Absolute drivel. Regurgitation of Russian propaganda which accepts Russian interests entirely and denies Ukranians right to exist as a sovereign country.
Ukraine implemented as much of Minsk as they could do. They took all actions within their own power to comply. But Russia did not withdraw its forces or support for the separatists so Ukraine could not fully implement Minsk when its authority did not cover its territory.
Russia was already in clear violation of Budapest. Zero evidence it viewed Minsk any differently.
Russia has zero right to dictate what blocs Ukraine can join and as we have seen without NATO protection or assistance Russia would just waltz into Ukraine and install a puppet regime. Every action it has taken has shown it wants Ukraines resources in its orbit and if it cant get it through corruption economic warfare and threats of warfare it will try to take it by force.
I cant believe you are still spouting this propaganda when Putin and Lavrov have already pulled the rug out from all the useful idiots who went to bat with lies about nato or denazification when he talked about taking back what was theirs
Oh go away with that heap of self serving sh*te.
A load of nonsense + a rewrite of history.
Russia just lies and distorts everything all the time, they think it is being clever. That statement by Lavrov [https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-62231936] is just the latest and its so tiring and dispiriting if you waste your time & try and follow it all. It doesn't matter what Putin/Lavrov said in the past or say now, watching what Russia does is more useful.
The aim of the war, once begun, was transparently to grab the whole country from day 1.
They went straight after Kyiv, to either decapitate or evict the current govt. and put a Putin Puppet in there, which Russia would then have declared was the legitimate Ukrainian govt. (vs the "Nazis" who had been removed). They would have tried that even if Zelensky fled + escaped the trap, or there was an attempt by others to organise and direct resistance from elsewhere in Ukraine.
I bet they would then have had their 2 "People's Republics" in Ukraine applaud the new Putin Puppets, and scouted about at the UN for anyone else they could cajole or bribe or bully to recognise Ukraine's new handpicked Putin-friendly leadership.
edit: That clever plan failed, and now Russia's military have an awful messy & bloody struggle on their hands to try and deliver Putin what he wanted (he seems to be, imo, a man who has not been balked or had someone tell him "no" for a very long time).
The NATO threat is just a red herring. There are no Russian troops in any great numbers on the NATO border in the baltics or Finland which is the newest NATO “threat”. Their troops are in non NATO Ukraine. Would ya go way to bf this is an old fashioned war of conquest and subjugation. The likes of Your argument has been dispelled numerous times here going back 6 months now.
This sounds like victim blaming and something written by RT.
The Minsk agreement while supposedly ended the war in the Donbas, Ukraine Knew the Russians could not be trusted. Their little green men that popped up in Crimea. So yeah they fcuking armed themselves because sooner or later the Russians would be looking for more. And then more again. Russia is a bully and would never stop. They want USSR 2.0
All of this should have been settled in the Minsk agreement.
However, the United States let/encouraged Ukraine to arm itself to the teeth, walk away from the Minsk agreement, and then try to expand NATO to Russia’s border even though Putin said repeatedly that further expansion of NATO was a redline.
I heard Lavrov say that it was backing Putin into a corner but he was ignored. Additionally, Putin said Ukraine was massing forces to invade the Donbas. All of this triggered an invasion but Russia treated it as a limited special military operation (mostly to protect the Donbas) not full scale war warranting Russia’s full military power. But NATO turned it into a proxy war and the EU vowed to bankrupt Russia with sanctions.
At this point, Russia now has a land bridge from Crimea to Russia and it’s not giving any of that back based on promises that the West could simply break. Since the sanctions will likely be eternal and there’s nothing left to sanction, Russia has nothing to lose by annexing the eastern territories. And Russia has made clear that it will keep advancing as long as Ukraine keeps fighting so Ukraine is basically fighting its way out of existence. But I don’t expect Biden to understand that since he needs written directions to walk through a open door
The language Lavrov is using "no proposals from Ukraine that any serious person could take seriously" is obnoxious beyond belief. Though alas all too believable from him.
Lads. Plenty of threads to discuss the North/Northern Ireland.
I suspect the Russian criminal regime are claiming to want more of Ukraine as a negotiation tactic… I.e they will settle “reluctantly” for the Donbas.
**** them. Neuter them now or they’ll be back again like undead scum.
It's a simple case of of they target Russia with another countries weapons Kiev will lose international support ,and the fact Russia still has it's gas and oil flowing through and around Europe they still have plenty of power over eu states
Something similar is happening in Ukraine - Plantation of Ulster - Wikipedia
I'd advise you to take a look at our constitution if you think what you posted is right.
And Putin will learn the hard way that the 19th century statesmanship is firmly in the past.
Unfortunately it often is how the world works, look at our own little island, a decent portion of which is still in the hands of a power with no legitimate claim to it. Moral right has little to do with it
Russia has no legitimate claim to a square inch of Ukrainian territory, it doesn't matter how many Russian ethnics there are in any given region, that ain't how the world works. And Putin will be taught that with drone, rifle, missile and bodybag.
It does tell us the illegality of the regime. Russia has no legitimate claim to either of those places - Kherson for example is a very Ukrainian city, with perhaps 75% of its population ethnic Ukrainians.
That's a morale announcement. All open source intel points towards Russia is not being in any shape to sustain a campaign like that deep into next year.
Russia has expanded its goals from the Donbas to zaporizhzhia and Kherson, this war wont be over by Christmas 2023, maybe by Christmas 2043
Interesting story on Twitter about how Russian "journalists" (lol) were going to report a supposed successful attack on HIMARS equipment in Ukraine. This 'attack' was to be filmed in Belarus this coming Friday with the cooperation of Belarussian authorities. Unfortunately for them, someone has leaked part of the correspondence between the journalists and the military, presumably putting the kibosh on the whole propaganda stunt.
Ukrainian attack, false flag, propaganda or what?
Ukrainian drones hit the territory of the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant - YouTube
Again-
It must take incredible amounts of strength not to respond to Russians by lobbing missiles into Belgorod from Kharkiv which is well within HIMARS and m270 range
Ostensibly it was a conference about Syria. Turkey occupies pockets of Northern Syria since 2016.
Powerplays, simple as that. Turkey has always had ambitions to be the dominant regional power and they're flexing that muscle now. Russia knows that they need to deal with Turkey to get their shipments of stolen grain out of the Black Sea. Erdogan is using that, together with the fact that Turkey is one of the few main avenues into and out of Russia to strengthen his position both as a Black Sea hegemon and in Syria.
Putin knows this, he doesn't like it, but he also doesn't really have a choice. His military is not powerful enough to engage Turkey, which would also bring NATO into the conflict as a combatant and he knows that the Montreux Convention gives Ankara the right to block ALL shipping to any of the belligerents from passing through the Dardanelles and the Bosporus. So he needs to play nice with Turkey. Just look at the video at the top of this page. Putin is quite clearly not the dominant partner in that relationship.
Turkey will help Turkey. Play all sides.
But the Turks know their history with Russia. A weaker Russian military is good for Turkey. Russian money is also good for Turkey.
They are friends to both, and he just loves the honest broker image. TBH they may play a key role in the end of this.
Why is Turkish President engaging with that raging lunatic? I thought Turkey was help Ukraine
I have to say, there will be memes made from this video for sure
You can just see the thoughts flowing through his brain in his face expressions
“Hmm I wonder what he deserves more? Novichok or Polonium”
The Antonovsky bridge, looks like they are taking it out.
On a similar theme, Lavrov is now admitting that the aim is no longer just to "liberate" the Donbas, but to annex various parts of Ukraine :
Calls among Russian nationalist and pro-war voices for Russian President Vladimir Putin to expand Russia’s war aims, mobilize the state fully for war, and drop the pretext that Russia is not engaged in a war reached a crescendo on July 19. Former Russian militant commander and nationalist milblogger Igor Girkin presented an extensive list of military, economic, and political actions that he argues the Kremlin must take to win the war in Ukraine; first among this list is abandoning the rhetoric of the “special military operation” and defining the official goals of the war in Ukraine. Girkin advocated for expansive territorial aims beyond the Kremlin’s stated ambitions in Donbas, including the reunification of the entire territory of “Novorossiya” (which Girkin maintains includes Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Mykolaiv, Odesa, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Donetsk, and Luhansk oblasts as well as Kryvyi Rih) with the Russian Federation and the creation of a Malorossiya state (all of Ukraine up to the Polish border), which Girkin claims should be reunified with Russia through the Russia-Belarus Union State. Girkin also called for the Kremlin to shift the Russian economy fully to a war footing and to carry out extensive mobilization measures including forced conscription and the (further) suspension of Russians’ rights.
Girkin has often criticized what he views as a lack of ambition and decisive action in the Kremlin’s handling of the war in Ukraine through his calls for maximalist objectives and measures to support territorial gains. His newest list of demands adds to the growing discontent within the Russian pro-war nationalist zeitgeist.
While Girkin’s July 19 post is an acerbic critique of the Kremlin’s intentions in Ukraine, other Russian milbloggers sought to shape a narrative favoring Putin while advancing the same maximalist aims by suggesting that the Kremlin has been purposefully setting conditions for a protracted war in Ukraine since the war began. Russian milblogger Yuri Kotyenok claimed that Russia has been pursuing the “Syrianization” of the war in Ukraine by never articulating specific deadlines or goals for operations in Ukraine.
The explicit invocation of protracted Russian operations in Syria suggests that certain Russian nationalist voices are setting conditions for a long war in a way that saves face for the Kremlin given Russia’s failure to secure its military objectives in Ukraine in the very short period that the Kremlin initially planned.
Putin could simply ignore the milbloggers, although he has shown concern for their positions in the recent past, or he could play off their narratives in several ways. He might wait and see what resonance their calls for full mobilization and broader war aims have within the portions of the Russian population he cares most about. He might hope that their semi-independent calls for more extreme measures could fuel support for an expansion of aims and mobilization that he desires but feels Russians remain unprepared to accept. He may instead reject their calls for grander ambitions and greater sacrifices, thereby presenting himself as the moderate leader refraining from demanding too much from his people.
US officials reported that Russia plans to annex occupied Ukrainian territory as soon as autumn 2022, confirming ISW’s May 2022 assessment. US National Security Council Spokesperson John Kirby announced that the Kremlin is beginning to roll out a version of its 2014 “annexation playbook” in Ukraine and is “examining detailed plans” to annex Kherson, Zaporizhia, and all of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, citing newly declassified intelligence.Kirby confirmed ISW’s long-running assessment that the Kremlin has installed illegitimate proxy officials, forced use of the ruble, replaced Ukrainian telecommunications and broadcast infrastructure with Russian alternatives, and forced Ukrainians to apply for Russian passports to accomplish basic tasks in occupied territories.As ISW wrote on May 13, Putin’s timeline for annexation is likely contingent on the extent to which he understands the degraded state of the Russian military in Ukraine. He may intend to capture the remainder of Donetsk Oblast before annexing all occupied territories, which would likely force him to postpone annexation. Russia’s degraded forces are unlikely to occupy all of Donetsk Oblast before Russia’s September 11 unified voting day for local and gubernatorial elections across the country, the most likely date for annexation referenda to be held. The Kremlin could also postpone these Russian regional and local elections to limit expressions of domestic dissatisfaction with the Russian invasion of Ukraine—independent Latvia-based Russian language newspaper Meduza reported in May that members of Russia’s Federal Security Service and National Security Council were lobbying to postpone the September 2022 elections.
Putin could leverage nuclear threats to deter a Ukrainian counteroffensive into annexed Kherson, Zaporizhia, Donetsk, and Luhansk oblasts.After annexation, Putin may state, directly or obliquely, that Russian doctrine permitting the use of nuclear weapons to defend Russian territory applies to newly annexed territories. Such actions would threaten Ukraine and its partners with nuclear attack if Ukrainian counteroffensives to liberate Russian-occupied territory continue. Putin may believe that the threat or use of nuclear weapons would restore Russian deterrence after his disastrous invasion shattered Russia's conventional deterrent capabilities, although previous Russian hints at Moscow’s willingness to use nuclear weapons have proven hollow. Ukraine and its Western partners may have a narrowing window of opportunity to support a Ukrainian counteroffensive into occupied Ukrainian territory before the Kremlin annexes that territory.
Russian milbloggers are increasingly openly criticizing the Russian military for failing to address structural problems with Russian Airborne Forces (VDV), highlighting the VDV’s failure to fight the war as it had trained in peacetime, a failing that played no small role in the general Russian failures during the initial invasion. Russian milblogger Military Informant stated that Russian VDV has not adopted force structure and tactics reforms that the Russian military already knew were necessary prior to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.Military Informant stated that lightly armored Russian VDV vehicles (such as BMD and BTR-D) are too heavy to enable effective airborne mobility—especially in contested airspace—and too light to provide sufficient protection in maneuver warfare. Russian milblogger Alexander Sladkov similarly noted that Russian VDV forces‘ structural reliance on a small number of lightly armored fighting vehicles is a liability.Military Informant praised how the Russian VDV previously practiced using light unarmored vehicles for higher mobility in three consecutive years of annual capstone command staff exercises (Tsentr 2019, Kavkaz 2020, and Zapad 2021) but noted that these adaptations did not have time to “take root” before the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
The Russian military’s failure to implement lessons learned—or to learn the right lessons—from previous exercises or combat is an ongoing trend that ISW has observed.The most prominent example of this phenomenon was the Russian military’s failure to create a cohesive command and control system for the amalgamation of approximately 120 Russian battalion tactical groups (BTGs) assembled for the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine after experiencing successes operating smaller numbers of BTGs in Ukraine in 2014 and in Syria in 2016.
It will cause maximum damage and remove all leverage.
Though actually would probably cause more damage to do it in Winter, we still won't be weaned off Russian gas by then.
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