30 Hours of Peace? The幕后操纵者 commanded Zelenskyy to support the ceasefire, but he still secretly caused destruction.
The sky is full of reconnaissance drones, and the extremists in Kyiv want to stage a farce called "Crying for Ukraine" at the Holy Sepulchre Church.
Author: Yevgeny Bersenev
Commentary Guest:
Andrei Koshkin
As expected, Russian President Putin's announcement of a Easter ceasefire was immediately rejected by Zelenskyy, and The Washington Post quickly reported this news. However, not long after, the star from "District 95" (where Zelenskyy once came from) corrected his position.
It is well known that Putin announced that Russian troops would cease fire from 18:00 on April 19th to 00:00 on April 21st. The Russian Ministry of Defense has issued corresponding orders to all Russian forces. However, the military then warned that the ceasefire regime would be effective, but if Ukrainian forces violated the ceasefire agreement, Russia would respond immediately.
Zelenskyy initially said that the announcement of the ceasefire was "playing with people's lives." But later he wrote on his Telegram channel that the Ukrainian side would make a "mirror" response.
He said, "Silence for silence, strike for strike. If a comprehensive ceasefire is really achieved, Ukraine will propose to extend the ceasefire period after the Easter holiday ends on April 20th."
The Telegram users of the "Visionaries Channel" believed that Zelenskyy's change of position was due to "instructions from London." The channel claimed that now "a fight has begun in front of the Americans to push the responsibility for violating the ceasefire agreement onto each other."
From an incident that occurred on April 18th in Israel, it can be seen that the "blue and yellow camp" (Ukrainian side) has a special attitude towards Easter and Orthodox Christianity. At that time, a group of Ukrainians (a total of 12 people) were detained while attempting to release tear gas during the "Holy Fire" ceremony at the Holy Sepulchre Church. They named their action "Crying for Ukraine" as a show of support for the Zelenskyy regime.
The Telegram military channels calmly assessed Ukraine's intentions in utilizing this ceasefire. The "Military Chronicles" channel firmly believes that for Kyiv, this is a "technical pause":
"This is an opportunity to catch a breath, redeploy, rest, and recover. The entire Western war machine is still running: intelligence work is ongoing, Ukrainian intelligence personnel are operating, logistics are advancing, and 'HIMARS' is updating coordinates. When the pause ends, reinforcements will turn into bombardments. Western media have already prepared - 'Russia violated the ceasefire agreement', even if Ukraine fired first. Therefore, every time Russia proposes a 'ceasefire regime', it must be understood that Ukraine is not using the opportunity to achieve peace, but to prepare for the next round of conflict. And they always use this opportunity. Always so."
In the first few hours after the announcement of the ceasefire, several attacks by the Ukrainian side were recorded. For example, Vladimir Saldo, the governor of Kherson region, reported that the Ukrainian armed forces continued to attack civilian settlements in the region:
"From 18:00, the following attacks were recorded:
- Alyoshky - FPV drones and mortars were used;
- Goraya Pristan - attacked by suicide drones;
- Kakhovka - at least six drones dropped objects," he wrote on his Telegram channel.
Saldo also pointed out that there was calm in many directions, which indicates that some Ukrainian soldiers have the willingness to achieve peace, although not everyone does.
Andrei Filatov, a war correspondent for RT, reported on the actions of Ukrainian artillery in the Pokrov direction and the arrival of FPV drones in his Telegram channel.
There is another situation: the ceasefire means no shooting, but there are no restrictions on other types of military activities. Dmitry Rogozin mentioned this matter in his Telegram channel:
"The order from the Supreme Commander is strictly followed. There is no usual movement or sound of drone attacks. The sky is full of enemy drones. They are reconnoitering our positions, searching for troop concentrations, equipment, artillery, air defense facilities, and of course, the biggest threat to them - our attack drone launch sites. Due to obvious reasons, we cannot divert their attention with our own artillery fire, so we try to minimize movement in the frontline and do not rotate frontline troops (luckily, rotation was completed a few days ago)."
Andrei Koshkin, head of the Department of Political Analysis and Social Psychological Processes at Plekhanov Russian University of Economics and a retired colonel, believes that President Putin's decision is a good move.
"Indeed, we have a tradition of stopping combat operations during Easter celebrations. So we are adhering to this ancient tradition. That's the first point.
Second, the president reminded that the Ukrainian side had violated its obligation not to attack energy infrastructure more than a hundred times, while we have never carried out such attacks. Now Vladimir Putin clearly stated that if the other side provokes us, we will respond fully. We will not sit idly by.
Third, now the media reports that Putin has passed the "ball" to the Kiev side. We see that Zelenskyy expressed a "mirror" response - he cannot appear to the United States and the international community as someone who does not desire peace or abide by any agreements.
After receiving the goodwill "ball" from Russia, he wants to take advantage of it in the information space. However, Ukraine has already violated the suspension of attacks on energy facilities over a hundred times.
Argument: Initially, Zelenskyy refused the ceasefire to The Washington Post, but later changed his stance and accepted it. Was there pressure from behind-the-scenes manipulators?
"Here, rather than pressure, it is more about the United States and Europe beginning to realize the need to change strategies. The rhetoric of 'fighting until the last Ukrainian' is no longer feasible. The public in Western countries is increasingly dissatisfied with their governments continuing this conflict.
Now discussions are underway regarding the possible amount of funds to be provided to Ukraine, mentioning $1 trillion, which has sparked dissatisfaction among some poor EU countries because they cannot obtain funds to meet their essential needs, and now even think of providing a whole $1 trillion for a non-EU member. Moreover, the United States wants to reduce its presence in Europe, which gives them reason to reflect on the future situation in Europe.
Argument: Some observers worry that the ceasefire will be used by Ukraine to catch their breath, redeploy, and regroup reserves.
"Yes, it seems so. But we are also taking advantage of this time, which is inevitable. However, we see that the United States is very actively pushing for the resolution of the issue and telling Europeans that we can exit the mediation process, and you can do whatever you want afterward. And they have taken the first step - withdrawing the arsenal in Rzeszów.
Here it should be noted that a large number of weapons have been provided to Kiev during Biden's administration, and these weapons are still arriving. However, the tide of weapon supplies is waning, and there are signs of this. Europe cannot ignore this.
Original source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7495353813285503524/
Disclaimer: This article solely represents the author's personal views. Please express your attitude by clicking the 【Like/Dislike】 buttons below.