This rumour about the American general, I had a look, he appears to have been in Bulgaria on March 9th, Mariupol was long since besieged, so no way for him to get into the city, even if there was a reason for him to be there.

I am pressing X to doubt at this stage, if there is any validity to the claim, Russia will surely announce it in the near future, but it seems highly unlikely to me

Oh boy. US General Roger Cloutier was most definitely involved in training Ukrainian soldiers, as this photo attests. Two days ago, a Bulgarian news source claimed he was visiting Bulgaria — a news item that appeared at the exact same time that the first rumors that he was in Mariupol started to emerge online. At this time, it is unclear where the general is located.

Re: US General Roger Cloutier

too valuable an officer to have in country like that

wouldn't imagine anyone higher than major or captain from a NATO member country being in Ukraine after shooting started

often these operatives are not actually ranked members of military, but employees of civil security forces MI6 etc with military experience

16:39:02 05-Apr-2022

#Ukraine: Remarkable footage of a single UA T-64BV tank engaging a Russian convoy, destroying a BTR-82A from an ambush position. Though other shots miss, appears that this held up the convoy enough for UA indirect fire to strike it, taking out other armour & leading to a retreat. https://t.co/Ax8o23htMD

🇨🇵🇪🇺🇺🇦🇷🇺 NATO officers from France, Germany, Britain and “neutral” Sweden got stuck at Azovstal in Mariupol. Right now they are getting in touch with the Russian troops with a request to help them leave, to organize a corridor for the exit.

- journalist German Vladimirov

Russian central bank announced that it will put the ruble on a gold standard. The bank pegged 1 gram of gold to 5,000 rubles. Now that means, one troy ounce of gold or 32 grams of Gold would now cost 160000 rubles in Russia. At the current exchange rate, 32 grams of gold would cost roughly $1,600 in Russia.
In the US, the same quantity of gold would cost you $1,928. That means Russia has effectively ratcheted up its currency’s value against the dollar by pegging it to gold. If, 1 gram of gold is bound to 5000 rubles, then according to Western standards, the ruble must be valued at 70-75 units against 1 dollar. - TFIG

⚡️📣Rocket Attack Hits Center Donetsk Injuring a 12-Year-Old: #Russia - #Ukraine War
⚡️📣
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVMsOjBpplI&feature=youtu.be
#RussiaUkraineWar #RussianUkrainianWar
PLEASE SUPPORT MY JOURNALISM ON https://www.buymeacoffee.com/PLnewstoday

Rail convoy of #damaged #military #vehicles in #Belarus.

Presumably #Russian equipment

👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇

📷Gomel, Belarus.

https://news.1rj.ru/str/warandtruth

The Alex Jones Show

https://banned.video/watch?id=624b8358069c454e7c08798a

Michael de la Broc (https://news.1rj.ru/str/MDeLaBrox) joins guest host Paul Joseph Watson to break down the truth about the wartime #propaganda pushing for war with #Russia using #falseflags in #Ukraine.

Read more here: https://www.infowars.com/posts/russia-claims-bucha-massacre-is-a-false-flag-as-u-s-media-calls-for-direct-military-involvement-in-conflict/

Seems pretty hard to argue that the Russians have had things go their way in the Ukrainian War, at least not so far. I was slower to accept the reality of this view because the first week's performance looked promising for the Russians and the pro-Ukrainian propaganda was nauseating. But it does seem now that the initial phase of the war has been a defensive victory for Ukraine, although the war isn't over yet of course.

I highly recommend this video analysis by one of the best youtube commentators on military affairs that i know of:
https://youtu.be/zyTCdl6-VVw

The question now is whether the Russians have a second offensive in them, and these negotiations are just a way of covering up their repositioning of forces to the East for a different strategy, or whether they want to take a deal for the sake of a clean exit strategy.

I find it hard to believe that the Russians will be satisfied with the deal even if they take it though, and I think a second war would be likely in that outcome. So, unless the Russians feel they are in such a weak position that they have no choice but to take Kyiv's peace offer, I think this war is far from over and will drag out now for some time.

Putin's popularity in Russia is skyrocketing, he is winning the narrative war with his own people for now.. A failed war however will do great damage. Everyone loves winners and a people will make sacrifices for the sake of a war they feel justified, but to make such sacrifices and nevertheless lose is a hard pill to swallow.

So, my tentative prediction is that Russia will re-group and launch a second offensive with a more realistic tactical approach. And Ukraine, it must be said, have fought admirably. No one was expecting such competent resistance. Allbeit, Ukraine would likely have fallen by now if it wasn't for Western economic and intelligence aid and all the free military equipment.

🇺🇦🇷🇺❗The mayor of Bucha on March 31 happily announces the departure of the Russian army, without mentioning anything about "dozens of victims and corpses on the streets" - Russia's permanent representative to the UN showed another proof of a theatrical performance in Bucha.

Kiev's Bucha Provocation Aimed at Disrupting Peace Talks & Prolonging Conflict

Why Has the Western Press Bought into Bucha Provocation?

The Western media is continuing to peddle the uncorroborated "Bucha massacre" story with Russia being branded as the culprit while emerging evidence indicates that the incident is nothing but yet another provocation by the Ukrainian military and nationalists.

"I have personally viewed the video ennoscriptd 'Boatsman Boys Work in Bucha'," says former US Senate candidate and investigative journalist Mark Dankof, who refers to Kiev's claims of Russia being involved in the killing of civilians in Bucha as "a classic case of what in our business is fairly classified as false flag agitation-propaganda."

In the video, released by one of the Kiev territorial defence battalion leaders, a Ukrainian fighter is heard asking whether they can shoot people without blue armbands.
The other one responds: "F***, of course!"
A blue armband is an identifier of Ukrainian forces, while a white one is worn by the Russian military and pro-Russia individuals.

The leader of the Kiev battalion who uploaded the video has been identified as Sergei Korotkikh, also known as "Boatsman." Belarus-born Korotkikh is a radical right activist and an ex-commander of the Ukrainian neo-Nazi Azov Battalion, which was accused of atrocities against Donbass civilians by the UN. Furthermore, the Ukrainian National Police on 2 April published a post on social media announcing the special forces' operation aimed at "cleaning up the town of Bucha."

Remarkably, the footage and photos of corpses lying in the streets in Bucha, which are circulated by the Western press as "evidence" of Russia's "atrocities," show some corpses either having white bandages or no insignia.

It is very significant that the Ukrainian National Police provided a detailed video of a "clean up" operation in Bucha the day before videos and photographs of the "massacre" went viral, according to Nick Griffin, a British politician who represented North West England as a member of the European Parliament from 2009 to 2014.

"This fits with the detail of the white armbands on so many of the corpses in the street and found bound and tortured in basements," says Griffin. "It all points towards the real perpetrators of this appalling war crime as being Ukrainian forces, and suggests that the killings were done some 48 hours after the Russian troops were deployed out of the area."
The Russian Ministry of Defence resolutely refuted Kiev's allegations and cited facts debunking the Bucha narrative spread by the Ukrainian authorities. The Russian MoD pointed out that all Russian units withdrew completely from Bucha as early as 30 March, while on 31 March Mayor of Bucha Anatoliy Fedoruk confirmed in a video message that there were no Russian servicemen in the town, not mentioning any "atrocities" allegedly committed by Russians or instances of civilians shot in the streets.

"It is not surprising, therefore, that all the so-called 'evidence of crimes' in Bucha did not emerge until the fourth day, when the Security Service of Ukraine and representatives of Ukrainian media arrived in the town," the Russian MoD wrote in Telegram.

In addition to that, the MoD has drawn attention to the fact that all the bodies of the people whose images have been published by the Ukrainian government "are not stiffened after at least four days, have no typical cadaver stains, and the wounds contain unconsumed blood."

The MoD pointed out that not a single Bucha resident had suffered from any violent action when the town had been under Russian military control, adding that humanitarian corridors remained open. The Russian armed forces delivered and distributed 452 tonnes of humanitarian aid to civilians in the Kiev region, including Bucha. At the same time, however, the Ukrainian Army uninterruptedly shelled at the southern outskirts of Bucha with large-caliber artillery, tanks and multiple launch rocket systems, according to the Russian MoD.



https://www.arabnews24.ca/en/World_news/amp/196411

"Ukrainian" and "lies" will be considered synonyms by the time this war is over

eg: "Is that true or are you just being Ukrainian"?

" I believed him until I found out he was from Ukraine"

etc etc

🇷🇺🇺🇦Another well known neo-Nazi was destroyed in Mariupol

Alexander Derevyanko from Cherkasy, better known as Kazimir.

"Ukrainian" and "lies" will be considered synonyms by the time this war is over

eg: "Is that true or are you Ukrainian"?

"I believed him until I found out he was Ukrainian"

etc etc