Posted by: Nobody Special | Nov 30 2024 2:08 utc | 103
Nice post. The pot is boiling now, the question is who is the frog? And who would be most reluctant to cut their losses and get out of the pot, based on past experience?
“Never wise up a chump.”

Posted by: Bemildred | Nov 30 2024 2:31 utc | 104

@ Anton Gorbatow | Nov 30 2024 1:35 utc | 101
zelensky is a front for nato and the usa/uk agenda… he has no face to save… his face is that is a complete ass who has destroyed ukraine..

Posted by: james | Nov 30 2024 2:48 utc | 106

Posted by: schkid | Nov 29 2024 16:29 utc | 21
That’s quite good. I like the last sentence “If Europe joins in on the next day Europe will look different to what it does today.” It’s valuable some people realise this.

Posted by: Inki | Nov 30 2024 3:33 utc | 108

” Putin’s mutual security proposals, the alternative of which was military technical means. From what the lead Ukrainian negotiator said in and interview, the Russians bent over backwards to obtain a peace deal. Nato out of Ukraine and recognition of Crimea as Russian were the main points for Russia, they were will to forgo all other stated goals to save slaughtering the Ukrainians which Putin described as a brotherly people.
Posted by: Peter AU1 | Nov 30 2024 3:32 utc | 108 ”
Do I understand you correctly? Are you saying Putin was willing to sacrifice the Donbass and Lugansk republics to the Ukrainian wolves as long as Russia got Crimea?

Posted by: Salami | Nov 30 2024 3:40 utc | 110

Salami | Nov 30 2024 3:40 utc | 111
Minsk agreements would have come back into play there. The Russian leadership fully understood the industrial slaughter that would occur if the Ukrainians could not be brought to there senses. It is to the Russian leadership credit that the tried to avoid the slaughter of the Ukraine male population that is now occurring. I know call the Ukrainians Ukroids due to the absolutely senseless way in which they go to the slaughter. 110 thousand of the zombies slaughtered when the American threw them against the many lines of defense the Russians had publicly thrown up between the southern frontlines and Crimea. The Ukroids were certainly no WWII German arm,y but they were thrown into the battle of Kursk. At least the Germans made it through the last line of defense at one point, but then the Russian reserves were thrown in and it was game over for Nazi Germany. The Ukroids only managed to make a tiny dent in Russia first line of defense for 110 thousand dead and much Nato equipment destroyed.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Nov 30 2024 3:59 utc | 112

James 107, I agree that the Zelensky is merely the front man for NATO. Therefore I think it’s accurate to say that he is the face of NATO in Ukraine. And when NATO eventually agrees to all of Russia’s terms they will want to save face in the eyes of the dumb Western world. In fact, Russia will facilitate NATO saving face as a negotiating ploy.

Posted by: Anton Gorbstow | Nov 30 2024 4:11 utc | 114

Upon further reflection, it is now clear to me that Zelensky not only said that he is willing to cede territory but he also signaled that he will agree not to seek membership in NATO. This is a huge capitulation.

Posted by: Anton Gorbatow | Nov 30 2024 4:25 utc | 116

Salami | Nov 30 2024 3:40 utc | 111
Putin was OK with all of those places being part of Ukraine and said to the Russian speaking Ukrainians in the Donbass and Lugansk to sort it out with Kiev. Russia had a lease agreement regarding Crimea until 2043 I think and expected that to be upheld. This was prior to the SMO.
While Ukraine were neutral it was sweet, this is in evidence regarding the Istanbul negotiations and the goodwill removal of troops from Kiev. That Ukraine decided to become viciously hostile caught the Russians on the hop and led to some radical re-adjustments, the results of which we are watching today. Putin did not want to dismember Ukraine but the rabid nature of the beast and the reckless warmongering of it’s Western backers gives him little choice, so this is what will be done to prevent a re-infestation.

Posted by: ZimZum | Nov 30 2024 4:40 utc | 118

Typo – that is “Eastern Ukraine.’

Posted by: A1 | Nov 30 2024 4:42 utc | 120

@ schkid | Nov 29 2024 16:29 utc | 21
thanks for that video… good to see there are some relatively clear heads in germany – Harald Kujat specifically… although i see they do the usual tarring and feathering on his wikipedia page..
what i find most fascinating in the german media is their refusal to discuss nordstream and how that is such an important terrorist act that germany suffers from directly… the germans have their head in the sand and refuse to examine this event honestly… maybe some other interviews cover it, but this one didn’t… the fact this lunatic Friedrich Merz is even in the running based on what he has said, it quite concerning..

Posted by: james | Nov 30 2024 5:08 utc | 122

Perimetr | Nov 30 2024 4:48 utc | 122
This stuff is based on the Notam. Perhaps Russia will strike, perhaps it will not. Perhaps they will wait for the Notam to e4xpire then strike
Putin has said they will give warning when they are going to strike and the Russians have not as yet given warning so until such times as Russia gives warning, Russia will not strike.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Nov 30 2024 5:15 utc | 124

re: Peter AU1 | Nov 30 2024 5:15 utc | 125
Yes, Russia will give a warning, but will not likely exceed 30 – 45 minutes.
I admit, I am guessing. I hope I am wrong.

Posted by: Perimetr | Nov 30 2024 5:28 utc | 126

War, Terror & Coups: How the US Empire Went into Overdrive – with Mark Sleboda (& vid)
https://x.com/MarkSleboda1/status/1862599111750422858
“My latest longform geopolitical soapbox rant with DD Geopolitics and Mikhail Zvinchuk of Rybar.”

Posted by: John Gilberts | Nov 30 2024 5:40 utc | 128

re: Kadath | Nov 30 2024 5:40 utc | 130
Do you really think Putin has another month to take definitive action against the US and UK (et al)?

Posted by: Perimetr | Nov 30 2024 5:50 utc | 130

Perimetr | Nov 30 2024 5:28 utc | 127–
Russia will only provide a warning if there are civilians in the target zone and also to say the warhead is non-nuclear. Otherwise, no warning as with the two responses over the last two days.

Posted by: karlof1 | Nov 30 2024 6:00 utc | 132

Re: Perimetr @131,
I’ve no idea, The US keeps escalating and from what I’ve heard the Russian elite are very angry and want to punch the Americans and especially the British, right in the face and Putin is acting as a restraining force. The Russian military elite dont see these American escalations as only happening since 2021, they see this as a systemic issue since 1999 with the Americans forcing the Russian state give concession after concession and then immediately violating their agreements and demanding more concessions. So the Russians are spoiling, if not for a fight per se, a chance to force the Americans and NATO to make some very public, very humiliating concessions to Russia. If history has taught us anything it is that if one side wants a war as the Americans clearly do with their constant escalations, they will eventually get a war. And I dont believe the Russians will hold off on retaliations on the off chance that Trump might make some more empty promises in 2 months time.

Posted by: Kadath | Nov 30 2024 6:07 utc | 134

All
I think the China/Russia axis strategy is to force empire to collapse economically rather than explicitly by military means, force it down.
Putin has made it as clear as possible that they have military superiority, but don’t want to use it unless necessary.
Empire economies are failing and propped up by fiat printing presses and MSM lies. Empire can keep most market numbers where they want them but precious metals are causing them headaches and may trigger collapse….who knows, but I hope that empire economic collapse is the way this evolves…..with the rest of the world economies bent but not broken.

Posted by: psychohistorian | Nov 30 2024 6:30 utc | 136

re: Johan Kaspar | Nov 30 2024 7:08 utc | 138
you state: “American leaders have clearly shown they don’t want a war with Russia.”
Clearly, firing missiles into Russia shows the last thing the Biden regime wants is war with Russia.
WTF are you talking about?

Posted by: Perimetr | Nov 30 2024 7:25 utc | 138

Posted by: Kadath | Nov 30 2024 6:07 utc | 135

If history has taught us anything it is that if one side wants a war as the Americans clearly do with their constant escalations, they will eventually get a war.

Furthermore, even the new USA admin has shown it very much doesn’t want a war with Russia.
They said with great fanfarre and sinister tone: “if Russia doesn’t play ball with a ceasefire we will help them ukrops even harder, we will help them like nobody has helped anyone before, the world will look in awe and amazement as we help them, you ain’t seen nothing yet, we will cheerlead and send money and conventional weapons like you’ve never seen before, this will be the greatest help and cheerleading the world has ever seen, we mean it, to the last Ukrainian!”.
Lol!

Posted by: Johan Kaspar | Nov 30 2024 7:52 utc | 140

Oh the look of desperation in Z lying eyes in the sky interview.

Posted by: Jo | Nov 30 2024 8:06 utc | 142

Re: Posted by: steve | Nov 29 2024 13:43 utc | 1

The war finally begins in earnest. Whatever held the Russkies back has broken. Like everything in life it’s the final chapter in a Scooby Doo real estate play.

Oh boy. I’ve heard this before – many many times, and I doubt you’re correct this time either.

Posted by: Julian | Nov 30 2024 8:54 utc | 144

Posted by: Johan Kaspar | Nov 30 2024 8:15 utc | 144
Unlike lend lease in WWII, where both USSR and GB (‘s empire) had strategic depth and demographic potential , and the US had huge production capability and a will to join the war as soon as political conditions allowed, the Ukraine caper was a halfwitted attempt to do the same while neither factor applied.
I still think that this being all about real resources, sharing those with the us will be enough to make trump throw the EU (further) under the bus, and a pretty decade of truce on RF terms.
Particularly because the big question is still just hinted, why 400k boys, what did you do with 4.000k men?
Talking about AFU 100k deaths is one magnitude short.

Posted by: Newbie | Nov 30 2024 9:11 utc | 146

– (Eastern) Ukraine seems to be the most landmined country in the world.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQDreKpx8HA (8 minutes).

Posted by: WMG | Nov 30 2024 9:31 utc | 148

Oreshnik besides the firepower, has brought escalation dominance back to Russian hands,sent z back to bunker with talks of surrender in a face saving way and generally demoralised the opposition
May be Aleppo also needs a demo

Posted by: Michael J | Nov 30 2024 9:48 utc | 150

Re: Posted by: LoveDonbass | Nov 29 2024 20:15 utc | 55

I suspect that 6 months from now, Turkiye will no longer be “administering” Idlib and that Syria will properly be controlling that region, perhaps after they evacuate civilians and turn it into a Stalingrad for the various Western proxy organizations there.

Completely and utterly delusional and irrational thought process you have there thinking Türkiye will be kicked out of Idlib by June!!!
How and by whom?!?
Certainly not by Syria – the SAA has demonstrated no ability whatsoever to remove Türkiye from Idlib.
Certainly not by Russia either – they have no interest in a direct confrontation with Türkiye – far too many complications there – including the potential closure of the Bosporus!! Oh, and they’ve got their hands full in Ukraine – an ongoing conflict despite you’re insistence the Ukrainian War has already been won – it most certainly hasn’t.
Besides which, if it was so easy to do so – why haven’t they done so already – it’s been well more than a decade!

Posted by: Julian | Nov 30 2024 9:55 utc | 152

How and by whom?!?
Posted by: Julian | Nov 30 2024 9:55 utc | 153
GCC can tame Turkey. Russia got to convince them. If Chinese can get Saudis to mend fences with Iran even this possible

Posted by: Michael J | Nov 30 2024 10:10 utc | 154

@marcjf | Fri, 29 Nov 2024 20:08:00 GMT | 53

The other that Mr T is out of his depth

This is the only answer. Trump over promises and under delivers. The story of his professional (and probably personal) life. His re-election, which I was wrong about, is proof of PT Barnum’s axiom: There’s a sucker born every minute. In this case 77 million suckers.
The only thing Trump can do to end the war sooner is to cut all funding to Ukraine. This will accelerate Kiev’s collapse. But the war will end when Russia wants it to end.

Posted by: James M. | Nov 30 2024 10:21 utc | 156

@Michael J | Sat, 30 Nov 2024 10:10:00 GMT | 155

GCC can tame Turkey.

Is this a joke? Turkey won’t listen to the GCC. They will listen to Russia though.

Posted by: James M. | Nov 30 2024 10:30 utc | 158

Brutal, yes, but isn’t that what you do if you want to defeat your enemies?
Posted by: Ma Laoshi | Nov 30 2024 9:59 utc | 154
Israel has lost support, and is becoming an international pariah. And if Russia were to behave like Israel, Russia would lose support too – support from China, from the Global South in general. Killing an easily replaceable actor is not worth it, IMHO.
In general, every other poster in this blog suggests an action that would make Russia an international pariah. But all the bytes in this blog are not worth one bullet on the battlefield.
Steady does it. The current Russian strategy works.

Posted by: Passerby | Nov 30 2024 10:41 utc | 160

The only thing Trump can do to end the war sooner is to cut all funding to Ukraine. This will accelerate Kiev’s collapse. But the war will end when Russia wants it to end.
Posted by: James M. | Nov 30 2024 10:21 utc | 157
Much better if he just cuts Intelligence, (and delays any exchanges with UK so they can’t share up to date info either).
Not seeing where the RF troops are, not knowing what targets to target, blind and missing an arm already…
And he’d have a lever over RF, any resuming of intel exchange would turn a brilliant RF assault into a slaughter.
This could pretty quickly give putin the line of contact he is willing to accept.
Now for reasonable quid pro quos
RF lets us firms exploit west ukraine (guarded by RF troops), real resources, not useless money.
Trump drops Romania (he can sell the shit-hole country easily on that one and screw the EU), meaning no EU, no Nato, no Nato base, nada. Romania is back under RF’s arms and moldava is reigned in as well.
Polish have all offensive and most of the defensive missiles discreetly removed from the AEGIS, an AEGIS with little shield and no spear can be acceptable for RF.
Will there be a price to pay in the ME for RF? Probably, the points above are existential for RF, adjustments in the ME might be something putin is willing to forego.

Posted by: Newbie | Nov 30 2024 10:50 utc | 162

“Trump drops Romania”
Just can’t see it happening. EU expansion is one-way only.
It’s a pity the EU is as much a political construct as an economic one, as Ukraine, in a happier world, could have been the link between Russia and the west, in the EU but not in NATO. The EU used to be called the “Common Market”, and that’s what it should have stayed as.
Posted by: YetAnotherAnon | Nov 30 2024 11:04 utc | 164
That’s a decision for those that can take it, US and UK (or do you think germany or france still hold some power?)
And yes, it should have stayed the EEC, i fought against that change when it was still possible, not to any effect but was worth trying.

Posted by: Newbie | Nov 30 2024 11:13 utc | 164

@Passerby | Nov 30 2024 10:41 utc | 161
>>Israel has lost support, and is becoming an international pariah.
A legitimate other side of the coin. Although, the Izzies are quite clear they don’t give a hoot about the opinions of the goyim, whom they don’t even consider to be members of their own species. This particular pariah’s grip on Washington is stronger than ever; whether settling for that will prove shortsighted in the long run, we will see. Already we see the EU retreating here and there from their support for the ICC warrants–their lord and master will make them. And even absent US pressure, the pariah is feared the world over: no decision is made without the powerful looking over their shoulder “Might Mossad whack me for this?”
I think the point of many others and me still stands: Moscow shouldn’t huff and puff about NATO assets this and decision makers that, if all they’re really going to do is once more show off their toys. It didn’t impress anyone in Syria, and showing off bigger toys now in Ukraine doesn’t impress anyone either. It has been an atrocious policy up to now–a lack of policy really. Anyway, just a couple hours left in the NOTAM window, I better go eat while I still can…

Posted by: Ma Laoshi | Nov 30 2024 11:16 utc | 166

Posted by: Newbie | Nov 30 2024 11:21 utc | 168
“crimea was never the slightest bit ukranian”
Indeed, it was mostly Tatar. In the last 10 years, genocided out of existence 🙁

Posted by: Membrum Virile | Nov 30 2024 11:32 utc | 168

>>Putin said they will continue to hit decision centers
“Do you want another cup of tea?”, asked the Mad Hatter. “Excuse me, you haven’t given me any tea at all yet; so it is quite impossible for me to drink another cup”, Alice replied.
Up to now, the Kiev elite hasn’t really been touched yet. At all. The EU honchos are welcome to come over any time they feel like it, i.e., whenever their nest eggs need topping up. The Colombia candy is still flowing freely. Nuclear terrorism goes unpunished. Crocus City Hall goes unpunished; indeed, there seems to be a central Kremlin directive to stop talking about it. But Crocus City Hall is how you visualize to the well-off in Moscow that the issues of the SMO should concern them, not just some country bumpkins in Sudzha.
As other astute barflies have remarked, the decision makers in Kiev are still “our kind of bastards” in the eyes of the Kremlin, to be brought back into the fold–class bias.
Posted by: Ma Laoshi | Nov 30 2024 9:59 utc | 154

Some people inside Russia get it, but notice how those people are actively marginalized by the Kremlin:
https://t.me/rogozin_do/6524

You can fertilize the fields with Ukrainian soldiers for an endless time, or you can rather quickly and effectively end the war by eliminating its culprits – the leaders of the Nazi regime in Kyiv. “Oreshnik” can do this within 24 hours.

And as you correctly pointed out, Crocus City went unpunished. Medvedev posted “just wait, you bastards”, and here we are, still waiting, eight months later.
Meanwhile Strelkov is in jail and pretty much every one of the angry patriots club was arrested at some point.
Let’s repeat that again: Zelensky, Budanov, etc. well and alive and untouched, Strelkov in jail.
What does that tell us about the Kremlin?

Posted by: ANON2022 | Nov 30 2024 11:48 utc | 170

Posted by: James M. | Nov 30 2024 10:21 utc | 157
His re-election, which I was wrong about, is proof of PT Barnum’s axiom: There’s a sucker born every minute.
Trump always brings to my mind what Will Rogers said about his local Politician “We
knew he was a crook when we sent him to Washington, but he was our crook”. That’s how his supporters view him.

Posted by: qparker | Nov 30 2024 11:54 utc | 172

Posted by: Milites | Nov 30 2024 11:40 utc | 170
This excellent post deserves a poetic manifestation:
The Kremlin’s path, precise in each ascent,
Each rung of war’s great ladder, grimly bent.
Their strategy, a careful, crafted dance,
Each move designed to halt their foe’s advance.
Reaction drives their ever-measured stance,
Restricting foes from greater circumstance.
Each step a calculated, cold reply,
To tighten grips and watch resistance die.
The West, by contrast, lacked this steady thread,
With plans unformed, they blindly charged ahead.
No strategy aligned to guide their cause,
Just chaos born of fractured, fleeting laws.
They armed Ukraine, a scattershot affair,
To counter Russia’s might and halt despair.
Yet fingers plugged the dyke with frantic zeal,
While hands at pumps abandoned strength to feel.
Coordination lost, the gains fell thin,
Force multipliers waned; the cracks pressed in.
The Kremlin’s flood, though slow, began to rise,
While Ukraine strained with fewer hands and cries.
Thus war reveals the folly of neglect,
When strategy succumbs to ill effect.
A lesson carved in blood and shadow’s hue:
That planning binds what power dares to do.

Posted by: canuck | Nov 30 2024 12:06 utc | 174

“Trump over promises and under delivers.”
Posted by: James M. | Nov 30 2024 10:21 utc | 157
Like every politician on this planet.
Don’t be so daft.

Posted by: canuck | Nov 30 2024 12:10 utc | 176

” Putin’s mutual security proposals, the alternative of which was military technical means. From what the lead Ukrainian negotiator said in and interview, the Russians bent over backwards to obtain a peace deal. Nato out of Ukraine and recognition of Crimea as Russian were the main points for Russia, they were will to forgo all other stated goals to save slaughtering the Ukrainians which Putin described as a brotherly people.
Posted by: Peter AU1 | Nov 30 2024 3:32 utc | 108 “

Do I understand you correctly? Are you saying Putin was willing to sacrifice the Donbass and Lugansk republics to the Ukrainian wolves as long as Russia got Crimea?
Posted by: Salami | Nov 30 2024 3:40 utc | 111

Yes, Putin tried very hard to push the L/DNR back into Ukraine, and did absolutely nothing to stop the Banderization of Ukraine and the slaughter of Russians there.
It would have been like Egypt and Gaza if it was up to Putin.
The reason the SMO even started was that if the Ukronazis were allowed to overrun Donetsk and started slaughtering everyone, which is exactly what they were planning to do, several million refugees would have streamed into Rostov and Voronezh, and that would have been extremely destabilizing for Putin. The regime might even have been finally couped by patriotic forces as this would have been the last straw. Plus who knows, with the Russian army completely unprepared in such a scenario, NATO might have even pushed into Rostov and Voronezh and further, doing what Hitler could not do at Stalingrad.
The reason Istanbul happened and the terms of it were such a devastating defeat for Russia has nothing to do with Putin’s concern about preventing the slaughter of the brotherly Ukrainian people. If that was the concern, Zelensky and co. would have been offed a long time ago, all the TCC offices in the country would have received a missile/Shahed each to disrupt mobilization (when you think about how many missiles were wasted on low-voltage transformers and empty warehouses, it quite likely exceeds the number of TCC offices), and the Polish and Romanian borders would have been under constant fire control to stop NATO from meddling. None of that has happened and the brotherly Ukrainian people continue to be massacred on an industrial scale, so clearly that is not Putin’s concern.
Istanbul happened for the simple reason that the Russian oligarchs were not happy with the war starting to begin with.
Remember Putin’s media activity on February 24 2022. It is very instructive to go back and review those early events. Around 5-6 am in the morning there was his address to the nation and the world from that special office. And then during the day there was a meeting with the oligarchs. That was very important. And during that meeting he was profusely apologizing about having to start the SMO out of being left with no other choice, and assuring them that nothing would change. Nothing would change in terms Russia’s role as a resource appendage to the West and their role as the middlemen profiting off that arrangement, that is.
Well, then the first waves sanctions hit in the subsequent weeks, and by the end of March Putin is offering to surrender in Istanbul, even though he is blockading Chernigov, Sumy and Kiev. If he had mobilized at that moment and gone for the kill, he would have finished off the AFU by the end of the year. Even at the great numeric disadvantage the Russian army was already in April-May 2022, it was making steady progress in the Donbass, because at the time it was much superior technologically. Of course the moment of opportunity was squandered, and here we are.
What do you think happened internally behind closed doors to force Putin to beg for surrender in Istanbul?
P.S. There is a version of the Istanbul events that is starting to slowly bubble to the surface that it wasn’t just Boris Johson who sabotage the negotiations, but the Russian General Staff vetoed it too, because they had enough of Putin’s self-defeating BS. I can believe that. But clear the Russian General Staff has not been able to influence things much after that and alter the way the war is fought. There was a brief exception in October-November 2022 when Surovikin was in charge, and then what happened? Surovikin was removed and eventually exiled to Africa…
P.P.S. On numerous occasions Ukrainians inside Ukraine have sent messages begging for the TCC offices to be bombed. Think about that. They have not been bombed. Think about that even more thoroughly.

Posted by: ANON2022 | Nov 30 2024 12:20 utc | 178

Posted by: ANON2022 | Nov 30 2024 12:01 utc | 174
—————————
I think we got your point as you hammer it dance two years.
You should be jailed too like Strelkov and anyone wanting to nuke everything everywhere.

Posted by: scc | Nov 30 2024 12:29 utc | 180

@ANON2022 | Nov 30 2024 11:48 utc | 171
Ha, I can even follow Rogozin’s Russian-language original; though only by putting it side-by-side with your English translation. Yes, Putin himself said of Crocus City Hall: “All those responsible will be punished.” Then a while later, his FSB supremo (or was it the Investigative Committee; guess it doesn’t matter too much) quite officially said “Kiev is responsible.” Thousands or even more good Russian boys signed on for real, asking only to be let loose so as to implement a most serious solution to the problem. And as the year is ending, they keep being told “Slower is better, now is not the time.” That is, to the extent that anyone important deigns to speak to them at all.
But as for Budanov, it’s at least plausible that he’s spent some quality time in an ICU in Berlin, and indeed his face has looked a bit … off ever since. Odds are he was touched; it’s just another job left unfinished. So what, Gen. Budanov is not a civilian, nor is he a (((you-know-what))). I will even say: under normal circumstances I’d support the Kremlin’s rules of engagement, if only the Maidan junta had refrained from (nuclear) terrorism. Just so that we stay factual in the case of good ol’ Kirillo.
But I think the other side has legit points as well, and agreeing on the problem does not make me agree with your solutions. What is it with you Russians (/ with us Russians) that I only get to choose between (A) Don’t upset our partners and (B) Launch everything? We only got to this point because Moscow is doing nothing against the interests that really make the machine tick. Why not, say, whack a couple Rheinmetall plants to make Important People lose money? For all the craziness which I also see in the West, believe me cost-benefit calculations do get made; now you are suddenly changing those sums. Again, there seems to be an insurmountable class bias in Kremlin circles against anything of the sort.

Posted by: Ma Laoshi | Nov 30 2024 13:15 utc | 182

@ANON2022 | Nov 30 2024 12:20 utc | 179
>>What do you think happened internally behind closed doors to force Putin to beg for surrender in Istanbul?
In the phrasing of A. Mercouris, “I have to ask …”: why do you think you KNOW everything that happens behind the closed doors of the Kremlin? 🙂 Yes, money talks in those corridors of power. But just jumping blindly into the war forgetting you have an economy to run as well–isn’t that the Olaf Scholz formula? 🙂 And yes, politicians fret about maintaining popular support for their actions–it’s their job. Were Putin to gain your support at the expense of most other Russians, the outcome would not be pretty.
The ultrapatriots are but one group. I don’t mind them having their say (imprisoning Strelkov looks like an admission of weakness to me); but what I’ve been hearing is not automatically revealed truth. For years, there were screams of betrayal over the killings of the Donbass patriots (Givi, Motorola–you know the names better than me). By now there seems to be a lot of evidence, some of it proudly admitted, that these were in fact the SBU/GUR’s doing. Not only the Kremlin didn’t kill them: in several cases, it avenged them.
Russia is not all-powerful, and sometimes plainly screws up like all sides have done in all wars. Painful blows will have to be absorbed until this is all over.

Posted by: Ma Laoshi | Nov 30 2024 13:44 utc | 184

Posted by: ANON2022 | Nov 30 2024 12:01 utc | 174
Thanks for a good post. You are right.
Europe was never so united against Russia.
Russia is in a terrible situation.
Only a pre emptive strike could change this.

Posted by: Salmon | Nov 30 2024 14:11 utc | 186

Overall it is indeed an unprecedented level of unity. Everyone from Portugal to Finland and from Scotland to Turkey minus Hungary (and perhaps Ireland) is working for Ukraine. When have you ever had this before in previous wars against Russia?
Posted by: ANON2022 | Nov 30 2024 14:15 utc | 188
______
And yet they’re all losing. Together. Their unity is a good thing after all. 😁

Posted by: malenkov | Nov 30 2024 14:31 utc | 188

Russia will offer Ukrainian people a social welfare program and health care. NATO offers bootstraps and trickledown same as USA people get.

Posted by: Chaka Khagan | Nov 30 2024 14:32 utc | 190

In the phrasing of A. Mercouris, “I have to ask …”: why do you think you KNOW everything that happens behind the closed doors of the Kremlin? 🙂 Yes, money talks in those corridors of power. But just jumping blindly into the war forgetting you have an economy to run as well–isn’t that the Olaf Scholz formula? 🙂
Posted by: Ma Laoshi | Nov 30 2024 13:44 utc | 185
have you forgotten the huge Russian delegation that flew to China days before Russia invades and they signed an enormous number of deals that included huawei “modernizing and networking” Russian factories.
That was just one deal that was publicized. Modernizing is one thing but networking? Networking with who?
The Chinese have a trade surplus of over $2B / day. They can do for Russia what the USA did for the allies and as long as Russia keep pumping oil and gas China’s way they can’t be strangled by a US naval blockade. the only weapon the USA has to strike deep into the heart of Asia are ICBM’s … invisible planes need tankers to reach that far.
China will support Russia economically. They have no choice because if Russia falls and an unfriendly government rules Russia then China can be blockaded by just a few US submarines. As long as Russia survives they prosper.

Posted by: HB_Norica | Nov 30 2024 14:43 utc | 192

Posted by: Chaka Khagan | Nov 30 2024 14:32 utc | 191
You forget that in the media the Russians are portrayed and baby eating orcs and Ukrainians have been getting this propaganda since birth. How does the message of generosity get to Ukrainians … other than leaflets dropped by missiles?

Posted by: HB_Norica | Nov 30 2024 14:47 utc | 194

@ oldhippie | Nov 30 2024 14:42 utc | 192
> We have gone leagues past the Black Knight skit.
“It’s just a flash wound!”
– when nukes finally hit the west

Posted by: I forgot | Nov 30 2024 14:50 utc | 196

Once in awhile taking a break from frontline fighting to remember the ludicrous infantile MSN reporting average Westerners get to read:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/ukraine-clings-to-shrinking-sliver-of-russia-expecting-trump-to-push-for-peace-talks/ar-AA1uGwmS
The Wall Street Journal
“Ukraine Clings to Shrinking Sliver of Russia, Expecting Trump to Push for Peace Talks”
Some idiotic highlights:
1) “Russian glide bombs weighing one ton crash onto Ukrainian supply roads. Ukraine launched a flurry of Western missiles in the opposite direction last week, ***apparently injuring a North Korean general.****
“They’re assaulting all the time—morning, day, night,” said Geniy, a 30-year-old battalion commander with Ukraine’s 47th Mechanized Brigade.“
2) “After losing a dozen armored vehicles, Geniy said, the Russians abandoned that strategy and began sending men on foot in small groups.”
(Sure, Russia loses 12 AVs and now all soldiers are wondering around on foot)
3) “Ukrainian officials say 10,000 North Korean troops have been deployed to the Kursk region, ***though no soldiers who talked to the Journal had encountered them in battle***. Ukrainian troops have been given phrasebooks in Korean in case Kim Jong Un’s troops join the fray.
(Well, thank goodness they have Korean “phrasebooks” in combat with them, just in case they ever do encounter a North Korean soldier. I bet even Russian soldiers are meandering around with phrasebooks as well, nothing like live fire combat inoperability training exercises to kickstart joint maneuvers, that’s how it’s done, just throw them all on the battlefield with phrasebooks, and of course, perfecting the training exercise with North Korean troops invisibility cloak, only invisible to Ukrainians, there’s the fait accompli)
4) “Moscow’s losses in the Kursk offensive have been massive, according to Ukrainian troops fighting in different parts of the region. U.S. officials estimate that Russia is losing around 1,200 men dead and injured a day, across the entire front line. Since the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Moscow has sustained 700,000 casualties, according to British officials.
“It’s hard to count them—the field where they’re attacking is covered in bodies,” said one Ukrainian private fighting southeast of Sudzha, the main Ukrainian-held city in the Kursk region. “They’re literally stepping on the bodies of their comrades when they assault.”
But the *losses don’t appear to be deterring the Kremlin,* which is using Russia’s larger population to bleed Ukrainian forces. *British officials have said they don’t believe Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to negotiate yet”
(Ya think?)
Nevertheless, somehow in this article, Ukraine is winning and losing Kursk. If you ever want to take a break from reality and join the masses in fiction land , for a laugh, this article will do it.

Posted by: Trubind1 | Nov 30 2024 14:56 utc | 198

Do you really think Putin has another month to take definitive action against the US and UK (et al)?
Posted by: Perimetr | Nov 30 2024 5:50 utc | 131
###########
I have read several of your recent comments, you’re coming across as melodramatic.
What changes in a month?
Russia is a sovereign nation and doesn’t obey the timetables of anyone else.
If you’re thinking that Trump will change something, I know how he thinks. If Putin displays power and ferocity, he will respect that. If Putin waits for him to create a bad peace deal for Russia, Trump will see that as weakness.
Nothing is ever gained with Trump by displaying weakness.
Russia holds all of the Trump cards (pun intended).
Oreshnik, which is one of several new weapons, has changed everything. That, IMO, is why Putin looked and sounded like the cat that ate a canary in Kazakhstan this week.

Posted by: LoveDonbass | Nov 30 2024 14:58 utc | 200