Eight Months into Putin’s war. A New Era. For Ukraine, The European Union, and the World

Interviews with Col Douglas Macgregor and Pepe Escobar

All Global Research articles can be read in 51 languages by activating the Translate Website” drop down menu on the top banner of our home page (Desktop version).

Visit and follow us on Instagram at @crg_globalresearch.caa

***

“It’s very clear now that groups of Russian forces numbering over five hundred thousand have assembled in Western Russia, southern Ukraine, and in Belorussia. So an offensive, a major conventional what we would call “high end conventional” offence is coming in November and December!”

Col Douglas Macgregor (from this week’s interview)

LISTEN TO THE SHOW

Click to download the audio (MP3 format) 

As the month of October reaches its conclusion, and as Russia’s military intervention into Ukraine has crossed the eight month long offensive, major events have surfaced signaling, if nothing else, even more escalations of violence inside the besieged country.

  • September 21: Vladimir Putin ordered the draft of 300,000 reserves to support the war not only against Ukraine, but against its Western backers. Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu also announced in a televised address that 5,937 Russian soldiers had been killed since the start of the conflict. [1]

  • September 26: The Nord Stream pipelines 1 and 2 suffered from leaks, potentially stemming from a deliberate action. President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said she suspected the pipelines were probably sabotaged. The Nord Steam 1 supplied 35% of all gas exported to the EU by Russia. [2]

  • September 30: Russia unilaterally declared its annexation of four Ukrainian oblasts – Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson after the four regions voted on the decision to declare independence and then join the Russian Federation. Ukraine and Western countries dismissed the referenda as a land-grab. [3][4]

  • October 8: A massive explosion crippled part of the Crimean Bridge connecting Kerch with Russia. Vladimir Putin blamed Ukraine for launching a terrorist attack against Russia. [5][6]

  • October 10-12: Russian missiles launched their biggest aerial assault since the beginning of the war on cities across Ukraine forcing thousands to flee bomb shelters and prompting Kiev to halt electricity transports to Europe. Russia claimed it was hitting all designated targets on the Ukrainian military, communications and energy infrastructure. [7]

  • October 11: Ukrainian President Zelenskiy attended the G7 Crisis Summit and asked for more air defense systems and an international monitoring system on the Ukraine -Belarus border. [8]

  • October 23: Russian Defense Minister warned his NATO counterparts that Kiev may be preparing a false flag attack on itself using a “dirty bomb” in order to accuse Moscow of nuclear terror. Such an endeavor would irradiate wide swath of land and endanger thousands of lives. Washington, Paris, and London dismissed the warning the same day, calling it a “false allegation” and suggesting “the world would see through any attempt to use this allegation as a pretext for escalation.” [9]

Throughout the month in the Western Press, the threat of the confrontation warping into a nuclear conflict is relayed as “far worse” than at any time since the Cuban Missile Crisis exactly sixty years ago this month. There seems to be no off-ramp for de-escalation. [10]

At the same time, beyond Ukraine, what is to become of Europe, now forced to go through a frigid winter with sizable supplies of natural gas for heat and electricity denied to them?

This week on the Global Research News Hour, as the corporate Western Press continues to depict the situation as one in which Putin is losing and in frustration is desperately attempting to escalate affairs, we get the alternate perspective of two analysts who offer different takes on the current Ukraine War State of affairs.

In our first half hour, U.S. Colonel Douglas Macgregor shows up to explain that the Ukrainians are far more beaten than the Press allows us to believe. He also talks about the “dirty bomb” threat and also the picture of a surge into Ukraine in late autumn.

The geopolitical analyst Pepe Escobar shows up next to talk about the recent developments in the former Soviet Territory, Europe attempting to adjust to life without gas, and about how the world at large is now radically changed forever.

Col. Douglas Macgregor is a retired US army Colonel and government official. He was a former advisor to the Secretary of Defense.

Pepe Escobar, born in Brazil, is a correspondent and editor-at-large at Asia Times and columnist for Consortium News and Strategic Culture. Since the mid-1980s he’s lived and worked as a foreign correspondent in London, Paris, Milan, Los Angeles, Singapore, Bangkok.

(Global Research News Hour Episode 366)

LISTEN TO THE SHOW

Click to download the audio (MP3 format) 

The Global Research News Hour airs every Friday at 1pm CT on CKUW 95.9FM out of the University of Winnipeg. The programme is also podcast at globalresearch.ca .

Other stations airing the show:

CIXX 106.9 FM, broadcasting from Fanshawe College in London, Ontario. It airs Sundays at 6am.

WZBC 90.3 FM in Newton Massachusetts is Boston College Radio and broadcasts to the greater Boston area. The Global Research News Hour airs during Truth and Justice Radio which starts Sunday at 6am.

Campus and community radio CFMH 107.3fm in Saint John, N.B. airs the Global Research News Hour Fridays at 7pm.

CJMP 90.1 FM, Powell River Community Radio, airs the Global Research News Hour every Saturday at 8am. 

Caper Radio CJBU 107.3FM in Sydney, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia airs the Global Research News Hour starting Wednesday afternoon from 3-4pm.

Cowichan Valley Community Radio CICV 98.7 FM serving the Cowichan Lake area of Vancouver Island, BC airs the program Thursdays at 9am pacific time.

Notes:

  1. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russias-partial-mobilisation-will-see-300000-drafted-defence-minister-2022-09-21/
  2. https://www.bbc.com/news/58888451
  3. Shaun Walker (September 23, 2022), “‘Referendums’ on joining Russia under way in occupied Ukraine”, The Guardian; https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/sep/23/occupied-parts-of-ukraine-prepare-to-vote-on-joining-russia
  4. https://uk.news.yahoo.com/why-international-community-calling-ukrainian-203201724.html
  5. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-63192757
  6. https://edition.cnn.com/2022/10/08/europe/crimea-bridge-explosion-intl-hnk/index.html
  7. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/10/11/russia-ukraine-war-list-of-key-events-day-230
  8. Peter Borger (October 11, 2022), ‘Zelenskiy asks G7 for monitoring of Ukraine’s border with Belarus’, The Guardian; https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/oct/11/russia-accused-of-war-crimes-as-it-continues-to-hit-ukraine-infrastructure
  9. Ilya Tsukanov (October 25, 2022), ‘What is a ‘Dirty Bomb’ and Why is Russia Warning About It?’, Sputnik; https://sputniknews.com/20221025/what-is-a-dirty-bomb-and-why-is-russia-warning-about-it-1102619770.html
  10. https://uk.movies.yahoo.com/60-years-cuban-missile-crisis-105500119.html

Comment on Global Research Articles on our Facebook page

Become a Member of Global Research


Disclaimer: The contents of this article are of sole responsibility of the author(s). The Centre for Research on Globalization will not be responsible for any inaccurate or incorrect statement in this article. The Centre of Research on Globalization grants permission to cross-post Global Research articles on community internet sites as long the source and copyright are acknowledged together with a hyperlink to the original Global Research article. For publication of Global Research articles in print or other forms including commercial internet sites, contact: [email protected]

www.globalresearch.ca contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available to our readers under the provisions of "fair use" in an effort to advance a better understanding of political, economic and social issues. The material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving it for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material for purposes other than "fair use" you must request permission from the copyright owner.

For media inquiries: [email protected]