Etienne Note: Reminder: The Russian – Ukraine war is 100% a proxy war of the US and its allies. There simply wouldn't be a war if the US wasn't pumping BILLIONS of dollars and supplying weapons, intelligence, Palantir targeting, and advisors. Beltway bandit defense contractors are making a fortune and it is convenient that the organized crime "government" has a war they can turn up to 11 to distract the population away from how they are being robbed at any time.
We finally have the answer as to what Zelensky’s next big exploit will be—and it is sure to escalate the conflict to its ultimate stage.
First as preface, recall that only a week and a half ago we had reported that Ukraine was in the process of unveiling a massive new terror campaign against Russian civilian airports:
Plans Revealed for Massive Ukrainian Attacks Against Russian Airports, as Kiev Hit With Another Unstoppable Ballistic Swarm
Last night Russia unleashed another large-scale attack on Kiev, targeting various defense enterprises as well as a major warehouse for Ukrainian supermarket goods, which appeared to burn down to the ground:
It came from this Atlantic story:
Tonight, Zelensky has committed to his promise by announcing the new provocation campaign in a direct address:
Note the very serious direct threat below, in two parts:
One thing that becomes absolutely certain now, is that the CIA director’s visit to Moscow obviously had something to do with this. There may have been multiple angles to his visit, but we are now left to assume this was the main end-all-be-all reason: to deliver a final warning to Russia: “If you do not stop finishing off Ukraine’s infrastructure, a new unprecedented terror campaign against your airports will shut down all travel to your key cities.”
The only question that remains is whether the CIA is in on it, or whether they were genuinely warning Russia about Ukraine’s intentions. Well, that may be a rather academic and unnecessary question, after all.
The first visit by a sitting CIA head to Russia since 2022 prefiguring the launch of a major new offensive against Russian airports is certainly not to be taken as a “coincidence”.
There are no such coincidences.
A final warning was delivered to Russia, and now we begin a new phase of the conflict.
Zelensky’s 40-day special operation failed and the only choice he was left with is to escalate to a new degree of “discomfort” for Russian civilian life.
For his part, during today’s SCO summit presser in Bishkek Putin already levied a counter-threat to Ukraine, stating that he has authorized a “massive” new campaign of strikes against Ukrainian energy infrastructure:
Putin: “In response to the Kiev regime’s continuing attacks on civilian infrastructure and on the fuel and energy complex... ...the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation have been given instructions to prepare and carry out massive strikes on Ukrainian energy facilities”
Putin was asked specifically about the new airport threat as well, to which he said Russia will “find a response”, after also stating:
“This is a declaration of state terrorism. Kiev is asking for negotiations to resume, asking for face-to-face meetings — but we don’t negotiate with terrorists” - Putin on Zelensky’s latest statement threatening civilian air traffic in Russia
One of the other telling developments of the saga has been the seemingly coordinated nature of Germany’s new initiative to prepare its own escalations against Russia due to an airport false flag.
It seems too far fetched to be a ‘coincidence’ that Russia is being framed for attacking German airports with explosive drones only days before Ukraine announces a massive operation to shut down Russia’s own airports. There are clear hints of an orchestrated campaign happening here, which is nothing more than Phase 2.0 of the Ukrainian-Western plan to foment socio-political dissent in Russia and stoke an uprising against Putin.
As per usual, however, Ukraine will likely bear the greatest costs and pain of this plan after Russia retaliates in some tit-for-tat fashion. The only difference here is, Ukrainian airports have already long ceased operations, which means the blowback must necessarily be asymmetrical in nature—thus Putin’s hints about figuring out some response.
One thing is clear, the previous Phase 1.0 failed, and now Ukraine is being brought to its knees as Putin has increasingly been forced to go “gloves off”.
One of the reasons Ukraine has no choice but to escalate is because its previous campaign of strikes grew progressively less effective, for reasons Putin explained:
In short, Russian refineries have started to protect themselves in various ways, including putting up large anti-drone netting and metal structures over the most sensitive portions. This will grow to the point where Ukraine’s strikes will become nearly useless, and only further escalation will give Zelensky the needed dopamine hit.
Ultimately, RWA had the correct line of reasoning for this:
The closer Ukraine gets to its end, the more drastic the terror actions will become.
The most dangerous part of all this, is that Russia may at one point feel these escalations are coming not from Kiev, but from London and elsewhere. This is why Putin was asked today if the UK can be struck by a Russian retaliation:
This is why the recent coordinated campaign to stir escalations between Russia and Europe was cooked up—the elites pulling the strings want Russia to be cornered into facing no choice but to strike Europe so that NATO is “forced” to respond in unison as a last desperate hope:
This is precisely what the latest WSJ piece argues:
That Russia will increasingly be forced to consider striking Ukraine’s “protected rear”, which is Europe, after Russia obliterates virtually everything else of any value in Ukraine proper.
Russia faces a fundamental asymmetry as it seeks to beat Ukraine into submission with intensifying airstrikes on shopping malls, power stations, ports and other infrastructure. Kyiv can rely on a secure hinterland beyond its borders—its European neighbors—for economic resilience and for military logistics.
The Kremlin, whose refineries, ports and defense industries are also under attack by Ukrainian missiles and drones, has no such backup. Hits to Russia’s militarized economy translate more directly into damage to the country’s ability to keep the war going.
This lopsided geopolitical setup offsets, to a significant degree, Russia’s advantage in firepower. It has also become the key reason driving what Western officials say is a widening Russian campaign of sabotage, hacking and other hybrid operations aimed at intimidating European leaders and voters.
This is now the last remaining register of the war: to transition it from a purely Ukrainian proxy fight, to one with direct European involvement.
Russia is unlikely to take the bait because it has proven the ability to counter everything the West can cook up, despite it often being after major damage is done. But that damage is reparable, and Putin will likely bank on the knowledge that Russia can recover from any nasty surprises while plying its disciplined campaign against its Ukrainian foe.
That being said, there are always unforeseen wildcards and black swan events that are possible: Ukraine could hit a nuclear plant, the Kremlin itself, or do some other exceedingly nasty attack which could force Putin’s hand. But recall, Russia has already suffered the Crocus terrorist attacks, which killed nearly 200 civilians and had the clear finger print of Ukrainian and Western intelligence. It would be hard to imagine an attack worse than that one which would force Putin’s hand in some incalculable way.
But you never know.
All we can say is that as Ukraine faces its most desperate hour, expect more nasty “Pandora’s box” surprises to be unleashed on Russia.
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