Meanwhile, unity of purpose and direction continue in Ukraine: 

Mass brawl involving TCC erupted in Ternopil: one person hospitalized

https://kurs.com.ua/en/novost/1475727-v-ternopole-proizoshla-massovaja-draka-s-uchastiem-tck-odin-chelovek-popal-v-bolnicu
Some excerpts:

On the evening of August 25, a large-scale conflict occurred in Ternopil between servicemen of the territorial recruitment center and local residents. As a result of the clash, several people were injured, one participant ended up in hospital, and the service vehicle of the TCC was damaged.

~~~

According to the police, the TCC servicemen were conducting measures to identify individuals who may be evading military duty. Representatives of the recruitment center were talking to one of the men.
 
At that moment, other people began to gather near the service vehicle. Law enforcement officers claim that some citizens started hitting the car and entered into conflict with the TCC servicemen.
 
The verbal altercation escalated into a physical confrontation. The police reported that TCC officers sustained bodily injuries.
 
On videos posted on social media, a large crowd can be seen around the service vehicle. The car’s windows were smashed and it had other visible damage. […]

Posted by: Jeremy Rhymings-Lang | Aug 25 2026 20:56 utc | 203

🇺🇸🇷🇺 CIA Director John Ratcliffe’s motorcade was filmed exiting the Kremlin, footage circulating on Russian channels.

https://t.me/DDGeopolitics/191873

Posted by: Norwegian | Aug 25 2026 21:09 utc | 205

Reportedly US embassy in Moscow took down all flags. C-17 may have been diplomatic evacuation. US doomsday planes are in the air. If Russia does the same, it’s the most dangerous part of the war.
 
https://x.com/cirnosad/status/2092362374569418775

Posted by: unimperator | Aug 25 2026 22:38 utc | 207

@208,
It’s basically nothing. We will never know exactly what was the point of the visit of Ratcliffe in Russia especially now. The speculations from the Western braindead media are laughable anyway and no sane person can take them seriously. Also, where exactly is the proof that either Russia or US “doomsday” planes are in the air?
People should stop quoting random nobodies from Twitter. 

Posted by: JamesBond | Aug 25 2026 22:46 utc | 209

🔥 WHILE CIA DIRECTOR RATCLIFFE SECRETLY LANDS IN MOSCOW, A $10–11 BILLION RUSSIAN-CHINESE MEGA-PLANT GOES UP IN FLAMES IN THE FAR EAST 🇷🇺
 

A major fire has erupted at the Amur Gas Chemical Complex — a $10–11 billion joint venture between Russia’s SIBUR (60%) and China’s Sinopec (40%).
The blaze hit the pyrolysis unit, the heart of the facility, covering around 2,000 square meters.At least 3 workers are dead and approximately 150 injured.
The plant was only weeks away from starting production. It was designed to produce 2.7 million tonnes of polymers annually — one of the largest complexes of its kind in the world.
The project had already been delayed for years after European partners pulled out following 2022.
No evidence of external attack has been presented. The site is roughly 6,000 km from Ukraine.
The fire broke out on the same day a U.S. Air Force C-17 landed in Moscow carrying, according to multiple reports, CIA Director John Ratcliffe — a visit both sides refuse to explain.
A strategic Russian-Chinese industrial project is heavily damaged just before launch… while high-level American intelligence arrives in the Russian capital under total silence.
Coincidence?

 
https://x.com/SlavicNetworks/status/2092345707344605307

Posted by: unimperator | Aug 25 2026 23:02 utc | 211

Apparently RUAF attacked Druzhovka from the west enabled by its earlier breakthrough SW/W of Druzhovka and the thrust north. A large number of AFU drone operators were literally stabbed to death.
 
Now AFU has to deploy its remaining drone operators far to the north of Druzhovka, which may accelerate the collapse of Druzhovka under pressure and little/no FPV support.

Posted by: unimperator | Aug 25 2026 23:41 utc | 213

Apparently RUAF attacked Druzhovka from the west enabled by its earlier breakthrough SW/W of Druzhovka and the thrust north. A large number of AFU drone operators were literally stabbed to death. 
Posted by: unimperator | Aug 25 2026 23:41 utc | 214
 
Wasn’t it just 4? Or do you have proof of more?

Posted by: MiniMO | Aug 26 2026 2:25 utc | 215

‘contacts between intelligence agencies,’ ~Peskov
 
 

Posted by: Time will tell | Aug 26 2026 3:22 utc | 217

Posted by: Night Tripper | Aug 26 2026 8:11 utc | 219
The meeting was too short, spanning 5 hours more or less, to discuss anything significant, in my opinion. 

Posted by: Mario | Aug 26 2026 8:34 utc | 219

1. The meeting was too short, spanning 5 hours more or less, to discuss anything significant, in my opinion. 

Posted by: Mario | Aug 26 2026 8:34 utc | 220
It wasn’t a discussion. It was the US making threats based on what they know the Russians will do.
 
hopefully they are ignored and Russia executes exactly what it intends to 

Posted by: Night Tripper | Aug 26 2026 9:10 utc | 221

Burnham again doing his job for the poor impoverished British working class by making Ukraine the priority:

https://clashreport.com/world/articles/burnham-plans-us-trip-to-lobby-trump-on-patriot-missiles-for-ukraine-bv4nvqsq9xa

Posted by: GeorgeWendell | Aug 26 2026 9:27 utc | 223

Posted by: unimperator | Aug 26 2026 9:39 utc | 225
 
I think we are headed for the Grand Finale now and if NATO continues any shenanigans then it needs to be very careful. Russia has had enough of the stupid games.
 
I am completely amazed at the amount of powerful weapons Russia can sustain (and has been able to sustain) to keep this fight up. This is a well prepared nation. 

Posted by: GeorgeWendell | Aug 26 2026 9:59 utc | 225

Posted by: too scents | Aug 26 2026 8:37 utc | 221
What will you do if Usrael go nuke?
I reformulated it for you. 

Posted by: Mario | Aug 26 2026 10:13 utc | 227

I would put Iran very much at the lower end of likely reasons for the visit. Remember the US asked the Ukros to stop firing at Russian cities whilst they were in Moscow. Also, Burns went under remarkably similar circumstances in 21 when they knew the Russians were planning something major. He did not go because of some peripheral third country issue.
 
We also have media reports suggesting US intelligence detecting mobilization and testing NATO’s resolve.
 
 

Posted by: Night Tripper | Aug 26 2026 10:46 utc | 229

The other possibility is that Russia has finally has enough of Europe especially the UK.  Perhaps Russia is seriously thinking of declaring war on the UK without necessarily triggering NATO article 5. The withdrawal of the Ambassador to London is suspicious.  The US may be approaching Russia to avoid this outcome. 
Posted by: watcher | Aug 26 2026 10:57 utc | 231
 
I think this is feasible 

Posted by: Night Tripper | Aug 26 2026 10:59 utc | 231

Putin’s response was to hit them three times harder.

Posted by: unimperator | Aug 26 2026 11:37 utc | 233

The thermal power plant in Kherson was targeted by a Russian KAB strike.
 
Serious damage has reportedly occurred.

 
https://x.com/squatsons/status/2092573324979400997

Posted by: unimperator | Aug 26 2026 12:26 utc | 235

Putin’s response was to hit them three times harder.
 
 
Posted by: unimperator | Aug 26 2026 11:37 utc | 234
 
 
 
I thought Putin’s response was interesting.  The “deal” that apparently was presented was VERY one sided against Russia in that it would freeze the lines in the Sumy and Kharkov regions – regions where Russia is making slow steady progress.  According to Dima, Putin countered with basically removing the part about the frozen lines.  The US delegation then threatened escalation from the US, I mean Ukrainian side, and Putin then came back with his “we’ll hit back 3x harder”.
 
It looked like this was the Ukrainian version of events.  Interesting in that presented Putin in a VERY positive light.  Rejecting an unfair “deal”, countering with a pretty fair deal, and then after US escalation threats countering with Russian escalation in return.
 
Interesting side light:  NATO sent many times more drones into Russia as Russia sent into Ukraine.  Dima tried hard to dramatize the 2 or 3 explosions against Russian targets, while trying for equal time by rushing a bit faster through the more numerous explosions in Ukrainian territory.

Posted by: Woke American | Aug 26 2026 12:41 utc | 237

Any ideas about the 3 secret decrees ? (605-606-607)?
 
so far, even sensitive ones (imho as with recruitment data allows proxy for losses) like army size were public. 3 in a row is not nothing…

Posted by: Newbie | Aug 26 2026 13:01 utc | 239

“A large number of AFU drone operators were literally stabbed to death. Now AFU has to deploy its remaining drone operators far to the north of Druzhovka, which may accelerate the collapse of Druzhovka under pressure and little/no FPV support.
Posted by: unimperator | Aug 25 2026 23:41 utc | 214”
 
That’s an interesting detail that I haven’t seen anywhere else. Did they avoid gunfire in order to capture as much equipment intact as they could? Or is the whole claim wishful thinking? I’d love to see a reliable link.

Posted by: Dalit | Aug 26 2026 13:48 utc | 241

*** I’ll bet it was to present a deal where Russia ceases it’s military support of Iran in exchange for the USA’s abandonment of Ukraine. ***
Posted by: HB_Norica | Aug 26 2026 14:06 utc | 243
 
This theory is not consistent with PM Burnham’s speech and the run up to it because the US and the UK remain unitary.  It is possible though that the UK position is to convey that the west is not weak. However, if you are right, the UK is under the bus with no narrative escape. 
 
“These contacts often continue even during the ​most difficult periods in bilateral relations. Our ​president, incidentally, ⁠has spoken about this. However, it is still too early to say to what extent this will, overall, ⁠help ​to steer our bilateral relations out ​of the profound crisis in which they currently find themselves,” – Peskov. Opaque as to be expected but hints that the RF had a counter proposal.  

Posted by: frithguild | Aug 26 2026 14:25 utc | 243

Ukraine at 35, What Went Wrong
***
Going back further, the aforesaid ideological virus took its first significant form as the “Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists” in 1929, which came under the patronage of the interwar Germany’s intelligence services and ultimately their control. What began as a terrorist-separatist group targeting interwar Poland, whose citizens it later genocided, evolved into an anti-Soviet cult that was kept alive by the diaspora after World War II. They’re the ones who then brought this virus back to Ukraine after 1991.
 
From then till “EuroMaidan”, this ideological virus spread through society with the support of Western government-funded “NGOs”, gradually influencing policymakers and average folks till its most zealous adherents seized control of the state in 2014. This process contextualizes why Ukraine sought to join NATO years prior instead of pragmatically balance between Russia and the West, which would have at least preserved its demography while strengthening its economy and security instead of ruining all three.
 
Not news to this baroom, but the flourish I will add is the governance structure of Galicia Volynia – German Nazism through clandestine operation and NGO funding of the sentiment that we hate Russia more than we love our country – has favored for selection of Dark Triad personalities for about 100 years. 

Posted by: frithguild | Aug 26 2026 14:52 utc | 245

*** All this and much more is being done while being sanctioned to death according to the West. ***
Posted by: karlof1 | Aug 26 2026 15:11 utc | 247
 
Sanctions created a “Russia First” / nationalist ajenda without a political exit. Mix in that Russia has not fallen in to a debt trap – Russia dodged a bullet when the World Bank would not enter Russia 1991/1992 – and you have a perfect example of unintended consequences due to the utter incompetence of western policy makers. 

Posted by: frithguild | Aug 26 2026 15:26 utc | 247

Posted by: English Outsider | Aug 26 2026 12:37 utc | 237
 
Thank you for your response.  Cheers.

Posted by: spudski | Aug 26 2026 16:41 utc | 249

Iranian sources claim that CIA Director Ratcliffe flew to Moscow to persuade it to pressure Iran into opening the Strait of Hormuz.
According to a statement from Iranian sources, the Kremlin refused, and threats of U.S. sanctions against companies trading with Iran do not intimidate Russia.

Posted by: Cagliostro | Aug 26 2026 17:31 utc | 251

Posted by: ed4 | Aug 26 2026 16:45 utc | 251
———————-
Your link also says Ukraine did use them too. In July 2022, lots of petal mines were found in Donetsk city, guess what did Ukraine stated (and MSM spread): the Russian did it. Like Russia bombed Zaporizhia NPP while it was under its control with its military and plant operators.
 
Btw, you know that reporting dead’s and destruction is immediate when Ukraine is hit, while it is not when at Russia side. The bias in favour of Ukraine, be it by HRW, UN entities is systematic.
 
 

Posted by: scc | Aug 26 2026 18:23 utc | 253

JF: Gilbert Doctorow 
Posted by: John Gilberts | Aug 26 2026 18:04 utc | 253
 
Ahh Gilbert Doctorow, The guy exposed literally writing a memo to the EU encouraging sanctions against russia.
 
Also the guy “John Gilberts” claimed to have never read when I noted his name is an amalgam of  former Moscow times reporter John Helmer and “sanction russia harder” Gilbert Doctorow in Brussels.
 
John Glberts just cant help but post discredited imperialist agents, and their opinion on Russia.

Posted by: UWDude | Aug 26 2026 21:17 utc | 255

Russia has a long history of using cluster munitions in Ukraine.  There have been a few links posted here on MOA to stories about it..I don’t think Russia or Ukraine are signatories to the treaty banning them.
Posted by: ed4 | Aug 25 2026 20:52 utc | 202
 
You stupid AI fuck.  You are quoting me quoting you, and then contradicting what you wrote.
 
I said Russia DOES use cluster munitions.
 
Look, you fucking dumbass:
 

1)  Russia uses cluster munitons against Ukraine. 2) The russian economy is doing fine.  3)  russia should follow Iran’s lead and accept a ceasfire (while allowing itself to get bombed every now and then anyway)?
Posted by: UWDude | Aug 24 2026 19:12 utc | 103

 
Fucking retarded Bot.

Posted by: UWDude | Aug 26 2026 21:25 utc | 257

I see fedorov has stated Ukraine only has a few months to turn the tide of the war…
 
No, fedorov.
 
No amount of changing leaders, or tactics, or strategies will stop Ukraines doom, and never could.
 
Ukraine was heavily outgunned and outmanned from the beginning. 
 
This is the thing that some people just cant understand or accept.  They think that maybe if ths had been done differently or that, then maybe things would be different in so many wars.  they like to point to leader’s “mistakes” and “blunders” that cost them the war, looking through the lens of “leaders win wars”.   
 
No they dont.  Bullets and soldiers win wars.   And Russia has about 3 times more than the rest of the world can pour into Ukraine.
 
There is no hope for Ukraine, and there will be no turn-around, nor is there any great strategy or tactic or military genius that can overcome reality.
 
 

Posted by: UWDude | Aug 26 2026 21:54 utc | 259

I forgot….
 
Ratcliffe visited Moscow….
 
so…
 
PuTiN is GoInG to GeT fooLeD iNtO MiNsK 3  !!!1!!  PuTiN is BegGinG FoR a PeacE TreaTy!!!  He Is GoinG to GiVe AwaY CriMEa WiTh a SmiLe!!

Posted by: UWDude | Aug 26 2026 21:56 utc | 261

Jamarl Thomas: Col Larry Wilkerson
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxJF6682N5k
 
“Insiders reveal worrying discussions in the White House, CIA to Moscow.”

Posted by: John Gilberts | Aug 27 2026 1:23 utc | 263

It looks as though my original premise about the Ratcliffe visit was essentially correct.
 
I argued that it made little sense for the CIA director to fly personally to Moscow simply over a prisoner exchange or some routine bilateral issue, and that the more plausible explanation was that Washington had intelligence suggesting Russia might be considering a serious escalation — potentially involving NATO territory — and wanted to deliver a direct warning.
 
That now appears to be very close to what actually happened.
 
Politico is reporting that the primary purpose of Ratcliffe’s meeting was to warn Russia against escalation involving NATO states, particularly Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Other US reporting is pointing in the same direction.
 
So the Burns 2021 comparison was not particularly far-fetched after all. In both cases the CIA director was used as a direct channel to Moscow because Washington possessed intelligence about a potentially major Russian military move and wanted the Kremlin to understand both that the US knew about it and that there would be consequences.
 
Obviously, this does not mean Russia has made a final decision to attack NATO, or that anything is imminent. But the basic premise was right: Ratcliffe was not in Moscow primarily for some mundane prisoner negotiation. He was carrying a warning about possible Russian escalation.
 
The really interesting question now is no longer why did Ratcliffe go?
 
It is: what exactly has US intelligence seen that made it necessary for the CIA director himself to go to Moscow and deliver that warning?
 
Hopefully Russia will carry out whatever they deem necessary to quieten the chihuahuas 

Posted by: Night Tripper | Aug 27 2026 5:38 utc | 265

8 hour agenda

1. Dprk Relay message, -asked Jung un Kim to accept djt invitation
2. Kiev Midget toss -asked if replacing with the promoted 36yr old, blackrock reconstruction ceasefire, was acceptable
3. Ghosts -probed questions regarding uk france strikes with stormshadows, using clandestine services, tactical…
4. Lunch break
5. Japan -causing unification of Taipei Seoul Beijing Pyongyang against imperialists
6. Oligarchs -targeting the capitalistic financiers, media blackout of america’s 20 richest billionaires going all in, publicly voicing Russiaphobia the secret uk partner. Theil house protests.
7. Iran -nuclear ambitions & third party assistance 

Posted by: Time will tell | Aug 27 2026 6:53 utc | 267

AFU launched attack on Donetsk. Residential buildings and civilian infrastructure were damaged. SCALP missiles were used.
 
Attacking soft nearby targets with these ‘cream of the crop’ western missiles implies that AFU planes don’t have range to launch them to other targets inside Russia. They must’ve been launched from quite far west/central Ukraine. They only have drones for this purpose with relatively small payloads.

Posted by: unimperator | Aug 27 2026 8:10 utc | 269

Will they hail the mobilisation of teens, once the mobilisation of women and 18-25 will fail to change anything?
Posted by: scc | Aug 27 2026 8:39 utc | 271
 
Sure, why not? And you forgot that many EU countries have stopped giving refugee status to military age men from Ukr. And when those already given expire, they won’t be renewed. So there is cannon fodder for many many years using only Ukr population. The front line is a side show, contrary to the theory of the youtube merchandise shop experts. The main show is the unlimited shooting at Russia and you don’t need many Ukr for that.
I can’t see any reason for changes at least until next election year, 2030. When Ukr surrenders one way or another, Russia will still be dirt poor and too badly managed to control that territory. Anyone can enter, shoot and leave long before the medieval general staff sees anything. They didn’t see anyone in Kursk and it was tens of thousands of people and hundreds of tanks. It still looks like a forever war, let’s talk again in Aug 2036, see if anything new has happened.

Posted by: rk | Aug 27 2026 10:01 utc | 271

Posted by: rk | Aug 27 2026 10:01 utc | 272
Most male Ukrainians of combat age that Europe wants to send back to Ukraine are going instead to settle in Russia. (Did the Guardian miss that one?) Otherwise why are they now recruiting women, if exiled returnees were sufficient? Indulge in your britcope tropes about a primitive Russia if that makes you feel better – it’s total fantasy but who cares?

Posted by: Andrew Sarchus | Aug 27 2026 10:52 utc | 273

The clown president of Funland, Stubb says Ukraine knows more about war than EU/Nato combined.
 
If that’s true while AFU is taking the beating it is, potentially 1.8 million dead soldiers, then it doesn’t bode well for the western war machine.
 
https://x.com/Marcorio61O/status/2092962503940522188

Posted by: unimperator | Aug 27 2026 13:22 utc | 275

The clown president of Funland, Stubb says Ukraine knows more about war than EU/Nato combined.
 
Posted by: unimperator | Aug 27 2026 13:22 utc | 276

 
So if what Ukraine knows so much about is “war”, well then it can give lessons in how to target concert halls, schools, children, elderly, civilians minding their own business, and how to drone anything they see as long as it’s guaranteed civilian and EU/Nato are more than willing to learn. Anyway those happy donors should get something in return for their generosity.

Posted by: Avtonom | Aug 27 2026 14:24 utc | 277

Europe’s Economic Collapse Is Accelerating — These Are The REAL Numbers

00:00 Europe’s New Economic Crisis Is Here
00:36 The Economic Chain Reaction: Energy → Inflation → Recession
00:53 Europe’s Energy Crisis Is Driving Inflation Higher
01:38 European Inflation Rises Above the ECB Target02:14 ECB Trap: Inflation vs. Economic Growth
02:50 Why High Interest Rates Are Hurting Europe
03:43 Germany’s Industrial Crisis Gets Worse
04:10 China’s “New Shock” Hits German Industry
05:22 Chinese Imports Threaten European Manufacturing
06:29 Why Europe Is Turning to Protectionism
07:14 China Could Retaliate Against European Exports
08:09 Europe’s Economic Crisis Explained
08:52 Europe’s Competitiveness Crisis Is Growing09:10 Can Europe Remain an Industrial Powerhouse?
09:37 The Irony of Europe’s Protectionist Strategy10:10 Europe’s Impossible Economic Choice
10:50 What Europe Must Do to Avoid Economic Decline
11:26 What Happens Next for Europe’s Economy?
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdiAOSPE8Vw

 
 
Nothing another couple of hundred billion euros into the Kiev golden toilet couldn’t fix.

Posted by: unimperator | Aug 27 2026 14:44 utc | 279

Vladimir Brovkin
Full version: What Can the “Willing” do?
 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJLifLJFi8U

Posted by: unimperator | Aug 27 2026 15:00 utc | 281

Posted by: Jo | Aug 27 2026 14:51 utc | 281
 
Most of the ‘elected’ Baltic leaders are US or Israeli double citizens. As such, if/when any hostilities start involving their own states, they will be in a foreign country inside bunkers, maybe somewhere like France or UK or even US.
 
The reason they are now setting up the Baltics is precisely the collapse of Ukraine, economic collapse and civil unrest in EU/UK against the epstein elite. The war fire needs to spread. Without war and emergency laws guaranteeing Epstein class powers, you would see collapse of EU and Nato.
 
Baltic states are sort of an ‘use-it-or-lose-it’ case for the western oligarchs, because they will demographically disappear. The Baltic lands are bound to fall into Russian hands as their native population shrinks into oblivion. And they are net consumers of EU/Nato funds.
 
So Nato has to get some return out of it, meaning sacrificing them in war against Russia. While attempting to take down Kaliningrad.

Posted by: unimperator | Aug 27 2026 15:05 utc | 283

Posted by: Konami | Aug 27 2026 12:28 utc | 275
 
I was thinking on the same lines when I read about Ratcliff’s exploit.IMO he conveyed the message that USA/CIA might acknowledge Russia ‘s winning in Ukraine,if Russia would  respect the titles and propriety acts that stand actually,for the benefit of Blackrock,Cargill,Bayer Dupont and other oligarchs

Posted by: willie | Aug 27 2026 15:09 utc | 285

Just one day after Ursula VDL pledged Ukraine 90 Billion Euros, Zelensky is demanding an additional 23 billion Euros.
 
https://x.com/runews/status/2092725841633350096

Posted by: unimperator | Aug 27 2026 15:30 utc | 287

Blast at Russia-China Chemical Project in Svobodny Kills Seven, Leaves Nine Chinese Missing. Ukraine is expanding the war. video in link  ==>  https://t.me/VodkaEcho/13401 Posted by: too scents | Aug 27 2026 7:36 utc | 269

Why is it in Ukraine’s interest to bring China into the war?
In a UN debate a year or two ago in response to a western accusation that China was helping Russia,
the Chinese delegate replied that they were not.
He continued, “if we were on Russia’s side, things would not be as they are in Ukraine.”
China clearly plan to step in at a certain moment.

Posted by: Andrew Sarchus | Aug 27 2026 16:05 utc | 289

Posted by: Kadath | Aug 27 2026 16:43 utc | 291
The “Putin would never strike NATO — and if he did, he’d probably retire afterwards” argument doesn’t really make sense.
First, the whole point of the recent CIA concern is not that Putin is planning some suicidal all-out war with NATO. It is that Moscow may believe it can carry out a limited offensive action — a strike, incursion, seizure of a ship, attack on a military asset — and then test whether NATO actually has the political will to escalate.
That fits the pattern we have already seen. Russia has repeatedly moved the line: cyberattacks, sabotage, airspace violations, infrastructure attacks, increasingly explicit threats against NATO states and their military assets. Every individual step is kept just below the level people previously assumed would trigger war.
And that is exactly what makes the CIA director’s Moscow visit significant. William Burns was sent to Moscow in late 2021 when US intelligence believed Putin was seriously preparing to invade Ukraine. Most outside observers still thought a full invasion was too irrational to happen. We know how that turned out.
So “I just can’t imagine Putin doing it” is not much of an argument anymore. Putin does not need to believe he can defeat NATO. He only needs to believe that NATO will hesitate over a sufficiently limited attack.
The idea that he would then somehow retire at the end of the year is stranger still. Why would Putin authorise the most consequential Russian military escalation against the West in decades, potentially vindicate his entire theory that NATO lacks resolve, and then promptly hand power to someone else?
If anything, a successful limited action against NATO that produced little meaningful response would strengthen Putin enormously. It would demonstrate that the alliance’s red lines were less solid than advertised and encourage Moscow to push further.
The dangerous scenario is therefore not Putin suddenly becoming reckless or suicidal.
It is Putin deciding that attacking NATO isn’t actually as risky as we think it is.
 

Posted by: Night Tripper | Aug 27 2026 17:06 utc | 291