We should take a few billion that we're spending on missiles, and offer any Russian soldier that has a highly technical skill (required to operate any of their advanced weaponry), or has been in the army for over 10 years.... say $300,000 cash and a plane flight to anywhere in the world to start a new life. Officers O-4 to O-6 get $600K, Flag rank get $800K. I say this kind of jokingly, and obviously there'd be few takers for fear of what would happen to their families... but it would be fun to just throw it out there... f with Putin's head some more.
In all of our wars, at a certain point you realize that you could put every enemy combatant up in the Hilton for three years if they surrendered. In regard to the commanders and flag officers, the Russians are all highly "flexible" when offered compensation to give out intelligence and troop positions and other intel. (the Ukrainians are no strangers to that either for those who need to hear me say that). The CIA should absolutely be using cash as a strategic weapon, and I presume they are. I am certainly open to paying new recruits who have not arrived in Ukraine yet or have just arrived to surrender and be be guaranteed safe passage to a third country. Once they have been there for a while though, I don't want em. That process should not be used for butchers to bail out when the going get's rough. The CIA should also be working with the locals in Russia and in adjacent countries to establish a network to traffic Russians out of the country who are unable to flee. Make it worthwhile for the traffickers to move them out of the country. If the Mexican cartels were there they would already have a massive network set up to get Russians out of the country for the usual fee. The other thing I would do is leave several bottles of vodka in every house that is being abandoned as the Russians advance. Then the next day come back loaded for bear the next day when they are all drunk or their sorry arses. You know they will be. Classy bunch those Ruskies.
I read a few years back, I forget what it was, but I do recall at the time I considered it a reliable source... that our CIA has very few (comparitively) reliable channels in Putin's Russia. So I wonder just how deep we are over there. Never know though. Hell I'd vote for Biden if we could get 10 of Putin's inner circle to kill him for this and take over the country. Joe would win by a landslide. ... never know. Hope floats. Edit: Albeit Joe wouldn't understand that he won.
And... speaking of elections, off topic as I sometimes do ... I see Nikki Hailey has emerged from her obscurity with what appears to be in my eyes at least, an unofficial kick-off to her 2024 ambitions. Pompeo is looking awful tanned and healthy these days too. Hmmm. Better keep that momo going there Desantis... lest we forget history is littered with those that peaked too early.
This is true and one of the reasons is that Putin takes care of his inner circle bigtime and make sures they profit along with him. Nevertheless. The times they iz a changin'. Putin has been shiit-canning, demoting, shunning and humiliating lots and lots and lots of senior insiders and commanders over the last year. They are ALL fertile ground now for intelligence. Either in their current positions or if they leave the country. All it takes is a little cash with those guys- especially after Putin reduces them from hero to zero overnight. For example, the commander of the Moskvitch was relieved of command, humiliated, and trashed after the ship went down. In addition, his son was on board ship and went down with it, but Putin still denies that anyone was killed. As commander of the fleet's flagship he would know EVERYTHING about the fleet and its operations. Just imagine how loyal and peppy he is toward Putin these days. Yeh. See what I am sayin. There are a lot of those guys there in Russia now and a little "payment" to them can yield great results sometimes. Especially if they are already out of the country or want to be.
Thing is though, they are all probably pretty old, which means their immediate and extended families are more than likely quite large. That could pose a problem in the defection arena I would think.
I didn't know that. Yeah he would know an awful lot. I'm surprised he's still alive. And for all we know, he might not be.
True but many will stay and can be bought out right where they are. Look, these senior Russian commanders- even the ones still on active duty and considered to be pro-Russian are on the take everyday anyway so it is part of their culture and lifestyle. So if the CIA working through the locals wants to make an offer that is nothing new for these clowns. You provide the geo coordinates for Gerasimov the next time he is visiting the region and you will be provided the geo coordinates to pick up your cash. No need to even know who the parties paying are. Rinse and repeat. The CIA does it every day. And so do the Russians. They know the game.