Tag: russia

Last Year’s Pentagon Leaks Proved That Zelensky Was Plotting To Invade Russia Since January 2023

So much has happened since spring 2023’s Pentagon leaks that few even remember that they happened, but they’re more relevant than ever amidst Ukraine’s ongoing invasion of Russia’s Kursk Region since they proved that Zelensky had been plotting this since January 2023. The Washington Post reported on this aspect of those leaks in May 2023, writing that the US was already aware by then that Zelensky thought that this move would “give Kyiv leverage in talks with Moscow.”

This wasn’t lost on the Russians either since RT promptly published an article about it, which was analyzed here at the time, thus raising questions about why there weren’t better border defenses in place just in case. These reports circulated right before Ukraine’s ultimately failed counteroffensive, so it’s possible that the border was fortified as a precaution ahead of that happening, but then Russia grew complacent with its on-the-ground gains in Donbass over the past year and let its guard down.

About that, this analysis here from last week pointed out that Ukraine’s invasion of Kursk Region should incentivize Russia to finally eliminate groupthink. It’s difficult to believe that there were no reports whatsoever about a build-up along the border ahead of time, thus meaning that higher-ups might have dismissed whatever they were speculatively told by their underlings as “irrational”. Therein lies the problem since Ukraine always ends up surprising Russia but relevant lessons have yet to be learned.

Whether it’s long-range drone strikes against its strategic airfields, early warning systems, and even the Kremlin or naval drone attacks against its Black Sea fleet, all of which are aided by the Anglo-American Axis, Russia should have expected by now that every one of its soft spots is a likely target. Nevertheless, it’s regularly caught with its pants down, though folks also shouldn’t forget that it still intercepts a lot of drones and foils many impending plots too.

With that being said, more could have been done to protect the border from the invasion that Zelensky had been plotting for a year and a half. Prior to the latest events, he employed terrorist proxies for cross-border raids into Belgorod Region, which might have deceived Russia into thinking that Ukraine abandoned its plans for a conventional invasion. That could explain why the only forces that it deployed along the border were counter-sabotage units who were unprepared to fend off a real invasion.

Such a decision still represents a lapse in judgement, however, when recalling that Ukrainian military-intelligence chief Budanov drew attention to Kursk Region in mid-May shortly after the start of Russia’s push into his country’s Kharkov Region. He said at the time that “they are holding a small group of forces in the border area, in the town of Sudzha. From our side, it is the Sumy direction, but the situation has not yet allowed them to take active action and start, let’s say, implementing their plan.”

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Ukrainian offensive into Russian territory is first direct attack into Russia since 1941

The Ukrainian offensive deep into Russian territory marks the first direct attack on the country since 1941, according to the French newspaper Le Figaro.

The operation, which began in the Kursk region, is not merely a diversion but signifies a new direction in the conflict, the newspaper suggested.

On Aug. 7, Ukrainian forces seized at least three localities in the Kursk region, as confirmed by local media reports on the same day. Mykhailo Podolak, an advisor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, also confirmed the offensive on Aug. 8.

In recent months, particularly last spring, Ukrainian forces faced additional challenges due to a Russian attack on the Kharkiv region. Although the aggressors failed to penetrate deeper into Ukraine, it added further strain to the already stretched Ukrainian military.

The operation in the Kursk area might be an attempt to force Russians to redeploy their troops to this region, thereby relieving defenses on other fronts, and possibly even to recapture territories occupied by Russia.

There is also a possibility that the operation is intended to be demonstrative, to convey that, after months of difficult situations, Ukrainians are again in control of the battlefield dynamics.

“The idea (behind this attack) is to show that Ukrainians are still brave, formidable, and not merely retreating,” said an anonymous representative of the French military. The Kursk region is poorly defended compared to areas around Donetsk, where the heaviest fighting is ongoing.

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What Is The Objective Behind Ukrainian Incursion Inside Russia’s Kursk Region?

The Ukrainian armed forces incursion into Kursk Oblast in Russia raises questions – not the least of which is…why?

We have some possible answers:

The effort itself is not sustainable, and can expose the Ukrainian elements to encirclement, but perhaps the AFU commanders don’t mind that eventual possibility, if there are getting what they want in other ways.

First, the development could be all theater, to lay the groundwork for some bigger event our psychopathic overlords have planned as the 2024 election approaches.

Second, the incursion could be to gain territory for the inevitable peace negotiations that will have to come, if WWIII is to be avoided — a bargaining chip if you will.

Third, the capture of Russian territory could be a diversion to take Russia’s eyes off the Ukrainian  Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, which may be the main target.

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Newly Released Footage Proves That Gershkovich & Whelan Were Indeed American Spies

This debunks the fake news alleging that they were “innocent Americans taken hostage by Russia”.

The US Government (USG) insisted throughout the entire time of Evan Gershkovich and Paul Whelan’s imprisonment in Russia on espionage charges that these two were “wrongfully detained”, but newly released footage from the FSB proves that they were indeed American spies. Folks can view the footage of Gershkovich here and Whelan here, both of which have a brief video analysis from RT’s Murad Gazdiev embedded at the bottom that’s also worth watching to place everything into context.

Gershkovich’s includes audio which proves that he knew that he was soliciting classified defense secrets on behalf of the Wall Street Journal and then planned to mislead their readers by claiming that they only spoke to an “anonymous source” without mentioning that they also obtained documents about this. He also tried hiding the flash drive that he obtained during his meeting with his source in a Yekaterinburg restaurant when he was arrested, which the video specifically highlights to draw attention to.

As for Whelan, there’s no audio in his video but it shows him receiving a flash drive in a hotel bathroom from a friend who he claimed during his interrogation was allegedly giving him pictures of churches. RT’s brief analytical video amusingly mocks his story as absurd. After all, Gazdiev reminded everyone that friends share pictures over email or text, not via flash drives in hotel bathrooms. Just like Gershkovich, he also obviously knew that he was illegally soliciting classified secrets, in this case about FSB officers.

Nevertheless, CNN promptly spun this newly released footage as alleged evidence of “entrapment”, completely ignoring the fact that both men knowingly accepted flash drives from their Russian sources that they were told contained classified information about their host country’s national security. It’s altogether a very shoddy information product that reeks of desperation to distract from the visual evidence that those two were literally caught red-handed receiving Russian state secrets.

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EU endorses Ukraine’s incursion into Russia

The European Union fully supports the actions of Ukraine’s forces, including striking Russian territory, European Commission spokesman Peter Stano has said.

The statement came a day after Ukraine launched a major cross-border sortie into Russia’s Kursk Region early on Tuesday. At least five civilians were killed in assault as of Wednesday evening, according to the Interim Governor of Kursk, Aleksey Smirnov. Another 31 people – including six children – were injured in the Ukrainian shelling of the town of Sudzha, Russia’s Health Ministry said late on Wednesday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has called the Kursk attack yet another “large-scale provocation” by Kiev, accusing Ukrainian troops of deliberately targeting civilians.

Commenting on the raid, Stano said Ukraine has the right to defend itself, “including by striking the aggressor on its territory.” 

“The EU continues to fully support Ukraine’s legitimate right to defend itself” and win back its lost territories, the spokesperson told the Ukrainian news network Suspilne on Wednesday.

Kiev considers the Kherson and Zaporozhye Regions, the Republics of Donetsk and Lugansk, as well as the Crimean peninsula to be parts of Ukraine. All five territories formerly joined the Russian Federation after a series of democratic referendums.

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US threatens NATO state with sanctions over Russia

Türkiye will face “consequences” if it continues to allow the sale to Russia of American civilian products with military applications during its conflict with Ukraine, a high-ranking US Commerce Department official has told the Financial Times.

Washington is increasingly concerned that its fellow NATO member-state has become a key hub through which Western-made electronics, including processors, memory cards and amplifiers, are making their way to Russia, where, allegedly, they are being used for the production of missiles and drones, the FT wrote in an article on Wednesday.

An unnamed Commerce Department official told the paper that the US considers Ankara, which refused to join the Western sanctions campaign against Moscow, to be Russia’s second largest source of American dual-use goods, after China.

Türkiye must “help” Washington stop the flow of US technology to Moscow, Assistant Secretary for Export Enforcement at the department’s Bureau of Industry and Security, Matthew Axelrod, said in a statement to FT.

“We need to see progress, and quickly, by Turkish authorities and industry or we will have no choice but to impose consequences on those that evade our export controls,” he warned.

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Ukraine’s ‘terrorist nature’ on full display in Mali, where it supports rebels — MFA

Russia doesn’t want the world to forget that Kiev is supporting terrorism in Mali, so it will continue to shine a light on this in the international arena, Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.

“On August 4, the transitional government of Mali published an official statement about the ‘immediate’ severing of diplomatic relations with Ukraine. Precipitating this move were statements from Ukrainian officials (the spokesman for the Ukrainian military intelligence, Andrey Yusov, and Ambassador to Senegal Yury Pivovarov) about Kiev aiding terrorist forces that carried out an attack on a convoy of Malian servicemen in northern Mali in late July,” the diplomat pointed out. “We will continue to direct the world community’s attention, including at multilateral platforms, to Kiev’s barbaric behavior,” she underscored.

Zakharova emphasized that the terrorist nature of the Kiev regime is becoming more and more apparent to the whole world. “Having failed to defeat Russia on the battlefield, the criminal regime of Vladimir Zelensky decided to open a ‘second front’ in Africa. He and his accomplices are pampering terrorist groups in Moscow-friendly states of the continent,” she stressed.

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Ukraine Launches Incursion Into Russia’s Kursk Oblast

Russia said Wednesday that its forces were fighting off a Ukrainian ground incursion into Russia’s Kursk Oblast, an attack President Vladimir Putin called a “large-scale provocation.”

So far, Ukrainian officials have been quiet about the cross-border attack, which was launched from Ukraine’s Sumy Oblast.

The Russian Defense Ministry said Tuesday that up to 300 Ukrainian troops with 11 tanks and 20 armored vehicles entered Kursk. Drone attacks were also reported, and Kursk Acting Governor Alexey Smirnov said one hit an ambulance, killing two paramedics.

In a meeting with his top officials, Putin said Ukrainian forces attacking Kursk were “firing indiscriminately from different types of weapons, including rockets, at civilian buildings, residential houses, ambulances.”

The Russian Defense Ministry said Wednesday that the fighting in Kursk was ongoing and said it thwarted a breakthrough. The ministry said five residents of Kursk had been killed in the Ukrainian attack and claimed that it inflicted 260 casualties on the invading Ukrainian force.

Ukraine has supported cross-border raids into Russia launched by militias, including the neo-Nazi Russian Volunteer Corps, but the fighting in Kursk appears to be its biggest ground attack into Russian territory of the war.

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Russia, US intensify moves as tensions mount in Middle East

While Russia and the US intensify maneuver in the Middle East as tensions between Iran and Israel ramp up due to the assassinations of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, Russian Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu visited Iran and the US increased its military presence.  

Analysts said the situation now is truly worrisome with Iran and Israel vowing to strike each other. However, neither Washington nor Moscow wants an escalation, as they have priorities on the Ukraine crisis in Europe and own domestic affairs with no resources to spare. 

Russia and Iran’s shared position on the multipolar world will promote global stability, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said at a meeting with Shoigu, Russian media TASS reported on Monday. The Iranian president stressed that the era of the US and its allies’ hegemony is over.

Shoigu’s trip aims to strengthen interactions and examine regional and international issues and bilateral political security relations, according to Iranian media ISNA.

Wang Jin, an associate professor at the Institute of Middle Eastern Studies at Northwest University in Xi’an, said that Russia has long and deep cooperation with Iran and also has a military presence in the region. As Iran has vowed to retaliate against Israel, a new conflict could break out any time, so the two countries have very strong reasons to coordinate.

“If Iran attacks Israel by launching missiles and drones from its own territory or its allies’ in the region, those weapons could fly over the area controlled by Russia, so Moscow and Tehran will have necessary intelligence sharing and coordination before Iran takes action,” Wang said. 

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US-Ukraine-Russian War: It’s About the Money

Well, “the cat is out of the bag, now.” Thanks to US Senator Lindsey Graham, everyone knows one of the more compelling reasons behind the Ukraine war with Russia. And it has little to do with Kiev’s “agency,” “democracy,” and “liberalism.” The latter are merely ‘talking points’ for public consumption – what Noam Chomsky and Ed Hermann called ‘manufactured consent’ in their 1988 seminal work on propaganda, Manufacturing Consent.

Lindsey Graham voiced out loud part of an agenda that is usually hidden from public view or the media – it isn’t talked about (admitted) openly. It’s a veritable “gold mine,” Graham confessed, and America can’t afford to lose control of it. Here’s the translation of Graham’s admission:

It’s About the Money.

Our reliably hawkish Republican Senator is well known for provocative statements. As early as 2022 (at the beginning of the Ukraine war) Graham was all in for regime change in Russia, when everyone else in the West was trying to downplay such a prospect. Moreover, he is quoted as saying at a press conference with Zylensky that “Russians are dying” in the war, while US aid was the “best money we’ve ever spent.”

But with the panache and subtlety of a train wreck the good senator created another stir recently, admitting on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” why Russia must not be allowed to prevail in Ukraine. The latter possesses $10 to $12 trillion worth of rich deposits of critical minerals.

Here are Senator Graham’s reasons justifying the necessity of Kiev (i.e. Washington) winning its fight with Moscow. First, the Kremlin’s access to these deposits would enrich Russia and allow via the Kremlin, China’s participation. Second, if Ukraine retains control over the minerals, it could be “the richest country in all of Europe” and “the best business partner we ever dreamed of.” Third, the outcome of the war in Ukraine is a “very big deal” for the US from an economic standpoint. Thus, Graham is saying that Ukraine’s war is “a war we can’t afford to lose.”

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