UKRAINE updates

[dammitgriff]

Embassies now reopening in Kyiv while an estimated 1730 Ukrainian fighters have emerged from the besieged Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol.
$40 billion US aid package stalled in the senate as Zelensky asks for $7 billion per month to fund his government and rebuild, which the EU is apparently going to borrow in Ukraine’s name, putting them on the list of debtors to European banks.
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has said it is illegal to re-direct seized Russian foreign exchange reserves to Ukraine.

[SoldierMan]

George Bush finally tells the truth about Ukrain... I mean Iraq.

https://twitter.com/BNONews/status/1527096243821989888?s=20&t=UzeE5lUw9atS821cv821LQ

[dammitgriff]

The Ukraine aid package has been signed by President Biden in South Korea. The $40 billion sum includes funds to pay salaries to Ukrainian troops. U.S. taxpayers are now officially paying Ukrainian military members to fight in a war against Russia. Only 11 Republicans in the Senate opposed this bill.

[curious george]

The Ukraine aid package has been signed by President Biden in South Korea. The $40 billion sum includes funds to pay salaries to Ukrainian troops. U.S. taxpayers are now officially paying Ukrainian military members to fight in a war against Russia. Only 11 Republicans in the Senate opposed this bill.

Daddy Warbucks has them all bought and paid for...

[oafpatroll]

Wonder whether Biden junior will be able to wade back into the money in Ukraine again.

[Vaal]

Wonder whether Biden junior will be able to wade back into the money in Ukraine again.

Was he ever out of it?

[Johann du Toit]

Russia's Counsellor to the United Nations in Geneva has resigned. He is quoted as saying that "never has he been more ashamed of his country".
https://www.express.co.uk/news/world...ky-NATO-latest

He even called on other Russian diplomats to do the same. Clearly, not all Russians are supporting Putin warmongery. There was even an attempt to assassinate him according to Ukraine's Intelligence Chief.
https://www.express.co.uk/news/world...ligence-latest
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-...ation-27040843

If the attempt had succeeded it would have saved a lot of lives and prevented a lot of suffering.

[oafpatroll]

If the attempt had succeeded it would have saved a lot of lives and prevented a lot of suffering.

I wouldn't take that as a given. No shortage of baddies around that particular capo.

[Johann du Toit]

Here is an interesting essay by a Security Expert on what it would take for Ukraine to win in this war, and the major deficiencies the Russian Armed Forces have shown in this conflict that have prevented them from winning despite numerical superiority.
https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/...-going-to-win-

[A-R]

Just to illustrate the diversity of views and maybe stimulate some thought, here is a non-mainstream view of the current issues in Ukraine:

Ukraine - The military Genius in Putin.


Since the American engineered coup in 2014 that brought Zelensky to power, the American and NATO have been quietly setting up the command centre for NATO operation against the Russians under the Azovstal steel plant. 3 major goals were achieved in the last 8 years, a command centre, a major biochem weapon station and a regiment of neo Nazi soldiers. All these were done stealthily, top secret military stuff. And they executed these so successfully under the nose of the Russians...without the Russians knowing?


With so many top generals and scientists shuffling in and out of the secretive underground fortress, with so many soldiers, and with so many logistics, biochemical weapons in the facility, it was a very well kept secret!


Putin was not appointed to head the KGB as a political appointee. He earned his spurs as an intelligent secret service officers. To be appointed as head of KGB, unlike the head of CIA, the latter a political appointment, meaning any idiot or clown could also be offered the job, it meant that Putin was the best of the best in KGB/Russia. Can't imagine how sleepy Joe is going to test his wits against the best of the KGB.


Putin and the Russians did not know of the death machine under the Azovstal steel plant? His original plan was to take Kiev? All his tanks and heavy military vehicles were lined up on the roads to Kiev, clearly visible by satellite images. No need guessing. The Americans and Ukrainians knew exactly what Putin was going to do. He is going to attack Kiev. The people in the Azovtal stronghold too thought they were very safe, very secure, unknown and undetected by the Russians. And their daily activities continued unchanged.


Everything was normal in Mariupol. In fact, the Americans and NATO must have felt very safe and no one left the fortress. If only they knew what Putin was up to. If only they knew that they have been exposed, all the big fish would have fled. Was it American and NATO arrogance, or was it Putin's brilliance, the attack on Kiev was expected but fizzled out quickly. By then, the Russian troops have all encircled the Azovstal fortress. Too late to run. No one is going to escape the dragnet of Putin.


Did any of the very clever American analysts and intelligence officers see this coming? How could they miss the signs, the decoy, the diversionary strategy of Putin, look West and strike East? Putin's deception was as perfect as you can get from the point of military strategy. Of course the arrogance and stupidity of the Americans and NATO helped, making it so easy for Putin to round them up in one move. Now, as the Chinese strategists like to call it, Putin is hauling in the net, with all the big fish and crocodiles inside.


Putin is as good a military genius as he is expected. And he did not fail his believers with this war of deception in Ukraine. Now the Americans is pulling every string they could find to get in touch with Putin to release the big fish and crocodiles in the Azovstal fortress. The UN Sec Gen Antonio Guterres, and the Pope Francis had to make personal trips to Moscow to see Putin.


After all the hard work plotting to capture the Azovstal fortress, including the big fish and crocodiles and all the biochemical weapons inside, it would not be so easy to appease and persuade Putin to give up his prized catches so easily. Now the Americans and NATO are at the mercy of Putin.


Do not be surprised if the desperate Americans and NATO would do a last ditch assault in Mariupol to free their valued generals and scientists. When Lt Trevor Cadieu is only in charge of a biochem weapon unit, one can easily imagine how many more generals would out rank him in the fortress. Then there would be the commanding officer of this top secret facility and his deputies. The Brits French, Germans and many other NATO top brass are likely to be in the same hole under the steel plant.


These are early Christmas presents for Putin, though they came with a lot of planning and effort. For the slightest indication that the fortress' existence had been exposed, or Putin's game plan was to capture the fortress and all the top brass and biochemical weapons in them, all the top brass would have scooted long before the war started, and all the biochemical weapons would have be transferred elsewhere. Now they would be top exhibits in Putin's case against the Americans and NATO, to be shown to the whole wide world.


Never had the Americans and NATO been in such dire straits, with their balls being squeezed by Putin and they could not do anything about it short of an outright military confrontation, an assault on the Azovstal steel plant with the full force of American and NATO forces.


No amount of propaganda can distract the success of Putin in his set up to capture the Azovstal fortress lock, stock and barrel. These would now become very expensive chips in the pocket of Putin, and the Americans and NATO would have to pay a very heavy price for their return.


How many generals or military strategists today could claim such a success against the American Empire and NATO? And to think of it, the Americans and NATO still did not have any clue what was Putin up to. Still guessing and spreading nonsense about the intent of Putin, and still claiming fake victories against Putin everyday…"

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Could this hold some truth, or is it just another propaganda ploy like so many of the stories floating around the MSM?