Category Archives: Europe

British soldiers in Ukraine would be legitimate target for Russia

silhouette of soldiers walking

Lucas Leiroz, journalist, researcher at the Center for Geostrategic Studies, geopolitical consultant.

UK’s new defense secretary, Grant Shapps, is already involved in controversy, publicly proposing escalations in the Ukrainian conflict. During an interview to a Western media outlet, Shapps revealed that he plans to send British soldiers to Ukrainian territory, where they are expected to train Kiev’s troops. The case generated a Russian reaction and a failed attempt at clarification by British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

The newly appointed secretary stated that there are plans for the British training program for Ukrainian soldiers to be conducted inside the Ukrainian territory. Furthermore, he said that British production of weapons and military equipment for Kiev could also be relocated to Ukraine, mainly in the west of the country, where the damage from the conflict is not so significant.

“I was talking today about eventually getting the training brought closer and actually into Ukraine as well (…) Particularly in the west of the country, I think the opportunity now is to bring more things ‘in country’, and not just training… but also we’re seeing BAE [an UK defense firm], for example, move into manufacturing ‘in country’, for example. (…) I’m keen to see other British [military] companies do their bit as well by doing the same thing. So I think there will be a move to get more training and production in the country”, he told The Telegraph’s journalists.

In the interview, Shapps also claimed to have spoken with President Vladimir Zelensky and other Ukrainian state officials about the possibility of British Royal Navy assisting Ukrainian “civilian” vessels, protecting commercial ships from attacks launched by Russian armed forces. He did not clarify how this “help” would be possible, but his words suggest that the British Navy could use direct deterrent methods against Russia, which sounds like a serious threat.

Obviously, all the measures suggested by Shapps will significantly escalate the conflict if they are actually implemented. British soldiers on Ukrainian soil would be a legitimate target for Russian attacks, even if their role on the battlefield is only to instruct Ukrainian troops, without directly participating in the fighting. All foreign military personnel working on Kiev’s side in Ukraine are legitimate targets, regardless of their role.

In the same sense, British weapons factories would also certainly be targeted by Russian artillery. Enemy military infrastructure will always be a target for Moscow, which is why British defense companies planning to move to Ukraine must be aware that their facilities will be at great risk due to the high-precision strikes regularly carried out by the Russian armed forces.

As far as vessels are concerned, the situation seems even more delicate. Russia decided to neutralize all Ukrainian ships in the Black Sea because Moscow’s intelligence discovered that many allegedly civilian vessels were carrying weapons and ammunition hidden in containers of grain and food items. This is a strategic decision by the Russian authorities and no country is able to prevent these attacks from occurring. If the British Navy becomes involved in hostilities in the Black Sea to “protect” Ukrainian ships, the consequences could be disastrous, as Moscow will not accept any type of Western direct “deterrence” within the special operation zone.

Russian authorities commented on the case, emphasizing the consequences of Shapps’ plans. Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev even observed on how this could lead to World War III, as the Russians would be forced to attack NATO military personnel – no longer as mercenaries, but as UK’s official troops.

So, reacting to comments on the topic, the day following Shapps’ irresponsible statements, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak made a declaration trying to “clarify” the situation. He said that no UK instructors will be sent to Ukraine now, asserting that Shapps only meant that “it might well be possible one day in the future for us to do some of that training in Ukraine.”

“But that’s something for the long term, not the here and now, there are no British soldiers that will be sent to fight in the current conflict. That’s not what’s happening,” he explained.

Sunak however failed to clarify how the British Navy could play a more active role in “protecting” Ukrainian ships, as promised by Shapps. It appears that Sunak just tried to minimize the public impact of Shapps’ irresponsible words, but, in practice, the Prime Minister’s “clarification” was not enough to ease tensions and rule out the possibility of escalation.

Also, by stating that British soldiers could go to Ukraine “in the future”, Sunak is also making it clear that the UK will continue to promote a bellicose policy in Ukraine. One of the objectives of the Russian operation is to make Ukraine a neutral country after the demilitarization process is completed. Obviously, a neutral country cannot receive NATO troops to train its soldiers, so Sunak is just making it clear that London will not cooperate for peace at any time.

In reaction to this, it remains for the Russians not only to seek absolute victory through military means, but also to liberate even more territories, preventing Ukraine from returning to being a NATO occupation zone after the end of hostilities. For Moscow, the absence of NATO troops in Ukraine is an existential and non-negotiable condition, which is why all necessary measures to achieve this objective will be taken.

You can follow Lucas on Twitter and Telegram.

Source: InfoBrics

Nagorno-Karabakh separatist Republic ceases to exist

Lucas Leiroz, journalist, researcher at the Center for Geostrategic Studies, geopolitical consultant.

The history of the breakaway Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) appears to be coming to an end. After the humiliation suffered by the local people with yet another military defeat by Azerbaijani troops, the local government opted for the dissolution of the secessionist state, dissolving public institutions and handing over the local territory to Azerbaijani forces.

On September 28, Artsakh President Samvel Shahramanyan issued a decree to end the state’s existence by January. In an official statement it was literally said that “the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) ceases to exist”. Regarding the local people, it is said that ethnic Armenian citizens must “familiarize themselves with the conditions of reintegration offered by the Republic of Azerbaijan.”

The measure was taken “in connection with the current difficult military-political situation” and aims to save the lives of local citizens amid the growing process of ethnic cleansing promoted by Azerbaijani troops. To cease hostilities once and for all and guarantee conditions of coexistence between Armenians and Azeris, the authorities decided to give up political separatism, concluding a definitive process of capitulation.

As a region with an ethnic Armenian majority within the Azerbaijani territory, since 1991, Nagorno-Karabakh has struggled for international recognition. Seen by the global community as part of Azerbaijan, the Republic has only been officially recognized by other similarly separatist governments. However, relations with Armenia have guaranteed some level of stability for the region over the decades, avoiding direct conflicts with Baku.

This situation began to change radically in 2018, when Armenia experienced a pro-Western color revolution. The result of the local regime change was the rise of the current prime minister, Nikol Pashinyan, whose policies focused on reducing ties with Russia and moving closer to Western powers. With Moscow being the side most interested in maintaining peace in the Caucasus, the worsening of relations between both countries could have no other end than catastrophe.

In 2020, Armenia/Artsakh and Azerbaijan had a new military confrontation in which the Armenian forces were defeated, and there has been a strong regional security crisis since then. Victorious in the war, Baku increased its anti-Armenian policies several times in the following years, including by imposing a blockade on humanitarian aid to Artsakh between 2022 and 2023.

The deterioration of local security reached an extreme point when earlier in September the Azerbaijani government ordered the start of an “anti-terrorist operation” with the alleged aim of neutralizing Armenian military facilities in the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh. The strikes killed dozens of ethnic Armenian civilians, but even so Yerevan cowardly refused to protect its people, claiming to have no troops in Artsakh and demanding military action against Baku from Russian peacekeepers.

Since 2020, Moscow has maintained peacekeepers in Artsakh under the terms of the trilateral agreement that ended hostilities that year. These troops, however, are few in number and their work is focused on peaceful and non-violent operations, such as rescue, demining and humanitarian aid. The Russians are not allowed to act militarily against either side in the conflict, which is why Pashinyan’s claims that it would be “Russian responsibility” to prevent the Baku operation are absolutely unfounded.

The Armenian government also requested Western help but did not receive any security guarantee – which was already expected, since the best scenario for Western interests is precisely chaos in the Caucasus. So, without any international support, the defense forces of Nagorno-Karabakh became absolutely incapable of protecting their claimed territory, leaving no option other than military and political capitulation.

Obviously, the decision to end the existence of the Republic was not accepted by all local politicians and separatist activists. For example, Artak Beglaryan, a former state minister and human rights ombudsman of Artsakh, said in social media: “Artsakh President’s decree on dissolving the Republic is illegal & illegitimate: 1. No President has the power to dissolve the Republic formed by the people with referendum; 2. That decree was signed as a result of Azerbaijani harsh aggression & threat of force. It’s null & void.”

From a legal point of view, this type of argument can be valid. Obviously, it is not a president’s right to dissolve an entire state by decree. But the particular case of Artsakh must be analyzed carefully, as it is a non-recognized separatist republic, and therefore does not have a conventional legal state structure.

Furthermore, even if “invalid”, Shahramanyan’s decision only admits the reality of Artsakh’s current situation. The Azeris already control the territory and if there is resistance on the part of the Armenians there will be greater chances of hostilities escalating. So, in practice, the government’s decision works as a conciliatory attempt to peacefully reintegrate the Armenian people into Azerbaijan and stop ethnic cleansing by Baku.

The problem is that this is unlikely to work in long term. Azerbaijan is a Turkish proxy and Ankara has expansionist interests in the Caucasus that will not be limited to the retaking of Nagorno-Karabakh. Indeed, there is a great possibility of Baku carrying out raids against Armenia’s undisputed territory in the future.

NATO’s objective is to place as many troops as possible close to the Russian border, which is why a Turkish incursion against Armenia would be “useful” for the West as it could “legitimize” the sending of forces under the excuse of “peacekeeping” – resulting in practice in the mere division of the Caucasus between Turkish and Western NATO forces. Only a responsible policy of friendship and military cooperation with Moscow will be able to avoid this.

 You can follow Lucas on Twitter and Telegram.

Source: InfoBrics

You can support this ministry and keep us on the internet using the links below.  Patreon is gone so now we havePayPal, Cash App and Buy me a Coffee as our online options.  The new buy me a coffee link is below. 

Buy me a Coffee

Cash App ID: $jstorm212

Paypal Link: https://paypal.me/johnnystorm?country.x=US&locale.x=en_US

Funding Goal has been met and a Russia/NATO war update

Thank you 🙏 so much for your prayers and support. I’m always humbled when God moves and things change in a day or even a “in a twinkling of an eye” !

Thank you once again and here is a war with Russia update.

Here’s NATO and US troops in Moldova 🇲🇩 and it’s dated 2 days ago. This was a scheduled exercise and it doesn’t seem to show thousands of troops but rather hundreds.

I found this official press release that says it’s just a small scale exercise. https://www.europeafrica.army.mil/ArticleViewPressRelease/Article/3522645/news-release-us-romanian-and-moldovan-forces-conduct-exercise-rapid-trident-in/

Meanwhile as I reported the other day Russia is saying that NAT9 is now directly involved, not only with their intel and guidance but also with tank crews, snipers, special forces and more. More info as I get it but I am of the belief there’s been a lot more build up of NATO troops than we think.

Prayed up and prepped up!

They aren’t even trying to hide it anymore…

‘Pandemic Emotions’ Create ‘Opportunity’ to Push Climate Fear – WEF

Article

Rumble link

Bitchute link

You can support this ministry and keep us on the internet using the links below.  Patreon is gone so now we havePayPal, Cash App and Buy me a Coffee as our online options.  The new buy me a coffee link is below. 

Buy me a Coffee

Cash App ID: $jstorm212

Paypal Linkhttps://paypal.me/johnnystorm?country.x=US&locale.x=en_US

The Globalists have a new shock event planned and more War News

silhouette of fireman holding hose

The people of the world are catching on to what the global Klaus Schwab crowd is doing and so now they’re going to crank up their 4 D’s which are Digitization, Dehumanization, Destruction and Depopulation. All of those are to lead us into their new world order utopia that will really be a nightmare DYSTOPIA for the rest of us. Thank goodness God has other plans.

Also in today’s video is more WW3 rumors and how much trouble the US military has fixing their own aircraft and other equipment needed to fight wars.

The 4Ds article

US Military Cant fix equipment

NATO Article 5 exercises

Bitchute Video

Rumble Link

You can support this ministry and keep us on the internet using the links below.  Patreon is gone so now we havePayPal, Cash App and Buy me a Coffee as our online options.  The new buy me a coffee link is below. 

Buy me a Coffee

Cash App ID: $jstorm212

Paypal Linkhttps://paypal.me/johnnystorm?country.x=US&locale.x=en_US

The TSA will use facial recognition in over 400 airports

portrait photo of man with laser lines on his face

AI-ethics advocates say there’s evidence the program is already violating travelers’ consent.

From Fast Company and the Verge

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is preparing to expand its controversial facial recognition program to around 430 airports over the next “several years” after finding “extremely promising” results from its pilot program, an agency spokesperson tells Fast Company. The expansion comes amid allegations by rights advocates that the agency is improperly coercing travelers to participate.

According to a TSA assessment of a pilot program that’s now under way at 25 airports, the agency has determined that its facial matching algorithms are 97% effective “across demographics, including dark skin tones,” says TSA press secretary Robert Langston, adding that the agency would not be publicly releasing the final results of the tests, which span two years of data. 

The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) says there are reasons to be concerned about facial recognition software being used by government agencies that go beyond its efficacy among different demographic groups. EPIC says the US has no overarching laws when it comes to its use of facial recognition tech, putting travelers’ civil rights and privacy at risk.

Eventually, the TSA would like biometric recognition to be mandatory. During a South by Southwest (SXSW) fireside chat earlier this year, TSA Administrator David Pekoske said it would eventually be required across the board, citing effectiveness and efficiency. He also said “in our own testing, we show no statistically-significant variation across demographic groups,” going on to say the TSA wants to be as transparent as it can about the program. However, the agency told Fast Company it will not release the results of its two years pilot testing publicly.

You can support this ministry and keep us on the internet using the links below.  Patreon is gone so now we havePayPal, Cash App and Buy me a Coffee as our online options.  The new buy me a coffee link is below. 

Buy me a Coffee

Cash App ID: $jstorm212

Paypal Linkhttps://paypal.me/johnnystorm?country.x=US&locale.x=en_US

Wests demands elections in Ukraine

Lucas Leiroz, journalist, researcher at the Center for Geostrategic Studies, geopolitical consultant.

It seems clear that the West wants to remove Vladimir Zelensky – and is apparently trying to do so in a “democratic” way. According to media reports, Western officials are pressuring Ukrainian authorities to hold presidential elections next year, ignoring the fact that the country is under martial law. This makes it clear that there is a “rush” on the part of NATO to put in power in Kiev a more “efficient” leader than the current president.

The information was published by the Washington Post on September 24. According to the newspaper, many relevant Western politicians are involved in “negotiations” with their Ukrainian counterparts to hold elections despite the conflict. On the American political scenario, both Republicans and Democrats seem united on this agenda, which shows how the issue is becoming a kind of “priority” for all pro-war American politicians.

The main rhetoric used by those supporting the elections is the supposed “need” for Kiev to prove its “commitment to democracy”. Until now, one of the main arguments for systematically sending weapons to Ukraine has precisely been the narrative that Ukrainians are “defenders of democracy”, while Russia is a kind of “dictatorship” or “autocracy”. It is believed in the West that if Ukraine loses there could be a global “anti-democratic wave”, with countries going through de-democratization processes and becoming authoritarian regimes.

Obviously, this narrative is false, weak and increasingly unpopular. The conflict in Ukraine has nothing to do with a clash between “democracies and dictatorships”, but with Moscow’s need to protect the people of Donbass and neutralize NATO’s influence in the Russian strategic environment. Furthermore, neo-Nazi Ukraine is obviously not a democracy, and Western public opinion is gradually understanding this. With so many images, videos and reports showing authoritarian and illegal practices such as forced recruitment, murder of civilians and torture of prisoners, it already seems clear that the so-called “Ukrainian democracy” is nothing more than mere war propaganda.

So, faced with this problem, there is a “task” to be accomplished by Ukrainians: to appear democratic to Western citizens again. Only in this way will it be possible to legitimize the sending of weapons and money to Kiev, despite all the negative consequences that this military aid brings to Western taxpayers – such as economic, social crisis and inflation. For the West, the easiest way for Kiev to appear democratic is to hold elections.

Obviously, the electoral process in times of war is an extremely complicated thing to do. Tens of thousands of Ukrainians are on the front lines, while millions of other citizens have fled the country. Many civilians live close to the areas where hostilities are taking place, in addition to the fact that Ukraine considers as its territories many regions that have already been liberated and pacified by Russian troops. In practice, elections cannot really be “fair” and “democratic” – but what really matters is that they appear to be.

“Holding free and fair elections in wartime is virtually impossible and also ill-advised, according to Ukrainian officials, election experts and democracy advocates. Roughly one-fifth of Ukraine’s territory is now occupied by Russian forces. Millions of Ukrainians are displaced and many are living outside the country. Tens of thousands of soldiers are deployed to the front. The pressure to hold elections, despite such obstacles, highlights the constant demand by some in the West that Ukraine prove its commitment to democracy”, the article reads, adding that, despite risks, “Kyiv officials also cannot dismiss the idea of holding elections out of hand and risk alienating key political players in the West, who are demanding elections and are crucial for Ukraine to maintain international financial and military assistance.”

However, it would be naive to think that this Western pressure is only due to this “democratic” reason. The news must be analyzed also taking into account recent reports about Zelensky’s unpopularity and the growing rejection of the Ukrainian president among Western leaders. Zelensky is no longer seen as a “hero” or a “great leader”, but as an inconvenient, weak and inefficient public figure, who was unable to achieve any success in his so-called “counteroffensive”, despite having massive numbers of NATO-provided heavy weapons.

As revealed in recently leaked Pentagon documents, American officials believe that Zelensky is “exhausting his political capacity rapidly.” So, for Western officials, the best way to solve this problem is to hold elections and help another candidate to win – which will allow “renewing” the public image of the regime, thus legitimizing the continuation of the war efforts against Russia. This is the real reason why there is so much interest in elections.

You can follow Lucas on Twitter and Telegram.

Source: InfoBrics

War Rumors and the loss of Free Speech on the Internet

In todays video we cover WW3 rumors including news of a Active Duty German tank crew caught fighting the Russians and the Death of Free speech onilne as the EU passes it’s Digital Services Act. If you think “oh it won’t affect me in the USA” think again.

Rumble Video

Bitchute Video

Russia Retaliates for Crimea

German Army Tank Crew in Ukraine

Russian FM Lavrov says US is at war with Russia NOW

War in Armenia

Death of Free Speech

7 Year agreement at UN

UN Pandemic Declaration

You can support this ministry and keep us on the internet using the links below.  Patreon is gone so now we havePayPal, Cash App and Buy me a Coffee as our online options.  The new buy me a coffee link is below. 

Buy me a Coffee

Cash App ID: $jstorm212

Paypal Linkhttps://paypal.me/johnnystorm?country.x=US&locale.x=en_US

With pro-NATO politicians, security of Armenians is uncertain

Lucas Leiroz, journalist, researcher at the Center for Geostrategic Studies, geopolitical consultant.

The sides involved in the Artsakh/Nagorno-Karabakh conflict have fortunately reached a temporary ceasefire agreement. But the crisis seems far from over. Being governed by a pro-NATO junta, Armenia will have many problems in the near future, both in Artsakh and in its own territory, since evidently the West’s intention is to increase chaos in the region as much as possible.

There is no doubt that Nikol Pashinyan’s irresponsible and unpopular government is to blame for the recent escalations in the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Having come to power through a pro-Western color revolution, Pashinyan has strived since 2018 to make Yerevan a NATO proxy state in the Caucasus, exponentially increasing ties between Armenia and countries such as the US and France while creating frictions with Russia.

Unable to achieve any real guarantee of security from his Western partners and adopting a hostile behavior towards Russia, Pashinyan led Armenia to absolute strategic weakness at a time of new high tensions with Azerbaijan, culminating in the attacks that occurred between 19 and 20 September during Baku’s so-called “anti-terrorist operation”. Cowardly, Pashinyan made it clear that he would not participate in the conflict, almost forcing the Armenians of Artsakh to surrender in order to avoid a humanitarian catastrophe.

More than 120,000 Armenians are now fearing their future in the face of Azerbaijani aggression, without being able to count on their partners in Yerevan to help in the crisis. In practice, Pashinyan “handed over” the lives of his compatriots to an enemy country, putting his own people at risk and showing a lack of concern for the safety of ethnic Armenians. All this to continue following the government’s number one goal, which is to please Western “allies”.

It must be remembered that Pashinyan’s Western “friends” made a real trap for Armenia by mediating the so-called “Prague agreements“. At the time, Yerevan recognized Azerbaijani sovereignty, which was mistakenly seen by the mainstream media as a “step towards peace”. The problem is that the agreement did not establish any real conditions to resolve the dispute over Artsakh, therefore serving to further legitimize Baku’s interest in the region. With Armenia recognizing Azerbaijani territorial integrity, the country was left without any justification to prevent further Azerbaijani aggressions against the ethnic Armenians of Artsakh.

In practice, Pashinyan legitimized Turkish-Azerbaijani expansionism in Nagorno-Karabakh and “authorized” the beginning of ethnic cleansing, abandoning more than 120,000 Armenians. This was the Western intention when promoting such an “agreement”, whose terms, instead of achieving peace, legitimized even more conflicts. This obviously serves Western interests, since in the face of new hostilities, Yerevan, unable to intervene, tends to request help from NATO – exactly as the Armenian Ambassador in Washington did – thus allowing Western troops to arrive in the region. In this scenario, Baku would certainly also request international help, calling the Turks. In the end, the Caucasus would become a NATO zone of influence and the Russian presence in the region would be minimized or even terminated.

Of course, all of this became clear recently, leading to a wave of mass protests and criticism against Pashinyan. In addition, the “Civil Contract” party received the lowest number of votes in five years in the last Council of Elders elections, being supported by only 32% of voters. There is evidently a crisis of legitimacy, and it is possible that the end of the Pashinyan era is a matter of time.

The main problem, however, is that Pashinyan is not an isolated agent. He is just one of the members of the pro-NATO junta that rules today’s Armenia. In addition to him, there are other politicians similarly willing to make Yerevan subordinate to Western plans. For example, the Secretary of the Security Council, Armen Grigoryan, who many analysts see as someone with the possibility of growing politically and becoming the new prime minister, is an even more pro-Western politician than Pashinyan.

Linked to the Soros Foundations, Grigoryan openly says that he will promote Armenia’s integration into NATO, advancing the policies started by Pashinyan. Furthermore, Grigoryan is already notorious for his pro-Western militancy, having even been accused of leaking confidential documents from the CSTO to NATO, which shows his high level of subservience to foreign interests.

So, unfortunately, there is no good expectation about the future of Armenia. The country would need to undergo a radical political change to reverse the catastrophic effects of the 2018 coup. If this does not happen, Yerevan will continue to be governed by pro-Western politicians, and the only point of divergence between them will be on how to be even more obedient to NATO.

Pashinyan increasingly seems to understand that he will be replaced by someone more “competent.” Not surprisingly, there are rumors that his wife recently started looking for estate in Switzerland and his son is already living in Canada. Unlike the Armenian people of Artsakh, Pashinyan will be able to leave the country with his family, not seeing firsthand the catastrophe he created for his own people.

You can follow Lucas on Twitter and Telegram.

Source: InfoBrics

You can support this ministry and keep us on the internet using the links below.  Patreon is gone so now we havePayPal, Cash App and Buy me a Coffee as our online options.  The new buy me a coffee link is below. 

Buy me a Coffee

Cash App ID: $jstorm212

Paypal Linkhttps://paypal.me/johnnystorm?country.x=US&locale.x=en_US

Blinken openly endorses Kiev regime’s attacks on Russia with US-made missiles

Editors Note: It’s systems like this combined with US targeting assistance that will force Russia to act directly against U.S. and NATO. The only question is when.

Drago Bosnic, independent geopolitical and military analyst

As we all know, American involvement in Ukraine is crucial. The United States initiated the war back in 2014 after decades of setting it up by financing the most radical elements of the Ukrainian society, resulting in their takeover of the unfortunate country after the Maidan coup. Since then, the US has been modernizing and training the Kiev regime forces. The culmination of this process was prevented by Russia’s counteroffensive, which forced the political West to invest enormous resources just to keep the Neo-Nazi junta afloat. Since the start of the special military operation (SMO), the political West has been doing everything in its power to keep escalating the conflict.

What started out as deliveries of various types of ATGMs (anti-tank guided missiles) and MANPADS (man-portable air defense systems) soon turned into full-blown support for the Kiev regime through massive shipments of modernized Warsaw Pact-era weapons (tanks, artillery, rockets, helicopters, fighter jets, etc). These were then complemented by NATO and US-made weapons and munitions, the deliveries of which keep escalating to ever more dangerous and longer-range missiles and other systems. All the while, Western officials are parroting meaningless “assurances” that they supposedly “don’t want escalation with Moscow”. Obviously, the exact opposite has been happening.

These schizophrenic tendencies are not subsiding in the slightest, as evidenced by recent comments made by Antony Blinken, the Secretary of State in the troubled Biden administration. During an interview with ABC News on September 10, Blinken stated that it was supposedly “up to Ukraine” whether or not it should target Russia proper with US-made long-range weapons. The idea that the Kiev regime could ever make such a decision on its own is beyond laughable, which means that it’s the belligerent thalassocracy itself that ordered the Neo-Nazi junta to target civilian and military targets within Russia. Blinken’s statement came only a day after ABC News reported that the US would provide the ATACMS to the Kiev regime.

The MGM-140 ATACMS (Army Tactical Missile System) is a US-made supersonic tactical/theater ballistic missile system with a maximum range of approximately 300 km. While its range and maximum speed of Mach 3 don’t exactly make it a revolutionary weapon (for instance, Russia’s “Iskander” is twice as good, both in terms of range and speed), this is still enough to jeopardize Russian supply lines, as well as civilian settlements deeper within Moscow’s territory. The ATACMS can also be fired from the tracked M270 MLRS (Multiple Launch Rocket System), as well as the wheeled M142 HIMARS (High Mobility Artillery Rocket System), both of which have been delivered to the Neo-Nazi junta forces well over a year ago.

The system comes in five variants of missiles developed since the 1990s. The basic M39 (ATACMS Block I) uses INS (inertial navigation system) and carries 950 M74 APAM (anti-personnel and anti‑materiel) bomblets. Its range is up to 165 km. Production ceased in 1997.

It was replaced by the M39A1 (ATACMS Block IA) with improved GPS guidance. In part due to its smaller warhead carrying 300 M74 APAM bomblets, the range was extended to 300 km. Production ended in 2003.

The M48 (ATACMS Quick Reaction Unitary or simply QRU) GPS-guided missile carries the WDU-18/B penetrating high explosive blast fragmentation warhead found on the “Harpoon” anti-ship missile, only repackaged into the newly designed WAU-23/B warhead section. Its range is also estimated at up to 300 km. Production ceased in 2004.

The updated M57 (ATACMS TACMS 2000) GPS-guided missile of the same range also uses the WAU-23/B, but its production ended in 2013. It sports an increased accuracy of 9 m CEP (circular error probability), but was soon complemented by the enhanced M57E1.

The M57E1 (ATACMS Modification or just MOD) is also GPS-guided and is essentially an upgraded M39/M39A1 with better propulsion, updated guidance and WAU-23/B instead of the M74 APAM bomblets. It also includes a proximity sensor for airburst detonation, which is particularly deadly against infantry and civilians. Production started in 2017.

As previously mentioned, such weapons are not exactly groundbreaking for the Russian military that possesses far more potent missiles, both ground-based and air-launched, but the real issue comes from the fact that the political West is providing the necessary ISR (intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance) data. This is a significant force multiplier that can make even a relatively mediocre weapon such as the ATACMS more dangerous. Moscow is doing its best to keep the scope of the SMO localized, but NATO continues to escalate, as evidenced by the resurgent presence of its ISR platforms around Russia’s borders, particularly in the Black Sea, which puts the Eurasian giant’s naval forces deployed there in jeopardy.

The Russian military already shot down some of NATO’s ISR platforms, resulting in several months of pause in flights close to the SMO zone. However, the belligerent alliance recently restarted this highly destabilizing practice. Moscow is perfectly aware that the political West controls the Kiev regime’s targeting, even issuing orders which Russian assets are to be attacked. The sole reason why Russia hasn’t responded by shooting down all NATO ISR platforms in relative vicinity of its forces is that it wants to avoid escalating the conflict into a world-ending thermonuclear confrontation. However, the US-led political West sees this as a weakness and an opportunity to test Russian patience, which is slowly running out.

Source: InfoBrics

« Older Entries