The military situation in Ukraine, as seen by an ex-member of the Swiss strategic intelligence

The Rio Times ^ | April 18, 2022 | Jacques Baud

[Cathi]

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Part One: The Road To War – For years, from Mali to Afghanistan, I have worked for peace and risked my life for it. It is therefore not a question of justifying war, but of understanding what led us to it. [….]

Let’s try to examine the roots of the [Ukrainian] conflict. ---------------------- (Cathi: This is the best, most thorough, least biased explanation from an expert on the current Ukrainian, Russian conflict that I have read.)

[Kevmo]

I suppose the people to ask were the American oil companies with signed contracts to explore and exploit, they left in 2014 when Russia invaded.

So “I guess its useless to tell you” that you are pushing BS.

[MinorityRepublican]

How about missiles? They took out the Russian flagship using missiles from a drone.

[Kevmo]

The definition of a fact: Both sides acknowledge it.

[Navy Patriot]

The Ruble is up again today to the Dollar.

I don't know if I'll be able to afford to watch the trials of these Nazis on Russian Pay-Per-View.

Those crying confessions from the Dock, ...

Oh well ...

[Brellium]

I don't know if I'll be able to afford to watch the trials of these Nazis on Russian Pay-Per-View.

Yeah, it's going to be tough buying those 10 RU:Rubble that are allowed to freely convert on a daily basis.

[CarolinaReaganFan]

thanks for posting this

[Kevmo]

I couldn't disagree with you more.
***If you can't see the bias then there is little use in furthering the conversation. I point to the obvious that if I'm so biased then why did I post such a biased article. It goes above heads like yours.
Ignore button:
I thought it was not only lacking propaganda, but was quite insightful. It presented quite a few facts that I was unaware of. These facts have only cemented my resolve against our involvement in this conflict. For example: In fact, these Republics were not seeking to separate from Ukraine, but to have a status of autonomy, guaranteeing them the use of the Russian language as an official language–because the first legislative act of the new government resulting from the American-sponsored overthrow of [the democratically-elected] President Yanukovych, was the abolition, on February 23, 2014, of the Kivalov-Kolesnichenko law of 2012 that made Russian an official language in Ukraine. I really did not understand what the autonomy was in detail. I mistakenly believed it was separation from Ukraine, but also not becoming a part of Russia. But as we see here, that is not the case at all, they were not separating from Ukraine at all. They were seeking the same arrangement as we have with American Indian Reservations. Moreover, these referendums were conducted against the advice of Vladimir Putin. That kind of pulls the rug out from under those who claim Putin & Russia were really only after the Azov oil fields. The rest is pretty much what I have argued, unsuccessfully I might add, with the cheerleaders for this conflict in favor of Ukraine & Zelenskyy. This gives us a far better perspective of what really caused this war, and it wasn't Putin or Russia. I must assume, Kevmo, that you are one of the cheerleaders, if you honestly believe this is propaganda. If that is not the case, I offer up my apologies for believing that.

[Dr. Franklin]

Have the Ukrainians tried destroying the bride over the Kerch Strait yet? That would put a hurt on Putin!

I've commented on this before. I would think that the Ukies should have missiles capable of hitting this, and it's a fixed target that can't move. I don't know why it hasn't happened yet.

[Robert DeLong]

I said that because you said that. Furthermore you presented no indication that you were being sardonic.

I assumed you merely posted it because there was no restriction requiring only an excerpt. Yes, my ability to interpret your true motives is not one of my abilities. Instead without some indication, I have to accept what you typed as your honest interpretation.

Even your response is cryptic, not to mention just plain rude.

You must have lots of friends with your marvelous conversational skills. /sarcasm

[Cathi]

For those that would like to see an analysis of where things seem to stand right now in this economic and military proxy war and where they may be going here is a video from one of my favorite sources.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=alySAat9V88&t=1001s

Ukraine update & Wheat for Rubles has collective west in panic mode

[Right_in_Virginia]

Bookmark

[Kevmo]

I said that because you said that. Furthermore you presented no indication that you were being sardonic.
***according to the definition,
sar·don·ic
/särˈdänik/
Learn to pronounce
adjective
grimly mocking or cynical.

I am very often if not mostly sardonic.

I assumed you merely posted it because there was no restriction requiring only an excerpt.
***I said in the very first sentence that it also far more biased than the original poster suggested explicitly. You assumed right over what I said against your assumption in the very first sentence. That’s a real bad habit.

Yes, my ability to interpret your true motives is not one of my abilities.
***Then don’t try. What I do is ask: Was this what you intended to say? And if it was, I promote my viewpoint. If it wasn’t, it is up to the respondent to clarify.

Instead without some indication, I have to accept what you typed as your honest interpretation.
***I try to always be honest. But that doesn’t mean I have to be always candid.

Even your response is cryptic, not to mention just plain rude.
***Rudeness? Look in the mirror.

You must have lots of friends with your marvelous conversational skills. /sarcasm
***I do. No sarcasm needed. You seem to be thin skinned and/or looking for a fight. Is that the case?

[MercyFlush]

Okay, and now can you say that in English? Thanks.

[Petrosius]

If what the author claims is true all Putin need do is proclaim that Russia has no territorial claims on Ukraine and that all Russian troops will withdraw with the implementation of the Minsk agreements granting the Donbas autonomy within a unified Ukraine. Otherwise it is clear that all of this is just a justification for a Russian land-grab.

[MalPearce]

I refuse to accept pro Russian narratives that are easily debunked.

I also refuse to accept pro Ukrainian narratives that are easily debunked.

Where both sides can evidence their claims, i accept them.

There was a near-genocidal civil war in Ukraine. It had pro-Russian separatists, bussed-in Ruscists and professional nazi private contractors on one side. On the other side there were Ukrainian nationalists and neonazis. That civil war was at its peak between between 2014 and 2016. This is agreed fact. Because both the DPR and the UN confirm these facts. And Wagner has admitted it was involved. And Azov admits it was involved.

Only Russia denies it had any hand in that stage of the conflict.

There was no genocide from January 2019 to 2022. DPR casualty statistics are higher than the UN’s but even they acknowledge it wasn’t on a scale that anyone can seriously claim amounted to genocide.

When Putinistas say that the invasion was provoked by genocide, they could only be right if Russia waited until three years after the genocide ended before sending the boots in. I think Russian military intelligence and logistics planning is sub-optima, but even that’s a hell of a stretch. It doesn’t take three years to launch a rescue operation.

If you REALLY think 14000 dead in 8 years (of which 9000 at least were combatants on both sides) with 75 civilians in the final three years of combat qualifies as a one-sided genocide rather than a civil war, then sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander.

If what happened in Donbas between 2014 and 2016 was a genocide then so is what’s happening in 2022. But on a far bigger scale.

Russia openly admits to removing over 100,000 civilians to internment camps, deploying forced adoption on Ukrainian children, and using torture when interrogating civilians.

With conservative estimates of over 60,000 Ukrainian fighters, over 20,000 Russian fighters, and easily over 10,000 civilians killed in Mariupol and Bucha before counting the dead anywhere else, Russia is manifestly guilty of creating a genocide that has killed 8 to 9 times as many people in three months as were killed in the entirety of the 8 year conflict.

For every one person killed in 8 years of civil war (combatants and noncombatants on both sides combined), the Special Military Operation has killed 72. (9x8).

If the small side of that ratio is genocide, why not the bigger side?

[Cathi]

“... all Putin need do is proclaim that Russia has no territorial claims on Ukraine and that all Russian troops will withdraw”

---

Feel free to give his information any interpretation you choose too. Everyone is entitled to their opinion.

I don’t share yours because I have followed every bit of this intensely right from the beginning and became aware that after the West sunk the Moskva, Putin came to the realization that this wasn’t just a conflict between Ukraine and Russia over Russian speaking people in the Donbass as originally envisioned, but a deliberate US/NATO instigated proxy war to weaken Russia and create regime change.

Frankly, it appears to me, Putin was slow to catch on. Not only has this been the policy of the U.S (CIA, deep state) for many years, but in this specific instance if you read the article carefully you will see that Zelensky in 2021 put in effect a plan to retake Crimea and sent AZOV troops to the Donbass for that purpose. The author also points out that it was the Ukrainian forces (AZOV) that began intensively shelling beginning Feb. 16th (a week before Russia entered Ukraine.)

Ukraine is a puppet state that we bought and paid for with the express purpose of pressuring Russia and Zelensky does exactly what we tell him to do. Biden has specifically stated that we want regime change (though his handlers had to walk it back...he said the quiet part out loud.) Austin publicly said we want to “weaken Russia.”

After all of the above Putin changed his original plans and Russian authorities have now promised the people in the territories that Russia has “liberated” that “Russia will be there forever.”

The proxy war (both economic and military) is on. We will see how it turns out; but so far to me it looks like a catastrophic failure on our part. Russia is winning militarily and so far suffering very little economically. On the other hand, we are in the beginning stages of a freefall.

[NetAddicted]

Reread later.

[Kevmo]

If you guys are truly looking for unbiased sources, ya might start with the sources that are concerned but uninvolved like India. It is an IndiaFirst perspective that allows in some facts that you guys don’t.

How Long Will The Russia-Ukraine War Last? & Much More On Nothing But The Truth With Raj Chengappa
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odi7K5Y_Q_Q

[Robert DeLong]

That was definitely a worthwhile watch, and it is the argument we have been saying all along as well. There will be dire consequences for following Biden's pathetic lead into the proxy conflict with Russia. These cheerleaders were so naive as to believe that Biden could begin to carry it off, after having caused so much damage to this nation in less than 2 years, not to mention destroying Afghanistan, that it is almost beyond belief.

Why NATO or our allies, would even trust Biden is also incredible. Western nations seem to be desiring a death wish.

Could it be because they believe so deeply in the ushering in of a One World Government, that they refuse to see that effort as even ever having a possibility of failing?

After all, they are all the smart people, and we little people are just plain stupid, so they can't possibly fail. /sarcasm

[Kevmo]

(a week before Russia entered Ukraine.)
***before Russia INVADED Ukraine.

You assert other bullshiite points but I am at the edge of online resources and time to be able to go after them.