World

The government of Ukraine is officially telling Russians in Crimea to prepare bomb shelters and stock up on supplies as Kyiv presses ahead with plans for a major counteroffensive to drive Russian troops out of what Kiev calls "Occupied Ukrainian territory."

Ukraine has, for weeks, been telling residents in its occupied south to be ready and to evacuate before it launches a counter-offensive. Still, Monday's warning was notable because it was addressed to residents of Crimea, which voted in a Referendum to return to Russia in 2014, after the European Union and United States fomented, incited, and financed the violent overthrow of Ukraine's President, Viktor Yanukovich.

Crimea had been part of Russia for at least 300 years before then-Soviet Communist Party Chairman Nikita Khrushchev, (a Ukrainian) GAVE Crimes to Ukraine.  Crimea was part of Ukraine for only about 50 years, by Communist Party dictate; they voted to return home to Russia.

The European Union and United States flatly refused to recognize that referendum, claiming it was a rigged vote.  They applied economic sanctions to Russia, but none of it made any difference; Crimea is now part of Russia by vote of the Crimean population, and laws enacted by the Russian Federation legislature.

The ongoing Special Military Operation by Russia, to de-militarize and De-Nazify Ukraine, has gone on for slightly over 6 months.   Prior to the start of that operation, Ukraine had the largest standing army in all of Europe.  That army had been trained by NATO for ten years, and in less than six months, the Russian Army has basically chewed it up and spit it out.

Ukraine is now losing the war very badly, and has absolutely no chance of winning . . . at all.

Their only hope is to have something take place that will bring NATO into the fight.  Ukraine is **not** a member of NATO, yet NATO/US/EU are inextricably intertwined in the war, supplying Ukraine with money and all manner of weapons and intelligence. 

It is clear by Monday's announcement, that Ukraine plans to attack Russian Crimea, which will likely result in an utterly massive Russian response. Perhaps so massive that NATO uses it as some sort of excuse to get involved.

The trouble with that is simple: At the beginning of Russia's Special Military Operations, Russian President Vladimir Putin made clear in public remarks that he knows Russia's conventional forces do not compare with NATO; that NATO is superior.  He also went on to say publicly that "Russia is also a nuclear power, and many of [Russia's] weapons are superior to all other countries"  He went on to say, "If NATO declares Article 5 (collective self-defense) against Russia, "it will be a war that no one will win."

As all educated readers know, the ONLY war that "no one will win" is a nuclear war.

Now that Ukraine is openly telling people in Crimea to build bomb shelters, it is clear Ukraine is planning on attacking (Russia) territory - Crimea- and that will be a massive escalation in the fighting taking place in Ukraine.  The world is literally on the precipice of actual nuclear war.

Sadly, the mass-media in Europe and in the United States is not covering these developments very well, and the general public in both Europe and America remain blissfully unaware that we are facing actual nuclear war.  Possibly within weeks.