War in Ukraine

I suspect his downfall will come from within. people don't fear losers. Ukraine is showing that he can be punched in the mouth and not do much about it. Once the bully loses his mystique, those he has bullied enjoy seeking their revenge. Sending his bodyguard to lead the military response tells me he has run out of people he can trust

 

That absolutely will not happen. However, what could happen if events stay on the current trajectory is for revolts to occur in the areas of Russia where minorities have local superiority, such as the Caucuses. Domestic turmoil is what Putin fears most, not the Ukrainians at the gate. This is why he has not made obvious moves like declaring martial law or starting another round of mobilization in response to being invaded by the country he was supposed to conquer in two months.

 

I might … if we had withdrawn our troops from Syria. They’re still there. So I’m not sure what your point is.

 

Geez you guys with the semantics. Northeastern Syria. The country is carved up into like 7 zones. We were told the Kurds would be crushed and ISIS would reemerge there. Clearly didn’t happen.

 

agreed, and those areas now know that the great Russian army is not so great, and they are distracted now.

if I were running the CIA, seeds of discontent would be sewn and nurtured about now. Perhaps Xi already has that in action

but the real revolt may occur because they shut down youtube

Russians Threaten to Take to the Streets Over YouTube Ban - Newsweek

Russians have threatened to take to the streets amid a sudden YouTube slowdown, which began in mid-July. The slowdown of the video-streaming service began last month after Alexander Khinshtein, a member of Russia's State Duma (lower Parliament), announced that the speed of uploads to the platform would soon drop by 70 percent. YouTube "violates and ignores the law with impunity," Khinshtein said, adding that the move is a forced measure.

By August 8, YouTube's many users across the country reported that the platform had stopped working—thousands from Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Yekaterinburg complained that they could no longer access the site, independent media reported. Others said that high-quality clips wouldn't load on some desktop browsers.

 

NE Syria, you say? You mean like the area bordered in red on the right side of the map from Qamishli in the north to Mayadin in the south? We are still there, dude. We never left. I was just there myself in 2021. If you want to argue what our long game is there, then that’s one thing. But don’t argue that ISIS didn’t come back when we left, because we have never left. And ISIS is not even still the reason we hold on to that slice of Syria. At this point it’s far more about pissing off the Russians.

 

Geez. Seems like it would be easier to invest in a VPN that indicates you’re in Mongolia than taking to the streets. That is how a civilized person is able to keep watching Netflix in Kuwait.

 

Updated …

Obama in 2011: “Assad must go!”

Putin in 2015:”Nope.”

Assad in 2024: “Still here!”

 

I can’t agree that Zelensky is having to send women to the frontlines because what is a woman …

 

Waddaya expect? his now assasinated Wagner head (Mr. P) was his darn Chef.

 

Mar a Lago?

 

wonder if this is why he fired the guy

Ukraine's top general disobeyed Zelenskyy and blew up the Nord Stream pipeline without permission, report says (msn.com)

• Ukraine was behind the destruction of the Nord Stream pipeline, The Wall Street Journal reported.
• The September 2022 explosion disrupted Russia's natural gas exports, hitting global energy markets.
• The WSJ said Volodymyr Zelenskyy tried to halt stop the plan but that his top general did it anyway.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy attempted to put the brakes on an audacious Ukrainian plot to blow up the Nord Stream pipeline, but his general pushed ahead anyway, according to a new report.

But The Wall Street Journal published the fullest story yet on Wednesday purporting to finally describe what happened.

It said a crew of six Ukrainian-backed divers chartered a 50-foot pleasure boat from Germany, sailed it to the Baltic Sea, and planted explosive charges on the pipeline. The Journal cited four Ukrainian defense officials who either participated in the plot or were familiar with it, as well as linking many details to a German police investigation. It didn't say why the officials were not named.

 

I have to believe Kyiv knew how this would turn out. But it’s obviously in desperate straits …

 

My point was in reference to everybody predicting ISIS would reform if we pulled troops out of northeastern Syria in 2019. Perhaps that troop pullout never happened (which is not what is being reported in Western media), but we were told ISIS would respawn and Turkey would destroy the Kurds if we left. There was a big dust up about it. Perhaps they left a skeleton crew behind? You'd know better than I.

 

Putin to send unwilling Russian pensioners into battle to stop Ukraine invasion (msn.com)

According to a Ukraine-aligned news agency, Russia is gearing up to send at least 500 recruits who have refused to fight into combat, with Putin reportedly furious with what has happened this week.

Astra reported on the Telegram app: "Several hundred refuseniks from St Petersburg were forcibly put on a plane and taken to Kursk. The soldiers have already been issued with assault rifles and are about to be sent into battle." This comes as Putin's forces were decimated by a Ukrainian incursion this week.

"The day before, at least 500 people were taken from the military village of Kamenka near St Petersburg, where the 138th separate motorized rifle brigade is based and where several hundred men who refused to fight were kept. Their relatives told ASTRA about this."

Astra also claimed that some of the "refuseniks" had been prosecuted for desertion, were under investigation, or awaiting a military commission.

The report continued: "Among those under arrest are men with health, physical and mental problems: 'They took a man with category "D", plus a man [just] under the age of 70 who can barely walk, another man without an eye...'."

 

another one down..poor maintenance??

Putin's prized $293M supersonic nuclear bomber explodes after take-off (msn.com)

A nuclear-capable Russian strategic bomber aircraft prized by Vladimir Putin that cost the authoritarian £228million ($293 million) crashed tonight in a remote Siberian region.

 

I know. But even Prigo was given several minor homicidal jobs to develop his appetite for violence and ability to be a lead barbarian before he was sent into a major war zone. It's crazy to send someone straight from serving coffee to destroying enemy armies. Putin probably should switch to decaf before making monumental decisions.

 

Makes me wonder if the aircraft might have been damaged in one of these attacks on military airfields, and they tried one of those sloppy repairs the Russians are famous for to try to make it airworthy again. Or maybe the quality of pilots has just gotten so poor through attrition that disaster was inevitable. Either way, it's good news for civilization.

 

They didn't mention anything about providing them with ammunition . . .