The new release by Sergey Auslender is not just an emotional response to Russian propaganda, but a detailed analysis of one of the most persistent theses of recent days: why, supposedly, Israel and the USA can strike Iran, but Russia was not allowed to attack Ukraine. For the Israeli and Russian-speaking audience, this video has become an important explanation of where propagandist substitution ends and reality begins.
Why this video by Sergey Auslender is worth watching right now
On March 12, 2026, Sergey Auslender’s YouTube channel released an episode with a direct and provocative title: “The USA and Israel can bomb — but Russia can’t? Analyzing double standards“. At the time of publication, the channel had about 702 thousand subscribers, and Auslender himself calls himself a military journalist, writer, and blogger on his official website. It also states that purchasing books and merchandise helps support his channel and informational projects.
But the main thing here is not the numbers or the author’s recognizability. The main thing is the nerve of the conversation itself. Because this question is being repeatedly imposed on the Russian-speaking audience today: if Israel and the USA strike Iran, then why couldn’t Russia do the same to Ukraine?
Auslender answers this without diplomatic niceties. And he does it in a manner familiar to his audience: sharply, with irony, with examples understandable not only to military experts but also to ordinary viewers.
What this episode is about and what its main thesis is
Essentially, the video revolves around two major themes.
The first is an attempt to dismantle the propaganda-imposed thesis of “double standards.” The author shows why, in his opinion, there is almost nothing in common between the Russian invasion of Ukraine and Israel’s actions against the Iranian threat — neither from a historical perspective, nor from a logical perspective, nor from an international law perspective.
The second is a dispute with another popular narrative: that Iran is “actually winning,” even if its military infrastructure is destroyed, its proxy network weakened, and its leadership suffers losses. Auslender dismantles this construct, showing how in authoritarian regimes, defeat is often sold to their own audience as a form of victory.
This is why this episode works not as an ordinary commentary of the day, but as a presentation of a whole system of arguments. It is addressed not only to those who already support Israel or Ukraine but also to those who are still trying to equate aggression with self-defense.
Why the comparison between Russia and Israel, according to Auslender, doesn’t work
The author’s main argument is extremely harsh: Ukraine did not threaten Russia with destruction, did not surround it with a network of controlled armed groups, and did not pursue a long-term policy of preparing for a total strike against the Russian state.
Iran, on the other hand, in the logic of this video, is presented as a regime that for years has been building anti-Israeli infrastructure — political, military, and ideological. Auslender reminds of the rhetoric of the Iranian leadership, the proxy forces, the concept of the “ring of fire” around Israel, and that for Israeli society, this is not abstract polemics, but a matter of physical security.
And here, for the reader of NANews, not only the author’s position is important, but also the form of presentation. He does not delve into academic constructs. He speaks in a language well understood by Russian-speaking Israel: if one country openly prepares a platform for striking another for many years and then receives a response, this cannot be mechanically equated to an imperialist invasion by a neighboring power that itself destroyed the security guarantee system.
Separate line — Ukraine and the false logic of “if they can, why can’t we”
One of the strongest fragments of this episode is how Auslender dissects the very structure of the question. Not just the answer, but the question itself.
Because the formula “why can they, but we can’t?” is initially constructed as if Russia already had the right to war and is now simply demanding equal treatment. The video author breaks this construct from the very foundation. In his version, it’s not about some supposedly being allowed more than others. It’s about not putting on the same level a country that started a full-scale invasion of a neighboring state and a country that is responding to a declared and systematic threat to its own existence.
This is an important point for both the Ukrainian and Israeli audiences. Because Russian propaganda has long been trying to use the Middle East as a convenient backdrop for whitewashing its own war against Ukraine. Today, this is done especially actively: through pseudo-comparisons, through the substitution of terms, through attempts to present the aggressor as the aggrieved party.
It is against this substitution that Auslender’s new release works.
Why this video is important for Israel
For Israel, such texts and videos are important also because the war has long been waged not only in the sky, at sea, or through proxy groups. It is also waged in the informational space.
The Russian-speaking part of the internet, especially connected with the post-Soviet space, regularly tries to present Israel as the “new Ukraine,” “analog of Russia,” “example of Western hypocrisy,” or any other convenient propagandist construct. The goal is clear: to blur the line between aggression and defense, between expansion and response to a threat.
Against this backdrop, the appearance of such videos is no longer just authorial journalism. It is part of a broader struggle for meanings. And in this context, NANews — Israel News | Nikk.Agency sees in such materials not only a media occasion but also an important public conversation about how exactly to explain Israeli reality to the Russian-speaking viewer.
Not a retelling, but an invitation to watch
Sergey Auslender has long worked in the genre of harsh military commentary. His official website describes him as an author of reports from hot spots, books, and analytical materials, and the YouTube channel itself had gathered an audience of over 700 thousand subscribers by March 2026.
The new release is a good example of how to talk about complex things without bureaucratese and without fear of calling propaganda propaganda. Even if you don’t agree with every word of the author, it’s hard not to acknowledge: the video hits the nerve of the moment.
Because the debate today is not only about missiles, borders, and military doctrines. It is about the right to clarity. About the ability to distinguish a war to destroy a neighbor from a strike against a regime that has been preparing your destruction for years.
And that is why this release already goes beyond the usual YouTube commentary. For many viewers in Israel, Ukraine, and beyond, it becomes a convenient, harsh, and understandable framework for answering one of the most toxic questions of recent weeks.
Video “The USA and Israel can bomb – but Russia can’t? Analyzing double standards”
Sergey Auslender’s merch site https://www.sergeyauslender.com/
“By purchasing books and merch, you support the work of our channel. Thank you very much for your help”.
Video – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzdf5BUdGtg
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