Gee, I wonder what happens to the military-age males the moment they acquiesce to Russian citizenship. “Now go prove your loyalty to your new country and help bring your fellow Little Russians to heel!”
I strongly suspect that Russians willing to fight for their country are an order of magnitude higher than Americans who are willing to fight for their Taylor Swift.
I would be shocked if there are many military aged males from those areas that haven’t already either: a) signed up to be Russian citizens a long time ago; b) have already joined the Russian military (resentment for Ukrainian central power runs deep in those regions); c) don’t want to trade their Ukrainian citizenship for a Russian one; d) fled to Russia a long time ago. From a purely personal preference standpoint amongst the people living in these regions, this situation a lot like the 1938 German invasion of Austria.
Sure … look at the bullets exchanged between that hostile and excoriating German takeover of Austria, coupled with the global outrage. The parallels are astonishing.
That's only because the Austrian government didn't fight it. Even by the most generous of Western research polls, the people living in these areas of southeastern Ukraine are firmly against rule from a central government in Kyiv. This isn't Russian propaganda. It's important to understand what we're aiding in the billions. It's not as if these are a people held captive and want Ukraine to come save them. Russia has dug in and settled into these areas of Ukraine that are heavily pro-Russian in sentiment and it's going to be difficult for Ukraine to remove them. And to an extent, I feel like that has been the Russian plan all along as it is simply too costly for them to administer the whole of Ukraine.
Ukraine said on Monday its forces had recaptured 37 square kilometers (14 square miles) from Russian forces last week. Assuming they were able to hold this pace, it would take them almost 8 years to reclaim all of its lost territory from Russia. This, of course, assumes the Russians make 0 gains.
And that there isn’t a snowball effect to regaining territory. Stalin had an old phrase “Useful Idiots” referring to the American far left. How weird that that now describes the American right.
Looks like Ukraine is advancing for the first time since near Donetsk. Something the Russians have never been able to do since the war began. among other updates. Ukraine Update: Sorry, this is not a tank Ukraine Invasion Day 496: marginal advances in four sectors Fir those who haven’t been keeping track note that since the counter offensive began Ukraine has been destroying many more artillery pieces per day than before. You can see their strategy. Slowly probe, identify enemy artillery, and destroy it. They are softening Russia up big time.
My last update had no spin or insult. Just fact and I was using Ukrainian-provided data. Those who need to spin, insult and assign “come on man’s” to a post that was purely factual about a war, it really makes you question their objectivity.
That term was never about the only the far left. It was and remains about anyone Russia can use to sow chaos and undermine our institutions.
The Patriots have been shifting the balance in the air (a domain in which Russia was already underperforming). I think most of us were aware of how effective they have been at intercepting Russian missiles, but apparently they have also changed the game in how close Russian aircraft can get to the front lines. Five aircraft in one day is significant. I’m trying to think of the last time the U.S. lost five aircraft in one day. Maybe Korea, 70 years ago? Ukraine hails U.S. Patriot's "record" five Russian aircraft hits in one day
Ukraine is advancing. Into the gray zones. At last check it has not reached Russian defense lines anywhere. And they continue to take horrific losses.
So sensitive. Why post this? The rate of offensive gains can ebb and flow. People like you looked like idiots post Kharkiv and no one on “ team objective” (which ps you aren’t objective) thought Kherson would fall without severe damage to the city. Months later and “team objective” is posting similar doom and gloom and wrapping it in the cloth of “objectivity”. The rate of gain is irrelevant. What is relevant is if they can find a breakthrough. That’s what it’s all about. If you want to objectively look at rates of gain look at the uptick in destroyed Russian artillery - nearly 20-30 pieces a day. That tells an important story. Also consider how helicopters were so important early in the counter offensive and all of a sudden we don’t hear that as much anymore. here’s something objective we learned from Dailykos daily summaries: French amx-10 have been useless during the counter attack due to thin armor. They are now being held back because their speed is more ideal for a breakthrough. That’s objective and meaningful. Rate of territory gain? Lol.
