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Praetorium Honoris

Wednesday, August 7, 2024

In The Kremlin

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Президент¹ Maksim Vladimirovich Ryzhov stepped out into the cool night air, his bodyguards were nearby, close enough to protect him, far enough away to give him a sense of privacy. He took a deep breath, he could almost taste the coming autumn, followed by the winter.

As a Russian, he wasn't supposed to be bothered by winter, but he was, greatly. He had been a young lieutenant in the First Russo-Ukraine War. Many historians say that ended when Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, but as a Russian, he saw 2014 to 2026 as one war. The second one, which ended not so long ago, found him as a junior member of the Duma². His stance against that war is what really launched his political career.

His empty left sleeve had given him a certain credibility when talking about war on the floor of the Duma.


He had been leading a much reduced company of armor during the "final" drive on Kiev³, mostly T-72s and a single T-80 (his own vehicle). It was during the worst blizzard that area had seen in decades. The Ukrainians had been falling back fast, Ryzhov was driving his men forward when he realized it was a trap.

A heavy barrage of artillery had forced them to button up, then the barrage ceased, and they came up out of their hatches. The snow had stopped, then a swarm of Ukrainian drones had torn them to pieces. He had awakened in a ditch beside his destroyed vehicle. A thin coating of snow covered him. He awakened to a man applying a torniquet to his left arm, which was hanging by a flap of skin and a single tendon.

After the man had injected him with a spirette of morphine, he had thanked him, in Russian. The man, before running off, had answered him in Ukrainian. It was only then that Ryzhov had seen the blue and yellow armband.


On cold nights, which tonight was, his missing arm still bothered him. He thought it ironic that a Ukrainian drone had taken his arm, but a Ukrainian medic had saved his life. He lit a cigarette.

"Gospodin Prezident, those things will kill you." One of his bodyguards, Timofey Yermolayevich Chekudayev, always a cheeky bastard, admonished him.

"If the Ukrainians couldn't kill me, Tima, I doubt one of these things will."

The guards all chuckled, except for Krivkov. Jaromir Zakharovich Krivkov never smiled, he took his job very seriously. He had been in the Kremlin on the day Ryzhov's predecessor had been cut down by a member of the duty regiment. Krikov had killed that man and six others before the officers of both units settled things down. Krikov had been badly wounded in the affair.

Ryzhov stubbed his cigarette on the heel of his boot, he always wore military-style boots, and tossed the butt in the nearest receptacle. "Come on boys, let's go back inside."


The meeting came to an end after a dicussion of what actions Russia should take regarding the apparent outbreak of hostilities between China and India. There was much talk of supporting China, though one of the businessmen on the Council had asked a very telling question ...

"The Chinese buy nothing of ours, the Indians are a very good customer, they pay cash."

Shouting had broken out, one woman had actually said something about "socialist solidarity with our Chinese brothers and sisters." Which had caused Marshal of the Russian Federation Ilarion Igorevich Ivchenko to stand up, slam his not insubstantial fist on the table, and bellow at the room.

"There is no 'socialist solidarity' with those bastards. Remember the Embargo of '33? We might have had a complete victory in the west but for those thieving bastards!"

Ryzhov tapped the table with the gavel he kept nearby. "Enough. Russia will, and should, remain neutral. The Americans are staying clear and ..."

"There are four American attack boats in the Indian Ocean ..."

"Sit down, Admiral. There are six Russian attack boats off the coast of Japan, does that mean we are planning on attacking there? No!"

Ryzhov had slammed his open hand down on the table, which made everyone jump.

"We. Are. Not. Repeat. Not. getting involved in this. Is that clear?"

When everyone had left the room, he turned to Chekudayev, "Tima, I think Delegate Nastasya Yegorovna Masmekhova needs a vacation. See to it, would you?"

"Of course, Gospodin Prezident."


The message went out to the United States very late, in essence it said, "The Russian Federation has no interest in the events in the Indian Ocean. - Ryzhov"



¹ President
² The Russian Parliament
³ I continue to use the spelling I grew up with. As I am neither Russian or Ukrainian, who cares?

40 comments:

  1. In "..single (his own tank) T-80.", (maybe) omit "tank". "(his own personal)", perhaps? "(his personal)"?
    -JLM
    Postscript: Russians! Nice twist! Or rather, introduction of a new player...

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    Replies
    1. You know the Russians wouldn't stay idle.

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    2. But... they are. So far. Standing down and letting the incident develop.

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    3. Early in WW2 they DID stay, mostly, idle. Sure they went for land grab or 2 against smaller states, but kept their options open, and stayed out of big fight. They even signed nonagression pacts with both major powers on respective ends of Eurasia, for what its worth. Both were broken by 1945...
      Neutrality is generally a good policy if there is no imminent danger to ones own interests.
      Heck, US did the same in both world wars until their hand was forced.
      (WW1 by unrestricted naval warfare and Zimmermann, WW2 by Pearl Harbor)
      Considering the blood loss from TWO consecutive wars against Ukraine I imagine they are still recovering.
      Their demography was not rosy even before 2022 , and Putin just send it into death spiral with both exodus of those who fled conscription and losses in the war. Economy too was badly damaged with China, India and rest of the world being unable to fully plug the gap left by literally burning the bridges with EU, whoever did put the explosives on Nord Stream it was result of the war Putin started.

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    4. Russia is no longer the colossus she once was.

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  2. Best case scenario. Keeping some more fuel OUT of the situation.

    Vacation or defenestration as troublesome or corrupt Russian authorities are wont to do.

    Tends to "remind" the remaining restless to stay honest and calm.

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    Replies
    1. Some people just can't grasp that times change.

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  3. For true believers, once a Communist always a Communist, fanatics are dangerous.

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    1. Fanatics of all stripes are dangerous.

      Looking at America's dual citizenship Neocons.

      Seems the Speaker of the house was quoted "IF Iran attacks Israel, America's at war with Iraq".

      Disturbing as I'm unaware of what dog we have in this fight.

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    2. Forgot to sign.
      Michael

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    3. Nylon12 - Just as a leopard can't change its spots.

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    4. Fanatics exhibit a dangerous inability to think clearly.

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    5. Yeah Michael, most politicians (both parties) are idiots.

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    6. Your kind Old AF Sarg. I think Cicero understands it:

      A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within. An enemy at the gates is less formidable, for he is known and carries his banner openly. But the traitor moves amongst those within the gate freely, his sly whispers rustling through all the alleys, heard in the very halls of government itself.
      Marcus Tullius Cicero

      Doing something for Personal GAIN isn't idiocy, its treason.

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  4. Minor, even minute, quibble. I believe the first word in the post is Russian for “president”, and you’ve got a footnote that says so at the bottom. However, there’s no superscript 1 in the story to tie them together. Now if that’s the worst mistake you make, I think you’ve got a damn fine story/book the making. Keep up the good work!
    juvat

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    1. Somehow the superscript became a terminal "i" in "president." Fixed it.

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  5. This is an unexpected turn of events. The urge to take advantage of someone else's problem should only cautiously exploited; all many not be as it seems.

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    Replies
    1. The urge to take advantage of someone else's problem is, to me, a dangerous trait in our species.

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  6. Once upon a time long ago, I listened to a lecture by an unrepentant Stalinist from Eastern Europe who explained that Stalin was misunderstood, not a monster (also of note, it was the only time I have ever seen a chain smoker in action. In the course of 1.5 hours he smoked an entire pack of cigarettes, lighting one from the other).

    Sigh. I would really like to go to Russia someday. So much history.

    No sensible person gets involved in a neighbor's quarrel unless 1) It is an abuse related situation; or 2) it is a direct threat. Even more so when nuclear weapons are involved.

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    Replies
    1. Unrepentent Stalinists are the worst, they have a peculiar blindside when it comes to the criminal. (Ditto unrepentent Nazis and unrepentent Maoists.)

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  7. Inre footnote three, it isn't your fault the Ukrainians can't remember how to spell Kiev.

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    1. Ukrainians spell their capital's name properly. It's the difference in languages. Don't make me get the Dachshund out again.

      Actually, I don't care which way it's spelled.

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    2. StB - "Kiev" is not the way it is spelled by either party. It's the spelling I grew up with.

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    3. Any Mouse - Same here, not to mention which they use the Cyrillic alphabet, not the Latin.

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    4. No matter how you spell it, it all means "Some place that isn't in the US so screw it." Same for Moscow/Moskva. And Beijing. All means "who cares?" Or should.

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  8. I like when you have the war starting, you don't see that kind of honesty much anymore. Oh wait a minute, this is a blog and not the news? My bad!
    Silly of me to think the news (these days) would be truthful and not pushing some agenda...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I do have an agenda, honesty and truth, a rare thing in the media.

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  9. I see the 1st Russo-Uke war as 2014. When the Ukes got spanked, hard. Then there was the quiet time when the Ukes built up and then the 2nd Russo-Uke war started in 2022.

    Kind of like the Russian-Finnish War of 1940. And then the Continuum War of 1944. Two wars with a very tenuous stand-off between (while Finland tried desperately to arm up, of course.)

    Parallels. They are already there. Of course this is your 'world' so...

    And we find out that the current 'world' of yours is in the mid to late 2030s. Very interesting.

    As to Western Europe, yeah, I don't think they have a chance against even a thrashed Russia. Unless things drastically change for the better in the UK, France and Germany, all which look like they're going to be blowing up with internal 'Immigrant' wars (and a lot of the smaller nations also caught up in the peaceful religion of pieces immigrants...) Sigh. Double sigh.

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    1. There's the existential threat right there. Which most people are ignorant of.

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  10. Regarding Fred Thompson's RADM Painter- It's not going to get as out of control as it could have. And here I thought the Russkies were always ready for a fight, but cooler heads (and one less arm) prevailed.

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  11. Crusty Old TV Tech here. Saw "In the Kremlin", and for some reason thought it was going to be about buildings on the Potomac. Is that a Freudian schlipp? Well done Sarge, every installment a gem.

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    1. The buildings on the Potomac are in enemy occupied Washington.

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    2. Building, once again, the case for the neutron bomb.
      Boat Guy

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  12. So is that a Siberian vacation or a 9mm vacation?

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    Replies
    1. Neither, but removal from a paying job in a bad economy is bad enough!

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Just be polite... that's all I ask. (For Buck)
Can't be nice, go somewhere else...

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