unimperator | Mar 7 2024 21:04 utc | 93
That’s roughly what I am seeing. On the FPV drones and one operator per drone that’s in the air, most kids/young people that grow up with computer games, smart phones ect will take to it like a duck to water. From what I can make out, the Brits likely the biggest supplier of FPV’s with EU perhaps not far behind. I would assume FPV’s are cheaper to produce than guided artillery shell or missile and far more versatile.
Since shortly after Russia went into phase two, I have looked at this as Russia’s war to destroy nato and will not end until Nato collapses as an entity so I don’t get exited about a bit of backward and forward movement on the frontlines. Russia has obviously settled in for ‘as long as it takes’.
Now the Brits and Euro twits are getting a bit agitated so it a matter of waiting to see what desperate stupidity they try and pull next.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Mar 7 2024 21:35 utc | 103

Posted by: boneless | Mar 7 2024 21:30 utc | 98
Speaking of lobotomized western leaders.
Dmitry Orlov put it very well, when asked about Stoltenberg saying that Nato needs to give Ukraine more weapons because Navalny died.
Dmitry Orlov said it’s just a song they sing, neurons are firing somewhere producing the same song.

Posted by: unimperator | Mar 7 2024 21:44 utc | 105

Posted by: Melaleuca | Mar 7 2024 16:23 utc | 17
Yeah, that warned my heart to see Grossi, albeit belatedly and merely tacitly, showing acceptance of Russia’s side of the story. But what a fkn snake he has been up till now NOT TO HAVE named the long time perpetrators of the ZapNPP sabotage, ie Kiev. He should now release a statement along the lines of:
“… and now that I’ve fully examined both sides of the story and heard it directly from President Putin’s own mouth, it is patently obvious that it has been the Kiev regime all along who has been jeopardising nuclear safety in Eastern Eugope for the past 2 years. I see now it is Russia we have to thank for the prevention of any nuclear disaster at ZNPP. I now appreciate that I was previously being conned by Mr Zelensky and his military officials”. Now THAT would set the record straight!

Posted by: Jake Blanchard | Mar 7 2024 21:48 utc | 107

Interesting reflections, attributed to Molotov, on the future structure of the Iron Curtain countries argued that eastern European countries under communism should be modelled on the Soviet Union, with its Soviet Socialist Republics (SSRs) and Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republics (ASSRs). Perhaps the intention was that they would all eventually unite.
These reflections had the German populations of Pomerania, Silesia, etc., become ASSRs within Poland. The whole of Prussia (then called “East Prussia”) would become a German SSR of the Soviet Union, just like Estonia and Latvia. Most of the Volga Germans, PoWs and German minorities elsewhere would be dumped in this Prussian SSR.
The “Kresy”, that part of Poland annexed by the Soviet Union post WW2, would instead be two ASSRs: the northern, which became part of Belarus, would be a Belarusian ASSR within historic Lithuania, itself an SSR. The southern (Galicia) would become an Ukrainian ASSR of Poland. The idea was that Poland would be multi-ethnic and less able to kindle nationalist resistance towards the USSR. The West would be happy that Poland/Lithuania´s borders remained intact and that they had an interest in keeping Germany under control with their Silesian, Pomeranian, and (East) Brandenburg ASSRs.
Similar applications were proposed for Rumania, with a Bessarabian ASSR and Yugoslavia would include Bulgaria which would comprise a Serbian SSR plus five ASSRs: Slovenia, Croatia, Dalmatia, Bulgaria and Macedonia.
Thus the post-WW2 Ukraine might never have become susceptible to the Banderites . . .

Posted by: John Marks | Mar 7 2024 21:59 utc | 109

Is U.S. planning something that will make Russia angry?

The American Embassy in Moscow published an appeal to fellow citizens calling on them to avoid large gatherings of people in the next 48 hours.
The warning is allegedly related to possible attacks from extremists.
@

Posted by: MiniMO | Mar 7 2024 22:08 utc | 111

The comments on the Carlson Friedman clip.
If unwashed YT commentators know facts and details about Kolomoiskyy the Right Sektor and Zelensky….. is a marvel how “journalists” such as TC and FrIedman can so comprehensively know nothing, see nothing..

Posted by: Melaleuca | Mar 7 2024 22:29 utc | 113

Jake Blanchard | Mar 7 2024 21:48 utc | 104
EU needs that sweet almost free electricity from ZapNPP.
Gross-y is there, playing a few moves ahead, to see what deals can be made once Russia takes more of Ukraine.
———
At the back of my mind …. Gossi and his inspector team were supposed to be taken hostage “by the Russians “ during their high profile ZapNPP visit.
The British special forces made so many attempts to get to the site days ahead. Russia sank their rubber duckies, and sank the plot.

Posted by: Melaleuca | Mar 7 2024 22:39 utc | 115

No territory gains (latest Dima report).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29RiVgKEqsA

Posted by: Anonymous | Mar 7 2024 22:40 utc | 117

It is shameful that Russia has no ability to destroy Ukro electric network and production.
Putin is a man of the past. He respects certain principles, but these principles are only helping the enemy who properly understands that this is a total war without morals and principles.
Putin seems still to be hoping about some “negotiations”, he does not understand the western mind.
This is a zero sum game. No victory can be achieved without the total annihilation of the enemy. The West is never going to give up. Ukrainians are still fighting, thus they are still highly motivated.

Posted by: vargas | Mar 7 2024 22:44 utc | 119

@vargas its only shamfull for the west: the west is the pest. im glad You have nothing to say in .ru strategies

Posted by: COViDiOT | Mar 7 2024 23:03 utc | 121

Posted by: unimperator | Mar 7 2024 21:04 utc | 93
From late ‘44-45, suffering shortages of everything, the Ostheer inflicted 3 million casualties on the advancing Red Army. Armies don’t run out of ammunition or troops or equipment, they just end up being unable to effectively function operationally, due to their decrepit state. Ukraine is rapidly approaching this state, witness the counter-attacks by two comparatively well equipped brigades, achieving only a temporary stabilisation of the front, but at an unsustainable level of losses. This last point is the key, just like the Germans in WW2 who were still able to achieve lop-sided kill ratios, it did not matter as the replacement numbers were equally lop-sided in favour of the Allies.
Posted by: Anonymous | Mar 7 2024 20:08 utc | 78
Held Berdiche, why and at what cost? Two questions a commander always asks themselves. The Russians are masters of the slow steady accumulation of pressure, their entire Cold-War ground-combat strategy was based on incremental increases in combat power, if resistance was detected. They also used echelon attacks to find the inevitable weaknesses in a defence, attacking like flowing water. Build an armoured ‘dam’ at Berdiche and just watch as the defenders are ground down and eventually forced to retreat due to unsecured flanks. Worse, any delays actually worsen the situation for the Ukrainian’s because Russia’s Achilles Heel, her out-dated logistics system, has time to stockpile.
Posted by: Chessmaster Z | Mar 7 2024 16:56 utc | 22
Talk to any tanker, forests, BUA’s and wide open spaces are their least favourite places. The description of tanks in WW2 crossing open ground likens it to diffident fat boys, lurking on the corners of the dance hall, summoning up the courage to participate. Local, operational and strategic ISR has just made advancing harder, but defenders have also had their mobility curtailed by the ‘all-seeing’ electronic eyes that swarm the battlefield.
Posted by: geoff chambers | Mar 7 2024 21:15 utc | 96
Never bet against the US, however ‘certain’ you are of its inevitable decline, should be a truism similar to the inadvisability of starting land wars in Asia. Most of the criticism of the US, and by extension praise for China, is regurgitated fodder from decades back often dressed up with anecdotal padding to give it credibility. The fatal assumption of these ‘inevitable decline scenarios’ are that they always use basic forms of trend analysis which, whilst useful, never takes into account historical events which have radically changed those trends. The ‘Orange Man Bad’ schtick, by some posters, is also heated-left overs, as is denigrating a sizeable portion of the country as gullible rubes or dreamers afraid to confront reality, whilst contrasting themselves as somehow superior. Plenty of anecdotal stories of working with that type of personality.
As I’ve said before, thinking of Trump as a traditional political leader is a mistake, he’s the head of a battering ram, a movement that is slowly spreading around the Western World and one that has the institutions wetting themselves.

Posted by: Milites | Mar 7 2024 23:04 utc | 123

“As per the 7 times population discrepancy between the western alliance and Russia, there is an even larger industrial output discrepancy. No I’m not saying Russia makes nothing and is just a gas station, but if you put together Japan and SK and Germany and the USA and France and Italy so on and so forth yes they produce a lot more than Russia. It’s not just non-gendered bathrooms and derivatives in the West.
Posted by: Chessmaster Z | Mar 7 2024 18:55 utc | 54”
What nonsense. The “mighty” USA economy is 11% Industrial. 89% Parasites. Services, including Hookers, Medical including Facelifts, Government, Distribution and Retail (of mainly made in China goods) and 12% of GDP is “owner’s imputed rent” where nothing is added to actual GDP.
And to jig the numbers, Western Countries make numbers out of thin air. A Hamburger joint is a “manufacturing line”. An ice-cream factory is an “Industrial plant”.
The collective West lost their marbles long, long before they egged Russian into becoming the Sheriff in Ukraine. For the Ruling Caste in the West truly believes, pronouns, confused sexes, and Narratives are devastating weapons.

Posted by: kupkee | Mar 7 2024 23:28 utc | 125

About Emmanuel Todd’s new book, theory. “La Chute de l’Occident” (“The Fall of the West”) he has a radical analysis of Western policy in Ukraine.
“Once you’ve absorbed this theory (entirely empirical, & therefore subject to revision) it’s difficult not to apply it to current politics. Many of the world’s problems can be put down to the Anglo-Saxon desire to impose a system which emphasises individual freedom at the expense of social cohesion on the rest of the world, and to our lack of consciousness of the origins of some of our most precious beliefs.”
Posted by: geoff chambers | Mar 7 2024 21:03 utc | 92
Good stuff that raises the bar here.

Posted by: Lavrov’s Dog | Mar 8 2024 0:14 utc | 127

But on the other side, Russia is struggling to take the Donbas, forget about Kharkiv or Odessa or Dnepr or any of the more maximalist goals. It moving 5 km past Adveevka in empty fields is so difficult, what is the end state?
I think it will be a peace agreement at more or less the current lines, with a promise of Ukraine not joining nato and having some limits on its military. How can Russia trust Ukraine or the West? It can’t. But there is currently no path to a bigger victory, so this will be a frozen conflict and a thorn in Russia’s side for decades to come
Posted by: Chessmaster Z | Mar 7 2024 20:14 utc | 82

@Dungroanin 83
Who gives a shit who the UKR ambassador to the UK is? No one sensible or realistic cares. As is the normal SOP of being greeted by the monarch or their rep. A nothingburger. Wild attention seeking hand waving of no importance or value to anyone.

Posted by: Lavrov’s Dog | Mar 8 2024 0:23 utc | 129

James M. | Mar 8 2024 0:24 utc | 127
Thanks for the reply. Yes it is very hard to know, or predict. I agree.
You’ve posted before that you have no doubt that Russia will win …
Circumstances and the evidence changes. They can’t lose but … they will not achieve their goals unless something massively changes in their approach. The US/NATO are not in any way scared of Moscow or their nukes. This is how it looks to me at present.
I’m not a girlie cheerleader for a collage footy team. I’m being as objective and realistic as possible. And I do not care what anyone else might be saying or who sounds similar to my comment/s. That is out of my control. People can say what they like.
Though it would good to hear what others think objectively and realistically at this point in time, 2 years in. Without any biased hyperbole. Cheers

Posted by: Lavrov’s Dog | Mar 8 2024 0:51 utc | 131

@123
“The US/NATO are not losing, and even if Ukraine falls, they will not have suffered a defeat. The situation suggests that the US/NATO are still in control, and unless they give in to Russia’s demands, Russia is unlikely to win this conflict with the US.”
I beg to differ. When Ukraine falls, US/NATO will most definitely have suffered a defeat. That’s because the war’s genesis is US/NATO’s ambition of turning Ukraine into a bastion of Western geostrategic power, nested on Russia’s borders, for the purpose of permanently subverting Russia’s influence in world affairs.
Russia’s victory over Ukraine, especially involving a state collapse or demilitarization of the country, means US/NATO will be forcibly divested of its political and military control over Kiev. That’s the equivalent of a great empire losing a prized colony, or abandoning an important imperial outpost.
For US/NATO, losing Ukraine will be historically comparable to the check imposed by the Germans against the Roman Empire at Teutoberg Forest in 9 AD, or France’s forced withdrawal from Mexico in 1867. In other words, another case of imperial overreach gone wrong.
As for Russia’s demands, well, all Russia’s been “demanding” is that US/NATO dismantle its political and military involvement in Ukraine. The West’s defeat will have the exact same geostrategic effects as if US/NATO had “given in” to Russia’s demands before, or at any point during, the war.

Posted by: GW | Mar 8 2024 1:04 utc | 133

Never bet against the US, however ‘certain’ you are of its inevitable decline, should be a truism similar to the inadvisability of starting land wars in Asia. Most of the criticism of the US, and by extension praise for China, is regurgitated fodder from decades back often dressed up with anecdotal padding to give it credibility. The fatal assumption of these ‘inevitable decline scenarios’ are that they always use basic forms of trend analysis which, whilst useful, never takes into account historical events which have radically changed those trends.
Posted by: Milites | Mar 7 2024 23:04 utc | 120

That is correct.
Most people here are some combination of being too young to remember and not having the mental inclination to fully immerse themselves back in those times based on the available historical material. But go back to the mid- to late 1970s and early 1980s, what did the world look like?
It was a very, very bleak picture for the West.
First, both the US and the UK were bankrupt, and any objective economic analysis would have told you the disease has entered its terminal phase, because they had run out of real resources and the accumulated debts were too large to repay.
Second, the map of the world was filling up with ever more red. Vietnam wars had been lost and all sorts of countries in what we now call Global South had recently become communist/socialist — circa 1980 that was the USSR and the whole Eastern Bloc, Yugoslavia, Albania, China, Vietnam, Laos, Afghanistan, South Yemen, Ethiopia (before Eritrea seceded), and and Somalia (so full communist control of the Bab El-Mandeb), Benin, Republic of Congo, Angola, Mozambique, Cuba, and even Grenada had just become communist in the Caribbean. The capitalist West was in retreat.
Third, western societies showed visible signs of decay and collapse. It is why so much of 1980s fiction has dystopian and post-apocalyptic themes. Large parts of New York City looked the way Avdeevka and Gaza do now — burnt out buildings, piles of crumbled bricks, but with people still living there, which also meant piles of uncollected garbage, extremely high crime rates, etc. That is when Detroit cemented its reputation as THE shithole of the US as the process of white flight, deindustrialization and off-shoring rapidly escalated (again, heavily reflected in fiction — it’s why something like RoboCop was made in those years), and more generally, the industrial heartland of the US became the Rust Belt. UK was a similarly bleak picture — deindustrailization and despair, constant strikes, football hooligans wrecking shit, etc.
Meanwhile the USSR enjoyed its most prosperous years ever in the 1970s and early 1980s, had a solid resource base and developed industries under no threat of being off-shored.
Fourth, the West wasn’t really winning the arms race either, despite the common today narrative. Russia has temporarily won it now by resurrecting old Soviet projects from 1970s and 1980s, keep that in mind. I think it was Paul Craig Roberts telling the story of Reagan escalating the arms race and how the CIA came to them and told them “please, don’t do this, we will lose — they are command economy and can mobilize a lot more resources than we can”. Indeed. And those nuclear powered satellites the US is so worried about now are also a continuation of 1980s projects.
And yet, what happened mere 10-15 years later?
Has there ever been a greater geopolitical judo move executed?
The Anglos achieved their 19th century dream of breaking up Russia and were looting the whole former communist space with total impunity, fueling a complete reversal of their own fortunes by redirecting huge resource flows towards themselves, plunging the former Eastern Bloc into a disaster worse than the 1930s had been in the US.
Speaking of the 1930s, it was a similar story back then too, though even more thoroughly forgotten by now. The difference is that the US back then was objectively in the strongest material position in terms of industrial base and availability of natural resources. But internally it was a completely broken and broke society — the rich got too greedy and the whole economy collapsed. Communism was on the rise, including in the US, the USSR had just been established and in stark contrast to the capitalist, didn’t experience a Great Depression. Then what happened? The capitalists pushed fascism forward, engineered WWII, solved their economic problems through it, and came out of it nuclear armed and in a dominant and secure position internally, while the USSR lost 30M people and a third of its infrastructure and industry, and was effectively neutered in the long run (though that effect took a while to manifest itself).
Don’t bet against the devil indeed, he always has a lot of tricks up his sleeve.

Posted by: shаdοwbanned | Mar 8 2024 1:08 utc | 135

Dear bar fly writers:
Maybe refer to the SMO as an Up Scale SMO as well as full scale or one Russian pinky 10% of Russian disposable income or military assets, not including nuclear. And then develop an elevator pitch about the cost effectiveness of the SMO. How for the NATO side it cost the 150 Billion from the US, the 150 Billion from Western Europe, the 300 Billion the West stole from Russia and whatnot, while them Rooskies have only spent 132 Billion dollars total according to the Rand think-tank. That’s almost a 5 to 1 spending ratio in favor of kickbacks to both politicians and the MIC. Then expound upon the poor civilians. There is a civilian to combatents ratio for every war ever seriously studied. List that ratio for the recent US activities and the Russian Juice in occupied Palestine and the regular Russians in the SMO. We want to show the public the regular Russians are not killing any civilians while the West kills mostly civilians.

Posted by: Hot Carl | Mar 8 2024 1:29 utc | 137

Russia would still have an unstable, aggressive, and insecure border with Eastern Europe and Ukraine. It would still lack a security treaty with NATO or the USA, and it would still lack a genuine demilitarized buffer between itself and NATO. Additionally, Sweden and Finland have joined NATO, demanding extra military resources to be deployed there indefinitely.
Posted by: Lavrov’s Dog | Mar 7 2024 23:52 utc | 123

People here, in their triumphalist assured belief in the inevitable, in fact already achieved victory of Russia over the globohomo evil, are not following events on the ground.
I post those regularly straight from Russian Telegram, as they happen, for which I get called a troll (because it is easier to call people who just post the factual news trolls than to face the reality of what is happening).
Here is what is happening now — there are on average 30-40 UAVs launched towards Russia daily. Most are downed over Bryansk, Kursk and Belgorod, but some make it to Voronezh, and some sneak through even further. There is no such thing as perfect AD, and NATO/Ukrainians are perfecting their tactics — the most recent complaint from the Russian side is that they fly UAVs just above the tree lines where it is impossible for them to be intercepted by ground-based AD.
The drones are becoming much more dangerous too — it used to be mostly fire crackers, but the day Shahed/Geran equivalents are flying in large numbers towards Moscow is not far off. NATO is working hard on that right as we speak.
Worse, they are now clearly also being launched from Estonia and perhaps even Finland. And as far back as late 2022 Russian intelligence/analysists were discussing plans to attack the Russian Far East with drones launched from commercial ships. There are strategic objects there — e.g. the big Sukhoy Komsomolsk-on-Amur Aircraft Plant — that are very juicy targets. These have so fat been deep in the secure rear, but for how much longer?
With the way events are unfolding in Kazakhstan, it would not be surprising to see drones launched from there too.
And this is starting to do real damage — there is no word yet on how production in Severstal will be affected by today’s strike, but given the destruction shown in the video it is highly doubtful they just called some janitors with brooms to sweep up the debris and went back to regular scheduling. That is one of the biggest metallurgical facilities in Russia, it’s not a small insignificant workshop.
The oil terminals in Leningrad were seriously damaged a few weeks ago, and whatever hit that factory in Sergiyev Posad back in August looks to have been a serious blow on Russian drone production:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidhambling/2024/02/01/how-one-blast-shut-down-production-of-russias-deadliest-drone/
This is escalating and will continue escalating, well beyond pin pricks. If it’s one such successful strike every few days now, it will be one strike daily soon, and several hits daily not too long after that. And that’s just drones, missiles are coming soon too. The big issue with which — that they would mandate a nuclear response, otherwise the second salvo of such missiles may well be nuclear going towards Russia if there is no firm response — I have explained many times. In fact, drone strikes should be completely inadmissible for the same reasons — you can in principle put nukes on drones too, and one would be a fool to assume there is not such thing just because nobody has announced to have done it — but the Kremlin has decided to just take the punches for now.
Also, NATO isn’t shy about targeting what really matters — the Kremlin had placed a veto on striking all sorts of strategic Ukrainian industry and infrastructure (got to protect oligarch’s business interests after all), and it is clearly still in place for a long list of objects, but there are no such constraints on the other side. They are and will be hitting where it hurts.
How long can that continue before there is real degradation of industrial output?
And how much does it cost to repel these attacks? UAVs are cheap, air defense missiles are not, and at some point the production of the latter will be outstripped by the rate of launches of the former.

Posted by: shаdοwbanned | Mar 8 2024 1:38 utc | 139

but I think the stakes are too high for Russia to lose. I think Ukraine is more important for Russia than it is for the West, so the West will blink first.
Posted by: James M. | Mar 8 2024 1:38 utc | 135
We always have to go back to the Russian proposed mutual security agreements of late 2021.
By the US had pulled out of all former security agreements with Russia. US pentagon/government funded ‘think tanks’ drawing up plans on attacking Russia, breaking it up ect. Those early negotiations up to, and Istanbul where documents were agreed upon, were to save Ukraine from becoming the meat in the sandwich in Russia’s ‘military technical’ means to secure its own security.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Mar 8 2024 1:48 utc | 141

Not only culturally, but also economically – communism was a dead end.
Posted by: James M. | Mar 8 2024 1:47 utc | 137

What exactly was dead end about it?
How many recessions, depressions, stock market crashes, bank runs, extended periods of mass unemployment, and other such niceties did the USSR go through?

Posted by: shаdοwbanned | Mar 8 2024 1:53 utc | 143

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Mar 8 2024 1:48 utc | 138
They had a chance to cut a deal. Putin was most generous and kind. He gave the West one last chance to cut the deal. They refused, so this is the consequence.
It would have been a good deal for Russia too, if it had been honored. Fewer Russian deaths, less pain for the economy, and a security guarantee on its border. A leader has to balance many different considerations.
Now this will probably finish in one of two ways – Russia in Odessa, or Putin in the Hague. Which is more likely? I’m still betting on the former.

Posted by: James M. | Mar 8 2024 1:58 utc | 145

The West tricked them into thinking that if they destroy communism and become capitalists, they will be allowed into the club. Well, they weren’t.
Posted by: shаdοwbanned | Mar 8 2024 1:50 utc | 139
Of course not. You were arguing the west had tricks up its sleeve because it played one in the victory over USSR in the 1990s.
I stated it was a cultural trick, and that trick no longer exists. It is over 30 years later now, and the west is disgusting to the majority of the world.
It has no more cultural tricks, it has no more military tricks, it has more economic tricks. The only trick it has left is AI, but that is Garbage In Garbage Out, and not useful due to American bureaucratic positive outcome bias.
In other words, the west is in serious decline, and there will be no surprises detrimental to Russia. The biggest surprise would be coups, but even then, there would be massive domestic issues making it near impossible for coup leaders to convert the fat, slovenly, pampered west into some kind of war machine that could confront Russia, and surely no coup could suddenly make America culturally back to what it was in the 80s and 90s.
So again, no tricks up the wests sleeves left.

Posted by: UWDude | Mar 8 2024 2:12 utc | 147

@Vargas 116
“Putin seems still to be hoping about some “negotiations”, he does not understand the western mind.
This is a zero sum game. No victory can be achieved without the total annihilation of the enemy.”
And that one enemy only which needs to be destroyed first is england – the most evil entity which should not be lowed to rise up its ugly head again. And which is the only constant enemy of Russia.

Posted by: Sam | Mar 8 2024 2:35 utc | 149

One more thing, they restored the water supply to Crimea.

Posted by: MikeB | Mar 8 2024 2:46 utc | 151

Posted by: HB_Norica | Mar 7 2024 16:55 utc | 21
So what are you saying then bro? Just f’ck it all, give up and hand it all over to China? Continue to let a lositively tiny minority in the world, the Zionists rule over us and destroy us all at will? Well I ssy no f’ckn way. And I think you might be surprised by how many Americans are at ghe end of their collective tether. Zionist media love’s to highlight the stupid idiots of America that subscribe to the hip hop braindead its-all-about-me culture. Because thats what they WANT you to think White America is. You draw your own conclusions, but I see a sea of intelligent, moral, highly capable, thoroughly creative, and strong people that are completely dismissed. So you conclude Trump is a blowhard? Isn’t Biden a blowhard? Wasn’t Obama? Of course he came in a slick talking package but he was s controlled destroyer too.
You don’t we can’t re-learn how to manufacture. We taught tge rest of the world. Modern assembly line Industrial manufacturing saw its genesis in Western Europe. America was the indistrial powerhouse of the world only four decades ago. You don’t think that can be revived by AMERICA FIRST protection policies?
Posted by: Áobh Ó’Sheachnasaigh | Mar 7 2024 18:31 utc | 49
Good points there: and one doesnt have to look too far back in history for an excellent example: compare the 80 million Germans in 1929 – destitute – with the 80 million Germans of 1939. In 10 years, under the inspired leadeship of one man and his team, this population turned out some of the most innovative engineering and poured their energies into revitalising the economy. So much so that it took 3 major powers to crush the intense (unfortunately now malevolent) energy released…and the West still today benefits from much of the engineering developed then.

Posted by: Analyst | Mar 8 2024 3:04 utc | 153

Posted by: Lavrov’s Dog | Mar 7 2024 23:52 utc | 123
Posted by: GW | Mar 8 2024 1:04 utc | 130
… many others similar.

Posted by: Jake Blanchard | Mar 8 2024 3:21 utc | 155

A verified Nazi supporting ukrop general goes to the court of st James.
Imagine.
Yup. Charles The Turd is going to hang out with old family friends.
We are not ‘for turning’ yet.
It really is going to get worse. Before it ends.
‘ ◾ Zaluzhny the new Ukrainian ambassador for the UK, a known nazi who just last week posted a picture with a t-shirt of Neo Nazi Ukrainian rock band Sokrya Peruna. And only weeks ago just before been sacked from his position as head of the Ukrainian Armed Forces he took a photo with the commander of the Ultranationalist Right Sektor paramilitary units and a portrait of Nazi and Holocaust collaborator Stepan Bandera.
Posted by: DunGroanin | Mar 7 2024 20:27 utc | 83
Zaluzhny won’t be ambassador for long. Ukraine won’t be a country, and Zalu will be head of the Government in Exile in London. He’s the ideal front man to gather the Banderites to him, for future British mischief.

Posted by: Honzo | Mar 8 2024 3:27 utc | 157

US is good at making EU look like the ones coming up with all those policies, but all of it is the US’ command and direction. Hardly a sign of “the perfect grand plan” some progressively come to describe it as.
Posted by: boneless | Mar 7 2024 21:30 utc | 98
Of course it’s the US command and direction. And the current EU leaders are US stooges. Why else would Germany stay in NATO after the US blows up Nordstream? Biden publicly threatened to blow it up BEFORE the SMO started. The war in Ukraine is a US mechanism to eliminate EU as an economic rival, plunder its industry and know-how, and make it completely dependent on the US for energy and trade. It’s part of the same scheme as trashing the Iran nuke deal, and the saber-rattling against China- the US is isolating Europe from the resources, energy and consumer products that could save its economy and make it a viable competitor to the US.
No doubt the neocons thought they could conquer Russia post-1991, but by 2014 that was a pipe dream. By 2022 it was an absurdity, even the ‘sanctions from hell’ strategy which Russia had been immunizing itself against for a decade and a half. But why waste a good plan when you can just use it to bring down a more vulnerable target? The Maidan, Iran nuke deal, ‘trade war’ with China, threats over Taiwan, and the planned Banderite offensive against Donetsk are all coordinated actions with one purpose- to bring the EU to heel. Just because the US isn’t able to eat the Dragon or the Bear doesn’t mean it isn’t hungry. It eats Europe. Victory! for the present. It won’t last, because capitalism is always hungry and the global supply of prey animals is shrinking, but it will keep the Americentric western ruling class going for awhile longer.

Posted by: Honzo | Mar 8 2024 3:40 utc | 159

“Ukrainian tank unit near front lines doesn’t fire for three days”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGMC0CiVxzI
The video opens with a view of Medvedev standing in front of a big map in which there is nothing left of the Ukraine (after 2 seconds into the video). In this picture there is nearly nothing left of the Ukraine. In this map most of the Ukraine has been given to Poland, Russia and Romania.

Posted by: WMG | Mar 8 2024 3:58 utc | 161

Posted by: HB_Norica | Mar 7 2024 16:55 utc | 21
Those guys [that can make industry work] don’t exist here [in America] any more
Posted by: Tom Pfotzer | Mar 7 2024 17:46 utc | 31
I don’t think the game is over yet in terms of re-skilling Americans
Things have changed, many of the skilled jobs can be done by robot..
Yes, yes, the robots will need to be designed, developed, tested and made safer but they are more efficient than human performance. Program the robot takes only one person with the skills to perform the job, IOT teach the robot.
Posted by: Lavrov’s Dog | Mar 7 | 123 and 128
The situation suggests that the US/NATO are still in control, and unless they give in to Russia’s demands, Russia is unlikely to win this conflict with the US.
The US/NATO are not in any way scared of Moscow or their nukes. This is how it looks to me at present.
<=The biggest challenge for the USA and its nation state partners is that the governed masses realize there is nothing about these wars that benefit the domestic components of the waring countries or their citizens, every bit of the wars are pillage seeking and wealth enrichment projects of the few undertaken at the expense of the masses.

Posted by: snake | Mar 8 2024 4:14 utc | 163

Well that’s ruined my dawn cuppa tea.
Nurse ! Nurse ! He’s got out of his padded kennel again!
Wandering around bare arsed spraying and pooping everywhere.
Looks likes he thinks he is Napoleon now and this time he is taking Moscow with a new genius plan.
The crazed K9 is spouting AI generated horoscopes now!
Like some demented shameless minion of the imperialist natzionazis hyena pack – the 5+1 Eyes and their hoary unipolar rules based order swirling down the khazarian kahzi leaving an awful stink hanging around the world – who ‘hunt’ and win only against a wounded isolated beast ; constantly yapping and screeching whilst pretending they’re a roaring pack of lions. Always ready to turn against each other.
Bark bark bark bark …etc
It’s too early- I’m going back to sleep see you after breakfast.

Posted by: DunGroanin | Mar 8 2024 5:16 utc | 165

Easy times for recruitment is long gone. Merely 20% of set quotas are filled at this point. Rising casualties on the front due to low training, low morale, shortage of weapons and ammo (any kind of support weapons).
This is why the war is nearing its effective end (of organized resistance) as far as usefulness to the west as a proxy against Russia goes.

Ukrainian people aren’t taking it anymore! In just the last few days we have the following incidents (scroll down for thread):
First, a commissar gets knocked out for trying to recruit fresh meat:
Next a commissar is reportedly stabbed to death during recruitment attempt:
These commissars get booted from the train station by angry man:
Now the commissar gets run over by a car when trying to recruit a villager on a horse in Chernivtsi
https://twitter.com/simpatico771/status/1765887558217510951

Posted by: unimperator | Mar 8 2024 6:10 utc | 167

eg The West’s (Ukraine) defeat will have the exact same geostrategic effects as if US/NATO had “given in” to Russia’s demands before, or at any point during, the war.
@ GW | Mar 8 2024 1:04 utc | 130
LD – Thanks GW, those 3 points your whole post were very good. I can see what you mean. LD
The answer is because they are afraid of Russian nukes, in many ways.
@ Posted by: UWDude | Mar 8 2024 1:07 utc | 131
LD – Yes I see ty. Maybe the US would be doing more if they weren’t afraid of Russia’s response with nukes etc. Yes in other ways they still push the envelope strongly, so I agree you you, in many ways the US do hold back. It is very hard to know their reasoning, if only there was a fly on the wall. It would be good to knwo what they really think. vs the public statements.
re ….but I think the stakes are too high for Russia to lose. I think Ukraine is more important for Russia than it is for the West, so the West will blink first.
@ Posted by: James M. | Mar 8 2024 1:38 utc | 135
LD – Thx for your whole comment which make good sense to me. The above is very good imo. That’s how I see it too. They won’t lose or step back, whereas the US/Nato is not existential so they have leeway to walk away, and not get caught in a position where they might lose badly. Notwithstanding GWs comments which I think are sound.
However, I still wonder what the US/Nato have planned as an insurgency if/when UKR does fold? The Iraqis made a mess of US/Nato forces in Iraq for some time, until they bribed them with Cash to stop.
…. UAVs are cheap, air defense missiles are not, and at some point the production of the latter will be outstripped by the rate of launches of the former.
@ shаdοwbanned | Mar 8 2024 1:38 utc | 136
LD – Really good points about the drone attacks on Russia , and yes they getting worse, especially against the navy ships. Another way an “insurgency” would keep draining Russia and unsettling any ‘win’ over Ukr on the battlefield. THX of the comments.
A leader has to balance many different considerations. — Now this will probably finish in one of two ways – Russia in Odessa, or Putin in the Hague. Which is more likely? I’m still betting on the former.
@ James M. | Mar 8 2024 1:58 utc | 142
LD – Very good points imo.
Beyond that, prolong the war and keep bleeding the Russian hating lunatics. We’ll see a lot of governments fall. Surely in Germany. Already seeing it in Slovakia and Netherlands. EU elections next up.
@ MikeB | Mar 8 2024 2:43 utc | 147
LD – Mike is this what you really think their main aim is besides securing the land bridge to Crimea? To drain them and destabilize them as much as possible along the way (to stopping UKR join nato)? iow to over time maybe find more agreement capable and sane leaders in the EU arena?
Whereas the West has *lost so much military face, and not gained a single goal to date, other than putting Europe into an economic spin and getting a few little Baltic-Scandi pussies into NATO
@ Jake Blanchard | Mar 8 2024 3:21 utc | 152
LD – Thanks Jake. Good response. especially *win / *lose items – I tried to included the parameters of what I thought Russia had set as it “goals” which would define a ‘Win’ for them – I couldn’t see any other way to frame the comment or the questions at the end. And so on a cost-benefit analysis is why I concluded the US/Nato was ahead evne if they ‘lose UKR’, despite Russia not losing, at this point or in the near future. I didn;t want to look past a year from now. Gets too geopolitical then.
However, your point above has merit as a far the US/Nato ‘losing’ on that score. Perhaps I had undervalued that aspect.
Ukraine is just a battle. To understand the war you have to be familiar with Dugin in Russia and Vigano in Europe.
@ Posted by: MikeB | Mar 8 2024 3:21 utc | 153
LD – Yes, one could put it that way instead of a “war/smo” — the real war russia/usa is bigger, which I tried to touch on without getting bogged down in it. I’m trying ti figure was Putin’s decision the right one regarding UKR in 2022 …. can he at least get a win there?
Thanks to everyone for your generous comments. LD

Posted by: Lavrov’s Dog | Mar 8 2024 6:22 utc | 169

The fatal assumption of these ‘inevitable decline scenarios’ are that they always use basic forms of trend analysis which, whilst useful, never takes into account historical events which have radically changed those trends.
Posted by: Milites | Mar 7 2024 23:04 utc | 120
—
They’re not saving and extra ration card for you.

Posted by: too scents | Mar 8 2024 6:30 utc | 171

Passions on the border of Poland and Ukraine are growing daily, as people are losing money and orders. Many are losing business.
Ukraine loses more than 10, or even 12-15 billion hryvnias monthly (if we take into account the loss of profits of workers and businesses, which they would then spend within the country).
Zelensky, as we see, cannot do anything, since real weight has been lost.
As the source says: “the West has made it clear that it is only interested in Ukraine as a military battering ram against Russia and the partners are not interested in any kind of “future” for the Ukrainians. They will not build or develop anything. The role of Ukraine as a “kamikaze” or “gray zone” country suits them.
Zelensky, of course, will not tell the Ukrainians about this. They don’t want to fight anyway, and even more so in this situation.
Sooner or later, society will realize this, and then Zelensky will feel all the hatred of people for bringing them to the “bottom” for the sake of his personal ambitions.

https://t.me/legitimniy/17406

Posted by: Down South | Mar 8 2024 6:40 utc | 173

🧩 Kuleba and Zaluzhny.
Zaluzhny’s new boss, head of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, Kuleba, mockingly commented on the appointment of the former commander-in-chief:
“I am convinced that Zaluzhny will be one of the most respected figures and will bring a lot of benefits not only in terms of bilateral relations with Britain, but also for behind-the-scenes diplomacy with the countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America,” the minister said during the telethon.
Kuleba also said that after conversations with Zaluzhny, “he became convinced that the soul of the former commander-in-chief lies in diplomatic work.”
Okay, not to the stationery🤷
“One of the key requirements was precisely an understanding of the military context”
Zaluzhny’s type suited him in terms of the level of this knowledge.
It’s hard to imagine greater bullying, but Za went along with it and agreed. Now the Office will squeeze out maximum humiliation in order to lower the general’s rating as deeply as possible.

https://t.me/ZeRada1/18517

Colleagues, our sources reported yesterday that Zaluzhny has not yet given a final answer to Zelensky, and now we are seeing public pressure from the Office of the President to remove the ex-Commander-in-Chief from his neutral status. Now Zaluzhny no longer has the opportunity to be above the fray and he must react publicly.
Bankova has calculated everything, the information campaign began before the weekend and will gain momentum against the former Commander-in-Chief, humiliating his status and merits.

https://t.me/rezident_ua/21943

Posted by: Down South | Mar 8 2024 6:56 utc | 175

Posted by: Lex | Mar 8 2024 0:20 utc | 125
The guy is a manager for IMF in Ukraine. Possibly overseeing a lucrative international venture on behalf of handful influential shareholders. Almost decade ago IMF told RU to go pound send in regards to money they landed to Yanukovych (on record). IMF is simply after collateral and nothing else in Ukraine, since they consider Ukrainians as “dead wood for burning” . All their bailouts come with unavoidable strings & conditions attached, unless they get settled earlier with agreed premiums. RU got out of IMF bailout earlier and quite aware of the rules and consequences. So to say, RU takes it’s turn to tell IMF to go pound send… Or (!) Ukrainian president is a double/triple/quadruple agent for all parties involved and worth saving, which is sort of quite common among chosen ones as history tells…

Posted by: Alex Vadim | Mar 8 2024 7:22 utc | 177

HB_Norica | Mar 7 2024 16:55 utc | 21
This is a good post and I agree, but I want to add some things that are key. You can say “good apprentices are hard to find” but the problem isn’t necessary the people, it’s that the people no longer (rightfully) have faith it’ll the job will take care of them, that they can retire, that they can buy a house and raise a family. When rents are $2000 or housing is $500,000 for a 2br in Podunk Cornbum, Ohio, when healthcare deductibles are $50,000, when there’s no hope of retiring into “Golden Years”, those $30-45/hr trade wages aren’t so enticing to really get the masses hyped up. It’s not the people, on the individual level, that’s the issue.
Capitalists killed the unions, the pensions, the community, and the industrial base and privatized all ‘Third Places’, all in name of a profit — those ramifications are felt socially and deeply so. Behavior comes downstream of the environment. You can’t change behavior, but you can change the environment; however, it takes a long time.

Posted by: Liquefaction | Mar 8 2024 7:44 utc | 179

⚡️🇷🇺🇺🇦⚔️ Frontline #Summary for the Morning of 8 March 2024; pub. 10:02⚡️
🔹On the #Zaporozhye Front, the AFU is ⚠️transferring reserves to #Rabotino in order to dislodge Russian troops from their positions in the village, with a possible further counterattack along the #Rabotino – #Novoprokopovka – #Verbovoye line. Fighting continues in the village itself. Artillery from both sides is active. The line of contact has ⚠️not changed significantly. (Fig. 1)
🔹On the #Donetsk Front, the RF Armed Forces continue successful assault operations in #Novomikhaylovka. In addition to ⚠️advances in the township itself from the southeast, Russian forces attacked the Ukrainian garrison on the southwestern outskirts of the village.
▪️ From the southwestern side of the #Pobeda settlement there are oncoming battles. (⚠️AFU is in the village)
▪️ In #Georgiyevka, the RF Armed Forces are trying to build on yesterday’s success on both sides of the reservoir.
▪️ In #Krasnogorovka, with the support of long range weapons, the RF Armed Forces continue to ⚠️advance from the southern side of the town.
▪️ In the area of #Nevelskoye (⚠️village itself is AFU controlled) there are oncoming battles. As a result of assault operations, the Russian forces managed to ⚠️advance from the northeastern side of the #Pervomayskoye settlement.
▪️ In #Orlovka (⚠️most of it is RFAF controlled) , the AFU put up fierce resistance, clinging to the western outskirts located on the heights, which allows them to actively fire at the Russian troops from long range weapons. Ukrainian reserves also continue to arrive here. The situation is similar in the area of #Semyonovka (⚠️ AFU controlled) and #Berdychi (⚠️most of it is AFU controlled), where fierce oncoming battles continue. (Fig. 2)
🔹In the #Bakhmut Direction, the RF Armed Forces, supported by long range weapons, continue to ⚠️advance in the area of #Kleshcheyevka and #Bogdanovka. Fighting continues in #Ivanovskoye (#Krasnoye). The RF Armed Forces are ⚠️advancing from the eastern and southeastern direction, trying to dislodge the AFU from the western side of the settlement. (Fig.3)
🔹On the #Lugansk Front, Russian troops, supported by artillery, continue their assaults near #Yampolovka and #Terny, trying to break through to these settlements. The frontline has ⚠️not changed significantly. (Fig. 4)

https://t.me/sitreports/24178

Posted by: Down South | Mar 8 2024 8:06 utc | 181

Shadowbanned is telling the truth. Most of the people do not like truth but to follow the narrative.

Posted by: vargas | Mar 8 2024 8:42 utc | 183

Posted by: boneless | Mar 7 2024 21:30 utc | 98
Speaking of lobotomized western leaders.
Dmitry Orlov put it very well, when asked about Stoltenberg saying that Nato needs to give Ukraine more weapons because Navalny died.
Dmitry Orlov said it’s just a song they sing, neurons are firing somewhere producing the same song.
Posted by: unimperator | Mar 7 2024 21:44 utc | 102
Stoltenberg always strikes one who has bigger issues than being just socially
awkward.Or communicates in a language he’s not comfortable with.
Deeper than that!

Posted by: jpc | Mar 8 2024 8:49 utc | 185

Posted by: Melaleuca | Mar 7 2024 22:39 utc | 112
Great post, a real witch’s brew around ZNPP motives.

Posted by: anon2020 | Mar 8 2024 9:45 utc | 187

In watching the noises coming out of UK, the Brits will be desperate to get US back into the war against Russia before the US election. US deep state most likely split but seem to be backing Trump for war on China. The Brits will no doubt be working with the Biden faction of the deep state, as with the Steele dossier.
EU also sees Trump as a disaster for them. Perhaps this will die down a bit after the Russian election, but looks like the Brits and Euro’s are determined to get a larger war going before the US election. The desperate noises seem to have ramped up now that its virtually a sure thing Trump is the repub candidate.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Mar 8 2024 10:08 utc | 189

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Mar 8 2024 10:08 utc | 186
The British agents in the Baltics and Finland are already causing all sort of provocations in Russia.
Of course, ultimately the bill will drop on those countries before the British, as they allow British agents to freely attack Russia.

Posted by: unimperator | Mar 8 2024 10:22 utc | 191

@ rk | Mar 8 2024 7:39 utc | 175
That “different guy” is the commander-in-chief, who outlined goals for the military operation to be executed by said military. I suppose it must not matter who anybody is if they stand in the way of your manufactured arguments and complaints.

Posted by: boneless | Mar 8 2024 10:29 utc | 193

unimperator | Mar 8 2024 10:22 utc | 188
There was a drone attack in St Petersburg I think that came in from the sea, across the Gulf of Finland? or so it was reported.
British influence operations throughout the old eastern block since the collapse of the Soviet union has been equal to and I think far larger than US influence operations in that area. It is likely the same in Scandinavia.
I see the Brits are ramping naval and FPV drone production for ‘Ukraine’.
Something for the Brits to keep in mind is that S-500 is now in production and deployment having passed its last tests. Last test was taking down a sub launched ICBM. Once those are fully deployed, UK is without a ‘nuclear deterrent’. I can see them getting hit hard before all this is done and dusted.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Mar 8 2024 10:56 utc | 195

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Mar 8 2024 10:56 utc | 192
Given the result of the last British test with the trident, RF could keep the s500 for other targets. 😂

Posted by: Mario | Mar 8 2024 11:12 utc | 197

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Mar 8 2024 | 186 and 192
EU also sees Trump as a disaster for them. .. looks like the Brits and Euro’s are determined to get a larger war going before the US election. The desperate noises seem to have ramped up now that its virtually a sure thing Trump is the repub candidate.
I see the Brits are ramping naval and FPV drone production for ‘Ukraine’.
In 1865 when the USA was in the way of British Aristocratic intentions, its president [@ the time=Lincoln] was assassinated, when the Brit aristocracy was nearly defeated by Germany, and the Brits wanted the USA to come to their rescue in Europe in 1916, the British imposed false and misleading propaganda and control of the then President [Wilson] of the USA to accomplish the task, when the British wanted to control the oil and gas in the middle east they installed Israel. The aristocracy accomplished its goals, at the expense of the well being of the British masses.

Posted by: snake | Mar 8 2024 11:25 utc | 199