BREAKING: Absolutely *damning* ECHR ruling finds Kiev bears heavy responsibility for the massacre of scores anti-Maidan activists in Odessa, May 2014. Inevitable Western media blackout on this, as it confirms what Russia was saying all along.🧵...
This being the ECHR (with a Ukrainian judge presiding, no less), the ruling is at pains to 'bothsides' the burning to death of dozens of anti-Maidan activists by Neo-Nazi lunatics. Nonetheless, it acknowledges local police and fire services "deliberately" allowed it to happen.
Nobody and nothing stepped in to rescue the anti-Maidan activists as they burned to death, and the ECHR finds this failure "went beyond an error of judgment or carelessness". Maidan authorities actively wanted these people to die, for the crime of being Russian.
ECHR particularly damning of numerous official Ukrainian investigations and trials of officials and Neo-Nazis responsible for the Odessa massacre. "Extensive photographic and video evidence" was not acted upon, probes and court proceedings deliberately fudged.
Photo/video evidence on Odessa massacre damning and incontrovertible. See video below of Maidan activists making Molotov cocktails to set building ablaze. Won't share clip of Russian teenage girl being forced into the building by Neo-Nazi thugs, pleading them to leave her alone.
In a sick irony, ECHR claims Russian "disinformation" about Maidan government played a role. That disinformation being it was a violent, dangerous, Neo-Nazi entity - a charge amply validated by Neo-Nazi thugs burning Russians to death, then joking about it for years afterwards?
Ukrainian ultra-nationalists would frequently boast of "the annual May barbecue", while the Ukrainian government and its Western sponsors simultaneously blamed what happened on Moscow, and/or the victims themselves, all along. Can you imagine how this went down with Russians?
Below, an image of one of the Odessa massacre victims, desperately attempting to break out of the building Neo-Nazi Maidan activists barricaded and set alight, as they burned to death. The scum responsible went on to form Azov Battalion.
Fast forward to today, and Odessa is a key base of proxy war operations for British intelligence, via the local SBU. The city's sizeable "pro-Russian contingent" is a key target, for they'll be welcoming Moscow's forces *when* they arrive.
In a testament to the utter cancer of Wikipedia, its entry on the Odessa massacre has been updated to reference the ECHR ruling - all the bullshit passages speculatively apportioning blame to Russia/Russians for what happened are cited, nothing else.
Rereading ECHR judgment now, the gymnasm engaged in to place *some* blame on Russia for the Odessa massacre on the basis of zero evidence whatsoever is quite amazing (but also completely standard practice in the West by now). "Perhaps". "Might". "Possible". 🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡
Former UKIP leader, "diplomat, soldier & police officer" with an Order of the British Empire "for international security" exhibits astonishing ignorance of how time works
🧵: Missed this ASTONISHING report from Feb 13th on how Germany's military is considerably *less* battle-ready than it was when the proxy war started. As a result of sending so much equipment to Ukraine, it's basically defenceless, and it will take years to rebuild what was lost.
When proxy war erupted, soon to be ousted Chancellor Scholz gave a bombastic speech about a "historic turning point" (Zeitenwende) that would mean revolutionary change in Europe, including building up Germany's military significantly. But this didn't happen. The *opposite* did.
Despite this, Germany reamins "alongside Poland...tasked by NATO with providing the bulk of ground forces that would act as first responders to any Russian attack on the alliance's eastern flank." Well, they're completely fucked if that happens, aren't they? Like instantly.
🧵: For those within the Empire's inner core, the full, seismic implications of Trump's "aid" suspension may not be fully obvious. But here in the Balkans, where USAID/NED has penetrated every sphere of public, political and even daily life, the impact is absolutely monumental.
In Bosnia, all basic functions of the state were post-war forcibly outsourced to USAID, NED, Soros, etc. On top of enfeebling the local population, it created enormous opportunities for grift and corruption, which anyone who could took full advantage of.
Not every country in the region is quite so dependent, although there are entire sectors of local economies where the only employment opportunities are with USAID/NED/etc-funded orgs. And this isn't restricted to the Balkans - similar story elsewhere in the former Soviet sphere.
🧵: Relatedly, I find effort to frame low intensity Donbas civil war Kiev was losing post-Maidan as an unadmitted Russian invasion Ukraine was winning *very* interesting. British intelligence at the forefront, obviously. It was laying foundations for what happened in Feb 2022.
Take for instance this Times article from 2016, which claims Ukraine was experiencing "the Third World War on a tiny scale" in Donbass, and the conflict exposed "secrets" of Russian military doctrine and strategy the West could capitalise on. Complete and utter fantasy.
This article resulted from visit of Ukrainian ultranationalist paramilitaries to UK, arranged by British intelligence. They met with the British Army, journalists, and politicians. Bios of these fighters suggest they were exaggerating their military records *greatly*.
🧵: Answer to this is manifold. Foremost of course, the imperial braintrust was in early 2022 extremely deluded about US/NATO power. Elements remain so today. But in many ways, a Ukrainian loss produces major potential US gains economically, politically and militarily.
On first point, in October 2022, Pentagon released a National Defense Strategy. It failed to once mention China and Russia's 'no limits' partnership, or consider the risk war with one of its major adversaries would mean war with them all, and defeat:
Then too, US officials weren't aware of extent of their defence industrial base's destruction, and enormous problems they would have replenishing ammunition, armour, vehicles and other materiel sent to Ukraine at any pace or scale. This simply wasn't considered until recently.
🧵: ASTONISHING article in TIME about how the Biden administration never had any intention or even desire to help Ukraine win, and was always just going to step away at its behest at some point. We all *knew* this but to have it confirmed is important.
Interesting passage confirming what @TheGrayzoneNews has been reporting since 2022 - the US was legitimately concerned about the proxy war escalating and avoiding that was a key objective, about which the British have consistently been - and remain - furious.
@TheGrayzoneNews Ukraninains likewise furious. Untold billions spent and sent, Washington paying salaries of *all* state workers and keeping country barely functional with 'aid' and 'stimulus', and it ain't enough. Kiev got set up for this and was always going to be betrayed. Stings, doesn't it?
🧵: Western media been frenzied den of worst imaginable takes and 'analysis' from 'journalists', pundits, officials, spooks on Russia consistently, pretty much every minute, since the proxy war started. But let's focus on just one episode - Prigozhin's 'rebellion' in June 2023.
Wagner 'rebellion' was completely irrelevant publicity stunt that resulted in nothing. Prigozhin - who many Russians hadn't even heard of - had zero public or institutional backing. There was no chance of unseating Putin, even vaguely threatening his power, or achieving anything.
However, Western mainstream collectively lost its mind over this incident. @TheGrayzoneNews collated some of the funniest, most hysterical overreactions from dickheads like McFail and @anneapplebaum, who genuinely believed civil war had erupted.