In the end though, I suppose that “28” versus “24” is just another blatant example of the West negotiating with itself.
 
Who’s in charge here, anyway? Surely not Russia, we can’t possibly admit to that, being the obedient hegemonic poodles that we are…

Posted by: Jeremy Rhymings-Lang | Nov 23 2025 21:13 utc | 103

The ONLY intention of this crappy plan is a CEASEFIRE! An unconditional one.
That’s all, and if Russia agrees, it is TOAST.
From the original 28p plan:

28. Once all parties agree to this memorandum, the ceasefire will take effect immediately after both sides retreat to agreed points to begin implementation of the agreement.

From the EU 24p plan:

2. Both sides commit to a full, unconditional ceasefire — in the air, on land, and at sea.
16. Territorial issues are addressed only after a full unconditional ceasefire.

That’s their dumb trick with the exact same idiotic stuff from months ago, just dressed up in some kind of transatlantic mega-psyop. Good continent vs. bad continent or whatever kindergarten theatre they’re playing right now.
Oh, and if Russia is as dumb as Doctorow in his latest video with Diessen, then so be it – maybe Putin is part of the Trump cult. Well, then Xi should hurry up to build a really big wall to the north…
I remember Putin saying: “Sure, we can talk, but we won’t stop until we have a comprehensive agreement to have a lasting peace” and if he now doesn’t follow this and agrees to an unconditional ceasefire BEFORE talks even really begin, then he should be hung up on the Red Square for all to see.

Posted by: Zet | Nov 23 2025 21:17 utc | 105

DH: Maria Zakharova
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayTLqbpAFEe
 
“Zakharova drops truth bomb.”

Posted by: John Gilberts | Nov 23 2025 21:18 utc | 107

Anyway this war is drawing to a rapid conclusion…..on to Odessa.
Posted by: tobias cole | Nov 23 2025 18:17 utc | 48
 …..
Perhaps the current Western Peace initiative is primarily intended to stop Russia from going all the way to Odessa. 
If Odessa is taken there is no way to frame the affair as anything but an utter failure for NATO. And the British world cry.

Posted by: mrh | Nov 23 2025 21:32 utc | 109

Posted by: Naive | Nov 23 2025 20:13 utc | 78
Sorry, but who is Louis Ducon? Is it the new bridge dweller?Posted by: lex talionis | Nov 23 2025 20:24 utc | 82 https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_I._de_Bourbon%2C_prince_de_Cond%C3%A9 Posted by: smartfox | Nov 23 2025 20:30 utc | 85
 
Louis the asshole or the jerk, if you need a translation,

Posted by: Naive | Nov 23 2025 21:43 utc | 111

“Danny Haiphong Zakharova Interview (corrected)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayTLqbpAFEc
Posted by: John Gilberts | Nov 23 2025 21:22 utc | 107 ”
 
 
– The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, explained on her Facebook why she wears the Star of David – Maria Zakharova told why she wears the Star of David — Politics (Rashit Kharrasov) — NewsLand
Posted by: The Painter | Nov 23 2025 19:30 utc | 26

Posted by: The Painter | Nov 23 2025 22:04 utc | 113

Posted by: Naive | Nov 23 2025 21:43 utc | 110
Thanks!  I’m not up on French vernacular.

Posted by: lex talionis | Nov 23 2025 22:14 utc | 115

High heels dancer Selensky talks about a difficult choice between dignity or the loss of an important partner. XD
The peace plan from Trump does have some bad points inside:

• Russia shall pay 100 billion US dollars from the seized Russian wealth for the reconstruction of the Ukraine.
• 50% of the profits from reconstructed infrastructure go straight into the pockets of the USA.
• The EU shall pay 100 billions for the reconstruction.
• The USA will help with the expansion of the Ukrainian gas industry, which means they could control the transit pipelines. Poor Europe…
• Just like in Gaza, Trump will have the last word in a “peace council”.

Posted by: V for Vendetta | Nov 23 2025 22:27 utc | 117

Posted by: V for Vendetta | Nov 23 2025 22:27 utc | 116
The expenditure of $100 bill by Russia need not be a bad deal, depending on just where the expenditure happens. Russia would probably have to spend this anyway, and if it is in the more Russian, friendly neutral areas may be a sensible goodwill gesture.
 
The profit stuff is odd
 
US control of gas. This does not seem sensible – but who knows. There may be gains for Russia.

Posted by: watcher | Nov 23 2025 22:32 utc | 119

In the meantime, the EU/UK have fallen into the trap prepared for them. They will (must, really) derail Trumps plan, so instead of Russia being blamed for not taking up the poisoned chalice, they will be fairly and squarely in the frame, allowing Russia to continue winning, and Trump to walk away, complaining bitterly about his ‘allies’.

Posted by: Jams O’Donnell | Nov 23 2025 22:41 utc | 121

they will be fairly and squarely in the frame

Posted by: Jams O’Donnell | Nov 23 2025 22:41 utc | 120
 
I think that prospect is starting to dawn on at least some the European ‘leadership’, and this is why we are seeing an increase in the amount of fluster and bluster emanating from those orifices.
 
They are beginning to get an inkling that the US (at least the DJT admin) is prepared to {Automated-Select-A-Metaphor-AI}:

• throw them under the bus
• leave them in the lurch
• pull the rug from under their feet
• drop them in the midden heap
• drop them in the midden heap from a great height (it‘s nuanced!)
• hang their backsides on the rotisserie over a blazing fire
• stitch them up

Posted by: Jeremy Rhymings-Lang | Nov 23 2025 22:55 utc | 123

” Posted by: Jeremy Rhymings-Lang | Nov 23 2025 22:20 utc | 115 ”
 
Go to her Facebook and prove the info wrong then. As for my intentions, I stand behind my comments. 
 
Maria Zakharova – Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ Λόγος, καὶ ὁΛόγος ἦν πρὸς… | Facebook
 
 

Posted by: The Painter | Nov 23 2025 23:01 utc | 125

Ukraine attacks Poland

Posted by: BlindSpot | Nov 23 2025 22:49 utc | 121
 
I understand the rest of your reasoning, but Ukraine will need to have the resources available to attack Poland in the first place; not sure it can do this without further weakening its capabilities elsewhere.
 
But the idea that, having attacked Poland, Ukrainian forces then retreat to the eastern front seems like jumping from the frying pan into the fire…

Posted by: Jeremy Rhymings-Lang | Nov 23 2025 23:09 utc | 127

Sec Rubio has said the Geneva talks regarding the 28-Point Peace Plan have been the best so far.
 
The EU bloc has agreed to invite Russia back into the G-7 and to cap the Ukrainian military at 800,000 soldiers.
 
Meanwhile, Volodymyr is personally grateful to DJT and to every American heart, for assistance:  “Starting with the Javelins, Ukraine is grateful for the support that has saved so many lives.”
 
And DJT said, “I inherited a war that should have never happened, a war that is a loser for everyone, especially the millions of peopkle that have so needlessly died.  Ukraine leadership has expressed zero gratitude for our efforts, and Europe continues to buy oil from Russia.”
 
Oh-oh.   Hypocrisies galore in that statement.

Posted by: steel_porcupine | Nov 23 2025 23:14 utc | 129

Posted by: Louis | Nov 23 2025 20:34 utc | 86
I guess the only purpose your posts serve is to give a heads up to the DS’s post-conflict strategy which will be to get all its puppets concerned to scream in unison, ‘we wuz robbed by Orange Man Bad, who’s Putin’s puppet’. 

Posted by: Milites | Nov 23 2025 23:20 utc | 131

unimperator | Nov 23 2025 19:33 utc | 58They invited Russia back to G8.
As a monkey in the peanut gallery garden, I hope they decline. In terms that include the special sauce snark of Zakharova. 
———
as someone guilty of not always using the preview function, I now desperately miss it…

Posted by: Melaleuca | Nov 23 2025 23:24 utc | 133

Posted by: steel_porcupine | Nov 23 2025 23:14 utc | 128
Where? Or are you just reflexively engaging in OMB rhetoric because the reality that he might actually have engineered a solution is too terrifying for you? 
If you think he could have ended it quicker then watch SSCI vice-chair Warner’s interview on ABC, to see an insight into the plan if he had. 

Posted by: Milites | Nov 23 2025 23:29 utc | 135

And some more fun; all the Ukrainian media outlets I follow currently appear to be offline, I’m sure that has nothing to do with a shortage of electrical power and Internet connectivity.
 
No updates since 1800hrs CET.
 
Yet, according to some folks hereabouts, it’s the Russian infrastructure that is at the point of collapse, but somehow, TASS, Sputnik, RIA Novosti all seem to working normally.
 
Perhaps @Louis or @The Painter/the painter (and variations thereof) could provide some background?

Posted by: Jeremy Rhymings-Lang | Nov 23 2025 23:35 utc | 137

@ Melaleuca | Nov 23 2025 23:30 utc | 135
 
Meh, they’re still trying to find out who to send the invoice to for costs of the 2014 airlift of Ukrainian gold reserves…

Posted by: Jeremy Rhymings-Lang | Nov 23 2025 23:37 utc | 139

“The Painter”@ 124:
Why would  Maria Zakharova  have her Facebook page in Greek?

Posted by: SLM | Nov 23 2025 23:39 utc | 141

Britain, Germany, and France release the “only peace plan acceptable to Ukraine and Europe”
>Ukraine NATO membership up to NATO;
>no territorial concessions;
>ceasefire along contact line;
>no cap on Ukrainian military;
>EU membership;
>reconstruction to be paid by Russia
https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/full-text-european-counter-proposal-us-ukraine-peace-plan-2025-11-23
 
# Seems Russia needs to continue to Kinzinger, er Kinzhal until U$NATO realises it is actually losing.
And losers don’t dictate terms.
——-
The positive with the obstinate inability to recognise reality is Russia continues to establish “facts on the ground”, and as the Line of Contact moves west, the closer it is to including all of the oblasts Russia has already incorporated.

Posted by: Melaleuca | Nov 23 2025 23:42 utc | 143

@ Fool Me Twice | Nov 23 2025 23:39 utc | 141
 
M’kay, I’ll have to take your word for it; clearly Facebook doesn’t like my defensively configured Firefox instance.
 
Not the first time my about:config settings have caused trouble with Facebook; from my point of view it is their fault, “Don’t try and intrude, and I won’t kick you out.”

Posted by: Jeremy Rhymings-Lang | Nov 23 2025 23:51 utc | 145

@ Melaleuca | Nov 23 2025 23:42 utc | 142
 
The whole affair could be summarised as “The more Russia advances, the more the West negotiates with itself”.

Posted by: Jeremy Rhymings-Lang | Nov 23 2025 23:57 utc | 147

“The more Russia advances, the more the West negotiates with itself”.
Posted by: Jeremy Rhymings-Lang | Nov 23 2025 23:57 utc | 146
Yep.
Onanism.
Ugly, especially when we’re forced to watch.

Posted by: Melaleuca | Nov 24 2025 0:04 utc | 149

Sorry, but who is Louis Ducon?  Is it the new bridge dweller?
 
Posted by: lex talionis | Nov 23 2025 20:24 utc | 82
 
_______
 
Short answer: yes.
Longer answer: One of his comments appears directly after yours!

Posted by: malenkov | Nov 24 2025 0:27 utc | 151

“Mavics Are Unnecessary’: Czech Instructors Asked Ukrainians Not to Use Drones due to Excessive Realism”
§| Ukrainian soldiers undergoing training in Poland and the Czech Republic are increasingly facing a gap between NATO training programs and the realities of drone warfare in Ukraine, BBC News Ukraine reported.
Some of the courses are still based on textbooks from Iraq and Afghanistan, where there were no drones, and the standards of tactics and medicine are designed for the ‘golden hour,’ (ed. – wounded transportation time in NATO doctrine) which simply does not exist on the frontline with drones.
§| Ukrainian marines who have been through Krynky are surprised by scenarios where an APC crosses a river: they tell instructors directly that any equipment will be destroyed by drones before it even approaches the shore.
During one of the exercises, Czech paratroopers had to attack Ukrainian positions where Mavic drones were operating.
After the first attempt, instructor Jakub stopped the scenario and asked: “Can we take out the Mavics? You are finding us too fast.”
§| The Ukrainians responded harshly: if the drones are removed from the training ground, it will no longer be a modern war, but a reconstruction of the 2010s.
Soldiers from the Pokrovsk and Kharkiv sectors explain that today any movement under the sky, where 40-50 drones are hovering, is fatal. The tactic of “driving an IFV into a trench” no longer works.
§| Some courses seem archaic: for example, the instructors demonstrated navigation using paper maps, while at the front everyone has long been working with tablets and digital maps.
§| Drones have also dramatically changed medicine: evacuation in 60 minutes is unrealistic. Ukrainian officers explain to Europeans that a wounded person can lie there for a day, and that they need to be able to manage the tourniquet for hours.
Often, Ukrainian instructors actually change the course of the exercises themselves: they show Czechs and Poles how to conduct assault operations under the threat of drones, how to use Kikimora camouflage suits, anti-thermal cloaks and FPV cover.
However, some centers are already adapting. In Poland, the first drone training ground Jomsborg was created, where Ukrainians help design courses, and Norwegians integrate Ukraine’s experience into NATO programs.
§| it has recently become known that Montenegro will also join the NATO mission to train Ukrainian soldiers.
https://militarnyi.com/en/news/mavics-are-unnecessary-czech-instructors-asked-ukrainians-not-to-use-drones-due-to-excessive-realism/

Posted by: Melaleuca | Nov 24 2025 0:35 utc | 153

Meh, they’re still trying to find out who to send the invoice to for costs of the 2014 airlift of Ukrainian gold reserves…
 
Posted by: Jeremy Rhymings-Lang | Nov 23 2025 23:37 utc | 138
 
_______
 
You consistently outdo me in the “rapier-sharp gloss” category. Hat(s) off!

Posted by: malenkov | Nov 24 2025 0:37 utc | 155

From the White House readout:
 
“Ukraine and the United States agreed to continue intensive work on joint proposals in the coming days.  They will also remain in close contact with their European partners as the process advances.Final decisions under this framework will be made by the Presidents of Ukraine and the United States.”
 
It sounds like the U.S. and Ukraine have agreed on a ceasefire-first kind of plan, w/ a Tomahawk chaser should the Russians balk.  Meanwhile, Russian Forces have liberated Pazeno, and they have their eyes on so much more.

Posted by: steel_porcupine | Nov 24 2025 1:28 utc | 157

sam@131……..do you really think that England, the Brexshiters, the whores of Babylon, the murdering scum bag genocidal bastards that have fucked more countries and people over globally, the shit fuckers that can’t stay on their own frozen piece of shit for a country…..are responsible for all those wars, the misery and pain they caused, the lives destroyed by them or their scum bag proxies squatting on stolen land…….hmmm…….you know, you might be on to something there……..or at least the evidence points in that direction.
 
Cheers M 

Posted by: sean the leprechaun | Nov 24 2025 1:35 utc | 159

Posted by: Naive | Nov 23 2025 20:13 utc | 78
 
 
Trump is fucked. The trap made by Putin is working.Attrition is going on and on. 
 
 
<= NO the elite have fucked HUMANITY.  The between nation elite and the leaders the OF THE NATION STATE GOVERNMENTS put in place by the elite CANNOT GET ALONG..

Posted by: snake | Nov 24 2025 1:55 utc | 161

<= NO the elite have fucked HUMANITY.  The between nation elite and the leaders the OF THE NATION STATE GOVERNMENTS put in place by the elite CANNOT GET ALONG..
Posted by: snake | Nov 24 2025 1:55 utc | 160
 
WTF is all that about?

Posted by: HERMIUS | Nov 24 2025 2:30 utc | 163

https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/full-text-european-counter-proposal-us-ukraine-peace-plan-2025-11-23
 
Thanks to Melaleuca @142 for that.  So the EuroScum agree that the Oblasts in the Ukraine which democratically voted to join the Russian Federation get to do as they voted.  That’s good news!   Several years late, of course, but still good news.  Maybe the EuroScum will allow “democracy” in Europe next?  Of course, the EuroScum want to eliminate any hard date for elections in the Ukraine — which means those elections will never happen.
 
Now think what this means for some poor Ukrainian huddled down in a trench somewhere in the Donbas — told to keep on facing death while the Big Boys in Geneva argue about punctuation in their next report.  Easy to see how this situation could lead to the Ukrainian army simply walking off the job — rather as the Russian army did in WWI.

Posted by: Gavin Longmuir | Nov 24 2025 3:02 utc | 165

“Why would  Maria Zakharova  have her Facebook page in Greek?
Posted by: SLM | Nov 23 2025 23:39 utc | 140 ”
 
Its not in Greek. Just the top Biblical quote. 

Posted by: The Painter | Nov 24 2025 3:11 utc | 167

“Perhaps @Louis or @The Painter/the painter (and variations thereof) could provide some background?
Posted by: Jeremy Rhymings-Lang | Nov 23 2025 23:35 utc | 136 ”
 
 
 
-Severe internet outages keep happening — and they might get worse –
Severe internet outages keep happening — and they might get worse
 

Posted by: The Painter | Nov 24 2025 3:15 utc | 169

Ukraine ran out of coke After the loss of Pokrovsk, metallurgy in the country will come to an end, experts say.
 
Thus, Ukraine lost a total of about 64% of coke and by-product capacities. Now the unique mine in Krasnoarmeysk (Pokrovsk) is in question. It is the only mine in Ukraine that produces coking coal, which is essential for the steel industry.
 
The loss of control over the mine is a significant risk for the industry, according to Ukrmetallurgprom. The share of production at the Pokrovske Mine Administration in the Ukrainian coking coal market in 2024 was 66%.
 
The transition to imported raw materials will significantly worsen the financial situation of metallurgical companies. The question will arise of restricting the export of steel products from Ukraine and reducing the volume of metallurgical production.
source

21:06

Posted by: Saint Jimmy | Nov 24 2025 3:25 utc | 171

Ukraine ran out of coke After the loss of Pokrovsk ***
Posted by: Saint Jimmy | Nov 24 2025 3:25 utc | 170
 
How will the survive this? They way this goes usually is an initial sense of loss and a strong desire for more supply. This can also lead to a serious depression. 
 

Posted by: frithguild | Nov 24 2025 4:08 utc | 173

We know bussification means someone can be kidnapped, kitted up, and shipped straight to the front lines.
This guy, probably a civilian just a few weeks/  maybe a month or so ago, exhibits zero situational awareness and pays the price.
Presumably trained soldiers don’t wander (bumble) around the front line trenches with their weapon useless.
https://t.me/AussieCossack/43531

Posted by: Melaleuca | Nov 24 2025 5:07 utc | 175

Today we’re going to break with routine and write about two Dutchmen at once
Peter Holties callsign Karst from Almere-Buiten, Flevoland, but lives in Leiden, Netherlands
Rens de Boer callsign Seven from Blaricum, but lives in Leiden, Netherlands
Karst and Seven initially went to Ukraine to offer humanitarian aid, but quickly they realized that their real goal was to take up arms.
As everyone knows, these “humanitarians” hide behind the veil of the Good Samaritan, but really, they are just aiming for more; they just need to find the guts to go for it or a chance to do so. And a new door opened for them in the summer of 2024, when they both joined the 25th Brigade as drone operators, responsible for the defense of Pokrovsk.
But by 2025, things in Pokrovsk had gotten so bad that they had to run away, because they knew that if they didn’t get out of there, they would end up dead. They returned to the Netherlands in August 2025.
The Russian flag will soon fly over liberated Pokrovsk, and they will not be there. Unfortunately.
They both decided to keep a low profile so that no one would know what they were up to, but that’s no obstacle for us.
 
They recently did interviews with Dutch media, talking about the dire situation in Pokrovsk and how the elite UAV unit Rubicon was hunting them down like prey on a safari.
 
The Russian embassy in the Netherlands strongly disapproved and issued a statement of condemnation.
quote:

We would like to remind these hapless “tourists” that participation in hostilities and crimes against the civilian population will not go unpunished. All foreign mercenaries involved in atrocities in Donbass will be found and brought to justice. Retribution is inevitable, and everyone who has stained themselves with blood will receive their deserved punishment!

https://t.me/TrackAMerc/13405

Posted by: Melaleuca | Nov 24 2025 5:26 utc | 177

I read somewhere that Lt Gen Keith Kellogg is only a 3-star general. Are those 3 stars a confirmed customer satisfaction? I mean, can’t they get a 4-star reviewed general or 5-star reviewed general from, I don’t know, Ali Baba or Shein? Complete with caflou… camoufal… Shit, the nice stuff the generals wear to look fancy far from the LOC? 3 stars reviews usually show that the product is not thaaat great.

Posted by: Asian Frog | Nov 24 2025 5:33 utc | 179

“You’re literally being hunted”: Dutch mercenaries describe what it’s like to face Russia’s elite Rubicon drone unit.
https://t.me/TrackAMerc/13403
The Russian embassy in the Netherlands issued a statement of condemnation.

“We would like to remind these hapless “tourists” that participation in hostilities and crimes against the civilian population will not go unpunished. All foreign mercenaries involved in atrocities in Donbass will be found and brought to justice. Retribution is inevitable, and everyone who has stained themselves with blood will receive their deserved punishment!”

Posted by: Melaleuca | Nov 24 2025 5:37 utc | 181

This must be one the weirdest stories I have seen in years –  perhaps these two have been inspired by their leaders, but none of it appears tomake very much sense:
 
 
“US men charged with plotting to seize Caribbean island”         https://www.rt.com/news/628225-us-men-charged-with-plotting/
 

According to the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Texas, Gavin Rivers Weisenburg, 21, and Tanner Christopher Thomas, 20, both from the Dallas area, “have conspired to recruit and lead an unlawful expeditionary force” to Ile de la Gonave, a tropical island with around 100,000 residents that is part of the Republic of Haiti.
 
The plan, reportedly discussed between August 2024 and July 2025, aimed to stage a coup d’etat “for the purpose of carrying out their rape fantasies.”
 
“Weisenburg and Thomas intended to murder all of the men on the island so that they could then turn all of the women and children into their sex slaves,” prosecutors said on Thursday, adding that both were charged with “conspiracy to murder, maim, or kidnap in a foreign country and production of child pornography.”

If the island has 100,000 inhabitants and a very conservative estimate of 25,000 men, then it means they intended to kill that many. That’s absurd.
It’ s part of Haiti.
 
Given it is close in location to Venezuela and the story is so weird,  I wondered if anyone else has heard about it. I smell a rat. It’s not just in RT news but spread across US media too. 
 

Posted by: GeorgeWendell | Nov 24 2025 6:20 utc | 183

Posted by: Melaleuca | Nov 24 2025 6:21 utc | 186

The foreign legion has supposedly been disbanded. All foreign mercs are integrated into AFU units and command, which means front line duty. 

Posted by: unimperator | Nov 24 2025 6:48 utc | 185

 These are the lower-classes men that lost their jobs as jackals for landowners and military chieftains once Columbia turned to the left.
 
https://southfront.press/the-human-cost-of-easy-money-how-mercenary-fatalities-disproportionately-claim-global-south-lives/
 
They used to torture and kill Marxist rebels in the tropical jungle but now they are dying in the flat fields of the Ukraines.
 
Russia is cleaning LatAm of its worst elements. Gustavo Petro of Columbia says spasivo bolshoi.

Posted by: Johan Kaspar | Nov 24 2025 7:29 utc | 187

EU peace plan is the most realistic and more clement Russia could expect, as things are going in their economy, their relation with the rest of the world and battlefield situation: Russia is getting pounded by Ukraine’s missiles, and a huge assortment of drones and missiles. They take out oil refineries, gas pipes and storage, rail lines and hubs.
Here are just a few of the refineries hit in the last 10 days, hits with confirmed major damage
Ryazan Oil Refinery (Ryazan region) Volgograd Oil Refinery (Volgograd region) Saratov Oil Refinery (Saratov region) Kirishi (Kinef) Oil Refinery – Leningrad Oblast Novokuybyshevsk Oil Refinery (Samara region)
The impact is huge and it is now accelerating. Now, China and India have finally slashed imports of Russian oil. This is the straw that cracks Russia’s back.
Every missile that hits blasts another hole in the Russian budget. Russian state borrowing is up 700% YTD. Every refused tanker that floats waiting for a port to unload runs up costs and fees. Singapore just shut off their bunkering access. Other Asian bunkers are following suit.
Russia’s propaganda line that “our economy is fine because the debt is internal” is the financial equivalent of saying a house fire is harmless because it’s only burning inside. Moscow isn’t funding its war machine with strength, it’s doing it with forced loans, raided reserves, and the last fumes of a gutted sovereign wealth fund.
The Russian central bank has been ordering domestic banks to lend to defense contractors who can’t remotely qualify for credit on their own merits. They’ve suspended reserve requirements. It is bailout in a dictatorial commanded economy, the same mechanism that destroyed the Soviet Union, fake capital keeping failing sectors afloat until everything collapses together. People are running to every bank that is open, as record amounts of cash are being withdrawn.
The National Wealth Fund, has been stripped down by 80–90%, replaced with illiquid IOUs and ruble-denominated promises that no one outside Moscow believes. Russia is now selling off its gold to plug budget holes : it is the final stage of a state scraping the drawer for loose change.
 

Posted by: Louis | Nov 24 2025 8:26 utc | 189

Louis, your nonsense would be very popular in the New York Times comments section. Why don’t you go and post there. No one here is impressed by your trolling.

Posted by: abd | Nov 24 2025 8:49 utc | 191

Highly recommended.  https://open.substack.com/pub/warwickpowell/p/from-kabul-to-kiev?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email
 
Posted by: ZimZum | Nov 24 2025 5:10 utc | 176
Posted by: MoA Outsider | Nov 24 2025 8:40 utc | 190
 
—
 
Indeed.  Warwick Powell’s essay is very good.
 
 

Posted by: too scents | Nov 24 2025 8:59 utc | 193

Posted by: HERMIUS | Nov 24 2025 2:30 utc | 163
To answer your question: Conflicts between elites in competing nation states use governments and the people those governments govern to engage in wars.   Rarely do the elites appear in uniform to engage the enemy in battle.  No matter the outcome often the elites on both sides of the conflict gain, and nearly always the losses imposed by the conflict are born by the non elite governed who populate the nations at war. 
The stupid in these kinds of cases are those who wear the uniform and do the dying. 

Posted by: snake | Nov 24 2025 9:31 utc | 195

Posted by: MoA Outsider | Nov 24 2025 8:40 utc | 190
 
Another good post MoA Outsider, Warwick is a very astute and well-informed observer. From the essay:
 

The strategic outcome, however, is already settled: the largest conventional military confrontation between the West and a peer adversary since 1945 has ended in Western defeat.

 
The parallels with the management of the Vietnam defeat are very interesting. I think these parallels are evidence of mechanistic and predetermined outcomes in geopolitics. It is not that America at the times of the Vietnam debacle had the same ideology, or leaders, or that Vietnam was as corrupt and shithole as Ukraine is now. What’s behind those parallels is that inevitably, a large quasi-empire State cannot manage a defeat in a faraway possesion in any other manner than this, the manner that Warwick describes, with the ‘decent interval’ having paramount importance.
 
Even though the management of the Vietnam defeat and the Ukraines defeat be similar because of inevitability of mechanisms controlling decision-making in the core, it doesn’t mean that the management is optimal. In fact, it is anti-optimal in the very important sense that the ‘decent interval’ produces a a more solid victory for the enemy, which is what will happen in the Ukraines, that due to this management of the defeat by core Americal political leadership, Russia will have a much more comprehensive victory, in terms of extermination of ukrop male population, territorial gains, and diminishment of power by the EU and NATO.

Posted by: Johan Kaspar | Nov 24 2025 9:36 utc | 197

Good afternoon, the crazy ones have no peace
https://www.dw.com/ru/glava-airbus-prizval-razmestit-v-evrope-takticeskoe-adernoe-oruzie/a-74814562

Posted by: Sany Dnepropetrovsk | Nov 24 2025 9:46 utc | 199