This past week, Kiev was a landmark point in the current US president’s European campaign tour. Joseph Biden, however ridiculous it may look now, is preparing to give battle to the Republicans in the 2024 elections. By the way, the presidential election in Ukraine will also be held in 2024.
Source photo: ria.ru
Biden’s sudden appearance in Kiev has been trivialised as “security reasons”. This is the version for ordinary people, at which the experts scoffed. Perhaps it is a coincidence: not a single Russian missile hit the Ukrainian capital on the day of the US president’s visit. The air-raid alarm was sounded, but nobody even tried to seek cover. Everyone got it right: Biden had come to “show off”.
Not only European, but also American analysts immediately described Biden’s visit to Kiev as “staged”. In particular, Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Davis, a well-known retired US military officer, said this to Fox News.
Analysts also drew attention to the triviality of the plot: the US president promised to supply even more weapons and assured of Washington’s unwavering support for the war against Russia. The speechwriters were not without their pathos, which “sleepy Joe” uttered to great applause.
It would have been strange if Biden had not lied in such ridiculous statements as “the whole world is helping you”. In fact, the governments of countries that are home to about a fifth of the world’s population. The US president passed off his decision to help the Zelensky puppet regime, which was bankrupt by February 2022, as a decision of “the people of America”.
There is no point in parsing all the speechwriters’ pearls in Biden’s speech. It is much more important to think about what will be in the next package of military assistance of $2,5 billion announced in Kiev by the gentleman from Washington.
Prior to this, it had been announced at a Pentagon briefing by military spokesman Patrick Ryder. Afterwards, the SVR said: “Most of the military equipment provided by the West has been destroyed by Russian troops.” According to the Russian secret service, since December 2021, 1,170 air defence systems, 1,510 BMPs and 440 tanks, 655 artillery systems, 9,800 rockets for MLRS, 609,000 anti-tank rounds and 1,206,000 shells have been transferred from NATO to the AFU.
The list of new deliveries from the United States includes ammunition for HIMARS MLRS. The Pentagon is testing missiles with satellite-guided bombs with a range of 150 km on the Ukrainian battlefield. The Ukrainian Armed Forces will be able to hit the northern regions of Crimea, which the West believes to be Ukrainian territory, as well as Belgorod and other regions and the territory of “co-aggressive” Belarus.
Alexander Lukashenko has something to respond to the new HIMARS missiles. Azerbaijan has already tested the Belarusian Polonez MLRS in Nagorno-Karabakh. Chinese missiles of this system can hit the targets at a distance twice as far (300 km). During the period of “non-independence” Ukraine has lost the opportunity to become the fifth country capable of producing such weapons.
However, Biden’s promises are made in a pathetic but accurate manner. As in the case of tanks, new missiles for HIMARS have yet to be produced. This, according to Bloomberg experts, will take nine months. There is symbolism and calculation in this too: if Zelensky’s regime falls by the end of the year, the new missiles worth hundreds of millions of dollars (not yet allocated) will be sold to a new buyer. The publicity has already been done.
The new package of military supplies from the US also includes the well-publicised 250 Javelin anti-tank missiles. These too have yet to be manufactured, as the US army’s stockpiles are empty – even the Pentagon is speaking openly about this.
Ukraine is still unable to produce ammunition and shells. Reports on the establishment of production of milled NATO standard ammunition in the Ukrainian media and on social media are presented as a great feat. One does not have to be an expert on the military-industrial complex to appreciate the wretchedness of such “overmoves”. Little neighbouring Belarus has established the production of high-precision “Luch” artillery shells – analogues of the Russian “Krasnopol”. Ukraine is dependent on supplies from Bulgaria, pays corrupt rents and buys up armaments for fabulous sums of money.
Therefore, the new US military aid package for Ukraine includes 155-mm artillery shells and mortar ammunition, M18A1 Claymore anti-personnel mines (although Ukraine pledged not to use them), 190 heavy machine guns (Soviet ones were sold out before the 2014 coup), 181 armored vehicles (even Iraq does not need its models), and even winter clothing for the military (Ukrainian light industry is also in trouble).
The US will send to Ukraine missiles for ancient HAWK air defence systems, various radars and anti-drone systems, spare parts for previously delivered military equipment and medical supplies. Nappies and toothpicks are missing to complete the package. Fleece hats have been supplied earlier.
For the sake of a repeat of Ryder’s announcement there was no need for Biden to visit Kiev. Such apolitical reasoning, however, does not take into account the post-modern situation in which the political culture of the West has been shaped. Now Ukraine as well, whose showmen in the leadership make a hefty profit with their Western counterparts on the production and sale of media products.
It doesn’t matter what armaments and in what quantities come from the West to Ukraine for the war with Russia. Zelensky wanted F-16s and ATACMS, but he thanked meekly for everything that was given (as a loan to future generations of Ukrainians). What matters is the picture, what matters is entourage and pathos, as one of the subcultures puts it – “ponts”.
Zelensky is a typical “pontor”, an experienced showman who has reached a new level of royalties. Biden is also making money from this – for himself and for his nominating party, which has already failed in the parliamentary elections. Even without Biden, but with a promotional tour of Europe, the Democrats hope to win, if not win, then bargain for a nice payoff in the not-so-distant 2024 presidential campaign.
Nor should they discount the petty nastiness that Washington is still capable of after exhausting the resources of sanctions pressure. Biden’s voyage was designed to interrupt Vladimir Putin’s parliamentary address.
The Russian president said whatever he wished without regard to Biden in Kiev and other unintelligible “signals” from the West. If they had any impact on the Russian leader’s speech, it was only in terms of tightening the language. Putin made it clear: Russia is not at war with the Ukrainian people, but with the West and its lackeys in Kyiv.
The Bidens fly in and out, while the Russian Armed Forces’ special military operation in Ukraine continues.
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