@ed and his fleas.
You are also diminished by this incredible analogy.
Posted by: Neofeudalfuture | Jul 8 2023 20:12 utc | 90
————————————————————–
Neo, we have butted heads in the past, so we both know where each other stands on most issues. Karls’s analogy of fleas to trolls is just that, an analogy.
An analogy is saying something is like something else to make some sort of explanatory point. For example, “Life is like a box of chocolates—you never know what you’re gonna get.” You can use metaphors and similes when creating an analogy. A simile is a type of metaphor.
Get over it, I hear much worse from the trolls on almost every thread. You survived this long at MoA because you often present views that, like it or not, often have merit and often deserve a comment or a reply.

Posted by: Ed | Jul 8 2023 20:38 utc | 104

Saturday which means the first string trolls have the day off.

Posted by: Exile | Jul 8 2023 20:47 utc | 106

What you need to understand about the return of the Azov people from Turkey to Ukraine.
The decision to return these people to Ukraine in violation of the agreements changes absolutely nothing on the battlefield. All the stories about the fact that the morale of the AFU fighters will be raised after that are lies. The arrival of these characters in Kiev will not strengthen the offensive on the Vremevsky salient and will not help to move through minefields in Zaporozhye, because this is not what is needed for combat operations.
It should also be remembered that the topic of the return of these people to Ukraine is being actively sold to the Western public at the peak of an unsuccessful offensive intentionally in order to shift the focus of attention from the huge losses of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and silence the unsuccessful frontal attacks, to which the command of the Ukrainian army is now actively trying to come up with an alternative. They are trying to wash away the 34 days of the unsuccessful offensive of the APU with one event, the real, practical, and not the media value of which is at zero.
They have tried to raise morale with similar events before. If you recall the story of the British mercenary Aiden Eslin, then you can make sure: these people can only play on camera, but they are useless on the battlefield.
In fact, the return of people who escaped to the basements of Azovstal and hid behind civilians until the last moment will not affect the trajectory of the artillery shell.
The organization “Azov” is recognized as a terrorist organization by the decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated 02.08.2022.
milchronicles

Posted by: 03POK | Jul 8 2023 20:50 utc | 108

The release of the 5 Azovs makes me both sad and angry. Sad that Putin got shafted, and angry at the breach of yet another deal that Russia made in good faith. And I don’t believe it is part of some concocted deal. It is pure, unadulterated malfeasance by Erdogan. SNAKE SNAKE SNAKE. Think how Denis Pushilin of the DPR now feels and all the citizens of Mariupol feel about no retribution for the 9 years of persecution by those cunts and their moronic juniors.
The mission of denazification has just sufferred a major PR setback in equal proportion to the PR win of Kiev and that smug prick Zelensky.
Unbelievable, just unbelievable shit by Erdogan. Next he’ll be opening the Bosphorus to let US/NATO ships into the Black Sea, which would not only be a slap to Russia but a breach of International Law.

Posted by: The Dolphin | Jul 8 2023 20:54 utc | 110

@Biswapriya Purkayast
“So Prokopenko and the Mariupol Azov nazis have been released by Erdoğan and are back in Ukranazistan, already declaring their intention to go right back to the front.”
Very good. And there, they will die.

Posted by: Apollyon | Jul 8 2023 20:57 utc | 112

Posted by: Biswapriya Purkayast | Jul 8 2023 20:55 utc | 111

You’re exactly right. Putin is just not a wartime consigliere. He is Russia’s Tom Hagen.
By the way, that piece by Tom Luongo that Stonebird linked to above is utterly absurd. It seems like Tom Luongo, like Scott Ritter, is another one of these ersatz commentators whose “analysis” has proven to be worthless during the last few weeks of real events.

Posted by: Intelligent Dasein | Jul 8 2023 21:04 utc | 114

” Russian Militia Has Links to American Neo-Nazi and Anti-Trans Figures
The leader of the anti-Putin Russian Volunteer Corps is publicly connected to Robert Rundo and Christopher Pohlhaus. ”
https://theintercept.com/2023/07/08/american-neo-nazis-ukraine-war/
p.s. anyone remember the fine political thriller “Eastern Promises”? About KGB/FSB vs Vory v Zakone.
Canadian movie director David Cronenberg back in 2007 gave an interview.
He sort of exonerated Putin. Adding, that Putin would probably like his film.
I liked those statements back then.
Dont know if Cronenberg being a businessman naturally as well (films are expensive) would have had the guts to talk this way now. Hope so…

Posted by: AG | Jul 8 2023 21:06 utc | 116

114 – Not a bad analogy. He is far more like Tom Hagen, than, say, Michael or Sonny Corleone.

Posted by: Waldorf | Jul 8 2023 21:09 utc | 118

The fact that some people compare Putin which is a leader of nation with some mobster from a movies, shows the level of knownledge that those people posses.

Posted by: JamesBond | Jul 8 2023 21:14 utc | 120

“The Ukrainian TG channel ” Resident ” writes that his source in Zelensky’s OP told how they managed to pick up the leaders of Azov*:
” For three weeks, the Russian Aerospace Forces methodically destroyed Turkish proxies in Syrian Idlib. Erdogan could not prevent this by military means, which made him very angry with the Russians.
Having learned about this through intelligence sources, the Office of the President came out with a request to hand over the Azov people. The stars successfully converged – and the captured commanders from Azovstal go home to raise Zelensky’s rating before the obviously indiscriminate NATO summit. Moreover, under AZOV they launched a campaign of 500 days of heroic resistance, on Bankovaya they are slowly transforming the meanings from the liberation of Ukrainian lands to heroic defense / protracted war.” (Via Masno)

There you go with the actual backstory. A bunch of jihadists were continuously bombed for weeks in northern Syria, Erdo got angry and released the 5 Azov dudes. Who will probably be used for the perceived continuous insignificant PR purposes, contrary to the claim of “wanting to get back in the fight”.

Posted by: unimperator | Jul 8 2023 21:20 utc | 122

Heck, all they’d have to do is offer a slightly discounted price for CNY rather than USD purchases and the demand for yuan would skyrocket as much or as little as they wanted.
Posted by: BillB | Jul 8 2023 17:32 utc | 25
For years, China has purposely kept its RMB pegged at around 6.7 for a US dollar. The explanation I read way back when was to stabilize their purchasing power. Now? Will that change? So far, it hasn’t.

Posted by: HelenB | Jul 8 2023 21:24 utc | 124

This is hilarious. I guess building tanks 24/7 happens in Russia now because they “bled the west” of 12 leopards. You should rename to HateDonbass or HateKremlin or HateBelgorod, it would match your post logic
Posted by: rk | Jul 8 2023 18:37 utc | 51
#############
Why would I take a negative username? That seems like very small and petty thinking. I *try* to rise above my baser instincts.
You should give it a shot. Life is better with a positive outlook and pro-social attitude. Switch it up, surprise everyone! ❤️

Posted by: LoveDonbass | Jul 8 2023 21:25 utc | 126

Ah, the failure to see past the flea metaphor to the Big Picture painted by Dr. Hudson in Killing the Host–fleas are the tiny pet parasite kept by their Neoliberal parasite Masters.
But onto Ukraine. Alastair Crooke’s al-Mayadeen column is now available, “Indecision Haunts the West: Events on the Ukraine Front Sends It Reeling”, which is rather short this week, so I’m rather tempted to copy/paste it in full. But, since the publisher isn’t censored by the West, all can read it. Instead, I’ll excerpt the important parts that past commentary shows many can’t accept:

It is clear that NATO’s doctrinal approach to conflict with any adversary — other than a polyglot lightly-armed insurgency — is flawed. NATO is still fighting the Battle of 73 Easting in the Iraqi desert: An ‘armoured fist’ that punched, backed by air superiority; one that knocked the opposition ‘for six’. But, as the US commander at that battle (Colonel Macgregor) admits, its outcome was accidental. Nonetheless it became a NATO myth, with a general doctrine built around its unique circumstance.
The western Intelligence community was already reeling from the videos of Ukraine’s NATO-supplied, burnt-out ‘armoured fists’ – when the Prigozhin débacle hit.
The problem with the ‘default option’ (frozen conflict) as ‘what to do next’ is that it just won’t work. Not least because Russia won’t accept a frozen conflict. FM Lavrov has said so, explicitly….
[The frozen conflict] It is bunkum….
A frozen conflict would be unsustainable too from the simple perspective that the two parties are not frozen in the basic meaning of the term — a conflict in which neither side has been able to prevail over the other and are stuck.
Put simply, whereas the Ukraine structurally is in stasis — and the ‘state’ hovering at the brink of implosion — Russia, by contrast, is fully plenipotent: It has large, fresh forces. It dominates the airspace and has near domination of the electromagnetic airspace. Its supply lines are ‘flowing as a river in spate’.
But fundamentally, Moscow wants the present Kiev collective gone. Recently, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that the Ukrainian state has no legal standing or legitimacy in the wake of the Maidan coup, as neither Poroshenko or Zelensky had approved the reconciliation instruments with Russia, after Maidan.
Simply said: It is a signal that Moscow has no intention of colluding with the West in mounting the fiction that Kiev fought Russia to a standstill, in which neither party prevailed, thereby giving Kiev a faux moral standing, as if, in the boxing ring, the referee raises the arm of both battered, contending boxers aloft, and calls ‘a tie’.
The Ukraine conflict is no ‘tie’. [My Emphasis]

I placed the emphasis because that is but one of the lead indicators recently made that Russia considers Ukraine to be an artificial state. S recently provided some excellent evidence as to why Lenin was predisposed to favor the creation of a Ukraine, and you can be 100% sure that Team Putin is well aware of that history as Putin himself has expounded on it several times. Then we come to NATO which I said was Nazi in my commentary yesterday, a view shared by Team Putin. China too is coming to have that view. If Western “leaders” are seen as Nazi and only capable of unconditional surrender and clearly incapable of conducting any form of serious negotiations, then what will Russia, China, and RoW do?
I expect Russia to continue doing what it’s been very successfully doing and continue to push Ukie forces to the Dnieper while EU/NATO continues to fragment politically and disarm itself. At the same time, Russia will join with its many partners and China to begin the implementation of China’s Global Security Initiative, which has the potential to rapidly progress and by the 2024 POTUS election present whoever the candidates are with a huge problem. And as Crooke states in his conclusion, Europe is faced with a great many questions and very few answers at this juncture. Imagine the continual grind going through Fall and into Winter with Ukie forces either doing the right thing and retreating beyond the Dnieper; or as the Nazis would probably prefer, to continue the slaughter of “impure” Slavs until they are forced to withdraw beyond the river as Winter sets in. Meanwhile while that’s occurring, civil strife will very likely continue to escalate causing governments to fall. IEA projections are for not enough gas to be stored for a normal Winter, and prices are already too high now. Jobs are being lost bigtime, which means governments are coming up very short on the revenues they need to operate within the deficit restrictions of the EUCB. Not only will EU nations be broke, but the EU itself will be busted. And that also means no monies for NATO or Ukraine or for the Outlaw US Empire’s MIC. OUCH!
All that and more face those gathering at Vilnius, but how many will actually talk about that very grim future possibility that currently appears very likely? You an be sure Team Biden won’t, nor will its Nazi attack dogs. But what of France; will Macron even attend? Germany is in very poor condition and worsening daily. The Netherlands just had their government ousted. Belgium has France’s events overflowing into its region. Denmark appears it will remain an attack dog, but that could change. Of Norway and Finland, only Norway has any monies, but its hydrocarbon extraction rates are in decline, and the Fins without Russia as a commercial partner are on very thin ice with an EU moving into Depression. That leaves Italy, Czechs, Slovaks, and the Balkans, while Hungary and Austria saved themselves by not kowtowing to the demanded suicide via cutting off Russia hydrocarbon flows.

Posted by: karlof1 | Jul 8 2023 21:31 utc | 128

From RT:
Russia confirms that it is launching a gold-backed BRICS currency. The topic will be on the agenda of the BRICS summit in South Africa in August. Many other countries have applied to join BRICS. De-dollarisation is accelerating.
https://t.me/+B6ixfOM5VkxhODQx
Maybe barflies have already discussed this, maybe on the other open thread but worth posting here – this is big news. Word up to now was that there would be no BRICS+ currency, I think that was directly from Glazyev, that for now, now being a couple years, de-dollarization would be limited to exchanges in national currencies as a BRICS currency would be an overwhelming challenge. If this news is true China and Russia and I’d add KSA are rising to the challenge and throwing down the gauntlet. Uncle Sam will be extremely angry.
Granted, the “launch” could be incremental over several years, in which case – in the words of Emily Litella, “never mind”.
BTW a gold back world currency would be of great benefit to countries that mine gold, Russia, China of course but South Africa, Australia, Canada, Mexico, come to mind. Australia would be much better off in BRICSland than in Petrodollaland, wonder if they understand that?

Posted by: LightYearsFromHome | Jul 8 2023 21:42 utc | 130

Weren’t those Azov traded for Russian officers and pilots anyway?
Making the go to Turkey was just icing. Now the icing is scraped off. Nbd.

Posted by: UWDude | Jul 8 2023 21:48 utc | 132

Yes, there could be some NATO/US pressure being applied, but I do [NOT] doubt that these problems and issues are [being] communicated between Putin and Erdogan through secret diplomatic communications.
Posted by: Ed | Jul 8 2023 21:46 utc | 131
————————————
Sorry about that, I hir POST instead of PREVIEW.

Posted by: Ed | Jul 8 2023 21:51 utc | 134

Erdogan is and always will be Erdogan. He plays his own angles. His statements after the fact do suggest that he’s pretty pissed about something. Unfortunately, he does have Putin over the barrel of Black Sea access. NATO warships entering would be a significant complication.
At the end of the day it’s a PR victory to win a media cycle for Zelensky. It doesn’t solve any of his real problems but it does violate the Geneva convention on POWs and it does make it obvious that, yes, Ukraine is a Nazi state. Those are the very minor bright sides.

Posted by: Lex | Jul 8 2023 22:05 utc | 136

Well, Erdogan just gave Russia the perfect excuse not to take prisoners the Nazi scum, but to kill them on the spot. Or at the very least to limit all future prisoners exchange to force-conscripted Ukrainian mobiks, and not to Svoboda/Azov/Right Sector goons.
Karlof1:
I think Russia is still being soft and prudent. At this point in history, it should be absolutely obvious to anyone paying attention that the true end goal in the global confrontation is not just that Ukraine ceases to exist as a country. NATO will have to cease to exist. EU will have to cease to exist. The United States of America will have to cease to exist as a country, at long last. It’s only when this last requirement is achieved that any lasting peace can be hoped for. Though I can understand that you’re not going to proclaim to a nuclear-backed behemoth what you actually intend to achieve.

Posted by: Clueless Joe | Jul 8 2023 22:16 utc | 138

Azov fighters being released, solves 2 problems – How was Turkey going to get rid of them and how was Russia finally going to denazify them.
SloMO – How will Russia adjust to the new USnaTO tactics of not advancing and instead creating a new fortified defensive line and getting the “Korean Solution” implemented on the ground?
Dedollarisation – What’s going on with Armenia and Azerbaijan both setting up Russian peacekeepers to fail? Why did Kazakhstan unilaterally announce the end of the Astana process without consultation with Iran, Russia and Turkey? What are the British PMCs doing in Uzbekistan?
What other colour revolution/coups/nefarious plots being cooked up in those dissenting Global Majority nations and which ones will fall next?
Sure, the Yuan at the moment is gaining momentum, but does everyone believe the “Crazies in the Basement” are going down without a fight?

Posted by: Suresh | Jul 8 2023 22:21 utc | 140

LightYearsFromHome | Jul 8 2023 21:42 utc | 130–
I just conducted a search at RT using BRICS as the keyword and got no such article. The most recent item returned was published July 6th, “Russia proposes alternative to EU clearing houses,” which is part of what I was discussing on the open thread on the dedollarization topic. What’s proposed is a mjor move in the right direction to establish non-Western circulation portals for the new international financial system:

An international depository settlement hub should be created in the Persian Gulf to provide an alternative to EU securities transactions companies Euroclear and Clearstream, the CEO of Russia’s second-largest bank VTB, Andrey Kostin, said on Thursday….
Euroclear settles securities trades on European exchanges and serves as a securities central depository for financial institutions operating in Europe. The company ceased transactions with Russia’s National Settlement Depository (NSD) and blocked NSD accounts within its system in line with sanctions against the Russian clearing house imposed in mid-2022. The move effectively made Russians unable to access their assets held within Euroclear. It has been estimated that Russian assets stuck at Euroclear amount to €196.6 billion ($211.1 billion), the vast majority of which is owned by the country’s central bank.
Kostin also called for an alternative to SWIFT, the international financial messaging system. Russian banks were cut off SWIFT last year, which made it impossible for them to carry out transactions with foreign financial institutions….
According to the banker, new tools to attract capital should also be developed.
“Today it’s mostly Eurobonds. The entire financial infrastructure is built in the West. We propose to create new instruments which would respond to the needs of national currency and market regulation,” Kostin explained. The new financial infrastructure will attract Western investors and companies, he added.

So, what I found is important but is peripheral to the issuance of a new currency.

Posted by: karlof1 | Jul 8 2023 22:24 utc | 142

At # 89 – the Dune Analogy to the SMO
Myself, I would cast Zelensky as the Baron Vladimir Harkonnen; Beast Raban would be Budanov; and the Emperor, Shaddam IV, would be Biden.
Paul Atreides would be Putin. Paul’s father Leto II would be Yelstin.

Posted by: canuck | Jul 8 2023 22:27 utc | 144

Figleaf23@26 ….ending the conflict asap, saving human lives….before it spills outside the conflict zone and engulfs the ROW more so than it already has…..that makes people western agents….. that’s just dumbfuckery.
Cheers M
Posted by: sean the leprechaun | Jul 8 2023 18:00 utc | 30

Fig did say “many” not all. I too want this to end ASAP but life isn’t a video game where victory can be achieved within hours. And more importantly, there’s no reset button to respawn back to life if you fucked it up.

Posted by: Ian2 | Jul 8 2023 22:31 utc | 146

Can anybody explain why these guys were in Turkey rather than in Russia as POWs?
Posted by: ChatNPC | Jul 8 2023 22:20 utc | 139
It was a deal done to release a Putin friend. They were supposed to be exiled to Turkey and never return to Ukraine until the fighting ends. This was Once done on European battlefields for captured soldiers.
So Putin got shafted by Erdo, just as he got shafted by Merkel and the Frenchie in the fake Minsk1&2.
Putin is delusional that the West will honour any deals with Russia.

Posted by: Surferket | Jul 8 2023 22:34 utc | 148

Again, these would be struck to disrupt a Russian offensive, not support the Ukrainian remake of the Somme.
Posted by: Milites | Jul 8 2023 20:01 utc | 83
————————————————–
Thanks, Milites. Makes one wonder if they have enough resources altogether to bring that of.

Posted by: Acco Hengst | Jul 8 2023 22:37 utc | 150

Posted by: LoveDonbass | Jul 8 2023 21:25 utc | 126
🙂
Great advice, cheers!

Posted by: Suresh | Jul 8 2023 22:45 utc | 152

of one thing we are certain the Chechen soldiers who gave their lives to liberate mariupol from azov criminals are turning over in their graves,
that the Russian administrations were a tangle of corruption was and is a well-known fact that they sold the lives of their soldiers in exchange for personal benefits and the hope of a safe-conduct if the pusillanimity of the government did not get the better of the coveted West.

Posted by: A.cagliostro | Jul 8 2023 22:47 utc | 154

The City of Phoenix, AZ city council has apparently decided to ship all of the police department’s “unclaimed” confiscated or turned-in firearms to Ukraine. LMAO

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Jul 8 2023 22:49 utc | 156

“Russia is getting a mothelode of information on the US-NATO militaary capabilities from this conflict.”
This is true. We shall see if they can survive it.

Posted by: Fnord73 | Jul 8 2023 22:53 utc | 158

Everyone’s had their view on this, overall seems mostly negative.
Here’s my posative speculation…
Awhile ago Erodigan offered to mediate between Uqraine and Russia.
Turkey agreed to keep the Azov prisoners till the end of the war,,,,
The wars over.
Zelinsky had enough, in so many ways.
Wants out.
Shook hands with Erodigan.
Of course Ukrain being agreement incapable,the only way forward is tangible actions on all side.
Putin wins the SMO,
Zelensky gets to join nato. to be announced at Villenus in a few days time.
Biden gets an election plus.
Erodigan gets to be the hero who sorted it out.

Posted by: Mark2 | Jul 8 2023 23:04 utc | 160

Posted by: LoveDonbass | Jul 8 2023 22:32 utc | 147
Good point, and might I add that Russia by dint of having direct access to all their resources and factories, having great air defenses, and Ukraine being occupied elsewhere, was able to with no interference employ a large number of construction vehicles to construct its lines of trenches, and to outfit them properly with things like wooden flooring where it was needed.
Imo the Ukrainians would have an exceedingly tough time now assembling a similar amount of bulldozers, backhoes, pay-loaders, and whatnot, and getting it delivered from the North and West to the defensive trenches they are attempting to expand. Plus they’ll need hundreds of kilometers of barbed wire, and loads and loads and loads of anti-tank obstructions, land mines, and sensors.
I am no expert but I imagine targeting such construction vehicles and mounds of construction equipment would become a priority for Russian drone operators. Even a small drone hitting the engine compartment, or even a wheel or track, of a construction vehicle should disable it.

Posted by: Babel-17 | Jul 8 2023 23:06 utc | 162

“ “The City of Phoenix, AZ city council has apparently decided to ship all of the police department’s “unclaimed” confiscated or turned-in firearms to Ukraine. LMAO
Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Jul 8 2023 22:49 utc | 156”
— but they’re keeping all of the money seized via “civil asset forfeiture,” no doubt. And worse for elensky, they’re keeping all of the drugs they’d seized.

Posted by: malenkov | Jul 8 2023 23:14 utc | 164

I haven’t watched this but seems The Duran is stating it too:
Trade without USD BRICS currency (backed by gold) coming soon
My take is “coming soon” is five years, I don’t think Glazyev would be so circumvented on this but who knows he could have been running a diversion. SURPRISE! would be pretty fun but China and Russia don’t function like that.

Posted by: LightYearsFromHome | Jul 8 2023 23:16 utc | 166

ZH has a posting up with the title that says it all
Germany Rejects Cluster Bombs For Ukraine As Clip Surfaces Of Biden Admin Previously Calling Them A ‘War Crime’

Posted by: psychohistorian | Jul 8 2023 23:17 utc | 168

Malenkov @165
Fair point !
Zelensky has thrown the towel in the ring.
He knows it’s all over, just look at his spring/summer offensive.
His troops are already retreating.
From here on it will be face saving for the west but a win for Russia.
The territory thats under dispute will all of it go to Russia.
Again pure speculation on my part but this is how it reads.

Posted by: Mark2 | Jul 8 2023 23:28 utc | 170

LightYearsFromHome | Jul 8 2023 22:53 utc | 157–
Thanks for replying. I did click your link and got a Telegram page I can’t open. The other link says Russian government then says Russian embassy but doesn’t say which on and has a link to Twitter I also can’t access. Ah, by increasing the zoom, I can see it’s the Russian embassy in Kenya, but there’s absolutely nothing at that embassy’s website. And I again went through RT’s business and all Russian sections–nothing. Another purported news site has no links to anything but just says RT said so, and that RT reports that Russia’s government said so–and that was supposedly ten+ hours ago. But there’s zilch anywhere. Plus, we have Pepe Escobar’s announcement in his most recent article that no new currency will be announced at the BRICS Summit.
Red Herring is what I sense.

Posted by: karlof1 | Jul 8 2023 23:41 utc | 172

Theres lots of ways Erdogan actions can be looked at. On a personal level is its valuable to know someone is not trustworthy. That knowledge can be painful to obtain. The pain may be worth the knowledge however. Or little things dont matter. The Bosporus is still closed. Who does that benefit? I would say humanity. If it was open US UK would have felt obliged to sail the minnow into the black sea. I dont know but I dont think it would have ended well. OR Erdogan is looking out for Turkey no one else. I think thats honorable. Too bad the EU cant do that and fulfill its responsibility to its inhabitants. Not that the USAs actions seem to have the best interest of its inhabitants as a motivator in the least. It was also early in the conflict when the deal was struck. Putin was still trying to play nice with a neighbor that is going to be there no matter what. Russia cant move away from a crazy neighbor so best to avoid extreme actions. I still think the Putin soft approach is the best. Hard is nuclear. Best avoided. Now Putin knows. It can trust no one except Belarus. Certainly not China. Its in this fight alone. Its better to know the truth. Which doesnt mean Russia cant develop ongoing economic relationships with countries. Russia is in a fight a not very nice one and continues to demonstrate character. I think its important. If it goes bad and the nuclear weapons are deployed there will be no questions about too soft. If somehow against all odds the world avoids a strategic nuclear exchange Russias character will be remembered and it will have value. Erdogans actions will be remembered too. A couple Azov freaks are not going to make or break this war.

Posted by: sillydog | Jul 8 2023 23:46 utc | 174

New currency for BRICS
Posted by: karlof1 | Jul 8 2023 23:41 utc | 172
Pipe dream? Currency needs stability. Manufacturing needs stability to know whether they will be able to afford their operation. People need monetary stability to know what they can afford.
Currency created in the middle of war is of course unstable.

Posted by: HelenB | Jul 8 2023 23:49 utc | 176

Posted by: Skiffer | Jul 8 2023 23:37 utc | 171
” … when in fact [the 5 Azovs] are going back to Ukraine to be pushed into the meatgrinder”.
No no no. How can you think that? Presuming that fighting will still be going on in the same nazi way for months yet, they will be tasked into reforming, rebuilding Azov corps for the hardest, nastiest missions against the Ruskies. Quality, high morale officers are in great shortage now. They are now national heroes and will be kept way away from dangerous bullets and mines. Prokopenko will be duly decorated and promoted, maybe invited into MoD Bankova.
My only hope is that a Kaliber will get them during some top level meeting.

Posted by: The Dolphin | Jul 8 2023 23:57 utc | 178

apathy and status might too easily return.
Posted by: The Dolphin | Jul 9 2023 0:03 utc | 179
Ooops, “… status quo …”

Posted by: The Dolphin | Jul 9 2023 0:13 utc | 180

The release of the Azov scum reminds me of a previous prisoner exchange … its Sunday morning and I’m still in my jammies, so too lazy to do research, so will rely on patchy memory..
In 2014 at the time of the hot shooting between Ukraine and the LPR-DPR a female Ukrainian soldier shot and killed 2Russian journalists.
Something Shevenko (sp) was her name. She was extradited to Russia, convicted of murder and sent to prison.
Ukraine did it’s thing of hysterical howling and she became a Hero … constant reports on her and the terrible conditions and torture she was undergoing in Russia. Eventually she was prisoner exchanged for 2 Russians.
It was a big deal in Russia, outrage… how can Putin betray the families of the slain journos…. Putin is weak…
Eventually a family member of one of the journo said something like “ours are dead, nothing can be done for them. A prisoner exchange allows these other families to have theirs return”. Magnanimous. Public opinion swung to, yeah, OK.
Shevenko goes back to Ukraine. Hero Heroine. Huuuuge celebrations. She’s a celebrity. In her absence, while in prison, she’d been elected to the Rada.
On her return she takes her seat in the Rada. Hero, celebrity.
In a very short time she starts saying things that those boosting her don’t like.
She was then turned on and hounded. A pariah.
At moments like these I muse as to what happened to her.
The Azov boys return as heros, but the Ukraine they left a year ago no longer exists. None hold more responsibility for the destruction of Ukraine then they.
I watch their fate, from afar. I’m anticipating much theatre.

Posted by: Melaleuca | Jul 9 2023 0:48 utc | 182

Posted by: Melaleuca | Jul 9 2023 0:48 utc | 183
#######
Great anecdote. Very few things turn out exactly as we expect.

Posted by: LoveDonbass | Jul 9 2023 0:53 utc | 184

Posted by: Suresh | Jul 9 2023 0:49 utc | 184
Correction – “Tabla” solo. Video probably conveys what President Putin is alluding to as the fight against Evil.

Posted by: Suresh | Jul 9 2023 1:02 utc | 186

Putin 2 Turkiye
>…Is he still going?
Posted by: psychohistorian | Jul 9 2023 0:57 utc | 186
Probably. My guess.
Before Putin 2 Turkiye was announced (by Erdogan at the Zelensky press conference) 🔥
There would have been months + months of prelim meetings with Foreign Affairs staffers and an already agreed agenda and agreed docs to sign.
Putin may be peeved with The Sultan doing his duplicitous Sultan prisoner release.. but my read is Putin will keep to his commitment.
The Sultan should know by now… negotiating the next concession just got that much harder..
Putin in Turkiye is gonna sting back at “State”. Blinken will be indeed blinking. It’s worth the trolling to go ahead. IMO.

Posted by: Melaleuca | Jul 9 2023 1:17 utc | 188

Posted by: Melaleuca | Jul 9 2023 0:48 utc | 183
“I watch their fate, from afar. I’m anticipating much theatre.”
No drama, it’ll be a sudden ka-Boom, then their pics posted with big red X’s on ’em…

Posted by: nathan in WA US | Jul 9 2023 1:35 utc | 190

https://www.rt.com/news/579413-allies-cluster-bombs-us-kiev/
Opposition to this is surprising – Germany, Canada, Britain, Spain.

Posted by: Eighthman | Jul 9 2023 2:31 utc | 192

Open use of cluster munitions by NATO against Russia is a licence to Russia to develop long range cluster munitions shells and missiles. Placed along the new NATO border along Finland, along NATO’s most vulnerable border along Poland and Baltic states and in Kaliningrad, Russian long range cluster munitions will be a game changer and a troop multiplier.
If also deployed to Syria, it will be an absolute stunner against US interests.
Russia should also invest in developing floating and variously submerged cluster munitions that can tame NATO sea piracy. NATO has the world’s largest fleet of warships. Low cost cluster munitions in the seas can reduce them to a handful and tie them down to ports, repair yards and junk yards.

Posted by: Jason | Jul 9 2023 2:36 utc | 194

“Opposition to this is surprising – Germany, Canada, Britain, Spain.
Posted by: Eighthman | Jul 9 2023 2:31 utc | 193”
I suspect it really isn’t opposition. It’s just preening.

Posted by: malenkov | Jul 9 2023 2:41 utc | 196

Posted by: malenkov | Jul 9 2023 2:41 utc | 198
Too many in the countries are on record as actively opposing cluster bombs. In the UK for instance, Princess Diana made it a “cause” so as a minimum I think you have the heir to the throne and possibly the King, extremely hostile to their use.

Posted by: watcher | Jul 9 2023 3:07 utc | 198

Echo Chamber @66
>If you want me to explain how the primary dealers are given the funds to buy the treasuries just ask and I’ll explain to you.
Yes please!
I’m not convinced about nobody buying Treasuries when a USD in Irkusk or NYC will both be purchasing UST for the returns. Dollars are not destroyed with the rise of BRICKS-doneros. They will come “home” and the Fed will sop them up and finally balance their books.
I am convinced that the USD is at the root of this world wide conflict, as hyper-inflation is a possibility. But I need to learn more. Much more.
Is that site yours EC?

Posted by: bobzibub | Jul 9 2023 3:17 utc | 200