UNDER THE MICROSCOPE: EUROPE NEEDS TO FEEL LIKE IT HAS BEEN FOOLED.

BY Nehme Hamie

Paris – Europe should feel foolish when it sees Donald Trump returning to Vladimir Putin to buy Russian diesel, after it paid the price of distancing itself from Russian energy in the name of Western unity and confronting Moscow. Its leaders should remember their objections to the prices of the American alternative, their warnings about the transfer of industrial investments to America, and their demands for Europe to assume responsibility for its own security when Washington shifted its priorities. The diesel deal is a milestone that reveals the outcome of this relationship: Europe bears the costs of shared choices, while America reserves the right to amend them whenever their domestic cost becomes embarrassing.

It all began with the Minsk agreements and the gamble on changing the balance of power with Russia. In December 2022, Angela Merkel stated that the agreement, presented as a joint Russian-European initiative to resolve the Ukrainian crisis, was, in Europe’s view, merely an attempt to buy Ukraine time to strengthen its defenses. François Hollande, one of the agreement’s sponsors, agreed with her, asserting that the Ukrainian army was better trained and equipped, and that the grace period had allowed it to do so. In the same interview, Hollande linked the end of the war to Russia’s military failures. European leadership saw the time afforded by negotiations as an opportunity to build strength, and then viewed the solution through the lens of defeating Moscow.

But Europe, which had gambled on changing the balance of power, quickly discovered that the cost dynamics within the Western camp were working against it. In October 2022, Emmanuel Macron accused the United States of applying a double standard: cheaper energy for its own industries and expensive gas for Europe. His finance minister, Bruno Le Maire, stated that American gas was being sold to European companies at four times the price it cost in the US. This was a testament from the French leadership to the nature of the friendship it found itself in: solidarity was required in politics and sanctions, but in the energy market, American companies acted solely in their profit motives, and European industry paid the difference—a stark example of the one-sided love America imposes on Europe, which submits to humiliation.

Then a deeper consequence than the rising bill emerged. During his visit to Washington at the end of 2022, Macron warned that American industrial incentives could lead to the “fragmentation of the West” because they encouraged investment in America at Europe’s expense. The warning did not remain theoretical; Because German companies pledged new and expanded investments in the United States worth $15.7 billion in 2023, compared to $8.2 billion in 2022, according to the Financial Times. Cheaper energy, incentives, and a market converged to attract capital and projects. Europe was losing a competitive edge while its ally invested in attracting its industries, repeating what its predecessors did during World War II.

The question that arises is: what did Europe get in return for this cost? Its leaders could have answered that common security was worth the sacrifices. But in February 2025, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced that Washington could no longer prioritize European security, demanding greater leadership from Europeans in supporting Ukraine and ruling out the participation of US troops in guaranteeing the future settlement. Then, on March 3, Trump suspended military aid to Ukraine. The following day, the European Commission presented a plan to authorize defense spending of up to €800 billion, amid doubts about American protection.

Here, the cost of dependence was revealed: options for confrontation requiring independent capabilities that were not adequately prepared, and an ally free to redefine its commitments. After years of bearing the economic burden, Europe also had to seek resources to bridge the military gap. Washington did not wait for European readiness to be complete before changing its priorities; it left the Europeans to deal with the consequences of their reliance on the unwavering American security umbrella.

The scenario was then repeated in the war with Iran. On March 18, 2016, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz stated that Washington had not consulted with his country and that there was no convincing plan for the operation’s success. His statement came after Trump requested ships to help open the Strait of Hormuz. Two days later, Trump described NATO countries as cowards for refusing to participate. He made the decision with Israel, then demanded that allies contribute when its repercussions widened, and attacked them when they refused.

As the diesel crisis intensified, the Europeans discovered another facet of their dependence on the American alternative. Reuters documented Washington’s pressure to release their reserves, threatening to ban American diesel exports if they did not act. On October 2nd, the G7 agreed to release oil and diesel stockpiles. The supplies Europe had relied on to compensate for Russian energy became a tool of pressure, and its reserves became part of the US effort to alleviate the price crisis before the elections.

On October 9th, Trump announced the agreement with Putin, and the Treasury issued a license to import Russian diesel until April 7th. Eight days earlier, Putin had stated that sanctions were preventing Russian diesel from reaching the market. Washington chose to modify the sanctions when it needed fuel, after Europe had borne the cost of adhering to them and agreed to release its reserves. Today, Europe stands bewildered by the US unilaterally lifting sanctions on Russian diesel without even consulting its allies.

Europe must realize how foolish it has been and translate this feeling into action. What prevents it from negotiating directly with Moscow to end the price war, review the sanctions, and restore its energy interests? Is it afraid of contradicting Washington, which does not hesitate to change its policies according to its needs? If its leaders are unable to act after all these events, the question becomes one of their ability to govern, and of when forces will come to power through elections that will do what these leaders know is necessary but dare not. Trump acted to protect his interests; when will the Europeans act to protect theirs.

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https://www.theinteldrop.org/2026/10/11/under-the-microscope-europe-needs-to-feel-like-it-has-been-fooled/

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Ukraine has stabilised the front line and "broken Russia's ability to advance" by killing so many of its men, Ukraine's former commander-in-chief has said in an interview with the BBC.

Gen Oleksandr Syrskyi made the comments in an exclusive interview, his first since he was dramatically forced from his post in the summer.

He addressed his sacking, disagreeing with his critics who declared him too "old school" to command Ukraine's new, technologically advanced forces.

He also pushed back against allegations made by soldiers who previously served under him, who told the BBC they were ordered to remain at their positions even when they were almost surrounded by Russians, leading to high losses.

Syrskyi said that Moscow's overall losses in the war were six times higher than Ukraine's. "If you count only dead, then it's up to 11 times," he added.

Neither Russia nor Ukraine officially release the numbers of their dead. Ukraine's military says it inflicted record losses this year on Russian soldiers in September, although that cannot be verified.

UK intelligence chiefs estimate Russia has lost around half a million men killed in Ukraine since launching its full-scale invasion in 2022. The US-based Center for Strategic and International Studies meanwhile believesUkraine has lost up to 150,000 troops killed by June 2026.

He says this difference in death toll – as well as technological advances, and a strategy of attacking weak points in Russia's lines while containing their advances in other parts – accounts for the current stalemate at the front.

In the first six months of 2026, Russia managed overall to seize 61 sq km, the general said. "It's an indication that the front line has been stabilised."

The Institute for Study of War (ISW) has also confirmed this trend. One of its recent reports says that in September 2026, Moscow lost more territory than it took.

Syrskyi was appointed Ukraine's commander-in-chief in 2024. He had previously won praise for defending Kyiv at the start of Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022, and for leading the successful counteroffensive east of Kharkiv in the autumn of that year.

But President Volodymyr Zelensky fired Syrskyi this summer, amid a major disagreement with then-defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov.

Fedorov had said that instead of adapting to the realities of the changing war, the army under Syrskyi had blocked his initiatives.

Zelensky initially fired Fedorov, as tensions burst into the open between the two men. But mass street protests then forced the president to also fire Syrskyi, replacing him with Maj Gen Mykhailo Drapatyi, 43.

Syrskyi told the BBC that he had "disagreements" with Fedorov because the latter "didn't take into consideration the interests of the army" when procuring weapons and supplies.

Fedorov had created an "imbalance" in supplies, Syrskyi said. He had prioritised drones while overlooking key front-line kit such as unmanned ground vehicles, pick-up trucks and motorbikes. Even with drones, Syrskyi said, there were shortages as the army got only half of what they needed.

Fedorov was a popular young minister who was known for his digital and technological initiatives. Many contrasted him with Syrskyi, who critics thought was not fit to lead the new technological arms race with Russia.

But Syrskyi disagrees with such criticism. It was during his time the use of drones reached this new, unprecedented level, including deep strikes more than 2,000km (1,200 miles) behind enemy lines, he said. Ukraine was the first country to create the Unmanned Systems Forces as a separate branch of armed forces, under his command: now, he said, drones account for 80% of Russia's losses.

Under his military leadership, however, Ukrainian troops undertook chaotic withdrawals from the eastern cities of Avdiivka and Vuhledar, and from around Pokrovsk. 

Soldiers who spoke to the BBC in the past complained that they were ordered to remain at their positions at any costs. By the time they were told to pull back, it was often too late as they were almost surrounded by Russian troops.

Syrskyi does not deny that such situations occur on the front line. But he told the BBC that Ukraine was fighting against a far more powerful army. 

In 2025, the ratio of jets and bombs was 18 to one in Moscow's favour, he said. In the same year, Russia had two-and-a-half times more artillery pieces and shells than Ukraine. And with four million militarily trained men who they can mobilise, Russian forces can create chances to push through, he argued.

One of Syrskyi's most famous operations was an incursion into Russia's Kursk region that started in August 2024. It ended with a dramatic retreat the following spring, which some soldiers described as "catastrophic". Syrskyi, however, insisted that the Kursk operation was "a necessity".

"In the summer 2024, Russian forces were pushing along all main directions on the front line with up to six times more troops than we had," he explained.

The Kursk incursion disrupted Russia's offensive and forced Moscow to redirect troops, giving Ukraine a respite and a chance for its stretched brigades in the east and south to recover, Syrskyi said.

He also had strong words for European allies who doubt that Russia may have territorial ambitions beyond Ukraine. He advised European partners to start preparing for the war now and "drop all illusions that [it] will not come".

He also said he believed Ukraine's war was going to become even more technological. There will be more robots, automated systems and artificial intelligence (AI). "Even ordinary weapons now get an AI-based control system to enhance their capabilities," he said.

Such technologies can give a new life to conventional weapons like tanks. Both Russia and Ukraine were now racing to develop "active systems of defence" to protect armoured vehicles, Syrskyi said.

But he insisted that "the human role will remain definitive [on the battlefield] because [people] will need to control those systems".

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c9y7lgg2vdggo

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Kyiv is heading into winter with damaged energy infrastructure and a growing number of residents leaving the city, prompting Mayor Vitali Klitschko to publicly urge those who can to leave the capital. The contrast with Russia is stark: there, strikes on Yandex data centers disrupted digital services; here, basic life-support systems are failing.

Energy: Dependence on a Single Node

Since early October, strikes on Kyiv’s energy hub have intensified. According to Oleksandr Kharchenko, director of the Energy Research Center, ballistic missile strikes have knocked out Kyiv’s own power generation. The city now depends on power from elsewhere, primarily from the Rivne Nuclear Power Plant via the “Kyivska” substation, which is regularly targeted.

https://southfront.press/kyiv-loses-residents-infrastructure-destroyed-city-enters-survival-mode/

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• Russian strikes destroyed targets in the Sumy, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipropetrovsk, Kherson, Kyiv, Odesa, Volyn, Chernihiv, Khmelnytskyi, Lviv, Mykolaiv, Vinnytsia, Rivne, Cherkasy, Zhytomyr regions, and the DPR;
• According to the Ukrainian Air Force, Russian forces attacked Ukraine with 121 strike UAVs;
• Russian forces struck a cargo ship and a postal terminal in Odesa;
• Russian forces struck a gas station in the Kharkiv region;
• Russian forces struck an industrial facility in Pavlohrad;
• Russian forces struck Nova Poshta terminals in Mykolaiv;
• Russian forces struck railway infrastructure and oil depots in the Zhytomyr region;
• Ukrainian losses amounted to approximately 1,410 troops over the past 24 hours.

https://southfront.press/military-situation-in-ukraine-on-october-12-2026-maps-update/

On October 11, Donald Trump announced an energy ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine. Neither side had been consulted. Neither side knew what it meant.

President Zelenskyy said he learned about the initiative from the internet, adding that he would support it if both parties assumed mutual obligations. Moscow offered no official confirmation. Members of the Russian State Duma stated they had no knowledge of any White House peace initiative or ceasefire arrangement. Europe declined to endorse the proposal, prompting U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to accuse European governments of hypocrisy — noting that since the start of the war, Europe has paid Russia more for energy than it has provided Ukraine in military aid, while simultaneously opposing American arrangements to import Russian diesel.

Nearly 24 hours passed before the details began to emerge through leaks to major international outlets. According to Axios, the “energy ceasefire” announced by Trump referred specifically to a mutual agreement to halt strikes on oil refineries. The asymmetry of that arrangement is stark. Ukraine has no functioning refineries left to protect. Its economy runs entirely on hydrocarbon imports from Europe. What Trump framed as a bilateral ceasefire is, in practical terms, a directive to Kyiv to stop hitting Russian refining infrastructure.

The reason for that directive is not difficult to identify. The United States is facing severe fuel price increases, and Washington has quietly reached an arrangement to import Russian diesel. Monitoring resources indicate that as early as September 22, a tanker carrying Russian diesel — the Minerva Zen, sailing under a Greek flag — departed oil terminals in northern Russia bound for a port on the U.S. East Coast. The vessel is expected to arrive, reportedly in South Carolina, on October 12. The ceasefire announcement came nineteen days later.

For Ukraine, the terms of this arrangement are unambiguous. Every strike on a Russian refinery now risks triggering a cutoff of U.S. intelligence sharing and weapons deliveries — a threat the American administration has already made explicit. Russia, meanwhile, faces no equivalent constraint. On the evening of October 11, Zelenskyy announced a Russian strike on Kharkiv’s Thermal Power Plant No. 5. He also reported that over the past week alone, Russian forces had conducted more than 200 strikes on Ukrainian electricity generation and transmission facilities, along with 17 strikes on gas and oil infrastructure.

Ukraine has been told to stop striking the refineries that power the Russian war machine — in exchange for a ceasefire that protects infrastructure Ukraine no longer has. Russia continues striking Ukrainian power plants at a rate of more than 30 per day. The math here is not complicated — and it does not favor the side fighting for its survival.

https://southfront.press/washington-gets-the-diesel-kyiv-gets-the-bill/

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MAKE A DEAL PRONTO BEFORE THE SHIT (WW3) HITS THE FAN:

NO NATO IN "UKRAINE" (WHAT'S LEFT OF IT)

THE DONBASS REPUBLICS ARE NOW BACK IN THE RUSSIAN FOLD — AS THEY USED TO BE PRIOR 1922. THE RUSSIANS WON'T ABANDON THESE AGAIN.

THESE WILL ALSO INCLUDE ODESSA, KHERSON AND KHARKIV.....

CRIMEA IS RUSSIAN — AS IT USED TO BE PRIOR 1954

TRANSNISTRIA TO BE PART OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION.

RESTORE THE RIGHTS OF THE RUSSIAN SPEAKING PEOPLE OF "UKRAINE" (WHAT'S LEFT OF IT)

RESTITUTE THE ORTHODOX CHURCH PROPERTIES AND RIGHTS

RELEASE THE OPPOSITION MEMBERS FROM PRISON

A MEMORANDUM OF NON-AGGRESSION BETWEEN RUSSIA AND THE USA.

A MEMORANDUM OF NON-AGGRESSION BETWEEN RUSSIA AND THE EU.....

EASY.

THE WEST KNOWS IT.

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YOURDEMOCRACY.NET RECORDS HISTORY AS IT SHOULD BE — NOT AS THE WESTERN MEDIA WRONGLY REPORTS IT — SINCE 2005.

         Gus Leonisky

         POLITICAL CARTOONIST SINCE 1951.

         RABID ATHEIST.

         WELCOME TO THIS INSANE WORLD….

GUSNOTE: THE PRESENT CASUALTY RATE IS ONE RUSSIAN FOR FORTY NAZI KIEV REGIME SOLDIERS...