Putin Recognizes Donbass Republics, Sends Russian Military to 'Denazify' Ukraine

[thorbiorn]

Headlines from Denmark

Defense experts have been told not to talk about the gas leak
The new announcement from the Norwegian Defense Command may be an expression that they want to avoid escalating an already somewhat tense situation in the Baltic Sea, experts assess.
Last week, experts from the Defense Academy explained to the Danes far and wide about the gas leaks on Nord Stream 1 and 2. But that is over now. At least for a while.

The above is not surprising. When they don't say anything, they don't have to lie, just be complicit. And then more money to weapons:

03/10/2022 AT 18:30
The defense may need a new 150 million dollar boost to deal with threats in a bleak future
Even though the Armed Forces have received a historic 150 million-dollar boost, it is not necessarily enough, the Prime Minister acknowledges on the basis of a new gloomy analysis of threats.

US wins again.

 

[Aeneas]

I found this post on the Stalker Zone by Sergey Bogatyrev which makes sense about what is happening at the moment in Ukraine with Russia seemingly losing. He mentions the ultimate aim of the war, which is not defeat of Ukraine or getting a bit of territory more or less. He mentions stress tests, the new for a generational change in the army and more. I will post it in full.

Домен припаркован в Timeweb

www.stalkerzone.org

The True Purpose…​

37 mins ago
NEW – October 3, 2022
Evening, night and morning, which is more complicated, I was silent, thinking…
My head was full of questions, theories, answers and advice. But most importantly, I couldn’t understand why it [the disagreement within the corridors of power in Russia with the way the Ministry of Defence is handling the military operation in Ukraine – SZ] went public?

I do not believe that Kadyrov and Prigozhin do not have a channel to communicate with Putin past Gerasimov. I do not believe that Putin does not have “his own people” in the Ministry of Defense who do not create a double- or triple- channel for informing about what is happening. Yes, a banal analysis of open sources makes it clear that not everything is glamorous in our “Emerald City” of khaki…
That is, it is nonsense that “public appeals” to the people are an attempt to break through the information blockade around the President. Then what is the goal? The goal is obvious – to prepare public opinion for certain upcoming events. 3 versions come to mind…..

Version 1:
A “purely military plan” – the essence of which is simple, to pull the UAF into an attack on “its territory”, home, where, as they say, the walls help. And strike, strike and strike. Yes, this process must be constantly fuelled – so that the enemy goes forward on the rake regardless of losses, they need to be given a “victory”.
Kiev loves selfies at the expense of bloodshed, so let them do it! Napoleon was even given Moscow for the same reasons. But his army was taken away. Inflating the “betrayal” concerning the Ministry of Defence may also be part of this trap. I cannot assure you that this is exactly the case. I have no understanding of the losses of the parties, if I am right, then the UAF should have a multiple more.
If this version is correct, then a big counterattack using what remains of the army of the enemy is a matter of time. In favour of this version:

• Liman, and before that, Izyum and Balakleya did not receive significant reinforcements, although there were reserves, decent ones at that. They are still there.
• A whole layer of weapons is not used, although they are there and even moved closer.
• The Ukrainian infrastructure is not being destroyed, it’s as if we deliberately let the UAF “advance”.

An explanation of this through an argument:
There are morons in the General Staff, the fate of the weak-minded. Even a moron understands that the bigger the hammer, the harder it hits.

Version 1.1 (supplement):
Yes, we have lost Izyum, Liman, etc. So? Did Ukraine win? No. Have we lost the war? No. And if we had captured Kharkov, Kiev, Lvov and Odessa, would we have won? Also no. The Anglo-Saxons would not have gone anywhere. They would simply have thrown the Poles and Balts under our feet, then Germans, French and Spaniards. It would be their version of “Version 1”, only the stakes are higher. Not Balakleya, but Kharkov, not Izyum, but Kiev. Not Liman, but Lvov. Not Lisichansk, but Warsaw.
It’s possible to play this game together. Yankees and Brits can do it too. They have the experience of the two World Wars. They will not blink an eye so that Europe and Russia kill each other, and they would come and finish off the “winner”. Nothing new, and if so, then the current war is not about the seizure and retention of territories.
“Smelchak” With a Bouquet of “Tulpan” Destroys the Defence of the Ukrainian Armed Forces
Therefore, absolutely to hell with whatever flag is over Liman, this or that city at a moment in time! It only matters “how many lives and equipment this flag cost” for the parties. Whoever lost the most lost, even if they raised their flag… in the next village.

Version 2 – “The Great Resource War”:

So, we have decided that it is not the territories in pure square hectares and individual settlements that are the value of this war. And we should defeat not Ukraine and Kiev, but Brussels and Washington. But if so, the military way along the “highway” Krasny Liman – Izyum – Kiev – Brussels – London – Washington. If this is primarily nonsense, then how are we going to WIN? And we are going to win, without any doubt.

And not against the UAF and Ukraine, but against all of NATO and the EU with the United States. How can this be done? Obviously, there is only one way. Through the collapse of the Western economy! There is no other way!
The enemy has to spend their resources a lot more than we do! They should run out of them sooner! Resources in a broad sense: gas, oil, weapons, people, etc. The French “Caesar” or German “Gepard” that are destroyed by Donbass are not only an irretrievably lost military unit of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, but millions of kilowatts of energy that were required for its production. And which not just the UAF lost, but directly France, Germany or the Czech Republic.

An attempt to create a new piece of equipment in conditions of energy shortage and at new energy prices is for NATO countries is like having sex with a rattlesnake, and in a passive role too.
Yes, the process is not fast – it will take time, but it’s strategically correct. We have no other method than to reach directly for the throat of the enemy, through Ukraine, except through energy. Therefore, it is necessary to look at the same Liman not through hectares of territory, but through burned kilowatts.

I am more than sure that the UAF during the offensive, under the artillery and aviation of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, crowded at Liman, really suffered losses many times more than Russia’. Translate them into kilowatts, translate these kilowatts into EU prices, and ask yourself the question:
“The UAF and NATO definitely ‘won’ near Krasny Liman?”
Personally, I’m not at all sure…

In such a war, territories are also evaluated in terms of resource and energy potential. Yes, it’s cynical, but that’s why Crimea, Kherson, Zaparozhye, Donbass are already in Russia – these are resource-profitable regions. Izyum, Liman, etc. were exchanged for the lives of Ukrainians and NATO kilowatts.
Interior Ministry: In Russia There Are About 2.5 Million Citizens of Ukraine
And I don’t need snot in the comments below this text about poor, peaceful people who were abandoned and betrayed by the “bad” Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. I have already learned this tactic of Ukrainian governmental psyops. War is cynical sh*t, not a macrame circle. But this is a barrel of honey, a fly in the ointment will be next…

Version 3 – “Socio-structural”:

I.e. the deliberate creation of “uncomfortable living conditions” for individuals or entire social groups that will force them to leave Russian society, or Russian state structures and social institutions. There is absolutely no doubt that this is an important factor for the full development of the country. This approach is more effective and widespread than the use of personalised enforcement tools.
Indeed, we need to defeat not Ukraine, and not even the EU, along with the USA. Victory over them will come by itself, if we do the main thing, we will be able to understand ourselves! Find weak and rotten links, defective areas. Replace them, fix them, throw them away.
There is neither good nor evil in this. No need to heap burning coals of shame on one’s head or trumpet hymns of praise, to go to extremes.

It just needs to be done to make the SYSTEM work! The most successful business structures periodically conduct stress tests on a variety of topics. You will be surprised, but almost always errors, mistakes and screw-ups pop up. Sometimes they are significant, sometimes not. Sometimes the person responsible for this flies out of the company like a cork from a bottle of champagne. Sometimes, they get a slap on the head, sometimes a bonus.

The “Special Military Operation” is also a stress test! Only on the scale of the largest state in the world by area. Held FOR THE FIRST TIME in 80 years! Do you think we should be able to do everything smoothly? No – that would be fantasy. Just counting on it is stupid. But it is also a crime to keep silent or stuff such a thing under the carpet, because the value of a stress test is precisely in identifying and correcting errors, anyone who prevents this is a criminal!
Strategically, the “cunning plan” to cleanse society works quite well:

• Outright traitors are either sat in jail or fled the country;
• Some businessmen rushed to the West to their money, others brought the money to Russia;
• Some “stars” went to the hospital, and to hell with the others;
• With the beginning of the announcement of the “Special Military Operation”, and then mobilisation, society regurgitated a huge number of cowards and scoundrels;

In general, this year everyone shows what they are really worth. Now, in my opinion, the matter should reach outright fools and dim-wits, and not only in the army.
8 months is a more than sufficient period of time to look at the “combat path” of each official, officer and general and analyse it personally for professional suitability.

And I don’t need to hear phrases like “And before this it was impossible?”
I have been engaged in personnel security for 12 years and I can state with full responsibility: “Only practical activity shows the real level of training!” No tests, service checks, exercises give a complete picture. Fools disguise themselves very well. Yes, unfortunately we have already learned that…

Borisov – crappily organised the state defence order and went for a hard downgrade. The former deputy in the rear of the Ministry of Defence Bulgakov turned out to be weak and incompetent. Similar things will continue to happen.
Moreover, objectively, the Ministry of Defence needs a “generational change”, one can appreciate the experience of generals aged 60+, but most of them stupidly do not know how to work with a computer or any modern gadgets. And do you expect them to digitalise the battlefield and network-centric warfare? They should have crayons, pencils and paper maps – here is the thing! That’s just not how wars are fought anymore.

And it’s time for a very significant layer of the Russian military leadership to retire. If you think that you are able to be useful – then have the position of “adviser”. And this is not a stone in the garden of the Ministry of Defence – it’s just that now it’s in focus. This applies to all departments of Russia, where people aged 60+ rule.
Kadyrov, Prigozhin, many senior officers and young generals understand this, but they can’t do anything. Any law enforcement agency is a “fighting brotherhood of elders” who hold onto a chair for a banal reason. They don’t know how to do anything, and nobody needs them in civilian life!

If to not take “resonant cases”, when the “best” arrive in their position not though hard work, then ALL LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES work at a speed for which in a normal business structure you would be thrown out of the window in a week at most. The level of flexibility is close to zero!
Unless a person has experience in business, and Kadyrov, Prigozhin do. I am not at all surprised that such people are missing from the “decision-making system” in the Ministry of Defence and in other structures.

Therefore YES! I definitely agree that:
a) a radical rejuvenation of the command staff of law enforcement agencies is necessary;
b) the dilution of this “closed club of pensioners” with fresh blood from other departments.

We need real social elevators within the military system. In the civil sphere, this is somehow happening: the School of Governors, Leaders of Russia, etc., etc. There is no such thing in any siloviki department.

As a result, there is everywhere the height of old age, which is simply behind the times, but does not want to humble itself and admit it. The “Special Military Operation” showed that they simply cannot keep pace and have time to adapt to a rapidly changing environment.
And it’s not about Lapin, Kadyrov or Prigozhin. Everything is much more complicated. And yes, these stables need to be raked.
Can we win without it? Probably yes! And the fact that these questions began to be raised is correct.
THIS is much more important than the victory over Ukraine. We will solve problems and we will win everywhere! We will defeat anyone!

---

Sergey Bogatyrev

 

[thorbiorn]

China Daily:

What comment from Putin might fit?
From the latest speech:

It actually continues to occupy Germany, Japan, the Republic of Korea and other countries, which they cynically refer to as equals and allies. Look now, what kind of alliance is that? The whole world knows that the top officials in these countries are being spied on and that their offices and homes are bugged. It is a disgrace, a disgrace for those who do this and for those who, like slaves, silently and meekly swallow this arrogant behaviour.

They call the orders and threats they make to their vassals Euro-Atlantic solidarity,

 

[JEEP]

From ZeroHedge:

"2023 Will Be Year From Hell" - Martin Armstrong Warns Europe 'Could Suck The Rest Of The World Down The Tubes'
Legendary financial and geopolitical cycle analyst Martin Armstrong says nothing is going to get better by the end of 2022, and he is still forecasting “chaos” coming in 2023.

Armstrong says the plunge in the stock market last week is all because of “extreme uncertainty.” Armstrong predicted a stock market crash two months ago and contends, “It’s not over.”

Europe is in big financial trouble with Russian natural gas turned off as a retaliation from the sanctions. Armstrong explains:

“In Europe, I believe they are actually deliberately doing this, and this is Klaus Schwab’s ‘Great Reset.’

They know they have a serious problem.

They lowered rates to below 0% in 2014. They just started raising interest rates. Meanwhile, you ordered all the pension funds throughout Europe to have more than 70% in government bonds. Then they took it negative.

All the pension funds are insolvent. Europe is fiscal mismanagement on a grand scale. There is no way it can sustain itself, and we are looking at Europe breaking apart.”

So, could Europe suck the rest of the world down the tubes? Armstrong says, “Oh, absolutely. Europe is the problem..."

"The crisis in banking will start in Europe...The debt is collapsing. They have no way to sustain themselves.

The debt market over there is undermining the stability of all the banks.

You have to understand that reserves are tied to government debt, and this is the perfect storm.

Yes, the (U.S.) stock market will go down short term. We are not facing a 1929 event or a 90% fall here... Europeans, probably by January of 2023, as this crisis in Ukraine escalates, anybody with half a brain is going to take whatever money they have and get it over here.”

So, where is smart money going to go? Armstrong says, “Stocks are like gold, it is on the same side of the table and is opposite government debt..."

"People are not going to be buying government debt. They are going to be looking at anything in the private sector. . . . People are buying whatever they can to get off the grid.”

READ MORE plus the nearly 59-minute interview:

Join Greg Hunter of USAWatchdog.com as he goes One-on-One with Martin Armstrong, cycle expert and author of the upcoming new book “The Plot to Seize Russia, Manufacturing World War III” for 9.24.22.

Didn't the Cs say the elites' financial manipulations would get out of control - best laid plans of mice and men?

 

[JEEP]

From RT:

Thousands of German stores on brink of closure Spiegel

Over 15,000 German stores are facing bankruptcy due to soaring energy costs, Der Spiegel reported on Friday, citing the German Retail Association (HDE).

According to the report, the HDE wrote a letter to Vice-Chancellor and Economy Minister Robert Habeck in which it warned that the “exploding energy costs” are making it impossible for increasing numbers of retailers to make ends meet. The group called the situation “existentially threatening” and said that around 16,000 businesses may go bankrupt this year, while the “negative trend” is likely to continue through 2023.

QUICK! Sell more arms to Saudi Arabia!

 

[JEEP]

German media reported on 29 September that Berlin has approved a number of new weapons export deals with Saudi Arabia, in defiance of a 2018 ban over Riyadh’s brutal war in Yemen. In a letter to the Bundestag, the country’s Economy Minister, Robert Habeck, said that the deals were approved by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz just before his recent visit to Saudi Arabia.

From SputnikNews:
Yemens Houthis Warn Foreign Oil Companies to Get Out of Saudi Arabia, UAE as Ceasefire Crumbles

On Sunday, UN Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg expressed “regret” over the failure of Yemen’s warring parties to extend a nationwide ceasefire agreed in April, and called on both sides to “fulfill their obligation to the Yemeni people to pursue every avenue for peace.” The Houthis and Yemen’s Gulf State-backed government have been at war since 2015.

Yemen’s Houthi militia have warned foreign oil companies to get their affairs in order and leave Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates post haste, hinting at the possibility of fresh drone and missile strikes against the Gulf nations’ energy infrastructure.
[...]
“If the Saudi and Emirati coalition continue to deprive our Yemeni people access to their resources, our military forces can, with God’s help, deprive them of their resources,” Sare’e added.

For its part, the Houthis’ Supreme Political Council warned that the militant group has “the airports, ports and oil companies of the aggress[or] countries in the crosshairs” and “will not stand idly by if the aggression and siege continue.”

 

[JEEP]

From SputnikNews:

The Biden administration has pledged to provide $1.5Bln a month to Kiev to keep the Ukrainian economy afloat and is pushing the EU to commit to a similar package, Bloomberg has reported. Meanwhile, the EU is facing a severe economic slowdown, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has warned.

"Since the beginning of the 'Ukraine issue' back in 2008 to 2014, it was clear to me that the Anglosphere has used it as a Trojan horse to check both EU [Germany] and Russia," says Paolo Raffone, a strategic analyst and director of the CIPI Foundation in Brussels. "The EU leadership is fundamentally working against European interests, abiding by the policy dictated by the US/UK/NATO. No doubt the EU will be saddled with the greatest share of rebuilding Ukraine that will be, together with Poland, a US/UK strategic fiefdom in Eastern Europe to separate the EU from Russia and therefore stymie Germany's heft as a regional and global player. [This is] just like the 1901 Mackinder theory."

The Biden administration has vowed to support Kiev with $1.5Bln a month in economic aid and has approved $4.5Bln in grants for Ukraine to cover the country's needs until the end of the year. The White House has held talks with EU officials pressing them to follow suit to keep Ukraine's economy afloat, Bloomberg wrote on Sunday, citing people familiar with the matter. According to the International Monetary Fund, Ukraine needs roughly $5Bln per month to cover essential services.

Meanwhile, the EU has yet to deliver on its commitments of nearly 9Bln euros ($8.8Bln) for Kiev: the bloc paid out only 1Bln euros last summer. Another 5Bln euros have been allocated but not yet paid out to Ukraine; the rest of the sum remains stuck over formal and financial issues.

The aforementioned delays are understandable given that "Europeans are now in total disarray over funding subsidies to their consumers and industry for relief from the impossibly high energy bills that are now being sent out by electricity suppliers," Gilbert Doctorow, an international relations analyst, said.

"Most EU countries can’t raise the hundreds of billions through issuance of bonds - as Germany is about to do - because of their weaker economies and high public indebtedness," Doctorow says, casting doubt on the EU's ability to meet Washington's demands regarding Ukraine. "The EU governments will soon be facing non-payment movements from their citizenry and cannot afford to be seen to be delivering cash money to Kiev."

The EU is facing nothing short of "a continent-wide recession", Bloomberg noted on 28 September, predicting a "harsh winter" for Europe’s households, chemical producers, steel plants, and car manufacturers. "If the coming months turn especially icy and the bloc’s 27 members fail to share scarce fuel supplies efficiently," the European economy could contract by as much as 5 percent, according to the Bloomberg Economics' estimates.

Earlier, the Wall Street Journal revealed that European manufacturers are increasingly shifting their business to the US as the energy crunch bites. To complicate matters further, the sabotage attack on the Nord Stream pipeline system put a rocket under energy prices and cut Europe's access to additional volumes of affordable fuel.

According to Raffone, the split among EU countries is already a reality. To illustrate his point he refers to Berlin's unilateral decision to allocate 200Bln euros ($194Bln) to shield the country's population from surging energy prices. Other EU governments are struggling to solve their crises on their own. Meanwhile, if Italy's new government fails to steer the country out of the fiscal crisis, the nation's economy could detonate and cause the EU's disintegration, Raffone alleges.

Even though technically the EU can "feed" Ukraine regularly, it would be politically disastrous under the present circumstances, he warns.

"How will politicians explain that huge funds can be made available to Ukraine but not to support the EU citizens?" the strategic analyst said. "The attempt to justify such a choice, recalling the famous 'EU values', is dangerous because the EU Treaties never speak of 'values'. The risk is to ignite a series of 'EU exits'."

EU Risks Financial Crisis, Disintegration If It Continues To Pour Billions Into Ukraine, Say Experts

The Biden administration has pledged to provide $1.5Bln a month to Kiev to keep the Ukrainian economy afloat and is pushing the EU to commit to a similar package, Bloomberg has reported. Meanwhile, the EU is facing a severe economic...

sputniknews.com

 

[bjorb]

Footage of the war in Ukraine

 

[Bluegazer]

I don't know if you've already seen it but I'm sharing it anyway.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1576995183052214273

 

[truepositive]

The amount of intrigue, backstabbing and double/ triple agent activity involved in this spectacle is mindblowing. It also sadly calls into question the Babylon 5 prophecy of us inheriting wisened alien souls. Please dont point me towards details about JMS's career, i am fully aware. True art becomes more than its parts and intentions.

The reason we cannot move on from this nonsense is both complicated and simple. Power has an almost irresistable attraction, and in a world where authority itself is a prize, society will tend in that direction.

We were capable of great things but got captured by outside influences.

None of these geopolitics matter since they dont respect human nature. Putin does slightly better then some but its all marginal. CBDC's worldwide are to be avoided at all costs. If those get implemented without resistance we are kind of done.

I hate to be the harbinger of doom, but certain parties in 'control' of this world have truly sided with Sorath.

 

[Alejo]

I don't know if you've already seen it but I'm sharing it anyway.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1576995183052214273

Yep, caught this as well tonight.

Found the full interview, note how one of the interviews immediately goes off on him going "wait and minute!!! where is your evidence!!" and when the professor speaks to that fact... the lady comes in to say... "well... uh let's not talk about that" priceless!! everybody knows!

Here's a translation from an article in Spanish about it

Jeffrey Sachs, a renowned economist at Columbia University (USA) and former advisor to three UN secretaries general, affirmed that the recent emergency in Nord Stream was the result of deliberate actions by the United States. "The destruction of the Nord Stream pipeline [...] is an action of the United States, perhaps of the United States and Poland," he said in an interview for Bloomberg TV.

Upon expressing this opinion, the analyst was immediately confronted by one of the interviewers, who demanded that he present evidence. The economist then claimed that there is radar data indicating that U.S. military helicopters, based in Poland, were circling a nearby area when the accident occurred. He also mentioned previous threats, on the part of the White House, to shut down Nord Stream in one way or another.

Jeffrey Sachs recalled the statement of U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who called the destruction of the pipeline "a tremendous opportunity." "That's a strange way to talk, if you are concerned about piracy in vitally important international infrastructure," the expert noted.

The analyst stressed that "in the West you are not allowed to say these things." "But the fact is that when I talk to people around the world, they all think it was the U.S. that did it," he concluded.

Sachs also asserted that the world "is entering the most unstable geopolitical era in many decades," in what he described as a major geopolitical conflict not only between the U.S. and Russia, but also between the U.S. and China. In addition to lamenting the absence of efforts to mitigate the crisis, the expert analyst highlighted the "tremendous amount of provocations" undertaken by Washington. "We are breaking any sense of stability," he said.

And then there's this, Russia extending yet another olive branch

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak has stated that the Nord Stream pipelines, which suffered four gas leaks after Monday's emergencies, can be repaired, but it will take time and money.

Of course, it is technically possible to rebuild the infrastructure, but it requires time and appropriate funds. I am sure that the right opportunities will be found," the senior official stressed in an interview with the program 'Moscow. Kremlin. Putin' on Rossiya 1 channel.

He also indicated that the inoperability of the pipelines is in the interest of the countries that opposed the project. "As of today we start from the fact that, first of all, we have to find out who did it, and we are sure that certain countries that were expressing their positions before are interested in this [that the pipelines are inoperable]," he said.

Novak recalled that, at the time, both the United States, Ukraine and Poland "were talking about the fact that this infrastructure will not operate" and argued that the aforementioned nations "are going to do everything possible" to prevent supplies through this route.

 

[Ocean]

Russian nuclear submarine armed with 'doomsday' weapon disappears from Arctic harbor: report​

Russian nuclear submarine armed with 'doomsday' weapon disappears from Arctic harbor: report

Russia's Belgorod nuclear submarine is no longer operating in the Arctic. NATO has warned its member countries that Putin may be testing the vessel's "doomsday" weapon.

news.yahoo.com

A top-of-the-line Russian nuclear-powered submarine has gone missing from its harbor in the Arctic along with its rumored "doomsday weapon," according to multiple reports.

NATO has reportedly warned members that Russia's Belgorod submarine no longer appeared to be operating out of its White Sea base, where it has been active since July.

Officials warned that Russia may plan to test Belgorod's "Poseidon" weapons system, a drone equipped with a nuclear bomb that Russia has claimed is capable of creating a "radioactive tsunami," according to Italian media.

The drone can be deployed from the submarine at any time and detonated at a depth of 1 kilometer near a coastal city.
Russian state media has claimed the device can create a 1,600-ft. wave that smashes into the coast and irradiates it.

The 600-ft. submarine was delivered to the Russian Navy in July as part of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s top-secret program that aims to develop and operate a series of a new class of "super weapons."

The Belgorod submarine was delivered to the Russian Navy in July as part of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s (foreground, right) top-secret program that aims to develop and operate a series of a new class of "super weapons."


Rebekah Koffler, a strategic intelligence expert and author of "Putin’s Playbook," warned that Russia's use of such a weapon would only come as a last resort "in the event that Russia and the U.S. are in a direct kinetic war and Russia is losing."

Koffler said the device is likely not to be operational until 2027, but Putin may be testing it as a means to intimidate both Ukraine its NATO allies in the West. Putin has warned that Russia's potential use of nuclear weapons is "not a bluff."
Belgorod's location remains publicly unknown as of Monday, a situation that is not particularly surprising to Koffler. Russian submarines have some of the best stealth capabilities in the world and have even entered U.S. waters undetected in the past, according to Koffler.

Story continues

Edit
"There have been times when Russian nuclear-powered attack submarines, armed with long-range cruise missiles, operated undetected for weeks close to U.S. shores," Koffler told Fox News Digital.

One incident in the early 2010s saw a submarine get detected only when it was leaving U.S. waters.

"My colleagues from the Office of Naval Intelligence got a serious dressing down by a four-star general" following the event, Koffler said.

Putin 'deploys Belgorod nuclear sub' amid sabre-rattling over Ukraine

The Belgorod - a huge 600ft Russian nuclear submarine - has left its base in the White Sea and may be going to test its Poseidon doomsday device, a NATO warning note has said.

www.dailymail.co.uk

Putin 'deploys Belgorod nuclear submarine which carries Poseidon underwater drone capable of unleashing radioactive tsunamis which lay waste to enemy coastlines'​

• Russian nuclear submarine Belgorod has left its White Sea base, it is claimed
• NATO warns sub might be on mission to test Poseidon drone, Italian media said
• Poseidon is a doomsday device designed to trigger a 1,600ft nuclear tsunami
• It comes after Putin threatened the West with nukes over the war in Ukraine
  
  
  Vladimir Putin may have deployed a huge nuclear submarine carrying its latest doomsday weapon, NATO has warned its members.
  
  The Belgorod has disappeared from its home base in the Arctic Circle and may be on its way to the Kara Sea to test the Poseidon nuke, a NATO warning note leaked to Italian media over the weekend has suggested.
  
  Poseidon is a drone that is said to be capable of travelling huge distances underwater before detonating with enough force to trigger a 1,600ft nuclear tsunami designed to drown and irradiate coastal cities.

The Belgorod - a 600ft Russian nuclear submarine capable of carrying the Poseidon doomsday weapon - has left its base in the White Sea, a NATO warning note has said



Poseidon is an underwater drone that Russia claims is capable of triggering 1,600ft nuclear tsunamis designed to drown and irradiate coastal cities

 

[Ocean]

​

North Korea fires ballistic missile over Japan for first time since 2017​

North Korea fires ballistic missile over Japan for first time since 2017

The missile, which was estimated to have traveled 4,600 km, prompted Tokyo to issue a rare alert calling for residents to take cover.

www.japantimes.co.jp

North Korea launched an intermediate-range ballistic missile over Japan for the first time since 2017 on Tuesday, the government said, a dramatic escalation that prompted Tokyo to issue a rare alert for residents to take cover.

Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada said the weapon, believed to be a Hwasong-12 IRBM, flew 4,600 kilometers — the longest distance ever traveled by a North Korean missile — flying for about one minute over Aomori Prefecture before eventually landing in the Pacific Ocean some 3,200 km from Japan.




“North Korea's recent series of actions, including its persistent and escalating launches, threaten the peace and security of the region and the globe, and are a serious challenge to the entire international community, including our own country,” Hamada told reporters.

Pyongyang has conducted a flurry of missile tests at an unprecedented rate this year. Since Sept. 25, it has conducted launches five times, firing off a total of eight missiles — a frenetic pace that has rekindled memories of the “fire and fury” period five years ago that some say took the world to the brink of nuclear catastrophe.

Hamada said the launch over Japan was “as an extremely problematic act from the perspective of ensuring the safety of not only aircraft and ships, but also the residents of the area where the ballistic missile is believed to have passed over.”

“Japan cannot tolerate such a move, and we have made a protest to North Korea through its embassy in Beijing, condemning it in the strongest possible terms,” he added.



Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks to reporters about a North Korean missile launch that overflew Japan, at the Prime Minister’s Office in Tokyo on Tuesday morning. | KYODO
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, meanwhile, also slammed Pyongyang’s spate of launches, calling them “a series of outrageous acts.”

Kishida said he had instructed government officials to gather and analyze information on the latest launch while working with relevant countries, including its top ally, the United States.

Following the launch, Japan’s J-Alert warning system was also activated for the first time since 2017, with alerts issued for Hokkaido and Aomori Prefecture, as well as Tokyo’s Izu islands, urging residents to take shelter.

In a hastily arranged news conference earlier Tuesday, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said that there had been no reports of damage to airplanes or ships, adding that the government was working to confirm that there was no damage from any falling debris.

Matsuno, the government’s top spokesman, also said that the Self-Defense Forces had “completely monitored and tracked the launch from immediately after until when it landed,” adding that the SDF did not take measures to shoot down the missile since no damage to Japanese territory had been anticipated.

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol speaks to reporters as he arrives at the Presidential Office in Seoul on Tuesday. | YONHAP / VIA AFP-JIJI
In Seoul, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol condemned the launch, saying that it would be met with a “resolute” response from the country, its allies and the international community.

Yoon stressed that Pyongyang’s continued provocations would only serve to strengthen security cooperation with the U.S., Japan and other partners outside the region, according to the Presidential Office.

The White House, meanwhile, blasted the North’s “dangerous and reckless decision to launch a long-range ballistic missile over Japan.”

“This action is destabilizing and shows the DPRK’s blatant disregard for United Nations Security Council resolutions and international safety norms,” National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said, using the acronym for the North’s formal name.

Senior officials from the U.S. and its allies in Japan and South Korea had spoken about “appropriate and robust joint and international responses,” the White House said, though it was unclear what those might be.



[IMG alt="A broadcast on a TV in Tokyo on Tuesday shows a warning about a North Korean missile launch. | KANAKO TAKAHARA
"]https://www.japantimes.co.jp/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/np_file_186088.jpeg[/IMG]

A broadcast on a TV in Tokyo on Tuesday shows a warning about a North Korean missile launch. | KANAKO TAKAHARA
The launch over Japan — seen as a far more provocative step than its recent spate of shorter-range missile tests — was the seventh time the nuclear-armed nation had sent a ballistic missile over the Japanese archipelago.

Analysts concurred with the Japanese assessment that the weapon was likely to have been a Hwasong-12, which has a similar range. North Korea has twice lobbed a Hwasong-12 over Japan, the last time occurring in 2017, sparking outrage in Tokyo and triggering the J-Alert system.

Pyongyang also tested one of the weapons on Jan. 30, firing it on a so-called lofted trajectory that saw it fly as high as 2,000 km, while traveling 800 km before landing in the Sea of Japan.

“Based on the range, apogee and flight time, the North Korea missile was a Hwasong-12 IRBM,” Jeffery Lewis, director of the East Asia Nonproliferation Program at the Middlebury Institute, wrote on Twitter.

With little hope of long-stalled denuclearization talks between the North and the U.S. resuming in the near future — and the war in Ukraine and tensions with China dominating the headlines — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un may be seeing the value in conducting more provocative weapons tests, experts say.

“By now, North Korea’s short-range missile tests must suffer diminishing returns in terms of technical advancement, domestic political value and international signaling,” said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul.

But, Easley added, a missile fired over Japan represents "a significant escalation over its recent provocations.”



A Hwasong-12 intermediate-range ballistic missile is displayed during a military parade in Pyongyang in October 2020. | KCNA / VIA KYODO
Still, J. Berkshire Miller, a senior fellow with the Japan Institute of International Affairs, said that while the launch “is clearly a signal” from Pyongyang of its unhappiness with the U.S., “the tests are not purely theatrics to get American attention, and are a continued attempt to perfect capabilities and bolster confidence in their deterrent power.”

Perhaps more concerning, Kim may still have yet another means of ramping up his provocations.

According to U.S. and South Korean officials, the only thing preventing North Korea from conducting its seventh nuclear test — possibly of a smaller, battlefield warhead known as a tactical nuclear weapon — is a greenlight from Kim.

South Korea’s spy agency said last week that the North had readied an underground tunnel at its Punggye-ri nuclear test site, and that it could conduct a blast sometime between Oct. 16 and Nov. 7. Such a time frame would position any test between an important congress of China’s Communist Party and November’s U.S. midterm congressional elections.

“Pyongyang is still in the middle of a provocation and testing cycle and is likely waiting until after China’s mid-October Communist Party congress to conduct an even more significant test,” Easley said, adding that the Kim regime is developing weapons such as tactical nuclear warheads and submarine-launched ballistic missiles as part of a long-term strategy "to outrun South Korea in an arms race and drive wedges among U.S. allies.”

They're going all in on the Red October theme ...

 

[f1esk]

️Vladimir Zelensky put into effect the decision of the National Security and Defense Council on the impossibility of holding negotiations with Vladimir Putin, the corresponding decree was published on the website of the office of the Ukrainian President.

Is the US sending a signal through Zelensky to traitors in Russia to eliminate Putin?

 

[f1esk]

️Vladimir Zelensky put into effect the decision of the National Security and Defense Council on the impossibility of holding negotiations with Vladimir Putin, the corresponding decree was published on the website of the office of the Ukrainian President.

Is the US sending a signal through Zelensky to traitors in Russia to eliminate Putin?

This assumption is based on the fact that on September 30, the last day of the referendum, the United States imposed sanctions against Nabiullina, the Federation Council and relatives of Medvedev, Mishustin, Sobyanin.

The traitors from this list did not cope with their tasks. For example, Nabiulina failed to bring down the Russian economy. And behind such officials are corporate forces that can cause unrest in Russia. And now, if they want to prove that they are still serving the west, they need to do what they ask.

(I do not consider everyone on this list to be traitors)

Perhaps this is the beginning of the stage that Svetlana Dragan prophesies.

These are my thoughts on what's going on.

Or maybe Zelensky was just offended?