Judging Freedom - Patrick Lancaster: LIVE from Ukraine

Episode Date: February 20, 2024

Patrick Lancaster: LIVE from UkraineSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Thank you. Hi, everyone. Judge Andrew Napolitano here for Judging Freedom. Today is Tuesday, February Russians say is Russia. It's noon here on the east coast of the United States. It's eight o'clock in the evening in Donetsk. And because of recent bombing and shelling there, Patrick reached out to us and we decided to put him on air as close as we could to the time at which he reached out to us so that you can get the feel for what is happening in Donetsk. Patrick, it's a pleasure, my dear friend. Why is it that you reached out to us wanting to come on air with such little notice? What happened that prompted you to do this? Well, first of all, Judge, thanks for having me.

As normal, it's always a pleasure, and I'm very thankful you helped me to get the message out to the world of what's happening here. But to start off the day, I woke up here this morning in Donetsk, and there was an artillery attack on the center of Donetsk, and probably about a kilometer and a half from where I am right now. And there were first reports saying that there were casualties. So I raced to the scene. And after arriving on the scene, saw with my own eyes, one dead civilian and the military investigators, Russian and local military investigators on the scene, and it quickly became obvious that the artillery shells that were used to attack this basically street crossing,

it's the intersection between Street Penphilieva and University Setskaya in the center of Donetsk. These artillery shells were 155-millimeter artillery shells, which are supplied to Ukraine by the West. There's no ifs, ands, or buts about it. These 155-millimeter shells are the most common shells that Ukraine uses to shell Donetsk. And unfortunately, even on the heels of Russia capturing or gaining control of the strategic city of Devka, which is a suburb of Donetsk, which Ukraine has used for years to shell the center of Donetsk, there are still areas that Ukraine is using to shell the center of Donetsk because of the increased range they have because of this Western-supplied

155-millimeter weapons. Now, these weapons, these artillery shells were used to kill a reported two people. As I say, I saw one of the people laying dead on the street with my own eyes and a purported five injured, which I verified by going to the trauma hospital also in the center of Donetsk. And I spoke to the deputy director and the head of surgery of the trauma hospital, and he explained the status of the victims, the five injured. And that full interview will be on my full report later this evening.

But that was the situation at the first attack this morning. Okay, let me stop you for a minute just so we're all on the same page. You're in Donetsk, which Ukraine claims is part of Ukraine, but which under international law is part of Russia. The people that Ukraine is... Sorry, under international law, it is part of Ukraine and claimed as Ukraine by Ukraine, but under Russian law, it is considered Russia. Got it. This is the area where the people are Russian speakers and Russian culturally and have indicated a desire to be part of Russia. In fact, you're on Moscow time. You're not on Kiev time as we speak. Yes. Yeah. The people overwhelmingly want to be

a part of Russia and consider themselves part of Russia. Nevertheless, the Ukraine government considers the area Ukraine and the people Ukraine, and it's trying to kill people in that area using American weaponry. And that's what happened earlier today, which prompted you to rush to the scene to take some videos, which we will share with our viewers in just a moment, and to reach out to us telling us you had breaking news. Do I have all this correct? Yes, yes. And that's just the first location that was attacked. We have more to go. Okay, so we're going to show the first location, which is you in a street outside of a pizza parlor, which has been destroyed. The Ukrainian government attacking civilians in a residential and commercial neighborhood.

So, Chris, Patrick, number one. This is where the impact, the shell hit. And as we said, reportedly 155. Now, 155, that's only supplied by the West. These are not shells that Ukraine had before the Western support these are the shells that come directly from Western taxpayer money to fund the killing of civilians here in Donetsk we're going to continue to show you everything we can here on the ground now

the military investigators are here we're going to talk to them see what Мы продолжаем показывать вам все, что мы можем здесь на земле. Министры военнослужащих здесь, мы будем говорить с ними, посмотреть, что они имеют на вид. У нас еще много чего. Пожалуйста, ставьте лайк, поделитесь и подписывайтесь, чтобы мир мог увидеть, что происходит в Донецке. Это пицца-место, сказать, в Киберии. Now we are back in the center of Donetsk. We had just come from a location where Western supplied 155 millimeter artillery fired by Ukraine, killed two people and injured five. And just as I got to the computer to try to put some of that information out, at least one HIMARS came down here on the library, the city library, not far from the city administration building, just around the corner here in the library the city library not far from the city administration building just around the corner here in the very center and so the ukrainians bombed a pizza parlor a crosswalk

and a library yes yes fairly obvious that no conceivable military purpose is served by bombing a pizza parlor, a crosswalk, and a library. Yes. Well, we can say from the witnesses on the ground that all the full interviews, as always, uncut, will be in my full report. But the woman who was actually visiting her son, who worked at a building near the crosswalk, said that there's no military around that area and that Ukraine is just over and over firing on civilian areas. Now, that last part of the video you played, that was actually when I arrived, as I said, to the second location where a HIMARS, as I said, I just got back to my apartment where I am now, when at this place that I'm sitting right now, I heard two huge explosions. And honestly,

for the first split second, the two explosions were so close together, I was afraid that they were cluster bombs. And if that was the case, it would have been very bad, even worse. But I ran to my kitchen window just 10 feet from where I am now and looked out and saw black smoke rising above the city, which was the smoke from the explosion of the HIMARS. So I threw back on my vest, ran to the location, and started filming there. And as you can see in that video, it's right there on the side of the main, it's between, on the sidewalk between the main road, Arteoma, and the main library. Now, you know, the West says these HIMARS are so precision weapons. So were they just aiming at a sidewalk next to a library? And actually, there was two of them that came down. One came in front of the library and right behind the library. Now,

these high marks, they go up and then go straight down. That's why they hit right beside it. Now, it's just a miracle that no one was killed in this second attack. I mean, just right there next to the busy road at lunchtime. And unfortunately, there. But just a miracle no one was killed or seriously injured in the second attack. But these are United States-supplied HIMARS that Ukraine is using to hammer the center of Donetsk, the very exact center, about 200 meters from the city hall. But no military positions or military buildings or bases anywhere around there. And it's not my words, either the locals that I interview and all these things can be verified in my full reports that's coming up later this evening. All right. A couple of questions. One, this happened today, Tuesday, February 20th, 2024. This happened just a few hours ago. Do I have that correct? Yes. And they both happened within two and a half hours of each other.

Okay. We have a Clifford Shaw show in a few minutes after we finished talking about what you just showed us, which is you investigating the second attack, the one that was two and a half hours later. Now, you have reminded us, Americans are notoriously not up to date on what military equipment does, that the HIMARS are accurate. So if the HIMARS hit civilian areas, a crosswalk, a library, a pizza parlor, does that mean that they were aimed at the crosswalk, the library, the pizza parlor? Or does it mean that the Ukrainian operators of the HIMARS don't know how to use it and aim it? Well, just to be 100% on the dot, the crosswalk and the pizza parlor were 155 millimeter artillery. Now, those are a little bit less accurate than HIMARS are

supposed to be, but still the people on the location said no military around there. But as far as the HIMARS goes, now those are supposed to be very accurate. They're supposed to be able to land those right on the top of a roof exactly where they're aiming. Well, there's no military at this library. I went in the library, through the library, around the library, no military, just people reading, mostly women. And after the shells came down, they were all hiding in the basement and that included the two that were injured. And then all this can be seen in my video. I'm just trying to give you as much information here off the fly as possible. But people should really educate themselves to watch

my videos so they can see the full situation. But yes, there's no question that Ukraine was not trying or doing anything to protect the civilians from being fired at. They were firing at a civilian area both times. There's no question about that in my belief whatsoever. We're going to show the second hit now. We'll watch you. This is you where you have some shrapnel or inert explosive devices in your hand, and then you go down into a huge pit was that was that pit we'll see it in a minute caused by the hymar yes that was the second hymars yes okay

chris let's run uh patrick number two and these are pieces of what is purportedly part of the HIMARS rocket. Now we bring you this information from this intense attack here on the center of Donetsk because you deserve to see things from both sides of the line. Watch as much sources as you can to make your own educated decisions because it's important not to be led by like sheep by the Western mainstream media and the people that want to tell you what to believe. Find out the information for yourself. Watch as much information as you can. Alright, just to give you a little bit of an understanding on what the situation here is and how big this rocket is itself.

This is one of the two craters of these United States-supplied HIMARS hitting this library in the very center of Dunn-Yest. So let me ask you again. Was that crater in which you were standing the intended, as far as you can tell, the intended target of the United States-supplied HIMARS, or do the people operating the United States-supplied HIMARS not fully know how to use them? Well, we could say that hole that I was standing in is directly on the library wall, just on the other side of the library from where the video we saw before. So these craters were literally hugging the wall on each side of the library.

So it seemed like one was just literally a couple feet off to the east, and then the other was just a couple feet off to the west. And they just so happened to hit on both sides, literally lining the wall of the library. Now, obviously, if that's the case, then it seems like that building, the library, was the target. Was it the target misidentified? I don't think so, because it's been a library for decades. So it seems like they were trying to hit that library. Now, the only other possible target that I could think of near there is the city hall. But as I said, that was 200 meters away.

So, I mean, these HIMARS, I don't think they're supposed to miss by that much. So, I mean, there's no question that that library was the intended target. So the Ukrainian military is trying to terrorize people that it says are Ukrainian civilians. No question about that. That's what the locals say here. I asked the locals why they think Ukraine is firing on civilian areas. And they say just to make us scared and to make us leave and just to kill us. I mean, there's no question that the locals here that Ukraine says they're trying to protect, the locals here say that Ukraine is the terrorist. That's what the locals say. These are not my words at all. Is this a coincidence that it comes on the heels of the Russian triumph and the Ukrainian crushing defeat in the city of Avidovitska, not far from where you are now?

You know, I'd like to say these are kind of one-off things, but as we've seen, I mean, luckily it's not this bad every day, Heimer's coming to the center, but it might be Ukraine making a point saying, yeah, we can still hit the center because Ukraine losing Evdevka, it did increase the distance from the center of Donetsk from about 10 kilometers, give or take, to over 20. But these U.S. and Western-supplied weapons with the increased max ranges can still make that journey across that 20-plus kilometers. So, but, I mean, they attack civilians constantly. I mean, it's just this year.

I mean, keep in mind, we're in February now. Just this year, there's been huge, massive attacks, both in Donetsk area and Lugansk area as well. I was here on your show when we discussed the 28 people that were massacred at the market last month here in Donetsk. I mean, I counted 22 of the bodies myself. Got there just after it happened. I mean, just a marketplace that Ukraine launched Western supplied weapons on there as well, just massacring, literally massacring civilians. And the same thing happened in the Lugansk area, Lysychansk, where a Ukrainian shell hit a bakery, also coincidentally killing 28 civilians there.

And in the middle, every day, there are civilians that are killed, a couple here, a couple there, a handful injured here, a handful injured there by these Ukrainians' attacks. As I say in all my reports, I'm not on the other side. I'm showing you what I can show here. I'm showing the people what I can show here So it's their It needs to be their motivation To see as much information as possible

But see the things that are happening On this side as well Don't just watch what the western mainstream media Will show you what's happening on the other side Or lying about what's happening on the other side Let me ask you some bigger Picture questions That I usually ask you after you

come to us with these breathless, compelling, dramatic descriptions of unfortunate events that have often just recently occurred. You're so good about being and calling us before the dust has even settled. Have you come across other Western journalists? Yes, there are several Westerners that actually live here in these areas and have been here for several years. There's French, Italians, and others that have been reporting here off and on. Anybody from the mainstream media, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, anything like that? Well, there was one journalist, a UK independent journalist, that just did a film on ITV in England, which I believe broadcasted yesterday. I'm interested to see exactly how it came.

Hopefully it was fairly fair with showing what was really happening on the ground here. I haven't had a chance to see it myself yet, but hopefully Sean did a good job at showing how the civilian population has been living under Ukrainian shelling for the last 10 years. I know he saw it, so I hope he showed the world what's really happening. What is the condition in terms of manpower, military equipment, physical strength, and morale of the Ukraine military from your observations? Well, I mean, you know, I don't really have a chance to sit down with them and discuss it, but what I would think is they've got to be pretty bummed out about losing Adivka.

Just so the people out there understand, Adivka, it is a huge strategic and moral upper, you could say, for the Russian military capturing it and the locals, because Ukraine has been attacking Donetsk from Avdiivka for 10 years almost. May 26th, it'll be 10 years. in 2014 to break away from Ukraine, just like Donetsk did, and almost all of the villages and towns and cities in the Donetsk area. And DIVKA is just one of the ones that Ukraine was able to hang on to during the protests to get rid of Ukraine, which preceded this 10-year war. Again, as I always say, not a two-year war like the Western mainstream media would like you to think. They want you to think this Saturday,

the 24th, will be two years that the war has been going on. No, this was going on as a civil war for eight years before that. And the world needs to understand that. Again, educate yourself if you don't understand that. very low in manpower. In fact, the argument has been made that even if the U.S. Congress sends or authorizes another $60 billion in military equipment to come there, it would take so long to get there, there'd be very few people there to receive it and use it. Well, they're always talking about continuing and prolonging and making more in-depth the mobilization or basically the draft in Ukraine. I mean, they're just drafting people left and right. I mean, there's even stories of handicapped and elderly people being drafted. I mean, these are secondhand stories that come out, but every week there's more and more videos of recruiters, you know,

recruiters taking people off the street, literally military servicemen arresting people to bring them to the front line. There's no doubt about that. They call them mobilization Dodgers or draft Dodgers. The people that just didn't want to go and fight in this war for Zelenitsky. And, you know, just didn't want to go and fight in this war for Zelensky. And, you know, just, I mean, there's literally thousands of video evidence of Ukrainian forces forcefully taking people off the street to bring them to war. Patrick, are you going to be able to get to sleep tonight?

We'll see. Well, thank you very much. You are an absolutely courageous, profoundly intellectually honest man, and all of our viewers appreciate it. We, my team, appreciates

it. Thank you very much. Call us whenever you have this breaking news. We'll stop what we're doing and put you on air just as we've done now. Thank you very much. Call us whenever you have this breaking news. We'll stop what we're doing and put you on air just as we've done now. Thank you, Patrick. Godspeed. Be well. Stay safe. We'll talk to you soon. All right. Well, thank you very much, Judge. It was great to be on. And again, for people that want to see this full video, it's on my channel, Patrick Lancaster News Today on YouTube, and they can educate themselves a little bit more. Thank you, Patrick. All the best. You too.

Wow. Breathtaking. Coming up at 1.30 Eastern, Professor Jeffrey Sachs at 2 o'clock Eastern, Matt Ho at 3 o'clock Eastern, Lieutenant Colonel Karen Kwiatkowski at 4.30 Eastern, Scott Ritter. Judge Napolitano for Judging Freedom. Thank you.