Ukraine.

[Wolf]

Now go find some Ukrainian TV channel where folk speak against Zelensky’s destruction of his people and country.

Take your time…

It's a fucking Uki propagandist so it won't be doing that.
I'd reckon it's well interested in the Uki child catchers I've posted about above though, trying to find out if it can get access.

 

[Ruck Da Fules!]

You do remember this, right?

https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/articles/explainer-why-did-russia-invade-ukraine

I know it was a long time ago.

We need a Ukrainian TV channel with Ukrainians being critical of the Zelensky regime.

Take your time…

 

[Ruck Da Fules!]

What would they be critical of?

Anything! Just find it!

Or maybe you can’t because such criticism isn’t allowed.

But you already know that..

 

[Ruck Da Fules!]

Like what?

What could they blame him for when they can properly blame Putin?

Whats left?

 

[Ruck Da Fules!]

No dissent is allowed!

Many millions of Ukrainians must be sick of it and would happily accept the terms agreed, but then torpedoed by Boris, in Istanbul in April 2022.

But we NEVER hear complaints on Ukrainian TV.

Russians on the other hand are free to speak their minds and are given a platform on TV to do so, every night.

But no, you can’t say the same about Zelensky’s authoritarian regime!

 

[Ruck Da Fules!]

But support for resisting Russia actually remains high.
And the Russians are pretty sick of it too.


That was effectively a Ukrainian surrender. Once Boris signalled the West would support Ukraine, they decided to continue resisting. Of course they didnt want to surrender.

It’s an authoritarian regime that has been instructed by your Neocon masters to allow zero public dissent against the fact that Ukraine and many of its people have been sacrificed in a bid to oust Putin!

Most Ukrainians I speak to here are very critical of the plant, Zelensky.

They say they couldn’t be critical of anything if they were still there…

 

[Ruck Da Fules!]

Oh but they are!

They know it’s all about using Ukraine to get at Russia, just like many Neocons have said.

 

[Ruck Da Fules!]

View: https://x.com/boweschay/status/1826634189837664466?s=46

 

[AUL LAD]

Anything! Just find it!

Or maybe you can’t because such criticism isn’t allowed.

But you already know that..

The only pictures of elderly women and priests being arrested were from private phones --no Ukrainian TV covered the banning of the christian religion,
which would be an almost nuclear event in any country -- no journalist i know of wrote/spoke.

 

[Ruck Da Fules!]

View: https://x.com/drloupis/status/1826597495763546595?s=46

 

[Ruck Da Fules!]

The only pictures of elderly women and priests being arrested were from private phones --no Ukrainian TV covered the banning of the christian religion,
which would be an almost nuclear event in any country -- no journalist i know of wrote/spoke.

Indeed, no dissent is allowed!

The Neocon narrative - obeyed by western journalists - must be maintained!

 

[AUL LAD]

View: https://x.com/drloupis/status/1826597495763546595?s=46

the coup paymaster Victoria nuland admitted openly on USA TV she paid 5 BILLION for the coup and her boss blinken and herself are so called dual citizens of Israel and the USA guess which part of the dual gets the best deal.

 

[Wolf]

https://edition.cnn.com/2024/08/22/europe/russia-cnn-paton-walsh-investigation-intl/index.html

 

[Ruck Da Fules!]

the coup paymaster Victoria nuland admitted openly on USA TV she paid 5 BILLION for the coup and her boss blinken and herself are so called dual citizens of Israel and thew USA guess which part of the dual gets the best deal.

I believe the Zionists that own the US expect either Trump or Harris to go to war with Iran. That’s why Harris was chosen IMO.

I would love to see Putin give Iran a bunch of Sarmat nuclear missiles. That would be check mate for our Western world’s masters.

 

[Wolf]

Own it, Zitler.

Russian attacks against Ukraine kill 6, injure 28 over past day

Casualties were reported in Kherson, Kharkiv, Donetsk and Sumy oblasts.

kyivindependent.com

 

[Wolf]

Here's hoping...

NATO base in Germany on alert for ‘potential threat’​

An attack might be “highly likely,” the AWACS facility in Geilenkirchen has said

File photo: An airborne early warning and control system (AWACS) plane in Geilenkirchen, Germany © X/@NATOAWACS
A facility in Geilenkirchen, Germany that hosts special NATO radar planes has raised its security level due to an intelligence warning about a potential threat.
Geilenkirchen, located near the German-Dutch border, is home to the NATO AWACS (airborne early warning and control systems) force, which became operational in 1988.
“We raised the security level at NATO Airbase Geilenkirchen based on intelligence information indicating potential threat,” the base announced on its X (formerly Twitter) account on Thursday evening.
“All non-mission essential staff have been sent home as a precautionary measure,” the base added. “Operations continue as planned.”
The threat level at the base has been raised to Charlie, a spokesperson told Reuters. This is the second-highest of four states of alert, and means there has either been an incident, or intelligence, indicating that some kind of terrorist attack is “highly likely.”

READ MORE
Potential breach detected at military base of NATO member
Geilenkirchen reported an attempted trespassing incident last week that triggered a full security sweep at the base. On the same day, the Wahn barracks, which serve the military part of Cologne Bonn Airport, were put on lockdown as authorities investigated reports that the water supply had been contaminated. Test results later showed no issues with the tap water, however.
On Thursday, the authorities launched an investigation after unidentified drones were seen flying over critical infrastructure in the northern part of the country.
NATO has ramped up warnings about possible sabotage by Russia in recent months, even as it has increased its supply of weapons, ammunition and equipment to Ukraine. The US and its allies have insisted that provisioning Kiev does not make them a party to the conflict, shrugging off Russia’s repeated insistence otherwise.

 

[Wolf]

Yellow pack cannon fodder.

Poor Training Leads to Eastern Front Losses, Says AFU Commanders

Commanders within the Ukrainian military have anonymously voiced concerns over poor training and flaws within the mobilization drive that they said have enabled Russian advances.

www.kyivpost.com

 

[Wolf]

ROTFL.
Explains the above post I guess..

War Cook: Ukrainian Soldier-Influencer’s Winning Recipe

Just 24 hours before filming a cooking video, he was a drone pilot in what he called the “hell of Toretsk” – defending the eastern city that Russia has been trying to capture for months.

www.kyivpost.com

 

[Wolf]

Jaysus, half the posts on the previous page are seriously embarrassing for the site.
Why is that constant spamming, editing others posts/replying to them and total shitposting allowed?
Crazy.

 

[Wolf]

#obsessed

 

[Wolf]

The Degenerate Party need to up the stakes to try and help Cameltoe.......No scamdemic this time.....

US preparing to lift ban on strikes deep inside Russia – Moscow​

Washington cannot be trusted over claims that Ukraine is prohibited from using certain weapons, Russian envoy Anatoly Antonov has said

FILE PHOTO: A US-made Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) being fired during training. © Getty Images / South Korean Defense Ministry
Claims by Washington that it has banned Ukraine from using US-supplied long-range weapons for strikes deep inside Russian territory cannot be trusted, Moscow’s ambassador to the US, Anatoly Antonov, has said.
Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky has resumed his calls for the country’s Western backers to allow long-range strikes on Russian territory during Kiev’s ongoing incursion into Kursk Region.
The Pentagon stated last week that its stance remains unchanged, and that Ukraine is still banned from using US-supplied ATACMS missiles, which have a range of up to 300km (186 miles), for attacks deep inside Russia.
Speaking to journalists on Friday, Antonov claimed that the US authorities “seem to be constantly teasing us by saying that today it is allegedly not allowed to use long-range systems to strike at Russian territory.”
“But in reality, they are essentially preparing the ground to simply remove all existing restrictions, at a certain point,” the Russian envoy added.


Judging by Washington’s previous assistance to Kiev, including its training of pilots to fly F-16 jets, it is almost certain that Ukraine will “fight with US-made [long-range] weapons against us,” the ambassador said, as cited by TASS. “Where exactly will it happen? We cannot say or foretell,” he stressed.
According to Antonov, the administration of US President Joe Biden is becoming increasingly unpredictable. “There is no guarantee that the whole world will not change tomorrow when you and I wake up. How the Americans will behave in this situation is very hard to tell,” he said.
Russia must therefore “act decisively, increasing our military-industrial potential, because only our army and navy will protect our country,” the ambassador insisted.
Antonov also made a live appearance on Russia’s Channel One on Thursday, where he rejected claims by the US authorities that they had been unaware of the Ukrainian plans to attack Kursk Region.
“I am firmly convinced that in Kiev they do nothing without the go-ahead from their masters… They wouldn’t have dared to move a finger… in our direction without consent from Washington,” he said.
Commenting on the fate of Ukrainian troops who have entered Russian territory, the ambassador insisted that “no one has any doubts that they will be destroyed, not pushed back, but destroyed.”
READ MORE: Moscow accuses three NATO states of enabling Kiev’s Kursk incursion
Russia’s Defense Ministry estimated on Thursday that Ukraine has lost more than 4,700 troops and several hundred units of military equipment, including 68 tanks and 53 armored personnel carriers, since the start of the incursion in Kursk Region on August 6.

 

[Wolf]

Uki Nazis testing the water...dangerous times.

Kiev launches attack on Russian nuclear site – media​

A kamikaze drone was brought down near a spent fuel storage facility at the Kursk power plant, a source told TASS

FILE PHOTO: The Kursk Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) in Kurchatov. © Sputnik / Ilya Pitalev
A small Ukrainian drone carrying an anti-tank grenade attempted to reach the Kursk nuclear power plant overnight, news agency TASS reported on Friday, citing a local police source.
The unmanned aerial vehicle was intercepted by electronic warfare countermeasures and downed near a spent nuclear fuel storage facility, according to the report. TASS released photos of the aircraft and its payload. It featured the logo of the Army of Drones, a Ukrainian government project aimed at ramping up the availability of such aircraft for its forces, the agency said.
Earlier this month, Kiev sent thousands of troops into Kursk Region in a bid to seize Russian territory. The nuclear power plant is located near the city of Kurchatov, some 60km from the border. Russian officials have accused Kiev of launching attacks on the facility amid the incursion.

Maria Zakharova, the spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, described the latest incident as an act of “nuclear terrorism.” She called for a response by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN’s nuclear watchdog.
IAEA Director Rafael Grossi is scheduled to visit the Kursk power plant next week at the invitation of the Russian government. He is expected to visit Kiev afterwards.


”Military activity in the vicinity of a nuclear power plant is a serious risk to nuclear safety and security,” the UN official said on Thursday. “My visit to KNPP next week will provide us with timely access to independently assess the situation.”

 

[Wolf]

They're not wrong.

Orthodox Christian Church accuses Kiev of Soviet-style repression​

Ukraine’s parliament has passed a bill that would allow authorities to ban any religious community deemed to have ties to Moscow

Saint Sofia's Cathedral, Kiev @ Getty Images / stock photo
Ukraine’s latest legislation, which aims to grant the government the right to ban any church or religious community with suspected ties to Russia, is akin to Soviet-style repression, the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) said in a statement on Thursday.
Earlier this week, Ukrainian MPs approved the bill, which is seen by the ROC as directly targeted against the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC). Despite the UOC officially declaring full autonomy from the Moscow Patriarchate in 2022, Kiev has nevertheless repeatedly accused the church and its clergy of maintaining ties to Moscow. The legislation also outright bans the ROC and all affiliated religious institutions from operating in Ukraine.
“The purpose of this law is to liquidate [the UOC] and all its communities and to forcibly transfer them to other religious organizations,” the ROC surmised, noting that “hundreds of monasteries, thousands of communities, millions of Orthodox believers in Ukraine will find themselves outlawed and will lose their property and place of prayer.”
The Holy Synod noted that the scale and centralized nature of this new law that the church in Russia says targets the UOC is comparable to “sad historical precedents such as the persecutions in the Roman Empire during the time of Nero and Diocletian, the so-called de-Christianization of France during the French Revolution of the 18th century, the atheistic repressions in the Soviet Union, and the destruction of the Albanian Orthodox Church in the 1960s.”


In its statement, the ROC also pointed out that Kiev’s latest move comes against the backdrop of a “long-term, slanderous anti-church campaign of the Ukrainian media” which has sought to defame canonical Orthodoxy and to provoke and justify the mass seizure of churches, which have been organized by the radical nationalists, local authorities, special services and law enforcement agencies.
These seizures, the Synod noted, are often accompanied by violence and mass beatings of clergy and churchgoers. Additionally, UOC clerics have continued to receive threats and blackmail from Ukrainian special services, who have fabricated dozens of criminal cases against the pastors, in some cases handing them sentences that are unjust, the ROC alleges.
The Holy Synod concluded its response by stating that it would appeal to international human-rights organizations to immediately and objectively respond to the “flagrant persecution of believers in Ukraine.”



Ukraine is more like the old USSR than anything else.
Rampant corruption, state controlled media, banning churches, banning opposition political parties and jailing members of, refusing point blank to hold elections and having a dictator with no mandate from the people.

This is the 'democracy' the terrorists in Washington are claiming to protect.

 

[Wolf]

Run Forrest....Run!!!!

Ukraine withdraws from positions near Pokrovsk to avoid Russian encirclement, ISW says

Pokrovsk is an important logistical hub for the Ukrainian forces that supports their operations in Donetsk Oblast.

kyivindependent.com

 

[Wolf]

It'd be funny if it wasn't so tragic.

The Ukrainian Nazis are back.

SBU charges priest of Kremlin-linked church with collaboration

Ukraine's State Security Service (SBU) charged in absentia a priest of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP) in occupied Luhansk Oblast with collaborating with Russia's proxy authorities in the region.

kyivindependent.com

 

[Wolf]

Any Waffen SS veterans on the list?

Zelensky grants National Legend of Ukraine award to 11 'outstanding individuals'

"This is respect. This is honor. This is dignity. It is how the state of Ukraine says thank you to its people, its heroes, its legends," President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

kyivindependent.com

 

[Wolf]

Yea, because Russia is going to attack a nuclear power plant that's under it's control and has Russian troops around it.

In other news Russia blew up its own Nordstream pipeline and Vlad Putin ate my hamster.

Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant on 'verge of blackout' after Russian attack, Energoatom says

The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, the largest nuclear plant in Europe, has been under Russian occupation since March 2022. Throughout its occupation, the plant has been repeatedly disconnected from the Ukrainian power grid due to Russian attacks on the country's energy infrastructure.

kyivindependent.com

 

[Wolf]

On the ball again.

Here’s why Russia won’t talk to Ukraine​

Kiev’s leadership isn’t acting in the interests of its own people; instead, it serves Washington’s agenda and those of its closest allies
By Timofey Bordachev, program director of the Valdai Club

FILE PHOTO. © Sputnik/Konstantin Mihalchevskiy


Ukraine is not a sovereign state.

Russia is dealing with an entity that isn’t acting in its own interests, and one operating directly on its borders at that. Therefore, interaction with such a territory – including formal negotiations – would be outside the usual customs governing relations between normal countries.
International politics – even war – is always a process of interstate relations. But how can you deal with a – frankly suicidal – actor which is capable of committing acts that could lead to its own total disappearance, while acting as a tool in the hands of another power that determines its strategy and behavior?
Even countries like South Korea, Japan and Germany, which have been under de facto American occupation for more than 70 years, have a form of independent foreign policy. Indeed, they often strive for it, as their numerous attempts to maintain relations with Russia or China show. If Germany were nothing more than a supplicant to the US, no one in Washington would have felt the need to push for the blowing up of the Nord Stream pipelines in fall 2022.
However, if we see two distinct characteristics at play– the willingness to make total sacrifices and to carry out other people’s orders in matters of war and peace – then we are not dealing with a real state. It could be defined as many other things – a terrorist organization, a rebel movement or a private military company. However, the general rules do not apply to it; dealing with such an entity is beyond the pale.
It seems reasonable to suggest that this is the phenomenon Russia is dealing with in Ukraine, and that the current bloodshed is a result of the failure of attempts to build a proper state after the collapse of the USSR in 1991. Everything else – including Kiev’s tactical decisions – is then a consequence of the failed attempt to build a viable country.


This is rather unfortunate. Firstly, because it leads to deaths among the Russian military personnel – and ordinary citizens. Secondly, because we seriously believed that getting rid of the Soviet “overreach” would finally allow Russia to engage in its own development and not just have to pour resources into the military. Although, of course, defense against external enemies was originally the main function of Russian statehood. We can only hope that the Ukrainian tragedy will be an isolated event.
The phenomenon of armed struggle against a non-state actor – in international terms – itself involves several peculiarities. They distinguish it, even in the abstract, from the norms characteristic of conventional global politics. It seems important to recall them in conditions when Russia once again finds itself in a situation that does not conform to traditional foreign policy norms. Due to geographical proximity – this is not far away Afghanistan – we will have to solve this problem with all the stubbornness, persistence – and tolerance for pain – that are characteristic of the Russian foreign policy culture.
Firstly, states and their organs often enter into negotiations with non-state adversaries. However, the objective of such negotiations is different from that of conventional diplomacy. In the case of traditional interstate relations, the goal of a political settlement is to achieve a relatively durable peace in which the parties recognize each other’s existence and status. In the case of a terrorist organization, for example, such mutual recognition is not possible. Simply because they are fundamentally different entities - the living cannot make a deal with the dead, and stone cannot find common ground with wood.
The aim of any negotiation with terrorists is therefore to solve a short-term problem. Usually in the context of a threat that cannot be eliminated at that moment. In other words, negotiating the release of hostages or the like. But such interaction does not entail recognizing the right to exist of those responsible.

Second, the fact that an adversary is not a state does not necessarily mean that it is weak. On the contrary, history is replete with examples of rebel movements or terrorist networks that were very well armed and posed a major threat for decades. In this case, the key factor is control over territory and/or population. If these are significant, a non-state adversary may have significant resources to encourage the population to fight on its side, including by using force. This is especially true if it is fueled from outside, as has been the case with extremist movements in the North Caucasus, Syria or Ulster, where Irish militants have long received money and weapons from the United States – and further afield – to fight the British presence.
History is also littered with examples of territories that remained outside state control long enough for their interim rulers to secure a base of mobilization. In Cambodia, even after the Khmer Rouge regime was overthrown by Vietnam, parts of the country remained under the control of this radical movement for a long time.
Third, powers that exert external control over non-state actors never link their security to their own survival. This means that they cannot fully understand the possible response of their adversary to the actions of their proxies.
Some observers have pointed out that many of the radical movements in Syria, for example, receive support from abroad. China once actively used radical Marxist movements in Southeast Asia and provided them with various forms of assistance. However, this was not a reason to turn its relations with countries where such groups were active into a state of war. The USSR also supported various rebel groups operating against the US and its allies. But it did not see this as a reason for war.
From the point of view of any normal state, the only reason to go to war with another state is direct aggression against its territory. It is possible that this is why the US government does not believe that its actions in the case of Ukraine could lead to the direct conflict with Russia that the Americans fear.


Finally, an armed struggle against a non-state actor does not mean that the population in the territory under its control is uniformly hostile. A significant proportion of them may, of course, sympathize with their captors and even associate certain personal plans for the future with them. But the majority are usually either putting up with it, or politically passive, and simply waiting to see how their fate will be resolved without their participation. It is therefore always a moral dilemma for traditional states to use force where it may lead to civilian deaths. Because the victims can be their own people.

Much depends on the national culture – Americans or Western Europeans, because of their inherent racism, are capable of killing civilians en masse if they have to. In Russia, customs are different, especially when it comes to our immediate neighborhood.
Non-state actors, on the other hand, are not constrained by anything – they are driven by external instructions, or ideological motives. That is why acts of terror on their part are perfectly normal.

In the case of Ukraine, Russia, is dealing with a rogue state that isn’t acting in the interests of the people under its control. Understanding this is fundamental when assessing current events.

 

[Wolf]

Russians target Toretsk and drop bomb on Kurakhove in Donetsk Oblast: three civilians injured

Russian forces targeted Donetsk Oblast yet again on Friday, 23 August, leaving three civilians injured.

www.pravda.com.ua

 

[Wolf]

#twatterspam
#londonhomosexuals

 

[Wolf]

LOL.

MGDK - Danmarks største uafhængige underholdningsmediehus

Media Group Denmark ApS er Danmark største uafhængige mediehus, som driver mere end 20 nyhedsmedier i ind- og udland.

mgdk.dk

Might as well use boards.ie or the journal.ie as a 'verifable source'.
Different that Twatter homosexuals hiding in London I suppose..

 

[Wolf]

Russia will let the Uki Nazis play around in Kursk scrub land while the real work is being done in Ukraine.

"Ukrainian commanders attribute the Russian advance to various factors. Some cite a shortage of shells, with the Russians reportedly firing up to ten times more than the Ukrainians, some reporting inadequate training for newly mobilized troops. Others point to Russian tactics, including small infantry assaults, glide bombs, and new types of electronic warfare."

Russia Bolsters Pokrovsk Offensive, Despite Ukrainian Gains in Kursk

Despite early hopes that the Kursk offensive would divert Russian forces, Ukraine now faces intensified pressure in Pokrovsk, with the situation becoming increasingly dire.

www.kyivpost.com

 

[Wolf]

"However, exhaustion and manpower shortages appear to be the main issues. Colonel Pavlo Fedosenko disclosed that Ukrainian troops are outnumbered 4:1 and are not getting any rest, with some soldiers staying on the front lines for 30 to 40 days at a time, often in cramped foxholes inches from death."

 

[Wolf]

'Dublin'?
Is that the 'Irish' weed that was exterminated the other day?

"Ukraine’s recent offensive into Russian territory has sparked mixed feelings among its forces. “Dublin,” a fighter attached to the 59th Brigade southeast of Pokrovsk, told The Economist that early successes briefly lifted morale, but this was short lived as the hope that Russia would move troops from Pokrovsk was dashed."

 

[Wolf]

Instead, Ukraine has redeployed special forces units to Kursk and is reinforcing the Pokrovsk front with untested formations. “The Russians have figured things out and aren’t taking the bait,” Dublin added.

 

[Wolf]

Looming.

“The Russians have a habit of pouncing on weak spots to devastating effect,” he said, suggesting it may only be a matter of time before Pokrovsk faces the same fate as Mariupol, Bakhmut, and Avdiivka.

 

[Wolf]

Winning.

"The Russian command has decided against transferring significant forces from the Donbas front to the Kursk region.

Following the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ offensive on the Kursk region, Russia’s advance on Pokrovsk has accelerated."

 

[Wolf]

#devestating

 

[Wolf]

Russia will NEVER take Avdiiaka, Mariupol or Bakhmut.
NEVER, I tells ya...

Oh, wait....

 

[jpc]

On the ball again.

Here’s why Russia won’t talk to Ukraine​

Kiev’s leadership isn’t acting in the interests of its own people; instead, it serves Washington’s agenda and those of its closest allies
By Timofey Bordachev, program director of the Valdai Club

FILE PHOTO. © Sputnik/Konstantin Mihalchevskiy


Ukraine is not a sovereign state.

Russia is dealing with an entity that isn’t acting in its own interests, and one operating directly on its borders at that. Therefore, interaction with such a territory – including formal negotiations – would be outside the usual customs governing relations between normal countries.
International politics – even war – is always a process of interstate relations. But how can you deal with a – frankly suicidal – actor which is capable of committing acts that could lead to its own total disappearance, while acting as a tool in the hands of another power that determines its strategy and behavior?
Even countries like South Korea, Japan and Germany, which have been under de facto American occupation for more than 70 years, have a form of independent foreign policy. Indeed, they often strive for it, as their numerous attempts to maintain relations with Russia or China show. If Germany were nothing more than a supplicant to the US, no one in Washington would have felt the need to push for the blowing up of the Nord Stream pipelines in fall 2022.
However, if we see two distinct characteristics at play– the willingness to make total sacrifices and to carry out other people’s orders in matters of war and peace – then we are not dealing with a real state. It could be defined as many other things – a terrorist organization, a rebel movement or a private military company. However, the general rules do not apply to it; dealing with such an entity is beyond the pale.
It seems reasonable to suggest that this is the phenomenon Russia is dealing with in Ukraine, and that the current bloodshed is a result of the failure of attempts to build a proper state after the collapse of the USSR in 1991. Everything else – including Kiev’s tactical decisions – is then a consequence of the failed attempt to build a viable country.

This is rather unfortunate. Firstly, because it leads to deaths among the Russian military personnel – and ordinary citizens. Secondly, because we seriously believed that getting rid of the Soviet “overreach” would finally allow Russia to engage in its own development and not just have to pour resources into the military. Although, of course, defense against external enemies was originally the main function of Russian statehood. We can only hope that the Ukrainian tragedy will be an isolated event.
The phenomenon of armed struggle against a non-state actor – in international terms – itself involves several peculiarities. They distinguish it, even in the abstract, from the norms characteristic of conventional global politics. It seems important to recall them in conditions when Russia once again finds itself in a situation that does not conform to traditional foreign policy norms. Due to geographical proximity – this is not far away Afghanistan – we will have to solve this problem with all the stubbornness, persistence – and tolerance for pain – that are characteristic of the Russian foreign policy culture.
Firstly, states and their organs often enter into negotiations with non-state adversaries. However, the objective of such negotiations is different from that of conventional diplomacy. In the case of traditional interstate relations, the goal of a political settlement is to achieve a relatively durable peace in which the parties recognize each other’s existence and status. In the case of a terrorist organization, for example, such mutual recognition is not possible. Simply because they are fundamentally different entities - the living cannot make a deal with the dead, and stone cannot find common ground with wood.
The aim of any negotiation with terrorists is therefore to solve a short-term problem. Usually in the context of a threat that cannot be eliminated at that moment. In other words, negotiating the release of hostages or the like. But such interaction does not entail recognizing the right to exist of those responsible.

Second, the fact that an adversary is not a state does not necessarily mean that it is weak. On the contrary, history is replete with examples of rebel movements or terrorist networks that were very well armed and posed a major threat for decades. In this case, the key factor is control over territory and/or population. If these are significant, a non-state adversary may have significant resources to encourage the population to fight on its side, including by using force. This is especially true if it is fueled from outside, as has been the case with extremist movements in the North Caucasus, Syria or Ulster, where Irish militants have long received money and weapons from the United States – and further afield – to fight the British presence.
History is also littered with examples of territories that remained outside state control long enough for their interim rulers to secure a base of mobilization. In Cambodia, even after the Khmer Rouge regime was overthrown by Vietnam, parts of the country remained under the control of this radical movement for a long time.
Third, powers that exert external control over non-state actors never link their security to their own survival. This means that they cannot fully understand the possible response of their adversary to the actions of their proxies.
Some observers have pointed out that many of the radical movements in Syria, for example, receive support from abroad. China once actively used radical Marxist movements in Southeast Asia and provided them with various forms of assistance. However, this was not a reason to turn its relations with countries where such groups were active into a state of war. The USSR also supported various rebel groups operating against the US and its allies. But it did not see this as a reason for war.
From the point of view of any normal state, the only reason to go to war with another state is direct aggression against its territory. It is possible that this is why the US government does not believe that its actions in the case of Ukraine could lead to the direct conflict with Russia that the Americans fear.


Finally, an armed struggle against a non-state actor does not mean that the population in the territory under its control is uniformly hostile. A significant proportion of them may, of course, sympathize with their captors and even associate certain personal plans for the future with them. But the majority are usually either putting up with it, or politically passive, and simply waiting to see how their fate will be resolved without their participation. It is therefore always a moral dilemma for traditional states to use force where it may lead to civilian deaths. Because the victims can be their own people.

Much depends on the national culture – Americans or Western Europeans, because of their inherent racism, are capable of killing civilians en masse if they have to. In Russia, customs are different, especially when it comes to our immediate neighborhood.
Non-state actors, on the other hand, are not constrained by anything – they are driven by external instructions, or ideological motives. That is why acts of terror on their part are perfectly normal.

In the case of Ukraine, Russia, is dealing with a rogue state that isn’t acting in the interests of the people under its control. Understanding this is fundamental when assessing current events.

Great article very good observations.