RUNNING UPDATES ON THE CONFLICT IN UKRAINE - 14.04.2023
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.
*** THERE’S STILL MUCH MORE DOWNSIDE FOR THE WEST TO COME ***
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“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 women and 3 men died, all civilians.
Air attack on pro-Russian separatists in Luhansk kills 8, stuns residents.
…………
Lead feature:
ALEXANDER MERCOURIS of THE DURAN
UK MoD, Ukr Retreat Bakhmut, Russia Advances Avdeyevka; US Arrests Leaker; Hersh, Ukraine Corruption.
ALEX CHRISTOFOROU of THE DURAN
Lula in China, ditch USD. EU can't find Russian assets. NYT, WaPo, FBI find 21 yr. old 'leaker' U/1
THE DURAN
Let's talk about the news (Live).
JUDGE NAPOLITANO - TONY SHAFFER
Leaked Docs/ Leaker Arrest, Something is Very Wrong.
JUDGE NAPOLITANO - JOHN JORDAN
Leaked Docs & Leaker Arrest - COMPLETE BREAKDOWN.
GONZALO LIRA
2023.04.14 Jack Teixeira Is An Innocent Scapecoat.
THE CORBETT REPORT
Shh! Don't Report On Pentagon's Secret Leak! - #NewWorldNextWeek.
BRIAN BERLETIC of THE NEW ATLAS
New Atlas LIVE: US March Toward War - Ukraine Offensive, War Over Taiwan.
RUSSIAN NEWS
Russia is building infrastructure in its new territories! Zakharova, Ukraine. RU.
JEFFREY SACHS: UNPROVOKED WAR
In conversation with Jeffrey Sachs.
LEVAN GUDADZE
Europe skeptical about Ukraine's counteroffensive, Chinese Defense Minister to visit Moscow...
First Leopard destroyed in Ukraine, Bakhmut, US under scrutiny, Pentagon leaks, EU damage control...
⚡️🇷🇺🇺🇦 Morning Briefing of The Ministry of Defense of Russia (April 14, 2023)
acTVism Munich
Understanding the War in Ukraine - With Katrina vanden Heuvel (PART 1)
RUSSIAN NEWS
Putin's famous historic Munich speech in 2007.
United States Bioweapons Laboratories in Ukraine. Report of RUSSIA | Irina Yarovaya.
CCTV VIDEO NEWS AGENCY
Xi, Lula to Steer New Future for China-Brazil Ties from Strategic Perspective.
Full Version | Xi Holds Welcome Ceremony for Visiting Brazilian President.
China Willing to Work with Russia to Maintain Bilateral Relations at High Level: Chinese FM.
JUDGE NAPOLITANO
Leaker Arrested/ Ukraine Stealing U.S. Aid/ McConnell retiring?
JUDGE NAPOLITANO - COLONEL DOUGLAS MCGREGOR
Leaker Arrested/ Ukraine Russia War Latest.
CGTN
Pentagon leaks: Five Eyes and the 'Lily-White West'.
GEOPOLITICAL ECONOMY REPORT
Russia leaves neoliberal West to join World Majority.
Dr. STEVE TURLEY
$6 BILLION DOLLAR WOKE DISASTER
DANNY HAIPHONG - SCOTT RITTER
Russia and China Have CHANGED EVERYTHING, OBLITERATE US Hegemony.
REDACTED
Surely, this isn't about to happen in the U.S.A.
RICHARD MEDHURST
4 Years in Prison, No Sentence: Assange Arrest Anniversary.
BREAKING POINTS
EXPOSING the Disinformation Industrial Complex.
BREAKTHROUGH NEWS
De-dollarization Is Inevitable and Rapidly Approaching. Here’s What It Means
Yemen, Ireland, Korea: Can the World’s Most Explosive Divisions Be Solved?
SYRIANA ANALYSIS
From Enemies to Friends: The Surprising Rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and Syria Explained.
THE JIMMY DORE SHOW
Australian TV ACCIDENTALLY Shows The U.S. War Menace.
THE NEW AFRICA CHANNEL
Leaked Documents Reveals US in Panic Mode Over Chinese and Russian Dominance in Africa.
AFRICAN DIASPORA NEWS CHANNEL
Joshua Maponga Says Kamala Harris Offered $60M For LGBTQ, China & Russia Gave Military Training.
JEFFREY SACHS
'Russia is correct.'
FIRSTPOST
Ukraine’s President Zelensky Accused of Embezzling Western Aid Money.
LIVE : Brazilian And Chinese Presidents Hold Signing Ceremony.
CGTN
Snowden 2.0: Massive U.S. intelligence #leak -Facts Tell.
Robust growth for China in March as export to Russia surge.
FIRSTPOST
EU Cornered as France and Germany Come to Hungary's Defence | Russia Ukraine War.
Arab World’s Embracing of Syria Now Complete?
THE NEW AFRICAN CHANNEL
Emmanuel Macron has called on Europe to forge its own sovereignty.
iEARLGREY
Why Africa LOVES Russia: How The West Creates Poverty and Misery. Interview with Mr Abdi Nur Siad.
DEEP WEAPONS
Russia Deploys Niobium The Powerful Radars That Can Detect all Threats Up to 500 Km.
THE JIMMY DORE SHOW
War Against China Is For MONEY Admits U.S. Congressman!
THROUGH THE EYES OF...
Live with Andrei Martyanov (@smoothieX12 ) on Poland/ Ukraine, US submarine force, Russia and China.
HINDUSTAN TIMES
Russian missile barrage pushes back Ukrainians from Crimea's gateway | Details:
Putin's surprise show of force in Pacific; Russian warships on high alert amid bigger war fear.
Russia cuts Bakhmut supply line, Ukrainian troops 'trapped' | Moscow claims major gains - report.
Ukrainian Army flees Bakhmut after massive Russian assault; UK confirms setback to Kyiv | Details:
New NATO nation 'betrays' Zelensky; Finland refuses to send fighter jets to Ukraine.
ASIAN QUICKTAKE
Rescue U.S. Dollar pls! Secretary Yellen Again Plans to Visit China for Help.
SEAN FOO
Shocking Data Shows A Horrific Recession Is Coming | Bank Of America's Deadly Warning.
TFIGlobal
The BRICS Plan to End NATO's Supremacy.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
PROFESSOR RICHARD WOLFF: ON THE DECLINE OF THE U.S. EMPIRE AND THE DENIAL OF THE USA.
Article published by Russia Today (RT) - 14th April 2023:
The US spied on its key allies. Will they finally resist?
Wiretapping its ‘partners’ could upend Washington’s own global security architecture.
US President Joe Biden’s administration is in a serious bind after officials were made aware last week that a cache of secret documents was leaked in March showing the US spied on allies.
One of the most damning leaks revealed extensive details of US military support in Ukraine and the exact location of troops, supply specifications and other information related to Kiev’s upcoming spring offensive against Russia. But another important leak surfaced too.
Korean media reported that the CIA files revealed that the US appears to have been spying on the South Korean National Security Office (NSO) in Seoul. The NSO is described as the “control tower of South Korea’s security decision-making.” Additionally, the leaked reports show that the US has also been spying on the UK, Canada and Israel.
The Korean details are the most serious allegations because they involve outright wiretapping. The documents show that South Korean government officials were put in a “difficult position” over sending lethal aid to Ukraine because it might be seen by the public as a “quid pro quo for a state visit.” That state visit by South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol is slated for April 26.
The South Korean leader now has to deal with the prospect of visiting his close allies in Washington while knowing they most probably conducted illegal wiretapping against his country, upsetting Seoul’s national interests and threatening the country’s sovereignty. The documents have for the most part been recognized as legitimate, notwithstanding a few manipulations of casualty figures, and the reaction from Washington obviously suggests they are real.
Thus, the US is in a sticky situation. It is clearly no coincidence that all of the countries joining Washington’s proxy war in Ukraine, sending arms, and joining sanctions against Russia are under the US nuclear umbrella and have US troops stationed within their borders. That alone suggests that the national governments of these countries are under significant strategic pressure to join Washington’s crusade.
However, illegal spying is another thing. It’s such a brazen violation of national sovereignty that no leader can afford to accept this without suffering domestic political ramifications. In order to repair the public opinion damage and survive future elections, the victims of “allied” spying might have to walk back their level of support for the US as a response to the surveillance campaign.
This is why some have called the revelations the most damaging since former NSA contractor Edward Snowden exposed the global US spying campaign through bulk data collection and who then faced a witchhunt from Washington, only to find refuge in Russia. It is likely that whoever leaked these documents will face a stern prosecution, as the Pentagon announced its own probe into the source of the leaks, having been instructed by the White House.
The damage is probably already done. April 26th could see the first domino fall if President Yoon is pressed to walk back his support of Washington’s strategic posturing vis-a-vis Ukraine due to domestic backlash. But it would probably not be the last as friend and foe alike point to America’s lack of good faith in dealing with partners, resorting to espionage instead of negotiation.
This is, of course, not the first time the US has been accused of spying on its allies. A 2015 investigation revealed that the US spied on key European allies through Danish channels, widely reported in May 2021. It was confirmed that, at least from 2012 to 2014, the US spied on senior officials in France, Norway, Sweden and Germany, including former Chancellor Angela Merkel, former Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and others.
It’s not likely a coincidence that key US partners are now saying they want to avoid being mere lackeys to Washington’s global empire. For example, French President Emmanuel Macron told Politico, following his recent visit to China, that Europe must resist pressure to become “America’s followers.” Soon after, European Council chief Charles Michel said European leaders are warming up to the French president’s idea.
For the US to maintain a global security framework and station troops in their allied countries is one thing. It may be seen by some as military occupation of the given country – however, there are arguably some benefits to this. By allowing countries like Japan, South Korea and others to outsource their security needs and associated costs to the US, they can focus more on their economic development. This was, in fact, a major reason why the demilitarization of Japan was acceptable for Tokyo. This is also why the pro-Trump sector of the US is against the current security arrangement with key allies.
That being said, illegal espionage at the highest levels is completely unacceptable and raises serious red flags about whether the current security arrangement of the US and its “allies” is fair or legitimate. These latest leaks could lead to a drastic change in the current status quo or else voters in these countries may well demand it. The upcoming meeting between Yoon and Biden could be the first in a long chain of painful strategic losses for Washington.
MAPPING/ANALYSIS CHANNELS
* Updates will be added here as and when they become available.
MILITARY SUMMARY UPDATE
Bakhmut deadfall. The Russians are advancing on all fronts. Military Summary And Analysis 2023.04.14
Short Updates. Military Summary And Analysis 2023.04.14
KEEP IT SECRET NEWS UPDATE
No update posted so far today
NWE WAR REPORTS UPDATE
Ukraine Retreats From North Bakhmut and Rail Yard.
DEFENSE POLITICS ASIA UPDATE
No update posted so far today
DPA WAR UPDATE
No update posted so far today
THETI MAPPING UPDATE
No update posted so far today
WAR IN UKRAINE UPDATE
No update posted so far today
BALKAN MAPPING UPDATE
Bakhmut Front Update [14 April 2023]
PROJECT GREAT UPDATE
Russia's Breakthrough In Northern Part Of Bakhmut.
MILITARY AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS UPDATE
Battlefield Ukraine and Beyond.
RYBAR UPDATE
No update posted so far today
M MAPPING UPDATE
Ukraine:Day414 [ 14 April ] Russian Breakthrough North of Bakhmut.
FREE RUSSIA CHANNEL UPDATE
No update posted so far today
WEEB UNION UPDATE
Russian Forces Cross The Railways In Central Bakhmut | Advance Northwest In The City 14/04/23.
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.
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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:
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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
UKRAINE IS IN THE PROCESS OF DISAPPEARING AS A VIABLE NATION
The losses in manpower and machines of Ukraine have been absolutely enormous. As Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission has not so long ago admitted. At the very least 100,000 Ukrainian troops have died and just about every military vehicle of importance that Ukraine had prior to February 24th has been destroyed.
Russia is now grinding down the combination of foreign volunteers, young and old men mobilised and barely given a month's training plus western specialists. Russia has launched up to a dozen new military satellites in recent months which give them eyes on Ukrainian troop movements and potentially precise locations of artillery and large group movements.
The energy production capacity of Ukraine is nearing total degradation and once complete and the ground hard enough Russia will use a 500,000 strong army to sweep all before it in its upcoming winter offensive.
You have to wonder what the Ukrainians are banking on right now. Yes, they can keep throwing men forward, mostly at this point barely trained for a month, usually less. Men up to the age of 70. Women too no doubt. And what will they achieve exactly? They might hold back the highly trained Russian military with its far superior artillery power for a limited period. But that Russian military is firing six times as many shells back on a constant day in, day out basis, decimating Ukrainian troop numbers. Then they move forward incrementally and do the same all over again. This is why the Russian commanders and that of Wagner talk respectively of 'grinding down' the Ukrainians and putting them through a 'meat grinder'.
So, what exactly can be achieved by Ukraine in these circumstances?
Well, the USA and others can provide greater financial support and also more and better weapons. But this hasn't worked in the past. No matter which supposed 'game-changer' weaponry has been given to the Ukrainians the Russian military still grinds on and will continue to grind on. This is because Russia HAS to do so... because it sees its very nationhood is at stake.
Barack Obama said years ago that Russia has, 'escalatory dominance'. Russia has an enormous capacity to wage war. Its industry is now even more geared up to destroy Ukraine than before. Russia is not going to lose this. It cannot afford to and it has all the capacity it needs to do so. Sooner or later Ukraine will crack.
Delay in negotiating a settlement will have two consequences however. 1. Even more Ukrainians will die. 2. Even more Ukrainians territory will be lost. There is a third to add to these two. Ukraine is parcelled up into pieces, one taken by Poland, another by Hungary and a third by Romania. These are the realities. It seems the only reason that they cannot be faced by those pushing for ever more war is that they cannot face the humiliation of defeat. But it is coming... no matter WHAT they do.
Ukraine will certainly lose Bakhmut. There is simply no way Russia will give up on the task of taking it. Too much hinges on this. Recent reports, including that of the commander of the Ukrainian 'Svoboda' unit, tell of horrendous conditions in and around Bakhmut with dead Ukrainian troops littering the fields and even the trenches themselves, trenches which flood on a regular basis. The local hospitals are receiving on average 150 casualties per day with amputations relatively common. Across the battlefield it has been estimated that Ukraine is losing between 500 and 800 troops each day. This is not sustainable.
Russia is pounding Bakhmut to dust to take it and in fact it suits the Russian military high command to do so as the object is to eliminate as much of the Ukrainian military forces as possible, to put them into a "meat grinder" as the head of Wagner has said. Sooner or later Bakhmut will fall. Of that there should be no lingering doubt.
The new Russian military satellites now have full oversight of the battle space. These were put in position over the last few months and the current strikes can be seen to have relied on the new satellite data that has become available.
Ukraine stands no chance of keeping anything much in the days and weeks ahead. Another 380,000 Russian troops are arriving with the most modern of weaponry at their disposal. Russia is readying its military for an overwhelming surge that will hit Ukrainian positions, logistic centres, repair shops, warehouses, arms dumps and quite possibly state command and control entities.
There is no possible way Ukraine can do anything very significant against what's coming... especially as its western sponsors are realising the game is just about up and Russia is going to be the winner that takes all.
Russia attempted to find a peaceful way by which the mixed marriage Russian-Ukrainian population of eastern Ukraine could retain their language, pro-Russian culture and allegiances in the face of the president and government they by majority had elected, being ousted by means of an insurrection. The people in that region of Ukraine had expected that change would come through the democratic process, not through riot, or by any other means.
The events which took place on Maidan Square in Kiev therefore shocked and horrified them and they knew with some confidence what was to come. They knew for instance that those who had taken power were those who had failed to secure their positions by democratic means. They knew also that their language, allegiances, pro-Russian culture and indeed their lives were at threat and that henceforth they and their children down the generations would never again experience the ability to reliably cast their vote and have the government they favoured be elected to power.
In effect what had occurred in Kiev was a coup, and they knew it. In addition to all of the above they had seen various members of the United States political elite appear on the square exhorting those there to continue and achieve their goal of bringing the democratically-elected president and government down. A president who had announced that elections would be brought forward to a few months hence in which the entire matter of Ukraine linking ever closer to the European Union could be decided democratically. This was not to be. Instead many were to die including around fifteen policemen. I wonder if anyone reading this can imagine what the political elites of the USA would do if such a number of police officers were killed by similar insurrections in their country?
The people in eastern Ukraine read the writing on the wall and when the new authorities in Kiev said they were going to act against the Russian language every fear they had was confirmed. Were they to accept this new government forced on them and accept to that their already hated population (called 'Moskals' by the ultra-nationalists and most of the general public in western Ukraine, i.e. Russians) was not to be further excluded from any right to a democratic vote, their language itself and that of their children, and perhaps even the right to live at all? Of course not. They took matters into their hands by largely peaceful means, took over administration functions in their regions and demanded a level of autonomy that would guarantee their future rights.
Putin, when asked by the leaders of what became self-asserting republics, to let them join the Russian Federation, refused, stating they must remain within the boundaries of Ukraine but that he would work with others to attain for them the level of autonomy within Ukraine that they required. At the time of asking Kiev had sent its military plus the most violent of the Maidan militias to the republics and they had begun bombarding their villages, towns and cities.
Putin worked with Germany, France and the Ukrainian authorities on the autonomy issue to bring peace and reconciliation to the region. The Minsk Accords were agreed and ratified in 2015 and the next seven years were spent attempting to have them implemented. Ultimately the Ukrainian authorities stated they had no further interest in them. In the interim, from 2015 to 2021 NATO and others within the West has reinforced, trained and financed the Ukrainian army plus put in place massive lines of defence bordering the two regions.
During this period also a constant bombardment of the civilian populations of the two regions was carried out by the Ukrainian military and the so-called 'Volunteer Battalions' such as the 'Azov Battalion'. There was scant, if any, reporting in the West of this latter fact.
When the Ukrainians said they were no longer interested in Minsk and the ex-president of Ukraine, Poroshenko, said it had merely been a ruse to let Ukraine re-arm Russia understood the situation. Then Zelensky, the current president talked of regaining Ukraine's nuclear status and swore to take Crimea back by force. Then, there was a sharp rise in the shelling of the republics.
Putin saw that the peaceful means he had hoped would resolve the question of the Donbass region was no longer recognised by Ukraine or its western supporters. It was for these and other reasons, such as NATO pushing for Ukraine accession to it and with Ukraine having become a de facto NATO state, with nothing at all evident that might provide a peaceful path forward to resolve the thorny questions Minsk ought to have answered that Putin took Russia into Ukraine.