Ο Larry K. Johnson, is a veteran of CIA and the Counterterrorism Bureau. He is the founder and managing partner of Berg Associates, which was founded in 1998. Larry has been providing training to the U.S. Army’s special operations community for 24 years. He has been vilified by both the right and the left, which means he must be doing something right.
His analysis and commentary can be found on his blog https://sonar21.com
Question 1: Can you explain to me why you think Russia is winning the war in Ukraine?;
Larry C. Johnson: During the first 24 hours of the Russian military operation in Ukraine, all Ukrainian ground-based radar interception capabilities were eliminated. Without these radars, the Ukrainian Air Force lost its air-to-air interception capability. Over the next three weeks, the Russia has established a de facto no-fly zone over Ukraine. Although it remains vulnerable to shoulder-launched surface-to-air missiles supplied by the U.S. and NATO to the Ukrainians, there is no evidence that Russia had to scale back its combat air operations
Russia’s arrival in Kyiv within three days of the invasion also caught my attention. I recalled that it took the Nazis in Operation Barbarossa seven weeks to reach Kyiv and another seven weeks to subdue the city.. The Nazis had the advantage of not having to make any effort to spare civilians and were willing to destroy critical infrastructure. However, many so-called U.S. military experts claimed that Russia has been trapped. When a Russian convoy was positioned 24 miles (or 40 miles, depending on the news source) north of Kyiv for more than a week, it was clear that the Ukraine's ability to launch large-scale military operations had been eliminated. If their artillery had been intact, then this column would have been an easy target for mass destruction. That did not happen. On the other hand, if the Ukrainians had a viable fixed-wing or rotary-wing capability, they would have had to destroy that convoy from the air. That did not happen. Or, if they had a viable cruise missile capability, they would have had to rain hell down on the supposedly blocked Russian convoy. That didn’t happen. The Ukrainians didn’t even set up a major infantry ambush against the convoy with anti-tank weapons Javelin which was recently procured by U.S. forces.
The scale and scope of the Russian offensive are remarkable. In three weeks, they have captured territory larger than the landmass of the United Kingdom. They then carried out targeted attacks on key cities and military installations. We have not seen a single instance of a Ukrainian unit at the regimental or brigade level attacking and defeating a comparable Russian unit. Instead, the Russians have fragmented the Ukrainian army and severed its lines of communication. The Russians are consolidating their control over Mariupol and have secured all access routes to the Black Sea. Ukraine is now cut off from the south and the north.
I would like to point out that the United States had difficulty capturing so much territory in Iraq in 2003, even while fighting against a vastly inferior and less capable military force. In the end, This Russian operation should alarm the United States and its military and political leaders..
The big news came this week with Russian missile strikes on de facto NATO bases in Yavoriv and Zhytomyr. NATO conducted cyber-security training in Zhytomyr in September 2018 and designated Ukraine a «NATO partner.» Zhytomyr was destroyed on Saturday by hypersonic missiles. Yavoriv suffered a similar fate last Sunday. It was the main training and logistical hub used by NATO and EUCOM to supply fighters and weapons to Ukraine. A large number of soldiers and civilians from this base lost their lives.
Not only has Russia regularly struck and destroyed bases used by NATO since 2015, but there has been no warning of airstrikes, and no incoming missiles have been intercepted.
Question 2: Why is the media trying to convince the Ukrainian people that they can win their war against Russia? If what you’re saying is true, then all the civilians who were sent to fight the Russian army are dying in a war they cannot win. I don’t understand why the media would want to mislead people about something so serious. What are your thoughts on this?;
Larry C. Johnson: It's a combination of ignorance and laziness. Instead of providing real information, The overwhelming majority of the media (print and online), as well as Big Tech, are supporting a massive propaganda campaign. I remember when George Bush was Hitler. I remember when Donald Trump was Hitler. And now we have a new Hitler, Vladimir Putin. It’s a worn-out and failed strategy. Anyone who dares to raise reasonable questions is immediately labeled a Putin puppet or a Russian lackey. When you can’t discuss the facts, the only way out is to resort to insults.
Question 3: Last week, Colonel Douglas McGregor was a guest on Tucker Carlson’s show. His views on the war are strikingly similar to yours. Here’s what he said on the interview. :
«The war is truly over for the Ukrainians. They’ve been cut back—there’s no doubt about that, despite what we hear from our traditional media. So, the real question for us at this point is: Will we coexist with the Russian people and their government, or will we continue to pursue this kind of regime change, disguised as a war in Ukraine? Will we stop using Ukraine as a battering ram against Moscow, which is essentially what we have been doing?. (Tucker Carlson – Interview with McGregor)
Do you agree with McGregor that the real goal of dragging Russia into a war in Ukraine was «regime change»?;
Second, do you agree that Ukraine is being used by the U.S. as a springboard to wage a proxy war against Russia?;
Larry C. Johnson: McGregor is a great analyst, but I don't agree with him. I don't think there's anyone in the Biden administration smart enough to conceive and plan these strategies. In my opinion, there has been a state of inaction within NATO over the past seven years. What I mean by this is that NATO and Washington believed they could continue to encroach eastward toward Russia’s borders without provoking a reaction. NATO and EUCOM conduct regular exercises, including the provision of training and offensive equipment. I believe that the reports in the United States claiming that the CIA provided paramilitary training to Ukrainian units operating in Donbas are credible. But I find it hard to believe that, after our excesses in Iraq and Afghanistan, we suddenly have Sun Tzu-level strategists pulling the strings in Washington.
There is a sense of despair in Washington. Aside from the effort to ban all Russian In reality, the Biden administration is trying to intimidate China, India, and Saudi Arabia. I don't see any of these countries falling into a state of anarchy. . I believe that the Biden administration made a fatal mistake in its attempt to demonize everything and everyone associated with Russia. If it serves anyone’s interests purpose, It serves to unite the Russian people behind Putin, and the Russians are prepared for a long struggle..
I am shocked by the miscalculation regarding the economic sanctions that were supposed to bring Russia to its knees. The opposite is true. Η Russia is self-sufficient and does not depend on imports. Its exports are essential to the economic prosperity of the West. If they refuse to export wheat, potash, natural gas, oil, palladium, refined nickel, and other essential minerals to the West, the European and American economies will be devastated. And this attempt to subjugate Russia through sanctions has probably consigned the U.S. dollar's role as an international reserve currency to the dustbin of history..
Question 4: Ever since he delivered his famous speech of In Munich in 2007, Putin protested against the «architecture of global security”». In Ukraine, we can see how these security issues can escalate into a full-scale war. As you know, In December, Putin made a number of demands regarding Russian security, but the Biden administration just shrugged them off and he never replied. Putin wanted NATO's expansion not to include Ukraine (as a member) and for nuclear missile systems not to be deployed in Romania or Poland. Do you think Putin's demands are unreasonable?;
Larry C. Johnson: I think Putin's demands are quite reasonable. The problem is that the Americans (99%) have no idea what kind of military provocation NATO and the U.S. have carried out over the past 7 years.. The public has always been told that these are «defensive» military exercises. That is simply not true. Now we have news that Washington was funding biological research in Ukraine. I suppose that Putin might agree to allow U.S. nuclear missile systems in Poland and Romania if Biden agrees to allow the deployment of comparablesystems in Cuba, Venezuela, and Mexico. When we look at it in these terms, we can begin to understand that Putin’s demands are not crazy or unreasonable.
Question 5: Russian media reported that «high-precision» Russian surface-to-air missiles struck facilities in western Ukraine «killing more than 100 Ukrainian soldiers and foreign mercenaries.» Apparently, this special operations training center was located near the town of Ovruch, just 15 miles from the Polish border. What can you tell us about this incident? Was Russia trying to send a message to NATO?;
Larry K. Johnson: Short answer: Yes! Russian military attacks in western Ukraine over the past week have shocked and alarmed NATO officials. The first strike took place on Sunday, March 13, in Yavoriv, Ukraine. Russia struck the base with several missiles, some of which were hypersonic. More than 200 people were killed, including American and British military and intelligence personnel, and hundreds more were wounded. Many have suffered devastating injuries. However, NATO and the Western media have shown little interest in reporting on this disaster.
Yavoriv was an important and powerful base for NATO. Until February (before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine), the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command operated out of Yavoriv until mid-February. Russia did not stop there. ASB Military News reports that Russia struck another location, Delhatyn, which is located 60 kilometers southeast of Yavoriv (on Thursday, I believe). Yesterday, Russia struck Zhytomyr, another region where NATO had previously maintained a presence. Putin sent a very clear message—NATO forces in Ukraine will be regarded and treated as combatants.
Question 6: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been described by Western media as a modern-day «warlord» and «Winston Churchill.» What the media isn’t telling its readers is that Zelenskyy has taken a series of measures to strengthen his influence in the country, while undermining Ukraine’s fragile democratic institutions. For example, Zelensky «banned eleven opposition news organizations» and attempted to prevent the leader of Ukraine’s largest opposition group, Viktor Medvedchuk, from taking office under the false accusation that he is harboring a «terrorist financing» slush fund. This is not the behavior of a leader who is seriously committed to democracy.
What is your take on Zelensky? Is he really the «patriotic leader» that the Western media claim he is?;
Larry C. Johnson: Zelensky is a comedian and actor—not a very good one, in my opinion. The West repeatedly uses the fact that he is Jewish to hide all the neo-Nazi atrocities taking place around it (and I mean real Nazis who always celebrate the achievements of the Ukrainian Waffen SS unit that fought alongside the Nazis in World War II). The facts are clear—he bans opposition political parties and shuts down opposition media outlets. I suppose that’s the new definition of «democracy.».
Question 7: How does it end?; There is an excellent post on the Alabama Moon website titled «Where will the war in Ukraine end geographically?». The author of the article, Bernard, seems to believe that Ukraine will eventually split along the Dnieper River and southward along the coast, which has a population with a Russian ethnic majority.» He also says:
«This will cut off Ukraine's access to the Black Sea and create a land bridge to Transnistria, which is under Russian protection.". The rest of Ukraine would be a small country, consisting mainly of agricultural regions, disarmed and too poor to pose a new threat to Russia at any time.
What do you think? Will Putin impose his own territorial settlement in Ukraine in order to strengthen Russian security and put an end to hostilities, or is a different scenario more likely?;
Larry K. Johnson: I agree with Moon from Alabama. Putin’s main goal is to protect Russia from foreign threats and to break away from the West. Russia has the natural resources to be sovereign and independent, and it is making that vision a reality.
Mike Whitney, Unz Review, March 23, 2022,
Translation: M. Stylianou
