Igor Zaytsev's blog

Some days have passed after the West’s decision to impose the oil price cap on Russian export. Another opportunity was gifted to Russia to retaliate where it’s really hurts — the chaotic energy supply sector. European industry on the verge of collapse due to the raising energy prices and energy shortages, yet Rasputin’s government won’t give it a push. Instead, it is still “considering different options”, meaning the most obvious and effective one (an oil embargo on Western countries) won’t be taken.

The crisis of leadership in Russia has brought on the stupor in foreign policy. The only harsh measures are taken against Russian citizens, greatly limiting their abilities to leave the country with their money, to protect themselves against the unchecked whims of the police, FSB and other government institutes, to report about the deficiencies and corrupt practices of the Ministry of Defense. Meanwhile, bridges, power distribution facilities, oil refineries and even strategic bombers bases deep inside Russia are being hit by old drones, artillery and sabotage groups.

Currently, Russian government is still considering its options and develops possible countermeasures after the oil cap sanctions were adopted by the West. It is still providing natural gas to “unfriendly countries”, and even allows for delays in payment, restructuring them after the fact, like in Moldova case. Russia is still cooperating with the US and the Western-oriented countries in operating the International Space Station, while they conduct their proxy war against Russia itself. Russia provides wheat and fuel to Turkey, a NATO member, which is fighting against Russian interests in UA, Syria and Caucasus. The list is going on and on.

Going back to the energy supplies issue, Russia has only one potential interest in continuing supplying the West in current situation. It can affect the exchange ratio of the US/EU currency to the ruble. But, since the Russian Central Bank is adamant to keep the ruble cheap (and its citizens poor), this tool has no use. The inflow of western currencies also doesn’t enable the import of goods, since practically all of Western markets are closed to Russia at this point. The most important trade today is with China, which both ready to export its goods for Yuan, as well as imports more and more of the Russian energy, a trade which is also made in Russian or Chinese currencies.

If so, the reason of Russia support of Western economy is a political one. Rasputin’s government is the one which are willing to endure humiliations, economic and geopolitical losses and even military aggression against its own population, just to keep the things as they are, cozy and comfortable for the elites, who are used to make their money on Russians and spend it in the West. They don’t want to send their children to China instead of Europe or US. They don’t want to be driven in a Chinese (or, god forbid, Russian) made car instead of a Mercedes.

To remedy the current situation first and foremost the incompetent officials and managers must be removed. That means acting against their own group, the boys club for buddies who leach of the nation. But unlike leaches, who take the same amount of blood body loses (even having some health benefits if done right), those ones leach much, much less than the actual damage they cause. The rest is just lost to the chaos of corruption and incompetency.

Another approach is to try and stimulate the current elite to try and change their ways, to do an actual job they supposed to do. This is what happening now to my understanding. But the problem is the incompetency is so deeply rooted, that those people just cannot do any anything right. Then they try, their tiny brains, only capable of making self-serving decisions of climbing the ranks and serving their masters, are only producing harmful ideas. Surrounding themselves by sycophants and the people of the same caliber as themselves, they have no one to show them the faults of their plans. And then the natural backlash of public opinion comes, they only know how to bully the critics and create idiotic narratives for the TV-zombified public.

No matter how they try to contain this constantly developing debacle, they cannot, since the Western elites have no choice but to continue building the pressure in hope of a pro-Western (or, more correctly, Western-obedient) group will seize power in Kremlin. Yet, if this government will fall, most chances are the one that will replace it will be an anti-Western one. Instead of turning the other cheek, it may as well start fighting the West in earnest. And so, the mutually destructive circle of incompetent-impotency vs. incompetent evil is continuing to swallow the European civilization, while utterly destroying the former Ukrainian nation into oblivion.