Ukraine Watch...

[Vortex2]

Is the French pundit/guru Jacques Baud a reliable/believable source on the Ukraine conflict?

He seems to have a decent background, and his analysis seems reasonably cogent.

Can anyone poke holes in the the author's credentials and/or writings?

I found this article quite interesting - assuming it's not a tissue of lies:
https://labourheartlands.com/jacques-ba ... oad_To_War

[kenneal - lagger]

I didn't find that account very credible. He says that the Ukrainian forces as late as 2017 were not very competent. They have achieved a remarkable turnaround since then if that is so because the Russians with their much greater forces have actually achieved very little being bogged down on all fronts. Their losses have been huge.

The whole diatribe sounds just like Russian propaganda. If there were that many foreign fighters they would have been parading them on TV for the world to see.

[kenneal - lagger]

This article says that the Russian military and intelligence apparatus are getting fed up with Putin and those running the war because they are holding back. They want full mobilization and to take the whole of Ukraine.

If they do get rid of Putin we could see human wave attacks in Ukraine and an escalation of the war. I say human wave attacks because with full mobilization they will not have time to train the new "recruits" properly so they are likely to be pushed into action with the old Soviet tactic of regular army barrier troops behind them to shoot them if they turn and run. Poor sods!!

[UndercoverElephant]

This article says that the Russian military and intelligence apparatus are getting fed up with Putin and those running the war because they are holding back. They want full mobilization and to take the whole of Ukraine.

link is dead

[Vortex2]

Try this : https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-new ... 818731.amp

More generally, these varied videos & articles show that there is a complex back-story to the conflict .. and all sorts of options as to how the conflict will be resolved.

[clv101]

Try this : https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-new ... 818731.amp

More generally, these varied videos & articles show that there is a complex back-story to the conflict .. and all sorts of options as to how the conflict will be resolved.

Absolutely! The situation has an extremely long and complex back story. You can only start to understand what's going on by going back to the fall of Soviet Union in the 90s. However, any attempt to get into the nuance, and rightly ascribe some of the responsibility for today's mess on the US and NATO is forbidden as the only acceptable narrative is that Putin is responsible for everything including the chickens eating my newly planted out cabbages yesterday.

This situation did not start a couple of moths ago, the Donbas civil war had already claimed some 30k civilian deaths over the last 8 years, this number might have doubled with the Russian invasion. Context is important, the (illegal, not sanction by UN) US led invasion of Iraq cost some half million civilian lives and a couple hundred thousand troops. The Russian war machine is *brutal*, the US approach 'surgical'... but the numbers speak for themselves.

I'm am very surprised there isn't more debate about this US / Russian proxy war being fought on European soil. This has the potential to be incredibly damaging - and yet the British Government are cheering along. The US are pouring tens of billions of dollars into the conflict. Yes, of course the Ukrainians have every right to defence and every right and expectation to aid from allies. But the Maiden coup/revolution in 2014 did have US support, has Ukraine been engineered to be used as the proxy for the the desired US-Russian conflict? There are limits to what gifted equipment, training, intelligence etc can achieve and I doubt this approach will restore Ukraine's '91 boarders, we are already playing with fire and further escalation like a NATO enforced no-fly zone could be catastrophic. The eventual negotiated settlement is likely to involve new borders.

Beware simple explanations of complex satiations - they are invariably wrong. Be doubly wary of anyone attempting to cancel any more balanced perspectives - they have an agenda.

[kenneal - lagger]

Yes, the Maidan revolution had US support but the the Ukrainian and Belorussian government have and had Kremlin support. What's the difference and why is one worse than the other? Why is the continued support of the authoritarian Belorussian government by the Kremlin somehow OK but any US support for the democratic opposition is wrong? That is just hypocrisy, as is the criticism of the US, UK and NATO support for the democratic government of Ukraine.

[clv101]

Thats my point Ken. No difference, one isn't worse than the other. It's not black and white. There are not angels or demons. Kremlin and White House are both it in up to their necks. We need to stop looking for simple, straightforward explanations for deeply complex situations.

[Vortex2]

Russian state TV threatens nuclear strike on UK and warns of radioactive tidal wave

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4eJvwtQJu4

As I have said before, I didn't vote for our government to cause this sort of threat to the UK.

[UndercoverElephant]

Russian state TV threatens nuclear strike on UK and warns of radioactive tidal wave

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4eJvwtQJu4

As I have said before, I didn't vote for our government to cause this sort of threat to the UK.

The government isn't responsible for Russian threats. Also, the threats are bluffs.

[Vortex2]

Russian state TV threatens nuclear strike on UK and warns of radioactive tidal wave

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4eJvwtQJu4

As I have said before, I didn't vote for our government to cause this sort of threat to the UK.

The government isn't responsible for Russian threats. Also, the threats are bluffs.

Sending the SAS, plus tons of weapons and ammo to Ukraine, might be an issue.
Also gobby Truss isn't helping.

A nuclear powered bluff certainly catches my attention : the downside is so massive that ANY probability that it isn't a bluff has to be considered.

[UndercoverElephant]

Truss is trying to get herself selected to replace Boris Johnson. I sincerely hope this does not happen, not specifically because of her comments about Ukraine, more because I think she is just generally useless and do not want her running this country.

[Vortex2]

Europe is bankrolling and sanctioning the same country .. whilst arming its enemy ... doh ...

German power utility Uniper will pay for Russian gas via a transfer to a Russian bank and no longer to a Europe-based bank, according to a media report.

“The plan is to make our payments in euros to an account in Russia,” the Rheinische Post newspaper reported on Thursday, quoting a Uniper spokesperson.

Even though Russia has demanded payments in roubles for its gas supply, the payments system it has proposed foresees the use of accounts at Gazprombank, which would convert payments made in euros or dollars into roubles.

This offers some countries a loophole to keep buying Russian gas against Western currencies.

With so many European Union members reliant on Russian energy, the European Commission has said the EU’s gas buyers can engage with Russia’s payment scheme provided certain conditions are met.

Last week, the European Commission said if buyers of Russian gas confirmed payment was complete once they had deposited euros, as opposed to later when the euros have been converted to roubles, that would not breach sanctions.

Uniper said it could pay without violations. Austria and Hungary, among others, have also indicated they will take this route."

[Vortex2]

US using Ukraine to fight Russia

Tucker may not be your cup of tea, but this video is quite revealing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGvO8b-tiaM

[clv101]

Haven't watched the video but it should be obvious to all that the US is tacking this opportunity (taking advantage of Ukraine) to fight Russia.