Unfortunately, the standoff between Ukraine, NATO, the Baltics, and Europe vs. Russia has devolved into chaos and kinetic exchanges across the Dombas region in a fog of war since my last update on Jan. 29. Despite diplomatic efforts to identify a reasonable pill to swallow by all, the situation escalated early this weekend, and it requires an update before a potential SHTF worst-case scenario unfolds.
“At 4am on Feb. 22, you’ll feel our new policy. I’d like 2022 to be peaceful. But I love the truth, for 70 years I’ve said the truth. It won’t be peaceful. It will be a year when Russia once again becomes great.” – Vladimir Zhirinovsky, Member of the Russian State Duma – Dec. 27, 2021
I’m certain that a lot more can be said this evening and a good portion of what I write may be outdated by tomorrow, but the highlights need to be in print tonight. Here is an excerpt from Part 3 (Twitter thread):
“The fog of war over Russian military metal and men pouring in to surround Ukraine’s border by land and sea approached a crescendo over the last couple of weeks. Heightened rhetoric and whispers about sanctions and a cutoff from SWIFT were reported daily in the mainstream media since leadership in the U.S., NATO, Europe, Russia, and Ukraine’s President Zelensky appear to not be on the same page. Tensions are high, and the U.S. and U.K. are withdrawing nonessential staff and family from Ukraine, but the European Union is staying put. The White House also announced that U.S. citizens in Ukraine “should leave now” and emphasized that no organized evacuation effort is planned if Russia invades, and ICSI recommends that all foreign nationalsevacuate by Feb. 5.”
Tension within Ukraine is palpable and manifested with a fistfight on live Ukrainian television between a journo and pro-Russian Ukrainian politician that refused to condemn Putin in a policy debate.
This afternoon, President Putin made an extensive and detailed speech in a live broadcast across the Russian Federation. Notably, he spoke without notes or a teleprompter and ended with the missile placement and capability issue in eastern Europe that I’ve repeatedly noted as the core issue.
Putin on U.S.-NATO missile placement in Europe (timestamp 38:20 to 48:35).
Here is a bullet-point summary of Putin’s speech that followed today’s Duma Security Council session that declared independence for the breakaway republics of Donetsk and Luhansk, along with the video version if you prefer to watch.
- Ukraine was created by a Bolshevik Russia
- Madness that republics were given the right to leave Russian Empire
- We are ready to show you what true de-communization means to Ukraine
- Radicals brought Ukraine a coup d’etat in 2014, with support from U.S. Embassy
- The radicals who seized power organized terror and murders that were unpunished
- We know the criminals by name and will do everything to punish them
- Legacy of not just the Soviet Union but Russian Empire has been squandered
- Ukraine is being managed by foreign powers
- Ukraine plans to develop nuclear weapons with technical support from the West
- Armed Forces of Ukraine may be commanded directly from NATO HQ
- U.S. strategic planning documents describe preemptive strikes
- Question of Ukraine’s entry to NATO was decided in advance
- Russia has the right to take actions to protect ourselves, and we plan to do that
- Ukraine is planning a blitzkrieg on Donbas
- We demand Kyiv halt hostilities immediately or they will bare all consequences
- Putin and head of DPR signed agreement on friendship and cooperation on live TV
The worst fears for U.S. intelligence agency spooks and Capitol Hill politicos currently afoot in Kyiv or during the 2014 Maidan Revolution are threatening to manifest:
“‘We know every name of people who have done it. We will find and punish them’… No democracy in Ukraine after Maidan. Ukrainians leave Ukraine to work at unqualified works. Gas prices are too high. People cannot pay their bills. It is because Ukraine spent all Soviet+Russian money.” – Sergej Sumlenny, Berlin-based Eastern Europe expert on Ukraine, Russia, Belarus
“The recognition of the two separatist territories in Ukraine is a blatant violation of international law, the territorial integrity of Ukraine, and the Minsk agreements. The EU and its partners will react with unity, firmness, and with determination in solidarity with Ukraine.” – Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Union Commission
The Ukrainian Foreign Minister explicitly stated that “Ukraine has not attacked Donetsk or Luhansk.” The OSCE’s Special Monitoring Mission that’s deployed in the conflict zone said it logged hundreds of ceasefire violations from both sides of the warzone in recent days. Top Ukrainian military officials came under a shelling attack during their tour of the front that was captured on film by an embedded Associated Press journalist. Among the innumerable first-hand reports and videos made available since Russia began amassing its military around Ukraine’s borders last fall and recent kinetic outbreaks along the Donbas frontline, the first alleged account of Ukrainian infiltration into Russian territory appeared today. RT provided a video of two armored BMP vehicles destroyed in a confrontation with Russian troops.
“Military chiefs issued a statement claiming, ‘a unit of the Southern Military District, alongside a border patrol by the Russian Federal Security Service, prevented a sabotage and reconnaissance group from violating the Russian state border from the territory of Ukraine.’ Moscow alleges that five Ukrainian soldiers were killed and no Russian servicemen were injured during the firefight.”
Russia Invasion Plan ‘Already Begun’… “There has been fighting there between pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainian pro-government forces. Recognition by Mr Putin of Luhansk and Donetsk’s independence could provide a pretext for his troops to cross the border into those areas. Shelling has intensified along the frontline between the rebels and Ukrainian forces in eastern Ukraine and the sound of multiple blasts were heard this afternoon in the centre of the city of Donetsk. Meanwhile, Downing Street has warned that Mr Putin’s plan for invading Ukraine has effectively ‘already begun.’ Number 10 suggested that Russia’s ‘playbook’ for launching military action against its neighbour had begun to ‘play out in real time.’ But a ‘window for diplomacy’ still remains to prevent war in Europe, Downing Street added.” – SkyNews, Feb. 21
Ukraine is already under attack: economic, cyber, military… “One way to express solidarity with Ukraine is by going to Kyiv. We Baltic Ministers are going there later this week. If there is one place where EU politicians should be now – it‘s with our Ukrainian friends!” – Gabrielius Landsbergis, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Member of Parliament of Lithuania
International air transportation is shutting down across Ukraine following the evacuation of diplomats and their families from the majority of diplomatic missions in Kyiv. Amid the fog of war, Russia has broadcast the location of all bomb shelters in Moscow and St. Petersburg on national television. It’s no secret that Moscow launched a large civil defense network and practiced large-scale evacuation drills into bomb shelters in major metropolitan areas for years.
Ukraine says skies safe as airlines suspend flights… “about 10 airlines had stopped flying there amid U.S. warnings of an attack by Russian forces massed on its border, but insisted its air corridors were still open and flying to the East European country was safe.” – Reuters
The U.K. plans to announce Russia sanctions tomorrow in response to Putin’s declarations today. The U.S. has also announced sanctions are forthcoming. Putin is standing firm in his convictions by ordering a “peacekeeping” operation with Russian military forces that will move across the Ukrainian border to the Donbas region and set the stage for a permanent presence with military bases.
- UPDATE: Russian parliament grants Putin right to deploy military abroad – RT, Feb. 22
- UPDATE: Russia now has right to build military bases in eastern Ukraine – Reuters, Feb. 22
- UPDATE: Biden began his press brief on Russian Invasion at 2:22pm, Tuesday, Feb. 22 – FYI… 2/22/22 is a once-in-a 248 year event. Pluto will be conjunct (return to) the United States. The Last time this happened was on July 4th 1776, the exact founding day of America. Astrologically, Pluto brings Destruction and Rebirth. Rome fell when Pluto Returned.
- UPDATE: Russia/Ukraine Counter Propaganda – Russell Bentley, Feb. 26
The atmosphere is hot and anything can happen. In our modernized era, Putin boasts about his hypersonic weaponry as threats to the U.S. mainland is not a fairytale, and neither is the potential for cyber-warfare that takes down our technology infrastructure and/or satellite communications. Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure and military have already been compromised, as the defense ministry website and banks were knocked offline on Feb. 15. NTV Belarus has video evidence of Russian deployed mobile S550 Satellite Killers in Belarus that the U.S. Space Force will eliminate if used. Keep in mind that the threat is not only kinetic, tactical nuclear, and cyber, but Directed-Energy (DE) Weapons are the latest war toy next to biologics.
Lastly, if you’re not prepped to shelter in place with essential supplies and have your financial house in order, you wasted a lot of time. Stock market futures are dumping at Globex open this evening as gold, oil, and Treasuries are spiking. The U.S. economy is already being hit with increased gas prices, inflation, and supply-chain issues due to the Ukraine crisis. The psychological effect of a missile launch within the European continent or a low-yield tactical nuclear weapon used on a battlefied would send shockwaves through the U.S. population, and grocery and home goods supply chains will be mobbed in a heartbeat.
DE weaponry / Havana Syndrome – 60 Minutes, Feb. 20, 2022
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