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2023-01-24

Monday's UK Column News reports on the devastation being wrought in the Ukraine by Russia.

The meat-grinder closes around Bakhmut whilst NATO argues over provision of a handful of tanks.

Where is the sense of proportion?

"NATO is suffering from its own propaganda"

Where is the truthful fearless and unbiased BBC?

(87 minutes)

 


Well the BBC may be missing in action but Graham Phillips reports from Soledar as best he can following the Russian advances.

The following text is from Graham's Telegram channel:

"Thank you for your reaction to my Road to Soledar reportage, more soon. I've been in and all around Soledar, spoken to everyone there was to speak to. What to say, well there's no point trying to make out anything other than the fact that from Popasna to Soledar, around 50km by road, everything is absolutely destroyed. The time of places being liberated, and albeit damaged but basically intact - Mariupol, Lysychansk, Severodonetsk - that time is over, for now. Soledar is basically totally destroyed, there's almost no civilians there - left, evacuated, and on. When Artemovsk is eventually liberated that will also be totally destroyed.

It's not a pretty sight, and it's best to be honest about what it is and not equivocate or prevaricate about the state of things. That established, we can cut right to the key point - who is to blame? Well, Ukraine had 8, almost 9 years to resolve the situation, give Donbass the freedom voted for in the 2014 referendums, reach an agreement via peace talks, give their soldiers the order to retreat from places which were inevitably going to fall.

In Soledar, Ukraine never gave an order to retreat, indeed no matter how hard Soledar was pounded, Ukraine was ordering their soldiers to remain in post right as Russia's now legendary Wagner Group stormed in. By which time, the months of fighting for Soledar had not only taken a toll, they'd taken the entire town. Soledar is a hellish mesh of rubble, mud, twisted metal, shells, detritus, and yes, bodies. And as awful as that is to see, we can expect the same on a much larger scale when Artemovsk is liberated.

It's a tragedy that it's come to this, but now it has come to this, it's best to be honest about what 'this' is - a new phase in the war, where liberation only via the route of near complete destruction. It's not something anything of us want to see, and I can't wait to bring you reportage from the reconstruction of Russian Donbass, the returning of people here. For now, as they do say, it is what it is, and it is not a pretty sight."

As they say, a picture paints a thousand words:

(7 minutes)

 

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