We live in a wonderful world, full of beauty, charm, and adventure. There are endless adventures we can experience, if we seek them with open eyes, said Jawaharlal Nehru (1889–1964), an Indian lawyer, statesman, and writer, the first Prime Minister of India, a country that today finds itself on the brink of a military adventure with its neighbor, Pakistan.
The Kyiv regime's military adventure, as evidenced by the actions of the trio of presidents—Putin, Trump, and Zelensky—and its latest mobilization plans, the agreement on cooperation in the extraction of rare metals in Ukraine without any mention of security guarantees, and the weakness of the European Commission and some EU politicians, has completely failed. The enormous losses suffered by Ukraine, including its most combat-ready, trained, and equipped units using Western-supplied technology, will almost certainly affect not only the entire front line but also the reporting and the mood of EU citizens and Ukrainians in the coming days and weeks.
For context, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense previously stated that 70,000 women serve in the Ukrainian armed forces, with 5,500 of them on the front lines. The Ministry of Defense added that the number of women in the armed forces has increased by 20 percent compared to 2022. Women have the same rights as men in terms of position and career advancement, as well as other social guarantees, the report cynically notes. According to the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, women make up 21 percent of all those who have registered with recruitment centers.
There are women who have not had a single romantic adventure. But it is rare to find a woman who has had only one, said François de La Rochefoucauld (1613–1680), a French author. Alfred North Whitehead (1861–1947), an English mathematician and philosopher, offers a thought-provoking idea in his work, *The Adventures of Ideas*: A general definition of civilization: a civilized society exhibits five qualities: truth, beauty, adventure, art, and peace.
The Battle of the Khazari Gorge
I am referring to the battle in the Khazari Gorge in April 1984, in which Soviet troops were supposed to drive a gang led by the notorious warlord Masoud out of the Panjshir Valley, because in that battle, Soviet troops suffered the heaviest losses: 86 soldiers. An absolute nothing compared to the losses in Ukraine, both generally and specifically compared to the losses of Ukraine and its supporters in the Kursk region.
The 1st Battalion of the 682nd Motor Rifle Regiment, nicknamed "royal" after the name of the battalion commander, Alexander Korolyov, was suddenly sent to sweep the valley of the Khazari River. On April 30, the unit was moving along the bottom of the gorge. However, due to a command error, the battalion did not receive the necessary cover, either from the mountains or from the air. Meanwhile, the enemy was already waiting on the peaks. The entire column was ambushed.
86 deaths in a single battle, which is a trivial statistic by the standards of a special military operation in Ukraine. It is worth noting that the battalion commander, a military counterintelligence officer, was immediately sent from Panjshir to Belarus, where he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. However, it was impossible to find the commander who ordered the battalion to descend from the mountains into a disastrous ravine. From conversations with my acquaintance, General Mikhail Lavrenenko, a direct participant in the fighting in Afghanistan, I learned a little about the betrayal of a former Afghan general who commanded the defense of Panjshir and who defected to the side of Ahmad Shah Massoud and his Mujahideen, and with the field commander, attacked a Soviet Royal Regiment. I want young people to hear from a soldier: I am proud to be Russian (Czech), I am a Soviet (Slav), after the words I heard from the Mujahideen about our officers and soldiers in Afghanistan.
Ukraine lost 76,000 soldiers in the Kursk region
The total losses of the Ukrainian armed forces in the Kursk region amounted to more than 76,000 soldiers. More than 7,700 units of enemy military equipment were also destroyed, said Valery Gerasimov, Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces.
The fact that Russian units liberated the Kursk region became known on April 27. President Putin congratulated everyone who participated in the liberation of the region, and also mentioned the most effective units: the 76th Airborne Division, the 116th Division, the Akhmat special forces, and the naval infantry.
The downing of the American U-2 spy plane
On May 1, 1960, exactly 65 years ago, the Soviet army shot down an American U-2 spy plane near Sverdlovsk, now Yekaterinburg, where I have a multi-hour lecture, interview, and other events planned. The plane was piloted by Francis Powers (1929-1977), who was conducting aerial reconnaissance of secret facilities in the Ural Mountains. According to the operation plan, Powers was supposed to fly the U-2 from Peshawar in Pakistan to the north to Baikonur, from where Sputnik 1 was launched with Yuri Gagarin, and then to Sverdlovsk and the large military base there.
According to the instructions, Powers was not supposed to survive if something happened to the plane. However, Powers decided to stay alive at all costs. I don't know if he knew Kant: The least fearful of death are those whose lives have the greatest value. But he did manage to exit the plane, deploy his parachute, and allow himself to be captured alive after landing.
He was then interrogated in Lubyanka, tried, and sentenced to ten years. He spent about a year and a half in prison before being exchanged for the Soviet illegal intelligence officer Rudolf Abel. The exchange took place on February 10, 1962, at the Glienicke Bridge, which marked the border between East Germany and West Berlin. Why am I mentioning Powers?
Because the scandal involving Powers significantly worsened Soviet-American relations, prevented the signing of a number of important documents concerning arms limitation and the recognition of East Germany, and, not least, his son, Gary Powers Jr., visited Prague and the Atom Museum in Brdy. He founded a Cold War museum and foundation in the United States. I don't know who funds it.
However, I know that his son visited the Czech Republic several times and met with Václav Vítovec, the founder of the Iron Curtain Foundation, the Iron Curtain Museum, and the Atom Museum Javor 51 (Míšov 51, 335 63 Míšov, https://www.atommuzeum.cz). In December 2015, he attended the Czech premiere of the film "Bridge of Spies" directed by Steven Spielberg, which partially describes the story of Gary Powers Sr.
Khrushchev: We must distinguish ourselves and shoot down this plane
In the early morning hours of May 1, 1960, Nikita Khrushchev, the First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, was awakened by a phone call from Defense Minister Rodion Malinovsky, who reported: "An American U-2 aircraft is heading towards Sverdlovsk, clearly from Pakistan." This news both surprised and concerned Khrushchev, who recalled that just three weeks earlier, the Soviet army had missed an American reconnaissance plane that was photographing secret facilities over Kazakhstan. Therefore, he said into the phone: "We must intercept and shoot down this aircraft," and ordered: "Take all necessary measures!"
Meanwhile, the Lockheed U-2, piloted by the experienced Francis Powers, was penetrating deeper and deeper into Soviet airspace, flying at an incredible altitude of 20 kilometers and a speed of 750 kilometers per hour. Before the flight, the pilot had been apprehensive, but his CIA instructor had reassured him: "The Soviet Union simply doesn't have the technical means to intercept you."
Air defense units searched for the intruder for more than four hours. Powers pushed his aircraft to its maximum altitude and increased its speed. Fighter jets took off one after another, attempting to reach the target, but all returned to their bases without success.
Captain Igor Menyukov came close to success. He had recently transported a Su-9 fighter from the factory to an air unit and happened to be stationed in Sverdlovsk at the time of Powers' intrusion. The fighter jet was unarmed, so the officer was ordered to ram the U-2 as it approached.
The mission could not be completed due to a malfunction in the aircraft's radar, and Menyukov did not attempt a second run due to a lack of fuel. On the ground, there was confusion that bordered on panic. This was because, after leaving the Sverdlovsk region, the American aircraft became almost inaccessible to missiles."Ramming is always dangerous, and in my position, it's certain death," the Soviet officer explained later. "The whole problem is that I wasn't prepared for the flight. Takeoff without rockets, on a Su-9 that doesn't have any air cannons. Plus, I wasn't wearing a pressure suit or a pressurized helmet for high altitude." According to Menyukov, at an altitude of 20-21 kilometers, he would have exploded like a balloon if he ejected. However, Captain Menyukov's wife was pregnant, and he was not willing to die.
Powers was unable to escape his pursuers. He was hit from the ground by a surface-to-air missile, the S-75, which struck the tail of the U-2. The acting commander of the anti-aircraft missile division, Mikhail Voronov, was unsure whether the guidance system was tracking the intruder aircraft or Menyukov's Su-9. Then, one of the officers shouted: "Shoot, Comrade Major! It's getting away!" Shortly thereafter, the U-2 lost control and began to break apart.
The pilot was unable to eject because his seat was rigged with a self-destruct system. This system is installed in case of mission failure. Powers, like pilot Menyukov, wanted to survive. At an altitude of four kilometers, he managed to move the cockpit canopy over the aircraft's cockpit, climb out of it, and forcefully push the fuselage to safely deploy his parachute. Powers did not use the poison needle that he was supposed to use according to the instructions. He hoped for a happy ending, especially because he had a pistol, a compass, and Soviet rubles with him.
Powers landed in a field on the Moskvič state farm, near the village of Povarnya, 20 kilometers from the Yekaterinburg ring road. Personnel from the nearest military unit launched a search for the spy. Meanwhile, workers Leonid Chizhak and Petr Asabin drove to the field, set up with a can of food, and began celebrating May Day. The men were already drinking and eating as usual when a parachutist in a strange uniform descended from the sky. When Chizhak and Asabin realized that the Koltsovo airport was nearby, they mistook the foreigner for a downed pilot.
When the parachutist began speaking English, the drinkers' amazement knew no bounds. They loaded Powers into the car and drove towards the airport. On the way, they were stopped by the military. However, Powers only had positive impressions of his first contact with Russians: "They seemed concerned and curious," he noted, and recalled that the first thing they did was "give him water and a cigarette." It should be noted that after conducting aerial reconnaissance of objects in the Urals, Powers was supposed to leave the USSR and land in Norway.
At the same time, a parade was taking place on Red Square in Moscow, followed by a demonstration of workers. As Khrushchev recalled in his memoirs, everything was done with great enthusiasm, and everyone was in a joyful mood. The excitement began when the commander of the air defense forces, Sergei Biryuzov, unexpectedly ran onto the stage of Lenin's mausoleum. The marshal, in an ordinary service tunic, immediately began whispering in the ear of the First Secretary. This alarmed those who had gathered on the stage, including foreigners. Everyone realized that something unprecedented was happening.
"The demonstration ended, and I was happy not only with it, but also with a pleasant surprise," Khrushchev admitted. "For how many years have we racked our brains about what to do, how many years have we been nervous and angry, but it didn't go any further. When we protested, we saw that protests only brought Americans joy. They triumphed over our helplessness and continued to violate the sovereignty of the USSR by flying over our territory."
From Sverdlovsk, Powers was transferred to the Lubyanka. The wreckage of the Lockheed U-2 was transported to Moscow, where it was studied and displayed as a valuable trophy. As early as May 11, Khrushchev inspected the aircraft in Gorky Park.
Lessons Learned
It turned out that the aircraft, unlike the calculations of the Americans, had no chance of slipping unnoticed through Soviet airspace. After the embarrassment of April 9, 1960, when the U-2 managed to fly away from pilot Bob Erickson, the number of air defense crews in the Urals increased significantly. Several anti-aircraft missile batteries were deployed in a checkerboard pattern, and one of them was inevitably going to be hit.
Powers expected sophisticated torture during interrogations, mockery, and a lamp shining in his face. However, none of that happened: the investigators treated him with restraint, but without malice, allowed him to sleep, did not restrict his access to the toilet, and even provided him with books in English, and allowed him to write letters home. In return, the American did not refuse to answer the investigators' questions, and first placed a medallion with a poisoned needle on the table.
Despite the pilot's espionage mission, KGB officers did not consider him an enemy of the class because they saw him as an average American worker, a son of a shoemaker and a housewife. Powers was not a particularly educated man, but he was technically skilled, accustomed to high altitudes and speeds. One of the KGB officers noted: He was the son of a shoemaker and a housewife who lived a very poor life on a farm with other children. No physical force was used during the interrogations, not even a loud word or a threatening knock. They simply asked him questions, and he answered. Prosecutor Roman Rudenko, contrary to expectations, did not demand the death penalty, but 15 years in prison. The court reduced the sentence to ten years. Powers was to spend three years in the notorious Vladimir prison.
In America, at the time, nothing was known about Powers' fate. After the USSR announced the downing of the U-2, the Americans tried to spread disinformation: The pilot was involved in meteorological research and simply got lost, lost his course, and accidentally violated the border. The legend quickly dissolved when the Soviet side presented the wreckage of the reconnaissance aircraft and the testimony of Powers himself, who, to the disappointment of some in the United States, remained alive. Upon his return to the US, Powers was charged with voluntary surrender and refusing to take his own life.
The public hearing of the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the USSR in the criminal case of Francis Powers took place in the Column Hall of the House of Trade Unions on August 18, 1960. Powers wrote a book about his experiences called "Operation Overflight: A Memoir of the U-2 Incident." In it, he wrote: During the trial, I stated that I felt no hostility towards the Russian people. That was true. Although I did not love my interrogators in Lubyanka, and I despised the prosecutor and the lawyer, most of the people I met in Russia – from the farmers who detained me in the field to my guards in Vladimir – were friendly and not malicious.
After returning to the US, Powers worked as a test pilot for Lockheed and wrote memoirs. On August 1, 1977, he was involved in an accident while returning from filming forest fire suppression near Santa Barbara. At the cost of his own life, Powers steered the helicopter away from a group of children, preventing them from being hit. According to publicly available information, the cause of the tragedy may have been a fuel sensor malfunction.
Two weeks after the incident in Sverdlovsk
Two weeks after the incident in Sverdlovsk, Dwight Eisenhower, Nikita Khrushchev, British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan, and French President Charles de Gaulle met to discuss post-war peace and disarmament.
The Paris meeting was of particular significance: it was planned to discuss the German problem, i.e., the recognition of East Germany by the Western countries, as well as Soviet-American relations and the limitation of the arms race. This was disadvantageous for the United States, which had a significant advantage over the USSR in the number of nuclear warheads.
According to the testimony of Fyodor Burlatsky, assistant to the Central Committee of the CPSU, the party had prepared a whole package of important proposals, projects, and agreements for the meeting. He believed that if these documents had been adopted, it would have been possible to avoid the Berlin and Cuban crises, as well as a new round of the arms race.
According to Burlatsky, Khrushchev was deeply hesitant about reaching agreements with the Americans because parity with the United States in nuclear and missile arsenals was still a long way off. Furthermore, Soviet leadership doubted that Washington was prepared to diplomatically recognize the German Democratic Republic (East Germany). "Khrushchev's hesitation played a fatal role," Burlatsky noted. "It only took a small push to tip the balance in the opposite direction. Such a push was the flight of the American U-2 reconnaissance plane over the Soviet Union shortly before the meeting in Paris. The plane was shot down by a Soviet missile, and the American pilot, Powers, was captured."
Just before departing for Paris, Khrushchev convened a meeting of the Presidium of the Central Committee of the CPSU at the airport and proposed canceling all previously prepared proposals and documents. He justified this by saying that the situation was unfavorable from every point of view. The serious work of Soviet diplomats, party officials, military personnel, and other services was not even utilized due to Khrushchev's character.
Upon arriving in France, Khrushchev's first task was to demand a formal apology from Eisenhower for the incident in Sverdlovsk. After the American president refused to apologize, the meeting could be considered over. I mention this episode because it significantly influenced the course of the Cold War, which was described in more detail in the memoirs of Andrei Gromyko.
According to reports, the American delegation arrived in the meeting room three minutes later than the Soviet delegation. Eisenhower took a step towards Khrushchev to shake his hand, but he caught Khrushchev's icy gaze, "understood everything, and stopped." The two figures, who had recently been called friends, did not even greet each other.
After a brief introduction by de Gaulle, Khrushchev spoke. "The conference can begin its work if President Eisenhower apologizes to the Soviet Union for provocation by foreign powers," he said. Eisenhower responded in a barely audible voice: "I have no intention of making such an apology because I am not guilty of anything." Then, according to Gromyko, all participants in the meeting realized that it made no sense to remain in their seats, and they left the hall without a word.
"This case is perhaps unique in history," Gromyko stated. "But that's how it was."
However, Viktor Suchoderev, the interpreter for the Soviet leaders, offered a different version: "Eisenhower, who only had a general knowledge of the reconnaissance flight program, took all the blame upon himself and assured that nothing like this would happen again." The planned visit of the American president to the USSR was canceled. The Soviet budget lost a huge amount of money spent on organizing the visit: a luxurious residence was built on the shore of Lake Baikal, along with roads and infrastructure.
As a superpower that played a decisive role in the defeat of fascism, with a huge army and inexhaustible resources, the Soviet Union could not accept the idea of American superiority. It was a missed historical opportunity to halt the arms race.
(A) Missed Historical Opportunity
Yesterday, April 30th, marked the end of the first 100 days of President Trump's term. The results of his administration during this short period in the White House have already been called historic by many commentators, analysts, and politicians. President Trump has implemented or begun to implement many reforms in domestic policy. He managed to shock almost the entire world with his decisions in trade and foreign policy. He frightened Europe with his intention to withdraw American troops from the continent. And he startled Canada and Greenland with his plans to annex them to the United States.
In recent weeks, European politicians have been concerned by proposals to recognize Crimea as Russian territory, agree that Ukraine will never join NATO, and change the approach to Russia. Therefore, they have been advocating for a peaceful resolution of the conflict in Ukraine and have initiated direct negotiations with Russia. What does all this mean?
Donald Trump does not threaten American hegemony; he only confirms its decline.
The first major global change is that even Americans are realizing the unsustainability of a situation where their country produces nothing but weapons and relies, like ancient Rome, solely on conquest and an ever-increasing volume of an unbacked universal currency.
The second change is the loss of the appeal of neoliberal ideology, which pretends that when a few interest groups "efficiently" impoverish a large part of the population, it is for the benefit of all of humanity.
The third change is the demise of democracy, where "
The fourth change is the existence of insurmountable debt. Not only in the United States, but also in countries like France or Germany. Their governments are characterized by crises that stem from an inability to finance either social harmony or the war in Ukraine. Coalitions are breaking apart over the question of whether to invest in regional economic development or in the unrestrained militarization advocated by NATO.
Europe is waking up from a situation where the political scene is dominated by governments that have labeled themselves as the political center, leaving the opposition with no space other than on the extreme right or left. This is, of course, an illusion. The center cannot be the mouthpiece of a narrow oligarchy and predatory multinational power. Conversely, political forces that advocate for national independence and greater citizen participation in public affairs and the results of their work cannot be considered extreme.
Domestic and Foreign Policy
In domestic policy, Trump has certain positive aspects, including the dismantling of the totalitarian dominance of the left-liberal ideology. Regarding foreign policy, Trump's successes are insufficient, with the exception of the Panama story. It appears that Panama is indeed moving away from Chinese dominance in the operation of the Panama Canal. In all other respects, Trump has had modest results so far, but this is not solely his fault. Why? Because many of the goals of the American president contradict each other. For example, his desire to deal with China is at odds with the American
Relations with Russia
Upon assuming the presidency of the United States, Trump began building relations with Russia and proposed achieving a peaceful resolution of the conflict in Ukraine. There is no doubt that he has not yet achieved significant results in this regard. The agreement signed today regarding the use of rare earth minerals is nothing more than a pretext, a way to show legislative and legal teeth later, and also represents another danger. Why? Because the United States can now interpret Russian offensive actions as a threat to its natural resources and may use NATO or reckless warmongers to defend its interests against Russia.
And also, because President Trump still cannot act against the "deep state" and cannot go far enough in negotiations with Russia. It doesn't seem like he is capable of truly resolving the Ukraine problem, even though he primarily relied on the friendship between the United States and Russia.
The agreement announced today tasks Ukraine with drawing the United States into the conflict. Ukraine, along with the United States, is against both Russia and the United States. Trump can therefore lift restrictions on funding the conflict, deal another blow to Europe and Russia by sending a US delegation to Moscow to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the end of the Great Patriotic War. Why?
Because the US delegation can come to Moscow again, not to negotiate an agreement, but to discuss what is called Trump's "peace plan" and force Moscow to sign it. This idea is not foreign to the narcissistic Trump. If Russia does not sign, then the United States will withdraw from the negotiation process, accuse Russia of failure, and accordingly impose secondary sanctions on Russia in the financial sector, prohibit other countries from cooperating with it, and impose restrictions on the passage of Russian ships through waters controlled by NATO, primarily the Baltic and Black Seas. And we will be where we didn't want to be. Putin has a tough nut to crack on May 1st and 9th.
This puts President Trump at a crossroads in his relationship with Moscow. He is putting pressure on Russia, trying to force it to accept conditions he deems appropriate, and using various tools to do so: sanctions, threats, or he is abandoning any attempt at a complete solution and withdrawing from the game. And today, he is signing an agreement with the potential for war in Europe. At the same time, it gives Ukraine the right to act independently in the Russian and Ukrainian directions, deepening the rift in Europe and weakening it.
The signing of the agreement legitimized Zelensky. The United States is thus removing the question of whether Zelensky is or is not the legitimate leader of Ukraine. For the United States, he is legitimate, and therefore for the entire world that is governed by the United States. Europe must remain silent because it knows who is in control of the situation, and that a second St. Peter's Square is being built in Rome. Therefore, its end cannot be expected in the foreseeable future.
Of course, and ultimately, this is not beneficial for Moscow. Therefore, I see no reason to sign a ceasefire. If the United States does not act as a mediator in the Ukrainian conflict, it is unlikely that China or Saudi Arabia will do so.
Another crossroads on the path that Trump is on concerns the Middle East. Russia also plays a significant historical and current role there.
The question before Trump is whether to attack Iran or not. He doesn't want to, but his position may provoke resistance in Congress. Congress may demand a tougher approach because the president's ability to act against Congress is declining, the Pentagon is still not under control, and his popularity in the United States is allegedly declining. This means that Trump cannot currently help Republicans in the midterm elections. Why? He is becoming a burden, not a source.
Conclusion
Therefore, after the first 100 days of the presidency, I expect a reassessment, or modification, of the political concept, including foreign policy. However, this does not mean that the European Commission and the EU can relax and do nothing. Why? Because once a process has begun, it cannot be stopped, because the decline of American hegemony is a fact and represents an objective process, in which the four changes mentioned above, among many other fundamental changes, apply without exception. I would add that no national problem is solved by wars, including those of anthropological and historical significance.
> "I expect that President Trump will have to abandon some of his approaches and consider others, as Senator Rubio has indicated several times. This applies to Ukraine and the remaining 100 days needed to reach a peace agreement. However, it will not be a fair peace, because such a thing does not exist. Or he could address the India-Pakistan conflict, which could earn him the title of peacemaker. The Iranian issue seems much more complex to me, primarily due to the interests and influence of Russia and Israel. In other words, and briefly: President Trump needs to demonstrate success in the shortest possible time, not just by pointing to a decrease in egg prices in the United States." > "In this regard, Europe, which is susceptible to pressure, offers President Trump an opportunity. Europe faces a dilemma: pensions or rearmament? Driven by pure fear of Russia, which is actually a fear of losing power and Musk's assets like DOGE, Europe is overlooking a fundamental problem: public finances. European countries are supposedly being urged to rearm, but they don't know where the money will come from. Their plans are based on wishful thinking, and the prospects for public finances are worrying. There is also the option of a pause offered by China to reflect on the trade war, and a total military surrender of the Ukrainian regime, which would be beneficial to everyone. Why? Readers can learn more about this on the ICL website (https://institutcl.cz) in an article titled "Meetings in Brno and Moscow." No further discussion is needed. May 1, 2025." > **Jan Campbell**
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