.. RF was prescient about Ukie military dramatically increasing the bombardment of Donetsk civilians just prior to 24th Feb '22. According to RF (and I believe in that claim) Ukie military were poised to invade Donbass at this juncture. Until then, militarily, it was a 'relative' status quo.

Reducing the energy supplies to Europe would have meant an economic war which RF economy was not prepared for, although they were in the process of preparation.

Coincidentally, this Rising interview with Maté was just prior to NS2 pipeline being mysteriously sabotaged. Not sure if relevant, I am just trying to look at the timeline.

He was wrong in this instance imo. It would be interesting to see if he still believes this.