Putin Withering Reply To 'Insolent' Zelensky Letter; Kiev Drones To Fail Oreshnik May Target Europe (Alexander Mercouris)

Alexander Mercouris of The Duran delivers a comprehensive breakdown of Putin's St. Petersburg Economic Forum press conference, where the Russian president confirmed that every strike on Ukraine with the Oreshnik hypersonic system has been a combat test and that the missile is now being perfected specifically for strikes on populated urban areas, a clear signal that Kyiv's command centers are the intended target. Mercouris argues that Putin's message to the West was entirely uncompromising: Russia is advancing on every section of the front line, the Ukrainian army is losing 40,000 men a month it cannot replace, the Anchorage agreement is as far as Moscow will ever go on concessions, and Zelensky's open letter summit plea is nothing more than a freeze dressed as diplomacy, designed to buy time rather than end the conflict. With Kostiantynivka on the verge of falling and Oreshnik strikes on Kyiv now in active preparation, is Europe's strategy of magical thinking finally approaching its moment of reckoning?



Time Stamps:

00:00:00 Introduction and Notice: Mercouris Travels to Russia for Conference
00:01:39 Overview: Ukraine Diplomacy Intensifies; Iran Talks at Standstill
00:02:17 Putin at SPIEF: Facing Down Western Journalists
00:05:37 No Stalemate: Putin Says Russia Advancing on Every Part of the Front
00:08:56 Ukrainian Army Losing 40,000 Men a Month; Desertion Surges
00:10:04 Drone Attacks: Russia's Integrated Air Defense vs Ukraine's Hodgepodge
00:12:27 The Oreshnik Secret: Every Strike Has Been a Combat Test
00:13:57 Two Oreshnik Missiles Confirmed: Satellite Town South of Kyiv and Donbass
00:15:26 Perfecting Oreshnik for Urban Areas: Kyiv's Command Centers in the Crosshairs
00:18:24 Russian Economy: 10 Percent Growth in Three Years; Debt to GDP at 15 Percent
00:24:04 Anchorage: Putin Made All Concessions He Will Ever Make
00:26:15 Lavrov Goes Further: Americans Failed to Deliver on Anchorage
00:27:41 Why Putin Still Courts Trump: Tactics Over Strategy
00:35:17 The Coordinated Campaign: Zelensky Letter, House Votes, WSJ and Blumenthal
00:44:06 Putin on Europeans: Dismissive, No Concessions, No Mediation Role
00:45:43 Ukraine Joining the EU: The Policy Shift Putin Would Not Say Out Loud
00:52:33 Zelensky's Open Letter: A Demand for Freeze Dressed as a Peace Plea
01:00:29 Europe's Magical Thinking: No Lessons Learned After Every Failed Strategy

[Posted at the SpookyWeather2 blog, June 8, 2026.]