From the ‘things are tough all over’ department. Russia’s armed forces continue to fade.

Russia is having even more problems keeping its armed forces up to snuff than the U.S. is. The current Russian military is just a shadow of what the former Soviet military was. But for its strategic nuclear forces, Russia really doesn’t have any great ability to project military power beyond its borders. Plenty of Russians are willing to fight as mercenaries, but “not enough of them to maintain the million man military Russian leaders want”. Plus hiring mercenaries takes money, money and more money. Something Russia has a lot less of these days with oil prices down. What really pisses off the Russian leadership is that American military equipment keeps out performing the Russian stuff in the war zones around the world. After oil, natural gas and caviar, military hardware is Russia’s major (only) export. So unfortunately their weapons aren’t selling on the world market as well as the Russians would like. This means a lot less revenue coming in to the Russian Government for financing their own military reforms. Trying to boost the world’s perception of Russian military technical prowess by advertising doomsday weapons hasn’t helped their sales that much, especially of the high-tech weapons systems, since the proof is in the pudding. The fact that the Russian mercenaries in Syria got beat like a rented mule when they tried to attack an American camp back in February sure didn’t boost their marketing plan. The Russians were cagy as usual and ‘disavowed all knowledge’ of the mercenaries’ existence when the U.S. Government inquired as to their ownership, so Mad Dog Mattis responded by ordering the mercenary forces’ ‘annihilation’. Apparently a response the Russian government did not anticipate. Doah! Jeez… can’t you give a guy a break?!

On the upside as far as Russian military hardware goes, sales of small arms ammunition in the USA has been brisk. The end of the Cold War was a windfall for American firearms enthusiasts. Plus President Obama proved to be the greatest salesman of guns and ammo in the nation’s history. Even post Obama firearms and ammo sales remain high, as the Deep State continues to pursue its coup attempt against God-Emperor Trump, leading many American patriots to ponder ‘what’s next’?

“Most Russians, especially those of military age, are reluctant to serve in the military and very much against “foreign military adventures” even if they are not likely to be sent to a combat zone. The government already acknowledges that by minimizing the number of Russian troops sent to Syria or Donbas and keeping military casualties low.”

“The February incident in Syria where over 200 Russian military contractors died when they tried to seize a small base in eastern Syria containing American troops did not trigger calls for revenge among Russians. Instead, the attitude was that these guys took a chance to make a lot of money and it didn’t work out. There are a lot of dangerous jobs in Russia that pay well to compensate for the risk. Those who do that work are opportunists, not patriots. So the government has to go easy in Ukraine and Syria. Isrаel seems more aware of this than most Middle Eastern powers. That is partly because Isrаel has a large Russian minority, courtesy of a lot of Russian Jews coming to Isrаel since the 1980s and keeping in touch with folks back home.”

“…Russia has tried to change public attitudes towards the armed forces by publicizing all the new changes and programs. But word got around that most of these efforts failed. Blame that on the Internet. Polls constantly show that most military age men do not want to serve in the military and the main reason is the hazing and prison-like conditions in the barracks. As a result of all these factors, prospects of a revival of the traditional large Russian armed forces continues to fade.”

Attrition: The Russian Fade – Strategy Page

Russia: Eastern Promises Fall Short – Strategy Page

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