Lets talk about hypersonic missiles:
Well, the Russians have them. The Chinese have them. The US as well. Not to forget the North Koreans.
Only difference so far: Russia showed off its Kinzhal missiles in a battlefield environment and destroyed two enemy targets in the frame of Putin's 'specially operated war' on Ukraine.
We understand that such weapons are constructed to outwit enemy missile defense systems, especially when hypersonic gliders change their direction during flight. But if that's really successful under war conditions, nobody knows up to know.
China News Service, March 22 - Twenty-two days after the launch of military operations in Ukraine, the Russian military launched the "Dagger" hypersonic missile for the first time.
However, American and Western officials and media's comments on this powerful weapon are a bit "sour". Some Western experts said that Russia is "showing off its skills", and some media said that Russia just wants to gain a psychological advantage to "scare everyone".
The photo included in the above quoted article is showing a Russian MIG-31 able to carry hypersonic weapons.
Today, 中国侨网, a Network for Chinese abroad, issued an official warning for Chinese expats not to return to Ukraine. The article is providing emergency telephone numbers in case of need.
From China's TV station CCTV we learn that an evacuation flight has saved further Chinese expats from Ukraine this morning. By the way, it should have been the fourteenth flight so far. And there is some ambiguity in a Chinese media report about another delivery of Chinese aid to Ukraine that should have arrived in Warshaw, Poland. The Shanghai media report included some kind of statement that could be intended to question the reliability of such information, rather unusual for media from China Mainland. Maybe, that aid delivery has been combined with a repatriation flight for Chinese refugees from Ukraine, and that statement was used to point at another possibility to leave the region.
The 2nd batch of humanitarian supplies from China departed to Ukraine from Budapest, Hungary. Assisted by the Red Cross Society of China, the supplies for people in need arrived on a special flight of Air China in the Hungarian capital yesterday. They will be transported into Ukraine where the Ukrainian Red Cross can take them over this afternoon local time. [Chinese media, March 13]
A first batch of humanitarian aid materials provided by China already arrived at the warehouse in Chernivtsi, Ukraine, on March 11 local time.
关注乌克兰局势中国首批援乌人道主义物资分发给当地民众
Regarding the situation in Ukraine, China's first batch of
humanitarian supplies to help Ukraine was distributed to
the local people.
The 'thermobaric bomb' or 'vacuum bomb' is being used in Russian grenade launcher systems to generate huge flame balls that suck oxygen from the environment. It can kill groups of people on the spot who either burn, melt in the heat and/or suffocate. Such weapons use fuel jelly like the notorious napalm bombs once deployed by the US in Vietnam. They disperse an aerosol of fuel in the sky which is then ignited. Russia is known for having deployed that weapon in all of the regional wars it conducted during the last decades.
The following quotations have been taken from Chinese sources reporting what Chinese residents in Ukraine experienced these days. Both reports quoted seem to be published on China mainland channels while official voices from Beijing are reluctant to take sides in the conflict.
Faced with the sudden deterioration of the situation, Qiao Liya expressed her helplessness. As she said in the video before, "Brothers for many years, why are you making trouble today?" Since 2014, the relationship between Russia and Ukraine has begun to decline.
乔丽娅表示，俄乌两国其实大部分人并不希望有战争。
Julia said that in fact, most people in Russia and Ukraine do not want war.
直到2月24日，王旭觉得在乌克兰的一切都在正常进行，尽管与俄罗斯矛盾已经持续了若干年。
Until February 24, Wang Xu felt that everything in Ukraine was going on normally, even though the conflict with Russia had been going on for several years.
On January 14, 2022, Xinhua News Agency just published an article entitled "China-Ukraine Practical Cooperation Achieves Fruitful Results in 2021 - Interview with Fan Xianrong, Chinese Ambassador to Ukraine", Fan Xianrong said in an interview, "In mid-2021, Ukraine's pragmatic cooperation has many bright spots in bilateral trade, production investment, transportation exchanges, etc. In the face of the impact of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, bilateral pragmatic cooperation has shown strong resilience and great potential."
This morning, it became clear to the world that Western allies in the US and EU are standing together against Russia [The Guardian - Timeline of War]:
The United Nations Security Council held a meeting on the 27th and voted to pass Resolution 2623, which was requested by the United States and others to hold an emergency special UN General Assembly on the situation in Ukraine. Zhang Jun, Permanent Representative of China to the United Nations, attended the meeting, abstained from voting in the relevant voting, and made an explanation of China's voting position.
The resolution didn't pass as was expected from the beginning. China, however, did not openly take sides in favor of Russia which is its strategic partner in many aspects. On February 28, China's news agency XINHUA confirms Beijing's unchanged position in the matter.
Boris Kashin, a member of the Russian State Duma Financial Market Committee, has publicly stated that China is Russia's strategic partner, and Russia's main partner in creating its own independent payment system is China UnionPay. The development of China UnionPay can serve as a reference for Russia. In this context, Russia established the Russian National Payment Card Company (NSPK) and the Mir payment system. Russia is the third largest market for Visa and Mastercard. The two giants are reluctant to withdraw from the Russian market. In order to continue their business in Russia, the two giants have also joined the Russian National Payment Card Company (NSPK).
China UnionPay, which is about to turn 20 years old, is now one of the three major international card organizations, and it has also become an international leading bank card clearing organization covering 180 countries and regions around the world. A good life is inseparable from payment services. While we lament [about daily business], we also pay tribute to the foresight and prudence of the older generation of [China's] politicians. Having an independent payment network avoids the influence of international politics and ensures the long-term stability of our people’s livelihood development.
Visa and Mastercard have been included in the Passing Sanctions Act (CAATSA) approved by the U.S. Congress to counter U.S. adversaries. The bill allows Washington to impose penalties on businesses and individuals deemed hostile to the United States or loyal to a regime hostile to the United States. Although the situation in Ukraine is getting worse and worse, the use of payment networks to sanction Russia, which is already well-prepared, may fail. First, Russian officials have strengthened strict control over the payment systems of international card organizations outside Russia. The foreign payment system is required to pay a guarantee fee of 25% of the average daily trading profit to the special account of the Russian Central Bank on a quarterly basis. Second, all card organizations, including Visa and MasterCard, must be connected to the Russian National Payment Card Company (NSPK), which is a centralized local data processing center. Local credit card transactions in Russia are processed by NSPK, and the United States' unilateral intervention is not possible.
- News of the Day -
More EU countries – including France, Italy and Greece – have said they would back a ban on Russia using the Swift global payments network in an attempt to pile further pressure on the country after its invasion of Ukraine.
Cyprus and Hungary also said they would support such a measure.
The move, which it is hoped would hit Russian trade by making it harder for companies in the country to do business, is being considered to escalate sanctions on Vladimir Putin’s regime.
Germany seems to be reluctant on this matter because a Swift ban could damage western economies as well, according to Germany's liberal finance minister Lindner.
This morning, Russia's Putin blew the fuse with what appears to be an extensive war on Ukraine.
As reported in a war timeline, only recently provided by "The Guardian", the Russian paper "Novaya Gazeta" dared to oppose the Kremlin's official justification for the attack on Ukraine. Punctual regional protests are being reported from Russia by other western media.
Quotations taken from an article published by Forbes:
" After months of troop buildups, attempted blackmail by Russian President Vladimir Putin to get policy concessions, failed diplomacy, and Russian lies about their peaceful intentions, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began early Thursday morning. Russia has massed some 150,000 troops along Ukraine's borders, according to US estimates based on satellite imagery. Ukraine does not have the military might to stop the invasion."
The pro-Republican US TV station "Fox News" had to make it clear to Yankee Doodle Donald Trump who attacked whom: It's not the US that attacked Ukraine.
Update included: «The World of Thoughts of a Young Chekist»
Russia's President Vladimir Putin ordered the deployment of troops to two breakaway regions in the Donbass region of eastern Ukraine in what Russia calls a "peace-keeping mission", shortly after recognising these regions as independent. He thereby accelerated a crisis the West fears could unleash a major war. [US media some minutes ago]
《风暴眼》被激活
« Eye of the Storm » now activated
[SINA Finance 新浪财经 22-02-2022]
On February 21, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree recognizing the "Donetsk People's Republic" and "Luhansk People's Republic", as well as the treaty of friendship, cooperation and mutual assistance between Russia and these two "republics".
The Donbass is covering an area of about 60,000 square kilometers. It was subsumed into Ukraine after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The region is the largest coal base in Ukraine and was one of the most important heavy industry centers in the former Soviet Union. It has deep ties with Russia in terms of history, language, culture, ethnicity and economy.
Complete speech of Vladimir Putin in English, streamed and live translated by the Russian TV station RT:
The World of Thoughts of a Young Chekist
I lately rediscovered some brilliant novel from Russia which happened to make part of my favorite reading stuff in the days of my youth. It is about mysterious incidents in one of the mining regions of Ural in the years of reconstruction that followed World War II. It might, as well, intrigue young Russians in their dreams to become valuable members of the Soviet society and defend their country as a "Chekist", a member of state intelligence NKWD which later became KGB.
On the basis of a gripping plot, the novel comes up with the convincing description of some controversial figures who are running a rather small Siberian mining community. This community unexpectedly becomes the scene of unexplainable accidents and rising mistrust against one of its community members, a once well-reputed activist and convinced Communist. The plot under the main plot, however, is an intrusion by Western agents who are trying to explore the potential of industrial and mining facilities in the Ural region and in view of business interests that might offer big future wins, as soon as private business could be restored to replace failing Soviet economy. Then, pre-revolutionary owner rights should be renewed.
A fictive enquiry protocol at the end of the book is referring to real proceedings that I found quoted elsewhere. That protocol could give an idea of dangers targeting Russia from politically connected Western capitalists.
Therefore, only some years after World War II, a new adage of mistrust against Russia's former allies entered the political scene and became the basis of thoughts for highly motivated Soviet youths who dreamed of a career in the intelligence branch, as was the case with young Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin.
This morning a worried world woke up and met with Russia's claim having reduced its troops near the Ukrainian border. While some western voices looked upon that declaration as a first sign of de-escalation, others suspected a measure of deception. NATO secretary general Stoltenberg, for example, mentioned the fact that a withdrawal of troops is less important if their material still remains near the assumed battle-field.
What Stoltenberg means might be illustrated by the following view on detected military air traffic on February 5, dicussed as an alleged manning of heavy military units near the border to Ukraine with troops from eastern Russia. Such operation could be carried out within hours and in both directions.
Not yet on the retreat, if already present on the battle field: Armata T-14 upgrade !
Gerhard Schröder served as a Federal Chancellor between 1998 and 2005. During his early years as a member of parliament he met with East German leader Erich Honecker in East-Berlin (1985).
Shortly after Schröder had lost the German federal elections in 2005, he accepted a director's post at Gazprom, Russia's top provider of Siberian natural gas. He is connected with the disputed "Nord Stream 2" gas pipeline which he promoted from the beginning of the project. Schröder became as well a close friend to President Putin and, together with his then-wife, adopted two Russian children. His former social-democratic friends turned their backs on him because he was already known as " the comrade of shareholders " (German: "Der Genosse der Bosse").
Both, Schröder and Putin could already have met between 1985 and 1990 in Germany, at the time Putin served as a KGB and liaison officer to the East German state security. His task being related to "foreign intelligence outside East-Germany" as he told journalists on request, he could have been expected to maintain frequent contact with Russian headquarters in Berlin-Karlshorst and with the Ministry of State Security in Berlin-Hohenschönhausen for which he owned a special identity card, even though he was officially stationed in Dresden. Visits to Westberlin, in the frame of interallied regulations or with a diplomatic passport, should have been easy to manage for him.
As to Vladimir Putin, it was during the last years of the East-German Republic that I heard his name for the first time on one of those trains which connected Westberlin with the Federal Republic. Between both frontier stations, such trains passed without further stop in the so-called German Democratic Republic. They were reserved for Western transit passengers and surveyed by East German state security ("Stasi"). On each train a group of three East German agents could be found, one of them usually being a middle-aged woman with a conspicuous and impudent appearance that she produced to get the attention of interesting passengers who should hold her for a shameless bitch, easy to approach. According to what I heard, she was responsible for some arrests and punishment of credulous but rather harmless people. In the 1980ies I happened to take the transit connection frequently. So I came to know what people I was travelling with. Once, while I was sitting in the dining car, they were sitting behind my back and had their lunch-break. Their conversation became more private and turned around a party the woman had attended. "Did you really get an invitation for that ?" "Yes I did, and there was someone pouring his vodka discreetly into a flower pot." Muffled laughter. "That was Putin." "Hello, if there is somebody such loyal to the party line." Louder laughter.
At the very moment I didn't get the meaning of that performance, but much later I understood. It was the time of General Secretary Gorbatchev's campaign against alcoholism in the Soviet Union (1985-88) which had led to considerable economic losses. Therefore, a Russian liaison officer and special guest at that Stasi party had to find a way to keep the political line without openly insulting his German colleagues. He might even have suspected the treacherous aspect of these lackeys.
Long after the German reunification, somebody else retold the same story and its background independently on the internet. So I decided to accept this as a confirmation. As to me, I never spoke to anybody about my experience up to now. And, by the way, Vladimir Putin wouldn't have enjoyed such incredible career, if he hadn't proven his unshaking loyalty towards his former masters, Gorbatchev and Boris Jelzin.
Russian video including an interview with Putin where he describes the character of his work.
Accepting the fact that Vladimir Putin appeared in Dresden in 1985 and became an important figure in the foreign intelligence business targeting the "main enemy" (which was the West), we can as well imagine that he wasn't entirely new in his business. Starting as a major and entitled with special privileges (access to Stasi facilities, German car plate) and with a certain knowledge of the German language, one might suppose that he had already acquired some professional experience in the spy business. From there, it should not be excluded that he had already completed this or that job to the satisfaction of his superiors. I remember two western press reports referring to the recruitment of students who had almost finished their formation in the late 1970ies or early 1980ies. Unless most spy activity of those years in the Federal Republic and Westberlin, this was specifically assigned to KGB. As to the reported cases, they should not have been too successful, but who knows about those other guys deliberately giving a hand in the establishing of global peace and socialism with a little well-paid post in it for themselves.
Much of the kind was happening in those years, sometimes directly under the eyes of uninvolved witnesses who happened to be on the spot at the wrong moment, or who got to know some shady figure who was not what he tried to impersonate. From there, I came to think that western counter-intelligence knew more than expected, even though they kept silent for their own reasons.
The Paper, 澎湃新闻, is a Chinese digital newspaper run by the Shanghai United Media Group and said to be ideologically connected with the Communist Party of China.
On January 27, 2022, they came with an interesting comment on the Ukrainian conflict seen as a chess game. The comment is based on a perception of Ukraine being isolated in its controversy with Russia, with no western partner willing to send troops or really effective weapons. It comes to the conclusion that Ukraine has to decide with what side to negotiate.
It is impossible to successfully mediate the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, and the key lies in how Russia and Ukraine deal with problems, such as avoiding the start of fighting.
The reason is simple: from the moment Putin took Crimea, it meant that Ukraine could not be pro-Russian, and if Zelenskiy said good things for Russia, he would only be forced to step down.
In the eyes of most Ukrainians, Russia's "annexation" of Crimea and its current attempt to control Donbass is undoubtedly unacceptable.
Zelenskiy took the initiative to call out Putin for peace talks, and also invited Macron, Scholz and other helpers, which is undoubtedly good news, as to whether Putin takes care of Zelenskiy, it is another matter.
Putin's choice is to talk directly to the United States, because Russia believes that Ukraine is a pawn of the United States.
There is no turning back from the bow, the Russian-Ukrainian conflict is still full of variables, and the outbreak of war may not be nothing, whether to continue to be the bridgehead of the United States, or to sit down with Russia sincerely, Ukraine really has to think about it.
Is the situation in Russia and Ukraine really on the verge of erupting? To be honest, Russia really doesn't want to go to war, and Russia is not economically strong enough to support an all-out war against Ukraine. Just yesterday, the Russian stock market plunged 8.32 percent.
But Russia has no way back, they must have a buffer zone from the geopolitical point of view, can not accept NATO directly close to the border, can not accept NATO eastward expansion. But Russia also understands that if war really breaks out between Russia and Ukraine, it will not only be of no benefit to Ukraine, but also of little benefit to Russia, but it can only be a lose-lose situation and let the West take advantage of the fire.
美国每天都说狼来了，万一哪天狼真的来了呢？
Every day the US keep saying the wolf is coming.
What if the wolf really comes ?
The next day, January 27, the above quoted source reported about direct talks between Germany, France, Russia and Ukraine without the presence of a US representative:
After having temporarily excluded the US from the proceedings in Russia's direct negotiations with Ukraine and representatives from France and Germany, Russia came to terms with Ukraine on the lowest possible level of a mutual ceasefire. Soon afterwards, Russia stepped forward in the controversy about a hypothetic NATO membership of Ukraine. As Russia's Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexei Zaitsev put it: After the ceasefire even the idea of war between Russia and Ukraine should be considered as 'unacceptable'. In order to ease tensions in the conflict, a withdrawal of NATO troops from all of Eastern Europe should therefore be the logical consequence. [Reuters news agency, Chinese edition on January 28, 2022]
Zaitsev称：“如果北约从东欧国家撤军，军事紧张局势显然会得到缓解。这正是我们所呼吁的。”
Zaitsev said: "If NATO withdraws its troops from Eastern European countries, military tensions will obviously ease." That is exactly what we are calling for. "
Any description of the situation suggests that a Russian attack on Ukraine within the very next days is quite within the bounds of probability. I therefore ventured to compile a summary of all the dangerous facts which have emerged within the last few days.
A group of pro-democracy hackers calling themselves “Cyber Partisans” said Monday they had infiltrated the Belarusian rail network in an effort to “disrupt” the movement of Russian troops into the country as tensions over a potential renewed invasion of Ukraine grow.
The Belarusian Defense Ministry said Monday that Russian troops were already arriving in the Kremlin-aligned country, which borders Ukraine and Russia, ahead of a February training operation. That exercise has raised fears in the West that it would place Russian troops and equipment along Ukraine’s northern border, near the capital, Kyiv, further encircling the country. [Washington Post, January 25, 2022]
The United States has heightened the readiness of some 8,500 U.S. troops amid tensions between Russia and NATO over a potential invasion of Ukraine, but no decisions have been made yet to deploy them. [US media on January 25, 2022]
According to media reports, Russia's ambassador to China, Denisov, said at a press conference on January 25 that the negotiations between Russia and NATO will not talk about China, but regular consultations between Russia and China have been going on. The two countries have reached an agreement on this issue, and China understands Russia's position in the US-Russian security negotiations that NATO cannot allow Ukraine to join and must stop its eastward expansion.
The following report and evaluation has been compiled by a group of Chinese netizens interested in military affairs. In their article they are discussing the probability of different Russian advances on Ukraine's territory. The article has been marked as "individual opinion". [新浪军事2022年01月25日 - military news from mainland China]
On January 17, some troops from Russia's Far East began arriving in Belarus, ostensibly to take part in military exercises scheduled for February. Russia said it would also send 12 fighter jets and two S-400 air defense systems. An offensive from the north across the Belarus-Ukrainian border would allow Russian forces to approach the Ukrainian capital from the west and surround it.
Western countries are preparing for the worst. On January 17, Britain began airlifting thousands of anti-tank missiles to Ukraine. A few days ago, three Russian landing ships sailed through the Baltic Sea with unknown destinations. On the same day, Ukraine was hit by cyberattacks that took down Ukrainian government websites and attacked official computers. The United States, meanwhile, said it had intelligence showing that Russia was planning military action against it in eastern Ukraine.
However, wars always unfold in unpredictable ways. Since World War II, Russia has not conducted a large-scale offensive of infantry, armor and air power. An attacked country may easily fall apart, or it may persevere. Ivan Timofeev, an expert at the Russian Council of International Affairs, warned that a prolonged and slow military confrontation would destabilize Russia itself.
The Biden administration in its struggle to handle a difficult competition with Russia and China, as seen from inside China. Quotations taken from a popular news feed:
[網易 Easy Net, Chinese handy news on January 22, 2022]
俄总参谋长格拉西莫夫公开表示：
你们敢动手，我就敢扔核弹
Gerassimow, chief of the Russian General Staff, openly stated:
If you dare to do anything, I will dare to drop a nuclear bomb.
Since the current US President Joe Biden took office, one of his biggest wishes has probably been to separate the close diplomatic cooperation between China and Russia.
After all, in the way that the United States can only rely on the printing press to pay military funds today, and maintains a strategic confrontation with China and Russia at the same time in the world, it is more and more likely to follow the old path of the Soviet Union.
If Russia turns to the West, it can indeed change the momentum of Sino-US competition, [up to now] benefitting China, overnight and which is a dream that will allow Biden and Americans not to wake up for three days and three nights.
To that end, Biden flew to Geneva, Switzerland, on June 17 to talk in secret with Russian President Vladimir Putin for four hours to ease tensions between the United States and Russia.
Published today, January 22, another Chinese language article from mainland China came with further news of US war preparations in the frame of the Ukraine conflict. [腾讯网2022年01月22日]
美国准备为乌克兰战争做准备，无人机从阿联酋跑到乌克兰侦察
The United States prepares Ukraine for war, and drones run
from the United Arab Emirates to Ukraine for reconnaissance.
According to the latest aviation news, the American RQ-4 Global Hawk was able to run from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to Ukraine for reconnaissance and was flying around Turkey. This shows that the United States is ready to prepare for the war in Ukraine.
On January 22 the Ministry of the Interior of the United Arab Emirates announced that the flying of drones and light sports aircraft will be banned from now on. Agencies that need to use drones for advertising or commercial shooting must obtain a flight permit. The Interior Ministry said there had been a recent incident of drone abuse and the ban had been issued to ensure the safety of people's lives and property. It is unknown, if the flight ban is related to the reported deployment of a US made Global Hawk drone leaving the UAE for Ukraine. [环球网2022年01月23日]
In order to assure further assets for military help to Ukraine, US legislators brought about a legal construction.
Meanwhile, U.S. senators have drafted a bill that would allow the U.S. president to provide Ukraine with Lend-Lease weapons. The document, called the Law on Democratic Defense of Ukraine, recommends providing Ukraine with military equipment "to protect vulnerable Ukraine from Russian military aggression."
Under current law, the President of the United States has the authority to permit the supply and lease of weapons to "American partners and allies." In addition, the U.S. defense budget for 2022 provides Ukraine with $300 million, including $225 million for training and equipment and $75 million for training and equipping lethal weapons. But, as the bill's drafters argue, that's not enough.
Between January 18 and 20, Russia, China and Iran held joint navy exercises. This comes at a time when antagonisms between these three nations on one side and the USA on the other side are culminating.
Here is some Chinese video which was launched yesterday, January 21. It is intended to answer US ambitions on the seven seas and offers increased security that should be allegedly provided by the Russians and their partners. Pictures are showing navy units operating in the Gulf of Oman. Other joint operations will take place in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. By the way, the three nations already held a similar exercise in 2021.
中俄伊三国举行联合军演， 这是美国自找的
" China, Russia, and Iran held joint military exercises,
which the United States asked for itself. "
中俄伊三国联合军演，将展示全球正义的强大力量
The China-Russia-Iran joint military exercise will
demonstrate the mighty power of global justice.
划重点：石油
连续发生多起针对国际商船的袭击
The Key is Oil:
There have been a number of consecutive attacks against international merchant ships.
The Gulf of Oman is a very sensitive strategic waterway... It is connected to the Strait of Hormuz... About one-fifth of the world's oil... Is being shipped through the Gulf of Oman and the Strait of Hormuz...
Last May and June... There have been multiple attacks on international merchant ships in a row... The U.S. military is a major threat to shipping in the surrounding waters... They have repeatedly forcibly seized Iranian vessels……
Another brandnew video published today, January 22, is showing a military operation involving the Russian navy and which took place in the Gulf of Oman during the joint exercises.
