Ukrainian Junta Defeated - while the people face social and economic collapse

“This is a city of the dead! For six days we haven’t eaten or drunk, we’ve been going crazy,” “This is genocide against the people, it’s just killing. Six days they’ve been killing us. My hands are shaking. The Ukrainians don’t let us through their side, you can’t escape there. We’re like prisoners to them, as if we’re to blame for something.”

Exodus from the city of Uglegorsk

The EU attempt to try and stave off military defeat for the Ukrainian Junta has failed ignominiously. The battle for the Debalcevo cauldron has reached its climax with the defeat of the Ukrainian Armed Forces (AFU) at the hands of the Novorossian Armed Forces (NAF). According to information coming from militias of Novorossia the AFU losses are huge. As of 19 February the Junta has lost 1,200-1,500 men killed and over 500 have been taken as prisoners. To compound matters the Ukrainian army has abandoned most of its artillery and armour and large amounts of ammunition dealing a huge blow to the war mongers in Kiev and their masters in Washington. This latest military catastrophe for the Kiev Junta is explained away by the capitalist media as the consequence of Russia's continuing military incursion into Ukraine.

The Russian blogger Colonel Cassad has noted the military significance of this victory for the militias of Novorossia,''Regardless of how much of the enemy force will be able to break out of the encirclement, the NAF captured a major transport hub of the Novorossia (which will greatly simplify the NAF logistics) and defeated a large military group of the enemy, which allows us to state that a major operational success was achieved.''

The Minsk ceasefire talks were a desperate attempt by the leaders of the EU to try and stave off a military defeat for the AFU after it lost control of Donetsk airport and then became enveloped in the Debalcevo cauldron. It is worth recalling that the previous ceasefire in September was prompted by the crushing defeats suffered by the Ukrainian army.

The EU has recently announced further sanctions against 19 individuals and eight battalions of the Novorossian Armed Forces (NAF). To compound matters the EU leaders have stated that Russia will face even further sanctions if the ceasefire fails. This taken together with the accords of the recent Minsk ceasefire, which put responsibility for enforcing the ceasefire solely upon Russia, reveals how the EU ''peace initiative'' was not meant to bring peace to Ukraine but merely to give the Ukrainian army a breathing space to avoid catastrophic defeat.

The irony of the situation is that during the Minsk talks Poroshenko could have negotiated the peaceful withdrawal of their forces out of the Debalcevo cauldron. However, Poroshenko was being pushed by the war party in his government and his American backers to maintain the suicidal position of no retreat. It would appear that once the remains of the Debalcevo cauldron are mopped up by the NAF then a ceasefire of sorts may settle over the front lines on both sides.

Complete story at - Ukrainian Junta Defeated - while the people face social and economic collapse

Ukraine: A Catastrophic Defeat by Tim Judah | NYRblog | The New York Review of Books

The scale of the devastation suffered by Ukrainian forces in southeastern Ukraine over the last week has to be seen to be believed. It amounts to a catastrophic defeat and will long be remembered by embittered Ukrainians as among the darkest days of their history.

A week ago a major rebel offensive began. On September 3 on a sixteen-mile stretch of road from the village of Novokaterinivka to the town of Ilovaysk, I counted the remains of sixty-eight military vehicles, tanks, armored personnel carriers, pick-ups, buses, and trucks in which a large but as yet unknown number of Ukrainian soldiers died as they tried to flee the area between August 28 and September 1. They had been ambushed by rebel forces and, according to survivors, soldiers from the army of the Russian Federation.

These destroyed vehicles were of course only the ones I could see—those that were not destroyed are now in the hands of rebels. In Novokaterinivka, which is twenty-eight miles southeast of the rebel-held city of Donetsk, the body of a Ukrainian soldier was folded over the high power cable onto which he had been flung when his armored vehicle exploded, his clothes hanging off him. In what was left of the vehicle nearby were the charred remains of half a man and the grilled body of another, left where he had been sitting when he was killed.

On September 3, eighty-seven bodies were reported to have arrived in Zaporizhia, a large city in the region that is under Ukrainian control. But, more are yet to be found. Quite apart from the appalling military setback is the humiliation. At one ambush site two fresh graves marked with crosses made of sticks indicated that the dead had been buried close to their burned out vehicles by the side of the road. On the main street of Novokaterinivka locals posed for pictures in front of destroyed vehicles and cars that had been jacked up with logs because undamaged wheels had been unscrewed and looted. Euphoric rebel soldiers there told us they were “cleaning up”—looking for remaining Ukrainians who had fled into the fields and were still there.

Complete story at - Ukraine: A Catastrophic Defeat by Tim Judah | NYRblog | The New York Review of Books

Ukraine on verge of collapse as Kiev forces capitulate: U.S. 'catapults the propaganda' with another desperate 'Russian invasion' ploy -- Puppet Masters -- Sott.net

Remember when August was considered a 'slow-news month'? Neither do we! Hot on the heels of last week's failed attempt to smear the Russian humanitarian aid convoy as a 'Russian invasion of Ukraine', US-led hysteria reached fever-pitch yesterday when blanket media coverage once again shrieked 'Russian invasion of Ukraine!' Citing 'US intel' about Russian troop movements and Porky-shenko's alleged claim that Russian military had crossed into Ukraine, the US government called - via puppet state Lithuania - an emergency UN Security Council meeting to discuss the "thousands of Russian troops crossing into Ukraine". "10,000" Russian troops in a full-scale ground invasion became "1,000" Russian troops, which became grainy satellite images of dubious quality, which became USA's UN lobbyist for perpetual war, Samantha Power, posting tweets from the UNSC meeting that amounted to 'Russia is a poopy-head'.

The timing reflects the extent to which Kiev has lost military control of the breakaway republics of Donetsk and Lugansk, now called Novorossiya, to say nothing of political influence over the people living there. As a result of this consolidating of the 'reality on the ground', the peace talks between Russia, the EU and other Eurasian partners in Minsk this week, and the upcoming EU Summit in Brussels and NATO's Summit in Cardiff next week, this latest volley of propaganda fired at Russia by the US empire-builders is a sign of their desperation to prevent the inevitable: rapprochement and back-room deals between the EU and Russia.

On August 7, Aleksandr Zakharchenko was made Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Donetsk People's Republic, replacing Alexander Borodai (now deputy PM). The man who assumed leadership of the Donbass Militia in April, unifying the rag-tag groups of fighters into a single fighting force, Igor Strelkov, has been replaced by Vladimir Kononov. The leadership in Lugansk has experienced a similar shuffling of personnel. Considering Strelkov's reputation in the region, this came as a shock to many, with rumors of his being seriously wounded in battle. (These rumors have been denied by Novorossiyan sources). But if recent events are any judge, the new leadership has signaled a turning point in the war of independence being fought in the Donbass.

As Zakharchenko and Kononov revealed at their press conference earlier this week (we recommend watching the whole thing, or at least reading the transcript), Donetsk have consolidated their militia into the official armed forces of the DPR, with two tank battalions, two full artillery brigades, two Grad divisions, one mechanized infantry battalion, three infantry brigades and a special purpose assault airborne brigade, including an upgraded communication system, two field hospitals and a maintenance brigade.

On Sunday 24th, they put these forces to use in Amvrosiyevka and Starobeshevo, capturing from Kiev's forces four armored carriers, three infantry fighting vehicles, three anti-tank guns, a self-propelled artillery gun, trucks and an ammunition depot. According to the Donetsk army:

During the counteroffensive, militias inflicted heavy losses on the Ukrainian troops. A total of 750 Ukrainian punitive troops were either killed or wounded. Over 150 Ukrainian troops have voluntarily surrendered to militias overnight.

Complete story at - Ukraine on verge of collapse as Kiev forces capitulate: U.S. 'catapults the propaganda' with another desperate 'Russian invasion' ploy -- Puppet Masters -- Sott.net