Tag: ukraine

Ukrainian Neo-Nazi Claims Nuclear War will be GOOD for Ukraine

Ukrainian Neo-Nazi Evgeny Karas claimed during in an interview on Tuesday with the Ukrainian broadcaster Radio Bayraktar that Russia striking Ukraine with nuclear weapons would in fact be good for Ukraine. The man is the leader of the ‘S14’ terrorist group, whose members have a record of harassing minorities and have been accused of high-profile political murders, according to RT.

”Nuclear war is good,” Karas said in the interview, according to RT on Wednesday. “When it happens, we’ll have no more reasons to whine. Nothing worse could happen after a nuclear strike.”

While the aforementioned statement may indicate a nonsensical bloodlust, Karas went so far as to claim that nuclear fallout in Ukraine may even be good for evolution.

“A nuclear war may help us evolve in a way that we could see through an official and tell whether he is a thief or not,” he said according to RT.

While the Neo-Nazi may think nuclear war will be enjoyable, the Japanese who actually experienced it did not.

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NATO State Warns Against Western Troops In Ukraine: “Discussion Has Gone Off The Rails”

One of NATO’s two newest members, Finland, is urging caution as some European leaders are considering a negotiated end to the Ukraine war which would involve sending Western peacekeeping forces. The incoming Trump administration is reportedly keen on the idea.

President of Finland Alexander Stubb issued a warning Tuesday before a defense cooperation summit in Tallinn, saying “We should not get ahead of ourselves” on the issue of a future peacekeeping mission, cited in Finnish outlet Yle.

His main criticism focused on the huge numbers of European troops that such a mission would require. “The operation cannot be launched on a shaky foundation,” he continued, explaining that an adequate peacekeeping force would have to have at least 150,000 soldiers on the ground.

“In rotation, that means three times that, or 450,000 peacekeepers per year. So perhaps this discussion has gone off the rails, so to speak,” he emphasized.

Stubb offered that instead of peacekeeping forces, Kiev should have security guarantees, and that should be the central driver of the discussion over future peace negotiations.

The past several months have seen leading NATO countries revive the idea of sending Western troops to Ukraine. Whether in a ‘peacekeeping’ capacity or not, the Kremlin would see this as a massive escalation and has threatened war with the west.

Putin has made it clear that Russia will not tolerate NATO regular forces right on its border. Already this week Putin has said the West is going ‘beyond’ Russia’s stated red lines.

As the Biden administration has scrambled to try and build Kiev’s leverage on the battlefield prior to the Trump administration taking office, it recently greenlighted long-range missile attacks using ATACMS systems on Russia. 

Moscow has frequently said it is open to peace negotiations with Ukraine, but at this point is very unlikely to sign off on any plan which would see a European troop large deployment in any capacity.

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European ‘peacekeepers’ in Ukraine? A horrible idea.

President-elect Trump is reportedly advancing the idea that a large and heavily armed peacekeeping force from Europe (but including NATO members) could be introduced into Ukraine as part of a peace settlement there. It is important that this very ill-thought-out idea be shot down before it does serious damage to the prospects for an early peace and causes Ukraine still further human, economic and territorial loss.

According to the Wall Street Journal and Le Monde, this idea first emerged in private talks between French and British officials in November. It was discussed on Thursday by NATO foreign ministers in Brussels. Trump made the suggestion to French President Emmanuel Macron and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at a meeting in Paris on December 7.

Macron then traveled to Warsaw to discuss a plan for 40,000 heavily armed European “peacekeepers” with the Polish government whose officials, however, have so far given it a cool public response. In the words of Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk: “To cut off speculation about the potential presence of this or that country in Ukraine after reaching a ceasefire, … decisions concerning Poland will be made in Warsaw and only in Warsaw. At the moment we’re not planning such activities.”

Friedrich Merz of the German Christian Democrats, almost certain to be chancellor after the elections due in February, has also distanced himself from the idea.

On the face of it, this idea might seem to reconcile several mutually contradictory pressures on the Ukrainian peace process: The Russian demand for a treaty that will permanently bar Ukraine from NATO membership; the Ukrainian demand for Western guarantees against future Russian aggression; Trump’s determination not to put U.S. troops on the ground or make additional and permanent U.S. commitments to Ukraine; and the real need for a substantial international force to patrol an armistice line.

There is just one problem: According to every Russian official and expert with whom my colleagues and I have spoken (most recently on Thursday), the idea of Western troops in Ukraine is just as unacceptable to the Russian government and establishment as NATO membership for Ukraine itself. Indeed, the Russians see no essential difference between the two.

Seen from Moscow, such a Western “peacekeeping force” would be simply a NATO advance guard that would provide cover for the gradual introduction of more and more NATO forces. Indeed, while President Zelensky has said that Ukraine “may consider” the idea of peacekeepers, it would only do so if it is also given a clear timeline for future NATO membership. If this proposal is put forward by General Kellogg, President-elect Trump’s choice as his Ukraine envoy, in negotiations, the Russian side will therefore reject it out of hand; and if it is insisted on, the talks will fail.

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Ukraine Assassinates Russian Nuclear, Chemical and Biological Defense Chief, General Kirillov, in Moscow Bomb Blast in Major Escalation

The Kiev regime once again resorts to ‘asymmetrical tactics’ (a.k.a. terrorism) and assassinates a top Russian General, in a move that is sure to generate a considerable escalation and also certain retaliation by the Russians against top Ukrainian officials.

On today’s early morning (17), an improvised explosive device (IED) was detonated on Moscow’s Ryazansky Prospekt.

The massive, deadly blast killed high profile Russian chemical defense chief General Igor Kirillov.

Sputnik reported on Telegram:

“The Russian Investigative Committee has opened a criminal case into the murder of Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, head of the Troops of Radiological, Chemical, and Biological Defense of the Russian Armed Forces, and his assistant.

The IED was planted on an electric scooter positioned at the entrance of a residential building in southeast Moscow.”

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What Are Ukraine’s Top 10 Minerals?

The Kiev regime is trying to curry favor with the incoming Trump administration by offering concessions on Ukraine’s critical mineral deposits – valued up to $11.5 trillion, according to the New York Times.

So, what are the top 10 natural resources and why are they so important?

Lithium: Ukraine has an estimated 500,000 tons of lithium reserves. The mineral is key to making batteries for electric vehicles (EVs). Two of Ukraine’s major lithium deposits are now under Russian control in the Donetsk and Zaporozhye regions.

Titanium: The US Geological Survey estimates Ukraine’s titanium reserves at 8.4 million tons, primarily in the central regions. Titanium is crucial to the military, aerospace, medical, automotive and marine industries.

Gallium: Ukraine was the world’s third-largest producer, generating around 4 tonnes of gallium annually. Gallium, found in small concentrations in other metal ores, is vital for semiconductors and LEDs.

Manganese: Estimated reserves of about 140 million tonnes of manganese are concentrated in the Dnepropetrovsk and Zaporozhye regions – the second now part of Russia. Manganese improves the strength and workability of steel and other alloys.

Beryllium: Ukraine has proven reserves of 5,515 tons, primarily in the northwestern Zhitomir region. Beryllium is essential for the nuclear power, military, aerospace, acoustic and electronic industries.

Graphite: Ukraine holds 17.9 million tons of graphite, concentrated in the Zhitomir, Kirovograd and Dnepropetrovsk regions. The Pryazovsky site is now in Russia’s Zaporozhye. Graphite is critical for producing telecommunications, medical and military equipment.

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The Long Train of Abuses that Culminated in the Ukraine War

“A fox knows many things, but a hedgehog knows one big thing.” Scott Horton is the liberty movement’s foreign policy hedgehog, endeavoring to convince the American public of one essential truth: the folly of war. But within that sphere, Horton is a fox, weaving an encyclopedic knowledge of various conflicts into an elaborate and convincing tapestry that indicts elites, intellectuals, the military-industrial complex, and—with characteristic vitriol—neoconservatives in pushing the US toward unnecessary wars.

Provoked: How Washington Started the New Cold War with Russia and the Catastrophe in Ukraine, fits this mold to a tee—not because Horton contorts facts to a preconceived narrative. Rather, because it is often the same people pushing conflict after conflict who, unsurprisingly, resort to the same, well-worn playbook. Horton’s tome is riveting, from beginning to end. Here, I will focus on the early post-Cold War years, since this part of the story is oft-neglected in contemporary debates about the origins of the Ukraine war.

With the closing of the Cold War, and the USSR dissolving, the U.S. faced a crisis of success: what use is the NATO military alliance without the Soviet enemy to align against? More broadly, what grand strategy should the US adopt now that containing communism was obsolete? For neoconservatives, whose answer post-Cold War was benevolent global hegemony, the solution was to adapt NATO. NATO must gradually absorb more European nations, while leaving Russia out in the cold—contained and encircled, in an even worse position than during the Cold War. NATO must expand its mission to keep European peace and expand Western democracy, or wither on the vine.

From George H.W. Bush to today, the record meticulously compiled by Horton demonstrates that U.S. and other Western leaders communicated to Russia leaders and officials that NATO would not expand east—and could even allow for Russian membership in NATO. Various efforts like the Partnership for Peace and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe were promoted to foster this impression that Russia would be included in European affairs, alliances, and institutions, rather than these structures aligning against them. All the while, these same US and Western leaders took virtually the opposite positions internally, with the result that the US willfully misled the Russians. The exact internal and external postures waxed and waned over the years, but this ultimate pattern held firm. This was even though, all along, Russian officials warned about how they and the Russian people would react to NATO advancing east. What we see is, in terms with which Americans are well-familiar, “a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object.”

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Ukraine and Syria, A Western Plan Goes Awry

Let’s start with the situation in Ukraine. There is a growing atmosphere of desperation and panic among Western leaders as they watch Ukraine’s military collapse along the entire front and cast about for a strategy to stave off Ukraine’s defeat. But there is no viable solution. Russian military operations that are closing in on the formerly critical logistics center of Pokrovsk is emblematic of the dire situation confronting the Ukrainians:

The fall of Pokrovsk (Ukrainian name for Krasnoarmeysk – Ed.) under the onslaught of Russian troops will be the biggest setback for Ukraine in recent months and will make it more difficult for Ukraine to overcome difficulties, in while Russian troops apply serious pressure,” CNN reports

Ukrainian soldiers are being depleted at a steady and growing rate — more than 12,000 were killed in the last week alone. Ukrainian demographics provide no viable solution for producing men capable of fighting and replacing those lost.

Simplicius, citing a recent BBC report, describes the dilemma:

The problem is, a new BBC piece laid out a devastating data point: that Ukraine actually has very few under-25s due to the fact that the 90s saw a sharp decrease in birthrates. We’ve covered this before here, but essentially it means the cohort of males born from the mid to late 90s onward is very small compared to the older groups.

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Russia advances across multiple fronts, Kyiv reports 214 battles

Battles are raging across the front in Ukraine, with heavy fighting reported in 214 locations, according to the evening situation report of the General Staff in Kyiv, with battles focused in the cities of Pokrovsk and Kurakhova in Donbass. There, Russian forces have made major territorial gains in recent days due to mass attacks.

“The situation there is and remains serious,” said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

In the city of Pokrovsk, Ukrainian forces are reportedly encircled at some locations, in some cases involving hundreds of men. However, in the Kursk region of Russia, where Ukrainian forces are still lodged, Ukraine is reporting heavy losses of North Korean soldiers for the first time.

A number of pro-Ukrainian accounts published footage of what they say are the bodies of North Korean soldiers covered in snow in a long row to X. The accounts claim North Koreans soldiers gathered the bodies of comrades at the front after heavy fighting.

It is currently not possible to verify those claims.

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Russian Forces Destroy More US Patriot Launchers & Advance Closer To Pokrovsk

Amid the continued rapid advance of Russian forces in Ukraine’s east, and with the Donetsk villages of Vesely Gai and Pushkino (15km south of Pokrovsk) having been captured, Russia is also going after US-made Patriot batteries.

“Russian forces have destroyed four Patriot anti-aircraft missile launchers provided to Ukraine by Western nations,” the Defense Ministry announced Saturday.

The statement said that air force jets along with with drones and artillery groups, “destroyed a combat control vehicle, an AN/MPQ-65 radar station and four launchers of the Patriot anti-aircraft missile system made in the US.”

Zelensky has pleaded with the West to hand Ukraine at least 25 Patriot batteries, and some European countries have recently donated theirs to Ukrainian forces.

This isn’t the first time that Russia has taken out Patriots. Back in October the defense ministry said its forces struck “two Patriot launcher stations made in the US” along with a control station and radar set part of the Patriot defensive network.

At that time a Ukrainian member of parliament had revealed that at least one Patriot battery was damaged in the October attack, but Kiev typically doesn’t comment on the extent of damage to its Western-supplied weapons systems.

Early last summer the Biden administration took the drastic step of pausing all Patriot deliveries to allies, instead announcing that they would be redirected to Ukraine.

“We’re going to reprioritize the deliveries of these exports so that those missiles rolling off the production line will now be provided to Ukraine,” Biden said at the time, with these first shipments having rolled out by late summer and into fall.

Patriot missile batteries have also been sent to to Ukraine from US bases of operations in neighboring Poland. All of this has been controversial as it impacts Europe’s home defense.

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NATO Head Says “Wartime Mindset” Needed; Redirect “Pensions, Health, Social Security” To Military Spending

Former Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, who was this year selected as the Secretary General of NATO, has stated that Europeans need to “shift to a wartime mindset” and that military spending must be increased, likely at the expense of things like health care.

Rutte made the remarks at, ironically, a meeting of The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Brussels, declaring that Russia is trying to “crush our freedom and way of life.”

“Hostile actions against Allied countries are real and accelerating… These attacks are not just isolated incidents. They are the result of a coordinated campaign to destabilise our societies and discourage us from supporting Ukraine,” he added.

Rutte further asserted that Russia is using unconventional “hybrid warfare” attacks against Europe, circumventing NATO’s traditional defence and bringing “the front line to our front doors. Even into our homes”.

“Ukrainians are fighting against Russian swarms of drones. That’s what we need to be prepared for”, Rutte told the conference.

“I know spending more on defence means spending less on other priorities. But it is only a little less,” he continued, adding that “On average, European countries easily spend up to a quarter of their national income on pensions, health and social security systems.”

“We need a small fraction of that money to make our defences much stronger, and to preserve our way of life,” he proclaimed, reasoning that “freedom does not come for free.”

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