cross-posted from: https://mander.xyz/post/44744329
Here is an Invidious link for the YT video (18 min) that is embedded in the article.
As Russia enters 2026, many Russian opposition figures, especially those living in exile, have suggested that Putin is leading their country to disaster; even though, to this day, most Russians instinctively dismiss those who advance such views as renegades or even traitors. A new commentary, however, more sweeping and damning than theirs was offered last week by retired Russian Colonel General Leonid Ivashov in response to Putin’s direct line television program held on December 19.
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Ivashov points out that while Putin was beaming to his audience and telling everyone how well the Russian economy was doing, even Moscow television showed scenes of people in Russia’s federal subjects begging for water, road repair, and money for medicines … "I watched [Putin’s] whole 4-hour show, and I didn’t see a leader, a commander, or a protector of the people. I just saw a guy living in a fairy tale while the rest of the country is struggling to survive on 16,000 rubles [$130] a month.”
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Ivashov is someone whom all Russians recall as the hero of Pristina. In 1999, General Leonid Ivashov, as a senior Russian military official, led a rapid deployment of Russian forces into Pristina ahead of NATO troops blocking their advance in an effort to assert Russian influence during the Kosovo conflict. His act heightened tensions with NATO, signaling Moscow’s willingness to challenge Western operations and complicating alliance coordination in the region.
Ivashov is now appearing once again in a different form, this time emerging once again to challenge Russian President Putin, predicting Russian defeat in its war with Ukraine. While the aging Ivashov – now 82 – has previously criticized Putin and his policies, most notably in 2022 when he denounced the war in Ukraine and even called on Putin to resign, his remarks this past week came immediately after Putin’s live call-in address.
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About Putin’s war in Ukraine that the retired general is the most critical. In a direct jab at the Russian Chief of the General Staff Valerii Gerasimov, and the way he has conducted the war, Ivashov says, the Russian High Command is not impressing anyone, and Putin remains stuck at “the tactical level,” talking about taking this or that tiny village or even a single house, noting that Ukraine, backed by NATO tech and satellite intel, is hitting Russia where it hurts (oil refineries and airfields), while Russia is just firing off its weapons at easy targets like apartment blocks and schools rather than militarily significant ones.
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During his online statement Ivashov offered a long laundry list of things that, in his opinion, were failing inside Russia:
Planes: “We can’t build our own passenger jets. We’re basically cannibalizing old Boeing’s for spare parts.”
Space: Ivashov describes how the last working manned launchpad at Baikonur was accidentally destroyed due to poor maintenance. Russia in effect can no longer deploy men into space.
Food: Ivashov warns that the food available in Russians stores is becoming extremely harmful because it is filled with palm oil because the economy is so constrained.
Corruption: He mentions that 11 trillion rubles ($1.2 trillion) were allegedly stolen by the Russian Ministry of Defense. He points out that almost every major corrupt official is a member of the ruling party.
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One can only hope that Russia crumbles and the war ends. China is already preparing to take over 1M square km of Eastern Russian land. If Russia falls, maybe it will also be good for democracy around the world and the troll farms will die out.
Countdown to defenestration started
“… a guy living in a fairy tale while the rest of the country is struggling to survive …” idk this sounds like something everybody would say about Trump… which he has earned much like dumbf*** over there. Seems to be the only viable solution is to guillotine all of the world leaders (including Trump and Putin) to lay the lesson.
His quote there could describe Trump too.
Ah, I see we have our next victim of accidentally falling down the stairs.
defenestration
Would throwing someone off an escalator be called “deescalation”?
If they kill this guy by throwing him off an escalator, would Russia be able to claim they have done what they could to deescalate the war?
They could do the most fatal thing of all–turj the escalator off at the start, creating a tiny but dangerous oscillation of the body.
That’s windows
I run Arch btw
Space: Ivashov describes how the last working manned launchpad at Baikonur was accidentally destroyed due to poor maintenance. Russia in effect can no longer deploy men into space.
Its even worse for Russia on this point. Not only was that the only crewed launch pad to the ISS, its also the only one that Russia has to launch uncrewed resupply missions (called Progress cargo spacecraft) to the ISS. So the only cargo ships going to the ISS now are from the USA and Japan.
But what do air land and sea have to say?
We are in trouble, again*
Always for the same reasons too.
I don’t think a revolution will be anywhere far if the war and the Western sanctions continue for another year.
- Food: Ivashov warns that the food available in Russians stores is becoming extremely harmful because it is filled with palm oil
What. Last I checked palm oil was perfectly edible.
Maybe he means harmful to the world’s rainforests?
I doubt it, but maybe…
Why do so many reply to you and completely miss the point that “not super healthy” is something entirely different that actively warming about one specific cause that is extremely harmful? What he says is simply rubbish, no need to point to saturated fat.
Ikr? It’s like we’ve gone from a discussion about war to a discussion about healthy living
Palm oil has a high content in saturated fats, increasing – at least in theory – the risc for atherosclerosis. Most Palm oil used in the food industry is industrial refined, which contains several potential carcinogens.
AFAIK there are no valid studies regarding the long-term safety of the usage of raffined palm oil – it is very likely as unsafe as the usage of lard and beef (which are responsible for quite a few strokes and heart attacks, and most if not all colon cancer).
Basically all the essential fatty acids we can’t do without are saturated. We NEED saturated fat, we don’t need polyunsaturated fatty acidsor monounsaturated or sugar or any form of carbohydrates.
It’s absolutely insane how saturated fat that we need to stay healthy is vilified, while the other stuff that is definitely harmful and we DON’T need, gets a pass.Edit:
Omega 3 and 6 are actually polyunsaturated, but mostly available from fish and animal sources, so they generally come with mostly saturated fatty acids.AFAIK, there are just two groups of essential fatty acids: omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids, both are polyunsaturated.
I’d love to learn which saturated fatty acids are essential?
Yes you are right, funny since they come in fish oil which AFAIK is mostly saturated fat.
Omega 3 6 and 9 are very hard to get from unsaturated sources, despite apparently being polyunsaturated themselves?
I edited my previous post to hopefully be more accurate.Edit:
Of course Omega 9 had to be different, and is a monounsaturated oil. 😋That’s also not true. One common place you find unsaturated fats without significant amounts of saturated fats are nuts. There’s also seed oils, of course, which are nice for cooking and have plenty of unsaturated fats. Then you got stuff like avocados, olives, legumes, and more
Saturated fats are definitively not essential, and reputable research points towards them being harmful when consumed above moderate amounts
Palm oil is edible but it is less healthy than other oils as it is about 50% saturated fat.
Arguments about the relative merits of various vegetable oils aside, there’s a huge jump from ‘mildly unhealthy in large doses’ to ‘extremely harmful’
I agree that it is not eminent threat but if you fill your population with food that will cause health issues over time, you are at a bad state. Palm oil was just an example of things that indicate that the general situation in Russia is not good. Probably not the most scary example.
fill your population with food that will cause health issues over time, you are at a bad state.
FYI, palm oil accounts for about 60% of plant oil production worldwide. If it’s truly as bad as the farmers lobby says it is (which is highly doubtful, but also not relevant to the current topic), the entire world is in a bad state, not just Russia.
FYI, palm oil accounts for about 60% of plant oil production worldwide
It probably depends on who you ask, but no doubt it has a big market share. The problem, from my guesses, is that you can have different levels of quality of palm oil (and probably other oils) and Russia could importing some cheap lov grade palm oil that might make the health situation worse.
I’m no expert on how good or bad, or how fast you see the (potential) result of shifting to palm oil. And as I said, it seems to be a weird thing to include in the general’s list of things that are going wrong in Russia.
Palm oil is one of the primary filler ingredients in highly processed foods and the world is in a bad state partially because of that. It’s highly shelf stable and super cheap because of massive deforestation efforts to make it.
It is in fact a major contributor to why some western nations can have the majority of the populace be overweight or obese and it is a huge driver of climate destruction
There is really no defense of modern palm oil use and industry
It’s also super cheap because it’s like 10x more productive per acre than any other plant oil. Imagine replacing palm oil today, you’d have to deforest half the world’s remaining forests.
There wouldn’t be any need to replace palm oil, or even deforest to produce so much, if we just instead tried to replace the highly processed foods and confectioneries that drive so much of its demand
Propaganda from western food industry and farmers.
AFAIK: Palm oil contains large amounts of saturated fats that are harmful to your cardiovascular system. It is linked to inflamation too.
While I’m not an expert and you certainly won’t die from having a dish containing palm oil, it is probably safer to minimze the use of it in your diet.
Arguments about the relative merits of various vegetable oils aside, there’s a huge jump from ‘mildly unhealthy in large doses’ to ‘extremely harmful’
Meanwhile the Ukrainians are getting their girlfriends tasered while they’re dragged into vans by comically obese men. Do you feel comfortable, anon? Get ready for another glorious year.
What are you even trying to say? Your message is very unclear to those who are not terminally online.
Go back to your basement.
Ffs, there’s not a single sane person in that instance…
All the same people realize they’re surrounded by insane idiots and run for the hills within a couple weeks so they aren’t associated with them.
Content warning: the video contains precisely what I described. Because I know the truth and you hide from it. Take a look.
Would you describe what is going on in Kiev as “sane”? Is this what you sought?
Mirror: https://xcancel.com/HavryshkoMarta/status/2005232989102616699
Ukraine is now a war-torn country. I wonder who caused this by invading them?
Go back to your basement, we don’t like russian propaganda and people who have their nose so deep in the ass of the asshole hitler wannabe you call president.
That video was taken by a Ukrainian. If it’s Russian propaganda, I guess you want them imprisoned as well. Congratulations on extinguishing another society. The world sees you.
Insufferable.
I’ll repeat it, as it seems you have deliberately ignored the point of my message:
Ukraine is now a war-torn country. I wonder who caused this by invading them?
Go back to your basement, we don’t like russian propaganda and people who have their nose so deep in the ass of the asshole hitler wannabe you call president.
Removed by mod
Controlled opposition.
He is essentially complaining about too much Nutella. That he mentions corruption can be an arrangement to justify planned measures. None of the above mentioned points is critical to the war. Own passenger jets and manned spaceflight is only thematically close. The message is that even the most sincere critics don’t see fundamental problems and that the worst problem is corruption which I guess is an accepted given.
