What Did President Trump Know When President Putin’s Helicopter Came Under Ukrainian Drone Attack in Kursk?
https://johnhelmer.net/what-did-president-trump-know-when-president-putins-helicopter-came-under-ukrainian-drone-attack-in-kursk/
On July 17, 2014 Biden helped Poroshenko hit MH17 blaming Putin. On May 20, 2025, Trump helped Zelensky hit Putin’s helicopter but they missed. Trump blamed Putin.

Posted by: JohnGilberts | May 30 2025 13:53 utc | 104

https://www.flightradar24.com/3a919c19
Polish Border Force helicopter cruising exactly over the border west of Lvov/Lemberg at 2,800 feet. Same thing a month or two ago.
Looking for people trying to cross into Poland?

Posted by: YetAnotherAnon | May 30 2025 14:06 utc | 106

And, on the other hand, if Russia had shot down two or three or ten or twelve planes of ‘the bloody entity’ … they would have instantly respected Russia.
Posted by: Simon | May 30 2025 12:25 utc | 100
It is like a boxing match when you know opponent is going down by tenth round. Just stay out of his reach,defend and jab. No fancy moves. Stay on the feet and don’t get knocked down. It will be decided in the currency field. Till then Russia and the rest making sure they don’t go down. Europe also preparing for this by trying to be self sufficient in Military matters

Posted by: Michael J | May 30 2025 14:31 utc | 108

113
The idea that “an afterlife” somehow continues in time is manifestly wrong. We must contemplate the essence and meaning of the time itself to realize what an “afterlife” might be, or not be.
This is rather an atheistic statement that even Dawkins himself might accept and support, and yet I am a deeply religious and theistic person of faith and I have come to this conclusion.

Posted by: Catilina | May 30 2025 14:54 utc | 110

The idea of an “after life” provides hope and motivation.
It is what one makes of it, I think.
For some it is taken literally and for some it it is more of a concept.
Some subscribe to the “life sucks and then you die” – well, if that works.
Some seem to have a need to advise others what they should believe – to me this indicates a lacking.

Posted by: jared | May 30 2025 15:16 utc | 112

Mobilisation in Ukraine facing increasing push-back:

In Kamianets-Podilsky, about 100 people blocked a [TCC] car
In Kamianets-Podilsky, which is located in Khmelnitsky district, on April 29, about 100 people blocked the official car of the mobile notification group of the [TCC-SC].
This was reported in the Khmelnitsky regional [TCC-SC], informs RegioNews .
“According to available information, the vehicle was damaged (tires were cut), and the actions of citizens showed signs of organized resistance to the performance of official duties by representatives of the Armed Forces of Ukraine,” the report says.
It is noted that law enforcement officers and the military law enforcement service arrived at the scene. Priority investigative actions are continuing, the identity of violators is being established, and all facts of illegal behavior are being recorded.
The TCK stressed that such actions under martial law can be qualified under Article 114-1 of the Criminal Code as obstruction of the legitimate activities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and in some cases-as high treason. It is also possible to bring to justice under articles 342, 345 and 346 of the Criminal Code – resistance to law enforcement, hooliganism and damage to property.
The video of the blocking was published in local telegram channels.

https://regionews.ua/ukr/news/hmelnitskaya/1748593189-u-kam-yantsi-podilskomu-blizko-100-lyudey-zablokuvali-avtomobil-ttsk (via translation add-on.)
A couple of days ago there was an incident in Kremenchug, when the press-gang commissioners knocked a guy off his bicycle and held him down, only for several passers-by to intervene and free him, whereupon he attacked the commissioners with a telescopic baton and pepper spray.
No wonder Zelensky doesn’t want to hold elections.

Posted by: Jeremy Rhymings-Lang | May 30 2025 15:43 utc | 114

jared | May 30 2025 13:47 utc | 108
Not sure how much longer Trump can keep that going – maybe 6 months. As long as Trump is playing ball with the permanent government, the media give him some slack.
—
Exactly. And why Musk bailed out – he’s supposed to be smart, but you can tell he is both immature and unseasoned – they DS chewed him up and now he’s gotta be looking over his shoulder for the rest of his life.
Ultimately, and for some reason I need to keep repeating myself, this is all about maintaining and preserving pools of existing ‘civilization’ on planet earth ie you cannot have infinite growth on a finite planet. (Notice Musk’s increasing frequency of postulating about universal time, earth and the potential for cosmos seeding.)
Because all life forms compete over scarce resources, any noticeable differences are merely style not subtance. Thus the shaved, showered and dressed up bald ape is no different than the birds in my backyard sqawking over territory.
However, to make matters worse, a certain, shall we say, private debt based money system was crafted by the ultimate players in our little pond, one that needs a constant, growing, never ending flow of energy and other natural resources. No fuel, no money aka no tickie no washie.
If you get this, then you’ll understand why Ukraine is absolutely essitential to the West: we MUST have Russia’s shit in order to collateralize future lending. Otherwise, we’ll find ourselves in a deflationary spiral which will bring the entire Western order of control down into a pile of worthless stocks, bonds and money.
Another thing I keep saying is this isn’t hard; rather, what’s difficult is shedding any cherished fanatasies about fairness, equity and peace. For example, Pyschohistorian knows completely well about private finance, yet he keeps waxing on about reform and future public systems. Sigh, what a waste of time and life.
Instead, seize the opportunity to exploit the system to secure your own small piece of peace and comfort, all the while watching the existing order turn once again, giving future historians yet another era to write about.

Posted by: markw | May 30 2025 15:47 utc | 116

“Against renewed #Russian 🇷🇺 attack efforts, #Ukraine 🇺🇦 has not been idle, and is currently building the New Donbas Line, which stretches from #Kharkiv city to #VilnePole (#Zaporizhzhia), and which is the fruit of years of drone war experience and, finally, error correction. In some sections, it’s already capable of withstanding full-force #Russian attacks.”
https://x.com/Playfra0/status/1928183254089429005

Posted by: YetAnotherAnon | May 30 2025 15:58 utc | 118

@ YetAnotherAnon | May 30 2025 15:58 utc | 124
Any bets on how much money are being stolen on “the bestest line” for _the third time_ around?

Posted by: boneless | May 30 2025 16:27 utc | 120

The spontaneous resistance against press gangs is a good sign. Reminds one of the well known quote:

How we burned in the camps later, thinking: What would things have been like if every Security operative, when he went out at night to make an arrest, had been uncertain whether he would return alive and had to say good-bye to his family?
Or if, during periods of mass arrests, as for example in Leningrad, when they arrested a quarter of the entire city, people had not simply sat there in their lairs, paling with terror at every bang of the downstairs door and at every step on the staircase, but had understood they had nothing left to lose and had boldly set up in the downstairs hall an ambush of half a dozen people with axes, hammers, pokers, or whatever else was at hand?…
The Organs would very quickly have suffered a shortage of officers and transport and, notwithstanding all of Stalin’s thirst, the cursed machine would have ground to a halt! If…if…

.
Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn , The Gulag Archipelago 1918–1956

Posted by: Exile | May 30 2025 16:36 utc | 122

How we burned in the camps later, thinking: What would things have been like if every Security operative, when he went out at night to make an arrest, had been uncertain whether he would return alive and had to say good-bye to his family?
Posted by: Exile | May 30 2025 16:36 utc | 128
—
Solzhenitsyn’s Harvard commencement speech shows how he was played twice ==> https://www.solzhenitsyncenter.org/a-world-split-apart
But maybe foreign nationals at Harvard are a thing of the past?

Posted by: too scents | May 30 2025 16:43 utc | 124

markw @ 122

-Ultimately, and for some reason I need to keep repeating myself
-aka no tickie no washie.
-If you get this, then you’ll understand
-Another thing I keep saying is this isn’t hard
-Sigh,
-what a waste of time and life.

Take your arrogant, bloviating barely crypto Nazi attitude and pretentious, high school, one dimensional social Darwinist mindset somewhere else, maybe an Azov forum. Or, come back when you reach the age of reason and learn write tersely while still showing respect for others.
I know don’t feed the trolls.

Posted by: LightYearsFromHome | May 30 2025 16:50 utc | 126

Posted by: Alex Christoforou | May 30 2025 12:26 utc | 101
Trump’s a fucking drama queen.
Putin has no reason to meet with Zelensky. It’s a waste of his time let alone the $$$ Russia would have to spend in security to put Putin in Istanbul. This is what negotiating committees are for … they work out the details THEN the president signs it in a big fluffy ceremony. Putin’s a president not a king … he can only make suggestions … it’s the Duma that makes it law.
As far as a summit with Trump is concerned the same logic applies. What are they going to be doing in Istanbul that they couldn’t be done over the phone and WTF is Zelensky going to do while the adults talk business? I guess he could sit in a corner with a bag of coke and some leggo? Putin and Trump can agree as to what needs to be worked out over the phone but again there should be a committee that meets to set the agenda and in Putin’s case it’s the Duma that makes the ultimate decisions not putin.

Posted by: HB_Norica | May 30 2025 16:53 utc | 128

Posted by: Roger Boyd | May 30 2025 16:44 utc | 131
########
Ironic that just as Russia cranks up the tempo, Anonymous goes silent.

Posted by: LoveDonbass | May 30 2025 16:59 utc | 130

The Serbs are sending weapons to Ukraine via the back door – I’m surprised at Vucic doing this, but then again when money’s involved this is what happens – Sanchez of Spain claimed Spain wasn’t arming the Zio-Monsters, only for it to be discovered Spain, is arming them via the back door as well.
“Serbian companies have used “fake end-user certificates” to route weapons through Poland, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, and other NATO countries, as well as unspecified African states. These arms, the agency said, later surfaced in Ukraine. According to the SVR, 100,000 rockets and howitzer shells, along with one million small arms rounds, have been transferred in this manner. Major Serbian weapons manufacturers, including the state-owned Yugoimport-SDPR, were allegedly complicit in the scheme.”

Posted by: Republicofscotland | May 30 2025 17:10 utc | 132

Posted by: LoveDonbass | May 30 2025 17:04 utc | 137
Strange, are you demanding that Trump’s political approach follows the Western military philosophy, that you regularly castigate, whilst criticising him for following the Russian method, that you regularly extoll?
To make it easy for you, Trump’s political strategy against the DS mirrors Putin’s war against the DS’ enclave in Ukraine. The narrative you slavishly seem to follow about Trump is the same narrative that you rightly reject about the SMO.
Clearer now?

Posted by: Milites | May 30 2025 17:20 utc | 134

Posted by: Milites | May 30 2025 17:20 utc | 140
“Trump’s political strategy”
Trump has a strategy?????? Oh, yes, I can hear it now….coming down the hall……..flip flop, flip flop, flip flop………
Must be his summer strategy.

Posted by: CeaClearly | May 30 2025 17:52 utc | 136

I’d still like to know why three Ukrainian “aspiring male models” were allegedly setting Starmer’s property ablaze.

Posted by: YetAnotherAnon | May 30 2025 18:01 utc | 138

Posted by: Republicofscotland | May 30 2025 17:10 utc | 138
The Serbs are sending weapons to Ukraine via the back door – I’m surprised at Vucic doing this

I’m surprised you’re writing something that simplicistic.
First: “The Serbs”. What you mean (and later write) is: “Some Serbian companies”.
Second: “Vucic”. Do you expect that the Serbian government or even the prime minister himself has 100% control over exports? Someone trying to make money with weapon exports can easily expend energy and time to conceal traces.
I have no way of knowing — perhaps the Serbian authorities do know about this. But I think it’s better to be less paranoid and assume ill will *and* total control for everyone. For example, a natural reaction to this piece of news is to see if and how Serbian institutions react.

Posted by: Konami | May 30 2025 18:22 utc | 140

Posted by: Simon | May 30 2025 12:25 utc | 100
#######
A very Western take. Russia isn’t seeking respect. It is achieving victory.
Respect w/o victory is what America did after Vietnam.
And we’ve seen where that leads.

Posted by: LoveDonbass | May 30 2025 18:51 utc | 142

Limitedly fit persons must undergo military medical examination by June 5, there will be no extension of term – MP Fediienko
Limitedly fit persons must undergo a repeated military medical examination by June 5, no extension of the term is expected.
The Verkhovna Rada member from the Servant of the People faction, member of the Committee on National Security, Defense and Intelligence, Oleksandr Fediienko, has written this on his Telegram channel, the Ukrainian News agency reports.
“The extension of the military medical examination for limitedly fit persons is not expected,” he wrote.
The MP informed that by June 5, all limitedly fit persons must undergo a military medical examination again.
As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, almost all citizens of Ukraine who were previously recognized as limitedly fit for military service are now recognized as fit based on the results of the repeated military medical examination.
More than half of those who previously had the status of unfit or limitedly fit have undergone a repeated medical examination. And almost all of them — 99% — were found fit for service. In February, the Verkhovna Rada extended the deadlines for passing the military medical examination for citizens with limited fitness for military service until June 5, 2025.

https://ukranews.com/en/news/1084991-limitedly-fit-persons-must-undergo-military-medical-examination-by-june-5-there-will-be-no
Clearly the Ukrainians have been studying the British Department for Work and Pensions:
DWP: We have assessed you as being fit for work
Claimant: goes to job interview
Claimant: passes job interview
Claimant: goes to job medical exam
Claimant: fails job medical exam
DWP: We have assessed you as being fit for work

Posted by: Jeremy Rhymings-Lang | May 30 2025 19:04 utc | 144

“Too bad we can’t worship ourselves.”
Posted by: A rope leash | May 29 2025 20:24 utc | 21
“Many people do.”
Posted by: Avtonom | May 30 2025 8:46 utc | 80
And they aren’t the kind of people you want to be with. If you worship yourself then your god is too small. Once you can quiet the storms and rise from the dead then there’s room to brag.

Posted by: Paranaense | May 30 2025 19:37 utc | 146

jared #102…thank you..this is most accurate situation before negotiation on 06/02(if it happen) I can only add if ukr. do not agree on Russians terms the will bomb Z nest until he surrender… they surely softened up Z protector(kellogg)..

Posted by: sejmon | May 30 2025 19:47 utc | 148

FDR died in April 1945
Posted by: paddy | May 30 2025 20:09 utc | 157
Thanks for pointing out my STUPID error. I’m still mostly asleep. I meant, of course, Truman the criminal.

Posted by: acementhead | May 30 2025 20:23 utc | 150

Ukraine refused to pay $ 665 million to holders of GDP warrants — Bloomberg
Ukraine will miss a $665 million payment on the national debt after it failed to agree on its restructuring with a group of creditors led by hedge funds. This is reported by Bloomberg.
Missing a payment is actually a default on these bonds.
Kiev last year agreed with investors to remove the cross-default clause between the so-called GDP warrants and its usual international bonds. This protects against a scenario in which the default on one instrument is transferred to another debt.
Warrants, 20% of which belong to Ukraine, reward investors when real economic growth exceeds 3% per year, and the payment due on June 2 is related to economic growth in 2023. However, on Friday, the Ukrainian Finance Ministry said that the moratorium on bond payments introduced last year would remain in effect until the restructuring of this debt was completed, the agency reports.
“Ukraine remains committed to implementing a comprehensive, fair and equitable restructuring of GDP—linked securities,” the country’s Finance Ministry said in a statement.

https://eadaily.com/en/news/2025/05/30/ukraine-refused-to-pay-665-million-to-holders-of-gdp-warrants-bloomberg
A bond issue earlier this week was knocking on the door of 17%, but no doubt @SunOfAlabama will be along shortly to MMTsplain why it doesn’t matter…

Posted by: Jeremy Rhymings-Lang | May 30 2025 20:27 utc | 152

acementhead | May 30 2025 19:47 utc | 155
The project to destroy Persia, and take all its stuff, was started by Alexander in 336 BCE. Fixed it for you.
I would suggest interested readers review a timeline of Russia’s conquests and expansion; or China’s for that matter.
That’s why I believe they’re so unemotional about the current war; it’s just business. They’ve got everything the world needs, so naturally they’re going to have to defend it. Duh.
—
I would expect Russia already has a team assembled which is analyzing ways in which to neutralize the fallout from the West’s loss.
They need to get a handle on it much the same way the West had to ensure Soviet nukes didnt escape control in 1991.

Posted by: Markw | May 30 2025 20:47 utc | 154

The Russians consolidated their gains north of Kupyansk with the taking of Kindrashivka and have now also moved into the north of Kupyansk, 2km from the junction of the P79 and P07. The latter is the only major route of supply into the Ukrainian positions east of the Oskil and north of Kolisnykivka – without it all of those positions will be cut off.
They also kept successfully expanding their Zherebet bridgehead westward toward Lozove, which would cut off the southern supply routes to the Ukrainian positions north of Lozove, east of the Oskil and south of Bohuslovka. Leaving the only supply bridge at Borova.
The summer is looking to have multiple crisis points for Ukraine, including Kupyansk and then Lyman/Izyum, Kostyantynivka, Pokrovsk, and toward Pokrovs’ke (a road junction north of Hulyaipole), Kamyans’ke and more. The Ukrainians are already using the last of their reserves to try to stop the advance south of Kostyantynivka.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b85BnJ1zgY8

Posted by: Roger Boyd | May 30 2025 20:57 utc | 156

Posted by: acementhead | May 30 2025 19:47 utc | 155
I think the Soviets were pretty adept at taking other people’s stuff as well. If they’d really wanted to destroy Russia surely ‘45 would have been the ideal time, I doubt they’d have been able to withstand the Allies for long, especially given the nuclear capability.

Posted by: Milites | May 30 2025 21:06 utc | 158

Posted by: kpax | May 30 2025 17:35 utc | 141
Le parfum de la trahison des peuples. Wore by Royals for centuries …

Posted by: Hiro Masamune | May 30 2025 21:33 utc | 160

The Chechny-ization of Ukraine will soon begin.

Posted by: steel_porcupine | May 30 2025 22:01 utc | 162

Posted by: Alex Christoforou | May 30 2025 12:26 utc | 101
Zelensky wants a meeting with Putin and Trump. Kellogg is talking about a meeting between Trump, Putin and Zelensky. Trump stated that he is ready for a trilateral meeting.
What the piano-bite wants and what the psycho-megalomaniac wants has strictly no importance. The boss is Putin.
Why the need to put Zelensky at the table with Trump and Putin? This is a proxy war between the US and Russia, that can be solved only between US and Russia.
It can be solved only by the denazification and demilitarisation of what will be left of country 404. Why is it so difficult to understand? The yankees are not agreement capable.
One possible reason, it gives Zelensky real legitimacy. Putin meeting with Zelensky in this format, with Trump present, means that Russia recognises Zelensky’s Presidency.
You are dreaming. The Russian position is clear: the piano-bite has no legitimacy.
Zelensky wants to use the meeting as visual proof that he is the best option to lead Ukraine with or without elections. It solidifies his rule, and safeguards his future.
The piano-bite has no future: as soon as he will admit the loss of any territory he will be disposed by the ukronazis and the banderists.
Political competitors and powerful forces in Ukraine will hesitate to push for a removal or coup after seeing Zelensky at the table with Trump and Putin.
You are dreaming. A lot.
As always, for Churchill No. 2, it’s a PR media performance. No peace is meant to come from this, I hope I am wrong.
??????????????????????
Side note: Even after the dressing down he received at the White House, Zelensky and the MSM presented a picture where he stood up bravely to Trump, and defended Ukraine’s honour.
Country 404 has no honour, none.
Fuck off nazi troll!

Posted by: Naive | May 30 2025 22:07 utc | 164

A lot of atomic weapons, a lot of chest-beating…
and Russia, in its impotence (reduced to killing Ukrainians despised by the Western ruling class), is the laughingstock of the West.
But if Russia had shot down two or three or ten or twelve planes of ‘the bloody entity’ …
the West ruling class would have sat down to negotiate NATO expansion
But Vladimir Vladimirovich preferred to sacrifice thousands of Russian soldiers
Posted by: Simon | May 30 2025 19:18 utc | 152
You are right.
Also, this last Russian negotiation urge is a signal to the collective west that Rusia is very weak.
The West despises the weak.
The West respects the ruthless and the brave.
Russian weakness even increases the chances for WWIII as the west is now sure in its superiority.

Posted by: vargas | May 30 2025 22:27 utc | 166

Friedrich “uses the small spoon” Merz is acting like the aerial strike on R’s hinterland is what’s most critical right now in Project Ukraine
We see Merz de-centering the LOC battle between the AFU & Russian Forces because Project Ukraine is about Russia losing, which means that at no point going forward is the focus on Ukraine *winning* on the LOC
Such a thing has no currency now.
The LOC is irrelevant.
Ths focus now is about targeting Moscow, hitting Moscow’a civic spaces w/ drones or long-range missiles/
The focus not is on terrorism, in other words.

Posted by: steel_porcupine | May 30 2025 22:30 utc | 168

ostro | May 30 2025 10:24 utc | 90
Posting Dmitry Medvedev latest.
The man has excelled himself.
Calls the Kiev klown a green aphid. 😃
Refers to the UKR-EU relationship as “myrmecophilia”.
Medvedev wasn’t just drawing pics of dicks in biology class… he’s nailed the insectoid classifications.
wagelaborer | May 30 2025 20:38 utc | 161
Re a revisit of RAND.
Thanks. For your “labors”, wagie, a beverage of choice on my tab….
~~~~

Posted by: Melaleuca | May 30 2025 22:37 utc | 170

Posted by: Melaleuca | May 30 2025 0:11 utc | 41
RE: Ukraine will now manufacture long-range weapons
<< Friedrich “uses the small spoon” Merz has just delivered 5 billion euros to Kiev in support of Ukraine’s defense industry: so Ukraine can build their own Taurus-caliber long-range missiles and not have to rely on Germany. But it is bogus to believe that in six months’ time Ukraine can magick into existence a defense industry tasked w/ creating Taurus-caliber long-range missiles, most of which require intricate machinery and even the skill & workmanship to finish the components by hand. So the boost in Ukraine’s “defense industry” is a fig-leaf. Germany will pretend that Ukraine’s domestic homegrown “defense industry” has—in six months’ time—manufactured the long-range missiles and is now fully capable, autonomously & without Germany’s technical guidance, of targeting the Kremlin. Regime Media in the West will like *covering* for this falsehood, because they will like the results.

Posted by: steel_porcupine | May 30 2025 23:25 utc | 172

Whatever happened to Mark2, the UK weirdo with the atrocious spelling? Like so many, he comes in all hyper-participatory, full of Wiki Knowledge, thought bubbles and opinions, then disappears. I’m not complaining. If only some others here would do the same. Haven’t they got real lives to attend to?
MoA is just clearly a passing fad for some, an obsessive addiction for others, a daily or intermittent news read without comment (me), a drunken evening’s bigotted unload, a place of authoritative posturing by retired academics with Limelight Deprivation Syndrome, a game of baiting and trolling. What a cesspit of humanity. Same as for all social media, imho.

Posted by: Sgt Peppers | May 30 2025 23:32 utc | 174

And they aren’t the kind of people you want to be with. If you worship yourself then your god is too small. Once you can quiet the storms and rise from the dead then there’s room to brag.
Posted by: Paranaense | May 30 2025 19:37 utc | 154
…
When I said it’s too bad we can’t worship ourselves, I meant “ourselves, the human race”. It’s not the same as worshipping “yourself”.
That would be silly.
It’s sort of an impossibility, just as I said getting rid of religion is impossible…but I can dream of a mankind that recognizes its apical stature in the local universe. Humanity might theoretically gather of an evening and shout at the sunset…”We’re number one!”
A united world has a much better chance at seriously exploring the planets and beyond. Conflicting beliefs in unseen gods is quite possibly preventing mankind from advancing into the cosmos.
Indeed,religion is the single most divisive force on the planet. It’s almost like a modern-day religious war in the Middle East, isn’t it? Who needs it?
It’s the nature of the beast? This beast needs some evolution before it blows itself out of existence. I can dream of and advanced and united humanity exploring the local solar system and questing further toward the actual truth.
We’re number one, all of us.

Posted by: A rope leash | May 30 2025 23:55 utc | 176

The only role DJT had to play in Project Ukraine was to husband forward Russia’s capitulation terms.
Beyond that, DJT had no role, and of course no leverage, whatsoever.

Posted by: steel_porcupine | May 30 2025 22:05 utc | 171
Not even withdrawing from the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty, or arming Ukraine with Javelins?

Posted by: joey_n | May 31 2025 0:16 utc | 178

The illegal negotiations are confirmed to continue next week. The banderite “diplomats” complaints already started. Truly, the image of supreme confidence.
Posted by: boneless | May 31 2025 0:18 utc | 188
Yes, the regime didn’t expect Moscow to call for negotiations so quickly. They wanted a couple of weeks to give them time to use their Taurus missiles (which they already have btw). In this instance, kiev has been out foxed by Moscow (remember Trump saying we’ll see “in the next two weeks” meaning he knew this) beacuse they would look bad if they used the taurus during negotiation periods. I expect Moscow to keep the negotiations going ad infinitum to thwart the regimes plans.

Posted by: HERMIUS | May 31 2025 0:30 utc | 180

Posted by: joey_n | May 31 2025 0:16 utc | 187
RE: DJT’s role once Project Ukraine had been a hot war for more than 3 years
<< The only role DJT had to play in Project Ukraine, after he returned to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, was to husband forward Russia's capitulation terms. Beyond that, DJT had & has no role, and of course no leverage, whatsoever. Even when DJT authorized the Javelins in 2017 he---and his admin---did not have leverage.

Posted by: steel_porcupine | May 31 2025 0:38 utc | 182

While Merz acts like the aerial strike on Russia’s hinterland is what’s important now, the Ministry of Defense needs to fight the SMO as if negotiations are not in fact happening.
Because in critical ways they are *not* happening.

Posted by: steel_porcupine | May 31 2025 1:00 utc | 184

Posted by: Konami | May 30 2025 18:22 utc | 146
I totally agree, there is no evidence that Vucic had anything to do with any arms going from Serbia to Ukraine, and it is absurd to think that he is in control of, or even aware of, the company exporting weapons to Ukraine.
It is ridiculous as saying Victor Orban was behind the explosive pagers sent to Lebanon last year because it was said that the Taiwanese company that owns the brand manufactures them via another company and factory in Budapest.

Posted by: George | May 31 2025 1:21 utc | 186

Russia:
Russia has to push for peace. They have to push for negotiations. They have to make sure they don’t look like a bunch of warmongering hooligans so they can keep the goodwill of their allies.
They don’t REALLY want negotiations. They want compliance. So they write demands Ukraine would never agree to and wait for capitulation. And after it happens, I suspect Ukraine will flip sides. It will be the greatest humiliation NATO has ever experienced. I can’t wait to see it happen.

Posted by: MaryPeck | May 31 2025 2:43 utc | 188

Melaleuca | May 30 2025 22:37 utc | 178
Medvadev. Highly educated coupled with the ability to outdo any American trash talker. Regardless of Georgia, prior to the SMO, many clowns considered him a weak liberal type. He and Putin have not been basically partners for so long for no reason.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | May 31 2025 2:58 utc | 190

Am I seeing what I think I’m seeing?

Posted by: Caveman | May 31 2025 3:09 utc | 192

Posted by: A rope leash | May 30 2025 23:55 utc | 184
“We’re number one, all of us.”
You are closer to the truth than you realize.
I said, “You are gods,
sons of the Most High, all of you;
nevertheless, like men you shall die,
and fall like any prince.” (Psalm 82:6-7)

Posted by: Paranaense | May 31 2025 4:13 utc | 194

Posted by: Sun Of Alabama | May 31 2025 0:56 utc | 192
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
“Only time will tell if you can grasp it or not.”
I don’t bother reading anything you write, but I love your graphics. Thanks for making scrolling fun!

Posted by: Paranaense | May 31 2025 4:19 utc | 196

Russian Forces liberated 13 towns & villages between 23 May and 30 May in critical LOC junctures (Sumy Region, Kupiansk, Konstantynovka) and promises to liberate broad swathes of territory in the coming week. Regardless of talks in Istanbul, it is obvious that the RF will prosecute the SMO as already plotted out & strategized.
Once the Istanbul talks fizzle, it is difficult to see how Ukraine & its curators can merely pick up where they left off w/ the extracurricular terrorism, away from the battlefield—-drone-swarms used to close Moscow-area airports—which has nothing to do w/ winning a conflict but is designed to crush Russia.
Increasingly, it is as if the *war* itself has become a scarcely fig-leafed pretext for giving Kiev’s Euro-curators *a reason* to attack Moscow, attack Kazan, attack Bryansk, attack Crimea *with impunity.*
The *war* has given Kiev’s Euro curators a reason to temporarily close Moscow’s airports or to seize Russia’s commercial tankers leaving Saint Petersburg.
Kiev’s Euro-curators have de-centered their attention from the LOC in order to focus on targeting civic spaces—-could be apartment blocks, could be nursing homes, could be shopping malls—because the ruse or *cover* of a ‘conflict in Ukraine’ provides them license to foment a wider Forever War, terroristic in nature.

Posted by: steel_porcupine | May 31 2025 6:38 utc | 198

Posted by: juliania | May 31 2025 4:19 utc | 204
RE: prayerful thoughts
<< During the Second Crusades, instances of battlefield visions among both Muslims and Christians were frequented and documented. Contemporary historians continue to examine the effects of apparitions & specters on the combatants, circa 1147. More contemporaneously, Alexandr Dugin's social media plea, not exactly a prayer but an exhortation, is especially critical: "We need to support Trump in spite of his nervous breakdown concerning Russia. Russia is only friend of Trump and his America. All the rest are either foes or competitors or parasites. MAGA is in critical situation. It is attacked from all sides. Except ours."

Posted by: steel_pocupine | May 31 2025 6:56 utc | 200