I repeat: Where is Dmitri Peskov? And why are we suddenly hearing Kremlin policy from the mouths of people we didn’t even know existed until this week?

On Monday it was former Ambassador to the United States — now aide to Vladimir Putin — Yuri Ushakov, telling us to forget about peace negotiations with Ukraine as long as their “venture” — i.e., counter-offensive — into Russia continues.

And on Wednesday we were introduced to Sergei Chemezov — not even a government official, but CEO of major arms manufacturer Rostec . . . and, not incidentally, a close friend of Putin from their days in the service of the KGB in then East Germany.

Who’s next . . . Aleksandr Dugin??!!!

At any rate, General (his former KGB rank) Chemezov had a strong warning for the United States and its Western allies, saying that we “risk triggering a global war if Washington continues to ‘provoke’ the conflict in Ukraine and allow Kyiv to attack Russian territory.” [Guy Faulconbridge and Gleb Stolyarov, Reuters, August 21, 2024.]

Reiterating the Kremlin line that the conflict is a battle between the West and Russia, he further stated:

“In a situation where the West, led by the United States, provokes war, we must be ready. The third year of the special operation is under way — Russia feels confident.” [Id.]

This really is nothing new — we hear it almost daily from Putin, Medvedev, Peskov and others. What strikes me, though, is the consistent use of the word “provoke” in laying the blame at the feet of the Western nations. And they repeat it, and repeat it, and repeat it, without so much as a blink or a blush, as though it were true . . . when they know damned well who it was that lined their troops up at the border and invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022.

It was not the United States. It was not any NATO or EU member country.

IT WAS RUSSIA!

And no matter how many times they say otherwise, the facts do not, and will not, change.

IT WAS RUSSIA who started this war. And it is a war — not a “special military operation.”

How do we get this across to Putin & Company? That is the $64,000 question (or $64 billion, in today’s money). It’s like trying to get a recalcitrant child to understand that, no matter what he says, pigs cannot fly. Saying it — no matter how many times — doesn’t make it so.

Putin put in his two cents’ worth last week when he predicted Ukrainian troops would be beaten back from Russian territory; but they’re still there. He also said in June that he could deploy conventional missiles within striking distance of the U.S. and its European allies if they allowed Ukraine to use long-range Western missiles in Russia. [Id.]

Vladimir Putin is a man who has never gotten over the breakup of the Soviet Union, which he considers “the greatest geopolitical disaster of the [20th] century.” He took that event as a personal humiliation; and now he has been further mortified by his inability to defeat Ukraine — as he originally bragged — in a matter of days or weeks.

And now, is there some special meaning behind the sudden appearance of Ambassador Ushakov and General Chemezov? Or are they just filling in temporarily for Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov?

*. *. *

Which leads me back to my original question: Dima . . . where are you? And why are they sending in these second-stringers?

They’re saying basically the same things you would be saying. It’s just that you’re that familiar, relatable face we’ve come to know and . . . well, look forward to.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
8/23/24