Putin, Ukraine, and what next?

Sear, your idea as to "Half to Russia, and half to Ukraine" is an excellent idea. It would not only show the Russians "so called Government" in real terms what the cost of inflecting the pain on Ukraine is really about.
If the conflict goes on much long could Russia simply "drop a A bomb" on the resistance in Ukraine? But if they did would that "brings things to a head" with regards N.A.T.O. I learn today that a forth Russia General has been killed in Ukraine, could that be seen as Putin beginning to get desperate for a result, so he is sending those that gave false promises as to as a quick result "to face the music". What ever is the out come, it appears to me Putin and his so called advisers have certainly vastly under estimated the situation with regards a "quick" result.
 
"Putin and his so called advisers have certainly vastly under estimated the situation with regards a "quick" result." W #41
Click to expand...
Putin seems to have grandiose fantasies about being cherished in history as the Russian hero that finally welcomed Ukraine back into the Russian fold.

But right now Putin looks like a dimwitted, inept war criminal, a butcher.
Some reports indicate Russia has already lost more troops to Ukraine in these ~3 weeks than the U.S. (needlessly) lost in Iraq from start to finish.

An animal may be most dangerous when cornered. And Putin has cornered himself here. No body can get Putin out of this but Putin. I'm not sure he's smart enough.
 
No body can get Putin out of this but Putin. I'm not sure he's smart enough.Sear
Or could it be that he is just hanging on, which could mean if does not "conquer" he will flatten Ukraine regardless of what the World thinks. I read an article today about an adviser who has been writing up Russian History re. the Soviet Union when they controlled most of Eastern Europe. The Adviser has written a sort of History which has been the goal of Putin. But that would mean taking over the Eastern states Poland and the rest. Now if Putin (so it appears) has been giving some states good deals pre. the invasion as to Gas and Oil and the people around him who have grown very rich from helping him, he might think "they will not go against me because I control a large part of their economizes".
But where it appears he has gone very wrong the people who gave him advice were just "pampering to his needs" which was to bring back the control the U.S.S.R. had in past years. Because of his losses in the War with Ukraine he is now having to turn to others to supply troops etc.. But as one commenter stated today asking Syrian troops to fight in near freezing temperatures it may be he going a step to far.
 
Yeah.
I suspect a confluence of badness.
Putin's a dyed in the wool Cold Warrior. And those under Soviet oppression were forced to a standard of living far below that of the West.

The Soviets lost. And yet evidently Putin seems to prefer that.

Reports I've reviewed today suggest Ukraine is careening toward a miserable stalemate. Russia has no military scenario for victory. And Ukraine has home field advantage. They can't give up and go home. The Russians can.
 
The Russians can. Sear.
Or can he. His thoughts when "giving the order advance" were "can crush and win". Now the reality is that if he gives up not only has he near destroyed his economy. but has to answer to the Family's of the Russian solders he has lost. I am not sure even with the KGB and it's members can he survive. Plus what about the huge damage he as inflicted on Ukraine.
The young Editor who used a TV program to voice her views on the War, who has been given a "FINE" for showing the "Guts" to say "No to War". It's un-known before so changes seems to be happening.
 
She grabbed headlines for her on broadcast protest.
I haven't gotten news of her since then. But I suspect if she's kept to her usual routine, hasn't changed residence address, etc., her days are numbered.

Reportedly Putin is moody, disappointed, frustrated, and short-tempered. Putin may not have many options for Ukraine. But he could cause her to vanish as easily as the others. And once a war criminal, are we supposed to think one more murder would cross Putin's own line?
 
Putin held what was called a rally to give him chance to "stick two fingers up at the West". But reports in our Newspapers suggest those attending were to a large extent made up of people who worked for Government or were given the day off. On being interviewed they stated we were told "you will go" or having a day off they attended and then after a few minutes departed. He "Putin" paraded in a coat worth it's started of over £10,000 and although there was a display of unity in the crowd it was just a fake display.
In my Newspaper , it's reported that a very senior Military commander was arrested in Moscow, after Putin stated he was going to "purify Russia of Traitors"which suggest the start of real discord in the Kremlin. Further it appears the number of those Russian solders killed in the Ukraine invasion has reached 7000 with over 21000 injured and of the Dead, three very high ranking Generals also dead. It appears that those who suggested when the invasion was being discussed and who sided with the version Putin believed, have been made to "face the Music" in the War zone.
 
"Putin held what was called a rally" W #47
Click to expand...
I saw video of it. It certainly didn't rise Joseph Goebbels standards.

If not such a human catastrophe Putin's bumbling would be laughable. Putin seems to have invaded Ukraine in part to help restore Cold War luster to Russia, elevating himself to status of legend. Instead Putin has broadcast to the world his own isolation, his battlefield incompetence, etc.
You flunked Vlad.
Go home.
Shut up.
Drop dead.
 
The Telegraph

Freezing Russians forced to cook their meals in the street​

James Kilner / Sat, January 20, 2024 at 12:00 PM EST

People gather round a mobile kitchen after dozens of residential buildings were left without central heating due to a housing service accident caused by a cold snap in the town of Klimovsk near Moscow - Reuters/EVGENIA NOVOZHENINA

Thousands of Russians are living without heating through a freezing winter that is breaking the country’s fragile Soviet-era infrastructure.
Hot water pipes are bursting, electricity is failing and radiators are freezing across Russia, triggering complaints from angry locals who have accused officials of incompetence two months before a [Russia] presidential election.

news.yahoo.com

Freezing Russians forced to cook their meals in the street

Thousands of Russians are living without heating through a freezing winter that is breaking the country’s fragile Soviet-era infrastructure.
news.yahoo.com news.yahoo.com

BUT !

With no end to the war in sight, U.S. intelligence estimates that 315,000 Russian troops have so far been killed or injured in fighting, as of Dec. 12, 2023. The Ukrainian government does not release casualty tolls, but Washington reported in August 2023 that the number of Ukrainian combatant deaths likely stands around 70,000. The U.N. approximates that more than 10,000 Ukrainian civilians have died.

President Vladimir Putin’s approval rating is at a sky-high 85 percent as of November 2023, according to the Levada Center, a reliable independent Russian pollster. The center cites public opinion surrounding Putin’s so-called “special military operation” and the “conflict” in Ukraine—the Kremlin has warned it will block websites that use the term “war” or “invasion.”

foreignpolicy.com

Putin’s Russia Is Barely Pretending Its Elections Are Real

One of the 15 key elections to watch in 2024’s historic global vote.
foreignpolicy.com foreignpolicy.com

U.S. President Biden's popularity polls at about half the figure accorded Putin above. WTH ?!
 
We don't call it war when at least one party is a national government.

Sony bans users from Russia and Belarus from activating their games on Steam platform​

Economichna Pravda — Saturday, 3 February 2024, 15:47
ico_eye.svg
1840
Russian and Belarusian Steam accounts can no longer activate games developed by Sony.
Source: Russian distributor Buka, as reported by Latvia-based Russian media outlet Meduza
Quote: "The developer has restricted the activation of this game in Russia and Belarus. This means that the game cannot be activated on Russian and Belarusian Steam accounts. In other countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States, the game can be activated with no problems," users of the Buka service received this notification.
The Russian game store Steampay also announced the restriction.
Background: In March 2022, Sony stopped all PlayStation sales in Russia due to the war in Ukraine.

Unlikely that this is the beginning of the end of war. Is there a pre-internet precedent for action like Sony is taking here? How will this affect the war? Increase public pressure on Putin to persuade Sony to relent?
 
titan said:
"We don't call it war when at least one party is a national government." t #51
Click to expand...
That's when we do call it war t, perhaps your intended point.

But it's an interesting turn. Not clear to me what Sony has in mind here, except if acting in solidarity with Ukraine. Is there more to this than that?
 
Shiftless2 said:
I'm sure he's telling the truth this time

HgRldY0.png



Click to expand...
Some may have forgotten the Vietnam War era "domino theory", if Vietnam falls to the Chi Comms, the rest of the planet will be next.
If we don't win this [Vietnam] war, the Pacific Ocean will become a red sea. President Richard M. Nixon
Click to expand...
To state the obvious:
- Putin may be the greatest threat to Western Europe, but
- Trump is the greatest threat to the United States. (& leading in the polls)

note:
Some polls indicate support for Trump would diminish if Trump is convicted of a felony. I wouldn't count on it.
 
sear said:
"Some may have forgotten the Vietnam War era "domino theory"" s #54
Click to expand...
Not me s.
And while the following isn't exactly consistent with the domino theory, it shares some characteristics regarding dealing with potentially megalomaniacal aggressors. note: the following is not an immediate alarm, but a caution about prospective peril a decade in our future.

Russia preparing for military confrontation with West, says Estonia​

By Andrius Sytas / February 13, 2024 11:28 AM GMT-5Updated 2 hours ago
VILNIUS, Feb 13 (Reuters) - Russia is preparing for a military confrontation with the West within the next decade and could be deterred by a counter build-up of armed forces, Estonia's Foreign Intelligence Service said on Tuesday.
A growing number of Western officials have warned of a military threat from Russia to countries along the eastern flank of NATO, calling for Europe to get prepared by rearming.
The chief of the intelligence service said the assessment was based on Russian plans to double the number of forces stationed along its border with NATO members Finland and the Baltic States of Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia.


Worth bearing in mind, Russia preceded its invasion of Ukraine by massing military assets along Ukraine's border. Some observers dismissed this as provocative, but not seriously threatening.

Putin / Russia might excuse such Russian provocation as Russia innocently enhancing a defensive posture, to guard against NATO aggression.

That dog don't hunt.
To be clear: NATO is indeed expanding. BUT !!
NATO is NOT assimilating nations against their will.
Instead NATO is welcoming freedom-loving democracies to share in the protection membership provides.
 
https://imgur.com/eIHzL4j

The ever-so-delicate Marjorie Taylor Greene became deeply offended today when David Cameron advised U.S. lawmakers not to show the "weakness displayed against Hitler in the 1930s" when it comes to giving aid to Ukraine.

"I believe our joint history shows the folly of giving in to tyrants in Europe who believe in redrawing boundaries by force," the UK foreign secretary said while visiting Bulgaria. "I do not want us to show the weakness displayed against Hitler in the 1930s. He came back for more, costing us far more lives to stop his aggression." And curiously, his anti-Nazi warning triggered Greene, who took it personally.

"I think that's rude name-calling, and I don't appreciate that type of language," said Georgia's expert on Jewish space lasers, before hilariously coloring her statement with some language of her own. "David Cameron needs to worry about his own country, and frankly, he can kiss my ass."

bmhdYy7.jpg


https://imgur.com/40xUZn2

shgCvSf.png


grBzbbB.jpg


FAHetp4.png
 
Shiftless2 said:
"the entire Republican party" Liam Nissan
Click to expand...
Nissan observes the severe damage to the Republican party brand. What Nissan fails to make clear, because branding, party affiliation is so important in US politics for reasons such as ballot access, candidates seek party endorsement. Sure the Republican brand is unrecognizable to Reagan, Ford, or even Nixon voters. Those hoping for a return to more sensible politics may have to wait a while longer, if the damaged Republican brand continues to shape policy post Trump. That may persist until the policy liability outweighs the utility of major party affiliation.
 

How War in Europe Boosts the U.S. Economy​

European rearmament and American aid to Ukraine flow back to defense industrial base​

By Tom Fairless / Feb. 18, 2024 5:30 am ET
Proponents of support for Ukraine usually invoke U.S. strategic interests or moral obligations. Lately, they are making a more calculating case: It is good for the economy.

In the two years since Russia invaded Ukraine, the U.S. defense industry has experienced a boom in orders for weapons and munitions. Business is coming from European allies trying to build out their military capabilities as well as from the Pentagon, which is both buying new equipment from defense manufacturers and replenishing military stocks depleted by deliveries to Ukraine.


And how has the Russian economy been affected?

Russia seems to be solidifying relations with other bad actors, China, Iran, & North Korea. No reports so far, that military attrition threatens Putin's ability to continue.
 
The Russian pilot who defected to Ukraine with an Mi-8 helicopter was shot to death in Spain
Kelsey Vlamis / Mon, February 19, 2024 at 5:51 PM EST
  • Maksym Kuzminov, a Russian pilot who defected to Ukraine last year, was found shot dead in Spain.
  • Kuzminov had urged other Russians to defect and said they would be set for life.
  • Spanish media reported he was living in Spain with a Ukrainian passport under an alternative name.
Reuters said La Informacion, a Spanish newspaper, reported two suspects left the scene in a vehicle that was later found burned. Police initially thought the death may have been gang-related, The Guardian reported.

news.yahoo.com

The Russian pilot who defected to Ukraine with an Mi-8 helicopter was shot to death in Spain

Russian pilot Maksym Kuzminov defected to Ukraine with a Mi-8 helicopter and urged other Russians to follow. He was found dead in Spain last week.
news.yahoo.com news.yahoo.com

Doesn't quite seem Putin's style of murder. But perhaps Putin's a little less particular about method when that far out of Moscow.

Putin does not understand economics.
But I've wondered why so many Russians would serve as Putin's thugs in Russia's police State, rather than enjoying Western prosperity.

Some may know. I do not. But I've considered it may be as simple as bread-&-butter, keeping food on the table / Milton. Putin's Russian thugs may prefer ruling in Hell than serving in Heaven.
Problem is, we all face nuclear annihilation because of this.
 

Ukraine Can’t Win the War​

TOPSHOT-UKRAINE-RUSSIA-CONFLICT
This picture shows an apartment building destroyed after shelling the day before in Ukraine's second-biggest city of Kharkiv on March 8, 2022. SERGEY BOBOK—AFP via Getty Images
By Anatol Lieven / February 24, 2024 6:00 AM EST
Anatol Lieven directs the Eurasia Program at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft and is co-author of The Diplomatic Path to a Secure Ukraine, to be published in late February 2024.
The long-awaited counteroffensive last year failed. Russia has recaptured Avdiivka, its biggest war gain in nine months. President Volodymyr Zelensky has been forced to quietly acknowledge the new military reality. The Biden Administration’s strategy is now to sustain Ukrainian defense until after the U.S. presidential elections, in the hope of wearing down Russian forces in a long war of attrition.

time.com

Ukraine Can't Win the War

There is no realistic chance of total Ukrainian victory next year, or the year after that.
time.com time.com

OK
Here's another headline for you, equally true:

North Vietnam Can't Beat the United States of America at War​


This fatalistic delusion is not merely tragic. It's self-fulfilling defeat, sowing the seed of our own future peril / demise.

I'm not boasting the manifold benefits of blood-spilling warfare, despite the temporary benefit to the Russian economy.

PBSNH240223.JPG

time.com & the IMF are not the only ones singing this bitter tune.
For months senior government officials have been calling Ukraine's defense against Russia a "stalemate".

So it may seem, when Ukraine's outnumbered front-line troops' ammunition is rationed to 20 rnd per day.

This is insanity!
Splendid, Putin has in the U.S. congress a horde of co-conspirators known as Republicans, that are obstructing $Billions in essential military aid to our ally Ukraine.
The U.S. / Biden will either sort that out, or not. BUT !!

We're not the only adults in the room. Western Europe / European NATO / EU have more immediate skin in the game than the U.S. does. What's their excuse?

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been pleading for Western weaponry sufficient to bash back Russian aggression back to Russia's 2021 border.

But "the free world" is only willing to provide Ukraine enough to approximate the stalemate "the free world" then resignedly observes.

"In a democracy the People get the government they deserve."
We are all party to this carnage.
We are all disgraced by it, standing by, knowing it continues, and continues to manifest a growing threat to us all.

"All honors wounds are self-inflicted."​
industrialist Andrew Carnegie, (born November 25, 1835, Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland—died August 11, 1919, Lenox, Massachusetts, U.S.) - source: Britannica.com​
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top