Ukraine Watch...

[raspberry-blower]

Just heard the dickhead Kerry on Radio 4 spouting on about "massed ranks of Russian Tanks" crossing the border into Ukraine etc. All without a single solitary request for evidence from the assembled (and, no doubt, thoroughly vetted) media whores.

Finian Cunningham: Mission Imperative: Why the West and the Kiev regime Must Kill the Truth

In short the West and US want someone who is "compliant" to their needs i.e. allowing western interests to purloin natural resources at rock bottom prices - someone like that permanently sizzled Boris Yeltsin.
Unfortunately for them Putin is far too smart for that and can see through the nonsense. Therefore demonise Putin is regarded as "fair game" in the lamestream media.
Everything is boiled down to simplistic narratives when critical analysis is required...

[Little John]

While Merkel and Hollande currently race around Europe trying to keep the diplomatic channels alive, Obama and his cronies are doing everything they can to militarily escalate the Ukraine crisis. It seems to me that the Yanks are attempting to kill all non military options off before they gather steam.

There is now a very real risk of a USa instigated proxy war between east and West in Ukraine leading, inevitably, to an unadulterated world war.

And what the F--k are we all doing about this?

[raspberry-blower]

And what the **** are we all doing about this?

Apart from the lamestream media producing a barrage of warmongering not a lot is the sum of it.
Interesting to note the complete side-lining of the UK in all of this.

Articles worth reading:
Pepe Escobar: RUSSIAN AGGRESSION
Robert Parry: Nuclear War and Clashing Ukraine Narratives
Finian Cunningham: Europe Wary of US 'All Options' Threat to Russia
Tyler Durden: Europe Fractures

An interesting point raised by Dmitry Kolesnik about the abject failure of the FOURTH forced conscription by the Ukrainian Fascist Junta: When Ukrainians Choose Not to Die in War

Meanwhile on the battlefield itself: What is the Debaltsevo Cauldron hiding? (The Ukrainian junta's positions are in blue - note that the map doesn't show the cauldron as completely closed. However...)
Update: Semenchenko confirms last road to Debaltsevo cut

No wonder there's a peace initiative going on. The fascist Ukrainian Junta's positions on the battlefield are precarious - given the poor communications, morale etc the Ukrainian army could disintegrate internally in a very short timespan

[AutomaticEarth]

Interesting video footage. Yes, I know it's Infowars, but the blast in the video is pretty huge.

http://www.infowars.com/video-nuke-repo ... n-ukraine/

[adam2]

Interesting video footage. Yes, I know it's Infowars, but the blast in the video is pretty huge.

http://www.infowars.com/video-nuke-repo ... n-ukraine/

It certainly looks a bit nuke like, but I very much doubt that it actually was a nuclear weapon.
A very large conventional explosion as could occur in a chemical works or oil depot can make a bang comparable to a small tactical nuke.

If a nuke really had been used I would expect very considerable reporting of this in reputable media, rather than a single report on a very doubtful looking website.

[snow hope]

Would a very large conventional explosion have a shock wave that broke windows that far away? The house where the filming is done seems to be maybe 15 miles away at a guess? Any more thoughts on the distance as this would be critical to determining the affect of the explosion and thus the type!

I used to live in Finaghy which was about 5 miles from Belfast City Centre and the double glazed windows in my house shook on a few occasions in the early 90s when there were 1,000lb explosions in Bedford Street in Belfast. They were nowhere near breaking though. Even 1 mile away, windows didn't break.

That video is worryingly like a small nuke....

[emordnilap]

If a nuke really had been used I would expect very considerable reporting of this in reputable media

Donetsk 'Nuclear Explosion' Was Just A Normal Mushroom Cloud, Not A Nuke

After saying that Russia could 'target other states' !, this despicable and disreputable outlet says:

pro-Russian rebels said that the huge explosion was caused by [pro-NATO missed out from their report] Ukrainian artillery shell hitting the chemical plant, which lies in the middle of the Ukrainian industrial heartland in Donetsk

[snow hope]

Have watched that a few times and something strange about it - you can hear the explosion at the same time as the flash. Obviously you should see the flash way before you hear the bang. Think lightening and thunder....

Also any nukes that I have seen on film before, the mushroom cloud lasts much longer than in that video clip. So I think it was conventional.

In the video it takes about 14 seconds for the sound of the shock wave to arrive and 16 seconds for the window to crack.

So logic dictates that the 'initial' explosion occurred about 14 seconds before the flash fire seen - coincidentally the sound took the same time to travel from the explosion site to the house as it occurred at the same time as the flash? Could this be?

Speed of sound is 768mph or 1 mile in 4.7 seconds - so if the shockwave is from the flash, then the distance is only 3 miles..... a large enough conventional explosion could crack the windows if this is the distance. Lots of ifs and buts...

Any other thoughts?

[adam2]

Would a very large conventional explosion have a shock wave that broke windows that far away? The house where the filming is done seems to be maybe 15 miles away at a guess? Any more thoughts on the distance as this would be critical to determining the affect of the explosion and thus the type!

--------------

That video is worryingly like a small nuke....

The 1974 Flixborough disaster broke windows many miles away, though not AFAIK as far as 15 miles.
Likewise the more recent blow up at the Buncefield oil depot broke windows some miles away, but not 15 miles, IIRC.

I consider it possible that the person filming the explosion in Ukraine might have been closer than 15 miles. Alternatively the window might have been broken by a relatively small shell or bomb close by.

Or of course it might have been a small nuke ! unlikely IMHO since even a small nuclear detonation close to the ground produces a lot of radioactive fallout close to the blast, or downwind. So far as I am aware, no such has been detected.

[cubes]

IIRC a nuke has a signature on seismic detectors that is considerably different from an earthquake that can be picked up. If it was a nuke it would have leaked by now.

[adam2]

IIRC a nuke has a signature on seismic detectors that is considerably different from an earthquake that can be picked up. If it was a nuke it would have leaked by now.

Agree, probably.

[raspberry-blower]

The Saker's take on this explosion:

DNR experts estimate the blast as being the equivalent of 1 ton of TNT. The sound of the explosion was heard 50km away. From the shape of the crater, it doe not appear to be a fuel-air explosive (FAE), but 1 ton of equivalent TNT is way bigger than the 500kg HE warhead the Tochka-U can carry. This leads me to believe that the Ukrainians might have used a new weapon or, at least, a modified one. All we know for sure is that it was not a nuclear device. Also, it makes me wonder what in the world they were trying to hit - maybe the chemicals factory, but if that it the case, then the missed by 1000m or so. At this point, I honestly don't know. I also want to remind everybody that the junta has used White Phosphorus again against its own population:

Ukraine SITREP

Note the ongoing war crimes being committed by Ukrainian junta forces against citizens of East Ukraine

[oobers]

The Saker's take on this explosion:

DNR experts estimate the blast as being the equivalent of 1 ton of TNT. The sound of the explosion was heard 50km away. From the shape of the crater, it doe not appear to be a fuel-air explosive (FAE), but 1 ton of equivalent TNT is way bigger than the 500kg HE warhead the Tochka-U can carry. This leads me to believe that the Ukrainians might have used a new weapon or, at least, a modified one. All we know for sure is that it was not a nuclear device. Also, it makes me wonder what in the world they were trying to hit - maybe the chemicals factory, but if that it the case, then the missed by 1000m or so. At this point, I honestly don't know. I also want to remind everybody that the junta has used White Phosphorus again against its own population:

Ukraine SITREP

Note the ongoing war crimes being committed by Ukrainian junta forces against citizens of East Ukraine

Also in that piece:

You have probably seen the reports: apparently Cyprus intends to offer Russia the use of an airfield in Cyprus.

And from the comments:

Another interesting and potentially combustible fact of the new situation in Cyprus, is that the new Russian base will be around 40 km away from the British one

How's that going to work then?

[raspberry-blower]

Another interesting and potentially combustible fact of the new situation in Cyprus, is that the new Russian base will be around 40 km away from the British one

How's that going to work then?

Interesting neighbours

Meanwhile back in fascist junta Ukraine: Kiev's Bloody War Is Backfiring

Most Ukrainians don't want to fight in a bloody, pointless and unnecessary war

[another_exlurker]

Is that proposed Russian base on the Turkish side of Cyprus?