The Russian Army's Beard Ban Isn't a Joke
In fact, It May Indicate the Intent to Use Chemical Weapons During the Spring Offensive
The Russian beard ban may sound silly, but if Russia is planning on using chemical weapons, it isn't.
One reason militaries ban beards is that they make wearing a gas mask more difficult. The beard can interfere with the quality of the seal the gas mask makes. Obviously, I do not think Putin is likely to start using chemical weapons in Ukraine, but the beard ban might be there to open the door to their use. Gerasimov is doing this in order to put the option on the table.
It isn't funny or silly. There is a very serious, and somewhat frightening, point to it. In fact, it is quite possible that Gerasimov is tightening up discipline around beards because Russia plans to use chemical weapons as part of its Spring offensive. This would also explain why he is trying to unify the Wagner group as well as the DPR and LPR into a single command structure.
Breitbart today reports that Trump's declaration that "We must end this ridiculous war and demand peace in Ukraine now" -- in other words, force Ukraine to cede the Sudetenland, I mean Crimea and the Donbass, to Russia.
Ukraine is Corrupt! Zelensky is a Comedian! Therefore we must not prolong the suffering of the Ukrainians by giving them weapons that will enable them to resist conquest. In fact, we ought to invade Ukraine from the west, conquer it, and give what we've conquered to Russia. In this way, the suffering of the Ukrainians will end even more swiftly.
But of course there are no Ukrainians, there are only different kinds of Russians. The Chechens and Tartars are also Russians, sort of. Russia has always been a Muslim country. Even the Poles are a kind of Russian, in a way. We should not allow the Poles to suffer in the future; we should conquer Poland from the west right now, proactively, and give Poland as well to Russia.
That's okay -- once Trump's back in charge there will be Peace In Our Time.