Posted on 06/24/2023 10:01:13 AM PDT by delta7
Today Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu made an announcement that has not yet been carried in Western media but which is of the most grave nature.
According to the latest intelligence reports, Russia believes that the Ukrainian armed forces now intend to cover their failed counter-offensive in the Donbas by using US-supplied Himars multiple launch artillery and UK-supplied Storm Shadow cruise missiles, possibly in the longer range domestic version, to attack the Crimea.
If this happens, says Shoigu, Russia will consider both the United States and Britain to have fully entered the war as co-belligerents. And Russia will immediately respond to any such attack on its territory by destroying “the decision making centers” of the Kiev regime. This is a fairly transparent threat to “neutralize” their government apparatus and personnel, logically including President Zelensky.
The statement by Shoigu leaves little doubt that we are entering the final phase of the Ukraine war as a war limited to the geography of Ukraine, and are possibly heading into a wider war with unforeseeable consequences both for Europeans and (finally) for Americans.
The ball is in the court of Washington and London.
©Gilbert Doctorow, 2023
Bingo. Except I would substitute the more correct and narrow designation of CIA/MIIC for USA. Most of the wars in our lifetimes have been CIA/MIIC operations. Most Americans prefer peace.
People died. An actual army advanced against their own government. That’s a civil war. And I will be surprised if it’s over.
Agree.
But it is also about destroying the USA. Soros has openly said to do that would be the accomplishment of his lifetime.
I’d like for him to eat those words.
The longer range missiles from the US/UK will be cumbersome and difficult to transport and set up undetected. Many will be destroyed in transport.
Most definitely the primary goal.
The longer range missiles from the US/UK will be cumbersome and difficult to transport and set up undetected. Many will be destroyed in transport.
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The longer range missiles deployed will cut the West’s throat. The “ sterile “ zone ( DMZ) Vlad spoke about will be increased. It will be a “ dead” zone, right up to the Dniepner river.
I have said since day one of this that if it were me, and someone was supplying my enemy with armaments, they, too would be my enemy.
Obviously you have zero understanding of how few Russian soldiers are involved. Ukraine has not yet faced Russia at war because of a self imposed Special Operation. When 500K Russian soldiers join the conflict it will be war.
Biden is essentially going to face a classic humiliation j u st as he and the DNC have done to the US in VN and Afghanistan... when DNC let American allies be overrun. The RNC is preparing to end the American involvement in Ukraine. Impeached Joe is going be putty in the RNCs hands.
They have no concept of what the reaction that is coming will be.
It will be a once in 100 years event, as Xi has said.
But it will not be like Xi thinks.
any surprise yet
“People died. An actual army advanced against their own government.”
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Let’s be honest now...a very small number of people were killed in this so-called revolt. The touted number of 25,000 mercenaries is now generally understood to be Wagner’s total force. The actual number of participants (many who were duped) may not have exceeded 5,000. But even if it were 25,000 that’s barely enough to fill a medium sized soccer stadium. Excuse the intrusion of reality, but that number of people simply is not going to overthrow a vastly superior military.
A civil war is defined as a war between citizens of the same country. Prigozhin’s little escapade got no public support whatsoever. To call it a civil war is simply wrong.
Russia and Putin are now weaker than they were a week ago. Putin could not prevent this debacle and that is a failure of leadership.
He is weak.
That may be true but its too early to know for sure. By our standards we would say he’s slipping, but Russia is a strange country (”a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma”) so we’ll have to see how this plays out. There’s a presidential election coming up in March 2024.
Incidentally we are witnessing our own failure of leadership right here.
We do have problems and they are perhaps worse than those in Russia.
But this is about Russia where Putin has destabilized the country with a foolish imperial war of conquest.
But this is about Russia where Putin has destabilized the country with a foolish imperial war of conquest.
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That’s how we see it from our perspective. Russia has a much different history than we do and so they may view it more in defensive and nationalistic terms.
Also bear in mind that the “foolish conquest” of Crimea succeeded, at least from their vantage point.
Russia doesn’t want NATO on its doorstep. We don’t want any potential adversary on ours (e.g., Cuba, Monroe Doctrine, etc.). Its a territorial world — as we will soon see another example of.
-—defensive-—
The Ukraine is the Russian buffer against European attack.
Mother Russia is vulnerable absent the buffer.
I agree. That’s how they view it.
If we had suffered from costly foreign invasions we would have a much different view of our neighbors and our borders. Once burned, twice shy.
Exactly. Which is why countries that have been invaded by Russia before (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Finland...) want to join NATO. They've already experienced the kindly embrace of mother Russia. It's funny how only Russia's history-based fears are valid to some.
If Russia really didn’t want their former slave states to join NATO then they’d stop giving them reasons to join NATO.
Crazy how that works. And now Finland is in NATO and NATO units are just 160km from St. Petersburg. Well played, Russia.
Not.
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