A Developing Story

by Stephen Lendman

On all things Russia and Ukraine, MSM followers are fed a daily drumbeat of state-approved propaganda rubbish in lieu of reality as should be explained.

According to the fabricated official narrative, greatly degraded regime troops are winning the battle of what Kiev calls its southern region and Donbass — areas Russian forces liberated from the scourge of Nazified control.

What began days earlier around Kharkov is a developing story — greater clarity likely to be known in the next 48 hours or so.

While Russian forces largely smashed Kiev troops around Kherson, fighting continues and with it a hugely mounting regime body count.

What's known at this time around Kharkov is a similar scenario of large-scale Ukrainian casualties from intense Russian artillery and aerial strikes on regime troops.

At the same time, Russian National Guard and Donbass freedom-fighters — not front line forces — pulled back strategically from a number of villages and small towns.

What's going on is likely a tactical move by Russia's Defense Ministry to concentrate and trap Ukrainian troops in territory ceded to them temporarily with large-scale artillery, aerial, missile and rocket strikes on them to inflict more massive numbers of dead and wounded than already in mind over the next few days.

As analyst Larry Johnson explained, what's unfolding isn't the German Wehrmacht approaching Moscow or troops commanded by General Von Paulus entering Stalingrad "for certain victory" — not gotten. 

It's more like the mid-December 1944 to late January 1945 Battle of the Bulge.

A last-ditch Wehrmacht effort on the Western front to turn defeat into victory failed — at the cost of up to around 175,000 casualties on both sides, German forces sustaining the heaviest losses of manpower, weapons and equipment.

As in and around Kherson, Ukrainian troops "are suffering…horrendous (numbers of) casualties" around Kharkov.

If they were triumphing over Russian forces, "why are foreign journalists kept from front line (areas) to" report the news, Johnson asked?

It's because gaining temporary control over a few villages and towns of no strategic value is at the expense of many thousands of dead and wounded Kiev troops.

The regime and its US master want reality on the ground suppressed, not revealed — while at the same time crowing about what NYT fake news called the "largest gains (sic) since (the myth of) routing Russia from Kiev in April (sic)."

And this puppet Zelensky reinvention of reality on the ground from his latest Friday night propaganda hyperventilating, roaring:

Regime troops "took control of more than 30 settlements in Kharkov region (sic)."

"We are taking control of new settlements (sic)."

"Everywhere we are returning the Ukrainian flag (sic) and protection for all our people (sic)."

Why aren't Ukrainian journalists backing puppet Zelensky's claims from firsthand observations along front line areas?

Why doesn't video footage show triumphant scenes?

And this from Pentagon joint chiefs of staff head, Milley, on Friday from Prague, claiming the following without corroborating evidence:

"We see success in Kherson now (sic)." 

"We see some success in Kharkov and so that is very, very encouraging (sic)."

On the same day, RT reported the following:

"(L)ocal officials (near front line areas) say Russian reinforcements are turning the tide" of battle.

And this on Friday from Kharkov Region military/civilian administration head, Vitaly Ganchev, saying:

"Ukrainian armed forces pulled up all their reserves, and now they are trying to claim victory on the corpses of their soldiers."

"They have colossal losses in the thousands."

"They literally throw people into battle to be slaughtered."

On Kherson Region front lines, regime troops "made several unsuccessful attempts to attack." 

They "retreated after taking (heavy) losses" of manpower, weapons and equipment, Russia's Defense Ministry reported on Friday.

As thousands of Ukrainian troops concentrate in the battle around Kharkov, Russian forces most likely will strike them decisively by intense aerial and ground attacks over the weekend into next week — forcing survivors to retreat in defeat.

In the coming days, it should be known if things are playing out this way, what's most likely.