Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Red lights blinking on democracy’s dashboard

It’s a new day. Light all those Biden polls of young people on fire and throw away the ashes.

I’ve spoken to my cat about this, but it doesn’t seem to do any good.

🎶 Those boots were made for mockin’ 🎵

You don’t get to peddle hatred on saturday and offer condolences on sunday.

He seems like a smart guy, but JFC, what a dick!

I’m just a talker, trying to find a channel!

That’s my take and I am available for criticism at this time.

“Everybody’s entitled to be an idiot.”

When we show up, we win.

I didn’t have alien invasion on my 2023 BINGO card.

It’s the corruption, stupid.

Thanks for reminding me that Van Jones needs to be slapped.

“In the future, this lab will be a museum. don’t touch it.”

I’d hate to be the candidate who lost to this guy.

Fuck these fucking interesting times.

Accused of treason; bitches about the ratings. I am in awe.

We’ve had enough carrots to last a lifetime. break out the sticks.

We need to vote them all out and restore sane Democratic government.

This has so much WTF written all over it that it is hard to comprehend.

Fani Willis claps back at Trump chihuahua, Jim Jordan.

Fuck the extremist election deniers. What’s money for if not for keeping them out of office?

If you are still in the GOP, you are either an extremist yourself, or in bed with those who are.

And now I have baud making fun of me. this day can’t get worse.

You are here: Home / Foreign Affairs / War for Ukraine Day 178: It Appears Someone Tried to Assassinate Alexander Dugin Earlier Today

War for Ukraine Day 178: It Appears Someone Tried to Assassinate Alexander Dugin Earlier Today

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Is it possible that Darya Dugin’s car had some sort of mechanical flaw that just caused it to blow up today when she was supposed to give her father a ride back from a festival outside of Moscow? Sure, it’s possible. Is it plausible? Maybe, but I don’t believe in coincidence. The BBC has reported the cause as a bomb. I’ll keep an eye out for updated reporting.

Dugin’s daughter was as genocidal as her father in regard to Ukraine:

One quick point on Dugin before we move on. Dugin’s influence has waned over the years. While he did have an influence on Putin at one point, those days are long past. Dugin’s use to Putin’s government, if use is even the right word here, is in his continued efforts as a polemicist and propagandist. The objective of targeting him for assassination, successfully or not, was not to remove a power player off the board, but to further reinforce the Psychological Operations objectives that the Ukrainians have been working in Crimea and other Russian occupied parts of Ukraine for the past several weeks. Specifically, that no where is safe, that no matter where you are, what you do, we can get to you. If you want to see what this effect looks like, just watch Dugin’s reaction:

Here is President Zelenskyy’s nightly address, both the video and the English transcript (emphasis mine):

Dear Ukrainians I wish you health!

We are actively preparing for the new week, which is very important for all of us, for our country. Our Flag Day, our Independence Day is ahead. The commemoration of veterans of the war for the freedom of Ukraine is ahead. The Crimean platform is ahead. This year it is really special. This year, one can literally feel in the air of Crimea that the occupation there is temporary, and Ukraine is returning.

We will definitely remember our legends – this is and will be a Ukrainian tradition. Let us remember those whose lives have become a part of our national history, which can never be erased by anyone – by no enemy.

Next week, as usual, important negotiations and visits of true friends of Ukraine are planned…

A significant milestone is ahead – six months of this full-scale invasion. The war that changed everything for Ukraine, for Europe, and for the world. Of course, there will be time to tell about it. And tell in detail. But let’s still think today, take a look, assess the path we have taken. How much has been changed – what almost everyone in the world thought was impossible to change. How much it was managed to win, wrest from the Russian army, which for decades was thought to be invincible.

I remember the first days of the full-scale invasion, I remember what various “advisors” told me and advised me then… I know that many of them are now ashamed of the words that were said then.

Since February 24, during these 178 days, Ukrainians have proven that our people are invincible, our defenders are invincible. And I thank everyone who showed their strength during this time, I thank everyone who fought and is fighting for Ukraine, I thank everyone who fights and helps our soldiers, our state.

Our unity, our faith in ourselves made it possible to pass these six months and approach this week, which is always important for every Ukrainian.

We have always said and we say honestly: for the sake of Ukraine’s victory, we still need to fight, we still need to do a lot, we still need to persevere and endure, unfortunately, a lot of pain.

But Ukrainians can feel proud of themselves, their country, and their heroes. And let’s all feel it together today – let’s feel the power of our people, our beautiful people.

This power has always been and will be – as long as we believe in ourselves, as long as we preserve our unity, as long as we fight for Ukraine, and as long as we work for our common Ukrainian victory.

We should be aware that this week Russia may try to do something particularly nasty, something particularly cruel. Such is our enemy. But in any other week during these six months, Russia did the same thing all the time – disgusting and cruel.

One of the key tasks of the enemy is to humiliate us, Ukrainians, to devalue our capabilities, our heroes, to spread despair, fear, to spread conflicts… Therefore, it is important never, for a single moment, to give in to this enemy pressure, not to wind oneself up, not to show weakness.

We must all be strong enough to resist any enemy provocations – as much as it takes to make the occupiers answer for all their blows and terror – for Kharkiv and Donbas, for Azovstal and Mykolaiv, for the filtration camps, for Bucha , Irpin for all cities… We must all be strong enough to endure and go all the way to Ukrainian victory.

That’s why we stay together! We help each other! We restore the destroyed! We fight for all our people. And we cheer for those who represent Ukraine, today – definitely for Usyk, our boy!

We believe in ourselves! We believe in Ukraine!

Glory to each and every one of you!

Glory to Ukraine!

The Usyk in President Zelenskyy’s remarks is Oleksandr Usyk. Usyk retained his unified heavyweight boxing championship earlier today:

Here is the Ukrainian MOD’s operational update for today:

The operational update regarding the russian invasion on 06.00, on August 20, 2022

Glory to Ukraine! The one hundred seventy eights (178) day of the heroic resistance of the Ukrainian people to a russian military invasion continues.

The situation remained unchanged in the Volyn, Polissya, and Siversky directions. The enemy shelled civil and military infrastructure in the areas of Bilopilla and Krasnopilla, Sumy oblast, from barrel artillery. The enemy also carried out aerial reconnaissance by UAVs.

In the Slobozhansky direction, the enemy is conducting combat operations with the aim of holding the occupied areas and preventing a counteroffensive by units of the Defense Forces, and in some places is trying to improve the tactical position.

In the Kharkiv direction, the enemy carried out fire damage from barrel and rocket artillery in the areas of the settlements of Chuhuiv, Zolochiv, Pytomnyk, Husarivka, Sosnivka, Ruski Tyshky, Korobochkyne, Shestakove, Duvanka and Prudyanka. Actively conducted aerial reconnaissance of the UAVs.

Carried out airstrikes near Lebyazhe and Zalyman. It led offensive battles in the Borshchova region, was unsuccessful, left.

In the Slovyansk direction, shelling from tanks, barrel artillery, and multiple rocket launchers was recorded near Dovgenke, Sulyhivka, and Mazanivka.

In the vicinity of Novodmytrivka, Virnopilla and Kurulka, enemy units tried to conduct assaults, were repulsed and retreated.

In the Kramatorsk direction, the enemy fired from barrel and rocket artillery near Rozdolivka, Sydorove, Spirne, and Pryshyb. Conducted aerial reconnaissance in the area of ​​hostilities. Near Ivano-Daryivka, it is trying to launch an offensive, hostilities continue.

In the Bakhmut direction, civil infrastructure was damaged by fire in the areas of Zaitseve, Bakhmutske, Vesele, Bakhmut, Andriivka, Kodema and Mayorsk settlements.

The occupiers carried out offensive and assault actions in the areas of the settlements of Bakhmut, Zaitseve and Kodema, without success, the hostilities continue.

In the Avdiivka region, the occupiers used tanks, barrel and rocket artillery in the areas of Novobakhmutivka, Nevelske, Neskuchne, Alexandropil, Keramik, Kermenchyk and Pisky.

Enemy aircraft operated near Maryinka. The enemy conducted aerial reconnaissance by UAVs in the areas of hostilities in the specified direction. Attacks in the area of ​​Opytne and Mayorsk, without success, fighting continues.

On the Novopavlivske direction, shelling was recorded near Volodymyrivka, Vuhledar and Prechystivka. The enemy carried out assaults in the area of ​​the village of Zolota Nyva, had no success, retreated.

In the Zaporihzhia direction, the enemy used artillery and tanks to shell the areas of Bilohirya, Novodanilivka, Novopil, Chervone, Vremivka, Charivne and Olhivske settlements.

In the South Buh direction, the enemy’s main efforts are focused on preventing the advance of our troops. The occupiers are taking measures to replace the losses of personnel and equipment. The enemy shelled civilian and military infrastructure in the areas of Prybuzke, Luch, Tavriyske, Novohrihorivka, Olenivka, Novoselivka, Blahodatne, Vesely Kut, Shiroke, Yakovlivka, Bila Krynytsia, Andriivka and Otradne settlements. UAV continues to be actively involved in aerial reconnaissance.

The enemy’s personnel is demoralized, which is due to the constant postponement of their rotation dates and deception with promised payments. This leads to the refusal of the occupiers to participate in hostilities.

We believe in the Armed Forces of Ukraine! Together we will win!

Glory to Ukraine!

Here is today’s assessment from the British MOD:

They did not post an updated map today.

Here is former NAVDEVGRU Squadron Leader Chuck Pfarrer’s updated map and analysis for the battle of Kherson:

As has been the case for a couple of weeks, the Ukrainians continue to increase their op tempo. This increase in activity runs the gamut from artillery strikes to drone strikes to Ukrainian SOF and Ukrainian partisans attacking Russian targets in Russian occupied Crimea. This morning they hit the Black Sea Fleet headquarters in Sevastopol.

The Russians immediately put to sea to get the fleet out of range. If that is even possible without abandoning the Black Sea.

And someone is still targeting Russian facilities in Russia:

Today the Ukrainians decided to further rub Russia’s nose in their poor performance:

That’s enough for tonight.

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Open thread!

Reader Interactions

78Comments

  2. 2.

    Mathguy

    As always, thanks for taking the time to assemble and post this information. It is much appreciated.

  3. 3.

    Gin & Tonic

    Somehow I was reminded of the old saw about a busload of lawyers going off a cliff, with one empty seat. A real shame, what happened in Moscow. Darya Platonova must have been careless with her cigarettes.

  4. 4.

    Damien

    I’m gonna go back and read the post, but I just have to say that I’m 100% for Nazis and genocidal white supremacists of all persuasions getting blowed up real good. Especially media Nazis.

  5. 5.

    Alison Rose 💙🌻💛

    Let me tell you, that Kyiv parade of destroyed russian tanks gave me joy today. Freaking brilliant. I do also love the use of the phrase “storages caught fire” – it’s giving In Soviet russia… vibes.

    Next door to my city is a town called Sebastopol, and every time I see Sevastopol in the news, I blink a few times.

    Thank you as always, Adam.

  8. 8.

    mali muso

    Just received word that the Ukrainian students that my institution is supporting have arrived! Being part of helping young people be able to continue their education safely feels like one concrete thing, small in scope but hopefully meaningful to them.

  9. 9.

    RaflW

    Seems embarrassing that the Russian Navy has to scramble their fleet from a port in an area they’d still have full control of if they hadn’t started this bigger hot war six months ago.

    Also, is any other Navy in the world still actively using a war vessel over 100 y.o.?

  10. 10.

    Gin & Tonic

    Independence Day is next Wednesday, August 24. Typically you get military parades down that street in the videos – it’s a majestic boulevard, the heart of Kyiv. I think this stationary parade makes a fine substitute.

  12. 12.

    dmsilev

    @RaflW: Technically, yes. HMS Victory and USS Constitution are still in commission and are still used…

    …for various ceremonial things, but nothing practical.

  15. 15.

    Spanky

    @RaflW:

    Also, is any other Navy in the world still actively using a war vessel over 100 y.o.?

    Well, the US has the Constitution, still on active duty. I don’t believe that it’s been used to raise sunken frigates, however.

  16. 16.

    RaflW

    Noted Putin fan Michael Tracey has wasted no time trying to plant the idea that this is some ‘US proxy forces’ hit. He does it in that “I’m just sayin’ what they’ll think” sort of way, but it’s transparently pro-Russia bullshittery/frame-setting.

  17. 17.

    Ken

    @RaflW: Depends what you mean by “actively”. The US has a few sailing ships of that age (or older) that are used for training.

    But I don’t know why the Navy trains its personnel for sailing vessels; anyone know?

  18. 18.

    RaflW

    @Spanky: Y’know, I’ve toured that vessel! I didn’t even think of that but it is in active (training) duty.

    eta: @Ken you and Spanky are great, but seriously, isn’t it a bit remarkable that Russia is using a 107 year old cruiser? I know the US keeps older ships in mothballs for quite a while just in case, but I’d think our oldest reactivatable gunships by now must be post WWII?

  21. 21.

    Cameron

    Wonder what the average age of ships in that fleet is.  The Moskva was supposed to be the flagship, and it was pretty old; now this 107-year-old museum piece in active service….I mean, I know the Black Sea Fleet has a long history, but that doesn’t mean it has to keep every ship it’s had since the 18th century.

  22. 22.

    Ken

    @RaflW: @Cameron: Watch, it’ll turn out the people in charge of the Black Sea fleet have been telling Putin* they’ve been building the latest-and-greatest vessels for years, while in reality everyone from the top down has been stealing the project blind.

    * And Yeltsin, and Gorbachev, and Brezhnev, and Khrushchev….

  23. 23.

    Another Scott

    “…107-year old Kommuna…”

    WTF??!

    Russian salvage ship Kommuna:

    From late 1917 Volkhov participated in the Civil War, serving the submarines of the Soviet Baltic Fleet, and on 31 December 1922 (just days after the founding of the USSR) she was renamed Kommuna.

    Raise and rebuild the USS Monitor!!11 There must not be a Civil War Ship Gap!

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  28. 28.

    dmsilev

    @Mike in NC: Eagle is a mere youth by comparison, dating from the 1930s. Built by the German Navy as a training ship, and then was war reparations to the US.

  31. 31.

    slybrarian

    There’s disturbing news coming out of Albania, where soldiers guarding a weapons factory were attacked while stopping three Russians from entering. Some sources are saying it was some kind of chemical weapon but it’s unclear if that means pepper spray or something worse. Putin’s used NBC stuff against dissidents in the UK and elsewhere before, to say nothing of people mysteriously falling out of windows, but attacking uniformed soldiers (even if it wasn’t the original intent of whatever they were doing) seems like a major escalation.

  32. 32.

    Jay

    @Ken:

    wind, weather, waves, team work, ship handling, many other aspects of seamanship.

    On any sailing vessel, you have to learn to deal with a whole bunch of things,

    That a Trump Boat parade won’t teach you.

  35. 35.

    Amir Khalid

    @slybrarian:

    Some questions come to mind. What kind of weapons does the factory make? Who were the Russians? Why were they trying to get into the factory?

    Do you have a link to the original story?

  39. 39.

    Benno

    A question for those in the cultural-linguistic know: the Reznikov tweet that ends “Buy nicotine patches, occupants!” It feels like it’s a savage dig, but…what? Am I being thick?

  43. 43.

    Yutsano

    @Benno: ​ Some of the explosions have been “blamed*” on smoking accidents.

    *I don’t recall now if the blame was something the Russian Defence Ministry actually claimed or if the claim was parody.

  45. 45.

    West of the Rockies

    So Russia still employs a World War I Era ship, a ship that was likely being built while Anastasia was still alive.   Bizarre.

  47. 47.

    ...now I try to be amused

    The Kommuna is the world’s oldest operational naval ship. She was built as a submarine tender (when subs were a lot smaller) but was used for salvage early on. As an auxiliary vessel she doesn’t need performance to remain viable, she just needs maintainability. I do wonder how much extra work she requires over a modern ship.

  50. 50.

    NutmegAgain

    @dmsilev: USS Constitution is still a commissioned warship in the US Navy. Those who serve aboard her would differ from your assessment. Not to mention all the good people at the museum. I’ve worked with a number of them, and they are first-rate.

  53. 53.

    Andrya

    This may come across as a leftie version of Q-Anon conspiracy theories- but am I the only one to consider the possibility (in my opinion a strong possibility) that the Dugin bombing was a false flag operation carried out by russia?  Leaving the laws of war aside, it seems to me that the calculus for Ukraine comes down to “don’t do it”-  the project of getting the russians off balance because nowhere is safe seems to me to be far outweighed by the problem of giving russia an excuse to say that the UK government is terrorist.  Surely there are military targets in russia that UK could have hit- especially given the sorry state of the russian army.

    If anyone thinks putin wouldn’t harm his friends, I’d say, recent history indicates there is NOTHING putin would not do.

    Dugin and Dugina were vile propagandists for genocide, and I would not regard assassinating them as immoral.  (We executed Alfred Rosenberg at the Nuremberg trials, after all.). It does, however seem really unwise/counterproductive on the UK side, but highly advantageous on putin’s side.  Basic law of politics 101:  never, ever, give the other side a martyr.

    I’d love to hear comments on this, but especially Adam’s or Carlo’s.

  56. 56.

    bjacques

    The responses on Twitter to the car bombing include a picture of a pack of Lucky Strikes (“smoking accident”) and another, even more apropos photo of Belomorkanal papirosy (sp?), commemorating the digging of the canal from St.Petersburg to the White Sea, by convicts, who were basically worked to death. If you wanted to put maximum hurt on Russia’s biggest “blood and soil” philosopher, you could do worse than to have his blood fertilize holy Russian soil, preferably while he’s still alive to appreciate it.

    But there’s also a lot of doubt that Ukraine was behind this, despite the propaganda value, since 99.9% of their operations l behind enemy lines were of a much more practical nature, aimed at materially shortening the war. Personal assassination of non-military is more in Russia’s purview, and a carbombing in Moscow recalls the “biznizman” wars of the 1990s. Sasha or Dasha could have had more local enemies, ones who figure neither one enjoys any more the sort of protection they may have had in the past.

    Anyhow, it’s not often cheerleading for genocide blows back so close to home, so savor it. Unless there are grandkids, Dugin genes won’t be enriching the pan-Slavic pool after all.

  57. 57.

    Geminid

    @Andrya: I don’t think it is farfetched to assign the Dugin blast to non-Ukrainian actors. I don’t know enough about internal Russian feuds to say who, but this bombing feels to me like a gangland attack from a rival.

  58. 58.

    JessIsAStar

    @Andrya:

    Well if you’re going down into the conspiracy vortex so am I.  The second I read about it, it struck me that it fitted Putin’s MO for provoking the Second Chechen War.

    Thank you, Mr Silverman, for your website. I’ve been lurking for a while but only now felt enough courage to come and post, when everyone here is informed and knowledgeable.

    Hope everyone has a good day!

  59. 59.

    Frank Wilhoit

    Why does anyone ever think that regimes or ideologies can be “decapitated”?  There are no “Great Men”.  This is as if you should scrag the CEO of Philip Morris and expect cigarettes to disappear from the market as a result.  Ideology is an addiction: that is the problem.

  60. 60.

    oldster

    @Frank Wilhoit:

    You don’t have to accept the Great Man theory of history to accept that some Horrible Men are more charismatic and effective than others.

    Hitler did not just whistle up a fascist Volk; the roots of German fascism long precede him. Neither did Trump create MAGA land: the soil was long prepared.

    But both monsters had or have special talents that are hard to replicate. Fundamentally mediocre men in many ways, they still have some mysterious demonic force that allows them to bend other people to their wills, even better people who know better.

    Few people have that extra demonic force. Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio would like to have it, and never will.

    Goebbels, Goering, Speer, none of them had it either. If Hitler had been sidelined years earlier, the Third Reich would not have occurred.

  61. 61.

    Frankensteinbeck

    Put me in the ‘I doubt Ukraine is responsible’ camp.  That killing civilians is Russia’s thing has been a valuable political point to them, and they have so many better actually military targets to demonstrate the ‘strike anywhere’ point. I guess Ukraine could have done it, but the logic leans against it.

    Although there’s the real possibility that Ukrainian command had nothing to do with it, but whoever has been operating in Ukraine’s favor in Russia thought it was a good idea.

  62. 62.

    Ken

    @Frank Wilhoit: Decapitation has been used for regime change, though — kill current leadership, install puppet. Russia planned to do just that in Ukraine earlier this year!

  63. 63.

    Geminid

    A Ukrainian disavowel of tbe Dugin hit, as reported by the NYT:

         “Ukraine certainly had nothing to do with yesterday’s explosion,” Mikhail Podolak, an advisor to Ukraine’s President, said in televised comments Sunday morning. “We are not a criminal state like the Russian Federation, much less a terrorist one.”

    This is not definitive proof of anything. But Ukraine’s actions have so far been focused and pragmatic, directed at Russia’s warmaking capacity. While Dugin would be an apt target if Ukraine was interested in vengeance, killing him would have little practical value. There could be psychological value but that could have been achieved with a strike at a miltary target in or near Moscow.

    Dugin may have crossed somebody in a powerful position, maybe the FSB or Putin himself. This attack seems more like retaliation by a Russian entity than a war measure by Ukraine.

  64. 64.

    Geminid

    @oldster: Hitler told his generals that he was forcing military action in 1939 because he was uncertain that he would still be around much longer to guide Germany.

    The idea had been that Germany would go to war, but not until 1941. That was Mussolini’s understanding.

  66. 66.

    Gin & Tonic

    Ukrainian Twitter is largely indifferent to the assassination, in contrast with its typical reaction after strikes on military objectives.

  67. 67.

    Frank Wilhoit

    @oldster: This thread is dead, but you are entirely mistaken.  The Nazi ideology emerged from the upheavals of the 19th Century and was fully formed, to within terminology, by the early 1870s.  The essential source here is Peter G. J. Pulzer, The Rise of Political Anti-Semitism in Germany and Austria [New York: Wiley, 1964].  Pulzer is good on the role of propaganda, but even he misses the point that the Jews were targets of convenience, chosen because they could be identified by sight (exactly like Blacks here).  No headbreaker has ever cared which heads they break.

  68. 68.

    oldster

    @Frank Wilhoit:

    Being entirely wrong takes more thoroughness and diligence than I’m capable of, but I think I was wrong at least to this extent:

    Your claim was about ideologies. My response was not about ideologies, but about effective political movements.

    Yes, the ideology of Nazism predated Hitler (and survives him, too). I conceded that in my first response.

    But ideologies need effective leaders before they can take over states.

    At any given time, in any given country, there are lots of ideologies afoot, with deeper or shallower historical roots and popular support. Most never become politically effective. Ideologies are not self-executing.

    That was the burden of my response. Since you had not claimed otherwise, I talked past you. For that mistake, I apologize.

  69. 69.

    Frank Wilhoit

    @oldster: We are not talking past each other, but approaching a goal from different angles.  The missing link is propaganda.  Propaganda is an amplifier; it has to have something to amplify.  (Nothing will induce me to use the word “spontaneous”.)  The point I am trying to make is that the propagandists choose the “leaders”.  Hitler was picked quite literally out of the gutter and would otherwise have stayed there.

    The most influential individual of the 20th Century was Alfred Harmsworth.  During the first full week of December 1916, he dismissed a British Prime Minister from office and selected his replacement.  Really, go look it up.  It has been all propaganda rule ever since.

  71. 71.

    Chief Oshkosh

    @Ken: Maybe for similar reasons the USAF Academy starts a lot of cadets in sailplanes? We may have “mastered” the medium (the seas, the air, etc.), but we’re still in the medium.

  72. 72.

    Sister Golden Bear

    @Chief Oshkosh:

    Maybe for similar reasons the USAF Academy starts a lot of cadets in sailplanes? We may have “mastered” the medium (the seas, the air, etc.), but we’re still in the medium.

    Sail-powered boats require much closer attention to the wind and waves — much as gliders do with wind and thermals — than powered vessels. So I can see why both can used to develop situational awareness about your environment. Large square-riggers, like the Coast Guard’s training ship, also require lots of team work and coordination to operate, which needless to say is also good training.

  73. 73.

    Ixnay

    @Chief Oshkosh:

     

    @Sister Golden Bear: yes indeed. As both a sailplane pilot and small boat sailor, I’ve long maintained that no one should be allowed in a stinkpot with more than say, 10 hp until they’ve demonstrated competency in a rowing boat, canoe, and small sail boat in various conditions.

  74. 74.

    RaflW

    @Ixnay: As someone who sails a 10 ft. sailboat and drives a 22ft pontoon with 115hp, I agree. My guests are often quietly surprised when we’re heading to the slip and say “should I do something?” and I say, please just sat seated — and we glide into the shorestation from 50′ with the tiniest tap of reverse thrust at the end.

  76. 76.

    J R in WV

    @RaflW: ​
     

    Guys, the 107 year old Russian ship is a salvage ship, not a war ship, nor a cruiser. It’s built to lift wreckage from the bottom of the water. Not to fight…

  77. 77.

    Bill Arnold

    @Frank Wilhoit:

    There are no “Great Men”.

    The most influential individual of the 20th Century was Alfred Harmsworth.

    You pointed out a Great Man. (Thanks! I’d never read his Wikipedia page before.)

    People are lousy at accurate attribution of causes (and causers, of whatever gender) of effects; many, like D.J.Trump, use a fame/limelight heuristic, because that is what motivates them and people that they notice.

  78. 78.

    Art

    The more times I see the video of Dugan looking at the burning vehicle with his daughter inside the more I think something isn’t right about his expression. Perhaps it is the eyes. Or the exaggerated pose of holding his head. It strikes me as a bit contrived.

    The setting and compactness of events. The chance presence of Dugin and his reaction. All seems a bit staged. Perhaps I’m just a little cynical.

    No proof, other than possible opportunity and a vague notion of motive, but it has crossed my mind that he blew up his own daughter. Prove me wrong. It strikes me just how much Russia, and Dugin, has invested in the myth of the Russian people being superior, but victimized by a morally inferior foe, Ukraine and the west in general.

    Yes, losing a daughter is a sacrifice but Russia has a willingness to sacrifice as one of the main defining characteristics.

    A call, and example, of sacrifice might serve to distract from failure and military incompetence in Ukraine and focus the Russian popular sentiment upon the insult to national pride and the need to sacrifice through national mobilization. National mobilization seems the only option not tried, short of nuclear weapons.

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