RUNNING UPDATES ON THE CONFLICT IN UKRAINE - 02.09.2023
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.
*** GLOBAL SOUTH WARMS TO RUSSIA AS UKRAINE EFFECT FREEZES ***
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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
Rus Stops Ukr Advance Verbovoye, Heavy Ukr Losses; Failed Kerch Bridge Attack; US Dismayed Xi G20.
ALEX CHRISTOFOROU of THE DURAN
Elensky goes after Kolomoisky. Kirby, UKR reaches Russia second line. EU-Ukraine food court. U/1
THE DURAN
Rabotino media narrative. Ukraine mobilization.
LARRY JOHNSON (EX-CIA)
How will Putin Go Down in History?
THE NEW ATLAS LIVE
The New Atlas LIVE: Scott of Kalibrated & Ukraine's Attempts to Break Russian Lines.
GLENN DIESEN
Is Ukraine or Russia winning the war? - Israeli i24NEWS.
SCOTT RITTER
Scott Ritter Extra Ep. 94: Ask the Inspector.
THE JIMMY DORE SHOW
U.S. Senator ADMITS He Doesn’t Care About Ukrainian Deaths.
RICK WALKER
Faina Savenkova: "A Girl's Life On A Kill List".
HINDUSTAN TIMES
Putin Lauds India, Other Asian Countries In A Scathing Attack On 'Weakening' West | Watch:
Putin Prevails, Zelensky Fails; Russian Forces Destroy Ukrainian Sea Boats Aimed At Kerch Bridge.
Putin's Savage Response To U.S. Claim On Kyiv's Operation; 'Russia Has Been And Remains Invincible'.
Russia Says West Trying To 'Hijack India Summit'; Sets Condition For Ukraine Mention At G20.
Japan Flays Russia For 'Insulting' Its Day Of Military Glory; Says 'Will Trigger...' | Details:
NATO Nation's Military Chopper 'Enters' Belarus; Lukashenko's Govt Releases Video | Poland Responds.
RUSSIAN NEWS
On Knowledge Day, Putin met with Russian schoolchildren.
ShanghaiEye魔都眼
Joint military drills of CSTO countries start in Belarus, soldiers march in opening ceremony.
Putin visits Russian region where he has ancestral ties, meets local residents.
SEYMOUR HERSH
A Crime Against Humanity or a Divine Mission?
TFIGlobal
Ukraine’s ‘All-Inclusive’ Conscription is pretty saddening.
MILITARIAN
FOOTAGE: Russian troops destroyed 5 Ukrainian Maxxpro Vehicles supplied by American countries.
THROUGH THE EYES OF… ANIA
"UKRAINE HAS A SERIOUS PROBLEM. IT'S OUT OF CONTROL."LAVROV ABOUT HOW LONG THE WEST WILL BE USING UA.
FIRSTPOST
Top Stories: Biden to Hold Bilateral Talks with PM Modi | Putin Swarmed by Russians in Meetup.
RICHARD MEDHURST
Macron Goes FULL CRINGE Defending French Colonialism in Niger.
Gabon Politicians Caught Fleeing With Suitcases With Cash.
GEOPOLITICAL TRENDS
More Military Coups in Africa with Gabon Being the latest. What’s the Real Story?
JACKSON HINKLE
BRICS Is CRUSHING The West via @FreshFitMiami
Africa Is KICKING OUT The French via @FreshFitMiami
ANOTHER French African Puppet OUSTED In Gabon Coup.
AFRICAN DIASPORA NEWS CHANNEL
Niger Cuts Off Electricity And Water Supply To French Embassy.
Russian President Putin Says Dedollarization Is A Reality & Will Continue To Evade Sanctions.
THE NEW AFRICA CHANNEL
Russia Races Ahead As U.S. Loses Grip On Africa; How Washington's 'War On Terror' Is Failing.
FIRSTPOST
Gabon Coup: Who is President Ali Bongo and has his 50-Year Dynasty Ended?
PAN AFRICAN TELEVISION
China Now - Episode 23 | Spy Arrests, Technological Marvels, Dignified Housing Debate.
CCTV VIDEO NEWS AGENCY
BRICS Expansion Sends Positive Signal for Global South Solidarity: Comorian President.
ASIAN QUICKTAKE
Breaking the Petrodollar, Ushering in the Decline of Dollar Dominance丨Saudi Arabia Joins BRICS.
TECH REVOLUTION
China JUST ANNOUNCED A Game Changing Natural Gas Breakthrough | The Energy Industry Changes Forever.
iChongqing
Exploring China's Autonomous City | The Future Of New Energy Vehicles.
LIU SIVAYA
THE GIFT OF A SUBSCRIBER that made me cry with emotion. THANK YOU for so much ❤️ | liusivaya. (In Spanish, English subtitles.)
ALEXANDRE GUERREIRO
A Ucrânia arrasa Verbove e a Rússia cede território à China?
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
HEINZ GARTNER
Europeans Cant Believe BRICS Summit Success.
Article published by Russia Today (RT) - 2nd September 2023:
After Kiev’s failed summer counteroffensive, how do the Russian and Ukrainian armies stand as they approach new battles this fall?
Despite localized advances, Zelensky's forces have failed to achieve a major breakthrough during the summer battles of 2023.
Over the past three summer months, media all over the world has closely followed Ukraine’s much-hyped counteroffensive. However, nothing spectacular has happened. On reaching Russia’s line of defense, Kiev's armed forces were able to capture several villages of no strategic value at the cost of significant casualties and destroyed Western equipment. For its part, Russia prioritized defensive tactics throughout this time, but also attempted to launch its own offensive in some directions.
What happened at the front this summer and why was neither side able to achieve significant success? And what condition are the two armies in as they approach the fall campaign?
Switching counteroffensive tactics
Ukraine’s counteroffensive in Zaporozhye Region and the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) has now been going on for over two and a half months. During this time, Kiev's army managed to reach the first of Russia’s three lines of defense on a narrow stretch of land east of the village of Rabotino – the section of the front where the fighting is currently focused. Ukraine was forced to employ almost all its operational and strategic reserves to achieve this advance.
After the losses suffered in June, the Ukrainian command decided to abandon the tactics of employing large mechanized units to advance. Instead, it engaged in infantry assault operations backed by armored vehicles and artillery – a strategy similar to the one used by Russian troops in Artemovsk (Bakhmut).
This decision significantly slowed the pace of the counteroffensive and buried the strategic goal of reaching the Sea of Azov. However, the strategy made it possible to gradually break through, moving south and southeast.
As a result, by mid-August the Ukrainian army had entered Rabotino, engaged in street battles there, and captured two villages on the Vremevsky ledge: Staromayorskoye and Urozhaynoye. To the east of Rabotino, the Ukrainians were also able to reach Russia’s first line of defense.
Expert discussions
The slow progress disappointed Western and Ukrainian experts, and they began looking for someone to blame for the failed counteroffensive, which was supposed to end in victory. The prevailing opinion was that the Russian army – which had recovered from setbacks last fall and managed to build an effective line of defense with minefields, resilient infantry, artillery, aviation and helicopters – had been underestimated.
However, some quite ridiculous reasons for Ukraine’s failures were also put forward. For example, British intelligence blamed shrubs and weeds for the Ukrainian Army’s misfortunes while Ukraine’s Deputy Minister of Defense Anna Malyar attacked journalists who wrote about the losses suffered by the 82nd brigade.
There were also attempts by the sides to blame each other: Western experts accused the Armed Forces of Ukraine of ineffective operational control of the troops, while Ukrainians remarked that the aid provided to them was insufficient and too slowly delivered. At one point, the military’s Commander-in-Chief Valeriy Zaluzhny even said the Americans do not understand the nature of the ongoing conflict, and are trying to apply their experience of fighting partisan detachments to the realities of the current war. Zaluzhny himself claimed that the operation is more like the Battle of Kursk in 1943.
Battles for Rabotino
Over time, the Ukrainian Armed Forces drew an increasing number of new units into the battles for Rabotino. While initially the counteroffensive was carried out by the 46th airmobile brigade and 47th mechanized brigade, eventually the Ukrainians were forced to pull the 116th, 117th and 118th mechanized brigades, National Guard forces, units of the 71st Jaeger and 1st tank brigades, and many separate units, including the special forces of the Marine Special Operations Center. Finally, in mid-August, Ukraine played its trump card and introduced the 82nd Air Assault Brigade, armed with US Stryker armored fighting vehicles, German Marder infantry fighting vehicles, and British Challenger tanks.
Initially, the 82nd Brigade was supposed to be brought into battle after Ukraine broke through the first line of Russian defense, in order to achieve further results. However, Kiev’s failures led to the premature deployment of the brigade and its first losses. Nevertheless, the Ukrainian Army managed to reach Rabotino and push the Russian troops to the southern outskirts of the village, as well as advance south-east of Rabotino, posing a threat to the Russian flanks.
By Ukraine’s Independence Day, celebrated on August 24, Ukrainian journalists and military bloggers declared that the village was under the full control of the Ukrainian Army, but there was no official confirmation of this. As of August 26, battles continue, with both sides suffering losses and pulling in additional forces.
The Vasilevka front
In June, the Ukrainian Army also tried to move in the direction of Vasilevka – a city controlled by Russia and located near the Kakhovka Reservoir. Employing the 128th mountain assault brigade and 65th mechanized brigades, the Ukrainians drove the Russian troops out of the villages of Lobkovoye and Pyatikhatki. However, having suffered considerable losses, Ukraine did not further engage in active assault operations, and limited itself to demonstration attacks.
This success allowed the Russian Army to employ some of its troops located in this direction to reinforce defenses in the area of Rabotino.
The Vremevsky ledge
The Ukrainian Armed Forces concentrated its entire marine corps in this direction: four brigades reinforced by artillery, including the 23rd and 31st mechanized brigades, units of the 1st and 4th tank brigades, as well as territorial defense forces and aviation.
After they captured the Levadnoye-Ravnopol-Makarovka line, for a month and a half Ukrainian troops advanced in the fields along the flanks of Staromayorsky and Urozhaynoe. Eventually, this advance allowed Kiev to push Russian troops out of the area and pose a threat to Staromlinovka.
Ukrainian media outlets exaggerate the strategic importance of this village, calling it the main stronghold of the Russian defense in the area and ignoring the fact that the Russian Armed Forces’ first line of defense is located at an “operational depth”, significantly south of Staromlinovka. This village is indeed located at the crossroads of several important routes, but the Russians have several supply routes in the area.
The results of the Ukrainian counteroffensive
According to the OSINT community Lostarmour, in the course of its summer counteroffensive the Ukrainian Armed Forces has lost about 46 International MaxxPro armored fighting vehicles, 37 Bradley tanks, eight Leopard tanks, and three Stryker engineering version armored vehicles. These are merely the Western armored vehicle types that have been visually confirmed. In the area of Rabotino there are several tank graveyards, which keep growing. In Staromayorsky, 31 Ukrainian armored vehicles were burned to destruction – and that’s not counting the losses suffered in the course of nearby battles.
Considering the lack of weapons unification in the Ukrainian army and the associated problems with the supply, maintenance, and restoration of damaged equipment, such losses reduce the number of motorized units. The military is now entirely dependent on the supply of armored vehicles and equipment from Western allies. The only alternative is the militarization of civilian vehicles.
Even Ukrainian troops describe the shortage of armored vehicles experienced by their “Counteroffensive Guard”: “The Steel Cordon Brigade... In the second case, the group walks 7 km to carry out an assault operation. That’s 7km on foot. And when you're completely f***ed up and almost arrive at the destination, they start urging you on with all their might.”
Moreover, in the course of the summer battles, the Ukrainian Army has not been able to effectively manage troops at the tactical and operational levels. The largest units in the Ukrainian army are still brigades (numbering 2,000-4,000 people), while Russia has divisions (4,000-20,000 people) and combined-arms units (over 40,000 people) which Ukraine can fight only by merging separate brigades of varying combat capability.
Russia’s strategic plan
As it prepared for the defense of the land corridor to Crimea, the Russian command reinforced the site of future battles with a line of defense, and also pulled a large group of troops in the direction of Kupyansk and Krasny Liman.
A possible Russian offensive in the direction of the Oskol River posed a threat to the Ukrainians, since it could result in the loss of an important site captured by Kiev in October 2022. This forced the Ukrainian military to transfer newly formed brigades to the area. In this way, the 88th, 41st, 32nd, 43rd, 44th, 42nd, and 21st mechanized brigades were pulled here from the south. Also, it is possible that the 8th brigade and the 13th Jaeger brigade are presently moving towards Kupyansk.
Russian troops carried out several demonstration attacks in the direction of Borovaya and Kupyansk in July-August of this year. Occupying several dozen square kilometers, they forced Ukraine to transfer reserves to this direction and distract General Alexander Syrsky from the battle near Artemovsk.
Future prospects
Here is how the fighters of Ukraine’s 46th brigade assess the Melitopol direction: “Next up is Novoprokopovka and that's probably it. Further on is the Russians’ main line of defense. Moreover, a deep wedge in the area of Rabotino would be an opportunity for the invaders to hit us in the flank from the areas of Kopan and Novofedorovka. And then we would either have to expand the front in the direction of Nesteryanka-Kopan and Belogorye, or we would get something similar to what we could’ve gotten in Bakhmut — flank envelopment with encirclement.” This means that the Ukrainians do not expect to break through Russia’s first line of echeloned defense in this area.
The summer campaign is coming to an end. Perhaps a warm and dry September will somewhat prolong the bloodshed, but in October the rains will turn the steppe into a huge mud pit, which is particularly dangerous for NATO’s heavy armored vehicles.
Both armies are exhausted by the summer battles and as soon as the weather takes a turn for the worse, will most likely start tending to their wounds and preparing for future battles. During this time, Ukraine will try to obtain aviation to use in its second counteroffensive attempt, although a better idea would be to first replenish the mechanized brigades.
As for the Russian Army, it will continue setting up its defense, and may launch a series of counterattacks in order to improve its tactical positions or, alternatively, it may shift its focus to the Artemovsk or Kupyansk directions. Also, during the fall and winter, the Russian military industry will continue addressing the issue of supplying the army with shells, armored vehicles, and longer-range barrage ammunition for counter-battery warfare.
By Vladislav Ugolny, a Russian journalist born in Donetsk.
MAPPING/ANALYSIS CHANNELS
* Updates will be added here as and when they become available.
MILITARY SUMMARY CHANNEL
The Fall | Insidious Breakthrough Plan. Tank Duels In Svatove. Military Summary For 2023.09.02
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DEFENSE POLITICS ASIA UPDATE
RUSSIAN AIRBORNE REDEPLOYED TO ROBOTYNE REGION! - Ukraine SITREP Day 555.
MILITARY AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS UPDATE
Battlefield Ukraine Russian Bleeding the Ukrainian Army Dry.
HS MAPPING UPDATE
Heavy Fighting Near Verbove Continues As The Ukranians Try To Advance.
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 MODERN WESTERN MALAISE & THE PROSPECT OF FOREVER WARS
Most westerners have seemingly far more important things to do with their time than contemplate anything other than subjects related to work and family, however it can’t have escaped the notice of most that negative factors are increasingly impinging themselves upon them.
It should not be necessary to delineate the negative factors talked of above. There cannot be many who remain totally blissfully ignorant of them and the fact that they are increasing. Those who live in the western world can surely gauge the degree to which factors such as disease, stress, anxiety, social pressure, financial constraints and worries, psychological pressure and other debilitating factors are increasing. And within this already exhausting mental universe western populations are now faced with the prospect of being forever at war.
The heady days of the Sixties where the prospect of a world where humanity advanced on all fronts, where leisure time was increased to allow families greater scope for quality experiences due to a shorter working week, where standards of living would rise with the help of increased incomes, a wide and deep social net and a constant array of new innovations to benefit our lives seem like mere pipe dreams these days. And perhaps they always were. These promises of a better life and more stress-free time away from work where minds are relaxed and the good life is constructed for all by a capitalist economy working for all appear as a sick joke to most now, burdened by the anxieties that now plague the precariat, those who cannot rely on a lifetime of employment.
In combination with the above, those who live and work in the still privileged West (when compared to most other regions) will now have to cope with the deprivations stemming from their leaders waging war against both Russia and China. Already the economic effects are being felt due to the blowback from economic sanctions imposed upon Russia, mainly those related to energy products from Russia, oil and natural gas. Inflation has become a major problem once again in the West due to the war it is waging. Recession looms for many, no one being totally spared and Germany appearing likely as worst hit. Deindustrialisation, already long underway in the West appears certain to be taken to its ultimate limit due to the soaring costs of the energy products it needs for western industry to sustain itself.
The western powers began their regime change wars of choice in the wake of the events of 9/11 and the desire to continue them appears undiminished and growing. The neoconservatives who rose to prominence in the USA after 9/11 continue to wield by far the greatest degree of power in Washington. In fact they appear totally unchallenged at this point. Their fellow-travellers in the United Kingdom appear just as unassailable and those in Europe currently also. These radical zealots for war will not easily be removed. Their hands grip the levers of power with a determination that cannot be assuaged by reason or appeals to any degree of common sense regarding the catastrophic effects of their firmly held dogmas. No amount of logical thought can interrupt the fixed-mindedness clearly evident in the ultra-aggressive policies pursued relentlessly by them.
This all leaves the man and woman on the street and workplaces of the western world in an invidious position. Falling standards of life, increasing stresses and strains, both physical and mental, a disintegrating social and infrastructural matrix around them and ever-increasing psychological burdens where each factor describes feeds off the other.
Our modern malaise is of course man made and in theory could be undone by those men and women who have put it in place. However, so much money is made through the engineering of society this way. The pharmacological industry profits immensely as does the military industrial complex, of the USA and UK in particular. Many feed from the modern malaise and have a vested interest in seeing it continue and heighten. War is extremely good for business as is disease. In recent years many billionaires arose from the two years of world turmoil created by the Covid outbreak. Many scheme now to profit from whatever other fears, whether imaginary or real, afflict humanity in future. It is not in their interests to present solutions, their interests lie in the increase of their bottom line profits, nothing else. The U.S. and UK governments along with those of the EU require the taxes that these factors create. It is a vicious circle that in the end affects everyone in the West one way or another.
War and the threat of war bring vast profits and increased power for the few. Yet many apparently remain ignorant in the West regarding this, still seemingly addicted to their mainstream media sources which promote the very factors that hurt them in both pocket and mental health terms. A new “pandemic” is now being predicted to generate even greater profits for those who successfully manipulate it. The casino capitalist system so beloved of the West is turning it into a wasteland of crumbling infrastructure and impoverished citizens. Meanwhile those fanatically reaping the monetary benefits of this inherit an increasingly diseased region. Their manic obsession to create even more zeros on their bank balances rules all. This is the modern western malaise amid the ever-increasing prospect for western populations of being held in the grip of a forever war.
