Fiorella almost gets emotional talking about the rape of history. I write and speak about this non-stop.
It is all really simple--Europe, the cradle of fascism and national-socialism was defeated by the Red Army. It has no reasons to celebrate anything, it is a sad day for Europe and much (not all) of its population. People correctly recall this exchange between Zhukov and Rokossovsky in Berlin in 1945: We have liberated Europe from fascism, but they will never forgive us for it. Some do remember though, like this Dutch farmer:
Most don't, and they will continue to do what they did for centuries-- covet and hate.
Nowhere near VSU numbers, but they do and their bodies are evacuated as soon as humanly possible and are given proper identification, send-off by relatives and are provided honorable funeral. I am not a cold hard animal, albeit I understand clearly the issue of physical annihilation of VSU and the remnants of 404 mobilizational potential. I also know the degree to which Ukrainians have been brainwashed and conditioned for this slaughter. But here is a sister of one of the VSU militants (I cannot call them soldiers anymore) who was called to identify the body of her KIAed brother--this is not neural network or propaganda, it is genuine--and she was is shock when she recognized that her brother's body was a ... stitched up collection of body parts of other 200s of VSU. You don't need to know Ukrainian language.
This is NATO war and NATO generals' frustration, envy, fear and lies manifest themselves in atrocities, and sheer inhumanity. Losers behave like this.
Meanwhile, here is VSU's strongpoint after the work of Russian artillery and aviation.
I want to reiterate--there is NO a single NATO officer from battalion up to command of army and army group who has any experience fighting while undergoing the rates of attrition West's armies simply incapable to grasp. Russians quantify the morale (combat spirit) as:
Does NATO want to find out what kind of Alpha will it have when fighting Russian Army defending her Motherland? I can tell you--it will not be good.
Putin's voice: did they forget who took Berlin? British, French, Americans? The Red Army took it (c). Meanwhile Chinese girls are, yes, hitting on Russian boys))
And this one is not about losing yet another F/A-18. Shit happens in combat. Nope, this one is massive and most consequential--Sentinel Program, the program for new American ICBM is not going ahead, it is bankrupt not only financially, it is a technological failure of an immense scale. Is it conceivable that the US will lose one of the pillars (ground) of here nuclear triad? Not only it is possible now, it is likely. Alex Vershinin delivers a strange article--it can only be explained by an acute grief. Russians know what Trump is up to.
... but always stressed that Blood Type (Gruppa Krovi) and Cuckoo (Kukushka) are masterpieces. The lyrics of Blood Type are poignant and took on their own meaning for military. Already during Afghan war.
Now, modern Russian military marches to it at the rehearsal. Remarkably, these are people who change the meaning of songs. Late Tsoi, should he have lived today would most likely be against-SMO and "professional" opposition, he and Kino, which is a total music derivative of West's post-punk, hit the nerve with this one.
... senior editor needs to take a few serious courses in actual history, policy and strategy--I omit here courses on operational art and operations, he will not get it--and try to write with at least a pretense of objectivity, when trying to portray Trump's sheer failure as some kind of "strategy" instead of kindergarten level hustling around SMO, trying to gain whatever could be portrayed as America's "victory" and DJT's "diplomatic triumph". I, of course, do not expect the author of this drivel to grasp the critical issue of COFM.
Translation:The Russian leader's press secretary Dmitry Peskov called for listening carefully to Russian President Vladimir Putin on the issue of lifting anti-Russian sanctions.The Kremlin representative said this in an interview with VGTRK journalist Pavel Zarubin."You know, if you have such questions, I have one piece of advice: listen carefully to Putin. What did Putin say when he spoke at the RSPP congress? No sanctions will be lifted. Sanctions are for a long time, they are permanent measures to contain Russia," the politician emphasized.
Russians are not naïve and know about the United States orders of magnitude more than the US knows about Russia. If people at TAC think that Russians expect any lifting of sanctions, especially from Trump, I have a bridge to sell them.
2. Restoration of a diplomatic dialogue between Russia and the US is not some kind of a goodwill gesture or carrot--it has EVERYTHING to do with:
a) Necessity of the two nuclear superpowers to stay away from escalation;
b) Trump's understanding of a pitiful state of the US military and military-industrial base;
c) A dramatic loss of the arms race by the US.
These are the main factors, together with current administration's course on (futile) preserving Ukraine as a future place d'armes against Russia, which drove DJT into his "peace" rhetoric. In some sense, Trump is just the more entertaining and coherent version of Biden and in terms of any kind of rapprochement with Russia is driven by weakness, not sincere desire to stop the bloodshed. Russians are keenly aware of that. And when Day speaks about this:
As for demilitarization, the U.S. should be open to demands that Ukraine relinquish long-range missiles, but it should resist any calls for Kiev to give up air-defense systems, land mines, and other defensive munitions. Washington might also propose to have offensive weaponry positioned in southeastern Poland for release to Ukraine only in the event of future Russian aggression.
He should learn first that all of Ukraine's "long-range missiles" have been supplied by NATO, and he also should recall this:
Translation:"What is happening today is also clear in principle. Along the entire line of combat contact, our troops have the strategic initiative. There is every reason to believe... I said quite recently that we will put the squeeze on them, but there is reason to believe that we will finish them off," the Russian leader said during a conversation with the sailors of the Arkhangelsk submarine.
Unlike Trump, Putin doesn't do theatrics, doesn't make grandiose statements and doesn't sell BS packaged as "achievement" and TAC people are advised to learn what "strategic initiative" is and what it all means for the United States and the Trump's Administration. This may get them some dose of much needed reality of the US sustaining a historic humiliating defeat. Defeated do not get to dictate conditions.
... at work, or hunt if one wishes. It is actually a very good illustration of why this is SMO and not a War. Because if it were a war, there would have been no British Ministry of Defense, nor MI6, nor UK military as such and no drones. All without nukes.
I mentioned it in my today's video. Yes, this is 100% confirmed info by people who command the Russian formation which did this. How do I know? Well, I know many things which sometimes are not for public disclosure until they are mentioned by "holders of information". So, on one operational axis Russians took this Swedish Commander (an equivalent of Lieutenant-Colonel) POW. He was guarded by one of the Baltic states security detail--easy-peasy for the level of Russian guys who disposed of them. So, this officer, staff officer for VSU (AFU) exhibited a level of tactical and operational "ability" which, for the lack of a better word, is not even rudimentary--it is fairy taleish. He really believed that if his formation attacked in a designated sector Russians were supposed to retreat, nay, run and that this guy's troops would reach objective no problem. Ooops, but for some unknown, incomprehensible reasons, not only Russians defended their objective, but, damn, they unloaded a firestorm and then, would you believe it, they counterattacked. This is not what they teach them in NATO's military academies.
When I say that NATO officer corps is utterly unprepared for modern war, I mean it. Remarkably, you can sort of address this on a tactical level in a sense that you can teach them to maneuver and consider the opponent--and even that is useless under modern conditions. But the problem is both on tactical and operational level is that Russians outrange and outfire ANYTHING NATO can bring to bear. I am on record--Iraq War experience counts for nothing and, in fact, is a huge obstacle. This also explains a bunch of the American loser generals (like Ben Hodges) suffering form an acute case of butthurt and professional envy. It is now a confirmed fact--NATO doesn't understand the role of air defense in modern war. In their mind it was supposed to to be always this:
This middle segment "Conduct large-scale ground combat" disappears. Technically, the US could (not will) "find the enemy", but that's about it, the doctrinal pivot of the US Armed Forces of bringing the long-range fires to bear disappears also. No, the US still has the lead in terms of satellite-based ISR (Russia is catching up), per pure signal recon--well, that's complicated. Russians jam better than anyone in the world and then there is this teeny-weeny detail of pre-positioning. So, you see-this Swedish commander was thinking that he would be facing those peasant Ivans with pitch-forks and hiding behind piles of Russian corpses and running away at the first glance of NATO equipment guided to battle with NATO (his) tactical and operational brilliance. But, but ... well, you know the story now. Doctrinal catastrophe is not visible to the average Joe, but it is the most profound catastrophe NATO faces when they have to understand how amateurish and militarily impotent they are. The cognitive dissonance is a bitch.
So, somebody in the US Army (not Ben Hodges let alone Kellog) was thinking in the right direction in 2019.
Russian integrated air defense systems (IADS) make sustained air superiority questionable, especially at the beginning of operations when geographical proximity to positioned Russian forces enables their deliberate emplacement. With our current systems, we will only be able to create temporary windows of superiority with great effort. The Russians employ IADS at every tactical level, from battalion to division, with a focus on finding and destroying U.S. fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft. They are also steadily working toward overmatch in the field of counterfire radar, fielding a variety of systems across the depths of their formations and with varying levels of capability. This might enable the Russian fires complex to “out attrite” our own counterfire capabilities, leaving them with the only systems on the battlefield.
Too bad, they didn't recognize the scale of the NATO tactical and operational rut which prevents the most important thing--internalization of the issue--guiding you to correct decisions. They wanted to try, they did. Somebody tell Trump--the US Army didn't produce a general the scale of Erich von Manstein or Georgi Zhukov, or Konstantin Rokossovsky in the last 80 years. Russia did, and that's what makes the world of difference.
Meanwhile RT delivers a proper headline: Western Memory of WWII is basically fan fiction. Well, it is. No matter my professional respect for Colonel Macgregor, but he is an Exhibit A of having very little understanding of Eastern Front and the Soviet Union. In fact, he continues to deliver a primitive "anti-Soviet" propaganda, much of which is nothing but utter BS which is completely detached from the realities of the Red Army's and USSR's war and much of which is rooted (literally) in Goebbelsonean propaganda found in copious amounts in Solzhenitsyn and neocon writings.
... march in London. Last time I checked UK (then GB) was a part of anti-Hitler Coalition together with USSR and USA. Not anymore.
First, Canada, now--this. And I omit here even the pathetic level of marching by these officially British outlets which pass for Armed Forces in UK. So, UK now marches with heirs of Hitler.
... incredible things I've seen of animals. Well, cannot even say it is an animal ... It also resonated with me because about a month ago I drove my son's friend, a veteran of the US Army, who developed epilepsy (I guess there is a connection between PTSD and other brain shit) and he was flying out of Seattle to get his service dog. But this--this is another level, you literally have a relative who takes care of you. Dogs are special.
... Igor Girkin's cult of military morons, who fucked my brain for decade with this 2014 BS based only on a single phrase about "mistake" by Vladimir Putin a few years back based solely on his emotional human reaction. Here is he verbatim today:
Translation:MOSCOW, May 4 — RIA Novosti.Russia could not proceed with any drastic decisions on Ukraine without carrying out work in the security sphere, President Vladimir Putin made such statements in the documentary film by Saida Medvedeva and Pavel Zarubin "Russia. The Kremlin. Putin. 25 Years" on the Rossiya 1 TV channel."We could not proceed with any drastic moves without carrying out the corresponding work in the security sphere, in the sphere of building the armed forces and in the sphere of economy and finance," the head of state said.He also noted that Russia did not begin the special operation earlier, since it sought a peaceful settlement of the situation in Donbass.Moscow, according to Putin, counted on compliance with the Minsk agreements by all parties."But, as it turned out, we were simply deceived. <...> They simply took a pause under the pretext of the need to comply with the Minsk agreements in order to rearm Ukraine and prepare for war with Russia," the president emphasized.
Any of these "strategerists" wants to challenge what has been stated non-stop about 2014, and why Girkin (aka Strelkov) is nothing more than fucking (and militarily illiterate) creep who wanted to start bloodshed in Donbass in 2014 to get Russian involved directly and emerge as "savior". That is why Putin literally begged not to hold referendum in 2014. Yes, unlike internet "strategerists", Vladimir Putin is advised by the best people in business ranging from military to intel, to economy to foreign affairs. So, the issue of COFM (Correlation of Forces and Means) as the first derivative of REAL economy moves the world. Those who think that assessments done on emotions and wants can substitute a real long-term strategic planning--take a look at the US today. To those who want to correct Vladimir Putin--Kremlin's contacts are at this link, write, show them those stupid people in Moscow how one needs to fight.
... the scale of the event. 80th is more than just Victory Day, it is pinning Europe (original West) down where it belongs--as the generator of aggression and genocide in the 20th Century. When I say that SMO is the final salvos of WW II I mean it. What is happening in Moscow today is formalization of the historic fact of civilization shifting to the East. The excitement, the emotion can be seen here in Myanmar (Burma) company singing Katyusha, in Russian no less, before entering the Red Square for rehearsal. The atmosphere is electric ...
I am sure Kiev was warned, including through the statement of Dmitri Medvedev, that if any attempt will be made on Parade, Kiev will cease to exist, including all political top of 404 and scumbags from London who prop this neo-Nazi regime up. Per General Kartapolov, Oreshnik should be on the Parade. We'll see soon enough.
... and rehearsals continue. Chinese Armed Forces Honor Guards are met as rock stars in Moscow by Chinese tourists and Russian bystanders.
Vietnamese, fresh from celebrating their very own 50th Anniversary of Victory over the US, also march.
Then ...
But Mongols, they occupy a very special place in Russian hearts, a small but heroic nation whose contribution to the Red Army and USSR was immense, ranging from formations who fought at the front, to meat, to horses, to warm clothing (tulups) for the Red Army--they proudly share the glory of Victory. Deservedly so. And now a bitter part ... the US Army could have marched on the Red Square, deservedly so, but Washington chose a different path.
... Army Group "Dnepr" of Russian Armed Forces, using drones, dropped thousands of booklets over Kherson.
Booklets, which look like this:
Give clear instructions to residents of Kherson on how to behave themselves when encountering Russian soldiers. I wonder why all this. Hm, does it mean that Washington Capitals have a shot at Stanley Cup this year? Or maybe it is because Betelgeuse is about to go supernova? Yes, that's it. It is because of Betelgeuse. Whew, it took a couple of hours of hard analytical work to figure this out.
What Trump doesn't understand is that he insulted Russian people where every family was touched by war (mine included) and made an enormous sacrifice. Dmitry Medvedev called it pompous nonsense. It is. I speak about this in my video.
I cannot wrap my brain around it. It is not even a joke; it is a self-satire. It is also a humiliation, not just for the office of President but for the country.
Talk about lack of any class. Can you imagine Vladimir Putin having his own social network and then playing with neural network to dress himself as a Czar? Correct, he is too busy being a statesman.
All documentaries such as Saving Private Ryan, Patton or A Bridge Too Far, among many other courses DJT took on strategy and military history, confirm this.
Of course, who can forget the Siege of Chicago and General Patton's brilliant victory over Manstein and Model at the gates of Boston. In the end, it was this thing--here is a historical photo.
Nebenzya will make a complete idiot out of this guy in UN publicly. DJT, of course, couldn't foresee that the neocon trash he imported into his admin will sabotage him/s. And while everyone discusses the "mineral deal" which has no meaning for reality on the ground, Nikolai Patrushev makes an important comment on upcoming BaltOps 25:
Translation:NATO is practicing scenarios involving the seizure of the Kaliningrad region and preemptive strikes on nuclear arsenals during exercises near the Russian border.This was stated in an interview with TASS by the Russian presidential aide and head of the Naval Collegium Nikolai Patrushev.According to him, the North Atlantic Alliance is holding the largest exercises in recent decades for the second year, "in which it is practicing scenarios of offensive actions over a large area - from Vilnius to Odessa, the seizure of the Kaliningrad region, blocking shipping in the Baltic and Black Seas, and preemptive strikes on the permanent bases of Russian nuclear deterrent forces."
While I am on record for decades now that it is conventional power which matters in military affairs--the competition NATO has lost--yesterday Ania asked me a pointed question: how many nukes it will take to "calm" NATO down. It goes without saying that Russia can sink every NATO fleet in Baltic conventionally, but it must be understood--any real move on Kaliningrad means immediate nuclear response, including at NATO's military political top. Conventionally, NATO (US included) is a paper tiger, but considering a complete insanity of European political "elites", turning some of the European and UK sites into parking lot could become necessary. We, of course, can discuss after that the algorithm of escalation (or de-escalation) after initial "lesson", but Russia can go with her own version of the Ledeen Doctrine: “Every ten years or so, the United States needs to pick up some small crappy little country and throw it against the wall, just to show the world we mean business.” Rephrase it in accordance with present situation from Russian point of view and the list of candidates pops up immediately. I'll give you a hint--the US will do nothing.
Leopold the Cat was appealing to his adversary mice non-stop. Guys, let's live like friends. But in the end, he had to take Ozverin pills to calm things down.
Our friend Thermobaric pointed out to an excellent (excellent being a euphemism for exposing coping mechanisms among NATO forces) piece in 1945 about some Abrams X Tank which doesn't exists and will not exist. The title of the piece is Russia Is Freaked: Why the Army's Monstrous AbramsX Looks Unbeatable. The title immediately betrays the author's intent which has nothing to do with a professional review of actual weapon systems' design and integration and tactical and operational applications (and ramifications) but has everything to do with ... unbearable butthurt and professional envy which cannot be contained. The author is:
Dr. James Jay Carafano is a leading expert in national security and foreign policy affairs. Carafano previously served as the Vice President of Heritage Foundation’s Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Institute for National Security and Foreign Policy and served in the US Army for 25 years. He is an accomplished historian and teacher as well as a prolific writer and researcher.
Immediate Red Flag here is Heritage Foundation itself--a fraudulent pseudo-academic and pseudo-conservative "think-tank", whose warfare "expertise" is shaped, as it is true for the most US institutes dealing with war by fairy tales from Wehrmacht and SS, who settled in the West, as of lately by Kiev regime's propaganda. Generally, most US credentials in "strategy", "national security" et al when it comes to modern warfare and Russia are nothing more than diplomas issued by degree mills in "media" and similar "soft" degrees which require no serious STEM and military science background which is critical for grasping high tactical and operational level of warfare.
I don't know in what capacity James Carafano served in the US Army, but it is obvious that the writing of such profundity must invoke a number of questions about his qualifications as an officer.
Why AbramsX Could Be An Amazing Tank: Weapons of armed conflict are subject to different rules of obsolescence than other technologies. That is why decades-long predictions of the end of armor’s utility have passed out of favor while these metal monsters still prowl the battlefield. The US Army’s intent to develop a new generation of the long-serving heavy combat Abrams tanks makes sense if America plans to continue to field effective armed land power in the decades ahead.
First things first:
1. How does Mr. Carafano know that Russians are "freaked". Does Mr. Carafano have good level professional contacts and knows military-technological culture of the Russian Armed Forces? I can give you the answer immediately--he doesn't have, and he doesn't know. Russians are "freaked" by the US armor, alright. Freaked from recognizing and demonstrating its sheer inferiority to Russian even older armor, such as first versions of T-72s, in one-on-one scenarios, not to speak of actual armor operations on the modern battlefield where ALL of NATO's tanks proved dismal and not designed for the operations against peer (or better than peer). Abrams proved itself to be a very bad tank, no matter how much effort was put into covering up its dismal performance on the modern battlefield.
If Mr. Carafano thinks that he can do that against such an Army as Russian one:
Even on tactical level--I have a bridge to sell him, together with those people who "taught" him in his "national security studies", because it ain't happening on the modern battlefield in which Russia dominates and will dominate any NATO force in RUK/ROK, the best tanks and anti-tank weapons and VKS which can close the sky over the theater of operations, while I have a shitload of popcorn ready to listen to how Mr. Carafano and his buddies from Heritage and this 1945 outlet will explain to me how their assembly areas will look like even in the operational rear.
2. The other takeaway is the term "could". Right! At least Brando's Terry Malloy was a real human:
Carafano talks here about something which doesn't exist and will not exist because I already can state what future NATO tanks lack and WILL want--yes, my friends, autoloader. Yes, this thingy which when all other capabilities such as armor and netcentricity with optronics match, makes all the difference, especially in intense tank combat. New US MBT if it ever materializes COULD be worth its weight in gold and that means that most likely it will not go beyond prototype of ... something resembling tank.
3. But lastly--the key point is that the US Army has NO access to priceless data on the performance--no, not Abramses, that they do have--but of Russian armor in those most important tactical and technical aspects which are hidden from the media and constitute what really matters in battle and armor operations. How about statistics on targeting and target selection within tank platoon or company. How about performance of the ballistic computers, about optronics et al. Without it, you will not be able to understand how the modern armor force is done, and the US doesn't have this data. But the problem is deeper--Russians fight as a system, with the General Staff controlling everything from doctrinal development to military industry to operational control and it is the capability Pentagon simply is incapable of matching. That is why statements like these:
the multidimensional capabilities the US armed forces will field in the future will likely allow the Americans to deploy an extremely capable and effective armor force.
Can invoke nothing but an ironic smile and a warranted question, against who do the US Armed Forces want to fight? If it is Russia, my only advice is to cope harder and study real operations instead of BS pulled out of the ass about Russians being "freaked".
Colonel, however, slightly misinterprets Red Army's movements because it was the other way around, as was settled in Tehran in 1943, that the Red Army will launch a major offensive operation in order to relieve Allies in Normandy. The Red Army did, and it became known as Operation Bagration. And, strangely enough, it created the sense of dismay and unease in Allied camp. But the main thrust of Colonel's thought is correct.
... for 30 minutes straight. Pay attention to Kellogg's "assessment" of SMO from 3 years ago--mind you, this guy commanded NATO's Special Operations. He obviously has no clue about warfare, which automatically qualifies him for ... Trump's "special envoy for 404". Pardon my French, but this all is a fucking circus in the West. Embarrassing.
