The Kremlin has demonstrated that Russia is reluctant to take decisive action

Paul Craig Roberts

The Kremlin has demonstrated that Russia is reluctant to take decisive action.  That doesn’t mean Russia won’t.  Indeed, the Kremlin’s reluctance almost guarantees that Russia will be forced into decisive action.

Ukraine steals Russian  assets — https://www.rt.com/business/560345-ukraine-seized-russian-assets/ — and Ukraine outside Donbass is permitted life as a country at peace. There is no Russian interference with the government with which it is at war. This encourages more Ukrainian provocations.

Instead of retaliation against her enemies, Russia cooperates with them. Russia permits Ukrainian grain to flow, thus providing Ukraine with more funds for war with Russia.  Is the Kremlin more concerned with the hunger of foreigners than with the life of its own soldiers? https://www.rt.com/russia/560389-grain-ships-ports-turkey/  Washington wants to brand Russia a terrorist state, and Russia continues to ferry US astronauts to the space station, carrying on a partnership with a country with which Russia is at war.

Russia tolerates Ukraine’s attacks on the Zaporozhye nuclear reactor with artillery fire.  Why permit Ukrainian forces anywhere close to a nuclear reactor?  Surely at this late stage the Kremlin doesn’t assume the Ukrainian government has any sense or any humanity.  https://sputniknews.com/20220806/russian-military-calls-kievs-shelling-of-zaporozhye-npp-nuclear-terrorism-1099343688.html Despite being at war with the US and Europe, which keep the “limited military operation” in Donbass going with weapons supplied to Ukraine, the Kremlin continues to enable Russia’s enemies by continuing to supply Europe with energy.

The West does not see these as actions of a country that goes to war with serious intent.  

If the Kremlin had turned off the energy, the Kremlin could have brought NATO and Ukraine to their knees without a “limited military operation.”  

If the Kremlin had accepted Donbass back into Russia in 2014, as Russia did for Crimea, there would have been no Ukrainian attacks on Donbass requiring Russian intervention.

The Kremlin has created the impression that it is incapable of proactive thought and action, and only reacts when there is no other choice.

The Kremlin does not understand politics or the media.  Extremely defensive, the leadership rushes to deny every accusation, which keeps the accusations in the news.  Russia’s denials mean nothing to the West.  The Kremlin would benefit from ignoring the accusations and cutting off all supplies and cooperation with the West.  

Will the Kremlin ever learn that Russia does not benefit from the Goody Two Shoes role?  This role conveys weakness and does nothing but encourage more provocations of Russia, thus building up to a larger and more serious conflict.

 

Will the Kremlin’s Goody Two Shoes restraint result in a Ukrainian Chernobyl?

August 7, 05:04,
updated August 7, 05:34
Military operation in Ukraine    https://tass.ru/voennaya-operaciya-na-ukraine 
Energodar said that the Armed Forces of Ukraine dealt another blow to the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant

Zaporozhye NPP
© EPA-EFE/SERGEI SUPINSKY

TASS, 7 August. The Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) fired another shelling at the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), the area of the spent nuclear fuel (SNF) storage facility was in the affected area, the press service of the military-civilian administration (MCA) of the city of Energodar reported on Sunday.

“Tonight, the armed formations of Ukraine launched a strike using a 220 mm Hurricane MLRS cluster rocket. When approaching the power units, the rocket opened and released fragmentation munitions. The areas of the storage of spent nuclear fuel and the  automated control of the radiation were in the attacked area. “Striking elements damaged the administrative buildings and the adjacent territory of the storage facility. It is important to note that  fragmentation munitions and the rocket engine only missed the operating power unit by 400 meters,” the report says.

The territories under the control of Kyiv will be the first to suffer if the Armed Forces of Ukraine damage the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, TASS was told by the press service of the CAA Energodar.

“Given the fact that the wind in this region is mainly to the north-west, in the event of a man-made disaster, the cities of Nikopol, Zaporozhye, Kryvyi Rih, as well as most of the western regions of Ukraine, will be the first to suffer,” a spokesman for the CAA said.

On Saturday, the CAA reported that the Ukrainian side shelled Energodar three times during the day, including the sanatorium of the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant and the water intake. Public utilities employees could not immediately approach the places where the shells fell due to the high probability of repeated shelling. In addition, on Friday, the Armed Forces of Ukraine shelled the Zaporozhye NPP, after which the IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi stressed that “military actions that endanger the safety of the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant are completely unacceptable and must be prevented at any cost.”

Currently, Kyiv has lost control over more than 70% of the territory of the Zaporozhye region. Peaceful life is gradually being restored there, the region is integrating into the legal and economic field of Russia, and local authorities declare their intention to join the Russian Federation and hold a referendum on this issue in September. At the same time, Ukraine is trying to interfere with the establishment of peaceful life, including shelling civilian objects in settlements.

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https://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2022/08/08/the-kremlin-has-demonstrated-that-russia-is-reluctant-to-take-decisive-action/

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