Germany prepares for total war and invents anti-Russian conspiracy theories again.

“The current Quadriga war exercise, which will continue until March, is no longer being conducted “purely as an exercise”. Rather, it is being run as a “mission-ready operation”, according to the German Armed Forces. Quadriga manoeuvres have been conducted each year since 2024. They rehearse a war against Russia and, this year, includes military exercises in Germany, Lithuania, the North Sea and the Baltic. A transition is taking place, moving from fictitious training exercise scenarios to a “mission-ready operation”. To this end, the Bundeswehr is increasingly shifting its manoeuvre activities in Germany from military training areas to civilian areas. This deployment last year already resulted in injuries.
…
At the time, Chancellor Friedrich Merz and leading intelligence officials raised the temperature by referring to hybrid warfare by Russia with no proof. Merz declared that Germany was “no longer entirely at peace, nor yet entirely at war”. In fact this phrase had already been fed into public discourse back in 2022 by the current Inspector General of the Bundeswehr, Carsten Breuer.[13] The President of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), Sinan Selen, argues that Russia’s alleged “hybrid attacks” are characterised precisely by the fact that there is no proof of Russian perpetrators.[14] This, of course, turns accusations into evidence, and blurs the line between the activities of German citizens and those of foreign agents conducting sabotage.”
https://www.german-foreign-policy.com/en/news/detail/10289

Posted by: p3t3r | Mar 1 2026 16:17 utc | 3

Posted by: Jo | Mar 1 2026 16:28 utc | 4

 
Russia has Velcy Putriguez in charge. 

Posted by: GM | Mar 1 2026 16:36 utc | 5

Posted by: Jo | Mar 1 2026 16:28 utc | 4
 
I believe for Russia it will be business as usual. In other words they won’t do a damn thing other than what they have been doing which is primarily playing footsie with American Jewish money men. The ‘axis of resistance’ sadly isn’t. 

Posted by: Maverick | Mar 1 2026 16:37 utc | 7

It’s sad, but Russia and China are just watching the US and Israel… The BRICS are slowly crumbling, partly because no BRICS member dares to criticize the others for supporting the US and Israel in their plan to destroy Iran. Because even on this issue, the BRICS states can’t agree… ergo, the END!
 
 
Great Trump plan… at least he’s achieved that, even if the Senate will grill him next week for the unauthorized war with Iran, regardless of whether they’re Democrats, MAGMA, or Republicans… A President of the United States must respect US laws; this declaration of war without Senate approval could mean the END for Trump… Woe betide the government in Iraq if it doesn’t fall now. Woe betide the regime change, which could still save him… because while everyone applauds the Republicans, many are demanding consequences for Trump for his disregard.
 
 
 
And Putin is pleased that US weapons stockpiles are shrinking even further; Sylenski is crying his eyes out to Stamer.

Posted by: Genesis | Mar 1 2026 16:56 utc | 9

Posted by: Genesis | Mar 1 2026 16:56 utc | 10
 
######
 
Everything Trump has done and will do is permitted by the uniparty and deep state.
 
Trump is just the fall guy, the turkey 5 days before Thanksgiving.

Posted by: LoveDonbass | Mar 1 2026 17:05 utc | 11

Ooops at my 4….not Funa but Duma

Posted by: Jo | Mar 1 2026 17:18 utc | 13

I knew that some commentators would conclude that Russia is not helping Iran when it needs it, so I keep this article handy, so those commentators could read the other side of the story. This is the link: https://tass.ru/politika/24267713. I mentioned it in a comment on a post a while back and someone asked me to provide the evidence.

Posted by: Steve | Mar 1 2026 17:56 utc | 15

Posted by: Steve | Mar 1 2026 17:56 utc | 21

 
Iran has been reluctant to rely on Russia because Putin is a Zionist who cares much more about the “Russian speakers” in Israle than he does about the actual Russians in Russia, and the Russian oligarchy that still owns and runs the country is 40% Jewish. 
 
And they saw what happened in Syria.

Posted by: GM | Mar 1 2026 18:01 utc | 17

Ask any Euro when they start ranting about POOTIN and the sub-human russians…….ask them;
 
so you think the Europeans should attack and march on Moscow ? 
🤣🤣🤣

Posted by: Exile | Mar 1 2026 18:46 utc | 19

@ kupkee | Mar 1 2026 18:54 utc | 20
 
Catholics stopped valorizing martyrdom at about the same time they ceased being a persecuted minority. Killing the pope would provoke outrage, but they wouldn’t do anything about it.

Posted by: malenkov | Mar 1 2026 19:24 utc | 21

The USA could pull a Khamenei on Putin and we would get a statement of  strong condemnation from China and probably even Russia themselves in response 
Posted by: Night Tripper | Mar 1 2026 19:33 utc | 22
Maybe  DC  would be glassed.
And someone  would say. 
“Well  I guess that was a redline”
 

Posted by: jpc | Mar 1 2026 20:06 utc | 23

Are you tripping or merely pretending to be nafo level fuckwit?
 
Posted by: pinche | Mar 1 2026 20:12 utc | 24

 
As if you had to ask! 🤣🤣🤣

Posted by: malenkov | Mar 1 2026 20:17 utc | 25

That is not correct, he surrendered in Istanbul in 2022. After his masters from Tel Aviv paid him a visit and gave him his orders.  Everything since then has been a negotiation over the terms of the surrender.
Posted by: GM | Mar 1 2026 20:20 utc | 26
 
Oh right, I admire your memory from back then. I barely remember anything from when I was 4 years old. If only Russia has listened to you back then. Though “Baba, bubu, GM wants potty” would be hard do decipher even for former KGB. 

Posted by: pinche | Mar 1 2026 20:29 utc | 27

The only true catholics are in Iran (minus predestination)

Posted by: Minaa | Mar 1 2026 20:43 utc | 29

I’ve made progress; the power hasn’t been turned off for 36 hours already )))

Posted by: Sany Dnepropetrovsk | Mar 1 2026 20:54 utc | 31

 Gavin Longmuir // 30
 
If “Russia and China have potential problems with Muslim minorities,” does Europe having an “actual” problem with Muslim minorities make BRICS stronger or weaker than Europe?
 
Should the United States join with Russia in destroying Europe in order to . . . do what?  Genocide Muslims in Europe?  Deport Muslims from Europe?  Then what?  Should the United States and Russia join together to massacre every European elite who opened Europe to the Muslims?
 
Stop using mealy-mouth language.  Speak clearly.  What exactly is it you want to have happen?  And don’t beat around the bush.  Write it clearly and plainly for us to read.

Posted by: Nobody Special | Mar 1 2026 21:15 utc | 33

Also, Shias have a lot in common with Orthodox Christian in their focus on asceticism, suffering and martyrdom. 
 
You see it in effect now that the real war came.
 
If only Russia still had that attitude. Well, it does, but not in the circles on Moscow and Peterburg elites, only in the deep countryside. But it’s elite liberal degenerates that control decision making….

Posted by: GM | Mar 1 2026 21:21 utc | 35

Posted by: DunGroanin | Mar 1 2026 21:37 utc | 36
 
they are rrrrrrreally hurting

Posted by: Macpott | Mar 1 2026 21:46 utc | 37

Posted by: Gavin Longmuir | Mar 1 2026 20:49 utc | 30
“Those missiles could as easily be fired at Russia and China as at Europe and the US.”
 
Of course they could, but why would that be in the slightest way likely?

Posted by: Jams O’Donnell | Mar 1 2026 22:23 utc | 39

Iran has been reluctant to rely on Russia because Putin is a Zionist who cares much more about the “Russian speakers” in Israle than he does about the actual Russians in Russia, and the Russian oligarchy that still owns and runs the country is 40% Jewish.  And they saw what happened in Syria.
Posted by: GM | Mar 1 2026 18:01 utc | 17
 
Unlike the US president Putin doesn’t have direct war powers. The Russian constitution doesn’t allow for the Russian military to operate outside Russian borders without a vote in the Duma. Hence the “special military operation” in Ukraine and it’s very strict rules of engagement, Putin being a Zionist, christian, muslim or rastafarian has nothing to do with how Russia uses military force … the Duma makes those decisions not Putin.

Posted by: HB_Norica | Mar 1 2026 22:35 utc | 41

What a stupid thread. But perhaps still small enough to make a point. A few days ago, Denmark and Norway announced that Ukrainian males aged 18-60 will no longer get residence permit automatically. They could in principle apply for asylum but the same announcement said that chances are slim.
 
There is one obvious reason: Ukraine needs male trench fodder and EUropean (yes, Norway is not in the EU) can provide it.
 
I believe there’s a second motivation for this change: with Ukraine on the ropes, any EUropean country has to deal with those pesky Ukrainian males. There’s zero reason for them to go back home. Their new homes are much, much better. Many of these guys will work and settle in, but a lot will turn to crime and some to domestic terrorism. I think that Denmark and Norway are (also) trying to prevent the crime/terror by getting rid of superfluous males. Women and kids can stay, of course, as they are basically increasing the population for free.

Posted by: Konami | Mar 1 2026 23:10 utc | 43

Putin] surrendered in Istanbul in 2022. After his masters from Tel Aviv paid him a visit and gave him his orders. Everything since then has been a negotiation over the terms of the surrender.
 
Posted by: GM | Mar 1 2026 20:20 utc | 26

 
Lol, thanks for a funny troll comment, much appreciated. 

Posted by: persiflo | Mar 1 2026 23:42 utc | 45

see if tomorrow there are news about ukraine, and if, as today, announced  AFU casualties are still in the 1.300’s

Posted by: Newbie | Mar 2 2026 0:22 utc | 47

Mróźtranslate tools are available free.
 The onus is on *you* to comment in English if you want to communicate your point.
otherwise, know you are ignored. 

Posted by: Joe6pak | Mar 2 2026 0:43 utc | 49

Winston // 50
 
If Ukraine can’t defend anything in their country, then “they just have to take a deal and cut their losses because this is pathetic.”
 
Don’t you agree?

Posted by: Nobody Special | Mar 2 2026 1:43 utc | 51

Will put this here. Hair raising and dangerous madness. Here’s hoping Americans wake up soon to take the keys away from the psychos driving the imperial klown-car towards the nuclear cliff.
 
Legitimate Targets: ‘Nukes Brewing?’
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYUxAgFrw24
 
“Jackson Hinkle speaks with Greg Mello of the Los Alamos Study Group about Trump’s nuclear arsenal and buildup, and whether the global nuclear club will be expanding…”

Posted by: John Gilberts | Mar 2 2026 2:48 utc | 53

It’s bad enough that this GM character pollutes the environment over Simplicius’ blog, now he’s here doing the same thing. Yes, we know that “Putin is a traitor and the West needs to be nuked.”   Since you have nothing else to add to the conversation , please just go away.

Posted by: Victor Scarpia | Mar 2 2026 4:06 utc | 55

Re: Nobody Special 51
This is Russia we are talking about, not the puppet Nazi losers of Ukraine who don’t mind,and their sponsors don’t mind what of theirs gets destroyed or how many get killed.
It’s disgraceful that a time of maximum alertness ,when it would be most anticipated of a khokhol attack on this oil exporting infrastructure right on the coast – appears to have been struck with ease. No element of surprise here, and now Russia could miss out on billions of extra revenue.
If they can’t even defend under those conditions, then don’t defend,cut losses and make a deal.
 
 

Posted by: Winston | Mar 2 2026 4:26 utc | 57

@59 UWDude
 
In addition,  in Libya, Obama took care to approximately equally arm 2 competing factions so that they would fight each other long after Hillary mocked their leader – “We Came, We Saw, He Died.”  Anally raped him with a bayonet, then beheaded him.  Obama was successful in making a fairly prosperous nation into a violent poverty stricken wasteland, and apparently they are finally working their way out of the horrors that the US put them through.
 
Libya and Iran – 2 nations where the leader chose to not get nuclear weapons.  We killed both leaders.

Posted by: Woke American | Mar 2 2026 5:38 utc | 59

Hey joe911 and GM….do they pay you well?
Posted by: psychohistorian | Mar 2 2026 6:40 utc | 65

 
Is the current Putin offer to surrender Kherson and Zaporozhye without a fight? Yes.
Did Putin surrender Kherson without a fight back in 2022 and has that been a taboo subject for state-controlled media in Russia ever since? Yes and yes.
Are Kherson and Zaporozhye regional capitals of the RF? Yes.
Which of these is incorrect according to you?

Posted by: GM | Mar 2 2026 6:49 utc | 61

@ troll feeding GM | Mar 2 2026 6:49 utc | 66
 
Do you happen to have a link to your claim about that Putin offer? …thats right, you don’t do links, eh?

Posted by: psychohistorian | Mar 2 2026 7:15 utc | 63

Just the one bot working multiple socks all night (for me it was). Looks like even be 77th/ii Shitheads have wound their necks in. their lousy decade long plan to extend the rf to the last ukropian is at an end. 
the great retreat back to the bunkers – a new front to distract another century’s failed proxy fascist attempt to take Russia and EurAsia. 
 
Time for a history revision – i have long held that this multi century cluaterfuck – Anglo European imperialism wholly planned, financed, controlled by the dynastic shapeshifters was contrived as the ‘Westphalian Peace’. 
 
 

The Thirty Years’ War as a Laboratory
 
From 1618 to 1648, Europe ran an experiment on itself: what happens when you wage total war, fueled by religious fervor, viewing your enemy not as a rival, but as the embodiment of evil? The result: between one-third and one-half of Central Europe’s population perished. Elites suffered alongside everyone else. A war started for the “true faith” became a self-devouring machine no one could stop. The Peace of Westphalia in 1648 marked a realization: elites couldn’t afford wars where they themselves became victims. Not because they became more humane, but because thirty years had empirically proven that unchecked violence consumes those who unleash it.
 
The “Gentleman’s War” – Not Ethics, but Engineering
 
From the Thirty Years’ War emerged the engineering of controlled conflict:
You don’t kill leaders because you’ll need them to sign the peace treaty. Kill the king, and there’s no one left to surrender, making the war endless. Families are left untouched: the loser must retain enough to accept defeat, otherwise they’ll fight to the death. Negotiations create a zone of immunity; one strike during talks, and no one will trust a mediator for the next hundred years. Third-party nations are left untouched, as hitting them multiplies your enemies.
In essence, elites wanted to play chess—to manage conflict from a position above the board. Self-imposed limits on violence were that external position. You can start, wage, and end a war as long as you don’t become one of the pieces being taken.
 
World War II as Confirmation
 
The Napoleonic Wars shook the system; the Congress of Vienna reinstalled it. WWI, with its accompanying civil wars and revolutions, cracked it further. WWII confirmed the lesson of 1648 on a scale that left no room for illusion. The UN, Geneva Conventions, nuclear deterrence, “red lines”—all engineering solutions to one problem: preventing the players from becoming pieces. The Cold War—forty years of managed conflict—was a direct product of this realization: you can be adversaries, but you can’t cross the threshold where elites themselves become victims. It worked not because everyone agreed, but because violating the rules cost more than following them.
 
What Was Lost Yesterday
 
It wasn’t morality; that was never there. It was a function that was lost.
Killing Khamenei and his family establishes a de facto reality: leaders are legitimate targets.
No one will enter negotiations without guarantees, which now cease to exist. An Omani mediator announces a breakthrough; a day later, his counterpart is dead.
The losing side will not surrender. If defeat means the death of a leader and their family, the only rational strategy is to fight to the end. That’s precisely what turned the Thirty Years’ War into a thirty-year war.
Terror will inevitably become symmetrical. The IRGC has the infrastructure to hit “soft targets in third countries.” Now they have not just a motive, but a narrative understood by half the world.
 
Why They Don’t See It
 
It’s environmental blindness. Decades inside a protective cocoon create a reality where invincibility is a given.
 
It’s extrapolating impunity. Every previous boundary crossing didn’t lead to catastrophe, creating a model that “we can go further.”
 
It’s a horizon compressed to the news cycle. Everyone’s horizon is tomorrow, not “what happens in three years.”
It could be a cold calculation banking on the spiral. The darkest version: they see it all and consider it an acceptable price. Every attack is a reason for escalation; every escalation expands the emergency mandate. Nazi-sympathizing philosopher Carl Schmitt is applauding from the afterlife.
 
The position above the board, from which you manage conflict instead of being its victim, is worth any restriction on your own freedom of action. This isn’t idealism—it’s a calculation paid for with tens of millions of lives. This lesson hasn’t been forgotten in a textbook sense, but in an operational one: the people making decisions are acting as if it never existed.
 
Source
 
⚡️ InfoDefenseENGLISH
 
 
 
 
 

Posted by: DunGroanin | Mar 2 2026 7:27 utc | 65

OK,
I’m done with this section, the pollution makes it unbearable.
 
Posted by: scc | Mar 2 2026 7:32 utc | 67
 
pollutes thread cying about pollution.
 

Posted by: UWDude | Mar 2 2026 7:37 utc | 67

“From the Thirty Years’ War emerged the engineering of controlled conflict:”

This was an European “project”.But the insights never reached the US.Just like Humanism is not a philosophical position but a tool to force others for the US.What we see today is the (negative) synergy of anglo saxon aggressiveness with the Talmudic circuitious arguing around rules.

Posted by: MAKK | Mar 2 2026 8:11 utc | 69

Posted by: DunGroanin | Mar 2 2026 7:27 utc | 66
 
similarities from 1619 are significant, including overreach costs and coin debasement .
 
that is a major reason why I’ve been saying an Ukraine truce for a decade is in order. (And why I’m answering as on topic)
 that is the medium term rhyme, longer ones may also apply (410 bc and/or 410 ad come to mind)
 
 
 

Posted by: Newbie | Mar 2 2026 9:53 utc | 71

Re: Posted by: Genesis | Mar 1 2026 16:56 utc | 9
 

It’s sad, but Russia and China are just watching the US and Israel… The BRICS are slowly crumbling, partly because no BRICS member dares to criticize the others for supporting the US and Israel in their plan to destroy Iran. Because even on this issue, the BRICS states can’t agree… ergo, the END!  Great Trump plan… at least he’s achieved that, even if the Senate will grill him next week for the unauthorized war with Iran, regardless of whether they’re Democrats, MAGMA, or Republicans… A President of the United States must respect US laws; this declaration of war without Senate approval could mean the END for Trump… Woe betide the government in Iraq if it doesn’t fall now. Woe betide the regime change, which could still save him… because while everyone applauds the Republicans, many are demanding consequences for Trump for his disregard.   And Putin is pleased that US weapons stockpiles are shrinking even further; Sylenski is crying his eyes out to Stamer.

 
What rubbish, the BRIICS are playing chess while The West stumbles around playing checkers.
India & United Arab Emirates stand united.
Russia & China stand united with Iran.
What more can you ask for?
Do yous really think The West has any idea or clue about how to divide the BRICS? Of course not!
 

Posted by: Julian | Mar 2 2026 10:50 utc | 73

https://x.com/Gerashchenko_en/status/2028165995177599345
 

“The Moscow-Tehran axis is falling apart before our eyes.” – Ukrainian expert Igor Semyvolos:
 
It has been confirmed that Iran did indeed seek assistance from Russia, invoking clauses on “mutual assistance in the event of a threat to sovereignty.” Moscow, however, resorted to legalistic maneuvering: since the U.S. and Israeli strikes are framed as “targeted operations against terrorist infrastructure,” rather than a full-scale invasion, the Kremlin interprets this as a case that does not fall under the collective defense provisions.
 
Iran reportedly asked to activate S-400 systems and Krasukha/Leer-3 electronic warfare systems at Russian bases in Syria (Khmeimim and Tartus) to blind Israeli aircraft. Instead, Russia not only refused but, according to some reports, even switched off transponders and active radar systems at its bases during the flight of Israeli missiles, in order to avoid accidental involvement and any pretext for entering the conflict.
 
The Kremlin’s refusal has been heard in Pyongyang, Beijing, and across the Global South. Russia has demonstrated that it is a “fair-weather ally.” Iranian elites – particularly the pragmatic wing – are now openly saying that the strategic bet on Russia was a mistake that led to a national catastrophe.

Posted by: GM | Mar 2 2026 10:57 utc | 75

PS I am totally struggling with how to make paragraphs out of text. I tried. I really did. But it didn’t work.
 
 
 
 
Advise accepted, gratefully.

Posted by: Merlin | Mar 2 2026 11:20 utc | 77

Posted by: GM | Mar 2 2026 10:57 utc | 76
 
On the say so of a Ukrainian expert – right – at least you attempted to provide a link to back up your claim, but next time try a credible or more impartial source…for now, jog on…
 
Just my €0.02…

Posted by: Richard Head | Mar 2 2026 11:34 utc | 79

@43 Konami. This is (Ukrainian males) a real risk. However like Sweden it is too late to stop the Middle Eastern migrants who are already there. And listening to the European support for Shitreal, they will also have a reason to be angry. 
JB
 
 

Posted by: Judge Barbier | Mar 2 2026 11:39 utc | 81

Young Ukrainians can flee to Russia if Europe doesn’t want them.  I have never seen anyone explain what should be an obvious contradiction in EU’s pathological self destruction by allowing Middle East people to immigrate there.  If you have any notion that ‘Jews run the world’ – or at least strongly influence liberal thinking, then WTF?
Europe is accumulating people who hate Israel and often show little signs of integration.  Pile up enough of them and governments start to shift. 
Again, I say Iran’s key to victory is to keep wrecking Israel – because Netanyahu has de facto control over US forces and can call them off , if Tel Aviv gets flattened. It may be more asymmetric than you think.

Posted by: Eighthman | Mar 2 2026 12:16 utc | 83

https://gilbertdoctorow.substack.com/p/what-the-ongoing-state-of-the-iran
 

What the ongoing state of the Iran war tells us about BRICS, the SCO and other champions of multipolarity

In the past several years, there has been glowing confidence among many in the Opposition to U.S. global hegemony over the prospects of a fairer, multipolar world being ushered in by BRICS, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and other new institutions rallying the Global South. We have heard how the GDP readings as well as the population readings of BRICS now outweigh by far the readings of the G7, as if this says something about the Hard Power of the Global South. We have heard how the world is de-dollarizing, how the days of U.S. economic dominance are coming to an end. And these messages have been trumpeted not just by the likes of you and me, but by globally respected and listened to authorities like Jeffrey Sachs and John Mearsheimer, who command audiences of hundreds of thousands every time they open their mouths. Some less respectable but also widely followed commentators on leading youtube channels speak regularly of the imminent collapse of NATO, of the European Union and of other villainous institutions that support the present unjust world order.
 
I have sympathy for what they are wishing for but harsh criticism for those who ignore the facts, which especially now in circumstances of the Iran war tell a very different story, which is also backed up by the U.S. seizure of Venezuela at the start of the year and by the utter impunity of Israel and the USA in the Gaza genocide extending back more than two years already. The latest events in the US-Israeli attack on Iran demonstrate that BRICS, the SCO count for nothing in global geopolitics. Indeed, the U.S. tariff wars under Trump have deftly and almost effortlessly torn BRICS apart as regards commercial relations with Russia.
 
I have been saying for some time that the ONLY effective force on the global stage against U.S. unipolarity and for some incoming form of multipolarism has been Russia in its hot war against the U.S. and NATO in and over Ukraine. The outcome of this fight is still unclear due to Vladimir Putin’s refusal to do what he must, namely to deliver a coup de grâce strike on Ukraine that kills Zelensky, his entourage and a good part of the Ukrainian political elite in downtown Kiev.
 
The Chinese leadership, for its part, has shown itself to be at least as risk-averse and ineffectual as a counter to U.S. power as is Russia. Where is China today in the Iran war? Seemingly nowhere, whereas economically they are the most interested country in the world in Iran’s retaining sovereignty and continuing to be China’s single biggest oil supplier. Also note at this point the decades-long resistance of Beijing to increasing its imports of oil and gas from Russia via secure overland routes. Where is the implementation of Power of Siberia II pipeline? Nowhere! Yes, we heard how China did not want any single supplier to account for more than 15% of its import requirements. BUT surely it allowed Iran to exceed that limit by far and its attempt to reach balance of suppliers at the expense of Russia has turned out to be colossally stupid in light of the closure of the Straits of Hormuz presently.
 
In last night’s Vladimir Solovyov talk show on Russian state television, the full consensus of the panelists was that the Iran war is another demonstration that every country stands or falls by itself. No one, not China nor Russia is intervening to save Iran, as so many of my starry-eyed colleagues were predicting. The Russians are fully absorbed in the go-slow war of attrition against Ukraine and the Chinese probably have little of value militarily, given the utter failure of their latest air defense gear shipped to Iran and given their latest purge of their highest military officers.
 
There are no alliances worthy of mention among those opposed to U.S. domination except the alliance between Russia and North Korea which is truly actionable and will likely result in the coming days in delivery of tens of thousands of fresh Korean troops to fight in the war on Ukraine in Ukraine, not just to help defend Russian oblasts from Ukrainian attack as happened in Kursk last year. Their invitation, as mercenaries in fact, signify Russia’s formal recognition that this is an international war, not just Russia’s war. But with this exception, Russia’s only friends are, as emperor Alexander III noted, its army and its fleet.
 
Recognition of the fiction of BRICS, the SCO and Russian-Chinese military cooperation as active geopolitical forces threatening U.S. power are not just my private musings. You can be sure they are the working assumptions of what Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and his staff use to plan their military operations. Of course, they have a blind spot of vast proportions: they continue to underappreciate true Russian military capabilities. This is so because of the now unforgivable restraint of Putin and his failure to follow the logic of ‘use it or lose it.’ However, Putin will not be there for forever and a day; his successors will be far less restrained and far more effective in defending the country. They will not forgive or forget the present humiliations at the hands of the U.S. that Putin is allowing. Russian state television last night denounced Gorbachev for ‘treason,’ yes, treason, for the way that he withdrew Soviet forces from Eastern Europe and disbanded the Warsaw Pact without demanding the full dissolution of NATO in response.
 
Let me be perfectly clear: all of the panelists on the Solovyov show last night were biting their tongues. The logic of their remarks was that the U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran shows that there should be no constraints on Russian military action in Ukraine. They just held back saying the obvious: that Putin’s conduct of the war is dead wrong.
 
Yes, there is opposition to Vladimir Vladimirovich and it is becoming ever more open, even if it does not as yet say on state television all that it thinks. Solovyov’s panelists have little doubt that WWIII has already begun and that is loosening lips.
 
©Gilbert Doctorow, 2026

Posted by: GM | Mar 2 2026 12:35 utc | 85

Per Stanislav Krapivnik and Mike Mihajlovic (both real experts on military matters), it’s almost certain Russian crewed and Russian made air defense systems and fighters are in Iran. They are helping demilitarize US and Nato. So Russia publicly isn’t fighting for Iran, but offering deep defensive and offensive support.
 
Posted by: unimperator | Mar 2 2026 12:40 utc | 87

 
I hope that is true, and I am actually willing to believe it. The Russian military does share a genuine friendship with the IRGC, from the Syrian war days. 
 
But the Russian military is a very different thing from the Kremlin. 
 
I can easily see the Russian military supporting Iran to an extent, but then getting vetoed on certain things from the very top. 
 
I can also imagine this being some kind of incredibly elaborate maskirovka, in which Putin is doing his Velcy Putriguez act and will soon flip the table entirely, Russian will join the war, and smash NATO in Europe to pieces. I can *imagine* that. But I see no evidence for it. The evidence in front of our eyes is that Putin is not acting like Velcy Putriguez, but is Velcy Putriguez. And the Solovyov panelists being so gloomy about the situation supports that version of events, not the elaborate deception hopium hypothesis.

Posted by: GM | Mar 2 2026 12:46 utc | 87

P.S. Regarding sources:
 

Per Stanislav Krapivnik and Mike Mihajlovic (both real experts on military matters)

 
You need to be more careful when evaluating them.
 
Krapvinki is a somewhat reliable source on only one thing — the mood in the trenches. Because he goes to the front lines and talks with low-level officers there. But he doesn’t know anything really otherwise. Which, if you have watched him sufficiently many times while you yourself knowing certain things, you would have caught on quickly. He messed up simple facts all the time, including about various weapon systems, and it has become clear by now he knows nothing about aviation and air defense, and he also does not have privileged secret access to the Russian MoD and what kinds of stuff it is producing and moving around. He is just an RT loudmouth propagandist.
 
Mike Mihajlovic is a real technical expert. But he is Serbian. Not Russian. He doesn’t have privileged direct access to Russian MoD secrets either. Such as what has been sent to Iran. He is just speculating. Just as me and you, who have practially the same open source access to info as him.
 
Keep that in mind.
 
Also, Krapivnik will criticize the Kremlin more than most dare do so in Russia, but he has been already purged from several channels because of it. And he keeps it within limits.
 
Real criticism inside Russia fires directly at the top. And when you do that, you end up like Strelkov. In jail…

Posted by: GM | Mar 2 2026 12:52 utc | 89

Ho ho ho
Gas prices up 45%this Monday morning…well done EU letting USA and Uk plus others blow up Nordstream and not investigating properly. Your economies are now heading to zilch.

Posted by: Jo | Mar 2 2026 13:27 utc | 91

Posted by: GM | Mar 2 2026 12:34 utc | 85
 
Ever considered that the reason the reactions you seek are not occuring, is because they know better than you what is actually being done covertly.
 
The statements you reference have nothing do with the situation in the Middle East, it is possible to follow two tracks and have more than one thought at a time – though apparently not for the simplistic West.
 
Just my €0.02…

Posted by: Richard Head | Mar 2 2026 13:41 utc | 93

Oil up 13%

Posted by: Jo | Mar 2 2026 14:05 utc | 95

I wrote this on the Khamenei thread: 
“The villains and monsters who ordered their [Khamenei and his family] deaths will go down in history as the monsters of this age.  They gloat over an honorable man’s death, but they have ignorantly opened a door.  For hundreds of years, the so called civilized West has taught us that you honor diplomats and national leaders.  This has given the monsters of this age a sense of invulnerability.  They have lost that and they don’t even know it.  Killing kings, prime ministers, presidents, and  diplomats is now on the table.  American diplomats walking from their hotel to their cars in Geneva are now legitimate targets.  Gatherings of national leaders at G7 summits, and NATO conferences are now targets.  The monsters of this age, in their arrogant stupidity, have opened a door and they don’t even know it.”
 
DunGroanin posted this above:  “Killing Khamenei and his family establishes a de facto reality: leaders are legitimate targets. . . . Why They [the people who ordered Khamenei and his family’s deaths] Don’t See It . . .   It’s environmental blindness. Decades inside a protective cocoon create a reality where invincibility is a given.”
 
I know this.  Glebsmith, whom DunGroanin linked to, knows this.  DunGroanin knows it.  Thousands, and likely tens or hundreds of thousands of historians, political analysts, military planners all know it as well.   How do the so-called decision makers who ordered the hit not realize the implications?   What’s next?  What taboo, what red line will go by the wayside?  Nuclear weapons?  I wouldn’t be surprised.
 
What’s the relevance for the Ukraine war?
 
The Russians have stated numerous times they are fighting international Satanism.  I think most people here understand they are talking about the global elite – putative civilians.  The hit on Khamenei, a civilian of very high status, opens the door to hits on wealthy European and U.S. families.  These families have generational wealth in the trillions of dollars.  That makes them dangerous opponents.  Up to now, they have hidden behind countries.  Those countries have paid the price, the Satanic families have not.  I don’t think things will happen quickly, but I won’t be surprised if certain people, people with large investments in Ukraine, begin to die mysteriously.  That’s when we will see just how much power those people have over the U.S. and EU.  I think they have enough power to order the use of nuclear weapons.  I also think they still have a feeling of invulnerability as non-combatants.  I truly believe they think they can order the UK, France, or the U.S. to hit the Russians with a tactical nuke and somehow it won’t blow back on them.   That mindset is so last week.  Now?  All bets are off.  I suspect, but I’m not sure, the Russians will have no problem hitting their luxury bunkers regardless of location.  That’s when things will get very interesting.
 
 
 
 
 

Posted by: Nobody Special | Mar 2 2026 15:16 utc | 97

GM is AI.  I think its human programmers are tweaking GM to make it appear a little more human, but the arguments are still as stupid as ever.
 
Why argue with a machine?  Mock it.  It’s more fun.

Posted by: Nobody Special | Mar 2 2026 15:18 utc | 99