Newbie | Aug 14 2025 12:24 utc | 185
>”discuss this previously?
A: Yes
>”Any confirmation?”
A: No.
Australians who post here were anticipating the quick Russian destruction of the once-scrapped Abrams, that the Australian Defence Force was *forced*, by weight of a NAFO PR pressure campaign, to dig out of the boneyard and spend $$$$ million, allegedly $30m, but probably more, restoring to “combat readiness”.
Australian media, ever the chauvinistic chorus, had long reported 49 rehabilitated Abrams that were being sent across the seas to terrify Putin.
How this then became 60 Abrams, was the point of some discussion among Aussies here. But no one care enough beyond some desultory back and forth.
“It was 49”. “It’s now reported 60”. Shrugs of indifference.
Everyone knew the whole exercise was absurd hubris. There was no doubt the aussie Abrams would eventually be destroyed by Russia.
That they never made it off the boat is just glorious.
I’m just anticipating that in a few decades – or whenever- the Aussie taxpayer will again be put on the hook to pay for the salvage of the bloody scrap metal.
>whiny voice= “they were *Australian* Abrams, you need to clean up your litter”. That’ll be $1billion to some scam salvage operation.

Posted by: Melaleuca | Aug 14 2025 13:31 utc | 204

Why bother taking Odessa when Russia has total air supremacy to bomb any economic infrastructure into smithereens?
Lots more fun playing the Joker than having to run a city.

Posted by: Ghost of Zanon | Aug 14 2025 13:38 utc | 206

maybe a president swap would be a good idea..
forget the land swap..

Posted by: wishfulthinking | Aug 14 2025 13:40 utc | 208

@fanto | Thu, 14 Aug 2025 04:05:00 GMT | 134

After seeing how Yassir Arafat died; how the ‘pagers’ were organized for months or years ahead, how polonium can work, how innocent bumps into a tip of an umbrella can be lethal, – I am not so sure that some other means do not exist, to make a person get sick some weeks or months later, so that a ‘natural’ cause can be posited.

Bob Marley’s football boot. A hidden copper wire stung his toe, then an aggressive cancer developed right there – the boot was a gift presented to him. A wild tale, but apparently common knowledge in the Carribean according to a great piece of longform reporting in a local newspaper which I can’t dig up again.
https://rare.us/rare-news/around-the-world/cia-marley-assassination/
Pop culture is dangerous to the elites, think LSD and the Vietnam war. In Germany we have the Fusion Festival with its Ferienkommunismus idea claiming a temporary self-governed zone, potentially uniting people by means of rave culture. The festival still exists, but one of its founders, the charismatic Eule, died with 25 … rather suspiciously, I hear from people who were close to him.

Posted by: persiflo | Aug 14 2025 13:44 utc | 210

It seems like there is a hidden hand influencing western geo-politics and national politics at this time more than usual.
Things are happening which dont make sense – to outside observer.
Trump likely to get a Nobel prize, in spite of aiding and abetting a genocide.
And apart from other more constructive motivations, I think that a big part of why Trump pressed for this meeting (in spite of the lack of prospects for success) is that he is wanting to get off the subject of the Epstein files – only a dumpster fire of an issue, but creating a problem for him politically.
I will now remove the tin-foil cap.

Posted by: jared | Aug 14 2025 13:55 utc | 212

Posted by: JamesBond | Aug 14 2025 13:19 utc | 200
“what was already been proposed until today (which is not great for them).”
If it’s ‘not great for them” they won’t be signing. You seem to think that Russia is incapable of winning soundly. Perhaps the slowness of the advance has misled you, But Russia is not using even a quarter of its resources. This is not a ‘war’ for Russia – it is a ‘Special Military Operation’. If Russia was actually to declare war there would be a substantial change in the pace and scope of events. As it is, they are disarming NATO and the Ukraine. Another year and it would be the west who would be ‘cannibalising washing machines’.

Posted by: Jams O’Donnell | Aug 14 2025 14:00 utc | 214

Clash Report nitter:
>… pic of Trump and Stubb smiling in golfing gear at Mar-a-Largo
§| “Finnish President Alexander Stubb, a triathlete and skilled golfer, forged an unlikely back-channel relationship with Trump after a round of golf earlier this year.
Leveraging his rapport, Stubb has become a key conduit for European leaders and Ukraine to convey messages to Trump ahead of his summit with Putin. Drawing on Finland’s NATO ties, proximity to Russia, and his own U.S. background, Stubb has helped nudge Trump toward tougher stances on Moscow”. Source: WSJ
§| US official to Axios:
“Putin tapped Trump along, then requested this meeting, and now he has to deliver”
[The Atlantic reported Trump had been requesting a mano-y-mano with Putin for months]
Same unnamed “official”: “Now, the onus is on Putin: agree to a ceasefire or show real movement or there will be severe repercussions.”
Presumably a different unnamed “official”:
§| US official to The Atlantic:
Trump is still considering how and whether to directly punish Putin if Moscow doesn’t hit tomorrow’s deadline.
§| Macron:
Trump told us that the US and all willing allies should be part of security guarantees for Ukraine.
Trump clearly ruled out NATO being part of security guarantees for Ukraine.
§| White House on the Trump-Putin meeting:
“Trump wants to exhaust all options to have a peaceful end to the war.”
§| Kremlin:
Putin, as part of preparations for the meeting in Alaska, held a meeting with members of Russia’s top leadership, as well as representatives of the government and the presidential administration.

Posted by: Melaleuca | Aug 14 2025 14:03 utc | 216

Trubind1 | Aug 14 2025 13:30 utc | 203–
Thanks for your reply. In my new article, I echo what Kosachev wrote, although I omit European influence since they are mere colonies of the Empire. Here’s the entire content of Konstantin Kosachev’s Telegram posting:

I am watching how artillery preparations for the summit in Alaska are being carried out on the other side – literally (Ukrainians – Belgorod) and figuratively (NATO – ultimatum to Trump). And I clearly understand that for that side the main thing is not WHAT the two presidents will ultimately agree on, but HOW a possible agreement will be worked out – on THEIR terms, that is, through the monologue (diktat) of the West, or on MUTUAL, that is, through a dialogue between the West and the East (Russia).
From London and Brussels, the first option is being imposed on Trump by hook or by crook. They do not care about Ukraine at all, this is not their world. Moscow and its like-minded people insist on the latter. Because Ukraine is truly important to us as an integral part of OUR world.
For the other side, the stakes are extremely high. Either they will defend their monopoly on the rule of humanity, which has been formed over many centuries from colonial practices, wars of conquest, exploitation of the weak and suppression of those who are gaining strength.
And in this sense, the fate of the world is really on the negotiating table. Where both presidents are at the table and on an equal footing. And the apologists of unipolarity, one way or another, are on the menu. But this is their choice.

Where I differ is key since IMO it’s not Europe that has a “monopoly on the rule of humanity,” but the Outlaw US Empire with its predatory policy of global domination its pursued for over 30 years, which some would argue is 80+. Also, just what is NATO? Who actually runs the shop? Which entity continues to contribute most to its existence? The answer to all three is the Outlaw US Empire.

Posted by: karlof1 | Aug 14 2025 14:08 utc | 218

Posted by: karlof1 | Aug 14 2025 13:54 utc | 211
Just published, “Summit Preparation News From Russia”

Thank you for compiling this. (If you care: there’s duplication in “Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov Sergey Lavrov Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation” and following but perhaps that’s intended?)
Always good to see the official point of view.
I wonder what, if anything, there would be to discuss between Belousov and Hegseth. (I believe that Rubio is smart enough to entertain Lavrov at smalltalk over breakfast.) But before I get too cynical: certainly good that they’ll talk.

Posted by: Konami | Aug 14 2025 14:18 utc | 220

karlof1 @ 211
Following protocol I assume Hegseth will be sitting opposite Belousov and Rubio opposite Lavrov, if not that would say everything about the Trump admin., i.e. it’s a clown show, so I guess, if only for the photos that will be the team presented, maybe once out of the spotlight Hegseth and Rubio will be relegated to the children’s table with a nearby TV and Playstation and some beanbag chairs.

Posted by: LightYearsFromHome | Aug 14 2025 14:19 utc | 222

Posted by: Passerby | Aug 14 2025 9:17 utc | 159

From RT:
Russian forces have struck four Ukrainian defense industrial facilities producing long-range missile systems “Sapsan”…
chemical and mechanical plants in Pavlograd, Dneptropetrovsk Region, as well as the ‘Zvezda’ plant and State Scientific Research Institute of Chemical Products in Shostka, Sumy Region.
The FSB said that Ukraine, with NATO’s permission, had planned to use Sapsan long-range missiles for strikes deep into Russian territory.
According to Russia the idea was attacking Russia with 200 missiles per month, with German money and “foreign” (Raytheon?) specialists for the production. (tass) (tass) (tass)
I guess tonight’s tv news will be Ukrainian babies and grandmothers killed by Russian missiles in those four sites.

that was already in July !!!
see:

https://tgstat.ru/en/channel/@mod_russia_en/22636
MoD Russia
14 Aug, 08:30
⚡️Over the course of July 2025, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation delivered mass and group strikes by air-, sea-, and ground-based precision weaponry as well as unmanned aerial vehicles at design bureaus, missile fuel production facilities, and missile weaponry assembly facilities of the Ukrainian defence industry.
At the same time, Western-made air defence systems deployed by the AFU to protect these facilities were destroyed. In Dnepropetrovsk region alone, four U.S.-made Patriot air defence systems and one AN/MPQ-65 multifunctional radar providing targeting and guidance were neutralised.
According to the information confirmed by several independent sources, as a result of the strikes of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation at the critical infrastructure objects of the Ukrainian defence industry in Dnepropetrovsk and Sumy region, the Kiev’s regime attempt to organise production of missile weaponry along with Western partners to launch attacks in the depth of the territory of the Russian Federation was foiled.

Posted by: ghiwen | Aug 14 2025 14:33 utc | 224

Posted by: karlof1 | Aug 14 2025 14:08 utc | 218
it’s not Europe that has a “monopoly on the rule of humanity,” but the Outlaw US Empire
<=your statement defines the problem all of humanity has been wrestling with.. corporate and governmental authority to rule over humanity..
Humanity is beginning to understand if it is to survive.. it must do something to humanize the people it lets lead its governments, the corporations such governments license, and it must find ways to deny the separation of people by wealth, education, race, religion, and language.. we are all in this world together.. humanity needs to act as one force against the forces of ignorance and nature..
Thank you very much for that bit of wisdom..

Posted by: snake | Aug 14 2025 14:36 utc | 226

Humanity is beginning to understand if it is to survive.. it must do something to humanize the people it lets lead its governments, the corporations such governments license, and it must find ways to deny the separation of people by wealth, education, race, religion, and language.. we are all in this world together.. humanity needs to act as one force against the forces of ignorance and nature..
@snake

Amen.

Posted by: persiflo | Aug 14 2025 14:42 utc | 228

Thanks for the replies. What’s discussed at the working breakfast will depend on the results of the face-to-face talks that precede it. IMO, the topic will be arms control since the Empire is so woefully behind and outmatched. There might be some sort of commercial agreement for Russia to sell reactor fuel desperately required by the Empire that might also lead to discussion about the JCPOA. IMO, the hopes Putin expressed to his team are unlikely to bear fruit in any deeper sense given the Summit’s very rushed nature. We shall see and leave the spin to those paid to lie.

Posted by: karlof1 | Aug 14 2025 14:56 utc | 230

I find it very hard to believe, that Duda DIDN’T know that Ukraine is a Neo-Nazi leaning state – before he accept many Ukrainians into Poland – I mean many streets and monuments in Ukraine are named in tribute – to WWII Nazi sympathisers.
“Any Ukrainians involved in glorifying Ukrainian Nazi collaborators such as Stepan Bandera should face prosecution, Polish President Karol Nawrocki has said, adding that such behavior has no place in Poland. He was commenting on a recent incident involving the display of a flag used by Ukrainian Nazi collaborators at a rap concert in Poland.
A group of concertgoers showed a flag of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) – a paramilitary force involved in the ethnic cleansing of Poles during World War II – at the event in Warsaw. The incident sparked a nationwide outcry and prompted the authorities to start deportation procedures against more than 60 foreign nationals, mostly Ukrainians.
Nawrocki slammed the incident as “scandalous.” Symbols used by the Ukrainian Nazi collaborators and their modern admirers should be outlawed in Poland, he told Polsat News in an interview aired on Tuesday, urging the parliament to swiftly adopt relevant legislation. Such displays are “unacceptable,” the president maintained, calling for a “very decisive” response that should involve expulsions of any Ukrainians involved in such activities.”

Posted by: Republicofscotland | Aug 14 2025 15:02 utc | 232

30,000 troops who is Starmer trying to kid – that was all pie-in-the-sky if you ask me, no after the Japanese -chased the cowardly Brits out of Singapore in WWII, the sleekit backstabbing Brits – have preferred to have – a duped proxy force to do their fighting for them, of course the British terrorist outfits the SAS and SBS still go into countries illegally to cause murder and mayhem, to try and pave the way for an illegal regime change.
Th Brits are up to their necks in backing the Neo-Nazi dictatorship in Ukraine.
“British military chiefs have “given up” on plans to deploy around 30,000 troops to Ukraine’s ports and cities in the event of a ceasefire between Moscow and Kiev, The Times reported on Wednesday.
Officials are now proposing what The Times described as a more “realistic mission,” with a focus on “air reassurance flights” over western Ukraine involving jets such as Typhoons or F-35s as a form of deterrence.
According to the newspaper, Kiev’s backers will provide support for training the Ukrainian military and clearance of mines from the Black Sea. Most of the efforts will take place in the west of the country where the risk of attack is lower.
The role of the United States in the plan reportedly remains unclear. Moscow has repeatedly warned it would not tolerate any NATO member’s presence in Ukraine under any circumstances.”

Posted by: Republicofscotland | Aug 14 2025 15:09 utc | 234

persiflo | Aug 14 2025 13:44 utc | 210
Thanks persiflo for your reply – wrt to Bob Marley, I think that is well accepted that he developed a subungual melanoma, which is rather unknown in Blacks – BUT, his father was a Scot, and it is well known that the Scots, Welsh genes carry a significant risk of developing melanoma. So, BM was at risk and I do not believe that the copper wire in the shoe caused it.
As far as the case of Eule is concerned, I never heard of it. But in this context – another suspicious death came to my mind – the sudden death of Udo Ulfkotte – (author of Gekaufte JOurnalisten).
It will be interesting to follow the health of all participants in that Alaska meeting. As I mentioned earlier, it is a risk that Putin is taking.

Posted by: fanto | Aug 14 2025 15:14 utc | 236

snake | Aug 14 2025 14:36 utc | 226–
Thanks for your reply. The imperative of Humanity realizing it must become one in solidarity is a point I’ve been making since I began my VK blog in 2020. The currently idealistic goal of nation and border elimination and evolution to a universal polity remains that, but as the Chinese have made clear, that’s the only realistic pathway for Humanity as we all have a shared future on our planet. The great impediment isn’t just the lack of understanding by many societies but primarily exists with the small proportion of predatory sociopaths who have gained power they’ve never merited.
Aleph_Null | Aug 14 2025 14:37 utc | 227–
Thanks Aleph for your support. Being currently located in the Eastern time zone has helped me report more timely on Russian events, but that will end in a few weeks when the need for my presence in Georgia ends and I get to return home.

Posted by: karlof1 | Aug 14 2025 15:14 utc | 238

persiflo | Aug 14 2025 14:05 utc | 217
Getting off topic, but Twitter suspended then closed the account of the President, and Elon Musk has had many scraps with Trump. What happened to Jack Ma, the Bezos of China (Alibaba), when he criticised CCP policy? He vanished for 6 months and his rehabilitation is still ongoing. They do things differently out East.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Ma#During_tech_crackdown

Posted by: YetAnotherAnon | Aug 14 2025 15:21 utc | 240

The reality contradicts Putin’s statement:
The US Provides intelligence, mercenaries, weapons, sanctions, pressure on BRICS participants and other friendly countries. Damn, they are trying. Yes, they are a party to the conflict. It is precisely because of their involvement that conflicts flare up here and there all over the globe.
For me, only one thing is important: do everything now so that later you don’t have to explain that, oh, we got fooled again, cheated, oh dear.

Posted by: Dagny Taggart | Aug 14 2025 15:24 utc | 242

Persiflo 210
Pop culture is dangerous to the elites, think LSD and the Vietnam war. In Germany we have the Fusion Festival…
I disagree 100%. Western elites and their agencies on both sides of the pond directly funded, designed, and molded the so-called “counter culture” during that era. From the beatles there and music out of laurel canyon here, from drug use to charles manson, there’s quite proven links straight back to the cia mi6. Hippies weren’t a weapon against the machine, they were quite the opposite, formulating a weak, incapable, and complacent adversary and moral-adjacent populace.

Posted by: NJH | Aug 14 2025 15:28 utc | 244

@ Posted by: Konami | Aug 14 2025 14:02 utc | 215
The DDR point is interesting. I’ve heard that the East Germans would allow punk kids from West Berlin to shelter there when the West German authorities would crack down. Musical subcultures have had a role in facilitating the opinion-shaping of especially young people, and punk communities – until their total cooptation into the culture industry – really exemplified this. Rap and hip hop take that role more these days, especially in the UK, where artists like Hyphen and Bob Vylan are drumming up support for Palestine (and previously IDLES with promoting Jeremy Corbyn’s left-wing insurgency). Rage Against the Machine, stateside, comes to mind.
But the really vital part of counter-culture is commitment to an alternative way of living, which music at best promotes and provides the rhythm for. Only a few hippie communes survived to the present-day, but many of these communes died out for similar reasons as to why the utopian communes of the 19th century US petered out: people didn’t have kids (in the 1800s it was often b/c they chose not to as a religious conviction!) and those that did didn’t raise them in the commune. Part of that comes down to the isolation of the experiments, something that can be overcome today not only through improved communications media but also through taking a non-sectarian approach to communal living experiments – why aren’t we trading with the Mennonites?
Anyway, I’m horribly off topic, but I’m always fascinated by these kinds of things.

Posted by: fnord | Aug 14 2025 15:29 utc | 246

Posted by: NJH | Aug 14 2025 15:28 utc | 244
A large number of rock stars including the likes of Jim Morrison had military parents (Morrison’s father was a decorated Rear Admiral)

Posted by: Night Tripper | Aug 14 2025 15:32 utc | 248

You can damn well bet the CIA/MI6 has been working at ways to infect people with cancer for the last 80ys, if they mastered it there wouldn’t be a resistance leader, economic, political, military, cultural, high or low born left standing. That doesn’t mean they didn’t partially succeed and even if it works once in a bue moon that they wouldn’t be jabbing, spraying, smearing, their real or imagined enemies at every opportunity, and more than once, figuring that odds better than zero are still worth a try.
Putin should bring some hand sanitizer. Actually I think he’ll be fine, but I also think he should have left Belousov and Lavrov home, brought Shoigu and Medvedev as food tasters, and for that matter if Trump’s serious about peace and attending to listen then a long history lecture by Medinsky would have been appropriate contrition and help in Trump’s character development.

Posted by: LightYearsFromHome | Aug 14 2025 15:40 utc | 250

Posted by: karlof1 | Aug 14 2025 15:14 utc | 238
Salud Karl, I had the wonderful chance to go accross the USofA many years back, unfortunately I did not make it to Georgia, close but not quite since I went trough Jacksonville FLA. But a few days back I was listening to the great JJCale, and his “shake your tambourine, after midnight its gonna be peaches and cream”, so I found out that Georgia is the Peach state, and since that delicious fruit is in full season here I wish I would’ve tried Georgian peaches and compare them with the local ones which are simply out of this world, arguably as good as Afghan and Iranian ones, in Russian peaches are called persiki, persians. So hope you enjoyed some peaches and also hope that something positive will come from the great state of Alaska, good cruising back home across that great land of yours.

Posted by: Paco | Aug 14 2025 15:46 utc | 252

@Night Tripper | Aug 14 2025 15:32 utc | 248

A large number of rock stars including the likes of Jim Morrison had military parents (Morrison’s father was a decorated Rear Admiral)

And in The End the lyrics include the following passage:
“Father?” “Yes, son?” “I want to kill you”

Posted by: Norwegian | Aug 14 2025 15:50 utc | 254

@NJH 244

Pop culture is dangerous to the elites, think LSD and the Vietnam war. In Germany we have the Fusion Festival…
<-> I disagree 100%

That’s the second reply I’m getting with this direction. I might have gone lost in translation here – what I meant is that the elites perceive some kinds of counter-culture as dangerous, and they are good at subverting them. Mass movements with good mottos such as “give peace a chance” or “temporary self-governed zone”, potentially fueled by drugs like the hippie or rave scenes, must appear as threads to strategic security services, no? Another is example is cybersecurity: the German “Chaos Computer Club” is not exactly a pure Graswurzel movement … again, there’s the potential of sudden and unforeseen destabilizing innovations, hence the need to keep these scenes under control.

Posted by: persiflo | Aug 14 2025 15:54 utc | 256

Penetrating article by Professor Robinson, an English defence/Intel expert now based in Canada, on the Canadian site “Canadian Dimension”.
https://canadiandimension.com/articles/view/why-the-trump-putin-summit-is-unlikely-to-ripen-peace-in-ukraine
Professor Robinson was the only Western analyst I came across who got the early period of the war after 2014 right: I wasn’t reading MOA at the time and the discussion on that period on Colonel Lang’s site is now lost. Baud was busy doing NATO stuff in Kiev so I don’t expect put out much if any open source during that crucial period
The key section of Professor Robinson’s article on the Alaska meeting bolded in the comment in response below.
……………………..
This section of Professor Robinson’s article cuts through all the fluff that surrounds this conflict:-
“Beyond this, Putin has repeatedly made it clear that territory is not the primary issue in the war. Rather his main concern is preventing Ukraine from becoming a future military threat to the Russian Federation by ensuring its neutrality and limiting its military capacity. Putin did not choose to invade Ukraine on a whim. He did so because he considered that vital national security issues were involved. Barring military exhaustion, he is not going to stop without those issues being, if not fully resolved, then at least seriously addressed.”
This all-important point is as far as I can see entirely ignored by the European politicians and press. Certainly I haven’t picked up the point being made in England though I can’t pretend to an exhaustive survey. All the talk I see is of territorial loss or gain.
But I do hope the initial reason for the Russian invasion of Ukraine is not forgotten:-
“In late 2021 and early 2022, the Minsk process was finally buried by Kiev and its Western handlers. Another large-scale attack was planned on Donbass. A large group of the Ukrainian armed forces was preparing to start a new offensive against Lugansk and Donetsk, which obviously entailed ethnic cleansing campaigns, numerous casualties and hundreds of thousands of refugees. We were obliged to prevent that catastrophe and to protect the people. We saw no other solution.”
https://mid.ru/en/foreign_policy/news/1957107/
The conflict’s snowballed since. It’s gone heavy duty geopolitical. Maybe it always was. But the protection of the Donbass, though that might now extend to protection of the entire old Party of Regions arc and the cultural Russians beyond, remains the key.
……………………………..
Looking at another outstanding issue, I expect if the Canadians were sending sabotage and assassination teams into the US using bases set up by the Russians for the purpose, or lobbing missiles and drones into American territory using Russian equipment, personnel and ISR facilities, the Americans would find some way or other of putting a stop to it. Maybe Putin’ll manage to get that point across to Trump in Alaska. Not hopeful.

Posted by: English Outsider | Aug 14 2025 16:05 utc | 258

No Zelensky, No Brussels, No Problem: Here’s How Putin & Trump’s Alaska Power Move Will Play Out
https://www.rt.com/russia/622859-why-both-sides-want-succeed/
“…They symbolism is obvious: as far as possible from Ukraine and Western Europe, but as close as possible to Russia. And neither Zelensky nor the EU’s top brass will be in the room.
The message could not be clearer – Moscow and Washington will make the key decisions on Ukraine, then inform others later. As Trump has said, ‘They hold all the cards.”

Posted by: JohnGilberts | Aug 14 2025 16:17 utc | 260

Nuclear Main Propulsion:After the launch phase, the nuclear propulsion system is activated. This is likely based on a nuclear-thermal propulsion system or a ramjet engine powered by a nuclear energy source.
Principle of nuclear propulsion: A small nuclear reactor onboard the missile generates heat through nuclear fission. This heat is used to superheat incoming air (similar to a ramjet engine). The heated air expands and is expelled at high velocity, creating thrust.
Unlike conventional cruise missiles, which consume fuel and thus have limited range, the nuclear propulsion system allows for near-unlimited flight time, as the energy comes from nuclear fission, which is far more efficient than chemical fuels. This gives the Burevestnik its claimed “unlimited range.”
Speculative Design Features:According to Russian sources and analyses, the missile is equipped with a compact nuclear reactor that heats the air. There are indications of “characteristic bulges” on the missile’s body, where the heated air is likely expelled.
Some experts speculate that the Burevestnik uses a ramjet engine, which produces radioactive exhaust during operation, distinguishing it from traditional nuclear weapon systems.
Other sources, such as Stratfor, suggest the use of a turbofan engine in combination with nuclear propulsion, though this is considered less likely.
Flight Behavior:The Burevestnik flies at low altitudes (50–100 meters) to evade radar detection and can bypass defense systems due to its maneuverability and ability to cover vast distances. The nuclear propulsion system enables it to remain airborne for an extended period (“near-unlimited loiter time”) and follow unpredictable flight paths.
Challenges and Risks:Technical Difficulties: The nuclear propulsion system is extremely complex, and development has been marred by several failed tests. An accident in Nyonoksa in 2019, in which five scientists died, is believed to be linked to a Burevestnik test. There was a release of radioactivity, likely due to issues with the nuclear propulsion system.
Radioactive Emissions: The propulsion system generates radioactive exhaust during operation, making the missile potentially detectable and posing environmental and safety risks. This has led to the nickname “Flying Chernobyl.”
Reliability: Reports indicate that the Burevestnik has a poor test success rate, with only two partially successful tests out of at least 13 since 2016.
Posted by: Johann von Oberndorf | Aug 14 2025 14:43 utc | 229
I think it is using the Meredith Effect, or something not unlike it.

Posted by: ChatNPC | Aug 14 2025 16:39 utc | 262

The situation in the Tetkino direction has changed. The enemy is attempting to take control of the situation in the southern part of the Seim River in the forest area near Tetkino. Assault groups were able to cross by boat and enter the forest area near the settlement. During the oncoming battle, the Russian Armed Forces took control of the entry point and the combat area, and localized the enemy assault groups. The area is being cleared.
In Ryzhevka, the enemy is also in its positions, does not carry out offensive actions, limiting itself to artillery and drone attacks. However, since mid-July, an increase in the offensive group has been recorded in this direction. Forces from the 24th Assault Brigade “Aidar” and the 47th Separate Mechanized Brigade have already arrived there.
In addition, in the Belopolye area to the south of Tetkino, the presence of units from the 158th separate separate brigade, which arrived there from the Chernihiv region, was noted. Thus, despite the general calm, the enemy periodically tries to attack our positions near the state border, and the appearance of reinforcements may indicate the strengthening of the area and preparation for an attack.

t.me/llordofwar/478032

Posted by: YetAnotherAnon | Aug 14 2025 16:41 utc | 264

@ Norwegian | Aug 14 2025 16:43 utc | 265
My hometown, the place of my childbirth (1959), what a trip it has been ever since.

Posted by: maja | Aug 14 2025 16:53 utc | 266

Alexander Mercouris
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_G7cYQeuq3w
“Moscow firm on terms for war end; Trump – NO Zelensky, Rutte in Alaska; Russia smashes Kiev’s missiles.”

Posted by: JohnGilberts | Aug 14 2025 17:22 utc | 268

@maja | Aug 14 2025 16:53 utc | 266
Indeed a trip, I would suppose! For those who wonder, the statement about the US not speaking from a position of strength can be found around 1h 05m in the video recording in the link above.

Posted by: Norwegian | Aug 14 2025 17:31 utc | 270

Posted by: Cynic | Aug 14 2025 14:32 utc | 223
> So, no point anyone ever deliberately trying to do anything?
No point. Except, perhaps, hanging in a virtual whiskey bar, but that is what good Muslims should do anyways.

Posted by: hopehely | Aug 14 2025 17:47 utc | 272

English Outsider | Aug 14 2025 16:05 utc | 258
EO, who am I to add anything to what you write! But anyway, I will add that there were other observers in the early 2000’s and in up to 2014, who sensed very acutely that the Ukraine was a target to subvert Russia. I am quoting from Peter Scholl-Latour’s last book “Der Fluch der Boesen Tat”, which appeared in early 2014 (p.14)
‘…zur gleichen Zeit in der Ost-Ukraine der Stellvertreterkrieg zwischen den USA und Russland einem gefaehrlichen Hoehepunkt zutrieb.’ (…in Ukraine at the same time the proxy-war between USA and Russia was coming dangerously to a high point.)
Peter Scholl-Latour is a treasure trove of information in geo-political reporting, but he is accessible only to readers proficient in German, unfortunately. He became persona non grata in the media, because of his opinions.

Posted by: fanto | Aug 14 2025 18:33 utc | 274

fanto | Aug 14 2025 18:33 utc | 274
“sensed very acutely that the Ukraine was a target to subvert Russia”
Zbigniew Brzezinski, 1997, The Grand Chessboard. When the Soviet Union collapsed, the US became the world hegemon, and wanted to keep it that way. Detaching Ukraine from Russia was a vital part of the project.
https://www.pdfdrive.com/the-grand-chessboard-american-primacy-and-its-geostrategic-imperatives-d175987890.html

For half a millennium, world affairs were dominated by Eurasian powers and peoples who fought with one another for regional domination and reached out for global power. Now a non-Eurasian power (i.e. the US) is preeminent in Eurasia—and America’s global primacy is directly dependent on how long and how effectively its preponderance on the Eurasian continent is sustained.

Ukraine, a new and important space on the Eurasian chessboard, is a geopolitical pivot because its very existence as an independent country helps to transform Russia. Without Ukraine, Russia ceases to be a Eurasian empire. Russia without Ukraine can still strive for imperial status, but it would then become a predominantly Asian imperial state, more likely to be drawn into debilitating conflicts with aroused Central Asians, who would then be resentful of the loss of their recent independence and would be supported by their fellow Islamic states to the south.

However, if Moscow regains control over Ukraine, with its 52 million people and major resources as well as its access to the Black Sea, Russia automatically again regains the wherewithal to become a powerful imperial state, spanning Europe and Asia.

Posted by: YetAnotherAnon | Aug 14 2025 20:32 utc | 276

I am still very curious, why is Russia not telling all that she knows about MH-!7. The same, why is US not telling all that they know about this provocation and tragedy in which hundreds of innocent people died needlessly. It happened – surprisingly – at the very same time that Israel started “mowing the lawn” in Gaza.

Posted by: fanto | Aug 14 2025 20:59 utc | 278

I love that angle. How about collecting predictions of future excuses by MoA posters why an assassination didn’t happen? lol
“Putin took the remedy”
Posted by: persiflo | Aug 14 2025 13:01 utc | 197
*****************
Another collection that would be very interesting is a summary of US statements of position, demands, and ultimatums over the last three or four weeks. The development and transformation would be beautiful to behold.

Posted by: General Factotum | Aug 14 2025 21:35 utc | 280

fanto & YetAnotherAnon: This is an extremely cynical statement but to me it looks as if the USA got as much out of Ukraine as possible. They used Russia’s weak decades to keep going where they left in the 1950s and they managed to brainwash a significant part of a large nation into war mode. That’s a massive achievement!
I don’t think anyone ever expected Ukraine to win on the battlefield. The actual goals (not what they told us in the news) were more realistic: Russia’s internal problems (citizens unhappy from the human and monetary war cost; young folks going abroad or into opposition; Russia’s isolation on the world stage; the sanctions from hell!!1!) ought to trigger a loss. That didn’t happen, as has been squarely realised in most places, including Washington (and Kiev, I believe), but not Brussels/London/Berlin, or so they tell us.
So going back to Brzezinski’s plans: I cannot say if he assessed Ukraine’s role on the “great chessboard” correctly but when US governments tried to play the Ukraine card, they failed despite making all the right moves (again, a cynical and utilitarian point of view, not mine).

Posted by: Konami | Aug 14 2025 22:05 utc | 282

What would the British and the EU lose if they buried the hatchet with Russia?
Nothing.
What would they gain if they did?
An enormous natural market for their high-tech products and enormous natural resources, including cheap energy.
But the “coalition of the sniffing”, Starmer, Merz & Macron, prefer to impoverish their countries and endanger their populations.
Why?

Posted by: John Marks | Aug 14 2025 22:36 utc | 284

“the late 90s/early noughties US seemingly didn’t worry about China”
Posted by: YetAnotherAnon @12:18
They were breaking the working class in the western countries, to ensure their would be no resistance to the oligarchy and they didn’t worry about China, just focused on the destruction of organized labour, peace organizations etc. If they had not put their massive resources, singularly, into destroying large swathes of civil society in the West, selectively targeting the non-compatible elements they would have faced, at least reduction, if not dissolution and destruction
I heard Berletic use the phrase “strategic sequencing “ the other day
“The masters of mankind and their vile maxim ‘ all for ourselves, nothing for anyone else’”
Adam Smith

Posted by: will moon | Aug 14 2025 23:14 utc | 286

@seer | Thu, 14 Aug 2025 10:49:00 GMT | 168

Not sure why my name would appear in this post, although you’re the guy who spent a day defending neoliberal stupidity as I recall, so anything’s possible with your promiscuous keyboard clacking.

Well I think general idiocy, and your name naturally came to mind.

Posted by: James M. | Aug 15 2025 1:33 utc | 288

Posted by: Night Tripper | Aug 14 2025 15:32 utc | 248
“A large number of rock stars including the likes of Jim Morrison had military parents (Morrison’s father was a decorated Rear Admiral)”
Don’t forget the Cowsills (Hair; The Rain, the Park and Other Things).

Posted by: Paranaense | Aug 15 2025 3:08 utc | 290

Hello everybody

Posted by: skydog | Aug 15 2025 8:05 utc | 292

Ukraine and World Affairs: Weekly Update, 15th August 2025: May be useful to some: https://robcampbell.substack.com/p/ukraine-and-world-affairs-weekly-d42

Posted by: The Busker | Aug 15 2025 11:46 utc | 294

“Basically the Canadians cheated for decades by grafting off American taxpayers for defense protection….that era is now over.”
Posted by: tobias cole | Aug 15 2025 1:19 utc | 287
I disagree.
Which country would attack Canada?
The only country that we Canadians are afraid of is …drumroll…the USA….
You are correct that Carney is a WEF Piece of Shit.

Posted by: canuk | Aug 15 2025 12:06 utc | 296

>>> “Well I think…” <<< Posted by: James M. | Aug 15 2025 1:33 utc | 288 . . Really? I've never seen that. You seem to reside in a bespittled, thoughtless rage.

Posted by: seer | Aug 15 2025 12:54 utc | 298

No, the Jap equipment wasn’t noteworthy in their drive through Malaya. The bicycle was an important tool for them, but that wasn’t high tech. The rest was due to a determined attack, and longterm bong military incompetence.

Posted by: seer | Aug 15 2025 21:00 utc | 300