A-ha! Interesting News.

As someone on our discussion boards noticed, beautifully: Russia and China do not stand shoulder to shoulder, but back to back. Very succinct. That is why I am always standoffish in regards to Russian-Chinese cooperation in some (by far not all) spheres. While China and Russia are de facto military allies, economically--they are competitors. And here is what Yuri Borisov confirmed a week ago:

АЛЕКСИН /Тульская область/, 29 июня. /ТАСС/. Россия сокращает свое участие в проекте создания совместного с Китаем дальнемагистрального широкофюзеляжного самолета CR929, сообщил вице-премьер Юрий Борисов в рамках пленарной сессии форума "Инженеры будущего". "У нас идет с Китаем этот проект, идет в принципе не в том русле, которое нас устраивает. Китай по мере превращения в индустриального гиганта все меньше и меньше заинтересован в наших услугах, у нас работает наше КБ, мы имеем громадный опыт в ЦАГИ (Центральный аэрогидродинамический институт - прим. ТАСС). <...> Но у китайцев больше потребностей, чем у нас на сегодняшний день. Наше участие все уменьшается и уменьшается. Я не хочу прогнозировать будущее этого проекта - будем мы из него выходить или не будем, но пока он по факту идет", - сказал Борисов.

Translation:

ALEKSIN / Tula region /, June 29. /TASS/. Russia is reducing its participation in the project to create a long-range wide-body aircraft CR929 jointly with China, Deputy Prime Minister Yury Borisov said at the plenary session of the Future Engineers forum. “We are working with China on this project, which, in principle, is not going in the direction that suits us. China, as it becomes an industrial giant, is less and less interested in our services, we have our design bureau, we have vast experience in TsAGI ( Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute - TASS note).<...> But the Chinese have more needs than we have today. Our participation is decreasing and decreasing. I don't want to predict the future of this project - will we leave it or not , but for now it is actually on its way," Borisov said.

So, what could this "direction" be which "doesn't suit" Russia. Let me speculate a bit, or, hell with it, go on a limb here and I wrote about it for a long time. I think the issue here is engine, namely PD-35 which is in works and was supposed to be installed on CR-929. China depends on foreign engines when it comes to commercial aviation and this tradition will not change because, as with nuclear submarines, Chinese technology in this respect lags and lags significantly behind the West and Russia. Stating concerns with sanctions China, and here I begin to speculate, most likely wanted technologies for PD-35 "appropriated" as in "indigenous" Chinese engine. This is not the "gift" Russia is willing to give to China. And rightly so. Modern jet engine technologies are one of the most advanced and sensitive technologies anywhere.

It is inconceivable for Pratt and Whitney or Rolls Royce, or GE to simply "share" with China, even at the peak of West-Chinese cooperation in 2000s and 2010s with their engine technologies. As I already stated not for once--China lags here. Why she lags--it is a whole other issue altogether. Creating competitive commercial aircraft with own indigenous engine is a hell of undertaking and if China, including through cooperation with Ukraine at some point, wants to take this road alone, sure. But it has to be clearly stated that at this very moment China doesn't have competitive engine for both Comac 919 (which was planned to be "motorized" by LEAP-1) and, especially, CR 929. 

Here is the thing which has to be considered:

There is a solution for China and Comac; the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (ACAE) has been developing their own engine, expressly designed for the C919 aircraft. The ACAE CJ-1000A has performance similar to the CFM LEAP-1C and PW1000G, but to China it is a native engine, built domestically. The CJ-1000A was unveiled in 2012, and has been in testing ever since. However, this engine might not be ready for service until 2030.

Pay attention to date. So, by all measure Chinese expect at least 18 years developing such an engine. As of today no serial produced competitive indigenous engine is available for Chinese commercial aviation. Consider a development cycle for PD-14 whose first run was in 2014 (concept of engine was presented in 2009) and it is now in serial production since 2021. Make your own conclusions. China's achievements in economy, some technologies, science etc. are very impressive and demand admiration and appreciation. But there are few specific and crucial fields in which China still lags greatly behind the West and Russia. Commercial aviation is one such field. There is a hefty number of other industries. But Borisov's statement is a good indication of Russia's full intent to remain one of the leading nations in design and engineering of a very high end technology and Russia is not going to make "presents" in this respect to anyone. Especially, recalling how China (and not only China) was transporting plane loads of technical documentation from Russia and Ukraine on latest Soviet commercial and military technologies. In the end, Russia has a ready and wonderful platform of IL-96 to be re-motorized on PD-35 and no one is better a marketing "director" for this than Vladimir Putin himself. 

This is a primer for today.         

Larry And Alex With Alexander Go At It Today.

Duran guys and Larry got together today and discussed all those important issues of narrative. I had a chance to only browse it for 5 minutes, but all three are the people you want to have your analytical input from.  

So, here it is. I'll watch it in full later today. I have some business to attend to first.

 

The Numbers Begin To Roll In.

I know, it is the 4th but still, life doesn't stop. So, Shoigu gave the count (preliminary):

"Успешно проведена наступательная операция по освобождению территории ЛНР. В течение двух недель окружены и ликвидированы группировки в Горском котле в районах Лисичанска и Северодонецка. <…> Операция завершена вчера освобождением одного из крупнейших городов ЛНР, Лисичанска. Всего в ходе активных наступательных действий взято под контроль 670 квадратных километров территории. Общие потери ВСУ составили 5 469 человек, в том числе безвозвратные 2 218", - сказал он.По словам Шойгу, также ВСУ потеряли 196 танковых и бронированных машин, 12 самолетов, один вертолет, 65 беспилотников, шесть зенитных ракетных комплексов большой дальности, 97 ракетных систем залпового огня, 166 орудий полевой и минометной артиллерии, 216 автомобилей. "В Лисичанске противник бросил 39 танков и других бронированных машин, 11 орудий и минометов". 

Translation: "An offensive operation was successfully carried out to liberate the territory of the LPR. Within two weeks, groups in the Gorsky cauldron in the areas of Lisichansk and Severodonetsk were surrounded and liquidated. <...> The operation was completed yesterday by the liberation of one of the largest cities of the LPR, Lisichansk. control of 670 square kilometers of territory. The total losses of the Armed Forces of Ukraine amounted to 5,469 people, including irretrievable 2,218," he said. According to Shoigu, the Armed Forces of Ukraine also lost 196 tanks and armored vehicles, 12 aircraft, one helicopter, 65 drones, six long-range anti-aircraft missile systems, 97 multiple launch rocket systems, 166 field and mortar artillery guns, 216 vehicles. "In Lisichansk, the enemy threw 39 tanks and other armored vehicles, 11 guns and mortars".

The reason I say "preliminary" because it will take some time before additional KIAs of VSU will be removed from rabble, forest areas etc. This removal, usually, lasts couple of weeks and numbers will only grow in terms of KIAs. 

Of course, students of NATO warfare, which is primarily in PR, such as Ze' "adviser" Arestovich already stated (in Russian) that the loss of Severodonetsk and Lysichansk was "a successful operation of VSU". What can I say, it is a well known fact that Nazi Germany also defeated the Soviet Union. So, it is all good. These people are darlings of the Western "elites" because they are very much alike. 

In related news, Combat Approved finally (finally!) went back decades ago and told the story of Victors-III, project 671RTMK SSGNs, capable to carry a strategic cruise missile Granat (they still do) 

This is the history which very few among laymen know, only professionals and people who are into the issue knew what appearance of the first pr. 671 RTM (K--is for same RTMs but carrying cruise missiles) meant--in 1979 when the first one was launched--it meant that Soviet SSNs were now going toe to toe with the Los Angeles-class subs of the US Navy. I wrote and spoke a lot on the issue of Soviet technology of 1980s--it was beginning not only to catch up in terms of overall performance, always good, but in specific terms of signal processing, quieting and other crucial parameters. That is why Normal Polmar gave this forecast in 1989. 

From this book:
 

I would say that he was very accurate in his prediction. Which still doesn't negate the fact of the US Navy having today a world-class, top-tier submarine force. Even when one considers a very negative dynamics for the US Armed Forces as a whole. But for now, US sub fleet is a hugely potent force with state-of-the-art technologies and still very high level of training of its personnel. What will be its future? Who knows. A transition from old and nearing moral obsolescence Ohio-class SSBNs to modern Columbia-class SSBNs should demonstrate some trends. For now it is very slow. But we'll see.

Ha, Ha-Ha, Ha-Ha-Ha... LOL)))

Bloomberg reports:  

According to the source, Ukraine plans to present the recovery plan at a national reconstruction forum in Lugano, Switzerland on July 4-5. European Union officials said the 27-member bloc that formally recognized Ukraine as a candidate last month would provide the bulk of the overall financial aid, which could top €500 billion. It is noted that the Ukrainian authorities discussed the draft of the project with donors, including the EU countries.

Yes, sure. I think the sum should be greater, how about 1 trillion dollars))) Or Euros. 

God Bless your soul in heaven, Juan Joya Borja--you became immortal and this is the greatest reward a comic can dream about.

Thinking About The Same.

Larry debunks yet another BS from WaPo regarding losses:

Denial ain’t a river in Egypt (i.e. The Nile, lame humor), but it is flowing at flood stage in Ukraine. Apparently the Washington Post reporter writing this fairy tale (published today, Saturday) did not get the news that the Russians now occupy Lysychansk and the Ukrainian troops are fleeing the area as fast as they can (hoping not to meet Russian artillery rounds). I want to focus specifically on the bogus claim that Russia is suffering just as many casualties as Ukraine. Here is a recent video of a Ukrainian unit–the 43rd Infantry Battalion–laying down their arms and being accused of desertion...  I challenge any western military toady to show a comparable video of Russian troops giving up. Good luck. It does not exist. Instead, you will find those rowdy Chechens celebrating liberating Lysychansk (with an Allah u Akbar tossed in for good measure).

We all know that no Western media outlet will accept this challenge. As I stressed in my last video--to work in Western establishment media one has to a) either make a deal with own consciousness b) be a complete psychopath ready to lie non-stop. I admit the existence of the third type--a completely sublime idiots who believe in this "freedom of speech" BS, but for the most one has to be a damaged human being to accept job at WaPo, NYT or BBC. 

Our very own Larch also makes some excellent points today precisely on this issue:

If a hundred thousand are 200s and three hundred thousand are 300s wounded, surrendered or captured, it doesn't matter much. There are hundreds of thousands of bodies available to force into service. Training for Ukies is 2-4 weeks, all important weapons systems seem to be manned by mercs, NATO advisers and PMC contractors. The Ukie tactics now are: stay in prepared defenses until they are breeched and overrun, retreat to civilian infrastructure, use human shields, fight until you have no ammo, run to the next location, second or third echelon. You'll get more ammo, some food and water, repeat until you are dead. Of course there are catastrophic losses. The US designed defenses haven't worked in a war since before WWI. They require a suicidal human frontal assault from the Russians to produce winning results. The Russians' frontal assault comes in the mode of artillery and missile strikes. They have recently added a helicopter and armed drone-based rocket, Project 305, LMAR. Helos can stand off 10-20 kilometers and blowup any target. Russians have been using these in night raids. So, the Ukies get hit 24/7. No trench, house, or armored vehicle is safe. The technology of the rocket makes it devastatingly deadly.

We all know by now that BS about "Russia sustaining huge losses" was prepared well before SMO and this narrative was "shaped" including by the US military "experts" such as Petraeus and Keane, plus other neocon losers who lost every single war in their lives but for some reason pass for "experts" on Russia which no one of them is. You get what you paid for. Real professionals knew that the thing was over once VSU was pinned down in defensive positions and was largely denied any kind of operational mobility. The "reinforcements" were gladly welcomed into what is called in Russian Fire Sack (Огневой Мешок) which is a perfect arrangement for killing the enemy which has a severely limited mobility. 

While great Western military "minds" were trying to come up with yet another fairy tale of how Russia loses to VSU, which, for all intents and purposes, doesn't exist as a competent army anymore, even Yahoo News dimwits started to notice that:

On May 28 in Arctic waters not far from Finland and Norway, Russia’s Northern Fleet blasted a missile from a frigate in the Barents Sea that was no ordinary projectile. According to Tass, the Russian news agency, the test of the Tsirkon hypersonic missile, believed to be capable of traveling nine times the speed of sound, was a success, hitting a target 625 miles away in the White Sea. The May 28 test of the hypersonic missiles, which were designed to evade air defense systems, was the 14th conducted by Russia in the previous five months and hypersonic weapons are increasingly seen as a possible threat to the U.S. and NATO. “You have failed to contain Russia,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said when he first announced his plans for the hypersonic arsenal in 2018.

The piece has a pretentious title: Will the race to develop hypersonic weapons spark the next global arms race? You know what, I don't have to contain myself within the framework of basic politeness and decorum, so here it is. Most those "journos" are retards capable of re-narrating, on the level of high school or student newspaper, things which are beyond their comprehension and this title is a full proof of that. The hypersonic "arms race" has been "sparked" in 1960s with USSR developing a line of supersonic anti-shipping missiles, which went from M=1.3 in such systems as early ASMs P-6/35 to M=2.5 in P-700 and P-800 Onix and then with a very high supersonic ASMs air-launched X-31 and M=4.2+ X-32. I am on record, this "arms race" is a complex thing because while the US already lost it, it is also nowhere near the second, crucial, component of it--Anti-hypersonic weapons. US Air Defense is not even in the same league as S-400, let alone S-500, S-300V4 and S-550, let alone A-235 Nudol. 

But, of course, there would be no good reason to pen this BS article if British and French "experts", such as this boy from Chatham House--a proud bearer of a tradition of intellectual, academic and human degeneracy of British and French "elites"--wouldn't try to commence the therapeutic session. The name of the boy is Mathieu Boulègue. 

A typical product of Bologna Process and carrier of fake soft degrees in nothing, with zero affiliation with any military matters. But he surely is a sore loser. 

But while many are worried about Russia’s hypersonic weapons, Mathieu Boulègue, senior research fellow for the Russia and Eurasia Program at Chatham House, isn’t one of them. “Russia doesn’t really have working hypersonic systems,” he told Yahoo News. “I’ll be worried when Russia has a standing force of heavily deployed hypersonic systems that can actually create strategic effects in a standoff against the West. But right now, it’s just tests” of what he calls “asymmetric enablers.” Ten or 20 years down the road, “hypersonics could be a game-changer. But it’s still very early.”

The boy, obviously, lacks basic facts on the physics of hypersonics and has zero understanding of technological issues pertaining hypersonic development, but then again, he is an Exhibit A of why combined West is in a deep shit and cannot win a war against people with AK-47s and RPGs. Why the West needs enemies when it has such "experts". I have a news for him--political science IS NOT a valid academic field. Especially in terms of defense technologies which require serious STEM degrees and good understanding of the tactical, operational and strategic issues related to modern warfare--a body of knowledge which, now it can be stated with confidence, Western "elite" doesn't have. Not to mention the fact that the boy wouldn't last a year in serious military academy or STEM institution in Russia. Too hard. Here is another real professional talking about UK which is "irrelevant" as a military force, as is France, in modern world. 

So, when some ignoramus from a clownish "think-tank" wants to wax warfareish, he better choose a field of study which is not a fraud, as most of political "science", "conflict studies" and "foreign relations" in the West are today. MacGregor is spot on, defining UK's and, by default, Europe's place in today's world.

Ah, Olaf Scholz Got The Message.

Do I feel smug at this moment? Come on, I am just human with all my human flaws, can I allow myself  at least a brief moment of feeling good about myself and what I do? 

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Russian President Vladimir Putin prepared for his war on Ukraine for at least a year before inciting it, and predicted Putin is likely to be able to maintain a drawn-out offensive for a "long time." Scholz made the comments in a Thursday interview with CBS News "Face the Nation" moderator and chief foreign affairs correspondent Margaret Brennan at the NATO summit in Madrid. The war on Ukraine has now dragged on for more than four months, and Russia is using its firepower to make incremental gains. US intelligence estimates that Russia currently holds about 20% of the country, mostly in eastern Ukraine.  "When will Russia no longer have the ability to continue this fight? When will Putin run out of weapons, run out of funds? Or can this continue for years," Brennan asked Scholz.

No one really knows, Scholz replied, but Putin's lengthy planning suggests he's prepared for a sustained war effort. "He has — he is perhaps the leader of a very great country with a lot of people living there, with a lot of means, and he is really doing this brutal war with — and he prepared for it [for] very long," Scholz said. "I think the decision to- to do this war was taken one year before it started or possibly earlier because he prepared for it. And so, he will be able to continue with the war really a long time."

Let me clarify some things here. 

1. Olaf Scholz cannot be viewed as a good source of expertise on anything related to warfare, real economy and, especially so, in relation to Russia. He simply has zero qualifications, even when one considers his present post as Germany's Chancellor. What he gets are some reports from a few remaining real professionals in BND and Bundeswehr who told him, I am sure, from the get go, about REAL situation. As the unlucky fate of some Germany's top brass testifies, such as Admiral Shonbach's forced resignation, Scholz was getting more or less reliable forecasting from the very start of SMO. But...

2. Western "elites" are simply incapable to hear "bad news" on anything because most of them are petulant children with the maturity level of high schools teenagers. Enough to take a look at the "levels" of the US State Department or other people from Biden Admin who pretend to run the country. As the result of all that, once the stream of, mostly fake, "news" (a euphemism for propaganda) from Ukraine dried up, reality, including the most important one--on operational and strategic level--began to bite. It hurts, I know. 

But recall, that from the inception I warned about a complete delusion about Russia exercised in the West even by people who are supposed to know. Even deeply respected by me as a true, who he is undoubtedly, military professional and, most importantly, thinker is not free from some obvious misconceptions about Russia. Such as Early Warning ABM capabilities. But combined West miscalculated in the most important aspect of Russia--her massive real economic capability which, in turn, drives Russia's huge mobilization, both economic and military, potential. Only now this "message" begins to trickle UP in both Europe and even Washington D.C. I warned about the dangers of this miscalculations since the very inception of this blog and, of course, in here:

It is worth mentioning, that ANY, I repeat it, any intelligence or military institution in the West is not up to the task of understanding Russia's mobilization potential, which the last 4 months demonstrated perfectly. The FUBAR with delusional thinking regarding West's weapons' deliveries to Ukraine and fantastical thinking of civilian leadership of the West combined with crude and unprofessional propaganda from the US military "experts" demonstrate perfectly how incompetent they are. In the end, I warned, that using the framework of Western "economism" in application to Russia is an exercise in futility, because the same framework doesn't work on West's economy at large either. 

Beaten to death cliche ascribed to many people ranging from Churchill to Metternich that "Russia is never as strong as she looks; Russia is never as weak as she looks" is just that--a cliche. In reality, it is just that the West was never really good at understanding of military and economic potential translating into the kinetic action. Let's face it--ALL, without exception, people in the decision making circles in the US know little about the world outside and especially so about Russia--it is a systemic illness of the US body politic as a whole and it is extremely dangerous. I will repeat, again, Russia study field in the combined West and, especially in the US is an academic fraud, populated by pseudo-"academic" shysters with soft Ph.Ds and Russia "expert" community is laughable because of its sheer incompetence, based in low intellectual level. 

But, if even Olaf Scholz begins to if not see (I doubt he is that smart) to, at least, articulate some realities which really matter, then it shows a very carefully hidden from the brainwashed Western public, some major tectonic shifts at least in Europe. Europeans, I know some, are waking up to the reality that the US, namely its neocon mafia in charge of the US foreign policy, would like to see Europe burn in continental war against Russia, while the US will seat it out and then, as in WW II, will come in to claim its spoils. Neocons are one trick ponies and utterly militarily incompetent people, but even such a door mat and America's slap bitch as Scholz begins to recognize that it may end really bad for him personally (that's the main concern) and for the country which he and his government so passionately want to finish off as a nation. So, something is afoot and Scholz suddenly beginning to speak as a man who finally had his two-hour briefing on introductory level geopolitics--you know, geography, industries, military and shit like that--is a good indicator of this. So, in this case, it is a positive development. 

In related news, a neocon rag laments: 

Ukraine’s forces have received less training over the recent weeks, which impacts their capacity to operate some advanced weapons systems, magazine Foreign Policy (FP) reported on Friday, citing sources. Since the launch of Russia's military offensive in the neighboring country in late February, Ukraine has been constantly asking its Western partners to provide them with more heavy weapons and to do so as quickly as possible. However, as a senior US defense official told FP, “the drumbeat of faster, faster, faster” does not always work well because “the Ukrainians needed to have the training to be able to effectively use these systems.” Meanwhile, the Ukrainian officials cited by the FP, complained on the one hand about the “too slow” pace of Western aid but, on the other hand, admitted that “beyond training for the HIMARS (High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems) and Western artillery, military training for their troops has dipped in recent weeks, leaving them unable to operate more advanced systems.”

Well, no shit geniuses. Main explanation (among few others) is the fact that VSU losses are catastrophic and most capable and smartest have been simply killed. It is a Volkssturm phase for 404, and it is accelerating as I type this. But you see, if those who matter would have been learning in their respective programs something of value and really tried, they wouldn't have to deal with this severe cognitive dissonance and they would have chosen a much more constructive and realistic approach to Russia and we all wouldn't be witnessing what we witness today, not to mention listening (reading) to old fool Kissinger's definitions of victory or loss for Russia. How this artifact is still around and is taken seriously by anyone is a complete mystery to me, but then again--at this stage the West needs to "arrange" face saving measures and not get involved with nuclear exchange with Russia as many neocons want.

Mosfilm Finally Decided...

To upload a whole of Bondarchuck's masterpiece War and Peace. And here is the deal, apart from mind-boggling battle scenes throughout the whole movie, the Battle of Borodino--a horrifying mutual slaughter of Russian and French which became the bloodiest single day battle in history--the portrayal of this battle, as well as its eve is nothing which ever will be repeated in our life time and no CGI will ever be able to substitute these 40 minutes of the greatest war movie ever made. 

It is incomparable in conveying both the savagery and, in the same time, dark magnificence of the action. In about 8 hours of battle roughly equal (around 120,000 each) French and Russian Armies sustained by different estimates 90,000 casualties. Owen Connely in his excellent Blundering to Glory gives numbers of 37,000 Napoleon, 51,000 Russians, if I am not mistaken. Now you can experience it in full. I watched it fist time as a 9 year old boy. It was a rerun (again sold out) in many movie theaters with separate showings in the course of two days. In movie theater, on the big screen and sound the experience was overwhelming. It was also the first genuine artillery battle in history. So, enjoy if you will.

They Should Dissolve Most Of US "Higher Education" As Useless...

 ... Including very many military "educational" and "national security" programs because they are taught by amateurs and people, including from Pentagon, who have no clue of the subject. This is what happens when much of your military history is a fantasy created in Hollywood. 

I always talk about it. When elites' "knowledge" of strategy is derived primarily from entertainment (I am sure some in the US State Department believe in the superpowers which Marvel movies show) this is the inevitable result. They still cannot come to grips with the fact that VSU doesn't exist anymore. The Kiev regime begins to draft 22 year old women now and even disabled people.

 

Here is the military draft paper given to one such a girl in Nikolaev area. Now, her relatives are screaming about how this could be. Well, they had no problem with their regime killing people in LDNR for eight years, including shelling kindergartens and maternity wards--deal with it. As per Western so called "elites"--they are human garbage good for nothing, let alone knowing how to fight a real war. But I warned about it for years. Somebody explain to Jake Sullivan or Tony Blinken what real war is. I know they have no clue.

Friday Tarkus With Rachel Flowers.

Well, you all know that I am not peacenik. In fact, I detest them, but I am also not a war hawk--I hate war. And let me tell ya, USSR was THE place for progressive rock music. So when Emerson, Lake and Palmer Tarkus came out in 1971 it eventually made it to the USSR and captured imagination of more mature people and, by the mid-1970s, in my teens, it was an album which you HAD to know and hear among many other incredible things which were pouring from the West and were blowing our universes apart. Recall... And this album cover...

Keith Emerson, before he committed suicide--often the plight of true geniuses--knew of Rachel Flowers. A blind girl who was born 15 weeks premature. Here is Rachel blowing my and others minds by doing a condensed version of Tarkus in no less that legendary Whiskey a Go Go 10 days ago. Not only she is a music genius, she kept alive what always was truly good and now classic music. As late John Lord of Deep Purple once stated: "We are as valid as anything by Beethoven." It was the time of the titans and it is as valid as anything by Beethoven. Just listen...

Rachel shows why it is true. I was blown away and not just by her genius but by understanding how incredible this music was and is. Happy Friday.

Mike Krupa And His Excellent Piece.

My Polish friend Mike Krupa penned an excellent piece on Polish dissident voices. 

Dr. Jacek Izydorczyk served as Poland’s ambassador to Japan from 2017 to 2019, and he currently teaches law at the University of Łódź. The esteemed professor was one of the first former diplomats to openly criticize the Polish government’s pro-war agenda after hostilities began in Ukraine. Izydorczyk is blunt and to the point: “It is in the interest of Poland to end the war as soon as possible, because whether it is a full-scale World War III or just a local war with Polish participation, it means the destruction of our country and the death of thousands, if not millions of our citizens.” The former diplomat believes that Polish and U.S. interests are not identical in Ukraine, despite the massive media propaganda campaign claiming the contrary. And while not advocating for totally abandoning the formal alliance with the United States, Izydorczyk does see the need for an immediate rebalancing towards “a minimum of assertiveness and defense of one’s position.” The Polish citizenry, Izydorczyk points out, should not hesitate to put pressure on the current government of the Law and Justice party, whose members “have been brought up on blind hatred of Russia and such absurdities as the cult of Napoleon and his expedition to Moscow.”

It is also notable, as Krupa writes:

Wielomski believes that in the current geopolitical situation, Poland has two options: either to be a transmission and trade-belt on the Beijing-Moscow-Berlin-Paris axis and benefit from it, given its geographical location, or become nothing more than “a spoiler of the United States in Eurasia.” The Polish elites chose the second option. “They may be right; but I, for one, was not convinced. To be frank, they didn’t even try to convince anyone, because after 1989 there was no debate on this issue in Poland. The government was taken over by people who had been in opposition until 1989 and who took money from the CIA for their activities, pacifying not only opposing views but even calls for a debate on this issue.”

Pay attention to a geopolitical arrangement which should have been but never materialized. In general, read the whole thing--it is excellent.  

Hey, Give Fox A Credit.

Where the credit is due. How many of such broadcasts are done in Europe by a huge main-stream media? Zero. 

But then again, Biden Admin's (read: neocons and fanatics) "math", "economy" and "military art" is not a subject for scientific inquiry and logical explanation, because it is, obviously, from some parallel universe where normal physics, math and causality principles do not exist as we know them. 

In related news, it takes two to tango. 

A newly set up state Russian company will take over the rights and obligations of Sakhalin Energy Investment Co., the joint venture running the Sakhalin-2 oil and gas project, Reuters reported today. This could mean a forced exit from the project for Shell and Japan’s Mitsui and Mitsubishi, which are minority shareholders in Sakhalin Energy Investment Co. Shell already said it would leave the project a few months ago and has since then been looking for buyers for its stake in Sakhalin-2. According to earlier reports,  a sale could be made to a group of Indian companies.The Japanese companies, however, have not announced intentions to leave the project. In fact, earlier this year, Japan’s economy, trade and industry minister, Koichi Hagiuda, said that the Sakhalin-1 and Sakhalin-2 projects “are essentially important for energy security because the projects allow Japan to procure supplies below the market price, especially amid current high energy prices.”

As I am on record for decades: Russians are very wrong people to fuck with. Russia will continue to respond to the US stealing Russia's assets (numbered in $300 billion) and all this is just the warm up. 

Some Off The Cuff Remarks.

Regarding some news today. Just finished the podcast with PolitWera and Vladimir Trukhan. We spoke about this too. 

1. Snake Island: purely political decision to remove Ukie "argument" about grain "blockade". Now Ukies started to de-mine approaches to Odessa and it will be very difficult for them to use the silly argument of Snake Island as an excuse. Militarily, VSU will not be able to place there anything because it will be immediately annihilated. The distance between Snake Island and Sevastopol is 260 kilometers--peanuts for P-800 Onix or any of the Kalibrs. VSU knows it and already stated that they have no intent to place anything there. They can't, even if they wanted to. I will omit here purely operational issue of Snake Island affair, which weakened the Odessa grouping of VSU dramatically. 

2. Per this (thanks to Larch who pointed this out):

(Bloomberg) -- A flight test of a hypersonic missile system in Hawaii ended in failure due to a problem that took place after ignition, the Department of Defense said, delivering a fresh blow to a program that has suffered stumbles. ... It didn’t provide further details of what took place in the Wednesday test, but said in a statement sent by email “the Department remains confident that it is on track to field offensive and defensive hypersonic capabilities on target dates beginning in the early 2020s.” “An anomaly occurred following ignition of the test asset,” Pentagon spokesman Navy Lieutenant Commander Tim Gorman said in the statement. “Program officials have initiated a review to determine the cause to inform future tests.” he said. “While the Department was unable to collect data on the entirety of the planned flight profile, the information gathered from this event will provide vital insights.”

But the funnies part is this. They cannot even hide the fact of being sore losers. 

Russia debuted a hypersonic air-to-ground missile in its attack on Ukraine. Adversaries don’t have to meet the rigorous standards set under the US defense acquisition system or face public scrutiny over delays and failure.

Obviously no normal people work for most US establishment media, but can they at least hire the ass-holes who have a clue, instead of the full o'shit ignoramuses? Don't hold your breath. But I am on record and I repeat:

a. Eventually the United States will be able to create a some sort of quasi ballistic (air-ballistic) hypersonic weapon akin to Russian Kinzhal. When? Who knows. Relatively soon--a few years. 

b. The US is nowhere near a hypersonic cruise-missiles such as 3M22 and it is not even at the start. Those technologies are deployed as fully functional weapon systems ONLY by Russia. 

c. US media, full of shit as always, continue to obfuscate the issue of hypersonics throwing into the mix two very different technologies: hypersonic air-ballistic missiles like Kinzhal and fully powered in flight surface launched anti-shipping and land attack 3M22 Zircon. There is a chance they simply do not understand a difference. 

3. Here are poor poor dears from the West crying about the SMO. The video is still full o' shit, including pseudo-"tactical" baloney spewed by all those "veterans". 

But as I already stated--these guys thought that learning how to shoot and read couple of combat and field manuals makes them such "professionals" in war. Right. 99% of them never heard of how operations are planned and why people attend military academies. Here is a simple explanation (I did it in one of my videos) from the US Naval War College:

None of those "soldiers of fortune" has any clue what operational and strategic level is and how wars are fought. But sure, they know how to do "tactical shit" and because of that think (or, at least, thought) that they know the war. Right and I am Mother Theresa. Which brings me to this issue:

4. For those who continue to refer to all those Colonel Cassads and their ilk: there is a reason I do not take them seriously. They are NOT military professionals, never were and will never become ones. Most of them are into this whole thing for personal reasons, much of which are related to self-realization and money. I also get paid for what I do, but at least I served almost 11 years in the Armed Forces, including at the Brigade Staff position. Just keep this in mind. 

Operational and Strategic level of war are very complex and require a very serious background not just knowledge of "tactical shit" and ability to read maps and knowing how to use ballistic tables (smart phones' apps, here we come) or understanding what mil is. 

In related news: 

Electricity prices in Europe are soaring again as the market starts to fear that energy shortages this winter would be much larger than expected a few weeks ago. The German power prices for next year, a benchmark in the European electricity market, have surged by 12 percent so far this week and were rising by 2 percent early on Thursday, according to Bloomberg estimates. Europe is grappling with filling gas storage in time for the winter, after Russia slashed supply to major EU consumers, including Germany and Italy, citing “technical reasons.” Germany and Italy dismissed Gazprom’s reasons for the lower flows and said the move was politically motivated.At any rate, the low Russian gas deliveries and the two-week maintenance on Nord Stream which will halt supply via the pipeline in July are making European governments and electricity market traders and participants nervous about gas and power supply.

That is a strategic level and as BTO sang: you ain't seen nothing yet. 

P.S. Somebody on interwebs "accused" me of "loving BTO". I never experienced more severe attack on my character than that. I never even liked sons of bitches, I abhor their sound. What I said was: they surely can play. And they can--great musicians. Just wanted to clear this blemish on my musical tastes. Same goes for Molly Hatchet--horrible sound, awesome musicians. 

I Fully Agree With Larry Here.

In his latest he notes: 

I believe one of the reasons many Americans carry such negative feelings about the Russians is our collective failure to understand the price Russians paid to defeat Hitler. The sad truth is that most Americans have trouble identifying the warring parties in World War II and generally believe that terrible conflict was settled because of what America did. The American people are good folk at heart. They genuinely want to help the less fortunate or the beleaguered. But, during the last 75 years, American politicians cynically have used this trait to convince the public to back foreign wars that killed hundreds of thousands of civilians. All of this bloodshed was done under the banner of promoting freedom and democracy. Yet, if you ask the folks in Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Panama, Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, the Balkans, Libya and Syria how they view the U.S. “help”, they have what can charitably be called a “different perspective.”

This is the issue I wanted to discuss. I am categorically against dehumanizing Americans. Of course, American "elites" are degenerate and corrupt to the core, but if we take a look at a broader picture--and I am speaking here from my rich experience--majority of your everyday Americans are decent people. As anywhere it is not black and white, there are many colors and shades of grey. Same could be stated about Russia--as anywhere else there are many good people, but there are some jerks and ass-holes too. There is some corruption. It is never clear cut. It is the tragedy of the American people that they have been bamboozled into believing a lot of crap. But you know what I do for a living--I essentially educate people, not just Americans. I am no peacenik, sometimes wars are inevitable and even needed, but I always was categorically against making sweeping generalizations, especially about people so diverse and complex as Americans. 

IT is a tragedy that people who see no value in many American institutions which even 30 years ago were working, are now in power and drive the country into the ground, especially American institutions which DID constitute a legitimate national political tradition  to be proud of. But it is very easy to trick people, especially so insulated historically from the rest of the world by two oceans. But one of the things which you have to appreciate about Americans it is the fact that (you can easily find the results) overwhelming majority of them, despite incessant 24/7 anti-Russian propaganda in media, didn't buy "Putin" and "Russia" as the main culprits of America's huge economic problems. This cannot be stated with such conviction about Europeans, majority of who are genuine articles in so far as "Russian threat" and "Russia did it" goes. 

Yes, there is, of course, American public' responsibility too for what is going on right now around the world, but so far some core beliefs, be them constitutional or Christian, still survive in the United States and this strata where they survive is very large, capable to correct somewhat the country's course, however narrow the window of opportunities becomes. This is NOT the case in Europe. Larry provides good numerical review of Americans' foolhardy attitude to wars, but also let's recall that these were Americans who overwhelmed their representatives, senators and Obama's White House with phone calls and e-mails when Obama was contemplating a full blown war on Syria. The war was stopped. You know the rest of the story. So, let us all keep things into proper perspectives and keep in mind that, in reality, neocons and Christian Zionists, among other fundamentalist religious and political sects in the US, are not by far representative of the majority of American people. There are many truly decent and honest folks in the country, and the more you move away from Washington D.C. or coastal cities, the more their number grows, almost exponentially. In the end, they voted for Trump because they believed that he really cared and his program was sensible, especially in terms of wars and military alliances. People bought it. He lied, but people believed a good lie, not some aggressive neocon BS. So, let's keep this in mind.  As Larry concludes:    

I believe the American Republic would be well served to take Adam’s words to heart and construct a new foreign policy that is not based on sending our troops abroad to die in meaningless wars. The good heart that powers America still beats. But it is under assault at home. Russia does not threaten our Republic. Our peril is at home.

I agree fully. I also know many Americans understand that. Very many, and while they understand that--there is a hope. Educating people is a slow process, but it is strategic in its objective.  

Typical Putin)))

 Often, stating obvious is the best retort. 

Speaking to journalists in Turkmenistan on Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin responded to questions about several recent remarks from British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. During the latest G7 summit, the UK leader joked that his allies should take their clothes off for the photoshoot – to show that they are “tougher than Putin.” “I don't know how they wanted to undress, waist-high or not, but I think it would be a disgusting sight either way,” the Russian president quipped. “Everything should be harmoniously developed in a person, both the body and the soul. However, in order for everything to be harmonious, one has to abandon excessive drinking and break other bad habits, start exercising, take up a sport.”

BoJo better take advice of one of the greatest statesmen of the last 70 years at least. This is the only chance for BoJo to leave the memory of self not as a petulant adolescent boy who is incapable to run a 7-11 store, but at least simply yet another incompetent British politician. The latter is certainly better than the former. Yes, visiting the gym once in a while is a good idea, instead of wasting the time flying to see a clown from Kiev. Who knows, maybe getting busy with solving UK's gigantic economic and political problems may occur to BoJo too? Nah, don't hold your breath...  

North-South.

As most of you know, I am only marginally interested in the everyday "tactical" minutiae of SMO, because now it is mostly ruthless extermination of what's very little left of VSU and sorting out these co called Territorial Defense Troops of Ukraine which are nothing more than modern iteration of the Volkssturm and have no chance against LDNR forces, let alone regular Russian Army. But while this situation is ongoing, some other very important things happen elsewhere. No, I am not talking about Turkey removing veto for Finland and Sweden joining NATO--in a larger scheme of things it changes very little for Russia. But this, below, does:

Following agreements reached during the January official visit to Moscow by Seyyed Ebrahim Raisi, President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, to further develop and deepen bilateral relations between Iran and Russia, the countries have decided to jointly revive the North-South Transport Corridor. This decision has become particularly relevant against the background of the unlawful sanctions policy pursued by the United States and its Western allies against Russia and Iran, and Tehran’s and Moscow’s desire to establish trade routes that are not linked to the West. In order to implement this decision, Iranian authorities are seeking to revive the recently stalled International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) project, which traverses Russian and Iranian territory and the two countries’ waters to connect with Asian export markets. As the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reported on June 11, in order to implement the International North-South Transport Corridor, the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL) has initiated the transit of cargo from Russia to India or to South Asia through the project, using just one consignment note for the entire transit route.

This is this corridor. 

Geopolitical ramifications are huge for the region, especially when both Iran and Azerbaijan, which will have new railway built connecting Russia and Iran, capable to handle large rail traffic of cargoes ranging from wheat to oil, to metals etc. As article notices:

The International North-South Transport Corridor emphasizes the Russian port of Astrakhan and the Iranian Chabahar as bases for further transport to Eurasia. The development of the latter, as well as the construction of a large petrochemical complex and an export terminal near the port of Jask, are projects being implemented by the Iranian government as part of the Mokran coastal development strategy. Nevsky Shipyard, which produces multipurpose dry-cargo ships of RSD49 (deadweight of 7150 tons, container capacity of 289 TEU) and 005RSD03 (container capacity of 225 TEU) projects, is also engaged in the work of the North-South transit corridor in building ships for the Caspian Sea.

This brings us to the part of Russia's shipbuilding industry which concentrates on construction of those River-Sea vessels, like these:

Nevsky Shipyard has the order for 10 of these, other shipyards also build those or similar to them transports. Caspian Sea may get even busier in terms of marine traffic in coming years. This is a very important piece of news. Together, of course, with EU now trying to "resolve" Kaliningrad "blockade" and promising to iron out details in a few days.

VILNIUS/BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Trade through Lithuania to the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad could return to normal within days, two sources familiar with the matter said, as European officials edge towards a compromise deal with the Baltic state to defuse a row with Moscow. Kaliningrad, which is bordered by European Union states and relies on railways and roads through Lithuania for most goods, has been cut off from some freight transport from mainland Russia since June 17 under sanctions imposed by Brussels. European officials are in talks about exempting the territory from sanctions, which have hit industrial goods such as steel so far, paving the way for a deal in early July if EU member Lithuania drops its reservations, said the people, who declined to be named because the discussions are private.

Of course, they are private. In the West everything now is private and secret because public is completely excluded from any "democratic" process and should know only one thing--how unified and powerful combined West is, because, obviously, the reality is exactly opposite. But who cares about reality in West's political "elite"? I doubt many can even grasp it. But they surely are very "cultured". 

Ben Wallace has said Vladimir Putin is a “lunatic” with “small man syndrome”, as he accused him of trying to change history through “violence and invasion”.

I believe Ben Wallace is a typical representative of British "elite"--barely educated and low-cultured, and I am on record on the "quality" of Sandhurst "products". They are good for barking, not very good for real fighting against real enemies. I guess Wallace senses this, being a defense secretary of a toy army of a toy country. Pink Floyd were wrong when singing about "hanging on a quiet desperation is the English way". Ben Wallace's desperation is that of a bellicose and verbose jester at the plastic throne.

The Germans We Knew.

Yes, real Germans. Who knew it all and were our buddies. I recall 4th Flotilla out of Warnemunde (all officer corps graduates from our naval academy) and girls from Rostock. It almost feels like a parallel universe. 

Germany wanted freedom. Well, Russians had no problems with keeping German warrior spirit alive. It was the US who wanted Germans to be wussified completely.

 

But then again, can you imagine modern Germany showing this?

Not to speak of this?

Ah, wait, they still have this Ensemble Friedrichstadtpalast. You don't want to see their latest;))

They Ran From Lysichansk...

 ... And, of course, they have been "caught". By Russian artillery. 

The issue, however, is in this calming music and also weeping of some people who still have ideas that these are someone's sons and fathers. Well, let's face it--it is now much more complex than this, especially when you see a command core of a brigade of VSU (10th mountain assault brigade) abandoning their personnel and trying to escape--a familiar story by now, told by Ukrainian troops themselves. So, it is not Russian propaganda. It is a complex issue, the one I call "Lieutenant Dan" issue from Forest Gump. 

 

But in a historic dark irony--it is impossible to explain to some Washington swamp creature that the United States, for all its huge failures, has a much more realistic claim to actual military history than whatever is called today Ukraine. Some people cannot even wrap their brains around this dark historic irony, if not sarcasm, because military history was never a strong point in the US. As the good acquaintance of mine from Baku, Colonel, the veteran of Afghanistan, told me:"Everyone wants to live." I witnessed it myself too. Is 404 worth dying for? Those who planned it for them never faced any real danger in their life--they tend to congregate in Washington D.C.

And That Is Important Exactly How?

Desperate times--desperate headlines. Morons from WSJ want to show how tough and powerful the US is. 

Oil Tanker Is Stopped by U.S. in Transit From Russian Port to New Orleans. Ship carrying oil products was chartered by commodities trader Vitol, which said it complied with sanctions against Russia.  

OK, here is the full story from Reuters: 

June 28 (Reuters) - U.S. authorities have stopped an oil tanker traveling from Russia to New Orleans to check whether it is Russian in origin, a source confirmed to Reuters. The Vitol-chartered vessel was shipping intermediate oil products including vacuum gasoil and fuel oil from Russia's Taman port to New Orleans last week, according to a trading source and shipping data. The products were due to reach a Valero refinery in the New Orleans region, two sources said.

LOL. So, they decided to check it. Sure. That is what customs do. But yes, same as Russia's "default", which is nothing but a PR trick by the financial propaganda outlets in the West, it changes absolutely nothing, since:

1. Russia serviced the debt in Rubles;

2. People have access to those money. 

But Russia doesn't care about all those fraudsters from Moody's, IMF or World Bank. In fact, Russia is having an issue--too much cash, too strong Ruble. 

So, default you say, eh? Russians don't care about US Dollar, they use Ruble, which is supported by huge resources, huge economy and gold. And, of course, rests on a massive fire power of Russian Armed Forces. It becomes increasingly clear that Western ruling "elite" has no idea what real economy is, let alone how it operates. The only thing they know and can do is virtue signalling and PR.

Alex Gives A Good Aye-Yai-Yai On G-7, Larry About Denazification And Something Else.

Larry gives an excellent historic introspective of the meaning of denazification of Ukraine in his latest.  

Putin’s reiteration of the Denazification and Demilitarization principles established from the 1945 Potsdam Conference is not just some quaint tip of the hat to history. He was laying down a marker to the United States and United Kingdom that the agreement reached at Potsdam in 1945 is still relevant and valid. The Russians have good reason to be angry that the West failed to carry through on denazifying Germany. Very few of the Nazi men and women involved in carrying out the war against the Soviet Union and implementing the extermination of the Jews of Poland, Ukraine and Russia were tried and convicted of war crimes. In fact, prominent Nazis remained in power in the “new” Germany.

Meanwhile, Alex Cristoforou did an excellent job covering G-7 summit and his comments, including his really appropriate "Aye-Yai-Yai" are spot on. 

While we all observe a complete intellectual and moral decomposing of the Western ruling class, here is Colonel MacGregor on... orgies and degeneracy of the Washington's "elite".

But here is a very interesting twist in MacGregor's statement about those people in D.C. thinking that they are "immune to persecution". Obviously, he speaks about internal US justice system, however compromised. But if you recall, I reminded everyone four months ago about a different kind of persecution. I spoke about it since 2014. I will remind you about a very recent one:

Russia was very meticulous in collecting and systematizing all the records of the atrocities and military crimes the West has committed around the world. Scholz also should recall that Germany played a decisive role in overthrowing a legitimate, however corrupt, Yanukovich government in 2014. There are many people in Germany, ranging from politicians to media, to German intel services, whose names are well known and who have a rap sheet which many thugs from  Chicago can only dream about.  Moreover, unlike Chicago thugs, these well nurtured and dressed ladies and gentlemen do this on a massive scale. 

They are not entirely stupid, because some of them can see where the West is going. In fact, a rough equivalent of Russia's deadly 1990s and chaos for both EU and the US are already here. Things will only get much-much worse with further disintegration of statehood institutions in the Western world and inevitable shake up in elites, because present ones are leading the West towards a complete political and cultural disintegration. This time is not far away. For the United States it is already here and the process is fairly advanced. Once Russia concludes consolidation of her economic and military position vis-a-vis combined West, which by that time will be in a deeper turmoil, the indictments will follow. These ones will be in relation to Western politicos and media. As I already stated, there are many of them who are guilty in assisting or instigating mass murders all around the world and the worst outcome for them is accelerating degradation of Western political and military institutions, which prior to 2014 were the ONLY guarantee for them to never face war-crimes tribunal. 

There are very many war criminals and criminals against humanity  in D.C. and EU capitals. Some of them may and some will face war crimes tribunal, because there is no statue of limitations for war crimes and crimes against humanity. And this deeper turmoil is not just coming, it is here and none of the so called G-7 is immune to it and that, inevitably, will bring not only economic but political turmoil and then... well, all those security details of rich and powerful are amateur kids compared to people who will be looking for their masters. But that is the separate topic altogether.