WHY DIDN’T RUSSIA DO THIS SOONER?
Larry C. Johnson
SONAR
Monday witnessed a massive Russian attack (reportedly the largest since February 24th) using high-precision long-range air- and sea-based armament on Ukrainian facilities that control communication and energy systems throughout the country, which reportedly disrupted the command control and logistics operations of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) and their logistic networks. You got to ask, “What took them so long?”
The war in Ukraine clearly has entered a new phase, with Ukraine failing to press its offensive and Russia solidifying its lines of defense and launching counter attacks that are pushing Ukraine out of key strategic areas in Donetsk. It appears that the combination of the murder of Darya Dugina, the sabotage of the Nordstream pipelines, the bombing of the Kerch bridge and the spoiled drone attack on Russia’s Black Sea Fleet in Sevastapol convinced the Russians to step up its military strikes to destroy critical electrical and energy infrastructure that they had previously left intact.
Yet, even while achieving success in systematically turning off the lights and heat throughout Ukraine, Russia is focusing on destroying transformers and key transmission installations rather than blow up nuclear, thermal and water power plants. If those sites are still intact, Russia will face an easier reconstruction task once Ukraine is defeated. It is easier to install new transformers and power lines than it is to build a new nuclear reactor. Right?
The Russian strikes reportedly have eliminated 50% of Ukraine’s ability to supply power and heat, which means life in Kiev, Lviv and Kharkiv will become unsustainable. We are not talking about the inconvenience of being unable to charge your cell phone or watch your favorite show on Netflix or keep your computer battery alive. The loss of power cuts off water supply and degrades the sewer system. As I noted in a previous piece, if your live four or more floors above ground level you will either have to carry buckets of water to the toilet or give up flushing. It also means no heat and the temperatures in Ukraine fall to near 0 Celsius at night. That would be tolerable if you have a fireplace (which most of the apartments in the urban areas do not have). With no radiant heat you must layer up just to avoid hypothermia.
Basic task like shopping require you dress as a cave explorer. Check out this photo of grocery shopping in Ukraine.
Grocery Shopping In Ukraine With Flashlights
It looks like there is a split growing between Washington and London on the future of the war in Ukraine. NBC news reported today that President Dementia Joe screamed at Ukraine’s Zelensky during a June phone call:
But a phone call between the two leaders in June played out differently from previous ones, according to four people familiar with the call. Biden had barely finished telling Zelenskyy he’d just greenlighted another $1 billion in U.S. military assistance for Ukraine when Zelenskyy started listing all the additional help he needed and wasn’t getting. Biden lost his temper, the people familiar with the call said. The American people were being quite generous, and his administration and the U.S. military were working hard to help Ukraine, he said, raising his voice, and Zelenskyy could show a little more gratitude.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/biden-lost-temper-zelenskyy-phone-call-ukraine-aid-rcna54592
Biden yelling at people is not unusual, at least for an old guy with dementia. What is striking is that this “news” was leaked today, one week before the mid-term elections. While the NBC report goes on to insist that things are just swell between Joe and Volodomyr and that they have patched things up, coordinator for strategic communications at the National Security Council, John Kirby, said this:
“The president’s goals were clear from the very beginning. We don’t want conflict with Russia. It’s number one,” Also among the tasks, Kirby listed strengthening the eastern flank of NATO and helping Ukraine to approach the negotiations on the settlement of the conflict in the most advantageous position.
https://t.me/infodefENGLAND/593
So, the United States is backing off of its bellicose rhetoric and is now briefing that it does not want “conflict with Russia.” Someone forgot to tell the Brits. I made a point of listening to a raft of British political figures, including Boris Johnson, on Sky News today. They were pushing the meme that Russia is on the ropes and that Ukraine is marching to an inevitable victory. Check out Lord Dannatt–Putin is desperate and gravely ill:
And here is Kiev’s Mayor Klitschko reporting, falsely, that Ukraine stopped most of Russia’s missiles. Yet, he concedes that 80% of Kiev is without water.
I save the best for last. BOJO. This interview, if you have the stomach for it, demonstrates Boris Johnson is a wretched, dishonest, deluded man. He is still all in on Ukraine beating Russia on the battlefield.
Johnson insists it is up to the Ukrainians to decide their own fate. He fails to mention that he pressured Zelensky in May not to negotiate a deal with Russia. In BOJO world, Russia will have to surrender annexed territory. How that will be accomplished is not spelled out. BOJO is delusional. He appears to believe sincerely that Putin is running out of options, while oblivious to the economic horror wrecking England. Prominent, famous pubs are closing their doors. Inflation is surging and the common folk are finding it more difficult to buy food and maintain lifestyles they enjoyed just a year ago.
Here is the bottomline–Ukraine’s military position will continue to erode in the coming weeks while economic conditions in England and the rest of Europe will worsen. The latter will make it impossible to sustain political support to continue sending unlimited financial and military aid to Ukraine.
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1 November 2022 at 21:50
I found it interesting that RT stopped saying NATO is guilty of terrorist acts (Nordstream etc.).
Instead, they are now pushing the “Britain is guilty of terrorist acts” line.
Is Russia preparing an out for the USA at the expense of Britain ?
2 November 2022 at 01:50
that is exactly right. I would expect in coming weeks Britain being degraded by US and Russians just like they did it in the aftermath of the WWII. Brits destroyed the German economy without realizing that they too have a target on their back
2 November 2022 at 02:21
It would appear so.
John
2 November 2022 at 04:11
Divide and rule.
Britain has been most bellicoy. This approach leaves open the possibility of rapprochement with the others and puts UK in an uncomfortable spotlight with some of this getting through to citizens. Good PR and strategic move
2 November 2022 at 04:16
Perhaps with recently disclosed information, they are simply pointing the finger at the guilty party concerned. Of course, anyone understands that the UK does not act alone, but only on the orders of the hegemon.
2 November 2022 at 06:31
Good heavens.
It’s regularly noted in comments how stupid Americans are–a sentiment with which I more or less agree. But how can such a stupid people be pulling the strings of cultured, educated, and well-mannered Europe into committing mutual suicide? One of these assumptions must be false. Either:
1. The US is not nearly so stupid as believed; or,
2. Europe and Britain have degenerated so far as to allow themselves to be controlled by a stupid people; or,
3. The US is not controlling Europe and Britain, because Europe and Britain also desire to destroy Russia–willing accomplices rather than puppets.
Are Europeans questioning hard enough as to why European leaders are acting against their interests? And surely Ukraine is not the only matter where this is the case. The last few years have revealed to many Americans just how much our leaders despise us. If you folks from UK/NZ/Aus/Can and Europe do not face to fact that your leaders also despise you–and recognize the depth of their scorn–you will remain forever enslaved.
2 November 2022 at 07:19
Option 2 looks like a winner.
BoJo, Borrel, Sholz, Fondoff Lying and the various WEF bimbos – hardly the brightest pennies in the purse. And they come with a carbon bad, no farting cows, you-will-own-nothing and eat ze bugs agenda that is being furthered by their fetish for sanctions.
Add to that fiscal folly and disarmament through giving away the military hardware into the black hole by the Black Sea. Real smart moves.
2 November 2022 at 11:51
Sadly Americans are stupid. Look at the Pennsylvania senate race. They are close to electing a walking stalk of broccoli called Fetterman. That he is even in the race as a contender and polling well shows that Americans are dumb as rocks. A Fetterman candidacy should have been laughed off the stage just as the Biden candidacy should have.
People are putting Ukrainian bunting on their mailbox yet cannot even point to the correct hemisphere to find the place.
They line up for booster shots that have significant chance of killing them and don’t ask a single question. They tolerate genital mutilation of children which is evil along with being stupid and I hear it all the time from those who have watched the Top Gun Maverick that all we need to do is send in the F35’s to kick Putin right back to Moscow and he will beg us to take his oil and gas for free. Yes I know people who actually say that.
Meanwhile in what we laughingly refer to as “school” kids don’t who won WW2 or even who fought WW2, and are being told that math is racist.
Don’t even get me started on “Drag Queen Story Hour” for 3rd graders.
One day I am going to write a book about some of my experiences interviewing college graduates for industrial jobs. The only problem is no one would believe half of the stories.
2 November 2022 at 21:56
Fetterman’s candidacy mirrors that of Dementia Joe.
3 November 2022 at 12:23
“Americans are dumb as rocks. A Fetterman candidacy should have been laughed off the stage just as the Biden candidacy should have”.
There’s a very good reason why a TV set is called a “Boob Tube”.
2 November 2022 at 12:42
“Are Europeans questioning hard enough as to why European leaders are acting against their interests? ”
Of course not. Most Europeans support sanctions against Russia and believe the narrative. Look at France re-electing Macron, or the total lack of popular reaction to German policies and the destruction of NordStream
3 November 2022 at 06:21
Most Europeans believe they live in a democracy while they beg to be ruled by the Americans. And most of them think it’s better to be ruled by the neo-cons than by the Russians or Chinese or any other nation that goes against the current hegemony. That’s why they accept any BS coming from US. Servant mentality. “Carpet to wipe your feet on” personality.
2 November 2022 at 14:04
I would go with 3.
I think.even the US is surprised how far and how easy Europe is falling in line. This is probably worrying at some level as even the US had not banked on this, i.e dog leading the master.
3 November 2022 at 15:10
Jim,
I’m an American and as far as Americans being stupid, I can comment on that statement. The great majority of Americans get their messaging (aka “NEWS”) from the mainstream media and they blindly and willingly accept that information as the truth. I can’t tell you how many intelligent and successful people I know who are completely blind to the narratives being hammered into them by the professional sounding pundits in the mainstream media. These people really do believe they are well informed – especially the people who listen to National Propaganda Radio (NPR) I have been getting my news from the independent media for several years now and I can easily see the mind manipulation practiced by the MSM as well as outright lies or the more insidious lies of omission by only telling the facts of a story designed to mold your perception of the events. I am lucky enough to have a small group of people whom I share information with on world events who also get their info from the independent media so I don’t feel so alone. We have to be selective with whom we share information because so many others will simply cast us as conspiracy theorists without even showing a glimmer of interest in why we believe as we do.
2 November 2022 at 04:23
I see it the other way around: The US is egging on Britain to be the real manager (and where necessary, executant) of escalation and terrorism, in order to maintain a strategic and political space between itself and Britain.
If it really is true that “The president’s goals were clear from the very beginning. We don’t want conflict with Russia. It’s number one,” as Johnson quotes Kirby saying, then the main purpose of having Britain serve as the acting belligerent is so that if the escalation does reach a point where Russia finds it necessary to launch a warning strike against a significant target outside the Ukraine, the US wants that strike to be against a British target, not a de jure US target. In that case the US thinks the escalation still could be contained without escalating further to full-scale war between NATO and Russia.
Whatever the British target is would be another proxy sacrifice the US offers up to its own program of unbridled aggression.
Of course pro-Russian media could be responding in accord with this idea, the way you say RT is subtly changing its line.
2 November 2022 at 10:50
Another Option. The US is slyly manipulating Russia into physically wiping out the United Kingdom as revenge for the serious irreparable damage and ruin the United Kingdom perpetrated on the United States with their phony Steele Dossier.
2 November 2022 at 13:39
Seems unlikely as Democrats still believe Russia interfered in the 2016 election and the Steele dossier is “essentially” true. The same Deep State who engineered the Russian collusion hoax wants revenge for their own hoax??
2 November 2022 at 17:56
Sadly, they do. Even otherwise “intelligent and educated” ones, probably because they consider themselves infallible, like their infallible country. Also, I find it amusing why people seemingly obsessed with democracy in domestic sphere are perfectly fine with US autocracy in foreign affairs.
2 November 2022 at 05:12
Your penname sound west-slavic, maybe Polish.
Well, the blast of Russian pipes coinsided with finishing of Polish gas pipe, designed to make north seas gas (UK, Norway) bypass Germany. Thus mostly disconnecting Berlin from gas sources independent from Warsaw, and London was Warsaw senior patron since 1920-s.
So UK wagging American dog and pinning them into the everescalating fight is plausible.
There was a funny episode somewhere around 2016, when USA, UK and Israel were publicly exchanging hints “someone (else) must step up against Assad’s brutaity” trying to guilt each other under the bus.
2 November 2022 at 08:05
It may be more so in that Russia is accelerating the split is Europe. By focusing on Britain it ensures there will never be unity again. The French will never trust the Germans.
2 November 2022 at 09:55
They should not trust the Germans.
The Germans are almost as underhanded as the Brits.
Let’s not forget that it was the Germans through the EU that killed the South Stream gas pipeline, only to soon after approach Russia to build Nord Stream 2.
Germans basically screwed either Bulgaria or Romania.
There are a lot of other instances of Merkel making agreements and never fulfilling her end.
Mink Accords is a good example, although French were just as bad on those.
My personal experience with Lufthansa was also extremely negative. They basically charged me $1800 to change my departure flight, while presenting the information as if I was going to get a $3 refund. I could had bought the entire ticket for about $1,000.
3 November 2022 at 07:03
Yes. It is hard not to think that recent events aren’t karma for the deliberate destruction of Greece and the other PIGS during the debt crisis.
2 November 2022 at 12:05
As long as the petro dollar still exists the US is the much more serious threat
The UK isn’t even a regional power anymore but they’re still pretending they’re the British Empire of the 19th century outplaying Russia in the Great Game
Not only are they a much easier target since most of the world hates the UK, historically their belligerence toward Russia also must be punished.
1 November 2022 at 21:52
Zelensky’s “demands” are understandable. He’s a clown but not dumb. He and his saner Nazis know they’re mercenaries doing the US’s dirty work because Biden’s afraid to commit US or NATO troops to the slaughter. So he rightly “demands” more and more. He and his pals are also selling off at least half of the equipment for a post-war retirement (if they survive). And as always the Bojos, Bidens, Scholtzs, etc will gasp in disbelief at Zelensky’s “ingratitude” for all their efforts to “save” Ukraine. From a distance it’s all quite amusing. Up close it’s hell.
1 November 2022 at 21:54
It was all so unnecessary.
2 November 2022 at 00:15
http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/65418
The President of Russia delivered the Address to the Federal Assembly. The ceremony took place at the Manezh Central Exhibition Hall.
April 21, 2021
13:20
Moscow
“Members of the Federation Council, State Duma deputies,
Citizens of Russia,
…
Colleagues,
…
We really want to maintain good relations with all those engaged in international communication, including, by the way, those with whom we have not been getting along lately, to put it mildly. We really do not want to burn bridges. But if someone mistakes our good intentions for indifference or weakness and intends to burn or even blow up these bridges, they must know that Russia’s response will be asymmetrical, swift and tough.
Those behind provocations that threaten the core interests of our security will regret what they have done in a way they have not regretted anything for a long time.
…”
That was in April 2021 … and nobody “heard” it …
2 November 2022 at 09:22
The message was clear. I always say to my colleagues: if you don’t mess up with the people and territory of russia, you will have a reliable partner. On the contrary, be prepared.
2 November 2022 at 10:25
Yes, very well said! It is absolutely, that simple.
2 November 2022 at 02:57
So are all wars
1 November 2022 at 22:07
They’d rather be an abject failure at making a go at being Great Britain rather than minding their own business and being OK England.
BTW, given all the MI6 involvement in dethroning Trump, inter alia, I’m reluctant to declare which side of the UK-US “special ” is the puppet and which is the master.
2 November 2022 at 02:59
Mossad, MI6,CIA ,CSIS , They all are the patsy goyim cattle donkeys of the Rothschild City of London Bankers
2 November 2022 at 15:56
No they are not. They have agency of their own. Anyone blaming one people for all bad things has no understanding of history. All powerful groups have influence on state structures. Easy to punch others rather than reflect on ones own failings.
3 November 2022 at 00:19
What? Afraid to say “Jew” or “Zionist”?
My only disagreement is that they have a huge problem with nepotism. (and a serious problem with victimhood)
In the U$A, with >2% of lawyers, doctors, Ivy League placement, Congress, House?
In Canada it is a criminal offense to criticize a Jew!! One cannot say, “I boycott Israel”, or say, “I stand with Palestine”. There are apparently 30 countries worldwide that have adopted this.
Ever wondered why everywhere they migrated to they were cast off – on 110 different occasions?
3 November 2022 at 06:22
That’s nothing. Check out how many UK prime ministers went to Oxford and certain schools. Or how many US politicians to a few schools. Or even how celebrity kids get jobs. Its just the way elite circles work, like old boys networks. Difference being communities are more diverse and you can engage with them or at least part of them to try to open their eyes to behavior that is exclusive. The Jewish community is very varied, its not a monolith. Straussians and Israeli policy on Palestine etc. I am not a fan of, but there are also many wonderful people in that community who try to do good and are good people lets not forget that.