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Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Putin and his high command reportedly have moved to secret bunkers as threats of nuclear war escalate
2022-03-31
[American Thinker] Thanks to imbecilic comments by President Biden, the threat of nuclear war just got a lot more serious if new reports are to be believed. The estimable David Goldman (AKA Spengler), writing with Uwe Parpart, warns us:

What does Vladimir Putin have to do to convince Washington that the Ukraine crisis is a preliminary skirmish in what might be a nuclear war? On February 23, Putin warned of nuclear war. On February 19, he conducted a full-dress drill of Russian ballistic missile forces. On February 27, he put Russia on a nuclear alert — which remains in effect.Joe Biden didn't get the message.

Then on March 29, Moscow sent a red-alarm signal to the West by leaking news that "Putin and his high command have decamped to secret bunkers, following a Kremlin statement that Russia would use nuclear weapons to counter an 'existential threat,'" the Daily Mail reported, citing investigations by journalist Christo Grozev.


Posted by:Besoeker

#28  Bravo! Is that you, Zenobia F, or do we have more than one master limerickster?
Posted by: trailing wife   2022-03-31 21:32  

#27  It's NAZIS who'll nuke Mariupol!

From the Ukie perspective, that's not a bad idea. *Everyone* would blame it on the Rus because nobody would nuke their own city just for a propaganda victory, amirite?

OK, it's not just a media victory, it also denies use of the port to its eventual owners for however many half-lifes it takes to cool down.
Posted by: SteveS   2022-03-31 21:29  

#26  As tzar of this nuclear poophole
Cum war surplus store, without scruple,
Permit me to posit
From deep in the closet:
It's NAZIS who'll nuke Mariupol!
Posted by: from Russia with love   2022-03-31 19:09  

#25  ^ Biden is Adolph? Or Petain?
Who are Kamala and Hunter?
Posted by: Lonzo Bumble2535   2022-03-31 17:16  

#24  After watching the current Russian-owned assholes in power in this country dismantle my little corner of the energy industry...

I feel like I'm stuck in 1943 France, and every morning a vichy collaborator screams in my face about "Why is Marshall Petain being so _mean_ and _nasty_ to Darling Adolph?"

It's all fake, it's all kayfabe. And it's all assholes.
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain   2022-03-31 17:07  

#23  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjXgS5lqqRQ
Posted by: Skidmark   2022-03-31 16:40  

#22  https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10668961/Russian-fighter-jets-violated-Swedish-airspace-earlier-month-equipped-NUKES.html

I concur about the high probability of backchannel conversations, but the above reference to nuke armed incursions, which you have to assume are genuine, says that Putin is willing to push the envelope on warnings to a level not seen in a very long time.

To quote Fred Thompson in Hunt for Red October:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjXgS5lqqRQ
Posted by: NoMoreBS   2022-03-31 12:48  

#21  #16 Nowhereare Americans being told about inevitable consequences such as a steep decline in US living standards, about rationing, about hyperinflation or recession.

Do they support Bernie Sanders' Ukraine War Tax?
Sanders Introduces Ukraine War Tax: Revival of 95% Windfall Profits Tax From WWII to Curb Corporate Greed
Posted by: Bubba Fleash3237   2022-03-31 12:00  

#20  OR They knew it's all hot air and took the opportunity to wave their radioactive shlongs in faces.

This. They've seen five US presidents come and go. They have no expectations or assumptions of rational behavior from US leaders after all they've seen these past 30 years. Review:

Clinton was a clever asshole. He lied to the Russians and humiliated them in Russia and the Balkans and began Nato's expansion east in violation of Janes Baker's promises.

W was an unclever asshole. He took Putin's good faith offer of help after 9/11, ignored the warnings about the Iraq disaster put Tomahawk missiles in Poland and pretended they were for "defence", expanded NATO still further and then humiliated Russia with yet another declared Nato expansion, to Ukraine and Georgia in W's infamous Bucharest Declaration in 2008.

Obama was a fool and a flaming asshole who pretended to be friendly while sneering idiotically that "Russia has nothing that the world wants" and humiliating Russia (and the US) with disastrous interventions in Libya and Ukraine and Syria. Once again, more NATO expansion, this time with actual military advisors training and bulking up Ukraine's military to "go on offense," as Sen. Lindsay Graham fond Ukrainian elite troops in 2016.

Trump restored a brief moment of sanity to US Russia policy, combining respect and toughness-- exactly the way the Russians and every great power expect to be treated. Then Trump was overthrown in a rigged election.

And now shit for brains demented Papa Joe Biden. The Russians are now like, "OK, what's new?"
Posted by: Whaviper Jones6216   2022-03-31 11:34  

#19  /\ I'll bet all the military and intelligence part of the deepState are doing right now is calling up their friends in the Kremlin trying to convince them that whatever Biden utters is worth jack and shit. Maybe they're also looking to replace him with the pliant kind 'leader' they want.

I would assess the probability of this type of backchannel communication very high.

Posted by: Besoeker   2022-03-31 11:26  

#18  
I think they're a bit low on quality external intelligence assets in Russia. China overtook them in number of plants in DC, and Langley may be riddled with closet sunnis, globalists and other critters but very less russkie spies. Also, osint has really made players lazy and incompetent. So the Russians were truly alarmed at Biden's foolhardy statements.

Or they knew it's all hot air and took the opportunity to wave their radioactive shlongs in faces.

Truth is, the deepState in America cannot afford to piss off Russia. It cannot undertake any more grand plans in Russia. And no matter how many fags, clueless poc appointees or crazy wimmin Langley absorbs in service, there're always some clever chaps plugged into the other side doing their job right in the CIA. They will tell you Biden can stuff it, there's going to be no 'Russian Spring' or sponsored Navalnys or zero dark attempts on Vlad. I'll bet all the military and intelligence part of the deepState are doing right now is calling up their friends in the Kremlin trying to convince them that whatever Biden utters is worth jack and shit. Maybe they're also looking to replace him with the pliant kind 'leader' they want.

There is no existential threat to Russia. The only existential threat is to America, and most of it from within. And it can't be circumvented or surmounted by making enemies of a nuclear powered State with a bad case of авось.
Posted by: Dron66046   2022-03-31 11:13  

#17  #6 Damned reckless fools.

^ accurately describes the Biden administration
Posted by: Ebbolusing Glock5045   2022-03-31 10:09  

#16  Do you have evidence to the contrary?

No, of course Matt doesn't. The survey questions posed in the US (including at least one constituent questionnaire sent by a US congressman) asked only whether the respondent would be willing to pay higher gas prices as a result of sanctions.

Nowhere are Americans being told about inevitable consequences such as a steep decline in US living standards, about rationing, about hyperinflation or recession. Let alone 10 million or more deaths from starvation and chaos, wars and revolutions around the world.
Posted by: Gruling Stalin1990   2022-03-31 09:57  

#15  Secret bunkers or did everyone simply move to the War Room because that is where the Big Board is?
Posted by: SteveS   2022-03-31 09:56  

#14  Whataboutery on display. You just informed one segment of the American public, and nobody is going to censor or restrict the further publication of your comment.
Posted by: Matt   2022-03-31 09:43  

#13  How many Americans and other westerners would support punitive sanctions on Russia if they were informed honestly about the "bill"?

That bill includes: ration cards for gas and food. Spiraling deficits. Hyperinflation. Recession. Hunger and starvation across the Near and Far East as well as Africa. Wars and revolutions in many countries because of food scarcity. Disruptions to every major industry. Redoubling of government control and repression.

Were the western publics informed about this parade of horribles that necessarily attends upon western policy toward Russia? I don't believe so. Do you have evidence to the contrary?
Posted by: Thravick Fillmore6665   2022-03-31 09:40  

#12  Yeah, and I'm all in favor of eating at fancy restaurants right up until the waiter brings the bill.
Posted by: Matt   2022-03-31 09:31  

#11  The Russians including the overwhelming majority of the Russian people are dead serious. This war is in their view existential -- a necessary last-ditch effort to prevent US missiles eventually being being placed a few hundred km from Moscow.

That's about five minutes' distance, and Russia would not be able to intercept those missiles. The Russians believe they are fighting an existential threat.

In his article in The Hill linked above, US pollster Mark Mellman also cites the solid work of an American pollster:

Some of those who have produced surveys recently are fine people with excellent reputations for integrity, and it would seem some of them believe their surveys are producing real and useful information. One of the things they’re finding is support for Putin’s war, at least in its early days.

Noted American pollster Gary Langer helped bring to public attention a survey conducted by serious Russian researchers in the early days of the war; it found 58 percent of their countrymen approved of the invasion, 46 percent strongly so. Only about 23 percent opposed the war.
Posted by: Beldar Fleresing4701   2022-03-31 08:53  

#10  No bunkers here, but beginning to wonder how many of these farm silos actually store grain.....
Posted by: Mercutio   2022-03-31 08:44  

#9  Putin's invasion if Ukraine is wildly popular with the Russian people. His approval ratings have gone up significantly and stayed sky high since the invasion -- 78% of Russians approve of Putin's performance. The American pollster Mark Mellman summarizes the data:

"According to polls by the independent and reliable Levada Center, Putin’s approval rating has been at or above 59 percent in every reading for the past 20 years. In February, as his buildup on the Ukrainian border progressed, but before the invasion began, Putin’s approval rose to 71 percent.

VCIOM, a polling form owned by the Russian government, similarly pegged Putin’s approval in the low to mid-sixties throughout the year, and also saw it rise as the war against Ukraine commenced. Indeed, its most recent reading on March 20 has 78 percent of Russians approving of Putin’s performance.
Posted by: Beldar Fleresing4701   2022-03-31 08:39  

#8  First off, it is not from American Thinker. The referenced article is by Uwe Parpart and David P Goldman writing in Asia Times. They state their source for the bunker report is the work of investigative journalist Christo Grozev and they link to it:

What does Vladimir Putin have to do to convince Washington that the Ukraine crisis is a preliminary skirmish in what might be a nuclear war? On February 23, Putin warned of nuclear war. On February 19, he conducted a full-dress drill of Russian ballistic missile forces. On February 27, he put Russia on a nuclear alert — which remains in effect.

Joe Biden didn’t get the message.

Then on March 29, Moscow sent a red-alarm signal to the West by leaking news that “Putin and his high command have decamped to secret bunkers, following a Kremlin statement that Russia would use nuclear weapons to counter an ‘existential threat,’” the
Daily Mail reported, citing investigations by journalist Christo Grozev.


Posted by: Thravick Fillmore6665   2022-03-31 08:31  

#7  Ukraine has reportedly been shelling targets over the border in Russian territory. Someone needs to tell them to stop doing stupid crap like that. It reason enou8gh to cite as a provocation.

ROTFLMAO
Posted by: Procopius2k   2022-03-31 08:07  

#6  First off, it is American Stinker Thinker. They have retracted things in the past for being (and this is a quote) Thomas Lifson (one of the founders and leaders) wrote that American Thinker published statements that were "completely false and have no basis in fact." and that they were based on discredited sources and American Thinker was“wrong to publish these false statements.” (cite

Now assuming they aren't blowing smoke and its not just posturing by Putin:

Target might be Mariupol. They don't want the port or city, they want it gone - cleared so they can use it as a highway to Crimea and turn the Sea of Azov into a Russian Lake again. That's why they are systematically reducing the city to rubble. Bonus for Putin popping a tac nuke there is that he supposedly hits a stronghold for the so-called "Nazi" Azov Battalion.

0.3kt would probably be used. Probably an airburst to reduce fallout issues. And probably in the center of the pocket to avoid water/coastal areas (for fallout reasons) and to avoid the highways around the perimeter the Russians want to use.

Iskander missiles can carry that and they have been in more or less constant use in Ukraine with conventional warheads.

Conveniently 0.3kt is the lowest yield on the US Mk61mod3 "Dial a nuke" bomb, available as a pre-set on Nukemap to see the effects, radius, etc.

So look for a pullback around Mariupol as a sign of bad things.

As an aside, Ukraine has reportedly been shelling targets over the border in Russian territory. Someone needs to tell them to stop doing stupid crap like that. It reason enou8gh to cite as a provocation. Damned reckless fools.
Posted by: Chealing Chomotle4158   2022-03-31 07:47  

#5  Food,medicine, and fuel rationing will commence.

Already have. Gas rationing in Germany. Diesel rationing in the Netherlands. Food rationing in France.

The Financial Times opines that covid restrictions have conditioned the serfs public to accept repression: "what manifests merely as higher food and energy prices in the northern hemisphere will show up as famine in parts of the developing world. In the short term, wealthy European economies should be able to persuade companies and individuals to contribute to ending the horrors endured by Ukrainians. It is spring and turning down the heating is not a big ask for most. Two years of stringent government anti-Covid measures may even have conditioned people to lower their expectations in the wider interest (though anti-lockdown protests suggest the reverse is also possible)."
Posted by: Thravick Fillmore6665   2022-03-31 07:44  

#4  Russian soldiers at Chernobyl 'are being treated for radiation poisoning in Belarus' after power plant workers said the troops' lack of anti-radiation gear was 'suicidal'
Posted by: Skidmark   2022-03-31 07:30  

#3  Putin is very likely to use a small tactical nuke on Ukrainian hold-out cities.
Posted by: Skidmark   2022-03-31 06:46  

#2   Секретный ядерный бункер
Posted by: Woozle Glusorong4800   2022-03-31 05:43  

#1  ....following a Kremlin statement that Russia would use nuclear weapons to counter an 'existential threat

Putin is very likely to use a small tactical nuke on Ukrainian hold-out cities. The West has been notified. Putin and his high command are simply taking precautionary measures.

The West will not respond militarily. Emergency UN meetings will be announced. An international crisis will be declared followed by National emergency actions. Elections will be postponed. Travel will be restricted. Food, medicine, and fuel rationing will commence. The sale of firearms and ammunition will be suspended. Congress goes on an extended national emergency holiday. Biden and Harris cannot be found, are assumed to be in seclusion.

In the hope of de-escalating the tensions, US and Euro military aid to Ukraine will be immediately terminated.

This is a crisis damn it! It could go on for months, even years! You must do your part.

Posted by: Besoeker   2022-03-31 04:17  

00:00