The bottomline is that it appears that both sides were shooting artillery at each other for a long time and it spiked just ahead of Russia's invasion. Which is what you would typically expect in a situation such as this. Artillery is typically high on the high payoff target list because it can do so much damage. If you get an Artillery battery to reveal their position over the course of a week or so, you can tell if the crews have some habitual spots they prefer to fire from at certain times/days and you can catch them there at the start of an offensive.
Javelin anti-tank missile. 40mm grenade. Tow missile. Mine exploding. Recoilless rifle. Both sides have a long list of things that go Boom!
The New York Times reporting on this is well known at the time and the Biden Admin confirmed it after they left office with the NYTimes in the Secret History of the War in Ukraine article. Russia was going in but had to wait until after the Winter Olympic ended in China because Putin promised Xi he would not spoil China's big moment on the world stage by starting a war ahead of or during the games. Everyone was thinking February 21st as the day the invasion would start and since last time Putin started an invasion Ukraine, he made the call the day after the Winter Olympics ended in Sochi. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/02/us/politics/russia-ukraine-china.html The Secret History of the War in Ukraine It doesn't matter what I think about the trustworthiness of the Ukrainian government since Putin was going in regardless. The idea that Ukraine somehow started this war by firing artillery in the Donbas is ridiculous.
Drones target industrial sites near Moscow: Factory and tech park hit On the night of May 28, drones attacked the Dubna machine building plant and the Elma-Zelenograd technopark in the Moscow region, according to the head of the Center for Countering Disinformation, Andriy Kovalenko. Dubna machine building plant The plant is one of the key components of the Russian defense industry. It is located in the city of Dubna, Moscow region, and has been part of the Kronstadt concern since 2020. The main profile of the plant is the production of combat UAVs, including the Orin complex. “These drones are used by Russia against Ukraine. The company has deployed full-scale serial production, as well as design development of new versions of drones with advanced combat capabilities,” added Kovalenko.
Russian drone blitz disrupts Moscow airports, sparks chaos Residents of 13 regions in Russia experienced what Ukrainians have been enduring for more than three years overnight from Tuesday to Wednesday. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, air defense forces carried out standard duty measures that resulted in the destruction and interception of 296 Ukrainian drones across several regions, including Moscow, Bryansk, Belgorod, Vladimir, Voronezh, Ivanovo, Kaluga, Kursk, Oryol, Ryazan, Smolensk, Tver, and Tula. The airline "Aeroflot" announced that due to the drone attacks on Moscow, the resulting restrictions at airports, and changes in air traffic, it is forced to cancel and combine flights. The airline "Pobeda," part of the Aeroflot group, also announced schedule changes. As a result of the overnight air attacks, all airports in the Moscow air traffic hub—Sheremetyevo, Vnukovo, Domodedovo, and Zhukovsky—temporarily suspended operations. In the morning, the restrictions were lifted. According to RBC, over 100 flights are delayed.
Let's keep in mind that every analyst I've read or heard talking about this referred to the OSCE "explosions" as artillery explosions. Also, the great majority of the explosions were on the separatist side of the ceasefire line. And Zelensky admitted Ukraine was planning to invade the Donbas in March. Makes sense Ukraine would soften up the separatists with artillery. Russia sent a letter with 3 key demands to the Biden administration in December 2021 1) Ukraine must not join NATO 2) Ukraine must not serve as a base for foreign missiles 3) Ukraine must stop persecuting it's Russian-speaking population What happened? 1) Kamala said (Feb 23) Ukraine would eventually join NATO 2) Ukraine said (Feb 19) it would get rid of the Budapest agreement and be free to acquire nuclear weapons 3) Ukraine greatly increased its firing of artillery at Russian-speaking separatists and civilians And as Jacques Baud pointed out, in early February when asked by a reporter when did he think Russia would invade, Biden said he knew when Russia would invade: Feb 16. And what happened 3 days before Biden thought the war would begin? The US, Canada and other countries pulled their ceasefire observers out of the Donbas. I think they knew Ukraine was going to start punishing Russian-speakers with artillery. For 7+ years two giants, John Mearsheimer (University of Chicago) and Stephen F. Cohen (Princeton, NYU), warned that the US and NATO were dragging Ukraine towards a war that would be disastrous. Greg Copley said in October 2021 that the Biden administration would try to goad Russia into invading Ukraine to make people forget about the humiliating exit from Afghanistan and thus help the Democrats in the 2022 midterms. Analysts have said that Ukraine was going to invade the Donbas in 2021 until Russia made Zelensky think again by deploying troops close to the Ukrainian border and conducting military exercises.
Such as Azov in Ukraine rally around Nazi collaborator Stepan Bandera, wear Nazi regalia and do seig heils and wield outsized influence in Ukraine … but maybe you’re offended because Putin doesn’t refer to them by another name.
https://www.reuters.com/world/china...r-trumps-playing-with-fire-remark-2025-05-28/ Putin's foreign policy aide, Yuri Ushakov, told a state TV reporter that Trump's remark suggested that he is not well-briefed on the realities of the war. "Trump is not sufficiently informed about what is really happening in the context of the Ukrainian-Russian confrontation," Ushakov said. lolololol
Show me where Z5 said he was going to invade the Donbas in March. And what "analysts" said it. Biden did not say the Russian would attack on Feb 16th, he said that they could. That means that the RGF had gone green for everything they need to launch a ground assault. And we know that US Intel already knew that Xi had told Putin to wait until after the Olympics before launching the invasion. Psaki, noting that she would not touch on specific intelligence or conversations, emphasized the U.S. believes Russia remains “in the window” for a possible invasion of Ukraine. She referenced past statements from White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan, who has said Moscow could launch an incursion “any day now.” The Associated Press said intelligence obtained by the U.S. indicated that Russia was eyeing Wednesday as a day for the attack, and Politico reported that President Biden told Western leaders that Moscow could start its incursion on Feb. 16. As Feb. 16 passes by, Biden administration pressed on Russian invasion intel Russia does not get to dictate to its neighbors what they can and cannot do. It has taken 700k casualties to learn that. But please keep these posts coming when you label the people you follow as giants and "The great So & So."
So Oliver Stone is the analyst you were referring to?!?!?! This just keeps getting better and better.
Scott Ritter: "And if you pretend that Zelensky wasn’t preparing to use this NATO proxy to wage war against the Donbas in March 2022, you’re blind to reality. Don’t pretend Russia started this war. That just certifies your ignorance. Ask yourself why there were 20 CIA bases on Ukrainian soil if the intent of the US/NATO and Ukraine was innocent. This was a war conceived in Washington DC, designed in Brussels, and implemented in Kiev."
There's no need to pretend they started the war. They did start it. Remember Putin went in to battle Nazi's
Where would you rank Scott Ritter in terms of grand strategists? Putting aside his penchant for underage girls and arrests for it.
