Posted by: unimperator | Mar 3 2024 21:35 utc | 100
I think it possible/likely that the drone was launched west of St Petes from the Petergof region of the mainland. The drone would have flown North out to sea, then turned eastward to St Petes, by the sabatuer operatives and on to the target. This operation therefore fulfils two objectives. Firstly, to bring panic to the Russian population AND to make it appear the drone came from either Estonia or Finland, An attempt to involve another country in the conflict….basically a provocation.

Posted by: HERMIUS | Mar 3 2024 21:51 utc | 103

by Lurk | Mar 3 2024 21:43 utc | 101
British Isles have to do the purge, but by themselves. Russia cannot be bothered with it.
As for the rabid Baltic Micronesia, they bark now, but soon they will squeal. RF knows how to handle them, do not worry. it is a rinse and repeat historical process.
Russian way of war is to induce changes that suit and accommodate all. Failing to understand this, is pretty much deadly for the Russian enemies. It is that simple.

Posted by: whirlX | Mar 3 2024 21:56 utc | 105

The French deliver Scalp missiles to Ukraine in Audi Q7 SUVs, and the British deliver them in Ridgeback armored vehicles.
The British Times drew attention to this when analyzing a recording of a conversation between German officers published in the Russian Federation.
The publication believes that this is “important information about how long-range SCALP and Storm shadow missiles are delivered to Ukraine.”
This could help Russian intelligence track and find such vehicles in Europe and Ukraine, the article says.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2024/03/03/germany-intelligence-leak-uk-troops-ground-ukraine-nato/#:~:text=He%20also%20revealed%20that%20France,Ukrainian%20troops%20on%20German%20soil.

Posted by: Hankster | Mar 3 2024 21:59 utc | 107

Here, an expert on the French scene talks for 10 minutes and 1 second about Macron’s plan to “create a strategic dilemma for Russia.”
It’s nice to find out what’s going on behind the scenes – with our money in our name but without our knowledge.
“Paris is considering allowing special forces and other military units to cross the Ukrainian border.” – Le Monde Ossi 37

Basically sending in troops to act as bait. If Russia annihilates them with missiles, then France does what? Send in its army to teach Russia a lesson? And if Russia responds with force against France’s puny army, then what? Looks more like a strategic dilemma for France. Is Macron that crazy?

Posted by: Mike R | Mar 3 2024 22:02 utc | 109

Basically sending in troops to act as bait. If Russia annihilates them with missiles, then France does what? Send in its army to teach Russia a lesson? And if Russia responds with force against France’s puny army, then what? Looks more like a strategic dilemma for France. Is Macron that crazy?
Posted by: Mike R | Mar 3 2024 22:02 utc | 109

Earlier today there was a discussion about how one of the planned deployments is along the Belarus border.
That may be a welcome development if true — I imagine Lukashenko would not tolerate this, and he is not a coward like Putin. But one never knows, of course…

Posted by: shаdοwbanned | Mar 3 2024 22:07 utc | 111

There are dark times for Russia coming.
The West is apparently ready to take Kaliningrad. They would put Russia into dilemma: Defeat and loss of Kaliningrad or nuclear war.
Posted by: vargas | Mar 3 2024 22:01 utc | 108
On the contrary, it puts the west in a dilemma. If it decides to attack Kaliningrad, it runs the risk of a nuclear exchange. Its the wests choice…not Russias.

Posted by: HERMIUS | Mar 3 2024 22:13 utc | 113

It seems Ukraine has lost hope in winning a war, and instead focuses on having a 30-second clip ready for US and EU prime news every day.

Posted by: Passerby | Mar 3 2024 22:25 utc | 115

The Red Army’s mistake was that they only Kaliningradized Kaliningrad.
Should have done it in Finland and the whole of Germany they controlled, plus what is now northern Poland too.
But the US had the bomb, and they didn’t.

Posted by: shаdοwbanned | Mar 3 2024 20:41 utc | 86
You forget that in the postwar period Russia was left broke, immensely short of men and needed to completely rebuild a part of their country the size of the continental USA from the east coast to the Mississippi. There were entire towns and villages where not a single man survived and people were still living in holes in the ground into the 1960’s. They were still engaged in combat in the Ukraine and Baltic states well into the 1950’s.
Russia had a policy of having the communist parties of Eastern European countries under their influence take responsibility for their own policing and security … under KGB supervision of course.
The only reason they spent money Russifying Kaliningrad was so they wouldn’t get bottled up in St. Petersburg by something as simple as submarine netting the next time they had to wage war against the west. That’s it’s purpose.
They didn’t have the resources to fight the cold war, rebuild their country and absorb a whole bunch of countries with populations that didn’t want to become Russian and were willing to fight against them for generations. You have to be able to keep the people you already control satisfied before trying to assimilate more and as we know the Soviets had already bitten off more then they could swallow as it was.

Posted by: HB_Norica | Mar 3 2024 22:29 utc | 117

The West is apparently ready to take Kaliningrad.
They would put Russia into dilemma: Defeat and loss of Kaliningrad or nuclear war.
Based on Putin’s weak posture, many people in western armies think that Russia would not dare to launch a response but would accept a defeat.
Posted by: vargas | Mar 3 2024 22:01 utc | 108
They’re not going to take Kalingrad. It was in reference to this scenario: If Russia invaded the Balkans they (NATO/the West) could take Kalingrad. Or otherwise cut Russia off from it.
And there are steps to nuclear war O Acolyte of Brave Sir Shadowbanned. The loss of Kalingrad, in and of itself, does not guarantee that a nuclear exchange will occur.

Posted by: James M. | Mar 3 2024 22:32 utc | 119

Comandante @12
Segundo os generais alemães os ucranianos tem menos de 10 su-27 operacionais, o que significa que, no maximo dos máximos, podem ser lançados 18 ou 16 Taurus num ataque de “saturacao” contra a ponte.
Segundo os mesmos ensandecidos comandantes, para realmente conseguir colocar a ponte kersh “no fundo do Mar Negro” seriam necessários 20 mísseis Taurus ou mais de uma só vez.
Além do mais os alemães possuem apenas 50 Taurus para enviar para a frente.
Levando em conta que menos de 5% dos mísseis passam pela defesa aérea da Criméia, os alemães deveriam esquever tais sonhos molhados.

Posted by: Soviético | Mar 3 2024 22:42 utc | 121

“All the analysts who warned about these developments, (since 2014+), including the problem of low shell production and reduced inventories, were ignored or co-opted into justifying ever-high tech solutions.”
Posted by: Milites | Mar 3 2024 21:56 utc | 104
Well, if I was Western government procurement officer I would hire you as thee analyst.
Wonderful post.
If I had to make a complaint I would turn your paragraphs from one to three or four as it is easier to read that way, and easier to understand like morons like me..

Posted by: canuck | Mar 3 2024 23:00 utc | 123

@ Posted by: Oliver Krug | Mar 3 2024 20:39 utc | 85
“ after this experience, avoid confrontation with Russia for the next years and have learned to respect the security interests of Russia.”
This is the last time ever that any such attempt at ‘taking Russia’ will happen in our future history. After so so many centuries it f trying perennially.
The attempt at building immense cemeteries of ‘to the last Ukrainian being part of a future monuments to rally around… yup they are that crass and ‘long thinking’.
But it is not about just Russia.
It is about the whole world that is considered by the ancient Barons as they’re to do with.
The prospect of confrontation with these lands and peoples and the majority of humanity’s security interests.
Don’t believe me? Have a look at Assad’s latest interview with the respected Russian journalist. He is one of the great midwives of the polycentrict world being born daily infront of our unbelieving eyes. Well the majority of the Collective Waste and many others too – who have no idea that they will soon be able to cast off the hollywoodised dreams of success, beauty and happiness. That mirror cracked.
I look forward to a future where such idolatry is known and understood to be the height of decadence before the final collapse of the unipolar Empire and its myriad of fake ‘religions’.
Which is the fascist endeavour spanning the ages.

Posted by: DunGroanin | Mar 3 2024 23:10 utc | 125

The only reason they spent money Russifying Kaliningrad was so they wouldn’t get bottled up in St. Petersburg by something as simple as submarine netting the next time they had to wage war against the west. That’s it’s purpose.
They didn’t have the resources to fight the cold war, rebuild their country and absorb a whole bunch of countries with populations that didn’t want to become Russian and were willing to fight against them for generations. You have to be able to keep the people you already control satisfied before trying to assimilate more and as we know the Soviets had already bitten off more then they could swallow as it was.
Posted by: HB_Norica | Mar 3 2024 22:29 utc | 117

I am well aware, but you see how 80 years later it is all starting once again.
Kaliningrad wasn’t ethnically cleansed solely because of naval considerations, it was also part of neutering Germany, because Königsberg had been the center of Prussia was thus perceived as the center of German chauvinism and militarism. So the idea was to just put a complete end to it and repopulate it with Russians.
The problem clearly wasn’t sufficiently solved though, because as soon as Russia was perceived to be weak enough, the West decided to launch a redo of Operation Barbarossa.
So what is the long-term solution from Russian perspective?
Remember that a primary reason for the historic Russian underdevelopment has been the endless invasions it has suffered. That has to stop. And yet these days even the possession of nukes is apparently not enough to deter it…

Posted by: shаdοwbanned | Mar 3 2024 23:14 utc | 127

Posted by: unimperator | Mar 3 2024 23:24 utc | 128
Borzzikoman’s waffle is pure garbage and lies, just suitable for entertainment,

Posted by: Grishka | Mar 3 2024 23:33 utc | 129

then Putin, who is propagating that Russia is defending itself in Ukraine, the problem of showing weakness and just being stupid if nothing is done about it.
It is obvious that Russia cannot compete against a NATO weakened by the Ukraine war and therefore avoids a direct conflict.
Posted by: ossi | Mar 3 2024 16:24 utc | 20
I quoted a report in the German media!
Which doesn’t necessarily correspond to my opinion!
Posted by: Ossi | Mar 3 2024 17:33 utc | 33
If you quote something, make it clear that it is a quote. Comment #20 does not show it is a quote. The source is not mentioned. It is also not clear who is “weakened”. It could be understood both way.
The rest of the quote is exactly what we are reading here from the agents provocateurs: Putin is weak, Russian opinion, blablabla. Reference to the stupid crook and traitor, loved now by the western medias and their masters.
So please, source of your quote, I can read German and so does B.
Thanks!

Posted by: Naive | Mar 3 2024 23:38 utc | 131

reply to 102
I think Russia should consider ignoring drug patents and offer drugs through 3rd world nations. That might wake up some in Washington

Posted by: Eighthman | Mar 3 2024 23:45 utc | 133

whirlX | Mar 3 2024 21:01 utc | 93
Kursk. The Soviets decided to defeat the German from well prepped defensive positions then immediately go on the offensive. That made the Germans he attacking force. But even there, the German forces had the better of the casualty ratio. I believe there, the German offensive was only defeated just after it broke through the 5th line of defense in the south and the Soviet reserve was brought in.
What I find interesting the birthplace of current Russian doctrine was the great patriotic war, whereas a lot of western doctrine seems to be based around German doctrine of that war plus the other theaters of what we call WWII.
For its day, German war/military doctrine was a standout amongst the great powers. Russian doctrine stems from defeating that though I guess parts of it go a lot further back.
Nato and the west are certainly not nazi Germany but still because western military’s seem to study nazi Germany way of war, we now have the two different concepts.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Mar 3 2024 23:49 utc | 135

Russia gained 138 square kilometers in Ukraine in FEB. That is +0.02% or two ten-thousandths of the country.
Note this is less than Ukraine gained in JUN2023 (summer offensive start), or even than Russia gained in JAN2023.
https://twitter.com/War_Mapper/status/1764431653345153468
Just something to keep in perspective, with all the hooting about UFA routed and the like. When you zoom out the map, it is still very small. Still VERY far from “Dnieper as the line of defense” talk.

Posted by: Anonymous | Mar 4 2024 0:09 utc | 137

Why? The British people will do that themselves soon enough. Pitchforks being sharpened, torches being lit.
Posted by: LightYearsFromHome | Mar 4 2024 0:02 utc | 136

When was the last time the British people did anything like that?
1381? 1450? That’s a bit ancient, isn’t it? Anything more recent than that? I can’t recall.

Posted by: shаdοwbanned | Mar 4 2024 0:24 utc | 139

Posted by: Honzo | Mar 4 2024 0:17 utc | 138
That’s the issue right, for people who think NATO troops in Ukraine are inevitable. Slovakian and Hungarian leaders are opposed to the idea, and Poland has blocked the border. So that leaves only Romania, which does have elections later this year. So we’ll see.

Posted by: James M. | Mar 4 2024 0:29 utc | 141

Just something to keep in perspective, with all the hooting about UFA routed and the like. When you zoom out the map, it is still very small. Still VERY far from “Dnieper as the line of defense” talk.
Posted by: Anonymous | Mar 4 2024 0:09 utc | 137
There are also things like momentum and morale, and supplies, and supply lines, that you don’t mention, that factor into warfare.
Also, keep in mind context – this isn’t a major Russian offensive. They are taking advantage of gaps in the Ukrainian defenses, as opposed to June 2023 when a major Ukrainian counteroffensive was deployed, with very limited results to show for it.
So, yeah keeping things in perspective is useful advice – please follow it.

Posted by: James M. | Mar 4 2024 0:39 utc | 143

Posted by: Anonymous | Mar 4 2024 0:09 utc | 137
Can you tell me which cities Ukraine reclaimed or defence lines they broke through in ‘23, I can’t seem to remember! Crudely put, 10 Kg’s of gold is more valuable than a tonne of shit!

Posted by: Milites | Mar 4 2024 0:56 utc | 145

Milites | Mar 4 2024 0:51 utc | 144
I would in general agree with that, though I think with the Russian side in this conflict, the changes are more at the lower level, tactical and so forth.
Something I have been thinking about on the Russian approach to war that we have seen with this conflict is the ability to quickly adapt. Start off with a basic military rather than creating large stocks and associated training of a particular weapons system such as small drones. That way there is no wasting of resources for a war that may never be fought.
We see the way Russia quickly turned the SMO into an artillery war and the west was unable to adapt to that. Now although the western backers still supply small drones, Russia is taking the lead in that also. And that remembering that at the start, Russia only had a few fixed wing surveillance drones.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Mar 4 2024 1:07 utc | 147

“If one has been following, every single thing AFU has done pretty much since the beginning is try to create media events, claims or optical illusions that either ‘Russia attacked Nato’ (S-300 fell in Poland), Nato attacked Russia (drone coming over gulf of Finland), Russia attack Nato (drone debris fell into Romania), and now these drone events in Pskov and St. Petersburg.
They are also doing it out of desperation. Zelensky was supposed to initiate war between Russia and Nato back in mid-2022 already.”
Posted by: unimperator | Mar 3 2024 21:35 utc | 100
Unimperator. That was Zelensky’s only chance. Initiating war between Russia and NATO. It always looked a thin chance given Yavoriv, given President Biden’s declaration at the start of the SMO that there’d be no US boots on the ground, and given the failure of the West’s main attempt to defeat Russia, the sanctions war.
As slim chance but one that Zelensky was entitled to hope for. He would not have dared to provoke the Russians to attack, nor to reject the Russian attempts at a settlement, had he not been confident that the West would back him all the way. “As long as it takes” was thin assurance from the West as it proved at Vilnius, but it was his lifeline.
Zelensky was the salesman for Kiev. His function was to extract as much assistance from the West as possible and if possible to bring NATO directly into the war. He was bound to fail. The West cannot assist him much more than it does. We’re nearly out of what he needs. As for bringing NATO in directly, the West does not have the means to defeat Russia in that region and will not try. All that is left for Kiev is to prolong the last days in the bunker for as long as possible, and to hope that it will be possible to retain remnant Ukraine.
At some time the last days in the bunker will run out; and the clear intention of the West to use remnant Ukraine as it used the old Ukraine, as a means of “overextending and unbalancing Russia”, will fail of success. Zelensky’s hope of initiating a war between Russia and NATO will not be realised.
Barring nuclear all that is certain. The Russians will neutralise remnant Ukraine on way or the other and there is no future for the current Kiev regime in that remnant Ukraine. The OUN monuments will come down and remnant Ukraine will cease to be a potential source of annoyance.
Given this, it’s puzzling that the Europeans, my own government included, are venting a good deal of wild talk about getting further involved in the hostilities themselves. The Europeans simply do not have the military capability to do anything useful in Ukraine.
One can only assume that like Zelensky before them, they are placing their hopes on getting the US to come into the war directly. Since they will be as unsuccessful in this hope as Zelensky was, and since the US itself is not well placed in that region to exert useful military force short of nuclear, their hopes in that respect must be as unrealistic as Zelensky’s were.
There is therefore no rational basis for those European hopes. That is I believe disturbing. If the Europeans are acting wildly and irrationally – and that’s very much how they appear to me – then they could maybe provoke a Russian reaction that would lead to the hostilities spilling out of Ukraine and extending to Europe itself. But can you see any rational basis for the current posturing of the Europeans?

Posted by: English Outsider | Mar 4 2024 1:35 utc | 149

Vogue: Now bringing you Meatgrinder Chic.

Posted by: Digital Dinosaur | Mar 4 2024 1:43 utc | 151

@147
I agree with your post. But, to me at least, even more impressive about Russia’s capacity to adapt and outperform the enemy is the morale factor. At this point, many Russians are actually volunteering for military service, knowing that doing so means combat duty. That tells us something.
Ukrainians, by contrast, at this stage in the struggle, rarely volunteer for military service. It wasn’t that way for Ukrainians in 2022, when many enthusiastically enlisted to fight. But not anymore. Something happened on the battlefield which damaged their willpower.
I’ve been reading Russian military history all my life, especially the pre-1917 era. It’s a historical fact that, if and when Russian soldiers are truly motivated, they almost never lose.
Let NATO send its troops into the warzone. It only means they will experience what the Ukrainian troops experienced.

Posted by: GW | Mar 4 2024 1:56 utc | 153

shаdοwbanned @ 139

When was the last time the British people did anything like that?

When was the last time the UK collapsed?
It went bankrupt during the Truss reign, but after 2008 they no longer make such details public.
Posted by: LightYearsFromHome | Mar 4 2024 1:14 utc | 148

Life for the average person in the UK was absolutely appalling for almost all of the period between 1450 and now except for the last 70-80 years.
In that time there were enclosures, forced industrialization, the slaughter of WWI, and all kinds of atrocities committed by the upper class towards the lower classes that you can imagine.
The “British people” never rebelled.
Meanwhile the Russian people dumped their aristocracy in unmarked graves. A rather stark contrast, isn’t it?

Posted by: shаdοwbanned | Mar 4 2024 2:09 utc | 155

Posted by: shаdοwbanned | Mar 4 2024 2:09 utc | 155

Meanwhile the Russian people dumped their aristocracy in unmarked graves. A rather stark contrast, isn’t it?

And replaced them with…

Posted by: lex talionis | Mar 4 2024 2:24 utc | 157

Posted by: Urban Fox | Mar 4 2024 2:32 utc | 158
If the Crimea Bridge is in any way destroyed, it will be rebuilt in record time. And if its destroyed again, it will be rebuilt in a new record time.

Posted by: HERMIUS | Mar 4 2024 2:36 utc | 159

Monnie @66
Sua questão levanta evidências de como o governo Kruschov antecipou o entreguismo de Gorbachev e Yeltsin.

Posted by: Soviético | Mar 4 2024 2:46 utc | 161

One can only assume that like Zelensky before them, they [Europe] are placing their hopes on getting the US to come into the war directly. Since they will be as unsuccessful in this hope as Zelensky was, and since the US itself is not well placed in that region to exert useful military force short of nuclear, their hopes in that respect must be as unrealistic as Zelensky’s were.
There is therefore no rational basis for those European hopes. That is I believe disturbing. If the Europeans are acting wildly and irrationally – and that’s very much how they appear to me – then they could maybe provoke a Russian reaction that would lead to the hostilities spilling out of Ukraine and extending to Europe itself. But can you see any rational basis for the current posturing of the Europeans?
Posted by: English Outsider | Mar 4 2024 1:35 utc | 149

The upheaval in the Middle East may ensure that the US does not get directly involved in Ukraine. The PTB in the US may have considered the possibility that if the US commits to Ukraine directly, then Iran may see a vacuum created as an opportunity to get more aggressive in their region. Maybe the relatively saner minds in Washington have convinced the senile one that the US really can’t handle two, and definitely not three wars simultaneously, and the top priority is Israel. Europe is on its own and they are freaking out.

Posted by: Mike R | Mar 4 2024 2:55 utc | 163

On the contrary, it puts the west in a dilemma. If it decides to attack Kaliningrad, it runs the risk of a nuclear exchange. Its the wests choice…not Russias.
Posted by: HERMIUS | Mar 3 2024 22:13 utc | 113
——————–
Actually it’d cause mayhem in Europe, these neo-s**t-lib regimes are not popular at all.
People might tolerate this strange “war of assassins”, even as belief that Ukraine can win wanes. They won’t die for them.
That’s even before you factor in the hollowing out state, of EU-NATO armed forces.
Like I said, they had their one vague chance to intervene, in 2022. When Ukraine was at it strongest and the RF was mostly still in a peacetime posture.
It’s too late for them to do anything, but try to act as a spoiler to the Russians.
All the Kaliningrad & Baltic Sea talk is part of that, no blockade is enforceable, if the RF simply ignores the typical Balt histrionics.

Posted by: Urban Fox | Mar 4 2024 3:10 utc | 165

In response to some posters saying that Ukraines only strategy is to lure NATO in to the war:
I would go further in saying that the West has committed a kind of constructive fraud on Ukraine, by pretending that they’re going to put actual skin in the game. Ukraine has relied on that to their detriment.
It explains the seemingly idiotic military tactics of fighting for every inch of territory when it is clear to anyone who understands military doctrine that such a tactic will only delay the inevitable at the cost of losing so many men as to make victory impossible.
Look at Robotyne for exhibit “A.” It would clearly be wise for the UAF to retreat and save men and material. The only value of spending more resources there is psychological in claiming that it still hasn’t been fully captured (yet.)
in reality it is a grey zone. It holds no strategic value to either side.
The only way such a thing makes sense is if Ukraine really is going to fight to the last Ukrainian. AND expects that upon defeat, NATO will come riding in on a white horse with not only soldiers ready for combat, of which it has few, but also it’s best weapons not the ones stripped of the newer tech so they can’t be reverse engineered once captured on the battlefield.
Such a belief is wrong but based on their blind idiotic faith in the West, especially the US, held by Slavs I think it isn’t unreasonable. What isn’t reasonable is the politicians like Macron making blustery claims of sending troops, knowing full well they are writing checks they can’t cash.
Also US based pols falsely stating that more aid is coming when it has been clear for months that Johnson (house speaker) has good reason to block it.
Such people are evil b cause they knowingly make false or illusory promises that lead to the demographic destruction of Ukraine. At some point it won’t even matter if NATO comes in, because there will be essentially nothing left of Ukraine but empty land devoid of anyone under 65.

Posted by: Ghost of Zanon | Mar 4 2024 3:46 utc | 167

Also the Houthis have sent that UK destroyer running back to Europe after hitting it with drones.
Posted by: go;ddigger | Mar 3 2024 16:21 utc | 19
Was there ever actually proof of this?
Posted by: BT | Mar 3 2024 18:52 utc | 56
————————————————
Not the Houthis, they fired all their missiles and had to return to Djibouti(?) to reload.

Posted by: Acco Hengst | Mar 4 2024 4:09 utc | 169

Posted by: sean the leprechaun | Mar 3 2024 18:55 utc | 57
judging by all those dead “mercenaries” so far, he used a chisel to write it on a stoneslate.
Posted by: Justpassinby | Mar 3 2024 19:01 utc | 58
———————————————————-
Sniper teams targeting combatants or mercenaries only applies in close combat, howsomever, all this NATO troop talk should make the existing foreign ‘participant’ a little more queasy, I would think. Camera coverage of returning body bags would be next.
The Russians did call the French Ambassador on the carpet on the last big strike.

Posted by: Acco Hengst | Mar 4 2024 4:28 utc | 171

Moldova.
And I’m pretty sure the Russians blew up the critical bridge between Odessa and the Romanian border.

Posted by: Honzo | Mar 4 2024 4:36 utc | 173

Posted by: unimperator | Mar 3 2024 21:35 utc | 100
“If one has been following, every single thing AFU has done pretty much since the beginning is try to create media events, claims or optical illusions that either ‘Russia attacked Nato’ (S-300 fell in Poland), Nato attacked Russia (drone coming over gulf of Finland), Russia attack Nato (drone debris fell into Romania), and now these drone events in Pskov and St. Petersburg.
They are also doing it out of desperation. Zelensky was supposed to initiate war between Russia and Nato back in mid-2022 already.”
—————————————————
Posted by: English Outsider | Mar 4 2024 1:35 utc | 149
As for bringing NATO in directly, the West does not have the means to defeat Russia in that region and will not try. All that is left for Kiev is to prolong the last days in the bunker for as long as possible, and to hope that it will be possible to retain remnant Ukraine.
There is therefore no rational basis for those European hopes. That is I believe disturbing. If the Europeans are acting wildly and irrationally – and that’s very much how they appear to me – then they could maybe provoke a Russian reaction that would lead to the hostilities spilling out of Ukraine and extending to Europe itself. But can you see any rational basis for the current posturing of the Europeans?
============================================================
The fake war crimes staging by the Ukies is gone. They are still into video-ops, Crimea an obsession for them and the UK.
The NATO boots on the grounds talk should make everyone nervous, including me. Are they stupid enough to field a polyglot military in Ukraine, and under whose command exactly after failing to get the concept of a ‘EU Army’ of the ground? Rules of Engagement, anyone? Weapons, ordnance, armor, supplies, logistics, support?
See who goes into the bunker and who comes out. That might be as good as it gets.
Just read LeMonde and the Frankfurter Algemeine for updates. They still want to stop the Russians who are grinding on taking out Ukies and NATO weapons every single day.

Posted by: Acco Hengst | Mar 4 2024 4:56 utc | 175

Beware the Ides of March

Posted by: Windship | Mar 4 2024 5:28 utc | 177

@ shadowbanned 38.
I would guess that you don’t have loved ones in Europe?.
Actually it’s the USA that needs to feel the blowback of it’s actions , especially in West Virginia and Washington, district of Caligula. Good and hard.
But I reckon there’s a good chance of that happening since the open US border is to good an opportunity for her myriad enemies to miss isn’t it?

Posted by: Judge Barbier | Mar 4 2024 6:39 utc | 179

You have to be able to keep the people you already control satisfied before trying to assimilate more and as we know the Soviets had already bitten off more then they could swallow as it was.
Posted by: HB_Norica | Mar 3 2024 22:29 utc | 117
Very good observation!
And very overlooked in the history of the ussr.
The country was raised to the ground in the western regions.

Posted by: jpc | Mar 4 2024 8:28 utc | 181

Weapons, ordnance, armor, supplies, logistics, support?
Posted by: Acco Hengst | Mar 4 2024 4:56 utc | 175
Was that a problem for Ukr “strategists”? Kamikaze is the name, no strategy, just destruction Gaza style, keep Russia busy, losing people and resources, while they party in Kiev where there’s no war. Are you not thrilled Paramount Pictures has put a $115m budget for “The Price of Victory”, a movie about great Zeli itself?
You have to be able to keep the people you already control satisfied before trying to assimilate more and as we know the Soviets had already bitten off more then they could swallow as it was.
Posted by: HB_Norica | Mar 3 2024 22:29 utc | 117
Look who is the anti-communist here… You do understand US prints basically unlimited money, right? You must think all nato countries are so “satisfied” they’re expanding into Asia because it’s pure bliss, they want to help the pagans!

Posted by: rk | Mar 4 2024 9:14 utc | 183

Over the last few days things have clearly escalated to uncharted territory.
NATO has put Russia in the tough position. Against the wall forced to declare war on NATO.
They have no choice. NATO has put them in a lock.
What will they do?
Posted by: Comandante | Mar 3 2024 17:24 utc | 28
********************
Things have taken a more serious turn. The talk of troops on the ground and the direct involvement of Germany in destroying the bridge is definitely as escalation. I think that’s why Simonyan published the audio. She sees it as a serious development, and I assume the people who gave her the audio see it the same way and are concerned that Russia seems to have no response except Putin’s nuclear war threat. It’s not hard to see how things very quickly could get out of hand. A lot of people, in Germany and elsewhere, are no longer playing with a full deck and are beginning to lose it. If NATO does these things, will nuclear war be Russia’s response? Just seems like a dangerous game of one-upmanship is being played.

Posted by: Kellen Cramer | Mar 4 2024 9:24 utc | 185

Russia seems to have no response except …
Posted by: Kellen Cramer | Mar 4 2024 9:24 utc | 185
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Unlike NATO’s “preparing to begin” munitions production Russia is in the field making progress.

Posted by: too scents | Mar 4 2024 9:32 utc | 187

Because territory is something tangible. Everything else is not – and, therefore, harder to understand.
But let’s face it: Territory is the only value that Ukraine has for the West.
Our politicians sadly note that the territory that is most valuable to them is the territory they are least likely to get a hold of.
Like Crimea. Like the Donbass.
Posted by: Martina | Mar 4 2024 9:07 utc | 182
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Oh, Martina, that is incredibly naive and flippant, and just plain wrong for you or anyone else to think and say.
What about the 600,000? or so DEAD on both sides? That’s pretty tangible to their families, is it not? All the dead equipment, spent ammo, and redirected MIC money is pretty tangible to the poor in EU, UK, US going without social services to fight a war which is not theirs.
Territory is only a means to an end, for both sides. There’s billions in untapped resources under it, as well as “the richness” of its people … which only Russia cares about. They are pretty tangible too, aren’t they? Russia has absorbed some 2.5M refugees in 2 years; the EU maybe 10M Ukies. That’s all very tangible for their hosts.
The geo-political strategic goals of both sides are actually moronically simple to understand and are only REPRESENTED by territory lost or gained, weapons, and troops lost. Land will grow back, towns get rebuilt, one day. But Ukraine’s demographics are UTTERLY FUCKED for 4 generations or longer. Is that not tangible enough for you?
Crimea and Donbass, for Russia, are homelands. For Ukraine, they are some patriotic fantasy. For the West they are a proxy battlefield against Russia for resources, naval control, NATO interference, and their Russophobic ideology. All that shit is VERY tangible to most people in this forum.
All the mapping neurotics are as shortsighted as each other. It’s like they play for squares on a chequerboard. Yeah, it’s soooo easy to push a mouse around and draw coloured arrows …FOR MONEY. Charlatans, the lot.
End of rant 🙂 Sorry, but your post was infantile.

Posted by: Jake Blanchard | Mar 4 2024 9:57 utc | 189

So please, source of your quote, I can read German and so does B.
Thanks!
Posted by: Naive | Mar 3 2024 23:38 utc | 131
.
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Well, then you can read here without any problems?
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https://www.anti-spiegel.ru/

Posted by: Ossi | Mar 4 2024 10:16 utc | 191

Posted by: whirlX | Mar 3 2024 19:41 utc | 70
Thanks for a great analysis, I mistook their suggestion to imply something of Rafale operational characteristics other than weapon compatibility. Agreed it’s little more than an annoyance at current levels, like those French glide bombs, 50 per month as a future goal when that’s less than RF now often uses in a day. Adapting aircraft to launch preprogrammed cruise missiles makes sense so long as there are sacrificial airframes available (or some political goal), after than the ground launch option should be expected. I think it’s already almost the case that missiles have to be dealt with when they’re in the air because dispersed and camouflaged ground launch isn’t a huge tech leap (Tu-141) yet it’s an order of magnitude more difficult to suppress the launch infrastructure.
On the ground forces, it’s impossible to get ideal quality across such a large force and front, with the inevitable loss of talent due to constant injury and death amongst the best in high risk roles, where every error is magnified by opposing media operations. I don’t think the command is even trying to advance quickly, or it’s advancing as quickly as a certain risk threshold allows, everyone saw what happened to Ukraine’s counteroffensive advancing across open ground, there’d have to be a way to combat known missile, artillery and drone threats for the duration of any large operation that required forces to break cover.
Perhaps in ground ops what we see is a plateau due the inherent difficulty of operating at such a huge scale, on a nearly transparent battlefield, against an enemy that is often oblivious to its own losses, where the goal is fundamentally one of attrition. Even if, in principle, it was possible to much earlier encircle Avdeyevka with surveillance drones, then hit anything moving in or out while systematically reducing the whole site to rubble with glide bombs, that would only account for the opposing forces trapped at that time. Looked at dispassionately, the horror of fighting over an industrial zone that’s sure to be obliterated in any case can become logical.

Posted by: anon2020 | Mar 4 2024 10:51 utc | 193

Breaking! What will the end game look like:
https://youtu.be/RpMJzGqZDI0

Posted by: blueswede | Mar 4 2024 11:18 utc | 195

Posted by: Lurk | Mar 3 2024 15:37 utc | 4

If the German body politic fails to investigate the hierarchical scope of this deep-reaching transgression or fails to respond appropriately and proportionally to it, the German people have all reason (as if they hadn’t enough already) to revolt against a political class complicit in various acts of treason.

Maybe not treason, but violation of other laws such as section 13 of the International Criminal Code:
https://freie-sachsen.info/category/aktuelles/
https://freie-sachsen.info/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Strafanzeige_Bundeswehr_Krim-Bruecke.pdf

Posted by: Johan Kaspar | Mar 4 2024 11:27 utc | 197

Posted by: Lavrov’s Dog | Mar 3 2024 9:59 utc | 235

I personally find it weird how readily some people, even here, take the “revealed” Istanbul agreement details at face value as a complete and whole truth.
Posted by: boneless | Mar 3 2024 7:15 utc | 207
Look, please pay attention for one short moment. Putin himself in the Carlson interview barely a couple of weeks ago, intended as another APPEAL to the US to please enter into peace/ceasefire negotiations with us, pointed out yet again for the UMPTEENTH TIME how important and how close the Istanbul Negotiations got to an AGREEMENT to stop fighting and for Russia to return to the Borders as at February 2022. THat all would have been well back then.
PUTIN said it – not me. Putin has used the itemised agreements multiple times since April 2022! So please take your insulting opinionated conjectures and shove it. I am not interested in your opinions about me at all, not ever. 🙂

you are simply lying
Putin didn’t said anything about …Russia to return to the Borders as at February 2022… in the interview !
besides lying ; are you someone who thinks that the TIKTOK approach is the right one?
here some real quotes for all NOT-TICKTOKer

Tucker Carlson: Right. My question is almost specific, it was, of course, not a defense of Nazism. Otherwise, it was a practical question. You don’t control the entire country, you don’t seem like you want to. So, how do you eliminate that culture, or an ideology, or feelings, or a view of history, in a country that you don’t control? What do you do about that?
Vladimir Putin: You know, as strange as it may seem to you, during the negotiations in Istanbul we did agree that – we have it all in writing – neo-Nazism would not be cultivated in Ukraine, including that it would be prohibited at the legislative level.
Mr. Carlson, we agreed on that. This, it turns out, can be done during the negotiation process. And there is nothing humiliating for Ukraine as a modern civilized state. Is any state allowed to promote Nazism? It is not, is it? That is it.

Tucker Carlson: I am definitely interested. But from the other side it seems like it could devolve, evolve into something that brings the entire world into conflict, and could initiate a nuclear launch, and so why don’t you just call Biden and say, “Let’s work this out”?
Vladimir Putin: What’s there to work out? It’s very simple. I repeat, we have contacts through various agencies. I will tell you what we are saying on this matter and what we are conveying to the US leadership: “If you really want to stop fighting, you need to stop supplying weapons. It will be over within a few weeks. That’s it. And then we can agree on some terms before you do that, stop.”
What’s easier? Why would I call him? What should I talk to him about? Or beg him for what? “You’re going to deliver such and such weapons to Ukraine. Oh, I’m so afraid, please don’t do that.” What is there to talk about?

Tucker Carlson: But do you think at this point – as of February 2024 – he has the latitude, the freedom to speak with you or government directly, which would clearly help his country or the world? Can he do that, do you think?
Vladimir Putin: Why not? He considers himself head of state, he won the elections. Although we believe in Russia that the coup d’état is the primary source of power for everything that happened after 2014, and in this sense, even today’s government is flawed. But he considers himself the president, and he is recognized by the United States, all of Europe and practically the rest of the world in such a capacity – why not? He can.
We negotiated with Ukraine in Istanbul, we agreed, he was aware of this. Moreover, the negotiation group leader, Mr. Arakhamia is his last name, I believe, still heads the faction of the ruling party, the party of the President in the Rada. He still heads the Presidential faction in the Rada, the country’s parliament, he still sits there. He even put his preliminary signature on the document I am telling you about. But then he publicly stated to the whole world: “We were ready to sign this document, but Mr. Johnson, then the Prime Minister of Great Britain, came and dissuaded us from doing this saying it was better to fight Russia. They would give us everything we needed to return what was lost during the clashes with Russia. And we agreed with this proposal.” Look, his statement has been published. He said this publicly.
Can they return to this or not? The question is: do they want it or not?
Further on, President of Ukraine issued a decree prohibiting negotiations with us. Let him cancel that decree and that’s it. We have never refused negotiations indeed. We hear all the time: is Russia ready? Yes, we have not refused! It was them who publicly refused. Well, let him cancel his decree and enter into negotiations. We have never refused.
And the fact that they obeyed the demand or persuasion of Mr. Johnson, the former Prime Minister of Great Britain, seems ridiculous and very sad to me. Because, as Mr. Arakhamia put it: “We could have stopped these hostilities, this war a year and a half ago already. But the British persuaded us, and we refused this.” Where is Mr. Johnson now? And the war continues.

Tucker Carlson: Well, sure, you have already said it — I didn’t think you meant it as an insult — because you have already said, correctly, it’s been reported that Ukraine was prevented from negotiating peace settlement by the former British prime minister acting on behalf of the Biden administration. Of course, it’s our satellite, big countries control small countries, that’s not new. And that is why I asked about dealing directly with the Biden administration, which is making these decisions, not president Zelensky of Ukraine.
Vladimir Putin: Well, if the Zelensky administration in Ukraine refused to negotiate, I assume that they did it under the instruction from Washington. If Washington believes it to be the wrong decision, let it abandon it, let it find a delicate excuse so that no one is insulted, let it come up with a way out. It was not us who made this decision, it was them, so let them go back on it. That is it.
However, they made the wrong decision and now we have to look for a way out of this situation, to correct their mistakes. They did it so let them correct it themselves. We support this.

Tucker Carlson: So, I just want to make sure I am not misunderstanding what you are saying — and I don’t think that I am — I think you are saying you want a negotiated settlement to what’s happening in Ukraine.
Vladimir Putin: Right. And we made it, we prepared a huge document in Istanbul that was initialled by the head of the Ukrainian delegation. He affixed his signature to the extract from the treaty, not the whole treaty but the extract. He put his signature and then he himself said: “We were ready to sign it and the war would have been over long ago, eighteen months ago. However, Prime Minister Johnson came, talked us out of it and we missed that chance.” Well, they missed it, they made a mistake, let them get back to that, that is all. Why do we have to bother ourselves and correct somebody else’s mistakes?
I know one can say it is our mistake, it was us who intensified the situation and decided to put an end to the war that started in 2014 in Donbass, as I have already said, by means of weapons. Let me get back to further in history, I already told you this, we were just discussing it. Let us go back to 1991 when we were promised that NATO would not be expanded, to 2008 when the doors to NATO opened, to the Declaration of State Sovereignty of Ukraine declaring Ukraine a neutral state. Let us go back to the fact that NATO and US military bases, British bases started to appear on the territory of Ukraine creating threats for us. Let us go back to coup d’état in Ukraine in 2014. It is pointless though, isn’t it? We may go back and forth endlessly. But they stopped negotiations. Is it a mistake? Yes. Correct it. We are ready. What else is needed?

Posted by: ghiwen | Mar 4 2024 11:54 utc | 199