With Scott Ritter: New stakes of the war? On Russian mobilization and referendums in Ukraine

“On the Barricades” s05e34

In the last month and days we have seen a major, historic turning point in the nature of the conflict in Ukraine. In order to pursue its military objectives the Russian government has decided to mobilize 300 000 reserves in a new stage of escalation against what has become a NATO army manned by Ukrainians. Meanwhile, in the coming days referendums will take place in the independent territories of the Donbass region to incorporate them into the Russian nation.

In Scott Ritter’s words, “Let’s stop pretending this is a war where Russia has brutally invaded a viable democracy, that this is a struggle between autocracy and democracy.” Scott is one of the most respected and qualified military analysts providing insight on the development of the war in Ukraine, having become a critic of US foreign policy after serving as US Marine intelligence officer and a UN weapons inspector. He recently authored a book called “Disarmament in the Time of Perestroika: Arms Control and the End of the Soviet Union”: https://bit.ly/3UtTmm7

“On the Barricades” is thrilled to bring Scott as a guest to cut through propagandistic distortions and to provide a military-strategic assessment of the reality unfolding in Ukraine at this critical point, as well as what the revolutionary or at least world-shattering consequences will be for Europe and the entire world.

Hosts Boyan Stanislavski and Maria Cernat discuss with Scott the interpretations of the recent mobilization of Russian reserve forces – the explanation for which requires understanding the driving factors of the war and a realistic portrayal of how the Russian military conducts itself. Scott summarizes the war thus far as a law-bound and measured response from the Russian government to increasing NATO expansionism and military aggression. Scott explains why the peaceful alternative avenue to what is now playing out – the new European security framework that the Kremlin had tried to bring to the table prior to February this year – failed. What is the role of military intelligence and why couldn’t Russia use the US-style regime change tactics to attain its objectives? Looking forward to the upcoming months and ramifications of the war on the world, Scott explains how the European countries supporting sanctions on Russia managed to commit to economic suicide. And, how he believes the Russian political and military decision makers are viewing all of this, from the point of view of their aims and of protecting “the Russian nation.”