Prigozhin Popular in China

From Foreign Policy

Little did wannabe warlord and catering magnate Yevgeny Prigozhin realize his short-lived mutiny would result in his demise, leaving behind a legacy—and admirers—far beyond Russia’s borders, particularly in China, where Prigozhin has become a cult figure on closely monitored social media.

Prigozhin’s following among top military bloggers on Weibo, one of the largest social media platforms in China, mirrors that in Russia. From Moscow to Beijing, Prigozhin is seen as the embodiment of a more vigorous and genuine patriotism, a man who prioritized the motherland’s interests over his own life. He is celebrated as a man of the people, despite the wealth he generated from the Wagner Group’s operations.

His blunt criticism of Russia’s top military leaders bolstered his image as a truth-teller willing to risk his life. This resonated in China, where a purge of top military officials in the People’s Liberation Army is underway due to accusations of corruption and of betraying the ideals of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

Amid rising tension between Beijing and Washington, many Chinese military bloggers suspect U.S. involvement in Prigozhin’s death, despite there being no evidence of this. A poll on Weibo, limited to 1,000 respondents, showed a majority asserting that the United States orchestrated Prigozhin’s plane crash to incite civil war in Russia. A smaller number of voters pointed the finger at Russian President Vladimir Putin, stating that allowing Prigozhin to walk away unpunished could set a dangerous precedent.

Source

Prigozhin according to my information never opposed Putin, and he could have been assassinated by somebody in the Russian government that he had beef with, and against whom he mutinied. Who that was I don’t know…

Russian, Chinese, Iranian, North Korean Machine

I thought Ukraine was supposed to win with the support of Western democracies. We have been told, by Karlin for instance, that the West has a GDP far surpassing Russia, and the Russians would simply lose…

It is rather questionable the amount of help Russia received from the likes of China, North Korea, or Iran. We have all heard about Iranian drones the Shahid-Geran but it is unclear how many of those drones Iran has delivered, or whether the Russians haven’t acquired the technology and don’t produce the drones themselves. I think the second option is more probable, and the Russian have actually perfected the Iranian prototype.

There was a story about the Russians firing a North Korean version of Iskander, the Kimskander. There was also a story about North Korea providing artillery shells. There was also a story that the North Korean shells are shit and they explode prematurely. If the second information is true, and not just a propaganda, this form of help wasn’t worth much. On the other hand, we have also heard that Russia is perfectly capable of producing shells by themselves.

Recently, a story about North Korean soldiers being sent to Ukraine has surfaced. The Kim regime could be interested in providing its troops with some combat experience but is this a game-changer? On the other hand, Ukraine has attracted thousands of volunteers from the West, from Georgia, Chechens and Islamists from North Caucasus and the Middle East. This is a very internationalized conflict, and many parties would like to be present.

China’s position is not exactly supportive of Russia’s efforts. You don’t hear about the Russians firing Chinese ammo and rockets on Ukraine. Recently, I heard China is developing drones together with Russia. I think I saw a document that said China will work with Russia but not to the detriment of its own interests. Hence, China is happy to import Russian oil and gas but Chinese banks might be reluctant to service Russian clients because of sanctions. Also, many of those FPV drones Ukraine was using to destroy Russian tanks were bought from China. China recently said they will not allow export of technologies that might be used for military purposes but I don’t think Beijing has the infrastructure to police people in Czechia that send drones to Ukraine.

And this brings me to another point. Ukraine is benefiting from an international financial system. I have seen zero fundraisers for Russia or the republics of the Donbas but I have seen a lot of fundraisers for Ukraine. That is on top of packages sent by Western governments. Russia has only itself to rely on, and Ukraine is still losing. The whole point in having Ukraine fight Russia was to deal a blow with Russia by proxy. Russia is seen, by the West as a competitor that ought to be contained by constantly mounting sanctions, negative PR, and proxy conflicts on its borders. This stress is supposed to halt Russia. And nobody gives a fuck if some Ukrs are going to die at this.

What major historical events do you remember?

I remember the fall of Communism but I lived in a small town in Bohemia so the events there were nothing dramatic, overall nothing is ever dramatic in Czechia. Technically everything is a historical event in some environment. Little do you know but you could be making history right now, and future generations will remember your ass.

Electric Tanks?

Electric vehicles have a future in armies, especially when it comes to light vehicles. EVs have a lower heat signature. The Russian military is experimenting with using electric motorcycles that they are using in their storm trooper units. I am not very knowledgeable in this area but I have heard of weapons that take out electric devices.

Electric tanks would be less noisy and there would be less of a risk of a fire. I wonder how they manage this technologically. Have you seen a Tesla Truck trying to climb a hill? Have you seen Tesla on fire from a damaged battery? Mind you, these tanks will be hit with rockets and suicide drones flying at high velocity, and one would need to pack a shit loads of power to make this thing run.

At the end of the day, there are weapons coming out of research and development being introduced into production only to shine at one battlefield and totally suck at another. Also, war makes weapons quickly obsolete. Think Bayraktar, Javelin, or even HIMARS. Think of the horse in WWI…

PS: This allegedly is an electric off road bike from Kalashnikov…

German Government Blames Russia for Economic Decline

I still don’t get why the Germans vote for the Social Democrats, the Christian Democrats, or the Greens…

These are the parties of economic decline, of servility to America, of support for the Ukrainian oligarchy and Ukrainian Nazis, the parties of impoverishment, of failed energy policies, of deindustrialization, of bankruptcy. This is a globalist uniparty of similar ideology and similar values. Only AfD is a sensible option…

AfD wants to normalize relations with Russia. I don’t know what their policy on nuclear is but hopefully they represent the sensible part of German society.

PS: Die Linke

Crippled Negro is the most normal of the bunch if you ask me…

😆

Apple Zrada

2 weeks ago, Apple deleted almost 100 VPN, today independent media. Current Time and Radio Liberty. (Note: both of these “independent” media are sponsored by the US government)

I spoke about this at a UN session. Such measures don’t do any harm to Putin, they give him advantage because he controls the TV.

However, they are depriving the Russians of access to truthful and honest information.

It is a mistake to follow a repressive law, to pay billions in fines in Russian war chest and to think we exist in a world of “business as usual.”

Context

KLM CEO Calls for EU to Sanction Chinese Airlines

Recently, my neighbors visited Japan, and they flew through Shanghai…

The Chinese airlines are making a killing transporting people from Europe to Asia. Following Russian invasion of Ukraine, to punish Russia, America’s lackies decided to deny Russia their Boeings and Airbuses. As a response, Russia denied its airspace to airlines from unfriendly countries. This means that Chinese airlines now have a monopoly on flights between Europe and North Asia, and South Asia has traditionally been the domain of the Arabs, Hong Kong and Singapore.

In an interview on the Dutch television programme WNL Op Zondag, she [Marjan Rintel, the CEO of KLM] highlighted that, unlike European airlines for whom Russian airspace is closed due to the war on Ukraine, Chinese carriers can use Russian airspace when serving Europe, which saves them time, reduces fuel costs, and results in lower fares. “That sometimes saves you two to four hours. You see that reflected in the price, and of course, the costs are higher for us.”

***

Akin to rival Lufthansa (LH, Frankfurt International) and its recent appeals to the EU, Rintel called on Brussels to address this disparity to level the playing field for European carriers. “Europe can at least see how we can prevent that unfair playing field by pricing it or looking at it differently.”

Source

I have written about Lufthansa’s woes on this blog here. So these airlines instead of demanding an easing of sanctions against Russia, which could open up flight corridors over that country, would rather like to make travel to Asia expensive for everyone. No doubt their demands were encouraged by tariffs on Chinese EVs. Not like the price of EVs isn’t already high for the consumer, and the latter does not see it as a worth while expense for EV’s that are generally shit cars. The Chinese offered a cheaper option, and had to be punished.

Deglobalization will ultimately hurt Joe Average, who is already suffering from inflation.

Congressmen Have an AIPAC Babysitter

The other day I watched Tucker’s interview with Rep. Thomas Massie…

It is well worth watching. As mentioned, they discuss AIPAC. They are left bewildered that given the activities AIPAC does, it is not registered as a foreign agent. The argument goes that AIPAC are not foreigners but rather Zionist Americans. But no other country has its own public lobby group in Murica. Don’t tell me, Murica doesn’t have enough pro-Russian individuals that could act as Congressman’s friend on the phone that will direct his voting. 😆

Massie says he keeps hearing from colleagues that supporting Ukraine is good because the Russians are dying. But nobody would speak about the price the Ukrainians are paying for this containment of Russia.

I guess you might enjoy the interview more if you are an American, which I am not….

Ten Surprises of the Russo-Ukrainian War

Because Emmanuel Todd was mentioned in the comments, I have decided to republish this post…

I got hold of Emmanuel Todd’s book The Defeat of the West (La Défaite de l’Occident)…

The book is in French and I have had some difficulty to get through it, it would seem I have to work on my French. In the beginning Todd lists 10 surprises of the Russo-Ukrainian war, let me make a small commentary…

Surprise no.1 is the eruption of war in Europe, a real war between two states, which has disrupted the notion of perpetual peace.

The Western hegemonic order, symbolized by NATO and the EU has bloody borders. I am not sure what Todd means by real war between states, was not the bombing of Yugoslavia by NATO a real war, albeit between ethnic groups and a transnational coalition of states?

But as we will see, these surprises that Todd lists are often not surprises to non-normies.

Surprise no.2 is that this actually is conflict between the US and Russia.

The Ukraine war in the broader context is about the preservation of the hegemonic order led by the United States. The United States and its vassal states believe that by fucking up Russia, they can preserve their grip on power and influence for a little longer. The same reasoning goes for the interventions in Libya and in Iraq, local strongmen wanted to trade their natural resource for something else than the dollar. Not to mention countless French interventions in Africa that you have barely heard about.

Surprise no.3 Is the resistance of the Ukrainians. Todd says that Ukraine had the image of a failed state, which is the homeland of millions of emigrants, looted by oligarchs, with a low birth rate, dying out, yet they found a new found vigor in their resistance towards Russian invasion.

I believe that the ferocious resistance of the Ukrainians is a bit of a hype. Todd correctly points out that the initial number of Russian troops deployed was rather small to occupy the whole country, and the Ukrainians have exploited this to chase peremoha, and show Russians as weak in the eyes of the superficial Western viewer. We have been told by the propaganda time and time again that the Russians only understand strength.

I personally was not surprised that the Ukrainians put up a resistance, especially against a limited Russian invasion force. The West has been arming Ukraine with Javelins and Stingers, the Ukrainians have been building fortifications in the East in anticipation of Russian attack. But I would say a large chunk of able bodied Ukrainian men have escaped the draft. There is of course a force of nationalists, bolstered by various groups that have an ax to grind with Putin’s Russia such as Ichkeria Chechens, Mejlis Crimean Tatars, Russian Neonazis, Russian liberals, and also Western defenders of Western hegemony duped by the propaganda. Plenty of Russophobes in Eastern Europe by the way, a legacy of Soviet rule…

This is a dedicated force of thousands of combatants. But the Ukrainian draftees are for the most part older than 40. We have seen countless videos of the shitshow that is the recruitment in Ukraine. Ukraine puts up quite a resistance but at the same time shows signs of a failed state, these two narratives are not mutually exclusive.

Surprise no. 4 The economic resilience of Russian economy. Russia has not collapsed economically in the wake of the Western sanctions, particularly being disconnected from the Swift payment system.

Proponents of sanctions say that the effect from them will be felt in the long term. But my thinking goes that the longer sanctions are ineffective, the more time the country has to adapt.

It remains to be seen if the Ukrnazis prevail over Russian forces, or if Western sanctions get the best of Russian economy and the latter finally collapses. Either scenario would be a victory for the Western hegemony and by proxy a legitimation of the Ukrainian nationalists. I don’t think Russia can afford any of this…

Surprise no. 5 Todd calls this the collapse of will power among Europeans. The Europeans have completely abandoned any inclination to defend their own interests. The Germans have accepted the sabotage of the Nord Stream. The Europeans have completely resigned to ever being an autonomous subject of geopolitics.

Surprise no. 6 is the emergence of the United Kingdom as the most bellicose in the anti-Russian coalition. Some out there say, Ukraine was Britain’s pet project. This whole draw Russia into conflict and defeat them, and in this way force the removal of Putin is said to be a British plan. So no surprise here they are so concerned about their baby.

Surprise no. 7 The seventh surprise is the sudden change in course for the Scandinavian countries that have shed their traditional neutrality and joined NATO. It is ironic because Russia would not attack them if it did not perceive a security threat from them, NATO is a hostile alliance from the point of view of the Russians. I heard that Swedish politicians were under some outside pressure to join.

Surprise no. 8 is the surprising revelation of the deficiency of Western military industrial complex. At the beginning of the war, commentators were comparing the GDP of Russia to the GDP of collective West. Some commentators, like Anatoly Karlin, said Russia is cooked, Russia can’t defeat the West. Karlin suggested Russia just go gay to appease the Occidental gods (LOL, Cringe, WTF?) . Todd says that Belarus and Russia have like 3% of the GDP of the West but it produces more weapons than the West.

Surprise no. 9 is the ignorance of the countries outside the collective West of the Western crusade against Russia through sanctions and support of Ukraine. India buys Russian oil and resells it to Europe, and many countries act as proxies between the West. The West has threatened secondary sanctions against these entities but it remains to be seen how much impact this policy actually has. China has flooded Russian market with goods that stopped flowing from the West. The West no longer is indispensable economically.

Surprise no.10 will be the defeat of the West. According to Todd, the West will self destruct before it is even attacked by Russia…