugansk region, and Debaltsevo - in east of Donetsk region.
The militia is concentrating considerable forces by Lisichansk and
Severodonetsk, on the outskirts of which (Severodonetsk) the LPR
militiamen have already occupied the villages of Belaya Gora and
Borovskoe. Offensive continues on all fronts.
PS. The
last phrase is a joy to read. But, actually, the reports from the last
3-4 days are pleasant in every way. Having survived through the darkest
days in mid-August, the militia managed to not only stop the advance of
the junta, but to also launch a decisive counter-offensive with the goal
of defeating the entire southern flank of the junta forces in Donbass.
For now it is absolutely unclear when and with what forces will the
junta try to break through to the surrounded forces south of Donetsk,
and how control over their intercepted communications could be restored.
About the Militia Counter-Offensive
Original: Colonel Cassad LiveJournal
1. The
situation has become precarious for the Junta in the area of
Novoazovsk and Mariupol. The Militia forces that penetrated from the
north, and also those that moved along the border with the Russian
Federation, created an operational crisis in the area of Novoazovsk,
which in itself implies a threat to Mariupol. The panic on the
Junta-aligned websites is not without foundation. As we mentioned
earlier, there are very few combat-capable units there - a hodgepodge of
police, punitive troops, border guards and air defense personnel,
clearly not the forces you can repel a serious Militia offensive with.
For
now the Junta is saved by the fact that the Militia forces there are
not so big and they are not achieving decisive results yet, although the
threat has already become very serious. The thing is, that by taking
advantage of the movement of Militia sabotage-reconnaissance-groups
(SRGs) to the south of the captured "Uspenka" border checkpoint, the
Militia also advanced along the border with Russia - which was cleared
from the Junta border guards - creating a local superiority in a
location that is critical for the Junta. This is the flip side of the
Junta’s decision to stop fighting for the border, due to the heavy
shelling of the Junta positions near the border by the Militia and "from
the territory of the Russian Federation". Currently, the Junta faces a
very unpleasant prospect - either it has to urgently find reserves for
the new front that suddenly opened up, or else it risks losing
Novoazovsk and may face a real threat of losing Mariupol. In general,
this blow is very unpleasant for the Junta, and it is further
complicated by the problems to the south of Donetsk.
2. The
gap in the front to the south of Amvrosievka, which the Junta
recklessly didn't plug for a few days, led to a disaster as expected.
Not only did the Militia use the gap to advance to Uspenka and
Novoazovsk and to create a threat for Mariupol. Also, the Junta units
that were drawn into the battle for Ilovaysk have spent their reserves,
which resulted in a Militia advance onto those Junta battle groups’
communications and the threat of attacking Militia units taking
Amvrosievka. An encirclement of a kind emerged, which is already the 3rd encirclement
in the south. Although this one is more of a partial encirclement - the
Militia intercepted a number of important roads to the south of the
main forces of the Junta battle group, but there's no talk yet about a
complete encirclement across all paths, because the Militia are actually
encircling a larger force with a smaller one. In the next few days the
Junta will try to break out of this critical encirclement, but if they
fail to do this, then the first two southern cauldrons will be chump
change compared to this one.
3. The
encirclement by Dyakovo is still not eliminated, the encircled forces
were given standard terms - leave and be interned in Russia, handing
over the vehicles and weapons – but their leadership refuses to accept
those, for now. But overall, the elimination of that encirclement is
just a matter of time and losses. Of course I would prefer for the
Militia to get the vehicles.
In
general, what is happening is indeed a counter-offensive, albeit with
insufficient forces. However, the blow was dealt at the time when the
Junta just suffered a defeat of its offensive towards Donetsk, and this
counteroffensive immediately triggered a serious operational crisis for
the Junta. The very nature of the events in the Donbass is changing and
now the argument is starting to shift from “will Novorossiya
survive?” to “what consequences will there be of the Junta’s defeat in
Donbass?”; including the question of “what borders would be the
starting point of negotiation?”. Perhaps the first diplomatic overtures
will happen tomorrow in Minsk.
A Short but Important Update
Original: Colonel Cassad LiveJournal
1. About
Strelkov: The news is ahead of the event. He got an offer to move in
and become a military adviser in the Krasnodon HQ, but he did not yet
agree to this. Someone apparently has seen it fit to leak the info to
the press. What were the goals of this leak, good or bad, is yet
unclear.
2. The
Panic in Mariupol: As I wrote before, the threat on the outskirts of
the city was multiplied by the confusion in the area, so when one of the
Junta armored columns retreating from Novoazovsk was mistaken for
Militia, this led to the hysteria of "DPR tanks are just about to roll
into Mariupol!”
Hence
the traffic jams of civilians and Junta soldiers at the highway to
Berdaynsk; people thought Mariupol would be taken today and in a panic
rushed out of the city. Interestingly, when it came to running, the
nationalist guard units easily outpaced the civilians, leaving just one
punitive battalion and the remnants of police forces to defend Mariupol.
This story is very significant in the sense that it clearly shows how
panic sweeps the entire management system - from the lowest neo-Nazi of
the "Azov" battalion to the Gauleiter (chief overseer – Ger.) of
Mariupol. In reality, advance Militia groups are fighting on the
outskirts of Mariupol, and Junta is reporting that they are about to
create a reliable line of defense and stop Militia forces from entering
Mariupol (Novoazovsk is already written off, apparently).
3. South-west
of Donetsk there is a gaping hole in the Junta frontline, with nothing
available to close it. Most of the supply routes of the southern Junta
battlegroup are intercepted by the Militia, or under fire and thus
impassable. The Junta’s situation is rapidly deteriorating and can
potentially develop into more than just another encirclement, with heavy
losses - but a full-blown disaster with the collapse of the entire
southern front of Junta forces in Donbass. In the next few days the
Militiamen are expecting enemy reserves from the rest of Ukraine, which
are now being hastily redeployed to reverse the effects of Militia
breakthroughs. Given that the forces of Militia are not so large, heavy
defensive battles against shock mechanized battle groups trying to break
the encirclement are likely. As you can understand, there is no
possibility of a continued assault on Donetsk anymore.
Taking
this into account, the defeat of the Junta to the south of Donetsk will
have implications for other areas - the Militia forces are moving
towards Debaltsevo and thinking about attacking Artemovsk and
Konstantinovka. But as the main forces are occupied in other areas, any
action there is mainly just to pin Junta forces in place.
4. There
is also this unverified information: In the Rostov region, there were a
series of bizarre murders on the M4 highway. Unknown criminals lay out a
strip with nails across the asphalt, and then shoot the drivers that
come out to see what was the matter. They do not take the cars, or
personal belongings of those killed. There were 3 or 4 such cases. There
is a suspicion that there may be some Ukrainian Neo-Nazis at work. We
are checking the information.
Overall,
we are seeing the war in the Donbass completely change direction, in
real time. But the victory is not yet assured, and in the coming days,
the Junta will do everything possible to turn this difficult situation
in their favor.
The Southern Front Catastrophe – August 27, 2014
Map of Operations, August 10-27, 2014 – Created by Kot Ivanov and Anthony Hartin
Novorossiya Military Briefing – Novorossiya Shall Be!
Original: Colonel Cassad LiveJournal
Translated from Russian by Daniel Mikhailovich / Edited by Gleb Bazov
Translated from Russian by Daniel Mikhailovich / Edited by Gleb Bazov
We
are currently witnessing an epic and in its own way historic event. The
Ukrainian regular army and the punitive battalions are suffering a
catastrophic defeat to the south of Donetsk. Only a short time ago the
Republics were in dire straits: the DPR was hanging only by a thin
supply thread, which the Ukrainian army was attempting to sever near
Shakhtersk and Krasnyi Luch; the summit of Saur-Mogila has been
abandoned, and Bolotov's counteroffensive had failed to bring decisive
victories.
To
many it seemed that the Militia forces were on the ropes and just about
to break, which would have led to the collapse of Novorossiya and a
military victory for the fascist Junta. Nevertheless, the Militia
managed to withstand the most severe blow, which the Junta dealt with
all the forces available to it in the first half of August. The Junta
did not conceal its plans, and the preparations for the assaults on
Shakhtersk and Lugansk were openly discussed. The bravura level of the
Junta’s triumphant reports that came with each new breakthrough of its
mechanized battle groups was off the charts.
The
first critical moment came when the soldiers of the 25th Airborne
Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces (“UAF”) and the units of the
National Guard broke into Shakhtersk. In those days, the fate of the DPR
was hanging literally by a thread, and the Junta was on the verge of a
strategic victory. But those few militiamen that mired the Junta forces
in urban battles and held their ground until the reinforcements arrived
saved Novorossia from being dismembered into two parts. In subsequent
battles, the Junta’s breakthrough was localized and defused, and, after
sustaining heavy losses in personnel and military hardware, the Junta’s
forces in this location were routed.
The second critical moment came when a strike was made from Debaltsevo through Fashchevka, intended to converge with the 24th Mechanized
Brigade that was breaking out of the Southern Cauldron. It was an
ambitious plan, whereby the enemy tried to bisect Novorossiya by using
as a strike group the units that everybody assumed had been written off.
This joint strike on Miusinsk and Krasnyi Luch triggered a severe
crisis in Novorossiya because were very few troops in this area.
Miusinsk,
which the mechanized convoys of the junta slipped through unhindered,
was hardly defended at all, and in Krasnyi Luch some of the Cossacks
abandoned their positions. This gave rise to a palpable threat of
Novorossiya being split in two and of the militia grouping located in
the area of Torez-Snezhnoye-Saur-Mogila being eliminated. But, once
again, the courage of ordinary soldiers who clung to the towns of
Krasnyi Luch and Miusinsk allowed the Militia units to hold out until
the arrival of the reserves that aided in the purge of the enemy from
these cities. Having overcome the crisis, here also the Militia was able
to win decisive battles, which had far-reaching consequences.
Because
the offensive on Yasinovataya failed, the breakthrough to Verkhnyaya
Krynka and Zhdanovka aimed at cutting off Gorlovka was liquidated, and
the Junta failed to advance toward Yenakievo, in the second half of
August the Junta’s offensive started to run out of steam and the Militia
gradually began to gain offensive momentum.
Objectively,
the situation demanded that the Junta stop the offensive, regroup, pull
up reserves, create stores of fuel and ammunition, and then continue
the offensive by assembling new strike groups. Nevertheless, political
considerations dictated a continuation of the offensive by the same
depleted battle groups. Because the front in the LPR on the whole had
stabilized, the South Cauldron was routed, and the offensive to the
north of Donetsk had been stopped, the Junta continued its offensive in
the south, trying to take Ilovaysk and Mospino head-on despite the
serious operational risk. And as the more the Junta became embroiled in
these battles, the narrower became the front of its offensive. Having
begun in early August over a broad swath of the battlefront, already by
August 20th the Junta’s offensive narrowed effectively to a single
point.
The
outer limits of this offensive were the southern slopes of Saur-Mogila,
the semi-encircled Mospino and the southern suburbs of Ilovaisk. In the
last few days of the offensive, it was reduced simply to a primitive
frontal assault on Ilovaisk. Meanwhile, a threat that later proved to be
fatal was looming on the Junta’s southern flank. Having finished off
the Southern Cauldron and after repelling the offensive on Miusinsk and
Krasnyi Luch, the Militia recaptured Marinovka (which in July-August
twice went back and forth between the factions) and started to seep
along the border toward the Uspenka border-crossing checkpoint, in the
process encircling the Amvrosievka grouping.
It
is difficult to say why the Junta did not react to this threat – it is
possible that the Ukrainian command decided that the only danger in this
area was the activity of the saboteur-reconnaissance groups (“SRG”),
which, though unpleasant, carried no operational significance.
Alternatively, they may have thought that they will manage to achieve
success near Ilovaisk and then fend off the threat coming from the
south. As a result, the Militia was able to accumulate a sufficient
force to the south-east of Amvrosievka, and this force carried out a
cleaving strike on the supply lines of the main forces of the Junta that
were embroiled in the fighting near Ilovaisk, Mospino and Saur-Mogila.
At the same time, the forces of the enemy advancinf from the south were
met to the west of Mospino with a strike by a mechanized battle group of
the Militia. The Junta did not expect this maneuver because until quite
recently they were the ones trying to encircle Mospino from both sides.
By
the looks of it, the Junta’s intelligence missed this offensive
entirely, and as a result of this oversight a comparatively small
Militia force intercepted the main supply routes of the largest battle
group of the Junta to the south of Donetsk. This grouping was comprised
of the enemy’s most combat-capable units involved in the assaults on
Mospino, Saur-Mogila and Ilovaisk, including the three punitive
battalions – Azov, Shahtersk and Donbass-1, as well as the various
reinforcement units and independent companies. More than 5,000 soldiers,
approximately 180 various armoured vehicles, and up to 90 artillery
pieces, mortars, and MLRS ended up being surrounded.
Though
the difference in scale makes a direct comparison impossible, the
militia actually carried out a mini-“encirclement operation” similar to
the Stalingrad Cauldron – a classic pincer strike in converging
directions. While the Junta’s battle group had no Romanians or Italians
on its flanks, but it did, instead, have a gaping hole on one side, and
on the other side – barrier troops that were never meant to withstand an
attack by mechanized units. As a result, in addition to the unfinished
remnants of the Dyakovo Cauldron, the Amvrosiyevka Cauldron was created,
around which the militia began to create a ring of encirclement,
spreading its offensive to the south and to the south-west and in the
process occupying settlements deep in the rear of the southern grouping
of the Junta. At the same time, the enemy command structures rapidly
disintegrated. Battalion Azov in essence refused to subordinate, and the
majority of its troops fled to Mariupol. Battalions Donbass-1 and
Shahtersk became mired in urban combat for Ilovaisk and, instead of
breaking out of the cauldron, started to demand tanks and artillery from
the military in order to continue their assault on the city, which by
that time was pretty much a lost cause.
Because
only rearguard unites without heavy weapons remained outside the
cauldron, the Militia immediately began to develop the offensive to the
south-west of Amvrosievka, toward Starobeshevo, and took it by the
evening of August 26th. Meanwhile, militiamen were already moving toward Volnovakha on August 25th.
Effectively, the loss of these centres means that here the Junta does
not have positions from which it can try to break through to the
surrounded forces. The encircled troops, in essence, ended up deep in
the rear, far away from the new front line, and with a limited supply of
fuel and ammunition.
And
this new frontline is a gaping hole for the Junta, which has nothing to
plug it with. The remnants of its forces, including Battalion Azov,
fled to Mariupol, in the process abandoning several settlements
virtually without a shot. As a result, the Militia rolled directly into
the suburbs of Novoazovsk and onto the approaches to Mariupol. On the
Junta’s side, there is virtually no front from the area south of
Starobeshevo and up to Novoazovsk. The Milita’s lack of sufficient
troops is the only thing slowing down the looming catastrophe.
At
the same time, the Militia also developed its offensive to the west of
Mospino, toward Ugledar, Yelenovka, and Nikolskoye. Here the forces of
the Junta are few in number, so the Militia’s offensive has been
developing quite successfully, albeit not too rapidly. Near Yelenovka,
yet another "mini-cauldron" has formed, and the connectivity of the
Junta groups that held Donetsk in semi-encirclement has been irreparably
compromised.
The
Junta has no reserves with which to relieve the encircled group and to
patch the massive hole in the frontlines - they are now hastily
withdrawing troops from Perekop (on the Crimean border) and bringing
territorial battalions of questionable combat readiness to the front.
They have also announced the 4th wave
of mobilization and are trying quickly to drag ancient armoured
vehicles from long-term storage to the frontlines, in order to
compensate for the huge losses in personal and military hardware.
- State Border of the Republic of Novorossiya
Overall, it still is not quite clear how the Junta intends to avoid a
complete defeat here. It will clearly not be able to restore the
previous frontline, and the only question is whether the surrounded
troops will be able to break out (and as they will have to do so on
their own, it is likely that they will have to make that decision as
soon as possible), and where the Militia’s offensive will stop - they
still have fairly limited forces and they are now routing a larger force
with a smaller force.
In
the meantime, the once-solid front, which stretched from Marinovka to
Yelenovka has now broken up into separate pockets of resistance with
intercepted supply lines. After this disaster it became absolutely clear
that the Junta does not have the capacity to destroy Novorossiya. By
squandering the most combat-capable brigades in systematic offensive
operations, the Junta sustained enormous losses and at the same time
suffered a crushing, purely military defeat. The southern front has
collapsed. Novorossiya shall exist!
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