Newsweek Twisted A Popular Russian TV Host’s Observation For Propaganda Purposes

The Golden Billion failed to catalyze the Russian economy’s collapse, their fully NATO-backed but Ukrainian-fronted proxies failed to defeat Russia on the battlefield, and Russia still exercises its writ over a large swath of former Ukrainian territory in spite of approximately $100 billion having thus far been disbursed in a desperate attempt to dislodge it. That being the case, the sunk-cost fallacy is thus only relevant with respect to the West, hence why Newsweek sought to gaslight the opposite.   

The Ukrainian Conflict’s present stalemate offers a unique opportunity to resume last spring’s peace process that was regrettably sabotaged by former British Prime Minister Johnson at the time, but only if Kiev finally accepts the current ground realities, which Zelensky and is ilk thus far refuse to do. Be that as it is, every participant in this proxy war would benefit by freezing the Line of Control (LOC), which would at the very least enable them all to refocus on their respective economic recoveries.

The recent speculative chatter about this mutually beneficial scenario prompted popular Russian TV host Olga Skabeyeva to share her own observations about it, which Newsweek subsequently twisted for propaganda purposes. It quoted her as saying the following during one of her latest programs:

“We are all adults and we are well aware that war depletes the Russian state in every way. At the same time we, being adequate and normal people, of course, are not capable of enjoying military action, war and each one of us, I am convinced, would like an end to hostilities.

We simply understand that this is completely unrealistic and impossible on current terms…We can't go through with [the demands to abandon Russia’s new regions] because then it would make a 'special military operation' meaningless which means that we would betray both ourselves and our country.”

That clip was then exploited to extend false credence to the US-led West’s information warfare narrative alleging that Russia’s special operation had supposedly failed. In particular, Newsweek tried connecting it to the sunk-cost fallacy to argue that it’s better for Russia to admit defeat than to keep fighting.

The reality is of course altogether different since the present stalemate that was referenced at the beginning of this analysis is proof in and of itself that the military-strategic dynamics aren’t what that outlet presented them as being. Russia continues defending its on-the-ground gains despite the US-led West’s Golden Billion propping up their Ukrainian proxy regime with around $100 billion in aid over the past 10 months. This objectively existing and easily verifiable fact speaks to Russia’s military resilience.

Truth be told, the sunk-cost fallacy is only relevant with respect to Moscow’s opponents, who’ve failed to achieve their maximum objectives in this proxy war despite the unprecedented pace, scale, and scope of their commitment in pursuit of them. While select interest groups like anti-Russian lobbyists and the military-industrial complex have immensely profited from it, the macroeconomic consequences have destabilized the US’ de facto New Cold War bloc and caused serious hardship for most of its people.

Washington already achieved its grand strategic goal of provoking Moscow into militarily intervening in Ukraine in order to defend the integrity of its national security red lines there after NATO crossed them, which was in turn leveraged to successfully reassert its declining hegemony over the EU. Indefinitely perpetuating this proxy war risks breaking its geopolitical project apart by the seams in the worst-case scenario, hence why it’s in the US’ objective interests to seek a ceasefire as soon as possible.

It's not seriously pursuing this course of action, however, because those aforementioned interest groups (anti-Russian lobbyists and the military-industrial complex) continue exerting disproportionate influence over policy formulation. So powerful is their hold over that country’s approach to the conflict that its Mainstream Media (MSM) like Newsweek are still clinging to their discredited information warfare narratives about the conflict alleging that Russia already lost despite the facts proving otherwise.

As Skabeyeva observed, Russia won’t abandon its newly reunified regions like the West demands since their incorporation into the country helped defend its national security red lines whose crossing prompted President Putin to commence the special operation in the first place. Moreover, this development was necessary in order to defend the local population’s human rights that were hitherto violated with impunity by Kiev, which was another motive that he claimed was behind his decision.

Considering what Russia has thus far achieved on the ground throughout the course of its special operation, it can therefore be concluded that all references to the sunk-cost fallacy are irrelevant when discussing its calculations. Far from supposedly having been nothing but a failure, the special operation achieved some tangible successes that are worth defending despite the rising costs, the latter of which can nevertheless be mitigated by optimizing economic and military planning like is presently happening.

By contrast, the Golden Billion failed to catalyze the Russian economy’s collapse, their fully NATO-backed but Ukrainian-fronted proxies failed to defeat Russia on the battlefield, and Russia still exercises its writ over a large swath of former Ukrainian territory in spite of approximately $100 billion having thus far been disbursed in a desperate attempt to dislodge it. That being the case, the sunk-cost fallacy is thus only relevant with respect to the West, hence why Newsweek sought to gaslight the opposite.