Judging Freedom - Gilbert Doctorow : Putin Taking the Gloves Off

Episode Date: September 16, 2026

Gilbert Doctorow : Putin Taking the Gloves OffSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Undeclared wars are commonplace. Pragically, our government engages in preemptive war, otherwise known as aggression with no complaints from the American people. Sadly, we have become accustomed to living with the illegitimate use of force by government. To develop a truly free society, the issue of initiating force must be understood and rejected. What if sometimes to love your country you had to alter or abolish the government? Jefferson was right? What if that government is best which governs least? What if it is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong? What if it is better to perish

fighting for freedom than to live as a slave? What if freedom's greatest hour of danger is now? Everyone, Judge Andrew Napolitano here for judging freedom. Today is Wednesday, September 16th, 2006. The Oberdoctoro joins us in just a moment are the Russians finally taking their gloves off.

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world. The summit is completely free to attend, but you must register in advance. And if you want the VIP experience, my listeners can save 20% on VIP tickets. Just use discount code judge when you register. Join us on October 1st and 2nd. Reserve your ticket today at escapewithajudge.com. That's escape with a judge.com. And remember to use code word judge for your VIP experience. Gilbert, Doctor, are welcome here, my dear friend. As you know, I recently spent 10 days in Russia, and I thought of you much of the time. It would have been nice said you've been able to accompany us. I want to spend some time analyzing the events at the train station.

I guess it's the events preceding what happened at the train station, where the Russians attacked a train station at the Polish-Ukrainian border. moments after Boris Johnson had passed through and moments before General David Petraeus was scheduled to pass through. Give us your big picture analysis of this. Surely this was intentional. Surely this was intended to send a message, a message to whom and for what? Oh, I agree completely. It was a message. Had they wanted to liquidate the most egregious and those who encouraged and cheer led the Ukrainians into this war, they could have done it. Petraeus could have been murdered. Johnson could have been murdered. They didn't do that.

As we know, the leadership in the Kremlin is very conservative. They are not interested in assassinating their foes. They're interested. in beating the animal. So they did not kill these people. Well, they could have, and they demonstrated they could. And the message went out. So he went out very far at white. I was picking up yesterday's L'Eschweir, one of the leading French-speaking newspaper here in Belgium, and they had a fairly large article about it. And they touched on two points. One is this was a message, and two, this was a demonstration of the way the Russians are now closing the border. That is the second message which is less frequently cited in U.S. and other Western discussions of the attack on that railway station.

I noted about a month ago, two months ago, that the Russians looked like they were changing their strategy from the war of attrition through the drone war to a strangulation. strategy, that they would cut off all Western supplies to Ukraine and thereby force the capitulation without having a massive attack on the ground that would be very costly in the lives of the Russian servicemen. I think what bothered me after I made that discovery, I thought, and spoke about it, is that only one half of the strangulation was quickly put into effect. That was the bombing the drone attacks, the destruction of port facilities for on the Ukrainian Black Sea ports, and also on their port opposite Romania on the Danube River, which receives transshipments across the Danube. The sea and river access to Ukraine of Western supplies was under

interdiction and ships were being attacked in the Black Sea, ships were being attacked as they approached Ukrainian ports in the Black Sea, so that effectively the biggest single supply route of Western munitions into Ukraine had been cut off. However, I saw nothing happening for several weeks with respect to the land routes. And the land routes across the south of Poland into the West Western Ukraine of the Rovov region were a major avenue of traffic of munitions coming from the west. Let's remember that the Ukrainian forces have been heavily dependent on Western supplies. Not totally dependent. They do have their own production of short-range drones, thousands of them,

which are used regularly on the ground in the war and Donbos, with considerable effect, because they prevent the Russians from staging mass tank attacks on their flanks. However, the fact is that the most damaging, destructive weapons that the Ukrainians have been using, and which replaced very nicely missiles are the long-range precision drones that they've received from England, from a factory, before its destruction that was American-owned near Kiev and other Western sources. When these are cut off, when the supplies of completed such drones or the parts for assembly for such drones are no longer reaching Ukraine, the war cannot be conducted for very long. By for very long, I mean more than a few weeks to a couple of months. Ukrainians cannot sustain their resilience to Russian ground troops, which are americally much greater and better supplied, if they don't have,

the appropriate numbers of drones causing havoc in the Russian heartland. So it was very interesting to see that this attack that reached on newspapers because these eminent personalities had their lives put danger, wasn't a demonstration of what the Russians can do to the very border to within 800 meters. This was not said in any Western in any U.S. paper, but it wasn't yesterday swire. There were two drone strikes on the station area and the other border, and one was two kilometers away, and one was just 800 meters from the Polish border. And there's where the Poles raised the alarm. The Russians are attacking east of the EU and NATO.

Well, they came close to it, but within very good control. I guess this is also a manifestation of, and maybe this is not a surprise. to you, but it was an eye-opener to me of the extraordinary extent of Russian intel that they knew who was on what train at what moment. No sense going through how they knew it, but the point is they knew it. But Traus should have known, as the former head of the CIA and a four-star general, should have known that they knew it. Who knows what Johnson knows? He comes off as a buffoon. He may be a brilliant guy, I don't know, but he may have an understanding of Intel. Was it a surprise to you that Russian intel knew who was going to be there and when and where?

Not at all. I don't think they'd had to have too much infiltration of high-level Ukrainian discussants. I think that they would know from publicly available material who was going to Ukraine and who was leaving Ukraine, roughly when, and they know what the trains look like. So if they follow just the train schedule, although several of these individuals were on special trains outside the normal Livov-Warsal on timetable. Nonetheless, the Russians could have a pretty good guess as to where the trains are. They know how they stop at these stations for how long.

So I don't think infiltration at the highest level was essential for. the Russians. They just wanted to demonstrate, quote, how would they know exactly which window is the city office of the head of the military intelligence in Kiev when they fired on that window and their drone got in? Of course, these things are knowable. And so I'm not particularly surprised. What was surprising and very disappointing for at least a year or two, years, the Russians didn't use this. They didn't until President Putin declared that the Pandora's box has been opened by Zelensky and now we move on appropriately until he said that the Russians were not acting within their capabilities to do great damage to Ukraine and to putting jeopardy

all its Western supporters and diplomatic tourists. Here's President Zelensky yesterday. It's a rather interesting state, talking about D, surprising statement, talking about de-escalation. Chris, cut number 10. There is also currently a strong proposal from the United States regarding a mutual cessation of strikes on critical infrastructure. And if this can become the first de-escalation step, a step to stop Russian strikes on our critical infrastructure

and our strikes in response, then Ukraine is ready to support de-escalation. We see that the Russians are feeling the tension due to our accurate responses against the Russian war economy. And so far, no one has seen a genuine desire from Russia to end the war. But if American partners manage to ensure Russia's real readiness to end this war of annihilation and do so truthfully and long term, Ukraine will take its de-escalation steps. Peace is needed. Energy, food supply routes, critical infrastructure, all of this must be part of the discussion on ending the strikes. A strong, fair solution is needed. not just for the elections, but for all time.

We are waiting for specifics from our partners. Food supply routes, critical infrastructure. He lacks all three, and winter is coming. Well, I'd like to unwrap this, because it's behind this statement, there are several issues. One is the extent of the U.S. support that he gets. Or two is Mr. Trump's insistence to Zelensky that he stopped attacking the Russian refineries because of the negative impact that has on global

supply of diesel fuel, which translates into much higher diesel fuel prices in the states, over $6 a gallon now, although frankly people don't say it, it's $12 a gallon in Europe, here in Brussels and across the EU. So if the United States has a cold here in Europe, we have pneumonia. But let's go back to the issue. Trump said stop it because it's impacting on global diesel prices. You noticed that Zadensky didn't say that. He said critical infrastructure as if what was in the air was a general de-escalation of all attacks on critical infrastructure.

That's not what Trump suggested. That's not what Putin more or less agreed to. Why would President Zendezer? want to be so vague, so non-transparent in describing what kind of a ceasefire on, or cessation of strikes on Korean War infrastructure would mean. Because the overriding fact is that Ukraine is suffering terrific. According to Buddanov himself, the man behind the throne of the throne of Zelensky. The Russians have destroyed 90% of the warehousing in the Kiev area. That is why

there's no food, there are food shortages across the city. The Russians have destroyed the large part of the water heating systems that heat apartments across Kiev and supply hot water also for drinking or kitchen purposes, but mostly the heating is the issue for the winter. It's coming. I see the Russian strategy is now working terrific and two dimensions. One I mentioned a few minutes ago, that is a strangulation, the introduction of Western supplies of munitions to Ukraine by sea and by land. And this second dimension of destroying Kiev as a habitable place, particularly in wintertime, Remember, so Kiev is not some little provincial town.

It is a big city with a large part of the residential housing in high rises. When you live on a 20th floor, it's impossible to speak about going up and down several times a day to carry water, to carry logs, to write, to make an illicit fire in the apartment, to warm yourself. That becomes impossible. And not just that, but impossible. This is not Berlin in 1944. They didn't have high rises like this, which house a large part of the population. This is uninhabitable. The people are even advised by Budanov and others to leave for the countryside, which is also unrealistic.

Not everybody has a country house or is welcome in their relatives' house. So that means essentially leaving the country, which creates havoc in Western Europe. So I see this. None of this is bombing factories in Berlin, but it's pretty damn effective. I think the war will come to an early end. I want to play a clip. I also thought of you when I heard this from President Putin in New Delhi earlier this week. There's a rather startling statement in here, and of course there's a message which I'd like you to extract from it.

Chris, cut number six. I think that everything that is happening in Europe as a whole is the result of systemic mistakes by the so-called West. We said many times that NATO's Eastwood expansion was unacceptable to us. Eventually, they reached Ukraine. This ultimately became the real root cause of today's tragic events in Ukraine. The Western globalist elites are to blame for this. Now they are saying that they are thinking about how to deploy troops on the territory of Ukraine. This means war with Russia.

As I understand it, the citizens of European countries understand what is happening. This means war with Russia, referring to the presence of any foreign troops or any purpose in a current day or post-war Ukraine. Your thoughts? I would not get too excited about that statement. I said it's a general rule. I'm following closely what the Russians are doing, not what the Russians are saying. The Russians have said a lot, including President Putin, going back four years, and their red lines have been crossed.

So that has diminished the ability of Russia to project deterrence. They are reversing that now. The language is much tougher. This example that you gave is perfect reflecting that, that the language has hardened still more, but the actions have hardened more. I follow that. Not what they're saying, but what they're doing.

Now, let's deconstruct what he said about the West, Western Europe. Of course, the vast majority of the 27 meters of the EU are a ship of fools. They are begging for their own annihilation. They don't appreciate, begin to appreciate, Russia's destructive power if it really is cornered. But having said that, there are a few people who are not fools and who are also brave enough to express their resistance.

I happen to be fortunate to live in a small country that is headed by one such person, part of theaver. And in this sense, not all of Europe has lost its mind. And I think that the real hothead, I think that President Putin is referring indirectly to Mandraud McCrone, who is the biggest fool of this ship of fools, and who speaks openly about sending military forces to Ukraine. But by and large, this group of supporters of Ukraine in the West

are speaking about sending troops as peacekeepers after the fighting has stopped, which of course the Russians reject out of hand, and so cannot possibly be implemented because there will be no peace treaty or truce if that is a part in Barcelona. Well, one of the interesting things that I did in Russia was this three-hour dinner with others or about 12 to 15 of us at the dining room table

with Foreign Minister Lavrov. And he expressed in terms that I had not heard him say before the belief of the Russians that President Putin and President Trump had an agreement, a handshake based on an American proposal in Anchorage, and they expected the Americans to comply with the agreement, and then the Americans walked away from it. According to Foreign Minister Lavrov, the proposal, which would have permanently neutralized Ukraine,

allowed the Russian language and the Russian Orthodox Church everywhere in Ukraine and permanently given the Donbos and Crimea to Russia was an American proposal originally rejected privately by President Putin and then his advisors, Foreign Minister Lavaev, among them, talked him into it. So the Russians arrived at Anchorage, ready to accept. They accepted. They shook hands in Foreign Minister Lov. Lavrov's presence. President Putin said to a translator to President Trump, what about Zelensky? President Trump said, don't worry about Zelensky. He'll do whatever I tell him to do.

Then they left Anchorage and then nothing happened. Here is Foreign Minister Lavrov on that subject matter publicly, reinforcing what he said to us privately at that dinner. Chris Cut number nine. If the Americans hadn't, and I truly mean this, if they hadn't backed away from the critical anchorage agreements, and if Europe hadn't actually pulled them away from those essential commitments, we would have been living in peace, without the shadow of war for a full year already. It is a tragedy that we find ourselves in this position today. That is an obvious fact. So draw your own conclusions.

Your thoughts. Well, I think we have to look at it again from the Russian perspective, going way before this election, before Donald Trump's first election. And in general, their view of American politics at the presidential level. They are keen observers of the state. And I think that from the beginning of his second term, they didn't doubt the sincerity of Donald Trump. And I wouldn't doubt his sincerity with respect to being the broker of this, they can only get credit

out of it. But they were deeply convinced that he could not get away with this, that the deep state would not let him get away with this. And who is a deep state? Of course, the CIA. The CIA, as we know, has a big establishment in Ukraine. The notion that Donald Trump could at the flick of a switch, remove the American intels, provide provisions to Ukraine, which, which are critically important for their maintaining their drone attacks on the interior of Russia, and not just on the interior, that is not allowable by the CIA. And I don't think Donald Trump has a way of overruling that without creating an enormous storming Congress that he would not profit from raising him.

So it's not just Donald Trump is the problem, from the Russian perspective, it is a the deep state that's the problem. And it's not just that Donald Trump cannot keep his word. He's not allowed to keep his word. So who runs the American government, not the simpleton in the White House? Well, the simpleton in the White House has a lot of say, and we all agree that some of the most disastrous mistakes, meaning the Iran war, were made by the simpleton in the White House.

So let's give him credit for doing damage where he can. But he also has some good side to him. I think he genuinely wanted to end this war and to reach some kind of the old to-two agreement with Donald Trump and she. I think this was genuinely the case. However, his hand is held back by the CIA, who will. not. How long did his suspension of Intel last in the first few weeks of his presidency? A few days. That was it. And I don't think it was he called the shots there. Wow. Governor Dr. A fascinating conversation, my dear friend. I know you'll be traveling,

safe travels to you, and we'll look forward to seeing you next week. Thank you so much. Thank you. Sure. Coming up later today, if you're watching us live in 90 minutes, the great Phil Giraldi 10 o'clock Eastern Judge Napolitano for a judging freedom.