To Meet Tank Shortage in Russian Army, Moscow Now Taking Even T-34s Off of Memorial Sites and Promising to Modernize Them

Paul Goble

            Staunton, Mar. 24 – The Russian invasion force in Ukraine is suffering from an increasing shortage of tanks. To meet it, Russians say, officials in Moscow have begun to remove tanks, even old T-34s, from memorials in the capital and declaring that “we can fix” them up just fine.,

            That is just one of the new Russian anecdotes that Moscow journalist Tatyana Pushkaryova has assembled and published (publizist.ru/blogs/107374/45445/-). Among the best of the rest are the following:

·       Chinese scientists have deciphered radio signals from several exoplanets. The message from every one of them was the same: “Hello. Out planet is absolutely unsuitable for colonization, mining and rice cultivation. Thank you for your understanding!”

·       Moscow’s real understanding of import substitution is reflected in its decision to have the Chinese produce Chinese cars in a former Mercedes Benz factory near the Russian capital.

·       Xi had a problem in dealing with Putin: Turkey’s Erogan had stuck knives in Putin’s back so often that the Chinese leader had to go lower.

·       Russian entrepreneurs are now entering foreign markets – more precisely, street markets in foreign capitals, offering all kinds of slightly used Western goods for sale.

·       If Russia is afraid of the security of its tanks in Ukraine, it can address that by bringing them back to Russia, US National Security Advisor John Kirby says.

·       Russia will pay for the revival of Ukraine whether it wins or loses, and that means the Russian people will have to tighten their belts regardless of the outcome of the war.

·       What is truly scary is not that patriotism is often confused with idiocy but that it comes from alcoholism.

·       After reminding an interview subject about the criminal penalties for refusing to participate or giving answers that are fakes or a justification of Nazism, a Russian pollster lists the subjects address but then asks how can the pollsters contact him.