The stories about North Korean soldiers being deployed to Kursk are getting increasingly wild. What devices are they watching the porn on? What websites are they visiting. Pornography websites are blocked in Russia, and I can hardly believe the North Korean soldiers, provided the stories about them are even true, have the mobile phones and Russian connections to beat their meat off…
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.
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…
Ukrainism was created by Poles and Austrians to be used as a weapon against Russia. In fact it was the anxiety about Russophile sentiment in Halychyna that spurred the Austirian support for the Ukrainian idea, which is a complete fabrication by the way. Since WWI, whatever the power in Moscow is repeatedly forced to exterminate the threat. Somehow the Ukrainian nationalists always end up fighting Russia. Because the latter is what they were invented to do…
Whether we are talking about the Sichovi Streltsi, the SS Halychyna and UPA, or its current iteration in the form of the the Right Sector and Azov Battalion, Russia (or Russia in the form of USSR, which posed as anti-Russian) is forced time and time again to exterminate these vermin.
The question is, will Russia be OK with keeping a land bridge to Crimea? Or will there be a programme of denazification following the collapse of the Ukrainian defense in the East? I am not sure if the former is chosen that Russia will win a long term peace and would not have to fight the Ukrnazis again few decades later. The question is whether the Russian elite is aware of this, or whether Russia has enough strength to pull this off. Putin promised denazification and to undo Ukrainian statehood, so it remains to be seen…
Once upon a time, HIMARS was all the rage. Alexey Zhuravko died during a HIMARS attack. Bayraktar and Javelin were also all the rage, and where are they now? I know…
Russia basically learns how to counter whatever Ukraine and by proxy NATO throws at them. The Russian military is getting an invaluable experience. Not to mention, captured Ukrainians divulge secrets on what the Ukrainians are up to, and the latter are in many respects ahead of NATO.
This war, like no other going on in the World will revolutionize warfare.
A new narrative. Biden is apparently afraid of Putin and does not give the Ukrainian Nazis the wunderwaffe needed to defeat Russia. We are being told that if we just gave the Ukrainiana more gear they would defeat Putin. If we just allowed the Ukrnazis to shoot cruise missiles at Russia, Putin would flex.
NATO membership for Ukraine has again reared its head. In reality, what they want to do is to leave Russia a part of Ukraine, negotiate piece and then accept what remains of Ukraine into NATO. You will hear Western officials goading Ukraine to accept loss of territory in exchange for ceasefire.
Luckily though, Zelensky cannot do this, he would be deposed by the Nazis, who want to continue the fight. And that’s why they will be destroyed and Russia will be restored.
Yes, the genocide of Ukrnazis, are Ukrnazis are genus?
Denazification of Ukraine is a good thing. Was the denazification of Germany a genocide? If destruction of Ukrainian Nazis means genocide, what does it say about Ukraine? 🤣
Guys, let me show you how the warmonger class that supports sending weapons to Ukraine operate…
They are feeding the notion that Ukraine can win…
The West needs to send just a little bit more howitzers, drones, rounds of ammo…
Russia can’t win this, this is a constantly repeated claim. Let’s imagine Russia’s defeat…
But these types are not very certain in their endeavors. They sense something is off…
Also, they are feeding the notion that Russia is running out of resources to wage the war, implying that it does not have enough of X or that it peaked in X.
***
Meanwhile, appart from Kursk, which became another caldron for Ukraine, Ukraine is not making any territorial gains. Ukraine just lost Vuhledar and is about to lose Siversk. Pokrovsk, Kramatorsk and Slaviansk are next, then Zaporozhie, Pavlohrad, Dnipro, Kharkov, Kherson, Nikolaev and Odessa. Russia will win this…
Angry Russians stealing toilets…
Honcharenko resurrects the Russophobic meme about Russians shitting in the street and not having toilets. I have addressed this issue here, and have come to the conclusion that the toilet situation is actually worse in Ukraine.
Once upon a time, Honcharenko campaigned in Odessa in support of the Russian language. He was harvesting the votes. Then he got fucked over in Crimea…
Then he helped burn people alive in Odessa. And now he wasn’t to shoot rockets at Russia. Nice career, don’t you think? And this little twerp says that the rocket strikes would depose Putin. What is worse, Putin or a faggot that burned people alive in Odessa?
Transcarpathia is the former Czechoslovak province of Podkarpatská Rus (RUS). It is the Western most region of Ukraine. It is partially settled by Hungarians, and the Slavic locals have a vernacular that is hard for me to understand. It became a part of Ukraine in 1945. If you ask me, maybe I have missed it but I cannot recall Transcarpathia being targeted by rocket or drone strikes. The nearby Lvov, north of the Carpathian range experienced dozens of strikes. I kind of get that men flee recruitment. Besides, I don’t care about people milking the Czech state like this, the powers that be put their full support behind Ukraine, so this could not happen to a better government.
Insomniac Resurrected 