The old soviet system was corrupt as the day is long. Those oligarchs were on the take way before the soviet union collapsed. Now they don't have to pretend to be defending the masses with meaningless communist propaganda.
A lot of this happened when Putin was in St. Petersburg still. Abramovich was doing all of this in 1995 and Putin didn't even arrive in Moscow until 1996 and wasn't really that influential until about 1998. It all goes back to the loans-for-shares programs in the mid-90s and the formation of banks of highly questionable legality, which pre-dates Putin. The beneficiaries of those programs and the bankers were the ones who fostered Putin's early career after managing Yeltsin's later career (and basically won Yeltsin the 1996 election right when Putin showed up as a pretty minor figure. The existing oligarchs would then "suggest" to Yeltsin that this Putin guy would make a good replacement for him). Semibankirschina - Wikipedia Putin definitely has some of his own guys as well, but there are a number that pre-dated his guys. And his guys would happily stab him in the back for the right financial incentive.
He won’t win with nukes either, but that’s only because nobody “wins” with nukes. But the present fact is, he keeps escalating the threat, as I predicted he would once we made it clear (for whatever reason) we were scared to fight him. How many times do we need to be threatened before we stop cowering and put a finger in his chest, saying, “Threaten us one more time, you soft, bald, deaf, old man.”
That’s not really an answer. If he cared about staying in power then why would he go on this suicide mission. He will either be economically hurt, or militarily crushed if he expands past Ukraine. Neither is conducive to holding power.
Hearing you loud and clear. A lot of us want to kick his sorry ass. Just have to do it without an extinction level event. Our red line appears to be NATO territory. It is frustrating knowing that invading army would be toast if we unleashed our conventional forces.
Honestly, he screwed up. Big time. Why is an open question (I have heard a number of people say that he has isolated more during Covid and is getting more insular and his advisors are becoming more and more the yes-man variety while other have speculated some health issues). But he seemed to both overestimate his military's prowess while underestimating how much other countries would care.
Russian troops trapped in an elevator. The management of a Ukrainian building contained them by shutting off the power. The elevator's security camera took this commemorative photo. When Ukrainian soldiers arrived, the nine stranded geniuses were disarmed and taken prisoner. Professional soldiers know to always take the stairs.
From CNN live...go Germany! "German Embassy in South Africa slams Russia's "de-Nazification" claim From CNN's Josh Campbell Germany's Embassy in South Africa has hit back at Russia’s claim the invasion of Ukraine is aimed at "de-Nazifying" the country. “Sorry, but we can't stay silent on this one,” the German Embassy in Pretoria tweeted Saturday in response to a post by the Russian Embassy that Putin’s forces were fighting against Nazis. The Russian Embassy in South Africa tweeted on Friday, “Dear subscribers, we have received a great number of letters of solidarity from South Africans, both individuals and organizations. We appreciate your support and glad you decided to stand with us today, when Russia, like 80 years ago, is fighting Nazism in Ukraine!” The German Embassy hit back at the Russian tweet saying: “What [Russia] is doing in [Ukraine] is slaughtering innocent children, women and men for its own gain. “It's definitely not ‘fighting Nazism.’ Shame on anyone who's falling for this. (Sadly, we're kinda experts on Nazism.)”"
I’ve seen elsewhere this isn’t true but it’s so hard to know anymore with the propaganda going both ways and how easily a simple caption under a still photograph can mislead.
Russia changed their conscript requirements to 1 year (from 2 yr) so their soldiers are barely trained, unless they’re career.
I think the idea that he’s “calculating” or rational has been shattered. He was always ruthless. Now he’s just revealed as a madman. A sociopath. The problem with a guy like this is they cannot psychologically accept they made a mistake. Cannot accept defeat. “Everything is going according to plan”.
I would agree with you on those points. His military, as it is moving now could be destroyed by well over half in a day or two.
