Lies, Damn lies, and The Bitter End
A season of sea change, centered around two infamous clowns. Elections? Coups? Power struggles? Profit!
Dearest of dear readers,
Some time ago I published a piece on this website pondering a “what if”, following a Russian missile strike on Ukrainian troops, which included Commander in Chief of the AFU Valerii Zaluzhniy. At the time, it was speculated that Valerii was injured and possibly on death’s door, including by myself, though I remained skeptical of the information and treated it as juicy gossip more than accepted truth. As with most things, time and hindsight clarify things, and as such we have discovered that Valerii is not only alive, but thriving.
Over the past 3 weeks in particular, his name has come across my desk more times than I care to admit. However, with his name in the news comes an attachment - an impetus of its own. What do I mean by this? Allow me to explain.
The North Winds
(A photo of the ecological devestation in the wake of the Nord Stream bombing - via EADS Airbus/Pléiades Neo)
Please be aware this piece will not take the form of the typical “Gonzo-vestigative journalism” that this publication is more known for. This is a month in review through the headlines and articles from media apparatuses that call themselves “stalwart standers with Zelensky and Ukraine for as long as it takes”, and coming from the perspective of some schmuck reading it all on his iPad.
Let’s begin, shall we?
Starting with this article in the Washington Post dated Nov 11, 2023 - “Ukrainian military officer coordinated Nord Stream pipeline attack”, Zaluzhny is implicated as being involved in the terrorist attack on the Nord Stream I/II pipelines. This to me was interesting for a number of reasons - firstly, it was one of the only notable appearances of Zaluzhny in the Western press in untold months. Second, it appeared to be throwing him and his men clean under the bus, sight unseen. I certainly heard a number of thumping noises coming from under it.
So, quite curious. The month didn’t stop there though, hell it didn’t even start there. November was a wild ride for Valerii, so let’s start at the beginning - and keep in mind, I’m publishing this as close to the end of the month as is prudent to make sure I have accurate-to-the-minute information contained within.
Let’s take a curated look. Be sure to set your watch to the local timezone.
Kyiv Time
Kyiv (Kiev), however you spell it, remains a fractured place. With Zelensky refusing to hold elections and the popular refrain seemingly that he is incompetent and too weak-willed, he is seemingly on the back foot both politically and on the warfront. Exiting Summer/Fall with nary a counteroffensive to mention and meandering blindly into Winter, he finds himself in especially turbulent times with many calling for not just his head, but the heads of those around him too.
Before we begin, a quick note about the “ladies in waiting”. It is unfair to say that Ukraine is universally behind Zelensky, with multiple factions showing their interest and wading in as necessary, from a variety of angles left and right. Zaluzhniy is not unique in this sense nor is he the only potential suitor in a post-Zelensky Ukraine. For more, please reference this fairly fair write-up from the Wilson Center, “Political Competition in Wartime Ukraine”, dated March 27, 2023, to ascertain a better understanding of the landscape.
On with Valerii’s very interesting month.
November 3: “Attritional war”, in which the jig is up and the news is out, Ukraine is fucked and that word is coming from both Zelensky AND Zaluzhny. Shortly after this brief agreement goes international, the narrative management machine across FIVEEYES nations went into full meltdown mode, slinging shit back and forth at each other, laying blame at each other’s feet. See more below.
November 6: “Major Hennadii Chastiakov, a top aide to Ukraine’s commander-in-chief, Gen. Valery Zaluzhny, was killed after he “took out a gift box with grenades inside,” showed one of them to his son, took it back and pulled its ring, “provoking a tragic explosion,” Ukraine’s minister of internal affairs Ihor Klymenko said in a Telegram post”. The international community speculated this was a terrorist attack at the behest of Russia, though other commentators posited that this could be a message from “higher up” to restrain one’s ambitions.
Also November 6: “Rift appears to widen between Zelensky, top Generals”, in which *fucking NPR* lays the whole argument bare. There is a clear power struggle between the incumbent who is seen as incompetent, and his Generals - who are also seemingly incompetent. Garbage in, garbage out.
Also Also November 6, opinion piece in WaPo by Maximus Bootlickitus: “All is lost, now what?” - personal favorite quote from Max: “The Ukrainians, in turn, complain that the West has not given them enough weapons to break through the Russian fortifications and that many of the weapons they have received are not in good working order.”
November 11: BANDERA-Aid: “‘Zaluzhny Told Us to Rock’: Ukrainian Supergroup Antytila hit Australia” - a global begging tour and music performance by people who’d rather not be in Avdeevka right now. Clearly, the machine noticed there had been a pattern of unflattering news, and needed a moment of levity (and fundraising).
November 19: “If only the WunderWaffe had more WunderWeapons”, says Forbes. Zaluzhniy was quoted earlier in the year as saying something akin to “if only I had a magical plasma cannon that vaporized people”. Seemingly, they both forget they need people to operate any equipment sent.
November 20: “Optimism fades at start of another Winter of War”, in which morale is noted as being especially low. From the article: “The exhaustion of two years of fighting, the continued loss of life at the front and frustration at the slow pace with which western partners continue to provide weaponry have combined so that (, sic) for the first time since the early stages of the war, some voices have quietly pondered the possibility of ceasefire negotiations, while accepting they would be risky and could benefit Russia.”
November 21: “Zelensky warns Army leadership on political ambitions”, in which Zelensky publicly rebukes Zaluzhniy in The UK tabloid The Sun. “"With all the respect to General Zaluzhny and to all the commanders who are on the battlefield, there is an absolute understanding of the hierarchy and that is it, and there can't be two, three, four, five."“ It is clear Zelensky is not interested in relinquishing power, and his disinterest is not in any way obscured. We have gone from mere comedian servant to ruthless tyrant beset on holding power until the bitter end. So be it. The last Ukrainian.
November 24: “Zelensky instructs to prepare for Comprehensive Mobilization Plan” in which Zelensky and Zaluzhniy find themselves locked hand in hand wandering into the winter. If only they had more elderly men and middle aged women to fight, Russia would surely fall overnight. More meat for the meat gods.
November 25: “It sure is different around here without the wind at our sails”, says Local American of Kyiv, who finds herself traveling back and forth for work (wink)
November 26: “The situation now is that if the military leadership cannot present any idea for 2024, and all their proposals for mobilization boil down to the fact that more people are needed without the slightest proposal for changes to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, then such leadership must leave”
The current Kiev time: 20:45 on 26.11.2023
At time of writing and publishing, it’s just about 11am on the same day here on the sunny west coast of the USA.
Here’s my thoughts on all of this, and a quick closing to get you folks back on the road to beat traffic.
They’re fucked. Rats are turning on rats. The ship is taking on more water than anyone knows how to handle, and re-arranging the deck chairs and hiring more cabana boys won’t solve the problem. Negotiations were needed 18 months ago, they were needed 10 years ago, and they’re desperately needed now. Otherwise, I don’t see a political future for Zelensky, or Zaluzhniy, or Ukraine.. Or the EU/America for that matter.
Stay tuned.
The American Griftocracy has grifted all it can off the Ukraine War, which Russia is obviously winning, so they're cutting their losses and moving on to a bright, shiny, new, and potentially very profitable war, starring its old friend Israel.
It's not working very well; Israel's just so...OBVIOUS and enthusiastic about doing a genocide. Even Democrat shitlibs are repulsed by this one, so we'll probably see them talking about defending democracy in Africa or somewhere else there are profitable minerals to extract in the next few months.
I don't know what I really got out of all of that but it was not much worse than other sorts "news" reports and it seems to have at least attempted to warp up the month of November. So I convey my limited appreciation for the wrap up of things I knew already and things I did not and things I thought were true but now are true --- entirely because I have now heard it twice.
Having now rendered my thanks to you oh great writer, what may I add to it as my own? What I am thinking of is that, at the beginning of all this the big attraction to Ukraine was that they were a country sincerely -- sincerely -- moving on down the path to democracy and Russia, those utter bear-like foolish men, were trying to stop that march of progress. But as time went on I didn't see any indication of Ukraine as a newly formed democracy. Where did the county bravely moving towards democracy go? I am seriously wondering now whether that march toward democracy stuff was even true as all! Another thing I wonder is, if Ukraine is marching towards a brave, Western-facing democracy as I had thought, why do official sources rate it as the most corrupt country in the world or something? Another thing I notice (bringing my observations up to three) is that, when you get right down to it, Ukraine looks an awful lot like Russia. What am I saying? I don't know, just that maybe there are some things starkly different but other things that are similar. I am still in favor of a free, democratic Ukraine. I mean, eventually. It just sounds like such a nice idea, doesn't it? There is so much more to say, but -- Sorry. Out of time.