Russell Bentley – still a lot of work to do to protect Donetsk. Dead NATO soldiers found in Avdiivka

 Fri 4:47 pm +01:00, 23 Feb 2024  2

posted by Tapestry

Pushing the UAF out of Avdiivka is a positive step towards protecting Donetsk. But the operation was hardly a cakewalk (it took several months) and as Russell Bentley noted, the UAF is still able to shell Donetsk from other positions.

“[Taking Avdiivka] moves the front line away from the city limits; secondly, it opens up space for our fighters in the southwestern direction. Just don’t delude yourself. There is still a lot of work ahead,” Bentley wrote February 21.

The SMO is entering its third year and Ukrainian forces are still being dislodged from the suburbs of Donetsk. Is this what Imminent Total Victory looks like? I would say: no. But that’s just my opinion.

Here’s where things currently stand:

• The stated Russian political objective—securing a neutral Ukraine—has not been accomplished.
• Given the fact that demilitarization is premised on Ukraine being stripped of all NATO influence, including equipment, organization, and training, one can make a case that Russia’s invasion has succeeded in making Ukraine a closer partner of NATO than before it began.
• At some point soon, Russia will announce that it has defeated the Ukrainian military forces arrayed in the east. But this will leave Russia with a number of unfulfilled political objectives, including denazification, demilitarization, permanent Ukrainian neutrality.

Scott Ritter knows all of this because I copy-pasted those bullet points from articles written by Scott Ritter, who wrote those things even while under the assumption that Donbass would be 100% controlled by Russia by the end of 2022.

I don’t agree with Scott Ritter

and I will explain why

Edward Slavsquat Feb 23

NATO Troops Are Operating In Ukraine Disguised As Mercenaries, Russian General Claims

A Russian general is claiming that NATO troops are in Ukraine, but they are being disguised as mercenaries to justify their presence, with a number of American and Polish bodies found in Avdiivka, the city recently captured by Russian forces over the last few days. In an interview with Russian newspaper Krasnaya Zvezda, General Sergei Rudskoy, chief operations director of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, said that NATO military personnel are taking part in the fighting in Ukraine disguised as mercenaries.