Russia at a Crossroads

[GUS WOULD SAY: USA AT CROSSROADS. RUSSIA IS GOING STEADY FORWARD DESPITE THE TERRORIST ATTACKS BY VOLODYMYR.... SEE: https://sputnikglobe.com/20250604/scott-ritter-trump-needs-to-decide-whether-he-supports-russia-or-terrorism--1122192326.html]

 

By John Wight / Consortium News

Russian President Vladimir Putin now finds himself at a monumental crossroads when it comes to his stewardship of Russia at a time when nuclear Armageddon has never been closer.

Ukraine’s devastatingly successful and audacious strike against Russia’s long-range strategic bomber aircraft stock marks a major inflection point in a conflict that evidences no sign of ending.

But let us not lose sight of the salient fact that Russia is not engaged in a conflict with President Volodymyr Zelensky’s Ukraine. This is instead a conflict pitting the Russian Federation against NATO, with Ukraine a proxy of the latter. And NATO is taking advantage of Putin’s caution.

No consequential conflict has ever been won by half-measures. General William Sherman’s “March to the Sea” arguably did more to break the Confederacy than President Abraham Lincoln’s famed Emancipation Proclamation. The Allies firebombing of Dresden in February 1945 and the Soviets arrival on the outskirts of Berlin on April 25, 1945, did more to break the back of the Germans than Hitler’s suicide nine days later.  The Vietnamese won their national liberation with the fully-committed and symbolically important Tet Offensive of 1968 rather than all of the diplomatic machinations that came thereafter.

Russia’s military campaign at Putin’s direction has placed  a priority on avoiding escalation. But it is a posture that has invited escalation, evidenced by this latest major turn of events.

Russia has been fighting the West diplomatically but not militarily, while Ukraine under Zelensky has been waging its conflict with Russia in the name of the strategic aims of NATO, rather than the interests of Ukraine and its people.

Russia is at a decisive point.  Does it continue its war carefully to avoid confrontation with NATO, while encouraging its continued provocations, or does it take the hardline approach of Yevengi Prigozhin, the late outspoken leader of Russia’s Wagner Group, who made repeated demands for national mobilization in the name of a speedy victory dictated by Russia’s far superior mass and weight of industrial potential.

Putin is a deft leader. Even his adversaries in the corridors of power in the West would grudgingly admit this given his long record in power in the Kremlin. It was he who dragged Russia out of the free market abyss into which the country and its people were plunged in the wake of the demise of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s.

Putin’s Rebuilding of Russia 

In the process, Putin succeeded in restoring the primacy of the state over a new rising Russian economic oligarchy  —  one that had been happy to allow the masses of the Russian people into the arms of destitution and despair because of its own greed and corruption.

The Russian leader then set about rebuilding state institutions that had been destroyed in the name of the religion of free market capitalism, with the result that slowly but surely a new state emerged from the ashes of the old.  Russia regained pride in a new identity embraced the indispensable role of the Soviet Union in defeating the Nazis in World War II with respect for the pre-Bolshevik role of the Russian Orthodox church as a pillar of spiritual stability and social cohesion.

From the Russian standpoint, this is why Putin is credited as their historical version of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the U.S. president who likewise saved his country from the abyss during the 1930s, when the Great Depression was at its terrible and destructive zenith and then went on to lead the bulk of the U.S. war effort during World War II. 

But Putin has, it appears, misread the West’s resolve in this period of the rapidly shifting tectonic plates of geopolitics.  Putin’s reasoning has been the avoidance of escalation to direct military conflict with the collective Western powers. However those powers are already heavily involved in the arming, training and direction of Kiev’s war effort.

So where now and what now?

Ukraine’s devastating drone strike deep into Russian territory is a gauntlet thrown down. Will Russia under Putin’s leadership ever be able to persevere to the point of claiming a clear victory? Or has Ukraine under the leadership of Zelensky just changed the dynamic to the point of proving to the collective West that he is a leader worthy of continued support to the point of victory at all cost?

President Donald Trump’s dressing down of the Ukrainian leader in the Oval Office back in March was driven and motivated by the belief that Ukraine’s war effort was faltering. Zelensky in this context appeared isolated, adrift and weak.

Well, not anymore.

As these words are being written, reports of heavy Russian air and missile strikes against targets across Ukraine are emerging. The famous quote of the French revolutionary thinker and agitator, Louis Antoine de Saint-Just springs to mind: “Those who make revolution halfway only dig their own grave.” Substitute the word “war” for revolution and this is the point at which Putin and the Kremlin have arrived.  But how far can Russia go before all-out war with NATO and its potential, dreadful consequences?

Beware of small states, as throughout history it is they who have dragged the world into major conflict. Zelensky, when viewed in this light, knows that Ukraine cannot forever stand against Russia’s superior manpower and mass. He knows that to stand any chance of emerging from this conflict with a result at the end, he must drag the West into direct conflict with Moscow sooner rather than later.

World War III is the only road to victory that lies open to him [ZELENSKYY]. For the rest of us, it is the road to hell.

https://scheerpost.com/2025/06/04/russia-at-a-crossroads

 

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YOURDEMOCRACY.NET RECORDS HISTORY AS IT SHOULD BE — NOT AS THE WESTERN MEDIA WRONGLY REPORTS IT.

 

         Gus Leonisky

         POLITICAL CARTOONIST SINCE 1951.

 

SEE ALSO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBzovDRGg9M

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky asked for a ceasefire until peace negotiations are conducted, as Russian President Vladimir Putin indicated he would launch a major offensive against Ukraine in retaliation for drone strikes destroying Russian Air Force bombers.

“My proposal, which I believe our partners can support, is that we agree a ceasefire with the Russians until the leaders meet,” Zelensky said Wednesday. “At this time, people will understand that the nations, Europe, Ukraine and the whole world have a chance to end the war.”

Zelensky’s attempts to broker a peace deal come as Putin on Wednesday told US President Donald Trump his country “will respond” to Ukraine’s recent drone attack that destroyed 41 [GUS: ONLY SEVEN WERE DAMAGED] Russian bombers at several airfields.

In a conversation with government officials Wednesday responding to Zelensky’s ceasefire requests, Putin suggested he may no longer be willing to negotiate with Ukraine, who he dubbed “terrorists,” noting the attacks came on the eve of peace talks.

Addressing Zelensky’s request for a high-level meeting, Putin asked, “But how can such meetings be held in these conditions? What should they talk about? Who negotiates with those who rely on terror, with terrorists?”

Here’s part of Putin’s message to government officials, discussing recent Ukrainian railway attacks on the Bryansk and Kursk regions of Russia, obtained via Kremlin.ru and translated using Google Chrome:

…[W]hat happened in Bryansk, in the Bryansk region, is a targeted attack on civilians, and according to all international norms such actions are called terrorism.

All the crimes that were committed against civilians, including women and children, on the eve of the next round of peace talks we proposed in Istanbul were certainly aimed at disrupting the negotiation process. The civilian population was deliberately targeted.

This only confirms our fears that the already illegitimate regime in Kyiv, which once seized power, is gradually degenerating into a terrorist organization, and its sponsors are becoming accomplices of terrorists.

Let us recall: just recently, the Ukrainian authorities and their allies dreamed of a strategic defeat of Russia on the battlefield. Today, against the backdrop of huge losses, retreating along the entire line of combat contact, trying to intimidate Russia, the Kiev leadership has moved on to organizing terrorist acts. And at the same time, they are asking to suspend military actions for 30 or even 60 days, asking for a meeting at the highest level.

Putin also questioned the wisdom of Ukraine leaders who continue to fight despite sustaining devastating losses, asking, “What kind of authority can the leaders of a thoroughly rotten and completely corrupt regime have? The whole world is talking about this. What kind of competence can those be proud of, by whose will the Ukrainian armed forces, for example, in the Kursk region suffered absolutely senseless, huge losses and today suffer one defeat after another on the battlefield?”

The Russian president noted Ukraine leadership are sabotaging peace talks to avoid being ousted, saying, “It does not surprise us, but only convinces us that today’s Kyiv regime does not need peace at all. Peace for it most likely means the loss of power.”

“And power for this regime, apparently, is more important than peace and than the lives of people whom they apparently do not consider their own,” he added.

Putin also blasted Ukraine leaders for having no political awareness, saying, “Apparently, we are dealing with people who not only do not possess any significant competence in anything, but also elementary political culture, if they allow themselves to make certain statements and even direct insults to those with whom they are trying to negotiate about something.”

Trump on Wednesday announced he’d had an over one-hour phone call with the Russian president, saying while the conversation was cordial, Putin indicated he would have to retaliate for Ukraine’s recent bombings.

“We discussed the attack on Russia’s docked airplanes, by Ukraine, and also various other attacks that have been taking place by both sides,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “It was a good conversation, but not a conversation that will lead to immediate Peace. President Putin did say, and very strongly, that he will have to respond to the recent attack on the airfields.”

https://www.infowars.com/posts/zelensky-begs-for-ceasefire-as-putin-suggests-negotiations-off-after-telling-trump-he-will-respond-to-recent-attacks

 

MAKE A DEAL PRONTO BEFORE THE SHIT HITS THE FAN:

NO NATO IN "UKRAINE" (WHAT'S LEFT OF IT)

THE DONBASS REPUBLICS ARE NOW BACK IN THE RUSSIAN FOLD — AS THEY USED TO BE PRIOR 1922. THE RUSSIANS WON'T ABANDON THESE AGAIN.

THESE WILL ALSO INCLUDE ODESSA, KHERSON AND KHARKIV.....

CRIMEA IS RUSSIAN — AS IT USED TO BE PRIOR 1954

TRANSNISTRIA WILL BE PART OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION.

A MEMORANDUM OF NON-AGGRESSION BETWEEN RUSSIA AND THE USA.

 

EASY.

 

THE WEST KNOWS IT.

 

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YOURDEMOCRACY.NET RECORDS HISTORY AS IT SHOULD BE — NOT AS THE WESTERN MEDIA WRONGLY REPORTS IT.

 

         Gus Leonisky

         POLITICAL CARTOONIST SINCE 1951.

 

Waiting for the Oreshniks, While the Istanbul Kabuki Proceeds "Not Negatively"
BY PEPE ESCOBAR

 

This was the mood in informed Moscow – only a few hours before the renewed Istanbul kabuki on Russia-Ukraine “negotiations”. Three key points.

1. The attack on Russian strategic bombers – part of the nuclear triad – was a US-UK joint operation. Especially MI6. The overall tech investment and strategy was provided by this intel combo.
2. It’s patently unclear whether Trump is really in charge – or not. This was confirmed to me at night by a top intel source; he added that the Kremlin and the security services were actively investigating all possibilities, especially who issued the final green light.
3. Near universal popular consensus: Release the Oreshniks. Plus waves of ballistic missiles.

Predictably, the Istanbul kabuki came and went like a tawdry spectacle, complete with the Ukrainian delegation in military fatigues and Defense Minister Umarov incapable of speaking even mediocre English at a messy press conference after the brief 1h15 meeting. The Turkish Foreign Ministry epically described the kabuki as concluding “not negatively”.

Nothing strategic or politically substantial was discussed: only prisoner exchanges. The mood in Moscow, additionally, was that top Russian negotiator Medinsky should have presented an ultimatum, not a memorandum. It was, predictably, interpreted as an ultimatum by the Beggar of Banderastan; but what Medinsky actually handed out to the Ukrainians was a de facto road map memorandum, in 3 sections, with 2 options for the conditions for a ceasefire, and 31 points, a great deal of them expressed in detail by Moscow for months.

Examples: first option for a ceasefire should be a complete UAF withdrawal from DPR, LPR, Kherson and Zaporizhia, within 30 days; international recognition of Crimea, Donbass and Novorossiya as part of Russia; Ukraine neutrality; Ukraine holding elections and then signing a peace treaty – approved by a legally binding UN Security Council resolution (italics mine); and a ban on the receipt and deployment of nuclear weapons.

None of that, of course, will ever be accepted by the terror-infused set up in Kiev, the neo-nazi outfits that control it, and assorted, fragmented collective West warmongering backers. So the SMO will go on. Possibly all the way to 2026. Along with extra versions of the Istanbul kabuki: the next one should be held by late June.

The current kabuki, incidentally, composes the Last Chance Saloon for Kiev to retain some measure of – fractious – “sovereignty”. As Foreign Minister Lavrov has been reiterating, everything will be really decided in the battlefield.

How to destroy the New START Treaty

Now to the attack on a branch of Russia’s strategic triad – which mired Western propaganda media in layers and layers of stratospheric hysteria.

The point has been made over and over again on why Russia left its strategic bombers unprotected in the tarmac. Because that’s a New START Treaty requirement – signed in 2010 and extended until February next year (when it may go six feet under, considering what just happened).

The New START Treaty stipulates that strategic bombers should be visible to “national technical means (NTM) of verification, such as satellite imagery, to allow monitoring by the other party.” So their status – nuclear-armed or converted to conventional use – should be always verifiable. No chance of a “surprise” first strike.

This operation single-handedly blew up what was, up to now, a decent Cold War relic preventing the start of WWIII via a simple mechanism. The recklessness involved is off the charts. So there’s no surprise that the highest echelons of power in Russia – from the Kremlin to the security apparatus – are feverishly working to ascertain whether Trump was in the loop or not. And if he was not, who gave the final green light?

No wonder the highest echelon, so far, is mum.

A security source told me that it was US Secretary of State Marco Rubio that called Lavrov – and not the other way around, to offer condolences for the bridge-on-train terror attack in Bryansk. No word whatsoever about the strategic bombers. In parallel, the former platoon commander in Iraq then Fox News talking head turned head of the Pentagon followed the drone attacks on the Russian bases in real-time.

On the efficacy of such attacks – beyond the gleefully spun to death fog of war. Several conflicting estimates point to possibly three Tu-95MS strategic bombers – known as “The Bears” – hit at the Belaya base in Irkutsk, plus one of them partially damaged, and three other T-22M3s hit, with two of them irreparably. Of the three Tu-95MS, fires seem to have been localized, so they may be repaired.

At the Olenya base in Murmansk, other four Tu-95MS may have been hit, plus one An-12.

As it stands, Russia had 58 Tu-95MS up to this weekend. Even if five of them have been lost for good, that’s less than 10% of their fleet. And that does not count 19 Tu-160 and 55 Tu-22M3M. Of the five bases that were supposed to be attacked, success happened in only two.

These losses, as painful as they may be, simply will not affect further strikes by Russian aero-spatial forces.

Example: the standard weapon carried by a T-95MSM is the X-101 cruise missile. A maximum of 8 for each mission. In recent strikes, not more than 40 missiles have been launched simultaneously. That implies only 6 Tu-95s in action. So Russia in fact only needs 6 Tu-95MSM ready to fly to conduct strikes as intense as in the previous days and weeks. Tu-160s, moreover, are not even being used for the latest strikes.

Evaluating Maximum Strategy

At the time of writing, Russia’s inevitably devastating response has still not been green-lighted. This is as serious as it gets. Even if it’s true that POTUS was not informed – and that’s what the Kremlin and the security services want to be absolutely sure of before unleashing Hell from Above on Kiev – still the contours will be clear of a NATO op – US/UK – directly conducted by the CIA/MI6 intel combo, with Trump being offered plausible deniability and Ukraine breaking the START protocol big time.

Were Trump to have authorized these strikes, this would constitute no less than a declaration of war by the United States on Russia. So the most probable scenario remains Trump blindsided by the neo-cons embedded in privileged silos scattered across the Beltway.

As much as the attack on the Voronezh-M early warning radar system last May, an attack on Russia’s strategic bombers fits the scenario of increasingly prodding the Russian system to enable disabling it ahead of a nuclear first strike. Aspiring Dr. Strangeloves do entertain this scenario in their wildest dreams for decades.

As sources carefully confirmed, the prevailing interpretation among the high echelons of power in Russia is that of a P.R. operation forcing a harsh – possibly nuclear – Russian response, coupled with Moscow’s withdrawal from the Istanbul kabuki.

So far, the Russian reaction is quite methodical: total silence, a wide-ranging investigation, plus going through the motions in Istanbul.

Yet there’s no question the – inevitable – response will require Maximum Strategy. If the response is in tune with Russia’s own updated nuclear doctrine, Moscow risks losing the Global South’s nearly unanimous support.

If the response is lukewarm, domestic blowback will be massive. There’s a near universal consensus on “Release the Oreshniks”. Russian public opinion is becoming seriously fed up with being the target of serial terror attacks. The hour of fateful decision is getting late.

Which bring us to the ultimate dilemma. Russian power is mulling how to defeat the collective warmongering West without launching WWIII. Inspired by China, a solution may be found via an alliance of remixed Sun Tzu coupled with Lao Tzu. There’s got to be a way – or layered ways – to destroy a strategy-deprived nihilistic enemy’s ability and will to wage endless war.

https://www.unz.com/pescobar/waiting-for-the-oreshniks-while-the-istanbul-kabuki-proceeds-not-negatively/

 

 

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YOURDEMOCRACY.NET RECORDS HISTORY AS IT SHOULD BE — NOT AS THE WESTERN MEDIA WRONGLY REPORTS IT.

 

         Gus Leonisky

         POLITICAL CARTOONIST SINCE 1951.

 

ONE COULD HAVE A THEORY?: THE WEST HELPING ZELENSKYYYY'S FORAY IN RUSSIA WOULD BE KNOW BY THE WEST AS AN ATTRACTOR OF RETALIATION FROM RUSSIA, NOT A "CAPITULATION"... UNLESS THE WESTERN BOFFINS's SCULLS ARE THICKER THAN NEANDERTHALS's, IT SEEMS THEY ARE TRYING TO GET RUSSIA TO DESTROY THE SICK CHILD: YUCKRAINE..., WHILE CLAIMING THAT EUROPE (AND THE REST OF THE WESTERN WORLD) IS UNDER THREAT SO THEY CAN PUMP UP THEIR MILITARY WITH CASH, WHILE ACHIEVING LITTLE, EXCEPT LINE THEIR POCKETS AND INCREASE THE FASCIST SAUCE...

 

 

Jacques Baud: "Operation Spiderweb has no impact on the course of the war"

 

We welcome Jacques Baud, a former Swiss army colonel, intelligence and terrorism specialist, and author of several books published by Max Milo, including "Ukraine Between War and Peace," "Operation Z," "The Art of Russian War," and "Secret Wars in Ukraine."
0:02:37 Clandestine American and British Operations in Ukraine
0:04:15 Ukrainian Nazis Moved by the British to Canada After the War
0:07:22 The CIA's 1957 Analysis of Ukraine and Current Events
0:09:00 The Battle Against Russia Is No Longer Political, But Is Waged Against the People
0:11:42 The Elimination of Bandera Has Reignited Clandestine Operations in Ukraine
0:13:49 The Attack on Mount Kerch
0:16:00 The Ground War Has Not Succeeded, the Goal of the Ukrainian Attacks on Russian territory is to protect the media narrative.
0:19:00 Part of Russia's military capability has been affected, but we are far from attacking Russian nuclear capabilities.
0:21:37 Operation Spider's Web and the attacks on trains.
0:22:59 Kyrillo Budanov and asymmetric operations.
0:25:35 We don't know the Russians.
0:26:35 The Kursk operation increased V. Putin's popularity.
0:27:07 The case of Crimea; the referendums.
0:30:30 Westerners provided technology to Ukraine for testing but without worrying about its integration.
0:34:02 American intelligence (as of 2022) is out of touch with reality.
0:36:47 What do Ukrainians want?
0:37:57 We are creating a kind of illusion of success for Ukraine because we need to feed the Narrative
0:39:50 The case of "Russian" cyber attacks.
0:41:20 Who do the intelligence services serve?
0:45:00 Are the Russians everywhere?
0:48:30 Why isn't France at open war with Russia? (given the narrative)
0:48:50 Why aren't we having a debate about information issues? How should we present information?
0:51:39 The case of TV5 Monde as an example of fake news
0:53:39 What is the "Integrity Initiative"?
0:55:27 Fact-checkers don't help us understand the reality of things
1:01:14 The negotiations
1:03:24 What could a Ukrainian victory look like? 1:06:30 Russia didn't want to take all of Ukraine
1:08:45 We're far from peace
1:11:40 Information is also intelligence
1:13:00 If leaders don't understand anything, the mainstream media is no longer doing its job, what can we do?
1:16:17 The European leadership crisis

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https://www.agoravox.tv/actualites/europe/article/jacques-baud-l-operation-toile-d-105591

 

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YOURDEMOCRACY.NET RECORDS HISTORY AS IT SHOULD BE — NOT AS THE WESTERN MEDIA WRONGLY REPORTS IT.

 

         Gus Leonisky

         POLITICAL CARTOONIST SINCE 1951.