In general I have to thank a few of the voices on this site for really opening up my eyes to the urgency of the antiwar efforts. It's not just about war -- as horrible as that is. It's also the single largest carbon producer on the planet. It's also the reason why we can't have nice things. It's also the reason things like terrorism are so prevalent and the west figures so prominently in the targets. And so when I stumbled across this little gem in newsweek, on Christmas Eve no less, I just wanted to spit.

On Monday, when the millions of Christians who follow the Gregorian calendar celebrate Christmas Eve, the Russian foreign ministry warned “it is quite possible” that Ukraine will launch military action against Russia in the next few days. Kremlin spokeswoman Maria Zakharova even suggested that Kiev was planning to stage chemical weapons attacks in eastern Ukraine as a pretext for launching an attack.
-- Newsweek

Yeah, taking note of Ukraine's little stunt in Sea of Azov recently sure, I can easily believe they are gearing up for another provocation. In fact, if they felt confident the US would back them up, it'd be a dead certainty that they will attack before the elections. The warning from Zakharova seems reasonable on the face of it. Poroshenko is virtually certain to lose the upcoming elections (which he has already delayed with his martial law). That'll be a blow to US Neonazi ambitions so it's easy to see why Poroshenko might well make a play expecting the US to bail him out.

Of course, what the Newsweek article actually says is the diametric opposite of opposite of what the Russian spokeswoman said AND what Russia has consistently said, both internally and externally.

RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR: MOSCOW COULD LAUNCH ARMED ATTACK OVER CHRISTMAS WHILE THE WORLD IS DISTRACTED, EXPERTS WARN
BY CRISTINA MAZA ON 12/24/18 AT 2:34 PM
As people in Western Europe and the United States get comfortable for the holidays, the chances increase that Russia will take advantage of the distraction to launch attacks against its neighbor Ukraine, experts said.

On Monday, when the millions of Christians who follow the Gregorian calendar celebrate Christmas Eve, the Russian foreign ministry warned “it is quite possible” that Ukraine will launch military action against Russia in the next few days. Kremlin spokeswoman Maria Zakharova even suggested that Kiev was planning to stage chemical weapons attacks in eastern Ukraine as a pretext for launching an attack.

But experts and Western military analysts said it was Russia that was likely to launch an attack on Ukraine.

What is, of course, missing from the entirety of this article not simply the parts I pulled, is any consideration whatsoever of context. There is no analysis of the geopolitical situation. There was simply the assertion that Russia may attack the Ukraine over Christmas because TWICE in the last 4 decades they have had the gall to schedule military operations that might conflict with people's vacation plans (no really, that was the reasoning).

For instance, there is no mention that Poroshenko is the leader of the Neonazi party which took over the Democratically elected government of Ukraine in a US backed coup. There is no mention of the ongoing domestic problems which drive is ~12% approval rating. There is no mention that Poroshenko is absolutely going to lose the election which is coming up in March if something doesn't upset the playing field.

Then, of course, there is this. Here's a short transcript of Sergey Lavrov, the Russian Foreign Minister being interview on Russian TV by two correspondents from the country’s tabloid Komsomolskaya Pravda, led by the former ‘bad girl’ of Russian journalism, war reporter and columnist Darya Aslamova.

Aslamova suggests that Russia should recognize Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics in eastern Ukraine.
Lavrov: And then what?
Aslamova: Then we defend our territory that we recognized, help our fraternal nation.
Lavrov: And you want to lose the rest of Ukraine, leaving it to the neo-Nazis?

I'm not exactly detecting the vibe of blood thirsty conqueror here. Maybe in some of his next comments?

Aslamova: No. I think we should generally fight against the Nazi regime. They imposed a state of emergency against us. They attack our ships.
Lavrov: We are not going to go to war with Ukraine, I promise you that much.

Aslamova says that a “mirror response” to Poland’s legislation prescribing the demolition of Soviet-era World War II memorials should be the destruction of the Katyn cemetery, where thousands of Polish officers massacred by the NKVD in 1940 are buried.

Lavrov: Are you being serious?
Aslamova: Absolutely.
Lavrov: It’s a pity. I hoped you were speaking in jest.

Lavrov MOCKS these "journalists". He finds the ideas and questions not just "bad ideas" but stupid enough to mock. He states unequivocally they are not going to war in Russia because they want to deal with the Neonazis and war isn't going to get that job done.

Yes, NOW I see it... the foaming at the mouth Militarism that makes me so happy for the considered and thoughtful foreign policy planners like Bolton, Clinton, Mattis, or pretty much ANYONE in the US government except maybe 5 people. Yes yes, I know this sort of spin happens in thousands of stories every single day. But sheez, they took a quote that directly said, "Not going to war" and used to to say the Russians were going to war based on nothing.