War in Ukraine

Damn...that's sad as hell. Kid looks like (s)he should be at summer camp, getting ready for going into like the 7th grade--maybe early H.S.--not working a mortar in a battlefield.

 

and raising taxes to pay for the war. That is going to go over well, like fuel shortages...

Russia raises taxes for the first time in decades to fund the war effort (msn.com)

 

a) The times, they are a changin'. Russians in the 1940's did not have an abundance of food, clothing, shelter, or internet. They have a lot more to live for now.

b) This was never an existential war for Russia. The last big war was. People did not mind risking their lives to make sure their families could be free from Nazi Germany. Putin could probably care less if he loses 27.5 million Russians in this war. But there is a lot more than 27.5 million Russians who care how many Russians die in this war.

Not really. How long has the war been going on? About 850 days? That's 588 casualties a day on average. Since Russia has had numerous days with over 1,000 casualties, I find 588 casualties to be within the realm of possibility.

And guess what? You don't need to have EVER had that many troops (500,000) on the front line. You just need to have had more than 588 troops on the front line, and then make sure that you replace them after they are injured or killed. When your two working brain cells make contact with each other, this will make sense to you.

 

Russia has reached a milestone: their T-90M tank, the best in the world according to Putin, has just reached the milestone of 100 destroyed.

Russia has lost at least 100 of the T-90M tanks Putin praised as the 'world's best' in Ukraine, tracker data shows

 

Putin is leading Russia into a demographic catastrophe, according to the Brits. Russia only had 14 million men of fighting age, and a million of them already voted against the war with their feet. Another half million of them have been wounded or killed in the war. The Stan countries are running out of men, as are the prisons. Putin can't afford to send Moscow's men into battle.

Putin is leading Russia into a demographic catastrophe

 

Reminder of other things you found within the realm of possibility:

(1) half of Russian troops frostbitten.

(2) Russian troops subsisting on zoo animals

(3) Wagner reduced to fighting with shovels.

 

This was supposed to have been a test bed for US and NATO weapons. Instead, it’s target practice for Russia …

https://www.wsj.com/world/us-weapons-russia-ukraine-0eed240c

 

Wolverines!!!?

 

Why Russia will defeat NATO in Ukraine …

Why Russia Will Defeat NATO in Ukraine

 

And it doesn’t matter one wit whether this is an existential war for Russia, it only matters that Russia believes it …

Ukrainian entry into NATO is the brightest of all redlines for the Russian elite (not just Putin). In more than two and a half years of conversations with key Russian players, from knuckle-draggers in the dark recesses of the Kremlin to Putin’s sharpest liberal critics, I have yet to find anyone who views Ukraine in NATO as anything other than a direct challenge to Russian interests.

https://www.theamericanconservative.com/the-missed-opportunity-for-peace-at-natos-washington-summit/

 

Heading to Alaska today to spend a week with my son who lives just outside of Anchorage.

I should be able to see the Motherland from there!

 

To add to that, what demographic is actually having kids? Muslim Turks. I've been saying for a while, the big winner of the Ukraine war will be Turkey.

 

Correction. It's existential for Putin.

 

The vain attempt to separate Putin from Russians.

 

He doesn't strike me as someone who go can work thru something like this.

 

all them single chinese men are like checking out the russian foreign bride websites about now thinking how do you like me now?

sadly, the shortage of available males will likely devalue the women too as competition for a mate goes up

 

They really aren't that bought in. That's part of the deal past government's have with their people. We govern. You stay out of politics. . . . Until they don't. Cool how the CCP ("friends for life" LOL!!!) completely fucked them on the NG pipeline. Only a matter of time before they "slide in" to that part of Russia they currently have on their maps of China. 4D Chess indeed!

 

He wouldn't be doing his job (for the FSB) if he even tried.