Yes, it is fascinating to see Ukraine stand up to Russia and uplifting to see they are well on their way to defeating the global bully. I'm not sure you understand the concept of a "global bully", however, and you might try to claim that the U.S. is a global bully. Without evidence, of course.
The thing is it doesn't really matter whether Russia wanted to take Kyiv or not. The only reason you're quibbling so much about it is because you're desperately seeking some means of justifying the hundreds of billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars being sent to a notoriously corrupt country. Yes, Russia spent all of two weeks trying to take Kyiv, so that means they definitely had their sights on Kyiv. Who cares? It doesn't change anything. Russia doesn't need to take Kyiv to achieve its security objectives. As you've noted, they have no issue sacrificing soldiers by the thousands in the Donbass. There's a reason they are willing to do that in the Donbass and not do it for Kyiv. Think, McFly...THINK!
Oh their security objective of decimating their own conventional military forces to the point of almost irrelevance? I recommend you take some of your own advice. They are attacking in the Donbas because it’s the only place they can logistically support “effective” offenses. You really think you’re smarter than everyone else don’t you? Lol. Jeeeeez. Ok guys I’m done sorry I’ll go back to not engaging. just a psa - don’t forget to continue following dailykos for great Ukraine-Russia coverage if you don’t feel like going to telegram channels.
If anything, Russia is getting stronger, while the West is becoming weaker and less stable. We’re losing another proxy war.
The Brits believe that Russia is currently losing more soldiers per day than it has at any other time during the war. Russia is averaging 931 casualties a day in November vs. a peak of 776 in March of 2023. The fighting in Avdiivka is behind most of the current casualties, while the fighting for Bahkmut is behind most of the March casualty numbers. UK intelligence says Russia now suffers heaviest losses since beginning of invasion due to offensive on Avdiivka
Ukraine strikes a Russian aircraft factory with a drone in Smolensk, causing multiple explosions. The Russian Defense Ministry claimed that Smolensk successfully intercepted the drone with the aircraft factory. Media: Ukraine hits aircraft factory in Russia’s Smolensk
A good article on artillery logistics for the war. Russia is slowly losing its artillery advantage (in numbers of shells it can fire) over Ukraine, while Ukraine is maintaining its advantage over Russia (in accuracy). Not only is Ukraine capturing and destroying large numbers of Russian artillery, Russia is losing many artillery pieces to exhaustion (mechanical stress) from the high rate of firing. And, of course, Russia is firing five times as many shells as it produces. Ukraine slowly tipping artillery battle
He does have access to high-quality Russian propaganda, not the lowbrow stuff that other people have access to.
Ukraine has started using anti-aircraft weapons as Gatling guns, mowing down enemy infantry. One such weapon has supposedly killed 1,000 Russian soldiers. Ukraine turned a Soviet antiaircraft gun into a deadly ground weapon that can kill dozens of soldiers at a time, report says
Russia's contradictory policies and attempts to conscript civilians into military service are wreaking havoc on their domestic labor markets. Russia is wrestling with a labor crisis — and is making it even worse by sending highly-skilled workers to war
Russia is having trouble selling its oil, since it is unable to accept payment in dollars and Russian banks will not accept local currencies like the Indian rupee. Currency clashes sour Russia's oil trade with Asia
An interesting article on whether the Ukraine War is currently a stalemate. The author is inclined to say that it is not a stalemate, and that Ukraine is making strategic gains against Russia even if they are not picking up large swaths of territory. Ukraine appears to be setting itself up for some major progress against Russia next year. Don't call it a stalemate: Ukraine making strategic gains
They are bleeding them big time. Both in casualties but also (and more costly) in equipment. The anti-aircraft losses by Russia have been significant and are greatly degrading their ability to protect themselves from the F-16s that are about to join the fight.
If you're someone who has to drop by this specific thread every day, for well over a year, to regurgitate propaganda, you might have a problem.
And we thank you for only stopping by every other day to regurgitate propaganda and bat-sh!t insane theories. But feel free to spend less time on this thread if you like. The grownups have a lot of interesting things to talk about.
Russia has a serious weather problem. The Black Sea just had a rare Cat 1 hurricane blow through, doing immense damage to Russia's logistical network. This provides a huge opportunity for Ukraine to take advantage of, if they can. The storm may have wiped out all the defensive lines and trenches that Russia has been building in Crimea, as well as the recently installed defenses around the abandoned naval base at Sevastopol. The damages to Russia will be in the billions of dollars. Air defenses and radar systems in the region may be down for a few days. No telling what Russia's naval port on the Black Sea looks like. It's a shame that Ukraine doesn't have a few dozen F-16's to attack a defenseless Russia for the next few days. The last time that a major storm like this has hit the Black Sea was in 1854. Ukraine Situation Report: Huge Storm's Impact On Russian Defenses
Additional information from the above article: Turkish companies have sent $158 million in military goods like computer chips either directly to Russia, or to countries known to be used as intermediaries for trade with Russia. Somebody needs to be kicked out of the EU and maybe get sanctions put on them. Russian troops are complaining that their artillery shells are being loaded with less than half of the explosives they are supposed to have, limiting the range of the artillery to much less than 9 km (5.5 miles).
Ukraine running low on manpower according to notorious Putin mouthpiece the Financial Times … https://archive.is/I9nkf
Ukraine suffering extremely high losses, experiencing demographic collapse. How did Russia do this given that they were down to fighting with shovels and subsisting on zoo animals ? https://www.moonofalabama.org/2023/...olitical-infighting-blocked-borders.html#more
Hey, I think I said it several months ago, but it is worth saying again. Thanks for bringing real information to this thread. It is appreciated.
