Guest Post by Larry Johnson
The prolonged battle for Bakhmut is portrayed in the press as a symbol of Russian weakness. I know that many Westerners have scratched their heads and wondered why such a fierce battle is being waged over this particular piece of territory. The answer, I believe, lies below the surface of Bakhmut/Soledar in the Soledar Salt Mines (aka Artyomsol Salt Mines). The Salt mine is a monster, with a 125 miles of tunnels.
Take a look at these images:
Evgeny Prigozhin, the creator of the Wagner Group offered the following update on the situation in Bakhmut and mentions the Salt mines in passing:
“Bakhmut is the central point of the Eastern Front and a serious logistics center. And our task there is to die as little as possible, and to destroy the enemy as much as possible.
Bakhmut’s feature is in its unique historical and geographical defense capabilities, which include, first, the division of the city into several parts by water barriers. Secondly, the neighborhood of Bakhmut is a complex of settlements that create a unified defense system. Thirdly, this is a unique landscape, ravines and heights, which are natural tunnels. And the icing on the cake is the system of Soledar and Bakhmut mines, actually a network of underground cities. In which there is not only a cluster of people at a depth of 80-100 meters, but also tanks and infantry fighting vehicles move. And stockpiles of weapons have been stored since the First World War “(c) Prigozhin
I think there is more going on underground than salt-mining. It is a secure warehouse for Ukraine’s military equipment. The blog ScoopTrade provides a great overview:
Prior to the start of the special military operation in Ukraine, Artyomsol was the largest enterprise for the extraction and sale of table salt in Central and Eastern Europe. It consists of five salt mines, which are located within the city limits of Soledar and Praskovievka: mines No. 1, No. 3, No. 4, No. 7 and the Volodarsky mine. They are interconnected by rail and road, as well as a developed system of underground communications, which, after the outbreak of hostilities, were improved by the military personnel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
The Artemsoli salt mine system is already being used by the Armed Forces of Ukraine as an underground fortress. Ammunition depots, quarters for personnel, and in some places even hangars for equipment are equipped at great depths. And “get” them from the surface is almost impossible. Underground communications are also used by Ukrainian military personnel to move between positions, and the approaches and some entrances to the mines are mined and ready to be blown up. In terms of difficulty for the assault, the Artemsol mines can easily compete with the famous Azovstal in Mariupol.
This helps explain why Ukraine is pouring shrinking manpower into the meat grinder battle on the surface. It is a critical facility. However, is it possible that Ukraine has stored evidence of its bioweapons program in the mines? This is more than a key transportation/logistics hub.
Curiously, an anonymous White House official this week began pushing the line that Prighozin, who is a Chef, is just interested in getting control of the salt mine financial benefits (and maybe for its culinary quality):
The United States is of the view that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s ally Yevgeny Prigozhin, who is the founder of Russia’s most powerful mercenary group, is interested in taking control of salt and gypsum from mines near the Ukrainian-held city of Bakhmut, a White House official said on Thursday.
There are indications that monetary motives are driving Russia’s and Prigozhin’s “obsession” with Bakhmut, the official added. Prigozhin is the owner of private Russian military company Wagner Group.
https://news.yahoo.com/u-thinks-putin-ally-prigozhin-224346077.html
I think there is more to this than just trying to hang on to a profitable natural resource. Ukraine is not fighting a desperate battle and sacrificing thousands of its troops just to protect a lucrative spice. What do you think?
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It reminds me of the wheelbarrow joke.
Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savor, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.
What is happening there has NOTHING to do with salt.
It has to do with secret western bioweapons labs.
Thus the fierce resistance to keeping it at all costs.
Salt isn’t worth dying for.
It’s also for depriving your opponent of defensive weapon caches, fuel, and supplies.
Russian objectives have been limited to extensive disruption of Ukrainian capability to attack ethnic Russian oblast claims so far, but if there are illegal bio-weapon capabilities, you can be sure the Russians will be politely circumspect with the political evidence until the time presents itself.
Russia can play a long-term strategy game and win simply by weight of numbers and logistics. They see to be doing a good job of bleeding Ukraine and making the battle materially expensive for NATO. In the same vein, Russia will outwait a financially debt-ridden NATO/EU and simply watch an alliance collapse from infighting.
Salt
Would think that the Atmosphere would be highly corrosive to metal?
Pic of…
https://www.rbth.com/multimedia/pictures/2017/08/04/lake-baskunchak-where-most-of-russias-salt-is-extracted_816922 ?
Just scanned, caption under one of the Pics said: “Impossible to Drown”
Wonder if those pilings were placed on purpose for accretion points/Hand Harvest?
“Numerous black stumps on the lake’s shore are in fact special signs marking places where salt is being crystallized. You should step carefully here. The surface is rather solid, but if you start jumping you may fall into the liquid black clay that is located under the layer of salt.”
Alexey Nikolaev
Could be a good place to store bio-weapons and such. You know, the ones we never funded, researched, created and set loose on an unsuspecting public. Just a thought.
“store bio-weapons”
First thought of course, but isn’t salt noted for its preservation/desiccant properties as well?
Maybe NO EFFECT on Genetically Engineered Virus’?
All the better for containment and quick destruction if required.
Virus’s are classified as nonliving. How do you kill a nonliving thing. Oh, they must be Zombie virus’s.
viruses are bacteria. the term virus displaced bacteria in the late 1950s early 1960s. bacteria is produced from decay. it is the consequence of disease.
I suggest you do some reading on proteins and enzymes. It’s a fascinating subject because the basics of life happen with the processes of organic chemistry.
So when my wife tells me I use too much salt, I can tell her I’m killing flu and covid viruses!
” I can tell her I’m killing flu and covid viruses!”
Precisely! Same as smokin’ Pot. The Booze And The THC are ONLY killing the S-L-O-W-E-S-T and Dumbest Brain Cells.
Actually making Yourself Smarter.
Thank you Cliff Clavin.
Cliff Clavin was explaining the Buffalo Theory to his buddy Norm, and here is how it went:
“Well ya see, Norm, it’s like this… A herd of buffalo can only move as fast as the slowest buffalo. And when the herd is hunted, it is the slowest and weakest ones at the back that are killed first. This natural selection is good for the herd as a whole because the general speed and health of the whole group keeps improving by the regular killing of the weakest members.
“In much the same way, the human brain can only operate as fast as the slowest brain cells. Excessive intake of alcohol, as we know, kills brain cells. But naturally, it attacks the slowest and weakest brain cells first.
In this way, regular consumption of beer eliminates the weaker brain cells, making the brain a faster and more efficient machine. That’s why you always feel smarter after a few beers.”
Cliffs Notes a You’re Welcome!
Believed it for a minute. Too.
Salt demons.
Sorry, I thought everyone would answer the question in the title.
But seriously, don’t go down there.
If you know, spill the beans.
We’re all just trying to make sense of the world one piece of information at a time.
“I thought everyone would answer the question in the title.”
WHAT then IS the answer? What Question has not been broached?
” But seriously, don’t go down there”
Why?
Salt demons!!
Bats, bats are down there or maybe it’s THE Bat cave.
Like that creature in that episode of Star Trek who killed people to get their salt.
They should have just dropped it off in Salt Lake city and let it be.
Maybe this….
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iO3YygDbUhQ
Quick summary? Too slow of a start and too thick and accent to stick it out longer than a couple of minutes.
And what’s with the bald guy’s face?
The bald guy has Tourette’s syndrome. At least that is what he said, if I remember correctly, a couple years back. Anyways I have been following this fellow’s channel for quite a long while and I trust him. And yeah he is a bit of a homer for the Russians but it is understandable since if he is deported back to States his legal status would be, how do you say, precarious.
At any rate, the long and the short of it is the Uke government in cahoots with the CIA are running a illicit drug operation. The goal when it was set up was to manufacture synthetic cocaine and send it to Russia to create a generation of addicts and to make beaucoup buckets of money. Not really as far fetched as one would think as history informs that the Brits did the exact same thing to the Chinese to get the silver back that was sent to that country to pay for their silk and tea.
Of course the Ukes and the CIA had to fuck things up and now most of the “product” is bought by their own soldiers huddling in trenches in the front line and rest is sent to Western Europe to mainline..
If this story is true then the Russians and Chinese also know about it. So along with bioweapons labs there are drug labs. And this is going to be viewed as yet another existential threat not only to Russia but China as well..
ed. oh yeah… and the usual corruption of reselling weapons brought in to Third Countries, The Global South.. whatevah, for money on the down-lo…
That do seem to be a business model they are fond of fer sure.
Glad my post never made it. Same synopsis. Used Stucky’s suggestion, closed captioning/playback speed, jumped around.
Saw Yours when “Confirming”. i dunno what happened. Maybe exceeded max replies per post if such.
Sounded like a replay of hitler/crystal meth.
Drug labs, human trafficking, organ black markets … life is cheap in a corrupt economy.
This interview says it’s about drugs.
My guess is about 60 tons of US currency compliments of the US CONgress critters. Bastards………..
Weed. The caves are full of weed. 😉
Weird, looks like my comment yesterday disappeared.
Nobodies hiding anything, no nukes, no bioweapons. The ukies don’t want the evil ruskies to get their hands on their healing salt crystals and unicorn breeding caves.
Thats the real reasons
I think the whole world’s a stage.
Ya think??
You only say that because it is in the script.
Could be anything. But we know the fondness of the elite for underground complex. Especially considering what might be coming.
What’s in the underground mines in the US? What’s under the new Denver Airport, etc.? The evidence of the US-funded bioweapons labs would be nice to see, and would add to the charges, but we should be far more concerned about what the evil scum ate hiding here and how hard it will be to expose it.
Would love to drop down in one and see where all those trillions have been going. Came across the entrance to one back in the late ’70s. Funny thing is is none of us remembered we were there till decades later. Nor have as far as I know any of us been back. Anybody remember the old sg1 where the activist dropped in and stole one of the spaceships the were hiding down in some of those tunnels? I think there was more truth to sg1 etc., than fiction.
Better yet what’s under the national mall in DC?
There was a big construction site there for a while and according to the government they didn’t actually build anything.
“What Is Ukraine Hiding in the Bakhmut Salt Mines?”
Jimmy Hoffa perhaps?
Hoffa is under the main support of Giant’s Stadium.
More likely they dumped him in Lake St. Clair.
Naah, served up in the hotdogs at Shea Stadium. A piece of Jimmy Hoffa in every bite as they used to say during the day!
The Schulze Family.
What happened to the Schulze family? A case from Germany, 2015.
Drage, Germany. On Tuesday July 21 2015 the Schulze family, consisting of father Marco (41), mother Sylvia (43) and daughter Miriam (12) visit a horse farm close to their home. This is the last time they were seen alive together.
The following day is the last school day before the holidays start. The weather is quite pleasant and people are in good spirits but unfortunately Miriam Schulze is ill that day and is not able to see her friends one more last time before the holidays start. But her father takes care of her while her mother works at a nearby supermarket. Her coworker is the last known person to see her alive.
On Friday July 24 her boss reports Sylvia as missing and the very same day the police visits the Schulze home. Nobody reacts to them knocking and ringing the home so they open the door only to be welcomed by the friendly family cats. They find the wallets and paperwork there but Miriams favorite stuffed animals are missing. There is no sign of a suicide note or a farewell letter.
The next three days police, firefighters and the public are searching for the family but they have no luck. But only on Friday July 31 the drowned body of Marco Schulze is found bound to a 25 kg heavy concrete block in the river Elbe. The police searches the river for Sylvia and Miriam but they end up finding nothing. Except Sylvias bike which was found under the bridge from which Marco jumped from.
What happened on Wednesday July 22?
As mentioned, Sylvia went to work while Marco took care of Miriam. Marco was seen buying a pack of cigarettes that day. Miriam had a doctors appointment to which she didnt appear to. Between 4 to 5 pm Sylvia leaves work in her grey Dacia. 2 calls have been made by Marco on 5:25 pm and on 7:33 pm. On the evening he is seen putting the trash can out.
The following day on 7:30 am Marco Schulze is seen driving to their home. Where did he come from and what did he do?
Then a witness appears. On August 5 a credible witness calls the police and tells them that she saw the Schulze family the very same day they disappeared at the Mühlenteich in Holm-Seppensen, a dyke 40 km away from the family home. And on Monday August 17 track hounds can find traces of Sylvia and Miriam at the dyke but they suddenly end at the riverside. Only the trace of Marco does not just lead to the dyke but also leads away from it. But neither in the sea nor in the closeby area they can find the bodies of mother and daughter Schulze.
Source:
Reddit “What happened to the Schulze family? A case from Germany, 2015.”
Salt caverns are used for natural gas storage. Makes more sense that it would be important just for that.
I think that, like the 139 underground facilities in the US that are designated for politicians and military use only (mere citizens need not apply) that the salt mines are the closest sure thing for the politicians and crooks (sorry for the redundancy) of Ukraine to run to when the small nukes start happening.
Many in the West salivate at the notion of Putin’s terminal illness. His replacement will initiate the nuclear conflagration.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCq6LKSkeoE
I posted the link to this story yesterday in anther thread … so, I’ve had time to think about it, research it a bit more.
Bottom line, I don’t think anything is there.
I’m guessing this because the Ukie General who advises Zel has been wanting to withdraw from the city for a few weeks now. If there was something really valuable or secret down there I don’t believe he’d be willing to abandon it.
Also, retreating to a cave is nice if nukes are falling. But it’s a death trap if troops are fighting … no maneuverability, nowhere to run or retreat if necessary. Bad bad place for troops to be stuck in.
That cave has been there since Soviet times. The Russians have the detailed plans / blueprints …. knowing where all the entrances/exits are. If I were a Russian general suspecting something valuable or secret was there, I’d just blow up all the entry points. And wait. Weeks, months, whatever. Why hurry? Why risk losing soldiers (the Ukies might have mined the whole damned joint.)
If anything, the place might be a simple storage facility. Some other websites are speculating the Ukies might have a shitload of tanks there, maybe munitions, etc. Maybe a printing press where all US Dollars are born?
In theory, Ukraine gave up all its nuclear weapons to Russia after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Any bets on whether they kept a few? Obviously, a fusion bomb (because of its tritium) would be inoperative by now unless refurbished) but a fission bomb would (I think) still be operable. Any bets on whether a Ukrainian bomb could be distinguished from a Russian bomb? If a fission bomb went off in Ukraine, any bets on who would be blamed?
Likely? Maybe not. Possible? Could be…
that makes a lot of sense.. and should scare outta anyone
I think it’s more accurate to say that Russia retrieved its nuclear weapons from the Ukraine. Even if they didn’t anticipate ever going to war with the Ukraine, I don’t think they would have left any there – and they would have known how many there were. A few months ago, it was postulated that Ukraine was trying to put together a dirty bomb with material from their nuclear power plants. It looked like they were thinking of using it around Nikolaev, since they’d been moving the civilians out of there. Then they would have blamed Russia, in an attempt to bring the West into the fight. The Russians got wind of it and that’s what prompted Shoigu’s direct phone calls on the weekend to the defense ministers of the US (Austin), UK, France and one more country (Germany?).
What do I think? I think you want to have people read your tripe more than you want to be a ” journalist “.
I also think admin prints the tripe to show he is fair. he has well thought out posters who do research and quote people. And he has you.
Hiding Jimmy Hoffa.
Wagner has already taken Soledar today, so they may have a “entrance” to the mines right now.
I have read an article that declared the Ukraine had received nuclear materials and equipment in order to build nuclear weapons; and US, Inc. was supplying the fuel and machinery.
Nothing that won’t be captured by Ebil Putler…
“According to the video, Ukrainian troops were also using the mines as an improvised ammo depot. The touring group can be seen passing by a stash of military crates. One of the soldiers remarked that they were empty, but some similar stockpiles discovered by the unit contained weapons.
Prigozhin, a controversial Russian entrepreneur sanctioned by many Western nations, claimed on Tuesday evening that the Wagner Group had seized full control of Soledar, with only a pocket of Ukrainian resistance remaining inside the city.
Wagner group claims full control of Soledar
Read more Wagner group claims full control of Soledar
“There is a cauldron in the center of town, where urban fighting is taking place,” he said in a statement released by his company. “We’ll announce the number of prisoners tomorrow.”
https://www.rt.com/russia/569692-soledar-salt-mine-video/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=RSS
“Vladolph Putler”
Superb mashup job flash!
Victoria Nuland has the answer !
Probably has something to do with a genetically engineered bio weapon that targeted Belorussian people .
Oops not supposed to know that 🤫
The importance of Soledar is not the mines themselves, it is the infrastructure. Because of the salt mines, Soledar is the transportation hub of eastern Ukraine. Especially the railway. Control of Soledar by the Russian means the Ukraine army in the east is basically cut off from its supply lines. This should result in mass surrenders within weeks.