NYT: How Putin turned a Western boycott into a gold mine.

If companies want to leave Russia, the president sets the terms - in a way that favors his government, his elites and his special operations.

Zelensky appealed to Western companies, "Leave Russia. Make sure the Russians don't get a single penny."

Hundreds of companies responded to the call. Politicians and activists predicted it would help strangle the Russian economy and undermine the Kremlin's war effort.

President Vladimir Putin had other plans. Putin turned the departure of major Western companies into a windfall for Russia's loyal elite and the state itself. He forced companies willing to sell to do so at throwaway prices.

Huge industries - elevators, tires, industrial coatings and more - are now in the hands of increasingly dominant Russian players. In some cases, that player is the
the state.

There remains a healthy consumer world in Russia today, which helps Putin maintain a sense of normalcy despite a special operation that has been longer, deadlier and more costly than he predicted.

Most foreign companies remain in Russia, unwilling to lose the billions they have invested there for decades. Other businesses have been sold off and now resemble a looking glass.

Putin's economic counterstrikes have helped shore up support among elites benefiting from the conflict and mitigate the effects of Western isolation. While Ukraine has been preoccupied with short-term imperatives such as shoring up international support, the relative resilience of the Russian economy has allowed Putin to play the long game.

Two weeks after Russia launched the SMO, President Biden boasted that the West was crushing the Russian economy. "The list of companies and international corporations leaving Russia grows daily," he emphasized.

Things looked grim for Putin. The stock exchange in Moscow was closed and the ruble collapsed.

But Mr. Putin was preparing his financial rebuttal. He restricted the flow of money abroad and demanded that companies from "unfriendly countries" get approval before selling their businesses.

By the summer of 2022, the Russian economy had stabilized, the ruble had recovered, and Putin's strategy had changed.

Coming out of the crisis, the government wanted to do more than just keep the doors open. It increasingly wanted to dictate the terms of every deal. In August of that year, Putin issued a decree requiring companies in key industries to get his signature before selling their Russian assets.

Dozens of companies, including divisions of Siemens and Caterpillar, suddenly found themselves subject to the whims of Putin himself.

Note: Are the people there in the West exactly trainable? We've been turning that trick since the last century during the NEP

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And now it's time to shout in a voice almost like a seagull!
A journalist raped a biologist!
A virus and antibiotics!
Note: antibiotics work on bacteria, viruses don't care about that....
But the journalist whore needs the hype.

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Hohoho

Grandfather Frost took to the air in his Su-34 and drops a nice early Christmas present to Ukros in the Kherson direction with a UMPC FAB-1500M54.

#Source

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Economist Phillip Pilkington notes:

In a lot of European countries corporate bankruptcies are higher than in 2008-09. Some of this is explained by rising interest rates and the delayed impact of the pandemic. But much of it is likely due to high energy prices and the ongoing destruction of the European economy. 🇪🇺

Von Der Leyen thought she would destroy the Russian economy. 🤣

#Source

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Il-76 in Kabul. 1988

The airport, built by Soviet engineers, was destroyed together with the aircraft standing on the airfield platforms by the US armed forces in October 2001 after the entry of NATO troops into the country.

📸 Author: Kiselev V.
📍34.56093, 69.226055

#source

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Something old Slavic. Well, relatives, confess, who else has kept this holiday? Ivan Kupala. That's what we call it in eastern Slavia.

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"I know that after I die, a pile of garbage will be placed on my grave. But the wind of history will scatter it mercilessly!"(c)

Happy birthday to a great man, a talented statesman and unrivaled manager, who became at the helm of the country in times of hardship.
Under his firm hand we have gone through all sorts of things, but we have gone through them, having survived as a united nation. And we are still using the legacy of his era.

The wind of history has blown, that is the main thing.

Note: I write this as a descendant of those who were repressed. And for a cause.

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Simply beautiful
Lancet by AI

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UPDATE: According to "a source in military circles informed RBC-Ukraine that a "listening device" was found in the office of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Valerii Zaluzhnyi." reports RBC Ukraine

Whether this is the result of an internal struggle or Russian intelligence operation is unclear at this time.

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The Winter of Ukrainian Discontent
Reported by AP Press
"'I don’t understand,' said a commander of the [Ukrainian] 11th National Guard Brigade’s anti-drone unit who is known on the battlefield as Boxer. 'Now it’s harder and colder. It’s not just my feeling, many units share it,' said Boxer, who spoke on condition that only his battlefield name would be used."

The article adds that discontent among soldiers seems to be growing and is being expressed openly. This generally occurs on condition of anonymity. But several soldiers have even expressed these feelings on Ukrainian language television.

This programming is seldom reported on by western media, as they're too lazy to check them.

Edit: Apologies for initially posting the incorrect photo here.

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Who hasn't posted a meme in a while?
Especially when they're straight up historical)))))

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Twisting Words
Newsweek uses a single word to warp the meaning of a statement madel by Andrey Gurulyov.

The article does get around to a more contextual quote, "If you consider it in a global sense, the future of our country and us personally, our children and grandchildren, our descendants. Today, everyone heard this. Therefore, we have a future. We look towards it with optimism. Either way, we will win, there is no other option. We will confidently get there and then go further."

Russia President Vladimir Putin has denied this accusation. While the statement does imply that the aims are greater than those made in the intial phase of the SMO, nothing here implies aims of attacking NATO.

This appears to be an attempt to return to the fear mongering which has been on the wane in recent months. For his part, Biden appears to be amplifying this message in a desperate bid to pass further funding through the American Congress.

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Ukrainian channel Strana:

Zaluzhny criticized the dismissals of military commissars carried out by Zelensky this summer after corruption scandals.

When asked how the removal of the heads of regional TCCs affected the effectiveness of mobilization, the commander-in-chief replied that “they were professionals, they knew how to do it, but now they are gone.”

According to him, as quoted by the media, now the mobilization process should not be strengthened, but “simply returned to the framework in which it worked before.”

Zaluzhny said that now this is “the problem of the guys fighting on the front line, who must be replaced by someone.”

Zelensky signed a decree on the dismissal of all regional military commissars on August 17. This happened as a response to numerous scandals regarding mass corruption in the TCC.

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❗ Ukraine, in winter conditions, increased the import of electricity, which is now carried out almost around the clock - "Ukrenergo"

It is reported that electricity suppliers include Slovakia, Romania and Moldova.

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Fishing along the Dnepr.

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🇺🇦🏴‍☠ Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valery Zaluzhny regarded the installation of a listening device in his office “as a war” against him.

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