jeremiah jacques

Former CIA Director David Petraeus: With Budanov now heading the Presidential Office, Zelenskyy has someone close to him who deeply understands the military situation and ongoing operations. I know Budanov well. He is very direct in his assessments. We first spoke by video when he was near the russian border, commanding one of the first operations on russian territory. Petraeus in an interview with SpyCast: Ukraine has the largest and most innovative army in Europe. It is doing what NATO armies would otherwise have to do themselves if russia achieved its objectives in Ukraine. Moldova would be next, and possibly Lithuania after that. During my recent visit to Ukraine, a russian jet-powered drone struck the locomotive of a train on the track next to ours. The passengers on trains leaving Ukraine are mostly women and children. It was terrifying for them. Russia has suffered 1.5 million killed and wounded, more than the United States suffered during the entire Second World War. Last month alone, Ukraine estimated approximately 46,000 russian casualties, while russia recruited only around 30,000 soldiers. New recruits receive very little training. Ukrainian forces have captured russian soldiers who had been in the army for less than two weeks. They are practically cannon fodder. Ukraine has struck every russian oil refinery within 3,000 kilometers of its border, many of them multiple times. Russian oil production has fallen below 9 million barrels per day for the first time since 2009. Russians now use smartphone apps to find gas stations that still have fuel. The National Welfare Fund has been redirected toward the military-industrial complex and is expected to run out by the end of the year. It is time for Europe and the United States to seize frozen russian reserves and provide them to Ukraine. We tend to assume that Ukrainians are far ahead in military innovation, just as we assume the United States leads in artificial intelligence. But when you look closely, the gap is not always that large. In some areas, the russians have developed capabilities before the Ukrainians. China, North Korea, and Iran are carefully studying what is happening in Ukraine. The West needs to learn from Ukraine much faster. Simply buying drones for existing tank units is not enough. We need to fundamentally rethink our military structures because many traditional Western weapons systems would no longer survive on the Ukrainian battlefield. And we need to do this immediately. The Ukrainian people have demonstrated extraordinary resilience. They have been absolutely unbreakable despite enormous pressure. But they are also exhausted, and another difficult winter lies ahead. Source: SpyCast

Another Putin ally has fallen in Europe! After more than a decade of dominating Serbian politics, Aleksandar Vučić has conceded defeat in parliamentary elections to a student-led opposition movement. This is a major political earthquake in Europe. Vučić maintained close ties with Putin, refused to impose sanctions on russia over its invasion of Ukraine, and tried to balance relations between Moscow and the West. But after nearly two years of student-led protests against corruption and authoritarianism, Serbian voters have delivered a stunning rejection of his ruling party. According to preliminary projections, the opposition is expected to secure 135–140 seats in the 250-seat parliament. And here is what makes this victory particularly remarkable: It was students who helped bring down a political establishment that had dominated Serbia for more than a decade. First, Viktor Orbán lost power in Hungary. Now Vučić’s party has lost in Serbia. Two European leaders who maintained close relationships with Putin have suffered historic electoral defeats in the same year. Of course, this does not guarantee that Serbia will suddenly become pro-Ukrainian. But it creates an opportunity for a different relationship with Europe and a different approach toward russia. Putin is losing political allies in Europe. And that is good news for Ukraine. Congratulations to the people of Serbia!