They're #11 in the world... China and the US are 40% of the world economy. By your logic every other country on earth can cease to exist and no one will miss them. The 3rd largest economy in the word is Japan at 5%. #4 is Germany at 4%. You're insane.
I'm sure somebody will miss them. The global economy on the other hand has already said it doesn't give two sh*ts about Russia being reduced to the next North Korea. Their credit rating is currently "junk". In case you're unaware, Germany is part of the EU, which should be considered as a whole and has a combined GDP of around $13T (similar to China). Russia has... Belarus.
I'm sorry you're only now coming to the realization that Russia is a failed experiment in kleptocracy and hasn't mattered on the world stage in the last 20 years. They'll be speaking Mandarin in Moscow before Russia achieves any of their objectives in The Ukraine.
no, no, no....russia is a right wing christian anti-woke nation - it can't fail. It can't. noooooooo!
(mocking adult's sympathy for putin's culture war bona-fides)
They're #11 in the world... China and the US are 40% of the world economy. By your logic every other country on earth can cease to exist and no one will miss them. The 3rd largest economy in the word is Japan at 5%. #4 is Germany at 4%. You're insane.
I'm sure somebody will miss them. The global economy on the other hand has already said it doesn't give two sh*ts about Russia being reduced to the next North Korea. Their credit rating is currently "junk". In case you're unaware, Germany is part of the EU, which should be considered as a whole and has a combined GDP of around $13T (similar to China). Russia has... Belarus.
I'm sorry you're only now coming to the realization that Russia is a failed experiment in kleptocracy and hasn't mattered on the world stage in the last 20 years. They'll be speaking Mandarin in Moscow before Russia achieves any of their objectives in The Ukraine.
You think Russia is the only corrupt country in the world? The entire world outside of a few countries in Asia and the west are entirely corrupt just like Russia... lol
Key word being "significant". CNN did an entire story about 3 russian vehicles being forced to leave a town the other day and called it a "liberation"...
Even in Makariv it's pure propaganda and you buy into it 100% because you're so smart.
Now you can tell me the Washington Post is just a "Putin loving" paper.
significantA U.S. defense official corroborated the claim, saying that the Russian military had pushed from the east to as close as 12 miles from Kyiv. After the counteroffensive, those forces had retreated to about 34 miles away from the city, the official added.
Key word being "significant". CNN did an entire story about 3 russian vehicles being forced to leave a town the other day and called it a "liberation"...
Even in Makariv it's pure propaganda and you buy into it 100% because you're so smart.
Now you can tell me the Washington Post is just a "Putin loving" paper.
Gen. Andrea Kryshenko and Gen. Serhii Knyazev said Wednesday that Ukraine regained significant territory around Kyiv in the past two days — a potential sign that the war, which enters the second month, could undergo a shift as Russian forces struggle to advance on the country's capital.
A U.S. defense official corroborated the claim, saying that the Russian military had pushed from the east to as close as 12 miles from Kyiv. After the counteroffensive, those forces had retreated to about 34 miles away from the city, the official added.
I'll just point out how critically important it is for UKR to keep regaining territory NOW, before RU has time to really dig in. Once RU gets dug in, they will be there for a long, long time most likely. So it's good to see RU retreats.
Key word being "significant". CNN did an entire story about 3 russian vehicles being forced to leave a town the other day and called it a "liberation"...
Even in Makariv it's pure propaganda and you buy into it 100% because you're so smart.
Now you can tell me the Washington Post is just a "Putin loving" paper.
significantA U.S. defense official corroborated the claim, saying that the Russian military had pushed from the east to as close as 12 miles from Kyiv. After the counteroffensive, those forces had retreated to about 34 miles away from the city, the official added.
Pro-Putes on LRC cried in their soup because of the dead Russian soldiers on board the Orsk, which now is a wreck. The Russian navy appears to have the skills of the Italian Navy in World War 2.
Russian Air Force AWOL
Russian Navy in small pieces sinking to the bottom of the Black Sea
Russian Army making no progress
Without nuclear weapons this failed state would be completely uninteresting.
It is a stalemate at this point. Russia cannot occupy the country effectively and Ukraine cannot forcibly eject all Russian troops. Ukraine is winning the propaganda war, Russia is watching its economy collapse into nothing, and its nuclear saber rattling is the only thing keeping the entire world from pointing and laughing at it.
Russia failed Combat Logistics 101. Russia failed to secure air superiority. Russia failed to establish secure battlefield communications by destroying the networks required to run it. Russia went in with poorly trained, horribly motivated, and largely incompetent troops. Their antique gear was poorly maintained and not battle ready. Scared conscripts have abandoned useful gear that could be easily used against them by Ukrainian forces well versed in using it since it matches their own. This lack of discipline may also have allowed NATO to come into possession of Russia's most advanced ground based electronic warfare technology, a development that would set Russian air defenses back a full decade or more. Putin keeps sending top commanders into the theater only to have them come back in body bags thanks to snipers receiving great intel from unsecure communications. Russia's navy is even taking losses!
Russia can still do a lot of damage and inflict a great deal of pain, but they have proven themselves to be a paper bear. Decades of kleptocracy have stripped the Russian military of any real effectiveness and the threat of WMD is the only thing that keeps NATO from completely destroying them. With Ukraine getting better weapons and motivation daily, this will not end well for Mother Russia. They best get to the bargaining table.
Yeah...and that threat of their WMD with technology advanced nuclear weapons is what keeps NATO in check & Biden apprehensive in implementing a no-fly zone.
If Putin "presses the button" & unleashes his nuclear arsenal it's lights out & WW3. Their is no defense against their Tirskon hypersonic missile that can carry up to a 200kt warhead (unless the Pentagon is keeping any defense system classified). Russia's Satan 2 ICBM can carry 10-15 MIRV warheads with countermeasures that unleashes a combine 8 megatons of explosive power! Their Poseidon super-torpedo can travel at speeds of 115 mph & can carry a 2 mt warhead! Can you imagine the destructive power this would have on a U.S. coastal city?
There needs to be a deescalation & not saber rattling creating an impetus for nuclear war. Remember what Einstein said: WW3 will be fought with nuclear weapons but WW4 will be fought with sticks & stones.
A US strike group has been deployed in Mediterranean, Belarus may get directly involved soon, Expelled Russian diplomats in Poland accused of espionage, sanc...
Pro-Putes on LRC cried in their soup because of the dead Russian soldiers on board the Orsk, which now is a wreck. The Russian navy appears to have the skills of the Italian Navy in World War 2.
Russian Air Force AWOL
Russian Navy in small pieces sinking to the bottom of the Black Sea
Russian Army making no progress
Without nuclear weapons this failed state would be completely uninteresting.
Everything I've read points to the next couple of weeks being critical to any larger settlement. The Russians are slowly gaining leverage in Donetsk, and while everyone is talking about how the Russian "combat readiness" has degraded especially in northern Ukraine, we don't really know how much damage Ukraine's forces have sustained.
I can see a scenario such as Russia pushing hard to force the Ukrainian army out of Donetsk entirely - declaring that whole territory along with Kherson to be "liberated" - as both leverage in negotiations and a means to creating that proverbial "off ramp" where they can declare a sort of victory.
There will never come a time where Russia rules anything in the Ukraine and that is totally obvious right now. The goal was to rule the Ukraine that ain't going to happen so Russia has lost.
Russia bit off more than they can handle, whoever thought they could take over the Ukraine was 100% wrong.
What needs to happen now is NATO gives Putin this deal.......leave right now or we add Ukraine to our list of NATO nations, do we have an undestanding?
Would love to see some of Russia being burned and bombed, talking terrorists backing the Ukraine type stuff. Hell, just start fires around Moscow.
I wish someone hadn't started posting dirty pix in the first UKR thread and gotten it deleted. Would have been interesting to go back and see what people were saying at each stage.
I don't think everyone thought the war would be over in five days but maybe. Certainly by day 3 it was pretty clear this would not be a successful blitzkrieg sitch. I wonder who did not see that in a timely fashion. That's the main question.
I wish someone hadn't started posting dirty pix in the first UKR thread and gotten it deleted. Would have been interesting to go back and see what people were saying at each stage.
I don't think everyone thought the war would be over in five days but maybe. Certainly by day 3 it was pretty clear this would not be a successful blitzkrieg sitch. I wonder who did not see that in a timely fashion. That's the main question.
I'm referring to "everyone" as in the experts not the people on Let's Run.
The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, for example, thought it would be over in 3 days.