Special Ukraine War Update: Highly-informative articles and video to share to quickly get you "up-to-speed" about the REAL story in Ukraine and, more importantly, what's at stake and WHY?
Pay attention... or pay in pain. Wake the hell-up, y'all!
This first “share” came in overnight from a dear friend and reader, SaRaH.
SaRah was born, raised, and educated as a very serious engineer in Russia - she knows her homeland well. SaRah and her family came to the United States decades ago and have since become full citizens. Sarah has four (4) degrees, including two Masters and a Ph.D.
She is both wise and insightful… seriously.
This video interview, which was produced two days ago, is probably one of the best high-level overviews of the current status of the Ukraine War and American involvement.
If you want a truthful “snapshot” of where we are in the moment, PLEASE take the time to watch this; it’s spot-on.
Ukraine Russia War Update with Colonel Douglas Macgregor
Please click on the still image for a link to the interview… (19:57)
This next story (courtesy of reader Gabi) will corroborate some of the TRUTH about the Ukraine War that Colonel Macgregor just conveyed in his summary interview.
Russian Success in the Donbas Accelerates
When the uber “neo-con” Institute for the Study of War is conceding, reluctantly, that Russia is carving up the Ukrainians in the Donbas, it is an unmistakable sign that something big is up.
Please click on this image for a link to the article…
Glenn Diesen: As propaganda about a Ukrainian ‘victory’ retreats, is a split emerging in the West?
Germany and France want peace while the US and UK push for more war…
By Glenn Diesen, Professor at the University of South-Eastern Norway and an editor at the Russia in Global Affairs journal. Follow him on Twitter @glenndiesen.
During the Russian Civil War, the journalist Walter Lippman observed the dilemma of propaganda – it had the positive effect of mobilizing the public for conflict, but the negative outcome of obstructing a workable peace agreement.
The British had drummed up public support for intervention in the conflict by reporting on Polish victories, fleeing communists, and the pending collapse of the Bolsheviks. In reality, the opposite was happening.
Lippman argued that because the UK public had been promised victory, there was no political appetite for reaching a diplomatic settlement.
A century later, little has changed.
Public support for supplying billions of dollars worth of weaponry and draconian sanctions was premised on the constructed narrative of a pending Russian defeat in Ukraine.
Support for Kyiv has been expressed by pushing stories of victories, while any admission of weakness could be ostracized as a hostile denigration of Ukraine’s sacrifices.
However, two things can be true at the same time:
On one hand, Kyiv’s forces were well-trained, well-equipped, and fought better than anyone had expected.
On the other hand, the power of the Russian military is overwhelming and superior to the extent it hasn’t even had to mobilize its army.
Reality is now catching up with the “official narrative.”
Russia has been making steady advancements and the sanctions have backfired terribly.
With the situation becoming increasingly unfavorable to Ukraine and NATO, there are growing incentives for seeking a settlement with Russia. However, how can the narrative of a forthcoming victory be changed, and can the US-led bloc maintain its solidarity under a new narrative of defeat?
Please click on this image for a link to the article…
More EU provocation….
What does the Lithuanian blockade of Kaliningrad mean?
Lithuania announces a partial blockade of the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad. What does that mean and what reactions can be expected from Russia?
Lithuania's provocation towards Russia can hardly be overestimated.
Lithuania has placed the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad under a partial blockade, banning the rail transport of about half of all goods between Russia and its exclave.
When Lithuania joined the EU in 2002, an agreement was signed between Russia, Lithuania, and the EU, which guaranteed the transit of goods and passengers through Lithuania by rail. This treaty was one of the bases for Lithuania's accession to the EU.
Lithuania has now broken this treaty with the backing of the EU.
Lithuania is referring to the EU sanctions that affect the export of certain Russian goods. However, we are not talking about exporting the goods from Russia here, but about transporting the goods from the Russian motherland to its Kaliningrad exclave and vice versa.
In Moscow, there is talk of "openly hostile acts" and threats of severe consequences, with backbenchers in the Russian parliament even bringing up military enforcement of the free transit of goods. Although this is rather unlikely, because the blockade of Kaliningrad can apparently be circumvented relatively easily by sea and therefore does not pose an existential threat to the Russian exclave, it is certain that Russia will react very harshly.
In any case, this measure and the fact that the EU supports it should be seen in Russia as further confirmation that there is no point in discussing or negotiating anything else with the EU when the EU is tampering with existing treaties mood breaks.
If the EU imposes sanctions unilaterally, which according to international law only the UN Security Council is allowed to do anyway, and these sanctions are then used as justification for simply breaking every existing international treaty - why then talk to the EU or even conclude treaties with it?
Since it is not yet clear how Russia will react, but this case will certainly dominate the headlines at the latest when Russia reacts to the Lithuanian provocation, I translated an article from the extremely factual Russian business portal RBC, which describes the current situation and its possible summarizing episodes. I took the links from the original.
Please click on this image for a link to the article…
NATO pushing for Kaliningrad CATASTROPHE by provoking Russia into a global nuclear war
(Yup, that’s EXACTLY what these effing bastards in the Biden Administration and NATO are doing… and you and I will be forced into this as unwilling participants through our military and financial support. A hideous outcome is headed our way, I PROMISE you!)
The railway blockade of Kaliningrad is obviously a setup to try to provoke Russia into “attacking” a NATO member (Lithuania) so that NATO and the USA can justify a full-scale military assault on Russia. Once again, the neocons are scheming to plunge the world into a global thermonuclear war in order to destroy the United States of America while attempting to maintain dictatorial control over the world’s natural resources and monetary systems.
To understand the full dynamic of what’s happening, you need to first learn about the geography of Kaliningrad.
This Russian territory sits on the Baltic Sea, providing Russia its only year-round ocean access that isn’t frozen over for part of the year. Kaliningrad is land-locked, however, and not physically connected to the Russian mainland.
A railway runs through Lithuania, connecting Kaliningrad to Russia proper. This railway passage has been in place for decades and has always been respected by Lithuania as Russia’s right-of-way to supply Kaliningrad.
See this map from Encyclopedia Britannica. Kaliningrad is shown roughly in the center of this map, to the west of Lithuania:
Lithuania’s railroad blockade
Under pressure from NATO and the USA, Lithuania (a NATO member nation) has now blockaded about half the cargo on that railroad, essentially declaring an illegal wartime blockade of Kaliningrad. This is an act of war against Russia, and it violates EU rules allowing open access across borders.
Russia has demanded an immediate reversal of the blockade, with the Russian Foreign Ministry saying, “If in the near future cargo transit between the Kaliningrad region and the rest of the territory of the Russian Federation through Lithuania is not restored in full, then Russia reserves the right to take actions to protect its national interests.” (SOURCE)
Please click on this image for a link to the article…
Lithuania is ready to expand the Kaliningrad blockade
(Note: Lithuania’s President is a NATO and U.S. co-opted, blithering and flaming jackass! This stupid son-of-a-bitch is YOUR involuntary “on-ramp” to WW III.)
This guy is misnamed; from now on I’m calling him President Nausea because his idiotic actions are highly likely to cause many of us to throw up shortly.
I simply cannot believe this asshole, and the assholes in the Biden Administration and NATO, are consciously, intentionally, and perpetratively leading us into yet another geopolitical sinkhole (direct confrontation/war with Russia).
It blows every rational circuit in my mind!
The country is prepared to face retaliatory steps by Russia, Gitanas Nauseda has said.
Vilnius is ready to expand the list of goods banned from transit to Russia’s exclave of Kaliningrad should the European Union introduce new sanctions against Moscow, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said on Wednesday.
The country is also ready to face any potential retaliatory measures Russia might introduce, he told Reuters in an interview.
“We are ready and we are prepared for unfriendly actions from Russia, such as disconnection from the BRELL [power grid] system, or others,” Nauseda said.
The president stressed that the transit restrictions were not a sovereign move by Lithuania, but merely the implementation of the EU sanctions against Moscow introduced over the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.
“We feel the support of the European Union because this is a decision made by the European Union,” he said, adding that the country was ready to expand the list of banned goods should the bloc introduce new restrictions against Russia.
“We are looking forward to implementing the next stages of the sanctions, and it would be very good if the European Commission explains their content to the Russian authorities. It could remove some of the current tensions, which are not in the interest of either the European Union or Russia,” Nauseda stated.
Please click on the image for a link to the article…
A shout-out to reader Gabi for sharing this next story…
Lest any of you might think the U.S. and NATO pushback on Putin’s Russia is “necessary to protect Western-style democracy in Ukraine”, let me disabuse you of that thinking IMMEDIATELY.
You are DEFINITELY swilling too much Mainstream Media.
Here’s the REALITY, folks:
Ukraine’s top opposition party was banned. (Yet we are sending BILLON$ in cash and war materiel to Ukraine to support democracy?? What a joke…)
A Ukrainian court has ordered the assets of the country’s leading Eurosceptic party transferred to the state.
Ukraine’s Opposition Platform – For Life (OPPL) party was officially banned by a Ukrainian court on Monday. The Ministry of Justice announced on Facebook that all of its assets, property, and funds are to be transferred to the state.
The ruling to ban the party was carried out by the Eighth Administrative Court of Appeals in the western city of Lviv, following a request from the Ministry of Justice. The OPPL had all of its operations suspended by the authorities in Kyiv in March after the launch of Moscow’s military operation, and the party and its leaders were accused of having ties to Russia and being “anti-Ukrainian.”
In its Facebook post, the ministry noted that Ukrainian courts have so far banned 11 so-called “pro-Russian” parties suspected of acting to “undermine the sovereignty” of the country.
Before its operations were suspended, the OPPL was Ukraine’s largest opposition group and second-largest party in the country. In 2019, it won 13% of the vote in a parliamentary election, and in 2021, polls showed that it surpassed President Volodymyr Zelensky’s ‘Servant of the People’ as the most popular party.
Since 2018, it was led by Viktor Medvedchuk, a businessman who called for better relations with Russia and saw Kyiv’s western turn as detrimental to national interests. In May 2021, Medvedchuk was placed under house arrest after being accused of treason amid Zelensky’s crackdown on dissent.
Medvedchuk had repeatedly denied accusations against him as “politically motivated,” and insisted he was never “pro-Russian,” but merely wanted what was best for the Ukrainian people.
On April 12, the OPPL leader was captured by the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) as he allegedly tried to flee the country. The arrest was made public after Zelensky published a photo of the man in handcuffs. The politician has since been held in custody by the SBU at an unknown location.
Please click on this image for a link to the article…
Here’s another great share from Gabi about the REAL “backstory” about Ukraine. It makes it CRYSTAL clear the Dems and the Biden Administration are full of shit and giving the American citizens a false narrative in support of Ukraine. Utter bull-crap!
This great article was put together by a fellow Substack Author/Editor, KanekoaTheGreat.
Forty Democrats Labeled Ukraine's Azov Battalion a Terrorist Organization in 2019
They compared them to ISIS and blamed them for the Christchurch shooter then they sent them $31 billion in weapons.
On October 16, 2019, the top Democrat on the House Homeland Security Committee’s counterterrorism subpanel, Rep. Max Rose (NY), led a letter signed by forty Democrats asking the State Department why they had not placed Ukraine’s Azov Battalion on the U.S. list of “foreign terrorist organizations” (FTOs).
In the letter, the lawmakers compared the Azov Battalion to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), and discussed how, Brenton Tarrant, the Christchurch, New Zealand mosque shooter, who massacred fifty-one people in 2019, had been radicalized by the “ultranationalist militia organization” which “openly welcomes neo-Nazis into its ranks”.
“For Example, the Azov Battalion is a well-known ultranationalist militia organization in Ukraine that openly welcomes neo-Nazis into its ranks. The group is so well-known, in fact, that the 115th Congress of the United States stated in its 2018 omnibus spending bill that ‘none of the funds made available by this act may be used to provide arms, training or other assistance to the Azov Battalion.’ The United Nations has chronicled human rights abuses and incidents of torture in this group’s relatively short history. Despite these facts, Azov has been recruiting, radicalizing, and training American citizens for years according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The Christchurch, New Zealand massacre was a turning point for counterterrorism efforts. In his manifesto, the shooter claimed he had trained with the Azov Battalion in Ukraine, and he routinely wore a neo-Nazi symbol associated with them. Both the Poway, CA and El Paso, TX shooters said they were directly influenced by the terrorism committed at Christchurch. The link between Azov and acts of terror in America is clear.”
The letter was signed by prominent Democrats such as Rep. Bennie G. Thompson, Rep. Eliot L. Engel, Rep. Jamie Raskin, Rep. Stephen F. Lynch, Rep. Jim Cooper, Rep. Gregory Meeks, Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, Rep. Ro Khanna, and Rep. Al Green.
Please click on this image for a direct link to the full Substack article…
The West rises against Putin: Finland warns Russia it is ready to fight them and the U.S. declares NATO's 'ironclad' support for Lithuania as Moscow's fury grows over the Kaliningrad blockade
Finland's armed forces chief said the country has been preparing for war against Russia for decades
Lithuania blocked goods sanctioned by the EU from reaching the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad
US said it would defend fellow NATO member Lithuania if Russia launched an attack
Russia vowed to retaliate with measures that 'will have a serious negative impact on the Lithuanian population' after the country blocked coal and metals from Russia
Please click on the still image for a link to the article…
How STUPID and both morally and diplomatically WRONG is this next outrage by the Biden Administration.
This is a CRYSTAL CLEAR “signal”, in no uncertain terms, that America is intentionally “ramping up and ginning up” for a direct confrontation and WAR with Russia.
Can’t any of you see this coming? WAKE-UP folks. YOU/WE ARE ALL BEING MANIPULATED INTO A WAR.
Moscow vows response after the United States bars Russian aircraft from picking up their diplomats.
Wednesday, 22 June 2022 5:14 PM [ Last Update: Wednesday, 22 June 2022 5:26 PM ]
Moscow says it will take countermeasures in response to Washington’s decision not to allow a Russian aircraft to pick up Russian diplomats and their families from the United States.
“The American side continues to systematically destroy bilateral relations that are already in a lamentable state,” Maria Zakharova, Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, said in a statement on Wednesday.
In February, the United States expelled 12 diplomats from Russia’s New York-based mission to the UN, accusing the staff of engaging in espionage activities. Moscow condemned the move as hostile and a gross violation of Washington’s commitments.
In the wake of the war in Ukraine on February 24, the United States closed its airspace to all Russian aircraft.
Please click on the still image for a link to the article…
Zuesse: How Did America Become Ruled By Its Military-Industrial Complex?
Authored by Eric Zuesse,
The U.S. Government spends on its military, annually, not just its ‘Defense’ Department, but all of its departments taken together around $1.5 trillion dollars. (Much of that money is hidden in the Treasury Department and others, in order to convey to the public the false idea that ‘only’ around 800 billion dollars annually is now being spent for the U.S. military.)
On 25 April 2022, the Stockholm Internal Peace Research Foundation (SIPRI) headlined “World military expenditure passes $2 trillion for the first time”, and reported that, “US military spending amounted to $801 billion in 2021, a drop of 1.4 percent from 2020. The US military burden decreased slightly from 3.7 percent of GDP in 2020 to 3.5 percent in 2021.” However, they did not include the full U.S. figure, but only the portions of it that are being paid out by the U.S. Defense Department. Consequently, a more realistic global total would have been around $2.8 trillion, which is around twice the approximately $1.5T U.S. annual military expenditure.
All of the world’s other 172 calculated countries, together, had spent an amount approximately equivalent to that.
Please click on the still image for a link to the article…
Russian Defense Ministry said the U.S. recognized the Pentagon’s connection with Biolabs in Ukraine
The United States recognized the connection between the Pentagon and bio laboratories in Ukraine and the former USSR – as stated by the Head of the Russian Radiation, Chemical, and Biological Protection Troops, Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, RIA Novosti reports.
He drew attention to the fact that on June 9th, an official statement about the biological activities of the United States in the post-Soviet space was posted on the Pentagon website.
“In it, the US administration acknowledged the fact of financing 46 Ukrainian laboratories and the connection of the US Defence Department with the Ukrainian Science and Technology Centre,” underlined Igor Kirillov.
Moreover, he said that at the same time, it reflects the specifics of the implementation of the Nunn-Lugar program in the post-Soviet space, one of the goals of which was to involve ‘thousands of former Soviet scientists specializing in biological weapons’ allegedly to ‘exclude the possibility of their co-operation with terrorist formations’.
“Such an attempt by the American administration to whitewash its tarnished reputation turned, in fact, into a ‘prosecutor’s dream’: the document contains facts of the Pentagon's military and biological activities in Ukraine and other countries of the former Soviet Union and reveals the US Defence Department’s accomplices,” Igor Kirillov drew attention.
FYI, I first covered the U.S-funded Biolabs in Ukraine starting back almost four months ago. (There were some more on March 8th. and 10th.)
I have since published several articles about this very topic.
Some of these Biolabs were being paid by a division of the United States Defense Department to research HOW to “train” (genetically manipulate) the SARS-CoV-2 and Spike Protein to solely target Slavic (Russian) genetic bloodlines.
How charming…
Please click on the still image for a link to the article…
There’s more, but I’m now mentally and emotionally worn out by ALL the fraud, false narratives, outright lies, clear treason, and financial theft and misappropriation going on here with Ukraine.
IT’S STAGGERING in its implications.
If you don’t “get” what’s really happening after this round of informative articles, you are NEVER going to understand what’s about to happen.
Perhaps you ought to consider canceling your subscription to this newsletter. It’s clearly a waste of both our “heartbeats” - mine in putting it together and yours in reading about some reverse-angle views of the “official narrative” you’re swilling.