Posted on 10/10/2022 12:19:44 PM PDT by Vlad0
Mi>The western narrative of a ‘losing Russia’ has just been decimated by Moscow’s blitzkrieg against Ukraine and its foreign-backed terror operations
The terror attack on Krymskiy Most – the Crimea Bridge – was the proverbial straw that broke the Eurasian camel’s back.
Russian President Vladimir Putin neatly summarized it: “This is a terrorist attack aimed at destroying the critical civilian infrastructure of the Russian Federation.”
The head of the Russian Investigative Committee, Alexander Bastrykin, confirmed face-to-face with Putin that Terror on the Bridge was carried out by the SBU – Ukrainian special services.
Bastrykin told Putin, “we have already established the route of the truck, where the explosion took place. Bulgaria, Georgia, Armenia, North Ossetia, Krasnodar… The carriers have been identified. With the help of operatives of the FSB, we managed to identify suspects.”
Russian intel leaked crucial info to military correspondent Alexander Kots. The cargo was ordered by a Ukrainian citizen: explosives packed in 22 pallets, in rolls of film under plastic wrap, were shipped from Bulgaria to the Georgian port of Poti. Afterwards, the cargo was loaded onto a truck with foreign license plates and proceeded overland to Armenia.
Clearance at the Armenia-Russia border was smooth – according to the rules of the Eurasian Customs Union (both Russia and Armenia are members of the Eurasian Economic Union, or EAEU). The cargo evidently avoided detection through X-rays. This route is standard for truckers traveling to Russia.
The truck then re-entered Georgia and crossed the border into Russia again, but this time through the Upper Lars checkpoint. That’s the same one used by thousands of Russians fleeing partial mobilization. The truck ended up in Armavir, where the cargo was transferred to another truck, under the responsibility of Mahir Yusubov: the one that entered the Crimean bridge coming from the Russian mainland.
Very important: the transport from Armavir to a delivery address in Simferopol should have happened on October 6-7: that is, timed to the birthday of President Putin on Friday the 7th. For some unexplained reason, that was postponed for a day.
The driver of the first truck is already testifying. Yusubov, the driver of the second truck – which exploded on the bridge – was “blind:” he had no idea what he was carrying, and is dead.
At this stage, two conclusions are paramount.
First: This was not a standard ISIS-style truck suicide bombing – the preferred interpretation in the aftermath of the terror attack.
Second: The packaging most certainly took place in Bulgaria. That, as Russian intel has cryptically implied, indicates the involvement of “foreign special services.”
‘A mirage of cause and effect’
What has been revealed in public by Russian intelligence tells only part of the story. An incandescent assessment received by The Cradle from another Russian intel source is way more intriguing.
At least 450 kg of explosives were employed in the blast. Not on the truck, but mounted inside the Crimea Bridge span itself. The white truck was just a decoy by the terrorists “to create a mirage of cause and effect.” When the truck reached the point on the bridge where the explosives were mounted, the explosion took place.
According to the source, railroad employees told investigators that there was a form of electronic hijacking; the terror operators took control of the railway so the train carrying fuel received a command to stop because of a false signal that the road ahead was busy.
Bombs mounted on the bridge spans were a working hypothesis largely debated in Russian military channels over the weekend, as well as the use of underwater drones.
In the end, the quite sophisticated plan could not follow the necessarily rigid timing. There was no alignment by the millimeter between the mounted explosive charges, the passing truck and the fuel train stopped in its tracks. Damage was limited, and easily contained. The charges/truck combo exploded on the outer right lane of the road. Damage was only on two sections of the outer lane, and not much on the railway bridge.
In the end, Terror on the Bridge yielded a short, Pyrrhic PR victory – duly celebrated across the collective West – with negligible practical success: transfer of Russian military cargo by railway resumed in roughly 14 hours.
And that brings us to the key information in the Russian intel source assessment: the whodunnit.
It was a plan by the British MI6, says this source, without offering further details. Which, he elaborates, Russian intel, for a number of reasons, is shadow-playing as “foreign special services.”
It’s quite telling that the Americans rushed to establish plausible deniability. The proverbial “Ukrainian government official” told CIA mouthpiece The Washington Post that the SBU did it. That was a straight confirmation of an Ukrainska Pravda report based on an “unidentified law enforcement official.”
The perfect red line trifecta
Already, over the weekend, it was clear the ultimate red line had been crossed. Russian public opinion and media were furious. For all its status as an engineering marvel, Krymsky Most represents not only critical infrastructure; it is the visual symbol of the return of Crimea to Russia.
Moreover, this was a personal terror attack on Putin and the whole Russian security apparatus.
So we had, in sequence, Ukrainian terrorists blowing up Darya Dugina’s car in a Moscow suburb (they admitted it); US/UK special forces (partially) blowing Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 (they admitted and then retracted); and the terror attack on Krymsky Most (once again: admitted then retracted).
Not to mention the shelling of Russian villages in Belgorod, NATO supplying long-range weapons to Kiev, and the routine execution of Russian soldiers.
Darya Dugina, Nord Streams and Crimea Bridge make it an Act of War trifecta. So this time the response was inevitable – not even waiting for the first meeting since February of the Russian Security Council scheduled for the afternoon of 10 October.
Moscow launched the first wave of a Russian Shock’n Awe without even changing the status of the Special Military Operation (SMO) to Counter-Terrorist Operation (CTO), with all its serious military/legal implications.
After all, even before the UN Security Council meeting, Russian public opinion was massively behind taking the gloves off. Putin had not even scheduled bilateral meetings with any of the members. Diplomatic sources hint that the decision to let the hammer come down had already been taken over the weekend.
Shock’n Awe did not wait for the announcement of an ultimatum to Ukraine (that may come in a few days); an official declaration of war (not necessary); or even announcing which ‘”decision-making centers” in Ukraine would be hit.
The lightning strike de facto metastasizing of SMO into CTO means that the regime in Kiev and those supporting it are now considered as legitimate targets, just like ISIS and Jabhat al-Nusra during the Anti-Terror Operation (ATO) in Syria.
And the change of status – now this is a real war on terror – means that terminating all strands of terrorism, physical, cultural, ideological, are the absolute priority, and not the safety of Ukrainian civilians. During the SMO, safety of civilians was paramount. Even the UN has been forced to admit that in over seven months of SMO the number of civilian casualties in Ukraine has been relatively low.
Enter ‘Commander Armageddon’
The face of Russian Shock’n Awe is Russian Commander of the Aerospace Forces, Army General Sergey Surovikin: the new commander-in-chief of the now totally centralized SMO/CTO.
Questions were being asked non-stop: why didn’t Moscow take this decision way back in February? Well, better late than never. Kiev is now learning they messed with the wrong guy. Surovikin is widely respected – and feared: his nickname is “General Armageddon.” Others call him “Cannibal.” Legendary Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov – also a colonel general in the Russian military – lavishly praises Surovikin as “a real general and warrior, an experienced, strong-willed and far-sighted commander.”
Surovikin has been commander of the Russian Aerospace Forces since 2017; was awarded the title of Hero of Russia for his no-nonsense leadership of the military operation in Syria; and had on the ground experience in Chechnya in the 1990s.
Surovikin is Dr. Shock’n Awe with full carte blanche. That even rendered idle speculations that Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov were removed or forced to resign, as speculated by the Wagner group Telegram channel Grey Zone.
It is still possible that Shoigu – widely criticized for recent Russian military setbacks – could be eventually replaced by Tula Governor Alexei Dyumin, and Gerasimov by the Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Ground Forces, Lieutenant General Alexander Matovnikov.
That’s almost irrevelant: all eyes are on Surovikin.
MI6 does have some well-placed moles in Moscow, relatively speaking. The Brits had warned Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and the General Staff that the Russians would be launching a “warning strike” this Monday.
What happened was no “warning strike,” but a massive offensive of over 100 cruise missiles launched “from the air, sea and land,” as Putin noted, against Ukrainian “energy, military command and communications facilities.”
MI6 also noted “the next step” will be the complete destruction of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. That’s not a “next step:” it’s already happening. Power supply is completely gone in five regions, including Lviv and Kharkov, and there are serious interruptions in other five, including Kiev.
Over 60 percent of Ukrainian power grids are already knocked out. Over 75 percent of internet traffic is gone. Elon Musk’s Starlink netcentric warfare has been “disconnected” by the Ministry of Defense.
Shock’n Awe will likely progress in three stages.
First: Overload of the Ukrainian air defense system (already on).
Second: Plunging Ukraine into the Dark Ages (already in progress).
Third: Destruction of all major military installations (the next wave).
Ukraine is about to embrace nearly total darkness in the next few days. Politically, that opens a completely new ball game. Considering Moscow’s trademark “strategic ambiguity,” this could be a sort of Desert Storm remixed (massive air strikes preparing a ground offensive); or, more likely, an ‘incentive’ to force NATO to negotiate; or just a relentless, systematic missile offensive mixed with Electronic Warfare (EW) to shatter for good Kiev’s capacity to wage war.
Or it could be all of the above.
How a humiliated western Empire can possibly raise the stakes now, short of going nuclear, remains a key question. Moscow has shown admirable restraint for too long. No one should ever forget that in the real Great Game – how to coordinate the emergence of the multipolar world – Ukraine is just a mere sideshow. But now the sideshow runners better run for cover, because General Armageddon is on the loose.
It's unfortunate if some civilians are killed in these operations, but that doesn't mean they are targeting civilians.
“terrorist attack”. Last I checked, terrorism is primarily aimed at civilians and civilian property and is meant to cause fear and terror on its intended target.
As has been posted many times - the bridge in question is a primary route for Russian weaponry/and heavy equipment, and troop supplies (plenty of video and photographic evidence of this). The Crimea Bridge was blown up at night, with minimal traffic instead of daytime when the bridge has a great deal more traffic and civilian presence.
Meanwhile, Russia’s “response” was to send over a hundred cruise missiles, dozens of kamikaze drones, and another several dozen dumb rockets into 100% civilian centers/housing/parks where CIVILIANS were present. Hundreds of civilians killed or wounded and CIVILIAN homes destroyed... FAR from any militarily-legitimate target. Oh - a power station was hit by one rocket...
Yeah - seems the bridge was a “straw that broke the camel’s back”... as in triggered a terrorist-at-heart to act again like a terrorist.
Oh - Look - Photoshop!
Vlad only hates the WEF becuase they won’t let him be in charge. Putin desperately wants to renew and expand the old Soviet empire.
It has 425 with a population of 20,000 or more. According to the Ukraine census it has 27,190 villages. Somewhere in between cities with 20,000 or more and "villages" are "little cities" or "towns".
People around here consider Amboy, Washington a city. It has a population 1,608. People talk about "downtown Amboy" which has a bank, a high school, several churches, a gas station, a restaurant, and a couple of other businesses and an old Grange Hall that's in bad shape.
So, yes, it's very possible that 2500 cities are in the darm.
About time what? That Putin again target almost exclusively civilian targets?
All in retaliation for (assumed) Ukraine blowing up part of his big bridge (well-documented use for transporting heavy arms/equipment/supplies for the Russian occupiers). The blowing up of the bridge was carried out at night - when traffic was minimal (if Ukraine was doing it for terrorist impact - would they not have carried it out with maximum traffic flows?).
BUt nice of you to show your “Comrade” tendencies.
The problem you have, is you come off like a pro-Russia / Anti-America person with your posts.
It’s gross that people who claim to be “ultraconservative” are supporting the misguided Biden foreign policy, like you.
You completely misconstrue my nic, and that's a lieberal tactic. "usconservative" is I'm a Conservative living in the U.S.A. Try again.
For the record, and anyone who's looked at my posts on this topic knows, I'm not for Ukraine nor am I for Russia. There are NO GOOD GUYS in this, period.
Ukraine is a money laundering operation for the D's and R's first and foremost. Follow the money, who's kids worked for energy companies in Ukraine, etc.. etc.. etc..
Russia is corrupt as hell also, Putin's no good guy by any stretch of the imagination and he's not doing what he's doing to "save Christianity" or anyting like that. He's a master propagandist too. Can't take anything that comes from Russian media as truth. Doing so is a fools errand. Just like the US Media.
So, no thank you, on your generous offer. I’ll stay here and continue to criticize Biden and his wretched policies.
Then do so from an AMERICAN viewpoint, understanding there are NO GOOD GUYS in this. Promoting Russia, which is what you've been doing, is a very bad look.
Maybe you should GTFO and go to a country with a legally elected Leftist leader, like Canada or France? You might be happier there. Biden’s time is coming to an end. You may find yourself unhappy when more conservative government is re-established in the USA, because they will surely muzzle Biden’s pet dog, Zelinsky.
With that comment, you can go bugger off and stop being Putin's bitch. Because that's how you present yourself.
Thank you for being one of the few voices for reason and logic in this thread. The Putin-crush zombies are startling here.
If I feel I need advice from a PR professional, I'll hire one. I could care less how you think I "come off". Who are you? Just another FR handle to me.
Please note: I posted some news stories and commented on them.
You are the one who decided to comment on ME, and did so by accusing me of being anti-American and also using the term "GTFO".
When I repeated your phrase back at you, you got all offended. You can dish it out, but can't take it. Funny!
Maybe stick to criticizing the articles and issues in the future. Stuff like this: "go bugger off and stop being Putin's bitch" isn't doing YOUR image any good.
It also violates Free Republic's rules. So please, knock it off.
Thanks!
Try again, Putin Penis Puffer. You've clearly not read what I wrote. There are NO good guys in this. Zelensky or your hero Putin.
Now you go bugger off with the other guy now. Noob.
Wrong. Your lack of originality is boring AF.
Discernment is a wonderful thing to have.
Clearly the Putin & Zelensky supporters need to learn how to (a) read and (b) comprehend what's written since both accuse me of being on the other side, ROFL!!!
That the best you can do? You can’t even be original. You have to use and copy other’s insults. It appears that your masters Biden and Soros could give you basic instructions on how to insult.
Incorrect. You're nothing more than a butthurt little mommy's boy. Run along now.
You can have the last word. Go serve your masters, George Soros and Joe Biden.
No, those are clearly yours.
Yep - I get accused of blindly supporting Zelensky (I was never a fan - and indeed, believe there was serious corruption in the election that got him in office - but alas, we can’t say anything being in a nation with the most blatant version of it in a long time).
But is it any different than calling out Biden on social media to only then be automatically labeled a Trump MAGA-terrorist? LOL. Stick to the facts, quit regurgitating blatant propaganda and...
USE DISCERNMENT!
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