{"id":270010,"date":"2023-06-16T06:02:57","date_gmt":"2023-06-16T06:02:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=270010"},"modified":"2023-06-17T05:36:20","modified_gmt":"2023-06-17T05:36:20","slug":"welcome-to-21st-century-kremlin-watching-with-a-ukrainian-twist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=270010","title":{"rendered":"Welcome to 21st Century Kremlin Watching With a Ukrainian Twist"},"content":{"rendered":"

Larry Johnston \u2013 SONAR June 14, 2023<\/strong><\/h1>\n
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Unless you are over the age of 45 you likely do not have living memory of the Kremlin \u201cWatching\u201d that accompanied major Soviet holidays. The term \u201cKremlin Watching\u201d refers to the practice of examining photos like the one above to assess political status in the Soviet Government by identifying the men who occupied the most prominent positions on the viewing stand above Lenin\u2019s tomb. In this photo from 1965 you can see (from left to right) Anastas Mikoyan, Marshal of the Soviet Union Rodion Malinovsky, Leonid Brezhnev and Alexei Kosygin commemorating the 20th anniversary of victory over the Nazis. CIA analysts were keen to look at these line ups in trying to assess who was up and who was on their way out in wielding political power. Brezhnev and Kosygin held the reins of power. Those were the good old days.<\/p>\n

The CIA warned Ukraine not to destroy Nord Stream months before an attack on the gas pipelines, after receiving a tip from Dutch military intelligence, according to media reports.<\/p>\n

The Netherlands\u2019 military intelligence agency, MIVD, received information about an \u201cimminent attack\u201d on Nord Stream from an unnamed source in Ukraine in June, three months before a series of underwater explosions hit the pipes last September, a joint investigation by Dutch and German news outlets published Tuesday\u00a0shows<\/a>.<\/p>\n

According to the plan received by MIVD, the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, General Valery Zaluzhny, was in charge of the operation against Nord Stream, which involved a small team of divers traveling on a sailing boat and was supposed to take place mid-June 2022.<\/p>\n

Politico is not the only one spreading this fable; other more prominent outlets, including the Washington Post, New York Times and Reuters, also piled on Zaluzhny. The media is eager to carry the CIA\u2019s water and shift blame for the attack from the U.S., which according to Sy Hersh\u2019s excellent reporting, hatched and carried out the sabotage.<\/p>\n

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So why is Zaluzhny being made the scapegoat? I can think of several reasons. For starters Zaluzhny is perceived as the guy to blame for the unfolding disastrous Ukrainian counter offensive. The BBC did a slick job this week<\/a> of sticking the shiv into Zaluzhny\u2019s back by crediting him as the mastermind of the Ukrainian offensive:<\/p>\n

Ukraine\u2019s long-awaited attempt to take back the territories in the east and south of the country, occupied by Russia for the past 18 months, is now in full swing.<\/strong><\/p>\n

A key figure in planning and executing this operation is Gen Valery Zaluzhny, Ukraine\u2019s 49-year-old commander-in-chief. Little known until recently, his popularity now rivals that of President Volodymyr Zelensky.<\/p>\n

Zaluzhny already was under a cloud with rumors circulating over the past month that he suffered serious wounds from a Russian artillery barrage and is no longer capable of exercising command. If someone has to be punished ordering the destruction of Nordstream it is best to saddle the General who is no longer relevant militarily and is physically unable defend himself with the onus for this act of economic terrorism. Zaluzhny, fair or not, has the misfortune of being in the wrong place and the wrong time.<\/p>\n

Sort of reminds me of the movie, Throw Momma from the Train. Instead of Danny DeVito\u2019s character plotting to terminate his horror of a mother, played by Anne Ramsey<\/a>, we have Vladimir Zelensky \u2014 with the backing of Washington, D.C. \u2014 putting the crosshairs on Zaluzhny.<\/p>\n