And by the way, Wildberries had a section on its website of products for the SMO, with over 200,000 products. So they are a legitimate military target.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Friday, July 31, 2026 - 01:12 pm: Edit

Of course they are a legitimate military target, I said so many times. I was explaining how your extreme stridency comes across with an illustration.

I wasn’t talking about government policy, but about YOUR stridency. Avoid sweeping extreme statements and you’ll do more for your side. Calm reflection of actual facts is better than hyperbole.

Ukrainian corruption is still bad, before Zelensky it was at least as bad as Russia. How many bribes you personally paid is not relevant. How much government officials steal is very relevant and continues to this day. Zelensky has reduced but not eliminated this. That’s why the west is reluctant to give cash to Ukraine. Too easy to steal. Supplies still get stolen and sold. Worse than anything in Europe. Not as bad as Russia is a low bar. Call me a liar one more time and you are out of here.

By William Jockusch (Verybadcat) on Friday, July 31, 2026 - 02:13 pm: Edit

Per Transparency International corruption perceptions index. Low scores indicate high corruption. transparency dot org.

Ukraine's graph shows them gradually improving over the last decade. Score was 30 as of 2019 and 35 as of 2025. Low scores indicate high corruptiton.

Russia was 28 as of 2019 and is 22 as of 2025.

So as of 2019, when Zelensky was elected, Ukraine was slightly better than Russia. Now it is significantly better.

As of 2025, the United States has a score of 64. Ukraine's 35 is therefore 29 points worse than the USA, but also 13 points better than Russia.

One also might consider the character of the corruption. One common form of corruption in Russia is that soldiers have to hand over a large portion of their military pay to their commanders, or else they get sent on meat assaults.

By Carl-Magnus Carlsson (Hardcore) on Friday, July 31, 2026 - 03:07 pm: Edit

The White House has second thoughts about Ukrainian production of Patriot missiles. -The Guardian

Ukraine will produce the French Aster 30 under license however, which is used with the SAMP/T Air defence system. Always good with a back up plan.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Friday, July 31, 2026 - 05:03 pm: Edit

Ukraine also has its own self designed equivalent of Patriot which costs 1/4 as much.

William, I do believe I said that.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Friday, July 31, 2026 - 06:24 pm: Edit

A few points on William's corruption ratings.
1. Thanks for posting them.
2. Without knowing the methodology, it's hard to take them as precise. They could be more gut feelings or political statements.
3. An increase from 30 to 35 is not much, and depending on things is within the margin of error.
4. As Will says, there are a lot of kinds of corruption. When Ukraine asks me for money, all I care about is government officials stealing.

By William Jockusch (Verybadcat) on Friday, July 31, 2026 - 07:02 pm: Edit

SVC, in making appropriate donations, personal connections help.

Transparency International describes their methodology in a page with the title below. I have not investigated in detail. But it looks strong at a glance. A further point in their favour is that their year-over-year graphs look pretty smooth, with an occasional out-of-trend value, typically 1-2 points away from what the trend suggests.

This is exactly what one would expect from measurements that have small, but nonzero, errors.

"The ABCs of the CPI: How the Corruption Perceptions Index is calculated"

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Friday, July 31, 2026 - 08:57 pm: Edit

Still not taking anybody’s stuff without more info than they provided. I don’t have to believe it so I don’t plan to worry about it. But let us take their numbers for now. They support my original statement. Ukraine is corrupt enough to deserve extreme caution.

By William Jockusch (Verybadcat) on Friday, July 31, 2026 - 09:49 pm: Edit

OK, time to throw your question back at you. You were looking for what the US can do about Putin's aid for Iran. I provided multiple Ukraine-related options. You are not in favor.

How would you punish Putin?

By Jessica Orsini (Jessica_Orsini) on Friday, July 31, 2026 - 09:59 pm: Edit

Because this discussion made me curious, I hunted down Transparency International's methodology info for their Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI). The very boiled-down nutshell version is that they draw on thirteen data sources for info including:

• Bribery
• Diversion of public funds
• Use of public office for private gain
• Nepotism in the civil service
• State capture
• The government’s ability to enforce integrity mechanisms
• The effective prosecution of corrupt officials
• Red tape and excessive bureaucratic burden
• The existence of adequate laws on financial disclosure, conflict of interest
prevention and access to information
• Legal protection for whistleblowers, journalists and investigators

They evaluate the data sources against:

• Methodological reliability and institutional reputation
• Conceptual alignment of the data
• Quantitative granularity
• Cross country comparability
• Multi year data availability

They standardize the data sources (so that apples are compared to apples, not oranges, and to a comparable number of apples), aggregate the rescaled data to produce the CPI, and report a measure of uncertainty.

The data sources:
• African Development Bank Country Policy and Institutional Assessment 2023 (AFDB)
• Bertelsmann Stiftung Sustainable Governance Indicators 2024 (SGI)
• Bertelsmann Stiftung Transformation Index 2026 (STI)
• Economist Intelligence Unit Country Risk Service 2025 (EIU)
• Freedom House Nations in Transit 2024 (FH)
• S&P Global Insights Business Conditions and Risk Indicators 2024 (GI)
• IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook 2025 (IMD)
• Political and Economic Risk Consultancy 2025 (PERC)
• The PRS Group International Country Risk Guide 2025 (PRS)
• World Bank Country Policy and Institutional Assessment 2024 (WB)
• World Economic Forum Executive Opinion Survey 2025 (WEF)
• World Justice Project Rule of Law Index 2025 (WJP)
• Varieties of Democracy Project 2025 (VDEM)

By Jessica Orsini (Jessica_Orsini) on Friday, July 31, 2026 - 10:04 pm: Edit

For what it's worth: Somalia and South Sudan are a dead tie for last place, both with a CPI of 9. Denmark's on top, with an 89.

By Carl-Magnus Carlsson (Hardcore) on Friday, July 31, 2026 - 10:41 pm: Edit

I suppose technically speaking you could get a low ranking, having no corruption, because you have no laws or institutions to speak of.

By Jeff Wile (Jswile) on Friday, July 31, 2026 - 11:33 pm: Edit

Carl,

Your point about “…you have no laws or institutions to speak of”

Violates the ninth point of Jessica’s list , which is

“ The existence of adequate laws on financial disclosure, conflict of interest
prevention and access to information”

Or, to explain it another way, nations with out laws or institutions, are not defined as being a nation per the definition for purposes of determining a CPI (Corruption Perceptions Index.)

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Saturday, August 01, 2026 - 12:51 am: Edit

Thanks, Jessica, they do indeed ultimately boil it down to gut feeling. Specifically, you can make the algorithm do anything you want.

Will, I mentioned some things a while ago, but I don't really feel the need to define ideas or counter-ideas. I also never said Ukraine help was off the table, just that you were very strident and used "generosity toward Ukraine" as the default answer to everything. I am okay with giving Ukraine a hundred tanks, but it would be months before they entered combat. As for punishment, as I said, he could dial up sanctions but I don't know of anything not done yet. He could continue the policy of seizing ghost tankers, but there is no way to seize more than he's doing. He could restrict Russian oil exports, but it would have a serious economic cost for a hundred nations. He could expel some diplomats but that would cause more confusion than good. I am not really sure we have to do anything, but I am really not seeing much we haven't already done. Ah, here is one thought, take fifty million out of frozen Russian bank accounts and use it for something worthwhile like …. Jean won’t let me mention that.

By Carl-Magnus Carlsson (Hardcore) on Saturday, August 01, 2026 - 06:24 am: Edit

Jeff, yeah, the index viewpoint is that of the advanced society, or more precisely a nation state. I suppose corruption, in the form of "gifts" could exist even in "primitive" societies, but today these societies exist inside a state border and fall under their jurisdiction.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Saturday, August 01, 2026 - 05:33 pm: Edit

Cyber Attack: the FBI reports that municipal water distribution systems in seven states have been hacked by a cyber attack which briefly disrupted operations. The FBI says Iran did it. The president says Tim Walz did it. I think I'll surprise everyone by saying Iran did it because they found cracks in firewalls where they found then.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Saturday, August 01, 2026 - 05:37 pm: Edit

Russia has finally completed the refit of the Kirov-class battlecruiser Nakhimov. It is anyone's guess how many drones it would take to destroy it. The ship is based in the arctic and will operate there, nowhere near Ukraine. The various offensive missile systems were removed and replaced with a vertical launch system able to handle any offensive and the larger defensive missiles.

By Ryan Opel (Ryan) on Saturday, August 01, 2026 - 07:16 pm: Edit

It only took 27 years to complete it.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Saturday, August 01, 2026 - 09:07 pm: Edit

Kirov renamed Ushakov is being scrapped.
Frunze renamed Lazarov has been scrapped.
Kalinin renamed Nakhimov has been returned to duty.
Andropov renamed Peter the Great remains in storage, fate yet to be determined.
Kuznetsov, cancelled before construction.
Ural, a command and control ship using a Kirov hull, served briefly but has been scrapped.

By Gregory S Flusche (Vandar) on Saturday, August 01, 2026 - 09:14 pm: Edit

I am only a construction worker. First plumbing and now ship repair. (mostly navy ships)

I do love to play all kinds of wargames. From medieval to some modern. Then upwards into science fiction. I love to read about and study old battles. As well as the wars they were fought in.

Am I an expert not at all. As for corruption in governments. It is like an ass hole every country has it. With different forms of it. The US is very corrupt just not in the ways that Ukraine and Russia are.

I can say, however. That sanctions are not working. If they did work North Koria and Iran would be long dead. As well as Cuba. All they do is hurt the people of that country. That leads to the people hating those that impose the sanctions. As in the US. Can You prove that wrong. They impoverish the people but not the ruling class. North Koria has a huge army. Iran has more missiles than ever.

That leads what to do about Russia helping Iran. really, we helped Urkraine first. It is more like Russia paying us back. If we really wanted the war in Ukraine to end. We should have sent troops thru Germany year one. (OH wait Russia would have nuked everybody End of world)

Iran
The US (we as I live here) attacked Iran. Iran is playing the world pressure game. They are fighting the war politicly. We will shut down the strait. Anything to hurt other countries. Why do that? It is all the US faults. They attacked us we are only doing what we can.

You cannot win this war by killing the troops. It would take Years to do that. years. History proves that. More so in this newer age. In early years You would move in kill the men impregnate the women and take over. The other side had a choice fight Die are run. Mass migrations. There is no place to move to anymore.

The American Indians. The plains Tribes. Fought the US to a standstill. We could not bring them to a decisive battle. No, we destroyed the major food source and whipped out any villages we could find.
They had to give up are ceased to be.

We dropped two atomic bombs on Japan. How many innocent people died? hut Japan surrendered. War crimes anyone?

The only way at this point for the US to win in Iran. Is to take out the Oil fields, takeout Kursk Island and factories. Power plants and everything else. When they still do not surrender. Cities.

The problem with that is. Will the rest of the world let it happen. They need that OIL.

By William Jockusch (Verybadcat) on Saturday, August 01, 2026 - 10:06 pm: Edit

No worries, the Southern portion of Novaya Zemlya is closer to Ukraine than is the Omsk oil refinery, which it hit in July.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Sunday, August 02, 2026 - 01:42 am: Edit

The Japanese were rational; the IRGC is on a mission from God.

By Carl-Magnus Carlsson (Hardcore) on Sunday, August 02, 2026 - 01:50 am: Edit

The Japanese committed suicide rather than surrender in combat. They were on a mission from the Emperor.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Sunday, August 02, 2026 - 05:54 am: Edit

The Wildberries warehouse in Novosemeykino (in Samara) was burned to the ground last night. This means eleven of the twenty five largest facilities are total losses, three more have been damaged.
Last night another refinery was hit in Sabato (sarato?). It had been hit several times previously.
The Engles II airbase was hit again last night.
SUCHOMIMUS, on YouTube

By William Jockusch (Verybadcat) on Sunday, August 02, 2026 - 11:13 am: Edit

Gregory Flusche,

Sanctions have an impact. One has to understand what they can and cannot do. Let's take sanctions on Russian oil as an example. If Russia can physically move oil out of the country, they are always going to be able to find a buyer, sanctions or not.

However, the buyer doesn't want to be under sanctions. If purchasing the oil would put the buyer under sanctions, some buyers will decide that's not worth it and walk away. Other buyers will decide to accept the sanctions. This latter group will on the whole be a bit more remote and difficult-to-reach than the buyers would have been without sanctions. This slightly reduces Russia's profit from selling its oil.

But there is a larger effect. The new buyers don't want to be under sanctions, either. To compensate, they will offer a lower price for the Russian oil. I'm not aware of the exact size of this price difference, but I'll guesstimate that it is within a factor of 2 of $10 per barrel.

That's a lot less money for Russia. On top of it, Russia faces similar issues when importing. If they want to buy some electronic item from the US, they have to set up a business in a third country, for example Kyrgyzstan, and have that business purchase the item, then ship it from there to Russia. Again this increases the cost.

Sanctions alone will seldom achieve a policy objective. But over time, they have an accumulating impact on the target country.