Dr. Fred Hoffman, Lieutenant Colonel (ret.)

Lifelong HUMINTer, U.S. Army FAO 🇩🇪 & 🇨🇳, military attaché and Info Warrior. Counter-disinformation. Prof of Intelligence Studies. Politically centrist.

[Dr. Fred Hoffman, Lieutenant Colonel (ret.) @InfoAgeStrategy]

It has been a challenge for Westerners to comprehend how the Russian people could continue to support Vladimir Putin and his unsuccessful, four-year-long "Special Military Operation" in Ukraine. I examined that exact question from the perspective of Geert Hofstede's Six Dimensions of National Culture.

I am very pleased to report that an article I wrote and presented at the MakeLearn/TIMM conference in Ljubljana, Slovenia in May of this year this subject was just published in their conference proceedings:

Hoffman, F. P. (2026). Russian popular attitudes towards Putin’s war on Ukraine as viewed through the prism of Russian national culture. Proceedings of the Management, Knowledge, and Learning International Conference, Ljubljana, Slovenia, 309-328, https://t.co/QugfSDiVfZ

[Dr. Fred Hoffman, Lieutenant Colonel (ret.) @InfoAgeStrategy]

Wow, Ukraine (which no longer even has a Navy) is sinking Russian Navy ships in the Sea of Finland! That’s impressive.

[UAVoyager🇺🇦 @CrimeanVoyager]

🔥 Last night still had a surprise in store for russia.

Ukraine’s SBU struck the Naro-Fominsk, a Buyan-M missile corvette carrying Kalibr and Oniks cruise missiles, in the Gulf of Finland.

russian warship, go fuck yourself.

[Ashley Duffany 🇺🇸🇺🇦 @ashley_duffany]

Happy 251st Birthday to the @USMC 🇺🇸

U.S. History teacher fun fact 👩‍🏫:

The traditional birthplace of the Marines is Tun Tavern in Philadelphia... because apparently founding an elite fighting force at a bar is the most American thing ever😂🍻

[D.Radka, #NAFO 🇨🇿🤝🇺🇦 @DakdaR22]

"We will go the farther, the more resources we have for this..

Until the territorial integrity of Ukraine is restored, there will be problems inside Russia.”

- Budanov 🇺🇦

[Dr. Fred Hoffman, Lieutenant Colonel (ret.) @InfoAgeStrategy]

Russia must -- and WILL be -- defeated in its attempts to eradicate Ukraine.

Russia has a long-overdue date with destiny; there was no accountability after 1991 for the excesses of the communist era. There MUST now be accountability for the excesses of Putin's authoritarian kleptocracy era.

The Russian people deserve this -- so do Russia's long-suffering neighbors.

[Johanna Nyman @JohannaNyman5]

Russian negotiator Vladimir Medinsky: “Every inch of Russian land will be returned to Russia, one way or another.”

In the Kremlin’s revisionist worldview, that means all of Ukraine.

Diplomacy is futile. Russia must be defeated, not appeased.

[Dr. Fred Hoffman, Lieutenant Colonel (ret.) @InfoAgeStrategy]

@codeofvets Happy Veterans Day to you as well! God has plans for you -- not to worry!

[Rep. Don Bacon 🇺🇸✈️🏍️⭐️🎖️ @RepDonBacon]

The U.S. should help Ukraine acquire more modern F-16s to help defend its cities from Russia’s daily bombings. The older F-16s can be outmatched by Russia’s fighters… the newer versions will give Ukraine the advantage.
https://t.co/Ofz0yAMZ5b

[Anton Gerashchenko @Gerashchenko_en]

Retired General Wesley K. Clark:

The Ukrainians are in a tough position, but you've got to put pressure on Putin if you want a solution. You can't put the pressure on Ukraine. They can't give in. They're fighting for their national existence. And they understand Putin very well, much better than we do.

Putin is not a nice guy. He's not a humanitarian. He's a cold-hearted intelligence agent, one of the best that's ever come through the Soviet system. And he knows what he's doing. He's manipulating. He's coercing. He's attacking our allies. And he's trying to break up NATO and get the United States to give up on Europe.

So you've got to put the pressure on Putin.

Putin's not going to deliver for us when President Trump sees President Xi and President Putin.

If we deliver Ukraine, Putin's going to stab us right in the back.

He's not, and he's not going to be, a friend of America. He's definitely using the Iranians, propping them up, giving them weapons, technology and targets to go after.

[Dr. Fred Hoffman, Lieutenant Colonel (ret.) @InfoAgeStrategy]

Stubb is correct on all counts here.

[D.Radka, #NAFO 🇨🇿🤝🇺🇦 @DakdaR22]

- Alexander Stubb:

" I think we need to make clear to the Russians and everyone else that there are a few things that are completely off the table in these negotiations.

One is EU membership. It is not Russia who decides on EU membership. It is the European Union who does that.

Two is NATO. It is not Russia that decides on NATO membership. It is the Alliance itself.

Three is Ukrainian defence. It is not Russia that decides on what Ukraine has by its border, when, where, and how.

And four: European security arrangements ... or order. It’s not Russia that decides on that. We already have a European security order and should stick to it."

................

It should be clear enough! 🤷‍♀️

He is one of the strong leaders.😉
Europe needs more such firm opinions.👍

[Ron DeSantis @RonDeSantis]

You mean you can actually reduce spending and debt?

[Dr. Fred Hoffman, Lieutenant Colonel (ret.) @InfoAgeStrategy]

DO IT!

[Jay in Kyiv @JayinKyiv]

If not restrained by the US, Ukraine could wipe out Russia's entire refinery sector, completely collapsing the Kremlin's war effort.

Russian economist Vyacheslav Shiryaev explains that Ukraine needs only 2-3 weeks to get the job done.

[Dr. Fred Hoffman, Lieutenant Colonel (ret.) @InfoAgeStrategy]

There is no excuse for bombing a school. None. It is a war crime, plain and simple.

I am 100% confident that Ukraine's military intelligence will be as diligent and thorough in hunting down these war criminals as Mossad has been in locating and eradicating terrorists.

However long it takes, wherever these cockroaches try to hide, it won't matter.

[Adrian P 🇷🇴🇺🇦🇪🇺 @AdrianP_doc]

❗️The GUR (Ukrainian Military Intelligence) already knows the names of the Russian killers involved in the airstrike on the school in Komsomolske.

At least 53 people were killed, and over fifty are still missing.

According to military intelligence, the strike on Komsomolske was planned by Colonel Fyodor Vladimirovich Zubakov, the head of the fire support group of the staff of the "Dnepr" grouping of the Russian army.

Four Su-34 aircraft were used to carry out the war crime.

The tactical aviation group No. 5, formed on the basis of the 11th and 559th aviation regiments, was involved in the bombing.

 The crews are:

* Captain Yeliseyev, Serhiy Oleksandrovych;
* Captain Zverev, Dmytro Andriyovych;
* Senior Lieutenant Plotnikov, Rodion Serhiyovych;
* Senior Lieutenant Ignatiev, Mykyta Viktorovych;
* Senior Lieutenant Sokolenko, Maksym Viktorovych;
* Lieutenant Perekhrest, Vadym Olehovych.

The crew of another Russian aircraft is being identified.

They will be punished

[Caolan @CaolanReports]

russian refineries burn so often is doesn’t even make the news anymore.

There’s a very real chance russia could implode just like it did in the 90s. It’s a very young and fragile state despite what it pretends to be.

There’s only so long you can run an empire on bullshit

[Dr. Fred Hoffman, Lieutenant Colonel (ret.) @InfoAgeStrategy]

We sat back for three years and waited for the Europeans to sort out the mess in Bosnia-Hercegovina. How did THAT work out?

Short answer: It didn't. We had to get directly involved in 1995 and bomb the Bosnian Serbs to the negotiating table. (We also armed and advised the Serbs, whose Operation Storm successfully recaptured much of the territory they had previously lost.)

[UAVoyager🇺🇦 @CrimeanVoyager]

Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces just set a new record.

750 russian occupiers demilitarized in a single day.

🔥 A new all-time record.

[Dr. Fred Hoffman, Lieutenant Colonel (ret.) @InfoAgeStrategy]

@JohannaNyman5 He'll have the battlefield staying power of a ballpark hot dog mustard burp.

[Dr. Fred Hoffman, Lieutenant Colonel (ret.) @InfoAgeStrategy]

@vtchakarova Nice!

[Dr. Fred Hoffman, Lieutenant Colonel (ret.) @InfoAgeStrategy]

Both Republican and Democratic administrations have had horribly disappointing Ukraine policies.

Do better.

[Roman Sheremeta 🇺🇸🇺🇦 @rshereme]

Ukraine was betrayed by both Democrats and Republicans.

Recently, Obama said that Trump “betrayed Ukraine.” He should definitely look in the mirror first.

I remember very well what happened in 2014, when Ukraine was attacked by russia and Crimea was annexed. What did Obama do? Nothing! Even worse, he heavily pressured Ukraine’s government not to resist the russian military invasion of Crimea. He also refused to send U.S. defensive weapons to Ukraine.

But he did provide blankets to Ukrainian troops instead. And yes, he imposed some laughable sanctions.

And guess who actually reversed that policy? Yes, Trump. Of course, he did it not out of the goodness of his heart, but rather because he was pressured to do so. Still, he gave Ukraine Javelins.

Obama’s response to russia’s aggression against Georgia was even more despicable. Soon after, he basically ceded Syria to Putin. And all of this under the so-called “reset policy” with russia. So Obama should be the last person to ever mention “betrayal.”

What about Biden? Well, please remember that the Biden administration (Burns, Sullivan, Blinken) actively pressured Ukraine not to attack oil refineries in russia. U.S. officials even accused Ukraine of potentially committing “war crimes” by striking russian oil infrastructure.

Why am I saying this now?

I don’t want Ukrainians to have any illusions about Democrats controlling Congress. I do think they will be better than Trump. It is very unlikely that they will side with Putin as Trump did. But given the history, my hopes are not high.

P.S. In the photo, a young Senator Obama visiting Ukraine in 2005 to make sure that Ukraine has destroyed its defensive weapons.

[Dr. Fred Hoffman, Lieutenant Colonel (ret.) @InfoAgeStrategy]

@NataliaAntonova Somme people need to learn some history...

https://t.co/FJeeti3Sp7

[Dr. Fred Hoffman, Lieutenant Colonel (ret.) @InfoAgeStrategy]

@LesiaLVD I have no plausible explanation for the willingness of Trump and his administration to lick Putin’s behind. It makes no sense at all.

[Dr. Fred Hoffman, Lieutenant Colonel (ret.) @InfoAgeStrategy]

1. The Trump administration should have done a much better (and more effective) job of explaining to the American people not only why the war with Iran was necessary, but necessary at that particular point in time.

2. Our going-in objectives should have been clear, and clearly understood.

3. We should have fought the war in such a way that we could achieve our going-in objectives. (If that's not possible, why start a war in the first place?)

4. This was never going to be a war settled by negotiations; the only acceptable outcome had to be unconditional surrender and the substitution of the Iranian regime with a palatable replacement.

5. The ceasefire accomplished nothing positive for us.

[Ari Fleischer @AriFleischer]

Mr. Vice-President,

Please allow me to present a different perspective.

The problem was not the Iran War. It was the cease fire.

If you start a war, you need to win it and finish it – otherwise don’t start it.

This war should have been over six months ago, with the Strait of Hormuz wide open and oil flowing. The second and third tiers of Iranian leadership should have been destroyed, and we should have supported the pro-western forces who could have taken leadership. We stood on the brink of a new, more peaceful Middle East - and then we blinked. We had a chance not only to deny Iran nuclear weapons, but to get rid of the world’s biggest supporter of terrorism.

Instead, we had a cease fire, which was followed by months of will we or won’t we finish the job. Every day was a different message. There still is. Is the war over? Is it about to begin? No one knows. There is confusion and inconsistency.

In June 2025, America was not involved. This was an Israel vs Iran issue.

No one forced the United States to attack Iran then, or in February of 2026. It was a decision made by President Trump. In my opinion, it was the right decision.

Once the decision was made, we should not have stopped until the regime fell. But instead, you negotiated a cease fire that didn’t last, didn’t work and left us in no man’s land, with higher prices and our troops still deployed.

Our troops could have been home, the Navy returned to its bases, a peaceful regime in place , new alliances forged, and gas prices below $3.00 a gallon.

No, Mr. Vice President. It’s not the war. It’s the so-called cease fire.