“The Ukrainian army continuously fires 120mm mortars at the settlements of Zaitseve and Dokuchaevsk in the Donetsk region.
Thousands of shells were fired during the day, mainly at civilian infrastructure and residential areas in the districts of Gorlovka and Lugansk, currently under massive artillery fire by the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Dozens have been reported only in the last hour.
“A few hours ago, the car of the head of the People’s Militia of the DPR Denis Sinyakov was blown up by Ukrainian saboteurs in the center of Donetsk.”
At midnight on February 19, a critical element of the Luhansk People’s Republic infrastructure – the node of the Druzhba (Дружба) gas pipeline – exploded. The strong blast shook the whole of Lugansk.”
Comment: If you look at the equipment list of the Ukraine Army below you will see that they have a lot of heavy stuff. I am inclines to think that party or parties perhaps unknown in the Ukraine Army see what they think is an opportunity to pacify the rebel provinces. IMO this is a deluded idea. pl
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukrainian_Ground_Forces
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_equipment_of_the_Ukrainian_Ground_Forces
Important to appreciate I think that they are really all Ukies – those in the so-called ‘National Army’ that answers to the Kiev Government are mostly Ukies of Galician stock speaking ‘Ukrainian’ from the west of the country, while those in the Luhansk and Donetsk militias are Russian speaking. Many in the Luhansk and Donetsk ‘republics’ have recently taken Russian citizenship for their own protection, but this should not hide the fact that these people identify with Ukraine not Russia. Likewise, the fact that most people who live in Ireland and Wales cannot only speak English not Irish or Welsh respectively, does not make them English. Crimea is different of course as historically it was never part of The Ukraine and its inhabitants, save for the native Tartar descendants, identify as Russian
Actually, the Donetsk and Luhansk areas are the historic lands of the Don Cossack Host. The Don Cossacks are Russians, not Ukrainians.
Ironically, the Kuban Cossacks are the historical Zaporozhkaya Sich Cossacks resettled by Catherine the Great. The Kuban is located in Russia, and the inhabitants consider themselves Russian though they are of Ukrainian stock.
Some elements in the power structures of Ukraine claim that these are Ukrainian lands. A map with Ukrainian Kuban was recently seen in the background of a picture with Blinken and the Ukrainian Foreign Minister.
Terence Reeves-Smyth,
Putin is a Christian. He lived through the siege of Leningrad and became a secret Christian in 1952. His father was a prominent communist and would have been outraged if he had known. The priest who baptized/confirmed him was the father of Kirill, Metropolitan of Moscow, head of the Russian Orthodox Church. How he learned this is a story that Putin likes to tell. Putin has become a close friend of Kirill and they have been at St. Panteleimon monastery on Mt. Athos twice. They got there the same way I got there–by benzene launch. Incredibly, St. Panteleimon has been reconstituted and there could be several hundred monks there now.
The Galicians are called ‘Zapandenski ‘ by the Orthodox Russ. They are Roman Catholic. East is east and west is west. The people of Russian and Cossack Orthodox background–there is one in my life–want nothing at all to do with the Zapadenski. The westerners are regarded as being entirely different, extremely nationalist, and they have a truly vampirish Nazi history combined with Papist religious fanaticism that remains horribly alive. Washington has stupidly brought the Zapadenski into power in ‘Kyiv’, as it is now called, and these criminals have been making restrictive laws, for example, laws that limit the use of the Russian language. The goal of the Zapadenski is to root out the Russian language and the Orthodox religion. It is utter American- sponsored madness. And the Orthodox and the Cossacks have a long successful military tradition fighting Roman Catholics and Protestants who have throughout history made deadly incursions against them.
Putin knows that he has the obligation to protect Orthodoxy. He realizes that there is nothing that will stop the Ziocons from continuing to build up these alien Zapdenski into a stronger and stronger deranged proxy army that is controlled by Israel, Washington, and the west. The up- for- grabs Ukraine is a fallback position for Zionism. For Russia, everything will be worse in the future. Weapons are pouring in. The time to rationalize Russia’s frontiers is now. The borderland must be partitioned. Like Ireland.
Russia should establish a line of control thirty or forty miles west of the river. Russia should take Odessa, and, of course, this means the entire eastern part of the borderland. Kiev is Russian. It is an Orthodox city. It has always been Russian. In the juggernaut that is Russian music there are three great conservatories, one at St. Petersburg, one at Moscow, and one at Kiev. Arguably, the conservatory at Kiev is the finest conservatory in Russia and has been there since 1863. To try and say these places are not Russian is to reveal an arrogance or stupidity that is beyond belief and ultimately must be paid for with blood.
In truth, it is not that Russia ‘should’ do this. Russia MUST do this. If the issue is not settled soonest, the next time around it will be worse. This is already a religious war. The next time around it could very well be a nuclear religious war. Now is the time for war.
Putin was born in 1952. The siege of Leningrad ended in late 1944.
He did have siblings who died during the siege, as his mother very nearly did, but survived to have her only surviving child born 8 years after the siege ended. Children of such circumstance are often doted on by their mothers. There are several other very notable such instances of very prominent men.
Fourth and Long,
Thank you for your temperate reply to my howler about Putin. However wrong I may be about his birth and background I will say this: He has Leningrad in his bones. I’ve seen some documentaries. And you don’t go twice to St. Panteleimon without a reason. It is not easy. I think there was a religious reason. I think he is a Christian.
I think Putin will protect Russian Orthodox Christianity. I think his friendship with the Metropolitan father Kyrill is genuine. I think big things are happening worldwide in Russian Orthodoxy versus Greek Orthodoxy and with Kyrill’s counterpart, the Oecumenical Patriarch in Istanbul. I don’t know exactly what, except that I think Russian Orthodox is undergoing a strong revival.
If Putin does not go into the Ukraine very soon now the war that will come will be much worse later. Americans have lost their minds. The time is now. Whatever the price.
“The borderland must be partitioned. “
But wouldn’t this make the West part eligible for NATO membership?
jld–
Ever heard of Russian roulette?
From a Ru newspaper page updated live. See link and translation of some items.
I invite especially analysis of quoted statements of the Ukrainian president Zelensky. Doesn’t correspond with what Biden & co would like us to believe, in my opinion.
Also note very well, in case you are affected by the ignorance displayed by the UK foreign secretary Liz Truss (MissTruss(t), better) that Rostov is a large Russian city not overly far from the Ukrainian/Donbass border. So Russia has been attacked.
https://www.gazeta.ru/politics/2022/02/19/14553997.shtml
In the Rostov region, two more shells hit non-residential buildings near the border with Ukraine
Zelensky stressed that ifUkraine will not be provided with security guarantees under the Budapest Memorandum, Kiev recognizes it invalid.
The Budapest Memorandum was signed in 1994 by Ukraine, Russia, the United States, France and the United Kingdom. According to the document, Kiev joined the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and eliminated its nuclear potential, while Moscow, Washington and London guaranteed the country’s security.
18:02
Zelensky spoke in Munich, the main thing:
We will protect our land, with or without the support of our partners. Crimea and the “occupied areas of Donbass” will return to Ukraine only by peaceful means. To help Ukraine, you don’t need to constantly talk about possible invasion dates. Kiev initiates consultations within the framework of the Budapest Memorandum.
17:53
Paris urges French citizens to leave Ukraine-RIA Novosti
17:51
People’s Militia of the LPR: shelling on the contact line continues, our forces are on alert
17:47
“Ukraine wants peace. Europe wants peace. The world says it doesn’t want to fight, and Russia says it doesn’t want to attack. Which one of us is lying? ” – said on television the President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky.
Later this morning in Russian business newspaper kommersant:
https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/5227559
Translation:
Ukraine denies involvement in the shelling of Russian territory
Ukraine did not fire shells that hit Russian territory and calls for an international investigation into these incidents, said Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba. Earlier, several shells hit the border area of the Rostov region.
“We resolutely refute all accusations of Ukrainian shells hitting Russian territory. Ukraine has never opened such fire. We call for an immediate impartial international investigation into the incidents reported by the Russian media,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba wrote on his Twitter .
During the day, three shells fell in the border area of the Rostov region. The first incident occurred a kilometer from the Russian-Ukrainian border, the second explosion was not far from the first. The third is in the Mityakinsky rural settlement. The head of the Investigative Committee of Russia Alexander Bastrykin instructed to open a criminal case after the incidents.
Very interesting READ..Thanks
Q…Who was POTUS in 1994,,,,
Q..WhyIs The Document ……. BUDAPEDST…??
Was the Meeting In Turkey,,,??
Comment…Interesting The THREE Signers
JT
Rostov is a city in the Yaroslavl Oblast northeast of Moscow. Rostov-on-Don is the capital of the Rostov Oblast that is beside the Ukraine. In the Donbas and adjacent Russian areas, there are a number of places with the same name. It pays to be accurate when talking of places in this area.
Yes, quite right. Ростов На Дону (Rostov on Don) is referred to in it’s vicinity as Rostov for brevity since it is understood which city is referenced. I usually omit the Ru from Moscow Ru, even though there’s one in Idaho.
“Gotta not be late for my appointment on main Street,” said Mayor Zippy Code Jr. Mayor Doan Tel Menow was puzzled, listening in on the bugged phone from the car in back of the supermarket parking lot. “Dang, ain’t we on Main Street right now? Ain’t Mayor Zip five states west of here?”
Twas a puzzlement.
It wasn’t the car belonging to Denis Sinyakov that was blown up. It was an older model UAZ bearing the license plate of Sinyakov’s far newer model UAZ. It’s all part of the act. A lot of the local Donetsk residents snickered at this car bomb which damaged noting but this old beater with the new license plate. It’s all part of the show as is the reporting of heavy Ukrainian bombardment. I’ve seen one video of heavy bombardment at night from near Mariupol. So somebody is shooting at somebody. The video’s claim is that it’s the DNR doing the shooting.
This is from a Kyiv Independent reporter: “My acquaintance in Donetsk say the militants have been firing at Ukrainian army from early morning. They are afraid that Russian proxies will stage an attack on civilians to put blame on Ukraine. They did not «evacuate» as they suspect they could be a target for such an attack”
There’s a video from Bot Tak TV from inside one of the evacuation busses near Rostov. “Refugees sit on buses for several hours without food and the opportunity to go to the toilet, complain about the cold, worsening health problems and ask for help. Buses stand with the ignition off, the interior is not heated.” A babushka on the bus is begging for help while describing the conditions. Authorities in Rostov clearly weren’t ready for this. This could very well be a total DNR/LNR show. The question is whether Putin will squash it or use it.
Yes. It seems despite what propaganda nonsense the western media spews, the Ukraine Army has been attacking the Russophiles.
I am inclined to think that party or parties unknown in the US government convinced party or parties unknown in the Ukraine Army and government that now is a fine time to act on what they think is an opportunity to pacify the rebel provinces. I think Z has been in on it from day 1 and that he speaks out of both sides of his mouth. One side in public and the other behind closed doors.
I Wonder If This Is Some Kind Of Attempts At Diversion of Attention..
I Did SEE Zebrinsky on TV…In Munich..at the NATO Confere,,So he IS Out Of Country..So WHO is In charge in Ukraine…??
I am Wondering Now..If Russian Will Begin Its Massive CYBER Attack,,Soon Tonight around 9;00 PM..It is Currently 8:45 PM there…
That Way ALL Will Know..Lights Out..Power OFF..ALL Systems..Down and Then Russian Waits For Local and NATO Responses.. Attacks at Dawn..IF its a GO..
Another Bone to Chew On..
JT
Or Ukraine Might SURRENDER..
Spare a thought for the Poor bloody infantry of both sides, many of whom will be stuck in weapons pits and OP’s in freezing weather and suffering as usual from lack of sleep.
I don’t know much about the endurance of Ukrainian Infantry or the separatists in those conditions, however I would be surprised if the Ukrainian Army can keep in the field for more than a few weeks without some system of rotation. If the Ukrainians are mainly conscripts, I would imagine their morale will suffer more than the separatists who may be defending their homes. Perhaps we should send Vice President Harris on a morale building tour of the Ukrainian front lines?
I wonder if Putin and Shoigu believe time is on their side and are planning accordingly? The increasingly shrill pronouncements from the Biden Administration suggest to me that they want a quick resolution.
In 2014, there was a huge flood of young men who left the Donbass for Russia and a much smaller number of women and children. About a million young men (almost all of them). They were running from conscription. The numbers of insurgents defending their homes is not high. They were and are outsiders there for the Russian nationalist/panslavic glory and the pay.
Walrus – quite shrill in the UK too.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-60448162
Correction….Its 7:oo PM Ukraine Time…
This journalist from Serbia is taking a stroll through Lugansk this morning and wondering what all the fuss is about. At one point he passes by the bus waiting for people that wish to evacuate. There aren’t many takers. People are calmly going about their business.
Towards the end of the video there is some footage from places near the front line, and there is no fighting evident.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USk9XJVBcbA
It’s all another Southpoint scam. There is no shelling by the Ukrainians. I stopped reading them years ago when they tried to claim the US supported al-Qaeda.
Leith,
What was the ideology of the “moderate” head choppers and liver eaters that we very publicly supported?
Eric –
Regarding support to the so-called FSA (which later turned out to be taken over by hard core jihadis), everyone of us Americans owe a Mea Culpa to Syria and the world for our stupidity.
BTW I voted for Tulsi.
Leith
Not me and TTG. We were very opposed to this policy from the beginning. Maybe you.
Pat –
I was also opposed to it. I was speaking in more of a collective sense.
I’m very much against this R2P nonsense ever since it blew up in our face 50 years ago.
But the US did support the side of the “moderate terrorists” in Syria for years with billions of US$ worth of cash and weapons deliveries. And Al-Qaeda was a part of that US-supported terrorist coalition against the government of Syria.
Do you remember the Hillary Clinton emails?
“See last item – AQ is on our side in Syria.
Otherwise, things have basically turned out as expected.”
https://wikileaks.org/clinton-emails/emailid/23225#efmAGIAHu
Rho –
al-Qaeda in Syria aka the Jabhat al-Nusra and several other names (and their salafist allies) were never part of any US supported group in Syria. The US designated them as a terrorist group two years before Russia did. Their leadership and lower commanders were targeted by US airstrikes and still are. Qatar supported them with bucks, as did rich Saudis and UAE Emiratis. Lots of suspicion on Turkey’s MİT also. They operate within Turkish controlled Idlib without interference, plus in other Turkish occupied areas of Syria.
They and other salafi terrorist groups did take over the weapons that we provided to our so-called ‘moderates’. Shame on us for that.
PS – Damn thin soup in your wikileaks link. A State Dept newspaper clipping service recap of a Reuters article about al-Zawahiri. And your “See last item…” quote was not sent by Clinton. It was addressed to her perhaps as a bad joke. BTW in that Reuters article Zawahiri says NOT to depend on the US.
The New Cold War is about to go high intensity and a visibly senile old crook is the guy with the nuclear football.
If Biden is incapacitated, who is third in line for the nuclear football after Kamala? Pelosi?
Pelosi Thank the soccer moms.
I have seen sometimes some of you in this blog and others joking on the possibility that it is Pelosi who is really in charge in the US…
Well, I read over there that they were in Munich, Harris, Austin, and Pelosi…
That could imply that it is a reality, not a joke, otherwise, who other heads of parliament are present at the Munich Security Conference?
Marlene
The Speaker of the House of Representatives is second in line of succession to the presidency.
Ok, but what is she doing at the Munich Security Conference being Biden alive and, allegedly, well?
Marlene
No idea.
Some here and thre, and especially the mass media are alleging that the evacuation taking place in Donbass are parto of and information operation, puere propaganda.
Well, to put the issue into context, the Donbass authorities, based on intelligence gathering and intensifying of attacks that we all now can see, are trying to avoid a repetition of the escenario in 2014-15 wheren some 32 children died under shelling.
For you to test that it is not propaganda, here the names, date of birth and decese and place where it happened of the fallen children, only in Lugansk …
1. Agababyants Svetlana Pavlovna, 11/6/04 – 5/11/2014, Kirovsk
2. Alexandrov Egor Artemovich, 25/8/13 – 24/06/2014, Antratsyt
3. Borodavka Svetlana Sergeevna, 02/06/97 – 20/2/2015, Kirovsk
4. Bugaeva Anna Timofeevna, 12/07/14 – 08/8/2014, Krásnaya Poliana.
5. Butinets Alexey Vladimirovich, 25/10/97 – 15/8/2014, Lugansk
6. Vivchar Margarita Andreevna, 22/01/01 – 8/8/2014, Lugansk
7. Lyana Radzhovna Vidak, 27/8/07 – 11/11/2014 Antrotsitovsky
8. Garbanev Vladimir Evgenievich, 13/5/14 – 26/8/2014, p. Krásnaya Poliana
9. Glushchenko Denis Maksimovich, 28/7/98 – 21/7/2014, Lugansk
10. Gusak Arina Vasilievna, 4/9/10 – 21/1/2015, Stakhanov.
11. Dukhnenko Vladislava Zakharovna, 13/7/07 – 6/8/2014, Sukhodolsk
12. Evsyukova Marina Vadimovna, 25/7/07 – 25/8/2014, Lugansk
13. Ermilov Ivan Vladimirovich, 1/7/09 – 02/07/2014, Kondrashovka.
14. Kapustnikov Vladislav Vyacheslavovich, 19/1/97 – 10/7/2014, Chervonopartizansk
15. Knysh Daria Vitalievna, 31/10/11 – 13/8/2014, Lugansk
16. Kulichko Ivan Sergeevich, 8/7/13 – 27/8/2014 dist. Lutuginsky
17. Ledneva Marina Andreevna, 23/6/08 – 7/8/2014, Lugansk
18. Lukashuk Daniil Nikolaevich, 24/7/00 – 07/08/2014, Krasny Luch
19. Orekhov Evgeny Borisovich, 15/9/06 – 20/8/2014, Lugansk
20. Ostapenko Valentin Eduardovich, 28/5/98 – 26/10/2014, Rovenki
21. Danil Alexandrovich, 8/3/97 – 27/8/2014, Novosvetlovka
22. Polyakov Ivan Anatolyevich, 07/10/10 – 31/10/2014, Donetskiy
23. Ponomarenko Yury Romanovich, 08/11/00 – 23/4/2015, Lugansk.
24. Ponomarev Yury Yuryevich, 14/11/01 – 23/4/2015, Lugansk
25. Postavnoy Vladislav Evgenievich, 20/3/03 – 22/4/2015, Chernukhino.
26. Sandulyak Daniil Yurievich, 2/3/00 – 6/9/2014, el pueblo de Roskoshnoe.
27. Sidoryuk Kirill Vladimirovich, 29/9/01 – 29/8/2014, Petrovskoye
28. Soroka Alexander Gennadievich, 30/9/99 – 29/11/2014, Rovenki
29. Sorokin Alexander Sergeevich, 19/12/2008 – 22/8/2014, Rovenki
30. Suglobova Valeria Mikhailovna, 20/11/2001 – 18/08/2014, p. de Hriashevatoye
31. Khomutova Anna Viktorovna, 5/10/97 – 24/1/2015, Stakhanov
32. Chudinov Alexander Alexandrovich, 16/10/1997 – 30/07/2014, Lugansk
Dear Colonel,
Another possibility is that in the disarray of a Russian retaliation the crazy’s could expect to seize power from Zelensky, expecting military aid from the US to stabilize a rump (Azov, i.e., Nazi-run) state west of Kiev with its new capital in Lviv, figuring a Nazi Homeland in half a Ukraine is better than being under Zelensky (who is Jewish).
WRT whos shelling who (propaganda), if the Ukrainian forces were worried about being shelled, they needn’t have mobilized to the LOC, taking advantage of Ukraine’s strategic depth, and mobilizing 50 or 80 km back from the LOC. Its not as if Donetsk/Lugansk have the resources to supply logistic chains into Ukrainian territory where their rather meager forces would be susceptible to destruction by cauldrons.
ISL
Now that is an interesting thought. A new state west of what Babak M used to call the “Diocletian Line.” This would be RC culturally rather than Orthodox and essentially Galician?
Colonel
Oh that Babak were here to contribute his invaluable insights.
The potential for a partition of Ukraine along historical/religious lines is not, I think, a wasted academic exercise. In Putin’s ‘Historical Unity’ essay the following passage appears in relation to the Ukrainian SSR (UkSSR):
QED Crimea of course. But a look at the original western boundary of the UkSSR is instructive. Lvov and 7 or so of Ukraine’s western oblasts lie entirely in the historically Polish/(RC?) part of the modern state.
If Putin does try and build a Russian Empire 2.0 – whether with an annexed or Vichy Ukraine – might he leave this historically non-Orthodox territory out?
Barbara Ann
Babak had the great virtue of not thinking that everything is economically determined.
It also would still provide a buffer between the Russian border and NATO forces – and still maintain significant strategic depth between Russia and NATO or some future, capable(!) EU army or capable (!) German army. Capabilities come and go faster than borders tend to change.
That is in the script since time ago, the fact that these thugs were trained by Canadian and UK operatives and the current developments in Canada indicates so.
Not for nothing Biletsky got his nazis embedded into the Ukrainian National Guard and got the rank of Colonel….
The manifestos from the whole Ukrainian nazi scope had plans for the “reconquest of Europe” put there in black ink for whomever wanted to read.
Some people in Europe, few remnants from the real left, the last antifascists there, were the only ones who kept watching the nazis in the Ukraine in their developments supported by Western powers….
Any resemblance with the build up around the German Nazi Party of the 30s was not pure coincidence.
Compare the Enabling Act promulgated by Hitler with what Trudeau and Freeland have just impossed in Canada…
https://twitter.com/QuotesforGoal/status/1495175034679222280/photo/1
Here bankers´ shill Dragui declaring the italian unvaccinated untermenschen, as he did in France bankers´ shill Macron previously…
https://twitter.com/RadioGenova/status/1493506165505990656
The connections of the Warburg bankers with current German chancellor Scholz, now denying the genocide taking palce in Donbass through the 8 years of war there, are not coincidence either…
I fear we are being guided to WWIII by the same actors who brought us to the past two great wars…
It is of utmost urgency that patriotic people around the world unite to oppose the take over of our countries by nazi operatives and nazi world order.
For those here and in the Munich Security Conference stating that the shelling by the Ukro Army is fake and in any case it is the Novorrosiyans bombing themselves, as Zelensky had the gall to state in Munich without anybody correcting him there, here some footage on OSCE operatives testing recent shelling in Donbass reported by one of the few Western journalists on the ground, Dan O´Brien, freelance photographer…
https://twitter.com/DeanoBeano1/status/1495364580318527491
Also, there is left for the hemeroteque, and future Nurembergs, as Martyanov announces, de facto admission by the very NATO SecGen on that they are really the bullies…
https://twitter.com/AFPespanol/status/1494964935750819841
553 explosions in Donetsk and another 860 in neighboring Luhansk on Friday alone according to the OSCE, with one civilian casualty verified by the mission in a Donetsk area. But the state department says all is calm and otherwise is Russian disinformation.
https://twitter.com/StateDeptSpox/status/1495184977004220418
Although it seems some high offcials in the EU start showing doubts about the existence of the alleged evidence of invasion plans from Russia they have not seen so far…
https://twitter.com/aaronjmate/status/1495255255386365955?cxt=HHwWhoC5nfGum8ApAAAA