Two Significant Ukraine Stories

I saw a tweet referring to the first story early this morning, but lost track of it. Zerohedge has picked up on it. I’ve seen other stories that play into this as well. For example, yesterday it was reported that Russia had used a Kinzhal missile to destroy an important command and control center near the Donbas. Two things are important about that fact:

The use of the Kinzhal is a clear sign that the target was deeply fortified against ordinary attacks.

The nature of the target suggests that this center was receiving NATO intelligence and then forwarding instructions to frontline units—or possibly controlling drone strikes. Drones are fine for pounding technically unsophisticated enemies, but the Russians can track the controllers and target them.

With that in mind:

Russia Steps Up Efforts To Jam US-Provided GPS In Ukraine: Pentagon

The Pentagon now says Russia is in the midst of a major jamming operation attempt of Ukraine's access to GPS signals, which if successful would have a huge impact on Ukraine's ability to navigate the battlefield and operate advanced aerial systems such as drones.

What's further is that these latest efforts, which follow widespread reports that Russia jammed GPS in Ukraine just ahead of the Feb. 24 invasion, appear aimed at disrupting new US-supplied equipment, in particular small advanced drones.

In a Monday NBC interview, Gen. David Thompson of the US Space Force described that Russia is taking direct aim at communications infrastructure provided by the US: "Russia is interfering with the US-provided GPS signals in Ukraine," he said.

NBC show narrator, Pentagon correspondent Tom Costello explained, "While Russia and China have their own GPS satellites, most of the world relies on the GPS provided by the US for free."

The report further said, "Russia has also reportedly jammed the GPS systems used by civilian aircraft along its borders with Finland."

Space Force's Gen. Thompson described that the Russians are making a "clear statement to us about their intention to threaten our capabilities" - including the scenario that eventually the Kremlin could take direct action against US GPS satellites in space.

How far do the Neocons want to escalate this? Is anyone in Congress asking any questions about the implications of US direction of the Ukraine war effort?

The second story suggests—to me, anyway—that the Pentagon may be pushing back against Neocon and UK Deep State efforts to escalate the proxy war to a direct war:

Pentagon Treats Azov Claims Of Russian Chemical Attack With Caution After UK Amplified Them

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday addressed Monday allegations out of the Ukrainian city of Mariupol that Russian forces had used chemical weapons there. Reuters describes of his words that "the United States is not in a position to confirm anything when it comes to reports of the use of chemical weapons in Ukraine." He added however that "We're in direct conversation with partners to try to determine what actually has happened. So this is a real concern," he said to reporters. 

Crucially, he added that the US has "credible information" that Russia might use 'chemical agents' in Ukraine, it's being reported further. But he seemed to suggest it was more related to riot control gear and not necessarily major battlefield deployments: "We had credible information that Russian forces may use a variety of riot control agents, including tear gas, mixed with chemical agents that would cause stronger symptoms...This is a real concern..." he said. "We shared that information with Ukraine, as well as with other partners."

His ambiguous words came less than 12 hours after Pentagon spokesman John Kirby the evening before appeared to downplay the claims coming out of Azov militants in Mariupol, which were also treated with skepticism by many journalists and analysts. 

"We are aware of social media reports which claim Russian forces deployed a potential chemical munition in Mariupol, Ukraine," Kirby had said Monday. "We cannot confirm at this time and will continue to monitor the situation closely."

"These reports, if true, are deeply concerning and reflective of concerns that we have had about Russia’s potential to use a variety of riot control agents, including tear gas mixed with chemical agents, in Ukraine," Kirby added.

But it was the British government which had earlier on Monday served to amplify Azov's completely unverified claims - alarming given that UK state media itself had long before the Ukraine invasion labeled Azov battalion as a neo-Nazi organization.

The UK had actually stated that if chem warfare had occurred no possible response would be “off the table”—which sounded very much like a threat of nuclear escalation based on “completely unverified claims.” The Pentagon, seemingly, has no desire to go where US Neocons and the UK Deep State want to go.