Russia-Ukraine War

Moscow State Circus: Update #2, July 14, 2023

Roll up, roll up for the baddest show on Earth!

14th July. It’s Bastille Day and maybe the Russian population will take a leaf out of the French history books and rise against their corrupt regime. Or maybe they will take a lesson out of their own more recent history books, even as late as 1991.

I’m not holding my breath. I think that the Moscow State Circus will continue performing for a few months yet. In the meantime, here’s a brief aggregation of circus news that caught my eye in the last couple of days, clowns included.

Clown Acts

All the circus’s clown acts are also wonderful jugglers, being able to keep an infinite number of contradictory and illogical arguments up in the air at any one time. But they have not yet realised that gravity will win.

Peskov, Clown-in-Chief

Peskov’s act is not original — it is scripted by the circus ringmaster and is becoming boring. But he still makes me titter.

Lavrov the Laughable

July 12 (Reuters) — The armed confrontation in Ukraine will continue until the West gives up plans to dominate and defeat Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in an interview with an Indonesian newspaper published on Wednesday.

Medvedev the Nuclear Nutter

“If the USA and its vassals stopped supplying weapons to Kyiv, the SVO would end in a few months, if they stop now — in a few days,” — Medvedev. He also stated that any war can be ended quickly either by a peace treaty or by nuclear weapons. He then babbled on about the “modern and heroic” Russian military. — Twitter

High Wire Artistes

Major General Ivan Popov was a Russian army high flyer and had a clear view of the ring. He had been called a gladiator, nicknamed ‘Spartak’.

Then he tried high-wire walking and lost his footing. He lives on, but there are uncertainties about the safety net of his pension provision…

Commander of the 58th Russian army major general Ivan Popov was resigned from his position as a result of his report to Gerasimov. In the report, Popov raised the issue of needing to rotate units who have stayed on the combat line for a long time and bore significant losses. Gerasimov blamed Popov of panicking and blaming the high command. After Popov said he was ready to report the problem to Putin personally, Gerasimov took him off his position. The retired Popov didn’t keep quiet and recorded an address that criticizes high command. New mutinies ahead? (Twitter link below).

“A difficult situation with the leadership emerged. It was a choice between remaining silent and afraid and saying what they wanted to hear, or calling things for what they are. In your name, in the name of all perished comrades-in-arms, I didn’t have the right to lie. Hence I named all the problems that exist today in the army regarding operations, supply.

I pointed the attention to the most important tragedy of the modern war — the lack of counter-battery fire, lack of artillery reconnaissance stations, and mass casualties and injuries of our brothers from enemy artillery. I also raised a number of other issues, expressed them to the highest levels, did it openly and very brutally.

Due to this, the seniors likely felt some danger in me and instantly, in one day, put together an order to the Minister of Defence and got rid of me. As many commanders of regiments and divisions said today, our army was not broken through the front, but our most senior commander hit us in the back, thus treacherously beheading the army in the most difficult period.”

Veterinarian’s Report

Unfortunately, one of the circus’s heavyweight acts has been withdrawn from performance until further notice. Treatment is required.

Sergei Surovikin was part of Yevgeny’s Prigozhin’s ‘Troupe of Mutineers’.

Sergei has been confined for mental investigation in one of our special treatment cages. This became necessary because the circus management of Valery Gerasimov and Sergei Shoigu were unable to keep the Troupe happy, denying them feeding supplements to try and reduce their strength. This led to the Troupe performing an unapproved new act in which Sergei was involved.

Leader of the troupe, Prigozhin, has been absent from the circus for some time now, after an unexplained manouevre which outwitted the circus ringmaster and still puzzles the circus onlookers. He appears to be freely wandering in Circus territory and easily able to evade the rat catchers.

However, news just in indicates that the Troupe leader has been located on tour, in a circus tent in Belarus. He appears to be wearing the bare essentials.

Retired acts

With Russia lacking all-year-round sunshine and beaches — not even Sochi or the Crimea can match the Canary Islands or Cyprus — retirement venues (and cash vaults) are often chosen outside the eleven time zones of Putin’s State Circus.

It will be interesting to see how peaceful (and safe) those retirement havens will prove to be for some of the retired circus acts.

Dead Acts

Too many to mention in the last twenty four hours, but announcements include

• Captain Stanislav Rzytskyi, commander of the Krasnodar submarine which launched Kalibr cruise missiles against Ukraine from the Black Sea: Shot four times while jogging in Kradsnodar.
• Lieutenant General Oleg Tsokov, deputy commander of the Southern Military District: Killed in the strike by Storm Shadow cruise missiles on the Russian 58th Army command headquarters located in the plush Dune hotel at Berdiansk.

Audience feedback

The ringmaster is clear: The show must go on.

But this is what observers in Moscow had to say about the circus and its international sponsors:

New Circus Location

The circus ringmaster has decided that new entertainment opportunities must be identified, and now there are rumours that one will be opened near the Caspian Sea.

Tehran summoned Russia’s ambassador on Wednesday over a Moscow-endorsed statement on three Gulf islands disputed by Iran and the United Arab Emirates.

The three isles of Abu Musa, Greater Tunb and Lesser Tunb are claimed by both Tehran and the UAE, but have been held by Iran since 1971 — during the time of the UAE’s formation, after gaining independence from Britain.

Following a ministerial meeting in Moscow on Monday, Russia and the GCC released a joint statement that urged a diplomatic solution to the territorial dispute. — CNBC

Clearly, the circus ringmaster is not too concerned about loss of access to important Iranian technical equipment for his high flying artists.

Or he has no idea what his middle management are up to.

Ringmaster: Surprise appearance

According to one of the onlookers, Denys Davydov:

Putin gave details of his three-hour meeting with Wagner PMC commanders, which took place on June 29 in the Kremlin, five days after mutiny. At a meeting with the Wagner fighters, he gave them an assessment of “what they did on the battlefield, and on the other hand, what they did during the events of June 24,” and also showed possible options for further their service.

Asked if the Wagner PMC would continue as a combat unit, Putin said the organization “doesn’t exist” because there is no law on private military companies in Russia.

“There is a group, but legally does not exist! This is a separate issue related to real legalization. But this is a question that should be discussed in the State Duma, in the government. A difficult question, ”the publication quotes him.

He also said that he offered the Wagner PMC commanders, of whom there were 35 people at the meeting, several employment options, including under the leadership of their commander with the call sign “Seda”, “who was their real commander all this time.”

As the president noted, many nodded at his words, but the head of the Wagner PMC, Yevgeny Prigozhin, who was sitting in front, did not see this and said that “the guys do not agree” with such a proposal.

So Prygozhyn is the boss and he doesn’t care what Putin wants. Putin just told about his own disability himself. What a shame 😂. For sure the weak Tsar is unable to hold the throne for a long time.

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