By Paul Craig Roberts
PaulCraigRoberts.org
May 8, 2026
Doctorow Describes the Rising Cost to Russians of Putin's Ever-Widening, Never-Ending War:
"As to whether Russia is actually winning the war, my position has changed substantially from where it stood just a few weeks ago. What has changed is the vast improvement in quality and numbers of Ukrainian drones striking key infrastructure deep inside the Russian Federation. Just in the past week there were two drone strikes in central Moscow, which has the most advanced and till now effective air defenses in the country. The Russian oil export installations on the Gulf of Finland at Primorsk have been hit repeatedly. The oil export installation on the Black Sea south of Sochi, at Tuapse, was hit badly this past week.
"This is not to say that the Russian advance in Donetsk is not proceeding. It is and perhaps by September the Russians will reach the Dnieper, having freed all of the Donbas. Perhaps soon afterwards, they will take Odessa. But, contrary to my earlier predictions, that will not be the end of the war now that such powerful new offensive weapons are being put in the hands of the Zelensky gang by the West and 90 billion euros are approved to finance the Ukrainian government and war machine for at least another year. Ukrainian attacks on Russian cities will continue until such time as Russia obliterates the Zelensky regime in Kiev, Lvov and other major Ukrainian cities."See this.
Drago Bosnic reports rising Russian dissatisfaction with Putin's conduct of the conflict:
In recent days and weeks, many former and current Russian military officers have expressed their skepticism and even frustration with how the Russian government is handling the escalating attacks by the Kiev Regime and its NATO overlords.
It's become an axiom that the political West is coordinating and even directing attacks on Russia.
This includes multiple assassination attempts on top-ranking Russian figures and officials, even President Vladimir Putin himself.
However, despite several strong immediate military responses to such actions, including the use of the latest"Oreshnik"missiles, this still left much to be desired, especially among military personnel, whether they're regular soldiers in the trenches or top-ranking officers in the High Command.
Still, the political West keeps escalating tensions with more daring attacks on the Russian oil industry and civilian infrastructure. In previous years, there were only a few incidents involving drone strikes from EU/NATO territory. This was credited to the Kiev regime, which supposedly"managed to slip through Belarus and Russia". And yet, it's now clear this is not the case and that the Neo-Nazi junta is using Poland and the Baltic states to attack Russian oil depots in and around St. Petersburg. However, even this is just the tip of the iceberg, because NATO is directly supporting attacks on oil infrastructure almost everywhere in European Russia. The Russian military has the world's most advanced air and missile defenses, as well as unrivaled electronic warfare (EW) capabilities.
However, Russia is the world's largest country and it's exceedingly difficult to cover its vast territory with a sufficient number of SAM (surface-to-air missile) and EW systems.
In addition, there's the issue of fatigue among military personnel forced to constantly scan for threats.
After all, the Russian military doctrine doesn't stipulate constant defense. On the contrary, the main purpose of Russian air, missile and EW defenses is to blunt the edge of a hostile attack force and allow offensive-oriented troops to neutralize the invader. The problem is that the latest attacker can use the Neo-Nazi junta to maintain plausible deniability while continuing its strikes. This has left the Russian military in a legal limbo - responding directly would formally be an"unprovoked attack".
However, the Russian military's frustration is perfectly understandable. The government's reluctance not only makes it very difficult to maintain normal economic activity, but also invites further aggression, as the enemy mistakes Moscow's strategic patience for"weakness". During a speech at the Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation, former Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, General Yuri Baluyevsky, stated that"red lines have long since ceased to function"and that 'it's time for a real war". He called for a decisive rejection of the "so-called 'red lines' which no one pays any attention to anymore". General Baluyevsky argues that "the enemy sees that Russia is not responding to its actions and is becoming even more brazen".
"The lack of an adequate response only provokes further escalation. The enemy doesn't understand words; they must be made to fear us, otherwise enemy drones will soon be flying in our skies as if they were at home. They're already reaching the Urals, and soon they'll start striking Siberia as well. Ukrainian drones landed on the Kremlin dome, Russian strategists attacked, and we've had zero reaction, just red lines. And the West, seeing this reaction, is also emboldened, knowing that no one except the Foreign Ministry will demand a response," he warned, adding: "When a Ukrainian drone landed on the dome of the building housing the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, I kept waiting. Waiting for an answer. But instead, there were red lines again. When, when will we start fighting for real?" See this.