RUNNING UPDATES ON THE CONFLICT IN UKRAINE - 23.04.2023
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.
*** WILL RUSSIA DESTROY UKRAINE’S ABILITY TO MOUNT AN OFFENSIVE? ***
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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.
…………
Lead feature:
ALEXANDER MERCOURIS of THE DURAN
Russia Claims Ukr Troops Refuse Fight; West Loses Hope Ukraine Offensive, Talk Negotiations Grow.
BRIAN BERLETIC of THE NEW ATLAS
Russian Airpower Over Ukraine Increasing + More Shortcomings Appear Ahead Ukrainian Offensive.
ALEX CHRISTOFOROU of THE DURAN
Germany expels diplomats. China diplomat & Crimea history. UKR fire sale. Boris, I'm the king. U/1
SCOTT RITTER
2-Minute Topic: Will there be a Ukrainian Spring Offensive?
REDACTED: CLAYTON MORRIS - SCOTT RITTER
NATO IS FINISHED!
LEVAN GUDADZE
Riot in the Ukrainian army, Fall of Bakhmut, Turkey vs USA, De-dollarization, Victory Parade...
acTVism Munich
Dimitri Lascaris in Crimea - NATO's Pledge to integrate Ukraine & Pentagon Leaks.
GONZALO LIRA
2023.04.23 American Censorship Increasing (The Slippery Slope Is Undefeated).
GARLAND NIXON
DID BIDEN APPOINT A RAVING MANIAC?
RICHARD MEDHURST
Blinken Goes Full Cringe Promoting US Colonialism in Nigeria.
You Won’t Believe What Lula Said About Ukraine.
KIM IVERSEN
Criminalizing Dissent - DOJ Indicts Anti-Biden Black Nationalists Claiming They're Russian Agents.
THE JIMMY DORE SHOW w/ AARON MATÉ
RFK Jr. BLASTS War Machine Over Ukraine In Announcing Presidential Bid.
BREAKING: Biden Told CIA To Lie About Hunter Biden Laptop!
MSNBC Host’s Lie Could Send Journalist to Prison! w/ Matt Taibbi.
BORZZIKMAN
PENTAGON is Cornered in Syria! Russian Pilots have started Threatening US troops in SAR!
HINDUSTAN TIMES
Bakhmut slips out of Zelensky's hands as Putin's men gain more ground; Nearly 300 killed | Watch:
Putin trounces sanctions regime with Ruble; Russia to abandon energy trade in Dollar.
'Revolt' in Ukraine's Army as Bakhmut slips out of Kyiv's control; Wagner Chief makes big claim.
Putin's men 'capture' three more Bakhmut districts | Russian missile barrage hits Kharkiv.
Russia pummels Ukraine with 3,300 pound bombs daily; Putin's men 'exploit' gaps in aid defence.
India to host China and Russia's defence ministers for the first time at SCO meeting | Details:
'Europe Hurt Own...': Nirmala dresses down West for sanctions on Russia; Hails India | Watch:
Putin's war hits U.S. President's popularity back home? Democrats split on Biden in 2024 | Poll:
Russia retaliates to Germany's 'dirty' tactics; Boots out 20 German diplomats | Details.
REALTRUTHTALK
Ukrainian Soldier: Wants To Go Home.
Russian servicemen undergo training on Solntsepyok flamethrowers.
Russian Military Equipment In Taraz, Kazakhstan 4/22/23.
THROUGH THE EYES OF...
8 YEARS IN PRISON FOR MISINFO & 5 YEARS FOR UNINTENTIONAL MESSAGE.MORAWIECKI'S TEACHER ON "PINOKIO".
Russian Military Equipment In Taraz, Kazakhstan 4/22/23.
MINTPRESS NEWS
David Miller Placed On Ukraine List.
DEEP WEAPONS
A Closer Look at Russia's Rocket Launcher with Super precision strike capability.
HistoryLegends
Countries That Lost the Most Foreign Fighters in Ukraine? UPDATE.
JACKSON HINKLE
I can't believe this...
SINO SPHERE
Saudi Arabia And OPEC JUST SHOCKED Everyone With This TERRIFYING Announcement | Changes Everything.
TECH REVOLUTION
Russia JUST EXPOSED The BRUTAL TRUTH Behind Nord Stream Pipelines That Will Change Everything!
CGTN
China and El Salvador: Deeper cooperation since establishment of ties.
TELESUR ENGLISH
Cuba and Vietnam sign cooperation agreements in economic sectors.
Honduran president denounces conspiracy against her government.
Russia debuts this April 22 at the V ALBA Games to be held in Venezuela.
JIM RICKARDS
What If The Dollar Fails?
ASIAN QUICKTAKE
GAMEOVER! China Dump More $750 Billion U.S. Debt and Purchased 2,068 Tonnes of Gold.
GEOPOLITICAL ECONOMY REPORT
How the US dollar system reinforces neocolonialism.
SEAN FOO
This $300 Trillion Time Bomb Is Why Inflation Will Never End.
RUSSELL BRAND - MICHAEL SHELLENBERGER
Why We Should Worry About The Aspen Institute.
THE NEW AFRICA CHANNEL
Russia vs USA in Sudan? What’s behind the latest fighting as the Sudan Conflict intensify.
CGTN
The Dalian Naval Academy.
MINTPRESS NEWS
Irish MEP Clare Daly with a message for NATO.
Russia Expels Over 20 German Diplomats in Retaliatory Move.
STEPHEN GARDNER
Warning! United States government says get out of Sudan immediately.
AFRICAN DIASPORA NEWS CHANNEL
German Ambassador Expelled From Chad Over Meddling In Government Affairs.
British Politician Suspended Over His Support Of Slavery And View Of Black People As Lower Class.
DUE DISSIDENCE
Sabby Sabs Joins! Biden Laptop BOMBSHELL, Tucker DEFENDS Black Leftists, Elon Blue Check Apocalypse.
LIU SIVAYA
¿ESTAMOS LOCOS O QUÉ NOS PASA?: la OTAN debatirá en julio la adhesión de Ucrania | liusivaya.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
The Sugar High of Unipolarity: Why U.S. Military Interventions Increased after the Cold War.
Article published by Russia Today (RT) - 23rd April 2023:
Western ‘experts’ thought they would destroy Russia’s economy. They failed.
The hive mind, with access to political ears and mainstream media pages, claimed that Russia’s economy was smaller than that of Italy, based on GDP. Reality paints a very different picture.
As is often the case in the Western media, the most embarrassing facts are only covered when they can no longer be hidden, but even then unpleasant admissions are made with numerous caveats and excuses.
This week, the International Monetary Fund published a report, which drew the long overdue conclusion that the economic hegemony of the leading Western countries, represented by the G7, is shrinking as the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) surge.
Its conclusions were, of course, ‘polished’ by all the leading Western media outlets, but one thing became clear: Any triumphant Western predictions about the BRICS in general, and Russia in particular, can be safely tossed into the rubbish bin.
In 2007, Western experts published a reassuring report stating that the total contribution of the BRICS to the world economy would not be comparable to that of the G7 until 2032.
But once again Western economic projections have failed, and the fact is that the BRICS countries caught up with the G7 in terms of their contribution to world economic growth as early as 2020, and at the moment the figures, even creatively manipulated by pundits, stubbornly show that by 2028 the BRICS will account for at least 35% (some sources say as much as 40%) of world GDP (compared with 27.8% for the G7).
Western analysts, who are in fact echoing the wishes of the global deep state, have fallen into a similar trap in their assessment of Russia’s prospects and impact on the global economy. As we recall, since the beginning of last year, more sanctions have been imposed on Russia than on any other country in history, and the main talking heads in the West have reported with anticipation that the Russian economy will soon be reduced to dust.
Such was their confidence (after all, a petrol station with matryoshka dolls couldn’t possibly stand up to the combined economic might of the enlightened West) that analysts didn't even bother with figures. The prediction was simple: Russia would be quickly and irrevocably destroyed – first its economy and then its social cohesion.
A common trope for a number of years has been a comparison between the economies of Russia and Italy, with spurious claims that the economy of the world’s largest country is no bigger than that of the home of pizza and pasta, all based on simplistic measurements which fail to take into account currency differences, and overvalue the debt-fueled services sector.
But something went wrong, and to the astonishment of the prognosticators, not only did Russia not kneel, it did not even bend to their will. The country's position as a global energy superpower has been reaffirmed, and the title of global food superpower has been added. Other such titles will come in time.
The forecasters began to compare their calculations and came to the conclusion that they had been counting wrongly.
As a result, a respected US publication, The National Interest, has published an ashen article whose main conclusion is that the comparison of the economies of Russia and Italy betrays the blatant incompetence of Western experts. In short, the roots of the comparison lie in the methodology of comparing economies by nominal GDP – the total value of all goods and services produced or sold in a country over a given period. Indeed, according to the World Bank, Russia's nominal GDP in 2013 was about $2.29 trillion and Italy's was about $2.14 trillion.
But according to the authors of the article, the approach itself was fundamentally flawed: neither the exchange rate nor purchasing power parity (PPP) adjusted for living standards and labour productivity, per capita wealth and, most importantly, the availability of crucial material resources and goods, as opposed to nice “paper” assets like the value of global brands, copyrights and so on, were taken into account in the calculations.
With this correction alone, Russia's real GDP is quite comparable to that of Germany (one of the ten most economically developed countries in the world): $4.81 trillion for Russia versus $4.85 trillion for Germany in 2021.
But even such sophisticated calculations do not reflect the real situation. In times of crisis, the production of physical goods comes first, and here the Russian economy is not only stronger than the German economy, but more than twice as strong as France. Add to this Russia's key role in supplying the world with energy, vital natural resources and food (not to mention its impact on global security) and we don’t need the conclusions of the world’s smartest analysts to understand our country’s real place in the world.
Not so long ago, the International Monetary Fund forecast 0.3% economic growth for Russia in 2023. Perhaps we should thank the “experts” and send this forecast to the same place as the others.
Meanwhile, it’s better that we win in the real world, not on paper.
MAPPING/ANALYSIS CHANNELS
* Updates will be added here as and when they become available.
MILITARY SUMMARY UPDATE
Bakhmut Battle Is Heating Up. Ukraine DRG In Kherson. Military Summary And Analysis 2023.04.23
ISW Updates. A Riot Is Brewing In The Ukrainian Army. Military Summary And Analysis 2023.04.23
NWE WAR REPORTS UPDATE
No update posted so far today
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
BALKAN MAPPING UPDATE
Ukraine Front Update [23 April 2023]
FREE RUSSIA UPDATE
Russians Successfully Pushed Ukrainians in Bakhmut! The END Is Near.
PROJECT GREAT UPDATE
Russia Just Penetrated Central Bakmut & Russia's Advance In South Of The City.
MILITARY AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS UPDATE
Battlefield Ukraine Battle of Vuhledar Round 2.
RYBAR UPDATE
Rybar military highlights of special military operation in Ukraine 15-16.04.2023
M MAPPING UPDATE
No update posted so far today
HISTORY OF MAKUS ENG
No update posted so far today
WEEB UNION UPDATE
Important Road Contested in a Do or Die Situation | Heavy Clashes Within The City | Bakhmut 23/04/23.
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.
***
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
DO YOU WANT TO LIVE ON A PRISON PLANET?
No matter which way you look at it, the active movement of almost every part of western foreign policy is engaged in an effort to bring down powers that oppose it and replace the systems of governance within those powers. Concurrently the USA has, for two decades and more, sought to create a global surveillance system effected through satellites in geosynchronous orbit.
Have you considered what this will mean for your future and that of your offspring and their families as we move forward? Presumably you have also become aware of cancel culture whereby the previous norms of freedom of speech in the western world have become seriously curtailed. Speaking your mind these days can be a risky business. People are being warned to keep their mouths shut if what they wish to say does not fit the agreed narratives as supplied by state institutions and their compliant stenographers within mainstream media.
Match these factors with the current ‘war mode’ against both Russia and China and extrapolate these combined factors into the future being assured that once instigated certain modes of behaviour and technologies to effect the expansion of their remit tend only to grow more forceful and all-pervasive over time.
If the coalition of the USA, UK and EU defeat Russia and then China using whatever means they deem necessary and, in light of the protocols clearly agreed upon after 9/11 to take out any and all threats from whichever direction they emanate from I think you will begin to envision the prison planet of which I speak. The concept is not hard to delineate or understand. The goal post 9/11 was not only to eliminate all individuals, groups and modes of governance that in any way opposed the USA or the expansion of western power, it was also to establish a system of surveillance to enable the early spotting of any nascent threats globally.
You see where this is going, don’t you? The political elites of the USA decided that only a virtual prison planet over which they were warders would suit their future needs for total security in the post 9/11 world. Naturally enough, all nations considering themselves in need of the U.S. security umbrella were willing to give 100% support to this goal. Whether somewhat reluctantly (due to so many established human rights norms being undermined) or not, it is clear that all nations in a relationship with the U.S. decided to give this goal their full support until it was met.
The present situation in Ukraine is an integral part of the furtherance of this goal on many levels and displays the degree to which the European powers lend their full support to the USA despite any harm to their economies this may do. The genesis to the seeming madness of escalating toward a potential nuclear conflagration lies in the factors spoken of above. The goal being sought is of such overarching importance to the political elites of the USA and its allies that no Plan B is contemplated. This is an ‘all or nothing’ project. As seen from the western elite point of view if they fail in this endeavour there can be no coming back from such a failure, their level of influence will be catastrophically weakened.
Why is this important for them?
The western powers have held sway for generations, they’ve been top dogs and believe this is their rightful status. They have convinced themselves that only they have the ‘right stuff’, the supreme ability to guide and guard all the nations of our world, and to discipline them whenever necessary. These attitudes stem from many sources including mythologies of exceptionalism and superiority, sometimes expressed as ‘The White Man’s Burden’. These myths have been embedded so deeply and been believed in for so long within the U.S. and UK cultures particularly that they are no longer seriously questioned at an elite level.
In the USA the mythology underpinning exceptionalism is particularly strong emanating from the history of those oppressed pilgrims who arrived on North American shore and founded the “perfect” political and moral backdrop which many others in later years believed in so much they considered it was their ‘duty’ to bring their benefits to all others across the globe. In Britain the British Empire, was underpinned by a similar belief in the general superiority of the british over inferior cultures, nations and forms of governance.
With all targeted individual, nations, leaders and forms of government not conforming with western requirements there will remain one significant problem, the possibility that forms of behaviour and modes of thought will arise that could potentially threaten the “perfect” world they had fought so hard to create. It is certain that a vast number of the defeated would not agree at all that all was now perfect within a perfect world with all their previous leaders and institutions replaced, so the need to keep an eye on such people and seek to eliminate them to stop them gaining any vestige of power if left to their own devices would be strong.
A global police state ethos would inevitably emerge with propaganda used as a means of telegraphing the fear of the elites into populations and the assisting in the necessity of creating a citizen-reporting culture far outdoing the present cancel culture. Strict controls on speech and media would accompany such measures. And every channel of communication or action would be monitored at as great a depth as possible that would far outdo the considerable powers that the NSA now have.
You get the picture I am sure.
Currently the goal has its emphasis in weakening Russia with a view to undermining and replacing its present form of governance.Then China and concurrently all other nations that do not conform with western requirements. Those others you will already know something of concerning western attempts to undermine them: Iran, Syria, Cuba, Venezuela, Bolivia, Nicaragua and a number of others. Each one of these, led by China and Russia represent incalcitrant nations requiring extreme modification and replacement of their systems of governance by whatever means are deemed most effective by the USA and its allies.
A multipolar world where there is a general tolerance for most if not all modes of government and where trade, cultural exchange, economic and financial agreement replace enmity and where sovereignty is sacrosanct free from outside attempts to undermine national modes of being protected by the tenets of the United Nations is unacceptable to the USA and its allies. They have anointed themselves as world’s managers, and since 9/11, its warders. They provide themselves with the ‘right’ to override the sovereignty of others, to flout international law as they see fit and to dominate each and every aspect of others’ lives in their interests, including the right to threaten, sanction, subvert and violently attack any nation as they see fit according to their needs.
These are the aspects that should inform every one of us regarding why it is so very vital that neither Russia nor China be undermined, defeated, weakened or otherwise limited in their ability to lead all nations wishing to retain their freedom and sovereignty. Should they fall then I am confident that you can clearly perceive what will then follow… the inevitable establishment of a virtual prison planet from which the western powers will then ensure there is no possible escape.
