RUNNING UPDATES ON THE CONFLICT IN UKRAINE - 20.05.2023
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.
Please note: We will be in various locations in Southern India for the next five days. This will result in variations to the timing of updates and quite possibly their total absence on certain days.
*** ARE WE SEEING THE END OF ZELENSKY w/ NO OFFENSIVE COMING? ***
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“Ukraine. What is the truth...?
Why won’t western media tell both sides…?”
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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.
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Lead feature:
ALEXANDER MERCOURIS of THE DURAN
Russia Storms Last Bakhmut Positions, Bombards Ukraine; US Seeks Frozen Conflict, West Prepares F16s.
ALEX CHRISTOFOROU of THE DURAN
Elensky in Saudi Arabia, soon Japan. Politico, freeze conflict. Boris, Macron was a lickspittle. U/1
THE DURAN
Zelensky world tour lands in Saudi Arabia, next stop G7 Japan.
DANNY HAIPHONG
THE DURAN LIVE ON RUSSIA-UKRAINE, ASSAD IN RIYADH, AND LIZ TRUSS IN TAIWAN.
LEVAN GUDADZE
Russia won in Bakhmut, F-16 for Ukraine, Arab world for peace, Putin on the ruling Western elite...
Morning briefing of the Ministry of Defense of Russia (May 20, 2023).
JUDGE ANDREW NAPOLITANO - PATRICK LANCASTER
LIVE from Ukraine/Russia border - Patrick Lancaster Indy journalist.
SCOTT RITTER
Escalation in Donbass Conflict.
GEORGE GALLOWAY
Journalism is not a crime #GonzaloLira.
JUDGE NAPOLITANO - TONY SHAFFER
F-16s to Ukraine/ More Aid to Ukraine?/ Zelenskyy at G7.
GEORGE GALLOWAY - BRIAN BERLETIC
INTERVIEW: The US effort to buy Thailand.
KIM IVERSEN
US Secretary of State Blinken Announces State Developed AI To Combat “Russian Disinformation".
RUSSIAN NEWS
The arrogance of NATO has caused the deepest crisis in sphere of European security! Russia Ukraine.
Let the tail wag the dog! Lavrov, Russia, Ukraine.
JOHN MARK DOUGAN
Ukr Military using Storm Shadow Missiles to strike Civilian Infrastructure, evidence walkthrough.
RACHEL BLEVINS
NATO Members Divided Over Future Support for Ukraine.
GEORGE GALLOWAY - BRIAN BERLETIC
INTERVIEW: The US effort to buy Thailand.
SYRIANA ANALYSIS
Syria's Bashar al-Assad's full speech at the Arab League summit (English subtitles).
RICHARD MEDHURST
Zelensky Surprise Visit at Arab League, Assad Speech, Ukraine F-16, Imran Khan & More!
TELESUR ENGLISH
Russia and Iran strengthen economic ties in the face of US sanctions.
HINDUSTAN TIMES
Russian 'Tornado-S' blows up Ukrainian Command Posts; Wipes out fortified positions, ammo depots.
Zelensky's much hyped counteroffensive a damp squib? Here's why Ukraine cannot take on Russia.
Zelensky bombs his own people in Donetsk; Russia hits Ukraine with drones | Details:
Russian fighters 'blow up' Ukrainian bomber in Donetsk; Kyiv's forces suffer nearly '200 casualties'.
Russia strikes camouflaged Ukrainian troops; Bunkers of Ukraine forces 'reduced to rubble'.
Russian forces dig new trenches around Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant; Putin sends more troops | Watch:
'Very Difficult To Fight Russia': Ukraine's big admission as Bakhmut battle gets intense.
Ukraine pleads for F-16 help, Biden says 'No'; How Russian war could pit U.S. against EU and UK.
THE GRAYZONE
Grayzone members added to Ukraine 'kill list'.
CHRIS HEDGES - PROFESSOR RICHARD WOLFF
America's DYING Empire.
SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
China announces US$3.8 billion Belt and Road expansion in Central Asia.
ShanghaiEye魔都眼
China releases report disclosing US coercive diplomacy and its harm.
Beijing: China-Russia cooperation does not target any third party, nor will it be swayed by others.
CCTV VIDEO NEWS AGENCY
China Expects Russian PM Mishustin's Upcoming Visit to Boost Bilateral Cooperation: Spokesman.
GEORGE GALLOWAY - ALEX REPORTERFY
China's Return On The World Stage.
CCTV VIDEO NEWS AGENCY
LIVE: Chinese President Xi Jinping chairs China-Central Asia Summit.
THE ZELENSKY CURSE STRIKES AGAIN!
Slovakian President's “infatuation with the EU” leads to an early retirement.
SEAN FOO
“Total Control Is Coming” | This Is Scary.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
PROFESSOR JOHN J MEARSHEIMER: IS CHINA THE REAL WINNER OF THE UKRAINE WAR?
Article published by Russia Today (RT) - 20th May 2023:
Erdogan hails ‘special relationship’ with Putin.
The Turkish leader stressed the importance of a balanced approach in working with Russia.
The extension of the Black Sea grain deal would have been impossible without Türkiye’s “special relationship” with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan claimed in an interview with CNN on Friday.
Brokered with UN and Turkish mediation last July, the initiative allows Ukraine to export its grain and fertilizer to markets around the world despite the ongoing military conflict with Russia. The deal was set to expire on May 18, but Russia signed off on a 60-day extension on Wednesday. It did so even though the EU has failed to lift its restrictions on Russian grain and fertilizer exports as agreed.
“This was possible because of our special relationship with President Putin,” Erdogan told the American broadcaster. “You need a balanced approach towards a country such as Russia, which would have been a much more fortunate approach.”
The extension of the deal was a political win for Erdogan, who has positioned himself as a middleman and potential peacemaker between Moscow and Kiev. Erdogan has spoken regularly with Putin since Russia’s military operation in Ukraine began, and Türkiye is the sole member of NATO that has not imposed economic sanctions on Moscow.
“We are not at a point where we would impose sanctions on Russia like the West have done. We are not bound by the West’s sanctions,” Erdogan told CNN. “We are a strong state and we have a positive relationship with Russia.”
Seeking a third consecutive term as president, Erdogan won the largest share of the vote in last week’s election in Türkiye, beating rival Kemal Kilicdaroglu by almost five points but failing to break the 50% threshold necessary to earn victory outright. With third-place contender Sinan Ogan eliminated, Erdogan and Kilicdaroglu will face off in a second round of voting on May 28.
In the runup to the crucial vote, Erdogan has accused Kilicdaroglu of trying to “detach” Türkiye from Russia. While Kilicdaroglu has not threatened to sever relations with Moscow, he recently accused Russia of meddling in the election, a claim that earned him a rebuke from the Kremlin.
READ MORE: Erdogan’s rival pledges to expel ‘all refugees’ from Türkiye
Kilicdaroglu has also vowed to mend Ankara’s ties with its NATO allies – including by lifting Erdogan’s veto on Sweden’s accession to the US-led bloc – and to immediately restart membership talks with the EU.
Türkiye’s pursuit of an independent foreign policy depends on its strong ties to Moscow, Erdogan argued. “Russia and Türkiye need each other in every field possible,” he stated, explaining that his recent moves toward dialogue with Syrian President Bashar Assad – whose opposition he backed in the Syrian Civil War – would not have been possible without Russian mediation.
“[Through] my friendship with President Putin, we thought we could open a door, specifically in our fight against terrorism in the northern part of Syria,” he said. “If we can do that, I said I see no obstacle that would remain in the way of our reconciliation.”
MAPPING/ANALYSIS CHANNELS
* Updates will be added here as and when they become available.
MILITARY SUMMARY UPDATE
Bakhmut Has Fallen. Military Summary And Analysis 2023.05.20
The Shortest 0.6 Square Kilometers Of Bakhmut. Military Summary And Analysis 2023.05.20
The Donbass Zugzwang | Wagner Will Go Further. Military Summary For 2023.05.19
NWE WAR REPORTS UPDATE
No update posted so far today
DEFENSE POLITICS ASIA UPDATE
[ Bakhmut Front ] UKRAINE ABANDON ENTIRE NORTHWEST OF CITY; Ukraine Bakhmut final stand at SW corner.
[ Ukraine SITREP ] Day 449 (18/5) - CRIMEA RAILWAY SABOTAGED; Ukraine left 1 stronghold in Bakhmut.
DPA WAR UPDATE
No update posted so far today
THETI MAPPING UPDATE
No update posted so far today
BALKAN MAPPING UPDATE
Fall of Citadel [19 May 2023].
FREE RUSSIA UPDATE
No update posted so far today
THE RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE UPDATE
Ukraine Russian War, Rybar Map and Combat Footage for May 19th, 2023 Battle for Bakhmut Last Pocket.
PROJECT GREAT UPDATE
No update posted so far today
MILITARY AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS UPDATE
No update posted so far today
RYBAR UPDATE
Ukraine War Map, May 19th.
M MAPPING UPDATE
Fall Of Citadel l Massive Russian Advance North Of Bakhmut.
HS MAPPING
Breaking News l Bakhmut Has Fallen l Russian Forces Fully Captured Bakhmut.
Fall Of Northern Bakhmut l End Of Bakhmut Is Near.
HISTORY OF MAKUS UPDATE
No update posted so far today
WEEB UNION UPDATE
Bakhmut Endgame | Final Day? | Bakhmut Front Update 20/05/23.
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
THE OLD MOVIE WAS IN BLACK & WHITE. THE NEW ONE WILL BE IN FULL COLOUR.
George W. Bush was the master of simplicity. You are either with us or you are against us.
Everything was reduced to the level that even the less than average person could understand, i.e. reduced to black and white, good and evil, right and wrong. Universal opposites.
This method for controlling the narrative fed to the masses was well known to both Himmler and Goering at the outset of the second world war. The rhetoric is designed to dupe and then manipulate so that the agreed plans of the western political elites involved can be put in motion without anything approaching democracy or choice by western populations can be involved. Their so-called superiors “know what’s best for them” and so deliver them into a state of war-approval mania.
Being humble, never having given much thought to geopolitical issues, the majority in the West are simply thankful that someone can explain things in black and white terms and let them know in what direction their nation is going (to war) and to what degree they ought to emote.
Knowing very little those now sketchily “informed” can provide the required approval regarding the black and evil foe they have been told about… that unredeemable and unrepentant monster ‘over there’ that is doing “really bad things”.
The collective west resembles a Machiavellian conductor of an orchestra, this is the primary mainstream media channels that deliver the “correct” message right on cue. They continue to deliver the “correct”, pure black and white message at the direction of their state elites as long as it takes to achieve the goal that suits the “national interest”.
The present situation in Ukraine, unlike the many regime change wars the USA, UK and their allies have waged in recent times is framed as in almost diametrically opposite terms. The West was framed as totally right to attack and invade Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and wage proxy wars in both Syria and Yemen… and this was in general the narrative complied with by western mass media.
Regarding Ukraine, the West is framed as totally correct to support the authorities in Ukraine who arrived in power via a violent insurrection and have helped them in their goal of pushing Russia into a corner. This was achieved by multiple means that denied Russia any path to a negotiated peace.
Despite all the barriers put in their way Russia continued for eight long years to enable a peaceful settlement of the Donbass question. The western powers had no interest in this and instead built the Ukrainian forces to NATO standards with the intent of taking the Donbass region by force and effectively killing off the pro-Russian culture of the Russian-speaking majority there.
Nothing was hard of the above fact within western mainstream news. Instead all that was heard was the same black and white, good and evil narrative that had been agreed at the very start of the plan, a plan to weaken and then dismember the Russian state.
However, this facade of theatrical simplicity is starting to dissolve in front of all the blinded eyes that were fed so many lies by western mass media. Russia, having broken out from its trap and taken on the combined might of NATO within Ukraine… is winning and will soon be seen to be winning by all. It will no longer be possible to sustain the western facade of ‘Ukraine is winning’ and ‘Bad Guy Russia’ is losing. That movie is over. A new one is just about to begin.
