NYT "Reports" ...

 ... from 404 and opens with this headline. 

Stuck on the Battlefield, Russia Wages ‘Total War’ on Ukraine’s Economy. The economic damage from Russian strikes, resulting in lost sales, disrupted workdays and logistical snarls, is in the billions of dollars.

Sure, last time I checked today I couldn't find any indicators of "being stuck", but that is US MSM--a collection of low lives who sell BS. This French "volunteer" in VSU, however, is getting ready to follow his "comrades" into the morgue and possibly become the organs' donor. 

Poor, poor dear complains that there are so many killed in his unit. Yes, your unit, together with all of VSU will cease to exist, as will 404. But do not tell this to NYT and their "reporters". 

Losing Military ...

 ... ah, wait. This cannot be, right? But NYT somehow arrives to this conclusion yesterday. 

The U.S. Military Was Losing Its Edge. After Iran, Everyone Knows It.

From the get go they bring up same beaten to death argument.

On paper, the war in Iran should not be much of a contest. The United States spends around $1 trillion a year on its military, more than 100 times as much as Iran. That money buys a vastly larger Air Force and Navy, as well as advanced weapons technologies that Iranian generals can only dream about. In the war’s early days, the mismatch played out as one might expect. American forces destroyed much of the Iranian military. Now, however, the contest looks less one-sided. Iran has taken control of the Strait of Hormuz, and its missiles and drones still threaten America’s allies in the region. While President Trump seems eager for a negotiated truce, Iran’s leaders do not. Somehow, the weaker nation is in the stronger negotiating position. That reality exposes the vulnerabilities in the American way of war. Tactical success has not yielded victory.

I have news for NYT--the US doesn't know what REAL war is. Nor can it sustain not to mention increase the effort--a critical operational parameter, because ... yes, again, even the fanatical Russophobe Richard Pipes figured it out: 

The United States wants to win its wars quickly and with the smallest losses in American lives. It is disinclined, therefore, to act on protracted and indirect strategies, or to engage in limited wars and wars of attrition. Once it resorts to arms, it prefers to mobilize the great might of its industrial plant to produce vast quantities of the means of destruction with which in the shortest possible time to undermine the enemy’s will and ability to continue the struggle. Extreme reliance on technological superiority, characteristic of U.S. warfare, is the obverse side of America’s extreme sensitivity to its own casualties; so is indifference to the casualties inflicted on the enemy. 

When even this hack figured it out. Russians, the ones who really matter, not some retired generals in search for publicity and with political aspirations, have never been impressed with the "American Way of War". Nor "technological edge" which Hollywood portrayed and pundits love to talk about was that great to start with, especially with a technological and operational complexity of the war growing exponentially since 1960s. 

Today? Well, some obscure Russian author wrote something about this.

Trying to warn that the encounter with a reality will be devastating for the US military in particular and the US as a whole when the REAL balance of power will emerge. Now it emerged and it cannot be hidden anymore behind mountains of corpses of VSU's cannon fodder. All it took was for the US to step out from the behind backs of its proxies and try to fight a real fight. 

Now it may not matter at all because, as NYT (to my surprise) noted correctly--now everyone knows it(c). In related news, Israel has been defeated in Southern Lebanon. 

History Repeats Itself First As Tragedy ...

 ... then--as farce. Well, Pentagon writes new military doctrine. This is from the New York Times. We are now beyond the farce phase. 

Iran has bombed U.S. bases across the Middle East in retaliation for the U.S.-Israeli war, forcing many American troops to relocate to hotels and office spaces throughout the region, according to military personnel and American officials. So now much of the land-based military is, in essence, fighting the war while working remotely, with the exception of fighter pilots and crews operating and maintaining warplanes and conducting strikes.

Yes, remotely, working. New tactical and operational methods are being developed by Pentagon--remote deployment of Motorrifle Battalion from the assembly area in UAE Hilton to Kuwait Sheraton. This is a new word in military science. Well, of course it is not--it is all about spinning a catastrophic defeat for the US and Israel, here is the mayor of a heavily damaged Israeli city or Margaliot demands BiBi and his terrorists to do something about defending Israeli cities, which are being destroyed. 

He even cries. But no help is coming. There is nothing in US-Israeli arsenal which can stop Iranian strikes. 

In related news, Russia blew up to smithereens several SBU locations in 404 and suddenly many medical emergency vehicles have been noted around those locations and then ... then ... several medical aircraft flew to Rzeszów. As was stated by me many times--Russians know identities and locations of those MI6 and CIA dudes in 404. Mr Bortnikov (Director of FSB) four days ago reiterated Russia's position: 

Russia can bring the Ukrainian special services and their Western "puppeteers", primarily British, to their senses, said FSB Director Alexander Bortnikov. According to FSB Director Alexander Bortnikov, Russia can bring the Ukrainian special services and their Western curators, primarily British, to their senses, RIA Novosti reports. According to him, Russia is able to act within reason, despite constant provocations and attempts to force any retaliatory steps. Bortnikov stressed: "Of course, we can. So, within reason, of course. We are constantly provoked to take some steps, some actions," this phrase sounded in response to a question from journalist Pavel Zarubin.

What is this "within the reason" he mentions? Well, sending "messages" by the stand-off weapons. This is in response to people who constantly suffer from sensory deprivation and want to see a Hollywoodesque "war". Well, there is war and it is fought in all domains simultaneously. Russians prefer not to advertise their actions because this is the only way to fight it. But yes, MI6 and SAS have been warned, now actions followed. More to come. 

Say It Ain't So.

 Sure, "outdated" intel and "targeting"--school for girls. 

U.S. at Fault in Strike on School in Iran, Preliminary Inquiry Says. Outdated targeting data may have resulted in a mistaken missile strike, according to the ongoing military investigation, which undercuts President Trump’s assertion that Iran could be to blame.

What kind of a sublime idiot buys this shit? The fact that this school could have been in any targeting list (yes, those do exist) is incomprehensible. Could it be that the mindset which prevailed in 404 where US made and manned weapons such as Patriot PAC3s and HIMARS with ATACMS have been hidden inside civilian areas also influenced those officers who projected what they would do onto others? Absolutely. For people who gave us Bucha and other false flags, atrocities against Russian civilians, killing women and children in Sevastopol on the beach--that's the "American Way of War". 

NYT IS Nazi Supporter ...

 ... and, of course, is a classic US media full of BS and propaganda. Here is latest: 

Ukraine Is Losing Fewer Soldiers Than Russia — but It’s Still Losing the War Russia has lost about twice as many men to death and serious injury as Ukraine. But the trends favor the Kremlin.

This thing is written by classic "Russian" human trash and is a typical US MSM fodder designed for the consumption of people with zero real education, same strata which reads WSJ and thinks that it knows economy. But what do you expect from human herpes populating US media blob. Here is the creep who writes this shit:

What I Cover

My work tries to give readers a sense of what life is like in Russia today, and where the country is heading. I look at a wide range of themes, from the economy to the military to culture and foreign policy. The underlying aim is to try to lift the veil of secrecy that covers much of Russian public life today, and to present to the world the full complexity of a nuclear power in flux.

My Background

I grew up in Siberia, in Novosibirsk, Russia, and built my journalism career in Latin America, where I arrived in 2010 as a young freelancer. I spent the following decade covering the region’s economy and politics for a range of publications, including at Bloomberg, The Wall Street Journal and The Times. I am proud of my work in Venezuela, where I lived for eight years, reporting on the country’s dramatic economic collapse following the death of Hugo Chávez. I joined The Times’s Moscow bureau in late 2022, out of personal desire to help the world understand a war unleashed by my native country. I graduated from the University of Edinburgh and University College London. I speak Russian, English and Spanish.

So, as I stated many times before, I see no reason of having any of the Western MSM in Russia. Especially war criminals pushing Goebbelsonean level BS. 

Mark Chapman...

... did a wonderful write up on the issue I am going to discuss tomorrow, as written by NYT . 

Zelensky’s madcap Kursk adventure marks Ukraine’s last ‘something ere the end’ – its last frantic hand-waving for attention before its head slips under the waves. And in that effort, it is wildly successful: the western media is giddy, euphoric, it cannot stop talking about Zelensky’s bold stroke, Putin’s abject embarrassment and humiliation. But these are just words; words from past masters of ‘framing the narrative’ so the story you get out of happenings is the one they want to tell. The west is the self-declared sworn enemy of Russia: of course anything which discomfits its leader and its government is an occasion for celebration and high-fiving. It hand-picked Ukraine to throw it against Russia, so it is unsurprising that any exhibition of aggression on its part is received with cheers and approval.

Excellent piece. Moreover, Larry doesn't mince words and goes for jugular:

The United States is Preparing to Jettison Volodomyr Zelensky

The tawdry show around the terrorist act against NS-2 pipeline is designed for a kindergarten for retarded children. That is the requirement for believing this utter BS of 404 executing this "operation".  What can I say, or, rather what Marx said: History repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce (c). Something tells me we are in the third, if not the fourth iteration of a farce stage...

P.S. I am "stealing" Mark's superb definition of NYT piece: a casserole of mendacity! (c)

And This Is News Exactly How?

 NYT reports: 

Ukrainian troops have lost a hard-won position on the eastern bank of the Dnipro River, near the southern city of Kherson, after months of bloody fighting to hold on to a piece of land in what some Ukrainian soldiers and military analysts have described as a futile operation. The Ukrainian military said on Wednesday night that fighting continued on the eastern bank but that most of the main positions in the village of Krynky, where its troops had gained a foothold, “were destroyed by intense, combined and prolonged enemy fire.” The statement came after several Ukrainian news media outlets reported that Ukrainian forces had withdrawn from the village, which now lies in ruins.The operation to establish a bridgehead on the Russian-controlled eastern bank of the Dnipro had been controversial from the start. 

Well, this whole disaster has been planned from the start as a fantasy and PR action, and it was part of the "plan" by NATO "specialists", who, yet again, paraded themselves as operational level amateurs and fantasists, who believed that Krynky bridgehead could be somehow instrumental in a catastrophic "counter-offensive" in Summer 2023. This is a work of amateurs in NATO. VSU, however lost thousands there and some 800 VSU personnel are also counted as MIAs. In general, the whole "counter-offensive" thingy encapsulated clearly a cultural abyss between West's and Russian views on war. Krynky is just one episode in a larger drama of NATO's military incompetence. In the end, no NATO military person, top-bottom, ever experienced sustained, long-range fires--they simply don't know what it is. So, even Kiev regime admitted today that it is over. And it is.

It is A Normal Practice...

 ... as NYT reports. Nothing new here. 

In Ukraine, Killings of Surrendering Russians Divide an American-Led Unit. A German medic said he was so troubled that he confronted his commander. Others boasted about killings in a group chat.

Atrocities by the US Army personnel, be them active or "volunteer soldiers" are well-documented.  From My Lai to Serbia to Iraq and Afghanistan--the record of atrocities is large and "impressive". Why NYT noticed this only now remains a complete mystery. What is not a mystery is that part of this issue is psychological and is in continuous humiliation of the "finest fighting force in history" in wars of the XX and XXI centuries. American population in general is not conditioned by the warfare and has a cavalier attitude towards it. This also explains why many in US military love those nutjob stories about Red Army raping 100 million German women, about a million of Red Army soldiers executed by NKVD and other smut like this--it is a normal reaction of inferior warriors. 

Here are the results of US personnel operating ATACMS and other strike systems in 404--they are good at hitting civilians. I am sure they will be even awarded when back in the US if they survive. I understand how it is torturous for many men of honor from the US military to see and read it, but that is what the US has become. This particular one was done by US trained and controlled VSU.

A child has been killed and five other people injured in a Ukrainian drone strike on Russia’s Krasnodar Region, local Governor Veniamin Kondratyev has said.Several drones were shot down by air defenses over the town of Primorsko-Akhtarsk on the Azov Sea coast, Kondratyev wrote on Telegram on Friday morning.Some of the debris fell onto a residential area, damaging a three-story apartment block, according to the governor.

But it is always the same pattern--kill defenseless. The US military has to accept the fact that it cannot fight Russia on the battlefield, forget about winning. For many this realization has a profound psychological effect and some "sublimate" this complex of inferiority in killing POWs. But then again: 

That's the legacy. 

                                              

It Is An Admission...

 ... of what is now obvious to anyone with half-brain. It never was about American population, forget it. As NYT panics and laments:

The Democratic Party’s perennially nervous donor class descended into deep unease on Friday, as some of the wealthiest people in America commiserated over President Biden’s weak debate performance and puzzled over what, if anything, they could do to change the course of the race. There were discussions with political advisers about arcane rules under which Mr. Biden might be removed from the ticket against his will and replaced at or before the Democratic National Convention, according to a person familiar with the effort. In Silicon Valley, a group of megadonors, including Ron Conway and Laurene Powell Jobs, were calling, texting and emailing one another about a situation they described as a possible catastrophe. The donors wondered about whom in the Biden fold they could contact to reach Jill Biden, the first lady, who in turn could persuade her husband not to run, according to a person familiar with the conversations.

You see, these are people who know only one thing in their life--how to make money by selling useless shit to teenagers and call it "investing" (get a load of this "megadonor")--and they decide how to go about destroying the last vestiges of common sense in the US. As much as I cannot stand GOP which is utterly corrupt and is in AIPAC's pocket, the DNC is even worse. The US doesn't have good options. As Colonel Macgregor constantly states--the US is run by the donor class. He is right, should he stay away from Russia and Great Patriotic War of which has no clue--he certainly should have ran for the office. He may yet get to some high position in presumably Trump's Admin, but I don't see how anyone can address America's systemic crisis which cannot be resolved anymore by therapeutic means--a euphemism for voting. America's long standing and extremely well hidden for a while insecurities are surfacing now non-stop akin to inflatable life rafts from the sunk cruise liner.

Ah, Yes! Good Ol' And Tried...

 ... self-medication from the times of victorious Wehrmacht and SS which many is US military still hold in high regard. Maybe because they don't know what winning wars is? Just a wild guess but...

Russia Sends Waves of Troops to the Front in a Brutal Style of Fighting. More than 1,000 Russian soldiers in Ukraine were killed or wounded on average each day in May, according to NATO and Western military officials.

That's how coping looks like. I want to stress again, that Pentagon in general is a sour grapes territory of losers who sense that this is above their professional competencies. So, what's left? Yes, waves of those Red Army peasants prodded from the behind by NKVD troops who overwhelmed artsy Germans in waves--a favorite shtick of Colonel Macgregor who learned all those fairy tales from... yes, Germans. Obviously, math is not a strong forte of "NATO and Western military officials" because the whole system of officer training in the West is a joke. It does not allow for a development of the main capability of the officer which is having a developed mental instrumentation for space-time awareness of the battle space. This comes from not only massive curriculum in STEM but in appropriate study of tactics, operations and military history. They don't teach real military history in NATO military academies--they teach propaganda based on strategic fairy tales. 

Patrick Armstrong gives a good review of the newest book on REAL history:

The central theme and, no doubt, a complete surprise to most of its readers, will be that the the conventional story has got it exactly backwards: Stalin was not Hitler’s co-conspirator. He understood four things: 1) the previous good Moscow-Berlin relations were gone forever, 2) Hitler was a threat to all around him, 3) Hitler would break any agreement as soon as he could, 4) the only response was an agreement of Germany’s neighbours to block him. “Collective security” they called it: only together could Hitler be stopped; individual agreements just encouraged him to push somewhere else. This volume retails, meeting by meeting, the efforts of Soviet diplomats to get their interlocutors to grasp this and to construct an anti-Hitler resistance arrangement. They were not unsuccessful: important people in France, Britain (even the anti-Bolshevik Winston Churchill who met the Soviet Ambassador often), Romania and Czechoslovakia agreed with Stalin’s appreciation of the situation but they could never quite push their governments over the finish line.   

So, consider ramifications. They are severe for the West.

The Hell You Say!

Great strategists and tacticians from NYT concluded:

Russian forces continue to make small but rapid gains outside of the eastern Ukrainian city of Avdiivka, attributable in part to dwindling Ukrainian ammunition and declining Western aid. But there’s another reason the Kremlin’s troops are advancing in the area: poor Ukrainian defenses.

In related news: poor health makes you die faster, poor maintenance makes flying airplanes dangerous and poor water pressure makes showering difficult. But whatever it takes to cope with what's unfolding in 404. But there was some news which are very important:

Российские военные провели испытания зенитной ракетной системы С-500 с использованием баллистической ракеты Р-29РМУ.2, выпущенной экипажем крейсера К-114 «Тула». Об этом говорится в публикации «Обеспечение военно-технического эксперимента» Книги рекордов Вооруженных сил Российской Федерации. Согласно материалу, экипаж ракетного подводного крейсера стратегического назначения «Тула» проекта 667БДРМ принял участие в обеспечении военно-технического эксперимента по испытанию зенитной ракетной системы С-500 «Прометей». В рамках выполнения этой задачи по новой баллистической траектории была выполнена ракетная стрельба РС-31. Что подразумевает нанесение удара баллистическими ракетами по одному или нескольким наземным объектам из района боевых действий. Стрельба была выполнена ракетой Р-29РМУ.2 из акватории моря Лаптевых по боевому полю «Чижа». На заседании коллегии Министерства обороны России в конце января нынешнего года, которое было посвящено выполнению государственного оборонного заказа, замминистра обороны Алексей Криворучко сообщил о планах поступления в войска в 2024 году новейшей зенитной ракетной системы С-500.

Translation: The Russian military tested the S-500 anti-aircraft missile system using the R-29RMU.2 ballistic missile fired by the crew of the K-114 Tula cruiser. This is stated in the publication “Ensuring military-technical experiment” of the Book of Records of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. According to the material, the crew of the Project 667BDRM strategic missile submarine Tula took part in providing a military-technical experiment to test the S-500 Prometheus anti-aircraft missile system. As part of this task, an RS-31 missile was fired along a new ballistic trajectory. Which means launching a ballistic missile attack on one or more ground targets from the combat area. The shooting was carried out by an R-29RMU.2 missile from the Laptev Sea at the Chizh battlefield. At a meeting of the board of the Russian Ministry of Defense at the end of January this year, which was dedicated to the implementation of the state defense order, Deputy Minister of Defense Alexei Krivoruchko announced plans for the arrival of the latest S-500 anti-aircraft missile system to the troops in 2024.

S-500 successfully intercepted MIRV(s) of Sea-launched Intercontinental Ballistic Missile. Make your own conclusions what it all means. The gap will continue to grow. Mind you, S-500 is a mobile complex and could be deployed pretty much anywhere.

These Dreams...

... and I don't mean our Seattle girls Heart's great song, I am talking primarily about wet dreams by NYT about "peace deal" in 404. They do admit, though:

Last year’s Ukrainian counteroffensive was a failure. Russia’s defenses in the territory it has captured look impenetrable. Republicans in Washington are blocking further Ukraine aid. President Volodymyr Zelensky is on the precipice of firing his top general — who may well become his chief political rival. It’s a difficult moment for Ukraine. And another year of frontal assaults on the trench lines could make 2024 look like 1916, a year in World War I that brought harrowing loss of life but few battlefield gains.

Oh boy, those kids from NYT--cannot even draw a proper historic analogy. But we know they are incompetent as most media are, but they continue to dream, like in wet dreams:

Vladimir Putin may accept a peace deal that gives him the territory he occupies now and that forces Ukraine to stay neutral, halting its integration with Europe. Ukrainians call this bargain a capitulation. But without additional American aid, they may be forced to take it. A better deal for Ukraine would give it back at least some of its land, plus a promise that the United States and Europe would help defend it against Russia. Perhaps then Putin would think twice about further attacks. In this scenario, Ukraine might not join NATO or the European Union immediately, the prospect of which helped drive Russia’s invasion in the first place.

Yeah, sure. NATO "defense" of 404. The whole piece is an exercise in delusion, but then again, look who wrote it, I mean Julian Barnes.

I have written about security issues for more than two decades. For much of that time I covered the military and the Defense Department, working for U.S. News & World Report, The Los Angeles Times and The Wall Street Journal and reporting about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. For The Journal, I did a stint covering international security matters based in Brussels, writing about terrorism, Russia’s first invasion of Ukraine and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. I joined The New York Times’s Washington bureau in 2018. I have a bachelor’s degree in social studies from Harvard College, where I led the school newspaper, The Harvard Crimson. I was born and raised in the great state of Maine and currently live in the District of Columbia.

Yep, agree--this writing is a level of school newspaper. I mean public high school. Hm, I wonder if Richard Nixon was onto something when describing American news-papers. 

Yep, media elitist complex. Granted that US media "elites" are a collection of hacks and whores. But good ol' Dick nailed it here.

Well, Too Bad.

NYT is in lament mode. 

WASHINGTON — After four weeks of terror and retaliation in Israel and the Gaza Strip, and 20 months of war in Ukraine, President is confronting the limits of his leverage in the two international conflicts defining his presidency. For 10 days, the Biden administration has been urging Prime Minister to allow for “humanitarian pauses” in the bombing of Gaza, hoping that the $3.8 billion a year in American security assistance would carry with it enough influence over the Israeli leader’s tactics. It has not. Netanyahu rebuffed Biden’s push for greater efforts to avoid civilian casualties in a phone call Monday. And he has pushed ahead with what he has called “mighty vengeance” for the Oct. 7 attacks, using huge bombs to collapse Hamas’ network of tunnels, even if they also collapse whole neighborhoods in Gaza.

Well, that is an expected result for administration which merely simulates professional activity in fields were it has none. And if Gaza atrocity hasn't been enough. There is this:

So now, Biden is trying to channel fatigue and frustration with the war in Ukraine, born of the growing sense that billions of dollars in American arms, aid and intelligence collection has simply failed to overcome the assembled weight of the dug-in Russian army. “What I worry about,” Douglas Lute, a retired general who was central to putting together the Afghanistan strategy in the Bush and Obama administrations, said at an event at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point last week, “is that we are giving them enough to stay in the fight, but not enough to win.”

What can I say--General Douglas Lute wouldn't be allowed to command a company in Russian Army, of which he has about zero knowledge (expected from the guy who lost in Afghanistan), but then again, US general with a record of winning any campaign, let alone war is a unicorn of sorts nowadays. A suffocating professional envy drives many of them to profuse verbal diarrhea of platitudes and militarily meaningless statements designed for domestic consumption. Something tells me that Lute, judging by his brilliant "strategy" in Afghanistan wouldn't know how to calculate what constitutes  this "enough to win". Does he even know what winning in war is? I doubt it. What kind of an officer can you bring up when teaching them fake military history while removing the West Point from the engineering school it once was further and further away. 

Looking at Petraeus, Lute or Ben Hodges one can safely conclude that the process has started long time ago. Just take a look at the "academics" at West Point.  Majors, minors? Here is a typical academic program. English? Really? Pre-Calculus? Calculus II as a "required" course. Biology? For what? How's fucking biology can form an officer? For biological weapons, I guess. Literature? This is Bologna system at its worst. I wonder what they teach them today in History of Military Art. Ah, wait, I know... So, no wonder. 

Does It Surprise Anyone?

Except that it wasn't "errand" but deliberate, which is MO of Kiev regime and its Western curators. But at least it is something, isn't it? 

The Sept. 6 missile strike on Kostiantynivka in eastern Ukraine was one of the deadliest in the country in months, killing at least 15 civilians and injuring more than 30 others. The weapon’s payload of metal fragments struck a market, piercing windows and walls and wounding some victims beyond recognition.  Less than two hours later, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy blamed Russian “terrorists” for the attack, and many media outlets followed suit. Throughout its invasion of Ukraine, Russia has repeatedly and systematically attacked civilians and struck schools, markets and residences as a deliberate tactic to instill fear in the populace. In Kostiantynivka in April, soldiers shelled homes and a preschool, killing six. But evidence collected and analyzed by The New York Times, including missile fragments, satellite imagery, witness accounts and social media posts, strongly suggests the catastrophic strike was the result of an errant Ukrainian air defense missile fired by a Buk launch system.The attack appears to have been a tragic mishap. Air defense experts say missiles like the one that hit the market can go off course for a variety of reasons, including an electronic malfunction or a guidance fin that is damaged or sheared off at the time of launch.

No, there was NO "tragic mishap", it is as certain as NYT being enablers, together with other corporate media, of war crimes and crimes against humanity--the only skill they teach in journo schools in the West. Not to mention the fact that nobody, zero, among shysters and media whores who work for NYT can conduct any "investigation" into anything other than lingerie of presidential candidates. It is just that the time to face reality has come and they follow orders from "owners" of the "free press" in the West. 

Meanwhile America's greatest military minds, Austin and Milley call on support of 404 for a "Winter War". Absolutely, who wouldn't love to support 404, right? Meanwhile aggregate of VSU's KIAs for September alone crossed the number of 12,000. Somebody should tell Milley to pick up pencil and calculator and do the simple math and then project it n the US capabilities, or, rather lack thereof. Now to Rostov-on-Don submarine in Sevastopol. The photos of the sub, allegedly "not doctored" started to circulate n the web. 

While the damage is substantial, it is NOT a write off as, and you have guessed it: 

Two different authorities on submarine warfare, undersea warfare analyst H. I. Sutton and former U.S. Navy submariner Aaron Amick, both tweeted today that they consider the Improved Kilo class boat damaged beyond repair.

It has to be stated upfront, that neither of them are "authorities" on Russian submarine fleet, with H.I. Sutton being altogether a shady "expert" primarily about browsing Russian open source media, while Amick simply lacks basic engineering knowledge with his NCO level service on subs and community college level of education. But here are two points which are crucial in all this:

1. Neither Sutton nor Amick will be allowed anywhere near defectation (or damage assessment) commission of Russian Navy, which will be the only authority which will make assessment and propose the further course of actions. Judging by the announcements of Russian MoD, the sub will be restored. In other words--they have neither qualifications, nor access. But that brings us to the other issue...

2. Most what all kinds of Western "experts" continue to BS about is this "successful" salvo by Storm Shadows (Scalp) cruise missiles. But here is the issue, Russian MoD merely pointed out that among MANY missiles, not just Storm Shadows, which attacked several positions in and around Sevastopol 7 out of 10 namely Storm Shadows have been shot down. But here is the thing which none of the "experts" want to note--the salvo was much more numerous and involved Ukie made missiles married to boosters of S-200 AD complex missiles. 

And that brings us to the point: Storm Shadow's "payload" is 450 kilograms of explosives. This is nearly half-a-ton. Let me demonstrate what a single half-a-ton explosion does to a ship. 

This is HMAS Torrens getting acquainted with 290 kilograms (1.5 times smaller payload than that of a single Storm Shadow) of explosives, granted blown under the keel, of MK-48 Torpedo. And here is the issue--Rostov-on-Don damage IS NOT consistent with Storm Shadow but is clearly a result of surface explosions of a much smaller charge.

 

And that means only ONE thing--those have been most likely much faster supersonic, but also much lighter, cottage industry missiles by 404. Moreover, even a first year enlisted moron would see the lack of deformation of submarine's hull which is the first indication of a limited explosive impact, which was primarily limited to... drum roll--light hull of a submarine, because ALL Russian SSKs of pr. 877 and 636, same as second and third generation of Russian nuclear subs have a TWO hull design--light (outside-лёгкий) and hard (жёсткий) hull, where all systems are. But, of course, neither Sutton nor Amick, who have zero knowledge and experience, unlike me, with Soviet/Russian SSKs can recognize the damage to the LIGHT hull which took the brunt of explosion, which, BTW, almost fully intact sail testifies to.  

Not to be overly offensive to these so called "experts", here is Yegorov crawling precisely in the межкорпусное пространство (the space between two hulls) of the SSBN pr. 667 BDRM (Delta IV) Tula which explains to you what it is. 

Russian Navy went for one and a half or singe hull designs only recently. But, of course, these "experts" have a very weak "expertise" on the issues of weapons systems and their impact, as well--cannot recognize that, while the damage looks dramatic for a layperson, it is the damage primarily to the OUTER hull which is highly repairable. And yes, God forbids those "experts" to ever experience a hit by a half-ton explosive charge of anti-shipping 3M54 Kalibr into the hull of a ship the size of a frigate.

What A Bunch Of Losers...

At this stage the US is exhibiting its military impotence and the only tool left is to smear Russian military leaders who are in the league of their own and this is the league way beyond reach of any current US general. So, what's left? Of course, let's spread BS in a desperate attempt to remove people who are writing a book on modern warfare. 

WASHINGTON — A senior Russian general had advance knowledge of Yevgeny Prigozhin’s plans to rebel against Russia’s military leadership, according to U.S. officials briefed on American intelligence on the matter, which has prompted questions about what support the mercenary leader had inside the top ranks. The officials said they are trying to learn if Gen. Sergei Surovikin, the former top Russian commander in Ukraine, helped plan Prigozhin’s actions last weekend, which posed the most dramatic threat to President Vladimir Putin in his 23 years in power. Surovikin is a respected military leader who helped shore up defenses across the battle lines after Ukraine’s counteroffensive last year, analysts say. He was replaced as the top commander in January but retained influence in running war operations and remains popular among the troops.

Sure, it takes a bunch of losers from NYT tabloid to spread BS which has been already flatly denied by Kremlin and was called... well,  BS (in Russian). But then again, Putin is desperate and is losing war in... Iraq according to POTUS, and the next thing you know Putin will lose the war in Afghanistan and, possibly, even likely, in Vietnam. US establishment now is a laughing stock around the world. 

Here is Joe, always extremely situationally aware, delivers his Sitrep.

Pop-corn Time.

Do I need to comment on this? 

Banned From Russian Airspace, U.S. Airlines Look to Restrict Competitors. Because of the war in Ukraine, U.S. carriers have to take the long way on flights to and from Asia, giving an advantage to foreign rivals flying the same routes.

Ah, capitalism is a bitch when you lose in competition.  

WASHINGTON — Unable to fly through Russian airspace because of the war in Ukraine, U.S. airlines are stepping up a lobbying campaign on Capitol Hill and at the White House to address what they say is a growing problem: They are losing business to foreign competitors who can take passengers between the United States and Asia faster and more cheaply. Effectively banned from the polar routes that save time and fuel between the United States and an array of destinations on the other side of the world, U.S. carriers say they are being forced into an aeronautical version of Twister to get passengers where they want to go without taking undue risks. They have altered trans-Pacific flight plans to ensure they would have somewhere to land in an emergency, reduced passenger and cargo loads to hold down costs as they fly longer distances, and put on hold more than a dozen planned new routes to Mumbai, Tokyo, Seoul and other cities.

Did they try lobbying on Capitol Hill for the remnants of a common sense and a removal of corrupt chickenhawks? No? Well, there you go. They shoulda and woulda while they coulda, but they didna. Now they go traditional way of sore losers of trying to spoil it for everyone else instead of facing the music. Read the whole piece in NYT, it is free, unlike US sanctions on Russia. Cannot wait for Monday and hearing news (possible? who knows?) of a possible BRICS currency. We know it is coming sooner or later. Pop-corn time.

Ah, That's What It Is.

So, the blame game starts in earnest. As the herald of regime, New York Times, reports:

Intelligence Suggests Pro-Ukrainian Group Sabotaged Pipelines, U.S. Officials Say. New intelligence reporting amounts to the first significant known lead about who was responsible for the attack on the Nord Stream pipelines that carried natural gas from Russia to Europe.

Remarkably, NYT doesn't lie here, which is an extremely rare event in itself, since NYT is a lying sack of shit. It is absolutely true if one views, justifiably, the US and NATO as a "pro-Ukrainian group", who they certainly are. But, oh, the imperatives of a bi-polar US internal politics and massive geopolitical realignment happening this very moment, especially in the country 404, dictate the childish behavior of the American "elites", who suddenly feel the heat. 

At least they admit:

Some initial U.S. and European speculation centered on possible Russian culpability, especially given its prowess in undersea operations, though it is unclear what motivation the Kremlin would have in sabotaging the pipelines given that they have been an important source of revenue and a means for Moscow to exert influence over Europe. One estimate put the cost of repairing the pipelines starting at about $500 million. U.S. officials say they have not found any evidence of involvement by the Russian government in the attack.

Yes, sure, why would Russians kill the hen laying the golden eggs, which they nurtured for many decades. Makes total sense to "initially speculate" that these were the owners of this hen, Russians that is, who decided to kill it. But then, of course, NYT goes back to its normal business of making up a bullshit and lying. 

U.S. officials who have been briefed on the intelligence are divided about how much weight to put on the new information. All of them spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss classified intelligence and matters of sensitive diplomacy. U.S. officials said the new intelligence reporting has increased their optimism that American spy agencies and their partners in Europe can find more information, which could allow them to reach a firm conclusion about the perpetrators. It is unclear how long that process will take. American officials recently discussed the intelligence with their European counterparts, who have taken the lead in investigating the attack.

I have news for lowlifes in NYT--"U.S. officials" know damn well who, when and how blew the NS2 up. Let them take this in, while they regroup trying to whitewash what amounts to the act of state terrorism and only adds to the war crimes of Obama and Biden regimes they committed in what used to be Ukraine. They surely expected only a moderate violence and the fast collapse of Russia. Boy, did their plan turn to shit and now whole world is witnessing the annihilation of the US stooges in numbers not seen since WW I and Russians are doing just fine both economically and militarily. But the corpses are piling--Shoigu reported today that VSU KIAs for February alone exceeded 11,000 (in Russian)--and we all know that Russian MOD is extremely conservative in its numbers. And the meat-grinder for VSU in Bakhmut and elsewhere along 1,000 kilometer long front continues unabated. Somebody will have to answer for all that. And they will. 

I am on record--it is too late to whitewash the crime against humanity committed by Biden's (and Obama's) regimes. But they are desperate, because they sensed the danger. The danger of losing, and they are losing big time. Asia Times comes up with this headline today:

Ukraine is going to lose. The window of opportunity for a settlement has closed.  

There is one problem with this headline though--it is not Ukraine, who will cease to exist as a country, and who already lost, it is the combined West who already sustained a catastrophic defeat both militarily and economically and there will be consequences. In fact, we begin to observe them as I type this. No amount of pathos-ridden BS is going to change the reality on the ground. I warned about it, nobody listened. It is too late now.

NYT, Again.

But before I continue with NYT, something about execution of 10 Russian POWs by Nazis. Don't get too emotional, by now one has to develop a degree of the thick skin and understand that the use of the term Nazi is not some kind of propaganda hyperbole. Kiev regime is Nazi regime as are people in the West who support it. So, executing civilians, POWs, torturing them, raping etc. is a normal operational procedure for them, especially for a significant strata of military-political-media top in Washington and London. Many of them are sadists and psychopaths and many of them sincerely want many Russians, preferably all of them, dead. They tacitly applaud any kind of atrocity committed against Russians and want even more. There are many people like this in intel community and in Pentagon. This is a hard cold fact of life. I will omit here elaboration on psychological reasons for that in the West (a lot of it has to do with West's decline, especially militarily), as per Kiev--this is what they do, war crimes and crimes against humanity. 

Accidentally, now a part of this reason and growing West's desperation which is a result of sheer ignorance. 

The New York Times on Friday offered four possible explanations as to how Russia was able to launch a massive missile salvo against Ukraine this week, after the government in Kiev, the Pentagon and the British intelligence have spent months insisting Moscow’s stockpiles were running low. Ukraine claimed last month that Russia had used up 70% of its prewar missile reserves, the Times noted, while the British Defense Ministry said the October 10 strike against Ukrainian infrastructure was “likely to constrain their ability to strike the volume of targets they desire in future.” Tuesday’s strike, which the Times described as the “biggest aerial attack” of the conflict so far, featuring 96 missiles, “raises questions about how much Russia’s arsenal may be depleted and whether Moscow will endure by finding alternative sources of weapons.” One explanation comes from the Pentagon, which had claimed that Russia was running out of missiles as early as May. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Wednesday that Russia was “reaching out” to Iran and North Korea to replenish its ammunition stocks, though the Pentagon itself has publicly said otherwise. Moscow, Tehran and Pyongyang have all denied this, however. Meanwhile, the US has reportedly been trying to buy artillery ammunition for Kiev from South Korea.

As I already stated many times--the last one being yesterday--average US "journo" from establishment media in the US is semi-literate moron. Some of those morons have Ph.Ds in "journalism" and "communications", others--in political pseudo-science. In other words, using Dunning-Kruger model--it is impossible to explain to most people who graduated all kinds of such "programs", and those who teach those, from the average Western university, that they are ignorant because they are ignorant. They do not know real history, especially of the 20th century, neither do most professors who teach it, they do not understand real economy and how it operates, they have zero clue about real warfare. As the result, despite my, and others, warning since 2013-14 about the US not understanding what it is getting itself into with Ukraine, most military-political-media and business top brass in the US wanted... to kill Russians and destroy Russia. 

Now, as I am also on record--no American servicemen ever fought real large, including modern combined arms, war against very serious, sometimes superior, enemy in defense of his (her) home, period. Russians do it for 1000+ years. Because of that, even when you are well-educated and experienced American soldier, it is still very difficult, not impossible, though, to grasp the intricacies of real war economy, especially when you have been taught "economics" as is taught in the West. Get any top RAND honcho (probably former general) talk to Russian counterpart and you can easily observe how this RAND guy will melt away when faced with substantive issues of arsenals for serious war. Emphasis on "serious". And this is just one example. In other words, American military experiences do not apply to Russia in general. Hence, even when having proper information, many in the US analytical orgs, let alone such toilet paper as NYT fail to grasp basic facts. They do not have skills.

Just a demonstration. In the open, across the whole world. March 2018. 

Начальник Генштаба Валерий Герасимов заявил, что опыт операции в Сирии дал новый импульс совершенствованию системы комплексного поражения противника. МОСКВА, 24 марта. /ТАСС/. Группировки носителей крылатых ракет большой дальности воздушного и морского базирования созданы в РФ на всех стратегических направлениях. Об этом сообщил глава Генштаба ВС - первый замминистра обороны России Валерий Герасимов.

Translation: Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov said that the experience of the operation in Syria gave a new impetus to the improvement of the system of complex destruction of the enemy MOSCOW, 24 March. /TASS/. Groups of carriers of long-range air and sea-based cruise missiles have been created in the Russian Federation in all strategic directions. This was announced by the head of the General Staff of the Armed Forces - First Deputy Minister of Defense of Russia Valery Gerasimov.  

This was four and a half years ago. Now, get an average dumb-ass from NYT, WaPo, Politico or MSNBC, among many others, or some Patton-worshiping West-Point graduate,  and try to explain to him-her-they-those-it-this what it means when Gerasimov makes such statements. Well, you will need to start from demolishing two founding myths of 20th century America, namely that:

1. While America's contribution to the victory in WW II against Hitler (not Japan--here the US did really well, but it was a different kind of war) was significant, many will have to live the fact that despite importance of the Lend-Lease, USSR produced most of its weapons on its own. While doing so, it annihilated 80% of Axis (in reality combined Europe's) forces, creme de la' creme, on its own. In other words, Soviet industrial capacity was immense even in the war time. In general, the US doesn't know real Russian 20th century history.

2. Modern Russia's economy is not only NOT the size of the economy, whatever that means, of Netherlands, but it is much larger than industrial economy of Germany, let alone France, let alone UK. And then one has to explain that Russia practically is 100% independent in her weapons manufacturing, not to mention producing en masse weapons systems of which Pentagon can only dream about.

 

If you succeed making these two points, there are many more, you may also explain that as early as 2015 and 2016 the number, however speculative, because most of it is secret, of Russia's production of the stand-off weapons, namely 3M14 Kalibr and X-101 cruise missiles family was running something on the order of, depending on the source anywhere from 30 a month to 60 per quarter. Even if we assume the more modest number of 60 per quarter, even WITHOUT well documented and publicized dramatic increase of manufacturing as early as 2016, we still get this number: 4 quarters per year x 7 years x 60 missiles per quarter = 28 x 60 = 1,680 missiles of Kalibr and X-101 family at a minimum. But we also know that production was dramatically increased with practically all massive Russia's military-industrial complex plant working three shifts every day since January at least. 

 

My personal estimate of 3M14 and X-101 number alone--I do not count other types such as widely used P-800 Onyx, let alone Iskander--is about at least 2,500 and Russia still maintains most of it untouched, in case she has to face off with NATO proper. When you begin to add here all kinds of other stand off weapons, including very useful X-55s and X-22 and X-32. Oh boy, you are looking at massive arsenal of stand off weapons alone. I know, for NYT it comes as a surprise, but then again, they probably still think that NYC is not a shithole but a great city. You cannot address the provincialism of American "creative" class. And here we are, with these people unable to do a simple arithmetic. That is why they couldn't wrap their brains around the Russian rationale behind letting go of INF Treaty, of which I wrote non-stop in 2018-2019. Russians tacitly applauded the removal of all constrains on emerging dramatic superiority in quality and quantity of Russian stand off missile systems--the fact the US obviously failed to grasp. 

 

Notice? I didn't even count here already used to an astonishing effect hypersonic Kinzhal, nor this teeny-weeny fact of Russian MoD signing a week ago the additional contract for 3M22 Zircon, which is several dozens of additional missiles (in Russian), with this additional contract to be completed in 2023. Now count yourself how many were in the original 2021 contract--100, 120, 150? I wrote three books on military-economic and operational issues. Obviously nobody in NYT or WaPo reads those, albeit I am very pleased that a serious political quarterly American Affairs DID take a note:

But this is not Martyanov’s core critique, which is that the American military is simply not tailored to the needs of today’s world. It is structured for incursions against much weaker opponents—such as Iraq in 1991 and 2003. But it is not in a position of strength when faced with a peer that can compete in terms of troop deployment and firepower. Critical in this respect is America’s continued reliance on aircraft carriers to project power across the globe. “The American super-carrier died as a viable weapon system designed for modern war with the arrival of the long-range supersonic anti-shipping missile,” Martyanov writes. This renders “the 100,000-ton displacement mastodons of the US Navy obsolete and very expensive sacrificial lambs in any real war. Modern Russian hypersonic missiles such as the Mach-9 capable aero-ballistic Kinzhal have a range of 2000 kilometres and are not interceptable by existing US anti-missile systems.” In fact, if an advanced enemy decided to sink a U.S. carrier battle group, it could do so with the push of a few buttons. These missiles cost a few million dollars to make in countries, like Russia, with low labor costs. A carrier battle group, by contrast, costs about $30 billion and has around 6,700 hands on deck. Martyanov seems genuinely concerned that the Pentagon does not recognize the scale of this problem and could deploy a carrier battle group against a competitive peer in the near future. The enormous, immediate losses that would result might force the United States to use nuclear weapons in response.

Yes, my main concern is not some Russian rah-rah to counter American one, albeit it may come across like this sometimes. My main concern always was and is that our new adopted home would commit, again, a cardinal sin of getting involved with the country--Russia--whose real economic, military and other massive capacities across the board remain completely hidden by non-stop propaganda from illiterate, war-mongering and uncultured "top", such as completely discredited, incompetent and malicious US establishment media, who are culpable in the murder of millions of people around the world by the US because they long ago lost any semblance of even basic morality. The latest from NYT proves it again. You neither can teach nor reason with them. In the end, you don't have to. You just keep the score.