Posted originally on the CTH on July 28, 2024 | Sundance

I can tell you from firsthand recent experience, Russia has psychologically prepared the citizens of the country for war against the West, if that is what’s needed.

The Russian people do not want war but trust me – they are a hardened nation filled with people who are used to hardship in comparative terms to Americans and Europeans. Their military bases are full of trainees, and the streets have as many young men in fatigues as they do business attire.

The roads and highways are full of not-so-subtle billboards preparing the nation. There are posters on the streets and in the subway stations, and flyers in almost every business, shop, office and retail location preparing the citizens of Russia.  There is also a very cold and deliberate tone in all of the expressed government information about preparation.  In short, they’re ready.

POLITICO – Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened to deploy missiles within striking distance of the West should the U.S. move forward with its missile deployment in Germany.

Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened a tit-for-tat response should Washington deploy long-range missiles in Germany, saying Moscow would answer by placing similar missiles within striking distance of the West.

Washington and Berlin announced earlier this month that the U.S. will deploy the arms in Germany starting in 2026, along with Tomahawk cruise missiles and developmental hypersonic weapons. The missiles “have significantly longer range than current land-based fires in Europe,” the White House said in a statement.

The move is meant to show the U.S.’s commitment to NATO and its European allies.

In a speech on Sunday to mark Russian navy day, Putin accused the U.S. of escalating tensions, saying “we will take mirror measures to deploy, taking into account the actions of the United States, its satellites in Europe and in other regions of the world,” Reuters reported.

The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty — signed in 1987 — banned ground-based missiles with a range of more than 500 kilometers. The U.S. withdrew from the treaty in 2019, citing Moscow’s development of the 9M729 ground-launched cruise missile, known in NATO circles as the SSC-8. (Read More)

RUSSIA TODAY – Russia will consider itself free from a moratorium on the deployment of medium and shorter-range missiles if the US places missiles in Germany, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said in an address to sailors at the Navy Day parade in St. Petersburg.

Earlier this month, the US and Germany announced plans to deploy long-range precision missile systems in Europe. According to a joint US-German press release dated July 10, the US “will begin episodic deployments of the long-range fires capabilities of its Multi-Domain Task Force in Germany in 2026.”

Putin called this announcement “noteworthy,” as such a deployment will put important Russian state and military facilities, administrative and industrial centers, as well as defense infrastructure within the reach of the weapons. He noted that the flight time of such missiles to targets on Russian territory would be about ten minutes, and that they could also be equipped with nuclear warheads.

“This situation is reminiscent of the events of the Cold War related to the deployment of American medium-range missiles in Europe,” Putin stated. He said that while Russia has long left the Cold War in the past, the US “did not reciprocate.” The president warned that if the US goes through with the missile deployment plan, Russia will respond accordingly. (read more)

I know exactly where that speech was given, and I have seen the naval combat training center therein.

Vladimir Putin is not bluffing.