McGovern notes with some alarm the recent NYT article by David Sanger (of “Iraqi WMD” notoriety) to the effect that there was a 50% chance two years ago that Russia might have used nuclear weapons rather than face defeat in Ukraine. Well, Russia is certainly not losing at present (Larry Johnson expects the war to be over by summer), so has no incentive to use nuclear weapons. But mightn’t Biden have that incentive? McGovern concludes that Putin will have noticed, and that the Russian leader must now be adjusting his strategy accordingly.

All this might suggest that Nuland’s departure, whatever it actually signifies, does not necessarily signify a victory of the China Hawks over the Russian Hawks, at least while Biden still has an election to lose. It might indicate a shift of relative influence in Washington, but it does not amount to an actual change, yet. She might have had to go anyway, given her multiple failures or failures of her proteges since the failure of Ukraine’s summer counteroffensive up to and including the collapse of Avdiivka, the extremely poor state of the Ukrainian army, the leaking of the conspiring between Luuftwaffe officers to use Taurus against the Kerch bridge. All followed in some kind of symbolic appropriateness with a call to Zelenskiy from the Pope to raise the white flag.

There can be little doubt that Ukraine’s battefield situation is deteriorating, especially given the recent heavy losses of Ukrainian air defense systems (10 in one month). These had been pulled by Ukraine closer to the combat lines in order to reduce the impact of heavy Russian bombing with regular use of FAB 1500 guide bombs. The accelerating strength and more numerous presence of Russian aircraft close to the combat lines may also have made them more vulnerable and this might account for Ukrainian claims, likely exaggerated, to have shot down several of these Russian S-24 fighters.

Western weapons have not been impressive on Ukrainian battlefields. In one day recently Russia destroyed three HIMARS launch vehicles and two French long-range Ceasar Howitzers. 37 Howitzers have been supplied altogether, but because of high pressure on the gun barrels, they can only fire a couple of rounds a day. More than half of the Leopard II tanks supplied by Germany are nonoperational or have been destroyed. Only 7 of 14 British Challenger II tanks are still operational. Marder tanks, M777s and Bradleys are no longer being produced. Talk of the sending of Taurus tanks is still around, perhaps by means of a swap of British Storm Shadows for German Taurus, for Britain to pass the Taurus missiles on to Ukraine (to get around German parliamentary opposition to sending Taurus to Ukraine).

Alexander Mercouris, in his daily broadcast today, suggests that the total US shell production by the end of this year might reach half a million, supplemented by, say 60,000 from Europe. This would not meet Ukraine’s current consumption of over two million a year, nor come close to the current Russian rate of production of over one million a year.

Battlefields

In Novomykhailivka, Russia has taken control of the farmlands in the northeast. There are clashes for warehouses in the north. Russians are extending their control over the territory above the north eastern half of the settlement. Ukrainian forces in the settlement are now in danger of being encircled.

North of Novomykhailivka, Russian forces are preparing the ground for further offensive operations west of Pobieda. From here they can proceed south west to Kostiantynivka and Yelyzavetivka.

Further north, in Heorhiivka, Dima confirms Russian presence in the east of the settlement. Russia has taken more territory in the area between Heorhiivka and Krasnohorivka (the southern section of which is under Russian control and which Russia is hitting with FAB 1,500 kilo bombs) to the north of Marinka. Ukrainian forces in this area appear to be encircled. Russia has attacked many Ukrainian FPV drone positions in this area.

Further north, Russia entered the settlement of Pervomaiske. Russian forces are closing in on Vuhledar by way of the village of Shevchenko. There has been no substantial change in the situation west of Avdiika in the past 24 hours, only reports of very heavy clashes around Berdychi and Orlivka, to which Ukraine is sending reinforcements. Significant numbers, perhaps as many as 7, of Abrams tanks were destroyed in this area in the previous week, leading to a replacement of the Ukrainian 47th Mechanized Brigade.

Russian forces are moving in the direction of Huliaipole, by way of Chervone. To the east they are subjecting the settlement of Malynivka to heavy bombing.

Further north there is not a lot of new activity to report around Bakhmut, other than indications of Russian preparation to move on the town of Siversk.

In the Robotyne the situation remains unclear. The front line is unstable.

Ukraine on Russia

Ukrainian Intelligence chief Budanov is saying that there will be a major Ukrainian attack on Crimea in the coming days. There is also a Ukrainian intelligence effort to monitor Russian partisans in the Odessa region.

This information comes hard on the heels of reports of the destruction of Ukrainian ambitions to launch a major attack on Belgorod. Ukraine tried to concentrate a significant number of forces in the borderlands near Tarasivke, close to Popivka, with a view to entering and seizing Russian territory as far inland as Grayvoron and Dobroye. All this was diversionary, however, from the main target further south, which was the Russian town of Valuyki in the Kupyansk area. If successful, this operation would have cut off main Russian supply routes to their forces in Kupyansk, Lyman and the Teryny-Yampolivka area over which Russia is currently establishing control. The concentrations of Ukrainian forces were destroyed by heavy Russian missile, bombing and drone attacks.

Middle East

Netanyahu and even Benny Gantz (invited by Washington without Netanyahu being advised) both confirm Israel’s intention to proceed with a ground operation against Rafah, demonstrating that there is little point in trying to divide Israeli leadership. Biden continues to send weapons to Israel, yet says that the US cannot stomach the loss of another 30,000 Palestinian lives. As Alastair Crooke notes in interview with Judge Napolitano today, Biden, despite the fact that he claims that Rafah is a red line, actually has no red line - he is failing to show Israel that there are consequences for mass murder. Biden’s plan to build a pier for offloading aid will take at least two years to implement, and is a clumsy, contorted route for getting aid to people who needed it months ago by the most direct route possible. Crooke thinks that the IDF has a lot more preparation to complete before going into Rafah: it has the potential of trouble in the West Bank during Ramadan, which started two days ago, and given the scale of resistance it is likely to meet in and from Lebanon and Iraq.

I guess if Tucker heard a Chinese person speaking his native language, he’d say “I didn’t understand a thing he said. It sounded really dumb to me.”

[(Here’s the link to yesterday’s newsletter: https://donhank.substack.com/p/if-hezbollah-missiles-could-expel (sorry, I had forgotten to add it to the email)]

We Americans are taught to think this way. If you don’t understand something foreign, then it’s stupid, right?  We’re the smart ones, the intellectual leaders of the planet.

We didn’t understand socialism, so we sent bombers to Korea and then to Vietnam to kill these people we couldn’t understand, killing millions of them. And we wonder why North Korea doesn’t like us sweet god-fearing Israel-loving Americans.

So who’s dumb? Oh, not the Americans, right, Tucker? If we can’t understand some people we send the Marines to kill them all. Good idea, eh, Tucker? Cause that’s the smart American thing to do!

Tucker’s superficial way of thinking is why many Americans unquestioningly buy into the Neocon message that Russians are evil and want to take over the world. After all, if we can’t understand them, they MUST be up to something evil. [The ruling class and its think tank mercenaries is not that dumb. THEY know that socialism works much better than capitalism, and that socialist countries—given half a cance to compete fairly—would soon bury capitalist powers. —Ed]

I had commented previously on Tucker’s weird response to Putin’s reference to denazification, which he admitted he didn’t understand. I reminded readers that, according to Newsweek (not a known conspiracy theorist tabloid), the Ukrainian regime officially celebrates the birthday of known Hitler collaborator Stepan Bandera on January 1 of every year.

Now, for a person with normal intellect, any country’s officially celebrating the birthday of a Nazi would be a big red flag. It would be a sign that the ruling class there warms up to goose steppers. Further, the fact that the US regime supports these Nazis would reflect on us as well. However, if you saw Tucker’s Putin interview, you noticed that he sat through Putin’s initial history lesson with a furrowed brow, looking uncomfortable. Tucker obviously hates non-PC history and other intellectual pursuits and this first part of the interview really soured him against Putin, who was saying things that, in George Soros’ America, we just aren’t supposed to talk about.

Because America not only ignores and rejects intellectual subjects, it has imposed a tacit ban on them – in fact, in US satrapy Europe, Russian news publications Sputnik and RT are outright banned. Be sure to read the next article pertaining to dumbed-down US academe.

(Today’s air strike update is the last article of this newsletter)…

En Ucrania renombran una calle en honor de un colaborador nazi - 05.03.2024, Sputnik Mundo (sputniknews.lat)

Translation from Spanish with my notes in bold and in [brackets]

In Ukraine a street is renamed in honor of a Nazi collaborator

05.03.2024, Sputnik Mundo (sputniknews.lat)

In Ukraine they rename a street in honor of a Nazi collaborator

Pyotr Diachenko,. The Americans happily gave him refuge, and he died in 1965 in New Jersey.

Pavlográdskaya Street in the Ukrainian city of Nikopol was renamed in honor of the Nazi collaborator, fanatical anti-communist, and accomplice of the Holocaust Pyotr Diachenko, awarded by Hitler for his services to Nazi Germany, as reported by the Ukrainian Jewish Committee. From Russia they declare that nowhere in the world is Nazism promoted at the state level like in Kiev.

[This renaming was certainly not well received by the local residents because Nikopol is located in Zaporozhye, a Russian speaking oblast with strong sympathies for Russia]

"The City Council of the Ukrainian city of Nikopol renamed Pavlográdskaya Street in honor of the Nazi war criminal, accomplice of the Holocaust, executor of punitive actions against civilians, officer of the Galizien Division of the SS, commander of the 31st Schutzmannschaft SD battalion, and head of collaborationist units Piotr Diachenko", indicates the director of the organization Eduard Dolinski on his social networks.

He stressed that Diachenko was awarded the Iron Cross for crimes committed in particular against Jews. [And this occurred under the watchless gaze of a Jewish Kiev regime. I can’t begin to tell you how this is possible. Only Zelensky knows]

The SS Galizien Division was a military unit within Nazi Germany's elite corps, the Waffen-SS, led by Heinrich Himmler. Created on April 28, 1943, after the occupation of Ukraine, it was made up of more than 80,000 Nazi collaborators, mostly from the Ukrainian oblast of Galicia. During the Second World War, the ranks of the division carried out police force tasks, combating partisans and intimidating the population, committing numerous atrocities against civilians on the territory of the Soviet Union and Poland.

Young Ukrainian soldiers performing a Nazi salute - Sputnik World, 1920, 02/22/2024

Neo-Nazism in Ukraine

"There are no Nazis in Ukraine": Internet users react to young Ukrainians giving the Nazi salute

Photo link: https://sputniknews.lat/20240222/no-hay-nazis-en-ucrania-internautas-reaccionan-a-jovenes-ucranianos-haciendo-el-saludo-nazi-1148452520.html

February 22, 18:02 GMT

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova wrote in February on her Telegram channel that kyiv (or Kiev) could soon begin "canonizing collaborators of the Ukrainian ultranationalist Stepan Bandera." [News flash for Maria Zakharova: The Kiev regime already canonizes Bandera. On Jan 1 of every year, Ukraine officially celebrates this Nazi’s birthday.]

From Russia they have declared on several occasions that neo-Nazi crimes against civilians in Ukraine are ethnic cleansing, punishment actions. By supporting Kiev, Western countries are normalizing Nazism, they added. The president of Russia, Vladimir Putin, pointed out that nowhere in the world is Nazism promoted at the state level like in Kiev.

…

Translation from Spanish with my notes in bold and in [brackets]

https://sputniknews.lat/20240222/no-hay-nazis-en-ucrania-internautas-reaccionan-a-jovenes-ucranianos-haciendo-el-saludo-nazi-1148452520.html

"There are no Nazis in Ukraine": Internet users react to young Ukrainians giving the Nazi salute

18:02 GMT 02/22/2024

Although the Kiev authorities assure that "there is no Nazism" in Ukraine, videos that appear periodically show the opposite [but Tucker Carlson doesn’t read these reports because he thinks they are “dumb” and that is Putin’s fault] Recently, Internet users were outraged by a video in which underage Ukrainian fighters sing a song glorifying Nazi collaborator Stepan Bandera and give Nazi salutes.

Video link: https://sputniknews.lat/20240222/no-hay-nazis-en-ucrania-internautas-reaccionan-a-jovenes-ucranianos-haciendo-el-saludo-nazi-1148452520.html

"A group of 17-year-olds are taught Nazi songs in preparation for death," comments one user, while another warns: "The poor kids don't even know what meat grinder is already waiting for them."

"That's why Zelensky has taken control of the state media, probably he has told [the young people] that they are winning," he speculates.

"Does this sound familiar to you?" asks the next one, referring to a photo of Hitler with members of the Hitler Youth during the Battle of Berlin in 1945, "Does anyone really want to experience something like that again?"

"Degeneration in its purest form" and "Indoctrination, 101", the others add.

"How much truth there is in the words 'Whoever forgets their history is condemned to repeat it,'" emphasized one Internet user.

"There are no Nazis in Ukraine, Zelensky said," the other ironically concluded.

Even the recently sacked Gen. Zalushny is proud to show his Neonazi loyalties. Former Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief Valeri Zaluzhny with Commander of the Ukrainian 67th Mechanized Brigade Andriy Stempitski pose in front of a portrait of Stepan Bandera - Sputnik World, 1920, 02/11/2024

Photo link: https://sputniknews.lat/20240211/la-foto-de-zaluzhni-con-elementos-neonazis-amenaza-a-zelenski-1148156547.html

Zaluzhni's photo with neo-Nazi elements "threatens" Zelensky

February 11, 17:52 GMT

Although this video was filmed some time ago, it demonstrates how the practice of educating children in a nationalist way has spread in Ukraine, through camps and children's organizations dedicated to this.

Stepan Bandera was a Ukrainian ultranationalist who served as leader of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (banned in Russia) in the first half of the 20th century. His anti-Jewish, anti-Russian and anti-Polish ideas brought him closer to Nazi Germany before and during its invasion of the USSR.

The OUN perpetrated countless crimes, the most notable of which is considered the massacre of the Polish civilian population in Volhynia (western Ukraine) in 1943, as well as thousands of Ukrainians for refusing to collaborate with ultranationalists.

Today the Ukrainian authorities place monuments to [Nazi] Bandera, promote songs about him and educate new generations with his ideology.

**

Russophobia in the Ivy League

I had my first personal exposure to Russophobia in the 70s.

I took a few undergrad courses in Russian (not my major) and when I felt I was fluent enough to go to a higher level, I decided to take a Master’s degree in Russian language, with the sole purpose not of enhancing my earning power but simply to build up my fluency and learn as much as I could about an admirable people and their beautiful language and culture.

Along my journey I enrolled in a Russian study tour in Leningrad with the CIEE (Council on International Educational Exchange), where I had another strange brush with Russophobia in academe.

I was sitting in a break room at the student dorm with a group including 2 tour guides from Inturist and a young American gentleman, whom I had taken for a student. We were speaking Russian as usual. Somehow the conversation drifted toward academe and it came out that the young man was one of the chaperones and had a doctorate in Russian (whatever that means in America). At this point, since I was vaguely interested in perhaps pursuing a doctorate as well, I said “you have a doctorate in Russian?”

I guess I must have sounded surprised that the guy would have such a high degree in Russian, but that was not my intent at all. He scowled and snapped defensively something like “yes, I do for your information!”

I had not paid any attention to the quality of his Russian but I guess he may have been full of complexes due to a sense of linguistic inadequacy. But was that my fault?

I had once heard that some American profs who teach Russian are not that good. As for those who are native Russians, they are kept from revealing their inadequacy by the American majority on staff. Which would have been an easy task for the Americans because a certain percentage of these native-Russian profs were escapees from the Soviet Union and were already intimidated by the general Russophobia endemic to America.

Later, it eventually dawned on me that this Russophobia to which I was exposed – and didn’t know its name yet – was only part of a bigger phenomenon that I call Westernness, which is in fact an infectious psycho-social disease, ie, primarily a way of thinking and functioning, one of whose symptoms is a general recalcitrant mediocrity and incompetence that in America has spread throughout academe, the professions, politics (in particular), the military, the think tanks, intelligence agencies, the media, Big Religion and the general populace. But it is also a sociopathy, making it invisible to the wide public. This stands in contrast to what I call Easternness, a way of thinking that not only is not a psychosocial disease but is in fact the remedy for the infectious epidemic of Westernness. Easternness is prevalent in Russia, China and countries allied with them. It is responsible for the economic prosperity of China and the military and diplomatic superiority of Russia – which in turn have given rise to enormous (but ineffectual) blowback from the incompetent Western political class.

I believe that once the West begins to understand Easternness, or Eastern thought, it will realize that it is beginning to heal. I suppose that if I could bottle it, I could become a millionaire. I could of course also wind up in jail, sharing a cell with Julian Assange.

IMPORTANT RELATED CONTENT:

America’s Super-Elite Disconnect

…

Later, I started looking for a university to further my knowledge of Russian. I didn’t realize it yet, but academe was exactly the wrong place to look for knowledge in the West.

Around that time a friend of mine who had a Bachelor’s degree in Russian from Franklin and Marshall in Lancaster, PA, and was fluent in Russian, was accepted to Yale to work on his Master’s in Russian. After he returned on a break from his first semester, he told me that the profs in all his classes taught only in English. He lamented that, as a graduate student of Russian, he was forgetting his Russian.

Now let me back up and reassure you that the undergraduate courses in colleges that offer Russian are taught in Russian and the profs I knew of then were first rate. It was on the graduate level where it all fell apart.

My friend’s story did not surprise me. While I was studying Russian at a summer school in Colby College in Maine, one of my profs, Dr. Yury Grinberg, told me that my Russian was better than that of the head of the Russian Department of Harvard.

At first I refused to believe it, but he pressed me until I realized he was telling the truth. And to be sure, I did spend a lot of my free time reading Russian short stories and I imagined I was not half bad.

My Lancaster friend confirmed what Yury Grinberg had told me, namely, that none of the US big name universities, including Ivy League ones, taught the Master’s level Russian courses in Russian.

Dr. Grinberg also told me that in his Midwestern home, people had looked at him with suspicion when he received packages, mostly books, from the Soviet Union. Even the postman treated him like a leper. I didn’t know the word “Russophobia” then but I could feel its icy grip.

During my search for a suitable Master’s course, just as an experiment, I called Harvard and spoke with the head of the Russian Department. I told him I might be interested in doing my Master’s course work there and acted a little hesitant to make him think I was afraid I would not know enough Russian. He told me not to worry, that all the course work was done with English translations of Russian literature.

So this was how it was then.

I had explored the Master’s level course offerings of various colleges in other languages like German, French and Spanish and learned that these were taught in the languages in question. The students read works of literature in the languages in question, wrote papers in the language, heard lectures in the language, etc. These were real language courses.

Only the Russian course was taught in English.

I was getting apprehensive. Was this a conspiracy?

During my search for a college, a friend of a friend told me that she was taking a Master’s level course in Russian at Bryn Mawr on a scholarship and the head of the Russian department was desperate to find more students, offering scholarships to warm bodies. Apparently there was not much demand for Russian courses. I drove down there for an interview.

Knowing what I had learned about big name colleges teaching Russian Master’s level courses only in English, I approached her with feigned apprehension, asking if there was a chance I would not understand her lectures or the course work.

“Oh, there’s nothing to worry about,” she reassured me smiling. “It’s all in English!”

“What about the reading material?”

“It’s all English translations of Russian literature.” Still smiling.

“Why do you call it a Russian course if we aren’t able to hear and read the language?”

With her Smile wiped off, she stammered out: “Some of the students wouldn’t understand if it were in Russian. I’m very jealous of my degrees.”

“So you’re afraid you might accidentally confer a Master’s degree in Russian on someone who knows Russian,” I thought, but didn’t say it.

Needless to say I gave that course a miss.

At any rate, I placed a few more calls and located a no-name college, Kutztown State, where I came across an eccentric prof by the name of Dr. Richard Fortune, who became my Russian prof for the next 3 years or so. He was a lovely person but a stickler for the Russian language, never once lapsing into English in class.

Dr. Fortune had taken his doctorate at Columbia University — where his “Russian” profs also only taught in English in our Kafkaesque America where mediocrity is not only tolerated but is enforced with rigid rules to prevent students from getting too familiar with the language of a hated enemy of the state. Apparently there was a real fear that Russian students might start thinking like Russians and start joining terrorist gangs or sympathizing with communism.

On one occasion, Dr. Fortune was not available for a course for a semester, and I was obliged to take another prof. This prof was a Russian native. I only went to one class because this man turned out to be a fanatical anti-Soviet with a chip on his shoulder. He spent the whole class hour talking about the evils of the Soviet Union. In English. I dropped the class.

I often think about Franz Kafka and try to imagine his life as a youngster and what it must have been like.

I passed his family home the one time I visited Prague. It was closed to tourists that day but as I contemplated the exterior I imagined Franz sitting at his typewriter in a dingy attic room batting out those strange dreamlike stories of his, and I wondered what his life must have been like.

Surreal I supposed, something like life in Amerika.

**

https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/yemens-houthis-say-they-target-two-us-warships-red-sea-2024-03-05/

The Houthis have targeted 2 genocide-supporting US warships in the Red Sea.

…

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/a-suspected-attack-by-yemen-s-houthi-rebels-damages-a-ship-in-the-gulf-of-aden/ar-BB1jovIP?ocid=msedgntp&pc=HCTS&cvid=4b0fc683a2784a099789ab11a2096471&ei=14

A suspected attack by Yemen's Houthi rebels damages a ship in the Gulf of Aden

Story by JON GAMBRELL, Associated Press

**

If you are pro-Palestine, Biden – as bad as he’s been – is probably the best choice!

Genocide Joe or Baby Slayer Trump. Which do you prefer?

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/3/6/trumps-talk-on-gaza-highlights-stark-choice-for-voters-in-us-election

Trump’s Gaza comments highlight tough choice for peace-supporting US voters

Former president’s rhetoric shows voters seeking to punish Joe Biden for backing Israel face dilemma in upcoming election.

**

Here’s your daily air strike update for Mar 6, 2024 (plus some battlefield reports)

Translation with my notes in bold and in [brackets]

Refer to this map to locate the oblasts mentioned in the following texts (many of them are western)

https://ok.ru/yesttaka/topic/157847383619761

The Russian Armed Forces have delivered missile strikes and continue to destroy the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

On March 6, 2024, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation continue a special operation in Ukraine to protect Donbass, as well as the demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine. On March 6, 2024, the Russian Armed Forces launched massive powerful missile strikes with Kh-101 ballistic missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles against military-industrial complex and infrastructure facilities in Ukraine. [The Kh-101 is a subsonic missile. It is long-range and highly precise]

On the morning of March 6, 2024, a strike was carried out with long-range precision weapons. Air raid alert in Sumy, Poltava, Kharkov, Dnepropetrovsk and Nikolaevoblasts, as well as in parts of the Zaporozhye and Kherson oblasts controlled by Kiev. At 4 a.m. Moscow time, an air raid alert covered almost the entire territory of Ukraine. Explosions were heard in the Kiev oblast, Chuguev, and the Kharkov and Sumy oblasts. The airfield of the Ukrainian Air Force in Starokonstantinov has been disabled. [This airfield gets hit regularly]

Over the past 24 hours, on March 5, 2024, fighter aircraft and air defense of the Russian Aerospace Forces shot down four Su-27 and one MiG-29 in the Zhitomirarea, one Su-27 and one Su-25 in the Radomyshl area, one Su-25 in the Nizhyn area, one MiG-29 of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Nikolaev oblast, one Mi-8 in the Kiev area, six unmanned aerial vehicles, including the Bayraktar TB-2.

Bomber and attack aircraft hit 3 Buk M1 anti-aircraft missile systems and 3 Ukrainian Armed Forces radar stations. The missile forces destroyed an S-300 anti-aircraft missile system.

The bases of the personnel of the Ukrainian armed forces in the Chuguev village area and in Martovo, Kharkov oblast, were hit.

In Ternopil, an explosion occurred on the territory of a railway repair and mechanical plant. NATO equipment damaged on the battlefield is being restored there.

In the Khmelnitsky oblast, Geran drones burned down the airfield, which was used by Su-24s, to launch Western missiles at Crimea. Two weeks ago, after the last strike, the airfield received serious damage. Now there is also little left of it.

As a result of a missile strike on Ukrainian Armed Forces facilities in the Dnepropetrovsk oblast, an equipment assembly shop for armored vehicles and a warehouse with parts were hit.

The Russian Armed Forces hit Odessa and Ilyichevsk with Gerans in the dark. Izmail{Odessa oblast] is burning, while in Odessa there are significant problems with power supply. Last night, Russian troops hit targets in Odessa City and the Odessa oblast.

Swarms of Geran 2 drones are attacking Ukraine, causing panic in enemy territory. Powerful explosions are heard in Odessa and throughout Ukraine. Strikes were recorded in the Kiev oblast, Kharkov, Vinnitsa, Ternopil, Sumy oblasts and Chernihiv oblast. The bases of Ukrainian armed forces personnel in the Chuguev area of the Kharkov oblast were hit.

Over the past 24 hours, Russian troops have hit positions of manpower and equipment of the Ukrainian army in 20 settlements of the Kharkov oblast with high-precision strikes.

On March 6, 2024, the Russian Armed Forces destroyed 1,215 militants of the Ukrainian Armed Forces

In the Kupyansk area [Kharkov oblast], on March 6, 2024, artillerymen of the 1st Guards Tank Army of the Western Group of Forces, using the Akatsiya self-propelled gun, destroyed a tank of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) in the Kupyansk area. The Russian Aerospace Forces are striking at pontoon bridges across the Oskol River and hitting concentrations and headquarters in the Kupyansk district. The Russian army advances towards Ternov and Yampolovka. The Russian Armed Forces were able to gain a foothold in Ternov, the Russian group is pushing back the militants from the eastern flank. In the Kupyansk area, motorized rifle units, in cooperation with artillery and aviation, improved the tactical situation and hit several concentrations of militants and equipment of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

The group’s artillery units hit 63 targets, including temporary deployment points, platoon strongholds, artillery positions, concentrations of manpower and equipment of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. During the counter-battery fight, the group’s artillery destroyed a mortar crew and an ammunition supply point in the Sverdlovka area.

Over 160 Ukrainian Armed Forces militants, a 152-mm Msta-B gun, a mortar crew and three vehicles were destroyed.

In the Donetsk area, on March 6, 2024, in the Avdeevka sector, the Ukrainian Armed Forces continue to lose armored vehicles, trying to hold positions in the area of Berdychi, Orlovka and Tonenkoye. Our troops are advancing to the center of Pervomaisky, Krasnogorovka and Novomikhailovka. In the Donetsk area, there is also progress on several sectors of the front at once. Here the Russian Armed Forces are advancing in three directions at once from Marinka. The Northern Armed Forces of the Russian Federation are putting pressure on Georgievka, where Russian troops managed to advance along the railway track, occupy the warehouse, and also started fighting in the area of Vatutina Street and are moving towards an abandoned car repair plant. On the western flank, in Georgievka, the Russian Armed Forces advanced along Tsentralnaya Street to the intersection with Molodezhnaya Street and thus managed to clear the southern part in Stavki, which cuts Georgievka into two parts. In the Donetsk area, units of the Southern Group of Forces, conducting active combat operations, occupied more advantageous positions along the front line, defeated formations of the 5th, 92nd assault, 22nd, 28th and 54th mechanized, as well as 56th th motorized infantry brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the areas of the settlements of Bogdanovka, Kleshcheevka, Andreevka, Zakotnoye and Pershe Travnya of the Donetsk People's Republic

Over 260 Ukrainian Armed Forces militants, two tanks, two armored personnel carriers, two armored fighting vehicles, 14 vehicles, an Msta-B howitzer and two Gvozdika self-propelled artillery units were destroyed, and three Ukrainian Armed Forces ammunition depots were destroyed

In the Krasnoarmeysky (Avdeevsky area is now called Krasnoarmeysky) area on March 6, 2024, Russian troops the day before destroyed another sixth Abrams tank. The crew of the T-72B3 destroyed the Abrams in the Avdeevsk area with the first shot. Currently, 4 US tanks are rusting on the battlefield (the fourth was destroyed yesterday), as well as 2 more Abrams-based mine clearance vehicles. They will become Russian trophies. Moscow is waiting for a captured Abrams tank. The Ukrainian Armed Forces militants will not be able to pick up their crippled vehicles because the front is shifting to the west. Russian assault forces penetrated the southern part of the settlement Krasnoye and the northern part of the Berdychi village. The Russian Armed Forces are gradually moving west of Avdeevka. Artillery fire destroyed 11 support forces of Ukrainian militants, and Aerospace Forces aviation is working in places where enemy manpower and armored vehicles are concentrated. Units of the “Center” group of troops, as a result of coordinated actions, occupied more-advantageous lines and positions in the Avdeevka area, and also inflicted fire on the forces and equipment of seven brigades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) in the areas of the settlements of Novopokrovskoye, Ocheretino, Novoselovka Pervaya and Toretsk of the Donetsk People’s Republic Republic (DPR).

In addition, Russian military personnel repelled three attacks by assault groups of the Ukrainian army in the areas of the settlements of Leninskoye and Novgorodskoye, as well as nine counterattacks in the areas of the settlements of Berdychi, Tonenkoye, Pervomaiskoye, Orlovka and Vodyanoye of the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR).

Up to 460 militants of the Ukrainian Armed Forces were destroyed, two tanks, one of them Abrams made in the USA was destroyed by the crew of the T-72B3 tank from the first shot, a self-propelled firing installation of the Buk anti-aircraft missile system, four infantry fighting vehicles, two armored combat vehicles and five cars"

In the South Donetsk area, on March 6, 2024, the Russian Armed Forces trample militants into the ground of Novomikhailovka in the South Donetsk area, capturing more and more strong points. In the South Donetsk area, in addition to the successes at Pobeda, the Russian Armed Forces advanced from the south of Novomikhailovka. Russian units from the 68th Army Corps managed to completely clear the farm southwest of the Church of the Miracle of the Archangel Michael. Russian attack aircraft from the 20th Motorized Rifle Division continue to move forward. In the South Donetsk area, units of the Vostok group of forces, as a result of active actions, improved the tactical situation and inflicted fire damage on enemy personnel and equipment in the areas of the settlements of Mirnoye and Ugledar of the Donetsk People's Republic.

Up to 210 Ukrainian Armed Forces militants, two tanks, three cars, a launcher for the Strela-10 anti-aircraft missile system, as well as an ammunition depot were destroyed.

In the Kherson area, on March 6, 2024, Russian aviation launched strikes against Ukrainian militants on the left and right banks of the Dnieper. 36 temporary deployment points were struck. During the day, the enemy lost 95 Ukrainian Armed Forces fighters, two armored combat vehicles, eight guns and mortars, three cars and one boat. In addition, 49 Ukrainian drones were shot down and suppressed. Attacks were carried out on four formations of the Ukrainian Armed Forces - the 117th Infantry Brigade, the 38th Marine Brigade, the 121st Terrorist Defense Brigade and the 15th National Guard Brigade. On the Zaporozhye Front, the Russian Army concentrated its main efforts in the Rabotino area. Assault groups of our troops are operating in the area of the village center near the school. In the Kherson area, units of the Dnepr group of troops defeated the manpower and equipment of the 118th mechanized brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the 126th technical defense brigade and the 23rd brigade of the National Guard in the areas of the settlements of Rabotino, Verbovoye of the Zaporozhye oblast, Tokarevka, Sadovoye of the Kherson oblast and Vysshetarasovka Dnepropetrovsk oblast.

Up to 125 Ukrainian Armed Forces militants and two vehicles were destroyed.

With operational-tactical and army aviation, unmanned aerial vehicles, missile forces and artillery of groupings of troops of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, the Russian Aerospace Forces hit: aviation equipment, aviation ammunition and fuel depots at the Lozovatka airfields in the Dnepropetrovsk oblast and Starokonstantinov in the Khmelnytsky oblast, an ammunition depot operational-tactical group "Donetsk", manpower and military equipment of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in 113 oblasts.

[Russian] Air defense systems shot down, intercepted and destroyed: nine US-made HIMARS multiple launch rocket system rockets were shot down, as well as a French-made AASM “Hammer” guided aerial bomb. 135 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles were destroyed, including in the areas of the settlements Sladkoe, Pavlovka, Signalnoe, Verkhnetoretskoe, Orlinskoe of the Donetsk People's Republic, Golikovo, Chervonopopovka, Novodruzhesk of the Lugansk People's Republic, Mirnoe, Magedovo, Shevchenkovo and Novoe of the Zaporozhye oblast.

Many are understandably pinning the leak on Russia’s GRU, but it seems just as—if notmore—plausible that it was leaked by German insiders themselves in order to thwart the plans of their own deepstate establishment which is clearly bent on starting WWIII.

Before anyone questions the authenticity, let us first begin with the validation by Der Spiegel, who rules it as most likely legit:

Here are the most damning snippets:

As well as another interesting couple:

Here is the full recording for those interested—though, caveat, it’s an auto-machine translation and may have irregularities:

And here is a transcript of it provided by RT’s Margarita Simonyan, for those who prefer reading—though you’ll have to do a machine translation in your browser:

https://vk.com/@m_s_simonyan-rasshifrovka-razgovora-vysokopostavlennyh-oficerov-bundesver

It’s clear that there is an ongoing internal revolt in Europe by the last remaining sane faction against the hardliners pushing WWIII. This is evident by the fact that this entire pressure wave of ‘leaks’ suddenly coincided together from a variety of directions, which included Scholz himself outing British involvement in the war:

 

 

In light of Scholz’s disclosures, a slew of revelations have come to light about NATO’s true involvement in the war:

 

But what’s more, according to the Le Monde article above—though it’s behind a paywall—France is considering sending a contingent of special forces to Ukraine specifically to create a “strategic dilemma” for Russia:

 

Keep in mind, ostensibly, they’re referring to a small contingent of troops placed somewhere in the rear to ‘train’ Ukrainian soldiers. But the ‘strategic dilemma’ part is very interesting—what could they possibly mean by that?

The article makes some interesting revelations. For instance, it seems to suggest that the timed release of all the current hints is a precisely choreographed CIA campaign meant specifically to give signals to Moscow:

On the aspect of ‘strategic dilemma’ they note specifically:

 

But here is the final and most important paragraph of the entire article, which ties directly into things I’ve been writing about and predicting here from the very beginning:

And that, folks, is what gives the true game away.

Recall my earliest predictions about NATO coming in to ‘secure’ certain critical areas of West Ukraine from Russian takeover at the final hour when all else fails and it seems certain that Russia will overrun the AFU. I spoke specifically about Odessa, with the 101st and 82nd coming to dogpile and squat on it simply in the hopes that Russia will cautiously refuse to send troops, in fear of ‘clashing’ with NATO forces and starting WWIII.

It seems the French have got the same idea, though it may be for a different area or areas—hoping that by simply placing troops there, Russia will hesitate from striking the critical infrastructure for fear of killing NATO soldiers.

Interestingly, however, soon after French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne rejected this possibility:

 

A new poll from Le Figaro likewise showed 68% of French citizens do not approve of troop deployment to Ukraine:

68 percent of French people do not approve of Emmanuel Macron's position on the possibility of introducing Western troops into Ukraine, 31 percent agree. This is according to a poll published by Le Figaro newspaper

However, on the heels of these bombshells, Canada attempted to join the fray:

 

The Canadian Minister of National Defense, Bill Blair stated today that Canada is willing to Participate in a NATO-Led Training Mission for Ukraine, which would involve the Deployment of a Limited Contingent of Canadian Servicemembers into Ukraine, who would assist in the Training of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and act in a Non-Combatant Role against Russia away from the Frontlines.

You can see the desperate, seeking attempts to find any lifeline for Ukraine. The NATO/EU nomenklatura are scrambling to create any possible conditions that may give Ukraine a tiny leg up, or even some leeway or breathing room for a few months.

In general, though, this recent spate of threatening announcements could simply be a message to Russia: in essence, a warning in attempt to get Russia to make concessions about resolving the conflict, or simply to keep it from pursuing the most maximalist goals.

This of course all stems from the urgency inherent to Russia’s growing battlefield initiative, where Russian forces continue breaking through Ukrainian lines, generating total trepidation across the Western globalist ruling class:

 

Lloyd, for instance, again reiterated the tired threat today:

“If Ukraine Falls, NATO Will Fight Against Russia” – Lloyd Austin "If Ukraine loses, Putin will not stop, he will continue to attack and seize the sovereign territory of his neighbors," Austin claimed during a House Armed Services Committee hearing. Adding, "And if you're a Baltic country, you're very worried about being next. And that's why they know Putin, they know what he's capable of. And frankly, if Ukraine loses, I really believe that NATO will go to war with Russia."

There could also be a couple other potential explanations:

Firstly, France in particular may be pushing the brinkmanship due to:

The fact that Russia may have seriously wounded them by killing a bunch of secret French special forces in the infamous strike in January.

Some believe that Macron is being heavily ‘pressured’ by his generals to pay back Russia for the grave humiliation it doled out unto France in Africa, by using hybrid warfare to boot the French colonialist presence there and totally usurp control over Francophone ex-colonies.

The combination of both explanations is fairly plausible, logic would dictate.

Some reports even suggest that Macron wants to push the issue further, likely owing to this very pressure he’s under:

It seems France is desperate to regain some form of lost prestige or influence on the world stage, or is merely now just out for pure revenge.

But what’s more troubling is that in light of the earlier Telegraph article, where Scholz ‘exposed’ British operations in Ukraine, some other grave rumors have been illuminated. For instance, though unsourced, a new rumor claims that British servicemen directly operated the air defense systems which shot down the Russian Il-76 carrying Ukrainian POWs over Belgorod recently:

Ukraine sources. IL-76 with UAF POWs was shot down by British servicemen operating in the Kharkov region. UK government has now obtained written immunity from prosecution for all involved. No one will face consequences. Kiev has quietly lodged a request for return of the bodies.

These combined revelations paint a stark picture of NATO’s true involvement in the war—but, alas, it is one that we have already long suspected. Particularly, readers of my blog will have long known about the deep involvement from my consistent coverage of the topic, like when I posted videos of AFU servicemen openly describing Polish and other soldiers operating their own equipment, like AH Krabs, etc. It’s just telling that this is coming out in the open now, which further emblemizes the current period as one of culmination, and perhaps termination phase for Ukraine.

Ultimately, though, it shows the utter disarray that NATO and the West are in. It’s clear that there is huge disagreement and perhaps even outright revolt—what else could possibly cause Scholz to come out to countermand, and outright expose, his allies in this way?

Additionally, some harsh words of accusation have now been thrown around by bloc members:

Tobias Ellwood, the former chairman of the UK Commons’ defence committee, said: “This is a flagrant abuse of intelligence deliberately designed to distract from Germany’s reluctance to arm Ukraine with its own long-range missile system. This will no doubt be used by Russia to racket up the escalator ladder.”

Ultimately, the entire German bombshell, vis a vis the Taurus missiles, is quite humorous given that in the recording, the German high command openly laments they only have about 50 Taurus missiles they could potentially give, admitting that “this would not change the war”:

Also, the recording confirms not only my long-standing assertion in regard to hardened bridges in general, that it takes upwards of 10-20 missiles to take them out, but that the Kerch in particular could take even a far greater amount.

Secondly, there’s very little chance of that many missiles bypassing Russia’s air defense on the bridge, which thus far has been pretty much impenetrable.Even with a saturation attack, they may get one or two to go through, but certainly not all 10-20, particularly given the fact they’ve already attempted previous saturation attacks many times, and every single one was shot down in full. The Kerch has been one area where Russia has not slacked in air defense and seems to have its most powerful systems and best crews present, which is why Ukraine has been forced to rely on either naval drone strikes, or outright terrorist suicide attacks.

The key summarizing takeaways are the following:

• The West is absolutely desperate to staunch Ukraine’s impending collapse and have doubled down on taking out the Kerch Bridge as their final ‘holy grail’ of salvation

• The West is in disarray, with secret infighting, backbiting, double-crossing, or outright revolt amongst the ranks due to terminal fear of uncontrollable escalation

• The combination of the above is a decisive confirmation that the Ukrainian military is getting down to its dregs and could be on its final legs

In fact, Substack’s very own

phrased it best on X: the Kerch has become the White WhaleBridge to the West’s Ahab-esque quest. Well, we all know what happened to Ahab in the end, don’t we?

The last most important point that’s come to light amid all this recent controversy is the further illumination of the deep role that the CIA has played in Ukraine from the beginning.

In particular, a new NYTimes article details some startling never-before-seen information which in many ways serves to vindicate Russia:

 

The article is a must-read, and openly admits that the CIA helped build 12 secret underground bases/bunkers along the Russian border, which are used to spy on Russia and launch terror attacks on its territory:

There is also one more secret: The base is almost fully financed, and partly equipped, by the C.I.A.

“One hundred and ten percent,” Gen. Serhii Dvoretskiy, a top intelligence commander, said in an interview at the base.

It states the partnership took root more than a decade ago, i.e. even before the Maidan movement, and now serves such purposes:

The C.I.A. and other American intelligence agencies provide intelligence for targeted missile strikes, track Russian troop movements and help support spy networks.

The most notable revelation completely repudiates years of propagandists’ claims that Russian FSB/GRU/etc. had assassinated top Donbass ‘patriotic’ figures, like Motorola, Givi, Zakharchenko, Mozgovoy, etc. These propagandists, many of them 6th columnists ostensibly pretending to be ‘pro-Russian patriots’, attempted to tie these incidents into a wider conspiracy theory about the Kremlin allegedly hunting down any “true patriots” like Strelkov and co.

But now, the CIA readily admits via their NYTimes mouthpiece that it was in fact the secret Ukrainian intelligence directorate they trained, which carried out the murders of figures like Motorola:

 

In fact, rather than being responsible for the murders, Russia had avenged them, according to the CIA Times:

A shadow war was now in overdrive. The Russians used a car bomb to assassinate the head of Unit 2245, the elite Ukrainian commando force. The commander, Col. Maksim Shapoval, was on his way to meeting with C.I.A. officers in Kyiv when his car exploded.

RICHLY DESERVED TICKET TO HELL—M. Shapoval, Colonel of Ukrainian Chief Directorate of Intelligence—Killed right after he organised the murder of several rebel commanders in the Donetsk and Luhansk republics. A CIA asset.

As a final emphasizing point, listen to this unearthed talk from January 14, 2022, just before the Russian invasion. Ukrainian politician and former presidential candidate Yvegeniy Muraev, leader of the now-banned “Nashi” party, lucidly enumerates precisely what was then dawning on Ukraine, that so many blinkered Ukrainians failed—or willfully neglected—to see:

In particular take note of his reference to the British building bases in the Odessa region, a fact I myself have belabored since the beginning of this blog, which greatly contributed to Russia being forced to take the actions it eventually took.

For the last part, let’s move into some of the battlefield updates which are, after all, driving much of the frenetic urgency we’re seeing out of the West, which is responsible for the latest leak fiasco. If it wasn’t for Russia’s overwhelming battlefield successes, and Ukraine’s concomitant ongoing collapse, we wouldn’t see these drastic and risky measures taking place.

The only thing I want to cover today in this regard is the current ‘meta’ surrounding the Avdeevka line collapse. We’ve discussed how most of it is owed to Ukraine’s inability to build proper second echelon defenses on this axis, for a variety of reasons which include corruption and embezzlement.

From a Ukrainian source:

One notable aspect missing from much of the analysis here is the fact that Ukraine’s collapse was precipitated in large part due to order-spurning mutinies, with units like the 47th outright countermanding their own leadership to flee on their own. This has created chaos in this direction which the Ukrainian command is desperate to hide and sweep under the rug. But the truth has slowly come to light from several videos of captured AFU who confirm that they first withdrew, and only then the official order of withdrawal issued in order to save face.

For instance, listen to this recent POW’s brief words:

The 110th brigade was also said to have been mostly destroyed and is now being removed to the rear for reconstitution:

 

The writing is on the wall—even Ukrainian officials see what is obvious, that a domino effect may soon precipitate, with many areas falling one after the other:

So, what is the big concern in the Avdeevka axis in particular, besides the lack of constructed defenses? Here’s one view from a Russian military analyst:

Yevgeny Krutikov: "Behind the new line of defence of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which has developed in the Avdeyevka area at the moment (provisionally around Orlovka), an empty space has opened up in which there are no natural obstacles capable of supporting new defensive fortifications."

Yevgeny Krutikov: "There is nothing like this up to the next major settlements of the Donbass, primarily Krasnoarmeysk (Pokrovsky). The enemy has not strengthened the small villages there in any way, thinking it wouldn’t be necessary."

What he’s saying is, behind Orlovka, which Russian forces were said to have taken today, there are no good, naturally defensible positions all the way up to Pokrovsk. And this happens to be precisely where all the current talk revolves around.

For reference, here’s the current defense line which is a temporary transit point that Ukraine has already mostly lost:

 

But the Vovcha River is the central focus of the commentariat presently, as being the first truly defensible position Ukraine can reliably fall back to in the medium term—a point Big Serge underscores:

 

The natural defensive barrier of the river shown in yellow below:

 

One Russian military linked channel says the river will be reached by end of March:

Two small boilers were formed near Avdiivka-between three settlements: Tonenke-Orlovka-Berdychy. They record conversations between military personnel, equipment and personnel. These "dead men" should slow down the advance of the Russian army, which is expected to reach the watershed of the Volchya River by the end of March. The next frontier for our infantry will be the Umanskaya-Novoselovka line to the west. The enemy will not have time to dig in well there and will not hold these villages.

And a Ukrainian take:

from Ukrainian channel

evening 02/28/2024

[The cascade of reservoirs should contribute to our defense in the Avdeevsky direction, - press secretary of the AFU Tavria OSUV (Group) Likhovoy]

PS

The APU will withdraw (while preserving HP as much as possible) beyond the Karlovskoye Reservoir and a chain of reservoirs, floodplains and streams along the vector to Ocheretino.

While the Armed Forces of Ukraine are fighting for the villages of Pervomaiskoye and Netailovo, their rear forces will be building new lines of defense behind the Karlovsky water chron at a frantic pace.

(our videoconferencing and high-precision technology will help them). Because the dam explosion will be blamed on our FABs in any case.

It is possible that several dams in the adjacent ponds and the Charles Dam itself will be blown up during our offensive.

This is further supported by Rezident UA channel:

Our source in the General Staff said that Syrsky gave the team to prepare Selidovo for defense and the creation of a fortified area from the city, while Pokrovsk, which now brings technology and BC, should become the main center of resistance.
The command has already transferred more than ten thousand military personnel to that area, who occupy empty houses and apartments, to create defensive structures.

Not to mention the following:

MI-6 handed over new intelligence to the Office of the President and the General Staff, which contains information on the preparation by the Russian army of four new strike corps for the spring offensive in eastern Ukraine. British intelligence believes that the Kremlin wants to collapse the front and seize new territories in order to strengthen its position in a protracted war.

—

As a final note:

Here’s a very evocative video of Orlovka, just to the west of Lastochkino in Avdeevka:

Most striking are the gigantic Fab-500 craters, which are distinct from the regular 152mm shell craters moonscaping the surroundings. Julian Roepcke once more grieved at the sight of it, describing how Ukrainian positions were annihilated by the endless waves of Russian glide bombs, and how they stand no chance because of it:

 

He further elucidates the situation:

 

Lastly:

This quite astute observation from an ex-chairman of the NATO military committee, Harald Kujat, regarding the fallacy of ‘wunderwaffen’—like the Taurus missiles—saving Ukraine in any way:

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