Dear friends,

This will be a somewhat chaotic post since I am going to mix international news, blog news and personal use.  But first, I want to address something which deeply bothers me: the reaction of some to the recent prisoner exchange.  Specifically, I want to address those who so vociferously opposed it and criticized the Kremlin for agreeing to it.  So in my next paragraph I want to direct address those who were so upset by this.

First, a question: have you PERSONALLY experienced REAL/TOTAL despair in your own life?

Because if you have not, then you should disqualify yourself from any comments about this exchange since you have no idea about the nature of what is being discussed.  Count your blessings and keep your self-righteous indignation to yourself and then maybe revisit it if/when you personally experience real despair for the first time.

And if you have ever personally felt like you are in the lowest pit of hell, then try to remember what it felt like and try to imagine what it is for Russian soldiers to be in the SBU dungeons subject not only to physical, but also mental torture.  One of the first things most of these soldiers must have heard is this: “nobody knows you are here and we can do whatever we want to you” (as a former ICRC delegate, I know for a fact that this is one of the most horrible aspects of being “disappeared”).  Yes, torture is horrible.  But despair is even worse.  So if Russia had not agreed to that exchange, what thought or hope could these Russian soldiers hold on to?  Now if you are a typical “enlightened” modern positivist, please stop reading here and skip the next three paragraphs.  But if you are religious, then please read on.

It is a fundamental tenet of Christianity that one soul is more precious than the universe.  Remember the parable about the lost sheep?  Did you notice that the pastor left his entire flock to go and find that ONE lost sheep.  In other words, it was not a “rational” decision: “What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it?“.  Of course, the “enlightened” modern positivist would not go after 49 lost sheep if that meant leaving 51 of them alone.  And, of course, exchanging X number of Nazis against Y number of Russian soldiers would not make sense to such a person.

May I also remind you, assuming you are religious, that the Bible says “To me belongeth vengeance, and recompence; their foot shall slide in due time: for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things that shall come upon them make haste“.  Do you really believe that the Azov terrorist will escape from God’s justice?  If so, then you don’t believe in God to begin with.  And if you do believe in God, then ACT on this belief!

I wish that all those who signaled their “heroically principled” and “courageous tough” stance against this exchange had the possibility to speak with the Russian soldiers which were released and to their families to explain to them why it was wrong to exchange these soldiers for a gang of Nazi thugs.

One of you wrote “there is something very wrong here“.  Yes, indeed there is.  And that “something” is you.  You are just too empty to realize it.

But we live in a society where concept of “good and evil” has been declared meaningless and very passé, so for the “enlightened” modern positivist, I want to offer another couple of arguments.

  • Do you realize that the Nazis were much safer in Russian custody than freed (even while NATO fired their HIMARS at the detention facility they asked Russia to house the Azov thugs in!)?  Yes, Russia did exchange them, but such exchanges also happened during the two Chechen wars.  Do you know how many exchanged Chechens then went to enjoy a nice and cozy life?  Zero.  The Russians either killed or captured them all.  Now, these Nazi thugs will live on the run and in fear for their lives for the rest of their sorry existence on earth.
  • Do you realize that in Banderastan these Nazis who first recorded videos from Azovstal in Mariupol ridiculing those who chose captivity over freedom then chose captivity for themselves like the cowards that they all are?  In other words, their reputation is roadkill and will not be fixed over time.
  • Do you remember Nadezha Savchenko?  That is the Nazi “hope of the Ukraine” who was taken prisoner by Russians for murdering two journalists.  She was then released only to… …land in a Ukronazi jail accused of plotting a coup.  What most of you do not realize what being in Russian captivity means for the Nazi thugs.  It means they cannot ever be trusted again because nobody really knows what happened to them while in Russian captivity.  Ask any intelligence professional and he/she will confirm that to you.

The bottom line is this: Putin did the *MORAL* thing in agreeing to this exchange and those who are now accusing him of all sort of evils (“he released Nazis to get Medvedchuk back!”) are not only amoral/immoral, they are also ignorant and fail to understand that Russia did NOT give these Nazis any type of acquittal.  ALL these Nazis will now be on the Russian “kill or capture” list.

But those Russian soldiers who went through a hell I don’t wish on anybody will now be reunited with their families.  No thanks to you.  Thanks to Putin.

I was shocked and, frankly, disgusted by the comments denouncing that exchange, so I wanted to speak my mind and bluntly let you know how shameful I think these comments are.  I said what I had to say and I won’t make any further efforts at convincing anybody.

***

Okay, next, a few blog news.

The blog is doing fantastically well.  This is the top part of a alternative media chart created by Ron Unz: (source)

But it gets even crazier.  This is the Saker blog’s current ranking according to https://hypestat.com/ (British communication company, not one suspected of being “covert Saker supporters” to put it mildly!

If we multiply 326.985*30.5 we get 9’973043 pages served each month.  Just a hair under TEN MILLION!

Also notice that my categorical refusal to allow any ads on the blog “costs” me (opportunity costs really) over 1000 dollars PER DAY.  This is the proof that, unlike so many others, I am not in it for the money, hence I only accept personal and 100% volunteer donations.  I always laugh when I see others simply not understanding how the Saker blog could have survived for 17 years without EVER accepting a paid ad or article :-)

All that that in spite of all the angry predictions of COVID-dissidents and Putin-haters that this blog would lose all its readership due to my stance on these issues (if anything, it is THEIR blogs which are stuck in utter irrelevance, not even ranked anywhere!).

Guess what? Over time staying honest no matter what is much more effective than trying to capitalize on the doxa of the day.  But those without integrity will never be able to understand that, hence their cascading failures.

All that in spite of the hit-pieces published against the blog and me personally by small, irrelevant blogs who try to gain some visibility by barking up the Saker blog.

But there is even more good news!

There are now OVER ONE THOUSAND commentators signed up to comment on the blog.  And that is after our webmaster Herb purged the few trolls and spammers who tried to sign up.  A huge “thank you!!!” to all of you for your patience and for taking the time to sign up!

Even better, the number of intercepted comments has fallen dramatically!  Okay, truth be told, there are still a few tolls (AIs or simple idiots) who still try and sometimes succeed in posting some insipid idiocy, but that problem will also be solved in the near future (just be a little more patient please!).

I can just about imagine how frustrated and furious all those who wrote me angry narcissistic “letters of divorce” must feel now that they realize that their “indispensable selves” are missed by exactly *nobody* :-)

In other words, the blog is doing better than it ever did and better than anything I would ever have dared to even imagine.  And all of that is thanks to you – the readers.  Thank you so much!!!

Lastly,

After a relatively calm hurricane season, it looks like Florida will be hit by a truly extremely dangerous hurricane this week (for details please see here: https://youtu.be/0idXHMu-8N0 and here: https://youtu.be/04E7HD2cr-w).  I am personally lucky since I leave in East-Central Florida a few miles off the Atlantic Coast (but still in the 5 day probability cone).  For us the biggest risk is flash flooding (we had a very wet summer) from the rain, but we should not get any storm surge and our winds will probably be either tropical storm force or CAT1 hurricane.  But the rest of the Florida Peninsula will be through into chaos with mass evacuations, power outages all over the state (Florida’s power infrastructure is totally Third World, it is beyond pathetic, really), communications down, including Internet, phone, etc.  For me personally this means two things: I need make preparations for the storm and I might get disconnected.

I will do my best to work on the blog as much as I can and for as long as I can.

But if you don’t hear from me for a few days, I ask for your understanding: there is a lot I need to take care of right now.  And I consider myself very lucky as the worst hit area will be the Saint-Pete-Tampa-Clearwater area where, in theory, they could get a CAT4 storm about 50 miles to their West, with a Ian slowing down its forward motion down to a crawl and pumping energy of the Gulf of Mexico and unleashing its fury against the coastline for many many hours!  Please keep all the people in this area in your prayers, this is really an extremely bad situation for them!

Okay, that all from me right now.  I will try to keep you posted about the events in the Ukraine and elsewhere as soon as I have a window of time to do so.

Hugs and cheers to all,

Andrei