It sounds pretty crazy but it could be done. Much of the weight of a nuclear propulsion system is often the shielding. In nuclear aircraft or spacecraft designs a ‘shadow shield’ is used, creating a shielded area the size of crew compartment with the rest of immediate area bathed in lethal radiation. Even the shadow shield could be dispensed with in the case of a drone tank with hardened electronics.
Getting the power to the tracks without adding excessive weight is another challenge. A steam turbine as used in naval applications would likely be far too heavy. Russia has extensive experience in ‘thermionic’ converters from the Soviet space program, where electricity is generated directly within the reactor, but the power conversion efficiency is lower than a turbine.
Your example of the nuclear cruise missile might point to a way forward, using the reactor to heat air that is directed through a turbine like those of the T-80, M1 Abrams etc. An open cycle would be simple and efficient but would spew radionuclides out the exhaust, while a closed cycle with a heat exchanger would be cleaner but less efficient.
Definitely something for deep penetration missions in territory you’re not too attached to, using its ample electricity to power countermeasures. You couldn’t use a sticky bomb to circumvent them, as approaching from any direction not covered by the shadow shield would be fatal!
Posted by: S.P. Korolev | Jan 8 2024 4:49 utc | 88

Thanks for this. Good information and ideas.
The drone tank is probably the best bet — with the T-14 Russia was going in the direction of a driverless tank anyway, and 6th-gen fighter jets will be drones too, etc.
Thus in fact there is no strict need to even have a crew. It’s 2024 and such a project could be made fully autonomous.
So you send several of these into enemy territory to clear the trenches and the enemy really can’t do much if they are hardened enough to resists even 155 mm shells, have their own AD against missiles, and can be loaded with a huge amount of weapons and ammo for an extended operation. And if infantry can’t approach them because of the radiation, then the exhaust is actually a plus (though what it is exactly, how much is left on the ground and how long it decays is an important consideration).
P.S. Burevestnik wasn’t a new idea — both the Soviets and the Americans worked on nuclear cruise missiles in the 1950s and 1960s. Then it was resurrected by Russia, apparently successfully. Together with the UUV version with the Poseidon. So other nuclear propulsion concepts from that time (tanks were among them) could be resurrected too.
P.P.S. There was a very cool concept the Soviets actually put together in the late 1980s — the 1K17, a laser tank. Supposedly it was tested and worked as advertised, disabling all kinds of stuff. And then the USSR collapsed. Something like that has obvious applications today, and if you pair it with a serious power source and autonomous tracking of drones, it could do a lot of damage to the enemy.

Posted by: shаdοwbanned | Jan 8 2024 9:54 utc | 103

Yes karlof1 at 69, we should say a friendly hello and thanks to seemingly new contributor: ossi. 🙂 It has been a breath of fresh air in a rather brutal slog of near-daily Ukraine topic comment boards. The Russian tank materiel info to undo Western FUD (Fear Uncertainty Doubt) propaganda is well received. So hello, ossi!
Also thanks to Down South for keeping us up to date with so much from Telegrama! 😀 I don’t always get through them all, but I appreciate the consistent contribution! To aggregate still takes time and emotional toll. May you continue as long as needed, and your need be for this horror show soon wrapped up.

Posted by: titmouse | Jan 8 2024 10:15 utc | 105

“Guaranteed RF will take Kharkov and Odessa, after all the military trouble RF has had with attacks on Crimea and the entire Belgrade area from Odessa and Kharkov areas, it’s impossible they won’t do whatever is necessary to take those cities. No other reasons matter, culture, history, demographics, if 1 million Papua New Guineans lived in Odessa with no ties to Russia whatsoever, Russia would still have to take it.”
Posted by: LightYearsFromHome | Jan 7 2024 19:10 utc | 25
Agreed, it will have to be done.

Posted by: canuck | Jan 8 2024 10:47 utc | 107

Victor vicktop55
@vicktop55
This morning the Russian Army is launching a massive strike on the territory of Ukraine:
Missiles were launched from 16 strategic bombers
Hypersonic “Daggers” launched
Missile launches are recorded from Su-35.
Air raid alert throughout Ukraine
Explosions in Kharkov, Dnepropetrovsk, Krivoy Rog, Zaporozhye.
Many missiles in the air.
The Russian army is launching a massive missile strike.

Posted by: rpst | Jan 8 2024 11:03 utc | 109

“Because you are a scientific communist, you can not entertain any line of questioning like this, so I know you are limited in what you can offer. I will continue, however, to try to give you the benefit of the doubt even though you are unable to help with this endeavor.”
Posted by: NemesisCalling | Jan 8 2024 2:28 utc | 77
No, in my opinion, you are the one that is limited. By belittling your opponent you are only illustrating your severe lack of intellectual ammunition on the topic at hand.
You make an historical statement that is against conventional wisdom yet provide no theme, fact or sense to your novel proposal.
So, either ‘uncloak’ your unconventional take on WW2 or shut the fuck up.
Thank you.

Posted by: canuck | Jan 8 2024 11:06 utc | 111

@Honzo 7
Quote “to suck up the resources of the west; and as such, don’t expect it to end until the west stops sending support and the Ukes sure”
Why should west stop with such easy war for her? West which really men’s England the plotter is neither spending money nor spending anglos. English are very happy having no casualty of their own and managing to incite Europeans to waste their money ND people for England’s war. Yes it is solely England’s war on Russia and that too on cheap.
Anyone who thinks that West will voluntarily stop arming Ukraine is a big fool
Posted by: Sam | Jan 8 2024 2:51 utc | 78
I tend to agree with you but you have the wrong progenitor; it is not England that is ‘the plotter’ but the City of London the stronghold of the Anglo/Zionists-City of London is not UK nor England ,it is a supranational entity.

Posted by: canuck | Jan 8 2024 11:26 utc | 113

RUS: MEDICAL STUFF – SMO
NURSES ON SVO: HOW TO GET IN, HOW MUCH THEY PAY, AND WHAT ARE THE WORKING CONDITIONS.
https://warpages.ru/medsestry-na-svo.html
The doctor explained what it is like to work in military conditions and what is important to know when going beyond the line of peaceful life.
https://tver.aif.ru/society/persona/est_slovo_nado_glavnyy_tverskoy_reanimatolog_o_rabote_v_zone_svo

Posted by: MD | Jan 8 2024 11:41 utc | 115

The Ukrainian Armed Forces admitted for the first time that they were unable to repel a massive Russian strike; the missiles hit military, industrial and critical facilities, a statement from the Ukrainian Air Force
▪️The Ukrainian Air Force unexpectedly announced that it was able to shoot down a minimum of missiles (18 out of 51).
❗️Failed to shoot down:
– none of the 7 S-300/S-400 anti-aircraft guided missiles;
– not a single “Dagger” out of four;
– not a single Kh-22 cruise missile out of 8;
– not a single Iskander-M out of 6;
– and not a single Kh-31P guided aircraft missile out of 2.
Only 18 Kh-101/X-555/X- cruise missiles were shot down 55 out of 24, also 8 Shahid/Geranium drones.
▪️Critical infrastructure facilities, industrial civilian and military facilities were attacked in the Kharkov, Dnepropetrovsk, Zaporozhye and Khmelnytsky regions.
src: https://t.me/RVvoenkor/59955

Probably still inflated but closer to truth, passing it along.

Posted by: knighthawk | Jan 8 2024 12:04 utc | 117

North Korean missiles for the Russian army ?!
ACCORDING TO
https://topwar.ru/231661-sluhi-bez-faktov-severokorejskie-rakety-dlja-rossijskoj-armii.html

Posted by: MD | Jan 8 2024 12:15 utc | 119

Re: Posted by: Honzo | Jan 7 2024 16:24 utc | 7

I think the SMO has to be seen as a fixing attack; a tar-baby to suck up the resources of the west; and as such, don’t expect it to end until the west stops sending support and the Ukes surrender. In the meantime, new fronts open, such as Israel, and more western resources are drained and tied down. Hezbollah can tie down 120k IDF at the cost of a few rockets. Yemen can cut Red Sea shipping with a few drones, and the west simply can’t do anything about it. If there’s a hint that they are attempting to concentrate forces against Yemen/Iran, DPRK shells an island, and pins US forces in the Far East. Any attempt to put out one fire leads to the outbreak of another, and the west doesn’t have the firemen to deal with them. They didn’t even try in Niger, because of the drain of the SMO, and I expect the US base there will close in the not too distant future without a shot fired.
The Empire is in decline. It can only save itself, for the time being, by retreating in good order. Of course, given the structural demands of advanced capitalism, that spells ultimate defeat- so expect the Empire to hang on as long as it can in its faraway frontiers, no matter how futile it is obviously is.

Some amazing post-hoc rationalizations here.
The SMO was meant to be over by March/April 2022 when Russia and Ukraine were ready to sign a cease-fire, remember? Blown up at the time by Biden & BoJo.
Also – the DPRK shelling was in response to South Korea/US wargames (including shelling) in that very area. It wasn’t some co-ordinated out of the blue response to “tie down” US forces!
Incredible how you fit the new reality to fit your preferred narrative Honzo. I have seen you do this over and over again – it truly is something to behold.

Posted by: Julian | Jan 8 2024 12:35 utc | 121

Swedish “defense” minister:
“Russia’s rapid rearmament needs to be taken very seriously. For almost 210 years, peace has been a welcome companion to the Swedish people. But today everything has changed and the security situation has worsened. As the responsible minister, it is my responsibility to explain this to the Swedish people.”, said Minister of Civil Defense Karl-Oskar Bohlin.
2 weeks ago:
“The Netherlands should not think that [its] safety is guaranteed just because we are 1,500 kilometers away,” Wijnen warned, adding that “Russia is getting stronger.” -General Martin Wijnen
then this:
German Finance Minister Christian Lindner said that Germany is currently financing 50 percent of all EU aid to Ukraine.
they are way into deep and know that they have to escalate after the ukraine inevitably fails. and they are presenting this to the people as if russia wants to attack them!
Nikki Haley press blablubb: “Russia said Poland and the Baltics are next, if that happens we are looking at a world war.”
they have to lie because they know their empire of lies is crumbling ever so slowly, and its sickening.

Posted by: Justpassinby | Jan 8 2024 13:13 utc | 123

Posted by: Justpassinby | Jan 8 2024 13:13 utc | 123
Think about that for a second.
Germany is financing 50 % of all financial and material support for Ukraine. Meanwhile, Germany also finances the majority of EU budget and all the subsidies within the EU. Meanwhile, the German export industry makes up a huge portion of all extra-EU exports. Meanwhile, German exports both in terms of volumes and sectors are going down the crapper.
How does that bode for Ukraine, or even the EU itself?
The only way they can win is bluffing Russia to lose. Seems they opted scarecrow tactics now for western pop.
The fate of the EU is fundamentally tied to the hip with the fate of Ukraine. It was a dumb move, but what do you expect from people like Ursula and Olaf and Emanuel. As goes Ukraine, so goes EU.

Posted by: unimperator | Jan 8 2024 13:24 utc | 125

Posted by: Justpassinby | Jan 8 2024 13:41 utc | 126
Analogy from the financial market. Consider if you sold put options, locking most of net worth on a company’s stock, which is clearly heading for bankruptcy. You don’t want to admit the company is going bankrupt and worthless, so you keep rolling the option forward for as long as you can to keep from having to admit that, so you keep doubling down selling more lower valued put options against the soon-to-be-worthless shares.
That is EU.

Posted by: unimperator | Jan 8 2024 13:58 utc | 127

Posted by: Austin Died? | Jan 8 2024 14:01 utc | 128
Do you have a link for that?

Posted by: anon2020 | Jan 8 2024 14:03 utc | 129

Posted by: Austin Died? | Jan 8 2024 14:01 utc | 128
His disappearance was around the time of Russia responding to the Belgorod cluster bomb attack but US news has Austin resuming his duties after oddly secretive hospitalisation.
He’s of no actual military value so his death in Ukraine, however unintended, would only be to the negative.

Posted by: anon2020 | Jan 8 2024 14:14 utc | 131

Posted by: sean the leprechaun | Jan 8 2024 14:16 utc | 132
Yeah, just wishful thinking. 😉

Posted by: knighthawk | Jan 8 2024 14:42 utc | 133

Perhaps this was covered a while back, but a few days ago Simplicius offered an article: https://simplicius76.substack.com/p/under-the-radar-major-cia-revelations
It shows how there is communication at high level between CIA and Putin. I have said from the beginning that there has been some sort of ‘deal’ and no doubt what is in this article is not the only one, but still it’s unusual to see it covered. Unfortunately the main text from the source article – warning, it’s Newsweek – is an image file (https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F67391189-89b2-4fa9-a75a-871839c1e4d2_1032x774.png) so I cannot copy-paste it.
The text around that excerpt reads:

You can see the common theme of the constant prudential tip-toeing around Russia’s redlines so as not to excessively provoke Putin.
They go on to express that the CIA is keen to distance itself from any of Ukraine’s more provocative actions, like the Nordstream attack, or strikes on Russian territory.
But the key portion of the article, which comes next, is the admission that Biden dispatched CIA director Burns to Russia on the eve of the invasion in late 2021. They had been watching Russia’s troop buildups, and in essence sent Burns to deliver a final warning of consequences should Russia proceed with an invasion. Though Putin ended up “snubbing” the CIA head by staying in a Sochi resort and refusing to meet him in person, he did take his secure phone call from Sochi.
What comes next is the heart of the entire article and is one of the most significant and remarkable admissions of the entire war. It is a must read: [the image file text, then continues:]
Read that several times to comprehend the gravity of it, as this one statement alone single handedly explains and encapsulates the entire dynamic of the war.
Once again I’m forced to be the bearer of the news that not all is as it seems on the surface. Russia isn’t the 10 foot giant some have built it up to be, nor is it a dwarf. Likewise, the US isn’t some uncompromisingly all-powerful entity that does what it wants at all times with zero qualms or concern for repercussions.
This may be a difficult point for some to swallow; after all, how is it possible in actual practice that the US could be fearful of Russia’s reprisal? After all, the US has its vaunted fleets that sail unchallenged through every sea; just the US’s naval air wing alone, believe it or not, makes up the second largest airforce in the entire world. That’s right, just the Navy, which itself pales in comparison to the Airforce, has more planes than the entire Russian airforce. What could such an imposing powerhouse possibly fear from little ol’ Russia?

Then it discusses force capabilities etc. but to me what is most interesting is that there are negotiations back and forth all along with this SMO. No doubt there are similar machinations around Gaza-The Middle East though here there are more possibilities for things getting out of hand, aka ‘escalation’.
Interesting times…

Posted by: Scorpion | Jan 8 2024 15:02 utc | 135

it is not England that is ‘the plotter’ but the City of London the stronghold of the Anglo/Zionists-City of London is not UK nor England , it is a supranational entity.
Posted by: canuck | Jan 8 2024 11:26 utc | 113
This idée fixe is fascinating. Am idly awaiting revelation of shareholders’ profit (loss) in a period of your choosing.

Posted by: sln2002 | Jan 8 2024 15:10 utc | 137

Posted by: Scorpion | Jan 8 2024 4:14 utc | 86
##################
Thank you, very much. You’re a good person.

Posted by: LoveDonbass | Jan 8 2024 15:31 utc | 139

by Biswapriya Purkayast | Jan 7 2024 16:19 utc | 5
and also pointless occupying it once Russia obviously was not going to launch an attack on Nikolayev and Odessa
How is that obvious? What indicates that Odessa and Nikolayev are not going to be taken, when RF has the upper hand now?
Not attacking on that front-line means absolutely nothing.
In the “old times” when RF had not enough troops and such, the best Surovikin & Co. did was to let that territory go. Uphill flatlands frontline was unsustainable at that time.
I think that if RF decides to take Nikolayev it should be done in a one go, and not slug through it.
I still claim the end March to mid April, we will get few surprises on that front.

Posted by: whirlX | Jan 8 2024 16:01 utc | 141

It shows how there is communication at high level between CIA and Putin.
Posted by: Scorpion | Jan 8 2024 15:02 utc | 135

First of all it clearly demonstartes that you are a liar, because the article by Simplicius says nothing of the kind. FSB or GRU communicating with the CIA behind the curtains? Might be. They have been doing this for decades, would do this now. Putin? In your wet dreams only, liar.

Posted by: Poslan1 | Jan 8 2024 16:20 utc | 143

But if Austin was meeting with Zaluzhny when the bunker was blasted, what became of Zaluzhny? Was he killed (again)?
I’m going to be skeptical.

Posted by: malenkov | Jan 8 2024 16:38 utc | 145

it’s getting a little hard to find articles on the current status of the Ukraine war on youtube. what a shock. all the articles I found were from sites like Times Radio on why Putin is losing.

Posted by: pretzelattack | Jan 8 2024 16:58 utc | 147

Shadowbanned
Thanks for articulating the genocidal loathing of Slavs and Russians by the west which is at the heart of everything they are doing.
This is now clearly in view of the global south who will disinfect themselves of western interaction.
The continued existence of the Russian nation and people is an intolerable defeat for the west that will eventually be terminal.
NATO are the new Neanderthals and will go the same way as the last ones.

Posted by: Andrew Sarchus | Jan 8 2024 17:05 utc | 149

Latest of Alastair Croock on SCF
https://strategic-culture.su/news/2024/01/08/something-lost-never-to-be-found-again/

Posted by: Antonio Ferrao | Jan 8 2024 17:15 utc | 151

Zalujni ? Dead ? Again ? what is he, Rei Ayanami’s hidden brother ?
Anyway, the Guardian OP-ed was (again) about “seizing” the Russians assets :
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/jan/08/russia-ukraine-seize-assets-us-eu
Someone told those cunts about the “one shot weapon” concept ?

Posted by: Savonarole | Jan 8 2024 17:34 utc | 153

Never occurred to me Austin was killed in Ukraine, I’m getting slow in my dotage. The entire story out of the Biden admin is shaky as hell given nuclear codes and succession and the troubled times we are in. It is certainly bad visuals, I don’t see why an official message out of the WH wouldn’t just say, “of course we knew all about it but out of respect for his privacy we didn’t bring it up.” Much better lie than saying we’re clueless in times of global crisis. Ukraine isn’t the only Country 404, USA and EU all too often crash as well at this point, Biden is just plain blue screened, so, it may all be as incompetent as it seems.
I’m super suspicious of Austin being secretly in UKR to meet with Zaluzhny, there’s no reason for this to be secret, he’s civilian, Sec of Defense not military anymore, he is obligated by law to document his meetings, the secret is what is being discussed not the meetings themselves. In fact, these state level meetings are precisely to hide ugly anti-democratic dealings behind pomp and ceremony, platitudes and congeniality. If Austin was traveling secretly the Biden admin has gone totally off the cliff. Meeting with the military command of Ukraine is also against protocol, he would be bypassing his peer, who I think is Umerov. Any secret military meeting of any importance on sight in Ukraine doesn’t need Austin’s presence.
Maybe he seriously hurt himself trying to clean and jerk a too heavy duffle bag of stolen lucre out of Ukraine?
My guess is this is just Telegram clickbait. But, good clickbait for a change.

Posted by: LightYearsFromHome | Jan 8 2024 17:54 utc | 155

Posted by: Austin dead source | Jan 8 2024 16:32 utc | 144
Yeah, thats baloney. A Spetznas hunter-killer team, lol.

Posted by: alek_a | Jan 8 2024 18:01 utc | 157

@ Anonymous | Jan 8 2024 17:53 utc | 154
No reason to rush. The longer this drags out, the more the military capacity of Little Russia and the West, to say nothing of their economies, will be degraded.

Posted by: malenkov | Jan 8 2024 18:12 utc | 159

Russia would never intentionally target Austin as they would risk their own top command for same treatment. Internet foolishness. Ukraine might try this, but not with US assistance.
Posted by: the pessimist | Jan 8 2024 18:06 utc | 158

What was posted above is obvious trolling. Just look at the language used.
How are people falling for this?
Also, none of the Russian Telegram channels are talking about this.

Posted by: shаdοwbanned | Jan 8 2024 18:30 utc | 161

Subject Austin
The source is crap. He even admits this himself:
“This website contains humor, parody, and satire.”
https://realrawnews.com/about-us/
As to Lloyd’s “minor elective procedure”—which appeared to leave him comatose for nearly an entire week—there’s no definitive word. But some suspect it may have been an emergency surgical extraction of an uncashed Raytheon kickback from his netherside.
https://simplicius76.substack.com/p/update-on-palestine-idf-claims-gaza

Posted by: schkid | Jan 8 2024 18:47 utc | 163

Oh, and guess who is freezing in the depth of winter now…
https://t.me/vchkogpu/44983

As the Cheka-OGPU learned,
the missile attack warning command post began experiencing heating problems in the Moscow region.
Heating interruptions have reached Balashikha; local authorities are complaining about power outages and power surges, which have led to the stoppage of gas boilers in boiler houses. Residents of Balashikha began to freeze. Yesterday, the turn to freeze reached the prosperous Rublyovka; several residential complexes and villages in the Romashkovo area sat without electricity and heating for 8 hours. High-ranking and wealthy residents of the Rublevsky direction stormed the phones of the leaders of the Moscow region administration. Here, so far, it has been possible to restore the power supply, but according to VChK-OGPU sources, this will not last long, there is not enough capacity for everyone and Odintsovo may also fall in the near future.
In Solnechnogorsk, half of the city is without heating, a family of military special forces at Vystrel is freezing. Timonovo and the Solnechnogorsk 7 base are freezing, this is a military town that serves the command post of the so-called “Kvadrat”, it is here that the crew of the Missile Attack Warning System is on duty around the clock, all information from the ground and space echelons of early warning systems flows here and it is here that the decision to respond is carried out nuclear strike.

https://t.me/vchkogpu/44984

It is reported from the localities that the collapse of heating and water supply is primarily a problem of Vorobyov’s insane construction of human settlements and his pathological greed. Everyone knows that multi-storey development is possible in the Moscow region only with the permission of the regional authorities, so shifting the responsibility to the local authorities will be quite problematic. With this chaotic development for the purpose of huge profit, Vorobiev “hung” huge microdistricts of his developers, such as the Samolet Group of Companies, onto the old, worn-out capacities of cities that were already barely holding on. It is impossible to hang another 80 thousand on communications, which, figuratively speaking, are designed for 20 thousand

https://t.me/vchkogpu/44980

Solnechnogorsk near Moscow is freezing without heating or hot water. Today, residents of the microdistrict gathered at the Vystrel cultural center for a second video appeal to the authorities (the first was recorded on December 15, 2023). About 10 minutes before the meeting, police cars appeared there, then the head of the district, Konstantin Mikhalkov himself. They tried their best to talk their teeth, tried to distract me from recording the video, and, as always, made promises that everything would get better soon.
Also today, a video from the boiler room surfaced. The head of the boiler room reports on TV and in all social networks that work is being carried out non-stop at the boiler room, additional boilers are being launched, heat exchangers are being changed, but in reality nothing really happens.

https://t.me/vchkogpu/44972

Last night, residents of freezing Klimovsk told the Cheka-OGPU that, despite the assurances of Governor Vorobyov, in fact, people do not yet have heating.
And that’s not it. The power is often turned off, and in some houses the gas is also turned off. “Klimovsk is in a state of emergency, they sent workers from other cities, because the local management company and other services do not have enough people. From 04.01 people are fed breakfast about connecting the heat. There are also problems with hot water. But according to federal news, all problems have been solved,” residents are indignant.
The funniest thing in this situation is that the vice-governor of the Moscow Region, Evgeny Khromushin, who is responsible for housing and communal services, is also the head of the department of the Ministry of Housing and Communal Services of the Moscow Region “Management of Urban Infrastructure and Territorial Development” at the MGIMO school. The department was created on the initiative of the government of the Moscow Region. After the winter disaster in the Moscow region, a diploma from this department will become a “black mark”.

Posted by: shаdοwbanned | Jan 8 2024 18:55 utc | 165

Re: Posted by: Honzo | Jan 7 2024 16:24 utc | 7
I think the SMO has to be seen as a fixing attack; a tar-baby to suck up the resources of the west; and as such, don’t expect it to end until the west stops sending support and the Ukes surrender. In the meantime, new fronts open, such as Israel, and more western resources are drained and tied down. Hezbollah can tie down 120k IDF at the cost of a few rockets. Yemen can cut Red Sea shipping with a few drones, and the west simply can’t do anything about it. If there’s a hint that they are attempting to concentrate forces against Yemen/Iran, DPRK shells an island, and pins US forces in the Far East. Any attempt to put out one fire leads to the outbreak of another, and the west doesn’t have the firemen to deal with them. They didn’t even try in Niger, because of the drain of the SMO, and I expect the US base there will close in the not too distant future without a shot fired.
The Empire is in decline. It can only save itself, for the time being, by retreating in good order. Of course, given the structural demands of advanced capitalism, that spells ultimate defeat- so expect the Empire to hang on as long as it can in its faraway frontiers, no matter how futile it is obviously is.
Some amazing post-hoc rationalizations here.
The SMO was meant to be over by March/April 2022 when Russia and Ukraine were ready to sign a cease-fire, remember? Blown up at the time by Biden & BoJo.
Also – the DPRK shelling was in response to South Korea/US wargames (including shelling) in that very area. It wasn’t some co-ordinated out of the blue response to “tie down” US forces!
Incredible how you fit the new reality to fit your preferred narrative Honzo. I have seen you do this over and over again – it truly is something to behold.
Posted by: Julian | Jan 8 2024 12:35 utc | 121
I disagree; Honzo is over the target.

Posted by: canuck | Jan 8 2024 19:19 utc | 167

Posted by: shаdοwbanned | Jan 8 2024 19:52 utc | 168
Unbelievably semitic, in 3 dimensions.
1) support of and the actual gleeful killing of innocents
2) with a secondary goal of undermining the the leadership of these poor innocents
3) using media to disseminate talking points in support of the secondary goal

Posted by: ryanggg | Jan 8 2024 20:14 utc | 169

I see no reason not to believe that Austin wasn’t injured in the Russian missile strike on the Ukrainian hotel that was being used as a foreign merc and NATO gathering point. That would make more sense than the ridiculous notion he actually died, with having to then stage a fake funeral, televised and all.
So if there is any merit to this line of thinking, I posit the following quite simple scenario: Austin was injured in a Russian missile strike, but it would have been terrible PR for him to be there (and this, and most wars, to their “western” audiences are all PR these days*) and perhaps he was really badly hurt. So he goes into hospital first in Ukraine and/or then Germany, and is then quietly repatriated to the US where he is finally announced to be undergoing treatment for what I think is still a mystery condition.
*Wars are PR conducted against “western” audiences/consumers:
https://scheerpost.com/2024/01/08/patrick-lawrence-what-is-said-and-what-is-done/

Six months into the Biden regime’s proxy war in Ukraine, by which time things were already going other than brilliantly for the Kyiv regime, those paying attention began to notice the widening discrepancies between the war as it was presented in Washington and in corporate media and the war as it actually was so far as one could make out by way of the reports of independent journalists. As 2022 drew to a close, I made this observation in a commentary headlined, “War as Presentation:”
It is open-and-shut evident at this point that we witness two wars as the Armed Forces of Ukraine face off with the Russian military. There is the presented war, the meta-war, you might say, and there is the waged war, the war taking place on the ground, nothing meta about it.

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Jan 8 2024 20:29 utc | 171

re: My comment at 20:29 – I guess what I meant to say is a REAL funeral if he actually died, and then followed up with him going into hiding. Or a fake funeral in the sense that he is maimed and an open casket affair would have to be very carefully stage managed depending on the types of injuries.
In any case, has he been seen in public since all this brouhaha erupted? I can’t find anything about that in any of the stories I’ve seen.

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Jan 8 2024 20:41 utc | 173

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Jan 8 2024 20:29 utc | 171
If Austin has been caught in a strike somewhere, what US outlets have said so far is more consistent with injury, possibly serious injury, than with death, so long as his specific injuries could be hidden or be explained away.
If he could have been seriously injured, it’s not ridiculous to conjecture his death, it’s just not the thing that best fits what US officialdom has said so far. Not sure what you mean by staging a fake funeral in this case.
This could all be coincidence or even some form of chaff to draw attention away from the number of lesser ranks who really did buy the farm in the wake of the Belgorod cluster bomb attack.
Agreed that official statements on the matter seem even less plausible than is the norm.

Posted by: anon2020 | Jan 8 2024 20:55 utc | 175

The Austin thing is certainly weird.
I am quite sure that he would not have been deliberately targeted by Russia (not their style as Shadow points out angrily 125 times each blog post site). However he did travel to Ukraine in late November unannounced, so a further visit secretly in December is possible. Perhaps he was meeting with Zaluzny not Zelenski and got caught up in internal Ukrainian conflict.
There are however many, many other possibilities. He has been in places to make enemies – from disgruntled Afghanis or Iraqis or even right wing US types opposed to his diversity policies or simply racists. A cover up would be expected because of the negative political fall out.
He may just have had an embarrassing medical condition (he is known to be very private) for which he had a minor operation on 22 December (the official narrative). Something went wrong and he was back in hospital in an emergency 9/10 days later. This happens. He is 70 so a heart attack is always possible. Since he was in intensive care, he probably did not have capacity to tell anyone, so blame if there is any rests with family, and any personal assistants.
Perhaps he had a heart attack “while on the job” so to speak, but not at home with family. This has happened to others – I recall a cardinal and an Aussie politician taken in just such a way. I am sure there are many instances. In this case it might have taken a while for family etc to know he was in hospital – might have been a John Doe for a day or so.

Posted by: watcher | Jan 8 2024 21:01 utc | 177

He may just have had an embarrassing medical condition (he is known to be very private) for which he had a minor operation on 22 December (the official narrative). Something went wrong and he was back in hospital in an emergency 9/10 days later. This happens. He is 70 so a heart attack is always possible. Since he was in intensive care, he probably did not have capacity to tell anyone, so blame if there is any rests with family, and any personal assistants.

There is also a massive COVID wave picking up steam in the US (and already causing disaster in some European countries, including in Russia, which is why you once again see, if you look carefully, people in masks around Putin). But the political mandate is to pretend it is not happening, so they will never say if someone high ranking dies or is hospitalized with it.
In fact this is the most likely reason everything else considered.

Posted by: shаdοwbanned | Jan 8 2024 21:04 utc | 179

OK Shadow
I am happy to add COVID to my list of possibilities, although it does not explain the extreme secrecy – he could just have had pneumonia for the public record
There are others of course – I know nothing of his personal life or sexual preference (I do not care) but catching a disease known to be associated with gay activity eg Monkey Pox might do it for the extreme secrecy.
Crikey there are 100 more possibilities – he was in Gaza and got bombed. He was in Syria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia or parts of Africa etc
Perhaps he was not doing what the real powers demanded and got taken out by one of the US alphabet agencies.
Perhaps it was the French or the UK or Mr Kim or the Chinese.
Or perhaps it was just an illness. Strange things happen. I am from Australia and well recall when we lost our Prime Minister – yes actually lost him – presumed drowned in the surf. Although conspiracy types thought of Chinese and Korean mini subs or the CIA, the banal reality is probably that having had a few personal issues (affair by wife is rumoured) he swam out too far, taking silly risks, and was drowned – had a heart attack or was taken by a shark.

Posted by: watcher | Jan 8 2024 21:20 utc | 181

This a place for debate I was told. So let’s debate.
The comments by sh are pure and obvious slander of the Russian army and of the Russian governement. It is exactly what the enemies of Russia are expecting, what the ukronazis and their supporters are dreaming of.
He knows nothing about the Russian army and he wants to order them what to do: it is pure arrogance.
Those comments pretend to be on the side of Russia, but it is the exact opposite. It is propaganda against Russia.

Posted by: Naive | Jan 8 2024 21:29 utc | 183

Jan 8 2024 21:04 utc | 179
Again fake news.

Posted by: Naive | Jan 8 2024 21:34 utc | 185

I am happy to add COVID to my list of possibilities, although it does not explain the extreme secrecy – he could just have had pneumonia for the public record
Posted by: watcher | Jan 8 2024 21:20 utc | 181

Whenever you see someone dying of “pneumonia” these days, it is because they don’t want to tell you it was COVID.
Also, the timeline matches — hypothetically, he was admitted on the 22nd of December, they stuffed him with paxlovid, other antivirals, and monoclonal, but no current monoclonal works against the current strain, and half of patients rebound after paxlovid, so they discharged him and then he worsened and had to be hospitalized, and in this case apparently he worsened more than most, so it was a trip to the ICU. There are also reasons to suspect the current strain is slower to escalate to serious pneumonia, as it has a lot of convergent features with the original 2003 SARS strain.
Doesn’t mean that is what happened, it could have been a heart attack or a stroke — he isn’t exactly in the best of shapes (well, round is a shape, I guess) and is at that age where these things happen a lot. But also the age and physical shape most at risk for COVID.
But I highly doubt he was killed or wounded in Ukraine — there are many, many escalatory steps that the Russian have not dared take between what they are doing now and blowing Austin’s ass off. And you know my view on the subject — any high ranking Ukrainian political or military leader should be taken out as soon as he can be located, and any Western politician or NATO general who dares go to Ukraine should be given the Belgrade Chinese embassy “ooops, we’re so sorry, it was unintended collateral damage” treatment; all that perhaps subject to the constraint that Russian spies have to be spared somehow.

Posted by: shаdοwbanned | Jan 8 2024 21:41 utc | 187

Cheer up, Shadowbanned, the inability of the former US aerospace titan Boeing to make aircraft that don’t either nosedive into oceans or decompress above 16,000 feet is surely a better omen for Russia than a problem with the heating systems in a few Moscow blocks, sad though that may be when the temperature is so low.
The British had innovative if somewhat lethal ways of keeping tower blocks warm – insulate them, but to make assurance doubly sure, make the insulation flammable and leave a nice air gap to increase the spread of flame.

Posted by: YetAnotherAnon | Jan 8 2024 21:49 utc | 189

Posted by: Naive | Jan 8 2024 21:29 utc | 183
I no longer bother to read any Shadow B posts except the few very short ones which actually may be rational.
I assume he is either a fanatical anti Russian (perhaps a descendant of a 1920 exile, or Polish or Ukrainian or perhaps of Gorbachev) or he is a paid troll.
Every post is the same – Putin bad. Putin to blame for the weather, the tides, the Norman conquest, the fall of Rome etc.
So scroll past. There is usually nothing new at all. Read one once every week or so if you want to stay tuned. he is an intelligent poster, which can make him quite effective for newbies to the site.

Posted by: watcher | Jan 8 2024 21:58 utc | 191

shаdοwbanned @165
OMG it’s cold in Russia 😱😱😱
An yeh, COVID is all over the place I just had it, it didn’t kill me but it sucked. Meh, just another shitty thing to add to the long list of shitty things our “leaders” and elites are doing to us, we are living the perfect storm of corruption, incompetence, greed, and unhinged sociopathic evil. You’d think there’d be some pushback but we are all in the concentration camp queuing up quietly for the “shower”.

Posted by: LightYearsFromHome | Jan 8 2024 22:06 utc | 193

yes, this is the logic behind the regime change terror attempts indeed.
but now please tell us why you assume that the russian population is not aware of what is going on?
Posted by: Justpassinby | Jan 8 2024 22:01 utc | 192

They are aware, but you still don’t get the full picture.
Imagine that you are terror bombed daily and your government is either pretending it is not happening or just whining about it at the UN.
Now if you are Syria after it was finessed into giving away its deterrent arsenal (by Putin of all people), there isn’t much your government can do, so you just accept it. But this is not Syria, it is the largest nuclear power on the planet.
And yet the government does nothing.
This same government also has a long track record of betraying the country in the interests of a small oligarchy, so the population is always suspicious about what is happening. And rightfully so — the revelations about the Istanbul deal from the last couple months show that in a rather undeniable way.
Worse, the government never comes out and explains to the people “Look, we have to endure for a while, we will not strike back for such and such reasons, but everything will be fine soon”. No clear territorial goals have been formulated, no full mobilization of the kind necessary to accomplish the territorial goals that will make terror bombing impossible has been carried out, etc. etc.
No, with the current policies the prospects are for daily terror bombing to soon expand throughout all of western and central Russia and for that to continue indefinitely. Despite, let’s heavily stress that again, the man in the Kremlin having the power to make sure nobody will ever dare send a single shell across the Russian border within minutes of finding the balls to exercise that power.

Posted by: shаdοwbanned | Jan 8 2024 22:23 utc | 195

https://t.me/ukr_leaks_eng/8889
Looks like the number of 30,000 killed and irretrievably wounded is now being supported by Ukrainian officials (in this case ex-Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko said on the Pryamoy TV channel.). So 22 months = 660,000 dead and irretrievably wounded, add prisoners of war and we get about 700,000. By Spring we can add another 120,000 plus, no wonder Zelensky needs another 500,000 cannon fodder to make up the numbers.
With the Ukrainian people now very aware of the death sentence the front is, they will not be getting anywhere near that number while civil unrest and unrest in the army both intensify. Perhaps while they are still dug in the Ukies can carry on for a while, but if the war becomes more mobile they don’t stand a chance, especially with the lack in equipment and munitions. No wonder the West is looking for a way out.

Posted by: Roger | Jan 8 2024 22:36 utc | 197

Posted by: shаdοwbanned | Jan 8 2024 22:23 utc | 195
this may or may not be all true, but you are making one grave mistake in all your whining:
you are assuming that the west will backdown after a strike on a czech armamentsplant, or a nuke on bordercrossings, or whatever.
the west WANTS russia to do exactly that, and the russians know that. they want the pretext of “see? russia attacked us, we are not part of the party, but now we have to defend our people!” and the propagandastorm would be echoed worldwide nonstop to make sure that nato looks like the victim.
and then what? lets assume that russia nukes some bordercrossing to block military supplies. you can bet your teary eyes that, for example, zelenskulebaluznji would call on a nato member from the eu, not the us, and not the perfidious albion, to nuke some eastern part of what in their mind, and internationally still is, part of ukraine, to deter the “aggressor”.
what is russia then going to do? you see how this is going to spiral out of control once russia would act like you suggest all the time?
russia has the geographical problem with the proxy, and as unpopular for whining boys it may seem, they have to get rid of that proxy first, and especially so without bringing their own populations (also those in their new regions) to certain death.
so if it has to endure terrorbombings that dont result in mass casualities, then that is the way to go. as uncomfortable as it may sound for the families.
now as someone with parents from yugoslavia, i wish nothing more then total obliberation of the whole nato terror apparatus, but even i know that throwing random nukes at random places wont make that happen.

Posted by: Justpassinby | Jan 8 2024 22:53 utc | 199