Damn. Didn’t even hear about that. Crazy Putin seems to pull that shit on an annual basis and gets away with it. Reading up on it, sounds like the pilot was also an idiot in how he lived with his newfound freedom and rewards. The Russian hitmen didn’t exactly have to work to find him.
He appears to be American, but believes that he has a gun to his head at all times. He says he has no freedom of speech. He is very pro-Russian. "Everything is going Russia's way in the war." Good grief. What a load of crap.
The Brits say that Russia has been losing an average of over 1,000 troops a day for the last two months. That's killed plus wounded. Russia loses ‘astronomical’ 70,000 troops in 60 days
Latest empty threat from Putin: ‘Europe’s capitals will be targeted’, vows furious Putin as he warns US deployment of missiles to Germany will spark WW3 – The US Sun | The US Sun (the-sun.com) Send those missiles and more, I say.
If Putin doesn't like U.S. missiles in Germany, maybe we could just divert them to Ukraine. They should know what to do with them. From the article: Maybe Putin should stop violating agreements, and maybe other countries would trust Russia.
Ukraine Receives Permission for Deep Strikes in Russia: Kremlin Responds Immediately (msn.com) Chief of Staff to the President of Ukraine, Andriy Yermak, commented on the results of the NATO summit today, stating that partners and allies in the Alliance would soon grant permission for Ukraine to carry out deep strikes into Russian territory. "We discussed this. Indeed, different member states of the Alliance have different views regarding strikes on Russian territory. But, you know, it is absolutely impossible to successfully conduct this war if the enemy uses all means without limitations. ......................................... The Russian military is facing its highest casualty rate since the beginning of its invasion of Ukraine, with over 70,000 soldiers likely killed or wounded in May and June, claims the British Ministry of Defense.
Russia continues in its desperation to gain ground against Ukraine, sending in wounded soldiers on the battlefield and using Ukrainian prisoners of war as human shields. Some of the wounded soldiers are on crutches. Their "meat wave" attack method has progressed to "wounded meat wave" attacks. Wounded Russian soldiers – some on crutches – used in ‘meat wave’ attacks
Berkeley economist predicts that Russia will go through a severe recession within a year, based on their weakened oil trade and their lack of access to the dollar. Oil sales have plunged 24% to a three-year low in 2023. Their government spending deficit is expected to finish the year at $18 billion. Russia also has a huge trade deficit with the rest of the world, as they import nearly everything they need (besides oil & gas), including cars, food, furniture, and consumer goods. Comparing the current situation to the 1980's, it took five years for the USSR to collapse after they lost access to the U.S. dollar, and they were much more self-reliant in the 1980's than they are now. Russia's weakened energy trade and lost access to the dollar will spark a severe recession within a year, a top economist says
Russia losing an astronomical amount of troops daily, subsisting on zoo animals, is reduced to fighting with shovels and is somehow beating Ukraine back all across the front lines.
For our resident Russophiles, here are today's talking points from the Kremlin: Biden is responsible for "provoking" the attack on Trump, just like he was responsible for "provoking" Russia to defend itself against Ukraine. World reaction: Russia blames Joe Biden’s administration for ‘provoking’ Trump attack
Hopefully, this is part of a growing trend. We will see. Russian army on the brink as soldier turns gun on military unit and thousands desert (msn.com)
this is amazing if true MSN Russia has lost more than 70,000 troops in the past two months, British military intelligence said on Friday.
I think we can assume that is a high estimate, but that Russia has had since the start of the war about 500,000 serious casualties, including 150,000 dead, has become a conservative estimate instead of a wild one. And that is a staggering figure if you think to add up all U.S. combat deaths since the end of World War 2.
Factoring in the population advantage the United States enjoys in that comparison, yes, that’s abysmal for Russia.
A country that claims to have lost 27.5 million in the last big war, against a population of 170 million at the time, can probably weather 150,000 dead against a population of 150 million. Where the 500,000 claim falls to pieces is that that’s substantially greater than the number of troops Russia has ever had on the frontlines the entire conflict.
Is this who exposed the defense minister? The movie series is going to be epic if we can get the truth..sounds like witnesses are being eliminated Two Allies of Russia's Fired Defense Minister Die Mysteriously in One Week (msn.com) Two allies of Russia's fired Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu are reported to have died mysteriously within a day of each other. Last week, Magomed Khandayev, a 61-year-old Russian Defense Ministry official, and 52-year-old businessman Igor Kotelnikov were found dead. These were the latest in a series of mysterious deaths involving prominent Russian figures since Russian President Vladimir Putin's forces invaded Ukraine in February 2022. Eva Merkacheva, a member of Russia's human rights council, said in a column for Moskovsky Komsomolets on July 12 that Kotelnikov died in a pretrial detention center in Moscow on July 8 after feeling unwell. He had been charged with bribing senior Russian Defense Ministry officials. ............................... VChK-OGPU said employees with Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) repeatedly visited Kotelnikov in the pretrial detention center "forcing him to admit guilt, to testify against Timur Ivanov and a number of other officials of the Ministry of Defense." "However, Kotelnikov refused. Then the administration of the pretrial detention center began to pressure him. He was sent to the punishment cell, where he became ill. Two days later, doctors concluded that Kotelnikov could not be kept in solitary confinement due to chronic illnesses," the outlet said, adding that he was found dead the next morning. Newsweek couldn't independently verify these details.
Compared to previous wars the Soviet Union fought, yes it’s a low number, but it is still an extremely high number when you compare it to other militaries since WW2. There’s no getting around that. I do believe Russia’s past gives the Kremlin more sway with this war than they would have here in America for sure. But 150,000 in a territory dispute is pretty abysmal.
I suspect less than half that. But setting that aside, this war cannot be compared to past wars. Russia is vying against satellites and suicide drones and vast minefields while advancing against seemingly endless hundreds of thousands of heavily armed and fortified troops over mostly open terrain across lines hundreds of miles long.