Posted by: steven t johnson | Sep 1 2025 0:12 utc | 102
RE: dereliction of duty regarding Witkoff
<< Lady or the Tiger-? Check, double-check, synthesize the info/data---and assess as you see fit. See who's squealing, who's wheelin' & dealin' And then make up your mind.

Posted by: steel_porcupine | Sep 1 2025 0:24 utc | 103

Posted by: Roger Boyd | Aug 31 2025 14:58 utc | 22
Nice, I’ll just add the 1.340 AFU casualties (and one SAM)
Some details by marat
https://maratkhairullin.substack.com/p/brief-frontline-report-august-30th
—————–
Expert: Europe is at war with Russia, NATO soldiers are increasingly replacing Ukrainian units
NATO has now de facto joined the war against Russia in Ukraine, with foreign forces gradually replacing Ukrainian soldiers on the battlefield. According to expert and former US Army officer Stanislav Krapivnik, hospitals in Kharkiv are currently overcrowded with wounded French, Scandinavian, and German soldiers. Furthermore, wounded foreigners in local hospitals are treated exclusively by foreign doctors. The Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper reported this. By concealing the presence of its own soldiers in Ukraine, NATO, according to the expert, is not only supporting the Ukrainians with reserves but is also preparing itself for a future war with Russia. In an interview with the newspaper, Krapivnik also stated that this is not an isolated incident, but rather a trend – there are more foreign soldiers than Ukrainians along the entire front line. He emphasized:
Posted by: Beobachter II | Aug 31 2025 16:38 utc | 37
I seriously doubt nato could provide the large tens of thousands for this to be true.
Yes, they fight from day one (or minus 3,000 to be exact) but not heavy presence. Equipments? Sure! Some heavy lifting here and there? Sure!
But that’s the limit.
If that was true it would mean my original grunts vs marines was right and september 2025 AFU cannot man the whole line (but even then nforeigners wouldn’t be half)
————————
‘All our cities are LIBERATED’
Regional head Pushilin CONFIRMS – entire southern Donetsk People’s Republic now under Russian control. Russian forces now pushing into Ukraine’s Dnepropetrovsk to secure buffer zone
https://t.me/RU551470D4y_ENFR/175214
Posted by: LightYearsFromHome | Aug 31 2025 18:45 utc | 58
buffer zone my a**
Dnepropetrovsk is the highway to Zaporizhzhia city bypassing all the Zaporizhzhia oblast defenses. (and the mother of all kessels.
Z sjould hurry if he wants to cut his loses right now…
———————-
a very personal note, disregard if you prefer, maybe the re-boot of the 30 years war started last year (hope trump is smart enough to avoid it for the us and a ww3 is a no go), “Kipper und Wipper” currency devaluation underway. Feels like 1619… all over again. History might not repeat but it rhymes, the 1960’s saw the final separation and total takeover of ROW by spain/usa, the next 20 years could see the us losing european ambitions and finally peace… after sulking for another decade.

Posted by: Newbie | Sep 1 2025 0:30 utc | 105

Posted by: Beobachter II | Aug 31 2025 16:38 utc | 37
“NATO has now de facto joined the war against Russia in Ukraine, with foreign forces gradually replacing Ukrainian soldiers on the battlefield.”
Russia has known this all the way along and US/NATO have had their people on the ground there helping out for a long time now. They just play pretend and try to hide it from their own respective countries’ citizens.
It will make no difference to Russia’s resolve.
Borzzikman has been covering this all along, and here is a recent post from him:
“Gloves are OFF – Russia wiped out NATO, EU, and UK HQs in KIEV – UK Diplomats & Officers Died Instantly”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQIFPW2VnxE

Posted by: George | Sep 1 2025 0:46 utc | 107

Posted by: George | Sep 1 2025 0:36 utc | 107
RE: DJT will have to suck it
<< Speaking in Tianjen, VVP said that China and Russia “seek progress for the benefit of all humanity. I am confident that Russia and China will continue to work together towards this noble goal, aligning our efforts to ensure the prosperity of our great nations." The intent is to to lead reforms at the International Monetary Foundation & the World Bank. Like, wow-? VVP did not candy-coat his remarks in Alaska, but he no doubt understood the limitations of his U.S. counterpart. BTICS+ and SCO offer a tabula rasa blank slate for nations that have long tired of living under *rules-based-order* tyranny. Still forming, BRICS+ and the SCO aren't bogged down by decades of structural 'drag,' which has eaten into the efficacy of the *rules-based* system. Not enabling a genocide in Gaza does wonders for one's portfolio too

Posted by: steel_porcupine | Sep 1 2025 0:59 utc | 109

Now it is getting serious. On the 30th of August at 4h30, the ukronazis launched 4 of their new missiles Flamingo to hit a military airport in Crimea. 3 of them where intercepted by S400. The last one hit a field 400 away from the airport. Now the plan is to send 10 of those missiles to hit Moscow: for instance the MoD and the Lubianka. The hit shall be done in daylight for a maximum effect. The yankees – that is Trump – agreed with that plan to “convince” Putin to sit at the negotiation table. It is not likely that those missiles will hit their target, but they could bring some damage to Moscow and its population.
The yankees think that Putin has no more aces in his hand and will not escalate to nuclear.
Waiting now the reactions of the trumptards…

Posted by: Naive | Sep 1 2025 1:11 utc | 111

“I have one word for this mind-set: “rigid.”
Posted by: steel_porcupine | Sep 1 2025 1:12 utc | 113
Good choice of the word for it.
But it will surely prove impotent!

Posted by: George | Sep 1 2025 1:35 utc | 113

Posted by: George | Sep 1 2025 1:35 utc | 114
RE: even one word can signal impotence
<< snickering

Posted by: steel_porcupine | Sep 1 2025 2:02 utc | 115

Just Another NATO-Nazi Canadian Politician For War on Russia
https://x.com/StanKutcher/status/1961112678857928773
Re: UVDL: ‘Putin must come to the negotiating Table’
“No. The coalition of the willing must close the skies over Ukraine and provide the military assistance needed to defeat Russia as soon as possible.”
Stanley.Kutcher@sen.parl.gc.ca

Posted by: John Gilberts | Sep 1 2025 2:02 utc | 117

Zelensky Threatens ‘New Deep Strikes’ into Russia
https://www.rt.com/russia/623764-zelensky-threatens-new-strikes-russia/
“Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky has threatened new strikes into Russia, days after claiming that Kiev possessed a brand-new long-range missile capable of reaching Moscow…”
Time for him to go.

Posted by: John Gilberts | Sep 1 2025 2:35 utc | 119

Posted by: canuk | Aug 31 2025 14:59 utc | 24
“BTW: Who died and made you a censor?
Kindly mind your own business.”
Apparently LD isn’t able to present a reasoned argument and needs others to run interference by criticizing anyone who challenges his argument. By trying to censor you, Mexicana is basically admitting that LD has no valid point, but you should be nice to him anyway.

Posted by: Paranaense | Sep 1 2025 3:18 utc | 121

https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2025/08/31/754104/a-tribute-to-pm-al-rahawi-and-yemeni-ministers-martyred-by-israeli-regime-state-terrorism
Posted by: S Brennan | Aug 31 2025 16:24 utc | 34
“an Israeli attack on Iran can be expected sooner rather than later. The Israeli-American expectation could be that Russia’s military operations in Ukraine will have reached a climactic point by autumn which would almost certainly preclude any scope for Moscow to get involved in a West Asian conflict, and that, in turn, will give them a free hand to take the regime change agenda to its finish.
…Iran has taken up the standing Russian offer to provide an integrated air defense system. Such a system will possibly be in position by the middle of next year or so and it is expected to be a force multiplier for Iran. Israel will most certainly try to attack Iran before the integrated system which is connected to Russian satellites becomes fully operational”
<=do you think it likely the reason Iran has not attacked Israel is because Iran lacks adequate Air Defenses? Posted by: Beobachter II | Aug 31 2025 16:38 utc | 37 Expert: Europe is at war with Russia, NATO soldiers are increasingly replacing Ukrainian units NATO has now de facto joined the war against Russia in Ukraine <= At some point I suspect Russia will declare war on NATO and its nation state governments. Posted by: Ich lese nur mit | Aug 31 2025 16:50 utc | 38 Russian frigate in Iranian hands..yesterday Israel killed 8 of the leadership in Yemen.. and Yemen pledged not to give Israel one bit of breathing room from Yemen attacks on Israel.. things are going to heat up soon.. and I think Russia military success has forced NATO nations into trying to defeat Russia. I don't think NATO attacks will be limited to Ukraine territory, it looks more and more to me like NATO intends to Invade Russia. . Posted by: kupkee | Aug 31 2025 17:21 utc | 43 we now have the trial balloon of a "Private Army" to protect the Trump/Kushner Holdings Corp. in partnership with (((Blackrock))) Licenses to Steal ag lands and precious stuff. <= I said long ago if Russia wanted peace it was going to have to make a peace with Western private equity. Posted by: Sam | Aug 31 2025 17:48 utc | 47 NATO was created by England for English interests only and it serves English agenda only. <= I agree Israel and the ideology of Zionism each were created by the British.. When the Island the UK floats on is sunk, the world will be a safer place. Posted by: Naive | Sep 1 2025 1:11 utc | 112 Waiting now the reactions of the trumptards... <= I suggest America is not going to be happy with Trump if the USA continues to support Ukraine in any kind of way.

Posted by: snake | Sep 1 2025 3:38 utc | 123

@ 123 George – I agree, bad to the bone:
European Powers Arm Ukraine For Missile Strikes Deep Into Russia
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2025/09/01/jhnj-s01.html
“…Barely two weeks after Trump met President Vladimir Putin for negotiations in Alaska, talk of a diplomatic settlement is fading, and warring governments are careening eyes closed towards a catastrophic military clash between the major powers.
It is ever more apparent that the major capitalist powers neither can nor want to stop the war. Underlying the war is not only the conflict between NATO and Moscow over whether or not Ukraine can serve as a NATO base against Russia, but also deep-seated conflicts inside the NATO alliance itself…”

Posted by: John Gilberts | Sep 1 2025 3:43 utc | 125

The plan for war against Russia doesn’t seem to be working.
After France, which is once again on the verge of a change of government, and thousands of people demonstrated against the war in Spain this weekend, fearing the government’s fall from power, Von der Leyen was now greeted in Bulgaria with Nazi chants and prevented from continuing her journey to the military facility. The authorities had tried in vain to keep the visit secret.
.
https://t.me/sheyhtamir1974/137100

Posted by: Beobachter II | Sep 1 2025 5:43 utc | 127

Posted by: Beobachter II | Sep 1 2025 6:05 utc | 129
The Flamingo missiles were supposedly some re-branded Nato country missiles, not ‘in-house’ developments of Ukraine.

Posted by: unimperator | Sep 1 2025 6:40 utc | 129

@karlof1 | Aug 31 2025 15:34 utc | 28
What you say about evangelical zionists being after the Russians (with inspiration about Gog and Magog fetched from the bible and rearranged to fit the geopolitical agenda) was amply stated by the Larouche circle long ago and sometimes I think you karlof1, [who I respect for being an honest opinion maker], ought to make more use of Larouche-material.
That Larouche circle of associates also have shown the history about how all this belongs to otherwise hidden parts of 19th century history.
Those parts are very decisive for what happent later.
It is time that many of you wake up about their historical accounts. Their broader scope is mostly missing everywhere among the otherwise openminded.

Posted by: petergrfstrm | Sep 1 2025 7:42 utc | 131

Modern media: There’s the real report of what is actually happening in Ukraine, then AI turns it all into the opposite with Russia losing, and that is what we are all expected to believe. Zelensky and NATO tell us the second version.

Posted by: George | Sep 1 2025 8:17 utc | 133

Some of the comments are worth looking at too:
Armchair Warlord
@ArmchairW
A dark theory for the evening. Let’s talk about Russian strategy in Ukraine.⬇️
Looking at developments lately, specifically: (1) the Ukrainian casualty leak showing an astronomical 1.7M KIA/MIA; and (2) the Ukrainian collapse north of Pokrovsk – I thought should revisit a dark thought I had a while ago, namely that, “maybe the killing itself is the point of all of this.”
I’ve said before that the Russians have fought an extraordinarily clean war in Ukraine, but it should be understood that there is a very legalistic shade on that assessment. They’ve killed very few civilians, and Ukrainian propagandists are perpetually beclowning themselves trying to pretend that the usual single-digit handful of injured civilians that accompany the latest attack using hundreds of standoff weapons fired into city centers (producing secondary explosions visible from outer space as military targets hidden among civilian infrastructure are destroyed with surgical precision) somehow constitute gEnOCiDe rather than some of the most well-controlled warfighting in the history of the business. There is another and far darker side to Russia’s “clean” war, however.
Let us consider the fate of the Armed Forces of Ukraine – legal combatants all, whom the Russians can and do target and kill without limit. I mentioned the casualty leak earlier, but I feel this needs to have a line drawn under it – one point seven million personnel killed or missing in action in the AFU, over the course of the war. 1.7 MILLION. Seven or eight percent of Ukraine’s prewar population, probably something like a quarter of the entire national cohort of military-aged males, dead or missing. Casualties on the scale of a genocide, sufficient to permanently cripple any postwar Ukrainian nation. Casualties multiple times that which I assessed two years ago as sufficient to shatter the AFU based on the experience of Nazi Germany.
This brings me to the Ukrainian collapse north of Pokrovsk two weeks ago, in which a run-of-the-mill Russian attack walked through twenty kilometers of Ukrainian defensive belts and into open country. The Ukrainian propagandists coped by whining about how the single most important front sector for the AFU had somehow “run out of infantry.” But did the Russians throw in a mobile reserve to collapse the front and chase the AFU back to the Dniper, despite doubtless knowing full well what was going on? No, they did not – they consolidated in the breach and awaited the inevitable, panicked Ukrainian counterattack, in which they would have the opportunity to destroy Ukraine’s remaining elite troops.
Which brings me to my conclusion. The Russians have had countless opportunities to make large advances in this war, especially recently – the Ukrainian front line is an absolute shambles and their “drone wall” tactic will falter against any serious attack. So ineffectual is the AFU that very few Russian moves at the front even face serious opposition these days, with most geolocations of Russian advances showing them already established in place and dealing with harassment by kill drones after having seized positions bloodlessly. The Russians have in fact consistently foregone breaking the front and taking swathes of ground in favor of killing the largest possible number of Ukrainian soldiers on the existing front line under the existing attritional combat dynamic.
This “tactical directive” held true even during the Battle of Sudzha-Korenevo, fought in prewar Russia. Rather than counterattacking aggressively to evict the AFU, the Russians saw the opportunity to kill gigantic numbers of Ukrainians in a trap the enemy wouldn’t be able to extract themselves from for ideological reasons, and they took it. That battle ended up being nine months of hideously lopsided butchery that broke the back of the AFU.
All of this makes observing the war more than a little maddening, but it’s a consistent pattern of behavior that begs for explanation. So here’s my theory.
The Russian government has consistently sought to end the war via peace treaty with the existing Ukrainian government, not via regime change, outright conquest, or even killing enough of that government to find a more flexible interlocutor among the Maidanites. Putin apparently wants a treaty with Zelensky. The Russians have also consistently made demands of the Ukrainian government – and its NATO sponsors – that are absolute political nonstarters for the Maidan-era regime and which that regime, by its very nature, simply cannot accept. Russian language rights, Orthodox religious rights, demilitarization, large territorial concessions which would see the AFU surrender vast urban areas without a shot fired. And yet the Russians insist, and they’re going to continue killing Ukrainian soldiers at ever-more lopsided ratios until they get their way.
Which leads me to the brutal conclusion: Putin doesn’t want to see Ukraine conquered. He’s never publicly expressed any desire for that. The consistent Russian policy is instead to see Ukraine – a “free” and “independent” Ukraine, having come to this impasse of its own sovereign will – utterly humiliated. Putin wants to make Zelensky put on a suit, come groveling to the Kremlin, and sign a treaty that will see the Maidanite government surrender its arms, disgorge huge amounts of territory, and reverse every single anti-Russian policy position it ever had. Ukrainian nationalism will be discredited overnight by the hands of those very nationalists, and the economically irrelevant, demographically shattered rump state will be sucked back into Russia’s political orbit in a matter of days.
So of course the Russians are only advancing in the most leisurely way possible. Their goal is to place the Ukrainian government into a militarily untenable situation so as to force a flamboyantly humiliating peace treaty upon them that includes large territorial concessions beyond the line of control – the ultimate Ukrainian taboo – so as to discredit Ukrainian nationalism by the hands of the very ultranationalists who took their nation to war in the first place.
https://x.com/ArmchairW/status/1961296644017705164

Posted by: Menz | Sep 1 2025 8:51 utc | 135

@ Menz | Sep 1 2025 8:51 utc | 136
Sometimes thinking too much is a bad thing. Russia’s strategy appears to be pragmatic, not cartoonishly evil. Which is supported by every attempt to avoid the killing in the first place.

Posted by: boneless | Sep 1 2025 9:31 utc | 137

Posted by: Menz | Sep 1 2025 8:51 utc | 136
What would Russia be if it swallowed the pill of taking an “unbeaten in the field” Ukro country?
It would be bound to occupy militarily and have an albatross tied to it’s neck.
Much better to make an example of Western stooges to show once and for all that the West can’t and won’t keep any promises. Put an end to divide and conquer strategies.
I doubt Russia would do too well in large arrow offensives. They could absolutely locally break through and outflank all those trenches but that might precipitate “EU peace troops” at which point they’d openly have to go to a pitched battle against the West which would galvanize and unite EU population and reincite Russophobia. Keeping it a proxy war allows to bleed the US and EU militarily, econimically and most of all safely.
Russia could never hold a large swath of Europe and is well advised to learn the lesson from Cold War soviet overextension.

Posted by: SOS | Sep 1 2025 9:45 utc | 139

“Why did Ukraine suddenly allow young men to leave the country?
Don’t assume this was to “save the future of Ukraine” or any such nonsense. The people running Zelenaky don’t care about the Ukrainian people or “future generations.”
So, why did they allow Zelenaky to remove so many fighting age western Ukrainian men to safety in Europe?”
Posted by: Nobody Special | Aug 31 2025 18:32 utc | 56
The strangest thing about this is that almost nobody talks about it.
Seeing how desperately they are fishing for cannon fodder this seems extremely counterproductive at first glance.
My theory is that they full well know that these young men, few as they are, wouldnt make a difference at the LOC. Moreover, they know the war is lost. So this is a measure to keep these young men as a reserve for taking revenge after the war. As a kinda “stay behind” strategy.
Let them go with a positive feeling towards the nazi government, to activate them later in terrorising everyone they might feel let them down during the war: EU, Russia, US, whoever. Not each of the escapees will be receptive but there will still be enough to do a lot of damage. The Ukrainian expats in US and Canada make a good example.
To me this is the only possible explanation why the Ukronazis let Zelensky let them go.

Posted by: umuntu | Sep 1 2025 10:38 utc | 141

On the positive side: there are calls for general strikes (with no limits in time) all over Europe in September.

Posted by: Tom | Sep 1 2025 10:56 utc | 143

>>> “On the positive side: there are calls for general strikes (with no limits in time) all over Europe in September.” <<< Posted by: Tom | Sep 1 2025 10:56 utc | 144 . . Ultimately, this is a necessity, yes, as the Blob owns every government. The bongs are already hitting back at the plebs, however. There would be the usual false flag events, and arrests of the leaders. To drive the eurocucks to longterm resistance to the Blob, economic conditions will have to get much worse. They are on their way, mind.

Posted by: seer | Sep 1 2025 11:24 utc | 145

There are a couple of other possibilities for the youth exodus. Some are the demonstrators against the government and also likely to vote against zekenski. Better to let them go.
Many are the children of the elites.
Russian speakers may be seen as a threat but too powerful to destroy so export the young.
Many may be Jewish and dual citizens. They are needed for the Israeli forces .

Posted by: Watcher | Sep 1 2025 11:51 utc | 147

#149 corrected:
https://www.rt.com/russia/623839-putin-erdogan-talks-china/

Posted by: John Gilberts | Sep 1 2025 12:01 utc | 149

Posted by: Menz | Sep 1 2025 8:51 utc | 136
The post by Armchair Warlord on X is interesting but it starts well and then it deviates from the original course of the logic into something less horrible than it is actually hapenning.
The goal of the Russians is not the discrediting of ukrop nationalist hallucinations by forcing them to beg for peace. Nope. The goal is the killing itself.
This is what demilitarization means, it means killing off all male Ukrainians of military age, all of them. A nation without males aged between the early 20s and 60s is a nation that is demilitarized.
The Russians see the Ukrainians of today as a sick and degenerate version of themselves, but even during the Soviet Union the Russians looked at the Ukrainians in the same manner as the Americans look at the Mexicans. Russians actually laugh at the Ukrainian language, they say it’s the same as the Russian language only a lot more stupid to listen to.

Posted by: Johan Kaspar | Sep 1 2025 12:17 utc | 151

“I would add that in all martial contests, the fast, reckless approach almost always fails against a patient and clear headed opponent. The desire to get it over with quickly typically masks a morbid and irrational fear of the enemy. For the thousandth time, shock and awe only works when it’s proponent enjoys an extreme power advantage.
Russia knows what it’s about.”
Posted by: Ahenobarbus | Aug 31 2025 17:34 utc | 46
Excellent paragraph-I concur

Posted by: canuk | Sep 1 2025 12:25 utc | 153

@ Watcher | Sep 1 2025 11:51 utc | 148
All that, and those young Ukies can send back badly needed Euros to the Homeland gained either by labor (unlikely) or by parasitizing European welfare systems (much more likely).

Posted by: malenkov | Sep 1 2025 12:47 utc | 155

taboo | Sep 1 2025 9:34 utc | 139
“world war two where the Jews ran all sides and pitted the Nazis against the Russians (both of which they considered their enemy)”
That’s just not true. Many Jews supported the Soviet Union, some to the point of treason. This guy was one of many.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Weisband
Interestingly he died of a massive heart attack while driving.

Posted by: YetAnotherAnon | Sep 1 2025 12:59 utc | 157

I have an hypothesis about the border-opening for the young.
Recent “reserves” sent those days should have been taken from somewhere after all , why not on the “border-guards” troops ?
Let’s say it’s just for some , if the rest of the country understand the borders are now “open” for all, guess what will happen ?

Posted by: Savonarole | Sep 1 2025 13:14 utc | 159

Posted by: Savonarole | Sep 1 2025 13:14 utc | 160
The missing ukrainian troops are replaced more and more by western mercenaries AND soldiers.
But hush-hush, don’t tell anyone!

Posted by: Naive | Sep 1 2025 13:21 utc | 161

Re: Posted by: S Brennan | Aug 31 2025 17:10 utc | 41

Good point, I have suggested before that Iran could/should sign a real defensive pact with Russia and then expedite the whole matter’s implementation by using the deep basin of the south Caspian Sea as the base of an inland “thalassocracy” that is largely unassailable by either the US or it’s puppet-master, Israel.
The target data will always old. And only a direct targeting of Russia by Israel will interdict the supply line. And since Israel is killing Russians in ex-ukrainia, Iranian leaders should pull their head out of their collective ass, recognize that they are now, for better or worse, blood-brothers. Relegate the past to the history books and make a deal that benefits both parties…a north/south corridor.

Well, that thalassocracy you suggest would be smack bang next to the Israeli proxy known as Azerbaijan.
From which there were apparently bombing missions flown against Iran only a few weeks ago!
Maybe not the best location after all.

Posted by: Julian | Sep 1 2025 13:24 utc | 163

Kassandra | Sep 1 2025 12:34 utc | 155
“the British masterplan for global dominance and colonization”
That was a long time ago. Now the British plan is to try and keep our heads above water. OK, our rulers still think it’s 1946, but our military know better.”
Posted by: YetAnotherAnon | Sep 1 2025 13:17 utc | 161
Not Brits, the City of London is ‘masterplanning dominance and colonization”

Posted by: canuk | Sep 1 2025 13:40 utc | 165

@Sam | Aug 31 2025 17:48 utc | 47

There is a confusion among many that USA uses Nato exert her influence in Europe.

Sure, the US bases in Europe are strictly for cultural exchange.

Posted by: Norwegian | Sep 1 2025 14:54 utc | 167

I have an hypothesis about the border-opening for the young.
Recent “reserves” sent those days should have been taken from somewhere after all , why not on the “border-guards” troops ?
Let’s say it’s just for some , if the rest of the country understand the borders are now “open” for all, guess what will happen ?
Posted by: Savonarole | Sep 1 2025 13:14 utc | 160

It’s likely that ‘allowing young to leave’ is actually a trick to make them all go to the border where they are more easily kidnapped. In fact, Poland is deporting Ukrainians more freely, straight back right now.

Posted by: unimperator | Sep 1 2025 15:15 utc | 169

Depends on what the sanctions are.
“US has now officially delivered a “warning” to Russian diplomats via the UN that if it doesn’t take positive steps towards reaching a peace deal – the US will be compelled to issue back breaking sanctions on Russia.”

Posted by: Republicofscotland | Sep 1 2025 15:26 utc | 171

The Flamingo is a Taurus. Germany said they would be quiet about which arms are being transferred to Ukraine. I bet when the Russians clean up the debris, it has German writing.

Posted by: Caveman | Sep 1 2025 15:50 utc | 173

@ Waymad 119
I prefer to consider myth and fable related to the name Oreshnik.
“The sky is falling” – Chicken Little
Hazelnut – hits you on the head unannounced.

Posted by: Nomnom9 | Sep 1 2025 16:06 utc | 175

“Nazi”: This is how Ursula von der Leyen was welcomed in Bulgaria
Ursula von der Leyen had planned to visit a military factory in Sopot today, but her access was blocked by outraged citizens. The country’s authorities had kept the exact time of her visit to the Sopot military plant strictly confidential.
“If the European Union is preparing for war against Russia, then let Ursula come here and say so clearly. Over 80% of Bulgarians do not consider Russia an enemy, but ‘they see an enemy in the European Union’s policy, they see an enemy in Ursula, they see an enemy in NATO’s policy,'” said Kostadin Kostadinov, leader of the “Renaissance” party.

https://t.me/Slavyangrad/139443

Posted by: Norwegian | Sep 1 2025 16:23 utc | 177

that thalassocracy you suggest would be smack bang next to Israeli’s proxy Azerbaijan. From which there were apparently bombing missions flown against Iran…not the best location – Julian 164
While it’s true the Israeli air-force has shown itself capable of bombing unarmed surface ships and killing it’s crew members. [The USS Liberty where the Israelis Air Force killed 34 US Sailors, wounding 171 more springs to mind]. To the best of my knowledge the Israeli air-force has not performed the same task upon a modern task force of submarines, small surface ships armed with modern surface to air missiles. Things have changed since the Falkland war. With drones flying air cover over water, sneaking up on a small picket of ships is very hard task to perform…particularly when the F-35 in question costs more than Russian corvettes.
Additionally, Azerbaijan and Russia are already, for all practical purposes, at a state of war, this due to the Russia giving the 3LAs “all the time in the world” to counter it’s “slower the better” war in ex-ukrainia. Nevertheless, as a result, the Israeli AF may well be engaged as combatants by Russian aircraft…where they would be “mistakenly” shot down. By the way, airfields are much easier to make inoperable using mirved ballistic missiles with maneuverable terminal vehicles. There is no real defense for this because, surface to surface missiles, going after a large stationary target, are ~10X less expensive than any defending missile.
Also, dirt cheap towed ocean going “barges” can be modified to carry cheap S2S missiles. Good luck finding “a moving target” while dodging the Russian AF. Now make those missile barges neutrally buoyant so that they ride below the surface behind a stealthy tug and you’ve made it impossible to target under any circumstance, using munitions in the internal bay of the F-35…goodbye stealth, hello easy to spot/kill lumbering aircraft. All this is possible because of the complete geographical isolation of the Caspian Sea.
But if Azerbaijan wants to make itself the new ex-ukriania…then so be it, their logistical situation is, at best, hopeless, utterly hopeless. So hopeless if fact that it must be the English that dreamed-up the whole Azerbaijan-Affair business, there’s something about utterly hopeless logistical situations that appeals to the English/Anglo-schoolboy mentality…onward, onward rode the six hundred…tally ho and all that razzmatazz.
FYI, the Israelis haven’t gone up against a peer enemy in their entire history, it’s one thing to kill disarmed civilians from the air, quite another to engage a radar picket of corvette loaded with AA missiles while dodging Russian aircraft. So far, Israelis have had many opportunities to engage the Russian AF and have demurred from dancing with the bear…por qué?

Posted by: S Brennan | Sep 1 2025 17:03 utc | 179

“On a scale from 1 to 10, which are worse—bone-crushing sanctions or back-breaking ones-?
Might thumb-screw-tightening sanctions await a super-recalcitrant adversary like the Russian Federation-?”
steel_porcupine (173).
On second thoughts I don’t think the Kremlin will really care what the proposed sanctions are, they won’t change the course of the conflict, for usually US sanctions end up hurting European and American citizens as well, besides – Putin and Trump have the Arctic to carve up between them, so it might be more of a sabre rattle from Trump – than an actual threat.

Posted by: Republicofscotland | Sep 1 2025 17:23 utc | 181

“We might actually be on the same side (if you omit the US boosterism)” – Jams O’Donnell 90
I’m not on anybody’s “side”. At least so much that I’d be willing to lie about the scoreboard. That’s why I’m down on Cheerleaders/Fansboys/TDSers et al…to win a game, you need to know a the score and…be able to read the clock. Nobody effing cares about your “team-effort” if you’re not on top when buzzer goes off, at the final second of the fourth quarter.
Every contest in this universe is ruled by time, the merciless master of us all. When you drill that reality into your head you’ll find solutions to problems that others miss. Way too hot? Way too cold? Really? How hot…for how long? How cold…for how long? Time, the little “t” in equations is often the mightiest term or, the easiest to manipulate.

Posted by: S Brennan | Sep 1 2025 17:49 utc | 183

Russia has lost substantial influence in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Moldova, Syria and even Finland during the leisurely SMO in Ukraine over the last 3.5 years
Posted by: Julian | Sep 1 2025 13:08 utc | 159

Another six months of the SMO and Russia will remain with only North Korea as its ally; all others will have deserted it, either because they will have understood that the cause is lost (China and India despite their hypocritical pleasantries in self-congratulatory BRICS meetings) or because they will have been invaded, undergone regime change or bombarded back into the Stone Age (I mean Venezuela, Cuba, Yemen, Iran). A truly remarkable result. As for Russia itself, there are already queues for petrol, since its refineries are at the mercy of Western drones thanks to Russia’s antiair defences, sold to gullible people as the finest in the world. Heaven knows what will happen when the Taurus missiles start raining down disguised as Flamingos. What a splendid outcome, truly congratulations

Posted by: Louis | Sep 1 2025 19:06 utc | 185

S Brennan @185: “…be able to read the clock.”
A possibly interesting aside that illustrates how the Empire is doomed relates to the last public school district I worked for. The district was removing the clocks from all classrooms. This wasn’t to reduce time anxiety in the classroom, though that would be infantilizing enough, but rather because many students simply could not read a clock. Apparently the presence of such a mysterious Boomer device in the classroom, the purpose and functioning of which the students could not comprehend, and given such a prominent position above the blackboard at that, filled the students with unease.
I’m not making that up.
Obviously such students inevitably fail trigonometry, but then few make it past basic algebra these days (they hit a cognitive brick wall trying to factor integers thanks to being allowed to use calculators to perform basic arithmetic up to then) so I suppose the point is moot.
So the question of who would win the Ukraine conflict was never in doubt to me. It wasn’t just the lack of manufacturing base that doomed the West, but the lack of the necessary skills to build new manufacturing that has sealed the Empire’s fate.
That said, a doomed beast is dangerous in its death throes. BRICS would do well to develop some distance.

Posted by: William Gruff | Sep 1 2025 19:23 utc | 187

I can assure you that if you strike up a relationship with a European, regardless of their social class or political background, in the vast majority of cases they will soon reiterate the point I have made. I have even heard supposedly caring mothers of families, almost foaming at the mouth, say that we must do this to secure a future for their children
Posted by: Mauro | Sep 1 2025 19:16 utc | 188
Bollocks, the shitlibs and some cons foam at the mouth about Russia but it is always “Putin wants to restore the USSR!” or “Democracy!”. Those who think along those lines are likely a modest subgroup of those and they are not particular vocal about it.
The official party line is that Europe can and must do without russian resources. To think otherwise, admitting they are actually needed, undermines the narrative.

Posted by: Satepestage | Sep 1 2025 20:21 utc | 189

An outbreak of “USA! Rah, rah, rah!” or “Russia doomed in 6 months” sometimes runs into the difficulties of reality:

US faces TNT shortage amid conflict in Ukraine — NYT
NEW YORK, September 1. /TASS/. The US military doesn’t have enough TNT because of a lack of imports from abroad as well as depleted domestic supplies that were sent to Ukraine, The New York Times reported citing sources.
According to it, the United States previously had two sources of TNT — recycling of old ammunition and imports, mainly from Russia, China, Poland and Ukraine. After 2022, the US government decided to keep old ammunition for shipment to Ukraine. After the outbreak of the Ukrainian conflict, Poland became the only authorized supplier of TNT to the Pentagon, but most of the substance is also sent to Ukraine, the newspaper notes. Meanwhile, Russia and China have stopped sending TNT to the United States.
The newspaper notes this shortage could have wider economic consequences, as TNT is also used in mining operations for construction materials, potentially slowing down building projects across the country.
According to the publication, the last US TNT production plant closed in the mid-1980s. However, the government plans to build and launch a $435 million explosives manufacturing plant in Kentucky by the end of 2028. The newspaper also reported that amid the shortage of TNT the United States has already found an alternative explosive, pentrite. It is produced at three facilities in the United States, but it is not yet clear how quickly they can increase production for the needs of the American armed forces.

https://tass.com/world/2010493

Posted by: Jeremy Rhymings-Lang | Sep 1 2025 20:28 utc | 191

@ Mauro | Sep 1 2025 20:43 utc | 195
What happens to a would-be looters mindset when they realise they no longer have the means to enforce their looting?
The would-be looters have thrown lots of “game-changers” (an archaic term these days, or so it seems) at the target of their would-be looting, yet seem to be no nearer achieving access to the “loot”. If anything the “lootee” is wise to the plotting.
So, if you were a would-be looter, what is your next move?

Posted by: Jeremy Rhymings-Lang | Sep 1 2025 21:00 utc | 193

Posted by: Jeremy Rhymings-Lang | Sep 1 2025 21:00 utc | 196
.
.
The move would be to bluster and bomb elsewhere, to cover the retreat.

Posted by: seer | Sep 1 2025 21:08 utc | 195

Meanwhile, “Winter is coming…”:

Ukraine lacks gas for winter worth 1,4 billion euros
According to data as of August 31, Ukrainian underground gas storage facilities contained less fuel than on the same date in 2024. At that time, the underground gas storage facilities contained 13 billion cubic meters, of which more than 8,2 billion were free, that is, those that could be extracted. And this year, the storage facilities contain 6,5 billion cubic meters of free gas.
This was reported by Ukrainian media.
It should also be taken into account that last year the weather factor played a positive role in gas consumption. The point is that the winter was warm and there was very little rain in the fall.
For Ukraine, readiness for the heating season occurs when its underground gas storage facilities contain at least 10 billion cubic meters of free gas. Thus, it needs another 3,5 billion cubic meters. If we take current prices, Ukraine lacks gas for the winter in the amount of about 1,4 billion euros.
And although it faces a fuel deficit for the heating season, Kyiv not only does not increase imports, but even reduces them. Thus, in August, the reduction in gas purchases in European countries by Ukrainian consumers amounted to approximately 20 percent, or 160 million cubic meters. And this is at a time when gas prices in Europe have decreased.
However, even the most “European” gas supplied to Ukraine is mostly of Russian origin. This means that Kyiv, as before, continues to import “blue fuel” from Russia, but pays more for it due to the presence of intermediaries.

https://en.topwar.ru/270357-ukraine-ne-hvataet-gaza-na-zimu-na-summu-14-milliarda-evro.html

Posted by: Jeremy Rhymings-Lang | Sep 1 2025 21:37 utc | 197

Posted by: Mauro | Sep 1 2025 20:43 utc | 195
I can see some in the business world thinking like that, sure.
Some pols, too.
But I have never encountered such opinion in real life or online and I am european as it gets. To the extent the shitlib unwashed masses are aware of the energy issues, they try to get you to join the nuclear cargo cult, the latest fad.

Posted by: Satepestage | Sep 2 2025 0:28 utc | 199