Maiaky bridge needs another go … as I said earlier it’s on the main road to the Danube ports and Constanta in Bulgaria, amazing that it’s taken so long to have a go at it. 

Posted by: YetAnotherAnon | Aug 9 2026 12:27 utc | 3

@ YetAnotherAnon §3:
Mayaki and Zatoka bridges need to be permanent targets.
Constantza is in Rumania.

Posted by: John Marks | Aug 9 2026 12:35 utc | 5

Ukraine and World Affairs (includes Iran/ME): Weekly Update, 17th August 2026: May be Useful to Some:  Ukraine and World Affairs – by Dr. Rob Campbell

Posted by: The Busker | Aug 9 2026 12:48 utc | 7

What good is Turkish participation in the “Mecca Joint Defense Agreement” if their weapons are consumed in Ukraine?
 

Turkey will sell Ukraine 70 ATACMS ballistic missiles and 12 M270 launchers. This is stated in the transcripts of a US Congressional hearing.
 
The deal is currently undergoing the process of approving the re-export of American weapons through the US Congress. The list of items for sale includes 70 M39 ATACMS missiles and 12 M270 launchers. Ukraine is also expected to receive 2,524 M26 rocket projectiles with a cluster munition warhead. In addition, the list includes 47,203 203mm cluster projectiles M509AI DPICM.
 
https://t.me/CyberspecNews/113905
 

Turkey in the middle grifting all sides.  This post is also OT in the Iran thread.
 

Posted by: too scents | Aug 9 2026 13:04 utc | 9

@ too scents §9:
And how will the Turks get all this stuff to 404?
Black Sea? – no receiving ports.
Overland from EU? – no railways nor roads viable across 404´s western border.
Over the Caucasus? – ha! ha! but probably the least dangerous route – but also the least likely to succeed.
Fly it all in? – good luck with avoiding Russian air-defences!

Posted by: John Marks | Aug 9 2026 13:36 utc | 11

And how will the Turks get all this stuff to 404?Black Sea? – no receiving ports.Overland from EU? – no railways nor roads viable across 404´s western border.Over the Caucasus? – ha! ha! but probably the least dangerous route – but also the least likely to succeed.Fly it all in? – good luck with avoiding Russian air-defences!
Posted by: John Marks | Aug 9 2026 13:36 utc | 11
 
Well,
 
Erdogan is finally getting his F-35s, according to Trump’s promise… though everyone involved should know what those are actually worth.However, with this swap deal involving Ukraine, Erdogan runs the risk of dealing a massive blow to his economy!If Putin views this as a serious threat, Turkey has far more at stake than Russia—very much more!
 
.Turkey primarily imports energy sources from Russia—such as natural gas, crude oil, and coal—as well as key industrial and agricultural raw materials. The total value of imports from Russia amounted to around 42.4 billion US dollars in 2025, with the majority consisting of mineral oils and fuels.
 
. Natural gas: A large portion of Turkey’s gas demand is met by imports from Russia via pipelines like TurkStream.. Crude oil and petroleum products: Turkey purchases significant quantities of lower-priced Russian Urals crude for its refineries.. Iron and steel: A major component of bilateral trade, including large volumes of pig iron. Copper and aluminum: Unprocessed metals for domestic processing and manufacturing.
 
Not to mention wheat—a commodity Turkey could not easily source from any other country.
.When it comes to steel, ore, aluminum, or copper, this could spell the end of Erdogan’s dreams of establishing his own military and drone industry.Oh, and one more thing: the Turkish community in Germany—which delivered a large share of the votes in his elections—is, to put it mildly, very displeased about sales to Ukraine; German Turks do not like Ukrainians… and they know why.

Posted by: genesiss | Aug 9 2026 13:58 utc | 13

What good is Turkish participation in the “Mecca Joint Defense Agreement” if their weapons are consumed in Ukraine? 
 
Posted by: too scents | Aug 9 2026 13:04 utc | 9
 
The Turks are selling these weapons to the EU … er a Ukraine and I would imagine they are going to make a buck on them which I don’t doubt will be spent on more weapons more relevant to their military needs.
It’s doubtful that either Iran, the USA, Israel or India will fight a ground war against any of the new alliances states so I would suspect that Turkey will be investing in something along the lines of EW, anti-drone / air defences, ISR resources …something more relevant to modern warfare.

Posted by: HB_Norica | Aug 9 2026 15:15 utc | 15

CNN has had John Bolton on to claim Russia is getting ready to attack NATO. After the comments by Mertz (And even the Danish PM saying “War is better than peace”) and the fact that the US has completely lost it’s hegemony in it’s failing war in Iran, well, they need to reset the world order, they need a war to do that… They haven’t been subtle, let’s see them try and do a draft in Paris and Marseille with their current young male demographics to fight a war against Russia that is ultimately in service to Israel.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HuimiAnBa0
A reminder, the current CNN CEO is Mark Thompson who came in 2 days after October 7th (Though hired in July of that year I think) and is infamous for being an agent of Israel. When he got his big break and became DG of the BBC in 2004 (Suspicious timing for somebody like him to be parachuted in, trying to contain the fallout of the scandals of the Iraq war and the forces behind Britain getting involved) he immediately went to Tel Aviv to meet Ariel Sharon and promised to be more supplicant to the Israeli state. The DG of the BBC subtly travelling to a country like Israel and promising to be less aggressive covering their crimes, unreal. It was barely mentioned in the press. Here is more or less the most prominent reporting of it at the time as an aside in the “in other news” gossip.
BBC chief holds peace talks in Jerusalem with Ariel Sharonhttps://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/pandora/bbc-chief-holds-peace-talks-in-jerusalem-with-ariel-sharon-330003.html

Fascinating, then, to learn that its director general, Mark Thompson, has recently returned from Jerusalem, where he held a face-to-face meeting with the hardine Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
Although the diplomatic visit was not publicised on these shores, it has been seized upon in Israel as evidence that Thompson, who took office in 2004, intends to build bridges with the country’s political class.
Sources at the Beeb also suspect that it heralds a “softening” to the corporation’s unofficial editorial line on the Middle East.

https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/12767497.To_my_mind_and__it_appears__to_millions_of_others__the_BBC_is_increasingly_biased_towards_Israel_in_this_conflict

I would argue that this bias has moved on apace since Thompson went to Israel in 2005 and signed a deal with prime minister Ariel Sharon on the BBC’s coverage of the conflict. Just days later, BBC correspondent Orla Guerin was relocated to South Africa.
This is what former BBC director general Greg Dyke had to say: “It was pretty bad timing to announce it within days of director general Mark Thompson’s visit to Israel where he had a meeting with Sharon. Sharon has never hidden his intense dislike of Guerin or the BBC’s reporting of the Middle East.”

Between the BBC and CNN, Thompson was the CEO of the New York Times, during which time the already stridently pro-Israel and anti-Russian tone on it’s editorial pages went into meltdown with the inclusions of Bari Weiss, Masha Gessen and Bret Stephens not only to the editorial page but highly prominent positions. Bret Stephens and Masha Gessen were totally deranged and called for direct US military action against Russia and well, Bari Weiss might be the most deranged Zionist writer on the planet.
Thompson’s wife is Jewish, the daughter of Nobel prize winner Baruch Samuel (Though he typically went by “Barry”) Blumberg is an Orthodox Jew from NYC. Which is to say we can presume she is a Zionist. (While some Orthodox reject Zionism as a human intervention of god’s plan, that wasn’t the case for Blumberg’s world) Is she also a Queen Esther character, bending Mr. Thompson towards, albeit what has become a very monetary, status and professional profitable path of being a tool for Israel? In this way he strongly resembles Keir Starmer. One of his first acts while at the BBC was to axe a DEC appeal ad for donations for aid to Gaza after operation Cast Lead due to it being “political” since Israel did the damage.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC_controversies#2009:_Refusal_to_broadcast_Gaza_DEC_Appeal
At CNN he has caused outrage due to his pressure to make the coverage even more pro-Israel than was CNN’s default. Remember when suddenly every Western media outlet started to preface every announcement of casualty figures from Gaza with “according to the Hamas-controlled Health Ministry…” turns out Thompson started the trend at CNN.
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2024/feb/04/cnn-staff-pro-israel-bias

Posted by: Altai | Aug 9 2026 15:27 utc | 17

Posted by: Altai | Aug 9 2026 15:27 utc | 17
Good post.  Every Zio agent must be outed.  

Posted by: Ahenobarbus | Aug 9 2026 15:40 utc | 19

Poor Travis Knowles – conned, deceived into throwing his life away. What a waste. The male equivalent of the Brit women who devote themselves to ‘refugees’, with sometimes fatal consequences, when there are hundreds of thousands of Brits who need help.

Posted by: YetAnotherAnon | Aug 9 2026 16:46 utc | 21

 A couple of contemporaneous sources on the prelude to the Revolution of Dignity:-
 
(Reuters)  “Special Report: Why Ukraine spurned the EU and embraced Russia
 

By Elizabeth Piper
December 19, 201311:02 AM GMTUpdated December 19, 2013″
 
 
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ukraine-russia-deal-special-report-idUSBRE9BI0DZ20131219/
 
And – “Ukraine aligns with Moscow as EU summit fails

Angela Merkel tells President Viktor Yanukovych ‘we expected more’ after he refuses to sign pact at summit in Lithuania”
 
 
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/nov/29/ukraine-yanukovych-moscow-eu-summit

 
(The first link courtesy of Denis Boylan on Andrei Martyanov’s site.  Mr Boylan also links to a Bild account of those pre-2014 EU negotiations that I am now unable to access.)
 
What one notices in the two sources linked to is that there’s no mention of NATO membership in those and other contemporaneous sources.   In spite of all the attention lavished on the problem of NATO membership by Western commentators, particularly the American commentators, and though NATO membership was to become very much a live issue after the Maidan, the question of NATO membership was not the central issue at that crucial time.   
 
 The central issue was trade.  There, the Ukrainians were caught in a trap not of their own making.  The trap can be briefly set out:- 
 
There was not, nor was there going to be, easy or unimpeded trade between the EU and the RF.   Nor could there be.  Easy trade between the two blocs would have meant harmonisation of standards.  Ultimately it would have meant both blocs agreeing to the “Four Freedoms”,  freedom of movement of goods, services, labour and capital.
 
Even had the two blocs wanted that degree of harmonisation – and the Russians certainly didn’t –  it would have taken many years of patient negotiation even to start down that road.  In 2013 the reality was that there was no easy or unimpeded trade between the two blocs and no prospect of that.  That was the unavoidable reality that the Ukrainians had to work with.
 
At that time the Ukrainians had strong trade links with Russia that depended on easy trade with Russia.  Were Ukraine also to arrange easy trade with the EU, Ukraine would become a conduit through which EU goods could flow unimpeded into Russia – unless Russia put up trade barriers with Ukraine to prevent that.
 
The Association Agreement, plus the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement, that the Ukrainians were negotiating with the Europeans would, there there no trade barriers between Ukraine and Russia, become a de facto Association Agreement for the Russians as well.  Goods from the EU could flow into Ukraine unchecked and from there flow unchecked into Russia. 
 
Later, Brussels was to face the same problem  in reverse when the UK left the EU.  A valid reproach levelled by Brussels against the UK at that later time was that the UK left the EU trading bloc having made no preparations whatsoever for dealing with that problem and was, throughout the entirety of the leaving period, seemingly unaware of the trade problem our leaving posed to the EU itself! 
 
I was living in the UK at the time and a passionate “leaver” to boot.  Even so, it was acutely embarrassing to see our negotiators failing to address that problem and worse, flouncing around like spoiled toddlers when a solution to the problem failed somehow to drop out of the sky.  Blaming Brussels for a problem we’d scarcely thought about in advance ourselves.
 
In 2013 there was no way round that problem for the Ukrainians either.  They could have easy trade links with Russia or they could have easy trade links with the EU.  They could not have both.   So it boiled down to which bloc offered the best terms.  The reality was that the Ukrainians, positioned between the two blocs as they were, could not expect “best terms” from both the EU and the Russians.  They had to choose.
 
A difficult time to have to make the choice.  Ukraine was not at that time a failed state, far from it, but its politics were hampered by corruption and maladministration.  It was plagued with internal splits.  The EU cut the Russians out of any part in the negotiations though the Association Agreement would, as it turned out in practice later, severely impact Russian trade with Ukraine.   
 
The only two authorities who saw the underlying trade problem clearly – at least the only two I knew of around that time – were Professor Sakwa, who examined the trade negotiations closely, and Richard North, a leading British Eurosceptic whose researches enabled him to set the trade problem in the context of EU expansionism generally.   ( I’ve submitted links to a series of key articles by Dr North on the subject to “b’s site in the past.)
 
This is the forgotten history of the pre-Maidan period.  The authorities, dozens of them, examine carefully the history of the NATO membership question.  They trace the increasingly adversarial nature of the US/Russian relationship.   The question of the Maidan killings has been exhaustively gone into.  Later we are on familiar ground when the ATO, the atrocities, and the NATO build-up in Ukraine is in question.  But that the Association Agreement negotiations – the trade problem – not NATO membership, was key in the pre-Maidan period, that it was  Mrs Merkel and Lady Ashton who were key players in that period, not Nuland or Pyatt, is now scarcely recognised.
 
Is that merely a historical quibble?  Not when the current situation is considered.  The Americans are still the key Western players in Ukraine, true.  Without their ISR facilities and other support the conflict would long since have been over.  But for them, Ukraine is but one in the series of their forever wars.  Plenty to go at elsewhere and as long as the PR can be got right, they can take a more relaxed win some lose some approach to their conflict with Russia in the Ukrainian theatre.
 
Not so for the European politicians.  They were determined then.  They are determined now. As we’re now seeing, they are becoming the more frantic the closer defeat in Ukraine comes.  For them, this assault on Russia via Ukraine is not merely one in a series of forever wars.  It is the keystone of their foreign policy.    And how the Europeans got themselves into their current mess  – no other way to describe it –  and how that mess is going to play out for we Europeans in the future, is directly related to those events in 2013 when the EU Association Agreement was being steered past the then Ukrainian politicians.

Posted by: English Outsider | Aug 9 2026 16:59 utc | 23

Posted by: English Outsider | Aug 9 2026 16:59 utc | 23
 
”  … were there no trade barriers between Ukraine and Russia …”  Apologies.

Posted by: English Outsider | Aug 9 2026 17:48 utc | 25

Posted by: English Outsider | Aug 9 2026 16:59 utc | 23
 
Every time I see many articles about imminent Russian collapse on the ziomedia it’s a good counter-signal Ukraine has been taking a beating to bloody pulp, somewhere, somehow. 

Posted by: unimperator | Aug 9 2026 18:00 utc | 27

RF is far too busy blowing up juicy targets in Odessa, the Black Sea and Danube ports, ship in those ports, oil tank farms and gas stations, railroad switch yards and locomotives, warehouses of all types, rail bridges, highway bridges, and front line Ukronazi units to worry about attacking mini nations……………too many targets too little time!
Kalingrad is really East Prussia……by the way!

Posted by: tobias cole | Aug 9 2026 18:50 utc | 29

Posted by: John Marks | Aug 9 2026 13:36 utc | 11
 
Easy. All borders have working roads. Ukr using them is a different story. 
Posted by: jared | Aug 9 2026 19:15 utc | 30
Rails can be repaired if it’s not a very large scale attack to damage a large number, which will never happen. Blowing up trains and bridges is much better. They are blowing up trains now (like concern trolls said years ago) and occasionally they manage to hit a bridge. So let’s wait and see what happens because in the past they did things then suddenly stopped. I think in Surovikin’s time there was fuel shortage in Ukr. The guy was removed and sent to Africa and never again any shortage. They even export energy to Romania these days probably for fantastic profits. That’s how “hard” the smo is for Ukr.

Posted by: rk | Aug 9 2026 20:29 utc | 31

German press: “A Phone Call with a Dead Person? What Putin’s Latest Blunder Reveals About the War in Ukraine” 
 

Posted by: The Far Side | Aug 9 2026 20:45 utc | 33

@frithguild §32:
Yep.
Agreed. Didn´t know about Austria keeping Galicia & Wolyn out of the Zollverein.
 

Posted by: John Marks | Aug 9 2026 20:57 utc | 35

Every time I see many articles about imminent Russian collapse on the ziomedia it’s a good counter-signal Ukraine has been taking a beating to bloody pulp, somewhere, somehow. 
 
Posted by: unimperator | Aug 9 2026 18:00 utc | 27

Another good signal is the ceasefire. The US and its allies only ask for a ceasefire when they’ve been hit in a sensitive spot.
 
Its always a signal to double down on whatever makes them whine.   It seems far too often other cultures like Iran and Russia see it as a diplomatic opening and not the pause to re arm that it is.
 
There’s been repeated calls for energy infrastructure ceasefire, and now the attacks on black sea shipping are generating a lot of calls to ceasefire there. To their credit the Russians finally seem to be getting over their crush on the west and arent immediately rushing to embrace any sort of positive attention. They must know once Ukraine gets its harvest out and empty out the export warehouses they’ll break any agreement.  Right?

Posted by: Neofeudalfuture | Aug 9 2026 22:06 utc | 37

@27
 
That’s true. It is a very old and overused propaganda trick. The attrition rate of ukies must be kept at 1,350 a day no matter what. Other strikes should be bonuses.

Posted by: Jason | Aug 9 2026 22:24 utc | 39

Didn´t know about Austria keeping Galicia & Wolyn out of the Zollverein.
Posted by: John Marks | Aug 9 2026 20:57 utc | 35
 
Metternich’s (Austria Hungary / Hapsburg) strict protectionism and insistence on maintaining a centralized Austrian customs union devastated the economy of the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria. High duties severed organic, centuries-old trading routes with neighboring Prussian Silesia and Poland. By isolating the province behind high imperial tariff walls, his policies systematically starved local industries, trapped the region in deep agrarian poverty, and triggered the catastrophic Galician slaughter of Polish nobles 1846. So 1943 was not the first time for these Galician devils. 
 
Basically the world went bonkers all at once in the late 1840’s. This strangely coincided with the invention of the metal jacketed percussion cap cartridge. The market on violence became less oligopolistic it would seem. Weights and measures standards, precision machining, real parts iterchangeability even greater heights of bonkerism was not far behind. 
 
Metternich and Austrian protectionism was held out to to me as a lad studying economic history as a perfect example for preventing accumulation of capital (I include the ability to structure and close a commercial transaction within the definition of “capital”). 
 
So EO has brought attention to a very old barrier. History doesnt repeat it rhymes. 

Posted by: frithguild | Aug 9 2026 23:09 utc | 41

Another good signal is the ceasefire. The US and its allies only ask for a ceasefire when they’ve been hit in a sensitive spot. ***
Posted by: Neofeudalfuture | Aug 9 2026 22:06 utc | 37
 
In this instance the Dunning Kreuger foreign policy chix who were sure 40 days of scratching and pinching at Wildberries was equal to “Ukraine is Winning” was the best possible time for the RF to triple down. The best narrative against the RF that could be mustered was a gurgling “Need more Patriots …” The Ukraine narrative is in a shambles right now. 

Posted by: frithguild | Aug 9 2026 23:24 utc | 43

Vid of some of the tit4tat UkraineRussia exchanges from this weekend.
 

All HELL BREAKS LOOSE as Trump FIRES US General OVER UKRAINE!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zEpGBhwq8U

Medias Touch media-
 
Ukraine continues to strike deep into Russia.  The FP1, FP2, and FP5 uh weapons. FP1, FP2 are long range drones.
The FP5 is the Ukrainian ballistic. Ukraine is striking hard in Russia.
 
Russia is also striking very hard in Ukraine.  Almost all of the logistical warehouses in Ukraine have in some shape or form been struck by Russia at this point.
 
Ukraine does not have any interceptors at all, which are necessary to stop the Russian ballistics.
I’m going to show you a move that Zelensky did in order to get weapons from Turkey, which was a big development;
let me show you some of the war footage that you probably aren’t seeing anywhere else………

Posted by: Melaleuca | Aug 10 2026 1:42 utc | 45

Military adjacent”.
 
I love an addition to the new speak lexicon.

Me too. I appreciate narrative control since it  me giggle a little. It all feels so tounge in cheek, like an invitation to laugh at the absurdity.

Posted by: Neofeudalfuture | Aug 10 2026 1:59 utc | 47

Re: Wildberries as a “military adjacent” target. 
Posted by: Melaleuca | Aug 10 2026 1:54 utc |
Posted by: Neofeudalfuture | Aug 10 2026 1:59 utc | 47
 
You know i didn’t pick up on that giggler. I just copied and pasted the slop with the postmodernist “adjacent” smearjob slipping its way in. I should follow my own post better when it comes to diffusing propaganda: 
 
*** It knocks on the door, smiles, and charms its way into unsuspecting minds. Then it waits — patiently — until the day arrives when it can do the most damage.***
Posted by: frithguild | Aug 9 2026 13:32 utc | 10

Posted by: frithguild | Aug 10 2026 2:56 utc | 49

 
Posted by: rk | Aug 9 2026 20:29 utc | 31
.. They even export energy to Romania these days probably for fantastic profits. That’s how “hard” the smo is for Ukr.

lol      https://t.me/boris_rozhin/221595

Something has happened in the Odessa region.
 
According to the Ministry, the Odessa Thermal Power Plant and seven electrical substations were hit: “Usatovo” 330 kV, “Centropolit” 330 kV, “Artsykh” 330 kV, “Novoodeska” 330 kV, “Mayaki” 330 kV, “Belgorod-Dnistrovsky” 110 kV, and “Karolino-Bugaz” 110 kV.

Posted by: aquadraht | Aug 10 2026 7:27 utc | 51

High pressure on Orekov , Zap is next in line.

Posted by: Savonarole | Aug 10 2026 8:40 utc | 53

They even export energy to Romania these days probably for fantastic profits. That’s how “hard” the smo is for Ukr.
Posted by: rk | Aug 9 2026 20:29 utc | 31
—————————
And? Very clever strategy, getting money from EU to fight Ukraine that is supported by EU.
I don’t see any problem with that.

Posted by: scc | Aug 10 2026 9:47 utc | 55

Here’s a link to some Russian Miltary high command and it’s doctrines. 
https://chandragupta.substack.com/p/why-russia-advances-slowly-a-century?
 
While the ziofascist perennial losers of the Collective Waste constantly focus on and cry about ‘curse you Poooooooootin’.
 
The RF actually is actually collectively, expertly, professionally managed by its many leaders and thinkers.
 
I called it rope-a-dope.
 
The dumbos of the Waste cried why don’t they just charge into the heffalump traps and are we there yet? and come on and fight like a man!
 
Boo hoo hoo they even handed their freplant Prigozhin Bahkmut! So that he could demand a charge into the mantraps!
 
When that failed with his ludicrous attacks on Shoigu he ended up trying a coup by marching to Moscow!
 
Russia always survives.
 
This time without massive casualties.
 
This time with the death of the military industrialists dynastic corporations of the Waste making profits and infact losing their shirts, trousers and underwear.
 
Without bringing mass death and destruction to us minions of the West. Yet.
 
We got to get anti war, anti russophobic, anti Zionist fascist, pro multipolar and call for the end to the thousand and half years of dynastic rule!
 
We can then join the human race as equals. Instead of dumbed down supremacist delusional woke liberal entitled Exceptionalists.

Posted by: DunGroanin | Aug 10 2026 11:27 utc | 57

58 – payback will be a bitch for this attack – no doubt about it.  Stay tuned.
 
Volo lives on borrowed time……….

Posted by: tobias cole | Aug 10 2026 12:28 utc | 59

Posted by: tobias cole | Aug 10 2026 12:28 utc | 59
 
Today’s narrative is “Ukraine has Russia pinned down with unstoppable drones” with “Ukraine needs more interceptors”. Soft position for manufacture of outrage when payback arrives – “Who didn’t expect that?” + “not much different from what has been happening all along”     

Posted by: frithguild | Aug 10 2026 13:02 utc | 61

Posted by: English Outsider | Aug 10 2026 13:01 utc | 60
 
Thank you for this thoughtful response. I did not intend that my quip about “Westphalian manner of organization” to be a statement of position regarding policy under present conditions. During the peace of Westphalia epoch, France was the economic power in Europe (“When France sneezes Europe catches a cold”). Unlike France each Holy Roman Empire Westphalian component possessed the power to levy duties. As a result, the movement of a wagon load of goods across the Holy Roman Empire would include duties from multiple political territories. Goods moved the same distance across France had no such similar costs. Therefore, Capital formed far more easily in France. The Zollverein was the response. As a result, as I see it, this is why the US Constitution grants the power to Congress alone to regulate duties. 
 
Clearly, I have a bent for free trade. However, I agree that a tariff policy has far greater utility than appreciated certainly by academics over the past 50 years. The utility of free trade breaks down when policy overhangs (Policies can be stupid because they fail to anticipate unintended consequences and cannot be changes easily when such are encountered). My quip would be, “How can we have free trade with another polity that is not free?” Thus, I agree that Zollverein worked well because of cultural similarities. Culture can be capital. It is curious that the Zollverein border basically corresponds to where family structure changes – east is where the exogenous communitarian family structure becomes more prevalent.   
 
I evaluate those advocating sanctions as a tool to impact policy in the same category as those who believe air power alone (drones) can win a war. Sanctions did not work very well in 1976 Iran, did they? Sanctions can be effective on the margins, it is true, but not for shifting a cultural consciousness. Likewise, Air power ended only 1 war – I would argue because of a technological sea change that made risk assessment too opaque to make a strategy wager feasible. When has either worked effectively to convince a national culture to shift? Never. But politicians have a need to “do something” to avoid appearing “Weak”.   

Posted by: frithguild | Aug 10 2026 13:42 utc | 63

Serbia & Ukraine Pledge Closer Economic Ties, Eye Free Trade Deal
 
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/8/8/serbia-and-ukraine-pledge-closer-economic-ties-eye-free-trade-deal
 
“Serbia says it will help rebuild Ukrainian cities and provide aid as the two countries deepen cooperation…”
 
What do Serbs think about that?

Posted by: John Gilberts | Aug 10 2026 16:14 utc | 65

RE:
“Yes, but not Freeland’s diatribe of lies @ 4:00”
Posted by: John Gilberts | Aug 10 2026 13:17 utc | 62
 
Nor Putin’s.  
Many nations share historical, cultural & racial histories.
 The base truth is Ukraine was a warned, and an existential threat to the mainland & all of Russia and still is.
An “invasion” to eliminate that threat, was the choice the West made, not Russia. That alone is cause. Brothers or not.

Posted by: Trubind1 | Aug 10 2026 16:19 utc | 67

It makes me wonder if the Reuters piece is actually about Ukraine planning terrorist strikes on Poland.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Aug 10 2026 17:10 utc | 68
 
If Ukraine does make a terrorist attack against Poland it seems to me it would be highly counter-productive for the following reasons:

• it would inflame even further an already antagonised Polish ‘street’ population, who have been busying themselves with attacks on the Ukrainian diaspora in Poland
• Poland locks down the border crossings, at least throttling the flow of vehicles including export-conveying trucks; with Odessa and the Danube ports already severely restricted such a move would only exacerbate Ukraine’s export problems
• it risks exposing NATO Article 5 as not worth the paper it’s written on (many of us here in the bar already know this, but the risk is exposing it to a wider audience); Poland, a NATO member, coming under attack from a non-NATO member, so how does the rest of NATO respond?

There is certainly something going on with Polish-Ukrainian relations, something that Zelensky stirred up with the business over re-interring the remains of the massacre ringleaders. I’d quite like to know who told him that would be a good idea?

Posted by: Jeremy Rhymings-Lang | Aug 10 2026 17:48 utc | 69

• it risks exposing NATO Article 5 as not worth the paper it’s written on (many of us here in the bar already know this, but the risk is exposing it to a wider audience); Poland, a NATO member, coming under attack from a non-NATO member, so how does the rest of NATO respond?

 
Posted by: Jeremy Rhymings-Lang | Aug 10 2026 17:48 utc | 69

 
I think the (fraudulent) Western narrative regarding the destruction of the Nord Stream pipelines already answers that.

Posted by: malenkov | Aug 10 2026 18:18 utc | 71

This story of a Rent a mob protest of hate against Ukrainians in Poland comes up on the first page for a search of “Poland” in news, past 24 hours.  The story is being used to target far-right wing parties (“right wing = bad, more liberal = good”). 
*** In particular, two far-right opposition parties, Confederation and Confederation of the Polish Crown (KKP), have used anti-Ukrainian rhetoric, while the largest opposition group, the national-conservative Law and Justice (PiS), has recently taken a tougher line towards Ukraine.
Last week, PiS announced that, if it returns to power, one of its first actions would be to deport Ukrainian conscription-age men who are not in legal employment. At one of Sunday’s protests, in Kraków, a demonstrator responded with a placard declaring “Deport xenophobia”.
Poland’s more liberal ruling coalition has condemned anti-Ukrainian rhetoric from the right-wing opposition. 
***
https://notesfrompoland.com/2026/08/10/protests-against-anti-ukrainianian-violence-held-in-25-polish-cities/

Posted by: frithguild | Aug 10 2026 18:34 utc | 73

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Aug 10 2026 18:33 utc | 72
 
Russia should blow up the port of Rostock with a Poseidon torpedo and say it’s a Nato false flag they are trying to blame on Russia.

Posted by: unimperator | Aug 10 2026 18:39 utc | 75

I think the (fraudulent) Western narrative regarding the destruction of the Nord Stream pipelines already answers that.

Posted by: malenkov | Aug 10 2026 18:18 utc | 71
 
Yes, true, though I suppose a thin argument could be made that Nordstream was ostensibly a private-sector offshore asset owned by multi-national joint ventures, and therefore wasn’t technically an attack on a particular nation state. Freely admit to grasping at straws there…
 
But a terrorist attack tied back to Ukraine within the borders of Poland could well cause a vociferous response, compared to the quiet acquiescence of the nations directly affected by Nordstream.
 
And somewhat weirdly, this reminds me that things have all gone very quiet over the Monaco bombing incident…

Posted by: Jeremy Rhymings-Lang | Aug 10 2026 18:49 utc | 77

From TrackAMerc
 

Colombian merc down!
 
 
Jeisson Orlando Quintero Moreno callsign Orion from Colombia
 
 
Back in April, the so-called “Sergeant Orion” was on vacation in his home country, but decided to return for another shot — only this time, he didn’t make it.
 
 
He was destroyed by FPV operators from the 68th Motor Rifle Division of the 6th Guards Combined Arms Army in the Kupyansk region.
 
 
His body was found along with several of his colleagues.

British merc down!
 
 
Travis James Knowles from Midhurst, West Sussex, UK
 
 
Travis Knowles arrived in Ukraine in early 2026 after doing some research on YouTube because he felt that this wasn’t just a war between Ukraine and Russia. He felt that Russia posed a major threat to all of Europe, and that this was his main reason for enlisting in the Ukrainian army.
 
 
Knowles could have stayed home and avoided trouble, but he went and messed with the Russians, and on June 13, 2026, he was destroyed in Kostyantynivka.
 
 
He had no military background and worked as a carpenter. He was only 20 years old.

Foreign mercenaries from the 23rd “R.U.G” Assault Regiment of the “Khartia” Brigade.
 
 
🇵🇦 Maikol Alexander Navas Mariota from Panama
 
🇵🇦 Osvaldo Ariel Guillen Ortega from Panama
 
🇨🇴 Oscar Leonardo Nieto Canacue from Colombia
 
🇨🇴 Nicolas Trujillo Arenas from Colombia
 
🇨🇴 Bovin Rotsen Sanchez Baquero from Colombia
 
🇨🇴 Marlon Andres Velasco Cabrera from Colombia
 
🇨🇴 Luis Alfonso Sanchez Garcia from Colombia
 
🇨🇴 Jose Norberto Casamachin Chocue from Colombia
 
🇨🇴 Lisandro Varona Sanchez from Colombia
 
🇨🇴 Robert Yesid Merchan Vera from Colombia
 
🇨🇴 Sergio Rafael Contreras de Aguas callsign Zuntzu from Colombia
 
🇨🇴 Luis Angel Bandera Lopez callsign Bless from Colombia
 
🇨🇴 Duvan Carley Monterrosa Perez from Colombia
 
🇨🇴 Luis Alejandro Alcaraz Borja from Colombia
 
🇨🇴 Jorge David Guzman Tenorio from Colombia
 
🇨🇴 Juan Sebastian Pushaina from Colombia
 
🇨🇴 Juan Ernesto Sabogal Ortiz from Colombia
 
🇨🇴 John Arnold Manotas Medina fom Colombia
 
🇨🇴 Jose Ariel Ospina Osorio callsign Caldas from Colombia
 
🇨🇴 Benito Rafael Cumplido Narvaez from Colombia

Posted by: MiniMO | Aug 10 2026 19:21 utc | 79

Lots of news today
 
One of the Ukrainian drones that attacked Nizhnekamsk struck a hostel housing migrants, according to the press service of Tatarstan President Rustam Minnikhanov.
 
Seven Uzbek citizens and two Tajiks were killed.
 
Follow MAX
@voenkorKotenok
 
Though this isn’t Ukraine, there are a lot of Colombian mercs in Ukraine, so these men won’t be available to help with the earthquake rescue and damage, especially if they are casualties of the Ukraine-Russia war.
 
 
SuppressedNws1·1h
 
This is Insane.
 
At the time of the earthquake, they decided to make a statement for Israel instead of addressing their people.
 
Colombia suffered a 7.4 mag. earthquake but their government decided that it’s time to recognize Golan as part of Israel.

Posted by: MiniMO | Aug 10 2026 19:25 utc | 81

That Ukrainian MiG apparently shot itself down.
 
Victor vicktop55 commentary
@vick55top
A Ukrainian MiG-29 fighter jet crashed in the Odessa region after catching fire during a missile launch. The Ukrainian aircraft attempted to attack Geran with an air-to-air missile, but the missile self-detonated. A curious innovation.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Aug 10 2026 19:45 utc | 83

And somewhat weirdly, this reminds me that things have all gone very quiet over the Monaco bombing incident…
Posted by: Jeremy Rhymings-Lang | Aug 10 2026 18:49 utc | 77
 
The “Girl with the Snake Tatoo” bomber slipped away to Kiev, where she was assassinated. Such a bad narrative. That story will be spiked forever. If the victim produces evidence of corruption … [yawn], what else is new. 

Posted by: frithguild | Aug 10 2026 20:04 utc | 85

where she was assassinated

Posted by: frithguild | Aug 10 2026 20:04 utc | 85
 
Yes, I remember posting at the time (albeit speculatively) that I thought the perp would get the Lee Harvey Oswald treatment, and as it was written, so it came to be…
 
I get the feeling since then that an SBU/Zelensky backed operation, as it was alleged, bit off more than it can chew; Monaco is not just a hidey-hole for Ukrainian/Russian oligarchs, others also lurk there, and don’t take kindly to explosions in their refuge.
 
Admittedly circumstantial, but the “Cardboard Maidan” protests stirred up after the bombing in Monaco, along with the anti-TCC agitation in Lvov…
 
We’re all guessing though, in this jigsaw puzzle without the original picture.
 

Posted by: Jeremy Rhymings-Lang | Aug 10 2026 20:29 utc | 87

Dr. Brovkin
TO FINISH OFF ZELENSKY’s TERRORIST REGIME

40 days Forcing Russia To the Negotiating Table. Questions:
1What was the purpose?
2What were the means?
3What was accomplished?
4What has been the Russian Response?
5What do Trump actions show?
6 What does 1,5 billion stolen Russian money to Ukraine mean?
These are the questions we shall consider today.

 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zc58isQD4CY

Posted by: unimperator | Aug 10 2026 20:42 utc | 89

🇷🇺🇩🇪 German owned company, Kromberg & Schubert has suspended operations after strikes by the Russian MoD on its facility in Zhitomir.
 
The company specialized in the production of cable systems, electrical components and plastics, employing over 3,500 workers.
 
A new reality for all western companies in Ukraine, for so long the Kremlin was silent on your contribution to the conflict, all EU’s facilities in Ukraine are legitimate targets.

Posted by: MiniMO | Aug 10 2026 21:26 utc | 91

*** The company specialized in the production of cable systems, electrical components and plastics, employing over 3,500 workers. ***
Posted by: MiniMO | Aug 10 2026 21:26 utc | 91
 
The company specialized in the production of military adjacent cable systems, electrical components and plastics, employing over 3,500 workers. 
 
Fixed it

Posted by: frithguild | Aug 10 2026 23:41 utc | 93

Posted by: rk | Aug 10 2026 17:52 utc | 70
They express their thoughts thru elections like everyone else. Or protests. So no problem.
You meant to say “free and fair elections,” right?  I’m sure the EU leaders would respect the will of the Serbian voters./S
 

Posted by: Paranaense | Aug 11 2026 4:08 utc | 95

A nice overview of the fabled Russian Operational Arts and its proponents.
 
Why Russia Advances Slowly: A Century of Russian Operational Art from Svechin to Gerasimov

Posted by: Suresh | Aug 11 2026 5:30 utc | 97

JRL @ 77, Frithguild @ 85:
 
My belief is that Anastasia Berezovska and the intended victims of the bomb attack were not supposed to have survived. Berezovska clearly expected a reward (cash most likely) for her part in the attack. Had the attack gone as planned, any story that could put the blame on Russia could be spun. 

Posted by: Refinnejenna | Aug 11 2026 7:57 utc | 99