Dear Readers:
As promised, today we are going to get into some more discussion on the Russian bombing of the Ukrainian dam near Krivoy Rog. I have this piece to get us started, and the reporter is Darya Volkova.
By the way, Krivoy Rog just happens to be, coincidentally, the native town of Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky.
Darya interviews a political pundit named Ivan Lizan who commentates thusly: “From a military point of view, it is quite a normal practice [for armies] to reshape the local geographic features, destroy pontoon bridges, and create obstacles for the enemy to re-supply his forces. Without a doubt, this [practice] is exactly what we have witnessed in the region of the Ingulets River.
“The strike against the Karachunov dam was delivered strictly within the bounds of military necessity. The enemy is on the offensive, and so we are allowed to change the features of the geography. From this [Krivoy Rog] reservoir, the water flows into the Ingulets River, over which, earlier, the Ukrainian Armed Forces (UAF) had built pontoon bridges. With the goal of moving their troops from the Nikolaev Oblast into that part of the Kherson Oblast which is controlled by us.
“But now that we have destroyed the dam, the water level in the Ingulets went up, and swept away some of the pontoon bridges. This might help us to push the enemy out of the Platzdarme [that the Ukrainians already set up on the Left Bank of the Ingulets], now that they cannot receive reinforcements [from the East bank].
“As far as the critical infrastructure issue goes, and what people think about striking it [in such a manner], well it’s a normal tactic in any military confrontation. For Russia this is just a Special Military Operation, without any declaration of war or mobilization within the country; however, for the DPR/LPR this is actual war. We have to consider that Ukraine declared Total War, without any kinds of rules or restrictions. In the course of which they too have been destroying dams, for example on the Irpen River, and they are also attacking hydro-installations in other regions of the country.
“Moreover, it seems to me, that we have finally removed the moral block [which previously prevented us from conducting] such strikes. Those blows that we recently struck against the Ukrainian energy system were, in essence, therapeutical. This is also the case with the dam.
“Currently the entire electrical energy system of the Ukraine could go into blackout in a single moment, and in a way they can’t get out of. And even if Russia had not done this, their system could have crashed anyhow, due to the cold weather and over-use of electrical energy. And now we just provided a new headache for the Ukrainian government: flooding the territories around Krivoy Rog. Still, they seem to be adjusting and implementing repairs, the work is ongoing.”
[yalensis sidebar: People say, and it’s true, that the Ukrainians have not built anything new since Soviet times. But damn, they seem to be good at repairing stuff. And they are quick, too. This is a feature noted among many peoples around the world who are poor but resourceful.]
Lizan: “We also need to take into account the political consequences of such strikes. Earlier, the Ukrainian authorities permitted themselves to wreak havoc on the infrastructures of Donbass, Berdyansk and Melitopol, thinking they could get away with anything; but now, I believe, that phase has passed.”
In other words, the gloves are off.
Awful Avalanche 
“thinking they could get away with anything; but now, I believe, that phase has passed.”
This should even be more worrying to Kiev regarding Russian answers to Ukraine attacking Russian territory, as in Donbas aiming to destroy civilian infrastructure.
Those plans surely are of US military origin, and Russia is aware of this, and might at one point decide to show NATO that those attacks will not be without consequences to any of its members.
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Not sure Kiev is a decision maker now or has been for a long time (2013 I’d say and even then Yanukovych was mostly an indecision maker).
If you don’t give a flying F about Ukrainians and if you like to show suffering as good anti-Russia PR then this is actually good news.
I think it was Yalensis who pointed out that the only reason Ukraine didn’t cut the water supply off to Donbas was because it flowed through to Mariupol. Then as soon as the Chechens took Mariupol the water was cut to everyone.
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There’s definitely an escalation. And Winter is coming.
The next few months will be interesting times. The impression I have is that Western Europe is crumbling; the economic destruction of the last decades, mass emigration, the rot of institutions and elites… it’s coming home to roost.
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“If you don’t give a flying F about Ukrainians and if you like to show suffering as good anti-Russia PR then this is actually good news”
I give a flying fuck about the PR angle. As I had pointed out before, Russia has lost that war right at the beginning, and the hate of even moderately intelligent Europeans of Russia is based on the media twisting what the Ukronazis did as having been Russia’s deeds.
Russia has to do what is needed to grind down the Ukraine army76 and if the blasting of a dam is needed, so be it. After all, Ukr4aine had no trouble attempting or successfully doing the same or using the supply of water as a weapon, preferentially destroying pumping stations or blocking supply canals.
Eventually, NATO directed by the US will directly involve itself, the aim is after all stated many times by the USA to split up Russia and rob what it can.
The robber baron attitude is a basic feature of US capitalism from the start. Under the tutelage of its former colonial master, the UK, this was transformed into neo-colonial neoliberalism and neoconservatism of present times, underpinned by the odious “rules-based system”, which is nothing but the rule by the strongest based on the rules he himself designs and implements.
I am convinced that Ukraine is at the beginning of a WW3, as the US cannot allow itself to fail or be seen to have failed in this major conflict. This is why there will be no negotiations as to ending the conflict, only expansion.
Russia may be satisfied with such an outcome, as long as its minimal security and territorial concerns are addressed, but that is not what this war is about for the USA. The war for the US is the destruction and plunder of Russia, the next step is China.
The same will also lead to a confrontation regarding the attempts to a multipolar, or preferably a nonpolar world, as shown as being possible at the present meeting in Samarkand.
To prevent this, the US will eventually mobilize everything it has available. There is based on the chosen neocolonial path and the hegemony it needs to further its own interests (whichever it perceives to be such) no alternative
All attempts to portray nuclear exchanges as winnable, a thought that still has currency in think tanks in the US and among politicians, despite mouthing denials, point in this direction.
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This article shows again the path the US follows:
https://strategic-culture.org/news/2022/09/15/empire-of-lies-christens-the-new-world-order-part-i-of-ii-overthrow-russia/
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“… WW3, as the US cannot allow itself to fail or be seen to have failed …”
Yes, exactly.
BUT, if Russia can drag out the war long enough to run down the clock on NATO ability to muster their publics and wage a full, overt war, maybe much of the total war destruction can be avoided.
Which argues for moderation in the meantime.
Not a gamble I’d want to make though.
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“The war for the US is the destruction and plunder of Russia, the next step is China.”
Completely agree, this is what it has always been about, from the very beginning. It was never about Ukraine, or even about Russia, it was always about America.
Years ago, even before Maidan, some people used to call me a conspiracy theorist when I wrote that America’s aim was to split up Russia and steal her natural resources. I mean, that was the Khodorkovsky project, even back then, no?
I don’t think people would call this a conspiracy theory any more when the Americans openly pretty much admit that this is their game. The way they phrase it: “We must ensure that Russia will not be able to reconstitute the Russian Empire.”
What they mean, and what their Ukrainian puppets say openly: They intend to defeat Russia and split it up into smaller fiefdoms controlled by NATO.
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I’m inclined to think most people in the west would still call you a conspiracy theorist for claiming they want to split up Russia and steal her resources. Most people are drugged down on music videos, hollywood sh*t, MSM and other crap consumerist input (that’s their specific purpose), don’t give a damn, and are utterly oblivious.
Only the tiniest minority will read the available information to draw their own conclusions.
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Throughout human history there has been a giant struggle to control natural resources, such as water, land, minerals, etc.
Russia controls vast resources, including the oil and gas (and also grain) that Europe needs to run its economy. America doesn’t need these resources so much, they have plenty of their own; however, they feel the need to dominate all the trade routes and flow of resources throughout the entire world.
Therefore, it is (sadly) logical that conflicts would ensue, and wars would be fought over these resources. Such is the nature of man. If we were a more cooperative species, we would have figured out how to prosper and develop through methods of mutuality: equitable trade, sharing of resources, etc.
Anyhow, given all of this, and given all the history (and the nature of man) I feel it would be a conspiracy theory to NOT assume that Russia is put up on the carving block. If the Anglo-Saxons can split Russia up into smaller entities ruled by puppet regimes, then they can control the resources and the trade routes of Eurasia. It is, sadly, very simple and very logical. I have been able to see this quite clearly since, oh, around the age of 12.
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These ucronazis provocations seek Russia to act against the Ukrainian people, trying to sow the hatred that nations and make the conflict eternal without caring to continue killing, Western style.
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Fer chrissake, get it into your friggin minds that the RF is not fighting against the Ukronazis, it is fighting against NATO.
To be very polite: those who still don’t get it are either misinformed, unwilling to see the true picture in spite of all the evidence available by the virulent nonsense the west’s paid idiots (politicians) serve up on a daily basis or have their head buried deep up their arse.
To be impolite: those are either stupid at the level of the average member of the EU parliament or simply have sawdust where their brain should be or are simply idiots who would make Liz Truss look like an intellectual.
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War [and the preparation of] is the most odious of man’s activities, from it springs the worst of human nature [and yes, the daily auto commute shares some aspects of war].
The Peace Prize Prez started the Ukrainian war, alongside two other vicious wars that ended in ignominious slaughter. The Ukrainian war started in 2014 by Obama was the culminating act of marriage between President Cheney’s Republican party and Obama’s Democratic party.
And if Trump hadn’t publicly shit in the DC/London war-party’s punch bowl, Hillary would have taken the Ukraine war to where we are now, only by 2018. I am sure all “good” R’s & D”s damn Trump for interrupting the continuity of DC’s disastrous string of wars…I mean who in DC/London want’s to see the interruption of the longest military losing streak in US history? “Damn that interlocutor Trump”, the DC/London snobs intone, “Trump is the greatest threat to humanity…EVER” they exclaim! Truth is he really did eff-up the effort to get WWIII underway but, the show must go on!
However, with something like 350,000 dead Ukrainian soldiers, the bleeding can’t go on too much longer without DC/London finding more victims to “relentlessly jam its blood funnel into”. Yes, there are willing Polish but, Poland must know it’s history at some internal level, if they are overt, they risk losing the nation….again and, for EXACTLY the same reason. It reminds one of the phrase; once, shame on you; twice[?] shame on me…as Churchill said of the Poles, “they are the jackals of Europe”. But that said, jackals are canids, though quarrelsome, they are cunning, the trap may be baited but, they are sniffing around the edges of the kill. The Poles will be careful and only strike if they think they way is clear…and that is certainly not true at this juncture.
So who will DC/London find to “relentlessly jam its blood funnel into” ? I don’t think the victim will be willing, for all their bravado, Western elites themselves could face minor privation should “dam burst” leaving the floodwaters of war free to scour all of Europe. I mean, that would make the all Europeans, including those in North/South America/OZ/NZ wholly and completely dependent on, [and subservient], to Asia/China. That would leave only the Brits and Americans. The Brits have an inconsequential Army and were the US Army to enter, the casualty rate fighting a peer enemy would be staggering to the American public and the country is already, split right down the middle between the ProWarDraftDodgingBlues and the AntiWarProServiceReds. What’s DC/London’s “Vampire Squid” to do…hmmm?
Cheney’s R and Obama’s D party through both idiocy and bare-fisted venality seem to be helping China obtain world dominion. Por qué? Do the “white monkey’s” of DC/London think they’ll come out ahead in such an arrangement. Are the “white monkey’s” of DC & London that clueless? It does seem that way, stay tuned…details will surely follow.
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Did Churchill call Poles the “jackals of Europe” or the “hyenas of Europe”, I was never really sure about the quote.
Not that it matters much, both of these animal species are rather unpleasant.
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Yalensis, I probably have that wrong…I didn’t bother to look it up…laziness on my part but, both species scavenge carcasses killed by stronger, more noble beasts, which…was the point that I was trying to make.
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Understood! We shall stipulate that scavengers are unpleasant animals. While turning a blind eye to the fact that our beloved domesticated dogs are descended from such beasts, LOL!
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Scavengers are part of nature’s garbage disposal system and as such extremely useful to clean the mess that the “noble” killers leave behind. They are as unpleasant or not as any other animal, except humans.
Those are exceptionally unpleasant and defecate and leave their garbage everywhere they live.
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Dogs are the “Williams Syndrome” offspring of the canid family…just as I am of mine.
We live, we breathe, the benefits of being part of a genome [as are most mammalians] that rapidly mutate to adapt to external stimuli. FYI, the dogs who have accompanied my travel through life are my most valued companions and…persons in their own right!
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Well said. I did not mean to insult your dogs, and I hope you did not take it that way. I too have loved dogs, in my time, so I understand their curious appeal.
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to other commenters:
– yes, russia is and has been fighting NATO but the US realized long ago the easiest way to sell wars is by using proxies. one dead US soldier makes the headlines but 2,000 ukies through the meat grinder doesn’t even make the ticker at the bottom of CNN’s screen. it’s like saying “syria isn’t fighting ISIS; it’s fighting the saudis”. true on a tactical level but on the ground it’s the head chopping takfiris doing the heavy lifting.
– all the pearl clutching about “russia losing the PR/psyops war” got old months ago. russia was guaranteed bad PR years before the SMO: putin “killing journalists”, putin “invading georgia”, putin “propping up assad”, putin “electing trump”. does anyone seriously believe the western MSM would suddenly act like adults once the operation began? it’s idiots babbling to other idiots. it only “works” on westerners and their ilk because westerners are either too busy with their garbage lives and/or too dumb to read beyond headlines.
– the “blood funnel” is from taibbi’s description of goldman sachs but it’s still apt as i’ve long predicted post-SMO ukraine will be an IMF/world bank/etc playground for every disaster capitalist and privatization fetishist in the US/UK parasite sector. all US wars are capitalist wars. create markets and take resources by force. seems obvious.
apologies for the text wall. as for ukraine repairing things, it depends: the tech needed to rebuild power plants – as ancient as it may be – doesn’t grow on trees and their industrial sector is subject to attrition just like their armed forces. as a non-prick with some empathy i hope they can get something “macguyvered” before winter but i have a feeling the russians have started their own version of the west’s “color revolution” model: take down the “regime” with its own people.
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That’s a great comment. I like that term “macguyvered”. I have always admired resourceful people who can fix things. But it would be better if they didn’t also break things in the first place.
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I’m no military expert, but I’m wondering why, if Russia has the air superiority claimed for it, does it not simply bomb these pontoon bridges out of existence? Or at the very least use their supposedly micro-accurate missiles to do so?
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Doesn’t the higher/stronger river hinder all future attempts anywhere along the river?
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Maybe. But some people are saying the flood effect is only temporary, and the river will eventually stabilize. So nothing was guaranteed, and Russians were just hoping it would be an effective tactic. At least in the short term, but it is not a magic bullet for the longer term.
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Hi, William, I am no military expert either. But it is my impression that (a) it is harder to bomb bridges than it sounds on paper; (b) Russia doesn’t want to waste expensive bombs or cruise missiles on secondary targets; and (c) Russian pilots are very cautious about venturing out from under the anti-anti-air umbrella. Given that Ukrainians have manpads and other Western technologies, so it is still quite a risk to fly around those parts.
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Understood. That does raise another question, though: What use is Russian air superiority if they are afraid to use it even with something as important as those pontoon bridges? I ask because actually destroying those pontoons seems more permanent than trying to float them away on a flood.
Which further leads me to wonder if the flood wasn’t the real goal, not the pontoons. Please don’t misunderstand: I’m not criticizing, just asking in hopes of achieving more clarity in understanding this conflict instigated by our own utterly corrupt, vicious, and avaricious ruling classes and oligarchs.
Which is tough in the fogs of propaganda generated by all concerned.
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William, a lot of people have been asking that same question, why Russia doesn’t use its air superiority advantage more, and I don’t know the answer either! From what I understand, they mainly use artillery.
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Today:
“Putin says that if Ukrainians continue to carry out acts of terror, Russian Armed Forces response will be serious compared to the blows Russia carried out on Ukraine’s critical infrastructure in recent days, which Putin described as “showing restraint.”
Electrical grid small taps, a coupla small dams bust. Hints that glorious Ze will dismiss from his addled mind as usual. Anyone can knock out a few pontoon bridges, it was a mere mortar job in WW2. The dam-busting bomber raid was a warning about how things will get nasty soon.
I don’t know what it is about basic comprehension skills that Ukraine and the US don’t possess. Putin means what he says, but high-domed military intellectual foreheads in the West just go “Pshaw! You don’t mean it, Vlad!” Then proceed to invent fairy tales to tell on CNN,that no one pays much attention to these days.
I don’t know if Russia has completed the bureaucratic process to designate the UAF a terror organization, but it’s due any day now. Then all the self-important pundits of Western MSM will get to find out what he means. The action will be out of left field, I’d bet. Just for fun so that certain people can comment on blogs with the standard opening phrase: “I’m no military expert, but … blah blah blah”
How’s the weather in DC? TGIF, eh?
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Well, I’m no military expert but… I suspect that you are right. I believe that Putin is about to take the gloves off. I criticize the man often enough, but I trust that he means what he says, so people should not ignore or make light of his words, as the Ukies do. Putin has fired enough warning shots, and these terror assassinations of ordinary functionaries, should be the last straw.
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“But damn, they seem to be good at repairing stuff.”
Well, at least life in the USSR taught them *something*, eh? 😉
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Indeed!
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