If you hadn't noticed the big mouthed little states already have borders with Russia & the Russian military is already on its borders. It is NATO who went to Russia's borders not the other way around.
Ill give you a bit of advice, I'm not being an arsehole here I'm being 100% truthful. Start researching what the Russian leadership is saying, including Putin. Every single thing they've said are their aims & objectives has been carried out to the letter. How many times do they have to repeat, they've got no intentions of invading any NATO countries before you realise the only way they'll do that is if they're provoked even more do than they are now. Russia hasnt hot ant market places in Ukraine or anywhere with 2 single stray missile & you or no one else has proof that they have because it hadn't happened. When a market was hit covienintly when the compulsive lying rat Blinken was visiting. It was quickly proven to have been a Ukrainian "misplaced missile". If you hadn't realised Russia had been asking for an investigation about the staged Bucha incident at the UN since it was 1st mentioned at the UN. They've asked for victims names & evidence any evidence whatsoever. None has been given to the UN or anyone else.
Every single thing I say there is any amount of evidence. By the way the Ukrainians admitted it was their missile that hit that market. Just like the stray missile that killed 2 in Poland was oro en to have been a Ukrainian missile. The facts are every single day Ukrainian fires missiles at civilian targets either in Donbass or Russia. It's only Russian air defences that have keot the casualties so low. All you need to do is research what happened in the Odessa union building in 2014, to peaceful unarmed Ukrainian civilians protesting the illegal American sponsored coup in 2014. To know who the extremists are, to know who slaughters civilians on purpose. Here in my country Sunak the Globalist lying little shit made a statement about how our energy bills are so high & inflation & blah blah blah all Putin's fault for switching the gas & oil off. He didn't the West imposed record amounts of sanctions on Russia. Can't you see all of their massive expensive mistakes are easily blamed on Putin as we're not allowed to see or hear the other side of the story. Every single thing that lying dead said was 100% lies & the proof is there fir everyone to see fir themselves if they do the research. I honestly like your Substack, but you believe for too much of our Western lies. By the way the Russian advance hasn't slowed down at all. Like Putin stated they have no need or no intention of taking Kharkov yet.
If you research military channels you'll know why they're not going into the city itself. Ukraine is plugging gaps there & making it's whole line weaker. They're losing a thousand men a day in doing so. Russia has Ukraine right where it wants it. Our western leaders just see it as a straight forward attack on 1 area thst needs stopping. It's pathetic the level of strategy. The Russians are toying with them & they don't even know it. They're still waiting for a big arrow is offencesive. It isn't going to happen, it's death by a thousand cuts, the Russians aren't even hiding these facts. This is why it has to be taken seriously what they state. They'll start doing the same around Sumy shortly just to stretch Ukraine even more. Not a massive attack just the same as what they're doing around Kharkov. Russia isn't mobilizing anyone at all. If you didn't know Putin had just proven how popular he is in the election. He's more popular than ever. Russia has an average between 1 thousand & 1500 volunteers every single day & has had so for over 9 months. There's no mobilization needed this has been stated many times also. They've gave all the figures, they've shown all the newly formed brigades. It's easy enough to research these facts. There's also just been a massive delivery of heavy weaponry toward Sumy & there's between 30 & 50 thousand troops just waiting to go & attack it. Honestly the Russians are far more reliable with information & providing proof of what they say. When was the last time you saw proof given by any of our politicians after their accusations?
Sounds like a lot of Z-Anon hopium to me. While the Ukrainians can't defeat Russia outright, the fact that this war--er, "Special Military Operation"--is entering its 28th month, with no end in sight, should dispel any illusions about the present state of the Russian armed forces. This misbegotten military misadventure has irrevocably shattered the mantle inherited by the post-Soviet military from its once vaunted Red Army predecessor.
One could argue that predicted in 2022 inevitable collapse of Russian Army and economy has turned out to be the exact opposite.
Russian Army is doing fine which is best demonstrated by recent claims of "western betrayal" by Zelensky and desperate rhetoric of the West (Jens Stoltenberg probably deserves a special mention).
Russia’s army is 15% larger than when it started the war. The NCOs and Jr Officers crewing this half million man army will become a senior officer corps with more experience than any other army in the world at fighting a modern war using drones, glide bombs, ECM, and other means developed in the crucible of battle.
We have awakened a sleeping giant and filled him with a terrible resolve.
And did you see “the hug” between Putin and Xi on the runway in China. That’s another fruit of this misbegotten Biden disaster.
This "hug" between Xi & Putin is one of a superior to his supplicant, and not between two equals, let alone allies. The fact that the Russian armed forces have to beggar for drones and artillery shells from Iran & the DPRK of all places is a glaring indictment of just how the kleptocratic claque which collapsed the USSR in 1991--of which Putin was & remains a part--has utterly dismantled the domestic manufacturing capacity it inherited--and subsequently dismantled--from the USSR.
An important qualifier regarding the “$64 billion aid package” is that less than 15% actually is going to Ukraine any time soon.
$40 billion is for US defense contractors and particularly the Scranton artillery factory to restock shells and howitzers that were sent to Ukraine. Recall that we ran out of shells last year and that was the excuse to send cluster munitions.
So that leaves $14 billion. Except half of that is to go shopping from a catalog and make orders that can’t be filled for years because the factories haven’t even been built yet.
The remaining seven billion we’ll throw over the wall to them.
Another caveat is that these factories we plan to build to boost our defense production are not proceeding as hoped because the defense contractors know that the raw materials and workers to run the factory are in scarce supply. So if they sign a contract today at today’s prices, they will see the cost of these scarce human and material resources bid up massively, especially if the war is expanded, and might … LOSE MONEY ON THE DEAL! This is something that simply does not happen if you are a defense contractor. So they aren’t signing any contracts until they negotiate for huge increases in the bottom line. This will be worked out, eventually, but not on a timetable that will help what is left of Ukraine.
After Covid, Western leaders are getting bored so they started some wars here and there but it is apparently not enough. They need more. I saw beheaded babies yesterday in Rafah, slaughtered women, burned people ... but it is not enough ... Are word leaders addicted to horros movies ? Do they think this is a Netflix show?
Perhaps comparing the the map of NATO in 1991 and 2022 can point you in the right direction. Top it up with a map showing US military bases around the World.
Russian imperialism is a popular click bait that's almost guaranteed to work. Read my recent article to learn why.
If they didn’t “even want the Donbas “ they have a very strange way of showing it. How many of their un-enfranchised peasants have they sent to their deaths so far?
Do they? To the best of my knowledge, the Kremlin wanted federalization, rather than annexation. From roughly 20 February 2015 till 20 February 2022, there was plenty of time to federalize. How many Little Russian peasants have your masters sent to their deaths so far?
Except for Afghanistan and Bosnia NATO has only ever been an organisation for mutual Defence and it could be argued that those ventures were defensive. It is only a threat to Russia because it is an example of (imperfect possibly) democratic governance that the rulers of Russia are afraid of. Europe has two examples from the last 200 years of why it would be very foolish to invade Russia. And luckily we do not now have a Napoleon or Hitler clone in charge. So it is Russia that is the invader and still an Imperialist empire with more than enough land and resources for its population.
One of the lasting lessons I took from Thucydides "History of the Peloponnesian War" is the fact that Democracies are slower to enter war, but also slower to end wars as well. The reason for this is because of the diffusion of decision making ability. Given the difficulties and complexities of the current Ukraine War, and every other war, finding a solution that many different countries world leaders can agree upon, in a timely and militarily valid scenario, becomes more and more remote by the day. The longer the war goes on, the more casualties on both sides, and the greater amount of time and energy spent on this war will further divide the interests into greater and greater camps. The League of Nations only lasted a few short years, and eventually led to WWII for a reason.
FYI there is a more recent work on the entire Peloponnesian war by Donald Kagan that includes the final two decades of the conflict, which were left out of Thucydides.
Putin Chose This War. He has to be defeated because he is a Liar and a despicable man who wants to drive the world backward, to the tsar years, and not forward. The west has been unserious so far because Putin is a dead serious man
I don't think so. I am not sure this world will ever have a hot war again. Just cold wars. Worst case scenario is the use of tactical nuclear weapons (TNW) which will immediately lead to de-escalation
The fate of the Russian attack on Ukraine in 2022 is proof that the era of huge, “big arrow” offensives to quickly surround and annihilate your enemy is over. Near Future wars among equals will be like this one. Grinding industrial attrition battles that devastate the combatants. Ukraine is firing cluster bombs and depleted uranium rounds that will be killing Ukranians for decades. We have to cure humanity’s addiction to war in an imminent manner or there will be nothing left to fight over.
Even with all the changes in technology, artillery is still the god of war.
Artillery is for blowing stuff up. It needs explosives. There’s an article today from The Economist noting that there is only one TNT plant operating in Europe. Wil-e-coyote sleeps well tonight.
Some facilities are mothballed and can eventually restart. Many were broken up and sold. Supply chains are rudimentary.
Europe is not nearly ready to take on Russia in a direct conflict and for them to try would likely make the predictions of Russia conquering Europe into a self fulfilling prophecy.
…first: Ukraine is THE HOTTEST POINT in the world right now to stop putin’s advances AROUND THE WORLD
…second: NATO soldiers can be a target for putin’s murders - YOU FUCKING BET IT WILL - they are SOLDIERS
…third: NATO do not have to nor been asked to, Ukrainians absolutely capable to protect themselves, they are being swindled by the same world after it signed Budapest Memorandum of 1994 and now THEY ARE NEED MEANS TO PROTECT THEMSELVES!!!
I read about halfway down until I saw this: “Ukrainian generals and politicians have been making comments such as: ‘The West is scared of Russia.’ “
Well, the West IS scared of Russia.
Whether or not this is a valid fear, as your article debates, the fact remains: the West is scared of Russia, no matter if bleeding Russia white is a useful strategic goal or not.
This, too: Russia is certainly winning the propaganda/information war, which is nothing limited to Ukraine.
I probably turn to read the rest of your article later.
…nobody’s asking for NATO to fight there EVER, ukrainians more then capable to, they need adequate weapons to protect themselves, shit would be very fucking different if Ukraine would keep their nukes, we absolutely have to help them because this is the hottest point in the world to fight for democracy in the world by defeating main source of evil
If you hadn't noticed the big mouthed little states already have borders with Russia & the Russian military is already on its borders. It is NATO who went to Russia's borders not the other way around.
I never argued otherwise?
Ill give you a bit of advice, I'm not being an arsehole here I'm being 100% truthful. Start researching what the Russian leadership is saying, including Putin. Every single thing they've said are their aims & objectives has been carried out to the letter. How many times do they have to repeat, they've got no intentions of invading any NATO countries before you realise the only way they'll do that is if they're provoked even more do than they are now. Russia hasnt hot ant market places in Ukraine or anywhere with 2 single stray missile & you or no one else has proof that they have because it hadn't happened. When a market was hit covienintly when the compulsive lying rat Blinken was visiting. It was quickly proven to have been a Ukrainian "misplaced missile". If you hadn't realised Russia had been asking for an investigation about the staged Bucha incident at the UN since it was 1st mentioned at the UN. They've asked for victims names & evidence any evidence whatsoever. None has been given to the UN or anyone else.
Every single thing I say there is any amount of evidence. By the way the Ukrainians admitted it was their missile that hit that market. Just like the stray missile that killed 2 in Poland was oro en to have been a Ukrainian missile. The facts are every single day Ukrainian fires missiles at civilian targets either in Donbass or Russia. It's only Russian air defences that have keot the casualties so low. All you need to do is research what happened in the Odessa union building in 2014, to peaceful unarmed Ukrainian civilians protesting the illegal American sponsored coup in 2014. To know who the extremists are, to know who slaughters civilians on purpose. Here in my country Sunak the Globalist lying little shit made a statement about how our energy bills are so high & inflation & blah blah blah all Putin's fault for switching the gas & oil off. He didn't the West imposed record amounts of sanctions on Russia. Can't you see all of their massive expensive mistakes are easily blamed on Putin as we're not allowed to see or hear the other side of the story. Every single thing that lying dead said was 100% lies & the proof is there fir everyone to see fir themselves if they do the research. I honestly like your Substack, but you believe for too much of our Western lies. By the way the Russian advance hasn't slowed down at all. Like Putin stated they have no need or no intention of taking Kharkov yet.
If you research military channels you'll know why they're not going into the city itself. Ukraine is plugging gaps there & making it's whole line weaker. They're losing a thousand men a day in doing so. Russia has Ukraine right where it wants it. Our western leaders just see it as a straight forward attack on 1 area thst needs stopping. It's pathetic the level of strategy. The Russians are toying with them & they don't even know it. They're still waiting for a big arrow is offencesive. It isn't going to happen, it's death by a thousand cuts, the Russians aren't even hiding these facts. This is why it has to be taken seriously what they state. They'll start doing the same around Sumy shortly just to stretch Ukraine even more. Not a massive attack just the same as what they're doing around Kharkov. Russia isn't mobilizing anyone at all. If you didn't know Putin had just proven how popular he is in the election. He's more popular than ever. Russia has an average between 1 thousand & 1500 volunteers every single day & has had so for over 9 months. There's no mobilization needed this has been stated many times also. They've gave all the figures, they've shown all the newly formed brigades. It's easy enough to research these facts. There's also just been a massive delivery of heavy weaponry toward Sumy & there's between 30 & 50 thousand troops just waiting to go & attack it. Honestly the Russians are far more reliable with information & providing proof of what they say. When was the last time you saw proof given by any of our politicians after their accusations?
most of what you said is what I said in the article
Sounds like a lot of Z-Anon hopium to me. While the Ukrainians can't defeat Russia outright, the fact that this war--er, "Special Military Operation"--is entering its 28th month, with no end in sight, should dispel any illusions about the present state of the Russian armed forces. This misbegotten military misadventure has irrevocably shattered the mantle inherited by the post-Soviet military from its once vaunted Red Army predecessor.
One could argue that predicted in 2022 inevitable collapse of Russian Army and economy has turned out to be the exact opposite.
Russian Army is doing fine which is best demonstrated by recent claims of "western betrayal" by Zelensky and desperate rhetoric of the West (Jens Stoltenberg probably deserves a special mention).
Russia’s army is 15% larger than when it started the war. The NCOs and Jr Officers crewing this half million man army will become a senior officer corps with more experience than any other army in the world at fighting a modern war using drones, glide bombs, ECM, and other means developed in the crucible of battle.
We have awakened a sleeping giant and filled him with a terrible resolve.
And did you see “the hug” between Putin and Xi on the runway in China. That’s another fruit of this misbegotten Biden disaster.
https://open.substack.com/pub/slavlandchronicles/p/special-post-why-the-smo-spook-insider?r=1sn81w&utm_medium=ios
This "hug" between Xi & Putin is one of a superior to his supplicant, and not between two equals, let alone allies. The fact that the Russian armed forces have to beggar for drones and artillery shells from Iran & the DPRK of all places is a glaring indictment of just how the kleptocratic claque which collapsed the USSR in 1991--of which Putin was & remains a part--has utterly dismantled the domestic manufacturing capacity it inherited--and subsequently dismantled--from the USSR.
An important qualifier regarding the “$64 billion aid package” is that less than 15% actually is going to Ukraine any time soon.
$40 billion is for US defense contractors and particularly the Scranton artillery factory to restock shells and howitzers that were sent to Ukraine. Recall that we ran out of shells last year and that was the excuse to send cluster munitions.
So that leaves $14 billion. Except half of that is to go shopping from a catalog and make orders that can’t be filled for years because the factories haven’t even been built yet.
The remaining seven billion we’ll throw over the wall to them.
Another caveat is that these factories we plan to build to boost our defense production are not proceeding as hoped because the defense contractors know that the raw materials and workers to run the factory are in scarce supply. So if they sign a contract today at today’s prices, they will see the cost of these scarce human and material resources bid up massively, especially if the war is expanded, and might … LOSE MONEY ON THE DEAL! This is something that simply does not happen if you are a defense contractor. So they aren’t signing any contracts until they negotiate for huge increases in the bottom line. This will be worked out, eventually, but not on a timetable that will help what is left of Ukraine.
This entire conflict is a proverbial racket, for both sides & all parties involved.
After Covid, Western leaders are getting bored so they started some wars here and there but it is apparently not enough. They need more. I saw beheaded babies yesterday in Rafah, slaughtered women, burned people ... but it is not enough ... Are word leaders addicted to horros movies ? Do they think this is a Netflix show?
How come that the imperialism of Russia never seems to bother you people.
You only seem to get your knickers in a knot when the West stands up to Stalin’s fan boys
Perhaps comparing the the map of NATO in 1991 and 2022 can point you in the right direction. Top it up with a map showing US military bases around the World.
Russian imperialism is a popular click bait that's almost guaranteed to work. Read my recent article to learn why.
The threat that Russia poses is one of the key concerns of the article. Not sure how you missed that.
Oddly enough, I don't see Russia as the problem, either. I see the US/UK as the main problem.
You appear to be saying that the way to address the threat that Russia poses is to give them what they want.
Which "imperialism of Russia"? The Kremlin did not even want the Donbas.
Given that you are a Mick, shouldn't you be worried about Limey imperialism instead?
If they didn’t “even want the Donbas “ they have a very strange way of showing it. How many of their un-enfranchised peasants have they sent to their deaths so far?
Do they? To the best of my knowledge, the Kremlin wanted federalization, rather than annexation. From roughly 20 February 2015 till 20 February 2022, there was plenty of time to federalize. How many Little Russian peasants have your masters sent to their deaths so far?
Except for Afghanistan and Bosnia NATO has only ever been an organisation for mutual Defence and it could be argued that those ventures were defensive. It is only a threat to Russia because it is an example of (imperfect possibly) democratic governance that the rulers of Russia are afraid of. Europe has two examples from the last 200 years of why it would be very foolish to invade Russia. And luckily we do not now have a Napoleon or Hitler clone in charge. So it is Russia that is the invader and still an Imperialist empire with more than enough land and resources for its population.
One of the lasting lessons I took from Thucydides "History of the Peloponnesian War" is the fact that Democracies are slower to enter war, but also slower to end wars as well. The reason for this is because of the diffusion of decision making ability. Given the difficulties and complexities of the current Ukraine War, and every other war, finding a solution that many different countries world leaders can agree upon, in a timely and militarily valid scenario, becomes more and more remote by the day. The longer the war goes on, the more casualties on both sides, and the greater amount of time and energy spent on this war will further divide the interests into greater and greater camps. The League of Nations only lasted a few short years, and eventually led to WWII for a reason.
FYI there is a more recent work on the entire Peloponnesian war by Donald Kagan that includes the final two decades of the conflict, which were left out of Thucydides.
Putin Chose This War. He has to be defeated because he is a Liar and a despicable man who wants to drive the world backward, to the tsar years, and not forward. The west has been unserious so far because Putin is a dead serious man
https://www.amazon.com/Putin-Chose-This-War-Globalizations-ebook/dp/B0B5NNYHNQ/ref=sr_1_1?dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.ZAEiTnzUqPtGWS3qkJhQeaR4r_y9BIWfv0R0l3wwc6TGjHj071QN20LucGBJIEps.SdJWwdCc0XurIiQB1qi_Kzhv8QgcA7Z7-1Bs6FEZMOM&dib_tag=se&keywords=Putin+Chose&qid=1716814185&s=digital-text&sr=1-1
defeating Putin is a dangerous fantasy
I bet that is what a lot of European politicians were saying about Hitler in 1938
How did that war end, by the way? This one would START with the nuking of each other’s cities.
I don't think so. I am not sure this world will ever have a hot war again. Just cold wars. Worst case scenario is the use of tactical nuclear weapons (TNW) which will immediately lead to de-escalation
The fate of the Russian attack on Ukraine in 2022 is proof that the era of huge, “big arrow” offensives to quickly surround and annihilate your enemy is over. Near Future wars among equals will be like this one. Grinding industrial attrition battles that devastate the combatants. Ukraine is firing cluster bombs and depleted uranium rounds that will be killing Ukranians for decades. We have to cure humanity’s addiction to war in an imminent manner or there will be nothing left to fight over.
Not sure that will happen because of the Military Industrial complex
Look what freaking happened
You're believing the Nasties' propaganda.
The idea is to bring down America and the UK, utterly. From within.
You can check out my book for more insights
Even with all the changes in technology, artillery is still the god of war.
Artillery is for blowing stuff up. It needs explosives. There’s an article today from The Economist noting that there is only one TNT plant operating in Europe. Wil-e-coyote sleeps well tonight.
Some facilities are mothballed and can eventually restart. Many were broken up and sold. Supply chains are rudimentary.
Europe is not nearly ready to take on Russia in a direct conflict and for them to try would likely make the predictions of Russia conquering Europe into a self fulfilling prophecy.
Insane. Wouldn't it be amazing if NATO countries just decided to give up their dirty tricks and play fair on the international stage?
Well if it's stupid then NATO will do it.
Sorry for typos my keyboard needs renewing
No worries.. the only one I’m pondering over is the hot ant bit
…this is so FUCKING STUPID !!!
…first: Ukraine is THE HOTTEST POINT in the world right now to stop putin’s advances AROUND THE WORLD
…second: NATO soldiers can be a target for putin’s murders - YOU FUCKING BET IT WILL - they are SOLDIERS
…third: NATO do not have to nor been asked to, Ukrainians absolutely capable to protect themselves, they are being swindled by the same world after it signed Budapest Memorandum of 1994 and now THEY ARE NEED MEANS TO PROTECT THEMSELVES!!!
https://www.hks.harvard.edu/publications/budapest-memorandum-25-between-past-and-future
Nothing could be dumber than invading Russia
I really admire how you distill these political events into clear, accessible language
I read about halfway down until I saw this: “Ukrainian generals and politicians have been making comments such as: ‘The West is scared of Russia.’ “
Well, the West IS scared of Russia.
Whether or not this is a valid fear, as your article debates, the fact remains: the West is scared of Russia, no matter if bleeding Russia white is a useful strategic goal or not.
This, too: Russia is certainly winning the propaganda/information war, which is nothing limited to Ukraine.
I probably turn to read the rest of your article later.
…nobody’s asking for NATO to fight there EVER, ukrainians more then capable to, they need adequate weapons to protect themselves, shit would be very fucking different if Ukraine would keep their nukes, we absolutely have to help them because this is the hottest point in the world to fight for democracy in the world by defeating main source of evil
https://www.armscontrol.org/factsheets/Ukraine-Nuclear-Weapons
It would be like Nazis trying to defeat the USSR.