Long live the Queen, but why should I care?

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The Queen died and is now being buried in a lengthy solemn ceremony. Tedious, if you ask me. As it unrolls before my eyes, I keep asking myself, what’s the difference between grieving Stalin and grieving the Queen? Stalin was a controversial figure who consolidated the country and won the war of extermination against 30 nations. Elizabeth II was a nominal leader of an Empire based on loot and pillage, she was not a very good mother-in-law and probably not the best sister either. 

The Ukraine September Offensives, an After Action Review

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It’s been a crazy month. On 31 August I very cautiously suggested that the Ukrainian attacks are meant to disrupt and destabilize Russian operations. Some readers thought I was nuts for saying this, and let me know in the comments. Looking back, I was right, but also wrong. We need to remember that the battles happening in Ukraine right now are one small piece of the big picture, and not even the most important piece.

Siege Mentality, Total War and Ursula von der Leyen

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It’s been a while since I have posted here. I feel that blogging is futile for me. No one cares, no one will listen. It’s discouraging. The [western] world is ready for another Bucha because this world needs to see Russians as cruel creatures who only “look like Europeans, but are not” ©. Another tiny step further, and they will gladly state that Russians are not humans.

What Chapaev Can Teach Us About War and Ukrainian Death Battalions

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Recently Maria and I watched the 1934 Soviet film Chapaev, a biopic of Vasily Chapaev, a Russian folk hero from the Civil War. 88 years later, this movie aged well and is still as relevant as ever. Movies tend to grow stale over time and become unwatchable (who wants to watch a typical film from the 1930s, for the love of God), but this isn’t one of them. Chapaev is just as watchable and exciting as any contemporary war movie, and the lessons are just as important now as they were when it first hit the silver screen.