OT: Russia-Ukraine War

[MrDollarBills]

It really f*cking irks me to see Putin bombing civilian soft targets with impunity. That's the act of a real true coward. A small, weak man.

I really hope his final days on this earth are full of pain and fear of the unknown.

Or, in true Russian style, he ends up taking a 'accidental' fall out of a 10 story window with a hard, sudden stop at the end.

My fantasy is where Putin believes he has flushed out all possible enemies from within his inner circle and his daily meals that are vetted for him by the king's taster slowly poison him into a state of delerium that ends in a prolonged and fatal illness. The Russian's love balcony falls and poisonings so he should suffer the same fate. He reportedly tumbled down the stairs recently so perhaps someone is doing the deed.

I think that we can stretch this out a little more. What about the flaying of the penis?

There's probably not much there to flay.

[HarthorneWingo]

Hundreds of thousands of people followed her story. It became a story of national significance and the value of that resolution cannot be understated. Also, apparently Whelan's case is still in the balance so the Russians were unwilling to negotiate it. The Whelan family themselves have spoken about how grateful they are that Griner is able to come home.



Many could benefit from finding their grace.

I just saw a tweet from Whalen’s brother criticizing the Biden administration for showing “zero” interest and not caring about his case. I think he was just striking while the iron is hot. I’m sure the Whalen family is frustrated as well.

I'm sure they're hella frustrated and who wouldn't be. Even in the statement I quoted you can see by omission a wistfulness that their family member isn't the one coming home. But, unless I see otherwise, they're not making it a pissing match about Griner and support the move to bring her home.

Right. They are keeping it classy. Though to do anything but that would be muy muy counterproductive to their ultimate goal. They’re between a rock and hard place. I wonder if they have lawyers working on their behalf?

[Oscirus]

Whelan ain't it either. All these conservatives whining about leaving the disgraced marine behind are funny to me. I just don't support releasing terrorists in prison exchanges

I can understand your position.

I'll be 100 with you, seeing someone who could be my younger sister or cousin in that position isn't going to draw objectivity out of me, i can admit that plays a huge part in my stance. Like the relief i felt for her being freed hit me hard, and i don't even personally know her, I was so glad to see her on her way home.

Fair enough you're approaching it from an emotional level which is indeed very valid, I understand what she stands for symbolically and I can understand the celebrations that she got released.

Also conservatives keep that same energy

https://nypost.com/2022/12/08/trump-turned-down-viktor-bout-for-paul-whelan-prisoner-swap-john-bolton/

[8516knicks]

Sobering thought. The war is likely in neutral till Spring. Around 93,000 dead Russians now. At roughly 400/day that means around 143,000 dead Russians BEFORE the war starts up again in earnest.

Peter Zeihan on youtube knows his geopolitical stuff. Ukraine will have armament superiority then [they've captured from the Russians and are repairing something like TWO TIMES even what we've given them] but Russia will have 500k more bodies to throw into the pot. And there civilian shelling is aimed at making mere life in Ukraine hardly tenable.

Russia apparently usually fights wars where they get creamed at first and then just flood the battlefield till the other side is overwhelmed. He doesn't know who will win but by the following Spring 2024 it should all be over one way or another.

Man, a year and a half is a lot of warring left to go if their timeline is correct. That's a long time for Putin since he's possibly ill. I don't know what kind of Russian leadership would replace him if he falters, but that could be one thing that happens in that time frame.

My bet is on Ukraine prevailing

***
Supposedly Putin has thinned the herd around him to around 130 super yes men (like Trump aimed to) so that even if he unexpectedly falls from a great height at a skyscraper the replacements would be pretty much the same.

[Oscirus]

And theres your ammo (no pun intended).
https://www.yahoo.com/news/moscow-wanted-russian-colonel-jailed-203324391.html

[Stannis]

Sobering thought. The war is likely in neutral till Spring. Around 93,000 dead Russians now. At roughly 400/day that means around 143,000 dead Russians BEFORE the war starts up again in earnest.

Peter Zeihan on youtube knows his geopolitical stuff. Ukraine will have armament superiority then [they've captured from the Russians and are repairing something like TWO TIMES even what we've given them] but Russia will have 500k more bodies to throw into the pot. And there civilian shelling is aimed at making mere life in Ukraine hardly tenable.

Russia apparently usually fights wars where they get creamed at first and then just flood the battlefield till the other side is overwhelmed. He doesn't know who will win but by the following Spring 2024 it should all be over one way or another.

Peter Zeihan is great.

I follow him for market related stuff like commodities and even green energy. His work on the Ukraine war as been the best.

[8516knicks]

Today is 300th day of the war. 99,230 Russian dead. Looks like 100k dead by Christmas. Add what's been done to Ukraine in death and destruction. If Putin is not evil, I don't know who is. He needs to take a short walk off a tall skyscraper.

[8516knicks]

Just saw this and had to post it. Fighting in Bahkmut -"Russia has lost so many people along that stretch at this point that if they were all still lying there, the mound would be 20 meters high for over a kilometer. If you laid all those Russian soldiers on a football field, you could walk anywhere you wanted to go on that field and never touch the ground." Insanity. Murder.

And a Ukrainian female soldier on twitter said the Russian forces consist of Wagnerites (prison conscripts and mercenaries) who are subordinated to Kadyrovites (guys with the black beards) and trained by their commanders by - get this - RAPING THEM! "for the purpose of education."

Read on Twitter

?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1610333385838182403%7Ctwgr%5Ea0c9f261b3a2987b9ce5937601bcc96e2badaa77%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dailykos.com%2Fstories%2F2023%2F1%2F4%2F2145287%2F-Ukraine-update-Russia-is-losing-it-knows-it-s-losing-and-it-plans-to-keep-losing-Forever

[8516knicks]

A little something I just read = does this sound like Russia is winning in the Ukraine??? --

Russian state-backed Media and biz groups have petitioned to have Russian workers go to a 6 day work week WITHOUT more pay.

And leading propagandists suggest Russians work 2 EXTRA HOURS every day making ammunition!

Lucky we're not there yet.

[Clyde_Style]

A little something I just read = does this sound like Russia is winning in the Ukraine??? --

Russian state-backed Media and biz groups have petitioned to have Russian workers go to a 6 day work week WITHOUT more pay.

And leading propagandists suggest Russians work 2 EXTRA HOURS every day making ammunition!

Lucky we're not there yet.

While they haven't lost yet, they are not exactly winning. 100,000 dead Russians in Bahkmut alone defending what is a non-strategic and mostly symbolic city that is now utterly destroyed. These kinds of casualties do get back to the families in Russia. Mainstream Russian media has occasional cracks in it, but those who track sentiment on chat channels say there is a backlash forming among Russian civilians. Plus, Wagner group's leader is sparring publicly with Putin which would only be possible if Putin needs them that badly. Protests were punished earlier, but if they happen again they could be big because Putin has become their new Stalin and this is not 1950.

And Ukraine's air defenses keep improving with allied supplies coming in. They repelled massive drone attacks on Kyiv the other night and shot down every drone.

[HarthorneWingo]

I heard something about a lot Russians joining Ukrainians to fight against Mother Russia. Any truth to this?

[8516knicks]

I heard something about a lot Russians joining Ukrainians to fight against Mother Russia. Any truth to this?

Not so far. Just a small band I've heard and they're in Ukraine now not Russia except for one small raid.

[HarthorneWingo]

I heard something about a lot Russians joining Ukrainians to fight against Mother Russia. Any truth to this?

Not so far. Just a small band I've heard and they're in Ukraine now not Russia except for one small raid.

As I'm thinking about it, I think I heard something like 100,000. But who knows with propaganda coming from both sides?

[Clyde_Style]

My fantasy is where Putin believes he has flushed out all possible enemies from within his inner circle and his daily meals that are vetted for him by the king's taster slowly poison him into a state of delerium that ends in a prolonged and fatal illness. The Russian's love balcony falls and poisonings so he should suffer the same fate. He reportedly tumbled down the stairs recently so perhaps someone is doing the deed.

I think that we can stretch this out a little more. What about the flaying of the penis?

There's probably not much there to flay.

Sounds like a job for Bobby "Penis" Flay

[8516knicks]

Main show should be starting pretty soon.

Curious how all the tanks and new stuff is going to work out against the corrupt Russians.

Russians lost over 100k since Jan 1st and that was only the off-season fighting.

Only downside is all the death, destruction and misery basically just to feed Putin's ego. I feel bad also for those Russians caught up in it against their will (not the butchers who are the successors to the Einstatzgruppen).

[8516knicks]

Counter-Offensive seems to have started.

Daily dead Russians climbed to over 800 yesterday from around 400-500 during winter and spring.

Destroyed tanks and vehicles climbed (tanks, apvs and fuel trucks) to over 40 from around 20 in off-season.

About the dam - the Russians did it. It was an inside job they discovered. Plan seems to be they expect to lose Crimea and southern Ukraine and are going scorched Earth so to create a famine there (like they did under Stalin). Dam water probably delays miliary action in the region by a month or so.

[HarthorneWingo]

Counter-Offensive seems to have started.

Daily dead Russians climbed to over 800 yesterday from around 400-500 during winter and spring.

Destroyed tanks and vehicles climbed (tanks, apvs and fuel trucks) to over 40 from around 20 in off-season.

About the dam - the Russians did it. It was an inside job they discovered. Plan seems to be they expect to lose Crimea and southern Ukraine and are going scorched Earth so to create a famine there (like they did under Stalin). Dam water probably delays military action in the region by a month or so.

I saw the footage of the dead fish on what's now dry land. My heart goes out to those people who want no part of this war and yet are on the front lines of suffering and imminent death.

[MrDollarBills]

This counter offensive is absolutely bloody on the front lines I'm reading, on both sides. Horrible.

Putin is scum. People's lives being snuffed out because of a little man with a complex. I hope the problem fixes itself.

[8516knicks]

Latest Zeihan vid says Ukraine planned 3 pronged attack but Dam bust killed the middle one. Bottom one is to break through into Crimea region and eventually destroy Kerch bridge totally severing land bridge to Russia. Top prong in Donbas much tougher fighting and intense house to house anticipated. At least a month till area around dam becomes less muddy and maybe passable.

[8516knicks]

Today is 300th day of the war. 99,230 Russian dead. Looks like 100k dead by Christmas. Add what's been done to Ukraine in death and destruction. If Putin is not evil, I don't know who is. He needs to take a short walk off a tall skyscraper.

*************************
quick update on numbers. Today day 471 of war. 212,760 Russian dead. So, less than 6 months later, another 113 thousand killed. Talk about a murder machine. And that doesnt count the guys falling out of windows.