It is widely understood now that Russian President Vladimir Putin blundered badly in his invasion of Ukraine. He planned the war as a fait accompli blitzkrieg. The whole thing would end in a week or two. Putin would re-organize post-Soviet space in one swift stroke. NATO would be caught off guard and scared about further Russian moves. China would be impressed at Putin’s audacity, helping to off-set the unbalanced economic relationship between the two countries. The world would once again be impressed by Putin the master strategist.
Instead, the war has turned into an expensive, embarrassing, debilitating calamity. Russia may still win in the minimal sense of holding onto some conquered territory (although I doubt even that). But in every other important aspect, the war has been a disaster, and it is getting worse, not better.
Economically, the sanctions placed on Russia because of the war are pummeling its GDP. Politically, Russia is mostly alone. China and India have not supported the sanctions but otherwise kept their distance. Militarily, the war has turned into a stalemate, tilting slowly toward the Ukrainians. Russia has taken no new territory in a year. Ukraine has launched two successful offensives since then, and another is expected later this spring. And now, strategically, Russia has just suffered another set-back. Finland has joined NATO.
Finland’s Accession Continues the Encirclement of Russia
Putin and his various apologists have claimed for years that NATO enlargement was forcing Russian revisionism in its periphery. Had NATO not expanded, Putin would not be mucking around in Crimea, Georgia, Belarus, and so on.
But this inverts the causal logic. NATO did grow from Western imperialism; it grew because eastern European countries wanted to join – quite desperately, in fact. And the motivation for accession was quite obvious – anxiety about Russian foreign policy behavior. Russia has a long historical record of conquering and dominating many of its neighbors. The old Russian empire included Poland and Finland. The Soviet Union, which effectively became an empire builder in eastern Europe, controlled even more of those countries which joined NATO in the 1990s.
If Russia could live comfortably within its borders, if it did not insist on grand, civilizational missions – such as defending the ‘Russian World’ – it might live in peace with its neighbors. But that is comparatively rare in Russian foreign policy. Instead, Russia’s urge to dominate leads nearby countries to balance Russian power. Those subordinated European states which could escape in the 1990s ran to NATO as soon as they could. Finland felt threatened enough by Putin to give up its longstanding neutrality. Sweden will join NATO too, and Ukraine also wants in.
The broader strategic consequence of the war then is to drive yet more states toward NATO. The war is worsening Russia’s encirclement by Western states, rather than alleviating it as intended.
Finland is an Asset to NATO
There has been some concern that adding Finland would weaken, not strengthen, NATO. Finland is far from the traditional western European center of NATO. It has a long border with Russia. In 1939-40, it fought a war with the Soviet Union and was badly defeated. Western considerations of helping Finland were blunted by the distance and weather. Finland avoided NATO throughout the Cold War to avoid provoking the USSR, and for the last thirty years to avoid provoking Russia. The term ‘finlandization’ even arose to characterize this neutralist stance.
Those concerns are overwrought for two reasons. First, Finland has a far more capable military than a typical, under-resourced Western European military. In fact, Finland’s government has pushed NATO to spend more and take Russian threats more seriously. Concerns about free-riding, which bedevil US relationships with allies like Germany or Italy, do not apply. Finland has postured itself since its 1940 defeat to fight the Russians again if necessary.
Second, the Russian military is in no condition to threaten a powerful conventional military at this time. Russia’s army has been ground down badly in the quagmire of Ukraine. If it cannot defeat Ukraine, then it is even less likely to defeat the Finns backed by NATO. To threaten Finland conventionally will require exiting Ukraine and a massive reconstruction effort of the Russian army. And notably, the last Russian military modernization, in the decade before the Ukraine invasion, failed. It produced the army being beaten today. A major Russian conventional threat to Finland is at least a decade away and assumes, heroically, a modernization less corrupted and incompetent than the last one.
In short, Finland’s accession is yet another unanticipated blow to Russian power. Russia cannot meaningfully counter it because it is bogged down in Ukraine. The accession also worsens Russia’s isolation from the world’s most advanced economies. And Sweden is next.
Dr. Robert E. Kelly (@Robert_E_Kelly; RobertEdwinKelly.com) is a professor in the Department of Political Science at Pusan National University and 19FortyFive Contributing Editor.
Johhny Ray
April 6, 2023 at 5:22 pm
Well said.
My impression is the Finns are not going to take any crap from the Russians, verbal, political, economic or military, whatsoever. If anything they are itching to settle old scores, along an 800 mile border. There’s no way Russian apologists can explain away any of this away with a few cheap lies.
Finland is a very strong and committed NATO team player. NATO is lucky to have them on board.
aldol11
April 6, 2023 at 6:37 pm
finland kicked russia’s ass once before
Sofronie the Monk
April 6, 2023 at 7:53 pm
No, no, this is yet another masterful move of Grofaz Putin. Remember when all the plebs thought his forces had been beaten in front of Kiev? We found out later that it was a stroke of genius to distract the Nazi attention from the South, Putin’s REAL target. What better way to fool the enemy than by sending an entire army and leaving it without fuel or food right on their doorstep? Russians are losing tanks? No, they’re forcing the ukronazis to use up their missiles. Russian soldiers are not dying in heaps, it’s the dumb Fascists wasting their bullets. And remember when the fools spent TWO whole missiles on a Russian cruiser and they celebrated?
So Finland joining NATO is yet another brilliant move to turn as many people against Putin so that he can behead them all at once. Pure genius, I tell you!
Jim, me boy, 404, where are you guys? Fighting for the Rodina?
Ben Leucking
April 6, 2023 at 8:01 pm
Dr. Kelly,
Please forward a copy of your fine article to Daniel Davis. He is presently occupied as the understudy to Neville Chamberlain.
Walker
April 6, 2023 at 8:03 pm
If Russia is lucky, they can get a 100 year lease on Crimea with reparations. But Donbas has to be returned and war criminals need to be punished.
Yeah, Putin messed up. He has doomed the Russian Federation. It will likely break up. China will probably take Siberia. Russia is selling bonds, China will likely collect, and use to take prices of Russia.
CRS, DrPH
April 6, 2023 at 8:07 pm
…please send this article to Lt. Col Daniel Davis (ret.)!
AuldLandSyne
April 6, 2023 at 8:34 pm
Finland by joining NATO, the premier fascist bloc on the planet, has just painted a big big bullseye on itself.
Congratulations.
Now, start building nuclear shelters. Don’t expect the US to build them for you.
Washington couldn’t care less if you finns all get roasted all at once and cease to exist as a people.
Webej
April 6, 2023 at 10:58 pm
Delusional.
The author’s first paragraph pretends to enumerate Putin’s thought process — there is no evidence for any of this, and it would be less disingenuous to take what Russia has been saying consistently the past 15 years as your starting point.
Making & drinking your own cool-aid can be very dangerous when reality intrudes.
pete
April 6, 2023 at 11:38 pm
yeah, buddy–both
Alan Markoff
April 7, 2023 at 1:51 am
Not for publishing, but intbr paragraph that starts “But this inverts…” the word “did” should be “did not.”
Fred Leander
April 7, 2023 at 3:58 am
The Finns, like the Poles, Baltic States, Norway, Greeeks, and now Ukraine, haven’t learnt anything…. And why should Russia threathen Finland?
The Swedes should thank Erdogan for keeping them out of NATO.
And, aldol11 – when was that exactly?
from Russia with love
April 7, 2023 at 7:59 am
@Fred Leander
I guess this guy means 1939. you remember, this is when Vyborg became part of the Leningrad region and Finland lost 10% of its territory. the Finns were already walking on the edge of a knife in 1944, but then they were very lucky and Finland remained as a country on the world map. I have doubts that such miracles can happen on a regular basis.
there are suspicions that Biden’s statements that he will send Russia to the 19th century may partially come true. in the 19th century, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Finland are the territory of Russia. it makes no sense to write about Ukraine, Ukraine did not exist in the 19th century, and Kiev, Kharkov and other provinces were simply the territory of the Russian Empire. according to the Biden plan, Russia has a lot of work to do! 🙂
from Russia with love
April 7, 2023 at 8:16 am
@Sofronie the Monk
a ha ha ha :))))
I want to offer you to take your message, print it on paper and go with it to Artemovsk (Bakhmut). Romania shares a common border with Ukraine. you don’t have to go far. 😉 so go there and cheer up your friends, Ukrainian fascists! they have already lost tens of thousands of their colleagues and 80% of the city. they just need the same patriotic anti-Ruu appeals! :))) Of course, this will not help and Artemovsk will be liberated by the Russian army anyway, but you can get a good shit under the fire of Russian artillery. maybe you will even be lucky and you will be captured by the Wagners :)))
Jacksonian Libertarian
April 7, 2023 at 8:58 am
Putin has committed a huge strategic blunder. Which has revitalized and enlarged NATO, while destroying Russia’s military for a generation.
This war will be determined by logistics.
I see many well earned criticisms of Lt. Col Daniel Davis here. I stopped reading his Putin Propaganda posts months ago, as his military analyses have no relation to reality. He reminds me of Lt. Col Alexander Vindman of Trump phone call fame, who said Ukraine was going to make him their Defense Minister. LOL, Military dunderheads.
John
April 7, 2023 at 9:15 am
We need to counter Russia’s tactical nukes in Europe. Nuclear Dark Eagle, JSOW-ER version of B61, or Germany paying for adding 200 new French nuclear cruise missiles for European deterrence if the US is dithering.
Also more European Nations should follow the Netherlands example and purchase the Israeli Puls Rocket artillery system
Corvus
April 7, 2023 at 9:39 am
@AuldLandSyne – Fearmongering has no power here. If you prefer to live in quiet submission to dictators, this is your choice. But Finland clearly chose not to bow down to anyone.
And if that means painting a bullseye on themsleves – so be it. Freedom always has a cost. And this cost is always worth paying.
Alex
April 7, 2023 at 9:46 am
1. Invent the problem, which Russia “must” “overcome”
2. Pretend to understand the “logic” of how Putin and Co are going to solve the problem, which you have invented and which Russia must somehow fight
3. Conclusion:
Russia lost the war in Ukraine …
Because Finland joined NATO…
That’s the masterful analysis of the current state of affairs in Eastern Europe from the “Doctor” (in what science?) and “Professor of international relations”.
So, I am to believe that Finland will now somehow force Russian government to denounce the new territorial gains in Ukraine , which they’ve made part of Russia? How, exactly? 7 million nation will intimidate a nuclear superpower, where another nuclear superpower failed? This is pure nonsense!
Sofronie the Monk
April 7, 2023 at 10:48 am
@Webej: “The author’s first paragraph pretends to enumerate Putin’s thought process — there is no evidence for any of this”. Indeed, no evidence for him having any kind of thought process.
@from Russia with love: How’s the Kyiv liberation going, tovarishch? Guess it won’t be getting renamed to Putingrad in the near future… Also, let me guess: the Russian army’s flight from Kherson is yet ANOTHER masterful touch by Putin to focus on Bakhmut, wewhich was the real target all along. At this rate, in a couple of months, you guys will be claiming that Grofaz could have easily taken Kyiv, but then he decided that the capture of a 10 hut village in Eastern Ukraine was far more important. THAT was the real victory and he’s simply way too smart for us, plebs, to understand.
@Alex: Strategically, Putin indeed has failed. He wanted to intimidate everyone into leaving NATO and accepting Russia’s renewed supremacy. Instead, he got 800+ more miles of NATO border. So what do you call it when your objective doesn’t succeed? Ah, yes: failure. As a bonus, he’s gifting Central Asia to Winnie the Pooh now.
Cheburator
April 7, 2023 at 12:58 pm
– Finland – joins NATO
– Russia – I will not sell gas, wood and electricity.
Finland is suffering huge economic losses and consumer prices are rising at times.
The USSR at one time went bankrupt due to inflated military spending. Now NATO is repeating the same mistake.
If anyone hasn’t noticed, rotten butting in Ukraine is just a red herring. To end the war for Russia, it is enough to eliminate the vertical of command in Ukraine, but Russia does not do this, although it has every opportunity – 300 dead NATO officers in an anti-nuclear bunker in the Lviv region will not let you lie.
Conclusion – Zelensky and his administration play the role of useful idiots.
The US and the EU are simply ruined in this war.
Alex
April 7, 2023 at 2:33 pm
@ Sofronie the Monk
How has he lost “strategically”? Where does this assumption about Putin’s intention come from? He wanted everyone leave NATO and shove Russian supremacy down our throats? Is that a fact? Who says that, exactly? Neither Putin nor his gang of ruthless pragmatists ever said that. They wanted a) to stop Ukraine from joining NATO , b) stop NATO from expanding east. Ukraine does not exist anymore. Finland (and Sweden) have been, effectively, NATO allies. Them joining NATO officially changes not his, strategically, for Russia. None of the 2 countries agreed to accept nuclear weapons, and these are the only weapons that can really threaten Russia. And NATO has just allowed its ally to lose 24% of its territory, anywhere from 3
250 to 350 thousand dead with 4 times as many wounded. That’s one hell of support! Thank you very much.
Believing this nonsense about “strategic defeat” is the same as believing that somehow Russia suffered five (10, 100, pick your number) times more casualties that the UAF, i.e. the UAF destroyed all Russia’s land forces several times over, and are now being killed en masse by ghosts, apparently.
Want to defeat the Russians? We need to stop listening to “experts”, and start thinking about some real defense, a real army in Europe, and some real negotiations with Russia. Not some stupid declarations about “inflicting strategic defeat” on Russia, while the Russians are massacring Ukrainian army and civilians in total understanding and quiet sympathy from their new friends – China, and two thirds of the world, really
from Russia with love
April 7, 2023 at 2:45 pm
@Sofronie the Monk
you’re an idiot? no, not like that… you’re an idiot. 🙂
you and other idiots constantly come up with some kind of “Putin’s plans”, but because you are very stupid, your “Putin’s invented plans” never come true and you joyfully shout that Putin’s plans failed. :))) but it’s not Putin, it’s you who came up with these plans. when Putin said he would take Kyiv? kindly link to Putin’s speech where he promises to take Kyiv? do you have a link or some kind of confirmation that Putin set the task of taking Kyiv or promised to take Kyiv? No? it looks like you, as they say in Russia, are a pizdabol. :)))
you ask what Russia has achieved in the last 4 months in Ukraine? here is an example:
t.me/RVvoenkor/42267
from the 228th battalion of the 127th troop brigade, less than one-third of the survivors remained. You’re not far from these guys. get your ass off the couch, drive up to them and tell them they’re fine. 😉 tell the woman in the video that her brother died of wounds without evacuation is nothing to worry about. these videos are taken from the Ukrainian segment. go to them and tell them that they almost won, because the relatives of the thousands of Ukrainians who died in Artemovsk doubt something about it.
Yes, Russia wanted to solve the problem of regime change with little bloodshed, but the West decided to fight to the last Ukrainian. in principle, this is consistent with the Russian plan for the denazification of Ukraine. NATO decided to kill the Ukrainians? Ukrainians are ready to die for the interest of NATO? it is their decision. let them die.
from Russia with love
April 7, 2023 at 3:01 pm
@Corvus
Was Finland somehow subordinate to Russia before joining NATO?
joining NATO is the assumption of obligations that must be fulfilled by NATO members. in fact, this is the loss of sovereignty and the subjugation of the United States. what kind of freedom are you talking about? Finland abandoned its neutral status, lost its sovereignty, lost transit revenues, which accounted for a fair share of the Finnish budget, lost trade revenues with Russia, lost cooperation in nuclear energy and buried its only nuclear power plant, but in return got what? freedom??? :))) you were taught at school that if you were robbed and you were left with a bare ass, then this is called freedom? :)))
By the way, those who in Finland implemented this “brilliant” plan for joining NATO resigned immediately after signing the papers on entry. now Finland is just 7 million idiots who were rudely fucked and they have no one to present claims. 🙂
Sofronie the Monk
April 7, 2023 at 6:00 pm
@Alex: Putin is anything but a pragmatist, and so are many around him. Russia has requested many times what is basically a rollback of NATO to pre-1997, leaving all of Eastern Europe defenseless. And guess who would expand there (tip: it’s not Lesotho). Once “nationalist” (in reality Russian puppets) regimes would be installed in these countries, what would happen if the people would have enough of them and try to replace them? Exactly what’s happening in Ukraine, what already happened in Belarus and in Kazakhstan: without NATO’s protection, these countries would suddenly find themselves flooded with “peacekeepers” at the invitation of the local Moscow-appointed dictator. That’s precisely we all flocked to NATO: any country sharing a border with Russia would do the same (except for China, for obvious reasons).
“nuclear weapons, and these are the only weapons that can really threaten Russia”. When exactly did Ukraine want to accept nuclear weapons? If they did not, why did Russia invade them, if
a) they willingly gave up the third largest nuclear arsenal in the world in the ’90s
b) they never requested NATO nuclear weapons (nor that they would have received them even if they did)
Also, if only nuclear weapons threaten Russia, why is Romania constantly threatened about the ABM system at Deveselu? Did the Americans sneak some nukes in there when nobody was looking, thereby threatening Russia?
To go back to the article’s subject, Putin constantly b*tched and moaned about NATO expansion (not giving a crap to wonder WHY all those countries were heading there). So the fact that, after over a year of fighting NATO is far from running away, instead it expanded even MORE on Russia’s border, it would count as a strategic defeat for Putin (even if he would manage to somehow win in Ukraine).
I do agree on the European army thing. We can’t rely on the US, especially with “He, The Orange Who Must Not Be Named” lurking around Washington. But if the EU finally decides to take its collective thumb out of its collective posterior and do something about it, guess who’s going to be doing all the yelling and threatening – Russia again.
Sofronie the Monk
April 7, 2023 at 6:12 pm
@from Russia with stupidity: yeah, Putin only sent his troops around Kyiv, he never meant to actually take it (if he would have wanted it, he would have had it, obviously). They were actually heading South, because everyone knows that the shortest way from Russia to Crimea is from Belarus.
“Yes, Russia wanted to solve the problem of regime change with little bloodshed, but the West decided to fight to the last Ukrainian.” Yeah, because it’s NATO soldiers fighting against Russia, not Ukrainians. Funny how we don’t see all those major upheavals of the Ukra… sorry, I mean of the Russian brothers and sisters against their Fascist overlords. Even funnier how cars explode precisely in the “liberated” areas. From smoking as well? If so, Russian collaborators should really give up that nasty habit, it’s bad for their health.
“Finland abandoned its neutral status, lost its sovereignty, lost transit revenues, which accounted for a fair share of the Finnish budget, lost trade revenues with Russia, lost cooperation in nuclear energy and buried its only nuclear power plant, but in return got what? freedom???” They got what all of us want – no Russians around. At least, not until you get into your thick little skulls to play around nicely, like everyone else, and shove your empire where Medvedev’s tongue lies (in Putin’s posterior).
“Ukrainians are ready to die for the interest of NATO?” They do it for their “non-existent” country. Here’s a better question: how long are the Russians willing to die for Putin?
Walker
April 7, 2023 at 6:27 pm
Lol, see the Russians working overtime on this one.
But, but, but wasn’t the war in Ukraine about NATO getting close to Russian borders? If NATO wasn’t the threat then it was Nazi’s doing what? Threatening other Ukrainians? When reasons become so convoluted, it is proof of just being excuses.
None of the so called “reasons” are real. The real reason is much more simple. Russia is an evil empire disgruntled by its loss of the Cold War and wanting to retake what it believes belongs to it. Simple as that.
And that is also why it must be stopped.
from Russia with love
April 8, 2023 at 1:48 pm
@Sofronie the Monk
pizdabol Sofronie the Monk did not find any statements from Putin that Kyiv would be captured? how predictable. 🙂 can you imagine, yes, no one was going to take Kyiv because the contingent that was sent to Kyiv is not possible to take such a large city. this grouping was supposed to ensure order on the territory of the Kyiv region during the transfer of power. this was the key point up to which ukraine could still survive as a country. Now Ukraine has no such prospects.
I really liked it about the shortest road to the Crimea. :))) you skipped geography at school? Can you at least find Ukraine on a map? :))) open the map and see where is Belarus, where is Ukraine and where is Crimea. 🙂
Didn’t you know that there are many NATO instructors in Ukraine, mercenaries from NATO and NATO countries directly cooperate with Ukraine and supply intelligence and weapons? you decided to pretend to be completely stupid in order to somehow support your statements? Or are you pretending? 🙂 then go to Poland, a NATO country, where there is a separate military cemetery where Polish military personnel who died in Ukraine are buried. but first, be sure to look at the map where Poland is located. with your knowledge of geography you will go to Peru. 🙂
you have not seen the uprisings in Ukraine? you don’t know how the speeches of those who disagree with the coup d’état in 2014 were drowned in blood? Have you heard about how people were burned alive in Odessa? you don’t know about the executions of demonstrations in the cities of central and eastern Ukraine, have you heard about the Lugansk and Donetsk republics that, with arms in hand, defend their right not to obey the Nazi regime that seized Ukraine? I will repeat the question again, are you a fool or are you pretending to be a fool?
and it’s very good that you reminded that the NATO-supported Ukrainian regime is not only Nazis but also terrorists. Or did you mean to say that this is how it should be done? you want to say that Russia should begin to carry out terrorist acts on NATO territory?
Finland? no Russians around? Have you drunk glass cleaner? 🙂 no, Russia hasn’t nuked Finland yet, and Finland hasn’t yet gone to hell where it doesn’t have a common border with Russia. 😉 So far, Finland has only lost trade relations with Russia and sent its economy to a deep ass. and also entered into an alliance at war with Russia (the German defense minister has already spoken about this in plain text) by making herself a legitimate target for Russian missiles. if you didn’t know, before joining NATO, Russian nuclear missiles were not aimed at Finland, since it was a neutral country.
Speaking of nuclear weapons… you’re lying here that Ukraine never wanted nuclear weapons before the NWO. at the end of 2021, speaking at a meeting of the European Parliament, Zelensky declares that Ukraine needs nuclear weapons and Ukraine will develop them. the European Parliament applauds. Once again, this is before SVO, in 2021. but you will not be reproached for anything, you are a pizdabol. 🙂
Corvus
April 8, 2023 at 2:20 pm
@from Russia with love – Wrong. Joining NATO does not mean losing soverignty or anything else. It’s an alliance, its purpose is for member-states to support each other, not control one another. Perhaps I should tell your friends to gift you a dictionary for your next birthday, so that you can look up what words (such as “alliance”) mean.
What better way to protect one’s freedom than to join a powerful alliance that keeps aggressive neighbors (Russia) away from your territory. Have you noticed that Russia cuses trouble only in countries that are *not* members of NATO – Moldova, Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine… Coincidence? I think not.
Russia’s game is not even a new thing – aggressive Empires have used this strategy for centuries. They persuade some poor hapless people that staying neutral would ensure their safety… and then invade them anyway. And why not – being neutral means having no friends to rely on. No one ever comes to the aid of a neutral countries for any reason.
Corvus
April 8, 2023 at 2:24 pm
@Alex – “Ukraine does not exist anymore.” Now that’s a funny thing to say. if Ukraine doesn’t exist anymore then… who is fighting the Russians? Elves… dwarves… the Kingdom of Gondor???
Russians losing battles to a non-existing country makes them look pretty incompetent, don’t you think? I’d be pretty ashamed, if I were one of them.
Stefan
April 9, 2023 at 11:08 am
Dumb Doctors like the author of this article will bring down the West in the end 🙁
from Russia with love
April 10, 2023 at 5:37 am
@Corvus
your NATO alliance is more like a BDSM club. 🙂 look at how they deal with those members of the alliance who do not follow the requirements of the United States. already paid fighter jets were stolen from Turkey and blackmailed with sanctions for the fact that Turkey acquired the C400. Germany was forced to transfer tanks to Ukraine and give permission to transfer to other countries. now these tanks will be disposed of and Germany will lose income for their maintenance and the United States will brazenly occupy this niche in the arms market. the Poles, instead of producing their own tanks, are now switching to American ones and are completely militarily dependent on the United States. It’s really a club of masochists. 🙂 all you need to know about alliances with the United States was written by one commentator on this site. I don’t remember his nickname, maybe it’s even you. 🙂 he wrote “we need to gather our ALLIES and FORCE them to make the right decision.” an alliance with the US is ALWAYS an alliance in which the US FORCES them to make the decision they need. Come on, lie something else about the fact that “Finland has not lost its sovereignty.” 🙂
while Finland was neutral Russian missiles were not aimed at Finland, after joining NATO Russian missiles are aimed at Finland. and most importantly, it no longer depends on Finland whether these missiles will be launched. if some country, for example Poland, draws NATO into a direct armed conflict with Russia, then Finland will be hit, despite the fact that Finland is not Poland at all. or your old senile Biden, sitting in the USA, thousands of miles from Finland, will say something wrong and start a global conflict, and Finland will have to answer for this.
your talk about “freedom” is especially funny considering you’re in the US and not in Finland and it’s not the US, but Finland has lost its trade, transit and tourism revenues. the standard of living of the Finns is flying into the tartar and some American says “this is excellent! well done! continue!”. 🙂
Noovuss
April 10, 2023 at 7:03 am
Yes Russia has lost, wait just a minute.
The USA’s stockpiles of artillery ammunition is nearly out, anti-armor missiles stocks are depleted, US high tech weapons are sold on the black market in the Ukraine, production of rifle ammunition is not sufficient, the strategic oil reserve is nearly empty, naval vessels are being mothballed due to lack of funds and crew, recruiting in the new woke/pronoun sensitive military cannot meet minimum demands, military aircraft sit in storage for lack of vaccinated crews, the Pentagon has been infiltrated by spies, Marine sniper forces has been discontinued, Russia’s new partner China is making moves against Taiwan, Iran has joined the Russian axis, India has joined the new currency exchange, the US Dollar is dead as the currency of trade, oil production in the USA does not meet our own needs, Heavy industry for war production has moved out of the country, inflation ravages our people, food production facilities have burned by the dozen, rail transport has fallen into disrepair and our leaders ponder WW3 as winnable. All is well, nothing to see, move along…
from Russia with love
April 10, 2023 at 7:22 am
@Corvus
“Have you noticed that Russia cuses trouble only in countries that are *not* members of NATO – Moldova, Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine… Coincidence?”
run in order.
Moldova – an internal conflict that led to the separation of part of the country. the same as earlier in Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia. what is left of Yugoslavia with the support of NATO?
Armenia? didn’t understand it at all. no one attacked Armenia. the entire Nagorno-Karabakh conflict took place on the territory of Azerbaijan (!!!) in an enclave that no one recognizes as a legal entity. no one at all! even Armenia! 🙂 and there was a conflict with the support of Turkey – a NATO country. 😉
Georgia – Armed by NATO, trained according to NATO standards and, with the approval of NATO countries, attacked Russian peacekeepers in Ossetia, killing Russian troops.
Kazakhstan? it’s also not clear what you want to drag Kazakhstan into. there were riots, and Kazakhstan, as a member of the CSTO, asked for help and received help.
Ukraine is a coup d’état carried out with the direct participation of the United States, NATO countries. further providing weapons and instructors to the puppet regime established in Ukraine. direct support for the civil war in Ukraine by NATO countries and, finally, ignoring Russia’s official warning to take the most stringent measures when trying to resolve the issue with the LDNR by force. and further supply of weapons to Ukraine and assistance to the Nazi regime in Kyiv.
Let me add a little to your list. 😉
Iraq – NATO armed Iraq in a war with Iran, then attacked Iraq and practically destroyed the country.
Libya – NATO armed Libya, then attacked Libya and destroyed this country. now there is “democracy” and they trade in slaves.
Serbia – NATO attacked Serbia, took away part of the territory of this country and killed a large number of civilians during attacks on cities.
Syria – NATO (Turkey and the United States) is still not legally present in Syria, arms and finances terrorists in Syria, but failed to destroy the country, as they did with Iraq and Libya. Russia ruined everything. 🙂
you see how embarrassing. NATO is present in all the bloody and dirty events of the beginning of this century. but a pleasant trend has been that for the last 15 years things have been going from bad to worse for the bandits from NATO. I don’t know why the Finns jumped on this train of losers that flies into the abyss. It’s their business, I don’t care. but I note that the government of Finland, which participated in this adventure, filed a resignation immediately after signing documents on joining NATO. The Swedes turned out to be more far-sighted and are doing everything so that Turkey will never support their application. 😉
Sofronie the Monk
April 10, 2023 at 10:21 am
Since my previous comment did not appear, probably due to the link I posted…
@from Russia with stupidity: remember that delightful little article published on RIA Novosty on 26.02.2022 praising the victory over Ukraine? How was it? Ah, yes: “Did someone in the old European capitals, in Paris and Berlin, seriously believe that Moscow would give up Kiev?” It was quickly removed when things didn’t go exactly as planned, but Wayback machine is such a beautiful thing…
Anyone interested in more delightful gems, such as “Vladimir Putin has assumed, without a drop of exaggeration, a historic responsibility by deciding not to leave the solution of the Ukrainian question to future generations.” (reminds me of another guy finding “solutions” – final ones) or “the Russian world, that is, three states, Russia, Belarus and Ukraine, acting in geopolitical terms as a single whole” can search on Wayback Machine for ria.ru slash 20220226 slash rossiya-1775162336 dot html
BTW, if Russia is so quick to help other CSTO members, like they did in Kazakhstan, what did Armenia, who officially requested it (since you know, they actually needed it with Azerbaidjan), got?
So, to recap for the others:
– NATO and EU don’t have any kind of official obligations towards Ukraine, yet they provided close to 100 billion USD of help
– Russia has an official obligation towards Armenia as part of CSTO, yet when Armenia was involved in a war with Azerbaidjan and requested help, it got only “thoughts and prayers” from its ally
– the Russian propaganda claims that CSTO is strong, while NATO is dead, it won’t lift a single finger to protect its members
Funny how reality and the Kremlin are on two different planes of existence…
Johnny Aussie
April 11, 2023 at 1:40 am
Dear oh dear! I can’t decide if the writer of this article is profoundly stupid or just a deliberate lier and neocon propagandist because anyone who thinks Russia is collapsing and Ukraine is winning must be smoking some pretty good stuff! The Russian strategy since day 1 hasn’t changed which is all about degrading the capacity of Ukraine to wage war which seems to be working pretty well. Only Ukraine is continually pleading for more weapons because the Russians keep destroying them. Only Ukraine is suffering diabolical attacks on its infrastructure. Only Ukraine is kidnapping men off the street and forcibly drafting them into the army.
Does anyone understand basic military math? In this war probably over 80% of casualties are caused by artillery. The Russians have a 10 to 1 artillery advantage so do the math and figure out whose suffering the highest casualty rate.
But the real kicker is this: of the 300,000 plus men mobilised by Russia last year, not only are they well trained and well equipped, having all previously served in the armed forces, they haven’t even been deployed to the combat zone yet! Russia is defeating not only the Ukrainians but also the entire Western alliance! And the sanctions have hurt the West far more than Russia. The rest of the world outside of the West which is most of the world are solidly behind Russia and China. Iran and the Saudi’s are making peace, the petro dollar is toast, the world is de-dollarising as fast as they can so the reserve currency is toast and so is US hegemony.
If you believe what the writer of this article is saying then you also believe that Biden is hitting home runs and making America great again. But anyone with a half functioning brain knows that Biden is destroying America, maybe already has because America may never recover from what the policies of Biden have done to it!
from Russia with love
April 11, 2023 at 4:34 am
@Sofronie the Monk
they clearly wrote to you in the comment above that Ukraine was given the opportunity to resolve the conflict with little bloodshed and remain as a country on the map? the fact that the United States decided to destroy Ukraine and Ukrainians is the problem of the United States, Ukraine and Ukrainians.
and by the way, yes, Kyiv is a Russian city, founded by the Russians from Novgorod (in Kyiv there is even a monument to these Novgorodians :)), and according to the results of the NWO, it will be part of Russia. 😉 Like all little Russia. Putin did not invent this, this is a historical fact. try to explain what some “Ukrainians” who appeared in the western regions of Ukraine only after March 2, 1917, are doing in the RUSSIAN cities of Kyiv, Odessa, Nikolaev, Kharkov, Dnepropetrovsk, etc. I’m curious about your version. 😉
“BTW, if Russia is so quick to help other CSTO members, like they did in Kazakhstan, what did Armenia, who officially requested it (since you know, they actually needed it with Azerbaijan), got?”
you are definitely dumb! 🙂
once again, for stupid Romanians, no one attacked Armenia. there were no military operations on the territory of Armenia. just a stupid Romanian still does not understand that Nagorno-Karabakh is the territory of Azerbaijan! dude, wake up, you screwed up. 🙂 The Nagorno-Karabakh Republic is not recognized at all by anyone, even Armenia did not dare to recognize this republic, given how this republic appeared. I repeat once again for stupid Romanians, this is the territory of Azerbaijan, and before the collapse of the USSR, Armenians and Azerbaijanis lived there approximately 50/50. but the Armenians, on the territory of Azerbaijan, staged a real genocide and slaughtered all Azerbaijanis in Nagorno-Karabakh. as a result, only Armenians remained there, but no one recognized this republic and this territory officially belongs to Azerbaijan. learned? Understood? then let’s continue. The CSTO is a defensive alliance that guarantees its members assistance in protecting their own territory, such as in Kazakhstan, but does not participate in aggression against third countries, like Armenia against Azerbaijan. if you have not noticed, the CSTO does not participate in the NWO.
BUT, given the proximity to such rabid dogs as NATO, which regularly attacks other countries, perhaps this principle will be reconsidered;) it is necessary to legally fix the possibility of a preemptive strike on the aggressive NATO alliance. Do you have any doubts about the aggressiveness of NATO? list the countries attacked by NATO over the past 30 years?
H.R. Holm
April 11, 2023 at 4:39 am
Russia has lost in Ukraine because Finland has joined NATO? Really? Now how does Finland joining NATO affect the tactical situation on the Russian/Ukraine battlefield fronts? Is Finland going to send forces to fight in Ukraine? Noooooo, not that we presently know of. Has Russia ever made a visible move or even serious threat against Finland since WWII? Nooooooo, neutrality served Finland well. Does joining NATO enhance Finland’s security? Not really, because now Russia has even more reason to target Finland as a NATO member, with nuclear weapons or whatever. And how long before the U.S. muscles Finland into accepting ‘temporary crisis basing’ (at first) for nuclear-capable F-35s (and the aircraft ****is***** certified for nuclear weapons, the first slated being the Air Force F-35A in 2024, look it up) ? Now that would go over with Russia really well, wouldn’t it? If I were a high-ranking Russian official, I would urge a response for any such U.S. move would be to transfer around a quarter of the Russian bomber inventory to Cuba, for their own ‘crisis basing’ in response. Along with some assorted cruise/hypersonic missiles, and throw in a generous number of drones for fun. Not only that, seriously invite the Chinese to do the same. Hm, hypersonics within around 8 minutes fly time to Washington. And enough of them for a conventional decapitation strike capability against the U.S. capital, i.e., White House and Capitol totally obliterated within, say, around 30 seconds of each other—for starters. (Would actually be doing us common American peon serfs the biggest ever favor, when you think hard about it. No more Presidential edicts, just make sure Cackling Kamala is somewhere in the vicinity, too.) *That* would surely get Washington’s attention, although someone would have to carefully and repeatedly explain it to creaky Pathetic Joe. (“What—-the Russians have some bombers now?” Really? Ohh….”)
Sofronie the Monk
April 11, 2023 at 11:13 am
@from Russia with stupidity: “Ukraine was given the opportunity to resolve the conflict with little bloodshed and remain as a country on the map”. Of course, all they had to do was fully submit to Russia and become part of the fabled “Russian world”. Small price to pay, right? Apparently, the Ukrainians seem to have a problem with this deal. And given how things are going, Siberia is going to become part of China long before Ukraine becomes part of Russia. It’s so funny, Putin wanted to be remembered as the restorer of the Russian empire; in a couple of decades, he’ll be remembered as the restorer of the Chinese empire… Karma’s a b*tch, ain’t it? Wonder if the Chinese are going to push the same narrative in a few decades… “Moskva was actually founded as Mus-Kwa by ancient Chinese explorer Tsing Tse. So Russia is an invented country and there is no such thing as “Russians”, only misguided Chinese citizens that can’t wait to be reunited with the motherland”. How’s your Mandarin, my dear boy?
Nice loophole, wonder how the Armenians will take it. Ah, yes. By refusing to take part in military exercises with Russia and even refusing to accept the deputy general secretary position of the CSTO. Strong solidarity from the big Russian brother.
@H.R. Holm: blah-blah-nuclear apocalypse-blah-blah-hypersonic missiles-blah-blah-decapitation strike-blah-blah. Does anyone notice that the only response from Russians is impotent rage and threats? Well, erection issues are a known side effect of massive vodka intake…
@Johnny Aussie: “of the 300,000 plus men mobilised by Russia last year, not only are they well trained and well equipped”. Do you do live shows as well? Seriously, you’re good at it, this made my day!
from Russia with love
April 12, 2023 at 5:30 am
@Sofronie the Monk
you imagine yes! “Ukrainians” have serious problems. Russia’s plans provide for the complete removal of Ukrainian Nazis from the territory of Ukraine. You didn’t forget about denazification, did you? Russia liberates the territory occupied by NATO in 2014. are you again trying to jump out of the historical context and tell the story in the style of “terrible Russians for some unknown reason invaded Germany and surrounded Berlin in 1945”? NATO captured Ukraine in 2014. For 9 years, NATO supported neo-Nazis in Ukraine and terror against everyone who supported Russia. real terror with the physical destruction of those who disagree. For 9 years NATO supported Nazi propaganda in Ukraine, armed Ukraine, sent its instructors to Ukraine and prepared Ukraine for an attack on Russia. Angela Merkel and Francois Aland have already confirmed this in plain text. and what kind of snot about “Ukrainians who do not want to be Russian” are you trying to breed here? 🙂 yes, now Russia will come and just like NATO will kick out all the pro-Western from Ukraine. and in 5 years, under the control of Russia, Ukraine will be like Chechnya and Ukraine will be led by its own, Ukrainian, Kadyrov. here are the perspectives. 😉
“And given how things are going”
how are things where? in the sick fantasy of a Romanian who mistakenly drank a year’s supply of grandmother’s pills? 🙂 especially for a stupid Romanian, I will reveal a terrible secret! the nonsense that you are quoting is written by idiots sitting on Takivan. 🙂 maps with Siberia as part of China are drawn in the same place, in Taiwan. so Russia will gladly support China in its quest to regain control of Chinese territory in Taiwan. 😉
“Strong solidarity from the big Russian brother.”
ha ha ha 🙂 refused to participate in the exercises and this is horror and collapse? here’s an example of NATO “solidarity”: the United States, a NATO country, transfers weapons, including ATGMs and MANPADS, and trains Kurds who are at war with Turkey, a NATO country. this, in my opinion, is a real example of a “reliable” alliance when one member of the alliance openly supplies weapons for war with another member of the same alliance! 🙂 reliable partners, it remains only to pull the knives out of the backs, or stick even more knives. 🙂
and more about perspectives.
how is the Ukrainian spring counteroffensive, which will not begin until summer? 🙂 Ukraine still wins and uses cunning tactics to lure Russian troops to the Polish-Romanian border?
Sofronie the Monk
April 12, 2023 at 10:48 am
@from Russia with stupidity: Yes, yes, that’s the same reason Russia invaded Poland in 1939, right? To “protect the workers and peasants from the Nazis”. Great protection, Katyn… But at least, that served a good purpose, the Poles learned their lesson and will be more than ready to welcome the next “liberation”.
“so Russia will gladly support China in its quest to regain control of Chinese territory in Taiwan.” Unfortunately, Taiwan is not Russia’s to give. They did do a great job, however, in giving Winnie the Pooh all of Central Asia. No word on that, but I guess the propaganda hasn’t decided on the official story yet: whether to deny there’s a deal, to explain what a great victory is for Russia to trade Central Asia for some empty promises or simply deny the existence of Central Asia all together. I’d say go for no. 3, might as well go full retard.
BTW, did the same “idiots in Taiwan” invent the Sino-Russian conflict in 1969?
Still no reply on why Armenia refused to nominate someone for the deputy general secretary position of CSTO. Wonder why…
“how is the Ukrainian spring counteroffensive, which will not begin until summer? ” How’s the great winter offensive to kick the Fascists out? It’s kinda warm outside now… I heard that in yet another magnificent victory for the pravoslavnik cause, Russia reported capturing THREE WHOLE BLOCKS! in Bakhmut today. Tomorrow: the great strategic offensive for the kitchen in preparation of surrounding the toilet.
from Russia with love
April 13, 2023 at 11:02 am
@ pisdabol Sofronie the Monk
in addition to your impenetrable stupidity, have you decided to show off your ignorance? Cool! 🙂 in 1939 the USSR returned the territories occupied by Poland in 1918. look at the map of 1917 and the map of 1940. an amazing discovery awaits you. 😉
“They did do a great job, however, in giving Winnie the Pooh all of Central Asia.”
Are grandma’s pills still playing in your head? LOL 🙂 now the voices in the head of the Romanian tell him about some kind of deal in Central Asia? you are a really funny idiot 🙂
“How’s the great winter offensive to kick the Fascists out?”
the offensive continues well. 😉 Soledar was liberated from the winter, now we are liberating Artemovsk. daily, 1000-1500 of your Nazi friends go to meet your idol Bandera, straight to hell. but you, with your Ukrainian friends, the Nazis, notably crap with the “spring offensive”. 😉 even keeping the toilet and the kitchen at the cost of the lives of several thousand Ukrainians did not help. :)))
By the way, Romanians, have you ever thought who will be thrown next under Russian shells when your friends, Ukrainian fascists, run out? are you ready to mobilize? already calculated the route to escape to Germany? 🙂
Sofronie the Monk
April 13, 2023 at 8:59 pm
@from Russia with stupidity: Territories occupied by Poland in 1918. Can you please elaborate also on how Russia carved up Poland no less than THREE times by then? Or were those also “ancient Russian lands” as well? It’s gonna be kinda tough to do it again now, huh? Not with them armed for bear (pun intended).
So you mean that Xi Jinping did absolutely not invite all the Central Asian leaders to Beijing without any Russian representative around? So you mean that Xi was lying during his visit to Moscow? If not, and Xi DID summon them, they’re former Soviet republics, “ancient Russian lands”, surely Russia has a stake in them. Unless… unless Russia CAN’T afford to comment anything against China and has to take it.
If push comes to shove, I’ll remember what someone who always had the proper attitude towards Russian imperialism said: “You can always take one with you.”
from Russia with love
April 18, 2023 at 7:00 am
@Sofronie the Monk
stop! so if poland was divided and absorbed by the european powers, prussia, austria hungary and the russian empire, where did poland reappear on the map? It turns out that Russia returned sovereignty to Poland. what a stupid story. And what did Poland do in response? attacked Russia, seeing that in Russia there was a revolution and the country was weakened. It was not for nothing that Churchill called Poland the “hyena of Europe”. 😉 you wrote something about the three partitions of Poland? Poles cry about 4. but given the rhetoric of the Polish authorities, everything is close to the fifth partition of Poland. 🙂
Romanian, your problem is that you are a serf. your worldview is not able to go beyond the relationship “master – servant.” a lifelong servant like you, a Romanian, probably won’t understand, but I’ll tell you. you imagine, in the world there is an equal relationship when no one obeys anyone. there is no master, no vassals who are obliged to obey. this is when countries cooperate on mutually beneficial terms and do not require subordination from their partners. yes, imagine, China is gathering an Asian trade union and this is their business in Asia. even Japan was dragged into this alliance. 😉 also China is in BRICS together with Russia. and in this situation there is no contradiction. Russia both traded and trades both in the CIS countries and in the Asian region, as well as China. free trade! heard about that? Most likely no. You’ve been living all your life in Josep Barel’s filthy garden where the monkeys have decided that doing business with them is some kind of special privilege. LOL 🙂 the whole world has changed a long time ago. the whole world is Asia, Africa, the Middle East and South America… and you are not in this world. 😉