Judging Freedom - Larry Johnson: Did Ukraine Really Invade Russia?

Episode Date: August 12, 2024

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Thank you. Hi everyone, Judge Andrew Napolitano here for Judging Freedom. Today is Monday, August 12th, 2024. Larry Johnson will be here with us in just a moment on this Ukrainian incursion or invasion, depending about what you want to call it, into Russia. But first this. You all know that I am a paid spokesperson for Lear Capital, but I'm also a customer, a very satisfied customer. About a year ago, I bought gold and it's now increased in value 23%. So $100 invested in gold a year ago is now worth $123. If you have $100 in the bank, it still shows $100, but $100 in the bank is now worth 24% less.

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Protect your savings. Eight hundred five eleven forty six twenty. Learjudgenap.com. Tell them the judge sent you. Larry, my dear friend, welcome back to the show or welcome to the show uh did did uh ukrainian forces actually invade russia well they've yes we'll make it simple uh they crossed the border uh in the curse region it was lightly defended by russia uh, you know, this is being played to the propaganda hilt because the

reaction of both the Ukrainian authorities and most importantly, the U.S. news media, the U.S. think tanks, my God, they're celebrating this like it was that they're Germans. And this was the start of the Battle of the Bulge. Oh, we're sweeping the Americans from the field. They're

taking over Russia. Russia's on its heels. It's the most absurd thing I think we've seen in the course of this entire war, because it looks like the total force that the Ukrainians launched across the border was maybe 2,000 men, possibly 3,000. What's worth noting is that the Russians killed at least 1,500 of those within the first two days. So it's not exactly like they're rolling to victory. This has been a PR win, but it has a short shelf life. The expiration date on it, I think it was on Sunday, because their original goal, it appears, was to get close to the nuclear power plant in Kursk and maybe even take control of it. They failed to do that. What we've learned is that the Russians are very effective at quickly mobilizing and deploying

their personnel to the scene. And it's just, you know, they're slaughtering the Ukrainians. That's the simple fact. Here's President Putin, excuse me, excuse me, President Zelensky boasting about all this, Larry. Cut number three, Chris. Today, I received several reports from Commander-in-Chief Sersky regarding the front lines and our actions to push the war onto the aggressor's territory. I am grateful to every

unit of the defense forces ensuring that Ukraine is proving that it can indeed restore justice and ensure the necessary pressure on the aggressor. Restore justice and ensure the necessary pressure on the aggressor. This has to be a PR stunt, Larry. Yeah. You know, the cocaine cowboy needs to stop shoving the nose candy up into his empty head. I mean, this is delusional territory here. What they did is they took some of their best units, and they can't even, you know, let's point out,

a brigade, a normal-sized brigade is around 2,000 soldiers. Right. So at maximum, it looks like they used one, possibly two brigades. And these were some of their best units. And they were having to cobble these together and they pulled them away from fending off the Russians and the Donbass, moved them North to do this.

Now it's one thing if you can, it's not just being able to cross the border and be able to sit inside a school or a business or a city hall for 12 hours. Can you actually go in, take control, and sustain your presence? And that's what we're not seeing. What does take control mean? Oust the local government and install your own? Yeah, take control means nobody moves on the streets without your permission, number one. You control who comes in, both from, you know,

what the people who live there do to anybody from the outside that comes in. And, you know, Ukraine doesn't have control. They've been accredited with taking this one village, I think it's called Suza. And the fact of the matter is they're on the outskirts of it. They haven't even secured the entire area. But what's more important is it looks like this thing was planned with NATO. So this was not just the Ukrainian.

They didn't just come up with this idea on their own. Are the Ukrainians attempting to set fire to or not control of the Kursk nuclear power plant, at least bring it under, let's call fire control, where they'd be close enough with artillery that they could shoot at it. Now, that raises a whole other question. If they get close enough with artillery, you know, how in the world are they going to resupply those artillery batteries with the actual shells to fire? You know, but let's just enter the world of fantasy and pretend that they can do that. But then in taking control of the cursed plant, then they were going to also, they also launched, they had this other attack that they launched yesterday where they hit one of the cooling towers with a drone and set it on fire. Now, this is really crossing a nuclear red line when you start attacking one of those facilities.

In theory, if you take out one of the cooling towers, you could potentially compromise the entire nuclear facility. And, you know, we could be back in a potential Chernobyl range of a meltdown. Now, Russia has the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which is the largest one in all of Europe, has been on very, you know, it's been shut down, operating on just keeping the reactors going without having it actually operating at full blast. But nonetheless, it appears that the goal of this was that Ukraine was going to get control of the Kursk power plant and then use that as a bargaining chip as leverage with the Russians saying, okay, you give us back Zaporizhia, we'll give you back Kursk.

That way, from the Ukrainian standpoint, they'd be saving face. All right. So just to clarify this and educate me if I'm incorrect, we're talking about two power plants here. We're talking about the Zaporizhia one, which is in Ukraine. They attacked their own power plant. And then we're talking about one outside of Kursk, which they have attempted to, but failed to secure in an effort to engage in some kind of a switch. Correct. So if people were looking at a map, if you, the Donbass is, you know, in the center of the country. And so just go out to the nine o'clock position, you know, like you're looking at a clock face. That's where roughly the Zaporizhia power plant, a nuclear power plant is.

It's located on the river, near the river, the Dnieper River, like the center of this. And Zaporizhia is one of the territories that Russia annexed in the election. And Russia's had control of this plant since the second day, I believe, of the beginning of the special military operation. So they've had it for more than two and a half years. Is it online? Is it operative?

Does it produce power for Ukrainian people? No, no, it hasn't been producing for, not much, no. The Russians have gradually shut it down. So the reactors are still on, but it is not operating at full power to provide electricity, not only to Ukraine, but to other parts of Europe. So as I said, this is the biggest facility of its type in Europe, but the Russians have had control of it. The Ukrainians have fired some mortars, rockets, artillery, and hit it with some drones in the past, but haven't done any damage. Hitting it Sunday with that drone in the cooling tower and starting that fire, that's significant.

Now, what's interesting is Zelensky came out late yesterday and said, oh, no, we didn't do that. That's the Russians. And he made two different claims. Either that the Russians set a bunch of tires on fire to make it look like it was burning, or that it was the Russians who bombed it themselves. I think he finally realized that he was in trouble, that their plan to try to do a trade of Kursk for Zaporizhia was literally blowing up. Chris, can you put that map right up, the one you just had there? So we see Kursk, and we see the symbol for the Kursk,

or as McGovern says, correcting me, Kursk, nuclear power plant. Where is Zaporizhia on this map, Larry? What is it near? You see down there where it says Ukraine? Just sort of under the U. It'd be down around that area. A little bit

to the west of it or to the left as you're looking at the map. Okay. Has Kursk now been surrounded by Russian troops so as to contain the Ukrainian troops that they've not yet killed? Yeah, well, the Ukrainians haven't made it that far north. So they're still about 25 to 30 kilometers to the south.

They've occupied some different villages. I want to emphasize occupied and are digging in because the Russians, they're hitting them very, very hard. I mean, they're getting bombed, they're getting strafed. The columns of vehicles that Ukrainians were operating from have been blown up. You can see in some of the initial videos they were they did move quickly and they bypassed some of the uh defensive positions that the

russians had their goal was to get as fast as possible up towards kursk and to uh at least put it under fire control. You know, that means that you can hit it with an artillery piece or with mortar or whatever they're firing. They failed to do that. And it is true that the Russians were caught off guard. But, you know, some people that have drawn on the West have drawn parallels with this as like the Battle of the Bulge.

And yeah, there was a similarity in that in the battle of the bulge, Germans dressed up in American uniforms and, uh, over, took over a certain, uh, key outposts. And the Ukrainians apparently did the same thing. They, they dressed up in Russian uniforms and took over some of the border control posts. But that's about where the similarities end, because the Russians responded very, very quickly. It took the United States during the Battle of the Bulge a week to try to be able to really get its act together. The Russians were moving within 24 hours.

And I think there's really sort of an interesting, let's call it a silver lining to this, that Russia is now going to be able to move large concentrations of its forces up into that region that I think they were planning to do for launching a move on Kiev or into Sumy. And this now gives them cover for action because they can say, hey, you know, we're just, we're deploying all these troops because we got all these crazy Ukrainians running around.

And so that actually works out from both a tactical and strategic level of a benefit for the Russians. But as far as this creating any kind of pressure on Russia to negotiate with Ukraine. It's doing just the opposite. You know, Russia is not going to negotiate. Russia is not in a weak position. Russia is not losing. Russia has not faced internal political turmoil. And the West is just, man, they're whistling past the graveyard.

Here's President Putin on Friday evening commenting on these events. Cut number four. As you know, the Kiev regime has undertaken another large-scale provocation and launched indiscriminate shelling of civilian buildings, residential houses, ambulances with different types of weapons, including missiles. Western media claims that the Kremlin is in panic. Yeah.

Another PR stunt probably fomented by Western intel. Yeah, the same Western media that claimed Joe Biden's in charge. Okay. So, you know, they just make it up to fit whatever the narrative is that they want. I mean, it really, it's shocking the level of self-deception and lies that fill Western media. Try to actually get an honest assessment of what's going on. You know, it'd be, look, it'd be one thing. I had one, I saw one comment on one of the blogs that I post that yesterday

saying that I was in denial because the Ukrainians had deployed 10 divisions. And, you know, and the person writing this is a moron. A division anywhere between 10,000 to 25,000 troops. So if Ukraine deployed, you're telling me they deployed 100 to a quarter of a million troops to Kursk? Now, if they did that, yeah, that would be significant. Okay. That would be an eye catcher, but that didn't happen. They're having the reports from other fronts, even from Western media in some cases are conceding

that, you know, a normal size brigade is supposed to be 2,000 guys. Ukraine's having trouble filling up a battalion, which is around 500. And in some cases, they're saying they were down to like 20 troops, which is like a platoon. So the manpower shortage Ukraine is facing is real. And it is compounded by the fact that they don't have the bounty of weapons and machines and vehicles that they had a year ago. So without that, there's no way to sustain any kind of operation. This is like trying to run a marathon, but you don't take a drink of water ever. You'll make it about 10 miles. Colonel McGregor reports this morning

that President Putin has indicated that there will be no negotiations because of this incursion into Kursk and because of the attack on the nuclear power plant. Yeah. So this is going to have the opposite effect from what they hope. You were saying 100,000 and 250,000 troops. They don't have that many troops in all of Ukraine, do they? Well, they probably have. They're probably, I think, the total troop strength throughout. It's not saying those who are up on the line fighting. It's probably around 300,000

right now. But they're at a clear disadvantage. Remember, when this war started or when this operation started, because the war has been going on since 2014. The Ukrainians had an active duty force of around 750,000. And the Russians went into Ukraine with, you know, it's estimated anywhere from 100 to 180,000 troops. So they went against complete doctrine, military doctrine with respect to an attacking force, which says that, hey, if I'm going to attack you and you're in an entrenched position,

I better bring three of me for every one of you, three to four times the size. Well, it was just the opposite. The Russians were one-fourth the strength. Well, it was just the opposite. The Russians were one-fourth the strength. Well, that's not the case today. So the Russians have been steadily recruiting. They're not having to go out and grab people off the street and shove them in the back of a van like the Ukrainians are in order to make some of the recruiting numbers. People are signing up. The Russians even have raised the price that people who are signing up on a

contract are getting paid because, you know, economics are at work. They're in a tight labor market, so they have to pay more to get some people in. But the point is they're getting them in, they're training them, and they're spending at least six months in training, which is exactly how it should be, unlike Ukraine. So the test comes when you have an incident like what has taken place at Kursk, that can they deploy their troops rapidly? And once the troops arrive, do they know what to do? Can they operate? And that's exactly what you saw the Russians do. They were able to pinpoint the movements. They were able to deploy their troops into that region. And now they're just, they're content to let the Ukrainians sort of dig in and

be killed. Because- So Larry, all of this, grabbing people, impressing them is the legal phrase, off the streets and forcing them into the military, an absence of serious training, sending neophytes, largely untrained, to the front lines, the incursion into Russia, aren't these indications that the end is near in all but the public acknowledgement of it? Yeah, yeah. I mean, it's like, let's just reflect back. You know, remember during World War II, we referenced the Battle of the Bulge, which started in December of 1944, and they terminated it probably in January of 45. Well, Hitler didn't surrender until May, and the Germans continued to fight here and there. But it's not a matter of can they pick up a gun, fire a cartridge at you,

or fire an artillery shell. Yeah. Can they still kill? Yeah. That's going to continue for a bit. But the real question is, do they have the resources, the manpower, and the geographic positions to prevail? And Ukraine doesn't have that. It's politically dead, but it's still

walking around. It's like that chicken, you cut its head off, it still can run around. That's what Ukraine's doing right now. They're running around without their head and judging by their decision to go into curse like this, it was pretty brainless. Switching gears before we conclude, Larry, how soon do you expect the Iranians to retaliate on Israel for the assassination in Tehran? I don't know. They're taking their time. What's alarming about this from the Western standpoint is, I heard it from another friend yesterday, that the U.S. intelligence community has reached the decision, and this is what they're telling top policymakers, whether, you know,

in the Biden administration, Secretary of Defense, Secretary of State, across the board and members of Congress, they're telling them that Iran is not going to launch a major attack, that Iran is having second thoughts, that Iran basically is afraid. It talks tough, but it's not going to do anything. I'm going, oh, man, that I mean I mean, I believe that that's absolutely wrong, that we are confusing preparation for cowardice or fear. And what's taking place is Iran, in conjunction with Russia, is building up its defenses because they realize they hit Israel. Israel is going to try to retaliate. And I think Iran's goal is to, again, send a message. But this time they're going to hurt Israel by taking out a military base, destroying a key intelligence center. But they don't want to do it in such a way that they are perceived as trying to destroy Israel

and conquer Israel. And they've got the aid of the Russians. So the Russians are sending in not just anti-ballistic missile defense systems, the S-400 in particular. But they're sending electronic warfare capabilities in. But most importantly, they're sending trained Russian soldiers that operate those units and those systems. And those are being deployed around the country. That is both, I think, to ensure or reassure the Iranians that they're not alone in this and that they're not going to have to stand up to the might of the West by themselves. But it's also designed by Russia to send a signal to the United States and Israel that, you know, you keep talking, the Israelis, about doing a preemptive strike. Be careful because we've got Russian soldiers on the ground

and any attack on them is going to be viewed as an attack on Russia. Is this going to be another proxy war of the U.S. against Russia even though the combatants will be Israel and Iran? I can't rule out the possibility that someone's proposed that. But my God, that'd be incredibly stupid. Because in this case, Iran, you know, I dealt with somebody yesterday who was suggesting that what Israel's going to do is they're going to hit Iran with a massive cyber attack and that'll take out Iran. And I had to remind him of 2012.

This is 12 years ago. The Stuxnet virus was a computer virus that was designed to attack and destroy the reactors and the processors for uranium in Iran. Well, the United States developed it, and it wasn't supposed to be used, but Israel got its hands on it. They launched that attack. And the way you have to launch that attack, you literally have to put it like on a thumb drive and get it inside these buildings physically. Because they're usually walled off so that they are not accessible from just somebody on the Internet surfing along. Well, that stuck-stent virus got out of control, went around the world, and it actually blew back on the United States. But the point was, out of that, Iran developed a very robust cyber army, where they then recognized, okay, we're playing in the big leagues now. And they stepped up, and they have

a very robust cyber capability that, candidly, hasn't been unleashed on Israel or the United States with any kind of force or fury. So Iran's taking its time, but they have been quite specific that they will make Israel pay for what Israel did by killing the head of the Politburo for Hamas, Hania, during the presidential inauguration. Because it's not just this one. There have been a series of assassinations. And their concern is to send Israel a message that in the future, if you do this again, you will pay a higher price. Because up to this point, Israel hasn't paid a high price at all.

Larry Johnson, thank you, my dear friend. Very, very illuminating. I very much appreciate all this, especially the detailed explanation of the Ukrainian incursion into Kursk. Very, very helpful, Larry. We'll see you again with that youngster McGovern on Friday afternoon for the roundtable. Thank you. I'll be there. Thank you. OK, all the best. Coming up at four o'clock today in his first interview with me on this show since his encounter in his home with the FBI. Scott Ritter, Judge Napolitano for Judging Freedom. Altyazı M.K.