Russia threatens to take over businesses that don’t defend themselves.
Defend Yourself Says Kremlin
On orders from the Kremlin, industries must take responsibility for protecting themselves.
The Wall Street Journal reports Overwhelmed by Ukraine’s Drones, Russia Tells Businesses to Defend Themselves
When a Ukrainian drone struck one of Russia’s biggest steel producers earlier this year, the company’s owner and the country’s richest businessman, Alexei Mordashov, brought in an air-defense system to protect the firm’s biggest mill on the outskirts of Moscow, people familiar with the matter said.
It isn’t all by choice.
Moscow has mandated that businesses take steps to protect themselves. The Kremlin warned in an official decree last month that any company that doesn’t take responsibility for its protection against Ukrainian drones could face temporary state seizure.
Now, businesses across Russia are leasing air-defense systems from defense firms or building their own, said people close to Russia’s business elite and defense sector. Job advertisements show that some are even hiring gunners to shoot down drones.
“The Kremlin is shifting more and more of the burden of protection to the shoulders of private business,” said Alexandra Prokopenko, a senior analyst at Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, a think tank based in Berlin.
Ukraine has ramped up its drone production, enabling its military to carry out massive barrages deep inside Russian territory. Since March, Ukrainian drones have carried out some 200 strikes on Russian refineries and hit at least 36 logistics centers, including those of Russia’s biggest online retailers, Ozon and Wildberries, according to Rochan Consulting, a Poland-based firm that specializes in defense. Wildberries has started using steel netting around some of its warehouses to defend against drones.
Russia’s enormous size once helped it defend against the invading armies of Hitler and Napoleon. Now it is a vulnerability, spreading its available air defenses thin across a landmass that is difficult to defend in its entirety.
As a result, the Russian government is making defending against drones everyone’s problem—not just a matter for the military. Earlier this month, the government issued a decree allowing Russian postal workers to carry weapons and ammunition to take down drones, without specifying exactly what kinds of weapons they will be able to use.
In the first half of 2026, businesses spent more than 440 million rubles on counterdrone systems, nearly seven times as much as they did in the same period the previous year, according to state news agency Tass. The actual number is likely higher because businesses aren’t required to report expenditures on drone defenses.
Ukraine has suffered similar problems. The government helps private businesses insure against military risks up to nearly $700,000 in the most dangerous regions. Private owners of critical infrastructure can likewise request electronic warfare equipment as interceptors run out, though it is operated by the military, which integrates these systems into the country’s overall air-defense system.
When Will the War End?
- When both countries get tired of blowing each other up.
- Alternately, when Russia’s military has had enough of Putin and takes him out.
I thought number one would happen this year, but that now seems unlikely.
I have no way to assess number two, nor does anyone else.
But Putin survived all these years by being paranoid and by killing those even suspected of being against him.
September 25, 2026: Ukraine Hits Russia’s Perm Oil Refinery, Among the Largest in the Country
Russia’s Perm oil refinery, one of the largest in the country, is on fire this morning following a Ukrainian drone attack.
September 26, 2026: Trump Rejects Iran Ceasefire Proposal, Says More Bombing After Election
There’s a lot going on with this headline. Let’s discuss.
No one wants to end wars it seems.
Various private defence companies especially Chinese are becoming major roles in defending drones.
Defence fusion is getting more interesting.
Another one of those showing that Mish should stick with economy. When Russian state TV for years is now stating that the purpose of this war is for Ukraine and Ukrainians to cease to exist, the argument that the war will end when both parties “get tired” of is absurd. Ukrainians fight ON THEIR OWN TERRITORY for THEIR OWN LIFE! The war will end when Russians leave. Until they keep trying to eliminate Ukraine and Ukrainians, the only thing for Ukrainians to do is to resist!
BTW, how did the US gain its independence? By getting tired of “blowing up” British forces???
Another possibility for the war to come to an end is that the Ukraine and Ukrainians cease to exist.
Ukraine could have taken the Istanbul deal in April 2022, or Putin’s deal in June 2024. But Lindsay Graham wanted to fight to the last Ukrainian. The longer they wait, the worse the deal. Likely to lose all of Novorossiya – including Kharkov and Odessa.
Except—
Russia retreated from Kherson, and Kharkiv too.
At the current rate of Russian progress, our grandchildren will be arguing about this war.
It’s just Russian sock puppets in this thread now. Whenever Russia comes up Mish gets inundated with these clowns.
I thought it was a nation’s job to be in charge of all defense, and companies jobs to be responsible for production.
Maybe Russia is a Libertarian’s wish come true.
That’s a poor selling strategy for libertarianism.
The “tankies” on this comment board (bots or paid Russian FSB agents) would have us believe this DOES NOT indicate that Russia is losing, or that these homemade drones powered by gasoline lawnmower engines are NATO-provided, or that Ukraine is going to lose any day.
Meanwhile, average Russian mailmen are now packing arms, everywhere you see people welding ant-drone cages onto oil tanks, and if you don’t, they confiscated your business!
I have said it many a time before on this blog, but the war will end with capitulation.
Certainly the Russian military will not take Putin out to end the war.
If they remove Putin from office it will be to untie their hands pursuing the war.
Who is there to negotiate with?
The West has consistently shown it does not abide agreements and refuses to even discuss anything, and they are plumb out of leverage and the wherewithal to fight. The US is the primary antagonist, continually pretending at plausible deniability.
Will they tire of blowing each other up?
Yes, they are tired of it, but in a war of attrition, you win when the other guy is being attritted 100-fold.
Refineries cover square miles, sometime 32. Sure you can start a spectacular fire by lighting a storage tank. But refineries work by boiling oil and gas. Fire suppression is part of everyday life, and it is largely steel (to contain pressures). A 30kg explosive or a bag of kerosene is not going to take out square miles of plant. Russia is not going to be crippled by any of this. Ukraine on the other hand is blockaded from the sea, and since the Ukraine started this 40 day offensive with European made drones, Russia has responded by taking out communications, logistics, trains, gas stations, factories, warehouses, electricity and gas infrastructure, etc. Ukraine is out of men. Where do you think this is headed?
Kyiv is mainly good at making civilian casualties, in Russia by targeting schools, buses, and apartment buildings (just as they have been doing since Apr 2014), and in Ukraine with inept Air Defense and errant air vehicles.
Even if one takes the Ukrainian government stats regarding civilian casualties at face value, Ukrainian civilians have barely been touched.
As confirmed by people living there.
Wrong! Thousands of Ukrainian civilians have been killed in this war, compared to maybe a couple dozen Russians.
Webej, the war has 99% been waged on Ukrainian soil. All you have to see are the pictures of Mariupol or the Donbass and you could see that what you just regurgitated onto the board is a copy/paste from a Russian propaganda site.
Putin isn’t going anywhere – you can take that to the bank
Until all of the sudden he does. Just like Chavez, Abbas, kamenei, Gaddafi, The juntas in South America, and a lot of other dictatorships: they all look very stable right onto the point of collapse.
With Chavez i meant Maduro of course. Some dictators do die naturally while in power
What, you think a popular revolt is what removed those? Or American bayonets?
Does Russia have any Korean drycleaners with rooftop vistas? Do they use Perc, Scotchguard or AI?
I remain amazed by comments in this group. I ask ChatGPT to summarise in 3 sentences what it makes of it…
The comments are not representative of mainstream Western liberal-democratic values; they reflect a highly self-selecting, strongly anti-establishment community in which distrust of Western governments often shades into sympathy for authoritarian narratives. Many commenters apply intense scepticism to Western institutions while giving Russian claims, motives, and conduct much less scrutiny, and some use openly dehumanising or conspiratorial language. I’d characterise the group less as conventionally “pro-Russian” than as so deeply anti-Western-establishment that Russia becomes the beneficiary of their distrust by default.
Sounds about right.
Myself, I have so tired of american foreign policy lies this century that I find the lies of america’s foes to be refreshing, if not more accurate.
Why were you not able to formulate a critique on your own? Did your government schools let you down?
No perfectly capable thanks – suggest you try asking LLMs too…very good at over coming your own biases.
LLMS simply inject the biases they were programmed with.
Witness the infamous Grok praise of Elon Musk.
https://newrepublic.com/post/203519/elon-musk-ai-chatbot-grok-praise-pee-blowjobs
Sounds pretty accurate. I have a few friends that hate the US and NATO so much they are willfully blind to how bad other powers are. This crowd seems to think similar.
It’s infested with Russian sock puppets. I think it’s because of crossover from Zero Hedge (which is run by an old KGB asset.)
They have two angles,
– first Russia can do no wrong and Kyiv will surrender at any moment (been saying this for like 4 years now) and
-second, US political parties are all the same so it doesn’t matter who you vote for.
There’s slight overlap with “libertarian” there because the tendency to conflate both major US political parties is already there, even though it’s simplistic and reductive. For our motivated Russia fans here, it’s just an easy way to drive corrosive anti-US and anti-democratic dialogue.
Once you keep these two angles in mind, it’s easy to spot the sock puppets.
The Bill Jackson Dirty Dragon show was great. My favorite was Town Monument Blob.
Try not arguing with strawmen.
It’s not strawmen, that dumb shit gets posted here constantly.
Agree, intrigued if it is organic or organised.
You can’t even imagine that anyone could legitimately disagree with you or the officially distributed opinion of the neocon/neolib monolith. Some of us have been watching this train wreck coming for 30 years. Doesn’t it give you pause to be on the same side as John McCain, Lindsay Graham, Ted Cruz and Tom Cotton?
Doesn’t it give you pause to be on the same side as Kim Jong Un, Xi, Khamenei, and Putin?
Regurgitated by an AI trained on the approved Western liberal-democratic sources
you can’t refute any of it. Noted
I don’t engage on conversation with machines or who can’t think for themselves and make a machine’s regurgitation their words.
How the Russians decide to protect their country is their business. Considering that the Ukrainians are getting all their targets from satellite and other monitoring sources by American and NATO countries then they have to do whatever it takes. A Polish official just stated that 27,000 Ukrainians are getting killed, wounded and disappearing a month! Ukraine is winning? You high on weed.
For the love of God, I don’t get the American brainwashed infatuation with Putin’s destruction. Just as appalling is the lack of knowledge of why Russia invaded Ukraine. It’s no wonder that our benevolent leaders in Federal and State government continue to fck Americans in the a$$ nonstop. Daily. A lot of people in America, including the educated, just lack critical analysis and most importantly common sense. Wallow in your pain. I love it. Watching you jabroni’s paying at the pump while displaying your MAGA sticker or American flag just makes my day.
The war will not end until Russia’s goals are realized: the de-Nazification of Ukraine, and its commitment to neutrality. That’s it. Either they do it or they die. A lot of CIA posters here state Ukraine’s population is 48 million. You’re lying-again. Much of the population left Ukraine. They have lost a generation or two of people. I know people here in California that left Ukraine to escape forced enlistment in the Ukrainian army.
What Trump and the West should do is agree to Russian’s terms and end support of the Nazi Ukrainian government. Everyone can then do business together and live in peace, but the Empire (American government) cannot live in peace with other countries.
Zelensky has banned any elections from taking place and just enriched himself along with his crony’s. Some who fled to Israel and other countries. He’s a dictator and sold his people out to be Western proxy’s to weaken Russia. The Russians will do the slow grind (as Putin wanted to limit Russian deaths) and just kill the Banderist Nazi’s until the country is freed from their vile beliefs, and the West’s yoke.
You just suck those Ukrainian/Western losses taking place daily. Haha.
You know that Putin kills any dissenters right?
Putin took the SAT/GMAT for Trump to get into Penn.
David Stockman wrote an article titled “Pearl Harbor my Eye” at the beginning of the conflict. It gives a great historical background on the whole situation. Great read and very informative.
There is a 3rd option.
Putin is closely watching what America does in Iran. If Trump escalates things (nuclear, biological, chemical, wrecking more civilian infrastructure etc) that will free Russia to do the same in Ukraine since it was OK for America to do it.
Rather, Putin should follow what Iran is doing and attack the party behind the proxy.
Does Lloyds cover that?
let’s try and remember it was Obama admin CIA that helped to flip over ANOTHER election. this one was in 2014 in ukraine. the spark of the war. there is a great little book, the economist recommended years ago, “overthrow”. chronicles all the countries the US empire has overthrown. back to the late 1800s. few pages only on each incident. ukraine war was also financed to the tune of hundreds of billions of US dollars under Biden. not sure how much Trump has done. i just don’t know. of course that bozo overthrew VZ and attempted in Iran. the amerikan people love overthrowing other countries. democracy always works perfectly well.
Correction: the 100 Americans with all the money love overthrowing other countries so they can loot them.
Wrong on all counts. Yanukovych refused to leave after losing a legitimate election, and then killed 100 protesters.
He eventually fled in disgrace back to Putin, and eventually Zelensky replaced him.
Zelensky was elected due to promises of reform, and didn’t move very effectively to eliminate corruption in Ukraine’s government, and was suffering in the polls as a result.
When Russia denied that they were going to invade, the CIA warned Ukraine that the invasion would happen.
Zelensky ignored the warning, and Russia made it all the way to the outskirts of Kiev prior to bogging down.
Zelensky refused Biden’s offer to evacuate him in order to establish a remote opposition government, famously declaring, “I don’t need a ride, I need ammunition!”
Ukraine subsequently forced Russia back, recapturing thousands of square miles of territory.
Now the conflict has bogged down, and Russia can’t make any headway.
Hope this helps, it’s all copiously documented and you can verify it on thousands of websites, news media, blogs, Telegram channels, etc.
That’s a lie. He won the election.
For those who want background how the Obama administration orchestrated the overthrow of a legitimate government (nothing new for the American Empire) take a look at this great documentary made by Oliver Stone. It’s disgraceful what our government, thru the CIA, perpetrates throughout the world and what our Founding Father’s warned us about. In case the link does not work, then go to You Tube and watch “Ukraine on Fire” by Oliver Stone. That filth Victoria “Cookies” Nuland is featured as the Zionist scum she is. Just appalling, the American cast of criminals including that scum Obama and how they guilty for the deaths, injuries and mental torture of millions. I hope they rot in hell.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKcmNGvaDUs&list=PLNQnk4gBLrOQRsfoG3LV0AaFI1eMoo1VQ
I might also suggest the book “Provoked” by Scott Horton
A fair election orchestrated by McCain and Nuland to overthrow a corrupt pro Russian president and install a corrupt pro US president. Good deal, worked out great. How many hundreds of thousands of innocent people have died as a result??
Wow, you ascribe incredible superpowers to Nuland and McCain.
McCain couldn’t even get himself elected President.
Zelenskii was elected, over vociferous American objections (the US Ambassador openly campaigned for his opponent) on a platform of peace and reconciliation with Russia.
The Americans put the kibosh on that.
Three months ago I would have agreed with this assessment. With the Russian forces having gained air superiority they have recently been making headway in this bloody war of attrition.
The fact that Ukraine is gearing up to conscript women tells us where this is heading. I doubt Ukraine will survive thru the winter.
Ukraine is not preparing or considering the mandatory draft of women, according to official statements from the Ukrainian Parliament’s Committee on National Security, Defense and Intelligence and military commands reported by The New Voice of Ukraine.Official PositionNo Draft Plans: The Ukrainian Land Forces and government disinformation officials state that rumors about a mandatory female draft are false and used by opponents to cause panic.Strictly Voluntary: Joining the military remains a personal choice for women in Ukraine.Current Rules for WomenMedical Registration: Women aged 18 to 60 who have a medical or pharmaceutical background must register with the military.No Automatic Deployment: Registering your name does not mean you are forced to join the army or go to the front lines.Voluntary Service: Over 75,000 women serve in the Ukrainian Armed Forces by choice as medics, drone pilots, and combat soldiers.
Well, that settles it, then! They’ll also tell you that the men kidnapped and press ganged into the army (I know some personally) are volunteers.
Yeah, my grandfathers were drafted into WWII.
As if Russia doesn’t force people into their armed forces.
I don’t see Russian bombing raids over the Ukraine. For whatever reason, it seems that the Ukrainian skies are closed off to Russia, who dare not fly bombers or fighters over it.
This may well give birth to private militias and alternate fragmented power and security centers within the nation. Not what Putin would want.
Corporate Fiefdoms?
Sounds familiar.
Meanwhile on the farming front, the Trump & Xi meetings resulted in more posturing than substance with no grain purchase agreements signed or shipments to China scheduled. Grain prices fell on the news as the squeeze on American farmers continues. WTI crude regained the $95 price level. Diesel is $6.79 at my favorite gas station. My fixed cost fuel contract ends on October 31st or at my contracted number of gallons (which I will take every drop of).
Consolidation is the only workable solution as farming is now more of a financial management and risk mitigation business than operable family farm. The skill set has changed.
There remains room for specialized “Boutique Farms” that produce higher margin specialty products.
Vertical farms in cities are becoming a good business model as proximity to consumers and isolation from diseases and weed sources reduces costs. Genetically modified indoor honeybees (without stingers) are in the offing.
Hi rise farms in cities with perfect lighting cycles, nutrients, watering, minimal soils with just the right microbe balance and excellent disease and pest control are coming. Older low occupancy B grade office buildings are targets for re-purposing.
All it takes is curiosity, imagination $$$’s and a team of experts.
Considering he handled Prigozhin with the Wagner Group, I doubt he’s worried.
At the beginning of this conflict, I was a Russia supporter. I expected Russia to whip some ass and take control of its desired areas.
However, as the war continued, it became obvious that the crisis had evolved into an opportunity for the west to test various weaponry and strategies in actual battle conditions with little risk to our precious armed forces. Armies always fight the last war and this quickly became obvious as drones showed that the old ideas had run their course.
Russia has lost the initiative (and its economy) and the fighting will continue until the money from the west runs out. We can’t know the final outcome but there will be a lot of very rich people, new arms suppliers, and a lot of fancy, new weapons in the wrong hands. The enormous loss of life and ensuing misery will just be a footnote.
And this is the Russia that the west seems to be frightened of because, somehow (we are not told that bit), it will expand the war into Europe and then Canada. Presumably, this fear is based on its huge successes in Ukraine.
It is abundantly obvious that the Russian leadership does not want this war, which is why they spent eight years trying to get Ukraine to comply with Minsk-2, which anyone fool could see was a sham, as confirmed by Merkel, Hollande and Poroshenko.
The West sees Russian dithering and indecision and smells blood.
It’s also obvious that Russian leadership wants the Kremlin to go all in and stop pussyfooting around Kiev.
Peace is always the answer, even para bellum et al.
What the Russian bots ignore is that the West’s response to Russian aggression has worked.
It has been chaotic and poorly coordinated, yes.
It hasn’t been sufficient to eject Russia from the occupied terrain, true.
But initially sending a bunch of shoulder-fired missiles prevented Russia from establishing air superiority.
That gained Ukraine time.
The West sent millions of artillery shells, air defense, old and deprecated armor, old jets, and provided some training.
What is blocking Russia most effectively is that their own economy is so tiny compared to the US & Russia.
Russia’s economy is approximately the same size as Florida’s!
Please explain then how they have GDP growth and money in the treasury while facing the most Draconian sanctions ever instituted?
How can they produce more weapons & ordinance per quarter than the whole of NATO from Tallinn to San Diego does per year? [per Rutte, secr general of NATO] How did they manage to rebuild Mariupol and put in new water pipes, highways, and railroads?
Economies are about tangibles.
People trading houses and securities at inflated prices does not give you the wherewithal to sustain conflict, as we have seen in the Donbas and Hormuz.
There is a large gray market in Russia, and in Ukraine for that matter, that does not show up in GDP.
Iranian military budget is officially 7.4 billion. Actual military expenditure is estimated to be two to three times larger—ranging between $15 billion and $23 billion.
Vastly inferior to US’s 1 trillion military budget.
ie. 20 to 1000.
Still US is not winning. Still struggling. But getting worse than initial situation.
Mish, it’s surprising to me that I agree almost 100% with your take on the Iran war, but disagree completely with you on Ukraine.
As always, I say that the war will not soon end by negotiations – as you used to expect.
As to the topic of this post, my take is that in Russia, the oligarchs are forced to act in the interests of Russia and it’s people. By contrast, in the US, the oligarchs are allowed to act against the interests of the country and it’s people.
Which approach is better?
It’s an interesting twist on the logic of privatization.
Instead of merely privatizing profits and socializing losses,privatize losses. One way of looking at it is a sudden tax: a redistribution of costs without a formal taxation. But this is bound to make business leaders feel more distant and questioning toward Putin and his choices.
I think the original idea of concentrated power was a social “contract” (voluntary or not) where the king figure guaranteed security toward foreign threats. It would create more cohesion within the nation as well.
How much more clearly can a government admit failure than by asking private business to arm itself against the blowback of a war of choice started by said government? Absurd. Equally absurd are the numbers of pro-Russia sock puppets here in these comments.
Ukraine and the US are the ones asking for a ceasefire. Russia is the one saying “no”. What does that say about who’s winning?
Correct. Ukraine wants a ceasefire which, with the lack of trust on both sides, is taken to mean “give me time to reset and reload so I can fight you better.” Russia wants a peace agreement to end the fighting.
Why the hell does it have to be binary, Phil??! It is possible to disagree with things Ukraine/NATO is doing and not be in Putin’s pocket. Here’s the deal. We had Minsk I that sought to end hostilities and both sides were committed enough to it that they agreed on Minsk II. We now know that NATO negotiated that the Minsk Agreements IN BAD FAITH just to buy time for Ukraine to arm and train fighters. After the original invasion in 2022, peace agreements were drafted (according to Naftali Bennett from Israel, among others) until neocons like Boris Johnson (not to mention John McCain, Lindsey Graham, Richard Blumenthal, Victoria Nuland, and others) convinced Zelensky that they should fight. Since then, both sides have escalated, but NATO is more desperate for war. Ukrainian and Russian soldiers have both been on the receiving end of rapid changes in war tech and strategies.
PHIL, PLEASE READ THIS: Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk stated that Ukrainian casualties have reached about 27,000 killed and wounded per month, marking a record high in the conflict, primarily due to Russia’s new military strategies and the use of jet-powered drones. This was disclosed during a speech in the Polish Parliament.
So while Ukrainian attacks on Russia’s energy infrastructure get the headlines, Ukraine has been taking about 1000 casualties a day. Russia doesn’t have to make gains on the ground to churn through a finite number of bodies. But here’s the real point, Phil: agreements were in place that could have prevented this war from progressing. Minsk I was signed in 2014, Minsk II in 2015, and Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. But actors on the NATO side worked to prevent this from happening and have continued to escalate.
It’s binary because Russia invaded Ukraine. Thanks for asking.
Now, why? Just for meanness? No. Ukraine is of no value to anyone, except as a speat to point at Russia.
🙄 Read “Provoked” by Scott Horton.
This is the war of attrition.
We’ll know when it ends.
Russia is actually fighting NATO backed by USA.
But time has changed. US support is becoming nil.
European support is getting weaker and weaker. German AfD is not supporting Ukraine. German is meeting with Russia recently.
What is interesting is that can Ukraine stand without Western support?
Did Putin remember to tell our most excellent peace negotiators, Kushner and Witkoff, to protect their Russian properties? It’s the final battle. Trump is whispering to his fanatical base. What is he whispering to them? Remember January 6th? He’s hinting at extreme violence, a final solution, in his patriotic, national security public service message.
Wait a second… Is it not the military that should be defending the businesses?
Our centralized defense systems seem to be working well and having businesses defending themselves is asking for friendly fire incidents.
Duhhhhhh!
You forgot options 3 and 4.
Option 3 is Ukraine collapses due to either Zelinsky being overthrown or his whole regime being overthrown.
Option 4 is a military defeat of Ukraine. Russia is rapidly developing drones that are much harder to intercept. They are jet powered, fly higher, fly faster (over 300mph compared to the previous 70mph) and are harder to jam. And they can made a thousand/day.
Putin has strong popular support and if he was replaced it would be with a hardliner who could go to all out war. Also Putin committed to not assassinating Zelinsky, the next guy is not bound by that.
The problem with the idea of Zelensky being overthrown is that he is defending Ukraine against Russia. To overthrow him and surrender to Russia would be treasonous to the vast majority of the population. Nobody would do it. He’d be more likely to be overthrown if he was seen as trying to end the war by surrendering parts of the country.
Putin has the harder problem. He has committed the country to devastating economic consequences for what many consider a legitimate issue: keep NATO off its southwestern border. But, politically, that isn’t a goal worth killing millions of Ukrainians. So winning is almost impossible, much like the US & Iran. Russian patriotism may wear out as the burdens get heavier.
Lots of Ukrainians want him gone and want the war over.
The secret police will come for them if they express such opinions in public.
I am in daily contract with Ukrainians, in and out of the country.
The reality is that Putin nearly got taken out by one of his own mercenary firms, Wagner.
So your fantasies of Zelensky being assassinated are projection.
Russia can’t defeat Ukraine after 4.5 years and just took back Lyman.
Ukraine kicked Russia out of Kherson.
We’re all getting older watching this mess.
Putin needs to end this war!
I came to agree with Doctorow and Roberts with regards to Putin, the lawyer, conducting a war of attrition which led to increased casualties on both sides, a crime against humanity, I’d add.
Compare the military-to-civilian killed ratios to American, European, or NATO wars, to Iraq, Afghanistan, or anywhere.
Orders of magnitude better !
How would you know that there would be less casualties using massed maneuvers compared to the current infiltration tactics using 2-3 man teams?
Both sides would like to end the war. Problem is they can’t agree on the terms to do it so it will continue until one or both sides moderates it’s terms.
Ah, miracle vengeance weapons. But are they vaporware? There would surely be no rigorous disclosure on the particulars. It is far easier to manufacture and distribute stories than weapons/solutions. The USA is learning that from a pro.
@Mish
>> But Putin survived all these years by … and by
>> killing those even suspected of being against him.
Do you recall which non-Oceania or neutral website(s) provided enough info to your satisfaction to support this claim?
Oh, c’mon.
Here’s just one:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexei_Navalny
Sorry, but you have barely begun to scratch the surface of the tapestry around you.
Wikipedia is NOT a reliable source of information when it comes to anything political.
Like when the Evil Dictator Putin sent Navalny to germany for treatment?
Another possibility – somebody pulls a Diem on Zelenskyy.
There’s about another 43 million Ukrainians who would keep up the fight to replace him.
With Putin, on the other hand, if he dies the Russian Oligarchs would shut down this war so fast you talkies would be amazed.
Putin is another one who, like Trump, was going to keep smashing head first through walls until he found one too dense for his head. That’s probably the nature of modern “rock star” leaders: keep rolling the dice as a means and a necessity to hang onto leadership.
If Ukrainians are so eager to fight, why do they have to press gang cancer patients?
If Ukraine is so eager to be occupied by Russia, why have they been fighting so hard for more than 4 years?
And let’s not make the mistake that Ukraine is a very well organized, law based country. It is moving in the right direction but still has a long way to go based on democracy rankings. Excesses will happen, and I’m sure we’ll see many more. But to use that to prove that Ukraine is not eager to fight and ignore all the evidence in plain sight that they actually fight a lot, and hard, is incorrect I think.
Ukraine was/is well KNOWN for it’s corruption.
Half of those 43 million Ukrainians fled the Ukraine and want nothing to do with Zelensky’s fight.
all so evil and stupid. in brighton beach, brooklyn, the russians and ukrainians and georgians…….all are civil. hell, some russian restaurants fly the uke flag and vice versa.
the women on the beach are hawt. the men don’t hang out on beach much.
I suspect the Oligarchs would just keep the war going. Doesn’t cost them personally since their kids aren’t dying on the front lines.
One thing they definitely wouldn’t do is voluntarily end the war on unfavorable terms. That’s why both sides keep on attacking each other.
Agree with the points about when the war will end. However the conditions for those depend on America stepping up to putting more pressure on Russia financially.
At the moment America is encouraging prolonging the war.
For anyone that thinks #2 has serious potential, show me on the doll where Putin touched you. If anything, the Russian public is more upset with Putin for showing too much restraint.
There is a higher likelihood of someone in the US military taking out the US president than someone in the Russian military taking out Putin. And I’d rather have Putin as president than the kiddie-diddling, narcissistic Orange Clown.
The war will end when the West agrees to Russia’s terms laid out in 2024 or when Russia decides it has adequately de-Nazi-fied Ukraine and demilitarized not only Ukraine but NATO as well.
For a different perspective on the war, try Larry Johnson at SONAR21, Simplicius, Bernard at Moon of Alabama, or The Duran. You might find yourself disabused of irrational thoughts like Russian soldiers effecting a coup.
I agree with you that a coup is unlikely, (despite an attempt 2 years back), but the only reason is because of Putin’s oppression of any form of dissent.
Ukraine’s far-right Svoboda won just 2.15% in the last pre-war parliamentary election, which OSCE observers described as competitive and respectful of fundamental freedoms.
And declaring you’d rather be ruled by Putin—whose system suppresses genuine opposition and concentrates power in the presidency—than by a politician you dislike is a pretty revealing definition of freedom.
Putin is more popular among Russians than any westerner leader is among their people.
Sure, and you can be arrested in Russia first holding up a blank piece of paper at a protest.
That may be but I don’t think the elite are so happy. But as long as the rich are immune from the ravages of war they’ll hang in there.
Bought that propaganda hook, line, and sinker.
A huge die-off of misfits insured that popularity.
If we’re talking about Ukrainian elections (last held in 2019), what about Yanukovich, who won in an election that the OSCE called “reasonably free and fair”?
Oh yeah, the CIA couped him.
Moon of Alabama has been declaring a complete Russian victory within weeks for years now.
Moon of Alabama, Simplicus,etc. are wishful thinkers.
That does not make Ukraine the good guys.
Didn’t say Ukraine is the good guys. Most wars are fought by two bad guys. US & Iran for example.
Bullshit. Provide a link to one post. Just one. Otherwise, you are full of 💩
Arming civilians could make Pooty kapooty.
Or invite General Chaos to settle infinite scores. Who will end up out of that scrum with the nuclear football(s)?
How about when one of those countries gets blown up a bit too much, can’t take it anymore and surrenders..?
That’s what ever more Russians hope for but unfortunately we don’t seem to be anywhere close to that.
Of course, the General Staff and the intelligence services would “take him out” (it would be a very “soft coup”) for the very opposite reasons that clueless Westerners like you imagine: they would do so to finally be free to conduct the war like it should have been from the start and unleash the full power of the Russian military: Ukraine would be “Gazaified”, the Ukrainian military and civilian leadership would get an Israeli-style ruthless decapitation and the Western countries supporting Ukraine would get a taste of the war they have been waging against Russia and would experience military and civilian losses themselves which would precipitate their societies into the chaos they already are on the verge of for many very different reasons.
Except those who actually know Russia and Russians and don’t rely only on Western propaganda (AKA Western MSM) like yourself, you mean?
LMAO. I will remind you your prediction (which you are not really repeating that often anymore): the NATO – Russia war in Ukraine will end with a negotiation that will leave everybody unhappy.
And mine: the NATO – Russia war in Ukraine will end with Ukraine’s capitulation, and by extension with the NATO’s and the West’s capitulation…
It’s also a good time to remind you of what I wrote here on the very first day of the Epstein Fury operation: this is going to be the USA’s FAFO moment.
Whose “predictions” are doing better at the moment..?
If you think that the Russians aren’t doing everything they can at the moment to defeat Ukraine, as well as to bomb its cities flat then you haven’t been paying attention. They are simply not nearly as strong as they thought they were, among other reasons because:
1) too competent generals cannot be tolerated, so get replaced quickly
2) their flow of information is so full of lies their generals give nonsensical orders
3) their corruption eats tons of resources
4) they stick to ineffective tactics that means they lose about 1500 soldiers a day
5) they cannot protect themselves againts Ukrainien drone attacks
6) they stick with an outdated authority model that prevens people in the field from making quick decisions
7) and much more
That doesn’t mean that Ukraine, at 1/10th of GDP can drive the Russians out. But it does mean that Ukraine has taken on the full might of the Russian army for 4.5 years and barely given an inch since the first invasion. Which is very impressive.
Russia is led by a poorly informed, paranoid and isolated leader that has no clue what is going on exactly in his country, and has no clue how to stop the war without losing power. Which is why the war will go on until Putin dies or is taken from power.
As in any dictatorship that will happen and it will happen sudden and unexpectedly. Could be this year, could be 10 years from now.
Regardless, Russia has taken such huge losses to its army, economy and freedoms, they will not recover fast from this, if at all.
My guess is that China is watching and very happy to see them decline, and become a client state to its rising power.
You are the typical average utterly clueless and heavily disinformed, malinformed and brainwashed Westerner who knows NOTHING WHATSOEVER about Russia, Russians, Ukraine, Ukrainians and what’s going on on the ground…
How the NATO – Russia war in Ukraine and the Epstein Fury operation will end will eventually wake up quite a few of you.
How the NATO – Russia war in Ukraine. That is the correct context.
Well then, I’m glad to stand corrected by someone who is oh so well informed and not brainwashed. I’m glad you know Russia so well, and I like how you try to make this a war between NATO and Russia. Silly me thought it was Russia that invaded Ukraine, not a NATO country.
And I had missed that NATO had sent in its divisions. But perhaps you refer to arms and intelligence support, such as Russia provides to Iran? Which is at war with the USA? Does that mean that it is not a war between the USA and Iran, but also between NATO and Russia?
Riiiiight. Russia just invaded Ukraine one day. NO REASON! Just…invaded because the big bad wolf who is their president wants to take over the world.
JUST LIKE HITLER!!!!😱😱😱😭😭😭
And you’re totally spot on…NATO and the West’s financial and intelligence support totally doesn’t make them a belligerent on the side of Ukraine.
🐔🍭
Straw person arguments. Russia had its rationales for invading Ukraine. Who says “no reason”? Your straw person. Russia perceived NATO from the start as encroaching, as the deeper adversary. Russia is concerned about NATO/western power getting a handle on it. Hitler had his own perceived reasons for invasions, some of which was toward pre-NATO powers as expressed in Versailles, But only the mentally laziest equate Russia to Hitler’s Germany. So, the dumbest few as your straw person.
Is Russia wrong in all its strategic perceptions? I’m not saying that. I see some shades of gray in all of it. But I think Russia overplayed and discovered it had a worse hand than it thought. Might have been better strengthening itself within, and exploiting its own resources. But it has been bad at that for a long timer, I suspect because of leadership’s paranoiac power styles.
The Russian leadership clearly walked into a trap in 2022.
That does not make Ukraine the good guys.
Dude, if you don’t think this Russia vs. NATO then I don’t have much hope for you. Even Boris Johnson, NATO’s go-to guy to keep the war flames burning, called it a proxy war….IN 2024!
Edit: I see from your comment below that you are really saying is that NATO doesn’t have boots on the ground. Thus is the nature of a proxy war.
NATO is the U.S. DUH!
FFS dude let’s stop pretending Ukraine is fighting Russia alone. They’ve had significant financial and intelligence support from NATO.
I am not denying that, and if fact tried to make that point by comparing that support to what Russia provides to Iran. But I guess I did not make the reference to arms and intelligence support as clear as i should have .
Of course Ukraine gets a lot of support. But i do not agree that it is nato fighting there. If nato sent in its troops it would look very different from now, is my point.
Who, besides you and your straw dog, are “pretending pretending Ukraine is fighting Russia alone”?
Part of this disinformation is intentional and part is ignorance. Americans don’t even know their own government structure or where countries are located like Mexico and Canada. The government controlled education system needs mindless jabroni’s to work robots, tax donkeys and meat to go to war so that they can enjoy their fancy food and fancy drinks on a beach.
Oh now you’ve said it. The putin fluffers will be miffed.
The support for a dictator like Putin, who rules by a huge amount of state oppression, on a blog written by a libertarian is very interesting to see.
Putin is more popular among Russians than any western leader is among their people.
Which of course doesn’t say much for the Russian people and their culture.
I very much doubt that. Unfortunately I don’t think there’s data to prove it either way because of all the state repression, so who knows.
I hear he also hit a hole in one 18 times lat time he was out golfing! Comrade Putin is bigger than Jesus!
Supporting a corrupt autocrat like Putin is a mind bender for me.
Even with Trump, the US is ten times better off than having a Putin.
I agree, although I think Trump would love to be in Putin’s position. The checks and balances in the US still do push back though, so that’s good.
Among great powers, China seems to have all the strategic patience. It has been embedded in their thinkers for a long time.
Not really. China simply wants to be able to sell things and make money, and hopes that the Americans will turn on them last.
Couldn’t agree more
Genuine question… Short of nuclear options… what have the Russians not tried?
They have just been shown to have a much weaker hand than they thought they had.
I think the average Russian doesn’t give two hoots about Ukraine and wants this over. It’s just Putin who can’t back down. Afraid to look weak.
The Ukrainians can’t back down, they are defending their homeland. So the only way this can end is Putin’s death or at least ousting. The next Russian leader will want out of this mess ASAP.
Which already has its genuine answer, re-read my post and if you still don’t get it just look at what Iran and AnsarAllah have been able to do to the (nuclear armed) US, to (nuclear armed) Israel and basically to all of the Gulf countries with a small fraction of Russia’s military potential and with no nukes at all…
That actually played a very big part in many Russians starting to get pissed off at Putin (but, again: FOR THE VERY OPPOSITE REASONS THAT YOU “THINK”).
And that’s the point: you “think”, I KNOW. How and why I do, I detailed several times in this comment section over the past 2 years and I am tired of repeating myself. If you are interested use the search function, use Google search or (the best bet) use an AI, which is easy enough.
Walmarts with heavy machine guns and rocket launchers on the roofs? I likey. Maybe its time to re-evaluate the Russian political model.
“According to a Gallup Poll, 57% of young Americans aged 18 to 34 view socialism positively.”
Intrigued what part of Russian society is socialist. Seems uber capitalist to me.
Russia is an authoritarian capitalist state, much like China or Singapore. Just lead by incompetent leaders.
China continues to own majority shares of large critical enterprises, to ensure they meet those set by single passports holders rather than transnational capitalists ruling Oceania. Some peep who call themselves “communist” or “socialist” claim that meets their definition. Acceptable to me.
Oceania is an authoritarian state run by capital for themselves and obviously not you, unless you tell me you like the direction we headed the psst few decades.
And america engages in necropolitics by using machine guns and rocket launchers on innocent people with no just war theory; and America is in the “paper’s please” and concentration camp phase right now.
Maybe its time to re-evaluate the American political model.
You’re missing a little bit of context here. Look up “Decree No. 604” that was passed on Aug 24th in Russia. It allows the state to come in and manage companies which they view as critical infrastructure, if it believes that they are in danger and unable to defend themselves. This could be just another salvo in a limited form of nationalization. I’ve got relatives there, and they’ve been seeing a lot more activity to nationalize industries, and this smells like another step in that direction from Russians that I know living in Russia.
And to give further context: “nationalize industries” here means stripping the (mostly Jewish) oligharcs of the Russians’ properties they stole under the traitors and Western puppets Gorbachov and Yeltsin and RE-nationalize those industries.
And BTW, I don’t think that’s going to happen yet, not under Putin who is too much of a pro-West, Jew-lover, oligarchs-hostage, liberal cuck…
Yep. Larry Summers and the Harvard Boys.
“Gonna help those Communists learn about C(r)apitalism”
putin was the oligarchs choice to run things in 1998 and 1999. they thought they would get a yes man. he turned into the oligarch of oligarchs. i was in russia at the time, doing business with my russian pals who had defected in the 1980s. not jews. not that it should matter. ps israel is a bitch colony and useful idiot of usa. people have it backwards.
More than anything, Putin was Perfidious Albion’s choice, they played a huge role in getting him into power and while they got largely played and Putin has overall been genuinely great for Russia, he also is not what most of the Westerners who like him think he is (while of course also being the exact opposite of what the Westerners who dislike him think he is).
Putin’s biggest red flag and most telling issue is his closeness to the Chabad-Lubavitch movement, from the very start, which he helped sideline and push away the other critic/dissident Jewish currents.
Far from “not that it should matter” THIS explains quite a lot about most of the apparently unexplainable Putin’s actions (and inactions)…
i lived a walk from world HQ, in brooklyn
of lubavitch lunatics. i called it the petting zoo.
The comparison to animals is a good one but what I would do to them has nothing to do with petting…
Interesting. “Critical infrastructure” wouldn’t mean medium or small businesses.
Are you saying a better title for Mish’s article would be “Russia Tells Critical Industry to Defend Themselves from NATO Drones or Face Nationalization”?
If so, perhaps that would be like privately held USA nuclear power plant operators deciding not to invest in defending their plant. The consequences of being hit would fall on everyone else. So if the operator doesn’t try to defend it, why should everyone else pick up the tab without simultaneously picking up the asset itself?
“NATO drones” LOL.
We wish we could crank out cheap, effective drones that can overwhelm air defenses like Ukraine does.
Here in the NATO MIC, each drone model would take a billion dollar development project that would require ten years.
After that we’d end up paying $40 million dollars PER DRONE, they’d take an aircraft carrier to launch, and they’d be reverse-engineered cheaply, by, say, Iran.
Oh wait.
Seems to me you get your news “retail”.
Everything about Ukraine is NATO, except the logo and official treaty signature.
The problem with businesses defending themselves is that too much of what needs to be defended is external to the business itself: trains and roads that provide material inputs and outputs, ports, shipping, power and water utilities, even the attitudes of the population.Which is why even staunch libertarians say the real role of government is protection and enforcement of property rights.
The beauty of it too is that through government and propaganda, the wealthy capitalist can unload the burden of the defense of his business not just on government, but on the middle-class to pay for it. Or at least have it paid for through government debt.
Agree with your observations. One might decide such businesses (so critical that they require national resources to defend) should pay much higher taxes to the nation during war and during peace. Or just remain nationalized.
But there was a victory dividend for the USA middle class. Was. Now it is scraps. Now you get a $10,000 check to have a data center suck all worthwhile life out of your (former) locale. You get a depreciating toxic sh!t sandwich and an insulting tiny gratuity. And Trump only respects those lower order types who invest their blood too — into Hegseth’s T brigades, or are stewards at his resorts. And sends us the bill. This trade is being rewired top-down in front of our noses.
I don’t expect context from the Wall Street Journal.