RUNNING UPDATES ON THE CONFLICT IN UKRAINE - 24.02.2023
Including geopolitical issues affecting the balance of power in the ongoing end game war to establish our common future, a closely monitored prison planet or tolerance for diverse modes of governance.
THE ROAD TO THE ULTIMATE CONCLUSION OF WORLD WAR III RUNS THROUGH HERE.
*** RUSSIAN SPECIAL MILITARY OPERATION: FIRST ANNIVERSARY ***
…………
“Ukraine. What is the truth...?
Why won’t western media tell both sides…?”
***
VIRTUALLY UNREPORTED ATROCITY IN LUGANSK, 2nd JUNE 2014
A lot has been said about atrocities in the western media claimed to have been perpetrated by the Russians, for example at Bucha and Mariupol among others. These assertions are conveyed on the say so of the Ukrainian authorities. How willing though are western news broadcasters to convey atrocities attributed to the Ukrainians? The following will I think provide the answer.
If anyone wonders if they are receiving accurate coverage of the conflict in Ukraine I would suggest watching the video below of an event which occurred on the 2nd of June 2014 and ask themselves if they recall hearing about it on any mainstream media news channel at the time.
The video is harrowing to watch. The bodies (five women and three men) are real. Yet across western media there was only one single news report that occurred a day later. This was from CNN and occurred only because a CNN team happened to be nearby at the time of the atrocity and so the network could hardly ignore it as all others so obviously did.
The video below shows the unvarnished truth that was not considered newsworthy in western mainstream news.
THE SINGLE WESTERN MSM REPORT ON THE LUGANSK ATROCITY, 3rd JUNE 2014
The video at the CNN link below is the crime scene sanitised by CNN, though played straight with honest reporting on the scene not playing things to Kiev’s tune.
(There was a time early in the war in the Donbass when CNN were not afraid to contradict the Ukrainian regime in Kiev.)
Watch because it's the first and last time you will see this. 5 men & 3 women died, all civilians.
Air attack on pro-Russian separatists in Luhansk kills 8, stuns residents.
…………
Lead feature:
Alexander Mercouris of ‘The Duran’.
Russian Captures Bekhova; China Ukraine Position Paper Criticises West, Russia-China Deepen Ties.
BREAKTHROUGH NEWS
1 Year of Ukraine War: How Far Will it Go? w/ Vijay Prashad.
LIVE FROM MOSCOW: 1 Yr of Russia-Ukraine Conflict, RAWM Rally & Building Coalitions w/ Chuck Modi.
DANNY HAIPHONG - BRIAN BERLETIC
Brian Berletic DESTROYS NATO Propaganda on Ukraine War One Year Later.
TELESUR
Ukraine isn’t fighting by itself, Russia is one country against all NATO countries, says analyst.
RACHEL BLEVINS IN MOSCOW
One Year Later: Why Sanctions Against Russia ‘Failed Completely’.
Breaking Points Ukraine Coverage Over One Year Of War | Breaking Points.
Ukraine War: Putin addresses massive rally in Moscow ahead of anniversary.
Russia-Ukraine War: One Year Into Conflict and No Closer to Peace.
UnHerd Club - The Ukraine Debate with Edward Lucas, Konstantin Kisin, Peter Hitchens & Thomas Fazi.
A Year of Ukraine War. Who is falling apart?
Peter Hitchens & Konstantin Kisin debate the Ukraine war.
[ Super Panel ] Scott Ritter, HistoryLegends & Sanya Florida - 1 Year of War in Ukraine - DPA.
The Jimmy Dore Show: Trump ADMITS U.S. Was Behind 2014 Coup In Ukraine.
‘Biden provoking nuclear war’: U.S War Veteran lashes out | Live.
Scott Ritter on the prospects of Ukrainian soldiers surrendering.
The Point: War in Ukraine, one year on.
US, Global Support For Ukraine Aid PLUMMETS | Breaking Points.
ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY, INSIGHTS:
Roundtable on the first anniversary of the war in Ukraine.
Dr. Michael Vlahos & Col. Douglas Macgregor: Is the war in Ukraine entering its decisive phase? Part.1
Dr. Michael Vlahos & Col. Douglas Macgregor: Why NATO strategic failure? A war of deceit, denial. Part.2
Dr. Michael Vlahos & Col. Douglas Macgregor: What is to be done? Can a corrupted US military be renewed? Part.3
Why is Ukraine the West's Fault? Featuring John Mearsheimer. (2015)
Exclusive interview with Prof. John J. Mearsheimer on Ukraine crisis. (2023)
THE DURAN: Moldova tensions rise, new Prime Minister wants Transnistria demilitarized.
The Duran: Let's talk about the news (Live).
Latest update from Alex Christoforou of ‘The Duran’: Boris wants NATO job. Musk calls out Nuland. Sachs & McGovern at UN. Moldova, second front. U/1
THE JIMMY DORE SHOW
U.S. Pushes For Ukraine War Escalation Into Crimea!
THE GRAYZONE
Ukraine first, America later - The Grayzone live.
PROFESSOR JOHN J MEARSHEIMER
War in Ukraine is reaction against US dragging Ukraine into NATO.
Ukraine - an Honest conversation with You pt.2
Douglas Macgregor: A Ferocious Offensive.
MINTPRESS NEWS - LEE CAMP
Defending The Venezuelan Embassy, Organising Peace for Ukraine & More.
JEFFREY SACHS: The Point: Exclusive with Prof. Jeffrey Sachs.
BEN NORTON
Why countries are dropping the dollar - De-dollarization explained by Radhika Desai & Michael Hudson.
China abstains from UN vote of calling Russia to leave Ukraine, the ambassador explains why.
CGTN: Eurasia-wide Geopolitical Analyst: Europe basically replicates what U.S. tells them to do.
China calls for impartial probe into alleged US involvement in Nord Stream blasts.
GEORGE GALLOWAY: INTERVIEW: Rage against the war machine.
RICHARD BLACK: Col. Richard Black: We're Heading Toward WW3?
The causes and consequences of the Ukraine war A lecture by John J. Mearsheimer. (2022)
DANNY HAIPHONG: PUTIN STRIKES BACK AT THE NEOCONS | THE DURAN ON CHINA'S MOSCOW VISIT.
RUSSIA TODAY (RT) - NEWS.
RUSSIA TODAY (RT) - NEWS.
RUSSIA TODAY (RT) - CROSSTALK.
Michael Parenti | WE CAN PREVENT ALL OF THIS.
HINDUSTAN TIMES
Putin scores another victory in Ukraine; Wagner forces take control of key village near Bakhmut.
India, Pak abstain from UN vote against Putin on war anniversary; Modi’s message echoes | Watch:
NATO nation 'ditches' Ukraine; Refuses to send Russia-made S-300 missile systems to Kyiv | Details:
Putin warns of second war in Europe; Russia claims Ukraine pumping Moldovan border with arms.
Will BRICS Overtake G7?
A NEW SOVIET UNION? What Did RUSSIANS Think Of Putin's Speech?
Article from Russia Today (RT) - 24th February 2023:
Russia-EU relations ‘no longer exist’ – Moscow.
The bloc chose economic ruin to be a vassal of the US, Moscow’s envoy to the UN has said.
Relations between the European Union and Russia are practically nonexistent, consumed by the abyss of EU subservience to the US, the Russian Permanent Representative to the UN Vassily Nebenzia told the Security Council on Thursday.
Moscow had said in June 2022 that the “bottom had fallen out” when it came to relations with Brussels, Nebenzia said in his speech at the UN.
“It turns out there was an entire abyss below still, that swallowed up not only our relations – which are basically nonexistent now – but also the EU itself,” he said.
“A year after completely severing ties with our country, the GDP growth of the EU has stuck near zero. At the same time, record inflation rates are measured by double-digit indicators. Rejoicing that it jumped off the ‘Russian gas needle,’ the EU got hooked on ‘hard drugs’ – expensive American liquefied natural gas,” the Russian diplomat added.
Nebenzia also accused the EU of openly discussing how to dismember and destroy Russia. Earlier this week, the Estonian prime minister suggested Russian history needs to be rewritten and its population re-educated, to protect Europe from “Russian imperialist dreams.”
Never in the history of Europe has the continent been so “subservient” to the US, Nebenzia argued, pointing to last September’s sabotage of Nord Stream.
“Things have come to the point where Brussels has silently swallowed that its closest ally blew up the main gas pipeline, which was also paid for by European investors,” he said, adding that EU members are even covering up inconvenient truths in order to shield the US.
The twin pipelines running under the Baltic Sea were built to supply the continent with Russian natural gas via Germany. Denmark, Sweden and Germany have refused Russian requests for information about their investigation into the blasts.
In an article published earlier this month, American investigative journalist Seymour Hersh claimed the US and Norway had conspired to destroy the pipelines and described how they carried it out. Russia has called for a UN investigation into the sabotage. The US has denied any responsibility for the Nord Stream bombing.
Article from Russia Today (RT) - 24th February 2023 : Russia-EU relations ‘no longer exist’ – Moscow
MAPPING/ANALYSIS CHANNELS
* Updates will be added here as and when they become available.
LATEST UPDATE FROM DIMA OF THE MILITARY SUMMARY CHANNEL (85.7k subscribers)
Ukraine. Military Summary And Analysis 2023.02.24 (Part - 2).
Ukraine. Military Summary And Analysis 2023.02.24 (Part - 1).
KEEP IT SECRET NEWS CHANNEL (1.64k subscribers):
Ukraine Russian War, Rybar Map, Analysis and Events for February 23, 2023.
'NWE WAR REPORTS' (30.5k subscribers):
No update posted so far today
LATEST UPDATE FROM DEFENSE POLITICS ASIA (56.6k subscribers):
[ LIVE ] HistoryLegends, MilitarySummary, SuriyakMaps, WeebUnion, NWE WarReports, THETI Mapping, DPA.
LATEST UPDATE FROM 'DPA War’ (23.5k subscribers):
[ Bakhmut Front ] Wagner Forces captured Berkhivka and Yahidne.
[ Donetsk Front ] Russian broke through into Pobjeda; Fighting reported all around Marinka.
LATEST UPDATE BY THETI MAPPING (21.5k subscribers):
No update posted so far today
LATEST UPDATE FROM ‘WAR IN UKRAINE’ (35.6k subscribers):
No update posted so far today
LATEST UPDATE BY ‘BALKAN MAPPING’ (135k subscribers):
No update posted so far today
LATEST UPDATE BY THE ‘MILITARY AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS NETWORK’ (57.2k subscribers):
No update posted so far today
LATEST UPDATE FROM ‘RYBAR’:
Rybar military highlights of special military operation in Ukraine 23.02.2023.
LATEST UPDATE FROM ‘M MAPPING’ (4.47k subscribers):
Ukraine:Day 365 [ 1st Year ] Russian forces captured Berkhivka.
LATEST UPDATE FROM WEEB UNION (62.1k subscribers):
BREAKING NEWS | Wagner Captures Yahidne | Bakhmut 2.5km From Operational ENCIRCLEMENT 24/02/23.
#Z #Russia #Berkhivka #Pobjeda #Ukraine #Russian #Donetsk #Putin #Soledar #Siversk #Bakhmut #Paraskoviivka #Mariinka #Svatovo #Kramatorsk #Donbass
Detailed situation reports can be found on a daily basis concerning events in Ukraine over the past 24 hours at the ‘A SKEPTIC’ Substack account:
Link to 'A SKEPTIC' Substack channel.
***
SUPPORTING SCOTT RITTER
I've been listening to Scott Ritter describe how things are for him and I suspect have been for him for quite some time now.
He has been doing a LOT of unpaid work with a great many interview requests coming in that he has been ready and willing to agree to. But the work where receives some pay for have suffered due to this, being left until the wee small hours of the night to complete work on.
Scott, I think you will agree, has been one of the most influential voices out there on Russia and Ukraine.
I was moved by Scott's words to take an annual subscription to his Substack account that he runs in coordination with his colleague on 'U.S. Tour of Duty', Jeff Norman. This is the main way that Scott recommends to help him with finances with which to upgrade his delivery of comment on Russia and Ukraine, via a better microphone etc. and perhaps the creation of a recording studio in his basement to create a more professional and impressive look. To invest in these things he would like to be sure that this has a viable financial future.
Would you also like to help by subscribing at one of the various levels to Scott's Substack account? I hope so. If so the link is here:
Below you'll find the edited part of the video where Scott talks of his commitments to get the facts out on events in Ukraine and of the finances that would come in handy to enhance their delivery:
***
VICTORY BELONGS TO RUSSIA: IT IS ONLY A MATTER OF TIME
Each day that passes makes a conclusive Russian victory in the Donbass and beyond more certain. As Russia bolsters her forces, and weaponry, those of Ukraine decrease. Russian forces gain ready access to rest and recuperation as troop numbers increase. The increasingly exhausted and demoralised Ukrainian troops have an ever decreasing prospect of such respite. This situation is likely to bring them to complete breakdown as Russia unleashes the firepower of the more modern and advanced weaponry that is arriving with the newly mobilised Russian troops.
The various Ukrainian offensives are now weak when confronted by the reinforced Russian lines. A few futile efforts achieve quite miserable results before fire reigns down on the Ukrainian troops and they are forced back to their starting positions.
And now, all this being said, we have arrived at the wet, and later, freezing conditions where these pathetic Ukrainian forces will be subject to myriad forms of abject misery with death and injury all around them while they lie sodden or frozen, abandoned to their fate by Kiev.
The pitiable young and old of Ukraine have been frogmarched to their deaths as cannon-fodder while the bestial elites of the collective West urge their "president" to add more to their number there at the gates of Hell and their doom. We must feel for the majority of them as they are not the Nazis we revile, in most part they are decent men, fathers, sons, brothers, husband and uncles, who no doubt saw through the coup of 2014 for what it was. But sadly, their fate seems sealed.
Nothing will stop Russia now. Every factor favours them. Victory will be Russia's. In Donbass and beyond and in due course across the world.
Victory belongs to Russia: It is now only a matter of time.
UPDATES TO BE ADDED HERE AS AND WHEN THEY BECOME AVAILABLE OVER THE NEXT 24 HOURS.
UPDATES TO BE ADDED HERE AS AND WHEN THEY BECOME AVAILABLE OVER THE NEXT 24 HOURS
***\O/***
WHO IS MOST RESPONSIBLE FOR THE TRAGEDY CURRENTLY TAKING PLACE IN UKRAINE?
The conflict in Ukraine is a tragedy for both sides that would never have occurred if the intent of all parties had been to find peace and reconciliation at all costs.
The death, injury, mental trauma and destruction is enormous and will colour relations between Russia and Ukraine and between Russia and the collective west for generations to come.
An open-minded inspection of past events cannot help but reveal that there were great variations among the parties involved when it came to avoiding this situation.
None of those involved can be totally absolved of all responsibility. Having said this, certain facts point to which of the several protagonists made the most effort to avoid what is happening now.
In looking at the events which have brought us to the current lamentable situation I would argue that the primary factors to look at when attempting to attribute blame are ‘motivation’ and ‘inclination toward violence’.
The tragedy begins well before the winter of 2013-14 with the political turmoil and disputation surrounding the electoral process where powerful elites vied for power. Both Russia and the USA had powerful motivations that brought their involvement in Ukraine in the years after the fall of the Soviet Union. Russia, as neighbour to Ukraine was inextricably linked to it economically and as a fellow majority Slavic nation.
The motivations of the USA which were seen at their height during the ‘Orange Revolution’ of winter 2004-15 can be framed in both a positive or negative light depending on who is sourced. That it was involved at least in attempting to influence the result of the presidential election at that time however, cannot be denied.
U.S. officials would claim that they are motivated by and solely interested in spreading the democratic process and individual freedom worldwide where they see deficits in them. Through organisations such as the ‘National Endowment for Democracy’ the USA involves itself in every election worldwide where it conceives there is a lack of either freedom or democracy.
The events most crucial to establishing which side in the current conflict bears most responsibility however leads us to the events of winter 2013-14 on Kiev’s main square, The Maidan. It is here that we see the ‘inclination toward violence’ exhibited most clearly and the question of ‘motivation’ reveals itself as crucial to establishing guilt.
It is clear that the initial protests on Maidan Square were peaceful. It is also clear that elements within Ukraine’s then security forces, the ‘Berkut’ at times acted with violence against some of those initial relatively peaceful protests.
As the initial peaceful protests continued the level of violence became ever more heightened as more radical and indeed extreme elements took over, by reports seen at the time, threatening the initial protesters with violence and gradually changing the whole tenor of the protest movement. Soon Molotov Cocktails were being thrown at the police and a variety of other life-threatening weapons began to be deployed.
The then president Yanukovych is understood to have rejected a request to arm the police who were armed only with a baton and shield. It was also requested by the same authorities that they be allowed to clear the square. If such requests were made he rejected them as neither eventuality transpired. It has been said that he instead favoured establishing a ‘dialogue’ with the protesters rather than acquiesce to any form of draconian move against them. This, it seems to me, indicates a motivation on the part of Yanukovych to avoid violence and to instead favour efforts to find common ground with the protesters.
Meanwhile, as deaths among the police force mounted (eventually reaching thirty eight fatalities) U.S. president Barack Obama called upon the Ukrainian authorities to safeguard the well being of those he referred to as ‘peaceful protesters’. This while government buildings were being taken over by the protesters and in once case at least burned down. In my opinion, in taking this stance he was directly condoning the violence on the Maidan by refusing to acknowledge it and instead lending his support to what was going on.
Obama’s stance was mirrored by several other U.S. officials, some of whom appeared on the Maidan offering the protesters their unambiguous support. While clubs of many kinds, bricks, toxic sprays, heavy chains and even a fork-lift truck were used to injure and kill the police figures such as Senator John McCain, U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine, Geoffrey Pyatt and Victoria Nuland, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State arrived on the square to lend their unequivocal support.
Once again officials of the USA would without doubt state that the motivation for their involvement were once again freedom and democracy.
Events on the Maidan led to the overthrow of the president and government of that time and their replacement with those approved of by the USA. This then led to a more peaceful, largely non-violent insurrection in eastern Ukraine where government offices were taken over by protesters against what was framed as a coup on the Maidan.
The response of the new authorities in Kiev was to send the Ukrainian military to quell the insurrection there and to reassert the central authority of Kiev. This almost immediately took a violent form and over the next eight years to the present day an estimated total of fourteen thousand individuals have died. Once again I see the advocacy of violence being clearly from one side rather than from both.
The violence in eastern Ukraine raged through the rest of 2014 into 2015 with a ‘self-defence’ force having been raised to confront and fight the forces sent by Kiev and those of nationalist militias who had joined them. However, in mid to late 2015 it had become clear that the underfunded and badly equipped Ukrainian forces were being comprehensively beaten by the self-defence forces. It was at this point that the Kiev authorities agreed to talks with Russia also involving France and Germany. These talks eventuated in what became known as the Minsk Accords or Agreements.
The authorities in Kiev agreed at Minsk to establish direct talks with the leaders of the two new republics which had been formed after the insurrection in the regions of Donetsk and Lugansk. In addition they agreed that the Donbass region of eastern Ukraine would receive a special status providing it with enough autonomy to preserve its own unique culture, loyalties and language.
For the seven years following the agreements at Minsk, subsequently ratified at the United Nations, Russia continued to press for Ukraine to implement its commitments. Meanwhile, during this time Ukrainian forces continued their military assault on the largely Russian-speaking civilian population of Donetsk and Lugansk regions. Despite daily reports of death among the civilian population and destruction of residential tower blocks, schools, hospitals, single-storey homes and urban centres the Russian authorities rejected calls by the republics to be accepted into the Russian Federation and put all hopes into the Minsk process.
In my view the patience of the Russian authorities demonstrates a desire to move forward toward a peaceful resolution of the situation where reconciliation between the two parties could maintain the integrity of the Ukrainian state and bring about renewed peaceful relations.
This patience by Russia lasted for seven years thereafter while no perceivable progress was made by the Kiev authorities toward peace and reconciliation. On the contrary, with the years Ukraine was seen to be rearming and quite clearly intent on a military solution rather than a peaceful one. In recent times Petro Poroshenko, the previous Ukrainian president to Zelensky and the ex-chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel have both admitted that the Minsk Agreement was merely a stalling tactic at a time the Ukrainian army was weak.
Here again we see the ‘motivation’ factor coming into play with a vengeance. Though Kiev claimed it was on the path to peace it was instead intent on war. This was exacerbated for Russia by two connected factors. Ukraine began to link in an ever-closer relationship with NATO, with joint training exercises and myriad related aspects which were aimed at strengthening the Ukrainian military.
Then, in late 2021 when Russia began to object most strongly to the ever-increasing encroachment of NATO on its borders with Ukraine clearly becoming a de facto NATO state, the U.S. authorities and in particular those of NATO demonstrated in their responses that Russia had little say in the matter.
Ukraine had been taken into the western political, economic and military orbit since the insurrection of 2014 and it was clear that sooner or later it would join both the EU and NATO, the former as a full member, the second in de facto form. Meanwhile Ukraine’s president Zelensky called for Ukraine to regain its nuclear status and began calling for a military campaign against Crimea.
Zelensky had been elected upon a ticket of ending the conflict in eastern Ukraine in 2019, but by 2021 had begun taking the diametrically opposite stance, one of increasingly draconian moves against the political opposition which favoured better relations with Russia. His rhetoric also increasingly hardened regarding Russia and the authorities within the new republics.
While this change in attitude by Zelensky in the spring of 2021 was becoming clear there were commensurate movements of Ukrainian troops to the contact line in the east. Then, toward the end of the year in what was to be the last Minsk meeting of the Normandy Quartet a marathon session of nine hours took place at the conclusion of which the Ukrainian representatives stated they no longer believed the Minsk Accords to be worthy of activation.
The rejection of Russian attempts to gain an agreement on Russia’s border security with the USA and NATO, followed by Ukraine’s rejection of the only available pathway to peace, the Minsk Accords was followed by OSCE reports through January and February of 2022 showing a massive increase in Ukrainian shelling of Donetsk and Luhansk/Lugansk. Then, only weeks before Russia initiated its operation in Ukraine Russian intelligence reportedly discovered a plan by Kiev to mount an all-out attack upon the republics.
Looking over the history of this conflict stretching back to 2014 and beyond it is clear to me that the motivations of both the USA and the Kiev authorities could hardly be personified as those directed toward peace. Instead, the combined effort appears to have been directed toward a variety of deceptions and machinations leading ultimately to the destruction of those in Russia they regarded as enemies.
Russia on the other hand appears to have been genuinely intent on a peaceful outcome that would preserve the sovereignty of Ukraine while guaranteeing the rights of the Russian-speaking majority in eastern Ukraine to live in peace with an adequate degree of autonomy in perpetuity.
It is my conclusion therefore that Russia was ultimately forced to take action against the Kiev authorities and their military forces due to having no good choice remaining to them and having hoped with great patience for the better part of a decade that they and their U.S. allies would take the path to peace in good faith.
On this basis I find the USA and the Kiev authorities to be most responsible for what is happening now and bear the guilt for all the loss of life, trauma, injury and destruction taking place now.
***\O/***