I am sure it was, as city by city falls, the Ukrainian’s are putting up a hell of a defense and yet not managing to stop the Russian advance. Gee, I wonder why?
I don’t think they would drop a nuke of any yield on territory they want to occupy. The nukes are for the countries they don’t want to occupy. The Russians aren’t losing by any stretch of the imagination. You’d have to be a complete idiot to believe that. Meeting tough resistance? Sure. Not a cake walk? Granted. It’s not like Russia has throw all it’s military might into this. They have plenty left in reserve. Like the US when fighting in both Afghanistan and Iraq, we still had plenty of military in reserve.
The hypocrisy of Europe is wide and vast and many levels and many depths. This war, vs. the wars in Yemen, Congo, or where ever is different because of it’s high potential to spread into massive conflict. Yemen isn’t going to start WW3, Ukraine can and may. That’s why everybody’s asshole is really tight about Ukraine. There’s always a war some where, but some wars are more equal than others.
Huh? Where does this perception come from? These women aren’t tough as nails, mean strong women. They are actually very defeated people, who lived extraordinarily hard lives. These “babuskas” as people call them are as tame as they get. They look like they look because the lived hard physical lives, ate to survive and work again. They are full of cortisone from the injuries and pains they worked through. Their medical system was garbage and they mostly either lived or died with their aliments. They may look strong, but they are anything but. Most of them don’t cry because they have no more tears left; they’ve cried all their lives.
Yup. Exactly. It’s a stupid story.
Whatever the worst possible option and decision that could be made, will be made. Look at the people making them. When have they done a single thing right, yet? You think they will start now?
It does not have a whiff of personal enrichment, therefore it is DOA.
What Zalinsky doesnt know or understand is that he was making a humanitarian plea to a group of people that turned a bid for a national health care system into the pork barrel of the century.
Our politicians are not people who help others. They help themselves, then watch others squabble for the scraps.
In the nearly 20 years in Afghanistan, less than 2000 US servicemen were killed in action. In a few weeks, tens of thousands of Russians, hundreds of tanks, thousands or armored vehicles, and dozens of combat aircraft have all been killed or destroyed. Part of that is because the Ukrainians may have better weapons than the Taliban, but it’s also a sign that the Russian military equipment is no longer first tier. The Russians have lost dozens of high-ranking officers including 4 generals.
If they are fighting with a huge amount of strength in reserve, they have grossly miscalculated. The Russians don’t have a winning endgame. Even if they nominally take Kyiv they will never hold it at an acceptable cost.
It looks like they might be able to negotiate something. Both sides need it to end, so unless the Americans have some trick up their sleeve to keep the war going (and I very much think they want to keep Putin bogged down there even if it kills every Ukrainian in the country), there should be a deal coming. Zelensky laid the groundwork, he can blame it on NATO and the EU for being pussies. Putin can settle for Crimea, Donbass, and something in writing that says Ukraine won’t join NATO. Take that home as a victory. How he will explain away his little history lesson about Ukraine not being a country, I don’t know. I don’t think it will be too hard though. Then he’ll retire. And then when the dust is settled, the media whores in the west will announce the deltacroniumdeath-variant of the magic virus, and it’s back to lockdowns and shit. It probably originated in Ukraine during the conflict. Netflix will make a movie where a brave Ukrainian girl tries to keep the Russians from releasing the virus from a secret bio weapons lab they have there.
I like to throw in something for everyone when I post. lol
I guess we shall see. The thing I suspect Zelensky understands that you seem to be missing is that Putin doesn’t negotiate in long term good faith. When Putin says he wants a neutral Ukraine, that doesn’t just mean a Ukraine that isn’t part of NATO or the EU. It means a Ukraine without a military. How long do you think Putin would respect that?
You see, if anyone could really believe that Putin would stop if his claim to Crimean and the 2014 boundaries of Donbass was recognized, then perhaps it would be acceptable. But it’s clear that he would see that as the new starting position and in a couple years would be aggressively renegotiating again.
That is why this is an existential struggle for Ukraine. If they make peace on terms that are worse than the situation at the beginning of the war, they will have lost ground. If that lost ground would guarantee that more ground wouldn’t be lost in the future, it might be acceptable. But in reality that lost ground is nothing but a new high water mark for Putin that means Ukraine will be in a worse position the next time Putin gets restless.
I agree that Putin will scale up and pull the same shit again if he can. If Ukraine can negotiate a settlement that leaves their military forces intact though, I don’t think he will be able to for a long time. I think the war will end at the negotiating table, even if both sides are negotiating in bad faith to buy time.
He has been sitting there for years looking at the surrounding countries going “Look at them. Who do they think they are with their [insert resources here]. We need to fuck them up and take their shit.”.
Thats just how these guys are. Then once they figure out a reason, its go time.
And what were the losses in the first Chechen war, compared to the current clusterfuck? You really think the Russians can muster this again in 2 years?
I don’t think he can accept a deal now, because Chekists function on the same principle as vory v zakone - loss of pozor (it doesn’t translate fully into English, an amalgamation of standing, respect and shame) could destroy the regime.
Russian people do not forgive imperialist failure easily, and in this case he primed the population that they’ll run over Ukraine in a matter of hours. They’re intentionally razing “Russian” cities in Ukraine (Mariupol, Kharkiv) to the ground and killing civilians indiscriminately for a twisted reason - they’re blaming them for their failure. Had those people acted as planners in the Kremlin envisaged them, they believe they’ve would have already won.
Whoever is in power in Moscow will always be a potential threat. Take away Russias ability to ever wage war again? In what fantasy world is that possible? Let’s attend to reality here, Moscow won’t ever fall without launching a nuclear holocaust. So how exactly do you propose to guarantee that Russia will never wage war again? It’s impossible.
The alternative to a deal is to leave Ukraine a barren wasteland and blame it on someone else. Ukraine, NATO, whatever. I hope there’s a better way to save face than that. “Mighty Russia has driven out the nazis and American with their bio weapon labs, and secured Crimea and Donbass for Russian patriots bla bla bla”
It’s not that easy. For twenty years middle and lower class Russians (i.e. the majority) were indoctrinated that they - as a country - could kick anyone’s ass in a conventional war. And that all the bad stuff - an early grave, mind boggling corruption, oppressive state apparatus and so on are simply a necessary evil, no, a prerequisite for being the baddest mf’ers on the planet. (there was also a feedback loop from the West from Putin’s fanboys but I digress).
“Which countries does Russia border?” “Whichever it chooses to” - is a popular elementary school chant.
And now, after twenty years of Lego knockoff grad launchers, parades, flags, Sukhois, Armata tanks… to contemplate that they haven’t been able to completely annihilate a bunch of brainwashed, fascist, retarded peasants in the Western borderlands of Mother Russia (Ukraine) is inconceivable to them.
And then as I grew up, the veneers of the more “civilized” people cover up the basic instincts, but one can always discern those base motives beneath the niceties.
I do appreciate that, and have some understanding from my Russian wife and general reading. State power is the overarching national ideology and identity, and has been that way for a thousand years. But even in Russia, surely, you cannot keep up the illusion of “we can take Ukraine easily” after you’ve been in there for months, and tens of thousands of men have died. So either a deal, or an escalation. I get that you’re betting on an escalation, and I hope you’re wrong. The talks do seem to indicate a softening stance on both sides.
