Nazi Crusade Of Kiev Regime
South Front, Jan 25 2023
While the West is looking for money and weapons to support Ukrainian militants, the Kiev regime is busy fighting its own war against the people aimed at consolidating the power of nationalists in the country. The Ukrainian Orthodox Church fell the victim. During the Epiphany on Jan 19, on Zelensky’s order, the Cabinet of Ministers submitted to the Rada a bill banning the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. The law is allegedly aimed at consolidating Ukrainian society. In fact, religious strife in Ukraine is nothing but undisguised nationalism. The canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church has been facing pressure from nationalists since the 1990s. By 2018, this turned into a large–scale state campaign, after the Ukrainian authorities created from the schismatic organizations the so-called “Orthodox Church of Ukraine,” a competitor of the canonical church. Today they attempt to make this fictitious nationalist entity the only church in the country. Unable to force millions of believers to abandon their true faith, the Kiev regime began to persecute Ukrainian priests.
Churchmen are charged with treason, subversive activities, and “spreading propaganda among parishioners.” The acting Chairman of the SBU claimed at the end of December that more than 50 criminal cases had been initiated against the priests, whom he called “”moles” in cassocks.” The prosecutor’s office has opened a criminal case against the vicar of the main Ukrainian shrine of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra. In the first days of January, the two main churches of the Orthodox shrine were given to schismatics. Already on Jan 7, the false Metropolitan held the Christmas Service in the Kiev Pechersk Lavra for the first time. Three thousand members of the security forces took the territory into a cordon to protect it from the parishioners of the canonical church. Only journalists and neo-Nazis in military uniforms were welcomed into the temple. Many did not even know how to pray.
On Christmas Day, Zelensky deprived 13 priests of their Ukrainian citizenship. On Epiphany, the sectarians staged another sabbath in the main shrine of Kiev. The mayor of Dnipro claimed that there will be no Epiphany dip in the city and wished the Christian citizens to drown themselves. Ukrainian priests are persecuted by Ukrainian Nazis. In the Odessa region, a man with a knife rushed at a priest during a service but people stopped him. Another unknown person cut the throat of a priest in Vinnitsa. A week before the Epiphany, radicals set fire to a church in the Volyn region, and immediately after the holiday, a fire in a church in the village of Gnedin near Kiev broke out. The services in Ukrainian churches turned into pagan games with devils dancing on the altar. Parishioners are forced to sing the nazi anthem instead of prayers.
Poland Claims Germany Will Face International Isolation If It Does Not Send Tanks To Ukraine
Ahmed Adel, South Front, Jan 24 2023
Germany contends with increasing pressure and scrutiny from its so-called European Union and NATO allies to deliver Leopard tanks to Ukraine. However, a fake narrative is also being constructed that Berlin is an international pariah, so-much-so, that it could even face international isolation for not sending the tanks. Polish Vice Chancellor Arkadiusz Mularczyk said to Polskie Radio:
Germany will be in international isolation if it does not allow Leopard tanks to be sent to Ukraine. It must be understood that Germany, by not accepting the shipment of tanks to Ukraine, will find itself in international isolation. If it continues with this position, its position will be very weak.
This is of course a ridiculous notion since it is actually Poland and the wider European Union who are in the global minority of sending weapons to Ukraine and imposing sanctions on Russia. The expression of willingness by German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock on Jan 22 to approve the shipment of Leopard tanks to Ukraine from other countries is the result of major pressure, including from Poland and the Baltic republics, but especially from the UK and the US. Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Marcin Przydacz stressed Warsaw’s call for German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to take a position on the supply of Leopard tanks to Ukraine. Przydacz told Polskie Radio:
In the legal-formal sense the position of the foreign minister should be sufficient, but taking into account how the discussion inside Germany looks, we would probably have more confidence that the declaration of consent would be considered positive, if this position were also presented by Chancellor Scholz.
Earlier, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, in an interview to Polsat, stated that Warsaw is ready to send German Leopard tanks to Ukraine without permission from Berlin. He stressed that Poland is ready to form a coalition for the supply of tanks to Ukraine without the participation of Germany if the latter does not approve the shipment of its tanks to Kiev. On Jan 21, German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius declared that NATO countries and their allies failed to reach a consensus on the supply of German tanks to Kiev but that Berlin will study its possibility. Lavrov previously warned that any arms shipment to Kiev will become a legitimate target for the Russian military. At the same time, Peskov commented that the attempts to saturate Ukraine with weapons will negatively impact the situation and negotiations. Senior NATO officials met on Jan 20 at a German military base to discuss unsuccessfully a possible new shipment of heavy weapons to Kiev, an issue that has become increasingly acrimonious as time progresses. Austin called on his allies to deepen their support for Ukraine, stressing:
This is not a moment to slow down. It’s time to dig deeper. The Ukrainian people are watching us. The Kremlin is watching us. And history is watching us. So we won’t let up. And we won’t waver in our determination to help Ukraine defend itself from Russia’s imperial aggression.
However, it is recalled that Washington’s request comes at a time when Germany is refusing to send Leopard tanks to Kiev. Berlin, for its part, has said it will not send tanks unless the US also sends its M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine. Germany is facing an immense economic and energy crisis and does not want problems with Russia to deepen. If Germany sends tanks to Ukraine, the country would be even more involved, a prospect it does not want since Russia is a fellow European country that it must deal with, unlike the US which has an entire ocean of separation. Although Germany has the power to veto any decision to export its Leopard tanks, it has sought a conditional agreement with the US, Reuters reported. According to CNN, the controversy between the two countries occurs in the midst of a much broader debate about whether or not it is a good idea to equip Ukraine with more sophisticated and powerful weapons. The positions of both countries have generated all kinds of reactions. For example, we recall that Morawiecki asserted that Poland could deliver its Leopard tanks to Ukraine without waiting for German permission. He said to Polsat:
We have agreed with our Ukrainian friends and also with our Western European partners that we will hand over these tanks together. The permit is already a secondary issue, we will get it quickly or else we will act as we see fit.
The Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, indicated that the intentions of several Western countries to send Ukraine more weapons are with the aim of “raising the stakes” and will only escalate the conflict. In this sense, the reluctance to increase weapon deliveries to Ukraine could be interpreted as a sign that Germany wants to re-establish some of the dialogue it lost with Moscow after the departure of Angela Merkel. This is obviously something that Washington categorically does not want to occur. Although the US can count on other European Union countries to arm Ukraine, particularly Poland, no country besides France has the political, industrial, and military power of Germany.
Military Overview: Wagner Fighters Encircle Ukrainian Garrison In Bakhmut
South Front, Jan 24 2023
Russian assault units continue to expand the bridgehead around Soledar and are close to surround the Ukrainian grouping in Bakhmut. In recent days, Wagner’s fighters who operate in this area have achieved new victories. On Jan 23, the Russian Ministry of Defense confirmed Russian control of the village of Krasnopolye (Kranopolevka) in the DPR. Two days before, on Jan 21, Vladimir Rogov, a member of the Main Council of the administration of the Zaporozhye region, also claimed Russian control of the village. Acting head of the republic Denis Pushilin also confirmed that the mopping-up operation in the village has been completed. Pushilin added:
Not everything is so easy. The enemy resists. It is absolutely fair to say here that this is not an easy walk for the guys. Every house, every facility, every enemy firing point is being gnawed out there.
According to him, “the heaviest” and “bloody” battles are taking place in the region. Krasnopolye is located north of the Sol railway station, 5 km from Soledar and about 20 km from Artemovsk (Bakhmut). After its liberation, Russian forces continued their offensive north from Soledar along one of the highways to Seversk and are breaking through new Ukrainian defense lines near the village of Razdolovka. Not far to the east, Wagner’s fighters are advancing near Veseloe. Control over all settlements on the northwestern outskirts of Soledar will allow the Russian military to establish a bridgehead on the eastern bank of the Bakhmutka River.
Ukrainian positions destroyed in Krasnopolye:
The AFU leaving the Soledar region:
Chechen special forces inspect the post office building in Soledar:
The main strategic goal of the Wagner fighters is the operational encirclement of Bakhmut, where, according to various reports, there are about 20 brigades of the AFU and foreign units. Today, the city is already in a tactical encirclement. The acting head of the DPR confirmed on January 24:
The AFU have only one road left to get to Bakhmut, the rest of the ways were cut off.
Previously, the AFU had three roads a railway track leading to Bakhmut to send reinforcement to the garrison. Now the control of two out of three highways is lost. From the northern direction of the AFU blew up a railway bridge in the area of Paraskoviyivka on Jan 24. As a result, the road to Slavyansk was blocked. From the western direction, the highway leading from Krasnoye (Ivanovskoye) is under the fire control of the Russians. Today, Russian forces need to cut the road to Chasov Yar or establish fire control of it to incircle the city of Bakhmut.
To the north of Bakhmut, fighting continues for control of the villages of Krasnaya Gora and Blagodatnoe. Russian assault there began shortly after the liberation of Soledar in mid-January. Russian forces are advancing towards the Paraskovievka. On Jan 24, they entered the southeastern quarters of the town. It is reported that the Ukrainian defense in the region is held by the 24 separate mechanized brigade from Lviv, which has already suffered heavy losses during the battles in the Podgorodnoe. It is reported that since the beginning of the year, the brigade has already lost about 800 servicemen who were killed and wounded. In Bakhmut, fighting continues on the northeastern outskirts. The battle in the private sector continues on the streets of Sovkhoznaya and Trydovuk Reservov. Wagner fighters also advanced south through the forest area and reached the territory of the meat processing plant.
Fighting in the area of the meat processing plant:
In the eastern part of the city, there are battles in the industrial zone along Patrice Lumumba Street. Azov Nazis, “Georgian Legion” and other foreign mercenaries were deployed in this area.
Wagner fighters on the south-eastern outskirts:
In the southeastern part of the city, heavy fighting is ongoing in the private sector in Zabakhmutka. Battles continue on Vatutin Street. Wagner fighters are also moving west from Fedor Maksimenko Street. Fighting continues on the streets of Kotsyubinsky and Ivan Franko, where new Ukrainian positions were defeated.
Fighting on Vatutin Street:
On the southern outskirts of Bakhmut, Wagner fighters managed to take control of the residential quarters when advancing from their positions in Opytnoe. They broke through the enemy’s defenses and continue their assault in the area of the Mariupol Cemetery and Kotovsky Street.
Estonian mercenary in Bakhmut
To the west of the city, after the victory in Kleshcheyevka, Russian forces approached their main strategic goal to take control of the Bakhmut-Chasov Yar highway. To date, fighting continues in the area of the village of Ivanovskoe (Krasnoe). Russian control of it will allow them to cut the road to Bakhmut, which is already under the fire control of Russian artillery, as well as to shell the last road leading to the city from Chasov Yar.
On Jan 21, Ukrainian Mi-8 helicopter was shot down over Bakhmut:
Shelling in the western districts of Bakhmut:
The Canadian Roshel Senator armored vehicle of the AFU destroyed in Bakhmut. Two soldiers were reportedly wounded, another was killed:
Sky News showed Ukrainian fortifications in Bakhmut, the reason why the cities are destroyed:
Firing point of the AFU in an apartment:
Pushilin said:
Russian units almost control all important heights in the area of the liberated village of Kleshcheyevka, this provides them with additional opportunities to attack Artemovsk (Bakhmut). The enemy resists. There are no prerequisites that he surrenders, puts down his weapons and retreats.
The fighting is going on in the eastern and southern parts of Artemovsk (Bakhmut), soon it will be possible to talk about the operational encirclement of Ukrainian troops in the city, commander of Russian Special Rapid Response Unit “Akhmat” Apti Alaudinov said. Head of the Wagner PMC Evgeny Prigozhin claimed:
The goal in Bakhmut is to destroy the Ukrainian army in the vicinity of the city and to prevent any offensive actions in any direction of the front. All their combat-ready units of the AFU are sent to Bakhmut. And the Wagner PMCs destroy them, opening up operational opportunities in other areas.
To date, Wagner fighters are coping well with the task.
Niqnaq 