mikko pietilä

Unbelievable! The #Ukrainian Army used a tiny quad-copter (FPV drone) to shoot down a Ka-52 attack helicopter of the #Russian Aerospace Forces. They just released its footage! Pilot of the helicopter has lost his life while its gunner ejected and survived.

A significant amount of current antipathy towards Russia is a function of the Cold War and the USA’s relationship (and conflicts) with the Soviet Union during that time. I think it is important to note what has changed since the collapse of the Soviet Union, as too many strategists act like the Soviet Union still exists. (Yes, I know this post will cause me to be inundated with NAFO nitwits accusing me of being a PutinPuppet™, but I encourage those who would do this to first state what parts of what I am about to say below are factually incorrect.) Here goes: 1. From 1946 to 1991, the Soviet Union was an existential threat to the USA. This was because the Soviet Union was at the forefront of a global movement to make every nation on Planet Earth a Communist satellite. Communism is antithetical to the American concept of liberty. Further, the Soviet Union’s possession of thermonuclear weapons made that “existential” concept a stark reality. 2. Because of point #1, Americans—particularly those who stood on the front lines of the Cold War—rightly feared and loathed the Soviet Union. That sentiment has in many ways carried over to today in the form of fear and loathing of Russia. 3. The modern fear and loathing of Russia in the USA was amplified greatly by the “Trump/Russia Collusion” hoax and the many, many reprises of that hoax by Democrats and the American media. 4. Russia in 2025 is a mere shadow of the former Soviet Union. It has lost most of the former Soviet states, the Warsaw Pact no longer exists, and the military, economic, informational and diplomatic might of Russia is exponentially less than that of the Soviet Union. 5. However, Russia still possesses the world’s largest arsenal of nuclear weapons, which means America should be circumspect about fomenting war with Russia. 6. Russia today is an oligarchy led by an objectively evil man in Vladimir Putin. There is very little about Russia’s government that Americans should accept or admire. However, in 2025 Russia is just one of MANY oligarchies ruled by objectively evil men, and as such its current government is commonplace and not at all unusual. 7. Russia and Ukraine have an exceptionally complex historical relationship of conflict and acquiescence that literally goes back thousands of years. 8. Russia’s historical memory is colored primarily by the specters of Napoleon and Hitler, and it has long believed a buffer zone on its western border is vitally important to its national survival, in much the same way the USA has always viewed the Monroe Doctrine as being essential for its national survival. Thus, the West’s overtures to Ukraine and the suggestion that it could join NATO are enormously threatening to Russia, for meaningful historical reasons I already mentioned. So, based on the above facts, I offer the following conclusions: -Russia in 2025 is nowhere near the threat to the West that the Soviet Union was, and it is a mistake to view Russia the same way the USA viewed the Soviet Union. -The Russian government is indistinguishable from many other nations possessing despotic governments with whom the USA has normalized relations. -Russia lacks the power to engage in military operations beyond its own borders. -Russia’s primary goal in Ukraine is to establish a buffer zone on its western border. There is no indication whatsoever that Russia possesses the ability or intent to conquer Europe. -Despite the above, provoking Russia militarily is unwise given its nuclear arsenal. This is what I believe to be an objective analysis of the current geopolitical state of play involving Russia, I believe that all decisions and policies regarding Russia must be made in the above context, and I believe that is EXACTLY what the Trump Administration is doing. Realpolitik, people--not wishes and virtue signaling. Realpolitik--that's the world in which rational humans live.