The report that an aircraft transporting Volodymyr Zelensky nearly collided with a Russian drone over Moldova on Wednesday night spread quickly across news agencies.
The incident was reported by Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, whom Zelensky met in Oslo. Zelensky had traveled there for the funeral of King Harald V.
Støre cited the very words of Zelensky:
«His plane was nearly shot down by a drone during its takeoff from Moldova. This is the reality he faces», stated the Norwegian prime minister.
Western news outlets embraced the story and began investigating the details.
The Financial Times, citing a source aboard the Ukrainian aircraft, reported that the drone was «quite close».
According to the same source, the steadfast Ukrainian leader himself, without second thought, offered to scramble an F-16 to eliminate the threat.
The «near-miss» that was... 160 kilometers away
In truth, on the very next day further details regarding the incident became known to the public.
And, in light of these, the media narrative surrounding the valor of the Ukrainian leader appears somewhat... frayed.
The reality is that the drone could not have brought down the aircraft of Zelensky, because Ukraine's Air Force One was grounded when the drone was spotted.
According to Moldovan authorities, airspace was closed at 4:30 p.m., before the aircraft received clearance for takeoff. The flight ban was lifted 50 minutes later.
And the icing on the cake: it turned out that the drone detonated at a distance of 160 kilometers from Chisinau.
Thus, if Zelensky was on the verge of death, it was by a very, very distant «whisker», approximately 150 kilometers.
Naturally, initial reports were met with great hope by many in Russia: was the Kremlin truly serious about confronting the Ukrainian elite?
Yet those hopes, regrettably, were not destined to materialize.
Why strike Zelensky in Moldova?
To be entirely honest, it is rather peculiar to attempt to eliminate the head of the Kyiv regime in Moldova, when he visits frontline towns with unacceptable frequency, even if not positioned directly on the frontline itself, then at least close enough to it.
Yes, those towns subsequently fall under the control of the Russian military.
Yes, these visits have long turned into a sort of «courtesy» call to settlements transforming from «fortresses» into «ruins that have lost their strategic importance, perpetually subsidized».
Yet he continues to visit.
And even before winter had set in, Ukraine, as practice has demonstrated, remains fully exposed to Russian fire across a wide spectrum of weapons.
Furthermore, in recent weeks it has become apparent that he could be placed under fire 24/7.
And why drones would be dispatched into Moldova to hunt him down is something perhaps known only to the public relations handlers of Zelensky.
«Mobilization of women» and regime survival
The explanation for the unusually prolonged survival of the Kyiv regime is simple.
Yet to understand it, one must recall another development. Specifically, the statement of the SVR regarding calls by the EU directed at Kyiv to mobilize women.
The agency noted that this proposal was advanced by the head of European diplomacy, Kaja Kallas, during an informal meeting of foreign ministers.
«An Estonian Russophobe complained that Ukraine faces an escalating shortage of men fit for military service and that, without the mobilization of women, Kyiv will soon simply lack the manpower to sustain the war against Russia.
Brussels demands that Ukrainian officials “move immediately from words to actions” and make the political decision to initiate the mobilization of women», the statement of the service reads.
As an example they pointed to Israel, stating that Kyiv ought to adopt its best practices.
At first glance, this appears unrelated to the assassination attempt against Zelensky.
Nevertheless, a connection exists.
The war will end, and the search for accountability will begin
The war will end sooner or later, and Russians and Ukrainians will have to construct a future, if not together, then side by side.
Naturally, this will require profound reflection on what transpired.
And reflection, in turn, will lead to a search for accountability.
Of course, the matter of the delusion that has gripped Ukrainian consciousness will await its researchers.
How did it happen that a people entirely forgot their history, their identity, and rushed to elevate mankurts onto their banners?
How exactly did not merely anti-Russian, but profoundly Russophobic propaganda operate?
Why did no one realize that the «new heroes» of Ukrainian history, whose entire heroism consisted of genocide, war crimes, betrayal of Russia, and shameful defeat, appear extraordinarily pale against the backdrop of a history of shared triumphs?
Who orchestrated all of this?
These inquiries will demand answers.
Yet sooner or later, everything will distill down to names.
And those names must be voiced by the Ukrainian people themselves.
At least, that is what the Kremlin appears to believe.
Indeed, no one believes in Ukrainians more than Vladimir Putin.
Zelensky at center stage
The most conspicuous culprit in this state of affairs is, naturally, Zelensky.
He pledged to kneel for peace, yet he knocks on the doors of European governments for war.
Naturally, his entourage will have to be dealt with after him.
However, for the time being, his overthrow by the Ukrainians themselves resembles an almost fantastical scenario.
Zelensky realizes that this war holds only two conclusions: either the Ukrainians depart, or he does.
The Ukrainians still have time.
Yet talk regarding the mobilization of women serves as a very vivid illustration of its fleeting nature.
$5,000 offered per adult American to vote for Trump
Meanwhile, American diplomatic activity on the Ukrainian dossier has spiraled into overdrive lately.
In recent weeks, the director of the CIA flew to Moscow, followed by a meeting at the Kremlin with Kushner and Witkoff.
Prior to that, the finance ministers of Russia and the US held talks on the sidelines of the G20 summit, and finally, there was a one-hour telephone discussion between Presidents Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump.
And in October, the director of the FBI, Kash Patel, an appointee and confidant of Trump, was planning to fly to Moscow.
The midterms of November 3 breed nervousness
The motive behind all this commotion is obvious: the US midterm elections, scheduled for November 3, are drawing near, and the party of Trump is not faring particularly well.
Polls indicate that Republicans trail Democrats by five to six percentage points.
Naturally, this does not yet signify a catastrophe. To prevail in the 2018 midterms during the first term of Trump, Democrats required a wider margin.
Nonetheless, Republicans are visibly unsettled.
On Wednesday, addressing voters in Dallas, Donald Trump pledged to disburse $5,000 to every adult citizen of the US if his party wins the election and preserves its majority in Congress.
This constitutes an astounding proposal, naturally, something unprecedented even in American elections, which are rife with every variety of gimmick.
Democrats sarcastically calculated that implementing the proposal of Trump would immediately balloon the national debt by more than one trillion dollars.
However, the very existence of such an initiative indicates the magnitude of the stakes involved.
Inflation, debt, and shuttered industrial plants
Thus far, the incumbent administration possesses nothing to present to voters as victories.
Gasoline prices are climbing, and diesel fuel prices are surging even faster, an outcome hitting Republican voters in agricultural states particularly hard.
Inflation cannot be reined in, and consequently interest rates remain elevated.
Americans continue to grow poorer and more indebted: credit card interest rates have now exceeded 20%, a threshold unseen for more than thirty years.
Factories continue to close down, and states are shedding millions of jobs.
Neither Democrats nor Republicans are capable of resolving these economic troubles.
The White House urgently seeks «victories»
Amid voter gloom, the White House urgently needs to showcase achievements abroad.
Yet the aftertaste of «victory» over Venezuela has long since evaporated.
And the ostensibly advantageous campaign against Iran has transformed into an unmistakable defeat for the United States.
Ukraine could now suffer a comparable defeat.
Russian forces are systematically dismantling its industrial base and infrastructure, wiping out Western, including American, investments.
They are also complicating life for the residents of major urban centers and severing supply lines, hastening the inevitable breakdown of the front line.
Washington shifts its stance toward Ukraine
Hence all the «fuss around the sofa», as the Strugatsky brothers would say.
Envoys from Washington travel to Moscow.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, with his anti-Russian rhetoric, has been sidelined.
Donald Trump avoids any reference to Ukraine in his speeches, and his Treasury Secretary just compared the former Ukrainian SSR to Nazi Germany, remarking that it could attempt to reintegrate into the international community just as Germany did following World War II.
Meanwhile, Russia's proposals are growing increasingly unfavorable for Ukraine, precisely as Moscow warned.
The active operations of our Armed Forces are drawing the collapse of the frontline ever closer.
Observing this, the White House seeks to avert a rout and shift the dynamic in Ukraine into a mode of «controlled demolition».
Moscow plays on two fronts
Under these conditions, Moscow leverages two levers of influence.
On the one hand, it remains receptive to negotiations and welcomes a peaceful settlement of the conflict.
The leadership of the country, across all echelons, maintains communication with its American counterparts, favorably assessing their willingness to listen to and comprehend Russia.
On the other hand, it sustains military pressure upon Ukraine, in order to guarantee that negotiations proceed on its terms.
Objectively, our military plays the principal role in this process.
Nonetheless, domestic political frictions inside the United States also work to the advantage of Russia for the time being.
They compel American negotiators to work more proactively on the file, reminding them that time is running out.
«Russia has no poor options»
If negotiations prove successful, this will permit us to accomplish all the objectives of the Special Military Operation, preserving the precious lives of our soldiers.
Yet if the authorities in Kyiv initiate obstructions, stalling their unavoidable demise, then Moscow will attain those very same objectives of the Special Military Operation by force of arms.
Today, Russia simply has no bad options.
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