Rusia

The March 2024 terrorist attack by the Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP) in Moscow Oblast brings to attention the Islamic State’s long-standing animosity towards the Russian state. The group also seeks to destabilise the relationship between Russia and Central Asia. Russia can be expected to deal with the ISKP threat more aggressively, including tighter border controls. The Islamic State Vilayat Caucasus, founded in 2015, also exists which operates in the historically conflict-prone Northern Caucasus region.

The latest military-strategic dynamics suggest that a conventional NATO intervention is seriously being considered.

President Putin shared a lot of insight about the NATO-Russian proxy war in Ukraine during the press conference that he held during his latest trip to Uzbekistan. The first point of relevance that he made is that Zelensky is no longer regarded by Russia as Ukraine’s legitimate leader after his term expired. According to President Putin’s “tentative estimate” of this legal question, Rada Speaker Stefanchuk should now be seen as Zelensky’s legal successor.

The war between Russia and Ukraine has entered its second year and there is no end in sight. Earlier this month, in a concerning escalation, Russia announced that it plans to hold drills simulating the use of tactical nuclear weapons along the border with Ukraine. Earlier in March, Russia had said that it would station nuclear weapons in Belarus. Such nuclear posturing in the middle of a war is worrying.

On April 4, speaking at a NATO Summit, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated that “Ukraine will become a member of NATO. Our purpose at the summit is to help build a bridge to that membership.” This is an exceedingly dangerous statement.This latest statement continues the trend of making promises to Ukraine that it may one day become a member of NATO without offering a concrete timeline. This is the worst of all possible worlds: such implicit promises provoke Russia, which has stated on multiple occasions that the prospect of NATO membership for Ukraine is a red line, while doing nothing to enhance Ukraine’s security.

Its Security Depends on Long-Term Commitments From the West

The U.S. Congress’s approval last month of a $61 billion aid package for Ukraine came not a minute too soon. Ammunition shortages resulting from Washington’s months-long dysfunction have eroded Ukrainian frontline positions and left cities and critical infrastructure exposed to missile and drone barrages. Top military and intelligence officials in Kyiv have advised Ukrainians to brace for territorial setbacks in the coming months. Already, the Russian military has stepped up pressure on Kharkiv, forcing thousands of Ukrainians to flee out of fear that Russian forces could soon reoccupy their towns.

Ukrainian lands are located at the gates of Europe and since ancient times foes have been threatening its inhabitants, not all but most of the times from the East. However, the very first statehood was brought to Kyiv from the North, by means of rivers and Vikings, and over the 10th and 11th centuries it was the largest and the most powerful state in Europe.

L’attaque contre le Premier ministre slovaque, Robert Fico, rappelle étrangement l’assassinat de Lee Harvey Oswald et le rôle du réseau Gladio opérant sur le sol européen, et de nouvelles attaques sur le territoire européen ne peuvent être exclues avec l’objectif sans équivoque de semer le chaos à travers le continent. C’est la «stratégie de tension» pour, finalement, provoquer l’implication directe de l’OTAN dans un conflit généralisé avec la Russie.

De nombreux citoyens ordinaires du monde entier, y compris aux États-Unis et en Europe, se joignent à la Russie pour honorer comme il se doit le jour de la Victoire.

L’historien russe Roman Shumov a bien saisi la signification sublime du jour de la Victoire. Il a écrit cette semaine : «Pour les Russes, le 9 mai n’est pas seulement la célébration d’un triomphe militaire, c’est la célébration de la victoire sur la mort».