Russia Planning 'False Flag' Attacks on Eve of Ukraine War Anniversary: ISW

Desperation moves by Putin if he carries them out, which NOBODY will buy.

The side that is winning does not need to use false flag attacks.

This would be Ukraine using a false flag attack and blaming Russia. Desperation is Ukraine who is almost out of ammo and sending kids into the line of fire.

Lukashenko is already in Putin’s pocket, there’s no real need for a false flag operation to get him onboard, at most it would be done to garner approval from the Belarussian people. There will be a feint towards Kiev to pin forces there while Russian troops actually go west of Kiev to meet up with Russian forces coming up from the south cutting off the western resupply lines coming in from Poland and Romania.

I’m only surprised that Russia hasn’t cut off these resupply lines earlier. The US knows perfectly well what Russia is planning, and any “false flag” might be just as easily attributed to the US hoping to provoke an incident that could enjoin NATO troops in direct contact with the Russian army. There’s a growing antiwar sentiment among the European public however, so the US may have to go along with a “coalition of the willing”, namely the US and UK trainers and special ops (and eventually troops) and the Polish and Romanian military. Good luck with that plan, there’s already a nascent antiwar movement starting in Poland among the smarter Poles who have seen what happened to Ukraine and want no part of any war with Russia. I think our idiot neocons have miscalculated once again.

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2023/02/bidens_costly_miscalculation_makes_ukraine_a_lost_cause.html

A Wall Street Journal editorial this week highlighted the absurdity of America's strategy in Ukraine. The Journal urges the U.S. to provide more advanced weapons to Ukraine, including a longer-range missile system, which Biden is reluctant to do. Ukraine, with America's help, must win, argues the Journal, in part to thwart a developing Russia-China-Iran axis of power. The Journal doesn't seem to notice that U.S. and Western support for Ukraine's military has been the impetus for this incipient axis.

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In war, telling your enemy you'll push only so hard is a serious handicap. It cedes a critical tactical advantage to the Russians, because you can be sure Putin won't hesitate to escalate, if he thinks he might lose in Ukraine, and compel us to retreat. He can force America's hand by announcing that Western support for Ukraine violates Russia's sovereignty, backing it up with a significant escalation. ###

I suspect that the Russians believe he'd fold like a cheap suit. Biden can hardly afford to meaningfully respond to a major escalation by Russia over Ukraine, given the threat of Russia's nukes and weak support for the war at home.

In short, Putin can call the bluff of Western commitment in Ukraine and force us to back off. So far, he hasn't needed to. But if he feels Ukraine slipping away, he undoubtedly will. At bottom, our support for Ukraine — beyond just costing billions of dollars — will only bolster the growing perception of America as a foolish and feckless superpower.

The side that is winning does not need to use false flag attacks.

That Russians rather than the Ukrainians are doing that is the most ludicrous of propaganda.

The Ukrainians have constantly come up with false flags like Bucha, made up crazy lies like the Ghost of Kiev and committed war crimes repeatedly -- using civilians as human civilians as human shields, targeting civilians in Donetsk city and shelling a nuclear power plant. We've had to resort to international terrorism when we blow up Nord Stream pipelines.

All the acts of evil and desperation have been on our side. Russia has gone out of its way to minimize civilian causalities, much more so then we ever have with our shock and awe campaigns.

You're of your father, the devil, Timber -- a liar.

Green T-shirts all around, everyone celebrate anniversary, yellow and blue, yahoo.

One Year Later: Why Sanctions Against Russia ‘Failed Completely’

By Rachel Blevins

Russia became the most sanctioned nation in the world in 2022, as it was targeted in an unprecedented NATO campaign.

Nearly one year later, not only has the Russian economy not been “devastated,” but it’s actually expected to see more growth than Germany and Britain in 2023...

It has been nearly one year since Russia became the most sanctioned nation in the world, and not only have the predictions from the Western politicians implementing those measures not become a reality—but now even the establishment media outlets that were once cheering for the complete isolation of Russia are now starting to admit that the ultimate global pressure campaign has failed.

And just a quick note here… I’m an American journalist, currently based in Moscow, and working for RT International. For the last eight months, I have seen headline after headline claiming that the Russian economy is on the verge of crumbling altogether, and I have yet to see any evidence of that here on the ground.

In fact, not only have I not seen any shortages of food and supplies, or skyrocketing prices, but the initial effects from the onslaught of sanctions were quickly overcome, with existing businesses adapting to the changes and new Russian businesses replacing the old Western versions that decided to leave the country.

So, it comes as no surprise that the media is finally catching up to the reality of the situation… with the New York Times admitting, “The West Tried to Isolate Russia. It Didn’t Work.” And the Associated Press acknowledging there has been “No economic ‘knockout’ yet from West’s sanctions on Russia.” As for the sanctions targeting Russia’s lucrative energy sector, an analyst quoted by CNBC described the fallout by saying “Sanctions on Russian crude oil have ‘failed completely.’”

Therefore, it seems only right to take a look back at what Western officials like U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen had to say nearly one year ago, in March 2022:

“It’s important to understand that we have already had a very devastating impact on Russia. We have isolated Russia financially. The Ruble has been in a freefall. The Russian stock market is closed. Russia has been effectively shut out of the international financial system … The Russian economy will be devastated as a consequence of what we’ve already done, but we do continue to consider further steps we can take,” Yellen said.

The only problem? Well, despite all of the sanctions imposed on Russia, the immediate effects of the “maximum pressure campaign” from the West didn’t last long…

For example, the Ruble went on to hit a seven-year high in June—with reports noting that one of the biggest impacts on the Russian currency was the soaring energy prices that were sent skyrocketing even more over the uncertainty of whether supplies from Russia would be allowed to continue flowing into the countries that relied on it the most.

Russia is the world’s largest exporter of gas and the second-largest exporter of oil. So, when energy prices are up, so are profits.

And up until last year, the European Union benefitted from Russia’s natural resources, with 41% of its natural gas imports and 36% of its oil imports coming from Russia in 2020.

One would think that if the EU was planning to cut off their reliance on Russian resources, then they would have a plan in place to make sure that their citizens didn’t have to pay the price—both literally and figuratively. And to be sure, they were planning, as European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen recently admitted.

“The cabinet and the commission started to work with the White House and the department already in December on potential sanctions, in case Russia invaded Ukraine. Indeed, we all hoped that it would never happen and we would never have to use these sanctions,” Von der Leyen said during the Munich Security Council.

But despite all of that planning, the people of Europe have been the ones who have suffered because of the political decisions made by their leaders… who seem to be in a competition for the most tone-deaf response. This one from European Commission Vice President Margrethe Vestager is one to remember, as she told the public in March 2022,“Control your own and your teenager's showers. And when you turn off that water, you say: 'Take that, Putin!'"

It’s the obsession that European politicians have with blaming Russia, that was referenced by Russian President Putin this week, when he noted that the EU is forcing its own citizens to suffer, while trying and failing to inflict pain on Russia…

“Those behind the sanctions have shot themselves in the foot by provoking price spikes, rising unemployment, enterprises going out of business, and an energy crisis. And they tell their citizens it’s all Russia’s fault,” Putin said during his State of the Nation address.

Granted, you wouldn’t know that if you were only listening to U.S. officials like Joe Biden and Janet Yellen who continue to try to paint the picture of a “struggling” Russian economy.

But contrary to their claims, Russia is not struggling. And even with all of the sanctions imposed in the last year, the Russian economy is still expected to grow in 2023. And it’s actually expected to grow more than Germany, while the British economy isn’t expected to grow at all. So, how is that possible?

Well, while the West has spent the last year trying to isolate Russia—the rest of the world, from countries across Africa, Asia and the Middle East, have done the opposite, and have actually strengthened their ties with Russia.

Take China, for example… Beijing’s energy imports from Russia, including coal, oil, and natural gas soared from $35 BILLION in 2021 to $60 BILLION in 2022.

The plan is to increase those numbers even more, as Moscow and Beijing agreed on the construction of a Power of Siberia 2 Pipeline, which is expected to be operational by 2030.

A reminder that Russia is moving on, and finding a replacement for the supplies that could have been designated for the Nord Stream 2 pipeline… if Germany had ever allowed it to become operational, and if it hadn’t been attacked, with a bombshell investigative report suggesting fellow NATO allies are to blame.

So, all in all, trade between Russia and China hit a new record high in 2022, reaching $190 BILLION—up more than 34% from the previous year.

It was also China that was actually praised by some back in August for “throwing Europe an energy lifeline,” due to the fact that it was reselling LNG supplies to the EU. And where was it getting that surplus to resale in the first place? From Russia.

Of course, the prices Europe was paying for the supplies were significantly higher when it came from China, whether than when it came straight from Russia to begin with, but that didn’t seem to matter, because part of the price they were paying was being able to claim that they no longer relied as heavily on Russian LNG.

Oh, and China isn’t the only one that is playing a role in keeping the West supplied during this trying time that they created for themselves… India has also ramped up its imports of Russian crude oil and is refining it into fuel that is then sent to Europe and the U.S.

A recent report from Bloomberg noted that U.S. officials are well aware that Indian and Chinese refiners are profiting off of buying discounted Russian crude and exporting products at market prices—noting that “they’re fine with that.”

So, what they’re really saying that they don’t have a problem continuing to rely on Russian oil and gas… just as long as they can claim that they are depriving Russia of profits from its resources. But in reality, the only thing the West is doing right now is paying more for the same supplies themselves, in order to have some illusion of control that is only hurting their own people at the end of the day. Make it make sense.

It's also another reminder that Janet Yellen’s claims that the West had “isolated Russia financially” and shut Russia out of the international financial system simply aren’t true.

So, has Yellen changed her tune since then? Well, the short answer is No. But she is admitting that even in the face of threats from the US, plenty of countries are still openly trading and working with Russia – and there’s not much the US can do about it.

“We have made clear that providing material support to Russia or assistance with any time of sanctions of evasion would be a very serious concern to us. And we will certainly continue to make clear to the Chinese Government and to companies and banks in their jurisdiction about what the rules are regarding our sanctions and the serious consequences they would face for violating them,” Yellen said.

As for the politicians in Europe, have they finally learned their lesson?

*Checks notes to see that Von der Leyen announced a 10th package of EU sanctions against Russia on February 15, 2023*

That would be a NO… as it appears they still think that can sanction Russia into submission. But even as the West kicks off Year Two by issuing warnings to countries that continue to work with Russia—thus rendering the historic sanctions campaign ineffective—it’s important to remember that those threats are a major reason why the rest of the world didn’t go along with the Western campaign to isolate Russia in the first place… and that’s something everyone should be talking about.

I’m an American journalist, currently based in Moscow, and working for RT International.

So she's on Putin's payroll. And you actually expect us to take her Kremlin-sponsored drivel seriously?