Ukraine/Russia: Beware the False Flags

Ukraine/Russia: Beware the False Flags

• Beware the false flags. But also beware the fake news and false promises, as they are the means for dangerous ends: increased U.S. and NATO involvement in the war between Russia and Ukraine.
• On Thursday, Senator Lindsey Graham – a longtime member of the Washington D.C. war party – called for the assassination of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

1. Florida Senator Marco Rubio soon followed with claims that Putin would “use chemical or biological weapons” and “slaughter millions.” This same Marco Rubio has been a proponent of NATO expansion – the very policy that contributed to the environment that led to Russia’s invasion.

• If Putin’s goal is to “slaughter millions” (or even if that is a secondary result of his goals), he sure is going about it the wrong way. Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians have sought security in Hungary and Romania. More than 700,000 Ukrainians have fled to Poland, Ukraine’s neighbor to the west. Certainly Russia has the means to target these fleeing civilians. Even when Russia seized the Ukrainian port city of Kherson, there were reports of 300 dead civilians after “days of intense fighting.”  
•  The window for their desired U.S./NATO intervention in Ukraine closes as Russia continues to take more territory. Desperation leads to escalated rhetoric, and explains the unhinged statements about the re-emergence of Stalin and warnings that Putin will use nuclear weapons.
•  In reality, Russia is winning this war. Cities are encircled (if not outright taken), Kyiv faces Russian troops from its west and its east, and Russia may soon own the Ukrainian coast.

ISW @TheStudyofWar

#Russian forces in #Ukraine may have entered a possibly brief operational pause as they prepare to resume operations against #Kyiv, #Kharkiv, #Mykolayiv, and possibly #Odesa in the next 24-48 hours. Read the latest from @TheStudyofWar and @criticalthreats:isw.pub/RusCampaignMar5