The Kremlin is burning?

[Josh]

4 hours ago, Stuart Galbraith said:

It doesnt have a budgetary problem, it has a political problem. Not the same thing. 

The U.S. has both a budgetary problem and a political problem, but the shutdown is purely the latter, yes.

[JWB]

Overnight, Ukrainian drones conducted a strike on Russian energy infrastructure, successfully hitting the Oryol Power Plant and a major 750kV substation in Vladimirskaya.
 

 

[Roman Alymov]

Short documentary about "Orlan" territorial defence volunteer group (short-range anti-drone defence in Belgorod region)

https://t.me/boris_rozhin/182839

[JWB]

How long until she meets a window?

 

[Roman Alymov]

New survey data:

"Russians perceive foreign agents as enemies

In recent years, the concept of "foreign agent" has become firmly established not only in the political lexicon, but also in the public space of modern Russia. The concept of a foreign agent for Russians is based on negative meanings; first of all, on the image of an enemy and a spy, where Soviet markers (spy, infiltrator, hidden Cossack) and modern political and legal elements (fifth column) are intertwined. For most, this word sounds like "alien" and "dangerous", not just a person with different views, but a traitor, an enemy who acts against the country. This label does not so much describe a fact as it expresses an emotional boundary (fear, distrust, irritation), as well as perception through repressive measures (to imprison, drive, destroy). The term "foreign agent" is clearly stigmatized, positive, neutral associations or alternative interpretations are rare, but there is still a small group of those who perceive foreign agents through dissent, opposition and the struggle for truth.

Over the past three years, Russians have become a little more familiar with the issue of the law on foreign agents. And although awareness has increased slightly, the willingness to approve the labeling of foreign agents has strengthened significantly, public consolidation in favor of the law is evident (54% in 2022, 65% in 2025), and the share of opponents of labeling has decreased by one and a half times since 2022. At the same time, support for the law can be traced in all age groups. Apparently, this was influenced not only by the routine practice of declaring foreign agents, but also by the support of the authorities in the fight against the "external enemy" in the context of confrontation with the West.

In recent years, the image of a foreign agent has become more recognizable. Those who were aware of the foreign agents began to recall more often those who had been assigned the status. Moreover, the perception of status is personalized and focused on celebrities, not on legal or public organizations. The list is dominated by artists, musicians, and bloggers, not politicians or human rights activists. What does this mean? Firstly, the topic of foreign agents has been successfully "mediatized", it is no longer so much a legal term as a "label" for some public people (and since there are non-foreign agents on the list, it is probably a marker of public censure); secondly, it has firmly entered the cultural field, entrenched in it is even stronger than in the political space.

The top 3 recognizable foreign agents were M. Galkin*, A. Makarevich* and Morgenstern* (A. Pugacheva ranks second, but diva did not receive the status of a foreign agent); among the organizations, "Rain"* sounded more often than others (with an asterisk all foreign agents). At the same time, there remains a fairly large proportion of those who, although they have heard about the law, cannot name any of the foreign agents.

(c) VTsIOM  https://t.me/boris_rozhin/185291

    What is curious in this data? Alla Pugacheva, aging (born 1949) Soviet-time singer star and wife of standup comedian Maxim Galkin (born 1976), is commonly percieved as enemy supporter (for good reasons) while having no formal status of "foreign agent" (both are living in Israel now).

At the same time, Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov (one of the champions of "Appeasement of the West") was openly kissing her hand on public event not so long ago

  Isn't it surprising our ruling elite is increasingly hated by ordinary Russians?

[Roman Alymov]

7 minutes ago, JWB said:

How long until she meets a window?

  If she did, it will be blessing for Rus economy, since she is one of the leaders of pro-Western "liberal" economic block who are trying to suffocate any local productive business (but to stay within "IMF regulations" etc.)  She is one of the people responsible for "keeping RF Gov reserves abroad" (de-facto providing our enemies with free resources). Of course it was not she who made the decisions, but a lot of people would be glad to see her leaving (even through window).

[urbanoid]

Wake up babe, new schizotheories from the East just dropped.

'"Ukraine should be renamed the Old Lands. Our Old Lands, where Saturnalia occurred for a time, and evil spirits seized power. [Mykola] Gogol knew many details about them. This is the secret society of Viy, whose representatives Jean Parvulesco encountered in his time in the labyrinths of parallel Paris among the communities of the 'black Philadelphes.' Portraits of Volodymyr Zelenskyy are easy to spot in the paintings on the western wall of many Moscow and, more broadly, Russian churches. This dark-haired little man sits on the knees of Satan, burning with orange flames. And he waits for his hour. The Order of Viy was set in motion and broke the seals on our Old Lands. Now our goal is to liberate them. Kyiv is, after all, our spiritual capital. Our baptismal font. We cannot leave it under the rule of a creature with such a face and such a character. Our ever-living ancestors and the descendants crowding at the gates of life simply will not forgive us for that. The Old Lands must be reclaimed, saved, purified, and revived, returned to the bosom of the Holy Orthodox Church under the protection of the Empire reaching for the heavens."'

https://x.com/Gerashchenko_en/status/1984239277169909961

And more from the muscovite death cult, at this rate they'll likely borrow a page from Hamas and start saying they love death as much as their enemies love life. 

https://x.com/Gerashchenko_en/status/1983910706874347839

 

 

[Sinistar]

problem:

 

you have also seen homicidal maniacs on the ukrainian side during the 2014 - 2022 civil war phase

so much so that there was actually a public law passed in the united states prohibiting funding to some 'neo-nazi' groups back when this was seen as more of a problem before the start of 2022= now of which no longer matters

 

you saw official acts by the ukranian government enact laws to disenfranchise its own russian populations by law

 

 

all of which the west ignores or denies and you see it here with many of you

you will ignore everything which does not fit the politically correct schemas when i can objectively show you that you are attempting to throw a match into a powder keg with these two parties

 

the problem is you have these increasingly desperate acts or calls to act to escalate on either side which the polish and ukrainians are trying to provoke and drag us in with you to solve your real or imagined long standing geographic disputes

 

i am not ukrainian or russian neither of which pay my bills but this european problem is insinuating itself in what we do = you even have zelensky campaigning in the united states for kamala harris in the hopes for defeating donald trump, offering a flim flam to trump for mineral rights in ukraine while also going back to his parliament and telling his folks openly it is a rouse and not to be taken seriously when they ask him to explain this proposed deal, disrespecting trump in the white house, appearing later the same day on fox news behind trump's back and basically plays trump for a fool

 

and so trump falls for this act and cannot seem to unglue us from this corrupt situation 

 

you have these western politicians showboating for their own prestige and for their own legacies in history as if they are going to go in there and correct the problem which none of them are capable of fixing or comprehending and cannot bring themselves to admit 

 

you have western leaders making provocative statements and egging it on as if it is their intention to defeat russia in a war- for example lindsay graham saying openly the intention is to kill russians, us president joe biden saying they are going to crash the russian economy

active or retired generals and admirals hinting at the use of nuclear weapons or invading kaliningrad and wiping the floor with russia 

 

so elements within russia look at these statements or behaviors with proactive nato involvement in the war and points to them that the west really does intend to defeat russia by their own behaviors and this is proof and putin needs to stop wasting time and realize this fact

and it is all a surprise or somehow appalling when someone in russia is unhinged or reacts-what would anyone expect anyone who is even moderately rational in russia supposed to think with these openly provocative statements and behaviors

 

so it looks like there is some line that may have been crossed by now to the point there is not going to be any compromise since it has been provoked so much

too much bad blood accruing between these two

 

and as trump sometimes will say: let them fight

or as boris johnson said in his visit told zelensky in 2022: don't talk. just fight

 

that is the only way it is going to work

you have the cheerleading and irrational behaviors and you have people taking sides and refuse to budge

so that is what it comes down to

but that it is a surprise to anyone makes no sense

Edited October 31, 2025 by Sinistar

[Stuart Galbraith]

14 hours ago, Roman Alymov said:

  If she did, it will be blessing for Rus economy, since she is one of the leaders of pro-Western "liberal" economic block who are trying to suffocate any local productive business (but to stay within "IMF regulations" etc.)  She is one of the people responsible for "keeping RF Gov reserves abroad" (de-facto providing our enemies with free resources). Of course it was not she who made the decisions, but a lot of people would be glad to see her leaving (even through window).

Everyone remembers that Bolshevik economic theory was so much steadier.

[Stuart Galbraith]

12 hours ago, urbanoid said:

Wake up babe, new schizotheories from the East just dropped.

'"Ukraine should be renamed the Old Lands. Our Old Lands, where Saturnalia occurred for a time, and evil spirits seized power. [Mykola] Gogol knew many details about them. This is the secret society of Viy, whose representatives Jean Parvulesco encountered in his time in the labyrinths of parallel Paris among the communities of the 'black Philadelphes.' Portraits of Volodymyr Zelenskyy are easy to spot in the paintings on the western wall of many Moscow and, more broadly, Russian churches. This dark-haired little man sits on the knees of Satan, burning with orange flames. And he waits for his hour. The Order of Viy was set in motion and broke the seals on our Old Lands. Now our goal is to liberate them. Kyiv is, after all, our spiritual capital. Our baptismal font. We cannot leave it under the rule of a creature with such a face and such a character. Our ever-living ancestors and the descendants crowding at the gates of life simply will not forgive us for that. The Old Lands must be reclaimed, saved, purified, and revived, returned to the bosom of the Holy Orthodox Church under the protection of the Empire reaching for the heavens."'

https://x.com/Gerashchenko_en/status/1984239277169909961

And more from the muscovite death cult, at this rate they'll likely borrow a page from Hamas and start saying they love death as much as their enemies love life. 

https://x.com/Gerashchenko_en/status/1983910706874347839

 

 

 

[Roman Alymov]

19 minutes ago, Stuart Galbraith said:

Everyone remembers that Bolshevik economic theory was so much steadier.

No idea what is "Bolshevik economic theory", but deliberately starvung undustry (including military industry) from access to financial resources while taking resources abroad for free was hardly the way to success. Luckily, stealing of resources is now more or less blocked from outside by West. but finance is still blocked....

[JWB]

8 hours ago, Roman Alymov said:

No idea what is "Bolshevik economic theory", but deliberately starvung undustry (including military industry) from access to financial resources while taking resources abroad for free was hardly the way to success. Luckily, stealing of resources is now more or less blocked from outside by West. but finance is still blocked....

Russians trust foreign banks more than Russian banks.  Why does Russia have rotten banks? 

[JWB]

Yesterday, Ukraine's GUR successfully conducted a major sabotage operation in Moscow, successfully blowing up the main gasoline, diesel fuel, and aviation fuel pipelines for Russia's capital.

Seen here, the charges placed on the pipelines detonate.

https://x.com/Osinttechnical/status/1984553503184826715

[Sinistar]

18 minutes ago, JWB said:

Russians trust foreign banks more than Russian banks.  Why does Russia have rotten banks? 

 

because russia is very corrupt and so is ukraine

 

you would be surprised just how corrupt much of the world is

when we say that a state is corrupt it is not just the government

it is the banks and the financial system also involved in it and the way the society works from the top down

there is no way to separate it where there are 'honest' industries or banks where the government is corrupt since they are part of the same system

 

they even do business with each other when banks move dirty money through one another's networks across different jurisdictions and countries

 

in the west the regulations on the banks are much more apparent and the banking associations establish norms and standards that they all tend to agree upon with their members

 

 

 

 

 

[JWB]

1 minute ago, Sinistar said:

 

because russia is very corrupt and so is ukraine

 

you would be surprised just how corrupt much of the world is

when we say that a state is corrupt it is not just the government

it is the banks and the financial system also involved in it and the way the society works from the top down

there is no way to separate it where there are 'honest' industries or banks where the government is corrupt since they are part of the same system

 

they even do business with each other when banks move dirty money through one another's networks across different jurisdictions and countries

 

in the west the regulations on the banks are much more apparent and the banking associations establish norms and standards that they all tend to agree upon with their members

 

 

 

 

 

The economy Roman wants cannot exist until Russian banks are cleaned up and operate according to modern standards of integrity.

[Stuart Galbraith]

On 11/1/2025 at 8:13 AM, Roman Alymov said:

No idea what is "Bolshevik economic theory", but deliberately starvung undustry (including military industry) from access to financial resources while taking resources abroad for free was hardly the way to success. Luckily, stealing of resources is now more or less blocked from outside by West. but finance is still blocked....

That would be the week after they took over, when they went round all the banks in Moscow and systematically robbed them. That still happens, the difference is they dont turn up with a hammer and chisel and the Chekists are no longer Bolsheviks.

Look it up, it actually happened.

[JWB]

Several fires can be seen burning throughout the Tuapse Oil Terminal, one of the biggest oil terminals on the Black Sea, following a large-scale drone attack tonight by the Armed Forces of Ukraine against Krasnodar Krai, Russia.

https://x.com/sentdefender/status/1984800585246277707

 

[Roman Alymov]

21 hours ago, Stuart Galbraith said:

That would be the week after they took over, when they went round all the banks in Moscow and systematically robbed them. That still happens, the difference is they dont turn up with a hammer and chisel and the Chekists are no longer Bolsheviks.

Look it up, it actually happened.

Please excuse me for reminding you few basic facts from Russian Revolution history:

1) "They" who "took over" were not Bolsheviks, but loose coalition of many political parties and movements (including anarchists). Bolsheviks were not even majority and have only prevaled later (and it is debatable who of them was really "Bolsheviks" taking into account later political events - see for example the fate of Trotsky, one of 1917 leaders);

2) Capital back then was StPeterburg, not Moscow (so all central bank HQs were in StPete);

3) There were high-intensity street fighting in Moscow for at least a week (Kremlin carried the scars of heavy artillery fire untill mid-1930th)

4) ALL banks were nationalized and nerged with State Bank in Dec 1917 so there was no need to "systematically rob" them 

[Roman Alymov]

On 11/1/2025 at 7:42 PM, JWB said:

Russians trust foreign banks more than Russian banks.  

   Not "Russians" but "Russian criminals" who, as i have repeatedly explained here, are dependent on possibity to keep stolen assets away from reach of both Russian law and their own "business parthners". Western banks is ideal safe haven for corrupt capitals.

On 11/1/2025 at 7:42 PM, JWB said:

Why does Russia have rotten banks? 

   I can't say "Russia have rotten banks" (at least, not to Silicon Valley Bank&Co level) but we have to remember that "Russians who trust foreign banks" and owners of Russian banks are mostly the same persons. The main danger for any bank in Russia is own leadership taking assets abroad and then fleeing. The more isolated we are from West - the safer is Russian banking system.

[Sinistar]

they cannot just take that much cash and deposit it into a western bank account

in the united states there is an automatic tripwire by law where any amount over $10,000 is automatically flagged for review

or if the client is a politically connected person- because people in politics are high risk for corruption and invite further scrutiny and by law must be flagged for suspicious movement of money indicative of money laundering

and coming from a jurisdiction known to have much more lax controls and is known to be corrupt

 

and chartered bank members all share information and have sanctioned lists and other tools when trying to identify who their customers are

 

so being a foreign politician or politically connected person or high risk individual and moving large sums of cash is like trying to sell famous artwork stolen from a museum- it is actually difficult to unload or resell 

 

so they may try going through multiple channels, using mules, using certain legal instruments to obscure the source and destination of cash or bribe someone on the other end which is probably not too likely at least in the united states

 

by now probably just about anyone connected to the leadership in russia is already sanctioned and being watched

which is why the sanctions have diminishing returns after a point

[Stuart Galbraith]

1 hour ago, Roman Alymov said:

Please excuse me for reminding you few basic facts from Russian Revolution history:

1) "They" who "took over" were not Bolsheviks, but loose coalition of many political parties and movements (including anarchists). Bolsheviks were not even majority and have only prevaled later (and it is debatable who of them was really "Bolsheviks" taking into account later political events - see for example the fate of Trotsky, one of 1917 leaders);

2) Capital back then was StPeterburg, not Moscow (so all central bank HQs were in StPete);

3) There were high-intensity street fighting in Moscow for at least a week (Kremlin carried the scars of heavy artillery fire untill mid-1930th)

4) ALL banks were nationalized and nerged with State Bank in Dec 1917 so there was no need to "systematically rob" them 

Quite well aware of it thanks.

Well I misremembered, it wasnt Moscow, it was anywhere there was a safety deposit box and it started a little later, and went on for a lot longer than I remembered. This is from a Peoples Tragedy by Orlando Figes, page 527. 

'The war against the bourgeouisie was paralleled by a number of Boshevik decrees sanctioning the 'looting of the looters'. Soviet officials bearing flimsy warrants would go around  bourgeois houses confiscating typewriters, furniture, clothes and valuables 'for the revolution'. Factories were taken out of private ownership, shares and bonds were annulled, and the law of private inheritance was later abolished. Banks were nationalized and the holders of accounts were restricted to withdrawals of no more than 1000 roubles per month (a sum that was soon made worthless by hyperinflation). The owners of bank safe deposits were ordered to appear with their keys so that hte boxes could be inspected. foreign money, gold and silver and all over precious items were subject to confiscation. During the first six months of 1918, more than 35000 deposit boxes were inspected. Countess Meshcherskaia gives a vivid description of the sailor placed in charge of the operation at her local bank:

Around his chest was wrapped a belt of machine gun cartridges and from his holster, at his side, one could just make out the handle of his revolver. Young and broad shoulder, with his eyes wide open from the conciousness that he was performing and important task, he tried to make his large and friendly face look menacing by frowning at us. he didnt have the slightest notion about precious jewels but knew only one thing: the state needed gold.

From their opened safe, he took several handfuls of items - Jewels, diamond monograms, silver crucifixes, and even a Faberge egg- and piled them up on a table. Several times he paused 'to gaze admiringly at this mountain of booty'.

 

Nationalised or not, that doesnt strike me as 'taxation.'

And in a real sense, this is still the Russia you still inhabit. You dont have funds, except those subject to the whim of what the authorities say you can have. Look for example what happened to Hermitage.  Look at how many Oligarchs have been dethroned.

Navalny agreed with LItvinenko you have a Mafia state. Dont kid yourself because the Bolsheviks went the way of the dodo, that the states attitude to money (and hence the mismanaged economy which is on the brink of imploding) doesnt still exist.

https://www.voanews.com/a/alexei-navalny-russia-run-mafia-system/3360956.html

Why precisely do you think all of them put such large sums abroad? Because your financial system is still the mess Lenin bequeathed you. The Chekists didnt change, just because the flag did.

Edited November 3, 2025 by Stuart Galbraith

[JWB]

11 hours ago, Roman Alymov said:

Not "Russians" but "Russian criminals"

As Sinistar has explained "dirty" money cannot be moved that way. If those "criminals" have stolen the money you write about they would have to put it somewhere else other than "western" banks. 

There has been no money stolen. Every body who purchases Russian exports has paid real money.

[JWB]

Unknown drones attacked the Rosneft oil refinery in Saratov last night. The refinery has been targeted multiple times this year. As always, local residents enjoyed the spectacle. So-called “Russian MoD” reported the destruction of 29 UAVs in the region overnight.

https://x.com/wartranslated/status/1985259783125950766

 

[mkenny]

1 hour ago, JWB said:

Unknown drones attacked the Rosneft oil refinery in Saratov last night. The refinery has been targeted multiple times this year. As always, local residents enjoyed the spectacle. So-called “Russian MoD” reported the destruction of 29 UAVs in the region overnight.

https://x.com/wartranslated/status/1985259783125950766

 

So if this plant is (say) 5% of Russian output and has been hit (say) 10 times does that mean 50% of Russian output is gone?

 

[Josh]

1 hour ago, mkenny said:

So if this plant is (say) 5% of Russian output and has been hit (say) 10 times does that mean 50% of Russian output is gone?

 

No, it just means the effort is sustained, unlike the 2024 campaign. In fact I would say several attacks per week against refineries and pumping stations are the new normal, with that number only increasing as more and longer ranged resources become available. Actual Russian crude output and distillate production is impossible to determine in open source; it is probably exceedingly difficult even for nation states to determine with any precision.