Op-ed from the Saker

June 5th combat SITREP update by "Juan"

Vineyard of the Saker,

5 June, 2014

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• Красный Лиман Krasni Liman was taken by Ukraine Army and national guard 04 June 2014.
• Replacement Mi24 attack helicopters have arrived in Ukraine as replacements for the Ukraine Army losses in Donbas. Confirmed.
• Strong bombardments Slavyansk City and outlying towns and villages commenced 05:00 local time 05.06.2014. Civilian casualties unknown.
• National guard/right sector entered Railroad Hospital Krasni Liman and shot dead 37 wounded Donbas Army soldiers and civilians and at least 1 hospital worker. Confirmed.
• Air and artillery bombardments Krasni Liman cause strong civilian casualties 04.06.2014.
• List of dead air attack on Lugansk Administration Building:

- Kostjukov Vladimir Andreyevich , 1971 (regional administration)

- Corn Inna (regional administration)

- Giza Alexander (regional administration)

- Unidentified woman

- Dolzenko Nina 1955 (regional administration)

- Polezhaev Sergey 1964 (regional administration)

- Natalia Arkhipova (regional administration)

- Cerkez Galina 1967 (regional administration)

• Confirmed reports national guard/right sector random shooting civilians Krasni Liman and searching residences.
• Border Guard Headquarters and one military base taken by Donbas Army 04.06.2014. Large amounts of weapons and ammunition captured in both bases. Border Guard HQ prisoners allowed to change to civilian clothes and leave base. Prisoners from military base unknown if allowed to leave after surrender.
• Name, rank and unit of Ukraine pilot SU25 attacked Lugansk Administration Building known. Complete conversation of pilot with control before, during and after attack recorded by Donbas Army.

Calling out the crazies (who still might get what they want)

Vineyard of the Saker,

5 June, 2014

I have to say that I am rather shocked and even appalled at the level of anger and vitriol expressed in some of the comments posted in response to my attempts to explain why Russia has not intervened so far in the war in waged by the junta against the people of Novorossiia. While at least two posters are clearly getting back at me personally because of things I wrote in the past which enraged them personally (no need to name them - they know I mean them), there are also at least three major groups of posters whom I cannot dismiss as frustrated "petty avengers"

Calling out the crazies

Apparently, one group of true friends of the Novorossian people are much better informed about the plans of the AngloZionist Empire than Putin and as a result of that superior understanding they believe that the best way to defeat the plans of the AngloZionists is to to exactly what they want Russia to do. Then there is this other group who believes that Putin has basically sold out to the New World Order and that this is a huge mistake because the latter has already taken the decision to start a full-scale war against Russia in the near future (some suggest 2015). And then there are those who see Putin as a weakling who just does not have the courage or brains to do the right thing, which would be to engage into a full-scale covert operation to assist the people of Novorossiia. This third group is absolutely sure that, even though the AngloZionists have been accusing Russia of having an ongoing covert interference operation to assist Novorossia, no such plan is being implemented. Why? Because they see no evidence of it. For them the absence of evidence is the same as the evidence of absence. Even in the case of a covert plan.

Has everybody going crazy or is there something else going on here?

US Strategic PSYOPs spring the trap

Even setting aside the full-blown lunatics who would have Russia nuke London, Washington or even "the entire Anglo-Saxon race" (as one drooling idiot wrote to me), what amazes me is the level of hostility rage that literally seeps-out from many, though thankfully not all, of these comments. While some of that rage can be explained by the statistically inevitable presence of idiots in any group, including the readers of this blog, I am beginning to suspect that what is happening here is tiny part of a much bigger campaign to get Russia into finally taking the bait and making the AngloZionist's dream come true and basically make it possible to put a new "iron curtain" somewhere along the banks of the Dniepr river. In other words, I think that what we are seeing are signs of a "strategic PSYOP" operation which includes the following elements:

1) The support for even the most revolting atrocities in the eastern and southern Ukraine (the latest such atrocity reportedly is execution of wounded soldiers in the hospital of Krasnyi Liman).

2) A massive media PR campaign to demonize Putin as, what else, the "new Hitler".

3) The use of Central European prostitutes (aka politicians) to warn of a "Russian threat" to the European continent).

4) The mantric repetition of threats to sanction Russia (even though no real sanctions are actually implemented).

5) An uninhibited "in-your-face" official doublethink discourse a la Jen Psaki which does not even pretend to be honest or informed about the Ukraine.

6) The use of so-called Russian "patriots" and other "nationalists" to attack Putin and his policies as "treacherous" and "weak".

Fake Russian patriots (again)

Here I need to mention something which has received very little attention in the West, but which has been reported in Russia: many, if not most, of the most rabidly nationalistic and even neo-Nazi websites and blogs of the RuNet Russian Internet have been traced to, believe it or not, Canada and Israel. Yup - some *real* Russian patriots (like Maksim Shevchenko) got curious about the level of insanity of some of these websites, in particular the hysterically anti-Jewish ones, and they began systematically tracing their IP addresses. That is when they found out that these sites were mostly run from outside Russia and by folks who had more ties to the US and Israel than to any other group.

Russian Communists as "useful idiots" of the Empire

I myself have noticed that a lot of the anti-Putin PR often comes from either from supporters of the Russian Communist Party or, at least, is based on articles and idea spread by individuals close to the Russian CP. I don't really have the time to go into an in-depth discussion of who nowadays supports to RCP or why, but I will say that my personal conclusion is that some PR strategists of the RCP seem to have decided that a campaign to accuse Putin of being a coward, an idiot or a sellout to the West will benefit them and their leader Zyuganov. Considering that Putin's popularity in Russia is already sky-high and still climbing (something in the range of 80% last time I checked) this campaign has little or not traction in Russia. But it has been picked up by the US PSYOP community as a sign that "real patriots" in Russia would "courageously take the AngloZionist bait" instead of acting like Putin who is "waiting on the sidelines while Russians are killed in the Donbass".

While Russia take the bait?

Maybe. The problem is that for peace it takes two, while war (whether of the hot or cold type) only takes one. Please don't misunderstand me: I don't believe for one second that the AngloZionists want a real war with Russia because even if there are some truly rabid politicians who would want that, they cannot wage a war without the support of the top US military commanders who, for all their other faults and sins, are not crazy and who will not allow a full-scale war against Russia or China to happen. That is not to say that US military commanders are shy about provoking Russia (or China), but when confronted with the clear warning of the other side that there is a line not to be crossed (like the one given to the USA by Russia in 08.08.08) they back down each time which, frankly, is not a sign of weakness, but a sign of pragmatism and intelligence. The US officer corps should not be judged by Rambo or Dr. Strangelove movies - I have met many American officers ranging from young Lieutenants to one Chairman of the Joint Chiefs and I have never met Rambo or Dr Strangelove types (in contrast to the CIA which for some reason, seems to attract lunatics and disturbed individuals). This being said, I would not put it past the AngloZionists to play a reckless game of brinkmanship with Russia which would include all possible provocation short of triggering a hot war. Alas, that might be enough.

Putin is in a very tough spot right now. Emotions are really running very high in Russia and a lot of people are sincerely enraged at the constant daily stream of news about horrors and atrocities in Novorossia. For example, while the western media has not mentioned this at all, the number of refugees from the combat zone has been steadily rising, mostly in Crimea and the Rostov-on-the-Don region where over 7'000 refugees have arrived over the past few days. The footage of terrified kids, exhausted women and sobbing elderly people is absolutely revolting and the Russian media cannot not show these people just because it puts the Kremlin in a tough spot.

Also - there is no doubt in my mind at all that Russia is covertly helping the NDF. Of course, there is no proof of that since - by definition - this is a *covert* assistance, but I am quite sure that it is there, if only because of the kind of weapons which the NDF seems to regularly "find" "abandoned" here and there. Or does anybody seriously believe that the NDF has the money and time to go and purchase Igla MANPADS or advanced anti-tank missiles on the world weapons black market? The problem with covert operations is that you only find out about them when they are botched. So as long as the Russian covert support operation is competently run it does *absolutely nothing* to reassure those who are afraid that Russia is just idly standing by. As I said, some see absence of evidence as the evidence of absence, and only a botched covert operation can reassure them. But at what cost for Russia and Novorossia?

It might all boil down to the European public opinion

It might really all boil down to the European public opinion. There are some signs that the more and more people in the EU are becoming aware of the fact that their leaders are supporting a neo-Nazi junta who is waging a full-scale war against its own people. I believe that one part of the current Russian response to the war is to try to trigger some tensions between the USA and its EU vassals which are already here anyway (as seen by Mrs Nuland's words). After all, while EU politicians have sold out to the AngloZionists, they still don't like it when pressure against them is mounting on them for agreeing to policies which are so clearly detrimental for Europe. Right now Merkel, Holland & Co. are in lockstep with Obama, but that hardly means that the people of Europe are blind to what this crazy surrender of national interest might cost them. Oh, I don't expect the Europeans to engage in mass protests like in 1968 just because innocent civilians are being slaughtered on their continent - the European "conscience" is not that tender - but if 10% of all jobs in Germany are threatened or if France has to return 1.6 billion US dollars to Russia and lose roughly 7'000 high-tech jobs, there will be a political price to pay for the EU's 1%ers. One look at the recent EU elections will convince them that the writing is on the wall.

So if Putin and Lavrov succeed in driving a wedge, even a thin one, between the US and EU a Russian intervention might be avoided. But if these efforts fail and if the butchery in the Donbass continues (the Kiev junta has just cut the water supply to Slaviansk) then a Russian intervention will happen with all the inevitable consequences, fist and foremost for the European continent (Russia and the US will be much less affected).

The Saker