Ukraine vs Russia IV - The Betrayal

Saw an excerpt of a documentary a reporter attached to the VRT (our state broadcaster) made about Poland and how it deals with the realities of the Russian threat.
Even the minor bits I already saw were fascinating, will definitely try to watch the entire thing when it is broadcast. What struck me is the image of a society that is preparing for a hot war with Russia in the not so distant future, not just courtesy of how its government and military is preparing, but how the average Polish person is dealing with it. Including 16-year old pink-haired arts students taking voluntary weapons training, or your bog average family (so not crazy preppers) having a huge amount of provisions in the house in case of emergency.

 

There's only one answer left and it's to tell the wannabe czar that we will destroy the place where the drones came from if it happens again.
From a defense blogger on tv I saw how he had tracked the routes of the drones. Of course I dunno if what he showed was fake.

 

One interesting thing the documentary maker also mentioned is that going into Poland, he had expected more pushback against the amount of money spent on defense, or the military training given to regular citizens to create a massive reservist force. He said that it's not a left-right issue, that the reality of the threat is such that these things are treated as normal and necessary across nearly the entire political spectrum.
If there is frustration, it is aimed at the rest of Europe, whom they perceive as not doing nearly enough to prepare.

 

Poles are interesting in their reaction to this attack. A hot survey on who is to be blamed for this attack showed that 38% of Poles blamed Ukraine and only 35% - Russia!

 

Well, the Dutch have lately been advised to prep for things to come, with advice on what you need to have in storage.
Also on the level of munipalities action is being taken.
Municipalities speed up disaster scenarios, threat of possible NATO conflict with Russia is emphatically felt
Municipalities are preparing for disaster scenarios with extra speed. Emergency support points, evacuation routes and food supply are things that must be in order for when 'different times' arrive, according to an appeal from the Association of Netherlands Municipalities (VNG). Emma Thies, Sander van Mersbergen 25-08-25, 06:00 Last update: 25-08-25

 

I wonder if the 1945-2014 period will be deemed an aberration in European history in terms of how peaceful it was. Well mostly anyway.

 

Yugoslavia might say otherwise

 

Hence mostly.

 

This confirms it, Trump is really ********ing fat.

 

Correct, if it's short enough to post the English translation to make the point I don't post the link.

 

Expect the gas shortages to get a lot worse soon. Russia's government just instituted strict price controls where prices are only allowed to go up 0.01% per day. You read that right.

https://www-kommersant-ru.translate...l=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp

 

3.7% per annum (the last time inflation was that low in Russia was 2020). Be interesting to see what tomorrow's CPI print is for the US.

 

NATO thinks that the purpose of the drone operation was to test its response: how quickly would the organisation respond and what means would it use to neutralise the drones? It is not assumed that there was a direct attack, as no explosives were found among the wreckage. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is on the same wavelength by suggesting that the Russians may have done it to prevent allies from supplying anti-aircraft systems to Ukraine before the winter by showing you need those systems yourself.

I dunno how the current state of the Russian air defense/monitoring is after what Ukraine has been doing to it, but it would be a good message by launching a full wave of F35's over the departure location of the drones to message to the russian asshole you will be left with only rubble if you think of launching anything our way.

 

As part of a deal to free political prisoners in Belarus, the US has lifted the sanctions on the country's state airline, Belavia.

Noble, humanitarian action by the Trump admin, no? Why oppose it?

Because Russia will be able to get previously-sanctioned spare parts for its airlines via Belavia, that's why?

 

Mining your own bridges so if you need to retreat over them the enemy cannot follow has been a thing since explosives existed. In the Cold War all European bridges had spaces to place explosives in case the Soviets invaded and they needed to blow them up. So it really isn't a surprise that Russia does this. One might even say it's good military practice, although it does give me a little hope to see Russians recognize that retreat is a possibility.

There are two problems. First, Russia does this on the cheap using the ever-present but fairly easy to set off anti-tank landmines. Second, Ukraine has drones which can go under bridges in Russian territory. You can guess what happens when you mix those. Something like a dozen bridges that Russia very much needs for logistics, particularly in the Donetsk area, have been blown up using Russia's own installed explosives in the last month or so.

The latest example:
https://bsky.app/profile/specialkhersoncat.bsky.social/post/3lyl5n4cam22c

 

The Russian oil depot at Kardymovo, Smolensk oblast was hit last night.

There was also particularly heavy drone activity in and around Sevastopol last night. Ukraine has been heavily targeting the west coast of Crimea for months now.

 

As an aside, students of Napoleon are probably familiar with the most famous mining of a bridge in history. It... did not go well for them either.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Leipzig#19_October

 

Trump on Russian Drones in Poland: Could’ve been a mistake pic.twitter.com/lrfCQd3eCl

— Acyn (@Acyn) September 11, 2025

 

That's a reason as EU to declare a bufferzone of 50km along the Belarussian border within that country and declare anything military popping up there during the "exercise" as a threat to be dealt with lethal force, on the ground and in the sky.
Edit: and anything "accidentally" hitting EU territory or air space will be answered with taking out what launched it.