The Stan R. Mitchell report for 4/29/22.
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Happy Friday, everyone! Hope you have some awesome plans for the weekend!
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We begin today with the steel plant in Mariupol, which I’ve been writing extensively about.
And I know it’s a horrific thing to even think about or consider, but this tweet just really encapsulated my thoughts on the war in Ukraine so well.
This has not been easy for me to track obsessively the past eight weeks or so, but I must. Just as you must.
We have to do this for several reasons, including:
We must watch this for the sake of the Ukrainians, so that they know they have our attention and support.
We must watch this for the chances we have to encourage/demand our government to support their fight.
And we must watch this to witness for the sake of history the thousands of horrendous atrocities being committed there.
And with the anger stirred by this witness, we must pledge by our outrage that we will do all we can to prevent this from happening elsewhere. For the sake of our own souls. For the sake of our humanity.
Right must resist wrong. Justice must combat tyranny.
Back to the topic of the steel plant in Mariupol, it’s still somehow holding out, as of publication of this newsletter.
But the situation grows darker by the minute, it seems. The Russians bombed a makeshift hospital facility just a while ago.
The bombing above destroyed much of the medical equipment that the Ukrainians had. And the descriptions in the article below make it seem like hell on earth in that place.
I’m not even sure what else to say, other than to pray for those inside and those on the outside trying to get there. (There’s the hint of some possibility of an extraction effort in the article above.)
I’ve thought on this a bit (or maybe way too much) and on the one hand, I’m just not sure how much longer they can hold out.
It talks about this urgency in the article above. The Ukrainians inside are running out of water, food, and ammo. And their commander said he wasn’t sure how long they could hold out. It would depend on how hard the Russians tried to take the place, he said.
Clearly, the tragedy is beyond impossible to describe. And you just feel for everyone there, including women, children, and even infants ( youngest: 4 months old).
But on the other, with how Russians are relocating Ukrainians back to Russia, torturing others, and even executing still others, how can you not hold out?
How. Could. You. Not.
I have no idea how this will end, but this could become one of those starvation-like situations where you see half-starved survivors, such as we saw so often in World War II, from starved prisoners or survivors of the concentration camps.
While things are BEYOND dreadful in the Mariupol steel plant named Azovstal, there’s honestly cause for celebration elsewhere.
First, let’s dispense with some of the fear-mongering happening out there.
Despite much of the hysterics in the media regarding Russia using nuclear weapons (I guess they have to get viewers for those ad dollars somehow), the reality is that currently, the threat remains small.
I would even go so far to say that the U.S. could tell and know (through satellite pictures, intercepted communications, trucks loaded at certain sites, etc) when Russia planned to do such a thing if it were a tactical nuke.
To be clear, I have no official knowledge of this, but our intelligence has been dead on regarding much of what has occurred in this fight since well before it began. (Now it’s true that the intelligence community — like almost everyone — thought Russia would crush Ukraine with an overwhelming invasion, but it was impossible to predict how much of a joke the Russian Army had become; they hadn’t performed this badly in previous engagements and much credit is due to the Ukrainians for their fighting spirit.)
Second, let’s dig into the situation of the Russian efforts in the Donbas area.
Dr. Mike Martin posted an incredible thread about the situation there, which I highly recommend. (Also, that you follow him if you’re not already.)
Martin writes in his thread that Russia attempted to bring its busted-up units from the northern part of Ukraine to the eastern part of Ukraine.
From there, the Russians could have then tried to surround the Ukrainians, as I shared last week.
But the Russians are not only incompetent, they’re also stupid. So, Martin explains they tried old-style attrition warfare (like the silliness you saw in World War I, almost), simply pushing forward behind large-scale artillery fire.
Thankfully, the Ukrainians weren’t fools.
This should lead to the following outcome.
I completely agree with Martin.
And American and Canadian artillery pieces are already in Ukraine (the pics below are behind by a couple of days).
Plus, as you recall in my last newsletter, we’re even training the artillery crews. I’d put the newly trained Ukrainians up against the conscripted Russians any day of the week.
My view: the Ukrainians are going to absolutely slaughter the Russians and drive them out of their country in the east.
Adding to that, it makes me happy to see him even predict this:
I’d love it if Ukraine could get Crimea back. And regarding one other threat you sometimes hear the media warn of: what if the Russians call a draft and do full-scale mobilization?
Asked about this threat, Martin dismissed it:.
There’s perhaps the glimmer of light on the horizon for Ukraine, for those who have survived this madness. Let’s pray those in the steel plant can be rescued, and that the Ukrainians continue to withstand this horrendous test of character their nation is facing.
Moving on to tech news and a much lighter topic, just a couple of things.
First, I’ve talked before about drones being led/commanded by other aircraft. Here’s the latest on that.
Secondly, this probably isn’t tech news, but my word is this amazing. 🤣
All right, sorry for the heaviness in part of this edition. Let’s end with some motivation and wisdom.
Actually, to hell with it. Let’s end with a LOT of motivation and wisdom! (Until you all start complaining about it, I’m going to keep piling it on. Because who can’t use some motivation and wisdom in their life?! Also, we must balance out the dark news I shared above.)
That’s it for this edition. Want to talk to me directly? Email me at the following address: authorstanrmitchell@yahoo.com. I love hearing feedback, compliments, and even constructive criticism. : )
As a reminder, please be kind and endeavor to love your fellow Americans. We need to pull this country together, and that starts with all of us.
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Semper Fidelis,
Stan R. Mitchell
P.S. Don’t forget to check out my books. I’ve written a CIA/Marine sniper series, a detective series, a private investigator series, an action-packed Western, a leadership/biography book, and two realistic war novels: one about World War IIand one about Afghanistan.
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