“Heavy fighting” has broken out across nearly all of the southern Kherson region, after Ukrainian forces broke Russian defences in their long-awaited counter-offensive to retake the territory.
Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, urged enemy troops to flee as the territory was bombarded by long-range missile strikes.
“Powerful explosions continued throughout the day and throughout the night in Kherson region,” the president’s office said.
“Heavy fighting is taking place in almost the entire territory of the Kherson region. The Armed Forces of Ukraine launched offensive actions in various directions.”
Regional officials said the long-awaited offensive was “the beginning of the de-occupation of Kherson region”, which was seized by Russia early in the war.
Oleksiy Arestovych, a senior Ukrainian presidential adviser, said Russian defences in the Kherson region had been “broken through in a few hours.”
Comment: I am holding my breath waiting to see what the real outcome will be. On a slightly different topic I continue to puzzle over the deep commitment of Tucker Carlson to the Russian cause. pl
My take is:
His Tuckerness thinks the Shy Knees are zee problem much more so zan ze Rooskies.
With flavorings of “Two Fronts” for “Misguided @unts” (a small, unnourished member of the litter).
And possibly Tucker’s very fearsome looking Daddykins (in pictures I’ve seen) who was a VOA executive honcho may somehow or other due to that organization’s long involvement with Mother Russia, fell in love with the place, as nearly everyone does who gets to meet the real Russians and not the cartoon characters or Caucasian crime syndicate that took over from 1921 to March 1953. (I’ve read parts of Col Lang’s brilliant “The Human Factor” and am possibly more cynical than he is: Stalin arranged to have Lenin shot, framed Fanny Kaplan, then slowly poisoned him to death when the bullets didn’t do the trick. Gee, why suspect that, right?).
And aside from “Like father like son”, with a papa that scary looking, it was an influence.
Russia has a cold climate and thus offers less commercial opportunity for the frozen food technology business that Tucker’s family fortune was birthed from. And far fewer customers than China. Could be American elite factions too, I don’t know – oil men versus food products industry types.
He is racially oriented (hmm) in his outlook and thinks the European peoples (of which the Slavs are a large subset) are, based on their track record, exceedingly high achieving in cultural and scientific achievement, and a terrible thing to maliciously kill off by putting them against one another for the malicious purposes of some of the participants in the clown show.
There is more. I can’t remember it at the moment.
Oh. It fits the sports casting cheerleading model of network news that is de rigeur now since the likes of the Walter Cronkite were retired off the scene. They need the hopped up pre-implanted real time controversy Roman colosseum sans burning Christians of it all, for obviou$ rea$$$ons. And it means: We are objective, fair and present both sides.
The fans love it.
You need a quick fire turn on a dime “OUT” for potential nuclear conflicts (or you need your head examined) and he provides one. See his Daddy. Etc.
Carlson frequently states that our politicians prefer foreign conflict to avoid dealing with domestic issues. He also believes that antagonizing Russia will drive them closer to China, the one country he loathes. Not agreeing or disagreeing w/his views, just stating my take.
If reports are to be believed, he talked Trump out of a strike against Iran, he praises Orban for his ‘Hungry first’ policy, he admires leaders who look out for their own rather than try to fix everyone else.
It’s not just Tucker. I haven’t been collecting references, but I have noticed that other, supposedly “Right,” media organs are also pushing the “sort of” pro-Russian side in their opinions. I think it’s an example of the sock puppet Left/Right wholly owned (bought & sold) media environment. Both sides are working at odds towards the same goal. And what might that be?
On June 2nd 2022,I heard Col Douglas MacArthur say on Tucker’s show that the war was over and Putin won.He sort of smiled as he said this and Tucker seemed to agree.This puzzled me ,but since then I have come to believe that Tucker is playing to the crowd that believes that Mother Russia is the last great hope for the White,Christian,Alpha Male………..Considering what happened with Victoria Nuland in 2014 and Zelensky’s religion and theatre background etc.I believe there is more than a tinge of antisemiticism in Tucker’s attitude…………..I recently noticed that Laura Ingram is now complaining about our support for Ukraine.Tucker is starting to be too clever by half.I think he missed Kipling’s warning in his poem “IF”…………”Dont look too good nor talk too wise.”…………..He may have already peaked.
Cattar
MacGregor said much the same thing in April and the great Publius Tacitus in March. Somehow these attitudes are related.
Like you, I too can only guess about Carlson’s commitment to the Russian side. Here goes, Carlson, like me, has a libertarian streak in him. That’s sometimes good, sometimes bad. The libertarian side “tends” to be isolationist. Ergo Carlson is saying Ukraine isn’t America’s interest. Many founding fathers were Libertarians, but it isn’t 1776 anymore. The world is too much with us. I believe that Ukraine is just the first step back to 1914 for Putin and there will be others. Carlson does not.
Bill Roche,
Which others? NATO members? Putin is having a real hard time in Ukraine so next he will want to go to war with NATO? That war would last about 3 seconds and I don’t think it is Putin who is habitually overestimating his capabilities.
JamesT
C’mon man! You know he can’t risk the possibility that the US will honor its obligations to its allies.
I agree with you Colonel. I am confident that Putin will not attack any NATO members.
JamesT
Yes. Russia will not attack the Baltics and Poland until a little time has passed, Russia recovers from the shock of its losses, and they are sure that the Americans will not fight for what once had been the NATO alliance.
I too am holding my breath! And on the same slightly different topic, I think that Tucker and a number of others have now made clear their real agendas.
Arestovych has a habit of saying too much, but I think he got the message to keep his yap shut about the Kherson offensive beyond general comments. We won’t hear much for at least a few days except from Russian sources and intercepts. I do hear that the Dnipro bridges, pontoons and barges are being continually hit pretty heavily. An intercept of Russian troops talking claims they are out of food and water and surrounded. A lot of their buddies are dead. I think they’re pretty well screwed.
My guess, and it is just that, is that this multiple pronged Ukrainian combined arms offensive is fairly spread out on this front. There’s a lot of space between units, both Ukrainian and Russian. The side most motivated, most disciplined and with the most small unit initiative will prevail. That’s not profound. It’s just the way it is.
TTG,
What is the influence of politicians on military decisions?
Do officers or soldiers know or ask who gave the order or they don’t care?
Is it possible that Zelensky makes calls on military matters, in order to achieve political goals, which may be very counter-productive on the field?
According to videos, part of this attack is going through the stepe where the Russian artillery is methodically destroying Ukrainian soldiers and equipment.
Jovan P,
That whole front is mostly steppe.
Can I ask a serious question: Do you believe that the UA has only suffered 9,000 KIA?
Matthew,
Why not? 9,000 KIA in six months is quite a bit.
The Ukraine steppe
http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/display.asp?linkpath=pages%5CS%5CT%5CSteppe.htm
Al
Good tank and APC country. BTW equipment does not fight. Troops do that.
Al and pl,
It’s not just good tank and APC country, it’s excellent country for ATGMs and artillery aided by drones. Throughout this conflict artillery has had an uncanny accuracy aided by drones. Maybe it’s GPS aided forward observation or laser designation for smart rounds. It’s definitely a matter of “If you can be seen, you can be killed.” For these reasons, dismounted infantry is still important, even on the steppe.
TTG
The ignorant and the trolls here have no idea. I will explain. First you lay down a lot of fire on the “prepared positions.” Then the tanks and armored infantry overrun the “prepared position.” That is how you do it. What we do not know yet is if the UA can do it.
The two disciplines, political, and military are related. Perhaps, how the heck can I know, political support for Ukraine depends on Ukrainian victories b/y just not letting RM bowl them over. This for public morale and European money.
Sir,
Have you tried reaching out to Tucker? I think if many of us here tried to email him at Daily Caller or at Fox, he would be willing to listen to you for a perspective he’s dearly lacking.
He’s pretty much whatever is left of the old right/libertarians on any of the major outlets. They have tried hard to cancel him. Best we reach out to him.
I, for one, would love to see Colonel Lang and Tucker in a conversation.
morongobill
I do not indulge in such foolishness anymore
pat lang
Someone here questioned the nature of US interest in Ukraine’s war with Russia. If you think there is none, then we should withdraw from NATO as I advocated when the USSR collapsed. The hostile situation with Russia was entirely caused bythe drive to expand NATO to the east. But it is a bit late for that. We seduced all those former WP countries with promises of protection under the Atlantic Treaty. Youu now want to abandon them?
Col. Lang,
“We seduced all those former WP countries with promises of protection under the Atlantic Treaty.”
Was it just our seduction or was it also their entreaties since they did not want to relive their experience of Soviet occupation?
In a recent interview, the weekend late night techno dancer PM of Finland, said that they decided to join NATO precisely because Putin & Russia could no longer be trusted to remain within their borders and Finland had to have a military alliance with other western nations including the US to ensure the sanctity of their borders.
It would appear that the fears of Eastern Europeans with direct experience of occupation played a not small role in the expansion of NATO. I would however agree with you that when Gorbachev got out we should have too, but then it seems we would have to be getting back in again now, after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Europeans have been fighting each other for millennia, so a broader question is what should our role be in Europe considering this history?
Tucker is trying to swing the GOPers in Congress away from supporting US arms to Ukraine. Not sure why? But I speculate that his goal is to make sure Biden gets no credit if Ukraine can succeed in pushing Russia out.
And why would he claim that Biden wants “unconditional surrender” from Putin. Not true, and nobody else in NATO has suggested that. Going home and stopping the shelling and bombing of civilians is not surrendering. A negotiated peace will stop the war but that ain’t gonna happen soon unfortunately.
And what are the “actual reality based measures” that Russia is winning the war that Tucker talks about? Long ago he used to bring up valid and well researched topics. But he seems to have devolved into Tokyo Rose or Lord HawHaw on this issue.
Russia may win in the long run as the West will get tired of supporting Ukraine. We Americans have a short attention span. But Putin would still face a long and deadly guerrilla war. Plus I don’t believe that Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia will stop their support of Kiev.
Colonel,
WWI and WWII were wars between Empires. The USA being the North American one since the 1848 Mexican War. The Western Empire (mainly USA + UK) became the sole global hegemon with Boris Yeltsin’s successful oligarch’s counter revolt three decades ago. Actually, the Russia and American Empires have much in common and have been allies before and there was no war over possession of Alaska. But Russia, China and Iran are breaking away. This is a multi-polar world, once again. The proxy world war is to set the boundaries for each. Except, the Biden Administration and globalist operatives still think that they are the only ones in charge. Delusions are dangerous in a superpower armed with nuclear weapons.
I’m not sure saying that we shouldn’t be spending a fortune on Ukraine is being pro-Russia or pro-Putin. What ever happened to neutral? Are all the countries not currently supporting Ukraine with money and weapons pro-Russia? Frankly, I agree that the tens of billions being spent on Ukraine are better spent on domestic agendas. Any one paying attention to the food bank lines lately?
It’s already a disaster backfiring wherever you look in Europe. Winter will be far worse. Many people think Biden has intentionally destroyed Europe for motives of economic hegemony and gobbling up of assets on the cheap by his backer hyenas. And the European leaders are suicidal as always – 1914, 1938.
1991 – SU dissolved. Only palindromic year of the twentieth century. 2020 was the only one of this century. VVet’s observation above says it may have been the end of an even more colossal alignment. Have at it with 1818, I am not informed enough about those years (and think numerology usually is for the birds), but was that the year Napoleon was counted out – no, Waterloo was 1815. I give up:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1818
The American flag as we know it?
The palindromic year of this century was 2002
Thanks. And 1881 in 19th. dyslexia – a curse. 2002. Quite a year. Start of Gwot. 2112 next. 2222.
1961 can be tipped upside down and remain same….musta been some hellish conspiracies back then! lol
“Many people think Biden has intentionally destroyed Europe ‘
The Biden administration no, but the Federal Reserve yes. The only logical suggested reason I’ve seen for the Feds action is to counter Davos. Which happens, though unrelated, to line up with Putin’s objective. Apparently while all the deep state players want to preserve their corruption game they don’t all agree on the means to do so. I think many average Joe’s appear to be pro Russia because they don’t see the war as Russia against Ukraine but as Putin against the WEF.
“What ever happened to neutral?”
Neutral is attacked as “isolationist.”
Mindlessly so.
RM
I watch his monologue every night. There is nothing neutral about TC.
Tucker doesn’t like overseas military adventurism. He never has, and I doubt that he ever will.
There is a war going on between Russia and Ukraine, and the Washington swampland is all-in on giving unlimited and unconditional support to the Ukrainians.
So it isn’t that he has a “deep commitment” to the Russians (he doesn’t).
What he has is a palpable loathing of Washington’s “deep commitment” towards any foreign country, and in this case that country happens to be Ukraine.
You are looking at Tucker’s behavior through the wrong end of the telescope.
WPO,
Tucker not liking overseas adventurism in not just reasonable. It’s an admirable position. But that doesn’t explain his cheering for the Russian invasion. He could be absolutely against our involvement, but still support Ukraine’s fight against an invasion or, at least, not care for either side. Instead, he expresses a deep commitment to Russian adventurism.
We are both watching the same Tucker Carlson, are we?
Because the Tucker Carlson I watch doesn’t express “a deep commitment to Russian adventurism”.
Yours does, does he?
Could simply be TC in Democratic party bashing mode, iow his default setting. Worth Pointing Out may have nailed it. The country is in horrendous shape. Tucker is wealthy as is his family. They may simply see their investments and growth potential tanking beyond likely recovery, and America become an increasingly unlivable place. He may not personally, but the waters he swims in are atitter with anxiety. Putin’s first term featured the hit song Takovo kak Putin (A man like Putin). His second run: Our Madhouse Votes for Putin (Nash Durdom ..)
In reverse order:
https://youtu.be/VOBIO_f_j0A
https://youtu.be/o2zM6bQP570
My preference: Natali.
If you could think like Tucker Carlsen you might consider seeing a shrink or taking a vacation, despise anything he thinks or not about Ukraine v Russia. He’s a bit of a crackpot.
Yeah, crackpot alright. Number one show. Maybe Fox
and this country need more crackpots like him.
Ok. A Wee bit of an entitled Toff. He’s admittedly very skillful doing his thing.
Which dictatorship has the ability to hold the turf? FYI: Must have bodies to hold the ground. Russia has not resorted to activating their entire force so smart move on their part. If they can keep the slow grind up for a couple years and hold ground they can probably attrition this thing out but it will take will power.
Ukraine is hurting on the bodies needed. Over 10M citizens bailed. Most are not fighting age folks but still, they need bodies and their entire force is activated. They will have to pull bodies from somewhere. Looks like Europe is ok with freezing and cooking with wood and coal so they are sitting this one out.
I’m not simping for either dictatorship but weapons are not going to cut it. Must have bodies on the ground to hold it. Bombing will slow Russia down but at that point you are bombing your own country. I have said this many times but if this goes on for a couple years there will not be anything worth saving. Imagine bombing your own neighborhood? Are you going to return to it. NO. you will not return. It is now a wasteland.
So Ukrainians should just accept being the Russian bitches that the Russians believe they are. C’mon man, lets just be frank.
The Ukrainian’s can do what ever they want. What I object to is paying for it.
Bill Roche,
Which Russians have you been talking to? All of the Russians I have talked to have said “the Ukrainians are our brothers – we are one people”. I think that Putin genuinely expected to be greeted with open arms by the Ukrainians east of the Dnieper and didn’t realize that his feeling for the Ukrainians were not reciprocated.
JamesT
IMO the Canadians are our brothers in much the same way. Yum. Yum.
You made me laugh out loud, Colonel. In a discomforted way. 🙂
JamesT
You did not tell me what was so amusing. C’mon man!
Colonel,
I took your comment to mean “How would you like it if the US invaded Canada” – which I thought was a good point, amusing, and a bit disquieting. My laughter was more of the “I had not thought of that” variety.
JamesT that’s exactly the issue. The Russians you’ve been talking to believe Ukrainians and Russians are “one people”. Ukrainians believe they are their own people.
There may be room for a negotiated settlement.
Putin seems to have learned taking over Kyiv and eliminating the state of Ukraine isn’t viable, so making them his “bitches” isn’t necessarily on the menu anymore.
Give up Luhansk and Donetsk, establish a permanent water-rights/naval access to the Black Sea agreement in Crimea (as existed pre-2014) just might be a deal both sides could come to…when they get tired enough.
The Turning Point for Russia..IMO would By What China does..Over Taiwan..
Otherwise..For Ukraine…at This Point..Another Chinese Factor….. Gen. Sun TZU..
“To Secure Yourself against Defeat..Lies in Your Own Hands..Defeating The Enemy…is Provided by The Enemy Himself..” To Be ..Or Not to Be..That is the Question..
JT
I like Tucker despite his faults. I also likely understand him better than most who post here since I watch his opening monologue an average of two times a week. He tells some truths you won’t hear elsewhere in the media, at least in the mainstream media.
If you don’t like his positions you don’t have to watch his show. You probably should though to understand the changing attitudes in America. His show on any given night has the first or second largest audience and is in the top five for percentage of the 18-49 demographic.
He’s shooting fish in a barrel since the ultraliberals overdosed on wokism and critical race theory and tried to overdose the rest of the nation. They committed some version of hara kiri unknown to me.
An insight into the extremely low estimation of the American intelligence and the overall contempt they have for them is beautifully illustrated by the hackneyed routines played repeatedly on late night comedy talk shows, most recently I guess of Jay Leno and Bill Maher variety. They work for powerful corporations so it reflects the estimations of the powers that bleat. Jay or Bill or assistants go out into the American wide world and ask fake random strangers (who are actors in the skits) basic questions on geography, law, history etc. The answers are hilariously inept, wrong and mind boggling. Their low opinion may in fact be justified because I think most people fall for the silly hoax, but don’t know. All in good fun? It is very funny.
the best gift Ukrainians can give to the Russians is an attack with insufficient forces over open steppe into prepared defenses.
Hopefully there is some military logic behind this “offensive”.
Maybe they just wanted to see if the Russians will stand and fight or retreat.
borko
lucky, lucky Russians.
borko
yes. the destruction of Russian forces west of the Dnieper River through logistical starvation now followed by ground assault
borko
A grossly over simplified description
I can’t help but root for Ukraine – David vs. Goliath, defending their nation.
But, I can see Tucker’s point: just what is our national interest there?
10k and one village that is being pounded by artillery from both sides. Please correct me if wrong. Trump indictment and victory in Ukraine…
The 109th regiment of the so-called ‘DPR’ that fled and allowed the Ukrainians to break through the Russian defenses has a history. Back in June, they refused to fight and made a video speaking directly to DPR prime minister, Dennis Pushilin, asking for better support, better weapons, more ammo, medical care for the WIA. Pushilin obviously rewarded them by sending them to Kherson Oblast.
The 109th was only formed six months ago by conscripting both Donetsk students and old men. The’regiment’ is just two battalions with two under-strength rifle companies each.
https://intellinews.com/zelenskiy-tells-russian-troops-in-kherson-to-run-for-their-lives-as-ukraine-mounts-major-counterattack-254998/
The guy who runs that service in his AM email opined that since as of his writing the Ukrainians hadn’t crowed noticeably of successes, he thought they were experiencing trouble. He also said they have between 15k to 30k troops and lots of artillery backing a plausible approach which might remove supply access to R troops. And said he reckoned two weeks for a conclusive report.
John Mearsheimer has a really excellent piece in the current Foreign Affairs:
Playing With Fire in Ukraine
The Underappreciated Risks of Catastrophic Escalation
https://www.foreignaffairs.com/ukraine/playing-fire-ukraine
You can hear a video of at least part of the article here:
https://youtu.be/lIGg9HnmcaQ
Why is it that the West is supposed to be SCARED of everybody else’s violence -? We can unleash some pretty respectable violence, too. But first, we need to rid our institutions of the quislings we have acquired.
“During a visit to southern Ukraine’s Russian-occupied Kherson region in early May, Russian Senator Andrei Turchak declared that the current Russian presence in the region would be permanent. “Russia is here forever,” he stated. “There should be no doubt about this. There will be no return to the past.””
Hyperbole?
Hyperbole? Great stuff until you lose.
No, it’s not a hyperbole.
It’s a fight for the souls of the Ukrainians. If they are not convinced that Russia is there to stay, they won’t cooperate with the Russian and local authorities against the Ukrainian saboteurs and etc.
This applies to the local Ukrainians, more so to the ones pro Russian orientated. If they suspect that the Russians will withdraw, then they know after that there is a chance of their potential fate as ,,missing after taken by the SBU”.