How Ukraine overpays the company tens of millions of euros for weapons that are not received on time
The Ukrainian “defense industry” has never been “holy”. However, what is happening in this most secret and best-funded area after the start of a full-scale invasion is still difficult to call an effective and corruption-free system.
The completely understandable force majeure approach, when “everyone who could, carried everything they could” in the first year of the Russian offensive of Russia, has already cost our state billions of hryvnias lost or stolen. And this is only what at some point and not without the help of journalists became public.
At the beginning of the year, we set a goal to investigate what weapons Ukraine buys abroad, how, at what price, and where there are problems?
It must be admitted that then, in January – February 2024, almost all meetings and conversations did not end with anything but the fright of the interlocutors concerning these sensitive issues. Most of all, the UP sources were afraid to talk about “Spetstechnoexport”, a state-owned company-special reporter, which was taken under its control by the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine back in 2022.
Now, after 8 months of wandering around the offices, making phone calls, making acquaintances, and comparing notes, it can be argued that these issues are sensitive not only because of the fact that we are talking about arms purchases during the war. The cost of these weapons is often significantly inflated, billions of dollars of contracts are not always executed on time, and sometimes even transactions with signs of fraud occur.
Why? Because there is still no systematic and unified control over prices, and purchases are still handled not only by the Defense Procurement Agency, according to the promised NATO standards, but also by special contractors that are unknown to anyone and almost accountable to no one. Companies that simultaneously have the exclusive right to be representatives of our state abroad in this market.
The irony is that before the invasion, these companies sold Ukrainian weapons abroad (and that is why they had the status of special exporters), and after the invasion, they began to buy them abroad. But one thing is to inflate the price tag for a conditional Turkey or the United Arab Emirates, and another is when Ukraine is already paying for weapons.
Thus, specific people or companies, hiding behind the screen of strengthening their defense capability, can, on the contrary, weaken it.
Last week, while on an official visit to the United States, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky noted: : “we don’t have much time. The next few months will be decisive in the war.”
It is obvious that the parity of shells, mines, and other weapons, which for two and a half years of a full-scale war remains unattainable for Ukraine, has had, has and will continue to play a key role in this period.
It is also obvious that if there are problems with procurement that cause a shortage of weapons on the battlefield, then it is time to quickly solve them. Decide, regardless of who is behind this unprofitable or profitable business.
At the disposal of our editorial staff was a letter from the head of the special reporter until recently controlled by the GUR MO “Spetstechnoexport” Alexey Petrov to the Deputy Minister of Defense.
This letter indicates problems with the purchase of weapons. First, large defense contracts are not always executed on time, and second, public money is not always returned after contracts are not fulfilled.

https://www.pravda.com.ua/articles/2024/10/3/7477878/ (via Translation add-on.)

Posted by: Jeremy Rhymings-Lang | Oct 3 2024 15:23 utc | 3

Head of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service Naryshkin visited Baku on October 2-3 and met with Aliyev
Russian and Azerbaijani intelligence services recently prevented a “provocative threat” from the US against a Russian diplomat, — Head of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service Naryshkin.
He did not provide any other details.
The Russian Federation and Azerbaijan place special emphasis on countering attempts by Western intelligence agencies to undermine the internal situation in both countries, – the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service emphasized.
In addition, at a meeting with the head of the Foreign Intelligence Service of Azerbaijan, Naryshkin noted the importance of countering the use of non-systemic opposition by foreign intelligence services.

Posted by: guest | Oct 3 2024 15:32 utc | 5

I’m not totally convinced, Pepe is trigger happy when it comes to getting news out, you would think that even in ClownWorld military planning would be done by the military, but if ClownWorld had limits it would be no fun, and what is ClownWorld without fun?

McFaul, former US ambassador to Russia, designed the AFU attack on the Kursk Oblast together with fugitive Russian liberals – US elites directly supervised the invasion: Readovka
The AFU attack on the Kursk region was developed with the direct involvement of NATO’s Atlantic Council. In February, the organization held a military-strategic interactive, the participants of which tried to calculate Russia’s reaction to the invasion.
Former U.S. Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul was invited to the event, along with co-conspirators such as Chubais, Kasparov, Albats and other former Russian liberals. The letter with the invitation was found in the leaked mail of the ex-diplomat.
After an agonizing brainstorming session, the analysts came up with several scenarios, including Putin stepping down, a revolution in Russia, and the use of nuclear weapons.
“>https://t.me/rocknrollgeopolitics/13012

Posted by: LightYearsFromHome | Oct 3 2024 15:41 utc | 7

03.10.2024 (17:15)
Statement by Russian Defence Ministry
As a result of the decisive efforts of the Vostok Group of Forces, Ugledar (Donetsk People’s Republic) has been liberated.

https://eng.mil.ru/en/news_page/country/more.htm?id=12531595@egNews#txt

Posted by: Lantern Dude | Oct 3 2024 16:08 utc | 9

UGLEDAR LIBERATED
FREE DRINKS AT THE BAR ALL EVRNING PEOPLE…FREE DRINKS

Posted by: HERMIUS | Oct 3 2024 16:17 utc | 11

03.10.2024 (13:45)
Russian Defence Ministry reports on repelling AFU attempt to invade Russian territory in Kursk region (3 October 2024)
The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation continue the operation to neutralise an enemy group, which broke into the territory of Kursk region.
The Sever Group of Forces continued offensive and damaged formations of the 21st, 22nd, and 115th mechanised brigades, 17th Tank Brigade, 82nd and 95th airborne assault brigades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the 1st National Guard Brigade, the 36th Marine Brigade, as well as the 129th Territorial Defence Brigade near Daryino, Lyubimovka, Novy Put, Nikolayevo-Daryino, and Plekhovo.
Over the past 24 hours, the Sever Group of Forces repelled two enemy counter-attacks towards Plekhovo. As a result, the Armed Forces of Ukraine have lost up to 30 troops killed and wounded.
In addition, the enemy made five attempts to break through the border of the Russian Federation towards Novy Put. There was no violation of the State border. The AFU losses amounted to more than 60 troops killed and wounded; three armoured fighting vehicles and one motor vehicle were eliminated.
Army Aviation and artillery strikes inflicted losses on manpower and hardware clusters of the 22nd, 41st, 61st, and 115th mechanised brigades, 17th Tank Brigade, 80th and 95th air assault brigades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the 1st National Guard Brigade, the 36th Marine Brigade, as well as the 112th and 129th territorial defence brigades close to Bogdanovka, Daryino, Zeleny Shlyakh, Lyubimovka, Martynovka, Melovy, Nikolo-Daryino, Novoivanovka, Novy Put, Orlovka, Plekhovo, Pokrovsky, Russkoye Porechnoye, Sverdlikovo, Tolsty Lug, Cherkasskoye Porechnoye, and Yuzhny.
Operational-Tactical Aviation and Missile Troops hit concentration areas in Sumy region and reserves of the 21st, 41st, 47th, and 115th mechanised brigades of the AFU, 1st National Guard Brigade, as well as the 101st and 103rd territorial defence brigades near the Veliky Bobrik, Velikaya Chernetchina, Glukhov, Makeyevka, Obody, Pavlovka, Peremoga, Rechki, Sklyarovka, Studenok, and Ulanovo.
The AFU losses amounted to more than 300 troops, four armoured fighting vehicles, as well as six artillery guns, including two U.S.-made Paladin self-propelled artillery systems, one Swedish-made Archer self-propelled artillery system, and three motor vehicles.
Since the beginning of hostilities in Kursk region, the Armed Forces of Ukraine have lost more than 19,850 troops, 135 tanks, 66 infantry fighting vehicles, 98 armoured personnel carriers, 864 armoured fighting vehicles, 577 motor vehicles, 162 artillery guns, 33 MLRS launchers, including eight of HIMARS and six of MLRS made by the USA, nine SAM launchers, five transport-loading vehicles, 40 electronic warfare stations and nine counter-battery radars, three air defence radars, 19 engineering and other vehicles, including 11 counterobstacle vehicles, one UR-77 mine clearing vehicle, and two armoured recovery vehicles.
The operation to neutralise the AFU units is in progress.

Posted by: Rhymerez | Oct 3 2024 16:17 utc | 13

Not current events but interesting information and a useful channel.
https://t.me/rusengineer/5292

The agony of Kiev’s missile program.
The accuracy of our missile strikes has increased significantly, and this is becoming a huge problem for Kiev. And if they have lost equipment now, then my sources in the security forces of the occupiers of the Yekaterinoslav Region (still temporarily called the Dnipropetrovsk Region) told about the results of the summer missile strikes on Yuzhmash and the Yuzhnoye Design Bureau.
The outcome was catastrophic for the industry. More than 30 specialists, who were working on defense issues, were killed, more than 100 were wounded (I cannot publish the exact figures for the safety of sources, and of course all measures have been taken to ensure that they could not be disclosed by Ukrainian counterintelligence). Moreover, in addition to this, the physical results of their work, projects and documentation on paper and electronic media were destroyed. And part of the production assets.
As a result, the industry’s management is at a loss, trying to establish contacts with Turkey and South Korea to restore part of the capacity, but they are in no hurry to help. The management is trying to hide the remains of the team, the archive and the first department, relocate them to other objects, but comparing the data on the city and the requirements for work, it was not difficult to understand where exactly they moved. And who they hid behind from the young civilians. I can hint, who knows. There is such a specific building, with a bas-relief near the entrance.

Posted by: anon2020 | Oct 3 2024 16:42 utc | 15

Norwegian@1637
“Mange Takk” for the info on the most recent iteration of Vidkun Quisling, Jens $toltenberg.

Posted by: aristodemos | Oct 3 2024 17:22 utc | 17

@ Norwegian | Oct 3 2024 16:37 utc | 15
In the USA at least, such a case would be thrown out of court on the grounds that the plaintiff lacked standing to file the suit. I hope Belgian law is different.

Posted by: malenkov | Oct 3 2024 17:48 utc | 19

“the torture of a captured Russian fighter, are trying to persuade his mother Valentina Ivanchenko, ”
This was reported to TASS by human rights activist, head of the Federal Project on Security Vitaly Borodin.
Video in Russian
https://t.me/ZandVchannel/129253
Posted by: LightYearsFromHome | Oct 3 2024 15:36 utc | 7
Despite the morals of a snake Ukraine blackmail, the Russians have the handy Stalin response to negotiating for the skin of a relative. And as always, the Bear never forgets.

Posted by: kupkee | Oct 3 2024 17:54 utc | 21

Posted by: Larsbo | Oct 3 2024 15:12 utc | 3
………………………………….
Швабо, шта покушаваш да кажеш? Мало више би критиковао Русију или..?

Posted by: Preki | Oct 3 2024 17:59 utc | 23

Nato too jittery – to defend Ukrainian airspace.
“On Thursday, Zelensky met with the new NATO secretary-general, Mark Rutte, who hastened to Kiev just two days after taking over the job from the bloc’s decade-long head Jens Stoltenberg.
“We will continue to convince our partners of the need to shoot down Russian missiles and drones,” Zelensky told reporters, noting that “they are not ready yet.”
Kiev has been trying to get NATO countries to extend their air defense envelopes into Ukrainian territory for months, arguing that the missile systems donated by the West can’t cope with the incoming Russian fire.
Ukraine even signed a security pact with Poland with that provision in July, only for Warsaw to backtrack, citing the need for consultations with NATO.”

Posted by: Republicofscotland | Oct 3 2024 18:24 utc | 25

Seems, time has come for our man in Ukraine, one Mr. Z to be scripaled by his best friendos from MI6. At least that’s what Pool #3 is insinuating:

Former US Army Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson on Zelensky’s own people wanting to kill him: I think Zelensky has only a few days left. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it now. Whether it’s a bullet in the forehead or an escape in the middle of the night with a bag of money under his arm to one of the dachas that, I have no doubt, are standing ready.
This all reminds me of what we’re talking about with the Kim dynasty in North Korea. They have dachas all over the world, filled with Swiss chocolate, great beer, great wine, and all the rest of it.
I think he’s going to run away. And one of the reasons he’s traveling so much now isn’t just because he’s desperately calling for help: He just doesn’t want to be in a place where he might get shot.
It is safe to assume that there are already people discussing the configuration of the government after Zelinsky’s departure. But I also strongly suspect that the very first goal of any group formed – both elected and seized power – is a ceasefire, a relaxation of military laws and negotiations. In this order, perhaps day after day, but it will be quite fast. Or there will be nothing left of Ukraine.
Subscribe to PUL N3

Posted by: Boo | Oct 3 2024 18:57 utc | 27

Not current events but interesting information and a useful channel.
https://t.me/rusengineer/5292

The agony of Kiev’s missile program.
The accuracy of our missile strikes has increased significantly, and this is becoming a huge problem for Kiev. And if they have lost equipment now, then my sources in the security forces of the occupiers of the Yekaterinoslav Region (still temporarily called the Dnipropetrovsk Region) told about the results of the summer missile strikes on Yuzhmash and the Yuzhnoye Design Bureau.
The outcome was catastrophic for the industry. More than 30 specialists, who were working on defense issues, were killed, more than 100 were wounded (I cannot publish the exact figures for the safety of sources, and of course all measures have been taken to ensure that they could not be disclosed by Ukrainian counterintelligence). Moreover, in addition to this, the physical results of their work, projects and documentation on paper and electronic media were destroyed. And part of the production assets.
As a result, the industry’s management is at a loss, trying to establish contacts with Turkey and South Korea to restore part of the capacity, but they are in no hurry to help. The management is trying to hide the remains of the team, the archive and the first department, relocate them to other objects, but comparing the data on the city and the requirements for work, it was not difficult to understand where exactly they moved. And who they hid behind from the young civilians. I can hint, who knows. There is such a specific building, with a bas-relief near the entrance.
Posted by: anon2020 | Oct 3 2024 16:42 utc | 16

It’s highly doubtful that the new “Ukrainian” missiles are actually produced at Yuzhmash.
Much more likely they are made in places like South Korea and then presented as “Ukrainian”.
Having said that, I would not put it past the Kremlin to just let them do it without striking it. It would be far from the most egregious example of self-sabotage on the Russian side in the history of the SMO/not-war. But still, the safer bet is on those being Western-supplied missiles
There is one other issue with that post though — the phrase “Yekaterinoslav Region (still temporarily called the Dnipropetrovsk Region)”. If you are supposedly on the Russian side and you have a problem with the name Dnepropetrovsk and want to revert it to Yekaterinoslav, you are not one of the good guys in this story. For those that don’t know the history, the city of Dnepropetrovsk was renamed “Dnipro” after 2014 as part of “decommunization”. But the region could not be renamed because that requires a change in the constitution of Ukraine, which is a difficult procedure. Same situation with Kirovograd Oblast/Kropyvnytskyi. In the case of Dnepropetrovks, Yekaterinoslav is the old Tsarist name.

Posted by: 1917 | Oct 3 2024 19:03 utc | 29

Haven’t watched it yet but saw a YT title with Mercouris that Putin ignored Scholz call, few days back he let Netanyahu’s call ring and ring. Putin’s feeling cocky. Finally doing what I thought Russia should have done from day one, go dark, dark and scary. Guess they felt they needed to win some good sentiments, hearts and minds, in the RoW first. They must feel they gained that now and have the wind to their backs in Ukraine. Not picking up the phone is a good power play at this point in time. Soon all the bastards will have trembling hands.
Posted by: LightYearsFromHome | Oct 3 2024 19:06 utc | 31

Delusional nonsense. Mercouris is a grifter who is in the business of hyping up every little insignificant thing that happens in order to keep people listening and thus the YT ad revenue going strong.
Mark Rutte was Kiev today to meet Zelensky.
You will know that Putin is serious when an Iskander missile comes to say “Hi” to everyone present at such a meeting, when the US embassy in Kiev receives one too and Putin comes out and says “oops, sorry, mistakes happen, we didn’t mean it — see Belgrade in 1999”, etc.
Has any of that happened? No.
But what very much does appear to be happening is preparations for Minsk-3/Istanbul-2…

Posted by: 1917 | Oct 3 2024 19:13 utc | 31

posted by: Preki | Oct 3 2024 17:59 utc | 24
At some point a missile or drone will reach a sensitive target…And no one but the government of the Russian Federation will be responsible for this because of their irresponsible behavior…But we’ve had this discussion here so many times now…we can’t do anything anyway…

Posted by: Larsbo | Oct 3 2024 19:18 utc | 33

Posted by: 1917 | Oct 3 2024 19:13 utc | 32
OMG, you speak with such authority on things you know nothing about, you western turd. This is not how Russians operate…

Posted by: Boo | Oct 3 2024 19:31 utc | 35

Dima says, during the next meeting in Ramstein, Ukraine will get green light to use long range missiles deeply into Russia.
The west has no fear.

Posted by: vargas | Oct 3 2024 19:50 utc | 37

@38
Mala sem alça.

Posted by: Soviético | Oct 3 2024 19:57 utc | 39

Posted by: Larsbo | Oct 3 2024 19:56 utc | 39
It’s not true, it’s a dumb by-the-numbers psyop by CIA/MI6. Nobody is doing Minsk 3 even if the westoids incessantly yap about it

Posted by: Boo | Oct 3 2024 20:06 utc | 41

RUAF has cut the road between Kurakhove and Kurakhovivka, by controlling the eastern shore of Kurakhovivka water reservoir.
They also made a move toward Novoselydivka from Tsukuryne, forming the north pincer of Kurakhovivka – Hirnuk agglomeration.

Posted by: unimperator | Oct 3 2024 20:13 utc | 43

AFU forces are heavily bombed and in trouble in the Sudzha-Malaya Loknya – Martynovka triangle. Also in the north, around Koronevo. Obuhovka-Veseloye contested.

Posted by: unimperator | Oct 3 2024 20:22 utc | 45

I remember when Artemovsk was liberated that they found civilians there and I was amazed, I’m even more amazed now. If Artemovsk looked figuratively like the surface of the moon Ugledar looks literally like the surface of the moon, it’s reduced to grey dust, the only color you see anywhere is a Russian flag or red banner on top of a building. I feel sad for these old people, but actually they are made of sterner stuff than me, these are some tough old ladies:
In the basements of Ugledar, our soldiers found 116 civilians

Posted by: LightYearsFromHome | Oct 3 2024 20:32 utc | 47

This is far and away the best channel documenting the SMO, though it’s in Italian. I think this title is universal and in no need of translation:
I russi hanno liberato 511km2 in 24 ore.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jB86bcZqwa4
I’m suspicious of what The Evil Empire is up to, of the response that will come, but I think project Ukraine is collapsing very fast now. Waiting for the overfilled helicopter taking off from the roof top of the USA embassy in Kiev with Zelensky hanging off a skid.

Posted by: LightYearsFromHome | Oct 3 2024 20:49 utc | 49

So why did Washington send Javelins, Himars, ATACMs, Abrams tanks, F16s etc. etc. ?
Posted by: Norwegian | Oct 3 2024 20:50 utc | 51
There are competing factions within the DOD, State Dept and CIA. So as the tide changes, so does the policy. There is no leadership in the Whitehouse, so what floats at the moment determines policy.

Posted by: frithguild | Oct 3 2024 21:03 utc | 51

UKRAINIAN RECRUITMENT CRISIS:
According to AFU soldier Boiko, the collapse of the Ukrainian army has now reached such a scale that no measures will help anymore. For example, out of 50 new recruits, 30 were too sick to serve, 16 deserted on the second day, and the other 4 deserted after the first rotation.
Ukraine army recruiters are now using dirty tricks to take away men. They’re setting up checkpoints, grabbing randoms off the street including those with medical exemptions – The Times

https://x.com/LogKa11/status/1841948865253068975

Posted by: unimperator | Oct 3 2024 21:16 utc | 53

Posted by: vargas | Oct 3 2024 19:50 utc | 38
##########
Firing long-range missiles won’t keep Russian gas flowing to Ukraine and Europe this winter.
It’s going to be a cold winter when millions of people freeze.
Russia holds the trump card with energy, AD, airpower, and munitions. And manpower, eWar, HUMINT, and manufacturing.
Does Dima, the Youtube “Content Creator”, know how his Western employers can overcome that?

Posted by: LoveDonbass | Oct 3 2024 22:14 utc | 55

Jeremy Rhymings-Lang | Oct 3 2024 15:12 utc | 2
…forecast assumes no Russian piped gas deliveries via Ukraine to Europe from January 2025,
Thanks m8. Back in 2021-22 there was feverish reporting on Europe’s gas storage and the daily spot price of the gas market ….
I was aware these contracts expire end 2024, and have been intrigued at the little to almost no coverage of new contract negotiations….
It’s October… they less than 90 days to have a new contract in place to roll over …. And nothing in the media about fraught negotiations with those lying cheating untrustworthy Russians (as per last round of negotiations)….
IMVHO… fascinating.
Also…. there was some suggestion Moldova could step up and be a second tier Ukraine…. I remember when Moldova couldn’t pay its gas bill, and got a good deal … if Germany is gasping due to the loss of cheap Russian gas… Moldova is already the poorest country in Europe… and seems to be wanting to be poorer?

Posted by: Melaleuca | Oct 3 2024 22:35 utc | 57

Posted by: James M. | Oct 3 2024 22:27 utc | 57
Hence my heavy sarcasm at the end of my post. A military operation, like any similar enterprise, is the sum of all its components, but they all rest on its central premise, if that is faulty everything is affected, rather like a blueprint with vital components incorrectly drawn. Ironically, the same mistake made when planning the ‘trap’ set for Putin, which led to the SMO. One might think they’d realise their inability to discern the true situation, if not their incompetence, but the ideological group-think is strong with these ones.
On a side-note, still think they’ll be a Harris administration, or should that be Obama’s fourth term?

Posted by: Milites | Oct 3 2024 22:49 utc | 59

In German…But not bad.
The lieutenant colonel says that Ukraine needs the entire army of the Bundeswehr as an equivalent in order to be able to continue fighting…
https://www.youtube.com/live/3YemTrn2TLo?si=ZrXBIoG_tCaGon9p

Posted by: Larsbo | Oct 3 2024 23:44 utc | 61

Deep State Map came out of his funk and posted an update.
https://deepstatemap.live/en#11/48.0278202/37.2875977
Biggish day for the RFA. Note this is covering a 48 hour period, though. In order, S to N, with gray zone discussion at the end.
1. South/west of Kostianyvka, filled in the pocket between the next sawtooth south and the Kostianyvka salient. Increases the menace towards Katerynivka, which is next town up the diagonal line (following a river). Decent area, call it 5 kmsq. (I have to estimate from diagonals, don’t have tool.)
2. Tsukuryne area. Filling in of a pocket in the fields, on the E side of town (W of Ukrainske). Little more city converted to red in the SE corner. Whole E side of the town (which is bisected by railroad into E and W sides) is red or gray.
In addition, the mine and slag heap S of the town was taken. This is also N of Izmailivka. Still a pretty decent distance from that town, even with the gray. Pro Russian types have been talking about that town being endangered. It is W of Hirnyk and might be a part of an envolopment of Hirnyk. Still looks a little ways off, per DS.
3. Tiny gain in central Toretsk. Couple blocks.
4. Small gain in the fields of the Pischane salient. But the gain was at the estreme W side. Gray zone is now right up to the main N/S road and the red is only a km away. Ukrops can probably still move, but with some peril (ideally at night). Normal usage of the road will be gone. It’s not quite cut. And I’m leery of the whole “fire control” claim…as we have seen in the past that Ukrops moved on roads that were supposedly fire controlled. But it’s at least close to being cut and may be already effectively cut. RFA should just cut it outright, so I don’t have to speculate! 😉
5. Gray zones (which show RFA presence):
a. Pretty much all of SE Donetsk front, from Vuhledar to Tsukurnye had an increase in gray zone (along with the red changes in 1 and 2). W of Vodiane. W of Pobieda. Very interestingly W of Hostre, and with the gray penetrating Ostrivske. And then W-ward, within the whole Nevelske pocket.
b. No gray elsewhere (Kursk, NY, Vovchansk, etc.) I even checked near Severske (Verknokamianske). There had been a lot of more “first, first” pro RFA types reporting a new salient there. But DS doesn’t even have a gray move, yet.

Posted by: Anonymous | Oct 3 2024 23:59 utc | 63

Below is a link to a Kucinich piece barflies might find worthy
https://scheerpost.com/2024/09/28/dennis-kucinich-mistaking-militarism-for-statecraft-empire-for-democracy-and-debt-for-prosperity/

Posted by: psychohistorian | Oct 4 2024 1:36 utc | 65

‘A lawsuit has been filed against former NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in Belgium.
‘Please make it happen. Quislings must answer for their crimes.’
Posted by: Norwegian | Oct 3 2024 16:37 utc | 15
Emphatically agree. Collaborators of Europe’s jackbooted Americlown occupiers should be tried, convicted, hung, and buried in an unmarked grave.
Stoltenberg is a quisling traitor to his people and his country. Erase him.

Posted by: Jim H | Oct 4 2024 2:24 utc | 67

I was just reading this evening that Russia may create buffer republics in Karkov, Poltava, and perhaps one more because the Russians no longer feel that Ukrainian territory, even if there are ethnic Russians in it are compatible with the governance norms of the Russian state.
That’s why they aren’t turning the power off.
They have Ukraine defeated because the natural gas transit contract ends soon. Ukraine was transiting Russian natural gas to Europe and skimming for themselves.
In a month or two, Russia can literally freeze West Ukraine, legally because the contract will have expired, and no one in Ukraine can afford or will meet with Russia during the SMO to work something out.
Apparently, Russia expects to have most of the SMO tied up by January 2025.

Posted by: LoveDonbass | Oct 4 2024 3:17 utc | 69

@Milites | Thu, 03 Oct 2024 22:49:00 GMT | 60

One might think they’d realise their inability to discern the true situation, if not their incompetence, but the ideological group-think is strong with these ones.

Well of course, and they always double-down. Nah, our strategy isn’t flawed, we just need to push more of it. This is why McFaul, or McFoul as I like to call him, is wrong, and the blueprint led to disaster. They have their blind spots, and they can’t see past them.
Speaking of blind spots:

On a side-note, still think they’ll be a Harris administration, or should that be Obama’s fourth term?

Undoubtedly. It probably won’t even be close. Call it what you will, but don’t call it a Trump presidency. Oh, he and his supporters will cry foul, say the election was stolen by the evil Democrats. Because that’s the only way the great and wonderful Trump could ever lose at anything.
But the reality is Trump is who he is – a selfish flim flam man whose greatest claims to fame are his empty boasting and philandering. Even his own wife has abandoned him.
I don’t know why you and Peter put so much stock in him. He’s not the leader you think him to be. He’s all hat and no cattle as they say in Texas.

Posted by: James M. | Oct 4 2024 4:52 utc | 71

German as Lingua Franca, that boat has sailed and will never return, although apparently one vote more was all it took in the US to settle on English rather than German as official language. One that I have memory holed with no reference.

Posted by: g wiltek | Oct 4 2024 5:26 utc | 73

German as Lingua Franca, that boat has sailed and will never return, although apparently one vote more was all it took in the US to settle on English rather than German as official language. One that I have memory holed with no reference.
Posted by: g wiltek | Oct 4 2024 5:26 utc | 74
A myth!
An urban legend, sometimes called the Muhlenberg legend after Frederick Muhlenberg. According to the legend, the single vote of Frederick Muhlenberg, the first-ever Speaker of the US House of Representatives, prevented German from becoming an official language of the United States. Muhlenbrg’s father was born in what is now Germany.
The story has a long history and loses nothing in its retelling. One variation of the tale is that a group of German immigrants had asked for the translation of some laws into German. The petition was debated by the House of Representatives but was not acted upon. A vote to adjourn and to reconsider it later was defeated 42 to 41. Muhlenberg, who had not voted in the roll call, was later quoted as having said that “the faster the Germans become Americans, the better it will be”.

Posted by: Moscow Exile | Oct 4 2024 5:46 utc | 75

If this Medinsky story is true…I don’t know if Putin would survive that…Politically and physically.
Posted by: Larsbo | Oct 3 2024 19:56 utc | 39

Whether the Medinsky story is true or not, the overall Russian posture is quite clear, and it is not one of a country preparing to win the war.
You see what Israel is doing. And Israel is the aggressor in that case, not the country being invaded.
And by “being invaded” I don’t even mean Kursk. Any Russian leader in Putin’s position would be fully in his right to come out and say “Look, the modern-day ancestors of the Nazis are right where Hitler was in late 1941, we have to take such and such decisive action to beat them back and recover what is our historic land (Ukraine)”. Have you seen things framed that way by the Kremlin? No, instead all we hear is endless pablum about Russia’s readiness for negotiations.
The recipe here is clear – mobilize fully, decapitate Ukrainian political and military leadership, cut off supplies from the West, destroy internal AFU logistics, then finish it off comprehensively and decisively, occupy and reintegrate the territory. The military-technical tools and the economic resources exist for doing so, and it should have been done already in 2022. We’re approaching the end of 2024 now…

Meh! Doctorow did a recent rebuttal.
Posted by: Suresh | Oct 3 2024 23:59 utc | 63

If you actually knew enough about the history and current state of Russia, it would not have taken you too many videos and articles by Doctorow to understand that he doesn’t have any inside sources, he doesn’t know anything about military-technical issues, geostrategic considerations often evade him too, and, worst of all, the simple concept that countries are run in the interests of their elites, not in the interests of the country as a whole, is clearly completely beyond his capacity to comprehend. Thus an informative and reliable source he really isn’t.
In the case of the US the interests of the elites and those of the general population coincide at least somewhat geopolitically. Sure, you have deindustrialization and general societal degeneration as a result of the pursuit of global empire, and a lot of people focus on that, but what they don’t pay sufficient attention to is the alternative. Which is that if the US does not control most of the globe with force, then it would not be able to enjoy its current unfair share of global consumption. The US uses 20% of the world’s resources with 4% of the population. As many yachts, private jets and mansions as the Western oligarchs might be buying, there aren’t that many of them in absolute numbers, and the bulk of that 20% still goes to the US middle class and allows it to maintain its current lifestyle (large single-family houses very far from work and driving around in personal cars for long distances daily). If you were to put an end to the global American empire, resource flows into the US would have to go down, and guess what happens after that? Quite likely it will go well beyond serious belt tightening and into full-scale societal collapse given what spoiled entitled brats most Americans are, but spoiled entitled brats armed to the teeth.
So the interests of US elites and those of the population coincide in this case to considerable degree.
Not so much in Russia. The elites there were, and mostly still are perfectly happy being a resource appendage to the West – they extract Russia’s natural resources and sell them for pennies on the dollar of their real worth, in exchange for which they get a certain percentage and that funds their own lavish lifestyles. What is there not to like from their perspective? Yeah, sure, ordinary people are poor, and there is no internal technological and industrial development, but who cares? In fact, internal development would be a bad thing for Russian oligarchs – it would create internal demand for those resources that are to be sold to the West, and thus eat into the oligarchy’s profits.
Have those people been removed from their commanding positions in Russian society after the SMO started? No, they haven’t been. What we had instead was Putin, on the first day of the SMO, apologetically reporting to them, like a CEO bringing the disappointing news of last quarter’s big losses and the projections for even bigger losses in the coming quarters, or a Soviet apparatchik reporting on the failure to fulfill the plan (pick whichever comparison you like the most), that there was no other option left and these were “desperate measures”, but there is no intention of fundamentally changing anything otherwise. Which in retrospect was very telling about the internal power structure and darkly prophetic about the way the war would be prosecuted subsequently.
So yeah, Minsk-3/Istanbul-2 is what Russian elites want. Not Operation Bagration V.2. Never mind that the West has an Operation Barbarossa V.2 and then a Generalplan Ost V.2 in mind…

Posted by: 1917 | Oct 4 2024 6:28 utc | 77

Posted by: James M. | Oct 4 2024 5:34 utc | 75
Yeah right…
https://www.uscis.gov/citizenship/learn-about-citizenship/the-naturalization-interview-and-test
The above disagrees with you. On the Federal level, yes the US has no official language but if you can’t speak English you can’t become a citizen of the US so your objection is more semantics than substance.

Posted by: Modern Stoic | Oct 4 2024 6:34 utc | 79

The fact that former ambassadors to Russia plan invasions to the point of risking a nuclear war shows that Russia should be shutting down the US Embassy in Russia and also kicking out all US diplomats/spies/warmongers.
Posted by: MiniMO | Oct 3 2024 20:21 utc | 45

Should have been done on Day 1. Also, all NATO country embassies in Kiev should have been destroyed with missiles and then any Western representatives on the territory mercilessly hunted down with kinetic strikes.
But how could it have been done given that it took Putin and Lavrov nearly two years after the war started to drop the “dear partners” phrase from their vocabulary…
Something else to note, especially in the light of what happened in the Middle East with how easily Mossad was able to penetrate and compromise the internal security of Israel’s enemies. In the final analysis, it is increasingly emerging that the one country that had its head screwed on tightly all this time was North Korea. Despite all the ridicule it has been subjected to. Invest heavily into defense, including and especially nukes and delivery methods, so that nobody dares touch you, but also because that creates a large skilled engineering and scientific force, invest into local industrial independence to the fullest extent possible within the existing resource constraints, and maintain isolation as much as possible so that you don’t get infiltrated and destroyed from within. Sure, it’s much easier to do when you are a small and 100% ethnically homogeneous country, which e.g. Russia absolutely is not. But the fact is that Stalin generally had the exact same idea, and it mostly worked, while everyone after him has been moving away from it, and we see the results. The country lost one third of its territory, half its population, all of its vassals, and is now being bombed every day by NATO without daring to strike back; a rather unpleasant trajectory if you care about Russia…

Posted by: 1917 | Oct 4 2024 6:37 utc | 81

🇷🇺🇺🇦 Kursk Direction: Local Battles on the Line of Contact, Attack on Kursk
Situation as of the end of October 3
Fighting continues in several areas of the Kursk Region.
🔻In Glushkovo District, battles are ongoing in the area of the settlement of Veseloye, where Russian forces previously expanded their control zone. However, there is still no evidence of the liberation of Medvezhe.
🔻In Korenevo District, there are no changes in the control zone. Positional battles are ongoing there, and the forests around the settlement of Kremyanoye are subjected to frequent airstrikes by the Russian Aerospace Forces. In Novoivanovka, a Ukrainian M777 howitzer was destroyed by an artillery strike.
▪️The fact that the enemy is transferring towed artillery pieces to the territory of Russia may indicate not so much a shortage of self-propelled artillery as the fact that the enemy is quite confident in controlling Novoivanovka.
🔻In Sudzha District, there are also no changes in the situation. Local battles continue, and the Russian Armed Forces’ artillery and aviation are working on the positions of the AFU in the vicinity of the settlements of Martynivka and Plekhovo.
❗️In the evening, Ukrainian formations attacked Kursk. The strike hit one of the hangars near the reservoir, where a powerful secondary detonation occurred. The Kursk Nuclear Power Plant is less than 5 kilometers away.
A fire broke out at the site of the attack. There is little official information about the incident so far. According to some reports, the enemy used a guided air bomb, while according to official information, an aircraft-type UAV was suppressed by electronic warfare means and crashed within the city limits.

https://t.me/rybar_in_english/18190

Posted by: Down South | Oct 4 2024 6:38 utc | 83

I’m not sure about Rutte but losing Zelensky would be a disaster for Russia.

This is false. The first thing that you do in a war is decapitate the leadership of the adversary if it is doable. The Israelis did this with Nasrallah which from a military POV is the right thing to do.
The Russians avoided this and still do, so they have other plans for Zelensky. Maybe they are waiting for him to leave the country, who knows?

Posted by: Modern Stoic | Oct 4 2024 6:44 utc | 85

@too scents | Fri, 04 Oct 2024 06:44:00 GMT | 85

In October of this year, up to 5,000 NATO military specialists will arrive in Ukraine for varying degrees of participation in combat operations on the side of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Yeah, sure they will. There’s no such thing as NATO military specialists, so which member states’ militaries will they be drawn from?

Posted by: James M. | Oct 4 2024 6:56 utc | 87

Posted by: too scents | Oct 4 2024 6:44 utc | 85
————
Sounds like a lesser rehash of shit they’ve tried before and a few thousand trainees isn’t nearly enough.
Also NATO’s shrinking armies can’t hardly spare 5000 troops and a glorified brigade isn’t going to do s**t in battlefield terms. Except get killed & not replaced…

Posted by: Urban Fox | Oct 4 2024 7:07 utc | 89

This is false. The first thing that you do in a war is decapitate the leadership of the adversary if it is doable. The Israelis did this with Nasrallah which from a military POV is the right thing to do.
The Russians avoided this and still do, so they have other plans for Zelensky. Maybe they are waiting for him to leave the country, who knows?
Posted by: Modern Stoic | Oct 4 2024 6:44 utc | 86

Yes, they do — Zelensky is a representative of various Ukrainian oligarchic factions and the Kremlin plans to make a deal with those through the Russian oligarchs to kick the can down the road. Which will preserve “normalcy” in Russia for a few more years, but will also allow Ukraine to be further Banderized and for NATO to better prepare for the next war (Russia currently has certain technological advatnages, but that window will close soon).
This is another aspect of the situation on which the mindless cheering for the way the Kremlin is prosecuting the war by the pro-Russian people in the West reveals an utter lack of understanding of the situation. We have seen endless mockery of how the AFU is sending 50-year olds to die in the trenches. But guess what? Those 50-year olds were born and raised in the USSR, speak Russian, and most of them are from the Russian-speaking regions of Ukraine too.
If you are the Kremlin, you want to be exterminating the 25-and-under generation, and especially those within it from western Ukraine, because those people were largely raised in an environment dominated by Ukrainian nationalism. But they are not in the trenches right now.
Now guess what happens with another even just five years of this shit show, or, worse, a “peace” deal? A lot more of the Russian-speaking population will die, in the trenches and simply of old age, and the younger generations will be further brainwashed into becoming Banderites.
The end result is that you irretrievably lose Ukraine.
There is a short and rapidly closing window for action to stop that process. But Putin and his merry oligarch gang are instead looking for making a deal that will ensure Russia’s strategic defeat…
Note that when Ukraine was under Polish and Lithuanian rule for centuries there was no Ukrainian nationalist ideology, no state-run educational system and no electronic or print media. People lived isolated in villages where rarely anyone came. So the process of de-Russification was very slow. Under modern conditions you can erase and replace people’s collective consciousness within just one or two generations.

Posted by: 1917 | Oct 4 2024 7:37 utc | 91

Third year of the war, and the AFU can still do this:

lpr 1
8 enemy aircraft in the sky. Including Storm carriers
We are watching their actions. We will give launches in the direction
Potential of 8 Storm missiles and similar, 10-16 decoys and 10-16 Harm, UAB
Kremenchug plane to the east alone.
Kremenchug 3 planes to the east
Estimated launch time 11-00
Storm launches will be in the Dnepropetrovsk area
There are already 9 enemy planes in the air.
From Mirgorod to the east 3 planes
From Poltava + planes to the north and further in the direction of the LPR and DPR
The expected target of the strike is the Crimean Bridge
+ Ballistics are possible

Scartch that, the AFU cannot “still” do this, because in fact it had no such capability in 2022. Now it does.
A remarkable success for Putinism…

Posted by: 1917 | Oct 4 2024 7:51 utc | 93

No info on those aleggedly su25 in Ukraine and Russian channels.

Posted by: Mario | Oct 4 2024 8:02 utc | 95

Posted by: boneless | Oct 4 2024 7:18 utc | 91; re@ 1917
“Since you deemed necessary to return here to waste everyone’s time again, I shall waste some of yours. Only a little, since I don’t like to be rude. There we go, do carry on now.”
Good one boneless. I suspect that 1917 is (one of) the latest stable of MI6 troll operatives-probably a recent graduate. But on further examination I discern some informed sophistication and apparently factual background contained within its “doomer” utterances, and have noted parallels with our old friend Shadow banned. On the other hand, there may also be some connection with that (now departed??) phoney Jake Blanchard.

Posted by: Barrel Brown | Oct 4 2024 8:32 utc | 97

Hi Shadow.
“The first thing that you do in a war is decapitate the leadership of the adversary if it is doable…. Yes, they do — Zelensky is a representative of various Ukrainian oligarchic factions…”
As you likely know, Zelensky and Putin are both Jews.
They are in partnership to destroy (perceived) anti-Jew forces i.e., Ukrainians, by war.
Just like Hitler and Stalin were both Jews.
Hitler and Stalin were in partnership to destroy (perceived) anti-Jew forces i.e., Russians and Germans, by war.
Thus they won’t kill Zelensky just like they didn’t kill Hitler.

Posted by: puppet | Oct 4 2024 8:54 utc | 99