There are many reports from the front lines of the Ukraine/Russian front…..but few make the headlines…..so I will try to bring as many of the unreported as I can.

The most disturbing news coming from the Pentagon about Ukraine….

The Pentagon is looking to restart special operations programs that it was conducting inside Ukraine before Russia invaded last year, The Washington Post reported on Friday.

The programs, known as surrogate operations, involve employing Ukrainian operatives to track Russian military movements and conduct information warfare. The Ukrainians involved in the programs would be overseen by US special operations troops.

The surrogate operations inside Ukraine first began in 2018 and were suspended before the invasion. The information warfare program involved using bloggers to counter so-called Russian disinformation. “We had people taking apart Russian propaganda and telling the true story on blogs,” an unnamed person involved in special operations told the Post.

The other program involved US commandos sending Ukrainians on reconnaissance missions in eastern Ukraine, where a civil war had been raging since 2014 that was sparked by a US-backed coup. “We’d train surrogates to go collect signals intelligence off a Russian radar battery … stuff like that,” a US government official told the Post.

Restarting the program would likely involve deploying US troops to Ukraine, although it’s possible they could direct the surrogates from outside the country. The Post report said there is no known US troop presence in Ukraine besides personnel based at the US Embassy in Kyiv, but The Intercept reported in October that US special operations forces were in the country, as well as CIA operatives.

If the programs are re-authorized, it would mark another dramatic escalation of US involvement in the war and make a direct clash with Russia more likely. Whether the US troops are deployed to Ukraine or run the surrogates from another country, Moscow would view the move as a major provocation.

(antiwar.com)

How many times have we heard this?  How many times has it come to bite the US in it’s ass?

This is a really bad idea.

Next the news of the proposal that Ukraine build their army of drones locally….

Ukraine’s military will spend nearly $550 million on drones in 2023, and 16 supply deals have already been signed with Ukrainian manufacturers, Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov said on Monday.

Both Ukrainian and Russian forces have used a wide array of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), commonly known as drones, for reconnaissance and assault purposes during 11 months of war.

“In 2023, we are increasing the procurement of UAVs for the Armed Forces of Ukraine,” Reznikov wrote on Facebook. “We plan to allocate about 20 billion hryvnias ($547.05 million) to this segment.”

Ukraine has received significant supplies of UAVs from its partners, from Turkey’s missile-equipped Bayraktar TB2 to the Norwegian-made Black Hornet reconnaissance drone, which weighs less than 33 grams.

Kyiv is now seeking to boost domestic production to build what officials cast as an “army of drones”.

“The independence of the military-industrial complex is one of the factors of the country’s defence capability,” Reznikov wrote.

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/ukraine-plans-550-million-drone-investment-2023-defence-minister-2023-01-30/

Okay my question is….who will foot the bill for this endeavor?  My guess would be NATO and the US….if not that then why would you take funds to help the people of Ukraine to make a wider war?

Your thoughts please.

Next….most of my regulars know that I am supporter of finding a way out of the endless cycle of war….and now I hate to be on the same mindset as an GOP idiot in Congress, Gaetz…..

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) introduced a resolution on Thursday that calls for an immediate end to US military and financial support for Ukraine and urges the warring sides to negotiate a ceasefire.

The Ukraine Fatigue Resolution was led by Gaetz and received 10 other co-sponsors. If passed, it would express that it is the sense of the House that “the United States must end its military and financial aid to Ukraine” and urges “all combatants to reach a peace agreement.”

Throughout the war, Gaetz has been critical of US support for Ukraine and has previously called for an end to the policy. “President Joe Biden must have forgotten his prediction from March 2022, suggesting that arming Ukraine with military equipment will escalate the conflict to ‘World War III,’” Gaetz said in a statement on his resolution.

“America is in a state of managed decline, and it will exacerbate if we continue to hemorrhage taxpayer dollars toward a foreign war. We must suspend all foreign aid for the War in Ukraine and demand that all combatants in this conflict reach a peace agreement immediately,” he added.

The other co-sponsors for the resolution are Reps. Andy Biggs (AZ), Lauren Boebert (CO), Paul Gosar (AZ), Marjorie Taylor Greene (GA), Anna Paulina Luna (FL), Thomas Massie (KY), Mary Miller (IL), Barry Moore (AL), Ralph Norman (SC), and Matt Rosendale (MT).

Gaetz’s resolution notes that the US has already authorized over $110 billion to spend on the war in less than a year. The introduction comes after a series of escalations of US military aid, including M1 Abrams tanks, and Ukraine is now seeking fighter jets from the US and its allies. Each escalation risks a direct clash between Russia and NATO, which could quickly spiral into nuclear war.

(antiwar.com)

Are NATO troops fighting in Ukraine?

According to a NATO official……

According to Colonel Markus Reisner, the military strategist of the Austrian Ministry of Defence, Ukraine does not need NATO soldiers, as they are already there on the frontlines as mercenaries.

In a video posted on the Intel republic Telegram channel, the Austrian can be seen and heard giving his view on the situation. Reisner’s remark came in response to a question posed during a press conference at the AIES Institute. One of the journalists asked him who would be managing the proposed transfer of tanks to Ukraine – NATO servicemen or Ukrainians.

Reisner replied that if the military from Austria or NATO countries retired from service and became mercenaries, then they could no longer be considered representatives of the armies of their states.

WATCH: Austrian Colonel claims NATO soldiers are fighting in Ukraine as mercenaries

Did the US ever want to avoid a war in Ukraine?

On March 5, 2022, Bennett traveled to Russia to meet with President Vladimir Putin. In the interview, he detailed his mediation at the time between Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, which he said he coordinated with the US, France, Germany, and the UK.

Bennett said that both sides agreed to major concessions during his mediation effort. For the Russian side, he said they dropped “denazification” as a requirement for a ceasefire. Bennett defined “denazification” as the removal of Zelensky. During his meeting in Moscow with Putin, Bennett said the Russian leader guaranteed that he wouldn’t try to kill Zelensky.

The other concession Russia made, according to Bennett, is that it wouldn’t seek the disarmament of Ukraine. For the Ukrainian side, Zelensky “renounced” that he would seek NATO membership, which Bennett said was the “reason” for Russia’s invasion.

Reports at the time reflect Bennet’s comments and said Russia and Ukraine were softening their positions. Citing Israeli officials, Axios reported on March 8 that Putin’s “proposal is difficult for Zelensky to accept but not as extreme as they anticipated. They said the proposal doesn’t include regime change in Kyiv and allows Ukraine to keep its sovereignty.”

Discussing how Western leaders felt about his mediation efforts, Bennett said then-British Prime Minister Boris Johnson took an “aggressive line” while French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz were more “pragmatic.” Bennett said President Biden adopted “both” positions.

But ultimately, the Western leaders opposed Bennet’s efforts. “I’ll say this in the broad sense. I think there was a legitimate decision by the West to keep striking Putin and not [negotiate],” Bennett said.

When asked if the Western powers “blocked” the mediation efforts, Bennet said, “Basically, yes. They blocked it, and I thought they were wrong.”

(antiwar.com)

Now who decided that this war should continue endlessly?

I know the answer….do you?

More news from the front to follow.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”