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I don't completely understand what you wrote. My family in 2 European countries were invaded by Nazi Germany in WW2 for the same reason that Putin invaded Ukraine. Hitler wanted to control their counties and impose a repressive regime on them just as Putin wants to control and impose a...

I don't think Ukraine needs to win on the battlefield. A controlled retreat while inflicting heavy losses on the advancing enemy is sufficient to me. The longer the war goes on, the more the civil sector of the Russian economy should deteriorate along with Russian state finances until it...

How do sanctions make Russia stronger? Apart from weapons and munitions, what products does Russia produce in greater quantities than it did before the sanctions?

In July the GCAP partner governments agreed to try to make a contract with Edgewing by the end of 2025. There has been no announcement of this. Could be the partners cannot reach agreement and never will. Could be the partners cannot reach agreement yet. Could be the partner countries are in...

I think that the responsibilities of the different partners are clear. Very little info about the GCAP aircraft design has been released - dimensions, weight, payload, range, speed, engine thrust etc have not been revealed.

The groundwork to proceed with GCAP has been done. Development company Edgewing was set up mid-2025. While I have no special insight into the programme, as far as I know GCAP is ready to launch into full scale development. Japan is very keen on an aircraft to enter service 2035 to allow it to...

When FCAS would be delivered is very uncertain. GCAP still sounds possible for 2035. I do not think that F-35 users UK and Italy would have any interest in KAAN. If full GCAP development were never agreed, I think that the UK and Italy would buy more F-35 unless the US administration's behaviour...

0.1% year on year GDP growth in the Russian economy in November. Not a surprise to anyone who has been tracking the economic impact of the war. https://uk.investing.com/news/economy-news/russias-gdp-growth-slows-to-01-in-november-93CH-4431276 My guess is that the Russian economy is starting to...

The Russian press sees Trump as an ally and Europe as Russophobic. The Russian press also reports more problems in the economy and for Russian citizens... It looks to me that there will be major deterioration in Russian state finances in 2026 due to a major deterioration in oil revenues. This...

Yes, there is a clear aggressor in this conflict and a victim of that aggression. I used to access Russian sources until recently when commenting on the war. Recently I started getting warnings from my anti-virus software that there was malware on the rrosstat site, so I now avoid official...

Another economist comes up with a negative analysis of Russia's situation and economic prospects.

As we approach 2026 I am unaware what revenue the Russian state anticipates receiving from crude exports. In September a Russian source stated that the average price expected for crude sold would be 59 USD per barrel. https://interfax.com/newsroom/top-stories/113721/ With Urals crude...

Aiming high, higher than Meteor. Good luck in that ambition.

What's the situation? In 2022 Russia set out to invade, defeat , occupy and install a puppet government in Ukraine or else annexe the country. The short, sharp war to take over Ukraine did not work out as planned. Nearly 4 years later - hundreds of thousands of Russian troops have been killed...

And the Russian state is becoming less and less capable of both funding the war and funding the normal activities of a state.

The UK finished repaying WW2 loans from the US in 2006. Ukraine could have a similar long term arrangement for loans made to it.

While Russia is advancing on the ground, I think a little perspective is needed. As 2025 nears its end more than one source I have read estimates that at the end of the year Russia will occupy 1% more of Ukraine's territory than it did at the start of year. Russia is not enjoying a runaway...

The other side to this is that the Europeans now buy weapons from the US and then donate them to Ukraine. With Trump in power the US no longer donates weapons, so profits from the war continuing.

https://militarnyi.com/en/news/chervona-kalyna-tank-shot-at-high-rise-building-with-russians-in-rodynske-near-pokrovsk/ Sad that more troops died - Russian in this case. Probably not of any military significance, is it? To me it is just another example of people dying because Putin wants to...