400,000 Ukrainians Killed In Action Explains A Whole Lot

Estimates of Ukrainians killed in action (KIA) range from a low of just over 30,000 to a high of over 400,000.

Obviously, these two estimates can’t be reconciled. And it really, really matters to the people of Ukraine which one is closer to the truth. While 30,000 deaths is tragic, anything approaching 400,000 KIA and the accompanying hundreds of thousands of causalities is a humanitarian catastrophe that makes talks of continuing offensive operations next year, or even believing in a stalemate, wishful thinking that will result in even more fruitless Ukrainian deaths.

Unsurprisingly, since the war began, the United States and its allies have unswervingly pushed the narrative that Russia is incurring far more casualties than Ukraine. This casualty narrative was critical to maintaining any plausibility that Ukraine could defeat a country that has four to five times more men of military age and that was recently rated as having the world’s most powerful military. Hence, given the need to maintain the plausibility of a Ukrainian victory, it isn't surprising that NATO intelligence asserted that the battle of Bakhmut saw Russia losing at least five soldiers KIA for every one of Ukraine’s.

However, since the fall of Bakhmut to Russia, the failure of the much-hyped Ukrainian counteroffensive, and signs that Ukraine’s military is nearing collapse, we're no longer hearing about five-to-one casualty rates. Still, the most recent estimates from United States and British officials claim that Russia has suffered 120,000 KIA while Ukraine has suffered “only” 70,000 KIA (more than the United States suffered in over 10 years of the Vietnam War).

But not everyone agrees with U.S./British casualty estimates for an army that started the war by mobilizing early 1 million men in arms and, over the course of the war, mobilized another estimated 1 million. Among the growing number of those who don’t agree is the former director of the Joint Operations Center at Supreme Headquarters Europe and one of the key leaders in achieving the legendary victory in the mass tank battle of 73 Easting, retired U.S. Army Col. Douglas Macgregor.

In a recent interview with myself, Col. Macgregor agreed that while estimates putting Russian KIA at as high as 50,000 to 60,000 are defensible, most estimates for Ukrainian KIAs are not.

In what many will undoubtedly find shocking given the countless stories disparaging Russia’s military skills and capabilities while uncritically fawning over Ukraine’s military prowess, Col. Macgregor puts Ukrainian KIA at over 400,000 out of the 2 million Ukraine has mobilized.

Col. Macgregor arrived at this shocking number using a wide variety of sources, including contacts within U.S. intelligence and contacts on the ground in Ukraine and Poland who have intimate knowledge of what's really happening in Ukraine.

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/400000-ukrainians-killed-action-explains-whole-lot

‘Election Interference’ Ethics Complaint Against Judge Beryl Howell Filed by Elise Stefanik

Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) filed an ethics complaint on Friday charging election interference against Judge Beryl Howell based on a speech Howell gave last month at the Women’s White Collar Defense Association awards dinner. Howell, a former Democrat Senate Judiciary Committee staffer and Obama appointee, was awarded alongside Joe Biden’s Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco.

Stefanik stated her reason for the complaint in a post on X Twitter:

“I filed a Complaint of Judicial Misconduct against Judge Beryl Howell, because election interference by judges destroys public confidence in the federal judiciary, tears apart the fabric of our Republic, and is illegal. It must end now.

“DC Obama Judge Beryl Howell gave a highly inappropriate speech in which she insinuated the election of President Trump will lead to fascism in America. She also inappropriately allowed a public display of her cozy personal relationships with her partisan friends who appear before her, including the Biden Deputy Attorney General who supervises the January 6 criminal prosecutions.”

To get an idea of the incestuous nature of this D.C. swamp gathering, check out the list of sponsors at page four of the program: Dozens of law firms and lobbying outfits.

Howell is a 2010 Obama appointee to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia who served as the chief judge of the court from 2016 until March of 2023 where she presided over many January 6 cases and the cases and searches of President Trump by the Biden Justice department and Special Counsel Jack Smith. Howell still sits on the court, and was hearing a January 6 case Friday morning where she mocked the idea of “ghost buses” with government informants being used that day–an accusation recently made by Rep. Clay Higgins (R-LA).

Politico’s Kyle Cheney reported: “Judge Howell in court right now on a Jan. 6 case going off on “ghost buses” nonsense. “Why is it called a ghost bus?” she says to defense lawyer. “What are you talking about? We are not going down rabbit holes in this case. A ghost bus. Did you come up with that term?”…Defense lawyer John Pierce says “ghost buses” was Rep. Clay Higgins’ term. “Who?” says Howell, pointedly. “This is like a political weirdness? … I’m not going to waste time on some of these weirdly described things,” she adds.”

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/12/election-interference-ethics-complaint-against-judge-beryl-howell/

Ukrainian politician detonates grenades in local parliament (VIDEO)

Explosions in a council chamber in the Transcarpathia Region injured 26 people, according to authorities

At least two dozen people have been injured in a series of blasts during a session of a council in western Ukraine, officials have said, adding that the suspected perpetrator was a local deputy who brought grenades to the meeting.

Local police said that emergency services performed “resuscitation measures on the man who detonated the grenades,” adding that law enforcement operatives and forensic experts were working at the scene.

Local news portal Mukachevo.net identified the alleged culprit as Sergey Batryn, an MP representing the Servant of the People party, of which Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky is a member.

Initially, Ukraine’s National Police said on Friday that a blast at the Keretsk village council in Mukachevo district, Transcarpathian Region had claimed the lives of two people – one of whom was the man who brought the explosives – while 11 others were injured. Later, however, it updated the information to say that 26 people had been wounded, noting that six of them were in serious condition.

WARNING: DISTURBING VIDEO

https://www.rt.com/russia/589133-blasts-ukraine-grenades-deputy/