Predictable spinmistering
Of course we all know the sort of wells Elvis and Blood Red are drinking at when it comes to evaluating the Russian economy.
"The Kremlin has launched an information operation that seeks to create the false impression that the Russian economy is performing well despite numerous continued indicators of macroeconomic distress. Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed during a meeting on economic issues on January 22 that 2024 was a "strong year" for the Russian economy. (1) Putin claimed that Russia has a manageable budget deficit of 1. 7 percent and achieved a 26 percent increase in non-oil-and-gas revenue to 25.6 trillion rubles (approximately $257.9 billion) in 2024 and announced a retroactive 9. 5 percent increase in insurance and military pensions to address rising Russian inflation. Bloomberg reported on January 21 that the Russian Finance Ministry released a report projecting economic strength and suggesting that Russian budget revenue in December 2024 reached a record high of over 4 trillion rubles (about $40 billion) — a 28 percent increase compared to December 2023 and the highest level recorded since 2011. (2) The data fails to account for Russia's unsustainable levels of defense spending, rampant inflation, a growing deficit and the erosion of Russia's sovereign wealth fund, however. (3) ISW continues to observe macroeconomic data that directly contradict the Kremlin's claims that the Russian economy is performing well. The Kremlin has recently adopted policies aimed at increasing defense spending all while Russian society faces labor shortages, broader demographic issues, declining savings, and increasing reliance on bailouts as the Russian economy faces rising interest rates, inflated salaries, and deteriorating production capacity. (4) These economic realities suggest that the Kremlin's efforts to posture economic strength are largely an information operation aimed at reassuring domestic audiences and posturing Russian strength abroad while masking the true challenges Russia's economy is facing, particularly heightened due to its war against Ukraine. ".
[URL]https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campaign-assessment-january-22-2025[/URL]
Digest from the Glorious Russian Z-Storm Command
North Korean soldiers have some serious cojones unlike their Russian counterparts.
[B]Hunt for three North Korean soldiers who 'shot dead' five Russians on the battlefield[/B]
[URL]https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world...es/ar-AA1xBXGv[/URL]
[QUOTE]A manhunt is underway for three North Korean soldiers who allegedly murdered five Russian servicemen in a case of friendly fire.
The wanted men were sent to fight with Russia as part of an estimated 11,000-strong contingent dispatched to bolster Vladimir Putins armed forces in the war with Ukraine, according to reports.
The three are accused of shooting their Russian comrades all marines then going on the run with their army weapons.[/QUOTE]Of course, I've been saying the same thing for the last three years while all our MSMs have kept singing praises to the amazingly "resilient" Putin's economy.
[B]Russia 'on brink of collapse' as military expert warns of nuclear chaos to come[/B]
[URL]https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/russia-on-brink-collapse-military-34527229[/URL]
[QUOTE]Russia is on the brink of "collapse" and the world needs to prepare for potential nuclear chaos inside the country, a military expert has claimed.
Retired general Ben Hodges, who once served as commander of the United States Army in Europe, suggested that Vladimir Putin's country could break up into several small states as its days as a unified republic are numbered. The former senior US military commander, who has been a regular commentator on Russia's war in Ukraine, warned that if this happened, it could cause a new wave of refugees and potential nuclear chaos.[/QUOTE]Russians WILL lose their savings. And the fact that the failed mafia state says it won't happen means exactly that it will.
[B]Putin Allies Scramble as Russians Fret Losing All Their Money[/B]
[URL]https://www.newsweek.com/russia-banking-freezing-sanctions-interest-2015294[/URL]
[QUOTE]Russia's Central Bank has dismissed claims that retail deposits could be frozen amid jitters over the state of the country's sanctions-hit economy.
The Central Bank is headed by Elvira Nabiullina, an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Another ally, Andrey Kostin, the head of Russia's VTB bank, also vehemently rejected the claims.
Sanctions imposed after Putin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine have buffeted Russia's economy. Rumors of frozen deposits have echoes of the hyperinflation following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 and the country's financial crisis in 1998, in which many Russians lost their life savings.[/QUOTE]Over 800,000 Russians are dead and seriously wounded.
[B]Russias battlefield losses hit record high, says Ukraine as it prepares for impact of Trump presidency[/B]
[URL]https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/russia-soldiers-killed-putin-trump-ukraine-peace-talks-b2683277.html[/URL]
[QUOTE]The Ukrainian military chief has said that 150,000 of Vladimir Putins troops were killed in 2024, as the countries prepare for a new era of their conflict after Donald Trump re-enters the White House.
A record 434,000 casualties, including the wounded, were suffered last year taking total Russian casualties to 819,000, claimed Oleksandr Syrskyi, Ukraines commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces. This year of combat has cost them more than the previous two years of the war combined, Mr Syrskyi told Ukrainian TV channel TSN.
Russia has gained ground in eastern Ukraine over the past year, but at the cost of heavy casualties as it throws waves of soldiers at Ukraines defensive lines.[/QUOTE]Videos show Russians storming Ukrainian positions on scooters, motorbikes, old Russian cars and -- on crutches.
[B]Russian commanders send invalids on crutches into meat assaults.[/B]
[URL]https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidaxe/2025/01/21/what-the-f--a-russian-soldier-mutters-as-his-wounded-comrades-are-ordered-to-limp-into-battle-on-crutches/[/URL]
[QUOTE]Despite losing more than 800,000 troops killed and wounded in the first three years of its wider war on Ukraine, the Russian military has still managed to sustain a front-line force of no fewer than 600,000 troops in Ukraine and western Russia. Thats enough people to give Russian field armies a manpower edge over Ukrainian forces in all of the most important sectors of the wider war.
But that doesnt mean the Kremlin isnt struggling to generate fresh troops. At least one desperate Russian command, the 20th Combined Arms Army, has formed assault groups made up of walking woundedincluding injured men walking with the aid of crutchesand sent them into battle with predictably tragic results.[/QUOTE]One -- my ass. Sending invalids and heavily wounded soldiers into the combat is a long, venerable Russian tradition. Military police clear hospitals and sends them back into the meatgrinder. As long as you can walk -- you can fight.
