MORE: Putin is reportedly resisting pressure to reduce defense spending and end his war against Ukraine, despite increased warnings from economic officials about the unsustainable strain his war effort is putting on the Russian economy.
Putin’s unwillingness to cut defense spending and scale down his war effort suggests that Putin believes that he will be able to win the war in the near to medium term and that the Russian economy is able to hold on until then. ISW recently assessed that Putin has likely developed a false perception of the Russian military’s successes in Ukraine based on heavily exaggerated claims from the Russian high military command. Putin’s misunderstanding of the battlefield situation is likely contributing to his insistence that war spending remain high and to his commitment to continuing the war to achieve his goals militarily. Putin, in fact, faces a different problem, as reduced war spending would likely put sectors of the front at risk in the face of Ukrainian mid-range strike and counterattacks and allow Ukrainian forces to build upon their recent battlefield successes.
SEN. KELLY: I've spent 15 years working with Russian cosmonauts. Took me 5 years to understand what motivated them.
Number one, appearance that they were in charge of something. Two, who to blame when something goes wrong. Three, what to steal today. Only four, mission success.
I think as Ukrainians, as Americans, as Brits, we're often motivated by mission success. You want organization you work for to be successful, you want your country to be successful, you want British Army to be successful, I want US Navy to be successful, I want NASA to be successful.
That wasn't my experience with Russian cosmonauts I worked with. I'm talking about dozens of people that I knew well, what motivated them when they went to work every day.
At the top of the list was that they really cared about the appearance that they were in charge of something, not mission success. Now, whether they were really actually in charge of it or not didn't matter so much. Mission success wasn't even number two.
Number two on the list, I would say, was whether they knew who to blame when something went wrong, like placing the blame. Russians have a position in their Mission Control Center which is called "mistakes officer." When a Russian cosmonaut makes a mistake, they keep track of it and they take money out of their pay.
I would say the third thing, even before mission success, was what am I going to steal from my employer today. And we would talk about that. They were very open about this. And apparently there's a saying in Russian that if you didn't steal something at work that day, you did not have a good day.
For us, and I think everybody in this room here, mission success is the thing that matters more than anything else. And for the Russians I worked with, it might have been number four on the list. So I actually was not that surprised about their incompetence.
La Crimea ormai è andata?
Ieri un aereo governativo è decollato da Mosca, ha volato fino in Crimea ed è tornato subito a Mosca.
L'aereo, nello specifico l'RSD950 con base all'aeroporto Chkalovsky di Mosca, fa parte dello "squadrone di volo speciale", che serve per trasportare gli alti ufficiali militari e i politici.
Non essendoci politici, si ipotizza che possa aver evacuato generali dell'esercito, che iniziano a temere per come si stanno mettendo le cose.
Certo la Crimea non cadrà domani, ma la situazione è grave e iniziano a capirlo anche i russi...
Beijing's relentless bullying has forged an unbreakable alliance as Japan and the Philippines unite to draw a definitive line in the sand. Watching these two maritime neighbors lock arms in Tokyo sends an undeniable message that the free world will no longer stand by while China attempts to dominate the Pacific through intimidation.
In a stunning display of solidarity, Japanese Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako hosted a prestigious state banquet at the Imperial Palace to honor Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.. The high-profile event marked 70 years of diplomatic relations and gathered 90 elite guests, including Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.
But the true shockwave traveling back to Beijing is the explosive draft of their upcoming joint statement. Titled "Commonly Weaving the Future," the joint declaration points a finger directly at China's escalating hostility in the region.
The draft statement explicitly expresses grave concerns over the deteriorating situations in the East China Sea and South China Sea. In a direct rebuke of Beijing’s naval expansion, the text firmly opposes any unilateral attempts to alter the regional status quo through raw military force or coercion.
The alliance is also taking a firm stand against Beijing's weaponization of trade. The joint statement specifically targets economic coercion and arbitrary import-export restrictions that threaten to sabotage critical global supply chains.
President Marcos further solidified this united front by delivering a historic address to Japan’s National Diet. By transforming decades of history into a synchronized partnership, Tokyo and Manila are proving that Beijing's pressure tactics will only breed absolute, coordinated resistance.
#UnveiledChina #JapanPhilippinesAlliance #SouthChinaSea #EastChinaSea #Geopolitics #IndoPacific #SanaeTakaichi #FerdinandMarcosJr
The new Ferrari Luce is a huge departure from Ferrari’s core brand. Not sure I love the exterior, but the interior is full of stunning details. It shows real craft and a genuine reverence for old Ferraris. Jony Ive is still the goat.