WHO BEGAN THE CARNAGE IN UKRAINE?

You may say this is an easy question to answer, that clearly Russia began it with its invasion of Ukraine on the 24th of February 2022. However, if so please hold that thought while we examine two historical and undisputed events.

The first is the carnage which took place on Kiev's Maidan Square through the winter period of 2013-14. This period was marked by extreme savagery and although it is very likely that the more psychopathic members of Ukraine's 'Berkut' special security force began it with unnecessary violence against the protesters of that time it soon developed into an all-out war where the preponderance of the violence was carried out by an influx of particularly violent extremists. At that point onward until the fall of both president and government anything that could be used as a weapon was, including the burning down of buildings, toxic sprays, heavy chains, clubs of all descriptions modified for maximum effect, Molotov Cocktails, hunting rifles and handguns.

While all this was going on various officials of the United States were on hand to lend support.

Ultimately, in a final outbreak of unconscionable violence a group from another nation (Georgia) arrived to effect a false flag event, shooting down scores of protesters. This was the most grievous first instance of the kind of violence which led us to where we are now in Ukraine.

The second outbreak followed soon after when the people of eastern Ukraine in the region known as the Donbass took matters into their own hands on seeing what had transpired in Kiev and began surrounding and taking over as many administration offices and functions as they could. You must understand that Ukraine is a nation divided in so many ways and in ethnic terms virtually divided in half, with one side speaking Ukrainian and looking west and the other speaking Russian and looking east. You may say the uprising in the Donbass was illegal. Those who did it would point to the recent insurrection which brought down the president and government ask you if what happened THERE was legal? (The president and government who had been overthrown by a West-approved and supported insurrection/coup/example of people power - however you wish to name it, were both democratically elected.) At any rate, no one died during the takeover of all administrative functions in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions of the Donbass. A great many died in Kiev. Both among the ranks of protestors and among the police (17 officers died trying to maintain control).

So where does the violence which descended into carnage emerge from in this case? On Kiev’s Maidan Square we saw the arrival of violent militias who took over from the earlier, relatively peaceful protesters. After bringing down the president and government they turned their attention to the east, to the Russian-speaking Donbass region.

It was a week or two after the bringing down of the president and government that the response came from Kiev to the appeals of those who had taken over in Donetsk and Lugansk looking for the autonomy to run their own affairs. (The main areas of concern for them was to preserve their language (Russian), maintain their long-held affiliations and good relations with Russia (inter-marriage being very common among them) and to preserve also their entire culture which also included honouring the memory of the Soviet Red Army liberating the country from the Nazis.

The extremist minority in western Ukraine, many of whom were and still are within the Ukrainian military held an opposing view, that Hitler and the Nazis had been beneficial to the Ukrainian nationalist cause. This prompted an extremely violent urge among many of them who considered their fellow Ukrainians in the east to be Russians, traitors to Ukraine and they gave them the pejorative, generalised name, 'Moskals'.

So, where did the violence emerge from? The next major event in this saga saw Kiev send a large military force, perhaps with the initial purpose to merely intimidate the leaders of the autonomy movement in the Donbass. However, with an incident or two of violence at the checkpoints they set up these sparks led to the fire of general violence which led to the mass shelling of the urban areas of Donetsk and Lugansk. The worst of this shelling took place in 2014 and 2015 when random mortar shells landed indiscriminately among the civilian population. It is estimated that approximately 12,000 civilians, innocent men, women and children died up to 2022, the majority of whom died in the first years of the conflict. Gradually, what was termed a self-defence force was formed, some of whom travelled from Russia and elsewhere round the world. They began to deter the extremes of random shelling of the villages, towns and cities of the Donbass they saw occurring.

Once the self-defence forces of Donetsk and Lugansk regions were fully formed and mounting a fierce resistance against the Ukrainian military and militias the heavy bombardments seen during 2014 and 2015 diminished greatly, though they have continued on a sporadic basis and continue to this day and presently to a greater extent somewhat mirroring the events of 2014/15.

So, in order to fairly judge who began the carnage in Ukraine please bring into consideration all the factors above when attempting to answer the question of who began all this that we see occurring in Ukraine today. Always keeping in mind the goals of the people of the Donbass and that of the Russian Federation that remained true from 2014 to 2022, to attain a level of autonomy to preserve a way of life and language. Violence was not seen by them as the way to achieve this but ultimately defending against violence proved a necessity.

Finally, there is the question of the threat of violence which was implicit in Kiev rejecting the Minsk Agreement peace and reconciliation process. Kiev essentially said Minsk was dead, that though they had promised to speak directly to the leaders of the two autonomy-seeking republics of Donetsk and Lugansk and, though they had promised these regions would receive special status where they would have a high degree of autonomy, they had decided they would do neither.

The Ukrainian army had been added to consistently since the year before Russia's operation bringining it up to NATO standards, military vehicles and the most advanced weapons had been delivered in their hundreds and thousands right up to the borders of the Donbass republics seeking autonomy. And official statements from Kiev gave every indication that a military offensive against the two republics seeking that autonomy could not be far off. The amount of shelling by the Ukrainian military soared through the first weeks of February 2022 and an attack appeared imminent.

It was around this time also that President Zelensky of Ukraine talked of regaining nuclear status. All the signs were there that the Ukrainian regime had abandoned any thought of solving the situation in a peaceful way through dialogue leading to a compromise and stable agreement that would leave the republics within Ukraine but having the degree of autonomy they required to guarantee their way of life could continue.

In addition to the above, Russian military intelligence caught wind of an official plan to initiate such an offensive. Soon after, Russia recognised the republics and then in the days following mounted what it calls its 'special military offensive' on February 24th.

Scan back and forth from the winter of 2013 across the historic timeline, look into the kind of ultraviolence that took place on Kiev's Maidan, attempt to imagine how those in eastern Ukraine felt when those they had democratically elected to power were removed and think too of the manner of their removal. Consider what the people of eastern Ukraine were facing as they heard of a law to downgrade their language and replace it and all else they were hearing from those they knew very well meant them no good and only harm. Consider also if military force and violence was appropriate in dealing with a bloodless revolution to establish right of autonomy in these extraordinary circumstances.

After reading all of the above and doing your own research to determine how true the facts as stated are it is to be hoped that you will then be in an excellent position to finally decide exactly who began the carnage in Ukraine.

THE WESTERN TIGER HAS CANCER

The elites of the western world have long bestrode this world-jungle like a never satiated tiger seeking its next meal. Naturally it is focused laser-like on its own self-interest. This is natural though of course but in practice bloody remains are inevitably left behind. At times the prey was left caged (a neat trick for an actual tiger, I know) to be eaten slowly, piece by piece, almost offering itself tamely. The tiger was happy. There never seemed any end to those it could prey upon, devour or cage. But all things must pass as the saying goes. Civilisations rise and fall… and along with them all life forms… including tigers.

The world is moving on from the laws of the jungle that have held sway for so long now. That jungle served the tigers within it exquisitely well. However, in recent months and years the habitats of the tigers and all large beasts of the western jungle are steadily shrinking. Other forms of life are now rising to claim their land back, land that the western tigers have sought to have as their own hunting grounds. These others are uniting to set traps for this tiger, are planning ways and means to warn each other of its approach and in general take advantage of its growing weakness. For this tiger has developed within it a cancer.

Largely unknown to the western beast in its ferocious self-belief and notions of invulnerability built over the years it swallowed elements from its environment that are now ever more rapidly causing its downfall and will eventually result in its death. It grows weak due to the sickness that is spreading inside it. Those elements of its being that once worked as a self-healing system within it have lost their form and have begun to metastasize. A once extremely effective immune system is steadily breaking down. Various parts of that immune system are beginning to attack and harm other parts bringing the whole to a condition of growing weakness and inability to protect the tiger’s health.

It is said that a house divided against itself cannot hold and in terms’ of societies (and tigers) when various elements are fighting within some entity then that entity’s days are numbered. In addition to this internal chaos there is the threat of a tsunami headed straight for the western jungle. That tsunami is composed of all the animals that were under constant threat of being eaten by the western tiger. Under the leadership of two bears, a panda and a brown bear these previously rather meek beasts have found renewed courage within themselves and now conspire together to defang the tiger that has so threatened, tortured, imprisoned and killed them as long as they can remember.

Will we see the tiger caged before much longer? It appears so. All the signs are that the others have smelled blood and have sensed weakness. They are gathering and have nets which stand every chance of snaring the tiger and then quarantining it. They know however, that they must act fast, the tiger just might instil enough adrenaline within itself seeing its danger to scar some and even kill others among them. In their minds they remain cautious knowing the total focus on self-preservation that is within this beast. Its claws are still long and sharp. Its stride though slower now is faster than many among them. And most of all they know that with beasts that have acted to use and abuse their power as this tiger has, they are most dangerous the closer they come to death.  

THE NEW GLOBAL REALITY: YOU CAN DEFY THE WEST AND WIN

Every adult alive now had become used to a world where the USA, UK and Europe ran things in their own interest. Not only that, they dealt with upstart individuals and nations successful to their advantage and with impunity. Especially with the collapse of the Soviet Union the western world’s leaders saw themselves as home free to the world of their dreams where everything they said goes. This was the unipolar moment, there was now unequivocally one pole of power. It had been this way across the nations that had been under the western elite thumb before this, but now the whole world being like putty in their hands excited the fervent imagination of the West.

Then 9/11 happened. 

With 9/11 the political elites in the USA in combination with their allies saw that their delight in seeing off the Soviet Union now meant more than joy, it meant that they were now in a position within this new unipolar world to be even more forceful than ever in now decimating any and all enemies worldwide. What was to stop them? The Soviet Union was dead and gone. No nation stood in the way of them wiping the floor with all those nasty anti-American states that had enraged them for so many years. The way was open. War would be the mechanism to disintegrate their power.

No American-opposing entity was to stand after the 9/11 determination to wipe them out. They HAD to go for the sake of the security of the United States for all time to come. There was not to be an iota of resistance left once they had completed the mission before them. They were the singular mighty power on this planet now and the path was clear for them to do as they pleased to those they hated and rabidly wished gone. No moral or ethical barrier was to stand in their way. 9/11, for them gave them every authority they needed to act as they wished and were required to act to cleanse the entire world of opposition.

And all their allies agreed. Not only in the political fields but also across mainstream news media. They would all now go to war TOGETHER.

That was how it was supposed to be as Afghanistan quickly fell to them. There was talk of democratising Afghanistan and much more. However, Iraq called, the next target. Iraq was harder in terms of opposition but soon it to was “done”. On to Libya, again it was “done” quite quickly… though things were getting messy. Looking back at what was happening in both Afghanistan and Iraq the telltale signs of future failure were there. But anyway, on to Syria.

In Syria things were done differently. The change of tactics had begun in Libya with the emphasis on aerial attacks as opposed to boots on the ground. But in Syria things took yet another turn. This, it was decided, would be done through covert means and the use of allied nations with a stake in seeing regime change occur there. In addition so-called Moderate Rebels would be trained, equipped and financed. Then, the cherry on the top, an entity of heroic rescuers would be formed and given every PR man’s dream equipment to get the message out and effectively condition those sitting at home that right was only on one side, the West’s side. These were of course, ‘The White Helmets’.

It was all moving forward… or so it seemed. But the carefully facade was beginning to leak badly. The Taliban were not giving up in Afghanistan. In Iraq various anti-American forces were causing growing problems. In Libya there was no shining democratic dream emerging. One of the things re-emerging there was the slave trade.

Things had begun to go badly wrong for the post-9/11 project and it hadn’t got to Iran yet, next in line.

Two significant occurrences added to western woes along the path described above.

One was Vladimir Putin’s Munich speech in February 2007. The other was the exponential rise of China.

Vladimir Putin may or may not have been fully aware that he was waving a metaphorical red rag to a bull in Munich, but that was the effect of the speech he made that day. He went, in the period of an hour from an accepted member of the insiders to a complete outsider. 

What was his crime?

Post 9/11 ALL individuals, groups, national leaders and governments HAD to now be subservient to the USA and its allies. This after all was what had been decided in those hyper-emotional hours after that fateful day. No one was to IN ANY WAY oppose the will of the United States or its allies. Weren’t they sworn to eliminate and replace ALL those who did?

Putin’s crime was to do exactly that. He stated quite clearly that Russia would NOT subordinate itself to any other nation or group of nations. He became public enemy number one for ALL western political elites and their mainstream media news from that day on.

Then there is the rise of China. A China quite clearly NOT in the control of the USA or its allies. And China was growing at a pace that meant it would become a peer competitor to the USA and its allies. A double crime. That made China an enemy also. Putin, his support base and the Chinese government. All now very firmly on the list of entities to be eliminated and replaced.

And in short, this is how things stand today.

Except for one thing.

In these last three to six months a cataclysmic political and economic change has occurred.

The previous support for the USA and its allies, based as it was on a recognition of their combined power and the potential threats they could bring to bear on them… began to erode as that power and those threats began to drain away. China must be given most credit for this as its vast wealth, economic power and willingness to engage began to appear MUCH more attractive than the threatening aggressiveness of the West. The relationship with the West had been a pragmatic one in the overwhelming majority of cases. It was not based on anything that could closely approximate to friendship. It was a relationship based on a certain usefulness along with a large dose of fear regarding what the western monster could do if you didn’t obey it.

Now there was this far friendlier panda offering to provide similar guarantees as the rather sharp-beaked eagle. A great many states, some of which had been pecked near to death by the American eagle pondered whether cuddling the panda might be a far better option.

Then along came Russia that demanded of the West that it stop surrounding it with NATO bases, that it be reasonable and work with Russia on a new security architecture that would work for all sides, including Russia. But… Russia was on the list of post-9/11 elimination and replacement. No deal. Russia asked that Ukraine not be made a NATO state and pointed to the West already MAKING it into a de facto NATO state. No deal. Russia was on the list. Russia had to be regime changed and have all its political systems undermined and rebuilt with all its present political elites gone. The post-9/11 plan demanded it. 

It is not as yet known to be the case but pushing Russian into invading Ukraine could easily have been seen as the perfect way to achieve the post-9/11 plan. It was without doubt believed that the financial and economic sanctions that would hit Russia would make it crumple. The entire western world, indeed the WHOLE world would unite against Russia for such an act. Wouldn’t it.

Well no and no.

Neither did the Russian economy crack as was supposed, neither did the Russian people rise up and overthrow their leaders, most notably Vladimir Putin. And neither did the rest of the world outside the orbit of the West unite against Russia, these nations mostly being in Eurasia and the Global South. India did not. Neither did many others. 

But an even greater shock was to come.

These same nations, many of whom had been under western sway began to flock to join Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa in the BRICS Group. At the last count 19 nations are queueing up to join.

And what is even worse…

A growing number of nations are discussing the elimination of the US dollar as the default currency for all trades. More and more nations began agreeing that they would trade in their own local currencies. The US dollar, in the name of the Petrodollar of course is the mechanism by which the USA can threaten nations with sanctions. If they refuse to obey they can be broken economically through the mechanism of the Petrodollar. 

But why the sudden change?

All due to Russia and China.

Russia showed that it was possible to oppose the United States, the UK and the eU and win out. These latter few were shown to be paper tigers. Russia said, look, we can do this. We can be free. We need no longer be under threat from the western bullies. Stand up to them. We will help you. We being Russia and China.

And so here we are.

De-dollarisation is underway across a growing number of nations. Russia’s economy is now rising, its inflation level dropping, its people becoming wealthier again with living standards rising. China similarly. While Germany goes into recession and inflation scars all other western nations including the USA. Russia has shown the world how to do it, how to escape western domination and thrive. Russia and China together are inviting any others that wish to, to joining their happy throng in BRICS. We have passed into a new geopolitical paradigm thanks to the resolute determination of two now rapidly rising nations in terms of prestige and power, Russia and China. The world will never be the same again.

The message now being given loud and strong?

There is a new global reality…

YOU CAN DEFY THE WEST AND WIN

BOTH WESTERN & UKRAINIAN LEADERSHIPS READY THEIR MUD FOR SLINGING

Ukraine lost the battle of Bakhmut while sustaining horrendous losses in a useless slaughter indulged in by the Ukrainian regime for purely PR purposes. Now it seeks to initiate an offensive that will further decimate its military ranks. Conscripts with only a few days training are taking the place of professional troops who have died in their droves.

The truth above however, cannot be tolerated. Therefore, comforting, self-serving delusion must take its place and the guilty parties must be found elsewhere. So, in tandem with delusions internally there will be a need for others for western public consumption. A plethora of semi-believable excuses have long been readied alongside a generous supply of responsibility-obscuring mud to throw obscuring guilt.

The entire panoply of western leadership are continuing to surround themselves in mirages of misplaced breast-beating over Ukraine rather than facing anything as onerous as facts. But the facts are now becoming too obvious to ignore and both the western leaders and that of Ukraine are preparing their excuses.

The fact in question are of course incredibly hard to face considering the assumption of western leaders have that they are hugely righteous, amounting to the greatest collective global power in existence to whom the concept of defeat is entirely unknown. And that defeat therefore has become entirely unthinkable.

Meanwhile, Ukraine goes from one defeat to another, talking all the while of an eventual victory. Its leaders appear blind to the stark reality facing them or are simply too far gone within the media facade that has been created to escape the weight of lies created. But the reality is one of imminent defeat, a dfeat so complete it cannot possibly be hidden.

Therefore, happily for them (for the time being) all will be wished away by means of one means of deceit or another. If you look closely you will see those deceits being prepared, this evidenced by signs of an inevitable blame game starting.

The first example concerns Joe Biden, who brought up the fact that Zelensky had initially been unwilling to accept the fact that Russia was about to initiate a campaign in Ukraine. It was a purely gratuitous criticism that had no current context to explain it, except an indication from Biden (and perhaps a warning to Zelensky) that if things carried on as they were the mud-slinging would not be one-sided in the event of a debacle.

Then there was the article in the New York Times which bemoaned the fact that the western powers knew less than they should about Ukraine’s military tactics, giving the distinct impression that they were to some degree in the dark due to Ukraine not providing adequate information to them. We can predict much more of this kind of talk in due course.

On the Ukrainian side we can also see the mud being gathered ready for slinging at the USA and its proxies.

Neither Zelensky nor any of those in the front line of Ukraine’s leadership are going to capitulate. They are going to act in defiant fashion, forever calling for more assistance by way of heavy weaponry, never for a moment suggesting any desire to come to any agreement with Russia, always ready to fight to the last Ukrainian. However, the western world is rapidly diminishing in its ability or willingness to supply what the Ukrainian leadership demands. Zelensky and his people cannot say any different than they do. To capitulate for them means ignominy. A much safer strategy is to keep breast-beating, to keep posturing heroically, keep insisting on eventual victory and most importantly of all, keep demanding more weaponry from the West.

This latter point is vital as it provides the mud to sling later when the protective spin for them will be that they fought like devils for Ukraine but were let down by those who promised so much but then failed to deliver.

There is no way Zelensky and co. can agree to talks with Russia now. This route was taken only a few weeks into Russia’s campaign. It was even bearing some fruit. Ukraine agreed to some important (though not enough) crucial aspects that provided some hope that continued talks might bring a meaningful breakthrough. It was the western leaders who apparently convinced Zelensky to break off these talks and row back on the progress made. Chief of those who convinced Zelensky of this was seemingly Boris Johnson but undoubtedly Joe Biden had a hand in it also. It seems Zelensky was told that if he abandoned talks with Russia he would be delivered overwhelming firepower with which to defeat Russia.

Zelensky will say, if only the West had provided the number of weapons he required Ukraine would have defeated Russia and taken back all the lands Russia now counted as its own. The western leaders will say Zelensky wasn’t honest with them and never let them know the true position of his army.

The logistics of providing the arms, ammunition and training necessary by the West make the task of defeating Russia unattainable and the decimation of Ukrainian troops via tactical incompetence by Ukraine make it unattainable also. Russia has the manufacturing base to supply and resupply both men and materiel on such an unlimited basis to defeat Ukraine no matter what was done. The West could never match the virtual war economy Russia has at her command.

The theatre of the absurd will continue a while yet with both the western powers and the Zelensky regime talking pie in the sky while that sky increasing falls down upon them. Neither are willing to face reality. Too much is at stake for them personally if they do. Meanwhile Ukrainian troops die in their droves.

The politicians on both sides are doing their level best to save their own necks while the abominable suffering drags on and a Russian victory looms ever larger on the horizon. No talks. No concessions. More deaths. More territory taken. But the illusory heroic status of Zelensky will be retained till the end with a finger pointing at the deceivers and foot-draggers of the West who let his country down.

In the USA and across the western world we will hear a different refrain however, one that talks of Ukrainian officials providing “inaccurate information”, officials who talked up victories that had no reality but that which was conjured up only in their own minds.

Zelensky and Biden will spit out both their excuses and denials, their finger pointing will descend into a farcical black comedy. And all the while Russia will reap the full reward for her victory, the achievement of every single goal set at the start of her victorious campaign.

UKRAINE: WHEN THE ONLY FACTORIES PRODUCING ANYTHING CREATE LIES

One lie after another is being manufactured by Ukraine currently which is then faithfully transmitted to western populations by a mainstream media industry exhibiting fervent jingoism rather than its previous endeavour, journalism. This is getting so blatant as to be highly embarrassing to western officials.

This is the lamentable state of affairs in the western world today, one which it has gotten itself into several times previously in this century, notably immediately after 9/11 and then again on several occasions as regime change wars of choice were pursued.

Like being only partially pregnant only having partial integrity is a rather dubious state of affairs. The decline to no integrity at all in an ‘All’s Fair in Love and War’ scenario is quite precipitous and that is where we find ourselves now.

Russiagate was part of this too of course, the bending of facts to fit the news required due to the justification that an electoral accident brought a profoundly uncouth ogre to power was deemed justification enough. But how to recover from such presstitution?

Having reached the absolute bottom of the barrel in a post-fact society do you then simply begin to swim in the dregs you find there? I get the distinct impression that is more or less exactly what is happening. The 24-hour news cycle demands ever more of the same and exaggeration and pushing accusations and viewpoints, opinion, speculation and allegation add much grist to the mill.

It just takes discovering who or what is the target of the day and really, that gets pretty easy after a while. Then the feeding frenzy on that target’s bones begins and continues while the ratings rise. The big targets become very easy to discern when the big political beasts throw you some meat.

Putin stepped on a minefield in 2007 when he blithely said Russia was not on the bus headed for a unipolar world run solely by the USA and its cronies. The signal very definitely went out at that point. Gone were the cordial invitations to gaze into presidential eyes at the White House, the audience with the Queen of England… all that kind of stuff that took place from 2000 to 2007 when he spoke to plainly were never to be repeated.

The word went out. The president of Russia became a marked man. The articles, the innuendos, the negativity, every possible piece of venom was saved up especially for him. Then, the world went out that though he was a the target of choice the whole barrage was to be widened to include the entire Russian government. And so it has remained to this day. And now with knobs on.

So, when Kiev, assisted via Langley either on the spot of by secure telegraphic means, generates some product from one of its lie factories the full potential for speculation, accusation, opinion, inference, narratives and talking points is realised. The 24-hour news day is filled for a while. Then another juicy bit of fevered imagination and CIA gloss emerges and away we go again.

Putin and Russia are fair game with no consequences to be feared in being just as slanderous as you like. No qualifiers such as ‘alleged’ need be bothered with. Russia did this, that or the next thing, Putin planned this, did that and is responsible for whatever the news machine will lap up.

War mode forgives a multitude of sins as was seen when all those who got Iraq or Russiagate wrong went directly upstairs to better offices, perks, pay and status. It’s what used to be the world in reverse. believe it or not there was once integrity. Now there is quite plainly none. Anything goes as long as it sells. And right now Ukraine sells. So the demand for its fabrications is high.

UKRAINE: WHEN THE ONLY FACTORIES PRODUCING ANYTHING CREATE LIES

WE ARE APPROACHING THE END GAME IN THE DONBASS AND A LIKELY BLOODBATH

The final push by Russian forces to take and then permanently hold all that remains of the entire Donbass region is likely to begin within the next few months. After the taking of Bakhmut there has been something of a lull while the Russian troops rest and prepare. This does not mean that all sectors of the Russian military have been idle, the softening up of the Ukrainian lines has gone on apace through artillery fire and fire from the air. 

Ukraine in turn has not been idle either and has been performing an enforced mobilisation to build its forces to the maximum extent while seeking additional weaponry and ammunition. Many of the Ukrainian army is now only partially trained, some for only a week or two and quite possibly some may have only been handed a gun and told the rudimentary procedures for loading and firing it. It is inevitable that these, if caught in positions where they cannot be rotated out they are likely to drop their weapons and either surrender or flee.

The coming battle will without doubt be fierce and the losses on both sides are likely to be considerable. The long-promised offensive by Ukraine which was supposed to take place in Spring looks likely in the next few weeks. Russia is currently moving forward more aggressively on the ground and attempting through an air campaign to eliminate Ukraine’s fuel dumps and arms depots. This war is about to enter what is likely to be its bloodiest and even perhaps almost face to face stage where no quarter will be given on either side.

Without doubt the Ukraine authorities will have transferred as many heavy weapons including their HIMAR rocket launchers and Leopard tanks into position somewhere close to the front line where Russia is launching sporadic attacks. The number of troops will certainly number many tens of thousands.

This may well be the final large scale battle for the Donbass. It is inconceivable that the remaining cities of Slavjansk and Kramatorsk will stand for long if the coming Ukrainian offensive fails. On the other hand, if the Ukrainians somehow manage to withstand the assault by some manner of means, either by sheer force of numbers, local knowledge or through the weaponry supplied by the West then Russia will have been delivered a major setback.

If the first scenario above occurs then the rest of the Donbass must surely be in danger of falling to Russia within a period of a few months thereafter. A pause is more than likely immediately after the defeat of the Ukrainian offensive however while mopping up operations are conducted and the troops involved will be rested after this undoubtedly gruelling fight to prepare for the final push to take Slavyansk and Kramatorsk.

If scenario two transpires and Ukrainian forces beat back the Russian offensive and their own offensive succeeds then some tough decisions will then have to be made concerning Russia perhaps finally deciding on another mobilisation from its reserve forces. In addition, the possibility of targeting Ukraine’s transport system, electricity (and possible gas) supply networks along with the perhaps more crucial targets of Ukraine/NATO command and control centres.

The following phase of conflict in Ukraine appears certain to be extremely bloody. The Ukrainian regime and those standing behind them in the West appear dead set on continuing to fight on no matter how many casualties occur. The Russians, who have a military history where negotiations take place while conflict rages, have expressed an interest in resolving the issues involved since 2014 that way and continue to seek conflict resolution to this day. However, there is no reciprocal response from the other side even though such an arrangement did exist in the early days of the conflict.

Neither side can afford to lose. And of course these sides are not simply one on one. Alongside the Ukrainians you have the entire collective west. The leaders of the West cannot afford to lose out to Russia. But equally the Russians cannot afford to lose out either, driving NATO from its doorstep and ending the ultra-nationalist Nazi-mentality so affecting a very sizeable minority in western Ukraine and leaving the citizens of the Donbass to their collective mercy is absolutely not an option. This is a fight to the death therefore, to the absolute defeat of one side or the other with (unless attendance at negotiations are agreed to by the Ukrainians) no way out but an orgy of death and destruction right to the bitter end.

A DARK CURTAIN FALLS ACROSS THE WESTERN WORLD

(A speculative attempt to describe the near future of Europe, Britain and USA that is now fast emerging.)

And so it was that the more the Russian military succeeded in its campaign across Ukraine the greater was the pressure to extend the war mode that had informed both political and media elites to the general public of all nations within the collective West.

This process had already been well advanced during the years after 9/11 and came to the fore especially during the Trump years. These were the years of ‘cancel culture’ and of naming those who did not take the official western line on Russia as ‘Putin’s Puppets’. Fear was stoked from one end of the USA to the other claiming that a powerful but hidden Russian influence posed an enormous danger to the normal running of the USA, including that of its electoral systems.

While a new McCarthyism was awash across the USA something very similar was being attempted in the USA’s closest ally, Britain. It seemed that as in America with Trump’s face selling magazines and all the profits attendant on that phenomenon, so in the United Kingdom the face that sold magazines through their covers and newspapers through their headlines, was that of Vladimir Putin. Anyone who dared talk of these money-making and fear-spreading tactics in anything but glowing appreciation but instead cast doubts upon their propriety found themselves a social pariah.

In those families where such “black sheep” refused to remain silent but argued for a fairer hearing of the Russian case or who cast doubt on what became known as ‘Russiagate’ experienced a near permanent split in their relationships. Those who depended upon their positions at work quickly became aware of the need to remain silent on such topics. Self-censorship became the norm for most of the people who retained an open mind on these matters.

What had occurred was that the two principal and most powerful elites across the western world, the political and media elites had united in a joined-at-the-hip allegiance to one single and unchangeable narrative on both Putin and Russian influence. This was extended before too long to include China also but with Russia’s intervention regarding Ukraine on the 24th of February this year the preponderance of the West’s focus returned with a vengeance to Putin and Russia.

The phenomenon above has a name. It is called ‘War Mode’. Though a war has not been declared against Russia a war is indeed being waged against it. In a war, or within the confines of ‘War Mode’ nothing positive is allowed to be said about the enemy. Such behaviour is regarded as traitorous. In wartime it is subject to extreme penalties such as incarceration in specially created camps. The difference between a declared was and ‘war mode’ in this respect is perilously little and this is why, as Russia took ever more land from Ukraine the difference in mentality and action disappeared completely.

It was when the Russian military broke through the main defences of the Ukrainian military opposite Donetsk City and in both the Kherson region and that of Izyum that we saw the effect of the ‘war mode’ mentality deepen across the West. With the fall of Odessa only a week later in mid-September it appeared the final straw had been laid upon the veritable camel’s back. First the British government, led by Elizabeth Truss and then the Biden administration began to pass the draconian laws that they insisted were necessary.

The security of the nation was at stake was the common sentence heard on both sides of the Atlantic and therefore the measures being taken though much regretted had proven unavoidable in the circumstances. The European powers were reluctant to follow suit but after consultations behind closed doors they complied less than a week later with admonitions that these measures would be purely temporary.

Temporary however, they were not. And the effects were immediate.

Unknown to any but a few a comprehensive database had been created of all so-called “subversive voices spreading misinformation” Talk of misinformation, disinformation and fake news had been a common enough topic across the political and media elites for some time, but now the determination to close down all sources of unacceptable opinion became all-pervasive. One by one and sometimes in groups of up to a dozen at a time website began to disappear from the internet. ‘The Duran’ channel was one of the first, and though there was massive speculation and outrage at first regarding the unknown whereabouts of the primary figures associated with the site at first, as those who spoke out were also apprehended soon silence began to be all that prevailed.

The atmosphere of self-censorship that had been seen increasing from 2016 onward now took on similar characteristics as the ‘normalisation’ process which had post-dated the Prague Spring in Czechoslovakia. Those who chose to voice their protest at what was going on or who continued to spread “unorthodox views” criticising western state “truths” concerning the now mortal enemy, Russia were simply ‘disappeared’. The remaining population continued life much as before even expressing great approval that the ‘troublemakers’, ‘traitors’ and ‘Russian Agents’ had been suitably punished for their malignant delusions regarding the evils of the Russian monsters who had made such a heinous and unprovoked attack upon the innocent population of Ukraine.

Several hard-hitting publicity campaigns had reinforced this majority prejudice against the so-called ‘Russian Supporters’ to heights unseen since the second world war ended though only historians were able to comment on this, the populations of the West being in the majority too young to make sense of these remarks. Several historians too were subsequently no longer to be found, or at least to be heard from again in the public sphere.

A special police force was required, complete with an army of analysts in their back office. The database of ‘subversive personalities’ was being added to significantly on a daily basis as the ‘Russian Spy Hotline’ was deluged with calls by “friends”, parents and neighbours reporting on those they suspected of holding ‘order contravening’ or ‘security risk’ views. The original camps set up in remote locations were doubled in size, then tripled, quadrupled and so on. Entire cities of the non-conformists were constructed where ‘political reorientation’ and ‘in-depth deprogramming’ took place.

Various suggestions were made for a more secure environment going forward. One of the most popular was for microscopic chips to be implanted in the soft brain tissue of every fetus so that adequate monitoring and potential preemptive punishment for forbidden thoughts could be effected. This was considered far too extreme when it was first broached in the British parliament in late 2024… but by 2026 it had become a common, if hidden practice.

Much has become hidden now as I write this on 2030. We live in a time where great care must be taken in all things. Each adult that wishes to maintain a life without attracting trouble, one where an income can be earned and a family raised must exercise extreme control over things said, associations maintained and even places visited (certain locations have been named as ‘potential insurgent hotspots’). We watch each other like hawks, unable to know whether those around us are beneficiaries of the ‘State Medal for Heroism’, those who have named beyond 1,000 criminals and traitors who have wished the downfall of the state. You may think that is a high number to reach. Not at all. The current figure for the United Kingdom is currently 17,586 and rises by up to a dozen each day.

No one talks freely about the disappeared anymore. Whispered rumours in safe places among friends do take place. We wonder constantly where John Pilger, George Galloway, Max Blumenthal, Aaron Maté, Alex Christoforou and Alexander Mercouris and many others may be, and even if they are still alive. But even this is becoming more and more dangerous as by satellite and roving surveillance units held by the ‘SMh’ (State Medal for Heroism) holders are becoming ever more sensitive as devices to hear even the most whispered speech.

Those of us who have survived the database searches live in fear. We exist in a darkness surrounded by the blithely ignorant who continue to indulge themselves with mindless passion in the new, state-sponsored ‘bread and circuses’ entertainments. We are naturally sick at heart and can barely endure the permanent falseness that pervades everything now with not a trace of any of the relief we felt hearing some of the down-to-earth reality as transmitted daily by The Duran and others. We now live within a vacuum chamber of darkness, one from which there appears no possible escape… save one.

A DARK CURTAIN FALLS ACROSS THE WESTERN WORLD