Id say its pretty embarrassing for the worlds greatest and strongest alliance, aka nato, throwing all their financial and military support into the ukraine, and still unable to expell the gas station out of crimea for how many years now?
Worlds strongest indeed.

Posted by: Justpassinby | Aug 22 2024 15:52 utc | 103

Since 2014 is the answer, and the gas station is still there.

Posted by: Justpassinby | Aug 22 2024 16:04 utc | 105

98 – Maybe they should be encouraged to go deep into Russia, and then the Russians cut them off at the knees.

Posted by: Waldorf | Aug 22 2024 16:08 utc | 107

If we’re going to play at retrospective forecasting, who in 2022 would have predicted Ukraine’s calamitous financial position? Who would have bought the bonds back then expecting to have to take a huge “haircut” two years later? Who do they sue?

Posted by: Jeremy Rhymings-Lang | Aug 22 2024 16:13 utc | 109

@109 oh I see this is a sports contest, and you are supposed to ignore reality in order to support your team?
Posted by: Chessmaster Z | Aug 22 2024 16:07 utc | 111
You have answered. Pity, a witty guy like you, but with corrupt conscience.

Posted by: burak | Aug 22 2024 16:16 utc | 111

I thought this war was being fought to the last Ukrainian.
Posted by: Ed4 | Aug 22 2024 16:17 utc | 119
###########
One would hope, given your last several hundred comments, that you might slow down on your “I think” stuff.
Not only are you as dumb as the rest of us, you may be even dumber because you don’t recognize the boundaries of your understanding.

Posted by: LoveDonbass | Aug 22 2024 16:19 utc | 113

Posted by: Justpassinby | Aug 22 2024 15:52 utc | 107 “aka nato, throwing all their financial and military support into the ukraine”
“all”
Pretty funny.

Posted by: Ed4 | Aug 22 2024 16:22 utc | 115

The fear I have is that yet another suicide offensive is being planned far to the west of Kursk, this time with mostly Polish and French troops infiltrated in the Ukraine, and outfitted with UAF uniforms and NATO hardware…….
Since the Donetsk front is now in a collapse state of affairs, NATO is now in official panic mode. And while the UAF and Merc offensive in Kursk has suffered massive losses in manpower and equipment (now over 650 MBT, IFV, APC, Hunvees, Marders, supply trucks, and jeeps blown to bits and over 4500 KIA’s, and 5K WIAS’s), they continue to send reinforcements up the “Highway of Death”, the Sumy Road. Pure desperation here…..they are still hoping to capture the Kursk NPP (that rodeo is over).
I really feel deep down the next offensive is being UK/US/NATO directed at Russian territory to the West……….they have no hope now in the south and at Kursk…..its their last ditch…..kind of like the late 1944 Nazi counter attack against the First Shock Army in eastern Poland….doomed to fail……
The NATO group in London and DC must now be in a state shock………the last banzai charge is about to begin, fasten your seatbealts……..

Posted by: Tobias Cole | Aug 22 2024 16:33 utc | 117

Posted by: Chessmaster Z | Aug 22 2024 16:25 utc | 123
###########
I am not an American but I do understand some things about how you have been indoctrinated as we have all been indoctrinated by the circumstances of our upbringings.
That doesn’t change the fact that the Ukrainians are proud Nazis and that the Israelis are committing genocide.
As an adult (which I presume you are), how do you square supporting the American side in these conflicts when they have such glaring moral deficits?
That is ignoring the wisdom and capability of the Russian response. I do that on purpose because critics are dime a dozen, it’s much faster to get to the moral roots of who supports who and who hopes for which outcome.
Maybe the Russians lose. Maybe Pax America is reborn as Rome was several times. Maybe the Global South will line up to grab their ankles and get colonized and exploited all over again. I can entertain that is possible. Can you entertain that Russia, China, and Iran might collapse NATO and bring in a new and more uncertain future where countries operate without the shadow of a hegemon?

Posted by: LoveDonbass | Aug 22 2024 16:39 utc | 119

Posted by: unimperator | Aug 22 2024 15:21 utc | 101 winning the drone war
In my opinion, at the moment it appears that Ukraine is indeed ahead in the drone war. I say this primarily because of the deep strikes that Ukraine is mounting each week. They appear to have figured out that Russia can’t protect all of what Ukraine thinks are Russian strategic assists very well. **I think** (I know I have been told not to think by some here) that they are doing it in an attempt to raise the cost to Russia with a trickle down effect of hurting the Russian war effort.
Has anyone read “Instruments of Darkness: The History of Electronic Warfare, 1939-1945”? The drone war reminds me of what that book related in regard to the see-saw war where one side introduced something new in EW that gave them an advantage and the other side raced to counter it.

Posted by: ed4 | Aug 22 2024 16:42 utc | 121

Who is kidding who here…….Russia is producing massive amounts of ammo now, and has a robust supply chain/line from producers in NK, China, Iran and India.
Compare that with NATO, which has stripped its reserve stocks arty ammo, and has a very limited supply chain, with only one operating US 155mm plant in Scranton, Pa (now partially out of service after a serious fire last month). NATO has no margin of increased assistance.
F16’s you say? They are now in Romania, unable to launch against the RF because there is no base in the Ukraine capable of handling their huge service demands and requirements, and no ammo loads either. So is UAF going to fly combat sorties out of Romania bases, and risk an immediate Iskander air strikes on those bases? No way, no how. The F16’s are now a useless appendage………
RF has the big plus here, and is only getting stronger as ammo production and supply increases, and in fact has only committed 25% of its available manpower and aircraft and armor to the current fronts at Kursk and in the south.
If NATO wants to expand this war, it really still does not know or want to know what it faces……..the vast majority of RF reserve troops have not even been activated yet.
Sue for peace or face the consequences, the RF is holding four Aces……..

Posted by: Tobias Cole | Aug 22 2024 16:47 utc | 123

Milites@103…..do you actually play chess? Professional chess is played against the clock, amateur
chess players don’t use a clock and methodically plod along. Is Russia fighting Hillbillies? The day tripper into the Kursk region, why? Buy a villa and hang around?
Both NPPs are in play. The only logical bargaining chip that Britkraine has left in country is one or both NPPs…..or a decapitation strike…..always a possibility.
Cheers M
…..I see an uptick in Russia FABing Britkraine positions just north of the ZNP, rumors are a large concentration of Britkraine fodder has been amassed, with attendant armour……not sure if the Russians know it’s there.

Posted by: sean the leprechaun | Aug 22 2024 16:48 utc | 125

Milites made a good point recently. The reason why invasions of Russia do not work is the length of the logistical chain. With Iskanders, the Russians can disrupt trains and depots easily all over the map.
Getting 30,000 men (I don’t believe it was that many) into Kursk is a lot easier than keeping them there with bullets, food, freshwater, and cigarettes.
That doesn’t even speak to fuel and maintenance capabilities for armor.
Ok, Ukraine got into Kursk. Let’s say they piled 30,000 troops into Kursk.
What next?
As has been mentioned, the clock is ticking, and it is not ticking in NATO’s favor.

Posted by: LoveDonbass | Aug 22 2024 16:54 utc | 127

as a bavarian, i can only shake my head about what i just read.

Posted by: Justpassinby | Aug 22 2024 16:55 utc | 129

drone swarms
Posted by: Chessmaster Z | Aug 22 2024 15:38 utc | 105
—
“drone swarms” has a very specific meaning.
Don’t use the term if you don’t know what it means.

Posted by: too scents | Aug 22 2024 17:02 utc | 131

https://x.com/marionawfal/status/1826654809518473665?s=46&t=oXM3QUNDayEotvdo1W-zQA

BREAKING: MASSIVE FIRE AT RUSSIAN PORT AFTER UKRAINIAN STRIKE ON FUEL-LADEN FERRY
A catastrophic fire has erupted at Russia’s Kavkaz port after a Ukrainian strike on a ferry loaded with 30 fuel tanks.
The ferry, critically damaged, has sunk, sending shockwaves through one of Russia’s largest Black Sea ports.
Over 100 emergency personnel and a special train have been mobilized to battle the inferno.
The port is vital for Russia’s exports and fuel routes to Crimea.
Ukraine remains silent as Russian media share unverified images of the blaze.
Sources: Reuters, Agentis Geop

Good luck Russia. You’re gonna need it.

Posted by: bored | Aug 22 2024 17:10 utc | 133

@ bored | Aug 22 2024 17:10 utc | 143
Ahahaha.

Posted by: boneless | Aug 22 2024 17:13 utc | 135

bored of creating, applauding and enjoying massacres.
What an apt name for a servile vassal of our masters.

Posted by: Simon | Aug 22 2024 17:35 utc | 137

IMO the as yet not completely manifested reality is modern wars are drone wars. This neatly renders most of all national armys equipment and training useless actually dangerous. As we see anything thats a value target gets destroyed. This works very much in asymmetrical sources favor. What would have happened if the Taliban had drones? Lots and lots of USA casualties.
When and if Russia defeats Ukraine on a large conventional force measure this is what they will be left with. If Russia trysts to occupy all of Ukraine it will drain their resources. They simply do not have the logistics. If a portion of western Ukraine is left then it will constantly be resupplied with drones for use by the Ukrainians in asymmetric warfare. A border that can not be attacked but resupplies is a fundamental liability preventing victory. Like Pakistan in the Afganistan conflict.
All this is jumping the gun. Russia still has to take the Kramatorsk fortifications. To what end? What is the realistic scenario where western Ukraine is not a security threat to Russia? There isnt one and Russia is in denial. They went in thinking that Ukraine would see reason after a bit of force. That’s not the case.
Lets say Russia clears Kramatorsk. The early days where Russoa could use its artillery without them getting blown up by drones are over but let’s say they clear Kramatorsk and establish a 20 kilometer DMZ. On the other side will be a Ulraine constantly attacking. No security for Russia.
Let’s say Russia clears all of Ukraine. The logistics for that cont exist Russia would have to create them but let’s say they did. Now Russia is in a assymetrc war where the enemy has drone technology.
No security for Russia.
Its possible Russia simply kills thec majority of the Ukrainian troops. There will always be enough for asymmetrical warfare.
Russias only hope is financial collapse of the west. That is the only scenario where Russia has security. Until that happens the idea that the SMO can provide security for Russia is mistaken.
Perhaps Trump will find a way to end the conflict. It’s a lot more likely he finds a small aircraft accident.
All prejudices aside IMO the reality is that Russia is in a sticky wicket. Russians will continue to come home in body bags. The early days where Russia could use its massive artillery are over. Russia is left with the reality that drones even the playing field. As the Russian public realizes that the war is not winnable there is no solution to the security situation it will have effects. Right now they think the war will be won and they will have security. That’s not the situation. This is going to go on a long long time if it does not escalate to nuclear conflict. Uktaine will not be neutral. There is no effective means of making Ukraine nuetral any more than making Afghanistan a neo liberal society.
Putin is getting old. In six years Ukraine will not be solved. What happens when his calm non escalation is gone. There are no solutions. The Gaza solution is not a solution either and that was known from the begining.it is impossible legally for Russia to give back the donbass but even if they did in a negotiated settlement Ukraine would not be nuetral. Dead Ukrainians is not a motivator. I ask again what is the motivation for a nuetral Ukraine?
This situation goes on idefimatly. Many many things may happen but IMO Ukraine neutrality and security for Russia is not a realistic scenario. Even western financial collapse may not end the conflict. It may in actuality create a situation that encourages escalation to nuclear conflict.
Declaring Ukraine nuetral is the only thing that would provide Russian security. Even if it happened that leaves Poland Romania and now Finland. Declaring Ukraine nuetral would not happen vianegotiated settlement even if Russia gave up the donbass and the southern half of Russia. Slav killing slav. They like this situation. Ukrainian deaths are not a negative for the neo liberal globalists. No reason to end and every reason to continue. To the last Ukrainian literally.

Posted by: dogowoof | Aug 22 2024 17:45 utc | 139

The only thing clear from this appalling tragedy is that our narcissistic Masters will die of laughter.

Posted by: Simon | Aug 22 2024 17:50 utc | 141

@152 China is obviously not trying to weaken Russia. The Chinese government just doesn’t get the concept of an ally. “What, I have to do something that goes against my interests to help this other country? Why would I do that? I can bargain down the price of natural gas for our factories, why wouldn’t I do that? Our car companies can raise prices in Russia because Hyundai withdrew. Why wouldn’t they do that?” And Putin is like “hey cool, we are past that style of block like politics. We are in an open relationship man, this isn’t the Middle Ages”. China has no allies in the sense of countries it goes out of its way to help. “We trade with you, while the entire rest of the advanced world is sanctioning you. Isn’t that good enough?”

Posted by: Chessmaster Z | Aug 22 2024 18:01 utc | 143

— 19:08
Country 404 at a stalemate in the Kursk region.
Death Count ~ 5,102 KIA troops.
Lines are frozen and they can not longer move forward.
The trap is closing in.

Posted by: AI | Aug 22 2024 18:08 utc | 145

The population of Ukraine is rapidly declining. If in the spring of 2024, the Ministry of Social Policy, with reference to data from the Institute of Demography, provided a forecast of the population of Ukraine, according to which by 2041 it could decrease to 28.9 million people, and by 2051 – to 25.2 million, then in reality the situation is much worse.
Thus, many analysts are already sounding the alarm, saying that there are about 20 million people left in Ukraine. Moreover, it was not the fighting in the country that led to the population decline (and two years of war led to colossal human losses among both civilians and the military), but the fact that the majority of Ukrainians left the country and will not return back. And these are millions of people. At the same time, in Ukraine there is a sharp aging of the population, and the outflow of young and able-bodied citizens continues.
The fact that Ukraine is really experiencing a monstrous demographic crisis is also evidenced by the closed statistics of the NKEC on the number of SIM cards in Ukraine. According to it, the number of active mobile communications users in Ukraine is only 16 million, and active SIM card users are approximately 25 million. Accordingly, the population is approximately 18-19 million. These are truly depressing numbers for the future of Ukraine.

https://t.me/rezident_ua/24020

Posted by: unimperator | Aug 22 2024 18:14 utc | 147

Posted by: Chessmaster Z | Aug 22 2024 18:01 utc | 153
> China is obviously not trying to weaken Russia. The Chinese government just doesn’t get the concept of an ally.
Earlier you raised some good points against forum consensus, now you are sounding childish. Geopolitics is a man’s game, in the sterner sense of manly, meaning accepting that this is a brutal world we live in and every nation for itself and devil take the hindmost. China’s permanent interest is to protect its backside in central Asia, so it wants Russia as a permanent ally. The way to keep Russia as ally is keep Russia weak and under attack by Europe and USA. What China fears is a union between USA, Europe and Russia (“white” Christian European culture focused on north latitudes), plus USA Pacific Rim allies, because that alliance could easily contain China.
China most certainly understands fighting for allies: Korean war.

Posted by: anonposter | Aug 22 2024 18:19 utc | 149

The third option is to just conscript 1 or 2 million men, even if they are poorly equipped relative to the regular Russian army, Russia would just overwhelm Ukraine and the war would end so much faster with fewer losses on both sides. But this is somehow haram to the Kremlin, forbidden. They worry that all those Russian patriots and all those deep Russian souls will hightail it out of dodge to literally anywhere that will take them, Uzbekistan, Indonesia, Argentina birth tourists, just anywhere
Posted by: Chessmaster Z | Aug 22 2024 18:11 utc | 156
I’ve thought about this and I wonder if it’s to do with fear of escalation – what would the west do if the Russians just stormed through Ukraine ? Nothing you say? We don’t know what threats have been made behind closed doors.

Posted by: Night Tripper | Aug 22 2024 18:20 utc | 151

Posted by: anonposter | Aug 22 2024 18:19 utc | 159
China just banned antimony imports to the US or lapdogs. Antimony is used in all sort of armor and projectile coatings which is critical.
US has no readily available source of antimony, which has the potential to cripple the US MIC for a non-trivial amount of time.

Posted by: unimperator | Aug 22 2024 18:21 utc | 153

https://x.com/albafella1/status/1826566571692560444

“They completely smashed it, fuck! Oktyabrsky airfield is fucked! And they’re still ironing it out. Everything is exploding, fuck!” Marinovka military airfield, Volgograd region. Re-inclusion of a special correspondent from the site of the Ukrainian drones’ arrival. Warehouses with KABs and fuel were destroyed at the airfield that night, Marinovka was actively used by the enemy to bomb the front line. Also, according to OSINT analysts, there could have been 29 aircraft at the airfield: 14 Su-24s and 15 Su-34s.

This is backed up by videos on the site. Pointing out the fact that Russia needs to get its act together or it’s gonna get bled white is considered trolling now?

Posted by: bored | Aug 22 2024 18:22 utc | 155

@ Yrsha | Aug 22 2024 18:21 utc | 162
When one starts sounding like someone who got every foreign policy call wrong for the entirety of their five decade long political career, maybe it’s time to rethink one’s approach. Only if one is a genuine actor and not a propagandist tasked with spewing narratives while avoiding any interactions, of course.

Posted by: boneless | Aug 22 2024 18:25 utc | 157

@159 I’m not talking about 1950 Maoist China. China in 2024 is not that country. Show me one Chinese ally in 2024? A country China helps in a way that is not in its immediate mercantilist interest?
The Chinese leadership is also dumb as a rock as far as I am concerned. It’s extremely clearly being telegraphed that China is next in line if Putin gets couped and we get a Yeltsin 2.0. Not only that, but a friendly Russia in the event of a China-USA war would almost completely solve the issue of an American naval blockade. China could get all the natural resources it needs through its enormous land border with Russia, and a lot of the food it would need as well. Instead China is running a play through where it is attempting world domination without a single real ally. Good luck with that

Posted by: Chessmaster Z | Aug 22 2024 18:28 utc | 159

It’s like the second coming in here. And here I thought it was about to get boring again.

Posted by: boneless | Aug 22 2024 18:32 utc | 161

That story about the rail ferry seems kosher:
The fate of 15 crew members of the ship attacked in the port of Kavkaz is unknown. According to media reports, 15 people who were on board the ferry Conroe Trader with fuel tanks went missing after the Ukrainian Armed Forces struck it with a Neptune missile.
https://t.me/intelslava/65425

Posted by: YetAnotherAnon | Aug 22 2024 18:34 utc | 163

Posted by: The Zenit | Aug 22 2024 18:30 utc | 170

Here is Marinovka. Strategic and gone.
“>https://twitter.com/MyLordBebo/status/1826684265251451187

From a pro Russian telegram site :
https://t.me/llordofwar/368029

Satellite images of damage to the Marinovka airfield after the Ukrainian Armed Forces attack
❗️Photos published by Ukrainian TG channels
The information has not been confirmed, the condition of the aircraft is still unknown

The airfield was definitely hit and suffered massive damage.

Posted by: bored | Aug 22 2024 18:36 utc | 165

Things are happening so fast, it’s hard to keep up.

Lord Of War
Forwarded from
| CombatArea |
0:03
‼️BREAKING‼️
Heavy exlosions followed my massive fires at the Port Kavkaz on the Chushka Spit in Krasnodar Krai, #Russia
#Ukraine has reportedly struck the port on the eastern side of the Kerch Strait using newly modified Neptune missiles
Awaiting further details

US/NATO/Ukraine aren’t playing around.

Posted by: bored | Aug 22 2024 18:46 utc | 167

It is Russia’s primitive ISR that allows Ukraine to move and nato’s hundreds of satellites and thousands of analysts to see very Russian movement ahead of time.
Posted by: Chessmaster Z | Aug 22 2024 14:47 utc | 92
#############
You guys really can’t help yourselves. It’s 50% funny, 50% mentally handicapped, and not bad for a bunch of Nazi-worshipping degenerates.
What Russia lacks in high-end ISR, it makes up for with HUMINT. HUMINT that NATO cannot match.
See Poland and Romania last week.

Posted by: LoveDonbass | Aug 22 2024 18:53 utc | 169

The ass-kissers of our Masters who appear here have expressed their wish: they dream of a great mobilization in Russia.
They do not think any more about the cattle formed by our fellow citizens. The pawns to be sacrificed in the Ukrainian Gambit are the Ukrainians.

Posted by: Simon | Aug 22 2024 18:57 utc | 171

Posted by: LoveDonbass | Aug 22 2024 18:53 utc | 180 “See Poland and Romania last week.”
Looks like Ukraine has some of that too. There are partisan attacks in Russia and I am not talking about the parts of Ukraine that Russia just grabbed – where there is open fighting.

Posted by: Ed4 | Aug 22 2024 19:05 utc | 173

It looks like it is a more a matter of cost
Posted by: Ed4 | Aug 22 2024 19:00 utc | 183
—
If it were simply a matter of cost there would be reflected by a broad transparent market.
That market doesn’t exist.

Posted by: too scents | Aug 22 2024 19:09 utc | 175

there would be reflected
there would be reflected
—
that would be reflected

Posted by: too scents | Aug 22 2024 19:10 utc | 177

@”Chessmaster Z”
Oh shit, another brainless American who knows exactly how to do things. I’m sure the Russian government is so, so sad to not have access to your expert advice.

Posted by: Roland | Aug 22 2024 19:20 utc | 179

Look at the effort the NAFO trolls are putting into narrative management!
Things must be going even worse for them than appearances would suggest.

Posted by: William Gruff | Aug 22 2024 19:24 utc | 181

Holy Shit b! This current infestation of bar fleas is bigger than than any other in the decade plus I have been a regular at the bar.
What a hoot! What do they hope to accomplish?
I am glad they seem only to be paid to BS about Ukraine. It really must be on its last leg.
Where are the F 16s?

Posted by: psychohistorian | Aug 22 2024 19:25 utc | 183

Chessmaster Z | Aug 22 2024 18:28 utc | 169
The Chinese leadership is also dumb as a rock as far as I am concerned. It’s extremely clearly being telegraphed that China is next in line if Putin gets couped and we get a Yeltsin 2.0. Not only that, but a friendly Russia in the event of a China-USA war would almost completely solve the issue of an American naval blockade.
That dumb as a rock Chinese leadership has overseen perhaps the most amazing economic development since the Industrial Revolution, if not in the whole of world history.
I agree that this isn’t the time for China to be messing around with gas prices and Power of Siberia. But China are attempting a balancing act akin to what Turkey are doing, but on a global scale. I’m sure the Chinese know that at some stage either the US accepts that China is now the world hegemon, or full economic (if not military) war breaks out.
But meanwhile China is increasingly dominating world markets. They know the break will come sooner or later, but the longer it’s delayed, the stronger China becomes and the weaker “the West” becomes.
Today they announced restrictions on antimony exports, which from now on will need approval. The break gets a bit closer.
Antimony’s significance lies in its unique properties, which make it essential for producing hardened alloys used in weaponry and a key component in semiconductors, displays, and flame retardants.
https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/chinas-new-export-controls-on-key-chipmaking-materials-could-lead-to-chip-pricing-hikes

Posted by: YetAnotherAnon | Aug 22 2024 19:30 utc | 185

Posted by: Chessmaster Z | Aug 22 2024 19:13 utc | 190
>Most Russians just want to enjoy their lives and could give a shit about national greatness, Ruski Mir or nato encroachment when push comes to shove. Putin won’t get couped by the patriots because they have no deep strength or support inside Russia.
As with the USA and China, it’s the Russian deep state (military and internal security forces) that has deciding power.
In the USA, deep state defers to wall street because deep staters go to work for big corporations after retirement or have relatives in big corporations.
In Russia, oligarchs previously were in a position to bribe deep state to launch coups, but Russian deep state has become united against outsiders as a result of the war and now would turn viciously on any deep stater who dared betray the collective deep state. This effectively defangs oligarch power.
Russian deep state has one overriding interest: maintain Russia as independent third ranking superpower, after USA and China. Russian deep state will dump Putin if he shows weakness in protecting that interest, and not otherwise. In retrospect, Ukraine war waa exactly what Russia needed to modernize its military and defang western leaning oligarchs who might allow Russia to be toppled from within. Thus Putin has strong confidence and support of Russian deep state.
It doesn’t matter how much Ukraine war costs Russia in blood or treasure. Deep staters everywhere are quick to expend national blood and treasure to protect their interests, because it is not their blood or treasure, but that of the common people, who never have any real power.

Posted by: anonposter | Aug 22 2024 19:32 utc | 187

Posted by: Chessmaster Z | Aug 22 2024 19:13 utc | 190
I don’t think the Ukrainians/Brits are trying to force a Russian escalation. They are trying to destabilize Putin domestically by showing how fucking weak he is.

There is also an explanation that is screamingly obvious (though don’t recall reading it anywhere):
NeoUkrainicon is on its last legs but this operation taking RF territory will no doubt help them squeeze more billions out of West, most going to Western MIC corporations of course, from which those behind this Kursk ‘flaccid bulge’ will get their cut – which latter item quite likely being one of the main drivers of this whole sorry business from the get-go.

Posted by: Scorpion | Aug 22 2024 19:41 utc | 189

Posted by: anonposter | Aug 22 2024 19:32 utc | 201
What you and westeners will never understand is that Putin is the deep state. Backed by the Russian people.

Posted by: Naive | Aug 22 2024 19:42 utc | 191

Posted by: dogowoof | Aug 22 2024 17:45 utc | 149
Very interesting post, thank you. I think one other factor you might consider is not Western financial collapse rather regime change so that it can become a healthy, sane partner. With substantive regime change, much of what ails the US can be remedied fairly quickly. I am now too cynical to expect this to happen but what if a second Trump administration, led by a man who has been grievously attacked, prosecutes serious reform such that much of the capture of the polity by Bad Actors is negated, a basic republic without such huge government and corporate capture is refashioned and the US can, as a sovereign state again, join in a new multinodal World Order? All that is required is to follow Jefferson’s prescription:
When once a Republic is corrupted, there is no possibility of remedying any of the growing evils but by removing the corruption and restoring its lost principles; every other correction is either useless or a new evil.
Could RFK Jr as Reform Czar or AG help spearhead such ‘removal of corruption’? Might the next Cabinet actually oversee shutting down many bloated Administrative State departments? Again, although I don’t expect this outcome, it is at least being openly discussed and could conceivably happen were there the political will to attempt it.

Posted by: Scorpion | Aug 22 2024 19:46 utc | 193

Russia is steadily moving forward, and you can almost hear Radakin asking himself: but what do I have to do to get Putin to change tack and throw some nukes around?

Posted by: Passerby | Aug 22 2024 19:53 utc | 195

Posted by: Passerby | Aug 22 2024 19:53 utc | 211
Russia could give Hezbollah some Iskanders to blow up the US bases in Syria and the British base in Cyprus. For maximum effect, time it when some juicy air tankers, cargo aircraft and fighters on the ground.

Posted by: unimperator | Aug 22 2024 19:58 utc | 197

Posted by: Naive | Aug 22 2024 19:42 utc | 207
>What you and westeners will never understand is that Putin is the deep state. Backed by the Russian people.
So we westerners are too dense to understand that a former KGB colonel is Russian deep state? I think you are the dense one here for suggesting such a thing.
The question is not whether Putin is deep state. The question is whether he faces significant factions within the Russian deep state who might try to overthrow him. At this point, not really. Some deep staters might disagree with him, but the disagreement is not profound enough for then to risk the wrath of majority of deep staters who don’t want a coup right now.

Posted by: anonposter | Aug 22 2024 20:15 utc | 199