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Totally wonderful. What inspiring reading ! Just what I wanted to hear. A Russia that is well organised, knows what it is doing, is doing the right things in the right way and plans to continue. And looks for faults and shortcomings as part of it all and addresses them when found.

You know what that is? That's intelligence. That's rationality.

Two things entirely missing in the West.

We read so much polemic, abuse and pure drivel these days that our heads get numb and I think we often don't really take anything in any more.

Take in what I just said: there is NO intelligence or rationality in the West today. That's what I said.

Polemic? Abuse? Tirade? Bluster? Nonsense?

Nope. Plain, simple, everyday, awful truth.

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I was getting ready to express something similar to Dr. Hudson after reading the latest Geopolitical Economic Hour transcript that reviewed Neoliberalism's history--again. They need to look at and explain the economic systems that are working and delivering benefits to citizens instead of robbing them.

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maybe I should read that. where is it? publicly available?

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Yes, and the casino economies and their curators await a black swan. But if they keep this nonsense up they may get a white swan. Stupidity and malevolence are a deadly combination.

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"When examining the provided photos, all faces are stone-serious with not one smile to be seen."

Do Russians - other than Russian women - smile? I don't think I've ever seen Lavrov smile. Putin, yes, but then he's in charge. :-)

"In fact, this means the next stage of the Alliance's approach to our borders."

This is the important statement. The Russian know full well that Ukraine isn't the end of it. Which is precisely why they're going to do as I aver: build a "Iron Curtain 2.0" from the Black Sea to the Arctic. And that most definitely requires taking all of Ukraine right to the Polish border and installing a Military District there with everything the Russians have - essentially the same as the current Western Military District and more.

"the losses of the Armed Forces of Ukraine have exceeded 383 thousand soldiers killed and wounded"

I suspect that is a massive understatement, deliberately so (although he does use the ambiguous "exceeded" word). If it was that small, then why haven't we seen more effective Ukraine action on the battlefield? Ukraine claims up to 1.5 million people mobilized during the war. They had at least 750,000 combat troops and territorial troops at the start. If they mobilized another 1.5 million, that's over 2 million available in total.

Even if the "logistical tail" is enormous, that should still translate into a lot of actual combat troops still available and thus we would see more effective Ukrainian action on the field. Instead, Ukraine's military is virtually paralyzed and composed of what are essentially civilians with zero training and a handful of combat troops survivors. So clearly Russia killed and wounded more than 400 hundred thousand.

Nonetheless, I'll take that figure. It's close to what most other observers estimate, except for Martyanov who claims over a million killed and wounded. It will be interesting to see if he comments on that "official" figure.

" 159 thousand soldiers killed and wounded,"

So he's claiming Russia killed almost HALF of ALL Ukrainian casualties just since June 4th? That doesn't track, either. What happened during the preceding 14 months? I know the casualty rate started trending back in fall, 2022, when the Ukrainians did their fall offensive, and it increased again during the Bakhmut conflict, but I find it hard to believe that half of Ukraine's casualties occurred in the last six months.

"Thousands of Ukrainian militants, nationalists and foreign mercenaries were killed in the rear training and reserve formation centers."

These are probably the strikes I note in my reports from the MoD reports as missile, artillery and aviation engagements. Andrei Martyanov claims those aren't counted in the totals reported by the MoD. I do count them - albeit by rough estimates - in my reports. They are significant and can conceivably significantly increase the total killed and wounded, perhaps twice what Shoigu reported.

This would explain what I perceive as the discrepancy with Shoigu's figures. I suspect Shoigu's "383,000" are merely those killed and wounded directly on the front lines.

"Every day, more than 1.5 thousand people apply for military service. This year alone, about 490,000 contract servicemen and volunteers have been recruited."

At that rate, which is over 500,000 per year, Russia will have no problem building its 2.5 million man military (including all branches) by end of this coming year. This will significantly exceed the size of China's military, and that of India, the US and North Korea.

This, too, makes it clear that Russia is building that "Iron Curtain 2.0" I referenced. Russia needs that size army to establish full Military Districts all along its western borders which extend from the Black Sea to the Arctic. Each Military District will probably require 400-500,000 troops each (all branches).

Shoigu keeps mentioning 1.5 million. In reality, it's going to be much larger than that.

That last bit about the historical portions of Ukraine is the usual Putin play on words. No one should draw a conclusion from it. It could literally mean anything and change between now and the moment when Russia controls Kiev.

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Lavrov smiles quite often, but never when he is face to face with Western dupes. Watch the Bali meetings with non-west countries' leaders and he is always all smiles.

And then he has that cheeky grin he uses when he directs a veiled insult at the western whores.

He is a class act.

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I keep wondering how the world geopolitical situation will play out. So many dynamics right now...Ukraine, Russia, China, Gaza, Israel, USA, BRICS, NATO. I hope the world can somehow reach a peaceful state where all can flourish.

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Much depends on the West's behavior as it's the main roadblock to World Peace.

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We're doing what we can to affect our governments to do the right things...but there's so much misinformation and propaganda out there.

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Just like with the unvaccinated, there are more of us out there than they want you to think. Keep pointing out the lies in the media. The government know they are lying, they won't listen, but more and more will wake up- Gaza is making the propaganda so ridiculous and difficult, and the proponents of genocide are looking more and more nasty that they're doing some of the work for us!

And the Global majority is on to it.

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I notice that Putin returns to his theme of regret about his naïveté regarding the West. It keeps coming up lately in his speeches.

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IMO, it's his way of expressing a mea culpa, which is something we're not accustomed to from Western politicos as they never admit to making any mistakes. And in the process, he allows space for others--oligarchs in particular-- to admit the same, that they remain Russians but were duped and have now recovered. Putin also recently discussed the issue of Class at a meeting with the winners and mentors of the All-Russian Professional Skills Championship "Professionals" that I intend on translating and publishing; and in his many recent interactions with youth has relearned the tired adage that nobody's perfect, that we all make mistakes. I'd add this to the short list of questions I have for him as he's my peer age-wise, meaning I would feel very comfortable in having a conversation about things beyond geopolitics. Not being omniscient and anticipating the West's duplicity and the subsequent damage that caused is galling, but must be admitted for peace-of-mind. Again, Putin cares, whereas the Bidens, Macrons, Sunaks, etc., don't.

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Which might be good? Showing the honesty of his claim and showing how he's tracking its threads through his life and thinking and identifying consequences and significances and coming to terms with them even now after so much time.

i.e. it was never a simple off the cuff almost childishly reproachfully petulant: 'I trusted you.' sniff, sniff.

Nope. A man coming to terms with who he has been intellectually. Questioning himself and his faiths.

Maybe?

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Also, reaffirming his ability to lead.

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You are correct. He’s doing an introspective analysis of his years and being honest with himself. That’s a trait that isn’t demonstrated much.

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I tell people there're times when you must sit down and have a serious--honest --conversation with yourself. The next term in office will be his last and he knows that. The challenges are tall and the list of chores deep and extensive, not just Ukraine and geopolitics. Solving the demographic problem is #1 IMO for him, and of course is very very difficult.

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One tenet of life I’ve always tried to follow. Lie to anyone about anything but don’t lie to yourself.

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Facing up to the lies you tell about yourself is one of life's hardest tasks but must be done if an enjoyable life is wanted.

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Very interesting, and thanks for posting. I have two main takeaways from this:

383,000 KIA and WIA - suggests total losses of c 400,000. That would be at the very bottom end of any of my estimates. Suggests average daily losses of c 600. And as noted above, disproportionately incurred this year since June. Shoigu has better information than me but this doesn't quite ring true. I have no idea how he would profit from deliberate misinformation on this topic. And he doesn't appear the sort to get his sums wrong. If he is correct though, it would imply a lot more fight left in the UAF than I had imagined. However this figure seems contradicted by so many other sources and reports you have to wonder.

There is a strong hit here that Putin actually wants Western Ukraine to revert to Poland. I have always considered this a strong possibility. Ukraine ceases to exist and gets dismembered by its neighbours, The wilder Banderite elements become Poland's problem? I doubt any demarcation line would be the Dneiper, but it would in these circumstances not be the current border. This appears though to be setting out initial terms for a future peace deal. Possibly.

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After the end of the war the causualities will be counted and the numbers will be open to everybody. Keeping these numbers low has two advantages: As the Ukrainians are a releated people to the Russians, so they do not boast about killing them in masses. Which may have some positive outcome after the war. It is also sending a Message to the internal and international community that Russian figures and words are reliable.

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"I am referring to robotic systems and combat lasers, weapons using artificial intelligence technologies and based on new physical principles."

Please do tell VVP, it is intriguing.

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He's said the same line before. The first two are already in use, the third being tested in Ukraine--AI driven drones--the latter speculated as high energy particle beams and other cloaking technologies, the latter very important given modern ISR abilities of even lesser opponents.

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I have seen some of the cloaking tech, it truly is "other worldly".

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The ability to project holographic imagery can hide and decoy, but the key is the ability to block thermal sensing--recall Arnold in Predator covering himself in mud to evade detection. Ratnik had incorporated such material into the fabric for its newest line of uniform gear that was still being tested the last I read about a year ago. Robots are already at the front--land drones.

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Great post, great text..... those photographs

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