{"id":1620,"date":"2026-06-22T19:53:08","date_gmt":"2026-06-22T23:53:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jakony.com\/frontpage\/?p=1620"},"modified":"2026-06-22T19:53:08","modified_gmt":"2026-06-22T23:53:08","slug":"russian-pundit-fears-shameful-end-to-ukraine-war","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jakony.com\/frontpage\/video\/russian-pundit-fears-shameful-end-to-ukraine-war\/","title":{"rendered":"Russian Pundit Fears Shameful End to Ukraine War"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"ds-markdown-paragraph\"><strong><span class=\"\">(MOSCOW)<\/span><\/strong><span class=\"\"> &#8211; A Russian military correspondent has expressed concern that Moscow&#8217;s invasion of Ukraine could end in &#8220;great shame,&#8221; criticising the Kremlin&#8217;s failure to target what he called the &#8220;source of evil&#8221; beyond Ukraine&#8217;s borders.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"ds-markdown-paragraph\"><span class=\"\">During a programme on Komsomolskaya Pravda Radio, host Ivan Pankin and military correspondent Dmitry Steshin discussed the effectiveness of Russian air defence systems against Ukrainian drone attacks. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"ds-markdown-paragraph\"><span class=\"\">Mr Steshin dismissed the strengthening of air defences as inadequate, using a crude analogy to suggest they offered only superficial protection. He argued that Russia could spend a long time attempting to counter drones with anti aircraft systems but that the real problems lay beyond Ukraine.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"ds-markdown-paragraph\"><span class=\"\">Mr Steshin noted that Russian media frequently boasted about fighting dozens of Nato countries but questioned why those nations had not paid a price for their support of Ukraine. He described Ukraine as an &#8220;avatar&#8221; for the West, which he claimed was using Kyiv&#8217;s forces to fight a proxy war. He asked why Russia was not eliminating the &#8220;source of evil&#8221; rather than merely engaging with its &#8220;tentacles.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"ds-markdown-paragraph\"><span class=\"\">The correspondent contrasted Russia&#8217;s approach unfavourably with that of Iran, which he said had successfully used the Strait of Hormuz as a pressure point against the West. He argued that Russia possessed a similar strategic asset in the form of Kaliningrad, the exclave on the Baltic Sea. Mr Steshin asserted that Kaliningrad was originally designated to block access to the Baltic Sea if necessary, a move he said would create a &#8220;beautiful situation&#8221; and strike at the heart of Europe.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"ds-markdown-paragraph\"><span class=\"\">However, Mr Steshin expressed doubt that Russian leadership would deploy this option. He described the Kaliningrad card as a &#8220;joker&#8221; stuck under the table with chewing gum, suggesting it could be pulled out at the right moment but that neither he nor his audience had the authority to make that decision. He warned that the &#8220;joker&#8221; might never be played and that the conflict could end in a &#8220;very shameful&#8221; manner for Russia.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Dmitry Steshin is worried that Russia&amp;apos;s invasion might end in great shame\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/2FUVfq9Pydk?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>(MOSCOW) &#8211; A Russian military correspondent has expressed concern that Moscow&#8217;s invasion of Ukraine could end in &#8220;great shame,&#8221; criticising the Kremlin&#8217;s failure to target what he called the &#8220;source of evil&#8221; beyond Ukraine&#8217;s borders. During a programme on Komsomolskaya Pravda Radio, host Ivan Pankin and military correspondent Dmitry Steshin discussed the effectiveness of Russian air defence systems against Ukrainian drone attacks. Mr Steshin dismissed the strengthening of air defences as inadequate, using a crude analogy to suggest they offered only superficial protection. He argued that Russia could spend a long time attempting to counter drones with anti aircraft systems&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","iawp_total_views":8,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,18,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1620","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-europe","category-top-stories","category-video","entry","rows"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":755,"url":"https:\/\/jakony.com\/frontpage\/europe\/russian-military-spending-delivers-diminishing-returns-in-ukraine\/","url_meta":{"origin":1620,"position":0},"title":"Russian Military Spending Delivers Diminishing Returns in Ukraine","author":"Rupert Finch","date":"April 21, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"(KYIV, UKRAINE) - Russian territorial advances in Ukraine have collapsed by 92.8 percent since January, with Moscow's forces now paying an exponentially higher price in casualties and financial resources for each square kilometre captured, according to newly compiled battlefield data. 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Jerome Starkey, defence editor for The Sun\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Europe&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Europe","link":"https:\/\/jakony.com\/frontpage\/category\/europe\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/1f3auz05YSM\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":85,"url":"https:\/\/jakony.com\/frontpage\/video\/russia-tightens-digital-grip-as-war-reaches-home\/","url_meta":{"origin":1620,"position":2},"title":"Russia Tightens Digital Grip as War Reaches Home","author":"Beatrix Montgomery","date":"March 21, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"(KYIV, UKRAINE) - The Kremlin is moving to restrict internet access and messaging platforms as pressure from its war against Ukraine intensifies, reflecting growing concern over casualties, economic strain and the conflict\u2019s impact inside Russia. Maxim Tucker, a correspondent for The Times reporting from Ukraine, said attempts to limit platforms\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Europe&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Europe","link":"https:\/\/jakony.com\/frontpage\/category\/europe\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/aUo_mvoFW38\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1629,"url":"https:\/\/jakony.com\/frontpage\/video\/russian-pundits-call-for-nuclear-strikes-on-ukraine\/","url_meta":{"origin":1620,"position":3},"title":"Russian Pundits Call for Nuclear Strikes on Ukraine","author":"Rupert Finch","date":"June 22, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"(MOSCOW) - Russian state television pundits have called for nuclear strikes against Ukraine and the targeting of civilian infrastructure in Ukrainian cities in response to drone attacks on Moscow, while also demanding a new national air defence system. 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