It's not a bad take in the abstract, but it falls apart in this case because:
1) Putin has done everything possible to suppress the resurgence of patriotic spirit once the war started.
2) The war could have both been fought seriously and had that beneficial effect, in fact it would have had much more of it had it been fought seriously.
3) He has edited the American written constitution of the RF but has not removed the "no ideology" clause which is a big hindering factor in Russia and the war as a whole
Epstein said that the Ukrainian war would provide "opportunities." He was funding opposition figures in Russia he wanted to be president. Epstein was working as the mob leader for the Rothschild banking cartel. Epstein was identified out of an elite high school and worked his way up through the banking system - Harris to JP Morgan. The Rothschilds and Blackrock own most of Ukraine now. One of the problems Putin has is the Russian central bank which is charging the state 18% while they are at war. They call it fighting inflation, but it is really to fight Russia's capability of running deficits to fight its war. I think the head of the central bank works for the Rothschilds. Just for comparison, the charter of the bank of England says the purpose of the bank is to finance wars, and Western banks are now changing 3-4% and Trump is hollering he wants interest rates lower. I expect there are people in Russia, and elsewhere, who think Putin is an obstacle to winning the war. He just doesn't scare anyone anymore.
Your article suggests Russian share national characteristics that I observed in SE Asia/Central Asia, especially Cambodia, East Timor and Afghanistan during their conflicts. The populations know they have to fight tooth and nail against any aggression, which makes sense given their history of empires rising and falling and armies rolling through them. I guess there are less geographical barriers than in Western Europe where wars are more civilized, and so through a Darwinian process the surviving countries in Eastern Eurasia rely on their armies and sacrifice.
The recent border clashes demonstrated how the Cambodians instantly united, understanding what was at stake, sending troops to defend against the much larger and better equipped Thai army. The Cambodians have a high tolerance of casualties, like the Vietnamese and the East Timorese.
Well, 6 million of Polish citizens, 27 of Soviet citizens. Slaughter of Poles in Volhynia by OUN/UPA Bandera Galician Ukrainians. Not gruesome ? Look up the film Volhynia by Wojciech Smarzowski. I don’t want to give you examples of the brutality because it’s unpleasant to even read about it. Enough to say that UPA didn’t use bullets much to kill 100 thousand people. I think that was on the level of Japan.
By Europe, I meant Western Europe. I agree that the USSR has a high tolerance of casualties and continued fighting. How quickly did Poland surrender in WW2? Yes, massacres occurred after they surrendered, but my point was countries like Vietnam and China kept fighting despite high losses.
Putin is determined that the war should be fought in such a way that it does not damage the Russian economy; this includes unnecessary loss of life on either side. I think he is as much concerned about winning the peace as well as the war, which, for instance, is why an economist Belousov, is minister of Defence, not some fire eating general.
In the USA, the country works for the oligarchs, it's true, the whole system is built on the idea that "What's good for big capital is good for everyone."
In Russia, by contrast, Putin has created a system in which oligarchs work for the country and benefit from it, not the other way around.
The real red pill is realizing that Putin blundering this war in the non-catastrophic way he has will be a good thing in the long run, as it will cause the hardliners (as in KPRF) to take over and force Russia to stop being a Yeltsinist oligarchy.
That's the hope, but it is contingent on Russia surviving this. I am not at all sure about the "non-catastrophic" part.
Putin himself has a very harmful effect. Yes, the country is in a much better shape than it was under Yeltsin. But that is what made Putin untouchable and beyond criticism, which enables him to do very bad for Russia things with no consequences to him.
And while it is in much better shape, Russia is not developing as it should be, which is prevented precisely by Putin and the oligarchs around him.
The SMO being so catastrophically mishandled is generating resentment that can overcome that mental barrier.
But it's not enough yet. And it's not at all clear if the country will survive.
Also, the KRPF is controlled opposition, there are real hardliners among them, but as a whole they are not the answer
You are deeply mistaken and have a poor understanding of politics and economics. You're talking with populist slogans.
Russia conducts its policy pragmatically. All actions have consequences, and abrupt actions have unpredictable consequences.
If, for example, on your advice and the advice of many populists inside Russia, the central bank rate had been lowered to 2-5%, but there would have been a jump in inflation and we would have ended up with the situation of Iran and Venezuela with inflation over 100%.
Do you think this has a good effect on the internal stability of society and the ability to continue fighting?
The rest of your advice has about the same level of usefulness.
Reshoring with what labour? There is already a labour shortage in Russia and even jobs that barely require any education like milk factory work saw huge wage raises.
We seem to be talking past one another. Let me try to go very slowly here and plead with you to try to understand my intent despite what you believe I may have posted.
First: wealth inequality is indeed very, very real. What is your "solution"? in the '50's', the US had tax rates of up to 90%. I'd not oppose bringing that back.
US Oligarchs tell Trump what to do. Putin tells Russian Oligarchs what do to. While I would rather not have any Oligarchs, I don't see how to eliminate them at the moment. What's your plan?
I often refer to the many factions "Anglo-American Oligarchy/Deep State/Jewish Mob" as being in control of the USA. Who is in charge in Russia? Don't wimp out and tell us "Putin" as if he alone makes decisions for all of Russia. You aren't that naive, you can't be that naive. Expand our knowledge. If Putin were to be dead tomorrow, what would change in Russia? I imagine -NOTHING-.
Rather Russia's equivalent to the "Anglo-American Oligarchy/Deep State/Jewish Mob" will install another front man like Yeltsin (Trump) and will continue to exploit Russians.
Putin (from here) is Russia's FDR. He's kept the economy going and he's united the people behind him.
FDR was assassinated and then the "Anglo-American Oligarchy/Deep State/Jewish Mob" worked diligently to regain Fascist control of the USA. Is that what you want for Russia?
I have tried really hard to understand your position. I don't get it. You condemn Putin for everything. Most of which I do not believe is under his control.
You are the Russian "Lindsey Graham" always pushing for something that sounds good but which isn't real.
>First: wealth inequality is indeed very, very real. What is your "solution"? in the '50's', the US had tax rates of up to 90%. I'd not oppose bringing that back.
USSR is the solution.
>US Oligarchs tell Trump what to do. Putin tells Russian Oligarchs what do to.
Not true. And you don't have to believe me, we have Russian lawmakers and various other people in a position to know in the last few weeks publicly stating that Russian Oligarchs are telling Putin what to do and that is why Russia is ready to surrender.
>While I would rather not have any Oligarchs, I don't see how to eliminate them at the moment. What's your plan?
Lenin showed how to do it. You kill them all.
>I often refer to the many factions "Anglo-American Oligarchy/Deep State/Jewish Mob" as being in control of the USA. Who is in charge in Russia?
Mostly Jewish oligarchs. Which explains a lot about Russia's geopolitical stance. And nothing else makes sense of it.
>Don't wimp out and tell us "Putin" as if he alone makes decisions for all of Russia. You aren't that naive, you can't be that naive. Expand our knowledge. If Putin were to be dead tomorrow, what would change in Russia? I imagine -NOTHING-. Rather Russia's equivalent to the "Anglo-American Oligarchy/Deep State/Jewish Mob" will install another front man like Yeltsin (Trump) and will continue to exploit Russians.
It's an open question. There will be a power struggle and it's possible that the liberals take over and sell out the country. But societal mood is strongly in the other direction so it's also quite possible patriots prevail. Patriots will never prevail with Putin in charge though, that is certain.
>Putin (from here) is Russia's FDR. He's kept the economy going and he's united the people behind him.
FDR was not a positive figure. FDR's self stated goal was to save capitalism and prevent a communist revolution. Which is what he did by making concessions, which concessions were to be taken away at a later time point.
Putin's task was exactly the same -- make sure the communists don't come back. That does not make him the good guy, at all.
>FDR was assassinated and then the "Anglo-American Oligarchy/Deep State/Jewish Mob" worked diligently to regain Fascist control of the USA. Is that what you want for Russia?
Russia has only been close to Fascist in the last decades of Tsarist rule. Culturally the whole concept is foreign to it. But it's precisely the Whites that did a counter-revolution under Gorbachev and Yeltsin.
I want a return of the USSR. A substantial fraction of Russian society wants that too, it's why you see people flying hammers and sickles everywhere.
>I have tried really hard to understand your position. I don't get it. You condemn Putin for everything. Most of which I do not believe is under his control.
Actually a lot is under Putin's control, but let's make this a separate reply, because it deserves it.
>You are the Russian "Lindsey Graham" always pushing for something that sounds good but which isn't real.
Please. Lindsey Graham is a Nazi. I want Russia to fight the Nazis again and not just let them win without a fight. Don't make false equivalencies. Stalin was just as bad as Hitler in your view too, I guess?
>I have tried really hard to understand your position. I don't get it. You condemn Putin for everything. Most of which I do not believe is under his control.
As I have been explaining for years here, the reason nothing in Europe has been nuked is that doing so would severely hurt the Russian oligarchy.
First, that is the permanent end of any relationships with the West. But those people dream of being admitted back in the club, never mind that nobody ever accepted them there really previously, their money was welcome, but they themselves were always seen as second class, and that has not changed.
Second, Russia may find itself isolated internationally. That will be a good thing for it -- it will force it to move to a truly autarkic regime and invest properly in indigenous development. It is the only country on the planet that has the capacity to do that. Reliance of resource exports will cease, local industry will develop.
Which will completely undermine the power of the resource export oligarchs.
The banking oligarchs will also be destroyed, because they rely on the dollar system for their current positions.
It is for these reasons that Russia has allowed itself to be attacked ever more severely and Putin has refused to defend the country. The Russian oligarchy forbids it.
But guess what? If Putin actually nukes Poland, then he will have crossed the Rubicon again, and those considerations will no longer apply the same way. Which will untie his hands to make further moves. Internall and externally.
And as far as I know the Russian oligarchs don't control the launch codes.
So Putin has it in his power to strike back and to paint the oligarchs in a corner they can't escape from.
Russia isn't sending industry to China, that's Germany.
Russian firms can get a preferential rate.
A Russian savings account is paying 14.5%. There is only two ways that can be possible: loans are being made or the RCB is crediting accounts by adding the interest payments off-the-books.
Interest of 14.5-6 inflation rate=8.5 spread. That's a hyuuge incentive to save. It may create rising price pressure later, but that's probably a few years out.
The 'Russian economy' means what it says. Real wages have risen 25% net of inflation, during the SMO. It is the same military Keynesianism that boosted the US during WW2. It has been strongly reinforced by the boomerang effects of sanctions - returning capital and import substitution. That is good for the people. Many are employed by the state in one form or another. Putin, domestically, like his model General de Gaulle, is left of centre. He is a pragmatic man of the people.
He said a long time ago that he did not believe that making the rich poor would make the poor rich.
Controlling inflation is a long term Russian government aim. Wars usually make it dangerously worse. That is what the West wants. Putin has avoided that. It is all a question of priorities.
Without nuclear weapons Yeltsin would never have been able to recreate the Russian state and achieve the valuable status of 'successor state' to the Soviet Union - UNSC permanent seat etc. Russia has no interest in lashing out mindlessly. Vengeance, if required, is a dish best eaten cold - as for example France is finding out in Africa at Russian hands.
1 Russia isn't going to nuke territory it intends to liberate.
2 The rational world doesn't want Russia to pop off a nuke.
3 Russia is going to liberate much more of the Ukraine. Leaving it impoverished and landlocked. The western Oblasts in the Ukraine will be occupied by Romanian, Hungarian, Slovakian and Polish "peace-keeping" forces.
The two oreshniks used destroyed two underground factories. It will be years before the factories can be excavated and the corpses removed. No nukes needed.
The " Russian oligarchs" left in Russia, work for Russia - or they are ' invited' to fuck off to the west. True power is having the power and knowing when to use it - or not. I laugh at all those in the west who want Putin gone - he's the most pro European, calm, quiet, reasoned leader Russia has had, and if he's pissed off at Europe...... anyone coming in after will be far less reasonable.
Read the original Russian ' mission statement', part of which is " ..to reduce the Ukraine military" - which is exactly what they are doing! Listen to the soldiers on the ground ... " they may be slavs, but they either surrender or die - and many Ukrainians actually refused to surrender, because " Russians don't surrender"! Trouble is, Ukraine is run by the Banderistas, tge nazis, who are Eastern Ukraine Galicians, who hate everyone, Russians, Poles, Europeans ... everyone. Until they are neutralised, ( also part of the Russian mission statement) the fighting will go on
I do also find this sociological-moral defense of war as a regeneration of the national spirit (or similar stuff) very annoying.
If I were Russian and I would like proof to believe in that, I would demand to see all oligarchs’ children / grandchildren, starting with Putin’s, to volunteer on the frontlines in real combat roles (like Stalin’s son, e.g.). Because, what better way to demonstrate your patriotic fervor and your steely commitment to leading the country to a better destiny than to sacrifice your children for the Motherland??? That for starters…
Also, nobody’s going to comment the nuclear device thing??? I am starting to get really uncomfortable with what’s going on now.
I think there’s a good chance that the big events that we are seeing now are somehow interconnected. The bizarre Venezuelan operation ,the release of the Epstein stuff, the ongoing Iran tensions, and now Putin freaking casually talking about folks smuggling nuclear bombs into Ukraine??? C’mon!!
Most leading analysts show a completely lack of imagination thinking that a potential attack on Iran would look like a repeat of Irak 2003 and that the US would get its teeth kicked in the process. But I very much suspect that an all out attack could start very unconventionally, with a series of escalating terror acts, false flags etc across the whole region, culminating in a scenario were Israel would say: look, we are not left with another option to save Israel and avoid another 6 million than to nuke Iran hard.
Bingo. I had most of my primary education in Franco’s Spain, and though they were the dog’s years of the dictatorship you could still find old books for children lying around full of that martial fervour. The elevation of war to the status of spiritual practice IS classic fascism.
The way the stakes are being raised and the nuclear option keeps rising I’ve started to think, sod Russia and multipolarity, not worth it. Give up Putin, I for one can live quite happily without a Russia in the world. We’ll just limp on with what we have at the moment thank you very much, until civic society wakes up or we run out of oil. The avoidance of open war is a virtue in itself.
After reading about Sitting Bull and others, Little Big Horn and all that I always thought, what’s the point of this when there were Sioux leaders who’d already clocked which way the wind of change blew? To end up dragging a much diminished tribe into a reservation?
If the Russians and the Chinese don’t really have a viable global alternative why followed them into wars they can’t win cleanly and totally? What good is all this to the people of the Donbass?
Well said, it used to be that the Russians were AT LEAST admired for their military skill and their decisiveness. SMO shattered that illusion, as it shattered the image of Putin as anything but a servant of oligarchy.
The leaders' offspring fighting... Good idea. But will rarely happen. In my opinion, in this conflict, it would be a great idea to force them to the front line.
Consider this: In Afghanistan Prince Harry was serving on the front line. Literally. Until a news report went viral, thereby resulting in the UK military leadership removing him. The reason was that to kill/capture him would have been a propaganda coup and, therefore, the Talaiban would be going all out to attack his unit.
But, especially in a conflict such as this, I agree with the thinking.
Israel, the USA, they are not only ready to use n weapons on civilians, they are eager to do that. Unlike Russia, they take the matters of war seriously.
How can you say that Putin has needlessly prolonged the war when western representatives have prevented ceasefire negotiations every time they've been on the table? Do you think it was 'wimpy' of him not to strike targets outside of Ukraine (like London, Berlin or Washington) when Russian red lines were crossed?
If Syria was still under protection/quarantees from Iran, and as much as I hate to say it, Russia.
.
We WOULD NOT HAVE the Iran WAR TODAY!! - Syria was a buffer prior to 2024, now its the PERFECT launching pad for air-strikes by Israel! and Zionist Putin knows that very well. Just like the Ukraine is a launching pad for deep deep deep penetrating strikes into the Motherland! all thanks to Zionist Putin it's still daily strikes for the last 4years into Russia. What individual believes and supports Putin is delusional beyond help.
Wimpy? Putin is playing the longer game. You let stuff go if it's not optimal to the overall picture - you don't forget about it - acting like the west doesn't win the fight. Syria was a side show and Assad wouldn't listen to advice. Venezuela has not " fallen" - the Chavista' are stronger than ever and the deputy is more intelligent than Maduro, who is now an embarrasment to the US. Lashing out like a 5 yr old schoolboy, as the west does, is usually counter productive, but ghe west does tend to see lack of reaction as weakness, and like all bully boys, doubles down - right up until the brick wall falls on them!
The West is saving Russia from Putin by sabotaging negotiations.
There is no possible positive for Russia outcome of this war through negotiations.
The absolute minimal winning condition is the complete disappearance of Ukraine as a state and then of the Ukrainian identity too.
Nothing short of that will bring lasting peace.
And, of course, that cannot be achieved through negotiations, because nobody would ever agree to it.
But instead of pursuing real victory Putin is negotiating over whether Kramatorsk and Slavyansk will be handed over to him in exchange for abandoning Kherson and Zaporozhye city.
P.S. Back in 2022 it wasn't just Boris Johnson who broked up the deal. The Russian General Staff was against it too.
It really sounds like you just hate Putin. Engaging in negotiations doesn't preclude pursuing victory - but victory over whom? All parties involved understand that Ukraine has no agency in the matter.
If Russia were to storm Kiev again and take control of the country, an alternative government would pop up in Lvov and the process would continue, but with the added propaganda bonus for the west of Putin having done what they all said he wanted to do. Unfortunately it's really up to Ukraine (and the rest of us in Europe eventually) to stop being lackeys of US imperialism, easier said than done
For Russia to forcibly take control of the whole country would mean to have it occupied by their troops, which takes time and which is what they are already doing in the east.
I really find this kind of complaining that Russia isn't doing its war fast enough for you, quite distasteful. There are hundreds of soldiers (mostly on the Ukrainian side) dying every day to hold onto territory, how do you think Russia just magically sweeps through all that faster than it already is? Let alone while preserving civilian infrastructure?
You are fully right. Putin caused unnecessary suffering of Russians. Now, as Ukraine would soon get nuclear weapons, it is clear that his aim was to lead Russia into defeat and suffering.
The Russian elite never supported decoupling form the west as their souls are not Russian but western. Recently John Helmer wrote about internal infighting in Kremlin where the pro western fraction managed to take full control.
Furthermore, Putin had chance to use this war as a pretext for real social changes in Russia, as Dugin advocated.
But now, we see an almost comic weakness, inability to destroy/finish Ukro infrastructure. I am completely sure that Russia wont retaliate if hit with nuclear weapon. The loyalty of Russian elite, and the rich educated class belongs to the West.
So, this war is a missed chance and this century is American century as neocons had planned.
It's the lack of any state ideology apart from pro-capitalism and, by extension, pro-West. China loves profits up-and-down the hierarchy of their 996 lifestyles.
Lack of alternative "worldview" makes places like Russia and China basically converge to the West over time. That's why the populations of St. Peter and Shenzhen would join the EU or any other Western structure in a heartbeat if that was a choice given to them.
Money is end-all, be-all. There's no room for "nation" or "borders" or "self-governance" in that mindset.
Basically the capitalist view, or the middle class or bourgeois view seems to be some kind of the final "worldview" of the naked ape as it goes no further after that mindset is reached.
Lets hope their civilization be somehow destroyed.
Yeah 996 is the evolutionary dead-end. You work from 9am to 9pm, 6 days a week. You have enough time to scroll your phone before sleep and maybe to go do some shopping on Sunday. No real quality time off, no social life. Just earning enough to cover your inflated mortgage payments. That's happiness.
This works very well for the capital-owners. The population is docile as they have no time to even become individuals, they're just cogs, mental zombies.
Chinese and Russian leaders try to avoid a general war, because they are afraid of it. Any rational thinking person should be afraid of war in world with tens of thousands of nuclear warheads.
That is why Putin and Xi are trying to prevail in this conflict that they have not wanted without any unnecessary escalation.
In the case of China this should be clear for any observer. The country is getting stronger in all respects, while the USA and Europe are in a serious political and economic crisis. When the enemy is committing a mistake do not interrupt, said Napoleon.
In twenty years time, the USA will not be able to think even about confronting China.
The case of Russia is very different.
It is remarkable how resilient and strong the country is, if one considers that it has nearly on third of the population of the USA.
It is silly to compare Russia to the URSS.
The war continues and no-one knows how it will end. It does not seem logical to judge the match before one sees the final score.
One thing seems probable. Ukraine will not recover Crimea. Also the water supply of the peninsula is guaranteed.
Ukraine will not recover any territories occupied by Russia now.
It is also very probable that Russia does not want to occupy the whole territory of Ukraine.
It would be enormously expensive and would also
impact very negatively in the Russian domestic process.
The main extant question is the future of Odessa.
If Russia eliminates Ukraine and the West from the Northern shore of the Black Sea, that would be a great victory for her. If not, one could call it an ugly victory as forsees Mearsheimer, a draw or even a partial defeat.
>Chinese and Russian leaders try to avoid a general war, because they are afraid of it.
How do you explain that US or EU leaderships are not afraid? The materialistic West, even the dry protestant countries like The Netherlands, or Denmark.
Th victory belongs to the ones who are not afraid.
An excellent article, it truly highlights the bombardment of absolute bulshit the parasitic elite utilises to distract the population from blatant and transparent crimes they endlessly exploit to increase their power to do harm to their betters.
For the most part, the Ukraine itself is and has historically been Russian territory for 1000 years. In terms of traditional values, the British people belong on the side of the Russians; while the City of London, Whitehall and Westminster need to be cleansed of the infestation of the Khazarian false Jew Usurers, their Satanic Zionism and their ultimate goal to ethically cleanse both the Anglo-Saxon, Slavic and indeed the majority of White Europeans from the earth.
The trouble with the English speaking world in particular is that they have been ruled by the same ancient criminal elite who marched into Britian with the Roman Legions nearly 2000 years ago.
The piracy of Elizabeth I has never ended, and will only end if those of true British heritage take back their country by force and perhaps join with the Russians to take back Europe from the Trillionaire False Jew Usarers with their ultimate eugenics programs based around the fraudulenly printing money out of thin air, effectively increasing a false debt slavery with every financial or military conflict they dream up.
Many I'm sure will wonder what I'm talking about, but the single most effective way of controlling the human live stock has always been to stop them from ever truly communicating with one another, conflict in all its forms has and continues to be the most effective way of achieving that goal, failing that, there is always shooting the messenger.
Oh du bist sooo ein gutes Mädchen . Nur Frieden für deine elenden Bandera Nazis. Warum habt ihr nicht 2014 auf den Naziputsch verzichtet? Warum habt ihr die UN-Sicherheitsratsresolution 2202 von Februar 2015 nicht um gesetzt ? Warum habt ihr 15000 ukrainische Zivilisten im Donbass massakriert? Dein Poroschenko hat euch doch versprochen , das die bösen Ukrainer im Donbass sich in den Kellern verstecken müssen und frieren müssen und kein Strom haben werden. Warum hat jede ukrainische Stadt ein Bandera-Gebäude , ,Bandera Denkmal , Bandera Platz, Bandera Straße, Bandera Kindergarten ??? Diese ganzen dreckigen verlogenen und korrupten Nazis gehören in die Hölle und ihre Unterstützer erst Recht. Ich hätte kein Problem damit , wenn die russische Armee noch einmal nach Berlin, Paris und Waterloo marschiert.
Pointless negotiation is at least, negotiation. Just because you are talking doesn't mean you are going to deviate from your goals. Don't believe the self mirroring media. Diplomacy may be dead in the west, but not in Russia and the east. The strategic goal remains the same - and will be acheived, frustratingly slow it may seem at times. Things are speeding up though - even Putin can't resist the pressure from within and the Russian military wants victory - sooner rather than later. There will be no "deal", and the pressure is building to use as much force as is needed to end it.
He’s quite careful not to, ISTM. No one disagrees that war is a dirty, squalid business, but the point he makes is that it has certain social consequences and one of them is that it keeps Russian society sharp and poised to defend itself in a way the degenerate West is no longer able to do. Britain was the same until the 80s, when deindustrialisation, the end of the Cold War and postmodernism kicked in.
Yes. The very obvious ‘tell’ on that point is that UKania has squandered tens of billions on a pair of white elephant supercarriers and a small fleet of fantastically expensive yet spastic VTOL F35s so as to ‘project power', yet our home island’s anti-missile defences are nonexistent.
As the Chinese say: ‘A man with a hammer sees only nails.’ Or more aptly, ‘A President with a MICIMATT Complex to satisfy sees only regime change operations and foreverwars.’ This is Blackrock’s war, but the schmucko Eurogoys are being made to pay for it. And Slavs being slaughtered too? It’s a win-win-win for Larry Fink & Co.
Maybe listen to Tangen describe the "Hate" that is endemic in West Virginia. People aren't stupid, they're just ignorant. The "Anglo-American Oligarchy/Deep State/Jewish Mob" depends on that ignorance to remain in their positions of power and prestige. How do you propose they be removed?
"It is a grimy, dirty, awful business, and the grunts in the trenches just try to survive dreaming of home and safety"
No disrespect Elena, but speaking as an ex "grunt" myself, I can only say, NOT all of us, and if it wasn't a "grimy, dirty, awful business" it wouldn't be war would it?
"To every man upon this earth, death cometh soon or late;
And how can man die better than facing fearful odds,
For the ashes of his fathers, and the temples of his Gods"
Well I've had the misfortune to know a few rich people (maybe not super rich but rich enough) and to think that any of them have the character to do the HARD thing instead of the easy one (i.e. grubbing about for more money), is like expecting an ape to compose an opera.
So that's why they aren't hogging the experience, it's the hard choice to make and not the easy one.
You'll never see vermin like oligarchs and politicians running towards danger.
And honestly from my own experience the kind of people that spend all their time hiding and hoping for safety and home instead of adopting a martial attitude usually get killed first.
The population of Ukraine after the confrontations on the "Maidan" in 2014 between supporters and opponents of European integration in 12 years decreased from 45 to about 20 million people, former Ukrainian Prime Minister Nikolai Azarov said in an interview with RIA Novosti.
He specified that since the months of actions in the center of Kiev in 2014, Ukraine has lost 12.5 million 🎯residents of Crimea, Donbass, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, partially Kharkiv regions.
In addition, according to European data, the EU has accepted about nine million Ukrainian refugees. Another three million people are excluded from the population due to its natural loss. He noted that those who left for Russia and the losses of Ukraine since the beginning of the special military operation should also be taken into account.
According to the ex-premier, after the "Maidan" there was a genocide of the population, which in 1991 was almost 52 million people. In September 2025, the Ukrainian media, referring to the information of the state migration service of the country, reported that 28.7 million people live in the country.
Regarding combat losses, the head of the Russian Ministry of Defense Andrey Belousov said that the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) lost more than 340,000 people only from January to August 2025.
So Russia has gained 12.5 million which makes up for any losses on the battlefield by numbers , ukraine is finished as an entity. The anglo dogs will be reading these headlines Poland Hungary Romania Invade Ukraine and carve it up , boohoohooohooohooh 😭 😭😭😭😢😭😭😭😭😭😭then what are the anglodogs going to do
apart from the sexism ("men will fight"), it's closer to reality to say that while in times of peace men can create, build and invest for their society's welfare and prosperity, in times of war they may kill and destroy. it's conditional: if there's war, men will fight (nationalism, patriotism). if there's peace, they invest in development, welfare. it's called culture: in times of peace those in possession of their full human faculties will not choose destruction (war) over building (peace).
I think the issue is times like now: culture has in large part degenerated into exploitation. The rich get richer, the powerful do what they want, the powerless suffer what they must, that sort of thing. I think we are at the transition point where war, violence, destruction of the status quo, starts to seem like the only way out for too many men.
(And I do believe that instinct to violence and destruction affects men much more on average than women. I would guess the transition back from a time of wanton destruction to peace and construction, looking to the future, is mediated much more by the impulses of women.)
exploitation of the poor and of women and children has been the norm rather than the exception for a long period. even in western societies. in that sense the Industrial Revolution has not been kind to humanity, although various struggles have been fought to at least address the harhest forms of exploitation.
Is that a typo? Or are you excluding Western colonial atrocities, which ofc were targeted at the indigenous populations without regard to age or sex? Which societies can even come close?
by western societies (colonialism) or in western societies (feodalism; lowest-paid working classes). "Which societies can even come close?..." - this is not the place to go into that, although many societies are and have been involved in exploiting labour/the poor in one way or another. for now let's agree that it's sickening to realise the many opportunities for exploitation provided by war and violent conflict.
Agree, as both a retired engineer and retired military I find/found satisfaction primarily in building/creation. While at the same time having felt it a noble thing to defend my country and help oppressed peoples and defend freedom (even though these fairy tales propagandized by our government/media all turned out to be bullshit). Being retired, and seeing my country for the evil empire she truly is, I get my enjoyment in the creation of things and helping friends/family... Chip
Actually, though I was deployed into multiple combat theaters of operation, I was never involved in the actual fighting. As I military engineer I designed and built things in those theaters that supported the troops doing the actual grunt work. But if you read what I wrote, and you responded to in amateurish fashion, I did think at the time, that I was defending my country. And now I know that I was used so no need to "thank me for my service". Have a blessed day Frank... Chip
I know, it might sounded a bit harsh, especially since all US ex soldiers I've met during my life have never killed anyone. They were engineers, drivers, cooking for the 'service men' ( what service is provided by them?) or where deployed for bathing their feet on the beach in some foreign country. I just wonder who then killed all the millions around the planet that were killed by the US forces if no one ever admits that they did the killing.
>>...I did think at the time, that I was defending my country.<< Sure you did x-thousand miles away from your own shores. Enlighten me, what brain damage must one have to truly handle such a contradiction of facts versus believes?
I don't need a blessed day, thank you, Chip. I don't believe in blessing of any kind, I believe in human kind and love and harmony, after the sick and evil and their mindless followers have been eradicated or re-educated.
"Sure you did x-thousand miles away from your own shores. Enlighten me, what brain damage must one have to truly handle such a contradiction of facts versus believes?"
Well in the late 80's (and as a 20-something) I believed what my gubberment told me, "USSR Bad". So I deployed to German for three years where I saw the Berlin wall come down. I experienced East Germany which was a complete hell hole compared to the West. I saw/experienced first hand the differences between communism and capitalism as practiced at that time. So yeah, I thought we were liberating those people behind the iron curtain. Later, it was 911. As I sat in the office of my private small business watching the towers come down live on TV I thought WW3 was underway and so wanted to get back in the fight. And did so, thinking it was the right thing to do, listening to the bullshit espoused by our "leaders", and generally naive/blind to the bigger picture.
So I'm sure you have had it all figured out since you were born Frank. I wasn't so lucky but am learning, which I try to do every day. Let me add, that I don't think, base on your responses, that you believe in human kind, nor love, and most definitely NOT harmony... Chip
@Frank, you have no idea what's happening in the US. People grow with a certain mentality and pride in the country (and nothing! is wrong with it) but it shocks me how Americans don't see anything wrong with barging into another country/semi-sphere, etc. If you watched the State of the Union (if not, I recommend) it's very telling - it was heartbreaking to watch a young pilot, whose legs were shuttered while he piloted the US chinook helicopter (cleary large amount of soldiers inside) to kidnap Maduro. The personal courage and bravery of this pilot, who didn't crush the helicopter while being severely wounded to save his comrades-in-arms - a truly heroic act of a person whose courage and skills were used/abused by those who sent him to kidnap Maduro -nobody will ever convince me that kidnapping Maduro(or killing leaders of other countries) is okay. But when I told the above to my good American friend (military wife) her reply was " I'm actually good with Venezuelan mission. Army has been worried about Chinese presence for many years there, plus they avoid sanctions, and sell oil avoiding sanctions." A totally lovely person, but what part of "Venezuela is NOT USA" she didn't get? Lots and lots Americans are like that - it's like "world is my oyster in terms of what precisely belongs to the US"
@Chip - we all believed some wrong things at one point or another - I believed in communism just like my parents. Some of the smartest/best educated people I knew (in all countries) believed in communism. So, some of us, we needed to go through experiences, disillusions to arrive to hard-earned truths - nothing is wrong with it!
Nothing of sexism in that, it's an historical fact.
That some women are also fighting in every war is not relevant, it's a less than important minority.
That men fight is born out of the western view that men are stronger and more fit but disposable - women are not, they're needed to breed more men/soldiers. Plus women are generally not physical fit/able to fight battle.
That whole sexism talk is getting boring. We men and women have done well together for more than 200 K years and now all of a sudden we have 'sexism' - another stupid, cultural degenerate approach to divide humanity invented by the sick and mean ruling class.
Just today, UK Child Protective service was called up in a school because a 15-yr old said "women have an easy life." Parents called for interviews etc.
who cleans the house of that 'sick and mean ruling class', for wages too small to carve out an independent existence? the term 'sexism' might be a modern construct, but untill very recently even in western societies girls weren't given the choice to go to school and women weren't entitled to own and sell their land without having to ask permission to do so from a husband or a brother(s). large parts of our economies are kept afloat by underpaid labour in slave-like conditions, often women or children.
Well, 150 years ago, Russian or Ukrainian nobility (spahias) used to force peasant women to give breast feeding to their noble puppies. New oligarchs are a kind of new nobility.
Not any more. Russian "elite" know full well they will be the first on the menu if power in Russia is overthrown. Sanctions on russian oligarchs and their property in the West scared the hell out of them and now it's existential. The old model of looting Russia to hide loot in the West is no longer working, and they know it. As such, the brilliant western masterminds aligned the interests of Russian peasantry and its oligarchy as the entirety of Russian society now sees themselves as American Indians fighting for survival. And the main criticism of Putin is that he is too soft.
I am not sure. I would say that the Russian elite still have high hopes that one day, one distant day they would be accepted in the club of teh western elites as equal. So that can have dinners at some new Epstain's place.
It doesn't change all that much actually, except for two very important things, which I will get to at the end.
1) For them to destroy Moscow, they would have to launch hundreds of Flamingos at the same time, all with a nuclear warhead in the several hundred kilotons range, because likely all but one of those Flamingos will be shot down given how good Moscow's air defense is. We have seen such attempts previously -- they launched over 500 fixed-wing drones at Moscow on May 8 last year, and they didn't get a single hit. They will need less than that in Flamingos because they fly faster, but it's still a triple-digit number, and there simply aren't hundreds of medium-sized nuclear warheads available for that.
2) Let's say they nuke some Russian cities other than Moscow. The response will be (hopefully) the annihilation of the whole of Western Europe and North America. Thus the Ukrainians won't be allowed to do that.
3) Russia was never going to nuke Kiev, or even Lvov, thus Ukraine was never under any threat of being nuked regardless. So Ukraine doesn't need the nukes for deterrence.
4) The winning move for Russia was always to nuke Europe and physically cut Ukraine off. If Ukraine had nukes, well, guess what? The winning move remains exactly the same -- you nuke Europe, Ukraine is cut off, you finish it off at your leisure, and in such a scenario the Ukrainian oligarchy will cut a deal instead of launching nukes at Moscow.
The dangers are:
1) Nukes will be used tactically to destroy the Russian MIC and military bases, which with the current cucktain-in-chief in the Kremlin will not be responded to adequately, because he will try to somehow rationalize it as being sub-threshold due to the deart partners' skins still being more valuable to him than his own country.
2) Nukes will be handed out not just to Ukraine, but to all of Europe, and with independent control over them. Which eliminates Russia's winning move of nuking the shit out of northern Europe, then taking over with ground forces, and having the north Atlantic and the Rheine be the new border. Once both sides have nukes that makes it possible to have a protracted interminable conventional war. Which will exhaust Russia at the cost of some fully disposable from the perspective of the people driving all this proxies, i.e. the trap will have shut with the bear in it.,
I don't think even you believe in the 2 options you wrote as probable:
1. It's not possible no matter how cucked you believe Putin is that there won't be a nuclear response against the West in such a scenario. Putin may be cucked but he did launch the SMO, so he isn't some vassal or retar.d.
2. Nukes have not been allowed to proliferate as a main policy of the US. The risks are too great for the US. It is a historical fact: Taiwan, S Korea, NATO countries, Japan have been 100% been discouraged from having nukes. Even Britain and France have had pressure on them not to have nukes. A country with nukes is one election away from being independent of the US and becoming an existential threat, not to mention what nonproliferation actually means for US global interst(imagine Cuba, Nicaragua, Canada, Saudi Arabia had ICBM tommorow). Maybe you'll say that the US can't lose an election, because the elites are bought, but they have lost many times(Georgia, Venezuela, Columbia and many other times).
Pakistan was not encouraged by the US to have nukes. Can Pakistan develop ICBMs? Yes, it will takes a couple of months and it will not be cheap in many ways. Will it upset US and China? Absolutely, and the economic consequences for minimal security gaines will be too great for a country as broke as Pakistan. There is also no threat to Pakistan from the US or Russia or China. So what's the motivation for this expensive program? As a matter of fact, India just developed ICBM only a couple of years ago, buy they barely cover China and not the US or Russia. I believe my arguments stand on historical precedent as well as game theory which is the neocons/deep state favourite model. For context juat look at how impossible it is for ths US to bully N. Korea even when Russia and China went along with economic sanctions, just because of nukes. Any country with nukes is too big of a threat for a nation that wants to impose its will in all areas of the world.
The US will prevent anyone to get nukes. It's a lot easier to do that with US vassals and "allies" than enemies. Iran is not pursuing nukes; that's just bs so he can attack Iran. If Iran were to have nukes, the risks are different. The pressure on countries not to have nukes is huge and from all great powers(sanctiona against Iran, N.Korea, S Africa, Lybia, Iraq were supported by Russia and China multiple times). Pakistan and India have also been sanctiones by UNSC , but since these countries clearly have a security dilemma with each other and are isolated in that way, they are less of a concern.
oh, yes. The US will prevent it. Of that at least I am sure. The US does not seek nuclear rivals or those that can blackmail the US with such a weapon.
The sole reason for the creation of NATO was the US nuclear umbrella, and the Europeans, naive and believing themselves important and useful, were deceived. To this day, not a single American president—senile, demented, or worse—will risk the destruction of the USA to protect Borrell's garden gnomes.
Ukraine does not have the capacity to develop a nuclear weapon: (1) resources required, and (2) facilities subject to obliteration. The two reasons Britain passed its "Tube Alloys" [atomic bomb] project to the U.S.A.
If Russian Intelligence manages to locate a supplied nuclear weapon, or suspected nuclear weapon, in western Ukraine, there should be no need to nuke it.
A pre-emptive precision strike with a missile with conventional warhead should suffice.
If it turns out to be a genuine nuclear war-head, radiation leaked can be blamed firstly upon whoever supplied the weapon and secondly upon the deranged regime to which it was supplied.
What people say about Ukrainians is false; they are no more skilled than in Third World countries. I've seen it firsthand. A country without skills is a poor country, even with rampant corruption.
"they are no more skilled than in Third World countries"
----------
There were/are some VERY technically skilled people living in post 1991 Ukraine. 3rd world countries don't build state of the art aeronautical & space propulsion systems, many of which WERE built for the USSR (and now, some Western aeronautical and space launch companies) in some of the areas which became independent as Ukraine from 1991 to 2014. Motor Sich, Ivchenko and Yuzhmash weren't 3rd world enterprises.
The majority of scientists, engineers and skilled technicians involved in those high tech enterprises spoke Russian, as did most academics (and other well educated locals).
The majority of scientists, engineers, and skilled technicians involved in those high-tech enterprises spoke Russian, as did most academics (and other well-educated locals). They followed the Soviet curriculum. It's important to remember that all Ukrainian companies were Russian; the Soviets didn't relocate them, they simply relocated the Russian territory where they were based. The Ukrainian SSR was Soviet, and its engineers followed the Soviet curriculum. This has nothing to do with any distinct Ukrainian national identity, which doesn't exist. The name "Ukraine" as a nation was first mentioned in the 1920s.
The Ukrainian fascist regime in yet another parallel to their German fascist predecessors alienated and persecuted a group (Russian ethnic) for political reasons which happened to contain a disproportionate % of the areas more educated and capable people...
1. Ukraine doesn't need to develop nuclear weapons. Britain and/or France will be happy to donate them, regardless what they tell the public.
2. The word "if" is doing a lot of work for you. Considering how many times Russia has been caught flatfooted, I do not have much faith in Russian intelligence.
I will stick my neck out on this one and say that quite frankly the way the Russians have handled this war is bizarre, at year 5 with the prospect futher than ever before I am trying to understand what an end game peace will look. It's is clear that ukriane will not be the last battle, Europe is gearing up to attempt a rearmerment, the situation in the middle is headed toward regional war and the united states despite its public posture of removing itself from the conflict continues fan the flames of war. Quite frankly the writing on the wall points to a much larger war on the horizon.
Wenn das russische Volk seit Ende des WK II ein Trauma mit sich führt, das Trauma des "Grossen Vaterländischen Krieges", in der Tat eines der brutalsten Abschnitte dieses Krieges. Dieses Trauma, jetzt wieder auflebt, "wir gegen den Rest der Welt, unser Heimat, unser Russland", dann hat man was genau geschafft? Ein kriegstüchtiges vereintes Volk, bereit für eine Ausweitung des Konfliktes, wenn "nötig". Die eigentliche Frage ist jedoch, wozu dienen diese Konflikte, eingebettet in den globalen Szenarien? Welcher Teil einer Gesellschaft (sowohl des Westens als auch Russlands) wird in den Schützengräben liegen? Was genau sollen die Menschen "verteidigen"? Renditen.
If the Russian people have been carrying a trauma since the end of World War II — the trauma of the “Great Patriotic War”, in fact one of the most brutal chapters of that war — and if this trauma is now being revived (“we against the rest of the world, our homeland, our Russia”), then what exactly has been achieved?
A war-capable, united people, ready to expand the conflict if “necessary”.
The real question, however, is: what purpose do these conflicts actually serve, embedded as they are within the larger global scenarios?
Which segment of society (both in the West and in Russia) will end up lying in the trenches?
What exactly are people supposed to be “defending”?
Expand the conflict, if necessary. Imagine this: you're fighting with one guy, another jumps on you, do you slap back or not? The answer to your question is that, since the beginning of time, humankind has maintained its survival instinct by fighting. It's a conscious response, not a carefully considered decision. You get hit, you fight back for your survival; that's the human principle, or what's left of it, and the animal principle.
But what is the reason you got hit? And in who's interest?
That question to ask and to think about is what distict us human from an instinct driven animal - or it should be since we dare to call ourself civilized.
How many right ways are there? Educate me, what's your right way? That the Epstein - child fu**ing clique is ruling the world?
Who said kill? Stripping them of their assets and put them away for life should do but yes, for the willingly killing of that many millions that never did them any harm - the death penalty could be revived for a certain time - we did that with the German Nazi's as well.
I think the US wants to 'enslave' Europe and weaken Russia through a pan-European war with Russia. They know well that Russia can not be defeated by Europe, but they also believe that Russia can be drained of strength and perhaps to the point of dissolution and that Europe, in the process, can be utterly subjugated and made almost entirely dependent on US markets to survive - all with minimal US expense in blood and treasure.
There's no point in talking about what "the US" wants to do, or doesn't want to do.
We all know who directs US domestic and foreign policy.
What we see is a vicious and psychotic attack on both Europa and Russia - and Iran, of course - by a small coterie of savages who have been seeking world domination since Cain first murdered his brother.
This is why Iran should start the roll-back of their power by violently attacking the criminal state where they hide - at whatever cost.
They need to be gone from the world stage, or at least, completely emasculated.
Multinational oil & natural gas corporations (inflation corrected oil & gas prices WERE falling before all this fired up), aerospace/weapons corporations, various enterprises from metallurgy to agricultural sectors in North America which didn't rely on cheap Russian energy.
Now, if we can just manage to cause Iran to close the straits of Hormuz and blockade most supertanker shipping of middle Eastern oil production too? Some fat cats in Texas will have a very good year.
Indeed, these wealthy individuals don't want to lose everything in a widespread and final conflict that would affect everyone. These wealthy individuals possess millions more survival skills than the common people.
Yes, we want some nice profitable limited wars, not total ones that comes home to billionaires in New York City penthouse apartments or cause California real estate to lose value.
If you think that and you are thinking the right way then I still miss the follow up question: What we are, as the effected by it, are willing to do to prevent it from happening?
I'm so tired of that question. As simplicius rightly argues, Russians and probably most men in general would do anything, at least give our lives gladly, to defend home and family. Do you understand that? Is that clear enough for you?
The question isn't what but how. Not what are we willing to do but what can we do? Which unfortunately is a much, much more difficult question.
Options seem to be, hedonism and distraction, useless social busyness, scrolling, ... Meditation/spiritual practice...
If you have a better and real answer btw let us know.
I'm so tired of that question. As simplicius rightly argues, Russians and probably most men in general would do anything, at least give our lives gladly, to defend home and family. Do you understand that? Is that clear enough for you?
The question isn't what but how. Not what are we willing to do but what can we do? Which unfortunately is a much, much more difficult question.
Options seem to be, hedonism and distraction, useless social busyness, scrolling, ... Meditation/spiritual practice...
If you have a better and real answer btw let us know.
The options are: Organize a community or look for existing ones of like minded people, build cooperation's, help each other, learn why social media are asocial media and why certain interests pushing it onto your family and friends.
It all comes down to learn how the system functions and find people who are willing to change it together with you. That's worth a fight, the rest is excuses to talk a purpose into dying for people that give a shit about you.
Why we always die for old men who know each other well? Why we kill other people we know shit about on their order - to defend our children and family?
If you lack analytical skills, then don't bother thinking. You'll just spout nonsense. The US is no longer interested in the EU, which is indebted and makes them richer.
The scenario where the rest of the world is destroyed and the USA gets to do massively profitable business at minimal costs in blood or destroyed infrastructure "THEY" own is very attractive to the USA's ownership clans and intelligence/managerial castes. It's a sure cure for too low oil & natural gas prices too.
However? The last two times "they" worked this scenario, there were no highly accurate intercontinental weapon systems capable of striking North America or economically vital space assets vulnerable to being taken out by various usefully self destructive Eurasian factions. Running their new war as they did the last ones isn't certain to turn out well this time around.
The population of Ukraine after the confrontations on the "Maidan" in 2014 between supporters and opponents of European integration in 12 years decreased from 45 to about 20 million people, former Ukrainian Prime Minister Nikolai Azarov said in an interview with RIA Novosti.
He specified that since the months of actions in the center of Kiev in 2014, Ukraine has lost 12.5 million 🎯residents of Crimea, Donbass, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, partially Kharkiv regions.
In addition, according to European data, the EU has accepted about nine million Ukrainian refugees. Another three million people are excluded from the population due to its natural loss. He noted that those who left for Russia and the losses of Ukraine since the beginning of the special military operation should also be taken into account.
According to the ex-premier, after the "Maidan" there was a genocide of the population, which in 1991 was almost 52 million people. In September 2025, the Ukrainian media, referring to the information of the state migration service of the country, reported that 28.7 million people live in the country.
Regarding combat losses, the head of the Russian Ministry of Defense Andrey Belousov said that the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) lost more than 340,000 people only from January to August 2025.
So Russia has gained 12.5 million which makes up for any losses on the battlefield by numbers , ukraine is finished as an entity. The anglo dogs will be reading these headlines Poland Hungary Romania Invade Ukraine and carve it up , boohoohooohooohooh 😭 😭😭😭😢😭😭😭😭😭😭then what are the anglodogs going to do
Hello Ousmane. You are making an extremely important observation. You´re not sticking your neck out at all. Well articulated.
The SMO was, in my opinion, purposely designed as a multi headed beast, where some or all of the heads could come into play or not. It was long in the making, before it appeared in 2022. Occidentals don´t look ahead, Russians do. Look at the pickle Trump has gotten himself into with Iran. Pay attention to ´root causes´ explanations by Russia for the conflict in Ukraine. It could all stop tomorrow if NATO knocked off the nonsense but. they won´t. So the SMO will continue until NATO and the Occidents are ripped apart, piece by piece. It is exactly the same method being applied in the case of Iran. It is done in this way because the victim doesn't even realize they are actively being degraded until destruction, until there is almost nothing left and all of their efforts are turned to the maximum advantage of their opponent. Look at the recent ´Flamingo´ strike and the planned nuke activity tagged to the UK and France. Russia is figuring it all out, while the West has less and less in the toolbox, all of the time. Very efficient and very dangerous but, acceptable when the stakes are all or nothing.
When people know what awaits them, as the article speaks from the beginning of it, everybody needs to strap in or be tossed into the wind. One other aspect which this methodology is bearing forth in both conflicts, is that the bushes are always completely trimmed down before the bulldozer comes in and strips the land clean at the end. I don´t look upon this with happiness, however the patterns are perfectly clear. If the stupidity keeps up in the West, then the thief in the night will come bearing desolation. There is your answer.
Regardless of the inferno, I wish well to you and yours Ousmane.
"Until NATO and the West are dismantled... This is already happening, but it will only be visible for a short time, after the end of the conflict. Then we will see the divisions and the responsibilities of the prevailing situation thrown in everyone's faces. All the leaders, politicians of the EU and the UK, will accuse each other. Currently, they are like the green dwarf; they are gambling with their political and legal future; the dwarf is mainly gambling with his life."
Slovakia just cut electricity to Ukraine. NATO is drained of military resources, which is heavily effecting US operations and intentions with regards to Iran. The relationship between the US and EU is horrible. When looking back at the ´unity´ of the Occidents, there is no comparison to where it stood in the early part of 2022.
The building has been ingulfed in flames for quite a while now, probably since the 2023 offensive was smashed ( Bradley Square ) and definitely since the 2024 Kursk operation was crushed into oblivion. This isn't even casting a glance at the economic/technological situation in the Occidental. They are toasted and there is no way back. Nothing hidden here and it will stay visible forever.
Regarding the article, I was informed, and I still am, even if not completely. Nothing unusual there; Ukraine's neighbors remember what western Ukraine was like: a terrorist organization, and this was already the case at the end of the 18th century. Bandera didn't invent anything.
NATO has always been nothing more than a flimsy, inconsistent, and non-autonomous scarecrow. It's simply an alliance between nations, like those that have always existed since antiquity—nothing new. An alliance that only has value if each member feels threatened; otherwise, the allies stay home. NATO is the weakest alliance of all time: few resources, few personnel, it quickly loses steam, and its warlords are like 15-year-olds frantically waving joysticks. Faced with these leaders, the Russians can only be strategists, even if they aren't exceptional. The EU wants its war, and it will get it. After the conflict, dozens of fighters will flood into the garden and create chaos, a Banderistan. I'll go listen to the Slavic Ukrainians chiler and slap them. The days will be dark, very dark.
There are two main considerations in any war (even if a bit more complex in this hi-tech age). COMBAT and FINANCE. You need money to win a war, but if the cost of the war bankrupts you, you lose the peace.
To illustrate:
Britain put itself in this position during the '39-45 War
Converting its industries to a full wartime economy.
Losing its foreign markets.
Exhausting its gold and foreign currency reserves.
Selling off its foreign investments at rock-bottom prices.
Progressive loss of sterling as the world's reserve currency.
No longer the world's banker: instead crippled with huge debts.
The last annual repayment of its debt to the U.S. was made in December 2006. And to Canada also (the Canadian Government had the decency to send a very friendly letter of thanks).
The United States has put itself in much the same position as result of its recent endless wars, highly profitable to its "defence" industry, but running up a huge debt which an increasingly desperate government seeks to liquidate by pillaging the resources of others. A tried and tested tactic, but it only works as long as adequate strength and ingenuity can be deployed.
The Russian Federation has been successfully waging a proxy war against NATO, so far without weakening its economy in the manner expected by its opponent. On the contrary it is the sanctions imposed on Russia that have weakened its potential enemies in Europe, while its growing military strength has caused the United States Government to adopt a more circumspect approach.
No one can foretell, in the present awful situation, what the future may hold. But I am inclined to give Putin full marks for his careful handling of things to date.
The future may perhaps call for sharper responses.
How is Europe going to rearm? Where will it obtain resources for manufacturing such weapons at quantity? How long will it take to re-invigorate its manufacturing facilities including staffing? The USA also has large problems in manufacturing (see, for example, its inability to make artillery shells at scale) and resource procurement (see, for example, rare earth elements for radar systems, electric motors, etc.).
Once Russia is done in Ukraine, it doesn't really matter what eu do as long as they don't attack. And we are way to weak to attack Russia. EU heads were scared in 2014, they know they can do nothing but PR.
Spewing propaganda is the name of the game in America and Western Europe, since many in the West have been indoctrinated to believe every statement that comes from the Government or story that appears in the media .....despite the fact that none of them ever turn out to be true..
Ukraine is not only the largest country in Europe outside of transcontinental Russia, but it also spent 7-8 years digging in, fortifying its defenses and building the strongest, largest army in Europe. And being Slavs, they are the best, fiercest fighters in Europe along with their brother Slavs in Russia.
And you thought the war would only last a year? Who really is being foolishly unrealistic here?
Actually, they weren't getting ready to invade the Donbass until late in the game when it was obvious that the Minsk agreement was not being adhered to and that NATO via their Ukrainian troops were on the edge of invading the Donbass with the intent of a genocide against the Russian-speaking people there.
That aside, at a higher level, Putin early on knew the objectives of this game that the West was playing since the 90s - to weaken and break up the Russian Federation - and began preparing for the war he knew was inevitable in the future. He began the long process of rebuilding the Russian military forces to protect Russia from just that eventuality. By 2022 he was still not ready for the war but had to act anyway as the NATO-built Ukrainian forces were on the verge of invading the Donbass - thus you saw the military build-up near the Ukrainian border which was initiated in hopes of making Ukraine think twice about that.
The 'Special Military Operation' along with the sanctions provided Russia with the impetus they needed to develop new weaponry, expand the military, weed out the peace-time general staff, institute a massive 'import substitution' programme and prepare the Russian people to evacuate any remaining hope of living in peace with the West. By 2025, like the bear that has been rudely awakened and bursting out of his cave fully prepared to destroy the intruder, Putin was finally able to declare in public with confidence [I paraphrase] "We want to live in peace with the West, but if the West wants war, we are now ready".
Russia vs NATO was never going to be easy. This will go on for quite a while judging by the last round of negotiations. Bojo is calling for British troops to be deployed. It goes to show how little intelligence you need to be prime minister.
You're right, years. The green dwarf has the power to resurrect the dead. Did you even know how to count to 20 in college? The last to be sent to the front will be the 42,000 guys from the TCK, and when the first ones are sent there, you can count the ovens to witness the surrender.
Fair point. But let's be honest, which prophets have been closer to the mark, as things stand now? What seems closer to collapse to you, Russia or Ukraine?
In the first weeks of the conflict, I expected Russia to sweep across the country, such was the rate of their initial advance. Then when they got bogged down, and Western propaganda really peaked, and Ukraine started making their big 2022 gains; all I heard was how Russia was on its knees and losing millions of soldiers. This carried on through to the failed 2023 counteroffensive. That period was, in my view, peak propaganda on the western side.
Then from 2024 through to late 2025, coinciding with various Russian tactical successes, it was a bit the opposite - Russia is gonna send 1000 drones a night, 10mn artillery shells a year, hypersonic missiles like big macs, millions of Ukrainian KIA and so on.
Now in 2026, I honestly don't know. Supposedly the AFU is a spent force (again), yet they keep mounting effective counterattacks, they keep hitting important targets in Russia, and so on. Supposedly Russia is on the verge of permanently turning off all the lights in Ukraine, destroying the last vestiges of Ukrainian manpower, rolling up Zap / Donbass / whatever, and is taking a handful of casualties every day.
Neither is true, obviously. Neither side has inflicted a strategic defeat on the other in any part of the theatre in a couple of years now. If the Russians roll up Donbass I'll say otherwise.
The Germans could mount very effective counterattacks as late as Feb 1945, doesn't mean their goose wasn't cooked.
I don't pretend to understand Russian strategy, but I do know that Ukrainian victories get closer to Kiev each month and that only one side is relying on Press-gangs.
True, but the Germans had suffered significant strategic defeats prior, and their logistics and supply chains were in deep trouble by 1943. Ukraine has manpower issues, but enjoys the full technological, financial and logistical support of the west. Constantly comparing to ww2 is just not appropriate in this conflict I think, but I will say Putin ain't Stalin, as much as I loathe the man if he was prosecuting the SMO, it would have been over in one way or another by now
Stop with your strategic defeats, it just makes you look dumber than smart, which is what you thought we'd think. Some guy slaps you, you collapse, where's the strategy in your defeat?
What do you mean by strategic defeat? I suggest you deepen your understanding of defeat and strategy. Defeat certainly exists, but it is not accompanied by strategy or tactics. In defeat, you lose and submit to the demands of the victor, period. Stop using the Newspeak of political and media imbeciles.
The results of the first day of the military operation against Ukraine showed the first signs that a lightning victory is not in sight. The Russian Armed Forces, alas, failed to cope with the task of planning a blitz. One would like to hope that things will improve...
[...]
First. The air and missile "overture" had not yet ended when the Russian Ground Forces rushed into a ground operation. The enemy's Air Force and Air Defense have not yet been completely suppressed, and command and control of its troops and television and radio broadcasting remains intact. The centers of state and military command and control in Kyiv have not been knocked out.
During Operation Desert Storm against Iraq in January-February 1991, the Yankees and their allies spent a month engaging the enemy from the air, using Air Force forces and cruise missiles. And only then did they begin the ground rout of the Iraqis (4 days). During NATO's air war against Yugoslavia, air and cruise missile raids lasted from March 24 to June 10, 1999: 2.5 months. In both cases, the target country's television and radio broadcasts were disrupted.
Why did the Russian leadership decide to rush into ground operations when the air offensive hadn't really concluded? They could have at least spent a week targeting the targets, demoralizing and disorganizing the Ukrainian Armed Forces. They could have destroyed the capital's headquarters and the tele-brainwashing system, not just the military infrastructure. No, they decided to do everything at once – and they've already miscalculated. They seemed to have targeted the Ukrainian Air Force airbase command centers, hit the targets, but didn't disable the runways. They should have been destroying military targets more with missile, air, and artillery strikes! And here Zelensky is broadcasting freely on TV. The enemy was not demoralized.
An obvious and very serious miscalculation, fraught with dire consequences.
***
Second. Having extremely limited forces for the operation in Ukraine (only 200,000), without committing the Russian National Guard (Internal Troops) to the battle or mobilizing reservists, Moscow initially had only enough forces for two operations on terra firma.
- Encirclement of the Ukrainian Armed Forces' siege force blocking the LPR and DPR, which had been routed from the air.
A thrust from Crimea to the south of the Kherson region (to Northern Tavria) to provide water via the Crimean Canal to the peninsula, reaching the Dnieper and Kakhovka.
Instead, the small ground forces were literally dispersed and smeared, rushing toward Kharkiv and Sumy, which they failed to take immediately. Chasing three birds with one stone? And there are all the signs of the Russian Armed Forces getting bogged down in the battle for these cities. But the destruction of civilian objects and the loss of large numbers of civilian lives must be avoided. Only one success was achieved – the advance from Crimea to Kherson and the Dnieper.
The helicopter landing near Kyiv (Gostomel) – deep behind enemy lines – looks like a gamble. Why would it be necessary if we were stalled near Kharkiv and Sumy? A land attack on Kyiv is definitely not on the cards. And that was precisely what the landing at Gostomel was for. Why the hell were the troops sent behind enemy lines – to certain death? Under fire from the Ukrainian National Guard? The last thing we needed was our own Arnhem...
Usually, if a paratrooper captures an airfield, planes (and previously, gliders) carrying soldiers and weapons land there. With strong air support. Like in Fornebu (Norway, April 1940). And what's going on here?
For some reason, without waiting for the Ukrainian ground force besieging the LDNR to collapse due to air strikes, the People's Corps of both republics launched an offensive from deep within the LDNR against the triple line of defense. Don't you feel sorry for the Russians of the Donbas Ridge? What's the point? The besieging force still needs to be pounded from the skies, knocking out its headquarters, warehouses, artillery, and tanks, its command staff, and volunteer battalions of hardened Banderites. Turning the ATO forces into a demoralized, commandless mass.
The Russian Armed Forces' lack of hundreds of Orion attack drones, an alternative to the Bayraktars, is also having a significant impact. Unfortunately, a comparison of Moscow's actions with the operations of Turkish-Azerbaijani forces in Karabakh in the fall of 2020 is not in our favor. The dispersion of limited forces is obvious, as is the lack of modern means of waging local wars (including attack drones).
And the absence of a fully-fledged branch of the armed forces in Russia—Special Operations Forces—is also very noticeable. The very same forces that Colonel Kvachkov was never allowed to create, having been locked away. And right now, disrupting the enemy's rear and recruiting local supporters would be extremely beneficial. Let's recall how, in 1941, the newly created Separate Special Purpose Motorized Rifle Brigade (OMSBON) created groups for insertion into the enemy's rear, which were then recruited by local partisans. And a "small war" was unfolding behind the front lines. The partisans, after all, are special forces too!
In 1941, small airborne units operated behind German lines near Moscow, specifically as special forces sabotage and reconnaissance groups. Read Major Starchak's memoirs, "From the Sky to Battle!" Was this experience put to use? After all, during Desert Storm in 1991, the Americans and British successfully used sabotage and reconnaissance groups to disrupt Iraqi troops. The same thing happened in 2003, also in Iraq. And in Libya in 2011. And during the 1999 war with Yugoslavia, Albanian separatist units successfully fulfilled the role of sabotage and reconnaissance groups behind Serbian lines. The Yankees provided them with air cover.
***
It seems to me that they simply decided to play some kind of "Storm for the poor." They hoped to take the Ukrainian Armed Forces by storm, or, as they used to say in the old days, by raid. A daring raid. They say that after the very first air strikes, the enemy's army will collapse like a house of cards, and the enemy will begin surrendering en masse and throwing down their weapons.
Are they trying to save on cruise missiles and expensive precision-guided munitions? Or have they fired too many "calibers" in Syria?
Iran is replacing cruise missiles with much cheaper attack UAVs and loitering drone bombs. And where are they in our case?
We've been told a lot about the incredible power of domestic electronic warfare systems. But for now, the Ukrainian Armed Forces aren't cut off from communications, and Bandera-controlled TV is successfully keeping the local population in its psyche. So why not suppress them, since the TV towers can't be physically demolished?
***
And here's the real question: what is the goal of the operation? Well, the Bandera-Maidan regime will be militarily defeated. And then what? What should the result be? An allied Ukraine plus Novorossiya? Or simply a new Ukraine? Or several states within that territory? How will Transnistria be unblocked, where over 180,000 Russian citizens live?
If things get bogged down in Ukraine, how do you plan to get out of it?
How will Russia emerge from the economic crisis and build a new industrial power?
If there are no clear answers, there is no future.
I would very much like to be wrong in my conclusions. Very...
[...]
Moscow began the operation without clearing out the "fifth column" in its rear. We're not talking about small fry like Navalny, and they'll get their hands on him. No, I'm talking about the very big shots who run Russia's finances and macroeconomics. For some reason, they're completely unafraid of the FSB or the Investigative Committee.
But Russia has practically no "fifth column" of its own in Ukraine. No structures have yet been formed to work with the local population. The rudiments of a Russian underground that existed in 2014 have now been suppressed and destroyed. There's no new, pro-Russian government in Ukraine yet. Yanukovych has emerged, but he's literally making everyone in Ukraine sick. He's odious to the point of being terrifying.
Let me remind you of the experience of the German blitzes of 1940: they have strong supporters in France, Norway, and the Benelux countries. When the USSR was rapidly entering Bessarabia and the "Kress Wschodnie" of Poland in 1939-1940, it also had its own "fifth column" there.
Yanukovich stands no chance of being a protagonist in UA in the immediate post-Maidan period, if ever again. It is a futile speculation that fits pushed forward narrative. Like a novel.
If anybody from his term stands a chance, it is Azarov. If it was his way, he would have trashed Maidan.
Dude asking why this and that? Pinning troops down to have easier task in Donbas? Nobody knows what was the real task in the Gostomel, it was not taking Kiev. There are speculations, but are just that.
Comparing USA wars when they were planning for months in advance is mixing apples and oranges.
And also the mandatory something from WWII.
Just a blog, like this one.
Now in Ukraine people finally started blowing up regime structures. Yes, there is hatred in UA, but there is also sympathy. Haters are going to lose out, once again. they are generational losers.
Both sides need a lot of external help. But who is delivering? The wireless equipment for drones? Batteries and electro motors for drones? All the fancy Japanese pick-up-trucks (with halve of the parts from ...)? Who produces the electronic components for Starlink or simple walkie talkies?
"In a spiritually dissolute—and desolate—world, where not only meaning has been lost, but the future feels for many not even worth living nor dying for, what more tangible and pure a mortal pursuit could there be than war?"
Albeit, revolution, when it turns violent, is a sort of war. However human liberation movements, throughout the world, against anti-human globalist oligarchs would be a more pure moral pursuit than being proxies in struggles between quarrelling cliques of nearly identical oligarchs. Russia's negotiator, Kirill Dmitriev's resume is instructive; Harvard, Stanford, Goldman Sachs, WEF Young Global Leader, COVID jab dealmaker ... He is not someone Russians should be willing to die for.
It seems that Witkoff and Kushner are negotiating potential family businesses for the future, not at the country level. Just nepotism to enrich Trump family. What are the prospects of these businesses? I would say that they are bleak.
Main negotiator is Medinsky and he is a hardliner. I wonder what happened during a two hour, private meeting between him, Umerov and Arakhamia. Appears to be something very irritating to Zelensky, since he has lost it a bit with his profanities in a subsequent interviews, now he talks about WWII already being started, demands EU membership dates, we also have info about this nuke issue. Tick, tock.
Interesting that both Dmitriyev and Medinsky are originally from Ukraine with many pointing out that there are more Ukrainians in the Russian delegation than in the Ukrainian which is overwhelmingly Jewish
Well, I don’t agree with your geopolitics or interpretation of history but I will say you write well. And who knows, perhaps in the future that will be what matters!
Putting aside the blame for the war, I would just say it is not true the West has a conspiracy against Russia, has secret (or not so secret) plans for the country, is out to get it, etc. The truth is, since the time of Peter the Great, the West has never known what to do about that amazing, complex, and history-haunted nation. It has remained uneasily on the edge of our civilization, sometimes approaching, sometimes receding. After 1989 or so, we all assumed it would be a country like all others, which means one based on material success. But Russia, for better or worse, does not want to be a country like all others. Like Frankie notes below, it possesses some unique spiritual, almost messianic vibe, a sense of a special destiny. How magnificent, how troublesome to us, who just want to live in peace and sell and consume! I mean, look at the American president, for God's sake. That's a businessman, pure and simple. And we in the West have all become businesspeople, lovers of money and material things. All this at the philosophical level. I'll leave the geopolitics and human rights aspect out of it, because what's the point. You either believe Ukraine (or Canada, or Greenland, parts of Texas, all the land my ancestors stole from the original inhabitants....) has a sovereign right to exist in freedom, or you don't.
Russia's failure to take out Ukraine as I proposed in a timely manner will turn out to be a deeply regretted mistake as a result of bad decisions from the beginning of the war, which will have adverse repercussions in the years ahead.
Let me explain.
Russia needed to take out Ukraine in a timely manner, resulting in fewer losses of men and equipment overall, less war fatigue by the population, and less cost.
Why?
Russia knew very well that the US-backed NATO and its proxy Ukraine were a packaged enemy, meaning they would support each other with soldiers and or equipment.
So why in the name of god would they even consider an attempt to surround Kiev at the start of the SMO, without first softening enemy defences with an extended bombing campaign and using combined forces of ground, air, artillery, anti-drone guns and mobile drone operators?
Russia entered Ukraine with a half-assed plan, fully exposed convoys extending kilometres, with an insufficient force, poorly coordinated in parade-like formations. The SMO marched in on an untouched, well-entrenched and well-trained AFU army anxious to greet them. The ragtag SMO were taking such massive losses so fast that they had to leave equipment behind in their hasty retreat.
Now, if Russia had prepared its SMO properly with deadly intent, it would have advanced almost as fast as it had retreated. 😂 Ukraine would have been under Russian control long ago. NATO would have lost its proxy, preventing a link-up of forces from forming against Russia.
I'm not going to talk about all the times Russia admitted to getting tricked. But it may well get tricked again by its delay in ending and winning what has become a long and costly war. (It's not an SMO anymore)
Let me explain.
What is happening now is that Russia wasn't expecting such a lengthy war, and possibly an even more extended war against NATO and Ukraine. Zelensky said, "three more years." If this war goes on another three years, Zelensky assumes NATO would enter Ukraine and link up with AFU. That would be unfortunate for Russia, not just militarily but especially economically. This forever-first-war type of positional warfare has started biting into the Russian economy (see reply for references) and causing war fatigue in the population. Another three years of war, followed by more years of war, would greatly worsen the situation. In other words, Russia can't afford a forever war without compromising its economy and breaking the morale of the population's support of the war. con't
I love to see Russia suffer, crawling on its knees and NATO going delirious about its victory bee stings deep in Russian territory till it wakes up the bear and where will EU NATO be? crawling like a baby crying for its mother, why haven’t you warned us?
They expected Ukraine to fold when confronted with the reality of Russian steel, and got caught flat-footed when the certain outcome didn’t materialize.
1. The desire for a negotiated end to the war has grown from 22% in 2022 to 69% in 2025.
2. Support for fighting until victory dropped from 73% in 2022 to 24% by 2025.
Guess who continue supporting the war... - Cowards of the Bandera land.
"Support for continued fighting remains stronger in western and central regions. ... The highest concentration of supporters is in Galicia (Lviv, Ternopil, Ivano-Frankivsk regions) and Volyn." -- The same Volyn where banderites have murdered some 100.000 Polish women and children.
Sikorski-Applebaum "connections" are strong in Polish government.
You mean, the bandera-warriors who stay safely in western Ukraine away from frontlines or enjoy shooting unwilling soldiers gang-pressed on orders of the zionist Kievan junta?
Your Biletsky and Samoilenko have shown their total obedience to their zio-owners: "Ukraine's Azov Regiment visits Israel: 'Mariupol is our Masada'
Answers to your 3 queries, in order: Not well enough; yes, in a personal manner by not volunteering for military service, to put it mildly - emigration, desertion etc.; yes, partisan actions exist.
Now go back to suckling on your hog-mama's hind-teat.
RU is not making substantial errors in this Trag-Com. Taking a step in a direction, always being a gamble, that does not achieve immediate, ultimate success/end-goals, is NOT "wrong". Scientists/engineers do not have prescience, they experiment & test to failure.
I agree that russia entered this conflict not thinking it would span this long, it quite clear in retrospect that they expected a negotiated settlement by the end of 2022 and even withdrew from kyiv as a sign of goodwill in 2022. Boris Johnson has the blood of hundreds of thousand ukrianings on his hand by sabotaging the Istanbul talks. Even though I hold the view that russia will win this war in the long run, it seems obvious that whatever peace is concluded in ukriane will not hold in the long run.
Agree. They withdrew as that operation could only succeed/not be suicidal with an immediate ceasefire, as well as/although being sold as a goodwill gesture. The Westworld realised this.
Russia has been dwindling its strategic reserve to help finance its war.
Russia has lost production of nearly one-half a billion barrels a day from Ukrainian attacks.
So, the longer the war lasts, the more its costs.
The more it costs, the less reserve.
The duration of this war compounds the cost to operate it.
Time adds up to spending more, less time, less spending.
Would it not be best for Russia to do what it takes to defeat Ukraine expediently and then prepare for NATO?
I doubt NATO would even dare enter Ukraine without Ukraine. Russia gains a strategic advantage in Ukraine and reduces the cost of its war campaign significantly, which allows it to buffer its finances in preparation for anything NATO dares attempt.
How is this war affecting Russians' finances? con't
Russia has sold gold to finance the war, and it has lost production of about 400,000 barrels a day from Ukrainian attacks.
Based on recent data, Russia has been selling significant amounts of gold from its reserves:
300,000 ounces were sold in January 2026, bringing total bullion holdings to 74.5 million ounces — the first decrease since October
4.
Despite the sale, the value of Russia's gold reserves actually rose 23% in January to $402.7 billion, thanks to record-high gold prices
6.
More broadly, Russia's National Wealth Fund (NWF) gold holdings have dropped by 71% since mid-2022, as the Kremlin has relied on gold to fund war-related budget shortfalls
5.
Before the war, the NWF held 405.7 tons of gold. By November 1, 2025, that figure had fallen to 173.1 tons, with 232.6 tons sold to cover budget spending. The total volume of NWF liquid assets has fallen 55% to 4.165 trillion rubles (~$52 billion)
1.
Analysts at VTB Bank estimate Russia may spend up to 2.5 trillion rubles from the NWF in 2026 — roughly 60% of its remaining liquid reserves — if current conditions persist
5. Notably, because Russia is excluded from international markets and cannot sell gold on world exchanges, these sales are conducted domestically only and are unlikely to impact global gold prices. con't.
The longer Ukraine can hit Russian oil assets, the less barrels it has to sell and the less revenue there is to cover expenses. The US has never stopped its attacks to weaken Russia's oil industry.
From Shanaka Perera:
The National Welfare Fund, Moscow’s rainy-day reserve designed to cushion the economy against oil price shocks, held approximately $36 to $55 billion in liquid assets as of early 2026, down from $113.5 billion before the invasion of Ukraine. The Kremlin burned through half its gold reserves during 2024, selling 171 of 359 tonnes. Yuan holdings have been dumped. With Urals crude averaging just $36 to $39 per barrel in December 2025 and January 2026, deeply discounted below Brent due to the shadow fleet premium and sanctions pressure, Russia’s federal budget ran a deficit of 3.8 trillion rubles in 2025, roughly $49 billion.
Gazprombank analysts have modeled the depletion trajectory with uncomfortable precision. At $40 Urals, the liquid portion of the NWF lasts approximately 12 to 18 months. At $30 to $35, it is exhausted by late 2026. The 2026 federal budget capped NWF withdrawals at a token 38.5 billion rubles, roughly $460 million, an implicit admission that the cupboard is nearly bare. Moscow has pivoted to domestic borrowing at 17 percent interest rates, and GDP growth has decelerated to 0.6 percent.
This fiscal clock creates a binary strategic choice for Russia. Either comply meaningfully with OPEC+ quotas to support price, sacrificing volume revenue in the near term to preserve the war economy’s financial underpinning, or engineer a geopolitical disruption that spikes prices independently of production discipline. The seizure of the Marinera, reflagged to Russia mid-pursuit, and the explicit threats from Russian ambassadors regarding American boarding of Russian-flagged vessels, suggest the Kremlin is aware that its options are narrowing. con't
There's a big picture unfolding: The US is encroaching on the Middle East from Russia's south, while Ukraine, with possibly NATO from the North. Russia is being encircled. There's a power push going on in the region, and Ukraine is just one element. So what does Russia do now?
You tell me.
It's free. lol
I think Russia should launch a major coordinated attack and paralyze Ukraine's political and military infrastructure and control everything east of the dniper including the encirclement of Kiev while the US is busy in Iran.
Now is the time for Russia to attack.
It's a perfect opportunity because the US is tied up.
No one is expecting it except me and we. haha.
Zelensky wouldn't be getting a three year war out of this plan.
His ass be long gone from the Ukraine. 😂
Russia would control Ukraine, reduce its losses, keep the books in good order economically and be in a good position militarily to deal with any further threats from NATO or the US.
Totally agree, Ukraine is a part of a much larger battle. It began back in 2015 though some would say February 2014. The Hegemon is attempting to turn things around using the same strategy as caused their decline in the first place (fighting too many wars but winning no treasure to pay for them). The decline and fall of the Empire is inevitable, the question that remains is will they nuke us all on the way out?
That Russian gold is denied to the markets contributes to a strengthening of global spot prices.
But aside from that, are you saying, Denis, that Russia is on the verge of economic collapse and that Ukraine just might win this after all? And are you saying that Europe is now relatively stronger after these years of proxy battle? Are you saying that the US is stronger now than they were 4 years ago?
Just what are you saying, Denis? War is expensive, very expensive - for all sides. Guns v butter, and all that. So if you consider Ukraine and its European 'partners' as a unit v Russia, who has the better chance in a war of attrition - a de-industrialised, energy-starved, resource-deficient people with a bifurcated and weak logistics network, or a determined, war-savvy people blessed with a huge industrial base, rich in resources and cheap energy and a vast, efficient logistics network?
Yes, and it's ludicrous to think China would let Russia go it alone if things got bad for them. The Russian were meant to fall over after the sanctions from hell, remember. Ofc they are putting fiscal reserves into the SMO. They will continue to, they have gained a LOT of very high value territory and millions of new citizens.
The Chinese foreign minister was clear in a meeting with Kaya Kallas - "China cannot let Russia lose as we know we are next". Also defending against accusations that China was directly helping the war effort - "If we were involved in the war, it would be over now." These are not empty statements.
This war against BRICS depends on Iran. First, the US failed to achieve a quick victory against Russia, then failed their trade war against China, now they are attacking the weakest member. If the US fails to gain a quick victory, then they'll boss around Latin America, leaving the EU looking stupid.
Yes, they control much of the strategic resources. Hence the deranged Hegemon trying to regain the lost glory. If they weren't so dangerous it would make an awesome Greek tragedy.
The selling of gold by the NWF may be described as masterful. As you noted, the price continued to increase. The RU central bank was a major buyer, no?
Russia was never going to take out Ukraine leaving the west fully armed and vital, to mire Russia in its own 'new' mud. This conflict has been fought masterfully under Putin's direction, to defang the entire collective west...... Much to China's delight.
Yes, the Chinese must be exceedingly happy with the direction things are taking. Imagine the US getting bogged down again in West Asia. Some people never learn.
This guy Shryver is just feeding his sheep what they want to hear. On X his forecasts are always wrong, when called out he blocks everyone who disagrees with his tripe.
Some highlights:
Before 12-day war: "US cannot penetrate the Iran AD, they won't be able to fly over Iran territory"
On Ukraine: "Ukraine lost its n-th Army, now it's on its last army, about to collapse"
The guy is as bad as Martyanov and carries none of Andrei's unique personal charm.
Russia needed to take out Ukraine back in 2014. Latest by 2016. It failed to do that because Putin is a cuck and wanted to cut deals with the Oligarchs and listend to Medvechuk too much
Your description of the way Russia should have fought the war, would find Russia deep inside enemy territory, surrounded by many unknowns, unable to provide security in the areas taken. A "Red Dawn" situation if you will. It didn't work in the movie, and it wouldn't have worked in Ukraine. Do you have any military background at all? Doesn't seem so... Chip
Well it took eight years to get from the 2014 coup to the start of the SMO. NATO used that time to train, arm, and equip Ukraine. But Russia also used that time wisely. Two sides with eight years of preparation for what is now underway. But the tide is most definitely on the Russian side... Chip
If Russia had with one hand pinned the bulk of the AFU south and east, while the other captured Kiev in the first 72 hours, as was clearly the original scope of the SMO, it would have executed one of the most briliant combined diplomatic-military campaigns in history. As it stands, the martial sciences can still learn from the strategic deception that cloaked the build-up, the multi-pronged co-ordination during the first phase of the invasion, and the compensatory actions taken after the failure of the initial operation. However, any claims (akin to the "Kievan Feint" Hypothesis) that the war has progressed according to initial plan must be laid aside, so that the correct lessons for conflicts by others, in the future, and elsewhere, can be gleaned.
"If Russia had with one hand pinned the bulk of the AFU south and east, while the other captured Kiev in the first 72 hours, as was clearly the original scope of the SMO"
Kievan Faint is the way to go. Cannot take almost 4 mil city with cca 20k troops. Faint plus pressure for negotiations. Ze initiated negotiations on Feb 25 already.
Warfare plans have changed profoundly because of the new drone warfare. Both sides are inventing and adjusting daily. At all levels.
It is a deeply flawed plan that claims the VDV's losses at Hostomel a victory. Decapitation strikes do not need to siege an entire city; I do not expect Maduro Raid levels of competence by RuAF, by surprise, speed, and violence of action - all of which they had, but not enough to cross the critical threshold - can enable a force of a few thousands to physically disrupt, detain, and destroy a national government, and its civilian control over the military.
Anyine claiming a Kievan Feint is committing themselves to unwarranted claims of Russian incompetence, as opposed to the reality of the situation: they made an excellent try, and failed, more or less fair and square. Such are the fortunes of war.
But what were the VDV loses at Gostomel? I just saw a video yesterday about this assault that claims that all the tasks were fulfilled. So which one is it? How do we know at this point? What were their tasks? I do not know.
"Decapitation strikes do not need to siege an entire city; I do not expect Maduro Raid levels of competence by RuAF, by surprise, speed, and violence of action - all of which they had, but not enough to cross the critical threshold - can enable a force of a few thousands to physically disrupt, detain, and destroy a national government, and its civilian control over the military."
All this assumes that there was such a plan, namely decapitation. But it does not seem to me. It seems that what Rus say is genuine: pressure government into negotiations to peacefully resolve the issue (and pinning down probably the best forces in Kiev to alleviate the potential problems in Donbass, where their main goal was - to help the DLPR population).
Why feint as incompetence? They pressured Ze into negotiations on the very next day.
Actually Russia never planned to take Kiev, and this analysis by US Marine Corps officers concludes the beginning of the SMO, reported as a disaster for Russia in the Western press, was actually a brilliant tactical move 👇
This just might be the Year of the True Test for NATO/EU/US. Hungary and Slovakia believes that Ukraine has undermined their energy security by blocking oil from Russia through the Friendship Oil pipeline. The facts are supporting the complaints as both nations were threatened and were subjected to terrorist acts. In Hungary the Ukraine leadership is openly supporting Tisza Party with Peter Magyar in leadership position, Brussels’ pro-war activist in the country. The Slovak PM Robert Fico almost lost his life in an attack in May of 2024 and PM Orban’s life was also threatened already. As of yesterday (2/23/26) these two nations teamed up to block a 90 billion Euro EU giveaway package for the year to Ukraine, as long as Ukraine blocks Russian oil from flowing freely to them. If Ukraine is unable to place a hand on that cash or at least a large part of it, their war fighting and golden toilet resourcing capacities will be greatly diminished and it is difficult to see them effectively carrying on with the war to the end of this year. Something will have to give: Either Ukraine opens up the oil valves again or the EU changes rules and that will not be easy. As far as the two hardened politicians in Slovakia and Hungary, they show no signs of backing off. Also the general population is also against the war and financial support from the EU.
They always support the sanctions eventually. They just get something in return, especially Hungary.
I have seen reports that Slovakia is now asking EU representatives to confirm Ukrainian story that Druzhba pipelines are indeed damaged, because Ukrainians do not allow Slovaks to come and inspect it. I wonder what would EU say, wink, wink.
Slovakia did stop electricity supplies, but more of the electricity is coming from Hungary and they said they would not cut it because of the Hungarian population in Ukraine. Ze knows he is in command, unfortunately.
Mr. Z is already in a vulnerable position playing a give and take. The corruption issues, forced enrollments by the UAF and weakened support for the war by his own population are clearly need to be paid attention by him. If Hungary and Slovakia will be joined by a few more countries and the UAF weakens to the point of running here and there, this war can be over before next Christmas.
But EU will help him out as much as possible. Like I mentioned earlier Slovaks seeking help from EU (why?), likewise Hungary is also seeking help from EU, actually both, to help them out with oil deliveries, when EU does not give a damn about neither of them.
A lot of posters on this forum do not realize the thin line Putin is walking with the ‘Special Operation’. It is hard to believe for many, the brutal historical trauma handed down to the Ukraine population by Stalin and his homicidal maniacs in the 1930s is a major reason why it was possible to drag Ukraine into this conflict. On the other hand, Putin does not want to repeat the same mistake. For Russia it is critically important to finish this conflict without EU/NATO forces on Ukraine territory. This leaves the Russian Army a thin line to walk. Russia could have bombed half of Kiev into a dust pile by now but that would have been counterproductive to their main goals.
The way I see it, segment of Ukrainian population, the one originating from Habsburg empire, has always had a "destroy Russia" trigger in their ideology.
They could only dream about establishing a country that they inherited from commies, but instead of enjoying it, they impoverished it and turned on Russia again. Because that is their MO, raison d'être.
Depends on how you define "originated". It could be perceived that it originated form W Ukraine, since it was W Ukrainians that started it, by attacking their E Ukrainian compatriots.
>It is hard to believe for many, the brutal historical trauma handed down to the Ukraine population by Stalin and his homicidal maniacs in the 1930s is a major reason why it was possible to drag Ukraine into this conflict.
WTF am I reading???
Do you know where Bandera was born? In Austria-Hungary.
Do you know which country he was citizen of when WWII started? Poland.
Shukhevych, Melnyk, Stetsko, etc.? Same thing.
Because Galicia was part of Austria-Hungary until 1918, then became Polish for the interwar period. There was no "Holodomor" there.
Meanwhile the post-collecitivization famine stretched from the Dnieper to Altai.
More like "it is critically important" for EU/Murikan forces not to overtly adventure onto Ukraine territory. Do you think American bases globally cannot be "touched" by RU, but Iran can, albeit on a more local scope? Those there covertly are getting whacked in significant numbers.
They will be repaired, how long it takes is the point though. Hungry is up for elections soon. April isn't it. If Orban goes then then the calculus will shift, especially in Serbia and Slovakia.
Orban is staying even if half the pro-Brusselite retarded, criminal pedo gang there has to be channeled into the nearest state prison. The present FIDESZ party system is very deeply imbedded into the whole of the state apparatus. I repeat, the Romanian story will not be duplicated in Hungary.
It is hard to estimate the repair time for the pipes as the full extent of the damage is unknown. I heard Zelensky has already changed into his overall, running around with his toolbox. If the Russians are as smart as they think they are they will send a few Oreshniks there once a week to stop Z from going to the bank.
"...for the purpose of bleeding Russia dry for the sake of people that in actuality hate both sides, including the Ukrainians, whom they merely pretend to “like” so as to use them as a battering ram against Russia."
Indeed, but why? For fun?
In my view it is easy to explain why if we look at the current trajectory of the West. We have to remember that our leaders are none too bright and can only think one dimensionally, and a couple of steps ahead, if any.
The West, having ridden the post-war wave(s) of prosperity to global domination, became fat and lazy through the 60's and 70's and a bloated husk in the 90's, drinking their own kool-aid, believing that all they need is money, and they can buy everything they need. The West sold off their control over global supply sometime between the 80's and 00's, and got rich purely from printing money, using it to buy stuff that other countries now made.
Flash forward to the 2007/8 global financial crisis, a direct result of the short-sightedness of Greenspan turning the financial system upside down in the late 90s. This set the stage for a gradual economic descent into madness, culminating in the perverse reality where we were literally paying the banks trillions of dollars to lend money cheaply, under the threat of another great depression.
Ordinarily this would have triggered another world war, but with the West in a perpetual state of self-loathing, and hopelessly unprepared, it was far easier to release a military-grade virus and lock down the world, culminating in the release of tens of trillions of printed dollars into the global economy to effectively heal the prior 10 years of global financial farce.
However, during the COVID years, a startling reality dawned on those in power in the West: The West no longer controlled global supply, and all the money in the world was useless if there was nothing to buy with it.
This relit the fire under the West, but instead of getting down to work like their fathers and grandfathers did during the war years and rebuilding manufacturing, the goal became to enslave the productive countries. This began with Russia.
There is another perspective to this as well:
With the continued deindustrialisation of the West and the rise of the "service economy" powered by pure financialisation, there is nothing to do for millions upon millions of people who would have ordinarily worked dirty jobs in manufacturing. These jobs can't exist now, they don't pay enough to afford the amounts of debt now required to exist, for the produced goods remain competitive. Some find employment in caring for the elderly, and the rise of childhood Autism.
Now, with the rise of AI, even soft jobs now threaten to become redundant. What will people do? Mow each others' lawns? Clean each others' houses, for ever-greater amounts of money? We can't ask accountants, or teachers, or administration workers to code, similar to the steel workers of the 90's, so the final solution is (financial) socialism. Please tell me if I'm wrong.
For financial/corporate socialism to have any chance of success, it requires complete control over global supply, otherwise it can only result in hyperinflation or global insignificance, possibly both.
The goal becomes to enslave the productive countries. This began with Russia.
This war has been fought in the media as much as on the battlefield . Both sides have been painting a rosy picture for domestic audiences . For any informed observer it's obvious that this is WW3 and new fronts are being opened all the time . I hope we survive the point when everyone goes all in. IMO there are way more nuclear armed countries than are openly stating it.
Well, like I said I expected it to be a controversial take
It's not a bad take in the abstract, but it falls apart in this case because:
1) Putin has done everything possible to suppress the resurgence of patriotic spirit once the war started.
2) The war could have both been fought seriously and had that beneficial effect, in fact it would have had much more of it had it been fought seriously.
3) He has edited the American written constitution of the RF but has not removed the "no ideology" clause which is a big hindering factor in Russia and the war as a whole
Unfortunately all wars are banker wars.
Epstein said that the Ukrainian war would provide "opportunities." He was funding opposition figures in Russia he wanted to be president. Epstein was working as the mob leader for the Rothschild banking cartel. Epstein was identified out of an elite high school and worked his way up through the banking system - Harris to JP Morgan. The Rothschilds and Blackrock own most of Ukraine now. One of the problems Putin has is the Russian central bank which is charging the state 18% while they are at war. They call it fighting inflation, but it is really to fight Russia's capability of running deficits to fight its war. I think the head of the central bank works for the Rothschilds. Just for comparison, the charter of the bank of England says the purpose of the bank is to finance wars, and Western banks are now changing 3-4% and Trump is hollering he wants interest rates lower. I expect there are people in Russia, and elsewhere, who think Putin is an obstacle to winning the war. He just doesn't scare anyone anymore.
Your article suggests Russian share national characteristics that I observed in SE Asia/Central Asia, especially Cambodia, East Timor and Afghanistan during their conflicts. The populations know they have to fight tooth and nail against any aggression, which makes sense given their history of empires rising and falling and armies rolling through them. I guess there are less geographical barriers than in Western Europe where wars are more civilized, and so through a Darwinian process the surviving countries in Eastern Eurasia rely on their armies and sacrifice.
The recent border clashes demonstrated how the Cambodians instantly united, understanding what was at stake, sending troops to defend against the much larger and better equipped Thai army. The Cambodians have a high tolerance of casualties, like the Vietnamese and the East Timorese.
More civilized in Western Europe ? WWI? Dresden and Rotterdam in WWII?
Well, 6 million of Polish citizens, 27 of Soviet citizens. Slaughter of Poles in Volhynia by OUN/UPA Bandera Galician Ukrainians. Not gruesome ? Look up the film Volhynia by Wojciech Smarzowski. I don’t want to give you examples of the brutality because it’s unpleasant to even read about it. Enough to say that UPA didn’t use bullets much to kill 100 thousand people. I think that was on the level of Japan.
By Europe, I meant Western Europe. I agree that the USSR has a high tolerance of casualties and continued fighting. How quickly did Poland surrender in WW2? Yes, massacres occurred after they surrendered, but my point was countries like Vietnam and China kept fighting despite high losses.
The truth shall set us free.
I see nothing controversial in your post.
Rather, the objections are that the Russians should have just rolled over and died.
I do despair that there seems to be no way out. But here we are, "us or them" where "Us" and "them" are ill-defined.
Putin is determined that the war should be fought in such a way that it does not damage the Russian economy; this includes unnecessary loss of life on either side. I think he is as much concerned about winning the peace as well as the war, which, for instance, is why an economist Belousov, is minister of Defence, not some fire eating general.
"the Russian economy" means the interests of Russian oligarchs.
Russia has no nuclear deterrence any more as it missed many chances to use it.
In the end it shall be bombed.
In the USA, the country works for the oligarchs, it's true, the whole system is built on the idea that "What's good for big capital is good for everyone."
In Russia, by contrast, Putin has created a system in which oligarchs work for the country and benefit from it, not the other way around.
You are completely delusional and out of touch with reality.
Even after four years of evidence to the contrary.
What makes you think the system in Russia works for the country and not for the oligarchs?
The insane wealth inequality?
The complete abandonment of the border regions to constant bombing and shelling?
The total refusal to strike the Ukrainian elites, let alone the Western elites?
Nabiulina deliberately killing domestric reshoring and re-industrialization with 15-20% interest rates?
Continuing to supply the enemy with fuel and raw materials for four years of war? Because, in Putin's exact words, "we get money for it". Who is "we"?
Kiril Dmitriev being the chief negotiator and offering the West a return to the 90s?
Etc. etc. etc.
Didn't Stalin supply Nazi Germany with fuel and raw materials too? Was he working for oligarchs too?
The last train went to Germany on June 21st 1941
There were no trains after that
You see the difference?
The real red pill is realizing that Putin blundering this war in the non-catastrophic way he has will be a good thing in the long run, as it will cause the hardliners (as in KPRF) to take over and force Russia to stop being a Yeltsinist oligarchy.
That's the hope, but it is contingent on Russia surviving this. I am not at all sure about the "non-catastrophic" part.
Putin himself has a very harmful effect. Yes, the country is in a much better shape than it was under Yeltsin. But that is what made Putin untouchable and beyond criticism, which enables him to do very bad for Russia things with no consequences to him.
And while it is in much better shape, Russia is not developing as it should be, which is prevented precisely by Putin and the oligarchs around him.
The SMO being so catastrophically mishandled is generating resentment that can overcome that mental barrier.
But it's not enough yet. And it's not at all clear if the country will survive.
Also, the KRPF is controlled opposition, there are real hardliners among them, but as a whole they are not the answer
You are deeply mistaken and have a poor understanding of politics and economics. You're talking with populist slogans.
Russia conducts its policy pragmatically. All actions have consequences, and abrupt actions have unpredictable consequences.
If, for example, on your advice and the advice of many populists inside Russia, the central bank rate had been lowered to 2-5%, but there would have been a jump in inflation and we would have ended up with the situation of Iran and Venezuela with inflation over 100%.
Do you think this has a good effect on the internal stability of society and the ability to continue fighting?
The rest of your advice has about the same level of usefulness.
Reshoring with what labour? There is already a labour shortage in Russia and even jobs that barely require any education like milk factory work saw huge wage raises.
Automation
The coming, very soon too, problem will be what to do with all the people made redundant by automation
What evidence to the contrary?
We seem to be talking past one another. Let me try to go very slowly here and plead with you to try to understand my intent despite what you believe I may have posted.
First: wealth inequality is indeed very, very real. What is your "solution"? in the '50's', the US had tax rates of up to 90%. I'd not oppose bringing that back.
US Oligarchs tell Trump what to do. Putin tells Russian Oligarchs what do to. While I would rather not have any Oligarchs, I don't see how to eliminate them at the moment. What's your plan?
I often refer to the many factions "Anglo-American Oligarchy/Deep State/Jewish Mob" as being in control of the USA. Who is in charge in Russia? Don't wimp out and tell us "Putin" as if he alone makes decisions for all of Russia. You aren't that naive, you can't be that naive. Expand our knowledge. If Putin were to be dead tomorrow, what would change in Russia? I imagine -NOTHING-.
Rather Russia's equivalent to the "Anglo-American Oligarchy/Deep State/Jewish Mob" will install another front man like Yeltsin (Trump) and will continue to exploit Russians.
Putin (from here) is Russia's FDR. He's kept the economy going and he's united the people behind him.
FDR was assassinated and then the "Anglo-American Oligarchy/Deep State/Jewish Mob" worked diligently to regain Fascist control of the USA. Is that what you want for Russia?
I have tried really hard to understand your position. I don't get it. You condemn Putin for everything. Most of which I do not believe is under his control.
You are the Russian "Lindsey Graham" always pushing for something that sounds good but which isn't real.
>First: wealth inequality is indeed very, very real. What is your "solution"? in the '50's', the US had tax rates of up to 90%. I'd not oppose bringing that back.
USSR is the solution.
>US Oligarchs tell Trump what to do. Putin tells Russian Oligarchs what do to.
Not true. And you don't have to believe me, we have Russian lawmakers and various other people in a position to know in the last few weeks publicly stating that Russian Oligarchs are telling Putin what to do and that is why Russia is ready to surrender.
>While I would rather not have any Oligarchs, I don't see how to eliminate them at the moment. What's your plan?
Lenin showed how to do it. You kill them all.
>I often refer to the many factions "Anglo-American Oligarchy/Deep State/Jewish Mob" as being in control of the USA. Who is in charge in Russia?
Mostly Jewish oligarchs. Which explains a lot about Russia's geopolitical stance. And nothing else makes sense of it.
>Don't wimp out and tell us "Putin" as if he alone makes decisions for all of Russia. You aren't that naive, you can't be that naive. Expand our knowledge. If Putin were to be dead tomorrow, what would change in Russia? I imagine -NOTHING-. Rather Russia's equivalent to the "Anglo-American Oligarchy/Deep State/Jewish Mob" will install another front man like Yeltsin (Trump) and will continue to exploit Russians.
It's an open question. There will be a power struggle and it's possible that the liberals take over and sell out the country. But societal mood is strongly in the other direction so it's also quite possible patriots prevail. Patriots will never prevail with Putin in charge though, that is certain.
>Putin (from here) is Russia's FDR. He's kept the economy going and he's united the people behind him.
FDR was not a positive figure. FDR's self stated goal was to save capitalism and prevent a communist revolution. Which is what he did by making concessions, which concessions were to be taken away at a later time point.
Putin's task was exactly the same -- make sure the communists don't come back. That does not make him the good guy, at all.
>FDR was assassinated and then the "Anglo-American Oligarchy/Deep State/Jewish Mob" worked diligently to regain Fascist control of the USA. Is that what you want for Russia?
Russia has only been close to Fascist in the last decades of Tsarist rule. Culturally the whole concept is foreign to it. But it's precisely the Whites that did a counter-revolution under Gorbachev and Yeltsin.
I want a return of the USSR. A substantial fraction of Russian society wants that too, it's why you see people flying hammers and sickles everywhere.
>I have tried really hard to understand your position. I don't get it. You condemn Putin for everything. Most of which I do not believe is under his control.
Actually a lot is under Putin's control, but let's make this a separate reply, because it deserves it.
>You are the Russian "Lindsey Graham" always pushing for something that sounds good but which isn't real.
Please. Lindsey Graham is a Nazi. I want Russia to fight the Nazis again and not just let them win without a fight. Don't make false equivalencies. Stalin was just as bad as Hitler in your view too, I guess?
Replying separately to this:
>I have tried really hard to understand your position. I don't get it. You condemn Putin for everything. Most of which I do not believe is under his control.
As I have been explaining for years here, the reason nothing in Europe has been nuked is that doing so would severely hurt the Russian oligarchy.
First, that is the permanent end of any relationships with the West. But those people dream of being admitted back in the club, never mind that nobody ever accepted them there really previously, their money was welcome, but they themselves were always seen as second class, and that has not changed.
Second, Russia may find itself isolated internationally. That will be a good thing for it -- it will force it to move to a truly autarkic regime and invest properly in indigenous development. It is the only country on the planet that has the capacity to do that. Reliance of resource exports will cease, local industry will develop.
Which will completely undermine the power of the resource export oligarchs.
The banking oligarchs will also be destroyed, because they rely on the dollar system for their current positions.
It is for these reasons that Russia has allowed itself to be attacked ever more severely and Putin has refused to defend the country. The Russian oligarchy forbids it.
But guess what? If Putin actually nukes Poland, then he will have crossed the Rubicon again, and those considerations will no longer apply the same way. Which will untie his hands to make further moves. Internall and externally.
And as far as I know the Russian oligarchs don't control the launch codes.
So Putin has it in his power to strike back and to paint the oligarchs in a corner they can't escape from.
Russia isn't sending industry to China, that's Germany.
Russian firms can get a preferential rate.
A Russian savings account is paying 14.5%. There is only two ways that can be possible: loans are being made or the RCB is crediting accounts by adding the interest payments off-the-books.
Interest of 14.5-6 inflation rate=8.5 spread. That's a hyuuge incentive to save. It may create rising price pressure later, but that's probably a few years out.
The 'Russian economy' means what it says. Real wages have risen 25% net of inflation, during the SMO. It is the same military Keynesianism that boosted the US during WW2. It has been strongly reinforced by the boomerang effects of sanctions - returning capital and import substitution. That is good for the people. Many are employed by the state in one form or another. Putin, domestically, like his model General de Gaulle, is left of centre. He is a pragmatic man of the people.
He said a long time ago that he did not believe that making the rich poor would make the poor rich.
Controlling inflation is a long term Russian government aim. Wars usually make it dangerously worse. That is what the West wants. Putin has avoided that. It is all a question of priorities.
Without nuclear weapons Yeltsin would never have been able to recreate the Russian state and achieve the valuable status of 'successor state' to the Soviet Union - UNSC permanent seat etc. Russia has no interest in lashing out mindlessly. Vengeance, if required, is a dish best eaten cold - as for example France is finding out in Africa at Russian hands.
Not using a nuke means Russia can't use one now?
1 Russia isn't going to nuke territory it intends to liberate.
2 The rational world doesn't want Russia to pop off a nuke.
3 Russia is going to liberate much more of the Ukraine. Leaving it impoverished and landlocked. The western Oblasts in the Ukraine will be occupied by Romanian, Hungarian, Slovakian and Polish "peace-keeping" forces.
The two oreshniks used destroyed two underground factories. It will be years before the factories can be excavated and the corpses removed. No nukes needed.
Russia is to weak conventionally to achieve anything without nukes
That's why Russia is advancing and the Banderan army stays in retreat. Cuz Russia keeps nuking the Ukraine?
The " Russian oligarchs" left in Russia, work for Russia - or they are ' invited' to fuck off to the west. True power is having the power and knowing when to use it - or not. I laugh at all those in the west who want Putin gone - he's the most pro European, calm, quiet, reasoned leader Russia has had, and if he's pissed off at Europe...... anyone coming in after will be far less reasonable.
'this includes unnecessary loss of life on either side. '
.
Complete nonsense. Explain that to the 1.75 Million dead/maimed Ukraine's and 500 thousand dead/maimed Russians.
.
What planet are delusional people living on.
.
OMG - Zionist Putin is the biggest WAR CRIMINAL of the century!
Read the original Russian ' mission statement', part of which is " ..to reduce the Ukraine military" - which is exactly what they are doing! Listen to the soldiers on the ground ... " they may be slavs, but they either surrender or die - and many Ukrainians actually refused to surrender, because " Russians don't surrender"! Trouble is, Ukraine is run by the Banderistas, tge nazis, who are Eastern Ukraine Galicians, who hate everyone, Russians, Poles, Europeans ... everyone. Until they are neutralised, ( also part of the Russian mission statement) the fighting will go on
I do also find this sociological-moral defense of war as a regeneration of the national spirit (or similar stuff) very annoying.
If I were Russian and I would like proof to believe in that, I would demand to see all oligarchs’ children / grandchildren, starting with Putin’s, to volunteer on the frontlines in real combat roles (like Stalin’s son, e.g.). Because, what better way to demonstrate your patriotic fervor and your steely commitment to leading the country to a better destiny than to sacrifice your children for the Motherland??? That for starters…
Also, nobody’s going to comment the nuclear device thing??? I am starting to get really uncomfortable with what’s going on now.
I think there’s a good chance that the big events that we are seeing now are somehow interconnected. The bizarre Venezuelan operation ,the release of the Epstein stuff, the ongoing Iran tensions, and now Putin freaking casually talking about folks smuggling nuclear bombs into Ukraine??? C’mon!!
Most leading analysts show a completely lack of imagination thinking that a potential attack on Iran would look like a repeat of Irak 2003 and that the US would get its teeth kicked in the process. But I very much suspect that an all out attack could start very unconventionally, with a series of escalating terror acts, false flags etc across the whole region, culminating in a scenario were Israel would say: look, we are not left with another option to save Israel and avoid another 6 million than to nuke Iran hard.
Bingo. I had most of my primary education in Franco’s Spain, and though they were the dog’s years of the dictatorship you could still find old books for children lying around full of that martial fervour. The elevation of war to the status of spiritual practice IS classic fascism.
The way the stakes are being raised and the nuclear option keeps rising I’ve started to think, sod Russia and multipolarity, not worth it. Give up Putin, I for one can live quite happily without a Russia in the world. We’ll just limp on with what we have at the moment thank you very much, until civic society wakes up or we run out of oil. The avoidance of open war is a virtue in itself.
After reading about Sitting Bull and others, Little Big Horn and all that I always thought, what’s the point of this when there were Sioux leaders who’d already clocked which way the wind of change blew? To end up dragging a much diminished tribe into a reservation?
If the Russians and the Chinese don’t really have a viable global alternative why followed them into wars they can’t win cleanly and totally? What good is all this to the people of the Donbass?
Well said, it used to be that the Russians were AT LEAST admired for their military skill and their decisiveness. SMO shattered that illusion, as it shattered the image of Putin as anything but a servant of oligarchy.
In the west; fascism is on full throttle and rising at a rapid rate. If you can't see that, you are blind.
What are you on about / Are you for real?!
Take for instance, Joseph Borell's expression of Europe as being
a garden. A garden to whom?
What sections will have to be molded to become pliant by
rigorous wheeding, cutting, and pruning?
These ratfaced degenerate bastard elites hate our guts.
They wants us incapacitated or dead, our children transed
and abused.
Z. was elevated to his position by Kolomoisky.
Kolomoisky the oligarch, crimelord, sayanim.
Russia is governed though " Directed / Managed Democracy"
Just like us. A mirror image.
=> No Good Guys
=> No White Hats
#shoveling #shuffling
The leaders' offspring fighting... Good idea. But will rarely happen. In my opinion, in this conflict, it would be a great idea to force them to the front line.
Consider this: In Afghanistan Prince Harry was serving on the front line. Literally. Until a news report went viral, thereby resulting in the UK military leadership removing him. The reason was that to kill/capture him would have been a propaganda coup and, therefore, the Talaiban would be going all out to attack his unit.
But, especially in a conflict such as this, I agree with the thinking.
This is a very good prognosis.
Israel, the USA, they are not only ready to use n weapons on civilians, they are eager to do that. Unlike Russia, they take the matters of war seriously.
How can you say that Putin has needlessly prolonged the war when western representatives have prevented ceasefire negotiations every time they've been on the table? Do you think it was 'wimpy' of him not to strike targets outside of Ukraine (like London, Berlin or Washington) when Russian red lines were crossed?
If Syria was still under protection/quarantees from Iran, and as much as I hate to say it, Russia.
.
We WOULD NOT HAVE the Iran WAR TODAY!! - Syria was a buffer prior to 2024, now its the PERFECT launching pad for air-strikes by Israel! and Zionist Putin knows that very well. Just like the Ukraine is a launching pad for deep deep deep penetrating strikes into the Motherland! all thanks to Zionist Putin it's still daily strikes for the last 4years into Russia. What individual believes and supports Putin is delusional beyond help.
Wimpy? Putin is playing the longer game. You let stuff go if it's not optimal to the overall picture - you don't forget about it - acting like the west doesn't win the fight. Syria was a side show and Assad wouldn't listen to advice. Venezuela has not " fallen" - the Chavista' are stronger than ever and the deputy is more intelligent than Maduro, who is now an embarrasment to the US. Lashing out like a 5 yr old schoolboy, as the west does, is usually counter productive, but ghe west does tend to see lack of reaction as weakness, and like all bully boys, doubles down - right up until the brick wall falls on them!
Whether there is a best case or worst scenario going on:
Putin is not your friend, nor mine. Least of all OUR friend.
The West is saving Russia from Putin by sabotaging negotiations.
There is no possible positive for Russia outcome of this war through negotiations.
The absolute minimal winning condition is the complete disappearance of Ukraine as a state and then of the Ukrainian identity too.
Nothing short of that will bring lasting peace.
And, of course, that cannot be achieved through negotiations, because nobody would ever agree to it.
But instead of pursuing real victory Putin is negotiating over whether Kramatorsk and Slavyansk will be handed over to him in exchange for abandoning Kherson and Zaporozhye city.
P.S. Back in 2022 it wasn't just Boris Johnson who broked up the deal. The Russian General Staff was against it too.
Why do you conflate GM's keyboard maximalism with RF positions? lmao
You are completely right!
It really sounds like you just hate Putin. Engaging in negotiations doesn't preclude pursuing victory - but victory over whom? All parties involved understand that Ukraine has no agency in the matter.
If Russia were to storm Kiev again and take control of the country, an alternative government would pop up in Lvov and the process would continue, but with the added propaganda bonus for the west of Putin having done what they all said he wanted to do. Unfortunately it's really up to Ukraine (and the rest of us in Europe eventually) to stop being lackeys of US imperialism, easier said than done
>Engaging in negotiations doesn't preclude pursuing victory
It very much does if victory means the disappearance of the other side.
>If Russia were to storm Kiev again and take control of the country, an alternative government would pop up in Lvov and the process would continue
You take Lvov too. It will continue to where from there?
For Russia to forcibly take control of the whole country would mean to have it occupied by their troops, which takes time and which is what they are already doing in the east.
I really find this kind of complaining that Russia isn't doing its war fast enough for you, quite distasteful. There are hundreds of soldiers (mostly on the Ukrainian side) dying every day to hold onto territory, how do you think Russia just magically sweeps through all that faster than it already is? Let alone while preserving civilian infrastructure?
You need to cut off the supply of weapons.
Then it will still be a grind for a little bit, but it will become easier and easier over time.
There has been zero meaningful attempt to do that in four years, which is the cause of all that death and destruction.
Had it been done on time, we would not be in this situation.
Or, there is a death cult at work.
=> GMO humans, clot shots, turbo cancers.
=> Eugenics, Abortion, Euthanasia. Assisted suicide.
=> Organ donation malfeasances and theft. End of Life Pathways.
=> Dehydration + opiates & Midazolam for the elderly and infirm.
=> Absolute materialism. Scientism. Nihilism and moral relativism.
=> The liquidation sale of neoliberalism. Antinatalism.
/pet peeve
/J's, freemers, jesuits, dominionists & the muslim brotherhood
/having a wild rave party under my bed
The west has no interest in negotiations because they have no reason to negotiate. The war is going swimmingly, as far as they are concerned.
Hell, Ukraine could collapse today and it wouldn't bother the West much, other than they'd use it as an opportunity to sell more weapons to Poland.
You are fully right. Putin caused unnecessary suffering of Russians. Now, as Ukraine would soon get nuclear weapons, it is clear that his aim was to lead Russia into defeat and suffering.
The Russian elite never supported decoupling form the west as their souls are not Russian but western. Recently John Helmer wrote about internal infighting in Kremlin where the pro western fraction managed to take full control.
Furthermore, Putin had chance to use this war as a pretext for real social changes in Russia, as Dugin advocated.
But now, we see an almost comic weakness, inability to destroy/finish Ukro infrastructure. I am completely sure that Russia wont retaliate if hit with nuclear weapon. The loyalty of Russian elite, and the rich educated class belongs to the West.
So, this war is a missed chance and this century is American century as neocons had planned.
>So, this war is a missed chance and this century is American century as neocons had planned.
For which the Chinese have to be blamed too.
Let's say Putin decided for good reasons to keep this war constrained with certain limits.
Still China could have, with not too much effort on their end, ensured a total and decisive Russian victory.
Instead they supplied more to the other side than to Russia.
Even though they themselves are the ultimate target of all this, and they have to know it.
Yes, the Chinese behavior is even more strange.
They are the next target for sure, they shall be destroyed and killed even more ruthlessly as there is a raciest moment there also.
But the accept the western dominance silently and try to satisfy their greed by supplying the West.
They want to be good boys.
In fact I know why is that, they have also a huge pro capitalist and pro western middle class.
The other motive could be fear.
Everybody except NK is afraid of USA and Israel.
It's the lack of any state ideology apart from pro-capitalism and, by extension, pro-West. China loves profits up-and-down the hierarchy of their 996 lifestyles.
Lack of alternative "worldview" makes places like Russia and China basically converge to the West over time. That's why the populations of St. Peter and Shenzhen would join the EU or any other Western structure in a heartbeat if that was a choice given to them.
Money is end-all, be-all. There's no room for "nation" or "borders" or "self-governance" in that mindset.
what is 996 lifestyle?
Basically the capitalist view, or the middle class or bourgeois view seems to be some kind of the final "worldview" of the naked ape as it goes no further after that mindset is reached.
Lets hope their civilization be somehow destroyed.
Yeah 996 is the evolutionary dead-end. You work from 9am to 9pm, 6 days a week. You have enough time to scroll your phone before sleep and maybe to go do some shopping on Sunday. No real quality time off, no social life. Just earning enough to cover your inflated mortgage payments. That's happiness.
This works very well for the capital-owners. The population is docile as they have no time to even become individuals, they're just cogs, mental zombies.
Chinese and Russian leaders try to avoid a general war, because they are afraid of it. Any rational thinking person should be afraid of war in world with tens of thousands of nuclear warheads.
That is why Putin and Xi are trying to prevail in this conflict that they have not wanted without any unnecessary escalation.
In the case of China this should be clear for any observer. The country is getting stronger in all respects, while the USA and Europe are in a serious political and economic crisis. When the enemy is committing a mistake do not interrupt, said Napoleon.
In twenty years time, the USA will not be able to think even about confronting China.
The case of Russia is very different.
It is remarkable how resilient and strong the country is, if one considers that it has nearly on third of the population of the USA.
It is silly to compare Russia to the URSS.
The war continues and no-one knows how it will end. It does not seem logical to judge the match before one sees the final score.
One thing seems probable. Ukraine will not recover Crimea. Also the water supply of the peninsula is guaranteed.
Ukraine will not recover any territories occupied by Russia now.
It is also very probable that Russia does not want to occupy the whole territory of Ukraine.
It would be enormously expensive and would also
impact very negatively in the Russian domestic process.
The main extant question is the future of Odessa.
If Russia eliminates Ukraine and the West from the Northern shore of the Black Sea, that would be a great victory for her. If not, one could call it an ugly victory as forsees Mearsheimer, a draw or even a partial defeat.
As of today, no-one can tell.
>Chinese and Russian leaders try to avoid a general war, because they are afraid of it.
How do you explain that US or EU leaderships are not afraid? The materialistic West, even the dry protestant countries like The Netherlands, or Denmark.
Th victory belongs to the ones who are not afraid.
China simply hopes that the Americans will turn on them last.
In a way, it makes sense to delay pain, as the CCP's current case for legitimacy stems from delivering rising standards of living and development.
Helmer's article was a real eye-opener.
Very unpopular reading at the Moon of Alabama, the Internet home of Putin-boosters.
As one writer put it, "a strong country should always wage a small victorious war somewhere on the border, so that the army does not relax."
Your understandable criticism of Putin's handling of the war are unrelated to the topic Simp wrote about. I agree with both of you.
An excellent article, it truly highlights the bombardment of absolute bulshit the parasitic elite utilises to distract the population from blatant and transparent crimes they endlessly exploit to increase their power to do harm to their betters.
For the most part, the Ukraine itself is and has historically been Russian territory for 1000 years. In terms of traditional values, the British people belong on the side of the Russians; while the City of London, Whitehall and Westminster need to be cleansed of the infestation of the Khazarian false Jew Usurers, their Satanic Zionism and their ultimate goal to ethically cleanse both the Anglo-Saxon, Slavic and indeed the majority of White Europeans from the earth.
The trouble with the English speaking world in particular is that they have been ruled by the same ancient criminal elite who marched into Britian with the Roman Legions nearly 2000 years ago.
The piracy of Elizabeth I has never ended, and will only end if those of true British heritage take back their country by force and perhaps join with the Russians to take back Europe from the Trillionaire False Jew Usarers with their ultimate eugenics programs based around the fraudulenly printing money out of thin air, effectively increasing a false debt slavery with every financial or military conflict they dream up.
Many I'm sure will wonder what I'm talking about, but the single most effective way of controlling the human live stock has always been to stop them from ever truly communicating with one another, conflict in all its forms has and continues to be the most effective way of achieving that goal, failing that, there is always shooting the messenger.
Oh du bist sooo ein gutes Mädchen . Nur Frieden für deine elenden Bandera Nazis. Warum habt ihr nicht 2014 auf den Naziputsch verzichtet? Warum habt ihr die UN-Sicherheitsratsresolution 2202 von Februar 2015 nicht um gesetzt ? Warum habt ihr 15000 ukrainische Zivilisten im Donbass massakriert? Dein Poroschenko hat euch doch versprochen , das die bösen Ukrainer im Donbass sich in den Kellern verstecken müssen und frieren müssen und kein Strom haben werden. Warum hat jede ukrainische Stadt ein Bandera-Gebäude , ,Bandera Denkmal , Bandera Platz, Bandera Straße, Bandera Kindergarten ??? Diese ganzen dreckigen verlogenen und korrupten Nazis gehören in die Hölle und ihre Unterstützer erst Recht. Ich hätte kein Problem damit , wenn die russische Armee noch einmal nach Berlin, Paris und Waterloo marschiert.
Pointless negotiation is at least, negotiation. Just because you are talking doesn't mean you are going to deviate from your goals. Don't believe the self mirroring media. Diplomacy may be dead in the west, but not in Russia and the east. The strategic goal remains the same - and will be acheived, frustratingly slow it may seem at times. Things are speeding up though - even Putin can't resist the pressure from within and the Russian military wants victory - sooner rather than later. There will be no "deal", and the pressure is building to use as much force as is needed to end it.
Me neither.
Sie hätten kein Problem, wenn die russische Armee nach Berlin marschieren würde? Das kann ich wohl glauben. Geschmack Sache!
Wird's so was passieren?
Nicht in den nächsten vierzig Jahren, wenn überhaupt.
He’s quite careful not to, ISTM. No one disagrees that war is a dirty, squalid business, but the point he makes is that it has certain social consequences and one of them is that it keeps Russian society sharp and poised to defend itself in a way the degenerate West is no longer able to do. Britain was the same until the 80s, when deindustrialisation, the end of the Cold War and postmodernism kicked in.
Yes. The very obvious ‘tell’ on that point is that UKania has squandered tens of billions on a pair of white elephant supercarriers and a small fleet of fantastically expensive yet spastic VTOL F35s so as to ‘project power', yet our home island’s anti-missile defences are nonexistent.
As the Chinese say: ‘A man with a hammer sees only nails.’ Or more aptly, ‘A President with a MICIMATT Complex to satisfy sees only regime change operations and foreverwars.’ This is Blackrock’s war, but the schmucko Eurogoys are being made to pay for it. And Slavs being slaughtered too? It’s a win-win-win for Larry Fink & Co.
OK, you don't want war.
So... what's your solution?
......
crickets
......
more crickets.
Maybe listen to Tangen describe the "Hate" that is endemic in West Virginia. People aren't stupid, they're just ignorant. The "Anglo-American Oligarchy/Deep State/Jewish Mob" depends on that ignorance to remain in their positions of power and prestige. How do you propose they be removed?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJNyu82m4yI
"Post-traumatic stress if they live." Only the weak are traumatized as they are in everyday life by the slightest minor setback.
As for the rest of the post, it's a very personal account that has nothing to do with reality.
"It is a grimy, dirty, awful business, and the grunts in the trenches just try to survive dreaming of home and safety"
No disrespect Elena, but speaking as an ex "grunt" myself, I can only say, NOT all of us, and if it wasn't a "grimy, dirty, awful business" it wouldn't be war would it?
"To every man upon this earth, death cometh soon or late;
And how can man die better than facing fearful odds,
For the ashes of his fathers, and the temples of his Gods"
True now as it was then.
Well I've had the misfortune to know a few rich people (maybe not super rich but rich enough) and to think that any of them have the character to do the HARD thing instead of the easy one (i.e. grubbing about for more money), is like expecting an ape to compose an opera.
So that's why they aren't hogging the experience, it's the hard choice to make and not the easy one.
You'll never see vermin like oligarchs and politicians running towards danger.
And honestly from my own experience the kind of people that spend all their time hiding and hoping for safety and home instead of adopting a martial attitude usually get killed first.
the old lie "dulce et decorum est
pro patria more"
Yes, that IS a lie. In my case I was never a patriot (british) and wouldn't piss on the UK of today if it was on fire.
My military experience comes from foreign wars, but fighting for family? that's a different thing.
Ah yes, has Putin surrendered again? "I don't want war, I want victory." Stick to erotica.
Most people don't realize that when the Epstein class visits Kiev they need to get permission from the Kremlin so their trains don't become targets.
EU, NATO and Zion US is much w,,,,,!
A shithole.
Definitely weaker, more hopeless, more chaotic, far poorer.
Slowly, definitively being eaten alive.
The population of Ukraine after the confrontations on the "Maidan" in 2014 between supporters and opponents of European integration in 12 years decreased from 45 to about 20 million people, former Ukrainian Prime Minister Nikolai Azarov said in an interview with RIA Novosti.
He specified that since the months of actions in the center of Kiev in 2014, Ukraine has lost 12.5 million 🎯residents of Crimea, Donbass, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, partially Kharkiv regions.
In addition, according to European data, the EU has accepted about nine million Ukrainian refugees. Another three million people are excluded from the population due to its natural loss. He noted that those who left for Russia and the losses of Ukraine since the beginning of the special military operation should also be taken into account.
According to the ex-premier, after the "Maidan" there was a genocide of the population, which in 1991 was almost 52 million people. In September 2025, the Ukrainian media, referring to the information of the state migration service of the country, reported that 28.7 million people live in the country.
Regarding combat losses, the head of the Russian Ministry of Defense Andrey Belousov said that the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) lost more than 340,000 people only from January to August 2025.
So Russia has gained 12.5 million which makes up for any losses on the battlefield by numbers , ukraine is finished as an entity. The anglo dogs will be reading these headlines Poland Hungary Romania Invade Ukraine and carve it up , boohoohooohooohooh 😭 😭😭😭😢😭😭😭😭😭😭then what are the anglodogs going to do
👹
Duh
Damn!
LOL
You're on the Ford boat, the toilets are out of order?
Re your second point, see the book by Chris Hedges "War is a force that gives us meaning."
apart from the sexism ("men will fight"), it's closer to reality to say that while in times of peace men can create, build and invest for their society's welfare and prosperity, in times of war they may kill and destroy. it's conditional: if there's war, men will fight (nationalism, patriotism). if there's peace, they invest in development, welfare. it's called culture: in times of peace those in possession of their full human faculties will not choose destruction (war) over building (peace).
I think the issue is times like now: culture has in large part degenerated into exploitation. The rich get richer, the powerful do what they want, the powerless suffer what they must, that sort of thing. I think we are at the transition point where war, violence, destruction of the status quo, starts to seem like the only way out for too many men.
(And I do believe that instinct to violence and destruction affects men much more on average than women. I would guess the transition back from a time of wanton destruction to peace and construction, looking to the future, is mediated much more by the impulses of women.)
exploitation of the poor and of women and children has been the norm rather than the exception for a long period. even in western societies. in that sense the Industrial Revolution has not been kind to humanity, although various struggles have been fought to at least address the harhest forms of exploitation.
"even in western societies"
Is that a typo? Or are you excluding Western colonial atrocities, which ofc were targeted at the indigenous populations without regard to age or sex? Which societies can even come close?
by western societies (colonialism) or in western societies (feodalism; lowest-paid working classes). "Which societies can even come close?..." - this is not the place to go into that, although many societies are and have been involved in exploiting labour/the poor in one way or another. for now let's agree that it's sickening to realise the many opportunities for exploitation provided by war and violent conflict.
Agree, as both a retired engineer and retired military I find/found satisfaction primarily in building/creation. While at the same time having felt it a noble thing to defend my country and help oppressed peoples and defend freedom (even though these fairy tales propagandized by our government/media all turned out to be bullshit). Being retired, and seeing my country for the evil empire she truly is, I get my enjoyment in the creation of things and helping friends/family... Chip
So you did not defend anyone, you went out to kill people that had done you no harm.
Actually, though I was deployed into multiple combat theaters of operation, I was never involved in the actual fighting. As I military engineer I designed and built things in those theaters that supported the troops doing the actual grunt work. But if you read what I wrote, and you responded to in amateurish fashion, I did think at the time, that I was defending my country. And now I know that I was used so no need to "thank me for my service". Have a blessed day Frank... Chip
I know, it might sounded a bit harsh, especially since all US ex soldiers I've met during my life have never killed anyone. They were engineers, drivers, cooking for the 'service men' ( what service is provided by them?) or where deployed for bathing their feet on the beach in some foreign country. I just wonder who then killed all the millions around the planet that were killed by the US forces if no one ever admits that they did the killing.
>>...I did think at the time, that I was defending my country.<< Sure you did x-thousand miles away from your own shores. Enlighten me, what brain damage must one have to truly handle such a contradiction of facts versus believes?
I don't need a blessed day, thank you, Chip. I don't believe in blessing of any kind, I believe in human kind and love and harmony, after the sick and evil and their mindless followers have been eradicated or re-educated.
"Sure you did x-thousand miles away from your own shores. Enlighten me, what brain damage must one have to truly handle such a contradiction of facts versus believes?"
Well in the late 80's (and as a 20-something) I believed what my gubberment told me, "USSR Bad". So I deployed to German for three years where I saw the Berlin wall come down. I experienced East Germany which was a complete hell hole compared to the West. I saw/experienced first hand the differences between communism and capitalism as practiced at that time. So yeah, I thought we were liberating those people behind the iron curtain. Later, it was 911. As I sat in the office of my private small business watching the towers come down live on TV I thought WW3 was underway and so wanted to get back in the fight. And did so, thinking it was the right thing to do, listening to the bullshit espoused by our "leaders", and generally naive/blind to the bigger picture.
So I'm sure you have had it all figured out since you were born Frank. I wasn't so lucky but am learning, which I try to do every day. Let me add, that I don't think, base on your responses, that you believe in human kind, nor love, and most definitely NOT harmony... Chip
@Frank Sailor
(Quote)
"I believe in human kind and love and harmony, after the sick and evil and their mindless followers have been eradicated or re-educated."
----------
You seem to be good with "eradication" and forced re-education of people you deem "others". Perhaps you should join a military?
Odd. I know plenty of US veterans who admittedly killed plenty of people, including women and children.
@Frank, you have no idea what's happening in the US. People grow with a certain mentality and pride in the country (and nothing! is wrong with it) but it shocks me how Americans don't see anything wrong with barging into another country/semi-sphere, etc. If you watched the State of the Union (if not, I recommend) it's very telling - it was heartbreaking to watch a young pilot, whose legs were shuttered while he piloted the US chinook helicopter (cleary large amount of soldiers inside) to kidnap Maduro. The personal courage and bravery of this pilot, who didn't crush the helicopter while being severely wounded to save his comrades-in-arms - a truly heroic act of a person whose courage and skills were used/abused by those who sent him to kidnap Maduro -nobody will ever convince me that kidnapping Maduro(or killing leaders of other countries) is okay. But when I told the above to my good American friend (military wife) her reply was " I'm actually good with Venezuelan mission. Army has been worried about Chinese presence for many years there, plus they avoid sanctions, and sell oil avoiding sanctions." A totally lovely person, but what part of "Venezuela is NOT USA" she didn't get? Lots and lots Americans are like that - it's like "world is my oyster in terms of what precisely belongs to the US"
@Chip - we all believed some wrong things at one point or another - I believed in communism just like my parents. Some of the smartest/best educated people I knew (in all countries) believed in communism. So, some of us, we needed to go through experiences, disillusions to arrive to hard-earned truths - nothing is wrong with it!
>>apart from the sexism ("men will fight")<<
Nothing of sexism in that, it's an historical fact.
That some women are also fighting in every war is not relevant, it's a less than important minority.
That men fight is born out of the western view that men are stronger and more fit but disposable - women are not, they're needed to breed more men/soldiers. Plus women are generally not physical fit/able to fight battle.
That whole sexism talk is getting boring. We men and women have done well together for more than 200 K years and now all of a sudden we have 'sexism' - another stupid, cultural degenerate approach to divide humanity invented by the sick and mean ruling class.
Just today, UK Child Protective service was called up in a school because a 15-yr old said "women have an easy life." Parents called for interviews etc.
sick!
My friend's son (14) was almost expelled for calling another boy "fat."
who cleans the house of that 'sick and mean ruling class', for wages too small to carve out an independent existence? the term 'sexism' might be a modern construct, but untill very recently even in western societies girls weren't given the choice to go to school and women weren't entitled to own and sell their land without having to ask permission to do so from a husband or a brother(s). large parts of our economies are kept afloat by underpaid labour in slave-like conditions, often women or children.
No one was talking about who cleans the dishes and all that stuff. Fighting is one thing, cleaning the house another.
It is evident that it is men who are fighting in Ukraine. To begin with, Ukrainian men cannot travel abroad if under 60.
Women can exit the country without any problems.
Some exceptions? No doubt. Exceptions confirm the rules.
“Men will fight” is sexism? Sexism is a modern-day cultural construct. “Men will fight” is an iron law of evolution.
only partly: not all men, and not all women not. better specify who you mean.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/DwYs5Akgem4
listen carefully, if you like
but I will specify, it's not all women ;-)
So what DOES happen when, not if, the Ukrainians miraculously develop a nuclear weapon, and threaten to use a Flamingo to deliver it?
Does Russia nuke Ukraine first?
My bet would be London, Paris or Brussels.
No, the Russian elite love to travel to those cities.
The Russian elite would rather accept destruction of Russia and death of millions of Russians then harm the west.
You are still living in the 90s.
I have many young educated Russians around me.
They are all devoted to the West, even more then the native Serbians.
young educated Russians who live in Serbia? Maybe even moved to Serbia around 2022-2023? :))
Are there any educated Russians in the circle of an uneducated person? What use are you to them?
yes, those people
They didn't want to be "sharpened" by the "SMO" led by cardboard generals. Can't blame them.
Every country has its share of stupidity.
Tons of Russian IT guys/families left for Russia from West coast US
Do you have any information if they are happy living in a Dream?
A biased, non-objective or insightful, comment... Chip
Well, 150 years ago, Russian or Ukrainian nobility (spahias) used to force peasant women to give breast feeding to their noble puppies. New oligarchs are a kind of new nobility.
Wasn't the same habit in the Western Europe?
It was, but much before.
Not any more. Russian "elite" know full well they will be the first on the menu if power in Russia is overthrown. Sanctions on russian oligarchs and their property in the West scared the hell out of them and now it's existential. The old model of looting Russia to hide loot in the West is no longer working, and they know it. As such, the brilliant western masterminds aligned the interests of Russian peasantry and its oligarchy as the entirety of Russian society now sees themselves as American Indians fighting for survival. And the main criticism of Putin is that he is too soft.
I am not sure. I would say that the Russian elite still have high hopes that one day, one distant day they would be accepted in the club of teh western elites as equal. So that can have dinners at some new Epstain's place.
I doubt even they are that stupid. By "elites" I mean those at the very top, not the people you see around you.
Maria Drokova showed the way.
yes. The world elites are not so much different from each other.
That "fusion" is amazing.
In the end, that capitalist dreams seems to be an universal dream of the most. Unfortunately, Homo Sapiens is very limited.
The perspective is terrible. Most of the world populations still, I say still, after everything, want to become American of EU capitalists.
It is a dream about power.
Humans are great at telling themselves that an exception will be made for them.
Witness how many Ukrainians went from Soviet cadres, to pro-Russian, to pro-western, all without missing a beat.
And how do these elites travel to these places after having their property stolen and being banned from entering them?
Well they casually rule there, nobody dares do harm them.
Hahahahahahahahaha. Be afraid, they will come and eat you after sexually abusing you.
I mean that's where their children and mistresses live so obviously those are safe.
It doesn't change all that much actually, except for two very important things, which I will get to at the end.
1) For them to destroy Moscow, they would have to launch hundreds of Flamingos at the same time, all with a nuclear warhead in the several hundred kilotons range, because likely all but one of those Flamingos will be shot down given how good Moscow's air defense is. We have seen such attempts previously -- they launched over 500 fixed-wing drones at Moscow on May 8 last year, and they didn't get a single hit. They will need less than that in Flamingos because they fly faster, but it's still a triple-digit number, and there simply aren't hundreds of medium-sized nuclear warheads available for that.
2) Let's say they nuke some Russian cities other than Moscow. The response will be (hopefully) the annihilation of the whole of Western Europe and North America. Thus the Ukrainians won't be allowed to do that.
3) Russia was never going to nuke Kiev, or even Lvov, thus Ukraine was never under any threat of being nuked regardless. So Ukraine doesn't need the nukes for deterrence.
4) The winning move for Russia was always to nuke Europe and physically cut Ukraine off. If Ukraine had nukes, well, guess what? The winning move remains exactly the same -- you nuke Europe, Ukraine is cut off, you finish it off at your leisure, and in such a scenario the Ukrainian oligarchy will cut a deal instead of launching nukes at Moscow.
The dangers are:
1) Nukes will be used tactically to destroy the Russian MIC and military bases, which with the current cucktain-in-chief in the Kremlin will not be responded to adequately, because he will try to somehow rationalize it as being sub-threshold due to the deart partners' skins still being more valuable to him than his own country.
2) Nukes will be handed out not just to Ukraine, but to all of Europe, and with independent control over them. Which eliminates Russia's winning move of nuking the shit out of northern Europe, then taking over with ground forces, and having the north Atlantic and the Rheine be the new border. Once both sides have nukes that makes it possible to have a protracted interminable conventional war. Which will exhaust Russia at the cost of some fully disposable from the perspective of the people driving all this proxies, i.e. the trap will have shut with the bear in it.,
If you knock out israel see how peaceful this planet will be
Yeah, World War 1 would never happened. Oh wait...
Guess who instigated WW1 ? Guess who made sure the Germans didnt win ? Guess who used ww1 to destroy the Russian monarchy ? Guess who ...............
I don't think even you believe in the 2 options you wrote as probable:
1. It's not possible no matter how cucked you believe Putin is that there won't be a nuclear response against the West in such a scenario. Putin may be cucked but he did launch the SMO, so he isn't some vassal or retar.d.
2. Nukes have not been allowed to proliferate as a main policy of the US. The risks are too great for the US. It is a historical fact: Taiwan, S Korea, NATO countries, Japan have been 100% been discouraged from having nukes. Even Britain and France have had pressure on them not to have nukes. A country with nukes is one election away from being independent of the US and becoming an existential threat, not to mention what nonproliferation actually means for US global interst(imagine Cuba, Nicaragua, Canada, Saudi Arabia had ICBM tommorow). Maybe you'll say that the US can't lose an election, because the elites are bought, but they have lost many times(Georgia, Venezuela, Columbia and many other times).
>Nukes have not been allowed to proliferate as a main policy of the US. The risks are too great for the US.
The risks are zero if there are no delivery systems that can reach the US
Look at Pakistan
Pakistan was not encouraged by the US to have nukes. Can Pakistan develop ICBMs? Yes, it will takes a couple of months and it will not be cheap in many ways. Will it upset US and China? Absolutely, and the economic consequences for minimal security gaines will be too great for a country as broke as Pakistan. There is also no threat to Pakistan from the US or Russia or China. So what's the motivation for this expensive program? As a matter of fact, India just developed ICBM only a couple of years ago, buy they barely cover China and not the US or Russia. I believe my arguments stand on historical precedent as well as game theory which is the neocons/deep state favourite model. For context juat look at how impossible it is for ths US to bully N. Korea even when Russia and China went along with economic sanctions, just because of nukes. Any country with nukes is too big of a threat for a nation that wants to impose its will in all areas of the world.
The US will prevent anyone to get nukes. It's a lot easier to do that with US vassals and "allies" than enemies. Iran is not pursuing nukes; that's just bs so he can attack Iran. If Iran were to have nukes, the risks are different. The pressure on countries not to have nukes is huge and from all great powers(sanctiona against Iran, N.Korea, S Africa, Lybia, Iraq were supported by Russia and China multiple times). Pakistan and India have also been sanctiones by UNSC , but since these countries clearly have a security dilemma with each other and are isolated in that way, they are less of a concern.
oh, yes. The US will prevent it. Of that at least I am sure. The US does not seek nuclear rivals or those that can blackmail the US with such a weapon.
The sole reason for the creation of NATO was the US nuclear umbrella, and the Europeans, naive and believing themselves important and useful, were deceived. To this day, not a single American president—senile, demented, or worse—will risk the destruction of the USA to protect Borrell's garden gnomes.
The US may not have encouraged Pakistan, but they didn't stop them either, and haven't done much about it since.
Have you ever heard of container ships? Or trucks coming across the borders?
As always, you're refusing your dementia treatment. There are plenty of stupid posts here, but yours, how can I put it, are supernatural.
Ukraine does not have the capacity to develop a nuclear weapon: (1) resources required, and (2) facilities subject to obliteration. The two reasons Britain passed its "Tube Alloys" [atomic bomb] project to the U.S.A.
If Russian Intelligence manages to locate a supplied nuclear weapon, or suspected nuclear weapon, in western Ukraine, there should be no need to nuke it.
A pre-emptive precision strike with a missile with conventional warhead should suffice.
If it turns out to be a genuine nuclear war-head, radiation leaked can be blamed firstly upon whoever supplied the weapon and secondly upon the deranged regime to which it was supplied.
What people say about Ukrainians is false; they are no more skilled than in Third World countries. I've seen it firsthand. A country without skills is a poor country, even with rampant corruption.
@EH
(Quote)
"they are no more skilled than in Third World countries"
----------
There were/are some VERY technically skilled people living in post 1991 Ukraine. 3rd world countries don't build state of the art aeronautical & space propulsion systems, many of which WERE built for the USSR (and now, some Western aeronautical and space launch companies) in some of the areas which became independent as Ukraine from 1991 to 2014. Motor Sich, Ivchenko and Yuzhmash weren't 3rd world enterprises.
The majority of scientists, engineers and skilled technicians involved in those high tech enterprises spoke Russian, as did most academics (and other well educated locals).
The majority of scientists, engineers, and skilled technicians involved in those high-tech enterprises spoke Russian, as did most academics (and other well-educated locals). They followed the Soviet curriculum. It's important to remember that all Ukrainian companies were Russian; the Soviets didn't relocate them, they simply relocated the Russian territory where they were based. The Ukrainian SSR was Soviet, and its engineers followed the Soviet curriculum. This has nothing to do with any distinct Ukrainian national identity, which doesn't exist. The name "Ukraine" as a nation was first mentioned in the 1920s.
The Ukrainian fascist regime in yet another parallel to their German fascist predecessors alienated and persecuted a group (Russian ethnic) for political reasons which happened to contain a disproportionate % of the areas more educated and capable people...
Old Nazis, new Nazis, same motives, same BS.
1. Ukraine doesn't need to develop nuclear weapons. Britain and/or France will be happy to donate them, regardless what they tell the public.
2. The word "if" is doing a lot of work for you. Considering how many times Russia has been caught flatfooted, I do not have much faith in Russian intelligence.
We wonder what would happen if you became the richest person on the planet. Believe in heaven and hell, for the sake of credibility.
I will stick my neck out on this one and say that quite frankly the way the Russians have handled this war is bizarre, at year 5 with the prospect futher than ever before I am trying to understand what an end game peace will look. It's is clear that ukriane will not be the last battle, Europe is gearing up to attempt a rearmerment, the situation in the middle is headed toward regional war and the united states despite its public posture of removing itself from the conflict continues fan the flames of war. Quite frankly the writing on the wall points to a much larger war on the horizon.
Wenn das russische Volk seit Ende des WK II ein Trauma mit sich führt, das Trauma des "Grossen Vaterländischen Krieges", in der Tat eines der brutalsten Abschnitte dieses Krieges. Dieses Trauma, jetzt wieder auflebt, "wir gegen den Rest der Welt, unser Heimat, unser Russland", dann hat man was genau geschafft? Ein kriegstüchtiges vereintes Volk, bereit für eine Ausweitung des Konfliktes, wenn "nötig". Die eigentliche Frage ist jedoch, wozu dienen diese Konflikte, eingebettet in den globalen Szenarien? Welcher Teil einer Gesellschaft (sowohl des Westens als auch Russlands) wird in den Schützengräben liegen? Was genau sollen die Menschen "verteidigen"? Renditen.
Gute Fragen!
Und Du hast das antwort. Die Renditenbanditen.
Its more like usury bandits…
The question should be: What are we all going to do about it?
Instead of spuiting brain garbage into the comment section of Simp's provocative article without any consequences.
As usual, you and him fight. I'll sit back out of the fray....
What do you propose we do?
Translation
If the Russian people have been carrying a trauma since the end of World War II — the trauma of the “Great Patriotic War”, in fact one of the most brutal chapters of that war — and if this trauma is now being revived (“we against the rest of the world, our homeland, our Russia”), then what exactly has been achieved?
A war-capable, united people, ready to expand the conflict if “necessary”.
The real question, however, is: what purpose do these conflicts actually serve, embedded as they are within the larger global scenarios?
Which segment of society (both in the West and in Russia) will end up lying in the trenches?
What exactly are people supposed to be “defending”?
Returns. / Profit margins. / Investment yiel
Expand the conflict, if necessary. Imagine this: you're fighting with one guy, another jumps on you, do you slap back or not? The answer to your question is that, since the beginning of time, humankind has maintained its survival instinct by fighting. It's a conscious response, not a carefully considered decision. You get hit, you fight back for your survival; that's the human principle, or what's left of it, and the animal principle.
But what is the reason you got hit? And in who's interest?
That question to ask and to think about is what distict us human from an instinct driven animal - or it should be since we dare to call ourself civilized.
Spot on.
Civilized.... From someone who wants to kill or 're-educate' everybody who doesn't believe the 'right' way.
How many right ways are there? Educate me, what's your right way? That the Epstein - child fu**ing clique is ruling the world?
Who said kill? Stripping them of their assets and put them away for life should do but yes, for the willingly killing of that many millions that never did them any harm - the death penalty could be revived for a certain time - we did that with the German Nazi's as well.
Exactly.
I think the US wants to 'enslave' Europe and weaken Russia through a pan-European war with Russia. They know well that Russia can not be defeated by Europe, but they also believe that Russia can be drained of strength and perhaps to the point of dissolution and that Europe, in the process, can be utterly subjugated and made almost entirely dependent on US markets to survive - all with minimal US expense in blood and treasure.
The Good Old British Recipe, then?
There's no point in talking about what "the US" wants to do, or doesn't want to do.
We all know who directs US domestic and foreign policy.
What we see is a vicious and psychotic attack on both Europa and Russia - and Iran, of course - by a small coterie of savages who have been seeking world domination since Cain first murdered his brother.
This is why Iran should start the roll-back of their power by violently attacking the criminal state where they hide - at whatever cost.
They need to be gone from the world stage, or at least, completely emasculated.
The "Judische fragen" needs to be answered.
"all with minimal US expense . . ." ?? It's not an expense, war is a business, and there's huge fortunes being made!
fortunes for whom, actually?
asking the question is to answer it. You and I are not the fortune collectors, aren't we?
@mary-lou
"fortunes for whom, actually?"
----------
The usual suspects?
Multinational oil & natural gas corporations (inflation corrected oil & gas prices WERE falling before all this fired up), aerospace/weapons corporations, various enterprises from metallurgy to agricultural sectors in North America which didn't rely on cheap Russian energy.
Now, if we can just manage to cause Iran to close the straits of Hormuz and blockade most supertanker shipping of middle Eastern oil production too? Some fat cats in Texas will have a very good year.
Indeed, these wealthy individuals don't want to lose everything in a widespread and final conflict that would affect everyone. These wealthy individuals possess millions more survival skills than the common people.
@EH
Yes, we want some nice profitable limited wars, not total ones that comes home to billionaires in New York City penthouse apartments or cause California real estate to lose value.
Beautiful limited wars? The US thing, not for too long or I get tired and lose. If it's too expensive in your LA garbage dump, move.
If you think that and you are thinking the right way then I still miss the follow up question: What we are, as the effected by it, are willing to do to prevent it from happening?
I'm so tired of that question. As simplicius rightly argues, Russians and probably most men in general would do anything, at least give our lives gladly, to defend home and family. Do you understand that? Is that clear enough for you?
The question isn't what but how. Not what are we willing to do but what can we do? Which unfortunately is a much, much more difficult question.
Options seem to be, hedonism and distraction, useless social busyness, scrolling, ... Meditation/spiritual practice...
If you have a better and real answer btw let us know.
I'm so tired of that question. As simplicius rightly argues, Russians and probably most men in general would do anything, at least give our lives gladly, to defend home and family. Do you understand that? Is that clear enough for you?
The question isn't what but how. Not what are we willing to do but what can we do? Which unfortunately is a much, much more difficult question.
Options seem to be, hedonism and distraction, useless social busyness, scrolling, ... Meditation/spiritual practice...
If you have a better and real answer btw let us know.
The options are: Organize a community or look for existing ones of like minded people, build cooperation's, help each other, learn why social media are asocial media and why certain interests pushing it onto your family and friends.
It all comes down to learn how the system functions and find people who are willing to change it together with you. That's worth a fight, the rest is excuses to talk a purpose into dying for people that give a shit about you.
Why we always die for old men who know each other well? Why we kill other people we know shit about on their order - to defend our children and family?
If you lack analytical skills, then don't bother thinking. You'll just spout nonsense. The US is no longer interested in the EU, which is indebted and makes them richer.
@Victor
Bingo.
The scenario where the rest of the world is destroyed and the USA gets to do massively profitable business at minimal costs in blood or destroyed infrastructure "THEY" own is very attractive to the USA's ownership clans and intelligence/managerial castes. It's a sure cure for too low oil & natural gas prices too.
However? The last two times "they" worked this scenario, there were no highly accurate intercontinental weapon systems capable of striking North America or economically vital space assets vulnerable to being taken out by various usefully self destructive Eurasian factions. Running their new war as they did the last ones isn't certain to turn out well this time around.
Interesting point, but nothing so elaborate is needed. Europeans like being slaves.
One way to raise the value of USD to devalue Euro
Get Putin Now!
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Get Putin Now more than ever!
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Get Putin! There’s nothing to negotiate!
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Get Putin! Let’s go!
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Get Putin! Get it over with!
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Get Putin! Hang him by the neck!
Why?
Blathering again..
The population of Ukraine after the confrontations on the "Maidan" in 2014 between supporters and opponents of European integration in 12 years decreased from 45 to about 20 million people, former Ukrainian Prime Minister Nikolai Azarov said in an interview with RIA Novosti.
He specified that since the months of actions in the center of Kiev in 2014, Ukraine has lost 12.5 million 🎯residents of Crimea, Donbass, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, partially Kharkiv regions.
In addition, according to European data, the EU has accepted about nine million Ukrainian refugees. Another three million people are excluded from the population due to its natural loss. He noted that those who left for Russia and the losses of Ukraine since the beginning of the special military operation should also be taken into account.
According to the ex-premier, after the "Maidan" there was a genocide of the population, which in 1991 was almost 52 million people. In September 2025, the Ukrainian media, referring to the information of the state migration service of the country, reported that 28.7 million people live in the country.
Regarding combat losses, the head of the Russian Ministry of Defense Andrey Belousov said that the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) lost more than 340,000 people only from January to August 2025.
So Russia has gained 12.5 million which makes up for any losses on the battlefield by numbers , ukraine is finished as an entity. The anglo dogs will be reading these headlines Poland Hungary Romania Invade Ukraine and carve it up , boohoohooohooohooh 😭 😭😭😭😢😭😭😭😭😭😭then what are the anglodogs going to do
The Anglodogs will end up asking the UN for food aid, like other EU countries.
But lynch the angloamericanjew establishment first
Nothing wrong with that opinion
Hello Ousmane. You are making an extremely important observation. You´re not sticking your neck out at all. Well articulated.
The SMO was, in my opinion, purposely designed as a multi headed beast, where some or all of the heads could come into play or not. It was long in the making, before it appeared in 2022. Occidentals don´t look ahead, Russians do. Look at the pickle Trump has gotten himself into with Iran. Pay attention to ´root causes´ explanations by Russia for the conflict in Ukraine. It could all stop tomorrow if NATO knocked off the nonsense but. they won´t. So the SMO will continue until NATO and the Occidents are ripped apart, piece by piece. It is exactly the same method being applied in the case of Iran. It is done in this way because the victim doesn't even realize they are actively being degraded until destruction, until there is almost nothing left and all of their efforts are turned to the maximum advantage of their opponent. Look at the recent ´Flamingo´ strike and the planned nuke activity tagged to the UK and France. Russia is figuring it all out, while the West has less and less in the toolbox, all of the time. Very efficient and very dangerous but, acceptable when the stakes are all or nothing.
When people know what awaits them, as the article speaks from the beginning of it, everybody needs to strap in or be tossed into the wind. One other aspect which this methodology is bearing forth in both conflicts, is that the bushes are always completely trimmed down before the bulldozer comes in and strips the land clean at the end. I don´t look upon this with happiness, however the patterns are perfectly clear. If the stupidity keeps up in the West, then the thief in the night will come bearing desolation. There is your answer.
Regardless of the inferno, I wish well to you and yours Ousmane.
"Until NATO and the West are dismantled... This is already happening, but it will only be visible for a short time, after the end of the conflict. Then we will see the divisions and the responsibilities of the prevailing situation thrown in everyone's faces. All the leaders, politicians of the EU and the UK, will accuse each other. Currently, they are like the green dwarf; they are gambling with their political and legal future; the dwarf is mainly gambling with his life."
Hello E H.
In terms of NATO dismantlement, it is exceptionally visible at this very moment. We don´t have to wait. Look over here at this, fresh off the grill.
https://www.rt.com/russia/633011-stefanishina-us-protest-kazakhstan/
Slovakia just cut electricity to Ukraine. NATO is drained of military resources, which is heavily effecting US operations and intentions with regards to Iran. The relationship between the US and EU is horrible. When looking back at the ´unity´ of the Occidents, there is no comparison to where it stood in the early part of 2022.
The building has been ingulfed in flames for quite a while now, probably since the 2023 offensive was smashed ( Bradley Square ) and definitely since the 2024 Kursk operation was crushed into oblivion. This isn't even casting a glance at the economic/technological situation in the Occidental. They are toasted and there is no way back. Nothing hidden here and it will stay visible forever.
I wish well to you E H.
Regarding the article, I was informed, and I still am, even if not completely. Nothing unusual there; Ukraine's neighbors remember what western Ukraine was like: a terrorist organization, and this was already the case at the end of the 18th century. Bandera didn't invent anything.
NATO has always been nothing more than a flimsy, inconsistent, and non-autonomous scarecrow. It's simply an alliance between nations, like those that have always existed since antiquity—nothing new. An alliance that only has value if each member feels threatened; otherwise, the allies stay home. NATO is the weakest alliance of all time: few resources, few personnel, it quickly loses steam, and its warlords are like 15-year-olds frantically waving joysticks. Faced with these leaders, the Russians can only be strategists, even if they aren't exceptional. The EU wants its war, and it will get it. After the conflict, dozens of fighters will flood into the garden and create chaos, a Banderistan. I'll go listen to the Slavic Ukrainians chiler and slap them. The days will be dark, very dark.
Have a good day.
Yes. dark days ahead.
You'd be taking even fewer risks if you stopped dreaming. And don't scratch your right ear with your left foot.
There are two main considerations in any war (even if a bit more complex in this hi-tech age). COMBAT and FINANCE. You need money to win a war, but if the cost of the war bankrupts you, you lose the peace.
To illustrate:
Britain put itself in this position during the '39-45 War
Converting its industries to a full wartime economy.
Losing its foreign markets.
Exhausting its gold and foreign currency reserves.
Selling off its foreign investments at rock-bottom prices.
Progressive loss of sterling as the world's reserve currency.
No longer the world's banker: instead crippled with huge debts.
The last annual repayment of its debt to the U.S. was made in December 2006. And to Canada also (the Canadian Government had the decency to send a very friendly letter of thanks).
The United States has put itself in much the same position as result of its recent endless wars, highly profitable to its "defence" industry, but running up a huge debt which an increasingly desperate government seeks to liquidate by pillaging the resources of others. A tried and tested tactic, but it only works as long as adequate strength and ingenuity can be deployed.
The Russian Federation has been successfully waging a proxy war against NATO, so far without weakening its economy in the manner expected by its opponent. On the contrary it is the sanctions imposed on Russia that have weakened its potential enemies in Europe, while its growing military strength has caused the United States Government to adopt a more circumspect approach.
No one can foretell, in the present awful situation, what the future may hold. But I am inclined to give Putin full marks for his careful handling of things to date.
The future may perhaps call for sharper responses.
How is Europe going to rearm? Where will it obtain resources for manufacturing such weapons at quantity? How long will it take to re-invigorate its manufacturing facilities including staffing? The USA also has large problems in manufacturing (see, for example, its inability to make artillery shells at scale) and resource procurement (see, for example, rare earth elements for radar systems, electric motors, etc.).
Once Russia is done in Ukraine, it doesn't really matter what eu do as long as they don't attack. And we are way to weak to attack Russia. EU heads were scared in 2014, they know they can do nothing but PR.
No amount of armaments will make the aging european metrosexuals into soldiers.
Spewing propaganda is the name of the game in America and Western Europe, since many in the West have been indoctrinated to believe every statement that comes from the Government or story that appears in the media .....despite the fact that none of them ever turn out to be true..
You ought to also put up a montage of "ukraine is collapsing" too.
5th year is 4 years longer than i expected, personally
Ukraine is not only the largest country in Europe outside of transcontinental Russia, but it also spent 7-8 years digging in, fortifying its defenses and building the strongest, largest army in Europe. And being Slavs, they are the best, fiercest fighters in Europe along with their brother Slavs in Russia.
And you thought the war would only last a year? Who really is being foolishly unrealistic here?
I would have not expected them to fight fiercily for the Bandera state, that offers them nothing and treating them worse than cattle.
"being Slavs"? that's both sexist and racist.
Slavs are the best warriors on the planet. How many times does that have to be proven ?
" but it also spent 7-8 years digging in "
And what was Russia doing this whole time ? Were they not getting ready also ?
Actually, they weren't getting ready to invade the Donbass until late in the game when it was obvious that the Minsk agreement was not being adhered to and that NATO via their Ukrainian troops were on the edge of invading the Donbass with the intent of a genocide against the Russian-speaking people there.
That aside, at a higher level, Putin early on knew the objectives of this game that the West was playing since the 90s - to weaken and break up the Russian Federation - and began preparing for the war he knew was inevitable in the future. He began the long process of rebuilding the Russian military forces to protect Russia from just that eventuality. By 2022 he was still not ready for the war but had to act anyway as the NATO-built Ukrainian forces were on the verge of invading the Donbass - thus you saw the military build-up near the Ukrainian border which was initiated in hopes of making Ukraine think twice about that.
The 'Special Military Operation' along with the sanctions provided Russia with the impetus they needed to develop new weaponry, expand the military, weed out the peace-time general staff, institute a massive 'import substitution' programme and prepare the Russian people to evacuate any remaining hope of living in peace with the West. By 2025, like the bear that has been rudely awakened and bursting out of his cave fully prepared to destroy the intruder, Putin was finally able to declare in public with confidence [I paraphrase] "We want to live in peace with the West, but if the West wants war, we are now ready".
Russia vs NATO was never going to be easy. This will go on for quite a while judging by the last round of negotiations. Bojo is calling for British troops to be deployed. It goes to show how little intelligence you need to be prime minister.
To be Prime Minister of Britain you just need to be able to give blow jobs at a professional level to the zionist masters ruling the City of London.
Bojo is a civilian now, so dont let him live rent free in your head
And yes, this war is going to continue for years
I'm not referring to just Bojo, but to anyone who steps into No 10.
With the possible exception of Liz Truss which is why she lasted only 45 days in office.
You're right, years. The green dwarf has the power to resurrect the dead. Did you even know how to count to 20 in college? The last to be sent to the front will be the 42,000 guys from the TCK, and when the first ones are sent there, you can count the ovens to witness the surrender.
It doesn’t quite have the same ring to it as: “20 years is 19 years more than I expected the US to be in Afghanistan and still not win”…
Come back to us in 16 years time and let’s chat then.
Fair point. But let's be honest, which prophets have been closer to the mark, as things stand now? What seems closer to collapse to you, Russia or Ukraine?
The honest answer is it depends on when.
In the first weeks of the conflict, I expected Russia to sweep across the country, such was the rate of their initial advance. Then when they got bogged down, and Western propaganda really peaked, and Ukraine started making their big 2022 gains; all I heard was how Russia was on its knees and losing millions of soldiers. This carried on through to the failed 2023 counteroffensive. That period was, in my view, peak propaganda on the western side.
Then from 2024 through to late 2025, coinciding with various Russian tactical successes, it was a bit the opposite - Russia is gonna send 1000 drones a night, 10mn artillery shells a year, hypersonic missiles like big macs, millions of Ukrainian KIA and so on.
Now in 2026, I honestly don't know. Supposedly the AFU is a spent force (again), yet they keep mounting effective counterattacks, they keep hitting important targets in Russia, and so on. Supposedly Russia is on the verge of permanently turning off all the lights in Ukraine, destroying the last vestiges of Ukrainian manpower, rolling up Zap / Donbass / whatever, and is taking a handful of casualties every day.
Neither is true, obviously. Neither side has inflicted a strategic defeat on the other in any part of the theatre in a couple of years now. If the Russians roll up Donbass I'll say otherwise.
The Germans could mount very effective counterattacks as late as Feb 1945, doesn't mean their goose wasn't cooked.
I don't pretend to understand Russian strategy, but I do know that Ukrainian victories get closer to Kiev each month and that only one side is relying on Press-gangs.
True, but the Germans had suffered significant strategic defeats prior, and their logistics and supply chains were in deep trouble by 1943. Ukraine has manpower issues, but enjoys the full technological, financial and logistical support of the west. Constantly comparing to ww2 is just not appropriate in this conflict I think, but I will say Putin ain't Stalin, as much as I loathe the man if he was prosecuting the SMO, it would have been over in one way or another by now
Stop with your strategic defeats, it just makes you look dumber than smart, which is what you thought we'd think. Some guy slaps you, you collapse, where's the strategy in your defeat?
What do you mean by strategic defeat? I suggest you deepen your understanding of defeat and strategy. Defeat certainly exists, but it is not accompanied by strategy or tactics. In defeat, you lose and submit to the demands of the victor, period. Stop using the Newspeak of political and media imbeciles.
The likes of Strelkov have been right on the money more than anyone.
Below is what Kalashnikov wrote on the second day of the SMO in 2022:
Overstated the effect of the sanctions, but everything else was very accurate.
So who is to be listened to based on track record? It's been four years
====================================
https://m-kalashnikov.livejournal.com/4207472.html
The results of the first day of the military operation against Ukraine showed the first signs that a lightning victory is not in sight. The Russian Armed Forces, alas, failed to cope with the task of planning a blitz. One would like to hope that things will improve...
[...]
First. The air and missile "overture" had not yet ended when the Russian Ground Forces rushed into a ground operation. The enemy's Air Force and Air Defense have not yet been completely suppressed, and command and control of its troops and television and radio broadcasting remains intact. The centers of state and military command and control in Kyiv have not been knocked out.
During Operation Desert Storm against Iraq in January-February 1991, the Yankees and their allies spent a month engaging the enemy from the air, using Air Force forces and cruise missiles. And only then did they begin the ground rout of the Iraqis (4 days). During NATO's air war against Yugoslavia, air and cruise missile raids lasted from March 24 to June 10, 1999: 2.5 months. In both cases, the target country's television and radio broadcasts were disrupted.
Why did the Russian leadership decide to rush into ground operations when the air offensive hadn't really concluded? They could have at least spent a week targeting the targets, demoralizing and disorganizing the Ukrainian Armed Forces. They could have destroyed the capital's headquarters and the tele-brainwashing system, not just the military infrastructure. No, they decided to do everything at once – and they've already miscalculated. They seemed to have targeted the Ukrainian Air Force airbase command centers, hit the targets, but didn't disable the runways. They should have been destroying military targets more with missile, air, and artillery strikes! And here Zelensky is broadcasting freely on TV. The enemy was not demoralized.
An obvious and very serious miscalculation, fraught with dire consequences.
***
Second. Having extremely limited forces for the operation in Ukraine (only 200,000), without committing the Russian National Guard (Internal Troops) to the battle or mobilizing reservists, Moscow initially had only enough forces for two operations on terra firma.
- Encirclement of the Ukrainian Armed Forces' siege force blocking the LPR and DPR, which had been routed from the air.
A thrust from Crimea to the south of the Kherson region (to Northern Tavria) to provide water via the Crimean Canal to the peninsula, reaching the Dnieper and Kakhovka.
Instead, the small ground forces were literally dispersed and smeared, rushing toward Kharkiv and Sumy, which they failed to take immediately. Chasing three birds with one stone? And there are all the signs of the Russian Armed Forces getting bogged down in the battle for these cities. But the destruction of civilian objects and the loss of large numbers of civilian lives must be avoided. Only one success was achieved – the advance from Crimea to Kherson and the Dnieper.
The helicopter landing near Kyiv (Gostomel) – deep behind enemy lines – looks like a gamble. Why would it be necessary if we were stalled near Kharkiv and Sumy? A land attack on Kyiv is definitely not on the cards. And that was precisely what the landing at Gostomel was for. Why the hell were the troops sent behind enemy lines – to certain death? Under fire from the Ukrainian National Guard? The last thing we needed was our own Arnhem...
Usually, if a paratrooper captures an airfield, planes (and previously, gliders) carrying soldiers and weapons land there. With strong air support. Like in Fornebu (Norway, April 1940). And what's going on here?
For some reason, without waiting for the Ukrainian ground force besieging the LDNR to collapse due to air strikes, the People's Corps of both republics launched an offensive from deep within the LDNR against the triple line of defense. Don't you feel sorry for the Russians of the Donbas Ridge? What's the point? The besieging force still needs to be pounded from the skies, knocking out its headquarters, warehouses, artillery, and tanks, its command staff, and volunteer battalions of hardened Banderites. Turning the ATO forces into a demoralized, commandless mass.
The Russian Armed Forces' lack of hundreds of Orion attack drones, an alternative to the Bayraktars, is also having a significant impact. Unfortunately, a comparison of Moscow's actions with the operations of Turkish-Azerbaijani forces in Karabakh in the fall of 2020 is not in our favor. The dispersion of limited forces is obvious, as is the lack of modern means of waging local wars (including attack drones).
And the absence of a fully-fledged branch of the armed forces in Russia—Special Operations Forces—is also very noticeable. The very same forces that Colonel Kvachkov was never allowed to create, having been locked away. And right now, disrupting the enemy's rear and recruiting local supporters would be extremely beneficial. Let's recall how, in 1941, the newly created Separate Special Purpose Motorized Rifle Brigade (OMSBON) created groups for insertion into the enemy's rear, which were then recruited by local partisans. And a "small war" was unfolding behind the front lines. The partisans, after all, are special forces too!
In 1941, small airborne units operated behind German lines near Moscow, specifically as special forces sabotage and reconnaissance groups. Read Major Starchak's memoirs, "From the Sky to Battle!" Was this experience put to use? After all, during Desert Storm in 1991, the Americans and British successfully used sabotage and reconnaissance groups to disrupt Iraqi troops. The same thing happened in 2003, also in Iraq. And in Libya in 2011. And during the 1999 war with Yugoslavia, Albanian separatist units successfully fulfilled the role of sabotage and reconnaissance groups behind Serbian lines. The Yankees provided them with air cover.
***
It seems to me that they simply decided to play some kind of "Storm for the poor." They hoped to take the Ukrainian Armed Forces by storm, or, as they used to say in the old days, by raid. A daring raid. They say that after the very first air strikes, the enemy's army will collapse like a house of cards, and the enemy will begin surrendering en masse and throwing down their weapons.
Are they trying to save on cruise missiles and expensive precision-guided munitions? Or have they fired too many "calibers" in Syria?
Iran is replacing cruise missiles with much cheaper attack UAVs and loitering drone bombs. And where are they in our case?
We've been told a lot about the incredible power of domestic electronic warfare systems. But for now, the Ukrainian Armed Forces aren't cut off from communications, and Bandera-controlled TV is successfully keeping the local population in its psyche. So why not suppress them, since the TV towers can't be physically demolished?
***
And here's the real question: what is the goal of the operation? Well, the Bandera-Maidan regime will be militarily defeated. And then what? What should the result be? An allied Ukraine plus Novorossiya? Or simply a new Ukraine? Or several states within that territory? How will Transnistria be unblocked, where over 180,000 Russian citizens live?
If things get bogged down in Ukraine, how do you plan to get out of it?
How will Russia emerge from the economic crisis and build a new industrial power?
If there are no clear answers, there is no future.
I would very much like to be wrong in my conclusions. Very...
[...]
Moscow began the operation without clearing out the "fifth column" in its rear. We're not talking about small fry like Navalny, and they'll get their hands on him. No, I'm talking about the very big shots who run Russia's finances and macroeconomics. For some reason, they're completely unafraid of the FSB or the Investigative Committee.
But Russia has practically no "fifth column" of its own in Ukraine. No structures have yet been formed to work with the local population. The rudiments of a Russian underground that existed in 2014 have now been suppressed and destroyed. There's no new, pro-Russian government in Ukraine yet. Yanukovych has emerged, but he's literally making everyone in Ukraine sick. He's odious to the point of being terrifying.
Let me remind you of the experience of the German blitzes of 1940: they have strong supporters in France, Norway, and the Benelux countries. When the USSR was rapidly entering Bessarabia and the "Kress Wschodnie" of Poland in 1939-1940, it also had its own "fifth column" there.
And now, in Ukraine... Hmmm...
Yanukovich stands no chance of being a protagonist in UA in the immediate post-Maidan period, if ever again. It is a futile speculation that fits pushed forward narrative. Like a novel.
If anybody from his term stands a chance, it is Azarov. If it was his way, he would have trashed Maidan.
Dude asking why this and that? Pinning troops down to have easier task in Donbas? Nobody knows what was the real task in the Gostomel, it was not taking Kiev. There are speculations, but are just that.
Comparing USA wars when they were planning for months in advance is mixing apples and oranges.
And also the mandatory something from WWII.
Just a blog, like this one.
Now in Ukraine people finally started blowing up regime structures. Yes, there is hatred in UA, but there is also sympathy. Haters are going to lose out, once again. they are generational losers.
Planning an attack on peasants in flip-flops for months... That shows self-confidence.
Both sides need a lot of external help. But who is delivering? The wireless equipment for drones? Batteries and electro motors for drones? All the fancy Japanese pick-up-trucks (with halve of the parts from ...)? Who produces the electronic components for Starlink or simple walkie talkies?
This question would only be relevant if the war was between Russia and Ukraine. That’s not the case now, is it?
"In a spiritually dissolute—and desolate—world, where not only meaning has been lost, but the future feels for many not even worth living nor dying for, what more tangible and pure a mortal pursuit could there be than war?"
Albeit, revolution, when it turns violent, is a sort of war. However human liberation movements, throughout the world, against anti-human globalist oligarchs would be a more pure moral pursuit than being proxies in struggles between quarrelling cliques of nearly identical oligarchs. Russia's negotiator, Kirill Dmitriev's resume is instructive; Harvard, Stanford, Goldman Sachs, WEF Young Global Leader, COVID jab dealmaker ... He is not someone Russians should be willing to die for.
It seems that Witkoff and Kushner are negotiating potential family businesses for the future, not at the country level. Just nepotism to enrich Trump family. What are the prospects of these businesses? I would say that they are bleak.
Main negotiator is Medinsky and he is a hardliner. I wonder what happened during a two hour, private meeting between him, Umerov and Arakhamia. Appears to be something very irritating to Zelensky, since he has lost it a bit with his profanities in a subsequent interviews, now he talks about WWII already being started, demands EU membership dates, we also have info about this nuke issue. Tick, tock.
Interesting that both Dmitriyev and Medinsky are originally from Ukraine with many pointing out that there are more Ukrainians in the Russian delegation than in the Ukrainian which is overwhelmingly Jewish
And there you nailied it.
Well, I don’t agree with your geopolitics or interpretation of history but I will say you write well. And who knows, perhaps in the future that will be what matters!
Would you care to expand on that?
Putting aside the blame for the war, I would just say it is not true the West has a conspiracy against Russia, has secret (or not so secret) plans for the country, is out to get it, etc. The truth is, since the time of Peter the Great, the West has never known what to do about that amazing, complex, and history-haunted nation. It has remained uneasily on the edge of our civilization, sometimes approaching, sometimes receding. After 1989 or so, we all assumed it would be a country like all others, which means one based on material success. But Russia, for better or worse, does not want to be a country like all others. Like Frankie notes below, it possesses some unique spiritual, almost messianic vibe, a sense of a special destiny. How magnificent, how troublesome to us, who just want to live in peace and sell and consume! I mean, look at the American president, for God's sake. That's a businessman, pure and simple. And we in the West have all become businesspeople, lovers of money and material things. All this at the philosophical level. I'll leave the geopolitics and human rights aspect out of it, because what's the point. You either believe Ukraine (or Canada, or Greenland, parts of Texas, all the land my ancestors stole from the original inhabitants....) has a sovereign right to exist in freedom, or you don't.
Russia's failure to take out Ukraine as I proposed in a timely manner will turn out to be a deeply regretted mistake as a result of bad decisions from the beginning of the war, which will have adverse repercussions in the years ahead.
Let me explain.
Russia needed to take out Ukraine in a timely manner, resulting in fewer losses of men and equipment overall, less war fatigue by the population, and less cost.
Why?
Russia knew very well that the US-backed NATO and its proxy Ukraine were a packaged enemy, meaning they would support each other with soldiers and or equipment.
So why in the name of god would they even consider an attempt to surround Kiev at the start of the SMO, without first softening enemy defences with an extended bombing campaign and using combined forces of ground, air, artillery, anti-drone guns and mobile drone operators?
Russia entered Ukraine with a half-assed plan, fully exposed convoys extending kilometres, with an insufficient force, poorly coordinated in parade-like formations. The SMO marched in on an untouched, well-entrenched and well-trained AFU army anxious to greet them. The ragtag SMO were taking such massive losses so fast that they had to leave equipment behind in their hasty retreat.
Now, if Russia had prepared its SMO properly with deadly intent, it would have advanced almost as fast as it had retreated. 😂 Ukraine would have been under Russian control long ago. NATO would have lost its proxy, preventing a link-up of forces from forming against Russia.
I'm not going to talk about all the times Russia admitted to getting tricked. But it may well get tricked again by its delay in ending and winning what has become a long and costly war. (It's not an SMO anymore)
Let me explain.
What is happening now is that Russia wasn't expecting such a lengthy war, and possibly an even more extended war against NATO and Ukraine. Zelensky said, "three more years." If this war goes on another three years, Zelensky assumes NATO would enter Ukraine and link up with AFU. That would be unfortunate for Russia, not just militarily but especially economically. This forever-first-war type of positional warfare has started biting into the Russian economy (see reply for references) and causing war fatigue in the population. Another three years of war, followed by more years of war, would greatly worsen the situation. In other words, Russia can't afford a forever war without compromising its economy and breaking the morale of the population's support of the war. con't
Now this is quite sour. To early to engage the world after the gold medal game loss?
Greetings, comrade.
Thanks for announcing Canada won silver in the Men's Olympics.
They dominated the final game but lost.
How did your country make out? lol
I saw some braggadocio regarding the gold medals. Silver plus those plush toys is quite good though, for both teams.
lmao
we do not play ice hockey
Well, Russia is my second-favourite team, but they were excluded from the Olympics for some silly reason. Canada/Russia tops. lol
What does it have to do with me? lmao
It has to do with your comment and my response.
Anyway, keep your eyes on the target, huh? haha.
who cares about the stupid olympics where russia is excluded but that illegal genocidal jew state is allowed....
I'm surprised Westworld nations didn't handicap/withdraw their own athletes when a Ukie was competing in an event.
HA...HAHAHA! We shoulda sent Toe Blake & the '59 Habs, eh?
Hey, Richard ! 2 minutes for looking so good !
I love to see Russia suffer, crawling on its knees and NATO going delirious about its victory bee stings deep in Russian territory till it wakes up the bear and where will EU NATO be? crawling like a baby crying for its mother, why haven’t you warned us?
They expected Ukraine to fold when confronted with the reality of Russian steel, and got caught flat-footed when the certain outcome didn’t materialize.
Eternalvigilance.
The Russians expected Ukraine to act logically in its own interests.
But its leaders are puppets, so it did not.
The Ukrainian leaders chose to believe they had the might of NATO behind them.
I think both sides miscalculated. But I think the error will prove existential for Ukraine, not Russia.
Key trends in Ukrainian public opinion include:
1. The desire for a negotiated end to the war has grown from 22% in 2022 to 69% in 2025.
2. Support for fighting until victory dropped from 73% in 2022 to 24% by 2025.
Guess who continue supporting the war... - Cowards of the Bandera land.
"Support for continued fighting remains stronger in western and central regions. ... The highest concentration of supporters is in Galicia (Lviv, Ternopil, Ivano-Frankivsk regions) and Volyn." -- The same Volyn where banderites have murdered some 100.000 Polish women and children.
Sikorski-Applebaum "connections" are strong in Polish government.
Hey, 'retro,' - is hebrew your native language?
Better to be a woman than a cunt, Vade Retro.
Silly chicken-shite you be.
You mean, the bandera-warriors who stay safely in western Ukraine away from frontlines or enjoy shooting unwilling soldiers gang-pressed on orders of the zionist Kievan junta?
Your Biletsky and Samoilenko have shown their total obedience to their zio-owners: "Ukraine's Azov Regiment visits Israel: 'Mariupol is our Masada'
Azov officer Ilya Samoilenko led the delegation to Israel. - The Jerusalem Post - Israel News. https://www.jpost.com/international/article-725351
It is for a reason that the enormous fresh Ukrainian cemeteries are named after Nuland-Kagan.
Your comment "is just obv false, stupid and downright laughable."
Except for the millions who went to Russia, and the millions who fled West, and the thousands hiding from the Pressgangs.
Zelensky won an election on a pro-peace ticket. He has never offered a referendum on the war.
It's not obvious that he has a mandate, it is obvious that he has the Azov brigades and Right Sector to crack down on opposition.
Answers to your 3 queries, in order: Not well enough; yes, in a personal manner by not volunteering for military service, to put it mildly - emigration, desertion etc.; yes, partisan actions exist.
Now go back to suckling on your hog-mama's hind-teat.
Exactly. Well put. This is how this tragic comedy of errors happened. All the warring
parties were wrong in different ways.
RU is not making substantial errors in this Trag-Com. Taking a step in a direction, always being a gamble, that does not achieve immediate, ultimate success/end-goals, is NOT "wrong". Scientists/engineers do not have prescience, they experiment & test to failure.
I agree that russia entered this conflict not thinking it would span this long, it quite clear in retrospect that they expected a negotiated settlement by the end of 2022 and even withdrew from kyiv as a sign of goodwill in 2022. Boris Johnson has the blood of hundreds of thousand ukrianings on his hand by sabotaging the Istanbul talks. Even though I hold the view that russia will win this war in the long run, it seems obvious that whatever peace is concluded in ukriane will not hold in the long run.
once Russia survived the so called "boycotts" jew financial trickery it won the war, it is just time now..
Agree. They withdrew as that operation could only succeed/not be suicidal with an immediate ceasefire, as well as/although being sold as a goodwill gesture. The Westworld realised this.
Denis, you really are a one trick pony. Do you write these new each time or just get grok to do a quick makeover?
It's just an opinion.
Maybe it's just my way of thinking something out on paper.
I use multiple sources.
I prefer to read other people's ideas and leave mine as sidenotes.
Russia has been dwindling its strategic reserve to help finance its war.
Russia has lost production of nearly one-half a billion barrels a day from Ukrainian attacks.
So, the longer the war lasts, the more its costs.
The more it costs, the less reserve.
The duration of this war compounds the cost to operate it.
Time adds up to spending more, less time, less spending.
Would it not be best for Russia to do what it takes to defeat Ukraine expediently and then prepare for NATO?
I doubt NATO would even dare enter Ukraine without Ukraine. Russia gains a strategic advantage in Ukraine and reduces the cost of its war campaign significantly, which allows it to buffer its finances in preparation for anything NATO dares attempt.
How is this war affecting Russians' finances? con't
Russia has sold gold to finance the war, and it has lost production of about 400,000 barrels a day from Ukrainian attacks.
Based on recent data, Russia has been selling significant amounts of gold from its reserves:
300,000 ounces were sold in January 2026, bringing total bullion holdings to 74.5 million ounces — the first decrease since October
4.
Despite the sale, the value of Russia's gold reserves actually rose 23% in January to $402.7 billion, thanks to record-high gold prices
6.
More broadly, Russia's National Wealth Fund (NWF) gold holdings have dropped by 71% since mid-2022, as the Kremlin has relied on gold to fund war-related budget shortfalls
5.
Before the war, the NWF held 405.7 tons of gold. By November 1, 2025, that figure had fallen to 173.1 tons, with 232.6 tons sold to cover budget spending. The total volume of NWF liquid assets has fallen 55% to 4.165 trillion rubles (~$52 billion)
1.
Analysts at VTB Bank estimate Russia may spend up to 2.5 trillion rubles from the NWF in 2026 — roughly 60% of its remaining liquid reserves — if current conditions persist
5. Notably, because Russia is excluded from international markets and cannot sell gold on world exchanges, these sales are conducted domestically only and are unlikely to impact global gold prices. con't.
The longer Ukraine can hit Russian oil assets, the less barrels it has to sell and the less revenue there is to cover expenses. The US has never stopped its attacks to weaken Russia's oil industry.
From Shanaka Perera:
The National Welfare Fund, Moscow’s rainy-day reserve designed to cushion the economy against oil price shocks, held approximately $36 to $55 billion in liquid assets as of early 2026, down from $113.5 billion before the invasion of Ukraine. The Kremlin burned through half its gold reserves during 2024, selling 171 of 359 tonnes. Yuan holdings have been dumped. With Urals crude averaging just $36 to $39 per barrel in December 2025 and January 2026, deeply discounted below Brent due to the shadow fleet premium and sanctions pressure, Russia’s federal budget ran a deficit of 3.8 trillion rubles in 2025, roughly $49 billion.
Gazprombank analysts have modeled the depletion trajectory with uncomfortable precision. At $40 Urals, the liquid portion of the NWF lasts approximately 12 to 18 months. At $30 to $35, it is exhausted by late 2026. The 2026 federal budget capped NWF withdrawals at a token 38.5 billion rubles, roughly $460 million, an implicit admission that the cupboard is nearly bare. Moscow has pivoted to domestic borrowing at 17 percent interest rates, and GDP growth has decelerated to 0.6 percent.
This fiscal clock creates a binary strategic choice for Russia. Either comply meaningfully with OPEC+ quotas to support price, sacrificing volume revenue in the near term to preserve the war economy’s financial underpinning, or engineer a geopolitical disruption that spikes prices independently of production discipline. The seizure of the Marinera, reflagged to Russia mid-pursuit, and the explicit threats from Russian ambassadors regarding American boarding of Russian-flagged vessels, suggest the Kremlin is aware that its options are narrowing. con't
All this presupposes Rus' only revenue flow is selling crude. lmao
There's a big picture unfolding: The US is encroaching on the Middle East from Russia's south, while Ukraine, with possibly NATO from the North. Russia is being encircled. There's a power push going on in the region, and Ukraine is just one element. So what does Russia do now?
You tell me.
It's free. lol
I think Russia should launch a major coordinated attack and paralyze Ukraine's political and military infrastructure and control everything east of the dniper including the encirclement of Kiev while the US is busy in Iran.
Now is the time for Russia to attack.
It's a perfect opportunity because the US is tied up.
No one is expecting it except me and we. haha.
Zelensky wouldn't be getting a three year war out of this plan.
His ass be long gone from the Ukraine. 😂
Russia would control Ukraine, reduce its losses, keep the books in good order economically and be in a good position militarily to deal with any further threats from NATO or the US.
Get more bang for your buck strategically.
Totally agree, Ukraine is a part of a much larger battle. It began back in 2015 though some would say February 2014. The Hegemon is attempting to turn things around using the same strategy as caused their decline in the first place (fighting too many wars but winning no treasure to pay for them). The decline and fall of the Empire is inevitable, the question that remains is will they nuke us all on the way out?
You'll be fine.
There will be no nukes.
The globalists are part of one big club
Brilliant.
So what you're saying is that Russia is cash positive but burning through reserves, yes?
And what about those on the other team? How are Ukrainian finances? France, UK or Germany? Or the big daddy of debt?
The NWF partial liquidation should prove to be a necessary, & tremendous, investment in the future.
That Russian gold is denied to the markets contributes to a strengthening of global spot prices.
But aside from that, are you saying, Denis, that Russia is on the verge of economic collapse and that Ukraine just might win this after all? And are you saying that Europe is now relatively stronger after these years of proxy battle? Are you saying that the US is stronger now than they were 4 years ago?
Just what are you saying, Denis? War is expensive, very expensive - for all sides. Guns v butter, and all that. So if you consider Ukraine and its European 'partners' as a unit v Russia, who has the better chance in a war of attrition - a de-industrialised, energy-starved, resource-deficient people with a bifurcated and weak logistics network, or a determined, war-savvy people blessed with a huge industrial base, rich in resources and cheap energy and a vast, efficient logistics network?
I know which people I would bet on.
Yes, and it's ludicrous to think China would let Russia go it alone if things got bad for them. The Russian were meant to fall over after the sanctions from hell, remember. Ofc they are putting fiscal reserves into the SMO. They will continue to, they have gained a LOT of very high value territory and millions of new citizens.
"they have gained a LOT of very high value territory and millions of new citizens."
An oft overlooked point. This will eventually result in a significant ROI.
The US are still dealing with the Taliban Paradox. Bin Laden must be laughing in his grave.
The Chinese foreign minister was clear in a meeting with Kaya Kallas - "China cannot let Russia lose as we know we are next". Also defending against accusations that China was directly helping the war effort - "If we were involved in the war, it would be over now." These are not empty statements.
This war against BRICS depends on Iran. First, the US failed to achieve a quick victory against Russia, then failed their trade war against China, now they are attacking the weakest member. If the US fails to gain a quick victory, then they'll boss around Latin America, leaving the EU looking stupid.
"we cannot let Russia lose" is not the same as "we must help Russia win".
In case anyone is wondering what a crap ally China is, the link gives a taste:
https://x.com/RWApodcast/status/2024246090036351396?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2024246090036351396%7Ctwgr%5Ec258ae766da44f728fbfd43a3a4b5f1663801eba%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nakedcapitalism.com%2F2026%2F02%2Flinks-2-19-2026.html
Russia is doing fine right now, Victor.
Look at the bigger picture, bro.
I am, and it's looking really good for Russia, Iran, China and the BRICS countries.
Yes, they control much of the strategic resources. Hence the deranged Hegemon trying to regain the lost glory. If they weren't so dangerous it would make an awesome Greek tragedy.
The selling of gold by the NWF may be described as masterful. As you noted, the price continued to increase. The RU central bank was a major buyer, no?
Denis, Russian Central Command is still waiting for your answer to their offer. They are in desperate need of a true leader and strategist.
Victor, buddy, it's just an opinion, man. lol
It can't be any worse than all the work you go through to be first and yet say nothing.
You get the first, and I fill it with content. lol
Ouch, Victor doesn't have your spritely youthfulness.
Russia was never going to take out Ukraine leaving the west fully armed and vital, to mire Russia in its own 'new' mud. This conflict has been fought masterfully under Putin's direction, to defang the entire collective west...... Much to China's delight.
These people live in a parallel reality, it is hopeless to argue with them
GM. You're the voice of reason, then Dr. Strangelove?
Cuba, Syria, Venezuela. All decisive strategic players on the global stage. States with agency.
Mexico has been a shithole for decades coz of your governments,
How about you bark at that tree for a change?
The root cause of problems around the world - your government.
Could you do that, just for once?
;)
Yes, the Chinese must be exceedingly happy with the direction things are taking. Imagine the US getting bogged down again in West Asia. Some people never learn.
Bingo! Plus 10 Jullianne. Nice economy with the word count too.
Very good write, Denis.
Agree fully and complete.
Mikey, thanks.
I'm just saying there's a lot at stake right now, depending on how Russia acts over the next few years. What they do now matters.
Yes, and what they dont do is perhaps more crucial.
Read this analysis from the US Marine Corps Gazette. You might change your mind.
https://imetatronink.substack.com/p/a-former-us-marine-corps-officershtml
Dude is having monologues usually. Awesome articles like this one won't change his mind.
And he was supposedly in Odessa back then, i guess he is also a bit grudgy.
that's old - hope that marine sees the jew controlled west as the actually enemy now...
This guy Shryver is just feeding his sheep what they want to hear. On X his forecasts are always wrong, when called out he blocks everyone who disagrees with his tripe.
Some highlights:
Before 12-day war: "US cannot penetrate the Iran AD, they won't be able to fly over Iran territory"
On Ukraine: "Ukraine lost its n-th Army, now it's on its last army, about to collapse"
The guy is as bad as Martyanov and carries none of Andrei's unique personal charm.
Russia needed to take out Ukraine back in 2014. Latest by 2016. It failed to do that because Putin is a cuck and wanted to cut deals with the Oligarchs and listend to Medvechuk too much
TL;DR?
Your description of the way Russia should have fought the war, would find Russia deep inside enemy territory, surrounded by many unknowns, unable to provide security in the areas taken. A "Red Dawn" situation if you will. It didn't work in the movie, and it wouldn't have worked in Ukraine. Do you have any military background at all? Doesn't seem so... Chip
The one thing that every successful insurgency has is a young population.
The median age in Ukraine is over 40, and that from before the war.
Time will tell: you have RU & Ukieland inverted though. Please stop telling people you are Canadian, pleeeeze.
Can't believe it's been four years. The wheel turns slowly
Well it took eight years to get from the 2014 coup to the start of the SMO. NATO used that time to train, arm, and equip Ukraine. But Russia also used that time wisely. Two sides with eight years of preparation for what is now underway. But the tide is most definitely on the Russian side... Chip
If Russia had with one hand pinned the bulk of the AFU south and east, while the other captured Kiev in the first 72 hours, as was clearly the original scope of the SMO, it would have executed one of the most briliant combined diplomatic-military campaigns in history. As it stands, the martial sciences can still learn from the strategic deception that cloaked the build-up, the multi-pronged co-ordination during the first phase of the invasion, and the compensatory actions taken after the failure of the initial operation. However, any claims (akin to the "Kievan Feint" Hypothesis) that the war has progressed according to initial plan must be laid aside, so that the correct lessons for conflicts by others, in the future, and elsewhere, can be gleaned.
"If Russia had with one hand pinned the bulk of the AFU south and east, while the other captured Kiev in the first 72 hours, as was clearly the original scope of the SMO"
Kievan Faint is the way to go. Cannot take almost 4 mil city with cca 20k troops. Faint plus pressure for negotiations. Ze initiated negotiations on Feb 25 already.
Warfare plans have changed profoundly because of the new drone warfare. Both sides are inventing and adjusting daily. At all levels.
It is a deeply flawed plan that claims the VDV's losses at Hostomel a victory. Decapitation strikes do not need to siege an entire city; I do not expect Maduro Raid levels of competence by RuAF, by surprise, speed, and violence of action - all of which they had, but not enough to cross the critical threshold - can enable a force of a few thousands to physically disrupt, detain, and destroy a national government, and its civilian control over the military.
Anyine claiming a Kievan Feint is committing themselves to unwarranted claims of Russian incompetence, as opposed to the reality of the situation: they made an excellent try, and failed, more or less fair and square. Such are the fortunes of war.
But what were the VDV loses at Gostomel? I just saw a video yesterday about this assault that claims that all the tasks were fulfilled. So which one is it? How do we know at this point? What were their tasks? I do not know.
"Decapitation strikes do not need to siege an entire city; I do not expect Maduro Raid levels of competence by RuAF, by surprise, speed, and violence of action - all of which they had, but not enough to cross the critical threshold - can enable a force of a few thousands to physically disrupt, detain, and destroy a national government, and its civilian control over the military."
All this assumes that there was such a plan, namely decapitation. But it does not seem to me. It seems that what Rus say is genuine: pressure government into negotiations to peacefully resolve the issue (and pinning down probably the best forces in Kiev to alleviate the potential problems in Donbass, where their main goal was - to help the DLPR population).
Why feint as incompetence? They pressured Ze into negotiations on the very next day.
Those Airborne Spetnaz was slaughtered at Antonov airport. It is called a Defeat.
I have not seen anything about it. I hear these things, but did not seen anything, yet.
https://grokipedia.com/page/Battle_of_Antonov_Airport
"Maduro Raid levels of competence" - hahaha - amateur hour.
Actually Russia never planned to take Kiev, and this analysis by US Marine Corps officers concludes the beginning of the SMO, reported as a disaster for Russia in the Western press, was actually a brilliant tactical move 👇
https://imetatronink.substack.com/p/a-former-us-marine-corps-officershtml
Excellent - thanks !
This just might be the Year of the True Test for NATO/EU/US. Hungary and Slovakia believes that Ukraine has undermined their energy security by blocking oil from Russia through the Friendship Oil pipeline. The facts are supporting the complaints as both nations were threatened and were subjected to terrorist acts. In Hungary the Ukraine leadership is openly supporting Tisza Party with Peter Magyar in leadership position, Brussels’ pro-war activist in the country. The Slovak PM Robert Fico almost lost his life in an attack in May of 2024 and PM Orban’s life was also threatened already. As of yesterday (2/23/26) these two nations teamed up to block a 90 billion Euro EU giveaway package for the year to Ukraine, as long as Ukraine blocks Russian oil from flowing freely to them. If Ukraine is unable to place a hand on that cash or at least a large part of it, their war fighting and golden toilet resourcing capacities will be greatly diminished and it is difficult to see them effectively carrying on with the war to the end of this year. Something will have to give: Either Ukraine opens up the oil valves again or the EU changes rules and that will not be easy. As far as the two hardened politicians in Slovakia and Hungary, they show no signs of backing off. Also the general population is also against the war and financial support from the EU.
They always support the sanctions eventually. They just get something in return, especially Hungary.
I have seen reports that Slovakia is now asking EU representatives to confirm Ukrainian story that Druzhba pipelines are indeed damaged, because Ukrainians do not allow Slovaks to come and inspect it. I wonder what would EU say, wink, wink.
Slovakia did stop electricity supplies, but more of the electricity is coming from Hungary and they said they would not cut it because of the Hungarian population in Ukraine. Ze knows he is in command, unfortunately.
Mr. Z is already in a vulnerable position playing a give and take. The corruption issues, forced enrollments by the UAF and weakened support for the war by his own population are clearly need to be paid attention by him. If Hungary and Slovakia will be joined by a few more countries and the UAF weakens to the point of running here and there, this war can be over before next Christmas.
Not all fine and dandy for him, true.
But EU will help him out as much as possible. Like I mentioned earlier Slovaks seeking help from EU (why?), likewise Hungary is also seeking help from EU, actually both, to help them out with oil deliveries, when EU does not give a damn about neither of them.
A lot of posters on this forum do not realize the thin line Putin is walking with the ‘Special Operation’. It is hard to believe for many, the brutal historical trauma handed down to the Ukraine population by Stalin and his homicidal maniacs in the 1930s is a major reason why it was possible to drag Ukraine into this conflict. On the other hand, Putin does not want to repeat the same mistake. For Russia it is critically important to finish this conflict without EU/NATO forces on Ukraine territory. This leaves the Russian Army a thin line to walk. Russia could have bombed half of Kiev into a dust pile by now but that would have been counterproductive to their main goals.
What brutal historical trauma? "Holodomor"?
The way I see it, segment of Ukrainian population, the one originating from Habsburg empire, has always had a "destroy Russia" trigger in their ideology.
They could only dream about establishing a country that they inherited from commies, but instead of enjoying it, they impoverished it and turned on Russia again. Because that is their MO, raison d'être.
This war has originated in Eastern Ukraine and that is where it will be decided.
Depends on how you define "originated". It could be perceived that it originated form W Ukraine, since it was W Ukrainians that started it, by attacking their E Ukrainian compatriots.
It originated in London & DC.
>It is hard to believe for many, the brutal historical trauma handed down to the Ukraine population by Stalin and his homicidal maniacs in the 1930s is a major reason why it was possible to drag Ukraine into this conflict.
WTF am I reading???
Do you know where Bandera was born? In Austria-Hungary.
Do you know which country he was citizen of when WWII started? Poland.
Shukhevych, Melnyk, Stetsko, etc.? Same thing.
Because Galicia was part of Austria-Hungary until 1918, then became Polish for the interwar period. There was no "Holodomor" there.
Meanwhile the post-collecitivization famine stretched from the Dnieper to Altai.
More like "it is critically important" for EU/Murikan forces not to overtly adventure onto Ukraine territory. Do you think American bases globally cannot be "touched" by RU, but Iran can, albeit on a more local scope? Those there covertly are getting whacked in significant numbers.
"Ukraine opens up the oil valves again"
A critical pumping station for the Druzhba pipeline was blown up by Ukraine yesterday. I doubt there will be oil for some time.
For a hundred BILLION dollars they just might find a way to repair those pipes… At least this is the logic from Orban and Fico.
They will be repaired, how long it takes is the point though. Hungry is up for elections soon. April isn't it. If Orban goes then then the calculus will shift, especially in Serbia and Slovakia.
Orban is staying even if half the pro-Brusselite retarded, criminal pedo gang there has to be channeled into the nearest state prison. The present FIDESZ party system is very deeply imbedded into the whole of the state apparatus. I repeat, the Romanian story will not be duplicated in Hungary.
It is hard to estimate the repair time for the pipes as the full extent of the damage is unknown. I heard Zelensky has already changed into his overall, running around with his toolbox. If the Russians are as smart as they think they are they will send a few Oreshniks there once a week to stop Z from going to the bank.
Nasty words are flying around in Europe:
Breaking: Hungary to Block €90 Billion Ukraine Loan Until Oil Transit Resumes + Video
https://magyarnemzet.hu/english/2026/02/hungary-fm-says-no-to-common-integration-with-ukraine
Hungary FM: Hungary, Slovakia Will Resist Ukraine's Blackmail to the End
https://magyarnemzet.hu/english/2026/02/masolat-szijjarto-peter-magyarorszag-es-szlovakia-a-vegsokig-ellenall-az-ukran-zsarolasnak
Hungary FM Shares Shocking News: Brussels Wants to Send Hungarian and Slovak Troops to Ukraine
https://magyarnemzet.hu/english/2026/02/hungary-fm-shares-shocking-news-brussels-wants-to-send-hungarian-and-slovak-troops-to-ukraine
FM Szijjarto Sends Sharp Response to Ukrainians Targeting Hungary
https://magyarnemzet.hu/english/2026/02/fm-szijjarto-sends-sharp-response-to-ukrainians-targeting-hungary
The Air Freezes In Brussels: Hungarian Gov't Will Not Stay Silent As Kyiv Blackmails Hungary
https://magyarnemzet.hu/english/2026/02/the-air-freezes-in-brussels-hungarian-govt-will-not-stay-silent-as-kyiv-blackmails-hungary
PM Orban: Ukrainians Would Replace Hungarian Government With A Pro-Kyiv Governor
https://magyarnemzet.hu/english/2026/02/pm-orban-ukrainians-would-replace-hungarian-government-with-a-pro-kyiv-governor
Hungary FM Says No to Common Integration With Ukraine
https://magyarnemzet.hu/english/2026/02/hungary-fm-says-no-to-common-integration-with-ukraine
PM Orban Sends Message From Washington: Kyiv Wants Chaos in Hungary to Topple Pro-Peace Government
https://magyarnemzet.hu/english/2026/02/masolat-orban-viktor-washingtonbol-uzent-ukrajna-zurzavart-akar-magyarorszagon-hogy-megbuktassa-a-bekeparti-kormanyt
"...for the purpose of bleeding Russia dry for the sake of people that in actuality hate both sides, including the Ukrainians, whom they merely pretend to “like” so as to use them as a battering ram against Russia."
Indeed, but why? For fun?
In my view it is easy to explain why if we look at the current trajectory of the West. We have to remember that our leaders are none too bright and can only think one dimensionally, and a couple of steps ahead, if any.
The West, having ridden the post-war wave(s) of prosperity to global domination, became fat and lazy through the 60's and 70's and a bloated husk in the 90's, drinking their own kool-aid, believing that all they need is money, and they can buy everything they need. The West sold off their control over global supply sometime between the 80's and 00's, and got rich purely from printing money, using it to buy stuff that other countries now made.
Flash forward to the 2007/8 global financial crisis, a direct result of the short-sightedness of Greenspan turning the financial system upside down in the late 90s. This set the stage for a gradual economic descent into madness, culminating in the perverse reality where we were literally paying the banks trillions of dollars to lend money cheaply, under the threat of another great depression.
Ordinarily this would have triggered another world war, but with the West in a perpetual state of self-loathing, and hopelessly unprepared, it was far easier to release a military-grade virus and lock down the world, culminating in the release of tens of trillions of printed dollars into the global economy to effectively heal the prior 10 years of global financial farce.
However, during the COVID years, a startling reality dawned on those in power in the West: The West no longer controlled global supply, and all the money in the world was useless if there was nothing to buy with it.
This relit the fire under the West, but instead of getting down to work like their fathers and grandfathers did during the war years and rebuilding manufacturing, the goal became to enslave the productive countries. This began with Russia.
There is another perspective to this as well:
With the continued deindustrialisation of the West and the rise of the "service economy" powered by pure financialisation, there is nothing to do for millions upon millions of people who would have ordinarily worked dirty jobs in manufacturing. These jobs can't exist now, they don't pay enough to afford the amounts of debt now required to exist, for the produced goods remain competitive. Some find employment in caring for the elderly, and the rise of childhood Autism.
Now, with the rise of AI, even soft jobs now threaten to become redundant. What will people do? Mow each others' lawns? Clean each others' houses, for ever-greater amounts of money? We can't ask accountants, or teachers, or administration workers to code, similar to the steel workers of the 90's, so the final solution is (financial) socialism. Please tell me if I'm wrong.
For financial/corporate socialism to have any chance of success, it requires complete control over global supply, otherwise it can only result in hyperinflation or global insignificance, possibly both.
The goal becomes to enslave the productive countries. This began with Russia.
This war has been fought in the media as much as on the battlefield . Both sides have been painting a rosy picture for domestic audiences . For any informed observer it's obvious that this is WW3 and new fronts are being opened all the time . I hope we survive the point when everyone goes all in. IMO there are way more nuclear armed countries than are openly stating it.