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
Now we may just witness complete mobilization of the Russian military to fill the Wagner hole.
* do not confuse an uprising against the military leadership with Vlads leadership.
Putin is not so stupid as to expand the war beyond Ukraine as that would end him.
However he is not beyond using tactical nukes in Kiev if Ukraine threatens Russian territory.
>Now we may just witness complete mobilization of the Russian military to fill the Wagner hole.
This is why the Wagner hole was created - Russians will allow mobilization because the fear of civil war is much greater than the fear of NATO.
The Wagner insurrection makes it difficult to keep it all together when the Army has been stalled in or on the Ukrainian border for 16 months.
WW III starts this weekend.
At least during the Soviet era Russian leaders understood the concept of MAD.
This should come as no surprise to anyone. 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.
Putin could not win a war with a relatively poor and militarily weak country on his doorstep, to he is going to up the ante by engaging the U.S. and Britain. Even Putin is not that insane.
Kamala is briefing Biden right now. “Russia is a big country. Ukraine is a small country...”
Remember the Lusitania.
Wars are peculiar things. They teach us in school that this-or-that war began on X date because of Y and ended on Z date. This has almost never been the case. WWI, for example was predated by a number of smaller wars taking place in Africa and the Balkans. Think of a tornado. Everyone focuses on the tornado. But the real cause of the tornado is the collision of two air masses with opposite characteristics. The tornado can occur anywhere along the demarcation line. Everyone focuses on the obvious storm, but the actual cause could have made the storm occur anywhere along the contact zone.
Then, WWI “ended” on the eleventh hour of the eleventh month. Well, no. It continued to the north of Germany and in Russia and Poland and sparked lots of other conflicts. The war in Ukraine might “end” but the fighting is going to go on for a long time. As Russia gets weaker the various republics, who are getting a bad deal as Russian states, will probably make a play for independence. There will be a lot of wars and a long time before there is a general peace in the region.
Putin is thinking to himself:
Everything was going to well, until I stupidly decided to invade Ukraine. Why did nobody stop me? And who suggested hat I go in; I’m going to find him and kiil him. Where’s the escape tunnel?
Shoigu
Sounds to me like this guy is hitting the cornered animal panic button.
How many times have we heard this is the end game!
Crimea is part of Ukraine. Any Russian forces present in Ukraine are legitimate war targets.
I wonder how much time there might be between a declaration of Defcon 2 and then Defcon 1?
I am wondering but do not wish to know.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.