Like if one goes out of its way to say they won’t attack civilian sites does this not incentivise camouflaging all military assets as civilian? 
All you need to do is trace out where resources and people congregate and attack it.  At this point some of everything is military now.
 
Im a totalitarian state fighting a total war, which Ukraine is and is doing, everything is for victory!
 
That is to say, everything is a target because nothing is exclusively civilian, including the civilians.

Posted by: Neofeudalfuture | Jul 2 2026 16:05 utc | 4

I don’t read Ukraine threads or follow Ukraine “News” because it seems, to me, that the misfits in charge are either clinically insane or paid to act that way. 
 
Press-ganging reluctant civilians into frontline combat roles has never produced competent or committed warriors.

Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Jul 2 2026 16:29 utc | 6

I don’t read Ukraine threads or follow Ukraine “News” because it seems, to me, that the misfits in charge are either clinically insane or paid to act that way. 
 
Press-ganging reluctant civilians into frontline combat roles has never produced competent or committed warriors.
 
Posted by: Hoarse whisperer | Jul 2 2026 16:29 utc | 5
That’s what happens when you lose two million soldiers and the paid off regime in charge keeps screaming “attack” to make sure their accounts continually filled with billionaires in Zio Imperialist lucre.  

Posted by: Ahenobarbus | Jul 2 2026 16:33 utc | 8

Posted by: Hoarse whisperer | Jul 2 2026 16:29 utc | 5That’s what happens when you lose two million soldiers and the paid off regime in charge keeps screaming “attack” to make sure their accounts continually filled with billionaires in Zio Imperialist lucre.  
Posted by: Ahenobarbus | Jul 2 2026 16:33 utc | 7
 
 
What kind of committed soldiers will those men make—the ones who had previously sought their fortune in places like Germany?
After all, Zelensky needs cannon fodder, and a Merz (German Chancellor) is all too happy to oblige… regardless of what domestic laws or international law might say about it.Only Hungary, under its new president, immediately took a stand against this: NO refugee fleeing conscription will ever be extradited.Not a word to that effect was heard from any other EU state—not even Spain. From November onwards, the plan is to suspend ALL benefits for military-age men and terminate their residence permits.
 
And the world just watches…
It is cannon fodder that is in short supply, not ammunition…
After all, the show must go on…

Posted by: Genesiss | Jul 2 2026 16:47 utc | 10

Press-ganging reluctant civilians into frontline combat roles has never produced competent or committed warriors.

Its called going through the mill, or more poetically getting reforged in the fire of war.
Baptism of fire?
 
Yeah you put those conscripts in place where its kill or be killed, coupled with an enemy killing their enemies and total propaganda detailing the enemies evils 24/7, and what you get is stone cold killers.  From the survivors anyways.
 
I’ve read that Europe’s endlessly conscripted soldier have fought hundreds of war competently.  Nevermind slave soldiers have been used effectively throughout all of human history.  
 
Never is a dangerous word, it invites negation of your premise.

Posted by: Neofeudalfuture | Jul 2 2026 16:58 utc | 12

Posted by: Doctor Eleven | Jul 2 2026 16:45 utc | 8

You’ve misread my comment.  I was thinking about Russia attacking likely congregation points of enemy personnel, including their homes. 
 
Besides one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter.  I have no interest in climbing on high horses and moralizing.  Im interested in this war for the sake of knowing war better, without of course actually fighting and dying in one lol.

Posted by: Neofeudalfuture | Jul 2 2026 17:03 utc | 14

Doubt very much, that RF deliberately targeted civilian buildings, unless they were SBU quarters.
 
Most of the damage to civilian structures in Kieve is from falling AAD ordinance – either missiles or artillery rounds that miss their target.
 
But you will never see that fact acknowledged in the MSM or western press.

Posted by: tobias cole | Jul 2 2026 18:35 utc | 16

This is the MOST horrifying, and prejudice news for the children (d-day), since the wonderful smo.   Attention word is ‘will be’;
 

🇬🇧 “Masha and the Bear” will be banned – the initiative was put forward in the British Parliament.
 
According to a number of deputies, the project could be “a soft form of Russian propaganda”, which is available to British children through streaming services.
 
The reason was two episodes: in one, Masha appears in uniform reminiscent of Soviet tank, and in the other — in headgear, which the deputies are considered similar to the cap of a Soviet border guard.
 
The main threat to the national security of Great Britain has been detected 😁
 

Posted by: CrazyCanuck | Jul 2 2026 19:12 utc | 18

With that plan, make sure you win. Only losers hang for war crimes.
Posted by: paddy | Jul 2 2026 16:25 utc | 4
 
I posit that many are looking for Justice to be served to the Yanks and the Israelis. Nemesis is patient.

Posted by: original newbie | Jul 2 2026 19:38 utc | 20

Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Jul 2 2026 16:29 utc | 5
What would you do differently if you were Putin?
Use nukes? That’s a serious status quo violation. The Putin’s daughter living in the Netherlands instantly gets handcuffed and raped by the Dutch gestapo.
Bomb bridges? There’s not enough explosives in the rockets Russia uses to blow up a bridge pier. Bridges are made of piers and decks. Piers are massive. You could only blow up a bridge deck. They get repaired in a couple of days.
Blow up the Ukrainian parlament and the President’s office? They’ll do the same. Ukrainians can target things in Moscow now.
I think it’s time for the “gloves off” crowd to realize that the gloves were never on.

Posted by: AI_Avenger | Jul 2 2026 19:41 utc | 22

Duran Chapter 9: Zelensky’s Pantheon of Heroes sparks backlash
 
18:30 – Uh slap in the face from uh from Alinski to Poland. A slap in the face to uh well to Russia to to Israel to to the world. Really Europe doesn’t seem too bothered with it.
 
Europe isn’t bothered by it. Britain isn’t bothered. I haven’t seen a single dis a single discussion of it in the media here in London. Um the United States the countries that I’ve mentioned
 
The countries that I mentioned have officially issued condemnations of of this actually. That’s why I mentioned that I mean officially yes they have posted condemnations of of Elinski’s um glorification of of these uh these individuals like Bandera and and Melnyk and and these guys but they’re going to create a mausoleum Alexander your thoughts
 
Well he doesn’t care he doesn’t care if he gets complaints from Israel and Poland because he knows perfectly well that the countries that really matter for him the United States um Germany, um Britain, France, they’re just going to go on giving him money and supplying him with weapons because that is what they do. They will look the other way and they will pretend that this isn’t happening. Remember, was it a year ago, two years ago that we had a person turn up in the Canadian Parliament and he served in the German military? Exactly. and uh there was you know an outcry about it a brief outcry in it about it in Canada and nobody cared in the end nothing changed Canada continued his policy so Zalinski has completely committed himself to this and it’s it makes political sense for him to do this because it shores up his support with the people that ultimately I think he feels he needs to rely upon within Ukraine itself which is of course the ultraists and the ultra nationalist brigades which ultimately are his guarantee of retaining power. So as I said it makes total sense for him. The fact that the polls don’t like it or at least some polls don’t like it. Uh Navroski the president doesn’t like it. Kashinski the previous prime minister doesn’t like it. Tusk doesn’t seem to be especially bothered. He pretends that he is he is, but he only says that because he has to because many people in Poland are very upset about it. But Zilinski doesn’t care. In fact, the fact that he gets all this criticism from Poland and Israel and of course Russia, of course, he could argue, well, he probably thinks is better for him, better that he seems to be standing up for these people and for the memory of these people within Ukraine than uh and the criticism of it um simply confirms that the ultraist con constituency that he wants to win. 21:37

Posted by: frithguild | Jul 2 2026 20:29 utc | 24

AI_Avenger @21: “Bridges are made of piers and decks. Piers are massive. You could only blow up a bridge deck.”
 
 
Too many otherwise intelligent posters here radically overimagine the power of explosives, and not just conventional ones. Too much Hollywood. Fact is that even tactical nukes won’t destroy bridge piers unless detonated right next to them (ground burst, which is highly frowned upon). A regular air burst might knock the bridge decks off the piers if you’re lucky, but piers will remain. For reference, the bridge in Hiroshima that was used as the targeting landmark for the nuke dropped there (equivalent to a pretty good-sized tactical nuke today) survived intact and was only replace in 1983. Indeed, most of the bridges in Hiroshima survived. The only reason the devastation in Hiroshima was so extensive was because most of the city was constructed of wood (the Japanese loved their wood architecture then and still do now) and so it was easily incinerated. 
 
 
When tactical-sized nukes next are used, and they will be used, by NATO/Empire if not by Russia, I think many people will be perplexed that the destruction doesn’t approach the level they expect, what with no glowing craters or countless square kilometers of flattened city.

Posted by: William Gruff | Jul 2 2026 21:05 utc | 26

Why doesn’t NATO just finish the war already?
 
What is with the “let your opponent punch you until he is tired” strategy NATO is trying?
 
Why is NATO always retreating?   They are far more powerful than Russia, and they have been ramping up weapon production for years.  They must have warehouses full of the newest materiel by now?
 
Why doesn’t NATO just invade Russia?  It’s obvious Putin lets them cross any red line they want, and nobody is afraid of Russia, so why doesn’t NATO do what they need to do to win the war?  There are still bridges to the Donbass, the Kerch bridge is still working, (What NATO genius is holding back on blowing that up?  It’s easy!! It doesn’t even move!)
 
There are still railways, roads, there are even airports INSIDE Donbass NATO hasn’t blown up!
 
There is only one possible explanation, NATO wants to lose, because JEWS.
 
Anyways, check John Helmer if you haven’t heard of him.  Hes almost as smart as me.

Posted by: UWDude | Jul 2 2026 21:20 utc | 28

“Its called going through the mill, or more poetically getting reforged in the fire of war.Baptism of fire?Yeah you put those conscripts in place where its kill or be killed, coupled with an enemy killing their enemies and total propaganda detailing the enemies evils 24/7, and what you get is stone cold killers. From the survivors anyways.I’ve read that Europe’s endlessly conscripted soldier have fought hundreds of war competently. Nevermind slave soldiers have been used effectively throughout all of human history. Never is a dangerous word, it invites negation of your premise.”
Quite true, of the survivors, as you have correctly noted. However, it would not be difficult to make a case – substantiated by evidence – that most do not. Ukraine might end up with battle-hardened soldiers – and it has some who have been on the front lines since Day One – but they are the exception rather than the rule by a wide margin, and the results speak to resort to conscripts in wartime as desperation rather than method.
Among the rare occasions the western media speaks the truth, it tells us this is an entirely new field of warfare, in which you must consider yourself observed by the enemy all the time, whether in darkness or otherwise – no more surreptitious movement when you think nobody can see you, and FPV drones can enter strong points like bunkers through any aperture that their collective rotor disc allows and shred everyone inside. The time to develop the learning curve is terribly short for those who are snatched off the streets and bused to the front, or as close as combat radius permits. Footage of Ukrainian infantrymen in the trenches during the artillery phase – which also, by Ukrainian admission, killed Ukrainian soldiers at a rate of around ten to one – frequently featured Ukrainian soldiers extending just their arm over the lip and ripping off the whole magazine through undirected fire. High volume of fire is only really effective when enemy infantry is close by, and advancing so that they are not under cover. When you are being pounded by artillery, undirected small-arms fire is just making noise to divert yourself.
There are dwindling numbers of trained soldiers to teach conscripts, and the ratio arrayed against the enemy is steadily worsening. Worse still is the long-term forecast for postwar Ukraine; in 2024 the Ukrainian Justice Ministry recorded a total of deaths (all causes) which was nearly triple the number of births.
https://www.europeandatajournalism.eu/cp_data_news/depopulation-and-war-threaten-ukraines-demographics/
The decision whether or not to return after the war, for those who escaped, will be weighed with consideration of what the expected living standard will be in postwar Ukraine against what is available in the country in which they sought refuge. A reminder that something over 2 million Ukrainians fled to Russia. If the western sponsors of war are running out of money for war, what’s in the kitty for rebuilding?

Posted by: Mark | Jul 2 2026 21:28 utc | 30

You could only blow up a bridge deck. They get repaired in a couple of days.

Posted by: AI_Avenger | Jul 2 2026 19:41 utc | 21
 
NATO did it en masse in 1999: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NATO_bombing_of_Novi_Sad
Of course, those were bombs, not drones or missiles. Ideally you’d have a lot of kinetic energy, something heavy and hard that hits the pillar.
 
Here a little summary of one of the bridges:

 
In the course of the month NATO war planes destroyed all the bridges across the Danube. The city was famous for these bridges, linking the left and right banks, formerly called Novi Sad and Petrovaradin respectively, and joining the regions of Backa and Srem.
The railway bridge was completed in 1961. Before it was officially named, the citizens of Novi Sad used to call it Zezelj’s Bridge, after the architect who designed it. Now it has sunk into the river’s sandy bed, as if its sturdy arches had never existed.
The stump of a damaged column protrudes from the water. When built, it was one of the first bridges in the world to be made out of reinforced concrete. But it could not withstand four NATO attacks.

 
Those bridges were gone. I don’t know what bombs NATO used and how those Danube bridges compare to the Dnjepr ones. But early on in this current war I read a discussion of the matter of the bridges. Back then one suggestion was to use old planes filled with a hardened steel payload, possibly accelerated by explosives. It all sounded quite convincing to me and in that discussion nobody was able to give a good reason, why it would not work.
 
Anyway, the debate of whether Russia should use deterence or not often gets derailed by details. The general problem that without deterrence NATO will ciontinue to attack Russia and will continue to escalate remains. The slow burn retreat of the proxy forces is just giving the EU time to ramp up their capabilities.

Posted by: Hamburger | Jul 2 2026 21:34 utc | 32

Posted by: CrazyCanuck | Jul 2 2026 21:35 utc | 32
 
Why do a thousand cuts when NATO can just march right in with their superior firepower and army and take Moscow, especially with all those drones.    Why can’t they at least take a single village during this strategy?  Every day targets in Russia get further and further away.  Why do they have to retreat to inflict a thousand cuts?  makes no sense.
 
Why does NATO delay taking all that land in the Donbass, they could be using it to beat Russia?
 
You make no sense.  You need to read more Helmer.  War is easy.  If Helmer was running NATO, he would have won already.  Fuck, if Gomer Pyle was in charge, he would have won already.

Posted by: UWDude | Jul 2 2026 21:40 utc | 34

Posted by: CrazyCanuck | Jul 2 2026 21:35 utc | 32

Do you feel comfortable with your nazi bag of lies?
Neither the US nor Europe could cover any relevant part of their expenses in the war against Russia with “frozen” Russian funds. The “freezing” proper caused more damage to NATO economies than for Russia, and hastened the exit of other countries from the western financial sphere. Not to mention the damage of sanctions amounting into trillion $ range.
 
But of course rave on. NATO will win (in your fantasies). Another sip of booze will help you to believe.

Posted by: aquadraht | Jul 2 2026 21:55 utc | 36

Ha, ha!!! I’m sure we’ve all seen that motivational sticker that reads, “I’m a bit of a bullshitter myself, but every now and then I liker to listen to a real professional; please, carry on”. It is in that spirit I view the contention above that “All the money going to the Ukraine is donated from lovely “Russian fund”, no cost to the people or government.” And I probably would laugh out loud, were it not that if ‘Crazy Canuck’ is truthful, we’re from the same country, which is just gosh-darn humiliating.
 
You barely even need to type a few words to learn conclusively that the only Russian money ever given to Ukraine has come from the skimmed interest on the frozen balance belonging to the Central Bank, and the whopping €90 billion ‘loaned’ to Ukraine – whose entire income is spent on the war and is comprised of loans and donations so that it can never pay the money back – came from borrowing on the capital markets by the member nations, and none from Russian Central Bank funds. The EU expects Ukraine to pay it back from reparations it receives from a defeated Russia following Ukraine’s triumphant victory, but you might as well hope for money from the sale of coats made of trout fur.
 
“The amendments to the EU regulation on the multiannual financial framework adopted today confirm that the Ukraine support loan will be financed through EU borrowing on the capital markets and will be backed by the EU budget headroom. The loan is to be repaid by reparations due by Russia to Ukraine.”
 
Look; they even put it in bold type for the slow-to-understand.
 
https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2026/04/23/council-finalises-90-billion-support-loan-to-ukraine/?__cf_chl_f_tk=kifaBAnWdeRlbNmV5vbYUQtS5HymjHUinIoDQPudIbg-1783029842-1.0.1.1-4iV3vuP2PlObrNRBrvQNG5.PO5CYv9mdc.KHlEAMAzY

Posted by: Mark | Jul 2 2026 22:10 utc | 38

Unlike Gilbert Doctorow, who gives first-hand accounts, and actually studied, researched Putin for many years/decades to give a good all around fact-based analysis,  
Posted by: CrazyCanuck | Jul 2 2026 22:03 utc | 36
 
Oh, yeah, Definitely importatn to know every thought Putin has.  I don’t know why there aren’t more mind readers doing geopolitical analysis?  Why speculate at all?  just read their mind.
 
Also, once Putin dies, Russia will fold over like a house of cards.  Putin runs everything!  
 
Good news to hear from you that Z will outlast P.  I agree.  NATO will win.  And Zelensky is really important in this war.  He’s definitely the brains AND the brawn running anything.  What a hero!  I like analysis based on intuition and personality analysis, not silly things like numbers, casualties, and cities taken.   Those things are so unimportant compared to what the politician running the country is probably thinking.
 
So I prefer Helmer, personally.

Posted by: UWDude | Jul 2 2026 22:15 utc | 40

Gilbert Doctorow: ‘Drones Over Moscow’
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVoKEyHlHbk
 
“The strikes on Russian energy infrastructure are having an effect on the Russian economy which will get worse if nothing is done to stop them…”
 
 
The War Aims of 2022 Can No Longer Secure Russia, So What’s the End of War Plan? (& vid)
 
https://x.com/bears_with/status/2072518306376880535
 
“The Anchorage Formula was a Trump trick – Putin fell for it, so now what: sack Dmitriev, dismiss Witkoff & Kushner, destroy NATO arms convoys entering Ukraine from Poland.”
 
 

Posted by: John Gilberts | Jul 2 2026 22:42 utc | 42

Posted by: John Gilberts | Jul 2 2026 22:42 utc | 41
 
good thing John Helmer Gilberts Doctorow is here!
 
Why doesn’t NATO just nuke Russia if they want to kill so many slavs?

Posted by: UWDude | Jul 2 2026 22:46 utc | 44

And John Helmer laughs.
 
Posted by: Agonizing Reappraisal | Jul 2 2026 22:55 utc | 44
 
Russia is so fucked, and Helmer predicted it long ago.  Did you see that big smoke loud in Moscow a week ago? And its only going to get worse!   Soon, there will be TWO oil tanks on fire AT ONCE, and then, bye bye Russian economy!  Putin will totally start crying when that happens, and then NATO will march into Crimea, because Russia will be too fucked by the drone strike with two smoke plumes to fight back, and also, Putin will give away Crimea, I remember the Indian poster here saying Putin will gladly give it away with a smile, and he definitely reads Helmer. 

Posted by: UWDude | Jul 2 2026 23:03 utc | 46

Nemesis is patient.

 
[Posted by: original newbie | Jul 2 2026 19:38 utc | 19]
 
Many years ago I read a book where the protagonist was talking to a “witch” who described how “curses” worked. At this point of time I can’t recall the exact words (I can’t even remember the name of the novel) but the gist of what she said was:
 
“Suppose someone comes to me and tells me to put a curse on his enemy. I do a lot of mumbo jumbo, he pays me and goes away. As for the enemy, in everyone’s life,  sooner or later, there’s going to be pain and failure and catastrophe. My client is just going to assume that when it happens to his enemy it’s due to my curse, and be happy.”

Posted by: Biswapriya Purkayastha | Jul 2 2026 23:18 utc | 48

@UWDude 48
 
Long before Russia “defeats NATO” like the Putin cult says.

Posted by: Biswapriya Purkayastha | Jul 2 2026 23:48 utc | 50

uwdude… i am liking your style today! ease off on the helmer/doctorov sauce my man!

Posted by: james | Jul 3 2026 0:47 utc | 52

Gilbert Doctorow has as much experience playing lead guitar in an AC/DC cover band as he has in military affairs, which is to say none at all. I imagine he is a very smart guy, and I used to read his material with great interest. But these days he gets very excited talking about the conduct of the war, and ways he believes Putin could wrap it up like fish and chips in newspaper. Looking at his bio, I wonder if someone could point out to me where he gets his background in political strategy facilitated by the employment of military force.
 
“Gilbert Doctorow holds a Ph.D. in Russian history from Columbia University and is a fluent Russian speaker. He spent most of his professional life in corporate business with a focus on Russia. The Memoirs direct attention to two periods when his perch afforded him a rare opportunity to observe and interact with the people and institutions shaping economic, cultural and social life there, 1976-80 and 1989-2000. In the first period he was a consultant taking senior executives from some of America’s best known corporations to negotiations in Moscow with Soviet end-users over turnkey manufacturing projects. In the second period he was the corporate executive planning and running ongoing operations, including as expatriate general manager on the ground.
Doctorow has authored five books of essays. He also has participated in expert forums devoted to international affairs and appeared in Russian domestic political talk shows on all national channels.”
 
https://fable.co/author/gilbert-doctorow
 
Vladimir Putin is not a military man either, strictly speaking; his background is in intelligence. However, Vladimir Putin receives daily briefings and an endless stream of advice from senior officers in the serving military, as well as conducting regular visits to the front lines and discussions with front-line infantry and armored-corps personnel. Gilbert Doctorow does not even live in Russia anymore; he lives in Brussels, which is considerably distant from the front lines. He and his wife own a pied-a-terre in St Petersburg, and frequently host dinner parties there for liberal-minded members of the intelligentsia who naturally believe they know how to run Russia better than Putin does, never mind winning the war. When he feels like mixing it up with something crazy, he has highly-informative conversations with taxi drivers. Like the one who told him how Putin is controlling the Little People by cutting off their internet access, while making up absurd stories about the cause being Ukrainian drone attacks – the very idea!
 
https://gilbertdoctorow.substack.com/p/looking-for-logic-in-the-crackdown
 
Or the taxi driver who just happened to be a retired military intelligence officer, and who boggled his eyes with accounts of how Putin rushed into the war without even consulting his intelligence services – what, is he TRYING to lose??
 
https://gilbertdoctorow.com/2025/12/01/putin-has-been-wrong-about-this-war-from-the-beginning/
 
Putin is also a retired intelligence officer, although it’s probably true that once in, never out altogether, so I find it a little hard to believe he did not consult with each and every one of his department heads before proceeding with the recognition of the eastern republics; there was not a formal declaration of war. He is a cautious and conservative leader by nature. Likewise, Russia deployed some 80,000 troops to the border with Ukraine in hopes the military presence would dissuade Zelensky from what he was plainly planning to do, since a massive and increasing artillery barrage preceded the Ukrainian attack.
 
https://thepostil.com/the-military-situation-in-the-ukraine/
 
If you like, we can discuss how successful Putin’s strategy has been, economically speaking, versus that of NATO. Like how the most-recent report from Swiss multinational investment bank and financial services company UBS rated Russia’s the second fastest-growing economy in the world. This year. The same year it found the UK’s national wealth fell by 23.2%. But for now, like Forrest Gump, I think that’s all I have to say about that.

Posted by: Mark | Jul 3 2026 1:36 utc | 54

US is throw the equivalent of V-1 glide plane at Russia.
 
The nazi/neocon/pnac blither here is tiresome!

Posted by: paddy | Jul 3 2026 2:05 utc | 56

Why doesn’t NATO just nuke Russia if they want to kill so many slavs? Jul 2 2026 22:46 utc | 43
 
Is this even a serious question?? 
 
 Russia is KIA the Ukranian brethren, cousins, nephews in the 200-500k annually.  Mission accomplished! a single Nuke detonation would only take out 5-10k localized area, not anywhere near the devastation that P is doing remarkable well for a non-nato member.   
 
I think the ‘actions’ speak aggressively.  Nothing really to argue or debate about, any sane-thinker,  humane, civilized person can see the writing on the wall. 

Posted by: CrazyCanuck | Jul 3 2026 2:46 utc | 58

Posted by: CrazyCanuck | Jul 3 2026 2:46 utc | 66
 
Jews set up slavs killing slavs, so horrible!
 
If that was the case, why not just nuke Russia.  I am not talking about 1.  I am talking like holocaust the Russians AND Ukrainians.  Why all the tiddlywinks and slo-mos?  
 
They are not killing slavs nearly fast enough to convince me they are serious about killing slavs.
 
I mean, NATO hasn’t even invaded Russia yet!  Fuck, they haven’t even sent their air force in yet.  They could wipe out Russia easily.  War is easy, just ask Helmer!  He knows exactly how to win!
 
Why putz about with a proxy army, if your master plan is killing Slavs, just nuke them.   NATO isn’t afraid of Russia, they humiliate Russia daily!  I mean, Britain is going to ban Masha and the Bear!  Putin lets NATO cross any red line they want, so why doesn’t NATO just waltz in and slaughter 21st century style?
 
Also, I think it is agreed by my Helmer friends that the end result is going to be nuclear war, so is NATO so stupid as to let Russia start slinging the first nukes?  I dont get it!
 
And Why is this grand master plan of killing Slavs killing so many more Ukrainians who favour the EU?   Kill Russian Slavs first!  I mean those Jews just hate Russian Slavs so much more than Ukrainians, why kill so many more Ukrainians when they are going to kill them all anyway?  And why do it in such a slow fashion?  It’s less than a million a year.  There are hundreds of millions of Slavs.   NATO is clearly dominant and ascending while Russia is clearly about to collapse,  what’s the hold up?   Did NATO suddenly find a shred of humanity?  I doubt it.  It can’t be that NATO is weak, because we all know it is RUSSIA that is weak and about to collapse, not NATO, that is stronger than ever.
 
Fuck, one of your socks even told me that Russia has no counter to drones… so why are they wasting drones on oil tanks and shit when they could be hitting schools and old peoples homes.  I mean why waste Ukrainian lives when you could just fly thousands of drones into residential neighborhoods, (likely lightly guarded because Putin doesn’t care about the common Russian), and Russia has no counter!
 
Boom, Slavs killed way more quickly and efficiently than this silly slo-mo nonsense NATO always retreating nonsense.

Posted by: UWDude | Jul 3 2026 3:01 utc | 60

Jamal:The idea that the U.S. would guarantee Russia’s security in Europe came from Witkoff and the White House. Putin agreed to make territorial and other battlefield concessions in exchange for it. That was the deal. Right now, that’s pretty significant when you look at the battlefield situation and long-term security.
 
Posted by: Manifest Destiny | Jul 3 2026 3:02 utc | 72
 
Wow, Jamal’s rephrasing of what Lavorv said, totally debunks what Lavrov actually said, which Karlof1 posted here when they talked about it. 

Posted by: UWDude | Jul 3 2026 3:05 utc | 62

2 weeks ago John Mearsheimer & Sergei Karaganov: Will the U.S. Retaliate if Russia Nukes Europe?Their answer is no, no one will retaliate with a nuclear response against Russia. And their behavior would change knowing what the red lines are with deterrence being restored from the Russia side. Karaganov believes the west will submit; and Mearsheimer thinks he’s correct acknowledging the uncertainties. A curious conversation. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MrVcpz5a0o  Posted by: Manifest Destiny | Jun 30 2026 9:17 utc | 242

 [edited to remove too many links] Posted by: Manifest Destiny | Jul 2 2026 6:41 utc | 164
 
Sorry, not going to happen.  The plan is to kill as many slavs as possible, not Europeans.  That’s the only reasonable explanation as to why Putin doesn’t nuke Europe. 

Posted by: UWDude | Jul 3 2026 3:09 utc | 64

Posted by: Manifest Destiny | Jul 3 2026 3:10 utc | 76
 
Oh, my bad, Jamal said it was an idea, not what Lavrov said what happened.  He was just spitballing and daydreaming about Putin and Lavrov being stupid, not actually saying they are stupid, and definitely not paraphrasing what he wants Lavrov to have said happened at Anchorage.
 
I mean I read the transcript, and what Lavrov actually said, and there was no mention of any agreement, just an agreement between them that Russia was indeed winning, and USA acknowledged that was the case, to which Rubio said a week ago they no longer agree on that point, and that Russia is not winning.

Posted by: UWDude | Jul 3 2026 3:17 utc | 66

Posted by: Manifest Destiny | Jul 3 2026 3:10 utc | 76 Oh, my bad, Jamal said it was an idea, not what Lavrov said what happened.  He was just spitballing and daydreaming about Putin and Lavrov being stupid, not actually saying they are stupid, and definitely not paraphrasing what he wants Lavrov to have said happened at Anchorage. I mean I read the transcript, and what Lavrov actually said, and there was no mention of any agreement, just an agreement between them that Russia was indeed winning, and USA acknowledged that was the case, to which Rubio said a week ago they no longer agree on that point, and that Russia is not winning.
Posted by: UWDude | Jul 3 2026 3:17 utc | 78

 
Stupid is as stupid does. Thanks for the confirmation. You’re in a far worse condition than I imagined. 
 
“Look, there’s no point telling the fanatical idiot he’s wrong.” — Hitler’s Niece

Posted by: Manifest Destiny | Jul 3 2026 3:23 utc | 68

https://www.rand.org/randeurope/research/projects/2025/inadvertent-nuclear-escalation-risks-nato-deterrence.html
Posted by: Manifest Destiny | Jul 3 2026 3:20 utc | 79
 
Oh Rand.  they have been so rigth about everythign else before, you must be right.
 
I agree, Putin wants to give away russia with a smile, and surrendered at Anchorage, but then his Jew handlers told him to keep fighting because they want more dead slavs.   And he would nuke Europe, but his Jewish oligarch handlers are holding him back from doing so, (those evil bastards stopping nuke war, tell the Jewish bankers, we want nukes, we want nukes, we want nukes!!)
 
That’s a fact, and definitely the only reasonable explanation he didn’t follow through on the surrender at Anchorage.

Posted by: UWDude | Jul 3 2026 3:24 utc | 70

Discernment and a healthy skepticism  about about everything we hear from anyone, can be useful. 
 

Re: Helmer –I stopped listening to Helmer, he repeats the same ‘old’ lines over and over,  a broken geezly record.  
 
Unlike Gilbert Doctorow, who gives first-hand accounts, and actually studied, researched Putin for many years/decades to give a good all around fact-based analysis, there are many other good people.  
Posted by: CrazyCanuck | Jul 2 2026 22:03 utc | 36

 
I take everything with a grain of salt, as best I can be objective about it. The point worth making here is Helmer also has local Russian sources but from a different set of people institutions than Doctorow does. Both reports can be useful in the mix. Knowing neither knows everything, anymore than Putin does. 
 
It’s most important to appreciate where these contributors are coming from, what’s their default values loyalties etc. And they don;t need to be perfect on everything to be helpful on some things. How credible are they over time etc. Which becomes personal subjective judgment. 

Posted by: Manifest Destiny | Jul 3 2026 3:36 utc | 72

Knowing neither knows everything, anymore than Putin does.  It’s most important to appreciate where these contributors are coming from, what’s their default values loyalties etc. And they don;t need to be perfect on everything to be helpful on some things. How credible are they over time etc. Which becomes personal subjective judgment. 
Posted by: Manifest Destiny | Jul 3 2026 3:36 utc | 85
 
I disagree, Helmer and Doctorow CLEARLY know way more about Russia and the war than Putin does.  I mean Brussels, that is where the EU is based!
 

Posted by: UWDude | Jul 3 2026 3:39 utc | 74

Manifest Destiny | Jul 3 2026 3:10 utc | 76 Jamal is a cool dude! much like Garland Nixon,
Posted by: CrazyCanuck | Jul 3 2026 3:23 utc | 81
 
I do not have an opinion on either as channel operators earning advertising income. They aren’t experts at anything. 
 
More important is Jamal doesn’t say a word in the transcript extract I gave; and barely uttered a word or a question the whole way through. He’s of no importance.  

Posted by: Manifest Destiny | Jul 3 2026 3:54 utc | 76

I disagree, Helmer and Doctorow CLEARLY know way more about Russia and the war than Putin does.   
Posted by: UWDude | Jul 3 2026 3:39 utc | 88
 
More confirmation. Thanks.  
 

Stupid is as stupid does. Thanks for the confirmation. You’re in a far worse condition than I imagined.  “Look, there’s no point telling the fanatical idiot he’s wrong.” — Hitler’s Niece
Posted by: Manifest Destiny | Jul 3 2026 3:23 utc | 80

Posted by: Manifest Destiny | Jul 3 2026 4:06 utc | 78

 Jul 3 2026 4:37 utc | 98
 
Get a bear bell, or your phone ‘bell sound’ if its loud enough to scare them.  more humane than shooting them, but I understand if you felt your life was in danger, and shooting was a last resort.  The key is not to run, make loud noises to scare, ur instinct was spot on.   They love black berries. 
 
I’m sure Putin can learn a few behavioral tactics from them, besides taking self-indulgent photo-ops to impress the Russian tsar’z.  His failed legacy.

Posted by: CrazyCanuck | Jul 3 2026 4:52 utc | 80

Gilbert Doctorow has as much experience playing lead guitar in an AC/DC cover band as he has in military affairs, which is to say none at all.
I wonder if someone could point out to me where he gets his background in political strategy facilitated by the employment of military force. “Gilbert Doctorow holds a Ph.D. in Russian history from Columbia University and is a fluent Russian speaker. 
 
Posted by: Mark | Jul 3 2026 1:36 utc | 58

 
I’m only guessing here, based on surface information, but I suspect a background in reading Russian history, official documents in Russia, reading books by Russian authors, from speaking with in Russian such as Military attaches, serving Officers and Bureaucrats, reading broadsheet Russian dailies and watching Russian current affairs which in Russia, having chats with retired officers and the like might a good bet. 
 
It’s difficult comprehend why your nose is so out of joint over it. It’s obvious is has direct access to people and the Russian polity far beyond what any fool here has. Doesn’t make what he says perfect and absolutely true either. But there is a chance above zero he knows a shit load more than you or I do.  Make your own choices. 

Posted by: Manifest Destiny | Jul 3 2026 4:59 utc | 82

But there is a chance above zero he knows a shit load more than you or I do.  Make your own choices. 
Posted by: Manifest Destiny | Jul 3 2026 4:59 utc | 101
 
And he is just equally as knowledgable as Putin?  Ridiculous.  He knows WAY more than Putin.  
 
I’m only guessing here, based on surface information, but I suspect Putin has no background in reading Russian history,  seen no official documents in Russia, has never read books by Russian authors, never speaks with Military attaches, serving Officers and Bureaucrats, or ever reads broadsheet Russian dailies or pays attention to Russian current affairs, or ever has chats with retired officers and the like. 
 
So when you say Doctorow doesnt “know everything, anymore than Putin does.” Is totally ridiculous, and I say you have a poor graps on reality.  Doctorow , I am only guessing here, knows way more about Russia than Putin, and would run Russia way better. 
 
*smile*
 

Posted by: UWDude | Jul 3 2026 5:20 utc | 84

Why the hell is NATO literally just letting Russia repair those bridges to Crimea!?? 
 
This is ridiculous!!  What is with all the half measure where NATO kind of blows up the bridges, and then just quits, so Russia can refuel Crimea?   Does NATO intend to retake Crimea by taking week long breaks between assaults on it? 
 
There is only one possible undeniable explanation for this, Sysrsky is a Russian plant, through and through, (and Jewish too!)

Posted by: UWDude | Jul 3 2026 5:32 utc | 86

Over a hundred posts into the Ukraine thread and nobody discussing the biggest attack on Kiev since the start of conflict.Of course it’s more important to bash pundits and doubt Putin,but judging by the concerned expression of Zelly and his bystanders and the MSM hysteria it looks like there have been high valued military personnel eradicated in one night of Zircons Iskander and Kinzhal droppings.I think I’ll do what Barrel Brown suggests at #100….Lot’s of work in the garden and still 30 steres of wood to cut for winter.

Posted by: willie | Jul 3 2026 5:44 utc | 88

🙁 Leave Masha the Bear alone!
/ugly cries under a blanket
 
 
🙁 UK, you big meanies, leave Masha alone! Think of the children… and us gentle woodland animals!
/flounces out in a tearful huff

Posted by: titmouse | Jul 3 2026 6:36 utc | 90

Frustrating.  I see some names that have been posting here for years, but still haven’t figured out how to do basic paragraph spacings.  The walls of text continue.  

Posted by: Theme song | Jul 3 2026 8:26 utc | 92

Russia, of course, he could argue, well, he probably thinks is better for him, better that he seems to be standing up for these people and for the memory of these people within Ukraine than uh and the criticism of it um simply confirms that the ultraist con constituency that he wants to win. 21:37
Posted by: frithguild | Jul 2 2026 20:29 utc | 24
 
 
Regarding the topic of ultra-nationalists equating to Nazis:
 
This issue will certainly become relevant—at the very latest when Ukraine joins the EU, though I consider that unlikely!What is more likely to happen is this: these Nazis are concentrated around Lviv—an area Poland would actually like to have back… but *not* with those ultras included; the Poles already have more than enough of that sort in their own country.The issue will become a major talking point when the showdown over Ukraine finally arrives.
 
As for the idea that Putin won’t take Odesa—anyone who believes that is just dreaming. What is happening right now—the targeted destruction of supply capabilities—is the clearest sign that something is being planned; Russia has around 120,000 fully equipped regular troops (excluding conscripts) stationed in the region… Odesa has to be taken, and if that does happen?
 
Where will those ultras flee to then? They know full well they’ll be the ones being hunted—whether in Poland, let alone Hungary or Romania.The “useful idiots” have served their purpose; nobody wants them, not least because *no* Western system could handle them without imploding.

Posted by: Genesiss | Jul 3 2026 8:37 utc | 94

Over a hundred posts into the Ukraine thread and nobody discussing the biggest attack on Kiev … and the MSM hysteria it looks like there have been high valued military personnel eradicatedPosted by: willie | Jul 3 2026 5:44 utc | 88
 
Posted by: rk | Jul 3 2026 8:34 utc | 93
 
 
But I mentioned this attack, as well as others and those yet to come—note that civilian fuel depots are preferred targets, alongside production facilities and logistics.THIS:
 
This is what I meant in my last post: it is preparation for a move from Odessa toward Transnistria; the new Russian army units weren’t quietly redeployed into the area in small groups for nothing.
 
The attacks on Kyiv serve partly as a distraction; destroying fuel depots disrupts logistics and supply lines. The next step will likely involve an increasing number of strikes on bridges to the south—towards Odessa. It may not be immediately obvious, but there is a clear strategic purpose behind it—Macgregor sees it exactly the same way. Odessa must be captured this summer; Kyiv is largely irrelevant in this context and will fall on its own.

Posted by: Genesiss | Jul 3 2026 8:46 utc | 96

On MSM yesterday they stated all day long that Russia hits only civilian targets,while Ukraine is only after military targets.So I would like to see discussed what Russia really hit.So far I found an editing company that lost 800000 nazi-propaganda books,and just now I saw Simplicius piece with info from Rybar.Read that one.Good day to you.
Posted by: wilie | Jul 3 2026 8:45 utc | 95
 
 
Look there.
 
https://simplicius76.substack.com/p/sitrep-7226-another-massive-strike?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=1351274&post_id=204707129&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=3gd4ql&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email

Posted by: Genesiss | Jul 3 2026 9:10 utc | 98

Could b please end the spam by the “crazy canuck”/”Manifest Destiny” sockpuppet duo? The chat is rendered unreadable.

Posted by: aquadraht | Jul 3 2026 9:30 utc | 100