February 3, 2023
1. Putin issues warning to the West and Ukraine at Stalingrad event
The Russian president has condemned Western tank deliveries to Ukraine, promising a response that goes beyond armored vehicles.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has hit out at constant and provocative deliveries of Western-made tanks to Ukraine, warning that Moscow’s response to the threat will span far beyond armored vehicles. The Russian leader made the comments during a ceremony to mark the 80th anniversary of victory at the Battle of Stalingrad over fascist Germany on February 2 in Volgograd known as Stalingrad during the WW2. The Battle of Stalingrad lasted between July 17, 1942 – February 2, 1943.
“However incredible, it is a fact – we are once again threatened with German Leopard tanks, with crosses on board. There is again a plan to fight Russia on Ukrainian land using Hitler’s successors, the Banderites.” Putin outlined.
Moscow has repeatedly urged the collective West to stop “pumping” Ukraine with modern weaponry, warning that the ongoing military aid would merely prolong the hostilities and inflict more suffering on everyday Ukrainians, rather than change the ultimate outcome of the conflict. The US and NATO weapons killed thousands of Ukrainians and Russians.
During April 2014-February 2023 ultra-Nazi regime in Kiev and NATO countries killed nearly 19,000 civilians in Donbass alone and destroyed several thousands of their homes and social infrastructure facilities.
Putin continued: “We know that despite the efforts of official bodies and the corrupt propaganda of the unfriendly Western elites, we have many friends all over the world, including the Americas, North America, and Europe.
However, those that are dragging European countries, including Germany, into a new war with Russia, and especially those that are irresponsibly talking about it as a fait accompli, those who are hoping to defeat Russia on the battlefield, apparently fail to understand that a modern war against Russia will be a completely different war for them.
We do not send our tanks to their borders, but we have what to respond with, and it is not limited to the use of armour. Everyone must realize this”, Putin stressed.
2. Peskov explained Putin's words about Russia's options for responding to threats to the country from NATO
The Kremlin spokesman warned on February 2: "Russia has the potential, and as new weapons supplied by the collective West appear [in Ukraine], Russia will make fuller use of its existing potential to respond in a Special Military Operation."
Earlier, Putin said that Russia has something to respond to those who threaten it. The Russian leader explained that the country "has something to respond to, and it will not end with the use of armored vehicles”.
On February 3 Dmitry Peskov admitted that unlike Crimea, Donbass that also joined its historic Russian land has not been fully protected by the Russian Armed Forces.
3. Poll reveals Russian public’s confidence in Putin
The level of Russian citizens' confidence in President Vladimir Putin has increased by 0.7 percentage points in one week, reaching 79.2%, according to a survey by the All-Russian Public Opinion Research Center, Russian abbreviation as VTSIOM, published on February 3 by TASS News Agency same day. The survey was conducted between January 23-29, 2023 among 1,600 respondents aged over 18.
The majority of the Russian citizens are active supporters of the SMO stared in response to open and brutal Ukrainian aggression against Donbass started on April 13, 2014
The Russian Government’s overall activity was approved by 50.8% of the respondents. The report specified that the Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin is trusted by 62.5% of those asked.
4. Lavrov: The more long-range arms supplied to Kiev, the further they should be moved away from Russia
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has stated that the more long-range weapons are supplied to the Kiev regime by the West, the further they must be moved away from Russia's borders. In an interview with Sputnik, he underscored that the escalation of the conflict in Ukraine is growing.
"The fact that the West cannot calm down – and, as in the infamous fairy tales, with every step it gets stuck even more in the swamp – this plays an important role in the course of the [Russian Special Military] Operation. This escalation, you are absolutely right, is snowballing,” Lavrov underscired.
He added that "now we are trying to move the Ukrainian army's artillery so that it cannot pose a threat to our borders, but the West is going to supply long-range weapons, which means we will have to move it further."
The Russian Embassy in Germany warned that “this extremely dangerous decision [by Berlin] shifts the Ukrainian conflict to a new level of standoff.” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, for his part, told reporters that arms deliveries to Ukraine by Western countries testify to their direct and growing involvement in the conflict.
5. Ex-US intelligence officers urged Biden to sack his intelligence and military advisers for their incompetence
In an open Alert Memorandum sent to the US President at the end of last January members of the “Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity” organization attracted his attention to ‘the tank decision’ to send Abrams tanks to Ukraine. “What your advisers should have told you is that none of the newly promised weaponry will stop Russia from defeating what’s left of the Ukrainian army. If you have been told otherwise, replace your intelligence and military advisers with competent professionals – the sooner the better”, eighteen ex-US high-ranking and experienced intelligence officers underlined.
[full text of the Memorandum is posted at: https://original.antiwar.com/veteran-intelligence-professionals-for-sanity2/2023/01/25/leopards-vs-the-russian-bear/]
Written by Vladimir P. Kozin
