DIA Report
While the CIA and FBI are often the first things that come to mind when someone mentions United States Intelligence there is another agency that is also key in decision making. The DIA stands for the Defense Intelligence Agency and yesterday they were front and center for a hearing about Russia's moves, motives, and possible end game when it comes to the invasion of Ukraine. While many things were addressed it might be more telling what was not answered.
As many of you know Poland was ready to gift Ukraine all 28 of their MiG jets with the understanding that the US would fill in the gaps with older jets till Poland's newest gets begin to arrive. However, the publically announced plan quickly fell apart as it resulted in the planes being transferred to the US in Germany and Ukraine gathering the jets from there. It was not clear what had really changed on the US side as the talks have appeared to have died. The DIA head did not answer when asked if new reports out of Russia were the reason why the jet proposal was shelved. There has been a growing fear of chemical and bio-weapons being used against the cities under siege so with the intelligence chief dodging the question it does make you wonder if Russia was preparing to go ahead with these attacks if the jets were transferred.
The DIA head also announced something that I believe caught both sides of the Senate off-guard. Ukrainian and former US and Europe Military Chiefs have called for a No-Fly zone but since the US and NATO do not want to get hands-on in the conflict so far that has been ruled out. Now the Administration and the West have a solid reason for a No-Fly zone and that is it would not help. With what is currently being used to pummel cities in Ukraine a No-Fly zone would not be able to prevent it. Currently, Russia is primarily hitting these areas with missiles, rockets, and artillery that jets would not be able to knock out of the air. The Ukrainians are not facing a ton of rocket attacks from planes or helicopters which would be helpful in a No-Fly Zone and the flew attacks from these aerial vehicles the Ukrainians have been able to down a lot of them.
This raises the question of if you will see the possible deployment of assets like the Patriot System, THAAD, or C-RAM systems which could prevent these rockets and missiles from reaching the cities. C-RAM in particular has been extremely successful in the Middle East protecting US assets and bases. It is also a purely defensive system which would show the US is only trying to protect and that they are not providing offensive firearms.
Putin's One Big Win
Now I have previously talked about this and how Putin has really won the game if the game was to unite the West. While this continues to be the case and it is further driving away allies like Turkey he has managed to even get China to decline to provide airplane parts to his country which is a huge concern since the civilian air fleet is all Boeing and Airbus who have ceased operations in Russia.
What I did not expect nor did I think anyone else but that is the deep-running unity that the American people and politicians have formed against Russia. During the initial phase of the invasion, the public was divided even though it was outraged. Now though you have people willing to pay 25% more at the gas pump as long as it hurts Putin and Russia. We have green energy people like Elon Musk calling for the US to drill more and approve or open up new pipelines across the country to meet the energy needs we have now and drive down the price while also rolling out new green energy technology. It is a crazy thing to witness as both sides were able to quickly come together and pass a $13.9 billion bill in the House. Amazingly enough, the Senate actually wants to further the punishment so it might not pass the Senate because it doesn't do enough to Russia and provide enough help to Ukraine.
If you had told me that Russia would be a saving grace for Biden and that the 2022 election cycle would not be that crazy I would have told you you were insane. That is not the case though the country and people on both the far-right and far-left are coming together to stop the innocent civilians from being slaughtered as they have been.
Mass Grave Usage
Sadly when war breaks out casualties are a huge issue that the two sides face. Gathering and disposing of the dead is critical not only for moral but also for hygiene to prevent the outbreak of disease. An issue of war is that sometimes it is impossible to gather the dead and take care of the bodies. When you add all of these factors together and then throw in this happening in a city of 400,000 people disposing of the dead is especially important.
Mariupol has been surrounded and laid siege to for days now. When the residents and civilians continued to resist Russian efforts to enter the city the Russian strategy changed to relentless bombing. The big news yesterday was when they hit a maternity ward that had pregnant mothers inside. The Russian media and officials tried to spin it as something that was fake news or had crisis actors but that was not the case and was just Russia trying to spread disinformation. The bombings have been relentless though in the city trapping those still there. Humanitarian corridors have continuously failed as Russia agrees to them for this city in particular than bombs it still.
Because the people are often having to reside in basements and bomb shelters a growing crisis in the city is emerging with teh corpses left on the street. The Mayor of Mariupol announced yesterday so far 1,300 civilians have been killed in the bombing attacks and at one point the city went two days without being able to gather the dead. This has resulted in something I honestly did not imagine seeing in my life and even worse did not expect to ever see in Europe. The city has had to resort to massive graves being quickly dug by heavy equipment before bodies are laid to rest there and they are quickly covered. Due to the Russian strikes these burials would be a prime target to strike so everything is done as quickly as possible to not only dispose of the dead but to prevent further fatalities and protect the equipment used. Familes of those lost are not able to attend the funerals/burials making the event all the more painful.
Final Thoughts
Reguardless this has not broken the Ukrainian's and if anything has made the citizens stronger and more united in repeling the occupiers. Even in cities that they have "liberated" they face stiff resistance from the citizens there. Kherson the first "major" city to fall with a population of around 285,000 continues to protest against the occupying forces. The first day the Russians arrested 400 people but since then they have backed off as the protests have swelled inside. Daily protest of thousands of people continue and the Russia response is to fire warning shots in the air. In reality Russia is sitting on a powerder keg of dissent and they have no idea what to do. Nothing has been done to connect with the people or help them out. They refuse to let food, water, or medical supplies in and have not been letting people out creating an atmosphere of suspense.
Russia is showing how careless they are. They are attacking civilians fleeing, preventing care and food from coming in to help the people who they have taken over and created a sense of confusion about who is actually in charge. This along with the images coming out creates a picture that makes you sick to your stomach. It is no wonder then that over 20,000 foreigners have arrived to fight and even more Ukrainians are coming back to their country to take up arms as well. Humanity matters and Russia is trying to strip the Ukrainian citizens of theirs something that the world is applaud by.
Sadly things will only get worse before they get better. The White House has already said they are doing everything in their power to avoid a World War but until the aggression stops Russia seems to be aiming for full speed ahead into direct conflict with NATO, the West, and the United States.
