War in Ukraine

20 American mercenaries missing in Ukraine conflict
At least 20 American mercenaries fighting on the side of Ukraine have been reported missing in combat, with casualties among foreign fighters rising sharply over the past six months.

CNN reported this on Thursday after conducting its own investigation. According to the investigation, foreigners have been dying on the Ukrainian front lines in growing numbers as they rush to fill the gaps in Ukraine’s defenses.
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It was gathered that many foreign fighters had confessed that the Ukrainian military provided little coordination.

The Russian Defence Ministry also said that the intensity of combat far exceeded what they experienced in Afghanistan and the Middle East, making survival extremely difficult.

 

Not very bright today, I see. There is a difference between cause and effect. They are not the same thing. When Russia invades a neighbor, killing hundreds of thousands of people and displacing millions more, it is completely normal for sane people to be offended by this. Only a deranged person would justify murder of innocent people by what people say about the murderer AFTER the murder. "This person insulted me after I murdered innocent people--that justifies my killing people." If Putin wanted people to talk nice about him and NOT suggest breaking up Russia into smaller countries, he should not have invaded Ukraine.

So, to summarize:

CAUSE: Russia invading Ukraine for no valid reason.

EFFECT: People say bad things about Russia, suggest disabling the country so they do not continue to do bad things.

 

Time to bury another lie …

After three months of intense propaganda the CIA decided to bury a Ukrainian disinformation scheme and announced to 'pull North Korean troops off the front line'.

Well. How did North Koreans get to the front line in the first place?

https://www.moonofalabama.org/2025/...n-soldiers-from-ukraines-front-line.html#more

 

I think the characterization of these volunteers as “mercenaries” (which is a pejorative term for a private contract security forces) is false and indicates a pro-Russian bias in the source. Ukraine’s foreign volunteers are integrated into their armed forces and are subject to Ukrainian discipline. That is not a mercenary. In fairness, Russia has a large number of foreign troops in its ranks as well, and I would not characterize them as mercenaries, either, since they are in the Russian armed forces. Now the Wagner Group, which is largely no longer fighting in Ukraine, certainly could be characterized as private contract security forces, or the pejorative “mercenaries” if you prefer, since they do serve a disgusting, kleptocratic, barbarous regime.

 

Do tell ?

 

So the guy who was just confirmed as SOS by a 99-0 vote in the Senate said what I've been saying for the past two years. I'll take it.

 

Haven't checked this thread in a while. The war's over, right? Trump ended it in a day like he said he would.

 

Rubio is a clown with no clue. Kiev is generally winning, and has been for most of the last three years. Not by any huge margin, but they have done very well slowing down the Russian advances and slowly draining the Russian military of equipment and manpower. They have fought the smarter battle and done a better job of keeping their troops alive. Ukraine has better technology, better leadership, and more motivation to fight for their land and their freedom. Russia hasn't even put up much of a fight for its own land in Kursk, which Ukraine has occupied for months. Russia's economy looks likely to collapse in the next 12-18 months.

 

Asked and answered upthread.

 

What are we talking about?

 

Rubio’s family came to the US to escape communism for freedom. For him to fluff Putin, the guy whose politics his family fled, is the height of hypocrisy.

He would have a different opinion if the conflict affected his family.

 

Putin is not a communist and the differences between the style of economies in Russia and Ukraine are minuscule at best. In terms of freedom, Ukraine was a half point better on the freedom ratings index than Russia. Comparing these two countries to Cuba and the United States is a perfect example of what Rubio is talking about. The people pumping this war are either woefully misleading or they have been woefully misled.

 

The only one pumping the war is the attacker Putin. There would not be one if not for him. That Ukraine is similar to Russia is irrelevant. It’s sad that so many people died, were taken prisoners, murdered, raped, tortured, robbed, infrastructure destroyed, and some people think it’s ok, or that let’s give it all to Russia so they can imprison the entire country.

They have a right to defend themselves. Us and others helping is the right thing to do.

Sadly you and others DGAS.

 

Ukraine was a very corrupt country years ago. And that's what Russia wanted. Because Russia was corrupting it in a bid to control it. They were also sending in terrorists and weapons into eastern Ukraine to undermine and destabilize the country. The invasion was a reaction to a respectable and generally uncorrupted politician (Zelenskyy) coming to power and putting Ukraine's interests above Russia's. Zelenskyy has been very cooperative with the U.S. and Europe, working to get rid of corruption as he was fighting an existential war with Russia.

People who equate 2025 Ukraine with 2015 Ukraine are woefully mislead. War tends to sharpen the senses and improve focus. Zelenskyy knew that winning the war depended on the support of outside nations that demanded integrity and justice from his government. For the most part, he's delivered.

 

Do you think Ukrainians are the only oppressed people in the world? You don't actually believe we are sending them hundreds of billions with no expectation of a return do you? We are not involved out of the kindness of our hearts. There were certain objectives with the military aid. They haven't been met or even close. The right thing to do is to stop taxing the American people for strangers who are rife with corruption and were never a democracy to begin with. It's a scam and it is the epitome of malfeasance. It's pretty sad you have to call someone like Rubio a hypocrite because he doesn't want to fund a proxy war in Eastern Europe.

 

It could be a case of Cuban communism bad; Russian communism/dictatorship not quite so bad. He probably has a personal hatred for Castro, but it may not extend to other countries' communist leaders and dictators. Rubio does seem to approve of Trump, who would like to be a dictator.

 

Putin is a dictator. Arguably, that's worse than being a communist. A traditional communist government has a Politburo to oversee the actions of the leader and replace him if they disapprove of what he's doing. A dictator requires a coup of some sort (usually military) to remove him from office. Putin selects who he will run against in sham elections, and has legitimate opposition candidates jailed and killed.

 

Oh yeah, those reliable Politburos who reigned in Stalin, Mao and Castro. Oh, and we can’t forget the fine work they’ve done keeping Xi and Kim Jung Un under control. Maybe if you ask one of them real nicely, they will ship you a functional brain.

 

I doubt anyone here is a true expert on the inner workings of Chinese govt, but it’s been pretty widely reported XI had consolidated power over the years and removed opponents. So he’s pretty much a dictator at this point (and commie systems perhaps inevitably lead to dictators). It’s a distinction without much difference between XI and Putin.