Well, this sounds not at all Mordor-like:

I've tried to explain to people in the West what is actually happening in Russia but seeing is believing.

This is from yesterday's state-organised rally in Red Square. Remember, nothing gets said at these without approval from the top. The very top. pic.twitter.com/aR12ywP1RB

— Konstantin Kisin (@KonstantinKisin) October 1, 2022

And then there was Putin's speech there, which Kisin translates here. Basically, this is no longer about Ukraine for Putin; this is about war on the West.

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Meanwhile, Ukraine has applied for NATO membership, which makes sense from a Kyiv perspective, but would be completely insane from the point of view of Western interests (thank goodness the Biden White House nixed it). Elbridge Colby gets it right in this thread, saying that there is no strategic benefit to the West in increasing the likelihood of NUCLEAR WAR WITH RUSSIA.

This is the correct signal.

The application may be political theater. But political theater helped get us to this place.

To be clear, as Americans: NATO for Ukraine doesn't make sense. We should actively support Ukraine's defense, but NATO is a different thing entirely. 1/ https://t.co/2tvIare3ZL

— Elbridge Colby (@ElbridgeColby) September 30, 2022

We need to be pushing for peace now. Who can do that? Which nation's diplomats? Listen to that "holy war" speech, and imagine what the Russian state is preparing its people for. This is not a video game. Per Colby, this is political theater that could lead us into the abyss.