Satellite imagery shows hundreds of Russian tanks near the border with Ukraine
Satellite imagery from Google Earth taken on November shows hundreds of Russian main battle tanks at a new military base on the outskirts of the Kamensk-Shakhtinsky.
The large-scale military base only 18 kilometers away from the border with toward rebel-held territory in eastern Ukraine.
Images show hundreds of main battle tank like as T-64 and also T-62M, while a thousand military trucks, artillery systems and tankers are located slightly higher.
Russia has been ramping up its forces near the border with Ukraine since August and now poses the greatest military threat since 2014, the year Moscow annexed Crimea, the commander of Ukraine’s armed forces told Reuters in an interview on Tuesday.
Thank you Brad Johnson for taking time away from your schedule while in Georgia to discuss this situation with us.
Thanks Eeyore and Brad.
So there you go. A day or two ago I posted an article that painted the credible bad-guy Poroshenko narrative. Now here’s Brad–better informed I am sure–telling us the opposite and he makes a lot of sense, even though Poroshenko surely is no angel. This isn’t the first time former Soviet sattelites have been left stranded. It’s a tough lesson.
Putin wants to rebuild the Russian Empire/USSR, he is aided in this effort by the leftist in the west, that is why the propaganda media is pushing the idea that Ukraine is the aggressor.
One of my Russki’s sons lives in Kiev. He came back from visiting his brother in Israel to this mess.
There’s a lot of coverage on Russian-language TV, but it’s total Putin puffery. Garbage TV.
Report on new air defense system Russia’s set up in Syria. The conclusion is pertinent here:
The U.S. and Israel both must be prepared to suppress a larger number of air-defense systems and use more expensive stealth aircraft, such as the F-35, in Syria. Russia stands to gain a long-term strategic advantage over NATO through its new capabilities in Syria. The U.S. and NATO must now account for the risk of a dangerous escalation in the Middle East alongside any confrontation with Russia in Eastern Europe.
Russia Expands Its Air Defense Network in Syria
http://iswresearch.blogspot.com/2018/11/russia-expands-its-air-defense-network.html
Seth Frantzman writes:
A key meeting took place on Saturday in Tehran between Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and officials from China, Pakistan, Russia, Turkey and Afghanistan.…
The attendees at the meeting are important because Turkey, Afghanistan and Pakistan are ostensibly US allies, while China and Russia are two of the most powerful global states challenging the US on different fronts. China is engaged in arguments with the Trump administration over trade while Russia is involved in putting pressure on western allies, such as Ukraine, by detaining Ukrainian naval boats, harassing shipping and supporting proxies.…
What’s clear is that Russia and those meeting to discuss Syria are excluding the US from these discussions even though the US is operating in eastern Syria.
Taken together, the growing relationship between Russia, Iran, China, Turkey and Pakistan does not auger well for US policy in the Middle East or globally. Together these are some of the most important economies in the world as well as important militaries, but they also present a challenge to the US in different regions. While US policy in the Middle East appears to lack clarity, such as US-Saudi relations and US policy in Syria, these countries increasingly see eye-to-eye on certain issues, particularly their views on Washington.
Pakistan and Turkey, two former Cold War allies, are in the process of apparent drift in their policy while the US does not acknowledge these changes. For other US allies these kinds of meetings send a message that one can be both a US ally in name and also work with Washington’s adversaries.…
https://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Iran-News/How-Iran-turned-a-counter-terror-meeting-into-a-regional-push-for-new-global-order-573852
The sides in WWIII are becoming clear, it will be a while before things go kinetic but it is becoming very clear who will be on which side.
But the sides _aren’t_ clear.
We continue to embrace enemies like the Turk, tolerate those who abet enemies like Iran-sanctions busters, and throw allies under the bus – like our boots on the ground in Mesopotamia, the Kurds.
We play footsie with the nominal government in Lebanon, close our eyes to the FACT that it’s an Iranian satellite.
We muddle around with Pakistan, pretend we have “partners” in the infinite sink that is Afghanistan. Throw money and order of battle intel straight to China via Paki intrigue.
The whole world is watching. And we continue to bumble.