Gonzalo Lira is an American famed journalist, author, and filmmaker, he is based in Kharkiv (Kharkov) and has just been freed from captivity after he was held for about a week by the Zelensky police for reporting the news as he was seeing it with his own eyes which contradicts largely with what the Kiev regime expects from journalists in Ukraine. In a [Twitter thread,](https://twitter.com/GonzaloLira1968/status/1518899739437187073) Mr. Lira recaps the Russian special military operation in Ukraine, its direct cause, its progress from day one, and its current position on the political and military levels, including the battle of Kiev's outskirts, the Donbas, and Mariupol, again as he sees it and not as the Kiev regime dictates. Below is the 24 tweets of the Twitter thread combined for better reading: **Quick recap for those who haven't followed what's been going on in Ukraine but want to understand:** 02/24: The Russians invaded from the south, south-east, east and north, in a lightning campaign. The Russians invaded with 190K troops—against 250K combat troops from Ukraine. ![1.jpeg](https://images.hive.blog/DQmTQUtBEvtZn2PjMxE4LnDpNTsAAfGisEd1ewNTgqrjQCV/1.jpeg) ![1-2.jpeg](https://images.hive.blog/DQmezWR3qwTxGFh4akdurTzHi5JqnQKD3tB4h7XAzqQ6k5n/1-2.jpeg) The Russian Forces put 30K troops near Kiev—nowhere near enough to capture the city—but enough to pin down some 100K Armed Forces of Ukraine defenders. The Russian forces also launched several axes of attack, with reinforcements on standby (including a famed 40km long tank column), to see where they might be needed. ![2.png](https://images.hive.blog/DQmSNxufD2QjRaTZk1jDvyKXjzUQxXSVpfyrgKoePrH7U3q/2.png) Crucially—the Russian's blitz on several axes pre-empted an imminent UKRAINIAN blitzkrieg. ►The AFU had been about to invade the Donbas This was the immediate motivation for Russia's invasion: To beat them to the punch and scuttle Ukraine's imminent invasion—which they did. ![3.jpeg](https://images.hive.blog/DQmdua7NjQYBPArEGrb2vKQWZrSur8YHWFK6pgckHeAcsLD/3.jpeg) Also, by attacking from the north and south, the Russians disrupted weapons supply chain from NATO. Had the RF only attacked in the east to prevent the AFU invasion of Donbas, there would have been an open corridor for resupply from the West. Threatening Kiev stopped that. So the main AFU army was left stranded in east Ukraine, with the rest of the Ukr. forces isolated and pinned down—with no easy resupply from the West The RF then went about hitting AFU command/control and resupply links, further isolating and immobilizing Ukrainian forces. The Russians soon nominally controlled land the size of the UK in Ukraine—but it was a tenuous control. The south of Ukraine was more fully in Russia's grip. The AFU around Kherson simply scattered. Mariupol became a clear battleground, as did the Donbas proper. What the Russians initially wanted was to: ►Short-circuit the imminent Donbas invasion—which they did. ►Scare the Zelensky regime into negotiating a political settlement—which they failed to do. Zelensky launched a massive PR and propaganda campaign, primarily to motivate AFU forces to fight to the death. Myths were created (Ghost of Kiev), false flags were carried out (Bucha, Kramatorsk)—and relentless media stories were flogged relentlessly. The Russians kept negotiating—and trying to NOT destroy Ukraine infrastructure. In fact at first they were even trying to minimize AFU casualties. The evidence for this is overwhelming: The RF did not hit civilian infrastructure—water, electric, phone, transportation. They did not hit AFU barracks, command centers, government buildings, etc. The Russians' initial priority was for a *negotiated settlement*. But by late March, they realized this was impossible. This is why the RF withdrew from Kiev. There was no sense putting men near the city when they were not doing what they were supposed to—putting political pressure on the Zelensky regime to negotiate. This withdrawal was claimed as a “victory” in the “Battle of Kiev”! lmao Starting in late March, the Russians pulled back and solidified their control over the area they had captured, ceding to the AFU areas that were either pointless to or potentially too costly to control. The Ukraine propaganda machine called all these pull-backs “victories”. There was still a glimmer that the war might end in a negotiated settlement—but that ended in early April. After the Istanbul talks of 3/30, the Ukraine side gingerly agreed to some compromises—but within a week publicly disavowed those concessions. That's when the Russians realized the Zelensky regime was agreement-incapable: Their Washington masters—Victoria Nuland and Anthony Blinken in particular—wouldn't allow a peace. They want this war to sap Russia dry. It is a classic proxy war—and Ukraine will pay the price. Something else the Russians realized: Sanctions. They hurt—but Russia bounced back with remarkable speed. They didn't really hurt that bad. But the theft of Russia's $300 billion in foreign reserves by the West DID hurt—badly. The Russians realized they were in a total war with the West—and since their foreign reserves were lost forever (likely to be pilfered by corrupt Western politicos), the Russians now have nothing left to lose. By stealing their reserves, the West lost all power over Russia. This has sealed Ukraine's fate: The Russians now have no incentive to give up what they have conquered. It has cost them too much—in terms of men and treasure. And they know that they can't negotiate a ceasefire—the Zelensky regime will simply break it later. Which means— The Russians intend to conquer and permanently annex all the south and east of Ukraine. This is why their strategy on the battlefield has dramatically shifted: Now they are carrying out a slow, methodical grinding down and destruction of the AFU. The war in the first 30 days was speed—feints—nominally capturing vast swathes of Ukraine territory, with the aim of pressuring the Zelensky regime into a negotiated settlement. But the West's total financial and political break with Russia means they have nothing to lose. And they have a lot to gain: The Donbas is mineral rich, the really productive farmlands of Ukraine are in the east and south, Kharkov is a major industrial city, the Sea of Azov has untold natural gas reserves. And besides—the people love them. ![21.jpeg](https://images.hive.blog/DQmUc1D1M7hWj64bHCMx7APM8EaCCz6oPqX3PEfb71wbSFf/21.jpeg) Why would the Russians now give up this hard-won prize? And they *have* won—make no mistake. Ask any military man who is not a system pig, he'll tell you: There is no way for the AFU to retake their country. They have no armor, no air defense, no fuel, no comms—it's over. ![22.png](https://images.hive.blog/DQmcFHa8tc22NVSjA4aW4q9dGfKMkR3CoW2pjAKxtBPNNvv/22.png) The great tragedy is that so many THOUSANDS of young men will die—and die NEEDLESSLY!!—in order to postpone the inevitable. These brave boys will have fought so valiantly—and died so young, so cruelly—because of the evil of the Zelensky regime. That's the hard truth. ![23.jpeg](https://images.hive.blog/DQmRFDksAwG1nqYGAzcsXT3YWjaaMEPzijDYVcqpfKmXmqQ/23.jpeg) And in the end, this will be the map that will remain—a bitter image of Ukraine's future. Russia will pour billions into their newly acquired territory. It will prosper and flourish. But the rump-state of Ukraine will be left poor, destroyed, forgotten— A tragedy. ![future map of Ukraine.jpeg](https://images.hive.blog/DQmatQKhN9TGGZt8ACmbcUD4i1fFLxG2rxyEvBEGoQQGqYW/future%20map%20of%20Ukraine.jpeg) ***End of the Twitter thread.*** Keep in mind that Mr. Lira is still based in Kharkiv under the grip of the Zelensky notorious SBU security apparatus and he's choosing his words very carefully, much of what he would want to say has been redacted for his own security based on what he said was a document he was forced to sign while in captivity by the SBU awaiting his case to end. The above might be totally the opposite to most of what western mainstream media repeats, remember: the first casualty in wars is truth, and there's a reason why the 'collective west' has banned any other narrative that doesn't parrot their own, so much for democracy and free speech. Just FYI, this isn't their first time in the west, in the early weeks of the war on Syria they banned all Syrian-based media, the Turkish madman Erdogan **[filed a lawsuit against me and against my site Syria News](https://syrianews.cc/erdogan-intimidating-syrianews/)** in a court in Istanbul which, surprisingly, not, ruled in favor of banning my site and blog in Turkey, NATO's second-largest member country and army! ---- **Your objective comments are always welcome.** ---------- **Follow @ArabiSouri: Twitter: [Arabi Souri](https://twitter.com/3arabiSouri) Syria News: [www.syrianews.cc]( https://syrianews.cc)** ---- Donations are highly appreciated, just click on the Donate button via PayPal or Credit Card: **[Donate.](https://www.syrianews.cc/donate)** You can also donate Hive or HBD with this tool: https://hivelive.me/donate/arabisouri. ![Arabi Souri Hive Upvote Reblog Follow.jpg](https://images.hive.blog/DQmW8cLcVTG7TSj2u1WJqMV8uUfUHp8TYejXt9iCac92RvF/Arabi%20Souri%20Hive%20Upvote%20Reblog%20Follow.jpg)