Russia/Ukraine Conflict

[Mountain Man]

I saw a clip of an interview that was taken on the street somewhere in Russia recently. People were being asked about whether the operation in Russia was justified. I was shocked to hear such statements (I am paraphrasing) like ' .... we should wipe out the Ukrainian population and the land in Ukraine belongs to Russia". I don't know what percentage of the Russian population truly feels that way but whatever it is, they don't show the least bit of sympathy to Ukraine. No humanity or decency in sight.

Well, when all you are fed is propagandistic rhetoric, how would you have a balanced and unbiased point of view. This is the power of State media, Russians are about as aware of the truth these days as North Koreans are. Ukraine was "a part" of Russia under the Tsars and the USSR, so most Russians think of Ukraine as a part of Russia I think. That despite the fact that Russia is actually a product of Ukraine in some aspects.

 

[Surrealplaces]

I saw a clip of an interview that was taken on the street somewhere in Russia recently. People were being asked about whether the operation in Russia was justified. I was shocked to hear such statements (I am paraphrasing) like ' .... we should wipe out the Ukrainian population and the land in Ukraine belongs to Russia". I don't know what percentage of the Russian population truly feels that way but whatever it is, they don't show the least bit of sympathy to Ukraine. No humanity or decency in sight.

It's hard to know what's going on in Russia these days. A recent poll in Russia shows that Putin's approval rating has gone up, but so much depends on how the poll was done. Given Russia's history over the past century a lot of people are afraid to answer with something negative because they don't want a knock at their door the next day. A good example is some of the NHL players who tweeted anti-war messages and then quickly retracted the messages the next day.

Aside from that I'm sure others truly support Putin simply due to all the propaganda out there. The sentiment could easily change if Putin was ousted, much like how Lenin went from hero to zero pretty quickly.

 

[UrbanWarrior]

Not that any of us were under and delusions to the contrary, but Bucha seems to have barely been the tip of the iceberg of the Russian atrocities against Ukrainian civilians. Borodyanka is proving to be far worse… I can’t even imagine how bad things are in Mariupol.

How have the Ukrainians even managed to hold the city? At least the others have had opportunities for resupply at least once or twice in the past 6 weeks, Mariupol… a city of half a million people, has had nothing. I imagine once the Ukrainians retake the city, it will truly turn the world against Russia indefinitely… including a lot of people in Russia.

Imagine how many Russians have family in Mariupol, Kherson, Melitopol, Berdiansk and others (hundreds of thousands if not more) and haven’t heard from them in over a month? Even with the “special military operation” and propaganda, many of them must be seriously questioning what the f*ck this is all about.

 

[Daemon]

 

[UrbanWarrior]

Russia crying about Ukraine entering their airspace and bombing two of their cities (no casualties) is perfectly emblematic of this war. What a bunch of f*cking p*ssies.

 

[UrbanWarrior]

Missed my tattoo appointment to get the Ukrainian Trident (sigil of Volodymyr the Great) today. Suuuper bummed. I need to be better at planning

 

[JonnyCanuck]

Russia making new threats if:

1. Sweden and Finland join NATO
2. The U.S. continues to provide arms to Ukraine.

Of course everyone is worried about escalation but Putin only understands one thing ... strength. I think the time has come to cut off Russian oil & gas. I know Europe (especially Germany) will be in a world of hurt but that may be the one thing that brings Russia to the table, and finally end this.

 

[DougB]

Russia making new threats if:

1. Sweden and Finland join NATO
2. The U.S. continues to provide arms to Ukraine.

Of course everyone is worried about escalation but Putin only understands one thing ... strength. I think the time has come to cut off Russian oil & gas. I know Europe (especially Germany) will be in a world of hurt but that may be the one thing that brings Russia to the table, and finally end this.

The threats are empty. NATO can incinerate the world just as Russia can. No one will ever deploy nuclear weapons.

The US and EU need to keep ramping sanctions to cripple the Russian economy and freeeze oligarch assets with the end game of creating domestic turmoil for Putin.

 

[Mountain Man]

Nobody really thought Putin would launch a full scale invasion of Ukraine, so I don't think we can truly say he wouldn't launch nukes if Russia was facing certain defeat.

 

[UrbanWarrior]

Really wonderful to see the categorical collapse of the Russian invasion force. The Institute of War Studies is now saying that Ukraine has a good chance at retaking the entire country, including Crimea.

Virtually all of Kharkiv Oblast has been liberated, along with not-so-insignificant sections of Kherson, Luhansk, and Donetsk Oblasts. Unconfirmed but fairly reliable reports have stated that the Orcs have abandoned Melitopol (2nd largest city in Zaporizhzhia Oblast) and are evacuating to Crimea. While in Crimea, the officials there are selling off properties en masse and spiriting their families into the Russian Federation. Other reports out of Kherson Oblast are saying the Russian forces west of the Dnieper there are formulating their negotiated surrender, as they now have no means of escape, no food, no water, and very little ammunition with little hope for resupply.

Something big is going on, and it - at least so far - looks to be a total collapse of the invasion. This would inevitable lead to the capitulation and liberation of the puppet Donetsk and Luhansk separatist “states” as well. Alternatively and much less likely, it could possibly point to an imminent nuclear attack, or planned meltdown at Zaporizhzhia NPS.

The latter two scenarios would lead to a world war. Thankfully, Putin is a bitch who can’t even successfully invade a neighbouring state let alone withstand a global crackdown by the 7 of the top 10 military forces on the planet.

 

[Surrealplaces]

I have to admit, I haven't been following the situation in Ukraine lately. I thought it was more or less at a stalemate, but if Russia is now scaling back this is great news. If only there was a way to get rid of Putin.

 

[JonnyCanuck]

Ukraine has precious little time to make further gains. Once the weather turns it will surely create a stalemate on the ground. Unfortunately, Russia could then turn to aerial or long range assault for which Ukraine has little defense. The Russians have far more deadlier weapons right up to tactical nuclear that they have not used yet, and they could literally bomb Ukraine into submission. Let's hope the West have something up their sleeve that will prevent that from happening.

If you have heard about growing criticism of Putin coming from Russia ..... it is true. However the criticism is coming from 'far right' people who think he should be doing more to eliminate the Ukrainian resistance.

 

[UrbanWarrior]

Ukraine has precious little time to make further gains. Once the weather turns it will surely create a stalemate on the ground. Unfortunately, Russia could then turn to aerial or long range assault for which Ukraine has little defense. The Russians have far more deadlier weapons right up to tactical nuclear that they have not used yet, and they could literally bomb Ukraine into submission. Let's hope the West have something up their sleeve that will prevent that from happening.

If you have heard about growing criticism of Putin coming from Russia ..... it is true. However the criticism is coming from 'far right' people who think he should be doing more to eliminate the Ukrainian resistance.

Hmm, I don’t really agree with this assessment. They just retook all of Kharkiv Oblast and significant sections of Kherson Oblast in a matter of a few days. They have proven that they can use the weapons we’re providing them strategically and with innovative tactics that will be studied by military analysts and scholars for generations. They’ve pushed the Russians back to their border for hundreds of km along the Kharkiv front for the first time since the war started. They have shown not only Russia how pathetic their efforts are, but they’ve shown the west clearly and loudly that our weapons are being used extremely effectively by their forces, which will help convince NATO governments to double down on our support. It’s a massive victory, in many ways.

As of today they’ve liberated Kyselivka, leaving only the devastated ruin of Chornobaivka between them and Kherson city. They absolutely have a route toward victory, and as I said in my post, any use of nuclear weapons would of course lead to a world war. Putin may be stupid, surrounded by sycophants, but he isn’t crazy. China is losing faith in him and is distancing themselves from him because the war is even hurting their economy, and any deployment of nuclear weapons would lead to catastrophic economic consequences for most of the world, China being the largest exporter in the world wouldn’t just stand by and let him destroy their economy. Alliances have their limit, and their alliance isn’t even a formal one.

 

[JonnyCanuck]

I was listening to a military tactician on CNN. He said the recent Ukrainian 'route' in the northeast was against mostly green, conscript soldiers. Most of the seasoned Russian troops are in the south. IF Ukraine can push Russia back from Kherson and further to the east, then they will really be putting the boots to them but that is not a given. Also, winter weather does inhibit forward movement and creates stalemates.

 

[Mountain Man]

One thing to keep in mind is that NATO won't be supplying Ukraine like this for too much longer, we can't deplete our own stockpiles to the point where we could be vulnerable.