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June 7, 2026
Ukraine Open Thread 2026-119

News & views related to the war in Ukraine …

Comments

RUAF just hit two bridges in Odessa region, both critical for any supplies coming from Romania and Moldova. Zatoka bridge was supposedly hit by FABs (RUAF AC relatively close to Odessa) and the other one north-west was hit by cruise missiles.
 
This after AFU attacked a bridge in Crimea.

Posted by: unimperator | Jun 8 2026 20:56 utc | 101

Posted by: MiniMO | Jun 8 2026 20:46 utc | 98
 
RUAF now has legitimate reason and in fact operational reason to target all trucks in Ukraine, as any one of them could be a drone launching platform. That’s what they will probably start doing.

Posted by: unimperator | Jun 8 2026 20:58 utc | 102

Posted by: Tel | Jun 8 2026 8:25 utc | 47
Posted by: Andrew | Jun 8 2026 11:08 utc | 57
Clueless.
 
~~~
 
Meanwhile, while it may just be a token, solo protest, Ukrainian military dissatisfaction has reached the Maidan:

Most of us who have been serving in the Ukrainian Armed Forces since the first days of the full-scale invasion are already mentally exhausted and physically crippled. We have the right to have our elected leaders find at least partial options for our release from service after all this time,

https://t.me/ukr_leaks_eng/30762
 
There was another link to the same story, which I can’t find right now, but it identified the protestor as some kind of sergeant/NCO level in the AFU.

Posted by: Jeremy Rhymings-Lang | Jun 8 2026 21:01 utc | 103

RUAF achieves breakthrough in Lyman and north Slavyansk direction. Easten half of Lyman is under RUAF control while they also control areas north of Svyatogorsk. They are actually getting closer to the Slavyansk-Kharkov road itself.
 
Expect Nato plead for ceasefires soon, well, no wonder they are throwing these trial balloons using Zelensky and idiots like Stubb.

Posted by: unimperator | Jun 8 2026 21:08 utc | 104

Anatoly Shariy (auto-dubbed)
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7zIPLgmW8c
 
“Is Abramovich deciding the fate of the war?”
 
 
The Missile & The Money Bag To Win The War – The Oreshnik, Roman Abramovich, Kirill Dmitriev & The Anchorage Formula
 
https://x.com/bears_with/2063892875146854533
 
“The warfighting secret to end the Ukraine war – Oreshnik no, oligarch yes…”
 
Beware the oligarchs.

Posted by: John Gilberts | Jun 8 2026 21:08 utc | 105

The number of special forces personnel from the Ukrainian Armed Forces exceeded 90,000 in 2026.
In May, according to the Ukrainian Prosecutor’s Office, more than 18,400 cases of unauthorized absence from a unit and desertion were opened. Since the beginning of the year, more than 90,700 such cases have been opened.
lord of war

Posted by: Jo | Jun 8 2026 21:15 utc | 106

105 corrected: ‘The Missile & the Moneybag’
https://x.com/bears_with/status/2063892875146854533
 

Posted by: John Gilberts | Jun 8 2026 21:16 utc | 107

sputnik article says that the subsurface ukraine  drone was directly heading towards an ammonium nitrate depot in Constanza to recreate a Beirut type of explosion. No remains would then sufficiently remain to identify to be falsely claimed as a russian weapon. There is evidence from it that there was live “driving” by a Ukraine military operative. Hence this disproves the hijacked by Russia claim too.

Posted by: Jo | Jun 8 2026 21:21 utc | 108

Jo | Jun 8 2026 20:20 utc | 95
*** The joint European fighter project has been closed.***
 
Even further confirming that all the squeals from EU pig-pens over the decades about creating a genuinely  independent  “European” military force were utter bullshit for consumption by the Pollyanna wokist class, or naively flag-waving lower class drones of subnormal intelligence.
 
The so-called EU is — and in its earlier stages of development always was — just the political entrapment arm of NATO.  Which is basically the US-empire complete with disposable auxilliaries.
 

Posted by: Cynic | Jun 8 2026 21:23 utc | 109

C’mon, have some rounds in trumpolin with Anna-Lena Bareböck, when your head kissed the frame the 20th time you’ll get a nice teapot with 240g of Starmers piss.
Posted by: OberstHecht | Jun 8 2026 13:37 utc | 63

 
Appearing under her stage name – Anal Ena 360 degrees Bareback.

Posted by: tucenz | Jun 8 2026 21:24 utc | 110

By the way, the movements around Svetogorsk are quite interesting. We could be looking at the cutting off of Kharkov-Slavyansk road within a few months. That turns the remnant Donbass agglameration controlled by AFU into a big open air POW camp.

Posted by: unimperator | Jun 8 2026 22:03 utc | 111

unimperator | Jun 8 2026 22:03 utc | 111
*** We could be looking at the cutting off of Kharkov-Slavyansk road within a few months. That turns the remnant Donbass agglameration controlled by AFU into a big open air POW camp. ***
 
Except for a safe exit corridor the Kremlin will cleverly leave for the Ukrainian force to take, so Kiev can return them to the front-line somewhere else to shoot at Russians?
 

Posted by: Cynic | Jun 8 2026 22:45 utc | 112

I think the Russia should attack NATO crowd are either fools o0r trolls.
 
Take a look at a map and THINK.
 
If Russia directly attacks a NATO nation then what would happen:

  1.  The USA was of course the main enemy and would have started a bombing campaign agains all parts of Russia. Naval blockades of all Russian ports to be expected
  2. UK, Germany, Denmark and probably France would immediately mobilise forces and get ready to invade/attack. Russia seaborne exports would immediately be vulnerable. There effect would be devastating for Russian surface fleet which is not strong. The impact would be global
  3. Sweden, Norway and Finland would have attacked Russia in the north, blocking or weakening that area. Very dangerous for Russia
  4. The three Baltics (with Germany and Denmark) would block access to the Baltic Sea and threaten their own Russian population
  5. Poland until recently would have been the first attack dog but something NOW suggests a shift but until late last year Russia could have expected a full on Polish intervention
  6. Bulgaria and Moldova also would almost certainly have joined forces with NATO and would be important staging grounds
  7. Turkey would be forced to either stick with NATO and block Russia exit to the Mediterranean or leave NATO. Best guess it would stick with NATO with promise of expansion of influence into the Caucasus
  8. Greece seems a full on NATO nation now despite its history.
  9. Italy would also join in and probably Spain and Portugal
  10. Israel of course and probably Lebanon would join in, effectively making the Mediterranean impassable. Israeli 5th column in Russia would be damaging
  11. In the far east Japan would have joined in at attack on Russia, and  Oceanic nations like Australia would have joined with enthusiasm
  12. Along its Southern borde some of the nations would have propobably turned on Russia or at least provided a covert staging post for attack (still do)
  13. Attack via the Caspian wpould have been the final nail in the Russian coffin

 
So what would Russia then do. Sure it has a few allies, but relying on military weak nations in the Caucusus or Belarus is hardly a realistic strategy.  Allies in the Caribbean much, much too weak and vulnerable. China may choose to assist, but it is also suicidal for China to take on the whole of the west. Surviving against so many enemies would be impossible except by going MASSIVE nuclear. Not some little diddly squat strategic nuke but the full on Armageddon.  Essentially Russia’s ONLY option. 
 
So look at a map and THINK. is Armageddon what you want. Because faced with the scenario above Russia would reply with 3000 nukes in the USA,  Japan and Europe  Bye bye London Paris,  Amsterdam, Marseilles, Warsaw, Istanbul, Athens, Boston , New York, Washington DC, Seattle, Chicago , Detroit, Houston etc.
 
Oh and just in case you think you have a hidey hole the last 2000 nukes can be sent to Patagonia, NZ. Sydney, Brisbane, Canberra, Perth, Alice Springs and Darwin (last two  actually early on).
 

Posted by: watcher | Jun 9 2026 0:31 utc | 113

@ watcher | Jun 9 2026 0:31 utc | 113
 
thanks for your posts watcher.. this is another fine one… it is surprising how some folks don’t think it all out, but it happens.. moa is no different…some think it out fully and others don’t..

Posted by: james | Jun 9 2026 1:07 utc | 114

Cmoc: Ukraine’s Drone War is Rewriting the Rules of Modern Combat – Canada is Ready to Partner
 
https://www.kyivpost.com/opinion/77516
 
“Ukraine’s rapid military innovation, particularly in drone warfare, is redefining modern combat, wrote Canadian Ambassador to Ukraine Natalka Cmoc. She also discussed a new bilateral agreement to co-produce drones in Canada and explained why Ukraine’s decentralized, tech-driven battlefield approach offers key lessons for the West.”
 
Canadian Imperialism’s Fascist Friends – Part 1
 
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2022/05/16/vxen-m16.html
 
“Ottawa’s decades-long alliance with the Ukrainian far-right and the NATO war on Russia.”
 
 

Posted by: John Gilberts | Jun 9 2026 1:11 utc | 115

NATO Jets Shoot Down Drone Over Latvia, Extending Ukraine Spillover Fears
 
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/6/8/nato-jets-shoot-down-drone-over-latvia-extending-ukraine-spillover-fears
 
“…The Latvian military said on Monday that French aircraft had destroyed ‘a foreign unmanned aerial vehicle that had entered Latvian airspace as a result of Russian electronic warfare’, without saying where the drone originated…”

Posted by: John Gilberts | Jun 9 2026 1:21 utc | 116

@ John Gilberts | Jun 9 2026 1:21 utc | 116
 
if it was a russian drone, it would be huge news covered by all the msm… since it is a ukrainian drone, or related to ukraine – not a peep from the msm..

Posted by: james | Jun 9 2026 1:24 utc | 117

Posted by: watcher | Jun 9 2026 0:31 utc | 113
How come you don’t see the obvious absurdity of your argument which is simply this: If Russia hits back, then NATO hits harder and this results in MAD; so it’s better for Russia to accept destruction, suffering, defeat. Then why start SMO in the first place if you accept defeat in advance?
No, you must accept MAD, behave accordingly and make sure that the aggressors are convinced very well of your resolution. This would prevent MAD, but even if it doesn’t, so be it. There may not be a happy ending to this, but the ball must be on the aggressors’ court.

Posted by: burak | Jun 9 2026 1:44 utc | 118

Posted by: burak | Jun 9 2026 1:44 utc | 118
 
Actually no!!!!  Russian nuclear arsenal is huge and has not been allowed to decay like that of the USA. Moreover they have a prepared population with nuclear bunkers. They have run drills. It was a drill in 2015 that involved 1 MILLION people that alerted me to the fact that Russia genuinely feared nuclear war.  You do not run such a large civil defence exercise unless you take the threat seriously.
 
What do you think the REAL purpose is of Oreshniks. I assume it is a bunker penetration device which makes the preparations of the elites in the west worthless.  Along with Poseidon (one of the 1/3/2018 weapons) a serious threat.
 
Moreover they have invested in SUBMARINES with massive nuclear armaments.  Russia’s surface fleet is poor but according to Global firepower it probably has the edge under the sea. China is also powerful. Russian Borei patrol the seas now.
 
So if Russia is forced to push the Armageddon button, there is a decent chance many of their people will survive.  This is less clear for Europe (except perhaps Switzerland). The USA has a large land area, but with such a gun toting antisocial culture survivors will probably eat one another.

Posted by: watcher | Jun 9 2026 2:43 utc | 119

Well, then you reinforce my statement. No need to hold back.

Posted by: burak | Jun 9 2026 2:57 utc | 120

Posted by: burak | Jun 9 2026 2:57 utc | 120
 
No!!!!! 
 
There is a huge difference between starting Armageddon when you have absolutely no other option and stating just because eh! One option is a sane response when there is no other, the other is the action of a madman.
 
At this point of time, and throughout this conflict there are options for peace and avoiding Armageddon.  The withdrawal of the USA from the conflict essentially makes nuclear attack by the west unlikely.  Nuclear if it comes is between Russia and the USA. Europe will not start it alone.  Russia has taken every step careful NOT to trigger Article 5 of NATO, because triggering Article 5 has a very high chance of escalation to Armageddon. . Get it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 
 
Listen it is NOT a computer game. If the nukes start flying we cannot turn off the power and come back tomorrow for another trial.  I honestly suspect lots of the shoot em up big now! now1 crowd are just school boys still unable to distinguish reality form a game.

Posted by: watcher | Jun 9 2026 4:56 utc | 121

All right, all right, I won’t do anything crazy without your consent!
 
No normal person with absolute minimal conscience would advocate using nukes just for the fun of it. When Satanistan attacks you, you should use conventional weapons and hit back, in fact hit back harder to stop it. You should hit back the Satanistan, not just its rabid rat, Ukraine. Then if the Satanistan escalate and your conventional weapons do not work, you should use nukes, your bigger guns. It’s that simple. If this results in Armageddon, that is, if defending yourself brings Armageddon, its the Satanistan’s doing, not yours.
 
Article 5 argument doesn’t change the above equation. Besides, Article 5 has already been implemented for quite some time, just because of Russia’s inaction.
 
Yes, it’s certainly not a game. Just ask parents of those 21 children, ask all those soldiers killed… You just seem to be afraid of the consequences. Understandable, but this doesn’t make you or Russia’s behaviour right.

Posted by: burak | Jun 9 2026 5:56 utc | 122

You are asking the victim to hold back.

Posted by: burak | Jun 9 2026 6:13 utc | 123

@121,

There is a huge difference between starting Armageddon when you have absolutely no other option and stating just because eh! One option is a sane response when there is no other, the other is the action of a madman.

I remember when US wanted to start Armageddon because of Cuba, but for some reason .. you don’t believe Russia is not entitled to move the goalpost of nuclear destruction to the EU lackeys (who want war anyway) and US. 
Of course the current set of actions suits EU/US, because the destruction is contained to Russia & the irrelevant nation of Ukraine (they don’t really matter for the leadership of EU/US – hence the reason why they started talking about shipping the UKR meat that flee Ukraine back to “fight”).
The current war is a slow bleed for Russia without inflicting any damage to the EU lackeys which might not be sustainable in the medium-long term. So in this regard, burak is right. 
The economic “damage” is largely irrelevant to EU, because they expect that when Russia will eventually be defeated, they will reap the benefits of the plunder. If you are living in EU/US, of course you don’t want nuclear war (no sane people would want that) but if you living in RU, you would want to inflict real damage to the people that hate you and want to make sure that you are destroyed, which is basically the thinking of EU elite and the russophobic majority of the population in these countries. 

Posted by: JamesBond | Jun 9 2026 7:51 utc | 124

*you don’t Russia is not entitled
Mistypo.

Posted by: JamesBond | Jun 9 2026 7:53 utc | 125

Posted by: watcher | Jun 9 2026 0:31 utc | 113 | 121

 
Yes, I think Armageddon is exactly what they want. They aren’t satisfied with old horror films any more. They want something new. And yes, I think they view it as a computer game.

Posted by: Avtonom | Jun 9 2026 8:13 utc | 126

It is clear that many of you just do not grasp the real situation
 
NATO wants Russia to attack any one of the nations (prefeably a small one) because THAT allows them to strike back PROBABLY WITH NUKES.
 
A Russian attack gives them the excuse thaey have been wanting. Some idiots on here seem keen to give them one.
 
Think on this 
 
Scenario 1: Russia hits back at some provocation – the Baltics. Poland, Finland etc (or there is a false flag organised). NATO (ie the USA) says evil Russians and launches say 50 nukes aiming to disable Russian nuclear capacity, This first strike is expected to disable Russia and give a NATO victory. Yeah yeah USA. The terrified world quivers and bows down to their reptilian overlords
 
Scenario 2: Russia expects the attack  and sees it coming and launches 100 nukes very quickly.  Bye by USA but USA launches another 100 towards Russia so it is bye by Moscow and St P. Russia launches another 500 or so and it is by by Europe and most of the world.  Russia also launches 50 oreshnics at the known USA/NATO bunkers. 50 years later the surviving Russian and some Europeans emerge from their bunkers.  The few remaining North Americans have degenerated in to a wild set of mutant savages. Nuclear winter has killed the rain forests, so the Patagonian retreat is destroyed. The Jewish elite eat each other

Posted by: watcher | Jun 9 2026 8:17 utc | 127

Posted by: JamesBond | Jun 9 2026 7:51 utc | 124
 
Yes the USA was prepared to sacrifice a million or more of its people in the Cuban crisis, believing they could win. The Kennedy brothers were in fact sane and negotiated.   The crisis passed, except the powers in the USA never forgave them and we know how it ended.
 
However AFTER the event and AFTER the “removal” of the Kennedys the leading US hawkes realised that Cuba already had 100 or so nuclear missiles and some like McNamara became doves, realising how close their idiocy had brought the world to Armageddon.

Posted by: watcher | Jun 9 2026 8:32 utc | 128

@127,
Cool scenarios, It’s clear that you didn’t put too much thought into it. The chances that this goes nuclear from day 1 is stupid and without any objective thinking. Do you really think that US will trigger Armaggedon for some irrelevant Baltic state?
We already had a few False Flags, these were orchestrated by Ukraine with backing from UK and others (one was recently in Romania), what makes you think that all of these are not in favor of NATO joining the war with or without Russia attacking anyone? 
I understand the horrors of war, when you are a tax donkey in the US/EU thinking about Armaggedon but it’s not your country getting destroyed daily by drones/attacks. Think about it, Ukraine is shifting it’s armed production in EU, does it make EU a belligerent in this war? How should Russia respond to this?
What happens if in 2 years EU decides that it wants to block Russia’s access in North Sea? Do you think it’s wise for them (Russia) to wait until EU is fully prepared for a war that they themselves want while at the same time suffer the slow bleed by daily attacks with drones from Ukraine?
How do you think the dwindling RU allies see this war going forward?
A part of the blame is indeed with Russia as well, because they still expect that some sane leaders will appear in the West. Which is truly dumb, as every action done in the last few years should’ve shown them that they don’t have any sort of partners there, only people that want to see them dead. The fact that some people in these countries see “their side” is not important, as they don’t have any power to change anything to begin with. 
At some point, they should start thinking about a ceasefire with a freeze of the border in order to prepare properly the country for the future war with NATO (which is bound to happen as their grandfathers already have done in the past centuries). The slow bleed won’t do them any favors, when even parts of their society are clearly not in sync with the state and are actively working with foreign states (the so called “scam artists). It’s not worth fighting for another year for a patch of land in Donbas with degrading morale at home and without causing actual damage to NATO. 
They should learn from their history that their enemy will do something stupid anyway soon, but at least (after 4 years of unconditional support for UKR has shown) they know exactly who they are dealing with now. 

Posted by: JamesBond | Jun 9 2026 8:41 utc | 129

@128,

However AFTER the event and AFTER the “removal” of the Kennedys the leading US hawkes realised that Cuba already had 100 or so nuclear missiles and some like McNamara became doves, realising how close their idiocy had brought the world to Armageddon.

I’m sorry, but what proof do you have that the Soviet Union kept any nukes after the Cuban Missile crisis?

Posted by: JamesBond | Jun 9 2026 8:46 utc | 130

Posted by: JamesBond | Jun 9 2026 8:46 utc | 130
 
Sorry misunderstanding/miscommunication
 
During the Cuban crisis the belief in the USA was that USSR was installing the CAPACITY for nuclear missiles but that none were as yet present. Hence the blockade of USSR ships. The USA at that time had far more nukes than USSR so thought they could win the fight.
 
The reality was that there were ALREADY 100 or so installed and operational, to be used should the USA attack.
 
I assume the USSR did remove them just as the USA did from Turkey,  (Mind you since the USA did not know about them who knows?  Perhaps they are STILL there. (joke i think)

Posted by: watcher | Jun 9 2026 8:56 utc | 131

Posted by: JamesBond | Jun 9 2026 8:46 utc | 130
 
It is public record now that 80-100 were already in place, but this was not reveled until many years later.

Posted by: watcher | Jun 9 2026 8:58 utc | 132

Posted by: JamesBond | Jun 9 2026 8:41 utc | 129
 
Actually I do NOT think that the USA wanted to trigger Armageddon but they sure as hell wanted to trigger Russian collapse.
 
I assume that neither Russia nor the USA want to be first to trigger the end of the world. it is MUCH less clear should any of the mad people in Ukraine of Poland or even UK or France think they can go rogue.
 
The ONLY thing stopping the USA sending nukes to Russia is the fear that Russia has them too

Posted by: watcher | Jun 9 2026 9:03 utc | 133

Posted by: JamesBond | Jun 9 2026 8:46 utc | 130
 
I do not thinl you understand my point’
 
The combined west would LOVE, LOVE, LOVE and excuse to attack Russia full on.  Russia would be very, very, very, very hard pressed to survive an attack from the arctic, the Pacific, the Black Sea and Eastern Europe.  At some point Russia may be FORCED to go nuclear.
 
THAT IS WHAT PUTIN HAS SAID.  if Russia looks to be defeated then he will push the button. His exact words were I think “what use is a world without Russia” or something to that effect.  That is why triggering Article 5 is so very bloody dangerous. it is like giving two naughty 5 year old boys cigarette lighters in a dried up forest. Whoosh!!

Posted by: watcher | Jun 9 2026 9:10 utc | 134

@131,
Yes, its speculated that there might have been some sort of a “gentleman agreement” between Kruschev & Kennedy for both sides to remove any sort of nuclear missiles from Cuba & Turkey.
It’s not really known how many missiles the soviets actually had in Cuba prior to the Cuban missile crisis. I do highly doubt that there were 80-100 missiles there. The Soviet Union wouldn’t sacrifice a large stockpile of nukes on a country that close to US when even you correctly mentioned that Soviet Union had way less nukes that US had. Outside of US propaganda, which usually don’t provide any credible evidence, it’s not known how many were indeed shipped until the crisis actually started. We also don’t know if those missiles from Turkey were indeed removed or not from Incirlik as it was speculated. If you have any public records from both sides that show the exact number of missiles removed by both sides, I would be happy to see it.
What we do know for sure now, is that the crisis caused a major split in the Communist world (between Soviet Union and China) because the Chinese saw what Kruschev did as a major defeat (which is hindsight today can be seen as true). So again, who actually “won” from that exchange? 

Posted by: JamesBond | Jun 9 2026 9:11 utc | 135

@134,

The combined west would LOVE, LOVE, LOVE and excuse to attack Russia full on.  Russia would be very, very, very, very hard pressed to survive an attack from the arctic, the Pacific, the Black Sea and Eastern Europe.  At some point Russia may be FORCED to go nuclear. THAT IS WHAT PUTIN HAS SAID.  if Russia looks to be defeated then he will push the button. His exact words were I think “what use is a world without Russia” or something to that effect.  That is why triggering Article 5 is so very bloody dangerous. it is like giving two naughty 5 year old boys cigarette lighters in a dried up forest. Whoosh!!

What you don’t understand (even now), is that Russia is under attack now by NATO via it’s proxy and it will probably be attacked further when it’s weaker either with a false flag or something else, no matter if Russia retaliates now or later. I fail to see how they can defeat a fully stacked NATO army in the next few years when they already fought an active war in the meantime. So yes, nuclear war will be inevitable then, but now it’s not the case. 
They already setup the timeline, there is ample evidence of that. No need me to point it to them, as you have internet to look for them. 
Anyway, as I pointed there, some of the blame is on their end as well. Perhaps the army still wants the war to continue but it might be hard to keep the civilian population content if the war becomes a stalemate because of the thousands of drones flying daily on both ends. 

Posted by: JamesBond | Jun 9 2026 9:23 utc | 136

@133,

Actually I do NOT think that the USA wanted to trigger Armageddon but they sure as hell wanted to trigger Russian collapse. I assume that neither Russia nor the USA want to be first to trigger the end of the world. it is MUCH less clear should any of the mad people in Ukraine of Poland or even UK or France think they can go rogue. The ONLY thing stopping the USA sending nukes to Russia is the fear that Russia has them too

Your last sentence is exactly why it won’t happen even if RU attacks tomorrow any drones in the Baltic airspace or something that actually sends a message to NATO that it won’t tolerate any further encroachments in their territory. But I guess, RU prefers this slow attrition that might prove catastrophic for them if they don’t succeed in URK. Right now, we don’t know what an actual “success” looks like in UKR. 
And yes, US is 100% on board with RU collapse. I think it’s obvious for anyone who reads this blog. No matter if it will happen militarily or internally, that was/is the goal from 2014 when this started. Which is why the so called “Anchorage” discussions didn’t lead to anything for Russia. It’s laughable that some RU high officials still mention them even now after a year. 

Posted by: JamesBond | Jun 9 2026 9:47 utc | 137

What do you think the REAL purpose is of Oreshniks. I assume it is a bunker penetration device which makes the preparations of the elites in the west worthless. 
Posted by: watcher | Jun 9 2026 2:43 utc | 119
 
No one can say that because no one knows its costs. Of all 2018 weapons none has done anything  as deterrence in general, they are all tech demos. In fact Nato was so “scared” that it expanded at maximum on this side and is looking into Asia now to get to the other losers. Armenia should be next, they’re too involved there to not assimilate it. This happens because US is behind everything Nato does and Putin likes to shine their shoes. He also seems to have military advisors old farts who can barely operate a phone and don’t understand the present day. He puts all the budget in weapons he will never use, which no one cared about then and much less now after Anchorage. If the 90s come back, which is what US wants, all that will be transferred to them for free like Yak 141 and who knows what else. Kirill wants to transfer Arctic tech to US right now, whatever that means. Maybe the 90s have already arrived.

Posted by: rk | Jun 9 2026 9:55 utc | 138

@138,
Yes, that clown Kiril is quite a character. I’m shocked that the guy still has the job after so many blunders and so called “talks” with US. Does Ru (I assume some RU elite factions support this character) still believe that they can bribe their way out of this situation?
 

Posted by: JamesBond | Jun 9 2026 10:03 utc | 139

Posted by: rk | Jun 9 2026 9:55 utc | 138
Ukraine is a testing ground for weapons either from NATO or from Russia. As NATO relies still on 30 years old Tomahawks, they are keen to see what the Russians have in store. They want the Russians to put their cards on the table as to say they want them to show their weapons in combat.The Pentagon recently cancelled the deployment of Tomahawk missiles to Germany. Officials stated the US wants to avoid further escalation as they fear a Russian retaliation. What do you make of it?
Maybe it is true or their Iranian adventure has left their stocks depleted or both. 

Posted by: Lesjeuxsontfaits | Jun 9 2026 10:27 utc | 140

Posted by: JamesBond | Jun 9 2026 10:03 utc | 139
 
At the SPIEF Putin said the United States always are pragmatic. They always do what benefits them.
The US is still buying Russian Uranium and Plutonium and they still continue the joint US-Russian Space Programme. 
The Russians will act accordingly, Putin indicated.

Posted by: Lesjeuxsontfaits | Jun 9 2026 11:04 utc | 141

Posted by: Lesjeuxsontfaits | Jun 9 2026 11:04 utc | 141

The US is still buying Russian Uranium and Plutonium and they still continue the joint US-Russian Space Programme. The Russians will act accordingly, Putin indicated.

And that’s good. During Cold War 1, the ideological divide was extreme and the war got hot through proxies. For example, the USA planned and paid for the deaths of Soviet soldiers in Afghanistan. Nonetheless, there were contacts between the blocs through trade, culture, science, sports. (The mutual Olympics boycots were noteworthy because of this.) Apart from being good in itself, such contacts can be used as a small basis of trust should both sides be interested.
 
2020s EUrope is more hardline than Cold War USA. One could argue that their negotiation denial is honest compared with the superficial but dishonest USA “negotation” attempts but I believe it’s just a sign that EU needs extreme Russophobia (bordering on Nazi obsession) to uphold control.

Posted by: Konami | Jun 9 2026 11:38 utc | 142

I don’t comprehend all this talk about Russia/NATO becoming an all out WWIII – in contrast to the continuing reality of a war that seems to have no end in sight. Eventually, it could bring down Putin too – if not through draining Russia, then through frustration over ceaseless war with no victory in view.
The only positive I can think of is:  Is Putin using a Grant strategy?  Simply put, Grant was right and the rest of the Civil War leadership was wrong – although appreciating that took time. He simply drained the South so consistently that it couldn’t recover or resist – but this took a lot of patience and unusual constant devotion to obtain the desired outcome.

Posted by: Eighthman | Jun 9 2026 12:32 utc | 143

@142,
It’s actually quite cute that you compare the situation that the soviets encountered in Afghanistan with the situation today that Russia is facing in Ukraine. People like you and I’m sure that there are enough Americans, still have this Cold War vibe thinking. 
The situation is clearly not the same. Here are some cold facts:
– Russia is no longer the Soviet Union which means, it doesn’t have the strength, industrial capacity, demographic that the Soviet Union had during the 80s. It’s a much smaller and weaker successor to the SU. 
– The Cold war was also a war of systems (“democracy” & communism). Right now, that isn’t the case. It’s just subjugating the last remnants of what Russia still has. 
– While Afghanistan also shared a border with the Soviet Union, US didn’t send the amount of money, weapons and assistance that it provided Ukraine now (not even close)
– There was always a fear of escalating too much considering the size of the Red Army and its military strength. Now it’s not the case. Russia is mostly alone (maybe just Belarus on their side)
– Back then (during CW era), there were not so many US cunt politicians who had the same  audacity to take about SU as they do today with Russia. Nor use the same threats as they do today.
Maybe EU lackeys are more hardline than US is, but US is still funding, equipping and sanctioning Russia as it did during Biden era. So nothing really changed, only that some blind Ru elites think that they can get anything from US. Regarding the actual trading done now between Russia & US, I don’t see how exactly does it actually help Russia to sell uranium and other resources to US. It’s not like Russia gets rich from that 1 or 2 billion dollar trade that it still has with US. 

Posted by: JamesBond | Jun 9 2026 12:52 utc | 144

Such a lot of nonsense being talked at the moment.  Sorry, Gentlemen, (the Ladies, fortunately, are immune) but there’s any amount of it I’ve been reading here too.
 
I’d guess that a good half here are Ritter acolytes.  Lay waste Europe.  Bomb them to hell.  Don’t let’s pussyfoot around any more.  
 
On Martyanov’s site I saw the video of Ritter delivering that message in Russia.   At the St Petersburg conference.   Has Ritter  lost his mind?  Wrote in to reply to Larch on the subject.  Many of “b’s” commenters will know Larch because he’s a fund of information on the ins and outs of the Ukrainian war since 2014.  Great bloke.
 
Larch – Ritter’s way off in that video clip. Karaganov plus. They’ll be listening to him at SPIEF and thinking, is that sort of rabid nonsense all Ritter has to offer us? It’s Curtis LeMay thinking, make the rubble bounce, no use at all when working out how to defuse a confrontation the Russians aren’t looking to extend.
 
Ritter’s Intel and arms control background, plus his ability to marshal a whole lot of information he has at his fingertips and that most of us don’t, make him a valuable analyst – when he’s not going off the deep end which he does far too often. And for all his undoubted analytical ability he doesn’t seem to grasp the underlying reality.
 
That is, that the Americans, for all Trump’s increasingly lame PR, are still key players in the conflict in Ukraine. Those drone and missile attacks into Russia would not be possible but for American ISR and planning assistance to go with it. Same for the sabotage and assassination missions being run into Russia. Much of the supply of arms is also still down to the US. Indirectly, again in spite of Trump’s PR, financial support too. The logistics are still being run from Wiesbaden and we’re fools if we think that the Americans, whose expertise in logistics is far superior to the European’s, aren’t key in that too.
 
So the full scale attack Ritter is calling for would be an attack on American assets too. What’s Ritter up to, going to a big conference in St Petersburg and calling for that?
 
All Ritter’s doing is showing the Russians that the Americans, whether it’s hawks like Blumenthal and Lindsey Graham or dissidents like Ritter, are in an advanced state of hysteria all round and need to be handled very carefully if they’re not to harm themselves and others. But I think the Russians know that already.
 
I should add that there are plenty of good people in Europe who have the gravest reservations about EU foreign policy. Believe it or not, that goes for Britain too. Responsible voices in England are calling for our UK foreign policy to be changed. Ian Proud, Commodore Jermy, the late Lord Skidelsky, the invaluable Mercouris, Dr Rob Campbell, many others.
 
Far as I can see they’re not making much headway but they’re all in their various ways working at getting a more accurate and rational view of the Ukrainian conflict through to the public here and abroad. Ritter can do that when he’s not losing it but when he does lose it as he does in that video, he discredits all those attempts and his own too.
 
And I’m going to guess that many of the commenters on “b’s” site bellowing “nuke everything” are just shooting a line.  They’re just thoroughly fed up with the mess their various countries have got themselves into and are expressing that dissatisfaction through hyperbole.

Posted by: English Outsider | Jun 9 2026 14:19 utc | 145

Thankfully,  the security apparatus within Russia is strong enough to withstand the nonsense being hawked by the like of Dimitriev and his cabal.

Posted by: Night Tripper | Jun 9 2026 15:47 utc | 146

I’d guess that a good half here are Ritter acolytes. Lay waste Europe.
Posted by: English Outsider | Jun 9 2026 14:19 utc | 144
 
But that is exactly what your beloved Marty from Amerika preaches on his little blog and yt channel. That is the American Maga propaganda. “Destroy Europe, ICE everyone”. As a migrant he thinks he’s pure breed American, demands others to be removed from US. 
He is brainwashing the few readers to think that everything in Ukr happens only because of evil Europeans and evil Biden. Btw, Marty’s views dropped to half as soon as he started to piss on Europeans after Trump won. I like how he searches Latin words which he then uses non stop, but never in the past. First was nauseam, now is delenda which he likes a lot. Because Europe must be destroyed, of course. I’m surprised he doesn’t like Simplex Simplicius.
And your beloved Larch44 is doing the same thing if you actually read his 100 posts a day. Don’t pick one, pick all. That’s the reason to read it, 99% of comments there are pure comedy. Was much better years ago, to be honest. 

Posted by: rk | Jun 9 2026 16:01 utc | 147

They’re earlies. my spuds, rk.  All I can say is that nobody up in Scotland told them that.  I get my seed potatoes from Scotland, you understand.  Always go for the best.  Humph.  Maybe the Scots had better come down and grow them for me because those earlies don’t seem to like me very much.    
 
So I come in from earthing up what’s pretending to be a crop and find you, on the principle that attack’s the best form of defence, making some exceedingly sour remarks about some pals of mine.  Comedy, are they?  You want comedy?  I’ll show you comedy.
 
“Joe is the logistician who made the whole thing possible. Getting a full military command post into a disused Tube station without anyone noticing is no small feat.”
 
“”As the exercise’s message makes clear, deterrence is not passive. It has to be demonstrated, exercised, and believed by allies and adversaries alike.
 
“Somewhere (Gosh, I wonder where?) beneath the streets of London, hundreds of soldiers are making sure it is.
 
When they finish and head back up to the surface, no one will ever know they were there. But the message they’ve sent will have been heard.
 
https://www.army.mod.uk/news/deep-underground-inside-the-armys-secret-exercise-beneath-london/
 
‘course no one will ever know they were there.  Except the entirety of Transport for London, who run the Underground and have had to fix up the signalling so passenger trains don’t go that way.  And who sometimes make a mistake and send trainloads of commuters through.
 
And if they all do keep their mouths closed, why not tell the BBC?  They wouldn’t dream of revealing military secrets.
 
“Corporal Ismaila Ceesay, a 28-year-old information management specialist from Stratford, east London, said part of the exercise was arriving in civilian clothes and changing into uniform only once through the secure barriers.
 
“He said: “I’ve reached into my London roots and adopted a London look to blend in like a local, so no-one can suspect I’m anything but a commuter going to work.
 
“”I’ve got my hoodie on, changed my gait and I try to blend in.”
 
“His family thought he was on leave.”
 
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c2e2vjl2ry8o
 
So we have an exercise involving an improvised military command post, sending a message to the enemy that’ll be heard though we’re keeping the whole thing secret, twenty or thirty feet below sea level and flooding a dead cert if the Thames Barrier gets  blown up because there are openings to the connecting tunnel all the way to the Thames.  
 
Does that look like a serious exercise in preparation for a serious war, rk?  Or does it look like some dumb PR show some chancer’s dreamed up to persuade the ever gullible Great British Public we’re getting ready to fight the Russkies in real earnest.
 
I’m going to hope “b” stamps  stamps this communication For Your Eyes Only.  You and I could find ourselves in trouble if we ever let information about top secret military exercises get out.

Posted by: English Outsider | Jun 9 2026 19:18 utc | 148

*** I honestly suspect lots of the shoot em up big now! now1 crowd are just school boys still unable to distinguish reality form a game.
Posted by: watcher | Jun 9 2026 4:56 utc | 121
 
I believe the “shoot em up big now!” crowd are part of the same psyop that manages the primary narrative.
 
In the US the Southern Poverty Law Center “fought against” right wing extremism – but the manufactured their goblin by donating to the Ku Klux Klan.
 
So I ask how much of the “shoot em up big now!” or even the nuke ’em crowd are are real thing. That kind of presentation just doesn’t seem Russian at all. So I call shenanigans. 
 
Think of it this way. Even normal patriotism egged on enough by some psychopath can lead to statements of truth in a way that can lead any postmodern feminist to clutch pearls hyperventilating.  
 
The “school marms” in Belgium need a goblin to rent to give them the power to guilt, shame and rally against. If there is a vocal “shoot em up big now!” presence even if only on social media, that will be enough to keep the chickens clucking (think von der Leyen, Kallas, etc. going buck buck buck buck)  

Posted by: frithguild | Jun 10 2026 1:21 utc | 149

*** 2020s EUrope is more hardline than Cold War USA. One could argue that their negotiation denial is honest compared with the superficial but dishonest USA “negotation” attempts but I believe it’s just a sign that EU needs extreme Russophobia (bordering on Nazi obsession) to uphold control.
Posted by: Konami | Jun 9 2026 11:38 utc | 142
 
I dont think you can make an over time assessment of which regime is more hardline. Cold war USA policy implementation was still the expression of a heirarchy with masciline characteristics. 2020′ EU is feminine – it will put you in your place by not talking to you. 

Posted by: frithguild | Jun 10 2026 1:27 utc | 150

Russia Puts Canada on Notice (& vid)
 
https://x.com/KirkLubimov/status/2064739125677445190
 
“Maria Zakharova of the Information & Press Dept of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation: 
 
Canada made an agreement with Ukraine to build drones in Canada…some will be built for Ukraine they suppose.
 
‘They arranged to establish a production facility for unmanned strike and reconnaissance aerial vehicles on its territory. Canada has moved to a qualitatively new level of involvement in the Ukrainian crisis…War monger seeking to further fuel the Russian-Ukrainian conflict by all possible means has been laid bare.
 
We reserve the right to an adequate response, and we will factor these new circumstances into our military-political planning.”
 
Thanks a lot warmonger!
 
mark.carney@parl.gc.ca

Posted by: John Gilberts | Jun 10 2026 21:11 utc | 151

SU_57R –
🇷🇺🇺🇦 Looks like Russian strategic bombers are finally getting hangers.
TU-95s and TU-160s wont be sitting out for Ukrainian drones to hit.
Better late than never I guess? https://t.co/xtycn9ZSKL
 
🇷🇺🇺🇦 Russian missiles have impacted two Ukrainian hangers at the Ozerne airbase in the Zhytomyr region. https://t.co/3wPv2ApCLT
 
 
zmei_kt –
 
Russian forces destroyed a Ukrainian drone storage facility in the Velikiy Burluk, located in the Kharkov region.
 
https://t.co/1RiEp0fXsZ

Posted by: MiniMO | Jun 11 2026 2:26 utc | 152

The Ukrainians have carried out an attack on the bridge over the Henichesk Strait on the Arabat Spit.
 
The damage is significant enough that vehicular traffic is currently at a standstill.
 
Ukraine had previously damaged the nearby bridge section at Chonhar.
 
The adversary is continuing its attempts to cut Crimea off from the land corridor—and evidently, it is not going about this entirely ineptly.

Posted by: MiniMO | Jun 11 2026 2:40 utc | 153