Updates: Ukraine Funding Again Collapses as Increasingly Isolated Zelensky Grows Despondent

I wanted to try to write a shorter update today so as to not overload those who may still be digesting yesterday’s voluminous mailbag.

The most important developments on the docket are that Zelensky was supposed to address Congress in a classified meeting tonight, which was for some reason cancelled at the last minute. One of the potential explanations is that the Republicans have snubbed Biden and the Democrats’ overtures to unlock the Ukrainian funding, as the Rs simply won’t budge from their demands on securing the border first.

The “secret briefing” initiated by the Democrats for senators, at which it was planned to convince legislators of the importance of speedily agreeing on new aid for Kiev, completely failed The Republicans didn't even want to listen and walked out of the briefing

What are those demands exactly?

The most relevant ones revolve around asylum and parole laws in immigration proceedings. Republicans want all ‘asylum seekers’ to be detained upon entry while they await their claims to be processed. As of now they’re simply released into the country, allowing any number of them to easily escape without any legal due process.

The Democrats have rejected this, proposing instead a “streamlining” of the asylum claim process, calling Republican proposals “extreme” and claiming they would “end all asylum as we know it, and effectively shut down the border”—yeah, I think that might be the plan.

Even Lindsay Graham has suddenly backed off from his radical warhawk stance and now demands no more aid for Ukraine without securing the border. It seems like both sides are pretty adamant; one can see why—for the Democrats, shutting down illegal immigration would mean losing the next election.

As of now they have until December 15th, then there’s a recess until next year. After that, Ukraine may not get any aid until well into 2024, by which point they will already have begun experiencing the military arms equivalent of agonal breathing. A few months ago, there were reports that much of Ukraine’s critical aid like shells, etc., is given “hand to mouth.” Meaning, as soon as it rolls off the production line it’s immediately shipped and just as immediately used. They don’t have vast storehouses of it and thus the cut off would theoretically have instant ramifications on their ability to carry out basic battlefield functions.

In the meantime, the pro-UA crowd is having a meltdown. All kinds of Ukrainian analysts and figures of the commentariat have been dishing out increasingly high-pitch squeals and cries of alarm. Everyone from Arestovich, Gordon, various soldiers on the frontline—there seems to be nothing but bad news.

Western MSM is likewise drowning in doom and gloom.

Arestovich has come out and outright declared, regrettably, “we chose the wrong side.”

He goes on to explain how the U.S. and West in fact can’t match Russian and Chinese industrial production because the West has completely dissolved the productive capacities that made it the powerhouse of the world during the Cold War era:

He extrapolates the Ukrainian conflict to the wider one between the West and the entire Global South and East, and says he no longer has confidence that the West will win the overarching clash.

This is confirmed by a variety of Western reports, like this one, which states that:

Even as a war rages on the European continent, European defense spending is stuck slightly above neutral, with an overlapping set of political and industrial problems blocking any quick increases in capabilities and styming supplies to Ukraine. 

Source

What the above article goes into is the now widespread narrative that NATO as a whole needs to increase its military production to Cold War levels and a general sense that everything should be militarized to an almost WW2 scale.

What underpins this recent imperative amongst the Western MIC intelligentsia is the growing claim that Russia “will not stop at Ukraine” and intends to attack [insert nation here] next.

This was highlighted by a National Review article, amongst many others:

The above represents the loudest such claim in recent days. It declares outright that in three years’ time Russia may hit the countries on NATO’s eastern flank, as per a Polish national security agency head.

It also cites a German thinktank which claims that NATO must be ready to “fend off a Russian offensive in 6 to 10 years.”

Jacek Siewiera, chief of Poland’s National Security Bureau, says

“Unfortunately this analysis is consistent with studies drawn up in the US,” he told Nasz Dziennik, a Polish Catholic newspaper. “But in my opinion the time frame presented by the German analysts is too optimistic. If we want to avoid war, the Nato countries on the eastern flank should adopt a shorter, three-year time horizon to prepare for confrontation.”

He goes on to point out the real specter that has the West so frightened, Russia’s ramping industrial capabilities:

Siewiera added: “This is the time window when we have to create a capability on the eastern flank that would provide a clear signal deterring aggression. The arms industry in Russia is working in three shifts [each day] and can rebuild its resources within the next three years.”

In what seems a coordinated effort, every Western shill is now scrounging corner to corner for anything that can even remotely resemble some clue of Russia’s putative ‘designs’ against Europe. For instance, Anton Gerashchenko posted this Soloviev episode which he claims spells out Russian designs to completely upturn Europe, recreating a special Austro-Hungarian zone.

Such fantasies now dominate the headlines, with every little offhand remark Putin makes used to rubberstamp some new wild dream about rebirthing the Russian Empire. For instance, a new such remark Putin made about Latvia’s persecution of ethnic Russians was contorted into a claim by MSM that Putin had now threatened Latvia, designating them as “next” after Ukraine.

This fraudulent specter of Russian imperialism is being ginned-up to spin fear through the dim European populace and galvanize Ukraine’s sagging support.

But more insidiously, it represents the projection and telegraphing of NATO’s own plans to continue drawing Russia through an ever-denser gauntlet of war to continuously undermine its development as a sovereign superpower. I wrote about this in the latest reader’s mailbag, but the recently intensifying drumbeats of war make me almost certain that a far larger European conflict is looming at the horizon.

The National Review article even ends on this foreboding note:

The bottom line is that the Kremlin plans to change the world order, especially in terms of security, and the conquest of Ukraine is a first step in that plan. If the West abandoned Ukraine now, it would be further exposing NATO to Russian aggression in the years to come. Instead, in order to avert the danger from Russia, NATO and the EU must hold strong in their support for Ukraine and continuing developing their military capabilities. The Russian threat must be neutralized, and this is the only way to do it.

But their clumsy narrative-hopping exposes a major flaw in this new Western propaganda train.

They, like others, argue that Russia is massively expanding its military, earmarking extraordinary new budgets for 2024 and beyond, which is used to adumbrate some looming future conquests. Yet in the same breath, they comically argue that the push for ceasefire is a major Russian propaganda thrust serving Russia’s interests to end the war and cement new territorial gains. Therefore, they argue, the West should at all costs continue funding Ukraine militarily to thwart this insidious Russian plan to use the ceasefire triumph as a major validation of its conquest.

Think that through for a second. Russia is vastly expanding its budgets and planning to conquer all of Europe, yet at the same time, it is Russia that is clamoring to end the war, and that a ceasefire is a “Russian propaganda” directive? How does that make sense?

That’s on the same order of stupidity as the earlier posted Tweet, which highlights Ukraine’s claim that only joining NATO would protect it by deterring Russia from ever attacking again, yet at the same time absurdly propounds that Russia is set to attack other NATO members after it conquers Ukraine. So what possible protection can NATO offer?

It’s just risible bile, and shows the utter moral and intellectual destitution of the declining West’s late stage propaganda efforts—they’re not even trying anymore. Just observe doltish Stoltenberg who pantomimes concern with his bovine blinks while expectorating some nonsense like: “We must bring peace by continuing to arm Ukraine!”

It’s a veritable gallery of clowns!

But they do bring up one good point: which is that Russia’s earmarking of vast defense spending for 2024 and beyond appears to fairly refute the notion that Putin and Russia are wont to bend the knee, and sign the ceasefire in the near future. If Russia was getting ready to end the war, why would they invest billions in ramping up the entire defense industry while pumping next year’s defense budget to near-unprecedented levels? It implies they aim to continue this war to the end and, unlike the West, are laying the real groundwork.

Now there have been several rumors that spring 2024 will be the final limit where U.S. is drawing the line as ultimatum to Zelensky. Some sources even claim sooner than that:

⚡️⚡️⚡️#Insider information
Our OP source reported that the Biden Administration is pressuring the President's Office to freeze the war in February 2024 for the duration of the election campaign. In fact, we are given an ultimatum to start the negotiation process from the spring of next year, and no one is talking about Zelensky's peace formula as the basis, and we are given a condition to agree to stop fighting on the front line.

Rada deputy Goncharenko even relayed that Ukraine is being quietly told there is no chance to join NATO whatsoever, and it’s best to shoot for the EU:

As everything teeters on the brink, many wild theories are born. For instance, veteran analyst Starshe Edda questioned whether the seemingly deliberate extermination of Ukrainian Marines being carried out by Zelensky’s regime in Kherson is not perhaps an attempt to whittle down the last strong and/or nationalist units to keep them from marching on Bankova soon.

I have a conspiracy theory. The disposal of the Marines of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Krynki, as well as in general the grinding of the most combat-ready units of the Ukrainian army in senseless attacks, is necessary so that, first, the Kiev military does not start a march on Kiev, and secondly, they are cleaned up so that Kiev's partners can safely and unhindered enter the territory of western Ukraine, annexing what they like.

With some more context:

Today, units of the 37th Marine Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine arrived in the Kherson direction near the settlement of Krynki. Prior to that, there were units of the 36th and 38th marine brigades and the 503rd separate marine battalion of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The enemy's losses are colossal.

Let me remind you that the Marine units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine have always been considered elite and one of the most experienced on a par with the 25th, 79th and 95th amphibious brigades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Why Kiev continues to send its Marines to slaughter is unknown. And this is not some kind of propaganda, our fighters in that direction are also perplexed. Zelensky and co. are clearly merging their most capable soldiers and liberating the territory of Ukraine from people. Time will tell why and for whom.

There might be a touch of sarcasm to his theory, but certainly the knives are out in full force, with even Klitschko now openly condemning Zelensky. Some may recall in an interview earlier this year, Klitschko kept mum about criticizing Bankova or making any mention of a potential presidential candidacy, admitting fear of SBU reprisal. Now he appears to have someone’s backing and sanction to heap the pressure on Zelensky, just as recent leaks—like that of Poroshenko’s call—suggested; guarantees are likely now in place as the slow takedown operation unfurls.

As a last amusing note, reports claimed that Morocco received a large secret batch of Abrams tanks, as well as an incoming batch of Bradleys several times the size of what Ukraine got:

Ukrainians are shocked: Morocco received a new batch of Abrams M1A2 tanks from the United States and are waiting for a free delivery of 500 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, and they stole 🖕

Meanwhile, the US Army has 2,500 such SEPv3 tanks and 3,500 such infantry fighting vehicles in service (another 3,000 tanks and 2,000 infantry fighting vehicles are in storage), but Ukraine has been allocated ONLY 31 TANK (1%) and 190 infantry fighting vehicles (9%) - Morocco will immediately receive 25% of the infantry fighting vehicles from the reserve...

If true, it appears a fulfillment of a previous deal, but comes as a particularly egregious slap in the face of Ukraine which was told all kinds of yarns about why so few Abrams could be provided to them.

It merely affirms that the U.S. has no interest in seeing its armor lose all its prestige on the world stage via dozens of HD videos of burning Abrams tanks, exposed by the superior Russian weaponry we were supposed to believe was no match.

Now Ukrainian Pravda reports Zaluzhny requested from Lloyd Austin a mind-bending 17,000,000 artillery shells and $400,000,000,000 (yes, $400B) dollars.

Тhe Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine asked the US for 17 million shells. Valery Zaluzhny also called on Washington to transfer up to $400 billion to Kiev for the “de-occupation of Ukraine.” TASS writes about this with reference to material from the Ukrayinska Pravda publication, which cites a source familiar with the content of negotiations with Pentagon head Lloyd Austin with Zaluzhny. "Austin was told there was a need for 17 million shells. To put it mildly, he was surprised, because so much could not be collected all over the world,” said the interlocutor of the Ukrainian media. - FRWL reports

That’s what it would cost to liberate the rest of the required territories, according to the embattled and addled Generalissimo. Recall this is the same man who requested ground-burrowing plasma robots.

It’s so absurd as to warrant a possible gag of some sort. In fact, some Russian analysts have propounded that this is actually a Bankova leak meant to discredit Zaluzhny, painting him in exactly the detached-from-reality light that the report portrays.

Keep in mind, at the U.S.’s current production of 300k shells a year, 17M shells represents half a century of 24/7 American shell output. So either Zaluzhny is eyeing a glorious circa 2075 return to Crimea, or perhaps he’s pulling everyone’s leg on purpose, maybe as some form of rebellious gesture or to send a signal of hopelessness to wake people up.

Either way things have gotten so bad between him and Zelensky that reports claim not only are the two not talking, but Zelensky bypasses the commander-in-chief entirely by communicating with sector commanders like Syrsky directly. Reports claim this has a very negative effect on operations as Zaluzhny often doesn’t learn of their decisions until much later, which means he’s effectively being pushed out of the loop.

My guess is that these actions are designed to get him fed up and to resign of his own accord, which would save Zelensky the huge headache of having to organize his ouster or ‘bodily removal’ via SBU, as they did to his adjunct recently.

A few fun videos for your enjoyment:

As this war takes on ever more cyberpunk trappings, Russian forces are already using evacuation bots in the Avdeevka direction, to not only transport needed supplies to remote positions but evac wounded soldiers as well:

Interestingly you can see at one point that the bot even has one of those new “Volnorez” EW anti-FPV drone jamming packs, as it transports the wounded soldier:

Russian troops are already working on other variants:

The story of the capture of a fully intact brand new M2A2 Bradley in Avdeevka:

Russian Ka-52s regularly launch long range LMUR missiles, manually TV-guided by copilot/gunner, at the AFU ‘bridgehead’ in Khrynki:

Russian Su-34s now drop a whopping 4 UMPK ‘Orthodox JDAM’ glidebombs at a time:

Lastly, Arestovich also admits that Ukraine is in fact headed for a fullblown military coup:

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