Rus Breakthrough Chasov Yar, Ukr Energy Crisis, Belgorod HIMARS Strike; Rus Economy Bigger Japan (My Notes on the first half hour of the video)

YOUTUBE ^ | June 2, 2024 | Alexander Mercouris

[ransomnote]

ransomnote: the video at the link is 90 minutes in length. Below I've recorded my notes on the first half our of the video.

Rus Breakthrough Chasov Yar, Ukr Energy Crisis, Belgorod HIMARS Strike; Rus Economy Bigger Japan

June 2, 2024

Alexander Mercouris

The Ukraine bombed Belegorod with HIMAR missiles and this was cast as a powerful escalation of the war. As usual, this was apparently just optics (FAKE NEWS). It probably is fanned as NEW! IMPROVED! war to justify the most recent gift of taxpayer funds to the Ukrainian war effort.

Mercouris says the Ukraine has been using other armaments to bomb Belegorod for awhile, and it is likely attacks on Belegorod were already authorized by the US. Bombing this region does not escalate the war as the region has been under attack for awhile, and firing on it does not violate Putin's 'red line'

The Russians are already capable of jamming HIMAR missile targeting and have done so successfully for awhile, so the HIMARS are not expected to do much damage in Belegorod.

Alexander wonders if the reason the Ukraine demanded HIMARS to fire on Belegorod, despite the fact they know Russia will jam them again, given that the Ukrainians have been firing on that region with other weapons, might indicate the Ukrainians have run out of those other arms. He refers to their 'psychological need' to fire on the region despite the weapons not doing much if any harm now.

The Russians claim they interceped all the HIMARs fired on Belegorod in the latest attck. While we don't know for sure, Alexander said that is probably true because Russia has already demonstrated its capacity over time to intercept HIMARS.

He says the Russians have systematically and methodically destroyed Ukrainian air defense systems (AIR 300's and others) located around Kharkiv to the point that, for all intents and purposes, the region is without air defenses.

The only weapon the Ukraine current has that would help repel Russian attacks on this region, with their very damaging 'CAB' missiles, would be America's Patriot systems. However, Russia effectively destroys these expensive systems so there is no way to move Patriot systems into position effectively. For this reason he says sending the Patriots there would be 'suicide' and that they would be destroyed.

The media avoids discussion of Russia's mass destruction of numerous Patriot systems in various locations close to the contact line earlier this year.

These issues are known, and they are not new - previously Ukrainian General (Syrkovsky?) increased air defense by moving massive air defense systems (including Western hardware and Air 300's) which were quickly identified by the Russians and destroyed. Starting around January of 2024 over a period of several weeks, around 12 air defense systems were destroyed. According to the Russians, about 6 or 7  of them wre Patriot launchers, and 1 or perhaps 2 were complete Patriot systems.

ransomnote: while the Russians use propaganda too, I believe the destruction of Patriot systems is likely true because it explains why they aren't using them where they are most needed, and because Russia's air superiority continues to surface  as a problem for the Ukraine: high death rates as Ukrainians approach Russia's defensive lines, the threat of airfield and aircraft destruction if the Ukraine were to build runway and hangar for F-16's where they are needed near the line of contact, the destruction of tanks upon arrival to the Ukraine etc. Lack of adequate air defense costs the Ukraine military hardware at a rate the West struggles to replace. This is why Zelensky said last year that tanks are nice, but fighter jets are needed to actually win the war.

My notes above cover the  first 15 minutes of the video. I am running out of time and just began monitoring the video in a general way  at this point.

Alexander describes the interpretation of Macron's remarks to be 'authorization' for strikes within Russia's national boundaries as likely exaggerated or wishful thinking. So those saying Macron authorized strikes on Russian military assets within Russia's traditional boundaries are not supported by Macron's public statements. It appears Macron was urgining Western allies to authorize such strikes; he never made any formal statement authorizing them himself. Mercouris notes its possible, but feels it's unlikely, that Macron has given such authorization privately.

Alexander discusses an article analyzing the Biden administration's 'dangerous' silence on the national stage regarding its stance or intentions regarding strikes on Russia. 

ransomnote: I have to stop for the night at the half hour mark. An hour of the video remains. If I have time I will watch more of it and post any notes I make as a comment on this thread.

[Kazan]

Courtesy of PGR88:

Lets play a quiz-game!

Is it Putin? Or is it the USA?

Lawfare against high-level political opponents

Lawfare against political opponents organizations

assassination of political opponents

controlled media promoting central govt narrative

arrest and suppression of independent media with large audience

weaponization of intel and law enforcement for political gain

lawfare against non-compliant corporations

[Chad C. Mulligan]

Well, the only one that doesn't require dis-proving a wild speculation with no evidence is:

That CIA (along with John McCain, Lindsey Graham and Victoria Nuland) were working to foment Maiden coup in 2014.

How about looking at the infamous "Nuland phone call". The one where she was discussing how to preserve Yanukovich in office. Doesn't seem like "fomenting a coup" anymore, does it? And ONCE AGAIN, how did the CIA manage to get 800,000 protesters in the streets of Kyiv, in the face of beatings and gunfire (from snipers imported from Russia)? Magic? Drugs in the water supply? Hypnotism? Cookies, for God's sake? It's a patently ridiculous claim, such as only Moscow would publish, knowing that there are useful idiots who would believe it.

That you keep pushing the CIA meme places you in the useful idiot category, or in the official Moscow Influencer category. Since you won't explain why you use a obscure Russian-empire city name as your FR moniker, I'm still betting on the latter.

[Chad C. Mulligan]

Lets play a quiz-game!

I don't think you really should want to play that game, because Putin has carried every category to radical extremes since as far back as 2012. The USA isn't even in the running.

[gleeaikin]

I think it might be appropriate to report Kazan’s abuse and threat to see you in Ohio at comment #35 to JR and Co. Not only is it an abusive threat, but he is also giving personal info about your location. I think this is what is called Doxxing and is supposed to be forbidden. I had my name and political party (not Dem) reported in comments by bimbo and worldtraveler. Unfortunately I did not make a copy of this information and thread info. Cheers

[BeauBo]

Rus Economy (about $2 Trillion) Bigger Japan (about $4 Trillion)

Rus math must comply with regime propaganda, like every every other element of society.

[Chad C. Mulligan]

He’s done this before. He seems a bit obsessed with my, ah.....hinder. But if he gets here with plans for my golf clubs, he’s going to be mighty disappointed. I not only don’t possess any, I am proud to say that at 79 years of age I have never even been ON a golf course, much less played that silly game.

[Kazan]

Lindsey Graham and John McCain went to Ukraine and openly backed the illegal coup in 2014. Victoria Nuland went to Ukraine and started handing out cookies.

George Soros NGOs were involved helping foment the coup and in setting up the government that illegally took over, a fact Zeepers like, incredibly, don't seem concerned about even though he's disgusting, flaming leftist pig.

And, the people of Crimea, Donetsk and Lugansk, who voted for Yanukovich were under absolutely no obligation to remain part of Ukrainian nationalist government that came to power illegal. And, decided not be and join the Russian Federation. There isn't a thing anyone will do to change that. Nor is there any moral grounds to force them to be part of Ukraine again.

You're defending the indefensible.

[Chad C. Mulligan]

That's utter bullsh$t. Nothing that is or has happen under Putin even comes close to comparing what has gone for the past four years in this country. Well, for the events since ~1980 I'm relying mostly on books by Timothy Snyder, who is a blindingly well informed historian of post-WW2 central Europe. Speaks five languages, reads ten, according to his CV. Been writing books on his subject for over 20 years now. Lives much of the time in Vienna, so he's close to his subject. Wrote Bloodlands which painfully documents what Hitler and Stalin did to Poland and Ukraine during the war, (not to neglect other victims like Belarus and Hungary). Waiting now on Amazon to deliver The Reconstruction of Nations: Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania, Belarus, 1569–1999. But there's also James Heiser and Keir Giles and Faith Hillis and Michael Millerman who have contributed to my developing understanding of the Moscow/Ukraine conflict. So I can claim to be just a wee bit better informed of conditions in your home on the Volga than you pretend to be, even though I've never been farther east than Germany myself.

[Kazan]

So, you want to rely on what some author tells you is true about Russia, regardless of whatever bias he may have, rather than actually watching vloggers that live in Russia or who are American or Western expats that live there? That hardly is an enlightened way of learning about a country or a people.

[Chad C. Mulligan]

So, you want to rely on what some author historian tells you is true about Russia....

Fixed it. And YES, I'll rely on real historians over yewtoob theatrics.

The Snyder book I just finished, which covers in detail, (275 pages worth), events from about Y2K to 2018 has sixty additional pages of endnotes. Every statement in the text that might need backup is backed up with its' sources. True to academic form, he assumes the reader is as multilingual as he is, so when he references Kremlin documents he had access to, the endnote is in Russian. Nobody can accuse him of bias in translation.

Yewtoob videos by Russian propagandists, (the only people allowed to make videos for public consumption in Russia since about 2012), have either fooled you, or you're in on it and want to fool US.

If you actually know any American ex-pats living in Russia and making videos, name some names so we can check their criminal records here. I seem to recall there are a couple who are wanted for espionage, aren't there? Didn't Scott the kiddy-diddler Ritter just have his passport lifted while trying to flee to Moscow?

[blitz128]

Courtesy of PGR88:
Lets play a quiz-game!

Is it Putin? Or is it the USA?

Lawfare against high-level political opponents

Lawfare against political opponents organizations

assassination of political opponents

controlled media promoting central govt narrative

arrest and suppression of independent media with large audience

weaponization of intel and law enforcement for political gain

lawfare against non-compliant corporations

Is this a joke?
Some of these I see in the USA, but everyone of these I see in Putin’s Russia and not just in a few cases, but in spades.

[blitz128]

Again I will ask, assuming your premise of a coup in Ukraine in 2014 is correct(I don’t), are coups against your interests the only ones that are bad?
Are you saying that russia(Putin) have not been involved in fomenting coups and political meddling for decades?

We could go into the reasons there are so many ethnic Russians in places like Ukraine, but you know this and why so it would be pointless.

[blitz128]

So the author has biases and there for his information is invalid, but vloggers living in Russia have no biases or agendas?

Got it/s

[Kazan]

So the author has biases and there for his information is invalid, but vloggers living in Russia have no biases or agendas?

An ordinary vlogger is far less likely to have a bias than some neocon writing a book or working at think tank that relies on stirring up hatred from Russia to make a living>

And many of these vloggers are critical of Putin and the Russian government, which you Zeepers keep insisting isn't even allowed there.

[blitz128]

“An ordinary vlogger is far less likely to have a bias than some neocon writing a book or working at think tank that relies on stirring up hatred from Russia to make a living”

Of all the things you have said this one is near the top, does your “less likely to have a bias” include Denys or is it just pro Putin anti Ukrainian vloggers

As I have been told repeatedly cloggers make money and that is a bad thing lol

[Kazan]

This is entire reason for the proxy war in Ukraine -- greed:

"They're sitting on 10 to $12 trillion of critical minerals in Ukraine. They could be the richest country in all of Europe... If we help Ukraine now, they can become the best business partner we ever dreamed of, that $10 to $12 trillion of critical mineral assets could be used by Ukraine and the West, not given to Putin and China," Graham stated.

[blitz128]

I believe you are correct. Said from the beginning. Putin doesn’t give a hoot about “ethnic Russians” and certainly doesn’t give a damn about Ukrainians.

He wants to expand his empire, and he wants the natural resources that come with it

He takes Ukraine he controls a huge amount of the worlds grain supplies, gas in the Black Sea and mineral resources of Ukraine

May be the first thing you have posted that I agree with

[Kazan]

I think Putin DOES care about ethnic Russians. Why wouldn't he? They are relatives of Russian citizens and Putin is Russian nationalists.

We're the ones that don't care that they are abused by a Ukrainian nationalist government we helped, illegally, bring to power.

Stop acting like our elite aren't incredibly immoral and unethical.

What's going in Ukraine is solely about the Western elite getting their hands on $10 to $12 trillion in resources in Ukraine.

That might have been okay if we hadn't gotten greedy and let the people in the ethnic Russian part of the country leave it. But, we didn't.

[blitz128]

The “we” part is kind of funny, but I guess Cari g is sending Russians to their death to “save “ them, well to be fair most he is sending are not ethnic Russians. But sure gas, oil, grains, minerals never entered Putins mind

Got it