He seems to be holding back from more direct critiques, perhaps to avoid fueling propaganda campaigns centered on Russia’s objective shortcomings, which is why reading between the lines is essential.
New AI espionage powers trigger Putin camera scare
Russia paused surveillance system after killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader exposed how AI can be used on CCTV data to target enemies
Mehul Srivastava in London and Christopher Miller in Kyiv
8 Jun 2026
Russia’s security services shut parts of a special surveillance system protecting President Vladimir Putin and his closest aides in the wake of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s assassination in Tehran, according to two people familiar with the matter.
The system — which is separate from the nearly 300,000 cameras that surveil Moscow’s citizens — was only turned back on after engineers combed through it in an attempt to hermetically seal it off from the internet, said one of the people.
The extraordinary precautions were taken after Israeli intelligence harvested vast amounts of video footage from Iran’s traffic cameras to help pinpoint the exact location and timing of a February 28 meeting between Khamenei and his closest aides. Several top security officials were killed at the meeting in the opening salvo of the joint US-Israel war on the Islamic republic.
The assassination was a dramatic demonstration of a nascent technological leap: the use of artificial intelligence to parse through millions of hours of video, collected by thousands of cameras, in order to find and surveil targets.
Yes, I remember that, particularly "Non-Russian Pro-Russian" influencers spinning it as Israel supposedly plotting to assassinate Putin or whatever despite him being Russia's most philo-Semitic leader in history by far.
Whoever has met actual Russian nationalists with white nationalist sympathies has probably heard stories of a photo of the President's mother's Soviet internal passport being leaked. Of course, the interesting part is that Soviet internal passports specified a citizen's nationality.
I don’t consider a bad thing, but I personally believe that Putin’s mother was Jewish, and that contextualizes why Jews always treated him as one of their own his whole life from his Jewish Orthodox who watched him when he was young while his parents were at work to his lifelong friends and late judo coach.
It would also further contextualize why the majority-Jewish oligarchs that ruled Russia at the time approved Putin’s nomination by Yeltsin as PM. Again, I don’t think it’s anything bad and Putin is a proud Orthodox Christian, but I do believe that his mom was Jewish and that Russian Jews thus consider him to at least partially be one of their own.
It's so refreshing seeing people of influence finally speaking up and saying what a lot of what we true Non-Russian Pro-Russians and actual Russians alike have been saying amongst ourselves for a while!
Trenin is right, of course. What exactly has Russia achieved with its vast natural resources? Russia was one of the world's most advanced nations some decades ago; what happened? The 'Dutch Disease' comes to mind, and imho far too much emphasis has been paid to foreign, instead of domestic, policy.
The challenge is huge, because the fundamental issue is not just governance, but a strong, meritocratic institution of governance, since it is the only thing that can assure the making of persistently good decisions.
For what it's worth, this disease is not just prevalent but worse in the West. Everything else is just symptom.
I agree, the overemphasis on foreign policy -- which the Lavrov-Zakharova ("LavZakh") duo hyped up over the past decade -- disguised some serious domestic shortcomings, yet the latter were overlooked by many due to LavZakh portraying Russia as "always winning" and the West as "always losing".
Now the chickens are coming home to roost and everyone is beginning to realize that Russia has some serious domestic challenges, just like many countries, and that they must be urgently addressed without further delay. The army of online influencers who angrily denied the existence of such challenges for decades is now more discredited than ever.
Putin himself was surprisingly candid about his country's challenges in early 2018 as I wrote about here at the time (and which really enraged the "Non-Russian Pro-Russian" cultists! lol):
"It’s Okay To Constructively Criticize Russia, Even President Putin Does It!"
Is there an accurate description of the current system of governance in Russia? Given the country's culture and history, what superior system might be achievable and sustainable, and how can it be achieved?
It seems to me that this is the single most critical challenge faced by the vast majority of nations, carrying huge implications for billions of lives. Yet, nearly all political commentators seemingly prefer to discuss 3D geopolitical chess or, worse, ideological crusades when not whining about symptoms. Given your training and dedication, I would have thought this could be an interesting opportunity.
The current system is popularly known here as the “power vertical”, meaning top-down leadership and stovepiped institutions.
It has its merits but it’s also somewhat stale, rigid, and incapable of rapidly adapting to changing circumstances.
In the spirit of Bezrukov’s SPIER speech, Russia could benefit by delegating more responsibilities from the center to the regions and state institutions, albeit with strict federal oversight.
Some semblance of actual political plurality could help too in the sense of having more stakeholders from systemic opposition parties like the communists and nationalists actively participate in the discourse on issues of significance.
Groupthink and echo chambers have taken hold of the country due to United Russia’s domestic politics monopoly, which has led to self-censorship and the stifling of what could — under relatively controlled conditions — a vibrant national discourse.
Basically, a form of state-supervised “glasnost” (openness) is required that unleashes Russia’s rich creative potential while averting Gorbachev-era catastrophic consequences, all while repairing totally broken feedback loops at all national levels.
Think that's a dead link, but I did glance through some of your articles, perhaps you meant some of the "Silenced Democratic Traditions" (of questionable 'electoral performance' - your words), or that described in your draft Basic Law / manifesto?
The latter suggests governance largely by sortition? Do you see no merit / importance in experience, or talents, or virtues? Am a little surprised, since I presume you appreciate how the CPC 'works', based on that country specific article.
Hey friend, aren't you forgetting a bit quickly that in between, an idiot surrounded by traitors followed by a foul alcoholic surrounded by vultures and jackals plunged Russia into hell and nearly made it disappear from history? Are you forgetting that the fool with the stain on his face made his country suffer the worst strategic disaster in its history?
And you show up, all innocent, daring to say, "So then? What did Russia do with its resources?"
I accept that, my friend, I also believe President Putin has been leading the country since 2000?
In case there is any misunderstanding, I am not saying he did a bad job, I am however interested to know what major institutional improvements he has made, and if they are adequate. Andrew kindly linked to an article he wrote in 2018 with critiques Putin himself made, but those seem to be symptoms. I think the disease is far more important, and of course the cure. My interest is not just Russia, by the way, but all afflicted countries, which, imho, include the vast majority of countries on earth, but sizeable, complex liberal democracies are the worst.
Not easy problems I think. In fact I am unsure if there are great solutions.
When I see what was made in only 26 years, I don't ask myself why the hell Russia is not yet the first nation in the world with so much ressources. I'm stunned and I applaud.
There is no such thing as a "Dutch disease". Have you heard yet of a "Norwegian disease", yet? That is not talked about much, just whispers - oligarchs around the world hate, hate that particular disease...
Putin invaded Ukraine in order to acquire a trading partner for Russia’s value added exports. Any value added exports to China are temporary as China reverse engineers everything to create industries for their own. I said in 2022–this war is about the MC-21 as a Boeing 737 competitor is the crowning achievement of any advanced economy.
My specialty is soft power and feedback loops, and most here know my proposed solution (i.e. create parallel think tanks under the patronage of Russia’s three main security agencies for stimulating “friendly competition” that could accelerate behavioral changes and counteract the MFA’s groupthink while it still exists), but others are more reticent in sharing details about what needs to be reformed because they fear offending the wrong person.
Also, the MFA should implement its own reforms for encouraging contrarian views such as mandating that part of every report include at least a brief section mentioning such as regards whatever the subject may be.
When it comes to soft power, a full break with every “Potemkinist” NRPR is required as well as the cultivation of actual experts on Russian interests and policy, possibly through partnerships with Russia’s or at least Moscow’s main universities.
Right now it’s the same several people interviewing one another and saying the same thing, which is usually a warped portrayal of Russian interests and policy, so changes are long overdue.
And oh yeah, whenever Russia drops the ball and is once again (as i fear will inevitably happen) caught off guard by some major development in its “sphere of influence”, there must be a top-down investigation, serious accountability, and associated reforms for finally preventing it from happening again or at least maximally reducing the likelihood thereof as much as is realistically possible.
It's the same in Europe and in France especially. A very great french analyst, my master, JF Kahn said( he is gone) that those people live in a bubble. They know the sale people, are in the same clubs, come from the same schools and universities, journalists, mediatic intellectuals, politicians, big bizness.
I don't want to sound harsh, but you obviously have not work in a government, not at the low table, nor middle, nor high, and don't have a sense of how institutions shape and channel power, from up down and from down up, etc.Think thanks?
Well actually I worked for the government from 2014-2019 when I was an employee of publicly financed Sputnik so I know very well from the inside-out what it’s like (and my five-year-long NDA has already expired which is why I’m talking about this nowadays).
You clearly have no experience working or even engaging with Russian institutions, or they just played the typical “Potemkin” act for you as a naive Russian-friendly foreigner and maximally manipulated you.
I’m also a proud graduate of the MFA-run MGIMO, MA from 2013-2015 and PhD from 2019-2023, with unpaid think tank experience in between and beyond as well as contacts from the diplomacy to experts and journalists that continue to this day.
You can’t hold a candle to my credentials, and no, I don’t believe that “arguments from authority” must automatically be accepted, just that they should be seriously considered if shared by sincere folks even if one ultimately disagrees with them.
Honestly, sharing my insight — let alone pro bono (!!!) — is sometimes like casting pearls before swine because average (key qualifier!) “Non-Russian Pro/Russians” are cultists who can’t accept even the most politely expressed constructive critiques of Russia.
Also, I wrote a ~10k-word report on future threats to Russia in lieu of attending an event in this in mid-May since it was my daughter’s birthday that day (I was invited 8 days ahead of time but we already made family plans a few weeks prior for once she got out of school that day).
I don’t know if Bezrukov attended, but it was the subject of his SPIEF speech that I recently analyzed. What I do know is that my report was shared with the organizers, who had my permission to share it with any attendees and institutions that they’d like.
There’s nothing secret about it either since it was more or Kresy a continue wive report of what I’ve already shared with my audience here, including in the comments section as regards my proposal (repeated above), which I expanded on ti suggest having the FSB, GRU, and SVR — through their proposed associated think tanks — share their own assessments if whatever it is that the MFA is briefing the President about during Security Council meetings.
By either corroborating, challenging, or contradicting the MFA, they can shatter groupthink and echo chambers while fostering “friendly competition among institutions aimed at optimizing Russia’s policy formulation and implementation processes. None of this is secret, I’ve talked about it before, but I’m connecting it to this context due to your unprovoked personal insult.
Humbly speaking, I’ve done my utmost to help Russia, and I’m fiercely proud of it. I therefore won’t be talked down to by some random anonymous account, let alone on my own page. Therefore, either apologize or get blocked. You have 24 hours. Any disrespectful respond will lead to an automatic block.
Andrew, I believe in your sincerity. And no, you cannot hold a candle to my experience working for the government, regulating and enforcing and also doing opperational work and what not for a very difficult constituency, and being an expert at the middle table and providing input for the high table. But regardless. Personally I think the problem is much more complex and maybe a day or two ago I spitballed some ideas and diagnostics and potential actionable remedies. definitely not think tanks. I think Russians, high and especially low need not only to be tald but really let to speak, in a very long multi-voice monologue... But I won't revisit. And you are still young, much to experience. But keep up with the good work. I rather read you and listen to John Helmer than have another rant from Scott Ritter telling me about the Russian soul.
Imo, a healthy society is self critical, acknowledges its errors, and then ~slowly corrects.
Just to take note of one important issue for Russia, as for many other countries, the population must grow.
Regardless, after watching back to back fiascos of Ukraine and Iran, I'm relatively pessimistic that the modern world of Psychopath Princes will ever allow societies to evolve peacefully.
I thnk too many people are interpreting sensible adjustments now that Russia leads Nato by so much as the kind of desperate acts of Nato as they completely lose control.
One thing we can learn from the russian handling of the SMO and subsequent war - there were many changes in leadership in the military BECAUSE war time is when you find out most about your senior officers. There should be many changes. There have been astonishingly few changes in Ukrainian and Nato leadership because they are still run on political grounds, not military.
Modest changes in Russian goals and methods is to be praised - not tobe used as proof that Kiev BS about problems in Moscow are real.
Agreed, but changes so remarkable in Russia’s case since the system as a whole — which has existed for centuries but just changed its outward appearance — is so impervious to change in general. For it to finally happen, even just a little bit, is always something significant when it comes to Russia.
These positive changes were largely driven by high oil prices. There also have been some advancements in digitalization, which are helpful, but generally speaking, things don’t even change fast here.
That’s why Bismarck had the saying that “Russians saddle slow but ride fast”, meaning that it takes them VERY LONG to adapt and get ready, but once they finally are, they’re very effective.
What I’ve seen from the inside-out my 13 years here is complacency leading to stagnation that has now placed Russia on the precipice of decline after its broken feedback loops having entered a doom spiral of sorts whereby the policies that are formulated aren’t just unhelpful but sometimes even counterproductive.
As someone with tangible stakes in Russia’s success — my wife and two kids are Russian citizens, I own my apartment, and my entire life savings is in rubles — I am very, very concerned.
I think you are nervously picking up on a lot of Kiev based PR about there being a faint hope Ukraine can defeat Russia so lets send them more money.
that and some frustration in Russia that Ukraine hasn't collapsed yet.
it is all happening soon - don't worry.
There is much more than oil prices - think MIC corruption. All that money, so little corruption, and quite a big amount getting caught. As someone who lives in the west and hasn't been to Russia since 2004 - that is actually really admirable.
Plus of course if you lived in the west and wrote what you write, you could easily lose those savings
Oh dear. Another clueless statist. There is no Russian state. It is a fantasy and any time anyone has tried to enforce its rules stringently, we know what happens. Just as in any other state. Idiots like this need to be sidelined. The problem is of course the elites who rule us and they are not Russian, Jew or anything else. They are an international that doesn't give a flying fuck about your national sensitivities. So I would suggest people start growing up, behaving like adults and forming unity that spans ALL 'nations'.
The best things that happen with Russians were the local Soviets, which the Bolsheviks and Lenin dismantled as soon as they got into power. Russians shoul resurface Rosa Luxembourg's writings and her critique of the Russian revolution. Russian people deserve more recognition and a bit more democracy. And then they will reciprocate, with zeal, at least a majority.
here's an article on the current state of Russia that may be of interest:
In Russia, Rage Is Boiling Over
June 8, 2026
By Andrei Zakharov - Mr. Zakharov is a Russian journalist and the author of “The Russian Cyberpunk.”
Over the past year, Russian authorities have been blocking popular messaging apps and coercing citizens to migrate to MAX, a new state-endorsed messenger platform. The messages there are presumed to be fully accessible to the F.S.B., the state security agency that succeeded the Soviet K.G.B. A recent joke from a comedy show on Channel One, Russian television’s largest outlet, went like this:
“Why are you writing to me in a private chat: ‘Hey everyone!’”? “Well, that’s how it works on MAX!”
That such a joke aired on Channel One — a significant stake of which belongs to Yury Kovalchuk, who also has strong ties to MAX and who is a friend of President Vladimir Putin’s — speaks to the animosity the people of Russia have toward the new app.
Oh yeah, the internet restrictions are VERY UNPOPULAR here. If they were calmly explained to the public in advance, then maybe the reaction would be different, but they predictably weren't (Russia has always struggled with soft power) so people are really unhappy.
And one more:
----
New AI espionage powers trigger Putin camera scare
Russia paused surveillance system after killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader exposed how AI can be used on CCTV data to target enemies
Mehul Srivastava in London and Christopher Miller in Kyiv
8 Jun 2026
Russia’s security services shut parts of a special surveillance system protecting President Vladimir Putin and his closest aides in the wake of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s assassination in Tehran, according to two people familiar with the matter.
The system — which is separate from the nearly 300,000 cameras that surveil Moscow’s citizens — was only turned back on after engineers combed through it in an attempt to hermetically seal it off from the internet, said one of the people.
The extraordinary precautions were taken after Israeli intelligence harvested vast amounts of video footage from Iran’s traffic cameras to help pinpoint the exact location and timing of a February 28 meeting between Khamenei and his closest aides. Several top security officials were killed at the meeting in the opening salvo of the joint US-Israel war on the Islamic republic.
The assassination was a dramatic demonstration of a nascent technological leap: the use of artificial intelligence to parse through millions of hours of video, collected by thousands of cameras, in order to find and surveil targets.
...
https://www.ft.com/content/6f4d806c-eb22-4c32-8352-b82692d30e9f
Yes, I remember that, particularly "Non-Russian Pro-Russian" influencers spinning it as Israel supposedly plotting to assassinate Putin or whatever despite him being Russia's most philo-Semitic leader in history by far.
Whoever has met actual Russian nationalists with white nationalist sympathies has probably heard stories of a photo of the President's mother's Soviet internal passport being leaked. Of course, the interesting part is that Soviet internal passports specified a citizen's nationality.
I don’t consider a bad thing, but I personally believe that Putin’s mother was Jewish, and that contextualizes why Jews always treated him as one of their own his whole life from his Jewish Orthodox who watched him when he was young while his parents were at work to his lifelong friends and late judo coach.
It would also further contextualize why the majority-Jewish oligarchs that ruled Russia at the time approved Putin’s nomination by Yeltsin as PM. Again, I don’t think it’s anything bad and Putin is a proud Orthodox Christian, but I do believe that his mom was Jewish and that Russian Jews thus consider him to at least partially be one of their own.
On Jews allegedly close to Putin: https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/we-need-to-talk-about-russian-oligarchs-and-jewish-philanthropy
Thanks, very interesting link. Although its barely readable with its spluttering propaganda oozing from every syllable.
As the comments show too, many people are really strained getting their allegiances aligned, oligarchs no exception. Putin neither.
And it seems really hard for some to differentiate between the categories "jews" and "zionists". Set theory still unknown.
Great continuation of previous posts and debates. Thank you!
It's so refreshing seeing people of influence finally speaking up and saying what a lot of what we true Non-Russian Pro-Russians and actual Russians alike have been saying amongst ourselves for a while!
Trenin is right, of course. What exactly has Russia achieved with its vast natural resources? Russia was one of the world's most advanced nations some decades ago; what happened? The 'Dutch Disease' comes to mind, and imho far too much emphasis has been paid to foreign, instead of domestic, policy.
The challenge is huge, because the fundamental issue is not just governance, but a strong, meritocratic institution of governance, since it is the only thing that can assure the making of persistently good decisions.
For what it's worth, this disease is not just prevalent but worse in the West. Everything else is just symptom.
I agree, the overemphasis on foreign policy -- which the Lavrov-Zakharova ("LavZakh") duo hyped up over the past decade -- disguised some serious domestic shortcomings, yet the latter were overlooked by many due to LavZakh portraying Russia as "always winning" and the West as "always losing".
Now the chickens are coming home to roost and everyone is beginning to realize that Russia has some serious domestic challenges, just like many countries, and that they must be urgently addressed without further delay. The army of online influencers who angrily denied the existence of such challenges for decades is now more discredited than ever.
Putin himself was surprisingly candid about his country's challenges in early 2018 as I wrote about here at the time (and which really enraged the "Non-Russian Pro-Russian" cultists! lol):
"It’s Okay To Constructively Criticize Russia, Even President Putin Does It!"
https://web.archive.org/web/20180401072630/https://orientalreview.org/2018/03/06/okay-constructively-criticize-russia-even-president-putin/
Glad you agree.
Is there an accurate description of the current system of governance in Russia? Given the country's culture and history, what superior system might be achievable and sustainable, and how can it be achieved?
It seems to me that this is the single most critical challenge faced by the vast majority of nations, carrying huge implications for billions of lives. Yet, nearly all political commentators seemingly prefer to discuss 3D geopolitical chess or, worse, ideological crusades when not whining about symptoms. Given your training and dedication, I would have thought this could be an interesting opportunity.
The current system is popularly known here as the “power vertical”, meaning top-down leadership and stovepiped institutions.
It has its merits but it’s also somewhat stale, rigid, and incapable of rapidly adapting to changing circumstances.
In the spirit of Bezrukov’s SPIER speech, Russia could benefit by delegating more responsibilities from the center to the regions and state institutions, albeit with strict federal oversight.
Some semblance of actual political plurality could help too in the sense of having more stakeholders from systemic opposition parties like the communists and nationalists actively participate in the discourse on issues of significance.
Groupthink and echo chambers have taken hold of the country due to United Russia’s domestic politics monopoly, which has led to self-censorship and the stifling of what could — under relatively controlled conditions — a vibrant national discourse.
Basically, a form of state-supervised “glasnost” (openness) is required that unleashes Russia’s rich creative potential while averting Gorbachev-era catastrophic consequences, all while repairing totally broken feedback loops at all national levels.
I will blow my horn here, shamelesly. Possibilities exist. David Graeber and David Wengeworth showed in The Dawn of Everything, the diversity of ways humans organized themselves across time and space. Here is one way of approaching governance: https://squirrelbrain77.substack.com/p/playing-devils-advocatehttps://squirrelbrain77.substack.com/p/playing-devils-advocate
Think that's a dead link, but I did glance through some of your articles, perhaps you meant some of the "Silenced Democratic Traditions" (of questionable 'electoral performance' - your words), or that described in your draft Basic Law / manifesto?
The latter suggests governance largely by sortition? Do you see no merit / importance in experience, or talents, or virtues? Am a little surprised, since I presume you appreciate how the CPC 'works', based on that country specific article.
I think I had an updated draft with a new link - learning my ropes on substack... https://squirrelbrain77.substack.com/p/basic-law-of-the-commonwealth-1aehttps://squirrelbrain77.substack.com/p/playing-devils-advocate If you look at the Basic Law, you see that sortition doesn't preclude meritocracy, maybe it makes it more meritocratic and more virtuous, with complex civic education and ethics as constitutional pillars. There is a difference between policy making for the "polis" and oversight and doing the operational work...
Hey friend, aren't you forgetting a bit quickly that in between, an idiot surrounded by traitors followed by a foul alcoholic surrounded by vultures and jackals plunged Russia into hell and nearly made it disappear from history? Are you forgetting that the fool with the stain on his face made his country suffer the worst strategic disaster in its history?
And you show up, all innocent, daring to say, "So then? What did Russia do with its resources?"
Russia is coming back from hell.
I accept that, my friend, I also believe President Putin has been leading the country since 2000?
In case there is any misunderstanding, I am not saying he did a bad job, I am however interested to know what major institutional improvements he has made, and if they are adequate. Andrew kindly linked to an article he wrote in 2018 with critiques Putin himself made, but those seem to be symptoms. I think the disease is far more important, and of course the cure. My interest is not just Russia, by the way, but all afflicted countries, which, imho, include the vast majority of countries on earth, but sizeable, complex liberal democracies are the worst.
Not easy problems I think. In fact I am unsure if there are great solutions.
When I see what was made in only 26 years, I don't ask myself why the hell Russia is not yet the first nation in the world with so much ressources. I'm stunned and I applaud.
There is no such thing as a "Dutch disease". Have you heard yet of a "Norwegian disease", yet? That is not talked about much, just whispers - oligarchs around the world hate, hate that particular disease...
Putin invaded Ukraine in order to acquire a trading partner for Russia’s value added exports. Any value added exports to China are temporary as China reverse engineers everything to create industries for their own. I said in 2022–this war is about the MC-21 as a Boeing 737 competitor is the crowning achievement of any advanced economy.
Reforms, reforms, reforms.
It's easy to jump around like a goat saying that reforms are needed. All these people jump around like goats saying: "We need reforms."
Yeah, great, long live reforms.
But what reforms?
It's funny, not one of them says exactly which reforms are needed IN PRACTICE.
I'm sure that no one would agree with another?
Would Kashin want the same reforms as Trenin?
I highly doubt it.
So? What concrete reforms does Russia actually need?g
My specialty is soft power and feedback loops, and most here know my proposed solution (i.e. create parallel think tanks under the patronage of Russia’s three main security agencies for stimulating “friendly competition” that could accelerate behavioral changes and counteract the MFA’s groupthink while it still exists), but others are more reticent in sharing details about what needs to be reformed because they fear offending the wrong person.
Also, the MFA should implement its own reforms for encouraging contrarian views such as mandating that part of every report include at least a brief section mentioning such as regards whatever the subject may be.
When it comes to soft power, a full break with every “Potemkinist” NRPR is required as well as the cultivation of actual experts on Russian interests and policy, possibly through partnerships with Russia’s or at least Moscow’s main universities.
Right now it’s the same several people interviewing one another and saying the same thing, which is usually a warped portrayal of Russian interests and policy, so changes are long overdue.
And oh yeah, whenever Russia drops the ball and is once again (as i fear will inevitably happen) caught off guard by some major development in its “sphere of influence”, there must be a top-down investigation, serious accountability, and associated reforms for finally preventing it from happening again or at least maximally reducing the likelihood thereof as much as is realistically possible.
It's the same in Europe and in France especially. A very great french analyst, my master, JF Kahn said( he is gone) that those people live in a bubble. They know the sale people, are in the same clubs, come from the same schools and universities, journalists, mediatic intellectuals, politicians, big bizness.
It's exactly what I mean. I notice that Russians seems to worship striking fist on the table in saying: reform.
But they NEVER dare say precisely what reform.
And that smell a little cowardice.
I don't want to sound harsh, but you obviously have not work in a government, not at the low table, nor middle, nor high, and don't have a sense of how institutions shape and channel power, from up down and from down up, etc.Think thanks?
Well actually I worked for the government from 2014-2019 when I was an employee of publicly financed Sputnik so I know very well from the inside-out what it’s like (and my five-year-long NDA has already expired which is why I’m talking about this nowadays).
You clearly have no experience working or even engaging with Russian institutions, or they just played the typical “Potemkin” act for you as a naive Russian-friendly foreigner and maximally manipulated you.
I’m also a proud graduate of the MFA-run MGIMO, MA from 2013-2015 and PhD from 2019-2023, with unpaid think tank experience in between and beyond as well as contacts from the diplomacy to experts and journalists that continue to this day.
You can’t hold a candle to my credentials, and no, I don’t believe that “arguments from authority” must automatically be accepted, just that they should be seriously considered if shared by sincere folks even if one ultimately disagrees with them.
Honestly, sharing my insight — let alone pro bono (!!!) — is sometimes like casting pearls before swine because average (key qualifier!) “Non-Russian Pro/Russians” are cultists who can’t accept even the most politely expressed constructive critiques of Russia.
Also, I wrote a ~10k-word report on future threats to Russia in lieu of attending an event in this in mid-May since it was my daughter’s birthday that day (I was invited 8 days ahead of time but we already made family plans a few weeks prior for once she got out of school that day).
I don’t know if Bezrukov attended, but it was the subject of his SPIEF speech that I recently analyzed. What I do know is that my report was shared with the organizers, who had my permission to share it with any attendees and institutions that they’d like.
There’s nothing secret about it either since it was more or Kresy a continue wive report of what I’ve already shared with my audience here, including in the comments section as regards my proposal (repeated above), which I expanded on ti suggest having the FSB, GRU, and SVR — through their proposed associated think tanks — share their own assessments if whatever it is that the MFA is briefing the President about during Security Council meetings.
By either corroborating, challenging, or contradicting the MFA, they can shatter groupthink and echo chambers while fostering “friendly competition among institutions aimed at optimizing Russia’s policy formulation and implementation processes. None of this is secret, I’ve talked about it before, but I’m connecting it to this context due to your unprovoked personal insult.
Humbly speaking, I’ve done my utmost to help Russia, and I’m fiercely proud of it. I therefore won’t be talked down to by some random anonymous account, let alone on my own page. Therefore, either apologize or get blocked. You have 24 hours. Any disrespectful respond will lead to an automatic block.
Andrew, I believe in your sincerity. And no, you cannot hold a candle to my experience working for the government, regulating and enforcing and also doing opperational work and what not for a very difficult constituency, and being an expert at the middle table and providing input for the high table. But regardless. Personally I think the problem is much more complex and maybe a day or two ago I spitballed some ideas and diagnostics and potential actionable remedies. definitely not think tanks. I think Russians, high and especially low need not only to be tald but really let to speak, in a very long multi-voice monologue... But I won't revisit. And you are still young, much to experience. But keep up with the good work. I rather read you and listen to John Helmer than have another rant from Scott Ritter telling me about the Russian soul.
Imo, a healthy society is self critical, acknowledges its errors, and then ~slowly corrects.
Just to take note of one important issue for Russia, as for many other countries, the population must grow.
Regardless, after watching back to back fiascos of Ukraine and Iran, I'm relatively pessimistic that the modern world of Psychopath Princes will ever allow societies to evolve peacefully.
I thnk too many people are interpreting sensible adjustments now that Russia leads Nato by so much as the kind of desperate acts of Nato as they completely lose control.
One thing we can learn from the russian handling of the SMO and subsequent war - there were many changes in leadership in the military BECAUSE war time is when you find out most about your senior officers. There should be many changes. There have been astonishingly few changes in Ukrainian and Nato leadership because they are still run on political grounds, not military.
Modest changes in Russian goals and methods is to be praised - not tobe used as proof that Kiev BS about problems in Moscow are real.
Agreed, but changes so remarkable in Russia’s case since the system as a whole — which has existed for centuries but just changed its outward appearance — is so impervious to change in general. For it to finally happen, even just a little bit, is always something significant when it comes to Russia.
I'd say there has been a hell of a lot of positive changes over past 25-30 years.
Certainly has been in GDP at PPP per head
If I could insert the chart I would, but pretty sure you know it well
These positive changes were largely driven by high oil prices. There also have been some advancements in digitalization, which are helpful, but generally speaking, things don’t even change fast here.
That’s why Bismarck had the saying that “Russians saddle slow but ride fast”, meaning that it takes them VERY LONG to adapt and get ready, but once they finally are, they’re very effective.
What I’ve seen from the inside-out my 13 years here is complacency leading to stagnation that has now placed Russia on the precipice of decline after its broken feedback loops having entered a doom spiral of sorts whereby the policies that are formulated aren’t just unhelpful but sometimes even counterproductive.
As someone with tangible stakes in Russia’s success — my wife and two kids are Russian citizens, I own my apartment, and my entire life savings is in rubles — I am very, very concerned.
I think you are nervously picking up on a lot of Kiev based PR about there being a faint hope Ukraine can defeat Russia so lets send them more money.
that and some frustration in Russia that Ukraine hasn't collapsed yet.
it is all happening soon - don't worry.
There is much more than oil prices - think MIC corruption. All that money, so little corruption, and quite a big amount getting caught. As someone who lives in the west and hasn't been to Russia since 2004 - that is actually really admirable.
Plus of course if you lived in the west and wrote what you write, you could easily lose those savings
Oh dear. Another clueless statist. There is no Russian state. It is a fantasy and any time anyone has tried to enforce its rules stringently, we know what happens. Just as in any other state. Idiots like this need to be sidelined. The problem is of course the elites who rule us and they are not Russian, Jew or anything else. They are an international that doesn't give a flying fuck about your national sensitivities. So I would suggest people start growing up, behaving like adults and forming unity that spans ALL 'nations'.
The best things that happen with Russians were the local Soviets, which the Bolsheviks and Lenin dismantled as soon as they got into power. Russians shoul resurface Rosa Luxembourg's writings and her critique of the Russian revolution. Russian people deserve more recognition and a bit more democracy. And then they will reciprocate, with zeal, at least a majority.
For a moment I thought it was Nikita Michalkov re.: photo
Trenin seems to be the ODD man. Every country has such people. Forget about him.
here's an article on the current state of Russia that may be of interest:
In Russia, Rage Is Boiling Over
June 8, 2026
By Andrei Zakharov - Mr. Zakharov is a Russian journalist and the author of “The Russian Cyberpunk.”
Over the past year, Russian authorities have been blocking popular messaging apps and coercing citizens to migrate to MAX, a new state-endorsed messenger platform. The messages there are presumed to be fully accessible to the F.S.B., the state security agency that succeeded the Soviet K.G.B. A recent joke from a comedy show on Channel One, Russian television’s largest outlet, went like this:
“Why are you writing to me in a private chat: ‘Hey everyone!’”? “Well, that’s how it works on MAX!”
That such a joke aired on Channel One — a significant stake of which belongs to Yury Kovalchuk, who also has strong ties to MAX and who is a friend of President Vladimir Putin’s — speaks to the animosity the people of Russia have toward the new app.
...
https://archive.ph/7g4JT#selection-4657.0-5019.268
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/08/opinion/putin-internet-russia-shutdown.html
Oh yeah, the internet restrictions are VERY UNPOPULAR here. If they were calmly explained to the public in advance, then maybe the reaction would be different, but they predictably weren't (Russia has always struggled with soft power) so people are really unhappy.
Looks like Russia might be copying China in this regard.