Omsk

They really do know their enemy.

And I think what they did with the start of the attacks on the oil refineries and showing their ability to reach deeper into Russia and to attack the Omsk refinery, the biggest refinery in Russia that's over 2,000 kilometers from Ukraine, to hit that repeatedly points to the fact that they do have significant capabilities.

And secondly, that Russia can't defend itself adequately against them.

Now, I suspect that Russia will develop greater capacity to defend itself.

Others are international.

Omsk, if you pronounce that right, in Russia.

Even local Russians kind of say it's not a very relevant place.

Yingshuan, China is like a third tier city that doesn't have that much of a history behind it, other than being a little bit of a manufacturing home.

And finally, the final fragment, the one that reveals exactly how freaked out Putin has become in his little bunker.

On the 25th of July, in Omsk, Kazakh President Kasim Dzhomartakayev, whose name I can't pronounce, but apparently Putin can't because he hasn't done that in a long, long while, he sat next to Putin with the cameras rolling and publicly suggested that the conflict should be frozen, sending signals he had received from Europe and the U.S., Babich forwards the clip and asks, Hello, is this our new plan? Or some improvisation? Peskov replies in one in the morning, Ah, pure improvisation.

Then Peskov follows up.

He said that because someone asked him to, he writes.

By May 2024, the radius extended to Salavat at 1,500 kilometers.

And then July 6, 2026, the strike on Omsk pushed that boundary to 2,320 kilometers.

Right, culminating in the September 9, 2026 strikes on the Yamalonets gas plants.

That is a documented range of 2,790 kilometers.

recognizing them as a proportional means to disrupt Russian military logistics.

You are focusing on diplomatic cover, but as an analyst, you must look at reciprocal vulnerability to understand the true offense-defense balance.

Ukraine demonstrates the capacity to hit Omsk at 2,320 kilometers, but its own capital remains highly exposed.

Because of global interceptor supply chains.

Let's turn to the pure improvisation.

The day before, 25th of July, in Omsk, Kazakhstan's president, Kasim Zhamat Tokayev, with the cameras rolling, tells Putin perhaps it is time to freeze this conflict and return to the Istanbul format 2.0.

He adds that even Kazakhstan struggles to understand what this war is about.

In public, Peskov says Putin told Tarkaev everything in detail about how the special military operation is going.

Could you maybe share that personal memory of hearing about Alexei Navalny's murder?

Well, I was actually held in Omsk at the time.

This is Western Siberia.

I was in solitary confinement, just like Alexei was.

I'll never forget that day.

And I was sitting, having my dinner, my evening meal.

This was shortly before lights out because Omsk is on a different time zone, you know, from Moscow.

And as I mentioned, there's this radio that's just constantly on in the cell.