75 Years Ago… the Counterattack at Moscow Began

5 December: The Day of the Beginning of the Counteroffensive by the Soviet Forces in the Battle of Moscow

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On this day in Russia, 5 December, we mark a “Day of Military Glory of Russia”; the counterattack by Soviet troops at the Battle of Moscow began on this day. The counterattack, the second phase of the battle of Moscow, started on 5-6 December 1941, with the Kalinin Front hitting Yeltsa. The fighting immediately became bitter and furious. In the early days of the offensive, despite a lack of superiority in manpower and equipment, and despite below-zero temperatures and deep snow cover, the troops on the left-wing and right-wing of the Western Front smashed the fascist defences south of Kalinin, cut highway and rail links to Kalinin, and liberated many towns from the enemy. Simultaneously, troops of the Southwestern Front attacked northwest of Moscow. The Red Army hit the flanks of the fascist Army Group Centre grouped around Moscow, forcing the enemy to regroup and to take measures to save its troops from a débâcle.

On 8 December, Hitler signed a directive to transition to the defence all along the Soviet-German front. Army Group Centre received orders “to retain strategically important areas at any cost”. On 9 December, the Soviet troops liberated Rogachevo, Venev, and Yelets. On 11 December, they freed Stalinogorsk, on 12 December, they cleared Solnechnogorsk, on 13 December, they liberated Yefremov, on 15 December, they entered Klin, on 16 December, they took Kalinin, and 20 December, they occupied Volokolamsk. On 25 December, on a broad front, Soviet troops advanced to Oka. On 28 December, they liberated Kozelsk, on 30 December, they took Kaluga, and in early January 1942, they freed Meshchovsk and Mosalsk.

By the beginning of January 1942, the armies of the right-wing of the Western Front reached the banks of the Lama and Ruza Rivers. By that time, the troops of the Kalinin Front reached Pavlikovo and Staritsa. The troops of the Western Front, in the centre, liberated Naro-Fominsk on 26 December, they freed Maloyaroslavets on 2 January, and entered Borovsk on 4 January. There were also successful counterattacks on the left-wing of the Western Front and by the Bryansk Front (re-established on 18 December 1941, with the 3, 13 and 61 Armies; commanded by General Ya T Cherevichenko, A F Kolobyakov as head commissar, and Major General V Ya Kolpakchy as Chief of Staff). By early January 1942, the Bryansk Front, cooperating with the forces of the left-wing of the Western Front, reached Belev, Mtsensk, and Verkhovye. All this has created a serious situation for the fascist Army Group Centre; it removed the threat looming over Moscow.

The victory of the Soviet troops near Moscow and the beginning of the counteroffensive not only had great military significance, it also had political and international Importance. For the first time in World War II, someone stopped the hitherto-invincible Wehrmacht and defeated it. Today, the date of 5 December is another reason to remember the heroes of that war…

5 December 2016

Russia-Российская Федерация

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Czech President Zeman Condemns Yatsenyuk’s Statement on Soviet “Invasion” of Germany and the Ukraine

Here’s the TRUTH about Galician war guilt… accept it if you can… if not, shut the fuck up, for the truth is the truth, whether you like it or not

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On Tuesday, Jiří Ovčáček, the Czech presidential spokesman, said that Czech President Miloš Zeman strongly condemned Ukrainian Prime Minister A P Yatsenyuk’s statement saying that the USSR invaded Germany and the Ukraine, saying, “Even the drafted version [of Yatsenyuk’s statement] didn’t disperse doubts that he made an attempt to revise the results of World War II”. Earlier, Zeman criticised Yatsenyuk, in one of his latest interviews, he called him “a prime minister of war”. On 8 January, Yatsenyuk told German state TV ARD, “All of us still clearly remember the Soviet invasion of the Ukraine and Germany”. On 9 January, RF Gosduma (lower house of the RF Federal Assembly) Foreign Affairs Committee chairman A K Pushkov called the Ukrainian prime minister’s statement “an extreme form of cynicism. The Ukrainian prime minister seeks political capital in Germany and Europe; he’s distorting well-known facts, backed in Europe itself… in Paris, Berlin, London, and in the USA. Nobody disputes the lawfulness of the anti-Hitler coalition’s actions. The USSR was its leading participant; it liberated Europe, including Germany, from Hitler, from Hitlerism”.

20 January 2015

ITAR-TASS

http://itar-tass.com/en/world/772198

Czech Journalist Jiří Baťa Sez Yatsenyuk Lied about World War II to Justify Junta’s Disastrous Policy

The Anti-Hitler Coalition… Yatsenyuk’s ”explanation” also attacked the USA, France, and the UK as ”invaders” of Nazi Germany… he didn’t think it through. His ignoranus stupidity is legendary… he and the Anglo Americans are “milk brothers” (he’s on the level of Jen Psaki, Ted Cruz, Joe Biden, and Victoria Nuland… shitbirds of a feather DO flock together).

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Jiří Baťa, a journalist for the independent Czech news/opinion site Czech Free Press, said that Ukrainian Prime Minister A P Yatsenyuk‘s recent “crazy science fiction” claim that the USSR invaded Germany is part of a series of lies aimed at justifying the junta’s disastrous policy. In an opinion piece written earlier this week, he said that since Yatsenyuk and the junta have “surrendered” the Ukraine to the interests of Western politicians, he makes outrageous commentary like that about the Soviets invading Germany in World War II “to justify all the negative and tragic ‘achievements’ of the Ukrainian government (sic) and the president”.

Bat’a noted that the contemporary Ukraine is, without any exaggeration, “in ruins, totally helpless, dependent on foreign subsidies and aid. It’s easier for [the present Ukrainian government (sic)] to invent nonsense, falsehoods, lies, and slander than to stick to argumentation, to facts and reality”. Bat’a argued that the junta would continue to “do anything that might convince Western-oriented citizens of Russia’s hostile intentions, therefore, they’d be able to maintain their pro-Western policies”. Bat’a noted that the junta, under American pressure, has no interest in ending the war in Novorossiya, or in  normalising relations with Russia, all the while continuing to search for reasons to blame Russia and Putin for the present crisis and claiming that Russia wants to conquer the Ukraine. Bat’a said that the junta continues to make accusations even though they “have not had, do not have, and will not have any proof that Russia intends to conquer the Ukraine”. Ultimately, Bat’a said that in re Yatsenyuk, it’s worth taking into consideration “President Zeman’s opinion that Yatsenyuk is a person whose aim is war. However, few can understand what the Ukraine would [stand to] receive out of this war”.

Last week, Yatsenyuk gave an interview to German ARD TV, where he appeared to claim that the USSR had launched World War II by invading Germany, noting, “All of us still clearly remember the Soviet invasion of Ukraine and Germany”. Even more absurdly, he added, “Nobody has the right to rewrite the results of World War II” and that “President Putin is trying to do exactly this”. Since then, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MID) asked Germany to clarify its official position on Yatsenyuk’s remarks; Berlin replied that the MID should address its questions to Yatsenyuk himself. The German Federal Foreign Office noted, “Nazi Germany during World War II led a terrible war of aggression against the USSR”, but it stated that Yatsenyuk nevertheless had a right to his opinion, to express free speech.

Russian and Ukrainian officials alike criticised Yatsenyuk’s remarks. RF Gosduma Deputy A K Pushkov said that Yatsenyuk’s remarks were a sign that the he “finally gone off his rocker”, and that one can no longer “take him seriously”. Meanwhile, a Minoborony Ukrainy official noted that Yatsenyuk’s “top grade” remarks made him “happy that foreign policy is not within the Prime Minister’s competence according to the constitution”. Since then, a spokesperson for Yatsenyuk said that Yatsenyuk was supposedly referring to the USSR’s occupation of and alleged responsibility for dividing Germany following World War II.

16 January 2015

Sputnik International

http://sputniknews.com/analysis/20150116/1016994257.html

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Editor:

Note this:

Yatsenyuk was supposedly referring to the USSR’s occupation of and alleged responsibility for dividing Germany following World War II.

That’s a load of bollocks on stilts. What it means is that the Ukie extremists are trying to put the entire responsibility for the postwar order in Europe on the USSR. That’s crackbrained… FDR, Churchill, and Stalin approved dividing Germany into four occupation zones and the transfer of Eastern German territory to Germany in exchange for Eastern Poland going to the USSR. All four members of the Anti-Hitler Coalition “invaded” Nazi Germany. Note well that Yatsenyuk is silent about the Trawniki Männer and their role in the Holocaust. He’s also silent about the role of Galician Uniate Hiwis in Nazi atrocities. Why is he silent about the Galician SS VOLUNTEER Division and its role in VOV enormities?

The USSR LIBERATED Auschwitz… Western Ukrainian Uniates helped OPERATE it. Which one do you favour? One or the other is evil… I know where I stand on that (note well that Victoria Nuland, a Jew, supports Holocaust Deniers and those who whitewash Nazi collaborators). History records that many Galician Uniate elements collaborated with the Nazis… it records massacres by Galician Uniate OUN members in Volyn… a thousand years will pass, and the guilt of Galician Uniates will NOT diminish… until Galician Uniates, as a group, show repentance for and publicly apologise for their crimes (and publicly disown all collaborators as criminal traitors and blacken their memories and legacies). That hasn’t happened… it won’t… too many in the Galician diaspora are relations of the collaborators and killers. That’s NOT hate speech… it’s simple truth.

BMD

“Soviets invaded Germany and the Ukraine”:’ Berlin Faces Tough Choice on Yatsenyuk’s World War II Take

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This week, Ukrainian Prime Minister A P Yatsenyuk said that the USSR invaded Germany and the Ukraine in World War II. Despite attempts by the Western press to bury the story, now, Russia’s demanding answers from Berlin. Nothing is louder than silence. I know this, you know this, and you can be sure that Angela Merkel knows it too. Why then is Merkel’s government refusing to comment on Yatsenyuk’s extraordinary remarks? The reasons are complex, as I’ll shortly outline. First, though, let’s see what Yatsenyuk actually said. He told German TV outlet ARD, “All of us still clearly remember the Soviet invasion of the Ukraine and Germany. We need to avoid [repeating] it. Nobody has the right to rewrite the results of the Second World War. Russian President Putin is trying to do exactly this”.

Initially, when I saw the comments on my Twitter timeline, I was sure that it was a joke. So much disinformation circulates on the platform that I automatically dismissed it as a misquote. Surely, a senior politician wouldn’t say something like that? Only 24 hours later, when I saw Yatsenyuk’s words still swooshing through the Twitter-sphere, did I realise that he actually did utter those words. Yatsenyuk, apparently handpicked for the PM post by American diplomat Victoria Nuland, believes that the USSR invaded Germany in World War II. This runs contrary to the almost universally accepted history that Germany actually attacked the Soviets first in Operation Barbarossa. After repelling the attack, eventually, Soviet forces made it to Berlin, where they met the other liberating powers, the USA and Britain.

Naturally, some claim that Yatsenyuk made a slip of the tongue. This is hogwash. The only thing that dropped was his mask. I’ve heard similar remarks before… in the Western Ukraine, where the PM is from. Yatsenyuk hails from Chernovtsy, widely regarded as the region’s second cultural capital, after Lvov, which many see as the foremost nationalist stronghold. Something interesting used to happen each 9 May in the Ukraine (the anniversary of the German surrender in 1945). Kiev, Kharkov, Odessa, Donetsk, Dnepropetrovsk, and all other major cities, bar one, honoured the defeat of the Nazis. Many in Lvov have never looked too happy with the day. In fact, in 2011, local “patriots” went a step further by attacking a small gathering of veterans who commemorated the occasion.

The reason for this feeling is simple. Western Ukrainians believe that they lost the war. Their side was defeated. Put simply, Yatsenyuk’s merely a product of his environment. However, this time, he expressed publicly a view that was probably previously restricted to private discourse. Possibly, he felt that a German audience might be sympathetic to his position. If so, that was a huge misread of the German people. Standard North American and Western European history textbooks give students the impression that World War II in Europe was a fight between Germany, the USSR, France, and the UK, with the USA getting involved later. Largely, the books depict the other countries where the war was fought as victims of Germany. This is simplistic. In reality, Germany wasn’t alone in its invasion of the USSR in 1941. Forces from Romania, Finland, Italy, Hungary, and Slovakia also took part and Western Ukrainian elements collaborated with Hitler’s war machine.

For example, the difference between the Ukraine and Slovakia is that Slovaks have come to understand that their wartime behaviour was wrong. The majority in Košice and Bratislava rightly revile the pro-Nazi leader Jozef Tiso. However, in the Western Ukraine, their chief Hitler acolyte, S A Bandera has “hero” status. Indeed, there’s a gigantic statue of him in front of the main railway station in Lvov. Ukrainian reverence for relics of the Nazi past is both embarrassing and worrying for Germany. I’m sure that Merkel often wishes that her NATO allies had found a more reasonable client state to antagonise Russia with. The Ukraine’s refusal to deal with its past head-on is a festering boil for EU diplomats.

Just this week, Czech President, Miloš Zeman argued with Bandera fanboys in Ukrainian academia. He wrote, “You’re aware of the Bandera statement, ‘You must kill every Polish person between 16 and 60 years of age?’ If you say you don’t know this… then, what kind of scholars of Ukrainian studies are you? I want to tell you that Bandera wished to make out of the Ukraine a vassal state of Germany… I can’t congratulate a country that has such ‘national heroes’”. This also explains the silence of German media on Yatsenyuk’s words. If the German public were fully aware of what their visitor from Kiev said, it’d outrage them. So much so that it could force Merkel to withdraw all support for the Ukraine. If Yatsenyuk’s comments received wider circulation, they’d embolden revisionists in Germany and beyond… something there is, sadly, no shortage of. Just as it seemed the story would fade away, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs made a late intervention, asking Berlin to outline its official position on Yatsenyuk’s verbiage. The reply, assuming it ever arrives, will be telling.

10 January 2015

Bryan MacDonald

RT

http://rt.com/op-edge/221459-ukraine-germany-invade-russia/

Editor:

My own experience with diaspora Galicians, both Uniates and “Orthodox”, in the 70s and 80s confirm the above… indeed, it’s a bit UNDERSTATED. Understand that when I outline the evil committed by institutions, I’m not condemning individuals. In many cases, believers turn their heads and refuse to deal with the manifest malice… that’s not good, but I wouldn’t call it culpable. The nationalists make the most noise, so, most people allow them to operate unhindered. Besides this, sources tell me that some diaspora nationalists don’t scruple at violence. Both the Uniates and the “Orthodox” glorify those who collaborated with the Nazis and the CIA… they glorify those who murdered Poles, Jews, Roma, Russians, Little Russians, and even Galicians who didn’t knuckle under to the rightwing nutters. They glorify Nazi collaborators… if you support the present Ukrainian neofascist junta, you spit in the face of all World War II vets of the Anti-Hitler Coalition. If you support the present Ukrainian neofascist junta, you support those who helped the Nazis carry out the Holocaust. That’s what you do. Let’s not prettify it.

You can honour the veterans of the Red Army or you can honour Nazi collaborationist criminals… that’s the only choice on offer. You can’t honour both. After all, the Red Army LIBERATED Auschwitz… Western Ukrainian collaborators helped OPERATE it. Note well that the Ukrainian Catholics and “Ukrainian Orthodox” honoured and upheld the latter, not the former. The US Republican Party, in particular, refuses to see this. Fancy that… that tells about them and that you should NEVER vote for such an amoral organisation (all their bleats of “Pro-Life” are vacuous hot air compared to this).

BMD