In the past several weeks, I have complained that the Vesti news programs on Russian state television had become formulaic. They opened with micro-snapshots of the war from the front without giving an overview. They then featured the misery of civilians in Donbas under Ukrainian fire. They largely ignored all international news.
This evening’s 20.00 o'clock prime time broadcast was a wholly different story. It opened with interviews taken with those who just completed one of the most daring military operations of modern times, the so-called “Nord Stream Three” which we will discuss in a minute. This operation all by itself helps to explain the sudden loss of Avdeevka by Ukraine over the past weekend. And then the program moved on to show lengthy excerpts from a video of Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu’s report earlier in the day to Vladimir Putin that covered a great many topics and will be studied in detail by the global intelligence community. Naturally, I ask why the CIA alone should know this: I use this opportunity to share with you what I heard and saw. I caught all of this on the fly and cannot say that every number I record below is perfectly correct, but in the contest between speed and accuracy, tonight I knowingly opt for speed.
*****
In my preceding report on Russia’s capture of Avdeevka, I repeated the emphasis on their artillery shell advantage that you will see and hear in Western media accounts. However, there is another very important side to the victory: outstanding bravery and inventiveness.
Anyone listening to Western media has heard the constant refrain about the outstanding bravery of Ukrainian soldiers. And there is certainly truth to that assertion. What you will not have heard at all is the incredible courage of Russian soldiers and officers, who are highly motivated, know why they are fighting and are ready to defend their country’s interests at all costs. The “Nord Stream 3” adventure this past weekend demonstrates that point perfectly. And it further shows that brains are very much at work to complement the brawn.
What we are talking about was the passage of a full Russian brigade through a 3-km long pipe measuring 1.2 to 1.5 meters in diameter leading from their positions outside Avdeevka straight under the enemy lines into the city center. They managed this passage unheard and unsuspected, so that when they emerged from the pipe-tunnel they overwhelmed the nearby Ukrainian troops and took possession of 19 buildings from which they fought on. Because of the pipe as conduit, it has been dubbed “Nord Stream 3” but the principle involved was pure “Trojan horse’ tactics.
As the soldier interviewed by Vesti insisted, this operation has the makings of a great film. No doubt one or another producer at Mosfilm will follow this up.
*****
In his report to Putin, Shoigu said that Kiev’s assertions that the surrender of Avdeevka was an orderly strategic withdrawal are a bald-faced lie. This was бегство, chaotic flight in which the Ukrainian troops left behind their hand weapons, not to mention armored personnel carriers and other military equipment. They also left their many wounded behind to die. Shoigu estimates that the Ukrainians lost 2,300 men in Avdeevka in the two days 17-18 February.
As for Avdeevka itself, he remarked that it had been built and re-built over the course of 9 years to be one of the strongest defense sites in Ukraine, with extensive use of reinforced concrete and defense lines.
Shoigu went on to speak about the latest intelligence conclusions regarding Ukraine’s spring and summer long Counter-Offensive. It is now clear that the entire Counter-Offensive was planned and directed from the United States, which used NATO instructors to instill in the Ukrainians NATO military doctrine and techniques. The result was an unmitigated military disaster which cost Ukraine 130,000 soldiers dead and seriously wounded. The whole experience left the States and its NATO allies in shock: their doctrine, techniques and hardware had all been overwhelmed and destroyed by the Russians!
Shoigu also reported on the dismal results for Ukraine of its repeated efforts to establish a bridgehead on the Eastern (Left) bank of the Dnieper river in the area of Krynki. He explained that the hopelessness of this mission did not prevent multiple repetitions of the same landing parties which were first cut off from their supplies by the Russians and then were decimated. The entire area is now fully under RF control.
For his part, Putin moved the discussion to the latest howls coming out of Washington over alleged Russian development of nuclear devices to be stationed in earth orbit. He rejected this as pure imagination. ‘We don’t have such weapons or such plans.’ Putin believes this sounding of the alarm is intended to frighten legislators into passing the requested new appropriations for Ukraine. Meanwhile, Washington says nothing about the genuinely threatening cutting-edge strategic weapons systems that Russia is developing and deploying, such as the Poseidon underwater nuclear armed drone, the Sarmat and Burevestnik ICBMs and much more that have no equivalent in the West, that overcome all existing and planned defensive equipment and that constitute Russia’s true deterrent.
In conclusion, Putin reiterated recent statements that Russia is always ready to enter into strategic arms limitations talks as a matter of principle, however the talks must take into account all factors. The unacceptable present day factor is that the United States is openly seeking to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia on the field of battle. Putin is wary of what he calls the never-ending attempts of the United States and its allies to impose one-sided solutions favorable to themselves in all negotiations.
©Gilbert Doctorow, 2024
In the past several weeks, I have complained that the Vesti news programs on Russian state television had become formulaic. They opened with micro-snapshots of the war from the front without giving an overview. They then featured the misery of civilians in Donbas under Ukrainian fire. They largely ignored all international news.
This evening’s 20.00 prime time broadcast was a wholly different story. It opened with interviews taken with those who just completed one of the most daring military operations of modern times, the so-called “Nord Stream Three” which we will discuss in a minute. This operation all by itself helps to explain the sudden loss of Avdeevka by Ukraine over the past weekend. And then the program moved on to show lengthy excerpts from a video of Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu’s report earlier in the day to Vladimir Putin that covered a great many topics and will be studied in detail by the global intelligence community. Naturally, I ask why the CIA alone should know this: I use this opportunity to share with you what I heard and saw. I caught all of this on the fly and cannot say that every number I record below is perfectly correct, but in the contest between speed and accuracy, tonight I knowingly opt for speed.
*****
In my preceding report on Russia’s capture of Avdeevka, I repeated the emphasis on their artillery shell advantage that you will see and hear in Western media accounts. However, there is another very important side to the victory: outstanding bravery and inventiveness.
Anyone listening to Western media has heard the constant refrain about the outstanding bravery of Ukrainian soldiers. And there is certainly truth to that assertion. What you will not have heard at all is the incredible courage of Russian soldiers and officers, who are highly motivated, know why they are fighting and are ready to defend their country’s interests at all costs. The “Nord Stream 3” adventure this past weekend demonstrates that point perfectly. And it further shows that brains are very much at work to complement the brawn.
What we are talking about was the passage of a full Russian brigade through a 3-km long pipe measuring 1.2 to 1.5 meters in diameter leading from their positions outside Avdeevka straight under the enemy lines into the city center. They managed this passage unheard and unsuspected, so that when they emerged from the pipe-tunnel they overwhelmed the nearby Ukrainian troops and took possession of 19 buildings from which they fought on. Because of the pipe as conduit, it has been dubbed “Nord Stream 3” but the principle involved was pure “Trojan horse’ tactics.
As the soldier interviewed by Vesti insisted, this operation has the makings of a great film. No doubt one or another producer at Mosfilm will follow this up.
*****
In his report to Putin, Shoigu said that Kiev’s assertions that the surrender of Avdeevka was an orderly strategic withdrawal are a bald-faced lie. This was бегство, chaotic flight in which the Ukrainian troops left behind their hand weapons, not to mention armored personnel carriers and other military equipment. They also left their many wounded behind to die. Shoigu estimates that the Ukrainians lost 2,300 men in Avdeevka in the two days 17-18 February.
As for Avdeevka itself, he remarked that it had been built and re-built over the course of 9 years to be one of the strongest defense sites in Ukraine, with extensive use of reinforced concrete and defense lines.
Shoigu went on to speak about the latest intelligence conclusions regarding Ukraine’s spring and summer long Counter-Offensive. It is now clear that the entire Counter-Offensive was planned and directed from the United States, which used NATO instructors to instill in the Ukrainians NATO military doctrine and techniques. The result was an unmitigated military disaster which cost Ukraine 130,000 soldiers dead and seriously wounded. The whole experience left the States and its NATO allies in shock: their doctrine, techniques and hardware had all been overwhelmed and destroyed by the Russians!
Shoigu also reported on the dismal results for Ukraine of its repeated efforts to establish a bridgehead on the Eastern (Left) bank of the Dnieper river in the area of Krynki. He explained that the hopelessness of this mission did not prevent multiple repetitions of the same landing parties which were first cut off from their supplies by the Russians and then were decimated. The entire area is now fully under RF control.
For his part, Putin moved the discussion to the latest howls coming out of Washington over alleged Russian development of nuclear devices to be stationed in earth orbit. He rejected this as pure imagination. ‘We don’t have such weapons or such plans.’ Putin believes this sounding of the alarm is intended to frighten legislators into passing the requested new appropriations for Ukraine. Meanwhile, Washington says nothing about the genuinely threatening cutting-edge strategic weapons systems that Russia is developing and deploying, such as the Poseidon underwater nuclear armed drone, the Sarmat and Burevestnik ICBMs and much more that have no equivalent in the West, that overcome all existing and planned defensive equipment and that constitute Russia’s true deterrent.
In conclusion, Putin reiterated recent statements that Russia is always ready to enter into strategic arms limitations talks as a matter of principle, however the talks must take into account all factors. The unacceptable present day factor is that the United States is openly seeking to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia on the field of battle. Putin is wary of what he calls the never-ending attempts of the United States and its allies to impose one-sided solutions favorable to themselves in all negotiations.
“Nord Stream Three” and the Russian capture of Avdeevka
In the past several weeks, I have complained that the Vesti news programs on Russian state television had become formulaic. They opened with micro-snapshots of the war from the front without giving an overview. They then featured the misery of civilians in Donbas under Ukrainian fire. They largely ignored all international news.
This evening’s 20.00 prime time broadcast was a wholly different story. It opened with interviews taken with those who just completed one of the most daring military operations of modern times, the so-called “Nord Stream Three” which we will discuss in a minute. This operation all by itself helps to explain the sudden loss of Avdeevka by Ukraine over the past weekend. And then the program moved on to show lengthy excerpts from a video of Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu’s report earlier in the day to Vladimir Putin that covered a great many topics and will be studied in detail by the global intelligence community. Naturally, I ask why the CIA alone should know this: I use this opportunity to share with you what I heard and saw. I caught all of this on the fly and cannot say that every number I record below is perfectly correct, but in the contest between speed and accuracy, tonight I knowingly opt for speed.
*****
In my preceding report on Russia’s capture of Avdeevka, I repeated the emphasis on their artillery shell advantage that you will see and hear in Western media accounts. However, there is another very important side to the victory: outstanding bravery and inventiveness.
Anyone listening to Western media has heard the constant refrain about the outstanding bravery of Ukrainian soldiers. And there is certainly truth to that assertion. What you will not have heard at all is the incredible courage of Russian soldiers and officers, who are highly motivated, know why they are fighting and are ready to defend their country’s interests at all costs. The “Nord Stream 3” adventure this past weekend demonstrates that point perfectly. And it further shows that brains are very much at work to complement the brawn.
What we are talking about was the passage of a full Russian brigade through a 3-km long pipe measuring 1.2 to 1.5 meters in diameter leading from their positions outside Avdeevka straight under the enemy lines into the city center. They managed this passage unheard and unsuspected, so that when they emerged from the pipe-tunnel they overwhelmed the nearby Ukrainian troops and took possession of 19 buildings from which they fought on. Because of the pipe as conduit, it has been dubbed “Nord Stream 3” but the principle involved was pure “Trojan horse’ tactics.
As the soldier interviewed by Vesti insisted, this operation has the makings of a great film. No doubt one or another producer at Mosfilm will follow this up.
*****
In his report to Putin, Shoigu said that Kiev’s assertions that the surrender of Avdeevka was an orderly strategic withdrawal are a bald-faced lie. This was бегство, chaotic flight in which the Ukrainian troops left behind their hand weapons, not to mention armored personnel carriers and other military equipment. They also left their many wounded behind to die. Shoigu estimates that the Ukrainians lost 2,300 men in Avdeevka in the two days 17-18 February.
As for Avdeevka itself, he remarked that it had been built and re-built over the course of 9 years to be one of the strongest defense sites in Ukraine, with extensive use of reinforced concrete and defense lines.
Shoigu went on to speak about the latest intelligence conclusions regarding Ukraine’s spring and summer long Counter-Offensive. It is now clear that the entire Counter-Offensive was planned and directed from the United States, which used NATO instructors to instill in the Ukrainians NATO military doctrine and techniques. The result was an unmitigated military disaster which cost Ukraine 130,000 soldiers dead and seriously wounded. The whole experience left the States and its NATO allies in shock: their doctrine, techniques and hardware had all been overwhelmed and destroyed by the Russians!
Shoigu also reported on the dismal results for Ukraine of its repeated efforts to establish a bridgehead on the Eastern (Left) bank of the Dnieper river in the area of Krynki. He explained that the hopelessness of this mission did not prevent multiple repetitions of the same landing parties which were first cut off from their supplies by the Russians and then were decimated. The entire area is now fully under RF control.
For his part, Putin moved the discussion to the latest howls coming out of Washington over alleged Russian development of nuclear devices to be stationed in earth orbit. He rejected this as pure imagination. ‘We don’t have such weapons or such plans.’ Putin believes this sounding of the alarm is intended to frighten legislators into passing the requested new appropriations for Ukraine. Meanwhile, Washington says nothing about the genuinely threatening cutting-edge strategic weapons systems that Russia is developing and deploying, such as the Poseidon underwater nuclear armed drone, the Sarmat and Burevestnik ICBMs and much more that have no equivalent in the West, that overcome all existing and planned defensive equipment and that constitute Russia’s true deterrent.
In conclusion, Putin reiterated recent statements that Russia is always ready to enter into strategic arms limitations talks as a matter of principle, however the talks must take into account all factors. The unacceptable present day factor is that the United States is openly seeking to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia on the field of battle. Putin is wary of what he calls the never-ending attempts of the United States and its allies to impose one-sided solutions favorable to themselves in all negotiations.
In the past several weeks, I have complained that the Vesti news programs on Russian state television had become formulaic. They opened with micro-snapshots of the war from the front without giving an overview. They then featured the misery of civilians in Donbas under Ukrainian fire. They largely ignored all international news.
This evening’s 20.00 prime time broadcast was a wholly different story. It opened with interviews taken with those who just completed one of the most daring military operations of modern times, the so-called “Nord Stream Three” which we will discuss in a minute. This operation all by itself helps to explain the sudden loss of Avdeevka by Ukraine over the past weekend. And then the program moved on to show lengthy excerpts from a video of Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu’s report earlier in the day to Vladimir Putin that covered a great many topics and will be studied in detail by the global intelligence community. Naturally, I ask why the CIA alone should know this: I use this opportunity to share with you what I heard and saw. I caught all of this on the fly and cannot say that every number I record below is perfectly correct, but in the contest between speed and accuracy, tonight I knowingly opt for speed.
*****
In my preceding report on Russia’s capture of Avdeevka, I repeated the emphasis on their artillery shell advantage that you will see and hear in Western media accounts. However, there is another very important side to the victory: outstanding bravery and inventiveness.
Anyone listening to Western media has heard the constant refrain about the outstanding bravery of Ukrainian soldiers. And there is certainly truth to that assertion. What you will not have heard at all is the incredible courage of Russian soldiers and officers, who are highly motivated, know why they are fighting and are ready to defend their country’s interests at all costs. The “Nord Stream 3” adventure this past weekend demonstrates that point perfectly. And it further shows that brains are very much at work to complement the brawn.
What we are talking about was the passage of a full Russian brigade through a 3-km long pipe measuring 1.2 to 1.5 meters in diameter leading from their positions outside Avdeevka straight under the enemy lines into the city center. They managed this passage unheard and unsuspected, so that when they emerged from the pipe-tunnel they overwhelmed the nearby Ukrainian troops and took possession of 19 buildings from which they fought on. Because of the pipe as conduit, it has been dubbed “Nord Stream 3” but the principle involved was pure “Trojan horse’ tactics.
As the soldier interviewed by Vesti insisted, this operation has the makings of a great film. No doubt one or another producer at Mosfilm will follow this up.
*****
In his report to Putin, Shoigu said that Kiev’s assertions that the surrender of Avdeevka was an orderly strategic withdrawal are a bald-faced lie. This was бегство, chaotic flight in which the Ukrainian troops left behind their hand weapons, not to mention armored personnel carriers and other military equipment. They also left their many wounded behind to die. Shoigu estimates that the Ukrainians lost 2,300 men in Avdeevka in the two days 17-18 February.
As for Avdeevka itself, he remarked that it had been built and re-built over the course of 9 years to be one of the strongest defense sites in Ukraine, with extensive use of reinforced concrete and defense lines.
Shoigu went on to speak about the latest intelligence conclusions regarding Ukraine’s spring and summer long Counter-Offensive. It is now clear that the entire Counter-Offensive was planned and directed from the United States, which used NATO instructors to instill in the Ukrainians NATO military doctrine and techniques. The result was an unmitigated military disaster which cost Ukraine 130,000 soldiers dead and seriously wounded. The whole experience left the States and its NATO allies in shock: their doctrine, techniques and hardware had all been overwhelmed and destroyed by the Russians!
Shoigu also reported on the dismal results for Ukraine of its repeated efforts to establish a bridgehead on the Eastern (Left) bank of the Dnieper river in the area of Krynki. He explained that the hopelessness of this mission did not prevent multiple repetitions of the same landing parties which were first cut off from their supplies by the Russians and then were decimated. The entire area is now fully under RF control.
For his part, Putin moved the discussion to the latest howls coming out of Washington over alleged Russian development of nuclear devices to be stationed in earth orbit. He rejected this as pure imagination. ‘We don’t have such weapons or such plans.’ Putin believes this sounding of the alarm is intended to frighten legislators into passing the requested new appropriations for Ukraine. Meanwhile, Washington says nothing about the genuinely threatening cutting-edge strategic weapons systems that Russia is developing and deploying, such as the Poseidon underwater nuclear armed drone, the Sarmat and Burevestnik ICBMs and much more that have no equivalent in the West, that overcome all existing and planned defensive equipment and that constitute Russia’s true deterrent.
In conclusion, Putin reiterated recent statements that Russia is always ready to enter into strategic arms limitations talks as a matter of principle, however the talks must take into account all factors. The unacceptable present day factor is that the United States is openly seeking to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia on the field of battle. Putin is wary of what he calls the never-ending attempts of the United States and its allies to impose one-sided solutions favorable to themselves in all negotiations.
©Gilbert Doctorow, 2024