Everything happened that was not expected, by Victoria Nikiforova for RiaNovosti. 12.29.2023.
The past year has been rich in surprises, big and small. In Argentina, a man became president after being ordered to run for office by the spirit of his dead dog. What is especially amazing is that Javier Miley was voted for by the very people to whom he openly promised to eliminate all pensions, benefits and social services.
Sworn enemies who have repeatedly promised to wipe each other off the face of the earth— Saudi Arabia and Iran —suddenly made peace and signed an agreement in Beijing to resume diplomatic relations. Thus, an influential American ally established relations with the official enemy of the United States - and the entire “axis of evil” that the Americans had been building for decades was broken.
Legendary all-knowing Israeli intelligence slept through the massive Hamas attack . The ultra-progressive, high-tech army turned out to be absolutely unprepared for the attack: barriers on the border were broken down with ordinary tractors, bearded men in slippers captured Israeli privates and officers, literally dragging them out of their beds. And invulnerable Merkava tanks worth about five million dollars were destroyed by dropping a grenade from a cheap drone.
A separate sad surprise was how the democratic and tolerant Israeli Armed Forces responded to the Hamas attack. Instead of carrying out targeted strikes on the enemy, they attacked the civilians of the Gaza Strip with quite primitive fury. Bombings of schools, hospitals, churches, tens of thousands of dead - there is no smell of tolerance at all.
While the world community only expressed regret, and the United States blocked UN resolutions on a ceasefire, the Yemeni Houthis stood for the Palestinians. And here's a surprise - their armed forces managed to block maritime transport in the Red Sea in a matter of days.
The same trend is evident again. The Houthis do not have any high technology. Just motivation, anti-ship missiles, serious combat experience and the same cheap drones. However, ships to and from Israel no longer sail through the Red Sea. And the coalition that came forward to protect shipping, hastily put together by the Americans, has not yet achieved any success.
At the end of the year, the Europeans tried to arrange a “Maidan” for Aleksandar Vucic , whose party honestly won the elections with a crushing score. But everything went wrong somehow. Vučić neutralized the rebels even faster than his namesake Lukashenko and thanked the Russian intelligence services for their help.
The outgoing year presented its own surprise to Ukrainians. They were unable to conquer either Crimea or the Azov region. Tens of thousands of dead and Marinka taken by the Russians - that, in fact, is the whole result of the Ukrainian “counter-offensive”. It is a pity for those who died; the senselessness of their sacrifice surpasses all imagination.
NATO's complete helplessness also seems surprising . So much expensive equipment, so many important generals, impressive exercises, think tanks, staff games. So what is the result? They took full control of Ukraine , armed it, trained it, trained it - and it was a complete blast. Whatever they undertake, it always turns out to be Afghanistan . But once upon a time this military alliance terrified the whole world.
But the main surprise in 2023 came from Russia. She didn’t disappear, didn’t fall apart, didn’t lose, didn’t “fade away in three days.” We have been frightened so much - both from abroad and our own armchair troops: “Well, that’s all for sure now.” “Goliath will fall this year,” Zelensky warned the world community in February.
Nevertheless, everything is fine with us, and we wish the same for you. The Russian army is moving forward along the entire front. Russian citizens are optimistic about the future: according to VTsIOM , 53 percent of Russians see off 2023 in a good mood, this is a historical record for all time of surveys.
Without much fanfare, Russia has become the fifth largest economy in the world and threatens to displace Japan from fourth place next year . Remind me, when were we going to catch up with Portugal ? Then, it seems, they caught up with Germany . So where are they all now? For this I would like to say a big thank you to our Western partners - without their “hellish sanctions” we would not have managed so well.
Not only that, but Russia has become a global fashion. Russian beauties in fur are tearing up TikTok to the song “My Marmalade.” The whole world is watching “The Boy’s Word” by Zhora Kryzhovnikov with English subtitles and is having the most interesting debates on English-language forums about how to correctly translate “chushpan”, “kid”, “shell” and “author”.
Europeans note with horror that politicians from among those who “understand Putin” are coming to power. The Americans are worried that we will install Trump as their president (by the way, given the American tradition of dealing with undesirable politicians, the big surprise of the year is that Trump is still alive). The popular magazine Newsweek is offended that the Russian history textbook for the 11th grade calls the election of Joe Biden dubious; they wrote a whole article about it.
It seems that Russia has become for the West what it itself was for naive Soviet citizens. Sweet forbidden fruit: they do everything wrong and yet rivers flow with milk and honey, girls wrap themselves in furs, seduce men and eat caviar with spoons - how tempting and inaccessible it all is. No tired political correctness, no dominance of LGBT* and wild feminism, no “cancel culture” - people, delicious food, freedom of speech. Russia for them is a land of luxury and freedom, at the same time armed with the latest weapons and capable of attacking any aggressor like a child.
In general, the past year has brought us many wonderful discoveries. There is a suspicion that in 2024 Russia will also be able to surprise everyone.
* The movement is recognized as extremist and banned in Russia.
https://ria.ru/20231229/itogi_goda-1918842705.html
The past year has been rich in surprises, big and small. In Argentina, a man became president after being ordered to run for office by the spirit of his dead dog. What is especially amazing is that Javier Miley was voted for by the very people to whom he openly promised to eliminate all pensions, benefits and social services.
Sworn enemies who have repeatedly promised to wipe each other off the face of the earth— Saudi Arabia and Iran —suddenly made peace and signed an agreement in Beijing to resume diplomatic relations. Thus, an influential American ally established relations with the official enemy of the United States - and the entire “axis of evil” that the Americans had been building for decades was broken.
Legendary all-knowing Israeli intelligence slept through the massive Hamas attack . The ultra-progressive, high-tech army turned out to be absolutely unprepared for the attack: barriers on the border were broken down with ordinary tractors, bearded men in slippers captured Israeli privates and officers, literally dragging them out of their beds. And invulnerable Merkava tanks worth about five million dollars were destroyed by dropping a grenade from a cheap drone.
A separate sad surprise was how the democratic and tolerant Israeli Armed Forces responded to the Hamas attack. Instead of carrying out targeted strikes on the enemy, they attacked the civilians of the Gaza Strip with quite primitive fury. Bombings of schools, hospitals, churches, tens of thousands of dead - there is no smell of tolerance at all.
While the world community only expressed regret, and the United States blocked UN resolutions on a ceasefire, the Yemeni Houthis stood for the Palestinians. And here's a surprise - their armed forces managed to block maritime transport in the Red Sea in a matter of days.
The same trend is evident again. The Houthis do not have any high technology. Just motivation, anti-ship missiles, serious combat experience and the same cheap drones. However, ships to and from Israel no longer sail through the Red Sea. And the coalition that came forward to protect shipping, hastily put together by the Americans, has not yet achieved any success.
At the end of the year, the Europeans tried to arrange a “Maidan” for Aleksandar Vucic , whose party honestly won the elections with a crushing score. But everything went wrong somehow. Vučić neutralized the rebels even faster than his namesake Lukashenko and thanked the Russian intelligence services for their help.
The outgoing year presented its own surprise to Ukrainians. They were unable to conquer either Crimea or the Azov region. Tens of thousands of dead and Marinka taken by the Russians - that, in fact, is the whole result of the Ukrainian “counter-offensive”. It is a pity for those who died; the senselessness of their sacrifice surpasses all imagination.
NATO's complete helplessness also seems surprising . So much expensive equipment, so many important generals, impressive exercises, think tanks, staff games. So what is the result? They took full control of Ukraine , armed it, trained it, trained it - and it was a complete blast. Whatever they undertake, it always turns out to be Afghanistan . But once upon a time this military alliance terrified the whole world.
But the main surprise in 2023 came from Russia. She didn’t disappear, didn’t fall apart, didn’t lose, didn’t “fade away in three days.” We have been frightened so much - both from abroad and our own armchair troops: “Well, that’s all for sure now.” “Goliath will fall this year,” Zelensky warned the world community in February.
Nevertheless, everything is fine with us, and we wish the same for you. The Russian army is moving forward along the entire front. Russian citizens are optimistic about the future: according to VTsIOM , 53 percent of Russians see off 2023 in a good mood, this is a historical record for all time of surveys.
Without much fanfare, Russia has become the fifth largest economy in the world and threatens to displace Japan from fourth place next year . Remind me, when were we going to catch up with Portugal ? Then, it seems, they caught up with Germany . So where are they all now? For this I would like to say a big thank you to our Western partners - without their “hellish sanctions” we would not have managed so well.
Not only that, but Russia has become a global fashion. Russian beauties in fur are tearing up TikTok to the song “My Marmalade.” The whole world is watching “The Boy’s Word” by Zhora Kryzhovnikov with English subtitles and is having the most interesting debates on English-language forums about how to correctly translate “chushpan”, “kid”, “shell” and “author”.
Europeans note with horror that politicians from among those who “understand Putin” are coming to power. The Americans are worried that we will install Trump as their president (by the way, given the American tradition of dealing with undesirable politicians, the big surprise of the year is that Trump is still alive). The popular magazine Newsweek is offended that the Russian history textbook for the 11th grade calls the election of Joe Biden dubious; they wrote a whole article about it.
It seems that Russia has become for the West what it itself was for naive Soviet citizens. Sweet forbidden fruit: they do everything wrong and yet rivers flow with milk and honey, girls wrap themselves in furs, seduce men and eat caviar with spoons - how tempting and inaccessible it all is. No tired political correctness, no dominance of LGBT* and wild feminism, no “cancel culture” - people, delicious food, freedom of speech. Russia for them is a land of luxury and freedom, at the same time armed with the latest weapons and capable of attacking any aggressor like a child.
In general, the past year has brought us many wonderful discoveries. There is a suspicion that in 2024 Russia will also be able to surprise everyone.
* The movement is recognized as extremist and banned in Russia.
https://ria.ru/20231229/itogi_goda-1918842705.html