No, 60,000. No, A Million ...

 ... at least. You see, while we discuss here important things, issues, trends et all ...

Ukraine Unleashes 30,000 Drones on Moscow—Putin’s Defenses Crumble

This is the type of crap which West's media propagate. Each morning, after turning on my PC I get this shit popping up on MSN page. Every day NATO and 404 report about amazing victories over Russia and Putin's "regime" which is about to crumble. Together with air defense. But then, the author notes ... 

On numerous recent nights, Moscow's airports and other critical infrastructure have faced disruptions as Ukrainian drone operations target the city under coordinated command. Though Russian defenses intercept most drones, the sustained volume of attacks has caused temporary service disruptions and revealed challenges in defending against drone swarms. ... Moscow's missile defense systems continue to engage drone swarms, though analysts note the persistent pressure is creating operational challenges and cost-efficiency concerns. The consistent drone threat has prompted ongoing reassessment of air defense strategies.

Hm, if "Russian defenses intercept most drones" let me ask where did the author and these "analysts" learn that "The consistent drone threat has prompted ongoing reassessment of air defense strategies" from? I have the answer--they pulled this BS out of their asses, because should they have been real professionals they would have known that "reassessment" in any military field, including AD, goes on 24/7 on operational-tactical and operational-strategic levels. Russia's General Staff has a whole huge department in GOU (Main Operational Directorate) dedicated ONLY to issues of air-defense and is staffed with people with advanced (graduate and post-graduate) military-STEM degrees in Air Defense specifically and who commanded or have been COSs of high tactical level and higher Air Defense formations in Russia's military. It is a level of AD expertise NO NATO officer has, period. The West has NOTHING even remotely comparable to this.

In related news. 

Two Ukrainians have been identified as the suspected perpetrators behind two acts of sabotage targeting a railway line between Warsaw and Lublin on Monday, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk told the parliament on Tuesday. According to him, the suspects sought to provoke a train crash. The prime minisiter accused the suspects of working “with the Russian intelligence for a long time.” According to Tusk, both alleged perpetrators fled to Belarus after the incidents.

Ah, OK. So they are Russians, after all, right? They must be Russians, otherwise how else morons in Warsaw can explain what is happening in Poland and that it is just the start--things will continue to deteriorate economically at an alarming rate for Poland, so ... Russians. Of course, who else. 

Yes, Yes and Yes.

Difficult to argue here. It is all (always was) about the scale of players, period. What's left of 404 must shut up. 

In related news, Poland's President Mr. Duda was held behind the Trump's door waiting for an hour before he was let in and spend the whole 15 minutes with Trump.  

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland's President Andrzej Duda said Tuesday that he has received U.S. assurances that Washington will not reduce its troop presence in Poland and elsewhere along NATO's eastern flank. A conservative who has long had good ties with U.S. President Donald Trump, Duda also returned to an idea he proposed years ago to create a U.S. military based called “Fort Trump” in his country.

Sure. Russians are waiting and the mood in Russia, across the board, is the same--talk is cheap, actions speak louder than words. Granted, Russia understands what Trump is trying to do domestically. Meanwhile, coping in the NATO pseudo-military porn outlets is palpable, I speak about it from technological POV in my today's video. 

Belated Happy Birthday To Larry ...

 ... and his superb expose on Auschwitz, the Red Army and the West. 

The Holocaust cult in the West takes great pride in pushing the narrative that US and British soldiers liberated the death camps. That is not true. They liberated concentration camps in Germany, Austria and Czechoslovakia (i.e., Flossenbürg and Theresienstadt). There is a significant difference between the camps in Western Europe and those that operated in Poland.

Credit for putting an end to the mass extermination centers–all of which were located in Poland–goes to the Soviets. Here are the other camps in Poland where mass executions of Jews occurred:

Majdenak—October 1, 1941, until July 22, 1944, was captured nearly intact. (34 months)

59,000 Jews were murdered.

Chelmno—operated from December 8, 1941 to April 11, 1943, parallel to Operation Reinhard (17 months operational)–200,000 to 350,000 Jews were murdered.

Belzac—operated from 17 March 1942 to the end of June 1943 (15 months)–430,000 to 500,000 murdered Jews.

Sobibor—Operational from May 1942 – 14 October 1943 (Part of Operation Reinhard) (17 months)–170,000 to 250,000 Jews murdered

Treblinka—camp operated between 23 July 1942 and 19 October 1943 as part of Operation Reinhard, (16 months)–700,000 to 900,000 Jews murdered

Between 2.5 and 3.1 million Jews died in these camps. Frankly, more would have died were it not for Soviet victories over the Nazis. Now we have come full circle. The Poles are sending money and weapons to Neo-Nazis in Ukraine, where Stepan Bandera is celebrated as a national hero for his role in overseeing the slaughter of more than 100,000 Poles during World War II. The hypocrisy and irony are overwhelming.

Speaking of irony, on the day that Israelis celebrated the liberation of Auschwitz, almost 1.5 million Palestinians moved north in Gaza to reoccupy their shattered homes and businesses. A truly sad irony.

Read the whole thing at Larry's blog. 

Peskov's Statement...

 ... is not about 404. It is about sheer incompetence of the American military-political establishment. 

Песков напомнил, что киевский режим обещал американцам за $100 млрд «победу на поле боя», а теперь они понимают, что их обманули — никакой победы на поле боя нет. Более того, украинские вооруженные силы стремительно и неизбежно теряют позиции.

Translation: Peskov reminded that the Kiev regime promised the Americans “victory on the battlefield” for $100 billion, and now they understand that they were deceived - there is no victory on the battlefield. Moreover, the Ukrainian armed forces are rapidly and inevitably losing ground.

Only morons could believe in and plan this crap. I am on record ad nauseam--US military experience is simply inapplicable for something like SMO. American "strategists" cannot wrap their minds around the complexity, intensity and attrition rates in such combat operations. The clock-work is broken, it always was. And now, when the reality cannot be hidden anymore, someone will have to answer for those millions KIAs and maimed in 404 and war crimes committed by both VSU and their Western enablers, including Western media. 

Meanwhile in Poland. 

Yep, they learned absolutely nothing.

Brian Gets Into The Neck Of The Woods...

 ... of Poland's rearmament issue and some operational issues of Bakhmut. 

Definitely is worth watching.
 

Larry Beat Me To It...

 ... on how history is being rewritten as you read this. 

When I heard the initial report that the Auschwitz Museum in Poland banned Russia from participating in the 78th anniversary of the camp’s liberation by Soviet troops, it was presented as a spiteful act on the part of the descendants of the Jews who survived the Holocaust. But then I read the story:

“Given the aggression against a free and independent Ukraine, representatives of the Russian Federation have not been invited to attend this year’s commemoration,” Piotr Sawicki, spokesman for the museum at the site of the former camp, told AFP.

Friday is the 78th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp built by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland — a date that has become Holocaust Memorial Day.

Until now, Russia has always taken part in the commemoration held every year on January 27, with its delegate speaking at the main ceremony.

Museum director Piotr Cywinski said it was obvious that he could “sign no letter to the Russian ambassador having an inviting tone” in the current context.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/auschwitz-museum-russia-not-invited-to-event-marking-camps-liberation-by-red-army/

Piotr Sawicki is a Polack. Probably Catholic. And has never been a fan of acknowledging what the Russian troops did in January 1945 because the vast majority of inmates at Birkenau and Auschwitz were Jewish, not Polish. Polish animus towards Russia goes back centuries and the leaders of the Auschwitz Museum used Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as a timely pretext to exclude Russia from the ceremony tomorrow (January 27).

Read the whole thing at Larry's blog. Moscow, of course, reacted pro-forma through Zakharova. But Larry is correct--you cannot reason with these people. No point.

Aww, They Are So Sensitive.

 LOL))

Lithuanians should not enjoy Russian culture as long as a conflict is raging in Ukraine, its culture minister Simonas Kairys told national broadcaster LRT this week. The minister was echoing the ideas of his Ukrainian counterpart Aleksandr Tkachenko, who'd earlier called on the West to boycott Russian culture altogether. Kairys accused Moscow of using Russian culture as a “weapon” supposedly by sending Russian pop-culture artists to Lithuania on dates “important for the Lithuanian state.” While stopping short of supporting what he called an “authoritarian” administrative ban on Russian culture, the minister still said he favored a “mental quarantine” on it. Both individuals and institutions should demonstrate personal awareness, Kairys maintained, adding that “we must abandon works [of art] that seemed acceptable to us before.” He also praised those Lithuanian cultural figures, who “consciously responded” to his ministry’s recommendations.

"Mental Quarantine" is, certainly, something out of the Thought-crime realm, but you cannot explain them this, because they think they are... ahem... free and "democratic." Generally speaking, this unstoppable juggernaut of Russian art, ranging from ballet, symphony, literature to quirky pop, to Russian heavy metal can damage some people's mental state. The story with Polish "journalist", no, not our lovely and courageous Ania, who enjoys currently St.Petersburg, but some Polish righteous "reporter" Gomulka from ONET, who had her vacations in Egypt spoiled due to communication with Russian tourists, is making rounds in Russia. Here it is in Russian from KP, she left her "impressions" on Onet.pl in Polish. I guess she needs "mental quarantine" together with her Lithuanian colleagues-defenders of freedom and democracy.

Here is lovely Ania, though.

She describers Polish Army's training in one of the videos of Polish Defense Ministry. Generally, it is the list of the US-made weapons, some of them used. So, Poland prepares to... either fight Russian invasion of... Poland, or... well, what is the mood in Kremlin now? Will Kremlin now allow Poland just simply go and take Kresy? The Western Ukraine, you know. Something tells me that before Russia would look at it through fingers, all kinds of protestations for PR granted, of course, this time I can only assume that the mood in Kremlin changed. But I am on record--the worst enemy of Poland is... Poland, and nothing could be done about it.

A Bit Of Economic News.

When speaking about basic facts I made one mistake, Russia's manufacturing grew in 2021 (relative to successful 2019) not 6.9 but 5.9% which is still very impressive.  But the news from the processing industries--that is where the value added is highest--is even more impressive: the growth is 9.2% (in Russian from Rosstat). 

Remarkably, the US and Qatar are redirecting LNG tankers from Asia to Europe because European natural gas prices are, well, insane. So a lot of money to be made there while the going is good even despite the demand shrinking somewhat, which is only natural because many simply cannot afford to exist in such economic conditions. I don't know how Poland will be able to escape inevitable blame for insisting on the market-determined gas prices, but then again--it is purely EU and European Commission matter, let them start throwing turds at each-other. Hungary and Serbia were the smartest ones, they simply signed long terms contracts with Gazprom and are sitting pretty (probably with pop-corn) observing this whole clusterfuck in EU. 

Per Russia's ultimatum. There were some objections to calling it that, but my response is simple: if it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck and looks like a duck, then there is a good chance that it is a duck. Same here:

Judge for yourself. But in general, many people missed one very serious moment in all of this back and forth between Russia and NATO. Russia threw the US off balance. This is simply by implying an escalation dominance in the areas which Russia historically deems crucial for her security. Ukraine is one of them. Is there a degree of ambivalence in Putin, Lavrov, Shoigu's and other statements? No doubt about it, there is a certain small degree of it which makes the other side guess WHAT will be the response if the red line is crossed. The military part of this response is somewhat predictable when it comes to Ukraine, but what else, what else--Russia is ready to discuss it and she is in the open with her concerns, let's call it like that for now, concerns. Aegis Ashore is one of that--both in Poland and Romania. Plus, Vladimir Putin was not this time generous towards Western "partners" and speaking at the Board of Ministry of Defense couple of days ago admitted that even written obligations from the West are pretty much worthless. But still, better than verbal promises alone. 

And while Russia's economy is still recovering from the ruins of 1990s and early 2000s, it is clear that it is large and self-sustainable enough to issue ultimatums not fearing any economic consequences. I would even propose that shopping in Moscow, St. Petersburg or Kazan is in no way inferior to visiting Paris or Milan boutiques which sell brand crap for ridiculous prices designed for the type of public which in Russia is known as нищеброды (difficult to even translate properly--uncultured lacking taste pauper-beggars maybe) who hunt only for status brands and things as to be a part of a conspicuous consumption class. Yes, there are many of those among moneyed strata both in Russia and in the West. The result, very often, looks like this:

But then again, I am old fashioned, but, yes, I still love good shoes and good watches (emphasis on good, meaning beautiful and reliable). I buy my Wranglers at Walmart (and Lee's at COSTCO) and some things in Eddie Bauer. I would say that is more than enough for man's happiness. But that's just me, what do I know. 

Slowly but Surely.

Poland's Defense Minister Antoni Macierewicz is slowly but surely hitting the bottom. In his latest statement he went for jugular, he accused USSR in... Holocaust.   

USSR is Responsible for Holocaust (in Polish)

I witnessed many things in my life which left me either speechless or scratching my head, but this guy he is not just certifiably insane, he also sings from the old script written not in Poland. In the end, this diagram may explain why: 

Truth be damned (and it largely has been already in the combined "West") but in view of many the history of WWII MUST be rewritten and this desire does not originate in Poland, it is just that current Polish "elites" are true believers and as such are a very good instrument, for now. "Those who control the past control the future", Orwell got that right. Attempts to rewrite the history of WWII will continue, financed both from the US, for obvious reasons, and through other NGOs. In Poland this problem is exacerbated by the sense of closing window for cheap credit, investments and, in general, EU welfare against some pretty grim economic and geopolitical trends unfolding in a front of the West. So, Poland, apart from demanding reparations from Germany (good luck with that), now decided to up the ante with Russia. Obviously, Russians, who liberated concentration camps during WWII may have a very different opinion of who really perpetuated or helped perpetuate the Holocaust. After all, unlike Macierewicz' statement that Polish Army handled Wehrmacht just fine, that is until USSR "stabbed Poland in the back", so far Poland performed great only in one type of warfare--demolishing monuments and now, finally, Soviet military cemeteries. I wonder why attacks on monuments on Confederacy were so fanatical? As one neocon noted recently:

 
                The idea is not to erase history, but to contextualize it.

I have some news for this Ph.D--it is about rewriting the history and always was. Hopefully, by 2019 Russians will have fewer and fewer relations with Poland and it is probably for the better--the voice for returning the remains of hundreds of thousands Soviet soldiers who lost their lives liberating Poland in WWII are becoming louder and louder in Russia. After all, the time when it will be an American GI, not Soviet Ivan, who liberated Auschwitz are not that far away. As diagram above shows just another small push and Winston Smith's idea that "2+2=4, everything follows from here" will be, finally, gone.