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Western sanctions against Russia have had a reverse effect. The result is that the West has cut itself off from a large portion of its energy needs. Economies can grow only to the extent of their supply of energy. It is almost as if the sanctions were designed to deindustrialize Germany in particular, which to a great extent relies on Russian oil and gas. All attempts to increase oil production in Mideast and north African countries have failed.

The plan to ship liquid natural gas (LNG) to replace Russian gas have failed as well. Getting new suppliers is not an overnight process, and shipping LNG by tankers is slow and expensive.

So the West is content to buy more fuel from India’s refineries that import their oil from Russia. Sanctions are thus bypassed and serve only to help India secure its middleman position. Western leaders may perhaps believe their own propaganda, but it seems unlikely that they can be so stupid. Is this a deliberate takedown of the west? Why else would they persist in ramping up more and more rounds of sanctions that only benefit Russia?

Perhaps the insanity of Nebuchadnezzar is the explanation (Daniel 4:32, 33).

The G20 is scheduled to meet next week, hosted by Indonesia’s President Widodo. The US chafes at the fact that Indonesia has invited Russia to the meetings. But Russia and Indonesia have become huge partners in the oil business lately. They are partnering to build a huge oil refinery and even a nuclear power plant to meet Indonesia’s energy needs. Furthermore, Russia is building a new capital city for Indonesia in Kalimantan (South Borneo), called Nusantara.

https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/putin-offers-russian-railways-investment-in-new-indonesia-capital

JAKARTA - Indonesia and Russia are set to work together on several projects, even as the West is isolating Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine….

On Friday, the Russian embassy in Jakarta also said President Vladimir Putin offered to have Russian Railways invest in Indonesia's new capital in Kalimantan.

The new capital, named Nusantara, will see construction start in August after delays due to the pandemic.

The government has earlier invited investors including Abu Dhabi and Taiwan's Foxconn Technology Group to help build the renewable energy-powered new capital city.

Russian energy companies are also keen to come and invest in Indonesia, especially in developing nuclear power to provide electricity, Mr Putin said during Mr Widodo's visit to Moscow on Thursday, according to the Russian embassy statement.

Indonesia has a power shortage, especially in regions in Kalimantan and Sulawesi.

Russia has turned its focus to Asia and Africa after it was met with unprecedented Western sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine.

Another interesting piece of information was also reported in the same article. Mr. Widodo visited Russian President Putin recently, but first he went to Kiev to talk with President Zelensky. Zelensky gave him a letter to deliver to Putin.

Mr Widodo visited Kyiv on Wednesday before heading to Moscow to meet Mr Putin, who on Feb 24 sent troops into pro-Western Ukraine.

"Although the external situation is still difficult, it is still important to move towards a settlement and open dialogue," Mr Widodo said in Moscow.

He delivered a message from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to Mr Putin, but did not share its details.

Hopefully, Zelensky is ready to make a break with the West, which has promised him the world but has failed to deliver on those promises in spite of the media claims to the contrary. Over the past weekend, Russian forces have taken Lysychansk in the most important victory in the war. Lysychansk is the main hub of the Industrial region. By taking Lysychansk, Russia now has taken the entire Lugansk territory and has killed or captured about 8,000 Ukrainian troops that were occupying the city and the surrounding territory.

Propaganda experts claimed that the Russians suffered 55 percent losses in this battle. If we were to believe all the propaganda coming out of Kiev, the war would have ended months ago. After all, the Ukrainian army was built up and trained by NATO. Ukraine had only 8,000 troops in 2014, and this was increased to 600,000 by 2022. Russia committed only about 200,000 troops to the Ukraine war, which was about 15 percent of its armed forces. Russia has always been outnumbered 3-1 in this war, yet they have continued to grind down the Ukrainian army and take territory, one kilometer at a time.

It is more likely that it was the Ukrainian troops that suffered those losses of 55 percent—which means that close to 45 percent were captured. Propagandists always try to spin their straw into gold, making it appear that they did not really lose the battle. But the facts on the ground tell a much different story, and that is why Ukraine continues to lose men and territory steadily.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBv2p8VCkgQ

One can only hope that the carnage will end soon. Zelensky had ordered the Ukrainian troops in Lysychansk to stand and fight to the death. He would not allow them to retreat to a more defensible position as the Russian troops encircled the city in a “cauldron.” It made no sense from a military standpoint, but it is what it is.

I also watched a report from a reporter accompanying the Ukrainian troops in Lysychansk, where a commander estimated that 80 percent of his original troops had been killed already. This interview came while troops were desperately trying to evacuate the city in spite of Zelensky’s orders to “stand and fight.” The scene was chaotic because the time had long passed for an orderly withdrawal to be remotely possible.

It will take some days or perhaps a week for Russian forces to secure the entire area and round up Ukrainian soldiers trying to hide. Even so, the Russians are now moving west, and there is no real defensible position all the way to the Dnieper River. It appears that the war will now go much more quickly. Lysychansk will probably be viewed as Ukraine’s breaking point.

For a military analysis of the latest situation in Lysychansk, see here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A71vL3UBqCw