See minutes 18.40 to 27

Professor Diesen and I have patched up relations, as you will understand from the opening minutes, and I believe we have had a discussion this morning which the Community will find particularly valuable. I am particularly proud of my explanation for why the whole question of Russia winning or losing has generated so much passion, fury and venom among colleagues.

 At the same time, the translators of my interviews into Russian for the rutube will be wondering about the advisability of putting up on the internet my recommendation to the Kremlin that they fire General Gerasimov and his immediate circle and change their strategy to ‘escalate to de-escalate’ if there is to be any chance for the war to end soon and on Russian terms, rather than in a Pyrrhic victory.  On the other hand, the same translators and their friends in the Kremlin will be delighted by my denunciation of the Ukrainian claims to have taken the initiative and my insistence that the drones which are striking deep into the Russian heartland are NATO supplied and NATO programmed rather than proofs of Ukrainian military genius.

©Gilbert Doctorow, 2026

It was very enjoyable to be back with Judge Napolitano today following his return from vacation. Our chat covered a great many of the questions surrounding the state of the Russia-Ukraine war today: whether the Russians are truly winning on the ground or are being pushed back and losing territory as out-going Ukrainian commander General Syrsky claims; whether the drone attacks by Ukraine are truly Ukrainian or are indeed largely NATO attacks, since the most sophisticated long range drones are surely manufactured in Germany, the UK and elsewhere and targeting is done using Western military intelligence; whether Russia is poised to attack Western Europe or not; and much more.   I also discussed the recent Ministry of Foreign Affairs hosted teleconference on the Ukrainian war crimes being committed in the Kherson oblast and why/how the organizers failed to consider how the testimony they were presenting could be seen as proof that Russia’s possible military victory on the ground will be a Pyrrhic victory.

©Gilbert Doctorow. 2026

https://gilbertdoctorow.substack.com/p/zelensky-is-changing-his-military

https://gilbertdoctorow.substack.com/p/crimea-the-new-war-zone

An open letter to Glenn Diesen:

Scott Ritter and whom you invite onto your programs

Glenn,

It is with sadness that I inform you that I will no longer accept interview invitations on your channel.

I just listened to the first 3 minutes of your latest chat with Scott Ritter, and since you did not warn him against vicious gutter attacks on me, knowing surely that he would do this following his other very recent podcasts, and particularly Ritter on Consortium News with Joe Lauria last week, I do not see that you are exercising the host’s obligation to set ground rules and prevent the channel being used for defamatory purposes.   When Ritter said that Doctorow was speaking the biggest piece of horse shit he has seen in his life, he crossed all red lines of civilized discourse and you did nothing about it.

Tant pis.  We all will be judged by the company we keep.

Gilbert D.

A word to the Community:

I understand that the Putin cheerleader cohort is greatly disturbed by any suggestion that Russia might be losing the war even if it is couched in the specific frame that I am applying: namely that Putin’s victory on the ground in further territorial conquest is in fact a Pyrrhic victory given the damage being done to Russian deterrence and sovereignty on the Russian homeland. And so some of my peers throw facts and reason to the wind in an ugly effort to stifle dissent in the Alternative Media.

As you will see when last night’s interview with Michael Farris (Coffee and a Mike) is posted, most likely later today, my understanding of the grave situation created by the intensifying Ukrainian (read NATO) drone attacks was validated by none other than the RF Ministry of Foreign Affairs during its 3-hour teleconference on Kherson oblast last Friday to which I was invited as a representative of Belgium. The Governor of Kherson and other authorities explained how and why the region has become nearly uninhabitable due to the drones. No electricity, no mine-free streets or sidewalks, real deprivation and fear for their lives. The same situation exists today in the Crimea which has been effectively cut off from mainland Russia.   If this is the smell of victory, what does Russian defeat look like?

I will use every possibility at my disposal to learn more about the accelerating NATO attacks via Ukraine and about what effect Russia’s reprisal strikes are having.

My apologies go out to those among you who wish to believe that we are all angels on the side of Good.  No, life is more complicated.

©Gilbert Doctorow, 2026

I trust that the Community will find this discussion to be of value.  As I say at the conclusion, the audience should listen to all sides on the likely outcome of the Russia-Ukraine war including the side that I represent. But the situation in this war is highly volatile and the audience should not yet put its money on the red or the black, but wait and see.

https://gilbertdoctorow.substack.com/p/emmanuel-macrons-anti-ballistic-missile