On, And On, And On, And ...

 ... Story, never-ending stoooory (c) It is now turning into Waiting for Godot. He (it) IS NOT coming. 

WASHINGTON, March 6 — RIA Novosti. Washington expects progress in resolving the conflict in Ukraine in the coming weeks, US President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Whitkoff said on Friday. "We continue to make significant progress as we work toward a peace agreement that ends the war once and for all. Discussions are ongoing and it is expected that additional progress will be made in the coming weeks," he wrote in social networks X.The day before, the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry Sergey Lavrov, commenting on the negotiation process, stated that there was some progress on humanitarian issues. So, at the end of last month, Moscow and Kiev exchanged the bodies of dead servicemen, and yesterday and today they handed over 500 prisoners of war to each other.

It is akin to Trump demanding an unconditional surrender from Iran. Boy, these people are delusional. So, when even this dumbfuck gets it:

Hello, Mr. Hegseth, how's your Armageddon going, did you read your Book of Revelation recently from Scofield Bible?   

That sums it up pretty well. Look at this today's "ouch".

They are just warming up, those markets and for some reason no oil carrier took up US offer to "escort them" in Persian Gulf. Judging by the US air defense systems "performance", nobody takes them seriously. Plus, of course, those pesky Iranian unmanned boats. Per Russia providing recon and targeting to Iran. Hey, Russia is not a party to a conflict, wink, wink. Two can play the game, if you know what I mean. 

Morons, Get The Hell Out Of Profession ...

 ... losers. 

In Major Win For Putin, US Grants Russia License To Sell Oil To India While Strait Of Hormuz Is Blocked

US cannot "grant" anything to Russia because Russia doesn't care and will do as she deems necessary and the US will pound sand. India, on the other hand, in a humiliating move for India, WAS "granted" a license to BUY Russian oil. Cope harder, fanboys. 

Actually, NBC Must Be Commended ...

... for giving the tribune to Abbas Araghchi, albeit we know it has been done not out of journalist "integrity", but to provide additional insight into Tramp's madness against the background of upcoming midterms and sink even more GOP's prospects. 

Having said that, the expression on the face of the NBC host told a lot of things when Araghchi told him that Iran is "waiting for" US ground troops. He is not bluffing. And the main pillar of the US military mythology was always air power, but in pursuit of these WWII doctrinal ideas, everybody forgets what the use of ground forces entails--yes, assembly areas. Remember, I even made a whole video on that? 

This is a rough scheme of what assembly area of a battalion looks like. But that's Russian battalion which has Troops' Air Defense (Войсковая ПВО) component fully employed for protection of this assembly area, if Russians have to assemble forces. Here is what it looks like:

And this:

And this:

And this: 

And, of course, MOGs--Mobile Fire Groups equipped with everything one needs to repel UAVs attacks, plus Russian Armed Forces have a whole new service--Troops of Unmanned Aerial Systems. Needless to say, US Armed Forces has nothing which is even in the vicinity of such capabilities and Iran proved it again beyond any doubt--the US Army cannot fight with any enemy (forget about fighting Russia) which has UAV and missile forces which will attack assembly areas, and considering the "effectiveness" of the US air defense, they will wreck havoc in assembly areas and will inflict enormous casualties. 

That is why I repeat ad nauseam that FM 3-0 DOES NOT reflect any reality of operation for the force which cannot defend itself from the air. They learned nothing from SMO, because, of course, they have been high on own supply and drank 404 Kool Aid, until they started to suspect that something is fishy when Wiesbaden "Group" killed more than 200,000 personnel of VSU and failed to even reach the first line of defense of Russian Army in now famous 2023 "counter-offensive" clusterfuck on part of Pentagon, which not unlike Al Bundy from Married With Children whose main life's accomplishment were four touchdowns in Polk's High School football game, continues to hang on to the memories of defeating a semiliterate and backward Saddam's Army. And this is even before we begin to talk about resources. 

Here is visual representation from yesterday's employment by Russian Army of RUK (Recon Strike Complex) with Mr. Iskander with cluster munitions paying a visit to one of the camps (parts of assembly area) of VSU.  

Rough estimate--200+ KIAs and WIAs, two companies are gone in a blink of an eye. Remarkably, these losses WILL NOT BE counted in Russian Defense Ministry's daily updates. To remind you--so far, the tally of AD complexes, Russian forces destroyed 651 of them, including the best NATO could provide. What are "the other ways" in which Russia and China help Iran, I leave it to your imagination. Per "AI operational planning" by Pentagon, not only it is a laughing stock among serious military, but AI has now a new meaning--Artificial Imbecile, operated by very natural ones. 

Give Him A Nobel Peace Prize, FFS.

 Some comments on some "issues". 

US Military Never Understood ...

 ... the nature of war. Some people INSIDE the US military system did understand it but as a system the US military is not designed to fight a real war. 

And then, there is this "teeny-weeny" factor of not a single US military man or woman ever fighting in defense of the United States. They simply have no cultural, psychological and spiritual "organ" which knows what that is. And yes, USAF with its confabulated history of "successes" against mighty Taliban Air Force or Iraqi so called "air defense" is not the pool of military professionals from which you can draw a person who can grasp the realities of modern warfare. Here I agree with Larry Wilkerson wholeheartedly. 

The Scale Of The Catastrophe ...

 ... for the US and Israel in the region is massive. Historic in scale and the last nail into the coffin of the US military mythology. Meanwhile, Vladimir Putin meets women before the International Women's Day on 8th of March. 

This holiday long ago lost any political or ideological meaning in Russia (as was the case in the Soviet Union) and turned into the celebration of women and Spring. 

Also notable, Russian Navy continues to train fleet's air defense. Here is navalized Pantsir takes out low flying Kh-35 anti-shipping missile. 

As for this--poor girl, she has to parrot Trump's BS.  

But maybe she is a true believer, after all--somebody still attends "prosperity gospel" and Zionist pseudo-Christian churches. 

Nima and Me.

Live in 45 minutes. 

Trump Found (Finally) ...

... people he can rely upon. Hagee Ministries in all of its insane Zionist glory. And money-making, of course. This is what passes for Christianity in the US among many. 

A Very Good Piece From Pepe ...

 ... about this whole mess.

The whole drama, predictably, developed as Deceit in the Making. The war was ordered by the leader of a death cult in West Asia, a genocidal psycho who then took refuge in his “Wing of Zion” and fled to… Berlin. His American sidekick, neo-Caligula, a megalomaniacal Narcissus, co-ordered the war from Mar-a-Lago. 

Read it. Now for people who continue to propose idiotic schemes such as "Russia should have transferred to Iran ..." 3M22 Zircon, Kinzhal (with MiG-31 K, right?), S-500, Oreshnik et al. So, you are proposing Russia transferring to Iran systems so advanced that CIA, Mossad and MI6 would kill to even have a pick at them and in the country where fifth column is still active. Get a grip. This is not military technology fanboys' blog. I do actually have professional military background. 

While at it--this is the dawning on some Iranians who those diaspora are. 

Good for this (drop dead gorgeous BTW) girl that she understood. These are precisely the people who BSed morons in D.C. that Iranians will rejoice and embrace "democracy", same types who convinced CIA and others that "Putin's Regime" is about to fall. Their MO is always the same. 

Mario Nawfal and Yours Truly.

Live in an hour. 

They Should Have Listened ...

 ... to me. 

Trump administration officials told lawmakers during a closed-door briefing on Capitol Hill Tuesday that Iran’s Shahed attack drones represent a major challenge and US air defenses will not be able to intercept them all, according to a source in the briefing. The drones, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine acknowledged, are posing a bigger problem than anticipated, two sources in the briefing told CNN. They are known to fly low and slow – a feature that makes them more able to evade air defenses than ballistic missiles. Another source familiar with the briefing said the officials made an attempt to downplay concerns about the drones and noted that Gulf state partners had been stockpiling interceptors.

Well, these are not just "one-way drones", CNN morons do not even know that those are loitering munitions. As we now have more and more visual evidence, both missile and drone strikes are dealing a major damage to US bases and critical technical facilities and assets such as yet another THAAD's AN-TPY-2 Radar destroyed, plus a two AN/GSC-52B of Navy's satcomms are goners now and Donnie's "plan" (Israeli plan, really) seems to go nowhere. But the US air defense is a whole other story. For the first time since Vietnam the US is encountering people who shoot back and it hurts. 

Larry gives a good math of US AD inventory: 

Note that I am assuming that the entire inventory of US Patriot missiles have been deployed to Israel and US bases in the region. That is a false assumption because there are Patriot missile batteries with a full complement of missiles in other theaters. At present there are three Patriot battalions permanently assigned/forward-deployed to INDOPACOM (e.g., in South Korea/Japan/Guam areas, like 35th ADA Brigade and 1-1 ADA at Kadena); EUCOM has one Patriot battalion assigned (e.g., units in Germany like Baumholder/Ansbach areas, supporting NATO/Eastern flank). The US Army has 15 Patriot battalions total (14 fully available as of mid-2025, with one in modernization), each typically consisting of 4–6 batteries (a battery is the firing unit with launchers/radars). A Patriot battery (also called a fire unit) typically includes 6–8 launchers (Launching Stations), though configurations vary by operator, mission, and launcher type (e.g., M903 for modern U.S. systems). If we assume that the four Patriot battalions have four batteries each, with 72 missiles per battery, we get a total of 1,152 missiles that must be subtracted from the maximum possible number deployed to the Middle East — i.e., the actual inventory, using the most conservative estimate, is 1,221. That means the US inventory of PAC-3 MSE missiles, using the assumptions above that Iran is firing 60 ballistic missiles per day, the supply of missiles will run out in 10 days. This is why I assert that Donald Trump is out of touch with reality.

We know that Donnie is out of touch as is US Secretary of War--the guy with "degree" in Politics from Princeton and pseudo-military course from ROTC and who still didn't graduate from the mentality of at best platoon CO. His "combat experience" in Afghanistan being worthless in matters of REAL war and stand-off weaponry flying at you. 

Now about terrorist 404 attack on Russian gas transport in Med. 

Very typical of UK and their curators of 404--cowards hiding behind all kinds of "stories", so this will continue for a while, because terrorism is the extent of UK and European in general military "capabilities". 

In SMO news. 404 continues to get it, big time. Here are some views of Geranium flying in Poltava to visit dwindling energy infrastructure of 404. 

Demolishing of 404 continues and for those people who repeat ad nauseam about some "object lessons for Russia" about "negotiating" with the US. I want to repeat--study the subject (Russia that is) first and what and how she does in order for you not to become a victim of "political scientists" demagoguery. Strategy is a very complex statecraft and no, Russians know everything and more about combined West in general, and the US in particular. Do NOT delude yourself with headlines from media and TG channels by amateurs. 

P.S. I should be at Mario Nawfal's Roundtable in an hour or so. 

They Are Free To Discuss ...

... whatever they want. But as some media report, these are Europeans when they recognized that there will be no gas from Qatar and no gas from Russia. 

Obviously, the situation with the Straight of Hormuz is rather telling.

And the whole thing weighs heavily on Europe. 

OSLO, March 3 (Reuters) - The impact on energy flows of U.S. and Israeli military attacks on Iran and Iran's drone ​and missile launches against its neighbours could reopen ‌debate in the European Union over banning Russian natural gas imports, Norway's energy minister said on Tuesday. European gas prices have jumped 75% ​this week, hitting multi-year highs as hostilities in ​and around Iran have impacted gas exports from ⁠the Gulf.

Europe can surely "reopen debate" and debate this debate until hell freezes over, but as Russian anecdote goes about a single babushka being a lone seller of sunflower seeds at the completely empty marketplace--responding to a dude who complained that her sunflower seeds are too expensive, she suggested him to "walk around the market, find a better price".

Poor, poor dear this Mark Champion (a rather pretentious second name for a guy who is a sore loser) of Bloomberg, he laments:

The only winner in the US and Israel's conflict with Iran is Putin, writes Bloomberg. Columnist Mark Champion argues that US Navy strikes on Iranian targets reduce the likelihood of arms supplies to Ukraine and deplete American missile stocks. This also fuels the rise in global oil and gas prices, which benefits Russia. A prolonged closure of the Strait of Hormuz could revive the market for Russian energy, providing an opportunity to sell unsold oil.

This is what happens when you have a fraudulent "degree" from Georgetown in "Russian studies" and know nothing but more or less proper grammar when writing about things you have no clue about. We knew it was bad, but now it does disintegrate and the only thing they have left is spin. US legacy media are complicit in covering up pedophilia and what amounts to a treason by ruling class, because of that they are one and the same. There is no distinction. Per Macron and France ... LOL. 

25th Amendment On the Horizon?

It should be. Trump's unhinged rants cannot hide the fact of a total humiliation for the US and Israel and how he and GOP serve Israel, American homeland be damned by them. Per US Air "Defense" and SMO. 

Scott Gives Some Good ...

 ... rundown on the US "stocks". 

My today's video talks about US air "defense"--or rather lack thereof and it is NOT just lack of numbers, it is a technological failure, simple as that. My video should be up shortly. 

Well, Yes. This Is A Death Cult.

A complete perversion of Christianity through dispensationalist ideology and other heresy, including the so called "Christian" Zionism. 

For some U.S. military commanders, the emerging war in Iran is part of a biblical plan to bring about the end of the world as we know it, according to complaints filed by over 100 service members. The Military Religious Freedom Foundation has received a litany of complaints about religious ideology seeping into military orders since the U.S. and Israel began bombing Iran, independent journalist Jon Larsen first reported.  

Not surprising, considering the system of beliefs of a large strata of the American Christians. 

“We started getting calls in the wee hours of Saturday morning from people saying their commanders were just jubilant about this and trying to tell people, ‘Don’t worry, it’s all part of God’s plan,’” Weinstein said. Weinstein said the “metric promised” in the Bible’s Book of Revelation is horrifying and should worry everyone. “They are promised a 200-mile-long river that is four-and-a-half feet deep filled with nothing but the blood that their weaponized version of Jesus will spill at the Battle of Armageddon,” Weinstein said. “That’s a lot of blood.” 

This also demonstrates a rather limited understanding of what REAL Armageddon can look like by very many in US military's evangelical fundamentalists and Zionists (Judaists), because for all media effect of events around Iran, the real Armageddon could be witnessed in 404, because it is there where the events which the US military is afraid of--taking severe casualties day in-day out--are happening. 

Like in Konstantinovka. 

Those US officers who want to see rivers of blood are welcome to "enlist" with VSU and experience first hand how it feels. I doubt they will share with their experience because most will be drowned in those "rivers of blood". 

SitRep Of Sorts))

Very accurate, actually)

Garland and Yours Truly ...

 ... live in 40 minutes. 

With AD Like That ...

 ... CENTCOM issued official statement but, but ... 

Kuwaiti air defenses shot down three American F-15E fighter jets in “an apparent friendly fire incident” early on Monday, US Central Command has stated. The Gulf country hosts a major US airbase from which Washington has been launching warplanes since the beginning of its massive unprovoked joint attack on Iran, together with Israeli forces. The attacks, which have killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as well as over a hundred schoolgirls in a strike on a single building in the south of the country, have provoked a massive response across the Gulf region. “During active combat – that included attacks from Iranian aircraft, ballistic missiles, and drones – the US Air Force fighter jets were mistakenly shot down by Kuwaiti air defenses,” CENTCOM wrote in a press release on Monday. “All six aircrew ejected safely, have been safely recovered, and are in stable condition. Kuwait has acknowledged this incident.”

The question is--Kuwait's AD operates 15 MIM-104 Patriots (8 of PAC3 variety)--where was IFF (Interrogation Friend Foe) and what is the REAL target selectivity in these Patriots. Three combat aircraft by "friendly fire" in less than 12 hours? Seriously? Something doesn't add up--I may allow for 1-2, but 3. The new MIM (wink, wink), I mean mem, is born, no--not Patriot PAC3, this one is now long a laughing stock--but Kuwait's Air Defense. 

Now, for the "military planners" like BiBi and Trump--here is what you achieved:

Nobody in Iran has any illusions about US, let alone Israel anymore. Donnie already stated that he may consider ground operations? Good luck with that, Vietnam will look like a stroll in the park, not to mention the fact that the US military cannot sustain operations. As Larry correctly noted:

If you listen to Donald Trump’s public words, he is making wild claims about US military successes in killing Iranians. However, there are new reports that suggest Trump is panicked and searching for a way to declare victory and exit the war. Donald Trump asked Italy to mediate or serve as a conduit for proposing an immediate ceasefire with Iran, following the recent US-Israeli military strikes on Iranian targets

So, as Russian genius has written (granted, Donnie doesn't read books), but then again, Tolstoy wrote about Napoleon, Donnie is a showman and NYC real estate shyster:

In former battles he had only considered the possibilities of success, but now innumerable unlucky chances presented themselves, and he expected them all. Yes, it was like a dream in which a man fancies that a ruffian is coming to attack him, and raises his arm to strike that ruffian a terrible blow which he knows should annihilate him, but then feels that his arm drops powerless and limp like a rag, and the horror of unavoidable destruction seizes him in his helplessness"

Leo Tolstoy, War And Peace, Book 10, Chapter XXXIV. 

Hm! Akrotiri?

There have been earlier reports of Iranians celebrating something in Limassol. Now some info begins to trickle through--Royal Air Force base in Akrotiri evidently has some "issues". 

Iran is beginning to flex her muscles, looks like. So, it is one of a number of explosions on this RAF air base. 

Negotiations, you say? That explains the statement by the chief UK cretin Starmer:

Yes, also follow 404 "statistics"--that will turn you into a deadly force. 

I Don't Know ...

... when and where it was shot. Plus it is from Hinkle, he is a questionable source, but that photo could be a recent one, and you can expect more of this kind of moments coming more soon.  

Actually, this is Donnie's real face, especially once pressures of midterms begin to mount and he has nothing to show for it. Now, if to believe this video, first coffins of US servicemen began to arrive to the US. Donnie should thank (lick the boot) of his buddy (master) BiBi Netanyahoo for this and continue to serve Israel. 

Are you happy now, Donnie? Is that what you wanted? Of course you did ... 

Yes, Yes, Donnie, All Signs ...

... tell you that Iran "wants to negotiate", while US bases and Israel are burning. 

Joseph and Yours Truly ...

 ... live in 30 minutes. 

Request To Our French Friends.

Guys, anyone can provide translation to this?

Glenn Diesen and Chas Freeman.

A very good explanation of the situation with this whole mess by Ambassador Freeman. 

Chas Freeman knows the area extremely well. Now to forestall some idiotic comments to the effect that--you see, Russia, you cannot trust the US. I repeat again, Russians are extremely well aware that any agreement with the US is not worth the paper it is written on. All those "negotiations" are merely for negotiations' sake. Per weapons, Esteemed Ambassador, US weapons HAD been tarnished. And not in Iran. Iran, though, already confirmed what we know--US has no functional real air defense. Per Republic--it is long dead. 

Good Conversation.

Nima and Larry today. 

Say What?

Even first 24 hours have demonstrated the impotence of US-Israeli so called air defense. And that is why it is funny to read such headlines. 

US forces are locked in air-defense battles, fending off attacks on American bases amid the fighting with Iran, official says

The piece is written by the guy with a telling name Jake Epstein. Here is a couple of "arrivals" in Tel-Aviv. 

But it is clear that this is just a warmup, because equal attention is being paid to Arab vassal states and we just have to wait and see. But on this picture it is clearly visible that any truly high-velocity warhead is beyond the capability of anything in West's arsenal. 

Trump And His Masters.

Before I post here my video, for faint hearted--this is how they "fight". 160 Iranian young girls killed in their school. Collateral damage they will say. 

US has no sovereignty--nation is completely controlled by Israel. 

Bahrain and US bases there are getting it, badly--where is vaunted US air "defense"? Here is how one of the Bahrain buildings where US personnel has been stationed looks like now. 

Air raids all over Middle East. 

Just FYI.

 In order to keep the hand on the pulse of events. 

Israel launched what it called a “preemptive strike” against Iran Saturday morning, according to Defense Minister Israel Katz, as a state of emergency was declared across the country. The government declared the state of emergency because of the expectation of Iranian retaliation with drones and ballistic missiles.

Some visuals. 

Donnie, fetch your master's stick. 

Didn't Post ...

 ... porn in a while, so--here it is. Obviously, the choice of music sucks (should have been Pink Floyd, Yes or Jethro Tull) but still ...

It was always more than just a stunning sound quality, it was an aesthetic thing, a genius in industrial design. 

Something About Informational Hygiene.

I know many people today, due to a development of translation tools, browse all kinds of Russian media and Telegram Channels. It is normal, what is not normal is what I stress constantly and it is the fact that majority of Russian media and TG channels are working against Russia. It comes with the territory and overwhelming majority of those people such as Rybar, Podolyaka, Alekhin, Romanov, all kinds of other "military experts" are either direct intel or shadow assets of 404. Many are nothing more than shysters who collect donations "for the front" and then enrich themselves and those who cover their asses at a middle level of Russia's media-political class. 

Here is a freshest example:

MOSCOW, Feb 27 — RIA Novosti. The Tverskoy Court of Moscow sent the founder of the Readovka publication, Alexei Kostylev, to a pre-trial detention center on suspicion of embezzling more than one billion rubles from the Ministry of Defense, a RIA Novosti correspondent reports from the courtroom. "The petition of the investigation to satisfy, elect Kostylev a measure of restraint in the form of detention for a period until April 25," Judge Anna Bazhenova announced the decision. He is charged with non-fulfillment of obligations under state contracts. According to the investigation, Kostylev signed a contract for several billion rubles for the supply of UAVs.

Here is some interesting bit of this dude's background: 

The biography of Alexei Kostylev began on April 27, 1985 in the city of Roslavl, Smolensk region. After school, the young man received a higher education at the philological faculty of Smolensk State University, tried his hand at poetry, and was a member of literary communities. He moved to St. Petersburg for a while, but then returned to his hometown.

Get it? He obviously possesses all kinds of "qualifications" to report on ... criminal chronicles, lingerie of celebrities, cool gadgets and movies. But, look at this!  

In April 2022, the editors of Readovka announced that they would not publish Dmitry Peskov's comments, calling them "demotivating and do not reflect the real picture of what is happening now in Ukraine and Russia," and called on other media to do the same.

Russian justice system works slowly but relentlessly and about a year ago (give and take) the laws on discrediting of Russian Armed Forces started to be applied. And this all is a mounting evidence that a strategic decision has been made in regards to the fate of 404 but those so called "independent" media (aka voenkurwy) who for four years have been engaged openly in VSU/GUR/SBU propaganda and who have been trying to reach out to Western audiences such as DDG inviting a scumbag and military amateur Rybar, because their audience asked for him. Well, Rybar is a shadow asset of 404 and is no military expert since has no clue about warfare, he hasn't been taught that while getting his diploma of military interpreter. And the list goes on, and on, and on. And so, number of those people already received the status of "foreign agent", one, such as ugly psycho Montyan, got slapped with the status of "terrorist and extremist" and is now spending her days mostly in court's hearings. And it seems that Kremlin had enough of these scumbags. 

There is enough material to charge them with a variety of crimes and, many, being thieves, will not be charged with infocrimes, nope, like Al Capone they will be imprisoned based on tax and other economic crimes, which is enough to get them behind bars for a long time. Russian state and judicial systems are very humane, and often give you one or two chances to recover and do the right thing. But at some point of time even this system has enough and throws the book at you. But keep in mind, the number of real military professionals with serious tactical and operational experience, senior officers, with extremely serious academic background is very small in media sphere, including TG channels. The rest of it is primarily pseudo-military BS and outright 404 propaganda, which was pushed early in SMO by Russian media. Ranging from Solovyov, to Skabeeva to other "talk shows", to RT filled with military frauds. Now they feel the pinch. Good. Info hygiene is critical in times of war and especially without knowing the actual background of all those "alternative media" filled with clueless bimbos and ass-holes who wouldn't know shit from shinola but who are "military experts" all the same. Today, another one bites the dust. More is coming.   

Ain't This Ironic, Eh?

 Yes, this is what normal civilized people do. 

HELSINKI, February 27. /TASS/. Russian icebreakers are providing assistance to several cargo ships stuck in the ice in the Gulf of Finland and in the territorial waters of Finland. This was reported by the Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency. According to the agency, Finnish ships "are being assisted in the framework of international cooperation with Russian icebreakers" in accordance with the usual winter practice of navigation. Also, at the specific request of the agency, the Russian icebreaker can provide assistance to a cargo ship in the territorial waters of Finland.

Yes, this was supposed to be Europe of normal people. Not anymore. Western ruling class has something else in store for Europeans. Here is the news of a similar nature but ... 

The icebreaker “Neuwerk” was moved from the North Sea to the Baltic Sea to clear a channel to the frozen LNG terminal in the port of Mukran. Now, the “Neuwerk” has broken down due to a technical defect, causing the critical bottleneck to reappear. As a result, the LNG tanker “Minerva Amorgos” is still unable to dock at the terminal, as the channel to the port of Mukran remains impassable due to a thick layer of ice. The LNG tanker has been waiting in the ice-free zone in front of the LNG terminal for more than a week. 

Here is the map of Baltic Sea's ice situation from a few days ago. 

Here is a maneuver by forces by Russia. 

A heavy freeze in the Gulf of Finland forces Russia to move two icebreakers, among them the nuclear-powered Sibir, away from Arctic waters. On February 12, the Sibir entered Norwegian waters and subsequently sailed southwards on a course for St. Petersburg. In its wake followed the diesel-engined icebreaker Murmansk. It is freezing cold midwinter and the sea ice lies thick and heavy over Arctic waters. Ships are struggling to reach their destinations along Russia’s northernmost coasts. Nevertheless, Russia is redirecting a powerful nuclear icebreaker from the Arctic to the Baltic Sea and Gulf of Finland. Only a few days ago, the icebreaker was busy with icebreaking in the Gulf of Ob and Kara Sea. For most of January it was engaged in escorting a convoy of vessels to and from the east Arctic settlement of Pevek. On February 18, the Sibir arrived in St. Petersburg, where it immediately engaged in assisting ice-trapped vessels.

This is a great point for Russia's ice-breakers ship-builders and only buttresses Russia's "more is better" ice-breaking ideology. That is why coming of this:

Creates a panic today: 

NATO's falling behind in the race to build icebreakers, critical tools for a war in the Arctic. 

And for those who still need a reminder:

Speaking at the 6th International Arctic Forum, Likhachev said: "The volume of cargo has already amounted to tens of millions of tonnes with last year's record of nearly 38 million tonnes. Our northern deposits developers tell us to be prepared for hundreds of millions of tonnes ... now we need 11 icebreakers, which we already have (including eight nuclear icebreakers). We must move on to the next stage and plan 100 and 150 million tonnes and 15 to 17 icebreakers instead of 10 or 11. Therefore, we must construct them."

Do you see the pattern emerging? Recall--ah, hypersonic weapons are overrated. Ah, global warning will melt the ice soon. Ah ... That's what happens when your societies are run by lawyers, politicians with "degrees" in journalism and political "science", you know, by those know-it-alls who are dumb as stumps and have "egos larger than cathedral"(c). Hey, look at this guy. 

Yes, this is American general. And here is another clown:

You cannot explain to him what REAL integrated and networked air defense is. Remember closing sequence of first Matrix? It is all about OODA loop and the speed of decisions, their frequency which defines how you defeat an enemy. 

But yes, Ben Hodges needs to stay the hell away from AC in any transportation, because ... well, you know. 

These guys are constantly on prowl ... Boo! 

"history repeats itself, first as tragedy, then as farce"(c) Karl Marx. 

I Reiterate.

Amrit wrote excellent post on China in previous discussion board, but here is OPEC data which shows one of a number of vulnerabilities for China's massive industry. And that has a direct impact on China's posture. 

It also explains why Europe is not a superpower combined, forget about viewed separately as nations, and why energy is foundation of everything. Thermodynamics is at play here. Hence a precarious position of China. 

1 to 30, Heraclitus And War.

When the idea is right--you cannot buy the empire. 

Say It Ain't So.

 And then they began to suspect that something is wrong. 

Ukraine has been putting up valiant resistance, but its determination cannot disguise the fact that it is losing the war. Russia controls a large swath of Ukrainian territory, and Kyiv has little chance of dislodging it, as Ukraine’s failed counteroffensive in 2023 demonstrated. To be sure, recent Russian gains have come very slowly and at significant cost; over the last three years, Russia has taken a mere one percent of additional Ukrainian territory. But that does not change the reality that Russia now holds almost a fifth of the land within Ukraine’s 1991 borders—or that Russia’s greater resources and population mean that Moscow can fight on for years to come. Overcoming those Russian advantages and clawing back lost land on the battlefield would require time and investment that Ukraine doesn’t have. Current circumstances are therefore pushing Kyiv toward a compromise peace—one that will necessarily include the surrender of Ukrainian territory.

Maybe it has to be reminded that it is NOT Ukraine, it is NATO, and it is not losing but already lost the war, which has never been about territorial conquest. It was about elimination of the threat--a euphemism for, however horrendous, physical extermination of 404 mobilizational potential, that is to say--male population which could be used further as a cannon fodder in West's desperate attempts to "defeat" Russia. 

Of course, we cannot overlook the fact that Russia not only will finish liberation of her occupied territories, but Russian troops are very deep in Kharkov, Sumy and Dnepropetrovsk oblasts of 404. And that 404 is ...

Yep, highway to hell. So, the only thing left for the West is terrorism and sabotage. Such as yet another attempt to put IED under the car of one Russian military official. FSB was there to do what FSB does. 

This will continue but there are institutions and protocols in place which will continue to deal with this issue. Per my today's video, which should be up shortly, there will be some unpleasant things in it, but then again--consider my social circle which includes many senior officers of Russian military whose professional opinions I know very well and what I say in my video re: China it is not only the opinion of WaPo opinion piece but of many Russian top level military professionals. But then again, I write about it for many years. 

Nima and Me.

 Live in 20 minutes.

Garland And Me.

 Live at 18-00 PDT. 

Larry Makes Good Points.

In his latest post titled: Understanding Why General Caine Cannot Guarantee a Slam-Dunk Success if the US Attacks Iran.  The issue here is not just geography, however important, but also the idea of Pentagon on how to conduct SEAD (Suppression of Enemy Air Defense). Even before China delivering her radar to Iran, during the 12-day exchange between Iran and Israel, IAF was rather "surprised" when one of Iran's radar "locked on" Israeli F-35. And here is the issue which many MUST understand--"stealth" myth is just that. In normal human parlance it is called "reduction of physical fields" of the platform or weapon and professionally is known as LO--low observability and even at that it totally depends on the rakurs (in Russian) which is essentially an angle to target where its LO diminishes radically once the frontal semisphere angles itself away from the source of radiation (radar). Add here modern advanced signal processing and voila'. In other words, your "stealth" counts for very little against serious modern and well-trained air defense. As USAF F-117 "stealth" bombers learned the hard-way during the aggression against Yugoslavia in 1999. 27 years passed since then.

I remind you that Iran has this:

This is Russian Over-The-Horizon (OTH) radar Resonanse (the range of 1,000 km), which Iran operates. This thing doesn't care if you have stealth, double or quadruple stealth. You will be seen and targeting data will be distributed to tactical AD units. Then, Iran has its own OTH. Here is the approximate coverage of Iran's OTH. 

And then there is Russian ISR which combined with China's Early Warning gives Iran a good time to prepare in case of a traditional first strike, primarily by stand-off weapons--yes, TLAMs and JASSMs. And here comes this critical issue--how deep are US stores and what are the chances that the US may lose a very expensive and reputation-heavy asset? The answer is known--those chances are very high while US stores for sustaining SEAD are not deep enough. Recall 1999 again, by the 50th-60th day of bombing the US started to run out of stand-off weapons. Comparison is not only inevitable but warranted. 

Serbia: area-88,000 sq.km. Population around 6.5 million. Older AD.

Iran: area 1,650,000 sq. km. Population 92.5 million. Modern air defense with combat experience. Support of allies. Critical strategic geographic location. A variety of strike means ranging from the ballistic to cruise missiles. Modern Electronic Warfare means.

Feel the difference? Yep, that's the difference. So, what's the plan? As always it is the same, as I repeat ad nauseam, hurl everything US got at Iran and then try to destabilize her from within. Regime Change trick. Always the same. Recall 2023 "counter-offensive" and instigation of Wagner mutiny. So, very few options for the US other than try to "shock and awe" the country which is in no mood to compromise and has wherewithal to stand her ground and shoot back. Iranians know what Patriots and THAAD's "capabilities" are--they are not impressed. Iranians are good engineers and better mathematicians, they know Operational Planning. So, here we are.

UK and France Want To Play ...

... dangerous games. Of course, they deny it now, but SVR doesn't make light statements. Medvedev explains and I elaborate a bit on what Russia can do for warmup if the diabolic plan gets executed. But western ruling class is so mired in war crimes, pedophilia, down right Satanism that they will do anything to stay in power. No worries, French will elect some other pervert in place of Macron--they have plenty to choose from. UK is different somewhat, that is why Starmer is soiling his pants, because Buckingham Palace gave the green light. Not out of morality, but to control the damage. But at least they are arresting pedophiles there. Some of them.  

Massie Speaks Out.

There will be no arrests. 

Daniel Davis And ...

 ... yours truly on 4th anniversary if SMO.