Meanwhile, Russian breakthrough claimed (and disputed) in Soledar. Zelensky describes the ground as littered with corpses and the city destroyed. If anyone thought the Russian State’s will to fight had gone, the proof is here that it has not.
Very long and informative Reuters article looking at Russian influencers in Germany: https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/ukraine-crisis-germany-influencers
Come on box heads, stop sh1t1ng yourselves and send that nice Mr Zelenskyy a couple of hundred of your wunderbar tanks
There have been rumours floating around for years on the actual state of the Bunderwehr's kit due to defence funding issues leading to maintenance being cut. It really looks like the 'offer' of Leopards being sent is being curtailed by the shyte state of their own stocks: https://twitter.com/visegrad24/status/1616823743350820864 Comment on the ASRRSE from someone ITK:
And a comment by the OP in his very interesting thread bears this out: https://twitter.com/weegeedutchie/status/1616733090176434176 The comment:
A not particularly well-written article proposing that there are three 'clans' waiting in the wings to claim Putin's crown: In Russia, a Clan War for Putin’s Throne Has Begun. Who Will Win? IStories editor Roman Anin on how Russia’s Game of Thrones will end
Very, very good animated Ukrainian propaganda film (6 min). The continuous (sunflower a symbol of Ukraine) seed munching is a 'meme' of Russian gopnik/underclass life - you will see piles of spat-out seed shells wherever 'these' Russians congregate (bus/trams stops, outside apartment blocks etc). It's a fairly disgusting habit and one that I picked up (pumpkin seeds are my choice) the name of the brand the mobik eats are "To Live Well"):
Lavrov having a Scooby-Doo moment: "We would have gotten away with it if it weren't for those pesky kids Anglos-Saxons and their Sea of Azov naval bases....": https://twitter.com/Biz_Ukraine_Mag/status/1617629411855183875 Still he might be right because the might of the Anglo-Saxons was foretold/recorded:
WTF? Pesky Anglo-Saxons indeed (https://stephenliddell.co.uk/2020/0...lt-the-original-new-england-on-the-black-sea/).
I was reading about this recently and I love it. Whether it justifies Russia's barbaric actions, I'm not so convinced however.
Wikipedia is the source of all my information sadly. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_England_(medieval)?wprov=sfla1
Looks like De Pfeffel is really having his 'Churchill moment' (ie caught out bullsihtting): https://twitter.com/AndrewMarr9/status/1618301933185544192
Very interesting summary of who's actually in the Russian Federation: https://twitter.com/EeldenDen/status/1619051419503566848
I used to watch a lot of NTV in Vilnius (it used to drive my wife 'mental') as it used to routinely show the most amazing Soviet era WWII films: https://twitter.com/visegrad24/status/1620168262377181186 Translation: https://twitter.com/AlexandruC4/status/1620107416418525184
Rumours are the oligarchs are getting ready for a civil war - Gazprom is setting up its own private army military company: https://kyivindependent.com/news-fe...om-to-create-its-own-private-military-company
If the Wagner group are mercenaries surely a quick and cheap way of turning the war decisively in Ukraine's favour would be to just pay them more than they're getting from Putin to swap sides?
So it turns out it WAS the monster of the north that blew up those pipelines causing huge environmental damage and a spike in fuel prices to us poor Europeans. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/...estigative-journalist-seymour-hersh-s730dnnfz Meanwhile, with the country falling apart, strikes everywhere and the NHS and social care in crisis, good old Keith Starmer spaffs all of his PMQs on sucking up to Zelensky and warmongering. Not one mention of seeking a solution or peace. He wants Putin to be DEFEATED - i.e. regime change. On a huge nuclear power. "Does the Prime Minister agree with me, agreeing with him, that we all agree that NATO is wonderful, but not as heroic and wonderful as the Ukrainians?" The whole house speaks with one single, united voice! And that's precisely the problem.
I'm not saying it definitely wasn't the US behind the attack but I don't think an article from one journalist, that is based on one anonymous source, is prove positive that they did. As with most conspiracy theories that rely on 100s of people, it seems unlikely that it would remain secret for long, especially as it is claimed that Norway was also complicit.
Yes, interesting that they all seem to want Russia to not only lose the war but be well and truly screwed over afterwards. A bit like the way Germany was treated after WW1 by the Treaty of Versailles - which, as everyone knows, worked very well
Well it hasn't remained a secret for long. This Pulitzer prize-winning journalist has exposed it. The full details of precisely how they did it are here on his webpage:- https://seymourhersh.substack.com/p/how-america-took-out-the-nord-stream As you'll see from the article, the reason for it was they were worried that:- "Germany and the rest of Western Europe would become addicted to low-cost natural gas supplied by Russia—while diminishing European reliance on America" and that "Washington was afraid that countries like Germany would be reluctant to supply Ukraine with the money and weapons it needed to defeat Russia." And Norway cooperated because:- "the supreme commander of NATO is Jens Stoltenberg, a committed anti-communist, who served as Norway’s prime minister for eight years before moving to his high NATO post, with American backing, in 2014." and also "The destruction of Nord Stream—if the Americans could pull it off—would allow Norway to sell vastly more of its own natural gas to Europe". And then after they'd done it, they said how pleased they were about their dirty deeds:- "Undersecretary of State Victoria Nuland expressed satisfaction at the demise of the newest of the pipelines. Testifying at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing in late January she told Senator Ted Cruz, “Like you, I am, and I think the Administration is, very gratified to know that Nord Stream 2 is now, as you like to say, a hunk of metal at the bottom of the sea.”" But still, hurray for NATO and let's send some more money and weapons to keep this proxy war going! We all speak with one voice here y'know.
I'm not foolish enough to believe that all the good guys are on one side and all the bad ones are on the other but this article does not expose anything. He is just repeating what a single anonymous source is saying. That is not proof. Maybe other evidence will come to light. May be other "whistle blowers" will come forward. But, at the moment, there is no evidence the US or Norway were behind the attack. Anonymous allegation, yes, evidence, no. And, whatever provocation some people believe was behind it, the aggressor here is Putin and Russia, not Ukraine. Ironically, one outcome of the attack is that Ukraine will become far less corrupt (well overdue) than it was before now that there is a realistic chance that they will be granted EU entry sooner rather than later. Russia may actually be helping Ukraine to join the EU (and NATO) thanks to their aggression!
It seems pretty clear it could only be the US, given that if the Russians wanted to disrupt gas supplies they could simply turn the tap off. But alongside the destruction of thousands of ordinary housing blocks and their inhabitants and the Ukrainian bodies exhumed from mass graves, I’m a bit ‘meh’ about the news. NATO has power because they have a monster in the East too. So how to stop the proxy war? What terms would halt it?
Yes, Russia could have "turned the tap off" but the alleged motivation for Putin to blow it up is that the the oil oligarchs are less likely to overthrow him and turn the tap back on. I am not convinced by either side as yet. It could have been the US or perhaps Putin's paranoia did push him to cut off the supply in a more permanent manner. If it was the former then I'm sure more evidence than an "anonymous source" will come out at some stage. The number of people and organisations involved to pull it off would be huge. But, as you say, it will be a scandal if it was a US/Norwegian operation but it is not in the same league as the Russian aggression and apparent war crimes.
I don't know, but I do wish they were even thinking about terms, let alone discussing them. It seems clear to me that what will not halt the war is sending more weapons. That's like trying to put out a fire by sending along more petrol.
