Global SITREP B8-22: NATO Pushes East, Russia Pushes West, Arabs Push Israel, and Taiwan Braces: A Perfect Storm Brewing

(UPDATE BELOW) 12 April 2022: SITREP B8-22 will begin with data points that will flesh out with time. 

As a direct result of Russia's continuing barbaric aggression against Ukraine, its western neighbors, and particularly the recent bellicose verbal tirades against the United States in particular as leader of the North Atlantic cum Global Alliance, NATO is leaning significant numbers of its military forces forward all along the entirety of Russia's western flank. Image above.

In the north these forces are directly abutting the Union State's borders. In the center just west of Ukraine, the object of Russia's current war of aggression, and in the south against the Black Sea region, adjacent to Moldova, Transnistria and occupied southern Ukraine. In the heart of NATO-Europe are hundreds of thousands of the alliance's combat troops, backed by strategic, nuclear-armed aviation and naval forces. 

In the past 36 hours NATO's intelligence arm (i.e. the intelligence apparatuses of all alliance partners) alerted Russia's possible use of an as yet undetermined type of chemical weapon in the siege of Mariupol, Ukraine. Mariupol, to be clear, is the scene of wanton genocide that makes the genocide that occurred in Bucha and other northern Ukraine towns pale by comparison. As many as 20,000 corpses reportedly litter the streets, are under rubble and in bombed out buildings of the once beautiful and vibrant city. The US and UK are leading the investigation. 

Ukrainian reports say the Russians employed drones on Monday that dropped ordnance filled with a chemical substance that is not unlike those used in the war in Syria in recent years. Ukrainian forces report civilians and a few of their troops in the city are exhibiting signs of chemical poisoning and respiratory issues. According to the UK MoD, "all options are on the table" if the use of chemical weapons is verified, with sending NATO troops into combat being one of the options.

West to East Prevailing Winds Ukraine-Russia

Update 18 April 2022: There has been consistent talk, primarily from Western Globalists and their MSM warning about the potential for Russian use of nuclear weapons against Ukrainian forces who are largely in positions in the east against invading Russian forces moving westwards. 

Cutting through all of the propagandistic rubbish, this is Western Globalist nonsense. The reason why is that Vladimir Putin and his military are not idiots. Any use of nuclear weaponry against Ukraine would result in nuclear fallout blowing right back into the Russian military forces building-up in the east as well as into the Russian heartland as the above blow-up of a prevailing winds map clearly indicates. 

Global SITREP A10-22: The Next Level Crisis

The Russian Army or The Army of Gog of Magog?

Update 3 March 2022: The question has been asked about where one could locate Ezekiel 38's Magog on a map. In new searching the short answer to the question is that there are old maps which illustrate Magog being located in two geographical locations, but within the territorial continuity of the present day Russian Federation. One is in the region of the North Caucasus, and the second is in the region of far northern region of Russian East Asia. So from this aspect the Russian Federation can be identified as Magog. And then there's near-antiquity ancient writers such as Josephus, and others as well, who also put the pin on the map in the North Caucasus, and identify the people who lived there as Scythians. Again, Russian Federation.

In the comments section recommended "Potential Wildcard" article from The Jamestown Foundation (well worth the read from an intel perspective) the topic Eschatology Today brought up very recently about the demographics of the Russian Federation emerges yet again. Truly, this is keen insight about the demographics of the army Ezekiel says will be led by hooks in Gog's jaw, like a cloud covering the land, to its destruction on the mountains of Israel. The current warfighting in Ukraine by the Russian Army also provides strong clues concerning the demographic make-up of that near-future army.

And the image above taken directly from The Jamestown Foundation article speaks thousands of words to this same effect. Take a close look. Are those soldiers ethnic Russians (i.e. Slavic men)? They are citizens of the Russian Federation without any doubt. But ethnic Russians they are not. To a very high percentage they are from the Republics of the Russian Federation located in the north, central and east Asian part of the country. Ezekiel noted them as Magogites, but ethnically there are any of a number of Turkic peoples, Chechens, Avars, Mordvins, Buryats, Tungusic Evens and so on. You get the point being made here.

In Ukraine it has become apparent in less than a week of warfare that a great number of ethnic Russian troops have zero desire to be fighting their ethnic kin in Ukraine. A widely publicized letter from a Russian conscript to his mother reveals the nonsense the ethnic Russian troops were spoon-fed by leadership in Moscow about it all being an exercise that Ukrainians would welcome them as liberators from the "Ukrainian nazi's," and so on and so on. The fact is that ethnic Russian forces have surrendered to Ukrainian forces by the squadron, battalion and brigade-size formations. They sabotage their own combat vehicles so they cannot advance further; holes punched in fuel tanks are a common occurrence according to battlefield intel. So, it is the non-ethnic Russians who are continuing the advance into Ukraine; turning cities block by block into rubble despite ferocious Ukrainian resistance. A true juggernaut.

This war has led to a much closer current-day identification of the actual ethnic make-up of the "Rosh, Meshech and Tubal; Gomerites and Togarmah from the far north" who will be brought to their destruction in Israel.

Decapitated Russian T-72B3 Main Battle Tank in Ukraiine

2 March 2022: Regarding the Biden SOU speech last night, it was worthless pablum filled to the brim with platitues and banalities, and nothing that Ukrainians need to roll back the Russian invasion and its indiscriminate war crimes against the civilian population. To her diplomatic credit Ukraine's Ambassador remained at her seat and politely applauded.

Near Kharkiv a Ukrainian army unit composed of footsoldiers and one APC put its Javelins and NLAWs to great effect in causing a Russian armor battalion, including the battalion commander, to flee for their lives from the fight. The net result of this engagement was the Ukrainian Army's sudden acquisition of six, "very low milage," (i.e. brand-spanking new) T-80BVM main battle tanks that were just plain abandoned in full opeerational order. These T-80s MBTs will be dressed in Ukrainian colors and returned to the fight very soon.

Russian losses now total nearly 6,000 troops KIA; 30 strike aircraft shot down, more than 1,000 armored vehicles destroyed; 85 artillery and 9 anti-aircraft systems destroyed as well. In addition to the captured T-80BVM tanks, the Ukrainian Army has also captured 60 fuel trucks and 40 MLRS artillery vehicles.

The Russian invasion has five main lines of attack: Kharkiv, Kherson, Kyiv, Mariupol and Chernihiv. In all of these the Russian advance has been severely blunted or stalled outright. This is the rationale for expecting Putin to resort to the increased utilization of internationally banned weaponry.

1 March 2022: There are so many rumors, psyops, disinfo campaigns and just plain insanity going on that its been difficult in the last 24 hours to know what has truly taken place. I believe that reports of the EU or NATO sending fighter jets to Ukraine were false; the NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg affirmed as much a short time ago. No troops either. But that could change if certain things nobody wants to see take place actually take place.

President Zelenskyy's impassioned via internaet speech to the EU Parliament was unlike any I've heard from a national leader under similar conditions, except maybe the recording of Winston Churchill during the WWII Battle of Britain. Perhaps Zelenskyy's speech, for which he received a standing ovation, will be remembered similarly. I also believe it to be true that the Chechen Kadyrov assassination squad sent to Ukraine by Russia to take out Zelenskyy has been annihilated. Rumor is the Russian FSB is against the war and gave info to Ukrainian security services that resulted in the killing of all the assassins. Also, he Wagner group mercenaries in Ukraine are also being hunted by Ukrainian forces; several have been eliminated in recents days.

So, pending the content of the State of the Union speech by Joe Biden tonight this keyboard will be silent until then.

28 February 2022: The image above is symbolic of the risk Russia has taken with its ill-advised invasion of Ukraine - Russia has lost its head with this insanity. But the insanity continues and is in fact escalating to a point of potential, if not a probable nuclear exchange. This is reflected in the decision of Byelarus to renounce its non-nuclear state status so it can accept Russian nuclear weapons being deployed in its territory which has a common border with NATO and the EU.

The next 24-36 hours will be crucial in what developments take place, many of which have been noted in the comments of the previous Special Report SITREP A9:22. 

Marana'tha!

Global SITREP A8-22: How Far Will God Let Russia Go in its Full-Scale Invasion of Ukraine?

 

Luhansk and Donetsk Oblasts of Ukraine

UPDATE 25 February 2022: Firstly, it has become painfully apparent in the past 24 hours that all of those folks who heretofore had expressed high levels of distrust of the Lame Stream Media, both foreign and domestic, and its rampant "fake news" campaigns of recent memory have had been camped at their feeding trough like hordes of people starved of information. 

Eschatology Today has warned extensively throughout the past seven years (at a minimum) that none of the MSM's product is to be trusted or taken at face value. The MSM remains controlled and staffed by Western globalist interests and elites. The rampant disinformation and pure, politically motivated propaganda coming from the MSM at present is on a scale that this observer has not seen previously. Their agenda has not changed one iota. Their objectives remain the same. Many hours of intensive data mining has proven this observation to be absolutely correct. Which devil is acceptable to these people, the one from the East or the one from the West?

The conflict in Ukraine and its end-state is a known-unknown, but as we all know God is in control. What we need to see and understand right now is that events are taking place that are leading to other events, both prophetic and otherwise. Patience of saints is called for and well as being watchmen and students of the Lord's Holy Words. Nothing else really matters in the short-term because, in the words of our Lord, "all these things must take place, but the end is not yet." Just keep looking up until He comes to take us up! Marana'tha!

24 February 2022: As of 5 AM Kyiv time on 24 February 2022 the Union State (Russian Federation and Belarus) has been engaged in a full-scale war against pro-Western Ukraine. Ballistic and cruise missiles have rocked Kyiv, Kharkiv, Dnipro and other Ukrainian cities and bases, depots and assembly areas of the Ukrainian Armed forces throughout the entire territory of Ukraine. Russian forces, backed also by the forces of Belarus have attacked into Ukraine on at least five different axes of advance. The Budapest Memorandum in which Ukraine gave up its nuclear weapons in exchange for a Russian guarantee of Ukrainian sovereignty, peace and security is now a worthless piece of rubbish. Israel needs to pay very close attention.

22 February 2022: Leading the way for news and information of prophetic consequence, the obvious detail not seen as yet in MSM or 99.99% of other reporting, is that the "occupied" territory of Ukraine's two oblasts (provinces) of Luhansk and Donetsk is less than half of their full-size territory as the map above illustrates. Dark blue is occupied, medium tan is un-occupied and still under Ukrainian government control, and the light tan is the rest of Ukraine's territory.

This leads to the question Eschatology Today is now considering: How far will God allow Russia to go before the prophetic hooks are put in Gog of Magog's jaws (Ezekiel 38:4)?  Will Russian armor press forward beyond the current "line of control" which is marked by WWI-like trenches along the entire length of the blue-medium-tan divide to take all of Luhansk and Donetsk? Or will the invading Russian armored forces sweep west through the important port of Mariupol and along Ukraine's Sea of Azov coastline to link up with the Russian-annexed Crimean peninsula? 

Ukraine in full

And why stop there? Why not continue westward to Odessa to link up with Russian forces in the sliver of land in eastern Moldova known as Transnistria seen in the map below? If you heard Vladimir Putin's nonsensical speech yesterday, what he said included all of these other locations. In fact, what he said includes the whole of Ukraine! And depending on how far this goes, be mindful that Romania is NATO, and Moldova is a member of NATO's "Partners for Peace" program and has a mutual defense pact with Romania. Moldova and Romania were, not so long ago, one country known as Bessarabia, and they could be again. 

Transnistrian Region Map

This, in a nutshell, is where the MSM news and analysis of the day will eventually go. As usual, you've seen and heard it here first, in cutting edge graphic format. What we also are aware of is what the MSM is currently ignorant of - the prophecy of Ezekiel 38/39. Yet still, and what is more, major events and great conflict will now have to take place in and around Israel. Our eyes are wide open and we watch as our Lord has commanded us because "these things must take place."

Global SITREP A6-22: The Past as Prologue - Again

 

NATO F-16V "VIPERS"

8 February 2022: In the clickable image above are a flight of armed F-16V Viper strike aircraft from Poland (two in foreground) and Belgium (two in background) showing the NATO flag along the eastern frontier with Russia and Belarus. The Viper is the most advanced fourth-generation variant of the venerable F-16 Fighting Falcon. Its upgrades make it fully interoperable with fifth-generation fighters like the F-35 Lightning II and F-22 Raptor. 

The F-16 Viper is a virtual sniper in the sky; it is operational with the air forces of NATO countries Poland, Belgium, The Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, Greece and Slovakia. Other NATO countries are upgrading their F-16A/B/C/D variants to the Viper configuration. Also noteworthy, Taiwan (the Republic of China Air Force) has purchased 66 new production Vipers as well as upgrades its F-16A/B variants for a total of 206 Vipers. Also, India will fly this aircraft as the F-21.

The point of this is to illustrate that NATO forces are far more lethal than media have made note of late. Russian senior officers, especially former KGB, are aware of this and have openly cautioned Putin of the risks of provoking combat with NATO. In fact they have called on Putin to resign, accusing him of warmongering with NATO. Moreover, all sides understand that a deadly game of brinkmanship is in progress, both internationally and within the opposing alliances themselves, and that any miscalculation would prove disastrous for all. 

MiG-31K with KH-47 Hypersonic Missile

Yesterday as US paratroopers were arriving in Poland, Russia was deploying tactical nuclear weaponry to Chkalovsk Air Base in Kaliningrad in the form of a MiG-31K Foxhound carrying a KH-47 hypersonic nuclear missile under its fuselage. The KH-47 has been noted to carry a 500kT nuclear warhead, has a range of 1,240 miles and which it delivers to its target at a speed of over 7,600mph. London could be nuked in approximately 10 minutes from Kaliningrad's air space. Still, the opposing forces have not yet locked horns in the same manner as Ukrainian forces and Russian forces are engaged in the Donbas of eastern Ukraine where from 100 to 1,000 violations occur on a daily basis.  

What Eschatology Today is alert for now is the point where Divine hooks to turn the eastern Union State's (Magog Confederation) gathered forces around towards Israel due south (Ezekiel 38/39). That will most likely occur after the dust settles  from a brief and quite violent war in the Levant from which Israel, though injured, emerges victorious (Isaiah 17, Psalm 83).

Considering this crisis is occurring during a complete lack of leadership in the NATO alliance is no accident. It is this soft, often nonexistent leadership, ably exemplified by French President Macron's reprising the role of Neville Chamberlain prior to WWII, that will soon morph into 10 nations holding each other up  when the leadership vacuum is suddenly filled by an eleventh man, the little horn from Daniel's prophecy. The Antichrist.

Here is where we reprise, in proper sequence, "The Past As Prologue" with three key Eschatology Today posts from the very beginning of this blog. From 2009, The Origin of The Antichrist.  From 2016, The Past As Prologue. And from 2018, Global SITREP B9-18: The Kings. One thing has always been in the forefront of this blog, and that is the guiding hand of the Lord from His prophetic perspective through the lens of inerrant Scripture and the ability to highlight real-wor;d events before they happen, sometime by hours and other times by days, week and even months. Here again with the SITREP we lean forward again by looking as the past. There is nothing new under the sun.

Marana'tha!

Global SITREP A5-22: Hooks

24 January 2020: Ominous developments occurred this past weekend across the world's hot spots. Objects in motion tend to remain in motion, so the current inertia away from diplomatic endeavor and towards conflict became apparent over the last 72 hours. A quick synopsis follows.

In Eastern Europe: The Russian military continued the westward movement of very heavy weaponry toward Ukraine, and also in Russian troop deployment into neighboring Belarus. Putin, a true deceiver, could move to absorb Belarus into the Russian Federation prior to invading Ukraine. NATO allies (US and EU) took note of this and made the rapid transfer of all manner of war materiel forward deployed and into Ukraine a top priority. The US appears to have placed diplomacy on a back burner, opting instead to make known the contingency to reinforce NATO allies adjacent to the Ukraine with thousands of American combat troops. Some reports suggest the deployment number could quickly escalate from ten thousand to fifty thousand. In Ukraine artillery barrages by Ukrainian and Russian forces shattered any sense that a cease-fire was in effect. The publication of these reports is deliberate because they're normally kept in classified settings, well hidden from the public. 

In the Pacific: Communist Chinese and Taiwanese air forces faced off against each other over the last 36 hours within Taiwan's Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ). These face-offs have continued into today. This activity is occurring while two USS Aircraft Carrier Battle Groups of the USS Cark Vinson and the USS Abraham Lincoln have entered and begun operations in the South China Sea. 

In the Middle East: Yemeni Houthi's and the Saudi-led military coalition are striking each other routinely of late. Houthi missiles supplied by Iran have struck both the UAE and Saudi Arabia this past weekend. Yesterday the Jerusalem Post published an OpEd titled "Israel Must Ready a Preemptive Strike Against Hezbollah." The article is unique for what it says Israel needs to do.

All of these hot spots are man-made hooks drawing the world into a possible world war, potentially even a nuclear war. We're watching for updates in real-time.

Global SITREP F4-21: "I Will Turn You Around, Put Hooks in Your Jaws, and Lead You Out..." Part II

Russian T-72B3 Main Battle Tank

UPDATE 16 December 2021: It would be a completely false notion to believe that warfare is not raging in eastern Ukraine. Warfare is raging. 

A synopsis of the past 24 hours reveals hybrid formations composed of Russian Army and Donbas region rebels launched ten attacks in the Donetsk, Luhansk and Mariupol sectors yesterday which included heavy artillery barrages and other weaponry allegedly banned under the obviously failed Minsk Accords. A Russian court in the city of Kirov accidentally published a legal proceeding in which the Russian Army presence in Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts in Ukraine was confirmed. Within hours the report was deleted by state media censors. In today's actions four more attacks on Ukrainian Army positions were launched by forces of the Russian Federation in Novoluhanske using 82mm mortars and heavy anti-tank grenade launchers. 

These attacks are designed to cause an escalation which Russia would use as an excuse for an all-out invasion by its forces along three axes into the heart of Ukraine. In order to forestall this Ukrainian troops, under the command of the Joint Forces Office in Kiev, are limiting their actions to purely defensive measures. The Ukrainians face 120,000 Russian troops with an additional 100,000 that could be deployed in the coming days or weeks. We won't know until V. Putin has completed his risk versus reward calculations if an invasion is ordered; if a full-scale invasion occurs then we'll have our answer. That point may come no later than late January 2022 according to military observers. The other option V. Putin is considering is for a slow "creeping" or low-intensity conflict which has less risk of an onslaught of sanctions from the Western Alliance that could cripple the Russian economy. 

Ukraine is not defenseless. The Ukrainian Army is now fully equipped with the formidable Oplot-M Main Battle Tank, a modernized and upgraded version of the T-84 MBT.

Finally, is there an economic link to the prophetic Russian desire to plunder Israel (foretold in Ezekiel 38/39) that is related to the increasing potential of Western sanctions? We'd be silly not to factor in this possibility.

14 December 2021: Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov announced during a video teleconference today that Russia will respond militarily and forward deploy tactical nuclear weapons to Ukraine's border if NATO continues to arm Ukraine and does not guarantee an end to its eastern expansion. Ryabkov added "there will be a confrontation" leading to the deployment of weaponry previously banned under the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty of 1987 signed by U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev. Source: VOA News Release 2:20 PM EDT.

Here below are six embedded direct links to the archived Global SITREPs on the Russia-Ukraine crisis dating back to 28 March 2014 and moving forward to the updated info of 14 April 2021. These six are the essentials, but there are others in the archives. 

There was an approximately six month hiatus in overt Russian aggressive movements until last month's wholly manufactured refugee destabilization gambit on NATO's eastern border (Poland and Lithuania). The Russian offensive armor and troop build-up (including airborne troops) along Ukraine's entire eastern border with Russia also began in April 2021. 

Global SITREP B19-14: "Cry Havoc! And Let Slip the Dogs of War!" 

Global SITREP B13-14: Ukraine (Russia Invades)

Global SITREP C6-14: Ukraine is Essential to Ezekiel 38/39 Fulfillment 

Global SITREP A6-15: Russia Continues the Invasion of Eastern Ukraine

Global SITREP A10-17: News That's Not Being Widely Reported

Global SITREP B6-15: Gog of Magog On The Move

This update now must include the forward deployment of additional of Buk-M1 (9K37M1) medium-range air defense systems (NATO Name: SA-17 Grizzly) in the past 48 hours. It was a Buk-M1 system which shot down a Malaysian airliner in 2014 having mistaken it as a NATO reconnaissance mission over Ukraine. All 298 passengers on board flight MH17 from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur were murdered by the Russian military operators, many of whom were citizens of NATO countries, The Netherlands in particular. 

BUK-M1 (9K37M1)
NATO Name: SA-17 Grizzly) SAM system

Proof of Russia's culpability in the shoot-down was determined when a Buk-M1 vehicle was photographed making a hasty retreat back into Russian territory from the Donetsk town of Snizhne and missing two of its previously photographed four missile loadout. Eschatology Today is convinced the forward deployment of the Buk-M1 system is in response to the USAF flight on 11 December (last Saturday) of an RC-135W 'Rivet Joint' on an ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance) mission over Ukraine all the way from RAF Mildenhall, UK.

We learned yesterday morning that President Biden's pledge on Wednesday, 8 December of no US combat troops deploying into Ukraine was pure hogwash. The first advance movement of US troops was on the ground in Ukraine and made public knowledge yesterday morning by the left-leaning Military Times newspaper at 11:00 EST. 

What we also know and need to recall is the decision made at the 2008 NATO Summit in Bucharest, Romania. That decision was to admit the former-Soviet republics of Ukraine and Georgia into the NATO alliance. One of Russia's critical demands of NATO is to disavow that decision entirely. NATO's refusal led directly to the concocted Russian invasion of Georgia. Russia defended its invasion as military action to defend the Russian-speaking population in the Georgian oblast of North Ossetia. The exact same template of military action was used in Crimea, Ukraine, and again in the Ukrainian oblasts of Kharkiv, Donetsk and Luhansk in 2014. 

 

9 December 2021: In  the past 24 hours multiple sources of OSINT (Open Source Intelligence) have published reports of a new, overt massing of Russian Federation armored forces in strategic locations all along the Ukrainian border. This build-up is confirmed by satellite imagery. What has been most striking is that this build-up is essentially a significant reinforcing of the forces that had deployed to the border region in the spring of 2021. The new units arriving are among the best equipped and trained that Russia has to put in the field. They are also now in areas near Ukraine's border that are well away from their normal training areas in Russia. 

Additionally, some of the forward deployments this time have made their movements under cover of darkness providing these new arrivals a stealthy appearance in encampments they were not to be found previously. In response Ukraine has been deploying it own forces in an expedited manner, but acknowledges they have no real chance of halt a full-scale Russian invasion without significant air, land and seaborne direct support from NATO. In one now encampment there are 700 T-72B3 MBTs (image above) along with brigades of self-propelled howitzers, infantry fighting vehicles and short-range ballistic missiles. Even in Crimea which Russia conquered seven years ago new formations have suddenly appeared, including Russian marines of the Black Sea Fleet.

For the moment we'll hold here to see what transpires next; to see if the American resolve materializes, or if our NATO allies in Europe have to deal with a potential Russian invasion by themselves.

Global SITREP G7-21: "I will turn thee back; put hooks into thy jaws"

The Poland-Belarus Border

URGENT UPDATE 8 December 2021: As of today, the potential for a shooting war between the US/NATO and Russia has become palpable. The war would be waged in a defense of Ukraine resulting from a Russian invasion, and it could go nuclear very quickly.

10 November 2021: There have been dozens of attempts by refugees, almost certainly pushed by Belarusian forces, to breach the border throughout the day today. Additional provocations included Russia sending nuclear-capable Tu-22M3 (NATO Name: "Backfire-C") strategic bombers and MiG strike aircraft over Belarus. The flight of these aircraft clearly signaled an intent to strike deep into the European Union should hostilities erupt during this Russian manufactured crisis. 

9 November 2021: Poland has massed 12,000 of its troops on its eastern border with Belarus in anticipation of a deliberate armed escalation by Belarusian armed forces, backed by Russia. This crisis features at least 4,000 increasingly desperate migrants from the Middle East, Asia and Africa enduring sub-freezing conditions with little food or water in the forested area on the border. The migrants are being herded by the Belarussian armed forces from across the country to the common border crossing in the Grodno region. The clear objective of Belarus and Russia is to destabilize EU and NATO member nations in eastern and central Europe.

The migrants, mostly young males, entered Belarus by invitation. They may have been promised passage by the Belarusian government to travel further west into the European Union. The Belarusian tyrant, Aleksandr Lukashenko, quickly turned the migrant horde into international pawns in a power play against the European Union which enacted sanctions against Belarus over Lukashenko's fraudulent election and brutal crackdown of tens of thousands of Belarusian citizens who protested the staged election results.

Poland PM Morawiecki with Polish troops
at the Belarus border this morning

To be sure, this is an East vs West confrontation in Eastern Europe, pitting Belarus supported strongly as a sock-puppet state of the Russian Federation against the European Union and the NATO Alliance. Germany is calling upon EU member nations to fully support Poland, others are calling for invoking NATO Article V in defense of Poland's sovereignty. Migrants of this type has previously forced their way into Poland as well as fellow EU and NATO allies Lithuania and Latvia. Thus a "line in the sand" has been drawn by Poland to first defend itself from invasion and to defend the EU and NATO allies from invasion by illegal aliens.

Late yesterday came news of another migrant caravan containing women and children to exacerbate the border crisis further. These migrants are also being forced to the Polish border by armed Belarussian troops. 

This is a clear case of eastern block aggression against the western inter-related alliances, both EU and NATO. We'll watch developments closely as the title for this SITREP clearly suggests a potential relationship to events preceding the Ezekiel 38/39 fulfillment. It may also be the necessary impetus for the rapid emergence of an all-European Army for the defense of the new super state. At present, America is an unreliable ally. Also recall previous SITREPs where the ten horns are engaged in warfare with an unidentified enemy when an eleventh horn (Antichrist) suddenly rises among them according to the vision found in Daniel 7. Yes, watching this very closely indeed.

Marana'tha!

Global SITREP E5-21: Trouble Brewing in Eastern Europe

 

Pravda illustration of Russian
forces massed on Ukraine border

1 April 2021: Breaking news in the past 24 hours is that both Russia and Byelorus (Belarus or White Russia) have been massing their armored forces on their mutual borders with the Ukraine (For relative background see Global SITREP D3-17). In previous Ezekiel 38/39 discussions on Eschatology Today we've discussed "Magog" being involved militarily in other conflicts closer to its homeland, and from which God will put hooks in its jaws to turn those forces around to the south, to the mountains of Israel for destruction (Ezekiel 38:4). Armed conflict in Ukraine might well be such a scenario where this prophetic passage could come to literal fulfillment in the near future.

Accordingly, the U.S. European Command (EUCOM) has placed our forces on the highest watch level of "potential imminent crisis."  The map above only illustrates Russian forces facing the Ukrainian border from three adjacent Russian military districts with Russian forces in occupied Crimea being a fourth. To the far north is Byelorus. Ukraine's western border faces NATO/EU countries Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Moldova. No doubt in many western minds that these movements are a dangerous test directed at the perceived weakness of the Biden Administration more than to the Ukrainian government in Kyiv (pronounced Keev).

This subject requires close watching going forward; updates as they occur.

Global SITREP A7-20: NATO & Israel a Covenant Among Many

NATO and Israel: A Covenant Among Many

2 February 2020: Here we have yet another Eschatology Today published subject from ten years ago (2010) which is now elevated for a second time to a full SITREP. Ten years ago not many paid much attention to that post, the crux of which was the threat posed by Iranian ballistic missiles as a mutual threat to both NATO and Israel. The NATO ALTBMDS program in the past decade has matured into the NATO BMD (Ballistic Missile Defense) with Initial Operational Capability (IOC) achieved in 2016. The NATO BMD was exercised in Israel last year. Moreover, Israel tested a new rocket for the BMD system just days ago. Israel is the front line for the NATO BMD system of systems. In May of 2016 we had Global SITREP C2-16: Israel Takes a Big Step Towards a Covenant Among Many. So, this topic should really not be new news for any reader of Eschatology Today as over 1,400 of you read it. SITREP A7-20 will both buttress and expand upon what we already know.

Full membership in NATO for Israel, which requires the assent of all NATO members, had for six years been blocked by Turkey since 2010. In 2016, Turkey dropped its objection, and Israel's slow integration into NATO has proceeded apace. in 2017 Israel signed a cooperation agreement with NATO. Three years later, and according to the European view, Israel has become a premier partner for NATO as a 25-year long member of NATO's 'Mediterranean Dialogue' with a liaison office in the Brussels HQ of NATO. In April 2019 IDF solders were side by side with NATO troops in the American-led "Allied Spirit" exercise in Hohenfels, Germany. Israel's participation and technological advancements in the massive Defender 2020 (February-June 2020) are assured. Defender 2020 will insert massive numbers heavy, armored forces into Europe, from the Baltic to the Republic of Georgia.

Full membership in NATO for Israel through the Membership Action Plan (MAP) is just a matter of time in fulfillment of Daniel 9:27. The MAP is a process which can take a few years under normal conditions. Since 2008 NATO and Israel have also been in an Individual Cooperation Program (ICP). Israel is the only nation outside of Europe in an ICP with NATO. The ICP coordinates repose to terrorism, intelligence sharing, armaments, NBC defense, military doctrine, exercises, civilian emergency and disaster preparedness. In 2020 everything is present except for the actual accession, or confirming of membership in NATO.

What is NATO? NATO is the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It could just as easily be called the North Atlantic Covenant Organization, for that is exactly what NATO is, a covenant among many nations for their common defense, and much, much more. It arose concurrently with the rebirth of Israel after WWII. And NATO not European-centric due to the presence of the United States of America and Canada as founding members. Yet the heart of NATO, its headquarters and membership is in Europe. 

Finally, if a major NATO war erupted today there is no question whatsoever that the Israel Defense Forces would participate in active theater warfare as a de facto member of the North Atlantic Treaty (Covenant).

Global SITREP A4-20: Miscellaneous Items

(6FEB20 UPDATE BELOW) 23 January 2020: This SITREP is to cover miscellaneous items, some new, some just for updating purposes.

Firstly, it's necessary acknowledge the passing of televangelist Dr. Jack Van Impe. He was truly amazing in his ability to call up chapter and verse of prophetic Scripture, and his passing is mentioned here simply because he was a brother in Christ. It is irrelevant if one agreed or disagreed with some of what he taught, but I do thank the Lord that Dr. Van Impe was true to his calling for several decades. He will be missed. There is an entire generation of us who grew up with prophecy teachers in Jack's class, and now we look forward to being with them again at the Lord's side.

Secondly, in recent studies the angel Gabriel's prophecy in Daniel 9:26b, "And the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary," has been in the forefront. Almost exactly ten years ago at the very beginning of Eschatology Today several posts were made to identify specifically who the people of the prince to come were. The prince is the coming Antichrist; the people were the several legions of the Roman Empire that besieged, sacked and destroyed Jerusalem and the Second Temple, specifically and most prominent among them was Legio X Fretensis. 

The army of the Antichrist, as has been written about here in several posts, is back in the news. One post in particular was brought to mind recently because of this, "It Was Never About the EU, But All About NATO." It's three and a half years old now, but that post deserves a revisiting because there's lots of noise of late about an EU army being stood up, one building block at a time. Breitbart published an article on this today that is worth reading. And yet, the EU army will be wholly reliant on NATO and buttressed American military power that will enable it to take the field in future combat operations as seen in our discussions on Daniel 11:40-45 taking place during the 70th Week.

The thing here, and this is a lot to wrap any one's head around at one time, but I must also be recalling other Eschatology Today posts such as "Ten Toes" and "The Little Horn," which rest upon even more very specific Bible prophecy regarding ten kings or leaders of nations among whom an eleventh little horn rises and plucks three of the ten out by the roots (making them his own). This occurs while there's a war going on. This is the fourth beast of Daniel 7:7-8. So, while some might tend to think its quiet and not much is going on, oh but to the contrary!, this world has a great deal going on andis moving inexorably down the Prophetic Road to Revelation.

Thirdly, and as an adjunct to the above (rumor intelligence (RUMINT) has been rampant all week long in advance of the Davos economic summit and the VP Pence trip to Israel) it looks as if Trump will have both Israeli PM Bibi Netanyahu and Israeli PM wanna-be Benny Gantz as his guests in the White House next week to be briefed on the so-called "Deal of the Century" peace initiative. 

Both Netanyahu and Gantz have pledged to annex the Jordan Valley to Israel, and Netanyahu acknowledging that since that is now the case, then Israel should move forward immediately an make the annexation happen. And guess who would like to blow that up in all of their faces? The Iranian Ayatollah. So little wonder that today rockets were launched again from Gaza.

Meanwhile, In Iraq, there are raging battles between anti-Iran protesters and pro-Iran forces in several cities this evening, and just about every evening this week, most involving life fire automatic weapons. In the Iraqi-Syria border town of al-Qaim unknown aircraft attacked the 45th Brigade of Kata'ib Hezbollah with reports that a commander was killed. This coincides to today with the United States warning the new IRGC-QF commander, MG Esmail Qa'Ani, that he faces that same fate of MG Qassem Soleimani if any US forces are harmed in Iraq.

Finally, the truth about the coronavirus that emerged in China and has spread around the world is finally being acknowledged. There are over 20 million people trapped in Chinese cities as that government attempts to get a handle on an epidemic in the making. Wars and rumors of wars, earthquakes in diverse places, plagues and pestilences... sounds like a Jack Van Impe telecast, but its real and its all happening today just as our Lord said it would in the Olivet Discourse.

UPDATE 06 FEB 20: Taiwan News recently leaked the actual numbers of 2019-nCoV in the PRC. Infected 154,023; Suspected infected 79,808; Deaths 24,589, Victims cured 269. These numbers dwarf the "official" numbers being reported. The 2019-nCoV Infected and Suspected Infected total is well over one-quater million people (circa 234,000). 

2019-nCoV Data
Left to Right: Confirmed cases, Suspected cases, Cured cases, Deaths.

Other data from Taiwan strongly suggests that 2019-nCoV may be an "unkillable" virus due to the many insertions of other viruses in the core. That may mean in 2021 it may resurface again with unknown consequences. Also, H5N1 Bird Flu has recently made a reappearance in the People's Republic just south of Wuhan.

UPDATE 25 January 2020: Another of the older posts, one from December 2018, is worth noting again. "Psalm 68: A Messianic Prophecy for a Snowy Israel." There are a couple of interesting passages in it, with a reference to a specific season of the year; when snow is present upon a certain mount. This has me recalling what Jesus said in the Olivet about the middle of the 70th Week as Matthew 24:20 recorded. More convinced than ever that nothing here is coincidental.

Marana'tha!

Global SITREP A4-19: Current Developments - The Global Order PART II

NATO in IRAQ

13 January 2019: This new reality has been referenced as soon-to-occur on Eschatology Today in more SITREP's than we have fingers to count them on. For reference material, if one were to go into the blog archive from 2014 to the present and seek out SITREP's D6-14, E3-15, C2-16, C3-16 D11-16 and E1-16, this half dozen plus D7-18 and A2-19 would suffice for the referencing purpose.

The big picture is that the US withdrawal from Syria was never a unilateral decision by President Trump; it did not occur in a vacuum, nor was it ever envisioned to create one in Syria. Since taking office the POTUS has been on NATO's case to increase its funding of the military needs of the alliance, to become more involved in war zone operations. Even the Iraqi government requested a more robust NATO presence in the country. Now it is a reality.

Eschatology Today has discussed how the Syrian war was morphing into a global war (see also: SITREP D7-18 MidEast Wars Magnified). One global media report has coined a new phrase to name this morphing war as the "Syraq War." With U.S. forces in northern Syria withdrawing to Iraq, and the forces at al-Tanf staying put for the foreseeable future, the big link up and base of warfighting operations in the coming months will be from Iraq. 

This past December a significant conference occurred in Baghdad at the Iraqi Ministry of Defense. The conference was largely unheralded in major media, just a blurb here and there, yet the net result was the establishment of NATO Mission Iraq (NMI). The parent military command for NATO Mission Iraq is the NATO southern command in Naples, Italy. Formerly known as AFSOUTH, this long-time NATO base is presently known as NATO Allied Joint Force Command. The primary military entities that will fold their operations into the new NATO Mission Iraq will be the U.S.-led CJTF-OIR, the E.U.-led Mission in Iraq, the U.N. Assistance Mission Iraq, the Office of Security Cooperation-Iraq and several other diplomatic missions.

The NATO Mission Iraq presents problems for the Russian Federation, and Turkey, but most especially for the Islamic Republic of Iran. Iran will no longer be able to use Iraq as a high speed highway to transit its military supplies into Syria. Hence the near daily air-bridge flights of 747 cargo aircraft between Tehran's and Damascus' international airports. And given a little time for that air lifted material to accumulate in Damascus, Israel then strikes and destroys the hastily constructed warehouses that are filled with it. Checkmate.

This new reality was largely brought about by Israel. PM Netanyahu presented it to Donald Trump, and after a couple of phone calls in December our President demonstrated his acceptance and enthusiastic support for this new paradigm by making the surprise announcement that 2,000 U.S. troops would be exiting from Syria. But it's not really a withdrawal from Syria as it is actually a redeployment to Iraq. In fact, there are numerous OSINT reports of a U.S. military build up occurring in Iraq. More bad news for Iran.

The NATO Mission Iraq is also, in effect, the joining of Iraq into a military partnership with NATO. This is a muscle-up of the longstanding NATO-Iraq relationship which began after Operation Iraqi Freedom concluded which was so grossly ineffective during the rise of the Islamic State in western Iraq following the unilateral and ill-advised Obama withdrawal of U.S. boots on Iraqi soil. The NMI is not only a problem for Iran, but it guarantees there will be no Islamic State resurgence in the country.

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Also going to note in this SITREP the leaked information of yesterday. This past December President Trump's National Security Adviser, John Bolton, requested the Pentagon to advise him of contingency plans for a U.S. military strike on Iran. This strike would have been in retaliation for the recent "acts of war" committed on behalf of Iran by their Iraqi Shi'a proxy militias in mortar attacks against the U.S. consulte in Basra and and the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad.

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As of this morning, Tuesday, 15 January 2019, Lt.Gen. Aviv Kochavi is the IDF Chief of Staff (CoS). Eschatolgy Today has a high regard for anyone who began their military career by making combat jumps (700ft/213m) out of perfectly good airplanes. The military operations against Iran and Hezbollah in Syria now rests upon his very capable shoulders. Will he be the IDF CoS who will see through the fulfillment of Isaiah 17? Time will tell.

Hezbollah's chief, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, has been conspicuously MIA for some time now. Since 21 December his second in command, Naim Qassem, has been making the important speeches Nasrallah would normally make after events such as the IDF destruction of multiple Hezbollah tunnels or IAF strikes on Hezbollah positions. The rumor is that Nasrallah suffered a coronary stroke in late November or early December; he's not be seen or heard from since then. A speech braodcast yesterday is from the Hezbollah archives of 2015 when he was also hospitalized during his fight with cancer.

Iran's launch of of a Shahab-6/Simorgh, Iran's long desired nuclear-capable ICBM, failed this morning, the third stage (the "bow") did not ignite properly. No word on where the payload (i.e. simulated nuclear warhead), named "Message," returned to earth. Iran has acknowledged the failure of this launch. An attempt to launch a second Shahab-6/Simorgh with payload is scheduled shortly.  If it fails, will we begin to see the fulfillment of Jeremiah 49:35? “Thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘Behold, I will break the bow of Elam, the foremost of their might." The Shahab-6/Simorgh is the foremost of the Iranian nuclear weapons delivery systems.

Global SITREP D10-17: Paradigm Shattering Changes Reshaping the Middle East - Part II

Jerusalem near future with 3rd Temple standing on the Mount

06 December 2017: At 1 PM Eastern Standard Time (8 PM Israel Standard Time) today the next paradigm shattering event is likely to occur when U.S. President Donald J. Trump officially recognizes Jerusalem - historically, at present and in the future - the most important city on the face of this earth, as the indivisible capital of the State of Israel. The president will then order the process of moving the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. 

That this monumental paradigm shift is occurring during Israel's 70th year has long be projected to occur by Eschatology Today based upon the Word of God. That violence in the form of the final fulfillment of the Psalm 83 prophecy will result is a given; the end result will be as foretold many times over by the prophets Asaph, Isaiah and Ezekiel, among others.

Future events include the construction of the 3rd Temple as envisioned in the image above, and the opening of Jerusalem to be an international city according to Revelation 11 and Jeremiah 12 through 14. Jerusalem is where the salvation of the Jews during the 70th Week will flow forth as if from a fountain, and where the Lord Jesus Christ will return at the height of the Battle of Har Megiddo to become King of kings and Lord of lords over the earth. Jerusalem will be the capital city of the earth.

Al-Kiswah as it Appeared in Satellite Reconnaissance Imagery January 2017

02 December 2017: Israel (sans official acknowledgement) has made good on its ultimatum to destroy Iranian military bases in Syria. Early this morning (Israel time) Israel launched a volley of surface-to-surface guided missiles or air-to-ground strikes, or both, against an Iranian military base (image above) in the vicinity of Al-Kiswah. There are indications that both surface-to-surface and missiles fired from IAF aircraft orbiting over Baalbek, Lebanon may have been part of this very significant strike. This is the kind of military assault that could start the flood of prophetic fulfillment discussed on Eschatology Today at length, or it could be a powerful signal of Israel's intent to drive Iran and its Hezbollah proxy out of Syria.

Al-Kiswah is eight miles south of Damascus. The base is on the eastern side of Al-Kiswah, which also lies approximately twenty miles north of the Golan and a short drive to the west of Damascus International Airport.

Simultaneously with the Israel strikes on al-Kisrah a significant force of Hezbollah and Syrian Arab Army (SAA) units continued their nearly month-long assault against Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) jihadists holding a pocket adjacent to the village of Beit Jinn on the eastern slope of Mount Hermon, and opposite IDF positions on the Golan. This action is unrelated to the Israeli strike on the Iranian base at Al-Kiswah.

Hezbollah's Missiles 

28 November 2017: We begin Part II by reinforcing a key item concerning Ezekiel 38:13 and that is the acknowledgment that "Sheba and Dedan" were the progeny of Abraham's son Jokshan by his wife Keturah. Genesis 25:1-6 and I Chronicles 1:32-33. Thus the common misconception or false teaching that all Arabians are descendants of Ishmael is blown up. This is important because Ezekiel was inspired by the Lord to specifically name "Sheba and Dedan." The allies of Israel as prophesied to exist in Ezekiel 38:13 exist to today in the form of the U.S.-led NATO, The Saudi-led GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) and Israel. It is no great secret that Israel has extensive, albeit currently quiet, contacts and relations with most of the nations of the GCC. We have a front row seat to see how this develops, and given the events (Iranian expansion and threats) of just the past 12 months it's developing at a very accelerated pace.

It is also no secret in Israel that the next war (Isaiah 17, Psalm 83, Isaiah 11, Ezekiel 28 and, last but by no means least, Joshua 13) will be violent beyond any previous war Israel has fought since 1947-48. Isaiah 17:4-5 attests to the damage and unfortunate amount of death that will be visited upon Israel. Yet Israel emerges victorious and even greater than she is today. This is attested to be Ezekiel 38:8-12. The haters of the God of Israel and the people of Israel named by Asaph in Psalm 83:6-8 are to be all but wiped out as verses 9 through 18 foretell. And then there's Lebanon and Syria which will cease to exist as Middle Eastern nations. This is where both Joshua 13  and Isaiah 17 are prophetically very important.

Now that North Korea has proven it possesses an ICBM capable of striking virtually anywhere on earth, but critically anywhere within the continental United States, the "game" has changed irrevocably from what it was just before noon Eastern Standard Time today.  The President of the United States has already made his decision on how to "handle it." We shall not have long to learn what that decision entails. Off the coast of North Korea at this time is an armada not seen in Pacific waters since World War II and more powerful than anyone back then could have even dreamed of.

Global SITREP C3-17: Stage-Setting for the pre-70th Week Flood of Prophetic Fulfillment

President Trump at the Western Wall

24 May 2017: CJTF-OIR has attempted to place an embargo on news coming out of its control zone in the al-Tanf/al-Walid border crossing Area of Responsibility (AoR). The last item reported by Kurdish NRT news about 48 hours ago was that Norwegian special forces had taken control of securing the Syrian side of the border. Aside from that there have also been several propaganda reports from dubious Russian sources (Sputnik and RT) which are worthless and will never be repeated here. 

The New York Times published a report yesterday dateline from Al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar, but not surprisingly it reads as if it were not an American news agency but that of a Globalist Corporate News Entity, and that's par for the course. 

More recent is a Gulf News report which appeared this morning (24 May) and was updated as this update is being composed. The Gulf News report confirms the original 21 May portion of this SITREP that a "battle is brewing between the US-backed forces and Iran-backed troops over who will control a strategic section of the 599km Syrian-Iraqi border."   And "But Iranian-backed Shiite militias such as the Iraqi Hashed Shaabi and the Lebanese Hezbollah were deployed on May 6 to grab territory south of Al Bukamal, which is important to Iran as it is the only land route to Syria, Lebanon and ultimately, the Mediterranean Sea." This region is the northern portion of the corridor discussed below. This linked report is worth the time to read for the details it contains, further corroborating what is reported below and in SITREP C2-17 Part V.

21 May 2017:When U.S. President Trump arrived in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia he personally began the process of cementing the pre-70th Week 'last days' military alliance we know from Ezekiel 38:13 as "Sheba, Dedan the merchants of Tarshish and all their young lions."  And to make no mistake, this Arab-Western military alliance has as its current primary military foe the Islamic Republic of Iran. But there's more, much more to see here in terms of a prophetic flood of fulfillment (Dan. 9:26c) and the real-world scenario which is currently the driving force for that fulfillment.

The battle which has just begun in southern Syria at the al-Tanf/al-Walid border crossing between Syria and Iraq and within 50 miles of the Jordanian-Iraq border crossing at Trebil is one in which Iranian generals have ignored Russian generals advice to avoid. Therefore, Iran is the driving force behind this battle being engaged against the western allies (Combind Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve or CJTF-OIR) because it is imperative to maintain its strategic Tehran-to-Beirut corridor. This corridor is a direct overland route from Tehran to Baghdad to Damascus to Beirut, a corridor which the Iranian mullahs eventually wish to terminate in Jerusalem. 

The Iranian Dream - Overland Corridor from Tehran to Beirut

Having Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTF-OIR) controlled territory to the north (de-facto Kurdistan) and to the south at the Syria-Iraq-Jordan border region poses a very high risk tactical threat to the Iranian's military ability to maintain this corridor. Therefore, in the view of Eschatology Today, the current battle is the first or preliminary military engagement of the Jeremiah 49:34-39 prophecy, as well as what has been discussed in the preceding SITREP C2-17 Part V and its role in the impending fulfillment of Isaiah 17.  

The Iranian's see this military threat in terms of the executive order President Trump gave to U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), and thus to NATO, to encircle the Islamic State's remaining territory and de-facto capital at Raqqa, Syria in order to cut off all jihadists escape routes and to "annihilate" the Islamic State (the remaining remnant of Saddam Hussein's military) once and for all. The wrench in this plan of action is the IRGC-Hezbollah militia force now pressing its attack on the Operation Inherent Resolve base of operations at al-Tanf. 

Following the meetings with the leaders of "Sheba and Dedan" President Trump will stop in Israel, and then move on the the NATO and "Ezekiel Summit" in Brussels, Belgium next week. Without any doubt updates will result from these meetings and ongoing ground warfare.