That is attacking civilian infrastructure on purpose, breach of the Geneva Convention.
That is why Kremlin declared publicly now, that Zelensky and all his clique have became legitimate targets for retaliation strikes. Ukrainian leadership achieved this by their own actions, they were protected for 4 years by Putin's pledge not to kill politicians.
That is at time, when Ukraine is lacking any air defence systems, they run out of stocks. Every Russian missile and every drone reaches target.
Russia has started bombing Ukraine's energy back in October 2022, that was after Nord Streams were blown in a terrorist attack and few days later on the Kerch Bridge, using not involved truck drivers as victims. Russian purpose was to paralyse energy grid and electrified rail road system on which military production and deliveries to front depended. But it was tit for tat from Russia, they didn't want to escalate into hurting civilians.
The second example of escalation was incursion into Russia territory in Kursk in 2024 and thus expanding front line by hundred kilometres. That front line was crumbling in many places in the South. Objective was to capture and destruction of Kursk nuclear power plant to spill radiation.
The same argument was used as it used now - bring war close to Russian civilians, so they will feel pain.
Nuclear plant is clearly a civilian object, protected by international law and international agencies. That plant was luckily defended. Effect was elimination of 65 000 Ukrainian soldiers, including thousands mercenaries and countless high quality NATO equipment. Attack on Kursk allowed Putin to bring 12 000 North Koreans who wanted to train their paratroopers in real-life conditions and their 5 mln tons of outdated military hardware. And Zelensky is whining again, that North Koreans are coming back for the second round.
Effect on Russian civilians was opposite to Ukrainian expectations - they volunteered in mass for territorial defence and army.
Similar outcome might be now - not against Putin at ballot boxes in 2 months time, but giving him more political support and advocating for a stronger war.
There is a perspective that promotes the idea that the 2022 bombing campaign against Ukrainian energy infrastructure was meant more to deplete Ukrainian air defense interceptors. Though the strategy could have had a dual purpose. The Russian strikes really did not show an intention to actually destroy the energy infrastructure but to use it as bait for Ukraine to use up interceptors. Do you believe it was a consequence or unitended benifit of the strikes?
There were several agreements not to attack energy targets.
I think the objective is to destroy them as legitimate military targets. They are less protected from attack than proper targets close to front line, which are hidden in bunkers and covered by air defence and electronic warfare systems.
Further from the front line air defence is sparse.
If Russians were simply trying to deplete Ukrainians from interceptors they would constantly attack launchers.
But only occasionally they would target Patriot launchers, and they had to use newly developed hypersonic Kinzhals. The first larger use of Kinzhals started at the end of May 2023 to obstruct Ukrainian offensive on Surovikin Line. In the first days of June Ukrainians switched on an automatic targeting on Patriots in Kiev Zhuliany military airport and lost a valley of 32 interceptors in a minute, and still the launcher was destroyed by the final Kinzhal.
In 2022 Ukraine did not have patriot systems or not officially. So the potential threat against the energy system would force the Ukraine military to deplete precious interceptors to protect the energy infrastructure.
That's why Patriots and any other AD are send in couples. In the Middle East in March they were sending up to 8 against a single incoming, until they run out of them in April.
I think ballistic missiles run on a predictable trajectory and are easier, unless the newer versions can zig-zag, maneuver.
For hypersonic missiles there would be sometimes hypersonic interceptors. Missiles have to slow down on re-entering atmosphere from stratosphere from over 10 Mach to 4 Mach, to avoid burning and to allow for targeting. At the highest speeds plasma is created on front of warhead and it prevents radio-communication.
I will take a leader such as President Putin 100 times out of 100 over any of the "idiot" politicians including and especially Trump but it goes for all the lapdogs in the so called "west". How ridiculous to see an American citizen blame Putin for everything their Govt. does when in fact, the people that matter, The Russians put Putin's approval at 2.5 times any of the West's political clowns.
He is not a bot... I know that there are exceptions, but this is how we see Americans from the outside - thanks to US propaganda machine. Half of Americans still support US war against Iran. I keep asking myself how brainwashed one must be to be willing to support aggressive wars on foreign soil and claim that US soldiers "defend their homeland" there. Robbing other nations of their natural resources isn't patriotism, it is criminal activity and colonialism...
I am not even American. I think NATO expansion has been unjustified, I think the containment strategy on Russia and the division of Europe/Russia is the root problem. I support a short conclusive War (if it must happen) but not this slaughterhouse that has evolved. I fully know what the causes are of the prolonging of the War. But when even Putin stubbornly talk about SMO and all is going according to plan my blood boils over.
What is ridiculous about it? Please do explain, because it appears to those of us not in the One Argument club that Russian tactics which circumvent the need for full frontal assaults on prepared positions have indeed saved lives.
Losing, for example, 150 000 men/year and doing it for 4,5 year is more costly than sacrificing 200 000 in an all out offensive and finish it by 2023. Now they are throwing good money after bad if they intend to fight on for 5 more years or even longer.
If you believe in the myth that Russia is cirkumventing the need for full frontal assaults on prepared positions, please explain why they have done exactly that for 4 years now instead of launching offensive along other, less prepared and strong position than those in Donbass? You cant because the answer is that Putin/Kreml overreaching goal is to free a few choosen Oblasts. They are fighting territory meter by meter, day by day, soldier for soldier. Its not saving any lives.
Do the math, you say, and then come out with garbage like suggesting that an extra 50,000 dead is all it would have taken to defeat the largest army in Europe, backed by the US and NATO, in less than a year? Get outta here, ya clown!! And your second paragraph makes even less sense than your first. Why is Russia attempting to free a few chosen Oblasts when their goal is to free a few chosen Oblasts? Er...?
The lenght of this war does NOT depend on Russians, but on Western aggression. EU is not hiding that they are preparing to invade Russia in 2030 with European cannonfodder. Europeans are destined (by the Western empire "elites") to be the next "Ukrainians".
Fully justified perspective from your side, Tatjana, if you are a Russian.
Of course has the western intervention prolonged the War (sorry SMO) but who let them in the first place?
Who smiles at meetings and conferences and assure everyone theat the SMO is going to plan?
Who has inhibited himself and others so much that he speaks of himself as the third person and answer ”I really want to” after the ”SMO-heroes” whispered question (as if asking it loud would be rude)?
Whether you 'snuffle the margins' or not, that is the question of hour/day/week/any time period. There's obviously a hidden agenda at work that prevents Putin from doing the needful.
Maybe 'prevents' is too strong of a word, since we don't really know his actual agenda.
In the Donbass the Ukrainian front line is buckling, by the autumn the fight will be over Kramatorsk and Slovyansk. In the south over Orikhiv and Omel'nyk. The north eastern corner between Kupyank and Volchansk is also breaking down into Russian hands. The only response the West will have is even greater propaganda and more pinpricks. Very good to see Russia taking out the logistics in a big way at last, and ending the parties in Kiev.
The current rate of advance is a good one to grind the Ukrainian military into collapse without much bigger Russian losses. While Europe continues its decline and the US smashes itself against the rock of Iran.
From the article - "Wildberries accounts for 52 per cent of Russia’s e-commerce" - so not the destruction of Russian online trade, but the degradation of almost exactly half of it. Wild hyperbole undermines your already tenuous argument, if that is the word for these endless Chicken Little doom fests.
Ukraine is only good at “promising” to glaze israel and inviting mutated genocidal freaks like Laura Loomer to sit down with the big Z-dog to prove that they’re not nazis.
Destroying all of it would mean degrading half of it. It is far from that, but it is interesting that this might help OZON Ziobros take over the chunk of the market.
Ohh.. so the Russian "Amazon" was taken out.. where will whores be able to buy their make up now? If Amazon was blown up tomorrow I'd be slightly inconvenienced but not terribly so. Nothing critical for my life comes from there.
"accounts for 52 per cent of Russia’s e-commerce" — which is also bullshit, neither the hit Wildberries stores are actually destroyed: some heavily damaged, some lightly.
It has now been years that the northeastern corner between Kupiansk and Volchansk has been breaking down into Russian hands. The infamous Velikiy Burluk direction. Right now the Russians are besieging Biliy Kolodyaz which is about half way from the border to Velikiy Burluk. Which admittedly is an increase in tempo of their advance because that direction was frozen for years.
I can see progress towards Orekhov from the eastern direction of advance, but only when the Ukrainians exhaust their counterattacking in the Dnipro oblast flank of that direction, at Ternuvate. The western pincer to Orikhov, I'd be more somber in my predictions as the AFU not only has put back Stepnogorsk into the gray zone, but is now threatening Plavni which 6 months ago was comfortably in the Russian rear.
About a siege of Kramatorsk in the autumn: slow down. Russia has yet to secure Chasov Yar.
The current rate of advance is also a good one to keep Europe feathering Zelensky's nest - someone mentioned the other day that Ukrainians will not keep fighting if they become convinced there is no possibility of victory, and thus it is necessary to constantly remotivate them with lurid tales of the confusion and terror they are bringing to the enemy. Well, the same is true of Ukraine's 'allies' and sponsors: they will not keep plunking down the money if they become convinced Ukraine is on a downward trajectory that is irrecoverable. Thus it is necessary to re-inspire western donor nations that Ukraine might not have numbers or scalable manufacturing, but it has heart and audacity to burn. Convincing the European donors to keep the money rolling in is a delicate balancing act; Ukraine always has to be ALMOST winning, but not doing so well it can manage on its own. And this works a treat, as Europe shortchanges its own populations and downgrades their living standard so it can give more money to Ukraine.
Hard to doubt it, when Europe has similar worries to Ukraine about keeping warm this winter, although Europeans will not have to get up at o-dark-30 and troop into the subways to avoid falling rockets; not likely. But Europe must now compete on the spot market for LNG cargoes which Asia can easily outbid for.
>but rather everything to do with pressuring Russian citizens, as is the standard M.O. of all failed imperial “kinetic” foreign policy
The only places where the imperial kinetic foreign policy truly failed were North Korea and Cuba. The latter will soon be revisited. But what was the cost that survival was achieved by the resistance at in those cases? Do you see Putin's neoliberal comprador-run shithole being willing and able to pay that price?
Everywhere else the empire just keep striking and eventually wins.
Which brings us to the more general issue here -- is Russia a superpower or another Iraq/Yugoslavia/Syria/Libya/etc., i.e. a place the West can just bomb with impunity and zero repercussions?
Because right now it certainly looks like the latter.
A real superpower would make sure the first strike is also the last. But we are well into the six digits now.
>Just yesterday Putin told a conference that Ukraine will certainly lose its western territories
Lose them to who?
So Poland and Romania wage war on Russia, help kill hundreds of thousands and cause enormous damage, and are in the end rewarded with territory? What incentives does that establish?
The only country to which any territory should go to in this war is Russia, and that should be the firm clear unshakable official Russian position. Aggression must not be rewarded.
>one of the Russian SMO medal winners whispered to Putin that Russia should “go harder” in the war, to which Putin responds: “I really want to.”
So why isn't he?
>On one hand, Putin openly gives the reasons for why the Russian Army cannot go “all out” as most people would like: because it would incur much greater losses
Which is total BS, because nothing of what is meant by "go harder" involves anything happening at the front line. It is all strikes far behind the frontline that would make the frontline collapse quickly. Resulting in far less, not more casualties. And that has been obvious from the start. Not doing those strikes because of Putin effectively working as a Western agent in the Kremlin is what caused so many casualties.
>A Ukrainian regional council deputy from Kharkov revealed that every single gas station from Kharkov to Poltava has already been taken out by Russian drones:
Which may have finally had some effect with the pending collapse the northeastern corner of Kharkov region. Some real movement at last.
But has it stopped the drones and missiles flying into Russia? No, those keep increasing in number
Still haven't found a daycare willing to take you in? What's going on? Are you dirty? Do you have a nasty mug? Do you yap too much? Have you tried somewhere where nobody knows you like on Andromeda?
If the translation I saw is correct, he talked about wanting to but... risk - the risk of "losing the country." That is reasonable if it's his motivation, but I think it's wrong, and I have come to doubt his motivation.
No it will never stop the drones, but their size is going to be like in the Lego series you can watch everyday.
As Putin whispered into the interviewer ears to go harder, he would love too, well the same is true for Trump, he would love as well but against the advice of 2 top military generals, we do not dispose of that arsenal any longer, and their missiles need Months, years to be assembled.
You can also ask Germany where about 130 contractors or private corps have begun with constructing military weapons, except the Chinese will only sell their chips but without their rare earths, so back to the tech of the nineties.
As I have heard now Netanyahu and Zelensky have joined the club, Iran is not willing to go back to any negotiations or cease fire or opening Hormuz before and ONLY when there’s full implementation of the MoU, if NOT Iran by blessing of Mojtiba the Fatwa on nuclear weapons will be lifted completely, as is already decided so it won’t take another 30 years now according to BB.
This GM guy proves to be a total buffoon time and time again. He talks like a typical western shyster. He never mentions the utter destruction banderaland and Nafo are facing in ukroland. He only keeps babbling about Putin this and Putin that. Seems like Putin lives rent free in your head buddy.
Obviously, you have missed the part than since 2022 this has been a military operation for Russia and that for now Russia does not need and has no interest in going "all in".
You have no clue what it takes to properly mobilize and properly equip a large army, it is not like you can waive your magic wand and just move 500K force into the battlefield.
You have no idea what real war is and what would be the consequences for both sides right now if one is fought.
>Obviously, you have missed the part than since 2022 this has been a military operation for Russia and that for now Russia does not need and has no interest in going "all in".
So when will it do that?
When the strategic bombing campaign reaches not just Omsk and Tyumen but Khabarovsk and Vladivostok too?
Your detractors have a weird "everything is fine" perspective, when assets and industries Russia needs are getting bombed inside Russia itself. Ukraine should be fearful of bombing Russia, and Russia should want them to be fearful. For some strange reason, this is not happening.
Same people five years ago were with near 100% certainty saying (and thinking) that what has been completely normalized now has absolutely no chance of happening because Russia would never allow that.
When did I say everything is fine? Somehow you think fear will pacify the profound madness by the western elite. You seem to severely underestimate just how vile these creatures are.
You cannot attempt to pacify these goblins by killing millions of civilians in the process which is what this GM guy is asking and wishing for when he is criticizing Russia for not going "all in'.
"Putin openly gives the reasons for why the Russian Army cannot go “all out” as most people would like: because it would incur much greater losses, and Putin believes Russia’s current persistent slow-march across Ukraine is the ideal pace which maximizes victorious conditions while minimizing losses."
Sorry, but Vlad is dead wrong, and he's covering up early mistakes for failing to take the initiative with a plan at the start of the SMO that didn't need constant reactive adjustments. Losses would have been much lower had Russia been prepared to do what it took and neutralized Ukraine sooner. Russia's oil industry is getting pummeled, its fiscal reserves are greatly depleted, and the body count is in the hundreds of thousands without any clear win in sight and Putin is telling us he's minimizing losses towards victory. Bullshit. Russia has gained territory at a great cost. Russia won ground technically, but it can't win this war without neutralizing Ukraine and holding its red lines as effective deterrence. Russia does not account for NATO's preparation to reinforce Ukraine with boots on the ground. So strategically, Russia is losing first-strike initiatives by being reactive. Now there's talk that Russia is preparing to draft 300,000-500,000 recruits. That's a reactive response. Russia should have recruited those soldiers long ago. And if things are going so well at the front, why draft? Reactive.
Putin jokingly addressed the audience, asking if he should step it up, and they agreed. Russia's failure in not stepping it up sooner is the reason it failed to set and stick to red lines to deter NATO countries from their support of Ukraine, which made it that much more difficult for it to win its SMO which it hasn't even won yet. Ukraine shouldn't even be in the discussion by now except as having been neutralized.
Russia may have gained a tactical edge in gaining ground, but at the strategic level, Russia put itself in a pickle. Napoleon, Patton, and Zhukov would have done things differently than the reactive, fake-it-till-you-make-it measures Putin took.
Have you seen the recent video of an AFU drone attack blowing up Russian fuel tanks on a moving train? Kaboom. Just another day that Russia is winning. The problem is they haven't won in nearly five years yet. Winning is not won. Why does Russia winning hurt so darn much?
Putin is a Slav. He does not want to just kill to kill because he knows that in the South and Eastern parts of Ukraine are Russian citizens of Ukraine and killing them as part of the war he doesn't want. Putin is a moderate and if another Russian took over his job they would be more aggressive.
My dear Joseph. It's exactly Putin's moderation that makes him more dangerous than a more aggressive leader. You see, Joseph, war is brutal, deadly, hell on earth.
There is no nice way to go about it.
There is no such thing as gently killing the enemy.
It's putting a bullet through the face and blowing brains out or droning a body with parts flying in all directions.
I hate war more than anyone.
We can't change it
Let's not pretend there is a gentlemanly way to win a war.
It would be hard to detect a radical change in the Russian approach; which has always focussed on purely military / industrial targets, whereas Ukraine of course has never had such compunctions.
It remains a somewhat limited operation, in line with the originally-declared intention.
You seem to think winning a war is about weapons and killing. Winning is about having support from the indigenous population once the fighting stops. You watch too much Hollywood my friend. Read more history.
Correct. Russia could have gone full retard in 2022 ad wrapped it up in a year, give or take. And then faced an insurgency for decades. That scenario isn't a win.
That's how the US operates and that's why they lost in Vietnam and Afghanistan, and didn't really win in Iraq or elsewhere...unless the goal was creating dysfunctional countries like Iraq and Libya
They take Iraqs oil and give them pocket money if they behave. They control their airspace and attack other countries. Not a total defeat for The Empire.
Initially there would not be an insurgency because Russia will not take over the western part of Ukraine. The Ukraine will be not in a position to do anything that would be serious and put down.
The whole reason Ukraine started the overthrow of the Russian president of Ukraine was basically a US action that wanted to weaken Russia. That did not happen and now they are stronger. Other countries might offer help for what ever is left of Ukraine and even Russia might help. The whole western and their evil Putin and Russia needs to be split up and then we can steal their natural resources is probably over for a while. So, hopefully after Trump's debacle is over the US/EU idea to weaken Russia might be over.
Humans naturally gravitate to whoever is perceived as stronger.
Moreover, in 2022, a lot of Ukrainians were on the fence. The mayor of Dnipropetrovsk and Kharkov refused to condemn the invasion at first. A lot of people agreed.
They aren't on the fence any more, thanks to Russian dithering and weakness.
Not to mention "but insurgents" is just cope. The one thing every successful insurgency has in common is a young population. The median age in Ukraine was over 40, and that from before the war.
>He does not want to just kill to kill because he knows that in the South and Eastern parts of Ukraine are Russian citizens of Ukraine and killing them as part of the war he doesn't want.
The war could have been over within a few weeks to months with total casualties on both sides in the low tens of thousands and almost no destruction. OK, and with several hundred thousand to a couple million Banderites who would then have to be exterminated, but that would not affect the normal honest people.
“While we, brothers in blood and faith, are killing each other, our commanders on both sides of the front speak in Hebrew. I am glad that the world has already understood that in Kiev the power is controlled by the Zionists. But I am sorry that very few have yet realized that in Moscow the power is also in the hands of the Zionists.”
"in the South and Eastern parts of Ukraine are Russian citizens" — you meant to say ethnically Russians, not citizens, right? They're all ethnic Russians (the ones who are not Greeks, Italians, Armenians, or Tatars) — there are no ethnic Ukrainians, they simply don't exist.
Like Ukraine, Russia is a purely political construct. There is no unique Russian DNA either. Modern Russians are a product of centuries of both invasions and conquests.
I live with one, from Sochi, Ukrainian father, Georgian (mostly) mother, still identifies as Russian.
Recall that after 2014, the separatist areas of Donetsk and Luhansk wanted independence, not to be part of Russia. Putin allowed them to experience what the quest for independence would look like.
"Like Ukraine, Russia" — there is no "like" here. Russia's history spans more than 1200 years, and before that it was a dozen of Slavic tribes (vyatich, krivich, drevich, polyane, slovens, etc.) belonging to one of those constitutes ethnic Russian even today. To the exact same tribes belong the Russians living to the southwest of Moscow. It's genetical.
"product of centuries of both invasions and conquests" — on conquests Russians integrated new territories with new peoples and gave them equals rights but it doesn't mean Russians were keen to fuck them or intermingle with them.
"on invasions" — which invasions? Tatars is still a separate people even today and they amount to about 3% of the total Russian (national, non-ethnic) population, they're not Russians now, and they were never before: during the Tatar/Mongol invasion, Tatars kept living in the Golden Horde: unlike Russia, The Mongol Empire was never a unified state where Russians lived anywhere in the Golden Horde, and mongolians hang about the Russian cities; the mixed marriages always frowned upon, and after the liberation such mulattos weren't explicitly exterminated but socially disadvantaged, so their number significantly subsided even after the former mongolian territories were acquired by Russia.
The German invasion? that German-Russian metis' number is even smaller than that of Tatars: even after centuries of Germans and Russians living side by side within the Russian Empire with Russian emperors being of Russian-German-Danish ancestry.
Alexander Pushkin enters the chat. Numerous analysts have pointed out that Putin's facial features contain Mongol elements not typically found in Slavic men.
"Genetic studies on Russians reveal a diverse ancestry shaped by East Slavic colonization, Finno-Ugric admixture, and Steppe origins. The population is broadly divided into Central/Southern Russians, who cluster with other East Slavs, and Northern Russians, who share stronger genetic affinities with Finno-Ugric and North European populations.
Paternal Lineages (Y-DNA)
The most common Y-DNA haplogroups among ethnic Russians are:
R1a: Found in approximately 46.7% of Russian men on average, this lineage is associated with Balto-Slavic speakers and the Kurgan culture. It is dominant in Central and Southern Russia (up to 62.7%) but less frequent in the North (20–30%).
N (N-M231): Present in about 21.6% of men, this haplogroup is linked to Uralic and Altaic speakers. Its frequency is highest in Northern Russia (>35%) and decreases southward.
I (I-M170): Found in roughly 17.6% of men, this lineage has Northwestern European origins and is more common in Central and Southern regions.
R1b: Present in about 5.8% of men, typically in low, mosaic frequencies.
This reminds me of a story in Herodotus; King Croesus wanted a Greek worthy, Solon, to agree that he, ie the king, was the happiest man alive, because of all his wealth and power, and Solon answered that only on one's final day could one really answer that question; and indeed, Croesus ended up on the end of a spear; so one should never judge a man by the present day, but by his final day.
Accordingly therefore, Napoleon was the most wretched of men.
"Napoleon, by any counting, commanded more major set piece battles than any other man in history, and he almost always won. At the peak of his powers, between his Italian campaign of 1796 and the beginning of his downfall in Saxony in 1813, he fought 53 major battles and suffered defeat in only 4 of them. He won victories repeatedly when fighting at a numerical disadvantage, and he won in summer and winter, deserts and mountains, from France to Egypt to Russia." Big Serge
If Napoleon was such a good commander, how come he let the British chase his army out of Spain? His early successes were much less to do with good generalship and much more to do with politics.
"He was feared by all his enemies."
You have a source for the Duke of Wellington fearing him?
In 1813-14, when France was decisively defeated (forget Waterloo) the allied strategy was to attack and fight against every French army, except the one led by Napoleon. When facing Napoleon, the Russian, Prussian and Austrian strategy was to withdraw.
I think that indicates how his enemies felt abouthim.
Napoleon lost over and over again... From Egypt to Russia and the peninsula. He repeatedly overextended massively. Arguably his success was a mirage after the one-dimensional victories against Austria and Italy. Waterloo, in Wellington's words 'a close run thing', was anything but. Blucher was a little too far off for immediate comfort. However, the Alliance were of an order of magnitude larger to be able to defeat the rehashed French armies in detail, which is what happened. Napoleon lost in between Moscow and Kiev; Waterloo was a bloody vanity that should damn Napoleon to the dustbin of failed dictators.
"Napoleon, by any counting, commanded more major set piece battles than any other man in history, and he almost always won. At the peak of his powers, between his Italian campaign of 1796 and the beginning of his downfall in Saxony in 1813, he fought 53 major battles and suffered defeat in only 4 of them. He won victories repeatedly when fighting at a numerical disadvantage, and he won in summer and winter, deserts and mountains, from France to Egypt to Russia." Big Serge
>Have you seen the recent video of an AFU drone attack blowing up Russian fuel tanks on a moving train?
There will be a lot more of that as long as the existence of Starlink is tolerated.
Rogozin is complaining about that every other day, pointing out that there are half a dozen ways to eliminate Starlink (he should know -- he raised the alarm about it the moment it was announced as an intention and when he was head of Roscosmos), and that the problem is political will, not technical capability. But the political will continues to be lacking
Russia has demonstrated anti-satellite missile capability. It could comfortably take out the relevant Starlink constellations. But don't underestimate the political will that would be needed for such a consequential decision. Apart from risking reciprocal strikes on Russian satellites by the US (which presumably also has the technology), there would be the risk of Kessler syndrome, a chaotic chain reaction of debris collisions which would make low Earth orbit impossible to use or transit through. Russia and China would not like that any more than the enemy would. It's the space-based technology equivalent of MAD with nukes, a decision of last resort. I'm not surprised the political will doesn't exist for that, and they are waiting to develop a more targeted electronic-warfare counter to Starlink.
Look, when you are subjected to a strategic bombing campaign, which is exactly what is happening here, there is nothing to lose.
Who would suffer more from Kesslerization? The US or Russia and China?
The answer should be obvious. And thus the decision should be a no-brainer.
Then there is the really dark possibility that in addition to everything else Starlink is a front for an orbital bombardment system. Think about it seriously -- the individual satellites are large enough to carry even multiple nukes. With over 10,000 of them it would be very easy to conceal the ones that are armed from the actual communication satellites, and they in fact may also be communication satellites too, for perfect cover.
Back in 2023 there was a very suspicious explosion in Sergiev Posad, which set back Russian drone production by six months
The official version was a "magneisum explosion" in a fireworks factory. Which is total BS.
There was no missile fired from Ukraine, but local reports did mention a "whistling sound" heard just before the explosion, which makes the SADM hypothesis for it doubtful too. So that may well have been a test of what I am describing above and a message job for Russia
Putin obviously feels he has a lot still to lose, and I'd wager so do most Russians. Life goes on, mostly. A strategic bombing campaign this may be, but it's a very feeble one compared to historical examples of such campaigns.
I don't have the technical knowledge to fully assess the "Starlink as orbital bombardment" hypothesis, but maybe someone else does? Given the technical limitations on the mass SpaceX rockets can lift to LEO, and the number of satellites in each lift, and the communications package they also need to have to function as the highly effective strategic asset they are, is it feasible than any or all of them have the re-entry shielding on board that they would need to deploy warheads from orbit to the ground, plus guidance and payload?
The currently deployed on US imssiles W76 MIRV/warhead weighs 100 kg (these are 5 kt ones and would be used for counterforce strikes), while the W88 MIRV/warhead weighs 200 kg (these are the half a megatone city destroyers).
What's your point? R squared: do you know what that means? What do you think happens to objects destroyed when they are in orbit? Do you think missiles hitting the ground are in orbit?
He often swears, blasphemes and grows irate at the drop of a hat, but genuinely quite Slavic inclined under stress, whether Ukrainian, Russian, or wherever.
From what you say, it appears that you want Russia to go full on with an all-out attack. Destroy Ukraine. Including the civilians......
My arguments against that are as follows: America has done that, time and again. Sure, it wins wars. But, in the long run, it creates hatred. The west beat Iraq....... And yet, the Iraqis fully despise the West and is waiting to rise up.
In a quick, no-holds-barred conflict, the west's munitions, in the firing line, would have been overwhelmed. But the reserves would still be there. This long-term conflict has dwindled the west's reserves. Particularly in air-defence. You could say that Iran's response was better - go all-in! But, Iran has benefitted from the west losing their (useless) Air-defence missiles in Ukraine.
At the moment, Russia has a continuous turn-over of well-trained men in its military. Those men are well-trained reservists when they leave. And all-out no-holds-barred attack would have had many problems: 1) Russia did not have a large army at the outset; 2) to fully train an army, and equip it, would take a year, especially as Ukraine had the largest, well-trained army, in Europe; 3) In that year, Ukraine would have prepared for any attack with defence in-depth. Thereby causing more damage, more casualties, more gloating by the west.
You say, below, war is hell. Yes, it is. Putin, possibly, has minimised this. Possibly. But, hey, war is hell........ For those on the battlefield, in the cities that are pummelled.
Not for those like you and me who are safely far away from the conflict zone.
Are you related to that mormon clown joseph smith, i am aghast at what people in the usa believe…….simply aghast at the bullshit that the naked primates believe, obviously illiterate and gullible to the last atom of their primate bodies. America the Beautiful indeed, the country can be said to be , but the melting pot of 200 nationalities mongrelised into a mince mass is uglier than …
"Are you related to that mormon clown joseph smith," That appears to be rather an illogical statement, as my surname is Adam-Smith. Now, if you'd referred to the Scottish economist, of the similar name, it would still be an illogical statement. Because, what an ancestor thinks is immaterial to what I, or you, think.
"i am aghast at what people in the usa believe" Are you referring to the general public or the politicians? Again, it is illogical in reference to the comment that I made. For many reasons: 1) the comment was made by me, as an individual; 2) I am not American.
But, please, inform me, and other readers, as to what you mean, in the context of my comment, by your remark.
Agreed. The West's objective in Ukraine was to (1) cripple the Russian economy through economic sanctions and, (2) severely degrade Russia's military capacity through a protracted ground war against the Western trained and equipped UAF. Putin was correct in not taking the bait of an all-out ground war, the "success" of which would have ground Russia down in a decades long, CIA run, armed insurgency in Ukraine. Much more effective to demilitarize Ukraine by grinding the UAF to destruction while minimizing Russian losses. In an age of instant gratification, patience can be an unappreciated virtue.
": America has done that, time and again. Sure, it wins wars. But, in the long run, it creates hatred. The west beat Iraq....... And yet, the Iraqis fully despise the West and is waiting to rise up."
And yet they dare not do a thing.
More cope, more excuses for Russian indecision and dithering.
It gained additional political instability in the region, a platform for attacking Iran, oil, and the elimination of an opponent of dollar hegemony, among other things. Not a bad day's work if you don't count all the people murdered. The US does not fight war in an attempt to become beloved or to create peace. Pretty much the opposite, in fact.
The US has total financial control over Iraq's oil trade, which is entirely in US$ and the money flows through US banks, mainly the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
"How the U.S. controls Iraq's oil revenues"
The U.S. control over Iraq's oil revenues primarily stems from the management of Iraq's oil income through the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. After the 2003 invasion, the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA), led by the U.S., established the Development Fund for Iraq (DFI), which was held at the New York Fed. The DFI was designed to collect Iraq's oil revenues and use them for the country's reconstruction and development. It was also set up to protect the Iraqi oil revenues from lawsuits and claims relating to Saddam Hussein's rule. Then-president George W. Bush signed an executive order, which has been renewed by every president since, that set up the arrangement. The DFI eventually became an account of the Central Bank of Iraq at the New York Federal Reserve, which remains the case today.
As I have written below, we can put together Putins strategy according to his remarks as following:
The slow progress of the SMO as the Chechen war strategy: To wind the enemy down slowly until all outside support is faded, to install a friendly government and to make a powerful rebuilding campagin like Russia did in Chechenya. Wich ist now on of the strongest supporters of Putin and one of the most fierce fighting forces within the Russian Army.
Translated to the Ukraine war: To dry out the support form NATO/USA/EU. To watch the decline of the EU countries which they have inflicted on themselves with the sanctinons. To watch the decline of the NATO power (helped by Trumps failed Iran war). At the same time preserving and strenghtening the Russian economy (which means also not to switch to a total war economy) and getting new allies. Plus giving away the westernprovinces with the stubborn russophobes (Putin told about this possibility even in the Tucker interview). The remainig rump Ukraine will get a massive rebuilding program, where Mariupol is an example how it could work.
So in the end in the West the bordering NATO countries will be satified with getting their former territory, which makes them a buffer zone. Odessa will be Russian, preventing NATO support through the Black Sea. The remainig rump Ukraine, which is not destroyed so much an modernized, will be transformed to a Country loyal To Russia. Also because the declining EU is not longer attractive for the inhabitants.
This seems to be Putins Plan. We will see how it works out. But we have to be patient.
When the war is over, a lot of Ukrainians will be voting with their feet.
It shall be interesting to see which side, Russia or the EU, who can come up with the best lure.
My guess is that Europe will have plenty of domestic problems of its own - too many to be able to support a Ukrainian rump state in turmoil with anything but hot air and empty promises. Russia, on the other hand, will no doubt make every effort to rebuild Novorossiya in the way she did with Mariupol to make it a showcase for the sullen neighboring countries to watch.
As the saying goes: You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.
No doubt, there'll be much weeping and gnashing of teeth among the MSM.
If it isn't Mr. P's plan, one might well say it should be. The question, of course, is whether or not it is a viable plan when taking into consideration the nature of the enemy, which as all things appear, is not merely the Ukronazis but the megalomaniac political leadership of the "West", all thoroughly compromised by the heritage megalomaniacs of international finance and their spearhead toadies in the artificial nation planted in Palestine. These thoroughly denatured human beings only desire mindless bio-drones fixated on crass consumption; compassion and communitarianism are lacking in their make-up, so reasonable plans may be futile.
No it wouldn’t. Taking land is nothing if you can’t secure it and your enemies still want your destruction.
You don’t like what Ukraine is doing now? Now imagine Guérilla warfare, terrorism, sabotage at 10X because they are all alive, well funded, motivated, and the new territories are no where near secure.
In fact, that would have given them the opportunity to bleed Russia dry and take advantage of a move that although planned for a year was still not at a ready enough state.
What you are saying - which to be honest I am starting to get sick and tired of - would have been a colossal mistake.
But insurgents! is more cope. Insurgency is a young man's game. Every successful Insurgency has one thing in common - s young population. The median age in Ukraine is over 40, and that from before the war.
Not to mention you apparently are arguing for genocide.
I don't understand/know the operational aspects of hitting a moving ship on the Caspian Sea. Were there some sort of lotering drowns with Starlink feedback to an operator? This means that Americans were involved and might have even provided some targeting information and timing, no? How was this possible, many hours of flight away from Ukraine? Or was the launch from Azerbaidjan or Kazakhstan, with observers on the ground?
The "Ukrainian" strike on an Iranian ship was likely ordered by America, because America wants to halt the transfer of cargo between Russia and Iran without causing a diplomatic incident with Russia. Also, it would not be surprising if Azerbaijan or Turkiye actually launched the attack.
Of course the Americans were involved. It wasn't a "Ukrainian" strike at all, but an American one.
It's not clear if it was even launched from Ukraine, could have come from Azerbaijan or Turkey just as well.
And yes, real time Starlink targeting is how it's done.
Also note that people don't appreciate the monumental significance of these events -- the Caspian was a secure bastion where NATO could not touch. Now they are striking freely there.
Starlink must be eliminated. Yesterday. Not today, not tomorrow.
But Putin can't risk upsetting the dear partners.
You can put up as many Rassvet satellites as you want, it doesn't solve the problem of them hitting you. And you can't hit them back the same way because they have physically encircled you while you have no positioned strike assets around them other than perhaps some nuclear submarines.
Yes, it can be. There are multiple ways to do it, from brute-force Kesslerization, to nuclear explosions in space, blinding of individual satellites, etc.
And Russia has been working on all of those since the 1970s
" ... Kesslerization refers to the intentional or accidental triggering of Kessler Syndrome, a hypothetical scenario where the density of objects in low Earth orbit (LEO) becomes so high that collisions between debris create a cascading chain reaction, exponentially increasing space junk and potentially rendering orbits unusable. The term gained notoriety when Russian nationalist Anatoly Karlin proposed "Kesslerization" as a military tactic for Russia to neutralize Ukraine’s satellite surveillance capabilities by destroying their own assets to start the debris cascade, though such an act would likely violate international law.... "
GM as usual with his own version of the Samson Option.
Oh, yes, open yourself up to a first strike because of "international law"
Perfectly logical and fair.
Do you have any idea where this is going?
If they are hunting ships in the Azov, Black and Caspian seas with Starlink and AI, and if they are doing the same on individual trucks and trains on the highways and railways of Novorossiya, the same can be done to the Yars TELs deep inside Russia. And will be.
And there there is the even more frightening possibility of Starlink being a front fron for the orbital deployment of nukes. With tens of thousands of satellites, there is no knowing which ones also carry warheads. And there is your unansnwerable disarming first strike. Reaction time is single-digit minutes, everything will be blown up before anyone has time to fire back. And with the low deployment rates of Russian SSBNs plus the idiotic signign and then adherence to the arms limitation treaties, meaning that Russia doesn't have the vast stockpiles of missiles deep underground that the likes of Iran, China and North Korea have, there won't be much left to fire after that first strike.
Starlink's existence is completely impermissible and has to be ended. Now.
International law - such as it is - is predicated on the at least partial recognition that nobody wants thousands of burning satellites raining down on their heads.
And it may well be going where you indicate; but we shouldn't speed up the process.
First strike on Russia? No one would dare. Seeing the "success" of interception rates in the Ukrainian and Iranian wars, the threat of a retaliatory second strike is to serious to even dream about a successful nuclear war for the US.
And let's not speak about the prospects of such strategy when a number of Poseidons is truely operational.
Azerbaijan is helping out Israel/US by allowing drone strikes from their territory against Iranian assets and Russian interior, just as they previously allowed Israel/US to use Azerbaijan for drone strikes against Syria.
The warmongers pushing the Ukraine/Russia war, Iran/USA war, Israel/Lebanon war will never stop until THEY are stopped. They are like automatons. As in the US movie, "Terminator". They must be destroyed, or they will destroy us.
Khazaria delenda est, as somebody - Cato the Elder I think - once said.
They have made their own position crystal clear in their talmud - "Even the best of the Gentiles must be destroyed, as even the best of snakes must be destroyed."
We have been here since Genesis 3, 15 though, when the Two Seeds doctrine was first spelled out, some 3500 years ago.
Our problem though, is that God put a mark on Cain - the first jew - so as to prevent those around him from killing him, because he has been reserved for God to destroy, on the last day.
Meantime, we continue to suffer under the yellow star of satan and his minions - the jews.
The global financial elite are using their resources and political influence to start these wars and keep them going. Robert Pape said that pro-Ukraine billionaires living in Chicago privately funded the early development of Ukrainian FPV drones. These elites can't be reasoned with, negotiated with, or prosecuted by law.
There may be 2 ways to deal with them, which haven't been attempted:
1)Assassination by state-backed trained assassins
2)Causing a financial market crash(by blowing up Gulf energy production) which would collapse the value of their financial holdings
And I do agree with you. Option one would be the ideal standard and I hope there's a sustained campaign of it to come. More effective and targeted than any missile strike. And cheaper if you use "their" terms of reference. 😉
The destruction of Wildberries mega warehouses is indeed particularly bad for Russian small and medium sized enterprises. Because of the huge importance of e-commerce, most B2C companies keep their stocks of goods at Ozon and Wildberries, ready to be shipped to consumers in a few hours. No insurance coverage and, if there was, you can be sure there would be an exclusion clause for acts of war. This means the destruction of countless small businesses deeply impacting Russian society just a few weeks before the Duma elections.
Not surprising that rumors of major, including Karaganov-style escalations on NATO countries, are spreading. Because the reaction of the Russian public is not to demand more diplomacy, but a swift end to the war.
Wildberry has announced that every article destroyed will be accounted as sold and paid to the seller. This indicates that Wildberry has the financial means to do it (or gets support from the goverment) or that the loss is not that big.
I read it on Telgram, possibly Slavyangrad. But I am not sure about it. Anyway, it makes sense to suppot the sellers so that they do not feel to be victims.
Source? The Russian government did not give any significant support to businesses during COVID. And public finances were in much better shape then than now. I am surprised by your faith in the generosity of the authorities.
Exactly. And that ”small” part of the equation, Simplicius, totally missed. I think Tatyana Kim, owner of Wildberries, said they will compensate the 22 oo0 re-sellers. But that was before another three warehouses went up in flames.
Gulf oil is the soft underbelly of the American Empire. It might be a good idea for Iran to pre-emptively destroy Gulf oil production, just to crash the global economy. The people instigating these wars are the global capitalist elite, many of them Jews, and a global economic depression would serve justice by reducing the value of their financial assets, and thus their financial power and political influence.
If the Empire retaliates by destroying Iranian energy production, so what? America's Gulf allies have a lot more energy production than Iran, so in a zero-sum war, the trade-off works in Iran's favor. Iran is not exporting nearly as much energy as Saudi Arabia + UAE + Qatar. Furthermore, Russia's energy would become more valuable and some of the excess revenue could be shared with Iran for making that happen.
And if the Empire retaliates by destroying Iranian infrastructure beyond energy production, then Gulf power plants and desalination plants could be targeted.
From the Iranian government's point of view- they are in danger of being eventually toppled like the pre-2011 Libyan government, and the pre-2024 Syrian government. What good is Libya's oil to the Qaddafi government or Syrian oil to the Assad government now? It is worthwhile to sustain damage to your resources as a trade-off for destroying the resources of your enemies seeking to overthrow you and/or kill you, if it improves your chances of winning and surviving in the long run. This is also why Russia is willing to trade energy/infrastructure strikes with Ukraine, instead of agreeing to a truce on energy/infrastructure strikes.
Furthermore, the math works in favor of mutual destruction with Gulf oil production. Iran produces around 3M barrels of oil per day, and Russia exports around 4M. If Gulf+Iranian oil production is destroyed, the price of oil will surely increase above the baseline of ~$75/barrel. If the price increases by more than (3+4)/4-1, then Russia could compensate Iran for the lost oil production, and still be better off.
The UAE left OPEC to raise oil exports. If UAE production is not destroyed, they will flood the market with more oil to lower prices and help the EU economy.
Zelensky should be happy that Putin is the leader of Russia. Putin is more moderate than the other people who would take over.
I can't wait to see when Ukraine is dead in the water. Their country will be cut off from all water ways to sell their wheat and other goods.
The history of this conflict will show that Obama and company used a coup with Victoria Nuland and other neo-con's to start the war and overthrown the Ukraine president. The democratically elected president who won by over 800,000 votes.
Putin does not want the western part of Ukraine but he will take Odessa and the east and south parts of the country.
Zelensky will probably be killed by the Bandera neo-Nazi groups in Ukraine.
One thing we need to understand that since Eisenhower the CIA has taken part in coups all around the world and the death of millions of people. So, the small coup turned into over 1 million Ukrainians killed and basely the country will take a long time to recover if ever.
So, Obama just opened his library in Chicago and Victoria is teaching at Columbia University. Do you think they are sleeping well every night? Do they think what they did was patriotic? I think they are the scum of the earth. The same for Israel that is performing genocide on the People in Gaza.
Hopefully there will be some justice in the world.
Simplicius I thank you for sharing what you do about the war and I find it factual and not full of propaganda. Keep up the good work.
About the "obedient biomass"... "care" and "sleeping well every night".
"Robert Brovdi, Ukraine’s drone chief, said the strikes were aimed at destroying the “illusion of a comfortable, well-fed peacetime life enjoyed by the obedient biomass of an aggressor country”.
Diesen interviews Alastair Crooke, 27 July 2026
"We concluded by observing the reality of an approaching energy crisis, and how this was being kept out of mainstream media so that most people in Europe were quite unaware of the gravity of what was unfolding since benchmark prices were being manipulated to give the appearance that all was ok, with nothing occurring to be of concern to the average European citizen."
Regardless of the corrupt crap Obama, Biden and others pulled, ultimately it was the blindness and fanaticism of the Banderites that were willing to destroy/lose everything to get - what exactly? Ukr was sovereign and independant from Russia anyway. Half the population not Vanderite, big deal, they just needed patience and half a century. Instead, they lose everything, to disappear from the history and the face of the earth.
They’re still blind to the demographic destruction that is happening to their nation. How can they be so stupid. The vultures in the west are feasting on their idiocracy.
I just now realized seeing zelensky give his address in a button up shirt that I haven't seen him in his old trade mark green pajamas in awhile. The war has lasted long enough to witness him change costumes that were once his trademark look.
Western civilian populations better hope that their leaders don't succeed in sparking the global confligeration they so eagerly desire. As the people they frame as barbarians, uncivilised and uncultured will possibly pursue the conflict exactly how the Western allies conducted their moral and ethical bombing of German, Japanese, North Korean, North Vietnamese, Lebanese, Serbian, Iraqi and today Iranian cities. A wise enemy will fight exactly how you demonstrate, you fear being attacked.
Never forget how "Civilized" Western Imperialist Oligarchy threw millions of their own working Class citizens into the WW1,2 meat grinders, and this is exactly how the term "Cannon fodder" was coined.
That is attacking civilian infrastructure on purpose, breach of the Geneva Convention.
That is why Kremlin declared publicly now, that Zelensky and all his clique have became legitimate targets for retaliation strikes. Ukrainian leadership achieved this by their own actions, they were protected for 4 years by Putin's pledge not to kill politicians.
That is at time, when Ukraine is lacking any air defence systems, they run out of stocks. Every Russian missile and every drone reaches target.
Russia has started bombing Ukraine's energy back in October 2022, that was after Nord Streams were blown in a terrorist attack and few days later on the Kerch Bridge, using not involved truck drivers as victims. Russian purpose was to paralyse energy grid and electrified rail road system on which military production and deliveries to front depended. But it was tit for tat from Russia, they didn't want to escalate into hurting civilians.
The second example of escalation was incursion into Russia territory in Kursk in 2024 and thus expanding front line by hundred kilometres. That front line was crumbling in many places in the South. Objective was to capture and destruction of Kursk nuclear power plant to spill radiation.
The same argument was used as it used now - bring war close to Russian civilians, so they will feel pain.
Nuclear plant is clearly a civilian object, protected by international law and international agencies. That plant was luckily defended. Effect was elimination of 65 000 Ukrainian soldiers, including thousands mercenaries and countless high quality NATO equipment. Attack on Kursk allowed Putin to bring 12 000 North Koreans who wanted to train their paratroopers in real-life conditions and their 5 mln tons of outdated military hardware. And Zelensky is whining again, that North Koreans are coming back for the second round.
Effect on Russian civilians was opposite to Ukrainian expectations - they volunteered in mass for territorial defence and army.
Similar outcome might be now - not against Putin at ballot boxes in 2 months time, but giving him more political support and advocating for a stronger war.
There is a perspective that promotes the idea that the 2022 bombing campaign against Ukrainian energy infrastructure was meant more to deplete Ukrainian air defense interceptors. Though the strategy could have had a dual purpose. The Russian strikes really did not show an intention to actually destroy the energy infrastructure but to use it as bait for Ukraine to use up interceptors. Do you believe it was a consequence or unitended benifit of the strikes?
There were several agreements not to attack energy targets.
I think the objective is to destroy them as legitimate military targets. They are less protected from attack than proper targets close to front line, which are hidden in bunkers and covered by air defence and electronic warfare systems.
Further from the front line air defence is sparse.
If Russians were simply trying to deplete Ukrainians from interceptors they would constantly attack launchers.
But only occasionally they would target Patriot launchers, and they had to use newly developed hypersonic Kinzhals. The first larger use of Kinzhals started at the end of May 2023 to obstruct Ukrainian offensive on Surovikin Line. In the first days of June Ukrainians switched on an automatic targeting on Patriots in Kiev Zhuliany military airport and lost a valley of 32 interceptors in a minute, and still the launcher was destroyed by the final Kinzhal.
In 2022 Ukraine did not have patriot systems or not officially. So the potential threat against the energy system would force the Ukraine military to deplete precious interceptors to protect the energy infrastructure.
Patriot systems work only 5% of the time against ballistic missiles and never against hypersonic missiles. Good luck with that.
That's why Patriots and any other AD are send in couples. In the Middle East in March they were sending up to 8 against a single incoming, until they run out of them in April.
I think ballistic missiles run on a predictable trajectory and are easier, unless the newer versions can zig-zag, maneuver.
For hypersonic missiles there would be sometimes hypersonic interceptors. Missiles have to slow down on re-entering atmosphere from stratosphere from over 10 Mach to 4 Mach, to avoid burning and to allow for targeting. At the highest speeds plasma is created on front of warhead and it prevents radio-communication.
Agreed.
But I suspect the Russians have worked out how to communicate through the plasma. I have no proof.
---------------AI
The fastest Russian hypersonic weapon is generally the **Avangard** hypersonic glide vehicle, which is reported to reach about **Mach 27** during re-entry, with some reports saying close to **Mach 30**. [straitstimes](https://www.straitstimes.com/world/europe/new-russian-weapon-can-travel-27-times-the-speed-of-sound)
## Quick context
If you mean weapons actually used in the war in Ukraine, the **Oreshnik** missile was reported at about **Mach 11** at terminal speed, and the **Zircon** anti-ship missile has been reported around **Mach 8**. [reuters](https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/ukraine-says-new-missile-fired-by-russia-flew-15-minutes-faster-than-mach-11-2024-11-22/)
## Important caveat
These speeds are usually **peak or re-entry speeds**, not a constant “at target” cruise speed. The exact number can vary by missile type, flight phase, and whether the source is a government claim, military estimate, or media report. [straitstimes](https://www.straitstimes.com/world/europe/new-russian-weapon-can-travel-27-times-the-speed-of-sound)
The tragedy of war is that the young men and women die fighting each other - rather than their real enemies back home in their capitals. —Edward Abbey
…and even greater tragedy that Russia has a leader talking about 1-year, 2, 5, 10 or 15 years of War - all in the name of sparing lifes…
As if this ”slow-cooking” during 4,5 years has spared Russian lifes. Ridiculous.
I will take a leader such as President Putin 100 times out of 100 over any of the "idiot" politicians including and especially Trump but it goes for all the lapdogs in the so called "west". How ridiculous to see an American citizen blame Putin for everything their Govt. does when in fact, the people that matter, The Russians put Putin's approval at 2.5 times any of the West's political clowns.
You are full of prejudice and dont know a sh*t about who I blame or not.
You havent read anything from me and are probably even mot interested in discussions at all. Bot.
He is not a bot... I know that there are exceptions, but this is how we see Americans from the outside - thanks to US propaganda machine. Half of Americans still support US war against Iran. I keep asking myself how brainwashed one must be to be willing to support aggressive wars on foreign soil and claim that US soldiers "defend their homeland" there. Robbing other nations of their natural resources isn't patriotism, it is criminal activity and colonialism...
You're Russian, no? Aggressive, expansionist wars are your thing.
How brainwashed do russians have to be to believe Kremlin stories about launching wars because of "Banderites" and "Ukranian Nazis."
I am not even American. I think NATO expansion has been unjustified, I think the containment strategy on Russia and the division of Europe/Russia is the root problem. I support a short conclusive War (if it must happen) but not this slaughterhouse that has evolved. I fully know what the causes are of the prolonging of the War. But when even Putin stubbornly talk about SMO and all is going according to plan my blood boils over.
"As if this ”slow-cooking” during 4,5 years has spared Russian lifes. Ridiculous."
This is the argument you did not address.
Putin's approval is 3.5 times that of any Western political clown. I mean, it's 5.3 times greater.
And those 40 "likes" for your blurb are totally genuine!
OMG, our fren Lysensko got tricked by algorithm again and is cranky now.
lmao
If Putin wasn't doing what he is doing, NATO would have won by now.. Unlike Trump, VP knows exactly what needs to be done. (from Johannesburg)
Dream on.
It doesn't help.. Trump is dreaming and the US is now a big ball of used grease..
The cognitive dissonance runs deep, Mikey.
David writes, "If Putin wasn't doing what he is doing, NATO would have won by now". The man is not even in the same war.
Kind of like playing baseball with hockey sticks.
lol, god bless his soul.
Do tell, how would have NATO won?
What is ridiculous about it? Please do explain, because it appears to those of us not in the One Argument club that Russian tactics which circumvent the need for full frontal assaults on prepared positions have indeed saved lives.
Not complicated at all if you do the math.
Losing, for example, 150 000 men/year and doing it for 4,5 year is more costly than sacrificing 200 000 in an all out offensive and finish it by 2023. Now they are throwing good money after bad if they intend to fight on for 5 more years or even longer.
If you believe in the myth that Russia is cirkumventing the need for full frontal assaults on prepared positions, please explain why they have done exactly that for 4 years now instead of launching offensive along other, less prepared and strong position than those in Donbass? You cant because the answer is that Putin/Kreml overreaching goal is to free a few choosen Oblasts. They are fighting territory meter by meter, day by day, soldier for soldier. Its not saving any lives.
Do the math, you say, and then come out with garbage like suggesting that an extra 50,000 dead is all it would have taken to defeat the largest army in Europe, backed by the US and NATO, in less than a year? Get outta here, ya clown!! And your second paragraph makes even less sense than your first. Why is Russia attempting to free a few chosen Oblasts when their goal is to free a few chosen Oblasts? Er...?
Even simplier. By fighting for some land they forgot fighting to win the War.
You dont push the enemy out of Donbass and then declare victory. Its silly.
The lenght of this war does NOT depend on Russians, but on Western aggression. EU is not hiding that they are preparing to invade Russia in 2030 with European cannonfodder. Europeans are destined (by the Western empire "elites") to be the next "Ukrainians".
Fully justified perspective from your side, Tatjana, if you are a Russian.
Of course has the western intervention prolonged the War (sorry SMO) but who let them in the first place?
Who smiles at meetings and conferences and assure everyone theat the SMO is going to plan?
Who has inhibited himself and others so much that he speaks of himself as the third person and answer ”I really want to” after the ”SMO-heroes” whispered question (as if asking it loud would be rude)?
Edward Abbey uttered a platitude
Soporific etudes,
Palatable platitudes
Medeocrates's good enough
The Donald's Hippocrates
Volodymy's Euripides
"Ya ripper dese and ya buy me a new pair -
Argghh - Wildberries has been bombed!
Mr. Abbey, I presume
Is that first photo legit of the warehouse on fire?!?
Krasnodar six days ago
That little cokehead has been off the leash for far too long.
So what has Russia been waiting for the past four years?
Get lost bot. Snuffling little weasel you are.
That you resort to dopey ad hominem shows thst you know that your argument is weak
It is simply that I have seen your tedious, useless ass snuffling the margins for many months now. Get lost.
Whether you 'snuffle the margins' or not, that is the question of hour/day/week/any time period. There's obviously a hidden agenda at work that prevents Putin from doing the needful.
Maybe 'prevents' is too strong of a word, since we don't really know his actual agenda.
In the Donbass the Ukrainian front line is buckling, by the autumn the fight will be over Kramatorsk and Slovyansk. In the south over Orikhiv and Omel'nyk. The north eastern corner between Kupyank and Volchansk is also breaking down into Russian hands. The only response the West will have is even greater propaganda and more pinpricks. Very good to see Russia taking out the logistics in a big way at last, and ending the parties in Kiev.
The current rate of advance is a good one to grind the Ukrainian military into collapse without much bigger Russian losses. While Europe continues its decline and the US smashes itself against the rock of Iran.
>The only response the West will have is even greater propaganda and more pinpricks.
Oh, yes, the demolition of Russian online trade is a mere pinprick
And let's not mention the destruction of the space communication centers. That sure doesn't matter.
And how is taking Kramatrosk and Slavyansk going to stop those attacks?
From the article - "Wildberries accounts for 52 per cent of Russia’s e-commerce" - so not the destruction of Russian online trade, but the degradation of almost exactly half of it. Wild hyperbole undermines your already tenuous argument, if that is the word for these endless Chicken Little doom fests.
Did you miss the part (or maybe the main post did) where the Ukrainians openly promised that after Wildberries Ozon will be destroyed too?
If I believed everything Ukraine "promised" I would be as compromised as you.
I doubt ukraine will last that long.
Firing head of the armed forces when the war is still raging isn't a good sign for anyone.. (from Johannesburg)
They already have.
lol
I suppose you're right. It was a nazi shithole before, and its still a nazi shithole now. Just a bit smaller, with a few less nazis. 😂😂😂👍
Ukraine is only good at “promising” to glaze israel and inviting mutated genocidal freaks like Laura Loomer to sit down with the big Z-dog to prove that they’re not nazis.
Just zio-nazis, am I right?
Destroying all of it would mean degrading half of it. It is far from that, but it is interesting that this might help OZON Ziobros take over the chunk of the market.
Ohh.. so the Russian "Amazon" was taken out.. where will whores be able to buy their make up now? If Amazon was blown up tomorrow I'd be slightly inconvenienced but not terribly so. Nothing critical for my life comes from there.
Oh? Where do you buy your makeup?
Home Depot
"accounts for 52 per cent of Russia’s e-commerce" — which is also bullshit, neither the hit Wildberries stores are actually destroyed: some heavily damaged, some lightly.
I don't think it matters what is destroyed and/or damaged.
Wildberries accounted for 52% of their e-commerce before and probably in the future.
I don't understand why it doesn't matter if it doesn't account for that percentage nor destroyed.
I don't understand.
Wildberries accounted for 52% of Russian E-Commerce.
Why do you say it is bullshit?
I think he means that it was at that level before and not that 52% of Russian E-Commerce was destroyed.
It has now been years that the northeastern corner between Kupiansk and Volchansk has been breaking down into Russian hands. The infamous Velikiy Burluk direction. Right now the Russians are besieging Biliy Kolodyaz which is about half way from the border to Velikiy Burluk. Which admittedly is an increase in tempo of their advance because that direction was frozen for years.
I can see progress towards Orekhov from the eastern direction of advance, but only when the Ukrainians exhaust their counterattacking in the Dnipro oblast flank of that direction, at Ternuvate. The western pincer to Orikhov, I'd be more somber in my predictions as the AFU not only has put back Stepnogorsk into the gray zone, but is now threatening Plavni which 6 months ago was comfortably in the Russian rear.
About a siege of Kramatorsk in the autumn: slow down. Russia has yet to secure Chasov Yar.
Even if Slaviansk and Kramatorsk fell today, so what?
It's not as if Zelenskii or his sponsors would pack it in, I guess we just lost fair and square. They'd keep right on doing what they're doing.
The current rate of advance is also a good one to keep Europe feathering Zelensky's nest - someone mentioned the other day that Ukrainians will not keep fighting if they become convinced there is no possibility of victory, and thus it is necessary to constantly remotivate them with lurid tales of the confusion and terror they are bringing to the enemy. Well, the same is true of Ukraine's 'allies' and sponsors: they will not keep plunking down the money if they become convinced Ukraine is on a downward trajectory that is irrecoverable. Thus it is necessary to re-inspire western donor nations that Ukraine might not have numbers or scalable manufacturing, but it has heart and audacity to burn. Convincing the European donors to keep the money rolling in is a delicate balancing act; Ukraine always has to be ALMOST winning, but not doing so well it can manage on its own. And this works a treat, as Europe shortchanges its own populations and downgrades their living standard so it can give more money to Ukraine.
Hard to doubt it, when Europe has similar worries to Ukraine about keeping warm this winter, although Europeans will not have to get up at o-dark-30 and troop into the subways to avoid falling rockets; not likely. But Europe must now compete on the spot market for LNG cargoes which Asia can easily outbid for.
https://www.reuters.com/commentary/reuters-open-interest/europe-faces-long-cold-winter-fuel-buffers-dwindle-2026-07-27/
As they say, it's a hard life if you don't weaken. But sometimes a hard life is just what you deserve.
>but rather everything to do with pressuring Russian citizens, as is the standard M.O. of all failed imperial “kinetic” foreign policy
The only places where the imperial kinetic foreign policy truly failed were North Korea and Cuba. The latter will soon be revisited. But what was the cost that survival was achieved by the resistance at in those cases? Do you see Putin's neoliberal comprador-run shithole being willing and able to pay that price?
Everywhere else the empire just keep striking and eventually wins.
Which brings us to the more general issue here -- is Russia a superpower or another Iraq/Yugoslavia/Syria/Libya/etc., i.e. a place the West can just bomb with impunity and zero repercussions?
Because right now it certainly looks like the latter.
A real superpower would make sure the first strike is also the last. But we are well into the six digits now.
>Just yesterday Putin told a conference that Ukraine will certainly lose its western territories
Lose them to who?
So Poland and Romania wage war on Russia, help kill hundreds of thousands and cause enormous damage, and are in the end rewarded with territory? What incentives does that establish?
The only country to which any territory should go to in this war is Russia, and that should be the firm clear unshakable official Russian position. Aggression must not be rewarded.
>one of the Russian SMO medal winners whispered to Putin that Russia should “go harder” in the war, to which Putin responds: “I really want to.”
So why isn't he?
>On one hand, Putin openly gives the reasons for why the Russian Army cannot go “all out” as most people would like: because it would incur much greater losses
Which is total BS, because nothing of what is meant by "go harder" involves anything happening at the front line. It is all strikes far behind the frontline that would make the frontline collapse quickly. Resulting in far less, not more casualties. And that has been obvious from the start. Not doing those strikes because of Putin effectively working as a Western agent in the Kremlin is what caused so many casualties.
>A Ukrainian regional council deputy from Kharkov revealed that every single gas station from Kharkov to Poltava has already been taken out by Russian drones:
Which may have finally had some effect with the pending collapse the northeastern corner of Kharkov region. Some real movement at last.
But has it stopped the drones and missiles flying into Russia? No, those keep increasing in number
Still haven't found a daycare willing to take you in? What's going on? Are you dirty? Do you have a nasty mug? Do you yap too much? Have you tried somewhere where nobody knows you like on Andromeda?
What an erudite contribution to this discussion. Kudos sir, kudos !
If the translation I saw is correct, he talked about wanting to but... risk - the risk of "losing the country." That is reasonable if it's his motivation, but I think it's wrong, and I have come to doubt his motivation.
1) He is losing the country now with the current approach
2) Someone once upon a time said, on multiple occasions something like "Why should the world exist if Russia does not"
When was he not saying the truth -- today or back then?
Sure, buddy.
You are spreading disinformation for what purpose?
disprove what GM said ?
Why, this is just faceless and unproven speculation.
So you got nothing ?
Putin famously announced on the on 28th February 2022 :
"If there is no Russia there will be no world." (Translations may vary), but he spoke the truth then.
No it will never stop the drones, but their size is going to be like in the Lego series you can watch everyday.
As Putin whispered into the interviewer ears to go harder, he would love too, well the same is true for Trump, he would love as well but against the advice of 2 top military generals, we do not dispose of that arsenal any longer, and their missiles need Months, years to be assembled.
You can also ask Germany where about 130 contractors or private corps have begun with constructing military weapons, except the Chinese will only sell their chips but without their rare earths, so back to the tech of the nineties.
As I have heard now Netanyahu and Zelensky have joined the club, Iran is not willing to go back to any negotiations or cease fire or opening Hormuz before and ONLY when there’s full implementation of the MoU, if NOT Iran by blessing of Mojtiba the Fatwa on nuclear weapons will be lifted completely, as is already decided so it won’t take another 30 years now according to BB.
" or cease fire"
Iran stopped hostilities the moment the US did. Thats a de-facto ceasefire.
This GM guy proves to be a total buffoon time and time again. He talks like a typical western shyster. He never mentions the utter destruction banderaland and Nafo are facing in ukroland. He only keeps babbling about Putin this and Putin that. Seems like Putin lives rent free in your head buddy.
Obviously, you have missed the part than since 2022 this has been a military operation for Russia and that for now Russia does not need and has no interest in going "all in".
You have no clue what it takes to properly mobilize and properly equip a large army, it is not like you can waive your magic wand and just move 500K force into the battlefield.
You have no idea what real war is and what would be the consequences for both sides right now if one is fought.
>Obviously, you have missed the part than since 2022 this has been a military operation for Russia and that for now Russia does not need and has no interest in going "all in".
So when will it do that?
When the strategic bombing campaign reaches not just Omsk and Tyumen but Khabarovsk and Vladivostok too?
Sure, buddy. Say hello to you supervisor Budanov.
Your detractors have a weird "everything is fine" perspective, when assets and industries Russia needs are getting bombed inside Russia itself. Ukraine should be fearful of bombing Russia, and Russia should want them to be fearful. For some strange reason, this is not happening.
Same people five years ago were with near 100% certainty saying (and thinking) that what has been completely normalized now has absolutely no chance of happening because Russia would never allow that.
When did I say everything is fine? Somehow you think fear will pacify the profound madness by the western elite. You seem to severely underestimate just how vile these creatures are.
You cannot attempt to pacify these goblins by killing millions of civilians in the process which is what this GM guy is asking and wishing for when he is criticizing Russia for not going "all in'.
That was a tantrum of an irritated child. Read aloud your posts before publishing.
OK, OK, my UkroPsyOp friend. Try harder.
"Putin openly gives the reasons for why the Russian Army cannot go “all out” as most people would like: because it would incur much greater losses, and Putin believes Russia’s current persistent slow-march across Ukraine is the ideal pace which maximizes victorious conditions while minimizing losses."
Sorry, but Vlad is dead wrong, and he's covering up early mistakes for failing to take the initiative with a plan at the start of the SMO that didn't need constant reactive adjustments. Losses would have been much lower had Russia been prepared to do what it took and neutralized Ukraine sooner. Russia's oil industry is getting pummeled, its fiscal reserves are greatly depleted, and the body count is in the hundreds of thousands without any clear win in sight and Putin is telling us he's minimizing losses towards victory. Bullshit. Russia has gained territory at a great cost. Russia won ground technically, but it can't win this war without neutralizing Ukraine and holding its red lines as effective deterrence. Russia does not account for NATO's preparation to reinforce Ukraine with boots on the ground. So strategically, Russia is losing first-strike initiatives by being reactive. Now there's talk that Russia is preparing to draft 300,000-500,000 recruits. That's a reactive response. Russia should have recruited those soldiers long ago. And if things are going so well at the front, why draft? Reactive.
Putin jokingly addressed the audience, asking if he should step it up, and they agreed. Russia's failure in not stepping it up sooner is the reason it failed to set and stick to red lines to deter NATO countries from their support of Ukraine, which made it that much more difficult for it to win its SMO which it hasn't even won yet. Ukraine shouldn't even be in the discussion by now except as having been neutralized.
Russia may have gained a tactical edge in gaining ground, but at the strategic level, Russia put itself in a pickle. Napoleon, Patton, and Zhukov would have done things differently than the reactive, fake-it-till-you-make-it measures Putin took.
Have you seen the recent video of an AFU drone attack blowing up Russian fuel tanks on a moving train? Kaboom. Just another day that Russia is winning. The problem is they haven't won in nearly five years yet. Winning is not won. Why does Russia winning hurt so darn much?
Aside from that, I suppose Russia is winning. 😂
That's my red line and I'm sticking to it.
Putin is a Slav. He does not want to just kill to kill because he knows that in the South and Eastern parts of Ukraine are Russian citizens of Ukraine and killing them as part of the war he doesn't want. Putin is a moderate and if another Russian took over his job they would be more aggressive.
My dear Joseph. It's exactly Putin's moderation that makes him more dangerous than a more aggressive leader. You see, Joseph, war is brutal, deadly, hell on earth.
There is no nice way to go about it.
There is no such thing as gently killing the enemy.
It's putting a bullet through the face and blowing brains out or droning a body with parts flying in all directions.
I hate war more than anyone.
We can't change it
Let's not pretend there is a gentlemanly way to win a war.
Peace to you, sir.
Maybe not - but this is not a war, by definition.
It is a special military operation.
An SMO turned into a war.
We're long past SMO, Tim.
Keep up with the times, huh?
😂
It would be hard to detect a radical change in the Russian approach; which has always focussed on purely military / industrial targets, whereas Ukraine of course has never had such compunctions.
It remains a somewhat limited operation, in line with the originally-declared intention.
A "limited operation" with over a million dead. SMH
Putin now stating that the SMO is about to end in favour of war.
Keep up, Denis.
@43.07.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fSWHcDBvak
You seem to think winning a war is about weapons and killing. Winning is about having support from the indigenous population once the fighting stops. You watch too much Hollywood my friend. Read more history.
Correct. Russia could have gone full retard in 2022 ad wrapped it up in a year, give or take. And then faced an insurgency for decades. That scenario isn't a win.
That's how the US operates and that's why they lost in Vietnam and Afghanistan, and didn't really win in Iraq or elsewhere...unless the goal was creating dysfunctional countries like Iraq and Libya
They take Iraqs oil and give them pocket money if they behave. They control their airspace and attack other countries. Not a total defeat for The Empire.
What guarantees that there wont be an insurgency when Russia eventually wins ?
Initially there would not be an insurgency because Russia will not take over the western part of Ukraine. The Ukraine will be not in a position to do anything that would be serious and put down.
The whole reason Ukraine started the overthrow of the Russian president of Ukraine was basically a US action that wanted to weaken Russia. That did not happen and now they are stronger. Other countries might offer help for what ever is left of Ukraine and even Russia might help. The whole western and their evil Putin and Russia needs to be split up and then we can steal their natural resources is probably over for a while. So, hopefully after Trump's debacle is over the US/EU idea to weaken Russia might be over.
Maybe just the way the male mind works - you give the female perspective.
lol, Alphabet.
Humans naturally gravitate to whoever is perceived as stronger.
Moreover, in 2022, a lot of Ukrainians were on the fence. The mayor of Dnipropetrovsk and Kharkov refused to condemn the invasion at first. A lot of people agreed.
They aren't on the fence any more, thanks to Russian dithering and weakness.
Not to mention "but insurgents" is just cope. The one thing every successful insurgency has in common is a young population. The median age in Ukraine was over 40, and that from before the war.
>Putin is a Slav.
There are doubts about that.
>He does not want to just kill to kill because he knows that in the South and Eastern parts of Ukraine are Russian citizens of Ukraine and killing them as part of the war he doesn't want.
The war could have been over within a few weeks to months with total casualties on both sides in the low tens of thousands and almost no destruction. OK, and with several hundred thousand to a couple million Banderites who would then have to be exterminated, but that would not affect the normal honest people.
What did we get instead?
Somebody inventing entirely hypothetical scenarios in defence of their own Armageddon complex.
Sure, buddy. Say hello to your supervisor Budanov.
Seriously. Not sure there's a better explanation for why that account spams comments in every single one of Simp's articles. Tiresome.
Putin is Zio.
What makes you say that? Because he was in the KGB?
“While we, brothers in blood and faith, are killing each other, our commanders on both sides of the front speak in Hebrew. I am glad that the world has already understood that in Kiev the power is controlled by the Zionists. But I am sorry that very few have yet realized that in Moscow the power is also in the hands of the Zionists.”
Lurie's Substack
It is those Russo/Ukranians that have fared the worst on the frontlines while Putin fannied about.
100% Correct.
"in the South and Eastern parts of Ukraine are Russian citizens" — you meant to say ethnically Russians, not citizens, right? They're all ethnic Russians (the ones who are not Greeks, Italians, Armenians, or Tatars) — there are no ethnic Ukrainians, they simply don't exist.
Like Ukraine, Russia is a purely political construct. There is no unique Russian DNA either. Modern Russians are a product of centuries of both invasions and conquests.
I live with one, from Sochi, Ukrainian father, Georgian (mostly) mother, still identifies as Russian.
Recall that after 2014, the separatist areas of Donetsk and Luhansk wanted independence, not to be part of Russia. Putin allowed them to experience what the quest for independence would look like.
"Like Ukraine, Russia" — there is no "like" here. Russia's history spans more than 1200 years, and before that it was a dozen of Slavic tribes (vyatich, krivich, drevich, polyane, slovens, etc.) belonging to one of those constitutes ethnic Russian even today. To the exact same tribes belong the Russians living to the southwest of Moscow. It's genetical.
"product of centuries of both invasions and conquests" — on conquests Russians integrated new territories with new peoples and gave them equals rights but it doesn't mean Russians were keen to fuck them or intermingle with them.
"on invasions" — which invasions? Tatars is still a separate people even today and they amount to about 3% of the total Russian (national, non-ethnic) population, they're not Russians now, and they were never before: during the Tatar/Mongol invasion, Tatars kept living in the Golden Horde: unlike Russia, The Mongol Empire was never a unified state where Russians lived anywhere in the Golden Horde, and mongolians hang about the Russian cities; the mixed marriages always frowned upon, and after the liberation such mulattos weren't explicitly exterminated but socially disadvantaged, so their number significantly subsided even after the former mongolian territories were acquired by Russia.
The German invasion? that German-Russian metis' number is even smaller than that of Tatars: even after centuries of Germans and Russians living side by side within the Russian Empire with Russian emperors being of Russian-German-Danish ancestry.
Alexander Pushkin enters the chat. Numerous analysts have pointed out that Putin's facial features contain Mongol elements not typically found in Slavic men.
"Genetic studies on Russians reveal a diverse ancestry shaped by East Slavic colonization, Finno-Ugric admixture, and Steppe origins. The population is broadly divided into Central/Southern Russians, who cluster with other East Slavs, and Northern Russians, who share stronger genetic affinities with Finno-Ugric and North European populations.
Paternal Lineages (Y-DNA)
The most common Y-DNA haplogroups among ethnic Russians are:
R1a: Found in approximately 46.7% of Russian men on average, this lineage is associated with Balto-Slavic speakers and the Kurgan culture. It is dominant in Central and Southern Russia (up to 62.7%) but less frequent in the North (20–30%).
N (N-M231): Present in about 21.6% of men, this haplogroup is linked to Uralic and Altaic speakers. Its frequency is highest in Northern Russia (>35%) and decreases southward.
I (I-M170): Found in roughly 17.6% of men, this lineage has Northwestern European origins and is more common in Central and Southern regions.
R1b: Present in about 5.8% of men, typically in low, mosaic frequencies.
"'Russian' is a state of mind."
Anyone can become Russian then !!! Open borders now !
Let's not follow that reference to Napoleon's win too closely.
We might discover a lot of frozen, emaciated soldiers, and mass graves.
Read up on the history of Napoleon.
His record is unmatched.
He was feared by all his enemies.
Look at his tactics some time.
I just read up about his retreat from Moscow.
Very interesting, as you say.
Waterloo, though, was his Waterloo.
I rest my case.
lol
Kind of like saying Mike Tyson was a loser because he lost 2 fights.
Genius, Tim.
This reminds me of a story in Herodotus; King Croesus wanted a Greek worthy, Solon, to agree that he, ie the king, was the happiest man alive, because of all his wealth and power, and Solon answered that only on one's final day could one really answer that question; and indeed, Croesus ended up on the end of a spear; so one should never judge a man by the present day, but by his final day.
Accordingly therefore, Napoleon was the most wretched of men.
He bowed out with a loss. ;) Against that youtube dude.
"Napoleon, by any counting, commanded more major set piece battles than any other man in history, and he almost always won. At the peak of his powers, between his Italian campaign of 1796 and the beginning of his downfall in Saxony in 1813, he fought 53 major battles and suffered defeat in only 4 of them. He won victories repeatedly when fighting at a numerical disadvantage, and he won in summer and winter, deserts and mountains, from France to Egypt to Russia." Big Serge
We note therefore that he didn't win in either spring or autumn; or on the high seas or in the air.
What's left out is usually far more telling than what is kept in.
And what did all those "victories" get him? Utter, ignominious defeat in the end.
If Napoleon was such a good commander, how come he let the British chase his army out of Spain? His early successes were much less to do with good generalship and much more to do with politics.
"He was feared by all his enemies."
You have a source for the Duke of Wellington fearing him?
Probably better to say he was respected by all his enemies.
Wellington himself admitted that his greatest triumph over the little man was "a demmed close-run thing."
In 1813-14, when France was decisively defeated (forget Waterloo) the allied strategy was to attack and fight against every French army, except the one led by Napoleon. When facing Napoleon, the Russian, Prussian and Austrian strategy was to withdraw.
I think that indicates how his enemies felt abouthim.
Or Blucher?
Napoleon lost over and over again... From Egypt to Russia and the peninsula. He repeatedly overextended massively. Arguably his success was a mirage after the one-dimensional victories against Austria and Italy. Waterloo, in Wellington's words 'a close run thing', was anything but. Blucher was a little too far off for immediate comfort. However, the Alliance were of an order of magnitude larger to be able to defeat the rehashed French armies in detail, which is what happened. Napoleon lost in between Moscow and Kiev; Waterloo was a bloody vanity that should damn Napoleon to the dustbin of failed dictators.
He gave the French his Codex
"Napoleon, by any counting, commanded more major set piece battles than any other man in history, and he almost always won. At the peak of his powers, between his Italian campaign of 1796 and the beginning of his downfall in Saxony in 1813, he fought 53 major battles and suffered defeat in only 4 of them. He won victories repeatedly when fighting at a numerical disadvantage, and he won in summer and winter, deserts and mountains, from France to Egypt to Russia." Big Serge
His greatest command, of course, was that of the Island of Elba.
"Able was I ere I saw Elba," as we say.
>Have you seen the recent video of an AFU drone attack blowing up Russian fuel tanks on a moving train?
There will be a lot more of that as long as the existence of Starlink is tolerated.
Rogozin is complaining about that every other day, pointing out that there are half a dozen ways to eliminate Starlink (he should know -- he raised the alarm about it the moment it was announced as an intention and when he was head of Roscosmos), and that the problem is political will, not technical capability. But the political will continues to be lacking
Russia has demonstrated anti-satellite missile capability. It could comfortably take out the relevant Starlink constellations. But don't underestimate the political will that would be needed for such a consequential decision. Apart from risking reciprocal strikes on Russian satellites by the US (which presumably also has the technology), there would be the risk of Kessler syndrome, a chaotic chain reaction of debris collisions which would make low Earth orbit impossible to use or transit through. Russia and China would not like that any more than the enemy would. It's the space-based technology equivalent of MAD with nukes, a decision of last resort. I'm not surprised the political will doesn't exist for that, and they are waiting to develop a more targeted electronic-warfare counter to Starlink.
Look, when you are subjected to a strategic bombing campaign, which is exactly what is happening here, there is nothing to lose.
Who would suffer more from Kesslerization? The US or Russia and China?
The answer should be obvious. And thus the decision should be a no-brainer.
Then there is the really dark possibility that in addition to everything else Starlink is a front for an orbital bombardment system. Think about it seriously -- the individual satellites are large enough to carry even multiple nukes. With over 10,000 of them it would be very easy to conceal the ones that are armed from the actual communication satellites, and they in fact may also be communication satellites too, for perfect cover.
Back in 2023 there was a very suspicious explosion in Sergiev Posad, which set back Russian drone production by six months
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fk9VKYJ7MqM
The official version was a "magneisum explosion" in a fireworks factory. Which is total BS.
There was no missile fired from Ukraine, but local reports did mention a "whistling sound" heard just before the explosion, which makes the SADM hypothesis for it doubtful too. So that may well have been a test of what I am describing above and a message job for Russia
Putin obviously feels he has a lot still to lose, and I'd wager so do most Russians. Life goes on, mostly. A strategic bombing campaign this may be, but it's a very feeble one compared to historical examples of such campaigns.
I don't have the technical knowledge to fully assess the "Starlink as orbital bombardment" hypothesis, but maybe someone else does? Given the technical limitations on the mass SpaceX rockets can lift to LEO, and the number of satellites in each lift, and the communications package they also need to have to function as the highly effective strategic asset they are, is it feasible than any or all of them have the re-entry shielding on board that they would need to deploy warheads from orbit to the ground, plus guidance and payload?
V1.5 Starlink satellites weigh 280 kg
V2 Starlink satellites weigh 800 kg
The currently deployed on US imssiles W76 MIRV/warhead weighs 100 kg (these are 5 kt ones and would be used for counterforce strikes), while the W88 MIRV/warhead weighs 200 kg (these are the half a megatone city destroyers).
What's your point? R squared: do you know what that means? What do you think happens to objects destroyed when they are in orbit? Do you think missiles hitting the ground are in orbit?
no dude there are no nuclear weapons on starlink fucking satellites...jfc man
"But don't underestimate the political will that would be needed for such a consequential decision."
That has been the problem for Russia since the beginning of this war, and it isn't limited to Starlink.
Sure, buddy. Say hello to you supervisor Budanov.
jesus fucking christ, ANYONE speaks the truth and they're a banderite....you mfers are the reason for this loss, gd delusional idiots
It is easier to call names than to face unpleasant facts.
He often swears, blasphemes and grows irate at the drop of a hat, but genuinely quite Slavic inclined under stress, whether Ukrainian, Russian, or wherever.
I was referring more to Henry Brewer than Eastwood. Eastwood swears, but at he has arguments other than ad hominem.
From what you say, it appears that you want Russia to go full on with an all-out attack. Destroy Ukraine. Including the civilians......
My arguments against that are as follows: America has done that, time and again. Sure, it wins wars. But, in the long run, it creates hatred. The west beat Iraq....... And yet, the Iraqis fully despise the West and is waiting to rise up.
In a quick, no-holds-barred conflict, the west's munitions, in the firing line, would have been overwhelmed. But the reserves would still be there. This long-term conflict has dwindled the west's reserves. Particularly in air-defence. You could say that Iran's response was better - go all-in! But, Iran has benefitted from the west losing their (useless) Air-defence missiles in Ukraine.
At the moment, Russia has a continuous turn-over of well-trained men in its military. Those men are well-trained reservists when they leave. And all-out no-holds-barred attack would have had many problems: 1) Russia did not have a large army at the outset; 2) to fully train an army, and equip it, would take a year, especially as Ukraine had the largest, well-trained army, in Europe; 3) In that year, Ukraine would have prepared for any attack with defence in-depth. Thereby causing more damage, more casualties, more gloating by the west.
You say, below, war is hell. Yes, it is. Putin, possibly, has minimised this. Possibly. But, hey, war is hell........ For those on the battlefield, in the cities that are pummelled.
Not for those like you and me who are safely far away from the conflict zone.
Are you related to that mormon clown joseph smith, i am aghast at what people in the usa believe…….simply aghast at the bullshit that the naked primates believe, obviously illiterate and gullible to the last atom of their primate bodies. America the Beautiful indeed, the country can be said to be , but the melting pot of 200 nationalities mongrelised into a mince mass is uglier than …
"Are you related to that mormon clown joseph smith," That appears to be rather an illogical statement, as my surname is Adam-Smith. Now, if you'd referred to the Scottish economist, of the similar name, it would still be an illogical statement. Because, what an ancestor thinks is immaterial to what I, or you, think.
"i am aghast at what people in the usa believe" Are you referring to the general public or the politicians? Again, it is illogical in reference to the comment that I made. For many reasons: 1) the comment was made by me, as an individual; 2) I am not American.
But, please, inform me, and other readers, as to what you mean, in the context of my comment, by your remark.
Agreed. The West's objective in Ukraine was to (1) cripple the Russian economy through economic sanctions and, (2) severely degrade Russia's military capacity through a protracted ground war against the Western trained and equipped UAF. Putin was correct in not taking the bait of an all-out ground war, the "success" of which would have ground Russia down in a decades long, CIA run, armed insurgency in Ukraine. Much more effective to demilitarize Ukraine by grinding the UAF to destruction while minimizing Russian losses. In an age of instant gratification, patience can be an unappreciated virtue.
Instant gratification.... That is the problem, I think with the west as a whole. Anyway, good luck.
": America has done that, time and again. Sure, it wins wars. But, in the long run, it creates hatred. The west beat Iraq....... And yet, the Iraqis fully despise the West and is waiting to rise up."
And yet they dare not do a thing.
More cope, more excuses for Russian indecision and dithering.
The West beat Iraq? And gained what?
It gained additional political instability in the region, a platform for attacking Iran, oil, and the elimination of an opponent of dollar hegemony, among other things. Not a bad day's work if you don't count all the people murdered. The US does not fight war in an attempt to become beloved or to create peace. Pretty much the opposite, in fact.
The US has total financial control over Iraq's oil trade, which is entirely in US$ and the money flows through US banks, mainly the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
"How the U.S. controls Iraq's oil revenues"
The U.S. control over Iraq's oil revenues primarily stems from the management of Iraq's oil income through the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. After the 2003 invasion, the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA), led by the U.S., established the Development Fund for Iraq (DFI), which was held at the New York Fed. The DFI was designed to collect Iraq's oil revenues and use them for the country's reconstruction and development. It was also set up to protect the Iraqi oil revenues from lawsuits and claims relating to Saddam Hussein's rule. Then-president George W. Bush signed an executive order, which has been renewed by every president since, that set up the arrangement. The DFI eventually became an account of the Central Bank of Iraq at the New York Federal Reserve, which remains the case today.
Source:
https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/how-us-controls-iraqs-oil-revenues-2026-01-23/
As I have written below, we can put together Putins strategy according to his remarks as following:
The slow progress of the SMO as the Chechen war strategy: To wind the enemy down slowly until all outside support is faded, to install a friendly government and to make a powerful rebuilding campagin like Russia did in Chechenya. Wich ist now on of the strongest supporters of Putin and one of the most fierce fighting forces within the Russian Army.
Translated to the Ukraine war: To dry out the support form NATO/USA/EU. To watch the decline of the EU countries which they have inflicted on themselves with the sanctinons. To watch the decline of the NATO power (helped by Trumps failed Iran war). At the same time preserving and strenghtening the Russian economy (which means also not to switch to a total war economy) and getting new allies. Plus giving away the westernprovinces with the stubborn russophobes (Putin told about this possibility even in the Tucker interview). The remainig rump Ukraine will get a massive rebuilding program, where Mariupol is an example how it could work.
So in the end in the West the bordering NATO countries will be satified with getting their former territory, which makes them a buffer zone. Odessa will be Russian, preventing NATO support through the Black Sea. The remainig rump Ukraine, which is not destroyed so much an modernized, will be transformed to a Country loyal To Russia. Also because the declining EU is not longer attractive for the inhabitants.
This seems to be Putins Plan. We will see how it works out. But we have to be patient.
When the war is over, a lot of Ukrainians will be voting with their feet.
It shall be interesting to see which side, Russia or the EU, who can come up with the best lure.
My guess is that Europe will have plenty of domestic problems of its own - too many to be able to support a Ukrainian rump state in turmoil with anything but hot air and empty promises. Russia, on the other hand, will no doubt make every effort to rebuild Novorossiya in the way she did with Mariupol to make it a showcase for the sullen neighboring countries to watch.
As the saying goes: You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.
No doubt, there'll be much weeping and gnashing of teeth among the MSM.
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If it isn't Mr. P's plan, one might well say it should be. The question, of course, is whether or not it is a viable plan when taking into consideration the nature of the enemy, which as all things appear, is not merely the Ukronazis but the megalomaniac political leadership of the "West", all thoroughly compromised by the heritage megalomaniacs of international finance and their spearhead toadies in the artificial nation planted in Palestine. These thoroughly denatured human beings only desire mindless bio-drones fixated on crass consumption; compassion and communitarianism are lacking in their make-up, so reasonable plans may be futile.
Putin wants a Minsk-3. The Russian leadership want to be lied to. They do not want to end the West but to be allowed to join it.
The West sees Russian dithering as contemptible weakness and they face no such qualms.
Exactly. Contemptible weakness.
As always Denis, dead on!
This ”constant reactive adjustments” should find its way into the HISTORY books.
Wow with experts like Denis the war would be over by now.
However,luckily we have probably the most impressive president for years in place to keep an eye on things.
Let's leave the strategy to those who know what their doing.
Sniping from your armchair is easy,running a military campaign against the western world somewhat more tricky.
We in the west should be glad the Russians are taking the route they are,as the clowns we employ have no clue.
they don't know what they're doing....is that not obvious to you copers by now?
FFS if this moron Putin knew what he was doing, NATO would be too scared to help Ukranus at all.
“They show that Russia is vulnerable”
No. They show Russians that the people running Ukraine are psychopathic criminals who pose a threat to their very existence and must be eliminated.
Meaning more and more Russians will want Putin and the MoD to hit Ukraine even harder.
Idiots.
True, that what happens when you're friends of Empire. God save the King!
"They show Russians that the people running Ukraine are psychopathic criminals who pose a threat to their very existence and must be eliminated."
So what has Russia been waiting for the past four years?
Did you watch the videos? Did you read the last sentence in my comment?
The only question is could they have gone a little bit faster and harder but to go all out was not wise.
Nobody has said that the Ukrainian leadership is not psychopathic. It doesn't matter, if it works.
Had Russia gone all out, had they used adequate force from the outset the war would be over. Believe me, I've heard all the excuses before.
No it wouldn’t. Taking land is nothing if you can’t secure it and your enemies still want your destruction.
You don’t like what Ukraine is doing now? Now imagine Guérilla warfare, terrorism, sabotage at 10X because they are all alive, well funded, motivated, and the new territories are no where near secure.
In fact, that would have given them the opportunity to bleed Russia dry and take advantage of a move that although planned for a year was still not at a ready enough state.
What you are saying - which to be honest I am starting to get sick and tired of - would have been a colossal mistake.
Enough of that nonsense.
But insurgents! is more cope. Insurgency is a young man's game. Every successful Insurgency has one thing in common - s young population. The median age in Ukraine is over 40, and that from before the war.
Not to mention you apparently are arguing for genocide.
All the while one eye up on the north east of the line of conflict; wondering when the levee is going to break.
I don't understand/know the operational aspects of hitting a moving ship on the Caspian Sea. Were there some sort of lotering drowns with Starlink feedback to an operator? This means that Americans were involved and might have even provided some targeting information and timing, no? How was this possible, many hours of flight away from Ukraine? Or was the launch from Azerbaidjan or Kazakhstan, with observers on the ground?
The "Ukrainian" strike on an Iranian ship was likely ordered by America, because America wants to halt the transfer of cargo between Russia and Iran without causing a diplomatic incident with Russia. Also, it would not be surprising if Azerbaijan or Turkiye actually launched the attack.
Of course the Americans were involved. It wasn't a "Ukrainian" strike at all, but an American one.
It's not clear if it was even launched from Ukraine, could have come from Azerbaijan or Turkey just as well.
And yes, real time Starlink targeting is how it's done.
Also note that people don't appreciate the monumental significance of these events -- the Caspian was a secure bastion where NATO could not touch. Now they are striking freely there.
Starlink must be eliminated. Yesterday. Not today, not tomorrow.
But Putin can't risk upsetting the dear partners.
You can put up as many Rassvet satellites as you want, it doesn't solve the problem of them hitting you. And you can't hit them back the same way because they have physically encircled you while you have no positioned strike assets around them other than perhaps some nuclear submarines.
So can starlink be eliminated?
Pretty sure Russia is working on it, but don't know if it's possible yet.
Yes, it can be. There are multiple ways to do it, from brute-force Kesslerization, to nuclear explosions in space, blinding of individual satellites, etc.
And Russia has been working on all of those since the 1970s
" ... Kesslerization refers to the intentional or accidental triggering of Kessler Syndrome, a hypothetical scenario where the density of objects in low Earth orbit (LEO) becomes so high that collisions between debris create a cascading chain reaction, exponentially increasing space junk and potentially rendering orbits unusable. The term gained notoriety when Russian nationalist Anatoly Karlin proposed "Kesslerization" as a military tactic for Russia to neutralize Ukraine’s satellite surveillance capabilities by destroying their own assets to start the debris cascade, though such an act would likely violate international law.... "
GM as usual with his own version of the Samson Option.
Thank God he's not in the Kremlin.
Oh, yes, open yourself up to a first strike because of "international law"
Perfectly logical and fair.
Do you have any idea where this is going?
If they are hunting ships in the Azov, Black and Caspian seas with Starlink and AI, and if they are doing the same on individual trucks and trains on the highways and railways of Novorossiya, the same can be done to the Yars TELs deep inside Russia. And will be.
And there there is the even more frightening possibility of Starlink being a front fron for the orbital deployment of nukes. With tens of thousands of satellites, there is no knowing which ones also carry warheads. And there is your unansnwerable disarming first strike. Reaction time is single-digit minutes, everything will be blown up before anyone has time to fire back. And with the low deployment rates of Russian SSBNs plus the idiotic signign and then adherence to the arms limitation treaties, meaning that Russia doesn't have the vast stockpiles of missiles deep underground that the likes of Iran, China and North Korea have, there won't be much left to fire after that first strike.
Starlink's existence is completely impermissible and has to be ended. Now.
International law - such as it is - is predicated on the at least partial recognition that nobody wants thousands of burning satellites raining down on their heads.
And it may well be going where you indicate; but we shouldn't speed up the process.
Saner heads than yours need to be operational.
First strike on Russia? No one would dare. Seeing the "success" of interception rates in the Ukrainian and Iranian wars, the threat of a retaliatory second strike is to serious to even dream about a successful nuclear war for the US.
And let's not speak about the prospects of such strategy when a number of Poseidons is truely operational.
The Chinese have been working as well and even published in academia journals. Likely they will be able to block Taiwan altogether.
Tell your mum to bring you something to eat so you can carry on sitting on the sofa, acting like you've got the whole world figured out.
this is all totally correct.
they're a boiled frog and Xi just dithers too
Azerbaijan is helping out Israel/US by allowing drone strikes from their territory against Iranian assets and Russian interior, just as they previously allowed Israel/US to use Azerbaijan for drone strikes against Syria.
Duh, the Americans (and likely Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan) both were involved.
What does Russia propose to do about it?
The warmongers pushing the Ukraine/Russia war, Iran/USA war, Israel/Lebanon war will never stop until THEY are stopped. They are like automatons. As in the US movie, "Terminator". They must be destroyed, or they will destroy us.
Khazaria delenda est, as somebody - Cato the Elder I think - once said.
They have made their own position crystal clear in their talmud - "Even the best of the Gentiles must be destroyed, as even the best of snakes must be destroyed."
We have been here since Genesis 3, 15 though, when the Two Seeds doctrine was first spelled out, some 3500 years ago.
Our problem though, is that God put a mark on Cain - the first jew - so as to prevent those around him from killing him, because he has been reserved for God to destroy, on the last day.
Meantime, we continue to suffer under the yellow star of satan and his minions - the jews.
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The global financial elite are using their resources and political influence to start these wars and keep them going. Robert Pape said that pro-Ukraine billionaires living in Chicago privately funded the early development of Ukrainian FPV drones. These elites can't be reasoned with, negotiated with, or prosecuted by law.
There may be 2 ways to deal with them, which haven't been attempted:
1)Assassination by state-backed trained assassins
2)Causing a financial market crash(by blowing up Gulf energy production) which would collapse the value of their financial holdings
"Their" resources is doing a lot of lifting there, eh? 😉
And I do agree with you. Option one would be the ideal standard and I hope there's a sustained campaign of it to come. More effective and targeted than any missile strike. And cheaper if you use "their" terms of reference. 😉
Even if financial markets crashed today, the billionaires will just get another bailout.
So what is Russia waiting for, then?
The destruction of Wildberries mega warehouses is indeed particularly bad for Russian small and medium sized enterprises. Because of the huge importance of e-commerce, most B2C companies keep their stocks of goods at Ozon and Wildberries, ready to be shipped to consumers in a few hours. No insurance coverage and, if there was, you can be sure there would be an exclusion clause for acts of war. This means the destruction of countless small businesses deeply impacting Russian society just a few weeks before the Duma elections.
Not surprising that rumors of major, including Karaganov-style escalations on NATO countries, are spreading. Because the reaction of the Russian public is not to demand more diplomacy, but a swift end to the war.
Wildberry has announced that every article destroyed will be accounted as sold and paid to the seller. This indicates that Wildberry has the financial means to do it (or gets support from the goverment) or that the loss is not that big.
Source? This is not what is widely reported in the press and I could not find any official statement from the company indicating this.
It's all a bit mealy-mouthed.
https://meduza.io/en/feature/2026/07/23/russia-s-largest-online-marketplace-wildberries-starts-compensating-sellers-for-goods-destroyed-in-ukrainian-drone-attacks-sellers-say-it-s-not-enough
I read it on Telgram, possibly Slavyangrad. But I am not sure about it. Anyway, it makes sense to suppot the sellers so that they do not feel to be victims.
Here is what Grok found out:
https://x.com/i/grok?conversation=2081982611098931406
Not shure if everybody can ope the link.
Replace the x.com with nitter.net if you don't have an account. As below.
https://nitter.net/i/grok?conversation=2081982611098931406
The government will pay for it ultimately.
And it is a big loss, it's double digit $ billions at this point
Source? The Russian government did not give any significant support to businesses during COVID. And public finances were in much better shape then than now. I am surprised by your faith in the generosity of the authorities.
That was before another 3 warehouses went up in smoke.
Exactly. And that ”small” part of the equation, Simplicius, totally missed. I think Tatyana Kim, owner of Wildberries, said they will compensate the 22 oo0 re-sellers. But that was before another three warehouses went up in flames.
Ms Kim tried to opt out wiht force majeur, but then she decided that she would help them out. Lets see how that ends.
I wonder who convinced her to change her mind.
Since the war fronts may merge any time soon, let's keep an eye on the Middle East, where Yemeni Houthis are destroying oil infrastructure in Saudi Arabia, hurting it much more than the Ukrainians could ever do with Russia: https://geopolitiq.substack.com/p/yemen-is-destroying-oil-infrastructure?r=25fc37
Gulf oil is the soft underbelly of the American Empire. It might be a good idea for Iran to pre-emptively destroy Gulf oil production, just to crash the global economy. The people instigating these wars are the global capitalist elite, many of them Jews, and a global economic depression would serve justice by reducing the value of their financial assets, and thus their financial power and political influence.
If the Empire retaliates by destroying Iranian energy production, so what? America's Gulf allies have a lot more energy production than Iran, so in a zero-sum war, the trade-off works in Iran's favor. Iran is not exporting nearly as much energy as Saudi Arabia + UAE + Qatar. Furthermore, Russia's energy would become more valuable and some of the excess revenue could be shared with Iran for making that happen.
And if the Empire retaliates by destroying Iranian infrastructure beyond energy production, then Gulf power plants and desalination plants could be targeted.
"If the Empire retaliates by destroying Iranian energy production, so what?"
If I were an Iranian I might take issue with that.
From the Iranian government's point of view- they are in danger of being eventually toppled like the pre-2011 Libyan government, and the pre-2024 Syrian government. What good is Libya's oil to the Qaddafi government or Syrian oil to the Assad government now? It is worthwhile to sustain damage to your resources as a trade-off for destroying the resources of your enemies seeking to overthrow you and/or kill you, if it improves your chances of winning and surviving in the long run. This is also why Russia is willing to trade energy/infrastructure strikes with Ukraine, instead of agreeing to a truce on energy/infrastructure strikes.
Furthermore, the math works in favor of mutual destruction with Gulf oil production. Iran produces around 3M barrels of oil per day, and Russia exports around 4M. If Gulf+Iranian oil production is destroyed, the price of oil will surely increase above the baseline of ~$75/barrel. If the price increases by more than (3+4)/4-1, then Russia could compensate Iran for the lost oil production, and still be better off.
The UAE left OPEC to raise oil exports. If UAE production is not destroyed, they will flood the market with more oil to lower prices and help the EU economy.
The Saudis keep their wealth offshore, in Swiss bank accounts, in London trophy properties, in US shares.
Zelensky should be happy that Putin is the leader of Russia. Putin is more moderate than the other people who would take over.
I can't wait to see when Ukraine is dead in the water. Their country will be cut off from all water ways to sell their wheat and other goods.
The history of this conflict will show that Obama and company used a coup with Victoria Nuland and other neo-con's to start the war and overthrown the Ukraine president. The democratically elected president who won by over 800,000 votes.
Putin does not want the western part of Ukraine but he will take Odessa and the east and south parts of the country.
Zelensky will probably be killed by the Bandera neo-Nazi groups in Ukraine.
One thing we need to understand that since Eisenhower the CIA has taken part in coups all around the world and the death of millions of people. So, the small coup turned into over 1 million Ukrainians killed and basely the country will take a long time to recover if ever.
So, Obama just opened his library in Chicago and Victoria is teaching at Columbia University. Do you think they are sleeping well every night? Do they think what they did was patriotic? I think they are the scum of the earth. The same for Israel that is performing genocide on the People in Gaza.
Hopefully there will be some justice in the world.
Simplicius I thank you for sharing what you do about the war and I find it factual and not full of propaganda. Keep up the good work.
"Do you think they are sleeping well every night?"
I'm afraid they are. They don't care.
About the "obedient biomass"... "care" and "sleeping well every night".
"Robert Brovdi, Ukraine’s drone chief, said the strikes were aimed at destroying the “illusion of a comfortable, well-fed peacetime life enjoyed by the obedient biomass of an aggressor country”.
Diesen interviews Alastair Crooke, 27 July 2026
"We concluded by observing the reality of an approaching energy crisis, and how this was being kept out of mainstream media so that most people in Europe were quite unaware of the gravity of what was unfolding since benchmark prices were being manipulated to give the appearance that all was ok, with nothing occurring to be of concern to the average European citizen."
That's about to change!
It's not that they don't care - they rejoice in the deaths of the goyim.
Putin is moderate to a fault, I believe.
Word is that the Banderites will force him to play the piano until he either drops dead or runs out of coke.
But as for Vickie being patriotic - she's a jewess, and jews only ever have one homeland.
Regardless of the corrupt crap Obama, Biden and others pulled, ultimately it was the blindness and fanaticism of the Banderites that were willing to destroy/lose everything to get - what exactly? Ukr was sovereign and independant from Russia anyway. Half the population not Vanderite, big deal, they just needed patience and half a century. Instead, they lose everything, to disappear from the history and the face of the earth.
They’re still blind to the demographic destruction that is happening to their nation. How can they be so stupid. The vultures in the west are feasting on their idiocracy.
Why should the rulers care?
I just now realized seeing zelensky give his address in a button up shirt that I haven't seen him in his old trade mark green pajamas in awhile. The war has lasted long enough to witness him change costumes that were once his trademark look.
He is under Trump's orders.
Western civilian populations better hope that their leaders don't succeed in sparking the global confligeration they so eagerly desire. As the people they frame as barbarians, uncivilised and uncultured will possibly pursue the conflict exactly how the Western allies conducted their moral and ethical bombing of German, Japanese, North Korean, North Vietnamese, Lebanese, Serbian, Iraqi and today Iranian cities. A wise enemy will fight exactly how you demonstrate, you fear being attacked.
Never forget how "Civilized" Western Imperialist Oligarchy threw millions of their own working Class citizens into the WW1,2 meat grinders, and this is exactly how the term "Cannon fodder" was coined.
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youtube.com/watch?v=rIB4e8AfPcM
youtube.com/shorts/RdbTIEqcScQ