@nook – Finland is buying F35 which is a nuclear missile or bomb carrier. Nato is training non-nuclear countries to launch nuclear attacks on Russia using F35 and US nuclear weapons. All past nato European trainings had this and Russia complained many times.
So Finland might have to be hit hard, nato or not nato. Small country, tiny army but large border and too close to St Pete.
Sweden is smarter, they announced they don’t want bases or nuclear on their lands.

Posted by: rk | May 15 2022 17:20 utc | 103

As you probably know, Latvian government has kept bulldozing the wreaths placed by the Russian population under the Liberation Monument to the liberators of Europe since past Victory Day. They even have voted at their parliament, without consultations with the citizenry, to demolish the memorial…
The Russian and antifascist Latvian people remained replacing the removed wreaths one day after the other until the monument was cordoned fby police irst and then put to demolition..
This is how the Russian people have reacted…They have placed a huge photbgraph of the monument and keep bringing in wreath and flowers…Notice that they are mostly young people…
https://twitter.com/IracundoIsidoro/status/1525615475174035457?cxt=HHwWgsCy2aHMiawqAAAA
No pasarán!

Posted by: Ghost of Mozgovoy | May 15 2022 17:29 utc | 105

Ukraine is a Western Victory! Russia is finished!
During a videoconference in Moscow on Thursday, President Putin highlighted that:
Russian companies are steadily replacing Western partners who left due to sanctions;
130 million tonnes of grain expected in Russia’s harvest this year, including 87 million tonnes of wheat — “an all-time high in Russian history”;
Inflation rates in Russia have fallen several-fold on March levels;
Budget surplus has reached 2.7 trillion rubles;
There has been a record-breaking foreign trade surplus;
The ruble is posting “better results than all other foreign currencies” since early 2022.

Posted by: Sushi | May 15 2022 17:33 utc | 107

rk, Just to inform you about the general feel. Case closed, culprits found. All other stories are
Russian lies… End of story. And so it goes on, idem Ukraine.
What more can I say, that how the general opinion is.

Posted by: DutchZ | May 15 2022 17:36 utc | 109

@DutchZ | May 15 2022 17:36 utc | 109
So this “general feel” in the Netherlands trumps the justice system and need for solid proof. I figured that out in 2014.

Posted by: Norwegian | May 15 2022 17:40 utc | 111

Norwegian @ 111
Are things different in Norway?

Posted by: robin | May 15 2022 17:55 utc | 113

Sweden and Finland in NATO is part propaganda (see, Russia’s strategic error led to NATO expansion) and part anti-Russian hysteria (you have to do something to protect yourself from the marauding, asiatic psychopath in the kremlin).
The end result means potential nuclear missiles there, but that doesn’t change the nuclear equation seriously. It just gets everyone realizing that MAD is still a thing. Russia will need to move military installations closer to the Finnish border, but that likely isn’t a big deal. All the talk about NATO bristling at Russia’s doorstep presupposes buildup and maintenance of enough forces to actually threaten Russia. The US is already at $1T/year, europe may have room to expand but by how much during what looks like a severe recession incoming?
In a decade there’s potential for a serious threat. That’s a long ways away with a lot of unknowns between now and then. If I’m in the kremlin Finland gets escalating economic and energy responses and I don’t worry about it too much. Good excuse to put an air defense / EW net next to Finland and enough stand-off weaponry to level Helsinki.

Posted by: Lex | May 15 2022 17:58 utc | 115

Not sure if others have the same problem but MoA appears to be slightly wonky this afternoon. Slow site response and dropping the css file.

Posted by: Sushi | May 15 2022 18:00 utc | 117

@rk #70
There are somewhere between 120K and 150K actual Russian army troops in Ukraine. There are another 80K to 120K of Russian National Guard, LDPR militias etc.
This is a small fraction of the Russian army, and that’s because this is a “special military operation” and not all-out war.
The Russian General Staff clearly doesn’t think it needs a full mobilization in order to achieve Russia’s objectives in Ukraine.
I would also point out that even if Ukrainian resistance is stronger than expected (purely a guess but probably has some grain of truth), Ukrainian resistance is far, far less strong than it could be were the Ukrainian population truly outraged and energized by the “invasion”.
Shooting up random stuff in Kiev and Kharkiv, in this context, makes zero sense.
First of all, we all know the Ukrainian government isn’t really in charge: either of its strategic direction or of its tactical execution. So what exactly is the benefit of decapitating it when the “head” is elsewhere?
Secondly, because Russia has committed only a percentage of its military capability to Ukraine – it has limited capacity to execute. The benefit of large numbers isn’t head-on combat power per se because there are limits to the density you can realistically focus on a given spot. The benefit of large numbers is tactical flexibility: warfare for several hundreds years is more a function of logistics than anything else. Having greater numbers means you can surround, you can bypass, you distract, you can decoy/fix.
Now consider that the Ukraine military has greater absolute numbers, without question, than the Russian forces deployed in Ukraine. Where are the examples of Ukrainian bypassing? Surrounding? Distracting? Decoying/Fixing? All of the strategic and even combat theater level actions are unquestionably being driven by Russian initiative.
When we do hear of a Ukrainian success, every single one is tactical: blowing up some civilian fuel tanks in Belgorod – far away from any active combat theaters, with no military bases or supply lines or really anything of interest AFAIK.
Moskva – even if sunk by Ukrainian missiles – is largely irrelevant as Russia clearly owns the Black Sea off Ukraine.
Even the most recent river crossing – it wasn’t Ukrainians breaking through a Russian defense line or heading off a real or attempted salient, it was acknowledged even by Ukraine that it was a Russian attack.
I’m sorry, but it is hard for me to understand how anyone can believe the garbage being spewed out by the West: how $40B in aid – which is comparable to Russia’s entire annual defense spending budget – plus the billions before that in 2022, plus the billions in aid from 2014 to 2022 including equipment, training etc etc – that all this has resulted in an Ukrainian military that can’t seem to deny the Russian military any real objectives even by Ukraine’s own admission.
Luhansk is fully liberated/conquered/cleared of Ukrainian troops.
Donetsk is daily being increasingly liberated/conquered/cleared of Ukrainian troops.
The Russian MoD’s announcements may not be very sexy or colorful, but maybe that’s because they believe the strategic situation is so damn obvious even an idiot can see what is going on (or not going on).
But then again, maybe they are underestimating the capability of many people to objectively analyze.

Posted by: c1ue | May 15 2022 18:13 utc | 119

Posted by: Sushi | May 15 2022 17:58 utc | 116
That was an enlightening post. Thank you.
Alex Mercouris pointed out an interesting fact some time ago. The British Empire was at its territorial peak around 1915, long after the height of its power. We may see the same with USA/NATO, expanding territory but weakened powers.

Posted by: Sarmat | May 15 2022 18:19 utc | 121

Not sure when it happened here, but this stuff about “concern trolling” has gone beyond the reality of the situation. I’ve certainly seen some concern trolls at MoA over the years, but when all someone does is question the prevailing narrative here of imminent Russian victory (whether that means in a month or two years) and says something that might accidentally be in-line with some NATO person or newspaper, that isn’t concern trolling.
Concern trolling is when someone is disingenuously pretending to be concerned for a cause – say Russia’s MOD succeeding – and presents easily debunkable reasoning for their concern, then sits back and watches people try to explain it only to inevitably have minor differences in the explanations and tiny conflicting bits of evidence emerge.
I personally don’t think Et Tu is guilty of this based on their history. If someone thinks it’s important enough to prove that wrong, by all means have at it.
As the wiser among the MoA commentariat understand, everything happening in Ukraine is shrouded by at least some of the fog of war. Additionally, we are being subjected to a near-total misinformation campaign courtesy of FUKUS governments, corporate and social media. Nothing is off limits. Extreme censorship (too many examples to cite), cutting off sources of funding with no reasons given (Consortium News and their authors), a new Ministry of Truth, search algorithms being altered to prevent what was once easily found accepted fact from turning up in results (Nazis?! What Nazis?! I can’t find anything on The Google!), complete and known lies or distortions being passed off as unvarnished gospel truth (Russia is losing, and badly!, Putin BADLY miscalculated!), smear campaigns (see: Jacques Baud, or Julian Assange for previous precedent), and of course the army of Blue Checks and Ukraine Flag bots on Twitter who admit that they only opened an account in the runup to Putin’s invasion, etc.
Isn’t it more productive to try to shoot those things down than treat known posters as agents of discord and concern trolls? And isn’t it also important to carefully take apart the posts of accused concern trolls, while acknowledging the fog of war, than it is to call names and dismiss?

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | May 15 2022 18:23 utc | 123

Does anyone have any thoughts on the actual content of this post at Yasha Levine’s Substack? Not interested in name calling or the like; I’m genuinely curious about his points, assuming he’s actually making any besides PUTIN=BAD!!! PUTIN IS LOSING!!! PUTIN IS A TYRANICAL DICTATOR!!!
https://yasha.substack.com/p/finland-knocking-on-natos-door-does?
He seems to think that this invasion was solely attributable to Putin’s ego. I think there’s a little bit of truth to what he says about how Russia operates, but he’s also very pissed about the military actions because he has friends and family in Russia and Ukraine.

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | May 15 2022 18:28 utc | 125

Scott Ritter also claimed Gonzalo was dead. No critisicm of Scott, he works with the info he gets. His change of opinion comes from a model projecting the 40 billion going to the Ukrainian military. It will not. The 40 billion will change nothing on the battle field because Ukraine will see none of it. Russian knows its enemies very very well.

Posted by: Goran | May 15 2022 18:32 utc | 127

From WAPO, the PR division of the 3 letter agency, allows a policy change: OP-ED Paywall. Someone has deep concerns and have been drinking contaminated water –
{ the meme Ukraine is winning, But } ?
“Ukraine war expansion risk nuclear” – by Brendan Rittenhouse Green and Caitlin Talmadge
The U.S. is expanding its goals in Ukraine. That’s dangerous.

Comments by political and military leaders suggest the goal is no longer to drive Russia to the negotiating table but to seek a total defeat of Russian forces. That increases the odds of catastrophe.
Ukraine has surprised the world with its ability to hold back Russian aggression. Yet its success in doing so appears to be prompting Western leaders to expand their goals for the war in ways that may carry extraordinary, underappreciated risk. The earlier hope was that a robust Ukrainian defense would ensure the country’s right to exist as a sovereign and independent state while minimizing the loss of territory in the south and east. But now, many political and military leaders are laying out much loftier goals, backed by an unprecedented infusion of military aid.[.]
“Ukraine’s victory is a strategic imperative for all of us,” British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss recently proclaimed. “… We are doubling down. We will keep going further and faster to push Russia out of the whole of Ukraine.” Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colo.), who traveled with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to Kyiv, made a similar point: “The United States is not interested in stalemates. We are not interested in going back to the status quo. The United States is in this to win it.”[…] (emphasis added)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2022/05/11/ukraine-war-expansion-risks-nuclear/
Now it’s confirmed Zel is not in charge the U.S.A commanders are. Earlier Austin urge a ceasefire; the full purpose being to regroup for Russia’s defeat. Generals Kinzhal, Kalibr, and Zircon will be busy.

Posted by: Likklemore | May 15 2022 18:33 utc | 129

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | May 15 2022 18:23 utc | 123
Well said. The “concern trolling” accusation revolved around the attrition rates of each side. But while we can make some kind of estimate of Ukraine’s losses based on Russian reports, moving front lines, videos, etc, we have very little information of what the gains have actually cost the Russian side. The West’s claims about Russian losses are totally ludicrous and give us no more info. And the Russian MoD hold their cards close to the chest when it comes to losses.

Posted by: Sarmat | May 15 2022 18:47 utc | 131

At least this young lady is telling it like is on the floor of the Bundestag:
Bundestag Deputy Sarah Wagenknecht: Don’t you see that the sanctions policy harms us more than Putin? Don’t you notice that since February the euro has been constantly depreciating and losing ground, while the ruble is quoted much higher than at the beginning of the war? It’s time to think about why this is happening. Russia has the opportunity to sell its energy to someone else because most of the world does not support your sanctions. Germany will lose important sectors of industry if the country follows Mrs. Burbock’s course. Mr. Chancellor, leave your green games with energy already and deal with the real problems of people in your country!

Posted by: donten | May 15 2022 18:52 utc | 133

Posted by: Sarmat | May 15 2022 18:47 utc | 131
Understood and thanks. Expanding on my viewpoints, the part that worries me the most besides nuclear war is that here in the west, the history of this conflict is actively being scrubbed, selectively laundered, re-written and when the truth is inconvenient or dangerous to the NATO narrative, completely reversed. As with every such war, whether real or mostly fake, the chickens will come home to roost in terror attacks and increased powers granted the “security state.” I’ve never seen this level of real time narrative control and I don’t know that a lot of people realize the ramifications for it in future history textbooks and popular myths which will be accepted as the truth. I, for one, want a quick surrender by Ukraine but the US is not going to allow that to happen, since as Likkelmore @ 129’s article from WaPo demonstrates, it’s not Zelensky or the Ukrainians in charge, but rather, Uncle Scam.

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | May 15 2022 19:04 utc | 135

“… but he’s also very pissed about the military actions because he has friends and family in Russia and Ukraine.”
Tom_Q_Collins@125
What Levine is doing really is ‘concern trolling.”

Posted by: bevin | May 15 2022 19:16 utc | 137

Aleph_Null | May 15 2022 15:44 utc | 65
_____
Unlike Russia’s arsenal, it seems Chomsky’s marble inventory, along with Biden’s, has suffered significant attrition.

Posted by: Doug Hillman | May 15 2022 19:22 utc | 139

In what should be a surprise to nobody, CBS’s premier news program helps Lockheed Martin’s CEO make his pitch.
https://presswatchers.org/2022/05/cbs-helps-worlds-biggest-arms-dealer-hone-his-pitch/
Interestingly, the other networks are beginning to push back. I guess they must be recalling Dick Cheney’s “mushroom clouds” appearance and realizing it’s actually a likely outcome this time?

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | May 15 2022 19:28 utc | 141

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | May 15 2022 19:04 utc | 135
Yes, I’m also convinced the chickens will come home to roost just like in Afghanistan. But you don’t hear anything about the disaster in Kabul today. I think the best thing we can hope for is a similar US defeat that is overshadowed by a new war (“pivot to Asia” or whatever). We won’t see it this summer though.

Posted by: Sarmat | May 15 2022 19:32 utc | 143

Posted by: Sarmat | May 15 2022 18:56 utc | 134
oh. Another 8 editions of Resident Evil?

Posted by: sln2002 | May 15 2022 19:32 utc | 145

Moving on from Scott Ritter and concerned individuals…
and onto alleged Nazi salutes.
@ Posted by: Ghost of Mozgovoy | May 15 2022 12:09 utc | 4
you posted a Telegram link, but the video is badly edited and i would objectively say inconclusive, despite any alleged gestures being done concurrently to an appeal for saving Azovstal.
Regardless, it would not be the first time Western media looks the other way in the face of Ukraine and Nazism. The use of its symbols and embracing of its ideology are well established now, though not to the point of calling them mainstream or representative of your average Ukrainian either, to be fair, as many pro Russian outlets, bloggers and commenters would have us believe.
Does anyone have a better video of Eurovision please? Google and even Yandex don’t seem to be much help.
BTW, I also saw a misleading edited video of a Polish presenter, who as she said “Slava Ukraina” clearly had 2 fingers pointing upwards, but they were edited out to make it look like her hand was extended as one in the manner of the Nazi salute. Hard to find any truth anywhere these days:
https://twitter.com/dana916/status/1525699679580741632
What i find interesting is how recently a young 15 year Russian Go Kart winner got banned and lost his sponsorship for celebrating with a dubious and ill chosen gesture seen as a Nazi salute. One wonders whether such indignation would have been given to a young Ukrainian karter…
You be the judge:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-04-12/russina-karter-investigated-over-nazi-salute/100984258

Posted by: Et Tu | May 15 2022 19:38 utc | 147

As far back as the 1960s, Chomsky never said anything against the Warren Commission’s fiction about the JFK assassination. He’s always been controlled opposition.

Posted by: Lysias | May 15 2022 19:43 utc | 149

Re identifying “concern trolls. It would be more productive, make more interesting debate if commenters would identify the “concern troll’s” logical fallacy rather than proving you identified a “concern troll.”

Posted by: willow | May 15 2022 19:47 utc | 151

Posted by: willow | May 15 2022 19:47 utc | 151
Agree and said much more eloquently than I did.

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | May 15 2022 19:53 utc | 153

@ Lysias
re: “Chomsky never said anything against the Warren Commission’s fiction about the JFK assassination.”
. . .He did the right thing — he’s still alive — no fatal ‘accident.’

Posted by: Don Bacon | May 15 2022 19:55 utc | 155

@Paco | May 15 2022 19:47 utc | 152
Clark Joseph Ward, born 13 Dec 1987. That was reported some weeks ago. Just search for “Clark Joseph Ward Ukraine”

Posted by: Norwegian | May 15 2022 19:57 utc | 157

Defense spending? Russia does not spend a single dollar on it’s military. They spend Rubles. The defense budget is denoted in Rubles. When that sum is converted into dollars you get a meaninglessly tiny number because the Ruble doesn’t trade anywhere near it’s purchasing power. It has been that way for years. Same issue with the Russian GDP. Converting all to dollars gives a massive distortion of the true size of Russia’s economy for the same reason. Realistically Russia spends an equivalent of about 200 billion on it’s military, mostly on upgrades and procurement while most of Americas money is wasted on global deployment.

Posted by: nook | May 15 2022 20:06 utc | 159

Putin already said what he is going to do.
“Last December, we sent our Western partners a draft treaty between the Russian Federation and the United States of America on security guarantees and a draft agreement on measures to ensure the security of the Russian Federation and NATO member states.
The response from the United States and NATO consisted of many common words. While there were some reasonable points, they dealt with secondary issues and looked like an attempt to divert the discussion in another direction.
We responded accordingly, stressing that we are ready to go down the road of negotiations, but on condition that all issues are considered as a package, as a whole, without separating them from the basic Russian proposals. And these contain three important points. The first is the prevention of further NATO enlargement. The second is the refusal to allow the alliance to deploy offensive weapons systems on Russia’s borders. And finally, the return of the bloc’s military capabilities and infrastructure in Europe to where they were in 1997, when the NATO-Russia Founding Act was signed.
It is precisely these our principled proposals that have been ignored. Our Western partners, I repeat, have once again uttered the hackneyed phrase that every state has the right to freely decide how to ensure its security and join any military alliances and alliances. In other words, nothing has changed in their position, and they keep referring to NATO’s infamous “open door policy.” Moreover, they are trying to blackmail us again by threatening us again with sanctions, which, by the way, they will impose anyway as Russia’s sovereignty and the power of our armed forces increase. And a pretext for another sanctions attack is always found or simply invented, regardless of the situation in Ukraine. The goal is the same – to suppress Russia’s development. And they will do it as they have done before, even without any formal pretext, because we will never compromise our sovereignty, our national interests and our values.
I want to say clearly that in the current situation, when our proposals for an equal dialogue on fundamental issues have gone virtually unanswered by the United States and NATO, when the scale of threats to our country is increasing significantly, Russia has every right to take countermeasures to ensure its own security. That is exactly what we are going to do.

Posted by: b4real | May 15 2022 20:08 utc | 161

Sputnik – problems for Nazivision. National Jury of Romania said they didn’t vote the way it appeared on screen during the show. They voted for Moldova. They said the Nazivision organizers have changed votes to go to Ukraine

Posted by: rk | May 15 2022 20:14 utc | 163

Everything else is noise.

Posted by: b4real | May 15 2022 20:15 utc | 165

@ Posted by: K | May 15 2022 19:55 utc | 154
I apologise for overestimating your intelligence.
A smile click on the link would have led you to a video where, as i suggested, you could see the young man celebrating and be the judge of the salute in question.
I am sorry the fact that the first link i was provided with from Google was from the ABC, who’s bias i am well aware of from my 20+ years of living in Australia :))).
Ironically, an appropriate saying i learned there comes to mind: don’t shoot the messenger.
It appears i overestimated your ability to formulate your own opinion of a video, regardless of where it is posted.

Posted by: Et Tu | May 15 2022 20:19 utc | 167

*simple click

Posted by: Et Tu | May 15 2022 20:22 utc | 169

It appears i overestimated your ability to formulate your own opinion of a video, regardless of where it is posted.
Posted by: Et Tu | May 15 2022 20:19 utc | 167
Sarcasm doesn’t work on me.
I didn’t click your link because I live here too and the ABC is incapable of a single word of truth about China or Russia. Any report they make on foreign policy even the most mundane propaganda the likes of which you seem to be a sucker for, are subject to approval from US military.
For what its worth I often underestimate my own intelligence too, but I’m learning that I am as capable as the next person to be fooled if I don’t keep my eyes open. I’m very distressed about what our country has become ABC included, but it is what it is.

Posted by: K | May 15 2022 20:31 utc | 171

Karlof1 (164).
Yes I agree that US boots have been on the ground in Ukraine for years, it was interesting though to see French journalists admit that they are there now, amid this conflict even though we all know that they’ve been there for years.

Posted by: Republicofscotland | May 15 2022 20:38 utc | 173

Posted by: Et Tu | May 15 2022 11:55 utc | 1
Good post.
I’m not going to say Russia is losing the war but it’s clear that it’s a hard fight and the Russian military is taking significant loses. The weaponry the west is pouring into Ukraine, NATO training the Ukie army, these things all have an effect on the battlefield that can’t just be magicked away.
Your post clearly comes from a sincere place and does not fit the definition of concern trolling. It’s difficult for a lot of people here to consider any POV that isn’t bullish on RF forces easily prevailing and given what is at stake in this war it’s an understandable reaction. But a Pollyannaish optimism that relies on faith rather than an unsentimental assessment of events is bound to clash with reality eventually as the war grinds on.
Given the fog of war and all that, determining what the facts on the ground actually are can be difficult but I think at this point it’s clear that RF forces will have to fight hard and deal with difficult setbacks. Putin and has team have to decide how many more men and resources they want to throw into this war. The forces they have in Ukraine now are likely too meager given what they are up against.
Probably the sooner they can end the war with a face saving victory, the better. I think Austin’s phone call to Shoigu might have been done with that in mind. Even Blinken is talking now about the possibility of sanctions being eventually lifted. They see Russia is in trouble and are offering a “way out”, with conditions obviously. It’s a standard tactic. I could be wrong of course but if they think Russia is struggling hard such an “offer” makes sense.

Posted by: darren price | May 15 2022 20:39 utc | 175

@darren price – heavy losses? Struggle? Man… Weed is bad!

Posted by: rk | May 15 2022 20:44 utc | 177

It seems to have been a quiet day at the old steel plant, for at least 3 minutes if this video was unedited. Not a single war noise. A joy to watch this very nimble young lady instead of any Avoz brutes, unless, of course, they were dead and nicely laid out in rows…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWjFOIUsTLA

Posted by: DakotaRog | May 15 2022 20:47 utc | 179

@Posted by: DakotaRog | May 15 2022 20:47 utc | 179
As they protest to their masters they breath “death poisoned air”, it seems they have experimented somehow transforming…wellcome to the West trans paradise…which could be not always of what you expected…
https://t.me/IrinaMar1004_Z/1746

Posted by: Ghost of Mozgovoy | May 15 2022 20:55 utc | 181

b4real @161–
Thanks Very much for reposting Putin’s words!!!! It appears all too many barflies have forgotten them. They’ve also already forgotten that the war aims are now more far reaching than that–the dismantling of the Outlaw US Empire’s unipolar hegemonic position in the world and making it conform to the UN Charter and International Law. Seems most everyone on this blog missed that, and it’s not because the information wasn’t provided. Clearly, very few chose to read what Lavrov said yesterday. Yes, sorry, I wasn’t able to post the translated transcript until 6pm Pacific. Here are his opening remarks:

The choice we have made is facilitated by the fact that the “collective West” has declared us an all-out hybrid war. It’s hard to predict how long this will last. It is clear that the consequences will be felt by everyone without exception.
We did everything to avoid a direct collision. But once a challenge is made, we accept it. We are no strangers to sanctions. In one form or another, they were almost always. The surge of cave Russophobia that occurred in all “civilized” countries is surprising. Political correctness, decency, rules and legal norms have been discarded. A culture of abolishing everything Russian is applied. Any hostile actions against our country, including outright looting, are permitted. Our cultural figures, artists, athletes, scientists, businessmen – just Russians – are being harassed.
This campaign did not bypass our diplomats. They often have to work in extreme conditions, sometimes at risk to health and life. Even in the darkest years of the Cold War, we will not recall such a mass synchronous expulsion of diplomats. This destroys the overall atmosphere of relations with the West. On the other hand, it frees up forces and human resources to work in those areas with which it is necessary to associate the future development of our country. [My Emphasis]

There is nothing accidental about today’s situation: “The Americans began to prepare for the current crisis a long time ago – immediately after the end of the Cold War, deciding that the way to achieve global hegemony was now open.” [My Emphasis]
“In fact, the situation is multi-layered. Russia, the United States, China and all others understand that today the question of whether the world order will become fair, democratic and polycentric is being decided. Or will this small group of countries be able to impose on the international community a neo-colonial division of the world into those who consider themselves ‘exceptional’ and the rest – those who are destined to carry out the will of the ‘chosen’.” [My Emphasis] (What Putin in his 2021 Davos speech called “The Golden Billion.”)
“The question is, are Americans today able to actually follow the key principle of the UN Charter, which states that ‘the United Nations are based on the sovereign equality of states’?” [My Emphasis]
Larov closes:

Today, it is abundantly clear to everyone that “the process has begun.” Not on a whim. We have always been open to equal dialogue. And because of the unacceptable, arrogant behavior of our Western neighbors, who decided, under the dictates of Washington, to “abolish Russia” in their foreign relations.
Further rapprochement with our like-minded people outside the former “golden billion” is an absolutely inevitable process that is mutual in nature. Russian-Chinese relations are the best in their entire history. A special privileged strategic partnership with India, Algeria and Egypt is deepening. Relations with the countries of the Persian Gulf are reaching a new level. The same is happening with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, other countries in the Asia-Pacific region, the Middle East, Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
We are aware that at the current turning point (this adjective “asks for language”) the place of Russia and everyone else in the future architecture of the world order is determined.
We see the task of Russia’s diplomacy in firmly repelling hostile attacks against us, on the one hand. On the other hand, we are persistently, calmly, patiently, but without delaying our work to strengthen our positions in the interests of the country’s progressive internal development and improving the quality of life of Russian citizens. [My Emphasis]

The translated transcript can be read here. The Lukyanov article Lavrov cited can be read here. Yesterday’s Medvedev Telegram posting can be read here.
And yet again, here’s what Putin said one month ago that never made a headline anywhere except at my VK page:
“What’s happening today? Today, the system of the unipolar world that developed after the collapse of the Soviet Union is being destroyed, that’s what is most important. The main thing is not even the tragic events taking place in the Donbas and Ukraine, because this is not the main thing. Much is said that the United States is ‘ready to fight Russia to the last Ukrainian.’ And they say, and we say, in fact, this is how it is. That is the quintessence of the events taking place.” [My Emphasis]
Why is that system of control being destroyed? Because it must be for humanity’s sake.

Posted by: karlof1 | May 15 2022 20:57 utc | 183

@DakotaRog | May 15 2022 20:47 utc | 179
That was nice, thank you! Some positivity is very welcome.

Posted by: Norwegian | May 15 2022 21:00 utc | 185

Posted by: rk | May 15 2022 18:15 utc | 120
@Sushi : US defense spending budget means a lot of people steal a lot of money and nothing else. $800bn is not visible in technology compared to 60bn of Russia or 70bn of India.
Agreed.
Plus about 40% of the US DoD budget covers the cost of lifetime healthcare, generous pension benefits, 30 days annual vacation, paid education, technical skills training, PX benefits, free golf course, foreign housing allowance of 2 to 3 K per month, free clothing, free 3 squares a day, a choice of 800 duty stations some of which are in beautiful locations in which military personnel are free of all legal liabilities. Sort of like a socialist mini-state operating within the chainlink erected to keep the real world at a distance.
Another 20% pays the endless repair cost on the F35 and the early scrapping of the littoral combat ships due hull cracking, operational costs equal to a Burke, and an inability to go to sea in anything higher than sea state 4 (which if you have experience of lumpy water is almost no lumps at all). I won’t even mention the three Zumwalts (32 planned 29 cancelled) whose ammunition was so expensive none was ordered.
On the bright side you can bet when the latest Tom Cruise Top Gun epic hits the big screen, he will single-handedly destroy more enemy hardware than the Ghost of Kiev.

Posted by: Sushi | May 15 2022 21:06 utc | 187

Hidari @38: “Adorno was right.” [re: effectiveness of brainwashing by capitalist pop culture]
Only in the most limited sense. Consciousness can be shaped by pop culture (most university education nowadays counts as pop culture entertainment too) but only within the constraints allowed by the material conditions of living for the population in question. That brainwashing works great on demographics that are “alienated”, to use Marx’s term, from the production process. Most white collar workers and “professionals” have lived experiences that are so distant from productive labor that it is not too difficult to program them with delusional world views using mass media.
In other words, people can be programmed by mass media, but largely only in “advanced”, deindustrializing states whose living standards are bolstered by imperialist economic rape, and even then only among the demographic that is typically considered “middle class” [non-Marxist definition of middle class here]. This is why the deliberate efforts to gaslight and reprogram the “deplorable” working class “Trumpists” in the US have completely lost traction and are actually proving to be counterproductive at this time.
Adorno and Korkheimer were correct that among people like themselves, whose lives are insulated from reality, perception of reality can be molded by the cartoons they watch. They were mistaken in seeing themselves as exceptional, and were themselves the biggest victims of that perception molding. At the end of the day they added nothing to Marx’s observation that consciousness is a product of material conditions. Unearned wealth does not free one’s consciousness, it transforms that consciousness into delusion.

Posted by: William Gruff | May 15 2022 21:11 utc | 189

“”Finland is not deterred to join Nato, that must be viewed as a massive strategic failure. Perhaps it is all part of a bigger trap…”
Well, here, at least, Ritter remains convinced that Russia will destroy Finland if NATO forces begin to be put there. As for whether that is a “strategic failure”, well, Russia is not worried about Finland and no doubt expected Finland and Sweden to join NATO eventually. Whether it happens now or later is irrelevant.”
I see this kind of over the top thinking Ritter displays all over the place. As you said, Russia knew it was inevitable Finland would be sucked into Nato but there is a very big difference between Ukraine and Finland. Ukraine is a failed state with a demonic energy derived from their hate filled ideology. It’s weaponization was of great concern to Russia. Finland is not.

Posted by: nook | May 15 2022 21:19 utc | 191

Posted by: Simplicius | May 15 2022 15:27 utc | 57
“I find Martynov and copy pasta RSH just a bit too optimistic all too often.”
Nice snark remark – with zero evidence or specific examples to back it up. Which is why people like you get dismissed.
“Truth is cold, fleeting and only occasionally glimpsed if at all, so beware micro analysis based on “number of airstrikes”, or “M777 is obsolete, fragile and missing key electronics” – as if manually punching in GPS coordinates provided by a NATO UAV in real time isn’t almost as good.”
Which is not at all the determining factor. I posted some stuff on the M777 in the last thread, from a Telegram site pointing out that the main Russian artillery out-ranges the shells provided for the US howitzer. And even that isn’t significant. The real issue is, as I and others repeatedly said, that a few howitzer – tactical weapons – are not going to effect the operational and strategic outcome, and if they start to cause any significant problems for the Russians in terms of lives lost the Russians will proceed to search them out and destroy them. An act which Ukraine does not have the capability to prevent.
The problem with people, as Martyanov constantly rants about, is that they have no clue how real war is fought and the depth of operational and strategic planning that is involved. Which is why I recommended his video of this past Monday, which goes in to all that. People fixated on tactical back and forth don’t have a clue.
Ritter should know better than to reverse himself based on a few tactical defeats on the Russian side, and his impressions of the impact of inferior US and NATO weapons. And his hallucination that Ukraine can stand up a trained million-man force armed with NATO weapons is risible.
Again, I suspect Ritter has simply become frustrated with the pace of the war. He assumed – and to some degree I did, too, before I wised up – that Russia would win in a blitzkreig. Clearly Russia has other ideas. As I pointed out repeatedly here, after the Donbass reduction is done, Russia will have 150,000 or more troops with all the armor and artillery it needs to make a clean sweep of the remaining Ukrainian military, after Kharkiv, Nykolaiv and Odessa are taken. That will be a full-on Russian armored maneuver warfare across open steppes with full air superiority.
Tell me, Scott, how Ukraine wins that. It’s risible.

Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | May 15 2022 21:26 utc | 193

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | May 15 2022 18:23 utc | 123
“Concern trolling is when someone is disingenuously pretending to be concerned for a cause – say Russia’s MOD succeeding – and presents easily debunkable reasoning for their concern, then sits back and watches people try to explain it only to inevitably have minor differences in the explanations and tiny conflicting bits of evidence emerge.”
Which is exactly what Et Tu has done repeatedly here. And he was called on it before. Now he shows up again and everyone is like, “Oh, he’s really concerned.”
One is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. Three times is enemy action.
“I personally don’t think Et Tu is guilty of this based on their history. If someone thinks it’s important enough to prove that wrong, by all means have at it.”
Which I have, repeatedly.
“Isn’t it more productive to try to shoot those things down than treat known posters as agents of discord and concern trolls? And isn’t it also i”mportant to carefully take apart the posts of accused concern trolls, while acknowledging the fog of war, than it is to call names and dismiss?”
Which is exactly what I did – repeatedly. And yet Et Tu is again, repeating the same drivel.
Like Ukraine and Russia, at what point does one recognize bad faith?

Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | May 15 2022 21:36 utc | 195

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | May 15 2022 18:28 utc | 125
Yeah, I take this seriously…

Maybe Putin really is a NATO sleeper agent, secretly brainwashed by NATOists when he was stationed as a KGB agent in East Germany. His handlers had been waiting for the right time to trigger his programming…and now he’s become an unwitting tool in NATO’s bloodthirsty conspiracy for global domination. Say hello to Putin, the Saxonian Candidate.

Meanwhile, he offers zero evidence that Russia is having any problems at all in this war. He does not mention anything except the issue of Finland and Sweden as some sort of “disaster” for Russia – which is risible. And most of the post is him traveling around some place.
Where do you find this shit? Did you search for it? Why are we supposed to take any of it seriously? Some guy doesn’t like Putin and that means the war is a disaster for Russia?

Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | May 15 2022 21:44 utc | 197

For some days I have been thinking about Duda’s speech of May 3
https://www.prezydent.pl/aktualnosci/wypowiedzi-prezydenta-rp/wystapienia/wystapienie-prezydenta-podczas-uroczystosci-naplacu-zamkowym,53158
This is the central sentence
“Ukraine, which – I hope – will be for decades, and God forbid and for centuries, a fraternal state for the Republic of Poland, between which and us, Poland – as I hope President Volodymyr Zelensky said prophetically – will have no border; that there will be no such border; that we will live together on this earth, rebuilding ourselves and building our common happiness and common strength that will allow us to resist every danger, and which everyone will be afraid to attack in the future and will be afraid to threaten it. ”
Is it just rhetoric, is it a “boutade” or is there much more?
“There will be no border… ..we will live together …… will allow us to resist… ..everyone will be afraid to attack….” ; these are all phrases that show a strong nostalgia for the ancient Commonwealh but they gave me a CRAZY doubt
Someone is thinking of “uniting” the 2 states into a single great Poland, creating a kind of Federation or even an annexation or even just an Agreement of the type Russia-LNR-DPR ???
If this were the case, Poland would not enter for Galicia but to defend a part of “its” attacked country (Article 51 UN) and (perhaps) Article 5 of NATO would apply.
I hope it’s nonsense.
Another (related?) question: Russia hasn’t said anything about Austin’s phone call.

Posted by: FZappa | May 15 2022 21:55 utc | 199