❗"In Ukraine, the US is dragging us towards war with Russia" the British publication The Guardian wrote eight years ago.

Caption: "Washington's role in Ukraine and its support for the neo-Nazi regime has huge implications for the rest of the world".

A quote.... "For the first time since the Reagan years, the US is threatening to take the world to war. With eastern Europe and the Balkans now military outposts of Nato, the last "buffer state" bordering Russia – Ukraine – is being torn apart by fascist forces unleashed by the US and the EU. We in the west are now backing neo-Nazis in a country where Ukrainian Nazis backed Hitler."

And another quote: "Russian-speaking Ukrainians are fighting for survival". Such an article is indeed still hanging on their website. How the rhetoric has changed in eight years!

The ongoing battle in southern Ukraine may be the worst of the war, according to the New York Times, whose reporter spoke to those involved in the fighting.

The Kiev regime continues to conceal its losses, but the AFU military has described battlefield casualties as "high" and "massive" in interviews with the media. They described major offensives in which columns of Ukrainian tanks and armoured vehicles attempted to cross an open field, but were mercilessly destroyed by Russian army artillery and mines.

One Ukrainian fighter told the New York Times that they lost 50 soldiers in two hours during the recent assault. Elsewhere, "hundreds" were killed or wounded in an attempt to capture one village that remained under Russian control.

Throughout the south along the Dnieper and the Black Sea - Russian troops have erected formidable defences: trenches zigzagging along irrigation canals; fortified bunkers; pillboxes; trenches; even tank trenches.

Bloomberg: Ukraine Is on the Offensive But Struggling to Get More Powerful Weapons

Kyiv is increasingly worried that allies will become even more cautious about sending the kind of weapons they fear could provoke a direct confrontation with Russia.

Ukraine’s military is on the offensive against Russian forces and asking for more powerful weapons to press its advantage, but so far there is no sign that allies will step up their commitments.

The fear now in Kyiv is that, despite US and European assurances, Putin’s threats of escalation could see its allies balk at the delivery of weapons they see as risking a direct confrontation with Moscow. And with Russia drafting as many as 300,000 new recruits, the current offensive's window for a quick breakthrough may be closing.

Still, it’s unlikely there will be any dramatic increase in weapons flows, or any new taboos broken in terms of their type, according to a senior European official, because the US is cautious and Europe’s own stocks of key weaponry are running low.

“Of course they will be more cautious,” former Defense Minister Andriy Zagorodnyuk said in an interview in Kyiv, referring to Ukraine’s allies. The answer is not to try to avoid escalation, because that is already happening, according to Zagorodnyuk.

“They need to show him that retaliation is coming, that it is guaranteed and it’s going to be very very serious, that his collapse will be immediate,” Zagorodnyuk said.

New shipments are also unlikely in the short term, due to shortages. 
The US is reviewing requests to provide more powerful weapons, with one Pentagon official saying earlier this month the administration may provide the Gray Eagle drone, which is armed with Hellfire missiles and would mark a step up in airborne assistance.
In Italy’s case, a lack of funds and approaching elections had already pushed Ukraine down the list of government priorities.

Ukraine does have some support for its position, especially from eastern European neighbors, although their resources are limited. “Because now is probably the decisive moment,” said Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte. “It’s very very important that we don’t miss it.”

Seen from Kyiv, though, the story of the war has been one in which the US and other allies have slow walked provision of each category of weapons, as they try to calibrate what can be delivered without prompting escalation from Russia.

At times that has triggered criticism — encouraged from Moscow — that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization is willing to help fight Russia to the last Ukrainian, but not to see them win, something Ukrainians are now convinced they can do. 

⚡Nord Stream AG calls destruction on three Nord Stream pipelines unprecedented

"The damage to the three offshore pipelines of the Nord Stream system that occurred in one day at the same time is unprecedented. It is not yet possible to estimate the timeframe for restoring the gas transportation infrastructure," the Nord Stream 1 operator said.

The day before Nord Stream AG reported about pressure drop in both strings of Nord Stream-1 pipeline, the reasons for the incident are being clarified. Earlier a similar problem with a sharp drop in pressure occurred on another export pipeline, Nord Stream 2. The accident happened at night in the Danish Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) southeast of the island of Bornholm. The Danish Maritime Authority later reported gas leaks near Bornholm in areas where Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 are laid.

The Tagesspiegel newspaper, citing its own sources, reported that a targeted sabotage could have caused the drop in pressure on the pipelines.

On 25 September, the Ukrainian armed forces launched a missile strike on a hotel building in Kherson. Two people were killed. Media representatives were staying in the hotel.

WASHINGTON, Feb 7 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden on Monday warned that if Russia invades Ukraine, there would be no Nord Stream 2, but did not specify how he would go about ensuring the controversial pipeline would not be used.

Speaking at a joint news conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Biden said, "If Russia invades... again, then there will be longer Nord Stream 2. We will bring an end to it."

When asked how he would do that, he responded, "I promise you we will be able to do it."

🤔 Obviously, the White House couldn't care less about its European "allies"

Col. Douglas McGregor, former US commander, weapons inspector and long time military analyst, has written a very clear, balanced and detailed analysis of the current state of affairs in the Ukrainian conflict. He notes that Ukraine is now following the same line of military thinking that Hitler turned to in 1945, that is, holding on to large swathes of land and thus restricting his forces from the maneuverability needed to deal with the slow, inexorable advance of the Soviets, while also depleting resources and bringing logistic systems to a crisis. McGregor discusses this strategy now employed in Ukraine in depth, explores its problems, and considers the likely outcomes.
He notes: “Moscow is in no hurry. The Russians are nothing if not methodical and deliberate. Ukrainian forces are bleeding to death in counterattack after counterattack. Why rush? Moscow can be patient. China, Saudi Arabia, and India are buying Russian oil in rubles. Sanctions are hurting America’s European allies, not Russia. The coming winter will likely do more to alter Europe’s political landscape than any action Moscow might undertake. In Zakopane, a town of 27,000 souls in the extreme South of Poland, the snow is already falling.”

https://www.theamericanconservative.com/holding-ground-losing-war/

❗Footage from the gas leak from the Nord Stream 2 pipe published by the Danish military.

German international observer Stefan Bruno Schaller, managing director of Energie Waldeck-Frankenberg GmbH, told RIA Novosti about the high level of organization for the voting in the referendum in Melitopol.

"It's very transparent, and it is very well organized, as far as was possible in this short period of time," he said.

According to Schaller, Kiev's provocative actions will not affect the electoral process in Zaporozhye Region.

Italian observer calls the referendum historic

The ongoing referendum in the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) is historic because it embodies the people's right of self-determination. This is a statement by Gianfranco Vistuto, editor in chief of Russia News, quoted by TASS.

"It is a great honor for me to take part in this historic referendum, which allows the people's right of self-determination to be implemented.

I would like to emphasise that this historic referendum that you have here will be a good example for, for example, Scotland or Catalonia, who have already tried several times to determine their fate, but Europe unfortunately suppresses their will," Vistuto said.

Foreign observers at the LPR referendum. Representatives of Kazakhstan, Ecuador, Syria, Brazil, Mexico, Italy, France, Cameroon, Myanmar, Slovenia and Sri Lanka attended. Dejan Mirovic, a professor of international law, came from Serbia.