"Russian propaganda works in a funny way. On the one hand, it sometimes sends a very effective message to the Western audience, but on the other hand, it immediately digs its own grave. The effective message sounds something like this: the Russian Special Operation in Ukraine is a backwater conflict between Slavs that has nothing to do with the interests of the Western average person. Hey, average European person, your real problems are the lawlessness of migrants and high taxes, and not some Russians in the middle of nowhere! Frenchman, while Macron spends your money sending "Caesars" to Ukraine, he disperses Parisian protests with rubber bullets and floods your country with Arabs! German, you've been robbed blind and your money is being spent on Syrians who paw at your lady in the streets, while the vile government distracts you with the Ukrainian issue! And remember how good it was to pay three times less for electricity? Ordinary white American John, you are being terrorized by the crazy blacks from BLM, and instead of restoring order, an old man with dementia sends billions overseas!

This is the message that the Kremlin is broadcasting through its European satellites in the form of AfD [Alternative für Deutschland]. This is what our Darkest Lord successfully poured into the uncritical ears of Tucker Carlson. And this is a truly wise approach. But the worst thing the Kremlin can do is convince the European average person that it, the Kremlin, represents an existential threat to him. That a new Cold War has begun and its fate is now being decided on the Ukrainian battlefields. And this is exactly what the Kremlin does on a regular! Amazingly, after each successful PSYOP convincing the Western viewer that a Ukrainian is not his brother, and a Russian is not his enemy, the Kremlin performs a real "shot in my own dick". It starts waving a nuclear baton and drawing sights on the maps of European capitals. Starts shouting loudly that there is a global war going on now, and the Kremlin's goal is to form a new world order, where the West will eat poorly, and the "global South" will eat well.

I wonder what is the reason for such a split personality? It seems that the Kremlin regularly confuses manuals with the inscriptions: "for the Western fool", "for the Southern fool", "for the internal [Russian] fool". And they begin to broadcast messages intended for a different target audience. Or, perhaps, the point is that in today's global world it is simply impossible to separate these messages? Be that as it may, but shots in our own dick regularly outweigh successful psychos. For example, the Italians are one of the least pro-Ukrainian nations in Europe. Russian propaganda was absolutely delighted when the right-wing girl Meloni came to power there. And now she is one of the main European pro-Ukrainian furies. Or the Swedes - the most indifferent people you can find. It would seem that it would be easy to convince them that nothing threatens their farmstead. But no, it was necessary to prance around with planes near the border. To scare the shit out of them, so that they would run faster to NATO.

Amazing foreign policy successes. However, even these successes pale in comparison to the current visit [of Vladimir Putin to Kim Jong Un] to North Korea. While our war correspondents are drooling, looking at the lovely North Korean pioneers, South Korea is seriously thinking: should it really get involved in military aid to Ukraine? Surely, in the eyes of the Koreans, all this Special Military Operation of ours is some kind of showdown between aliens. But now [after Russia and North Korea increased co-working in military area] even southern Koreans have been convinced that the policy of the Russian Federation is their personal problem."

From the Russian TG channel Whales swimming to a house party with LSD

"The Secret Key to Peace:

The "peace conference" on Ukraine did not bring peace any closer. Both "tracks" available to Kiev were unsuccessful: negotiations (there was no dialogue with Russia) and confrontation (condemning Russia by the whole world and putting pressure on Russia also did not work).

The "peace plan" proposed by the Russian president also looks more like a call for Ukraine to surrender and give up territories not controlled by Russian troops - which, as we understand, is practically unrealistic.

It is noteworthy that despite the difficult situation on the battlefield, Ukraine continues to insist on "territorial integrity", that is, the borders of 1991 - the methods for implementing this desire [by Ukrainian military] are not indicated.

The key to this lies in one thing which is being ignored by the Ukrainian, Russian and Chinese "peace plans". Ukraine - which even in the ambitious plans of the Russian president is proposed to be preserved as an independent state - is not provided with guarantees of protection from a hypothetical "Special Military Operation 2.0".

NATO is being excluded by both Russia and the West, the number of the Ukrainian Armed Forces (according to the Russian plan) gets sharply limited, which makes Ukraine defenseless against any military operation.

In fact, this is one of the reasons for the failure of the negotiations in Istanbul in March 2022: Russia (if we believe the text of the document published by the New York Times) demanded the status of a guarantor of Ukraine's security on an equal basis with Western countries, which would give Russia the opportunity to block any collective defense mechanism*.

Meanwhile, it is clear that an independent Ukraine within any borders will first of all seek security guarantees not by Russia, but from Russia. This will be exactly a treaty - having lost part of its territories, Kiev will want security guarantees and insurance against destructive military actions [in the future, in case of a new "special operation", since the first one didn't bring the desired results].

Until this issue is resolved, no version of a peace treaty will have a chance of success - instead of diplomats, the military on both sides will continue to work."

*[In case you didn't fathom the level of schizophrenia you just read: Russian government (according to NYT) demanded that Russia gets recognized by the West as a protector of Ukraine. It is as if Tom would ask to be considered a protector of Jerry]

By Alexey Naumov, Russian International Affairs Council

"Pavel Durov’s interview with Tucker Carlson is an interesting step from the point of view of positioning both Pavel himself and Telegram within the Western information field.

Recently, in the West, a certain alternative mainstream is gradually emerging - and not marginal, as it was before (“you know who REALLY blew up the twin towers” and “Soros transplanted his eighth heart in a row”), but quite respected and wealthy .

Elon Musk, Tucker Carlson, and now, apparently, Pavel Durov are rich, self-sufficient and demonstratively independent people.

There are several conditions for the formation of such a counter-mainstream. Firstly, the narrative in the West is becoming increasingly homogeneous and authoritarian - which is understandable under the conditions of ideological mobilization against the background of the war on the European continent.

Within the framework of this informational authoritarianism, completely innocent issues cause condemnation and attempts at marginalization. For example: “What is the final goal of Western assistance to Ukraine? What exactly will a victory for Kiev look like and how to approach it?” or “Maybe Trump’s presidency wasn’t so bad after all?”

This kind of information hygiene pushes into the margins not madmen like Alex Jones or retired generals/diplomats, but rich and wayward eccentrics like Elon Musk.

Secondly, their money and ability to reach people directly through social media brings “marginalized” issues into the mainstream and forces them to be listened to.

Thirdly, all over the world, including in democratic societies, there is a process of split between society and the elites - among ordinary people the opinion “they don’t even represent us” is gaining popularity. This, by the way, also explains the growing popularity of right-wing parties in the European Union.

In general, Durov’s interview may well add weight to the respected Western counter-mainstream and reveal to us his new hero and his “official” method of communication - Telegram. We're waiting."

By Alexey Naumov

"⚡️ Netanyahu refused to retaliate against Iran after a conversation with Biden.

This is what needed to be proven: a big war was not planned from the very beginning. There is nothing surprising here - in order to analyze events, it is worth considering the motivations of the participants.

Both Israel and Iran are happy with the status quo: the war is going on, but it is going on behind the scenes, with special forces and proxy groups, which does not require the mobilization of economies and societies.

Insulting excesses - like Israel's attack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus - require "satisfaction" in the form of pictorial revenge, but rather similar to the mastery of martial arts, where the beauty and technicality of the technique are much more important than the damage inflicted."

By Alexey Naumov

"Judging by reports from the field, the forecast was justified: in Israel, not only is there no large-scale destruction, there is practically none at all. Iran carried out the most striking and most harmless action.

The question now is whether Biden will deter the Israelis from retaliating, especially from the “decisive measure” of striking Iran’s nuclear facilities.

On the one hand, there is really no reason for such a tough response: on the other hand, the demonstrative weakness of Iran (which, in response to the murder of an influential general, staged a literal pyrotechnic show) may give Israel the temptation to resolve the “Iranian issue” here and now."

By Alexey Naumov

"An Iranian strike on Israel could paradoxically save the situation for the current Israeli government.

Iran is the most cautious country, preferring to act through intermediaries, softly, secretly, so that if something happens, it refuses to take the blame and declares “we have nothing to do with it.” Therefore, the strike will most likely be demonstrative, but strictly within the framework: against military targets, with warning in advance, with minimization of collateral damage, so as not to incur unnecessary anger from the West. To hit a diplomatic establishment in the Israeli way or destroy a prominent general in the American way - this will not happen.

Israel will certainly turn this blow into its own diplomatic victory - now, when the results of the months-long campaign in Gaza are not visible and the prospects are unclear, countering “Iranian aggression” is the best reputational medicine. The accusations of brutality in Gaza and the desires of prominent American politicians to limit the supply of weapons to the Israelis will be immediately forgotten. Netanyahu will once again have a noble purpose and a heroic image.

Iran, according to tradition, will dance its menacing, but safe for others, dance and go off to brag about how it took revenge on the Zionists."

By Alexey Naumov, Russian International Affair Council

It's a shame loading screens in Counter Strike are not yet replaced with this

YouTube

Cyka Blyat Suka Bilyat

Funny russian remix cyka blyat

"Today a meeting is taking place in Brussels, marking a full-fledged “divorce” between Russia and Armenia: in the EU capital, Nikol Pashinyan, Antony Blinken and Ursula von der Leyen document Yerevan’s transition to the “Western camp.”

In this regard, Armenia’s fate is unenviable: in the South Caucasus region (which, in addition to Armenia itself, includes Azerbaijan and Georgia, and Russia, Turkey and Iran adjoin it), no one wants the emergence of an enclave of Western influence.

Therefore, having received financial and military support from the EU and the United States, Armenia risks becoming an outcast in its own environment—precisely an outpost and vanguard of the Western bloc.

There are two reasons for this reversal, but the root is the same - the long-term occupation of Karabakh, which the Armenians were unable to defend with weapons. Having no legal rights to the region from the point of view of international law and not having the strength to resist Azerbaijan, Armenia lost Karabakh.

The country was dealt a severe moral defeat - but instead of coming to terms with reality and trying to get used to the new role, a scapegoat was found - Russia.

It was assumed that Russia, as a military ally of Armenia, should have condoned the occupation and, in fact, fought with Azerbaijan (which since February 2022 has also become a country allied with Russia).

Shifting responsibility to Russia allowed (1) Nikol Pashinyan to remain in power after a military defeat and (2) the people of Armenia to refuse to study the consequences of their own policies, blaming everything on the betrayal of a third party.

I believe that from a historical perspective, today’s meeting will put everything in its place - the union of Russia and Armenia initially did not bring any benefits to Russia, and was dictated partly by opportunistic, partly by nostalgic-cultural reasons.

Countering external influence, of which Armenia is becoming a conduit, will allow all countries of the South Caucasus to find a common platform for interaction and will allow Russia to focus on relations that are economically beneficial, and not dictated by the manipulative influence of “Christian brothers.” Removing the “Karabakh issue” eliminates the last painful problem in relations, in particular, between Moscow and Baku.

Even if Armenia, under a different political leadership, returns to regional interaction, relations between the two countries will be built on the basis of logic and benefit, and not historical sentimentality. It's better."

By Alexey Naumov, Russian International Affairs Council

"They still look too healthy for what they have done" - from the comment section

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=im9sS1NRysk

YouTube

Moscow terror attack: Suspects appear in court

Four gunmen suspected of carrying out the Moscow theatre massace appeared at Basmanny district court, Moscow, in various states of injury. One of the suspects, Muhammad-Sobir Faizov, 19, appeared without handcuffs and apparently unconscious on a medical chair.…