Have you ever felt as though you might be psychic? I know I’m not; but this is one of those days when I almost wonder . . .

This morning, for no particular reason, I wrote about Nikolai Patrushev, Secretary of the Russian Security Council: an old friend, former KGB colleague, and now good right hand of Vladimir Putin. Complicit in the invasions of Crimea in 2014, Syria in 2015, and Ukraine in 2022-23-whenever. A hawk who blames the West — and particularly the United States — for all of the world’s ills, and for what he considers the disastrous collapse of the Soviet Union.

And now, as it turns out, advocate of weapons of mass destruction.

Today, Patrushev — echoing the recent declarations of his boss, Vladimir Putin, and Putin’s BFF, Xi Jinping — has said that the era of U.S. dominance is over. “The natural consequence of the United States’ destructive policies is the deterioration in global security. The risk that nuclear, chemical and biological weapons will be used is increasing. The international arms control regime has been undermined.” [Guy Faulconbridge, Reuters, Nov. 8, 2023, quoting TASS (Russian news agency).]

[Note: What Mr. Patrushev neglected to mention was Russia’s withdrawal — just yesterday, November 7, 2023 — from the Treaty On Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE), or its own war of aggression against Ukraine, which is completely adverse to the Treaty’s terms. Certainly, today’s comments cannot be coincidental.]

As reported by Reuters, Patrushev did not offer specific details as to the possible target(s) of such weapons, but did accuse Washington of “failing to bring peace to the Middle East and of escalating the war in Ukraine by supporting Kyiv.” [Guy Faulconbridge, Nov. 8, 2023.]

These are hardly original thoughts conjured by Patrushev alone. In today’s Russia — as in the seven decades of the Soviet Union’s existence — all policy is directed from the top, and only a fool would issue such a public statement without express direction or authorization from Putin himself.

Unless, of course, those recent, persistent rumors of Putin’s death or serious disability should turn out to be true . . . in which case, this could be the first indication of an attempted power grab. But I’m jumping the gun (so to speak). As I said, I absolutely do not have, or claim to have, powers of divination. But knowing the pathological need of the Russian hierarchy for secrecy, especially in times of internal crisis, it’s awfully tempting to speculate.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
11/8/23 – Part 2